Document Conventions

This section lists the common typographical and symbol use conventions for AWS technical publications.

Typographical Conventions

This section describes common typographical use conventions.

Convention	Description/Example
Call-outs	A call-out is a number in the body text to give you a visual reference. The reference point is for further discussion elsewhere. You can use this resource regularly.
Code in text	Inline code samples (including XML) and commands are identified with a special font. You can use the command `java -version`.
Code blocks	Blocks of sample code are set apart from the body and marked accordingly. # ls -l /var/www/html/index.html -rw-rw-r-- 1 root root 1872 Jun 21 09:33 /var/www/html/index.html # date Wed Jun 21 09:33:42 EDT 2006
Emphasis	Unusual or important words and phrases are marked with a special font. You must sign up for an account before you can use the service.
Internal cross references	References to a section in the same document are marked. For more information, see Document Conventions.
Logical values, constants, and regular expressions, abstracta	A special font is used for expressions that are important to identify, but are not code. If the value is `null`, the returned response will be `false`.
Product and feature names	Named AWS products and features are identified on first use. Create an Amazon Machine Image (AMI).
Operations	In-text references to operations. Use the `GetHITResponse` operation.
Parameters	In-text references to parameters. The operation accepts the parameter `AccountID`.
Response elements	In-text references to responses. A container for one `CollectionParent` and one or more `CollectionItems`.
Technical publication references	References to other AWS publications. If the reference is hyperlinked, it is also underscored. For detailed conceptual information, refer to the Amazon Mechanical Turk Developer Guide.
User entered values	A special font marks text that the user types. At the password prompt, type `MyPassword`.
User interface controls and labels	Denotes named items on the UI for easy identification. On the File menu, click Properties.
Variables	When you see this style, you must change the value of the content when you copy the text of a sample to a command line. % ec2-register `<your-s3-bucket>`/image.manifest See also the following symbol convention.

Symbol Conventions

This section describes the common use of symbols.

Convention	Symbol	Description/Example
Mutually exclusive parameters	(Parentheses \| and \| vertical \| bars)	Within a code description, bar separators denote options from which one must be chosen. % data = hdfread (start \| stride \| edge)
Optional parameters XML variable text	[square brackets]	Within a code description, square brackets denote completely optional commands or parameters. % sed [-n, -quiet] Use square brackets in XML examples to differentiate them from tags. <CustomerId>[ID]</CustomerId>
Variables	<arrow brackets>	Within a code sample, arrow brackets denote a variable that must be replaced with a valid value. % ec2-register <your-s3-bucket>/image.manifest

Convention

Symbol

Description/Example

Mutually exclusive parameters

(Parentheses | and | vertical | bars)

Within a code description, bar separators denote options from which one must be chosen.

% data = hdfread (start | stride | edge)

Optional parameters

XML variable text

[square brackets]

Within a code description, square brackets denote completely optional commands or parameters.

% sed [-n, -quiet]

Use square brackets in XML examples to differentiate them from tags.

<CustomerId>[ID]</CustomerId>

Variables

Within a code sample, arrow brackets denote a variable that must be replaced with a valid value.

% ec2-register <your-s3-bucket>/image.manifest