My problem is to split a string which contains a logical operation. For example, here is my sample string:
var rule = "device2.temperature > 20 || device2.humidity>68 && device3.temperature >10"
I need to parse that string in a way that I can easily operate my logic and I am not sure which approach would be better.
PS: Please keep in mind that those rule strings can have 10 or more different condition combinations, like 4 ANDs and 6 ORs.
Assuming no parentheses, I might go with something like this (JavaScript code):
function f(v,op,w){
var ops = {
'>': function(a,b){ return a > b; },
'<': function(a,b){ return a < b; },
'||': function(a,b){ return a || b; },
'&&': function(a,b){ return a && b; },
'==': function(a,b){ return a == b;}
}
if (ops[op]){
return ops[op](v,w);
} else alert('Could not recognize the operator, "' + op + '".');
}
Now if you can manage to get a list of expressions, you can evaluate them in series:
var exps = [[6,'>',7],'||',[12,'<',22], '&&', [5,'==',5]];
var i = 0,
result = typeof exps[i] == 'object' ? f(exps[i][0],exps[i][1],exps[i][2]) : exps[i];
i++;
while (exps[i] !== undefined){
var op = exps[i++],
b = typeof exps[i] == 'object' ? f(exps[i][0],exps[i][1],exps[i][2]) : exps[i];
result = f(result,op,b);
i++;
}
console.log(result);
If you are absolutely sure that the input is always going to be valid JavaScript
var rule = "device2.temperature > 20 || device2.humidity>68 && device3.temperature >10"
var rulePassed = eval(rule);
Keep in mind that in most cases "eval" is "evil" and has the potential to introduce more problems than it solves.
function parse(rule){
return Function("ctx", "return("+rule.replace(/[a-z$_][a-z0-9$_\.]*/gi, "ctx.$&")+")");
}
a little bit better than eval, since it will most likely throw errors, when sbd. tries to inject some code. Because it will try to access these properties on the ctx-object instead of the window-object.
var rule = parse("device2.temperature > 20 || device2.humidity>68 && device3.temperature >10");
var data = {
device2: {
temperature: 18,
humidity: 70
},
device3: {
temperature: 15,
humidity: 75
}
};
console.log( rule.toString() );
console.log( rule(data) );
Overkill:
beware, not fully tested. may still contain errors
And, code doesn't check wether syntax is valid, only throws on a few obvious errors.
var parse = (function(){
function parse(){
var cache = {};
//this may be as evil as eval, so take care how you use it.
function raw(v){ return cache[v] || (cache[v] = Function("return " + v)) }
//parses Strings and converts them to operator-tokens or functions
function parseStrings(v, prop, symbol, number, string){
if(!prop && !symbol && !number && !string){
throw new Error("unexpected/unhandled symbol", v);
}else{
var w;
switch(prop){
//keywords
case "true":
case "false":
case "null":
w = raw( v );
break;
}
tokens.push(
w ||
~unary.indexOf(prop) && v ||
prop && parse.fetch(v) ||
number && raw( number ) ||
string && raw( string ) ||
symbol
);
}
}
var tokens = [];
for(var i = 0; i < arguments.length; ++i){
var arg = arguments[i];
switch(typeof arg){
case "number":
case "boolean":
tokens.push(raw( arg ));
break;
case "function":
tokens.push( arg );
break;
case "string":
//abusing str.replace() as kind of a RegEx.forEach()
arg.replace(matchTokens, parseStrings);
break;
}
}
for(var i = tokens.lastIndexOf("("), j; i>=0; i = tokens.lastIndexOf("(")){
j = tokens.indexOf(")", i);
if(j > 0){
tokens.splice(i, j+1-i, process( tokens.slice( i+1, j ) ));
}else{
throw new Error("mismatching parantheses")
}
}
if(tokens.indexOf(")") >= 0) throw new Error("mismatching parantheses");
return process(tokens);
}
//combines tokens and functions until a single function is left
function process(tokens){
//unary operators like
unary.forEach(o => {
var i = -1;
while((i = tokens.indexOf(o, i+1)) >= 0){
if((o === "+" || o === "-") && typeof tokens[i-1] === "function") continue;
tokens.splice( i, 2, parse[ unaryMapping[o] || o ]( tokens[i+1] ));
}
})
//binary operators
binary.forEach(o => {
for(var i = tokens.lastIndexOf(o); i >= 0; i = tokens.lastIndexOf(o)){
tokens.splice( i-1, 3, parse[ o ]( tokens[i-1], tokens[i+1] ));
}
})
//ternary operator
for(var i = tokens.lastIndexOf("?"), j; i >= 0; i = tokens.lastIndexOf("?")){
if(tokens[i+2] === ":"){
tokens.splice(i-1, 5, parse.ternary(tokens[i-1], tokens[i+1], tokens[i+3] ));
}else{
throw new Error("unexpected symbol")
}
}
if(tokens.length !== 1){
throw new Error("unparsed tokens left");
}
return tokens[0];
}
var unary = "!,~,+,-,typeof".split(",");
var unaryMapping = { //to avoid collisions with the binary operators
"+": "plus",
"-": "minus"
}
var binary = "**,*,/,%,+,-,<<,>>,>>>,<,<=,>,>=,==,!=,===,!==,&,^,|,&&,||".split(",");
var matchTokens = /([a-z$_][\.a-z0-9$_]*)|([+\-*/!~^]=*|[\(\)?:]|[<>&|=]+)|(\d+(?:\.\d*)?|\.\d+)|(["](?:\\[\s\S]|[^"])+["]|['](?:\\[\s\S]|[^'])+['])|\S/gi;
(function(){
var def = { value: null };
var odp = (k,v) => { def.value = v; Object.defineProperty(parse, k, def) };
unary.forEach(o => {
var k = unaryMapping[o] || o;
k in parse || odp(k, Function("a", "return function(ctx){ return " + o + "(a(ctx)) }"));
})
//most browsers don't support this syntax yet, so I implement this manually
odp("**", (a,b) => (ctx) => Math.pow(a(ctx), b(ctx)));
binary.forEach(o => {
o in parse || odp(o, Function("a,b", "return function(ctx){ return a(ctx) "+o+" b(ctx) }"));
});
odp("ternary", (c,t,e) => ctx => c(ctx)? t(ctx): e(ctx));
odp("fetch", key => {
var a = key.split(".");
return ctx => {
//fetches a path, like devices.2.temperature
//does ctx["devices"][2]["temperature"];
for(var i=0, v = ctx /*|| window*/; i<a.length; ++i){
if(v == null) return void 0;
v = v[a[i]];
}
return v;
}
});
/* some sugar */
var aliases = {
"or": "||",
"and": "&&",
"not": "!"
}
for(var name in aliases) odp(name, parse[aliases[name]]);
})();
return parse;
})();
and your code:
var data = {
device2: {
temperature: 18,
humidity: 70
},
device3: {
temperature: 15,
humidity: 75
}
};
//you get back a function, that expects the context to work on (optional).
//aka. (in wich context/object is `device2` defined?)
var rule = parse("device2.temperature > 20 || device2.humidity>68 && device3.temperature >10");
console.log("your rule resolved:", rule(data));
sugar:
var rule1 = parse("device2.temperature > 20");
var rule2 = parse("device2.humidity>68 && device3.temperature >10");
//partials/combining rules to new ones
//only `and` (a && b), `or` (a || b), `plus` (+value), `minus` (-value) and 'not', (!value) have named aliases
var rule3 = parse.or(rule1, rule2);
//but you can access all operators like this
var rule3 = parse['||'](rule1, rule2);
//or you can combine functions and strings
var rule3 = parse(rule1, "||", rule2);
console.log( "(", rule1(data), "||", rule2(data), ") =", rule3(data) );
//ternary operator and Strings (' and " supported)
var example = parse(rule1, "? 'device2: ' + device2.temperature : 'device3: ' + device3.temperature");
console.log( example(data) )
What else to know:
Code handles operator precedence and supports round brackets
If a Path can't be fetched, it the particular function returns undefined (no Errors thrown here)
Access to Array-keys in the paths: parse("devices.2.temperature") fetches devices[2].temperature
not implemented:
parsing Arrays and parsing function-calls and everything around value modification. This engine does some computation, it expects some Value in, and gives you a value out. No more, no less.