]> git.saurik.com Git - bison.git/blame - NEWS
2006-10-16 Paolo Bonzini <bonzini@gnu.org>
[bison.git] / NEWS
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1Bison News
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4Changes in version 2.3a+ (????-??-??):
5
6* The -g and --graph options now output graphs in Graphviz DOT format,
7 not VCG format.
8
21fe08ca 9Changes in version 2.3a, 2006-09-13:
742e4900 10
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11* Instead of %union, you can define and use your own union type
12 YYSTYPE if your grammar contains at least one <type> tag.
13 Your YYSTYPE need not be a macro; it can be a typedef.
14 This change is for compatibility with other Yacc implementations,
15 and is required by POSIX.
16
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17* Locations columns and lines start at 1.
18 In accordance with the GNU Coding Standards and Emacs.
19
b2a0b7ca 20* You may now declare per-type and default %destructor's and %printer's:
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21
22 For example:
23
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24 %union { char *string; }
25 %token <string> STRING1
26 %token <string> STRING2
27 %type <string> string1
28 %type <string> string2
29 %union { char character; }
30 %token <character> CHR
31 %type <character> chr
32 %destructor { free ($$); } %symbol-default
33 %destructor { free ($$); printf ("%d", @$.first_line); } STRING1 string1
34 %destructor { } <character>
35
36 guarantees that, when the parser discards any user-defined symbol that has a
37 semantic type tag other than `<character>', it passes its semantic value to
38 `free'. However, when the parser discards a `STRING1' or a `string1', it
39 also prints its line number to `stdout'. It performs only the second
40 `%destructor' in this case, so it invokes `free' only once.
ec5479ce 41
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42* Except for LALR(1) parsers in C with POSIX Yacc emulation enabled (with `-y',
43 `--yacc', or `%yacc'), Bison no longer generates #define statements for
44 associating token numbers with token names. Removing the #define statements
45 helps to sanitize the global namespace during preprocessing, but POSIX Yacc
46 requires them. Bison still generates an enum for token names in all cases.
47
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48* Handling of traditional Yacc prologue blocks is now more consistent but
49 potentially incompatible with previous releases of Bison.
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50
51 As before, you declare prologue blocks in your grammar file with the
52 `%{ ... %}' syntax. To generate the pre-prologue, Bison concatenates all
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53 prologue blocks that you've declared before the first %union. To generate
54 the post-prologue, Bison concatenates all prologue blocks that you've
ddc8ede1 55 declared after the first %union.
9bc0dd67 56
34f98f46 57 Previous releases of Bison inserted the pre-prologue into both the header
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58 file and the code file in all cases except for LALR(1) parsers in C. In the
59 latter case, Bison inserted it only into the code file. For parsers in C++,
60 the point of insertion was before any token definitions (which associate
61 token numbers with names). For parsers in C, the point of insertion was
62 after the token definitions.
63
64 Now, Bison never inserts the pre-prologue into the header file. In the code
65 file, it always inserts it before the token definitions.
66
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67* Bison now provides a more flexible alternative to the traditional Yacc
68 prologue blocks: %before-header, %start-header, %end-header, and
69 %after-header.
70
71 For example, the following declaration order in the grammar file reflects the
72 order in which Bison will output these code blocks. However, you are free to
73 declare these code blocks in your grammar file in whatever order is most
74 convenient for you:
75
76 %before-header {
77 /* Bison treats this block like a pre-prologue block: it inserts it into
78 * the code file before the contents of the header file. It does *not*
79 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to put
80 * #include's that you want at the top of your code file. A common
81 * example is `#include "system.h"'. */
82 }
83 %start-header {
84 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
85 * In both files, the point of insertion is before any Bison-generated
86 * token, semantic type, location type, and class definitions. This is a
87 * good place to define %union dependencies, for example. */
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88 }
89 %union {
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90 /* Unlike the traditional Yacc prologue blocks, the output order for the
91 * new %*-header blocks is not affected by their declaration position
92 * relative to any %union in the grammar file. */
9bc0dd67 93 }
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94 %end-header {
95 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
96 * In both files, the point of insertion is after the Bison-generated
97 * definitions. This is a good place to declare or define public
98 * functions or data structures that depend on the Bison-generated
99 * definitions. */
9bc0dd67 100 }
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101 %after-header {
102 /* Bison treats this block like a post-prologue block: it inserts it into
103 * the code file after the contents of the header file. It does *not*
104 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to declare or
105 * define internal functions or data structures that depend on the
106 * Bison-generated definitions. */
107 }
108
109 If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above declarations, Bison
110 will concatenate the contents in declaration order.
9bc0dd67 111
742e4900 112* The option `--report=look-ahead' has been changed to `--report=lookahead'.
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113 The old spelling still works, but is not documented and may be removed
114 in a future release.
742e4900 115
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116Changes in version 2.3, 2006-06-05:
117
118* GLR grammars should now use `YYRECOVERING ()' instead of `YYRECOVERING',
119 for compatibility with LALR(1) grammars.
120
121* It is now documented that any definition of YYSTYPE or YYLTYPE should
122 be to a type name that does not contain parentheses or brackets.
123
ab8d9dc5 124Changes in version 2.2, 2006-05-19:
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125
126* The distribution terms for all Bison-generated parsers now permit
127 using the parsers in nonfree programs. Previously, this permission
128 was granted only for Bison-generated LALR(1) parsers in C.
5f4236a0 129
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130* %name-prefix changes the namespace name in C++ outputs.
131
132* The C++ parsers export their token_type.
5f4236a0 133
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134* Bison now allows multiple %union declarations, and concatenates
135 their contents together.
136
affac613 137* New warning: unused values
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138 Right-hand side symbols whose values are not used are reported,
139 if the symbols have destructors. For instance:
affac613 140
8f3596a6 141 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; }
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142 | exp "+" exp
143 ;
affac613 144
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145 will trigger a warning about $$ and $5 in the first rule, and $3 in
146 the second ($1 is copied to $$ by the default rule). This example
4e26c69e 147 most likely contains three errors, and could be rewritten as:
affac613 148
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149 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp
150 { $$ = $1 ? $3 : $5; free ($1 ? $5 : $3); free ($1); }
151 | exp "+" exp
152 { $$ = $1 ? $1 : $3; if ($1) free ($3); }
721be13c 153 ;
affac613 154
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155 However, if the original actions were really intended, memory leaks
156 and all, the warnings can be suppressed by letting Bison believe the
157 values are used, e.g.:
721be13c 158
8f3596a6 159 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; (void) ($$, $5); }
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160 | exp "+" exp { $$ = $1; (void) $3; }
161 ;
162
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163 If there are mid-rule actions, the warning is issued if no action
164 uses it. The following triggers no warning: $1 and $3 are used.
165
166 exp: exp { push ($1); } '+' exp { push ($3); sum (); };
167
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168 The warning is intended to help catching lost values and memory leaks.
169 If a value is ignored, its associated memory typically is not reclaimed.
affac613 170
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171* %destructor vs. YYABORT, YYACCEPT, and YYERROR.
172 Destructors are now called when user code invokes YYABORT, YYACCEPT,
173 and YYERROR, for all objects on the stack, other than objects
174 corresponding to the right-hand side of the current rule.
a85284cf 175
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176* %expect, %expect-rr
177 Incorrect numbers of expected conflicts are now actual errors,
178 instead of warnings.
179
4b367315 180* GLR, YACC parsers.
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181 The %parse-params are available in the destructors (and the
182 experimental printers) as per the documentation.
4b367315 183
302c0aee 184* Bison now warns if it finds a stray `$' or `@' in an action.
ad6a9b97 185
b50d2359 186* %require "VERSION"
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187 This specifies that the grammar file depends on features implemented
188 in Bison version VERSION or higher.
b50d2359 189
fb9712a9 190* lalr1.cc: The token and value types are now class members.
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191 The tokens were defined as free form enums and cpp macros. YYSTYPE
192 was defined as a free form union. They are now class members:
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193 tokens are enumerations of the `yy::parser::token' struct, and the
194 semantic values have the `yy::parser::semantic_type' type.
195
196 If you do not want or can update to this scheme, the directive
197 `%define "global_tokens_and_yystype" "1"' triggers the global
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198 definition of tokens and YYSTYPE. This change is suitable both
199 for previous releases of Bison, and this one.
fb9712a9 200
b50d2359 201 If you wish to update, then make sure older version of Bison will
ab8d9dc5 202 fail using `%require "2.2"'.
fb9712a9 203
302c0aee 204* DJGPP support added.
193d7c70 205\f
1bd0deda 206Changes in version 2.1, 2005-09-16:
1ce59070 207
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208* The C++ lalr1.cc skeleton supports %lex-param.
209
a7db4add 210* Bison-generated parsers now support the translation of diagnostics like
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211 "syntax error" into languages other than English. The default
212 language is still English. For details, please see the new
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213 Internationalization section of the Bison manual. Software
214 distributors should also see the new PACKAGING file. Thanks to
215 Bruno Haible for this new feature.
1ce59070 216
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217* Wording in the Bison-generated parsers has been changed slightly to
218 simplify translation. In particular, the message "memory exhausted"
219 has replaced "parser stack overflow", as the old message was not
220 always accurate for modern Bison-generated parsers.
221
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222* Destructors are now called when the parser aborts, for all symbols left
223 behind on the stack. Also, the start symbol is now destroyed after a
224 successful parse. In both cases, the behavior was formerly inconsistent.
225
a7db4add 226* When generating verbose diagnostics, Bison-generated parsers no longer
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227 quote the literal strings associated with tokens. For example, for
228 a syntax error associated with '%token NUM "number"' they might
229 print 'syntax error, unexpected number' instead of 'syntax error,
230 unexpected "number"'.
193d7c70 231\f
82de6b0d 232Changes in version 2.0, 2004-12-25:
efeed023 233
82de6b0d 234* Possibly-incompatible changes
d7e14fc0 235
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236 - Bison-generated parsers no longer default to using the alloca function
237 (when available) to extend the parser stack, due to widespread
238 problems in unchecked stack-overflow detection. You can "#define
239 YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA 1" to require the use of alloca, but please read
240 the manual to determine safe values for YYMAXDEPTH in that case.
8dd162d3 241
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242 - Error token location.
243 During error recovery, the location of the syntax error is updated
244 to cover the whole sequence covered by the error token: it includes
245 the shifted symbols thrown away during the first part of the error
246 recovery, and the lookahead rejected during the second part.
18d192f0 247
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248 - Semicolon changes:
249 . Stray semicolons are no longer allowed at the start of a grammar.
250 . Semicolons are now required after in-grammar declarations.
e342c3be 251
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252 - Unescaped newlines are no longer allowed in character constants or
253 string literals. They were never portable, and GCC 3.4.0 has
254 dropped support for them. Better diagnostics are now generated if
255 forget a closing quote.
8dd162d3 256
82de6b0d 257 - NUL bytes are no longer allowed in Bison string literals, unfortunately.
f74b6f91 258
82de6b0d 259* New features
1452af69 260
82de6b0d 261 - GLR grammars now support locations.
4febdd96 262
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263 - New directive: %initial-action.
264 This directive allows the user to run arbitrary code (including
265 initializing @$) from yyparse before parsing starts.
1452af69 266
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267 - A new directive "%expect-rr N" specifies the expected number of
268 reduce/reduce conflicts in GLR parsers.
1452af69 269
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270 - %token numbers can now be hexadecimal integers, e.g., `%token FOO 0x12d'.
271 This is a GNU extension.
4febdd96 272
82de6b0d 273 - The option `--report=lookahead' was changed to `--report=look-ahead'.
9e6e7ed2 274 [However, this was changed back after 2.3.]
1452af69 275
82de6b0d 276 - Experimental %destructor support has been added to lalr1.cc.
1452af69 277
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278 - New configure option --disable-yacc, to disable installation of the
279 yacc command and -ly library introduced in 1.875 for POSIX conformance.
6040d338 280
82de6b0d 281* Bug fixes
d5a3fe37 282
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283 - For now, %expect-count violations are now just warnings, not errors.
284 This is for compatibility with Bison 1.75 and earlier (when there are
285 reduce/reduce conflicts) and with Bison 1.30 and earlier (when there
286 are too many or too few shift/reduce conflicts). However, in future
287 versions of Bison we plan to improve the %expect machinery so that
288 these violations will become errors again.
3473d0f8 289
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290 - Within Bison itself, numbers (e.g., goto numbers) are no longer
291 arbitrarily limited to 16-bit counts.
d600ee67 292
82de6b0d 293 - Semicolons are now allowed before "|" in grammar rules, as POSIX requires.
d600ee67 294\f
dc546b0f 295Changes in version 1.875, 2003-01-01:
963fcc17 296
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297* The documentation license has been upgraded to version 1.2
298 of the GNU Free Documentation License.
75eb3bc4 299
dc546b0f 300* syntax error processing
75eb3bc4 301
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302 - In Yacc-style parsers YYLLOC_DEFAULT is now used to compute error
303 locations too. This fixes bugs in error-location computation.
75eb3bc4 304
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305 - %destructor
306 It is now possible to reclaim the memory associated to symbols
307 discarded during error recovery. This feature is still experimental.
20daca06 308
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309 - %error-verbose
310 This new directive is preferred over YYERROR_VERBOSE.
74724a70 311
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312 - #defining yyerror to steal internal variables is discouraged.
313 It is not guaranteed to work forever.
d1de5372 314
dc546b0f 315* POSIX conformance
d1de5372 316
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317 - Semicolons are once again optional at the end of grammar rules.
318 This reverts to the behavior of Bison 1.33 and earlier, and improves
319 compatibility with Yacc.
74724a70 320
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321 - `parse error' -> `syntax error'
322 Bison now uniformly uses the term `syntax error'; formerly, the code
323 and manual sometimes used the term `parse error' instead. POSIX
324 requires `syntax error' in diagnostics, and it was thought better to
325 be consistent.
74724a70 326
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327 - The documentation now emphasizes that yylex and yyerror must be
328 declared before use. C99 requires this.
d1de5372 329
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330 - Bison now parses C99 lexical constructs like UCNs and
331 backslash-newline within C escape sequences, as POSIX 1003.1-2001 requires.
d1de5372 332
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333 - File names are properly escaped in C output. E.g., foo\bar.y is
334 output as "foo\\bar.y".
6780ca7a 335
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336 - Yacc command and library now available
337 The Bison distribution now installs a `yacc' command, as POSIX requires.
338 Also, Bison now installs a small library liby.a containing
339 implementations of Yacc-compatible yyerror and main functions.
340 This library is normally not useful, but POSIX requires it.
6e649e65 341
dc546b0f 342 - Type clashes now generate warnings, not errors.
6e649e65 343
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344 - If the user does not define YYSTYPE as a macro, Bison now declares it
345 using typedef instead of defining it as a macro.
346 For consistency, YYLTYPE is also declared instead of defined.
9501dc6e 347
dc546b0f 348* Other compatibility issues
886a425c 349
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350 - %union directives can now have a tag before the `{', e.g., the
351 directive `%union foo {...}' now generates the C code
352 `typedef union foo { ... } YYSTYPE;'; this is for Yacc compatibility.
353 The default union tag is `YYSTYPE', for compatibility with Solaris 9 Yacc.
354 For consistency, YYLTYPE's struct tag is now `YYLTYPE' not `yyltype'.
355 This is for compatibility with both Yacc and Bison 1.35.
72f889cc 356
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357 - `;' is output before the terminating `}' of an action, for
358 compatibility with Bison 1.35.
886a425c 359
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360 - Bison now uses a Yacc-style format for conflict reports, e.g.,
361 `conflicts: 2 shift/reduce, 1 reduce/reduce'.
437c2d80 362
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363 - `yystype' and `yyltype' are now obsolescent macros instead of being
364 typedefs or tags; they are no longer documented and are planned to be
365 withdrawn in a future release.
2a8d363a 366
dc546b0f 367* GLR parser notes
2a8d363a 368
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369 - GLR and inline
370 Users of Bison have to decide how they handle the portability of the
371 C keyword `inline'.
959e5f51 372
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373 - `parsing stack overflow...' -> `parser stack overflow'
374 GLR parsers now report `parser stack overflow' as per the Bison manual.
900c5db5 375
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376* Bison now warns if it detects conflicting outputs to the same file,
377 e.g., it generates a warning for `bison -d -o foo.h foo.y' since
378 that command outputs both code and header to foo.h.
6e40b4eb 379
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380* #line in output files
381 - --no-line works properly.
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382
383* Bison can no longer be built by a K&R C compiler; it requires C89 or
384 later to be built. This change originally took place a few versions
385 ago, but nobody noticed until we recently asked someone to try
386 building Bison with a K&R C compiler.
d600ee67 387\f
5c16c6b1 388Changes in version 1.75, 2002-10-14:
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389
390* Bison should now work on 64-bit hosts.
391
b7195100 392* Indonesian translation thanks to Tedi Heriyanto.
7933f2b5 393
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394* GLR parsers
395 Fix spurious parse errors.
396
397* Pure parsers
398 Some people redefine yyerror to steal yyparse' private variables.
399 Reenable this trick until an official feature replaces it.
400
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401* Type Clashes
402 In agreement with POSIX and with other Yaccs, leaving a default
403 action is valid when $$ is untyped, and $1 typed:
404
405 untyped: ... typed;
406
407 but the converse remains an error:
408
409 typed: ... untyped;
410
411* Values of mid-rule actions
412 The following code:
413
414 foo: { ... } { $$ = $1; } ...
415
416 was incorrectly rejected: $1 is defined in the second mid-rule
417 action, and is equal to the $$ of the first mid-rule action.
d600ee67 418\f
420f93c8 419Changes in version 1.50, 2002-10-04:
adc8c848 420
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421* GLR parsing
422 The declaration
423 %glr-parser
424 causes Bison to produce a Generalized LR (GLR) parser, capable of handling
425 almost any context-free grammar, ambiguous or not. The new declarations
e8832397 426 %dprec and %merge on grammar rules allow parse-time resolution of
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427 ambiguities. Contributed by Paul Hilfinger.
428
7933f2b5 429 Unfortunately Bison 1.50 does not work properly on 64-bit hosts
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430 like the Alpha, so please stick to 32-bit hosts for now.
431
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432* Output Directory
433 When not in Yacc compatibility mode, when the output file was not
e88dbdbf 434 specified, running `bison foo/bar.y' created `foo/bar.c'. It
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435 now creates `bar.c'.
436
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437* Undefined token
438 The undefined token was systematically mapped to 2 which prevented
e88dbdbf 439 the use of 2 by the user. This is no longer the case.
007a50a4 440
77714df2 441* Unknown token numbers
e88dbdbf 442 If yylex returned an out of range value, yyparse could die. This is
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443 no longer the case.
444
23c5a174 445* Error token
e88dbdbf 446 According to POSIX, the error token must be 256.
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447 Bison extends this requirement by making it a preference: *if* the
448 user specified that one of her tokens is numbered 256, then error
449 will be mapped onto another number.
450
217598da 451* Verbose error messages
e88dbdbf 452 They no longer report `..., expecting error or...' for states where
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453 error recovery is possible.
454
455* End token
456 Defaults to `$end' instead of `$'.
457
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458* Error recovery now conforms to documentation and to POSIX
459 When a Bison-generated parser encounters a syntax error, it now pops
460 the stack until it finds a state that allows shifting the error
461 token. Formerly, it popped the stack until it found a state that
462 allowed some non-error action other than a default reduction on the
463 error token. The new behavior has long been the documented behavior,
464 and has long been required by POSIX. For more details, please see
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465 Paul Eggert, "Reductions during Bison error handling" (2002-05-20)
466 <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-bison/2002-05/msg00038.html>.
68cd8af3 467
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468* Traces
469 Popped tokens and nonterminals are now reported.
470
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471* Larger grammars
472 Larger grammars are now supported (larger token numbers, larger grammar
473 size (= sum of the LHS and RHS lengths), larger LALR tables).
474 Formerly, many of these numbers ran afoul of 16-bit limits;
475 now these limits are 32 bits on most hosts.
355e7c1c 476
77714df2 477* Explicit initial rule
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478 Bison used to play hacks with the initial rule, which the user does
479 not write. It is now explicit, and visible in the reports and
480 graphs as rule 0.
23c5a174 481
77714df2 482* Useless rules
643a5994 483 Before, Bison reported the useless rules, but, although not used,
77714df2 484 included them in the parsers. They are now actually removed.
23c5a174 485
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486* Useless rules, useless nonterminals
487 They are now reported, as a warning, with their locations.
488
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489* Rules never reduced
490 Rules that can never be reduced because of conflicts are now
491 reported.
492
77714df2 493* Incorrect `Token not used'
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494 On a grammar such as
495
496 %token useless useful
497 %%
498 exp: '0' %prec useful;
499
500 where a token was used to set the precedence of the last rule,
501 bison reported both `useful' and `useless' as useless tokens.
502
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503* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31
504 as they caused too many portability hassles.
0179dd65 505
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506* Default locations
507 By an accident of design, the default computation of @$ was
508 performed after another default computation was performed: @$ = @1.
509 The latter is now removed: YYLLOC_DEFAULT is fully responsible of
510 the computation of @$.
adc8c848 511
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512* Token end-of-file
513 The token end of file may be specified by the user, in which case,
514 the user symbol is used in the reports, the graphs, and the verbose
a861a339 515 error messages instead of `$end', which remains being the default.
b7c49edf 516 For instance
7bd6c77e 517 %token MYEOF 0
b7c49edf 518 or
7bd6c77e 519 %token MYEOF 0 "end of file"
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520
521* Semantic parser
522 This old option, which has been broken for ages, is removed.
523
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524* New translations
525 Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to Alexandre Folle de Menezes.
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526 Croatian, thanks to Denis Lackovic.
527
77714df2 528* Incorrect token definitions
e88dbdbf 529 When given `%token 'a' "A"', Bison used to output `#define 'a' 65'.
b87f8b21 530
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531* Token definitions as enums
532 Tokens are output both as the traditional #define's, and, provided
533 the compiler supports ANSI C or is a C++ compiler, as enums.
e88dbdbf 534 This lets debuggers display names instead of integers.
77714df2 535
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536* Reports
537 In addition to --verbose, bison supports --report=THINGS, which
538 produces additional information:
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539 - itemset
540 complete the core item sets with their closure
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541 - lookahead [changed to `look-ahead' in 1.875e through 2.3, but changed back]
542 explicitly associate lookahead tokens to items
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543 - solved
544 describe shift/reduce conflicts solving.
545 Bison used to systematically output this information on top of
546 the report. Solved conflicts are now attached to their states.
ec3bc396 547
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548* Type clashes
549 Previous versions don't complain when there is a type clash on
550 the default action if the rule has a mid-rule action, such as in:
551
552 %type <foo> bar
553 %%
554 bar: '0' {} '0';
555
556 This is fixed.
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557
558* GNU M4 is now required when using Bison.
f987e9d2 559\f
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560Changes in version 1.35, 2002-03-25:
561
562* C Skeleton
563 Some projects use Bison's C parser with C++ compilers, and define
564 YYSTYPE as a class. The recent adjustment of C parsers for data
565 alignment and 64 bit architectures made this impossible.
566
567 Because for the time being no real solution for C++ parser
568 generation exists, kludges were implemented in the parser to
569 maintain this use. In the future, when Bison has C++ parsers, this
570 kludge will be disabled.
571
572 This kludge also addresses some C++ problems when the stack was
573 extended.
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574\f
575Changes in version 1.34, 2002-03-12:
576
577* File name clashes are detected
578 $ bison foo.y -d -o foo.x
579 fatal error: header and parser would both be named `foo.x'
580
581* A missing `;' at the end of a rule triggers a warning
582 In accordance with POSIX, and in agreement with other
583 Yacc implementations, Bison will mandate this semicolon in the near
584 future. This eases the implementation of a Bison parser of Bison
585 grammars by making this grammar LALR(1) instead of LR(2). To
586 facilitate the transition, this release introduces a warning.
587
588* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31, as they caused too
589 many portability hassles.
590
591* DJGPP support added.
592
593* Fix test suite portability problems.
594\f
595Changes in version 1.33, 2002-02-07:
596
597* Fix C++ issues
598 Groff could not be compiled for the definition of size_t was lacking
599 under some conditions.
600
601* Catch invalid @n
602 As is done with $n.
603\f
604Changes in version 1.32, 2002-01-23:
605
606* Fix Yacc output file names
607
608* Portability fixes
609
610* Italian, Dutch translations
611\f
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612Changes in version 1.31, 2002-01-14:
613
614* Many Bug Fixes
615
616* GNU Gettext and %expect
617 GNU Gettext asserts 10 s/r conflicts, but there are 7. Now that
618 Bison dies on incorrect %expectations, we fear there will be
619 too many bug reports for Gettext, so _for the time being_, %expect
620 does not trigger an error when the input file is named `plural.y'.
621
622* Use of alloca in parsers
623 If YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA is defined to 0, then the parsers will use
624 malloc exclusively. Since 1.29, but was not NEWS'ed.
625
626 alloca is used only when compiled with GCC, to avoid portability
627 problems as on AIX.
628
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629* yyparse now returns 2 if memory is exhausted; formerly it dumped core.
630
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631* When the generated parser lacks debugging code, YYDEBUG is now 0
632 (as POSIX requires) instead of being undefined.
633
634* User Actions
635 Bison has always permitted actions such as { $$ = $1 }: it adds the
636 ending semicolon. Now if in Yacc compatibility mode, the semicolon
637 is no longer output: one has to write { $$ = $1; }.
638
639* Better C++ compliance
640 The output parsers try to respect C++ namespaces.
76551463 641 [This turned out to be a failed experiment, and it was reverted later.]
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642
643* Reduced Grammars
644 Fixed bugs when reporting useless nonterminals.
645
646* 64 bit hosts
647 The parsers work properly on 64 bit hosts.
648
649* Error messages
650 Some calls to strerror resulted in scrambled or missing error messages.
651
652* %expect
653 When the number of shift/reduce conflicts is correct, don't issue
654 any warning.
655
656* The verbose report includes the rule line numbers.
657
658* Rule line numbers are fixed in traces.
659
660* Swedish translation
661
662* Parse errors
663 Verbose parse error messages from the parsers are better looking.
664 Before: parse error: unexpected `'/'', expecting `"number"' or `'-'' or `'(''
665 Now: parse error: unexpected '/', expecting "number" or '-' or '('
666
667* Fixed parser memory leaks.
668 When the generated parser was using malloc to extend its stacks, the
669 previous allocations were not freed.
670
671* Fixed verbose output file.
672 Some newlines were missing.
673 Some conflicts in state descriptions were missing.
674
675* Fixed conflict report.
676 Option -v was needed to get the result.
677
678* %expect
679 Was not used.
680 Mismatches are errors, not warnings.
681
682* Fixed incorrect processing of some invalid input.
683
684* Fixed CPP guards: 9foo.h uses BISON_9FOO_H instead of 9FOO_H.
685
686* Fixed some typos in the documentation.
687
688* %token MY_EOF 0 is supported.
689 Before, MY_EOF was silently renumbered as 257.
690
691* doc/refcard.tex is updated.
692
693* %output, %file-prefix, %name-prefix.
694 New.
695
696* --output
697 New, aliasing `--output-file'.
698\f
76551463 699Changes in version 1.30, 2001-10-26:
342b8b6e 700
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701* `--defines' and `--graph' have now an optional argument which is the
702 output file name. `-d' and `-g' do not change; they do not take any
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703 argument.
704
705* `%source_extension' and `%header_extension' are removed, failed
706 experiment.
707
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708* Portability fixes.
709\f
9f4503d6 710Changes in version 1.29, 2001-09-07:
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711
712* The output file does not define const, as this caused problems when used
713 with common autoconfiguration schemes. If you still use ancient compilers
714 that lack const, compile with the equivalent of the C compiler option
715 `-Dconst='. autoconf's AC_C_CONST macro provides one way to do this.
716
717* Added `-g' and `--graph'.
f87a2205 718
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719* The Bison manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL.
720
f1c63ced 721* The input and the output files has automatically a similar extension.
234a3be3 722
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723* Russian translation added.
724
725* NLS support updated; should hopefully be less troublesome.
726
727* Added the old Bison reference card.
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728
729* Added `--locations' and `%locations'.
6deb4447 730
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731* Added `-S' and `--skeleton'.
732
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733* `%raw', `-r', `--raw' is disabled.
734
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735* Special characters are escaped when output. This solves the problems
736 of the #line lines with path names including backslashes.
737
6deb4447 738* New directives.
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739 `%yacc', `%fixed_output_files', `%defines', `%no_parser', `%verbose',
740 `%debug', `%source_extension' and `%header_extension'.
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741
742* @$
743 Automatic location tracking.
f87a2205 744\f
9f4503d6 745Changes in version 1.28, 1999-07-06:
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746
747* Should compile better now with K&R compilers.
748
749* Added NLS.
750
751* Fixed a problem with escaping the double quote character.
752
753* There is now a FAQ.
754\f
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755Changes in version 1.27:
756
757* The make rule which prevented bison.simple from being created on
758 some systems has been fixed.
759\f
760Changes in version 1.26:
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761
762* Bison now uses automake.
763
764* New mailing lists: <bug-bison@gnu.org> and <help-bison@gnu.org>.
765
766* Token numbers now start at 257 as previously documented, not 258.
767
768* Bison honors the TMPDIR environment variable.
769
770* A couple of buffer overruns have been fixed.
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771
772* Problems when closing files should now be reported.
773
774* Generated parsers should now work even on operating systems which do
775 not provide alloca().
4be07551 776\f
9f4503d6 777Changes in version 1.25, 1995-10-16:
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778
779* Errors in the input grammar are not fatal; Bison keeps reading
780the grammar file, and reports all the errors found in it.
8c44d3ec 781
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782* Tokens can now be specified as multiple-character strings: for
783example, you could use "<=" for a token which looks like <=, instead
784of chosing a name like LESSEQ.
785
786* The %token_table declaration says to write a table of tokens (names
787and numbers) into the parser file. The yylex function can use this
788table to recognize multiple-character string tokens, or for other
789purposes.
790
791* The %no_lines declaration says not to generate any #line preprocessor
792directives in the parser file.
793
794* The %raw declaration says to use internal Bison token numbers, not
795Yacc-compatible token numbers, when token names are defined as macros.
796
797* The --no-parser option produces the parser tables without including
798the parser engine; a project can now use its own parser engine.
799The actions go into a separate file called NAME.act, in the form of
800a switch statement body.
801\f
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802Changes in version 1.23:
803
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804The user can define YYPARSE_PARAM as the name of an argument to be
805passed into yyparse. The argument should have type void *. It should
806actually point to an object. Grammar actions can access the variable
807by casting it to the proper pointer type.
6780ca7a 808
6780ca7a 809Line numbers in output file corrected.
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810\f
811Changes in version 1.22:
812
813--help option added.
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814\f
815Changes in version 1.20:
816
817Output file does not redefine const for C++.
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818
819Local Variables:
820mode: outline
821End:
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822
823-----
824
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825Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
8262004, 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
76551463 827
75eb3bc4 828This file is part of Bison, the GNU Compiler Compiler.
76551463 829
75eb3bc4 830Bison is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
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831it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
832the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
833any later version.
834
75eb3bc4 835Bison is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
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836but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
837MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
838GNU General Public License for more details.
839
840You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
841along with autoconf; see the file COPYING. If not, write to
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842the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
843Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.