path: root/tcllib/apps/page.man

[comment {-*- tcl -*- doctools manpage}]
[manpage_begin page n 1.0]
[see_also page::pluginmgr]
[keywords {parser generator}]
[keywords {text processing}]
[copyright {2005 Andreas Kupries <andreas_kupries@users.sourceforge.net>}]
[titledesc {Parser Generator}]
[moddesc   {Development Tools}]
[category  {Page Parser Generator}]
[description]
[para]

The application described by this document, [syscmd page], is actually
not just a parser generator, as the name implies, but a generic tool
for the execution of arbitrary transformations on texts.

[para]

Its genericity comes through the use of [term plugins] for reading,
transforming, and writing data, and the predefined set of plugins
provided by Tcllib is for the generation of memoizing recursive
descent parsers (aka [term {packrat parsers}]) from grammar
specifications ([term {Parsing Expression Grammars}]).

[para]

[syscmd page] is written on top of the package

[package page::pluginmgr], wrapping its functionality into a command
line based application. All the other [package page::*] packages are
plugin and/or supporting packages for the generation of parsers. The
parsers themselves are based on the packages [package grammar::peg],
[package grammar::peg::interp], and [package grammar::mengine].

[subsection {COMMAND LINE}]

[list_begin definitions]

[call [cmd page] [opt [arg options]...] [opt "[arg input] [opt [arg output]]"]]

This is general form for calling [syscmd page]. The application will
read the contents of the file [arg input], process them under the
control of the specified [arg options], and then write the result to
the file [arg output].

[para]

If [arg input] is the string [const -] the data to process will be
read from [const stdin] instead of a file. Analogously the result will
be written to [const stdout] instead of a file if [arg output] is the
string [const -]. A missing output or input specification causes the
application to assume [const -].

[para]

The detailed specifications of the recognized [arg options] are
provided in section [sectref OPTIONS].

[list_begin arguments]
[arg_def path input in]

This argument specifies the path to the file to be processed by the
application, or [const -]. The last value causes the application to
read the text from [const stdin]. Otherwise it has to exist, and be
readable. If the argument is missing [const -] is assumed.

[arg_def path output in]

This argument specifies where to write the generated text. It can be
the path to a file, or [const -]. The last value causes the
application to write the generated documented to [const stdout].

[para]

If the file [arg output] does not exist then
[lb]file dirname $output[rb] has to exist and must be a writable
directory, as the application will create the fileto write to.

[para]

If the argument is missing [const -] is assumed.

[list_end]
[list_end]

[subsection OPERATION]

... reading ... transforming ... writing - plugins - pipeline ...

[subsection OPTIONS]

This section describes all the options available to the user of the
application. Options are always processed in order. I.e. of both
[option --help] and [option --version] are specified the option
encountered first has precedence.

[para]

Unknown options specified before any of the options [option -rd],
[option -wr], or [option -tr] will cause processing to abort with an
error. Unknown options coming in between these options, or after the
last of them are assumed to always take a single argument and are
associated with the last plugin option coming before them. They will
be checked after all the relevant plugins, and thus the options they
understand, are known. I.e. such unknown options cause error if and
only if the plugin option they are associated with does not understand
them, and was not superceded by a plugin option coming after.

[para]

Default options are used if and only if the command line did not
contain any options at all. They will set the application up as a
PEG-based parser generator. The exact list of options is

[para]
[example {-c peg}]
[para]

And now the recognized options and their arguments, if they have any:

[para]
[list_begin options]

[opt_def --help]
[opt_def -h]
[opt_def -?]

When one of these options is found on the command line all arguments
coming before or after are ignored. The application will print a short
description of the recognized options and exit.

[opt_def --version]
[opt_def -V]

When one of these options is found on the command line all arguments
coming before or after are ignored. The application will print its
own revision and exit.

[opt_def -P]

This option signals the application to activate visual feedback while
reading the input.

[opt_def -T]

This option signals the application to collect statistics while
reading the input and to print them after reading has completed,
before processing started.

[opt_def -D]

This option signals the application to activate logging in the Safe
base, for the debugging of problems with plugins.

[opt_def -r parser]
[opt_def -rd parser]
[opt_def --reader parser]

These options specify the plugin the application has to use for
reading the [arg input]. If the options are used multiple times the
last one will be used.

[opt_def -w generator]
[opt_def -wr generator]
[opt_def --writer generator]

These options specify the plugin the application has to use for
generating and writing the final [arg output]. If the options are used
multiple times the last one will be used.

[opt_def -t process]
[opt_def -tr process]
[opt_def --transform process]

These options specify a plugin to run on the input. In contrast to
readers and writers each use will [emph not] supersede previous
uses, but add each chosen plugin to a list of transformations, either
at the front, or the end, per the last seen use of either option
[option -p] or [option -a]. The initial default is to append the new
transformations.

[opt_def -a]
[opt_def --append]

These options signal the application that all following
transformations should be added at the end of the list of
transformations.

[opt_def -p]
[opt_def --prepend]

These options signal the application that all following
transformations should be added at the beginning of the list of
transformations.

[opt_def --reset]

This option signals the application to clear the list of
transformations. This is necessary to wipe out the default
transformations used.

[opt_def -c file]
[opt_def --configuration file]

This option causes the application to load a configuration file and/or
plugin. This is a plugin which in essence provides a pre-defined set
of commandline options. They are processed exactly as if they have
been specified in place of the option and its arguments. This means
that unknown options found at the beginning of the configuration file
are associated with the last plugin, even if that plugin was specified
before the configuration file itself. Conversely, unknown options
coming after the configuration file can be associated with a plugin
specified in the file.

[para]

If the argument is a file which cannot be loaded as a plugin the
application will assume that its contents are a list of options and
their arguments, separated by space, tabs, and newlines. Options and
argumentes containing spaces can be quoted via double-quotes (") and
quotes ('). The quote character can be specified within in a quoted
string by doubling it. Newlines in a quoted string are accepted as is.

[comment {"}]
[list_end]

[subsection PLUGINS]

[syscmd page] makes use of four different types of plugins, namely:
readers, writers, transformations, and configurations. Here we provide
only a basic introduction on how to use them from [syscmd page]. The
exact APIs provided to and expected from the plugins can be found in
the documentation for [package page::pluginmgr], for those who wish to
write their own plugins.

[para]

Plugins are specified as arguments to the options [option -r],
[option -w], [option -t], [option -c], and their equivalent longer
forms. See the section [sectref OPTIONS] for reference.

[para]

Each such argument will be first treated as the name of a file and
this file is loaded as the plugin. If however there is no file with
that name, then it will be translated into the name of a package, and
this package is then loaded. For each type of plugins the package
management searches not only the regular paths, but a set application-
and type-specific paths as well. Please see the section
[sectref {PLUGIN LOCATIONS}] for a listing of all paths and their
sources.

[para]

[list_begin definitions]
[def "[option -c] [arg name]"]

Configurations. The name of the package for the plugin [arg name] is
"page::config::[arg name]".

[para]
We have one predefined plugin:

[list_begin definitions]
[def [emph peg]]

It sets the application up as a parser generator accepting parsing
expression grammars and writing a packrat parser in Tcl. The actual
arguments it specifies are:

[para]
[example {
	--reset
	--append
	--reader    peg
	--transform reach
	--transform use
	--writer    me
}]
[para]

[list_end]

[def "[option -r] [arg name]"]

Readers. The name of the package for the plugin [arg name] is
"page::reader::[arg name]".

[para]
We have five predefined plugins:

[list_begin definitions]
[def [emph peg]]

Interprets the input as a parsing expression grammar ([term PEG]) and
generates a tree representation for it. Both the syntax of PEGs and
the structure of the tree representation are explained in their own
manpages.

[def [emph hb]]

Interprets the input as Tcl code as generated by the writer plugin
[emph hb] and generates its tree representation.

[def [emph ser]]

Interprets the input as the serialization of a PEG, as generated by
the writer plugin [emph ser], using the package
[package grammar::peg].

[def [emph lemon]]

Interprets the input as a grammar specification as understood by
Richard Hipp's [term LEMON] parser generator and generates a tree
representation for it. Both the input syntax and the structure of the
tree representation are explained in their own manpages.

[def [emph treeser]]

Interprets the input as the serialization of a
[package struct::tree]. It is validated as such,
but nothing else. It is [emph not] assumed to
be the tree representation of a grammar.
[list_end]

[def "[option -w] [arg name]"]

Writers. The name of the package for the plugin [arg name] is
"page::writer::[arg name]".

[para]
We have eight predefined plugins:

[list_begin definitions]

[def [emph identity]]

Simply writes the incoming data as it is, without making any
changes. This is good for inspecting the raw result of a reader or
transformation.

[def [emph null]]

Generates nothing, and ignores the incoming data structure.

[def [emph tree]]

Assumes that the incoming data structure is a [package struct::tree]
and generates an indented textual representation of all nodes, their
parental relationships, and their attribute information.

[def [emph peg]]

Assumes that the incoming data structure is a tree representation of a
[term PEG] or other other grammar and writes it out as a PEG. The
result is nicely formatted and partially simplified (strings as
sequences of characters). A pretty printer in essence, but can also be
used to obtain a canonical representation of the input grammar.

[def [emph tpc]]

Assumes that the incoming data structure is a tree representation of a
[term PEG] or other other grammar and writes out Tcl code defining a
package which defines a [package grammar::peg] object containing the
grammar when it is loaded into an interpreter.

[def [emph hb]]

This is like the writer plugin [emph tpc], but it writes only the
statements which define stat expression and grammar rules. The code
making the result a package is left out.

[def [emph ser]]

Assumes that the incoming data structure is a tree representation of a
[term PEG] or other other grammar, transforms it internally into a
[package grammar::peg] object and writes out its serialization.

[def [emph me]]

Assumes that the incoming data structure is a tree representation of a
[term PEG] or other other grammar and writes out Tcl code defining a
package which implements a memoizing recursive descent parser based on
the match engine (ME) provided by the package [package grammar::mengine].

[list_end]

[def "[option -t] [arg name]"]

Transformers. The name of the package for the plugin [arg name] is
"page::transform::[arg name]".

[para]
We have two predefined plugins:

[list_begin definitions]
[def [emph reach]]

Assumes that the incoming data structure is a tree representation of a
[term PEG] or other other grammar. It determines which nonterminal
symbols and rules are reachable from start-symbol/expression. All
nonterminal symbols which were not reached are removed.

[def [emph use]]

Assumes that the incoming data structure is a tree representation of a
[term PEG] or other other grammar. It determines which nonterminal
symbols and rules are able to generate a [emph finite] sequences of
terminal symbols (in the sense for a Context Free Grammar). All
nonterminal symbols which were not deemed useful in this sense are
removed.

[list_end]
[list_end]

[subsection {PLUGIN LOCATIONS}]

The application-specific paths searched by [syscmd page] either are,
or come from:

[para]

[list_begin enumerated]
[enum] The directory            [file ~/.page/plugin]
[enum] The environment variable [term PAGE_PLUGINS]
[enum] The registry entry       [term "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\PAGE\\PLUGINS"]
[enum] The registry entry       [term "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\SOFTWARE\\PAGE\\PLUGINS"]
[list_end]

[para]

The type-specific paths searched by [syscmd page] either are, or come
from:

[para]
[list_begin enumerated]
[enum] The directory            [file ~/.page/plugin/<TYPE>]
[enum] The environment variable [term PAGE_<TYPE>_PLUGINS]
[enum] The registry entry       [term "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\PAGE\\<TYPE>\\PLUGINS"]
[enum] The registry entry       [term "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\SOFTWARE\\PAGE\\<TYPE>\\PLUGINS"]
[list_end]

[para]

Where the placeholder [term <TYPE>] is always one of the values below,
properly capitalized.

[list_begin enumerated]
[enum] reader
[enum] writer
[enum] transform
[enum] config
[list_end]
[para]

The registry entries are specific to the Windows(tm) platform, all
other platforms will ignore them.

[para]

The contents of both environment variables and registry entries are
interpreted as a list of paths, with the elements separated by either
colon (Unix), or semicolon (Windows).

[vset CATEGORY page]
[include ../modules/doctools2base/include/feedback.inc]
[manpage_end]