From be4654c344f0745d4c2eefb33a878bd1f23f6b40 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Valentin Gagarin Date: Thu, 28 Jul 2022 15:55:41 +0200 Subject: [PATCH 1/2] manual: fix section title in table of contents --- doc/manual/src/SUMMARY.md.in | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/doc/manual/src/SUMMARY.md.in b/doc/manual/src/SUMMARY.md.in index 9728728aa..5df4e2d75 100644 --- a/doc/manual/src/SUMMARY.md.in +++ b/doc/manual/src/SUMMARY.md.in @@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ - [Arguments and Variables](expressions/arguments-variables.md) - [Building and Testing](expressions/simple-building-testing.md) - [Generic Builder Syntax](expressions/generic-builder.md) - - [Writing Nix Expressions](expressions/expression-language.md) + - [Nix Expression Language](expressions/expression-language.md) - [Values](expressions/language-values.md) - [Language Constructs](expressions/language-constructs.md) - [Operators](expressions/language-operators.md) From 85cdaebcd69c4f6abd15b77888f0093be9c5ada4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Valentin Gagarin Date: Thu, 28 Jul 2022 16:10:22 +0200 Subject: [PATCH 2/2] manual: set -> attribute set reword description to have shorter sentences. --- doc/manual/src/expressions/language-values.md | 22 ++++++++++--------- 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-values.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-values.md index 75ae9f2eb..abbe1fd35 100644 --- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-values.md +++ b/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-values.md @@ -172,25 +172,27 @@ function and the fifth being a set. Note that lists are only lazy in values, and they are strict in length. -## Sets +## Attribute Sets -Sets are really the core of the language, since ultimately the Nix -language is all about creating derivations, which are really just sets -of attributes to be passed to build scripts. +Attribute sets are collections of name-value-pairs (called *attributes*) enclosed in curly brackets (`{ }`). -Sets are just a list of name/value pairs (called *attributes*) enclosed -in curly brackets, where each value is an arbitrary expression -terminated by a semicolon. For example: +Names and values are separated by an equal sign (`=`). +Each value is an arbitrary expression terminated by a semicolon (`;`). + +Attributes can appear in any order. +An attribute name may only occur once. + +Example: ```nix -{ x = 123; +{ + x = 123; text = "Hello"; y = f { bla = 456; }; } ``` -This defines a set with attributes named `x`, `text`, `y`. The order of -the attributes is irrelevant. An attribute name may only occur once. +This defines a set with attributes named `x`, `text`, `y`. Attributes can be selected from a set using the `.` operator. For instance,