In the BNF definitions in this section, line returns and spaces have been added to improve readability. They are not required in the scatter-loading definition and are ignored if present in the file.

A scatter_description is defined as one or more load_region_description patterns:

Scatter_description ::= 

  load_region_description+

A load_region_description is defined as a load region name, optionally followed by attributes or size specifiers, and one or more execution region descriptions:

load_region_description ::= 

  load_region_name (base_address | ("+" offset)) [attributes] [max_size]
  "{"
        execution_region_description+
  "}"

An execution_region_description is defined as an execution region name, a base address specification, optionally followed by attributes or size specifiers, and one or more input section descriptions:

execution_region_description ::= 

  exec_region_name (base_address | "+" offset) [attribute_list] [max_size | "–" length]
        "{" 
            input_section_description* 
        "}"

An input_section_description is defined as a source module selector pattern optionally followed by input section selectors:

input_section_description ::= 

  module_select_pattern 
      ["(" 
        ("+" input_section_attr | input_section_pattern | input_symbol_pattern) 
        ("," "+" input_section_attr | "," input_section_pattern | ","  input_symbol_pattern)* 
       ")"]

Figure 5.5 shows the contents and organization of a typical scatter-loading description file.