R4d (Rad)

R4d is a text oriented macro prosessor made with rust.

NOTE

R4d is in very early stage, so there might be lots of undetected bugs. Fast implementaiton was my priorites, thus optimization has had a least consideration for the time.

Usage

```bash

Usage : rad [OPTIONS] [FILE]...

Read from file and save to file

rad inputfile.txt -o outfile.txt

Read from file and print to stdout

rad input_file.txt

Read from standard input and print to file

printf '...text...' | rad -o out_file.txt

Read from stdin and print to stdout

printf '...text...' | rad

Use following options to decide error behaviours

default is stderr

rad -e FileToWriteError.txt # Log error to file rad -s # Suppress error rad -n # Always use unix newline (default is '\r\n' in windows platform) rad -p # Purge mode, print nothing if a macro doesn't exist rad -g # Always enable greedy for every macro invocation

Freeze(zip to binary) rules to a single file

rad test -f frozen.r4f

Melt a file and use in processing

rad test -m frozen.r4f ```

Type -h or --help to see full options.

Syntax

Macro definition

Definition syntax is similar to macro invocation but requires a specific form to sucessfully register the macro.

$define(name,arg1 arg2=$arg1() $arg2())

• First argument is a macro name. Macro should start with an alphabet character and following characters should be either alphanumeric or underscore.
• Second argument is macro's arguments. Macro argument also follows same rule of naming. Multiple arguments can be declared and should be separated by a whitespace.
• Third argument is a macro body. Any text can be included in the macro body while an unbalanced parenthesis will prevent processor's work. Enclose the body with literal syntax or escape with backslash to type literal parenthesis. Other than that any character including newlines('\n', "\r\n") are all respected (UTF-8). Even literal syntax itself is included.

You can simply bind the value without giving arguments.

$define(v_name=Simon creek)

Caveats

Definition's body can include any macro invocation in itself, thus wrong argument declaration cannot be detected at the time of definition.

``` $define(panik,kalm=$calm())

$panik()

error: Failed to invoke a macro : "calm" --> stdin:2:2 $calm() ```

Macro inovokation

Prefix is a dollar sign($) $define(macro_name,a1 a2=$a1() $a2()) $macro_name(arg1, arg2) Macro can be invoked anywhere after the definition. My name is $macro_name(Simon, Creek). converts to My name is Simon Creek.

Special argument $: is used for iterated value. $foreach(\*John,Simon,Jane*\,Name : $: ) $forloop(5,10,$:th ) converts to ``` Name : John Name : Simon Name : Jane

5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th

```

NOTE

An unbalanced parenthesis changes the behaviour of macro invocation and a non-double-quoted comma will change the number or content of arguments. If desirable content includes unbalanced parentheses or commas, enclose the body with string literal with the syntax of \* TEXT GOES HERE *\

``` $repeat(2,I'm,comma,separated

)

I'mI'm To include commas you need to enclose with string literal $repeat(2,*I'm,comma,separated*\

)

I'm,comma,separated I'm,comma,separated

```

Advanced features

Greedy macro

``` $define(test,a b c=$a() $b() $c()) $test(first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth)

$test+(first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth)

first second third first second third, fourth, fifth, sixth ```

Piping

``` $define(test,a=$a()) $test|(I'm going to be used by a pipe macro) $trim($repeat(2,$-() )) $test|(*I'll be requoted with literal*)

$*()

I'm going to be used by a pipe macro I'm going to be used by a pipe macro *I'll be requoted with literal*\ ```

Goal

R4d aims to be a modern alternative to m4 processor, which means

• No trivial m4 quotes for macro definition
• Explicit rule for macro definition and usage so that de facto underscore rule is not necessary
• Easier binding with other programming languages(Rust's c binding)
• Enable combination of file stream and stdout
• As expressive as current m4 macro processor

Built-in macros (or macro-like functions)

Usages