  TextFormats is a software system for efficient and user-friendly creation of
text format specifications, accessible from multiple programming languages
(C/C++, Python, Nim) and the Unix command line. To work with a format, a
specification written in the TextFormats Specification Language (TFSL) must be
created. The specification defines datatypes for each part of the format. The
syntax for datatype definitions in TextFormats specifications is based on the
text representation. Thus this system is well suited for the description of
existing formats. However, when creating a new text format for representing
existing data, the user may use different possible definitions, based on the
type of value and the representation choices. This study explores the possible
definition syntax in the TextFormats Specification Language to be used for
creating text representations of scalar values (e.g. string, numeric value,
boolean) and compound data structures (e.g. array, mapping). The results of the
analysis are presented systematically, together with examples for each each
type of different values that can be represented, and usage advices.
