Data.Attoparsec.ByteString.Char8

Simple, efficient, character-oriented combinator parsing for ByteString strings, loosely based on the Parsec library.

Character encodings

This module is intended for parsing text that is represented using an 8-bit character set, e.g. ASCII or ISO-8859-15. It does not make any attempt to deal with character encodings, multibyte characters, or wide characters. In particular, all attempts to use characters above code point U+00FF will give wrong answers.

Code points below U+0100 are simply translated to and from their numeric values, so e.g. the code point U+00A4 becomes the byte 0xA4 (which is the Euro symbol in ISO-8859-15, but the generic currency sign in ISO-8859-1). Haskell Char values above U+00FF are truncated, so e.g. U+1D6B7 is truncated to the byte 0xB7.

Parser types

type Parser = Parser ByteString

type Result = IResult ByteString

data IResult i r

The result of a parse. This is parameterised over the type i of string that was processed.

This type is an instance of Functor, where fmap transforms the value in a Done result.

Constructors

Fail i [String] String

The parse failed. The i parameter is the input that had not yet been consumed when the failure occurred. The [String] is a list of contexts in which the error occurred. The String is the message describing the error, if any.

Partial (i -> IResult i r)

Supply this continuation with more input so that the parser can resume. To indicate that no more input is available, pass an empty string to the continuation.

Note: if you get a Partial result, do not call its continuation more than once.

Done i r

The parse succeeded. The i parameter is the input that had not yet been consumed (if any) when the parse succeeded.

Instances

Functor (IResult i)

Methods

fmap :: (a -> b) -> IResult i a -> IResult i b

(<$) :: a -> IResult i b -> IResult i a

(Show i, Show r) => Show (IResult i r)

Methods

showsPrec :: Int -> IResult i r -> ShowS

show :: IResult i r -> String

showList :: [IResult i r] -> ShowS

(NFData i, NFData r) => NFData (IResult i r)

Methods

rnf :: IResult i r -> ()

compareResults :: (Eq i, Eq r) => IResult i r -> IResult i r -> Maybe Bool

Compare two IResult values for equality.

If both IResults are Partial, the result will be Nothing, as they are incomplete and hence their equality cannot be known. (This is why there is no Eq instance for IResult.)

Running parsers

parse :: Parser a -> ByteString -> Result a

Run a parser.

feed :: Monoid i => IResult i r -> i -> IResult i r

If a parser has returned a Partial result, supply it with more input.

parseOnly :: Parser a -> ByteString -> Either String a

Run a parser that cannot be resupplied via a Partial result.

This function does not force a parser to consume all of its input. Instead, any residual input will be discarded. To force a parser to consume all of its input, use something like this:

parseOnly (myParser <* endOfInput)
 

parseWith

Arguments

:: Monad m

=> m ByteString

An action that will be executed to provide the parser with more input, if necessary. The action must return an empty string when there is no more input available.

-> Parser a

-> ByteString

Initial input for the parser.

-> m (Result a)

Run a parser with an initial input string, and a monadic action that can supply more input if needed.

parseTest :: Show a => Parser a -> ByteString -> IO ()

Run a parser and print its result to standard output.

Result conversion

maybeResult :: Result r -> Maybe r

Convert a Result value to a Maybe value. A Partial result is treated as failure.

eitherResult :: Result r -> Either String r

Convert a Result value to an Either value. A Partial result is treated as failure.

Parsing individual characters

char :: Char -> Parser Char

Match a specific character.

char8 :: Char -> Parser Word8

Match a specific character, but return its Word8 value.

anyChar :: Parser Char

Match any character.

notChar :: Char -> Parser Char

Match any character except the given one.

satisfy :: (Char -> Bool) -> Parser Char

The parser satisfy p succeeds for any byte for which the predicate p returns True. Returns the byte that is actually parsed.

digit = satisfy isDigit
    where isDigit c = c >= '0' && c <= '9'

Lookahead

peekChar :: Parser (Maybe Char)

Match any character, to perform lookahead. Returns Nothing if end of input has been reached. Does not consume any input.

Note: Because this parser does not fail, do not use it with combinators such as many, because such parsers loop until a failure occurs. Careless use will thus result in an infinite loop.

peekChar' :: Parser Char

Match any character, to perform lookahead. Does not consume any input, but will fail if end of input has been reached.

Special character parsers

digit :: Parser Char

Parse a single digit.

letter_iso8859_15 :: Parser Char

Match a letter, in the ISO-8859-15 encoding.

letter_ascii :: Parser Char

Match a letter, in the ASCII encoding.

space :: Parser Char

Parse a space character.

Note: This parser only gives correct answers for the ASCII encoding. For instance, it does not recognise U+00A0 (non-breaking space) as a space character, even though it is a valid ISO-8859-15 byte.

Fast predicates

isDigit :: Char -> Bool

A fast digit predicate.

isDigit_w8 :: Word8 -> Bool

A fast digit predicate.

isAlpha_iso8859_15 :: Char -> Bool

A fast alphabetic predicate for the ISO-8859-15 encoding

Note: For all character encodings other than ISO-8859-15, and almost all Unicode code points above U+00A3, this predicate gives wrong answers.

isAlpha_ascii :: Char -> Bool

A fast alphabetic predicate for the ASCII encoding

Note: For all character encodings other than ASCII, and almost all Unicode code points above U+007F, this predicate gives wrong answers.

isSpace :: Char -> Bool

Fast predicate for matching ASCII space characters.

Note: This predicate only gives correct answers for the ASCII encoding. For instance, it does not recognise U+00A0 (non-breaking space) as a space character, even though it is a valid ISO-8859-15 byte. For a Unicode-aware and only slightly slower predicate, use isSpace

isSpace_w8 :: Word8 -> Bool

Fast Word8 predicate for matching ASCII space characters.

Character classes

inClass :: String -> Char -> Bool

Match any character in a set.

vowel = inClass "aeiou"

Range notation is supported.

halfAlphabet = inClass "a-nA-N"

To add a literal '-' to a set, place it at the beginning or end of the string.

notInClass :: String -> Char -> Bool

Match any character not in a set.

Efficient string handling

string :: ByteString -> Parser ByteString

string s parses a sequence of bytes that identically match s. Returns the parsed string (i.e. s). This parser consumes no input if it fails (even if a partial match).

Note: The behaviour of this parser is different to that of the similarly-named parser in Parsec, as this one is all-or-nothing. To illustrate the difference, the following parser will fail under Parsec given an input of "for":

string "foo" <|> string "for"

The reason for its failure is that the first branch is a partial match, and will consume the letters 'f' and 'o' before failing. In attoparsec, the above parser will succeed on that input, because the failed first branch will consume nothing.

stringCI :: ByteString -> Parser ByteString

Satisfy a literal string, ignoring case.

skipSpace :: Parser ()

Skip over white space.

skipWhile :: (Char -> Bool) -> Parser ()

Skip past input for as long as the predicate returns True.

take :: Int -> Parser ByteString

Consume exactly n bytes of input.

scan :: s -> (s -> Char -> Maybe s) -> Parser ByteString

A stateful scanner. The predicate consumes and transforms a state argument, and each transformed state is passed to successive invocations of the predicate on each byte of the input until one returns Nothing or the input ends.

This parser does not fail. It will return an empty string if the predicate returns Nothing on the first byte of input.

Note: Because this parser does not fail, do not use it with combinators such as many, because such parsers loop until a failure occurs. Careless use will thus result in an infinite loop.

takeWhile :: (Char -> Bool) -> Parser ByteString

Consume input as long as the predicate returns True, and return the consumed input.

This parser does not fail. It will return an empty string if the predicate returns False on the first byte of input.

Note: Because this parser does not fail, do not use it with combinators such as many, because such parsers loop until a failure occurs. Careless use will thus result in an infinite loop.

takeWhile1 :: (Char -> Bool) -> Parser ByteString

Consume input as long as the predicate returns True, and return the consumed input.

This parser requires the predicate to succeed on at least one byte of input: it will fail if the predicate never returns True or if there is no input left.

takeTill :: (Char -> Bool) -> Parser ByteString

Consume input as long as the predicate returns False (i.e. until it returns True), and return the consumed input.

This parser does not fail. It will return an empty string if the predicate returns True on the first byte of input.

Note: Because this parser does not fail, do not use it with combinators such as many, because such parsers loop until a failure occurs. Careless use will thus result in an infinite loop.

String combinators

If you enable the OverloadedStrings language extension, you can use the *> and <* combinators to simplify the common task of matching a statically known string, then immediately parsing something else.

Instead of writing something like this:

string "foo" *> wibble
 

Using OverloadedStrings, you can omit the explicit use of string, and write a more compact version:

"foo" *> wibble

(Note: the .*> and <*. combinators that were originally provided for this purpose are obsolete and unnecessary, and will be removed in the next major version.)

(.*>) :: ByteString -> Parser a -> Parser a

Deprecated: This is no longer necessary, and will be removed. Use *> instead.

Obsolete. A type-specialized version of *> for ByteString. Use *> instead.

(<*.) :: Parser a -> ByteString -> Parser a

Deprecated: This is no longer necessary, and will be removed. Use <* instead.

Obsolete. A type-specialized version of <* for ByteString. Use <* instead.

Consume all remaining input

takeByteString :: Parser ByteString

Consume all remaining input and return it as a single string.

takeLazyByteString :: Parser ByteString

Consume all remaining input and return it as a single string.

Text parsing

endOfLine :: Parser ()

Match either a single newline character '\n', or a carriage return followed by a newline character "\r\n".

isEndOfLine :: Word8 -> Bool

A predicate that matches either a carriage return '\r' or newline '\n' character.

isHorizontalSpace :: Word8 -> Bool

A predicate that matches either a space ' ' or horizontal tab '\t' character.

Numeric parsers

decimal :: Integral a => Parser a

Parse and decode an unsigned decimal number.

hexadecimal :: (Integral a, Bits a) => Parser a

Parse and decode an unsigned hexadecimal number. The hex digits 'a' through 'f' may be upper or lower case.

This parser does not accept a leading "0x" string.

signed :: Num a => Parser a -> Parser a

Parse a number with an optional leading '+' or '-' sign character.

Combinators

try :: Parser i a -> Parser i a

Attempt a parse, and if it fails, rewind the input so that no input appears to have been consumed.

This combinator is provided for compatibility with Parsec. attoparsec parsers always backtrack on failure.

(<?>) infix 0

Arguments

:: Parser i a

-> String

the name to use if parsing fails

-> Parser i a

Name the parser, in case failure occurs.

choice :: Alternative f => [f a] -> f a

choice ps tries to apply the actions in the list ps in order, until one of them succeeds. Returns the value of the succeeding action.

count :: Monad m => Int -> m a -> m [a]

Apply the given action repeatedly, returning every result.

option :: Alternative f => a -> f a -> f a

option x p tries to apply action p. If p fails without consuming input, it returns the value x, otherwise the value returned by p.

priority  = option 0 (digitToInt <$> digit)

many' :: MonadPlus m => m a -> m [a]

many' p applies the action p zero or more times. Returns a list of the returned values of p. The value returned by p is forced to WHNF.

 word  = many' letter

many1 :: Alternative f => f a -> f [a]

many1 p applies the action p one or more times. Returns a list of the returned values of p.

 word  = many1 letter

many1' :: MonadPlus m => m a -> m [a]

many1' p applies the action p one or more times. Returns a list of the returned values of p. The value returned by p is forced to WHNF.

 word  = many1' letter

manyTill :: Alternative f => f a -> f b -> f [a]

manyTill p end applies action p zero or more times until action end succeeds, and returns the list of values returned by p. This can be used to scan comments:

 simpleComment   = string "<!--" *> manyTill anyChar (string "-->")

(Note the overlapping parsers anyChar and string "-->". While this will work, it is not very efficient, as it will cause a lot of backtracking.)

manyTill' :: MonadPlus m => m a -> m b -> m [a]

manyTill' p end applies action p zero or more times until action end succeeds, and returns the list of values returned by p. This can be used to scan comments:

 simpleComment   = string "<!--" *> manyTill' anyChar (string "-->")

(Note the overlapping parsers anyChar and string "-->". While this will work, it is not very efficient, as it will cause a lot of backtracking.)

The value returned by p is forced to WHNF.

sepBy :: Alternative f => f a -> f s -> f [a]

sepBy p sep applies zero or more occurrences of p, separated by sep. Returns a list of the values returned by p.

commaSep p  = p `sepBy` (char ',')

sepBy' :: MonadPlus m => m a -> m s -> m [a]

sepBy' p sep applies zero or more occurrences of p, separated by sep. Returns a list of the values returned by p. The value returned by p is forced to WHNF.

commaSep p  = p `sepBy'` (char ',')

sepBy1 :: Alternative f => f a -> f s -> f [a]

sepBy1 p sep applies one or more occurrences of p, separated by sep. Returns a list of the values returned by p.

commaSep p  = p `sepBy1` (char ',')

sepBy1' :: MonadPlus m => m a -> m s -> m [a]

sepBy1' p sep applies one or more occurrences of p, separated by sep. Returns a list of the values returned by p. The value returned by p is forced to WHNF.

commaSep p  = p `sepBy1'` (char ',')

skipMany :: Alternative f => f a -> f ()

Skip zero or more instances of an action.

skipMany1 :: Alternative f => f a -> f ()

Skip one or more instances of an action.

eitherP :: Alternative f => f a -> f b -> f (Either a b)

Combine two alternatives.

match :: Parser a -> Parser (ByteString, a)

Return both the result of a parse and the portion of the input that was consumed while it was being parsed.

State observation and manipulation functions

endOfInput :: forall t. Chunk t => Parser t ()

Match only if all input has been consumed.

atEnd :: Chunk t => Parser t Bool

Return an indication of whether the end of input has been reached.

Orphan instances

(~) * a ByteString => IsString (Parser a)

Methods

fromString :: String -> Parser a