Glossary of Humdrum Terminology
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- Comment
- Either a global or
local comment. Any
record beginning
with an exclamation mark (!).
Further information.
- Data record
- Any record that is not a comment or
an interpretation. Must contain
the same number of tokens as the number of current
spines.
Further information.
- Data token
- A "word" of data found in a data record.
A token consists of any sequence of consecutive characters --
with the exception of the tab character (which is used to
separate successive tokens). Another exception is the
isolated period character which indicates a
null token.
Further information.
- Exclusive interpretation
- Any record beginning with one or more asterisks
(*), where at
least one spine begins with two asterisks.
- Global comment
- Any record beginning with two exclamation marks (!!).
- Interpretation
- Either an exclusive or
tandem interpretation.
Any record beginning with an asterisk (*).
Further information.
- Local comment
- Any record beginning with one and only one
exclamation mark (!).
Every spine in that record must also begin
with an exclamation mark.
- Null comment
- A comment record containing no commentary;
only the appropriate exclamation mark(s) are present.
- Null data record
- A data record consisting only of
null tokens.
- Null interpretation
- An interpretation for a given spine or
spines consisting of just the
interpretation signifier (i.e., a single asterisk).
- Null token
- The period (.) either alone on a single record or
separated from other characters by a tab. Appears only in data records.
Further information.
- Path Indicator
- One of five special tandem
interpretations
*+,
*-,
*v,
*^, and
*x, found only in tandem interpretation records.
Further information.
- Record
- A line of text in a Humdrum file that ends with the new-line
character.
- Reference Record
- A type of global comment
that is used to store formal bibliographic
information, such as composer's name, title of work, opus number,
etc.
Reference records begin with a three- or four-letter
special code used to indicate the type of information present.
For example, the code !!!AIN: is used to formally define
the instrumentation used in the work.
Over 100 reference codes are pre-defined in Humdrum.
Further information.
Complete listing.
- Spine
- A column-like "path" of information -- including
data records,
local comments, and
interpretations.
- Spine path indicator
- Same as
path indicator.
- Tandem interpretation
- Any record beginning with a single asterisk (*) where
none of the spines begin with two asterisks.
- Terminator
- One of five path indicators
used to indicate the end of a
spine.
Indicated by an asterisk followed by a minus sign
(*-).
© Copyright 1999 David Huron