erl_parse

This module is the basic Erlang parser which converts tokens into the abstract form of either forms (i.e., top-level constructs), expressions, or terms. The Abstract Format is described in the ERTS User's Guide. Note that a token list must end with the dot token in order to be acceptable to the parse functions (see erl_scan).

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This function parses Tokens as if it were a form. It returns:

{ok, AbsForm}

The parsing was successful. AbsForm is the abstract form of the parsed form.

{error, ErrorInfo}

An error occurred.

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This function parses Tokens as if it were a list of expressions. It returns:

{ok, Expr_list}

The parsing was successful. Expr_list is a list of the abstract forms of the parsed expressions.

{error, ErrorInfo}

An error occurred.

Types:

This function parses Tokens as if it were a term. It returns:

{ok, Term}

The parsing was successful. Term is the Erlang term corresponding to the token list.

{error, ErrorInfo}

An error occurred.

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Uses an ErrorDescriptor and returns a string which describes the error. This function is usually called implicitly when an ErrorInfo structure is processed (see below).

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This function generates a list of tokens representing the abstract form AbsTerm of an expression. Optionally, it appends Moretokens.

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Converts the abstract form AbsTerm of a term into a conventional Erlang data structure (i.e., the term itself). This is the inverse of abstract/1.

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Converts the Erlang data structure Data into an abstract form of type AbsTerm. This is the inverse of normalise/1.

The ErrorInfo mentioned above is the standard ErrorInfo structure which is returned from all IO modules. It has the format:

    {ErrorLine, Module, ErrorDescriptor}    

A string which describes the error is obtained with the following call:

    Module:format_error(ErrorDescriptor)    

io(3), erl_scan(3), ERTS User's Guide