Novelwriting 0.3: rule-based random document generation

[Max Khesin]

Oh, goody! I was looking for some assistance with my next novel, :)

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Max Khesin, software developer -
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"Jeff Epler" <jepler at unpythonic.net> wrote in message
news:mailman.1049563988.5389.python-list at python.org...
> http://unpythonic.net/~jepler/novelwriting/index.html
>
> Description
> -----------
>
> Novelwriting[1] generates random text based on a user-defined grammar.
> It is similar to the Dada Engine[2], which is used by the Postmondernism
> Generator[3].  The name was chosen based on the Monty Python sketch,
> "Thomas Hardy / Novel Writing"[4].  It requires Python 2.2.
>
>
> Example
> -------
> Start: folk-saying;
> folk-saying: person " once said that " folk-saying ".\n";
> person: "My " relative | "The President" | "Cardinal Fang";
> relative: "mother" | "aunt" | "grandmother" ;
> folk-saying: "a rolling stone gathers no moss"
>     | "a stitch in time saves nine"
>     | "no-one expects the Spanish Inquisition";
> ;;
>
>
> Advantages compared to the Dada Engine
> --------------------------------------
> The Dada Engine has only a limited degree of programmability.  In
> Novelwriting, you can use the full power of Python at any point in a rule.
> For example:
> Start: product-claim
> product-name: "Novelwriting" | "Dada Engine";
> product-claim:
> @set(this-product, product-name)
> " is twice as good as "
> @alternative(product-name, @get(this-product));
> ;;
> from novelwriting.calls import get, set, alternative
> (The facility provided by @get/@set is available in the Dada Engine,
> but @alternative is impossible to write)
>
>
> Limitations compared to the Dada Engine
> ---------------------------------------
> Novelwriting does not have a formatting library like the Dada Engine.
> Novelwriting does not have a nice syntax for text substitution rules or
> maps.  Novelwriting does not have parameterized rules.
>
>
> [1] http://unpythonic.net/~jepler/novelwriting/index.html
> [2] http://dev.null.org/dadaengine/
> [3] http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/cgi-bin/postmodern
> [4]
http://www.stone-dead.asn.au/albums-cds/sketches/matching-tie-and-handkerchi
ef/thomas-hardy-novel-writing.html
>