Release of SORCERER 1.00B

                                            Introducing SORCERER:
                                  A Simple Tree-Parser Generator


                                                  Version 1.00B




This note is to announce the first publicly-available release of
SORCERER--a simple tree-parser generator that automates the process of
tree walking that is so common in many large programs. E.g., in the case
of source-to-source translators, a programmer typically has a front-end
that constructs intermediate form trees and simply wants to traverse the
trees and execute a few actions. In this case, the optimal tree walks of
code-generator generators and the powerful attribute evaluation schemes of
source-to-source translator systems are overkill; programmers would rather
avoid the overhead and complexity.


SORCERER is more suitable for the class of translation problems lying
between those solved by code-generator generators and by full
source-to-source translator generators. SORCERER generates simple,
flexible, top-down, tree parsers that, in contrast to code-generators, may
execute actions at any point during a tree walk. SORCERER accepts
extended BNF notation, allows predicates to direct the tree walk with
semantic and syntactic context information, and does not rely on any
particular intermediate form, parser generator, or other pre-existing
application.


This is the 1.00B release and, therefore, may not be terribly robust; the
source has not been heavily tested for portability; especially outside the
UNIX, PC, and MacIntosh world. This initial release contains the full
public-domain source code, a manual, and two simple examples. Naturally,
as the system matures, more goodies will become available. Though not
included in the actual release (to cut down on net traffic), an overview
paper is also available.


For those folks with anonymous FTP access: The site for the SORCERER
stuff is:


                      marvin.ecn.purdue.edu (128.46.179.151)


in the directory:


                      pub/pccts/sorcerer


Those with only email access, send a "Subject:" line of


                      email sor.tar.Z.uu


to parrt@acm.org. I will forward you a copy of the uuencoded,
compressed, tar file. Other formats will be placed at your disposal
in the future.


If you are interested in sharing your experiences/problems/
successes/suggestions regarding SORCERER or PCCTS, please send email
to our mailing list at


                                pccts-users@ahpcrc.umn.edu


You can subscribe to the mailing list by sending mail to


                                pccts-users-request@ahpcrc.umn.edu


with a body of


                                subscribe pccts-users your_name


where your_name can be your name or your email address.


Happy Translating,


Terence Parr
U of Minnesota
Army High Performance Computing Research Center
--

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