spw.quest

Constructs

The shapes a line of Spw takes, one card each: what it reads as, what holds it, what it holds, and how often the 1072 lines on the shelf use it. Every name on a card is a door to that card.

One line from spwashi.com's home page, taken apart. Each part opens its card.

home[hook]{software.art.practice}(atlas)<person>

  1. home the word
  2. [hook] the lens
  3. {software.art.practice} what it holds
  4. (atlas) the scene
  5. <person> where it goes

Braces

Four pairs. Each holds one slot of a line.

< >

concept

  • brace
  • slot: projection
reads
What this is about.
on the shelf
393 lines of 1072
pressed
surfaces[route]{path.role}<publish>

Pivot it

( )

scene

  • brace
  • slot: scope
reads
Where it happens.
on the shelf
123 lines of 1072
pressed
(look){stage}<learn>

Pivot it

[ ]

mode

  • brace
  • slot: mode
reads
Which lens you are using.
on the shelf
1051 lines of 1072
pressed
host[mode]{one.two.three}

Pivot it

Marks

Twelve single sigils, named as the workbench names them. A mark reads by where it sits.

?

wonder

  • mark
reads
Open a question you can close again.
on the shelf
in front of a word 8
pressed
?atlas[open]{aperture.edge}
held by
the word

Pivot it

!

action

  • mark
reads
Commit a move so its consequence can be seen.
on the shelf
No line on the shelf uses it yet.
*

value

  • mark
reads
Mark what carries weight here.
on the shelf
No line on the shelf uses it yet.
.

ground

  • mark
reads
Come back to the local default.
on the shelf
after a word 1
pressed
orientation.

Pivot it

^

ascension

  • mark
reads
Lift parts into one relation you can inspect.
on the shelf
in front of a word 1; between two lines 1
between lines
the slot reader calls the bond project
pressed
^lift[evidence]{parts.whole}

Pivot it

@

perspective

  • mark
reads
Say who is looking, and from where.
on the shelf
inside a word 3
between lines
the slot reader calls the bond perspective
pressed
viewer@subject

Pivot it

&

subject

  • mark
reads
Name what the relation is about.
on the shelf
in front of a word 1; between two lines 1
between lines
the slot reader calls the bond subject
pressed
&subject[claim]{binding}

Pivot it

=

configuration

  • mark
reads
Keep this here, under this name.
on the shelf
No line on the shelf uses it yet.
held by
a facet
%

measure

  • mark
reads
Compare, weigh, or level the field.
on the shelf
No line on the shelf uses it yet.
$

substrate

  • mark
reads
Name what carries the charge: time, money, memory, attention.
on the shelf
in front of a word 1
pressed
$ground[material]{grain.tooth}

Pivot it

Forms in a line

What a line is built from, around its braces.

boon.honk home[hook]

a charge in front

  • line
reads
One of five valence words before the word (boon, bane, bone, bonk, honk), saying how the material changes. They ride the word; they are not the word.
on the shelf
17 lines of 1072
pressed
boon[crown]{pearl}<valence>

Pivot it

{software.art.practice}

a tight body

  • line
reads
Parts joined by dots. The search reads three parts; the parser reads one word.
on the shelf
685 lines of 1072
pressed
host[mode]{one.two.three}

Pivot it

{sow; tend; harvest}

a sequence

  • line
reads
Parts in order, each a step after the last.
on the shelf
49 lines of 1072
{voice, scene, turn}

a list

  • line
reads
Parts side by side, with no order between them.
on the shelf
12 lines of 1072
{scrap ~> mill}

a movement

  • line
reads
One part carried to the next: movement between distinct places, not a list.
on the shelf
No line on the shelf yet.
outer[mode]{inner[deep]{leaf}}

a body inside a body

  • line
reads
An expression held inside another's definition. What holds what is the shape itself.
on the shelf
No line on the shelf yet.
pressed
outer[mode]{inner[deep]{leaf}}

Pivot it

How lines join

Every way the shelf joins two things, with the word spwashi.com's slot reader gives each and the name the workbench gives its mark.

form, and wherereader saysmark is calledlines
a ~ bbetween two linesinductpotential26
a ^ bbetween two linesprojectascension1
a & bbetween two linessubjectsubject1
a @ bbetween two linesperspectiveperspective0
{a ~> b}inside a bodyprojectpotential0
{a; b}inside a bodyordinal49
{a, b}inside a bodycommon12
{a.b}inside a bodyidentground685

Where the names part

Each is open unless it says it is settled. Position may be the whole answer: a mark in front, between, and inside a body need not read alike.

  1. project names two forms: a ^ b between two lines (1 on the shelf) and {a ~> b} inside a body (0). The mark ^ is called ascension, and ~ potential.
  2. Settled. lens used to name two things. @ is an operation of perspective regarding its operand, so viewer@subject (3 on the shelf) reads the subject from the viewer's position, and the slot reader calls an @ join perspective; the [ ] brace keeps the lens you are using (1051).
  3. ~ reads three ways by where it sits: potential in front of a word (2), induct between two lines (26), and the start of a movement inside a body (0).
  4. The dot: to the parser software.art.practice is one word; the search reads three parts. 685 bodies on the shelf are written this way, and . on its own is called ground.
  5. A charge with nothing to ride: 17 lines open with a valence word and no other word, as bane[bone]{limit} does, so the reader takes the valence word as the charge and finds no word. The workbench reads the five as modifiers on a word.

Forms in a file

What a .spw file holds around its lines.

#:layer #!pragmatics

a layer

  • file
reads
What kind of writing this is, as a tag the tools can read. The ! there is the # mark's aim, a tag.
.{ status = #proposed }[reg=facet]

a facet

  • file
reads
A small record of named values, read together.
in the gallery
1 file of 16

Open the gallery

#[a, b, c][reg=set]

a set

  • file
reads
Members with no order to keep.
in the gallery
4 files of 16

Open the gallery

@roadmap: ~"./roadmap.spw"

a handle

  • file
reads
A short name declared once for a citation, so prose can say @roadmap.
>>[2026-10-27 13:32] probe — what the run showed.

a stream entry

  • file
reads
A dated line saying what happened: observed, decided, probed.
~#lens(comparison)

a reading beside

  • file
reads
A reading set beside its subject, by name, so tools can count it.
held by
a wonder
$%[part.name, part.body]

a measure list

  • file
reads
What a question would measure, or the answers it chooses among. The form does not say which.
held by
a wonder

Between lines

What you can do with two lines, or with one and a change.

ground, then edge

  • between lines
reads
Read two lines side by side: the slots they share, then the slot where they part.

Compare two

a template with a slot

  • between lines
reads
Keep one slot and open another; the lines that fill the open slot are a family.
on the shelf
27 lines

theory[*]

departs from

  • between lines
reads
A form written against another. Read the pair to see what it changed.
on the shelf
6 lines

Read a pair

a pivot

  • between lines
reads
Change one slot and keep the rest. See where the line lands before you go there.

Pivot a line

residue

  • between lines
reads
Drop a slot and read what the line still says.

Drop a slot

Specimens · Pivot a line · Take one line apart · Learn it a mark at a time