[Brian Theado] 09Oct2005 - From [http://dev.null.org/dadaengine/] - "The Dada Engine is a system for generating random text from grammars". Here is a simple implementation of the concept using Tcl and [subst]. There are several example grammars included in the real dada engine distribution and one of the examples, exam.pb, has been translated to my syntax and is included below. ---- ====== # These two functions are to be used in "grammar scripts" proc define {name content} { proc $name {} [list expand $content] } proc defchoice {name choices} { proc $name {} [list choice $name $choices] } # Helper functions proc expand str {subst $str} proc choice {name choices} { set idx [expr int(floor(rand()*[llength $choices]))] return [expand [lindex $choices $idx]] } # Demo "grammar script" -- translated exam.pb from the dada engine distribution -- "generates intimidating but bogus exam questions" proc exam {} { defchoice question { [question-2] [question-2] {[question-2] Be sure to refer to [issue] in your answer.} {[question-2] Include [evidence-type].}} defchoice question-2 { {Compute the [something-of ] of [something].} {Are [plural] [classification]? Discuss.} {Is [singular] [classification]? Discuss.} {Express [something] in [express-in-what].} {Show that the [something-of ] of [something] is [result].}} defchoice issue {{[theorem-source]'s Theorem} {[theory-type] theory} "Plutonium Atom Totality" {the [ordinal] law of [law-of-this]}} defchoice theorem-source {Godel Wibbel Abian Turing Euler Fermat Bell} defchoice theory-type {game set match interstice information ring group graph} defchoice law-of-this {thermodynamics "conservation of matter" gravity} defchoice express-in-what {"canonical form" "normal form" {the [tag] domain}} defchoice something-of {[something-of-2] {[adjective] [something-of-2]} {[tag]-[something-of-2]}} defchoice adjective {canonical minimal maximal inverse} defchoice something-of-2 {closure determinant matrix path correlation} define plural {[adjective] [plural-2]} defchoice plural-2 {trees matrices} define singular {[adjective] [singular-2]} defchoice singular-2 {search factorisation} defchoice result {number "{ }" infinity uncomputable "the null set"} defchoice evidence-type {flowcharts "Feynman diagrams" "Venn diagrams"} defchoice something {[number] [set-of-numbers]} define set-of-numbers {{ [numbers] }} defchoice numbers {{[number][numbers]} [number]} defchoice number {{[digit][number]} [digit]} defchoice digit {0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9} define classification {[tag]-complete} defchoice tag {[greek-letter] [roman-letter] {[roman-letter] [roman-letter]}} defchoice roman-letter {A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z} defchoice greek-letter {alpha beta gamma delta epsilon lambda sigma theta phi rho omega} defchoice ordinal {first second third fourth fifth} return [question] } # Run demo code catch { console show } puts [exam] ====== ---- # Example outputs: * Are minimal matrices S Z-complete? Discuss. Include Venn diagrams. * Show that the canonical determinant of 1 is infinity. * Is minimal factorisation phi-complete? Discuss. Be sure to refer to Plutonium Atom Totality in your answer. * Express { 8775460 } in the K I domain. <> Toys