CONTROL OF SPECIAL CHARACTERS
The EGS standard uses a number of special characters as part of its format. These characters are used in a controlled manner that is specifically defined for the EGS standard. Specifically the controlled use of these characters allows for the unambigious interpretation of an EGS document by both readers and EGS specific software. The following is a list of the principal control characters used in EGS;
'~@#$%^&*(){}[]:;<>.-+=/\"
For example, because the dash is used as part of the protocol, its
use is not recommended within phrases. The underscore is used
instead. Also the "=" and "+" symbols are reserved for future
editions of the EGS standard. Finally the use of periods within
an EGS statement is to be avoided altogether.
Occasionally there are conflicts between the use of these characters in and for the text itself. Where these characters are to be used in text they are enclosed in single quotation marks. The single quotation mark is the "metacontrol" character of EGS. This metacharacter allows EGS specific software to ignore any of the other control characters, where they are used in non-EGS purposes, in its interpretation of and EGS document. Note that this rule is not necessary within TEXT itags where the contents are assumed to be single quoted at the onset. Double quotes are used in the same manner as conventional text.
One exception of the above single quoting rule is in the writing of numbers. In these events, if the number is small the decimal point will be replaced with a comma. Otherwise the entire number is enclosed in single quotes".
ENDI:
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