---
name: "jay"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "mono-jay"
version: "5.18.0.240+dfsg-3"
release: "Debian 10 (Buster)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/jay"
---

# jay(1)

an LALR(1) parser generator for Java and C#

## NAME

jay - an LALR(1) parser generator for Java and C#

## SYNOPSIS

**jay \[ -tv \] \[ -c \] \[ -p \] \[ -b** *file\_prefix* **\] \[ -V** *yyValue* **\]** *filename* **\<** *skeleton*

## DESCRIPTION

*Jay* reads the grammar specification in the file *filename* and generates an LR(1) parser for it. The parsers consist of a set of LALR(1) parsing tables and a driver routine from the file *skeleton* written in the Java programming language. *Jay* writes the parse tables and the driver routine to standard output.

The following options are available:

- **-b** *file\_prefix*

  The **-b** option changes the prefix prepended to the output file names to the string denoted by *file\_prefix.* The default prefix is the character *y.*

- **-c**

  The **-c** option makes jay generate C# code instead of the default Java.

- **-t**

  The **-t** option arranges for debugging information to be incorporated in the compiled code.

- **-v**

  The **-v** option causes a human-readable description of the generated parser to be written to the file *y.output.*

- **-p**

  The **-p** option causes *jay* to print the directory in which its sample skeleton files are installed.  If a project wants to use the default skeleton file included with *jay*, it can use this option in a makefile to find the path to the  *skeleton* or *skeleton.cs* file included with the jay distribution.

If the environment variable TMPDIR is set, the string denoted by TMPDIR will be used as the name of the directory where the temporary files are created.

## FILES

*skeleton*\
 *y.output*\
 */tmp/yacc.aXXXXXX*\
 */tmp/yacc.tXXXXXX*\
 */tmp/yacc.uXXXXXX*

## DIAGNOSTICS

If there are rules that are never reduced, the number of such rules is reported on standard error. If there are any LALR(1) conflicts, the number of conflicts is reported on standard error.

## HISTORY

*Jay* is derived from Berkeley *yacc .* Input conventions closely follow those of *yacc ;* for details, consult the parser *skeleton* file and the commented example included with the sources.