Menhir parser?

[gasche]

I came from the DNS server blog post, which mentions that you use ocamlyacc as a parser, and that pull requests to improve the parser are welcome.

I wonder if you considered using Menhir as a parser? (Is there a blocker related to adding extra dependencies?) In my experience Menhir results in more readable parsers (thanks in particular to the ability to name symbols instead of using $n), and I could send a conversion PR.

[hannesm]

yes, I've heard good things about menhir (including the possibility of nicer error messages). In terms of dependencies, I think it is fine. The current parser (in the zone subdirectory) was inherited from the original ocaml-dns (from 2005), and changing it to menhir would be great. Our dhcp server uses menhir as well, thus it will work in a MirageOS environment. Thanks.

EDIT Disclaimer: I usually find working on text-based parsers tiring and tedious, thus I avoid it.

[gasche]

Menhir gives the possibility of nicer error messages, but currently it takes work from the grammar author to achieve this, it is not a consequence of the switch. (I would say that it take an hour of work for a small grammar, and several hours to a day for a medium-complexity grammar. We don't know how to make the current approach scale to larger grammars.)