Dialects
REBOL dialects, now popular as domain-specific languages (DSLs), are micro-languages optimized for a specific purpose. Dialects can be used to define business rules, graphical user interfaces or sequences of screens during the installation of a program. Users can define their own dialects, reusing any existing REBOL word and giving it a specific meaning in that dialect. Dialects are interpreted by functions processing REBOL blocks (or parsing strings) in a specific way.
An example of REBOL's dialecting abilities can be seen with the word return. In the data exchange dialect return is just a word not having any specific meaning. In the do dialect, return is a global variable referring to a native function passing back a function result value. In the visual interface dialect (VID), return is a keyword causing the layout engine to simulate a carriage return, moving the "rendering pen" down to the beginning of the next line.
A REBOL interpreter with graphical abilities must understand and interpret many dialects. The table below lists the most important ones in order of significance.
| Dialect name | Interpreted by | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Data exchange dialect | load function | represents data and metadata; common platform for REBOL dialects |
| Do dialect | do function | programming |
| Parse dialect | parse function | pattern matching |
| Function specification dialect | make function | function definition; functional programming |
| Object specification dialect | make function | object definition/inheritance; prototype-based programming |
| Visual interface dialect (VID) or RebGUI |
layout function or display function |
specifies graphical user interface |
| Draw dialect | view function | defines graphical elements (lines, polygons, etc.) |
| Script specification dialect | do function | script definition |
| Security policy dialect | secure function | specifies security policy |
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