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author | Daniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org> | 2024-05-04 17:35:20 +0000 |
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committer | Daniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org> | 2024-05-04 17:35:20 +0000 |
commit | e106bf94eff07d9a59771d9ccc4406421e18ab64 (patch) | |
tree | edb6545500e39df9c67aa918a6125bffc8ec1aee /src/prompt_toolkit/contrib/regular_languages/__init__.py | |
parent | Initial commit. (diff) | |
download | prompt-toolkit-upstream/3.0.36.tar.xz prompt-toolkit-upstream/3.0.36.zip |
Adding upstream version 3.0.36.upstream/3.0.36upstream
Signed-off-by: Daniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>
Diffstat (limited to '')
-rw-r--r-- | src/prompt_toolkit/contrib/regular_languages/__init__.py | 77 |
1 files changed, 77 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/src/prompt_toolkit/contrib/regular_languages/__init__.py b/src/prompt_toolkit/contrib/regular_languages/__init__.py new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3f30614 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/prompt_toolkit/contrib/regular_languages/__init__.py @@ -0,0 +1,77 @@ +r""" +Tool for expressing the grammar of an input as a regular language. +================================================================== + +The grammar for the input of many simple command line interfaces can be +expressed by a regular language. Examples are PDB (the Python debugger); a +simple (bash-like) shell with "pwd", "cd", "cat" and "ls" commands; arguments +that you can pass to an executable; etc. It is possible to use regular +expressions for validation and parsing of such a grammar. (More about regular +languages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_language) + +Example +------- + +Let's take the pwd/cd/cat/ls example. We want to have a shell that accepts +these three commands. "cd" is followed by a quoted directory name and "cat" is +followed by a quoted file name. (We allow quotes inside the filename when +they're escaped with a backslash.) We could define the grammar using the +following regular expression:: + + grammar = \s* ( + pwd | + ls | + (cd \s+ " ([^"]|\.)+ ") | + (cat \s+ " ([^"]|\.)+ ") + ) \s* + + +What can we do with this grammar? +--------------------------------- + +- Syntax highlighting: We could use this for instance to give file names + different colour. +- Parse the result: .. We can extract the file names and commands by using a + regular expression with named groups. +- Input validation: .. Don't accept anything that does not match this grammar. + When combined with a parser, we can also recursively do + filename validation (and accept only existing files.) +- Autocompletion: .... Each part of the grammar can have its own autocompleter. + "cat" has to be completed using file names, while "cd" + has to be completed using directory names. + +How does it work? +----------------- + +As a user of this library, you have to define the grammar of the input as a +regular expression. The parts of this grammar where autocompletion, validation +or any other processing is required need to be marked using a regex named +group. Like ``(?P<varname>...)`` for instance. + +When the input is processed for validation (for instance), the regex will +execute, the named group is captured, and the validator associated with this +named group will test the captured string. + +There is one tricky bit: + + Often we operate on incomplete input (this is by definition the case for + autocompletion) and we have to decide for the cursor position in which + possible state the grammar it could be and in which way variables could be + matched up to that point. + +To solve this problem, the compiler takes the original regular expression and +translates it into a set of other regular expressions which each match certain +prefixes of the original regular expression. We generate one prefix regular +expression for every named variable (with this variable being the end of that +expression). + + +TODO: some examples of: + - How to create a highlighter from this grammar. + - How to create a validator from this grammar. + - How to create an autocompleter from this grammar. + - How to create a parser from this grammar. +""" +from .compiler import compile + +__all__ = ["compile"] |