Subversion has a standard config file format: [section] key : val key : val key : val [section] key : val key : val This format is similar to the Win32 .INI format, and is general enough for most purposes. Each section name, key, and val are UTF-8 encoded. This format is currently used by: * `svn.conf', which specifies general Subversion server policies * `svn_security', a file which lives in each repository and defines ACLs for the plugin_security module * all files within a working copy's .svn/ administrative directory This format is parsed by svn_parse(), located in svn_subr/svn_parse.c. This routine stores all key/vals as svn_string_t (bytestrings) within ap_hash_t (APR's hash type). ---------------- Let's rethink this, and create a system which allows "nesty" syntax, something like scheme. The main point is still to define sections/keys/vals.