org.eclipse.photran-dev-docs/misc-notes/old-dev-guide-chapters/inc-08-symtbls.tex

% Symbol Tables

All of the symbol table routines are stored in the ``parser'' folder under the
Core plug-in.

After you have parsed a file, you can create a symbol table for it by calling
\texttt{FortranProcessor\#createSymbolTableFromParseTree}.  This, in turn calls
the static method \texttt{SymbolTable\#createSymbolTableFor}, which is intended
to be the sole entrypoint for symbol table building.

\section{Contents of a Symbol Table}

The classes representing symbol table entries are stored in the
\texttt{org.eclipse.photran.internal.core.f95parser.symboltable.entries}
package.  Currently, the following are allowed.
\begin{itemize}
\item Main Programs
\item Modules
\item Functions
\item Subroutines
\item Derived Types
\item Block Data
\item Namelists
\item Common Blocks
\item Interfaces
\item Externals
\item Intrinsics
\item Variables
\end{itemize}

\texttt{FortranProcessor\#createSymbolTableFromParseTree} returns a
\texttt{SymbolTable}, which represents the global symbol table for
the program that was parsed.

A \texttt{SymbolTable} is essentially just a collection of
\texttt{SymbolTableEntry} objects.  Each \texttt{SymbolTableEntry} has
a child symbol table.  For \texttt{FunctionEntry} objects, this child
table contains all of the parameters, the return variable, and any
local variables declared inside the function.  For \texttt{VariableEntry}
objects, which represent local variables, the child table will always
be empty (it is there only for uniformity).

Symbol tables also keep track of whether an ``implicit'' rule applies,
what external modules are being used (via USE statements), etc.

To see what's in a symbol table, just use the \texttt{toString} method.
Child tables will be indented in the output.

The symbol table-related classes are JavaDoc'd, so additional information
is available there.

\section{\texttt{SymbolTableVisitor}s}

You can also create a Visitor for a program's symbol table hierarchy
by subclassing \texttt{SymbolTableVisitor}, which has a visit method
for each type of \texttt{SymbolTableEntry}.

\section{The Module Database}

Similar to \textit{import} statements in Java, Fortran programs can USE a
module defined in a different Fortran file.  Unfortunately, there is no
easy way to tell where this module might be defined.  The user simply specifies
a list of ``module paths'' which are searched for Fortran source files.
Each Fortran source file must be checked to see if it contains a module
with the given name.

In Photran, the list of modules paths is stored in a workspace preference,
although we plan to convert this to a project property.

The class \texttt{ModuleLoader} is responsible for locating modules in this
way.  The \texttt{ModuleDB} caches the symbol tables for files on the module
path so they don't all have to be reparsed every time a module is searched for.
Neither of these is complete yet, but they will be soon.

\section{How Symbol Tables are Built}

A quick look at \texttt{FortranProcessor\#createSymbolTableFromParseTree}
explains how symbol tables are built:
\begin{verbatim}
    public static SymbolTable createSymbolTableFor(ParseTreeNode parseTree) throws Exception
    {
        SymbolTable tbl = (new DeclarationCollector(parseTree)).getSymbolTable();
        Intrinsics.fill(tbl);
        return (new ReferenceCollector(tbl, parseTree)).getSymbolTable();
    }
\end{verbatim}

\begin{itemize}

\item A Visitor is run over the parse tree to collect declarations of
programs, modules, functions, subroutines, block data, derived types,
namelists, etc.---anything that can be stored in the symbol table.

\item The names of all Fortran 95 intrinsic functions and subroutines
are inserted into the table.

\item Now that declarations have been inserted, the parse tree is scanned
for references (i.e., uses of a function, variable, namelist, etc.).
If implicit variables have been allowed, the \texttt{ReferenceCollector} will
detect those (since they are used but not declared) and insert them into the
symbol table.

\end{itemize}