php custom tag replacement

jgetner

i have been trying to map out this project with no luck on even a rough draft of code.

but the problem i am having is how to match and replace the custom tags from a file outside of php and html that will have php processes tied to the tags.

if anyone can show me a way to get this done would be the greatest help

if you don't know read up on PCRE functions and string functions in the php manual.
Edit by admin: no contact info permitted on the forum, thank you

bradgrafelman

Might want to provide us with some examples... hard to help without specifics. Best I can do is say use the [man]PCRE[/man] functions as suggested.

dagon

template engine perhaps?

jgetner

yes and no will be more of a command execution engine that will parse custom tags (syntax) into php processes(exp.."Mysqli_connect($host, $name, $pass , db);") will now be <connect=Mysql>
<mysql=host , name , pass , db >
<mysql=query
Table bla bla bla... >

the goal of this is to dumb down the basic processes of php for the everyday html developer and also make a quicker way to develop applications because each tag can be extended by php this will be more for RAD framework and a Primer for Beginners to PHP and Programming.

also will be completely open source!

dagon

have you considered one of the php frameworks, sounds a lot like what you are trying to achieve.

jgetner

yes i have experience with alot of them and this is a little different approach that will could eventually will bring more php developers so bigger and better can be build and also allows for less lines of code that will have to be written in the long run.

also this could be easily turned into a template engine.

another bright side of this project will it will lower the learning curve into php and programming.

dagon

dumbing down one of the easiest programming languages would seem to be harder than teaching the user proper php in the first place. If his new language is only used in your project space any one who learns it will never be able to apply it else where.

jgetner

yes php is easy if you have some what experiance in programming and atleast a year or 2 and thats why it will have to be build on top of in php so it can be used on almost anything php related.

now image if you could cut the time in half with a very easy sytax and also the tags will be changeable i hope.

so almost any syntax could be plugged in this is tough i admit im having a hella of a type with string manipulation to the extent search and identifiable and then change that into a variable.

i found a script here on phpbuilder that parses php but my lack of ability to understand PCRE functions like preg_match

dagon

well i think this a a foolish exercise, good luck.

jgetner

foolish or not maybe so but this is something that i have a passion for and maybe it could help people or not but who knows.

so besides the project i have a question on how to read a a custom tag such as

<?php

<mysql>

then read the match the tag with preg_match and then turn that tag into a variable with parse_str or maybe a pre_replace_callback?

is this possible?

Weedpacket

I think what you'll end up needing to do is write a full parser, or even parser generator (plus the grammar to feed it), to implement your language. Throwing regular expressions at the task would seem difficult - at best.

Even C's macro preprocessor is a more complex exercise than regular expressions can allow for - and what you describe looks like it would be more complex than #defined macros.

preg_replace_callback could be used, I suppose, to shift some of the complexity out of the regexp and into code. That code would almost certainly involve further calls to preg_replace_callback, and for any language that aspires to general use there'll be bound to be some recursion involved among all these callbacks/regexps. If you write the parser by hand you'll need to pin down exactly how the language will work in advance, because it would not be fun to modify the parser later.

The parser generator approach would require more work up-front; not the least part of which is the fact you'd have to design the language in which the grammar is written and write a parser for that. But once you do have a program that, given a grammar, will write a program that will parse a program written in the (scripting) language specified by that grammar, it would be much easier to experiment with the scripting language because you wouldn't have to keep rewriting the parser from scratch each time.

Or you could use a pre-existing parser generator; the name that comes to my mind at this point is Lemon. Hang on a tick... yes, there is a PHP parser generator in PEAR based on it, but ... no ... that's not the one I'm thinking of ... Ah, it's called Lime. Over at Sourceforge.

So given that, and once you're able to describe your language well enough to explain it to a machine, you'll have what you're after.

halojoy

Weedpacket;10948745 wrote:
Ah, it's called Lime. Over at Sourceforge.

So given that, and once you're able to describe your language well enough to explain it to a machine, you'll have what you're after.

LIME Parser generator for PHP

Complete LALR(1) parser generator and engine (like BISON or YACC) but it's all done in PHP,
and the input grammar is easier and more maintainable.

Write your actions in PHP.
Generate PHP output code.
Drive your parser with PHP.

Wanna make a language?

The first and so far only version of Lime came
2008-05-15
and the download is only 56kB : lime.tar.gz - download

🙂

jgetner

Thanks for the info looks very close to something i had in mind.

jerry_louise

Looks like coldfusion to me it handles its "code" in a similar way to html tags.

jgetner

Could be an alternate to coldfusion yes or maybe some other systax.

i have been looking over lime as much as possible there's some tough code in there slowly making my way through it and soon will contact the lime team to help or expand.

the coding seems great and unique but not documented very well witch makes tough going.