Software

ForestFIRE and FIREWood - Toolkit and GUI for tree algorithms

My PhD research was on classification and implementation of algorithms related to tree pattern matching, tree acceptance, and tree parsing. As part of this research, a toolkit and graphical user interface containing many such algorithms were conceived [Cle08, Chapter 8].

Note that users will need at least some basic knowledge of tree pattern matching and acceptance algorithms, the automata used in them, and the regular tree grammars and tree pattern sets on which they are based; see e.g. [Cle08, Chapters 5, 6, and 8] or [Stro07].

The ForestFIRE toolkit and FIREWood GUI can now be downloaded. The following files are available:

1. •brief manuals for both ForestFIRE and FIREWood (including how to compile the toolkit and GUI yourself): forestfire.pdf and firewood.pdf,
   

2. •archives containing precompiled JARs: FFW-mac-200801081418.zip (compiled on Mac OS X 10.4.x - see update below), FFW-win-200801081417.zip (compiled on Windows XP), and FFW-linux-200801081417.zip (compiled on Linux, with GTK 2.2.1 or newer),
   

3. •an archive containing the toolkit’s and GUI’s Java source code: FFW-src-200801081409.zip, and
   

4. •an archive containing input files with various regular tree grammars and pattern sets to experiment with: inputfiles-200801081506.zip
   

To use or compile the toolkit and GUI, consult the manuals. Note that you will need Java JDK 5, SWT 3.3, and Ant 1.7 to compile them yourself. The precompiled versions include the SWT and therefore merely require Java SE 5 to run.

Use with newer versions of Mac OS X

The precompiled JAR compiled on Mac OS X 10.4.x also works with later versions of Mac OS X (tested with 10.6.7). However, if your JVM is (set to) 64-bit, you will need to pass the additional parameter -d32 on the commandline, in addition to the -XstartOnFirstThread and -jar parameters specified in the manuals. This is due to the version of SWT included in the precompiled JAR.

License

ForestFIRE, FIREWood, and any accompanying software and files are free for non-commercial use, as long as you drop me an e-mail to inform me (this gives me an idea of who’s downloading/using the toolkit). If you want to make changes or create extensions to the toolkit, GUI, or their source code, or if you want to use them commercially, contact me beforehand.

Credits

Roger Strolenberg and I worked on the design, and Roger implemented the toolkit and GUI as part of his MSc project [Stro07] during September 2006 - June 2007. Kees Hemerik provided additional input during the toolkit and GUI design phase. Following completion of his MSc studies, Roger was appointed as a guest researcher in the SET research group for October 2007 - January 2008. This period was used to jointly extend and polish the toolkit and GUI to enable it to be distributed.

Bibliography

[Cle08] L.G.W.A. Cleophas, Tree Algorithms: Two Taxonomies and a Toolkit. PhD Thesis, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, April 2008. (PDF)

[Stro07] Roger Strolenberg, ForestFIRE and FIREWood—A Toolkit & GUI for Tree Algorithms. MSc Thesis, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, June 2007. (PDF)