ref: 54bac038f411c10a596adf84c06df32f8c7c4c53
dir: /man/2/sexprs/
.TH SEXPRS 2
.SH NAME
Sexprs: Sexp \- S-expressions
.SH SYNOPSIS
.EX
include "bufio.m";
include "sexprs.m";
sexprs := load Sexprs Sexprs->PATH;
Sexp: adt {
pick {
String =>
s: string;
hint: string;
Binary =>
data: array of byte;
hint: string;
List =>
l: cyclic list of ref Sexp;
}
read: fn(b: ref Bufio->Iobuf): (ref Sexp, string);
parse: fn(s: string): (ref Sexp, string, string);
pack: fn(e: self ref Sexp): array of byte;
packedsize: fn(e: self ref Sexp): int;
text: fn(e: self ref Sexp): string;
b64text: fn(e: self ref Sexp): string;
unpack: fn(a: array of byte): (ref Sexp, array of byte, string);
eq: fn(e: self ref Sexp, t: ref Sexp): int;
copy: fn(e: self ref Sexp): ref Sexp;
astext: fn(e: self ref Sexp): string;
asdata: fn(e: self ref Sexp): array of byte;
islist: fn(e: self ref Sexp): int;
els: fn(e: self ref Sexp): list of ref Sexp;
op: fn(e: self ref Sexp): string;
args: fn(e: self ref Sexp): list of ref Sexp;
};
init: fn();
.EE
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B Sexprs
provides a data type and I/O for S-expressions, or `symbolic expressions',
which represent complex data as trees.
This implementation provides the variant defined by
Rivest in Internet Draft
.L draft-rivest-sexp-00.txt
(4 May 1997),
as used for instance by the Simple Public Key Infrastructure (SPKI).
It offers a basic set of operations on the internal representation,
and input and output in both canonical and advanced transport encodings.
.I Canonical
form conveys binary data directly and efficiently (unlike some
other schemes such as XML).
Canonical encoding must be used when exchanging S-expressions between computers,
and when digitally signing an expression.
.I Advanced
encoding is a more elaborate
form similar to that used by Lisp interpreters, typically using
only printable characters: representing any binary data in hexadecimal or base 64 encodings,
and quoting strings containing special characters, using escape sequences as required.
Unquoted text is called a
.IR token ,
restricted by the standard to a specific alphabet:
it must start with a letter or a character from the set
.LR "-./_:*+=" ,
and contain only letters, digits and characters from that set.
Upper- and lower-case letters are distinct.
See
.IR sexprs (6)
for a precise description.
.PP
.B Init
must be called before invoking any other operation of the module.
.PP
.B Sexp
is the internal representation of S-expression data, as lists and non-list values (atoms) that
in general can form a tree structure;
that is, a list may contain not just atoms but other lists as its elements, and so on recursively.
The atoms are strings of text or binary.
A well-formed S-expression might be a tree, but cannot contain cycles.
.PP
For convenience in processing,
.B Sexp
distinguishes three variants represented in a pick adt:
.TP
.B Sexp.String
An atom that can be represented as a textual string
.IR s ,
including all tokens but also any other data that contains no characters outside the 7-bit ASCII
set and no control-characters other than space.
.I Hint
is the `display hint', typically nil (see the Internet Draft for its intended use).
.TP
.B Sexp.Binary
An atom that must be represented as an array of bytes
.I data
(typically because it is purely binary data or contains non-space control-characters).
.I Hint
again is the display hint.
.TP
.B Sexp.List
A list of S-expression values,
.IR l .
.PP
.B Sexp
provides the following operations for input and output, using
.IR bufio (2)'s
buffered channels (directly or indirectly):
.TP
.BI read( b )
Read one S-expression (a list or a single token) from
.B Iobuf
.IR b .
Return a tuple of the form
.RI ( e , err ),
where
.I e
is the
.B Sexp
representing the data just read, and
.I err
is nil on success;
.I b
is positioned at the first character after the end of the S-expression.
On an error,
.I e
is nil, and
.I err
contains the diagnostic string.
On end-of-file, both
.I e
and
.I err
are nil.
.TP
.BI parse( s )
Parse the first S-expression in string
.IR s ,
and return a tuple
.RI ( e , t , err ),
where
.I e
is the
.B Sexp
representating that expression,
.I t
is the unparsed tail of string
.IR s ,
and
.I err
is a diagnostic string that is nil on success.
On an error,
.I e
is nil,
.I t
is as before, and
.I err
contains the diagnostic.
.TP
.IB e .pack()
Return an array of byte that represents
.B Sexp
.I e
as an S-expression in canonical transport form.
.TP
.IB e .packedsize()
Return the size in bytes of the canonical transport representation of
.IR e .
.TP
.IB e .b64text()
Return a string that contains the base-64 representation of the canonical representation of
.IR e ,
surrounded by braces.
.TP
.IB e .text()
Return a string that represents
.I e
as an S-expression in advanced (`human-readable') transport form containing no newlines.
The result of
.B text
can always be interpreted by
.B Sexp.read
and
.BR Sexp.parse ,
and furthermore
.BI "Sexp.parse(" e ".text())"
yields the same tree value as
.I e
(similarly for
.BR Sexp.read ).
.TP
.BI unpack( a )
Parse the first S-expression in array of byte
.IR a ,
and return a tuple
.RI ( e , r , err ),
where
.I e
is the
.B Sexp
representing the S-expression,
.I r
is a slice of
.I a
giving the portion of
.I a
after the S-expression, and
.I err
is nil on success.
On error,
.I e
is nil,
.I r
is as before,
and
.I err
contains a diagnostic string.
The data in
.I a
is typically in canonical transport form, read from a file or network connection.
.PP
All input functions accept S-expression in either canonical or advanced form, or
any legal mixture of forms.
Expressions can cross line boundaries.
For output in canonical form, use
.BR pack ;
for output in advanced form (similar to Lisp's S-expressions), use
.BR text .
.PP
.B Sexp
provides a further small collection of operations:
.TP
.IB e1 .eq( e2 )
Return non-zero if expression
.I e1
and
.I e2
are identical (isomorphic in tree structure and atoms in corresponding positions in
.I e1
and
.I e2
equal);
return 0 otherwise.
.TP
.IB e .copy()
Return a new
.B Sexp
value equal to
.IR e ,
but sharing no storage with it.
(In other words, it returns a copy of the
whole tree
.IR e ).
.TP
.IB e .islist()
Return true iff
.I e
is a list
(ie, a value of type
.BR Sexp.List ).
.PP
Two operations provide a shorthand for fetching the value of an atom, returning nil if
applied to a list:
.TP
.IB e .astext()
Return the value of
.I e
as a
.BR string ;
binary data is assumed to be a string in
.IR utf (6)
representation.
.TP
.IB e .asdata()
Return the value of
.I e
as an array of bytes.
A
.B String
value will be converted to an array of bytes giving its
.IR utf (6).
.PP
The remaining operations extract values from lists,
and return nil if applied to an atom:
.TP
.IB e .els()
Return the elements of list
.IR e ;
return nil if
.I e
is not a list.
.TP
.IB e .op()
Return the first token of list
.IR e ,
if it is a string; return nil if it is not a string or
.I e
is not a list.
The first token of a list often gives an operation name.
.TP
.IB e .args()
Return a list containing the second and subsequent values in list
.IR e ;
useful when the first value is an operation name and the rest represent parameters
(arguments) to that operation.
.SH EXAMPLES
The following S-expression is in advanced transport form:
.IP
.EX
(snicker "abc" (#03# |YWJj|))
.EE
.PP
It represents a list of three elements: the token
.LR snicker ,
the token
.LR abc ,
and a sub-list with two elements (a hexadecimal constant
representing the byte
.LR 03 ,
and a base-64 constant
.L YWjj
that represents the bytes
.LR abc ).
.PP
Here is another in advanced form with two sublists:
.IP
.EX
(certificate
(issuer bob)
(subject "alice b"))
.EE
.PP
Its equivalent in canonical form (as produced by
.BR pack )
is shown below:
.IP
.EX
(11:certificate(6:issuer3:bob)(7:subject7:alice b))
.EE
.PP
Nesting parentheses
still mark the start and end of lists, but there is no other punctuation or white space, and
the byte sequence representing each atom
is preceded by a decimal count, so that binary values appear unencoded,
and for instance the space
in the last string is not a delimiter but part of the token.
.SH SOURCE
.B /appl/lib/sexprs.b
.SH SEE ALSO
.IR bufio (2),
.IR xml (2),
.IR sexprs (6)
.PP
R. Rivest, ``S-expressions'', Network Working Group Internet Draft,
.L http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~rivest/sexp.txt
(4 May 1997),
reproduced in
.BR /lib/sexp .