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* NEWS: Add entry for recent .output file lookahead set fix.
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1Bison News
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3af4feb2 3
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4Changes in version 2.3a+ (????-??-??):
5
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6* Previously, Bison sometimes generated parser tables with states that were
7 unreachable due to conflicts in predecessor states. Bison now:
8
9 1. Removes unreachable states.
10
11 2. Does not report any conflicts that appeared in unreachable states.
12 WARNING: As a result, you may need to update %expect and %expect-rr
13 directives in existing grammar files.
14
15 3. For any rule used only in such states, Bison now reports the rule as
16 "never reduced because of conflicts".
17
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18* When instructed to generate a `.output' file including lookahead sets
19 (using `--report=lookahead', for example), Bison now prints each reduction's
20 lookahead set only next to the associated state's one item that (1) is
21 associated with the same rule as the reduction and (2) has its dot at the end
22 of its RHS. Previously, Bison also erroneously printed the lookahead set
23 next to all of the state's other items associated with the same rule. This
24 bug affected only the `.output' file and not the generated parser source
25 code.
26
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27* The -g and --graph options now output graphs in Graphviz DOT format,
28 not VCG format.
29
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30* An experimental directive %language specifies the language of the
31 generated parser, which can be C (the default) or C++. This
32 directive affects the skeleton used, and the names of the generated
33 files if the grammar file's name ends in ".y".
34
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35* The grammar file may now specify the name of the parser header file using
36 %defines. For example:
37
38 %defines "parser.h"
39
16dc6a9e 40* The `=' that used to be required in the following directives is now
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41 deprecated:
42
43 %file-prefix "parser"
44 %name-prefix "c_"
45 %output "parser.c"
46
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47* The quotes around NAME that used to be required in the following directive
48 are now deprecated:
49
50 %define NAME "VALUE"
51
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52* Bison 2.3a provided a new set of directives as a more flexible alternative to
53 the traditional Yacc prologue blocks. Those have now been consolidated into
54 a single %code directive with an optional qualifier field, which identifies
55 the purpose of the code and thus the location(s) where Bison should generate
56 it:
57
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58 1. `%code {CODE}' replaces `%after-header {CODE}'
59 2. `%code requires {CODE}' replaces `%start-header {CODE}'
60 3. `%code provides {CODE}' replaces `%end-header {CODE}'
61 4. `%code top {CODE}' replaces `%before-header {CODE}'
8e0a5e9e 62
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63 See the %code entries in section `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison
64 manual for a summary of the new functionality. See the new section `Prologue
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65 Alternatives' for a detailed discussion including the advantages of %code
66 over the traditional Yacc prologues.
67
68 The prologue alternatives are experimental. More user feedback will help to
69 determine whether they should become permanent features.
70
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71* Revised warning: unset or unused mid-rule values
72
73 Since Bison 2.2, Bison has warned about mid-rule values that are set but not
74 used within any of the actions of the parent rule. For example, Bison warns
75 about unused $2 in:
76
77 exp: '1' { $$ = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $1 + $4; };
78
79 Now, Bison also warns about mid-rule values that are used but not set. For
80 example, Bison warns about unset $$ in the mid-rule action in:
81
82 exp: '1' { $1 = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $2 + $4; };
83
84 However, Bison now disables both of these warnings by default since they
85 sometimes prove to be false alarms in existing grammars employing the Yacc
86 constructs $0 or $-N (where N is some positive integer).
87
88 To enable these warnings, specify the flag `--warnings=midrule-values' or
89 `-W', which is a synonym for `--warnings=all'.
90
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91* Bison now recognizes two separate kinds of default %destructor's and
92 %printer's:
93
94 1. Place `<*>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
95 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols for which you have formally
96 declared semantic type tags.
97
3ebecc24 98 2. Place `<>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
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99 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols without declared semantic
100 type tags.
101
102 Bison no longer supports the `%symbol-default' notation from Bison 2.3a.
3ebecc24 103 `<*>' and `<>' combined achieve the same effect with one exception: Bison no
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104 longer applies any %destructor to a mid-rule value if that mid-rule value is
105 not actually ever referenced using either $$ or $n in a semantic action.
106
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107 The default %destructor's and %printer's are experimental. More user
108 feedback will help to determine whether they should become permanent
109 features.
110
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111 See the section `Freeing Discarded Symbols' in the Bison manual for further
112 details.
113
21fe08ca 114Changes in version 2.3a, 2006-09-13:
742e4900 115
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116* Instead of %union, you can define and use your own union type
117 YYSTYPE if your grammar contains at least one <type> tag.
118 Your YYSTYPE need not be a macro; it can be a typedef.
119 This change is for compatibility with other Yacc implementations,
120 and is required by POSIX.
121
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122* Locations columns and lines start at 1.
123 In accordance with the GNU Coding Standards and Emacs.
124
b2a0b7ca 125* You may now declare per-type and default %destructor's and %printer's:
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126
127 For example:
128
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129 %union { char *string; }
130 %token <string> STRING1
131 %token <string> STRING2
132 %type <string> string1
133 %type <string> string2
134 %union { char character; }
135 %token <character> CHR
136 %type <character> chr
137 %destructor { free ($$); } %symbol-default
138 %destructor { free ($$); printf ("%d", @$.first_line); } STRING1 string1
139 %destructor { } <character>
140
141 guarantees that, when the parser discards any user-defined symbol that has a
142 semantic type tag other than `<character>', it passes its semantic value to
143 `free'. However, when the parser discards a `STRING1' or a `string1', it
144 also prints its line number to `stdout'. It performs only the second
145 `%destructor' in this case, so it invokes `free' only once.
ec5479ce 146
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147 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the default
148 %destructor's and %printer's were experimental, and they were rewritten in
149 future versions.]
150
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151* Except for LALR(1) parsers in C with POSIX Yacc emulation enabled (with `-y',
152 `--yacc', or `%yacc'), Bison no longer generates #define statements for
153 associating token numbers with token names. Removing the #define statements
154 helps to sanitize the global namespace during preprocessing, but POSIX Yacc
155 requires them. Bison still generates an enum for token names in all cases.
156
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157* Handling of traditional Yacc prologue blocks is now more consistent but
158 potentially incompatible with previous releases of Bison.
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159
160 As before, you declare prologue blocks in your grammar file with the
161 `%{ ... %}' syntax. To generate the pre-prologue, Bison concatenates all
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162 prologue blocks that you've declared before the first %union. To generate
163 the post-prologue, Bison concatenates all prologue blocks that you've
ddc8ede1 164 declared after the first %union.
9bc0dd67 165
34f98f46 166 Previous releases of Bison inserted the pre-prologue into both the header
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167 file and the code file in all cases except for LALR(1) parsers in C. In the
168 latter case, Bison inserted it only into the code file. For parsers in C++,
169 the point of insertion was before any token definitions (which associate
170 token numbers with names). For parsers in C, the point of insertion was
171 after the token definitions.
172
173 Now, Bison never inserts the pre-prologue into the header file. In the code
174 file, it always inserts it before the token definitions.
175
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176* Bison now provides a more flexible alternative to the traditional Yacc
177 prologue blocks: %before-header, %start-header, %end-header, and
178 %after-header.
179
180 For example, the following declaration order in the grammar file reflects the
181 order in which Bison will output these code blocks. However, you are free to
182 declare these code blocks in your grammar file in whatever order is most
183 convenient for you:
184
185 %before-header {
186 /* Bison treats this block like a pre-prologue block: it inserts it into
187 * the code file before the contents of the header file. It does *not*
188 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to put
189 * #include's that you want at the top of your code file. A common
190 * example is `#include "system.h"'. */
191 }
192 %start-header {
193 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
194 * In both files, the point of insertion is before any Bison-generated
195 * token, semantic type, location type, and class definitions. This is a
196 * good place to define %union dependencies, for example. */
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197 }
198 %union {
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199 /* Unlike the traditional Yacc prologue blocks, the output order for the
200 * new %*-header blocks is not affected by their declaration position
201 * relative to any %union in the grammar file. */
9bc0dd67 202 }
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203 %end-header {
204 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
205 * In both files, the point of insertion is after the Bison-generated
206 * definitions. This is a good place to declare or define public
207 * functions or data structures that depend on the Bison-generated
208 * definitions. */
9bc0dd67 209 }
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210 %after-header {
211 /* Bison treats this block like a post-prologue block: it inserts it into
212 * the code file after the contents of the header file. It does *not*
213 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to declare or
214 * define internal functions or data structures that depend on the
215 * Bison-generated definitions. */
216 }
217
218 If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above declarations, Bison
219 will concatenate the contents in declaration order.
9bc0dd67 220
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221 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the prologue
222 alternatives were experimental, and they were rewritten in future versions.]
223
742e4900 224* The option `--report=look-ahead' has been changed to `--report=lookahead'.
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225 The old spelling still works, but is not documented and may be removed
226 in a future release.
742e4900 227
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228Changes in version 2.3, 2006-06-05:
229
230* GLR grammars should now use `YYRECOVERING ()' instead of `YYRECOVERING',
231 for compatibility with LALR(1) grammars.
232
233* It is now documented that any definition of YYSTYPE or YYLTYPE should
234 be to a type name that does not contain parentheses or brackets.
235
ab8d9dc5 236Changes in version 2.2, 2006-05-19:
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237
238* The distribution terms for all Bison-generated parsers now permit
239 using the parsers in nonfree programs. Previously, this permission
240 was granted only for Bison-generated LALR(1) parsers in C.
5f4236a0 241
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242* %name-prefix changes the namespace name in C++ outputs.
243
244* The C++ parsers export their token_type.
5f4236a0 245
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246* Bison now allows multiple %union declarations, and concatenates
247 their contents together.
248
affac613 249* New warning: unused values
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250 Right-hand side symbols whose values are not used are reported,
251 if the symbols have destructors. For instance:
affac613 252
8f3596a6 253 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; }
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254 | exp "+" exp
255 ;
affac613 256
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257 will trigger a warning about $$ and $5 in the first rule, and $3 in
258 the second ($1 is copied to $$ by the default rule). This example
4e26c69e 259 most likely contains three errors, and could be rewritten as:
affac613 260
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261 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp
262 { $$ = $1 ? $3 : $5; free ($1 ? $5 : $3); free ($1); }
263 | exp "+" exp
264 { $$ = $1 ? $1 : $3; if ($1) free ($3); }
721be13c 265 ;
affac613 266
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267 However, if the original actions were really intended, memory leaks
268 and all, the warnings can be suppressed by letting Bison believe the
269 values are used, e.g.:
721be13c 270
8f3596a6 271 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; (void) ($$, $5); }
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272 | exp "+" exp { $$ = $1; (void) $3; }
273 ;
274
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275 If there are mid-rule actions, the warning is issued if no action
276 uses it. The following triggers no warning: $1 and $3 are used.
277
278 exp: exp { push ($1); } '+' exp { push ($3); sum (); };
279
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280 The warning is intended to help catching lost values and memory leaks.
281 If a value is ignored, its associated memory typically is not reclaimed.
affac613 282
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283* %destructor vs. YYABORT, YYACCEPT, and YYERROR.
284 Destructors are now called when user code invokes YYABORT, YYACCEPT,
285 and YYERROR, for all objects on the stack, other than objects
286 corresponding to the right-hand side of the current rule.
a85284cf 287
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288* %expect, %expect-rr
289 Incorrect numbers of expected conflicts are now actual errors,
290 instead of warnings.
291
4b367315 292* GLR, YACC parsers.
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293 The %parse-params are available in the destructors (and the
294 experimental printers) as per the documentation.
4b367315 295
302c0aee 296* Bison now warns if it finds a stray `$' or `@' in an action.
ad6a9b97 297
b50d2359 298* %require "VERSION"
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299 This specifies that the grammar file depends on features implemented
300 in Bison version VERSION or higher.
b50d2359 301
fb9712a9 302* lalr1.cc: The token and value types are now class members.
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303 The tokens were defined as free form enums and cpp macros. YYSTYPE
304 was defined as a free form union. They are now class members:
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305 tokens are enumerations of the `yy::parser::token' struct, and the
306 semantic values have the `yy::parser::semantic_type' type.
307
308 If you do not want or can update to this scheme, the directive
309 `%define "global_tokens_and_yystype" "1"' triggers the global
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310 definition of tokens and YYSTYPE. This change is suitable both
311 for previous releases of Bison, and this one.
fb9712a9 312
b50d2359 313 If you wish to update, then make sure older version of Bison will
ab8d9dc5 314 fail using `%require "2.2"'.
fb9712a9 315
302c0aee 316* DJGPP support added.
193d7c70 317\f
1bd0deda 318Changes in version 2.1, 2005-09-16:
1ce59070 319
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320* The C++ lalr1.cc skeleton supports %lex-param.
321
a7db4add 322* Bison-generated parsers now support the translation of diagnostics like
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323 "syntax error" into languages other than English. The default
324 language is still English. For details, please see the new
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325 Internationalization section of the Bison manual. Software
326 distributors should also see the new PACKAGING file. Thanks to
327 Bruno Haible for this new feature.
1ce59070 328
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329* Wording in the Bison-generated parsers has been changed slightly to
330 simplify translation. In particular, the message "memory exhausted"
331 has replaced "parser stack overflow", as the old message was not
332 always accurate for modern Bison-generated parsers.
333
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334* Destructors are now called when the parser aborts, for all symbols left
335 behind on the stack. Also, the start symbol is now destroyed after a
336 successful parse. In both cases, the behavior was formerly inconsistent.
337
a7db4add 338* When generating verbose diagnostics, Bison-generated parsers no longer
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339 quote the literal strings associated with tokens. For example, for
340 a syntax error associated with '%token NUM "number"' they might
341 print 'syntax error, unexpected number' instead of 'syntax error,
342 unexpected "number"'.
193d7c70 343\f
82de6b0d 344Changes in version 2.0, 2004-12-25:
efeed023 345
82de6b0d 346* Possibly-incompatible changes
d7e14fc0 347
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348 - Bison-generated parsers no longer default to using the alloca function
349 (when available) to extend the parser stack, due to widespread
350 problems in unchecked stack-overflow detection. You can "#define
351 YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA 1" to require the use of alloca, but please read
352 the manual to determine safe values for YYMAXDEPTH in that case.
8dd162d3 353
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354 - Error token location.
355 During error recovery, the location of the syntax error is updated
356 to cover the whole sequence covered by the error token: it includes
357 the shifted symbols thrown away during the first part of the error
358 recovery, and the lookahead rejected during the second part.
18d192f0 359
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360 - Semicolon changes:
361 . Stray semicolons are no longer allowed at the start of a grammar.
362 . Semicolons are now required after in-grammar declarations.
e342c3be 363
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364 - Unescaped newlines are no longer allowed in character constants or
365 string literals. They were never portable, and GCC 3.4.0 has
366 dropped support for them. Better diagnostics are now generated if
367 forget a closing quote.
8dd162d3 368
82de6b0d 369 - NUL bytes are no longer allowed in Bison string literals, unfortunately.
f74b6f91 370
82de6b0d 371* New features
1452af69 372
82de6b0d 373 - GLR grammars now support locations.
4febdd96 374
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375 - New directive: %initial-action.
376 This directive allows the user to run arbitrary code (including
377 initializing @$) from yyparse before parsing starts.
1452af69 378
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379 - A new directive "%expect-rr N" specifies the expected number of
380 reduce/reduce conflicts in GLR parsers.
1452af69 381
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382 - %token numbers can now be hexadecimal integers, e.g., `%token FOO 0x12d'.
383 This is a GNU extension.
4febdd96 384
82de6b0d 385 - The option `--report=lookahead' was changed to `--report=look-ahead'.
9e6e7ed2 386 [However, this was changed back after 2.3.]
1452af69 387
82de6b0d 388 - Experimental %destructor support has been added to lalr1.cc.
1452af69 389
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390 - New configure option --disable-yacc, to disable installation of the
391 yacc command and -ly library introduced in 1.875 for POSIX conformance.
6040d338 392
82de6b0d 393* Bug fixes
d5a3fe37 394
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395 - For now, %expect-count violations are now just warnings, not errors.
396 This is for compatibility with Bison 1.75 and earlier (when there are
397 reduce/reduce conflicts) and with Bison 1.30 and earlier (when there
398 are too many or too few shift/reduce conflicts). However, in future
399 versions of Bison we plan to improve the %expect machinery so that
400 these violations will become errors again.
3473d0f8 401
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402 - Within Bison itself, numbers (e.g., goto numbers) are no longer
403 arbitrarily limited to 16-bit counts.
d600ee67 404
82de6b0d 405 - Semicolons are now allowed before "|" in grammar rules, as POSIX requires.
d600ee67 406\f
dc546b0f 407Changes in version 1.875, 2003-01-01:
963fcc17 408
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409* The documentation license has been upgraded to version 1.2
410 of the GNU Free Documentation License.
75eb3bc4 411
dc546b0f 412* syntax error processing
75eb3bc4 413
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414 - In Yacc-style parsers YYLLOC_DEFAULT is now used to compute error
415 locations too. This fixes bugs in error-location computation.
75eb3bc4 416
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417 - %destructor
418 It is now possible to reclaim the memory associated to symbols
419 discarded during error recovery. This feature is still experimental.
20daca06 420
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421 - %error-verbose
422 This new directive is preferred over YYERROR_VERBOSE.
74724a70 423
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424 - #defining yyerror to steal internal variables is discouraged.
425 It is not guaranteed to work forever.
d1de5372 426
dc546b0f 427* POSIX conformance
d1de5372 428
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429 - Semicolons are once again optional at the end of grammar rules.
430 This reverts to the behavior of Bison 1.33 and earlier, and improves
431 compatibility with Yacc.
74724a70 432
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433 - `parse error' -> `syntax error'
434 Bison now uniformly uses the term `syntax error'; formerly, the code
435 and manual sometimes used the term `parse error' instead. POSIX
436 requires `syntax error' in diagnostics, and it was thought better to
437 be consistent.
74724a70 438
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439 - The documentation now emphasizes that yylex and yyerror must be
440 declared before use. C99 requires this.
d1de5372 441
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442 - Bison now parses C99 lexical constructs like UCNs and
443 backslash-newline within C escape sequences, as POSIX 1003.1-2001 requires.
d1de5372 444
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445 - File names are properly escaped in C output. E.g., foo\bar.y is
446 output as "foo\\bar.y".
6780ca7a 447
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448 - Yacc command and library now available
449 The Bison distribution now installs a `yacc' command, as POSIX requires.
450 Also, Bison now installs a small library liby.a containing
451 implementations of Yacc-compatible yyerror and main functions.
452 This library is normally not useful, but POSIX requires it.
6e649e65 453
dc546b0f 454 - Type clashes now generate warnings, not errors.
6e649e65 455
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456 - If the user does not define YYSTYPE as a macro, Bison now declares it
457 using typedef instead of defining it as a macro.
458 For consistency, YYLTYPE is also declared instead of defined.
9501dc6e 459
dc546b0f 460* Other compatibility issues
886a425c 461
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462 - %union directives can now have a tag before the `{', e.g., the
463 directive `%union foo {...}' now generates the C code
464 `typedef union foo { ... } YYSTYPE;'; this is for Yacc compatibility.
465 The default union tag is `YYSTYPE', for compatibility with Solaris 9 Yacc.
466 For consistency, YYLTYPE's struct tag is now `YYLTYPE' not `yyltype'.
467 This is for compatibility with both Yacc and Bison 1.35.
72f889cc 468
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469 - `;' is output before the terminating `}' of an action, for
470 compatibility with Bison 1.35.
886a425c 471
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472 - Bison now uses a Yacc-style format for conflict reports, e.g.,
473 `conflicts: 2 shift/reduce, 1 reduce/reduce'.
437c2d80 474
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475 - `yystype' and `yyltype' are now obsolescent macros instead of being
476 typedefs or tags; they are no longer documented and are planned to be
477 withdrawn in a future release.
2a8d363a 478
dc546b0f 479* GLR parser notes
2a8d363a 480
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481 - GLR and inline
482 Users of Bison have to decide how they handle the portability of the
483 C keyword `inline'.
959e5f51 484
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485 - `parsing stack overflow...' -> `parser stack overflow'
486 GLR parsers now report `parser stack overflow' as per the Bison manual.
900c5db5 487
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488* Bison now warns if it detects conflicting outputs to the same file,
489 e.g., it generates a warning for `bison -d -o foo.h foo.y' since
490 that command outputs both code and header to foo.h.
6e40b4eb 491
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492* #line in output files
493 - --no-line works properly.
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494
495* Bison can no longer be built by a K&R C compiler; it requires C89 or
496 later to be built. This change originally took place a few versions
497 ago, but nobody noticed until we recently asked someone to try
498 building Bison with a K&R C compiler.
d600ee67 499\f
5c16c6b1 500Changes in version 1.75, 2002-10-14:
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501
502* Bison should now work on 64-bit hosts.
503
b7195100 504* Indonesian translation thanks to Tedi Heriyanto.
7933f2b5 505
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506* GLR parsers
507 Fix spurious parse errors.
508
509* Pure parsers
510 Some people redefine yyerror to steal yyparse' private variables.
511 Reenable this trick until an official feature replaces it.
512
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513* Type Clashes
514 In agreement with POSIX and with other Yaccs, leaving a default
515 action is valid when $$ is untyped, and $1 typed:
516
517 untyped: ... typed;
518
519 but the converse remains an error:
520
521 typed: ... untyped;
522
523* Values of mid-rule actions
524 The following code:
525
526 foo: { ... } { $$ = $1; } ...
527
528 was incorrectly rejected: $1 is defined in the second mid-rule
529 action, and is equal to the $$ of the first mid-rule action.
d600ee67 530\f
420f93c8 531Changes in version 1.50, 2002-10-04:
adc8c848 532
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533* GLR parsing
534 The declaration
535 %glr-parser
536 causes Bison to produce a Generalized LR (GLR) parser, capable of handling
537 almost any context-free grammar, ambiguous or not. The new declarations
e8832397 538 %dprec and %merge on grammar rules allow parse-time resolution of
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539 ambiguities. Contributed by Paul Hilfinger.
540
7933f2b5 541 Unfortunately Bison 1.50 does not work properly on 64-bit hosts
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542 like the Alpha, so please stick to 32-bit hosts for now.
543
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544* Output Directory
545 When not in Yacc compatibility mode, when the output file was not
e88dbdbf 546 specified, running `bison foo/bar.y' created `foo/bar.c'. It
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547 now creates `bar.c'.
548
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549* Undefined token
550 The undefined token was systematically mapped to 2 which prevented
e88dbdbf 551 the use of 2 by the user. This is no longer the case.
007a50a4 552
77714df2 553* Unknown token numbers
e88dbdbf 554 If yylex returned an out of range value, yyparse could die. This is
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555 no longer the case.
556
23c5a174 557* Error token
e88dbdbf 558 According to POSIX, the error token must be 256.
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559 Bison extends this requirement by making it a preference: *if* the
560 user specified that one of her tokens is numbered 256, then error
561 will be mapped onto another number.
562
217598da 563* Verbose error messages
e88dbdbf 564 They no longer report `..., expecting error or...' for states where
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565 error recovery is possible.
566
567* End token
568 Defaults to `$end' instead of `$'.
569
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570* Error recovery now conforms to documentation and to POSIX
571 When a Bison-generated parser encounters a syntax error, it now pops
572 the stack until it finds a state that allows shifting the error
573 token. Formerly, it popped the stack until it found a state that
574 allowed some non-error action other than a default reduction on the
575 error token. The new behavior has long been the documented behavior,
576 and has long been required by POSIX. For more details, please see
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577 Paul Eggert, "Reductions during Bison error handling" (2002-05-20)
578 <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-bison/2002-05/msg00038.html>.
68cd8af3 579
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580* Traces
581 Popped tokens and nonterminals are now reported.
582
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583* Larger grammars
584 Larger grammars are now supported (larger token numbers, larger grammar
585 size (= sum of the LHS and RHS lengths), larger LALR tables).
586 Formerly, many of these numbers ran afoul of 16-bit limits;
587 now these limits are 32 bits on most hosts.
355e7c1c 588
77714df2 589* Explicit initial rule
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590 Bison used to play hacks with the initial rule, which the user does
591 not write. It is now explicit, and visible in the reports and
592 graphs as rule 0.
23c5a174 593
77714df2 594* Useless rules
643a5994 595 Before, Bison reported the useless rules, but, although not used,
77714df2 596 included them in the parsers. They are now actually removed.
23c5a174 597
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598* Useless rules, useless nonterminals
599 They are now reported, as a warning, with their locations.
600
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601* Rules never reduced
602 Rules that can never be reduced because of conflicts are now
603 reported.
604
77714df2 605* Incorrect `Token not used'
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606 On a grammar such as
607
608 %token useless useful
609 %%
610 exp: '0' %prec useful;
611
612 where a token was used to set the precedence of the last rule,
613 bison reported both `useful' and `useless' as useless tokens.
614
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615* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31
616 as they caused too many portability hassles.
0179dd65 617
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618* Default locations
619 By an accident of design, the default computation of @$ was
620 performed after another default computation was performed: @$ = @1.
621 The latter is now removed: YYLLOC_DEFAULT is fully responsible of
622 the computation of @$.
adc8c848 623
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624* Token end-of-file
625 The token end of file may be specified by the user, in which case,
626 the user symbol is used in the reports, the graphs, and the verbose
a861a339 627 error messages instead of `$end', which remains being the default.
b7c49edf 628 For instance
7bd6c77e 629 %token MYEOF 0
b7c49edf 630 or
7bd6c77e 631 %token MYEOF 0 "end of file"
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632
633* Semantic parser
634 This old option, which has been broken for ages, is removed.
635
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636* New translations
637 Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to Alexandre Folle de Menezes.
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638 Croatian, thanks to Denis Lackovic.
639
77714df2 640* Incorrect token definitions
e88dbdbf 641 When given `%token 'a' "A"', Bison used to output `#define 'a' 65'.
b87f8b21 642
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643* Token definitions as enums
644 Tokens are output both as the traditional #define's, and, provided
645 the compiler supports ANSI C or is a C++ compiler, as enums.
e88dbdbf 646 This lets debuggers display names instead of integers.
77714df2 647
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648* Reports
649 In addition to --verbose, bison supports --report=THINGS, which
650 produces additional information:
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651 - itemset
652 complete the core item sets with their closure
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653 - lookahead [changed to `look-ahead' in 1.875e through 2.3, but changed back]
654 explicitly associate lookahead tokens to items
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655 - solved
656 describe shift/reduce conflicts solving.
657 Bison used to systematically output this information on top of
658 the report. Solved conflicts are now attached to their states.
ec3bc396 659
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660* Type clashes
661 Previous versions don't complain when there is a type clash on
662 the default action if the rule has a mid-rule action, such as in:
663
664 %type <foo> bar
665 %%
666 bar: '0' {} '0';
667
668 This is fixed.
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669
670* GNU M4 is now required when using Bison.
f987e9d2 671\f
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672Changes in version 1.35, 2002-03-25:
673
674* C Skeleton
675 Some projects use Bison's C parser with C++ compilers, and define
676 YYSTYPE as a class. The recent adjustment of C parsers for data
677 alignment and 64 bit architectures made this impossible.
678
679 Because for the time being no real solution for C++ parser
680 generation exists, kludges were implemented in the parser to
681 maintain this use. In the future, when Bison has C++ parsers, this
682 kludge will be disabled.
683
684 This kludge also addresses some C++ problems when the stack was
685 extended.
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686\f
687Changes in version 1.34, 2002-03-12:
688
689* File name clashes are detected
690 $ bison foo.y -d -o foo.x
691 fatal error: header and parser would both be named `foo.x'
692
693* A missing `;' at the end of a rule triggers a warning
694 In accordance with POSIX, and in agreement with other
695 Yacc implementations, Bison will mandate this semicolon in the near
696 future. This eases the implementation of a Bison parser of Bison
697 grammars by making this grammar LALR(1) instead of LR(2). To
698 facilitate the transition, this release introduces a warning.
699
700* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31, as they caused too
701 many portability hassles.
702
703* DJGPP support added.
704
705* Fix test suite portability problems.
706\f
707Changes in version 1.33, 2002-02-07:
708
709* Fix C++ issues
710 Groff could not be compiled for the definition of size_t was lacking
711 under some conditions.
712
713* Catch invalid @n
714 As is done with $n.
715\f
716Changes in version 1.32, 2002-01-23:
717
718* Fix Yacc output file names
719
720* Portability fixes
721
722* Italian, Dutch translations
723\f
52d1aeee
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724Changes in version 1.31, 2002-01-14:
725
726* Many Bug Fixes
727
728* GNU Gettext and %expect
729 GNU Gettext asserts 10 s/r conflicts, but there are 7. Now that
730 Bison dies on incorrect %expectations, we fear there will be
731 too many bug reports for Gettext, so _for the time being_, %expect
732 does not trigger an error when the input file is named `plural.y'.
733
734* Use of alloca in parsers
735 If YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA is defined to 0, then the parsers will use
736 malloc exclusively. Since 1.29, but was not NEWS'ed.
737
738 alloca is used only when compiled with GCC, to avoid portability
739 problems as on AIX.
740
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741* yyparse now returns 2 if memory is exhausted; formerly it dumped core.
742
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743* When the generated parser lacks debugging code, YYDEBUG is now 0
744 (as POSIX requires) instead of being undefined.
745
746* User Actions
747 Bison has always permitted actions such as { $$ = $1 }: it adds the
748 ending semicolon. Now if in Yacc compatibility mode, the semicolon
749 is no longer output: one has to write { $$ = $1; }.
750
751* Better C++ compliance
752 The output parsers try to respect C++ namespaces.
76551463 753 [This turned out to be a failed experiment, and it was reverted later.]
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754
755* Reduced Grammars
756 Fixed bugs when reporting useless nonterminals.
757
758* 64 bit hosts
759 The parsers work properly on 64 bit hosts.
760
761* Error messages
762 Some calls to strerror resulted in scrambled or missing error messages.
763
764* %expect
765 When the number of shift/reduce conflicts is correct, don't issue
766 any warning.
767
768* The verbose report includes the rule line numbers.
769
770* Rule line numbers are fixed in traces.
771
772* Swedish translation
773
774* Parse errors
775 Verbose parse error messages from the parsers are better looking.
776 Before: parse error: unexpected `'/'', expecting `"number"' or `'-'' or `'(''
777 Now: parse error: unexpected '/', expecting "number" or '-' or '('
778
779* Fixed parser memory leaks.
780 When the generated parser was using malloc to extend its stacks, the
781 previous allocations were not freed.
782
783* Fixed verbose output file.
784 Some newlines were missing.
785 Some conflicts in state descriptions were missing.
786
787* Fixed conflict report.
788 Option -v was needed to get the result.
789
790* %expect
791 Was not used.
792 Mismatches are errors, not warnings.
793
794* Fixed incorrect processing of some invalid input.
795
796* Fixed CPP guards: 9foo.h uses BISON_9FOO_H instead of 9FOO_H.
797
798* Fixed some typos in the documentation.
799
800* %token MY_EOF 0 is supported.
801 Before, MY_EOF was silently renumbered as 257.
802
803* doc/refcard.tex is updated.
804
805* %output, %file-prefix, %name-prefix.
806 New.
807
808* --output
809 New, aliasing `--output-file'.
810\f
76551463 811Changes in version 1.30, 2001-10-26:
342b8b6e 812
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813* `--defines' and `--graph' have now an optional argument which is the
814 output file name. `-d' and `-g' do not change; they do not take any
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815 argument.
816
817* `%source_extension' and `%header_extension' are removed, failed
818 experiment.
819
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820* Portability fixes.
821\f
9f4503d6 822Changes in version 1.29, 2001-09-07:
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823
824* The output file does not define const, as this caused problems when used
825 with common autoconfiguration schemes. If you still use ancient compilers
826 that lack const, compile with the equivalent of the C compiler option
827 `-Dconst='. autoconf's AC_C_CONST macro provides one way to do this.
828
829* Added `-g' and `--graph'.
f87a2205 830
f2b5126e
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831* The Bison manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL.
832
f1c63ced 833* The input and the output files has automatically a similar extension.
234a3be3 834
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835* Russian translation added.
836
837* NLS support updated; should hopefully be less troublesome.
838
839* Added the old Bison reference card.
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840
841* Added `--locations' and `%locations'.
6deb4447 842
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843* Added `-S' and `--skeleton'.
844
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845* `%raw', `-r', `--raw' is disabled.
846
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847* Special characters are escaped when output. This solves the problems
848 of the #line lines with path names including backslashes.
849
6deb4447 850* New directives.
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851 `%yacc', `%fixed_output_files', `%defines', `%no_parser', `%verbose',
852 `%debug', `%source_extension' and `%header_extension'.
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853
854* @$
855 Automatic location tracking.
f87a2205 856\f
9f4503d6 857Changes in version 1.28, 1999-07-06:
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858
859* Should compile better now with K&R compilers.
860
861* Added NLS.
862
863* Fixed a problem with escaping the double quote character.
864
865* There is now a FAQ.
866\f
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867Changes in version 1.27:
868
869* The make rule which prevented bison.simple from being created on
870 some systems has been fixed.
871\f
872Changes in version 1.26:
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873
874* Bison now uses automake.
875
876* New mailing lists: <bug-bison@gnu.org> and <help-bison@gnu.org>.
877
878* Token numbers now start at 257 as previously documented, not 258.
879
880* Bison honors the TMPDIR environment variable.
881
882* A couple of buffer overruns have been fixed.
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883
884* Problems when closing files should now be reported.
885
886* Generated parsers should now work even on operating systems which do
887 not provide alloca().
4be07551 888\f
9f4503d6 889Changes in version 1.25, 1995-10-16:
df8878c5
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890
891* Errors in the input grammar are not fatal; Bison keeps reading
892the grammar file, and reports all the errors found in it.
8c44d3ec 893
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894* Tokens can now be specified as multiple-character strings: for
895example, you could use "<=" for a token which looks like <=, instead
896of chosing a name like LESSEQ.
897
898* The %token_table declaration says to write a table of tokens (names
899and numbers) into the parser file. The yylex function can use this
900table to recognize multiple-character string tokens, or for other
901purposes.
902
903* The %no_lines declaration says not to generate any #line preprocessor
904directives in the parser file.
905
906* The %raw declaration says to use internal Bison token numbers, not
907Yacc-compatible token numbers, when token names are defined as macros.
908
909* The --no-parser option produces the parser tables without including
910the parser engine; a project can now use its own parser engine.
911The actions go into a separate file called NAME.act, in the form of
912a switch statement body.
913\f
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914Changes in version 1.23:
915
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916The user can define YYPARSE_PARAM as the name of an argument to be
917passed into yyparse. The argument should have type void *. It should
918actually point to an object. Grammar actions can access the variable
919by casting it to the proper pointer type.
6780ca7a 920
6780ca7a 921Line numbers in output file corrected.
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922\f
923Changes in version 1.22:
924
925--help option added.
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926\f
927Changes in version 1.20:
928
929Output file does not redefine const for C++.
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930
931Local Variables:
932mode: outline
933End:
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934
935-----
936
d6ca7905 937Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
279cabb6 9382004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
76551463 939
75eb3bc4 940This file is part of Bison, the GNU Compiler Compiler.
76551463 941
f16b0819 942This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
76551463 943it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
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944the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
945(at your option) any later version.
76551463 946
f16b0819 947This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
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948but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
949MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
950GNU General Public License for more details.
951
952You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
f16b0819 953along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.