bp/bp.1

.\" Automatically generated by Pandoc 2.11.3
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.TH "BP" "1" "May 17 2021" "" ""
.hy
.SH NAME
.PP
bp - Bruce\[aq]s Parsing Expression Grammar tool
.SH SYNOPSIS
.PP
\f[B]bp\f[R] [\f[I]options\&...\f[R]] \f[I]pattern\f[R] [[--]
\f[I]files\&...\f[R]]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.PP
\f[B]bp\f[R] is a tool that matches parsing expression grammars using a
custom syntax.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
\f[B]-v\f[R], \f[B]--verbose\f[R]
Print debugging information.
.TP
\f[B]-e\f[R], \f[B]--explain\f[R]
Print a visual explanation of the matches.
.TP
\f[B]-j\f[R], \f[B]--json\f[R]
Print a JSON list of the matches.
(Pairs with \f[B]--verbose\f[R] for more detail)
.TP
\f[B]-l\f[R], \f[B]--list-files\f[R]
Print only the names of files containing matches instead of the matches
themselves.
.TP
\f[B]-i\f[R], \f[B]--ignore-case\f[R]
Perform pattern matching case-insensitively.
.TP
\f[B]-I\f[R], \f[B]--inplace\f[R]
Perform filtering or replacement in-place (i.e.\ overwrite files with
new content).
.TP
\f[B]-C\f[R], \f[B]--confirm\f[R]
During in-place modification of a file, confirm before each
modification.
.TP
\f[B]-r\f[R], \f[B]--replace\f[R] \f[I]replacement\f[R]
Replace all occurrences of the main pattern with the given string.
.TP
\f[B]-s\f[R], \f[B]--skip\f[R] \f[I]pattern\f[R]
While looking for matches, skip over \f[I]pattern\f[R] occurrences.
This can be useful for behavior like \f[B]bp -s string\f[R] (avoiding
matches inside string literals).
.TP
\f[B]-g\f[R], \f[B]--grammar\f[R] \f[I]grammar-file\f[R]
Load the grammar from the given file.
See the \f[B]GRAMMAR FILES\f[R] section for more info.
.TP
\f[B]-G\f[R], \f[B]--git\f[R]
Use \f[B]git\f[R] to get a list of files.
Remaining file arguments (if any) are passed to \f[B]git --ls-files\f[R]
instead of treated as literal files.
.TP
\f[B]-c\f[R], \f[B]--context\f[R] \f[I]N\f[R]
The number of lines of context to print.
If \f[I]N\f[R] is 0, print only the exact text of the matches.
If \f[I]N\f[R] is \f[B]\f[CB]\[dq]all\[dq]\f[B]\f[R], print the entire
file.
Otherwise, if \f[I]N\f[R] is a positive integer, print the whole line on
which matches occur, as well as the \f[I]N-1\f[R] lines before and after
the match.
The default value for this argument is \f[B]1\f[R] (print whole lines
where matches occur).
.TP
\f[B]-f\f[R], \f[B]--format\f[R] \f[I]auto\f[R]|\f[I]fancy\f[R]|\f[I]plain\f[R]
Set the output format.
\f[I]fancy\f[R] includes colors and line numbers, \f[I]plain\f[R]
includes neither, and \f[I]auto\f[R] (the default) uses \f[I]fancy\f[R]
formatting only when the output is a TTY.
.TP
\f[B]--help\f[R]
Print the usage and exit.
.TP
\f[I]pattern\f[R]
The main pattern for bp to match.
By default, this pattern is a string pattern (see the \f[B]STRING
PATTERNS\f[R] section below).
.TP
\f[I]files\&...\f[R]
The input files to search.
If no input files are provided and data was piped in, that data will be
used instead.
If neither are provided, \f[B]bp\f[R] will search through all files in
the current directory and its subdirectories (recursively).
.SH STRING PATTERNS
.PP
One of the most common use cases for pattern matching tools is matching
plain, literal strings, or strings that are primarily plain strings,
with one or two patterns.
\f[B]bp\f[R] is designed around this fact.
The default mode for bp patterns is \[lq]string pattern mode\[rq].
In string pattern mode, all characters are interpreted literally except
for the backslash (\f[B]\[rs]\f[R]), which may be followed by a bp
pattern (see the \f[B]PATTERNS\f[R] section above).
Optionally, the bp pattern may be terminated by a semicolon
(\f[B];\f[R]).
.SH PATTERNS
.PP
\f[B]bp\f[R] patterns are based off of a combination of Parsing
Expression Grammars and regular expression syntax.
The syntax is designed to map closely to verbal descriptions of the
patterns, and prefix operators are preferred over suffix operators (as
is common in regex syntax).
.PP
Some patterns additionally have \[lq]multi-line\[rq] variants, which
means that they include the newline character.
.TP
\f[I]pat1 pat2\f[R]
A sequence: \f[I]pat1\f[R] followed by \f[I]pat2\f[R]
.TP
\f[I]pat1\f[R] \f[B]/\f[R] \f[I]pat2\f[R]
A choice: \f[I]pat1\f[R], or if it doesn\[aq]t match, then
\f[I]pat2\f[R]
.TP
\f[B].\f[R]
Any character (excluding newline)
.TP
\f[B]\[ha]\f[R]
Start of a line
.TP
\f[B]\[ha]\[ha]\f[R]
Start of the text
.TP
\f[B]$\f[R]
End of a line (does not include newline character)
.TP
\f[B]$$\f[R]
End of the text
.TP
\f[B]_\f[R]
Zero or more whitespace characters, including spaces and tabs, but not
newlines.
.TP
\f[B]__\f[R]
Zero or more whitespace characters, including spaces, tabs, newlines,
and comments.
Comments are undefined by default, but may be defined by a separate
grammar file.
See the \f[B]GRAMMAR FILES\f[R] section for more info.
.TP
\f[B]\[dq]foo\[dq]\f[R], \f[B]\[aq]foo\[aq]\f[R]
The literal string \f[B]\[lq]foo\[rq]\f[R].
Single and double quotes are treated the same.
Escape sequences are not allowed.
.TP
\f[B]{foo}\f[R]
The literal string \f[B]\[lq]foo\[rq]\f[R] with word boundaries on
either end.
Escape sequences are not allowed.
.TP
\f[B]\[ga]\f[R]\f[I]c\f[R]
The literal character \f[I]c\f[R] (e.g.\ **\[ga]\[at]** matches the
\[lq]\[at]\[rq] character)
.TP
\f[B]\[ga]\f[R]\f[I]c1\f[R]\f[B],\f[R]\f[I]c2\f[R]
The literal character \f[I]c1\f[R] or \f[I]c2\f[R]
(e.g.\ \f[B]\[ga]a,e,i,o,u\f[R])
.TP
\f[B]\[ga]\f[R]\f[I]c1\f[R]\f[B]-\f[R]\f[I]c2\f[R]
The character range \f[I]c1\f[R] to \f[I]c2\f[R]
(e.g.\ \f[B]\[ga]a-z\f[R]).
Multiple ranges can be combined with a comma
(e.g.\ \f[B]\[ga]a-z,A-Z\f[R]).
.TP
\f[B]\[rs]\f[R]\f[I]esc\f[R]
An escape sequence (e.g.\ \f[B]\[rs]n\f[R], \f[B]\[rs]x1F\f[R],
\f[B]\[rs]033\f[R], etc.)
.TP
\f[B]\[rs]\f[R]\f[I]esc1\f[R]\f[B]-\f[R]\f[I]esc2\f[R]
An escape sequence range from \f[I]esc1\f[R] to \f[I]esc2\f[R]
(e.g.\ \f[B]\[rs]x00-x1F\f[R])
.TP
\f[B]\[rs]N\f[R]
A special case escape that matches a \[lq]nodent\[rq]: one or more
newlines followed by the same indentation that occurs on the current
line.
.TP
\f[B]!\f[R] \f[I]pat\f[R]
Not \f[I]pat\f[R]
.TP
\f[B][\f[R] \f[I]pat\f[R] \f[B]]\f[R]
Maybe \f[I]pat\f[R]
.TP
\f[I]N\f[R] \f[I]pat\f[R]
Exactly \f[I]N\f[R] repetitions of \f[I]pat\f[R] (e.g.\ \f[B]5
\[ga]x\f[R] matches \f[B]\[lq]xxxxx\[rq]\f[R])
.TP
\f[I]N\f[R] \f[B]-\f[R] \f[I]M\f[R] \f[I]pat\f[R]
Between \f[I]N\f[R] and \f[I]M\f[R] repetitions of \f[I]pat\f[R]
(e.g.\ \f[B]2-3 \[ga]x\f[R] matches \f[B]\[lq]xx\[rq]\f[R] or
\f[B]\[lq]xxx\[rq]\f[R])
.TP
\f[I]N\f[R]\f[B]+\f[R] \f[I]pat\f[R]
At least \f[I]N\f[R] or more repetitions of \f[I]pat\f[R] (e.g.\ \f[B]2+
\[ga]x\f[R] matches \f[B]\[lq]xx\[rq]\f[R], \f[B]\[lq]xxx\[rq]\f[R],
\f[B]\[lq]xxxx\[rq]\f[R], etc.)
.TP
\f[B]*\f[R] \f[I]pat\f[R]
Some \f[I]pat\f[R]s (zero or more, e.g.\ \f[B]* \[ga]x\f[R] matches
\f[B]\[dq]\[lq]\f[R], \f[B]\[rq]x\[lq]\f[R], \f[B]\[rq]xx\[dq]\f[R],
etc.)
.TP
\f[B]+\f[R] \f[I]pat\f[R]
At least one \f[I]pat\f[R]s (e.g.\ \f[B]+ \[ga]x\f[R] matches
\f[B]\[lq]x\[rq]\f[R], \f[B]\[lq]xx\[rq]\f[R], \f[B]\[lq]xxx\[rq]\f[R],
etc.)
.TP
\f[I]repeating-pat\f[R] \f[B]%\f[R] \f[I]sep\f[R]
\f[I]repeating-pat\f[R] separated by \f[I]sep\f[R] (e.g.\ \f[B]*word %
\[ga],\f[R] matches zero or more comma-separated words)
.TP
\f[B]..\f[R] \f[I]pat\f[R]
Any text (except newlines) up to and including \f[I]pat\f[R]
.TP
\f[B].. %\f[R] \f[I]skip\f[R] \f[I]pat\f[R]
Any text (except newlines) up to and including \f[I]pat\f[R], skipping
over instances of \f[I]skip\f[R] (e.g.\ \f[B]\[ga]\[dq]..\[ga]\[dq] %
(\[ga]\[rs].)\f[R])
.TP
\f[B]<\f[R] \f[I]pat\f[R]
Matches at the current position if \f[I]pat\f[R] matches immediately
before the current position (lookbehind).
Conceptually, you can think of this as creating a file containing only
the \f[I]N\f[R] characters immediately before the current position and
attempting to match \f[I]pat\f[R] on that file, for all values of
\f[I]N\f[R] from the minimum number of characters \f[I]pat\f[R] can
match up to maximum number of characters \f[I]pat\f[R] can match (or the
length of the current line upto the current position, whichever is
smaller).
\f[B]Note:\f[R] For fixed-length lookbehinds, this is quite efficient
(e.g.\ \f[B]<(100\[ga]x)\f[R]), however this could cause performance
problems with variable-length lookbehinds (e.g.\ \f[B]<(\[ga]x
0-100\[ga]y)\f[R]).
Also, it is not advised to use \f[B]\[ha]\f[R], \f[B]\[ha]\[ha]\f[R],
\f[B]\[u2005]*\[u2005]*,\f[BI]o\f[B]\f[BI]r\f[B]\[u2005]*\[u2005]*$\f[R]
inside a lookbehind, as they will match against the edges of the
lookbehind slice.
.TP
\f[B]>\f[R] \f[I]pat\f[R]
Matches \f[I]pat\f[R], but does not consume any input (lookahead).
.TP
\f[B]\[at]\f[R] \f[I]pat\f[R]
Capture \f[I]pat\f[R]
.TP
\f[B]foo\f[R]
The named pattern whose name is \f[B]\[lq]foo\[rq]\f[R].
Pattern names come from definitions in grammar files or from named
captures.
Pattern names may contain dashes (\f[B]-\f[R]), but not underscores
(\f[B]_\f[R]), since the underscore is used to match whitespace.
See the \f[B]GRAMMAR FILES\f[R] section for more info.
.TP
\f[B]\[at]\f[R] \f[I]name\f[R] \f[B]=\f[R] \f[I]pat\f[R]
Let \f[I]name\f[R] equal \f[I]pat\f[R] (named capture).
Named captures can be used as backreferences like so: \f[B]\[at]foo=word
\[ga]( foo \[ga])\f[R] (matches \f[B]\[lq]asdf(asdf)\[rq]\f[R] or
\f[B]\[lq]baz(baz)\[rq]\f[R], but not \f[B]\[lq]foo(baz)\[rq]\f[R])
.TP
\f[I]pat\f[R] \f[B]=> \[aq]\f[R]\f[I]replacement\f[R]\f[B]\[aq]\f[R]
Replace \f[I]pat\f[R] with \f[I]replacement\f[R].
Note: \f[I]replacement\f[R] should be a string, and it may contain
references to captured values: \f[B]\[at]0\f[R] (the whole of
\f[I]pat\f[R]), \f[B]\[at]1\f[R] (the first capture in \f[I]pat\f[R]),
\f[B]\[at]\f[R]\f[I]foo\f[R] (the capture named \f[I]foo\f[R] in
\f[I]pat\f[R]), etc.
For example, \f[B]\[at]word _ \[at]rest=(*word % _) => \[dq]\[at]rest
\[at]1\[dq]\f[R]
.TP
\f[I]pat1\f[R] \f[B]\[ti]\f[R] \f[I]pat2\f[R]
Matches when \f[I]pat1\f[R] matches and \f[I]pat2\f[R] can be found
within the text of that match.
(e.g.\ \f[B]comment \[ti] {TODO}\f[R] matches comments that contain the
word \f[B]\[lq]TODO\[rq]\f[R])
.TP
\f[I]pat1\f[R] \f[B]!\[ti]\f[R] \f[I]pat2\f[R]
Matches when \f[I]pat1\f[R] matches, but \f[I]pat2\f[R] can not be found
within the text of that match.
(e.g.\ \f[B]comment \[ti] {IGNORE}\f[R] matches only comments that do
not contain the word \f[B]\[lq]IGNORE\[rq]\f[R])
.TP
\f[I]name\f[R]\f[B]:\f[R] \f[I]pat\f[R]
Define \f[I]name\f[R] to mean \f[I]pat\f[R] (pattern definition)
.TP
\f[B](!)\f[R] \f[I]error-pat\f[R]
If \f[I]error-pat\f[R] matches, \f[B]bp\f[R] will not print any results
in this file and instead print an error message to \f[B]STDERR\f[R]
highlighting the matching position of \f[I]error-pat\f[R] in the file
and printing the text of \f[I]error-pat\f[R] as an error message.
Then, \f[B]bp\f[R] will exit with a failure status and not process any
further files.
.TP
\f[B]#\f[R] \f[I]comment\f[R]
A line comment
.SH GRAMMAR FILES
.PP
\f[B]bp\f[R] allows loading extra grammar files, which define patterns
which may be used for matching.
The \f[B]builtins\f[R] grammar file is loaded by default, and it defines
a few useful general-purpose patterns.
For example, it defines the \f[B]parens\f[R] rule, which matches pairs
of matching parentheses, accounting for nested inner parentheses:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
bp -p \[aq]\[dq]my_func\[dq] parens\[aq]
\f[R]
.fi
.PP
\f[B]bp\f[R] also comes with a few grammar files for common programming
languages, which may be loaded on demand.
These grammar files are not comprehensive syntax definitions, but only
some common patterns.
For example, the c++ grammar file contains definitions for
\f[B]//\f[R]-style line comments as well as \f[B]/*\&...*/\f[R]-style
block comments.
Thus, you can find all comments with the word \[lq]TODO\[rq] with the
following command:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
bp -g c++ -p \[aq]comment\[ti]{TODO}\[aq] *.cpp
\f[R]
.fi
.SH EXAMPLES
.TP
\f[B]ls | bp foo\f[R]
Find files containing the string \[dq]foo\[dq] (a string pattern)
.TP
\f[B]ls | bp \[aq].c\[rs]$\[aq] -r \[aq].h\[aq]\f[R]
Find files ending with \[dq].c\[dq] and replace the extension with
\[dq].h\[dq]
.TP
\f[B]bp -p \[aq]{foobar} parens\[aq] my_file.py\f[R]
Find the word \f[B]\[dq]foobar\[dq]\f[R], followed by a pair of matching
parentheses in the file \f[I]my_file.py\f[R]
.TP
\f[B]bp -g html -p \[aq]element \[ti] (\[ha]\[ha]\[dq]<a \[dq])\[aq] foo.html\f[R]
Using the \f[I]html\f[R] grammar, find all \f[I]element\f[R]s matching
the tag \f[I]a\f[R] in the file \f[I]foo.html\f[R]
.TP
\f[B]bp -g python -p \[aq]comment\[ti]{TODO}\[aq] *.py\f[R]
Find all comments with the word \f[B]\[lq]TODO\[rq]\f[R] in local python
files.
.SH AUTHORS
Bruce Hill (\f[I]bruce\[at]bruce-hill.com\f[R]).