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MDCONF Standard Version 2 Specification Draft
MDCONF is a domain-specific data description and translation language. Together with MDMOD, it forms the Music Data Abstraction Language (MDAL). If you have never heard about MDAL and don't know which problems it tries to solve, please read this Introduction to MDAL first.
With MDCONF, authors of hardware-level music players implementations can configure
- The structure of the MDMOD implementation to be used as input for the player.
- The structure and composition of the binary data used by the music player.
It is the task of an MDAL compiler to figure out how to transform MDMOD input into the desired binary output format.
The MDCONF standard is based on symbolic expressions.
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MDCONF describes how to translate formalized input (in the form of MDMODs) into generalized output (in the form of assembly language data definitions). It does not aim to be a bi-directional data translation language, ie. it does not help you to derive MDMODs from generic data.
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MDCONF is a "dumb" language, meaning it does not care about semantics except where strictly necessary. MDCONF describes data in terms of structure, while generally ignoring content. In a nutshell, MDCONF is concerned with how to deal with data, rather than what that data represents. There are some exceptions to this rule. Notably, MDCONF understands the concept of a (musical) note, and the concept of an order list (also known as sequence).
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Don't bother the user with implementation details. The input structure should be as abstract as possible. For example, consider a player that expects patterns to have a fixed length. Such a requirement complicates the work of composers, hence they should not be burdened with it. Instead, MDAL knows how to translate arbitrary-length patterns into fixed length ones, so it is a good strategy to hide this implementation detail from the user altogether.
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Enable users to shoot themselves in the foot if necessary. That is, prefer feature richness over safety. Yes, stupid users do stupid things, but that is generally not a good enough reason to prevent intelligent users from exploiting your player implementation to the max. If you can expand the feature set of an MDCONF at the risk of enabling inconsiderate users to enter invalid input, take the risk. This should never be a serious problem, because the default behavior in regards to parsing MDMODs is to warn on and sanitize invalid input data, and only fail on invalid syntax.
Any MDCONF configuration is a single s-expression in the form
(mdalconfig
version: 2 target: target
description: "An optional description of the music player"
commands: ((command id: ID bits: n type: command-type ...)
...)
input: (input nodes...)
output: (output nodes...))
This expression shall be stored in a file using the .mdconf extension. It must reside in a directory bearing the same name as the .mdconf file (without the extension). The directory must contain any auxiliary files, such as the assembly code of the underlying player.
The standard rules for symbolic expressions apply. In addition, MDCONF uses keywords, which are denoted by symbols followed by a colon :.
A semicolon ; marks the start of a comment, which runs until the end of the current line.
For editing MDCONF configurations, the use of an editor that supports structured editing of s-expressions is recommended, eg. anything that supports paredit (Emacs, Vim, VS Code, Atom, ...).
Commands are the core elements of an MDCONF configuration. They are essentially type declarations, describing the range of values that are considered valid input for a field input element.
Commands are declared in a list that immediately follows the commands: keyword.
A command is declared as a list whose first element is the symbol command. A command definition takes values for the following keywords:
| keyword | value type | description |
|---|---|---|
id: |
symbol | An identifier that is unique among all commands used by the MDCONF configuration. |
type: |
symbol | One of the supported command types, see below. |
bits: |
integer | The maximum size of the accepted input values, in bits. Ignored for string and trigger type commands. |
tags: |
list | A list of command flags, see below. Optional. |
keys: |
s-expr | An s-expression that, when evaluated, will generate a hash map of key/value pairs. Ignored for all command types except key and ukey. |
default: |
value | A default value for the command. |
range: |
list | A list of length two, specifying the minimum and maximum permitted input values for int/uint commands. Optional. |
description: |
string | A string describing the command. Optional. |
Providing values for each of the keys is mandatory unless noted otherwise.
The following command types are recognized:
| command type | description |
|---|---|
int |
Command takes signed integer values as input. |
uint |
Command takes unsigned integer values as input. |
key |
Command takes keys as an input and produces signed integer output. Requires a key map to be specified with the keys: keyword. |
ukey |
Command takes keys as an input and produces unsigned integer output. Requires a key map to be specified with the keys: keyword. Note commands should normally use this type. |
reference |
Command takes unsigned integer values as input, which are assumed to be references to instances of a block or group input element. |
string |
Command takes a string as input. |
trigger |
Command takes no input, ie. the command itself is the input. Trigger commands may not have the use_last_set flag set. |
All MDAL implementation support at least the following flags:
| flag | description |
|---|---|
enable_modifiers |
Only useful for key/ukey type commands. Permits users to perform arithmetic modification of the mapped values. |
use_last_set |
Implicitly repeat the last set value on unset nodes, instead of falling back on the default value. This is useful for sound engines where values must be repeated on each row (so the user does not have to worry about this). |
is_note |
Assume that the given ukey command is a note command. This is ignored by the MDAL compiler, but naturally is a very helpful piece of information for tracker front-ends. |
In addition to the flags listed above, any number user-defined flags may be specified, which could be read by a tracker, for example.
For each MDCONF configuration, the following commands are automatically generated:
| command | used to specify the module's |
|---|---|
AUTHOR |
author(s) |
TITLE |
title |
LICENSE |
license terms |
Additionally, for each group input element that uses an order (sequence), reference type commands are generated for each of the order's subnodes.
Input elements describe the data format that users will use to compose for a given music engine.
The basic building blocks of the input configuration are fields. A field relates to a feature in the underlying music player. They could relate to global values, such as a global tempo setting, or an element within a larger structure, such as a note field within a pattern block. For the latter purpose, fields may be grouped into blocks, which may in turn be grouped into groups. Fields may also be direct children of a group. All input elements are implicitly wrapped in a GLOBAL group.
Note that in contrast with earlier MDCONF versions, order input elements are implicit in MDCONF v2 and cannot be explicitly defined.
A block wraps one or more field elements that form a logical unit of repeating data. The set of child nodes forms rows within the block. Typical applications for a block element would be patterns (as in, regular tracker module patterns), or tables (for example an arpeggio table).
| keyword | description |
|---|---|
id: |
A unique identifier naming the symbol node. |
nodes: |
A list of child elements, which must be fields. |
A clone node is a virtual node. It has no keywords. Instead, it takes an integer n in the second slot, and a prototype input node e in the third slot. The node e will be cloned n times. Unique identifiers are generated by appending the number of the clone to the identifier of e and the identifiers of all its child elements.
For example, the following expression
(clone 2 (block id: FOO nodes: ((field from: BAR))))will create two block nodes named FOO1 and FOO2, each containing one field named BAR1 respectively BAR2.
Fields are the basic building blocks of an input structure. They can exist as single-instance elements of a group (including the implicit top-level GLOBAL group), or as children of block nodes.
| keyword | description |
|---|---|
from: |
The ID of the command that the field is based on. |
id: |
A unique identifier naming the symbol node. |
Groups wrap logical units of input nodes, including other groups.
| keyword | description |
|---|---|
flags: |
A list of flags. See below for supported flags. |
id: |
A unique identifier naming the symbol node. |
nodes: |
A list of child nodes, which may be fields, blocks, and/or other groups. |
| flag | description |
|---|---|
ordered |
An order (sequence) node will be generated for this group. |
MDCONF defines the output elements asm, field, group, block, order, and symbol. Follow the links for a detailed description of each of these elements.
asm nodes are generated from assembly code. The code can be specified either as a string following the code: keyword, or in an external file, but not both. Assembly level symbols are preserved globally, so symbols created by one asm node can be referenced by another asm node. MDAL symbols can be referenced as well.
| keyword | description |
|---|---|
code: |
A string representing assembly code. Note that proper indentation must be used. |
file: |
The name of a file containing assembly code. |
id: |
A unique identifier naming the node. Optional unless the node is referenced by another output node. |
Blocks wrap repeated occurances of their field subnodes. The set of subnodes is generated for each row of each instance the corresponding input blocks, taking into account the order of it's group parent.
| keyword | description |
|---|---|
from: |
A list of input block identifiers. |
id: |
A unique identifier naming the symbol node. |
resize: |
An integer specifying the size of the output data in rows. Optional. |
nodes: |
A list of child nodes, which must be fields. |
The function of output fields depends on the context. If used at the top level or within a group, it will generate a single data field. If used within an output block, it will generate data fields for each instance of the corresponding input field(s) in each instance of the relevant input blocks.
| keyword | description |
|---|---|
bytes: |
The size of the data output, in bytes. |
compose: |
The composition expression for the node. See below. |
A Composition expression can be any expression that can be evaluated in the Scheme programming language.
A number of primitives are provided.
- An input node identifier prefixed by a question mark
?can be used to retrieve the current value of that node. - An identifier of an output symbol node prefixed by a dollar sign
$can be used to retrieve the value of that symbol node. - An identifier of an output node prefixed by an exclamation mark
!can be used to reference that output node. The predicateis-set?can be used to check if a givenfieldis set in the current context. It takes an identifier prefixed with a question mark?as an argument.
See the Example for some uses of composition expressions.
An output group node wraps multiple output blocks. If the corresponding input node uses an order (sequence), the output group will generate a matching order, which will be emitted as a symbol. The name of the symbol is the ID of the output group, prefixed by _mdal_order_
| keyword | description |
|---|---|
from: |
The identifier of an input group. |
id: |
A unique identifier naming the symbol node. |
nodes: |
A list of child nodes, which may be any output node type. |
Output group nodes that are derived from an input group which has the ordered flag will emit an abstract order list as a symbol. An order output node will transform this abstract order list into data output according to the chosen layout.
| keyword | description |
|---|---|
from: |
The ID of the output node that will generate the order. |
id: |
A unique identifier naming the symbol node. |
layout: |
The layout of the order. See below. |
element-size: |
The size of each element of the order, in bytes. |
base-index: |
The initial index value for numeric orders. Optional, assumed to be 0 if omitted. |
The following layouts are supported:
| name | description |
|---|---|
numeric-matrix |
Numeric indices per channel. Indices are unique for each channel. |
pointer-matrix |
Pointers to addresses in memory. |
shared-numeric-matrix |
Numeric indices per channel. Indices are shared across channels. |
A symbol output node generates an internal symbol that can be referenced by other output nodes. The value of the symbol is set to the current origin (address in memory).
| keyword | description |
|---|---|
id |
A unique identifier naming the symbol node. |
The example below is a possible MDCONF configuration for the Huby engine for ZX Spectrum beeper.
(mdalconfig ;; each MDCONF must start with this
version: 2 target: spectrum48 ;; mandatory version and target specification
description: "A simple 2 channel pin pulse (PFM) engine in less than 100 bytes.
By Shiru 2011, 2013." ;; An optional description of the underlying sound engine.
;; list of commands
commands: ((command id: BPM bits: 16 type: uint default: 140)
(command id: NOTE bits: 8 type: ukey
tags: (enable_modifiers use_last_set is_note)
keys: (make-dividers 118 8 0 -4)
default: "rest")
(command id: DRUM type: trigger default: #f description:
"Trigger a click drum. Replaces note on channel 1."))
;; list of input elements
input: ((field from: BPM) ;; a global input field derived from the BPM command
;; An input group which will use an order (sequence).
;; 3 subnodes are defined, 2 of which are generated by a clone node.
(group id: PATTERNS flags: (ordered)
nodes: ((block id: DRUMS nodes: ((field from: DRUM)))
(clone 2 (block id: CH
nodes: ((field from: NOTE)))))))
;; list of output elements
output: ((asm file: "huby.asm") ;; an asm node using an external file as source
(comment "sequence")
;; a word-sized field. The compose expression divides the value 1779661 by the value of the BPM
;; input node, using integer division.
(field bytes: 2 compose: (quotient 1779661 ?BPM))
;; another word-sized field. The compose expression subtracts 8 from the value of the
;; sequence_end output symbol defined below.
(field bytes: 2 compose: (- $sequence_end 8))
;; an order (sequence) node, generated from the PATTERNS output node.
(order from: PATTERNS layout: shared-numeric-matrix
element-size: 1 base-index: 1)
(field bytes: 1 compose: 0)
;; This node generates the sequence_end symbol and sets it to the current origin address.
(symbol id: sequence_end)
;; A group node with two block subnodes.
(group id: PATTERNS from: PATTERNS nodes:
((block id: CH1 from: (CH1 DRUMS) resize: 8
;; The compose expression of the field checks if the DRUM input node is set on
;; the given row. If it is, it sets the output value to 0x2c, otherwise it
;; sets it to the current value of the NOTE1 input node.
nodes: ((field bytes: 1 compose: (if (is-set? ?DRUM)
#x2c ?NOTE1))))
(block id: CH2 from: (CH2) resize: 8
nodes: ((field bytes: 1 compose: ?NOTE2)))))))