This directory is the distribution of version 4.1b of the link grammar
parsing system for UNIX. This version was created in January, 2005.
It is essentially the same as version 4.1, but is now being released
under a new GPL compatible license, making it freely available for
research and commercial use, with few restrictions. The terms of the
license are given in the LICENSE file included with this software, and
also available at http://www.link.cs.cmu.edu/link/license.html.
Please see our web page http://www.link.cs.cmu.edu/link for more
information, including documentation.
CONTENTS of this directory:
LICENSE The license describing terms of use
src/*.c The program. (Written in ANSI-C)
include/*.h
obj/*.o Object files
data/4.0.dict The file containing the dictionary definitions.
data/4.0.knowledge The post-processing knowledge file.
data/4.0.constituents The constituent knowledge file.
data/4.0.affix The affix file.
data/tiny.dict A small sample dictionary.
data/words/* A directory full of word lists.
data/4.0.batch This is a batch file of sentences (both grammatical
and ungrammatical ones) that are handled correctly
by this release of the system. Feed this into the
parser with "./parse 4.0.dict < 4.0.batch"
Makefile The makefile for creating the program "parse".
CREATING the system:
To compile the demonstration program included here, simply go to the
directory containing these files and type:
make
This creates a binary file called "parse". If there are errors, you
may need to customize the Makefile for your own systems. Read the
comments in the Makefile. This program has been compiled under
DEC, HP, SUN, LINUX, and BSDI.
RUNNING the program:
To run the program issue the unix command:
./parse
This starts the program. Help is available there with "!help". A
number of user-settable variables control what happens. "!var" shows
these variables and their current values.
We've used a special batch mode for testing the system on a large
number of sentences. The following command runs the parser on
3.0.batch
./parse 4.0.dict < 4.0.batch
The line "!batch" near the top of 4.0.batch turns on batch mode. In
this mode sentences labeled with an initial "*" should be rejected
and those not starting with a "*" should be accepted. Any deviation
from this behavior is reported as an error.
USING the parser in your own applications:
There is a API (application program interface) to the parser. This
makes it easy to incorporate it into your own applications. This is
documented on our web site.
COMMERCIAL use:
We feel that our system (or a derivative of it) could be useful in a
number of commercial applications. This is allowed under an Apache-style
license for release 4.1a. We would be pleased to discuss terms with
those wanting to use our system under a paid contract.
Of course all academic products or papers should reference our work.
ADDRESSES
If you have any questions, or find any bugs, please feel free to send
a note to:
Daniel Sleator sleator@cs.cmu.edu
Computer Science Department 412-268-7563
Carnegie Mellon University www.cs.cmu.edu/~sleator
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Davy Temperley dtemp@theory.esm.rochester.edu
Eastman School of Music 716-274-1557
26 Gibbs St. www.link.cs.cmu.edu/temperley
Rochester, NY 14604
John Lafferty lafferty@cs.cmu.edu
Computer Science Department 412-268-6791
Carnegie Mellon University www.cs.cmu.edu/~lafferty
Pittsburgh, PA 15213