Update! C# grammar was updated

The C# grammar was modified to better handle real-world cases. It should be close to perfect now.

You can download a copy on the Grammar Download page.

New! Added two program templates for the Morozov C# Engine

Dave Dolan created two program templates for use with the Morozov implementation of the Engine.

The download contains two templates - one for C# version 1 and a second for version 2.

Update! C# grammar was updated

The C# grammar was modified to include the new features in found in version 2.0. These include delegate expressions and partial classes.

You can download a copy on the Grammar Download page.

Update! Dmitry Lamdan submitted a new version of Grammar Edit

Dmitry Lamdan submitted a new version of his popular Grammar Edit application. This application contextually highlights reserved words, terminals, rules, etc... and even interactively allows the developer see which rules and terminals have been defined and those which have not yet been.

You can download a copy on the Builder Download page.

Project Update

I'm currently in the long, painful, process of converting the source code to Visual Basic .NET. So far, it is gone slightly better than expected and I am generally pleased with the Visual Basic .NET Programming Language. The overall plan is to translate the code to VB.NET and take advantage of the long over-due features such as inheritance, interfaces (the VB6 version simply did not work), etc… When this is complete, porting the code to C++ and compiling a Linux and UNIX version of the Builder shouldn't be that difficult.

Update! Version 3.4.4 of the Builder was released

The new version mainly fixes a couple of annoying errors in the Test Multiple File Wizard. A few minor enhancements were also made to the tool.

• Added all the current Engine program templates. Before, many of the templates created for different implementations of the Engine were not included with the application. I finally added them.
• File pattern used by Test Multiple Files Wizard is saved. The pattern used to match test files (e.g. *.txt) is now saved between sessions.
• Files used by Test Multiple Files Wizard can be opened by double-clicking. This allows the developer to open the test file easily and make changes. Files are opened using the Windows shell.
• Fixed a bug that affected the Test Multiple Files Wizard and main Test Grammar Window. The bug occurred when the Test Grammar Window was used after the Test Multiple Files Wizard.

Great News! The Engine is now available in D

Matthias Piepkorn created a version of the Engine for the D Programming Language. This programming language was designed to combine the efficiently of C with modern object orientation programming concepts.

You can download a copy from the D Engine Download page

Added a program template for the ANSI C Engine

Mat Hounsell created a program template for the ANSI C Engine. The template defines functions for each rule and symbol in the grammar. In addition, it defines main switch statement to call them.

JavaScript grammar was added

Meinhard Schnoor-Matriciani submitted this grammar for the JavaScript Programming Language. The grammar has a few shift-reduce warnings - mainly due to the classic hanging else.I

The website folder hierarchy was modified slightly

The pages used to store different implementations of the Engine were reorganized. Now, there is a specify subfolder for each supported programming language.

Great News! A new version of the Morozov C# Engine was released!

Vladimir Morozov just released a new version of his C# Engine. The new version contains a number of enhancements:

• Improvement to the LR Stack
• Improvement how vectors are handled.

You can download a copy from the C# Engine Download page

Update! Version 3.4.3 of the Builder was released

• A new 'Test Multiple Files Wizard' was added. This wizard allows the developer to test a large number of files and save the results to a log file. This is useful when the developer wants to test the grammar against a large number of test cases.
• Some webpage color schemes were added. The new color schemes are mostly based older technologies. These include CGA (palette 2), DOS, and the PDP 8/e.

You can get a copy from the Builder Download page.

The front page was updated

The front page of the website hasn't changed in eons. I finally got around to making some minor revisions - mostly the inclusion of links for those who might have just found the website.

New! I finally created a Getting Started section

Quite a long time ago, I did some work on the Getting Started section of the website. The section was designed to guide developers who might be new to parsers and/or GOLD. For a long time, the section only had a generic "under construction" message.

Anyway, I finally got a few basic pages up. I plan to improve many of the pages over time, but this should do for now.

Update! Version 3.4.2 of the Builder was released

This release improves the Symbol Table window slightly. It also fixes a minor bug in the Webpage Export Wizard.

• The Symbol Window was improved. If the user clicks on a symbol, the system will display the rules which use it.
• The Webpage Wizard output was modified. When the grammar was exported to syntax charts, the table cells allowed text to be wrapped. Now, the 'nowrap' attribute is set for each cell.

You can get a copy from the Builder Download page.

The ANSI C grammar was updated

Typically, C comments cannot be nested. However, most compilers support nested comments to spite this limitation. In the grammar, there is a commented-out section that defines whitespace to accept comments. The previous version did not work in all cases.

You can get a copy from the Grammar Download page.

Update! Version 3.4.1 of the Builder was released

This release fixes a minor, yet careless, bug when cutting text to the clipboard. The Webpage Wizard was also improved slightly.

• Added some additional colors schemes to the Webpage Wizard. Most of the new color schemes are based on color constants. At this point, there are approximately 70 built-in schemes.
• Added more customization to the Webpage Wizard. The developer can now change the color used in the table's body cells. Beforehand, these cells were permanently set at pure white. Even if the developer changes the color, they should keep the color close to pure white.
• Fixed a bug with cutting text. The system was not initializing the clipboard before attempting to store cut text. As a result, the text was removed from the document, but not copied to the clipboard.

You can get a copy from the Builder Download page.

Update! Version 3.4 of the Builder was released

This release mainly includes a revamped "Create Webpage Wizard". There are no bug fixes.

• A new 'Create Webpage Wizard' was added. Beforehand, the Builder contained a basic 'Export Tables to a Webpage' utility. It allowed each of the GOLD tables to be exported to HTML charts. The new 'Create Webpage Wizard' can also automatically create hyperlinked syntax diagrams.
• Added a right-click menu to the Test Window for parse trees. If you right-click on the parse tree, you can Expand All Nodes and Collapse All Nodes.

You can get a copy from the Builder Download page.

Update! Version 3.3.1 of the Builder was released

• Added a new Test Grammar Options Window. Beforehand, the system used a basic Windows input box. The new window does the same thing, but can be expanded in the future.
• Fixed a bug when a zero-length terminal error was reported. The system was calling an invalid method and generating a runtime error.

You can get a copy from the Builder Download page.

The comparison charts were updated

The information in the (rather self-serving) Parser Comparison Chart was getting a tad out of date and needed some additional information. The new chart also contains basic attributes and IDE features.

The YACC Comparison list was moved to a separate page.

The pages still need some work.

Got the website back up

For some strange reason, when I attempted to FTP the website yesterday, many of the FTP packets were lost or never made it to the destination. This prevented updating the website.

Ironically, the only file that was transferred was the main index.htm - which was sent as a zero-byte file. As a result, the main page of the website was down for most of yesterday afternoon.

Website was redesigned slightly

The menu on the left side of each webpage was modified. The screenshot section was removed and was replaced by a single link in "Main". This should make it far easier to add and remove different screenshots in the future.

Beforehand, the number and selection of screenshots was limited to the number of links and their respective captions. This was the format of the website until this change.

Update! Version 3.3 of the Builder was released

• Major improvement! The Test Window was redesigned. The Test Window now displays the test string and parse information in different panes. Beforehand, the test string, parse action table and parse tree were displayed on separate tabs. In addition, the window now supports the ability to 'step through' the parse. The system will pause every time a token is read.
• The format of exported webpages was modified slightly. The word 'State' was removed from the rows of the LALR and DFA tables.

You can get a copy from the Builder Download page.