Symbol Conventions
This section describes the common use of symbols.
Description/Example
Symbol
Convention
Within a code description, bar separators denote options from
which one must be chosen.
% data = hdfread (start | stride | edge)
(Parentheses | and
| vertical | bars)
Mutually
exclusive
parameters
Within a code description, square brackets denote completely
optional commands or parameters.
% sed [-n, -quiet]
Use square brackets in XML examples to differentiate them from
tags.
<Date>[date]</Date>
[square brackets]
Optional
parameters
XML variable
text
Within a code sample, arrow brackets denote a variable that
must be replaced with a valid value.
% ec2-register <your-s3-bucket>/image.manifest
<arrow brackets>
Variables
API Version 2011-08-01
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Product Advertising API Developer Guide
Symbol Conventions