Open Strings

Open strings in Internet Object

An Open String in Internet Object is the simplest string format. It is a sequence of Unicode codepoints not enclosed in any quotes. Open strings are ideal for simple, unstructured text that does not begin or end with whitespace and does not require escaping of special or structural characters.

Open strings are scalar values. They preserve all internal whitespace and Unicode content, but cannot start or end with whitespace.

Syntax

Open strings begin with any non-whitespace codepoint and end at the first whitespace or structural character, or at the end of the document.

openString    = nonWhitespace (codepoint)*
nonWhitespace = any Unicode codepoint except whitespace
codepoint     = any Unicode codepoint except structural characters or document end

Structural Characters

Symbol
Name
Unicode
Description

(space, tab, etc.)

Whitespace

Multiple

Terminates or invalidates open string start/end

:

Colon

U+003A

Structural character (terminates string)

,

Comma

U+002C

Structural character (terminates string)

{

Open Curly Brace

U+007B

Structural character (terminates string)

}

Close Curly Brace

U+007D

Structural character (terminates string)

[

Open Square Bracket

U+005B

Structural character (terminates string)

]

Close Square Bracket

U+005D

Structural character (terminates string)

"

Double Quote

U+0022

Allowed, does not terminate or need escape

'

Single Quote

U+0027

Allowed, does not terminate or need escape

Valid Forms

Examples of valid open strings:

John Doe
Peter D'mello
जॉन डो
Wow Great
😃

Multiple open strings in an object:

जॉन डो, Wow Great, 😃

Multiline open string (no escaping required):

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consetetur sadipscing elitr sed
diam nonumy eirmod.

Tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat
sed diam voluptua

Optional Behaviors

  • Whitespace: Open strings cannot start or end with whitespace, but preserve all internal whitespace.

  • No Escaping: No character escaping is supported. Quotes and other characters are allowed as-is.

  • Multiline: Open strings can span multiple lines if not interrupted by structural characters.

Comments

Comments are not allowed within open strings, but may appear outside or between values as per Internet Object comment rules.

Invalid Forms

Examples of invalid open strings:

 John Doe      # ✗ Starts with whitespace (should be 'John Doe')
John Doe       # ✗ Ends with whitespace (should be 'John Doe')
"John Doe"     # ✗ Quoted (should be unquoted for open string)
.John          # ✗ Starts with a dot (if dot is structural in context)

Preservation of Structure

Internet Object preserves:

  • All Unicode codepoints and internal whitespace as written

  • The unquoted, open form of the string

It does not interpret or enforce:

  • Escaping or encoding

  • Leading/trailing whitespace (disallowed)

  • Application-specific constraints

See Also

PreviousStringsNextRegular Strings

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