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1 Bison News
2 ----------
3
4 Changes in version 2.3a+ (????-??-??):
5
6 * The -g and --graph options now output graphs in Graphviz DOT format,
7 not VCG format.
8
9 * The grammar file may now specify the name of the parser header file using
10 %defines. For example:
11
12 %defines "parser.h"
13
14 * The `=' that used to be required in the following declarations is now
15 deprecated:
16
17 %file-prefix "parser"
18 %name-prefix "c_"
19 %output "parser.c"
20
21 * Revised warning: unset or unused mid-rule values
22
23 Since Bison 2.2, Bison has warned about mid-rule values that are set but not
24 used within any of the actions of the parent rule. For example, Bison warns
25 about unused $2 in:
26
27 exp: '1' { $$ = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $1 + $4; };
28
29 Now, Bison also warns about mid-rule values that are used but not set. For
30 example, Bison warns about unset $$ in the mid-rule action in:
31
32 exp: '1' { $1 = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $2 + $4; };
33
34 However, Bison now disables both of these warnings by default since they
35 sometimes prove to be false alarms in existing grammars employing the Yacc
36 constructs $0 or $-N (where N is some positive integer).
37
38 To enable these warnings, specify the flag `--warnings=midrule-values' or
39 `-W', which is a synonym for `--warnings=all'.
40
41 * Bison now recognizes two separate kinds of default %destructor's and
42 %printer's:
43
44 1. Place `<*>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
45 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols for which you have formally
46 declared semantic type tags.
47
48 2. Place `<>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
49 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols without declared semantic
50 type tags.
51
52 Bison no longer supports the `%symbol-default' notation from Bison 2.3a.
53 `<*>' and `<>' combined achieve the same effect with one exception: Bison no
54 longer applies any %destructor to a mid-rule value if that mid-rule value is
55 not actually ever referenced using either $$ or $n in a semantic action.
56
57 See the section `Freeing Discarded Symbols' in the Bison manual for further
58 details.
59
60 * The Yacc prologue alternatives from Bison 2.3a have been rewritten as the
61 following directives:
62
63 1. %code {CODE}
64
65 Other than semantic actions, this is probably the most common place you
66 should write verbatim code for the parser implementation. For C/C++, it
67 replaces the traditional Yacc prologue, `%{CODE%}', for most purposes.
68 For Java, it inserts your CODE into the parser class. Compare with:
69
70 - `%{CODE%}' appearing after the first `%union {CODE}' in a C/C++
71 based grammar file. While Bison will continue to support `%{CODE%}'
72 for backward compatibility, `%code {CODE}' is cleaner as its
73 functionality does not depend on its position in the grammar file
74 relative to any `%union {CODE}'. Specifically, `%code {CODE}'
75 always inserts your CODE into the parser code file after the usual
76 contents of the parser header file.
77 - `%after-header {CODE}', which only Bison 2.3a supported.
78
79 2. %requires {CODE}
80
81 This is the right place to write dependency code for externally exposed
82 definitions required by Bison. For C/C++, such exposed definitions are
83 those usually appearing in the parser header file. Thus, this is the
84 right place to define types referenced in `%union {CODE}' directives,
85 and it is the right place to override Bison's default YYSTYPE and
86 YYLTYPE definitions. For Java, this is the right place to write import
87 directives. Compare with:
88
89 - `%{CODE%}' appearing before the first `%union {CODE}' in a C/C++
90 based grammar file. Unlike `%{CODE%}', `%requires {CODE}' inserts
91 your CODE both into the parser code file and into the parser header
92 file since Bison's required definitions should depend on it in both
93 places.
94 - `%start-header {CODE}', which only Bison 2.3a supported.
95
96 3. %provides {CODE}
97
98 This is the right place to write additional definitions you would like
99 Bison to expose externally. For C/C++, this directive inserts your CODE
100 both into the parser header file and into the parser code file after
101 Bison's required definitions. For Java, it inserts your CODE into the
102 parser java file after the parser class. Compare with:
103
104 - `%end-header {CODE}', which only Bison 2.3a supported.
105
106 4. %code-top {CODE}
107
108 Occasionally for C/C++ it is desirable to insert code near the top of
109 the parser code file. For example:
110
111 %code-top {
112 #define _GNU_SOURCE
113 #include <stdio.h>
114 }
115
116 For Java, `%code-top {CODE}' is currently unused. Compare with:
117
118 - `%{CODE%}' appearing before the first `%union {CODE}' in a C/C++
119 based grammar file. `%code-top {CODE}' is cleaner as its
120 functionality does not depend on its position in the grammar file
121 relative to any `%union {CODE}'.
122 - `%before-header {CODE}', which only Bison 2.3a supported.
123
124 If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above four directives,
125 Bison will concatenate the contents in the order they appear in the grammar
126 file.
127
128 Also see the new section `Prologue Alternatives' in the Bison manual.
129
130 Changes in version 2.3a, 2006-09-13:
131
132 * Instead of %union, you can define and use your own union type
133 YYSTYPE if your grammar contains at least one <type> tag.
134 Your YYSTYPE need not be a macro; it can be a typedef.
135 This change is for compatibility with other Yacc implementations,
136 and is required by POSIX.
137
138 * Locations columns and lines start at 1.
139 In accordance with the GNU Coding Standards and Emacs.
140
141 * You may now declare per-type and default %destructor's and %printer's:
142
143 For example:
144
145 %union { char *string; }
146 %token <string> STRING1
147 %token <string> STRING2
148 %type <string> string1
149 %type <string> string2
150 %union { char character; }
151 %token <character> CHR
152 %type <character> chr
153 %destructor { free ($$); } %symbol-default
154 %destructor { free ($$); printf ("%d", @$.first_line); } STRING1 string1
155 %destructor { } <character>
156
157 guarantees that, when the parser discards any user-defined symbol that has a
158 semantic type tag other than `<character>', it passes its semantic value to
159 `free'. However, when the parser discards a `STRING1' or a `string1', it
160 also prints its line number to `stdout'. It performs only the second
161 `%destructor' in this case, so it invokes `free' only once.
162
163 * Except for LALR(1) parsers in C with POSIX Yacc emulation enabled (with `-y',
164 `--yacc', or `%yacc'), Bison no longer generates #define statements for
165 associating token numbers with token names. Removing the #define statements
166 helps to sanitize the global namespace during preprocessing, but POSIX Yacc
167 requires them. Bison still generates an enum for token names in all cases.
168
169 * Handling of traditional Yacc prologue blocks is now more consistent but
170 potentially incompatible with previous releases of Bison.
171
172 As before, you declare prologue blocks in your grammar file with the
173 `%{ ... %}' syntax. To generate the pre-prologue, Bison concatenates all
174 prologue blocks that you've declared before the first %union. To generate
175 the post-prologue, Bison concatenates all prologue blocks that you've
176 declared after the first %union.
177
178 Previous releases of Bison inserted the pre-prologue into both the header
179 file and the code file in all cases except for LALR(1) parsers in C. In the
180 latter case, Bison inserted it only into the code file. For parsers in C++,
181 the point of insertion was before any token definitions (which associate
182 token numbers with names). For parsers in C, the point of insertion was
183 after the token definitions.
184
185 Now, Bison never inserts the pre-prologue into the header file. In the code
186 file, it always inserts it before the token definitions.
187
188 * Bison now provides a more flexible alternative to the traditional Yacc
189 prologue blocks: %before-header, %start-header, %end-header, and
190 %after-header.
191
192 For example, the following declaration order in the grammar file reflects the
193 order in which Bison will output these code blocks. However, you are free to
194 declare these code blocks in your grammar file in whatever order is most
195 convenient for you:
196
197 %before-header {
198 /* Bison treats this block like a pre-prologue block: it inserts it into
199 * the code file before the contents of the header file. It does *not*
200 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to put
201 * #include's that you want at the top of your code file. A common
202 * example is `#include "system.h"'. */
203 }
204 %start-header {
205 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
206 * In both files, the point of insertion is before any Bison-generated
207 * token, semantic type, location type, and class definitions. This is a
208 * good place to define %union dependencies, for example. */
209 }
210 %union {
211 /* Unlike the traditional Yacc prologue blocks, the output order for the
212 * new %*-header blocks is not affected by their declaration position
213 * relative to any %union in the grammar file. */
214 }
215 %end-header {
216 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
217 * In both files, the point of insertion is after the Bison-generated
218 * definitions. This is a good place to declare or define public
219 * functions or data structures that depend on the Bison-generated
220 * definitions. */
221 }
222 %after-header {
223 /* Bison treats this block like a post-prologue block: it inserts it into
224 * the code file after the contents of the header file. It does *not*
225 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to declare or
226 * define internal functions or data structures that depend on the
227 * Bison-generated definitions. */
228 }
229
230 If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above declarations, Bison
231 will concatenate the contents in declaration order.
232
233 * The option `--report=look-ahead' has been changed to `--report=lookahead'.
234 The old spelling still works, but is not documented and may be removed
235 in a future release.
236
237 Changes in version 2.3, 2006-06-05:
238
239 * GLR grammars should now use `YYRECOVERING ()' instead of `YYRECOVERING',
240 for compatibility with LALR(1) grammars.
241
242 * It is now documented that any definition of YYSTYPE or YYLTYPE should
243 be to a type name that does not contain parentheses or brackets.
244
245 Changes in version 2.2, 2006-05-19:
246
247 * The distribution terms for all Bison-generated parsers now permit
248 using the parsers in nonfree programs. Previously, this permission
249 was granted only for Bison-generated LALR(1) parsers in C.
250
251 * %name-prefix changes the namespace name in C++ outputs.
252
253 * The C++ parsers export their token_type.
254
255 * Bison now allows multiple %union declarations, and concatenates
256 their contents together.
257
258 * New warning: unused values
259 Right-hand side symbols whose values are not used are reported,
260 if the symbols have destructors. For instance:
261
262 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; }
263 | exp "+" exp
264 ;
265
266 will trigger a warning about $$ and $5 in the first rule, and $3 in
267 the second ($1 is copied to $$ by the default rule). This example
268 most likely contains three errors, and could be rewritten as:
269
270 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp
271 { $$ = $1 ? $3 : $5; free ($1 ? $5 : $3); free ($1); }
272 | exp "+" exp
273 { $$ = $1 ? $1 : $3; if ($1) free ($3); }
274 ;
275
276 However, if the original actions were really intended, memory leaks
277 and all, the warnings can be suppressed by letting Bison believe the
278 values are used, e.g.:
279
280 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; (void) ($$, $5); }
281 | exp "+" exp { $$ = $1; (void) $3; }
282 ;
283
284 If there are mid-rule actions, the warning is issued if no action
285 uses it. The following triggers no warning: $1 and $3 are used.
286
287 exp: exp { push ($1); } '+' exp { push ($3); sum (); };
288
289 The warning is intended to help catching lost values and memory leaks.
290 If a value is ignored, its associated memory typically is not reclaimed.
291
292 * %destructor vs. YYABORT, YYACCEPT, and YYERROR.
293 Destructors are now called when user code invokes YYABORT, YYACCEPT,
294 and YYERROR, for all objects on the stack, other than objects
295 corresponding to the right-hand side of the current rule.
296
297 * %expect, %expect-rr
298 Incorrect numbers of expected conflicts are now actual errors,
299 instead of warnings.
300
301 * GLR, YACC parsers.
302 The %parse-params are available in the destructors (and the
303 experimental printers) as per the documentation.
304
305 * Bison now warns if it finds a stray `$' or `@' in an action.
306
307 * %require "VERSION"
308 This specifies that the grammar file depends on features implemented
309 in Bison version VERSION or higher.
310
311 * lalr1.cc: The token and value types are now class members.
312 The tokens were defined as free form enums and cpp macros. YYSTYPE
313 was defined as a free form union. They are now class members:
314 tokens are enumerations of the `yy::parser::token' struct, and the
315 semantic values have the `yy::parser::semantic_type' type.
316
317 If you do not want or can update to this scheme, the directive
318 `%define "global_tokens_and_yystype" "1"' triggers the global
319 definition of tokens and YYSTYPE. This change is suitable both
320 for previous releases of Bison, and this one.
321
322 If you wish to update, then make sure older version of Bison will
323 fail using `%require "2.2"'.
324
325 * DJGPP support added.
326 \f
327 Changes in version 2.1, 2005-09-16:
328
329 * The C++ lalr1.cc skeleton supports %lex-param.
330
331 * Bison-generated parsers now support the translation of diagnostics like
332 "syntax error" into languages other than English. The default
333 language is still English. For details, please see the new
334 Internationalization section of the Bison manual. Software
335 distributors should also see the new PACKAGING file. Thanks to
336 Bruno Haible for this new feature.
337
338 * Wording in the Bison-generated parsers has been changed slightly to
339 simplify translation. In particular, the message "memory exhausted"
340 has replaced "parser stack overflow", as the old message was not
341 always accurate for modern Bison-generated parsers.
342
343 * Destructors are now called when the parser aborts, for all symbols left
344 behind on the stack. Also, the start symbol is now destroyed after a
345 successful parse. In both cases, the behavior was formerly inconsistent.
346
347 * When generating verbose diagnostics, Bison-generated parsers no longer
348 quote the literal strings associated with tokens. For example, for
349 a syntax error associated with '%token NUM "number"' they might
350 print 'syntax error, unexpected number' instead of 'syntax error,
351 unexpected "number"'.
352 \f
353 Changes in version 2.0, 2004-12-25:
354
355 * Possibly-incompatible changes
356
357 - Bison-generated parsers no longer default to using the alloca function
358 (when available) to extend the parser stack, due to widespread
359 problems in unchecked stack-overflow detection. You can "#define
360 YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA 1" to require the use of alloca, but please read
361 the manual to determine safe values for YYMAXDEPTH in that case.
362
363 - Error token location.
364 During error recovery, the location of the syntax error is updated
365 to cover the whole sequence covered by the error token: it includes
366 the shifted symbols thrown away during the first part of the error
367 recovery, and the lookahead rejected during the second part.
368
369 - Semicolon changes:
370 . Stray semicolons are no longer allowed at the start of a grammar.
371 . Semicolons are now required after in-grammar declarations.
372
373 - Unescaped newlines are no longer allowed in character constants or
374 string literals. They were never portable, and GCC 3.4.0 has
375 dropped support for them. Better diagnostics are now generated if
376 forget a closing quote.
377
378 - NUL bytes are no longer allowed in Bison string literals, unfortunately.
379
380 * New features
381
382 - GLR grammars now support locations.
383
384 - New directive: %initial-action.
385 This directive allows the user to run arbitrary code (including
386 initializing @$) from yyparse before parsing starts.
387
388 - A new directive "%expect-rr N" specifies the expected number of
389 reduce/reduce conflicts in GLR parsers.
390
391 - %token numbers can now be hexadecimal integers, e.g., `%token FOO 0x12d'.
392 This is a GNU extension.
393
394 - The option `--report=lookahead' was changed to `--report=look-ahead'.
395 [However, this was changed back after 2.3.]
396
397 - Experimental %destructor support has been added to lalr1.cc.
398
399 - New configure option --disable-yacc, to disable installation of the
400 yacc command and -ly library introduced in 1.875 for POSIX conformance.
401
402 * Bug fixes
403
404 - For now, %expect-count violations are now just warnings, not errors.
405 This is for compatibility with Bison 1.75 and earlier (when there are
406 reduce/reduce conflicts) and with Bison 1.30 and earlier (when there
407 are too many or too few shift/reduce conflicts). However, in future
408 versions of Bison we plan to improve the %expect machinery so that
409 these violations will become errors again.
410
411 - Within Bison itself, numbers (e.g., goto numbers) are no longer
412 arbitrarily limited to 16-bit counts.
413
414 - Semicolons are now allowed before "|" in grammar rules, as POSIX requires.
415 \f
416 Changes in version 1.875, 2003-01-01:
417
418 * The documentation license has been upgraded to version 1.2
419 of the GNU Free Documentation License.
420
421 * syntax error processing
422
423 - In Yacc-style parsers YYLLOC_DEFAULT is now used to compute error
424 locations too. This fixes bugs in error-location computation.
425
426 - %destructor
427 It is now possible to reclaim the memory associated to symbols
428 discarded during error recovery. This feature is still experimental.
429
430 - %error-verbose
431 This new directive is preferred over YYERROR_VERBOSE.
432
433 - #defining yyerror to steal internal variables is discouraged.
434 It is not guaranteed to work forever.
435
436 * POSIX conformance
437
438 - Semicolons are once again optional at the end of grammar rules.
439 This reverts to the behavior of Bison 1.33 and earlier, and improves
440 compatibility with Yacc.
441
442 - `parse error' -> `syntax error'
443 Bison now uniformly uses the term `syntax error'; formerly, the code
444 and manual sometimes used the term `parse error' instead. POSIX
445 requires `syntax error' in diagnostics, and it was thought better to
446 be consistent.
447
448 - The documentation now emphasizes that yylex and yyerror must be
449 declared before use. C99 requires this.
450
451 - Bison now parses C99 lexical constructs like UCNs and
452 backslash-newline within C escape sequences, as POSIX 1003.1-2001 requires.
453
454 - File names are properly escaped in C output. E.g., foo\bar.y is
455 output as "foo\\bar.y".
456
457 - Yacc command and library now available
458 The Bison distribution now installs a `yacc' command, as POSIX requires.
459 Also, Bison now installs a small library liby.a containing
460 implementations of Yacc-compatible yyerror and main functions.
461 This library is normally not useful, but POSIX requires it.
462
463 - Type clashes now generate warnings, not errors.
464
465 - If the user does not define YYSTYPE as a macro, Bison now declares it
466 using typedef instead of defining it as a macro.
467 For consistency, YYLTYPE is also declared instead of defined.
468
469 * Other compatibility issues
470
471 - %union directives can now have a tag before the `{', e.g., the
472 directive `%union foo {...}' now generates the C code
473 `typedef union foo { ... } YYSTYPE;'; this is for Yacc compatibility.
474 The default union tag is `YYSTYPE', for compatibility with Solaris 9 Yacc.
475 For consistency, YYLTYPE's struct tag is now `YYLTYPE' not `yyltype'.
476 This is for compatibility with both Yacc and Bison 1.35.
477
478 - `;' is output before the terminating `}' of an action, for
479 compatibility with Bison 1.35.
480
481 - Bison now uses a Yacc-style format for conflict reports, e.g.,
482 `conflicts: 2 shift/reduce, 1 reduce/reduce'.
483
484 - `yystype' and `yyltype' are now obsolescent macros instead of being
485 typedefs or tags; they are no longer documented and are planned to be
486 withdrawn in a future release.
487
488 * GLR parser notes
489
490 - GLR and inline
491 Users of Bison have to decide how they handle the portability of the
492 C keyword `inline'.
493
494 - `parsing stack overflow...' -> `parser stack overflow'
495 GLR parsers now report `parser stack overflow' as per the Bison manual.
496
497 * Bison now warns if it detects conflicting outputs to the same file,
498 e.g., it generates a warning for `bison -d -o foo.h foo.y' since
499 that command outputs both code and header to foo.h.
500
501 * #line in output files
502 - --no-line works properly.
503
504 * Bison can no longer be built by a K&R C compiler; it requires C89 or
505 later to be built. This change originally took place a few versions
506 ago, but nobody noticed until we recently asked someone to try
507 building Bison with a K&R C compiler.
508 \f
509 Changes in version 1.75, 2002-10-14:
510
511 * Bison should now work on 64-bit hosts.
512
513 * Indonesian translation thanks to Tedi Heriyanto.
514
515 * GLR parsers
516 Fix spurious parse errors.
517
518 * Pure parsers
519 Some people redefine yyerror to steal yyparse' private variables.
520 Reenable this trick until an official feature replaces it.
521
522 * Type Clashes
523 In agreement with POSIX and with other Yaccs, leaving a default
524 action is valid when $$ is untyped, and $1 typed:
525
526 untyped: ... typed;
527
528 but the converse remains an error:
529
530 typed: ... untyped;
531
532 * Values of mid-rule actions
533 The following code:
534
535 foo: { ... } { $$ = $1; } ...
536
537 was incorrectly rejected: $1 is defined in the second mid-rule
538 action, and is equal to the $$ of the first mid-rule action.
539 \f
540 Changes in version 1.50, 2002-10-04:
541
542 * GLR parsing
543 The declaration
544 %glr-parser
545 causes Bison to produce a Generalized LR (GLR) parser, capable of handling
546 almost any context-free grammar, ambiguous or not. The new declarations
547 %dprec and %merge on grammar rules allow parse-time resolution of
548 ambiguities. Contributed by Paul Hilfinger.
549
550 Unfortunately Bison 1.50 does not work properly on 64-bit hosts
551 like the Alpha, so please stick to 32-bit hosts for now.
552
553 * Output Directory
554 When not in Yacc compatibility mode, when the output file was not
555 specified, running `bison foo/bar.y' created `foo/bar.c'. It
556 now creates `bar.c'.
557
558 * Undefined token
559 The undefined token was systematically mapped to 2 which prevented
560 the use of 2 by the user. This is no longer the case.
561
562 * Unknown token numbers
563 If yylex returned an out of range value, yyparse could die. This is
564 no longer the case.
565
566 * Error token
567 According to POSIX, the error token must be 256.
568 Bison extends this requirement by making it a preference: *if* the
569 user specified that one of her tokens is numbered 256, then error
570 will be mapped onto another number.
571
572 * Verbose error messages
573 They no longer report `..., expecting error or...' for states where
574 error recovery is possible.
575
576 * End token
577 Defaults to `$end' instead of `$'.
578
579 * Error recovery now conforms to documentation and to POSIX
580 When a Bison-generated parser encounters a syntax error, it now pops
581 the stack until it finds a state that allows shifting the error
582 token. Formerly, it popped the stack until it found a state that
583 allowed some non-error action other than a default reduction on the
584 error token. The new behavior has long been the documented behavior,
585 and has long been required by POSIX. For more details, please see
586 Paul Eggert, "Reductions during Bison error handling" (2002-05-20)
587 <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-bison/2002-05/msg00038.html>.
588
589 * Traces
590 Popped tokens and nonterminals are now reported.
591
592 * Larger grammars
593 Larger grammars are now supported (larger token numbers, larger grammar
594 size (= sum of the LHS and RHS lengths), larger LALR tables).
595 Formerly, many of these numbers ran afoul of 16-bit limits;
596 now these limits are 32 bits on most hosts.
597
598 * Explicit initial rule
599 Bison used to play hacks with the initial rule, which the user does
600 not write. It is now explicit, and visible in the reports and
601 graphs as rule 0.
602
603 * Useless rules
604 Before, Bison reported the useless rules, but, although not used,
605 included them in the parsers. They are now actually removed.
606
607 * Useless rules, useless nonterminals
608 They are now reported, as a warning, with their locations.
609
610 * Rules never reduced
611 Rules that can never be reduced because of conflicts are now
612 reported.
613
614 * Incorrect `Token not used'
615 On a grammar such as
616
617 %token useless useful
618 %%
619 exp: '0' %prec useful;
620
621 where a token was used to set the precedence of the last rule,
622 bison reported both `useful' and `useless' as useless tokens.
623
624 * Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31
625 as they caused too many portability hassles.
626
627 * Default locations
628 By an accident of design, the default computation of @$ was
629 performed after another default computation was performed: @$ = @1.
630 The latter is now removed: YYLLOC_DEFAULT is fully responsible of
631 the computation of @$.
632
633 * Token end-of-file
634 The token end of file may be specified by the user, in which case,
635 the user symbol is used in the reports, the graphs, and the verbose
636 error messages instead of `$end', which remains being the default.
637 For instance
638 %token MYEOF 0
639 or
640 %token MYEOF 0 "end of file"
641
642 * Semantic parser
643 This old option, which has been broken for ages, is removed.
644
645 * New translations
646 Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to Alexandre Folle de Menezes.
647 Croatian, thanks to Denis Lackovic.
648
649 * Incorrect token definitions
650 When given `%token 'a' "A"', Bison used to output `#define 'a' 65'.
651
652 * Token definitions as enums
653 Tokens are output both as the traditional #define's, and, provided
654 the compiler supports ANSI C or is a C++ compiler, as enums.
655 This lets debuggers display names instead of integers.
656
657 * Reports
658 In addition to --verbose, bison supports --report=THINGS, which
659 produces additional information:
660 - itemset
661 complete the core item sets with their closure
662 - lookahead [changed to `look-ahead' in 1.875e through 2.3, but changed back]
663 explicitly associate lookahead tokens to items
664 - solved
665 describe shift/reduce conflicts solving.
666 Bison used to systematically output this information on top of
667 the report. Solved conflicts are now attached to their states.
668
669 * Type clashes
670 Previous versions don't complain when there is a type clash on
671 the default action if the rule has a mid-rule action, such as in:
672
673 %type <foo> bar
674 %%
675 bar: '0' {} '0';
676
677 This is fixed.
678
679 * GNU M4 is now required when using Bison.
680 \f
681 Changes in version 1.35, 2002-03-25:
682
683 * C Skeleton
684 Some projects use Bison's C parser with C++ compilers, and define
685 YYSTYPE as a class. The recent adjustment of C parsers for data
686 alignment and 64 bit architectures made this impossible.
687
688 Because for the time being no real solution for C++ parser
689 generation exists, kludges were implemented in the parser to
690 maintain this use. In the future, when Bison has C++ parsers, this
691 kludge will be disabled.
692
693 This kludge also addresses some C++ problems when the stack was
694 extended.
695 \f
696 Changes in version 1.34, 2002-03-12:
697
698 * File name clashes are detected
699 $ bison foo.y -d -o foo.x
700 fatal error: header and parser would both be named `foo.x'
701
702 * A missing `;' at the end of a rule triggers a warning
703 In accordance with POSIX, and in agreement with other
704 Yacc implementations, Bison will mandate this semicolon in the near
705 future. This eases the implementation of a Bison parser of Bison
706 grammars by making this grammar LALR(1) instead of LR(2). To
707 facilitate the transition, this release introduces a warning.
708
709 * Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31, as they caused too
710 many portability hassles.
711
712 * DJGPP support added.
713
714 * Fix test suite portability problems.
715 \f
716 Changes in version 1.33, 2002-02-07:
717
718 * Fix C++ issues
719 Groff could not be compiled for the definition of size_t was lacking
720 under some conditions.
721
722 * Catch invalid @n
723 As is done with $n.
724 \f
725 Changes in version 1.32, 2002-01-23:
726
727 * Fix Yacc output file names
728
729 * Portability fixes
730
731 * Italian, Dutch translations
732 \f
733 Changes in version 1.31, 2002-01-14:
734
735 * Many Bug Fixes
736
737 * GNU Gettext and %expect
738 GNU Gettext asserts 10 s/r conflicts, but there are 7. Now that
739 Bison dies on incorrect %expectations, we fear there will be
740 too many bug reports for Gettext, so _for the time being_, %expect
741 does not trigger an error when the input file is named `plural.y'.
742
743 * Use of alloca in parsers
744 If YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA is defined to 0, then the parsers will use
745 malloc exclusively. Since 1.29, but was not NEWS'ed.
746
747 alloca is used only when compiled with GCC, to avoid portability
748 problems as on AIX.
749
750 * yyparse now returns 2 if memory is exhausted; formerly it dumped core.
751
752 * When the generated parser lacks debugging code, YYDEBUG is now 0
753 (as POSIX requires) instead of being undefined.
754
755 * User Actions
756 Bison has always permitted actions such as { $$ = $1 }: it adds the
757 ending semicolon. Now if in Yacc compatibility mode, the semicolon
758 is no longer output: one has to write { $$ = $1; }.
759
760 * Better C++ compliance
761 The output parsers try to respect C++ namespaces.
762 [This turned out to be a failed experiment, and it was reverted later.]
763
764 * Reduced Grammars
765 Fixed bugs when reporting useless nonterminals.
766
767 * 64 bit hosts
768 The parsers work properly on 64 bit hosts.
769
770 * Error messages
771 Some calls to strerror resulted in scrambled or missing error messages.
772
773 * %expect
774 When the number of shift/reduce conflicts is correct, don't issue
775 any warning.
776
777 * The verbose report includes the rule line numbers.
778
779 * Rule line numbers are fixed in traces.
780
781 * Swedish translation
782
783 * Parse errors
784 Verbose parse error messages from the parsers are better looking.
785 Before: parse error: unexpected `'/'', expecting `"number"' or `'-'' or `'(''
786 Now: parse error: unexpected '/', expecting "number" or '-' or '('
787
788 * Fixed parser memory leaks.
789 When the generated parser was using malloc to extend its stacks, the
790 previous allocations were not freed.
791
792 * Fixed verbose output file.
793 Some newlines were missing.
794 Some conflicts in state descriptions were missing.
795
796 * Fixed conflict report.
797 Option -v was needed to get the result.
798
799 * %expect
800 Was not used.
801 Mismatches are errors, not warnings.
802
803 * Fixed incorrect processing of some invalid input.
804
805 * Fixed CPP guards: 9foo.h uses BISON_9FOO_H instead of 9FOO_H.
806
807 * Fixed some typos in the documentation.
808
809 * %token MY_EOF 0 is supported.
810 Before, MY_EOF was silently renumbered as 257.
811
812 * doc/refcard.tex is updated.
813
814 * %output, %file-prefix, %name-prefix.
815 New.
816
817 * --output
818 New, aliasing `--output-file'.
819 \f
820 Changes in version 1.30, 2001-10-26:
821
822 * `--defines' and `--graph' have now an optional argument which is the
823 output file name. `-d' and `-g' do not change; they do not take any
824 argument.
825
826 * `%source_extension' and `%header_extension' are removed, failed
827 experiment.
828
829 * Portability fixes.
830 \f
831 Changes in version 1.29, 2001-09-07:
832
833 * The output file does not define const, as this caused problems when used
834 with common autoconfiguration schemes. If you still use ancient compilers
835 that lack const, compile with the equivalent of the C compiler option
836 `-Dconst='. autoconf's AC_C_CONST macro provides one way to do this.
837
838 * Added `-g' and `--graph'.
839
840 * The Bison manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL.
841
842 * The input and the output files has automatically a similar extension.
843
844 * Russian translation added.
845
846 * NLS support updated; should hopefully be less troublesome.
847
848 * Added the old Bison reference card.
849
850 * Added `--locations' and `%locations'.
851
852 * Added `-S' and `--skeleton'.
853
854 * `%raw', `-r', `--raw' is disabled.
855
856 * Special characters are escaped when output. This solves the problems
857 of the #line lines with path names including backslashes.
858
859 * New directives.
860 `%yacc', `%fixed_output_files', `%defines', `%no_parser', `%verbose',
861 `%debug', `%source_extension' and `%header_extension'.
862
863 * @$
864 Automatic location tracking.
865 \f
866 Changes in version 1.28, 1999-07-06:
867
868 * Should compile better now with K&R compilers.
869
870 * Added NLS.
871
872 * Fixed a problem with escaping the double quote character.
873
874 * There is now a FAQ.
875 \f
876 Changes in version 1.27:
877
878 * The make rule which prevented bison.simple from being created on
879 some systems has been fixed.
880 \f
881 Changes in version 1.26:
882
883 * Bison now uses automake.
884
885 * New mailing lists: <bug-bison@gnu.org> and <help-bison@gnu.org>.
886
887 * Token numbers now start at 257 as previously documented, not 258.
888
889 * Bison honors the TMPDIR environment variable.
890
891 * A couple of buffer overruns have been fixed.
892
893 * Problems when closing files should now be reported.
894
895 * Generated parsers should now work even on operating systems which do
896 not provide alloca().
897 \f
898 Changes in version 1.25, 1995-10-16:
899
900 * Errors in the input grammar are not fatal; Bison keeps reading
901 the grammar file, and reports all the errors found in it.
902
903 * Tokens can now be specified as multiple-character strings: for
904 example, you could use "<=" for a token which looks like <=, instead
905 of chosing a name like LESSEQ.
906
907 * The %token_table declaration says to write a table of tokens (names
908 and numbers) into the parser file. The yylex function can use this
909 table to recognize multiple-character string tokens, or for other
910 purposes.
911
912 * The %no_lines declaration says not to generate any #line preprocessor
913 directives in the parser file.
914
915 * The %raw declaration says to use internal Bison token numbers, not
916 Yacc-compatible token numbers, when token names are defined as macros.
917
918 * The --no-parser option produces the parser tables without including
919 the parser engine; a project can now use its own parser engine.
920 The actions go into a separate file called NAME.act, in the form of
921 a switch statement body.
922 \f
923 Changes in version 1.23:
924
925 The user can define YYPARSE_PARAM as the name of an argument to be
926 passed into yyparse. The argument should have type void *. It should
927 actually point to an object. Grammar actions can access the variable
928 by casting it to the proper pointer type.
929
930 Line numbers in output file corrected.
931 \f
932 Changes in version 1.22:
933
934 --help option added.
935 \f
936 Changes in version 1.20:
937
938 Output file does not redefine const for C++.
939
940 Local Variables:
941 mode: outline
942 End:
943
944 -----
945
946 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
947 2004, 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
948
949 This file is part of Bison, the GNU Compiler Compiler.
950
951 Bison is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
952 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
953 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
954 any later version.
955
956 Bison is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
957 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
958 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
959 GNU General Public License for more details.
960
961 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
962 along with autoconf; see the file COPYING. If not, write to
963 the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
964 Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.