Text formats and notational conventions

Standard text format and notational conventions in developer documents help to understand and emphasize essential information.

Text and brackets

Format	Usage
Bold	Use bold text for: Button and icon names, tabs, and menus, options, and check box names, when indicating an action. Example: On the home screen, tap Orders. Navigation paths. Example: From the home page, click File > Settings > Web configuration.
Italics	Use italics formatting for variable text, such as folder names or ID values that vary for each user.
Monospace	Use `Courier` monospaced, gray-highlighted text for short code samples, file paths, system messages, and user inputs. Example: Open a web browser and navigate to `http://localhost:8080`.
Angle brackets < >	Use for identifiers, parameters, or argument values provided by users. Example: `git config [<file-option>] [--type=<type>] --add name value`
Curly brackets { }	Use for text that varies based on the user and needs to be replaced with values unique to the user or environment. For example, each Clover merchant has a unique identifier. In the documents, this is indicated with a placeholder: `{mId}` or `{merchantId}`. When copying sample code that includes bracketed values, replace both the brackets and sample values with your data. Example: In the GET request for a single merchant, the sample URL includes the bracketed value `{mId}`. When using the URL in your own code, replace `{mId}` with the ID value of the merchant you want to retrieve. GET request with placeholder: `curl -X GET https://apisandbox.dev.clover.com/v3/merchants/{mId}` GET request with actual value: `curl -X GET https://apisandbox.dev.clover.com/v3/merchants/XKNP0ZWV58J8E`
Square brackets [ ]	Use to indicate a parameter that is optional. Example: In `function(param1 [, param2])` `param1` is required and `param2` is optional.
Links	Use text in Clover green font (#228800) for links to other sections of the docs or to external resources like our GitHub software development kit (SDK) repositories.

Code blocks

Use for long code samples in separate blocks for easier reading. You can click Copy to use the content of each block in your code.

{
  "elements": [
      { "item": {"id": "ABWN2X43EXJN8"}},
      { "item": {"id": "ABWN2X43EXJN8"}},
      { "item": {"id": "F1RBG5MKD3SQR"}},
      { "item": {"id": "F1RBG5MKD3SQR"}},
      { "item": {"id": "S9230FJR93DFJ"}},
      { "item": {"id": "S9230FJR93DFJ"}}
  ]
}

Information blocks

Use to provide additional information or caution about certain actions.

📘
NOTE
Notes are informational and provide you with extra details for the section you are reading.

🚧
IMPORTANT
Important blocks contain information you need to read to ensure your code works properly.

❗️
WARNING
Warnings caution you against actions that may cause data loss or damage to a Clover device.