How to install and use Antlr4 from command line

Install the NuGet package manager. To use it from the command line you have just to download an exe file and puth in under your PATH. At that point you can run:

nuget install Antlr4 -Pre -OutputDirectory <WhereToInstallIt>

The command will download the Antlr4 tool and the Runtime package. If you do not use the -OutputDirectory option, it will install it under the current directory. This step we create two directories:

• Antlr4.4.1.0-alpha003
• Antlr4.Runtime.4.1.0-alpha003

Warning: The C# target of ANTLR 4 is not intended for direct command line use.

Using this target from the command line instead of integrating it into the build sacrifices the both the reliability and maintainability of the project. It also reduces the efficiency of the even the early development process. Command line use is not recommended for any purpose, including but not limited to experimentation and product development.

To use the antlr4 tool from the command line you can proceed as suggest in (http://www.antlr.org/wiki/display/ANTLR4/Getting+Started+with+ANTLR+v4). Create a file named Antlr4.bat:

% Add Java to your PATH, if it is not already there
SET CLASSPATH=.;C:\<PATH-TO->\antlr4-csharp-4.1-SNAPSHOT-complete.jar;%CLASSPATH%
java org.antlr.v4.Tool %* -Dlanguage=CSharp_v4_5

Now you can generate the C# for your grammer (Lexer, Parser and other goodies) simply running:

antlr4 <your-grammar.g4>