git-svn-id: https://mosesdecoder.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/mosesdecoder/branches/DPR_MOSES@3163 1f5c12ca-751b-0410-a591-d2e778427230

13 files changed, 931 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/reranking/data/README b/reranking/data/README
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..59b20b32d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reranking/data/README
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+
+sample usage:
+
+../src/nbest -input-file nbest.small -output-file nbest.1best 1 -sort -weights weights
+
diff --git a/reranking/data/nbest.small b/reranking/data/nbest.small
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0fcbc44ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reranking/data/nbest.small
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+0 ||| Once a major milestone in the Balkans  ||| d: 0 -0.608213 0 0 -0.512647 0 0 lm: -35.7187 tm: -3.97053 -17.5137 -3.24082 -15.8638 2.99969 w: -7 ||| -3.92049
+0 ||| Once a crucial period in the Balkans  ||| d: 0 -0.944329 0 0 -1.06468 0 0 lm: -37.5341 tm: -4.27619 -19.441 -3.81074 -14.767 3.99959 w: -7 ||| -4.00353
+1 ||| Since the world is focused on Iraq , North Korea and a possible crisis with Iran on nuclear weapons , Kosovo is somewhat unnoticed .  ||| d: -6 -5.80589 -0.65383 -1.29291 -6.19413 -0.0861354 -0.993748 lm: -112.868 tm: -42.7841 -61.6487 -16.5351 -23.8061 21.9977 w: -25 ||| -13.0796
+2 ||| The public will soon turn its attention back to that province during a decision regarding his fate .  ||| d: -8 -4.61691 0 -3.62979 -4.85916 0 -4.43407 lm: -81.3478 tm: -46.0407 -63.79 -23.7663 -25.175 14.9984 w: -18 ||| -12.1226
+2 ||| The public will soon be able to turn its attention back into this province during a decision on his fate .  ||| d: -8 -5.53064 0 -3.51999 -3.26708 0 -4.44003 lm: -84.7939 tm: -36.2621 -66.32 -21.0804 -33.9136 13.9985 w: -21 ||| -12.1227
+2 ||| The public will soon turn his attention to them at a decision on his destiny .  ||| d: -8 -5.3448 0 -2.65118 -4.35949 0 -3.95447 lm: -67.451 tm: -54.851 -89.0503 -17.9389 -22.9488 12.9986 w: -16 ||| -12.1234
+2 ||| The public will soon turn his attention to them at a decision on his destiny .  ||| d: -8 -5.3448 0 -2.65118 -4.35949 0 -3.95447 lm: -67.451 tm: -54.851 -89.0503 -17.9389 -22.9488 12.9986 w: -16 ||| -12.1234
diff --git a/reranking/data/weights b/reranking/data/weights
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c6b6c1ac0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reranking/data/weights
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+0
+1 2 3
+4
+5
+6
+7
+8
+9
+10
+11
+12 13
diff --git a/reranking/src/Hypo.cpp b/reranking/src/Hypo.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..78019cf7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reranking/src/Hypo.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/*
+ *  nbest: tool to process moses n-best lists
+ *
+ *  File: Hypo.cpp
+ *        basic functions to process one hypothesis
+ *
+ *  Created by Holger Schwenk, University of Le Mans, 05/16/2008
+ *
+ */
+
+
+#include "Hypo.h"
+#include <iostream>
+
+//const char* NBEST_DELIM = "|||";
+
+Hypo::Hypo()
+{
+  //cerr << "Hypo: constructor called" << endl;
+}
+
+Hypo::~Hypo()
+{
+  //cerr << "Hypo: destructor called" << endl;
+}
+
+void Hypo::Write(ofstream &outf)
+{
+  outf << id << NBEST_DELIM2 << trg << NBEST_DELIM2;
+  for (vector<float>::iterator i = f.begin(); i != f.end(); i++)
+    outf << (*i) << " ";
+  outf << NBEST_DELIM << " " << s << endl;
+
+}
+
+float Hypo::CalcGlobal(Weights &w)
+{
+  //cerr << " HYP: calc global" << endl;
+  int sz=w.val.size();
+  if (sz<f.size()) {
+    cerr << " - NOTE: padding weight vector with " << f.size()-sz << " zeros" << endl;
+    w.val.resize(f.size());
+  }
+
+  s=0;
+  for (int i=0; i<f.size(); i++) {
+    //cerr << "i=" << i << ", " << w.val[i] << ", " << f[i] << endl;
+    s+=w.val[i]*f[i];
+  }
+  //cerr << "s=" << s << endl;
+  return s;
+}
+
+// this is actually a "greater than" since we want to sort in descending order
+bool Hypo::operator< (const Hypo &h2) const {
+  return (this->s > h2.s);
+}
+
diff --git a/reranking/src/Hypo.h b/reranking/src/Hypo.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9d024caa4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reranking/src/Hypo.h
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+/*
+ *  nbest: tool to process moses n-best lists
+ *
+ *  File: Hypo.h
+ *        basic functions to process one hypothesis
+ *
+ *  Created by Holger Schwenk, University of Le Mans, 05/16/2008
+ *
+ */
+
+
+#ifndef _HYPO_H_
+#define _HYPO_H_
+
+using namespace std;
+
+#include <iostream>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <string>
+#include <vector>
+
+#include "Tools.h"
+
+#define NBEST_DELIM "|||"
+#define NBEST_DELIM2 " ||| "
+
+class Hypo {
+  int id;
+  string trg;  // translation
+  vector<float> f;  // feature function scores
+  float	s;  // global score
+  // segmentation
+public:
+  Hypo();
+  Hypo(int p_id,string &p_trg, vector<float> &p_f, float p_s) : id(p_id),trg(p_trg),f(p_f),s(p_s) {};
+  ~Hypo();
+  float CalcGlobal(Weights&);
+  void Write(ofstream&);
+  bool operator< (const Hypo&) const;
+  // bool CompareLikelihoods (const Hypo&, const Hypo&) const;
+};
+
+#endif
diff --git a/reranking/src/Main.cpp b/reranking/src/Main.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..170de0980
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reranking/src/Main.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+/*
+ *  nbest: tool to process moses n-best lists
+ *
+ *  File: Main.cpp
+ *        command line interface
+ *
+ *  Created by Holger Schwenk, University of Le Mans, 05/16/2008
+ *
+ */
+
+#include <iostream>
+#include <fstream>
+#include "ParameterNBest.h"
+#include "NBest.h"
+#include "Tools.h"
+
+#include "Util.h" // from Moses
+
+
+using namespace std;
+
+int main (int argc, char *argv[]) {
+    // parse parameters
+  ParameterNBest *parameter = new ParameterNBest();
+  if (!parameter->LoadParam(argc, argv))
+  {
+          parameter->Explain();
+          delete parameter;
+          return 1;
+  }
+
+    // read input
+  ifstream inpf; 
+  PARAM_VEC p=parameter->GetParam("input-file");
+  if (p.size()<1 || p.size()>2) Error("The option -input-file requires one or two arguments");
+  int in_n=p.size()>1 ? Scan<int>(p[1]) : 0;
+  cout << "NBest version 0.1, written by Holger.Schwenk@lium.univ-lemans.fr" << endl
+       << " - reading input from file '" << p[0] << "'";
+  if (in_n>0) cout << " (limited to the first " << in_n << " hypothesis)";
+  cout << endl;
+  inpf.open(p[0].c_str());
+  if (inpf.fail()) { perror ("ERROR"); exit(1); }
+
+    // open output
+  ofstream outf;
+  p=parameter->GetParam("output-file");
+  if (p.size()<1 || p.size()>2) Error("The option -output-file requires one or two arguments");
+  int out_n=p.size()>1 ? Scan<int>(p[1]) : 0;
+  cout << " - writing output to file '" << p[0] << "'";
+  if (out_n>0) cout << " (limited to the first " << out_n << " hypothesis)";
+  cout << endl;
+  outf.open(p[0].c_str());
+  if (outf.fail()) { perror ("ERROR"); exit(1); }
+
+    // eventually read weights
+  Weights w;
+  int do_calc=false;
+  if (parameter->isParamSpecified("weights")) {
+    p=parameter->GetParam("weights");
+    if (p.size()<1) Error("The option -weights requires one argument");
+    cout << " - reading weights from file '" << p[0] << "'";
+    int n=w.Read(p[0].c_str());
+    cout << " (found " << n << " values)" << endl;
+    do_calc=true;
+    cout << " - recalculating global scores" << endl;
+  }
+
+    // shall we sort ?
+  bool do_sort = parameter->isParamSpecified("sort");
+  if (do_sort) cout << " - sorting global scores" << endl;
+
+   // main loop
+  int nb_sent=0, nb_nbest=0;
+  while (!inpf.eof()) {
+    NBest nbest(inpf, in_n);
+
+    if (do_calc) nbest.CalcGlobal(w);
+    if (do_sort) nbest.Sort();
+    nbest.Write(outf, out_n);
+
+    nb_sent++;
+    nb_nbest+=nbest.NbNBest();
+  }
+  inpf.close();
+  outf.close();
+
+    // display final statistics
+  cout << " - processed " << nb_nbest << " n-best hypotheses in " << nb_sent << " sentences"
+       << " (average " << (float) nb_nbest/nb_sent << ")" << endl;
+
+  return 0;
+}
diff --git a/reranking/src/Makefile b/reranking/src/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7b0ec6945
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reranking/src/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+
+# where to find include files and libraries from Moses
+MOSES_INC=../../moses/src
+LIB_DIR=../../moses/src/
+
+LIBS=-lmoses -lz
+OBJS=Main.o NBest.o Hypo.o Tools.o ParameterNBest.o
+
+CFLAGS=-I$(MOSES_INC)
+
+nbest-tool: $(OBJS)
+	$(CXX) -o nbest $(OBJS) -L$(LIB_DIR) $(LIBS)
+
+%.o: %.cpp
+	$(CXX) $(CFLAGS) -o $@ -c $<
+
+clean:
+	-rm $(OBJS) nbest
diff --git a/reranking/src/NBest.cpp b/reranking/src/NBest.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5ef119abe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reranking/src/NBest.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+/*
+ *  nbest: tool to process moses n-best lists
+ *
+ *  File: NBest.cpp
+ *        basic functions on n-best lists
+ *
+ *  Created by Holger Schwenk, University of Le Mans, 05/16/2008
+ *
+ */
+
+
+#include "NBest.h"
+
+#include "Util.h"  // from Moses
+
+#include <sstream>
+#include <algorithm>
+
+//NBest::NBest() {
+  //cerr << "NBEST: constructor called" << endl;
+//}
+
+
+bool NBest::ParseLine(ifstream &inpf, const int n) {
+  static string line; // used internally to buffer an input line
+  static int prev_id=-1; // used to detect a change of the n-best ID
+  int id;
+  vector<float> f;
+  float s;
+  int pos=0, epos;
+  vector<string> blocks;
+
+
+  if (line.empty()) {
+    getline(inpf,line);
+    if (inpf.eof()) return false;
+  }
+
+    // split line into blocks
+  //cerr << "PARSE line: " << line << endl;
+  while ((epos=line.find(NBEST_DELIM,pos))!=string::npos) {
+    blocks.push_back(line.substr(pos,epos-pos));
+    // cerr << " block: " << blocks.back() << endl;
+    pos=epos+strlen(NBEST_DELIM);
+  }
+  blocks.push_back(line.substr(pos,line.size()));
+  // cerr << " block: " << blocks.back() << endl;
+
+  if (blocks.size()<4) {
+    cerr << line << endl;
+    Error("can't parse the above line");
+  }
+
+    // parse ID
+  id=Scan<int>(blocks[0]);
+  if (prev_id>=0 && id!=prev_id) {prev_id=id; return false;} // new nbest list has started
+  prev_id=id;
+  //cerr << "same ID " << id << endl;
+
+  if (n>0 && nbest.size() >= n) {
+    //cerr << "skipped" << endl;
+    line.clear();
+    return true; // skip parsing of unused hypos
+  }
+
+    // parse feature function scores
+  //cerr << "PARSE features: '" << blocks[2] << "' size: " << blocks[2].size() << endl;
+  pos=blocks[2].find_first_not_of(' ');
+  while (pos<blocks[2].size() && (epos=blocks[2].find(" ",pos))!=string::npos) {
+    string feat=blocks[2].substr(pos,epos-pos);
+    //cerr << " feat: '" << feat << "', pos: " << pos << ", " << epos << endl;
+    if (feat.find(":",0)!=string::npos) {
+      //cerr << "  name: " << feat << endl;
+    }
+    else { 
+      f.push_back(Scan<float>(feat));
+      //cerr << "  value: " << f.back() << endl;
+    }
+    pos=epos+1;
+  }
+
+    // eventually parse segmentation
+  if (blocks.size()>4) {
+    Error("parsing segmentation not yet supported");
+  }
+
+  nbest.push_back(Hypo(id, blocks[1], f, Scan<float>(blocks[3])));
+
+  line.clear(); // force read of new line
+
+  return true;
+}
+
+
+NBest::NBest(ifstream &inpf, const int n) {
+  //cerr << "NBEST: constructor with file called" << endl;
+  while (ParseLine(inpf,n));
+  //cerr << "NBEST: found " << nbest.size() << " lines" << endl;
+}
+
+
+NBest::~NBest() {
+  //cerr << "NBEST: destructor called" << endl;
+}
+
+void NBest::Write(ofstream &outf, int n)
+{
+  if (n<1 || n>nbest.size()) n=nbest.size();
+  for (int i=0; i<n; i++) nbest[i].Write(outf);
+}
+
+
+float NBest::CalcGlobal(Weights &w)
+{
+  //cerr << "NBEST: calc global of size " << nbest.size() << endl;
+  for (vector<Hypo>::iterator i = nbest.begin(); i != nbest.end(); i++) {
+    (*i).CalcGlobal(w);
+  }
+}
+
+
+void NBest::Sort() {
+  sort(nbest.begin(),nbest.end());
+}
+
diff --git a/reranking/src/NBest.h b/reranking/src/NBest.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..24c29f69b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reranking/src/NBest.h
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/*
+ *  nbest: tool to process moses n-best lists
+ *
+ *  File: NBest.h
+ *        basic functions on n-best lists
+ *
+ *  Created by Holger Schwenk, University of Le Mans, 05/16/2008
+ *
+ */
+
+
+#ifndef _NBEST_H_
+#define _NBEST_H_
+
+using namespace std;
+
+#include <iostream>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <string>
+#include <vector>
+
+#include "Tools.h"
+#include "Hypo.h"
+
+class NBest {
+  int 		   id;
+  string           src;
+  vector<Hypo> nbest;
+  bool ParseLine(ifstream &inpf, const int n);
+ public:
+  NBest(ifstream&, const int=0);
+  ~NBest();
+  int NbNBest() {return nbest.size(); };
+  float CalcGlobal(Weights&);
+  void Sort(); // largest values first
+  void Write(ofstream&, int=0);
+};
+
+void Error(char *msg);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/reranking/src/ParameterNBest.cpp b/reranking/src/ParameterNBest.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9ed3bff8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reranking/src/ParameterNBest.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,355 @@
+// $Id: $
+
+/***********************************************************************
+nbest - tool to process Moses n-best list
+Copyright (C) 2008 Holger Schwenk, University of Le Mans, France
+
+This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+
+This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+Lesser General Public License for more details.
+
+You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+***********************************************************************/
+
+#include <iostream>
+#include <iterator>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <sstream>
+#include <algorithm>
+#include "ParameterNBest.h"
+#include "Tools.h"
+
+#include "Util.h" // from Moses
+#include "InputFileStream.h"
+#include "UserMessage.h"
+
+using namespace std;
+
+/** define allowed parameters */
+ParameterNBest::ParameterNBest() 
+{
+  AddParam("input-file", "i", "file name of the input n-best list");
+  AddParam("output-file", "o", "file name of the output n-best list");
+  AddParam("recalc", "r", "recalc global scores");
+  AddParam("weights", "w", "coefficients of the feature functions");
+  AddParam("sort", "s", "sort n-best list according to the global scores");
+  AddParam("lexical", "l", "report number of lexically different hypothesis");
+}
+
+ParameterNBest::~ParameterNBest()
+{
+}
+
+/** initialize a parameter, sub of constructor */
+void ParameterNBest::AddParam(const string &paramName, const string &description)
+{
+	m_valid[paramName] = true;
+	m_description[paramName] = description;
+}
+
+/** initialize a parameter (including abbreviation), sub of constructor */
+void ParameterNBest::AddParam(const string &paramName, const string &abbrevName, const string &description)
+{
+	m_valid[paramName] = true;
+	m_valid[abbrevName] = true;
+	m_abbreviation[paramName] = abbrevName;
+	m_description[paramName] = description;
+}
+
+/** print descriptions of all parameters */
+void ParameterNBest::Explain() {
+	cerr << "Usage:" << endl;
+	for(PARAM_STRING::const_iterator iterParam = m_description.begin(); iterParam != m_description.end(); iterParam++) 
+	{
+		const string paramName = iterParam->first;
+		const string paramDescription = iterParam->second;
+		cerr <<  "\t-" << paramName;
+		PARAM_STRING::const_iterator iterAbbr = m_abbreviation.find( paramName );
+		if ( iterAbbr != m_abbreviation.end() )
+			cerr <<  " (" << iterAbbr->second << ")";
+		cerr <<  ": " << paramDescription << endl;
+	}
+}
+
+/** check whether an item on the command line is a switch or a value 
+ * \param token token on the command line to checked **/
+
+bool ParameterNBest::isOption(const char* token) {
+  if (! token) return false;
+  std::string tokenString(token);
+  size_t length = tokenString.size();
+  if (length > 0 && tokenString.substr(0,1) != "-") return false;
+  if (length > 1 && tokenString.substr(1,1).find_first_not_of("0123456789") == 0) return true;
+  return false;
+}
+
+/** load all parameters from the configuration file and the command line switches */
+bool ParameterNBest::LoadParam(const string &filePath)
+{
+	const char *argv[] = {"executable", "-f", filePath.c_str() };
+	return LoadParam(3, (char**) argv);
+}
+
+/** load all parameters from the configuration file and the command line switches */
+bool ParameterNBest::LoadParam(int argc, char* argv[]) 
+{
+	// config file (-f) arg mandatory
+	string configPath;
+/*
+	if ( (configPath = FindParam("-f", argc, argv)) == "" 
+		&& (configPath = FindParam("-config", argc, argv)) == "")
+	{
+		PrintCredit();
+
+		UserMessage::Add("No configuration file was specified.  Use -config or -f");
+		return false;
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		if (!ReadConfigFile(configPath))
+		{
+			UserMessage::Add("Could not read "+configPath);
+			return false;
+		}
+	}
+*/
+	
+	// overwrite parameters with values from switches
+	for(PARAM_STRING::const_iterator iterParam = m_description.begin(); iterParam != m_description.end(); iterParam++) 
+	{
+		const string paramName = iterParam->first;
+		OverwriteParam("-" + paramName, paramName, argc, argv);
+	}
+
+	// ... also shortcuts
+	for(PARAM_STRING::const_iterator iterParam = m_abbreviation.begin(); iterParam != m_abbreviation.end(); iterParam++) 
+	{
+		const string paramName = iterParam->first;
+		const string paramShortName = iterParam->second;
+		OverwriteParam("-" + paramShortName, paramName, argc, argv);
+	}
+
+	// logging of parameters that were set in either config or switch
+	int verbose = 1;
+	if (m_setting.find("verbose") != m_setting.end() &&
+	    m_setting["verbose"].size() > 0)
+	  verbose = Scan<int>(m_setting["verbose"][0]);
+	if (verbose >= 1) { // only if verbose
+	  TRACE_ERR( "Defined parameters (per moses.ini or switch):" << endl);
+	  for(PARAM_MAP::const_iterator iterParam = m_setting.begin() ; iterParam != m_setting.end(); iterParam++) {
+	    TRACE_ERR( "\t" << iterParam->first << ": ");
+	    for ( size_t i = 0; i < iterParam->second.size(); i++ )
+	      TRACE_ERR( iterParam->second[i] << " ");
+	    TRACE_ERR( endl);
+	  }
+	}
+
+	// check for illegal parameters
+	bool noErrorFlag = true;
+	for (int i = 0 ; i < argc ; i++)
+	{
+		if (isOption(argv[i]))
+			{
+				string paramSwitch = (string) argv[i];				
+				string paramName = paramSwitch.substr(1);
+				if (m_valid.find(paramName) == m_valid.end()) 
+					{
+						UserMessage::Add("illegal switch: " + paramSwitch);
+						noErrorFlag = false;
+					}
+			}
+	}
+
+  // check if parameters make sense
+	return Validate() && noErrorFlag;
+}
+
+/** check that parameter settings make sense */
+bool ParameterNBest::Validate() 
+{
+	bool noErrorFlag = true;
+
+  // required parameters
+	if (m_setting["input-file"].size() == 0) {
+		UserMessage::Add("No input-file");
+		noErrorFlag = false;
+	}
+
+	if (m_setting["output-file"].size() == 0) {
+		UserMessage::Add("No output-file");
+		noErrorFlag = false;
+	}
+
+	if (m_setting["recalc"].size() > 0 && m_setting["weights"].size()==0) {
+		UserMessage::Add("you need to spezify weight when recalculating global scores");
+		noErrorFlag = false;
+	}
+
+
+	return noErrorFlag;
+}
+
+/** check whether a file exists */
+bool ParameterNBest::FilesExist(const string &paramName, size_t tokenizeIndex,std::vector<std::string> const& extensions)
+{
+	typedef std::vector<std::string> StringVec;
+	StringVec::const_iterator iter;
+
+	PARAM_MAP::const_iterator iterParam = m_setting.find(paramName);
+	if (iterParam == m_setting.end())
+	{ // no param. therefore nothing to check
+		return true;
+	}
+	const StringVec &pathVec = (*iterParam).second;
+	for (iter = pathVec.begin() ; iter != pathVec.end() ; ++iter)
+	{
+		StringVec vec = Tokenize(*iter);
+		if (tokenizeIndex >= vec.size())
+		{
+			stringstream errorMsg("");
+			errorMsg << "Expected at least " << (tokenizeIndex+1) << " tokens per emtry in '"
+							<< paramName << "', but only found "
+							<< vec.size();
+			UserMessage::Add(errorMsg.str());
+			return false;
+		}
+		const string &pathStr = vec[tokenizeIndex];
+
+		bool fileFound=0;
+		for(size_t i=0;i<extensions.size() && !fileFound;++i)
+			{
+				fileFound|=FileExists(pathStr + extensions[i]);
+			}
+		if(!fileFound)
+			{
+				stringstream errorMsg("");
+				errorMsg << "File " << pathStr << " does not exist";
+				UserMessage::Add(errorMsg.str());
+				return false;
+			}		
+	}
+	return true;
+}
+
+/** look for a switch in arg, update parameter */
+// TODO arg parsing like this does not belong in the library, it belongs
+// in moses-cmd
+string ParameterNBest::FindParam(const string &paramSwitch, int argc, char* argv[])
+{
+	for (int i = 0 ; i < argc ; i++)
+	{
+		if (string(argv[i]) == paramSwitch)
+		{
+			if (i+1 < argc)
+			{
+				return argv[i+1];
+			} else {
+				stringstream errorMsg("");
+				errorMsg << "Option " << paramSwitch << " requires a parameter!";
+				UserMessage::Add(errorMsg.str());
+				// TODO return some sort of error, not the empty string
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return "";
+}
+
+/** update parameter settings with command line switches
+ * \param paramSwitch (potentially short) name of switch
+ * \param paramName full name of parameter
+ * \param argc number of arguments on command line
+ * \param argv values of paramters on command line */
+void ParameterNBest::OverwriteParam(const string &paramSwitch, const string &paramName, int argc, char* argv[])
+{
+	int startPos = -1;
+	for (int i = 0 ; i < argc ; i++)
+	{
+		if (string(argv[i]) == paramSwitch)
+		{
+			startPos = i+1;
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+	if (startPos < 0)
+		return;
+
+	int index = 0;
+	m_setting[paramName]; // defines the parameter, important for boolean switches
+	while (startPos < argc && (!isOption(argv[startPos])))
+	{
+		if (m_setting[paramName].size() > (size_t)index)
+			m_setting[paramName][index] = argv[startPos];
+		else
+			m_setting[paramName].push_back(argv[startPos]);
+		index++;
+		startPos++;
+	}
+}
+
+
+/** read parameters from a configuration file */
+bool ParameterNBest::ReadConfigFile( string filePath ) 
+{
+	InputFileStream inFile(filePath);
+	string line, paramName;
+	while(getline(inFile, line)) 
+	{
+		// comments
+		size_t comPos = line.find_first_of("#");
+		if (comPos != string::npos)
+			line = line.substr(0, comPos);
+		// trim leading and trailing spaces/tabs
+		line = Trim(line);
+
+		if (line[0]=='[') 
+		{ // new parameter
+			for (size_t currPos = 0 ; currPos < line.size() ; currPos++)
+			{
+				if (line[currPos] == ']')
+				{
+					paramName = line.substr(1, currPos - 1);
+					break;
+				}
+			}
+		}
+    else if (line != "") 
+		{ // add value to parameter
+			m_setting[paramName].push_back(line);
+		}
+	}
+	return true;
+}
+
+
+void ParameterNBest::PrintCredit()
+{
+   cerr <<  "NBest - A tool to process Moses n-best lists" << endl
+	<< "Copyright (C) 2008 Holger Schwenk" << endl << endl
+
+	<< "This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or" << endl
+	<< "modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public" << endl
+	<< "License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either" << endl
+	<< "version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version." << endl << endl
+
+	<< "This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful," << endl
+	<< "but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of" << endl
+	<< "MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU" << endl
+	<< "Lesser General Public License for more details." << endl << endl
+
+	<< "You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public" << endl
+	<< "License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software" << endl
+	<< "Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA" << endl << endl
+	<< "***********************************************************************" << endl << endl
+	<< "Built on " << __DATE__ << endl << endl
+
+	<< "Written by Holger Schwenk, Holger.Schwenk@lium.univ-lemans.fr" <<  endl << endl;
+}
+
diff --git a/reranking/src/ParameterNBest.h b/reranking/src/ParameterNBest.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c653176dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reranking/src/ParameterNBest.h
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+// $Id: $
+
+/***********************************************************************
+nbest - tool to process Moses n-best list
+Copyright (C) 2008 Holger Schwenk, University of Le Mans, France
+
+This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+
+This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+Lesser General Public License for more details.
+
+You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+***********************************************************************/
+
+#ifndef _PARAMETER_NBEST_H_
+#define _PARAMETER_NBEST_H_
+
+#include <string>
+#include <map>
+#include <vector>
+#include "TypeDef.h"
+
+typedef std::vector<std::string>						PARAM_VEC;
+typedef std::map<std::string, PARAM_VEC > 	PARAM_MAP;
+typedef std::map<std::string, bool>         PARAM_BOOL;
+typedef std::map<std::string, std::string > PARAM_STRING;
+
+/** Handles parameter values set in config file or on command line.
+ * Process raw parameter data (names and values as strings) for StaticData 
+ * to parse; to get useful values, see StaticData. */
+class ParameterNBest
+{
+protected:
+	PARAM_MAP m_setting;
+	PARAM_BOOL m_valid;
+	PARAM_STRING m_abbreviation;
+	PARAM_STRING m_description;
+
+	std::string FindParam(const std::string &paramSwitch, int argc, char* argv[]);
+	void OverwriteParam(const std::string &paramSwitch, const std::string &paramName, int argc, char* argv[]);
+	bool ReadConfigFile( std::string filePath );
+	bool FilesExist(const std::string &paramName, size_t tokenizeIndex,std::vector<std::string> const& fileExtension=std::vector<std::string>(1,""));
+	bool isOption(const char* token);
+	bool Validate();
+
+	void AddParam(const std::string &paramName, const std::string &description);
+	void AddParam(const std::string &paramName, const std::string &abbrevName, const std::string &description);
+
+	void PrintCredit();
+
+public:
+	ParameterNBest();
+	~ParameterNBest();
+	bool LoadParam(int argc, char* argv[]);
+	bool LoadParam(const std::string &filePath);
+	void Explain();
+
+	/** return a vector of strings holding the whitespace-delimited values on the ini-file line corresponding to the given parameter name */
+	const PARAM_VEC &GetParam(const std::string &paramName)
+	{
+		return m_setting[paramName];
+	}
+	/** check if parameter is defined (either in moses.ini or as switch) */
+	bool isParamSpecified(const std::string &paramName)
+	{
+	  return  m_setting.find( paramName ) != m_setting.end();
+	}
+
+};
+
+#endif
diff --git a/reranking/src/Tools.cpp b/reranking/src/Tools.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bbee84cbc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reranking/src/Tools.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ *  nbest: tool to process moses n-best lists
+ *
+ *  File: Tools.cpp
+ *        basic utility functions 
+ *
+ *  Created by Holger Schwenk, University of Le Mans, 05/16/2008
+ *
+ */
+
+#include "Tools.h"
+
+int Weights::Read(const char *fname) {
+  ifstream inpf;
+  
+  inpf.open(fname);
+  if (inpf.fail()) {
+    perror ("ERROR"); exit(1);
+  }
+
+  float f;
+  while (inpf >> f) val.push_back(f);  
+
+  inpf.close();
+  return val.size();
+}
+
diff --git a/reranking/src/Tools.h b/reranking/src/Tools.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..73228d5e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reranking/src/Tools.h
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/*
+ *  nbest: tool to process moses n-best lists
+ *
+ *  File: Tools.cpp
+ *        basic utility functions 
+ *
+ *  Created by Holger Schwenk, University of Le Mans, 05/16/2008
+ *
+ */
+
+
+#ifndef _TOOLS_H_
+#define _TOOLS_H_
+
+using namespace std;
+
+#include <iostream>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <vector>
+
+class Weights {
+  vector<float> val;
+ public:
+  Weights() {};
+  ~Weights() {};
+  int Read(const char *);
+  friend class Hypo;
+};
+
+//****************************************************** 
+
+/*
+template<typename T>
+inline T Scan(const std::string &input)
+{
+         std::stringstream stream(input);
+         T ret;
+         stream >> ret;
+         return ret;
+}
+*/
+
+//****************************************************** 
+
+inline void Error (char *msg) {
+  cerr << "ERROR: " << msg << endl;
+  exit(1);
+}
+
+//****************************************************** 
+// From Moses code:
+
+
+/*
+ * Outputting debugging/verbose information to stderr.
+ * Use TRACE_ENABLE flag to redirect tracing output into oblivion
+ * so that you can output your own ad-hoc debugging info.
+ * However, if you use stderr diretly, please delete calls to it once
+ * you finished debugging so that it won't clutter up.
+ * Also use TRACE_ENABLE to turn off output of any debugging info
+ * when compiling for a gui front-end so that running gui won't generate
+ * output on command line
+ * */
+#ifdef TRACE_ENABLE
+#define TRACE_ERR(str) std::cerr << str
+#else
+#define TRACE_ERR(str) {}
+#endif
+
+#endif
+