]> git.saurik.com Git - bison.git/blame - NEWS
Fix unexpanded macros in GLR defines file.
[bison.git] / NEWS
CommitLineData
6780ca7a
DM
1Bison News
2----------
3af4feb2 3
d6fb461d 4* Changes in version ?.? (????-??-??):
c9ba9e59 5
738cde3e
AD
6** Temporary hack for adding a semicolon to the user action.
7
8 Bison used to prepend a trailing semicolon at the end of the user
9 action for reductions. This allowed actions such as
10
11 exp: exp "+" exp { $$ = $1 + $3 };
12
13 instead of
14
15 exp: exp "+" exp { $$ = $1 + $3; };
16
17 This prevents the future support for languages than do not use `;'
18 as C/C++/Java do. Yet some grammars still depend on this `feature'.
19 Bison 2.4.1 restores the previous behavior to leave more time for
20 grammars depending on the old behavior to be adjusted. Future
21 release of Bison will disable this feature.
c9ba9e59 22
d6fb461d 23* Changes in version 2.4 (2008-11-02):
7bd1665a 24
d6fb461d 25** %language is an experimental feature.
ed4d67dc
JD
26
27 We first introduced this feature in test release 2.3b as a cleaner
28 alternative to %skeleton. Since then, we have discussed the possibility of
29 modifying its effect on Bison's output file names. Thus, in this release,
30 we consider %language to be an experimental feature that will likely evolve
31 in future releases.
7bd1665a 32
d6fb461d 33** Forward compatibility with GNU M4 has been improved.
241fda7a 34
d6fb461d 35** Several bugs in the C++ skeleton and the experimental Java skeleton have been
241fda7a
JD
36 fixed.
37
d6fb461d 38* Changes in version 2.3b (2008-05-27):
35fe0834 39
d6fb461d 40** The quotes around NAME that used to be required in the following directive
d9df47b6
JD
41 are now deprecated:
42
43 %define NAME "VALUE"
44
d6fb461d 45** The directive `%pure-parser' is now deprecated in favor of:
d9df47b6
JD
46
47 %define api.pure
48
49 which has the same effect except that Bison is more careful to warn about
50 unreasonable usage in the latter case.
51
d6fb461d 52** Push Parsing
c373bf8b
JD
53
54 Bison can now generate an LALR(1) parser in C with a push interface. That
ef1b4273 55 is, instead of invoking `yyparse', which pulls tokens from `yylex', you can
c373bf8b
JD
56 push one token at a time to the parser using `yypush_parse', which will
57 return to the caller after processing each token. By default, the push
58 interface is disabled. Either of the following directives will enable it:
59
60 %define api.push_pull "push" // Just push; does not require yylex.
61 %define api.push_pull "both" // Push and pull; requires yylex.
62
63 See the new section `A Push Parser' in the Bison manual for details.
64
59da312b
JD
65 The current push parsing interface is experimental and may evolve. More user
66 feedback will help to stabilize it.
67
d6fb461d 68** The -g and --graph options now output graphs in Graphviz DOT format,
8e55b3aa
JD
69 not VCG format. Like --graph, -g now also takes an optional FILE argument
70 and thus cannot be bundled with other short options.
c373bf8b 71
d6fb461d 72** Java
59da312b
JD
73
74 Bison can now generate an LALR(1) parser in Java. The skeleton is
75 `data/lalr1.java'. Consider using the new %language directive instead of
76 %skeleton to select it.
77
78 See the new section `Java Parsers' in the Bison manual for details.
79
80 The current Java interface is experimental and may evolve. More user
81 feedback will help to stabilize it.
82
d6fb461d 83** %language
59da312b
JD
84
85 This new directive specifies the programming language of the generated
d43f77e7
PB
86 parser, which can be C (the default), C++, or Java. Besides the skeleton
87 that Bison uses, the directive affects the names of the generated files if
88 the grammar file's name ends in ".y".
59da312b 89
d6fb461d 90** XML Automaton Report
59da312b
JD
91
92 Bison can now generate an XML report of the LALR(1) automaton using the new
93 `--xml' option. The current XML schema is experimental and may evolve. More
94 user feedback will help to stabilize it.
c373bf8b 95
d6fb461d 96** The grammar file may now specify the name of the parser header file using
c373bf8b
JD
97 %defines. For example:
98
99 %defines "parser.h"
100
d6fb461d 101** When reporting useless rules, useless nonterminals, and unused terminals,
d80fb37a
JD
102 Bison now employs the terms "useless in grammar" instead of "useless",
103 "useless in parser" instead of "never reduced", and "unused in grammar"
104 instead of "unused".
cff03fb2 105
d6fb461d 106** Unreachable State Removal
c373bf8b
JD
107
108 Previously, Bison sometimes generated parser tables containing unreachable
31984206
JD
109 states. A state can become unreachable during conflict resolution if Bison
110 disables a shift action leading to it from a predecessor state. Bison now:
75ad86ee
JD
111
112 1. Removes unreachable states.
113
114 2. Does not report any conflicts that appeared in unreachable states.
115 WARNING: As a result, you may need to update %expect and %expect-rr
116 directives in existing grammar files.
117
118 3. For any rule used only in such states, Bison now reports the rule as
cff03fb2 119 "useless in parser due to conflicts".
75ad86ee 120
31984206
JD
121 This feature can be disabled with the following directive:
122
123 %define lr.keep_unreachable_states
124
125 See the %define entry in the `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison manual
126 for further discussion.
127
d6fb461d 128** Lookahead Set Correction in the `.output' Report
b1cc23c4 129
c373bf8b 130 When instructed to generate a `.output' file including lookahead sets
88c78747
JD
131 (using `--report=lookahead', for example), Bison now prints each reduction's
132 lookahead set only next to the associated state's one item that (1) is
133 associated with the same rule as the reduction and (2) has its dot at the end
134 of its RHS. Previously, Bison also erroneously printed the lookahead set
135 next to all of the state's other items associated with the same rule. This
136 bug affected only the `.output' file and not the generated parser source
137 code.
138
d6fb461d 139** --report-file=FILE is a new option to override the default `.output' file
59da312b 140 name.
1bb2bd75 141
d6fb461d 142** The `=' that used to be required in the following directives is now
02975b9a
JD
143 deprecated:
144
145 %file-prefix "parser"
146 %name-prefix "c_"
147 %output "parser.c"
148
d6fb461d 149** An Alternative to `%{...%}' -- `%code QUALIFIER {CODE}'
c373bf8b
JD
150
151 Bison 2.3a provided a new set of directives as a more flexible alternative to
8e0a5e9e
JD
152 the traditional Yacc prologue blocks. Those have now been consolidated into
153 a single %code directive with an optional qualifier field, which identifies
154 the purpose of the code and thus the location(s) where Bison should generate
155 it:
156
16dc6a9e
JD
157 1. `%code {CODE}' replaces `%after-header {CODE}'
158 2. `%code requires {CODE}' replaces `%start-header {CODE}'
159 3. `%code provides {CODE}' replaces `%end-header {CODE}'
160 4. `%code top {CODE}' replaces `%before-header {CODE}'
8e0a5e9e 161
61fee93e
JD
162 See the %code entries in section `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison
163 manual for a summary of the new functionality. See the new section `Prologue
8e0a5e9e
JD
164 Alternatives' for a detailed discussion including the advantages of %code
165 over the traditional Yacc prologues.
166
167 The prologue alternatives are experimental. More user feedback will help to
168 determine whether they should become permanent features.
169
d6fb461d 170** Revised warning: unset or unused mid-rule values
17bd8a73
JD
171
172 Since Bison 2.2, Bison has warned about mid-rule values that are set but not
173 used within any of the actions of the parent rule. For example, Bison warns
174 about unused $2 in:
175
176 exp: '1' { $$ = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $1 + $4; };
177
178 Now, Bison also warns about mid-rule values that are used but not set. For
179 example, Bison warns about unset $$ in the mid-rule action in:
180
181 exp: '1' { $1 = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $2 + $4; };
182
183 However, Bison now disables both of these warnings by default since they
184 sometimes prove to be false alarms in existing grammars employing the Yacc
185 constructs $0 or $-N (where N is some positive integer).
186
59da312b 187 To enable these warnings, specify the option `--warnings=midrule-values' or
17bd8a73
JD
188 `-W', which is a synonym for `--warnings=all'.
189
d6fb461d 190** Default %destructor or %printer with `<*>' or `<>'
c373bf8b
JD
191
192 Bison now recognizes two separate kinds of default %destructor's and
12e35840
JD
193 %printer's:
194
195 1. Place `<*>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
196 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols for which you have formally
197 declared semantic type tags.
198
3ebecc24 199 2. Place `<>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
12e35840
JD
200 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols without declared semantic
201 type tags.
202
203 Bison no longer supports the `%symbol-default' notation from Bison 2.3a.
3ebecc24 204 `<*>' and `<>' combined achieve the same effect with one exception: Bison no
12e35840
JD
205 longer applies any %destructor to a mid-rule value if that mid-rule value is
206 not actually ever referenced using either $$ or $n in a semantic action.
207
85894313
JD
208 The default %destructor's and %printer's are experimental. More user
209 feedback will help to determine whether they should become permanent
210 features.
211
12e35840
JD
212 See the section `Freeing Discarded Symbols' in the Bison manual for further
213 details.
214
d6fb461d 215** %left, %right, and %nonassoc can now declare token numbers. This is required
ab7f29f8
JD
216 by POSIX. However, see the end of section `Operator Precedence' in the Bison
217 manual for a caveat concerning the treatment of literal strings.
218
d6fb461d 219** The nonfunctional --no-parser, -n, and %no-parser options have been
b1cc23c4
JD
220 completely removed from Bison.
221
d6fb461d 222* Changes in version 2.3a, 2006-09-13:
742e4900 223
d6fb461d 224** Instead of %union, you can define and use your own union type
ddc8ede1
PE
225 YYSTYPE if your grammar contains at least one <type> tag.
226 Your YYSTYPE need not be a macro; it can be a typedef.
227 This change is for compatibility with other Yacc implementations,
228 and is required by POSIX.
229
d6fb461d 230** Locations columns and lines start at 1.
cd48d21d
AD
231 In accordance with the GNU Coding Standards and Emacs.
232
d6fb461d 233** You may now declare per-type and default %destructor's and %printer's:
ec5479ce
JD
234
235 For example:
236
b2a0b7ca
JD
237 %union { char *string; }
238 %token <string> STRING1
239 %token <string> STRING2
240 %type <string> string1
241 %type <string> string2
242 %union { char character; }
243 %token <character> CHR
244 %type <character> chr
245 %destructor { free ($$); } %symbol-default
246 %destructor { free ($$); printf ("%d", @$.first_line); } STRING1 string1
247 %destructor { } <character>
248
249 guarantees that, when the parser discards any user-defined symbol that has a
250 semantic type tag other than `<character>', it passes its semantic value to
251 `free'. However, when the parser discards a `STRING1' or a `string1', it
252 also prints its line number to `stdout'. It performs only the second
253 `%destructor' in this case, so it invokes `free' only once.
ec5479ce 254
85894313
JD
255 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the default
256 %destructor's and %printer's were experimental, and they were rewritten in
257 future versions.]
258
d6fb461d 259** Except for LALR(1) parsers in C with POSIX Yacc emulation enabled (with `-y',
b931235e
JD
260 `--yacc', or `%yacc'), Bison no longer generates #define statements for
261 associating token numbers with token names. Removing the #define statements
262 helps to sanitize the global namespace during preprocessing, but POSIX Yacc
263 requires them. Bison still generates an enum for token names in all cases.
264
d6fb461d 265** Handling of traditional Yacc prologue blocks is now more consistent but
34f98f46 266 potentially incompatible with previous releases of Bison.
9bc0dd67
JD
267
268 As before, you declare prologue blocks in your grammar file with the
269 `%{ ... %}' syntax. To generate the pre-prologue, Bison concatenates all
34f98f46
JD
270 prologue blocks that you've declared before the first %union. To generate
271 the post-prologue, Bison concatenates all prologue blocks that you've
ddc8ede1 272 declared after the first %union.
9bc0dd67 273
34f98f46 274 Previous releases of Bison inserted the pre-prologue into both the header
9bc0dd67
JD
275 file and the code file in all cases except for LALR(1) parsers in C. In the
276 latter case, Bison inserted it only into the code file. For parsers in C++,
277 the point of insertion was before any token definitions (which associate
278 token numbers with names). For parsers in C, the point of insertion was
279 after the token definitions.
280
281 Now, Bison never inserts the pre-prologue into the header file. In the code
282 file, it always inserts it before the token definitions.
283
d6fb461d 284** Bison now provides a more flexible alternative to the traditional Yacc
34f98f46
JD
285 prologue blocks: %before-header, %start-header, %end-header, and
286 %after-header.
287
288 For example, the following declaration order in the grammar file reflects the
289 order in which Bison will output these code blocks. However, you are free to
290 declare these code blocks in your grammar file in whatever order is most
291 convenient for you:
292
293 %before-header {
294 /* Bison treats this block like a pre-prologue block: it inserts it into
295 * the code file before the contents of the header file. It does *not*
296 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to put
297 * #include's that you want at the top of your code file. A common
298 * example is `#include "system.h"'. */
299 }
300 %start-header {
301 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
302 * In both files, the point of insertion is before any Bison-generated
303 * token, semantic type, location type, and class definitions. This is a
304 * good place to define %union dependencies, for example. */
9bc0dd67
JD
305 }
306 %union {
34f98f46
JD
307 /* Unlike the traditional Yacc prologue blocks, the output order for the
308 * new %*-header blocks is not affected by their declaration position
309 * relative to any %union in the grammar file. */
9bc0dd67 310 }
34f98f46
JD
311 %end-header {
312 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
313 * In both files, the point of insertion is after the Bison-generated
314 * definitions. This is a good place to declare or define public
315 * functions or data structures that depend on the Bison-generated
316 * definitions. */
9bc0dd67 317 }
34f98f46
JD
318 %after-header {
319 /* Bison treats this block like a post-prologue block: it inserts it into
320 * the code file after the contents of the header file. It does *not*
321 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to declare or
322 * define internal functions or data structures that depend on the
323 * Bison-generated definitions. */
324 }
325
326 If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above declarations, Bison
327 will concatenate the contents in declaration order.
9bc0dd67 328
85894313
JD
329 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the prologue
330 alternatives were experimental, and they were rewritten in future versions.]
331
d6fb461d 332** The option `--report=look-ahead' has been changed to `--report=lookahead'.
9e6e7ed2
PE
333 The old spelling still works, but is not documented and may be removed
334 in a future release.
742e4900 335
d6fb461d 336* Changes in version 2.3, 2006-06-05:
4ad3ed84 337
d6fb461d 338** GLR grammars should now use `YYRECOVERING ()' instead of `YYRECOVERING',
4ad3ed84
PE
339 for compatibility with LALR(1) grammars.
340
d6fb461d 341** It is now documented that any definition of YYSTYPE or YYLTYPE should
4ad3ed84
PE
342 be to a type name that does not contain parentheses or brackets.
343
d6fb461d 344* Changes in version 2.2, 2006-05-19:
193d7c70 345
d6fb461d 346** The distribution terms for all Bison-generated parsers now permit
193d7c70
PE
347 using the parsers in nonfree programs. Previously, this permission
348 was granted only for Bison-generated LALR(1) parsers in C.
5f4236a0 349
d6fb461d 350** %name-prefix changes the namespace name in C++ outputs.
aa08666d 351
d6fb461d 352** The C++ parsers export their token_type.
5f4236a0 353
d6fb461d 354** Bison now allows multiple %union declarations, and concatenates
d6ca7905
PE
355 their contents together.
356
d6fb461d 357** New warning: unused values
4d7bc38c
PE
358 Right-hand side symbols whose values are not used are reported,
359 if the symbols have destructors. For instance:
affac613 360
8f3596a6 361 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; }
721be13c
PE
362 | exp "+" exp
363 ;
affac613 364
8f3596a6
AD
365 will trigger a warning about $$ and $5 in the first rule, and $3 in
366 the second ($1 is copied to $$ by the default rule). This example
4e26c69e 367 most likely contains three errors, and could be rewritten as:
affac613 368
4e26c69e
PE
369 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp
370 { $$ = $1 ? $3 : $5; free ($1 ? $5 : $3); free ($1); }
371 | exp "+" exp
372 { $$ = $1 ? $1 : $3; if ($1) free ($3); }
721be13c 373 ;
affac613 374
4e26c69e
PE
375 However, if the original actions were really intended, memory leaks
376 and all, the warnings can be suppressed by letting Bison believe the
377 values are used, e.g.:
721be13c 378
8f3596a6 379 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; (void) ($$, $5); }
721be13c
PE
380 | exp "+" exp { $$ = $1; (void) $3; }
381 ;
382
84866159
AD
383 If there are mid-rule actions, the warning is issued if no action
384 uses it. The following triggers no warning: $1 and $3 are used.
385
386 exp: exp { push ($1); } '+' exp { push ($3); sum (); };
387
721be13c
PE
388 The warning is intended to help catching lost values and memory leaks.
389 If a value is ignored, its associated memory typically is not reclaimed.
affac613 390
d6fb461d 391** %destructor vs. YYABORT, YYACCEPT, and YYERROR.
9d9b8b70
PE
392 Destructors are now called when user code invokes YYABORT, YYACCEPT,
393 and YYERROR, for all objects on the stack, other than objects
394 corresponding to the right-hand side of the current rule.
a85284cf 395
d6fb461d 396** %expect, %expect-rr
035aa4a0
PE
397 Incorrect numbers of expected conflicts are now actual errors,
398 instead of warnings.
399
d6fb461d 400** GLR, YACC parsers.
4e26c69e
PE
401 The %parse-params are available in the destructors (and the
402 experimental printers) as per the documentation.
4b367315 403
d6fb461d 404** Bison now warns if it finds a stray `$' or `@' in an action.
ad6a9b97 405
d6fb461d 406** %require "VERSION"
4e26c69e
PE
407 This specifies that the grammar file depends on features implemented
408 in Bison version VERSION or higher.
b50d2359 409
d6fb461d 410** lalr1.cc: The token and value types are now class members.
e14d0ab6
AD
411 The tokens were defined as free form enums and cpp macros. YYSTYPE
412 was defined as a free form union. They are now class members:
fb9712a9
AD
413 tokens are enumerations of the `yy::parser::token' struct, and the
414 semantic values have the `yy::parser::semantic_type' type.
415
416 If you do not want or can update to this scheme, the directive
417 `%define "global_tokens_and_yystype" "1"' triggers the global
b50d2359
AD
418 definition of tokens and YYSTYPE. This change is suitable both
419 for previous releases of Bison, and this one.
fb9712a9 420
b50d2359 421 If you wish to update, then make sure older version of Bison will
ab8d9dc5 422 fail using `%require "2.2"'.
fb9712a9 423
d6fb461d 424** DJGPP support added.
193d7c70 425\f
d6fb461d 426* Changes in version 2.1, 2005-09-16:
1ce59070 427
d6fb461d 428** The C++ lalr1.cc skeleton supports %lex-param.
e14d0ab6 429
d6fb461d 430** Bison-generated parsers now support the translation of diagnostics like
baf785db
PE
431 "syntax error" into languages other than English. The default
432 language is still English. For details, please see the new
0410a6e0
PE
433 Internationalization section of the Bison manual. Software
434 distributors should also see the new PACKAGING file. Thanks to
435 Bruno Haible for this new feature.
1ce59070 436
d6fb461d 437** Wording in the Bison-generated parsers has been changed slightly to
1a059451
PE
438 simplify translation. In particular, the message "memory exhausted"
439 has replaced "parser stack overflow", as the old message was not
440 always accurate for modern Bison-generated parsers.
441
d6fb461d 442** Destructors are now called when the parser aborts, for all symbols left
258b75ca
PE
443 behind on the stack. Also, the start symbol is now destroyed after a
444 successful parse. In both cases, the behavior was formerly inconsistent.
445
d6fb461d 446** When generating verbose diagnostics, Bison-generated parsers no longer
72f000b0
PE
447 quote the literal strings associated with tokens. For example, for
448 a syntax error associated with '%token NUM "number"' they might
449 print 'syntax error, unexpected number' instead of 'syntax error,
450 unexpected "number"'.
193d7c70 451\f
d6fb461d 452* Changes in version 2.0, 2004-12-25:
efeed023 453
d6fb461d 454** Possibly-incompatible changes
d7e14fc0 455
82de6b0d
PE
456 - Bison-generated parsers no longer default to using the alloca function
457 (when available) to extend the parser stack, due to widespread
458 problems in unchecked stack-overflow detection. You can "#define
459 YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA 1" to require the use of alloca, but please read
460 the manual to determine safe values for YYMAXDEPTH in that case.
8dd162d3 461
82de6b0d
PE
462 - Error token location.
463 During error recovery, the location of the syntax error is updated
464 to cover the whole sequence covered by the error token: it includes
465 the shifted symbols thrown away during the first part of the error
466 recovery, and the lookahead rejected during the second part.
18d192f0 467
82de6b0d
PE
468 - Semicolon changes:
469 . Stray semicolons are no longer allowed at the start of a grammar.
470 . Semicolons are now required after in-grammar declarations.
e342c3be 471
82de6b0d
PE
472 - Unescaped newlines are no longer allowed in character constants or
473 string literals. They were never portable, and GCC 3.4.0 has
474 dropped support for them. Better diagnostics are now generated if
475 forget a closing quote.
8dd162d3 476
82de6b0d 477 - NUL bytes are no longer allowed in Bison string literals, unfortunately.
f74b6f91 478
d6fb461d 479** New features
1452af69 480
82de6b0d 481 - GLR grammars now support locations.
4febdd96 482
82de6b0d
PE
483 - New directive: %initial-action.
484 This directive allows the user to run arbitrary code (including
485 initializing @$) from yyparse before parsing starts.
1452af69 486
82de6b0d
PE
487 - A new directive "%expect-rr N" specifies the expected number of
488 reduce/reduce conflicts in GLR parsers.
1452af69 489
82de6b0d
PE
490 - %token numbers can now be hexadecimal integers, e.g., `%token FOO 0x12d'.
491 This is a GNU extension.
4febdd96 492
82de6b0d 493 - The option `--report=lookahead' was changed to `--report=look-ahead'.
9e6e7ed2 494 [However, this was changed back after 2.3.]
1452af69 495
82de6b0d 496 - Experimental %destructor support has been added to lalr1.cc.
1452af69 497
82de6b0d
PE
498 - New configure option --disable-yacc, to disable installation of the
499 yacc command and -ly library introduced in 1.875 for POSIX conformance.
6040d338 500
d6fb461d 501** Bug fixes
d5a3fe37 502
82de6b0d
PE
503 - For now, %expect-count violations are now just warnings, not errors.
504 This is for compatibility with Bison 1.75 and earlier (when there are
505 reduce/reduce conflicts) and with Bison 1.30 and earlier (when there
506 are too many or too few shift/reduce conflicts). However, in future
507 versions of Bison we plan to improve the %expect machinery so that
508 these violations will become errors again.
3473d0f8 509
82de6b0d
PE
510 - Within Bison itself, numbers (e.g., goto numbers) are no longer
511 arbitrarily limited to 16-bit counts.
d600ee67 512
82de6b0d 513 - Semicolons are now allowed before "|" in grammar rules, as POSIX requires.
d600ee67 514\f
d6fb461d 515* Changes in version 1.875, 2003-01-01:
963fcc17 516
d6fb461d 517** The documentation license has been upgraded to version 1.2
dc546b0f 518 of the GNU Free Documentation License.
75eb3bc4 519
d6fb461d 520** syntax error processing
75eb3bc4 521
dc546b0f
PE
522 - In Yacc-style parsers YYLLOC_DEFAULT is now used to compute error
523 locations too. This fixes bugs in error-location computation.
75eb3bc4 524
dc546b0f
PE
525 - %destructor
526 It is now possible to reclaim the memory associated to symbols
527 discarded during error recovery. This feature is still experimental.
20daca06 528
dc546b0f
PE
529 - %error-verbose
530 This new directive is preferred over YYERROR_VERBOSE.
74724a70 531
dc546b0f
PE
532 - #defining yyerror to steal internal variables is discouraged.
533 It is not guaranteed to work forever.
d1de5372 534
d6fb461d 535** POSIX conformance
d1de5372 536
dc546b0f
PE
537 - Semicolons are once again optional at the end of grammar rules.
538 This reverts to the behavior of Bison 1.33 and earlier, and improves
539 compatibility with Yacc.
74724a70 540
dc546b0f
PE
541 - `parse error' -> `syntax error'
542 Bison now uniformly uses the term `syntax error'; formerly, the code
543 and manual sometimes used the term `parse error' instead. POSIX
544 requires `syntax error' in diagnostics, and it was thought better to
545 be consistent.
74724a70 546
dc546b0f
PE
547 - The documentation now emphasizes that yylex and yyerror must be
548 declared before use. C99 requires this.
d1de5372 549
dc546b0f
PE
550 - Bison now parses C99 lexical constructs like UCNs and
551 backslash-newline within C escape sequences, as POSIX 1003.1-2001 requires.
d1de5372 552
dc546b0f
PE
553 - File names are properly escaped in C output. E.g., foo\bar.y is
554 output as "foo\\bar.y".
6780ca7a 555
dc546b0f
PE
556 - Yacc command and library now available
557 The Bison distribution now installs a `yacc' command, as POSIX requires.
558 Also, Bison now installs a small library liby.a containing
559 implementations of Yacc-compatible yyerror and main functions.
560 This library is normally not useful, but POSIX requires it.
6e649e65 561
dc546b0f 562 - Type clashes now generate warnings, not errors.
6e649e65 563
dc546b0f
PE
564 - If the user does not define YYSTYPE as a macro, Bison now declares it
565 using typedef instead of defining it as a macro.
566 For consistency, YYLTYPE is also declared instead of defined.
9501dc6e 567
d6fb461d 568** Other compatibility issues
886a425c 569
dc546b0f
PE
570 - %union directives can now have a tag before the `{', e.g., the
571 directive `%union foo {...}' now generates the C code
572 `typedef union foo { ... } YYSTYPE;'; this is for Yacc compatibility.
573 The default union tag is `YYSTYPE', for compatibility with Solaris 9 Yacc.
574 For consistency, YYLTYPE's struct tag is now `YYLTYPE' not `yyltype'.
575 This is for compatibility with both Yacc and Bison 1.35.
72f889cc 576
dc546b0f
PE
577 - `;' is output before the terminating `}' of an action, for
578 compatibility with Bison 1.35.
886a425c 579
dc546b0f
PE
580 - Bison now uses a Yacc-style format for conflict reports, e.g.,
581 `conflicts: 2 shift/reduce, 1 reduce/reduce'.
437c2d80 582
dc546b0f
PE
583 - `yystype' and `yyltype' are now obsolescent macros instead of being
584 typedefs or tags; they are no longer documented and are planned to be
585 withdrawn in a future release.
2a8d363a 586
d6fb461d 587** GLR parser notes
2a8d363a 588
dc546b0f
PE
589 - GLR and inline
590 Users of Bison have to decide how they handle the portability of the
591 C keyword `inline'.
959e5f51 592
dc546b0f
PE
593 - `parsing stack overflow...' -> `parser stack overflow'
594 GLR parsers now report `parser stack overflow' as per the Bison manual.
900c5db5 595
d6fb461d 596** Bison now warns if it detects conflicting outputs to the same file,
dc546b0f
PE
597 e.g., it generates a warning for `bison -d -o foo.h foo.y' since
598 that command outputs both code and header to foo.h.
6e40b4eb 599
d6fb461d 600** #line in output files
dc546b0f 601 - --no-line works properly.
6e40b4eb 602
d6fb461d 603** Bison can no longer be built by a K&R C compiler; it requires C89 or
6e40b4eb
AD
604 later to be built. This change originally took place a few versions
605 ago, but nobody noticed until we recently asked someone to try
606 building Bison with a K&R C compiler.
d600ee67 607\f
d6fb461d 608* Changes in version 1.75, 2002-10-14:
7933f2b5 609
d6fb461d 610** Bison should now work on 64-bit hosts.
7933f2b5 611
d6fb461d 612** Indonesian translation thanks to Tedi Heriyanto.
7933f2b5 613
d6fb461d 614** GLR parsers
f50adbbd
AD
615 Fix spurious parse errors.
616
d6fb461d 617** Pure parsers
f50adbbd
AD
618 Some people redefine yyerror to steal yyparse' private variables.
619 Reenable this trick until an official feature replaces it.
620
d6fb461d 621** Type Clashes
d90c934c
AD
622 In agreement with POSIX and with other Yaccs, leaving a default
623 action is valid when $$ is untyped, and $1 typed:
624
625 untyped: ... typed;
626
627 but the converse remains an error:
628
629 typed: ... untyped;
630
d6fb461d 631** Values of mid-rule actions
d90c934c
AD
632 The following code:
633
634 foo: { ... } { $$ = $1; } ...
635
636 was incorrectly rejected: $1 is defined in the second mid-rule
637 action, and is equal to the $$ of the first mid-rule action.
d600ee67 638\f
d6fb461d 639* Changes in version 1.50, 2002-10-04:
adc8c848 640
d6fb461d 641** GLR parsing
676385e2
PH
642 The declaration
643 %glr-parser
644 causes Bison to produce a Generalized LR (GLR) parser, capable of handling
645 almost any context-free grammar, ambiguous or not. The new declarations
e8832397 646 %dprec and %merge on grammar rules allow parse-time resolution of
676385e2
PH
647 ambiguities. Contributed by Paul Hilfinger.
648
7933f2b5 649 Unfortunately Bison 1.50 does not work properly on 64-bit hosts
420f93c8
PE
650 like the Alpha, so please stick to 32-bit hosts for now.
651
d6fb461d 652** Output Directory
8c165d89 653 When not in Yacc compatibility mode, when the output file was not
e88dbdbf 654 specified, running `bison foo/bar.y' created `foo/bar.c'. It
8c165d89
AD
655 now creates `bar.c'.
656
d6fb461d 657** Undefined token
007a50a4 658 The undefined token was systematically mapped to 2 which prevented
e88dbdbf 659 the use of 2 by the user. This is no longer the case.
007a50a4 660
d6fb461d 661** Unknown token numbers
e88dbdbf 662 If yylex returned an out of range value, yyparse could die. This is
007a50a4
AD
663 no longer the case.
664
d6fb461d 665** Error token
e88dbdbf 666 According to POSIX, the error token must be 256.
23c5a174
AD
667 Bison extends this requirement by making it a preference: *if* the
668 user specified that one of her tokens is numbered 256, then error
669 will be mapped onto another number.
670
d6fb461d 671** Verbose error messages
e88dbdbf 672 They no longer report `..., expecting error or...' for states where
217598da
AD
673 error recovery is possible.
674
d6fb461d 675** End token
217598da
AD
676 Defaults to `$end' instead of `$'.
677
d6fb461d 678** Error recovery now conforms to documentation and to POSIX
68cd8af3
PE
679 When a Bison-generated parser encounters a syntax error, it now pops
680 the stack until it finds a state that allows shifting the error
681 token. Formerly, it popped the stack until it found a state that
682 allowed some non-error action other than a default reduction on the
683 error token. The new behavior has long been the documented behavior,
684 and has long been required by POSIX. For more details, please see
337116ba
PE
685 Paul Eggert, "Reductions during Bison error handling" (2002-05-20)
686 <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-bison/2002-05/msg00038.html>.
68cd8af3 687
d6fb461d 688** Traces
5504898e
AD
689 Popped tokens and nonterminals are now reported.
690
d6fb461d 691** Larger grammars
a861a339
PE
692 Larger grammars are now supported (larger token numbers, larger grammar
693 size (= sum of the LHS and RHS lengths), larger LALR tables).
694 Formerly, many of these numbers ran afoul of 16-bit limits;
695 now these limits are 32 bits on most hosts.
355e7c1c 696
d6fb461d 697** Explicit initial rule
643a5994
AD
698 Bison used to play hacks with the initial rule, which the user does
699 not write. It is now explicit, and visible in the reports and
700 graphs as rule 0.
23c5a174 701
d6fb461d 702** Useless rules
643a5994 703 Before, Bison reported the useless rules, but, although not used,
77714df2 704 included them in the parsers. They are now actually removed.
23c5a174 705
d6fb461d 706** Useless rules, useless nonterminals
6b98e4b5
AD
707 They are now reported, as a warning, with their locations.
708
d6fb461d 709** Rules never reduced
e8832397
AD
710 Rules that can never be reduced because of conflicts are now
711 reported.
712
d6fb461d 713** Incorrect `Token not used'
11652ab3
AD
714 On a grammar such as
715
716 %token useless useful
717 %%
718 exp: '0' %prec useful;
719
720 where a token was used to set the precedence of the last rule,
721 bison reported both `useful' and `useless' as useless tokens.
722
d6fb461d 723** Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31
77714df2 724 as they caused too many portability hassles.
0179dd65 725
d6fb461d 726** Default locations
b2d52318
AD
727 By an accident of design, the default computation of @$ was
728 performed after another default computation was performed: @$ = @1.
729 The latter is now removed: YYLLOC_DEFAULT is fully responsible of
730 the computation of @$.
adc8c848 731
d6fb461d 732** Token end-of-file
b7c49edf
AD
733 The token end of file may be specified by the user, in which case,
734 the user symbol is used in the reports, the graphs, and the verbose
a861a339 735 error messages instead of `$end', which remains being the default.
b7c49edf 736 For instance
7bd6c77e 737 %token MYEOF 0
b7c49edf 738 or
7bd6c77e 739 %token MYEOF 0 "end of file"
fdbcd8e2 740
d6fb461d 741** Semantic parser
fdbcd8e2
AD
742 This old option, which has been broken for ages, is removed.
743
d6fb461d 744** New translations
a861a339 745 Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to Alexandre Folle de Menezes.
84614e13
AD
746 Croatian, thanks to Denis Lackovic.
747
d6fb461d 748** Incorrect token definitions
e88dbdbf 749 When given `%token 'a' "A"', Bison used to output `#define 'a' 65'.
b87f8b21 750
d6fb461d 751** Token definitions as enums
77714df2
AD
752 Tokens are output both as the traditional #define's, and, provided
753 the compiler supports ANSI C or is a C++ compiler, as enums.
e88dbdbf 754 This lets debuggers display names instead of integers.
77714df2 755
d6fb461d 756** Reports
ec3bc396
AD
757 In addition to --verbose, bison supports --report=THINGS, which
758 produces additional information:
b408954b
AD
759 - itemset
760 complete the core item sets with their closure
9e6e7ed2
PE
761 - lookahead [changed to `look-ahead' in 1.875e through 2.3, but changed back]
762 explicitly associate lookahead tokens to items
b408954b
AD
763 - solved
764 describe shift/reduce conflicts solving.
765 Bison used to systematically output this information on top of
766 the report. Solved conflicts are now attached to their states.
ec3bc396 767
d6fb461d 768** Type clashes
9af3fbce
AD
769 Previous versions don't complain when there is a type clash on
770 the default action if the rule has a mid-rule action, such as in:
771
772 %type <foo> bar
773 %%
774 bar: '0' {} '0';
775
776 This is fixed.
a861a339 777
d6fb461d 778** GNU M4 is now required when using Bison.
f987e9d2 779\f
d6fb461d 780* Changes in version 1.35, 2002-03-25:
76551463 781
d6fb461d 782** C Skeleton
76551463
AD
783 Some projects use Bison's C parser with C++ compilers, and define
784 YYSTYPE as a class. The recent adjustment of C parsers for data
785 alignment and 64 bit architectures made this impossible.
786
787 Because for the time being no real solution for C++ parser
788 generation exists, kludges were implemented in the parser to
789 maintain this use. In the future, when Bison has C++ parsers, this
790 kludge will be disabled.
791
792 This kludge also addresses some C++ problems when the stack was
793 extended.
76551463 794\f
d6fb461d 795* Changes in version 1.34, 2002-03-12:
76551463 796
d6fb461d 797** File name clashes are detected
76551463
AD
798 $ bison foo.y -d -o foo.x
799 fatal error: header and parser would both be named `foo.x'
800
d6fb461d 801** A missing `;' at the end of a rule triggers a warning
76551463
AD
802 In accordance with POSIX, and in agreement with other
803 Yacc implementations, Bison will mandate this semicolon in the near
804 future. This eases the implementation of a Bison parser of Bison
805 grammars by making this grammar LALR(1) instead of LR(2). To
806 facilitate the transition, this release introduces a warning.
807
d6fb461d 808** Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31, as they caused too
76551463
AD
809 many portability hassles.
810
d6fb461d 811** DJGPP support added.
76551463 812
d6fb461d 813** Fix test suite portability problems.
76551463 814\f
d6fb461d 815* Changes in version 1.33, 2002-02-07:
76551463 816
d6fb461d 817** Fix C++ issues
76551463
AD
818 Groff could not be compiled for the definition of size_t was lacking
819 under some conditions.
820
d6fb461d 821** Catch invalid @n
76551463
AD
822 As is done with $n.
823\f
d6fb461d 824* Changes in version 1.32, 2002-01-23:
76551463 825
d6fb461d 826** Fix Yacc output file names
76551463 827
d6fb461d 828** Portability fixes
76551463 829
d6fb461d 830** Italian, Dutch translations
76551463 831\f
d6fb461d 832* Changes in version 1.31, 2002-01-14:
52d1aeee 833
d6fb461d 834** Many Bug Fixes
52d1aeee 835
d6fb461d 836** GNU Gettext and %expect
52d1aeee
MA
837 GNU Gettext asserts 10 s/r conflicts, but there are 7. Now that
838 Bison dies on incorrect %expectations, we fear there will be
839 too many bug reports for Gettext, so _for the time being_, %expect
840 does not trigger an error when the input file is named `plural.y'.
841
d6fb461d 842** Use of alloca in parsers
52d1aeee
MA
843 If YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA is defined to 0, then the parsers will use
844 malloc exclusively. Since 1.29, but was not NEWS'ed.
845
846 alloca is used only when compiled with GCC, to avoid portability
847 problems as on AIX.
848
d6fb461d 849** yyparse now returns 2 if memory is exhausted; formerly it dumped core.
b47dbebe 850
d6fb461d 851** When the generated parser lacks debugging code, YYDEBUG is now 0
52d1aeee
MA
852 (as POSIX requires) instead of being undefined.
853
d6fb461d 854** User Actions
52d1aeee
MA
855 Bison has always permitted actions such as { $$ = $1 }: it adds the
856 ending semicolon. Now if in Yacc compatibility mode, the semicolon
857 is no longer output: one has to write { $$ = $1; }.
858
d6fb461d 859** Better C++ compliance
52d1aeee 860 The output parsers try to respect C++ namespaces.
76551463 861 [This turned out to be a failed experiment, and it was reverted later.]
52d1aeee 862
d6fb461d 863** Reduced Grammars
52d1aeee
MA
864 Fixed bugs when reporting useless nonterminals.
865
d6fb461d 866** 64 bit hosts
52d1aeee
MA
867 The parsers work properly on 64 bit hosts.
868
d6fb461d 869** Error messages
52d1aeee
MA
870 Some calls to strerror resulted in scrambled or missing error messages.
871
d6fb461d 872** %expect
52d1aeee
MA
873 When the number of shift/reduce conflicts is correct, don't issue
874 any warning.
875
d6fb461d 876** The verbose report includes the rule line numbers.
52d1aeee 877
d6fb461d 878** Rule line numbers are fixed in traces.
52d1aeee 879
d6fb461d 880** Swedish translation
52d1aeee 881
d6fb461d 882** Parse errors
52d1aeee
MA
883 Verbose parse error messages from the parsers are better looking.
884 Before: parse error: unexpected `'/'', expecting `"number"' or `'-'' or `'(''
885 Now: parse error: unexpected '/', expecting "number" or '-' or '('
886
d6fb461d 887** Fixed parser memory leaks.
52d1aeee
MA
888 When the generated parser was using malloc to extend its stacks, the
889 previous allocations were not freed.
890
d6fb461d 891** Fixed verbose output file.
52d1aeee
MA
892 Some newlines were missing.
893 Some conflicts in state descriptions were missing.
894
d6fb461d 895** Fixed conflict report.
52d1aeee
MA
896 Option -v was needed to get the result.
897
d6fb461d 898** %expect
52d1aeee
MA
899 Was not used.
900 Mismatches are errors, not warnings.
901
d6fb461d 902** Fixed incorrect processing of some invalid input.
52d1aeee 903
d6fb461d 904** Fixed CPP guards: 9foo.h uses BISON_9FOO_H instead of 9FOO_H.
52d1aeee 905
d6fb461d 906** Fixed some typos in the documentation.
52d1aeee 907
d6fb461d 908** %token MY_EOF 0 is supported.
52d1aeee
MA
909 Before, MY_EOF was silently renumbered as 257.
910
d6fb461d 911** doc/refcard.tex is updated.
52d1aeee 912
d6fb461d 913** %output, %file-prefix, %name-prefix.
52d1aeee
MA
914 New.
915
d6fb461d 916** --output
52d1aeee
MA
917 New, aliasing `--output-file'.
918\f
d6fb461d 919* Changes in version 1.30, 2001-10-26:
342b8b6e 920
d6fb461d 921** `--defines' and `--graph' have now an optional argument which is the
fdac0091 922 output file name. `-d' and `-g' do not change; they do not take any
342b8b6e
AD
923 argument.
924
d6fb461d 925** `%source_extension' and `%header_extension' are removed, failed
342b8b6e
AD
926 experiment.
927
d6fb461d 928** Portability fixes.
f987e9d2 929\f
d6fb461d 930* Changes in version 1.29, 2001-09-07:
342b8b6e 931
d6fb461d 932** The output file does not define const, as this caused problems when used
342b8b6e
AD
933 with common autoconfiguration schemes. If you still use ancient compilers
934 that lack const, compile with the equivalent of the C compiler option
935 `-Dconst='. autoconf's AC_C_CONST macro provides one way to do this.
936
d6fb461d 937** Added `-g' and `--graph'.
f87a2205 938
d6fb461d 939** The Bison manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL.
f2b5126e 940
d6fb461d 941** The input and the output files has automatically a similar extension.
234a3be3 942
d6fb461d 943** Russian translation added.
f87a2205 944
d6fb461d 945** NLS support updated; should hopefully be less troublesome.
f87a2205 946
d6fb461d 947** Added the old Bison reference card.
c33638bb 948
d6fb461d 949** Added `--locations' and `%locations'.
6deb4447 950
d6fb461d 951** Added `-S' and `--skeleton'.
cd5bd6ac 952
d6fb461d 953** `%raw', `-r', `--raw' is disabled.
62ab6972 954
d6fb461d 955** Special characters are escaped when output. This solves the problems
cd5bd6ac
AD
956 of the #line lines with path names including backslashes.
957
d6fb461d 958** New directives.
4ecbf796
MA
959 `%yacc', `%fixed_output_files', `%defines', `%no_parser', `%verbose',
960 `%debug', `%source_extension' and `%header_extension'.
f987e9d2 961
d6fb461d 962** @$
f987e9d2 963 Automatic location tracking.
f87a2205 964\f
d6fb461d 965* Changes in version 1.28, 1999-07-06:
d2e00347 966
d6fb461d 967** Should compile better now with K&R compilers.
d2e00347 968
d6fb461d 969** Added NLS.
d2e00347 970
d6fb461d 971** Fixed a problem with escaping the double quote character.
d2e00347 972
d6fb461d 973** There is now a FAQ.
d2e00347 974\f
d6fb461d 975* Changes in version 1.27:
5c31c3c2 976
d6fb461d 977** The make rule which prevented bison.simple from being created on
5c31c3c2
JT
978 some systems has been fixed.
979\f
d6fb461d 980* Changes in version 1.26:
4be07551 981
d6fb461d 982** Bison now uses automake.
4be07551 983
d6fb461d 984** New mailing lists: <bug-bison@gnu.org> and <help-bison@gnu.org>.
4be07551 985
d6fb461d 986** Token numbers now start at 257 as previously documented, not 258.
4be07551 987
d6fb461d 988** Bison honors the TMPDIR environment variable.
4be07551 989
d6fb461d 990** A couple of buffer overruns have been fixed.
f51dbca1 991
d6fb461d 992** Problems when closing files should now be reported.
f51dbca1 993
d6fb461d 994** Generated parsers should now work even on operating systems which do
f51dbca1 995 not provide alloca().
4be07551 996\f
d6fb461d 997* Changes in version 1.25, 1995-10-16:
df8878c5 998
d6fb461d 999** Errors in the input grammar are not fatal; Bison keeps reading
df8878c5 1000the grammar file, and reports all the errors found in it.
8c44d3ec 1001
d6fb461d 1002** Tokens can now be specified as multiple-character strings: for
df8878c5
RS
1003example, you could use "<=" for a token which looks like <=, instead
1004of chosing a name like LESSEQ.
1005
d6fb461d 1006** The %token_table declaration says to write a table of tokens (names
df8878c5
RS
1007and numbers) into the parser file. The yylex function can use this
1008table to recognize multiple-character string tokens, or for other
1009purposes.
1010
d6fb461d 1011** The %no_lines declaration says not to generate any #line preprocessor
df8878c5
RS
1012directives in the parser file.
1013
d6fb461d 1014** The %raw declaration says to use internal Bison token numbers, not
df8878c5
RS
1015Yacc-compatible token numbers, when token names are defined as macros.
1016
d6fb461d 1017** The --no-parser option produces the parser tables without including
df8878c5
RS
1018the parser engine; a project can now use its own parser engine.
1019The actions go into a separate file called NAME.act, in the form of
1020a switch statement body.
1021\f
d6fb461d 1022* Changes in version 1.23:
6780ca7a 1023
4d019228
DM
1024The user can define YYPARSE_PARAM as the name of an argument to be
1025passed into yyparse. The argument should have type void *. It should
1026actually point to an object. Grammar actions can access the variable
1027by casting it to the proper pointer type.
6780ca7a 1028
6780ca7a 1029Line numbers in output file corrected.
6780ca7a 1030\f
d6fb461d 1031* Changes in version 1.22:
6780ca7a
DM
1032
1033--help option added.
6780ca7a 1034\f
d6fb461d 1035* Changes in version 1.20:
6780ca7a
DM
1036
1037Output file does not redefine const for C++.
9f4503d6
AD
1038
1039Local Variables:
1040mode: outline
1041End:
76551463
AD
1042
1043-----
1044
d6ca7905 1045Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
ab7f29f8 10462004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
76551463 1047
75eb3bc4 1048This file is part of Bison, the GNU Compiler Compiler.
76551463 1049
f16b0819 1050This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
76551463 1051it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
f16b0819
PE
1052the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
1053(at your option) any later version.
76551463 1054
f16b0819 1055This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
76551463
AD
1056but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
1057MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
1058GNU General Public License for more details.
1059
1060You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
f16b0819 1061along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.