Region tag format

The template language for region tags.

A template, not a regular expression. Write the shape using tokens and literal text. Everything that is not a token matches literally, including spaces. Separate alternatives with |.

Tokens

Token	Matches	Sample	Uppercased
<COUNTRY>	Two letters	US	Yes
<STATE>	Two or three letters	NY	Yes
<CODE>	Up to six letters or digits	12	Yes
<DIGITS>	Up to six digits	90	No
<TEXT>	Up to twenty letters, digits and spaces	Metro	No

Recipes

Convention	Format	Accepts
Country and state, or country (default)	<COUNTRY>-<STATE> | <COUNTRY>	US-NY, UK
Country only	<COUNTRY>	US, CA
Numbered zones	Zone <DIGITS>	Zone 5
Country and postcode	<COUNTRY>-<CODE>	US-90210
Named area	<TEXT>	Metro East
Code or name	<COUNTRY>-<STATE> | <TEXT>	US-NY, Greater London

Limits

Format length	120 characters
Alternatives	4
Tokens per alternative	6
Resulting tag	24 characters

Refused on save

• Blank. To drop region tags, set Region tag to “Not used” instead.
• No tokens anywhere. A literal-only format accepts exactly one region. A literal-only alternative is fine: <COUNTRY>-<STATE> | UK is valid.
• An unknown token, or an angle bracket outside a token.
• A character literals do not allow. Literals accept letters, digits, spaces, and - / . , #.
• An alternative that could exceed 24 characters.

Notes

• Literals are stored as you wrote them. With Zone <DIGITS>, a trader typing zone 5 gets Zone 5.
• The format generates the help text. The placeholder, the field example and the trader’s error message are all built from your format using each token’s sample. Nothing else needs updating.
• Changing the format does not rewrite saved regions. Saved regions are checked for shape only, so a trader can keep one that no longer matches and will hit a publish-time error. Announce a format change on a busy subreddit.
• Spaces inside an alternative count. Zone <DIGITS> accepts Zone 5; Zone<DIGITS> accepts Zone5. Spaces around | are trimmed.