This repository tracks the history of the original C version of
the Bell Labs ratfor translator written by Brian Kernighan.
It include the original versions from the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth
and Tenth Edition UNIX(R) systems. There is a separate branch with
each version of the original code. (The Ninth Edition sources in
the TUHS archives did not have ratfor.)
In addition, starting with the version from the Tenth Edition, I have modernized the code to compile and run on a current day GNU/Linux system. It undoubtedly needs more work. This is what you see in the master branch.
This version requires Berkeley Yacc (byacc) to be available. Its
use of yyval precludes the use of Bison, where yyval is not a
globally available variable.
Source code is in the src directory. The manual page is in the man
directory. Documentation is in the doc directory. You can format
the documentation with:
cd macros
groff -C tmac.s ../doc/m.mac ../doc/m[0-9]* | ps2pdf - /tmp/ratfor.pdf
The documentation is that of the Seventh Edition system; it was not in the V8 tape or the V10 tape.
The manual page can be formatted as on a modern system:
groff -man ratfor.1 | ps2pdf - /tmp/ratfor.1.pdf
I have not (yet) renamed any of the files. In particular, the use of
a .g suffix for the grammar instead of the standard .y is
rather quaint.
Enjoy,
Arnold Robbins
Sun Dec 12 20:44:40 IST 2021