I originally set out to find a tool that will take a string "b = [(w * h) / 3600] ^ (1/2)" and allow java to do a string substitution to throw values in there, and then throw it at a parser to evaluate the statement.

A friend told me to go find antlr, as that would be the best solution. I have to say I am new to this and it is getting a little more clear.

I found in the examples the exprAST to take the formula and print it out in RPN, at the same time putting it into a binary tree. The problem is that it doesn't support exponentiation, or calculation.

Then I saw the calc example, and it works great except it only does addition and multiplication. Before I go re-invent the wheel (i.e. learn how to make my own grammer file?) has someone accomplished the task of evaluating a string representation of a formula in Java yet? Or developed a grammer file to do it?

Thanks for your help, and any advice.

--Brett