According to Richard Kerry:
Should the info attempt to be a Pascal language tutor ? ie. Should it cover FOR, WHILE, REPEAT etc. [...]
It should cover GPC-specific aspects of these constructs, for instance
for x in [ 'A'..'Z', 'a'..'z' ] ... (* EP extension, unknown to BPies *)
for x [ j ]:= 1 to 42 do ... (* BP extension, disliked by EPies *)
or the current debate about global and local `for' control variables.
I don't know of any GPC specifica in `while' and `repeat', but those are relatively easy to explain anyway.
If we do want to include standard constructs, we might derive our explanations from one of a number of existing books eg. Programming in Pascal, by Peter Grogono. (Addison-Wesley 0-201-12070-4). This book explains the FOR loop by its equivalent code using WHILE. I know this is copyright, but it (or similar) should give an idea how to explain these basic constructs.
Just the problem: Copyright. IMO we should try to develop our own reference without looking into particular books - it will serve as an online reference, not as a book, in most cases anyway - and stick to a "clean room" technique.
I think LALR(1) is the algorithm used for parsing. The syntax definition language is Backup-Naur Form, known as BNF. The Grogono book I mentioned doesn't use it, it uses syntax diagrams instead, but I'm sure someone can provide BNF for GPC.
There are tools that can derive a BNF from the Bison source code. But IMHO our reference should not be too formal but rather a real-world guide to programming with GNU Pascal. A BNF language definition is not as urgent as such a real-world reference since the Bison source is available to anyone interested in the formal language specifications.
Whatever goes in should certainly be checked for English grammar and usage by a native speaker, or one of the German members of the list, who seem to write extremely good English.
I agree - and thanks! (-:
Peter