This is Info file bison.info, produced by Makeinfo version 1.68 from
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START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* bison: (bison).	GNU Project parser generator (yacc replacement).
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

   This file documents the Bison parser generator.

   Copyright (C) 1988, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 95, 98, 1999 Free Software
Foundation, Inc.

   Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also
that the sections entitled "GNU General Public License" and "Conditions
for Using Bison" are included exactly as in the original, and provided
that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms
of a permission notice identical to this one.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
versions, except that the sections entitled "GNU General Public
License", "Conditions for Using Bison" and this permission notice may be
included in translations approved by the Free Software Foundation
instead of in the original English.


File: bison.info,  Node: Top,  Next: Introduction,  Prev: (dir),  Up: (dir)

   This manual documents version 1.27 of Bison.

* Menu:

* Introduction::
* Conditions::
* Copying::           The GNU General Public License says
                        how you can copy and share Bison

Tutorial sections:
* Concepts::          Basic concepts for understanding Bison.
* Examples::          Three simple explained examples of using Bison.

Reference sections:
* Grammar File::      Writing Bison declarations and rules.
* Interface::         C-language interface to the parser function `yyparse'.
* Algorithm::         How the Bison parser works at run-time.
* Error Recovery::    Writing rules for error recovery.
* Context Dependency::  What to do if your language syntax is too
                        messy for Bison to handle straightforwardly.
* Debugging::         Debugging Bison parsers that parse wrong.
* Invocation::        How to run Bison (to produce the parser source file).
* Table of Symbols::  All the keywords of the Bison language are explained.
* Glossary::          Basic concepts are explained.
* Index::             Cross-references to the text.

 -- The Detailed Node Listing --

The Concepts of Bison

* Language and Grammar::  Languages and context-free grammars,
                            as mathematical ideas.
* Grammar in Bison::  How we represent grammars for Bison's sake.
* Semantic Values::   Each token or syntactic grouping can have
                        a semantic value (the value of an integer,
                        the name of an identifier, etc.).
* Semantic Actions::  Each rule can have an action containing C code.
* Bison Parser::      What are Bison's input and output,
                        how is the output used?
* Stages::            Stages in writing and running Bison grammars.
* Grammar Layout::    Overall structure of a Bison grammar file.

Examples

* RPN Calc::          Reverse polish notation calculator;
                        a first example with no operator precedence.
* Infix Calc::        Infix (algebraic) notation calculator.
                        Operator precedence is introduced.
* Simple Error Recovery::  Continuing after syntax errors.
* Multi-function Calc::    Calculator with memory and trig functions.
                        It uses multiple data-types for semantic values.
* Exercises::         Ideas for improving the multi-function calculator.

Reverse Polish Notation Calculator

* Decls: Rpcalc Decls.  Bison and C declarations for rpcalc.
* Rules: Rpcalc Rules.  Grammar Rules for rpcalc, with explanation.
* Lexer: Rpcalc Lexer.  The lexical analyzer.
* Main: Rpcalc Main.    The controlling function.
* Error: Rpcalc Error.  The error reporting function.
* Gen: Rpcalc Gen.      Running Bison on the grammar file.
* Comp: Rpcalc Compile. Run the C compiler on the output code.

Grammar Rules for `rpcalc'

* Rpcalc Input::
* Rpcalc Line::
* Rpcalc Expr::

Multi-Function Calculator: `mfcalc'

* Decl: Mfcalc Decl.      Bison declarations for multi-function calculator.
* Rules: Mfcalc Rules.    Grammar rules for the calculator.
* Symtab: Mfcalc Symtab.  Symbol table management subroutines.

Bison Grammar Files

* Grammar Outline::   Overall layout of the grammar file.
* Symbols::           Terminal and nonterminal symbols.
* Rules::             How to write grammar rules.
* Recursion::         Writing recursive rules.
* Semantics::         Semantic values and actions.
* Declarations::      All kinds of Bison declarations are described here.
* Multiple Parsers::  Putting more than one Bison parser in one program.

Outline of a Bison Grammar

* C Declarations::    Syntax and usage of the C declarations section.
* Bison Declarations::  Syntax and usage of the Bison declarations section.
* Grammar Rules::     Syntax and usage of the grammar rules section.
* C Code::            Syntax and usage of the additional C code section.

Defining Language Semantics

* Value Type::        Specifying one data type for all semantic values.
* Multiple Types::    Specifying several alternative data types.
* Actions::           An action is the semantic definition of a grammar rule.
* Action Types::      Specifying data types for actions to operate on.
* Mid-Rule Actions::  Most actions go at the end of a rule.
                      This says when, why and how to use the exceptional
                        action in the middle of a rule.

Bison Declarations

* Token Decl::        Declaring terminal symbols.
* Precedence Decl::   Declaring terminals with precedence and associativity.
* Union Decl::        Declaring the set of all semantic value types.
* Type Decl::         Declaring the choice of type for a nonterminal symbol.
* Expect Decl::       Suppressing warnings about shift/reduce conflicts.
* Start Decl::        Specifying the start symbol.
* Pure Decl::         Requesting a reentrant parser.
* Decl Summary::      Table of all Bison declarations.

Parser C-Language Interface

* Parser Function::   How to call `yyparse' and what it returns.
* Lexical::           You must supply a function `yylex'
                        which reads tokens.
* Error Reporting::   You must supply a function `yyerror'.
* Action Features::   Special features for use in actions.

The Lexical Analyzer Function `yylex'

* Calling Convention::  How `yyparse' calls `yylex'.
* Token Values::      How `yylex' must return the semantic value
                        of the token it has read.
* Token Positions::   How `yylex' must return the text position
                        (line number, etc.) of the token, if the
                         actions want that.
* Pure Calling::      How the calling convention differs
                        in a pure parser (*note A Pure (Reentrant) Parser: Pure Decl.).

The Bison Parser Algorithm

* Look-Ahead::        Parser looks one token ahead when deciding what to do.
* Shift/Reduce::      Conflicts: when either shifting or reduction is valid.
* Precedence::        Operator precedence works by resolving conflicts.
* Contextual Precedence::  When an operator's precedence depends on context.
* Parser States::     The parser is a finite-state-machine with stack.
* Reduce/Reduce::     When two rules are applicable in the same situation.
* Mystery Conflicts::  Reduce/reduce conflicts that look unjustified.
* Stack Overflow::    What happens when stack gets full.  How to avoid it.

Operator Precedence

* Why Precedence::    An example showing why precedence is needed.
* Using Precedence::  How to specify precedence in Bison grammars.
* Precedence Examples::  How these features are used in the previous example.
* How Precedence::    How they work.

Handling Context Dependencies

* Semantic Tokens::   Token parsing can depend on the semantic context.
* Lexical Tie-ins::   Token parsing can depend on the syntactic context.
* Tie-in Recovery::   Lexical tie-ins have implications for how
                        error recovery rules must be written.

Invoking Bison

* Bison Options::     All the options described in detail,
			in alphabetical order by short options.
* Option Cross Key::  Alphabetical list of long options.
* VMS Invocation::    Bison command syntax on VMS.


File: bison.info,  Node: Introduction,  Next: Conditions,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

Introduction
************

   "Bison" is a general-purpose parser generator that converts a
grammar description for an LALR(1) context-free grammar into a C
program to parse that grammar.  Once you are proficient with Bison, you
may use it to develop a wide range of language parsers, from those used
in simple desk calculators to complex programming languages.

   Bison is upward compatible with Yacc: all properly-written Yacc
grammars ought to work with Bison with no change.  Anyone familiar with
Yacc should be able to use Bison with little trouble.  You need to be
fluent in C programming in order to use Bison or to understand this
manual.

   We begin with tutorial chapters that explain the basic concepts of
using Bison and show three explained examples, each building on the
last.  If you don't know Bison or Yacc, start by reading these
chapters.  Reference chapters follow which describe specific aspects of
Bison in detail.

   Bison was written primarily by Robert Corbett; Richard Stallman made
it Yacc-compatible.  Wilfred Hansen of Carnegie Mellon University added
multicharacter string literals and other features.

   This edition corresponds to version 1.27 of Bison.


File: bison.info,  Node: Conditions,  Next: Copying,  Prev: Introduction,  Up: Top

Conditions for Using Bison
**************************

   As of Bison version 1.24, we have changed the distribution terms for
`yyparse' to permit using Bison's output in non-free programs.
Formerly, Bison parsers could be used only in programs that were free
software.

   The other GNU programming tools, such as the GNU C compiler, have
never had such a requirement.  They could always be used for non-free
software.  The reason Bison was different was not due to a special
policy decision; it resulted from applying the usual General Public
License to all of the Bison source code.

   The output of the Bison utility--the Bison parser file--contains a
verbatim copy of a sizable piece of Bison, which is the code for the
`yyparse' function.  (The actions from your grammar are inserted into
this function at one point, but the rest of the function is not
changed.)  When we applied the GPL terms to the code for `yyparse', the
effect was to restrict the use of Bison output to free software.

   We didn't change the terms because of sympathy for people who want to
make software proprietary.  *Software should be free.*  But we
concluded that limiting Bison's use to free software was doing little to
encourage people to make other software free.  So we decided to make the
practical conditions for using Bison match the practical conditions for
using the other GNU tools.


File: bison.info,  Node: Copying,  Next: Concepts,  Prev: Conditions,  Up: Top

GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
**************************

                         Version 2, June 1991

     Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
     59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA
     
     Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
     of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

Preamble
========

   The licenses for most software are designed to take away your
freedom to share and change it.  By contrast, the GNU General Public
License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free
software--to make sure the software is free for all its users.  This
General Public License applies to most of the Free Software
Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to
using it.  (Some other Free Software Foundation software is covered by
the GNU Library General Public License instead.)  You can apply it to
your programs, too.

   When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not
price.  Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you
have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for
this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it
if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in
new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.

   To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid
anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights.
These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you
distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it.

   For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether
gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that
you have.  You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the
source code.  And you must show them these terms so they know their
rights.

   We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software,
and (2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy,
distribute and/or modify the software.

   Also, for each author's protection and ours, we want to make certain
that everyone understands that there is no warranty for this free
software.  If the software is modified by someone else and passed on, we
want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original, so
that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on the original
authors' reputations.

   Finally, any free program is threatened constantly by software
patents.  We wish to avoid the danger that redistributors of a free
program will individually obtain patent licenses, in effect making the
program proprietary.  To prevent this, we have made it clear that any
patent must be licensed for everyone's free use or not licensed at all.

   The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and
modification follow.

    TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION

  0. This License applies to any program or other work which contains a
     notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be distributed
     under the terms of this General Public License.  The "Program",
     below, refers to any such program or work, and a "work based on
     the Program" means either the Program or any derivative work under
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     portion of it, either verbatim or with modifications and/or
     translated into another language.  (Hereinafter, translation is
     included without limitation in the term "modification".)  Each
     licensee is addressed as "you".

     Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are
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     Program is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on
     the Program (independent of having been made by running the
     Program).  Whether that is true depends on what the Program does.

  1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's
     source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you
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     copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the
     notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any
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     this License along with the Program.

     You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy,
     and you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange
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  2. You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion
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       a. You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices
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       b. You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that
          in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program
          or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge
          to all third parties under the terms of this License.

       c. If the modified program normally reads commands interactively
          when run, you must cause it, when started running for such
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          an announcement including an appropriate copyright notice and
          a notice that there is no warranty (or else, saying that you
          provide a warranty) and that users may redistribute the
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          to print an announcement.)

     These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole.  If
     identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the
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     apply to those sections when you distribute them as separate
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     whole which is a work based on the Program, the distribution of
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     Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or
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     In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the
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  3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it,
     under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms
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       a. Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable
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     The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for
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  7. If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent
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     This section is intended to make thoroughly clear what is believed
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  8. If the distribution and/or use of the Program is restricted in
     certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted interfaces,
     the original copyright holder who places the Program under this
     License may add an explicit geographical distribution limitation
     excluding those countries, so that distribution is permitted only
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  9. The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new
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 10. If you wish to incorporate parts of the Program into other free
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                                NO WARRANTY

 11. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO
     WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE
     LAW.  EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT
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 12. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN
     WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY
     MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE
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     OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY
     OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN
     ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

                      END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS

How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs
=============================================

   If you develop a new program, and you want it to be of the greatest
possible use to the public, the best way to achieve this is to make it
free software which everyone can redistribute and change under these
terms.

   To do so, attach the following notices to the program.  It is safest
to attach them to the start of each source file to most effectively
convey the exclusion of warranty; and each file should have at least
the "copyright" line and a pointer to where the full notice is found.

     ONE LINE TO GIVE THE PROGRAM'S NAME AND A BRIEF IDEA OF WHAT IT DOES.
     Copyright (C) 19YY  NAME OF AUTHOR
     
     This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
     it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
     the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
     (at your option) any later version.
     
     This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
     but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
     MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
     GNU General Public License for more details.
     
     You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
     along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
     Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
     Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.

   Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper
mail.

   If the program is interactive, make it output a short notice like
this when it starts in an interactive mode:

     Gnomovision version 69, Copyright (C) 19YY NAME OF AUTHOR
     Gnomovision comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details
     type `show w'.
     This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
     under certain conditions; type `show c' for details.

   The hypothetical commands `show w' and `show c' should show the
appropriate parts of the General Public License.  Of course, the
commands you use may be called something other than `show w' and `show
c'; they could even be mouse-clicks or menu items--whatever suits your
program.

   You should also get your employer (if you work as a programmer) or
your school, if any, to sign a "copyright disclaimer" for the program,
if necessary.  Here is a sample; alter the names:

     Yoyodyne, Inc., hereby disclaims all copyright interest in the program
     `Gnomovision' (which makes passes at compilers) written by James Hacker.
     
     SIGNATURE OF TY COON, 1 April 1989
     Ty Coon, President of Vice

   This General Public License does not permit incorporating your
program into proprietary programs.  If your program is a subroutine
library, you may consider it more useful to permit linking proprietary
applications with the library.  If this is what you want to do, use the
GNU Library General Public License instead of this License.


File: bison.info,  Node: Concepts,  Next: Examples,  Prev: Copying,  Up: Top

The Concepts of Bison
*********************

   This chapter introduces many of the basic concepts without which the
details of Bison will not make sense.  If you do not already know how to
use Bison or Yacc, we suggest you start by reading this chapter
carefully.

* Menu:

* Language and Grammar::  Languages and context-free grammars,
                            as mathematical ideas.
* Grammar in Bison::  How we represent grammars for Bison's sake.
* Semantic Values::   Each token or syntactic grouping can have
                        a semantic value (the value of an integer,
                        the name of an identifier, etc.).
* Semantic Actions::  Each rule can have an action containing C code.
* Bison Parser::      What are Bison's input and output,
                        how is the output used?
* Stages::            Stages in writing and running Bison grammars.
* Grammar Layout::    Overall structure of a Bison grammar file.


File: bison.info,  Node: Language and Grammar,  Next: Grammar in Bison,  Up: Concepts

Languages and Context-Free Grammars
===================================

   In order for Bison to parse a language, it must be described by a
"context-free grammar".  This means that you specify one or more
"syntactic groupings" and give rules for constructing them from their
parts.  For example, in the C language, one kind of grouping is called
an `expression'.  One rule for making an expression might be, "An
expression can be made of a minus sign and another expression".
Another would be, "An expression can be an integer".  As you can see,
rules are often recursive, but there must be at least one rule which
leads out of the recursion.

   The most common formal system for presenting such rules for humans
to read is "Backus-Naur Form" or "BNF", which was developed in order to
specify the language Algol 60.  Any grammar expressed in BNF is a
context-free grammar.  The input to Bison is essentially
machine-readable BNF.

   Not all context-free languages can be handled by Bison, only those
that are LALR(1).  In brief, this means that it must be possible to
tell how to parse any portion of an input string with just a single
token of look-ahead.  Strictly speaking, that is a description of an
LR(1) grammar, and LALR(1) involves additional restrictions that are
hard to explain simply; but it is rare in actual practice to find an
LR(1) grammar that fails to be LALR(1).  *Note Mysterious Reduce/Reduce
Conflicts: Mystery Conflicts, for more information on this.

   In the formal grammatical rules for a language, each kind of
syntactic unit or grouping is named by a "symbol".  Those which are
built by grouping smaller constructs according to grammatical rules are
called "nonterminal symbols"; those which can't be subdivided are called
"terminal symbols" or "token types".  We call a piece of input
corresponding to a single terminal symbol a "token", and a piece
corresponding to a single nonterminal symbol a "grouping".

   We can use the C language as an example of what symbols, terminal and
nonterminal, mean.  The tokens of C are identifiers, constants (numeric
and string), and the various keywords, arithmetic operators and
punctuation marks.  So the terminal symbols of a grammar for C include
`identifier', `number', `string', plus one symbol for each keyword,
operator or punctuation mark: `if', `return', `const', `static', `int',
`char', `plus-sign', `open-brace', `close-brace', `comma' and many
more.  (These tokens can be subdivided into characters, but that is a
matter of lexicography, not grammar.)

   Here is a simple C function subdivided into tokens:

     int             /* keyword `int' */
     square (x)      /* identifier, open-paren, */
                     /* identifier, close-paren */
          int x;     /* keyword `int', identifier, semicolon */
     {               /* open-brace */
       return x * x; /* keyword `return', identifier, */
                     /* asterisk, identifier, semicolon */
     }               /* close-brace */

   The syntactic groupings of C include the expression, the statement,
the declaration, and the function definition.  These are represented in
the grammar of C by nonterminal symbols `expression', `statement',
`declaration' and `function definition'.  The full grammar uses dozens
of additional language constructs, each with its own nonterminal
symbol, in order to express the meanings of these four.  The example
above is a function definition; it contains one declaration, and one
statement.  In the statement, each `x' is an expression and so is `x *
x'.

   Each nonterminal symbol must have grammatical rules showing how it
is made out of simpler constructs.  For example, one kind of C
statement is the `return' statement; this would be described with a
grammar rule which reads informally as follows:

     A `statement' can be made of a `return' keyword, an `expression'
     and a `semicolon'.

There would be many other rules for `statement', one for each kind of
statement in C.

   One nonterminal symbol must be distinguished as the special one which
defines a complete utterance in the language.  It is called the "start
symbol".  In a compiler, this means a complete input program.  In the C
language, the nonterminal symbol `sequence of definitions and
declarations' plays this role.

   For example, `1 + 2' is a valid C expression--a valid part of a C
program--but it is not valid as an *entire* C program.  In the
context-free grammar of C, this follows from the fact that `expression'
is not the start symbol.

   The Bison parser reads a sequence of tokens as its input, and groups
the tokens using the grammar rules.  If the input is valid, the end
result is that the entire token sequence reduces to a single grouping
whose symbol is the grammar's start symbol.  If we use a grammar for C,
the entire input must be a `sequence of definitions and declarations'.
If not, the parser reports a syntax error.


File: bison.info,  Node: Grammar in Bison,  Next: Semantic Values,  Prev: Language and Grammar,  Up: Concepts

From Formal Rules to Bison Input
================================

   A formal grammar is a mathematical construct.  To define the language
for Bison, you must write a file expressing the grammar in Bison syntax:
a "Bison grammar" file.  *Note Bison Grammar Files: Grammar File.

   A nonterminal symbol in the formal grammar is represented in Bison
input as an identifier, like an identifier in C.  By convention, it
should be in lower case, such as `expr', `stmt' or `declaration'.

   The Bison representation for a terminal symbol is also called a
"token type".  Token types as well can be represented as C-like
identifiers.  By convention, these identifiers should be upper case to
distinguish them from nonterminals: for example, `INTEGER',
`IDENTIFIER', `IF' or `RETURN'.  A terminal symbol that stands for a
particular keyword in the language should be named after that keyword
converted to upper case.  The terminal symbol `error' is reserved for
error recovery.  *Note Symbols::.

   A terminal symbol can also be represented as a character literal,
just like a C character constant.  You should do this whenever a token
is just a single character (parenthesis, plus-sign, etc.): use that
same character in a literal as the terminal symbol for that token.

   A third way to represent a terminal symbol is with a C string
constant containing several characters.  *Note Symbols::, for more
information.

   The grammar rules also have an expression in Bison syntax.  For
example, here is the Bison rule for a C `return' statement.  The
semicolon in quotes is a literal character token, representing part of
the C syntax for the statement; the naked semicolon, and the colon, are
Bison punctuation used in every rule.

     stmt:   RETURN expr ';'
             ;

*Note Syntax of Grammar Rules: Rules.


File: bison.info,  Node: Semantic Values,  Next: Semantic Actions,  Prev: Grammar in Bison,  Up: Concepts

Semantic Values
===============

   A formal grammar selects tokens only by their classifications: for
example, if a rule mentions the terminal symbol `integer constant', it
means that *any* integer constant is grammatically valid in that
position.  The precise value of the constant is irrelevant to how to
parse the input: if `x+4' is grammatical then `x+1' or `x+3989' is
equally grammatical.

   But the precise value is very important for what the input means
once it is parsed.  A compiler is useless if it fails to distinguish
between 4, 1 and 3989 as constants in the program!  Therefore, each
token in a Bison grammar has both a token type and a "semantic value".
*Note Defining Language Semantics: Semantics, for details.

   The token type is a terminal symbol defined in the grammar, such as
`INTEGER', `IDENTIFIER' or `',''.  It tells everything you need to know
to decide where the token may validly appear and how to group it with
other tokens.  The grammar rules know nothing about tokens except their
types.

   The semantic value has all the rest of the information about the
meaning of the token, such as the value of an integer, or the name of an
identifier.  (A token such as `','' which is just punctuation doesn't
need to have any semantic value.)

   For example, an input token might be classified as token type
`INTEGER' and have the semantic value 4.  Another input token might
have the same token type `INTEGER' but value 3989.  When a grammar rule
says that `INTEGER' is allowed, either of these tokens is acceptable
because each is an `INTEGER'.  When the parser accepts the token, it
keeps track of the token's semantic value.

   Each grouping can also have a semantic value as well as its
nonterminal symbol.  For example, in a calculator, an expression
typically has a semantic value that is a number.  In a compiler for a
programming language, an expression typically has a semantic value that
is a tree structure describing the meaning of the expression.


File: bison.info,  Node: Semantic Actions,  Next: Bison Parser,  Prev: Semantic Values,  Up: Concepts

Semantic Actions
================

   In order to be useful, a program must do more than parse input; it
must also produce some output based on the input.  In a Bison grammar,
a grammar rule can have an "action" made up of C statements.  Each time
the parser recognizes a match for that rule, the action is executed.
*Note Actions::.

   Most of the time, the purpose of an action is to compute the
semantic value of the whole construct from the semantic values of its
parts.  For example, suppose we have a rule which says an expression
can be the sum of two expressions.  When the parser recognizes such a
sum, each of the subexpressions has a semantic value which describes
how it was built up.  The action for this rule should create a similar
sort of value for the newly recognized larger expression.

   For example, here is a rule that says an expression can be the sum of
two subexpressions:

     expr: expr '+' expr   { $$ = $1 + $3; }
             ;

The action says how to produce the semantic value of the sum expression
from the values of the two subexpressions.


File: bison.info,  Node: Bison Parser,  Next: Stages,  Prev: Semantic Actions,  Up: Concepts

Bison Output: the Parser File
=============================

   When you run Bison, you give it a Bison grammar file as input.  The
output is a C source file that parses the language described by the
grammar.  This file is called a "Bison parser".  Keep in mind that the
Bison utility and the Bison parser are two distinct programs: the Bison
utility is a program whose output is the Bison parser that becomes part
of your program.

   The job of the Bison parser is to group tokens into groupings
according to the grammar rules--for example, to build identifiers and
operators into expressions.  As it does this, it runs the actions for
the grammar rules it uses.

   The tokens come from a function called the "lexical analyzer" that
you must supply in some fashion (such as by writing it in C).  The
Bison parser calls the lexical analyzer each time it wants a new token.
It doesn't know what is "inside" the tokens (though their semantic
values may reflect this).  Typically the lexical analyzer makes the
tokens by parsing characters of text, but Bison does not depend on
this.  *Note The Lexical Analyzer Function `yylex': Lexical.

   The Bison parser file is C code which defines a function named
`yyparse' which implements that grammar.  This function does not make a
complete C program: you must supply some additional functions.  One is
the lexical analyzer.  Another is an error-reporting function which the
parser calls to report an error.  In addition, a complete C program must
start with a function called `main'; you have to provide this, and
arrange for it to call `yyparse' or the parser will never run.  *Note
Parser C-Language Interface: Interface.

   Aside from the token type names and the symbols in the actions you
write, all variable and function names used in the Bison parser file
begin with `yy' or `YY'.  This includes interface functions such as the
lexical analyzer function `yylex', the error reporting function
`yyerror' and the parser function `yyparse' itself.  This also includes
numerous identifiers used for internal purposes.  Therefore, you should
avoid using C identifiers starting with `yy' or `YY' in the Bison
grammar file except for the ones defined in this manual.


File: bison.info,  Node: Stages,  Next: Grammar Layout,  Prev: Bison Parser,  Up: Concepts

Stages in Using Bison
=====================

   The actual language-design process using Bison, from grammar
specification to a working compiler or interpreter, has these parts:

  1. Formally specify the grammar in a form recognized by Bison (*note
     Bison Grammar Files: Grammar File.).  For each grammatical rule in
     the language, describe the action that is to be taken when an
     instance of that rule is recognized.  The action is described by a
     sequence of C statements.

  2. Write a lexical analyzer to process input and pass tokens to the
     parser.  The lexical analyzer may be written by hand in C (*note
     The Lexical Analyzer Function `yylex': Lexical.).  It could also
     be produced using Lex, but the use of Lex is not discussed in this
     manual.

  3. Write a controlling function that calls the Bison-produced parser.

  4. Write error-reporting routines.

   To turn this source code as written into a runnable program, you
must follow these steps:

  1. Run Bison on the grammar to produce the parser.

  2. Compile the code output by Bison, as well as any other source
     files.

  3. Link the object files to produce the finished product.


File: bison.info,  Node: Grammar Layout,  Prev: Stages,  Up: Concepts

The Overall Layout of a Bison Grammar
=====================================

   The input file for the Bison utility is a "Bison grammar file".  The
general form of a Bison grammar file is as follows:

     %{
     C DECLARATIONS
     %}
     
     BISON DECLARATIONS
     
     %%
     GRAMMAR RULES
     %%
     ADDITIONAL C CODE

The `%%', `%{' and `%}' are punctuation that appears in every Bison
grammar file to separate the sections.

   The C declarations may define types and variables used in the
actions.  You can also use preprocessor commands to define macros used
there, and use `#include' to include header files that do any of these
things.

   The Bison declarations declare the names of the terminal and
nonterminal symbols, and may also describe operator precedence and the
data types of semantic values of various symbols.

   The grammar rules define how to construct each nonterminal symbol
from its parts.

   The additional C code can contain any C code you want to use.  Often
the definition of the lexical analyzer `yylex' goes here, plus
subroutines called by the actions in the grammar rules.  In a simple
program, all the rest of the program can go here.


File: bison.info,  Node: Examples,  Next: Grammar File,  Prev: Concepts,  Up: Top

Examples
********

   Now we show and explain three sample programs written using Bison: a
reverse polish notation calculator, an algebraic (infix) notation
calculator, and a multi-function calculator.  All three have been tested
under BSD Unix 4.3; each produces a usable, though limited, interactive
desk-top calculator.

   These examples are simple, but Bison grammars for real programming
languages are written the same way.  You can copy these examples out of
the Info file and into a source file to try them.

* Menu:

* RPN Calc::          Reverse polish notation calculator;
                        a first example with no operator precedence.
* Infix Calc::        Infix (algebraic) notation calculator.
                        Operator precedence is introduced.
* Simple Error Recovery::  Continuing after syntax errors.
* Multi-function Calc::  Calculator with memory and trig functions.
                           It uses multiple data-types for semantic values.
* Exercises::         Ideas for improving the multi-function calculator.


File: bison.info,  Node: RPN Calc,  Next: Infix Calc,  Up: Examples

Reverse Polish Notation Calculator
==================================

   The first example is that of a simple double-precision "reverse
polish notation" calculator (a calculator using postfix operators).
This example provides a good starting point, since operator precedence
is not an issue.  The second example will illustrate how operator
precedence is handled.

   The source code for this calculator is named `rpcalc.y'.  The `.y'
extension is a convention used for Bison input files.

* Menu:

* Decls: Rpcalc Decls.  Bison and C declarations for rpcalc.
* Rules: Rpcalc Rules.  Grammar Rules for rpcalc, with explanation.
* Lexer: Rpcalc Lexer.  The lexical analyzer.
* Main: Rpcalc Main.    The controlling function.
* Error: Rpcalc Error.  The error reporting function.
* Gen: Rpcalc Gen.      Running Bison on the grammar file.
* Comp: Rpcalc Compile. Run the C compiler on the output code.


File: bison.info,  Node: Rpcalc Decls,  Next: Rpcalc Rules,  Up: RPN Calc

Declarations for `rpcalc'
-------------------------

   Here are the C and Bison declarations for the reverse polish notation
calculator.  As in C, comments are placed between `/*...*/'.

     /* Reverse polish notation calculator. */
     
     %{
     #define YYSTYPE double
     #include <math.h>
     %}
     
     %token NUM
     
     %% /* Grammar rules and actions follow */

   The C declarations section (*note The C Declarations Section: C
Declarations.) contains two preprocessor directives.

   The `#define' directive defines the macro `YYSTYPE', thus specifying
the C data type for semantic values of both tokens and groupings (*note
Data Types of Semantic Values: Value Type.).  The Bison parser will use
whatever type `YYSTYPE' is defined as; if you don't define it, `int' is
the default.  Because we specify `double', each token and each
expression has an associated value, which is a floating point number.

   The `#include' directive is used to declare the exponentiation
function `pow'.

   The second section, Bison declarations, provides information to
Bison about the token types (*note The Bison Declarations Section:
Bison Declarations.).  Each terminal symbol that is not a
single-character literal must be declared here.  (Single-character
literals normally don't need to be declared.)  In this example, all the
arithmetic operators are designated by single-character literals, so the
only terminal symbol that needs to be declared is `NUM', the token type
for numeric constants.


File: bison.info,  Node: Rpcalc Rules,  Next: Rpcalc Lexer,  Prev: Rpcalc Decls,  Up: RPN Calc

Grammar Rules for `rpcalc'
--------------------------

   Here are the grammar rules for the reverse polish notation
calculator.

     input:    /* empty */
             | input line
     ;
     
     line:     '\n'
             | exp '\n'  { printf ("\t%.10g\n", $1); }
     ;
     
     exp:      NUM             { $$ = $1;         }
             | exp exp '+'     { $$ = $1 + $2;    }
             | exp exp '-'     { $$ = $1 - $2;    }
             | exp exp '*'     { $$ = $1 * $2;    }
             | exp exp '/'     { $$ = $1 / $2;    }
           /* Exponentiation */
             | exp exp '^'     { $$ = pow ($1, $2); }
           /* Unary minus    */
             | exp 'n'         { $$ = -$1;        }
     ;
     %%

   The groupings of the rpcalc "language" defined here are the
expression (given the name `exp'), the line of input (`line'), and the
complete input transcript (`input').  Each of these nonterminal symbols
has several alternate rules, joined by the `|' punctuator which is read
as "or".  The following sections explain what these rules mean.

   The semantics of the language is determined by the actions taken
when a grouping is recognized.  The actions are the C code that appears
inside braces.  *Note Actions::.

   You must specify these actions in C, but Bison provides the means for
passing semantic values between the rules.  In each action, the
pseudo-variable `$$' stands for the semantic value for the grouping
that the rule is going to construct.  Assigning a value to `$$' is the
main job of most actions.  The semantic values of the components of the
rule are referred to as `$1', `$2', and so on.

* Menu:

* Rpcalc Input::
* Rpcalc Line::
* Rpcalc Expr::


File: bison.info,  Node: Rpcalc Input,  Next: Rpcalc Line,  Up: Rpcalc Rules

Explanation of `input'
......................

   Consider the definition of `input':

     input:    /* empty */
             | input line
     ;

   This definition reads as follows: "A complete input is either an
empty string, or a complete input followed by an input line".  Notice
that "complete input" is defined in terms of itself.  This definition
is said to be "left recursive" since `input' appears always as the
leftmost symbol in the sequence.  *Note Recursive Rules: Recursion.

   The first alternative is empty because there are no symbols between
the colon and the first `|'; this means that `input' can match an empty
string of input (no tokens).  We write the rules this way because it is
legitimate to type `Ctrl-d' right after you start the calculator.  It's
conventional to put an empty alternative first and write the comment
`/* empty */' in it.

   The second alternate rule (`input line') handles all nontrivial
input.  It means, "After reading any number of lines, read one more
line if possible."  The left recursion makes this rule into a loop.
Since the first alternative matches empty input, the loop can be
executed zero or more times.

   The parser function `yyparse' continues to process input until a
grammatical error is seen or the lexical analyzer says there are no more
input tokens; we will arrange for the latter to happen at end of file.


File: bison.info,  Node: Rpcalc Line,  Next: Rpcalc Expr,  Prev: Rpcalc Input,  Up: Rpcalc Rules

Explanation of `line'
.....................

   Now consider the definition of `line':

     line:     '\n'
             | exp '\n'  { printf ("\t%.10g\n", $1); }
     ;

   The first alternative is a token which is a newline character; this
means that rpcalc accepts a blank line (and ignores it, since there is
no action).  The second alternative is an expression followed by a
newline.  This is the alternative that makes rpcalc useful.  The
semantic value of the `exp' grouping is the value of `$1' because the
`exp' in question is the first symbol in the alternative.  The action
prints this value, which is the result of the computation the user
asked for.

   This action is unusual because it does not assign a value to `$$'.
As a consequence, the semantic value associated with the `line' is
uninitialized (its value will be unpredictable).  This would be a bug if
that value were ever used, but we don't use it: once rpcalc has printed
the value of the user's input line, that value is no longer needed.


File: bison.info,  Node: Rpcalc Expr,  Prev: Rpcalc Line,  Up: Rpcalc Rules

Explanation of `expr'
.....................

   The `exp' grouping has several rules, one for each kind of
expression.  The first rule handles the simplest expressions: those
that are just numbers.  The second handles an addition-expression,
which looks like two expressions followed by a plus-sign.  The third
handles subtraction, and so on.

     exp:      NUM
             | exp exp '+'     { $$ = $1 + $2;    }
             | exp exp '-'     { $$ = $1 - $2;    }
             ...
             ;

   We have used `|' to join all the rules for `exp', but we could
equally well have written them separately:

     exp:      NUM ;
     exp:      exp exp '+'     { $$ = $1 + $2;    } ;
     exp:      exp exp '-'     { $$ = $1 - $2;    } ;
             ...

   Most of the rules have actions that compute the value of the
expression in terms of the value of its parts.  For example, in the
rule for addition, `$1' refers to the first component `exp' and `$2'
refers to the second one.  The third component, `'+'', has no meaningful
associated semantic value, but if it had one you could refer to it as
`$3'.  When `yyparse' recognizes a sum expression using this rule, the
sum of the two subexpressions' values is produced as the value of the
entire expression.  *Note Actions::.

   You don't have to give an action for every rule.  When a rule has no
action, Bison by default copies the value of `$1' into `$$'.  This is
what happens in the first rule (the one that uses `NUM').

   The formatting shown here is the recommended convention, but Bison
does not require it.  You can add or change whitespace as much as you
wish.  For example, this:

     exp   : NUM | exp exp '+' {$$ = $1 + $2; } | ...

means the same thing as this:

     exp:      NUM
             | exp exp '+'    { $$ = $1 + $2; }
             | ...

The latter, however, is much more readable.


File: bison.info,  Node: Rpcalc Lexer,  Next: Rpcalc Main,  Prev: Rpcalc Rules,  Up: RPN Calc

The `rpcalc' Lexical Analyzer
-----------------------------

   The lexical analyzer's job is low-level parsing: converting
characters or sequences of characters into tokens.  The Bison parser
gets its tokens by calling the lexical analyzer.  *Note The Lexical
Analyzer Function `yylex': Lexical.

   Only a simple lexical analyzer is needed for the RPN calculator.
This lexical analyzer skips blanks and tabs, then reads in numbers as
`double' and returns them as `NUM' tokens.  Any other character that
isn't part of a number is a separate token.  Note that the token-code
for such a single-character token is the character itself.

   The return value of the lexical analyzer function is a numeric code
which represents a token type.  The same text used in Bison rules to
stand for this token type is also a C expression for the numeric code
for the type.  This works in two ways.  If the token type is a
character literal, then its numeric code is the ASCII code for that
character; you can use the same character literal in the lexical
analyzer to express the number.  If the token type is an identifier,
that identifier is defined by Bison as a C macro whose definition is
the appropriate number.  In this example, therefore, `NUM' becomes a
macro for `yylex' to use.

   The semantic value of the token (if it has one) is stored into the
global variable `yylval', which is where the Bison parser will look for
it.  (The C data type of `yylval' is `YYSTYPE', which was defined at
the beginning of the grammar; *note Declarations for `rpcalc': Rpcalc
Decls..)

   A token type code of zero is returned if the end-of-file is
encountered.  (Bison recognizes any nonpositive value as indicating the
end of the input.)

   Here is the code for the lexical analyzer:

     /* Lexical analyzer returns a double floating point
        number on the stack and the token NUM, or the ASCII
        character read if not a number.  Skips all blanks
        and tabs, returns 0 for EOF. */
     
     #include <ctype.h>
     
     yylex ()
     {
       int c;
     
       /* skip white space  */
       while ((c = getchar ()) == ' ' || c == '\t')
         ;
       /* process numbers   */
       if (c == '.' || isdigit (c))
         {
           ungetc (c, stdin);
           scanf ("%lf", &yylval);
           return NUM;
         }
       /* return end-of-file  */
       if (c == EOF)
         return 0;
       /* return single chars */
       return c;
     }


File: bison.info,  Node: Rpcalc Main,  Next: Rpcalc Error,  Prev: Rpcalc Lexer,  Up: RPN Calc

The Controlling Function
------------------------

   In keeping with the spirit of this example, the controlling function
is kept to the bare minimum.  The only requirement is that it call
`yyparse' to start the process of parsing.

     main ()
     {
       yyparse ();
     }


File: bison.info,  Node: Rpcalc Error,  Next: Rpcalc Gen,  Prev: Rpcalc Main,  Up: RPN Calc

The Error Reporting Routine
---------------------------

   When `yyparse' detects a syntax error, it calls the error reporting
function `yyerror' to print an error message (usually but not always
`"parse error"').  It is up to the programmer to supply `yyerror'
(*note Parser C-Language Interface: Interface.), so here is the
definition we will use:

     #include <stdio.h>
     
     yyerror (s)  /* Called by yyparse on error */
          char *s;
     {
       printf ("%s\n", s);
     }

   After `yyerror' returns, the Bison parser may recover from the error
and continue parsing if the grammar contains a suitable error rule
(*note Error Recovery::.).  Otherwise, `yyparse' returns nonzero.  We
have not written any error rules in this example, so any invalid input
will cause the calculator program to exit.  This is not clean behavior
for a real calculator, but it is adequate in the first example.


File: bison.info,  Node: Rpcalc Gen,  Next: Rpcalc Compile,  Prev: Rpcalc Error,  Up: RPN Calc

Running Bison to Make the Parser
--------------------------------

   Before running Bison to produce a parser, we need to decide how to
arrange all the source code in one or more source files.  For such a
simple example, the easiest thing is to put everything in one file.
The definitions of `yylex', `yyerror' and `main' go at the end, in the
"additional C code" section of the file (*note The Overall Layout of a
Bison Grammar: Grammar Layout.).

   For a large project, you would probably have several source files,
and use `make' to arrange to recompile them.

   With all the source in a single file, you use the following command
to convert it into a parser file:

     bison FILE_NAME.y

In this example the file was called `rpcalc.y' (for "Reverse Polish
CALCulator").  Bison produces a file named `FILE_NAME.tab.c', removing
the `.y' from the original file name. The file output by Bison contains
the source code for `yyparse'.  The additional functions in the input
file (`yylex', `yyerror' and `main') are copied verbatim to the output.


File: bison.info,  Node: Rpcalc Compile,  Prev: Rpcalc Gen,  Up: RPN Calc

Compiling the Parser File
-------------------------

   Here is how to compile and run the parser file:

     # List files in current directory.
     % ls
     rpcalc.tab.c  rpcalc.y
     
     # Compile the Bison parser.
     # `-lm' tells compiler to search math library for `pow'.
     % cc rpcalc.tab.c -lm -o rpcalc
     
     # List files again.
     % ls
     rpcalc  rpcalc.tab.c  rpcalc.y

   The file `rpcalc' now contains the executable code.  Here is an
example session using `rpcalc'.

     % rpcalc
     4 9 +
     13
     3 7 + 3 4 5 *+-
     -13
     3 7 + 3 4 5 * + - n              Note the unary minus, `n'
     13
     5 6 / 4 n +
     -3.166666667
     3 4 ^                            Exponentiation
     81
     ^D                               End-of-file indicator
     %


File: bison.info,  Node: Infix Calc,  Next: Simple Error Recovery,  Prev: RPN Calc,  Up: Examples

Infix Notation Calculator: `calc'
=================================

   We now modify rpcalc to handle infix operators instead of postfix.
Infix notation involves the concept of operator precedence and the need
for parentheses nested to arbitrary depth.  Here is the Bison code for
`calc.y', an infix desk-top calculator.

     /* Infix notation calculator--calc */
     
     %{
     #define YYSTYPE double
     #include <math.h>
     %}
     
     /* BISON Declarations */
     %token NUM
     %left '-' '+'
     %left '*' '/'
     %left NEG     /* negation--unary minus */
     %right '^'    /* exponentiation        */
     
     /* Grammar follows */
     %%
     input:    /* empty string */
             | input line
     ;
     
     line:     '\n'
             | exp '\n'  { printf ("\t%.10g\n", $1); }
     ;
     
     exp:      NUM                { $$ = $1;         }
             | exp '+' exp        { $$ = $1 + $3;    }
             | exp '-' exp        { $$ = $1 - $3;    }
             | exp '*' exp        { $$ = $1 * $3;    }
             | exp '/' exp        { $$ = $1 / $3;    }
             | '-' exp  %prec NEG { $$ = -$2;        }
             | exp '^' exp        { $$ = pow ($1, $3); }
             | '(' exp ')'        { $$ = $2;         }
     ;
     %%

The functions `yylex', `yyerror' and `main' can be the same as before.

   There are two important new features shown in this code.

   In the second section (Bison declarations), `%left' declares token
types and says they are left-associative operators.  The declarations
`%left' and `%right' (right associativity) take the place of `%token'
which is used to declare a token type name without associativity.
(These tokens are single-character literals, which ordinarily don't
need to be declared.  We declare them here to specify the
associativity.)

   Operator precedence is determined by the line ordering of the
declarations; the higher the line number of the declaration (lower on
the page or screen), the higher the precedence.  Hence, exponentiation
has the highest precedence, unary minus (`NEG') is next, followed by
`*' and `/', and so on.  *Note Operator Precedence: Precedence.

   The other important new feature is the `%prec' in the grammar section
for the unary minus operator.  The `%prec' simply instructs Bison that
the rule `| '-' exp' has the same precedence as `NEG'--in this case the
next-to-highest.  *Note Context-Dependent Precedence: Contextual
Precedence.

   Here is a sample run of `calc.y':

     % calc
     4 + 4.5 - (34/(8*3+-3))
     6.880952381
     -56 + 2
     -54
     3 ^ 2
     9


File: bison.info,  Node: Simple Error Recovery,  Next: Multi-function Calc,  Prev: Infix Calc,  Up: Examples

Simple Error Recovery
=====================

   Up to this point, this manual has not addressed the issue of "error
recovery"--how to continue parsing after the parser detects a syntax
error.  All we have handled is error reporting with `yyerror'.  Recall
that by default `yyparse' returns after calling `yyerror'.  This means
that an erroneous input line causes the calculator program to exit.
Now we show how to rectify this deficiency.

   The Bison language itself includes the reserved word `error', which
may be included in the grammar rules.  In the example below it has been
added to one of the alternatives for `line':

     line:     '\n'
             | exp '\n'   { printf ("\t%.10g\n", $1); }
             | error '\n' { yyerrok;                  }
     ;

   This addition to the grammar allows for simple error recovery in the
event of a parse error.  If an expression that cannot be evaluated is
read, the error will be recognized by the third rule for `line', and
parsing will continue.  (The `yyerror' function is still called upon to
print its message as well.)  The action executes the statement
`yyerrok', a macro defined automatically by Bison; its meaning is that
error recovery is complete (*note Error Recovery::.).  Note the
difference between `yyerrok' and `yyerror'; neither one is a misprint.

   This form of error recovery deals with syntax errors.  There are
other kinds of errors; for example, division by zero, which raises an
exception signal that is normally fatal.  A real calculator program
must handle this signal and use `longjmp' to return to `main' and
resume parsing input lines; it would also have to discard the rest of
the current line of input.  We won't discuss this issue further because
it is not specific to Bison programs.


File: bison.info,  Node: Multi-function Calc,  Next: Exercises,  Prev: Simple Error Recovery,  Up: Examples

Multi-Function Calculator: `mfcalc'
===================================

   Now that the basics of Bison have been discussed, it is time to move
on to a more advanced problem.  The above calculators provided only five
functions, `+', `-', `*', `/' and `^'.  It would be nice to have a
calculator that provides other mathematical functions such as `sin',
`cos', etc.

   It is easy to add new operators to the infix calculator as long as
they are only single-character literals.  The lexical analyzer `yylex'
passes back all non-number characters as tokens, so new grammar rules
suffice for adding a new operator.  But we want something more
flexible: built-in functions whose syntax has this form:

     FUNCTION_NAME (ARGUMENT)

At the same time, we will add memory to the calculator, by allowing you
to create named variables, store values in them, and use them later.
Here is a sample session with the multi-function calculator:

     % mfcalc
     pi = 3.141592653589
     3.1415926536
     sin(pi)
     0.0000000000
     alpha = beta1 = 2.3
     2.3000000000
     alpha
     2.3000000000
     ln(alpha)
     0.8329091229
     exp(ln(beta1))
     2.3000000000
     %

   Note that multiple assignment and nested function calls are
permitted.

* Menu:

* Decl: Mfcalc Decl.      Bison declarations for multi-function calculator.
* Rules: Mfcalc Rules.    Grammar rules for the calculator.
* Symtab: Mfcalc Symtab.  Symbol table management subroutines.


File: bison.info,  Node: Mfcalc Decl,  Next: Mfcalc Rules,  Up: Multi-function Calc

Declarations for `mfcalc'
-------------------------

   Here are the C and Bison declarations for the multi-function
calculator.

     %{
     #include <math.h>  /* For math functions, cos(), sin(), etc. */
     #include "calc.h"  /* Contains definition of `symrec'        */
     %}
     %union {
     double     val;  /* For returning numbers.                   */
     symrec  *tptr;   /* For returning symbol-table pointers      */
     }
     
     %token <val>  NUM        /* Simple double precision number   */
     %token <tptr> VAR FNCT   /* Variable and Function            */
     %type  <val>  exp
     
     %right '='
     %left '-' '+'
     %left '*' '/'
     %left NEG     /* Negation--unary minus */
     %right '^'    /* Exponentiation        */
     
     /* Grammar follows */
     
     %%

   The above grammar introduces only two new features of the Bison
language.  These features allow semantic values to have various data
types (*note More Than One Value Type: Multiple Types.).

   The `%union' declaration specifies the entire list of possible types;
this is instead of defining `YYSTYPE'.  The allowable types are now
double-floats (for `exp' and `NUM') and pointers to entries in the
symbol table.  *Note The Collection of Value Types: Union Decl.

   Since values can now have various types, it is necessary to
associate a type with each grammar symbol whose semantic value is used.
These symbols are `NUM', `VAR', `FNCT', and `exp'.  Their declarations
are augmented with information about their data type (placed between
angle brackets).

   The Bison construct `%type' is used for declaring nonterminal
symbols, just as `%token' is used for declaring token types.  We have
not used `%type' before because nonterminal symbols are normally
declared implicitly by the rules that define them.  But `exp' must be
declared explicitly so we can specify its value type.  *Note
Nonterminal Symbols: Type Decl.


File: bison.info,  Node: Mfcalc Rules,  Next: Mfcalc Symtab,  Prev: Mfcalc Decl,  Up: Multi-function Calc

Grammar Rules for `mfcalc'
--------------------------

   Here are the grammar rules for the multi-function calculator.  Most
of them are copied directly from `calc'; three rules, those which
mention `VAR' or `FNCT', are new.

     input:   /* empty */
             | input line
     ;
     
     line:
               '\n'
             | exp '\n'   { printf ("\t%.10g\n", $1); }
             | error '\n' { yyerrok;                  }
     ;
     
     exp:      NUM                { $$ = $1;                         }
             | VAR                { $$ = $1->value.var;              }
             | VAR '=' exp        { $$ = $3; $1->value.var = $3;     }
             | FNCT '(' exp ')'   { $$ = (*($1->value.fnctptr))($3); }
             | exp '+' exp        { $$ = $1 + $3;                    }
             | exp '-' exp        { $$ = $1 - $3;                    }
             | exp '*' exp        { $$ = $1 * $3;                    }
             | exp '/' exp        { $$ = $1 / $3;                    }
             | '-' exp  %prec NEG { $$ = -$2;                        }
             | exp '^' exp        { $$ = pow ($1, $3);               }
             | '(' exp ')'        { $$ = $2;                         }
     ;
     /* End of grammar */
     %%


File: bison.info,  Node: Mfcalc Symtab,  Prev: Mfcalc Rules,  Up: Multi-function Calc

The `mfcalc' Symbol Table
-------------------------

   The multi-function calculator requires a symbol table to keep track
of the names and meanings of variables and functions.  This doesn't
affect the grammar rules (except for the actions) or the Bison
declarations, but it requires some additional C functions for support.

   The symbol table itself consists of a linked list of records.  Its
definition, which is kept in the header `calc.h', is as follows.  It
provides for either functions or variables to be placed in the table.

     /* Data type for links in the chain of symbols.      */
     struct symrec
     {
       char *name;  /* name of symbol                     */
       int type;    /* type of symbol: either VAR or FNCT */
       union {
         double var;           /* value of a VAR          */
         double (*fnctptr)();  /* value of a FNCT         */
       } value;
       struct symrec *next;    /* link field              */
     };

     typedef struct symrec symrec;
     
     /* The symbol table: a chain of `struct symrec'.     */
     extern symrec *sym_table;
     
     symrec *putsym ();
     symrec *getsym ();

   The new version of `main' includes a call to `init_table', a
function that initializes the symbol table.  Here it is, and
`init_table' as well:

     #include <stdio.h>
     
     main ()
     {
       init_table ();
       yyparse ();
     }

     yyerror (s)  /* Called by yyparse on error */
          char *s;
     {
       printf ("%s\n", s);
     }
     
     struct init
     {
       char *fname;
       double (*fnct)();
     };

     struct init arith_fncts[]
       = {
           "sin", sin,
           "cos", cos,
           "atan", atan,
           "ln", log,
           "exp", exp,
           "sqrt", sqrt,
           0, 0
         };
     
     /* The symbol table: a chain of `struct symrec'.  */
     symrec *sym_table = (symrec *)0;

     init_table ()  /* puts arithmetic functions in table. */
     {
       int i;
       symrec *ptr;
       for (i = 0; arith_fncts[i].fname != 0; i++)
         {
           ptr = putsym (arith_fncts[i].fname, FNCT);
           ptr->value.fnctptr = arith_fncts[i].fnct;
         }
     }

   By simply editing the initialization list and adding the necessary
include files, you can add additional functions to the calculator.

   Two important functions allow look-up and installation of symbols in
the symbol table.  The function `putsym' is passed a name and the type
(`VAR' or `FNCT') of the object to be installed.  The object is linked
to the front of the list, and a pointer to the object is returned.  The
function `getsym' is passed the name of the symbol to look up.  If
found, a pointer to that symbol is returned; otherwise zero is returned.

     symrec *
     putsym (sym_name,sym_type)
          char *sym_name;
          int sym_type;
     {
       symrec *ptr;
       ptr = (symrec *) malloc (sizeof (symrec));
       ptr->name = (char *) malloc (strlen (sym_name) + 1);
       strcpy (ptr->name,sym_name);
       ptr->type = sym_type;
       ptr->value.var = 0; /* set value to 0 even if fctn.  */
       ptr->next = (struct symrec *)sym_table;
       sym_table = ptr;
       return ptr;
     }
     
     symrec *
     getsym (sym_name)
          char *sym_name;
     {
       symrec *ptr;
       for (ptr = sym_table; ptr != (symrec *) 0;
            ptr = (symrec *)ptr->next)
         if (strcmp (ptr->name,sym_name) == 0)
           return ptr;
       return 0;
     }

   The function `yylex' must now recognize variables, numeric values,
and the single-character arithmetic operators.  Strings of alphanumeric
characters with a leading nondigit are recognized as either variables or
functions depending on what the symbol table says about them.

   The string is passed to `getsym' for look up in the symbol table.  If
the name appears in the table, a pointer to its location and its type
(`VAR' or `FNCT') is returned to `yyparse'.  If it is not already in
the table, then it is installed as a `VAR' using `putsym'.  Again, a
pointer and its type (which must be `VAR') is returned to `yyparse'.

   No change is needed in the handling of numeric values and arithmetic
operators in `yylex'.

     #include <ctype.h>
     yylex ()
     {
       int c;
     
       /* Ignore whitespace, get first nonwhite character.  */
       while ((c = getchar ()) == ' ' || c == '\t');
     
       if (c == EOF)
         return 0;

     /* Char starts a number => parse the number.         */
       if (c == '.' || isdigit (c))
         {
           ungetc (c, stdin);
           scanf ("%lf", &yylval.val);
           return NUM;
         }

     /* Char starts an identifier => read the name.       */
       if (isalpha (c))
         {
           symrec *s;
           static char *symbuf = 0;
           static int length = 0;
           int i;

     /* Initially make the buffer long enough
              for a 40-character symbol name.  */
           if (length == 0)
             length = 40, symbuf = (char *)malloc (length + 1);
     
           i = 0;
           do

     {
               /* If buffer is full, make it bigger.        */
               if (i == length)
                 {
                   length *= 2;
                   symbuf = (char *)realloc (symbuf, length + 1);
                 }
               /* Add this character to the buffer.         */
               symbuf[i++] = c;
               /* Get another character.                    */
               c = getchar ();
             }

     while (c != EOF && isalnum (c));
     
           ungetc (c, stdin);
           symbuf[i] = '\0';

     s = getsym (symbuf);
           if (s == 0)
             s = putsym (symbuf, VAR);
           yylval.tptr = s;
           return s->type;
         }
     
       /* Any other character is a token by itself.        */
       return c;
     }

   This program is both powerful and flexible. You may easily add new
functions, and it is a simple job to modify this code to install
predefined variables such as `pi' or `e' as well.


File: bison.info,  Node: Exercises,  Prev: Multi-function Calc,  Up: Examples

Exercises
=========

  1. Add some new functions from `math.h' to the initialization list.

  2. Add another array that contains constants and their values.  Then
     modify `init_table' to add these constants to the symbol table.
     It will be easiest to give the constants type `VAR'.

  3. Make the program report an error if the user refers to an
     uninitialized variable in any way except to store a value in it.


File: bison.info,  Node: Grammar File,  Next: Interface,  Prev: Examples,  Up: Top

Bison Grammar Files
*******************

   Bison takes as input a context-free grammar specification and
produces a C-language function that recognizes correct instances of the
grammar.

   The Bison grammar input file conventionally has a name ending in
`.y'.

* Menu:

* Grammar Outline::   Overall layout of the grammar file.
* Symbols::           Terminal and nonterminal symbols.
* Rules::             How to write grammar rules.
* Recursion::         Writing recursive rules.
* Semantics::         Semantic values and actions.
* Declarations::      All kinds of Bison declarations are described here.
* Multiple Parsers::  Putting more than one Bison parser in one program.


File: bison.info,  Node: Grammar Outline,  Next: Symbols,  Up: Grammar File

Outline of a Bison Grammar
==========================

   A Bison grammar file has four main sections, shown here with the
appropriate delimiters:

     %{
     C DECLARATIONS
     %}
     
     BISON DECLARATIONS
     
     %%
     GRAMMAR RULES
     %%
     
     ADDITIONAL C CODE

   Comments enclosed in `/* ... */' may appear in any of the sections.

* Menu:

* C Declarations::    Syntax and usage of the C declarations section.
* Bison Declarations::  Syntax and usage of the Bison declarations section.
* Grammar Rules::     Syntax and usage of the grammar rules section.
* C Code::            Syntax and usage of the additional C code section.


File: bison.info,  Node: C Declarations,  Next: Bison Declarations,  Up: Grammar Outline

The C Declarations Section
--------------------------

   The C DECLARATIONS section contains macro definitions and
declarations of functions and variables that are used in the actions in
the grammar rules.  These are copied to the beginning of the parser
file so that they precede the definition of `yyparse'.  You can use
`#include' to get the declarations from a header file.  If you don't
need any C declarations, you may omit the `%{' and `%}' delimiters that
bracket this section.


File: bison.info,  Node: Bison Declarations,  Next: Grammar Rules,  Prev: C Declarations,  Up: Grammar Outline

The Bison Declarations Section
------------------------------

   The BISON DECLARATIONS section contains declarations that define
terminal and nonterminal symbols, specify precedence, and so on.  In
some simple grammars you may not need any declarations.  *Note Bison
Declarations: Declarations.


File: bison.info,  Node: Grammar Rules,  Next: C Code,  Prev: Bison Declarations,  Up: Grammar Outline

The Grammar Rules Section
-------------------------

   The "grammar rules" section contains one or more Bison grammar
rules, and nothing else.  *Note Syntax of Grammar Rules: Rules.

   There must always be at least one grammar rule, and the first `%%'
(which precedes the grammar rules) may never be omitted even if it is
the first thing in the file.


File: bison.info,  Node: C Code,  Prev: Grammar Rules,  Up: Grammar Outline

The Additional C Code Section
-----------------------------

   The ADDITIONAL C CODE section is copied verbatim to the end of the
parser file, just as the C DECLARATIONS section is copied to the
beginning.  This is the most convenient place to put anything that you
want to have in the parser file but which need not come before the
definition of `yyparse'.  For example, the definitions of `yylex' and
`yyerror' often go here.  *Note Parser C-Language Interface: Interface.

   If the last section is empty, you may omit the `%%' that separates it
from the grammar rules.

   The Bison parser itself contains many static variables whose names
start with `yy' and many macros whose names start with `YY'.  It is a
good idea to avoid using any such names (except those documented in this
manual) in the additional C code section of the grammar file.


File: bison.info,  Node: Symbols,  Next: Rules,  Prev: Grammar Outline,  Up: Grammar File

Symbols, Terminal and Nonterminal
=================================

   "Symbols" in Bison grammars represent the grammatical classifications
of the language.

   A "terminal symbol" (also known as a "token type") represents a
class of syntactically equivalent tokens.  You use the symbol in grammar
rules to mean that a token in that class is allowed.  The symbol is
represented in the Bison parser by a numeric code, and the `yylex'
function returns a token type code to indicate what kind of token has
been read.  You don't need to know what the code value is; you can use
the symbol to stand for it.

   A "nonterminal symbol" stands for a class of syntactically equivalent
groupings.  The symbol name is used in writing grammar rules.  By
convention, it should be all lower case.

   Symbol names can contain letters, digits (not at the beginning),
underscores and periods.  Periods make sense only in nonterminals.

   There are three ways of writing terminal symbols in the grammar:

   * A "named token type" is written with an identifier, like an
     identifier in C.  By convention, it should be all upper case.  Each
     such name must be defined with a Bison declaration such as
     `%token'.  *Note Token Type Names: Token Decl.

   * A "character token type" (or "literal character token") is written
     in the grammar using the same syntax used in C for character
     constants; for example, `'+'' is a character token type.  A
     character token type doesn't need to be declared unless you need to
     specify its semantic value data type (*note Data Types of Semantic
     Values: Value Type.), associativity, or precedence (*note Operator
     Precedence: Precedence.).

     By convention, a character token type is used only to represent a
     token that consists of that particular character.  Thus, the token
     type `'+'' is used to represent the character `+' as a token.
     Nothing enforces this convention, but if you depart from it, your
     program will confuse other readers.

     All the usual escape sequences used in character literals in C can
     be used in Bison as well, but you must not use the null character
     as a character literal because its ASCII code, zero, is the code
     `yylex' returns for end-of-input (*note Calling Convention for
     `yylex': Calling Convention.).

   * A "literal string token" is written like a C string constant; for
     example, `"<="' is a literal string token.  A literal string token
     doesn't need to be declared unless you need to specify its semantic
     value data type (*note Value Type::.), associativity, precedence
     (*note Precedence::.).

     You can associate the literal string token with a symbolic name as
     an alias, using the `%token' declaration (*note Token
     Declarations: Token Decl.).  If you don't do that, the lexical
     analyzer has to retrieve the token number for the literal string
     token from the `yytname' table (*note Calling Convention::.).

     *WARNING*: literal string tokens do not work in Yacc.

     By convention, a literal string token is used only to represent a
     token that consists of that particular string.  Thus, you should
     use the token type `"<="' to represent the string `<=' as a token.
     Bison does not enforces this convention, but if you depart from
     it, people who read your program will be confused.

     All the escape sequences used in string literals in C can be used
     in Bison as well.  A literal string token must contain two or more
     characters; for a token containing just one character, use a
     character token (see above).

   How you choose to write a terminal symbol has no effect on its
grammatical meaning.  That depends only on where it appears in rules and
on when the parser function returns that symbol.

   The value returned by `yylex' is always one of the terminal symbols
(or 0 for end-of-input).  Whichever way you write the token type in the
grammar rules, you write it the same way in the definition of `yylex'.
The numeric code for a character token type is simply the ASCII code for
the character, so `yylex' can use the identical character constant to
generate the requisite code.  Each named token type becomes a C macro in
the parser file, so `yylex' can use the name to stand for the code.
(This is why periods don't make sense in terminal symbols.)  *Note
Calling Convention for `yylex': Calling Convention.

   If `yylex' is defined in a separate file, you need to arrange for the
token-type macro definitions to be available there.  Use the `-d'
option when you run Bison, so that it will write these macro definitions
into a separate header file `NAME.tab.h' which you can include in the
other source files that need it.  *Note Invoking Bison: Invocation.

   The symbol `error' is a terminal symbol reserved for error recovery
(*note Error Recovery::.); you shouldn't use it for any other purpose.
In particular, `yylex' should never return this value.


File: bison.info,  Node: Rules,  Next: Recursion,  Prev: Symbols,  Up: Grammar File

Syntax of Grammar Rules
=======================

   A Bison grammar rule has the following general form:

     RESULT: COMPONENTS...
             ;

where RESULT is the nonterminal symbol that this rule describes and
COMPONENTS are various terminal and nonterminal symbols that are put
together by this rule (*note Symbols::.).

   For example,

     exp:      exp '+' exp
             ;

says that two groupings of type `exp', with a `+' token in between, can
be combined into a larger grouping of type `exp'.

   Whitespace in rules is significant only to separate symbols.  You
can add extra whitespace as you wish.

   Scattered among the components can be ACTIONS that determine the
semantics of the rule.  An action looks like this:

     {C STATEMENTS}

Usually there is only one action and it follows the components.  *Note
Actions::.

   Multiple rules for the same RESULT can be written separately or can
be joined with the vertical-bar character `|' as follows:

     RESULT:   RULE1-COMPONENTS...
             | RULE2-COMPONENTS...
             ...
             ;

They are still considered distinct rules even when joined in this way.

   If COMPONENTS in a rule is empty, it means that RESULT can match the
empty string.  For example, here is how to define a comma-separated
sequence of zero or more `exp' groupings:

     expseq:   /* empty */
             | expseq1
             ;
     
     expseq1:  exp
             | expseq1 ',' exp
             ;

It is customary to write a comment `/* empty */' in each rule with no
components.


File: bison.info,  Node: Recursion,  Next: Semantics,  Prev: Rules,  Up: Grammar File

Recursive Rules
===============

   A rule is called "recursive" when its RESULT nonterminal appears
also on its right hand side.  Nearly all Bison grammars need to use
recursion, because that is the only way to define a sequence of any
number of somethings.  Consider this recursive definition of a
comma-separated sequence of one or more expressions:

     expseq1:  exp
             | expseq1 ',' exp
             ;

Since the recursive use of `expseq1' is the leftmost symbol in the
right hand side, we call this "left recursion".  By contrast, here the
same construct is defined using "right recursion":

     expseq1:  exp
             | exp ',' expseq1
             ;

Any kind of sequence can be defined using either left recursion or
right recursion, but you should always use left recursion, because it
can parse a sequence of any number of elements with bounded stack
space.  Right recursion uses up space on the Bison stack in proportion
to the number of elements in the sequence, because all the elements
must be shifted onto the stack before the rule can be applied even
once.  *Note The Bison Parser Algorithm: Algorithm, for further
explanation of this.

   "Indirect" or "mutual" recursion occurs when the result of the rule
does not appear directly on its right hand side, but does appear in
rules for other nonterminals which do appear on its right hand side.

   For example:

     expr:     primary
             | primary '+' primary
             ;
     
     primary:  constant
             | '(' expr ')'
             ;

defines two mutually-recursive nonterminals, since each refers to the
other.


File: bison.info,  Node: Semantics,  Next: Declarations,  Prev: Recursion,  Up: Grammar File

Defining Language Semantics
===========================

   The grammar rules for a language determine only the syntax.  The
semantics are determined by the semantic values associated with various
tokens and groupings, and by the actions taken when various groupings
are recognized.

   For example, the calculator calculates properly because the value
associated with each expression is the proper number; it adds properly
because the action for the grouping `X + Y' is to add the numbers
associated with X and Y.

* Menu:

* Value Type::        Specifying one data type for all semantic values.
* Multiple Types::    Specifying several alternative data types.
* Actions::           An action is the semantic definition of a grammar rule.
* Action Types::      Specifying data types for actions to operate on.
* Mid-Rule Actions::  Most actions go at the end of a rule.
                      This says when, why and how to use the exceptional
                        action in the middle of a rule.


File: bison.info,  Node: Value Type,  Next: Multiple Types,  Up: Semantics

Data Types of Semantic Values
-----------------------------

   In a simple program it may be sufficient to use the same data type
for the semantic values of all language constructs.  This was true in
the RPN and infix calculator examples (*note Reverse Polish Notation
Calculator: RPN Calc.).

   Bison's default is to use type `int' for all semantic values.  To
specify some other type, define `YYSTYPE' as a macro, like this:

     #define YYSTYPE double

This macro definition must go in the C declarations section of the
grammar file (*note Outline of a Bison Grammar: Grammar Outline.).


File: bison.info,  Node: Multiple Types,  Next: Actions,  Prev: Value Type,  Up: Semantics

More Than One Value Type
------------------------

   In most programs, you will need different data types for different
kinds of tokens and groupings.  For example, a numeric constant may
need type `int' or `long', while a string constant needs type `char *',
and an identifier might need a pointer to an entry in the symbol table.

   To use more than one data type for semantic values in one parser,
Bison requires you to do two things:

   * Specify the entire collection of possible data types, with the
     `%union' Bison declaration (*note The Collection of Value Types:
     Union Decl.).

   * Choose one of those types for each symbol (terminal or nonterminal)
     for which semantic values are used.  This is done for tokens with
     the `%token' Bison declaration (*note Token Type Names: Token
     Decl.) and for groupings with the `%type' Bison declaration (*note
     Nonterminal Symbols: Type Decl.).


File: bison.info,  Node: Actions,  Next: Action Types,  Prev: Multiple Types,  Up: Semantics

Actions
-------

   An action accompanies a syntactic rule and contains C code to be
executed each time an instance of that rule is recognized.  The task of
most actions is to compute a semantic value for the grouping built by
the rule from the semantic values associated with tokens or smaller
groupings.

   An action consists of C statements surrounded by braces, much like a
compound statement in C.  It can be placed at any position in the rule;
it is executed at that position.  Most rules have just one action at
the end of the rule, following all the components.  Actions in the
middle of a rule are tricky and used only for special purposes (*note
Actions in Mid-Rule: Mid-Rule Actions.).

   The C code in an action can refer to the semantic values of the
components matched by the rule with the construct `$N', which stands for
the value of the Nth component.  The semantic value for the grouping
being constructed is `$$'.  (Bison translates both of these constructs
into array element references when it copies the actions into the parser
file.)

   Here is a typical example:

     exp:    ...
             | exp '+' exp
                 { $$ = $1 + $3; }

This rule constructs an `exp' from two smaller `exp' groupings
connected by a plus-sign token.  In the action, `$1' and `$3' refer to
the semantic values of the two component `exp' groupings, which are the
first and third symbols on the right hand side of the rule.  The sum is
stored into `$$' so that it becomes the semantic value of the
addition-expression just recognized by the rule.  If there were a
useful semantic value associated with the `+' token, it could be
referred to as `$2'.

   If you don't specify an action for a rule, Bison supplies a default:
`$$ = $1'.  Thus, the value of the first symbol in the rule becomes the
value of the whole rule.  Of course, the default rule is valid only if
the two data types match.  There is no meaningful default action for an
empty rule; every empty rule must have an explicit action unless the
rule's value does not matter.

   `$N' with N zero or negative is allowed for reference to tokens and
groupings on the stack *before* those that match the current rule.
This is a very risky practice, and to use it reliably you must be
certain of the context in which the rule is applied.  Here is a case in
which you can use this reliably:

     foo:      expr bar '+' expr  { ... }
             | expr bar '-' expr  { ... }
             ;
     
     bar:      /* empty */
             { previous_expr = $0; }
             ;

   As long as `bar' is used only in the fashion shown here, `$0' always
refers to the `expr' which precedes `bar' in the definition of `foo'.


File: bison.info,  Node: Action Types,  Next: Mid-Rule Actions,  Prev: Actions,  Up: Semantics

Data Types of Values in Actions
-------------------------------

   If you have chosen a single data type for semantic values, the `$$'
and `$N' constructs always have that data type.

   If you have used `%union' to specify a variety of data types, then
you must declare a choice among these types for each terminal or
nonterminal symbol that can have a semantic value.  Then each time you
use `$$' or `$N', its data type is determined by which symbol it refers
to in the rule.  In this example,

     exp:    ...
             | exp '+' exp
                 { $$ = $1 + $3; }

`$1' and `$3' refer to instances of `exp', so they all have the data
type declared for the nonterminal symbol `exp'.  If `$2' were used, it
would have the data type declared for the terminal symbol `'+'',
whatever that might be.

   Alternatively, you can specify the data type when you refer to the
value, by inserting `<TYPE>' after the `$' at the beginning of the
reference.  For example, if you have defined types as shown here:

     %union {
       int itype;
       double dtype;
     }

then you can write `$<itype>1' to refer to the first subunit of the
rule as an integer, or `$<dtype>1' to refer to it as a double.


File: bison.info,  Node: Mid-Rule Actions,  Prev: Action Types,  Up: Semantics

Actions in Mid-Rule
-------------------

   Occasionally it is useful to put an action in the middle of a rule.
These actions are written just like usual end-of-rule actions, but they
are executed before the parser even recognizes the following components.

   A mid-rule action may refer to the components preceding it using
`$N', but it may not refer to subsequent components because it is run
before they are parsed.

   The mid-rule action itself counts as one of the components of the
rule.  This makes a difference when there is another action later in
the same rule (and usually there is another at the end): you have to
count the actions along with the symbols when working out which number
N to use in `$N'.

   The mid-rule action can also have a semantic value.  The action can
set its value with an assignment to `$$', and actions later in the rule
can refer to the value using `$N'.  Since there is no symbol to name
the action, there is no way to declare a data type for the value in
advance, so you must use the `$<...>' construct to specify a data type
each time you refer to this value.

   There is no way to set the value of the entire rule with a mid-rule
action, because assignments to `$$' do not have that effect.  The only
way to set the value for the entire rule is with an ordinary action at
the end of the rule.

   Here is an example from a hypothetical compiler, handling a `let'
statement that looks like `let (VARIABLE) STATEMENT' and serves to
create a variable named VARIABLE temporarily for the duration of
STATEMENT.  To parse this construct, we must put VARIABLE into the
symbol table while STATEMENT is parsed, then remove it afterward.  Here
is how it is done:

     stmt:   LET '(' var ')'
                     { $<context>$ = push_context ();
                       declare_variable ($3); }
             stmt    { $$ = $6;
                       pop_context ($<context>5); }

As soon as `let (VARIABLE)' has been recognized, the first action is
run.  It saves a copy of the current semantic context (the list of
accessible variables) as its semantic value, using alternative
`context' in the data-type union.  Then it calls `declare_variable' to
add the new variable to that list.  Once the first action is finished,
the embedded statement `stmt' can be parsed.  Note that the mid-rule
action is component number 5, so the `stmt' is component number 6.

   After the embedded statement is parsed, its semantic value becomes
the value of the entire `let'-statement.  Then the semantic value from
the earlier action is used to restore the prior list of variables.  This
removes the temporary `let'-variable from the list so that it won't
appear to exist while the rest of the program is parsed.

   Taking action before a rule is completely recognized often leads to
conflicts since the parser must commit to a parse in order to execute
the action.  For example, the following two rules, without mid-rule
actions, can coexist in a working parser because the parser can shift
the open-brace token and look at what follows before deciding whether
there is a declaration or not:

     compound: '{' declarations statements '}'
             | '{' statements '}'
             ;

But when we add a mid-rule action as follows, the rules become
nonfunctional:

     compound: { prepare_for_local_variables (); }
               '{' declarations statements '}'
             | '{' statements '}'
             ;

Now the parser is forced to decide whether to run the mid-rule action
when it has read no farther than the open-brace.  In other words, it
must commit to using one rule or the other, without sufficient
information to do it correctly.  (The open-brace token is what is called
the "look-ahead" token at this time, since the parser is still deciding
what to do about it.  *Note Look-Ahead Tokens: Look-Ahead.)

   You might think that you could correct the problem by putting
identical actions into the two rules, like this:

     compound: { prepare_for_local_variables (); }
               '{' declarations statements '}'
             | { prepare_for_local_variables (); }
               '{' statements '}'
             ;

But this does not help, because Bison does not realize that the two
actions are identical.  (Bison never tries to understand the C code in
an action.)

   If the grammar is such that a declaration can be distinguished from a
statement by the first token (which is true in C), then one solution
which does work is to put the action after the open-brace, like this:

     compound: '{' { prepare_for_local_variables (); }
               declarations statements '}'
             | '{' statements '}'
             ;

Now the first token of the following declaration or statement, which
would in any case tell Bison which rule to use, can still do so.

   Another solution is to bury the action inside a nonterminal symbol
which serves as a subroutine:

     subroutine: /* empty */
               { prepare_for_local_variables (); }
             ;
     
     compound: subroutine
               '{' declarations statements '}'
             | subroutine
               '{' statements '}'
             ;

Now Bison can execute the action in the rule for `subroutine' without
deciding which rule for `compound' it will eventually use.  Note that
the action is now at the end of its rule.  Any mid-rule action can be
converted to an end-of-rule action in this way, and this is what Bison
actually does to implement mid-rule actions.


File: bison.info,  Node: Declarations,  Next: Multiple Parsers,  Prev: Semantics,  Up: Grammar File

Bison Declarations
==================

   The "Bison declarations" section of a Bison grammar defines the
symbols used in formulating the grammar and the data types of semantic
values.  *Note Symbols::.

   All token type names (but not single-character literal tokens such as
`'+'' and `'*'') must be declared.  Nonterminal symbols must be
declared if you need to specify which data type to use for the semantic
value (*note More Than One Value Type: Multiple Types.).

   The first rule in the file also specifies the start symbol, by
default.  If you want some other symbol to be the start symbol, you
must declare it explicitly (*note Languages and Context-Free Grammars:
Language and Grammar.).

* Menu:

* Token Decl::        Declaring terminal symbols.
* Precedence Decl::   Declaring terminals with precedence and associativity.
* Union Decl::        Declaring the set of all semantic value types.
* Type Decl::         Declaring the choice of type for a nonterminal symbol.
* Expect Decl::       Suppressing warnings about shift/reduce conflicts.
* Start Decl::        Specifying the start symbol.
* Pure Decl::         Requesting a reentrant parser.
* Decl Summary::      Table of all Bison declarations.


File: bison.info,  Node: Token Decl,  Next: Precedence Decl,  Up: Declarations

Token Type Names
----------------

   The basic way to declare a token type name (terminal symbol) is as
follows:

     %token NAME

   Bison will convert this into a `#define' directive in the parser, so
that the function `yylex' (if it is in this file) can use the name NAME
to stand for this token type's code.

   Alternatively, you can use `%left', `%right', or `%nonassoc' instead
of `%token', if you wish to specify precedence.  *Note Operator
Precedence: Precedence Decl.

   You can explicitly specify the numeric code for a token type by
appending an integer value in the field immediately following the token
name:

     %token NUM 300

It is generally best, however, to let Bison choose the numeric codes for
all token types.  Bison will automatically select codes that don't
conflict with each other or with ASCII characters.

   In the event that the stack type is a union, you must augment the
`%token' or other token declaration to include the data type
alternative delimited by angle-brackets (*note More Than One Value
Type: Multiple Types.).

   For example:

     %union {              /* define stack type */
       double val;
       symrec *tptr;
     }
     %token <val> NUM      /* define token NUM and its type */

   You can associate a literal string token with a token type name by
writing the literal string at the end of a `%token' declaration which
declares the name.  For example:

     %token arrow "=>"

For example, a grammar for the C language might specify these names with
equivalent literal string tokens:

     %token  <operator>  OR      "||"
     %token  <operator>  LE 134  "<="
     %left  OR  "<="

Once you equate the literal string and the token name, you can use them
interchangeably in further declarations or the grammar rules.  The
`yylex' function can use the token name or the literal string to obtain
the token type code number (*note Calling Convention::.).


File: bison.info,  Node: Precedence Decl,  Next: Union Decl,  Prev: Token Decl,  Up: Declarations

Operator Precedence
-------------------

   Use the `%left', `%right' or `%nonassoc' declaration to declare a
token and specify its precedence and associativity, all at once.  These
are called "precedence declarations".  *Note Operator Precedence:
Precedence, for general information on operator precedence.

   The syntax of a precedence declaration is the same as that of
`%token': either

     %left SYMBOLS...

or

     %left <TYPE> SYMBOLS...

   And indeed any of these declarations serves the purposes of `%token'.
But in addition, they specify the associativity and relative precedence
for all the SYMBOLS:

   * The associativity of an operator OP determines how repeated uses
     of the operator nest: whether `X OP Y OP Z' is parsed by grouping
     X with Y first or by grouping Y with Z first.  `%left' specifies
     left-associativity (grouping X with Y first) and `%right'
     specifies right-associativity (grouping Y with Z first).
     `%nonassoc' specifies no associativity, which means that `X OP Y
     OP Z' is considered a syntax error.

   * The precedence of an operator determines how it nests with other
     operators.  All the tokens declared in a single precedence
     declaration have equal precedence and nest together according to
     their associativity.  When two tokens declared in different
     precedence declarations associate, the one declared later has the
     higher precedence and is grouped first.


File: bison.info,  Node: Union Decl,  Next: Type Decl,  Prev: Precedence Decl,  Up: Declarations

The Collection of Value Types
-----------------------------

   The `%union' declaration specifies the entire collection of possible
data types for semantic values.  The keyword `%union' is followed by a
pair of braces containing the same thing that goes inside a `union' in
C.

   For example:

     %union {
       double val;
       symrec *tptr;
     }

This says that the two alternative types are `double' and `symrec *'.
They are given names `val' and `tptr'; these names are used in the
`%token' and `%type' declarations to pick one of the types for a
terminal or nonterminal symbol (*note Nonterminal Symbols: Type Decl.).

   Note that, unlike making a `union' declaration in C, you do not write
a semicolon after the closing brace.


File: bison.info,  Node: Type Decl,  Next: Expect Decl,  Prev: Union Decl,  Up: Declarations

Nonterminal Symbols
-------------------

When you use `%union' to specify multiple value types, you must declare
the value type of each nonterminal symbol for which values are used.
This is done with a `%type' declaration, like this:

     %type <TYPE> NONTERMINAL...

Here NONTERMINAL is the name of a nonterminal symbol, and TYPE is the
name given in the `%union' to the alternative that you want (*note The
Collection of Value Types: Union Decl.).  You can give any number of
nonterminal symbols in the same `%type' declaration, if they have the
same value type.  Use spaces to separate the symbol names.

   You can also declare the value type of a terminal symbol.  To do
this, use the same `<TYPE>' construction in a declaration for the
terminal symbol.  All kinds of token declarations allow `<TYPE>'.


File: bison.info,  Node: Expect Decl,  Next: Start Decl,  Prev: Type Decl,  Up: Declarations

Suppressing Conflict Warnings
-----------------------------

   Bison normally warns if there are any conflicts in the grammar
(*note Shift/Reduce Conflicts: Shift/Reduce.), but most real grammars
have harmless shift/reduce conflicts which are resolved in a
predictable way and would be difficult to eliminate.  It is desirable
to suppress the warning about these conflicts unless the number of
conflicts changes.  You can do this with the `%expect' declaration.

   The declaration looks like this:

     %expect N

   Here N is a decimal integer.  The declaration says there should be no
warning if there are N shift/reduce conflicts and no reduce/reduce
conflicts.  The usual warning is given if there are either more or fewer
conflicts, or if there are any reduce/reduce conflicts.

   In general, using `%expect' involves these steps:

   * Compile your grammar without `%expect'.  Use the `-v' option to
     get a verbose list of where the conflicts occur.  Bison will also
     print the number of conflicts.

   * Check each of the conflicts to make sure that Bison's default
     resolution is what you really want.  If not, rewrite the grammar
     and go back to the beginning.

   * Add an `%expect' declaration, copying the number N from the number
     which Bison printed.

   Now Bison will stop annoying you about the conflicts you have
checked, but it will warn you again if changes in the grammar result in
additional conflicts.


File: bison.info,  Node: Start Decl,  Next: Pure Decl,  Prev: Expect Decl,  Up: Declarations

The Start-Symbol
----------------

   Bison assumes by default that the start symbol for the grammar is
the first nonterminal specified in the grammar specification section.
The programmer may override this restriction with the `%start'
declaration as follows:

     %start SYMBOL


File: bison.info,  Node: Pure Decl,  Next: Decl Summary,  Prev: Start Decl,  Up: Declarations

A Pure (Reentrant) Parser
-------------------------

   A "reentrant" program is one which does not alter in the course of
execution; in other words, it consists entirely of "pure" (read-only)
code.  Reentrancy is important whenever asynchronous execution is
possible; for example, a nonreentrant program may not be safe to call
from a signal handler.  In systems with multiple threads of control, a
nonreentrant program must be called only within interlocks.

   Normally, Bison generates a parser which is not reentrant.  This is
suitable for most uses, and it permits compatibility with YACC.  (The
standard YACC interfaces are inherently nonreentrant, because they use
statically allocated variables for communication with `yylex',
including `yylval' and `yylloc'.)

   Alternatively, you can generate a pure, reentrant parser.  The Bison
declaration `%pure_parser' says that you want the parser to be
reentrant.  It looks like this:

     %pure_parser

   The result is that the communication variables `yylval' and `yylloc'
become local variables in `yyparse', and a different calling convention
is used for the lexical analyzer function `yylex'.  *Note Calling
Conventions for Pure Parsers: Pure Calling, for the details of this.
The variable `yynerrs' also becomes local in `yyparse' (*note The Error
Reporting Function `yyerror': Error Reporting.).  The convention for
calling `yyparse' itself is unchanged.

   Whether the parser is pure has nothing to do with the grammar rules.
You can generate either a pure parser or a nonreentrant parser from any
valid grammar.


File: bison.info,  Node: Decl Summary,  Prev: Pure Decl,  Up: Declarations

Bison Declaration Summary
-------------------------

   Here is a summary of all Bison declarations:

`%union'
     Declare the collection of data types that semantic values may have
     (*note The Collection of Value Types: Union Decl.).

`%token'
     Declare a terminal symbol (token type name) with no precedence or
     associativity specified (*note Token Type Names: Token Decl.).

`%right'
     Declare a terminal symbol (token type name) that is
     right-associative (*note Operator Precedence: Precedence Decl.).

`%left'
     Declare a terminal symbol (token type name) that is
     left-associative (*note Operator Precedence: Precedence Decl.).

`%nonassoc'
     Declare a terminal symbol (token type name) that is nonassociative
     (using it in a way that would be associative is a syntax error)
     (*note Operator Precedence: Precedence Decl.).

`%type'
     Declare the type of semantic values for a nonterminal symbol
     (*note Nonterminal Symbols: Type Decl.).

`%start'
     Specify the grammar's start symbol (*note The Start-Symbol: Start
     Decl.).

`%expect'
     Declare the expected number of shift-reduce conflicts (*note
     Suppressing Conflict Warnings: Expect Decl.).

`%pure_parser'
     Request a pure (reentrant) parser program (*note A Pure
     (Reentrant) Parser: Pure Decl.).

`%no_lines'
     Don't generate any `#line' preprocessor commands in the parser
     file.  Ordinarily Bison writes these commands in the parser file
     so that the C compiler and debuggers will associate errors and
     object code with your source file (the grammar file).  This
     directive causes them to associate errors with the parser file,
     treating it an independent source file in its own right.

`%raw'
     The output file `NAME.h' normally defines the tokens with
     Yacc-compatible token numbers.  If this option is specified, the
     internal Bison numbers are used instead.  (Yacc-compatible numbers
     start at 257 except for single character tokens; Bison assigns
     token numbers sequentially for all tokens starting at 3.)

`%token_table'
     Generate an array of token names in the parser file.  The name of
     the array is `yytname'; `yytname[I]' is the name of the token
     whose internal Bison token code number is I.  The first three
     elements of `yytname' are always `"$"', `"error"', and
     `"$illegal"'; after these come the symbols defined in the grammar
     file.

     For single-character literal tokens and literal string tokens, the
     name in the table includes the single-quote or double-quote
     characters: for example, `"'+'"' is a single-character literal and
     `"\"<=\""' is a literal string token.  All the characters of the
     literal string token appear verbatim in the string found in the
     table; even double-quote characters are not escaped.  For example,
     if the token consists of three characters `*"*', its string in
     `yytname' contains `"*"*"'.  (In C, that would be written as
     `"\"*\"*\""').

     When you specify `%token_table', Bison also generates macro
     definitions for macros `YYNTOKENS', `YYNNTS', and `YYNRULES', and
     `YYNSTATES':

    `YYNTOKENS'
          The highest token number, plus one.

    `YYNNTS'
          The number of non-terminal symbols.

    `YYNRULES'
          The number of grammar rules,

    `YYNSTATES'
          The number of parser states (*note Parser States::.).


File: bison.info,  Node: Multiple Parsers,  Prev: Declarations,  Up: Grammar File

Multiple Parsers in the Same Program
====================================

   Most programs that use Bison parse only one language and therefore
contain only one Bison parser.  But what if you want to parse more than
one language with the same program?  Then you need to avoid a name
conflict between different definitions of `yyparse', `yylval', and so
on.

   The easy way to do this is to use the option `-p PREFIX' (*note
Invoking Bison: Invocation.).  This renames the interface functions and
variables of the Bison parser to start with PREFIX instead of `yy'.
You can use this to give each parser distinct names that do not
conflict.

   The precise list of symbols renamed is `yyparse', `yylex',
`yyerror', `yynerrs', `yylval', `yychar' and `yydebug'.  For example,
if you use `-p c', the names become `cparse', `clex', and so on.

   *All the other variables and macros associated with Bison are not
renamed.* These others are not global; there is no conflict if the same
name is used in different parsers.  For example, `YYSTYPE' is not
renamed, but defining this in different ways in different parsers causes
no trouble (*note Data Types of Semantic Values: Value Type.).

   The `-p' option works by adding macro definitions to the beginning
of the parser source file, defining `yyparse' as `PREFIXparse', and so
on.  This effectively substitutes one name for the other in the entire
parser file.


File: bison.info,  Node: Interface,  Next: Algorithm,  Prev: Grammar File,  Up: Top

Parser C-Language Interface
***************************

   The Bison parser is actually a C function named `yyparse'.  Here we
describe the interface conventions of `yyparse' and the other functions
that it needs to use.

   Keep in mind that the parser uses many C identifiers starting with
`yy' and `YY' for internal purposes.  If you use such an identifier
(aside from those in this manual) in an action or in additional C code
in the grammar file, you are likely to run into trouble.

* Menu:

* Parser Function::   How to call `yyparse' and what it returns.
* Lexical::           You must supply a function `yylex'
                        which reads tokens.
* Error Reporting::   You must supply a function `yyerror'.
* Action Features::   Special features for use in actions.


File: bison.info,  Node: Parser Function,  Next: Lexical,  Up: Interface

The Parser Function `yyparse'
=============================

   You call the function `yyparse' to cause parsing to occur.  This
function reads tokens, executes actions, and ultimately returns when it
encounters end-of-input or an unrecoverable syntax error.  You can also
write an action which directs `yyparse' to return immediately without
reading further.

   The value returned by `yyparse' is 0 if parsing was successful
(return is due to end-of-input).

   The value is 1 if parsing failed (return is due to a syntax error).

   In an action, you can cause immediate return from `yyparse' by using
these macros:

`YYACCEPT'
     Return immediately with value 0 (to report success).

`YYABORT'
     Return immediately with value 1 (to report failure).


File: bison.info,  Node: Lexical,  Next: Error Reporting,  Prev: Parser Function,  Up: Interface

The Lexical Analyzer Function `yylex'
=====================================

   The "lexical analyzer" function, `yylex', recognizes tokens from the
input stream and returns them to the parser.  Bison does not create
this function automatically; you must write it so that `yyparse' can
call it.  The function is sometimes referred to as a lexical scanner.

   In simple programs, `yylex' is often defined at the end of the Bison
grammar file.  If `yylex' is defined in a separate source file, you
need to arrange for the token-type macro definitions to be available
there.  To do this, use the `-d' option when you run Bison, so that it
will write these macro definitions into a separate header file
`NAME.tab.h' which you can include in the other source files that need
it.  *Note Invoking Bison: Invocation.

* Menu:

* Calling Convention::  How `yyparse' calls `yylex'.
* Token Values::      How `yylex' must return the semantic value
                        of the token it has read.
* Token Positions::   How `yylex' must return the text position
                        (line number, etc.) of the token, if the
                        actions want that.
* Pure Calling::      How the calling convention differs
                        in a pure parser (*note A Pure (Reentrant) Parser: Pure Decl.).


File: bison.info,  Node: Calling Convention,  Next: Token Values,  Up: Lexical

Calling Convention for `yylex'
------------------------------

   The value that `yylex' returns must be the numeric code for the type
of token it has just found, or 0 for end-of-input.

   When a token is referred to in the grammar rules by a name, that name
in the parser file becomes a C macro whose definition is the proper
numeric code for that token type.  So `yylex' can use the name to
indicate that type.  *Note Symbols::.

   When a token is referred to in the grammar rules by a character
literal, the numeric code for that character is also the code for the
token type.  So `yylex' can simply return that character code.  The
null character must not be used this way, because its code is zero and
that is what signifies end-of-input.

   Here is an example showing these things:

     yylex ()
     {
       ...
       if (c == EOF)     /* Detect end of file. */
         return 0;
       ...
       if (c == '+' || c == '-')
         return c;      /* Assume token type for `+' is '+'. */
       ...
       return INT;      /* Return the type of the token. */
       ...
     }

This interface has been designed so that the output from the `lex'
utility can be used without change as the definition of `yylex'.

   If the grammar uses literal string tokens, there are two ways that
`yylex' can determine the token type codes for them:

   * If the grammar defines symbolic token names as aliases for the
     literal string tokens, `yylex' can use these symbolic names like
     all others.  In this case, the use of the literal string tokens in
     the grammar file has no effect on `yylex'.

   * `yylex' can find the multi-character token in the `yytname' table.
     The index of the token in the table is the token type's code.
     The name of a multi-character token is recorded in `yytname' with a
     double-quote, the token's characters, and another double-quote.
     The token's characters are not escaped in any way; they appear
     verbatim in the contents of the string in the table.

     Here's code for looking up a token in `yytname', assuming that the
     characters of the token are stored in `token_buffer'.

          for (i = 0; i < YYNTOKENS; i++)
            {
              if (yytname[i] != 0
                  && yytname[i][0] == '"'
                  && strncmp (yytname[i] + 1, token_buffer,
                              strlen (token_buffer))
                  && yytname[i][strlen (token_buffer) + 1] == '"'
                  && yytname[i][strlen (token_buffer) + 2] == 0)
                break;
            }

     The `yytname' table is generated only if you use the
     `%token_table' declaration.  *Note Decl Summary::.


File: bison.info,  Node: Token Values,  Next: Token Positions,  Prev: Calling Convention,  Up: Lexical

Semantic Values of Tokens
-------------------------

   In an ordinary (nonreentrant) parser, the semantic value of the
token must be stored into the global variable `yylval'.  When you are
using just one data type for semantic values, `yylval' has that type.
Thus, if the type is `int' (the default), you might write this in
`yylex':

       ...
       yylval = value;  /* Put value onto Bison stack. */
       return INT;      /* Return the type of the token. */
       ...

   When you are using multiple data types, `yylval''s type is a union
made from the `%union' declaration (*note The Collection of Value
Types: Union Decl.).  So when you store a token's value, you must use
the proper member of the union.  If the `%union' declaration looks like
this:

     %union {
       int intval;
       double val;
       symrec *tptr;
     }

then the code in `yylex' might look like this:

       ...
       yylval.intval = value; /* Put value onto Bison stack. */
       return INT;          /* Return the type of the token. */
       ...


File: bison.info,  Node: Token Positions,  Next: Pure Calling,  Prev: Token Values,  Up: Lexical

Textual Positions of Tokens
---------------------------

   If you are using the `@N'-feature (*note Special Features for Use in
Actions: Action Features.) in actions to keep track of the textual
locations of tokens and groupings, then you must provide this
information in `yylex'.  The function `yyparse' expects to find the
textual location of a token just parsed in the global variable
`yylloc'.  So `yylex' must store the proper data in that variable.  The
value of `yylloc' is a structure and you need only initialize the
members that are going to be used by the actions.  The four members are
called `first_line', `first_column', `last_line' and `last_column'.
Note that the use of this feature makes the parser noticeably slower.

   The data type of `yylloc' has the name `YYLTYPE'.


File: bison.info,  Node: Pure Calling,  Prev: Token Positions,  Up: Lexical

Calling Conventions for Pure Parsers
------------------------------------

   When you use the Bison declaration `%pure_parser' to request a pure,
reentrant parser, the global communication variables `yylval' and
`yylloc' cannot be used.  (*Note A Pure (Reentrant) Parser: Pure Decl.)
In such parsers the two global variables are replaced by pointers
passed as arguments to `yylex'.  You must declare them as shown here,
and pass the information back by storing it through those pointers.

     yylex (lvalp, llocp)
          YYSTYPE *lvalp;
          YYLTYPE *llocp;
     {
       ...
       *lvalp = value;  /* Put value onto Bison stack.  */
       return INT;      /* Return the type of the token.  */
       ...
     }

   If the grammar file does not use the `@' constructs to refer to
textual positions, then the type `YYLTYPE' will not be defined.  In
this case, omit the second argument; `yylex' will be called with only
one argument.

   If you use a reentrant parser, you can optionally pass additional
parameter information to it in a reentrant way.  To do so, define the
macro `YYPARSE_PARAM' as a variable name.  This modifies the `yyparse'
function to accept one argument, of type `void *', with that name.

   When you call `yyparse', pass the address of an object, casting the
address to `void *'.  The grammar actions can refer to the contents of
the object by casting the pointer value back to its proper type and
then dereferencing it.  Here's an example.  Write this in the parser:

     %{
     struct parser_control
     {
       int nastiness;
       int randomness;
     };
     
     #define YYPARSE_PARAM parm
     %}

Then call the parser like this:

     struct parser_control
     {
       int nastiness;
       int randomness;
     };
     
     ...
     
     {
       struct parser_control foo;
       ...  /* Store proper data in `foo'.  */
       value = yyparse ((void *) &foo);
       ...
     }

In the grammar actions, use expressions like this to refer to the data:

     ((struct parser_control *) parm)->randomness

   If you wish to pass the additional parameter data to `yylex', define
the macro `YYLEX_PARAM' just like `YYPARSE_PARAM', as shown here:

     %{
     struct parser_control
     {
       int nastiness;
       int randomness;
     };
     
     #define YYPARSE_PARAM parm
     #define YYLEX_PARAM parm
     %}

   You should then define `yylex' to accept one additional
argument--the value of `parm'.  (This makes either two or three
arguments in total, depending on whether an argument of type `YYLTYPE'
is passed.)  You can declare the argument as a pointer to the proper
object type, or you can declare it as `void *' and access the contents
as shown above.

   You can use `%pure_parser' to request a reentrant parser without
also using `YYPARSE_PARAM'.  Then you should call `yyparse' with no
arguments, as usual.


File: bison.info,  Node: Error Reporting,  Next: Action Features,  Prev: Lexical,  Up: Interface

The Error Reporting Function `yyerror'
======================================

   The Bison parser detects a "parse error" or "syntax error" whenever
it reads a token which cannot satisfy any syntax rule.  A action in the
grammar can also explicitly proclaim an error, using the macro
`YYERROR' (*note Special Features for Use in Actions: Action Features.).

   The Bison parser expects to report the error by calling an error
reporting function named `yyerror', which you must supply.  It is
called by `yyparse' whenever a syntax error is found, and it receives
one argument.  For a parse error, the string is normally
`"parse error"'.

   If you define the macro `YYERROR_VERBOSE' in the Bison declarations
section (*note The Bison Declarations Section: Bison Declarations.),
then Bison provides a more verbose and specific error message string
instead of just plain `"parse error"'.  It doesn't matter what
definition you use for `YYERROR_VERBOSE', just whether you define it.

   The parser can detect one other kind of error: stack overflow.  This
happens when the input contains constructions that are very deeply
nested.  It isn't likely you will encounter this, since the Bison
parser extends its stack automatically up to a very large limit.  But
if overflow happens, `yyparse' calls `yyerror' in the usual fashion,
except that the argument string is `"parser stack overflow"'.

   The following definition suffices in simple programs:

     yyerror (s)
          char *s;
     {
       fprintf (stderr, "%s\n", s);
     }

   After `yyerror' returns to `yyparse', the latter will attempt error
recovery if you have written suitable error recovery grammar rules
(*note Error Recovery::.).  If recovery is impossible, `yyparse' will
immediately return 1.

   The variable `yynerrs' contains the number of syntax errors
encountered so far.  Normally this variable is global; but if you
request a pure parser (*note A Pure (Reentrant) Parser: Pure Decl.)
then it is a local variable which only the actions can access.


File: bison.info,  Node: Action Features,  Prev: Error Reporting,  Up: Interface

Special Features for Use in Actions
===================================

   Here is a table of Bison constructs, variables and macros that are
useful in actions.

`$$'
     Acts like a variable that contains the semantic value for the
     grouping made by the current rule.  *Note Actions::.

`$N'
     Acts like a variable that contains the semantic value for the Nth
     component of the current rule.  *Note Actions::.

`$<TYPEALT>$'
     Like `$$' but specifies alternative TYPEALT in the union specified
     by the `%union' declaration.  *Note Data Types of Values in
     Actions: Action Types.

`$<TYPEALT>N'
     Like `$N' but specifies alternative TYPEALT in the union specified
     by the `%union' declaration.  *Note Data Types of Values in
     Actions: Action Types.

`YYABORT;'
     Return immediately from `yyparse', indicating failure.  *Note The
     Parser Function `yyparse': Parser Function.

`YYACCEPT;'
     Return immediately from `yyparse', indicating success.  *Note The
     Parser Function `yyparse': Parser Function.

`YYBACKUP (TOKEN, VALUE);'
     Unshift a token.  This macro is allowed only for rules that reduce
     a single value, and only when there is no look-ahead token.  It
     installs a look-ahead token with token type TOKEN and semantic
     value VALUE; then it discards the value that was going to be
     reduced by this rule.

     If the macro is used when it is not valid, such as when there is a
     look-ahead token already, then it reports a syntax error with a
     message `cannot back up' and performs ordinary error recovery.

     In either case, the rest of the action is not executed.

`YYEMPTY'
     Value stored in `yychar' when there is no look-ahead token.

`YYERROR;'
     Cause an immediate syntax error.  This statement initiates error
     recovery just as if the parser itself had detected an error;
     however, it does not call `yyerror', and does not print any
     message.  If you want to print an error message, call `yyerror'
     explicitly before the `YYERROR;' statement.  *Note Error
     Recovery::.

`YYRECOVERING'
     This macro stands for an expression that has the value 1 when the
     parser is recovering from a syntax error, and 0 the rest of the
     time.  *Note Error Recovery::.

`yychar'
     Variable containing the current look-ahead token.  (In a pure
     parser, this is actually a local variable within `yyparse'.)  When
     there is no look-ahead token, the value `YYEMPTY' is stored in the
     variable.  *Note Look-Ahead Tokens: Look-Ahead.

`yyclearin;'
     Discard the current look-ahead token.  This is useful primarily in
     error rules.  *Note Error Recovery::.

`yyerrok;'
     Resume generating error messages immediately for subsequent syntax
     errors.  This is useful primarily in error rules.  *Note Error
     Recovery::.

`@N'
     Acts like a structure variable containing information on the line
     numbers and column numbers of the Nth component of the current
     rule.  The structure has four members, like this:

          struct {
            int first_line, last_line;
            int first_column, last_column;
          };

     Thus, to get the starting line number of the third component, you
     would use `@3.first_line'.

     In order for the members of this structure to contain valid
     information, you must make `yylex' supply this information about
     each token.  If you need only certain members, then `yylex' need
     only fill in those members.

     The use of this feature makes the parser noticeably slower.


File: bison.info,  Node: Algorithm,  Next: Error Recovery,  Prev: Interface,  Up: Top

The Bison Parser Algorithm
**************************

   As Bison reads tokens, it pushes them onto a stack along with their
semantic values.  The stack is called the "parser stack".  Pushing a
token is traditionally called "shifting".

   For example, suppose the infix calculator has read `1 + 5 *', with a
`3' to come.  The stack will have four elements, one for each token
that was shifted.

   But the stack does not always have an element for each token read.
When the last N tokens and groupings shifted match the components of a
grammar rule, they can be combined according to that rule.  This is
called "reduction".  Those tokens and groupings are replaced on the
stack by a single grouping whose symbol is the result (left hand side)
of that rule.  Running the rule's action is part of the process of
reduction, because this is what computes the semantic value of the
resulting grouping.

   For example, if the infix calculator's parser stack contains this:

     1 + 5 * 3

and the next input token is a newline character, then the last three
elements can be reduced to 15 via the rule:

     expr: expr '*' expr;

Then the stack contains just these three elements:

     1 + 15

At this point, another reduction can be made, resulting in the single
value 16.  Then the newline token can be shifted.

   The parser tries, by shifts and reductions, to reduce the entire
input down to a single grouping whose symbol is the grammar's
start-symbol (*note Languages and Context-Free Grammars: Language and
Grammar.).

   This kind of parser is known in the literature as a bottom-up parser.

* Menu:

* Look-Ahead::        Parser looks one token ahead when deciding what to do.
* Shift/Reduce::      Conflicts: when either shifting or reduction is valid.
* Precedence::        Operator precedence works by resolving conflicts.
* Contextual Precedence::  When an operator's precedence depends on context.
* Parser States::     The parser is a finite-state-machine with stack.
* Reduce/Reduce::     When two rules are applicable in the same situation.
* Mystery Conflicts::  Reduce/reduce conflicts that look unjustified.
* Stack Overflow::    What happens when stack gets full.  How to avoid it.


File: bison.info,  Node: Look-Ahead,  Next: Shift/Reduce,  Up: Algorithm

Look-Ahead Tokens
=================

   The Bison parser does *not* always reduce immediately as soon as the
last N tokens and groupings match a rule.  This is because such a
simple strategy is inadequate to handle most languages.  Instead, when a
reduction is possible, the parser sometimes "looks ahead" at the next
token in order to decide what to do.

   When a token is read, it is not immediately shifted; first it
becomes the "look-ahead token", which is not on the stack.  Now the
parser can perform one or more reductions of tokens and groupings on
the stack, while the look-ahead token remains off to the side.  When no
more reductions should take place, the look-ahead token is shifted onto
the stack.  This does not mean that all possible reductions have been
done; depending on the token type of the look-ahead token, some rules
may choose to delay their application.

   Here is a simple case where look-ahead is needed.  These three rules
define expressions which contain binary addition operators and postfix
unary factorial operators (`!'), and allow parentheses for grouping.

     expr:     term '+' expr
             | term
             ;
     
     term:     '(' expr ')'
             | term '!'
             | NUMBER
             ;

   Suppose that the tokens `1 + 2' have been read and shifted; what
should be done?  If the following token is `)', then the first three
tokens must be reduced to form an `expr'.  This is the only valid
course, because shifting the `)' would produce a sequence of symbols
`term ')'', and no rule allows this.

   If the following token is `!', then it must be shifted immediately so
that `2 !' can be reduced to make a `term'.  If instead the parser were
to reduce before shifting, `1 + 2' would become an `expr'.  It would
then be impossible to shift the `!' because doing so would produce on
the stack the sequence of symbols `expr '!''.  No rule allows that
sequence.

   The current look-ahead token is stored in the variable `yychar'.
*Note Special Features for Use in Actions: Action Features.


File: bison.info,  Node: Shift/Reduce,  Next: Precedence,  Prev: Look-Ahead,  Up: Algorithm

Shift/Reduce Conflicts
======================

   Suppose we are parsing a language which has if-then and if-then-else
statements, with a pair of rules like this:

     if_stmt:
               IF expr THEN stmt
             | IF expr THEN stmt ELSE stmt
             ;

Here we assume that `IF', `THEN' and `ELSE' are terminal symbols for
specific keyword tokens.

   When the `ELSE' token is read and becomes the look-ahead token, the
contents of the stack (assuming the input is valid) are just right for
reduction by the first rule.  But it is also legitimate to shift the
`ELSE', because that would lead to eventual reduction by the second
rule.

   This situation, where either a shift or a reduction would be valid,
is called a "shift/reduce conflict".  Bison is designed to resolve
these conflicts by choosing to shift, unless otherwise directed by
operator precedence declarations.  To see the reason for this, let's
contrast it with the other alternative.

   Since the parser prefers to shift the `ELSE', the result is to attach
the else-clause to the innermost if-statement, making these two inputs
equivalent:

     if x then if y then win (); else lose;
     
     if x then do; if y then win (); else lose; end;

   But if the parser chose to reduce when possible rather than shift,
the result would be to attach the else-clause to the outermost
if-statement, making these two inputs equivalent:

     if x then if y then win (); else lose;
     
     if x then do; if y then win (); end; else lose;

   The conflict exists because the grammar as written is ambiguous:
either parsing of the simple nested if-statement is legitimate.  The
established convention is that these ambiguities are resolved by
attaching the else-clause to the innermost if-statement; this is what
Bison accomplishes by choosing to shift rather than reduce.  (It would
ideally be cleaner to write an unambiguous grammar, but that is very
hard to do in this case.)  This particular ambiguity was first
encountered in the specifications of Algol 60 and is called the
"dangling `else'" ambiguity.

   To avoid warnings from Bison about predictable, legitimate
shift/reduce conflicts, use the `%expect N' declaration.  There will be
no warning as long as the number of shift/reduce conflicts is exactly N.
*Note Suppressing Conflict Warnings: Expect Decl.

   The definition of `if_stmt' above is solely to blame for the
conflict, but the conflict does not actually appear without additional
rules.  Here is a complete Bison input file that actually manifests the
conflict:

     %token IF THEN ELSE variable
     %%
     stmt:     expr
             | if_stmt
             ;
     
     if_stmt:
               IF expr THEN stmt
             | IF expr THEN stmt ELSE stmt
             ;
     
     expr:     variable
             ;


File: bison.info,  Node: Precedence,  Next: Contextual Precedence,  Prev: Shift/Reduce,  Up: Algorithm

Operator Precedence
===================

   Another situation where shift/reduce conflicts appear is in
arithmetic expressions.  Here shifting is not always the preferred
resolution; the Bison declarations for operator precedence allow you to
specify when to shift and when to reduce.

* Menu:

* Why Precedence::    An example showing why precedence is needed.
* Using Precedence::  How to specify precedence in Bison grammars.
* Precedence Examples::  How these features are used in the previous example.
* How Precedence::    How they work.


File: bison.info,  Node: Why Precedence,  Next: Using Precedence,  Up: Precedence

When Precedence is Needed
-------------------------

   Consider the following ambiguous grammar fragment (ambiguous because
the input `1 - 2 * 3' can be parsed in two different ways):

     expr:     expr '-' expr
             | expr '*' expr
             | expr '<' expr
             | '(' expr ')'
             ...
             ;

Suppose the parser has seen the tokens `1', `-' and `2'; should it
reduce them via the rule for the addition operator?  It depends on the
next token.  Of course, if the next token is `)', we must reduce;
shifting is invalid because no single rule can reduce the token
sequence `- 2 )' or anything starting with that.  But if the next token
is `*' or `<', we have a choice: either shifting or reduction would
allow the parse to complete, but with different results.

   To decide which one Bison should do, we must consider the results.
If the next operator token OP is shifted, then it must be reduced first
in order to permit another opportunity to reduce the sum.  The result
is (in effect) `1 - (2 OP 3)'.  On the other hand, if the subtraction
is reduced before shifting OP, the result is `(1 - 2) OP 3'.  Clearly,
then, the choice of shift or reduce should depend on the relative
precedence of the operators `-' and OP: `*' should be shifted first,
but not `<'.

   What about input such as `1 - 2 - 5'; should this be `(1 - 2) - 5'
or should it be `1 - (2 - 5)'?  For most operators we prefer the
former, which is called "left association".  The latter alternative,
"right association", is desirable for assignment operators.  The choice
of left or right association is a matter of whether the parser chooses
to shift or reduce when the stack contains `1 - 2' and the look-ahead
token is `-': shifting makes right-associativity.


File: bison.info,  Node: Using Precedence,  Next: Precedence Examples,  Prev: Why Precedence,  Up: Precedence

Specifying Operator Precedence
------------------------------

   Bison allows you to specify these choices with the operator
precedence declarations `%left' and `%right'.  Each such declaration
contains a list of tokens, which are operators whose precedence and
associativity is being declared.  The `%left' declaration makes all
those operators left-associative and the `%right' declaration makes
them right-associative.  A third alternative is `%nonassoc', which
declares that it is a syntax error to find the same operator twice "in a
row".

   The relative precedence of different operators is controlled by the
order in which they are declared.  The first `%left' or `%right'
declaration in the file declares the operators whose precedence is
lowest, the next such declaration declares the operators whose
precedence is a little higher, and so on.


File: bison.info,  Node: Precedence Examples,  Next: How Precedence,  Prev: Using Precedence,  Up: Precedence

Precedence Examples
-------------------

   In our example, we would want the following declarations:

     %left '<'
     %left '-'
     %left '*'

   In a more complete example, which supports other operators as well,
we would declare them in groups of equal precedence.  For example,
`'+'' is declared with `'-'':

     %left '<' '>' '=' NE LE GE
     %left '+' '-'
     %left '*' '/'

(Here `NE' and so on stand for the operators for "not equal" and so on.
We assume that these tokens are more than one character long and
therefore are represented by names, not character literals.)


File: bison.info,  Node: How Precedence,  Prev: Precedence Examples,  Up: Precedence

How Precedence Works
--------------------

   The first effect of the precedence declarations is to assign
precedence levels to the terminal symbols declared.  The second effect
is to assign precedence levels to certain rules: each rule gets its
precedence from the last terminal symbol mentioned in the components.
(You can also specify explicitly the precedence of a rule.  *Note
Context-Dependent Precedence: Contextual Precedence.)

   Finally, the resolution of conflicts works by comparing the
precedence of the rule being considered with that of the look-ahead
token.  If the token's precedence is higher, the choice is to shift.
If the rule's precedence is higher, the choice is to reduce.  If they
have equal precedence, the choice is made based on the associativity of
that precedence level.  The verbose output file made by `-v' (*note
Invoking Bison: Invocation.) says how each conflict was resolved.

   Not all rules and not all tokens have precedence.  If either the
rule or the look-ahead token has no precedence, then the default is to
shift.


File: bison.info,  Node: Contextual Precedence,  Next: Parser States,  Prev: Precedence,  Up: Algorithm

Context-Dependent Precedence
============================

   Often the precedence of an operator depends on the context.  This
sounds outlandish at first, but it is really very common.  For example,
a minus sign typically has a very high precedence as a unary operator,
and a somewhat lower precedence (lower than multiplication) as a binary
operator.

   The Bison precedence declarations, `%left', `%right' and
`%nonassoc', can only be used once for a given token; so a token has
only one precedence declared in this way.  For context-dependent
precedence, you need to use an additional mechanism: the `%prec'
modifier for rules.

   The `%prec' modifier declares the precedence of a particular rule by
specifying a terminal symbol whose precedence should be used for that
rule.  It's not necessary for that symbol to appear otherwise in the
rule.  The modifier's syntax is:

     %prec TERMINAL-SYMBOL

and it is written after the components of the rule.  Its effect is to
assign the rule the precedence of TERMINAL-SYMBOL, overriding the
precedence that would be deduced for it in the ordinary way.  The
altered rule precedence then affects how conflicts involving that rule
are resolved (*note Operator Precedence: Precedence.).

   Here is how `%prec' solves the problem of unary minus.  First,
declare a precedence for a fictitious terminal symbol named `UMINUS'.
There are no tokens of this type, but the symbol serves to stand for its
precedence:

     ...
     %left '+' '-'
     %left '*'
     %left UMINUS

   Now the precedence of `UMINUS' can be used in specific rules:

     exp:    ...
             | exp '-' exp
             ...
             | '-' exp %prec UMINUS


File: bison.info,  Node: Parser States,  Next: Reduce/Reduce,  Prev: Contextual Precedence,  Up: Algorithm

Parser States
=============

   The function `yyparse' is implemented using a finite-state machine.
The values pushed on the parser stack are not simply token type codes;
they represent the entire sequence of terminal and nonterminal symbols
at or near the top of the stack.  The current state collects all the
information about previous input which is relevant to deciding what to
do next.

   Each time a look-ahead token is read, the current parser state
together with the type of look-ahead token are looked up in a table.
This table entry can say, "Shift the look-ahead token."  In this case,
it also specifies the new parser state, which is pushed onto the top of
the parser stack.  Or it can say, "Reduce using rule number N."  This
means that a certain number of tokens or groupings are taken off the
top of the stack, and replaced by one grouping.  In other words, that
number of states are popped from the stack, and one new state is pushed.

   There is one other alternative: the table can say that the
look-ahead token is erroneous in the current state.  This causes error
processing to begin (*note Error Recovery::.).


File: bison.info,  Node: Reduce/Reduce,  Next: Mystery Conflicts,  Prev: Parser States,  Up: Algorithm

Reduce/Reduce Conflicts
=======================

   A reduce/reduce conflict occurs if there are two or more rules that
apply to the same sequence of input.  This usually indicates a serious
error in the grammar.

   For example, here is an erroneous attempt to define a sequence of
zero or more `word' groupings.

     sequence: /* empty */
                     { printf ("empty sequence\n"); }
             | maybeword
             | sequence word
                     { printf ("added word %s\n", $2); }
             ;
     
     maybeword: /* empty */
                     { printf ("empty maybeword\n"); }
             | word
                     { printf ("single word %s\n", $1); }
             ;

The error is an ambiguity: there is more than one way to parse a single
`word' into a `sequence'.  It could be reduced to a `maybeword' and
then into a `sequence' via the second rule.  Alternatively,
nothing-at-all could be reduced into a `sequence' via the first rule,
and this could be combined with the `word' using the third rule for
`sequence'.

   There is also more than one way to reduce nothing-at-all into a
`sequence'.  This can be done directly via the first rule, or
indirectly via `maybeword' and then the second rule.

   You might think that this is a distinction without a difference,
because it does not change whether any particular input is valid or
not.  But it does affect which actions are run.  One parsing order runs
the second rule's action; the other runs the first rule's action and
the third rule's action.  In this example, the output of the program
changes.

   Bison resolves a reduce/reduce conflict by choosing to use the rule
that appears first in the grammar, but it is very risky to rely on
this.  Every reduce/reduce conflict must be studied and usually
eliminated.  Here is the proper way to define `sequence':

     sequence: /* empty */
                     { printf ("empty sequence\n"); }
             | sequence word
                     { printf ("added word %s\n", $2); }
             ;

   Here is another common error that yields a reduce/reduce conflict:

     sequence: /* empty */
             | sequence words
             | sequence redirects
             ;
     
     words:    /* empty */
             | words word
             ;
     
     redirects:/* empty */
             | redirects redirect
             ;

The intention here is to define a sequence which can contain either
`word' or `redirect' groupings.  The individual definitions of
`sequence', `words' and `redirects' are error-free, but the three
together make a subtle ambiguity: even an empty input can be parsed in
infinitely many ways!

   Consider: nothing-at-all could be a `words'.  Or it could be two
`words' in a row, or three, or any number.  It could equally well be a
`redirects', or two, or any number.  Or it could be a `words' followed
by three `redirects' and another `words'.  And so on.

   Here are two ways to correct these rules.  First, to make it a
single level of sequence:

     sequence: /* empty */
             | sequence word
             | sequence redirect
             ;

   Second, to prevent either a `words' or a `redirects' from being
empty:

     sequence: /* empty */
             | sequence words
             | sequence redirects
             ;
     
     words:    word
             | words word
             ;
     
     redirects:redirect
             | redirects redirect
             ;


File: bison.info,  Node: Mystery Conflicts,  Next: Stack Overflow,  Prev: Reduce/Reduce,  Up: Algorithm

Mysterious Reduce/Reduce Conflicts
==================================

   Sometimes reduce/reduce conflicts can occur that don't look
warranted.  Here is an example:

     %token ID
     
     %%
     def:    param_spec return_spec ','
             ;
     param_spec:
                  type
             |    name_list ':' type
             ;
     return_spec:
                  type
             |    name ':' type
             ;
     type:        ID
             ;
     name:        ID
             ;
     name_list:
                  name
             |    name ',' name_list
             ;

   It would seem that this grammar can be parsed with only a single
token of look-ahead: when a `param_spec' is being read, an `ID' is a
`name' if a comma or colon follows, or a `type' if another `ID'
follows.  In other words, this grammar is LR(1).

   However, Bison, like most parser generators, cannot actually handle
all LR(1) grammars.  In this grammar, two contexts, that after an `ID'
at the beginning of a `param_spec' and likewise at the beginning of a
`return_spec', are similar enough that Bison assumes they are the same.
They appear similar because the same set of rules would be active--the
rule for reducing to a `name' and that for reducing to a `type'.  Bison
is unable to determine at that stage of processing that the rules would
require different look-ahead tokens in the two contexts, so it makes a
single parser state for them both.  Combining the two contexts causes a
conflict later.  In parser terminology, this occurrence means that the
grammar is not LALR(1).

   In general, it is better to fix deficiencies than to document them.
But this particular deficiency is intrinsically hard to fix; parser
generators that can handle LR(1) grammars are hard to write and tend to
produce parsers that are very large.  In practice, Bison is more useful
as it is now.

   When the problem arises, you can often fix it by identifying the two
parser states that are being confused, and adding something to make them
look distinct.  In the above example, adding one rule to `return_spec'
as follows makes the problem go away:

     %token BOGUS
     ...
     %%
     ...
     return_spec:
                  type
             |    name ':' type
             /* This rule is never used.  */
             |    ID BOGUS
             ;

   This corrects the problem because it introduces the possibility of an
additional active rule in the context after the `ID' at the beginning of
`return_spec'.  This rule is not active in the corresponding context in
a `param_spec', so the two contexts receive distinct parser states.  As
long as the token `BOGUS' is never generated by `yylex', the added rule
cannot alter the way actual input is parsed.

   In this particular example, there is another way to solve the
problem: rewrite the rule for `return_spec' to use `ID' directly
instead of via `name'.  This also causes the two confusing contexts to
have different sets of active rules, because the one for `return_spec'
activates the altered rule for `return_spec' rather than the one for
`name'.

     param_spec:
                  type
             |    name_list ':' type
             ;
     return_spec:
                  type
             |    ID ':' type
             ;


File: bison.info,  Node: Stack Overflow,  Prev: Mystery Conflicts,  Up: Algorithm

Stack Overflow, and How to Avoid It
===================================

   The Bison parser stack can overflow if too many tokens are shifted
and not reduced.  When this happens, the parser function `yyparse'
returns a nonzero value, pausing only to call `yyerror' to report the
overflow.

   By defining the macro `YYMAXDEPTH', you can control how deep the
parser stack can become before a stack overflow occurs.  Define the
macro with a value that is an integer.  This value is the maximum number
of tokens that can be shifted (and not reduced) before overflow.  It
must be a constant expression whose value is known at compile time.

   The stack space allowed is not necessarily allocated.  If you
specify a large value for `YYMAXDEPTH', the parser actually allocates a
small stack at first, and then makes it bigger by stages as needed.
This increasing allocation happens automatically and silently.
Therefore, you do not need to make `YYMAXDEPTH' painfully small merely
to save space for ordinary inputs that do not need much stack.

   The default value of `YYMAXDEPTH', if you do not define it, is 10000.

   You can control how much stack is allocated initially by defining the
macro `YYINITDEPTH'.  This value too must be a compile-time constant
integer.  The default is 200.


File: bison.info,  Node: Error Recovery,  Next: Context Dependency,  Prev: Algorithm,  Up: Top

Error Recovery
**************

   It is not usually acceptable to have a program terminate on a parse
error.  For example, a compiler should recover sufficiently to parse the
rest of the input file and check it for errors; a calculator should
accept another expression.

   In a simple interactive command parser where each input is one line,
it may be sufficient to allow `yyparse' to return 1 on error and have
the caller ignore the rest of the input line when that happens (and
then call `yyparse' again).  But this is inadequate for a compiler,
because it forgets all the syntactic context leading up to the error.
A syntax error deep within a function in the compiler input should not
cause the compiler to treat the following line like the beginning of a
source file.

   You can define how to recover from a syntax error by writing rules to
recognize the special token `error'.  This is a terminal symbol that is
always defined (you need not declare it) and reserved for error
handling.  The Bison parser generates an `error' token whenever a
syntax error happens; if you have provided a rule to recognize this
token in the current context, the parse can continue.

   For example:

     stmnts:  /* empty string */
             | stmnts '\n'
             | stmnts exp '\n'
             | stmnts error '\n'

   The fourth rule in this example says that an error followed by a
newline makes a valid addition to any `stmnts'.

   What happens if a syntax error occurs in the middle of an `exp'?  The
error recovery rule, interpreted strictly, applies to the precise
sequence of a `stmnts', an `error' and a newline.  If an error occurs in
the middle of an `exp', there will probably be some additional tokens
and subexpressions on the stack after the last `stmnts', and there will
be tokens to read before the next newline.  So the rule is not
applicable in the ordinary way.

   But Bison can force the situation to fit the rule, by discarding
part of the semantic context and part of the input.  First it discards
states and objects from the stack until it gets back to a state in
which the `error' token is acceptable.  (This means that the
subexpressions already parsed are discarded, back to the last complete
`stmnts'.)  At this point the `error' token can be shifted.  Then, if
the old look-ahead token is not acceptable to be shifted next, the
parser reads tokens and discards them until it finds a token which is
acceptable.  In this example, Bison reads and discards input until the
next newline so that the fourth rule can apply.

   The choice of error rules in the grammar is a choice of strategies
for error recovery.  A simple and useful strategy is simply to skip the
rest of the current input line or current statement if an error is
detected:

     stmnt: error ';'  /* on error, skip until ';' is read */

   It is also useful to recover to the matching close-delimiter of an
opening-delimiter that has already been parsed.  Otherwise the
close-delimiter will probably appear to be unmatched, and generate
another, spurious error message:

     primary:  '(' expr ')'
             | '(' error ')'
             ...
             ;

   Error recovery strategies are necessarily guesses.  When they guess
wrong, one syntax error often leads to another.  In the above example,
the error recovery rule guesses that an error is due to bad input
within one `stmnt'.  Suppose that instead a spurious semicolon is
inserted in the middle of a valid `stmnt'.  After the error recovery
rule recovers from the first error, another syntax error will be found
straightaway, since the text following the spurious semicolon is also
an invalid `stmnt'.

   To prevent an outpouring of error messages, the parser will output
no error message for another syntax error that happens shortly after
the first; only after three consecutive input tokens have been
successfully shifted will error messages resume.

   Note that rules which accept the `error' token may have actions, just
as any other rules can.

   You can make error messages resume immediately by using the macro
`yyerrok' in an action.  If you do this in the error rule's action, no
error messages will be suppressed.  This macro requires no arguments;
`yyerrok;' is a valid C statement.

   The previous look-ahead token is reanalyzed immediately after an
error.  If this is unacceptable, then the macro `yyclearin' may be used
to clear this token.  Write the statement `yyclearin;' in the error
rule's action.

   For example, suppose that on a parse error, an error handling
routine is called that advances the input stream to some point where
parsing should once again commence.  The next symbol returned by the
lexical scanner is probably correct.  The previous look-ahead token
ought to be discarded with `yyclearin;'.

   The macro `YYRECOVERING' stands for an expression that has the value
1 when the parser is recovering from a syntax error, and 0 the rest of
the time.  A value of 1 indicates that error messages are currently
suppressed for new syntax errors.


File: bison.info,  Node: Context Dependency,  Next: Debugging,  Prev: Error Recovery,  Up: Top

Handling Context Dependencies
*****************************

   The Bison paradigm is to parse tokens first, then group them into
larger syntactic units.  In many languages, the meaning of a token is
affected by its context.  Although this violates the Bison paradigm,
certain techniques (known as "kludges") may enable you to write Bison
parsers for such languages.

* Menu:

* Semantic Tokens::   Token parsing can depend on the semantic context.
* Lexical Tie-ins::   Token parsing can depend on the syntactic context.
* Tie-in Recovery::   Lexical tie-ins have implications for how
                        error recovery rules must be written.

   (Actually, "kludge" means any technique that gets its job done but is
neither clean nor robust.)


File: bison.info,  Node: Semantic Tokens,  Next: Lexical Tie-ins,  Up: Context Dependency

Semantic Info in Token Types
============================

   The C language has a context dependency: the way an identifier is
used depends on what its current meaning is.  For example, consider
this:

     foo (x);

   This looks like a function call statement, but if `foo' is a typedef
name, then this is actually a declaration of `x'.  How can a Bison
parser for C decide how to parse this input?

   The method used in GNU C is to have two different token types,
`IDENTIFIER' and `TYPENAME'.  When `yylex' finds an identifier, it
looks up the current declaration of the identifier in order to decide
which token type to return: `TYPENAME' if the identifier is declared as
a typedef, `IDENTIFIER' otherwise.

   The grammar rules can then express the context dependency by the
choice of token type to recognize.  `IDENTIFIER' is accepted as an
expression, but `TYPENAME' is not.  `TYPENAME' can start a declaration,
but `IDENTIFIER' cannot.  In contexts where the meaning of the
identifier is *not* significant, such as in declarations that can
shadow a typedef name, either `TYPENAME' or `IDENTIFIER' is
accepted--there is one rule for each of the two token types.

   This technique is simple to use if the decision of which kinds of
identifiers to allow is made at a place close to where the identifier is
parsed.  But in C this is not always so: C allows a declaration to
redeclare a typedef name provided an explicit type has been specified
earlier:

     typedef int foo, bar, lose;
     static foo (bar);        /* redeclare `bar' as static variable */
     static int foo (lose);   /* redeclare `foo' as function */

   Unfortunately, the name being declared is separated from the
declaration construct itself by a complicated syntactic structure--the
"declarator".

   As a result, the part of Bison parser for C needs to be duplicated,
with all the nonterminal names changed: once for parsing a declaration
in which a typedef name can be redefined, and once for parsing a
declaration in which that can't be done.  Here is a part of the
duplication, with actions omitted for brevity:

     initdcl:
               declarator maybeasm '='
               init
             | declarator maybeasm
             ;
     
     notype_initdcl:
               notype_declarator maybeasm '='
               init
             | notype_declarator maybeasm
             ;

Here `initdcl' can redeclare a typedef name, but `notype_initdcl'
cannot.  The distinction between `declarator' and `notype_declarator'
is the same sort of thing.

   There is some similarity between this technique and a lexical tie-in
(described next), in that information which alters the lexical analysis
is changed during parsing by other parts of the program.  The
difference is here the information is global, and is used for other
purposes in the program.  A true lexical tie-in has a special-purpose
flag controlled by the syntactic context.


File: bison.info,  Node: Lexical Tie-ins,  Next: Tie-in Recovery,  Prev: Semantic Tokens,  Up: Context Dependency

Lexical Tie-ins
===============

   One way to handle context-dependency is the "lexical tie-in": a flag
which is set by Bison actions, whose purpose is to alter the way tokens
are parsed.

   For example, suppose we have a language vaguely like C, but with a
special construct `hex (HEX-EXPR)'.  After the keyword `hex' comes an
expression in parentheses in which all integers are hexadecimal.  In
particular, the token `a1b' must be treated as an integer rather than
as an identifier if it appears in that context.  Here is how you can do
it:

     %{
     int hexflag;
     %}
     %%
     ...
     expr:   IDENTIFIER
             | constant
             | HEX '('
                     { hexflag = 1; }
               expr ')'
                     { hexflag = 0;
                        $$ = $4; }
             | expr '+' expr
                     { $$ = make_sum ($1, $3); }
             ...
             ;
     
     constant:
               INTEGER
             | STRING
             ;

Here we assume that `yylex' looks at the value of `hexflag'; when it is
nonzero, all integers are parsed in hexadecimal, and tokens starting
with letters are parsed as integers if possible.

   The declaration of `hexflag' shown in the C declarations section of
the parser file is needed to make it accessible to the actions (*note
The C Declarations Section: C Declarations.).  You must also write the
code in `yylex' to obey the flag.


File: bison.info,  Node: Tie-in Recovery,  Prev: Lexical Tie-ins,  Up: Context Dependency

Lexical Tie-ins and Error Recovery
==================================

   Lexical tie-ins make strict demands on any error recovery rules you
have.  *Note Error Recovery::.

   The reason for this is that the purpose of an error recovery rule is
to abort the parsing of one construct and resume in some larger
construct.  For example, in C-like languages, a typical error recovery
rule is to skip tokens until the next semicolon, and then start a new
statement, like this:

     stmt:   expr ';'
             | IF '(' expr ')' stmt { ... }
             ...
             error ';'
                     { hexflag = 0; }
             ;

   If there is a syntax error in the middle of a `hex (EXPR)'
construct, this error rule will apply, and then the action for the
completed `hex (EXPR)' will never run.  So `hexflag' would remain set
for the entire rest of the input, or until the next `hex' keyword,
causing identifiers to be misinterpreted as integers.

   To avoid this problem the error recovery rule itself clears
`hexflag'.

   There may also be an error recovery rule that works within
expressions.  For example, there could be a rule which applies within
parentheses and skips to the close-parenthesis:

     expr:   ...
             | '(' expr ')'
                     { $$ = $2; }
             | '(' error ')'
             ...

   If this rule acts within the `hex' construct, it is not going to
abort that construct (since it applies to an inner level of parentheses
within the construct).  Therefore, it should not clear the flag: the
rest of the `hex' construct should be parsed with the flag still in
effect.

   What if there is an error recovery rule which might abort out of the
`hex' construct or might not, depending on circumstances?  There is no
way you can write the action to determine whether a `hex' construct is
being aborted or not.  So if you are using a lexical tie-in, you had
better make sure your error recovery rules are not of this kind.  Each
rule must be such that you can be sure that it always will, or always
won't, have to clear the flag.


File: bison.info,  Node: Debugging,  Next: Invocation,  Prev: Context Dependency,  Up: Top

Debugging Your Parser
*********************

   If a Bison grammar compiles properly but doesn't do what you want
when it runs, the `yydebug' parser-trace feature can help you figure
out why.

   To enable compilation of trace facilities, you must define the macro
`YYDEBUG' when you compile the parser.  You could use `-DYYDEBUG=1' as
a compiler option or you could put `#define YYDEBUG 1' in the C
declarations section of the grammar file (*note The C Declarations
Section: C Declarations.).  Alternatively, use the `-t' option when you
run Bison (*note Invoking Bison: Invocation.).  We always define
`YYDEBUG' so that debugging is always possible.

   The trace facility uses `stderr', so you must add
`#include <stdio.h>' to the C declarations section unless it is already
there.

   Once you have compiled the program with trace facilities, the way to
request a trace is to store a nonzero value in the variable `yydebug'.
You can do this by making the C code do it (in `main', perhaps), or you
can alter the value with a C debugger.

   Each step taken by the parser when `yydebug' is nonzero produces a
line or two of trace information, written on `stderr'.  The trace
messages tell you these things:

   * Each time the parser calls `yylex', what kind of token was read.

   * Each time a token is shifted, the depth and complete contents of
     the state stack (*note Parser States::.).

   * Each time a rule is reduced, which rule it is, and the complete
     contents of the state stack afterward.

   To make sense of this information, it helps to refer to the listing
file produced by the Bison `-v' option (*note Invoking Bison:
Invocation.).  This file shows the meaning of each state in terms of
positions in various rules, and also what each state will do with each
possible input token.  As you read the successive trace messages, you
can see that the parser is functioning according to its specification
in the listing file.  Eventually you will arrive at the place where
something undesirable happens, and you will see which parts of the
grammar are to blame.

   The parser file is a C program and you can use C debuggers on it,
but it's not easy to interpret what it is doing.  The parser function
is a finite-state machine interpreter, and aside from the actions it
executes the same code over and over.  Only the values of variables
show where in the grammar it is working.

   The debugging information normally gives the token type of each token
read, but not its semantic value.  You can optionally define a macro
named `YYPRINT' to provide a way to print the value.  If you define
`YYPRINT', it should take three arguments.  The parser will pass a
standard I/O stream, the numeric code for the token type, and the token
value (from `yylval').

   Here is an example of `YYPRINT' suitable for the multi-function
calculator (*note Declarations for `mfcalc': Mfcalc Decl.):

     #define YYPRINT(file, type, value)   yyprint (file, type, value)
     
     static void
     yyprint (file, type, value)
          FILE *file;
          int type;
          YYSTYPE value;
     {
       if (type == VAR)
         fprintf (file, " %s", value.tptr->name);
       else if (type == NUM)
         fprintf (file, " %d", value.val);
     }


File: bison.info,  Node: Invocation,  Next: Table of Symbols,  Prev: Debugging,  Up: Top

Invoking Bison
**************

   The usual way to invoke Bison is as follows:

     bison INFILE

   Here INFILE is the grammar file name, which usually ends in `.y'.
The parser file's name is made by replacing the `.y' with `.tab.c'.
Thus, the `bison foo.y' filename yields `foo.tab.c', and the `bison
hack/foo.y' filename yields `hack/foo.tab.c'.

* Menu:

* Bison Options::     All the options described in detail,
			in alphabetical order by short options.
* Option Cross Key::  Alphabetical list of long options.
* VMS Invocation::    Bison command syntax on VMS.


File: bison.info,  Node: Bison Options,  Next: Option Cross Key,  Up: Invocation

Bison Options
=============

   Bison supports both traditional single-letter options and mnemonic
long option names.  Long option names are indicated with `--' instead of
`-'.  Abbreviations for option names are allowed as long as they are
unique.  When a long option takes an argument, like `--file-prefix',
connect the option name and the argument with `='.

   Here is a list of options that can be used with Bison, alphabetized
by short option.  It is followed by a cross key alphabetized by long
option.

`-b FILE-PREFIX'
`--file-prefix=PREFIX'
     Specify a prefix to use for all Bison output file names.  The
     names are chosen as if the input file were named `PREFIX.c'.

`-d'
`--defines'
     Write an extra output file containing macro definitions for the
     token type names defined in the grammar and the semantic value type
     `YYSTYPE', as well as a few `extern' variable declarations.

     If the parser output file is named `NAME.c' then this file is
     named `NAME.h'.

     This output file is essential if you wish to put the definition of
     `yylex' in a separate source file, because `yylex' needs to be
     able to refer to token type codes and the variable `yylval'.
     *Note Semantic Values of Tokens: Token Values.

`-l'
`--no-lines'
     Don't put any `#line' preprocessor commands in the parser file.
     Ordinarily Bison puts them in the parser file so that the C
     compiler and debuggers will associate errors with your source
     file, the grammar file.  This option causes them to associate
     errors with the parser file, treating it as an independent source
     file in its own right.

`-n'
`--no-parser'
     Do not include any C code in the parser file; generate tables
     only.  The parser file contains just `#define' directives and
     static variable declarations.

     This option also tells Bison to write the C code for the grammar
     actions into a file named `FILENAME.act', in the form of a
     brace-surrounded body fit for a `switch' statement.

`-o OUTFILE'
`--output-file=OUTFILE'
     Specify the name OUTFILE for the parser file.

     The other output files' names are constructed from OUTFILE as
     described under the `-v' and `-d' options.

`-p PREFIX'
`--name-prefix=PREFIX'
     Rename the external symbols used in the parser so that they start
     with PREFIX instead of `yy'.  The precise list of symbols renamed
     is `yyparse', `yylex', `yyerror', `yynerrs', `yylval', `yychar'
     and `yydebug'.

     For example, if you use `-p c', the names become `cparse', `clex',
     and so on.

     *Note Multiple Parsers in the Same Program: Multiple Parsers.

`-r'
`--raw'
     Pretend that `%raw' was specified.  *Note Decl Summary::.

`-t'
`--debug'
     Output a definition of the macro `YYDEBUG' into the parser file,
     so that the debugging facilities are compiled.  *Note Debugging
     Your Parser: Debugging.

`-v'
`--verbose'
     Write an extra output file containing verbose descriptions of the
     parser states and what is done for each type of look-ahead token in
     that state.

     This file also describes all the conflicts, both those resolved by
     operator precedence and the unresolved ones.

     The file's name is made by removing `.tab.c' or `.c' from the
     parser output file name, and adding `.output' instead.

     Therefore, if the input file is `foo.y', then the parser file is
     called `foo.tab.c' by default.  As a consequence, the verbose
     output file is called `foo.output'.

`-V'
`--version'
     Print the version number of Bison and exit.

`-h'
`--help'
     Print a summary of the command-line options to Bison and exit.

`-y'
`--yacc'
`--fixed-output-files'
     Equivalent to `-o y.tab.c'; the parser output file is called
     `y.tab.c', and the other outputs are called `y.output' and
     `y.tab.h'.  The purpose of this option is to imitate Yacc's output
     file name conventions.  Thus, the following shell script can
     substitute for Yacc:

          bison -y $*


File: bison.info,  Node: Option Cross Key,  Next: VMS Invocation,  Prev: Bison Options,  Up: Invocation

Option Cross Key
================

   Here is a list of options, alphabetized by long option, to help you
find the corresponding short option.

     --debug                               -t
     --defines                             -d
     --file-prefix=PREFIX                  -b FILE-PREFIX
     --fixed-output-files --yacc           -y
     --help                                -h
     --name-prefix=PREFIX                  -p NAME-PREFIX
     --no-lines                            -l
     --no-parser                           -n
     --output-file=OUTFILE                 -o OUTFILE
     --raw                                 -r
     --token-table                         -k
     --verbose                             -v
     --version                             -V


File: bison.info,  Node: VMS Invocation,  Prev: Option Cross Key,  Up: Invocation

Invoking Bison under VMS
========================

   The command line syntax for Bison on VMS is a variant of the usual
Bison command syntax--adapted to fit VMS conventions.

   To find the VMS equivalent for any Bison option, start with the long
option, and substitute a `/' for the leading `--', and substitute a `_'
for each `-' in the name of the long option.  For example, the
following invocation under VMS:

     bison /debug/name_prefix=bar foo.y

is equivalent to the following command under POSIX.

     bison --debug --name-prefix=bar foo.y

   The VMS file system does not permit filenames such as `foo.tab.c'.
In the above example, the output file would instead be named
`foo_tab.c'.


File: bison.info,  Node: Table of Symbols,  Next: Glossary,  Prev: Invocation,  Up: Top

Bison Symbols
*************

`error'
     A token name reserved for error recovery.  This token may be used
     in grammar rules so as to allow the Bison parser to recognize an
     error in the grammar without halting the process.  In effect, a
     sentence containing an error may be recognized as valid.  On a
     parse error, the token `error' becomes the current look-ahead
     token.  Actions corresponding to `error' are then executed, and
     the look-ahead token is reset to the token that originally caused
     the violation.  *Note Error Recovery::.

`YYABORT'
     Macro to pretend that an unrecoverable syntax error has occurred,
     by making `yyparse' return 1 immediately.  The error reporting
     function `yyerror' is not called.  *Note The Parser Function
     `yyparse': Parser Function.

`YYACCEPT'
     Macro to pretend that a complete utterance of the language has been
     read, by making `yyparse' return 0 immediately.  *Note The Parser
     Function `yyparse': Parser Function.

`YYBACKUP'
     Macro to discard a value from the parser stack and fake a
     look-ahead token.  *Note Special Features for Use in Actions:
     Action Features.

`YYERROR'
     Macro to pretend that a syntax error has just been detected: call
     `yyerror' and then perform normal error recovery if possible
     (*note Error Recovery::.), or (if recovery is impossible) make
     `yyparse' return 1.  *Note Error Recovery::.

`YYERROR_VERBOSE'
     Macro that you define with `#define' in the Bison declarations
     section to request verbose, specific error message strings when
     `yyerror' is called.

`YYINITDEPTH'
     Macro for specifying the initial size of the parser stack.  *Note
     Stack Overflow::.

`YYLEX_PARAM'
     Macro for specifying an extra argument (or list of extra
     arguments) for `yyparse' to pass to `yylex'.  *Note Calling
     Conventions for Pure Parsers: Pure Calling.

`YYLTYPE'
     Macro for the data type of `yylloc'; a structure with four
     members.  *Note Textual Positions of Tokens: Token Positions.

`yyltype'
     Default value for YYLTYPE.

`YYMAXDEPTH'
     Macro for specifying the maximum size of the parser stack.  *Note
     Stack Overflow::.

`YYPARSE_PARAM'
     Macro for specifying the name of a parameter that `yyparse' should
     accept.  *Note Calling Conventions for Pure Parsers: Pure Calling.

`YYRECOVERING'
     Macro whose value indicates whether the parser is recovering from a
     syntax error.  *Note Special Features for Use in Actions: Action
     Features.

`YYSTYPE'
     Macro for the data type of semantic values; `int' by default.
     *Note Data Types of Semantic Values: Value Type.

`yychar'
     External integer variable that contains the integer value of the
     current look-ahead token.  (In a pure parser, it is a local
     variable within `yyparse'.)  Error-recovery rule actions may
     examine this variable.  *Note Special Features for Use in Actions:
     Action Features.

`yyclearin'
     Macro used in error-recovery rule actions.  It clears the previous
     look-ahead token.  *Note Error Recovery::.

`yydebug'
     External integer variable set to zero by default.  If `yydebug' is
     given a nonzero value, the parser will output information on input
     symbols and parser action.  *Note Debugging Your Parser: Debugging.

`yyerrok'
     Macro to cause parser to recover immediately to its normal mode
     after a parse error.  *Note Error Recovery::.

`yyerror'
     User-supplied function to be called by `yyparse' on error.  The
     function receives one argument, a pointer to a character string
     containing an error message.  *Note The Error Reporting Function
     `yyerror': Error Reporting.

`yylex'
     User-supplied lexical analyzer function, called with no arguments
     to get the next token.  *Note The Lexical Analyzer Function
     `yylex': Lexical.

`yylval'
     External variable in which `yylex' should place the semantic value
     associated with a token.  (In a pure parser, it is a local
     variable within `yyparse', and its address is passed to `yylex'.)
     *Note Semantic Values of Tokens: Token Values.

`yylloc'
     External variable in which `yylex' should place the line and
     column numbers associated with a token.  (In a pure parser, it is a
     local variable within `yyparse', and its address is passed to
     `yylex'.)  You can ignore this variable if you don't use the `@'
     feature in the grammar actions.  *Note Textual Positions of
     Tokens: Token Positions.

`yynerrs'
     Global variable which Bison increments each time there is a parse
     error.  (In a pure parser, it is a local variable within
     `yyparse'.)  *Note The Error Reporting Function `yyerror': Error
     Reporting.

`yyparse'
     The parser function produced by Bison; call this function to start
     parsing.  *Note The Parser Function `yyparse': Parser Function.

`%left'
     Bison declaration to assign left associativity to token(s).  *Note
     Operator Precedence: Precedence Decl.

`%no_lines'
     Bison declaration to avoid generating `#line' directives in the
     parser file.  *Note Decl Summary::.

`%nonassoc'
     Bison declaration to assign nonassociativity to token(s).  *Note
     Operator Precedence: Precedence Decl.

`%prec'
     Bison declaration to assign a precedence to a specific rule.
     *Note Context-Dependent Precedence: Contextual Precedence.

`%pure_parser'
     Bison declaration to request a pure (reentrant) parser.  *Note A
     Pure (Reentrant) Parser: Pure Decl.

`%raw'
     Bison declaration to use Bison internal token code numbers in token
     tables instead of the usual Yacc-compatible token code numbers.
     *Note Decl Summary::.

`%right'
     Bison declaration to assign right associativity to token(s).
     *Note Operator Precedence: Precedence Decl.

`%start'
     Bison declaration to specify the start symbol.  *Note The
     Start-Symbol: Start Decl.

`%token'
     Bison declaration to declare token(s) without specifying
     precedence.  *Note Token Type Names: Token Decl.

`%token_table'
     Bison declaration to include a token name table in the parser file.
     *Note Decl Summary::.

`%type'
     Bison declaration to declare nonterminals.  *Note Nonterminal
     Symbols: Type Decl.

`%union'
     Bison declaration to specify several possible data types for
     semantic values.  *Note The Collection of Value Types: Union Decl.

   These are the punctuation and delimiters used in Bison input:

`%%'
     Delimiter used to separate the grammar rule section from the Bison
     declarations section or the additional C code section.  *Note The
     Overall Layout of a Bison Grammar: Grammar Layout.

`%{ %}'
     All code listed between `%{' and `%}' is copied directly to the
     output file uninterpreted.  Such code forms the "C declarations"
     section of the input file.  *Note Outline of a Bison Grammar:
     Grammar Outline.

`/*...*/'
     Comment delimiters, as in C.

`:'
     Separates a rule's result from its components.  *Note Syntax of
     Grammar Rules: Rules.

`;'
     Terminates a rule.  *Note Syntax of Grammar Rules: Rules.

`|'
     Separates alternate rules for the same result nonterminal.  *Note
     Syntax of Grammar Rules: Rules.


File: bison.info,  Node: Glossary,  Next: Index,  Prev: Table of Symbols,  Up: Top

Glossary
********

Backus-Naur Form (BNF)
     Formal method of specifying context-free grammars.  BNF was first
     used in the `ALGOL-60' report, 1963.  *Note Languages and
     Context-Free Grammars: Language and Grammar.

Context-free grammars
     Grammars specified as rules that can be applied regardless of
     context.  Thus, if there is a rule which says that an integer can
     be used as an expression, integers are allowed *anywhere* an
     expression is permitted.  *Note Languages and Context-Free
     Grammars: Language and Grammar.

Dynamic allocation
     Allocation of memory that occurs during execution, rather than at
     compile time or on entry to a function.

Empty string
     Analogous to the empty set in set theory, the empty string is a
     character string of length zero.

Finite-state stack machine
     A "machine" that has discrete states in which it is said to exist
     at each instant in time.  As input to the machine is processed, the
     machine moves from state to state as specified by the logic of the
     machine.  In the case of the parser, the input is the language
     being parsed, and the states correspond to various stages in the
     grammar rules.  *Note The Bison Parser Algorithm: Algorithm.

Grouping
     A language construct that is (in general) grammatically divisible;
     for example, `expression' or `declaration' in C.  *Note Languages
     and Context-Free Grammars: Language and Grammar.

Infix operator
     An arithmetic operator that is placed between the operands on
     which it performs some operation.

Input stream
     A continuous flow of data between devices or programs.

Language construct
     One of the typical usage schemas of the language.  For example,
     one of the constructs of the C language is the `if' statement.
     *Note Languages and Context-Free Grammars: Language and Grammar.

Left associativity
     Operators having left associativity are analyzed from left to
     right: `a+b+c' first computes `a+b' and then combines with `c'.
     *Note Operator Precedence: Precedence.

Left recursion
     A rule whose result symbol is also its first component symbol; for
     example, `expseq1 : expseq1 ',' exp;'.  *Note Recursive Rules:
     Recursion.

Left-to-right parsing
     Parsing a sentence of a language by analyzing it token by token
     from left to right.  *Note The Bison Parser Algorithm: Algorithm.

Lexical analyzer (scanner)
     A function that reads an input stream and returns tokens one by
     one.  *Note The Lexical Analyzer Function `yylex': Lexical.

Lexical tie-in
     A flag, set by actions in the grammar rules, which alters the way
     tokens are parsed.  *Note Lexical Tie-ins::.

Literal string token
     A token which constists of two or more fixed characters.  *Note
     Symbols::.

Look-ahead token
     A token already read but not yet shifted.  *Note Look-Ahead
     Tokens: Look-Ahead.

LALR(1)
     The class of context-free grammars that Bison (like most other
     parser generators) can handle; a subset of LR(1).  *Note
     Mysterious Reduce/Reduce Conflicts: Mystery Conflicts.

LR(1)
     The class of context-free grammars in which at most one token of
     look-ahead is needed to disambiguate the parsing of any piece of
     input.

Nonterminal symbol
     A grammar symbol standing for a grammatical construct that can be
     expressed through rules in terms of smaller constructs; in other
     words, a construct that is not a token.  *Note Symbols::.

Parse error
     An error encountered during parsing of an input stream due to
     invalid syntax.  *Note Error Recovery::.

Parser
     A function that recognizes valid sentences of a language by
     analyzing the syntax structure of a set of tokens passed to it
     from a lexical analyzer.

Postfix operator
     An arithmetic operator that is placed after the operands upon
     which it performs some operation.

Reduction
     Replacing a string of nonterminals and/or terminals with a single
     nonterminal, according to a grammar rule.  *Note The Bison Parser
     Algorithm: Algorithm.

Reentrant
     A reentrant subprogram is a subprogram which can be in invoked any
     number of times in parallel, without interference between the
     various invocations.  *Note A Pure (Reentrant) Parser: Pure Decl.

Reverse polish notation
     A language in which all operators are postfix operators.

Right recursion
     A rule whose result symbol is also its last component symbol; for
     example, `expseq1: exp ',' expseq1;'.  *Note Recursive Rules:
     Recursion.

Semantics
     In computer languages, the semantics are specified by the actions
     taken for each instance of the language, i.e., the meaning of each
     statement.  *Note Defining Language Semantics: Semantics.

Shift
     A parser is said to shift when it makes the choice of analyzing
     further input from the stream rather than reducing immediately some
     already-recognized rule.  *Note The Bison Parser Algorithm:
     Algorithm.

Single-character literal
     A single character that is recognized and interpreted as is.
     *Note From Formal Rules to Bison Input: Grammar in Bison.

Start symbol
     The nonterminal symbol that stands for a complete valid utterance
     in the language being parsed.  The start symbol is usually listed
     as the first nonterminal symbol in a language specification.
     *Note The Start-Symbol: Start Decl.

Symbol table
     A data structure where symbol names and associated data are stored
     during parsing to allow for recognition and use of existing
     information in repeated uses of a symbol.  *Note Multi-function
     Calc::.

Token
     A basic, grammatically indivisible unit of a language.  The symbol
     that describes a token in the grammar is a terminal symbol.  The
     input of the Bison parser is a stream of tokens which comes from
     the lexical analyzer.  *Note Symbols::.

Terminal symbol
     A grammar symbol that has no rules in the grammar and therefore is
     grammatically indivisible.  The piece of text it represents is a
     token.  *Note Languages and Context-Free Grammars: Language and
     Grammar.


File: bison.info,  Node: Index,  Prev: Glossary,  Up: Top

Index
*****

* Menu:

* $$:                                    Actions.
* $N:                                    Actions.
* %expect:                               Expect Decl.
* %left:                                 Using Precedence.
* %nonassoc:                             Using Precedence.
* %prec:                                 Contextual Precedence.
* %pure_parser:                          Pure Decl.
* %right:                                Using Precedence.
* %start:                                Start Decl.
* %token:                                Token Decl.
* %type:                                 Type Decl.
* %union:                                Union Decl.
* @N:                                    Action Features.
* action:                                Actions.
* action data types:                     Action Types.
* action features summary:               Action Features.
* actions in mid-rule:                   Mid-Rule Actions.
* actions, semantic:                     Semantic Actions.
* additional C code section:             C Code.
* algorithm of parser:                   Algorithm.
* associativity:                         Why Precedence.
* Backus-Naur form:                      Language and Grammar.
* Bison declaration summary:             Decl Summary.
* Bison declarations:                    Declarations.
* Bison declarations (introduction):     Bison Declarations.
* Bison grammar:                         Grammar in Bison.
* Bison invocation:                      Invocation.
* Bison parser:                          Bison Parser.
* Bison parser algorithm:                Algorithm.
* Bison symbols, table of:               Table of Symbols.
* Bison utility:                         Bison Parser.
* BNF:                                   Language and Grammar.
* C code, section for additional:        C Code.
* C declarations section:                C Declarations.
* C-language interface:                  Interface.
* calc:                                  Infix Calc.
* calculator, infix notation:            Infix Calc.
* calculator, multi-function:            Multi-function Calc.
* calculator, simple:                    RPN Calc.
* character token:                       Symbols.
* compiling the parser:                  Rpcalc Compile.
* conflicts:                             Shift/Reduce.
* conflicts, reduce/reduce:              Reduce/Reduce.
* conflicts, suppressing warnings of:    Expect Decl.
* context-dependent precedence:          Contextual Precedence.
* context-free grammar:                  Language and Grammar.
* controlling function:                  Rpcalc Main.
* dangling else:                         Shift/Reduce.
* data types in actions:                 Action Types.
* data types of semantic values:         Value Type.
* debugging:                             Debugging.
* declaration summary:                   Decl Summary.
* declarations, Bison:                   Declarations.
* declarations, Bison (introduction):    Bison Declarations.
* declarations, C:                       C Declarations.
* declaring literal string tokens:       Token Decl.
* declaring operator precedence:         Precedence Decl.
* declaring the start symbol:            Start Decl.
* declaring token type names:            Token Decl.
* declaring value types:                 Union Decl.
* declaring value types, nonterminals:   Type Decl.
* default action:                        Actions.
* default data type:                     Value Type.
* default stack limit:                   Stack Overflow.
* default start symbol:                  Start Decl.
* defining language semantics:           Semantics.
* else, dangling:                        Shift/Reduce.
* error:                                 Error Recovery.
* error recovery:                        Error Recovery.
* error recovery, simple:                Simple Error Recovery.
* error reporting function:              Error Reporting.
* error reporting routine:               Rpcalc Error.
* examples, simple:                      Examples.
* exercises:                             Exercises.
* file format:                           Grammar Layout.
* finite-state machine:                  Parser States.
* formal grammar:                        Grammar in Bison.
* format of grammar file:                Grammar Layout.
* glossary:                              Glossary.
* grammar file:                          Grammar Layout.
* grammar rule syntax:                   Rules.
* grammar rules section:                 Grammar Rules.
* grammar, Bison:                        Grammar in Bison.
* grammar, context-free:                 Language and Grammar.
* grouping, syntactic:                   Language and Grammar.
* infix notation calculator:             Infix Calc.
* interface:                             Interface.
* introduction:                          Introduction.
* invoking Bison:                        Invocation.
* invoking Bison under VMS:              VMS Invocation.
* LALR(1):                               Mystery Conflicts.
* language semantics, defining:          Semantics.
* layout of Bison grammar:               Grammar Layout.
* left recursion:                        Recursion.
* lexical analyzer:                      Lexical.
* lexical analyzer, purpose:             Bison Parser.
* lexical analyzer, writing:             Rpcalc Lexer.
* lexical tie-in:                        Lexical Tie-ins.
* literal string token:                  Symbols.
* literal token:                         Symbols.
* look-ahead token:                      Look-Ahead.
* LR(1):                                 Mystery Conflicts.
* main function in simple example:       Rpcalc Main.
* mfcalc:                                Multi-function Calc.
* mid-rule actions:                      Mid-Rule Actions.
* multi-character literal:               Symbols.
* multi-function calculator:             Multi-function Calc.
* mutual recursion:                      Recursion.
* nonterminal symbol:                    Symbols.
* operator precedence:                   Precedence.
* operator precedence, declaring:        Precedence Decl.
* options for invoking Bison:            Invocation.
* overflow of parser stack:              Stack Overflow.
* parse error:                           Error Reporting.
* parser:                                Bison Parser.
* parser stack:                          Algorithm.
* parser stack overflow:                 Stack Overflow.
* parser state:                          Parser States.
* polish notation calculator:            RPN Calc.
* precedence declarations:               Precedence Decl.
* precedence of operators:               Precedence.
* precedence, context-dependent:         Contextual Precedence.
* precedence, unary operator:            Contextual Precedence.
* preventing warnings about conflicts:   Expect Decl.
* pure parser:                           Pure Decl.
* recovery from errors:                  Error Recovery.
* recursive rule:                        Recursion.
* reduce/reduce conflict:                Reduce/Reduce.
* reduction:                             Algorithm.
* reentrant parser:                      Pure Decl.
* reverse polish notation:               RPN Calc.
* right recursion:                       Recursion.
* rpcalc:                                RPN Calc.
* rule syntax:                           Rules.
* rules section for grammar:             Grammar Rules.
* running Bison (introduction):          Rpcalc Gen.
* semantic actions:                      Semantic Actions.
* semantic value:                        Semantic Values.
* semantic value type:                   Value Type.
* shift/reduce conflicts:                Shift/Reduce.
* shifting:                              Algorithm.
* simple examples:                       Examples.
* single-character literal:              Symbols.
* stack overflow:                        Stack Overflow.
* stack, parser:                         Algorithm.
* stages in using Bison:                 Stages.
* start symbol:                          Language and Grammar.
* start symbol, declaring:               Start Decl.
* state (of parser):                     Parser States.
* string token:                          Symbols.
* summary, action features:              Action Features.
* summary, Bison declaration:            Decl Summary.
* suppressing conflict warnings:         Expect Decl.
* symbol:                                Symbols.
* symbol table example:                  Mfcalc Symtab.
* symbols (abstract):                    Language and Grammar.
* symbols in Bison, table of:            Table of Symbols.
* syntactic grouping:                    Language and Grammar.
* syntax error:                          Error Reporting.
* syntax of grammar rules:               Rules.
* terminal symbol:                       Symbols.
* token:                                 Language and Grammar.
* token type:                            Symbols.
* token type names, declaring:           Token Decl.
* tracing the parser:                    Debugging.
* unary operator precedence:             Contextual Precedence.
* using Bison:                           Stages.
* value type, semantic:                  Value Type.
* value types, declaring:                Union Decl.
* value types, nonterminals, declaring:  Type Decl.
* value, semantic:                       Semantic Values.
* VMS:                                   VMS Invocation.
* warnings, preventing:                  Expect Decl.
* writing a lexical analyzer:            Rpcalc Lexer.
* YYABORT:                               Parser Function.
* YYACCEPT:                              Parser Function.
* YYBACKUP:                              Action Features.
* yychar:                                Look-Ahead.
* yyclearin:                             Error Recovery.
* yydebug:                               Debugging.
* YYDEBUG:                               Debugging.
* YYEMPTY:                               Action Features.
* yyerrok:                               Error Recovery.
* YYERROR:                               Action Features.
* yyerror:                               Error Reporting.
* YYERROR_VERBOSE:                       Error Reporting.
* YYINITDEPTH:                           Stack Overflow.
* yylex:                                 Lexical.
* YYLEX_PARAM:                           Pure Calling.
* yylloc:                                Token Positions.
* YYLTYPE:                               Token Positions.
* yylval:                                Token Values.
* YYMAXDEPTH:                            Stack Overflow.
* yynerrs:                               Error Reporting.
* yyparse:                               Parser Function.
* YYPARSE_PARAM:                         Pure Calling.
* YYPRINT:                               Debugging.
* YYRECOVERING:                          Error Recovery.
* |:                                     Rules.



Tag Table:
Node: Top1291
Node: Introduction8524
Node: Conditions9797
Node: Copying11263
Node: Concepts30455
Node: Language and Grammar31488
Node: Grammar in Bison36504
Node: Semantic Values38428
Node: Semantic Actions40529
Node: Bison Parser41712
Node: Stages44022
Node: Grammar Layout45305
Node: Examples46562
Node: RPN Calc47697
Node: Rpcalc Decls48671
Node: Rpcalc Rules50258
Node: Rpcalc Input52058
Node: Rpcalc Line53519
Node: Rpcalc Expr54634
Node: Rpcalc Lexer56579
Node: Rpcalc Main59138
Node: Rpcalc Error59516
Node: Rpcalc Gen60521
Node: Rpcalc Compile61669
Node: Infix Calc62544
Node: Simple Error Recovery65251
Node: Multi-function Calc67138
Node: Mfcalc Decl68705
Node: Mfcalc Rules70728
Node: Mfcalc Symtab72108
Node: Exercises78282
Node: Grammar File78788
Node: Grammar Outline79556
Node: C Declarations80290
Node: Bison Declarations80870
Node: Grammar Rules81282
Node: C Code81742
Node: Symbols82672
Node: Rules87755
Node: Recursion89394
Node: Semantics91105
Node: Value Type92202
Node: Multiple Types92874
Node: Actions93890
Node: Action Types96675
Node: Mid-Rule Actions97978
Node: Declarations103547
Node: Token Decl104866
Node: Precedence Decl106863
Node: Union Decl108414
Node: Type Decl109258
Node: Expect Decl110164
Node: Start Decl111710
Node: Pure Decl112088
Node: Decl Summary113763
Node: Multiple Parsers117278
Node: Interface118772
Node: Parser Function119644
Node: Lexical120479
Node: Calling Convention121885
Node: Token Values124644
Node: Token Positions125792
Node: Pure Calling126684
Node: Error Reporting129641
Node: Action Features131766
Node: Algorithm135427
Node: Look-Ahead137720
Node: Shift/Reduce139852
Node: Precedence142764
Node: Why Precedence143415
Node: Using Precedence145270
Node: Precedence Examples146238
Node: How Precedence146939
Node: Contextual Precedence148088
Node: Parser States149879
Node: Reduce/Reduce151123
Node: Mystery Conflicts154684
Node: Stack Overflow158070
Node: Error Recovery159443
Node: Context Dependency164579
Node: Semantic Tokens165427
Node: Lexical Tie-ins168444
Node: Tie-in Recovery169992
Node: Debugging172164
Node: Invocation175515
Node: Bison Options176178
Node: Option Cross Key180291
Node: VMS Invocation181173
Node: Table of Symbols181957
Node: Glossary189355
Node: Index195646

End Tag Table
