Abstract
Most current ixml grammars are small. However there are examples of large grammars, and it is likely that in the future more large grammars will emerge as ixml usage increases.
To make large grammars more manageable, and to enable reuse, it would be useful to have a way to modularise them.
One of the requirements of modularisation for reuse in any notation is to have a method of specifying the contractual interface, such that it is possible for the producers of the modules to change their internal structure without breaking any existing usage of the module.
This paper describes a proposal for an ixml preprocessor that permits an ixml grammar to invoke other modules of ixml grammars, specifying their linkage. This involves the renaming of rules with name clashes in the modules, using ixml renaming, resulting in a single ixml grammar with no rule-name clashes, and so that the resultant XML serialisations remain the same. The invoking grammar remains unchanged.
There is no change to the syntax or semantics of ixml proper.