9.7 Yacc and Lex support

Automake has somewhat idiosyncratic support for Yacc and Lex.

Automake assumes that the `.c' file generated by yacc (or lex) should be named using the basename of the input file. That is, for a yacc source file `foo.y', Automake will cause the intermediate file to be named `foo.c' (as opposed to `y.tab.c', which is more traditional).

The extension of a yacc source file is used to determine the extension of the resulting `C' or `C++' file. Files with the extension `.y' will be turned into `.c' files; likewise, `.yy' will become `.cc'; `.y++', `c++'; and `.yxx', `.cxx'.

Likewise, lex source files can be used to generate `C' or `C++'; the extensions `.l', `.ll', `.l++', and `.lxx' are recognized.

You should never explicitly mention the intermediate (`C' or `C++') file in any `SOURCES' variable; only list the source file.

The intermediate files generated by yacc (or lex) will be included in any distribution that is made. That way the user doesn't need to have yacc or lex.

If a yacc source file is seen, then your `configure.in' must define the variable `YACC'. This is most easily done by invoking the macro `AC_PROG_YACC' (see section `Particular Program Checks' in The Autoconf Manual).

When yacc is invoked, it is passed `YFLAGS' and `AM_YFLAGS'. The former is a user variable and the latter is intended for the `Makefile.am' author.

Similarly, if a lex source file is seen, then your `configure.in' must define the variable `LEX'. You can use `AC_PROG_LEX' to do this (see section `Particular Program Checks' in The Autoconf Manual), but using AM_PROG_LEX macro (see section 5.6 Autoconf macros supplied with Automake) is recommended.

When lex is invoked, it is passed `LFLAGS' and `AM_LFLAGS'. The former is a user variable and the latter is intended for the `Makefile.am' author.

Automake makes it possible to include multiple yacc (or lex) source files in a single program. When there is more than one distinct yacc (or lex) source file in a directory, Automake uses a small program called ylwrap to run yacc (or lex) in a subdirectory. This is necessary because yacc's output filename is fixed, and a parallel make could conceivably invoke more than one instance of yacc simultaneously. The ylwrap program is distributed with Automake. It should appear in the directory specified by `AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR' (see section `Finding `configure' Input' in The Autoconf Manual), or the current directory if that macro is not used in `configure.in'.

For yacc, simply managing locking is insufficient. The output of yacc always uses the same symbol names internally, so it isn't possible to link two yacc parsers into the same executable.

We recommend using the following renaming hack used in gdb:

#define yymaxdepth c_maxdepth #define yyparse c_parse #define yylex c_lex #define yyerror c_error #define yylval c_lval #define yychar c_char #define yydebug c_debug #define yypact c_pact #define yyr1 c_r1 #define yyr2 c_r2 #define yydef c_def #define yychk c_chk #define yypgo c_pgo #define yyact c_act #define yyexca c_exca #define yyerrflag c_errflag #define yynerrs c_nerrs #define yyps c_ps #define yypv c_pv #define yys c_s #define yy_yys c_yys #define yystate c_state #define yytmp c_tmp #define yyv c_v #define yy_yyv c_yyv #define yyval c_val #define yylloc c_lloc #define yyreds c_reds #define yytoks c_toks #define yylhs c_yylhs #define yylen c_yylen #define yydefred c_yydefred #define yydgoto c_yydgoto #define yysindex c_yysindex #define yyrindex c_yyrindex #define yygindex c_yygindex #define yytable c_yytable #define yycheck c_yycheck #define yyname c_yyname #define yyrule c_yyrule

For each define, replace the `c_' prefix with whatever you like. These defines work for bison, byacc, and traditional yaccs. If you find a parser generator that uses a symbol not covered here, please report the new name so it can be added to the list.