A proposed translator writing system language - Computer project, volume 3, no. 1

Programming language for advanced translator writing syste

Macro tree transducers

Macro tree transducers are a combination of top-down tree transducers and macro grammars. They serve as a model for syntax-directed semantics in which context information can be handled. In this paper the formal model of macro tree transducers is studied by investigating typical automata theoretical topics like composition, decomposition, domains, and ranges of the induced translation classes. The extension with regular look-ahead is considered

On the Relation between Context-Free Grammars and Parsing Expression Grammars

Context-Free Grammars (CFGs) and Parsing Expression Grammars (PEGs) have several similarities and a few differences in both their syntax and semantics, but they are usually presented through formalisms that hinder a proper comparison. In this paper we present a new formalism for CFGs that highlights the similarities and differences between them. The new formalism borrows from PEGs the use of parsing expressions and the recognition-based semantics. We show how one way of removing non-determinism from this formalism yields a formalism with the semantics of PEGs. We also prove, based on these new formalisms, how LL(1) grammars define the same language whether interpreted as CFGs or as PEGs, and also show how strong-LL(k), right-linear, and LL-regular grammars have simple language-preserving translations from CFGs to PEGs

The Automatic Inversion of Attribute Grammars

Over the last decade there has developed an acute awareness of the need to introduce abstraction and mathematical rigor into the programming process. This increased formality allows for the automatic manipulation of software, increasing productivity and, even more importantly, the manageability of complex systems. Along these lines, attribute grammars constitute a formal mechanism (or specifying translations between languages; from a Cormal description of the translation a translator can be automatically constructed. In this paper we consider taking this process one step further: given an attribute grammar specifying the translation from language L1 to the language L2, we address the question of whether the inverse attribute grammar specifying the inverse translation from L2 to L1 can be automatically generated. We show how to solve this problem for a restricted subset of attribute grammars. This inversion process allows for compatible two-way translators to be generated from a single description. To show the practical feasibility of attribute grammar inversion, we relate our experience in inverting an attribute grammar used as an interface for a formal database accessing language, SQL. The attribute grammar is used to paraphrase SQL database queries in English

Synchronous Context-Free Grammars and Optimal Linear Parsing Strategies

Synchronous Context-Free Grammars (SCFGs), also known as syntax-directed translation schemata, are unlike context-free grammars in that they do not have a binary normal form. In general, parsing with SCFGs takes space and time polynomial in the length of the input strings, but with the degree of the polynomial depending on the permutations of the SCFG rules. We consider linear parsing strategies, which add one nonterminal at a time. We show that for a given input permutation, the problems of finding the linear parsing strategy with the minimum space and time complexity are both NP-hard