On the flow C parser

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On the flow C parser

I am looking for a dynamic C-based parser/framework. It must be dynamic because the EBNF is constantly changing, something like bison is not applicable in this situation. And boost::spirit is practically useless to me because it requires C++.

Does anyone have an idea?

You don't have many choices either you write your own recursive descent parser or use a generator like bison or the older lex/yacc. If BNF changes you will be lucky to be able to regenerate.

stacker 2010-01-21 21:23:58

You can certainly use ANTLR to generate a recursive descent parser; it is not clear whether the changing EBNF will be a problem.

Jonathan Leffler 2010-01-22 00:22:32

Classic parser generators require what amounts to static grammars, (unless you are willing to spawn a process to run the parser generator, which the OP didn't appear to want to do)

Ira Baxter 2010-01-22 04:53:46

If you want the grammar to change while the computation is running, then what you want is an Earley-style context free parser. You can change the rules at any time and run the Earley parsing algorithm.

If the grammar changes "slowly" (e.g., once a day), then you don't need a dynamically-augmentable parser like Earley; you can use conventional parser generators and simply run them as needed.

Ira Baxter 2010-01-22 04:52:05

Sorry for assuming that the BNF changes after review by professor, at least I learned that I'm not up to date wth this.

stacker 2010-01-22 07:57:44

That could be the way to go.I will certainly explore this algorithm. Thank you!

Flaps 2010-01-22 08:57:03

ansaurus

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