A programming language for novice users to easily generate HTML forms LANGUAGE REFERENCE MANUAL Vinay Ahuja va2199 columbia edu COMS W4115 Programming Languages and Translators March 10 2009 Table of Contents 1 Introduction 3 2 Execution 3 3 Lexical Conventions 3 3 1 ASCII 3 3 2 Whitespace 3 3 3 Identifiers 4 3 4 Keywords 4 3 5 Types 4 3 5 1 Number 4 3 5 2 Boolean 5 3 5 3 String 5 3 5 4 create 5 3 5 5 page 5 3 5 6 form 5 3 5 7 set 5 3 5 8 title 6 3 5 9 method 6 3 5 10 action 6 3 5 11 submit 6 3 5 12 reset 6 3 5 13 textbox 6 3 5 14 label 6 3 5 15 name 7 3 5 16 size 7 3 5 17 if then else 7 1 Introduction The Bridge programming language provides an ability for novice users to develop web pages without necessarily being familiar with any HTML syntax As implied by the name the language provides novice users a bridge to web based applications It does so by providing users an intuitive and easy to learn syntax which is simple enough to read and understand but at the same time powerful enough to create complex HTML pages This document formally defines the Bridge programming language its syntax and semantics so that users and developers can understand the basic elements and start to write programs in this language 2 Execution A file representing a Bridge program has a br extension and each such file represents a complete program The Bridge language interpreter scans this file in the lexical analysis stage which results in tokens explained later in this document The tokens are then parsed to verify if the input is a valid syntactically correct program This stage is followed by a semantic analysis and the generation of a html file as an output which contains HTML code generated for the input program The HTML file can then be viewed in any browser 3 Lexical Conventions A Bridge program is comprised of a single file written in ASCII characer set Following the convention of other common languages comments tabs and newlines as defined below are ignored Whitespace is required to separate tokens and is used by the parser to identify the beginning and the end of a token At the lexical analysis stage a Bridge program can be thought of as a single line program containing the tokens described below seperated by whitespace 3 1 ASCII Includes all of the 128 characters defined in the USASCII code chart Every single element of a Bridge program is made up of some combination of these characters which the parser determines to be a part of the language 3 2 Whitespace Whitespace is used to identify one token apart from another 3 3 Identifiers An identifers is defined as a combination of alphanumeric characters a z AZ 0 9 and must start with a lower case alphabet a z 3 4 Keywords The following identifiers are reserved keywords and therefore may not be used in any other context Number Boolean String create set textbox label name size page form method action title submit reset if then else 3 5 Types 3 5 1 Number A Number is used to define an integer value 0 9 Example Usage Number x 10 3 5 2 Boolean A Boolean holds a value of true or false Example Usage Boolean b true if b true then else 3 5 3 String A String is any combination of ASCII characters a z A Z 0 9 and may use whitespace to separate words just like in regular Engish language A String must start with an alphabet a z A Z Example Usage String s Hello World 3 5 4 create The create keyword is used to create either a regular html page or a html form and their properties Example Usage create page create form 3 5 5 page The page keyword is used in conjunction with the create keyword for creating a regular HTML page with no form Example Usage create page 3 5 6 form The form keyword is used in conjunction with the create keyword for creating a HTML page which contains a form Example Usage create form 3 5 7 set The set keyword is used to set a property of HTML page or form where a property may be a title label value name size rows cols method or an action Example Usage set method POST 3 5 8 title The title keyword is used to set a page or form s title and is used in conjuntion with the the set keyword Example Usage set title Bridge Demo 3 5 9 method The method keyword is used to set a html form s method of sending information to the server and taken in either a POST or GET values Example Usage set method POST 3 5 10 action The action keyword is used to set a html form s action the target that receives the information entered by a user in the html form Example Usage set action webServiceMethod 3 5 11 submit The action keyword is used to create a submit button for a html form Example Usage create submit 3 5 12 reset The action keyword is used to create a reset button for a html form Example Usage create reset 3 5 13 textbox The text keyword is used to create a HTML text box and must be used inside a HTML page or form Example Usage create page create textbox 3 5 14 label The label keyword is used to display the text associated a textbox 3 5 15 name The name keyword is used to provide a name to a an input field like a textbox on the html form and is used in conjunction with the set keyword Example Usage set name in1 3 5 16 size The size keyword is used to set the size of an input field like a textbox on the html form and is used in conjunction with the set keyword Example Usage set size 20 3 5 17 if then else The if expr then else keywords are used to execute code based on simple arithematic expressions Example Usage if x 3 then else 3 6 Punctuations Bridge programs may include the following punctuations 3 7 Sample Programs The following are some sample programs written in Bridge 3 7 1 Hello World create page set title Hello World set label This is a sample Hello World program 3 7 2 User Info Form create form set title User Info Form set method POST set action userInfoWebService create textbox set label First Name set size 20 set name fName create textbox set label Last Name set size 25 set name lName create submit set label Submit set name button1 create reset set label Reset set name button2
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