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4* Changes in version ?.? (????-??-??):
5
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6** Additional yylex/yyparse arguments
7
8 The new directive %param declare additional argument to both yylex
bb9191dd 9 and yyparse. The %lex-param, %parse-param, and %param directives
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10 support one or more arguments. Instead of
11
12 %lex-param {arg1_type *arg1}
13 %lex-param {arg2_type *arg2}
14 %parse-param {arg1_type *arg1}
15 %parse-param {arg2_type *arg2}
16
17 one may now declare
18
19 %param {arg1_type *arg1} {arg2_type *arg2}
20
21** Java skeleton improvements
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22
23 The constants for token names were moved to the Lexer interface.
24 Also, it is possible to add code to the parser's constructors using
25 "%code init" and "%define init_throws".
26
4c6622c2 27** Variable api.tokens.prefix
99c08fb6 28
4c6622c2 29 The variable api.tokens.prefix changes the way tokens are identified in
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30 the generated files. This is especially useful to avoid collisions
31 with identifiers in the target language. For instance
32
33 %token FILE for ERROR
4c6622c2 34 %define api.tokens.prefix "TOK_"
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35 %%
36 start: FILE for ERROR;
37
38 will generate the definition of the symbols TOK_FILE, TOK_for, and
39 TOK_ERROR in the generated sources. In particular, the scanner must
40 use these prefixed token names, although the grammar itself still
41 uses the short names (as in the sample rule given above).
42
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43** Variable api.namespace
44
45 The "namespace" variable is renamed "api.namespace". Backward
46 compatibility is ensured, but upgrading is recommended.
47
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48** Variable parse.error
49
50 The variable error controls the verbosity of error messages. The
51 use of the %error-verbose directive is deprecated in favor of
52 %define parse.error "verbose".
53
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54** Semantic predicates
55
56 The new, experimental, semantic-predicate feature allows actions of
57 the form %?{ BOOLEAN-EXPRESSION }, which cause syntax errors (as for
58 YYERROR) if the expression evaluates to 0, and are evaluated immediately
59 in GLR parsers, rather than being deferred. The result is that they
60 allow the programmer to prune possible parses based on the values of
61 runtime expressions.
62
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63* Changes in version 2.5.1 (????-??-??):
64
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65** Some portability problems in the test suite have been fixed.
66
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67** Minor improvements have been made to the manual.
68
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69** YYBACKUP works as expected.
70
28801043 71* Changes in version 2.5 (2011-05-14):
50cca368 72
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73** Grammar symbol names can now contain non-initial dashes:
74
75 Consistently with directives (such as %error-verbose) and with
76 %define variables (e.g. push-pull), grammar symbol names may contain
77 dashes in any position except the beginning. This is a GNU
78 extension over POSIX Yacc. Thus, use of this extension is reported
79 by -Wyacc and rejected in Yacc mode (--yacc).
80
f1b238df 81** Named references:
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82
83 Historically, Yacc and Bison have supported positional references
84 ($n, $$) to allow access to symbol values from inside of semantic
85 actions code.
86
87 Starting from this version, Bison can also accept named references.
88 When no ambiguity is possible, original symbol names may be used
89 as named references:
90
4b568fc0 91 if_stmt : "if" cond_expr "then" then_stmt ';'
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92 { $if_stmt = mk_if_stmt($cond_expr, $then_stmt); }
93
94 In the more common case, explicit names may be declared:
95
4b568fc0 96 stmt[res] : "if" expr[cond] "then" stmt[then] "else" stmt[else] ';'
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97 { $res = mk_if_stmt($cond, $then, $else); }
98
5b1ff423 99 Location information is also accessible using @name syntax. When
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100 accessing symbol names containing dots or dashes, explicit bracketing
101 ($[sym.1]) must be used.
102
5b1ff423 103 These features are experimental in this version. More user feedback
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104 will help to stabilize them.
105
f1b238df 106** IELR(1) and canonical LR(1):
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107
108 IELR(1) is a minimal LR(1) parser table generation algorithm. That
109 is, given any context-free grammar, IELR(1) generates parser tables
7262f54f 110 with the full language-recognition power of canonical LR(1) but with
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111 nearly the same number of parser states as LALR(1). This reduction
112 in parser states is often an order of magnitude. More importantly,
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113 because canonical LR(1)'s extra parser states may contain duplicate
114 conflicts in the case of non-LR(1) grammars, the number of conflicts
115 for IELR(1) is often an order of magnitude less as well. This can
116 significantly reduce the complexity of developing of a grammar.
117
118 Bison can now generate IELR(1) and canonical LR(1) parser tables in
119 place of its traditional LALR(1) parser tables, which remain the
120 default. You can specify the type of parser tables in the grammar
121 file with these directives:
122
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123 %define lr.type lalr
124 %define lr.type ielr
125 %define lr.type canonical-lr
eb45ef3b 126
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127 The default-reduction optimization in the parser tables can also be
128 adjusted using `%define lr.default-reductions'. For details on both
129 of these features, see the new section `Tuning LR' in the Bison
130 manual.
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131
132 These features are experimental. More user feedback will help to
133 stabilize them.
134
7fceb615 135** LAC (Lookahead Correction) for syntax error handling:
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136
137 Canonical LR, IELR, and LALR can suffer from a couple of problems
138 upon encountering a syntax error. First, the parser might perform
139 additional parser stack reductions before discovering the syntax
7fceb615 140 error. Such reductions can perform user semantic actions that are
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141 unexpected because they are based on an invalid token, and they
142 cause error recovery to begin in a different syntactic context than
143 the one in which the invalid token was encountered. Second, when
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144 verbose error messages are enabled (with %error-verbose or the
145 obsolete `#define YYERROR_VERBOSE'), the expected token list in the
146 syntax error message can both contain invalid tokens and omit valid
147 tokens.
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148
149 The culprits for the above problems are %nonassoc, default
150 reductions in inconsistent states, and parser state merging. Thus,
151 IELR and LALR suffer the most. Canonical LR can suffer only if
152 %nonassoc is used or if default reductions are enabled for
153 inconsistent states.
154
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155 LAC is a new mechanism within the parsing algorithm that solves
156 these problems for canonical LR, IELR, and LALR without sacrificing
157 %nonassoc, default reductions, or state merging. When LAC is in
158 use, canonical LR and IELR behave almost exactly the same for both
159 syntactically acceptable and syntactically unacceptable input.
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160 While LALR still does not support the full language-recognition
161 power of canonical LR and IELR, LAC at least enables LALR's syntax
162 error handling to correctly reflect LALR's language-recognition
163 power.
164
165 Currently, LAC is only supported for deterministic parsers in C.
166 You can enable LAC with the following directive:
167
168 %define parse.lac full
169
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170 See the new section `LAC' in the Bison manual for additional
171 details including a few caveats.
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172
173 LAC is an experimental feature. More user feedback will help to
174 stabilize it.
175
d397d9f0 176** %define improvements:
cf499cff 177
f1b238df 178*** Can now be invoked via the command line:
50cca368 179
de5ab940 180 Each of these command-line options
50cca368 181
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182 -D NAME[=VALUE]
183 --define=NAME[=VALUE]
184
185 -F NAME[=VALUE]
186 --force-define=NAME[=VALUE]
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187
188 is equivalent to this grammar file declaration
189
de5ab940 190 %define NAME ["VALUE"]
50cca368 191
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192 except that the manner in which Bison processes multiple definitions
193 for the same NAME differs. Most importantly, -F and --force-define
194 quietly override %define, but -D and --define do not. For further
4b568fc0 195 details, see the section `Bison Options' in the Bison manual.
50cca368 196
f1b238df 197*** Variables renamed:
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198
199 The following %define variables
200
201 api.push_pull
202 lr.keep_unreachable_states
203
204 have been renamed to
205
206 api.push-pull
207 lr.keep-unreachable-states
208
209 The old names are now deprecated but will be maintained indefinitely
210 for backward compatibility.
211
7262f54f 212*** Values no longer need to be quoted in the grammar file:
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213
214 If a %define value is an identifier, it no longer needs to be placed
215 within quotations marks. For example,
216
217 %define api.push-pull "push"
218
219 can be rewritten as
220
221 %define api.push-pull push
222
d397d9f0 223*** Unrecognized variables are now errors not warnings.
cdf3f113 224
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225*** Multiple invocations for any variable is now an error not a warning.
226
227** Unrecognized %code qualifiers are now errors not warnings.
228
229** Character literals not of length one:
230
231 Previously, Bison quietly converted all character literals to length
232 one. For example, without warning, Bison interpreted the operators in
233 the following grammar to be the same token:
234
235 exp: exp '++'
236 | exp '+' exp
237 ;
238
239 Bison now warns when a character literal is not of length one. In
240 some future release, Bison will start reporting an error instead.
241
242** Destructor calls fixed for lookaheads altered in semantic actions:
243
244 Previously for deterministic parsers in C, if a user semantic action
245 altered yychar, the parser in some cases used the old yychar value to
246 determine which destructor to call for the lookahead upon a syntax
247 error or upon parser return. This bug has been fixed.
248
249** C++ parsers use YYRHSLOC:
250
251 Similarly to the C parsers, the C++ parsers now define the YYRHSLOC
252 macro and use it in the default YYLLOC_DEFAULT. You are encouraged
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253 to use it. If, for instance, your location structure has `first'
254 and `last' members, instead of
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255
256 # define YYLLOC_DEFAULT(Current, Rhs, N) \
257 do \
258 if (N) \
259 { \
260 (Current).first = (Rhs)[1].location.first; \
261 (Current).last = (Rhs)[N].location.last; \
262 } \
263 else \
264 { \
265 (Current).first = (Current).last = (Rhs)[0].location.last; \
266 } \
267 while (false)
268
269 use:
270
271 # define YYLLOC_DEFAULT(Current, Rhs, N) \
272 do \
273 if (N) \
274 { \
275 (Current).first = YYRHSLOC (Rhs, 1).first; \
276 (Current).last = YYRHSLOC (Rhs, N).last; \
277 } \
278 else \
279 { \
280 (Current).first = (Current).last = YYRHSLOC (Rhs, 0).last; \
281 } \
282 while (false)
283
284** YYLLOC_DEFAULT in C++:
285
286 The default implementation of YYLLOC_DEFAULT used to be issued in
287 the header file. It is now output in the implementation file, after
288 the user %code sections so that its #ifndef guard does not try to
289 override the user's YYLLOC_DEFAULT if provided.
cdf3f113 290
f1b238df 291** YYFAIL now produces warnings and Java parsers no longer implement it:
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292
293 YYFAIL has existed for many years as an undocumented feature of
294 deterministic parsers in C generated by Bison. More recently, it was
295 a documented feature of Bison's experimental Java parsers. As
296 promised in Bison 2.4.2's NEWS entry, any appearance of YYFAIL in a
297 semantic action now produces a deprecation warning, and Java parsers
298 no longer implement YYFAIL at all. For further details, including a
299 discussion of how to suppress C preprocessor warnings about YYFAIL
300 being unused, see the Bison 2.4.2 NEWS entry.
301
f1b238df 302** Temporary hack for adding a semicolon to the user action:
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303
304 Previously, Bison appended a semicolon to every user action for
305 reductions when the output language defaulted to C (specifically, when
306 neither %yacc, %language, %skeleton, or equivalent command-line
307 options were specified). This allowed actions such as
308
309 exp: exp "+" exp { $$ = $1 + $3 };
310
311 instead of
312
313 exp: exp "+" exp { $$ = $1 + $3; };
314
315 As a first step in removing this misfeature, Bison now issues a
316 warning when it appends a semicolon. Moreover, in cases where Bison
317 cannot easily determine whether a semicolon is needed (for example, an
318 action ending with a cpp directive or a braced compound initializer),
319 it no longer appends one. Thus, the C compiler might now complain
320 about a missing semicolon where it did not before. Future releases of
321 Bison will cease to append semicolons entirely.
322
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323** Verbose syntax error message fixes:
324
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325 When %error-verbose or the obsolete `#define YYERROR_VERBOSE' is
326 specified, syntax error messages produced by the generated parser
327 include the unexpected token as well as a list of expected tokens.
328 The effect of %nonassoc on these verbose messages has been corrected
329 in two ways, but a more complete fix requires LAC, described above:
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330
331*** When %nonassoc is used, there can exist parser states that accept no
332 tokens, and so the parser does not always require a lookahead token
333 in order to detect a syntax error. Because no unexpected token or
334 expected tokens can then be reported, the verbose syntax error
335 message described above is suppressed, and the parser instead
4b568fc0 336 reports the simpler message, `syntax error'. Previously, this
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337 suppression was sometimes erroneously triggered by %nonassoc when a
338 lookahead was actually required. Now verbose messages are
339 suppressed only when all previous lookaheads have already been
340 shifted or discarded.
341
342*** Previously, the list of expected tokens erroneously included tokens
343 that would actually induce a syntax error because conflicts for them
344 were resolved with %nonassoc in the current parser state. Such
345 tokens are now properly omitted from the list.
346
347*** Expected token lists are still often wrong due to state merging
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348 (from LALR or IELR) and default reductions, which can both add
349 invalid tokens and subtract valid tokens. Canonical LR almost
350 completely fixes this problem by eliminating state merging and
351 default reductions. However, there is one minor problem left even
352 when using canonical LR and even after the fixes above. That is,
353 if the resolution of a conflict with %nonassoc appears in a later
354 parser state than the one at which some syntax error is
355 discovered, the conflicted token is still erroneously included in
356 the expected token list. Bison's new LAC implementation,
357 described above, eliminates this problem and the need for
358 canonical LR. However, LAC is still experimental and is disabled
359 by default.
53f036ce 360
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361** Java skeleton fixes:
362
363*** A location handling bug has been fixed.
364
365*** The top element of each of the value stack and location stack is now
366 cleared when popped so that it can be garbage collected.
6771a463 367
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368*** Parser traces now print the top element of the stack.
369
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370** -W/--warnings fixes:
371
4b568fc0 372*** Bison now properly recognizes the `no-' versions of categories:
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373
374 For example, given the following command line, Bison now enables all
375 warnings except warnings for incompatibilities with POSIX Yacc:
376
377 bison -Wall,no-yacc gram.y
378
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379*** Bison now treats S/R and R/R conflicts like other warnings:
380
381 Previously, conflict reports were independent of Bison's normal
382 warning system. Now, Bison recognizes the warning categories
4b568fc0 383 `conflicts-sr' and `conflicts-rr'. This change has important
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384 consequences for the -W and --warnings command-line options. For
385 example:
386
387 bison -Wno-conflicts-sr gram.y # S/R conflicts not reported
388 bison -Wno-conflicts-rr gram.y # R/R conflicts not reported
389 bison -Wnone gram.y # no conflicts are reported
390 bison -Werror gram.y # any conflict is an error
391
392 However, as before, if the %expect or %expect-rr directive is
393 specified, an unexpected number of conflicts is an error, and an
394 expected number of conflicts is not reported, so -W and --warning
395 then have no effect on the conflict report.
396
4b568fc0 397*** The `none' category no longer disables a preceding `error':
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398
399 For example, for the following command line, Bison now reports
400 errors instead of warnings for incompatibilities with POSIX Yacc:
401
402 bison -Werror,none,yacc gram.y
403
28801043 404*** The `none' category now disables all Bison warnings:
c39014ae 405
4b568fc0 406 Previously, the `none' category disabled only Bison warnings for
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407 which there existed a specific -W/--warning category. However,
408 given the following command line, Bison is now guaranteed to
409 suppress all warnings:
410
411 bison -Wnone gram.y
412
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413** Precedence directives can now assign token number 0:
414
415 Since Bison 2.3b, which restored the ability of precedence
416 directives to assign token numbers, doing so for token number 0 has
417 produced an assertion failure. For example:
418
419 %left END 0
420
421 This bug has been fixed.
422
64877e5e 423* Changes in version 2.4.3 (2010-08-05):
8b9e021f 424
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425** Bison now obeys -Werror and --warnings=error for warnings about
426 grammar rules that are useless in the parser due to conflicts.
427
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428** Problems with spawning M4 on at least FreeBSD 8 and FreeBSD 9 have
429 been fixed.
430
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431** Failures in the test suite for GCC 4.5 have been fixed.
432
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433** Failures in the test suite for some versions of Sun Studio C++ have
434 been fixed.
435
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436** Contrary to Bison 2.4.2's NEWS entry, it has been decided that
437 warnings about undefined %prec identifiers will not be converted to
438 errors in Bison 2.5. They will remain warnings, which should be
439 sufficient for POSIX while avoiding backward compatibility issues.
440
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441** Minor documentation fixes.
442
e19a049c 443* Changes in version 2.4.2 (2010-03-20):
74553c98 444
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445** Some portability problems that resulted in failures and livelocks
446 in the test suite on some versions of at least Solaris, AIX, HP-UX,
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447 RHEL4, and Tru64 have been addressed. As a result, fatal Bison
448 errors should no longer cause M4 to report a broken pipe on the
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449 affected platforms.
450
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451** `%prec IDENTIFIER' requires IDENTIFIER to be defined separately.
452
453 POSIX specifies that an error be reported for any identifier that does
454 not appear on the LHS of a grammar rule and that is not defined by
455 %token, %left, %right, or %nonassoc. Bison 2.3b and later lost this
456 error report for the case when an identifier appears only after a
457 %prec directive. It is now restored. However, for backward
458 compatibility with recent Bison releases, it is only a warning for
459 now. In Bison 2.5 and later, it will return to being an error.
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460 [Between the 2.4.2 and 2.4.3 releases, it was decided that this
461 warning will not be converted to an error in Bison 2.5.]
8bb3a2e7 462
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463** Detection of GNU M4 1.4.6 or newer during configure is improved.
464
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465** Warnings from gcc's -Wundef option about undefined YYENABLE_NLS,
466 YYLTYPE_IS_TRIVIAL, and __STRICT_ANSI__ in C/C++ parsers are now
467 avoided.
c938d650 468
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469** %code is now a permanent feature.
470
471 A traditional Yacc prologue directive is written in the form:
472
473 %{CODE%}
474
475 To provide a more flexible alternative, Bison 2.3b introduced the
476 %code directive with the following forms for C/C++:
477
478 %code {CODE}
479 %code requires {CODE}
480 %code provides {CODE}
481 %code top {CODE}
482
483 These forms are now considered permanent features of Bison. See the
484 %code entries in the section "Bison Declaration Summary" in the Bison
485 manual for a summary of their functionality. See the section
486 "Prologue Alternatives" for a detailed discussion including the
487 advantages of %code over the traditional Yacc prologue directive.
488
489 Bison's Java feature as a whole including its current usage of %code
490 is still considered experimental.
491
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492** YYFAIL is deprecated and will eventually be removed.
493
494 YYFAIL has existed for many years as an undocumented feature of
495 deterministic parsers in C generated by Bison. Previously, it was
496 documented for Bison's experimental Java parsers. YYFAIL is no longer
497 documented for Java parsers and is formally deprecated in both cases.
498 Users are strongly encouraged to migrate to YYERROR, which is
499 specified by POSIX.
500
501 Like YYERROR, you can invoke YYFAIL from a semantic action in order to
502 induce a syntax error. The most obvious difference from YYERROR is
503 that YYFAIL will automatically invoke yyerror to report the syntax
504 error so that you don't have to. However, there are several other
505 subtle differences between YYERROR and YYFAIL, and YYFAIL suffers from
506 inherent flaws when %error-verbose or `#define YYERROR_VERBOSE' is
507 used. For a more detailed discussion, see:
508
509 http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bison-patches/2009-12/msg00024.html
510
511 The upcoming Bison 2.5 will remove YYFAIL from Java parsers, but
512 deterministic parsers in C will continue to implement it. However,
513 because YYFAIL is already flawed, it seems futile to try to make new
514 Bison features compatible with it. Thus, during parser generation,
515 Bison 2.5 will produce a warning whenever it discovers YYFAIL in a
516 rule action. In a later release, YYFAIL will be disabled for
517 %error-verbose and `#define YYERROR_VERBOSE'. Eventually, YYFAIL will
518 be removed altogether.
519
520 There exists at least one case where Bison 2.5's YYFAIL warning will
521 be a false positive. Some projects add phony uses of YYFAIL and other
522 Bison-defined macros for the sole purpose of suppressing C
523 preprocessor warnings (from GCC cpp's -Wunused-macros, for example).
524 To avoid Bison's future warning, such YYFAIL uses can be moved to the
525 epilogue (that is, after the second `%%') in the Bison input file. In
526 this release (2.4.2), Bison already generates its own code to suppress
527 C preprocessor warnings for YYFAIL, so projects can remove their own
528 phony uses of YYFAIL if compatibility with Bison releases prior to
529 2.4.2 is not necessary.
530
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531** Internationalization.
532
533 Fix a regression introduced in Bison 2.4: Under some circumstances,
534 message translations were not installed although supported by the
535 host system.
536
74553c98 537* Changes in version 2.4.1 (2008-12-11):
c9ba9e59 538
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539** In the GLR defines file, unexpanded M4 macros in the yylval and yylloc
540 declarations have been fixed.
1979121c 541
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542** Temporary hack for adding a semicolon to the user action.
543
544 Bison used to prepend a trailing semicolon at the end of the user
545 action for reductions. This allowed actions such as
546
547 exp: exp "+" exp { $$ = $1 + $3 };
548
549 instead of
550
551 exp: exp "+" exp { $$ = $1 + $3; };
552
553 Some grammars still depend on this `feature'. Bison 2.4.1 restores
554 the previous behavior in the case of C output (specifically, when
555 neither %language or %skeleton or equivalent command-line options
556 are used) to leave more time for grammars depending on the old
557 behavior to be adjusted. Future releases of Bison will disable this
558 feature.
559
560** A few minor improvements to the Bison manual.
c9ba9e59 561
402b123d 562* Changes in version 2.4 (2008-11-02):
7bd1665a 563
402b123d 564** %language is an experimental feature.
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565
566 We first introduced this feature in test release 2.3b as a cleaner
567 alternative to %skeleton. Since then, we have discussed the possibility of
568 modifying its effect on Bison's output file names. Thus, in this release,
569 we consider %language to be an experimental feature that will likely evolve
570 in future releases.
7bd1665a 571
402b123d 572** Forward compatibility with GNU M4 has been improved.
241fda7a 573
402b123d 574** Several bugs in the C++ skeleton and the experimental Java skeleton have been
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575 fixed.
576
402b123d 577* Changes in version 2.3b (2008-05-27):
35fe0834 578
402b123d 579** The quotes around NAME that used to be required in the following directive
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580 are now deprecated:
581
582 %define NAME "VALUE"
583
402b123d 584** The directive `%pure-parser' is now deprecated in favor of:
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585
586 %define api.pure
587
588 which has the same effect except that Bison is more careful to warn about
589 unreasonable usage in the latter case.
590
402b123d 591** Push Parsing
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592
593 Bison can now generate an LALR(1) parser in C with a push interface. That
ef1b4273 594 is, instead of invoking `yyparse', which pulls tokens from `yylex', you can
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595 push one token at a time to the parser using `yypush_parse', which will
596 return to the caller after processing each token. By default, the push
597 interface is disabled. Either of the following directives will enable it:
598
599 %define api.push_pull "push" // Just push; does not require yylex.
600 %define api.push_pull "both" // Push and pull; requires yylex.
601
602 See the new section `A Push Parser' in the Bison manual for details.
603
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604 The current push parsing interface is experimental and may evolve. More user
605 feedback will help to stabilize it.
606
402b123d 607** The -g and --graph options now output graphs in Graphviz DOT format,
8e55b3aa
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608 not VCG format. Like --graph, -g now also takes an optional FILE argument
609 and thus cannot be bundled with other short options.
c373bf8b 610
402b123d 611** Java
59da312b
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612
613 Bison can now generate an LALR(1) parser in Java. The skeleton is
614 `data/lalr1.java'. Consider using the new %language directive instead of
615 %skeleton to select it.
616
617 See the new section `Java Parsers' in the Bison manual for details.
618
619 The current Java interface is experimental and may evolve. More user
620 feedback will help to stabilize it.
621
402b123d 622** %language
59da312b
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623
624 This new directive specifies the programming language of the generated
d43f77e7
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625 parser, which can be C (the default), C++, or Java. Besides the skeleton
626 that Bison uses, the directive affects the names of the generated files if
627 the grammar file's name ends in ".y".
59da312b 628
402b123d 629** XML Automaton Report
59da312b
JD
630
631 Bison can now generate an XML report of the LALR(1) automaton using the new
632 `--xml' option. The current XML schema is experimental and may evolve. More
633 user feedback will help to stabilize it.
c373bf8b 634
402b123d 635** The grammar file may now specify the name of the parser header file using
c373bf8b
JD
636 %defines. For example:
637
638 %defines "parser.h"
639
402b123d 640** When reporting useless rules, useless nonterminals, and unused terminals,
d80fb37a
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641 Bison now employs the terms "useless in grammar" instead of "useless",
642 "useless in parser" instead of "never reduced", and "unused in grammar"
643 instead of "unused".
cff03fb2 644
402b123d 645** Unreachable State Removal
c373bf8b
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646
647 Previously, Bison sometimes generated parser tables containing unreachable
31984206
JD
648 states. A state can become unreachable during conflict resolution if Bison
649 disables a shift action leading to it from a predecessor state. Bison now:
75ad86ee
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650
651 1. Removes unreachable states.
652
653 2. Does not report any conflicts that appeared in unreachable states.
654 WARNING: As a result, you may need to update %expect and %expect-rr
655 directives in existing grammar files.
656
657 3. For any rule used only in such states, Bison now reports the rule as
cff03fb2 658 "useless in parser due to conflicts".
75ad86ee 659
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660 This feature can be disabled with the following directive:
661
662 %define lr.keep_unreachable_states
663
664 See the %define entry in the `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison manual
665 for further discussion.
666
402b123d 667** Lookahead Set Correction in the `.output' Report
b1cc23c4 668
c373bf8b 669 When instructed to generate a `.output' file including lookahead sets
88c78747
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670 (using `--report=lookahead', for example), Bison now prints each reduction's
671 lookahead set only next to the associated state's one item that (1) is
672 associated with the same rule as the reduction and (2) has its dot at the end
673 of its RHS. Previously, Bison also erroneously printed the lookahead set
674 next to all of the state's other items associated with the same rule. This
675 bug affected only the `.output' file and not the generated parser source
676 code.
677
402b123d 678** --report-file=FILE is a new option to override the default `.output' file
59da312b 679 name.
1bb2bd75 680
402b123d 681** The `=' that used to be required in the following directives is now
02975b9a
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682 deprecated:
683
684 %file-prefix "parser"
685 %name-prefix "c_"
686 %output "parser.c"
687
402b123d 688** An Alternative to `%{...%}' -- `%code QUALIFIER {CODE}'
c373bf8b
JD
689
690 Bison 2.3a provided a new set of directives as a more flexible alternative to
8e0a5e9e
JD
691 the traditional Yacc prologue blocks. Those have now been consolidated into
692 a single %code directive with an optional qualifier field, which identifies
693 the purpose of the code and thus the location(s) where Bison should generate
694 it:
695
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696 1. `%code {CODE}' replaces `%after-header {CODE}'
697 2. `%code requires {CODE}' replaces `%start-header {CODE}'
698 3. `%code provides {CODE}' replaces `%end-header {CODE}'
699 4. `%code top {CODE}' replaces `%before-header {CODE}'
8e0a5e9e 700
61fee93e
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701 See the %code entries in section `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison
702 manual for a summary of the new functionality. See the new section `Prologue
8e0a5e9e
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703 Alternatives' for a detailed discussion including the advantages of %code
704 over the traditional Yacc prologues.
705
706 The prologue alternatives are experimental. More user feedback will help to
707 determine whether they should become permanent features.
708
402b123d 709** Revised warning: unset or unused mid-rule values
17bd8a73
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710
711 Since Bison 2.2, Bison has warned about mid-rule values that are set but not
712 used within any of the actions of the parent rule. For example, Bison warns
713 about unused $2 in:
714
715 exp: '1' { $$ = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $1 + $4; };
716
717 Now, Bison also warns about mid-rule values that are used but not set. For
718 example, Bison warns about unset $$ in the mid-rule action in:
719
720 exp: '1' { $1 = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $2 + $4; };
721
722 However, Bison now disables both of these warnings by default since they
723 sometimes prove to be false alarms in existing grammars employing the Yacc
724 constructs $0 or $-N (where N is some positive integer).
725
59da312b 726 To enable these warnings, specify the option `--warnings=midrule-values' or
17bd8a73
JD
727 `-W', which is a synonym for `--warnings=all'.
728
402b123d 729** Default %destructor or %printer with `<*>' or `<>'
c373bf8b
JD
730
731 Bison now recognizes two separate kinds of default %destructor's and
12e35840
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732 %printer's:
733
734 1. Place `<*>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
735 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols for which you have formally
736 declared semantic type tags.
737
3ebecc24 738 2. Place `<>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
12e35840
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739 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols without declared semantic
740 type tags.
741
742 Bison no longer supports the `%symbol-default' notation from Bison 2.3a.
3ebecc24 743 `<*>' and `<>' combined achieve the same effect with one exception: Bison no
12e35840
JD
744 longer applies any %destructor to a mid-rule value if that mid-rule value is
745 not actually ever referenced using either $$ or $n in a semantic action.
746
85894313
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747 The default %destructor's and %printer's are experimental. More user
748 feedback will help to determine whether they should become permanent
749 features.
750
12e35840
JD
751 See the section `Freeing Discarded Symbols' in the Bison manual for further
752 details.
753
402b123d 754** %left, %right, and %nonassoc can now declare token numbers. This is required
ab7f29f8
JD
755 by POSIX. However, see the end of section `Operator Precedence' in the Bison
756 manual for a caveat concerning the treatment of literal strings.
757
402b123d 758** The nonfunctional --no-parser, -n, and %no-parser options have been
b1cc23c4
JD
759 completely removed from Bison.
760
402b123d 761* Changes in version 2.3a, 2006-09-13:
742e4900 762
402b123d 763** Instead of %union, you can define and use your own union type
ddc8ede1
PE
764 YYSTYPE if your grammar contains at least one <type> tag.
765 Your YYSTYPE need not be a macro; it can be a typedef.
766 This change is for compatibility with other Yacc implementations,
767 and is required by POSIX.
768
402b123d 769** Locations columns and lines start at 1.
cd48d21d
AD
770 In accordance with the GNU Coding Standards and Emacs.
771
402b123d 772** You may now declare per-type and default %destructor's and %printer's:
ec5479ce
JD
773
774 For example:
775
b2a0b7ca
JD
776 %union { char *string; }
777 %token <string> STRING1
778 %token <string> STRING2
779 %type <string> string1
780 %type <string> string2
781 %union { char character; }
782 %token <character> CHR
783 %type <character> chr
784 %destructor { free ($$); } %symbol-default
785 %destructor { free ($$); printf ("%d", @$.first_line); } STRING1 string1
786 %destructor { } <character>
787
788 guarantees that, when the parser discards any user-defined symbol that has a
789 semantic type tag other than `<character>', it passes its semantic value to
790 `free'. However, when the parser discards a `STRING1' or a `string1', it
791 also prints its line number to `stdout'. It performs only the second
792 `%destructor' in this case, so it invokes `free' only once.
ec5479ce 793
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794 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the default
795 %destructor's and %printer's were experimental, and they were rewritten in
796 future versions.]
797
402b123d 798** Except for LALR(1) parsers in C with POSIX Yacc emulation enabled (with `-y',
b931235e
JD
799 `--yacc', or `%yacc'), Bison no longer generates #define statements for
800 associating token numbers with token names. Removing the #define statements
801 helps to sanitize the global namespace during preprocessing, but POSIX Yacc
802 requires them. Bison still generates an enum for token names in all cases.
803
402b123d 804** Handling of traditional Yacc prologue blocks is now more consistent but
34f98f46 805 potentially incompatible with previous releases of Bison.
9bc0dd67
JD
806
807 As before, you declare prologue blocks in your grammar file with the
808 `%{ ... %}' syntax. To generate the pre-prologue, Bison concatenates all
34f98f46
JD
809 prologue blocks that you've declared before the first %union. To generate
810 the post-prologue, Bison concatenates all prologue blocks that you've
ddc8ede1 811 declared after the first %union.
9bc0dd67 812
34f98f46 813 Previous releases of Bison inserted the pre-prologue into both the header
9bc0dd67
JD
814 file and the code file in all cases except for LALR(1) parsers in C. In the
815 latter case, Bison inserted it only into the code file. For parsers in C++,
816 the point of insertion was before any token definitions (which associate
817 token numbers with names). For parsers in C, the point of insertion was
818 after the token definitions.
819
820 Now, Bison never inserts the pre-prologue into the header file. In the code
821 file, it always inserts it before the token definitions.
822
402b123d 823** Bison now provides a more flexible alternative to the traditional Yacc
34f98f46
JD
824 prologue blocks: %before-header, %start-header, %end-header, and
825 %after-header.
826
827 For example, the following declaration order in the grammar file reflects the
828 order in which Bison will output these code blocks. However, you are free to
829 declare these code blocks in your grammar file in whatever order is most
830 convenient for you:
831
832 %before-header {
833 /* Bison treats this block like a pre-prologue block: it inserts it into
834 * the code file before the contents of the header file. It does *not*
835 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to put
836 * #include's that you want at the top of your code file. A common
837 * example is `#include "system.h"'. */
838 }
839 %start-header {
840 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
841 * In both files, the point of insertion is before any Bison-generated
842 * token, semantic type, location type, and class definitions. This is a
843 * good place to define %union dependencies, for example. */
9bc0dd67
JD
844 }
845 %union {
34f98f46
JD
846 /* Unlike the traditional Yacc prologue blocks, the output order for the
847 * new %*-header blocks is not affected by their declaration position
848 * relative to any %union in the grammar file. */
9bc0dd67 849 }
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JD
850 %end-header {
851 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
852 * In both files, the point of insertion is after the Bison-generated
853 * definitions. This is a good place to declare or define public
854 * functions or data structures that depend on the Bison-generated
855 * definitions. */
9bc0dd67 856 }
34f98f46
JD
857 %after-header {
858 /* Bison treats this block like a post-prologue block: it inserts it into
859 * the code file after the contents of the header file. It does *not*
860 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to declare or
861 * define internal functions or data structures that depend on the
862 * Bison-generated definitions. */
863 }
864
865 If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above declarations, Bison
866 will concatenate the contents in declaration order.
9bc0dd67 867
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JD
868 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the prologue
869 alternatives were experimental, and they were rewritten in future versions.]
870
402b123d 871** The option `--report=look-ahead' has been changed to `--report=lookahead'.
9e6e7ed2
PE
872 The old spelling still works, but is not documented and may be removed
873 in a future release.
742e4900 874
402b123d 875* Changes in version 2.3, 2006-06-05:
4ad3ed84 876
402b123d 877** GLR grammars should now use `YYRECOVERING ()' instead of `YYRECOVERING',
4ad3ed84
PE
878 for compatibility with LALR(1) grammars.
879
402b123d 880** It is now documented that any definition of YYSTYPE or YYLTYPE should
4ad3ed84
PE
881 be to a type name that does not contain parentheses or brackets.
882
402b123d 883* Changes in version 2.2, 2006-05-19:
193d7c70 884
402b123d 885** The distribution terms for all Bison-generated parsers now permit
193d7c70
PE
886 using the parsers in nonfree programs. Previously, this permission
887 was granted only for Bison-generated LALR(1) parsers in C.
5f4236a0 888
402b123d 889** %name-prefix changes the namespace name in C++ outputs.
aa08666d 890
402b123d 891** The C++ parsers export their token_type.
5f4236a0 892
402b123d 893** Bison now allows multiple %union declarations, and concatenates
d6ca7905
PE
894 their contents together.
895
402b123d 896** New warning: unused values
4d7bc38c
PE
897 Right-hand side symbols whose values are not used are reported,
898 if the symbols have destructors. For instance:
affac613 899
8f3596a6 900 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; }
e9690142
JD
901 | exp "+" exp
902 ;
affac613 903
8f3596a6
AD
904 will trigger a warning about $$ and $5 in the first rule, and $3 in
905 the second ($1 is copied to $$ by the default rule). This example
4e26c69e 906 most likely contains three errors, and could be rewritten as:
affac613 907
4e26c69e 908 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp
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JD
909 { $$ = $1 ? $3 : $5; free ($1 ? $5 : $3); free ($1); }
910 | exp "+" exp
911 { $$ = $1 ? $1 : $3; if ($1) free ($3); }
912 ;
affac613 913
4e26c69e
PE
914 However, if the original actions were really intended, memory leaks
915 and all, the warnings can be suppressed by letting Bison believe the
916 values are used, e.g.:
721be13c 917
8f3596a6 918 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; (void) ($$, $5); }
e9690142
JD
919 | exp "+" exp { $$ = $1; (void) $3; }
920 ;
721be13c 921
84866159
AD
922 If there are mid-rule actions, the warning is issued if no action
923 uses it. The following triggers no warning: $1 and $3 are used.
924
925 exp: exp { push ($1); } '+' exp { push ($3); sum (); };
926
721be13c
PE
927 The warning is intended to help catching lost values and memory leaks.
928 If a value is ignored, its associated memory typically is not reclaimed.
affac613 929
402b123d 930** %destructor vs. YYABORT, YYACCEPT, and YYERROR.
9d9b8b70
PE
931 Destructors are now called when user code invokes YYABORT, YYACCEPT,
932 and YYERROR, for all objects on the stack, other than objects
933 corresponding to the right-hand side of the current rule.
a85284cf 934
402b123d 935** %expect, %expect-rr
035aa4a0
PE
936 Incorrect numbers of expected conflicts are now actual errors,
937 instead of warnings.
938
402b123d 939** GLR, YACC parsers.
4e26c69e
PE
940 The %parse-params are available in the destructors (and the
941 experimental printers) as per the documentation.
4b367315 942
402b123d 943** Bison now warns if it finds a stray `$' or `@' in an action.
ad6a9b97 944
402b123d 945** %require "VERSION"
4e26c69e
PE
946 This specifies that the grammar file depends on features implemented
947 in Bison version VERSION or higher.
b50d2359 948
402b123d 949** lalr1.cc: The token and value types are now class members.
e14d0ab6
AD
950 The tokens were defined as free form enums and cpp macros. YYSTYPE
951 was defined as a free form union. They are now class members:
fb9712a9
AD
952 tokens are enumerations of the `yy::parser::token' struct, and the
953 semantic values have the `yy::parser::semantic_type' type.
954
955 If you do not want or can update to this scheme, the directive
956 `%define "global_tokens_and_yystype" "1"' triggers the global
b50d2359
AD
957 definition of tokens and YYSTYPE. This change is suitable both
958 for previous releases of Bison, and this one.
fb9712a9 959
b50d2359 960 If you wish to update, then make sure older version of Bison will
ab8d9dc5 961 fail using `%require "2.2"'.
fb9712a9 962
402b123d 963** DJGPP support added.
193d7c70 964\f
402b123d 965* Changes in version 2.1, 2005-09-16:
1ce59070 966
402b123d 967** The C++ lalr1.cc skeleton supports %lex-param.
e14d0ab6 968
402b123d 969** Bison-generated parsers now support the translation of diagnostics like
baf785db
PE
970 "syntax error" into languages other than English. The default
971 language is still English. For details, please see the new
0410a6e0
PE
972 Internationalization section of the Bison manual. Software
973 distributors should also see the new PACKAGING file. Thanks to
974 Bruno Haible for this new feature.
1ce59070 975
402b123d 976** Wording in the Bison-generated parsers has been changed slightly to
1a059451
PE
977 simplify translation. In particular, the message "memory exhausted"
978 has replaced "parser stack overflow", as the old message was not
979 always accurate for modern Bison-generated parsers.
980
402b123d 981** Destructors are now called when the parser aborts, for all symbols left
258b75ca
PE
982 behind on the stack. Also, the start symbol is now destroyed after a
983 successful parse. In both cases, the behavior was formerly inconsistent.
984
402b123d 985** When generating verbose diagnostics, Bison-generated parsers no longer
72f000b0
PE
986 quote the literal strings associated with tokens. For example, for
987 a syntax error associated with '%token NUM "number"' they might
988 print 'syntax error, unexpected number' instead of 'syntax error,
989 unexpected "number"'.
193d7c70 990\f
402b123d 991* Changes in version 2.0, 2004-12-25:
efeed023 992
402b123d 993** Possibly-incompatible changes
d7e14fc0 994
82de6b0d
PE
995 - Bison-generated parsers no longer default to using the alloca function
996 (when available) to extend the parser stack, due to widespread
997 problems in unchecked stack-overflow detection. You can "#define
998 YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA 1" to require the use of alloca, but please read
999 the manual to determine safe values for YYMAXDEPTH in that case.
8dd162d3 1000
82de6b0d
PE
1001 - Error token location.
1002 During error recovery, the location of the syntax error is updated
1003 to cover the whole sequence covered by the error token: it includes
1004 the shifted symbols thrown away during the first part of the error
1005 recovery, and the lookahead rejected during the second part.
18d192f0 1006
82de6b0d
PE
1007 - Semicolon changes:
1008 . Stray semicolons are no longer allowed at the start of a grammar.
1009 . Semicolons are now required after in-grammar declarations.
e342c3be 1010
82de6b0d
PE
1011 - Unescaped newlines are no longer allowed in character constants or
1012 string literals. They were never portable, and GCC 3.4.0 has
1013 dropped support for them. Better diagnostics are now generated if
1014 forget a closing quote.
8dd162d3 1015
82de6b0d 1016 - NUL bytes are no longer allowed in Bison string literals, unfortunately.
f74b6f91 1017
402b123d 1018** New features
1452af69 1019
82de6b0d 1020 - GLR grammars now support locations.
4febdd96 1021
82de6b0d
PE
1022 - New directive: %initial-action.
1023 This directive allows the user to run arbitrary code (including
1024 initializing @$) from yyparse before parsing starts.
1452af69 1025
82de6b0d
PE
1026 - A new directive "%expect-rr N" specifies the expected number of
1027 reduce/reduce conflicts in GLR parsers.
1452af69 1028
82de6b0d
PE
1029 - %token numbers can now be hexadecimal integers, e.g., `%token FOO 0x12d'.
1030 This is a GNU extension.
4febdd96 1031
82de6b0d 1032 - The option `--report=lookahead' was changed to `--report=look-ahead'.
9e6e7ed2 1033 [However, this was changed back after 2.3.]
1452af69 1034
82de6b0d 1035 - Experimental %destructor support has been added to lalr1.cc.
1452af69 1036
82de6b0d
PE
1037 - New configure option --disable-yacc, to disable installation of the
1038 yacc command and -ly library introduced in 1.875 for POSIX conformance.
6040d338 1039
402b123d 1040** Bug fixes
d5a3fe37 1041
82de6b0d
PE
1042 - For now, %expect-count violations are now just warnings, not errors.
1043 This is for compatibility with Bison 1.75 and earlier (when there are
1044 reduce/reduce conflicts) and with Bison 1.30 and earlier (when there
1045 are too many or too few shift/reduce conflicts). However, in future
1046 versions of Bison we plan to improve the %expect machinery so that
1047 these violations will become errors again.
3473d0f8 1048
82de6b0d
PE
1049 - Within Bison itself, numbers (e.g., goto numbers) are no longer
1050 arbitrarily limited to 16-bit counts.
d600ee67 1051
82de6b0d 1052 - Semicolons are now allowed before "|" in grammar rules, as POSIX requires.
d600ee67 1053\f
402b123d 1054* Changes in version 1.875, 2003-01-01:
963fcc17 1055
402b123d 1056** The documentation license has been upgraded to version 1.2
dc546b0f 1057 of the GNU Free Documentation License.
75eb3bc4 1058
402b123d 1059** syntax error processing
75eb3bc4 1060
dc546b0f
PE
1061 - In Yacc-style parsers YYLLOC_DEFAULT is now used to compute error
1062 locations too. This fixes bugs in error-location computation.
75eb3bc4 1063
dc546b0f
PE
1064 - %destructor
1065 It is now possible to reclaim the memory associated to symbols
1066 discarded during error recovery. This feature is still experimental.
20daca06 1067
dc546b0f
PE
1068 - %error-verbose
1069 This new directive is preferred over YYERROR_VERBOSE.
74724a70 1070
dc546b0f
PE
1071 - #defining yyerror to steal internal variables is discouraged.
1072 It is not guaranteed to work forever.
d1de5372 1073
402b123d 1074** POSIX conformance
d1de5372 1075
dc546b0f
PE
1076 - Semicolons are once again optional at the end of grammar rules.
1077 This reverts to the behavior of Bison 1.33 and earlier, and improves
1078 compatibility with Yacc.
74724a70 1079
dc546b0f
PE
1080 - `parse error' -> `syntax error'
1081 Bison now uniformly uses the term `syntax error'; formerly, the code
1082 and manual sometimes used the term `parse error' instead. POSIX
1083 requires `syntax error' in diagnostics, and it was thought better to
1084 be consistent.
74724a70 1085
dc546b0f
PE
1086 - The documentation now emphasizes that yylex and yyerror must be
1087 declared before use. C99 requires this.
d1de5372 1088
dc546b0f
PE
1089 - Bison now parses C99 lexical constructs like UCNs and
1090 backslash-newline within C escape sequences, as POSIX 1003.1-2001 requires.
d1de5372 1091
dc546b0f
PE
1092 - File names are properly escaped in C output. E.g., foo\bar.y is
1093 output as "foo\\bar.y".
6780ca7a 1094
dc546b0f
PE
1095 - Yacc command and library now available
1096 The Bison distribution now installs a `yacc' command, as POSIX requires.
1097 Also, Bison now installs a small library liby.a containing
1098 implementations of Yacc-compatible yyerror and main functions.
1099 This library is normally not useful, but POSIX requires it.
6e649e65 1100
dc546b0f 1101 - Type clashes now generate warnings, not errors.
6e649e65 1102
dc546b0f
PE
1103 - If the user does not define YYSTYPE as a macro, Bison now declares it
1104 using typedef instead of defining it as a macro.
1105 For consistency, YYLTYPE is also declared instead of defined.
9501dc6e 1106
402b123d 1107** Other compatibility issues
886a425c 1108
dc546b0f
PE
1109 - %union directives can now have a tag before the `{', e.g., the
1110 directive `%union foo {...}' now generates the C code
1111 `typedef union foo { ... } YYSTYPE;'; this is for Yacc compatibility.
1112 The default union tag is `YYSTYPE', for compatibility with Solaris 9 Yacc.
1113 For consistency, YYLTYPE's struct tag is now `YYLTYPE' not `yyltype'.
1114 This is for compatibility with both Yacc and Bison 1.35.
72f889cc 1115
dc546b0f
PE
1116 - `;' is output before the terminating `}' of an action, for
1117 compatibility with Bison 1.35.
886a425c 1118
dc546b0f
PE
1119 - Bison now uses a Yacc-style format for conflict reports, e.g.,
1120 `conflicts: 2 shift/reduce, 1 reduce/reduce'.
437c2d80 1121
dc546b0f
PE
1122 - `yystype' and `yyltype' are now obsolescent macros instead of being
1123 typedefs or tags; they are no longer documented and are planned to be
1124 withdrawn in a future release.
2a8d363a 1125
402b123d 1126** GLR parser notes
2a8d363a 1127
dc546b0f
PE
1128 - GLR and inline
1129 Users of Bison have to decide how they handle the portability of the
1130 C keyword `inline'.
959e5f51 1131
dc546b0f
PE
1132 - `parsing stack overflow...' -> `parser stack overflow'
1133 GLR parsers now report `parser stack overflow' as per the Bison manual.
900c5db5 1134
402b123d 1135** Bison now warns if it detects conflicting outputs to the same file,
dc546b0f
PE
1136 e.g., it generates a warning for `bison -d -o foo.h foo.y' since
1137 that command outputs both code and header to foo.h.
6e40b4eb 1138
402b123d 1139** #line in output files
dc546b0f 1140 - --no-line works properly.
6e40b4eb 1141
402b123d 1142** Bison can no longer be built by a K&R C compiler; it requires C89 or
6e40b4eb
AD
1143 later to be built. This change originally took place a few versions
1144 ago, but nobody noticed until we recently asked someone to try
1145 building Bison with a K&R C compiler.
d600ee67 1146\f
402b123d 1147* Changes in version 1.75, 2002-10-14:
7933f2b5 1148
402b123d 1149** Bison should now work on 64-bit hosts.
7933f2b5 1150
402b123d 1151** Indonesian translation thanks to Tedi Heriyanto.
7933f2b5 1152
402b123d 1153** GLR parsers
f50adbbd
AD
1154 Fix spurious parse errors.
1155
402b123d 1156** Pure parsers
f50adbbd
AD
1157 Some people redefine yyerror to steal yyparse' private variables.
1158 Reenable this trick until an official feature replaces it.
1159
402b123d 1160** Type Clashes
d90c934c
AD
1161 In agreement with POSIX and with other Yaccs, leaving a default
1162 action is valid when $$ is untyped, and $1 typed:
1163
e9690142 1164 untyped: ... typed;
d90c934c
AD
1165
1166 but the converse remains an error:
1167
e9690142 1168 typed: ... untyped;
d90c934c 1169
402b123d 1170** Values of mid-rule actions
d90c934c
AD
1171 The following code:
1172
e9690142 1173 foo: { ... } { $$ = $1; } ...
d90c934c
AD
1174
1175 was incorrectly rejected: $1 is defined in the second mid-rule
1176 action, and is equal to the $$ of the first mid-rule action.
d600ee67 1177\f
402b123d 1178* Changes in version 1.50, 2002-10-04:
adc8c848 1179
402b123d 1180** GLR parsing
676385e2
PH
1181 The declaration
1182 %glr-parser
1183 causes Bison to produce a Generalized LR (GLR) parser, capable of handling
1184 almost any context-free grammar, ambiguous or not. The new declarations
e8832397 1185 %dprec and %merge on grammar rules allow parse-time resolution of
676385e2
PH
1186 ambiguities. Contributed by Paul Hilfinger.
1187
7933f2b5 1188 Unfortunately Bison 1.50 does not work properly on 64-bit hosts
420f93c8
PE
1189 like the Alpha, so please stick to 32-bit hosts for now.
1190
402b123d 1191** Output Directory
8c165d89 1192 When not in Yacc compatibility mode, when the output file was not
e88dbdbf 1193 specified, running `bison foo/bar.y' created `foo/bar.c'. It
8c165d89
AD
1194 now creates `bar.c'.
1195
402b123d 1196** Undefined token
007a50a4 1197 The undefined token was systematically mapped to 2 which prevented
e88dbdbf 1198 the use of 2 by the user. This is no longer the case.
007a50a4 1199
402b123d 1200** Unknown token numbers
e88dbdbf 1201 If yylex returned an out of range value, yyparse could die. This is
007a50a4
AD
1202 no longer the case.
1203
402b123d 1204** Error token
e88dbdbf 1205 According to POSIX, the error token must be 256.
23c5a174
AD
1206 Bison extends this requirement by making it a preference: *if* the
1207 user specified that one of her tokens is numbered 256, then error
1208 will be mapped onto another number.
1209
402b123d 1210** Verbose error messages
e88dbdbf 1211 They no longer report `..., expecting error or...' for states where
217598da
AD
1212 error recovery is possible.
1213
402b123d 1214** End token
217598da
AD
1215 Defaults to `$end' instead of `$'.
1216
402b123d 1217** Error recovery now conforms to documentation and to POSIX
68cd8af3
PE
1218 When a Bison-generated parser encounters a syntax error, it now pops
1219 the stack until it finds a state that allows shifting the error
1220 token. Formerly, it popped the stack until it found a state that
1221 allowed some non-error action other than a default reduction on the
1222 error token. The new behavior has long been the documented behavior,
1223 and has long been required by POSIX. For more details, please see
337116ba
PE
1224 Paul Eggert, "Reductions during Bison error handling" (2002-05-20)
1225 <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-bison/2002-05/msg00038.html>.
68cd8af3 1226
402b123d 1227** Traces
5504898e
AD
1228 Popped tokens and nonterminals are now reported.
1229
402b123d 1230** Larger grammars
a861a339
PE
1231 Larger grammars are now supported (larger token numbers, larger grammar
1232 size (= sum of the LHS and RHS lengths), larger LALR tables).
1233 Formerly, many of these numbers ran afoul of 16-bit limits;
1234 now these limits are 32 bits on most hosts.
355e7c1c 1235
402b123d 1236** Explicit initial rule
643a5994
AD
1237 Bison used to play hacks with the initial rule, which the user does
1238 not write. It is now explicit, and visible in the reports and
1239 graphs as rule 0.
23c5a174 1240
402b123d 1241** Useless rules
643a5994 1242 Before, Bison reported the useless rules, but, although not used,
77714df2 1243 included them in the parsers. They are now actually removed.
23c5a174 1244
402b123d 1245** Useless rules, useless nonterminals
6b98e4b5
AD
1246 They are now reported, as a warning, with their locations.
1247
402b123d 1248** Rules never reduced
e8832397
AD
1249 Rules that can never be reduced because of conflicts are now
1250 reported.
1251
402b123d 1252** Incorrect `Token not used'
11652ab3
AD
1253 On a grammar such as
1254
1255 %token useless useful
1256 %%
1257 exp: '0' %prec useful;
1258
1259 where a token was used to set the precedence of the last rule,
1260 bison reported both `useful' and `useless' as useless tokens.
1261
402b123d 1262** Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31
77714df2 1263 as they caused too many portability hassles.
0179dd65 1264
402b123d 1265** Default locations
b2d52318
AD
1266 By an accident of design, the default computation of @$ was
1267 performed after another default computation was performed: @$ = @1.
1268 The latter is now removed: YYLLOC_DEFAULT is fully responsible of
1269 the computation of @$.
adc8c848 1270
402b123d 1271** Token end-of-file
b7c49edf
AD
1272 The token end of file may be specified by the user, in which case,
1273 the user symbol is used in the reports, the graphs, and the verbose
a861a339 1274 error messages instead of `$end', which remains being the default.
b7c49edf 1275 For instance
7bd6c77e 1276 %token MYEOF 0
b7c49edf 1277 or
7bd6c77e 1278 %token MYEOF 0 "end of file"
fdbcd8e2 1279
402b123d 1280** Semantic parser
fdbcd8e2
AD
1281 This old option, which has been broken for ages, is removed.
1282
402b123d 1283** New translations
a861a339 1284 Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to Alexandre Folle de Menezes.
84614e13
AD
1285 Croatian, thanks to Denis Lackovic.
1286
402b123d 1287** Incorrect token definitions
e88dbdbf 1288 When given `%token 'a' "A"', Bison used to output `#define 'a' 65'.
b87f8b21 1289
402b123d 1290** Token definitions as enums
77714df2
AD
1291 Tokens are output both as the traditional #define's, and, provided
1292 the compiler supports ANSI C or is a C++ compiler, as enums.
e88dbdbf 1293 This lets debuggers display names instead of integers.
77714df2 1294
402b123d 1295** Reports
ec3bc396
AD
1296 In addition to --verbose, bison supports --report=THINGS, which
1297 produces additional information:
b408954b
AD
1298 - itemset
1299 complete the core item sets with their closure
9e6e7ed2
PE
1300 - lookahead [changed to `look-ahead' in 1.875e through 2.3, but changed back]
1301 explicitly associate lookahead tokens to items
b408954b
AD
1302 - solved
1303 describe shift/reduce conflicts solving.
1304 Bison used to systematically output this information on top of
1305 the report. Solved conflicts are now attached to their states.
ec3bc396 1306
402b123d 1307** Type clashes
9af3fbce
AD
1308 Previous versions don't complain when there is a type clash on
1309 the default action if the rule has a mid-rule action, such as in:
1310
1311 %type <foo> bar
1312 %%
1313 bar: '0' {} '0';
1314
1315 This is fixed.
a861a339 1316
402b123d 1317** GNU M4 is now required when using Bison.
f987e9d2 1318\f
402b123d 1319* Changes in version 1.35, 2002-03-25:
76551463 1320
402b123d 1321** C Skeleton
76551463
AD
1322 Some projects use Bison's C parser with C++ compilers, and define
1323 YYSTYPE as a class. The recent adjustment of C parsers for data
1324 alignment and 64 bit architectures made this impossible.
1325
1326 Because for the time being no real solution for C++ parser
1327 generation exists, kludges were implemented in the parser to
1328 maintain this use. In the future, when Bison has C++ parsers, this
1329 kludge will be disabled.
1330
1331 This kludge also addresses some C++ problems when the stack was
1332 extended.
76551463 1333\f
402b123d 1334* Changes in version 1.34, 2002-03-12:
76551463 1335
402b123d 1336** File name clashes are detected
76551463
AD
1337 $ bison foo.y -d -o foo.x
1338 fatal error: header and parser would both be named `foo.x'
1339
402b123d 1340** A missing `;' at the end of a rule triggers a warning
76551463
AD
1341 In accordance with POSIX, and in agreement with other
1342 Yacc implementations, Bison will mandate this semicolon in the near
1343 future. This eases the implementation of a Bison parser of Bison
1344 grammars by making this grammar LALR(1) instead of LR(2). To
1345 facilitate the transition, this release introduces a warning.
1346
402b123d 1347** Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31, as they caused too
76551463
AD
1348 many portability hassles.
1349
402b123d 1350** DJGPP support added.
76551463 1351
402b123d 1352** Fix test suite portability problems.
76551463 1353\f
402b123d 1354* Changes in version 1.33, 2002-02-07:
76551463 1355
402b123d 1356** Fix C++ issues
76551463
AD
1357 Groff could not be compiled for the definition of size_t was lacking
1358 under some conditions.
1359
402b123d 1360** Catch invalid @n
76551463
AD
1361 As is done with $n.
1362\f
402b123d 1363* Changes in version 1.32, 2002-01-23:
76551463 1364
402b123d 1365** Fix Yacc output file names
76551463 1366
402b123d 1367** Portability fixes
76551463 1368
402b123d 1369** Italian, Dutch translations
76551463 1370\f
402b123d 1371* Changes in version 1.31, 2002-01-14:
52d1aeee 1372
402b123d 1373** Many Bug Fixes
52d1aeee 1374
402b123d 1375** GNU Gettext and %expect
52d1aeee
MA
1376 GNU Gettext asserts 10 s/r conflicts, but there are 7. Now that
1377 Bison dies on incorrect %expectations, we fear there will be
1378 too many bug reports for Gettext, so _for the time being_, %expect
1379 does not trigger an error when the input file is named `plural.y'.
1380
402b123d 1381** Use of alloca in parsers
52d1aeee
MA
1382 If YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA is defined to 0, then the parsers will use
1383 malloc exclusively. Since 1.29, but was not NEWS'ed.
1384
1385 alloca is used only when compiled with GCC, to avoid portability
1386 problems as on AIX.
1387
402b123d 1388** yyparse now returns 2 if memory is exhausted; formerly it dumped core.
b47dbebe 1389
402b123d 1390** When the generated parser lacks debugging code, YYDEBUG is now 0
52d1aeee
MA
1391 (as POSIX requires) instead of being undefined.
1392
402b123d 1393** User Actions
52d1aeee
MA
1394 Bison has always permitted actions such as { $$ = $1 }: it adds the
1395 ending semicolon. Now if in Yacc compatibility mode, the semicolon
1396 is no longer output: one has to write { $$ = $1; }.
1397
402b123d 1398** Better C++ compliance
52d1aeee 1399 The output parsers try to respect C++ namespaces.
76551463 1400 [This turned out to be a failed experiment, and it was reverted later.]
52d1aeee 1401
402b123d 1402** Reduced Grammars
52d1aeee
MA
1403 Fixed bugs when reporting useless nonterminals.
1404
402b123d 1405** 64 bit hosts
52d1aeee
MA
1406 The parsers work properly on 64 bit hosts.
1407
402b123d 1408** Error messages
52d1aeee
MA
1409 Some calls to strerror resulted in scrambled or missing error messages.
1410
402b123d 1411** %expect
52d1aeee
MA
1412 When the number of shift/reduce conflicts is correct, don't issue
1413 any warning.
1414
402b123d 1415** The verbose report includes the rule line numbers.
52d1aeee 1416
402b123d 1417** Rule line numbers are fixed in traces.
52d1aeee 1418
402b123d 1419** Swedish translation
52d1aeee 1420
402b123d 1421** Parse errors
52d1aeee
MA
1422 Verbose parse error messages from the parsers are better looking.
1423 Before: parse error: unexpected `'/'', expecting `"number"' or `'-'' or `'(''
1424 Now: parse error: unexpected '/', expecting "number" or '-' or '('
1425
402b123d 1426** Fixed parser memory leaks.
52d1aeee
MA
1427 When the generated parser was using malloc to extend its stacks, the
1428 previous allocations were not freed.
1429
402b123d 1430** Fixed verbose output file.
52d1aeee
MA
1431 Some newlines were missing.
1432 Some conflicts in state descriptions were missing.
1433
402b123d 1434** Fixed conflict report.
52d1aeee
MA
1435 Option -v was needed to get the result.
1436
402b123d 1437** %expect
52d1aeee
MA
1438 Was not used.
1439 Mismatches are errors, not warnings.
1440
402b123d 1441** Fixed incorrect processing of some invalid input.
52d1aeee 1442
402b123d 1443** Fixed CPP guards: 9foo.h uses BISON_9FOO_H instead of 9FOO_H.
52d1aeee 1444
402b123d 1445** Fixed some typos in the documentation.
52d1aeee 1446
402b123d 1447** %token MY_EOF 0 is supported.
52d1aeee
MA
1448 Before, MY_EOF was silently renumbered as 257.
1449
402b123d 1450** doc/refcard.tex is updated.
52d1aeee 1451
402b123d 1452** %output, %file-prefix, %name-prefix.
52d1aeee
MA
1453 New.
1454
402b123d 1455** --output
52d1aeee
MA
1456 New, aliasing `--output-file'.
1457\f
402b123d 1458* Changes in version 1.30, 2001-10-26:
342b8b6e 1459
402b123d 1460** `--defines' and `--graph' have now an optional argument which is the
fdac0091 1461 output file name. `-d' and `-g' do not change; they do not take any
342b8b6e
AD
1462 argument.
1463
402b123d 1464** `%source_extension' and `%header_extension' are removed, failed
342b8b6e
AD
1465 experiment.
1466
402b123d 1467** Portability fixes.
f987e9d2 1468\f
402b123d 1469* Changes in version 1.29, 2001-09-07:
342b8b6e 1470
402b123d 1471** The output file does not define const, as this caused problems when used
342b8b6e
AD
1472 with common autoconfiguration schemes. If you still use ancient compilers
1473 that lack const, compile with the equivalent of the C compiler option
1474 `-Dconst='. autoconf's AC_C_CONST macro provides one way to do this.
1475
402b123d 1476** Added `-g' and `--graph'.
f87a2205 1477
402b123d 1478** The Bison manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL.
f2b5126e 1479
402b123d 1480** The input and the output files has automatically a similar extension.
234a3be3 1481
402b123d 1482** Russian translation added.
f87a2205 1483
402b123d 1484** NLS support updated; should hopefully be less troublesome.
f87a2205 1485
402b123d 1486** Added the old Bison reference card.
c33638bb 1487
402b123d 1488** Added `--locations' and `%locations'.
6deb4447 1489
402b123d 1490** Added `-S' and `--skeleton'.
cd5bd6ac 1491
402b123d 1492** `%raw', `-r', `--raw' is disabled.
62ab6972 1493
402b123d 1494** Special characters are escaped when output. This solves the problems
cd5bd6ac
AD
1495 of the #line lines with path names including backslashes.
1496
402b123d 1497** New directives.
4ecbf796
MA
1498 `%yacc', `%fixed_output_files', `%defines', `%no_parser', `%verbose',
1499 `%debug', `%source_extension' and `%header_extension'.
f987e9d2 1500
402b123d 1501** @$
f987e9d2 1502 Automatic location tracking.
f87a2205 1503\f
402b123d 1504* Changes in version 1.28, 1999-07-06:
d2e00347 1505
402b123d 1506** Should compile better now with K&R compilers.
d2e00347 1507
402b123d 1508** Added NLS.
d2e00347 1509
402b123d 1510** Fixed a problem with escaping the double quote character.
d2e00347 1511
402b123d 1512** There is now a FAQ.
d2e00347 1513\f
402b123d 1514* Changes in version 1.27:
5c31c3c2 1515
402b123d 1516** The make rule which prevented bison.simple from being created on
5c31c3c2
JT
1517 some systems has been fixed.
1518\f
402b123d 1519* Changes in version 1.26:
4be07551 1520
402b123d 1521** Bison now uses automake.
4be07551 1522
402b123d 1523** New mailing lists: <bug-bison@gnu.org> and <help-bison@gnu.org>.
4be07551 1524
402b123d 1525** Token numbers now start at 257 as previously documented, not 258.
4be07551 1526
402b123d 1527** Bison honors the TMPDIR environment variable.
4be07551 1528
402b123d 1529** A couple of buffer overruns have been fixed.
f51dbca1 1530
402b123d 1531** Problems when closing files should now be reported.
f51dbca1 1532
402b123d 1533** Generated parsers should now work even on operating systems which do
f51dbca1 1534 not provide alloca().
4be07551 1535\f
402b123d 1536* Changes in version 1.25, 1995-10-16:
df8878c5 1537
402b123d 1538** Errors in the input grammar are not fatal; Bison keeps reading
df8878c5 1539the grammar file, and reports all the errors found in it.
8c44d3ec 1540
402b123d 1541** Tokens can now be specified as multiple-character strings: for
df8878c5
RS
1542example, you could use "<=" for a token which looks like <=, instead
1543of chosing a name like LESSEQ.
1544
402b123d 1545** The %token_table declaration says to write a table of tokens (names
df8878c5
RS
1546and numbers) into the parser file. The yylex function can use this
1547table to recognize multiple-character string tokens, or for other
1548purposes.
1549
402b123d 1550** The %no_lines declaration says not to generate any #line preprocessor
df8878c5
RS
1551directives in the parser file.
1552
402b123d 1553** The %raw declaration says to use internal Bison token numbers, not
df8878c5
RS
1554Yacc-compatible token numbers, when token names are defined as macros.
1555
402b123d 1556** The --no-parser option produces the parser tables without including
df8878c5
RS
1557the parser engine; a project can now use its own parser engine.
1558The actions go into a separate file called NAME.act, in the form of
1559a switch statement body.
1560\f
402b123d 1561* Changes in version 1.23:
6780ca7a 1562
4d019228
DM
1563The user can define YYPARSE_PARAM as the name of an argument to be
1564passed into yyparse. The argument should have type void *. It should
1565actually point to an object. Grammar actions can access the variable
1566by casting it to the proper pointer type.
6780ca7a 1567
6780ca7a 1568Line numbers in output file corrected.
6780ca7a 1569\f
402b123d 1570* Changes in version 1.22:
6780ca7a
DM
1571
1572--help option added.
6780ca7a 1573\f
402b123d 1574* Changes in version 1.20:
6780ca7a
DM
1575
1576Output file does not redefine const for C++.
9f4503d6
AD
1577
1578Local Variables:
1579mode: outline
1580End:
76551463
AD
1581
1582-----
1583
34136e65 1584Copyright (C) 1995-2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
76551463 1585
74553c98 1586This file is part of Bison, the GNU Parser Generator.
76551463 1587
f16b0819 1588This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
76551463 1589it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
f16b0819
PE
1590the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
1591(at your option) any later version.
76551463 1592
f16b0819 1593This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
76551463
AD
1594but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
1595MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
1596GNU General Public License for more details.
1597
1598You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
f16b0819 1599along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.