GOLD Parser News: Version 2.0 was released!

============================
GOLD Parser News: 2003-04-30
============================


Great News! The GOLD Parser Builder version 2.0 was just released!


---> http://www.DevinCook.com/GOLDParser




----------------------------
Major Changes in Version 2.0
----------------------------


* Major Update! The Builder now supports ALL unicode characters.


* New Feature! The Builder can now create skeleton programs
    using templates. The Create Enumerated Constants window was
    replaced with a new window that can create full skeleton
    programs for any present and future versions of the Engine.
    Templates are stored in a subfolder of the GOLD Parser Builder
    program.


* Any character can now be specified using the {#xxxx} format.
    In the previous version, only a select number of the first 255
    characters were supported. Also a hexidecimal {&xxxx}
    format was added.


* Added the "Character Mapping" parameter. For now, the only
    valid values are ANSI or Unicode. The system defaults to
    ANSI - which populates characters 128 to 159 as needed.


* Added a large number of predefined character sets. Since
    Unicode is now supported, the Builder contains sets for groups
    of characters. These include (but are not limited to):
    {Greek}, {Arabic}, {Hebrew} and {Katakana}.


* Huge Change! The Builder is now using the GOLD Parser Engine
    to parse the grammar outline. The outline is now parsed by an
    internal copy of the GOLD Parser Engine. This allows better
    feedback, the use of block comments, true line comments, and
    consistency with notation. In other words, the Builder was,
    in part, developed using the Builder! :-)


* Block comments were added to the grammar outline. You can now
    use the !* and *! symbols to create block comments in your
    grammar. Line comments are now true line comments.


* The speed of many of the internal tables have been improved.
    Searches were moved from linear to binary. The system
    performs 30% to 50% faster depending on the grammar.


* Miscellaneous other enhancements


* A few bug fixes




---------------------
About the GOLD Parser
---------------------
The GOLD Parser is a free, pseudo-open source, parser generator
that you can use to develop your own compilers and emulators.


Modern bottom-up parsers use a Deterministic Finite Automaton
(DFA) for identifying different classes of tokens and a LALR(1)
state machine to parse them. The actual LALR(1) and DFA algorithms
are easy to implement since they rely on tables to determine
actions and state transition. Consequently, it is the computing of
these tables that is both time-consuming and complex.


Unlike common compiler-compilers, the GOLD Parser does not require
you to embed your grammar directly into your source code. Instead,
the Builder analyzes the grammar description and saves the parse
tables to a separate file. This information can be, subsequently,
loaded by the actual parser engine and used.


The GOLD Parser currently supports:


* Microsoft .NET (All languages)
* Java
* ActiveX
* Borland Delphi
* C++




-------------------------
Parser Engine Source Code
-------------------------
In the future, the source will be ported to as many additional
programming languages as possible. If you would like to port
the code to another language, your work will be deeply appreciated.
The GOLD Parser Engine source code is NOW available for:


* Visual Basic 5/6
* Visual Basic .NET
* C#
* Delphi
* C++


To download the GOLD Parser Builder, please visit


---> http://www.DevinCook.com/GOLDParser




Enjoy, and happy programming!


- Devin Cook

Return to the comp.compilers page.
Search the comp.compilers archives again.