This is Info file gperf.info, produced by Makeinfo-1.55 from the input
file ./gperf.texi.

START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* Gperf::                       Perfect Hash Function Generator.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

   This file documents the features of the GNU Perfect Hash Function
Generator

   Copyright (C) 1989 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

   Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also
that the section entitled "GNU General Public License" is included
exactly as in the original, and provided that the entire resulting
derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice
identical to this one.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
versions, except that the section entitled "GNU `gperf' General Public
License" an d this permission notice may be included in translations
approved by the Free Software Foundation instead of in the original
English.


File: gperf.info,  Node: Top,  Next: Copying,  Prev: (dir),  Up: (dir)

Introduction
************

   This manual documents the GNU `gperf' perfect hash function generator
utility, focusing on its features and how to use them, and how to report
bugs.

* Menu:

* Copying::			GNU `gperf' General Public License says
                    how you can copy and share `gperf'.
* Contributors::		People who have contributed to `gperf'.
* Motivation::			Static search structures and GNU GPERF.
* Search Structures::		Static search structures and GNU `gperf'
* Description::			High-level discussion of how GPERF functions.
* Options::			A description of options to the program.
* Bugs::			Known bugs and limitations with GPERF.
* Projects::			Things still left to do.
* Implementation::		Implementation Details for GNU GPERF.
* Bibliography::		Material Referenced in this Report.

 -- The Detailed Node Listing --

High-Level Description of GNU `gperf'

* Input Format::		Input Format to `gperf'
* Output Format::		Output Format for Generated C Code with `gperf'

Input Format to `gperf'

* Declarations::		`struct' Declarations and C Code Inclusion.
* Keywords::			Format for Keyword Entries.
* Functions::			Including Additional C Functions.


File: gperf.info,  Node: Copying,  Next: Contributors,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
**************************

                       Version 1, February 1989

     Copyright (C) 1989 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
     675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
     
     Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
     of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

Preamble
========

   The license agreements of most software companies try to keep users
at the mercy of those companies.  By contrast, our General Public
License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free
software--to make sure the software is free for all its users.  The
General Public License applies to the Free Software Foundation's
software and to any other program whose authors commit to using it.
You can use it for your programs, too.

   When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not
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that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free
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   To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid
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These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you
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   For example, if you distribute copies of a such a program, whether
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   We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software,
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   Also, for each author's protection and ours, we want to make certain
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   The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and
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                         TERMS AND CONDITIONS

  1. This License Agreement applies to any program or other work which
     contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be
     distributed under the terms of this General Public License.  The
     "Program", below, refers to any such program or work, and a "work
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  2. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's source
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  3. You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion of
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        * If the modified program normally reads commands interactively
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          redistribute the program under these conditions, and telling
          the user how to view a copy of this General Public License.

        * You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a
          copy, and you may at your option offer warranty protection in
          exchange for a fee.

     Mere aggregation of another independent work with the Program (or
     its derivative) on a volume of a storage or distribution medium
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  4. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a portion or
     derivative of it, under Paragraph 2) in object code or executable
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     also do one of the following:

        * accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable
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        * accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three
          years, to give any third party free (except for a nominal
          charge for the cost of distribution) a complete
          machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be
          distributed under the terms of Paragraphs 1 and 2 above; or,

        * accompany it with the information you received as to where the
          corresponding source code may be obtained.  (This alternative
          is allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you
          received the program in object code or executable form alone.)

     Source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for
     making modifications to it.  For an executable file, complete
     source code means all the source code for all modules it contains;
     but, as a special exception, it need not include source code for
     modules which are standard libraries that accompany the operating
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  5. You may not copy, modify, sublicense, distribute or transfer the
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  9. If you wish to incorporate parts of the Program into other free
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                                NO WARRANTY

 10. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO
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                      END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Appendix: How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs
=======================================================

   If you develop a new program, and you want it to be of the greatest
possible use to humanity, the best way to achieve this is to make it
free software which everyone can redistribute and change under these
terms.

   To do so, attach the following notices to the program.  It is safest
to attach them to the start of each source file to most effectively
convey the exclusion of warranty; and each file should have at least the
"copyright" line and a pointer to where the full notice is found.

     ONE LINE TO GIVE THE PROGRAM'S NAME AND A BRIEF IDEA OF WHAT IT DOES.
     Copyright (C) 19YY  NAME OF AUTHOR
     
     This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
     it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
     the Free Software Foundation; either version 1, or (at your option)
     any later version.
     
     This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
     but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
     MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
     GNU General Public License for more details.
     
     You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
     along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
     Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

   Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper
mail.

   If the program is interactive, make it output a short notice like
this when it starts in an interactive mode:

     Gnomovision version 69, Copyright (C) 19YY NAME OF AUTHOR
     Gnomovision comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details type `show w'.
     This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
     under certain conditions; type `show c' for details.

   The hypothetical commands `show w' and `show c' should show the
appropriate parts of the General Public License.  Of course, the
commands you use may be called something other than `show w' and `show
c'; they could even be mouse-clicks or menu items--whatever suits your
program.

   You should also get your employer (if you work as a programmer) or
your school, if any, to sign a "copyright disclaimer" for the program,
if necessary.  Here a sample; alter the names:

     Yoyodyne, Inc., hereby disclaims all copyright interest in the
     program `Gnomovision' (a program to direct compilers to make passes
     at assemblers) written by James Hacker.
     
     SIGNATURE OF TY COON, 1 April 1989
     Ty Coon, President of Vice

   That's all there is to it!


File: gperf.info,  Node: Contributors,  Next: Motivation,  Prev: Copying,  Up: Top

Contributors to GNU `gperf' Utility
***********************************

   * The GNU `gperf' perfect hash function generator utility was
     originally written in GNU C++ by Douglas C. Schmidt.  It is now
     also available in a highly-portable "old-style" C version.  The
     general idea for the perfect hash function generator was inspired
     by Keith Bostic's algorithm written in C, and distributed to
     net.sources around 1984.  The current program is a heavily
     modified, enhanced, and extended implementation of Keith's basic
     idea, created at the University of California, Irvine.  Bugs,
     patches, and suggestions should be reported to schmidt at
     ics.uci.edu.

   * Special thanks is extended to Michael Tiemann and Doug Lea, for
     providing a useful compiler, and for giving me a forum to exhibit
     my creation.

     In addition, Adam de Boor and Nels Olson provided many tips and
     insights that greatly helped improve the quality and functionality
     of `gperf'.


File: gperf.info,  Node: Motivation,  Next: Search Structures,  Prev: Contributors,  Up: Top

Introduction
************

   `gperf' is a perfect hash function generator written in C++.  It
transforms an *n* element user-specified keyword set *W* into a perfect
hash function *F*.  *F* uniquely maps keywords in *W* onto the range
0..*k*, where *k* >= *n*.  If *k = n* then *F* is a *minimal* perfect
hash function.  `gperf' generates a 0..*k* element static lookup table
and a pair of C functions.  These functions determine whether a given
character string *s* occurs in *W*, using at most one probe into the
lookup table.

   `gperf' currently generates the reserved keyword recognizer for
lexical analyzers in several production and research compilers and
language processing tools, including GNU C, GNU C++, GNU Pascal, GNU
Modula 3, and GNU indent.  Complete C++ source code for `gperf' is
available via anonymous ftp from ics.uci.edu.  `gperf' also is
distributed along with the GNU libg++ library.  A highly portable,
functionally equivalent K&R C version of `gperf' is archived in
comp.sources.unix, volume 20.  Finally, a paper describing `gperf''s
design and implementation in greater detail is available in the Second
USENIX C++ Conference proceedings.


File: gperf.info,  Node: Search Structures,  Next: Description,  Prev: Motivation,  Up: Top

Static search structures and GNU `gperf'
****************************************

   A "static search structure" is an Abstract Data Type with certain
fundamental operations, *e.g.*, *initialize*, *insert*, and *retrieve*.
Conceptually, all insertions occur before any retrievals.  In
practice, `gperf' generates a `static' array containing search set
keywords and any associated attributes specified by the user.  Thus,
there is essentially no execution-time cost for the insertions.  It is
a useful data structure for representing *static search sets*.  Static
search sets occur frequently in software system applications.  Typical
static search sets include compiler reserved words, assembler
instruction opcodes, and built-in shell interpreter commands.  Search
set members, called "keywords", are inserted into the structure only
once, usually during program initialization, and are not generally
modified at run-time.

   Numerous static search structure implementations exist, *e.g.*,
arrays, linked lists, binary search trees, digital search tries, and
hash tables.  Different approaches offer trade-offs between space
utilization and search time efficiency.  For example, an *n* element
sorted array is space efficient, though the average-case time
complexity for retrieval operations using binary search is proportional
to log *n*.  Conversely, hash table implementations often locate a
table entry in constant time, but typically impose additional memory
overhead and exhibit poor worst case performance.

   *Minimal perfect hash functions* provide an optimal solution for a
particular class of static search sets.  A minimal perfect hash
function is defined by two properties:

   * It allows keyword recognition in a static search set using at most
     *one* probe into the hash table.  This represents the "perfect"
     property.

   * The actual memory allocated to store the keywords is precisely
     large enough for the keyword set, and *no larger*.  This is the
     "minimal" property.

   For most applications it is far easier to generate *perfect* hash
functions than *minimal perfect* hash functions.  Moreover, non-minimal
perfect hash functions frequently execute faster than minimal ones in
practice.  This phenomena occurs since searching a sparse keyword table
increases the probability of locating a "null" entry, thereby reducing
string comparisons.  `gperf''s default behavior generates
*near-minimal* perfect hash functions for keyword sets.  However,
`gperf' provides many options that permit user control over the degree
of minimality and perfection.

   Static search sets often exhibit relative stability over time.  For
example, Ada's 63 reserved words have remained constant for nearly a
decade.  It is therefore frequently worthwhile to expend concerted
effort building an optimal search structure *once*, if it subsequently
receives heavy use multiple times.  `gperf' removes the drudgery
associated with constructing time- and space-efficient search
structures by hand.  It has proven a useful and practical tool for
serious programming projects.  Output from `gperf' is currently used in
several production and research compilers, including GNU C, GNU C++,
GNU Pascal, and GNU Modula 3.  The latter two compilers are not yet
part of the official GNU distribution.  Each compiler utilizes `gperf'
to automatically generate static search structures that efficiently
identify their respective reserved keywords.


File: gperf.info,  Node: Description,  Next: Options,  Prev: Search Structures,  Up: Top

High-Level Description of GNU `gperf'
*************************************

* Menu:

* Input Format::		Input Format to `gperf'
* Output Format::		Output Format for Generated C Code with `gperf'

   The perfect hash function generator `gperf' reads a set of
"keywords" from a "keyfile" (or from the standard input by default).
It attempts to derive a perfect hashing function that recognizes a
member of the "static keyword set" with at most a single probe into the
lookup table.  If `gperf' succeeds in generating such a function it
produces a pair of C source code routines that perform hashing and
table lookup recognition.  All generated C code is directed to the
standard output.  Command-line options described below allow you to
modify the input and output format to `gperf'.

   By default, `gperf' attempts to produce time-efficient code, with
less emphasis on efficient space utilization.  However, several options
exist that permit trading-off execution time for storage space and vice
versa.  In particular, expanding the generated table size produces a
sparse search structure, generally yielding faster searches.
Conversely, you can direct `gperf' to utilize a C `switch' statement
scheme that minimizes data space storage size.  Furthermore, using a C
`switch' may actually speed up the keyword retrieval time somewhat.
Actual results depend on your C compiler, of course.

   In general, `gperf' assigns values to the characters it is using for
hashing until some set of values gives each keyword a unique value.  A
helpful heuristic is that the larger the hash value range, the easier
it is for `gperf' to find and generate a perfect hash function.
Experimentation is the key to getting the most from `gperf'.


File: gperf.info,  Node: Input Format,  Next: Output Format,  Prev: Description,  Up: Description

Input Format to `gperf'
=======================

   You can control the input keyfile format by varying certain
command-line arguments, in particular the `-t' option.  The input's
appearance is similar to GNU utilities `flex' and `bison' (or UNIX
utilities `lex' and `yacc').  Here's an outline of the general format:

     declarations
     %%
     keywords
     %%
     functions

   *Unlike* `flex' or `bison', all sections of `gperf''s input are
optional.  The following sections describe the input format for each
section.

* Menu:

* Declarations::		`struct' Declarations and C Code Inclusion.
* Keywords::			Format for Keyword Entries.
* Functions::			Including Additional C Functions.


File: gperf.info,  Node: Declarations,  Next: Keywords,  Prev: Input Format,  Up: Input Format

`struct' Declarations and C Code Inclusion
------------------------------------------

   The keyword input file optionally contains a section for including
arbitrary C declarations and definitions, as well as provisions for
providing a user-supplied `struct'.  If the `-t' option *is* enabled,
you *must* provide a C `struct' as the last component in the
declaration section from the keyfile file.  The first field in this
struct must be a `char *' identifier called "name," although it is
possible to modify this field's name with the `-K' option described
below.

   Here is simple example, using months of the year and their
attributes as input:

     struct months { char *name; int number; int days; int leap_days; };
     %%
     january,   1, 31, 31
     february,  2, 28, 29
     march,     3, 31, 31
     april,     4, 30, 30
     may,       5, 31, 31
     june,      6, 30, 30
     july,      7, 31, 31
     august,    8, 31, 31
     september, 9, 30, 30
     october,  10, 31, 31
     november, 11, 30, 30
     december, 12, 31, 31

   Separating the `struct' declaration from the list of key words and
other fields are a pair of consecutive percent signs, `%%', appearing
left justified in the first column, as in the UNIX utility `lex'.

   Using a syntax similar to GNU utilities `flex' and `bison', it is
possible to directly include C source text and comments verbatim into
the generated output file.  This is accomplished by enclosing the region
inside left-justified surrounding `%{', `%}' pairs.  Here is an input
fragment based on the previous example that illustrates this feature:

     %{
     #include <assert.h>
     /* This section of code is inserted directly into the output. */
     int return_month_days (struct months *months, int is_leap_year);
     %}
     struct months { char *name; int number; int days; int leap_days; };
     %%
     january,   1, 31, 31
     february,  2, 28, 29
     march,     3, 31, 31
     ...

   It is possible to omit the declaration section entirely.  In this
case the keyfile begins directly with the first keyword line, *e.g.*:

     january,   1, 31, 31
     february,  2, 28, 29
     march,     3, 31, 31
     april,     4, 30, 30
     ...


File: gperf.info,  Node: Keywords,  Next: Functions,  Prev: Declarations,  Up: Input Format

Format for Keyword Entries
--------------------------

   The second keyfile format section contains lines of keywords and any
associated attributes you might supply.  A line beginning with `#' in
the first column is considered a comment.  Everything following the `#'
is ignored, up to and including the following newline.

   The first field of each non-comment line is always the key itself.
It should be given as a simple name, *i.e.*, without surrounding string
quotation marks, and be left-justified flush against the first column.
In this context, a "field" is considered to extend up to, but not
include, the first blank, comma, or newline.  Here is a simple example
taken from a partial list of C reserved words:

     # These are a few C reserved words, see the c.`gperf' file
     # for a complete list of ANSI C reserved words.
     unsigned
     sizeof
     switch
     signed
     if
     default
     for
     while
     return

   Note that unlike `flex' or `bison' the first `%%' marker may be
elided if the declaration section is empty.

   Additional fields may optionally follow the leading keyword.  Fields
should be separated by commas, and terminate at the end of line.  What
these fields mean is entirely up to you; they are used to initialize the
elements of the user-defined `struct' provided by you in the
declaration section.  If the `-t' option is *not* enabled these fields
are simply ignored.  All previous examples except the last one contain
keyword attributes.


File: gperf.info,  Node: Functions,  Prev: Keywords,  Up: Input Format

Including Additional C Functions
--------------------------------

   The optional third section also corresponds closely with conventions
found in `flex' and `bison'.  All text in this section, starting at the
final `%%' and extending to the end of the input file, is included
verbatim into the generated output file.  Naturally, it is your
responsibility to ensure that the code contained in this section is
valid C.


File: gperf.info,  Node: Output Format,  Prev: Input Format,  Up: Description

Output Format for Generated C Code with `gperf'
===============================================

   Several options control how the generated C code appears on the
standard output.  Two C function are generated.  They are called `hash'
and `in_word_set', although you may modify the name for `in_word_set'
with a command-line option.  Both functions require two arguments, a
string, `char *' STR, and a length parameter, `int' LEN.  Their default
function prototypes are as follows:

     static int hash (char *str, int len);
     int in_word_set (char *str, int len);

   By default, the generated `hash' function returns an integer value
created by adding LEN to several user-specified STR key positions
indexed into an "associated values" table stored in a local static
array.  The associated values table is constructed internally by
`gperf' and later output as a static local C array called HASH_TABLE;
its meaning and properties are described below.  *Note
Implementation::. The relevant key positions are specified via the `-k'
option when running `gperf', as detailed in the *Options* section
below. *Note Options::.

   Two options, `-g' (assume you are compiling with GNU C and its
`inline' feature) and `-a' (assume ANSI C-style function prototypes),
alter the content of both the generated `hash' and `in_word_set'
routines.  However, function `in_word_set' may be modified more
extensively, in response to your option settings.  The options that
affect the `in_word_set' structure are:

    `-p'
          Have function `in_word_set' return a pointer rather than a
          boolean.

    `-t'
          Make use of the user-defined `struct'.

    `-S TOTAL SWITCH STATEMENTS'
          Generate 1 or more C `switch' statement rather than use a
          large, (and potentially sparse) static array.  Although the
          exact time and space savings of this approach vary according
          to your C compiler's degree of optimization, this method
          often results in smaller and faster code.

   If the `-t', `-S', and `-p' options are omitted the default action
is to generate a `char *' array containing the keys, together with
additional null strings used for padding the array.  By experimenting
with the various input and output options, and timing the resulting C
code, you can determine the best option choices for different keyword
set characteristics.


File: gperf.info,  Node: Options,  Next: Bugs,  Prev: Description,  Up: Top

Options to the `gperf' Utility
******************************

   There are *many* options to `gperf'.  They were added to make the
program more convenient for use with real applications.  "On-line" help
is readily available via the `-h' option.  Other options include:

    `-a'
          Generate ANSI Standard C code using function prototypes.  The
          default is to use "classic" K&R C function declaration syntax.

    `-c'
          Generates C code that uses the `strncmp' function to perform
          string comparisons.  The default action is to use `strcmp'.

    `-C'
          Makes the contents of all generated lookup tables constant,
          *i.e.*, "readonly."  Many compilers can generate more
          efficient code for this by putting the tables in readonly
          memory.

    `-d'
          Enables the debugging option.  This produces verbose
          diagnostics to "standard error" when `gperf' is executing.
          It is useful both for maintaining the program and for
          determining whether a given set of options is actually
          speeding up the search for a solution.  Some useful
          information is dumped at the end of the program when the `-d'
          option is enabled.

    `-D'
          Handle keywords whose key position sets hash to duplicate
          values.  Duplicate hash values occur for two reasons:

             * Since `gperf' does not backtrack it is possible for it
               to process all your input keywords without finding a
               unique mapping for each word.  However, frequently only
               a very small number of duplicates occur, and the
               majority of keys still require one probe into the table.

             * Sometimes a set of keys may have the same names, but
               possess different attributes.  With the -D option
               `gperf' treats all these keys as part of an equivalence
               class and generates a perfect hash function with multiple
               comparisons for duplicate keys.  It is up to you to
               completely disambiguate the keywords by modifying the
               generated C code.  However, `gperf' helps you out by
               organizing the output.

          Option `-D' is extremely useful for certain large or highly
          redundant keyword sets, *i.e.*, assembler instruction opcodes.
          Using this option usually means that the generated hash
          function is no longer perfect.  On the other hand, it permits
          `gperf' to work on keyword sets that it otherwise could not
          handle.

    `-e KEYWORD DELIMITER LIST'
          Allows the user to provide a string containing delimiters
          used to separate keywords from their attributes.  The default
          is ",\n".  This option is essential if you want to use
          keywords that have embedded commas or newlines.  One useful
          trick is to use -e'TAB', where TAB is the literal tab
          character.

    `-E'
          Define constant values using an enum local to the lookup
          function rather than with #defines.  This also means that
          different lookup functions can reside in the same file.
          Thanks to James Clark (jjc at ai.mit.edu).

    `-f ITERATION AMOUNT'
          Generate the perfect hash function "fast."  This decreases
          `gperf''s running time at the cost of minimizing generated
          table-size.  The iteration amount represents the number of
          times to iterate when resolving a collision.  `0' means
          `iterate by the number of keywords.  This option is probably
          most useful when used in conjunction with options `-D' and/or
          `-S' for *large* keyword sets.

    `-g'
          Assume a GNU compiler, *e.g.*, `g++' or `gcc'.  This makes
          all generated routines use the "inline" keyword to remove the
          cost of function calls.  Note that `-g' does *not* imply
          `-a', since other non-ANSI C compilers may have provisions
          for a function `inline' feature.

    `-G'
          Generate the static table of keywords as a static global
          variable, rather than hiding it inside of the lookup function
          (which is the default behavior).

    `-h'
          Prints a short summary on the meaning of each program option.
          Aborts further program execution.

    `-H HASH FUNCTION NAME'
          Allows you to specify the name for the generated hash
          function.  Default name is `hash.'  This option permits the
          use of two hash tables in the same file.

    `-i INITIAL VALUE'
          Provides an initial VALUE for the associate values array.
          Default is 0.  Increasing the initial value helps inflate the
          final table size, possibly leading to more time efficient
          keyword lookups.  Note that this option is not particularly
          useful when `-S' is used.  Also, `-i' is overriden when the
          `-r' option is used.

    `-j JUMP VALUE'
          Affects the "jump value," *i.e.*, how far to advance the
          associated character value upon collisions.  JUMP VALUE is
          rounded up to an odd number, the default is 5.  If the JUMP
          VALUE is 0 `gper f' jumps by random amounts.

    `-k KEYS'
          Allows selection of the character key positions used in the
          keywords' hash function. The allowable choices range between
          1-126, inclusive.  The positions are separated by commas,
          *e.g.*, `-k 9,4,13,14'; ranges may be used, *e.g.*, `-k 2-7';
          and positions may occur in any order.  Furthermore, the
          meta-character '*' causes the generated hash function to
          consider *all* character positions in each key, whereas '$'
          instructs the hash function to use the "final character" of a
          key (this is the only way to use a character position greater
          than 126, incidentally).

          For instance, the option `-k 1,2,4,6-10,'$'' generates a hash
          function that considers positions 1,2,4,6,7,8,9,10, plus the
          last character in each key (which may differ for each key,
          obviously).  Keys with length less than the indicated key
          positions work properly, since selected key positions
          exceeding the key length are simply not referenced in the
          hash function.

    `-K KEY NAME'
          By default, the program assumes the structure component
          identifier for the keyword is "name."  This option allows an
          arbitrary choice of identifier for this component, although
          it still must occur as the first field in your supplied
          `struct'.

    `-l'
          Compare key lengths before trying a string comparison.  This
          might cut down on the number of string comparisons made
          during the lookup, since keys with different lengths are
          never compared via `strcmp'.  However, using `-l' might
          greatly increase the size of the generated C code if the
          lookup table range is large (which implies that the switch
          option `-S' is not enabled), since the length table contains
          as many elements as there are entries in the lookup table.

    `-L GENERATED LANGUAGE NAME'
          Instructs `gperf' to generate code in the language specified
          by the option's argument.  Languages handled are currently
          C++ and C.  The default is C.

    `-n'
          Instructs the generator not to include the length of a
          keyword when computing its hash value.  This may save a few
          assembly instructions in the generated lookup table.

    `-N LOOKUP FUNCTION NAME'
          Allows you to specify the name for the generated lookup
          function.  Default name is `in_word_set.'  This option
          permits completely automatic generation of perfect hash
          functions, especially when multiple generated hash functions
          are used in the same application.

    `-o'
          Reorders the keywords by sorting the keywords so that
          frequently occuring key position set components appear first.
          A second reordering pass follows so that keys with "already
          determined values" are placed towards the front of the
          keylist.  This may decrease the time required to generate a
          perfect hash function for many keyword sets, and also produce
          more minimal perfect hash functions.  The reason for this is
          that the reordering helps prune the search time by handling
          inevitable collisions early in the search process.  On the
          other hand, if the number of keywords is *very* large using
          `-o' may *increase* `gperf''s execution time, since
          collisions will begin earlier and continue throughout the
          remainder of keyword processing.  See Cichelli's paper from
          the January 1980 Communications of the ACM for details.

    `-p'
          Changes the return value of the generated function
          `in_word_set' from boolean (*i.e.*, 0 or 1), to either type
          "pointer to user-defined struct," (if the `-t' option is
          enabled), or simply to `char *', if `-t' is not enabled.
          This option is most useful when the `-t' option (allowing
          user-defined structs) is used.  For example, it is possible
          to automatically generate the GNU C reserved word lookup
          routine with the options `-p' and `-t'.

    `-r'
          Utilizes randomness to initialize the associated values
          table.  This frequently generates solutions faster than using
          deterministic initialization (which starts all associated
          values at 0).  Furthermore, using the randomization option
          generally increases the size of the table.  If `gperf' has
          difficultly with a certain keyword set try using `-r' or `-D'.

    `-s SIZE-MULTIPLE'
          Affects the size of the generated hash table.  The numeric
          argument for this option indicates "how many times larger or
          smaller" the maximum associated value range should be, in
          relationship to the number of keys.  If the SIZE-MULTIPLE is
          negative the maximum associated value is calculated by
          *dividing* it into the total number of keys.  For example, a
          value of 3 means "allow the maximum associated value to be
          about 3 times larger than the number of input keys."

          Conversely, a value of -3 means "allow the maximum associated
          value to be about 3 times smaller than the number of input
          keys."  Negative values are useful for limiting the overall
          size of the generated hash table, though this usually
          increases the number of duplicate hash values.

          If `generate switch' option `-S' is *not* enabled, the maximum
          associated value influences the static array table size, and
          a larger table should decrease the time required for an
          unsuccessful search, at the expense of extra table space.

          The default value is 1, thus the default maximum associated
          value about the same size as the number of keys (for
          efficiency, the maximum associated value is always rounded up
          to a power of 2).  The actual table size may vary somewhat,
          since this technique is essentially a heuristic.  In
          particular, setting this value too high slows down `gperf''s
          runtime, since it must search through a much larger range of
          values.  Judicious use of the `-f' option helps alleviate this
          overhead, however.

    `-S TOTAL SWITCH STATEMENTS'
          Causes the generated C code to use a `switch' statement
          scheme, rather than an array lookup table.  This can lead to
          a reduction in both time and space requirements for some
          keyfiles.  The argument to this option determines how many
          `switch' statements are generated. A value of 1 generates 1
          `switch' containing all the elements, a value of 2 generates
          2 tables with 1/2 the elements in each `switch', etc.  This
          is useful since many C compilers cannot correctly generate
          code for large `switch' statements. This option was inspired
          in part by Keith Bostic's original C program.

    `-t'
          Allows you to include a `struct' type declaration for
          generated code.  Any text before a pair of consecutive %% is
          consider part of the type declaration.  Key words and
          additional fields may follow this, one group of fields per
          line.  A set of examples for generating perfect hash tables
          and functions for Ada, C, and G++, Pascal, and Modula 2 and 3
          reserved words are distributed with this release.

    `-T'
          Prevents the transfer of the type declaration to the output
          file.  Use this option if the type is already defined
          elsewhere.

    `-v'
          Prints out the current version number.

    `-Z CLASS NAME'
          Allow user to specify name of generated C++ class.  Default
          name is `Perfect_Hash'.


File: gperf.info,  Node: Bugs,  Next: Projects,  Prev: Options,  Up: Top

Known Bugs and Limitations with `gperf'
***************************************

   The following are some limitations with the current release of
`gperf':

   * The `gperf' utility is tuned to execute quickly, and works quickly
     for small to medium size data sets (around 1000 keywords).  It is
     extremely useful for maintaining perfect hash functions for
     compiler keyword sets.  Several recent enhancements now enable
     `gperf' to work efficiently on much larger keyword sets (over
     15,000 keywords).  When processing large keyword sets it helps
     greatly to have over 8 megs of RAM.

     However, since `gperf' does not backtrack no guaranteed solution
     occurs on every run.  On the other hand, it is usually easy to
     obtain a solution by varying the option parameters.  In
     particular, try the `-r' option, and also try changing the default
     arguments to the `-s' and `-j' options.  To *guarantee* a
     solution, use the `-D' and `-S' options, although the final
     results are not likely to be a *perfect* hash function anymore!
     Finally, use the `-f' option if you want `gperf' to generate the
     perfect hash function *fast*, with less emphasis on making it
     minimal.

   * The size of the generate static keyword array can get *extremely*
     large if the input keyword file is large or if the keywords are
     quite similar.  This tends to slow down the compilation of the
     generated C code, and *greatly* inflates the object code size.  If
     this situation occurs, consider using the `-S' option to reduce
     data size, potentially increasing keyword recognition time a
     negligible amount.  Since many C compilers cannot correctly
     generated code for large switch statements it is important to
     qualify the -S option with an appropriate numerical argument that
     controls the number of switch statements generated.

   * The maximum number of key positions selected for a given key has an
     arbitrary limit of 126.  This restriction should be removed, and if
     anyone considers this a problem write me and let me know so I can
     remove the constraint.

   * The C++ source code only compiles correctly with GNU G++, version
     1.36 (and hopefully later versions).  Porting to AT&T cfront would
     be tedious, but possible (and desirable).  There is also a K&R C
     version available now.  This should compile without change on most
     BSD systems, but may require a bit of work to run on SYSV, since
     `gperf' uses ALLOCA in several places.  Send mail to schmidt at
     ics.uci.edu for information.


File: gperf.info,  Node: Projects,  Next: Implementation,  Prev: Bugs,  Up: Top

Things Still Left to Do
***********************

   It should be "relatively" easy to replace the current perfect hash
function algorithm with a more exhaustive approach; the perfect hash
module is essential independent from other program modules.  Additional
worthwhile improvements include:

   * Make the algorithm more robust.  At present, the program halts
     with an error diagnostic if it can't find a direct solution and
     the `-D' option is not enabled.  A more comprehensive, albeit
     computationally expensive, approach would employ backtracking or
     enable alternative options and retry.  It's not clear how helpful
     this would be, in general, since most search sets are rather small
     in practice.

   * Another useful extension involves modifying the program to generate
     "minimal" perfect hash functions (under certain circumstances, the
     current version can be rather extravagant in the generated table
     size).  Again, this is mostly of theoretical interest, since a
     sparse table often produces faster lookups, and use of the `-S'
     `switch' option can minimize the data size, at the expense of
     slightly longer lookups (note that the gcc compiler generally
     produces good code for `switch' statements, reducing the need for
     more complex schemes).

   * In addition to improving the algorithm, it would also be useful to
     generate a C++ class or Ada package as the code output, in
     addition to the current C routines.


File: gperf.info,  Node: Implementation,  Next: Bibliography,  Prev: Projects,  Up: Top

Implementation Details of GNU `gperf'
*************************************

   A paper describing the high-level description of the data structures
and algorithms used to implement `gperf' will soon be available.  This
paper is useful not only from a maintenance and enhancement perspective,
but also because they demonstrate several clever and useful programming
techniques, *e.g.*, `Iteration Number' boolean arrays, double hashing,
a "safe" and efficient method for reading arbitrarily long input from a
file, and a provably optimal algorithm for simultaneously determining
both the minimum and maximum elements in a list.


File: gperf.info,  Node: Bibliography,  Prev: Implementation,  Up: Top

Bibliography
************

   [1] Chang, C.C.: A Scheme for Constructing Ordered Minimal Perfect
Hashing Functions Information Sciences 39(1986), 187-195.

   [2] Cichelli, Richard J. Author's Response to "On Cichelli's Minimal
Perfec t Hash Functions Method" Communications of the ACM, 23,
12(December 1980), 729.

   [3] Cichelli, Richard J. Minimal Perfect Hash Functions Made Simple
Communications of the ACM, 23, 1(January 1980), 17-19.

   [4] Cook, C. R. and Oldehoeft, R.R. A Letter Oriented Minimal
Perfect Hashing Function SIGPLAN Notices, 17, 9(September 1982), 18-27.

   [5] Cormack, G. V. and Horspool, R. N. S. and Kaiserwerth, M.
Practical Perfect Hashing Computer Journal, 28, 1(January 1985), 54-58.

   [6] Jaeschke, G. Reciprocal Hashing: A Method for Generating Minimal
Perfect Hashing Functions Communications of the ACM, 24, 12(December
1981), 829-833.

   [7] Jaeschke, G. and Osterburg, G. On Cichelli's Minimal Perfect
Hash Functions Method Communications of the ACM, 23, 12(December 1980),
728-729.

   [8] Sager, Thomas J. A Polynomial Time Generator for Minimal Perfect
Hash Functions Communications of the ACM, 28, 5(December 1985), 523-532

   [9] Schmidt, Douglas C. GPERF: A Perfect Hash Function Generator
Second USENIX C++ Conference Proceedings, April 1990.

   [10] Sebesta, R.W. and Taylor, M.A. Minimal Perfect Hash Functions
for Reserved Word Lists  SIGPLAN Notices, 20, 12(September 1985), 47-53.

   [11] Sprugnoli, R. Perfect Hashing Functions: A Single Probe
Retrieving Method for Static Sets Communications of the ACM, 20
11(November 1977), 841-850.

   [12] Stallman, Richard M. Using and Porting GNU CC Free Software
Foundation, 1988.

   [13] Stroustrup, Bjarne The C++ Programming Language.
Addison-Wesley, 1986.

   [14] Tiemann, Michael D. User's Guide to GNU C++ Free Software
Foundation, 1989.



Tag Table:
Node: Top1217
Node: Copying2455
Node: Contributors15741
Node: Motivation16841
Node: Search Structures18108
Node: Description21661
Node: Input Format23481
Node: Declarations24276
Node: Keywords26583
Node: Functions28174
Node: Output Format28668
Node: Options31138
Node: Bugs44508
Node: Projects47195
Node: Implementation48772
Node: Bibliography49491

End Tag Table
