Propane is a LALR Parser Generator (LPG) which:
Propane is designed to be distributed as a stand-alone single file script that
can be copied into and versioned in a project's source tree.
The only requirement to run Propane is that the system has a Ruby interpreter
installed.
The latest release can be downloaded from https://github.com/holtrop/propane/releases.
Simply copy the propane executable script into the desired location within
the project to be built (typically the root of the repository) and mark it
executable.
Propane is typically invoked from the command-line as ./propane.
Usage: ./propane [options] <input-file> <output-file>
Options:
--log LOG Write log file
--version Show program version and exit
-h, --help Show this usage and exit
The user must specify the path to a Propane input grammar file and a path to an output file. The generated source code will be written to the output file. If a log file path is specified, Propane will write a log file containing detailed information about the parser states and transitions.
A Propane grammar file provides Propane with the patterns, tokens, grammar rules, and user code blocks from which to build the generated lexer and parser.
Example grammar file:
<<
import std.math;
>>
# Parser values are unsigned integers.
ptype ulong;
# A few basic arithmetic operators.
token plus /\\+/;
token times /\\*/;
token power /\\*\\*/;
token integer /\\d+/ <<
ulong v;
foreach (c; match)
{
v *= 10;
v += (c - '0');
}
$$ = v;
>>
token lparen /\\(/;
token rparen /\\)/;
# Drop whitespace.
drop /\\s+/;
Start -> E1 << $$ = $1; >>
E1 -> E2 << $$ = $1; >>
E1 -> E1 plus E2 << $$ = $1 + $3; >>
E2 -> E3 << $$ = $1; >>
E2 -> E2 times E3 << $$ = $1 * $3; >>
E3 -> E4 << $$ = $1; >>
E3 -> E3 power E4 << $$ = pow($1, $3); >>
E4 -> integer << $$ = $1; >>
E4 -> lparen E1 rparen << $$ = $2; >>
Grammar files can contain comment lines beginning with # which are ignored.
White space in the grammar file is also ignored.
It is convention to use the extension .propane for the Propane grammar file,
however any file name is accepted by Propane.
This user guide follows the convention of beginning a token name with a lowercase character and beginning a rule name with an uppercase character.
User code blocks begin following a "<<" token and end with a ">>" token found at the end of a line. All text lines in the code block are copied verbatim into the output file.
C example:
<< #include <stdio.h> >>
D example:
<< import std.stdio; >>
Standalone code blocks are emitted early in the output file as top-level code outside the context of any function. Standalone code blocks are a good place to include/import any other necessary supporting code modules. They can also define helper functions that can be reused by lexer or parser user code blocks. They are emitted in the order they are defined in the grammar file.
For a C target, the word "header" may immediately follow the "<<" token to
cause Propane to emit the code block in the generated header file rather than
the generated implementation file.
This allows including another header that may be necessary to define any types
needed by a ptype directive, for example:
<<header #include "mytypes.h" >>
Example:
ptype ulong;
token integer /\\d+/ <<
ulong v;
foreach (c; match)
{
v *= 10;
v += (c - '0');
}
$$ = v;
>>
Lexer code blocks appear following a token or pattern expression.
User code in a lexer code block will be executed when the lexer matches the
given pattern.
Assignment to the $$ symbol will associate a parser value with the lexed
token.
This parser value can then be used later in a parser rule.
Example:
E1 -> E1 plus E2 << $$ = $1 + $3; >>
Parser rule code blocks appear following a rule expression.
User code in a parser rule code block will be executed when the parser reduces
the given rule.
Assignment to the $$ symbol will associate a parser value with the reduced
rule.
Parser values for the rules or tokens in the rule pattern can be accessed
positionally with tokens $1, $2, $3, etc...
token statementThe token statement allows defining a lexer token and a pattern to match that
token.
The name of the token must be specified immediately following the token
keyword.
A regular expression pattern may optionally follow the token name.
If a regular expression pattern is not specified, the name of the token is
taken to be the pattern.
See also: Regular expression syntax.
Example:
token for;
In this example, the token name is for and the pattern to match it is
/for/.
Example:
token lbrace /\{/;
In this example, the token name is lbrace and a single left curly brace will
match it.
The token statement can also include a user code block.
The user code block will be executed whenever the token is matched by the
lexer.
Example:
token if << writeln("'if' keyword lexed"); >>
The token statement is actually a shortcut statement for a combination of a
tokenid statement and a pattern statement.
To define a lexer token without an associated pattern to match it, use a
tokenid statement.
To define a lexer pattern that may or may not result in a matched token, use
a pattern statement.
tokenid statementThe tokenid statement can be used to define a token without associating it
with a lexer pattern that matches it.
Example:
tokenid string;
The tokenid statement can be useful when defining a token that may optionally
be returned by user code associated with a pattern.
It is also useful when lexer modes and multiple lexer patterns are required to build up a full token. A common example is parsing a string. See the Lexer modes chapter for more information.
A pattern statement is used to define a lexer pattern that can execute user code but may not result in a matched token.
Example:
/foo+/ << writeln("saw a foo pattern"); >>
This can be especially useful with Lexer modes.
See also Regular expression syntax.
drop statementA drop statement can be used to specify a lexer pattern that when matched
should result in the matched input being dropped and lexing continuing after
the matched input.
A common use for a drop statement would be to ignore whitespace sequences in
the user input.
Example:
drop /\s+/;
See also Regular expression syntax.
A regular expression ("regex") is used to define lexer patterns in token,
pattern, and drop statements.
A regular expression begins and ends with a / character.
Example:
/#.*$/
Regular expressions can include many special characters:
. character matches any input character other than a newline.* character matches any number of the previous regex element.+ character matches one or more of the previous regex element.? character matches 0 or 1 of the previous regex element.[ character begins a character class.( character begins a matching group.{ character begins a count qualifier.\ character escapes the following character and changes its meaning:
\a sequence matches an ASCII bell character (0x07).\b sequence matches an ASCII backspace character (0x08).\d sequence matches any character 0 through 9.\f sequence matches an ASCII form feed character (0x0C).\n sequence matches an ASCII new line character (0x0A).\r sequence matches an ASCII carriage return character (0x0D).\s sequence matches a space, horizontal tab \t, carriage return
\r, a form feed \f, or a vertical tab \v character.\t sequence matches an ASCII tab character (0x09).\v sequence matches an ASCII vertical tab character (0x0B).| character creates an alternate match.Any other character just matches itself in the input stream.
A character class consists of a list of character alternates or character
ranges that can be matched by the character class.
For example [a-zA-Z_] matches any lowercase character between a and z or
any uppercase character between A and Z or the underscore _ character.
Character classes can also be negative character classes if the first character
after the [ is a ^ character.
In this case, the set of characters matched by the character class is the
inverse of what it otherwise would have been.
For example, [^0-9] matches any character other than 0 through 9.
A matching group can be used to override the pattern sequence that multiplicity
specifiers apply to.
For example, the pattern /foo+/ matches "foo" or "foooo", while the pattern
/(foo)+/ matches "foo" or "foofoofoo", but not "foooo".
A count qualifier in curly braces can be used to restrict the number of matches
of the preceding atom to an explicit minimum and maximum range.
For example, the pattern \d{3} matches exactly 3 digits 0-9.
Both a minimum and maximum multiplicity count can be specified and separated by
a comma.
For example, /a{1,5}/ matches between 1 and 5 a characters.
Either the minimum or maximum count can be omitted to omit the corresponding
restriction in the number of matches allowed.
An alternate match is created with the | character.
For example, the pattern /foo|bar/ matches either the sequence "foo" or the
sequence "bar".
Lexer modes can be used to change the set of patterns that are matched by the lexer. A common use for lexer modes is to match strings.
Example:
<< string mystringvalue; >> tokenid str; # String processing /"/ << mystringvalue = ""; $mode(string); >> string: /[^"]+/ << mystringvalue += match; >> string: /"/ << $mode(default); return $token(str); >>
A lexer mode is defined by placing the name before a colon (:) character that
precedes a token or pattern statement.
The token or pattern statement is restricted to only applying if the named mode
is active.
By default, the active lexer mode is named default.
A $mode() call within a lexer code block can be used to change lexer modes.
In the above example, when the lexer in the default mode sees a doublequote
(") character, the lexer code block will clear the mystringvalue variable
and will set the lexer mode to string.
When the lexer begins looking for patterns to match against the input, it will
now look only for patterns tagged for the string lexer mode.
Any non-" character will be appended to the mystringvalue string.
A " character will end the string lexer mode and return to the default
lexer mode.
It also returns the str token now that the token is complete.
Note that the token name str above could have been string instead - the
namespace for token names is distinct from the namespace for lexer modes.
ptype statementThe ptype statement is used to define parser value type(s).
Example:
ptype void *;
This defines the default parser value type to be void * (this is, in fact,
the default parser value type if the grammar file does not specify otherwise).
Each defined lexer token type and parser rule has an associated parser value
type.
When the lexer runs, each lexed token has a parser value associated with it.
When the parser runs, each instance of a reduced rule has a parser value
associated with it.
Propane supports using different parser value types for different rules and
token types.
The example ptype statement above defines the default parser value type.
A parser value type name can optionally be specified following the ptype
keyword.
For example:
ptype Value; ptype array = Value[]; ptype dict = Value[string]; Object -> lbrace rbrace << $$ = new Value(); >> Values (array) -> Value << $$ = [$1]; >> Values -> Values comma Value << $$ = $1 ~ [$3]; >> KeyValue (dict) -> string colon Value << $$ = [$1: $3]; >>
In this example, the default parser value type is Value.
A parser value type named array is defined to mean Value[].
A parser value type named dict is defined to mean Value[string].
Any defined tokens or rules that do not specify a parser value type will have
the default parser value type associated with them.
To associate a different parser value type with a token or rule, write the
parser value type name in parentheses following the name of the token or rule.
In this example:
Object's parser value has a type of Value.Values's parser value has a type of Value[].KeyValue's parser value has a type of Value[string].Rule statements create parser rules which define the grammar that will be parsed by the generated parser.
Multiple rules with the same name can be specified. Rules with the same name define a rule set for that name and act as alternatives that the parser can accept when attempting to match a reference to that rule.
The grammar file must define a rule with the name Start which will be used as
the top-level starting rule that the parser attempts to reduce.
Example:
ptype ulong; token word /[a-z]+/ << $$ = match.length; >> Start -> word << $$ = $1; >>
In the above example the Start rule is defined to match a single word
token.
Example:
Start -> E1 << $$ = $1; >> E1 -> E2 << $$ = $1; >> E1 -> E1 plus E2 << $$ = $1 + $3; >> E2 -> E3 << $$ = $1; >> E2 -> E2 times E3 << $$ = $1 * $3; >> E3 -> E4 << $$ = $1; >> E3 -> E3 power E4 << $$ = pow($1, $3); >> E4 -> integer << $$ = $1; >> E4 -> lparen E1 rparen << $$ = $2; >>
A parser rule has zero or more terms on the right side of its definition. Each of these terms is either a token name or a rule name.
In a parser rule code block, parser values for the right side terms are
accessible as $1 for the first term's parser value, $2 for the second
term's parser value, etc...
The $$ symbol accesses the output parser value for this rule.
The above examples demonstrate how the parser values for the rule components
can be used to produce the parser value for the accepted rule.
module statementThe module statement can be used to specify the module name for a generated
D module.
module proj.parser;
If a module statement is not present, then the generated D module will not contain a module statement and the default module name will be used.
prefix statementBy default the public API (types, constants, and functions) of the generated
lexer and parser uses a prefix of p_.
This prefix can be changed with the prefix statement.
Example:
prefix myparser_;
With a parser generated with this prefix statement, instead of calling
p_context_init() you would call myparser_context_init().
The prefix statement can be optionally used if you would like to change the
prefix used by your generated lexer and parser to something other than the
default.
It can also be used when generating multiple lexers/parsers to be used in the same program to avoid symbol collisions.
Propane supports allowing lexer or parser user code blocks to terminate execution of the parser. Some example uses of this functionality could be to:
To terminate parsing from a lexer or parser user code block, use the
$terminate(code) function, passing an integer expression argument.
For example:
NewExpression -> new Expression << $terminate(42); >>
The value passed to the $terminate() function is known as the "user terminate
code".
If the parser returns a P_USER_TERMINATED result code, then the user
terminate code can be accessed using the p_user_terminate_code() API
function.
By default, Propane uses a prefix of p_ when generating a lexer/parser.
This prefix is used for all publicly declared types and functions.
The uppercase version of the prefix is used for all constant values.
This section documents the generated API using the default p_ or P_ names.
Propane generates the following result code constants:
P_SUCCESS: A successful decode/lex/parse operation has taken place.P_DECODE_ERROR: An error occurred when decoding UTF-8 input.P_UNEXPECTED_INPUT: Input was received by the lexer that does not match any lexer pattern.P_UNEXPECTED_TOKEN: A token was seen in a location that does not match any parser rule.P_DROP: The lexer matched a drop pattern.P_EOF: The lexer reached the end of the input string.P_USER_TERMINATED: A parser user code block has requested to terminate the parser.Result codes are returned by the functions p_decode_input(), p_lex(), and p_parse().
p_context_tPropane defines a p_context_t structure type.
The structure is intended to be used opaquely and stores information related to
the state of the lexer and parser.
Integrating code must define an instance of the p_context_t structure.
A pointer to this instance is passed to the generated functions.
p_position_tThe p_position_t structure contains two fields row and col.
These fields contain the 0-based row and column describing a parser position.
p_context_initThe p_context_init() function must be called to initialize the context
structure.
The input to be used for lexing/parsing is passed in when initializing the
context structure.
C example:
p_context_t context; p_context_init(&context, input, input_length);
D example:
p_context_t context; p_context_init(&context, input);
p_parseThe p_parse() function is the main entry point to the parser.
It must be passed a pointer to an initialized context structure.
Example:
p_context_t context; p_context_init(&context, input, input_length); size_t result = p_parse(&context);
p_resultThe p_result() function can be used to retrieve the final parse value after
p_parse() returns a P_SUCCESS value.
Example:
p_context_t context;
p_context_init(&context, input, input_length);
size_t result = p_parse(&context);
if (p_parse(&context) == P_SUCCESS)
{
result = p_result(&context);
}
p_positionThe p_position() function can be used to retrieve the parser position where
an error occurred.
Example:
p_context_t context;
p_context_init(&context, input, input_length);
size_t result = p_parse(&context);
if (p_parse(&context) == P_UNEXPECTED_TOKEN)
{
p_position_t error_position = p_position(&context);
fprintf(stderr, "Error: unexpected token at row %u column %u\n",
error_position.row + 1, error_position.col + 1);
}
p_user_terminate_codeThe p_user_terminate_code() function can be used to retrieve the user
terminate code after p_parse() returns a P_USER_TERMINATED value.
User terminate codes are arbitrary values that can be defined by the user to
be returned when the user requests to terminate parsing.
They have no particular meaning to Propane.
Example:
if (p_parse(&context) == P_USER_TERMINATED)
{
size_t user_terminate_code = p_user_terminate_code(&context);
}
p_tokenThe p_token() function can be used to retrieve the current parse token.
This is useful after p_parse() returns a P_UNEXPECTED_TOKEN value.
terminate code after p_parse() returns a P_USER_TERMINATED value to
indicate what token the parser was not expecting.
Example:
if (p_parse(&context) == P_UNEXPECTED_TOKEN)
{
p_token_t unexpected_token = p_token(&context);
}
p_token_namesThe p_token_names array contains the grammar-specified token names.
It is indexed by the token ID.
C example:
p_context_t context;
p_context_init(&context, input, input_length);
size_t result = p_parse(&context);
if (p_parse(&context) == P_UNEXPECTED_TOKEN)
{
p_position_t error_position = p_position(&context);
fprintf(stderr, "Error: unexpected token `%s' at row %u column %u\n",
p_token_names[context.token],
error_position.row + 1, error_position.col + 1);
}
Propane is licensed under the terms of the MIT License:
The MIT License (MIT) Copyright (c) 2010-2024 Josh Holtrop Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
Propane is developed on github.
Issues may be submitted to https://github.com/holtrop/propane/issues.
Pull requests may be submitted as well:
git checkout -b my-new-feature)git commit -am 'Add some feature')git push origin my-new-feature)