Thanks. Actually ()'s don't work for implying optional items. I don't really have a clue where the argument syntax I use to document stuff comes from, it's not pure BNF but some sort of hybrid shorthand so you can put it all on one line instead of on multiple. []'s under BNF, unix manpages, etc always denote optional args so there really isn't much choice there. | separates one-of style expressions but I use {}'s instead of plain ()'s like BNF would do to group the terms. <>'s denote named args which imply user input in my shorthand, but under BNF denote a defined term which when followed through ends up in a list of valid chars for the term.
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