separatoren

Separatoren is a general term for marks or objects that divide or partition elements in text, data, or interfaces. The concept spans several domains, including typography, computing, data formats, and user interface design.

In typography and writing, separators are punctuation marks and spacing that distinguish items, clauses, or ideas. Common examples are commas, periods, colons, semicolons, and dashes. Spaces and other spacing characters can act as separators between words or elements. Typographic practice often treats different kinds of dashes (such as en dash and em dash) as separators with distinct stylistic or syntactic functions.

In computing and data representation, separators function as delimiters that separate fields, tokens, or structural elements. In CSV and TSV files, a comma or tab character divides fields. In programming languages and data formats such as JSON, various characters (for example, colons, commas, brackets) serve as structural separators that define hierarchy and scope. File system paths and URLs use separators like slash or backslash to indicate levels or segments.

In user interfaces, visual separators such as horizontal lines or dividers segment content into logical groups, improving readability and navigation. Accessibility considerations emphasize that separators should have clear presentation and, when appropriate, semantic meaning for assistive technologies.

Internationalization affects separator use as well: decimal separators and thousands separators vary by locale, influencing numeric formatting. The term separatoren is commonly encountered in Dutch-language documentation to denote any delimiter used to separate items or fields.

See also: delimiter, delimiter character, field separator.