Sections of a Twaddle input can be saved for later re-use within the same sentence (or in subsequent sentences in persistent mode).
A saved section is called a pattern, and is defined by using the
save function. The save function requires one
mandatory argument:
[save:<name>]{<pattern>}
name is the name under which the pattern will be saved. It is an error
to use the save function without specifying a name.
The save function is a block function, and the
saved pattern consists of the entirety of the next block to be opened.
In principle patterns can contain, and be saved and loaded within, any Twaddle features, including other patterns. Patterns cannot, however, contain themselves recursively. A pattern is saved at the end of the block defining it, and cannot be loaded until the block is closed.
The pattern is not evaluated before saving, so patterns containing lookups or branching are likely to produce different output (still conforming to the pattern) when loaded. If this is not desired, use the clipboard instead.
If the save functions is called multiple times without opening a block
to define a pattern, the next block will be saved under the name specified
in the most recent save call. The previous calls are ignored.
Note that while it is possible to save a pattern at any point in a Twaddle sentence, patterns defined within branching paths will only be saved if the path defining them is chosen.
Saved patterns may be easiy confused with the clipboard function. The difference lies in the fact that the clipboard saves the evaluated result of the following block, whereas patterns are saved before evaluation and are evaluated anew each time they occur.
>[save:a]{hello} [load:a]
hello hello
>[save:a]{hello} [reverse]{[load:a]}
hello olleh
>[save:a]{the <adj> <noun> <verb.ed>!} [load:a] [case:upper][load:a]
the clear jug needed! the official rhino plunged! THE HAPPY PYRAMID WEDGED!
>[save:a]{a [save:b]{nested} example}, the [load:b] pattern can still be used afterwards
a nested example, the nested pattern can still be used afterwards