1 [A string_literal is formed by a sequence of graphic characters (possibly none) enclosed between two quotation marks used as string brackets. They are used to represent operator_symbols (see §6.1), values of a string type (see §4.2), and array subaggregates (see §4.3.3). {quoted string: See string_literal} ]
2 string_literal ::= "{string_element}"
3 string_element ::= "" | non_quotation_mark_graphic_character
4 A string_element is either a pair of quotation marks (""), or a single graphic_character other than a quotation mark.
5 {sequence of characters (of a string_literal)} The sequence of characters of a string_literal is formed from the sequence of string_elements between the bracketing quotation marks, in the given order, with a string_element that is "" becoming a single quotation mark in the sequence of characters, and any other string_element being reproduced in the sequence.
6 {null string literal} A null string literal is a string_literal with no string_elements between the quotation marks.
NOTES
7 [6] An end of line cannot appear in a string_literal.
7.1/2 [7] No transformation is performed on the sequence of characters of a string_literal.
8 Examples of string literals:
9/2
"Message of the day:" "" -- a null string literal " " "A" """" -- three string literals of length 1 "Characters such as $, %, and } are allowed in string literals" "Archimedes said ""Εύρηκα""" "Volume of cylinder (πr²h) = "
9.a The wording has been changed to be strictly lexical. No mention is made of string or character values, since string_literals are also used to represent operator_symbols, which don't have a defined value.
9.b The syntax is described differently.
9.c/2 We explicitly say that the characters of a string_literal should be used as is. In particular, no normalization or folding should be performed on a string_literal.
[aada]
By default, the input UTF-8 must be correct and thus it gets normalized (see 9.c/2). However, we may add a pragma to turn that feature off [TODO: define pragma]. This being said, the pragma may be used in the opposite direction (i.e. allow any byte sequence in the string, but offer the user the possibility of testing the UTF-8 normalization within strings.)
[/aada]