Generating test data with enhanced context-free grammars

The use of context-free grammars to improve functional testing of very-large-scale integrated circuits is described. It is shown that enhanced context-free grammars are effective tools for generating test data. The discussion covers preliminary considerations, the first tests, generating systematic tests, and testing subroutines. The author's experience using context-free grammars to generate tests for VLSI circuit simulators indicates that they are remarkably effective tools that virtually anyone can use to debug virtually any program     

A representation of trees by languages I

A tree can be represented by a language consisting of a suitable coding of its finite branches. We investigate this representation and derive a number of reductions between certain equivalence problems for context-free tree grammars and recursive program schemes and the (open) equivalence problem for DPDA's. This is the first part of this work: it is devoted to technical results on prefix-free languages and strict deterministic grammars. Application to context-free tree grammars will be published in the second part.     

可交换上下文无关文法

本文提出了可交换上下文无关文法及其该文法产生的语言——可交换上下文无关语言,证明了正规语言类是可交换上下文无关语言类的一个子集,而可交换上下文无关语言类是上下文无关语言类的一个子集;讨论了可交换上下文无关语言的结构特点,并给出了可交换上下文无关语言的Pumping引理。     

Approximation of fuzzy context-free grammars

Fuzzy context-free max- grammar (or FCFG, for short), as a straightforward extension of context-free grammar, has been introduced to express uncertainty, imprecision, and vagueness in natural language fragments. Li recently proposed the approximation of fuzzy finite automata, which may effectively deal with the practical problems of fuzziness, impreciseness and vagueness. In this paper, we further develop the approximation of fuzzy context-free grammars. In particular, we show that a fuzzy context-free grammar under max- compositional inference can be approximated by some fuzzy context-free grammar under max-min compositional inference with any given accuracy. In addition, some related properties of fuzzy context-free grammars and fuzzy languages generated by them are studied. Finally, the sensitivity of fuzzy context-free grammars is also discussed.     

推导可交换上下文无关语言

提出了推导可交换上下文无关语言及其文法,证明了正规语言类和有界上下文无关语言类都是推导可交换上下文无关语言类的子集,而推导可交换上下文无关语言类是上下文无关语言类的一个子集;定义了该类语言的α闭包等有关运算,给出了推导可交换上下文无关语言表达式,证明了推导可交换上下文无关文法、推导可交换上下文无关语言表达式之间的等价转换.     

Characterizations of regular and context-free matrices

The u-v theorem for context-free languages is extended to prove an intercalation theorem for the family of context-free matrix languages. A row-wise iteration factor theorem is proved for the families of regular and context-free matrix languages. Characterizations of regular and context-free matrix languages are given in terms of vertical regular sequences and simple operations on vertical regular sequences. Closure of regular and context-free matrix languages under array nondeterministic finite state transducer mappings is established and an image theorem proved. This is used to give another characterization of regular matrix languages. Further it is shown that the family of regular matrix languages is a principal abstract family of matrices (AFM). The effect of string control and array control on these families are examined.     

Büchi context-free languages

We define context-free grammars with Büchi acceptance condition generating languages of countable words. We establish several closure properties and decidability results for the class of Büchi context-free languages generated by these grammars. We also define context-free grammars with Müller acceptance condition and show that there is a language generated by a grammar with Müller acceptance condition which is not a Büchi context-free language.     

Formes de langages et de grammaires

Summary This paper is devoted to the study of context-free languages over infinite alphabets. This work can be viewed as a new attempt to study families of grammars, replacing the usual grammar forms and giving a new point of view on these questions. A language over an infinite alphabet or I-language appears as being a model for a family of usual languages; an interpretation is an homomorphism from the infinite alphabet to any finite alphabet. Using this notion of interpretation we can associate to each family of I-languages an image, called its shadow, which is a family of usual languages.The closure properties of families, generalizing to infinite alphabets the family of context-free languages, lead to define rational transductions between infinite alphabets or I-transductions, and then, families of I-languages closed under I-transductions, or I-cones. We study here relations between the closure properties of a family of I-languages and these of its shadow. As a result, we obtain that any union closed rational cone of context-free languages, principal or not, is the shadow of a principal I-cone.This work leads to new results about the classical theory of context-free languages. For instance, we prove that any principal rational cone of context-free languages can be generated by a context-free language, whose grammar has only 6 variables. This work also leads to more general considerations about the adequacy of some generating devices to the generated languages. It appears that the context-free grammars are fair, in a sense that we define, for generating context-free languages but that non-expansive context-free grammars are not for generating non-expansive context-free languages. This point of view raises a number of questions.     

Second-Order Abstract Categorial Grammars as Hyperedge Replacement Grammars

Second-order abstract categorial grammars (de Groote in Association for computational linguistics, 39th annual meeting and 10th conference of the European chapter, proceedings of the conference, pp. 148–155, 2001) and hyperedge replacement grammars (Bauderon and Courcelle in Math Syst Theory 20:83–127, 1987; Habel and Kreowski in STACS 87: 4th Annual symposium on theoretical aspects of computer science. Lecture notes in computer science, vol 247, Springer, Berlin, pp 207–219, 1987) are two natural ways of generalizing “context-free” grammar formalisms for string and tree languages. It is known that the string generating power of both formalisms is equivalent to (non-erasing) multiple context-free grammars (Seki et al. in Theor Comput Sci 88:191–229, 1991) or linear context-free rewriting systems (Weir in Characterizing mildly context-sensitive grammar formalisms, University of Pennsylvania, 1988). In this paper, we give a simple, direct proof of the fact that second-order ACGs are simulated by hyperedge replacement grammars, which implies that the string and tree generating power of the former is included in that of the latter. The normal form for tree-generating hyperedge replacement grammars given by Engelfriet and Maneth (Graph transformation. Lecture notes in computer science, vol 1764. Springer, Berlin, pp 15–29, 2000) can then be used to show that the tree generating power of second-order ACGs is exactly the same as that of hyperedge replacement grammars.     

Execution traces and programming-language semantics

The trace of a program-a string representing the sequence of statements executed for a particular input- and a program's trace language-all such strings-are considered as an expression of the control-flow possibilities inherent in the program. It is shown that, for a language like Turing's, programs always have trace languages that are context-sensitive but not always context-free. Such low-level languages lose most of their computing power if restricted to context-free traces. For languages in which individual statements are more powerful than those of a Turing machine, the trace languages may fail to be recursive, but the context-sensitive behavior may be regained by slightly altering the idea of a trace. In any case, it is also shown that it is impossible to effectively identify programs that have trace languages more restrictive than the widest class available in the programming language.     

Closure properties of linear context-free tree languages with an application to optimality theory

Context-free tree grammars, originally introduced by Rounds [Math. Systems Theory 4(3) (1970) 257–287], are powerful grammar devices for the definition of tree languages. The properties of the class of context-free tree languages have been studied for more than three decades now. Particularly important here is the work by Engelfriet and Schmidt [J. Comput. System Sci. 15(3) (1977) 328–353, 16(1) (1978) 67–99]. In the present paper, we consider a subclass of the class of context-free tree languages, namely the class of linear context-free tree languages. A context-free tree grammar is linear, if no rule permits the copying of subtrees. For this class of linear context-free tree languages we show that the grammar derivation mode, which is very important for the general class of context-free tree languages, is immaterial. The main result we present is the closure of the class of linear context-free tree languages under linear frontier-to-root tree transduction mappings. Two further results are the closure of this class under linear root-to-frontier tree transduction mappings and under intersection with regular tree languages.     

面向自然交互的多通道人机对话系统中答句自动生成方法

多通道自然人机对话系统要求计算机能够对用户的语句产生智能应答,传统的人机对话系统由于知识库的限制以及用户话语的随意性,当对话内容超出知识库范围时,系统将无法应答或产生与用户期望不符的回答,这在一定程度上影响了人机对话系统用户的体验感.为了解决该问题,提出了一种融合多模态历史交互信息和面向数据的句法分析(data-oriented parsing,简称DOP)模型的最优答句生成方法:首先从大规模句法树库中提取上下文无关文法的语法规则,然后结合对话过程中用户呈现的表情、姿态等多模态历史交互信息,融合DOP模型对上下文无关文法生成的汉语句子进行过滤,最终生成一个符合语法规则且符合语义的答句返回给用户,让计算机在无法获得知识库支撑时,根据交互历史信息生成应对当前对话的语句,有效地提升了多通道自然人机交互系统用户的体验感.该方法应用于交通信息查询以及咖啡厅的多主题多模态人机自由对话系统.用户的体验表明,该方法能够有效提高用户交互的自然度和体验感.     

Tree controlled grammars

Languages are studied which can be generated by context-free grammars under a single simple restriction which must be satisfied by its derivation trees. Using tree controlled grammars (TC grammars for short) all unambigous and some inherently ambigous context-free languages, and also some non context-free languages can be parsed in timeO(n ²). The classes of regular, linear, context-free, EOL, ETOL and type 0 languages can be characterized in a natural manner using TC grammars. A context-free generator for all type 0 languages is exhibited. Some normal forms for TC grammars are established but it is shown that many common normal forms (e. g. Greibach normal form) cannot be obtained for TC grammars in general.     

Dynamic LL(k) parsing

A new class of context-free grammars, called dynamic context-free grammars, is introduced. These grammars have the ability to change the set of production rules dynamically during the derivation of some terminal string. The notion of LL() parsing is adapted to this grammar model. We show that dynamic LL() parsers are as powerful as LR() parsers, i.e. that they are capable to analyze every deterministic context-free language while using only one symbol of lookahead. Received: 24 August 1994 / 5 January 1996     

A survey of normal form covers for context free grammars

Summary An overview is given of cover results for normal forms of context-free grammars. The emphasis in this paper is on the possibility of constructing ɛ-free grammars, non-left-recursive grammars and grammars in Greibach normal form. Among others it is proved that any ɛ-free context-free grammar can be right covered with a context-free grammar in Greibach normal form. All the cover results concerning the ɛ-free grammars, the non-left-recursive grammars and the grammars in Greibach normal form are listed, with respect to several types of covers, in a cover-table.     

An infinite hierarchy of intersections of context-free languages

The class of languages expressible as the intersection ofk context-free languages is shown to be properly contained within the class of languages expressible as the intersection ofk + 1 context-free languages. Hence an infinite hierarchy of classes of languages is exhibited between the class of context-sensitive languages and the class of context-free languages.     

A useful lemma for context-free programmed grammars

We show that all quasi-realtime one-way multi-counter languages can be generated by a context-free -free programmed grammar (even under the free interpretation). The result can be used to obtain a new and almost trivial proof of the fundamental theorem that arbitrary context-free programmed grammars can generate all recursively enumerable languages. The proof of our result also yields the following, interesting characterization: the quasi-realtime one-way multi-counter languages are precisely the -limited homomorphic images of (free) context-free programmed production languages. It follows that the (free) derivation languages of context-free or even context-free programmed grammars, which were known to be context-sensitive, are in fact contained in the family of context-free -free programmed languages.