pt_import_api(i) Parser Tools pt_import_api(i)______________________________________________________________________________NAME
pt_import_api - Parser Tools Import API
SYNOPSIS
package require Tcl 8.5
CONVERTER convert text
IncludeFile currentfile path
::import text
_________________________________________________________________DESCRIPTION
Are you lost ? Do you have trouble understanding this document ? In
that case please read the overview provided by the Introduction to
Parser Tools. This document is the entrypoint to the whole system the
current package is a part of.
This document describes two APIs. First the API shared by all packages
for the conversion of some other format into Parsing Expression Gram‐
mars , and then the API shared by the packages which implement the
import plugins sitting on top of the conversion packages.
Its intended audience are people who wish to create their own converter
for some type of input, and/or an import plugin for their or some other
converter.
It resides in the Import section of the Core Layer of Parser Tools.
IMAGE: arch_core_import
CONVERTER API
Any (grammar) import converter has to follow the rules set out below:
[1] A converter is a package. Its name is arbitrary, however it is
recommended to put it under the ::pt::peg::from namespace.
[2] The package provides either a single Tcl command following the
API outlined below, or a class command whose instances follow
the same API. The commands which follow the API are called con‐
verter commands.
[3] A converter command has to provide the following single method
with the given signature and semantic. Converter commands are
allowed to provide more methods of their own, but not less, and
they may not provide different semantics for the standardized
method.
CONVERTER convert text
This method has to accept some text, a parsing expression
grammar in some format. The result of the method has to
be the canonical serialization of a parsing expression
grammar, as specified in section PEG serialization for‐
mat, the result of reading and converting the input text.
PLUGIN API
Any (grammar) import plugin has to follow the rules set out below:
[1] A plugin is a package.
[2] The name of a plugin package has the form pt::peg::import::FOO,
where FOO is the name of the format the plugin will accept input
for.
[3] The plugin can expect that the package pt::peg::import::plugin
is present, as indicator that it was invoked from a genuine
plugin manager.
It is recommended that a plugin does check for the presence of
this package.
[4] The plugin can expect that a command named IncludeFile is
present, with the signature
IncludeFile currentfile path
This command has to be invoked by the plugin when it has
to process an included file, if the format has the con‐
cept of such.
The plugin has to supply the following arguments
string currentfile
The path of the file it is currently processing.
This may be the empty string if no such is known.
string path
The path of the include file as specified in the
include directive being processed.
The result of the command will be a 5-element list con‐
taining
[1] A boolean flag indicating the success (True) or
failure (False) of the operation.
[2] In case of success the contents of the included
file, and the empty string otherwise.
[3] The resolved, i.e. absolute path of the included
file, if possible, or the unchanged path argument.
This is for display in an error message, or as the
currentfile argument of another call to Include‐
File should this file contain more files.
[4] In case of success an empty string, and for fail‐
ure a code indicating the reason for it, one of
notfound
The specified file could not be found.
notread
The specified file was found, but not be
read into memory.
[5] An empty string in case of success of a notfound
failure, and an additional error message describ‐
ing the reason for a notread error in more detail.
[5] A plugin has to provide a single command, in the global names‐
pace, with the signature shown below. Plugins are allowed to
provide more commands of their own, but not less, and they may
not provide different semantics for the standardized command.
::import text
This command has to accept the a text containing a pars‐
ing expression grammar in some format. The result of the
command has to be the result of the converter invoked by
the plugin for the input grammar, the canonical serial‐
ization of the parsing expression grammar contained in
the input.
string text
This argument will contain the parsing expression
grammar for which to generate the serialization.
The specification of what a canonical serializa‐
tion is can be found in the section PEG serializa‐
tion format.
[6] A single usage cycle of a plugin consists of an invokation of
the command import. This call has to leave the plugin in a state
where another usage cycle can be run without problems.
USAGE
To use a converter do
# Get the converter (single command here, not class)
package require the-converter-package
# Perform the conversion
set serial [theconverter convert $thegrammartext]
To use a plugin FOO do
# Get an import plugin manager
package require pt::peg::import
pt::peg::import I
# Run the plugin, and the converter inside.
set serial [I import serial $thegrammartext FOO]
PEG SERIALIZATION FORMAT
Here we specify the format used by the Parser Tools to serialize Pars‐
ing Expression Grammars as immutable values for transport, comparison,
etc.
We distinguish between regular and canonical serializations. While a
PEG may have more than one regular serialization only exactly one of
them will be canonical.
regular serialization
[1] The serialization of any PEG is a nested Tcl dictionary.
[2] This dictionary holds a single key, pt::grammar::peg, and
its value. This value holds the contents of the grammar.
[3] The contents of the grammar are a Tcl dictionary holding
the set of nonterminal symbols and the starting expres‐
sion. The relevant keys and their values are
rules The value is a Tcl dictionary whose keys are the
names of the nonterminal symbols known to the
grammar.
[1] Each nonterminal symbol may occur only
once.
[2] The empty string is not a legal nonterminal
symbol.
[3] The value for each symbol is a Tcl dictio‐
nary itself. The relevant keys and their
values in this dictionary are
is The value is the serialization of
the parsing expression describing
the symbols sentennial structure, as
specified in the section PE serial‐
ization format.
mode The value can be one of three values
specifying how a parser should han‐
dle the semantic value produced by
the symbol.
value The semantic value of the
nonterminal symbol is an
abstract syntax tree consist‐
ing of a single node node for
the nonterminal itself, which
has the ASTs of the symbol's
right hand side as its chil‐
dren.
leaf The semantic value of the
nonterminal symbol is an
abstract syntax tree consist‐
ing of a single node node for
the nonterminal, without any
children. Any ASTs generated
by the symbol's right hand
side are discarded.
void The nonterminal has no seman‐
tic value. Any ASTs generated
by the symbol's right hand
side are discarded (as well).
start The value is the serialization of the start pars‐
ing expression of the grammar, as specified in the
section PE serialization format.
[4] The terminal symbols of the grammar are specified implic‐
itly as the set of all terminal symbols used in the start
expression and on the RHS of the grammar rules.
canonical serialization
The canonical serialization of a grammar has the format as spec‐
ified in the previous item, and then additionally satisfies the
constraints below, which make it unique among all the possible
serializations of this grammar.
[1] The keys found in all the nested Tcl dictionaries are
sorted in ascending dictionary order, as generated by
Tcl's builtin command lsort -increasing -dict.
[2] The string representation of the value is the canonical
representation of a Tcl dictionary. I.e. it does not con‐
tain superfluous whitespace.
EXAMPLE
Assuming the following PEG for simple mathematical expressions
PEG calculator (Expression)
Digit <- '0'/'1'/'2'/'3'/'4'/'5'/'6'/'7'/'8'/'9' ;
Sign <- '-' / '+' ;
Number <- Sign? Digit+ ;
Expression <- Term (AddOp Term)* ;
MulOp <- '*' / '/' ;
Term <- Factor (MulOp Factor)* ;
AddOp <- '+'/'-' ;
Factor <- '(' Expression ')' / Number ;
END;
then its canonical serialization (except for whitespace) is
pt::grammar::peg {
rules {
AddOp {is {/ {t -} {t +}} mode value}
Digit {is {/ {t 0} {t 1} {t 2} {t 3} {t 4} {t 5} {t 6} {t 7} {t 8} {t 9}} mode value}
Expression {is {x {n Term} {* {x {n AddOp} {n Term}}}} mode value}
Factor {is {/ {x {t (} {n Expression} {t )}} {n Number}} mode value}
MulOp {is {/ {t *} {t /}} mode value}
Number {is {x {? {n Sign}} {+ {n Digit}}} mode value}
Sign {is {/ {t -} {t +}} mode value}
Term {is {x {n Factor} {* {x {n MulOp} {n Factor}}}} mode value}
}
start {n Expression}
}
PE SERIALIZATION FORMAT
Here we specify the format used by the Parser Tools to serialize Pars‐
ing Expressions as immutable values for transport, comparison, etc.
We distinguish between regular and canonical serializations. While a
parsing expression may have more than one regular serialization only
exactly one of them will be canonical.
Regular serialization
Atomic Parsing Expressions
[1] The string epsilon is an atomic parsing expres‐
sion. It matches the empty string.
[2] The string dot is an atomic parsing expression. It
matches any character.
[3] The string alnum is an atomic parsing expression.
It matches any Unicode alphabet or digit charac‐
ter. This is a custom extension of PEs based on
Tcl's builtin command string is.
[4] The string alpha is an atomic parsing expression.
It matches any Unicode alphabet character. This is
a custom extension of PEs based on Tcl's builtin
command string is.
[5] The string ascii is an atomic parsing expression.
It matches any Unicode character below U0080. This
is a custom extension of PEs based on Tcl's
builtin command string is.
[6] The string control is an atomic parsing expres‐
sion. It matches any Unicode control character.
This is a custom extension of PEs based on Tcl's
builtin command string is.
[7] The string digit is an atomic parsing expression.
It matches any Unicode digit character. Note that
this includes characters outside of the [0..9]
range. This is a custom extension of PEs based on
Tcl's builtin command string is.
[8] The string graph is an atomic parsing expression.
It matches any Unicode printing character, except
for space. This is a custom extension of PEs based
on Tcl's builtin command string is.
[9] The string lower is an atomic parsing expression.
It matches any Unicode lower-case alphabet charac‐
ter. This is a custom extension of PEs based on
Tcl's builtin command string is.
[10] The string print is an atomic parsing expression.
It matches any Unicode printing character, includ‐
ing space. This is a custom extension of PEs based
on Tcl's builtin command string is.
[11] The string punct is an atomic parsing expression.
It matches any Unicode punctuation character. This
is a custom extension of PEs based on Tcl's
builtin command string is.
[12] The string space is an atomic parsing expression.
It matches any Unicode space character. This is a
custom extension of PEs based on Tcl's builtin
command string is.
[13] The string upper is an atomic parsing expression.
It matches any Unicode upper-case alphabet charac‐
ter. This is a custom extension of PEs based on
Tcl's builtin command string is.
[14] The string wordchar is an atomic parsing expres‐
sion. It matches any Unicode word character. This
is any alphanumeric character (see alnum), and any
connector punctuation characters (e.g. under‐
score). This is a custom extension of PEs based on
Tcl's builtin command string is.
[15] The string xdigit is an atomic parsing expression.
It matches any hexadecimal digit character. This
is a custom extension of PEs based on Tcl's
builtin command string is.
[16] The string ddigit is an atomic parsing expression.
It matches any decimal digit character. This is a
custom extension of PEs based on Tcl's builtin
command regexp.
[17] The expression [list t x] is an atomic parsing
expression. It matches the terminal string x.
[18] The expression [list n A] is an atomic parsing
expression. It matches the nonterminal A.
Combined Parsing Expressions
[1] For parsing expressions e1, e2, ... the result of
[list / e1 e2 ... ] is a parsing expression as
well. This is the ordered choice, aka prioritized
choice.
[2] For parsing expressions e1, e2, ... the result of
[list x e1 e2 ... ] is a parsing expression as
well. This is the sequence.
[3] For a parsing expression e the result of [list *
e] is a parsing expression as well. This is the
kleene closure, describing zero or more repeti‐
tions.
[4] For a parsing expression e the result of [list +
e] is a parsing expression as well. This is the
positive kleene closure, describing one or more
repetitions.
[5] For a parsing expression e the result of [list &
e] is a parsing expression as well. This is the
and lookahead predicate.
[6] For a parsing expression e the result of [list !
e] is a parsing expression as well. This is the
not lookahead predicate.
[7] For a parsing expression e the result of [list ?
e] is a parsing expression as well. This is the
optional input.
Canonical serialization
The canonical serialization of a parsing expression has the for‐
mat as specified in the previous item, and then additionally
satisfies the constraints below, which make it unique among all
the possible serializations of this parsing expression.
[1] The string representation of the value is the canonical
representation of a pure Tcl list. I.e. it does not con‐
tain superfluous whitespace.
[2] Terminals are not encoded as ranges (where start and end
of the range are identical).
EXAMPLE
Assuming the parsing expression shown on the right-hand side of the
rule
Expression <- Term (AddOp Term)*
then its canonical serialization (except for whitespace) is
{x {n Term} {* {x {n AddOp} {n Term}}}}
BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK
This document, and the package it describes, will undoubtedly contain
bugs and other problems. Please report such in the category pt of the
Tcllib SF Trackers [http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=12883].
Please also report any ideas for enhancements you may have for either
package and/or documentation.
KEYWORDS
EBNF, LL(k), PEG, TDPL, context-free languages, expression, grammar,
matching, parser, parsing expression, parsing expression grammar, push
down automaton, recursive descent, state, top-down parsing languages,
transducer
CATEGORY
Parsing and Grammars
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2009 Andreas Kupries <andreas_kupries@users.sourceforge.net>
pt 1 pt_import_api(i)
