If intending to do action code based creation/deletion/traversal of links in the document, it is advisable to avoid the following characters when titling notes (N.B. this list is not exhaustive):
- / forward slash. Used as the folder delimiter in paths.
- \ backward slash. Used as an escape character in strings.
- ( opening and ) closing parentheses. Indicates nested expressions in action code.
- [ opening and [ closing parentheses. Indicates list data in action code.
- { opening and } closing parentheses. Indicates dictionary data in action code.
- : colon. Key:Value delimiter in look-up tables and dictionaries
- ; semi-colon. The item delimiter in lists.
Using the above in note titles has no effect on non-action code activities.
If a path contains slashes or parentheses, Tinderbox checks for note names that exactly match the path. For example, if the input path value is S/Z, this matches either the note Z inside container S or the note named S/Z.
Paths containing Parentheses
Paths containing $Names including parentheses, e.g. "Fred Smith (Jr.)", will handle correctly during concatenation. In older pre-v6 versions, parentheses caused the new string to terminate at the first parenthesis. For a note with $Name "Fred Smith (Jr.)" setting a new path:
"/Some/Path/"+ $Name
…gives "/Some/Path/Fred Smith (Jr.)" unlike the old (and incorrect) "/Some/Path/Fred Smith ".
Improved parsing
From v9.1.0, the action parser behaves better when handling unquoted paths, as in
create(/Sources/People/Jefferson);
Previously, Tinderbox attempted to parse the path, which could lead to unexpected results. Now, a path with an initial "/" is recognised and treated as if it were a literal string. However, as literal paths containing commas, semicolons, or parentheses can confuse the parser.
Therefore if it is necessary to include commas and semicolons and parentheses in your path names, enclose the path in quotes or store the name in a string attribute.
create("/Sources/Martin Luther King, Jr./Speeches");
More normally paths are not quoted:
create(/Sources/Journals/Nature);
The same holds for attribute references
create($MyString);
Use of # and @ in $Name
From v9.5.0, by default, Tinderbox scans all note name titles on creation/edit for these characters being used as shorthand mark-up for assigning prototype and location data. This behaviour is controlled by a toggle in Document Settings ▸ General and so may be disabled if mis-detection of literal use of # and @ is occurring.