I’m having issues getting a small spirit/qi grammar to compile. The build stack trace

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Asked: May 15, 20262026-05-15T10:24:40+00:00 2026-05-15T10:24:40+00:00

I’m having issues getting a small spirit/qi grammar to compile. The build stack trace

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I’m having issues getting a small spirit/qi grammar to compile. The build stack trace is fugly enought to not make any sense to me (despite some assertion_failed i could notice in there but that didn’t brought much information)

the input grammar header:

inputGrammar.h

#include <boost/config/warning_disable.hpp>
#include <boost/spirit/include/qi.hpp>
#include <boost/spirit/include/phoenix_core.hpp>
#include <boost/spirit/include/phoenix_operator.hpp>
#include <boost/spirit/include/phoenix_fusion.hpp>
#include <boost/spirit/include/phoenix_stl.hpp>
#include <boost/fusion/include/adapt_struct.hpp>
#include <boost/variant/recursive_variant.hpp>
#include <boost/foreach.hpp>

#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>
#include <vector>

namespace sp = boost::spirit;
namespace qi = boost::spirit::qi;
using namespace boost::spirit::ascii;
//using namespace boost::spirit::arg_names;

namespace fusion = boost::fusion;
namespace phoenix = boost::phoenix;

using phoenix::at_c;
using phoenix::push_back;


template< typename Iterator , typename ExpressionAST >
struct InputGrammar : qi::grammar<Iterator, ExpressionAST(), space_type> {

    InputGrammar() : InputGrammar::base_type( block ) {
        tag = sp::lexeme[+(alpha)        [sp::_val += sp::_1]];//[+(char_ - '<')        [_val += _1]];

        block = sp::lit("block") [ at_c<0>(sp::_val) = sp::_1]
                >> "(" >> *instruction[ push_back( at_c<1>(sp::_val) , sp::_1 ) ]
                >> ")";

        command = tag   [ at_c<0>(sp::_val) = sp::_1]
                                >> "(" >> *instruction [ push_back( at_c<1>(sp::_val) , sp::_1 )]
                                >> ")";

        instruction = ( command | tag ) [sp::_val = sp::_1];
    }
    qi::rule< Iterator , std::string() , space_type > tag;
    qi::rule< Iterator , ExpressionAST() , space_type > block;
    qi::rule< Iterator , ExpressionAST() , space_type > function_def;
    qi::rule< Iterator , ExpressionAST() , space_type > command;
    qi::rule< Iterator , ExpressionAST() , space_type > instruction;
};

the test build program:
i seems the build fails at qi::phrase_parse, i am using boost 1.43 and g++ 4.4.1

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

//my grammar
#include <InputGrammar.h>

struct MockExpressionNode {
    std::string name;
    std::vector< MockExpressionNode > operands;

    typedef std::vector< MockExpressionNode >::iterator iterator;
    typedef std::vector< MockExpressionNode >::const_iterator const_iterator;

    iterator begin() { return operands.begin(); }
    const_iterator begin() const { return operands.begin(); }
    iterator end() { return operands.end(); }
    const_iterator end() const { return operands.end(); }

    bool is_leaf() const {
        return ( operands.begin() == operands.end() );
    }
};


BOOST_FUSION_ADAPT_STRUCT(
    MockExpressionNode,
    (std::string, name)
    (std::vector<MockExpressionNode>, operands)
)

int const tabsize = 4;

void tab(int indent)
{
    for (int i = 0; i < indent; ++i)
        std::cout << ' ';
}

template< typename ExpressionNode >
struct ExpressionNodePrinter
{
    ExpressionNodePrinter(int indent = 0)
      : indent(indent)
    {
    }

    void operator()(ExpressionNode const& node) const {
        cout << " tag: " << node.name << endl;
        for (int i=0 ; i < node.operands.size() ; i++ ) {
            tab( indent ); cout << " arg "<<i<<": "; ExpressionNodePrinter(indent + 2)( node.operands[i]); cout << endl;
        }
    }

    int indent;
};

int test() {
 MockExpressionNode root;
    InputGrammar< string::const_iterator , MockExpressionNode > g();
    std::string litA = "litA";
    std::string litB = "litB";
    std::string litC = "litC";
    std::string litD = "litD";
    std::string litE = "litE";
    std::string litF = "litF";
    std::string source = litA+"( "+litB+" ,"+litC+" , "+ litD+" ( "+litE+", "+litF+" ) "+ " )";
    string::const_iterator iter = source.begin();
    string::const_iterator end = source.end();
    bool r = qi::phrase_parse( iter , end , g , root , space );
    ExpressionNodePrinter< MockExpressionNode > np;
    np( root );
};

int main() {
   test();
}

finally, the build error is the following:

/usr/bin/make -f nbproject/Makefile-linux_amd64_devel.mk SUBPROJECTS= .build-conf
make[1]: se ingresa al directorio `/home/mineq/NetBeansProjects/InputParserTests'
/usr/bin/make  -f nbproject/Makefile-linux_amd64_devel.mk dist/linux_amd64_devel/GNU-Linux-x86/vpuinputparsertests
make[2]: se ingresa al directorio `/home/mineq/NetBeansProjects/InputParserTests'
mkdir -p build/linux_amd64_devel/GNU-Linux-x86
rm -f build/linux_amd64_devel/GNU-Linux-x86/tests_main.o.d
g++ `llvm-config --cxxflags` `pkg-config --cflags unittest-cpp` `pkg-config --cflags boost-1.43` `pkg-config --cflags boost-coroutines`    -c -g -I../InputParser -MMD -MP -MF build/linux_amd64_devel/GNU-Linux-x86/tests_main.o.d -o build/linux_amd64_devel/GNU-Linux-x86/tests_main.o tests_main.cpp
                 from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/auto.hpp:16,
                 from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi.hpp:15,
                 from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/include/qi.hpp:16,
                 from ../InputParser/InputGrammar.h:12,
                 from tests_main.cpp:14:
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/parse.hpp: In function ‘bool boost::spirit::qi::phrase_parse(Iterator&, Iterator, const Expr&, const Skipper&, boost::spirit::qi::skip_flag::enum_type, Attr&) [with Iterator = __gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, Expr = InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>(), Skipper = MockExpressionNode, Attr = const boost::proto::exprns_::expr<boost::proto::tag::terminal, boost::proto::argsns_::term<boost::spirit::tag::char_code<boost::spirit::tag::space, boost::spirit::char_encoding::ascii> >, 0l>]’:
In file included from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/detail/parse_auto.hpp:14,
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/parse.hpp:125:   instantiated from ‘bool boost::spirit::qi::phrase_parse(Iterator&, Iterator, const Expr&, const Skipper&, Attr&) [with Iterator = __gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, Expr = InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>(), Skipper = MockExpressionNode, Attr = const boost::spirit::ascii::space_type]’
tests_main.cpp:206:   instantiated from here
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/parse.hpp:99: error: no matching function for call to ‘assertion_failed(mpl_::failed************ (boost::spirit::qi::phrase_parse(Iterator&, Iterator, const Expr&, const Skipper&, boost::spirit::qi::skip_flag::enum_type, Attr&) [with Iterator = __gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, Expr = InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>(), Skipper = MockExpressionNode, Attr = const boost::proto::exprns_::expr<boost::proto::tag::terminal, boost::proto::argsns_::term<boost::spirit::tag::char_code<boost::spirit::tag::space, boost::spirit::char_encoding::ascii> >, 0l>]::error_invalid_expression::************)(InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode> (*)()))’
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/parse.hpp:125:   instantiated from ‘bool boost::spirit::qi::phrase_parse(Iterator&, Iterator, const Expr&, const Skipper&, Attr&) [with Iterator = __gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, Expr = InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>(), Skipper = MockExpressionNode, Attr = const boost::spirit::ascii::space_type]’
tests_main.cpp:206:   instantiated from here
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/parse.hpp:100: error: no matching function for call to ‘assertion_failed(mpl_::failed************ (boost::spirit::qi::phrase_parse(Iterator&, Iterator, const Expr&, const Skipper&, boost::spirit::qi::skip_flag::enum_type, Attr&) [with Iterator = __gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, Expr = InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>(), Skipper = MockExpressionNode, Attr = const boost::proto::exprns_::expr<boost::proto::tag::terminal, boost::proto::argsns_::term<boost::spirit::tag::char_code<boost::spirit::tag::space, boost::spirit::char_encoding::ascii> >, 0l>]::error_invalid_expression::************)(MockExpressionNode))’
                 from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/proto/proto.hpp:12,
                 from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/support/meta_compiler.hpp:17,
                 from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/meta_compiler.hpp:14,
                 from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/action/action.hpp:14,
                 from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/action.hpp:14,
                 from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi.hpp:14,
                 from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/include/qi.hpp:16,
                 from ../InputParser/InputGrammar.h:12,
                 from tests_main.cpp:14:
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/proto/detail/expr0.hpp: At global scope:
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/proto/proto_fwd.hpp: In instantiation of ‘boost::proto::exprns_::expr<boost::proto::tag::terminal, boost::proto::argsns_::term<InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>()>, 0l>’:
In file included from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/proto/core.hpp:13,
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/utility/enable_if.hpp:59:   instantiated from ‘boost::disable_if<boost::proto::result_of::is_expr<boost::proto::exprns_::expr<boost::proto::tag::terminal, boost::proto::argsns_::term<InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>()>, 0l>, void>, void>’
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/support/meta_compiler.hpp:200:   instantiated from ‘boost::spirit::result_of::compile<boost::spirit::qi::domain, InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>(), boost::fusion::unused_type, void>’
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/parse.hpp:107:   instantiated from ‘bool boost::spirit::qi::phrase_parse(Iterator&, Iterator, const Expr&, const Skipper&, boost::spirit::qi::skip_flag::enum_type, Attr&) [with Iterator = __gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, Expr = InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>(), Skipper = MockExpressionNode, Attr = const boost::proto::exprns_::expr<boost::proto::tag::terminal, boost::proto::argsns_::term<boost::spirit::tag::char_code<boost::spirit::tag::space, boost::spirit::char_encoding::ascii> >, 0l>]’
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/parse.hpp:125:   instantiated from ‘bool boost::spirit::qi::phrase_parse(Iterator&, Iterator, const Expr&, const Skipper&, Attr&) [with Iterator = __gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, Expr = InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>(), Skipper = MockExpressionNode, Attr = const boost::spirit::ascii::space_type]’
tests_main.cpp:206:   instantiated from here
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/proto/detail/expr0.hpp:64: error: field ‘boost::proto::exprns_::expr<boost::proto::tag::terminal, boost::proto::argsns_::term<InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>()>, 0l>::child0’ invalidly declared function type
                 from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/auto.hpp:16,
                 from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi.hpp:15,
                 from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/include/qi.hpp:16,
                 from ../InputParser/InputGrammar.h:12,
                 from tests_main.cpp:14:
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/parse.hpp: In function ‘bool boost::spirit::qi::phrase_parse(Iterator&, Iterator, const Expr&, const Skipper&, boost::spirit::qi::skip_flag::enum_type, Attr&) [with Iterator = __gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, Expr = InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>(), Skipper = MockExpressionNode, Attr = const boost::proto::exprns_::expr<boost::proto::tag::terminal, boost::proto::argsns_::term<boost::spirit::tag::char_code<boost::spirit::tag::space, boost::spirit::char_encoding::ascii> >, 0l>]’:
In file included from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/detail/parse_auto.hpp:14,
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/parse.hpp:125:   instantiated from ‘bool boost::spirit::qi::phrase_parse(Iterator&, Iterator, const Expr&, const Skipper&, Attr&) [with Iterator = __gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, Expr = InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>(), Skipper = MockExpressionNode, Attr = const boost::spirit::ascii::space_type]’
tests_main.cpp:206:   instantiated from here
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/parse.hpp:107: error: request for member ‘parse’ in ‘boost::spirit::compile [with Domain = boost::spirit::qi::domain, Expr = InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>()](((InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode> (&)())((InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode> (*)())expr)))’, which is of non-class type ‘InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>()’
                 from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/auto.hpp:15,
                 from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi.hpp:15,
                 from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/include/qi.hpp:16,
                 from ../InputParser/InputGrammar.h:12,
                 from tests_main.cpp:14:
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/skip_over.hpp: In function ‘void boost::spirit::qi::skip_over(Iterator&, const Iterator&, const T&) [with Iterator = __gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, T = boost::spirit::qi::phrase_parse(Iterator&, Iterator, const Expr&, const Skipper&, boost::spirit::qi::skip_flag::enum_type, Attr&) [with Iterator = __gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, Expr = InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>(), Skipper = MockExpressionNode, Attr = const boost::proto::exprns_::expr<boost::proto::tag::terminal, boost::proto::argsns_::term<boost::spirit::tag::char_code<boost::spirit::tag::space, boost::spirit::char_encoding::ascii> >, 0l>]::skipper_type]’:
In file included from /home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/auto/auto.hpp:19,
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/parse.hpp:112:   instantiated from ‘bool boost::spirit::qi::phrase_parse(Iterator&, Iterator, const Expr&, const Skipper&, boost::spirit::qi::skip_flag::enum_type, Attr&) [with Iterator = __gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, Expr = InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>(), Skipper = MockExpressionNode, Attr = const boost::proto::exprns_::expr<boost::proto::tag::terminal, boost::proto::argsns_::term<boost::spirit::tag::char_code<boost::spirit::tag::space, boost::spirit::char_encoding::ascii> >, 0l>]’
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/parse.hpp:125:   instantiated from ‘bool boost::spirit::qi::phrase_parse(Iterator&, Iterator, const Expr&, const Skipper&, Attr&) [with Iterator = __gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, Expr = InputGrammar<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<const char*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, MockExpressionNode>(), Skipper = MockExpressionNode, Attr = const boost::spirit::ascii::space_type]’
tests_main.cpp:206:   instantiated from here
/home/mineq/third_party/boost_1_43_0/boost/spirit/home/qi/skip_over.hpp:27: error: ‘const struct MockExpressionNode’ has no member named ‘parse’
make[2]: *** [build/linux_amd64_devel/GNU-Linux-x86/tests_main.o] Error 1
make[2]: se sale del directorio `/home/mineq/NetBeansProjects/InputParserTests'
make[1]: *** [.build-conf] Error 2
make[1]: se sale del directorio `/home/mineq/NetBeansProjects/InputParserTests'
make: *** [.build-impl] Error 2
BUILD FAILED (exit value 2, total time: 1m 48s)

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1 Answer

Editorial Team · Answer 1 · 2026-05-15T10:24:40+00:00

The attribute(s) always have to be passed as the last parameter(s) to the parse/phrase_parse functions. So you need to write:

bool r = qi::phrase_parse( iter , end , g , space, root );

Further, you can remove all semantic actions from your grammar if you add additional constructors to the ExpressionAST type:

template< typename Iterator , typename ExpressionAST > 
struct InputGrammar : qi::grammar<Iterator, ExpressionAST(), space_type> { 

    InputGrammar() : InputGrammar::base_type( block ) { 
        tag = sp::lexeme[+(alpha)]; 
        block = sp::lit("block") >> "(" >> *instruction >> ")"; 
        command = tag >> "(" >> *instruction >> ")"; 
        instruction = ( command | tag ); 
    } 
    qi::rule< Iterator , std::string() , space_type > tag; 
    qi::rule< Iterator , ExpressionAST() , space_type > block; 
    qi::rule< Iterator , ExpressionAST() , space_type > function_def; 
    qi::rule< Iterator , ExpressionAST() , space_type > command; 
    qi::rule< Iterator , ExpressionAST() , space_type > instruction; 
};

and

struct MockExpressionNode { 
    // ...
    MockExpressionNode() {}
    MockExpressionNode(std::string name) : name(name) {}
    // ...
};

But even then it won’t compile because the MockExpressionNode data structure is self-recursive. This can be fixed by either storing a vector of pointers (which requires to changethe grammar) or by using boost::recursive_wrapper.

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