link-rep

Parse, validate, and serialize TopLink composite-link representation documents.

Installation

pip install link-rep

Usage example

from link_rep import LinkRep

text = """K3a1: [[1,5,2,4],[3,1,4,6],[5,3,6,2]]
[K3a1, K3a1]
L[1, 1]#L[2, 1]
"""
rep = LinkRep()
rep.deserialize(text)
print(rep.serialize())
print(rep.json_serialize())

Algorithm

The parser separates four grammatical objects: comments, named PD-code definitions, the ordered factor set, and component-join terms. Each object has matching text and JSON serializers. Link identifiers are decomposed into mirror, knot/link, crossing, alternating, and table-index fields, which gives the rest of the toolchain a structured representation instead of ad-hoc string handling.

Input conventions

A PD code is represented as a list of four-entry crossings. Arc labels normally occur exactly twice. Public functions validate inputs and return new values rather than mutating caller-owned data unless their API explicitly says otherwise.

External software

No external software is required.

Development

Run examples and package checks before release. Python packages require Python 3.10 or newer. Build PyPI artifacts with:

poetry check
poetry build

License

MIT. See LICENSE.