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1Bison News
2----------
3af4feb2 3
337116ba 4Changes in version 1.875e, 2004-12-10:
8dd162d3 5
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6* New directive: %initial-action.
7 This directive allows the user to run arbitrary code (including
8 initializing @$) from yyparse before parsing starts.
9
8dd162d3 10* The option `--report=lookahead' was changed to `--report=look-ahead'.
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11 The old spelling still works, but is not documented and will be
12 removed.
13
14* Error token location.
15 During error recovery, the location of the syntax error is updated
16 to cover the whole sequence covered by the error token: it includes
17 the shifted symbols thrown away during the first part of the error
18 recovery, and the lookahead rejected during the second part.
8dd162d3 19
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20* Goto numbers are no longer arbitrarily limited to 16-bit counts.
21
e476c87d 22Changes in version 1.875d, 2004-05-21:
1452af69 23
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24* Unescaped newlines are no longer allowed in character constants or
25 string literals. They were never portable, and GCC 3.4.0 has
26 dropped support for them. Better diagnostics are now generated if
27 forget a closing quote.
28
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29* NUL bytes are no longer allowed in Bison string literals, unfortunately.
30
31* %token numbers can now be hexadecimal integers, e.g., `%token FOO 0x12d'.
32 This is a GNU extension.
33
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34* A new directive "%expect-rr N" specifies the expected number of
35 reduce/reduce conflicts in GLR parsers.
36
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37* Experimental %destructor support has been added to lalr1.cc.
38
39Changes in version 1.875c, 2003-08-25:
40
41 (Just bug fixes.)
6040d338 42
3473d0f8 43Changes in version 1.875b, 2003-06-17:
d5a3fe37 44
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45* GLR grammars now support locations.
46
47* Semicolon changes:
48 - Semicolons are now allowed before "|" in grammar rules, as POSIX requires.
49 - Stray semicolons are no longer allowed at the start of a grammar.
50 - Semicolons are now required after in-grammar declarations.
829fd4c7 51
92898986 52Changes in version 1.875a, 2003-02-01:
d600ee67 53
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54* For now, %expect-count violations are now just warnings, not errors.
55 This is for compatibility with Bison 1.75 and earlier (when there are
69363a9e 56 reduce/reduce conflicts) and with Bison 1.30 and earlier (when there
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57 are too many or too few shift/reduce conflicts). However, in future
58 versions of Bison we plan to improve the %expect machinery so that
59 these violations will become errors again.
69363a9e 60
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61* New configure option --disable-yacc, to disable installation of the
62 yacc command and -ly library introduced in 1.875 for POSIX conformance.
63\f
dc546b0f 64Changes in version 1.875, 2003-01-01:
963fcc17 65
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66* The documentation license has been upgraded to version 1.2
67 of the GNU Free Documentation License.
75eb3bc4 68
dc546b0f 69* syntax error processing
75eb3bc4 70
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71 - In Yacc-style parsers YYLLOC_DEFAULT is now used to compute error
72 locations too. This fixes bugs in error-location computation.
75eb3bc4 73
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74 - %destructor
75 It is now possible to reclaim the memory associated to symbols
76 discarded during error recovery. This feature is still experimental.
20daca06 77
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78 - %error-verbose
79 This new directive is preferred over YYERROR_VERBOSE.
74724a70 80
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81 - #defining yyerror to steal internal variables is discouraged.
82 It is not guaranteed to work forever.
d1de5372 83
dc546b0f 84* POSIX conformance
d1de5372 85
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86 - Semicolons are once again optional at the end of grammar rules.
87 This reverts to the behavior of Bison 1.33 and earlier, and improves
88 compatibility with Yacc.
74724a70 89
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90 - `parse error' -> `syntax error'
91 Bison now uniformly uses the term `syntax error'; formerly, the code
92 and manual sometimes used the term `parse error' instead. POSIX
93 requires `syntax error' in diagnostics, and it was thought better to
94 be consistent.
74724a70 95
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96 - The documentation now emphasizes that yylex and yyerror must be
97 declared before use. C99 requires this.
d1de5372 98
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99 - Bison now parses C99 lexical constructs like UCNs and
100 backslash-newline within C escape sequences, as POSIX 1003.1-2001 requires.
d1de5372 101
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102 - File names are properly escaped in C output. E.g., foo\bar.y is
103 output as "foo\\bar.y".
6780ca7a 104
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105 - Yacc command and library now available
106 The Bison distribution now installs a `yacc' command, as POSIX requires.
107 Also, Bison now installs a small library liby.a containing
108 implementations of Yacc-compatible yyerror and main functions.
109 This library is normally not useful, but POSIX requires it.
6e649e65 110
dc546b0f 111 - Type clashes now generate warnings, not errors.
6e649e65 112
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113 - If the user does not define YYSTYPE as a macro, Bison now declares it
114 using typedef instead of defining it as a macro.
115 For consistency, YYLTYPE is also declared instead of defined.
9501dc6e 116
dc546b0f 117* Other compatibility issues
886a425c 118
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119 - %union directives can now have a tag before the `{', e.g., the
120 directive `%union foo {...}' now generates the C code
121 `typedef union foo { ... } YYSTYPE;'; this is for Yacc compatibility.
122 The default union tag is `YYSTYPE', for compatibility with Solaris 9 Yacc.
123 For consistency, YYLTYPE's struct tag is now `YYLTYPE' not `yyltype'.
124 This is for compatibility with both Yacc and Bison 1.35.
72f889cc 125
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126 - `;' is output before the terminating `}' of an action, for
127 compatibility with Bison 1.35.
886a425c 128
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129 - Bison now uses a Yacc-style format for conflict reports, e.g.,
130 `conflicts: 2 shift/reduce, 1 reduce/reduce'.
437c2d80 131
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132 - `yystype' and `yyltype' are now obsolescent macros instead of being
133 typedefs or tags; they are no longer documented and are planned to be
134 withdrawn in a future release.
2a8d363a 135
dc546b0f 136* GLR parser notes
2a8d363a 137
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138 - GLR and inline
139 Users of Bison have to decide how they handle the portability of the
140 C keyword `inline'.
959e5f51 141
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142 - `parsing stack overflow...' -> `parser stack overflow'
143 GLR parsers now report `parser stack overflow' as per the Bison manual.
900c5db5 144
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145* Bison now warns if it detects conflicting outputs to the same file,
146 e.g., it generates a warning for `bison -d -o foo.h foo.y' since
147 that command outputs both code and header to foo.h.
6e40b4eb 148
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149* #line in output files
150 - --no-line works properly.
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151
152* Bison can no longer be built by a K&R C compiler; it requires C89 or
153 later to be built. This change originally took place a few versions
154 ago, but nobody noticed until we recently asked someone to try
155 building Bison with a K&R C compiler.
d600ee67 156\f
5c16c6b1 157Changes in version 1.75, 2002-10-14:
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158
159* Bison should now work on 64-bit hosts.
160
b7195100 161* Indonesian translation thanks to Tedi Heriyanto.
7933f2b5 162
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163* GLR parsers
164 Fix spurious parse errors.
165
166* Pure parsers
167 Some people redefine yyerror to steal yyparse' private variables.
168 Reenable this trick until an official feature replaces it.
169
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170* Type Clashes
171 In agreement with POSIX and with other Yaccs, leaving a default
172 action is valid when $$ is untyped, and $1 typed:
173
174 untyped: ... typed;
175
176 but the converse remains an error:
177
178 typed: ... untyped;
179
180* Values of mid-rule actions
181 The following code:
182
183 foo: { ... } { $$ = $1; } ...
184
185 was incorrectly rejected: $1 is defined in the second mid-rule
186 action, and is equal to the $$ of the first mid-rule action.
d600ee67 187\f
420f93c8 188Changes in version 1.50, 2002-10-04:
adc8c848 189
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190* GLR parsing
191 The declaration
192 %glr-parser
193 causes Bison to produce a Generalized LR (GLR) parser, capable of handling
194 almost any context-free grammar, ambiguous or not. The new declarations
e8832397 195 %dprec and %merge on grammar rules allow parse-time resolution of
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196 ambiguities. Contributed by Paul Hilfinger.
197
7933f2b5 198 Unfortunately Bison 1.50 does not work properly on 64-bit hosts
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199 like the Alpha, so please stick to 32-bit hosts for now.
200
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201* Output Directory
202 When not in Yacc compatibility mode, when the output file was not
e88dbdbf 203 specified, running `bison foo/bar.y' created `foo/bar.c'. It
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204 now creates `bar.c'.
205
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206* Undefined token
207 The undefined token was systematically mapped to 2 which prevented
e88dbdbf 208 the use of 2 by the user. This is no longer the case.
007a50a4 209
77714df2 210* Unknown token numbers
e88dbdbf 211 If yylex returned an out of range value, yyparse could die. This is
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212 no longer the case.
213
23c5a174 214* Error token
e88dbdbf 215 According to POSIX, the error token must be 256.
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216 Bison extends this requirement by making it a preference: *if* the
217 user specified that one of her tokens is numbered 256, then error
218 will be mapped onto another number.
219
217598da 220* Verbose error messages
e88dbdbf 221 They no longer report `..., expecting error or...' for states where
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222 error recovery is possible.
223
224* End token
225 Defaults to `$end' instead of `$'.
226
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227* Error recovery now conforms to documentation and to POSIX
228 When a Bison-generated parser encounters a syntax error, it now pops
229 the stack until it finds a state that allows shifting the error
230 token. Formerly, it popped the stack until it found a state that
231 allowed some non-error action other than a default reduction on the
232 error token. The new behavior has long been the documented behavior,
233 and has long been required by POSIX. For more details, please see
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234 Paul Eggert, "Reductions during Bison error handling" (2002-05-20)
235 <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-bison/2002-05/msg00038.html>.
68cd8af3 236
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237* Traces
238 Popped tokens and nonterminals are now reported.
239
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240* Larger grammars
241 Larger grammars are now supported (larger token numbers, larger grammar
242 size (= sum of the LHS and RHS lengths), larger LALR tables).
243 Formerly, many of these numbers ran afoul of 16-bit limits;
244 now these limits are 32 bits on most hosts.
355e7c1c 245
77714df2 246* Explicit initial rule
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247 Bison used to play hacks with the initial rule, which the user does
248 not write. It is now explicit, and visible in the reports and
249 graphs as rule 0.
23c5a174 250
77714df2 251* Useless rules
643a5994 252 Before, Bison reported the useless rules, but, although not used,
77714df2 253 included them in the parsers. They are now actually removed.
23c5a174 254
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255* Useless rules, useless nonterminals
256 They are now reported, as a warning, with their locations.
257
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258* Rules never reduced
259 Rules that can never be reduced because of conflicts are now
260 reported.
261
77714df2 262* Incorrect `Token not used'
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263 On a grammar such as
264
265 %token useless useful
266 %%
267 exp: '0' %prec useful;
268
269 where a token was used to set the precedence of the last rule,
270 bison reported both `useful' and `useless' as useless tokens.
271
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272* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31
273 as they caused too many portability hassles.
0179dd65 274
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275* Default locations
276 By an accident of design, the default computation of @$ was
277 performed after another default computation was performed: @$ = @1.
278 The latter is now removed: YYLLOC_DEFAULT is fully responsible of
279 the computation of @$.
adc8c848 280
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281* Token end-of-file
282 The token end of file may be specified by the user, in which case,
283 the user symbol is used in the reports, the graphs, and the verbose
a861a339 284 error messages instead of `$end', which remains being the default.
b7c49edf 285 For instance
7bd6c77e 286 %token MYEOF 0
b7c49edf 287 or
7bd6c77e 288 %token MYEOF 0 "end of file"
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289
290* Semantic parser
291 This old option, which has been broken for ages, is removed.
292
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293* New translations
294 Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to Alexandre Folle de Menezes.
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295 Croatian, thanks to Denis Lackovic.
296
77714df2 297* Incorrect token definitions
e88dbdbf 298 When given `%token 'a' "A"', Bison used to output `#define 'a' 65'.
b87f8b21 299
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300* Token definitions as enums
301 Tokens are output both as the traditional #define's, and, provided
302 the compiler supports ANSI C or is a C++ compiler, as enums.
e88dbdbf 303 This lets debuggers display names instead of integers.
77714df2 304
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305* Reports
306 In addition to --verbose, bison supports --report=THINGS, which
307 produces additional information:
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308 - itemset
309 complete the core item sets with their closure
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310 - lookahead [changed to `look-ahead' in 1.875e and later]
311 explicitly associate look-ahead tokens to items
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312 - solved
313 describe shift/reduce conflicts solving.
314 Bison used to systematically output this information on top of
315 the report. Solved conflicts are now attached to their states.
ec3bc396 316
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317* Type clashes
318 Previous versions don't complain when there is a type clash on
319 the default action if the rule has a mid-rule action, such as in:
320
321 %type <foo> bar
322 %%
323 bar: '0' {} '0';
324
325 This is fixed.
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326
327* GNU M4 is now required when using Bison.
f987e9d2 328\f
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329Changes in version 1.35, 2002-03-25:
330
331* C Skeleton
332 Some projects use Bison's C parser with C++ compilers, and define
333 YYSTYPE as a class. The recent adjustment of C parsers for data
334 alignment and 64 bit architectures made this impossible.
335
336 Because for the time being no real solution for C++ parser
337 generation exists, kludges were implemented in the parser to
338 maintain this use. In the future, when Bison has C++ parsers, this
339 kludge will be disabled.
340
341 This kludge also addresses some C++ problems when the stack was
342 extended.
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343\f
344Changes in version 1.34, 2002-03-12:
345
346* File name clashes are detected
347 $ bison foo.y -d -o foo.x
348 fatal error: header and parser would both be named `foo.x'
349
350* A missing `;' at the end of a rule triggers a warning
351 In accordance with POSIX, and in agreement with other
352 Yacc implementations, Bison will mandate this semicolon in the near
353 future. This eases the implementation of a Bison parser of Bison
354 grammars by making this grammar LALR(1) instead of LR(2). To
355 facilitate the transition, this release introduces a warning.
356
357* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31, as they caused too
358 many portability hassles.
359
360* DJGPP support added.
361
362* Fix test suite portability problems.
363\f
364Changes in version 1.33, 2002-02-07:
365
366* Fix C++ issues
367 Groff could not be compiled for the definition of size_t was lacking
368 under some conditions.
369
370* Catch invalid @n
371 As is done with $n.
372\f
373Changes in version 1.32, 2002-01-23:
374
375* Fix Yacc output file names
376
377* Portability fixes
378
379* Italian, Dutch translations
380\f
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381Changes in version 1.31, 2002-01-14:
382
383* Many Bug Fixes
384
385* GNU Gettext and %expect
386 GNU Gettext asserts 10 s/r conflicts, but there are 7. Now that
387 Bison dies on incorrect %expectations, we fear there will be
388 too many bug reports for Gettext, so _for the time being_, %expect
389 does not trigger an error when the input file is named `plural.y'.
390
391* Use of alloca in parsers
392 If YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA is defined to 0, then the parsers will use
393 malloc exclusively. Since 1.29, but was not NEWS'ed.
394
395 alloca is used only when compiled with GCC, to avoid portability
396 problems as on AIX.
397
398* When the generated parser lacks debugging code, YYDEBUG is now 0
399 (as POSIX requires) instead of being undefined.
400
401* User Actions
402 Bison has always permitted actions such as { $$ = $1 }: it adds the
403 ending semicolon. Now if in Yacc compatibility mode, the semicolon
404 is no longer output: one has to write { $$ = $1; }.
405
406* Better C++ compliance
407 The output parsers try to respect C++ namespaces.
76551463 408 [This turned out to be a failed experiment, and it was reverted later.]
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409
410* Reduced Grammars
411 Fixed bugs when reporting useless nonterminals.
412
413* 64 bit hosts
414 The parsers work properly on 64 bit hosts.
415
416* Error messages
417 Some calls to strerror resulted in scrambled or missing error messages.
418
419* %expect
420 When the number of shift/reduce conflicts is correct, don't issue
421 any warning.
422
423* The verbose report includes the rule line numbers.
424
425* Rule line numbers are fixed in traces.
426
427* Swedish translation
428
429* Parse errors
430 Verbose parse error messages from the parsers are better looking.
431 Before: parse error: unexpected `'/'', expecting `"number"' or `'-'' or `'(''
432 Now: parse error: unexpected '/', expecting "number" or '-' or '('
433
434* Fixed parser memory leaks.
435 When the generated parser was using malloc to extend its stacks, the
436 previous allocations were not freed.
437
438* Fixed verbose output file.
439 Some newlines were missing.
440 Some conflicts in state descriptions were missing.
441
442* Fixed conflict report.
443 Option -v was needed to get the result.
444
445* %expect
446 Was not used.
447 Mismatches are errors, not warnings.
448
449* Fixed incorrect processing of some invalid input.
450
451* Fixed CPP guards: 9foo.h uses BISON_9FOO_H instead of 9FOO_H.
452
453* Fixed some typos in the documentation.
454
455* %token MY_EOF 0 is supported.
456 Before, MY_EOF was silently renumbered as 257.
457
458* doc/refcard.tex is updated.
459
460* %output, %file-prefix, %name-prefix.
461 New.
462
463* --output
464 New, aliasing `--output-file'.
465\f
76551463 466Changes in version 1.30, 2001-10-26:
342b8b6e 467
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468* `--defines' and `--graph' have now an optional argument which is the
469 output file name. `-d' and `-g' do not change; they do not take any
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470 argument.
471
472* `%source_extension' and `%header_extension' are removed, failed
473 experiment.
474
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475* Portability fixes.
476\f
9f4503d6 477Changes in version 1.29, 2001-09-07:
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478
479* The output file does not define const, as this caused problems when used
480 with common autoconfiguration schemes. If you still use ancient compilers
481 that lack const, compile with the equivalent of the C compiler option
482 `-Dconst='. autoconf's AC_C_CONST macro provides one way to do this.
483
484* Added `-g' and `--graph'.
f87a2205 485
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486* The Bison manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL.
487
f1c63ced 488* The input and the output files has automatically a similar extension.
234a3be3 489
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490* Russian translation added.
491
492* NLS support updated; should hopefully be less troublesome.
493
494* Added the old Bison reference card.
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495
496* Added `--locations' and `%locations'.
6deb4447 497
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498* Added `-S' and `--skeleton'.
499
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500* `%raw', `-r', `--raw' is disabled.
501
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502* Special characters are escaped when output. This solves the problems
503 of the #line lines with path names including backslashes.
504
6deb4447 505* New directives.
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506 `%yacc', `%fixed_output_files', `%defines', `%no_parser', `%verbose',
507 `%debug', `%source_extension' and `%header_extension'.
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508
509* @$
510 Automatic location tracking.
f87a2205 511\f
9f4503d6 512Changes in version 1.28, 1999-07-06:
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513
514* Should compile better now with K&R compilers.
515
516* Added NLS.
517
518* Fixed a problem with escaping the double quote character.
519
520* There is now a FAQ.
521\f
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522Changes in version 1.27:
523
524* The make rule which prevented bison.simple from being created on
525 some systems has been fixed.
526\f
527Changes in version 1.26:
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528
529* Bison now uses automake.
530
531* New mailing lists: <bug-bison@gnu.org> and <help-bison@gnu.org>.
532
533* Token numbers now start at 257 as previously documented, not 258.
534
535* Bison honors the TMPDIR environment variable.
536
537* A couple of buffer overruns have been fixed.
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538
539* Problems when closing files should now be reported.
540
541* Generated parsers should now work even on operating systems which do
542 not provide alloca().
4be07551 543\f
9f4503d6 544Changes in version 1.25, 1995-10-16:
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545
546* Errors in the input grammar are not fatal; Bison keeps reading
547the grammar file, and reports all the errors found in it.
8c44d3ec 548
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549* Tokens can now be specified as multiple-character strings: for
550example, you could use "<=" for a token which looks like <=, instead
551of chosing a name like LESSEQ.
552
553* The %token_table declaration says to write a table of tokens (names
554and numbers) into the parser file. The yylex function can use this
555table to recognize multiple-character string tokens, or for other
556purposes.
557
558* The %no_lines declaration says not to generate any #line preprocessor
559directives in the parser file.
560
561* The %raw declaration says to use internal Bison token numbers, not
562Yacc-compatible token numbers, when token names are defined as macros.
563
564* The --no-parser option produces the parser tables without including
565the parser engine; a project can now use its own parser engine.
566The actions go into a separate file called NAME.act, in the form of
567a switch statement body.
568\f
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569Changes in version 1.23:
570
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571The user can define YYPARSE_PARAM as the name of an argument to be
572passed into yyparse. The argument should have type void *. It should
573actually point to an object. Grammar actions can access the variable
574by casting it to the proper pointer type.
6780ca7a 575
6780ca7a 576Line numbers in output file corrected.
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577\f
578Changes in version 1.22:
579
580--help option added.
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581\f
582Changes in version 1.20:
583
584Output file does not redefine const for C++.
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585
586Local Variables:
587mode: outline
588End:
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589
590-----
591
1452af69 592Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
dc546b0f 593Free Software Foundation, Inc.
76551463 594
75eb3bc4 595This file is part of Bison, the GNU Compiler Compiler.
76551463 596
75eb3bc4 597Bison is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
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598it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
599the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
600any later version.
601
75eb3bc4 602Bison is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
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603but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
604MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
605GNU General Public License for more details.
606
607You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
608along with autoconf; see the file COPYING. If not, write to
609the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
610Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.