Controlling rewriting by rewriting

Abstract In this paper, we investigate the idea of controlling rewriting by strategies and we develop a strategy language whose operational semantics is also based on rewriting. This language is described in ELAN, a language based on computational systems that are simply rewriting theories controlled by strategies. We illustrate the syntax, semantics and different features of this strategy language. Finally, we sketch its bootstrapping implementation by a transformation into a computational system, whose heart is a rewrite theory controlled by a lower-level strategy of ELAN.