Simplify Complex Boolean Expressions with boolean_parser

Lake Davenberg Avatar

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Simplify Complex Boolean Expressions with boolean_parser

Boolean expressions can quickly become complex and challenging to handle. Whether you are working with conditional expressions in your code or need to parse boolean expressions from user input, the boolean_parser Python package can simplify the process. This package utilizes the pyparsing package to construct grammatical clauses representing conditional expressions and enables parsing and conversion to object representations or SQLAlchemy filter conditions.

Example Code Implementations

1. Parsing and Evaluating String Conditionals

The core component of the boolean_parser package is the Parser class. This class allows you to parse complex boolean conditional expressions written as strings and evaluate them. Here’s an example:

from boolean_parser import Parser

parser = Parser()
result = parser.evaluate("x > 1 and y 1 and y 18 and country == 'USA'")

# Apply the filter condition to a query
results = session.query(MyModel).filter(filter_condition).all()

# Process the results
for result in results:
print(result.name)

In this example, we first create a SQLAlchemy engine and session to connect to our database. Then, we create an instance of the SQLParser class and use its parse method to convert the string conditional “age > 18 and country == ‘USA’” into a SQLAlchemy filter condition. We can then apply this filter condition to a query and retrieve the results.

3. Creating Custom Grammatical Clauses

The boolean_parser package allows you to create custom grammatical clauses to handle specific types of conditional expressions. This can be useful when you have unique requirements or need to extend the functionality of the package. Here’s an example:

from boolean_parser import Parser, Condition

class CustomClause(Condition):
def __init__(self):
super().__init__()

self.operator = "custom"
self.attribute = None
self.value = None

def parse(self):
self.attribute = self.word("attribute")
self.space()
self.operator = self.word("operator")
self.space()
self.value = self.word("value")

def evaluate(self, context):
# Custom evaluation logic
pass

parser = Parser()
parser.add_clause(CustomClause)

result = parser.evaluate("custom_clause_attribute > 100")

if result:
print("Condition is True")
else:
print("Condition is False")

In this example, we create a custom subclass of the Condition class and define our own parse and evaluate methods to handle the custom clause “custom_clause_attribute > 100”. We then add this custom clause to the Parser instance using the add_clause method. We can now parse and evaluate expressions that include this custom clause.

Conclusion

The boolean_parser Python package provides a powerful solution for parsing and simplifying complex boolean expressions. Whether you need to parse and evaluate string conditionals or convert them into SQLAlchemy filter conditions, this package has you covered. By utilizing the pyparsing package, the boolean_parser package offers flexibility and extensibility to handle unique requirements. Start simplifying your boolean expressions today!

Category: Python Development
Tags: boolean_parser, pyparsing, SQLAlchemy, Python

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