The flow of the application is broken down into three distinct steps that progress from a grammar to the completed parse tables. The developer advances by clicking the "Next" button which is located on the bottom left side of the main window. This is similar to the interface commonly used by installation software and application "wizards".
The Next Button will change each time it is clicked - representing the next step in compilation process.
| Step 1 | Enter the Grammar During this step, the Builder checks the syntax of the grammar itself and prepares the system to compute the parse tables. If the grammar contains an error, it is reported to the user and the system resets. |
| Step 2 | Compute the Parser During this step, the Builder attempts to construct the LALR Parser tables. Most conflicts occur during the construction of the LALR parse tables, and, as a result, these are constructed first. |
| Step 3 | Compute the Tokenizer During this step, the Builder attempts to DFA tables used by the tokenizer (scanner). |
| Step 4 | Save the Compiled Grammar If no problems are found, the developer now has the ability to save the parse information to a Compiled Grammar Table file. If the developer clicks on the button at this point, the system will automatically display the "Save File" dialog window.Since the parse tables are complete and ready to use, the developer has the ability to interactively test the grammar using the embedded parser engine. Also, the developer can export the grammar to different file formats (besides Compiled Grammar Table files), and create skeleton programs. |