Parse table generation method and system

• US 7,603,661 B2
• Filed: 01/30/2003
• Issued: 10/13/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Original Assignee: Hamilton Sunstrand
• Inventors: Maine, Dale W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kendall, Chuck O
• Application Number:
  US10/354,355
• Publication Number:
  US 20040154005A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,448 Days
• Field of Search: 717140-144
• US Class Current: 717/132
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/427 Parsing

Abstract

A method and system assembles state transition tables (100) from a plurality of modular sub-tables (102). In one embodiment, each sub-table (102) defines an individual statement in a programming language. Combining multiple sub-tables (102) together into one large table (100) creates a dictionary for a programming language that can be used to, for example, compile code into the programming language or translate code from one language to another. Using sub-tables (102) simplifies construction of the larger table (100) and makes it easier to add, modify, or remove portions of the table (102).

Claims

1. A state transition table defining a plurality of statements in a programming language, each statement defined by at least one token, comprising:

a table defining an array of states;

a plurality of sub-tables associated with said table, each sub-table corresponding to one of said plurality of statements and including at least one relocatable state that changes in response to said sub-table being assembled within said table, wherein each sub-table is a two-dimensional array defining an action for at least one token in at least one state; and

a software module operable to output a state in response to an input, wherein the table, plurality of sub-tables, and software module are stored on a computer.

2. The state transition table of claim 1, wherein at least one sub-table contains a default token representing a default action.

3. The state transition table of claim 1, wherein said at least one state in the sub-table is initially defined as a relocatable state.

4. The state transition table of claim 3, wherein said at least one relocatable state is redefined when the plurality of sub-tables are assembled to form the state transition table.

5. The state transition table of claim 1, wherein each sub-table has an initial state at which access of the sub-table begins.

6. The state transition table of claim 1, wherein the state transition table is one selected from the group consisting of a scanner table, a parser table, and a compiler table.

9. The state transition table of claim 1, wherein the input corresponds to code in a first programming language, and the output corresponds to code in a second programming language.

10. The state transition table of claim 9, wherein the first programming language corresponds to source code and the second programming language corresponds to compiled object code.

11. The state transition table of claim 1, wherein the software module is also operable to output an action.

12. The state transition table of claim 11, wherein the action is a SELECT statement defined by at least one keyword selected from the group consisting of INTO, VALUES, FROM, and SET.

7. A method for accessing a state transition table defining a plurality of statements in a programming language, each statement defined by at least one token, comprising:

receiving one of said plurality of statements;

accessing a sub-table corresponds to the received statement, wherein the accessed sub-table corresponds to the received statement, wherein the accessed sub-table includes at least one relocatable state that changes in response to the sub-table being assembled within the state transition table, wherein the accessed sub-table is a two-dimensional array defining an action for at least one token in at least one state, and wherein the state transition table and sub-table are stored on a computer readable medium on a computer;

receiving on the computer a token corresponding to the received statement;

accessing the sub-table corresponding to the received statement based on the received token and a current state; and

carrying out an action corresponding to the received token and the current state via a software module stored on the computer readable medium on the computer.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving a second one of said plurality of statements; and

accessing a second sub-table corresponding to the second received statement.