Order in fact matters in all of the .tdl files, but in different ways:

• In labels.tdl, order matters because the LKB will use the first label whose constraints match the node to be labeled, even if there is a more specific label further down the file that also matches. Therefore, if you have two labels which are consistent with each other, unless you put the more specific one first, it will never get used.

• In all of the .tdl files (including labels.tdl), order matters in that if you define two types or entries with the same identifier (string before the :=), the second will overwrite the first. The LKB will print a warning when this happens.

• Type addendum statements (:+) are valid only if they follow the initial type definition statement (:=) for the type in question.

• For the same reasons, order matters across files. If you define a type with the identifier foo in two or more different files, only the definition from the file loaded last (per lkb/script) will be retained.

• How do I see what definition the LKB has read in for a type?

• How do I look at fully specified lexical entries or rules?

Back to the Grammar Engineering FAQ.