shalmaneser 0.0.1.alpha

data/lib/common/SalsaTigerRegXML.rb

@@ -0,0 +1,2347 @@
+# SalsaTigerRegXML.rb
+#
+# Katrin Erk, June 2005
+#
+# Classes for accessing and managing 
+# SalsaTigerXML sentences
+#
+# The interface of the classes in this package
+# is similar to that of SalsaTigerXML.rb
+# but the package is based solely on regular expressions
+# and not on REXML.
+#
+# Main class here: SalsaTigerSentence, keeps a complete sentence
+#
+# Nodes of the syntactic tree, frames and frame elements are all
+# handed around as XMLNode objects, or more specifically 
+# SynNode, FrameNode and FeNode objects, respectively. 
+#
+# Inheritance between classes in here:
+#
+#                  GraphNode
+#                    |
+#                  XMLNode
+#                    |
+#                SalsaTigerXmlNode
+#                /                 \
+#              SynNode            SemNode
+#               |                 /     \
+#            TSSynNode      FrameNode   FeNode
+#
+# 
+# SalsaTigerSentence uses the other classes, but is separate
+#
+# SalsaTigerSentence does _not_ yield a faithful image of the SalsaTiger XML structure of 
+# a sentence. With the SalsaTiger XML structure you need to follow "idref" attributes
+# to the elements with matching "id" attributes in other parts of the structure.
+# With the classes in this package, you don't. 
+# Wherever in SalsaTiger XML you have an idref, you will have _direct access to the 
+# object_ here. 
+#
+# Suppose that in the XML structure you have a nonterminal element X with <edge> elements
+# pointing to other (terminal or nonterminal) elements X1,.., Xn. Then you'll have 
+# a SynNode object N that contains X as its XML object, and the children N1,..,Nn of N 
+# will be SynNode objects that contain X1,..,Xn as their XML objects.
+#
+# A SynNode that is a terminal may have children too: its splitword parts (if any).
+#
+# So: a syntactic node is a SynNode object, its children are SynNode objects. The edges
+# to its children are labeled the same way as in the XML structure. If the children
+# are splitword parts, the edges are unlabeled.
+#
+# A frame is a FrameNode object, its children are FeNode objects. The edges to its children
+# are labeled with the FE name or with "target".
+#
+# A frame element is an FeNode object, its children are SynNode objects. The edges to its
+# children are unlabeled.
+#
+# A frame underspecification is an UspNode object, its children are FrameNode objects.
+# The edges to its children are unlabeled.
+#
+# A frame element underspecification is an UspNode objects, its children are
+# FeNode objects. The edges to its children are unlabeled.
+
+require "common/Tree"
+require "common/STXmlTerminalOrder"
+require "common/RegXML"
+require "common/ruby_class_extensions"
+
+#############
+# class XMLNode
+# 
+# node with entries pointing to its children
+# as well as its parent. 
+# all edges may be labeled.
+# each node has a unique ID.
+# 
+# indexes a string with XML data representing the same node, 
+# but does not look into it, just keeps it
+# 
+# methods:
+# This class inherits from TreeNode and GraphNode. 
+# See Tree.rb and Graph.rb for the methods they offer.
+#
+# new        initializes the object
+#
+# get        returns the XML object representing
+#            the same node as this node object
+#
+
+class XMLNode < TreeNode
+
+  ###
+  def initialize(name,        # string: element name; or, for text, the whole text
+                 attribute,   # hash: attr_name(string) -> attr_value(string)
+                 id,          # string: node ID
+                 i_am_text = false) # boolean: set to anything but false or nil
+                              # to represent not an xml element but text
+
+    if id.nil?
+      # I wasn't given any ID
+      # take system time for an ID
+      # use to_f to get fractions of seconds too:
+      # If I make several nodes in the same second,
+      # they should still have unique IDs
+      id = Time.new().to_f.to_s
+    end
+
+    super(id)
+
+    # remember values for this element
+    set_f("name", name)
+    set_f("attributes", attribute)
+    set_f("i_am_text", i_am_text)
+
+    # sanity check
+    if i_am_text and attributes
+      raise "A text element cannot have attributes"
+    end
+
+    @kith = Array.new()
+  end
+
+  ###
+  # add sanity check:
+  # if this is text rather than an xml element,
+  # it cannot have children
+  def add_child(child, edgelabel, varhash={})
+    if get_f("i_am_text")
+      raise "A text element cannot have children"
+    end
+    super(child, edgelabel, varhash)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def add_kith(xml) # RegXML object
+    @kith << xml
+  end
+
+  ###
+  # set attribute
+  def set_attribute(name, value)
+    unless value.class == String
+      raise "I can only set attribute values to strings. Got: #{value.class.to_s}"
+    end
+
+    if get_f("attributes").nil?
+      set_f("attributes", Hash.new())
+    end
+    get_f("attributes")[name] = value
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def get_attribute(name)
+    if get_f("attributes")
+      return get_f("attributes")[name]
+    else
+      return nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  ###
+  # delete attribute
+  def del_attribute(name)
+    if get_f("attributes")
+      get_f("attributes").delete(name)
+    end
+  end  
+
+  ###
+  # return XML as string:
+  # If this is a text, just return the text
+  # which is stored in "name"
+  # If this is an XMl element,
+  # make a tag from its name and attributes,
+  # then add tags for all its children,
+  # then add an end tag.
+  def get()
+    if get_f("i_am_text")
+      # text rather than XML element
+      return get_f("name")
+    else
+      # XMl element, not text
+      string = "<" + get_f("name")
+      if get_f("attributes")
+        string << get_f("attributes").to_a.map { |name, value|
+          " " + name + "=\'" + xml_secure_val(value) + "\'"
+        }.join()
+      end
+      string << ">\n"
+      string << get_xml_embedded()
+      string << "</#{get_f("name")}>\n"
+      return string
+    end
+  end
+  
+  #############
+  protected
+
+  def get_xml_embedded()
+    return get_xml_ofchildren() +
+           get_xml_ofkith()
+  end
+
+
+  def get_xml_ofchildren()
+    return children.map { |child|
+      child.get()
+    }.join()
+  end
+
+
+  def get_xml_ofkith()
+    return @kith.map { |thing| thing.to_s + "\n" }.join()
+  end  
+    
+
+  ###
+  def warn_child_ignored(where, xml_node)
+    $stderr.puts "WARNING: additional material found in #{where}, will be ignored:"
+    $stderr.puts "\t" + xml_node.to_s
+  end
+  
+  ###
+  def xml_secure_val(value) # string: value of an attribute
+    return value.gsub(/'/, "&apos;").gsub(/"/, "&apos;&apos;")
+    return value
+  end
+end
+
+#############
+# class SalsaTigerXmlNode
+#
+# additional methods:
+#
+# is_terminal?    true if this is a Tiger XML terminal node
+#
+# is_nonterminal? true if this is a Tiger XML nonterminal node
+#
+# is_splitword?   true if this is a splitword part
+#
+# is_syntactic?   true for terminal, nonterminal, splitword
+#
+# is_frame?       true if this is a Salsa/Tiger XML frame
+#
+# is_target?      true if this is a Salsa/Tiger XML frame target
+#
+# is_fe?          true if this is a Salsa/Tiger XML frame element
+#
+# is_outside_sentence? returns false -- this node is not a placeholder for
+#                 a node that is outside the current sentence
+#                 (but see descendant class TSSynNode)
+#
+# yield_nodes     returns the list of descendants thatare leaves of the tree
+#                 NOTE: this overwrites the Graph.yield_nodes method
+#                 since we have to treat splitwords in a special way
+#                 empty array if no yield nodes are present
+#
+# yield_nodes_ordered returns those descendants ordered by precedence 
+#                 in the sentence, i.e. their node IDs.
+# 
+# sid             returns the sentence ID of this node
+#
+# to_s            returns the yield of this node as a string of space-separated words
+#                 words ordered left to right
+# 
+class SalsaTigerXmlNode < XMLNode
+  include StringTerminalsInRightOrder
+
+  ###
+  # extracting the ID from a RegXML element
+  # depends on whether it has an ID or an IDref
+  #
+  # returns: a string, the ID, or nil if none was found
+  def SalsaTigerXmlNode.xmlel_id(xml_obj) # RegXML object
+    case xml_obj.name
+    when "edge", "fenode", "uspitem", "splitword", "other_edge"
+      # contains ID ref
+      return xml_obj.attributes()["idref"]
+    when "part"
+      #  contains ID
+      return xml_obj.attributes()["id"]
+    else
+      # something else
+      # default: ID is in attribute "id"
+      return xml_obj.attributes()["id"]
+    end
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def initialize(xml) # RegXML object or text
+    if xml.text?
+      # text
+      super(xml, nil, nil, true)
+    else
+      # xml element
+      super(xml.name(), xml.attributes(), SalsaTigerXmlNode.xmlel_id(xml), false)
+    end
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def is_terminal?
+    return get_f("name") == "t"
+  end
+  
+  ###
+  def is_nonterminal?
+    return get_f("name") == "nt"
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def is_splitword?
+    return get_f("name") == "part"
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def is_syntactic?
+    if is_terminal? or is_nonterminal? or is_splitword?
+      return true
+    else
+      return false
+    end
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def is_frame?
+    return get_f("name") == "frame"
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def is_target?
+    return get_f("name") == "target"
+  end
+  
+  ###
+  def is_fe?
+    return get_f("name") == "fe"
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def sid()
+    # my node ID starts out with the sentence ID
+    id =~ /^(.*?)_/
+    return $1
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def is_outside_sentence?
+    return false
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def yield_nodes()
+    # special consideration: splitwords do not count as children!
+    if children.reject {|c| c.is_splitword? }.empty?
+      return [ self ]
+    end
+
+    arr = Array.new
+    children.reject { |c| c.is_splitword? }.each { |c| 
+      if c.children.reject {|gc| gc.is_splitword? }.empty?
+	arr << c
+      else
+	arr.concat c.yield_nodes()
+      end
+    }
+    return arr
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def yield_nodes_ordered() # legacy name
+    # sort_terminals_and_splitwords_... cannot deal with nonterminals
+    # so remove and attach to the end of the chain
+    t, nt  = yield_nodes().distribute { |x| x.is_terminal? or x.is_splitword? }
+    return sort_terminals_and_splitwords_left_to_right(t).concat(nt)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def terminals_sorted() # name parallel to the method of SalsaTigerSentence
+    return yield_nodes_ordered()
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def to_s
+    return string_for_node(self)
+  end
+end
+
+#############
+# class SynNode
+#
+# inherits from SalsaTigerXmlNode,
+# adds to it methods specific to nodes
+# that describe the syntactic structure
+#
+# additional/changed methods:
+#
+# part_of_speech  part_of_speech information as a string,
+#         nil for anything but terminal nodes
+#
+# word    word information for this node as a string,
+#         nil for anything but terminal nodes
+#
+# category category information for this node as a string,
+#         nil for anything but nonterminal nodes
+#
+# is_punct?       true if this is a terminal node and it is a punctuation sign 
+#
+# get_sem  add a non-tree edge from this syntactic node to a semantic node
+#         Idea: this is basically the inverse of the edge pointing from
+#         the FeNode to this SynNode, so you can fetch a node's semantics directly
+#
+# add_sem add non-tree edge from this syntactic node to a FeNode
+
+class SynNode <  SalsaTigerXmlNode
+
+  ###
+  def initialize(xml)
+    super(xml)
+
+    @sem = Array.new
+    @other_links = Array.new
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def add_link(other_node,        # SynNode
+               link_label,        # string: edge label
+               attributes = {})   # hash string>string: further attribute-value pairs for the edge
+
+    @other_links << [link_label, other_node, attributes]
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def get_linked(label = nil)  # string/nil: if string, use only linked with this link_label
+    if label
+      return @other_links.select { |label_node_attr| label_node_attr.first == label }
+    else
+      return @other_links
+    end
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def part_of_speech
+    if get_attribute("pos")
+      return get_attribute("pos").strip
+    else
+      return nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def category
+    if get_attribute("cat")
+      return get_attribute("cat").strip
+    else
+      return nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def word()
+    if get_attribute("word")
+      return get_attribute("word").strip
+    else
+      return nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def is_punct?()
+    if is_nonterminal?
+      # only terminals can be punctuation signs
+      return false 
+    end
+
+    # next check part of speech
+    # this works at least for TIGER corpus annotation
+    case part_of_speech 
+    when '$.', '$,', '$('
+      return true
+    end
+    if part_of_speech =~ /^PUNC/
+      return true
+    end
+
+    # known punctuation signs: filtered out for determining maximal constituents
+
+    # no luck with part of speech:
+    # check word
+    case word
+    when ".", ";", ",", ":", "?", "!", "(", ")", "[", "]", "{", "}", "-", "''", "``", "\"", "'"
+      return true
+    end
+
+    # not a punctuation sign by any of the tests we have applied
+    return false
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def to_s()
+    if is_terminal?
+      return word
+    else
+      return super()
+    end
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def get_sem()
+    return @sem.clone()
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def add_sem(fe_node)
+    unless fe_node.class == FeNode
+      raise "Unexpected class of semantic node: was expecting an FeNode"
+    end
+
+    @sem << fe_node
+  end
+
+  #############
+  protected
+
+  def get_xml_ofchildren()
+    string = ""
+
+    each_child_with_edgelabel { |label, child|
+      unless child.is_splitword?
+        # terminal or nonterminal child.
+        # splitwords are handled separately in the "sem" part of the sentence
+        if label
+          string << "<edge label=\'#{xml_secure_val(label)}\' idref=\'#{xml_secure_val(child.id)}\'/>\n"
+        else
+          string << "<edge label=\'-\' idref=\'#{xml_secure_val(child.id)}\'/>\n"
+        end
+      end
+    }
+    @other_links.each { |label, node, attributes|
+      if label
+        string << "<other_edge label=\'#{xml_secure_val(label)}\'"
+      else
+        string << "<other_edge label=\'-\'"
+      end
+      string <<  " idref=\'#{xml_secure_val(node.id)}\'" 
+      if attributes
+        string << " " + attributes.to_a.map { |attr, val| "#{xml_secure_val(attr)}=\'#{xml_secure_val(val)}\'" }.join(" ")
+      end
+      string << "/>\n"
+    }
+    
+    return string
+  end
+end
+
+#############
+# class TSSynNode
+#
+# inherits from SynNode
+#
+# describes a syntactic node that isn't really there:
+# a reference to a node in another sentence
+#
+# contains that node's ID, but an empty RegXML object,
+# its string is "<unknown>", and you cannot add
+# a child to it
+#
+# new or changed methods:
+#-----------------------
+#
+# is_outside_sentence? returns true
+# 
+# word                 returns "<unknown>"
+#
+# add_child raises an error
+
+class TSSynNode < SynNode
+
+  ###
+  def initialize(id_string)
+    super(RegXML.new("<OTHER_SENTENCE id='" + id_string + "'/>"))
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def is_outside_sentence?
+    return true
+  end
+
+  ###
+  # word of this node: <unknown>
+  def word
+    return "<unknown>"
+  end
+
+  def add_child(arg1, arg2)
+    raise "Not implemented for this class"
+  end
+end
+
+#############
+# class SemNode
+#
+# common superclass for FrameNode and FeNode,
+# with methods that are the same for both:
+#
+# 
+# is_usp?   returns true if the frame/FE is involved in underspecification,
+#           else false
+#
+# flags     returns an array of all the frame/FE flags for this node.
+#           members of the array are strings describing the flags
+#           that have been set to true
+#
+# add_flag  add or remove a frame/FE flag
+# remove_flag
+
+class SemNode < SalsaTigerXmlNode
+  attr_reader :flags
+
+  def initialize(xml) # RegXML object or text
+    super(xml)
+    # flags: array of FlagNode objects
+    @flags = Array.new()
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def is_usp?
+    return get_attribute("usp") == "yes"
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def add_flag(name) # string: flag name
+    @flags << name
+  end
+
+  ### 
+  def remove_flag(name) # string: flag name
+    @flags.delete(name)
+  end
+
+  #############
+  protected
+
+  def get_xml_embedded()
+    return super() + get_xml_offlags()
+  end
+
+  def get_xml_offlags()
+    # and add flags
+    return @flags.map { |flagname|
+      "<flag name=\'#{xml_secure_val(flagname)}\'/>\n"
+    }.join
+  end    
+end
+
+
+
+#############
+# class FrameNode
+#
+# inherits from SemNode
+# adds to it methods specific to nodes
+# that describe a frame
+#
+# additional/changed methods:
+#
+# name      returns the name of the frame
+# set_name  changes the name of the frame to a new name
+# target    returns the target (as a FeNode object)
+#
+# each_child() iterates through FEs, children() returns all FEs
+#
+# each_fe_by_name A frame node may have several FE children with the same
+#           frame element label. While each_child returns them separately,
+#           each_fe_by_name lumps FE children with the same frame element label
+#           into one FeNode. 
+#           Warnings:
+#           - the REXML object of the FeNode is that of the first FE child
+#             with that frame element label.
+#           - Underspecification is ignored! If you have the same FE twice, 
+#             and there is underspecification regarding the extent of the FE,
+#             the two FE children will be lumped together anyway. 
+#             If you don't want that, use each_child instead. 
+# 
+#
+# add_fe CAUTION: please do not call this method directly externally, 
+#           use SalsaTigerSentence.add_fe, otherwise the node and its ID
+#           will not be recorded in the node list and the node cannot be retrieved
+#           via its ID
+
+class FrameNode <  SemNode
+
+  ###
+  def target()
+    target = children_by_edgelabels(["target"])
+    if target.empty?
+      $stderr.puts "SalsaTigerRegXML warning: Frame #{id()}: No target, but I got: \n" + child_labels().join(", ")
+      return nil
+    else
+      unless target.length == 1
+	raise "target: more than one target to frame "+id()
+      end
+      return target.first
+    end
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def name
+    return get_attribute("name")
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def set_name(new_name)
+    set_attribute("name", new_name)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  # each_fe: synonym for each_child
+  def each_fe()
+    each_child { |c| yield c }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  # fes: synonym for children
+  def fes()
+    children()
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def each_fe_by_name()
+    child_labels.uniq.each { |fe_name|
+      unless fe_name == "target"
+
+	fes = children_by_edgelabels([fe_name])
+
+	if fes.length == 1 
+	  # one frame element with that name
+	  yield fes.first
+
+	else
+	  # several frame elements with that name
+	  # combine them
+
+	  combined_fe = FeNode.new(fe_name, id() + "_" + fe_name)
+	  fes.each { |fe|
+	    fe.each_child() { |child|
+	      combined_fe.add_child(child)
+	    }
+	  }
+	  yield combined_fe
+	end
+      end
+    }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def add_child(fe_node)
+    if fe_node.name == "target" and not(children_by_edgelabels(["target"]).empty?)
+      $stderr.puts "Adding second target to frame #{id()}"
+      $stderr.puts "I already have: " + children_by_edgelabels(["target"]).map { |t| t.id() }.join(",")
+      raise "More than one target."
+    end
+       
+    super(fe_node, fe_node.name)
+  end
+  
+  ###
+  def remove_child(fe_node)
+    super(fe_node, fe_node.name)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def add_fe(fe_name,   # string: name of FE to add
+             syn_nodes, # array:SynNode, syntactic nodes that this FE should point to
+             fe_id = nil) # string: ID for the new FE
+
+    if fe_name == "target" and not(children_by_edgelabels(["target"]).empty?)
+      $stderr.puts "Adding second target to frame #{id()}"
+      $stderr.puts "I already have: " + children_by_edgelabels(["target"]).map { |t| t.id() }.join(",")
+      raise "More than one target."
+    end
+       
+    # make FE node and list as this frame's child
+    unless fe_id
+      # no FE ID given, make one myself
+      fe_id = id() + "_fe" + Time.new().to_f.to_s
+    end
+
+    n = FeNode.new(fe_name, fe_id)
+    add_child(n)
+
+    # add syn nodes
+    syn_nodes.each { |syn_node|
+      n.add_child(syn_node)
+    }
+
+    return n
+  end
+end
+
+#############
+# class FeNode
+#
+# inherits from SemNode,
+# adds to it methods specific to nodes
+# that describe a frame element or target
+#
+# additional/changed methods:
+#----------------------------
+#
+# name      returns the name of the frame element, or "target"
+#
+# add_child, remove_child
+
+class FeNode <  SemNode
+
+  ###
+  def initialize(name_or_xml, # either RegXMl object or the name of the FE as a string 
+                 id_if_name = nil) # string: ID to use if we just got the name of the FE
+
+    case name_or_xml.class.to_s
+    when "String"
+      if name_or_xml == "target"
+        super(RegXML.new("<target id=\'#{xml_secure_val(id_if_name.to_s)}\'/>"))
+        @i_am_target = true
+      else
+        super(RegXML.new("<fe name=\'#{xml_secure_val(name_or_xml)}\' id=\'#{xml_secure_val(id_if_name.to_s)}\'/>"))
+        @i_am_target = false
+      end
+
+    when "RegXML"
+      super(name_or_xml)
+
+      if name_or_xml.name() == "target"
+        @i_am_target = true
+      else
+        @i_am_target = false
+      end
+    else
+      raise "Shouldn't be here: " + name_or_xml.class.to_s
+    end
+
+    # child_attr: keep additional attributes of <fenode> elements,
+    # if there are any
+    # child_attr: hash syn_node_id(string) -> attributes(hash)
+    @child_attr = Hash.new()
+  end
+  
+  ###
+  def name
+    if @i_am_target
+      return "target"
+    else
+      return get_attribute("name")
+    end
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def add_child(syn_node,
+                xml_obj = nil)
+    if xml_obj
+      # we've been given the fenode XML element
+      # see if there are any attributes that we will need:
+      # get attributes, remove the idref (we get that from the
+      # child's ID directly)
+      at = xml_obj.attributes
+      at.delete("idref")
+      unless at.empty?
+        @child_attr[syn_node.id] = at
+      end
+    end
+
+    super(syn_node, nil, "pointer_insteadof_edge" => true)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def remove_child(syn_node, varhash={})
+    super(syn_node, nil, "pointer_insteadof_edge" => true)
+  end
+
+  #############
+  protected
+
+  def get_xml_ofchildren()
+    return children.map { |child|
+      if @child_attr[child.id()]
+        "<fenode idref=\'#{xml_secure_val(child.id())}\'" +
+        @child_attr[child.id()].to_a.map { |attr, val|
+          " #{attr}=\'#{xml_secure_val(val)}\'"
+        }.join() +
+        "/>\n"
+
+      else        
+        "<fenode idref=\'#{xml_secure_val(child.id())}\'/>\n"
+      end
+    }.join()
+  end
+end
+
+#############
+# class UspNode
+#
+# inherits from SalsaTigerXmlNode,
+# adds to it methods specific to nodes
+# that describe a frame underspecification or frame element underspecification
+#
+# additional/changed methods:
+#----------------------------
+#
+# new             initializes the object
+#    rexml_object: underlying XML object for this node
+#    frame_or_fe:  string, either "frame" for frame underspecification
+#                  or "fe" for frame element underspecification
+#
+# add_child, remove_child   add, remove underspecification entry
+
+class UspNode <  SalsaTigerXmlNode
+
+  attr_reader :i_am
+
+  ###
+  def initialize(xml_obj,      # RegXMl object
+                 frame_or_fe)  # string "frame" or "fe"
+
+    super(xml_obj)
+    case frame_or_fe
+    when "frame"
+      @i_am = "frame"
+    when "fe"
+      @i_am = "fe"
+    else
+      raise "new: neither frame nor fe??"
+    end
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def add_child(node, varhash={})
+    if node
+      super(node, nil, "pointer_insteadof_edge" => true)
+    else
+      raise "Got nil for a node."
+    end
+
+    # set usp. attribute on child
+    node.set_attribute("usp", "yes")
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def remove_child(node, varhash={})
+    super(node, nil, "pointer_insteadof_edge" => true)
+
+    # removing "usp" attribute on child
+    # this will be wrong if the child is involved in more 
+    # than one instance of underspecification!
+
+    $stderr.puts "Warning: unsafe removal of attribute 'usp'"
+    node.del_attribute("usp")
+  end
+
+  #############
+  protected
+
+  def get_xml_ofchildren()
+    return children.map { |child|
+      "<uspitem idref=\'#{xml_secure_val(child.id)}\'/>\n"
+    }.join()
+  end
+
+end
+
+#############
+class SalsaTigerSentenceGraph < XMLNode
+  include StringTerminalsInRightOrder
+
+  attr_reader :node
+
+  def initialize(xml_obj,     # RegXML object
+                 sentence_id) # string: ID of this sentence
+
+    # global data:
+    # node: hash node_id -> XMLNode object
+    #       maps node IDs to the nodes with that ID
+    @node = Hash.new
+    @sentence_id = sentence_id
+
+    if xml_obj
+      # we actually have syntactic information.
+      # read it.
+      
+      # initialize this object as an XML node,
+      # i.e. remember the outermost element's name, attributes, 
+      # and ID, and specify that it's not a text but an XML object
+      super(xml_obj.name, xml_obj.attributes, sentence_id + "_graph", false)
+      
+      # initialize nodes, remember their IDs
+      xml_obj.children_and_text.each { |child_or_text|
+        
+        case child_or_text.name
+        when "terminals"
+          make_nodes(child_or_text, "t", "s/graph/terminals", "all_children_kith")
+        when "nonterminals"
+          make_nodes(child_or_text, "nt", "s/graph/nonterminals")
+        else
+          # additional info that we don't need for now
+          # keep for output
+          add_kith(child_or_text)
+        end
+      }
+      
+
+
+      # add edges between nodes
+      nonterminals = xml_obj.children_and_text.detect { |child| child.name == "nonterminals" }
+      if nonterminals
+        nonterminals.children_and_text.each { |nt|
+
+          unless nt.name == "nt"
+            # we've already done the warning bit in make_nodes
+            next
+          end
+
+          syn_add_children(@node[SalsaTigerXmlNode.xmlel_id(nt)], nt)
+        }
+      end
+
+    else
+      # we have no syntactic information
+      # record it anyway
+      
+      super("graph", {}, sentence_id + "_graph", false)
+    end
+  end
+
+
+  ###
+  def add_splitwords(xml_obj)  #RegXMl object
+    unless xml_obj.nil?
+      # splitwords is an XML element with name "splitwords" and
+      # children named "splitword", each of which describes a split
+      # for one of the terminals we already know
+      xml_obj.children_and_text.each { |splitword|
+        unless splitword.name() == "splitword"
+          warn_child_ignored("s/sem/splitwords/", splitword)
+          next
+        end
+
+        # make nodes for the splitword parts
+        make_nodes(splitword, "part", "s/sem/splitwords/splitword", "all_children_kith")
+        
+        # this is the terminal that is being split:
+        # add links to its new children
+        syn_add_children(@node[SalsaTigerXmlNode.xmlel_id(splitword)], splitword)
+      }
+    end
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def to_s
+    string_for_nodes(syn_roots())
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def get()
+    # make sure that the graph element has a 'root' attribute
+    # since the Salsa tool needs this
+    set_attribute("root", syn_roots().first.id())
+    super()
+  end
+
+  #####
+  # access methods
+
+  ###
+  def each_node
+    @node.each_value { |n| 
+      yield n 
+    }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def nodes
+    return @node.values()
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def each_terminal
+    @node.each_value { |node|
+      if node.is_terminal?
+        yield node
+      end
+    }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def each_terminal_sorted
+    sort_terminals_and_splitwords_left_to_right(terminals).each { |node_obj| 
+      yield node_obj
+    }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def terminals
+    return @node.values.select { |node| node.is_terminal? }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def terminals_sorted
+    return  sort_terminals_and_splitwords_left_to_right(terminals)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def each_nonterminal
+    @node.each_value { |node|
+      if node.is_nonterminal?
+        yield node
+      end
+    }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def nonterminals
+    return @node.values.select { |node| node.is_nonterminal? }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def syn_roots
+    return @node.values.select { |node|
+      node.parent().nil?
+    }
+  end
+  ###
+
+  ######################3
+  # adding nodes
+
+  ###
+  def add_child(arg1, arg2, varhash={})
+    raise "Not implemented for this class"
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def remove_child(arg1, arg2, varhash={})
+    raise "Not implemented for this class"
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def add_node(sentid,    # string: sentence ID
+               label,     # string: t or nt
+               cat = nil, # string: category
+               word = nil,# string: word
+               pos = nil, # string: part of speech
+               syn_id = nil)   # string: ID for the new node
+
+    unless ["t", "nt"].include? label
+      raise "Unknown node label #{label} for new syntactic node. Must be either t or nt."
+    end
+
+    # make node ID: sentence ID plus ID generated by system time
+    if syn_id
+      new_id = sentid + "_" + syn_id
+    else
+      new_id = sentid + "_" + Time.new().to_f.to_s
+    end
+
+    elt = "<#{label}"
+    [["id", new_id], ["cat", cat], ["word", word], ["pos", pos]].each { |label, content|
+      if content
+        elt << " #{label}=\"#{xml_secure_val(content)}\""
+      end
+    }
+    elt << "/>"
+    n = SynNode.new(RegXML.new(elt))
+    @node[n.id] = n
+
+    return n
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def remove_node(node) # SynNode
+    # remove node from list
+    @node.delete(node.id)
+
+    # remove it as child and parent of other nodes;
+    # add its own children to the parent. 
+    # the _edgelabel_ of the new edges will be the edgeslabels 
+    # between the original node in its children
+    # in other words, the label of the removed node's incoming edge
+    # is deleted
+
+#    STDERR.puts "Removing node #{node.id}:"
+    
+    pair = node.parent_with_edgelabel
+    if pair
+    # delete incoming edge for deleted node
+      label, parent = pair
+#      STDERR.puts "  Removing link from PARENT #{parent.id}, edgelabel #{label}"
+      parent.remove_child(node, label)
+    end
+    # delete outgoing edge for deleted node
+    node.each_child_with_edgelabel { |label, child|
+      child.remove_parent(node, label)
+#      STDERR.puts "  Removing link to child #{child.id}"
+    }
+    # glue deleted node's children to its parent    
+    if pair
+      plabel, parent = pair      
+      node.each_child_with_edgelabel {|clabel,child|
+        parent.add_child(child, clabel)
+      }
+#      STDERR.puts "Parent now has children "+node.parent.children.map {|c| c.id}.join(" ")
+    end
+  end
+
+  ######################
+  protected
+    
+  ###
+  def get_xml_ofchildren()
+    string = ""
+
+    string << "<terminals>\n"
+    each_terminal_sorted { |t|
+      string << t.get()
+    }
+    string << "</terminals>\n"
+
+    string << "<nonterminals>\n"
+    each_nonterminal { |nt|
+      string << nt.get()
+    }
+    string << "</nonterminals>\n"
+
+    return string
+    
+  end
+
+  def make_nodes(xml_obj,  # RegXML object
+                 expected_obj_name, # string
+                 where, # string
+                 all_children_kith = nil) # object: if non-nil,
+                                          # keep all children of the new nodes
+                                          # as kith" 
+    
+    xml_obj.children_and_text.each { |elt|
+
+      if elt.name == expected_obj_name
+        # this is the kind of child we were expecting to see
+        n = SynNode.new(elt)
+        @node[n.id] = n
+
+        if all_children_kith
+          elt.children_and_text.each { |elt_child|
+            n.add_kith(elt_child)
+          }
+        end
+        
+      else
+        warn_child_ignored(where, elt)
+      end
+    }
+  end
+  
+  def syn_add_children(node,
+                       xml_obj)
+    unless node
+      raise "Shouldn't be here"
+    end
+    
+    xml_obj.children_and_text.each { |edge|
+
+      if ["edge", "part"].include? edge.name()
+
+        # add an edge to this child,
+        # retrieve the node with the given ID from id_to_node
+        child = @node[SalsaTigerXmlNode.xmlel_id(edge)]
+        unless child
+          raise "Sentence #{@sentence_id}: I cannot find a node for " + edge.to_s()
+        end
+        
+        edgelabel = edge.attributes()["label"]
+        node.add_child(child, edgelabel)
+
+      elsif edge.name() == "other_edge"
+        # add link to this node,
+        # retrieve the node with the given ID from id_to_node
+        child = @node[SalsaTigerXmlNode.xmlel_id(edge)]
+        unless child
+          raise "Sentence #{@sentence_id}: I cannot find a node for other_edge #{SalsaTigerXmlNode.xmlel_id(edge)} : " + edge.to_s()
+        end
+        
+        attributes = edge.attributes()
+        if attributes
+          edgelabel = attributes.delete("label")
+        else
+          edgelabel = nil
+        end
+        node.add_link(child, edgelabel, attributes)
+
+      else
+        # something other than an edge
+        # keep for output
+        node.add_kith(edge)
+      end
+    }
+  end
+end
+
+#############
+class SalsaTigerSentenceSem < XMLNode
+
+  attr_reader :node
+
+  ###
+  def SalsaTigerSentenceSem.get_splitwords(xml_obj)
+    return xml_obj.children_and_text.detect { |child|
+      child.name == "splitwords"
+    }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def initialize(xml_obj,      # RegXML object  
+                 sentence_id,  # string: sentence ID
+                 id_to_node)   # hash: syn_node_id(string) -> SynNode object
+
+    # global data:
+    # node: hash node_id -> XMLNode object
+    #       maps node IDs to the nodes with that ID
+    # frame_id, uspframe_id, uspfe_id: arrays of node IDs,
+    #   listing all frame nodes, frame underspecification nodes,
+    #   and FE underspecification nodes respectively
+    # globals: array of RegXML objects, each representing one sentence flag
+    @node = Hash.new
+    @frame_id = Array.new
+    @uspframe_id = Array.new
+    @uspfe_id = Array.new
+    @globals = Array.new
+
+    if xml_obj
+      # we actually have semantic information.
+      # read it.
+
+      super(xml_obj.name, xml_obj.attributes, sentence_id + "_sem", false)
+
+      globals_obj = frames_obj = usp_obj = nil
+
+      xml_obj.children_and_text.each { |obj|
+        case obj.name
+        when "globals"
+          globals_obj = obj
+        when "frames"
+          frames_obj = obj
+        when "usp"
+          usp_obj = obj
+        else
+          add_kith(obj)
+        end
+      }
+      
+      # handle globals
+      if globals_obj
+        globals_obj.children_and_text.each { |obj|
+          @globals << obj
+        }
+      end
+
+      # index frames
+      if frames_obj
+        frames_obj.children_and_text.each { |frame|
+          unless frame.name() == "frame"
+            warn_child_ignored("s/sem/frames/", frame)
+            next
+          end
+          
+          # make a node for the frame.
+          node = FrameNode.new(frame)
+          semnode_add_flags(node, frame)
+          @node[node.id] = node
+          @frame_id << node.id
+          # add FEs
+          frame_add_children(node, frame, id_to_node)
+        }
+      end
+
+      # index underspecification
+      if usp_obj
+        usp_obj.children_and_text.each { |uspframe_or_fe|
+          case uspframe_or_fe.name
+          when "uspframes"
+            initialize_usp(uspframe_or_fe, "frame")            
+          when "uspfes"
+            initialize_usp(uspframe_or_fe, "fe")            
+
+          else
+            warn_child_ignored("s/sem/usp/", uspframe_or_fe)
+          end
+        }
+      end
+
+    else
+      # we have no semantic information
+      # record it anyway
+
+      super("sem", {}, sentence_id + "_sem", false)
+    end
+  end
+  
+  ################################################3
+  # access methods
+
+  ###
+  def each_frame 
+    @frame_id.each { |node_id|
+      yield @node[node_id]
+    }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def frames
+    return @frame_id.map { |node_id| @node[node_id] }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def each_usp_frameblock
+    @uspframe_id.each { |node_id|
+      yield @node[node_id]
+    }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def usp_frameblocks()
+    return @uspframe_id.map { |node_id| @node[node_id] }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def each_usp_feblock
+    @uspfe_id.each { |node_id|
+      yield @node[node_id]
+    }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def usp_feblocks()
+    return @uspfe_id.map { |node_id| @node[node_id] }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def flags
+    return @globals.map { |xml_obj|
+      { "type" => xml_obj.attributes["type"],
+       "param" => xml_obj.attributes["param"],
+       "text" => xml_obj.children_and_text.map { |c| c.to_s }.join
+      }
+    }
+  end
+
+  ################################################3
+  # adding and removing things
+
+  ###
+  def add_frame(sentid,  # string: sentence ID
+                name,    # string: name of the frame
+                sem_id = nil) # string: ID for the new node
+
+    # make a node for the frame
+    if sem_id
+      frameid = sem_id
+    else
+      frameid = sentid + "_f" + Time.new().to_f.to_s
+    end
+    n = FrameNode.new(RegXML.new("<frame id=\"#{frameid}\" name=\"#{name}\"/>"))
+    @node[n.id] = n
+    @frame_id << n.id
+
+    return n
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def remove_frame(frame_node)
+    @node.delete(frame_node.id)
+    @frame_id.delete(frame_node.id)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def add_fe(frame_node, # FrameNode
+             fe_name,    # string: name of new FE
+             fe_children, # array:SynNode, children of new FE
+             sem_id = nil) # optional: ID of new FE
+
+
+    new_fe = frame_node.add_fe(fe_name, fe_children, sem_id)
+    @node[new_fe.id] = new_fe
+    return new_fe
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def remove_fe(fe_node)
+    @node.delete(fe_node.id)
+    fe_node.parent.remove_child(fe_node)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def add_usp(frame_or_fe)    # string: "frame" or "fe"
+
+    n = UspNode.new(RegXML.new("<uspblock/>"), frame_or_fe)
+    @node[n.id] = n
+    case frame_or_fe
+    when "frame"
+      @uspframe_id << n.id
+    when "fe"
+      @uspfe_id << n.id
+    else
+      raise "Shouldn't be here"
+    end
+
+    return n
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def remove_usp(usp_node)
+    usp_node.children.each { |child|
+      usp_node.remove_child(child)
+    }
+    @node.delete(usp_node.id)
+    case usp_node.i_am
+    when "frame"
+      @uspframe_id.delete(usp_node.id)
+    when "fe"
+      @uspfe_id.delete(usp_node.id)
+    else
+      raise "Shouldn't be here"
+    end
+  end
+
+
+  ###
+  def add_child(arg1, arg2)
+    raise "Not implemented for this class"
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def remove_child(arg1, arg2)
+    raise "Not implemented for this class"
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def add_flag(type, param=nil, text=nil)
+#    unless ["REEXAMINE", "WRONGSUBCORPUS", "INTERESTING", "LATER"].include? type
+#      raise "add_flag: unknown type "+type
+#    end
+
+    newglob = "<global type=\'#{xml_secure_val(type)}\'"
+    if param
+      newglob << " param=\'#{xml_secure_val(param)}\'"
+    end
+    if text
+      newglob << "> #{text} </global>"
+    else
+      newglob << "/>"
+    end
+
+    newglob = RegXML.new(newglob)
+    @globals << newglob
+    return newglob
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def remove_flag(type, param=nil, text=nil)
+    
+    remove_ix = nil
+    @globals.each_with_index { |glob,ix|
+      if glob.attributes("type") == type
+        if param.nil? or glob.attributes("param") == param
+          if text.nil? or glob.children_and_text.map { |c| c.to_s }.join == text
+            # found it
+            remove_ix = ix
+            break
+          end
+        end
+      end
+    }
+
+    if remove_ix
+     return  @globals.delete_at(remove_ix)
+    else
+      return nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  ############################3
+  protected
+
+  def get_xml_ofchildren()
+    string = ""
+
+    # globals
+    string << "<globals>\n"
+    @globals.each { |glob|
+      string << glob.to_s + "\n"
+    }
+    string << "</globals>\n"
+
+    # frames
+    string << "<frames>\n"
+    each_frame { |frame_node|
+      string << frame_node.get()
+    }
+    string << "</frames>\n"
+
+    # underspecification
+    string << "<usp>\n"
+    string << "<uspframes>\n"
+    each_usp_frameblock { |block|
+      string << block.get()
+    }
+    string << "</uspframes>\n"
+    string << "<uspfes>\n"
+    each_usp_feblock { |block|
+      string << block.get()
+    }
+    string << "</uspfes>\n"    
+    string << "</usp>\n"
+
+    return string
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def semnode_add_flags(sem_node,  # SemNode object
+                        xml_obj)   # RegXML object
+
+    xml_obj.children_and_text.each { |child|
+      if child.name == "flag"
+        # found a flag, record it
+        name = child.attributes["name"]
+        if name
+          sem_node.add_flag(name)
+        else
+          $stderr.puts "Warning: flag without a name"
+        end
+      end
+    }
+  end
+
+  def frame_add_children(frame_node, # FrameNode object
+                         xml_obj,    # RegXML object
+                         id_to_node) # hash: syn_node_id(string) -> SynNode object
+
+    xml_obj.children_and_text.each { |fe|
+      case fe.name
+      when "fe", "target"
+#        $stderr.puts "Da: #{fe.name}\n#{fe.to_s}"
+
+        # make a node for this,
+        # and add it as child of this frame node.
+        fe_node = FeNode.new(fe)
+        @node[fe_node.id] = fe_node
+        frame_node.add_child(fe_node)
+
+        semnode_add_flags(fe_node, fe)
+
+        # add the FE's children
+        fe.children_and_text.each { |fechild|
+          case fechild.name
+          when "fenode"
+
+            syn_node = id_to_node[SalsaTigerXmlNode.xmlel_id(fechild)]
+            if syn_node
+              # normal syntactic node, which the id_to_node mapping knows
+              fe_node.add_child(syn_node, fechild)
+              syn_node.add_sem(fe_node)
+
+            else
+              # must be a node in a different sentence
+              # make a dummy graph node for it
+              fe_node.add_child(TSSynNode.new(SalsaTigerXmlNode.xmlel_id(fechild)), fechild)
+            end
+
+          when "flag"
+            # nothing to do, we've handled that already
+          else
+            fe_node.add_kith(fechild)
+          end
+        }
+
+      when "flag"
+        # nothing to do, wee handled that already
+
+      else
+        # keep for output
+        frame_node.add_kith(fe)
+      end
+    }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def initialize_usp(xml_obj,      # RegXML object
+                     frame_or_fe)  # string: "frame" or "fe"
+
+    xml_obj.children_and_text.each { |uspblock|
+      unless uspblock.name == "uspblock"
+        warn_child_ignored("s/sem/usp/uspframe|uspfe", uspblock)
+        next
+      end
+
+      # node for this underspecified block
+      n = UspNode.new(uspblock, frame_or_fe)
+      @node[n.id] = n
+
+      case frame_or_fe
+      when "frame"
+        @uspframe_id << n.id
+      when  "fe"
+        @uspfe_id << n.id
+      else
+        raise "Shouldn't be here"
+      end
+
+      # add its children
+      uspblock.children_and_text.each { |uspitem|
+        unless uspitem.name == "uspitem"
+          warn_child_ignored("s/sem/usp/uspframe|uspfe/uspblock", uspitem)
+          next
+        end
+
+        usp_id = SalsaTigerXmlNode.xmlel_id(uspitem)
+	usp_id = usp_id.gsub(/.*_s/, "s") 
+	
+        unless @node[usp_id]
+          $stderr.puts "Error: Underspecification: could not find node with ID #{usp_id}. Skipping."
+          next
+        end
+        n.add_child(@node[usp_id])
+      }
+    }
+  end
+end
+
+
+#############
+# class SalsaTigerSentence
+# 
+# offers access methods to a SalsaTigerXML sentence
+# given as a string
+#
+# Nodes of syntactic structure as well as frames and
+# frame elements are kept (and returned) as XMLNode objects, 
+# or more specifically as SynNode, FrameNode and FeNode objects.
+#
+# methods:
+#
+# new      initializes the object
+#
+# id       returns the sentence ID
+# 
+# get      returns the REXML object describing the same sentence
+#          as this object
+#
+# each_terminal  yields each terminal of the sentence in turn.
+#          they are returned as SynNode objects
+#
+# terminals returns all terminal node objects in an array
+#
+# each_terminal_sorted  yields each terminal of the sentence in turn,
+#          making sure the terminal with the lowest ID is returned first.
+#          use this if you need the terminal words in the right order!
+#          nodes are returned as SynNode objects
+#
+# each_nonterminal yields each nonterminal of the sentence in turn.
+#           nodes are returned as SynNode objects
+#
+# each_frame yields each frame of the sentence in turn.
+#           nodes are returned as FrameNode objects
+#
+# frames returns all frame objects in an array
+#
+# each_usp_frameblock 
+#          yields each group of underspecified frames of the sentence
+#          in turn, as an UspNode object. To see the frames involved
+#          in this underspecification, use each_child on the UspNode object
+#
+#
+# usp_frameblocks  returns all groups of underspecified frames as an array
+#          of UspNode objects
+#
+# each_usp_feblock 
+#          yields each group of underspecified frame elements 
+#          of the sentence in turn, as an UspNode object. 
+#          To see the frames involved
+#          in this underspecification, use each_child on the UspNode object
+#
+# usp_feblocks  returns all groups of underspecified frame elements 
+#          as an array of UspNode objects
+#
+#
+# flags     returns a list of the sentence flags, as hashes.
+#           key "type": a string, either REEXAMINE or WRONGSUBCORPUS
+#                       or INTERESTING or LATER
+#           key "param": a string, the parameter. important for 
+#                        REEXAMINE
+#	    key "text": a string, the text of this flag. Will be
+#                       nonempty only for INTERESTING cases
+#
+# syn_roots returns a list of all the roots of the syntactic trees
+#           in this sentence, as node objects. There may be more than
+#           one, unfortunately.
+#
+# add_syn  add a new syntactic node with the given category, word, POS,
+#          returns the new node
+#
+# add_frame add a frame with a given name, returns the new frame node
+#
+# add_usp  add a new underspecification block, either for frames or FEs
+#
+# add_flag  adds a sentence flag to this sentence. 
+#   type: a string, must be REEXAMINE, INTERESTING, WRONGSUBCORPUS,
+#         or LATER
+#   param: optional parameter, a string, describes type of Reexamine
+#          for REEXAMINE-type flags
+#   text:  optional parameter, a string, arbitrary text commenting
+#          on the flag, used mainly with INTERESTING
+#
+# remove_flag removes a sentence flag to this sentence
+#          only removes flag in case of exact match of type, param, and text
+#   type: a string, either REEXAMINE, INTERESTING, WRONGSUBCORPUS,
+#         or LATER
+#   param: optional parameter, a string, describes type of Reexamine
+#          for REEXAMINE-type flags
+#   text:  optional parameter, a string, arbitrary text commenting
+#          on the flag, used mainly with INTERESTING
+
+class SalsaTigerSentence < XMLNode
+
+  def initialize(string)
+    # parse string as an XML element
+    xml_obj = RegXML.new(string)
+
+    # initialize this object as an XML node,
+    # i.e. remember the outermost element's name, attributes, 
+    # and ID, and specify that it's not a text but an XML object
+    super(xml_obj.name, xml_obj.attributes, SalsaTigerXmlNode.xmlel_id(xml_obj), false)
+
+    # find XML element "graph",
+    # which contains the syntactic info of the sentence.
+    # It is a child of the <s> element.
+    xml_syn_obj = xml_obj.children_and_text().detect { |thing|
+      thing.name == "graph"
+    }
+
+    unless xml_syn_obj
+      # no graph in this sentence -- fake one
+      xml_syn_obj = RegXML.new("<graph/>")
+    end
+
+    @syn = SalsaTigerSentenceGraph.new(xml_syn_obj, id)
+
+    # find XML element "sem"
+    # which contains the semantic info of the sentence.
+    # It is a child of the <s> element.
+    xml_sem_obj = xml_obj.children_and_text().detect { |thing|
+      thing.name == "sem"
+    }
+
+    unless xml_sem_obj
+      # no semantic info in this sentence -- fake one
+      xml_sem_obj = RegXML.new("<sem/>")
+    end
+
+    # add splitword info to @syn element
+    @syn.add_splitwords(SalsaTigerSentenceSem.get_splitwords(xml_sem_obj))
+      
+    @sem = SalsaTigerSentenceSem.new(xml_sem_obj, id, @syn.node)
+
+    # go through the children of the <s> object again,
+    # remembering all children except <graph> and <sem>
+    # for later output
+    xml_obj.children_and_text.each { |child_or_text|
+      case child_or_text.name
+      when "graph", "sem"
+        # we have handled them already
+      else
+        add_kith(child_or_text)
+      end
+    }
+
+  end
+
+  #############
+  def SalsaTigerSentence.empty_sentence(sentence_id)  # string
+    sentence_id = sentence_id.gsub(/'/, "&apos;")
+    sent_string = "<s id=\'#{sentence_id}\'>\n" +
+                  "<graph/>\n" + 
+                  "<sem/>\n" + 
+                  "</s>"       
+    return SalsaTigerSentence.new(sent_string)
+  end
+
+  #####
+
+
+  ###
+  def to_s
+    return @syn.to_s
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def each_terminal
+    @syn.each_terminal { |n| yield n }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def each_terminal_sorted
+    @syn.each_terminal_sorted { |n| yield n }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def terminals
+    return @syn.terminals()
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def terminals_sorted
+    return @syn.terminals_sorted()
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def each_nonterminal
+    @syn.each_nonterminal { |n| yield n }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def nonterminals
+    return @syn.nonterminals()
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def each_syn_node
+    @syn.each_node {  |n| 
+      yield n 
+    }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def syn_nodes
+    return @syn.nodes()
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def syn_roots
+    return @syn.syn_roots()
+  end
+  ###
+
+  ###
+  def syn_node_with_id(syn_id)
+    return @syn.node[syn_id]
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def sem_node_with_id(sem_id)
+    return @sem.node[sem_id]
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def each_frame 
+    @sem.each_frame { |f| yield f }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def frames
+    return @sem.frames
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def each_usp_frameblock
+    @sem.each_usp_frameblock { |b| yield b }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def usp_frameblocks()
+    return @sem.usp_frameblocks()
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def each_usp_feblock
+    @sem.each_usp_feblock { |b| yield b }
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def usp_feblocks()
+    return @sem.usp_feblocks()
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def flags
+    return @sem.flags()
+  end
+
+  ###################################
+  # adding and removing things
+
+  ###
+  # add syntactic node, specified as terminal(t) or nonterminal(nt)
+  # 
+  # returns the new node
+  def add_syn(label,     # string: t or nt
+              cat = nil, # string: category
+              word = nil,# string: word
+              pos = nil, # string: part of speech
+              syn_id = nil)  # string: ID for the new node
+    return @syn.add_node(id(), label, cat, word, pos, syn_id)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def remove_syn(node)
+    @syn.remove_node(node)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def add_frame(name,    # string: name of the frame
+                sem_id = nil) # string: ID for the new node
+    return @sem.add_frame(id(), name, sem_id)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def remove_frame(frame_node) # FrameNode object
+    @sem.remove_frame(frame_node)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def add_fe(frame_obj,
+             name,
+             fe_children,
+             sem_id = nil)
+    return @sem.add_fe(frame_obj, name, fe_children, sem_id)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def remove_fe(fe_node)
+    @sem.remove_fe(fe_node)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def add_usp(frame_or_fe)
+    return @sem.add_usp(frame_or_fe)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def remove_usp(usp_node) # UspNode object
+    @sem.remove_usp(usp_node)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def add_flag(type, param=nil, text=nil)
+    @sem.add_flag(type, param, text)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def remove_flag(type, param=nil, text=nil)
+    @sem.remove_flag(type, param, text)
+  end
+
+  ###
+  def remove_semantics()
+    empty_sem = RegXML.new("<sem/>")
+    @sem = SalsaTigerSentenceSem.new(empty_sem, id(), @syn.node)
+  end
+
+  #################33
+  # output
+  def get_syn()
+    return @syn.get()
+  end
+
+  ############################3
+  protected
+
+  def get_xml_ofchildren()
+    return @syn.get() + @sem.get()
+  end
+end
+
+#######
+# identify the set of maximal constituents covering a set of nodes
+#
+module MaxConst
+
+  # returns: array:SynNode, list of maximal constituents covering
+  # the input nodes
+  def max_constituents_for_nodes(node_list, # array: SynNode
+                                 ignore_empty_terminals = false) # boolean: ignore empty terminals?
+
+    # sort node IDs into splitwords and rest,
+    # and filter out punctuation marks
+    #
+    # 'words' is an array of node IDs that are not splitwords
+    # 'splitwords' is an array of fenodes that refer to splitwords
+    words = Array.new
+    splitwords = Array.new
+    
+    node_list.each { |node|
+      if node.is_splitword?
+        splitwords << node
+      else
+        words.concat node.yield_nodes().reject { |t| t.is_punct? }
+      end
+    }
+
+    # check all nodes from root down:
+    # 'constituents', 'nodes_to_check' are arrays of node IDs
+    # 'constituents' contains found constituents,
+    # 'nodes_to_check' contains nodes for which we still need constituents
+    
+    constituents = Array.new
+    nodes_to_check = syn_roots() # (there may be more than one) 
+    # this accesses the syn_roots() method of SalsaTigerSentence
+    
+    while(true)
+      node = nodes_to_check.shift()
+      # have we checked all nodes already? or are we done with all words? then stop.
+      if node.nil?
+	constituents.concat words
+	words = []
+	break
+      end
+      if words.empty?
+	break
+      end
+      
+      # only match nonempty non-punctuation nodes
+
+      node_yield = node.yield_nodes.reject {|n| n.is_punct? }
+      if ignore_empty_terminals
+        node_yield = node_yield.reject { |n| n.is_terminal? and (n.word.nil? or n.word.empty?) }
+      end
+      if node_yield.empty?
+        # this node has no yield, or only punctuation sign yield.
+        # skip it.
+        next
+      end
+      
+      rest = node_yield - words
+      if rest.size == 0
+        # whole yield of node consists of words from this FE
+	constituents << node
+	words = words - node_yield
+	
+      elsif rest.size < node_yield.size
+	# at least some of the words in FE appear below this node:
+	# check this node's children too
+	node.children.each{ |child| nodes_to_check << child }
+      end
+    end
+    
+    constituents.concat(splitwords) #splitwords stay what they are
+    constituents.concat(words) # any leftover words that may not be from that sentence?
+    # just keep them.    
+
+    return constituents
+  end
+
+  ###
+  # determine maximum constituents covering the nodes in node_list
+  # punctuation terminals (and optionally empty terminals) are ignored.
+  #
+  # If include_single_missing_children is set to true,
+  # then a node that has at least one child whose yield is in nodelist,
+  #   and has only one child whose yield is not in nodelist,
+  #   will be considered as having its yield in nodelist.
+  #
+  # Optionally, a procedure accept_anyway_proc can be given.
+  # Like the option include_single_missing_children, it can lead to nodes being
+  # included in the list of nodes whose yield nodes are all also yield nodes of node_list (NYNAAYNN)
+  # even though not all of their yield nodes are yield nodes of the node_list.
+  # accept_anyway_proc can implement arbitrary rules for including nodes in NYAAYNN.
+  # The procedure is called with three arguments:
+  #   accept_anyway_proc(node, ch_in, ch_out)
+  # node is a SynNode that would not normally be in NYAAYNN.
+  # ch_in is the list of its children that are in NYAAYNN.
+  # ch_out is the list of its children that are not.
+  # If the procedure exists and returns true, node is put into NYAAYNN.
+  #
+  # returns: an array of SynNodes: the maximal constituents that together
+  #    exactly cover node_list
+  def max_constituents_smc(node_list, # array: SynNode
+                           include_single_missing_children, # boolean
+                           ignore_empty_terminals = false, # boolean: ignore empty terminals?
+                           accept_anyway_proc = nil) # proc: SynNode, array:SynNode, array:SynNode => boolean
+
+    # sort node IDs into splitwords and rest,
+    # and filter out punctuation marks
+    #
+    # 'words' is an array of node IDs that are not splitwords
+    # 'splitwords' is an array of fenodes that refer to splitwords
+    words = Array.new
+    splitwords = Array.new
+    
+    node_list.each { |node|
+      if node.is_splitword?
+        splitwords << node
+      else
+        words.concat node.yield_nodes().reject { |t| t.is_punct? }
+      end
+    }
+
+    constituents = splitwords
+
+    syn_roots().each { |node|
+      node_included, descendants_included = max_constituents_aux(node, words, 
+                                                                 include_single_missing_children, 
+                                                                 ignore_empty_terminals,
+                                                                 accept_anyway_proc)
+
+      if node_included == "true"
+        constituents << node
+      else
+        constituents.concat descendants_included
+      end
+    }
+    # which words remain to be added?
+    constituents.each { |c| words = words - c.yield_nodes() }
+    constituents.concat words
+
+    return constituents
+  end
+  
+  ##########33
+  private
+  
+  ###
+  # recursively determine maximum constituents covering the nodes in 'nodelist',
+  # starting at 'node'.
+  # punctuation terminals (and optionally empty terminals) are ignored.
+  #
+  # If include_single_missing_children is set to true,
+  # then a node that has at least one child whose yield is in nodelist,
+  #   and has only one child whose yield is not in nodelist,
+  #   will be considered as having its yield in nodelist.
+  #
+  # If accept_anyway_proc is nonnil, also use that to decide whether
+  # a node will be considered as having its yield in nodelist.
+  #
+  # returns: pair [mybool, included_descendants]
+  #  where mybool is a string, "true", "false" or "ignoreme" (for ignored 
+  #          punctuation and empty terminals):
+  #          does the yield of this node consist entirely of nodes from nodelist?
+  #  and included_descendants is a list of SynNodes: if mybool is "false", 
+  #          this is a list of descendants of this node whose yield does consist
+  #          entirely of nodes from nodelist
+  def max_constituents_aux(node,    # SynNode
+                           nodelist, # array:SynNode
+                           include_single_missing_children = false, # boolean
+                           ignore_empty_terminals = false, # boolean: ignore empty terminals?
+                           accept_anyway_proc = nil) # proc: SynNode, array:SynNode, array:SynNode => Boolean
+
+
+    
+    if node.is_terminal? and nodelist.include? node
+      # node is terminal and included in nodelist
+      return ["true", []]
+    elsif node.is_punct?
+      # punctuation: ignore
+      return ["ignoreme", []]
+    elsif ignore_empty_terminals and node.is_terminal? and
+        (node.word.nil? or node.word.empty?)
+      # empty terminal: possibly ignore
+      return ["ignoreme", []]
+    elsif node.is_terminal?
+      # terminal, but not included in nodelist
+      return ["false", []]
+    end
+    
+    children_results = node.children.map { |ch|
+      fully_included, descendants_included = max_constituents_aux(ch, nodelist, 
+                                                                  include_single_missing_children, 
+                                                                  ignore_empty_terminals,
+                                                                  accept_anyway_proc)
+      [ch, fully_included, descendants_included]
+    }
+    
+    res_false = children_results.select { |ch, fully_included, descendants_included| 
+      fully_included == "false" 
+    }
+    res_true  = children_results.select { |ch, fully_included, descendants_included| 
+      fully_included == "true"
+    }
+
+    if res_false.empty? and res_true.length() > 0
+      # all true, or all true and ignoreme
+      return ["true", []]
+
+    elsif res_false.empty? and res_true.empty? 
+      # all ignoreme
+      return ["ignoreme", []]
+
+    elsif res_false.length() == 1 and res_true.length() > 1 and
+        include_single_missing_children
+      # one child not covered,
+      # resulting in all other children (except the ignoremes) being marked individually:
+      # consider the single missing child as covered, too
+      
+      return ["true", []]
+
+    elsif accept_anyway_proc and 
+        accept_anyway_proc.call(node, res_true.map { |ch, bool1, bool2| ch }, res_false.map { |ch, bool1, bool2| ch })
+      # some external source tells us that
+      # we are to consider the missing children as covered, too
+      return ["true", []]
+
+    else
+      # not all children covered
+      return [
+        "false",
+        children_results.map { |ch, fully_included, descendants_included|
+          if fully_included == "true"
+            [ch]
+          else
+            descendants_included
+          end
+        }.flatten
+      ]
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+module ConvexComp
+  
+  def convex_complemented(node_set)
+
+    terminals = terminals_sorted()
+
+    yield_nodes = node_set.map {|node| node.yield_nodes_ordered}.flatten
+    leftmost =  yield_nodes.map {|t| terminals.index(t)}.min
+    rightmost = yield_nodes.map {|t| terminals.index(t)}.max
+    if leftmost.nil? or rightmost.nil?
+      STDERR.puts "Warning: could not complement projected node set #{yield_nodes.map {|t| t.id}}; terminals not found in sorted set of sentence terminals!?"
+      return node_set
+    else
+      STDERR.puts "Replacing "+yield_nodes.join(" ")
+      new_node_set = terminals[leftmost..rightmost]
+      STDERR.puts "By        "+new_node_set.join(" ")
+      return max_constituents_for_nodes(new_node_set)
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+class SalsaTigerSentence
+  include MaxConst
+  include ConvexComp
+end