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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* The quotes around NAME that used to be required in the following directive
7 are now deprecated:
8
9 %define NAME "VALUE"
10
11* The directive `%pure-parser' is now deprecated in favor of:
12
13 %define api.pure
14
15 which has the same effect except that Bison is more careful to warn about
16 unreasonable usage in the latter case.
17
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18* Push Parsing
19
20 Bison can now generate an LALR(1) parser in C with a push interface. That
ef1b4273 21 is, instead of invoking `yyparse', which pulls tokens from `yylex', you can
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22 push one token at a time to the parser using `yypush_parse', which will
23 return to the caller after processing each token. By default, the push
24 interface is disabled. Either of the following directives will enable it:
25
26 %define api.push_pull "push" // Just push; does not require yylex.
27 %define api.push_pull "both" // Push and pull; requires yylex.
28
29 See the new section `A Push Parser' in the Bison manual for details.
30
31* The -g and --graph options now output graphs in Graphviz DOT format,
32 not VCG format.
33
34* An experimental directive %language specifies the language of the
35 generated parser, which can be C (the default) or C++. This
36 directive affects the skeleton used, and the names of the generated
37 files if the grammar file's name ends in ".y".
38
39* The grammar file may now specify the name of the parser header file using
40 %defines. For example:
41
42 %defines "parser.h"
43
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44* When reporting useless rules, useless nonterminals, and unused terminals,
45 Bison now employs the terms "useless in grammar" instead of "useless",
46 "useless in parser" instead of "never reduced", and "unused in grammar"
47 instead of "unused".
cff03fb2 48
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49* Unreachable State Removal
50
51 Previously, Bison sometimes generated parser tables containing unreachable
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52 states. A state can become unreachable during conflict resolution if Bison
53 disables a shift action leading to it from a predecessor state. Bison now:
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54
55 1. Removes unreachable states.
56
57 2. Does not report any conflicts that appeared in unreachable states.
58 WARNING: As a result, you may need to update %expect and %expect-rr
59 directives in existing grammar files.
60
61 3. For any rule used only in such states, Bison now reports the rule as
cff03fb2 62 "useless in parser due to conflicts".
75ad86ee 63
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64 This feature can be disabled with the following directive:
65
66 %define lr.keep_unreachable_states
67
68 See the %define entry in the `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison manual
69 for further discussion.
70
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71* Lookahead Set Correction in the `.output' Report
72
73 When instructed to generate a `.output' file including lookahead sets
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74 (using `--report=lookahead', for example), Bison now prints each reduction's
75 lookahead set only next to the associated state's one item that (1) is
76 associated with the same rule as the reduction and (2) has its dot at the end
77 of its RHS. Previously, Bison also erroneously printed the lookahead set
78 next to all of the state's other items associated with the same rule. This
79 bug affected only the `.output' file and not the generated parser source
80 code.
81
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82* --report-file=FILE is a new flag to override the default `.output' file name.
83
16dc6a9e 84* The `=' that used to be required in the following directives is now
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85 deprecated:
86
87 %file-prefix "parser"
88 %name-prefix "c_"
89 %output "parser.c"
90
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91* An Alternative to `%{...%}' -- `%code QUALIFIER {CODE}'
92
93 Bison 2.3a provided a new set of directives as a more flexible alternative to
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94 the traditional Yacc prologue blocks. Those have now been consolidated into
95 a single %code directive with an optional qualifier field, which identifies
96 the purpose of the code and thus the location(s) where Bison should generate
97 it:
98
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99 1. `%code {CODE}' replaces `%after-header {CODE}'
100 2. `%code requires {CODE}' replaces `%start-header {CODE}'
101 3. `%code provides {CODE}' replaces `%end-header {CODE}'
102 4. `%code top {CODE}' replaces `%before-header {CODE}'
8e0a5e9e 103
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104 See the %code entries in section `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison
105 manual for a summary of the new functionality. See the new section `Prologue
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106 Alternatives' for a detailed discussion including the advantages of %code
107 over the traditional Yacc prologues.
108
109 The prologue alternatives are experimental. More user feedback will help to
110 determine whether they should become permanent features.
111
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112* Revised warning: unset or unused mid-rule values
113
114 Since Bison 2.2, Bison has warned about mid-rule values that are set but not
115 used within any of the actions of the parent rule. For example, Bison warns
116 about unused $2 in:
117
118 exp: '1' { $$ = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $1 + $4; };
119
120 Now, Bison also warns about mid-rule values that are used but not set. For
121 example, Bison warns about unset $$ in the mid-rule action in:
122
123 exp: '1' { $1 = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $2 + $4; };
124
125 However, Bison now disables both of these warnings by default since they
126 sometimes prove to be false alarms in existing grammars employing the Yacc
127 constructs $0 or $-N (where N is some positive integer).
128
129 To enable these warnings, specify the flag `--warnings=midrule-values' or
130 `-W', which is a synonym for `--warnings=all'.
131
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132* Default %destructor or %printer with `<*>' or `<>'
133
134 Bison now recognizes two separate kinds of default %destructor's and
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135 %printer's:
136
137 1. Place `<*>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
138 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols for which you have formally
139 declared semantic type tags.
140
3ebecc24 141 2. Place `<>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
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142 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols without declared semantic
143 type tags.
144
145 Bison no longer supports the `%symbol-default' notation from Bison 2.3a.
3ebecc24 146 `<*>' and `<>' combined achieve the same effect with one exception: Bison no
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147 longer applies any %destructor to a mid-rule value if that mid-rule value is
148 not actually ever referenced using either $$ or $n in a semantic action.
149
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150 The default %destructor's and %printer's are experimental. More user
151 feedback will help to determine whether they should become permanent
152 features.
153
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154 See the section `Freeing Discarded Symbols' in the Bison manual for further
155 details.
156
21fe08ca 157Changes in version 2.3a, 2006-09-13:
742e4900 158
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159* Instead of %union, you can define and use your own union type
160 YYSTYPE if your grammar contains at least one <type> tag.
161 Your YYSTYPE need not be a macro; it can be a typedef.
162 This change is for compatibility with other Yacc implementations,
163 and is required by POSIX.
164
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165* Locations columns and lines start at 1.
166 In accordance with the GNU Coding Standards and Emacs.
167
b2a0b7ca 168* You may now declare per-type and default %destructor's and %printer's:
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169
170 For example:
171
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172 %union { char *string; }
173 %token <string> STRING1
174 %token <string> STRING2
175 %type <string> string1
176 %type <string> string2
177 %union { char character; }
178 %token <character> CHR
179 %type <character> chr
180 %destructor { free ($$); } %symbol-default
181 %destructor { free ($$); printf ("%d", @$.first_line); } STRING1 string1
182 %destructor { } <character>
183
184 guarantees that, when the parser discards any user-defined symbol that has a
185 semantic type tag other than `<character>', it passes its semantic value to
186 `free'. However, when the parser discards a `STRING1' or a `string1', it
187 also prints its line number to `stdout'. It performs only the second
188 `%destructor' in this case, so it invokes `free' only once.
ec5479ce 189
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190 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the default
191 %destructor's and %printer's were experimental, and they were rewritten in
192 future versions.]
193
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194* Except for LALR(1) parsers in C with POSIX Yacc emulation enabled (with `-y',
195 `--yacc', or `%yacc'), Bison no longer generates #define statements for
196 associating token numbers with token names. Removing the #define statements
197 helps to sanitize the global namespace during preprocessing, but POSIX Yacc
198 requires them. Bison still generates an enum for token names in all cases.
199
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200* Handling of traditional Yacc prologue blocks is now more consistent but
201 potentially incompatible with previous releases of Bison.
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202
203 As before, you declare prologue blocks in your grammar file with the
204 `%{ ... %}' syntax. To generate the pre-prologue, Bison concatenates all
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205 prologue blocks that you've declared before the first %union. To generate
206 the post-prologue, Bison concatenates all prologue blocks that you've
ddc8ede1 207 declared after the first %union.
9bc0dd67 208
34f98f46 209 Previous releases of Bison inserted the pre-prologue into both the header
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210 file and the code file in all cases except for LALR(1) parsers in C. In the
211 latter case, Bison inserted it only into the code file. For parsers in C++,
212 the point of insertion was before any token definitions (which associate
213 token numbers with names). For parsers in C, the point of insertion was
214 after the token definitions.
215
216 Now, Bison never inserts the pre-prologue into the header file. In the code
217 file, it always inserts it before the token definitions.
218
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219* Bison now provides a more flexible alternative to the traditional Yacc
220 prologue blocks: %before-header, %start-header, %end-header, and
221 %after-header.
222
223 For example, the following declaration order in the grammar file reflects the
224 order in which Bison will output these code blocks. However, you are free to
225 declare these code blocks in your grammar file in whatever order is most
226 convenient for you:
227
228 %before-header {
229 /* Bison treats this block like a pre-prologue block: it inserts it into
230 * the code file before the contents of the header file. It does *not*
231 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to put
232 * #include's that you want at the top of your code file. A common
233 * example is `#include "system.h"'. */
234 }
235 %start-header {
236 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
237 * In both files, the point of insertion is before any Bison-generated
238 * token, semantic type, location type, and class definitions. This is a
239 * good place to define %union dependencies, for example. */
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240 }
241 %union {
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242 /* Unlike the traditional Yacc prologue blocks, the output order for the
243 * new %*-header blocks is not affected by their declaration position
244 * relative to any %union in the grammar file. */
9bc0dd67 245 }
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246 %end-header {
247 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
248 * In both files, the point of insertion is after the Bison-generated
249 * definitions. This is a good place to declare or define public
250 * functions or data structures that depend on the Bison-generated
251 * definitions. */
9bc0dd67 252 }
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253 %after-header {
254 /* Bison treats this block like a post-prologue block: it inserts it into
255 * the code file after the contents of the header file. It does *not*
256 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to declare or
257 * define internal functions or data structures that depend on the
258 * Bison-generated definitions. */
259 }
260
261 If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above declarations, Bison
262 will concatenate the contents in declaration order.
9bc0dd67 263
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264 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the prologue
265 alternatives were experimental, and they were rewritten in future versions.]
266
742e4900 267* The option `--report=look-ahead' has been changed to `--report=lookahead'.
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268 The old spelling still works, but is not documented and may be removed
269 in a future release.
742e4900 270
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271Changes in version 2.3, 2006-06-05:
272
273* GLR grammars should now use `YYRECOVERING ()' instead of `YYRECOVERING',
274 for compatibility with LALR(1) grammars.
275
276* It is now documented that any definition of YYSTYPE or YYLTYPE should
277 be to a type name that does not contain parentheses or brackets.
278
ab8d9dc5 279Changes in version 2.2, 2006-05-19:
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280
281* The distribution terms for all Bison-generated parsers now permit
282 using the parsers in nonfree programs. Previously, this permission
283 was granted only for Bison-generated LALR(1) parsers in C.
5f4236a0 284
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285* %name-prefix changes the namespace name in C++ outputs.
286
287* The C++ parsers export their token_type.
5f4236a0 288
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289* Bison now allows multiple %union declarations, and concatenates
290 their contents together.
291
affac613 292* New warning: unused values
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293 Right-hand side symbols whose values are not used are reported,
294 if the symbols have destructors. For instance:
affac613 295
8f3596a6 296 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; }
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297 | exp "+" exp
298 ;
affac613 299
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300 will trigger a warning about $$ and $5 in the first rule, and $3 in
301 the second ($1 is copied to $$ by the default rule). This example
4e26c69e 302 most likely contains three errors, and could be rewritten as:
affac613 303
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304 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp
305 { $$ = $1 ? $3 : $5; free ($1 ? $5 : $3); free ($1); }
306 | exp "+" exp
307 { $$ = $1 ? $1 : $3; if ($1) free ($3); }
721be13c 308 ;
affac613 309
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310 However, if the original actions were really intended, memory leaks
311 and all, the warnings can be suppressed by letting Bison believe the
312 values are used, e.g.:
721be13c 313
8f3596a6 314 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; (void) ($$, $5); }
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315 | exp "+" exp { $$ = $1; (void) $3; }
316 ;
317
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318 If there are mid-rule actions, the warning is issued if no action
319 uses it. The following triggers no warning: $1 and $3 are used.
320
321 exp: exp { push ($1); } '+' exp { push ($3); sum (); };
322
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323 The warning is intended to help catching lost values and memory leaks.
324 If a value is ignored, its associated memory typically is not reclaimed.
affac613 325
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326* %destructor vs. YYABORT, YYACCEPT, and YYERROR.
327 Destructors are now called when user code invokes YYABORT, YYACCEPT,
328 and YYERROR, for all objects on the stack, other than objects
329 corresponding to the right-hand side of the current rule.
a85284cf 330
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331* %expect, %expect-rr
332 Incorrect numbers of expected conflicts are now actual errors,
333 instead of warnings.
334
4b367315 335* GLR, YACC parsers.
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336 The %parse-params are available in the destructors (and the
337 experimental printers) as per the documentation.
4b367315 338
302c0aee 339* Bison now warns if it finds a stray `$' or `@' in an action.
ad6a9b97 340
b50d2359 341* %require "VERSION"
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342 This specifies that the grammar file depends on features implemented
343 in Bison version VERSION or higher.
b50d2359 344
fb9712a9 345* lalr1.cc: The token and value types are now class members.
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346 The tokens were defined as free form enums and cpp macros. YYSTYPE
347 was defined as a free form union. They are now class members:
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348 tokens are enumerations of the `yy::parser::token' struct, and the
349 semantic values have the `yy::parser::semantic_type' type.
350
351 If you do not want or can update to this scheme, the directive
352 `%define "global_tokens_and_yystype" "1"' triggers the global
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353 definition of tokens and YYSTYPE. This change is suitable both
354 for previous releases of Bison, and this one.
fb9712a9 355
b50d2359 356 If you wish to update, then make sure older version of Bison will
ab8d9dc5 357 fail using `%require "2.2"'.
fb9712a9 358
302c0aee 359* DJGPP support added.
193d7c70 360\f
1bd0deda 361Changes in version 2.1, 2005-09-16:
1ce59070 362
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363* The C++ lalr1.cc skeleton supports %lex-param.
364
a7db4add 365* Bison-generated parsers now support the translation of diagnostics like
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366 "syntax error" into languages other than English. The default
367 language is still English. For details, please see the new
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368 Internationalization section of the Bison manual. Software
369 distributors should also see the new PACKAGING file. Thanks to
370 Bruno Haible for this new feature.
1ce59070 371
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372* Wording in the Bison-generated parsers has been changed slightly to
373 simplify translation. In particular, the message "memory exhausted"
374 has replaced "parser stack overflow", as the old message was not
375 always accurate for modern Bison-generated parsers.
376
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377* Destructors are now called when the parser aborts, for all symbols left
378 behind on the stack. Also, the start symbol is now destroyed after a
379 successful parse. In both cases, the behavior was formerly inconsistent.
380
a7db4add 381* When generating verbose diagnostics, Bison-generated parsers no longer
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382 quote the literal strings associated with tokens. For example, for
383 a syntax error associated with '%token NUM "number"' they might
384 print 'syntax error, unexpected number' instead of 'syntax error,
385 unexpected "number"'.
193d7c70 386\f
82de6b0d 387Changes in version 2.0, 2004-12-25:
efeed023 388
82de6b0d 389* Possibly-incompatible changes
d7e14fc0 390
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391 - Bison-generated parsers no longer default to using the alloca function
392 (when available) to extend the parser stack, due to widespread
393 problems in unchecked stack-overflow detection. You can "#define
394 YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA 1" to require the use of alloca, but please read
395 the manual to determine safe values for YYMAXDEPTH in that case.
8dd162d3 396
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397 - Error token location.
398 During error recovery, the location of the syntax error is updated
399 to cover the whole sequence covered by the error token: it includes
400 the shifted symbols thrown away during the first part of the error
401 recovery, and the lookahead rejected during the second part.
18d192f0 402
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403 - Semicolon changes:
404 . Stray semicolons are no longer allowed at the start of a grammar.
405 . Semicolons are now required after in-grammar declarations.
e342c3be 406
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407 - Unescaped newlines are no longer allowed in character constants or
408 string literals. They were never portable, and GCC 3.4.0 has
409 dropped support for them. Better diagnostics are now generated if
410 forget a closing quote.
8dd162d3 411
82de6b0d 412 - NUL bytes are no longer allowed in Bison string literals, unfortunately.
f74b6f91 413
82de6b0d 414* New features
1452af69 415
82de6b0d 416 - GLR grammars now support locations.
4febdd96 417
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418 - New directive: %initial-action.
419 This directive allows the user to run arbitrary code (including
420 initializing @$) from yyparse before parsing starts.
1452af69 421
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422 - A new directive "%expect-rr N" specifies the expected number of
423 reduce/reduce conflicts in GLR parsers.
1452af69 424
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425 - %token numbers can now be hexadecimal integers, e.g., `%token FOO 0x12d'.
426 This is a GNU extension.
4febdd96 427
82de6b0d 428 - The option `--report=lookahead' was changed to `--report=look-ahead'.
9e6e7ed2 429 [However, this was changed back after 2.3.]
1452af69 430
82de6b0d 431 - Experimental %destructor support has been added to lalr1.cc.
1452af69 432
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433 - New configure option --disable-yacc, to disable installation of the
434 yacc command and -ly library introduced in 1.875 for POSIX conformance.
6040d338 435
82de6b0d 436* Bug fixes
d5a3fe37 437
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438 - For now, %expect-count violations are now just warnings, not errors.
439 This is for compatibility with Bison 1.75 and earlier (when there are
440 reduce/reduce conflicts) and with Bison 1.30 and earlier (when there
441 are too many or too few shift/reduce conflicts). However, in future
442 versions of Bison we plan to improve the %expect machinery so that
443 these violations will become errors again.
3473d0f8 444
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445 - Within Bison itself, numbers (e.g., goto numbers) are no longer
446 arbitrarily limited to 16-bit counts.
d600ee67 447
82de6b0d 448 - Semicolons are now allowed before "|" in grammar rules, as POSIX requires.
d600ee67 449\f
dc546b0f 450Changes in version 1.875, 2003-01-01:
963fcc17 451
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452* The documentation license has been upgraded to version 1.2
453 of the GNU Free Documentation License.
75eb3bc4 454
dc546b0f 455* syntax error processing
75eb3bc4 456
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457 - In Yacc-style parsers YYLLOC_DEFAULT is now used to compute error
458 locations too. This fixes bugs in error-location computation.
75eb3bc4 459
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460 - %destructor
461 It is now possible to reclaim the memory associated to symbols
462 discarded during error recovery. This feature is still experimental.
20daca06 463
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464 - %error-verbose
465 This new directive is preferred over YYERROR_VERBOSE.
74724a70 466
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467 - #defining yyerror to steal internal variables is discouraged.
468 It is not guaranteed to work forever.
d1de5372 469
dc546b0f 470* POSIX conformance
d1de5372 471
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472 - Semicolons are once again optional at the end of grammar rules.
473 This reverts to the behavior of Bison 1.33 and earlier, and improves
474 compatibility with Yacc.
74724a70 475
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476 - `parse error' -> `syntax error'
477 Bison now uniformly uses the term `syntax error'; formerly, the code
478 and manual sometimes used the term `parse error' instead. POSIX
479 requires `syntax error' in diagnostics, and it was thought better to
480 be consistent.
74724a70 481
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482 - The documentation now emphasizes that yylex and yyerror must be
483 declared before use. C99 requires this.
d1de5372 484
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485 - Bison now parses C99 lexical constructs like UCNs and
486 backslash-newline within C escape sequences, as POSIX 1003.1-2001 requires.
d1de5372 487
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488 - File names are properly escaped in C output. E.g., foo\bar.y is
489 output as "foo\\bar.y".
6780ca7a 490
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491 - Yacc command and library now available
492 The Bison distribution now installs a `yacc' command, as POSIX requires.
493 Also, Bison now installs a small library liby.a containing
494 implementations of Yacc-compatible yyerror and main functions.
495 This library is normally not useful, but POSIX requires it.
6e649e65 496
dc546b0f 497 - Type clashes now generate warnings, not errors.
6e649e65 498
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499 - If the user does not define YYSTYPE as a macro, Bison now declares it
500 using typedef instead of defining it as a macro.
501 For consistency, YYLTYPE is also declared instead of defined.
9501dc6e 502
dc546b0f 503* Other compatibility issues
886a425c 504
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505 - %union directives can now have a tag before the `{', e.g., the
506 directive `%union foo {...}' now generates the C code
507 `typedef union foo { ... } YYSTYPE;'; this is for Yacc compatibility.
508 The default union tag is `YYSTYPE', for compatibility with Solaris 9 Yacc.
509 For consistency, YYLTYPE's struct tag is now `YYLTYPE' not `yyltype'.
510 This is for compatibility with both Yacc and Bison 1.35.
72f889cc 511
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512 - `;' is output before the terminating `}' of an action, for
513 compatibility with Bison 1.35.
886a425c 514
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515 - Bison now uses a Yacc-style format for conflict reports, e.g.,
516 `conflicts: 2 shift/reduce, 1 reduce/reduce'.
437c2d80 517
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518 - `yystype' and `yyltype' are now obsolescent macros instead of being
519 typedefs or tags; they are no longer documented and are planned to be
520 withdrawn in a future release.
2a8d363a 521
dc546b0f 522* GLR parser notes
2a8d363a 523
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524 - GLR and inline
525 Users of Bison have to decide how they handle the portability of the
526 C keyword `inline'.
959e5f51 527
dc546b0f
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528 - `parsing stack overflow...' -> `parser stack overflow'
529 GLR parsers now report `parser stack overflow' as per the Bison manual.
900c5db5 530
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531* Bison now warns if it detects conflicting outputs to the same file,
532 e.g., it generates a warning for `bison -d -o foo.h foo.y' since
533 that command outputs both code and header to foo.h.
6e40b4eb 534
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535* #line in output files
536 - --no-line works properly.
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537
538* Bison can no longer be built by a K&R C compiler; it requires C89 or
539 later to be built. This change originally took place a few versions
540 ago, but nobody noticed until we recently asked someone to try
541 building Bison with a K&R C compiler.
d600ee67 542\f
5c16c6b1 543Changes in version 1.75, 2002-10-14:
7933f2b5
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544
545* Bison should now work on 64-bit hosts.
546
b7195100 547* Indonesian translation thanks to Tedi Heriyanto.
7933f2b5 548
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549* GLR parsers
550 Fix spurious parse errors.
551
552* Pure parsers
553 Some people redefine yyerror to steal yyparse' private variables.
554 Reenable this trick until an official feature replaces it.
555
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556* Type Clashes
557 In agreement with POSIX and with other Yaccs, leaving a default
558 action is valid when $$ is untyped, and $1 typed:
559
560 untyped: ... typed;
561
562 but the converse remains an error:
563
564 typed: ... untyped;
565
566* Values of mid-rule actions
567 The following code:
568
569 foo: { ... } { $$ = $1; } ...
570
571 was incorrectly rejected: $1 is defined in the second mid-rule
572 action, and is equal to the $$ of the first mid-rule action.
d600ee67 573\f
420f93c8 574Changes in version 1.50, 2002-10-04:
adc8c848 575
676385e2
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576* GLR parsing
577 The declaration
578 %glr-parser
579 causes Bison to produce a Generalized LR (GLR) parser, capable of handling
580 almost any context-free grammar, ambiguous or not. The new declarations
e8832397 581 %dprec and %merge on grammar rules allow parse-time resolution of
676385e2
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582 ambiguities. Contributed by Paul Hilfinger.
583
7933f2b5 584 Unfortunately Bison 1.50 does not work properly on 64-bit hosts
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585 like the Alpha, so please stick to 32-bit hosts for now.
586
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587* Output Directory
588 When not in Yacc compatibility mode, when the output file was not
e88dbdbf 589 specified, running `bison foo/bar.y' created `foo/bar.c'. It
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590 now creates `bar.c'.
591
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592* Undefined token
593 The undefined token was systematically mapped to 2 which prevented
e88dbdbf 594 the use of 2 by the user. This is no longer the case.
007a50a4 595
77714df2 596* Unknown token numbers
e88dbdbf 597 If yylex returned an out of range value, yyparse could die. This is
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598 no longer the case.
599
23c5a174 600* Error token
e88dbdbf 601 According to POSIX, the error token must be 256.
23c5a174
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602 Bison extends this requirement by making it a preference: *if* the
603 user specified that one of her tokens is numbered 256, then error
604 will be mapped onto another number.
605
217598da 606* Verbose error messages
e88dbdbf 607 They no longer report `..., expecting error or...' for states where
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608 error recovery is possible.
609
610* End token
611 Defaults to `$end' instead of `$'.
612
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613* Error recovery now conforms to documentation and to POSIX
614 When a Bison-generated parser encounters a syntax error, it now pops
615 the stack until it finds a state that allows shifting the error
616 token. Formerly, it popped the stack until it found a state that
617 allowed some non-error action other than a default reduction on the
618 error token. The new behavior has long been the documented behavior,
619 and has long been required by POSIX. For more details, please see
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620 Paul Eggert, "Reductions during Bison error handling" (2002-05-20)
621 <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-bison/2002-05/msg00038.html>.
68cd8af3 622
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623* Traces
624 Popped tokens and nonterminals are now reported.
625
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626* Larger grammars
627 Larger grammars are now supported (larger token numbers, larger grammar
628 size (= sum of the LHS and RHS lengths), larger LALR tables).
629 Formerly, many of these numbers ran afoul of 16-bit limits;
630 now these limits are 32 bits on most hosts.
355e7c1c 631
77714df2 632* Explicit initial rule
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633 Bison used to play hacks with the initial rule, which the user does
634 not write. It is now explicit, and visible in the reports and
635 graphs as rule 0.
23c5a174 636
77714df2 637* Useless rules
643a5994 638 Before, Bison reported the useless rules, but, although not used,
77714df2 639 included them in the parsers. They are now actually removed.
23c5a174 640
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641* Useless rules, useless nonterminals
642 They are now reported, as a warning, with their locations.
643
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644* Rules never reduced
645 Rules that can never be reduced because of conflicts are now
646 reported.
647
77714df2 648* Incorrect `Token not used'
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649 On a grammar such as
650
651 %token useless useful
652 %%
653 exp: '0' %prec useful;
654
655 where a token was used to set the precedence of the last rule,
656 bison reported both `useful' and `useless' as useless tokens.
657
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658* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31
659 as they caused too many portability hassles.
0179dd65 660
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661* Default locations
662 By an accident of design, the default computation of @$ was
663 performed after another default computation was performed: @$ = @1.
664 The latter is now removed: YYLLOC_DEFAULT is fully responsible of
665 the computation of @$.
adc8c848 666
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667* Token end-of-file
668 The token end of file may be specified by the user, in which case,
669 the user symbol is used in the reports, the graphs, and the verbose
a861a339 670 error messages instead of `$end', which remains being the default.
b7c49edf 671 For instance
7bd6c77e 672 %token MYEOF 0
b7c49edf 673 or
7bd6c77e 674 %token MYEOF 0 "end of file"
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675
676* Semantic parser
677 This old option, which has been broken for ages, is removed.
678
a861a339
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679* New translations
680 Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to Alexandre Folle de Menezes.
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681 Croatian, thanks to Denis Lackovic.
682
77714df2 683* Incorrect token definitions
e88dbdbf 684 When given `%token 'a' "A"', Bison used to output `#define 'a' 65'.
b87f8b21 685
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686* Token definitions as enums
687 Tokens are output both as the traditional #define's, and, provided
688 the compiler supports ANSI C or is a C++ compiler, as enums.
e88dbdbf 689 This lets debuggers display names instead of integers.
77714df2 690
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691* Reports
692 In addition to --verbose, bison supports --report=THINGS, which
693 produces additional information:
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694 - itemset
695 complete the core item sets with their closure
9e6e7ed2
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696 - lookahead [changed to `look-ahead' in 1.875e through 2.3, but changed back]
697 explicitly associate lookahead tokens to items
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698 - solved
699 describe shift/reduce conflicts solving.
700 Bison used to systematically output this information on top of
701 the report. Solved conflicts are now attached to their states.
ec3bc396 702
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703* Type clashes
704 Previous versions don't complain when there is a type clash on
705 the default action if the rule has a mid-rule action, such as in:
706
707 %type <foo> bar
708 %%
709 bar: '0' {} '0';
710
711 This is fixed.
a861a339
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712
713* GNU M4 is now required when using Bison.
f987e9d2 714\f
76551463
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715Changes in version 1.35, 2002-03-25:
716
717* C Skeleton
718 Some projects use Bison's C parser with C++ compilers, and define
719 YYSTYPE as a class. The recent adjustment of C parsers for data
720 alignment and 64 bit architectures made this impossible.
721
722 Because for the time being no real solution for C++ parser
723 generation exists, kludges were implemented in the parser to
724 maintain this use. In the future, when Bison has C++ parsers, this
725 kludge will be disabled.
726
727 This kludge also addresses some C++ problems when the stack was
728 extended.
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729\f
730Changes in version 1.34, 2002-03-12:
731
732* File name clashes are detected
733 $ bison foo.y -d -o foo.x
734 fatal error: header and parser would both be named `foo.x'
735
736* A missing `;' at the end of a rule triggers a warning
737 In accordance with POSIX, and in agreement with other
738 Yacc implementations, Bison will mandate this semicolon in the near
739 future. This eases the implementation of a Bison parser of Bison
740 grammars by making this grammar LALR(1) instead of LR(2). To
741 facilitate the transition, this release introduces a warning.
742
743* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31, as they caused too
744 many portability hassles.
745
746* DJGPP support added.
747
748* Fix test suite portability problems.
749\f
750Changes in version 1.33, 2002-02-07:
751
752* Fix C++ issues
753 Groff could not be compiled for the definition of size_t was lacking
754 under some conditions.
755
756* Catch invalid @n
757 As is done with $n.
758\f
759Changes in version 1.32, 2002-01-23:
760
761* Fix Yacc output file names
762
763* Portability fixes
764
765* Italian, Dutch translations
766\f
52d1aeee
MA
767Changes in version 1.31, 2002-01-14:
768
769* Many Bug Fixes
770
771* GNU Gettext and %expect
772 GNU Gettext asserts 10 s/r conflicts, but there are 7. Now that
773 Bison dies on incorrect %expectations, we fear there will be
774 too many bug reports for Gettext, so _for the time being_, %expect
775 does not trigger an error when the input file is named `plural.y'.
776
777* Use of alloca in parsers
778 If YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA is defined to 0, then the parsers will use
779 malloc exclusively. Since 1.29, but was not NEWS'ed.
780
781 alloca is used only when compiled with GCC, to avoid portability
782 problems as on AIX.
783
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784* yyparse now returns 2 if memory is exhausted; formerly it dumped core.
785
52d1aeee
MA
786* When the generated parser lacks debugging code, YYDEBUG is now 0
787 (as POSIX requires) instead of being undefined.
788
789* User Actions
790 Bison has always permitted actions such as { $$ = $1 }: it adds the
791 ending semicolon. Now if in Yacc compatibility mode, the semicolon
792 is no longer output: one has to write { $$ = $1; }.
793
794* Better C++ compliance
795 The output parsers try to respect C++ namespaces.
76551463 796 [This turned out to be a failed experiment, and it was reverted later.]
52d1aeee
MA
797
798* Reduced Grammars
799 Fixed bugs when reporting useless nonterminals.
800
801* 64 bit hosts
802 The parsers work properly on 64 bit hosts.
803
804* Error messages
805 Some calls to strerror resulted in scrambled or missing error messages.
806
807* %expect
808 When the number of shift/reduce conflicts is correct, don't issue
809 any warning.
810
811* The verbose report includes the rule line numbers.
812
813* Rule line numbers are fixed in traces.
814
815* Swedish translation
816
817* Parse errors
818 Verbose parse error messages from the parsers are better looking.
819 Before: parse error: unexpected `'/'', expecting `"number"' or `'-'' or `'(''
820 Now: parse error: unexpected '/', expecting "number" or '-' or '('
821
822* Fixed parser memory leaks.
823 When the generated parser was using malloc to extend its stacks, the
824 previous allocations were not freed.
825
826* Fixed verbose output file.
827 Some newlines were missing.
828 Some conflicts in state descriptions were missing.
829
830* Fixed conflict report.
831 Option -v was needed to get the result.
832
833* %expect
834 Was not used.
835 Mismatches are errors, not warnings.
836
837* Fixed incorrect processing of some invalid input.
838
839* Fixed CPP guards: 9foo.h uses BISON_9FOO_H instead of 9FOO_H.
840
841* Fixed some typos in the documentation.
842
843* %token MY_EOF 0 is supported.
844 Before, MY_EOF was silently renumbered as 257.
845
846* doc/refcard.tex is updated.
847
848* %output, %file-prefix, %name-prefix.
849 New.
850
851* --output
852 New, aliasing `--output-file'.
853\f
76551463 854Changes in version 1.30, 2001-10-26:
342b8b6e 855
fdac0091
PE
856* `--defines' and `--graph' have now an optional argument which is the
857 output file name. `-d' and `-g' do not change; they do not take any
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858 argument.
859
860* `%source_extension' and `%header_extension' are removed, failed
861 experiment.
862
f987e9d2
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863* Portability fixes.
864\f
9f4503d6 865Changes in version 1.29, 2001-09-07:
342b8b6e
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866
867* The output file does not define const, as this caused problems when used
868 with common autoconfiguration schemes. If you still use ancient compilers
869 that lack const, compile with the equivalent of the C compiler option
870 `-Dconst='. autoconf's AC_C_CONST macro provides one way to do this.
871
872* Added `-g' and `--graph'.
f87a2205 873
f2b5126e
PB
874* The Bison manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL.
875
f1c63ced 876* The input and the output files has automatically a similar extension.
234a3be3 877
f87a2205
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878* Russian translation added.
879
880* NLS support updated; should hopefully be less troublesome.
881
882* Added the old Bison reference card.
c33638bb
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883
884* Added `--locations' and `%locations'.
6deb4447 885
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886* Added `-S' and `--skeleton'.
887
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888* `%raw', `-r', `--raw' is disabled.
889
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890* Special characters are escaped when output. This solves the problems
891 of the #line lines with path names including backslashes.
892
6deb4447 893* New directives.
4ecbf796
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894 `%yacc', `%fixed_output_files', `%defines', `%no_parser', `%verbose',
895 `%debug', `%source_extension' and `%header_extension'.
f987e9d2
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896
897* @$
898 Automatic location tracking.
f87a2205 899\f
9f4503d6 900Changes in version 1.28, 1999-07-06:
d2e00347
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901
902* Should compile better now with K&R compilers.
903
904* Added NLS.
905
906* Fixed a problem with escaping the double quote character.
907
908* There is now a FAQ.
909\f
5c31c3c2
JT
910Changes in version 1.27:
911
912* The make rule which prevented bison.simple from being created on
913 some systems has been fixed.
914\f
915Changes in version 1.26:
4be07551
JT
916
917* Bison now uses automake.
918
919* New mailing lists: <bug-bison@gnu.org> and <help-bison@gnu.org>.
920
921* Token numbers now start at 257 as previously documented, not 258.
922
923* Bison honors the TMPDIR environment variable.
924
925* A couple of buffer overruns have been fixed.
f51dbca1
JT
926
927* Problems when closing files should now be reported.
928
929* Generated parsers should now work even on operating systems which do
930 not provide alloca().
4be07551 931\f
9f4503d6 932Changes in version 1.25, 1995-10-16:
df8878c5
RS
933
934* Errors in the input grammar are not fatal; Bison keeps reading
935the grammar file, and reports all the errors found in it.
8c44d3ec 936
df8878c5
RS
937* Tokens can now be specified as multiple-character strings: for
938example, you could use "<=" for a token which looks like <=, instead
939of chosing a name like LESSEQ.
940
941* The %token_table declaration says to write a table of tokens (names
942and numbers) into the parser file. The yylex function can use this
943table to recognize multiple-character string tokens, or for other
944purposes.
945
946* The %no_lines declaration says not to generate any #line preprocessor
947directives in the parser file.
948
949* The %raw declaration says to use internal Bison token numbers, not
950Yacc-compatible token numbers, when token names are defined as macros.
951
952* The --no-parser option produces the parser tables without including
953the parser engine; a project can now use its own parser engine.
954The actions go into a separate file called NAME.act, in the form of
955a switch statement body.
956\f
6780ca7a
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957Changes in version 1.23:
958
4d019228
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959The user can define YYPARSE_PARAM as the name of an argument to be
960passed into yyparse. The argument should have type void *. It should
961actually point to an object. Grammar actions can access the variable
962by casting it to the proper pointer type.
6780ca7a 963
6780ca7a 964Line numbers in output file corrected.
6780ca7a
DM
965\f
966Changes in version 1.22:
967
968--help option added.
6780ca7a
DM
969\f
970Changes in version 1.20:
971
972Output file does not redefine const for C++.
9f4503d6
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973
974Local Variables:
975mode: outline
976End:
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977
978-----
979
d6ca7905 980Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
279cabb6 9812004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
76551463 982
75eb3bc4 983This file is part of Bison, the GNU Compiler Compiler.
76551463 984
f16b0819 985This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
76551463 986it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
f16b0819
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987the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
988(at your option) any later version.
76551463 989
f16b0819 990This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
76551463
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991but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
992MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
993GNU General Public License for more details.
994
995You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
f16b0819 996along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.