Dynare Reference Manual: Conventions

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### 4.1 Conventions

A model file contains a list of commands and of blocks. Each command and each element of a block is terminated by a semicolon (`;`). Blocks are terminated by `end;`.

Most Dynare commands have arguments and several accept options, indicated in parentheses after the command keyword. Several options are separated by commas.

In the description of Dynare commands, the following conventions are observed:

- optional arguments or options are indicated between square brackets: ‘`[]`’;
- repreated arguments are indicated by ellipses: “…”;
- mutually exclusive arguments are separated by vertical bars: ‘`|`’;
- INTEGER indicates an integer number;
- INTEGER_VECTOR indicates a vector of integer numbers separated by spaces, enclosed by square brackets;
- DOUBLE indicates a double precision number. The following syntaxes are valid: `1.1e3`, `1.1E3`, `1.1d3`, `1.1D3`. In some places, infinite values `Inf` and `-Inf` are also allowed;
- NUMERICAL_VECTOR indicates a vector of numbers separated by spaces, enclosed by square brackets;
- EXPRESSION indicates a mathematical expression valid outside the model description (see Expressions);
- MODEL_EXPRESSION indicates a mathematical expression valid in the model description (see Expressions and Model declaration);
- MACRO_EXPRESSION designates an expression of the macro-processor (see Macro expressions);
- VARIABLE_NAME indicates a variable name starting with an alphabetical character and can’t contain: ‘`()+-*/^=!;:@#.`’ or accentuated characters;
- PARAMETER_NAME indicates a parameter name starting with an alphabetical character and can’t contain: ‘`()+-*/^=!;:@#.`’ or accentuated characters;
- LATEX_NAME indicates a valid LaTeX expression in math mode (not including the dollar signs);
- FUNCTION_NAME indicates a valid MATLAB function name;
- FILENAME indicates a filename valid in the underlying operating system; it is necessary to put it between quotes when specifying the extension or if the filename contains a non-alphanumeric character;

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