The Synthesizer Generator Reference Manual

By Thomas W. Reps and Tim Teitelbaum

The Synthesizer Generator is a system for automating the implementation of language-based editing environments. The editor designer prepares a specification that includes rules defining a language's context-free abstract syn- tax, context-sensitive relationships, display format, and concrete input syntax. From this specification, the Synthesizer Generator creates a display editor for manipulating objects according to these rules Reps84]. This volume, The Synthesizer Generator Reference Manual, is intended as the defining document of the system. A companion volume, The Synthesizer Gen- erator: A System for Constructing Language-Based Editors Reps88], provides a more tutorial description of the system; it contains numerous examples that illustrate the specification and use of generated editors, as well as chapters that explain important algorithms of the implementation. The Synthesizer Generator is a generalization of our earlier system, the Cor- nell Program Synthesizer Teitelbaum81], which was a programming environ- ment for a specific small dialect of PL/I. It featured a display-oriented, syntax- directed editor, an incremental compiler, an execution supervisor supporting source-level debugging, and a file system containing syntactically typed pro- gram fragments. Whereas PL/I was built into the Cornell Program Synthesizer, the Synthesizer Generator accepts a formal language definition as input. Although originally conceived as a tool for creating Synthesizer-like environments for arbitrary pro- gramming languages, the Synthesizer Generator is more broadly useful. Any textual language with a hierarchical phrase structure grammar is a candidate. vi Preface Interactive theorem proving for formal mathematics and logic, for example, has emerged as a particularlysuitable application.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0387969101
• ISBN13: 9780387969107
• Release Date: December 1988
• Publisher: Springer
• Length: 171 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.2" x 9.3"