error: initializer element is not constant

[Bart Vandewoestyne]

Hello all,

I am currently trying to get started with the code for Chapter 3
'Parsing' in Appel's 'Modern Compiler Implementation in C'. After
downloading the files and fixing some small bugs in it, the only problem
I'm left with when typing 'make' is the following error:

cc -g -c lex.yy.c
lex.yy.c:20:1: error: initializer element is not constant
lex.yy.c:20:1: error: (near initialization for ‘yyin’)
lex.yy.c:20:1: error: initializer element is not constant
lex.yy.c:20:1: error: (near initialization for ‘yyout’)
make: *** [lex.yy.o] Error 1

The file lex.yy.c is an output file of an old version of lex, and the
error is for the line:

FILE *yyin = {stdin}, *yyout = {stdout};

I would now like to know what is the cleanest way to solve this
compilation error. From the net, I've found that I can simply declare
yyin and yyout:

FILE *yyin, *yyout;

(which works), and then later initialize them in a main(), probably
something like:

int main()
{
yyin = stdin;
yyout = stdout;
}

However, i don't have a main function, so I was wondering where and how
I should initialize yyin and yyout. My educated guess is that this
should happen at the beginning of the yylex() function. So there, I added:

yylex() {
int nstr; extern int yyprevious;
yyin = stdin; yyout = stdout;
... other code...

See also lines 20-21 and 78-79 in
https://github.com/BartVandewoestyn..._Compiler_Implementation_in_C/chap03/lex.yy.c

Is this the correct, cleanest and most portable way to fix the above error?

Thanks,
Bart

 

[Eric Sosman]

Hello all,

I am currently trying to get started with the code for Chapter 3
'Parsing' in Appel's 'Modern Compiler Implementation in C'. After
downloading the files and fixing some small bugs in it, the only problem
I'm left with when typing 'make' is the following error:

cc -g -c lex.yy.c
lex.yy.c:20:1: error: initializer element is not constant
lex.yy.c:20:1: error: (near initialization for ‘yyin’)
lex.yy.c:20:1: error: initializer element is not constant
lex.yy.c:20:1: error: (near initialization for ‘yyout’)
make: *** [lex.yy.o] Error 1

The file lex.yy.c is an output file of an old version of lex, and the
error is for the line:

FILE *yyin = {stdin}, *yyout = {stdout};

I would now like to know what is the cleanest way to solve this
compilation error. From the net, I've found that I can simply declare
yyin and yyout:

FILE *yyin, *yyout;

(which works), and then later initialize them in a main(), probably
something like:

int main()
{
yyin = stdin;
yyout = stdout;
}

However, i don't have a main function, [...]

Really? C'mon, now: REALLY?

[...] so I was wondering where and how
I should initialize yyin and yyout. My educated guess is that this
should happen at the beginning of the yylex() function. So there, I added:

yylex() {
int nstr; extern int yyprevious;
yyin = stdin; yyout = stdout;
... other code...

See also lines 20-21 and 78-79 in
https://github.com/BartVandewoestyn..._Compiler_Implementation_in_C/chap03/lex.yy.c


Is this the correct, cleanest and most portable way to fix the above error?

A good first step might be to discard the "old version of lex"
and see whether a more up-to-date version generates code that needs
less fixing. You might also consider using a lex-ish program like
flex instead of Original Model T lex.

If that doesn't help, then you need to ensure that yyin and yyout
are initialized at some point before their first uses. Off-hand I don't
know whether yylex() is the best place for this; maybe it should be
done in yylex()'s caller (where, for example, you might call fopen()
to use streams other than stdin and stdout).

 

[Bart Vandewoestyne]

A good first step might be to discard the "old version of lex"
and see whether a more up-to-date version generates code that needs
less fixing. You might also consider using a lex-ish program like
flex instead of Original Model T lex.

Hmm... you're probably right. The code compiles now, but when I run the
parser it gets stuck in the yylook() function for some or the other
reason... If I compile with -Wall and -Wextra, then I see quite some
warnings...

If I use my own lex.yy.c file (that I obtained while writing the lexer
from Chapter 2 of the book), it just works... so I'll stick with that one.

The reason why I was trying to use the book's lex.yy.c is simply because
I really wanted to use the author's lexer instead of mine (mine might
still contain errors...)

But anyway, given the too old lex.yy.c and the problems that come with
it, I guess I'll have to have faith in myself and use my own lexer.

Regards,
Bart

 

[Chad]

Maybe it's just me, but I feel the parser is more difficult to get right than the lexer. In particular, depending on how you handle the AST, you mighthave to use some kind of backtracking algorithm in order to generate the correct error message. Also, if I remember right, certain parsing techniquescan make a programming language more expressive.

 

[Keith Thompson]

I am currently trying to get started with the code for Chapter 3
'Parsing' in Appel's 'Modern Compiler Implementation in C'. After
downloading the files and fixing some small bugs in it, the only problem
I'm left with when typing 'make' is the following error:

cc -g -c lex.yy.c
lex.yy.c:20:1: error: initializer element is not constant
lex.yy.c:20:1: error: (near initialization for ‘yyin’)
lex.yy.c:20:1: error: initializer element is not constant
lex.yy.c:20:1: error: (near initialization for ‘yyout’)
make: *** [lex.yy.o] Error 1

The file lex.yy.c is an output file of an old version of lex, and the
error is for the line:

FILE *yyin = {stdin}, *yyout = {stdout};

Apparently lex is assuming that stdin and stdout are constant
expressions. This is likely true for some implementations,
presumably including the ones on which lex was originally developed,
but it's not guaranteed.

I would now like to know what is the cleanest way to solve this
compilation error. From the net, I've found that I can simply declare
yyin and yyout:

FILE *yyin, *yyout;

(which works), and then later initialize them in a main(), probably
something like:

int main()
{
yyin = stdin;
yyout = stdout;
}

However, i don't have a main function, so I was wondering where and how
I should initialize yyin and yyout.

You should have a main function *somewhere*.

My educated guess is that this
should happen at the beginning of the yylex() function. So there, I added:

yylex() {
int nstr; extern int yyprevious;
yyin = stdin; yyout = stdout;
... other code...

Can you create an initialization function that assigns values to yyin
and yyout, and require that the main program (wherever it is) must call
that function?

See also lines 20-21 and 78-79 in
https://github.com/BartVandewoestyn..._Compiler_Implementation_in_C/chap03/lex.yy.c

Is this the correct, cleanest and most portable way to fix the above error?

That file no longer exists. The version I think you're referring to can
be seen at

https://github.com/BartVandewoestyn..._Compiler_Implementation_in_C/chap03/lex.yy.c

The file lex.yy.c is normally *generated* from an input file. Your
makefile assumes that it already exists.

GNU flex is a relatively newer implementation of lex, and it should be
reasonable compatible. I just tried feeding your "tiger.lex" file to
yacc, and it generated a lex.yy.c file that doesn't have the problem you
reported. It has:

if ( ! yyin )
yyin = stdin;

if ( ! yyout )
yyout = stdout;

 

[Nobody]

You should have a main function *somewhere*.

It might be the one in libfl.a (or libfl_pic.a).