Style Guide: Structure Pages

This guide provides specific instructions for editing or adding your own content to each section of a Structure page in this wiki.

Structure pages should provide basic information about the SDL structures to allow users to most effectively utilize them in their projects.

General Guidelines

Please observe the following for all structure pages:

• Do not post anything that you do not have permission to post publicly.
• Sections should have adequate details to make them clear and useful while remaining brief wherever possible. Code Examples and Remarks may be more extensive than other sections if necessary.
• Please remember to keep it accurate, simple, and easy to understand.

• Do not remove, modify, or add to the markup above the page title (processing instructions (ie: #pragma, #acl), red

  markup, etc.) except:

  • On CategoryCompat pages, place the following markup above the page title and below the processing instructions or draft markup, if present:

  • ||<tablewidth="100%" #000000 style="color: #FF8C00;" :> <<BR>>~+For Backward Compatibility Only+~<<BR>><<BR>> ||

• Do not remove, modify, or add section headings unless specifically mentioned below.
• In general, we prefer that you do not remove or modify existing content unless it is clearly incorrect or out of date.

• Pages with red at the top are in progress and will often contain unusual content, formatting, or notes. Please do not remove or modify these. That will all be corrected/removed upon final edit.

For assistance with editing, saving, or wiki-appropriate markup see the Wiki Basics Style Guide or contact us at <ANTI SPAM wiki AT libsdl DOT org>.

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Editing Specific Sections

Title

Do not edit the Title.

The Title section consists of the page heading and its markup:

• = SDL_StructureName =

For structure pages this is the name of the structure being described on the page and should match the address of the page.

Example: The page address http://wiki.libsdl.org/moin.cgi/SDL_PixelFormat should have matching title SDL_PixelFormat and describe the SDL_PixelFormat structure.

If you believe a change is necessary please submit Feedback from that page or contact us at <ANTI SPAM wiki AT libsdl DOT org>.

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Description

The Description section immediately follows the page title and does not have it's own heading.

Structure descriptions begin with:

• A structure that contains

  • or very rarely

  A union that contains

• followed by a clear and concise description of what the structure contains.

Note: Information presented in this section is meant to be limited. Extended description information for more complicated structures should be placed in the Remarks section instead.

• The Description should not contain a link to the Remarks section even if additional information is located there.

Note: Exceptions to the basic description are very unusual. Follow established patterns in the wiki (based on similar pages which may be found by text search) whenever possible if an exception seems appropriate.

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Table of Contents

Do not edit the Table of Contents.

The Table of Contents consists of the following markup and is generated automatically on the parsed page.

• <<TableOfContents()>>

If you believe a change is necessary please submit Feedback from that page or contact us at <ANTI SPAM wiki AT libsdl DOT org>.

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Data Fields

The Data Fields section provides basic information about each field in the structure and is presented in table format.

The basic format is as follows:

||type1||'''field1'''||description||
||type2*||'''field2'''||description||
||[[type3]]||'''field3'''||description||
...
||typeN||'''fieldN'''||description||

Markup: Use basic table markup and enclose each field name in bold markup. All text in the table is left-justified.

• The first column contains the field type and any pointers if applicable.

• The second column contains the field name, without types or pointers, in bold.

• The third column contains a simple description of each field using some specific formatting conventions.

  • red

    All descriptions begin with a lower case letter, end without a period, and are generally not complete sentences.

Example: SDL_Surface, SDL_JoyButtonEvent, SDL_Palette, SDL_HapticCondition

Action: There are a few content-dependent conventions we have chosen for consistency across pages. See the tables below for details.

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Code Examples

The Code Examples section is meant to contain simple, meaningful examples of how to use the structure in a program.

• Unlike other sections, which should rarely require editing once DRAFT is removed, this section is expected to change over time.

This is one of the few sections that is intended to grow and adjust as users discover more information about a structure that would be helpful to share with other users.

For the most part the contents of the Code Examples section will be user-generated and this section will remain as-is until users input their examples.

Please see the Code Examples Style Guide for details on editing this section.

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Remarks

The Remarks section is meant to contain additional information that did not fit in the other sections as well as comments regarding the behavior and use of the structure in real-world applications.

• Unlike other sections, which should rarely require editing once DRAFT is removed, this section is expected to change over time.

This is one of the few sections that is intended to grow and adjust as users discover more information about how a structure behaves under different circumstances.

For the most part the contents of the Remarks section will be user-generated and this section will remain as-is until users input their comments.

Note: This is not an appropriate place to post questions, suggestions, bugs, or commentary. Please use the other communication channels available to you, especially the forums and Feedback form, for these types of remarks.

Please see the Remarks Style Guide for details on editing this section.

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Related Enumerations

The Related Enumerations section provides a list of enumerations specifically referenced by the structure or otherwise closely related to it.

This list should include:

• enumerations that are specifically referenced in the structure
• enumerations that are indirectly referenced by but still closely related to the structure

  • (ie: the enum is not a field type but its values are used to fill in a field as with SDL_EventType for the type field in many event structures)

This list should not include:

• every enumeration that might be considered "related" to the structure or any other listed enumerations

  • Including too many would make these lists much less valuable.

• all enumerations of similar type
• all enumerations of a related category
• enumerations that are indirectly related

  • (ie: it might be common to use them together)

• enumerations that do not have a page in the wiki
• non-enumerations

  • (ie: do not include functions or structures in this list)

Markup: Each line should begin with a single blank space and a period followed by the enumeration name enclosed in double brackets to create a hyperlink.

• Note: Do not include empty parentheses after the name.

• The basic format for the Related Enumerations list is:

== Related Enumerations ==
 .[[SDL_EnumerationName]]
 .[[SDL_EnumerationName]]

• Note: The heading was included to more clearly illustrate the blank space before the period at the beginning of each list line. Without this markup the format will not parse correctly.

Example: SDL_Event, SDL_Keysym, SDL_WindowEvent

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Related Structures

The Related Structures section provides a list of other structures (or unions) specifically referenced by the structure or otherwise closely related to it.

This list should include:

• other structures that are specifically referenced in the structure
• other structures that are indirectly referenced by but closely related to the structure

  • This is uncommon.

This list should not include:

• the primary structure on that page
• every other structure that might be considered "related"

  • Including too many would make these lists much less valuable.

• all structures of similar type
• all structures of a related category
• structures that are indirectly related

  • (ie: it might be common to use them together)

• structures that do not have a page in the wiki
• non-structures

  • (ie: do not include functions or enumerations in this list)

Markup: Each line should begin with a single blank space and a period followed by the structure name enclosed in double brackets to create a hyperlink.

• Note: Do not include empty parentheses after the name.

• The basic format for the Related Structures list is:

== Related Structures ==
 .[[SDL_StructureName]]
 .[[SDL_StructureName]]

• Note: The heading was included to more clearly illustrate the blank space before the period at the beginning of each list line. Without this markup the format will not parse correctly.

Example: SDL_Event, SDL_Color, SDL_HapticDirection

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Related Macros

This is a custom section that should not be used except in the most specific circumstances. Example: SDL_version The Related Macros section provides a list of functions specifically associated with that structure or otherwise closely related to it.

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Related Functions

The Related Functions section provides a list of functions specifically associated with that structure or otherwise closely related to it.

• In general, a "Related Function" is one that uses the given structure.

This list should include:

• functions that use or are otherwise very closely related to the structure

This list should not include:

• every other function that might be considered "related"

  • Including too many would make these lists much less valuable.

• all functions of similar type or action
• all functions of a related category
• functions that are indirectly related (ie: a similar function that does not use the structure)
• functions that do not have a page in the wiki
• non-functions (ie: do not include structures or enumerations in this list)

Markup: Each line should begin with a single blank space and a period followed by the function name enclosed in double brackets to create a hyperlink.

• Note: Do not include empty parentheses after the function names in this section. They are all functions so it should be understood/unnecessary.

• The basic format for the Related Functions list is:

== Related Functions ==
 .[[SDL_FunctionName]]
 .[[SDL_FunctionName]]

• Note: The heading was included to more clearly illustrate the blank space before the period at the beginning of each list line. Without this markup the format will not parse correctly.

Example: SDL_TextInputEvent(), SDL_SysWMinfo()

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Footer

The Footer section consists of a horizontal rule followed by two links separated by a comma.

Markup:

----
[[CategoryStruct]], [[CategoryHeader]]

• where CategoryStruct is the same for every structure page and CategoryHeader is structure-specific with Header varying based on the header file containing the structure (see below).

red

Category names do not always match the header file name. Please consult the following table for the correct name to use so the structure will appear in the correct list(s).

Action 1: Do not edit the CategoryStruct link!

Action 2: The CategoryHeader link may be edited if the page still says [[CategoryHeader]] (as on a new page) or if the structure has been relocated to another header (very rare).

red

There are a few exceptions to this rule (pages with a category name that does not match their header file). These have been determined by the SDL team. Please do not change an existing page's category name simply because it does not match its header file. If you are concerned that a name is incorrect please submit Feedback from that page or contact us at <ANTI SPAM wiki AT libsdl DOT org> to confirm the change first.

Markup: Replace CategoryHeader with the appropriate category name from the table that follows, or contact us at <ANTI SPAM wiki AT libsdl DOT org> to find out what category name to use if you are unsure or if the category appears to be missing.

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