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169 lines
5.9 KiB
HTML
169 lines
5.9 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML>
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<html>
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<head>
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<title>About: GF online editor for simple multilingual grammars</title>
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<link rel=stylesheet href="editor.css">
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<link rel=author href="http://www.cse.chalmers.se/~hallgren/" title="Thomas Hallgren">
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<meta name = "viewport" content = "width = device-width">
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<meta http-equiv="Content-type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8">
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<meta charset="UTF-8">
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<script type="text/javascript" src="slideshow.js"></script>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>GF online editor for simple multilingual grammars</h1>
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<div class=right>
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<div class=slideshow>
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<img onload="start_slideshow(this,{delay:5,fade:0.3})" src="P/w1s.jpg" alt="[GF online editor screen shoot]">
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<img class=hidden src="P/w2s.jpg" alt="[GF online editor screen shoot]">
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<img class=hidden src="P/w3s.jpg" alt="[GF online editor screen shoot]">
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<img class=hidden src="P/w4s.jpg" alt="[GF online editor screen shoot]">
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</div>
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</div>
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<h2>About</h2>
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Traditionally, <a href="http://www.grammaticalframework.org/">GF</a>
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grammars are created in a text editor and tested in the
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GF shell. Text editors know very little (if anything) about the syntax of
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GF grammars, and thus provide little guidance for novice GF users. Also, the
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grammar author has to download and install the GF software on his/her own
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computer.
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<p>
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In contrast, the
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<a href="."><em>GF online editor for simple multilingual grammars</em></a>
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is available online, making it easier to get started. All that
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is needed is a reasonably modern web browser. Even Android and iOS devices
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can be used.
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<p>
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The editor
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also guides the grammar author by showing a skeleton grammar file and
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hinting how the parts should be filled in. When a new part is added to the
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grammar, it is immediately checked for errors.
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<p>
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Editing operations are accessed by clicking on editing symbols embedded
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in the grammar display:
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<span class=more>+</span>=Add an item,
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<span class=delete>×</span>=Delete an item,
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<span class=edit>%</span>=Edit an item.
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These are revealed when hovering over items. On touch devices, hovering is
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in some cases simulated by tapping, but there is also a button at the bottom
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of the display to "Enabile editing on touch devices" that reveals all editing
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symbols.
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<p>
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In spite of its name, the editor runs entierly in the web
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browser, so once you have opened the web page, you can
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<strong>continue editing</strong> grammars even while you are
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<strong>offline</strong>.
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<h3>Limitations</h3>
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<p>
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At the moment, the editor supports only a small subset of the GF grammar
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notation.
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Proper error checking is done for abstract syntax, but not (yet) for concrete
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syntax. The resource grammar library is not available.
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<p>
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The grammars created with this editor always consists of one file for the
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abstract syntax, and one file for each concrete syntax.
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<h4>Abstract syntax</h4>
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The supported abstract syntax corresponds to context-free grammars
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(no dependent types). The definition of an abstract syntax is limited to
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<ul>
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<li>a list of <em>category names</em>,
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<var>Cat<sub>1</sub></var> ; ... ; <var>Cat<sub>n</sub></var>,
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<li>a list of <em>functions</em> of the form
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<var>Fun</var> : <var>Cat<sub>1</sub></var> -> ... ->
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<var>Cat<sub>n</sub></var>,
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<li>and a <em>start category</em>.
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</ul>
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Available editing operations:
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<ul>
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<li>Categories can be added, removed and renamed. When renaming a category,
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occurences of it in function types will be updated accordingly.
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<li>Functions can be added, removed and edited. Concrete syntaxes are updated
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to reflect changes.
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<li>Functions can be reordered using drag-and-drop.
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</ul>
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Error checks:
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<ul>
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<li>Syntactically incorrect function definitions are refused.
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<li>Semantic problem such as duplicated definitions or references to
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undefined categories, are highlighted.
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</ul>
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<h4>Concrete syntax</h4>
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At the moment, concrete syntax definitions are limited to
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<ul>
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<li><em>parameter types</em>,
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<var>P</var> = <var>C<sub>1</sub></var> | ... |<var>C<sub>n</sub></var>,
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<li><em>linearization types</em> for the categories in the abstract syntax,
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<li><em>operation definitions</em>, <var>op</var> = <var>expr</var>,
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<li>and <em>linearizations</em> for the functions in the abstract syntax.
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</ul>
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Available editing operations:
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<ul>
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<li>The LHSs of the linearization types and linearizations are determined by
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the abstract syntax and do not need to be entered manually.
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The RHSs can
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be edited.
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<li>Parameter types can be added, removed and edited.
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<li>Operation definitons can be added, removed and edited.
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<li>Definitions can be reordered (using drag-and-drop)
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</ul>
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Error checks:
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<ul>
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<li>The RHSs in the concrete syntax are not checked for errors. Arbitrary
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strings can be entered.
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</ul>
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<h3>Testing grammars</h3>
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By pressing the <strong>Upload</strong> button, a grammar can be uploaded to
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the GF server.
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It will then be compiled with GF, and any errors not checked by the editor
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will be detected and reported. If the grammar is free from errors, the user
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can test the grammar by clicking on links to the online GF shell, the Minibar
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or the Translation Quiz.
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<h3>Future work</h3>
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This prototype gives an idea of how a web based GF grammar editor could work.
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We do not expect to create a full implementation of GF that runs in the
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web browser, but let the editor communicate with a server running GF.
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<p>
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By developing a GF server with an appropriate API, it should
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be possible to extend the editor to support a larger fragment of GF,
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to do proper error checking, and to allow grammars to be tested in the GF
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shell or the minibar.
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<p>
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Grammars are currently stored locally in the browser, but a future version
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could allow grammars to be stored "in the cloud", allowing the same grammars
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to be accessed from multiple devices.
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<hr>
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<div class=modtime><small>
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<!-- hhmts start --> Last modified: Wed Feb 23 17:37:16 CET 2011 <!-- hhmts end -->
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</small></div>
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<address>
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<a href="http://www.cse.chalmers.se/~hallgren/">TH</a>
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<img src="http://www.altocumulus.org/~hallgren/online.cgi?icon" alt="">
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</address>
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</body> </html>
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