Formula files and entries

Formula files are plain text files with the extensions .ufm (fractal formula files), .ucl (coloring algorithm files), or .uxf (transformation files). A formula file can contain any number of formulas (called entries).

Each entry starts with an entry identifier, followed by the contents of the entry between curly brackets { and }. After the entry identifier, an optional value between parentheses can be added. Examples:

My-Formula {
; entry contents
}

Mandelbrot(XAXIS) {
; this formula uses an optional setting 
}

comment {
  The comment entry always consists of comments.
}

The entry identifier may consist of almost all characters, except spaces and tabs, of course. Since you can specify an additional descriptive title for the formula, the identifier can be cryptic as the user never notices it (but it is shown by the browser). The identifier is used to distinguish between formulas in the same file, so no two formulas in the same file can have the same identifier.

The semicolon ; is used to add comments to a formula. After a semicolon, the rest of the line is ignored by the compiler. You can also add global comments like copyright information to a file by placing them inside a special comment { } entry, which is also ignored (but the browser shows it when the file is selected).

To facilitate working with entries, the built-in formula editor can automatically create new entries and search for existing entries. See Formula editors.

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