Style Name Notation (SNN) Specification

Version: 1.0.0
Author: Sashité
Published: June 23, 2025
License: MIT License

Overview

Style Name Notation (SNN) provides a rule-agnostic format for identifying styles in abstract strategy board games. SNN uses standardized naming conventions with case-based side encoding, enabling clear distinction between different traditions in multi-style gaming environments.

SNN represents the Style attribute from the Game Protocol with explicit naming and side association through case encoding.

Format Specification

Structure

<style-identifier>

Grammar (BNF)

<snn> ::= <uppercase-style> | <lowercase-style>

<uppercase-style> ::= <letter-uppercase> <identifier-tail-uppercase>*
<lowercase-style> ::= <letter-lowercase> <identifier-tail-lowercase>*

<identifier-tail-uppercase> ::= <letter-uppercase> | <digit>
<identifier-tail-lowercase> ::= <letter-lowercase> | <digit>

<letter-uppercase> ::= "A" | "B" | "C" | ... | "Z"
<letter-lowercase> ::= "a" | "b" | "c" | ... | "z"
<digit> ::= "0" | "1" | "2" | "3" | "4" | "5" | "6" | "7" | "8" | "9"

Regular Expression

\A([A-Z][A-Z0-9]*|[a-z][a-z0-9]*)\z

Protocol Mapping

SNN encodes style information with side association:

Protocol Attribute	SNN Encoding	Examples
Style	Alphanumeric identifier	`CHESS`, `SHOGI`, `XIANGQI`
Side	Case encoding	`CHESS` = First player, `chess` = Second player

System Constraints

Side Limitation

SNN supports exactly two players through case distinction:

First player: Uppercase identifiers (CHESS960, SHOGI, XIANGQI)
Second player: Lowercase identifiers (chess960, shogi, xiangqi)

Identifier Format

Start character: Must be alphabetic (A-Z or a-z)
Subsequent characters: Alphabetic characters and digits only
Case consistency: Entire identifier must be uppercase or lowercase (no mixed case)
Side consistency: Case indicates which side uses this style

Design Properties

Rule-agnostic: Independent of specific game mechanics
Cross-style support: Enables multi-tradition gaming environments
Canonical representation: Consistent naming for equivalent styles

Implementation

Ruby Reference

Snn.rb – Reference implementation of the Style Name Notation specification.

Practical Examples

Comprehensive implementation examples for classic and variant styles are available in the SNN Examples.