EBNF Parser generator information (RRPG reply)

> Regular right-part grammars (RRPGs) are a kind of phrase structure grammar
> akin to context-free grammars (CFGs). In each production of an RRPG, the
> ...
> There are various notations for writing RRPGs (or slight restrictions
> thereof), many called "extended BNF".
> What parser-generators are available that accept some form of RRPG?


The LALR program from ProSoft (formerly LALR Research) is the fastest, and
best parser generator used. It accepts EBNF as its input, and produces
fantastically fast parsers. It automatically creates an AST for you, and
actually traverses it, calling your semantic action functions associated
with that type of tree node.


I don't have my docs handy, and its been quite a long time since I have
actually used it, but it accepts the entire EBNF syntax. Really an
incredible parser generator.


It comes free with a YACC->LALR translator, and a program that will allow
you to visually see how your productions are working. (It's an
interactive program that shows you each production in a menu, you
selection a production, and it pops up a new window with all the new
productions that are available. Really neat. Good for understanding how
these type of parsers actually operate.)


And, its a hell of a lot easier to use than YACC! On the downside, the
documentation is rather skimpy (don't know about today. I bought mine in
1989), BUT all the information you need _is_ in the documentation. You
just have to read it, over and over. Read the code, experiment. It will
not hit you over the head with blatant info, but you can figure things out
every single time!


I have no association with this company. I'm just a convert to his
program. Plus, he's a real nice guy to boot!


Taylor Hutt
thutt@mail.casi.nasa.gov
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