The Grammar

The grammar encapsulates a set of rules. The grammar class is a protocol base class. It is essentially an interface contract. The grammar is a template class that is parameterized by its derived class, DerivedT, and its context, ContextT. The template parameter ContextT defaults to parser_context, a predefined context.

You need not be concerned at all with the ContextT template parameter unless you wish to tweak the low level behavior of the grammar. Detailed information on the ContextT template parameter is provided elsewhere. The grammar relies on the template parameter DerivedT, a grammar subclass to define the actual rules.

Presented below is the public API. There may actually be more template parameters after ContextT. Everything after the ContextT parameter should not be of concern to the client and are strictly for internal use only.

    template<
        typename DerivedT,
        typename ContextT = parser_context<> >
    struct grammar;

Grammar definition

A concrete sub-class inheriting from grammar is expected to have a nested template class (or struct) named definition:

It is a nested template class with a typename ScannerT parameter.
Its constructor defines the grammar rules.
Its constructor is passed in a reference to the actual grammar self.
It has a member function named start that returns a reference to the start rule.

Grammar skeleton

    struct my_grammar : public grammar<my_grammar>
    {
        template <typename ScannerT>
        struct definition
        {
            rule<ScannerT>  r;
            definition(my_grammar const& self)  { r = /*..define here..*/; }
            rule<ScannerT> const& start() const { return r; }
        };
    };

Decoupling the scanner type from the rules that form a grammar allows the grammar to be used in different contexts possibly using different scanners. We do not care what scanner we are dealing with. The user-defined my_grammar can be used with any type of scanner. Unlike the rule, the grammar is not tied to a specific scanner type. See "Scanner Business" to see why this is important and to gain further understanding on this scanner-rule coupling problem.

Instantiating and using my_grammar

Our grammar above may be instantiated and put into action:

    my_grammar g;

    if (parse(first, last, g, space_p).full)
        cout << "parsing succeeded\n";
    else
        cout << "parsing failed\n";

my_grammar IS-A parser and can be used anywhere a parser is expected, even referenced by another rule:

    rule<>  r = g >> str_p("cool huh?");

Referencing grammars Like the rule, the grammar is also held by reference when it is placed in the right hand side of an EBNF expression. It is the responsibility of the client to ensure that the referenced grammar stays in scope and does not get destructed while it is being referenced.

Full Grammar Example

Recalling our original calculator example, here it is now rewritten using a grammar:

    struct calculator : public grammar<calculator>
    {
        template <typename ScannerT>
        struct definition
        {
            definition(calculator const& self)
            {
                group       = '(' >> expression >> ')';
                factor      = integer | group;
                term        = factor >> *(('*' >> factor) | ('/' >> factor));
                expression  = term >> *(('+' >> term) | ('-' >> term));
            }

            rule<ScannerT> expression, term, factor, group;

            rule<ScannerT> const&
            start() const { return expression; }
        };
    };

A fully working example with semantic actions can be viewed here. This is part of the Spirit distribution.

self You might notice that the definition of the grammar has a constructor that accepts a const reference to the outer grammar. In the example above, notice that calculator::definition takes in a calculator const& self. While this is unused in the example above, in many cases, this is very useful. The self argument is the definition's window to the outside world. For example, the calculator class might have a reference to some state information that the definition can update while parsing proceeds through semantic actions.

Grammar Capsules

As a grammar becomes complicated, it is a good idea to group parts into logical modules. For instance, when writing a language, it might be wise to put expressions and statements into separate grammar capsules. The grammar takes advantage of the encapsulation properties of C++ classes. The declarative nature of classes makes it a perfect fit for the definition of grammars. Since the grammar is nothing more than a class declaration, we can conveniently publish it in header files. The idea is that once written and fully tested, a grammar can be reused in many contexts. We now have the notion of grammar libraries.

Reentrancy and multithreading

An instance of a grammar may be used in different places multiple times without any problem. The implementation is tuned to allow this at the expense of some overhead. However, we can save considerable cycles and bytes if we are certain that a grammar will only have a single instance. If this is desired, simply define BOOST_SPIRIT_SINGLE_GRAMMAR_INSTANCE before including any spirit header files.

    #define BOOST_SPIRIT_SINGLE_GRAMMAR_INSTANCE

On the other hand, if a grammar is intended to be used in multithreaded code, we should then define BOOST_SPIRIT_THREADSAFE before including any spirit header files. In this case it will also be required to link against Boost.Threads

    #define BOOST_SPIRIT_THREADSAFE

Using more than one grammar start rule

Sometimes it is desirable to have more than one visible entry point to a grammar (apart from the start rule). To allow additional start points, Spirit provides a helper template grammar_def, which may be used as a base class for the definition subclass of your grammar. Here's an example:

    // this header has to be explicitly included
    #include <boost/spirit/utility/grammar_def.hpp> 

    struct calculator2 : public grammar<calculator2>
    {
        enum 
        {
            expression = 0,
            term = 1,
            factor = 2,
        };

        template <typename ScannerT>
        struct definition
        : public grammar_def<rule<ScannerT>, same, same>
        {
            definition(calculator2 const& self)
            {
                group       = '(' >> expression >> ')';
                factor      = integer | group;
                term        = factor >> *(('*' >> factor) | ('/' >> factor));
                expression  = term >> *(('+' >> term) | ('-' >> term));

                this->start_parsers(expression, term, factor); 
            }

            rule<ScannerT> expression, term, factor, group;
        };
    };

The grammar_def template has to be instantiated with the types of all the rules you wish to make visible from outside the grammar:

    grammar_def<rule<ScannerT>, same, same> 

The shorthand notation same is used to indicate that the same type be used as specified by the previous template parameter (e.g. rule<ScannerT>). Obviously, same may not be used as the first template parameter.

grammar_def start types It may not be obvious, but it is interesting to note that aside from rule<>s, any parser type may be specified (e.g. chlit<>, strlit<>, int_parser<>, etc.).

Using the grammar_def class, there is no need to provide a start()member function anymore. Instead, you'll have to insert a call to the this->start_parsers() (which is a member function of the grammar_def template) to define the start symbols for your grammar. Note that the number and the sequence of the rules used as the parameters to the start_parsers() function should match the types specified in the grammar_def template:

    this->start_parsers(expression, term, factor);

The grammar entry point may be specified using the following syntax:

    g.use_parser<N>() // Where g is your grammar and N is the Nth entry.

This sample shows how to use the term rule from the calculator2 grammar above:

    calculator2 g;

    if (parse(
            first, last, 
            g.use_parser<calculator2::term>(),
            space_p
        ).full)
    {
        cout << "parsing succeeded\n";
    }
    else {
        cout << "parsing failed\n";
    }

The template parameter for the use_parser<> template type should be the zero based index into the list of rules specified in the start_parsers() function call.

use_parser<0> Note, that using 0 (zero) as the template parameter to use_parser is equivalent to using the start rule, exported by conventional means through the start() function, as shown in the first calculator sample above. So this notation may be used even for grammars exporting one rule through its start() function only. On the other hand, calling a grammar without the use_parser notation will execute the rule specified as the first parameter to the start_parsers() function.

The maximum number of usable start rules is limited by the preprocessor constant:

    BOOST_SPIRIT_GRAMMAR_STARTRULE_TYPE_LIMIT // defaults to 3

Copyright © 1998-2003 Joel de Guzman
Copyright © 2003-2004 Hartmut Kaiser

Use, modification and distribution is subject to the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt)