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# Flex

For installation instructions see the Section called Installing Flex-2.5.4a in Chapter 6.

## Official Download Location

Flex (2.5.4a):
ftp://ftp.gnu.org/non-gnu/flex/

## Contents of Flex

(Last checked against version 2.5.4a.)

The Flex package is used to generate programs which recognize patterns in text.

Flex installs the following:

### Program Files

flex, flex++ (link to flex) and lex

### Library Files

libfl.a

##

## Descriptions

(Last checked against version 2.5.4a.)

### Program file descriptions

#### flex

flex is a tool for generating programs which recognize patterns in text. Pattern recognition is very useful in many applications. A user sets up rules about what to look for and flex will make a program that looks for those patterns. The reason people use flex is that it is much easier to set up rules for what to look for than to write the actual program which finds the text.

#### flex++

flex++ invokes a version of flex which is used exclusively for C++ scanners.

#### lex

We create a bash script called lex which calls flex using the -l option. This is for compatibility purposes for programs which use lex instead of flex.

### Library file descriptions

#### libfl

libfl is the flex library.

##

## Flex Installation Dependencies

(Last checked against version 2.5.4a.)

Bash: sh
Binutils: ar, as, ld, ranlib
Bison: bison
Coreutils: cat, chmod, cp, echo, hostname, install, ln, mv, rm, touch, tr
Diffutils: cmp
GCC: cc1, collect2, cpp0, gcc
Grep: egrep, grep
Make: make
Sed: sed

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