PhraseCache is a simple language for matching user input.

A PhraseCache expression can consist of:

  -just a word or phrase, e.g.:
  
    school
    lunch time

  -a quoted string, e.g.:
  
     "q&a"
     "\o/"
     
   These strings can contain any special character. They are
   matched exactly character-by-character, but are
   case-insensitive. The pattern does not match when it's part
   of a bigger word (e.g. the first example would not match
   the input "faq&answers").

  s = trim(tok_deRoundBracket(trim(s)));
  LS tok = javaTokWithBrackets(s);
  
  // commas (or) - "car, vehicle"
  
  LS l = tok_splitAtComma(tok);
  if (l(l) > 1)
    ret new MMOPattern.Or(lambdaMap mmo2_parsePattern(l));
    
  // plus (and) - "give + money"
  
  l = tok_splitAtPlus(tok);
  if (l(l) > 1)
    ret new MMOPattern.And(lambdaMap mmo2_parsePattern(l));
    
  // exclam (not) - "!something"
  
  if (startsWith(s, "!"))
    ret new MMOPattern.Not(mmo2_parsePattern(dropFirst(s)));
    
  -match start of line
  
     ^hello bot
    
   will match "oh hello bot", but not "hello bot friend".
  
  -match end of line
  
     please do this$
     
   will match "now please do this", but not "please do this now".
  

Advanced features (not really used currently):

  -add a weight to a sub-pattern:
  
    (foo, bar)*0.5