OCAMLYACC(1)

NAME

ocamlyacc - The Objective Caml parser generator

SYNOPSIS

ocamlyacc [ -v ] [ -bprefix ] filename.mly

DESCRIPTION

The ocamlyacc(1) command produces a parser from a LALR(1) context-free grammar specification with attached semantic actions, in the style of yacc(1). Assuming the input file is grammar.mly, running ocamlyacc produces Caml code for a parser in the file grammar.ml, and its interface in file grammar.mli.

The generated module defines one parsing function per entry point in the grammar. These functions have the same names as the entry points. Parsing functions take as arguments a lexical analyzer (a function from lexer buffers to tokens) and a lexer buffer, and return the semantic attribute of the corresponding entry point. Lexical analyzer functions are usually generated from a lexer specification by the ocamllex(1) program. Lexer buffers are an abstract data type implemented in the standard library module Lexing. Tokens are values from the concrete type token, defined in the interface file grammar.mli produced by ocamlyacc(1).

OPTIONS

The ocamlyacc(1) command recognizes the following options:

-bprefix

Name the output files prefix.ml, prefix.mli, prefix.output, instead of the default naming convention.

-q This option has no effect.

-v Generate a description of the parsing tables and a report on

conflicts resulting from ambiguities in the grammar. The description is put in file grammar.output.

-version

Print version and exit.

- Read the grammar specification from standard input. The default

output file names are stdin.ml and stdin.mli.

-- file

Process file as the grammar specification, even if its name starts with a dash (-) character. This option must be the last on the command line.

SEE ALSO

ocamllex(1).
The Objective Caml user's manual, chapter "Lexer and parser generators".

OCAMLYACC(1)