Abstract
We study the decision properties of XML languages. It was known that given a context-free language included in the Dyck language with sufficiently many pairs of parentheses, it is undecidable whether or not it is an XML language. We improve on this result by showing that the problem remains undecidable when the language is written on a unique pair of parentheses. We also prove that if the given language is deterministic, then the problem is decidable; while establishing whether its surfaces are regular turns out to be undecidable whenever the deterministic language is contained in the Dyck language with two pairs of parentheses. Our results are based on a “pumping property” of what Boasson and Berstel call the surface of a context-free language.
Partially supported by MURST, under the project “COFIN: Automi e linguaggi formali: aspetti matematici ed applicativi”.
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© 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Bertoni, A., Choffrut, C., Palano, B. (2006). Context-Free Grammars and XML Languages. In: Ibarra, O.H., Dang, Z. (eds) Developments in Language Theory. DLT 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4036. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11779148_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11779148_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-35428-4
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