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Don't apply the default %destructor/%printer to an unreferenced midrule
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4Changes in version 2.3a+ (????-??-??):
5
6* The -g and --graph options now output graphs in Graphviz DOT format,
7 not VCG format.
8
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9* The Yacc prologue alternatives from Bison 2.3a have been rewritten as the
10 following directives:
11
12 1. %code {CODE}
13
14 Other than semantic actions, this is probably the most common place you
15 should write verbatim code for the parser implementation. For C/C++, it
16 replaces the traditional Yacc prologue, `%{CODE%}', for most purposes.
17 For Java, it inserts your CODE into the parser class. Compare with:
18
19 - `%{CODE%}' appearing after the first `%union {CODE}' in a C/C++
20 based grammar file. While Bison will continue to support `%{CODE%}'
21 for backward compatibility, `%code {CODE}' is cleaner as its
22 functionality does not depend on its position in the grammar file
23 relative to any `%union {CODE}'. Specifically, `%code {CODE}'
24 always inserts your CODE into the parser code file after the usual
25 contents of the parser header file.
26 - `%after-header {CODE}', which only Bison 2.3a supported.
27
28 2. %requires {CODE}
29
30 This is the right place to write dependency code for externally exposed
31 definitions required by Bison. For C/C++, such exposed definitions are
32 those usually appearing in the parser header file. Thus, this is the
33 right place to define types referenced in `%union {CODE}' directives,
34 and it is the right place to override Bison's default YYSTYPE and
35 YYLTYPE definitions. For Java, this is the right place to write import
36 directives. Compare with:
37
38 - `%{CODE%}' appearing before the first `%union {CODE}' in a C/C++
39 based grammar file. Unlike `%{CODE%}', `%requires {CODE}' inserts
40 your CODE both into the parser code file and into the parser header
41 file since Bison's required definitions should depend on it in both
42 places.
43 - `%start-header {CODE}', which only Bison 2.3a supported.
44
45 3. %provides {CODE}
46
47 This is the right place to write additional definitions you would like
48 Bison to expose externally. For C/C++, this directive inserts your CODE
49 both into the parser header file and into the parser code file after
50 Bison's required definitions. For Java, it inserts your CODE into the
51 parser java file after the parser class. Compare with:
52
53 - `%end-header {CODE}', which only Bison 2.3a supported.
54
55 4. %code-top {CODE}
56
57 Occasionally for C/C++ it is desirable to insert code near the top of
58 the parser code file. For example:
59
60 %code-top {
61 #define _GNU_SOURCE
62 #include <stdio.h>
63 }
64
65 For Java, `%code-top {CODE}' is currently unused. Compare with:
66
67 - `%{CODE%}' appearing before the first `%union {CODE}' in a C/C++
68 based grammar file. `%code-top {CODE}' is cleaner as its
69 functionality does not depend on its position in the grammar file
70 relative to any `%union {CODE}'.
71 - `%before-header {CODE}', which only Bison 2.3a supported.
72
73 If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above four directives,
74 Bison will concatenate the contents in the order they appear in the grammar
75 file.
76
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77 Also see the new section `Prologue Alternatives' in the Bison manual.
78
21fe08ca 79Changes in version 2.3a, 2006-09-13:
742e4900 80
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81* Instead of %union, you can define and use your own union type
82 YYSTYPE if your grammar contains at least one <type> tag.
83 Your YYSTYPE need not be a macro; it can be a typedef.
84 This change is for compatibility with other Yacc implementations,
85 and is required by POSIX.
86
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87* Locations columns and lines start at 1.
88 In accordance with the GNU Coding Standards and Emacs.
89
b2a0b7ca 90* You may now declare per-type and default %destructor's and %printer's:
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91
92 For example:
93
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94 %union { char *string; }
95 %token <string> STRING1
96 %token <string> STRING2
97 %type <string> string1
98 %type <string> string2
99 %union { char character; }
100 %token <character> CHR
101 %type <character> chr
102 %destructor { free ($$); } %symbol-default
103 %destructor { free ($$); printf ("%d", @$.first_line); } STRING1 string1
104 %destructor { } <character>
105
106 guarantees that, when the parser discards any user-defined symbol that has a
107 semantic type tag other than `<character>', it passes its semantic value to
108 `free'. However, when the parser discards a `STRING1' or a `string1', it
109 also prints its line number to `stdout'. It performs only the second
110 `%destructor' in this case, so it invokes `free' only once.
ec5479ce 111
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112* Except for LALR(1) parsers in C with POSIX Yacc emulation enabled (with `-y',
113 `--yacc', or `%yacc'), Bison no longer generates #define statements for
114 associating token numbers with token names. Removing the #define statements
115 helps to sanitize the global namespace during preprocessing, but POSIX Yacc
116 requires them. Bison still generates an enum for token names in all cases.
117
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118* Handling of traditional Yacc prologue blocks is now more consistent but
119 potentially incompatible with previous releases of Bison.
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120
121 As before, you declare prologue blocks in your grammar file with the
122 `%{ ... %}' syntax. To generate the pre-prologue, Bison concatenates all
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123 prologue blocks that you've declared before the first %union. To generate
124 the post-prologue, Bison concatenates all prologue blocks that you've
ddc8ede1 125 declared after the first %union.
9bc0dd67 126
34f98f46 127 Previous releases of Bison inserted the pre-prologue into both the header
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128 file and the code file in all cases except for LALR(1) parsers in C. In the
129 latter case, Bison inserted it only into the code file. For parsers in C++,
130 the point of insertion was before any token definitions (which associate
131 token numbers with names). For parsers in C, the point of insertion was
132 after the token definitions.
133
134 Now, Bison never inserts the pre-prologue into the header file. In the code
135 file, it always inserts it before the token definitions.
136
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137* Bison now provides a more flexible alternative to the traditional Yacc
138 prologue blocks: %before-header, %start-header, %end-header, and
139 %after-header.
140
141 For example, the following declaration order in the grammar file reflects the
142 order in which Bison will output these code blocks. However, you are free to
143 declare these code blocks in your grammar file in whatever order is most
144 convenient for you:
145
146 %before-header {
147 /* Bison treats this block like a pre-prologue block: it inserts it into
148 * the code file before the contents of the header file. It does *not*
149 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to put
150 * #include's that you want at the top of your code file. A common
151 * example is `#include "system.h"'. */
152 }
153 %start-header {
154 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
155 * In both files, the point of insertion is before any Bison-generated
156 * token, semantic type, location type, and class definitions. This is a
157 * good place to define %union dependencies, for example. */
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158 }
159 %union {
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160 /* Unlike the traditional Yacc prologue blocks, the output order for the
161 * new %*-header blocks is not affected by their declaration position
162 * relative to any %union in the grammar file. */
9bc0dd67 163 }
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164 %end-header {
165 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
166 * In both files, the point of insertion is after the Bison-generated
167 * definitions. This is a good place to declare or define public
168 * functions or data structures that depend on the Bison-generated
169 * definitions. */
9bc0dd67 170 }
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171 %after-header {
172 /* Bison treats this block like a post-prologue block: it inserts it into
173 * the code file after the contents of the header file. It does *not*
174 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to declare or
175 * define internal functions or data structures that depend on the
176 * Bison-generated definitions. */
177 }
178
179 If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above declarations, Bison
180 will concatenate the contents in declaration order.
9bc0dd67 181
742e4900 182* The option `--report=look-ahead' has been changed to `--report=lookahead'.
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183 The old spelling still works, but is not documented and may be removed
184 in a future release.
742e4900 185
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186Changes in version 2.3, 2006-06-05:
187
188* GLR grammars should now use `YYRECOVERING ()' instead of `YYRECOVERING',
189 for compatibility with LALR(1) grammars.
190
191* It is now documented that any definition of YYSTYPE or YYLTYPE should
192 be to a type name that does not contain parentheses or brackets.
193
ab8d9dc5 194Changes in version 2.2, 2006-05-19:
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195
196* The distribution terms for all Bison-generated parsers now permit
197 using the parsers in nonfree programs. Previously, this permission
198 was granted only for Bison-generated LALR(1) parsers in C.
5f4236a0 199
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200* %name-prefix changes the namespace name in C++ outputs.
201
202* The C++ parsers export their token_type.
5f4236a0 203
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204* Bison now allows multiple %union declarations, and concatenates
205 their contents together.
206
affac613 207* New warning: unused values
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208 Right-hand side symbols whose values are not used are reported,
209 if the symbols have destructors. For instance:
affac613 210
8f3596a6 211 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; }
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212 | exp "+" exp
213 ;
affac613 214
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215 will trigger a warning about $$ and $5 in the first rule, and $3 in
216 the second ($1 is copied to $$ by the default rule). This example
4e26c69e 217 most likely contains three errors, and could be rewritten as:
affac613 218
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219 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp
220 { $$ = $1 ? $3 : $5; free ($1 ? $5 : $3); free ($1); }
221 | exp "+" exp
222 { $$ = $1 ? $1 : $3; if ($1) free ($3); }
721be13c 223 ;
affac613 224
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225 However, if the original actions were really intended, memory leaks
226 and all, the warnings can be suppressed by letting Bison believe the
227 values are used, e.g.:
721be13c 228
8f3596a6 229 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; (void) ($$, $5); }
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230 | exp "+" exp { $$ = $1; (void) $3; }
231 ;
232
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233 If there are mid-rule actions, the warning is issued if no action
234 uses it. The following triggers no warning: $1 and $3 are used.
235
236 exp: exp { push ($1); } '+' exp { push ($3); sum (); };
237
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238 The warning is intended to help catching lost values and memory leaks.
239 If a value is ignored, its associated memory typically is not reclaimed.
affac613 240
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241* %destructor vs. YYABORT, YYACCEPT, and YYERROR.
242 Destructors are now called when user code invokes YYABORT, YYACCEPT,
243 and YYERROR, for all objects on the stack, other than objects
244 corresponding to the right-hand side of the current rule.
a85284cf 245
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246* %expect, %expect-rr
247 Incorrect numbers of expected conflicts are now actual errors,
248 instead of warnings.
249
4b367315 250* GLR, YACC parsers.
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251 The %parse-params are available in the destructors (and the
252 experimental printers) as per the documentation.
4b367315 253
302c0aee 254* Bison now warns if it finds a stray `$' or `@' in an action.
ad6a9b97 255
b50d2359 256* %require "VERSION"
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257 This specifies that the grammar file depends on features implemented
258 in Bison version VERSION or higher.
b50d2359 259
fb9712a9 260* lalr1.cc: The token and value types are now class members.
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261 The tokens were defined as free form enums and cpp macros. YYSTYPE
262 was defined as a free form union. They are now class members:
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263 tokens are enumerations of the `yy::parser::token' struct, and the
264 semantic values have the `yy::parser::semantic_type' type.
265
266 If you do not want or can update to this scheme, the directive
267 `%define "global_tokens_and_yystype" "1"' triggers the global
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268 definition of tokens and YYSTYPE. This change is suitable both
269 for previous releases of Bison, and this one.
fb9712a9 270
b50d2359 271 If you wish to update, then make sure older version of Bison will
ab8d9dc5 272 fail using `%require "2.2"'.
fb9712a9 273
302c0aee 274* DJGPP support added.
193d7c70 275\f
1bd0deda 276Changes in version 2.1, 2005-09-16:
1ce59070 277
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278* The C++ lalr1.cc skeleton supports %lex-param.
279
a7db4add 280* Bison-generated parsers now support the translation of diagnostics like
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281 "syntax error" into languages other than English. The default
282 language is still English. For details, please see the new
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283 Internationalization section of the Bison manual. Software
284 distributors should also see the new PACKAGING file. Thanks to
285 Bruno Haible for this new feature.
1ce59070 286
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287* Wording in the Bison-generated parsers has been changed slightly to
288 simplify translation. In particular, the message "memory exhausted"
289 has replaced "parser stack overflow", as the old message was not
290 always accurate for modern Bison-generated parsers.
291
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292* Destructors are now called when the parser aborts, for all symbols left
293 behind on the stack. Also, the start symbol is now destroyed after a
294 successful parse. In both cases, the behavior was formerly inconsistent.
295
a7db4add 296* When generating verbose diagnostics, Bison-generated parsers no longer
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297 quote the literal strings associated with tokens. For example, for
298 a syntax error associated with '%token NUM "number"' they might
299 print 'syntax error, unexpected number' instead of 'syntax error,
300 unexpected "number"'.
193d7c70 301\f
82de6b0d 302Changes in version 2.0, 2004-12-25:
efeed023 303
82de6b0d 304* Possibly-incompatible changes
d7e14fc0 305
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306 - Bison-generated parsers no longer default to using the alloca function
307 (when available) to extend the parser stack, due to widespread
308 problems in unchecked stack-overflow detection. You can "#define
309 YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA 1" to require the use of alloca, but please read
310 the manual to determine safe values for YYMAXDEPTH in that case.
8dd162d3 311
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312 - Error token location.
313 During error recovery, the location of the syntax error is updated
314 to cover the whole sequence covered by the error token: it includes
315 the shifted symbols thrown away during the first part of the error
316 recovery, and the lookahead rejected during the second part.
18d192f0 317
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318 - Semicolon changes:
319 . Stray semicolons are no longer allowed at the start of a grammar.
320 . Semicolons are now required after in-grammar declarations.
e342c3be 321
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322 - Unescaped newlines are no longer allowed in character constants or
323 string literals. They were never portable, and GCC 3.4.0 has
324 dropped support for them. Better diagnostics are now generated if
325 forget a closing quote.
8dd162d3 326
82de6b0d 327 - NUL bytes are no longer allowed in Bison string literals, unfortunately.
f74b6f91 328
82de6b0d 329* New features
1452af69 330
82de6b0d 331 - GLR grammars now support locations.
4febdd96 332
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333 - New directive: %initial-action.
334 This directive allows the user to run arbitrary code (including
335 initializing @$) from yyparse before parsing starts.
1452af69 336
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337 - A new directive "%expect-rr N" specifies the expected number of
338 reduce/reduce conflicts in GLR parsers.
1452af69 339
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340 - %token numbers can now be hexadecimal integers, e.g., `%token FOO 0x12d'.
341 This is a GNU extension.
4febdd96 342
82de6b0d 343 - The option `--report=lookahead' was changed to `--report=look-ahead'.
9e6e7ed2 344 [However, this was changed back after 2.3.]
1452af69 345
82de6b0d 346 - Experimental %destructor support has been added to lalr1.cc.
1452af69 347
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348 - New configure option --disable-yacc, to disable installation of the
349 yacc command and -ly library introduced in 1.875 for POSIX conformance.
6040d338 350
82de6b0d 351* Bug fixes
d5a3fe37 352
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353 - For now, %expect-count violations are now just warnings, not errors.
354 This is for compatibility with Bison 1.75 and earlier (when there are
355 reduce/reduce conflicts) and with Bison 1.30 and earlier (when there
356 are too many or too few shift/reduce conflicts). However, in future
357 versions of Bison we plan to improve the %expect machinery so that
358 these violations will become errors again.
3473d0f8 359
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360 - Within Bison itself, numbers (e.g., goto numbers) are no longer
361 arbitrarily limited to 16-bit counts.
d600ee67 362
82de6b0d 363 - Semicolons are now allowed before "|" in grammar rules, as POSIX requires.
d600ee67 364\f
dc546b0f 365Changes in version 1.875, 2003-01-01:
963fcc17 366
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367* The documentation license has been upgraded to version 1.2
368 of the GNU Free Documentation License.
75eb3bc4 369
dc546b0f 370* syntax error processing
75eb3bc4 371
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372 - In Yacc-style parsers YYLLOC_DEFAULT is now used to compute error
373 locations too. This fixes bugs in error-location computation.
75eb3bc4 374
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375 - %destructor
376 It is now possible to reclaim the memory associated to symbols
377 discarded during error recovery. This feature is still experimental.
20daca06 378
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379 - %error-verbose
380 This new directive is preferred over YYERROR_VERBOSE.
74724a70 381
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382 - #defining yyerror to steal internal variables is discouraged.
383 It is not guaranteed to work forever.
d1de5372 384
dc546b0f 385* POSIX conformance
d1de5372 386
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387 - Semicolons are once again optional at the end of grammar rules.
388 This reverts to the behavior of Bison 1.33 and earlier, and improves
389 compatibility with Yacc.
74724a70 390
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391 - `parse error' -> `syntax error'
392 Bison now uniformly uses the term `syntax error'; formerly, the code
393 and manual sometimes used the term `parse error' instead. POSIX
394 requires `syntax error' in diagnostics, and it was thought better to
395 be consistent.
74724a70 396
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397 - The documentation now emphasizes that yylex and yyerror must be
398 declared before use. C99 requires this.
d1de5372 399
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400 - Bison now parses C99 lexical constructs like UCNs and
401 backslash-newline within C escape sequences, as POSIX 1003.1-2001 requires.
d1de5372 402
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403 - File names are properly escaped in C output. E.g., foo\bar.y is
404 output as "foo\\bar.y".
6780ca7a 405
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406 - Yacc command and library now available
407 The Bison distribution now installs a `yacc' command, as POSIX requires.
408 Also, Bison now installs a small library liby.a containing
409 implementations of Yacc-compatible yyerror and main functions.
410 This library is normally not useful, but POSIX requires it.
6e649e65 411
dc546b0f 412 - Type clashes now generate warnings, not errors.
6e649e65 413
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414 - If the user does not define YYSTYPE as a macro, Bison now declares it
415 using typedef instead of defining it as a macro.
416 For consistency, YYLTYPE is also declared instead of defined.
9501dc6e 417
dc546b0f 418* Other compatibility issues
886a425c 419
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420 - %union directives can now have a tag before the `{', e.g., the
421 directive `%union foo {...}' now generates the C code
422 `typedef union foo { ... } YYSTYPE;'; this is for Yacc compatibility.
423 The default union tag is `YYSTYPE', for compatibility with Solaris 9 Yacc.
424 For consistency, YYLTYPE's struct tag is now `YYLTYPE' not `yyltype'.
425 This is for compatibility with both Yacc and Bison 1.35.
72f889cc 426
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427 - `;' is output before the terminating `}' of an action, for
428 compatibility with Bison 1.35.
886a425c 429
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430 - Bison now uses a Yacc-style format for conflict reports, e.g.,
431 `conflicts: 2 shift/reduce, 1 reduce/reduce'.
437c2d80 432
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433 - `yystype' and `yyltype' are now obsolescent macros instead of being
434 typedefs or tags; they are no longer documented and are planned to be
435 withdrawn in a future release.
2a8d363a 436
dc546b0f 437* GLR parser notes
2a8d363a 438
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439 - GLR and inline
440 Users of Bison have to decide how they handle the portability of the
441 C keyword `inline'.
959e5f51 442
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443 - `parsing stack overflow...' -> `parser stack overflow'
444 GLR parsers now report `parser stack overflow' as per the Bison manual.
900c5db5 445
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446* Bison now warns if it detects conflicting outputs to the same file,
447 e.g., it generates a warning for `bison -d -o foo.h foo.y' since
448 that command outputs both code and header to foo.h.
6e40b4eb 449
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450* #line in output files
451 - --no-line works properly.
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452
453* Bison can no longer be built by a K&R C compiler; it requires C89 or
454 later to be built. This change originally took place a few versions
455 ago, but nobody noticed until we recently asked someone to try
456 building Bison with a K&R C compiler.
d600ee67 457\f
5c16c6b1 458Changes in version 1.75, 2002-10-14:
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459
460* Bison should now work on 64-bit hosts.
461
b7195100 462* Indonesian translation thanks to Tedi Heriyanto.
7933f2b5 463
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464* GLR parsers
465 Fix spurious parse errors.
466
467* Pure parsers
468 Some people redefine yyerror to steal yyparse' private variables.
469 Reenable this trick until an official feature replaces it.
470
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471* Type Clashes
472 In agreement with POSIX and with other Yaccs, leaving a default
473 action is valid when $$ is untyped, and $1 typed:
474
475 untyped: ... typed;
476
477 but the converse remains an error:
478
479 typed: ... untyped;
480
481* Values of mid-rule actions
482 The following code:
483
484 foo: { ... } { $$ = $1; } ...
485
486 was incorrectly rejected: $1 is defined in the second mid-rule
487 action, and is equal to the $$ of the first mid-rule action.
d600ee67 488\f
420f93c8 489Changes in version 1.50, 2002-10-04:
adc8c848 490
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491* GLR parsing
492 The declaration
493 %glr-parser
494 causes Bison to produce a Generalized LR (GLR) parser, capable of handling
495 almost any context-free grammar, ambiguous or not. The new declarations
e8832397 496 %dprec and %merge on grammar rules allow parse-time resolution of
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497 ambiguities. Contributed by Paul Hilfinger.
498
7933f2b5 499 Unfortunately Bison 1.50 does not work properly on 64-bit hosts
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500 like the Alpha, so please stick to 32-bit hosts for now.
501
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502* Output Directory
503 When not in Yacc compatibility mode, when the output file was not
e88dbdbf 504 specified, running `bison foo/bar.y' created `foo/bar.c'. It
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505 now creates `bar.c'.
506
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507* Undefined token
508 The undefined token was systematically mapped to 2 which prevented
e88dbdbf 509 the use of 2 by the user. This is no longer the case.
007a50a4 510
77714df2 511* Unknown token numbers
e88dbdbf 512 If yylex returned an out of range value, yyparse could die. This is
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513 no longer the case.
514
23c5a174 515* Error token
e88dbdbf 516 According to POSIX, the error token must be 256.
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517 Bison extends this requirement by making it a preference: *if* the
518 user specified that one of her tokens is numbered 256, then error
519 will be mapped onto another number.
520
217598da 521* Verbose error messages
e88dbdbf 522 They no longer report `..., expecting error or...' for states where
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523 error recovery is possible.
524
525* End token
526 Defaults to `$end' instead of `$'.
527
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528* Error recovery now conforms to documentation and to POSIX
529 When a Bison-generated parser encounters a syntax error, it now pops
530 the stack until it finds a state that allows shifting the error
531 token. Formerly, it popped the stack until it found a state that
532 allowed some non-error action other than a default reduction on the
533 error token. The new behavior has long been the documented behavior,
534 and has long been required by POSIX. For more details, please see
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535 Paul Eggert, "Reductions during Bison error handling" (2002-05-20)
536 <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-bison/2002-05/msg00038.html>.
68cd8af3 537
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538* Traces
539 Popped tokens and nonterminals are now reported.
540
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541* Larger grammars
542 Larger grammars are now supported (larger token numbers, larger grammar
543 size (= sum of the LHS and RHS lengths), larger LALR tables).
544 Formerly, many of these numbers ran afoul of 16-bit limits;
545 now these limits are 32 bits on most hosts.
355e7c1c 546
77714df2 547* Explicit initial rule
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548 Bison used to play hacks with the initial rule, which the user does
549 not write. It is now explicit, and visible in the reports and
550 graphs as rule 0.
23c5a174 551
77714df2 552* Useless rules
643a5994 553 Before, Bison reported the useless rules, but, although not used,
77714df2 554 included them in the parsers. They are now actually removed.
23c5a174 555
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556* Useless rules, useless nonterminals
557 They are now reported, as a warning, with their locations.
558
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559* Rules never reduced
560 Rules that can never be reduced because of conflicts are now
561 reported.
562
77714df2 563* Incorrect `Token not used'
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564 On a grammar such as
565
566 %token useless useful
567 %%
568 exp: '0' %prec useful;
569
570 where a token was used to set the precedence of the last rule,
571 bison reported both `useful' and `useless' as useless tokens.
572
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573* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31
574 as they caused too many portability hassles.
0179dd65 575
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576* Default locations
577 By an accident of design, the default computation of @$ was
578 performed after another default computation was performed: @$ = @1.
579 The latter is now removed: YYLLOC_DEFAULT is fully responsible of
580 the computation of @$.
adc8c848 581
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582* Token end-of-file
583 The token end of file may be specified by the user, in which case,
584 the user symbol is used in the reports, the graphs, and the verbose
a861a339 585 error messages instead of `$end', which remains being the default.
b7c49edf 586 For instance
7bd6c77e 587 %token MYEOF 0
b7c49edf 588 or
7bd6c77e 589 %token MYEOF 0 "end of file"
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590
591* Semantic parser
592 This old option, which has been broken for ages, is removed.
593
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594* New translations
595 Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to Alexandre Folle de Menezes.
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596 Croatian, thanks to Denis Lackovic.
597
77714df2 598* Incorrect token definitions
e88dbdbf 599 When given `%token 'a' "A"', Bison used to output `#define 'a' 65'.
b87f8b21 600
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601* Token definitions as enums
602 Tokens are output both as the traditional #define's, and, provided
603 the compiler supports ANSI C or is a C++ compiler, as enums.
e88dbdbf 604 This lets debuggers display names instead of integers.
77714df2 605
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606* Reports
607 In addition to --verbose, bison supports --report=THINGS, which
608 produces additional information:
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609 - itemset
610 complete the core item sets with their closure
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611 - lookahead [changed to `look-ahead' in 1.875e through 2.3, but changed back]
612 explicitly associate lookahead tokens to items
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613 - solved
614 describe shift/reduce conflicts solving.
615 Bison used to systematically output this information on top of
616 the report. Solved conflicts are now attached to their states.
ec3bc396 617
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618* Type clashes
619 Previous versions don't complain when there is a type clash on
620 the default action if the rule has a mid-rule action, such as in:
621
622 %type <foo> bar
623 %%
624 bar: '0' {} '0';
625
626 This is fixed.
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627
628* GNU M4 is now required when using Bison.
f987e9d2 629\f
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630Changes in version 1.35, 2002-03-25:
631
632* C Skeleton
633 Some projects use Bison's C parser with C++ compilers, and define
634 YYSTYPE as a class. The recent adjustment of C parsers for data
635 alignment and 64 bit architectures made this impossible.
636
637 Because for the time being no real solution for C++ parser
638 generation exists, kludges were implemented in the parser to
639 maintain this use. In the future, when Bison has C++ parsers, this
640 kludge will be disabled.
641
642 This kludge also addresses some C++ problems when the stack was
643 extended.
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644\f
645Changes in version 1.34, 2002-03-12:
646
647* File name clashes are detected
648 $ bison foo.y -d -o foo.x
649 fatal error: header and parser would both be named `foo.x'
650
651* A missing `;' at the end of a rule triggers a warning
652 In accordance with POSIX, and in agreement with other
653 Yacc implementations, Bison will mandate this semicolon in the near
654 future. This eases the implementation of a Bison parser of Bison
655 grammars by making this grammar LALR(1) instead of LR(2). To
656 facilitate the transition, this release introduces a warning.
657
658* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31, as they caused too
659 many portability hassles.
660
661* DJGPP support added.
662
663* Fix test suite portability problems.
664\f
665Changes in version 1.33, 2002-02-07:
666
667* Fix C++ issues
668 Groff could not be compiled for the definition of size_t was lacking
669 under some conditions.
670
671* Catch invalid @n
672 As is done with $n.
673\f
674Changes in version 1.32, 2002-01-23:
675
676* Fix Yacc output file names
677
678* Portability fixes
679
680* Italian, Dutch translations
681\f
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682Changes in version 1.31, 2002-01-14:
683
684* Many Bug Fixes
685
686* GNU Gettext and %expect
687 GNU Gettext asserts 10 s/r conflicts, but there are 7. Now that
688 Bison dies on incorrect %expectations, we fear there will be
689 too many bug reports for Gettext, so _for the time being_, %expect
690 does not trigger an error when the input file is named `plural.y'.
691
692* Use of alloca in parsers
693 If YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA is defined to 0, then the parsers will use
694 malloc exclusively. Since 1.29, but was not NEWS'ed.
695
696 alloca is used only when compiled with GCC, to avoid portability
697 problems as on AIX.
698
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699* yyparse now returns 2 if memory is exhausted; formerly it dumped core.
700
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701* When the generated parser lacks debugging code, YYDEBUG is now 0
702 (as POSIX requires) instead of being undefined.
703
704* User Actions
705 Bison has always permitted actions such as { $$ = $1 }: it adds the
706 ending semicolon. Now if in Yacc compatibility mode, the semicolon
707 is no longer output: one has to write { $$ = $1; }.
708
709* Better C++ compliance
710 The output parsers try to respect C++ namespaces.
76551463 711 [This turned out to be a failed experiment, and it was reverted later.]
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712
713* Reduced Grammars
714 Fixed bugs when reporting useless nonterminals.
715
716* 64 bit hosts
717 The parsers work properly on 64 bit hosts.
718
719* Error messages
720 Some calls to strerror resulted in scrambled or missing error messages.
721
722* %expect
723 When the number of shift/reduce conflicts is correct, don't issue
724 any warning.
725
726* The verbose report includes the rule line numbers.
727
728* Rule line numbers are fixed in traces.
729
730* Swedish translation
731
732* Parse errors
733 Verbose parse error messages from the parsers are better looking.
734 Before: parse error: unexpected `'/'', expecting `"number"' or `'-'' or `'(''
735 Now: parse error: unexpected '/', expecting "number" or '-' or '('
736
737* Fixed parser memory leaks.
738 When the generated parser was using malloc to extend its stacks, the
739 previous allocations were not freed.
740
741* Fixed verbose output file.
742 Some newlines were missing.
743 Some conflicts in state descriptions were missing.
744
745* Fixed conflict report.
746 Option -v was needed to get the result.
747
748* %expect
749 Was not used.
750 Mismatches are errors, not warnings.
751
752* Fixed incorrect processing of some invalid input.
753
754* Fixed CPP guards: 9foo.h uses BISON_9FOO_H instead of 9FOO_H.
755
756* Fixed some typos in the documentation.
757
758* %token MY_EOF 0 is supported.
759 Before, MY_EOF was silently renumbered as 257.
760
761* doc/refcard.tex is updated.
762
763* %output, %file-prefix, %name-prefix.
764 New.
765
766* --output
767 New, aliasing `--output-file'.
768\f
76551463 769Changes in version 1.30, 2001-10-26:
342b8b6e 770
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771* `--defines' and `--graph' have now an optional argument which is the
772 output file name. `-d' and `-g' do not change; they do not take any
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773 argument.
774
775* `%source_extension' and `%header_extension' are removed, failed
776 experiment.
777
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778* Portability fixes.
779\f
9f4503d6 780Changes in version 1.29, 2001-09-07:
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781
782* The output file does not define const, as this caused problems when used
783 with common autoconfiguration schemes. If you still use ancient compilers
784 that lack const, compile with the equivalent of the C compiler option
785 `-Dconst='. autoconf's AC_C_CONST macro provides one way to do this.
786
787* Added `-g' and `--graph'.
f87a2205 788
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789* The Bison manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL.
790
f1c63ced 791* The input and the output files has automatically a similar extension.
234a3be3 792
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793* Russian translation added.
794
795* NLS support updated; should hopefully be less troublesome.
796
797* Added the old Bison reference card.
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798
799* Added `--locations' and `%locations'.
6deb4447 800
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801* Added `-S' and `--skeleton'.
802
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803* `%raw', `-r', `--raw' is disabled.
804
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805* Special characters are escaped when output. This solves the problems
806 of the #line lines with path names including backslashes.
807
6deb4447 808* New directives.
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809 `%yacc', `%fixed_output_files', `%defines', `%no_parser', `%verbose',
810 `%debug', `%source_extension' and `%header_extension'.
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811
812* @$
813 Automatic location tracking.
f87a2205 814\f
9f4503d6 815Changes in version 1.28, 1999-07-06:
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816
817* Should compile better now with K&R compilers.
818
819* Added NLS.
820
821* Fixed a problem with escaping the double quote character.
822
823* There is now a FAQ.
824\f
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825Changes in version 1.27:
826
827* The make rule which prevented bison.simple from being created on
828 some systems has been fixed.
829\f
830Changes in version 1.26:
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831
832* Bison now uses automake.
833
834* New mailing lists: <bug-bison@gnu.org> and <help-bison@gnu.org>.
835
836* Token numbers now start at 257 as previously documented, not 258.
837
838* Bison honors the TMPDIR environment variable.
839
840* A couple of buffer overruns have been fixed.
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841
842* Problems when closing files should now be reported.
843
844* Generated parsers should now work even on operating systems which do
845 not provide alloca().
4be07551 846\f
9f4503d6 847Changes in version 1.25, 1995-10-16:
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848
849* Errors in the input grammar are not fatal; Bison keeps reading
850the grammar file, and reports all the errors found in it.
8c44d3ec 851
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852* Tokens can now be specified as multiple-character strings: for
853example, you could use "<=" for a token which looks like <=, instead
854of chosing a name like LESSEQ.
855
856* The %token_table declaration says to write a table of tokens (names
857and numbers) into the parser file. The yylex function can use this
858table to recognize multiple-character string tokens, or for other
859purposes.
860
861* The %no_lines declaration says not to generate any #line preprocessor
862directives in the parser file.
863
864* The %raw declaration says to use internal Bison token numbers, not
865Yacc-compatible token numbers, when token names are defined as macros.
866
867* The --no-parser option produces the parser tables without including
868the parser engine; a project can now use its own parser engine.
869The actions go into a separate file called NAME.act, in the form of
870a switch statement body.
871\f
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872Changes in version 1.23:
873
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874The user can define YYPARSE_PARAM as the name of an argument to be
875passed into yyparse. The argument should have type void *. It should
876actually point to an object. Grammar actions can access the variable
877by casting it to the proper pointer type.
6780ca7a 878
6780ca7a 879Line numbers in output file corrected.
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880\f
881Changes in version 1.22:
882
883--help option added.
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884\f
885Changes in version 1.20:
886
887Output file does not redefine const for C++.
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888
889Local Variables:
890mode: outline
891End:
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892
893-----
894
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895Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
8962004, 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
76551463 897
75eb3bc4 898This file is part of Bison, the GNU Compiler Compiler.
76551463 899
75eb3bc4 900Bison is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
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901it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
902the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
903any later version.
904
75eb3bc4 905Bison is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
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906but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
907MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
908GNU General Public License for more details.
909
910You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
911along with autoconf; see the file COPYING. If not, write to
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912the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
913Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.