Generate C++ code for BNF grammar

Question

I have looked at the following software tools:

ANTLR seems the most straight-forward, however its documentation is lacking. Ragel looks possible, too, but I do not see an easy way to convert BNF into its syntax.

What other tools are available that can take BNF input and generate a corresponding, Unicode-friendly, cross-platform, standalone, C++ parser?

Many thanks for all suggestions.

Edit: Changed Objective-C requirement to C++.

You should also consider time performance while selecting the tool. — sand, Jan 25 '10 at 04:24
You should look at: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1961604/how-much-time-would-it-take-to-write-a-c-compiler-using-flex-yacc/ — kyoryu, Jan 25 '10 at 07:08

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 26 '10 at 18:33

5

Try boost.spirit 2.

The boost spirit user list is very active and answers are quick from the authors.

edited Jan 26 '10 at 18:33

Dave Jarvis

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answered Jan 25 '10 at 06:39

t.g.

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score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 03 '09 at 05:44

3

TDParseKit! (Most specifically, this page on Objective-C parser generation with BNF grammars)

answered Nov 03 '09 at 05:44

Dave DeLong

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Conversion from BNF to the format required by a parser generator is generally a trivial task, even by hand. – Peter S. Housel Nov 03 '09 at 17:58
Fair enough. Peter, I'll give Ragel another look. – Dave Jarvis Nov 03 '09 at 18:47
Looks OS-specific; the tool should be cross-platform. – Dave Jarvis Dec 04 '09 at 01:39

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 25 '10 at 07:06

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Have you looked at QLALR? It is a creative Friday project from QtDF. I have not tried it personally, but the trolls seems to be pragmatic about their approach to problems, so I guess this is too.

answered Jan 25 '10 at 07:06

e8johan

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Looks like it has a dependency on Qt. – Dave Jarvis Jan 25 '10 at 17:06

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 12 '11 at 08:12

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You can try GOLD Parser! It's a great tool for parsing and generating. With a simple UI, all what you need to do is to provide a valid grammar file and select your favored programming languages for your output code.

answered Jan 12 '11 at 08:12

anhldbk

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Generate C++ code for BNF grammar

4 Answers4