An attribute list defines a list of attributes for a particular element. Each attribute is a characteristic of the element.

There are a myriad of attribute lists, reflecting the myriad of existing programs and files. In word processing applications, for example, an underlined word would be described as having an underline attribute. In database systems, a field of data can have various attributes, as various characteristics can be present. In DOS systems, every file has a file attribute that indicates properties of the file. For example, a file attribute can indicate whether a file is read-only.

An example of an attribute list is provided by the Daisy software program. Part of the program consists of samples, which specify the format when set-up files are read. The attribute list for each sample has three components--the type line, the category line and the textual description. The type line...