The pan configuration language allows the definition of machine configuration information and an associated
schema with a simple, human-accessible syntax. A pan language compiler transforms the configuration
information contained within a set of pan templates to a machine-friendly XML format.

The pan language is used within the Quattor

Quattor

Quattor is a generic open-source tool-kit used to install, configure, and manage computers. Quattor was originally developed in the framework of project...

 toolkit to define the desired configuration for one or
more machines. The language is primarily a declarative language where elements in a hierarchical
tree are set to particular values. The pan syntax is human-friendly and fairly simple, yet allows system
administrators to simultaneously set configuration values, define an overall configuration schema, and
validate the final configuration against the schema.

Implementation

The compiler panc serves as the defacto reference implementation of the language and is implemented in Java

Java (programming language)

Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...

, at present it is not possible to execute the compiler with OpenJDK

OpenJDK

OpenJDK is a free and open source implementation of the Java programming language. It is the result of an effort Sun Microsystems began in 2006...

.

A configuration is defined by a set of files, called templates, written in the pan language.
These templates define simultaneously the configuration parameters, the configuration schema, and
validation functions. Each template is named and is contained in a file having the same name.
The syntax of a template file is simple:
[ object | declaration | unique | structure ] template template-name;
[ statement … ]
These files may contain comments that start with the hash sign ('#') and terminate with the next new line
or end of file.

Types

There are five primitive, atomic types in the pan language:

• boolean
• long
• double
• string
• link

There are two primitive collection types:

• list (an ordered list/array of elements)
• nlist (Named list associates a string key with a value, similar to hashes, dictionaries or associative arrays)

Users can create new types built up from the primitive types with optional validation functions to enforce specific constraints for particular fields.

Template Types

There are five different types of templates that are identified by the template modifier:

Ordinary Templates

An ordinary template uses no template modifier in the declaration. These templates may contain any
pan statement, but statements must operate only on absolute paths.

Object Templates

Object templates can be though of as the root of each generated XML configuration profile.
The pan compiler will generate an XML profile for each processed object template.
In all other respects they are the same as ordinary templates.

Declaration Templates

These templates may contain only those pan statements that do not modify the machine profile.
A declaration template will only be executed once for each processed object template no matter how many times it is included.

Unique Templates

A template defined with the unique modifier behaves like an ordinary template except that it will only be included once for each processed object template.

Structure Templates

Structure templates are a convenient alternative for creating nlists and are used via the create function.
A template declared with the structure modifier may only contain include statements and assignment statements that operate on relative paths.
Any include statements may only reference other structure templates.

External links

• pan documentation and compiler