Added a FAQ list.
[bison.git] / doc / FAQ
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1Frequently Asked Questions about Bison:
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5Q1. Is Bison Y2K compliant?
6
7A1. If you're looking for a guarantee or certification, I can't
8 provide it. With a little thought you can answer this one for
9 yourself, though. (Hint: does a parser generator rely on the
10 date or time for anything?) If you're still confused, see
11 http://www.gnu.org/software/year2000.html for more information.
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15Q2. I'm having trouble using Bison. Where can I find help?
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17A2. First, read the fine manual which comes with bison. Beyond that,
18 you can send mail to <help-bison@gnu.org>. This mailing list is
19 intended to be populated with people who are willing to answer
20 questions about using and installing Bison. Please keep in mind
21 that (most of) the people on the list have aspects of their lives
22 which are not related to Bison (!), so you may not receive an
23 answer to your question right away. This can be frustrating, but
24 please try not to honk them off; remember that any help they
25 provide is purely voluntary and out of the kindness of their
26 hearts.
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29
30Q3. I found a bug. What should I include in the bug report?
31
32A3. Before you send a bug report, make sure you are using the latest
33 version. Check ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bison/ or one of its
34 mirrors. Be sure to include the version number in your bug
35 report. If the bug is present in the latest version but not in a
36 previous version, try to determine the most recent version which
37 did not contain the bug.
38
39 If the bug is parser-related, you should include the smallest
40 grammar you can which demonstrates the bug. The smaller and
41 simpler the grammar, the easier it will be to fix the bug.
42
43 Include information about your compilation environment, including
44 your operating system's name and version and your compiler's name
45 and version. If you have trouble compiling, you should also
46 include a transcript of the build session, starting with the
47 invocation of `configure'. Depending on the nature of the bug,
48 you may be asked to send additional files as well (such as
49 `config.h' or `config.cache').
50
51 Patches are most welcome, but not required. That is, do not
52 hesitate to send a bug report just because you can not provide a
53 fix.
54
55 Send bug reports to <bug-bison@gnu.org>.
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59Q4. Will Bison ever have C++ support?
60
61A4. Yes, it's in the works. I will need beta testers, however (and
62 people haven't exactly been lining up for the task). When this
63 feature is ready to be tested, it will be announced on the
64 bug-bison mailing list. If you're interested in testing C++
65 support when it becomes available, please consider subscribing to
66 the list, especially if you are willing to beta test other
67 releases as well.
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70
71Q5. What is involved in being a beta tester?
72
73A5. It's not terribly involved. Basically, you would download a test
74 release, compile it, and use it to build and run a parser or two.
75 After that, you would either submit a bug report or a message
76 saying that everything is okay. It is important to report
77 successes as well as failures because test releases eventually
78 become mainstream releases, but only if they are adequately
79 tested. If no one tests, development is essentially halted.
80
81 Beta testers are particularly needed for operating systems to
82 which I do not have access. I currently have easy access to
83 Linux (x86 glibc 2.1), Solaris (SPARC) 2.6 and 2.7, and HP-UX
84 10.20. Reports about other operating systems are especially
85 welcome.
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89Q6. How do I join the help-bison and bug-bison mailing lists?
90
91A6. See http://www.gnu.org/ (the section about "GNU mailing lists")
92 for more information.
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