FWD » Core Development » Conversion Tools

05/18/2026

10:42 AM Feature #10804: create replacement AST implementation for use with ANTLR 4

*Update*: *All* Hotel GUI files are now converted (*66* files). I still need to check the generated Java files, ASTs,... Paula Păstrăguș

05/15/2026

02:47 AM Feature #7318 (Test): prevent abend during conversion in case of failures when processing TRPL rules

Branch 7318a was merged to trunk/16567 and then was archived. Dănuț Filimon

05/14/2026

06:46 AM Feature #7318: prevent abend during conversion in case of failures when processing TRPL rules

Please merge 7318a to trunk *after* 11049a. Alexandru Lungu

06:44 AM Feature #7318 (Merge Pending): prevent abend during conversion in case of failures when processin...

Testing passed, *7318a* can be merged after trunk is no longer frozen. Dănuț Filimon

05/12/2026

09:10 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Octavian Adrian Gavril wrote:
> I fixed java constructor names. The remaining differneces are:
> * two mismatched m... Octavian Adrian Gavril

05/11/2026

09:46 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Octavian Adrian Gavril wrote:
> I resolved the errors from the @Code Conversion Annotation@ phase. However, new erro... Octavian Adrian Gavril

07:34 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

I resolved the errors from the @Code Conversion Annotation@ phase. However, new errors related to @OBJECT_INVOCATION@... Octavian Adrian Gavril

05/08/2026

09:20 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Unfortunately, during the @Code Conversion Annotation@ phase, I ran into some errors related to inherited class names... Octavian Adrian Gavril

08:58 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

I've resolved additional issues in the parsing phase for the other OO application. The parsing phase now passes witho... Octavian Adrian Gavril

05/07/2026

09:12 AM Feature #10804: create replacement AST implementation for use with ANTLR 4

To be more specific, I reached a point where the conversion now generates all expected files, including the converted... Paula Păstrăguș

04:36 AM Feature #10804: create replacement AST implementation for use with ANTLR 4

*Update*: @ant convert@ is now taking around *56* seconds to complete. This means the ANTLR4 based implementation is ... Paula Păstrăguș

08:32 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

From the OE docs:
> This method supports two overloaded versions. The first version is used to initialize and popu... Greg Shah

08:16 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Greg Shah wrote:
> What are the signatures of @setParameter()@ in the built-in version and what is the signature in ... Octavian Adrian Gavril

08:12 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

What are the signatures of @setParameter()@ in the built-in version and what is the signature in the skeleton version? Greg Shah

07:46 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

I've noticed some special processing for the @setParameter@ method in @Progress.Lang.ParameterList@. Our built-in ver... Octavian Adrian Gavril

06:21 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

> Is there a rule I should follow?
There was no rule. I agree with making it consistent. Greg Shah

04:33 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

I've updated the casing of the data types in the loaded signatures to match the method call signatures. These changes... Octavian Adrian Gavril

03:20 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Is there a convention for the casing of types like @DATASET-HANDLE@ and @TABLE-HANDLE@? I noticed that in @Expression... Octavian Adrian Gavril

05/06/2026

06:24 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Octavian Adrian Gavril wrote:
> Aside from the documented differences in #9638-45, I have resolved all other differe... Octavian Adrian Gavril

05/05/2026

08:58 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

> Greg, how should we proceed with the remaining items from #9638-45?
Constantin: What do you think? Greg Shah

08:50 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Aside from the documented differences in #9638-45, I have resolved all other differences. I'm currently focusing on p... Octavian Adrian Gavril

05/04/2026

07:06 PM Feature #11437: re-implement call graph hints

Our current implementation of call graph hints is split into many files (one per program that contains call sites req... Greg Shah

06:56 PM Feature #11437 (New): re-implement call graph hints

Greg Shah

06:56 PM Feature #11436: instrument FWD runtime to generate call graph hints as the converted application ...

It would be best to finish #11437 before this task. Greg Shah

06:48 PM Feature #11436: instrument FWD runtime to generate call graph hints as the converted application ...

As a converted application executes, we can track every call site and resolved target. This essentially records the ... Greg Shah

06:39 PM Feature #11436 (New): instrument FWD runtime to generate call graph hints as the converted applic...

Greg Shah

04/30/2026

08:53 AM Feature #10804: create replacement AST implementation for use with ANTLR 4

*Update*: The AST produced for the @fwd-embedded-driver.p@ file now has the same structure. Next, I'll also verify th... Paula Păstrăguș

04/29/2026

08:56 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Another thing. I have such differences:... Octavian Adrian Gavril

07:53 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Octavian Adrian Gavril wrote:
> I’ve noticed several other differences in the conversion output. These include incor... Octavian Adrian Gavril

07:44 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

I’ve noticed several other differences in the conversion output. These include incorrect method selection, missing ob... Octavian Adrian Gavril

07:51 AM Feature #10265 (Closed): schema-only conversion

Greg Shah

06:59 AM Feature #10804: create replacement AST implementation for use with ANTLR 4

*Update*: I compared the ASTs generated by ANTLR2 and ANTLR4 for @fwd-embedded-driver.p@ (full file, without commenti... Paula Păstrăguș

04/28/2026

12:18 PM Feature #6320: sharded schemata

+Danut/Alex Greg Shah

12:18 PM Feature #6320: sharded schemata

> This means that apps/modules need to be able to be converted in pieces and executed at runtime as a larger system w... Greg Shah

12:06 PM Feature #6256: improved profile support

See the [[p2j:Chapter_6_Project_Setup|Project Setup]] chapter in the Conversion Handbook.
Also, you can look at th... Greg Shah

11:51 AM Feature #6256: improved profile support

I had a project that utilized various zfiles previously now needs to be ported to using profiles. There was a main/de... Roger Borrello

10:51 AM Feature #6256 (Closed): improved profile support

Greg Shah

11:39 AM Feature #11423: implement centralized status/error tracking for conversion/dev tools

h2. Current State
Our current approach to error handling is we write something to STDOUT or a log when a problem i... Greg Shah

10:55 AM Feature #11423 (New): implement centralized status/error tracking for conversion/dev tools

Greg Shah

10:44 AM Feature #7180 (Closed): create a centralized manager for the conversion list and per-file/project...

Greg Shah

10:42 AM Feature #7851 (Closed): automatically add to conversion list all classes referenced via unit test...

Greg Shah

10:13 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Found a fix for the default constructor names, but I'm still encountering errors with the java names for other method... Octavian Adrian Gavril

04:23 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

The testcase project converted successfully without errors. However, I’m now seeing compilation issues in the main bu... Octavian Adrian Gavril

10:07 AM Bug #6308: post string literal alternative coding quirk in 4GL preprocessor

This is the testcase that fails:... Octavian Adrian Gavril

06:29 AM Bug #6308: post string literal alternative coding quirk in 4GL preprocessor

Stefan Vieru wrote:
> Tests that cover this:
> * alternative_coding_quirk_01
> * alternative_coding_quirk_01_analy... Octavian Adrian Gavril

06:11 AM Bug #6308: post string literal alternative coding quirk in 4GL preprocessor

Alexandru Lungu wrote:
> Octavian, can you check if there is something left to be fixed here? Just check if the test... Octavian Adrian Gavril

06:09 AM Bug #6308: post string literal alternative coding quirk in 4GL preprocessor

Octavian, can you check if there is something left to be fixed here? Just check if the tests here are passing with tr... Alexandru Lungu

04/27/2026

10:17 AM Feature #10804: create replacement AST implementation for use with ANTLR 4

I managed to get @ant convert@ to run successfully and produce a @.ast@ file. The build now completes, which is a sol... Paula Păstrăguș

04/24/2026

10:26 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Octavian Adrian Gavril wrote:
> Next, I’m addressing the following warning:
> [...]
>
> This indicates that lega... Octavian Adrian Gavril

07:35 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Octavian Adrian Gavril wrote:
> I think the problem here is the signature from OO builtin classes. I have identified... Octavian Adrian Gavril

09:57 AM Feature #10804: create replacement AST implementation for use with ANTLR 4

*Update*: Using *SLL* prediction mode together with @reserved_keywords@ and @unreserved_keywords@, the @fwd-embedded-... Paula Păstrăguș

08:18 AM Bug #6629 (Test): incremental conversion for OpenClient proxy programs

Branch 6629a was merged to trunk rev 16536 and archived. Dănuț Filimon

07:31 AM Bug #6629 (Merge Pending): incremental conversion for OpenClient proxy programs

Please merge after 11397a Constantin Asofiei

04/23/2026

12:10 PM Feature #11404: Implement annotation-based resolution for database dependencies.

Ovidiu Maxiniuc wrote:
> I was thinking mostly of 'provided' dmos from a previous iteration of an app-by-app convers... Greg Shah

10:58 AM Feature #11404: Implement annotation-based resolution for database dependencies.

I was thinking mostly of 'provided' dmos from a previous iteration of an app-by-app conversion. There are no .ast pro... Ovidiu Maxiniuc

10:53 AM Feature #11404: Implement annotation-based resolution for database dependencies.

Ovidiu Maxiniuc wrote:
> This process is similar (if not identical) to that from @MetadataManager.populateFileTable(... Constantin Asofiei

10:52 AM Feature #11404: Implement annotation-based resolution for database dependencies.

This process is similar (if not identical) to that from @MetadataManager.populateFileTable()@ which scans the dmo str... Ovidiu Maxiniuc

09:48 AM Feature #11404: Implement annotation-based resolution for database dependencies.

This is relatred to app-by-app conversion. Anything related to the lookup or processing of database/temp-tables that... Greg Shah

09:45 AM Feature #11404: Implement annotation-based resolution for database dependencies.

The goal here is to stop relying on the file system for database info during conversion.
This was discovered whil... Octavian Adrian Gavril

09:37 AM Feature #11404 (WIP): Implement annotation-based resolution for database dependencies.

Octavian Adrian Gavril

12:08 PM Feature #10804: create replacement AST implementation for use with ANTLR 4

Paula Păstrăguș wrote:
> I'll try an approach based on a semantic predicate, something like @{ someMethodThatChanges... Greg Shah

10:25 AM Feature #10804: create replacement AST implementation for use with ANTLR 4

I'll try an approach based on a semantic predicate, something like @{ someMethodThatChangesTokenType() }?@. The idea ... Paula Păstrăguș

08:49 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Octavian Adrian Gavril wrote:
> Greg Shah wrote:
> > > Do you think we should avoid that kind of processing for con... Greg Shah

06:31 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Octavian Adrian Gavril wrote:
> Octavian Adrian Gavril wrote:
> > Another scenario involves a method call that is n... Octavian Adrian Gavril

04:15 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Octavian Adrian Gavril wrote:
> Another scenario involves a method call that is not annotated properly because the u... Octavian Adrian Gavril

02:32 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Greg Shah wrote:
> > Do you think we should avoid that kind of processing for converted java classes?
>
> No, I t... Octavian Adrian Gavril

04/22/2026

02:53 PM Support #10231: Document the code style guidelines for ANTLR grammars, based on progress.g

Some additional rules:
*1.* Do *not* use the shorthand syntax that drops @()@ for subrule processing when there is... Greg Shah

12:19 PM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Another scenario involves a method call that is not annotated properly because the used parameter is a @TABLE-HANDLE@... Octavian Adrian Gavril

10:44 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

Greg Shah wrote:
> > Do you think we should avoid that kind of processing for converted java classes?
>
> No, I t... Octavian Adrian Gavril

10:39 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

> Do you think we should avoid that kind of processing for converted java classes?
No, I think this is needed for ... Greg Shah

09:56 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

I've successfully fixed several errors and managed the OO builtin classes to store enough information so that the par... Octavian Adrian Gavril

08:37 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

For further profiling I'll use YourKit profiler. Paula Păstrăguș

08:35 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

Paula Păstrăguș wrote:
> Paula Păstrăguș wrote:
> > Tokens generation time: @873586@ ns = 0.000873586 seconds. The ... Paula Păstrăguș

08:31 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

... Paula Păstrăguș

08:20 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

I only measured @tokens.fill()@, which generates all the tokens. Paula Păstrăguș

08:18 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

Make sure this isn't "wall time". The lexer normally only works when asked for tokens. That will be spread over the... Greg Shah

08:11 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

Paula Păstrăguș wrote:
> Tokens generation time: @873586@ ns = 0.000873586 seconds. The lexer is clearly not the iss... Paula Păstrăguș

08:07 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

Paula, do you profile the actual read from disk? I am aware that ANTLR has a token stream that can be set-up from dis... Alexandru Lungu

08:03 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

I did some searching to see if there was a parser generator that implements true @LL(k)@ but also has its own equival... Greg Shah

07:59 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

Tokens generation time: @873586@ ns = 0.000873586 seconds. The lexer is clearly not the issue. Paula Păstrăguș

07:53 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

As for the SLL lookahead, I wouldn't worry about the larger numbers, they represent the total lookahead across all in... Paula Păstrăguș

07:50 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

I'm also reminded of Sam's advice from some forum: "Do not assume the lexer is fast." It might be worth profiling the... Paula Păstrăguș

07:48 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

Yes, it helped a bit.
I enabled ANTLR4 profiling to see how much time is spent in each parser decision:
{{colla... Paula Păstrăguș

06:42 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

> ANTLR4 parsed the standard.df file in 1235103542 ns, which is about 1.23 seconds, while ANTLR2 completed the same p... Alexandru Lungu

04/21/2026

01:28 PM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

ANTLR3 supports @LL(k)@. But it is old and not supported and doesn't have ATN support.
There is this interesting ... Greg Shah

10:23 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

Paula Păstrăguș wrote:
> Also, there is an optimized fork of ANTLR4 available here: https://github.com/tunnelvisionl... Greg Shah

10:22 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

I'm not surprised. Consider how truly awful that result is. The content we are parsing in the @.df@ is trivial. Th... Greg Shah

08:58 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

Paula Păstrăguș wrote:
> Sure, I'm currently measuring the parsing time of @standard.df@ using ANTLR4 and comparing ... Paula Păstrăguș

08:28 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

Also, there is an optimized fork of ANTLR4 available here: https://github.com/tunnelvisionlabs/antlr4/blob/master/doc... Paula Păstrăguș

08:16 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

Sure, I'm currently measuring the parsing time of @standard.df@ using ANTLR4 and comparing it with the old ANTLR2 imp... Paula Păstrăguș

08:12 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

We have a big decision to make.
It is not clear to me that ANTLR4 is the best choice. It has been optimized to ... Greg Shah

07:43 AM Feature #1757: update ANTLR to latest version

I will continue the discussion here. For context, previous relevant notes include #10804-218, #10804-220, #10804-221. Paula Păstrăguș

08:24 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

I've noticed that many builtin classes have incomplete @LegacySignature@ instances. For example @com.goldencode.p2j.o... Octavian Adrian Gavril

06:33 AM Feature #9638: resolve OO dependencies during parsing using annotations in already converted classes

I've successfully integrated loading of bultin classes from jars but the current implementation is looking for class ... Octavian Adrian Gavril

08:21 AM Feature #10804: create replacement AST implementation for use with ANTLR 4

I've just identified the issue with my latest commit. I think, due to the build.gradle, the @*TokenTypes.java@ files ... Paula Păstrăguș

08:11 AM Feature #10804: create replacement AST implementation for use with ANTLR 4

We have a big decision to make.
It is not clear to me that ANTLR4 is the best choice. It has been optimized to ... Greg Shah

07:35 AM Feature #10804: create replacement AST implementation for use with ANTLR 4

Greg Shah wrote:
> *Unfortunately, I don't think we can disable @ALL(*)@ completely and move back to @LL(k)@ in ANTL... Paula Păstrăguș

07:22 AM Feature #10804: create replacement AST implementation for use with ANTLR 4

The supposed advantage of @ALL(*)@ is wasted on us. They designed it to trade runtime performance for a more simple ... Greg Shah

05:58 AM Feature #10804: create replacement AST implementation for use with ANTLR 4

Greg Shah wrote:
> I think we need more helper methods (outside of the parser) to reduce code like this (from @func_... Paula Păstrăguș

05:52 AM Feature #10804: create replacement AST implementation for use with ANTLR 4

Here is a breakdown of how @SLL@, @LL@, @adaptivePredict@, the @ATN@, and the @lookahead DFA@ all work together in th... Paula Păstrăguș

04:40 AM Bug #11381 (Test): trunk no longer generates OpenClient proxies either via conversion or Generate...

Branch 11381a was merged into trunk 16527 and archived. Dănuț Filimon

04:23 AM Bug #11381 (Merge Pending): trunk no longer generates OpenClient proxies either via conversion or...

Please merge to trunk now. Constantin Asofiei

04/20/2026

03:28 PM Bug #11381 (Internal Test): trunk no longer generates OpenClient proxies either via conversion or...

Dănuț Filimon wrote:
> Constantin, there are a few additional changes to review in @rules@ and @src/com/goldencode/a... Constantin Asofiei