(La)Tex math parsing for C/C++ - c++

Question

I would like to convert parse (la)tex math expressions, and convert them to (any kind of!) scripting language expression, so I can evaluate expressions.
What libraries do you recommend ?

Answer 1

May be it will help - take a look at TeXmacs, especially at a way it interacts with computer algebra systems.

Answer 2

Here is a set of possible options from a similar question. https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/4223/what-parsers-for-latex-mathematics-exist-outside-of-the-tex-engines
I think that Perl would make a fine choice for something like this, acting on text is one of its fortes.
Here is some info on how to make an exclusive flip-flop test (to find the context between \begin{} and \end{} without keeping those lines), http://www.effectiveperlprogramming.com/2010/11/make-exclusive-flip-flop-operators/
EDIT: So this problem has started me going. Here is a first attempt to create something here is my "math.pl" which takes a .tex file as an arguement (i.e. $./math.pl test.tex).
#!/usr/bin/env perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use Text::Balanced qw/extract_multiple extract_bracketed/;
my $re_num = qr/[+\-\dE\.]/;
my $file = shift;
open( my $fh, '<', $file);
#parsing this out for more than just the equation environment might be easier using Text::Balanced too.
my #equations;
my $current_equation = '';
while(<$fh>) {
my $test;
next unless ($test = /\\begin\{equation\}/ .. /\\end\{equation\}/);
if ($test !~ /(^1|E0)$/ ) {
chomp;
$current_equation .= $_;
} elsif ($test =~ /E0$/) {
#print $current_equation . "\n";
push #equations, {eq => $current_equation};
$current_equation = '';
}
}
foreach my $eq (#equations) {
print "Full Equation: " . $eq->{'eq'} . "\n";
solve($eq);
print "Result: " . $eq->{'value'} . "\n\n";
}
sub solve {
my $eq = shift;
print $eq->{'eq'} . "\n";
parse($eq);
compute($eq);
print "intermediate result: " . $eq->{'value'} . "\n";
}
sub parse {
my $eq = shift;
my ($command,#fields) = extract_multiple(
$eq->{'eq'}, [ sub { extract_bracketed(shift,'{}') } ]
);
$command =~ s/^\\//;
print "command: " . $command . "\n";
#fields = map { s/^\{\ *//; s/\ *\}$//; print "arg: $_\n"; {value => $_}; } #fields;
($eq->{'command'}, #{ $eq->{'args'} }) = ($command, #fields);
}
sub compute {
my ($eq) = #_;
#check arguements ...
foreach my $arg (#{$eq->{'args'}}) {
#if arguement is a number, continue
if ($arg->{'value'} =~ /^$re_num$/) {
next;
#if the arguement is a simple mathematical operation, do it and continue
} elsif ($arg->{'value'} =~ /^($re_num)\ *(?:\ |\*|\\times)?\ *($re_num)$/) {
$arg->{'value'} = $1 * $2;
} elsif ($arg->{'value'} =~ /^($re_num)\ *(?:\+)?\ *($re_num)$/) {
$arg->{'value'} = $1 + $2;
} elsif ($arg->{'value'} =~ /^($re_num)\ *(?:\-)?\ *($re_num)$/) {
$arg->{'value'} = $1 - $2;
} elsif ($arg->{'value'} =~ /^($re_num)\ *(?:\/)?\ *($re_num)$/) {
$arg->{'value'} = $1 / $2;
} else {
#parse it and calc it as if it were its own equation.
$arg->{'eq'} = $arg->{'value'};
solve($arg);
}
}
my #args = #{$eq->{'args'}};
## add command processing here
# frac
if ($eq->{'command'} eq 'frac') {
$eq->{'value'} = $args[0]->{'value'} / $args[1]->{'value'};
return;
}
}
and here is a sample test.tex:
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Hello World!
\begin{equation}
\frac{\frac{1}{3}}{2}
\end{equation}
\end{document}

Answer 3

Maybe using boost::spirit in order to tokenize the expression. You will need to define a huge grammar!

Answer 4

Use a parser generator to create an appropriate parser. Try ANTLR for this, as it includes an IDE for the Grammar, which is very helpful. Using tree rewrite rules, you can then convert the parse tree to an abstract syntax tree.
Start perhaps with the expression evaluator from ANTLR tutorial. I think this is reasonably close enough.