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4* Changes in version 2.5 (????-??-??):
5
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6* Changes in version 2.4.2 (????-??-??):
7
41930e7a 8* Changes in version 2.4.1 (2008-12-11):
c9ba9e59 9
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10** In the GLR defines file, unexpanded M4 macros in the yylval and yylloc
11 declarations have been fixed.
12
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13** Temporary hack for adding a semicolon to the user action.
14
15 Bison used to prepend a trailing semicolon at the end of the user
16 action for reductions. This allowed actions such as
17
18 exp: exp "+" exp { $$ = $1 + $3 };
19
20 instead of
21
22 exp: exp "+" exp { $$ = $1 + $3; };
23
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24 Some grammars still depend on this `feature'. Bison 2.4.1 restores
25 the previous behavior in the case of C output (specifically, when
26 neither %language or %skeleton or equivalent command-line options
27 are used) to leave more time for grammars depending on the old
28 behavior to be adjusted. Future releases of Bison will disable this
29 feature.
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30
31** A few minor improvements to the Bison manual.
c9ba9e59 32
d6fb461d 33* Changes in version 2.4 (2008-11-02):
7bd1665a 34
d6fb461d 35** %language is an experimental feature.
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36
37 We first introduced this feature in test release 2.3b as a cleaner
38 alternative to %skeleton. Since then, we have discussed the possibility of
39 modifying its effect on Bison's output file names. Thus, in this release,
40 we consider %language to be an experimental feature that will likely evolve
41 in future releases.
7bd1665a 42
d6fb461d 43** Forward compatibility with GNU M4 has been improved.
241fda7a 44
d6fb461d 45** Several bugs in the C++ skeleton and the experimental Java skeleton have been
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46 fixed.
47
d6fb461d 48* Changes in version 2.3b (2008-05-27):
35fe0834 49
d6fb461d 50** The quotes around NAME that used to be required in the following directive
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51 are now deprecated:
52
53 %define NAME "VALUE"
54
d6fb461d 55** The directive `%pure-parser' is now deprecated in favor of:
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56
57 %define api.pure
58
59 which has the same effect except that Bison is more careful to warn about
60 unreasonable usage in the latter case.
61
d6fb461d 62** Push Parsing
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63
64 Bison can now generate an LALR(1) parser in C with a push interface. That
ef1b4273 65 is, instead of invoking `yyparse', which pulls tokens from `yylex', you can
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66 push one token at a time to the parser using `yypush_parse', which will
67 return to the caller after processing each token. By default, the push
68 interface is disabled. Either of the following directives will enable it:
69
70 %define api.push_pull "push" // Just push; does not require yylex.
71 %define api.push_pull "both" // Push and pull; requires yylex.
72
73 See the new section `A Push Parser' in the Bison manual for details.
74
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75 The current push parsing interface is experimental and may evolve. More user
76 feedback will help to stabilize it.
77
d6fb461d 78** The -g and --graph options now output graphs in Graphviz DOT format,
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79 not VCG format. Like --graph, -g now also takes an optional FILE argument
80 and thus cannot be bundled with other short options.
c373bf8b 81
d6fb461d 82** Java
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83
84 Bison can now generate an LALR(1) parser in Java. The skeleton is
85 `data/lalr1.java'. Consider using the new %language directive instead of
86 %skeleton to select it.
87
88 See the new section `Java Parsers' in the Bison manual for details.
89
90 The current Java interface is experimental and may evolve. More user
91 feedback will help to stabilize it.
92
d6fb461d 93** %language
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94
95 This new directive specifies the programming language of the generated
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96 parser, which can be C (the default), C++, or Java. Besides the skeleton
97 that Bison uses, the directive affects the names of the generated files if
98 the grammar file's name ends in ".y".
59da312b 99
d6fb461d 100** XML Automaton Report
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101
102 Bison can now generate an XML report of the LALR(1) automaton using the new
103 `--xml' option. The current XML schema is experimental and may evolve. More
104 user feedback will help to stabilize it.
c373bf8b 105
d6fb461d 106** The grammar file may now specify the name of the parser header file using
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107 %defines. For example:
108
109 %defines "parser.h"
110
d6fb461d 111** When reporting useless rules, useless nonterminals, and unused terminals,
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112 Bison now employs the terms "useless in grammar" instead of "useless",
113 "useless in parser" instead of "never reduced", and "unused in grammar"
114 instead of "unused".
cff03fb2 115
d6fb461d 116** Unreachable State Removal
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117
118 Previously, Bison sometimes generated parser tables containing unreachable
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119 states. A state can become unreachable during conflict resolution if Bison
120 disables a shift action leading to it from a predecessor state. Bison now:
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121
122 1. Removes unreachable states.
123
124 2. Does not report any conflicts that appeared in unreachable states.
125 WARNING: As a result, you may need to update %expect and %expect-rr
126 directives in existing grammar files.
127
128 3. For any rule used only in such states, Bison now reports the rule as
cff03fb2 129 "useless in parser due to conflicts".
75ad86ee 130
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131 This feature can be disabled with the following directive:
132
133 %define lr.keep_unreachable_states
134
135 See the %define entry in the `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison manual
136 for further discussion.
137
d6fb461d 138** Lookahead Set Correction in the `.output' Report
b1cc23c4 139
c373bf8b 140 When instructed to generate a `.output' file including lookahead sets
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141 (using `--report=lookahead', for example), Bison now prints each reduction's
142 lookahead set only next to the associated state's one item that (1) is
143 associated with the same rule as the reduction and (2) has its dot at the end
144 of its RHS. Previously, Bison also erroneously printed the lookahead set
145 next to all of the state's other items associated with the same rule. This
146 bug affected only the `.output' file and not the generated parser source
147 code.
148
d6fb461d 149** --report-file=FILE is a new option to override the default `.output' file
59da312b 150 name.
1bb2bd75 151
d6fb461d 152** The `=' that used to be required in the following directives is now
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153 deprecated:
154
155 %file-prefix "parser"
156 %name-prefix "c_"
157 %output "parser.c"
158
d6fb461d 159** An Alternative to `%{...%}' -- `%code QUALIFIER {CODE}'
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160
161 Bison 2.3a provided a new set of directives as a more flexible alternative to
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162 the traditional Yacc prologue blocks. Those have now been consolidated into
163 a single %code directive with an optional qualifier field, which identifies
164 the purpose of the code and thus the location(s) where Bison should generate
165 it:
166
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167 1. `%code {CODE}' replaces `%after-header {CODE}'
168 2. `%code requires {CODE}' replaces `%start-header {CODE}'
169 3. `%code provides {CODE}' replaces `%end-header {CODE}'
170 4. `%code top {CODE}' replaces `%before-header {CODE}'
8e0a5e9e 171
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172 See the %code entries in section `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison
173 manual for a summary of the new functionality. See the new section `Prologue
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174 Alternatives' for a detailed discussion including the advantages of %code
175 over the traditional Yacc prologues.
176
177 The prologue alternatives are experimental. More user feedback will help to
178 determine whether they should become permanent features.
179
d6fb461d 180** Revised warning: unset or unused mid-rule values
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181
182 Since Bison 2.2, Bison has warned about mid-rule values that are set but not
183 used within any of the actions of the parent rule. For example, Bison warns
184 about unused $2 in:
185
186 exp: '1' { $$ = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $1 + $4; };
187
188 Now, Bison also warns about mid-rule values that are used but not set. For
189 example, Bison warns about unset $$ in the mid-rule action in:
190
191 exp: '1' { $1 = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $2 + $4; };
192
193 However, Bison now disables both of these warnings by default since they
194 sometimes prove to be false alarms in existing grammars employing the Yacc
195 constructs $0 or $-N (where N is some positive integer).
196
59da312b 197 To enable these warnings, specify the option `--warnings=midrule-values' or
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198 `-W', which is a synonym for `--warnings=all'.
199
d6fb461d 200** Default %destructor or %printer with `<*>' or `<>'
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201
202 Bison now recognizes two separate kinds of default %destructor's and
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203 %printer's:
204
205 1. Place `<*>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
206 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols for which you have formally
207 declared semantic type tags.
208
3ebecc24 209 2. Place `<>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
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210 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols without declared semantic
211 type tags.
212
213 Bison no longer supports the `%symbol-default' notation from Bison 2.3a.
3ebecc24 214 `<*>' and `<>' combined achieve the same effect with one exception: Bison no
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215 longer applies any %destructor to a mid-rule value if that mid-rule value is
216 not actually ever referenced using either $$ or $n in a semantic action.
217
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218 The default %destructor's and %printer's are experimental. More user
219 feedback will help to determine whether they should become permanent
220 features.
221
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222 See the section `Freeing Discarded Symbols' in the Bison manual for further
223 details.
224
d6fb461d 225** %left, %right, and %nonassoc can now declare token numbers. This is required
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226 by POSIX. However, see the end of section `Operator Precedence' in the Bison
227 manual for a caveat concerning the treatment of literal strings.
228
d6fb461d 229** The nonfunctional --no-parser, -n, and %no-parser options have been
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230 completely removed from Bison.
231
d6fb461d 232* Changes in version 2.3a, 2006-09-13:
742e4900 233
d6fb461d 234** Instead of %union, you can define and use your own union type
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235 YYSTYPE if your grammar contains at least one <type> tag.
236 Your YYSTYPE need not be a macro; it can be a typedef.
237 This change is for compatibility with other Yacc implementations,
238 and is required by POSIX.
239
d6fb461d 240** Locations columns and lines start at 1.
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241 In accordance with the GNU Coding Standards and Emacs.
242
d6fb461d 243** You may now declare per-type and default %destructor's and %printer's:
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244
245 For example:
246
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247 %union { char *string; }
248 %token <string> STRING1
249 %token <string> STRING2
250 %type <string> string1
251 %type <string> string2
252 %union { char character; }
253 %token <character> CHR
254 %type <character> chr
255 %destructor { free ($$); } %symbol-default
256 %destructor { free ($$); printf ("%d", @$.first_line); } STRING1 string1
257 %destructor { } <character>
258
259 guarantees that, when the parser discards any user-defined symbol that has a
260 semantic type tag other than `<character>', it passes its semantic value to
261 `free'. However, when the parser discards a `STRING1' or a `string1', it
262 also prints its line number to `stdout'. It performs only the second
263 `%destructor' in this case, so it invokes `free' only once.
ec5479ce 264
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265 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the default
266 %destructor's and %printer's were experimental, and they were rewritten in
267 future versions.]
268
d6fb461d 269** Except for LALR(1) parsers in C with POSIX Yacc emulation enabled (with `-y',
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270 `--yacc', or `%yacc'), Bison no longer generates #define statements for
271 associating token numbers with token names. Removing the #define statements
272 helps to sanitize the global namespace during preprocessing, but POSIX Yacc
273 requires them. Bison still generates an enum for token names in all cases.
274
d6fb461d 275** Handling of traditional Yacc prologue blocks is now more consistent but
34f98f46 276 potentially incompatible with previous releases of Bison.
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277
278 As before, you declare prologue blocks in your grammar file with the
279 `%{ ... %}' syntax. To generate the pre-prologue, Bison concatenates all
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280 prologue blocks that you've declared before the first %union. To generate
281 the post-prologue, Bison concatenates all prologue blocks that you've
ddc8ede1 282 declared after the first %union.
9bc0dd67 283
34f98f46 284 Previous releases of Bison inserted the pre-prologue into both the header
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285 file and the code file in all cases except for LALR(1) parsers in C. In the
286 latter case, Bison inserted it only into the code file. For parsers in C++,
287 the point of insertion was before any token definitions (which associate
288 token numbers with names). For parsers in C, the point of insertion was
289 after the token definitions.
290
291 Now, Bison never inserts the pre-prologue into the header file. In the code
292 file, it always inserts it before the token definitions.
293
d6fb461d 294** Bison now provides a more flexible alternative to the traditional Yacc
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295 prologue blocks: %before-header, %start-header, %end-header, and
296 %after-header.
297
298 For example, the following declaration order in the grammar file reflects the
299 order in which Bison will output these code blocks. However, you are free to
300 declare these code blocks in your grammar file in whatever order is most
301 convenient for you:
302
303 %before-header {
304 /* Bison treats this block like a pre-prologue block: it inserts it into
305 * the code file before the contents of the header file. It does *not*
306 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to put
307 * #include's that you want at the top of your code file. A common
308 * example is `#include "system.h"'. */
309 }
310 %start-header {
311 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
312 * In both files, the point of insertion is before any Bison-generated
313 * token, semantic type, location type, and class definitions. This is a
314 * good place to define %union dependencies, for example. */
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315 }
316 %union {
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317 /* Unlike the traditional Yacc prologue blocks, the output order for the
318 * new %*-header blocks is not affected by their declaration position
319 * relative to any %union in the grammar file. */
9bc0dd67 320 }
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321 %end-header {
322 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
323 * In both files, the point of insertion is after the Bison-generated
324 * definitions. This is a good place to declare or define public
325 * functions or data structures that depend on the Bison-generated
326 * definitions. */
9bc0dd67 327 }
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328 %after-header {
329 /* Bison treats this block like a post-prologue block: it inserts it into
330 * the code file after the contents of the header file. It does *not*
331 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to declare or
332 * define internal functions or data structures that depend on the
333 * Bison-generated definitions. */
334 }
335
336 If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above declarations, Bison
337 will concatenate the contents in declaration order.
9bc0dd67 338
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339 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the prologue
340 alternatives were experimental, and they were rewritten in future versions.]
341
d6fb461d 342** The option `--report=look-ahead' has been changed to `--report=lookahead'.
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343 The old spelling still works, but is not documented and may be removed
344 in a future release.
742e4900 345
d6fb461d 346* Changes in version 2.3, 2006-06-05:
4ad3ed84 347
d6fb461d 348** GLR grammars should now use `YYRECOVERING ()' instead of `YYRECOVERING',
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349 for compatibility with LALR(1) grammars.
350
d6fb461d 351** It is now documented that any definition of YYSTYPE or YYLTYPE should
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352 be to a type name that does not contain parentheses or brackets.
353
d6fb461d 354* Changes in version 2.2, 2006-05-19:
193d7c70 355
d6fb461d 356** The distribution terms for all Bison-generated parsers now permit
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357 using the parsers in nonfree programs. Previously, this permission
358 was granted only for Bison-generated LALR(1) parsers in C.
5f4236a0 359
d6fb461d 360** %name-prefix changes the namespace name in C++ outputs.
aa08666d 361
d6fb461d 362** The C++ parsers export their token_type.
5f4236a0 363
d6fb461d 364** Bison now allows multiple %union declarations, and concatenates
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365 their contents together.
366
d6fb461d 367** New warning: unused values
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368 Right-hand side symbols whose values are not used are reported,
369 if the symbols have destructors. For instance:
affac613 370
8f3596a6 371 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; }
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372 | exp "+" exp
373 ;
affac613 374
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375 will trigger a warning about $$ and $5 in the first rule, and $3 in
376 the second ($1 is copied to $$ by the default rule). This example
4e26c69e 377 most likely contains three errors, and could be rewritten as:
affac613 378
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379 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp
380 { $$ = $1 ? $3 : $5; free ($1 ? $5 : $3); free ($1); }
381 | exp "+" exp
382 { $$ = $1 ? $1 : $3; if ($1) free ($3); }
721be13c 383 ;
affac613 384
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385 However, if the original actions were really intended, memory leaks
386 and all, the warnings can be suppressed by letting Bison believe the
387 values are used, e.g.:
721be13c 388
8f3596a6 389 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; (void) ($$, $5); }
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390 | exp "+" exp { $$ = $1; (void) $3; }
391 ;
392
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393 If there are mid-rule actions, the warning is issued if no action
394 uses it. The following triggers no warning: $1 and $3 are used.
395
396 exp: exp { push ($1); } '+' exp { push ($3); sum (); };
397
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398 The warning is intended to help catching lost values and memory leaks.
399 If a value is ignored, its associated memory typically is not reclaimed.
affac613 400
d6fb461d 401** %destructor vs. YYABORT, YYACCEPT, and YYERROR.
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402 Destructors are now called when user code invokes YYABORT, YYACCEPT,
403 and YYERROR, for all objects on the stack, other than objects
404 corresponding to the right-hand side of the current rule.
a85284cf 405
d6fb461d 406** %expect, %expect-rr
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407 Incorrect numbers of expected conflicts are now actual errors,
408 instead of warnings.
409
d6fb461d 410** GLR, YACC parsers.
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411 The %parse-params are available in the destructors (and the
412 experimental printers) as per the documentation.
4b367315 413
d6fb461d 414** Bison now warns if it finds a stray `$' or `@' in an action.
ad6a9b97 415
d6fb461d 416** %require "VERSION"
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417 This specifies that the grammar file depends on features implemented
418 in Bison version VERSION or higher.
b50d2359 419
d6fb461d 420** lalr1.cc: The token and value types are now class members.
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421 The tokens were defined as free form enums and cpp macros. YYSTYPE
422 was defined as a free form union. They are now class members:
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423 tokens are enumerations of the `yy::parser::token' struct, and the
424 semantic values have the `yy::parser::semantic_type' type.
425
426 If you do not want or can update to this scheme, the directive
427 `%define "global_tokens_and_yystype" "1"' triggers the global
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428 definition of tokens and YYSTYPE. This change is suitable both
429 for previous releases of Bison, and this one.
fb9712a9 430
b50d2359 431 If you wish to update, then make sure older version of Bison will
ab8d9dc5 432 fail using `%require "2.2"'.
fb9712a9 433
d6fb461d 434** DJGPP support added.
193d7c70 435\f
d6fb461d 436* Changes in version 2.1, 2005-09-16:
1ce59070 437
d6fb461d 438** The C++ lalr1.cc skeleton supports %lex-param.
e14d0ab6 439
d6fb461d 440** Bison-generated parsers now support the translation of diagnostics like
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441 "syntax error" into languages other than English. The default
442 language is still English. For details, please see the new
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443 Internationalization section of the Bison manual. Software
444 distributors should also see the new PACKAGING file. Thanks to
445 Bruno Haible for this new feature.
1ce59070 446
d6fb461d 447** Wording in the Bison-generated parsers has been changed slightly to
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448 simplify translation. In particular, the message "memory exhausted"
449 has replaced "parser stack overflow", as the old message was not
450 always accurate for modern Bison-generated parsers.
451
d6fb461d 452** Destructors are now called when the parser aborts, for all symbols left
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453 behind on the stack. Also, the start symbol is now destroyed after a
454 successful parse. In both cases, the behavior was formerly inconsistent.
455
d6fb461d 456** When generating verbose diagnostics, Bison-generated parsers no longer
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457 quote the literal strings associated with tokens. For example, for
458 a syntax error associated with '%token NUM "number"' they might
459 print 'syntax error, unexpected number' instead of 'syntax error,
460 unexpected "number"'.
193d7c70 461\f
d6fb461d 462* Changes in version 2.0, 2004-12-25:
efeed023 463
d6fb461d 464** Possibly-incompatible changes
d7e14fc0 465
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466 - Bison-generated parsers no longer default to using the alloca function
467 (when available) to extend the parser stack, due to widespread
468 problems in unchecked stack-overflow detection. You can "#define
469 YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA 1" to require the use of alloca, but please read
470 the manual to determine safe values for YYMAXDEPTH in that case.
8dd162d3 471
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472 - Error token location.
473 During error recovery, the location of the syntax error is updated
474 to cover the whole sequence covered by the error token: it includes
475 the shifted symbols thrown away during the first part of the error
476 recovery, and the lookahead rejected during the second part.
18d192f0 477
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478 - Semicolon changes:
479 . Stray semicolons are no longer allowed at the start of a grammar.
480 . Semicolons are now required after in-grammar declarations.
e342c3be 481
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482 - Unescaped newlines are no longer allowed in character constants or
483 string literals. They were never portable, and GCC 3.4.0 has
484 dropped support for them. Better diagnostics are now generated if
485 forget a closing quote.
8dd162d3 486
82de6b0d 487 - NUL bytes are no longer allowed in Bison string literals, unfortunately.
f74b6f91 488
d6fb461d 489** New features
1452af69 490
82de6b0d 491 - GLR grammars now support locations.
4febdd96 492
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493 - New directive: %initial-action.
494 This directive allows the user to run arbitrary code (including
495 initializing @$) from yyparse before parsing starts.
1452af69 496
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497 - A new directive "%expect-rr N" specifies the expected number of
498 reduce/reduce conflicts in GLR parsers.
1452af69 499
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500 - %token numbers can now be hexadecimal integers, e.g., `%token FOO 0x12d'.
501 This is a GNU extension.
4febdd96 502
82de6b0d 503 - The option `--report=lookahead' was changed to `--report=look-ahead'.
9e6e7ed2 504 [However, this was changed back after 2.3.]
1452af69 505
82de6b0d 506 - Experimental %destructor support has been added to lalr1.cc.
1452af69 507
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508 - New configure option --disable-yacc, to disable installation of the
509 yacc command and -ly library introduced in 1.875 for POSIX conformance.
6040d338 510
d6fb461d 511** Bug fixes
d5a3fe37 512
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513 - For now, %expect-count violations are now just warnings, not errors.
514 This is for compatibility with Bison 1.75 and earlier (when there are
515 reduce/reduce conflicts) and with Bison 1.30 and earlier (when there
516 are too many or too few shift/reduce conflicts). However, in future
517 versions of Bison we plan to improve the %expect machinery so that
518 these violations will become errors again.
3473d0f8 519
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520 - Within Bison itself, numbers (e.g., goto numbers) are no longer
521 arbitrarily limited to 16-bit counts.
d600ee67 522
82de6b0d 523 - Semicolons are now allowed before "|" in grammar rules, as POSIX requires.
d600ee67 524\f
d6fb461d 525* Changes in version 1.875, 2003-01-01:
963fcc17 526
d6fb461d 527** The documentation license has been upgraded to version 1.2
dc546b0f 528 of the GNU Free Documentation License.
75eb3bc4 529
d6fb461d 530** syntax error processing
75eb3bc4 531
dc546b0f
PE
532 - In Yacc-style parsers YYLLOC_DEFAULT is now used to compute error
533 locations too. This fixes bugs in error-location computation.
75eb3bc4 534
dc546b0f
PE
535 - %destructor
536 It is now possible to reclaim the memory associated to symbols
537 discarded during error recovery. This feature is still experimental.
20daca06 538
dc546b0f
PE
539 - %error-verbose
540 This new directive is preferred over YYERROR_VERBOSE.
74724a70 541
dc546b0f
PE
542 - #defining yyerror to steal internal variables is discouraged.
543 It is not guaranteed to work forever.
d1de5372 544
d6fb461d 545** POSIX conformance
d1de5372 546
dc546b0f
PE
547 - Semicolons are once again optional at the end of grammar rules.
548 This reverts to the behavior of Bison 1.33 and earlier, and improves
549 compatibility with Yacc.
74724a70 550
dc546b0f
PE
551 - `parse error' -> `syntax error'
552 Bison now uniformly uses the term `syntax error'; formerly, the code
553 and manual sometimes used the term `parse error' instead. POSIX
554 requires `syntax error' in diagnostics, and it was thought better to
555 be consistent.
74724a70 556
dc546b0f
PE
557 - The documentation now emphasizes that yylex and yyerror must be
558 declared before use. C99 requires this.
d1de5372 559
dc546b0f
PE
560 - Bison now parses C99 lexical constructs like UCNs and
561 backslash-newline within C escape sequences, as POSIX 1003.1-2001 requires.
d1de5372 562
dc546b0f
PE
563 - File names are properly escaped in C output. E.g., foo\bar.y is
564 output as "foo\\bar.y".
6780ca7a 565
dc546b0f
PE
566 - Yacc command and library now available
567 The Bison distribution now installs a `yacc' command, as POSIX requires.
568 Also, Bison now installs a small library liby.a containing
569 implementations of Yacc-compatible yyerror and main functions.
570 This library is normally not useful, but POSIX requires it.
6e649e65 571
dc546b0f 572 - Type clashes now generate warnings, not errors.
6e649e65 573
dc546b0f
PE
574 - If the user does not define YYSTYPE as a macro, Bison now declares it
575 using typedef instead of defining it as a macro.
576 For consistency, YYLTYPE is also declared instead of defined.
9501dc6e 577
d6fb461d 578** Other compatibility issues
886a425c 579
dc546b0f
PE
580 - %union directives can now have a tag before the `{', e.g., the
581 directive `%union foo {...}' now generates the C code
582 `typedef union foo { ... } YYSTYPE;'; this is for Yacc compatibility.
583 The default union tag is `YYSTYPE', for compatibility with Solaris 9 Yacc.
584 For consistency, YYLTYPE's struct tag is now `YYLTYPE' not `yyltype'.
585 This is for compatibility with both Yacc and Bison 1.35.
72f889cc 586
dc546b0f
PE
587 - `;' is output before the terminating `}' of an action, for
588 compatibility with Bison 1.35.
886a425c 589
dc546b0f
PE
590 - Bison now uses a Yacc-style format for conflict reports, e.g.,
591 `conflicts: 2 shift/reduce, 1 reduce/reduce'.
437c2d80 592
dc546b0f
PE
593 - `yystype' and `yyltype' are now obsolescent macros instead of being
594 typedefs or tags; they are no longer documented and are planned to be
595 withdrawn in a future release.
2a8d363a 596
d6fb461d 597** GLR parser notes
2a8d363a 598
dc546b0f
PE
599 - GLR and inline
600 Users of Bison have to decide how they handle the portability of the
601 C keyword `inline'.
959e5f51 602
dc546b0f
PE
603 - `parsing stack overflow...' -> `parser stack overflow'
604 GLR parsers now report `parser stack overflow' as per the Bison manual.
900c5db5 605
d6fb461d 606** Bison now warns if it detects conflicting outputs to the same file,
dc546b0f
PE
607 e.g., it generates a warning for `bison -d -o foo.h foo.y' since
608 that command outputs both code and header to foo.h.
6e40b4eb 609
d6fb461d 610** #line in output files
dc546b0f 611 - --no-line works properly.
6e40b4eb 612
d6fb461d 613** Bison can no longer be built by a K&R C compiler; it requires C89 or
6e40b4eb
AD
614 later to be built. This change originally took place a few versions
615 ago, but nobody noticed until we recently asked someone to try
616 building Bison with a K&R C compiler.
d600ee67 617\f
d6fb461d 618* Changes in version 1.75, 2002-10-14:
7933f2b5 619
d6fb461d 620** Bison should now work on 64-bit hosts.
7933f2b5 621
d6fb461d 622** Indonesian translation thanks to Tedi Heriyanto.
7933f2b5 623
d6fb461d 624** GLR parsers
f50adbbd
AD
625 Fix spurious parse errors.
626
d6fb461d 627** Pure parsers
f50adbbd
AD
628 Some people redefine yyerror to steal yyparse' private variables.
629 Reenable this trick until an official feature replaces it.
630
d6fb461d 631** Type Clashes
d90c934c
AD
632 In agreement with POSIX and with other Yaccs, leaving a default
633 action is valid when $$ is untyped, and $1 typed:
634
635 untyped: ... typed;
636
637 but the converse remains an error:
638
639 typed: ... untyped;
640
d6fb461d 641** Values of mid-rule actions
d90c934c
AD
642 The following code:
643
644 foo: { ... } { $$ = $1; } ...
645
646 was incorrectly rejected: $1 is defined in the second mid-rule
647 action, and is equal to the $$ of the first mid-rule action.
d600ee67 648\f
d6fb461d 649* Changes in version 1.50, 2002-10-04:
adc8c848 650
d6fb461d 651** GLR parsing
676385e2
PH
652 The declaration
653 %glr-parser
654 causes Bison to produce a Generalized LR (GLR) parser, capable of handling
655 almost any context-free grammar, ambiguous or not. The new declarations
e8832397 656 %dprec and %merge on grammar rules allow parse-time resolution of
676385e2
PH
657 ambiguities. Contributed by Paul Hilfinger.
658
7933f2b5 659 Unfortunately Bison 1.50 does not work properly on 64-bit hosts
420f93c8
PE
660 like the Alpha, so please stick to 32-bit hosts for now.
661
d6fb461d 662** Output Directory
8c165d89 663 When not in Yacc compatibility mode, when the output file was not
e88dbdbf 664 specified, running `bison foo/bar.y' created `foo/bar.c'. It
8c165d89
AD
665 now creates `bar.c'.
666
d6fb461d 667** Undefined token
007a50a4 668 The undefined token was systematically mapped to 2 which prevented
e88dbdbf 669 the use of 2 by the user. This is no longer the case.
007a50a4 670
d6fb461d 671** Unknown token numbers
e88dbdbf 672 If yylex returned an out of range value, yyparse could die. This is
007a50a4
AD
673 no longer the case.
674
d6fb461d 675** Error token
e88dbdbf 676 According to POSIX, the error token must be 256.
23c5a174
AD
677 Bison extends this requirement by making it a preference: *if* the
678 user specified that one of her tokens is numbered 256, then error
679 will be mapped onto another number.
680
d6fb461d 681** Verbose error messages
e88dbdbf 682 They no longer report `..., expecting error or...' for states where
217598da
AD
683 error recovery is possible.
684
d6fb461d 685** End token
217598da
AD
686 Defaults to `$end' instead of `$'.
687
d6fb461d 688** Error recovery now conforms to documentation and to POSIX
68cd8af3
PE
689 When a Bison-generated parser encounters a syntax error, it now pops
690 the stack until it finds a state that allows shifting the error
691 token. Formerly, it popped the stack until it found a state that
692 allowed some non-error action other than a default reduction on the
693 error token. The new behavior has long been the documented behavior,
694 and has long been required by POSIX. For more details, please see
337116ba
PE
695 Paul Eggert, "Reductions during Bison error handling" (2002-05-20)
696 <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-bison/2002-05/msg00038.html>.
68cd8af3 697
d6fb461d 698** Traces
5504898e
AD
699 Popped tokens and nonterminals are now reported.
700
d6fb461d 701** Larger grammars
a861a339
PE
702 Larger grammars are now supported (larger token numbers, larger grammar
703 size (= sum of the LHS and RHS lengths), larger LALR tables).
704 Formerly, many of these numbers ran afoul of 16-bit limits;
705 now these limits are 32 bits on most hosts.
355e7c1c 706
d6fb461d 707** Explicit initial rule
643a5994
AD
708 Bison used to play hacks with the initial rule, which the user does
709 not write. It is now explicit, and visible in the reports and
710 graphs as rule 0.
23c5a174 711
d6fb461d 712** Useless rules
643a5994 713 Before, Bison reported the useless rules, but, although not used,
77714df2 714 included them in the parsers. They are now actually removed.
23c5a174 715
d6fb461d 716** Useless rules, useless nonterminals
6b98e4b5
AD
717 They are now reported, as a warning, with their locations.
718
d6fb461d 719** Rules never reduced
e8832397
AD
720 Rules that can never be reduced because of conflicts are now
721 reported.
722
d6fb461d 723** Incorrect `Token not used'
11652ab3
AD
724 On a grammar such as
725
726 %token useless useful
727 %%
728 exp: '0' %prec useful;
729
730 where a token was used to set the precedence of the last rule,
731 bison reported both `useful' and `useless' as useless tokens.
732
d6fb461d 733** Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31
77714df2 734 as they caused too many portability hassles.
0179dd65 735
d6fb461d 736** Default locations
b2d52318
AD
737 By an accident of design, the default computation of @$ was
738 performed after another default computation was performed: @$ = @1.
739 The latter is now removed: YYLLOC_DEFAULT is fully responsible of
740 the computation of @$.
adc8c848 741
d6fb461d 742** Token end-of-file
b7c49edf
AD
743 The token end of file may be specified by the user, in which case,
744 the user symbol is used in the reports, the graphs, and the verbose
a861a339 745 error messages instead of `$end', which remains being the default.
b7c49edf 746 For instance
7bd6c77e 747 %token MYEOF 0
b7c49edf 748 or
7bd6c77e 749 %token MYEOF 0 "end of file"
fdbcd8e2 750
d6fb461d 751** Semantic parser
fdbcd8e2
AD
752 This old option, which has been broken for ages, is removed.
753
d6fb461d 754** New translations
a861a339 755 Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to Alexandre Folle de Menezes.
84614e13
AD
756 Croatian, thanks to Denis Lackovic.
757
d6fb461d 758** Incorrect token definitions
e88dbdbf 759 When given `%token 'a' "A"', Bison used to output `#define 'a' 65'.
b87f8b21 760
d6fb461d 761** Token definitions as enums
77714df2
AD
762 Tokens are output both as the traditional #define's, and, provided
763 the compiler supports ANSI C or is a C++ compiler, as enums.
e88dbdbf 764 This lets debuggers display names instead of integers.
77714df2 765
d6fb461d 766** Reports
ec3bc396
AD
767 In addition to --verbose, bison supports --report=THINGS, which
768 produces additional information:
b408954b
AD
769 - itemset
770 complete the core item sets with their closure
9e6e7ed2
PE
771 - lookahead [changed to `look-ahead' in 1.875e through 2.3, but changed back]
772 explicitly associate lookahead tokens to items
b408954b
AD
773 - solved
774 describe shift/reduce conflicts solving.
775 Bison used to systematically output this information on top of
776 the report. Solved conflicts are now attached to their states.
ec3bc396 777
d6fb461d 778** Type clashes
9af3fbce
AD
779 Previous versions don't complain when there is a type clash on
780 the default action if the rule has a mid-rule action, such as in:
781
782 %type <foo> bar
783 %%
784 bar: '0' {} '0';
785
786 This is fixed.
a861a339 787
d6fb461d 788** GNU M4 is now required when using Bison.
f987e9d2 789\f
d6fb461d 790* Changes in version 1.35, 2002-03-25:
76551463 791
d6fb461d 792** C Skeleton
76551463
AD
793 Some projects use Bison's C parser with C++ compilers, and define
794 YYSTYPE as a class. The recent adjustment of C parsers for data
795 alignment and 64 bit architectures made this impossible.
796
797 Because for the time being no real solution for C++ parser
798 generation exists, kludges were implemented in the parser to
799 maintain this use. In the future, when Bison has C++ parsers, this
800 kludge will be disabled.
801
802 This kludge also addresses some C++ problems when the stack was
803 extended.
76551463 804\f
d6fb461d 805* Changes in version 1.34, 2002-03-12:
76551463 806
d6fb461d 807** File name clashes are detected
76551463
AD
808 $ bison foo.y -d -o foo.x
809 fatal error: header and parser would both be named `foo.x'
810
d6fb461d 811** A missing `;' at the end of a rule triggers a warning
76551463
AD
812 In accordance with POSIX, and in agreement with other
813 Yacc implementations, Bison will mandate this semicolon in the near
814 future. This eases the implementation of a Bison parser of Bison
815 grammars by making this grammar LALR(1) instead of LR(2). To
816 facilitate the transition, this release introduces a warning.
817
d6fb461d 818** Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31, as they caused too
76551463
AD
819 many portability hassles.
820
d6fb461d 821** DJGPP support added.
76551463 822
d6fb461d 823** Fix test suite portability problems.
76551463 824\f
d6fb461d 825* Changes in version 1.33, 2002-02-07:
76551463 826
d6fb461d 827** Fix C++ issues
76551463
AD
828 Groff could not be compiled for the definition of size_t was lacking
829 under some conditions.
830
d6fb461d 831** Catch invalid @n
76551463
AD
832 As is done with $n.
833\f
d6fb461d 834* Changes in version 1.32, 2002-01-23:
76551463 835
d6fb461d 836** Fix Yacc output file names
76551463 837
d6fb461d 838** Portability fixes
76551463 839
d6fb461d 840** Italian, Dutch translations
76551463 841\f
d6fb461d 842* Changes in version 1.31, 2002-01-14:
52d1aeee 843
d6fb461d 844** Many Bug Fixes
52d1aeee 845
d6fb461d 846** GNU Gettext and %expect
52d1aeee
MA
847 GNU Gettext asserts 10 s/r conflicts, but there are 7. Now that
848 Bison dies on incorrect %expectations, we fear there will be
849 too many bug reports for Gettext, so _for the time being_, %expect
850 does not trigger an error when the input file is named `plural.y'.
851
d6fb461d 852** Use of alloca in parsers
52d1aeee
MA
853 If YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA is defined to 0, then the parsers will use
854 malloc exclusively. Since 1.29, but was not NEWS'ed.
855
856 alloca is used only when compiled with GCC, to avoid portability
857 problems as on AIX.
858
d6fb461d 859** yyparse now returns 2 if memory is exhausted; formerly it dumped core.
b47dbebe 860
d6fb461d 861** When the generated parser lacks debugging code, YYDEBUG is now 0
52d1aeee
MA
862 (as POSIX requires) instead of being undefined.
863
d6fb461d 864** User Actions
52d1aeee
MA
865 Bison has always permitted actions such as { $$ = $1 }: it adds the
866 ending semicolon. Now if in Yacc compatibility mode, the semicolon
867 is no longer output: one has to write { $$ = $1; }.
868
d6fb461d 869** Better C++ compliance
52d1aeee 870 The output parsers try to respect C++ namespaces.
76551463 871 [This turned out to be a failed experiment, and it was reverted later.]
52d1aeee 872
d6fb461d 873** Reduced Grammars
52d1aeee
MA
874 Fixed bugs when reporting useless nonterminals.
875
d6fb461d 876** 64 bit hosts
52d1aeee
MA
877 The parsers work properly on 64 bit hosts.
878
d6fb461d 879** Error messages
52d1aeee
MA
880 Some calls to strerror resulted in scrambled or missing error messages.
881
d6fb461d 882** %expect
52d1aeee
MA
883 When the number of shift/reduce conflicts is correct, don't issue
884 any warning.
885
d6fb461d 886** The verbose report includes the rule line numbers.
52d1aeee 887
d6fb461d 888** Rule line numbers are fixed in traces.
52d1aeee 889
d6fb461d 890** Swedish translation
52d1aeee 891
d6fb461d 892** Parse errors
52d1aeee
MA
893 Verbose parse error messages from the parsers are better looking.
894 Before: parse error: unexpected `'/'', expecting `"number"' or `'-'' or `'(''
895 Now: parse error: unexpected '/', expecting "number" or '-' or '('
896
d6fb461d 897** Fixed parser memory leaks.
52d1aeee
MA
898 When the generated parser was using malloc to extend its stacks, the
899 previous allocations were not freed.
900
d6fb461d 901** Fixed verbose output file.
52d1aeee
MA
902 Some newlines were missing.
903 Some conflicts in state descriptions were missing.
904
d6fb461d 905** Fixed conflict report.
52d1aeee
MA
906 Option -v was needed to get the result.
907
d6fb461d 908** %expect
52d1aeee
MA
909 Was not used.
910 Mismatches are errors, not warnings.
911
d6fb461d 912** Fixed incorrect processing of some invalid input.
52d1aeee 913
d6fb461d 914** Fixed CPP guards: 9foo.h uses BISON_9FOO_H instead of 9FOO_H.
52d1aeee 915
d6fb461d 916** Fixed some typos in the documentation.
52d1aeee 917
d6fb461d 918** %token MY_EOF 0 is supported.
52d1aeee
MA
919 Before, MY_EOF was silently renumbered as 257.
920
d6fb461d 921** doc/refcard.tex is updated.
52d1aeee 922
d6fb461d 923** %output, %file-prefix, %name-prefix.
52d1aeee
MA
924 New.
925
d6fb461d 926** --output
52d1aeee
MA
927 New, aliasing `--output-file'.
928\f
d6fb461d 929* Changes in version 1.30, 2001-10-26:
342b8b6e 930
d6fb461d 931** `--defines' and `--graph' have now an optional argument which is the
fdac0091 932 output file name. `-d' and `-g' do not change; they do not take any
342b8b6e
AD
933 argument.
934
d6fb461d 935** `%source_extension' and `%header_extension' are removed, failed
342b8b6e
AD
936 experiment.
937
d6fb461d 938** Portability fixes.
f987e9d2 939\f
d6fb461d 940* Changes in version 1.29, 2001-09-07:
342b8b6e 941
d6fb461d 942** The output file does not define const, as this caused problems when used
342b8b6e
AD
943 with common autoconfiguration schemes. If you still use ancient compilers
944 that lack const, compile with the equivalent of the C compiler option
945 `-Dconst='. autoconf's AC_C_CONST macro provides one way to do this.
946
d6fb461d 947** Added `-g' and `--graph'.
f87a2205 948
d6fb461d 949** The Bison manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL.
f2b5126e 950
d6fb461d 951** The input and the output files has automatically a similar extension.
234a3be3 952
d6fb461d 953** Russian translation added.
f87a2205 954
d6fb461d 955** NLS support updated; should hopefully be less troublesome.
f87a2205 956
d6fb461d 957** Added the old Bison reference card.
c33638bb 958
d6fb461d 959** Added `--locations' and `%locations'.
6deb4447 960
d6fb461d 961** Added `-S' and `--skeleton'.
cd5bd6ac 962
d6fb461d 963** `%raw', `-r', `--raw' is disabled.
62ab6972 964
d6fb461d 965** Special characters are escaped when output. This solves the problems
cd5bd6ac
AD
966 of the #line lines with path names including backslashes.
967
d6fb461d 968** New directives.
4ecbf796
MA
969 `%yacc', `%fixed_output_files', `%defines', `%no_parser', `%verbose',
970 `%debug', `%source_extension' and `%header_extension'.
f987e9d2 971
d6fb461d 972** @$
f987e9d2 973 Automatic location tracking.
f87a2205 974\f
d6fb461d 975* Changes in version 1.28, 1999-07-06:
d2e00347 976
d6fb461d 977** Should compile better now with K&R compilers.
d2e00347 978
d6fb461d 979** Added NLS.
d2e00347 980
d6fb461d 981** Fixed a problem with escaping the double quote character.
d2e00347 982
d6fb461d 983** There is now a FAQ.
d2e00347 984\f
d6fb461d 985* Changes in version 1.27:
5c31c3c2 986
d6fb461d 987** The make rule which prevented bison.simple from being created on
5c31c3c2
JT
988 some systems has been fixed.
989\f
d6fb461d 990* Changes in version 1.26:
4be07551 991
d6fb461d 992** Bison now uses automake.
4be07551 993
d6fb461d 994** New mailing lists: <bug-bison@gnu.org> and <help-bison@gnu.org>.
4be07551 995
d6fb461d 996** Token numbers now start at 257 as previously documented, not 258.
4be07551 997
d6fb461d 998** Bison honors the TMPDIR environment variable.
4be07551 999
d6fb461d 1000** A couple of buffer overruns have been fixed.
f51dbca1 1001
d6fb461d 1002** Problems when closing files should now be reported.
f51dbca1 1003
d6fb461d 1004** Generated parsers should now work even on operating systems which do
f51dbca1 1005 not provide alloca().
4be07551 1006\f
d6fb461d 1007* Changes in version 1.25, 1995-10-16:
df8878c5 1008
d6fb461d 1009** Errors in the input grammar are not fatal; Bison keeps reading
df8878c5 1010the grammar file, and reports all the errors found in it.
8c44d3ec 1011
d6fb461d 1012** Tokens can now be specified as multiple-character strings: for
df8878c5
RS
1013example, you could use "<=" for a token which looks like <=, instead
1014of chosing a name like LESSEQ.
1015
d6fb461d 1016** The %token_table declaration says to write a table of tokens (names
df8878c5
RS
1017and numbers) into the parser file. The yylex function can use this
1018table to recognize multiple-character string tokens, or for other
1019purposes.
1020
d6fb461d 1021** The %no_lines declaration says not to generate any #line preprocessor
df8878c5
RS
1022directives in the parser file.
1023
d6fb461d 1024** The %raw declaration says to use internal Bison token numbers, not
df8878c5
RS
1025Yacc-compatible token numbers, when token names are defined as macros.
1026
d6fb461d 1027** The --no-parser option produces the parser tables without including
df8878c5
RS
1028the parser engine; a project can now use its own parser engine.
1029The actions go into a separate file called NAME.act, in the form of
1030a switch statement body.
1031\f
d6fb461d 1032* Changes in version 1.23:
6780ca7a 1033
4d019228
DM
1034The user can define YYPARSE_PARAM as the name of an argument to be
1035passed into yyparse. The argument should have type void *. It should
1036actually point to an object. Grammar actions can access the variable
1037by casting it to the proper pointer type.
6780ca7a 1038
6780ca7a 1039Line numbers in output file corrected.
6780ca7a 1040\f
d6fb461d 1041* Changes in version 1.22:
6780ca7a
DM
1042
1043--help option added.
6780ca7a 1044\f
d6fb461d 1045* Changes in version 1.20:
6780ca7a
DM
1046
1047Output file does not redefine const for C++.
9f4503d6
AD
1048
1049Local Variables:
1050mode: outline
1051End:
76551463
AD
1052
1053-----
1054
d6ca7905 1055Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
8defe11b 10562004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
76551463 1057
8defe11b 1058This file is part of Bison, the GNU Parser Generator.
76551463 1059
f16b0819 1060This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
76551463 1061it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
f16b0819
PE
1062the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
1063(at your option) any later version.
76551463 1064
f16b0819 1065This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
76551463
AD
1066but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
1067MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
1068GNU General Public License for more details.
1069
1070You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
f16b0819 1071along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.