yacc(1) BSD yacc(1)
NAME
yacc - yet another compiler-compiler
SYNOPSIS
yacc [-vdlt] [-Xp<path_name>] [-N<secondary><n> ...] [-p sym_prefix] [-b
file_prefix] grammar
DESCRIPTION
yacc converts a context-free grammar into a set of tables for a simple
automaton which executes an LALR(1) parsing algorithm as described in
popular compiler-construction literature. Ambiguous grammar is allowed;
specified precedence rules are used to break ambiguities.
The output file, y.tab.c, must be compiled by the C compiler to produce a
program yyparse. This program must be loaded with the lexical analyzer
program, yylex, as well as main and yyerror, an error handling routine.
These routines must be supplied by the user; lex(1) is useful for
creating lexical analyzers usable by yacc.
Options
yacc recognizes the following options:
-v Prepare file y.output containing a description of the
parsing tables and a report on conflicts generated by
ambiguities in the grammar.
-d Generate file y.tab.h with the #define statements
that associate the yacc-assigned ``token codes'' with
the user-declared ``token names''. This allows
source files other than y.tab.c to access the token
codes.
-l Do not place any #line constructs in code produced in
y.tab.c. Generally, this option should only be used
after y.tab.c has compiled successfully, since the
#line directives allow the C compiler to give error
messages that refer to the yacc source file rather
than the y.tab.c file. This option is useful,
however, for symbolic debugging, since some symbolic
debuggers may be confused by line numbers that are
not in order.
-t Compile runtime debugging code (see Debugging below
for details).
-Xp<path_name> Read the skeleton parser source code from path_name
instead of /usr/lib/yaccpar.
-N<secondary><n>
Allow the sizes of certain internal yacc tables to be
reset. secondary is one of the letters from the set
{Ba m s p n e c l w} and specifies the table; n is
the new size. Tables that can be reset by using
secondary letters are as follows:
a a-array size; default is 30000.
m mem array size; default is 30000.
s number of states; default is 1000.
p number of productions; default is 3000.
n number of non-terminals; default is
1000.
e temp-space size; default is 1250.
c name-space size; default is 5000.
l look-ahead set table size; default is
4000.
w working set table size; default is 4000.
-p sym_prefix Use sym_prefix instead of yy as the prefix for
externally scoped variable and function names
produced by yacc. Names affected are: yyparse,
yylex, yyerror, yylval, yychar, yydebug, and yynerrs.
-b file_prefix Use file_prefix instead of y as the prefix for output
filenames. Names affected are: y.tab.c, y.tab.h,
and y.output.
If an array overflows, yacc issues a fatal error message including a
suggestion of which table to reset. For example:
too many states, try -Ns option
Debugging
Runtime debugging code is always generated in y.tab.c under conditional
compilation control. By default, this code is not included when y.tab.c
is compiled. However, when yacc's -t option is used, this debugging code
is compiled by default. Independent of whether the -t option was used,
the runtime debugging code is under the control of YYDEBUG, a pre-
processor symbol. If YYDEBUG has a non-zero value, the debugging code is
included. If its value is zero, the code is not included. The size and
execution time of a program produced without the runtime debugging code
is smaller and slightly faster.
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
International Code Set Support
Single-byte character code sets are supported.
ERRORS
The number of reduce-reduce and shift-reduce conflicts is reported on the
standard error output; a more detailed report is found in the y.output
file. Similarly, if some rules are not reachable from the start symbol,
this is also reported.
FILES
y.output
y.tab.c
y.tab.h defines for token names
yacc.tmp,
yacc.acts, yacc.debug temporary files
/usr/lib/yaccpar parser prototype for C programs
WARNINGS
Because file names are fixed, only one yacc process can be active in a
given directory at any given time.
The maximum number of terminal symbols is fixed at 2000 and cannot be
reset using the -N option.
SEE ALSO
lex(1), malloc(3X).
YACC - Yet Another Compiler Compiler tutorial in C Programming Tools
manual.
Compilers - Principles, Techniques, and Tools by Aho, Sethi, and Ullman;
Addison-Wesley ISBN 0-201-10088-6.