plucky (3) pt_peg_container.3tcl.gz

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NAME

       pt::peg::container - PEG Storage

SYNOPSIS

       package require Tcl 8.5 9

       package require snit

       package require pt::peg::container ?1?

       ::pt::peg objectName ?=|:=|<--|as|deserialize src?

       objectName destroy

       objectName clear

       objectName importer

       objectName importer object

       objectName exporter

       objectName exporter object

       objectName = source

       objectName --> destination

       objectName serialize ?format?

       objectName deserialize = data ?format?

       objectName deserialize += data ?format?

       objectName start

       objectName start pe

       objectName nonterminals

       objectName modes

       objectName modes dict

       objectName rules

       objectName rules dict

       objectName add ?nt...?

       objectName remove ?nt...?

       objectName exists nt

       objectName rename ntold ntnew

       objectName mode nt

       objectName mode nt mode

       objectName rule nt

       objectName rule nt pe

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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  package  provides  a  container class for parsing expression grammars, with each instance storing a
       single grammar and allowing the user to manipulate and query its definition.

       It resides in the Storage section of the Core Layer of Parser Tools, and is one of the three pillars  the
       management of parsing expression grammars resides on.

       IMAGE: arch_core_container

       The other two pillars are, as shown above

       [1]    PEG Import, and

       [2]    PEG Export

       Packages related to this are:

       pt::rde
              This  package provides an implementation of PARAM, a virtual machine for the parsing of a channel,
              geared towards the needs of handling PEGs.

       pt::peg::interp
              This package implements an interpreter for  PEGs  on  top  of  the  virtual  machine  provided  by
              pt::peg::rde

   CLASS API
       The package exports the API described here.

       ::pt::peg objectName ?=|:=|<--|as|deserialize src?
              The  command creates a new container object for a parsing expression grammar and returns the fully
              qualified name of the object command as its result. The API of this object command is described in
              the section Object API. It may be used to invoke various operations on the object.

              The  new  container  will be empty if no src is specified. Otherwise it will contain a copy of the
              grammar contained in the src.  All operators except  deserialize  interpret  src  as  a  container
              object  command.  The  deserialize  operator  interprets  src  as  the  serialization of a parsing
              expression grammar instead, as specified in section PEG serialization format.

              An empty grammar has no nonterminal symbols, and the start expression  is  the  empty  expression,
              i.e. epsilon. It is valid, but not useful.

   OBJECT API
       All  objects  created  by this package provide the following methods for the manipulation and querying of
       their contents:

       objectName destroy
              This method destroys the object, releasing all claimed memory, and deleting the associated  object
              command.

       objectName clear
              This method resets the object to contain the empty grammar. It does not destroy the object itself.

       objectName importer
              This method returns the import manager object currently attached to the container, if any.

       objectName importer object
              This  method  attaches the object as import manager to the container, and returns it as the result
              of the command.  Note that  the  object  is  not  put  into  ownership  of  the  container.  I.e.,
              destruction of the container will not destroy the object.

              It  is  expected  that  object provides a method named import text which takes a text and a format
              name, and returns the canonical serialization of the table of  contents  contained  in  the  text,
              assuming the given format.

       objectName exporter
              This method returns the export manager object currently attached to the container, if any.

       objectName exporter object
              This  method  attaches the object as export manager to the container, and returns it as the result
              of the command.  Note that  the  object  is  not  put  into  ownership  of  the  container.  I.e.,
              destruction of the container will not destroy the object.

              It  is  expected that object provides a method named export object which takes the container and a
              format name, and returns a text encoding table of contents stored in the container, in  the  given
              format. It is further expected that the object will use the container's method serialize to obtain
              the serialization of the table of contents from which to generate the text.

       objectName = source
              This method assigns the contents of the PEG object source to ourselves, overwriting  the  existing
              definition. This is the assignment operator for grammars.

              This operation is in effect equivalent to

                  objectName deserialize = [source serialize]

       objectName --> destination
              This  method  assigns  our  contents  to  the  PEG  object  destination,  overwriting the existing
              definition. This is the reverse assignment operator for grammars.

              This operation is in effect equivalent to

                  destination deserialize = [objectName serialize]

       objectName serialize ?format?
              This method returns our grammar in some textual form usable for transfer, persistent storage, etc.
              If  no  format is not specified the returned result is the canonical serialization of the grammar,
              as specified in the section PEG serialization format.

              Otherwise the object will use the attached export manager to convert the  data  to  the  specified
              format.  In  that  case  the method will fail with an error if the container has no export manager
              attached to it.

       objectName deserialize = data ?format?
              This is the complementary method to serialize.   It  replaces  the  current  definition  with  the
              grammar  contained  in  the  data.  If  no  format  was  specified it is assumed to be the regular
              serialization of a grammar, as specified in the section PEG serialization format

              Otherwise the object will use the attached import manager to convert the data from  the  specified
              format  to  a serialization it can handle.  In that case the method will fail with an error if the
              container has no import manager attached to it.

              The result of the method is the empty string.

       objectName deserialize += data ?format?
              This method behaves like deserialize = in its essentials, except that it merges the grammar in the
              data  to  its  contents instead of replacing it.  The method will fail with an error and leave the
              grammar unchanged if merging is not possible, i.e. would produce an invalid grammar.

              The result of the method is the empty string.

       objectName start
              This method returns the current start expression of the grammar.

       objectName start pe
              This method defines the start expression of the grammar. It replaces the current start  expression
              with the parsing expression pe, and returns the new start expression.

              The  method will fail with an error and leave the grammar unchanged if pe does not contain a valid
              parsing expression as specified in the section PE serialization format.

       objectName nonterminals
              This method returns the set of all nonterminal symbols known to the grammar.

       objectName modes
              This method returns a dictionary mapping the set of all nonterminal symbols known to  the  grammar
              to their semantic modes.

       objectName modes dict
              This  method takes a dictionary mapping a set of nonterminal symbols known to the grammar to their
              semantic modes, and returns the new full mapping of nonterminal symbols to semantic modes.

              The method will fail with an error if any of the nonterminal symbols  in  the  dictionary  is  not
              known  to  the  grammar,  or  the  empty string, i.e. an invalid nonterminal symbol, or if any the
              chosen modes is not one of the legal values.

       objectName rules
              This method returns a dictionary mapping the set of all nonterminal symbols known to  the  grammar
              to their parsing expressions (right-hand sides).

       objectName rules dict
              This  method takes a dictionary mapping a set of nonterminal symbols known to the grammar to their
              parsing expressions (right-hand sides), and returns the new full mapping of nonterminal symbols to
              parsing expressions.

              The  method  will fail with an error any of the nonterminal symbols in the dictionary is not known
              to the grammar, or the empty string, i.e. an invalid nonterminal symbol,  or  any  of  the  chosen
              parsing expressions is not a valid parsing expression as specified in the section PE serialization
              format.

       objectName add ?nt...?
              This method adds the nonterminal symbols nt, etc. to the grammar,  and  defines  default  semantic
              mode  and expression for it (value and epsilon respectively).  The method returns the empty string
              as its result.

              The method will fail with an error and leaves the grammar unchanged  if  any  of  the  nonterminal
              symbols are either already defined in our grammar, or are the empty string (an invalid nonterminal
              symbol).

              The method does nothing if no symbol was specified as argument.

       objectName remove ?nt...?
              This method removes the named nonterminal symbols nt, etc. from the  set  of  nonterminal  symbols
              known to our grammar.  The method returns the empty string as its result.

              The  method  will  fail  with  an  error and leave the grammar unchanged if any of the nonterminal
              symbols is not known to the grammar, or is the empty string, i.e. an invalid nonterminal symbol.

       objectName exists nt
              This method tests whether the nonterminal symbol nt is known to our grammar or not.  The result is
              a boolean value. It will be set to true if nt is known, and false otherwise.

              The method will fail with an error if nt is the empty string, i.e. an invalid nonterminal symbol.

       objectName rename ntold ntnew
              This method renames the nonterminal symbol ntold to ntnew.  The method returns the empty string as
              its result.

              The method will fail with an error and leave the grammar unchanged if either ntold is not known to
              the  grammar,  or  ntnew  is  already  known,  or any of them is the empty string, i.e. an invalid
              nonterminal symbol.

       objectName mode nt
              This method returns the current semantic mode for the nonterminal symbol nt.

              The method will fail with an error if nt is not known to the grammar, or the empty string, i.e. an
              invalid nonterminal symbol.

       objectName mode nt mode
              This  mode  sets  the  semantic mode for the nonterminal symbol nt, and returns the new mode.  The
              method will fail with an error if nt is not known to the grammar, or the  empty  string,  i.e.  an
              invalid nonterminal symbol, or the chosen mode is not one of the legal values.

              The following modes are legal:

              value  The  semantic  value  of  the nonterminal symbol is an abstract syntax tree consisting of a
                     single node node for the nonterminal itself, which has the ASTs of the symbol's right  hand
                     side as its children.

              leaf   The  semantic  value  of  the nonterminal symbol is an abstract syntax tree consisting 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 semantic value. Any ASTs generated by the symbol's right hand side
                     are discarded (as well).

       objectName rule nt
              This method returns the current parsing expression (right-hand side) for  the  nonterminal  symbol
              nt.

              The method will fail with an error if nt is not known to the grammar, or the empty string, i.e. an
              invalid nonterminal symbol.

       objectName rule nt pe
              This method set the parsing expression (right-hand side) of the nonterminal nt to pe, and  returns
              the new parsing expression.

              The method will fail with an error if nt is not known to the grammar, or the empty string, i.e. an
              invalid nonterminal symbol, or pe does not contain a valid parsing expression as specified in  the
              section PE serialization format.

PEG SERIALIZATION FORMAT

       Here we specify the format used by the Parser Tools to serialize Parsing 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 expression. 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 dictionary 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
                                          serialization format.

                                   mode   The  value  can  be one of three values specifying how a parser should
                                          handle the semantic value produced by the symbol.

                                          value  The semantic value of the nonterminal  symbol  is  an  abstract
                                                 syntax   tree   consisting  of  a  single  node  node  for  the
                                                 nonterminal itself, which has the ASTs of  the  symbol's  right
                                                 hand side as its children.

                                          leaf   The  semantic  value  of  the nonterminal symbol is an abstract
                                                 syntax  tree  consisting  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 semantic value. Any  ASTs  generated  by
                                                 the symbol's right hand side are discarded (as well).

                     start  The  value  is  the serialization of the start parsing expression of the grammar, as
                            specified in the section PE serialization format.

              [4]    The terminal symbols of the grammar are specified implicitly 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 specified 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 contain 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 Parsing 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 expression. 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 character. 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 expression. 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 character. 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, including 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 character. This is a custom extension of PEs based on Tcl's builtin command
                            string is.

                     [14]   The  string  wordchar  is  an atomic parsing expression. It matches any Unicode word
                            character. This is  any  alphanumeric  character  (see  alnum),  and  any  connector
                            punctuation  characters  (e.g.  underscore). 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 repetitions.

                     [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 format 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 contain 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  Trackers  [http://core.tcl.tk/tcllib/reportlist].   Please
       also report any ideas for enhancements you may have for either package and/or documentation.

       When proposing code changes, please provide unified diffs, i.e the output of diff -u.

       Note  further  that  attachments  are strongly preferred over inlined patches. Attachments can be made by
       going to the Edit form of the ticket immediately after its creation, and then using the left-most  button
       in the secondary navigation bar.

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 (c) 2009 Andreas Kupries <andreas_kupries@users.sourceforge.net>