path: root/doc/lispref/peg.texi

@c -*-texinfo-*-
@c This is part of the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual.
@c Copyright (C) 1990--1995, 1998--1999, 2001--2025 Free Software
@c Foundation, Inc.
@c See the file elisp.texi for copying conditions.
@node Parsing Expression Grammars
@chapter Parsing Expression Grammars
@cindex text parsing
@cindex parsing expression grammar
@cindex PEG

  Emacs Lisp provides several tools for parsing and matching text,
from regular expressions (@pxref{Regular Expressions}) to full
left-to-right (a.k.a.@: @acronym{LL}) grammar parsers (@pxref{Top,,
Bovine parser development,bovine}).  @dfn{Parsing Expression Grammars}
(@acronym{PEG}) are another approach to text parsing that offer more
structure and composability than regular expressions, but less
complexity than context-free grammars.

A Parsing Expression Grammar (@acronym{PEG}) describes a formal language
in terms of a set of rules for recognizing strings in the language.  In
Emacs, a @acronym{PEG} parser is defined as a list of named rules, each
of which matches text patterns and/or contains references to other
rules.  Parsing is initiated with the function @code{peg-run} or the
macro @code{peg-parse} (see below), and parses text after point in the
current buffer, using a given set of rules.

@cindex parsing expression
@cindex root, of parsing expression grammar
@cindex entry-point, of parsing expression grammar
Each rule in a @acronym{PEG} is referred to as a @dfn{parsing
expression} (@acronym{PEX}), and can be specified a literal string, a
regexp-like character range or set, a peg-specific construct resembling
an Emacs Lisp function call, a reference to another rule, or a
combination of any of these.  A grammar is expressed as a tree of rules
in which one rule is typically treated as a ``root'' or ``entry-point''
rule.  For instance:

@example
@group
((number sign digit (* digit))
 (sign   (or "+" "-" ""))
 (digit  [0-9]))
@end group
@end example

Once defined, grammars can be used to parse text after point in the
current buffer, in a number of ways.  The @code{peg-parse} macro is the
simplest:

@defmac peg-parse &rest pexs
Match @var{pexs} at point.
@end defmac

@example
@group
(peg-parse
  (number sign digit (* digit))
  (sign   (or "+" "-" ""))
  (digit  [0-9]))
@end group
@end example

While this macro is simple it is also inflexible, as the rules must be
written directly into the source code.  More flexibility can be gained
by using a combination of other functions and macros.

@defmac with-peg-rules rules &rest body
Execute @var{body} with @var{rules}, a list of @acronym{PEX}s, in
effect.  Within @var{BODY}, parsing is initiated with a call to
@code{peg-run}.
@end defmac

@defun peg-run peg-matcher &optional failure-function success-function
This function accepts a single @var{peg-matcher}, which is the result of
calling @code{peg} (see below) on a named rule, usually the entry-point
of a larger grammar.

At the end of parsing, one of @var{failure-function} or
@var{success-function} is called, depending on whether the parsing
succeeded or not.  If @var{success-function} is provided, it should be a
function that receives as its only argument an anonymous function that
runs all the actions collected on the stack during parsing.  By default
this anonymous function is simply executed.  If parsing fails, a
function provided as @var{failure-function} will be called with a list
of @acronym{PEG} expressions that failed during parsing.  By default
this list is discarded.
@end defun

The @var{peg-matcher} passed to @code{peg-run} is produced by a call to
@code{peg}:

@defmac peg &rest pexs
Convert @var{pexs} into a single peg-matcher suitable for passing to
@code{peg-run}.
@end defmac

The @code{peg-parse} example above expands to a set of calls to these
functions, and could be written in full as:

@example
@group
(with-peg-rules
    ((number sign digit (* digit))
     (sign   (or "+" "-" ""))
     (digit  [0-9]))
  (peg-run (peg number)))
@end group
@end example

This approach allows more explicit control over the ``entry-point'' of
parsing, and allows the combination of rules from different sources.

Individual rules can also be defined using a more @code{defun}-like
syntax, using the macro @code{define-peg-rule}:

@defmac define-peg-rule name args &rest pexs
Define @var{name} as a PEG rule that accepts @var{args} and matches
@var{pexs} at point.
@end defmac

For instance:

@example
@group
(define-peg-rule digit ()
  [0-9])
@end group
@end example

Arguments can be supplied to rules by the @code{funcall} PEG rule
(@pxref{PEX Definitions}).

Another possibility is to define a named set of rules with
@code{define-peg-ruleset}:

@defmac define-peg-ruleset name &rest rules
Define @var{name} as an identifier for @var{rules}.
@end defmac

@example
@group
(define-peg-ruleset number-grammar
        '((number sign digit (* digit))
          digit  ;; A reference to the definition above.
          (sign (or "+" "-" ""))))
@end group
@end example

Rules and rulesets defined this way can be referred to by name in
later calls to @code{peg-run} or @code{with-peg-rules}:

@example
@group
(with-peg-rules number-grammar
  (peg-run (peg number)))
@end group
@end example

By default, calls to @code{peg-run} or @code{peg-parse} produce no
output: parsing simply moves point.  In order to return or otherwise
act upon parsed strings, rules can include @dfn{actions}, see
@ref{Parsing Actions}.

@menu
* PEX Definitions::             The syntax of PEX rules.
* Parsing Actions::             Running actions upon successful parsing.
* Writing PEG Rules::           Tips for writing parsing rules.
@end menu

@node PEX Definitions
@section PEX Definitions

Parsing expressions can be defined using the following syntax:

@table @code
@item (and @var{e1} @var{e2}@dots{})
A sequence of @acronym{PEX}s that must all be matched.  The @code{and}
form is optional and implicit.

@item (or @var{e1} @var{e2}@dots{})
Prioritized choices, meaning that, as in Elisp, the choices are tried
in order, and the first successful match is used.  Note that this is
distinct from context-free grammars, in which selection between
multiple matches is indeterminate.

@item (any)
Matches any single character, as the regexp ``.''.

@item @var{string}
A literal string.

@item (char @var{c})
A single character @var{c}, as an Elisp character literal.

@item (* @var{e})
Zero or more instances of expression @var{e}, as the regexp @samp{*}.
Matching is always ``greedy''.

@item (+ @var{e})
One or more instances of expression @var{e}, as the regexp @samp{+}.
Matching is always ``greedy''.

@item (opt @var{e})
Zero or one instance of expression @var{e}, as the regexp @samp{?}.

@item @var{symbol}
A symbol representing a previously-defined PEG rule.

@item (range @var{ch1} @var{ch2})
The character range between @var{ch1} and @var{ch2}, as the regexp
@samp{[@var{ch1}-@var{ch2}]}.

@item [@var{ch1}-@var{ch2} "+*" ?x]
A character set, which can include ranges, character literals, or
strings of characters.

@item [ascii cntrl]
A list of named character classes.

@item (syntax-class @var{name})
A single syntax class.

@item (funcall @var{e} @var{args}@dots{})
Call @acronym{PEX} @var{e} (previously defined with
@code{define-peg-rule}) with arguments @var{args}.

@item (null)
The empty string.
@end table

The following expressions are used as anchors or tests -- they do not
move point, but return a boolean value which can be used to constrain
matches as a way of controlling the parsing process (@pxref{Writing
PEG Rules}).

@table @code
@item (bob)
Beginning of buffer.

@item (eob)
End of buffer.

@item (bol)
Beginning of line.

@item (eol)
End of line.

@item (bow)
Beginning of word.

@item (eow)
End of word.

@item (bos)
Beginning of symbol.

@item (eos)
End of symbol.

@item (if @var{e})
Returns non-@code{nil} if parsing @acronym{PEX} @var{e} from point
succeeds (point is not moved).

@item (not @var{e})
Returns non-@code{nil} if parsing @acronym{PEX} @var{e} from point fails
(point is not moved).

@item (guard @var{exp})
Treats the value of the Lisp expression @var{exp} as a boolean.
@end table

@vindex peg-char-classes
Character-class matching can refer to the classes named in
@code{peg-char-classes}, equivalent to character classes in regular
expressions (@pxref{Top,, Character Classes,elisp})

@node Parsing Actions
@section Parsing Actions

@cindex parsing actions
@cindex parsing stack
By default the process of parsing simply moves point in the current
buffer, ultimately returning @code{t} if the parsing succeeds, and
@code{nil} if it doesn't.  It's also possible to define @dfn{parsing
actions} that can run arbitrary Elisp at certain points in the parsed
text.  These actions can optionally affect something called the
@dfn{parsing stack}, which is a list of values returned by the parsing
process.  These actions only run (and only return values) if the parsing
process ultimately succeeds; if it fails the action code is not run at
all.

Actions can be added anywhere in the definition of a rule.  They are
distinguished from parsing expressions by an initial backquote
(@samp{`}), followed by a parenthetical form that must contain a pair
of hyphens (@samp{--}) somewhere within it.  Symbols to the left of
the hyphens are bound to values popped from the stack (they are
somewhat analogous to the argument list of a lambda form).  Values
produced by code to the right of the hyphens are pushed onto the stack
(analogous to the return value of the lambda).  For instance, the
previous grammar can be augmented with actions to return the parsed
number as an actual integer:

@example
@group
(with-peg-rules ((number sign digit (* digit
                                       `(a b -- (+ (* a 10) b)))
                         `(sign val -- (* sign val)))
                 (sign (or (and "+" `(-- 1))
                           (and "-" `(-- -1))
                           (and ""  `(-- 1))))
                 (digit [0-9] `(-- (- (char-before) ?0))))
  (peg-run (peg number)))
@end group
@end example

There must be values on the stack before they can be popped and
returned -- if there aren't enough stack values to bind to an action's
left-hand terms, they will be bound to @code{nil}.  An action with
only right-hand terms will push values to the stack; an action with
only left-hand terms will consume (and discard) values from the stack.
At the end of parsing, stack values are returned as a flat list.

To return the string matched by a @acronym{PEX} (instead of simply
moving point over it), a grammar can use a rule like this:

@example
@group
(one-word
  `(-- (point))
  (+ [word])
  `(start -- (buffer-substring start (point))))
@end group
@end example

@noindent
The first action above pushes the initial value of point to the stack.
The intervening @acronym{PEX} moves point over the next word.  The
second action pops the previous value from the stack (binding it to the
variable @code{start}), then uses that value to extract a substring from
the buffer and push it to the stack.  This pattern is so common that
@acronym{PEG} provides a shorthand function that does exactly the above,
along with a few other shorthands for common scenarios:

@table @code
@findex substring (a PEG shorthand)
@item (substring @var{e})
Match @acronym{PEX} @var{e} and push the matched string onto the stack.

@findex region (a PEG shorthand)
@item (region @var{e})
Match @var{e} and push the start and end positions of the matched
region onto the stack.

@findex replace (a PEG shorthand)
@item (replace @var{e} @var{replacement})
Match @var{e} and replaced the matched region with the string
@var{replacement}.

@findex list (a PEG shorthand)
@item (list @var{e})
Match @var{e}, collect all values produced by @var{e} (and its
sub-expressions) into a list, and push that list onto the stack.  Stack
values are typically returned as a flat list; this is a way of
``grouping'' values together.
@end table

@node Writing PEG Rules
@section Writing PEG Rules
@cindex PEG rules, pitfalls
@cindex Parsing Expression Grammar, pitfalls in rules

Something to be aware of when writing PEG rules is that they are
greedy.  Rules which can consume a variable amount of text will always
consume the maximum amount possible, even if that causes a rule that
might otherwise have matched to fail later on -- there is no
backtracking.  For instance, this rule will never succeed:

@example
(forest (+ "tree" (* [blank])) "tree" (eol))
@end example

@noindent
The @acronym{PEX} @w{@code{(+ "tree" (* [blank]))}} will consume all
the repetitions of the word @samp{tree}, leaving none to match the final
@samp{tree}.

In these situations, the desired result can be obtained by using
predicates and guards -- namely the @code{not}, @code{if} and
@code{guard} expressions -- to constrain behavior.  For instance:

@example
(forest (+ "tree" (* [blank])) (not (eol)) "tree" (eol))
@end example

@noindent
The @code{if} and @code{not} operators accept a parsing expression and
interpret it as a boolean, without moving point.  The contents of a
@code{guard} operator are evaluated as regular Lisp (not a
@acronym{PEX}) and should return a boolean value.  A @code{nil} value
causes the match to fail.

Another potentially unexpected behavior is that parsing will move
point as far as possible, even if the parsing ultimately fails.  This
rule:

@example
(end-game "game" (eob))
@end example

@noindent
when run in a buffer containing the text ``game over'' after point,
will move point to just after ``game'' then halt parsing, returning
@code{nil}.  Successful parsing will always return @code{t}, or the
contexts of the parsing stack.