What is Handle Pruning?
Last Updated :
18 Jan, 2022
The handle is the substring that matches the body of a production whose reduction represents one step along with the reverse of a Rightmost derivation.
The handle of the right sequential form Y is the production of Y where the string S may be found and replaced by A to produce the previous right sequential form in RMD(Right Most Derivation) of Y.
Sentential form: S => a here, ‘a’ is called sentential form, ‘a’ can be a mix of terminals and nonterminals.
Example:
Consider Grammar : S -> aSa | bSb | ε
Derivation: S => aSa => abSba => abbSbba => abbbba
Left Sentential and Right Sentential Form:
- A left-sentential form is a sentential form that occurs in the leftmost derivation of some sentence.
- A right-sentential form is a sentential form that occurs in the rightmost derivation of some sentence.
Handle contains two things:
Example:
S -> aABe
A -> Abc | b
B -> d
Steps:
abbcde : γ = abbcde , A->b; Handle = b
aAbcde : γ = RHS = aAbcde , A->Abc; Handle = Abc
aAde : γ = aAde , B->d; Handle = d
aABe : γ = aABe, S-> aABe; Handle = aABe
Note- Handles are underlined in the right-sentential forms.
Is the leftmost substring always handled?
No, choosing the leftmost substring as the handle always, may not give correct SR(Shift-Reduce) Parsing.
Handle Pruning:
Removing the children of the left-hand side non-terminal from the parse tree is called Handle Pruning.
A rightmost derivation in reverse can be obtained by handle pruning.
Steps to Follow:
- Start with a string of terminals ‘w’ that is to be parsed.
- Let w = γn, where γn is the nth right sequential form of an unknown RMD.
- To reconstruct the RMD in reverse, locate handle βn in γn. Replace βn with LHS of some An ⇢ βn to get (n-1)th RSF γn-1. Repeat.
Example 1:
Right Sequential Form |
Handle |
Reducing Production |
id + id * id |
id |
E ⇒ id |
E + id * id |
id |
E ⇒ id |
E + E * id |
id |
E ⇒ id |
E + E * E |
E + E |
E ⇒ E + E |
E * E |
E * E |
E ⇒ E * E |
E (Root) |
|
|
Example 2:
Right Sequential Form |
Handle |
Production |
id + id + id |
id |
E ⇒ id |
E + id + id |
id |
E ⇒ id |
E + E + id |
id |
E ⇒ id |
E + E + E |
E + E |
E ⇒ E + E |
E + E |
E + E |
E ⇒ E + E |
E (Root) |
|
|
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