Fractal Formula File

The fractal formula file has a structure like this:

   fractal
   {
      mapping {
         ...
      }

      colors {
         ...
      }

      formula {
         ...
      }
   }
   

The details of each section can be found by following the appropriate link, this document will focus on the high-level characteristics of the formula file.

Here are some overall notes:

• The formula file must begin with the fractal keyword which is followed by the sections enclosed within '{' and '}'.

• All keywords in the fractal formula file are case sensitive. This means that:
  • fractal
  • mapping
  • colors
  • formula

  will be recognized but:

  • FRACTAL
  • Mapping
  • CoLoRs
  • forMULA

  will not be

• The sections must appear in the order shown above, but not all the sections are required. Here is a summary:

  Section Name	Required?
  mapping	yes
  colors	no
  formula	yes

• Whitespace is ignored, you could write your formula file all on one single line if you wanted to.

• The formula file allows you to place comments inside the file, three styles of comments are supported:
  • C style comments, where everything between /* and */ is treated as a comment

  • C++ style comments, where everything between // and the end of the line is treated as a comment

  • Script style comments, where everything between # and the end of the line is treated as a comment

  Here are some examples of the three comment styles

       /* -- This is a C style comment,
             note that it can span multiple lines -- */
  
       // This c++ style comment ends at the end of this line
  
       # So does this script style comment