stumped by tricky logic

[Max]

Dave wrote:
> So I'm trying to write a CSS preprocessor.
> 
> I want to add the ability to append a selector onto other selectors.
> So, given the following code:
> =========================================
> #selector {
> 
>                           { property: value; property: value; }
>         .other_selector   { property: value; property: value; }
> 
>         #selector_2 {
> 
>                  .more_selector { property: value; }
> 
>         }
> 
> }

> =========================================
> 
> I want to return the following:
> =========================================
> #selector { property: value; property: value; }
> #selector .other_selector { property: value; property: value; }
> #selector #selector_2 .more_selector { property: value; }
> =========================================
> 

Should the properties of #selector be "inherited" by .other_selector? 
That's what I'd think the most logical approach, but by your example it 
seems not.

> What I think I need to do is match the "{" character with its "}" pair,
> then see if there's another "{" before a matching "}" - but that's
> about as far as my brain will go. The actually code to make this
> actually happen is not coming out when I type.
> 
> Any suggestions would be very appreciated. And handsomely rewarded (by
> karma, not me).
> 

I'd use a class called Style or somesuch with three attributes:
-Selector (containing "#selector" for example)
-Props (containing the property: value pairs, either as-is or in a 
dictionary)
-Parent (containing a reference to the style that contains this one, or 
None)

Use a recursive function to read the file, and pass the containing Style 
object to it. It reads the props into the class, and recurses on any 
"sub-styles".

After this, you'll have constructed a tree (keep a reference to root). 
Now you can use an extension of a standard pre-order traversal to output it.

> - Dave
> 

Hope this helps.


--Max