]> git.saurik.com Git - bison.git/blame - NEWS
Finer input type for yytranslate.
[bison.git] / NEWS
CommitLineData
6780ca7a
DM
1Bison News
2----------
3af4feb2 3
c9ba9e59
JD
4Changes in version ?.? (????-??-??):
5
1979121c
DJ
6* Java skeleton improvements:
7
8 The constants for token names were moved to the Lexer interface.
9 Also, it is possible to add code to the parser's constructors using
10 "%code init" and "%define init_throws".
c9ba9e59 11
bfb40910 12Changes in version 2.4 (2008-11-02):
7bd1665a 13
ed4d67dc
JD
14* %language is an experimental feature.
15
16 We first introduced this feature in test release 2.3b as a cleaner
17 alternative to %skeleton. Since then, we have discussed the possibility of
18 modifying its effect on Bison's output file names. Thus, in this release,
19 we consider %language to be an experimental feature that will likely evolve
20 in future releases.
7bd1665a 21
241fda7a
JD
22* Forward compatibility with GNU M4 has been improved.
23
24* Several bugs in the C++ skeleton and the experimental Java skeleton have been
25 fixed.
26
72c5b982 27Changes in version 2.3b (2008-05-27):
35fe0834 28
d9df47b6
JD
29* The quotes around NAME that used to be required in the following directive
30 are now deprecated:
31
32 %define NAME "VALUE"
33
34* The directive `%pure-parser' is now deprecated in favor of:
35
36 %define api.pure
37
38 which has the same effect except that Bison is more careful to warn about
39 unreasonable usage in the latter case.
40
c373bf8b
JD
41* Push Parsing
42
43 Bison can now generate an LALR(1) parser in C with a push interface. That
ef1b4273 44 is, instead of invoking `yyparse', which pulls tokens from `yylex', you can
c373bf8b
JD
45 push one token at a time to the parser using `yypush_parse', which will
46 return to the caller after processing each token. By default, the push
47 interface is disabled. Either of the following directives will enable it:
48
49 %define api.push_pull "push" // Just push; does not require yylex.
50 %define api.push_pull "both" // Push and pull; requires yylex.
51
52 See the new section `A Push Parser' in the Bison manual for details.
53
59da312b
JD
54 The current push parsing interface is experimental and may evolve. More user
55 feedback will help to stabilize it.
56
c373bf8b 57* The -g and --graph options now output graphs in Graphviz DOT format,
8e55b3aa
JD
58 not VCG format. Like --graph, -g now also takes an optional FILE argument
59 and thus cannot be bundled with other short options.
c373bf8b 60
59da312b
JD
61* Java
62
63 Bison can now generate an LALR(1) parser in Java. The skeleton is
64 `data/lalr1.java'. Consider using the new %language directive instead of
65 %skeleton to select it.
66
67 See the new section `Java Parsers' in the Bison manual for details.
68
69 The current Java interface is experimental and may evolve. More user
70 feedback will help to stabilize it.
71
72* %language
73
74 This new directive specifies the programming language of the generated
d43f77e7
PB
75 parser, which can be C (the default), C++, or Java. Besides the skeleton
76 that Bison uses, the directive affects the names of the generated files if
77 the grammar file's name ends in ".y".
59da312b
JD
78
79* XML Automaton Report
80
81 Bison can now generate an XML report of the LALR(1) automaton using the new
82 `--xml' option. The current XML schema is experimental and may evolve. More
83 user feedback will help to stabilize it.
c373bf8b
JD
84
85* The grammar file may now specify the name of the parser header file using
86 %defines. For example:
87
88 %defines "parser.h"
89
d80fb37a
JD
90* When reporting useless rules, useless nonterminals, and unused terminals,
91 Bison now employs the terms "useless in grammar" instead of "useless",
92 "useless in parser" instead of "never reduced", and "unused in grammar"
93 instead of "unused".
cff03fb2 94
c373bf8b
JD
95* Unreachable State Removal
96
97 Previously, Bison sometimes generated parser tables containing unreachable
31984206
JD
98 states. A state can become unreachable during conflict resolution if Bison
99 disables a shift action leading to it from a predecessor state. Bison now:
75ad86ee
JD
100
101 1. Removes unreachable states.
102
103 2. Does not report any conflicts that appeared in unreachable states.
104 WARNING: As a result, you may need to update %expect and %expect-rr
105 directives in existing grammar files.
106
107 3. For any rule used only in such states, Bison now reports the rule as
cff03fb2 108 "useless in parser due to conflicts".
75ad86ee 109
31984206
JD
110 This feature can be disabled with the following directive:
111
112 %define lr.keep_unreachable_states
113
114 See the %define entry in the `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison manual
115 for further discussion.
116
c373bf8b 117* Lookahead Set Correction in the `.output' Report
b1cc23c4 118
c373bf8b 119 When instructed to generate a `.output' file including lookahead sets
88c78747
JD
120 (using `--report=lookahead', for example), Bison now prints each reduction's
121 lookahead set only next to the associated state's one item that (1) is
122 associated with the same rule as the reduction and (2) has its dot at the end
123 of its RHS. Previously, Bison also erroneously printed the lookahead set
124 next to all of the state's other items associated with the same rule. This
125 bug affected only the `.output' file and not the generated parser source
126 code.
127
59da312b
JD
128* --report-file=FILE is a new option to override the default `.output' file
129 name.
1bb2bd75 130
16dc6a9e 131* The `=' that used to be required in the following directives is now
02975b9a
JD
132 deprecated:
133
134 %file-prefix "parser"
135 %name-prefix "c_"
136 %output "parser.c"
137
c373bf8b
JD
138* An Alternative to `%{...%}' -- `%code QUALIFIER {CODE}'
139
140 Bison 2.3a provided a new set of directives as a more flexible alternative to
8e0a5e9e
JD
141 the traditional Yacc prologue blocks. Those have now been consolidated into
142 a single %code directive with an optional qualifier field, which identifies
143 the purpose of the code and thus the location(s) where Bison should generate
144 it:
145
16dc6a9e
JD
146 1. `%code {CODE}' replaces `%after-header {CODE}'
147 2. `%code requires {CODE}' replaces `%start-header {CODE}'
148 3. `%code provides {CODE}' replaces `%end-header {CODE}'
149 4. `%code top {CODE}' replaces `%before-header {CODE}'
8e0a5e9e 150
61fee93e
JD
151 See the %code entries in section `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison
152 manual for a summary of the new functionality. See the new section `Prologue
8e0a5e9e
JD
153 Alternatives' for a detailed discussion including the advantages of %code
154 over the traditional Yacc prologues.
155
156 The prologue alternatives are experimental. More user feedback will help to
157 determine whether they should become permanent features.
158
17bd8a73
JD
159* Revised warning: unset or unused mid-rule values
160
161 Since Bison 2.2, Bison has warned about mid-rule values that are set but not
162 used within any of the actions of the parent rule. For example, Bison warns
163 about unused $2 in:
164
165 exp: '1' { $$ = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $1 + $4; };
166
167 Now, Bison also warns about mid-rule values that are used but not set. For
168 example, Bison warns about unset $$ in the mid-rule action in:
169
170 exp: '1' { $1 = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $2 + $4; };
171
172 However, Bison now disables both of these warnings by default since they
173 sometimes prove to be false alarms in existing grammars employing the Yacc
174 constructs $0 or $-N (where N is some positive integer).
175
59da312b 176 To enable these warnings, specify the option `--warnings=midrule-values' or
17bd8a73
JD
177 `-W', which is a synonym for `--warnings=all'.
178
c373bf8b
JD
179* Default %destructor or %printer with `<*>' or `<>'
180
181 Bison now recognizes two separate kinds of default %destructor's and
12e35840
JD
182 %printer's:
183
184 1. Place `<*>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
185 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols for which you have formally
186 declared semantic type tags.
187
3ebecc24 188 2. Place `<>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
12e35840
JD
189 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols without declared semantic
190 type tags.
191
192 Bison no longer supports the `%symbol-default' notation from Bison 2.3a.
3ebecc24 193 `<*>' and `<>' combined achieve the same effect with one exception: Bison no
12e35840
JD
194 longer applies any %destructor to a mid-rule value if that mid-rule value is
195 not actually ever referenced using either $$ or $n in a semantic action.
196
85894313
JD
197 The default %destructor's and %printer's are experimental. More user
198 feedback will help to determine whether they should become permanent
199 features.
200
12e35840
JD
201 See the section `Freeing Discarded Symbols' in the Bison manual for further
202 details.
203
ab7f29f8
JD
204* %left, %right, and %nonassoc can now declare token numbers. This is required
205 by POSIX. However, see the end of section `Operator Precedence' in the Bison
206 manual for a caveat concerning the treatment of literal strings.
207
b1cc23c4
JD
208* The nonfunctional --no-parser, -n, and %no-parser options have been
209 completely removed from Bison.
210
21fe08ca 211Changes in version 2.3a, 2006-09-13:
742e4900 212
ddc8ede1
PE
213* Instead of %union, you can define and use your own union type
214 YYSTYPE if your grammar contains at least one <type> tag.
215 Your YYSTYPE need not be a macro; it can be a typedef.
216 This change is for compatibility with other Yacc implementations,
217 and is required by POSIX.
218
cd48d21d
AD
219* Locations columns and lines start at 1.
220 In accordance with the GNU Coding Standards and Emacs.
221
b2a0b7ca 222* You may now declare per-type and default %destructor's and %printer's:
ec5479ce
JD
223
224 For example:
225
b2a0b7ca
JD
226 %union { char *string; }
227 %token <string> STRING1
228 %token <string> STRING2
229 %type <string> string1
230 %type <string> string2
231 %union { char character; }
232 %token <character> CHR
233 %type <character> chr
234 %destructor { free ($$); } %symbol-default
235 %destructor { free ($$); printf ("%d", @$.first_line); } STRING1 string1
236 %destructor { } <character>
237
238 guarantees that, when the parser discards any user-defined symbol that has a
239 semantic type tag other than `<character>', it passes its semantic value to
240 `free'. However, when the parser discards a `STRING1' or a `string1', it
241 also prints its line number to `stdout'. It performs only the second
242 `%destructor' in this case, so it invokes `free' only once.
ec5479ce 243
85894313
JD
244 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the default
245 %destructor's and %printer's were experimental, and they were rewritten in
246 future versions.]
247
b931235e
JD
248* Except for LALR(1) parsers in C with POSIX Yacc emulation enabled (with `-y',
249 `--yacc', or `%yacc'), Bison no longer generates #define statements for
250 associating token numbers with token names. Removing the #define statements
251 helps to sanitize the global namespace during preprocessing, but POSIX Yacc
252 requires them. Bison still generates an enum for token names in all cases.
253
34f98f46
JD
254* Handling of traditional Yacc prologue blocks is now more consistent but
255 potentially incompatible with previous releases of Bison.
9bc0dd67
JD
256
257 As before, you declare prologue blocks in your grammar file with the
258 `%{ ... %}' syntax. To generate the pre-prologue, Bison concatenates all
34f98f46
JD
259 prologue blocks that you've declared before the first %union. To generate
260 the post-prologue, Bison concatenates all prologue blocks that you've
ddc8ede1 261 declared after the first %union.
9bc0dd67 262
34f98f46 263 Previous releases of Bison inserted the pre-prologue into both the header
9bc0dd67
JD
264 file and the code file in all cases except for LALR(1) parsers in C. In the
265 latter case, Bison inserted it only into the code file. For parsers in C++,
266 the point of insertion was before any token definitions (which associate
267 token numbers with names). For parsers in C, the point of insertion was
268 after the token definitions.
269
270 Now, Bison never inserts the pre-prologue into the header file. In the code
271 file, it always inserts it before the token definitions.
272
34f98f46
JD
273* Bison now provides a more flexible alternative to the traditional Yacc
274 prologue blocks: %before-header, %start-header, %end-header, and
275 %after-header.
276
277 For example, the following declaration order in the grammar file reflects the
278 order in which Bison will output these code blocks. However, you are free to
279 declare these code blocks in your grammar file in whatever order is most
280 convenient for you:
281
282 %before-header {
283 /* Bison treats this block like a pre-prologue block: it inserts it into
284 * the code file before the contents of the header file. It does *not*
285 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to put
286 * #include's that you want at the top of your code file. A common
287 * example is `#include "system.h"'. */
288 }
289 %start-header {
290 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
291 * In both files, the point of insertion is before any Bison-generated
292 * token, semantic type, location type, and class definitions. This is a
293 * good place to define %union dependencies, for example. */
9bc0dd67
JD
294 }
295 %union {
34f98f46
JD
296 /* Unlike the traditional Yacc prologue blocks, the output order for the
297 * new %*-header blocks is not affected by their declaration position
298 * relative to any %union in the grammar file. */
9bc0dd67 299 }
34f98f46
JD
300 %end-header {
301 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
302 * In both files, the point of insertion is after the Bison-generated
303 * definitions. This is a good place to declare or define public
304 * functions or data structures that depend on the Bison-generated
305 * definitions. */
9bc0dd67 306 }
34f98f46
JD
307 %after-header {
308 /* Bison treats this block like a post-prologue block: it inserts it into
309 * the code file after the contents of the header file. It does *not*
310 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to declare or
311 * define internal functions or data structures that depend on the
312 * Bison-generated definitions. */
313 }
314
315 If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above declarations, Bison
316 will concatenate the contents in declaration order.
9bc0dd67 317
85894313
JD
318 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the prologue
319 alternatives were experimental, and they were rewritten in future versions.]
320
742e4900 321* The option `--report=look-ahead' has been changed to `--report=lookahead'.
9e6e7ed2
PE
322 The old spelling still works, but is not documented and may be removed
323 in a future release.
742e4900 324
4ad3ed84
PE
325Changes in version 2.3, 2006-06-05:
326
327* GLR grammars should now use `YYRECOVERING ()' instead of `YYRECOVERING',
328 for compatibility with LALR(1) grammars.
329
330* It is now documented that any definition of YYSTYPE or YYLTYPE should
331 be to a type name that does not contain parentheses or brackets.
332
ab8d9dc5 333Changes in version 2.2, 2006-05-19:
193d7c70
PE
334
335* The distribution terms for all Bison-generated parsers now permit
336 using the parsers in nonfree programs. Previously, this permission
337 was granted only for Bison-generated LALR(1) parsers in C.
5f4236a0 338
aa08666d
AD
339* %name-prefix changes the namespace name in C++ outputs.
340
341* The C++ parsers export their token_type.
5f4236a0 342
d6ca7905
PE
343* Bison now allows multiple %union declarations, and concatenates
344 their contents together.
345
affac613 346* New warning: unused values
4d7bc38c
PE
347 Right-hand side symbols whose values are not used are reported,
348 if the symbols have destructors. For instance:
affac613 349
8f3596a6 350 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; }
721be13c
PE
351 | exp "+" exp
352 ;
affac613 353
8f3596a6
AD
354 will trigger a warning about $$ and $5 in the first rule, and $3 in
355 the second ($1 is copied to $$ by the default rule). This example
4e26c69e 356 most likely contains three errors, and could be rewritten as:
affac613 357
4e26c69e
PE
358 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp
359 { $$ = $1 ? $3 : $5; free ($1 ? $5 : $3); free ($1); }
360 | exp "+" exp
361 { $$ = $1 ? $1 : $3; if ($1) free ($3); }
721be13c 362 ;
affac613 363
4e26c69e
PE
364 However, if the original actions were really intended, memory leaks
365 and all, the warnings can be suppressed by letting Bison believe the
366 values are used, e.g.:
721be13c 367
8f3596a6 368 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; (void) ($$, $5); }
721be13c
PE
369 | exp "+" exp { $$ = $1; (void) $3; }
370 ;
371
84866159
AD
372 If there are mid-rule actions, the warning is issued if no action
373 uses it. The following triggers no warning: $1 and $3 are used.
374
375 exp: exp { push ($1); } '+' exp { push ($3); sum (); };
376
721be13c
PE
377 The warning is intended to help catching lost values and memory leaks.
378 If a value is ignored, its associated memory typically is not reclaimed.
affac613 379
9d9b8b70
PE
380* %destructor vs. YYABORT, YYACCEPT, and YYERROR.
381 Destructors are now called when user code invokes YYABORT, YYACCEPT,
382 and YYERROR, for all objects on the stack, other than objects
383 corresponding to the right-hand side of the current rule.
a85284cf 384
035aa4a0
PE
385* %expect, %expect-rr
386 Incorrect numbers of expected conflicts are now actual errors,
387 instead of warnings.
388
4b367315 389* GLR, YACC parsers.
4e26c69e
PE
390 The %parse-params are available in the destructors (and the
391 experimental printers) as per the documentation.
4b367315 392
302c0aee 393* Bison now warns if it finds a stray `$' or `@' in an action.
ad6a9b97 394
b50d2359 395* %require "VERSION"
4e26c69e
PE
396 This specifies that the grammar file depends on features implemented
397 in Bison version VERSION or higher.
b50d2359 398
fb9712a9 399* lalr1.cc: The token and value types are now class members.
e14d0ab6
AD
400 The tokens were defined as free form enums and cpp macros. YYSTYPE
401 was defined as a free form union. They are now class members:
fb9712a9
AD
402 tokens are enumerations of the `yy::parser::token' struct, and the
403 semantic values have the `yy::parser::semantic_type' type.
404
405 If you do not want or can update to this scheme, the directive
406 `%define "global_tokens_and_yystype" "1"' triggers the global
b50d2359
AD
407 definition of tokens and YYSTYPE. This change is suitable both
408 for previous releases of Bison, and this one.
fb9712a9 409
b50d2359 410 If you wish to update, then make sure older version of Bison will
ab8d9dc5 411 fail using `%require "2.2"'.
fb9712a9 412
302c0aee 413* DJGPP support added.
193d7c70 414\f
1bd0deda 415Changes in version 2.1, 2005-09-16:
1ce59070 416
e14d0ab6
AD
417* The C++ lalr1.cc skeleton supports %lex-param.
418
a7db4add 419* Bison-generated parsers now support the translation of diagnostics like
baf785db
PE
420 "syntax error" into languages other than English. The default
421 language is still English. For details, please see the new
0410a6e0
PE
422 Internationalization section of the Bison manual. Software
423 distributors should also see the new PACKAGING file. Thanks to
424 Bruno Haible for this new feature.
1ce59070 425
1a059451
PE
426* Wording in the Bison-generated parsers has been changed slightly to
427 simplify translation. In particular, the message "memory exhausted"
428 has replaced "parser stack overflow", as the old message was not
429 always accurate for modern Bison-generated parsers.
430
258b75ca
PE
431* Destructors are now called when the parser aborts, for all symbols left
432 behind on the stack. Also, the start symbol is now destroyed after a
433 successful parse. In both cases, the behavior was formerly inconsistent.
434
a7db4add 435* When generating verbose diagnostics, Bison-generated parsers no longer
72f000b0
PE
436 quote the literal strings associated with tokens. For example, for
437 a syntax error associated with '%token NUM "number"' they might
438 print 'syntax error, unexpected number' instead of 'syntax error,
439 unexpected "number"'.
193d7c70 440\f
82de6b0d 441Changes in version 2.0, 2004-12-25:
efeed023 442
82de6b0d 443* Possibly-incompatible changes
d7e14fc0 444
82de6b0d
PE
445 - Bison-generated parsers no longer default to using the alloca function
446 (when available) to extend the parser stack, due to widespread
447 problems in unchecked stack-overflow detection. You can "#define
448 YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA 1" to require the use of alloca, but please read
449 the manual to determine safe values for YYMAXDEPTH in that case.
8dd162d3 450
82de6b0d
PE
451 - Error token location.
452 During error recovery, the location of the syntax error is updated
453 to cover the whole sequence covered by the error token: it includes
454 the shifted symbols thrown away during the first part of the error
455 recovery, and the lookahead rejected during the second part.
18d192f0 456
82de6b0d
PE
457 - Semicolon changes:
458 . Stray semicolons are no longer allowed at the start of a grammar.
459 . Semicolons are now required after in-grammar declarations.
e342c3be 460
82de6b0d
PE
461 - Unescaped newlines are no longer allowed in character constants or
462 string literals. They were never portable, and GCC 3.4.0 has
463 dropped support for them. Better diagnostics are now generated if
464 forget a closing quote.
8dd162d3 465
82de6b0d 466 - NUL bytes are no longer allowed in Bison string literals, unfortunately.
f74b6f91 467
82de6b0d 468* New features
1452af69 469
82de6b0d 470 - GLR grammars now support locations.
4febdd96 471
82de6b0d
PE
472 - New directive: %initial-action.
473 This directive allows the user to run arbitrary code (including
474 initializing @$) from yyparse before parsing starts.
1452af69 475
82de6b0d
PE
476 - A new directive "%expect-rr N" specifies the expected number of
477 reduce/reduce conflicts in GLR parsers.
1452af69 478
82de6b0d
PE
479 - %token numbers can now be hexadecimal integers, e.g., `%token FOO 0x12d'.
480 This is a GNU extension.
4febdd96 481
82de6b0d 482 - The option `--report=lookahead' was changed to `--report=look-ahead'.
9e6e7ed2 483 [However, this was changed back after 2.3.]
1452af69 484
82de6b0d 485 - Experimental %destructor support has been added to lalr1.cc.
1452af69 486
82de6b0d
PE
487 - New configure option --disable-yacc, to disable installation of the
488 yacc command and -ly library introduced in 1.875 for POSIX conformance.
6040d338 489
82de6b0d 490* Bug fixes
d5a3fe37 491
82de6b0d
PE
492 - For now, %expect-count violations are now just warnings, not errors.
493 This is for compatibility with Bison 1.75 and earlier (when there are
494 reduce/reduce conflicts) and with Bison 1.30 and earlier (when there
495 are too many or too few shift/reduce conflicts). However, in future
496 versions of Bison we plan to improve the %expect machinery so that
497 these violations will become errors again.
3473d0f8 498
82de6b0d
PE
499 - Within Bison itself, numbers (e.g., goto numbers) are no longer
500 arbitrarily limited to 16-bit counts.
d600ee67 501
82de6b0d 502 - Semicolons are now allowed before "|" in grammar rules, as POSIX requires.
d600ee67 503\f
dc546b0f 504Changes in version 1.875, 2003-01-01:
963fcc17 505
dc546b0f
PE
506* The documentation license has been upgraded to version 1.2
507 of the GNU Free Documentation License.
75eb3bc4 508
dc546b0f 509* syntax error processing
75eb3bc4 510
dc546b0f
PE
511 - In Yacc-style parsers YYLLOC_DEFAULT is now used to compute error
512 locations too. This fixes bugs in error-location computation.
75eb3bc4 513
dc546b0f
PE
514 - %destructor
515 It is now possible to reclaim the memory associated to symbols
516 discarded during error recovery. This feature is still experimental.
20daca06 517
dc546b0f
PE
518 - %error-verbose
519 This new directive is preferred over YYERROR_VERBOSE.
74724a70 520
dc546b0f
PE
521 - #defining yyerror to steal internal variables is discouraged.
522 It is not guaranteed to work forever.
d1de5372 523
dc546b0f 524* POSIX conformance
d1de5372 525
dc546b0f
PE
526 - Semicolons are once again optional at the end of grammar rules.
527 This reverts to the behavior of Bison 1.33 and earlier, and improves
528 compatibility with Yacc.
74724a70 529
dc546b0f
PE
530 - `parse error' -> `syntax error'
531 Bison now uniformly uses the term `syntax error'; formerly, the code
532 and manual sometimes used the term `parse error' instead. POSIX
533 requires `syntax error' in diagnostics, and it was thought better to
534 be consistent.
74724a70 535
dc546b0f
PE
536 - The documentation now emphasizes that yylex and yyerror must be
537 declared before use. C99 requires this.
d1de5372 538
dc546b0f
PE
539 - Bison now parses C99 lexical constructs like UCNs and
540 backslash-newline within C escape sequences, as POSIX 1003.1-2001 requires.
d1de5372 541
dc546b0f
PE
542 - File names are properly escaped in C output. E.g., foo\bar.y is
543 output as "foo\\bar.y".
6780ca7a 544
dc546b0f
PE
545 - Yacc command and library now available
546 The Bison distribution now installs a `yacc' command, as POSIX requires.
547 Also, Bison now installs a small library liby.a containing
548 implementations of Yacc-compatible yyerror and main functions.
549 This library is normally not useful, but POSIX requires it.
6e649e65 550
dc546b0f 551 - Type clashes now generate warnings, not errors.
6e649e65 552
dc546b0f
PE
553 - If the user does not define YYSTYPE as a macro, Bison now declares it
554 using typedef instead of defining it as a macro.
555 For consistency, YYLTYPE is also declared instead of defined.
9501dc6e 556
dc546b0f 557* Other compatibility issues
886a425c 558
dc546b0f
PE
559 - %union directives can now have a tag before the `{', e.g., the
560 directive `%union foo {...}' now generates the C code
561 `typedef union foo { ... } YYSTYPE;'; this is for Yacc compatibility.
562 The default union tag is `YYSTYPE', for compatibility with Solaris 9 Yacc.
563 For consistency, YYLTYPE's struct tag is now `YYLTYPE' not `yyltype'.
564 This is for compatibility with both Yacc and Bison 1.35.
72f889cc 565
dc546b0f
PE
566 - `;' is output before the terminating `}' of an action, for
567 compatibility with Bison 1.35.
886a425c 568
dc546b0f
PE
569 - Bison now uses a Yacc-style format for conflict reports, e.g.,
570 `conflicts: 2 shift/reduce, 1 reduce/reduce'.
437c2d80 571
dc546b0f
PE
572 - `yystype' and `yyltype' are now obsolescent macros instead of being
573 typedefs or tags; they are no longer documented and are planned to be
574 withdrawn in a future release.
2a8d363a 575
dc546b0f 576* GLR parser notes
2a8d363a 577
dc546b0f
PE
578 - GLR and inline
579 Users of Bison have to decide how they handle the portability of the
580 C keyword `inline'.
959e5f51 581
dc546b0f
PE
582 - `parsing stack overflow...' -> `parser stack overflow'
583 GLR parsers now report `parser stack overflow' as per the Bison manual.
900c5db5 584
dc546b0f
PE
585* Bison now warns if it detects conflicting outputs to the same file,
586 e.g., it generates a warning for `bison -d -o foo.h foo.y' since
587 that command outputs both code and header to foo.h.
6e40b4eb 588
dc546b0f
PE
589* #line in output files
590 - --no-line works properly.
6e40b4eb
AD
591
592* Bison can no longer be built by a K&R C compiler; it requires C89 or
593 later to be built. This change originally took place a few versions
594 ago, but nobody noticed until we recently asked someone to try
595 building Bison with a K&R C compiler.
d600ee67 596\f
5c16c6b1 597Changes in version 1.75, 2002-10-14:
7933f2b5
PE
598
599* Bison should now work on 64-bit hosts.
600
b7195100 601* Indonesian translation thanks to Tedi Heriyanto.
7933f2b5 602
f50adbbd
AD
603* GLR parsers
604 Fix spurious parse errors.
605
606* Pure parsers
607 Some people redefine yyerror to steal yyparse' private variables.
608 Reenable this trick until an official feature replaces it.
609
d90c934c
AD
610* Type Clashes
611 In agreement with POSIX and with other Yaccs, leaving a default
612 action is valid when $$ is untyped, and $1 typed:
613
614 untyped: ... typed;
615
616 but the converse remains an error:
617
618 typed: ... untyped;
619
620* Values of mid-rule actions
621 The following code:
622
623 foo: { ... } { $$ = $1; } ...
624
625 was incorrectly rejected: $1 is defined in the second mid-rule
626 action, and is equal to the $$ of the first mid-rule action.
d600ee67 627\f
420f93c8 628Changes in version 1.50, 2002-10-04:
adc8c848 629
676385e2
PH
630* GLR parsing
631 The declaration
632 %glr-parser
633 causes Bison to produce a Generalized LR (GLR) parser, capable of handling
634 almost any context-free grammar, ambiguous or not. The new declarations
e8832397 635 %dprec and %merge on grammar rules allow parse-time resolution of
676385e2
PH
636 ambiguities. Contributed by Paul Hilfinger.
637
7933f2b5 638 Unfortunately Bison 1.50 does not work properly on 64-bit hosts
420f93c8
PE
639 like the Alpha, so please stick to 32-bit hosts for now.
640
8c165d89
AD
641* Output Directory
642 When not in Yacc compatibility mode, when the output file was not
e88dbdbf 643 specified, running `bison foo/bar.y' created `foo/bar.c'. It
8c165d89
AD
644 now creates `bar.c'.
645
007a50a4
AD
646* Undefined token
647 The undefined token was systematically mapped to 2 which prevented
e88dbdbf 648 the use of 2 by the user. This is no longer the case.
007a50a4 649
77714df2 650* Unknown token numbers
e88dbdbf 651 If yylex returned an out of range value, yyparse could die. This is
007a50a4
AD
652 no longer the case.
653
23c5a174 654* Error token
e88dbdbf 655 According to POSIX, the error token must be 256.
23c5a174
AD
656 Bison extends this requirement by making it a preference: *if* the
657 user specified that one of her tokens is numbered 256, then error
658 will be mapped onto another number.
659
217598da 660* Verbose error messages
e88dbdbf 661 They no longer report `..., expecting error or...' for states where
217598da
AD
662 error recovery is possible.
663
664* End token
665 Defaults to `$end' instead of `$'.
666
68cd8af3
PE
667* Error recovery now conforms to documentation and to POSIX
668 When a Bison-generated parser encounters a syntax error, it now pops
669 the stack until it finds a state that allows shifting the error
670 token. Formerly, it popped the stack until it found a state that
671 allowed some non-error action other than a default reduction on the
672 error token. The new behavior has long been the documented behavior,
673 and has long been required by POSIX. For more details, please see
337116ba
PE
674 Paul Eggert, "Reductions during Bison error handling" (2002-05-20)
675 <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-bison/2002-05/msg00038.html>.
68cd8af3 676
5504898e
AD
677* Traces
678 Popped tokens and nonterminals are now reported.
679
a861a339
PE
680* Larger grammars
681 Larger grammars are now supported (larger token numbers, larger grammar
682 size (= sum of the LHS and RHS lengths), larger LALR tables).
683 Formerly, many of these numbers ran afoul of 16-bit limits;
684 now these limits are 32 bits on most hosts.
355e7c1c 685
77714df2 686* Explicit initial rule
643a5994
AD
687 Bison used to play hacks with the initial rule, which the user does
688 not write. It is now explicit, and visible in the reports and
689 graphs as rule 0.
23c5a174 690
77714df2 691* Useless rules
643a5994 692 Before, Bison reported the useless rules, but, although not used,
77714df2 693 included them in the parsers. They are now actually removed.
23c5a174 694
6b98e4b5
AD
695* Useless rules, useless nonterminals
696 They are now reported, as a warning, with their locations.
697
e8832397
AD
698* Rules never reduced
699 Rules that can never be reduced because of conflicts are now
700 reported.
701
77714df2 702* Incorrect `Token not used'
11652ab3
AD
703 On a grammar such as
704
705 %token useless useful
706 %%
707 exp: '0' %prec useful;
708
709 where a token was used to set the precedence of the last rule,
710 bison reported both `useful' and `useless' as useless tokens.
711
77714df2
AD
712* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31
713 as they caused too many portability hassles.
0179dd65 714
b2d52318
AD
715* Default locations
716 By an accident of design, the default computation of @$ was
717 performed after another default computation was performed: @$ = @1.
718 The latter is now removed: YYLLOC_DEFAULT is fully responsible of
719 the computation of @$.
adc8c848 720
b7c49edf
AD
721* Token end-of-file
722 The token end of file may be specified by the user, in which case,
723 the user symbol is used in the reports, the graphs, and the verbose
a861a339 724 error messages instead of `$end', which remains being the default.
b7c49edf 725 For instance
7bd6c77e 726 %token MYEOF 0
b7c49edf 727 or
7bd6c77e 728 %token MYEOF 0 "end of file"
fdbcd8e2
AD
729
730* Semantic parser
731 This old option, which has been broken for ages, is removed.
732
a861a339
PE
733* New translations
734 Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to Alexandre Folle de Menezes.
84614e13
AD
735 Croatian, thanks to Denis Lackovic.
736
77714df2 737* Incorrect token definitions
e88dbdbf 738 When given `%token 'a' "A"', Bison used to output `#define 'a' 65'.
b87f8b21 739
77714df2
AD
740* Token definitions as enums
741 Tokens are output both as the traditional #define's, and, provided
742 the compiler supports ANSI C or is a C++ compiler, as enums.
e88dbdbf 743 This lets debuggers display names instead of integers.
77714df2 744
ec3bc396
AD
745* Reports
746 In addition to --verbose, bison supports --report=THINGS, which
747 produces additional information:
b408954b
AD
748 - itemset
749 complete the core item sets with their closure
9e6e7ed2
PE
750 - lookahead [changed to `look-ahead' in 1.875e through 2.3, but changed back]
751 explicitly associate lookahead tokens to items
b408954b
AD
752 - solved
753 describe shift/reduce conflicts solving.
754 Bison used to systematically output this information on top of
755 the report. Solved conflicts are now attached to their states.
ec3bc396 756
9af3fbce
AD
757* Type clashes
758 Previous versions don't complain when there is a type clash on
759 the default action if the rule has a mid-rule action, such as in:
760
761 %type <foo> bar
762 %%
763 bar: '0' {} '0';
764
765 This is fixed.
a861a339
PE
766
767* GNU M4 is now required when using Bison.
f987e9d2 768\f
76551463
AD
769Changes in version 1.35, 2002-03-25:
770
771* C Skeleton
772 Some projects use Bison's C parser with C++ compilers, and define
773 YYSTYPE as a class. The recent adjustment of C parsers for data
774 alignment and 64 bit architectures made this impossible.
775
776 Because for the time being no real solution for C++ parser
777 generation exists, kludges were implemented in the parser to
778 maintain this use. In the future, when Bison has C++ parsers, this
779 kludge will be disabled.
780
781 This kludge also addresses some C++ problems when the stack was
782 extended.
76551463
AD
783\f
784Changes in version 1.34, 2002-03-12:
785
786* File name clashes are detected
787 $ bison foo.y -d -o foo.x
788 fatal error: header and parser would both be named `foo.x'
789
790* A missing `;' at the end of a rule triggers a warning
791 In accordance with POSIX, and in agreement with other
792 Yacc implementations, Bison will mandate this semicolon in the near
793 future. This eases the implementation of a Bison parser of Bison
794 grammars by making this grammar LALR(1) instead of LR(2). To
795 facilitate the transition, this release introduces a warning.
796
797* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31, as they caused too
798 many portability hassles.
799
800* DJGPP support added.
801
802* Fix test suite portability problems.
803\f
804Changes in version 1.33, 2002-02-07:
805
806* Fix C++ issues
807 Groff could not be compiled for the definition of size_t was lacking
808 under some conditions.
809
810* Catch invalid @n
811 As is done with $n.
812\f
813Changes in version 1.32, 2002-01-23:
814
815* Fix Yacc output file names
816
817* Portability fixes
818
819* Italian, Dutch translations
820\f
52d1aeee
MA
821Changes in version 1.31, 2002-01-14:
822
823* Many Bug Fixes
824
825* GNU Gettext and %expect
826 GNU Gettext asserts 10 s/r conflicts, but there are 7. Now that
827 Bison dies on incorrect %expectations, we fear there will be
828 too many bug reports for Gettext, so _for the time being_, %expect
829 does not trigger an error when the input file is named `plural.y'.
830
831* Use of alloca in parsers
832 If YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA is defined to 0, then the parsers will use
833 malloc exclusively. Since 1.29, but was not NEWS'ed.
834
835 alloca is used only when compiled with GCC, to avoid portability
836 problems as on AIX.
837
b47dbebe
PE
838* yyparse now returns 2 if memory is exhausted; formerly it dumped core.
839
52d1aeee
MA
840* When the generated parser lacks debugging code, YYDEBUG is now 0
841 (as POSIX requires) instead of being undefined.
842
843* User Actions
844 Bison has always permitted actions such as { $$ = $1 }: it adds the
845 ending semicolon. Now if in Yacc compatibility mode, the semicolon
846 is no longer output: one has to write { $$ = $1; }.
847
848* Better C++ compliance
849 The output parsers try to respect C++ namespaces.
76551463 850 [This turned out to be a failed experiment, and it was reverted later.]
52d1aeee
MA
851
852* Reduced Grammars
853 Fixed bugs when reporting useless nonterminals.
854
855* 64 bit hosts
856 The parsers work properly on 64 bit hosts.
857
858* Error messages
859 Some calls to strerror resulted in scrambled or missing error messages.
860
861* %expect
862 When the number of shift/reduce conflicts is correct, don't issue
863 any warning.
864
865* The verbose report includes the rule line numbers.
866
867* Rule line numbers are fixed in traces.
868
869* Swedish translation
870
871* Parse errors
872 Verbose parse error messages from the parsers are better looking.
873 Before: parse error: unexpected `'/'', expecting `"number"' or `'-'' or `'(''
874 Now: parse error: unexpected '/', expecting "number" or '-' or '('
875
876* Fixed parser memory leaks.
877 When the generated parser was using malloc to extend its stacks, the
878 previous allocations were not freed.
879
880* Fixed verbose output file.
881 Some newlines were missing.
882 Some conflicts in state descriptions were missing.
883
884* Fixed conflict report.
885 Option -v was needed to get the result.
886
887* %expect
888 Was not used.
889 Mismatches are errors, not warnings.
890
891* Fixed incorrect processing of some invalid input.
892
893* Fixed CPP guards: 9foo.h uses BISON_9FOO_H instead of 9FOO_H.
894
895* Fixed some typos in the documentation.
896
897* %token MY_EOF 0 is supported.
898 Before, MY_EOF was silently renumbered as 257.
899
900* doc/refcard.tex is updated.
901
902* %output, %file-prefix, %name-prefix.
903 New.
904
905* --output
906 New, aliasing `--output-file'.
907\f
76551463 908Changes in version 1.30, 2001-10-26:
342b8b6e 909
fdac0091
PE
910* `--defines' and `--graph' have now an optional argument which is the
911 output file name. `-d' and `-g' do not change; they do not take any
342b8b6e
AD
912 argument.
913
914* `%source_extension' and `%header_extension' are removed, failed
915 experiment.
916
f987e9d2
AD
917* Portability fixes.
918\f
9f4503d6 919Changes in version 1.29, 2001-09-07:
342b8b6e
AD
920
921* The output file does not define const, as this caused problems when used
922 with common autoconfiguration schemes. If you still use ancient compilers
923 that lack const, compile with the equivalent of the C compiler option
924 `-Dconst='. autoconf's AC_C_CONST macro provides one way to do this.
925
926* Added `-g' and `--graph'.
f87a2205 927
f2b5126e
PB
928* The Bison manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL.
929
f1c63ced 930* The input and the output files has automatically a similar extension.
234a3be3 931
f87a2205
JT
932* Russian translation added.
933
934* NLS support updated; should hopefully be less troublesome.
935
936* Added the old Bison reference card.
c33638bb
AD
937
938* Added `--locations' and `%locations'.
6deb4447 939
cd5bd6ac
AD
940* Added `-S' and `--skeleton'.
941
62ab6972
AD
942* `%raw', `-r', `--raw' is disabled.
943
cd5bd6ac
AD
944* Special characters are escaped when output. This solves the problems
945 of the #line lines with path names including backslashes.
946
6deb4447 947* New directives.
4ecbf796
MA
948 `%yacc', `%fixed_output_files', `%defines', `%no_parser', `%verbose',
949 `%debug', `%source_extension' and `%header_extension'.
f987e9d2
AD
950
951* @$
952 Automatic location tracking.
f87a2205 953\f
9f4503d6 954Changes in version 1.28, 1999-07-06:
d2e00347
JT
955
956* Should compile better now with K&R compilers.
957
958* Added NLS.
959
960* Fixed a problem with escaping the double quote character.
961
962* There is now a FAQ.
963\f
5c31c3c2
JT
964Changes in version 1.27:
965
966* The make rule which prevented bison.simple from being created on
967 some systems has been fixed.
968\f
969Changes in version 1.26:
4be07551
JT
970
971* Bison now uses automake.
972
973* New mailing lists: <bug-bison@gnu.org> and <help-bison@gnu.org>.
974
975* Token numbers now start at 257 as previously documented, not 258.
976
977* Bison honors the TMPDIR environment variable.
978
979* A couple of buffer overruns have been fixed.
f51dbca1
JT
980
981* Problems when closing files should now be reported.
982
983* Generated parsers should now work even on operating systems which do
984 not provide alloca().
4be07551 985\f
9f4503d6 986Changes in version 1.25, 1995-10-16:
df8878c5
RS
987
988* Errors in the input grammar are not fatal; Bison keeps reading
989the grammar file, and reports all the errors found in it.
8c44d3ec 990
df8878c5
RS
991* Tokens can now be specified as multiple-character strings: for
992example, you could use "<=" for a token which looks like <=, instead
993of chosing a name like LESSEQ.
994
995* The %token_table declaration says to write a table of tokens (names
996and numbers) into the parser file. The yylex function can use this
997table to recognize multiple-character string tokens, or for other
998purposes.
999
1000* The %no_lines declaration says not to generate any #line preprocessor
1001directives in the parser file.
1002
1003* The %raw declaration says to use internal Bison token numbers, not
1004Yacc-compatible token numbers, when token names are defined as macros.
1005
1006* The --no-parser option produces the parser tables without including
1007the parser engine; a project can now use its own parser engine.
1008The actions go into a separate file called NAME.act, in the form of
1009a switch statement body.
1010\f
6780ca7a
DM
1011Changes in version 1.23:
1012
4d019228
DM
1013The user can define YYPARSE_PARAM as the name of an argument to be
1014passed into yyparse. The argument should have type void *. It should
1015actually point to an object. Grammar actions can access the variable
1016by casting it to the proper pointer type.
6780ca7a 1017
6780ca7a 1018Line numbers in output file corrected.
6780ca7a
DM
1019\f
1020Changes in version 1.22:
1021
1022--help option added.
6780ca7a
DM
1023\f
1024Changes in version 1.20:
1025
1026Output file does not redefine const for C++.
9f4503d6
AD
1027
1028Local Variables:
1029mode: outline
1030End:
76551463
AD
1031
1032-----
1033
d6ca7905 1034Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
ab7f29f8 10352004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
76551463 1036
75eb3bc4 1037This file is part of Bison, the GNU Compiler Compiler.
76551463 1038
f16b0819 1039This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
76551463 1040it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
f16b0819
PE
1041the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
1042(at your option) any later version.
76551463 1043
f16b0819 1044This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
76551463
AD
1045but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
1046MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
1047GNU General Public License for more details.
1048
1049You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
f16b0819 1050along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.