An Editor and Parser for Data Formats in End-User Programming

It is currently difficult and time-consuming to validate and manipulate data in web applications, so we have developed an editor and a parser to simplify these tasks. Our editor enables end-user programmers to create and debug reusable, flexible data formats without learning a complex new language. Our parser uses these formats to turn strings into structured objects and to report its level of confidence that each string is a valid instance of the format. End-user programmers can use our system to create validation code that takes a graduated response to slightly invalid data. To assist end users in fixing invalid inputs, our parser dynamically generates targeted error messages. We evaluate our system’s expressiveness by defining formats for data that users regularly enter into web forms.