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Reposted this as a new messsage (orgiginally I asked for the BNF grammar of HL7). Whilst it may be possible to express all of HL7 as BNF I need my BNF to be LALR(1) complaint (completely deterministic). Devon Cooks Gold Parser is the toolset.

Just figured I 'd ask before I started creating BNF myself...

madth3
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jonathan
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    *The* HL7 BNF? HL7 is "a language", and there can be many valid BNFs for it. You have to designate a specific BNF before the question as to whether it is L(AR)L(k) can be answered, if HL7 isn't inherently ambiguous. – Ira Baxter Sep 03 '10 at 02:50
  • Is HL7 (HL7.org) message format expressable as BNF with LALR(1) Compatability???? - its a very simple question. Answerable by the standards body or by anyone who has created Any BNF grammar for HL7 that is LALR(1). I am very well aware that my bnf and yours may be different and both may be lalr(1). – jonathan Sep 03 '10 at 18:02

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I do not see a reason why HL7 is not expressable as BNF, and from what I have read, it looks like it will comply with LALR(1). My reasoning is because HL7 is a standard, and therefore has a finite set of ways a message can be put together and therefore parsed. After researching the internet I am unable to find a BNF that you are looking for, so if you do create a BNF please see if you can share it with the hl7.org community! Good Luck.

TheDevOpsGuru
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  • "... because C++ is a standard, and therefore has a finite set of ways in which a program can be put together and therefore be parsed". That doesn't mean that C++ is LALR(1). HL7 may have an LALR(1) grammar, but the only way you'll really know is try to build one (it may even be easy) and see if you succeed. – Ira Baxter Sep 07 '10 at 22:57