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1Bison News
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4Changes in version 2.3a+ (????-??-??):
5
6* The -g and --graph options now output graphs in Graphviz DOT format,
7 not VCG format.
8
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9* An experimental directive %language specifies the language of the
10 generated parser, which can be C (the default) or C++. This
11 directive affects the skeleton used, and the names of the generated
12 files if the grammar file's name ends in ".y".
13
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14* The grammar file may now specify the name of the parser header file using
15 %defines. For example:
16
17 %defines "parser.h"
18
19* The `=' that used to be required in the following declarations is now
20 deprecated:
21
22 %file-prefix "parser"
23 %name-prefix "c_"
24 %output "parser.c"
25
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26* Bison 2.3a provided a new set of directives as a more flexible alternative to
27 the traditional Yacc prologue blocks. Those have now been consolidated into
28 a single %code directive with an optional qualifier field, which identifies
29 the purpose of the code and thus the location(s) where Bison should generate
30 it:
31
32 1. `%code {CODE}' replaces `%after-header {CODE}'
33 2. `%code "requires" {CODE}' replaces `%start-header {CODE}'
34 3. `%code "provides" {CODE}' replaces `%end-header {CODE}'
35 4. `%code "top" {CODE}' replaces `%before-header {CODE}'
36
37 See the %code entries in `Appendix A Bison Symbols' in the Bison manual for a
38 summary of the new functionality. See the new section `Prologue
39 Alternatives' for a detailed discussion including the advantages of %code
40 over the traditional Yacc prologues.
41
42 The prologue alternatives are experimental. More user feedback will help to
43 determine whether they should become permanent features.
44
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45* Revised warning: unset or unused mid-rule values
46
47 Since Bison 2.2, Bison has warned about mid-rule values that are set but not
48 used within any of the actions of the parent rule. For example, Bison warns
49 about unused $2 in:
50
51 exp: '1' { $$ = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $1 + $4; };
52
53 Now, Bison also warns about mid-rule values that are used but not set. For
54 example, Bison warns about unset $$ in the mid-rule action in:
55
56 exp: '1' { $1 = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $2 + $4; };
57
58 However, Bison now disables both of these warnings by default since they
59 sometimes prove to be false alarms in existing grammars employing the Yacc
60 constructs $0 or $-N (where N is some positive integer).
61
62 To enable these warnings, specify the flag `--warnings=midrule-values' or
63 `-W', which is a synonym for `--warnings=all'.
64
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65* Bison now recognizes two separate kinds of default %destructor's and
66 %printer's:
67
68 1. Place `<*>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
69 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols for which you have formally
70 declared semantic type tags.
71
3ebecc24 72 2. Place `<>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
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73 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols without declared semantic
74 type tags.
75
76 Bison no longer supports the `%symbol-default' notation from Bison 2.3a.
3ebecc24 77 `<*>' and `<>' combined achieve the same effect with one exception: Bison no
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78 longer applies any %destructor to a mid-rule value if that mid-rule value is
79 not actually ever referenced using either $$ or $n in a semantic action.
80
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81 The default %destructor's and %printer's are experimental. More user
82 feedback will help to determine whether they should become permanent
83 features.
84
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85 See the section `Freeing Discarded Symbols' in the Bison manual for further
86 details.
87
21fe08ca 88Changes in version 2.3a, 2006-09-13:
742e4900 89
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90* Instead of %union, you can define and use your own union type
91 YYSTYPE if your grammar contains at least one <type> tag.
92 Your YYSTYPE need not be a macro; it can be a typedef.
93 This change is for compatibility with other Yacc implementations,
94 and is required by POSIX.
95
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96* Locations columns and lines start at 1.
97 In accordance with the GNU Coding Standards and Emacs.
98
b2a0b7ca 99* You may now declare per-type and default %destructor's and %printer's:
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100
101 For example:
102
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103 %union { char *string; }
104 %token <string> STRING1
105 %token <string> STRING2
106 %type <string> string1
107 %type <string> string2
108 %union { char character; }
109 %token <character> CHR
110 %type <character> chr
111 %destructor { free ($$); } %symbol-default
112 %destructor { free ($$); printf ("%d", @$.first_line); } STRING1 string1
113 %destructor { } <character>
114
115 guarantees that, when the parser discards any user-defined symbol that has a
116 semantic type tag other than `<character>', it passes its semantic value to
117 `free'. However, when the parser discards a `STRING1' or a `string1', it
118 also prints its line number to `stdout'. It performs only the second
119 `%destructor' in this case, so it invokes `free' only once.
ec5479ce 120
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121 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the default
122 %destructor's and %printer's were experimental, and they were rewritten in
123 future versions.]
124
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125* Except for LALR(1) parsers in C with POSIX Yacc emulation enabled (with `-y',
126 `--yacc', or `%yacc'), Bison no longer generates #define statements for
127 associating token numbers with token names. Removing the #define statements
128 helps to sanitize the global namespace during preprocessing, but POSIX Yacc
129 requires them. Bison still generates an enum for token names in all cases.
130
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131* Handling of traditional Yacc prologue blocks is now more consistent but
132 potentially incompatible with previous releases of Bison.
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133
134 As before, you declare prologue blocks in your grammar file with the
135 `%{ ... %}' syntax. To generate the pre-prologue, Bison concatenates all
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136 prologue blocks that you've declared before the first %union. To generate
137 the post-prologue, Bison concatenates all prologue blocks that you've
ddc8ede1 138 declared after the first %union.
9bc0dd67 139
34f98f46 140 Previous releases of Bison inserted the pre-prologue into both the header
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141 file and the code file in all cases except for LALR(1) parsers in C. In the
142 latter case, Bison inserted it only into the code file. For parsers in C++,
143 the point of insertion was before any token definitions (which associate
144 token numbers with names). For parsers in C, the point of insertion was
145 after the token definitions.
146
147 Now, Bison never inserts the pre-prologue into the header file. In the code
148 file, it always inserts it before the token definitions.
149
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150* Bison now provides a more flexible alternative to the traditional Yacc
151 prologue blocks: %before-header, %start-header, %end-header, and
152 %after-header.
153
154 For example, the following declaration order in the grammar file reflects the
155 order in which Bison will output these code blocks. However, you are free to
156 declare these code blocks in your grammar file in whatever order is most
157 convenient for you:
158
159 %before-header {
160 /* Bison treats this block like a pre-prologue block: it inserts it into
161 * the code file before the contents of the header file. It does *not*
162 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to put
163 * #include's that you want at the top of your code file. A common
164 * example is `#include "system.h"'. */
165 }
166 %start-header {
167 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
168 * In both files, the point of insertion is before any Bison-generated
169 * token, semantic type, location type, and class definitions. This is a
170 * good place to define %union dependencies, for example. */
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171 }
172 %union {
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173 /* Unlike the traditional Yacc prologue blocks, the output order for the
174 * new %*-header blocks is not affected by their declaration position
175 * relative to any %union in the grammar file. */
9bc0dd67 176 }
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177 %end-header {
178 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
179 * In both files, the point of insertion is after the Bison-generated
180 * definitions. This is a good place to declare or define public
181 * functions or data structures that depend on the Bison-generated
182 * definitions. */
9bc0dd67 183 }
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184 %after-header {
185 /* Bison treats this block like a post-prologue block: it inserts it into
186 * the code file after the contents of the header file. It does *not*
187 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to declare or
188 * define internal functions or data structures that depend on the
189 * Bison-generated definitions. */
190 }
191
192 If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above declarations, Bison
193 will concatenate the contents in declaration order.
9bc0dd67 194
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195 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the prologue
196 alternatives were experimental, and they were rewritten in future versions.]
197
742e4900 198* The option `--report=look-ahead' has been changed to `--report=lookahead'.
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199 The old spelling still works, but is not documented and may be removed
200 in a future release.
742e4900 201
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202Changes in version 2.3, 2006-06-05:
203
204* GLR grammars should now use `YYRECOVERING ()' instead of `YYRECOVERING',
205 for compatibility with LALR(1) grammars.
206
207* It is now documented that any definition of YYSTYPE or YYLTYPE should
208 be to a type name that does not contain parentheses or brackets.
209
ab8d9dc5 210Changes in version 2.2, 2006-05-19:
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211
212* The distribution terms for all Bison-generated parsers now permit
213 using the parsers in nonfree programs. Previously, this permission
214 was granted only for Bison-generated LALR(1) parsers in C.
5f4236a0 215
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216* %name-prefix changes the namespace name in C++ outputs.
217
218* The C++ parsers export their token_type.
5f4236a0 219
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220* Bison now allows multiple %union declarations, and concatenates
221 their contents together.
222
affac613 223* New warning: unused values
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224 Right-hand side symbols whose values are not used are reported,
225 if the symbols have destructors. For instance:
affac613 226
8f3596a6 227 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; }
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228 | exp "+" exp
229 ;
affac613 230
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231 will trigger a warning about $$ and $5 in the first rule, and $3 in
232 the second ($1 is copied to $$ by the default rule). This example
4e26c69e 233 most likely contains three errors, and could be rewritten as:
affac613 234
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235 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp
236 { $$ = $1 ? $3 : $5; free ($1 ? $5 : $3); free ($1); }
237 | exp "+" exp
238 { $$ = $1 ? $1 : $3; if ($1) free ($3); }
721be13c 239 ;
affac613 240
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241 However, if the original actions were really intended, memory leaks
242 and all, the warnings can be suppressed by letting Bison believe the
243 values are used, e.g.:
721be13c 244
8f3596a6 245 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; (void) ($$, $5); }
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246 | exp "+" exp { $$ = $1; (void) $3; }
247 ;
248
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249 If there are mid-rule actions, the warning is issued if no action
250 uses it. The following triggers no warning: $1 and $3 are used.
251
252 exp: exp { push ($1); } '+' exp { push ($3); sum (); };
253
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254 The warning is intended to help catching lost values and memory leaks.
255 If a value is ignored, its associated memory typically is not reclaimed.
affac613 256
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257* %destructor vs. YYABORT, YYACCEPT, and YYERROR.
258 Destructors are now called when user code invokes YYABORT, YYACCEPT,
259 and YYERROR, for all objects on the stack, other than objects
260 corresponding to the right-hand side of the current rule.
a85284cf 261
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262* %expect, %expect-rr
263 Incorrect numbers of expected conflicts are now actual errors,
264 instead of warnings.
265
4b367315 266* GLR, YACC parsers.
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267 The %parse-params are available in the destructors (and the
268 experimental printers) as per the documentation.
4b367315 269
302c0aee 270* Bison now warns if it finds a stray `$' or `@' in an action.
ad6a9b97 271
b50d2359 272* %require "VERSION"
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273 This specifies that the grammar file depends on features implemented
274 in Bison version VERSION or higher.
b50d2359 275
fb9712a9 276* lalr1.cc: The token and value types are now class members.
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277 The tokens were defined as free form enums and cpp macros. YYSTYPE
278 was defined as a free form union. They are now class members:
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279 tokens are enumerations of the `yy::parser::token' struct, and the
280 semantic values have the `yy::parser::semantic_type' type.
281
282 If you do not want or can update to this scheme, the directive
283 `%define "global_tokens_and_yystype" "1"' triggers the global
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284 definition of tokens and YYSTYPE. This change is suitable both
285 for previous releases of Bison, and this one.
fb9712a9 286
b50d2359 287 If you wish to update, then make sure older version of Bison will
ab8d9dc5 288 fail using `%require "2.2"'.
fb9712a9 289
302c0aee 290* DJGPP support added.
193d7c70 291\f
1bd0deda 292Changes in version 2.1, 2005-09-16:
1ce59070 293
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294* The C++ lalr1.cc skeleton supports %lex-param.
295
a7db4add 296* Bison-generated parsers now support the translation of diagnostics like
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297 "syntax error" into languages other than English. The default
298 language is still English. For details, please see the new
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299 Internationalization section of the Bison manual. Software
300 distributors should also see the new PACKAGING file. Thanks to
301 Bruno Haible for this new feature.
1ce59070 302
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303* Wording in the Bison-generated parsers has been changed slightly to
304 simplify translation. In particular, the message "memory exhausted"
305 has replaced "parser stack overflow", as the old message was not
306 always accurate for modern Bison-generated parsers.
307
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308* Destructors are now called when the parser aborts, for all symbols left
309 behind on the stack. Also, the start symbol is now destroyed after a
310 successful parse. In both cases, the behavior was formerly inconsistent.
311
a7db4add 312* When generating verbose diagnostics, Bison-generated parsers no longer
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313 quote the literal strings associated with tokens. For example, for
314 a syntax error associated with '%token NUM "number"' they might
315 print 'syntax error, unexpected number' instead of 'syntax error,
316 unexpected "number"'.
193d7c70 317\f
82de6b0d 318Changes in version 2.0, 2004-12-25:
efeed023 319
82de6b0d 320* Possibly-incompatible changes
d7e14fc0 321
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322 - Bison-generated parsers no longer default to using the alloca function
323 (when available) to extend the parser stack, due to widespread
324 problems in unchecked stack-overflow detection. You can "#define
325 YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA 1" to require the use of alloca, but please read
326 the manual to determine safe values for YYMAXDEPTH in that case.
8dd162d3 327
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328 - Error token location.
329 During error recovery, the location of the syntax error is updated
330 to cover the whole sequence covered by the error token: it includes
331 the shifted symbols thrown away during the first part of the error
332 recovery, and the lookahead rejected during the second part.
18d192f0 333
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334 - Semicolon changes:
335 . Stray semicolons are no longer allowed at the start of a grammar.
336 . Semicolons are now required after in-grammar declarations.
e342c3be 337
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338 - Unescaped newlines are no longer allowed in character constants or
339 string literals. They were never portable, and GCC 3.4.0 has
340 dropped support for them. Better diagnostics are now generated if
341 forget a closing quote.
8dd162d3 342
82de6b0d 343 - NUL bytes are no longer allowed in Bison string literals, unfortunately.
f74b6f91 344
82de6b0d 345* New features
1452af69 346
82de6b0d 347 - GLR grammars now support locations.
4febdd96 348
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349 - New directive: %initial-action.
350 This directive allows the user to run arbitrary code (including
351 initializing @$) from yyparse before parsing starts.
1452af69 352
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353 - A new directive "%expect-rr N" specifies the expected number of
354 reduce/reduce conflicts in GLR parsers.
1452af69 355
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356 - %token numbers can now be hexadecimal integers, e.g., `%token FOO 0x12d'.
357 This is a GNU extension.
4febdd96 358
82de6b0d 359 - The option `--report=lookahead' was changed to `--report=look-ahead'.
9e6e7ed2 360 [However, this was changed back after 2.3.]
1452af69 361
82de6b0d 362 - Experimental %destructor support has been added to lalr1.cc.
1452af69 363
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364 - New configure option --disable-yacc, to disable installation of the
365 yacc command and -ly library introduced in 1.875 for POSIX conformance.
6040d338 366
82de6b0d 367* Bug fixes
d5a3fe37 368
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369 - For now, %expect-count violations are now just warnings, not errors.
370 This is for compatibility with Bison 1.75 and earlier (when there are
371 reduce/reduce conflicts) and with Bison 1.30 and earlier (when there
372 are too many or too few shift/reduce conflicts). However, in future
373 versions of Bison we plan to improve the %expect machinery so that
374 these violations will become errors again.
3473d0f8 375
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376 - Within Bison itself, numbers (e.g., goto numbers) are no longer
377 arbitrarily limited to 16-bit counts.
d600ee67 378
82de6b0d 379 - Semicolons are now allowed before "|" in grammar rules, as POSIX requires.
d600ee67 380\f
dc546b0f 381Changes in version 1.875, 2003-01-01:
963fcc17 382
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383* The documentation license has been upgraded to version 1.2
384 of the GNU Free Documentation License.
75eb3bc4 385
dc546b0f 386* syntax error processing
75eb3bc4 387
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388 - In Yacc-style parsers YYLLOC_DEFAULT is now used to compute error
389 locations too. This fixes bugs in error-location computation.
75eb3bc4 390
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391 - %destructor
392 It is now possible to reclaim the memory associated to symbols
393 discarded during error recovery. This feature is still experimental.
20daca06 394
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395 - %error-verbose
396 This new directive is preferred over YYERROR_VERBOSE.
74724a70 397
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398 - #defining yyerror to steal internal variables is discouraged.
399 It is not guaranteed to work forever.
d1de5372 400
dc546b0f 401* POSIX conformance
d1de5372 402
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403 - Semicolons are once again optional at the end of grammar rules.
404 This reverts to the behavior of Bison 1.33 and earlier, and improves
405 compatibility with Yacc.
74724a70 406
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407 - `parse error' -> `syntax error'
408 Bison now uniformly uses the term `syntax error'; formerly, the code
409 and manual sometimes used the term `parse error' instead. POSIX
410 requires `syntax error' in diagnostics, and it was thought better to
411 be consistent.
74724a70 412
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413 - The documentation now emphasizes that yylex and yyerror must be
414 declared before use. C99 requires this.
d1de5372 415
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416 - Bison now parses C99 lexical constructs like UCNs and
417 backslash-newline within C escape sequences, as POSIX 1003.1-2001 requires.
d1de5372 418
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419 - File names are properly escaped in C output. E.g., foo\bar.y is
420 output as "foo\\bar.y".
6780ca7a 421
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422 - Yacc command and library now available
423 The Bison distribution now installs a `yacc' command, as POSIX requires.
424 Also, Bison now installs a small library liby.a containing
425 implementations of Yacc-compatible yyerror and main functions.
426 This library is normally not useful, but POSIX requires it.
6e649e65 427
dc546b0f 428 - Type clashes now generate warnings, not errors.
6e649e65 429
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430 - If the user does not define YYSTYPE as a macro, Bison now declares it
431 using typedef instead of defining it as a macro.
432 For consistency, YYLTYPE is also declared instead of defined.
9501dc6e 433
dc546b0f 434* Other compatibility issues
886a425c 435
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436 - %union directives can now have a tag before the `{', e.g., the
437 directive `%union foo {...}' now generates the C code
438 `typedef union foo { ... } YYSTYPE;'; this is for Yacc compatibility.
439 The default union tag is `YYSTYPE', for compatibility with Solaris 9 Yacc.
440 For consistency, YYLTYPE's struct tag is now `YYLTYPE' not `yyltype'.
441 This is for compatibility with both Yacc and Bison 1.35.
72f889cc 442
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443 - `;' is output before the terminating `}' of an action, for
444 compatibility with Bison 1.35.
886a425c 445
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446 - Bison now uses a Yacc-style format for conflict reports, e.g.,
447 `conflicts: 2 shift/reduce, 1 reduce/reduce'.
437c2d80 448
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449 - `yystype' and `yyltype' are now obsolescent macros instead of being
450 typedefs or tags; they are no longer documented and are planned to be
451 withdrawn in a future release.
2a8d363a 452
dc546b0f 453* GLR parser notes
2a8d363a 454
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455 - GLR and inline
456 Users of Bison have to decide how they handle the portability of the
457 C keyword `inline'.
959e5f51 458
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459 - `parsing stack overflow...' -> `parser stack overflow'
460 GLR parsers now report `parser stack overflow' as per the Bison manual.
900c5db5 461
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462* Bison now warns if it detects conflicting outputs to the same file,
463 e.g., it generates a warning for `bison -d -o foo.h foo.y' since
464 that command outputs both code and header to foo.h.
6e40b4eb 465
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466* #line in output files
467 - --no-line works properly.
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468
469* Bison can no longer be built by a K&R C compiler; it requires C89 or
470 later to be built. This change originally took place a few versions
471 ago, but nobody noticed until we recently asked someone to try
472 building Bison with a K&R C compiler.
d600ee67 473\f
5c16c6b1 474Changes in version 1.75, 2002-10-14:
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475
476* Bison should now work on 64-bit hosts.
477
b7195100 478* Indonesian translation thanks to Tedi Heriyanto.
7933f2b5 479
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480* GLR parsers
481 Fix spurious parse errors.
482
483* Pure parsers
484 Some people redefine yyerror to steal yyparse' private variables.
485 Reenable this trick until an official feature replaces it.
486
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487* Type Clashes
488 In agreement with POSIX and with other Yaccs, leaving a default
489 action is valid when $$ is untyped, and $1 typed:
490
491 untyped: ... typed;
492
493 but the converse remains an error:
494
495 typed: ... untyped;
496
497* Values of mid-rule actions
498 The following code:
499
500 foo: { ... } { $$ = $1; } ...
501
502 was incorrectly rejected: $1 is defined in the second mid-rule
503 action, and is equal to the $$ of the first mid-rule action.
d600ee67 504\f
420f93c8 505Changes in version 1.50, 2002-10-04:
adc8c848 506
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507* GLR parsing
508 The declaration
509 %glr-parser
510 causes Bison to produce a Generalized LR (GLR) parser, capable of handling
511 almost any context-free grammar, ambiguous or not. The new declarations
e8832397 512 %dprec and %merge on grammar rules allow parse-time resolution of
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513 ambiguities. Contributed by Paul Hilfinger.
514
7933f2b5 515 Unfortunately Bison 1.50 does not work properly on 64-bit hosts
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516 like the Alpha, so please stick to 32-bit hosts for now.
517
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518* Output Directory
519 When not in Yacc compatibility mode, when the output file was not
e88dbdbf 520 specified, running `bison foo/bar.y' created `foo/bar.c'. It
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521 now creates `bar.c'.
522
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523* Undefined token
524 The undefined token was systematically mapped to 2 which prevented
e88dbdbf 525 the use of 2 by the user. This is no longer the case.
007a50a4 526
77714df2 527* Unknown token numbers
e88dbdbf 528 If yylex returned an out of range value, yyparse could die. This is
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529 no longer the case.
530
23c5a174 531* Error token
e88dbdbf 532 According to POSIX, the error token must be 256.
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533 Bison extends this requirement by making it a preference: *if* the
534 user specified that one of her tokens is numbered 256, then error
535 will be mapped onto another number.
536
217598da 537* Verbose error messages
e88dbdbf 538 They no longer report `..., expecting error or...' for states where
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539 error recovery is possible.
540
541* End token
542 Defaults to `$end' instead of `$'.
543
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544* Error recovery now conforms to documentation and to POSIX
545 When a Bison-generated parser encounters a syntax error, it now pops
546 the stack until it finds a state that allows shifting the error
547 token. Formerly, it popped the stack until it found a state that
548 allowed some non-error action other than a default reduction on the
549 error token. The new behavior has long been the documented behavior,
550 and has long been required by POSIX. For more details, please see
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551 Paul Eggert, "Reductions during Bison error handling" (2002-05-20)
552 <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-bison/2002-05/msg00038.html>.
68cd8af3 553
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554* Traces
555 Popped tokens and nonterminals are now reported.
556
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557* Larger grammars
558 Larger grammars are now supported (larger token numbers, larger grammar
559 size (= sum of the LHS and RHS lengths), larger LALR tables).
560 Formerly, many of these numbers ran afoul of 16-bit limits;
561 now these limits are 32 bits on most hosts.
355e7c1c 562
77714df2 563* Explicit initial rule
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564 Bison used to play hacks with the initial rule, which the user does
565 not write. It is now explicit, and visible in the reports and
566 graphs as rule 0.
23c5a174 567
77714df2 568* Useless rules
643a5994 569 Before, Bison reported the useless rules, but, although not used,
77714df2 570 included them in the parsers. They are now actually removed.
23c5a174 571
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572* Useless rules, useless nonterminals
573 They are now reported, as a warning, with their locations.
574
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575* Rules never reduced
576 Rules that can never be reduced because of conflicts are now
577 reported.
578
77714df2 579* Incorrect `Token not used'
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580 On a grammar such as
581
582 %token useless useful
583 %%
584 exp: '0' %prec useful;
585
586 where a token was used to set the precedence of the last rule,
587 bison reported both `useful' and `useless' as useless tokens.
588
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589* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31
590 as they caused too many portability hassles.
0179dd65 591
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592* Default locations
593 By an accident of design, the default computation of @$ was
594 performed after another default computation was performed: @$ = @1.
595 The latter is now removed: YYLLOC_DEFAULT is fully responsible of
596 the computation of @$.
adc8c848 597
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598* Token end-of-file
599 The token end of file may be specified by the user, in which case,
600 the user symbol is used in the reports, the graphs, and the verbose
a861a339 601 error messages instead of `$end', which remains being the default.
b7c49edf 602 For instance
7bd6c77e 603 %token MYEOF 0
b7c49edf 604 or
7bd6c77e 605 %token MYEOF 0 "end of file"
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606
607* Semantic parser
608 This old option, which has been broken for ages, is removed.
609
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610* New translations
611 Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to Alexandre Folle de Menezes.
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612 Croatian, thanks to Denis Lackovic.
613
77714df2 614* Incorrect token definitions
e88dbdbf 615 When given `%token 'a' "A"', Bison used to output `#define 'a' 65'.
b87f8b21 616
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617* Token definitions as enums
618 Tokens are output both as the traditional #define's, and, provided
619 the compiler supports ANSI C or is a C++ compiler, as enums.
e88dbdbf 620 This lets debuggers display names instead of integers.
77714df2 621
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622* Reports
623 In addition to --verbose, bison supports --report=THINGS, which
624 produces additional information:
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625 - itemset
626 complete the core item sets with their closure
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627 - lookahead [changed to `look-ahead' in 1.875e through 2.3, but changed back]
628 explicitly associate lookahead tokens to items
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629 - solved
630 describe shift/reduce conflicts solving.
631 Bison used to systematically output this information on top of
632 the report. Solved conflicts are now attached to their states.
ec3bc396 633
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634* Type clashes
635 Previous versions don't complain when there is a type clash on
636 the default action if the rule has a mid-rule action, such as in:
637
638 %type <foo> bar
639 %%
640 bar: '0' {} '0';
641
642 This is fixed.
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643
644* GNU M4 is now required when using Bison.
f987e9d2 645\f
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646Changes in version 1.35, 2002-03-25:
647
648* C Skeleton
649 Some projects use Bison's C parser with C++ compilers, and define
650 YYSTYPE as a class. The recent adjustment of C parsers for data
651 alignment and 64 bit architectures made this impossible.
652
653 Because for the time being no real solution for C++ parser
654 generation exists, kludges were implemented in the parser to
655 maintain this use. In the future, when Bison has C++ parsers, this
656 kludge will be disabled.
657
658 This kludge also addresses some C++ problems when the stack was
659 extended.
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660\f
661Changes in version 1.34, 2002-03-12:
662
663* File name clashes are detected
664 $ bison foo.y -d -o foo.x
665 fatal error: header and parser would both be named `foo.x'
666
667* A missing `;' at the end of a rule triggers a warning
668 In accordance with POSIX, and in agreement with other
669 Yacc implementations, Bison will mandate this semicolon in the near
670 future. This eases the implementation of a Bison parser of Bison
671 grammars by making this grammar LALR(1) instead of LR(2). To
672 facilitate the transition, this release introduces a warning.
673
674* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31, as they caused too
675 many portability hassles.
676
677* DJGPP support added.
678
679* Fix test suite portability problems.
680\f
681Changes in version 1.33, 2002-02-07:
682
683* Fix C++ issues
684 Groff could not be compiled for the definition of size_t was lacking
685 under some conditions.
686
687* Catch invalid @n
688 As is done with $n.
689\f
690Changes in version 1.32, 2002-01-23:
691
692* Fix Yacc output file names
693
694* Portability fixes
695
696* Italian, Dutch translations
697\f
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698Changes in version 1.31, 2002-01-14:
699
700* Many Bug Fixes
701
702* GNU Gettext and %expect
703 GNU Gettext asserts 10 s/r conflicts, but there are 7. Now that
704 Bison dies on incorrect %expectations, we fear there will be
705 too many bug reports for Gettext, so _for the time being_, %expect
706 does not trigger an error when the input file is named `plural.y'.
707
708* Use of alloca in parsers
709 If YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA is defined to 0, then the parsers will use
710 malloc exclusively. Since 1.29, but was not NEWS'ed.
711
712 alloca is used only when compiled with GCC, to avoid portability
713 problems as on AIX.
714
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715* yyparse now returns 2 if memory is exhausted; formerly it dumped core.
716
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717* When the generated parser lacks debugging code, YYDEBUG is now 0
718 (as POSIX requires) instead of being undefined.
719
720* User Actions
721 Bison has always permitted actions such as { $$ = $1 }: it adds the
722 ending semicolon. Now if in Yacc compatibility mode, the semicolon
723 is no longer output: one has to write { $$ = $1; }.
724
725* Better C++ compliance
726 The output parsers try to respect C++ namespaces.
76551463 727 [This turned out to be a failed experiment, and it was reverted later.]
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728
729* Reduced Grammars
730 Fixed bugs when reporting useless nonterminals.
731
732* 64 bit hosts
733 The parsers work properly on 64 bit hosts.
734
735* Error messages
736 Some calls to strerror resulted in scrambled or missing error messages.
737
738* %expect
739 When the number of shift/reduce conflicts is correct, don't issue
740 any warning.
741
742* The verbose report includes the rule line numbers.
743
744* Rule line numbers are fixed in traces.
745
746* Swedish translation
747
748* Parse errors
749 Verbose parse error messages from the parsers are better looking.
750 Before: parse error: unexpected `'/'', expecting `"number"' or `'-'' or `'(''
751 Now: parse error: unexpected '/', expecting "number" or '-' or '('
752
753* Fixed parser memory leaks.
754 When the generated parser was using malloc to extend its stacks, the
755 previous allocations were not freed.
756
757* Fixed verbose output file.
758 Some newlines were missing.
759 Some conflicts in state descriptions were missing.
760
761* Fixed conflict report.
762 Option -v was needed to get the result.
763
764* %expect
765 Was not used.
766 Mismatches are errors, not warnings.
767
768* Fixed incorrect processing of some invalid input.
769
770* Fixed CPP guards: 9foo.h uses BISON_9FOO_H instead of 9FOO_H.
771
772* Fixed some typos in the documentation.
773
774* %token MY_EOF 0 is supported.
775 Before, MY_EOF was silently renumbered as 257.
776
777* doc/refcard.tex is updated.
778
779* %output, %file-prefix, %name-prefix.
780 New.
781
782* --output
783 New, aliasing `--output-file'.
784\f
76551463 785Changes in version 1.30, 2001-10-26:
342b8b6e 786
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787* `--defines' and `--graph' have now an optional argument which is the
788 output file name. `-d' and `-g' do not change; they do not take any
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789 argument.
790
791* `%source_extension' and `%header_extension' are removed, failed
792 experiment.
793
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794* Portability fixes.
795\f
9f4503d6 796Changes in version 1.29, 2001-09-07:
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797
798* The output file does not define const, as this caused problems when used
799 with common autoconfiguration schemes. If you still use ancient compilers
800 that lack const, compile with the equivalent of the C compiler option
801 `-Dconst='. autoconf's AC_C_CONST macro provides one way to do this.
802
803* Added `-g' and `--graph'.
f87a2205 804
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805* The Bison manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL.
806
f1c63ced 807* The input and the output files has automatically a similar extension.
234a3be3 808
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809* Russian translation added.
810
811* NLS support updated; should hopefully be less troublesome.
812
813* Added the old Bison reference card.
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814
815* Added `--locations' and `%locations'.
6deb4447 816
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817* Added `-S' and `--skeleton'.
818
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819* `%raw', `-r', `--raw' is disabled.
820
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821* Special characters are escaped when output. This solves the problems
822 of the #line lines with path names including backslashes.
823
6deb4447 824* New directives.
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825 `%yacc', `%fixed_output_files', `%defines', `%no_parser', `%verbose',
826 `%debug', `%source_extension' and `%header_extension'.
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827
828* @$
829 Automatic location tracking.
f87a2205 830\f
9f4503d6 831Changes in version 1.28, 1999-07-06:
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832
833* Should compile better now with K&R compilers.
834
835* Added NLS.
836
837* Fixed a problem with escaping the double quote character.
838
839* There is now a FAQ.
840\f
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841Changes in version 1.27:
842
843* The make rule which prevented bison.simple from being created on
844 some systems has been fixed.
845\f
846Changes in version 1.26:
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847
848* Bison now uses automake.
849
850* New mailing lists: <bug-bison@gnu.org> and <help-bison@gnu.org>.
851
852* Token numbers now start at 257 as previously documented, not 258.
853
854* Bison honors the TMPDIR environment variable.
855
856* A couple of buffer overruns have been fixed.
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857
858* Problems when closing files should now be reported.
859
860* Generated parsers should now work even on operating systems which do
861 not provide alloca().
4be07551 862\f
9f4503d6 863Changes in version 1.25, 1995-10-16:
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864
865* Errors in the input grammar are not fatal; Bison keeps reading
866the grammar file, and reports all the errors found in it.
8c44d3ec 867
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868* Tokens can now be specified as multiple-character strings: for
869example, you could use "<=" for a token which looks like <=, instead
870of chosing a name like LESSEQ.
871
872* The %token_table declaration says to write a table of tokens (names
873and numbers) into the parser file. The yylex function can use this
874table to recognize multiple-character string tokens, or for other
875purposes.
876
877* The %no_lines declaration says not to generate any #line preprocessor
878directives in the parser file.
879
880* The %raw declaration says to use internal Bison token numbers, not
881Yacc-compatible token numbers, when token names are defined as macros.
882
883* The --no-parser option produces the parser tables without including
884the parser engine; a project can now use its own parser engine.
885The actions go into a separate file called NAME.act, in the form of
886a switch statement body.
887\f
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888Changes in version 1.23:
889
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890The user can define YYPARSE_PARAM as the name of an argument to be
891passed into yyparse. The argument should have type void *. It should
892actually point to an object. Grammar actions can access the variable
893by casting it to the proper pointer type.
6780ca7a 894
6780ca7a 895Line numbers in output file corrected.
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896\f
897Changes in version 1.22:
898
899--help option added.
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900\f
901Changes in version 1.20:
902
903Output file does not redefine const for C++.
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904
905Local Variables:
906mode: outline
907End:
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908
909-----
910
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911Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
9122004, 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
76551463 913
75eb3bc4 914This file is part of Bison, the GNU Compiler Compiler.
76551463 915
75eb3bc4 916Bison is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
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917it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
918the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
919any later version.
920
75eb3bc4 921Bison is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
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922but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
923MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
924GNU General Public License for more details.
925
926You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
927along with autoconf; see the file COPYING. If not, write to
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928the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
929Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.