93 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
93 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
Use Rhai as a Domain-Specific Language (DSL)
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===========================================
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{{#include ../links.md}}
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Rhai can be successfully used as a domain-specific language (DSL).
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Expressions Only
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----------------
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In many DSL scenarios, only evaluation of expressions is needed.
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The [`Engine::eval_expression_XXX`][`eval_expression`] API can be used to restrict
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a script to expressions only.
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Unicode Standard Annex #31 Identifiers
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-------------------------------------
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Variable names and other identifiers do not necessarily need to be ASCII-only.
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The [`unicode-xid-ident`] feature, when turned on, causes Rhai to allow variable names and identifiers
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that follow [Unicode Standard Annex #31](http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr31/).
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This is sometimes useful in a non-English DSL.
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Disable Keywords and/or Operators
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--------------------------------
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In some DSL scenarios, it is necessary to further restrict the language to exclude certain
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language features that are not necessary or dangerous to the application.
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For example, a DSL may disable the `while` loop while keeping all other statement types intact.
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It is possible, in Rhai, to surgically [disable keywords and operators].
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Custom Operators
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----------------
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On the other hand, some DSL scenarios require special operators that make sense only for
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that specific environment. In such cases, it is possible to define [custom operators] in Rhai.
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For example:
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```rust
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let animal = "rabbit";
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let food = "carrot";
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animal eats food // custom operator - 'eats'
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eats(animal, food) // <- the above really de-sugars to this
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```
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Although a [custom operator] always de-sugars to a simple function call,
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nevertheless it makes the DSL syntax much simpler and expressive.
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Custom Syntax
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-------------
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For advanced DSL scenarios, it is possible to define entire expression [_syntax_][custom syntax] -
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essentially custom statement types.
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For example, the following is a SQL-like syntax for some obscure DSL operation:
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```rust
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let table = [..., ..., ..., ...];
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// Syntax = calculate $ident$ ( $expr$ -> $ident$ ) => $ident$ : $expr$
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let total = calculate sum(table->price) => row : row.weight > 50;
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// Note: There is nothing special about those symbols; to make it look exactly like SQL:
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// Syntax = SELECT $ident$ ( $ident$ ) AS $ident$ FROM $expr$ WHERE $expr$
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let total = SELECT sum(price) AS row FROM table WHERE row.weight > 50;
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```
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After registering this custom syntax with Rhai, it can be used anywhere inside a script as
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a normal expression.
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For its evaluation, the callback function will receive the following list of inputs:
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* `inputs[0] = "sum"` - math operator
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* `inputs[1] = "price"` - field name
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* `inputs[2] = "row"` - loop variable name
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* `inputs[3] = Expression(table)` - data source
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* `inputs[4] = Expression(row.wright > 50)` - filter predicate
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Other identifiers, such as `"calculate"`, `"FROM"`, as well as symbols such as `->` and `:` etc.,
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are parsed in the order defined within the custom syntax.
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