NAME

    XS::Parse::Keyword - XS functions to assist in parsing keyword syntax

DESCRIPTION

    This module provides some XS functions to assist in writing syntax
    modules that provide new perl-visible syntax, primarily for authors of
    keyword plugins using the PL_keyword_plugin hook mechanism. It is
    unlikely to be of much use to anyone else; and highly unlikely to be
    any use when writing perl code using these. Unless you are writing a
    keyword plugin using XS, this module is not for you.

    This module is also currently experimental, and the design is still
    evolving and subject to change. Later versions may break ABI
    compatibility, requiring changes or at least a rebuild of any module
    that depends on it.

XS FUNCTIONS

 boot_xs_parse_keyword

       void boot_xs_parse_keyword(double ver);

    Call this function from your BOOT section in order to initialise the
    module and parsing hooks.

    ver should either be 0 or a decimal number for the module version
    requirement; e.g.

       boot_xs_parse_keyword(0.01);

 register_xs_parse_keyword

       void register_xs_parse_keyword(const char *keyword,
         const struct XSParseKeywordHooks *hooks, void *hookdata);

    This function installs a set of parsing hooks to be associated with the
    given keyword. Such a keyword will then be handled automatically by a
    keyword parser installed by XS::Parse::Keyword itself.

PARSE HOOKS

    The XSParseKeywordHooks structure provides the following hook stages,
    which are invoked in the given order.

 flags

    The following flags are defined:

    XPK_FLAG_EXPR

      The parse or build function is expected to return
      KEYWORD_PLUGIN_EXPR.

    XPK_FLAG_STMT

      The parse or build function is expected to return
      KEYWORD_PLUGIN_STMT.

      These two flags are largely for the benefit of giving static
      information at registration time to assist static parsing or other
      related tasks to know what kind of grammatical element this keyword
      will produce.

    XPK_FLAG_AUTOSEMI

      The syntax forms a complete statement, which should be followed by a
      statement separator semicolon (;). This semicolon is optional at the
      end of a block.

      The semicolon, if present, will be consumed automatically.

 The permit Stage

       const char *permit_hintkey;
       bool (*permit) (pTHX_ void *hookdata);

    Called by the installed keyword parser hook which is used to handle
    keywords registered by "register_xs_parse_keyword".

    As a shortcut for the common case, the permit_hintkey may point to a
    string to look up from the hints hash. If the given key name is not
    found in the hints hash then the keyword is not permitted. If the key
    is present then the permit function is invoked as normal.

    If not rejected by a hint key that was not found in the hints hash, the
    function part of the stage is called next and should inspect whether
    the keyword is permitted at this time perhaps by inspecting other
    lexical clues, and return true only if the keyword is permitted.

    Both the string and the function are optional. Either or both may be
    present. If neither is present then the keyword is always permitted -
    which is likely not what you wanted to do.

 The check Stage

       void (*check)(pTHX_ void *hookdata);

    Invoked once the keyword has been permitted. If present, this hook
    function can check the surrounding lexical context, state, or other
    information and throw an exception if it is unhappy that the keyword
    should apply in this position.

 The parse Stage

    This stage is invoked once the keyword has been checked, and actually
    parses the incoming text into an optree. It is implemented by calling
    the first of the following function pointers which is not NULL. The
    invoked function may optionally build an optree to represent the parsed
    syntax, and place it into the variable addressed by out. If it does
    not, then a simple OP_NULL will be constructed in its place.

    lex_read_space() is called both before and after this stage is invoked,
    so in many simple cases the hook function itself does not need to
    bother with it.

       int (*parse)(pTHX_ OP **out, void *hookdata);

    If present, this should consume text from the parser buffer by invoking
    lex_* or parse_* functions and eventually return a KEYWORD_PLUGIN_*
    result value.

    This is the most generic and powerful of the options, but requires the
    most amount of implementation work.

       int (*build)(pTHX_ OP **out, XSParseKeywordPiece *args[], size_t nargs, void *hookdata);

    If parse is not present, this is called instead after parsing a
    sequence of arguments, of types given by the pieces field; which should
    be a zero- terminated array of piece types.

    This alternative is somewhat less generic and powerful than providing
    parse yourself, but involves much less parsing work and is shorter and
    easier to implement.

       int (*build1)(pTHX_ OP **out, XSParseKeywordPiece arg0, void *hookdata);

    If neither parse nor build are present, this is called as a simpler
    variant of build when only a single argument is required. It takes its
    type from the piece1 field instead.

PIECES AND PIECE TYPES

    When using the build or build1 alternatives for the parse phase, the
    actual syntax is parsed automatically by this module, according to the
    specification given by the pieces or piece1 field. The result of that
    parsing step is placed into the args or arg0 parameter to the invoked
    function, using a union type consisting of the following fields:

       typedef union {
          OP *op;
          CV *cv;
          SV *sv;
          int i;
          struct {
             SV *name;
             SV *value;
          } attr;
          PADOFFSET padix;
       } XSParseKeywordPiece;

    Which field is set depends on the type of the piece.

    Some piece types are "atomic", whose definition is self-contained.
    Others are structural, defined in terms of inner pieces. Together these
    form an entire tree-shaped definition of the syntax that the keyword
    expects to find.

    Atomic types generally provide exactly one argument into the list of
    args (with the exception of literal matches, which do not provide
    anything). Structural types may provide an initial argument themselves,
    followed by a list of the values of each sub-piece they contained
    inside them. Thus, while the data structure defining the syntax shape
    is a tree, the argument values it parses into is passed as a flat array
    to the build function.

    Some structural types need to be able to determine whether or not
    syntax relating some optional part of them is present in the incoming
    source text. In this case, the pieces relating to those optional parts
    must support "probing". This ability is also noted below.

    The type of each piece should be one of the following macro values.

 XPK_BLOCK

    atomic, can probe, emits op.

       XPK_BLOCK

    A brace-delimited block of code is expected, passed as an optree in the
    op field. This will be parsed as a block within the current function
    scope.

    This can be probed by checking for the presence of an open-brace ({)
    character.

    Be careful defining grammars with this because an open-brace is also a
    valid character to start a term expression, for example. Given a choice
    between XPK_BLOCK and XPK_TERMEXPR, either of them could try to consume
    such code as

       { 123, 456 }

 XPK_BLOCK_VOIDCTX, XPK_BLOCK_SCALARCTX, XPK_BLOCK_LISTCTX

    Variants of XPK_BLOCK which wrap a void, scalar or list-context scope
    around the block.

 XPK_PREFIXED_BLOCK

    structural, emits op.

       XPK_PREFIXED_BLOCK(pieces ...)

    Some pieces are expected, followed by a brace-delimited block of code,
    which is passed as an optree in the op field. The prefix pieces are
    parsed first, and their results are passed before the block itself.

    The entire sequence, including the prefix items, is contained within a
    pair of block_start() / block_end() calls. This permits the prefix
    pieces to introduce new items into the lexical scope of the block - for
    example by the use of XPK_LEXVAR_MY.

    A call to intro_my() is automatically made at the end of the prefix
    pieces, before the block itself is parsed, ensuring any new lexical
    variables are now visible.

 XPK_ANONSUB

    atomic, emits op.

    A brace-delimited block of code is expected, and assembled into the
    body of a new anonymous subroutine. This will be passed as a protosub
    CV in the cv field.

 XPK_TERMEXPR

    atomic, emits op.

       XPK_TERMEXPR

    A term expression is expected, parsed using parse_termexpr(), and
    passed as an optree in the op field.

 XPK_TERMEXPR_VOIDCTX, XPK_TERMEXPR_SCALARCTX

    Variants of XPK_TERMEXPR which puts the expression in void or scalar
    context.

 XPK_LISTEXPR

    atomic, emits op.

       XPK_LISTEXPR

    A list expression is expected, parsed using parse_listexpr(), and
    passed as an optree in the op field.

 XPK_LISTEXPR_LISTCTX

    Variant of XPK_LISTEXPR which puts the expression in list context.

 XPK_IDENT

    atomic, emits sv.

    A bareword identifier name is expected, and passed as an SV containing
    a PV in the sv field. An identifier is not permitted to contain a
    double colon (::).

 XPK_PACKAGENAME

    atomic, emits sv.

    A bareword package name is expected, and passed as an SV containing a
    PV in the sv field. A package name is similar to an identifier, except
    it permits double colons in the middle.

 XPK_LEXVARNAME

    atomic, emits sv.

       XPK_LEXVARNAME(kind)

    A lexical variable name is expected, and passed as an SV containing a
    PV in the sv field. The kind argument specifies what kinds of variable
    are permitted, and should be a bitmask of one or more bits from
    XPK_LEXVAR_SCALAR, XPK_LEXVAR_ARRAY and XPK_LEXVAR_HASH. A convenient
    shortcut XPK_LEXVAR_ANY permits all three.

 XPK_ATTRIBUTES

    atomic, emits i followed by more args.

    A list of :-prefixed attributes is expected, in the same format as sub
    or variable attributes. An optional leading : indicates the presence of
    attributes, then one or more of them are parsed. Attributes may be
    optionally separated by additional :s, but this is not required.

    Each attribute is expected to be an identifier name, followed by an
    optional value wrapped in parentheses. Whitespace is NOT permitted
    between the name and value, as per standard Perl parsing rules.

       :attrname
       :attrname(value)

    The i field indicates how many attributes were found. That number of
    additional arguments are then passed, each containing two SVs in the
    attr.name and attr.value fields. This number may be zero.

    It is not an error for there to be no attributes present, or for the
    optional colon to be missing. In this case i will be set to zero.

 XPK_VSTRING

    atomic, can probe, emits sv.

    A version string is expected, of the form v1.234 including the leading
    v character. It is passed as a version SV object in the sv field.

 XPK_VSTRING_OPT

    Identical to XPK_VSTRING except it is optional; if no version string is
    found then sv is set to NULL.

 XPK_LEXVAR_MY

    atomic, emits padix.

       XPK_LEXVAR_MY(kind)

    A lexical variable name is expected, added to the current pad as if
    specified in a my expression, and passed as the pad index in the padix
    field.

    The kind argument specifies what kinds of variable are permitted, as
    per XPK_LEXVARNAME.

 XPK_COMMA, XPK_COLON, XPK_EQUALS

    atomic, can probe, emits nothing.

    A literal character (,, : or =) is expected. No argument value is
    passed.

 XPK_LITERAL

    atomic, can probe, emits nothing.

       XPK_LITERAL("literal")

    A literal string match is expected. No argument value is passed.

    This form should generally be avoided if at all possible, because it is
    very easy to abuse to make syntaxes which confuse humans and code tools
    alike. Generally it is best reserved just for the first component of a
    XPK_OPTIONAL or XPK_REPEATED sequence, to provide a "secondary keyword"
    that such a repeated item can look out for.

    This was previously called XPK_STRING, and is provided as a synonym for
    back-compatibility but new code should use this new name instead.

 XPK_SEQUENCE

    structural, might support probe, emits nothing.

       XPK_SEQUENCE(pieces ...)

    A structural type which contains a number of pieces. This is normally
    equivalent to simply placing the pieces in sequence inside their own
    container, but it is useful inside XPK_CHOICE or XPK_TAGGEDCHOICE.

    An XPK_SEQUENCE supports probe if its first contained piece does; i.e.
    is transparent to probing.

 XPK_OPTIONAL

    structural, emits i.

       XPK_OPTIONAL(pieces ...)

    A structural type which may expects to find its contained pieces, or is
    happy not to. This will pass an argument whose i field contains either
    1 or 0, depending whether the contents were found. The first piece type
    within must support probe.

 XPK_REPEATED

    structural, emits i.

       XPK_REPEATED(pieces ...)

    A structural type which expects to find zero or more repeats of its
    contained pieces. This will pass an argument whose i field contains the
    count of the number of repeats it found. The first piece type within
    must support probe.

 XPK_CHOICE

    structural, can probe, emits i.

       XPK_CHOICE(options ...)

    A structural type which expects to find one of a number of alternative
    options. An ordered list of types is provided, all of which must
    support probe. This will pass an argument whose i field gives the index
    of the first choice that was accepted. The first option takes the value
    0.

    As each of the options is interpreted as an alternative, not a
    sequence, you should use XPK_SEQUENCE if a sequence of multiple items
    should be considered as a single alternative.

    It is not an error if no choice matches. At that point, the i field
    will be set to -1.

    If you require a failure message in this case, set the final choice to
    be of type XPK_FAILURE. This will cause an error message to be printed
    instead.

       XPK_FAILURE("message string")

 XPK_TAGGEDCHOICE

    structural, can probe, emits i.

       XPK_TAGGEDCHOICE(choice, tag, ...)

    A structural type similar to XPK_CHOICE, except that each choice type
    is followed by an element of type XPK_TAG which gives an integer. It is
    that integer value, rather than the positional index of the choice
    within the list, which is passed in the i field.

       XPK_TAG(value)

    As each of the options is interpreted as an alternative, not a
    sequence, you should use XPK_SEQUENCE if a sequence of multiple items
    should be considered as a single alternative.

 XPK_COMMALIST

    structural, emits i.

    A structural type which expects to find one or more repeats of its
    contained pieces, separated by literal comma (,) characters. This is
    somewhat similar to XPK_REPEATED, except that it needs at least one
    copy, needs commas between its items, but does not require that the
    first contained piece support probe (the comma itself is sufficient to
    indicate a repeat).

 XPK_PARENSCOPE

    structural, can probe, emits nothing.

       XPK_PARENSCOPE(pieces ...)

    A structural type which expects to find a sequence of pieces, all
    contained in parentheses as ( ... ). This will pass no extra arguments.

 XPK_BRACKETSCOPE

    structural, can probe, emits nothing.

       XPK_BRACKETSCOPE(pieces ...)

    A structural type which expects to find a sequence of pieces, all
    contained in square brackets as [ ... ]. This will pass no extra
    arguments.

 XPK_BRACESCOPE

    structural, can probe, emits nothing.

       XPK_BRACESCOPE(pieces ...)

    A structural type which expects to find a sequence of pieces, all
    contained in braces as { ... }. This will pass no extra arguments.

    Note that this is not necessary to use with XPK_BLOCK or XPK_ANONSUB;
    those will already consume a set of braces. This is intended for
    special constrained syntax that should not just accept an arbitrary
    block.

 XPK_CHEVRONSCOPE

    structural, can probe, emits nothing.

       XPK_CHEVRONSCOPE(pieces ...)

    A structural type which expects to find a sequence of pieces, all
    contained in angle brackets as < ... >. This will pass no extra
    arguments.

    Remember that expressions like a > b are valid term expressions, so the
    contents of this scope shouldn't allow arbitrary expressions or the
    closing bracket will be ambiguous.

 XPK_PARENSCOPE_OPT, XPK_BRACKETSCOPE_OPT, XPK_BRACESCOPE_OPT,
 XPK_CHEVRONSCOPE_OPT

    structural, can probe, emits i.

       XPK_PARENSCOPE_OPT(pieces ...)
       XPK_BRACKETSCOPE_OPT(pieces ...)
       XPK_BRACESCOPE_OPT(pieces ...)
       XPK_CHEVERONSCOPE_OPT(pieces ...)

    Each of the four XPK_...SCOPE macros above has an optional variant,
    whose name is suffixed by _OPT. These pass an argument whose i field is
    either true or false, indicating whether the scope was found, followed
    by the values from the scope itself.

    This is a convenient shortcut to nesting the scope within a
    XPK_OPTIONAL macro.

AUTHOR

    Paul Evans <leonerd@leonerd.org.uk>

