Converting a parse tree to a string

Question

I used PycParser to generate an abstract syntax tree for a C function, but I'm still trying to figure out how to convert the parse tree into a string:

from pycparser import c_parser

src =  '''
int hello(a, b){
    return a + b;
}
'''
ast = c_parser.CParser().parse(src)
aString = ast.show()
print(aString) #This prints "None" instead of printing the parse tree

Would it be possible to generate a string (or an array of strings) from the parse tree that has been generated?

This is the abstract syntax tree that was printed, but I can't figure out how to convert it to a string:

FileAST: 
  FuncDef: 
    Decl: hello, [], [], []
      FuncDecl: 
        ParamList: 
          ID: a
          ID: b
        TypeDecl: hello, []
          IdentifierType: ['int']
    Compound: 
      Return: 
        BinaryOp: +
          ID: a
          ID: b

Answer 1

The show method accepts a buf keyword parameter - you can pass a StringIO there. sys.stdout is the default. See https://github.com/eliben/pycparser/blob/master/pycparser/c_ast.py#L30

Answer 2

Try this, please

from pycparser import c_parser
src =  '''
     int hello(a, b){
        return a + b;
     }
'''
ast = c_parser.CParser().parse(src)
ast_buffer_write=open("buffer.txt","w") # here will be your AST source
ast.show(ast_buffer_write)
ast_buffer_write.close()
ast_buffer_read=open("buffer.txt","r")
astString=ast_buffer_read.read()
print(astString)