Multiline

Multiline refers to text or data that spans more than one line. In computing and digital documents, it describes content that extends across multiple lines, rather than fitting on a single line. Multiline handling affects how text is stored, displayed, and parsed, as well as how line breaks are interpreted by programs and interfaces.

In programming, multiline literals allow a string or other data element to occupy several lines. Languages commonly implement this with special delimiters or line continuation rules, such as triple-quoted or backtick-delimited strings, or explicit continuation characters. Multiline literals improve readability for long text, code blocks, and embedded content.

Multiline comments are blocks that span multiple lines. They are used to annotate code or documents without terminating the statement on a single line. Examples include block comments in C-like languages (/* ... */) and HTML or XML comment syntax (<!-- ... -->).

In regular expressions, multiline mode changes how anchors and certain operators behave with respect to line boundaries. For example, start and end anchors may refer to the beginning and end of each line rather than the entire string; some engines also let the dot match newlines in this mode.

Data formats and user interfaces also support multiline content. YAML and other configuration formats provide multiline scalars; JSON uses escape sequences for embedded newlines; many text editors and form fields offer multi-line input areas for composing poems, logs, or documentation.

Overall, multiline concepts are language- and tool-specific but share the goal of representing or processing text that extends beyond a single physical line. Proper handling of escaping, normalization of line breaks, and cross-platform differences are important considerations.