ClearSilver's HierarchicalDataFormat (HDF) -- one of the AlternativesToXml See: http://www.clearsilver.net/docs/man_hdf.hdf Examples: ''"It supports two different syntax for representing the dataset hierarchy which can be intermixed arbitrarily. The first is a simple dotted path scheme:'' Page.Name = My Index Page.URL = /myindex.html Page.Menu.0 = Home Page.Menu.1 = Preferences Page.Menu.2 = Help Page.Menu.3 = Support ''"The second is a nested elements scheme:'' Page { Name = My Index URL = /myindex.html Menu { 0 = Home 1 = Preferences 2 = Help 3 = Support } } A few more small examples at http://www.clearsilver.net/docs/compare_w_xmlxslt.hdf ----- Compare to YamlAintMarkupLanguage. ''Looks like Java '.properties' files -- morphed into something close to JavaScriptObjectNotation (JSON) or Python native data, to me. -- JeffGrigg'' ----- Questions from the AlternativesToXml page: * Is it really a significant product offering for WebProgramming? * I don't understand how clearsilver is an alternative to XML. It's certainly a way of working with XML, and I suppose it could displace some uses of XML, but it's in no way an XML equivalent. ** ''The Clearsilver templating system library is primarily intended for support and manipulation of HTML and XML. Its "HDF" ("Hierarchical Data Format") is an alternative to XML.''