Entering
Appointments with YAWL
If you choose to enter you appointments in YAWL, you must follow the
syntax described below. If you are not already familiar with using WagaLang
files as described above in the sections Entering
Appointments with WagaLang, WagaLang Appointment
Examples, and The WagaLang Appointment File,
you should quickly skim those sections because many of the same concepts
apply to YAWL.
First, just like WagaLang files, YAWL files are simple text files into
which you write your appointments. The information included is the same
as WagaLang files, but the format is different. Just as WagaLang files
had three sections, YAWL files have the same three sections: days
the activity occurs on, the times when the activity
starts and ends, and the activity description.
Each of these sections is described individually below, and we see a complete
YAWL appointment entry in Example YAWL Appointments.
 |
Note, unlike WagaLang files, each appointment entry in
YAWL files spans several lines. Each section is included on its own line(s). |
The Days Section
The first part of a YAWL appointment is the days section. This section
specifies which days the appointment occurs on. Unlike WagaLang, in YAWL
the days are written out as full words separated by commas. For example:
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday
The days can be listed in any order and can be written in any combination
of upper- and lowercase. In addition, they may be separated by any number
of spaces or tabs. For example:
Friday, Sunday, MoNDaY
The days cannot be abbreviated in any way. You must enter the
full day name. All the days must occur on the same line and nothing but
days may occur on this line.
The Start Time and End Time Section
The next section (and therefore the next line) of the YAWL file is the
Start Time and End Time sections. These sections describe the starting
time of the activity and the ending time. The actual times are given in
the format described in Time Format in HyperWAG just as they were for WagaLang.
The only difference between YAWL and HyperWAG is that the two times in
YAWL are separated by a dash ('-') instead of a comma.
For example:
10:45-13:00
9pm-11pm
The Description Section
The final section of a YAWL appointment is the description section.
Unlike in WagaLang files, the descriptions in YAWL files can (and often
do) span many lines. The end of a description is signified by the line
%%END-YAWL%%.
For example:
Skiing with Bjorne at
White Mountain's black dimond
trial. Bring first aid kit!!!
%%END-YAWL%%
This is a perfectly valid YAWL description. There is no limit to the number
of lines you may include, but your Week At a Glance table might become
cluttered if you include too much description.
|
Because the special line %%END-YAWL%% signifies the end
of a description, it cannot be used in a description. For example:
Monday,Tuesday
11:30-12:30
Lunch with my boos, Mr.
%%END-YAWL%%
Smith
Would be an error. But if your boss' first name is %%END-YAWL%% you have
bigger problems than this limitation of YAWL. |
Example
YAWL Appointments
Now that we've seen all the pieces, lets see what full YAWL appointments
look like.
Monday, Tuesday, Sunday
9:40-10:00
Very Important CPS Assignment. I must
work on this until I can know longer feel
the tips of my fingers because I have done
soooo much typing.
%%END-YAWL%%
YAWL appointments are generally easier to read than their WAG counterparts,
but often they are more time-consuming to enter.
The
YAWL Appointment File
The YAWL appointment file is very similar to the WagaLang
appointment file. It consists of as many YAWL appointments as you wish.
It can also include comment lines that are ignored by HyperWAG. These lines
must start with a pound sign ('#').
Introduction
