Syntax

The standard string form for XFN composite names is the concatenation of the components of a composite name from left to right, with the XFN component separator character (/) separating each component. Components can be quoted using either double-quote ("") or single-quote ('') pairs. You can use a backslash character (\) to excape the XFN component separator or quote characters if the intention is for these characters not to behave as separators or quotes. Note that quotation marks and escape characters are interpreted as such only when they appear in places that need quotes or escapes. For example, a quote appearing in an unquoted component is not interpreted as a quote.

XFN defines an abstract data type, FN_composite_name_t, for representing the structural form of a composite name. XFN also defines the syntax of how component string names are composed into an XFN composite name and the corresponding rules for converting an XFN composite name to its structural form from its string form, and vice versa. The XFN client interface includes operations that perform these conversions.

Table A-1 contains some examples of how the string form of XFN composite names are decomposed into components according to the syntax of XFN composite names. See also "Composite Name Encoding" for more information.

Table A-1 String and Structural Forms of XFN Composite Names

String form	Components in FN_composite_name_t
a	a
a/b/c	a, b, c
a/	a, ""
/a	"", a
a//	a, "", ""
a//b	a, "", b
""	""
/	"", ""
//	"", "", ""
"a/b/c"/d	a/b/c, d
"a.b.c"/d	a.b.c, d
a.b.c/d	a.b.c, d
a"b/c	a"b, c
a'b/c	a'b, c
"a/b/c	illegal name
\"a/b/c	"a, b, c
a\b\c/d	a\b\c, d
a\b\/c	a\b/c
"a\"b"/c	a"b, c
'"a/b/c"'	"a/b/c"
'a\/b'/c	a\/b, c
a\\b/c	a\b, c
a/\"b	a, "b