Family concept

Introduction > Family concept

There is a kind of programs, which is similar to the TextTransformer: the so-called parser generators. All of these programs need one superior production, the start rule, by which the parsing of a text begins. A whole project then consists in exactly those productions on which the start rule depends.

In contrast to the other parser generators the set of productions and tokens of a TETRA project is open. From the set of existing productions, each of them can be chosen as start rule. Productions and tokens on which the actual start rule depends will be compiled automatically.

Example

A project can contain a collection of rules to translate a programming language into a different. Ideally, such a collection would be complete. Than there would be a general start rule, which could translate each program of the source language to the target language.

To write all of the productions, which are necessary for a complete translator, is an ambitious task and often not really necessary. It might be more economic for an occasional translation of parts of the source language, only to write an automated translator for certain constructs and to translate the rest manually.

The TextTransformer is a good tool for managing such a pool of rules.

This page belongs to the TextTransformer Documentation