Objects

Object value syntax — open and closed objects, keyed and unkeyed values.

Objects are a fundamental element of Internet Object documents, providing a clear, compact way to represent structured data.

An object is a sequence of values and/or key-value pairs separated by commas (,, U+002C). For readability and flexibility, the format supports two object modes:

Open objects — written without curly braces; allowed only at the top level.
Closed objects — enclosed in {}; allowed at any level.

An object may contain:

Sequential (unkeyed) values
Inline keyed values (key: value)
Any combination and ordering of keyed and unkeyed values

All values in an object are accessed by position (0-based). A value that has a key may also be accessed by key, especially when a schema is applied.

Design note. Internet Object began as a compact, expressive format for transmitting structured objects across the internet — an object-oriented serialization model structurally similar to JSON. As it evolved, it adopted a document-oriented approach with sections, schemas, metadata, and stream-friendly constructs. The object remains the core unit of structure, and the compact syntax still reflects that original vision.

Implementation note. In many programming languages, "object" is a built-in or base type. To avoid clashes, an implementation MAY expose the Internet Object value under a distinct name (for example, InternetObject) while conforming fully to the object syntax and behavior defined here.

Syntax

Closed object

object         = "{" [ objectEntries ] "}"
objectEntries  = entry *( "," entry )

entry          = keyedValue | unkeyedValue
keyedValue     = key ":" value
unkeyedValue   = value

key            = string
value          = any valid Internet Object value

Open object

objectOpen = objectEntries

Keys must be valid strings. Values must be valid Internet Object values. Keyed and unkeyed values may appear in any order.

Structural characters

Symbol

Name

Unicode

Description

{

Open curly bracket

U+007B

Begins a closed object

}

Close curly bracket

U+007D

Ends a closed object

:

Colon

U+003A

Separates a key from its value

,

Comma

U+002C

Separates values or key-value entries

Valid forms

Open object with unkeyed and keyed values (any order)

name: John, Doe, 25
John, age: 25, gender: M
name: John, age: 25, gender: M, T
John Doe, 25, T

Closed object with mixed values

{name: John, Doe, 25}
{John, age: 25, gender: M}
{name: John, age: 25, gender: M, T}
{John Doe, 25, T}

Fully keyed object

{
  name: John Doe,
  age: 25,
  gender: M,
  isActive: T
}

Keys as strings (quoted forms)

{
  "name": John Doe,
  'isActive': T,
  address: {Bond Street, New York, NY}
}

JSON-compatible object

The following Internet Object is also a valid JSON object:

{"name": "John", "age": 30, "isActive": true}

Keys are double-quoted strings and all values use standard JSON types. Child objects must always be enclosed in curly braces {}. Only the top-level object may use the open form; every nested or embedded object must use the closed form.

Invalid forms

{name: John Doe 25}        # ✗ missing commas between values
{John age: 25 gender: M}   # ✗ missing commas between values

Optional behaviors

Whitespace and formatting

Whitespace is allowed and ignored:

{ name : John , age : 25 }

Empty objects

{}     # ✓ valid

Empty values

Empty value positions (via ,,) are valid:

John Doe,,true,,{NY}

Trailing commas

Trailing commas are allowed and ignored:

John, 25, T,,,,

Comments

Comments are allowed between entries or alongside values:

{
  name: John,     # name of person
  age: 25,        # years old
  isActive: T
}

Comments must not appear inside string literals or values.

Access semantics

All values are accessed by position (0-based).
A keyed value may also be accessed by key, especially when a schema is applied.
Keys do not affect a value's index position.
Keys are optional but must be well-formed strings.

Preservation of structure

Internet Object preserves:

Value order and keyed/unkeyed structure
Whitespace (non-significant)
Optional comments

It does not enforce:

Key uniqueness
Key-based access without a schema
The required presence of any key