Question

I’d like to parse REXX source so that I can analyse the structure of the program from Java.

I need to do things like normalise equivalent logic structures in the source that are syntactically different, find duplicate variable declarations, etc. and I already have a Java background.

Any easier ways to do this than writing a load of code?

Answer 1

If you have BNF Rexx grammar, then javacc can help you build an AST (Abstract Syntax Tree) representation of that Rexx code.

More accurately, javacc will build the Java classes which will :

• parse Rexx code and
• actually builds the AST.

There would still be ‘load of code’, but you would not to be the one doing the writing of the classes for that Rexx code parser. Only its generation.