docs

OpenLanguage Documentation

Welcome to the documentation for OpenLanguage, a .NET library for parsing Microsoft Office document languages using GPLEX/GPPG-generated lexers and parsers.

Table of Contents

Core Library Documentation

SpreadsheetML

• Formula Processing - SpreadsheetML formula parsing with AST generation

WordprocessingML

• Field Instructions - WordprocessingML field instruction parsing
• MergeField Processing - Mail merge field parsing
• Expression Processing - Expression parsing

Development

• Build System - CMake build system with GPPG POSIX yacc parser generation and GPLEX POSIX lex lexer generation
• Grammar Files - Working with yacc and lex grammar files
• Testing - Unit test documentation

API Reference

The API reference is generated from XML documentation comments in the source code.

Quick Navigation

Component	Description	Documentation
Formula Parser	SpreadsheetML formula AST parsing	Formula.md
Field Instructions	WordprocessingML field instruction parsing	FieldInstruction.md
MergeField Parser	Mail merge field parsing	MergeField.md
Expression Parser	Expression parsing	Expression.md

Project Structure

OpenLanguage consists of:

• SpreadsheetML.Formula: SpreadsheetML formula parser using GPLEX/GPPG

  • Formula.cs: Main API for parsing formulas into ASTs
  • FormulaParser.cs: Static parser methods
  • Lang/Lex/formula.lex: Lexical grammar for SpreadsheetML formulas
  • Lang/Parse/formula.y: yacc grammar for SpreadsheetML formulas

• WordprocessingML.FieldInstruction: WordprocessingML field instruction parser

  • FieldInstruction.cs: Core field instruction and argument classes
  • Typed/: Factory and base classes for strongly-typed instructions
  • Parser.cs & Lexer.cs: Parser components

• Other WordprocessingML Components:

  • MergeField, Expression: Additional lexer components

Build System

The project uses CMake to process .y and .lex files with the C preprocessor (cpp) before compilation. Generated code is placed in the Generated/ directory.

Testing

Unit tests are located in OpenLanguage.Test/ and use xUnit framework. Tests cover:

• Formula parsing with various combinations of pattern cases
• Field instruction creation and manipulation
• Argument type validation
• AST reconstruction and round-trip testing

Support

• 📖 View source code for implementation details
• 🐛 Issue Tracker
• 📧 Contact the maintainers through GitHub