boost::spirit::qi preserving white space

Question

I am using this code to parse "k1=v1;k2=v2;k3=v3;kn=vn" string into a map.

    qi::phrase_parse(
      begin,end,
      *(*~qi::char_('=') >> '=' >> *~qi::char_(';') >> -qi::lit(';')),
      qi::ascii::space, dict);

The above code would remove space chars, e.g. "some_key=1 2 3" becomes some_key -> 123

I can't figure out how to remove or what to replace with the fourth parameter: qi::ascii::space

Bacically, I want to preserve the original string (key and value) after splitting by '='.

I do not have much experience/knowledge with spirit. It does require investing time to learn.

Answer 1

If you want no skipper, simply use qi::parse instead of qi::phrase_parse:

qi::parse(
  begin,end,
  *(*~qi::char_(";=") >> '=' >> *~qi::char_(';') >> -qi::lit(';')),
  dict);

However, you likely DO want to selectively skip whitespace. The easiest way is usually to have a general skipper, and then mark the lexeme areas (where you don't allow the skipper):

qi::phrase_parse(
  begin, end,
  *(qi::lexeme[+(qi::graph - '=')]
     >> '='
     >> qi::lexeme[*~qi::char_(';')] >> (qi::eoi|';')),
  qi::ascii::space, dict);

The linked answer does give more techniques/backgrounds on how to work with skippers in Qi

DEMO TIME

Live On Coliru

#include <boost/spirit/include/qi.hpp>
#include <boost/fusion/adapted/std_pair.hpp>
#include <map>
#include <iomanip>
namespace qi = boost::spirit::qi;

int main() {
    for (std::string const& input : { 
            R"()",
            R"(foo=bar)",
            R"(foo=bar;)",
            R"( foo = bar ; )",
            R"( foo = bar ;
foo 
= qux; baz =

    quux 
corge grault
 thud

; x=)",
            // failing:
            R"(;foo = bar;)",
        })
    {
        std::cout << "-------------------------\n";
        auto f=begin(input), l=end(input);

        std::multimap<std::string, std::string> dict;

        bool ok = qi::phrase_parse(f, l,
          (qi::lexeme[+(qi::graph - '=' - ';')]
             >> '='
             >> qi::lexeme[*~qi::char_(';')]
          ) % ';',
          qi::space,
          dict);

        if (ok) {
            std::cout << "Parsed " << dict.size() << " elements:\n";
            for (auto& [k,v]: dict) {
                std::cout << " - " << std::quoted(k) << " -> " << std::quoted(v) << "\n";
            }
        } else {
            std::cout << "Parse failed\n";
        }

        if (f!=l) {
            std::cout << "Remaining input: " << std::quoted(std::string(f,l)) << "\n";
        }
    }

}

Prints

-------------------------
Parse failed
-------------------------
Parsed 1 elements:
 - "foo" -> "bar"
-------------------------
Parsed 1 elements:
 - "foo" -> "bar"
Remaining input: ";"
-------------------------
Parsed 1 elements:
 - "foo" -> "bar "
Remaining input: "; "
-------------------------
Parsed 4 elements:
 - "baz" -> "quux 
corge grault
 thud

"
 - "foo" -> "bar "
 - "foo" -> "qux"
 - "x" -> ""
-------------------------
Parse failed
Remaining input: ";foo = bar;"