[developers] new release of LKB-FOS

[John Carroll]

Hi all,

I've just packaged up a new LKB-FOS release with Linux and macOS binaries and associated files, downloadable from http://moin.delph-in.net/LkbFos

Below is a summary of enhancements and bug fixes over the previous (June) version. My next task is to port as much as possible back to 'classic' LKB - which Stephan has kindly offered to help me with.

John


* Implements the new TdlRfc specification of TDL syntax (from TypeDef onwards in the BNF). BlockComments may not be nested. Taking into account recent discussion on the developers list, Identifiers are specified using a 'blacklist' approach: they can contain any character apart from whitespace and a set of 20 or so punctuation characters which are used in operators etc.

* TDL error messages have been made clearer, and recovery after errors is more reliable. Error messages now give line numbers and character positions, rather than byte positions (addressing one of the suggestions in LkbWishlist). A new parameter *brief-format-messages-p* (default nil) controls whether the TDL reader outputs error and warning messages with a brief `filename:line:column' location or with a longer textual description.

* Patterns containing wildcards (e.g. in generator trigger rules) didn't work; fixed.

* Fixed a bug in unserialize-semantics-indices which caused an error with KRG.

* Reading large lexicons is much more efficient. Lexicon batch check and generator indexing are also now much faster for very large lexicons; there are significant improvements for Zhong/zhs and HeGram/lexicon_big.tdl

* In the file chooser dialog, the environment variable DELPHINHOME directory is included in the left pane 'Places' list.

* On macOS, the alt (option) key can be used in dialog text fields to enter a wider range of characters - this is particularly useful with non-western European language keyboard layouts.

* On macOS, LKB.app is a standalone application which provides a way of starting the LKB without going through the Unix command line: just double click it. It can even be put in the Dock.