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3af4feb2 3
8fa36911 4Changes in version ?.? (????-??-??):
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6* %language is an experimental feature.
7
8 We first introduced this feature in test release 2.3b as a cleaner
9 alternative to %skeleton. Since then, we have discussed the possibility of
10 modifying its effect on Bison's output file names. Thus, in this release,
11 we consider %language to be an experimental feature that will likely evolve
12 in future releases.
7bd1665a 13
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14* Forward compatibility with GNU M4 has been improved.
15
16* Several bugs in the C++ skeleton and the experimental Java skeleton have been
17 fixed.
18
72c5b982 19Changes in version 2.3b (2008-05-27):
35fe0834 20
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21* The quotes around NAME that used to be required in the following directive
22 are now deprecated:
23
24 %define NAME "VALUE"
25
26* The directive `%pure-parser' is now deprecated in favor of:
27
28 %define api.pure
29
30 which has the same effect except that Bison is more careful to warn about
31 unreasonable usage in the latter case.
32
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33* Push Parsing
34
35 Bison can now generate an LALR(1) parser in C with a push interface. That
ef1b4273 36 is, instead of invoking `yyparse', which pulls tokens from `yylex', you can
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37 push one token at a time to the parser using `yypush_parse', which will
38 return to the caller after processing each token. By default, the push
39 interface is disabled. Either of the following directives will enable it:
40
41 %define api.push_pull "push" // Just push; does not require yylex.
42 %define api.push_pull "both" // Push and pull; requires yylex.
43
44 See the new section `A Push Parser' in the Bison manual for details.
45
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46 The current push parsing interface is experimental and may evolve. More user
47 feedback will help to stabilize it.
48
c373bf8b 49* The -g and --graph options now output graphs in Graphviz DOT format,
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50 not VCG format. Like --graph, -g now also takes an optional FILE argument
51 and thus cannot be bundled with other short options.
c373bf8b 52
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53* Java
54
55 Bison can now generate an LALR(1) parser in Java. The skeleton is
56 `data/lalr1.java'. Consider using the new %language directive instead of
57 %skeleton to select it.
58
59 See the new section `Java Parsers' in the Bison manual for details.
60
61 The current Java interface is experimental and may evolve. More user
62 feedback will help to stabilize it.
63
64* %language
65
66 This new directive specifies the programming language of the generated
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67 parser, which can be C (the default), C++, or Java. Besides the skeleton
68 that Bison uses, the directive affects the names of the generated files if
69 the grammar file's name ends in ".y".
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70
71* XML Automaton Report
72
73 Bison can now generate an XML report of the LALR(1) automaton using the new
74 `--xml' option. The current XML schema is experimental and may evolve. More
75 user feedback will help to stabilize it.
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76
77* The grammar file may now specify the name of the parser header file using
78 %defines. For example:
79
80 %defines "parser.h"
81
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82* When reporting useless rules, useless nonterminals, and unused terminals,
83 Bison now employs the terms "useless in grammar" instead of "useless",
84 "useless in parser" instead of "never reduced", and "unused in grammar"
85 instead of "unused".
cff03fb2 86
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87* Unreachable State Removal
88
89 Previously, Bison sometimes generated parser tables containing unreachable
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90 states. A state can become unreachable during conflict resolution if Bison
91 disables a shift action leading to it from a predecessor state. Bison now:
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92
93 1. Removes unreachable states.
94
95 2. Does not report any conflicts that appeared in unreachable states.
96 WARNING: As a result, you may need to update %expect and %expect-rr
97 directives in existing grammar files.
98
99 3. For any rule used only in such states, Bison now reports the rule as
cff03fb2 100 "useless in parser due to conflicts".
75ad86ee 101
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102 This feature can be disabled with the following directive:
103
104 %define lr.keep_unreachable_states
105
106 See the %define entry in the `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison manual
107 for further discussion.
108
c373bf8b 109* Lookahead Set Correction in the `.output' Report
b1cc23c4 110
c373bf8b 111 When instructed to generate a `.output' file including lookahead sets
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112 (using `--report=lookahead', for example), Bison now prints each reduction's
113 lookahead set only next to the associated state's one item that (1) is
114 associated with the same rule as the reduction and (2) has its dot at the end
115 of its RHS. Previously, Bison also erroneously printed the lookahead set
116 next to all of the state's other items associated with the same rule. This
117 bug affected only the `.output' file and not the generated parser source
118 code.
119
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120* --report-file=FILE is a new option to override the default `.output' file
121 name.
1bb2bd75 122
16dc6a9e 123* The `=' that used to be required in the following directives is now
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124 deprecated:
125
126 %file-prefix "parser"
127 %name-prefix "c_"
128 %output "parser.c"
129
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130* An Alternative to `%{...%}' -- `%code QUALIFIER {CODE}'
131
132 Bison 2.3a provided a new set of directives as a more flexible alternative to
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133 the traditional Yacc prologue blocks. Those have now been consolidated into
134 a single %code directive with an optional qualifier field, which identifies
135 the purpose of the code and thus the location(s) where Bison should generate
136 it:
137
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138 1. `%code {CODE}' replaces `%after-header {CODE}'
139 2. `%code requires {CODE}' replaces `%start-header {CODE}'
140 3. `%code provides {CODE}' replaces `%end-header {CODE}'
141 4. `%code top {CODE}' replaces `%before-header {CODE}'
8e0a5e9e 142
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143 See the %code entries in section `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison
144 manual for a summary of the new functionality. See the new section `Prologue
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145 Alternatives' for a detailed discussion including the advantages of %code
146 over the traditional Yacc prologues.
147
148 The prologue alternatives are experimental. More user feedback will help to
149 determine whether they should become permanent features.
150
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151* Revised warning: unset or unused mid-rule values
152
153 Since Bison 2.2, Bison has warned about mid-rule values that are set but not
154 used within any of the actions of the parent rule. For example, Bison warns
155 about unused $2 in:
156
157 exp: '1' { $$ = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $1 + $4; };
158
159 Now, Bison also warns about mid-rule values that are used but not set. For
160 example, Bison warns about unset $$ in the mid-rule action in:
161
162 exp: '1' { $1 = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $2 + $4; };
163
164 However, Bison now disables both of these warnings by default since they
165 sometimes prove to be false alarms in existing grammars employing the Yacc
166 constructs $0 or $-N (where N is some positive integer).
167
59da312b 168 To enable these warnings, specify the option `--warnings=midrule-values' or
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169 `-W', which is a synonym for `--warnings=all'.
170
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171* Default %destructor or %printer with `<*>' or `<>'
172
173 Bison now recognizes two separate kinds of default %destructor's and
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174 %printer's:
175
176 1. Place `<*>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
177 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols for which you have formally
178 declared semantic type tags.
179
3ebecc24 180 2. Place `<>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
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181 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols without declared semantic
182 type tags.
183
184 Bison no longer supports the `%symbol-default' notation from Bison 2.3a.
3ebecc24 185 `<*>' and `<>' combined achieve the same effect with one exception: Bison no
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186 longer applies any %destructor to a mid-rule value if that mid-rule value is
187 not actually ever referenced using either $$ or $n in a semantic action.
188
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189 The default %destructor's and %printer's are experimental. More user
190 feedback will help to determine whether they should become permanent
191 features.
192
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193 See the section `Freeing Discarded Symbols' in the Bison manual for further
194 details.
195
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196* %left, %right, and %nonassoc can now declare token numbers. This is required
197 by POSIX. However, see the end of section `Operator Precedence' in the Bison
198 manual for a caveat concerning the treatment of literal strings.
199
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200* The nonfunctional --no-parser, -n, and %no-parser options have been
201 completely removed from Bison.
202
21fe08ca 203Changes in version 2.3a, 2006-09-13:
742e4900 204
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205* Instead of %union, you can define and use your own union type
206 YYSTYPE if your grammar contains at least one <type> tag.
207 Your YYSTYPE need not be a macro; it can be a typedef.
208 This change is for compatibility with other Yacc implementations,
209 and is required by POSIX.
210
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211* Locations columns and lines start at 1.
212 In accordance with the GNU Coding Standards and Emacs.
213
b2a0b7ca 214* You may now declare per-type and default %destructor's and %printer's:
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215
216 For example:
217
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218 %union { char *string; }
219 %token <string> STRING1
220 %token <string> STRING2
221 %type <string> string1
222 %type <string> string2
223 %union { char character; }
224 %token <character> CHR
225 %type <character> chr
226 %destructor { free ($$); } %symbol-default
227 %destructor { free ($$); printf ("%d", @$.first_line); } STRING1 string1
228 %destructor { } <character>
229
230 guarantees that, when the parser discards any user-defined symbol that has a
231 semantic type tag other than `<character>', it passes its semantic value to
232 `free'. However, when the parser discards a `STRING1' or a `string1', it
233 also prints its line number to `stdout'. It performs only the second
234 `%destructor' in this case, so it invokes `free' only once.
ec5479ce 235
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236 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the default
237 %destructor's and %printer's were experimental, and they were rewritten in
238 future versions.]
239
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240* Except for LALR(1) parsers in C with POSIX Yacc emulation enabled (with `-y',
241 `--yacc', or `%yacc'), Bison no longer generates #define statements for
242 associating token numbers with token names. Removing the #define statements
243 helps to sanitize the global namespace during preprocessing, but POSIX Yacc
244 requires them. Bison still generates an enum for token names in all cases.
245
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246* Handling of traditional Yacc prologue blocks is now more consistent but
247 potentially incompatible with previous releases of Bison.
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248
249 As before, you declare prologue blocks in your grammar file with the
250 `%{ ... %}' syntax. To generate the pre-prologue, Bison concatenates all
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251 prologue blocks that you've declared before the first %union. To generate
252 the post-prologue, Bison concatenates all prologue blocks that you've
ddc8ede1 253 declared after the first %union.
9bc0dd67 254
34f98f46 255 Previous releases of Bison inserted the pre-prologue into both the header
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256 file and the code file in all cases except for LALR(1) parsers in C. In the
257 latter case, Bison inserted it only into the code file. For parsers in C++,
258 the point of insertion was before any token definitions (which associate
259 token numbers with names). For parsers in C, the point of insertion was
260 after the token definitions.
261
262 Now, Bison never inserts the pre-prologue into the header file. In the code
263 file, it always inserts it before the token definitions.
264
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265* Bison now provides a more flexible alternative to the traditional Yacc
266 prologue blocks: %before-header, %start-header, %end-header, and
267 %after-header.
268
269 For example, the following declaration order in the grammar file reflects the
270 order in which Bison will output these code blocks. However, you are free to
271 declare these code blocks in your grammar file in whatever order is most
272 convenient for you:
273
274 %before-header {
275 /* Bison treats this block like a pre-prologue block: it inserts it into
276 * the code file before the contents of the header file. It does *not*
277 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to put
278 * #include's that you want at the top of your code file. A common
279 * example is `#include "system.h"'. */
280 }
281 %start-header {
282 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
283 * In both files, the point of insertion is before any Bison-generated
284 * token, semantic type, location type, and class definitions. This is a
285 * good place to define %union dependencies, for example. */
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286 }
287 %union {
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288 /* Unlike the traditional Yacc prologue blocks, the output order for the
289 * new %*-header blocks is not affected by their declaration position
290 * relative to any %union in the grammar file. */
9bc0dd67 291 }
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292 %end-header {
293 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
294 * In both files, the point of insertion is after the Bison-generated
295 * definitions. This is a good place to declare or define public
296 * functions or data structures that depend on the Bison-generated
297 * definitions. */
9bc0dd67 298 }
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299 %after-header {
300 /* Bison treats this block like a post-prologue block: it inserts it into
301 * the code file after the contents of the header file. It does *not*
302 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to declare or
303 * define internal functions or data structures that depend on the
304 * Bison-generated definitions. */
305 }
306
307 If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above declarations, Bison
308 will concatenate the contents in declaration order.
9bc0dd67 309
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310 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the prologue
311 alternatives were experimental, and they were rewritten in future versions.]
312
742e4900 313* The option `--report=look-ahead' has been changed to `--report=lookahead'.
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314 The old spelling still works, but is not documented and may be removed
315 in a future release.
742e4900 316
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317Changes in version 2.3, 2006-06-05:
318
319* GLR grammars should now use `YYRECOVERING ()' instead of `YYRECOVERING',
320 for compatibility with LALR(1) grammars.
321
322* It is now documented that any definition of YYSTYPE or YYLTYPE should
323 be to a type name that does not contain parentheses or brackets.
324
ab8d9dc5 325Changes in version 2.2, 2006-05-19:
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326
327* The distribution terms for all Bison-generated parsers now permit
328 using the parsers in nonfree programs. Previously, this permission
329 was granted only for Bison-generated LALR(1) parsers in C.
5f4236a0 330
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331* %name-prefix changes the namespace name in C++ outputs.
332
333* The C++ parsers export their token_type.
5f4236a0 334
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335* Bison now allows multiple %union declarations, and concatenates
336 their contents together.
337
affac613 338* New warning: unused values
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339 Right-hand side symbols whose values are not used are reported,
340 if the symbols have destructors. For instance:
affac613 341
8f3596a6 342 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; }
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343 | exp "+" exp
344 ;
affac613 345
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346 will trigger a warning about $$ and $5 in the first rule, and $3 in
347 the second ($1 is copied to $$ by the default rule). This example
4e26c69e 348 most likely contains three errors, and could be rewritten as:
affac613 349
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350 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp
351 { $$ = $1 ? $3 : $5; free ($1 ? $5 : $3); free ($1); }
352 | exp "+" exp
353 { $$ = $1 ? $1 : $3; if ($1) free ($3); }
721be13c 354 ;
affac613 355
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356 However, if the original actions were really intended, memory leaks
357 and all, the warnings can be suppressed by letting Bison believe the
358 values are used, e.g.:
721be13c 359
8f3596a6 360 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; (void) ($$, $5); }
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361 | exp "+" exp { $$ = $1; (void) $3; }
362 ;
363
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364 If there are mid-rule actions, the warning is issued if no action
365 uses it. The following triggers no warning: $1 and $3 are used.
366
367 exp: exp { push ($1); } '+' exp { push ($3); sum (); };
368
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369 The warning is intended to help catching lost values and memory leaks.
370 If a value is ignored, its associated memory typically is not reclaimed.
affac613 371
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372* %destructor vs. YYABORT, YYACCEPT, and YYERROR.
373 Destructors are now called when user code invokes YYABORT, YYACCEPT,
374 and YYERROR, for all objects on the stack, other than objects
375 corresponding to the right-hand side of the current rule.
a85284cf 376
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377* %expect, %expect-rr
378 Incorrect numbers of expected conflicts are now actual errors,
379 instead of warnings.
380
4b367315 381* GLR, YACC parsers.
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382 The %parse-params are available in the destructors (and the
383 experimental printers) as per the documentation.
4b367315 384
302c0aee 385* Bison now warns if it finds a stray `$' or `@' in an action.
ad6a9b97 386
b50d2359 387* %require "VERSION"
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388 This specifies that the grammar file depends on features implemented
389 in Bison version VERSION or higher.
b50d2359 390
fb9712a9 391* lalr1.cc: The token and value types are now class members.
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392 The tokens were defined as free form enums and cpp macros. YYSTYPE
393 was defined as a free form union. They are now class members:
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394 tokens are enumerations of the `yy::parser::token' struct, and the
395 semantic values have the `yy::parser::semantic_type' type.
396
397 If you do not want or can update to this scheme, the directive
398 `%define "global_tokens_and_yystype" "1"' triggers the global
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399 definition of tokens and YYSTYPE. This change is suitable both
400 for previous releases of Bison, and this one.
fb9712a9 401
b50d2359 402 If you wish to update, then make sure older version of Bison will
ab8d9dc5 403 fail using `%require "2.2"'.
fb9712a9 404
302c0aee 405* DJGPP support added.
193d7c70 406\f
1bd0deda 407Changes in version 2.1, 2005-09-16:
1ce59070 408
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409* The C++ lalr1.cc skeleton supports %lex-param.
410
a7db4add 411* Bison-generated parsers now support the translation of diagnostics like
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412 "syntax error" into languages other than English. The default
413 language is still English. For details, please see the new
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414 Internationalization section of the Bison manual. Software
415 distributors should also see the new PACKAGING file. Thanks to
416 Bruno Haible for this new feature.
1ce59070 417
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418* Wording in the Bison-generated parsers has been changed slightly to
419 simplify translation. In particular, the message "memory exhausted"
420 has replaced "parser stack overflow", as the old message was not
421 always accurate for modern Bison-generated parsers.
422
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423* Destructors are now called when the parser aborts, for all symbols left
424 behind on the stack. Also, the start symbol is now destroyed after a
425 successful parse. In both cases, the behavior was formerly inconsistent.
426
a7db4add 427* When generating verbose diagnostics, Bison-generated parsers no longer
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428 quote the literal strings associated with tokens. For example, for
429 a syntax error associated with '%token NUM "number"' they might
430 print 'syntax error, unexpected number' instead of 'syntax error,
431 unexpected "number"'.
193d7c70 432\f
82de6b0d 433Changes in version 2.0, 2004-12-25:
efeed023 434
82de6b0d 435* Possibly-incompatible changes
d7e14fc0 436
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437 - Bison-generated parsers no longer default to using the alloca function
438 (when available) to extend the parser stack, due to widespread
439 problems in unchecked stack-overflow detection. You can "#define
440 YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA 1" to require the use of alloca, but please read
441 the manual to determine safe values for YYMAXDEPTH in that case.
8dd162d3 442
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443 - Error token location.
444 During error recovery, the location of the syntax error is updated
445 to cover the whole sequence covered by the error token: it includes
446 the shifted symbols thrown away during the first part of the error
447 recovery, and the lookahead rejected during the second part.
18d192f0 448
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449 - Semicolon changes:
450 . Stray semicolons are no longer allowed at the start of a grammar.
451 . Semicolons are now required after in-grammar declarations.
e342c3be 452
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453 - Unescaped newlines are no longer allowed in character constants or
454 string literals. They were never portable, and GCC 3.4.0 has
455 dropped support for them. Better diagnostics are now generated if
456 forget a closing quote.
8dd162d3 457
82de6b0d 458 - NUL bytes are no longer allowed in Bison string literals, unfortunately.
f74b6f91 459
82de6b0d 460* New features
1452af69 461
82de6b0d 462 - GLR grammars now support locations.
4febdd96 463
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464 - New directive: %initial-action.
465 This directive allows the user to run arbitrary code (including
466 initializing @$) from yyparse before parsing starts.
1452af69 467
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468 - A new directive "%expect-rr N" specifies the expected number of
469 reduce/reduce conflicts in GLR parsers.
1452af69 470
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471 - %token numbers can now be hexadecimal integers, e.g., `%token FOO 0x12d'.
472 This is a GNU extension.
4febdd96 473
82de6b0d 474 - The option `--report=lookahead' was changed to `--report=look-ahead'.
9e6e7ed2 475 [However, this was changed back after 2.3.]
1452af69 476
82de6b0d 477 - Experimental %destructor support has been added to lalr1.cc.
1452af69 478
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479 - New configure option --disable-yacc, to disable installation of the
480 yacc command and -ly library introduced in 1.875 for POSIX conformance.
6040d338 481
82de6b0d 482* Bug fixes
d5a3fe37 483
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484 - For now, %expect-count violations are now just warnings, not errors.
485 This is for compatibility with Bison 1.75 and earlier (when there are
486 reduce/reduce conflicts) and with Bison 1.30 and earlier (when there
487 are too many or too few shift/reduce conflicts). However, in future
488 versions of Bison we plan to improve the %expect machinery so that
489 these violations will become errors again.
3473d0f8 490
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491 - Within Bison itself, numbers (e.g., goto numbers) are no longer
492 arbitrarily limited to 16-bit counts.
d600ee67 493
82de6b0d 494 - Semicolons are now allowed before "|" in grammar rules, as POSIX requires.
d600ee67 495\f
dc546b0f 496Changes in version 1.875, 2003-01-01:
963fcc17 497
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498* The documentation license has been upgraded to version 1.2
499 of the GNU Free Documentation License.
75eb3bc4 500
dc546b0f 501* syntax error processing
75eb3bc4 502
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503 - In Yacc-style parsers YYLLOC_DEFAULT is now used to compute error
504 locations too. This fixes bugs in error-location computation.
75eb3bc4 505
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506 - %destructor
507 It is now possible to reclaim the memory associated to symbols
508 discarded during error recovery. This feature is still experimental.
20daca06 509
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510 - %error-verbose
511 This new directive is preferred over YYERROR_VERBOSE.
74724a70 512
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513 - #defining yyerror to steal internal variables is discouraged.
514 It is not guaranteed to work forever.
d1de5372 515
dc546b0f 516* POSIX conformance
d1de5372 517
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518 - Semicolons are once again optional at the end of grammar rules.
519 This reverts to the behavior of Bison 1.33 and earlier, and improves
520 compatibility with Yacc.
74724a70 521
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522 - `parse error' -> `syntax error'
523 Bison now uniformly uses the term `syntax error'; formerly, the code
524 and manual sometimes used the term `parse error' instead. POSIX
525 requires `syntax error' in diagnostics, and it was thought better to
526 be consistent.
74724a70 527
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528 - The documentation now emphasizes that yylex and yyerror must be
529 declared before use. C99 requires this.
d1de5372 530
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531 - Bison now parses C99 lexical constructs like UCNs and
532 backslash-newline within C escape sequences, as POSIX 1003.1-2001 requires.
d1de5372 533
dc546b0f
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534 - File names are properly escaped in C output. E.g., foo\bar.y is
535 output as "foo\\bar.y".
6780ca7a 536
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537 - Yacc command and library now available
538 The Bison distribution now installs a `yacc' command, as POSIX requires.
539 Also, Bison now installs a small library liby.a containing
540 implementations of Yacc-compatible yyerror and main functions.
541 This library is normally not useful, but POSIX requires it.
6e649e65 542
dc546b0f 543 - Type clashes now generate warnings, not errors.
6e649e65 544
dc546b0f
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545 - If the user does not define YYSTYPE as a macro, Bison now declares it
546 using typedef instead of defining it as a macro.
547 For consistency, YYLTYPE is also declared instead of defined.
9501dc6e 548
dc546b0f 549* Other compatibility issues
886a425c 550
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551 - %union directives can now have a tag before the `{', e.g., the
552 directive `%union foo {...}' now generates the C code
553 `typedef union foo { ... } YYSTYPE;'; this is for Yacc compatibility.
554 The default union tag is `YYSTYPE', for compatibility with Solaris 9 Yacc.
555 For consistency, YYLTYPE's struct tag is now `YYLTYPE' not `yyltype'.
556 This is for compatibility with both Yacc and Bison 1.35.
72f889cc 557
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558 - `;' is output before the terminating `}' of an action, for
559 compatibility with Bison 1.35.
886a425c 560
dc546b0f
PE
561 - Bison now uses a Yacc-style format for conflict reports, e.g.,
562 `conflicts: 2 shift/reduce, 1 reduce/reduce'.
437c2d80 563
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564 - `yystype' and `yyltype' are now obsolescent macros instead of being
565 typedefs or tags; they are no longer documented and are planned to be
566 withdrawn in a future release.
2a8d363a 567
dc546b0f 568* GLR parser notes
2a8d363a 569
dc546b0f
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570 - GLR and inline
571 Users of Bison have to decide how they handle the portability of the
572 C keyword `inline'.
959e5f51 573
dc546b0f
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574 - `parsing stack overflow...' -> `parser stack overflow'
575 GLR parsers now report `parser stack overflow' as per the Bison manual.
900c5db5 576
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577* Bison now warns if it detects conflicting outputs to the same file,
578 e.g., it generates a warning for `bison -d -o foo.h foo.y' since
579 that command outputs both code and header to foo.h.
6e40b4eb 580
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581* #line in output files
582 - --no-line works properly.
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583
584* Bison can no longer be built by a K&R C compiler; it requires C89 or
585 later to be built. This change originally took place a few versions
586 ago, but nobody noticed until we recently asked someone to try
587 building Bison with a K&R C compiler.
d600ee67 588\f
5c16c6b1 589Changes in version 1.75, 2002-10-14:
7933f2b5
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590
591* Bison should now work on 64-bit hosts.
592
b7195100 593* Indonesian translation thanks to Tedi Heriyanto.
7933f2b5 594
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595* GLR parsers
596 Fix spurious parse errors.
597
598* Pure parsers
599 Some people redefine yyerror to steal yyparse' private variables.
600 Reenable this trick until an official feature replaces it.
601
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602* Type Clashes
603 In agreement with POSIX and with other Yaccs, leaving a default
604 action is valid when $$ is untyped, and $1 typed:
605
606 untyped: ... typed;
607
608 but the converse remains an error:
609
610 typed: ... untyped;
611
612* Values of mid-rule actions
613 The following code:
614
615 foo: { ... } { $$ = $1; } ...
616
617 was incorrectly rejected: $1 is defined in the second mid-rule
618 action, and is equal to the $$ of the first mid-rule action.
d600ee67 619\f
420f93c8 620Changes in version 1.50, 2002-10-04:
adc8c848 621
676385e2
PH
622* GLR parsing
623 The declaration
624 %glr-parser
625 causes Bison to produce a Generalized LR (GLR) parser, capable of handling
626 almost any context-free grammar, ambiguous or not. The new declarations
e8832397 627 %dprec and %merge on grammar rules allow parse-time resolution of
676385e2
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628 ambiguities. Contributed by Paul Hilfinger.
629
7933f2b5 630 Unfortunately Bison 1.50 does not work properly on 64-bit hosts
420f93c8
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631 like the Alpha, so please stick to 32-bit hosts for now.
632
8c165d89
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633* Output Directory
634 When not in Yacc compatibility mode, when the output file was not
e88dbdbf 635 specified, running `bison foo/bar.y' created `foo/bar.c'. It
8c165d89
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636 now creates `bar.c'.
637
007a50a4
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638* Undefined token
639 The undefined token was systematically mapped to 2 which prevented
e88dbdbf 640 the use of 2 by the user. This is no longer the case.
007a50a4 641
77714df2 642* Unknown token numbers
e88dbdbf 643 If yylex returned an out of range value, yyparse could die. This is
007a50a4
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644 no longer the case.
645
23c5a174 646* Error token
e88dbdbf 647 According to POSIX, the error token must be 256.
23c5a174
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648 Bison extends this requirement by making it a preference: *if* the
649 user specified that one of her tokens is numbered 256, then error
650 will be mapped onto another number.
651
217598da 652* Verbose error messages
e88dbdbf 653 They no longer report `..., expecting error or...' for states where
217598da
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654 error recovery is possible.
655
656* End token
657 Defaults to `$end' instead of `$'.
658
68cd8af3
PE
659* Error recovery now conforms to documentation and to POSIX
660 When a Bison-generated parser encounters a syntax error, it now pops
661 the stack until it finds a state that allows shifting the error
662 token. Formerly, it popped the stack until it found a state that
663 allowed some non-error action other than a default reduction on the
664 error token. The new behavior has long been the documented behavior,
665 and has long been required by POSIX. For more details, please see
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666 Paul Eggert, "Reductions during Bison error handling" (2002-05-20)
667 <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-bison/2002-05/msg00038.html>.
68cd8af3 668
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669* Traces
670 Popped tokens and nonterminals are now reported.
671
a861a339
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672* Larger grammars
673 Larger grammars are now supported (larger token numbers, larger grammar
674 size (= sum of the LHS and RHS lengths), larger LALR tables).
675 Formerly, many of these numbers ran afoul of 16-bit limits;
676 now these limits are 32 bits on most hosts.
355e7c1c 677
77714df2 678* Explicit initial rule
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679 Bison used to play hacks with the initial rule, which the user does
680 not write. It is now explicit, and visible in the reports and
681 graphs as rule 0.
23c5a174 682
77714df2 683* Useless rules
643a5994 684 Before, Bison reported the useless rules, but, although not used,
77714df2 685 included them in the parsers. They are now actually removed.
23c5a174 686
6b98e4b5
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687* Useless rules, useless nonterminals
688 They are now reported, as a warning, with their locations.
689
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690* Rules never reduced
691 Rules that can never be reduced because of conflicts are now
692 reported.
693
77714df2 694* Incorrect `Token not used'
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695 On a grammar such as
696
697 %token useless useful
698 %%
699 exp: '0' %prec useful;
700
701 where a token was used to set the precedence of the last rule,
702 bison reported both `useful' and `useless' as useless tokens.
703
77714df2
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704* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31
705 as they caused too many portability hassles.
0179dd65 706
b2d52318
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707* Default locations
708 By an accident of design, the default computation of @$ was
709 performed after another default computation was performed: @$ = @1.
710 The latter is now removed: YYLLOC_DEFAULT is fully responsible of
711 the computation of @$.
adc8c848 712
b7c49edf
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713* Token end-of-file
714 The token end of file may be specified by the user, in which case,
715 the user symbol is used in the reports, the graphs, and the verbose
a861a339 716 error messages instead of `$end', which remains being the default.
b7c49edf 717 For instance
7bd6c77e 718 %token MYEOF 0
b7c49edf 719 or
7bd6c77e 720 %token MYEOF 0 "end of file"
fdbcd8e2
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721
722* Semantic parser
723 This old option, which has been broken for ages, is removed.
724
a861a339
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725* New translations
726 Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to Alexandre Folle de Menezes.
84614e13
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727 Croatian, thanks to Denis Lackovic.
728
77714df2 729* Incorrect token definitions
e88dbdbf 730 When given `%token 'a' "A"', Bison used to output `#define 'a' 65'.
b87f8b21 731
77714df2
AD
732* Token definitions as enums
733 Tokens are output both as the traditional #define's, and, provided
734 the compiler supports ANSI C or is a C++ compiler, as enums.
e88dbdbf 735 This lets debuggers display names instead of integers.
77714df2 736
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737* Reports
738 In addition to --verbose, bison supports --report=THINGS, which
739 produces additional information:
b408954b
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740 - itemset
741 complete the core item sets with their closure
9e6e7ed2
PE
742 - lookahead [changed to `look-ahead' in 1.875e through 2.3, but changed back]
743 explicitly associate lookahead tokens to items
b408954b
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744 - solved
745 describe shift/reduce conflicts solving.
746 Bison used to systematically output this information on top of
747 the report. Solved conflicts are now attached to their states.
ec3bc396 748
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749* Type clashes
750 Previous versions don't complain when there is a type clash on
751 the default action if the rule has a mid-rule action, such as in:
752
753 %type <foo> bar
754 %%
755 bar: '0' {} '0';
756
757 This is fixed.
a861a339
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758
759* GNU M4 is now required when using Bison.
f987e9d2 760\f
76551463
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761Changes in version 1.35, 2002-03-25:
762
763* C Skeleton
764 Some projects use Bison's C parser with C++ compilers, and define
765 YYSTYPE as a class. The recent adjustment of C parsers for data
766 alignment and 64 bit architectures made this impossible.
767
768 Because for the time being no real solution for C++ parser
769 generation exists, kludges were implemented in the parser to
770 maintain this use. In the future, when Bison has C++ parsers, this
771 kludge will be disabled.
772
773 This kludge also addresses some C++ problems when the stack was
774 extended.
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775\f
776Changes in version 1.34, 2002-03-12:
777
778* File name clashes are detected
779 $ bison foo.y -d -o foo.x
780 fatal error: header and parser would both be named `foo.x'
781
782* A missing `;' at the end of a rule triggers a warning
783 In accordance with POSIX, and in agreement with other
784 Yacc implementations, Bison will mandate this semicolon in the near
785 future. This eases the implementation of a Bison parser of Bison
786 grammars by making this grammar LALR(1) instead of LR(2). To
787 facilitate the transition, this release introduces a warning.
788
789* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31, as they caused too
790 many portability hassles.
791
792* DJGPP support added.
793
794* Fix test suite portability problems.
795\f
796Changes in version 1.33, 2002-02-07:
797
798* Fix C++ issues
799 Groff could not be compiled for the definition of size_t was lacking
800 under some conditions.
801
802* Catch invalid @n
803 As is done with $n.
804\f
805Changes in version 1.32, 2002-01-23:
806
807* Fix Yacc output file names
808
809* Portability fixes
810
811* Italian, Dutch translations
812\f
52d1aeee
MA
813Changes in version 1.31, 2002-01-14:
814
815* Many Bug Fixes
816
817* GNU Gettext and %expect
818 GNU Gettext asserts 10 s/r conflicts, but there are 7. Now that
819 Bison dies on incorrect %expectations, we fear there will be
820 too many bug reports for Gettext, so _for the time being_, %expect
821 does not trigger an error when the input file is named `plural.y'.
822
823* Use of alloca in parsers
824 If YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA is defined to 0, then the parsers will use
825 malloc exclusively. Since 1.29, but was not NEWS'ed.
826
827 alloca is used only when compiled with GCC, to avoid portability
828 problems as on AIX.
829
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PE
830* yyparse now returns 2 if memory is exhausted; formerly it dumped core.
831
52d1aeee
MA
832* When the generated parser lacks debugging code, YYDEBUG is now 0
833 (as POSIX requires) instead of being undefined.
834
835* User Actions
836 Bison has always permitted actions such as { $$ = $1 }: it adds the
837 ending semicolon. Now if in Yacc compatibility mode, the semicolon
838 is no longer output: one has to write { $$ = $1; }.
839
840* Better C++ compliance
841 The output parsers try to respect C++ namespaces.
76551463 842 [This turned out to be a failed experiment, and it was reverted later.]
52d1aeee
MA
843
844* Reduced Grammars
845 Fixed bugs when reporting useless nonterminals.
846
847* 64 bit hosts
848 The parsers work properly on 64 bit hosts.
849
850* Error messages
851 Some calls to strerror resulted in scrambled or missing error messages.
852
853* %expect
854 When the number of shift/reduce conflicts is correct, don't issue
855 any warning.
856
857* The verbose report includes the rule line numbers.
858
859* Rule line numbers are fixed in traces.
860
861* Swedish translation
862
863* Parse errors
864 Verbose parse error messages from the parsers are better looking.
865 Before: parse error: unexpected `'/'', expecting `"number"' or `'-'' or `'(''
866 Now: parse error: unexpected '/', expecting "number" or '-' or '('
867
868* Fixed parser memory leaks.
869 When the generated parser was using malloc to extend its stacks, the
870 previous allocations were not freed.
871
872* Fixed verbose output file.
873 Some newlines were missing.
874 Some conflicts in state descriptions were missing.
875
876* Fixed conflict report.
877 Option -v was needed to get the result.
878
879* %expect
880 Was not used.
881 Mismatches are errors, not warnings.
882
883* Fixed incorrect processing of some invalid input.
884
885* Fixed CPP guards: 9foo.h uses BISON_9FOO_H instead of 9FOO_H.
886
887* Fixed some typos in the documentation.
888
889* %token MY_EOF 0 is supported.
890 Before, MY_EOF was silently renumbered as 257.
891
892* doc/refcard.tex is updated.
893
894* %output, %file-prefix, %name-prefix.
895 New.
896
897* --output
898 New, aliasing `--output-file'.
899\f
76551463 900Changes in version 1.30, 2001-10-26:
342b8b6e 901
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PE
902* `--defines' and `--graph' have now an optional argument which is the
903 output file name. `-d' and `-g' do not change; they do not take any
342b8b6e
AD
904 argument.
905
906* `%source_extension' and `%header_extension' are removed, failed
907 experiment.
908
f987e9d2
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909* Portability fixes.
910\f
9f4503d6 911Changes in version 1.29, 2001-09-07:
342b8b6e
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912
913* The output file does not define const, as this caused problems when used
914 with common autoconfiguration schemes. If you still use ancient compilers
915 that lack const, compile with the equivalent of the C compiler option
916 `-Dconst='. autoconf's AC_C_CONST macro provides one way to do this.
917
918* Added `-g' and `--graph'.
f87a2205 919
f2b5126e
PB
920* The Bison manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL.
921
f1c63ced 922* The input and the output files has automatically a similar extension.
234a3be3 923
f87a2205
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924* Russian translation added.
925
926* NLS support updated; should hopefully be less troublesome.
927
928* Added the old Bison reference card.
c33638bb
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929
930* Added `--locations' and `%locations'.
6deb4447 931
cd5bd6ac
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932* Added `-S' and `--skeleton'.
933
62ab6972
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934* `%raw', `-r', `--raw' is disabled.
935
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936* Special characters are escaped when output. This solves the problems
937 of the #line lines with path names including backslashes.
938
6deb4447 939* New directives.
4ecbf796
MA
940 `%yacc', `%fixed_output_files', `%defines', `%no_parser', `%verbose',
941 `%debug', `%source_extension' and `%header_extension'.
f987e9d2
AD
942
943* @$
944 Automatic location tracking.
f87a2205 945\f
9f4503d6 946Changes in version 1.28, 1999-07-06:
d2e00347
JT
947
948* Should compile better now with K&R compilers.
949
950* Added NLS.
951
952* Fixed a problem with escaping the double quote character.
953
954* There is now a FAQ.
955\f
5c31c3c2
JT
956Changes in version 1.27:
957
958* The make rule which prevented bison.simple from being created on
959 some systems has been fixed.
960\f
961Changes in version 1.26:
4be07551
JT
962
963* Bison now uses automake.
964
965* New mailing lists: <bug-bison@gnu.org> and <help-bison@gnu.org>.
966
967* Token numbers now start at 257 as previously documented, not 258.
968
969* Bison honors the TMPDIR environment variable.
970
971* A couple of buffer overruns have been fixed.
f51dbca1
JT
972
973* Problems when closing files should now be reported.
974
975* Generated parsers should now work even on operating systems which do
976 not provide alloca().
4be07551 977\f
9f4503d6 978Changes in version 1.25, 1995-10-16:
df8878c5
RS
979
980* Errors in the input grammar are not fatal; Bison keeps reading
981the grammar file, and reports all the errors found in it.
8c44d3ec 982
df8878c5
RS
983* Tokens can now be specified as multiple-character strings: for
984example, you could use "<=" for a token which looks like <=, instead
985of chosing a name like LESSEQ.
986
987* The %token_table declaration says to write a table of tokens (names
988and numbers) into the parser file. The yylex function can use this
989table to recognize multiple-character string tokens, or for other
990purposes.
991
992* The %no_lines declaration says not to generate any #line preprocessor
993directives in the parser file.
994
995* The %raw declaration says to use internal Bison token numbers, not
996Yacc-compatible token numbers, when token names are defined as macros.
997
998* The --no-parser option produces the parser tables without including
999the parser engine; a project can now use its own parser engine.
1000The actions go into a separate file called NAME.act, in the form of
1001a switch statement body.
1002\f
6780ca7a
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1003Changes in version 1.23:
1004
4d019228
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1005The user can define YYPARSE_PARAM as the name of an argument to be
1006passed into yyparse. The argument should have type void *. It should
1007actually point to an object. Grammar actions can access the variable
1008by casting it to the proper pointer type.
6780ca7a 1009
6780ca7a 1010Line numbers in output file corrected.
6780ca7a
DM
1011\f
1012Changes in version 1.22:
1013
1014--help option added.
6780ca7a
DM
1015\f
1016Changes in version 1.20:
1017
1018Output file does not redefine const for C++.
9f4503d6
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1019
1020Local Variables:
1021mode: outline
1022End:
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1023
1024-----
1025
d6ca7905 1026Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
ab7f29f8 10272004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
76551463 1028
75eb3bc4 1029This file is part of Bison, the GNU Compiler Compiler.
76551463 1030
f16b0819 1031This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
76551463 1032it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
f16b0819
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1033the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
1034(at your option) any later version.
76551463 1035
f16b0819 1036This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
76551463
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1037but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
1038MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
1039GNU General Public License for more details.
1040
1041You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
f16b0819 1042along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.