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Conflicts: doc/topics/cloud/linode.rst doc/topics/cloud/misc.rst doc/topics/cloud/parallels.rst doc/topics/cloud/proxmox.rst Conflicts: doc/topics/development/architecture.rst doc/topics/development/translating.rst
110 lines
2.8 KiB
ReStructuredText
110 lines
2.8 KiB
ReStructuredText
Understanding YAML
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==================
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The default renderer for SLS files is the YAML renderer. YAML is a
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markup language with many powerful features. However, Salt uses
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a small subset of YAML that maps over very commonly used data structures,
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like lists and dictionaries. It is the job of the YAML renderer to take
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the YAML data structure and compile it into a Python data structure for
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use by Salt.
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Though YAML syntax may seem daunting and terse at first, there are only
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three very simple rules to remember when writing YAML for SLS files.
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Rule One: Indentation
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---------------------
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YAML uses a fixed indentation scheme to represent relationships between
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data layers. Salt requires that the indentation for each level consists
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of exactly two spaces. Do not use tabs.
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Rule Two: Colons
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----------------
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Python dictionaries are, of course, simply key-value pairs. Users from other
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languages may recognize this data type as hashes or associative arrays.
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Dictionary keys are represented in YAML as strings terminated by a trailing
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colon. Values are represented by either a string following the colon,
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separated by a space:
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.. code-block:: yaml
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my_key: my_value
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In Python, the above maps to:
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.. code-block:: python
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{'my_key': 'my_value'}
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Alternatively, a value can be associated with a key through indentation.
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.. code-block:: yaml
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my_key:
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my_value
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.. note::
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The above syntax is valid YAML but is uncommon in SLS files because most often,
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the value for a key is not singular but instead is a *list* of values.
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In Python, the above maps to:
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.. code-block:: python
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{'my_key': 'my_value'}
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Dictionaries can be nested:
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.. code-block:: yaml
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first_level_dict_key:
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second_level_dict_key: value_in_second_level_dict
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And in Python:
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.. code-block:: python
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{
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'first_level_dict_key': {
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'second_level_dict_key': 'value_in_second_level_dict'
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}
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}
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Rule Three: Dashes
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-------------------
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To represent lists of items, a single dash followed by a space is used. Multiple
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items are a part of the same list as a function of their having the same level of indentation.
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.. code-block:: yaml
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- list_value_one
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- list_value_two
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- list_value_three
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Lists can be the value of a key-value pair. This is quite common in Salt:
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.. code-block:: yaml
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my_dictionary:
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- list_value_one
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- list_value_two
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- list_value_three
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In Python, the above maps to:
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.. code-block:: python
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{'my_dictionary': ['list_value_one', 'list_value_two', 'list_value_three']}
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Learning More
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-------------
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One easy way to learn more about how YAML gets rendered into Python data structures is
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to use an online YAML parser to see the Python output.
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One excellent choice for experimenting with YAML parsing is: http://yaml-online-parser.appspot.com/ |