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1Bison News
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4Changes in version 2.3a+ (????-??-??):
5
6* The -g and --graph options now output graphs in Graphviz DOT format,
7 not VCG format.
8
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9* An experimental directive %language specifies the language of the
10 generated parser, which can be C (the default) or C++. This
11 directive affects the skeleton used, and the names of the generated
12 files if the grammar file's name ends in ".y".
13
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14* The grammar file may now specify the name of the parser header file using
15 %defines. For example:
16
17 %defines "parser.h"
18
16dc6a9e 19* The `=' that used to be required in the following directives is now
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20 deprecated:
21
22 %file-prefix "parser"
23 %name-prefix "c_"
24 %output "parser.c"
25
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26* The quotes around NAME that used to be required in the following directive
27 are now deprecated:
28
29 %define NAME "VALUE"
30
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31* Bison 2.3a provided a new set of directives as a more flexible alternative to
32 the traditional Yacc prologue blocks. Those have now been consolidated into
33 a single %code directive with an optional qualifier field, which identifies
34 the purpose of the code and thus the location(s) where Bison should generate
35 it:
36
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37 1. `%code {CODE}' replaces `%after-header {CODE}'
38 2. `%code requires {CODE}' replaces `%start-header {CODE}'
39 3. `%code provides {CODE}' replaces `%end-header {CODE}'
40 4. `%code top {CODE}' replaces `%before-header {CODE}'
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41
42 See the %code entries in `Appendix A Bison Symbols' in the Bison manual for a
43 summary of the new functionality. See the new section `Prologue
44 Alternatives' for a detailed discussion including the advantages of %code
45 over the traditional Yacc prologues.
46
47 The prologue alternatives are experimental. More user feedback will help to
48 determine whether they should become permanent features.
49
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50* Revised warning: unset or unused mid-rule values
51
52 Since Bison 2.2, Bison has warned about mid-rule values that are set but not
53 used within any of the actions of the parent rule. For example, Bison warns
54 about unused $2 in:
55
56 exp: '1' { $$ = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $1 + $4; };
57
58 Now, Bison also warns about mid-rule values that are used but not set. For
59 example, Bison warns about unset $$ in the mid-rule action in:
60
61 exp: '1' { $1 = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $2 + $4; };
62
63 However, Bison now disables both of these warnings by default since they
64 sometimes prove to be false alarms in existing grammars employing the Yacc
65 constructs $0 or $-N (where N is some positive integer).
66
67 To enable these warnings, specify the flag `--warnings=midrule-values' or
68 `-W', which is a synonym for `--warnings=all'.
69
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70* Bison now recognizes two separate kinds of default %destructor's and
71 %printer's:
72
73 1. Place `<*>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
74 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols for which you have formally
75 declared semantic type tags.
76
3ebecc24 77 2. Place `<>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
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78 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols without declared semantic
79 type tags.
80
81 Bison no longer supports the `%symbol-default' notation from Bison 2.3a.
3ebecc24 82 `<*>' and `<>' combined achieve the same effect with one exception: Bison no
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83 longer applies any %destructor to a mid-rule value if that mid-rule value is
84 not actually ever referenced using either $$ or $n in a semantic action.
85
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86 The default %destructor's and %printer's are experimental. More user
87 feedback will help to determine whether they should become permanent
88 features.
89
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90 See the section `Freeing Discarded Symbols' in the Bison manual for further
91 details.
92
21fe08ca 93Changes in version 2.3a, 2006-09-13:
742e4900 94
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95* Bison now supports generating Java parsers. Grammars written for
96 the Java language should include the `%language "Java"' directive.
97
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98* Instead of %union, you can define and use your own union type
99 YYSTYPE if your grammar contains at least one <type> tag.
100 Your YYSTYPE need not be a macro; it can be a typedef.
101 This change is for compatibility with other Yacc implementations,
102 and is required by POSIX.
103
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104* Locations columns and lines start at 1.
105 In accordance with the GNU Coding Standards and Emacs.
106
b2a0b7ca 107* You may now declare per-type and default %destructor's and %printer's:
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108
109 For example:
110
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111 %union { char *string; }
112 %token <string> STRING1
113 %token <string> STRING2
114 %type <string> string1
115 %type <string> string2
116 %union { char character; }
117 %token <character> CHR
118 %type <character> chr
119 %destructor { free ($$); } %symbol-default
120 %destructor { free ($$); printf ("%d", @$.first_line); } STRING1 string1
121 %destructor { } <character>
122
123 guarantees that, when the parser discards any user-defined symbol that has a
124 semantic type tag other than `<character>', it passes its semantic value to
125 `free'. However, when the parser discards a `STRING1' or a `string1', it
126 also prints its line number to `stdout'. It performs only the second
127 `%destructor' in this case, so it invokes `free' only once.
ec5479ce 128
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129 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the default
130 %destructor's and %printer's were experimental, and they were rewritten in
131 future versions.]
132
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133* Except for LALR(1) parsers in C with POSIX Yacc emulation enabled (with `-y',
134 `--yacc', or `%yacc'), Bison no longer generates #define statements for
135 associating token numbers with token names. Removing the #define statements
136 helps to sanitize the global namespace during preprocessing, but POSIX Yacc
137 requires them. Bison still generates an enum for token names in all cases.
138
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139* Handling of traditional Yacc prologue blocks is now more consistent but
140 potentially incompatible with previous releases of Bison.
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141
142 As before, you declare prologue blocks in your grammar file with the
143 `%{ ... %}' syntax. To generate the pre-prologue, Bison concatenates all
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144 prologue blocks that you've declared before the first %union. To generate
145 the post-prologue, Bison concatenates all prologue blocks that you've
ddc8ede1 146 declared after the first %union.
9bc0dd67 147
34f98f46 148 Previous releases of Bison inserted the pre-prologue into both the header
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149 file and the code file in all cases except for LALR(1) parsers in C. In the
150 latter case, Bison inserted it only into the code file. For parsers in C++,
151 the point of insertion was before any token definitions (which associate
152 token numbers with names). For parsers in C, the point of insertion was
153 after the token definitions.
154
155 Now, Bison never inserts the pre-prologue into the header file. In the code
156 file, it always inserts it before the token definitions.
157
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158* Bison now provides a more flexible alternative to the traditional Yacc
159 prologue blocks: %before-header, %start-header, %end-header, and
160 %after-header.
161
162 For example, the following declaration order in the grammar file reflects the
163 order in which Bison will output these code blocks. However, you are free to
164 declare these code blocks in your grammar file in whatever order is most
165 convenient for you:
166
167 %before-header {
168 /* Bison treats this block like a pre-prologue block: it inserts it into
169 * the code file before the contents of the header file. It does *not*
170 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to put
171 * #include's that you want at the top of your code file. A common
172 * example is `#include "system.h"'. */
173 }
174 %start-header {
175 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
176 * In both files, the point of insertion is before any Bison-generated
177 * token, semantic type, location type, and class definitions. This is a
178 * good place to define %union dependencies, for example. */
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179 }
180 %union {
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181 /* Unlike the traditional Yacc prologue blocks, the output order for the
182 * new %*-header blocks is not affected by their declaration position
183 * relative to any %union in the grammar file. */
9bc0dd67 184 }
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185 %end-header {
186 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
187 * In both files, the point of insertion is after the Bison-generated
188 * definitions. This is a good place to declare or define public
189 * functions or data structures that depend on the Bison-generated
190 * definitions. */
9bc0dd67 191 }
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192 %after-header {
193 /* Bison treats this block like a post-prologue block: it inserts it into
194 * the code file after the contents of the header file. It does *not*
195 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to declare or
196 * define internal functions or data structures that depend on the
197 * Bison-generated definitions. */
198 }
199
200 If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above declarations, Bison
201 will concatenate the contents in declaration order.
9bc0dd67 202
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203 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the prologue
204 alternatives were experimental, and they were rewritten in future versions.]
205
742e4900 206* The option `--report=look-ahead' has been changed to `--report=lookahead'.
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207 The old spelling still works, but is not documented and may be removed
208 in a future release.
742e4900 209
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210Changes in version 2.3, 2006-06-05:
211
212* GLR grammars should now use `YYRECOVERING ()' instead of `YYRECOVERING',
213 for compatibility with LALR(1) grammars.
214
215* It is now documented that any definition of YYSTYPE or YYLTYPE should
216 be to a type name that does not contain parentheses or brackets.
217
ab8d9dc5 218Changes in version 2.2, 2006-05-19:
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219
220* The distribution terms for all Bison-generated parsers now permit
221 using the parsers in nonfree programs. Previously, this permission
222 was granted only for Bison-generated LALR(1) parsers in C.
5f4236a0 223
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224* %name-prefix changes the namespace name in C++ outputs.
225
226* The C++ parsers export their token_type.
5f4236a0 227
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228* Bison now allows multiple %union declarations, and concatenates
229 their contents together.
230
affac613 231* New warning: unused values
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232 Right-hand side symbols whose values are not used are reported,
233 if the symbols have destructors. For instance:
affac613 234
8f3596a6 235 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; }
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236 | exp "+" exp
237 ;
affac613 238
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239 will trigger a warning about $$ and $5 in the first rule, and $3 in
240 the second ($1 is copied to $$ by the default rule). This example
4e26c69e 241 most likely contains three errors, and could be rewritten as:
affac613 242
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243 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp
244 { $$ = $1 ? $3 : $5; free ($1 ? $5 : $3); free ($1); }
245 | exp "+" exp
246 { $$ = $1 ? $1 : $3; if ($1) free ($3); }
721be13c 247 ;
affac613 248
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249 However, if the original actions were really intended, memory leaks
250 and all, the warnings can be suppressed by letting Bison believe the
251 values are used, e.g.:
721be13c 252
8f3596a6 253 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; (void) ($$, $5); }
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254 | exp "+" exp { $$ = $1; (void) $3; }
255 ;
256
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257 If there are mid-rule actions, the warning is issued if no action
258 uses it. The following triggers no warning: $1 and $3 are used.
259
260 exp: exp { push ($1); } '+' exp { push ($3); sum (); };
261
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262 The warning is intended to help catching lost values and memory leaks.
263 If a value is ignored, its associated memory typically is not reclaimed.
affac613 264
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265* %destructor vs. YYABORT, YYACCEPT, and YYERROR.
266 Destructors are now called when user code invokes YYABORT, YYACCEPT,
267 and YYERROR, for all objects on the stack, other than objects
268 corresponding to the right-hand side of the current rule.
a85284cf 269
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270* %expect, %expect-rr
271 Incorrect numbers of expected conflicts are now actual errors,
272 instead of warnings.
273
4b367315 274* GLR, YACC parsers.
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275 The %parse-params are available in the destructors (and the
276 experimental printers) as per the documentation.
4b367315 277
302c0aee 278* Bison now warns if it finds a stray `$' or `@' in an action.
ad6a9b97 279
b50d2359 280* %require "VERSION"
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281 This specifies that the grammar file depends on features implemented
282 in Bison version VERSION or higher.
b50d2359 283
fb9712a9 284* lalr1.cc: The token and value types are now class members.
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285 The tokens were defined as free form enums and cpp macros. YYSTYPE
286 was defined as a free form union. They are now class members:
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287 tokens are enumerations of the `yy::parser::token' struct, and the
288 semantic values have the `yy::parser::semantic_type' type.
289
290 If you do not want or can update to this scheme, the directive
291 `%define "global_tokens_and_yystype" "1"' triggers the global
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292 definition of tokens and YYSTYPE. This change is suitable both
293 for previous releases of Bison, and this one.
fb9712a9 294
b50d2359 295 If you wish to update, then make sure older version of Bison will
ab8d9dc5 296 fail using `%require "2.2"'.
fb9712a9 297
302c0aee 298* DJGPP support added.
193d7c70 299\f
1bd0deda 300Changes in version 2.1, 2005-09-16:
1ce59070 301
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302* The C++ lalr1.cc skeleton supports %lex-param.
303
a7db4add 304* Bison-generated parsers now support the translation of diagnostics like
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305 "syntax error" into languages other than English. The default
306 language is still English. For details, please see the new
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307 Internationalization section of the Bison manual. Software
308 distributors should also see the new PACKAGING file. Thanks to
309 Bruno Haible for this new feature.
1ce59070 310
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311* Wording in the Bison-generated parsers has been changed slightly to
312 simplify translation. In particular, the message "memory exhausted"
313 has replaced "parser stack overflow", as the old message was not
314 always accurate for modern Bison-generated parsers.
315
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316* Destructors are now called when the parser aborts, for all symbols left
317 behind on the stack. Also, the start symbol is now destroyed after a
318 successful parse. In both cases, the behavior was formerly inconsistent.
319
a7db4add 320* When generating verbose diagnostics, Bison-generated parsers no longer
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321 quote the literal strings associated with tokens. For example, for
322 a syntax error associated with '%token NUM "number"' they might
323 print 'syntax error, unexpected number' instead of 'syntax error,
324 unexpected "number"'.
193d7c70 325\f
82de6b0d 326Changes in version 2.0, 2004-12-25:
efeed023 327
82de6b0d 328* Possibly-incompatible changes
d7e14fc0 329
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330 - Bison-generated parsers no longer default to using the alloca function
331 (when available) to extend the parser stack, due to widespread
332 problems in unchecked stack-overflow detection. You can "#define
333 YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA 1" to require the use of alloca, but please read
334 the manual to determine safe values for YYMAXDEPTH in that case.
8dd162d3 335
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336 - Error token location.
337 During error recovery, the location of the syntax error is updated
338 to cover the whole sequence covered by the error token: it includes
339 the shifted symbols thrown away during the first part of the error
340 recovery, and the lookahead rejected during the second part.
18d192f0 341
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342 - Semicolon changes:
343 . Stray semicolons are no longer allowed at the start of a grammar.
344 . Semicolons are now required after in-grammar declarations.
e342c3be 345
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346 - Unescaped newlines are no longer allowed in character constants or
347 string literals. They were never portable, and GCC 3.4.0 has
348 dropped support for them. Better diagnostics are now generated if
349 forget a closing quote.
8dd162d3 350
82de6b0d 351 - NUL bytes are no longer allowed in Bison string literals, unfortunately.
f74b6f91 352
82de6b0d 353* New features
1452af69 354
82de6b0d 355 - GLR grammars now support locations.
4febdd96 356
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357 - New directive: %initial-action.
358 This directive allows the user to run arbitrary code (including
359 initializing @$) from yyparse before parsing starts.
1452af69 360
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361 - A new directive "%expect-rr N" specifies the expected number of
362 reduce/reduce conflicts in GLR parsers.
1452af69 363
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364 - %token numbers can now be hexadecimal integers, e.g., `%token FOO 0x12d'.
365 This is a GNU extension.
4febdd96 366
82de6b0d 367 - The option `--report=lookahead' was changed to `--report=look-ahead'.
9e6e7ed2 368 [However, this was changed back after 2.3.]
1452af69 369
82de6b0d 370 - Experimental %destructor support has been added to lalr1.cc.
1452af69 371
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372 - New configure option --disable-yacc, to disable installation of the
373 yacc command and -ly library introduced in 1.875 for POSIX conformance.
6040d338 374
82de6b0d 375* Bug fixes
d5a3fe37 376
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377 - For now, %expect-count violations are now just warnings, not errors.
378 This is for compatibility with Bison 1.75 and earlier (when there are
379 reduce/reduce conflicts) and with Bison 1.30 and earlier (when there
380 are too many or too few shift/reduce conflicts). However, in future
381 versions of Bison we plan to improve the %expect machinery so that
382 these violations will become errors again.
3473d0f8 383
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384 - Within Bison itself, numbers (e.g., goto numbers) are no longer
385 arbitrarily limited to 16-bit counts.
d600ee67 386
82de6b0d 387 - Semicolons are now allowed before "|" in grammar rules, as POSIX requires.
d600ee67 388\f
dc546b0f 389Changes in version 1.875, 2003-01-01:
963fcc17 390
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391* The documentation license has been upgraded to version 1.2
392 of the GNU Free Documentation License.
75eb3bc4 393
dc546b0f 394* syntax error processing
75eb3bc4 395
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396 - In Yacc-style parsers YYLLOC_DEFAULT is now used to compute error
397 locations too. This fixes bugs in error-location computation.
75eb3bc4 398
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399 - %destructor
400 It is now possible to reclaim the memory associated to symbols
401 discarded during error recovery. This feature is still experimental.
20daca06 402
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403 - %error-verbose
404 This new directive is preferred over YYERROR_VERBOSE.
74724a70 405
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406 - #defining yyerror to steal internal variables is discouraged.
407 It is not guaranteed to work forever.
d1de5372 408
dc546b0f 409* POSIX conformance
d1de5372 410
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411 - Semicolons are once again optional at the end of grammar rules.
412 This reverts to the behavior of Bison 1.33 and earlier, and improves
413 compatibility with Yacc.
74724a70 414
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415 - `parse error' -> `syntax error'
416 Bison now uniformly uses the term `syntax error'; formerly, the code
417 and manual sometimes used the term `parse error' instead. POSIX
418 requires `syntax error' in diagnostics, and it was thought better to
419 be consistent.
74724a70 420
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421 - The documentation now emphasizes that yylex and yyerror must be
422 declared before use. C99 requires this.
d1de5372 423
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424 - Bison now parses C99 lexical constructs like UCNs and
425 backslash-newline within C escape sequences, as POSIX 1003.1-2001 requires.
d1de5372 426
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427 - File names are properly escaped in C output. E.g., foo\bar.y is
428 output as "foo\\bar.y".
6780ca7a 429
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430 - Yacc command and library now available
431 The Bison distribution now installs a `yacc' command, as POSIX requires.
432 Also, Bison now installs a small library liby.a containing
433 implementations of Yacc-compatible yyerror and main functions.
434 This library is normally not useful, but POSIX requires it.
6e649e65 435
dc546b0f 436 - Type clashes now generate warnings, not errors.
6e649e65 437
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438 - If the user does not define YYSTYPE as a macro, Bison now declares it
439 using typedef instead of defining it as a macro.
440 For consistency, YYLTYPE is also declared instead of defined.
9501dc6e 441
dc546b0f 442* Other compatibility issues
886a425c 443
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444 - %union directives can now have a tag before the `{', e.g., the
445 directive `%union foo {...}' now generates the C code
446 `typedef union foo { ... } YYSTYPE;'; this is for Yacc compatibility.
447 The default union tag is `YYSTYPE', for compatibility with Solaris 9 Yacc.
448 For consistency, YYLTYPE's struct tag is now `YYLTYPE' not `yyltype'.
449 This is for compatibility with both Yacc and Bison 1.35.
72f889cc 450
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451 - `;' is output before the terminating `}' of an action, for
452 compatibility with Bison 1.35.
886a425c 453
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454 - Bison now uses a Yacc-style format for conflict reports, e.g.,
455 `conflicts: 2 shift/reduce, 1 reduce/reduce'.
437c2d80 456
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457 - `yystype' and `yyltype' are now obsolescent macros instead of being
458 typedefs or tags; they are no longer documented and are planned to be
459 withdrawn in a future release.
2a8d363a 460
dc546b0f 461* GLR parser notes
2a8d363a 462
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463 - GLR and inline
464 Users of Bison have to decide how they handle the portability of the
465 C keyword `inline'.
959e5f51 466
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467 - `parsing stack overflow...' -> `parser stack overflow'
468 GLR parsers now report `parser stack overflow' as per the Bison manual.
900c5db5 469
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470* Bison now warns if it detects conflicting outputs to the same file,
471 e.g., it generates a warning for `bison -d -o foo.h foo.y' since
472 that command outputs both code and header to foo.h.
6e40b4eb 473
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474* #line in output files
475 - --no-line works properly.
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476
477* Bison can no longer be built by a K&R C compiler; it requires C89 or
478 later to be built. This change originally took place a few versions
479 ago, but nobody noticed until we recently asked someone to try
480 building Bison with a K&R C compiler.
d600ee67 481\f
5c16c6b1 482Changes in version 1.75, 2002-10-14:
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483
484* Bison should now work on 64-bit hosts.
485
b7195100 486* Indonesian translation thanks to Tedi Heriyanto.
7933f2b5 487
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488* GLR parsers
489 Fix spurious parse errors.
490
491* Pure parsers
492 Some people redefine yyerror to steal yyparse' private variables.
493 Reenable this trick until an official feature replaces it.
494
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495* Type Clashes
496 In agreement with POSIX and with other Yaccs, leaving a default
497 action is valid when $$ is untyped, and $1 typed:
498
499 untyped: ... typed;
500
501 but the converse remains an error:
502
503 typed: ... untyped;
504
505* Values of mid-rule actions
506 The following code:
507
508 foo: { ... } { $$ = $1; } ...
509
510 was incorrectly rejected: $1 is defined in the second mid-rule
511 action, and is equal to the $$ of the first mid-rule action.
d600ee67 512\f
420f93c8 513Changes in version 1.50, 2002-10-04:
adc8c848 514
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515* GLR parsing
516 The declaration
517 %glr-parser
518 causes Bison to produce a Generalized LR (GLR) parser, capable of handling
519 almost any context-free grammar, ambiguous or not. The new declarations
e8832397 520 %dprec and %merge on grammar rules allow parse-time resolution of
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521 ambiguities. Contributed by Paul Hilfinger.
522
7933f2b5 523 Unfortunately Bison 1.50 does not work properly on 64-bit hosts
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524 like the Alpha, so please stick to 32-bit hosts for now.
525
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526* Output Directory
527 When not in Yacc compatibility mode, when the output file was not
e88dbdbf 528 specified, running `bison foo/bar.y' created `foo/bar.c'. It
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529 now creates `bar.c'.
530
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531* Undefined token
532 The undefined token was systematically mapped to 2 which prevented
e88dbdbf 533 the use of 2 by the user. This is no longer the case.
007a50a4 534
77714df2 535* Unknown token numbers
e88dbdbf 536 If yylex returned an out of range value, yyparse could die. This is
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537 no longer the case.
538
23c5a174 539* Error token
e88dbdbf 540 According to POSIX, the error token must be 256.
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541 Bison extends this requirement by making it a preference: *if* the
542 user specified that one of her tokens is numbered 256, then error
543 will be mapped onto another number.
544
217598da 545* Verbose error messages
e88dbdbf 546 They no longer report `..., expecting error or...' for states where
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547 error recovery is possible.
548
549* End token
550 Defaults to `$end' instead of `$'.
551
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552* Error recovery now conforms to documentation and to POSIX
553 When a Bison-generated parser encounters a syntax error, it now pops
554 the stack until it finds a state that allows shifting the error
555 token. Formerly, it popped the stack until it found a state that
556 allowed some non-error action other than a default reduction on the
557 error token. The new behavior has long been the documented behavior,
558 and has long been required by POSIX. For more details, please see
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559 Paul Eggert, "Reductions during Bison error handling" (2002-05-20)
560 <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-bison/2002-05/msg00038.html>.
68cd8af3 561
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562* Traces
563 Popped tokens and nonterminals are now reported.
564
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565* Larger grammars
566 Larger grammars are now supported (larger token numbers, larger grammar
567 size (= sum of the LHS and RHS lengths), larger LALR tables).
568 Formerly, many of these numbers ran afoul of 16-bit limits;
569 now these limits are 32 bits on most hosts.
355e7c1c 570
77714df2 571* Explicit initial rule
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572 Bison used to play hacks with the initial rule, which the user does
573 not write. It is now explicit, and visible in the reports and
574 graphs as rule 0.
23c5a174 575
77714df2 576* Useless rules
643a5994 577 Before, Bison reported the useless rules, but, although not used,
77714df2 578 included them in the parsers. They are now actually removed.
23c5a174 579
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580* Useless rules, useless nonterminals
581 They are now reported, as a warning, with their locations.
582
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583* Rules never reduced
584 Rules that can never be reduced because of conflicts are now
585 reported.
586
77714df2 587* Incorrect `Token not used'
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588 On a grammar such as
589
590 %token useless useful
591 %%
592 exp: '0' %prec useful;
593
594 where a token was used to set the precedence of the last rule,
595 bison reported both `useful' and `useless' as useless tokens.
596
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597* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31
598 as they caused too many portability hassles.
0179dd65 599
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600* Default locations
601 By an accident of design, the default computation of @$ was
602 performed after another default computation was performed: @$ = @1.
603 The latter is now removed: YYLLOC_DEFAULT is fully responsible of
604 the computation of @$.
adc8c848 605
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606* Token end-of-file
607 The token end of file may be specified by the user, in which case,
608 the user symbol is used in the reports, the graphs, and the verbose
a861a339 609 error messages instead of `$end', which remains being the default.
b7c49edf 610 For instance
7bd6c77e 611 %token MYEOF 0
b7c49edf 612 or
7bd6c77e 613 %token MYEOF 0 "end of file"
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614
615* Semantic parser
616 This old option, which has been broken for ages, is removed.
617
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618* New translations
619 Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to Alexandre Folle de Menezes.
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620 Croatian, thanks to Denis Lackovic.
621
77714df2 622* Incorrect token definitions
e88dbdbf 623 When given `%token 'a' "A"', Bison used to output `#define 'a' 65'.
b87f8b21 624
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625* Token definitions as enums
626 Tokens are output both as the traditional #define's, and, provided
627 the compiler supports ANSI C or is a C++ compiler, as enums.
e88dbdbf 628 This lets debuggers display names instead of integers.
77714df2 629
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630* Reports
631 In addition to --verbose, bison supports --report=THINGS, which
632 produces additional information:
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633 - itemset
634 complete the core item sets with their closure
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635 - lookahead [changed to `look-ahead' in 1.875e through 2.3, but changed back]
636 explicitly associate lookahead tokens to items
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637 - solved
638 describe shift/reduce conflicts solving.
639 Bison used to systematically output this information on top of
640 the report. Solved conflicts are now attached to their states.
ec3bc396 641
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642* Type clashes
643 Previous versions don't complain when there is a type clash on
644 the default action if the rule has a mid-rule action, such as in:
645
646 %type <foo> bar
647 %%
648 bar: '0' {} '0';
649
650 This is fixed.
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651
652* GNU M4 is now required when using Bison.
f987e9d2 653\f
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654Changes in version 1.35, 2002-03-25:
655
656* C Skeleton
657 Some projects use Bison's C parser with C++ compilers, and define
658 YYSTYPE as a class. The recent adjustment of C parsers for data
659 alignment and 64 bit architectures made this impossible.
660
661 Because for the time being no real solution for C++ parser
662 generation exists, kludges were implemented in the parser to
663 maintain this use. In the future, when Bison has C++ parsers, this
664 kludge will be disabled.
665
666 This kludge also addresses some C++ problems when the stack was
667 extended.
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668\f
669Changes in version 1.34, 2002-03-12:
670
671* File name clashes are detected
672 $ bison foo.y -d -o foo.x
673 fatal error: header and parser would both be named `foo.x'
674
675* A missing `;' at the end of a rule triggers a warning
676 In accordance with POSIX, and in agreement with other
677 Yacc implementations, Bison will mandate this semicolon in the near
678 future. This eases the implementation of a Bison parser of Bison
679 grammars by making this grammar LALR(1) instead of LR(2). To
680 facilitate the transition, this release introduces a warning.
681
682* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31, as they caused too
683 many portability hassles.
684
685* DJGPP support added.
686
687* Fix test suite portability problems.
688\f
689Changes in version 1.33, 2002-02-07:
690
691* Fix C++ issues
692 Groff could not be compiled for the definition of size_t was lacking
693 under some conditions.
694
695* Catch invalid @n
696 As is done with $n.
697\f
698Changes in version 1.32, 2002-01-23:
699
700* Fix Yacc output file names
701
702* Portability fixes
703
704* Italian, Dutch translations
705\f
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706Changes in version 1.31, 2002-01-14:
707
708* Many Bug Fixes
709
710* GNU Gettext and %expect
711 GNU Gettext asserts 10 s/r conflicts, but there are 7. Now that
712 Bison dies on incorrect %expectations, we fear there will be
713 too many bug reports for Gettext, so _for the time being_, %expect
714 does not trigger an error when the input file is named `plural.y'.
715
716* Use of alloca in parsers
717 If YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA is defined to 0, then the parsers will use
718 malloc exclusively. Since 1.29, but was not NEWS'ed.
719
720 alloca is used only when compiled with GCC, to avoid portability
721 problems as on AIX.
722
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723* yyparse now returns 2 if memory is exhausted; formerly it dumped core.
724
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725* When the generated parser lacks debugging code, YYDEBUG is now 0
726 (as POSIX requires) instead of being undefined.
727
728* User Actions
729 Bison has always permitted actions such as { $$ = $1 }: it adds the
730 ending semicolon. Now if in Yacc compatibility mode, the semicolon
731 is no longer output: one has to write { $$ = $1; }.
732
733* Better C++ compliance
734 The output parsers try to respect C++ namespaces.
76551463 735 [This turned out to be a failed experiment, and it was reverted later.]
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736
737* Reduced Grammars
738 Fixed bugs when reporting useless nonterminals.
739
740* 64 bit hosts
741 The parsers work properly on 64 bit hosts.
742
743* Error messages
744 Some calls to strerror resulted in scrambled or missing error messages.
745
746* %expect
747 When the number of shift/reduce conflicts is correct, don't issue
748 any warning.
749
750* The verbose report includes the rule line numbers.
751
752* Rule line numbers are fixed in traces.
753
754* Swedish translation
755
756* Parse errors
757 Verbose parse error messages from the parsers are better looking.
758 Before: parse error: unexpected `'/'', expecting `"number"' or `'-'' or `'(''
759 Now: parse error: unexpected '/', expecting "number" or '-' or '('
760
761* Fixed parser memory leaks.
762 When the generated parser was using malloc to extend its stacks, the
763 previous allocations were not freed.
764
765* Fixed verbose output file.
766 Some newlines were missing.
767 Some conflicts in state descriptions were missing.
768
769* Fixed conflict report.
770 Option -v was needed to get the result.
771
772* %expect
773 Was not used.
774 Mismatches are errors, not warnings.
775
776* Fixed incorrect processing of some invalid input.
777
778* Fixed CPP guards: 9foo.h uses BISON_9FOO_H instead of 9FOO_H.
779
780* Fixed some typos in the documentation.
781
782* %token MY_EOF 0 is supported.
783 Before, MY_EOF was silently renumbered as 257.
784
785* doc/refcard.tex is updated.
786
787* %output, %file-prefix, %name-prefix.
788 New.
789
790* --output
791 New, aliasing `--output-file'.
792\f
76551463 793Changes in version 1.30, 2001-10-26:
342b8b6e 794
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795* `--defines' and `--graph' have now an optional argument which is the
796 output file name. `-d' and `-g' do not change; they do not take any
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797 argument.
798
799* `%source_extension' and `%header_extension' are removed, failed
800 experiment.
801
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802* Portability fixes.
803\f
9f4503d6 804Changes in version 1.29, 2001-09-07:
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805
806* The output file does not define const, as this caused problems when used
807 with common autoconfiguration schemes. If you still use ancient compilers
808 that lack const, compile with the equivalent of the C compiler option
809 `-Dconst='. autoconf's AC_C_CONST macro provides one way to do this.
810
811* Added `-g' and `--graph'.
f87a2205 812
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813* The Bison manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL.
814
f1c63ced 815* The input and the output files has automatically a similar extension.
234a3be3 816
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817* Russian translation added.
818
819* NLS support updated; should hopefully be less troublesome.
820
821* Added the old Bison reference card.
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822
823* Added `--locations' and `%locations'.
6deb4447 824
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825* Added `-S' and `--skeleton'.
826
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827* `%raw', `-r', `--raw' is disabled.
828
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829* Special characters are escaped when output. This solves the problems
830 of the #line lines with path names including backslashes.
831
6deb4447 832* New directives.
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833 `%yacc', `%fixed_output_files', `%defines', `%no_parser', `%verbose',
834 `%debug', `%source_extension' and `%header_extension'.
f987e9d2
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835
836* @$
837 Automatic location tracking.
f87a2205 838\f
9f4503d6 839Changes in version 1.28, 1999-07-06:
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840
841* Should compile better now with K&R compilers.
842
843* Added NLS.
844
845* Fixed a problem with escaping the double quote character.
846
847* There is now a FAQ.
848\f
5c31c3c2
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849Changes in version 1.27:
850
851* The make rule which prevented bison.simple from being created on
852 some systems has been fixed.
853\f
854Changes in version 1.26:
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855
856* Bison now uses automake.
857
858* New mailing lists: <bug-bison@gnu.org> and <help-bison@gnu.org>.
859
860* Token numbers now start at 257 as previously documented, not 258.
861
862* Bison honors the TMPDIR environment variable.
863
864* A couple of buffer overruns have been fixed.
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865
866* Problems when closing files should now be reported.
867
868* Generated parsers should now work even on operating systems which do
869 not provide alloca().
4be07551 870\f
9f4503d6 871Changes in version 1.25, 1995-10-16:
df8878c5
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872
873* Errors in the input grammar are not fatal; Bison keeps reading
874the grammar file, and reports all the errors found in it.
8c44d3ec 875
df8878c5
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876* Tokens can now be specified as multiple-character strings: for
877example, you could use "<=" for a token which looks like <=, instead
878of chosing a name like LESSEQ.
879
880* The %token_table declaration says to write a table of tokens (names
881and numbers) into the parser file. The yylex function can use this
882table to recognize multiple-character string tokens, or for other
883purposes.
884
885* The %no_lines declaration says not to generate any #line preprocessor
886directives in the parser file.
887
888* The %raw declaration says to use internal Bison token numbers, not
889Yacc-compatible token numbers, when token names are defined as macros.
890
891* The --no-parser option produces the parser tables without including
892the parser engine; a project can now use its own parser engine.
893The actions go into a separate file called NAME.act, in the form of
894a switch statement body.
895\f
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896Changes in version 1.23:
897
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898The user can define YYPARSE_PARAM as the name of an argument to be
899passed into yyparse. The argument should have type void *. It should
900actually point to an object. Grammar actions can access the variable
901by casting it to the proper pointer type.
6780ca7a 902
6780ca7a 903Line numbers in output file corrected.
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904\f
905Changes in version 1.22:
906
907--help option added.
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908\f
909Changes in version 1.20:
910
911Output file does not redefine const for C++.
9f4503d6
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912
913Local Variables:
914mode: outline
915End:
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916
917-----
918
d6ca7905 919Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
279cabb6 9202004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
76551463 921
75eb3bc4 922This file is part of Bison, the GNU Compiler Compiler.
76551463 923
75eb3bc4 924Bison is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
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925it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
926the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
927any later version.
928
75eb3bc4 929Bison is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
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930but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
931MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
932GNU General Public License for more details.
933
934You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
935along with autoconf; see the file COPYING. If not, write to
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936the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
937Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.