Micro Parser Combinators

mpc is a lightweight but powerful Parser Combinator library for C.

Using mpc might be of interest to you if you are...

• Building a new programming language
• Building a new data format
• Parsing an existing data format
• Embedding a Domain Specific Language
• Implementing Greenspun's Tenth Rule

Features

• Type-Generic Parser Combinators
• Predictive Recursive Descent Parsers
• Error Message Support
• Regular Expression Support
• Abstract Syntax Tree Support
• Easy to Integrate (One Source File in ANSI C)

Alternatives

The current main alternative C based parser combinator is a branch of Cesium3.

The main advantages of mpc over this are:

• Works for Generic Types
• Doesn't rely on Boehm-Demers-Weiser Garbage Collection
• Doesn't use setjmp and longjmp for errors
• Doesn't pollute namespace

View From the Top

In this example I create a parser for a basic maths language. The function parse_maths takes as input some mathematical expression and outputs an instance of mpc_ast_t.

#include "mpc.h"

mpc_ast_t* parse_maths(const char* input) {

  mpc_parser_t* Expr  = mpc_new("expression");
  mpc_parser_t* Prod  = mpc_new("product");
  mpc_parser_t* Value = mpc_new("value");
  mpc_parser_t* Maths = mpc_new("maths");
  
  mpca_lang(
    "                                                       \
        expression : <product> (('+' | '-') <product>)*;    \
        product :    <value>   (('*' | '/') <value>  )*;    \
        value : /[0-9]+/ | '(' <expression> ')';            \
        maths : /^/ <expression> /$/;                       \
    ",
    Expr, Prod, Value, Maths);
  
  mpc_result_t r;  
  if (!mpc_parse("<parse_maths>", input, Maths, &r)) {
    mpc_err_print(r.error);
    mpc_err_delete(r.error);
    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
  }
  
  mpc_cleanup(4, Expr, Prod, Value, Maths);
  
  return r.output;
}

If you were to input something like "(4 * 2 * 11 + 2) - 5" into this function the mpc_ast_t you get out would look something like this:

root:
    value:
        char: '('
        expression:
            product:
                value: '4'
                char: '*'
                value: '2'
                char: '*'
                value: '11'
            char: '+'
            value: '2'
        char: ')'
    char: '-'
    value: '5'

View From the Bottom

Parser Combinators are structures that encode how to parse a particular language. They can be combined using intuitive operators to create new parsers of increasing complexity. With these - detailed grammars and languages can be parsed and processed easily.

The trick behind Parser Combinators is the observation that by structuring the library in a particular way, one can make building parser combinators look like writing a grammar itself. Therefore instead of describing how to parse a language, a user must only specify the language itself, and the computer will work out how to parse it ... as if by magic!

Parsers

The Parser Combinator type in mpc is mpc_parser_t. This encodes a function that attempts to parse some string and, if successful, returns a pointer to some data. Otherwise it returns some error. A parser can be run using mpc_parse.

---

int mpc_parse(const char* filename, const char* string, mpc_parser_t* p, mpc_result_t* r);

This function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure. It takes as input some parser p, some input string, and some filename. It outputs into r the result of the parse - which is either a pointer to some data object, or an error. The type mpc_result_t is a union type defined as follows.

typedef union {
  mpc_err_t* error;
  mpc_val_t* output;
} mpc_result_t;

where mpc_val_t is synonymous with void* and simply represents some pointer to data - the exact type of which is dependant on the parser. Some variations on the above also exist.

---

int mpc_fparse(const char* filename, FILE* file, mpc_parser_t* p, mpc_result_t* r);

Parses the contents of file with parser p and returns the result in r. Returns 1 on success and 0 on failure. This is also the correct method to parse input from pipes or streams.

---

int mpc_fparse_contents(const char* filename, mpc_parser_t* p, mpc_result_t* r);

Opens file filename and parsers contents with p. Returns result in r. Returns 1 on success and 0 on failure;

Basic Parsers

String Parsers

All the following functions return basic parsers. All of those parsers return strings with the character(s) they manage to match or an error on failure. They have the following functionality.

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_any(void);

Matches any single character

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_char(char c);

Matches a single given character c

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_range(char s, char e);

Matches any single given character in the range s to e (inclusive)

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_oneof(const char* s);

Matches any single given character in the string s

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_noneof(const char* s);

Matches any single given character not in the string s

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_satisfy(int(*f)(char));

Matches any single given character satisfying function f

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_string(const char* s);

Matches exactly the string s

Trivial Parsers

Several other functions exist that return basic parsers with some other special functionality.

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_pass(void);

Consumes no input, always successful, returns NULL

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_fail(const char* m);

Consumes no input, always fails with message m.

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_lift(mpc_lift_t f);

Consumes no input, always successful, returns the result of function f

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_lift_val(mpc_val_t* x);

Consumes no input, always successful, returns x

Combinators

Combinators are functions that take one or more parsers and return a new parser. These combinators work independent of exactly what data type those input parsers return on success. In languages such as Haskell ensuring you don't input one type of data into a parser requiring a different type of data is done by the compiler. But in C we don't have that luxury. So it is at the discretion of the programmer to ensure that he or she deals correctly with the outputs of different parser types.

A second annoyance in C is that of manual memory management. Some parsers might get half-way and then fail. This means they need to clean up any partial data that has been collected in the parse. In Haskell this is handled by the Garbage Collector, but in C these combinators will need to take destructor functions as input, which say how clean up any partial data that has been collected.

Here are the main combinators and how to use then.

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_expect(mpc_parser_t* a, const char* e);

Returns a parser that runs a, and on success returns the result of a, while on failure reports that e was expected.

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_apply(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_apply_t f);
mpc_parser_t* mpc_apply_to(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_apply_to_t f, void* x);

Returns a parser that applies function f (optionality taking extra input x) to the result of parser a.

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_predictive(mpc_parser_t* a);

Returns a parser that runs a with backtracking disabled. This means if a consumes any input, it will not be reverted, even on failure. Turning backtracking off has good performance benefits for grammars which are LL(1). These are grammars where the first character completely determines the parse result - such as the decision of parsing either a C identifier, number, or string literal. This option should not be used for non LL(1) grammars or it will produce incorrect results or crash the parser.

Another way to think of mpc_predictive is that it can be applied to a parser (for a performance improvement) if either successfully parsing the first character will result in a completely successful parse, or all of the referenced sub-parsers are also LL(1).

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_not(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_dtor_t da);
mpc_parser_t* mpc_not_else(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_dtor_t da, mpc_lift_t lf);

Returns a parser with the following behaviour. If parser a succeeds, then it fails and consumes no input. If parser a fails, then it succeeds, consumes no input and returns NULL (or the result of lift function lf). Destructor da is used to destroy the result of a on success.

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_maybe(mpc_parser_t* a);
mpc_parser_t* mpc_maybe_else(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_lift_t lf);

Returns a parser that runs a. If this fails then it still succeeds, but returns NULL (or the result of lf).

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_many(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_fold_t f);
mpc_parser_t* mpc_many_else(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_fold_t f, mpc_lift_t lf);

Attempts to run a zero or more times. If zero runs are made it succeeds and returns NULL (or the result of lf). If at least one run is made, results of a are combined using fold function f and returned. See the Function Types section for more details.

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_many1(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_fold_t f);

Attempts to run a one or more times. Results are combined with fold function f.

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_count(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_dtor_t da, mpc_fold_t f, int n);
mpc_parser_t* mpc_count_else(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_dtor_t da, mpc_fold_t f, int n, mpc_lift_t lf);

Attempts to run a exactly n times. If this fails, any partial results are destructed with da, and it returns NULL (or the result of lift function lf). If it is successful, result of a are combined using fold function f.

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_else(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_parser_t* b);

Attempts to run a. On success returns the result a. On failure attempts to run b. If b also fails then returns an error. Otherwise it returns the result of b.

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_also(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_parser_t* b, mpc_dtor_t da, mpc_fold_t f);
mpc_parser_t* mpc_bind(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_parser_t* b, mpc_dtor_t da, mpc_fold_t f);

Attempts to run a. Then attempts to run b. If b fails it destructs the result of a using da. If both succeed it returns the result of a and b combined using the fold function f. Otherwise it returns an error.

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_or(int n, ...);

Attempts to run n parsers in sequence, returning the first one that succeeds. If all fail, returns an error.

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_and(int n, mpc_afold_t f, ...);

Attempts to run n parsers in sequence, returning the fold of the results using fold function f. First parsers must be specified, followed by destructors for each parser, minus the final one. These are used in case of partial success. For example: mpc_and(3, mpcf_astrfold, mpc_char('a'), mpc_char('b'), mpc_char('c'), free, free); would attempt to match 'a' followed by 'b' followed by 'c', and if successful would concatenate them using mpcf_astrfold. Otherwise would use free on the partial results.

Function Types

The combinator functions take a number of special function types as function pointers. Here is a short explanation of those types are how they are expected to behave. It is important that these behave correctly otherwise it is exceedingly easy to introduce memory leaks into the system.

---

typedef void(*mpc_dtor_t)(mpc_val_t*);

Given some pointer to a data value it will ensure the memory it points to is freed correctly.

---

typedef mpc_val_t*(*mpc_apply_t)(mpc_val_t*);
typedef mpc_val_t*(*mpc_apply_to_t)(mpc_val_t*,void*);

This takes in some pointer to data and outputs some new or modified pointer to data, ensuring to free and old data no longer used. The apply_to variation takes in an extra pointer to some data such as state of the system.

---

typedef mpc_val_t*(*mpc_fold_t)(mpc_val_t*,mpc_val_t*);

This takes two pointers to data and must output some new combined pointer to data, ensuring to free and old data no longer used. When used with the many, many1 and count functions this initially takes in NULL for it's first argument and following that takes in for it's first argument whatever was previously returned by the function itself. In this way users have a chance to build some initial data structure before populating it with whatever is passed as the second argument.

---

typedef mpc_val_t*(*mpc_afold_t)(int,mpc_val_t**);

Similar to the above, but it is passed in a list of pointers to data values which must all be folded together and output as a new single data value. Any old data no longer used must be freed.

---

typedef mpc_val_t*(*mpc_lift_t)(void);

This function returns some data value when called. It can be used to create empty versions of data types when certain combinators have no known default value to return. For example it may be used to return a newly allocated empty string rather than NULL.

First Example

Using the above we can create a parser that matches a C identifier with relative ease.

First we build a fold function that will concatenate two strings together - freeing any data we no longer need.

mpc_val_t* parse_fold_string(mpc_val_t* x, mpc_val_t* y) {
  
  if (x == NULL) { return y; }
  if (y == NULL) { return x; }
  
  char* x = realloc(x, strlen(x) + strlen(y) + 1);
  strcat(x, y);
  
  free(y);
  return x;
  
}

Then we can actually specify the grammar using combinators to say how the basic parsers are combined.

char* parse_ident(char* input) {
  
  mpc_parser_t* alpha = mpc_else(mpc_range('a', 'z'), mpc_range('A', 'Z'));
  mpc_parser_t* digit = mpc_range('0', '9');
  mpc_parser_t* underscore = mpc_char('_');
  
  mpc_parser_t* ident0 = mpc_else(alpha, underscore);
  mpc_parser_t* ident1 = mpc_many(mpc_or(3, alpha, digit, underscore), parse_fold_string);
  mpc_parser_t* ident = mpc_also(ident0, ident1, free, parse_fold_string);
  
  mpc_result_t r;  
  if (!mpc_parse("parse_ident", input, ident, &r)) {
    mpc_err_print(r.error);
    mpc_err_delete(r.error);
    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
  }
  
  mpc_delete(ident);
  
  return r.output;
}

Note that only ident must be deleted. This is because in referencing other parsers in how it is built it ensure they will be destructed along with it.

Self Reference

Building parsers in the above way can have issues with self-reference or cyclic-reference.

To overcome this we can separate the construction of parsers into two different steps. Construction and Definition.

Note that mpc does not detect left-recursive grammars. These will go into an infinite loop when they attempt to parse input, and so should specified instead in right-recursive form.

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_new(const char* name);

This will construct a parser called name which can then be used by others, including itself. Any parser created using mpc_new is said to be retained. This means it will behave slightly differently to a normal parser. For example when deleting a parser that includes a retained parser, the retained parser it will not be deleted along with it. To delete a retained parser mpc_delete must be used on it directly.

A retained parser can then be defined using...

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_define(mpc_parser_t* p, mpc_parser_t* a);

This assigns the contents of parser a to p, and frees and memory used by a. With this technique parsers can now reference each other, as well as themselves, without trouble.

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_undefine(mpc_parser_t* p);

A final step is required. Parsers that reference each other must all be undefined before they are deleted. It is important to do any undefining before deletion. The reason for this is that to delete a parser it must look at each sub-parser that is used by it. If any of these have already been deleted a segfault is unavoidable.

---

void mpc_cleanup(int n, ...);

To ease the task of undefining and then deleting parsers mpc_cleanup can be used. It takes n parsers as input, and undefines them all, before deleting them all.

Common Parsers

A number of common parsers are included.

• mpc_parser_t* mpc_eoi(void); Matches only the end of input, returns NULL
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_soi(void); Matches only the start of input, returns NULL
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_space(void); Matches some whitespace character (" \f\n\r\t\v")
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_spaces(void); Matches zero or more whitespace characters
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_whitespace(void); Matches zero or more whitespace characters and frees the result
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_newline(void); Matches '\n'
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_tab(void); Matches '\t'
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_escape(void); Matches a backslash followed by any character
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_digit(void); Matches any character in the range '0' - '9'
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_hexdigit(void); Matches any character in the range '0' - '9' as well as 'A' - 'F' and 'a' - 'f'
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_octdigit(void); Matches any character in the range '0' - '7'
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_digits(void); Matches one or more digit
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_hexdigits(void); Matches one or more hexdigit
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_octdigits(void); Matches one or more octdigit
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_lower(void); Matches and lower case character
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_upper(void); Matches any upper case character
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_alpha(void); Matches and alphabet character
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_underscore(void); Matches '_'
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_alphanum(void); Matches any alphabet character, underscore or digit
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_int(void); Matches digits and converts to an int*
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_hex(void); Matches hexdigits and converts to an int*
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_oct(void); Matches octdigits and converts to an int*
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_number(void); Matches mpc_int, mpc_hex or mpc_oct
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_real(void); Matches some floating point number as a string
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_float(void); Matches some floating point number and converts to float*
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_char_lit(void); Matches some character literal surrounded by '
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_string_lit(void); Matches some string literal surrounded by "
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_regex_lit(void); Matches some regex literal surrounded by /
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_ident(void); Matches a C identifier

Useful Parsers

• mpc_parser_t* mpc_start(mpc_parser_t* a); Matches the start of input an a
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_end(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_dtor_t da); Matches a followed by the end of input
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_enclose(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_dtor_t da); Matches the start of input, a and then the end of input
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_strip(mpc_parser_t* a); Matches a striping any surrounding whitespace
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_tok(mpc_parser_t* a); Matches a and strips any trailing whitespace
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_sym(const char* s); Matches string s and strips any trailing whitespace
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_total(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_dtor_t da); Matches the whitespace stripped a, enclosed in the start and end of input
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_between(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_dtor_t ad, const char* o, const char* c); Matches a between strings o and c
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_parens(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_dtor_t ad); Matches a between "(" and ")"
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_braces(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_dtor_t ad); Matches a between "<" and ">"
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_brackets(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_dtor_t ad); Matches a between "{" and "}"
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_squares(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_dtor_t ad); Matches a between "[" and "]"
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_tok_between(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_dtor_t ad, const char* o, const char* c); Matches a between o and c, where o and c have their trailing whitespace striped.
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_tok_parens(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_dtor_t ad); Matches a between trailing whitespace stripped "(" and ")"
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_tok_braces(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_dtor_t ad); Matches a between trailing whitespace stripped "<" and ">"
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_tok_brackets(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_dtor_t ad); Matches a between trailing whitespace stripped "{" and "}"
• mpc_parser_t* mpc_tok_squares(mpc_parser_t* a, mpc_dtor_t ad); Matches a between trailing whitespace stripped "[" and "]"

Fold Functions

A number of common fold functions a user might want are included. They reside under the mpcf_* namespace.

• void mpcf_dtor_null(mpc_val_t* x); Empty destructor. Does nothing
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_lift_null(void); Returns NULL
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_lift_emptystr(void); Returns newly allocated empty string
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_free(mpc_val_t* x); Frees x and returns NULL
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_int(mpc_val_t* x); Converts a decimal string x to an int*
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_hex(mpc_val_t* x); Converts a hex string x to an int*
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_oct(mpc_val_t* x); Converts a oct string x to an int*
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_float(mpc_val_t* x); Converts a string x to a float*
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_escape(mpc_val_t* x); Converts a string x to an escaped version
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_unescape(mpc_val_t* x); Converts a string x to an unescaped version
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_fst(mpc_val_t* x, mpc_val_t* y); Returns x
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_snd(mpc_val_t* x, mpc_val_t* y); Returns y
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_fst_free(mpc_val_t* x, mpc_val_t* y); Returns x and frees y
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_snd_free(mpc_val_t* x, mpc_val_t* y); Returns y and frees x
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_freefold(mpc_val_t* t, mpc_val_t* x); Returns NULL and frees x
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_strfold(mpc_val_t* t, mpc_val_t* x); Concatenates t and x and returns result
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_afst(int n, mpc_val_t** xs); Returns first argument
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_asnd(int n, mpc_val_t** xs); Returns second argument
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_atrd(int n, mpc_val_t** xs); Returns third argument
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_astrfold(int n, mpc_val_t** xs); Concatenates and returns all input strings
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_between_free(int n, mpc_val_t** xs); Frees first and third argument and returns second
• mpc_val_t* mpcf_maths(int n, mpc_val_t** xs); Examines second argument as string to see which operator it is, then operators on first and third argument as if they are int*.

Second Example

Passing around all these function pointers might seem clumsy, but having parsers be type-generic is important as it lets users define their own syntax tree types, as well as allows them perform specific house-keeping or data processing in the parsing phase. For example we can specify a simple maths grammar that computes the result of the expression as it goes along.

We start with a fold function that will fold two int* into a new int* based on some char* operator.

mpc_val_t* mpcf_maths(int n, mpc_val_t** xs) {
  
  int** vs = (int**)xs;
    
  if (strcmp(xs[1], "*") == 0) { *vs[0] *= *vs[2]; }
  if (strcmp(xs[1], "/") == 0) { *vs[0] /= *vs[2]; }
  if (strcmp(xs[1], "%") == 0) { *vs[0] %= *vs[2]; }
  if (strcmp(xs[1], "+") == 0) { *vs[0] += *vs[2]; }
  if (strcmp(xs[1], "-") == 0) { *vs[0] -= *vs[2]; }
  
  free(xs[1]); free(xs[2]);
  
  return xs[0];
}

And then we use this to specify a basic grammar, which folds together any results.

int parse_maths(char* input) {

  mpc_parser_t* Expr   = mpc_new("expr");
  mpc_parser_t* Factor = mpc_new("factor");
  mpc_parser_t* Term   = mpc_new("term");
  mpc_parser_t* Maths  = mpc_new("maths");

  mpc_define(Expr, mpc_else(
    mpc_and(3, mpcf_maths, Factor, mpc_oneof("*/"), Factor, free, free),
    Factor
  ));
  
  mpc_define(Factor, mpc_else(
    mpc_and(3, mpcf_maths, Term, mpc_oneof("+-"), Term, free, free),
    Term
  ));
  
  mpc_define(Term, mpc_else(mpc_int(), mpc_parens(Expr, free)));
  mpc_define(Maths, mpc_enclose(Expr, free));
  
  mpc_result_t r;
  if (!mpc_parse("parse_maths", input, Maths, &r)) {
    mpc_err_print(r.error);
    abort();
  }

  int result = *r.output;
  free(r.output);
  
  return result;
}

If we supply this function with something like (4*2)+5, we can expect it to output 13.

Regular Expressions

Even with all that has been shown above, specifying parts of text can be a tedious task requiring many lines of code. So mpc provides a simple regular expression matcher.

---

mpc_parser_t* mpc_re(const char* re);

This returns a parser that will attempt to match the given regular expression pattern, and return the matched string on success. It does not have support for groups and match objects, but should be sufficient for simple tasks.

A cute thing about this is that it uses previous parts of the library to parse the user input string - and because mpc is type generic, the parser spits out a new mpc_parser_t that matches the regular expression directly! It even uses many of the combinator functions indirectly as fold functions! This is a great case study in learning how to use mpc, so those curious are encouraged to find it in the source code.

Abstract Syntax Tree

One can avoid passing in and around all those clumbsy function pointer if they don't care what type is output by mpc. For this generic Abstract Syntax Tree type mpc_ast_t is included. The combinator functions which act on this don't need information on how to destruct instances of the result as they know it will be a mpc_ast_t. So there are a number of combinator functions which work specifically (and only) on this type. They reside under mpca_*.

Doing things via this method means that all the data processing must take place after the parsing - but to many this will be preferable.

It also allows for one more trick. As all the fold and destructor functions are implicit then the user can simply specify the grammar of the language in some nice way and the system can try to build an AST for them from this alone. For this there are two functions supplied which take in a string and output a parser. The format for these grammars is simple and familar to those who have used parser generators before. It looks something like this.

expression : <product> (('+' | '-') <product>)*;

product : <value>   (('*' | '/')   <value>)*;

value : /[0-9]+/ | '(' <expression> ')';

maths : /^/ <expression> /$/;

String literals are surrounded in double quotes ". Character literals in single quotes ' and regex literals in slashes /. References to other parsers are surrounded in braces <> and referred to by name.

Parts specified one after another are parsed in order (like mpc_and), while parts separated by a pipe | are alternatives (like mpc_or). Parenthesis () are used to specify precidence. * can be used to mean zero or more of. + for one or more of. ? for zero or one of. And a number inside braces {5} to mean N counts of.

Rules are specified by rule name followed by a colon :, followed by the definition, and ending in a semicolon ;.

In a cute bootstrapping this user input is parsed by existing parts of the mpc library. It provides one of the more powerful features of the library.

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mpc_parser_t* mpca_grammar(const char* grammar, ...);

This takes in some single right hand side of a rule, as well as a list of any of the parsers it refers to, and outputs a parser that does exactly what is specified by the rule.

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mpc_err_t* mpca_lang(const char* lang, ...);

This takes in a full language (one or more rules) as well as any parsers referred to by either the right or left hand sides. Any parsers specified on the left hand side of any rule will be assigned a parser equivalent to what is specified on the right. On valid user input this returns NULL, while if there are any errors in the user input it will return an instance of mpc_err_t describing the issues.

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mpc_err_t* mpca_lang_file(FILE* f, ...);

This reads in the contents of file f and inputs it into mpca_lang.

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mpc_err_t* mpca_lang_filename(const char* filename, ...);

This opens and reads in the contents of the file given by filename and passes it to mpca_lang.

Error Reporting

mpc provides some automatic generation of error messages. These can be enhanced by the user by use of mpc_expect but even many of the defaults should provide both useful and readable. An example of an error message might look something like this:

<test>:0:3: error: expected one or more of 'a' or 'd' at 'k'