[PATCH 4/5] emacs: Streaming S-expression parser
Mark Walters
markwalters1009 at gmail.com
Mon May 27 13:58:27 PDT 2013
Austin Clements <amdragon at MIT.EDU> writes:
> Quoth Mark Walters on May 25 at 9:59 am:
>>
>> Hi
>>
>> On Wed, 22 May 2013, Austin Clements <amdragon at MIT.EDU> wrote:
>> > On Tue, 21 May 2013, Mark Walters <markwalters1009 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> Hi
>> >>
>> >> This patch looks good to me. Some minor comments below.
>> >
>> > Some minor replies below.
>> >
>> > In building some other code on top of this, I found an interesting (but
>> > easy to fix) interface bug. Currently, the interface is designed as if
>> > it doesn't matter what buffer these functions are called from, however,
>> > because they move point and expect this point motion to persist, it's
>> > actually not safe to call this interface unless the caller is in the
>> > right buffer anyway. For example, if the buffer is selected in a
>> > window, the with-current-buffer in the parser functions will actually
>> > move a *temporary* point, meaning that the only way the caller can
>> > discover the new point is to first select the buffer for itself. I can
>> > think of two solutions: 1) maintain our own mark for the parser's
>> > current position or 2) tweak the doc strings and code so that it reads
>> > from the current buffer. 1 keeps the interface the way it's currently
>> > documented, but complicates the parser implementation and interface and
>> > doesn't simplify the caller. 2 simplifies the parser and it turns out
>> > all callers already satisfy the requirement.
>>
>> I am confused by this: the docs strings for json/sexp-parse-partial-list
>> both say something like "Parse a partial JSON list from current buffer"?
>> Or do you mean the with-current-buffer in notmuch-search-process-filter?
>
> I was referring to the lower level parser, which effectively has the
> same requirement but isn't documented to and has code that pointlessly
> tries to track the parsing buffer (I consider
> json/sexp-parse-partial-list to be a helper). In fact, one reason the
> lower level parser didn't choke is because right now we only use it
> through json/sexp-parse-partial-list, which requires that it be called
> from the right buffer.
Right I think I see. I am definitely happy with insisting on being
called from the correct buffer in the low level code.
>> >> On Sat, 18 May 2013, Austin Clements <amdragon at MIT.EDU> wrote:
>> >>> This provides the same interface as the streaming JSON parser, but
>> >>> reads S-expressions incrementally. The only difference is that the
>> >>> `notmuch-sexp-parse-partial-list' helper does not handle interleaved
>> >>> error messages (since we now have the ability to separate these out at
>> >>> the invocation level), so it no longer takes an error function and
>> >>> does not need to do the horrible resynchronization that the JSON
>> >>> parser had to.
>> >>>
>> >>> Some implementation improvements have been made over the JSON parser.
>> >>> This uses a vector instead of a list for the parser data structure,
>> >>> since this allows faster access to elements (and modern versions of
>> >>> Emacs handle storage of small vectors efficiently). Private functions
>> >>> follow the "prefix--name" convention. And the implementation is much
>> >>> simpler overall because S-expressions are much easier to parse.
>> >>> ---
>> >>> emacs/Makefile.local | 1 +
>> >>> emacs/notmuch-parser.el | 212 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>> >>> 2 files changed, 213 insertions(+)
>> >>> create mode 100644 emacs/notmuch-parser.el
>> >>>
>> >>> diff --git a/emacs/Makefile.local b/emacs/Makefile.local
>> >>> index 456700a..a910aff 100644
>> >>> --- a/emacs/Makefile.local
>> >>> +++ b/emacs/Makefile.local
>> >>> @@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
>> >>> dir := emacs
>> >>> emacs_sources := \
>> >>> $(dir)/notmuch-lib.el \
>> >>> + $(dir)/notmuch-parser.el \
>> >>> $(dir)/notmuch.el \
>> >>> $(dir)/notmuch-query.el \
>> >>> $(dir)/notmuch-show.el \
>> >>> diff --git a/emacs/notmuch-parser.el b/emacs/notmuch-parser.el
>> >>> new file mode 100644
>> >>> index 0000000..1b7cf64
>> >>> --- /dev/null
>> >>> +++ b/emacs/notmuch-parser.el
>> >>> @@ -0,0 +1,212 @@
>> >>> +;; notmuch-parser.el --- streaming S-expression parser
>> >>> +;;
>> >>> +;; Copyright © Austin Clements
>> >>> +;;
>> >>> +;; This file is part of Notmuch.
>> >>> +;;
>> >>> +;; Notmuch is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
>> >>> +;; under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
>> >>> +;; the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
>> >>> +;; (at your option) any later version.
>> >>> +;;
>> >>> +;; Notmuch is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
>> >>> +;; WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
>> >>> +;; MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
>> >>> +;; General Public License for more details.
>> >>> +;;
>> >>> +;; You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
>> >>> +;; along with Notmuch. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
>> >>> +;;
>> >>> +;; Authors: Austin Clements <aclements at csail.mit.edu>
>> >>> +
>> >>> +(require 'cl)
>> >>> +
>> >>> +(defun notmuch-sexp-create-parser (buffer)
>> >>> + "Return a streaming S-expression parser that reads from BUFFER.
>> >>> +
>> >>> +This parser is designed to incrementally read an S-expression
>> >>> +whose structure is known to the caller. Like a typical
>> >>> +S-expression parsing interface, it provides a function to read a
>> >>> +complete S-expression from the input. However, it extends this
>> >>> +with an additional function that requires the next value in the
>> >>> +input to be a list and descends into it, allowing its elements to
>> >>> +be read one at a time or further descended into. Both functions
>> >>> +can return 'retry to indicate that not enough input is available.
>> >>> +
>> >>> +The parser always consumes input from BUFFER's point. Hence, the
>> >>> +caller is allowed to delete any data before point and may
>> >>> +resynchronize after an error by moving point."
>> >>> +
>> >>> + (vector 'notmuch-sexp-parser
>> >>> + buffer
>> >>> + ;; List depth
>> >>> + 0
>> >>> + ;; Partial parse position marker
>> >>> + nil
>> >>> + ;; Partial parse state
>> >>> + nil))
>> >>> +
>> >>> +(defmacro notmuch-sexp--buffer (sp) `(aref ,sp 1))
>> >>> +(defmacro notmuch-sexp--depth (sp) `(aref ,sp 2))
>> >>> +(defmacro notmuch-sexp--partial-pos (sp) `(aref ,sp 3))
>> >>> +(defmacro notmuch-sexp--partial-state (sp) `(aref ,sp 4))
>> >>
>> >> Why the double hyphen --? Is it a name-space or some convention?
>> >
>> > More specifically, this seems to be the most common Elisp convention for
>> > indicating private symbols.
>>
>> Ok. If we are keeping the json parser it might be worth making it follow
>> the same convention but as it is purely internal it's probably not worth
>> bothering.
>
> Yeah, it is purely internal. Also, I was planning to remove the JSON
> parser (or maybe move it somewhere else? I feel bad deleting that
> much perfectly functional code, though of course git will keep it in
> perpetuity).
Yes it does seem a shame to lose it. It would be nice to find a better
home for it then hiding in a git tree.
Best wishes
Mark
>> >>> +(defun notmuch-sexp-read (sp)
>> >>> + "Consume and return the value at point in SP's buffer.
>> >>> +
>> >>> +Returns 'retry if there is insufficient input to parse a complete
>> >>> +value (though it may still move point over whitespace). If the
>> >>> +parser is currently inside a list and the next token ends the
>> >>> +list, this moves point just past the terminator and returns 'end.
>> >>> +Otherwise, this moves point to just past the end of the value and
>> >>> +returns the value."
>> >>> +
>> >>> + (with-current-buffer (notmuch-sexp--buffer sp)
>> >>> + (skip-chars-forward " \n\r\t")
>> >>> + (cond ((eobp) 'retry)
>> >>> + ((= (char-after) ?\))
>> >>> + ;; We've reached the end of a list
>> >>> + (if (= (notmuch-sexp--depth sp) 0)
>> >>> + ;; .. but we weren't in a list. Let read signal the
>> >>> + ;; error.
>> >>> + (read (current-buffer))
>> >>
>> >> Why is good for read to signal the error rather than us doing it?
>> >
>> > This ensures the syntax error handling and signal behavior of
>> > notmuch-sexp-read is identical in every way to a regular read call.
>> > Maybe the comment should read "Let read signal the error like we do in
>> > all other code paths."?
>>
>> Yes that would be good: or perhaps "like it does in all other code
>> paths".
>
> Sure.
>
>> Best wishes
>>
>> Mark
>>
>> >
>> >>> + ;; Go up a level and return an end token
>> >>> + (decf (notmuch-sexp--depth sp))
>> >>> + (forward-char)
>> >>> + 'end))
>> >>> + ((= (char-after) ?\()
>> >>> + ;; We're at the beginning of a list. If we haven't started
>> >>> + ;; a partial parse yet, attempt to read the list in its
>> >>> + ;; entirety. If this fails, or we've started a partial
>> >>> + ;; parse, extend the partial parse to figure out when we
>> >>> + ;; have a complete list.
>> >>> + (catch 'return
>> >>> + (when (null (notmuch-sexp--partial-state sp))
>> >>> + (let ((start (point)))
>> >>> + (condition-case nil
>> >>> + (throw 'return (read (current-buffer)))
>> >>> + (end-of-file (goto-char start)))))
>> >>> + ;; Extend the partial parse
>> >>> + (let (is-complete)
>> >>> + (save-excursion
>> >>> + (let* ((new-state (parse-partial-sexp
>> >>> + (or (notmuch-sexp--partial-pos sp) (point))
>> >>> + (point-max) 0 nil
>> >>> + (notmuch-sexp--partial-state sp)))
>> >>> + ;; A complete value is available if we've
>> >>> + ;; reached depth 0.
>> >>> + (depth (first new-state)))
>> >>> + (assert (>= depth 0))
>> >>> + (if (= depth 0)
>> >>> + ;; Reset partial parse state
>> >>> + (setf (notmuch-sexp--partial-state sp) nil
>> >>> + (notmuch-sexp--partial-pos sp) nil
>> >>> + is-complete t)
>> >>> + ;; Update partial parse state
>> >>> + (setf (notmuch-sexp--partial-state sp) new-state
>> >>> + (notmuch-sexp--partial-pos sp) (point-marker)))))
>> >>> + (if is-complete
>> >>> + (read (current-buffer))
>> >>> + 'retry))))
>> >>> + (t
>> >>> + ;; Attempt to read a non-compound value
>> >>> + (let ((start (point)))
>> >>> + (condition-case nil
>> >>> + (let ((val (read (current-buffer))))
>> >>> + ;; We got what looks like a complete read, but if
>> >>> + ;; we reached the end of the buffer in the process,
>> >>> + ;; we may not actually have all of the input we
>> >>> + ;; need (unless it's a string, which is delimited).
>> >>> + (if (or (stringp val) (not (eobp)))
>> >>> + val
>> >>> + ;; We can't be sure the input was complete
>> >>> + (goto-char start)
>> >>> + 'retry))
>> >>> + (end-of-file
>> >>> + (goto-char start)
>> >>> + 'retry)))))))
>> >>> +
>> >>> +(defun notmuch-sexp-begin-list (sp)
>> >>> + "Parse the beginning of a list value and enter the list.
>> >>> +
>> >>> +Returns 'retry if there is insufficient input to parse the
>> >>> +beginning of the list. If this is able to parse the beginning of
>> >>> +a list, it moves point past the token that opens the list and
>> >>> +returns t. Later calls to `notmuch-sexp-read' will return the
>> >>> +elements inside the list. If the input in buffer is not the
>> >>> +beginning of a list, throw invalid-read-syntax."
>> >>> +
>> >>> + (with-current-buffer (notmuch-sexp--buffer sp)
>> >>> + (skip-chars-forward " \n\r\t")
>> >>> + (cond ((eobp) 'retry)
>> >>> + ((= (char-after) ?\()
>> >>> + (forward-char)
>> >>> + (incf (notmuch-sexp--depth sp))
>> >>> + t)
>> >>> + (t
>> >>> + ;; Skip over the bad character like `read' does
>> >>> + (forward-char)
>> >>> + (signal 'invalid-read-syntax (list (string (char-before))))))))
>> >>> +
>> >>> +(defun notmuch-sexp-eof (sp)
>> >>> + "Signal an error if there is more data in SP's buffer.
>> >>> +
>> >>> +Moves point to the beginning of any trailing data or to the end
>> >>> +of the buffer if there is only trailing whitespace."
>> >>> +
>> >>> + (with-current-buffer (notmuch-sexp--buffer sp)
>> >>> + (skip-chars-forward " \n\r\t")
>> >>> + (unless (eobp)
>> >>> + (error "Trailing garbage following expression"))))
>> >>> +
>> >>> +(defvar notmuch-sexp--parser nil
>> >>> + "The buffer-local notmuch-sexp-parser instance.
>> >>> +
>> >>> +Used by `notmuch-sexp-parse-partial-list'.")
>> >>> +
>> >>> +(defvar notmuch-sexp--state nil
>> >>> + "The buffer-local `notmuch-sexp-parse-partial-list' state.")
>> >>> +
>> >>> +(defun notmuch-sexp-parse-partial-list (result-function result-buffer)
>> >>> + "Incrementally parse an S-expression list from the current buffer.
>> >>> +
>> >>> +This function consume an S-expression list from the current
>> >>
>> >> consumes
>> >
>> > Oops, yes.
>> >
>> >>> +buffer, applying RESULT-FUNCTION in RESULT-BUFFER to each
>> >>> +complete value in the list. It operates incrementally and should
>> >>> +be called whenever the input buffer has been extended with
>> >>> +additional data. The caller just needs to ensure it does not
>> >>> +move point in the input buffer."
>> >>> +
>> >>> + ;; Set up the initial state
>> >>> + (unless (local-variable-p 'notmuch-sexp--parser)
>> >>> + (set (make-local-variable 'notmuch-sexp--parser)
>> >>> + (notmuch-sexp-create-parser (current-buffer)))
>> >>> + (set (make-local-variable 'notmuch-sexp--state) 'begin))
>> >>> + (let (done)
>> >>> + (while (not done)
>> >>> + (case notmuch-sexp--state
>> >>> + (begin
>> >>> + ;; Enter the list
>> >>> + (if (eq (notmuch-sexp-begin-list notmuch-sexp--parser) 'retry)
>> >>> + (setq done t)
>> >>> + (setq notmuch-sexp--state 'result)))
>> >>> + (result
>> >>> + ;; Parse a result
>> >>> + (let ((result (notmuch-sexp-read notmuch-sexp--parser)))
>> >>> + (case result
>> >>> + (retry (setq done t))
>> >>> + (end (setq notmuch-sexp--state 'end))
>> >>> + (t (with-current-buffer result-buffer
>> >>> + (funcall result-function result))))))
>> >>> + (end
>> >>> + ;; Any trailing data is unexpected
>> >>> + (notmuch-sexp-eof notmuch-sexp--parser)
>> >>> + (setq done t)))))
>> >>> + ;; Clear out what we've parsed
>> >>> + (delete-region (point-min) (point)))
>> >>> +
>> >>> +(provide 'notmuch-parser)
>> >>> +
>> >>> +;; Local Variables:
>> >>> +;; byte-compile-warnings: (not cl-functions)
>> >>> +;; End:
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