We focus on (partial) functions that map input strings to a monoid such as
the set of integers with addition and the set of output strings with
concatenation. The notion of regularity for such functions has been defined
using two-way finite-state transducers, (one-way) cost register automata, and
MSO-definable graph transformations. In this paper, we give an algebraic and
machine-independent characterization of this class analogous to the definition
of regular languages by regular expressions. When the monoid is commutative, we
prove that every regular function can be constructed from constant functions
using the combinators of choice, split sum, and iterated sum, that are analogs
of union, concatenation, and Kleene-*, respectively, but enforce unique (or
unambiguous) parsing. Our main result is for the general case of
non-commutative monoids, which is of particular interest for capturing regular
string-to-string transformations for document processing. We prove that the
following additional combinators suffice for constructing all regular
functions: (1) the left-additive versions of split sum and iterated sum, which
allow transformations such as string reversal; (2) sum of functions, which
allows transformations such as copying of strings; and (3) function
composition, or alternatively, a new concept of chained sum, which allows
output values from adjacent blocks to mix.Comment: This is the full version, with omitted proofs and constructions, of
the conference paper currently in submissio
