Re: flex (was Re: [HACKERS] Installation procedure.)

> BTW, does anyone understand *why* our lexer files require flex and not
> just garden-variety lex? Would it be worth trying to make them more
> portable?

Some of the oldest and cruftiest AT&T lexers do not support the
concept of an exclusive start state, which we use extensively (it's my
fault; makes for *much* cleaner specifications).

Unfortunately, Sun adopted some SysV packages when they made the
switch from BSD, and got a bad lexer in the bargain. afaik, most other
systems ship a more capable package.

> Or perhaps we should ship pre-lexed derived files, as we do for the
> larger grammar files?

Yes, that would probably be a good idea...

- Thomas

--
Thomas Lockhart lockhart(at)alumni(dot)caltech(dot)edu
South Pasadena, California