Fun with YAML (it ain't markup language)

**ghostcop** · September 3rd, 2005, 2:04 PM

YAML (sounds like 'camel') is a human friendly data serialization language with a recursive name of YAML Ain't Markup Language. It can be used to write arrays and other fun data types in plain text (Unicode), and can be understood by a number of these dynamic languages we've got floating around. Perl, Python, PHP, Ruby, etc. See www.yaml.org for more info.

Here's an example of a nice, human friendly YAML document.

Code:

--- 
name: Admiral ozmm
age: 20 
residency: San Francisco 
loves: 
  - PHP 
  - Ruby 
  - Playing Guitar 
hates: [Gas Masks, Zombies]

Now I load the YAML into an array, maybe with $array = Spyc::YAMLLoad($yamlFile), and a print_r($array) comes out as:

PHP Code:


			
Array 

( 

    [name] => Admiral ozmm 

    [age] => 20 

    [residency] => San Francisco 

    [loves] => Array 

        ( 

            [0] => PHP 

            [1] => Ruby 

            [2] => Playing Guitar 

        ) 

    [hates] => Array 

        ( 

            [0] => Gas Masks 

            [1] => Zombies 

        ) 



)

Think of the possibilities. No more confusing config files for your clients, easily understood log files (you can dump PHP arrays to YAML), the works.

If you're into the whole PHP thing, there is a pure PHP loader/dumper for YAML, called Spyc [spice] (a simple php yaml class). The project page is http://sourceforge.net/projects/spyc/. It's a newborn, so handle with care. If you want to lend a hand, it would be most appreciated.

See Spyc in action under the demo section of http://ozmm.org/spyc/

A super-fast extension written in C for PHP (and other languages) is Syck. You can get it at www.whytheluckystiff.net/syck/. If you are using Ruby, you already have Syck (YAML support is built into Ruby's standard library).

**Ancyru** · September 4th, 2005, 6:13 AM

Wow, that looks like it can save a lot of time and help out some n00bs like me.

**David** · September 4th, 2005, 6:20 AM

maybe it's just a typo, but why is the hates in the friendly version in brackets? there doesn't seem to be a code reason in the code version. same with the loves having - beside them.

**TJ09** · September 4th, 2005, 10:54 AM

The example is probably just showing different ways of storing data using YAML, since apparantly both end up read the same way.

**ghostcop** · September 4th, 2005, 12:27 PM

There are many different ways to do many different things with YAML. It is an impressive spec, and the document I've shown is only a very small subset of the language. Sequences (indexed arrays) can indeed be written as multi-line dashed statements or as elements enclosed within brackets.

http://yaml.kwiki.org/?YamlInFiveMinutes is a good place to look over YAML, in five minutes.

September 3rd, 2005, 2:04 PM	#1 (permalink)
ghostcop Surpass Fan On a golden path... Joined in Nov 2004 Lives in San Francisco 364 posts Gave thanks: 0 Thanked 3 times	Fun with YAML (it ain't markup language) YAML (sounds like 'camel') is a human friendly data serialization language with a recursive name of YAML Ain't Markup Language. It can be used to write arrays and other fun data types in plain text (Unicode), and can be understood by a number of these dynamic languages we've got floating around. Perl, Python, PHP, Ruby, etc. See www.yaml.org for more info. Here's an example of a nice, human friendly YAML document. Code: --- name: Admiral ozmm age: 20 residency: San Francisco loves: - PHP - Ruby - Playing Guitar hates: [Gas Masks, Zombies] Now I load the YAML into an array, maybe with $array = Spyc::YAMLLoad($yamlFile), and a print_r($array) comes out as: PHP Code: `Array ( [name] => Admiral ozmm [age] => 20 [residency] => San Francisco [loves] => Array ( [0] => PHP [1] => Ruby [2] => Playing Guitar ) [hates] => Array ( [0] => Gas Masks [1] => Zombies ) )` Think of the possibilities. No more confusing config files for your clients, easily understood log files (you can dump PHP arrays to YAML), the works. If you're into the whole PHP thing, there is a pure PHP loader/dumper for YAML, called Spyc [spice] (a simple php yaml class). The project page is http://sourceforge.net/projects/spyc/. It's a newborn, so handle with care. If you want to lend a hand, it would be most appreciated. See Spyc in action under the demo section of http://ozmm.org/spyc/ A super-fast extension written in C for PHP (and other languages) is Syck. You can get it at www.whytheluckystiff.net/syck/. If you are using Ruby, you already have Syck (YAML support is built into Ruby's standard library). __________________ Err the Blog ones zeros majors and minors - a tumblelog

September 4th, 2005, 6:13 AM	#2 (permalink)
Ancyru L'Awesome Advocate Super #1 Joined in May 2004 Lives in .au Hosted on Mango 2,423 posts Gave thanks: 1 Thanked 5 times	Wow, that looks like it can save a lot of time and help out some n00bs like me. __________________ When I get sad, I stop being sad, and be AWESOME instead. True story.

September 4th, 2005, 10:54 AM	#4 (permalink)
TJ09 SurPerson On a golden path... Joined in Jul 2004 Lives in front of my laptop Hosted on Sync 437 posts Gave thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	The example is probably just showing different ways of storing data using YAML, since apparantly both end up read the same way. __________________ Me: TeeJay Server: Sync (Statistics) Site: technoized.com (Statistics) chown -R us ./base

September 4th, 2005, 12:27 PM	#5 (permalink)
ghostcop Surpass Fan On a golden path... Joined in Nov 2004 Lives in San Francisco 364 posts Gave thanks: 0 Thanked 3 times	There are many different ways to do many different things with YAML. It is an impressive spec, and the document I've shown is only a very small subset of the language. Sequences (indexed arrays) can indeed be written as multi-line dashed statements or as elements enclosed within brackets. http://yaml.kwiki.org/?YamlInFiveMinutes is a good place to look over YAML, in five minutes. __________________ Err the Blog ones zeros majors and minors - a tumblelog

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