VisualLISA
VisualLISA is a visual programming environment for Attribute Grammar specifications.
It was designed to work as a graphical front-end for LISA which is an AG-based compiler generator.
The main objective is to allow language developers to design their attribute grammars with less mental effort, and later to translate the drawings into a LISA specification or into an abstract, and generic (generator independent) XML-representation for AGs.
The programming environment offers, essentially four facilities:
- The Editor, to draw the attribute grammar components
(productions and semantic rules);
- The Syntactic Validator, to ckeck, at drawing-time, the structural
correctness of the specification (according to VisualLISA
meta-grammar), allowing a syntax-directed edition;
- The Semantic Validator, to check, on demand, the semantic correctness
of the specification (according to VisualLISA meta-grammar). Some
semantic tests are performed during edition, and an overall
verification is automatically performed before code generation;
- The Code Generator, to translate the drawings (the AG specification
modules) into LISA meta-language or into XAGra notation.