GUIDE 4 — HTML-ISH

lvl3 — full html replacement in mtx syntax.

the ;\ expander

;\ is the universal element expander.
after ;\, read exactly 2 characters — the element code.

letter + . = page-structure element (;\d. = div, ;\n. = nav)
letter + letter = specific element (;\b2 = button, ;\td = td)
letter + digit = slot-based element (;\i5 = input, ;\m5 = meta)

;\d. content ;|         div (block, closes with ;|)
;\s0 content ;.         span (inline, closes with ;.)
;\n. links ;|           nav
;\f1 fields ;|          form
;\b2 click me ;.        button

attributes

attributes go after the element code, before content. closed by ;"

shortcuts

shortcut	html output	example
`;?:value`	class	`;\d.;?:box;,card;"` = `<div class="box card">`
`;$:value`	style	`;$:color;>red;"` = `style="color:red"`
`;\i:value`	id	`;\i:main;"` = `id="main"`
`;\a:key;>val`	generic	`;\a:type;>email;"` = `type="email"`
`;\a:flag`	boolean	`;\a:disabled;"` = `disabled`
`;\e:name`	entity	`;\e:copy;"` = `©`

separators

;> separates key from value. ;, separates multiples.

;?:box;,card;,dark;"                  class="box card dark"
;$:color;>red;,font-size;>18px;"     style="color:red;font-size:18px"

full example

;\d.;?:card;";$:padding;>1em;"
  ;\s0;?:label;" status: ;.
  ;\b2;\a:type;>submit;" save ;.
;|

produces:

<div class="card" style="padding:1em">
  <span class="label">status: </span>
  <button type="submit">save</button>
</div>

void elements (;v)

void elements have no content — attributes then ;v immediately.
all void elements live at slot 5.

;\i5;\a:type;>email;\i:email;" ;v       <input type="email" id="email">
;\m5;\a:charset;>utf-8;" ;v              <meta charset="utf-8">
;\l5;\a:rel;>stylesheet;\a:href;>/s.css;" ;v   <link rel="stylesheet" href="/s.css">

void elements: ;\a5 ;\b5 ;\c5 ;\e5 ;\i5 ;\l5 ;\m5 ;\s5 ;\t5 ;\w5

the ;: datapod

;: is the data structure prefix — sibling of ;\ expander.
after ;:, read exactly 2 chars (same rule).

datapod gives you explicit html-ish list and entry syntax.

unordered list

;:l:
  ;:a: apples ;,
  ;:a: bananas ;,
  ;:a: cherries ;,
;|

;:l: = ul, ;:a: = li (array item), ;, = item closer, ;| = container closer.

ordered list

;:0:
  ;:r: first step ;,
  ;:r: second step ;,
;|

;:0: = ol, ;:r: = li (ray item).

definition list

;:e:
  ;:k: name ;> ;:v: Vee ;,
  ;:k: role ;> ;:v: architect ;,
;|

;:e: = dl, ;:k: = dt (key), ;:v: = dd (value).
;> separates key from value. ;, closes the value.

datapod vs md-ish

two syntax styles for the same structures:

md-ish (quick)	datapod (explicit)
`;- item ;.`	`;:l: ;:a: item ;, ;\|`
`;1. item ;.`	`;:0: ;:r: item ;, ;\|`
(no shortcut)	`;:e: ;:k: key ;> ;:v: val ;, ;\|`

md-ish is quick for docs. datapod is explicit for layouts and xml-like structures.

putting it together

a complete lvl3 snippet:

;\h.
  ;\n.;?:site-nav;"
    ;] home ;. ;} / ;. · ;] about ;. ;} /about ;.
  ;|
;|

;\m.;?:content;"
  ;==== hello world ;.
  ;- first point ;.
  ;- second point ;.
;|

;\f.
  ;\e:copy;" 2026 digiopsys
;|

readable in source. no tag soup. same ; trigger as everything else.

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