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1 Bison News
2 ----------
3
4 * Changes in version 2.4.2 (????-??-??):
5
6 ** Detection of GNU M4 1.4.6 or newer during configure is improved.
7
8 ** Warnings from gcc's -Wundef option about undefined YYENABLE_NLS,
9 YYLTYPE_IS_TRIVIAL, and __STRICT_ANSI__ in C/C++ parsers are now
10 avoided.
11
12 ** %code is now a permanent feature.
13
14 A traditional Yacc prologue directive is written in the form:
15
16 %{CODE%}
17
18 To provide a more flexible alternative, Bison 2.3b introduced the
19 %code directive with the following forms for C/C++:
20
21 %code {CODE}
22 %code requires {CODE}
23 %code provides {CODE}
24 %code top {CODE}
25
26 These forms are now considered permanent features of Bison. See the
27 %code entries in the section "Bison Declaration Summary" in the Bison
28 manual for a summary of their functionality. See the section
29 "Prologue Alternatives" for a detailed discussion including the
30 advantages of %code over the traditional Yacc prologue directive.
31
32 Bison's Java feature as a whole including its current usage of %code
33 is still considered experimental.
34
35 ** Internationalization.
36
37 Fix a regression introduced in Bison 2.4: Under some circumstances,
38 message translations were not installed although supported by the
39 host system.
40
41 * Changes in version 2.4.1 (2008-12-11):
42
43 ** In the GLR defines file, unexpanded M4 macros in the yylval and yylloc
44 declarations have been fixed.
45
46 ** Temporary hack for adding a semicolon to the user action.
47
48 Bison used to prepend a trailing semicolon at the end of the user
49 action for reductions. This allowed actions such as
50
51 exp: exp "+" exp { $$ = $1 + $3 };
52
53 instead of
54
55 exp: exp "+" exp { $$ = $1 + $3; };
56
57 Some grammars still depend on this `feature'. Bison 2.4.1 restores
58 the previous behavior in the case of C output (specifically, when
59 neither %language or %skeleton or equivalent command-line options
60 are used) to leave more time for grammars depending on the old
61 behavior to be adjusted. Future releases of Bison will disable this
62 feature.
63
64 ** A few minor improvements to the Bison manual.
65
66 * Changes in version 2.4 (2008-11-02):
67
68 ** %language is an experimental feature.
69
70 We first introduced this feature in test release 2.3b as a cleaner
71 alternative to %skeleton. Since then, we have discussed the possibility of
72 modifying its effect on Bison's output file names. Thus, in this release,
73 we consider %language to be an experimental feature that will likely evolve
74 in future releases.
75
76 ** Forward compatibility with GNU M4 has been improved.
77
78 ** Several bugs in the C++ skeleton and the experimental Java skeleton have been
79 fixed.
80
81 * Changes in version 2.3b (2008-05-27):
82
83 ** The quotes around NAME that used to be required in the following directive
84 are now deprecated:
85
86 %define NAME "VALUE"
87
88 ** The directive `%pure-parser' is now deprecated in favor of:
89
90 %define api.pure
91
92 which has the same effect except that Bison is more careful to warn about
93 unreasonable usage in the latter case.
94
95 ** Push Parsing
96
97 Bison can now generate an LALR(1) parser in C with a push interface. That
98 is, instead of invoking `yyparse', which pulls tokens from `yylex', you can
99 push one token at a time to the parser using `yypush_parse', which will
100 return to the caller after processing each token. By default, the push
101 interface is disabled. Either of the following directives will enable it:
102
103 %define api.push_pull "push" // Just push; does not require yylex.
104 %define api.push_pull "both" // Push and pull; requires yylex.
105
106 See the new section `A Push Parser' in the Bison manual for details.
107
108 The current push parsing interface is experimental and may evolve. More user
109 feedback will help to stabilize it.
110
111 ** The -g and --graph options now output graphs in Graphviz DOT format,
112 not VCG format. Like --graph, -g now also takes an optional FILE argument
113 and thus cannot be bundled with other short options.
114
115 ** Java
116
117 Bison can now generate an LALR(1) parser in Java. The skeleton is
118 `data/lalr1.java'. Consider using the new %language directive instead of
119 %skeleton to select it.
120
121 See the new section `Java Parsers' in the Bison manual for details.
122
123 The current Java interface is experimental and may evolve. More user
124 feedback will help to stabilize it.
125
126 ** %language
127
128 This new directive specifies the programming language of the generated
129 parser, which can be C (the default), C++, or Java. Besides the skeleton
130 that Bison uses, the directive affects the names of the generated files if
131 the grammar file's name ends in ".y".
132
133 ** XML Automaton Report
134
135 Bison can now generate an XML report of the LALR(1) automaton using the new
136 `--xml' option. The current XML schema is experimental and may evolve. More
137 user feedback will help to stabilize it.
138
139 ** The grammar file may now specify the name of the parser header file using
140 %defines. For example:
141
142 %defines "parser.h"
143
144 ** When reporting useless rules, useless nonterminals, and unused terminals,
145 Bison now employs the terms "useless in grammar" instead of "useless",
146 "useless in parser" instead of "never reduced", and "unused in grammar"
147 instead of "unused".
148
149 ** Unreachable State Removal
150
151 Previously, Bison sometimes generated parser tables containing unreachable
152 states. A state can become unreachable during conflict resolution if Bison
153 disables a shift action leading to it from a predecessor state. Bison now:
154
155 1. Removes unreachable states.
156
157 2. Does not report any conflicts that appeared in unreachable states.
158 WARNING: As a result, you may need to update %expect and %expect-rr
159 directives in existing grammar files.
160
161 3. For any rule used only in such states, Bison now reports the rule as
162 "useless in parser due to conflicts".
163
164 This feature can be disabled with the following directive:
165
166 %define lr.keep_unreachable_states
167
168 See the %define entry in the `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison manual
169 for further discussion.
170
171 ** Lookahead Set Correction in the `.output' Report
172
173 When instructed to generate a `.output' file including lookahead sets
174 (using `--report=lookahead', for example), Bison now prints each reduction's
175 lookahead set only next to the associated state's one item that (1) is
176 associated with the same rule as the reduction and (2) has its dot at the end
177 of its RHS. Previously, Bison also erroneously printed the lookahead set
178 next to all of the state's other items associated with the same rule. This
179 bug affected only the `.output' file and not the generated parser source
180 code.
181
182 ** --report-file=FILE is a new option to override the default `.output' file
183 name.
184
185 ** The `=' that used to be required in the following directives is now
186 deprecated:
187
188 %file-prefix "parser"
189 %name-prefix "c_"
190 %output "parser.c"
191
192 ** An Alternative to `%{...%}' -- `%code QUALIFIER {CODE}'
193
194 Bison 2.3a provided a new set of directives as a more flexible alternative to
195 the traditional Yacc prologue blocks. Those have now been consolidated into
196 a single %code directive with an optional qualifier field, which identifies
197 the purpose of the code and thus the location(s) where Bison should generate
198 it:
199
200 1. `%code {CODE}' replaces `%after-header {CODE}'
201 2. `%code requires {CODE}' replaces `%start-header {CODE}'
202 3. `%code provides {CODE}' replaces `%end-header {CODE}'
203 4. `%code top {CODE}' replaces `%before-header {CODE}'
204
205 See the %code entries in section `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison
206 manual for a summary of the new functionality. See the new section `Prologue
207 Alternatives' for a detailed discussion including the advantages of %code
208 over the traditional Yacc prologues.
209
210 The prologue alternatives are experimental. More user feedback will help to
211 determine whether they should become permanent features.
212
213 ** Revised warning: unset or unused mid-rule values
214
215 Since Bison 2.2, Bison has warned about mid-rule values that are set but not
216 used within any of the actions of the parent rule. For example, Bison warns
217 about unused $2 in:
218
219 exp: '1' { $$ = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $1 + $4; };
220
221 Now, Bison also warns about mid-rule values that are used but not set. For
222 example, Bison warns about unset $$ in the mid-rule action in:
223
224 exp: '1' { $1 = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $2 + $4; };
225
226 However, Bison now disables both of these warnings by default since they
227 sometimes prove to be false alarms in existing grammars employing the Yacc
228 constructs $0 or $-N (where N is some positive integer).
229
230 To enable these warnings, specify the option `--warnings=midrule-values' or
231 `-W', which is a synonym for `--warnings=all'.
232
233 ** Default %destructor or %printer with `<*>' or `<>'
234
235 Bison now recognizes two separate kinds of default %destructor's and
236 %printer's:
237
238 1. Place `<*>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
239 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols for which you have formally
240 declared semantic type tags.
241
242 2. Place `<>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
243 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols without declared semantic
244 type tags.
245
246 Bison no longer supports the `%symbol-default' notation from Bison 2.3a.
247 `<*>' and `<>' combined achieve the same effect with one exception: Bison no
248 longer applies any %destructor to a mid-rule value if that mid-rule value is
249 not actually ever referenced using either $$ or $n in a semantic action.
250
251 The default %destructor's and %printer's are experimental. More user
252 feedback will help to determine whether they should become permanent
253 features.
254
255 See the section `Freeing Discarded Symbols' in the Bison manual for further
256 details.
257
258 ** %left, %right, and %nonassoc can now declare token numbers. This is required
259 by POSIX. However, see the end of section `Operator Precedence' in the Bison
260 manual for a caveat concerning the treatment of literal strings.
261
262 ** The nonfunctional --no-parser, -n, and %no-parser options have been
263 completely removed from Bison.
264
265 * Changes in version 2.3a, 2006-09-13:
266
267 ** Instead of %union, you can define and use your own union type
268 YYSTYPE if your grammar contains at least one <type> tag.
269 Your YYSTYPE need not be a macro; it can be a typedef.
270 This change is for compatibility with other Yacc implementations,
271 and is required by POSIX.
272
273 ** Locations columns and lines start at 1.
274 In accordance with the GNU Coding Standards and Emacs.
275
276 ** You may now declare per-type and default %destructor's and %printer's:
277
278 For example:
279
280 %union { char *string; }
281 %token <string> STRING1
282 %token <string> STRING2
283 %type <string> string1
284 %type <string> string2
285 %union { char character; }
286 %token <character> CHR
287 %type <character> chr
288 %destructor { free ($$); } %symbol-default
289 %destructor { free ($$); printf ("%d", @$.first_line); } STRING1 string1
290 %destructor { } <character>
291
292 guarantees that, when the parser discards any user-defined symbol that has a
293 semantic type tag other than `<character>', it passes its semantic value to
294 `free'. However, when the parser discards a `STRING1' or a `string1', it
295 also prints its line number to `stdout'. It performs only the second
296 `%destructor' in this case, so it invokes `free' only once.
297
298 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the default
299 %destructor's and %printer's were experimental, and they were rewritten in
300 future versions.]
301
302 ** Except for LALR(1) parsers in C with POSIX Yacc emulation enabled (with `-y',
303 `--yacc', or `%yacc'), Bison no longer generates #define statements for
304 associating token numbers with token names. Removing the #define statements
305 helps to sanitize the global namespace during preprocessing, but POSIX Yacc
306 requires them. Bison still generates an enum for token names in all cases.
307
308 ** Handling of traditional Yacc prologue blocks is now more consistent but
309 potentially incompatible with previous releases of Bison.
310
311 As before, you declare prologue blocks in your grammar file with the
312 `%{ ... %}' syntax. To generate the pre-prologue, Bison concatenates all
313 prologue blocks that you've declared before the first %union. To generate
314 the post-prologue, Bison concatenates all prologue blocks that you've
315 declared after the first %union.
316
317 Previous releases of Bison inserted the pre-prologue into both the header
318 file and the code file in all cases except for LALR(1) parsers in C. In the
319 latter case, Bison inserted it only into the code file. For parsers in C++,
320 the point of insertion was before any token definitions (which associate
321 token numbers with names). For parsers in C, the point of insertion was
322 after the token definitions.
323
324 Now, Bison never inserts the pre-prologue into the header file. In the code
325 file, it always inserts it before the token definitions.
326
327 ** Bison now provides a more flexible alternative to the traditional Yacc
328 prologue blocks: %before-header, %start-header, %end-header, and
329 %after-header.
330
331 For example, the following declaration order in the grammar file reflects the
332 order in which Bison will output these code blocks. However, you are free to
333 declare these code blocks in your grammar file in whatever order is most
334 convenient for you:
335
336 %before-header {
337 /* Bison treats this block like a pre-prologue block: it inserts it into
338 * the code file before the contents of the header file. It does *not*
339 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to put
340 * #include's that you want at the top of your code file. A common
341 * example is `#include "system.h"'. */
342 }
343 %start-header {
344 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
345 * In both files, the point of insertion is before any Bison-generated
346 * token, semantic type, location type, and class definitions. This is a
347 * good place to define %union dependencies, for example. */
348 }
349 %union {
350 /* Unlike the traditional Yacc prologue blocks, the output order for the
351 * new %*-header blocks is not affected by their declaration position
352 * relative to any %union in the grammar file. */
353 }
354 %end-header {
355 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
356 * In both files, the point of insertion is after the Bison-generated
357 * definitions. This is a good place to declare or define public
358 * functions or data structures that depend on the Bison-generated
359 * definitions. */
360 }
361 %after-header {
362 /* Bison treats this block like a post-prologue block: it inserts it into
363 * the code file after the contents of the header file. It does *not*
364 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to declare or
365 * define internal functions or data structures that depend on the
366 * Bison-generated definitions. */
367 }
368
369 If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above declarations, Bison
370 will concatenate the contents in declaration order.
371
372 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the prologue
373 alternatives were experimental, and they were rewritten in future versions.]
374
375 ** The option `--report=look-ahead' has been changed to `--report=lookahead'.
376 The old spelling still works, but is not documented and may be removed
377 in a future release.
378
379 * Changes in version 2.3, 2006-06-05:
380
381 ** GLR grammars should now use `YYRECOVERING ()' instead of `YYRECOVERING',
382 for compatibility with LALR(1) grammars.
383
384 ** It is now documented that any definition of YYSTYPE or YYLTYPE should
385 be to a type name that does not contain parentheses or brackets.
386
387 * Changes in version 2.2, 2006-05-19:
388
389 ** The distribution terms for all Bison-generated parsers now permit
390 using the parsers in nonfree programs. Previously, this permission
391 was granted only for Bison-generated LALR(1) parsers in C.
392
393 ** %name-prefix changes the namespace name in C++ outputs.
394
395 ** The C++ parsers export their token_type.
396
397 ** Bison now allows multiple %union declarations, and concatenates
398 their contents together.
399
400 ** New warning: unused values
401 Right-hand side symbols whose values are not used are reported,
402 if the symbols have destructors. For instance:
403
404 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; }
405 | exp "+" exp
406 ;
407
408 will trigger a warning about $$ and $5 in the first rule, and $3 in
409 the second ($1 is copied to $$ by the default rule). This example
410 most likely contains three errors, and could be rewritten as:
411
412 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp
413 { $$ = $1 ? $3 : $5; free ($1 ? $5 : $3); free ($1); }
414 | exp "+" exp
415 { $$ = $1 ? $1 : $3; if ($1) free ($3); }
416 ;
417
418 However, if the original actions were really intended, memory leaks
419 and all, the warnings can be suppressed by letting Bison believe the
420 values are used, e.g.:
421
422 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; (void) ($$, $5); }
423 | exp "+" exp { $$ = $1; (void) $3; }
424 ;
425
426 If there are mid-rule actions, the warning is issued if no action
427 uses it. The following triggers no warning: $1 and $3 are used.
428
429 exp: exp { push ($1); } '+' exp { push ($3); sum (); };
430
431 The warning is intended to help catching lost values and memory leaks.
432 If a value is ignored, its associated memory typically is not reclaimed.
433
434 ** %destructor vs. YYABORT, YYACCEPT, and YYERROR.
435 Destructors are now called when user code invokes YYABORT, YYACCEPT,
436 and YYERROR, for all objects on the stack, other than objects
437 corresponding to the right-hand side of the current rule.
438
439 ** %expect, %expect-rr
440 Incorrect numbers of expected conflicts are now actual errors,
441 instead of warnings.
442
443 ** GLR, YACC parsers.
444 The %parse-params are available in the destructors (and the
445 experimental printers) as per the documentation.
446
447 ** Bison now warns if it finds a stray `$' or `@' in an action.
448
449 ** %require "VERSION"
450 This specifies that the grammar file depends on features implemented
451 in Bison version VERSION or higher.
452
453 ** lalr1.cc: The token and value types are now class members.
454 The tokens were defined as free form enums and cpp macros. YYSTYPE
455 was defined as a free form union. They are now class members:
456 tokens are enumerations of the `yy::parser::token' struct, and the
457 semantic values have the `yy::parser::semantic_type' type.
458
459 If you do not want or can update to this scheme, the directive
460 `%define "global_tokens_and_yystype" "1"' triggers the global
461 definition of tokens and YYSTYPE. This change is suitable both
462 for previous releases of Bison, and this one.
463
464 If you wish to update, then make sure older version of Bison will
465 fail using `%require "2.2"'.
466
467 ** DJGPP support added.
468 \f
469 * Changes in version 2.1, 2005-09-16:
470
471 ** The C++ lalr1.cc skeleton supports %lex-param.
472
473 ** Bison-generated parsers now support the translation of diagnostics like
474 "syntax error" into languages other than English. The default
475 language is still English. For details, please see the new
476 Internationalization section of the Bison manual. Software
477 distributors should also see the new PACKAGING file. Thanks to
478 Bruno Haible for this new feature.
479
480 ** Wording in the Bison-generated parsers has been changed slightly to
481 simplify translation. In particular, the message "memory exhausted"
482 has replaced "parser stack overflow", as the old message was not
483 always accurate for modern Bison-generated parsers.
484
485 ** Destructors are now called when the parser aborts, for all symbols left
486 behind on the stack. Also, the start symbol is now destroyed after a
487 successful parse. In both cases, the behavior was formerly inconsistent.
488
489 ** When generating verbose diagnostics, Bison-generated parsers no longer
490 quote the literal strings associated with tokens. For example, for
491 a syntax error associated with '%token NUM "number"' they might
492 print 'syntax error, unexpected number' instead of 'syntax error,
493 unexpected "number"'.
494 \f
495 * Changes in version 2.0, 2004-12-25:
496
497 ** Possibly-incompatible changes
498
499 - Bison-generated parsers no longer default to using the alloca function
500 (when available) to extend the parser stack, due to widespread
501 problems in unchecked stack-overflow detection. You can "#define
502 YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA 1" to require the use of alloca, but please read
503 the manual to determine safe values for YYMAXDEPTH in that case.
504
505 - Error token location.
506 During error recovery, the location of the syntax error is updated
507 to cover the whole sequence covered by the error token: it includes
508 the shifted symbols thrown away during the first part of the error
509 recovery, and the lookahead rejected during the second part.
510
511 - Semicolon changes:
512 . Stray semicolons are no longer allowed at the start of a grammar.
513 . Semicolons are now required after in-grammar declarations.
514
515 - Unescaped newlines are no longer allowed in character constants or
516 string literals. They were never portable, and GCC 3.4.0 has
517 dropped support for them. Better diagnostics are now generated if
518 forget a closing quote.
519
520 - NUL bytes are no longer allowed in Bison string literals, unfortunately.
521
522 ** New features
523
524 - GLR grammars now support locations.
525
526 - New directive: %initial-action.
527 This directive allows the user to run arbitrary code (including
528 initializing @$) from yyparse before parsing starts.
529
530 - A new directive "%expect-rr N" specifies the expected number of
531 reduce/reduce conflicts in GLR parsers.
532
533 - %token numbers can now be hexadecimal integers, e.g., `%token FOO 0x12d'.
534 This is a GNU extension.
535
536 - The option `--report=lookahead' was changed to `--report=look-ahead'.
537 [However, this was changed back after 2.3.]
538
539 - Experimental %destructor support has been added to lalr1.cc.
540
541 - New configure option --disable-yacc, to disable installation of the
542 yacc command and -ly library introduced in 1.875 for POSIX conformance.
543
544 ** Bug fixes
545
546 - For now, %expect-count violations are now just warnings, not errors.
547 This is for compatibility with Bison 1.75 and earlier (when there are
548 reduce/reduce conflicts) and with Bison 1.30 and earlier (when there
549 are too many or too few shift/reduce conflicts). However, in future
550 versions of Bison we plan to improve the %expect machinery so that
551 these violations will become errors again.
552
553 - Within Bison itself, numbers (e.g., goto numbers) are no longer
554 arbitrarily limited to 16-bit counts.
555
556 - Semicolons are now allowed before "|" in grammar rules, as POSIX requires.
557 \f
558 * Changes in version 1.875, 2003-01-01:
559
560 ** The documentation license has been upgraded to version 1.2
561 of the GNU Free Documentation License.
562
563 ** syntax error processing
564
565 - In Yacc-style parsers YYLLOC_DEFAULT is now used to compute error
566 locations too. This fixes bugs in error-location computation.
567
568 - %destructor
569 It is now possible to reclaim the memory associated to symbols
570 discarded during error recovery. This feature is still experimental.
571
572 - %error-verbose
573 This new directive is preferred over YYERROR_VERBOSE.
574
575 - #defining yyerror to steal internal variables is discouraged.
576 It is not guaranteed to work forever.
577
578 ** POSIX conformance
579
580 - Semicolons are once again optional at the end of grammar rules.
581 This reverts to the behavior of Bison 1.33 and earlier, and improves
582 compatibility with Yacc.
583
584 - `parse error' -> `syntax error'
585 Bison now uniformly uses the term `syntax error'; formerly, the code
586 and manual sometimes used the term `parse error' instead. POSIX
587 requires `syntax error' in diagnostics, and it was thought better to
588 be consistent.
589
590 - The documentation now emphasizes that yylex and yyerror must be
591 declared before use. C99 requires this.
592
593 - Bison now parses C99 lexical constructs like UCNs and
594 backslash-newline within C escape sequences, as POSIX 1003.1-2001 requires.
595
596 - File names are properly escaped in C output. E.g., foo\bar.y is
597 output as "foo\\bar.y".
598
599 - Yacc command and library now available
600 The Bison distribution now installs a `yacc' command, as POSIX requires.
601 Also, Bison now installs a small library liby.a containing
602 implementations of Yacc-compatible yyerror and main functions.
603 This library is normally not useful, but POSIX requires it.
604
605 - Type clashes now generate warnings, not errors.
606
607 - If the user does not define YYSTYPE as a macro, Bison now declares it
608 using typedef instead of defining it as a macro.
609 For consistency, YYLTYPE is also declared instead of defined.
610
611 ** Other compatibility issues
612
613 - %union directives can now have a tag before the `{', e.g., the
614 directive `%union foo {...}' now generates the C code
615 `typedef union foo { ... } YYSTYPE;'; this is for Yacc compatibility.
616 The default union tag is `YYSTYPE', for compatibility with Solaris 9 Yacc.
617 For consistency, YYLTYPE's struct tag is now `YYLTYPE' not `yyltype'.
618 This is for compatibility with both Yacc and Bison 1.35.
619
620 - `;' is output before the terminating `}' of an action, for
621 compatibility with Bison 1.35.
622
623 - Bison now uses a Yacc-style format for conflict reports, e.g.,
624 `conflicts: 2 shift/reduce, 1 reduce/reduce'.
625
626 - `yystype' and `yyltype' are now obsolescent macros instead of being
627 typedefs or tags; they are no longer documented and are planned to be
628 withdrawn in a future release.
629
630 ** GLR parser notes
631
632 - GLR and inline
633 Users of Bison have to decide how they handle the portability of the
634 C keyword `inline'.
635
636 - `parsing stack overflow...' -> `parser stack overflow'
637 GLR parsers now report `parser stack overflow' as per the Bison manual.
638
639 ** Bison now warns if it detects conflicting outputs to the same file,
640 e.g., it generates a warning for `bison -d -o foo.h foo.y' since
641 that command outputs both code and header to foo.h.
642
643 ** #line in output files
644 - --no-line works properly.
645
646 ** Bison can no longer be built by a K&R C compiler; it requires C89 or
647 later to be built. This change originally took place a few versions
648 ago, but nobody noticed until we recently asked someone to try
649 building Bison with a K&R C compiler.
650 \f
651 * Changes in version 1.75, 2002-10-14:
652
653 ** Bison should now work on 64-bit hosts.
654
655 ** Indonesian translation thanks to Tedi Heriyanto.
656
657 ** GLR parsers
658 Fix spurious parse errors.
659
660 ** Pure parsers
661 Some people redefine yyerror to steal yyparse' private variables.
662 Reenable this trick until an official feature replaces it.
663
664 ** Type Clashes
665 In agreement with POSIX and with other Yaccs, leaving a default
666 action is valid when $$ is untyped, and $1 typed:
667
668 untyped: ... typed;
669
670 but the converse remains an error:
671
672 typed: ... untyped;
673
674 ** Values of mid-rule actions
675 The following code:
676
677 foo: { ... } { $$ = $1; } ...
678
679 was incorrectly rejected: $1 is defined in the second mid-rule
680 action, and is equal to the $$ of the first mid-rule action.
681 \f
682 * Changes in version 1.50, 2002-10-04:
683
684 ** GLR parsing
685 The declaration
686 %glr-parser
687 causes Bison to produce a Generalized LR (GLR) parser, capable of handling
688 almost any context-free grammar, ambiguous or not. The new declarations
689 %dprec and %merge on grammar rules allow parse-time resolution of
690 ambiguities. Contributed by Paul Hilfinger.
691
692 Unfortunately Bison 1.50 does not work properly on 64-bit hosts
693 like the Alpha, so please stick to 32-bit hosts for now.
694
695 ** Output Directory
696 When not in Yacc compatibility mode, when the output file was not
697 specified, running `bison foo/bar.y' created `foo/bar.c'. It
698 now creates `bar.c'.
699
700 ** Undefined token
701 The undefined token was systematically mapped to 2 which prevented
702 the use of 2 by the user. This is no longer the case.
703
704 ** Unknown token numbers
705 If yylex returned an out of range value, yyparse could die. This is
706 no longer the case.
707
708 ** Error token
709 According to POSIX, the error token must be 256.
710 Bison extends this requirement by making it a preference: *if* the
711 user specified that one of her tokens is numbered 256, then error
712 will be mapped onto another number.
713
714 ** Verbose error messages
715 They no longer report `..., expecting error or...' for states where
716 error recovery is possible.
717
718 ** End token
719 Defaults to `$end' instead of `$'.
720
721 ** Error recovery now conforms to documentation and to POSIX
722 When a Bison-generated parser encounters a syntax error, it now pops
723 the stack until it finds a state that allows shifting the error
724 token. Formerly, it popped the stack until it found a state that
725 allowed some non-error action other than a default reduction on the
726 error token. The new behavior has long been the documented behavior,
727 and has long been required by POSIX. For more details, please see
728 Paul Eggert, "Reductions during Bison error handling" (2002-05-20)
729 <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-bison/2002-05/msg00038.html>.
730
731 ** Traces
732 Popped tokens and nonterminals are now reported.
733
734 ** Larger grammars
735 Larger grammars are now supported (larger token numbers, larger grammar
736 size (= sum of the LHS and RHS lengths), larger LALR tables).
737 Formerly, many of these numbers ran afoul of 16-bit limits;
738 now these limits are 32 bits on most hosts.
739
740 ** Explicit initial rule
741 Bison used to play hacks with the initial rule, which the user does
742 not write. It is now explicit, and visible in the reports and
743 graphs as rule 0.
744
745 ** Useless rules
746 Before, Bison reported the useless rules, but, although not used,
747 included them in the parsers. They are now actually removed.
748
749 ** Useless rules, useless nonterminals
750 They are now reported, as a warning, with their locations.
751
752 ** Rules never reduced
753 Rules that can never be reduced because of conflicts are now
754 reported.
755
756 ** Incorrect `Token not used'
757 On a grammar such as
758
759 %token useless useful
760 %%
761 exp: '0' %prec useful;
762
763 where a token was used to set the precedence of the last rule,
764 bison reported both `useful' and `useless' as useless tokens.
765
766 ** Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31
767 as they caused too many portability hassles.
768
769 ** Default locations
770 By an accident of design, the default computation of @$ was
771 performed after another default computation was performed: @$ = @1.
772 The latter is now removed: YYLLOC_DEFAULT is fully responsible of
773 the computation of @$.
774
775 ** Token end-of-file
776 The token end of file may be specified by the user, in which case,
777 the user symbol is used in the reports, the graphs, and the verbose
778 error messages instead of `$end', which remains being the default.
779 For instance
780 %token MYEOF 0
781 or
782 %token MYEOF 0 "end of file"
783
784 ** Semantic parser
785 This old option, which has been broken for ages, is removed.
786
787 ** New translations
788 Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to Alexandre Folle de Menezes.
789 Croatian, thanks to Denis Lackovic.
790
791 ** Incorrect token definitions
792 When given `%token 'a' "A"', Bison used to output `#define 'a' 65'.
793
794 ** Token definitions as enums
795 Tokens are output both as the traditional #define's, and, provided
796 the compiler supports ANSI C or is a C++ compiler, as enums.
797 This lets debuggers display names instead of integers.
798
799 ** Reports
800 In addition to --verbose, bison supports --report=THINGS, which
801 produces additional information:
802 - itemset
803 complete the core item sets with their closure
804 - lookahead [changed to `look-ahead' in 1.875e through 2.3, but changed back]
805 explicitly associate lookahead tokens to items
806 - solved
807 describe shift/reduce conflicts solving.
808 Bison used to systematically output this information on top of
809 the report. Solved conflicts are now attached to their states.
810
811 ** Type clashes
812 Previous versions don't complain when there is a type clash on
813 the default action if the rule has a mid-rule action, such as in:
814
815 %type <foo> bar
816 %%
817 bar: '0' {} '0';
818
819 This is fixed.
820
821 ** GNU M4 is now required when using Bison.
822 \f
823 * Changes in version 1.35, 2002-03-25:
824
825 ** C Skeleton
826 Some projects use Bison's C parser with C++ compilers, and define
827 YYSTYPE as a class. The recent adjustment of C parsers for data
828 alignment and 64 bit architectures made this impossible.
829
830 Because for the time being no real solution for C++ parser
831 generation exists, kludges were implemented in the parser to
832 maintain this use. In the future, when Bison has C++ parsers, this
833 kludge will be disabled.
834
835 This kludge also addresses some C++ problems when the stack was
836 extended.
837 \f
838 * Changes in version 1.34, 2002-03-12:
839
840 ** File name clashes are detected
841 $ bison foo.y -d -o foo.x
842 fatal error: header and parser would both be named `foo.x'
843
844 ** A missing `;' at the end of a rule triggers a warning
845 In accordance with POSIX, and in agreement with other
846 Yacc implementations, Bison will mandate this semicolon in the near
847 future. This eases the implementation of a Bison parser of Bison
848 grammars by making this grammar LALR(1) instead of LR(2). To
849 facilitate the transition, this release introduces a warning.
850
851 ** Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31, as they caused too
852 many portability hassles.
853
854 ** DJGPP support added.
855
856 ** Fix test suite portability problems.
857 \f
858 * Changes in version 1.33, 2002-02-07:
859
860 ** Fix C++ issues
861 Groff could not be compiled for the definition of size_t was lacking
862 under some conditions.
863
864 ** Catch invalid @n
865 As is done with $n.
866 \f
867 * Changes in version 1.32, 2002-01-23:
868
869 ** Fix Yacc output file names
870
871 ** Portability fixes
872
873 ** Italian, Dutch translations
874 \f
875 * Changes in version 1.31, 2002-01-14:
876
877 ** Many Bug Fixes
878
879 ** GNU Gettext and %expect
880 GNU Gettext asserts 10 s/r conflicts, but there are 7. Now that
881 Bison dies on incorrect %expectations, we fear there will be
882 too many bug reports for Gettext, so _for the time being_, %expect
883 does not trigger an error when the input file is named `plural.y'.
884
885 ** Use of alloca in parsers
886 If YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA is defined to 0, then the parsers will use
887 malloc exclusively. Since 1.29, but was not NEWS'ed.
888
889 alloca is used only when compiled with GCC, to avoid portability
890 problems as on AIX.
891
892 ** yyparse now returns 2 if memory is exhausted; formerly it dumped core.
893
894 ** When the generated parser lacks debugging code, YYDEBUG is now 0
895 (as POSIX requires) instead of being undefined.
896
897 ** User Actions
898 Bison has always permitted actions such as { $$ = $1 }: it adds the
899 ending semicolon. Now if in Yacc compatibility mode, the semicolon
900 is no longer output: one has to write { $$ = $1; }.
901
902 ** Better C++ compliance
903 The output parsers try to respect C++ namespaces.
904 [This turned out to be a failed experiment, and it was reverted later.]
905
906 ** Reduced Grammars
907 Fixed bugs when reporting useless nonterminals.
908
909 ** 64 bit hosts
910 The parsers work properly on 64 bit hosts.
911
912 ** Error messages
913 Some calls to strerror resulted in scrambled or missing error messages.
914
915 ** %expect
916 When the number of shift/reduce conflicts is correct, don't issue
917 any warning.
918
919 ** The verbose report includes the rule line numbers.
920
921 ** Rule line numbers are fixed in traces.
922
923 ** Swedish translation
924
925 ** Parse errors
926 Verbose parse error messages from the parsers are better looking.
927 Before: parse error: unexpected `'/'', expecting `"number"' or `'-'' or `'(''
928 Now: parse error: unexpected '/', expecting "number" or '-' or '('
929
930 ** Fixed parser memory leaks.
931 When the generated parser was using malloc to extend its stacks, the
932 previous allocations were not freed.
933
934 ** Fixed verbose output file.
935 Some newlines were missing.
936 Some conflicts in state descriptions were missing.
937
938 ** Fixed conflict report.
939 Option -v was needed to get the result.
940
941 ** %expect
942 Was not used.
943 Mismatches are errors, not warnings.
944
945 ** Fixed incorrect processing of some invalid input.
946
947 ** Fixed CPP guards: 9foo.h uses BISON_9FOO_H instead of 9FOO_H.
948
949 ** Fixed some typos in the documentation.
950
951 ** %token MY_EOF 0 is supported.
952 Before, MY_EOF was silently renumbered as 257.
953
954 ** doc/refcard.tex is updated.
955
956 ** %output, %file-prefix, %name-prefix.
957 New.
958
959 ** --output
960 New, aliasing `--output-file'.
961 \f
962 * Changes in version 1.30, 2001-10-26:
963
964 ** `--defines' and `--graph' have now an optional argument which is the
965 output file name. `-d' and `-g' do not change; they do not take any
966 argument.
967
968 ** `%source_extension' and `%header_extension' are removed, failed
969 experiment.
970
971 ** Portability fixes.
972 \f
973 * Changes in version 1.29, 2001-09-07:
974
975 ** The output file does not define const, as this caused problems when used
976 with common autoconfiguration schemes. If you still use ancient compilers
977 that lack const, compile with the equivalent of the C compiler option
978 `-Dconst='. autoconf's AC_C_CONST macro provides one way to do this.
979
980 ** Added `-g' and `--graph'.
981
982 ** The Bison manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL.
983
984 ** The input and the output files has automatically a similar extension.
985
986 ** Russian translation added.
987
988 ** NLS support updated; should hopefully be less troublesome.
989
990 ** Added the old Bison reference card.
991
992 ** Added `--locations' and `%locations'.
993
994 ** Added `-S' and `--skeleton'.
995
996 ** `%raw', `-r', `--raw' is disabled.
997
998 ** Special characters are escaped when output. This solves the problems
999 of the #line lines with path names including backslashes.
1000
1001 ** New directives.
1002 `%yacc', `%fixed_output_files', `%defines', `%no_parser', `%verbose',
1003 `%debug', `%source_extension' and `%header_extension'.
1004
1005 ** @$
1006 Automatic location tracking.
1007 \f
1008 * Changes in version 1.28, 1999-07-06:
1009
1010 ** Should compile better now with K&R compilers.
1011
1012 ** Added NLS.
1013
1014 ** Fixed a problem with escaping the double quote character.
1015
1016 ** There is now a FAQ.
1017 \f
1018 * Changes in version 1.27:
1019
1020 ** The make rule which prevented bison.simple from being created on
1021 some systems has been fixed.
1022 \f
1023 * Changes in version 1.26:
1024
1025 ** Bison now uses automake.
1026
1027 ** New mailing lists: <bug-bison@gnu.org> and <help-bison@gnu.org>.
1028
1029 ** Token numbers now start at 257 as previously documented, not 258.
1030
1031 ** Bison honors the TMPDIR environment variable.
1032
1033 ** A couple of buffer overruns have been fixed.
1034
1035 ** Problems when closing files should now be reported.
1036
1037 ** Generated parsers should now work even on operating systems which do
1038 not provide alloca().
1039 \f
1040 * Changes in version 1.25, 1995-10-16:
1041
1042 ** Errors in the input grammar are not fatal; Bison keeps reading
1043 the grammar file, and reports all the errors found in it.
1044
1045 ** Tokens can now be specified as multiple-character strings: for
1046 example, you could use "<=" for a token which looks like <=, instead
1047 of chosing a name like LESSEQ.
1048
1049 ** The %token_table declaration says to write a table of tokens (names
1050 and numbers) into the parser file. The yylex function can use this
1051 table to recognize multiple-character string tokens, or for other
1052 purposes.
1053
1054 ** The %no_lines declaration says not to generate any #line preprocessor
1055 directives in the parser file.
1056
1057 ** The %raw declaration says to use internal Bison token numbers, not
1058 Yacc-compatible token numbers, when token names are defined as macros.
1059
1060 ** The --no-parser option produces the parser tables without including
1061 the parser engine; a project can now use its own parser engine.
1062 The actions go into a separate file called NAME.act, in the form of
1063 a switch statement body.
1064 \f
1065 * Changes in version 1.23:
1066
1067 The user can define YYPARSE_PARAM as the name of an argument to be
1068 passed into yyparse. The argument should have type void *. It should
1069 actually point to an object. Grammar actions can access the variable
1070 by casting it to the proper pointer type.
1071
1072 Line numbers in output file corrected.
1073 \f
1074 * Changes in version 1.22:
1075
1076 --help option added.
1077 \f
1078 * Changes in version 1.20:
1079
1080 Output file does not redefine const for C++.
1081
1082 Local Variables:
1083 mode: outline
1084 End:
1085
1086 -----
1087
1088 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
1089 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
1090
1091 This file is part of Bison, the GNU Parser Generator.
1092
1093 This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
1094 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
1095 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
1096 (at your option) any later version.
1097
1098 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
1099 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
1100 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
1101 GNU General Public License for more details.
1102
1103 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
1104 along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.