Sections

Each entry in a formula file is divided into one or more sections. It depends on the formula type which sections are supported and what they can contain. This topic describes sections in general. For specific information about a formula type, see Transformations, Fractal formulas, and Coloring algorithms.

Here is an example of a fractal formula:

MyMandelbrot {
init:
  z = 0
loop:
  z = sqr(z) + #pixel
bailout:
  |z| < 4
default:
  title = "My Mandelbrot"
}

This formula contains four sections. There are three types of sections:

Sections containing statements. These statements can be executed by Ultra Fractal; how and when this happens depends on the particular section. Each statement must be on a separate line, or they must be separated by commas. Examples of these sections are init and loop.
Sections containing a boolean expression. There's only one section of this type, the bailout section.
Sections containing settings related to the formula. Settings always have the form "setting = value". An example is the default section.

As you can see, sections are divided by labels. A label is just the name of the section followed by a colon.

For compatibility reasons, it is sometimes allowed to omit the label in some sections. For more information, see the formula-type specific documentation.

You can break long statements and settings across several lines using the backslash \ character. The backslash character must be the last character on the line for this to work. Any spaces or tab characters on the next line are removed, so if you want to add one or more spaces, you must put them on the previous line (the line containing the backslash). Example:

default:
  title = "A very long title \
           for my \
           favorite formula"

This is equal to:

default:
  title = "A very long title for my favorite formula"

Next: Expressions