[antlr-interest] ANTLR code generation target: modifying the C-Runtime I

[Udo Weik]

Hello,

yep, I startet to modify the C-Runtime and have a first bunch of
questions. Be sure, more will follow - "Eeek, what a pain!"...

1. Header-file not created
    I just added a new directory \Cmod to \org\antlr\codegen\templates
    and copied the entire content of \C in that directory. Then I
    renamed C.stg in Cmod.stg. The *Lexer.c/*Parser.c-files are created,
    but no header (*.h)-files. Why?

2. <token> in <action>
    I need the token of an rule in the <action>-section
    /** How to execute an action (when not backtracking) */
    execAction(action) ::= <<
    <if(backtracking)>
    <if(actions.(actionScope).synpredgate)>
    if ( <actions.(actionScope).synpredgate> )
    ...
    <ruleDescriptor.name> and <ruleName> are replaced (what is the
    difference?) but <token> not. Why?

3. Blank lines
    The C-Parser-file of my grammar consits of ~150.000 lines, ~20.000
    lines are blank. As mentioned in another email from me, I can't debug
    more than 65535 lines. The only solution is to reorder the (parser) rules.
    But apart from that severe problem, I looked for a solution to get
    a much more compact code. Some examples, section...
    1. // Forward declare the locally static matching functions we have generated.
       //
       static
         XYZParser_RULE_return
           RULE (pXYZParser ctx);

       3 lines - the result of
       <rules:{r | static <headerReturnType(ruleDescriptor=r.ruleDescriptor)>  <r.ruleDescriptor.name>    (p<name> ctx<if(r.ruleDescriptor.parameterScope)>, <endif>
       <r.ruleDescriptor.parameterScope:parameterScope()>);}; separator="\n">
       How can I avoid 2 lines?
    2. /* ==============================================
        * Parsing rules
        */
       ...
       static XYZParser_RULE_return
       port_RULE(pXYZParser ctx)

       2 lines - the result of
       <rules; separator="\n\n">
       How can I avoid 1 line?

4. I added a comment to section
    ruleReturnValue() ::= <%
    //! UW Test ruleReturnValue

    <if(!ruleDescriptor.isSynPred)>
    <if(ruleDescriptor.hasReturnValue)>
    <if(ruleDescriptor.hasSingleReturnValue)>
    <ruleDescriptor.singleValueReturnName>
    <else>
    retval
    <endif>
    <endif>
    <endif>
    %>

    The result looks like
    return //! UW Test ruleReturnValueretval;
    1. The problem of the missing blank between "ruleReturnValue" and "retval"
       can be solved by adding a blank after the comment "//! UW Test ruleReturnValue ".
    2. But how can I add an additional line before the "retval"? I tried
       <else>

       retval
       <endif>
       without success.


Many thanks and greetings
Udo