grammar::fa::dacceptor(n)			       Finite automaton operations and usage				 grammar::fa::dacceptor(n)

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NAME

       grammar::fa::dacceptor - Create and use deterministic acceptors

SYNOPSIS

       package require Tcl  8.4

       package require snit

       package require struct::set

       package require grammar::fa::dacceptor  ?0.1.1?

       ::grammar::fa::dacceptor daName fa ?-any any?

       daName option ?arg arg ...?

       daName destroy

       daName accept? symbols

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DESCRIPTION

       This  package  provides	a  class  for acceptors constructed from deterministic finite automatons (DFA). Acceptors are objects which can be
       given a string of symbols and tell if the DFA they are constructed from would accept that string.  For the actual creation of the DFAs  the
       acceptors are based on we have the packages grammar::fa and grammar::fa::op.

API

       The package exports the API described here.

       ::grammar::fa::dacceptor daName fa ?-any any?
	      Creates  a new deterministic acceptor with an associated global Tcl command whose name is daName. This command may be used to invoke
	      various operations on the acceptor. It has the following general form:

	      daName option ?arg arg ...?
		     Option and the args determine the exact behavior of the command. See section ACCEPTOR METHODS for more explanations.

		     The acceptor will be based on the deterministic finite automaton stored in the object fa. It will keep a copy of the relevant
		     data  of the FA in its own storage, in a form easy to use for its purposes. This also means that changes made to the fa after
		     the construction of the acceptor will not influence the acceptor.

		     If any has been specified, then the acceptor will convert all symbols in the input which are unknown to the base FA  to  that
		     symbol before proceeding with the processing.

ACCEPTOR METHODS

       All acceptors provide the following methods for their manipulation:

       daName destroy
	      Destroys the automaton, including its storage space and associated command.

       daName accept? symbols
	      Takes  the  list	of  symbols  and checks if the FA the acceptor is based on would accept it. The result is a boolean value. True is
	      returned if the symbols are accepted, and False otherwise. Note that bogus symbols in the input are either  translated  to  the  any
	      symbol (if specified), or cause the acceptance test to simply fail. No errors will be thrown. The method will process only just that
	      prefix of the input which is enough to fully determine (non-)acceptance.

EXAMPLES

BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK
       This document, and the package it describes, will undoubtedly contain bugs and other problems.  Please report such in  the  category  gram-
       mar_fa  of  the Tcllib SF Trackers [http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=12883].  Please also report any ideas for enhancements you may
       have for either package and/or documentation.

KEYWORDS

       acceptance, acceptor, automaton, finite automaton, grammar, parsing, regular expression, regular grammar, regular languages, state,  trans-
       ducer

CATEGORY

       Grammars and finite automata

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2004 Andreas Kupries <andreas_kupries@users.sourceforge.net>

grammar_fa							       0.1.1						 grammar::fa::dacceptor(n)