4 * Changes in version ?.? (????-??-??):
6 ** Java skeleton improvements:
8 The constants for token names were moved to the Lexer interface.
9 Also, it is possible to add code to the parser's constructors using
10 "%code init" and "%define init_throws".
12 ** Variable token.prefix
14 The variable token.prefix changes the way tokens are identified in
15 the generated files. This is especially useful to avoid collisions
16 with identifiers in the target language. For instance
19 %define token.prefix "TOK_"
21 start: FILE for ERROR;
23 will generate the definition of the symbols TOK_FILE, TOK_for, and
24 TOK_ERROR in the generated sources. In particular, the scanner must
25 use these prefixed token names, although the grammar itself still
26 uses the short names (as in the sample rule given above).
28 * Changes in version 2.5 (????-??-??):
30 ** IELR(1) and Canonical LR(1) Support
32 IELR(1) is a minimal LR(1) parser table generation algorithm. That
33 is, given any context-free grammar, IELR(1) generates parser tables
34 with the full language recognition power of canonical LR(1) but with
35 nearly the same number of parser states as LALR(1). This reduction in
36 parser states is often an order of magnitude. More importantly,
37 because canonical LR(1)'s extra parser states may contain duplicate
38 conflicts in the case of non-LR(1) grammars, the number of conflicts
39 for IELR(1) is often an order of magnitude less as well. This can
40 significantly reduce the complexity of developing of a grammar.
42 Bison can now generate IELR(1) and canonical LR(1) parser tables in
43 place of its traditional LALR(1) parser tables, which remain the
44 default. You can specify the type of parser tables in the grammar
45 file with these directives:
47 %define lr.type "LALR"
48 %define lr.type "IELR"
49 %define lr.type "canonical LR"
51 The default reduction optimization in the parser tables can also be
52 adjusted using `%define lr.default-reductions'. See the documentation
53 for `%define lr.type' and `%define lr.default-reductions' in the
54 section `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison manual for the
57 These features are experimental. More user feedback will help to
60 ** %define can now be invoked via the command line.
62 Each of these bison command-line options
67 is equivalent to this grammar file declaration
71 for any NAME and VALUE. Omitting `=VALUE' on the command line is
72 equivalent to omitting `"VALUE"' in the declaration.
74 ** %define variables renamed.
76 The following %define variables
79 lr.keep_unreachable_states
84 lr.keep-unreachable-states
86 The old names are now deprecated but will be maintained indefinitely
87 for backward compatibility.
91 Consistently with directives (such as %error-verbose) and variables
92 (e.g. push-pull), symbol names may include dashes in any position,
93 similarly to periods and underscores. This is GNU extension over
94 POSIX Yacc whose use is reported by -Wyacc, and rejected in Yacc
97 ** Temporary hack for adding a semicolon to the user action.
99 Previously, Bison appended a semicolon to every user action for
100 reductions when the output language defaulted to C (specifically, when
101 neither %yacc, %language, %skeleton, or equivalent command-line
102 options were specified). This allowed actions such as
104 exp: exp "+" exp { $$ = $1 + $3 };
108 exp: exp "+" exp { $$ = $1 + $3; };
110 As a first step in removing this misfeature, Bison now issues a
111 warning when it appends a semicolon. Moreover, in cases where Bison
112 cannot easily determine whether a semicolon is needed (for example, an
113 action ending with a cpp directive or a braced compound initializer),
114 it no longer appends one. Thus, the C compiler might now complain
115 about a missing semicolon where it did not before. Future releases of
116 Bison will cease to append semicolons entirely.
118 * Changes in version 2.4.2 (????-??-??):
120 ** %code is now a permanent feature.
122 A traditional Yacc prologue directive is written in the form:
126 To provide a more flexible alternative, Bison 2.3b introduced the
127 %code directive with the following forms for C/C++:
130 %code requires {CODE}
131 %code provides {CODE}
134 These forms are now considered permanent features of Bison. See the
135 %code entries in the section "Bison Declaration Summary" in the Bison
136 manual for a summary of their functionality. See the section
137 "Prologue Alternatives" for a detailed discussion including the
138 advantages of %code over the traditional Yacc prologue directive.
140 Bison's Java feature as a whole including its current usage of %code
141 is still considered experimental.
143 * Changes in version 2.4.1 (2008-12-11):
145 ** In the GLR defines file, unexpanded M4 macros in the yylval and yylloc
146 declarations have been fixed.
148 ** Temporary hack for adding a semicolon to the user action.
150 Bison used to prepend a trailing semicolon at the end of the user
151 action for reductions. This allowed actions such as
153 exp: exp "+" exp { $$ = $1 + $3 };
157 exp: exp "+" exp { $$ = $1 + $3; };
159 Some grammars still depend on this `feature'. Bison 2.4.1 restores
160 the previous behavior in the case of C output (specifically, when
161 neither %language or %skeleton or equivalent command-line options
162 are used) to leave more time for grammars depending on the old
163 behavior to be adjusted. Future releases of Bison will disable this
166 ** A few minor improvements to the Bison manual.
168 * Changes in version 2.4 (2008-11-02):
170 ** %language is an experimental feature.
172 We first introduced this feature in test release 2.3b as a cleaner
173 alternative to %skeleton. Since then, we have discussed the possibility of
174 modifying its effect on Bison's output file names. Thus, in this release,
175 we consider %language to be an experimental feature that will likely evolve
178 ** Forward compatibility with GNU M4 has been improved.
180 ** Several bugs in the C++ skeleton and the experimental Java skeleton have been
183 * Changes in version 2.3b (2008-05-27):
185 ** The quotes around NAME that used to be required in the following directive
190 ** The directive `%pure-parser' is now deprecated in favor of:
194 which has the same effect except that Bison is more careful to warn about
195 unreasonable usage in the latter case.
199 Bison can now generate an LALR(1) parser in C with a push interface. That
200 is, instead of invoking `yyparse', which pulls tokens from `yylex', you can
201 push one token at a time to the parser using `yypush_parse', which will
202 return to the caller after processing each token. By default, the push
203 interface is disabled. Either of the following directives will enable it:
205 %define api.push_pull "push" // Just push; does not require yylex.
206 %define api.push_pull "both" // Push and pull; requires yylex.
208 See the new section `A Push Parser' in the Bison manual for details.
210 The current push parsing interface is experimental and may evolve. More user
211 feedback will help to stabilize it.
213 ** The -g and --graph options now output graphs in Graphviz DOT format,
214 not VCG format. Like --graph, -g now also takes an optional FILE argument
215 and thus cannot be bundled with other short options.
219 Bison can now generate an LALR(1) parser in Java. The skeleton is
220 `data/lalr1.java'. Consider using the new %language directive instead of
221 %skeleton to select it.
223 See the new section `Java Parsers' in the Bison manual for details.
225 The current Java interface is experimental and may evolve. More user
226 feedback will help to stabilize it.
230 This new directive specifies the programming language of the generated
231 parser, which can be C (the default), C++, or Java. Besides the skeleton
232 that Bison uses, the directive affects the names of the generated files if
233 the grammar file's name ends in ".y".
235 ** XML Automaton Report
237 Bison can now generate an XML report of the LALR(1) automaton using the new
238 `--xml' option. The current XML schema is experimental and may evolve. More
239 user feedback will help to stabilize it.
241 ** The grammar file may now specify the name of the parser header file using
242 %defines. For example:
246 ** When reporting useless rules, useless nonterminals, and unused terminals,
247 Bison now employs the terms "useless in grammar" instead of "useless",
248 "useless in parser" instead of "never reduced", and "unused in grammar"
251 ** Unreachable State Removal
253 Previously, Bison sometimes generated parser tables containing unreachable
254 states. A state can become unreachable during conflict resolution if Bison
255 disables a shift action leading to it from a predecessor state. Bison now:
257 1. Removes unreachable states.
259 2. Does not report any conflicts that appeared in unreachable states.
260 WARNING: As a result, you may need to update %expect and %expect-rr
261 directives in existing grammar files.
263 3. For any rule used only in such states, Bison now reports the rule as
264 "useless in parser due to conflicts".
266 This feature can be disabled with the following directive:
268 %define lr.keep_unreachable_states
270 See the %define entry in the `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison manual
271 for further discussion.
273 ** Lookahead Set Correction in the `.output' Report
275 When instructed to generate a `.output' file including lookahead sets
276 (using `--report=lookahead', for example), Bison now prints each reduction's
277 lookahead set only next to the associated state's one item that (1) is
278 associated with the same rule as the reduction and (2) has its dot at the end
279 of its RHS. Previously, Bison also erroneously printed the lookahead set
280 next to all of the state's other items associated with the same rule. This
281 bug affected only the `.output' file and not the generated parser source
284 ** --report-file=FILE is a new option to override the default `.output' file
287 ** The `=' that used to be required in the following directives is now
290 %file-prefix "parser"
294 ** An Alternative to `%{...%}' -- `%code QUALIFIER {CODE}'
296 Bison 2.3a provided a new set of directives as a more flexible alternative to
297 the traditional Yacc prologue blocks. Those have now been consolidated into
298 a single %code directive with an optional qualifier field, which identifies
299 the purpose of the code and thus the location(s) where Bison should generate
302 1. `%code {CODE}' replaces `%after-header {CODE}'
303 2. `%code requires {CODE}' replaces `%start-header {CODE}'
304 3. `%code provides {CODE}' replaces `%end-header {CODE}'
305 4. `%code top {CODE}' replaces `%before-header {CODE}'
307 See the %code entries in section `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison
308 manual for a summary of the new functionality. See the new section `Prologue
309 Alternatives' for a detailed discussion including the advantages of %code
310 over the traditional Yacc prologues.
312 The prologue alternatives are experimental. More user feedback will help to
313 determine whether they should become permanent features.
315 ** Revised warning: unset or unused mid-rule values
317 Since Bison 2.2, Bison has warned about mid-rule values that are set but not
318 used within any of the actions of the parent rule. For example, Bison warns
321 exp: '1' { $$ = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $1 + $4; };
323 Now, Bison also warns about mid-rule values that are used but not set. For
324 example, Bison warns about unset $$ in the mid-rule action in:
326 exp: '1' { $1 = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $2 + $4; };
328 However, Bison now disables both of these warnings by default since they
329 sometimes prove to be false alarms in existing grammars employing the Yacc
330 constructs $0 or $-N (where N is some positive integer).
332 To enable these warnings, specify the option `--warnings=midrule-values' or
333 `-W', which is a synonym for `--warnings=all'.
335 ** Default %destructor or %printer with `<*>' or `<>'
337 Bison now recognizes two separate kinds of default %destructor's and
340 1. Place `<*>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
341 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols for which you have formally
342 declared semantic type tags.
344 2. Place `<>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
345 %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols without declared semantic
348 Bison no longer supports the `%symbol-default' notation from Bison 2.3a.
349 `<*>' and `<>' combined achieve the same effect with one exception: Bison no
350 longer applies any %destructor to a mid-rule value if that mid-rule value is
351 not actually ever referenced using either $$ or $n in a semantic action.
353 The default %destructor's and %printer's are experimental. More user
354 feedback will help to determine whether they should become permanent
357 See the section `Freeing Discarded Symbols' in the Bison manual for further
360 ** %left, %right, and %nonassoc can now declare token numbers. This is required
361 by POSIX. However, see the end of section `Operator Precedence' in the Bison
362 manual for a caveat concerning the treatment of literal strings.
364 ** The nonfunctional --no-parser, -n, and %no-parser options have been
365 completely removed from Bison.
367 * Changes in version 2.3a, 2006-09-13:
369 ** Instead of %union, you can define and use your own union type
370 YYSTYPE if your grammar contains at least one <type> tag.
371 Your YYSTYPE need not be a macro; it can be a typedef.
372 This change is for compatibility with other Yacc implementations,
373 and is required by POSIX.
375 ** Locations columns and lines start at 1.
376 In accordance with the GNU Coding Standards and Emacs.
378 ** You may now declare per-type and default %destructor's and %printer's:
382 %union { char *string; }
383 %token <string> STRING1
384 %token <string> STRING2
385 %type <string> string1
386 %type <string> string2
387 %union { char character; }
388 %token <character> CHR
389 %type <character> chr
390 %destructor { free ($$); } %symbol-default
391 %destructor { free ($$); printf ("%d", @$.first_line); } STRING1 string1
392 %destructor { } <character>
394 guarantees that, when the parser discards any user-defined symbol that has a
395 semantic type tag other than `<character>', it passes its semantic value to
396 `free'. However, when the parser discards a `STRING1' or a `string1', it
397 also prints its line number to `stdout'. It performs only the second
398 `%destructor' in this case, so it invokes `free' only once.
400 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the default
401 %destructor's and %printer's were experimental, and they were rewritten in
404 ** Except for LALR(1) parsers in C with POSIX Yacc emulation enabled (with `-y',
405 `--yacc', or `%yacc'), Bison no longer generates #define statements for
406 associating token numbers with token names. Removing the #define statements
407 helps to sanitize the global namespace during preprocessing, but POSIX Yacc
408 requires them. Bison still generates an enum for token names in all cases.
410 ** Handling of traditional Yacc prologue blocks is now more consistent but
411 potentially incompatible with previous releases of Bison.
413 As before, you declare prologue blocks in your grammar file with the
414 `%{ ... %}' syntax. To generate the pre-prologue, Bison concatenates all
415 prologue blocks that you've declared before the first %union. To generate
416 the post-prologue, Bison concatenates all prologue blocks that you've
417 declared after the first %union.
419 Previous releases of Bison inserted the pre-prologue into both the header
420 file and the code file in all cases except for LALR(1) parsers in C. In the
421 latter case, Bison inserted it only into the code file. For parsers in C++,
422 the point of insertion was before any token definitions (which associate
423 token numbers with names). For parsers in C, the point of insertion was
424 after the token definitions.
426 Now, Bison never inserts the pre-prologue into the header file. In the code
427 file, it always inserts it before the token definitions.
429 ** Bison now provides a more flexible alternative to the traditional Yacc
430 prologue blocks: %before-header, %start-header, %end-header, and
433 For example, the following declaration order in the grammar file reflects the
434 order in which Bison will output these code blocks. However, you are free to
435 declare these code blocks in your grammar file in whatever order is most
439 /* Bison treats this block like a pre-prologue block: it inserts it into
440 * the code file before the contents of the header file. It does *not*
441 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to put
442 * #include's that you want at the top of your code file. A common
443 * example is `#include "system.h"'. */
446 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
447 * In both files, the point of insertion is before any Bison-generated
448 * token, semantic type, location type, and class definitions. This is a
449 * good place to define %union dependencies, for example. */
452 /* Unlike the traditional Yacc prologue blocks, the output order for the
453 * new %*-header blocks is not affected by their declaration position
454 * relative to any %union in the grammar file. */
457 /* Bison inserts this block into both the header file and the code file.
458 * In both files, the point of insertion is after the Bison-generated
459 * definitions. This is a good place to declare or define public
460 * functions or data structures that depend on the Bison-generated
464 /* Bison treats this block like a post-prologue block: it inserts it into
465 * the code file after the contents of the header file. It does *not*
466 * insert it into the header file. This is a good place to declare or
467 * define internal functions or data structures that depend on the
468 * Bison-generated definitions. */
471 If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above declarations, Bison
472 will concatenate the contents in declaration order.
474 [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the prologue
475 alternatives were experimental, and they were rewritten in future versions.]
477 ** The option `--report=look-ahead' has been changed to `--report=lookahead'.
478 The old spelling still works, but is not documented and may be removed
481 * Changes in version 2.3, 2006-06-05:
483 ** GLR grammars should now use `YYRECOVERING ()' instead of `YYRECOVERING',
484 for compatibility with LALR(1) grammars.
486 ** It is now documented that any definition of YYSTYPE or YYLTYPE should
487 be to a type name that does not contain parentheses or brackets.
489 * Changes in version 2.2, 2006-05-19:
491 ** The distribution terms for all Bison-generated parsers now permit
492 using the parsers in nonfree programs. Previously, this permission
493 was granted only for Bison-generated LALR(1) parsers in C.
495 ** %name-prefix changes the namespace name in C++ outputs.
497 ** The C++ parsers export their token_type.
499 ** Bison now allows multiple %union declarations, and concatenates
500 their contents together.
502 ** New warning: unused values
503 Right-hand side symbols whose values are not used are reported,
504 if the symbols have destructors. For instance:
506 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; }
510 will trigger a warning about $$ and $5 in the first rule, and $3 in
511 the second ($1 is copied to $$ by the default rule). This example
512 most likely contains three errors, and could be rewritten as:
514 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp
515 { $$ = $1 ? $3 : $5; free ($1 ? $5 : $3); free ($1); }
517 { $$ = $1 ? $1 : $3; if ($1) free ($3); }
520 However, if the original actions were really intended, memory leaks
521 and all, the warnings can be suppressed by letting Bison believe the
522 values are used, e.g.:
524 exp: exp "?" exp ":" exp { $1 ? $1 : $3; (void) ($$, $5); }
525 | exp "+" exp { $$ = $1; (void) $3; }
528 If there are mid-rule actions, the warning is issued if no action
529 uses it. The following triggers no warning: $1 and $3 are used.
531 exp: exp { push ($1); } '+' exp { push ($3); sum (); };
533 The warning is intended to help catching lost values and memory leaks.
534 If a value is ignored, its associated memory typically is not reclaimed.
536 ** %destructor vs. YYABORT, YYACCEPT, and YYERROR.
537 Destructors are now called when user code invokes YYABORT, YYACCEPT,
538 and YYERROR, for all objects on the stack, other than objects
539 corresponding to the right-hand side of the current rule.
541 ** %expect, %expect-rr
542 Incorrect numbers of expected conflicts are now actual errors,
545 ** GLR, YACC parsers.
546 The %parse-params are available in the destructors (and the
547 experimental printers) as per the documentation.
549 ** Bison now warns if it finds a stray `$' or `@' in an action.
551 ** %require "VERSION"
552 This specifies that the grammar file depends on features implemented
553 in Bison version VERSION or higher.
555 ** lalr1.cc: The token and value types are now class members.
556 The tokens were defined as free form enums and cpp macros. YYSTYPE
557 was defined as a free form union. They are now class members:
558 tokens are enumerations of the `yy::parser::token' struct, and the
559 semantic values have the `yy::parser::semantic_type' type.
561 If you do not want or can update to this scheme, the directive
562 `%define "global_tokens_and_yystype" "1"' triggers the global
563 definition of tokens and YYSTYPE. This change is suitable both
564 for previous releases of Bison, and this one.
566 If you wish to update, then make sure older version of Bison will
567 fail using `%require "2.2"'.
569 ** DJGPP support added.
571 * Changes in version 2.1, 2005-09-16:
573 ** The C++ lalr1.cc skeleton supports %lex-param.
575 ** Bison-generated parsers now support the translation of diagnostics like
576 "syntax error" into languages other than English. The default
577 language is still English. For details, please see the new
578 Internationalization section of the Bison manual. Software
579 distributors should also see the new PACKAGING file. Thanks to
580 Bruno Haible for this new feature.
582 ** Wording in the Bison-generated parsers has been changed slightly to
583 simplify translation. In particular, the message "memory exhausted"
584 has replaced "parser stack overflow", as the old message was not
585 always accurate for modern Bison-generated parsers.
587 ** Destructors are now called when the parser aborts, for all symbols left
588 behind on the stack. Also, the start symbol is now destroyed after a
589 successful parse. In both cases, the behavior was formerly inconsistent.
591 ** When generating verbose diagnostics, Bison-generated parsers no longer
592 quote the literal strings associated with tokens. For example, for
593 a syntax error associated with '%token NUM "number"' they might
594 print 'syntax error, unexpected number' instead of 'syntax error,
595 unexpected "number"'.
597 * Changes in version 2.0, 2004-12-25:
599 ** Possibly-incompatible changes
601 - Bison-generated parsers no longer default to using the alloca function
602 (when available) to extend the parser stack, due to widespread
603 problems in unchecked stack-overflow detection. You can "#define
604 YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA 1" to require the use of alloca, but please read
605 the manual to determine safe values for YYMAXDEPTH in that case.
607 - Error token location.
608 During error recovery, the location of the syntax error is updated
609 to cover the whole sequence covered by the error token: it includes
610 the shifted symbols thrown away during the first part of the error
611 recovery, and the lookahead rejected during the second part.
614 . Stray semicolons are no longer allowed at the start of a grammar.
615 . Semicolons are now required after in-grammar declarations.
617 - Unescaped newlines are no longer allowed in character constants or
618 string literals. They were never portable, and GCC 3.4.0 has
619 dropped support for them. Better diagnostics are now generated if
620 forget a closing quote.
622 - NUL bytes are no longer allowed in Bison string literals, unfortunately.
626 - GLR grammars now support locations.
628 - New directive: %initial-action.
629 This directive allows the user to run arbitrary code (including
630 initializing @$) from yyparse before parsing starts.
632 - A new directive "%expect-rr N" specifies the expected number of
633 reduce/reduce conflicts in GLR parsers.
635 - %token numbers can now be hexadecimal integers, e.g., `%token FOO 0x12d'.
636 This is a GNU extension.
638 - The option `--report=lookahead' was changed to `--report=look-ahead'.
639 [However, this was changed back after 2.3.]
641 - Experimental %destructor support has been added to lalr1.cc.
643 - New configure option --disable-yacc, to disable installation of the
644 yacc command and -ly library introduced in 1.875 for POSIX conformance.
648 - For now, %expect-count violations are now just warnings, not errors.
649 This is for compatibility with Bison 1.75 and earlier (when there are
650 reduce/reduce conflicts) and with Bison 1.30 and earlier (when there
651 are too many or too few shift/reduce conflicts). However, in future
652 versions of Bison we plan to improve the %expect machinery so that
653 these violations will become errors again.
655 - Within Bison itself, numbers (e.g., goto numbers) are no longer
656 arbitrarily limited to 16-bit counts.
658 - Semicolons are now allowed before "|" in grammar rules, as POSIX requires.
660 * Changes in version 1.875, 2003-01-01:
662 ** The documentation license has been upgraded to version 1.2
663 of the GNU Free Documentation License.
665 ** syntax error processing
667 - In Yacc-style parsers YYLLOC_DEFAULT is now used to compute error
668 locations too. This fixes bugs in error-location computation.
671 It is now possible to reclaim the memory associated to symbols
672 discarded during error recovery. This feature is still experimental.
675 This new directive is preferred over YYERROR_VERBOSE.
677 - #defining yyerror to steal internal variables is discouraged.
678 It is not guaranteed to work forever.
682 - Semicolons are once again optional at the end of grammar rules.
683 This reverts to the behavior of Bison 1.33 and earlier, and improves
684 compatibility with Yacc.
686 - `parse error' -> `syntax error'
687 Bison now uniformly uses the term `syntax error'; formerly, the code
688 and manual sometimes used the term `parse error' instead. POSIX
689 requires `syntax error' in diagnostics, and it was thought better to
692 - The documentation now emphasizes that yylex and yyerror must be
693 declared before use. C99 requires this.
695 - Bison now parses C99 lexical constructs like UCNs and
696 backslash-newline within C escape sequences, as POSIX 1003.1-2001 requires.
698 - File names are properly escaped in C output. E.g., foo\bar.y is
699 output as "foo\\bar.y".
701 - Yacc command and library now available
702 The Bison distribution now installs a `yacc' command, as POSIX requires.
703 Also, Bison now installs a small library liby.a containing
704 implementations of Yacc-compatible yyerror and main functions.
705 This library is normally not useful, but POSIX requires it.
707 - Type clashes now generate warnings, not errors.
709 - If the user does not define YYSTYPE as a macro, Bison now declares it
710 using typedef instead of defining it as a macro.
711 For consistency, YYLTYPE is also declared instead of defined.
713 ** Other compatibility issues
715 - %union directives can now have a tag before the `{', e.g., the
716 directive `%union foo {...}' now generates the C code
717 `typedef union foo { ... } YYSTYPE;'; this is for Yacc compatibility.
718 The default union tag is `YYSTYPE', for compatibility with Solaris 9 Yacc.
719 For consistency, YYLTYPE's struct tag is now `YYLTYPE' not `yyltype'.
720 This is for compatibility with both Yacc and Bison 1.35.
722 - `;' is output before the terminating `}' of an action, for
723 compatibility with Bison 1.35.
725 - Bison now uses a Yacc-style format for conflict reports, e.g.,
726 `conflicts: 2 shift/reduce, 1 reduce/reduce'.
728 - `yystype' and `yyltype' are now obsolescent macros instead of being
729 typedefs or tags; they are no longer documented and are planned to be
730 withdrawn in a future release.
735 Users of Bison have to decide how they handle the portability of the
738 - `parsing stack overflow...' -> `parser stack overflow'
739 GLR parsers now report `parser stack overflow' as per the Bison manual.
741 ** Bison now warns if it detects conflicting outputs to the same file,
742 e.g., it generates a warning for `bison -d -o foo.h foo.y' since
743 that command outputs both code and header to foo.h.
745 ** #line in output files
746 - --no-line works properly.
748 ** Bison can no longer be built by a K&R C compiler; it requires C89 or
749 later to be built. This change originally took place a few versions
750 ago, but nobody noticed until we recently asked someone to try
751 building Bison with a K&R C compiler.
753 * Changes in version 1.75, 2002-10-14:
755 ** Bison should now work on 64-bit hosts.
757 ** Indonesian translation thanks to Tedi Heriyanto.
760 Fix spurious parse errors.
763 Some people redefine yyerror to steal yyparse' private variables.
764 Reenable this trick until an official feature replaces it.
767 In agreement with POSIX and with other Yaccs, leaving a default
768 action is valid when $$ is untyped, and $1 typed:
772 but the converse remains an error:
776 ** Values of mid-rule actions
779 foo: { ... } { $$ = $1; } ...
781 was incorrectly rejected: $1 is defined in the second mid-rule
782 action, and is equal to the $$ of the first mid-rule action.
784 * Changes in version 1.50, 2002-10-04:
789 causes Bison to produce a Generalized LR (GLR) parser, capable of handling
790 almost any context-free grammar, ambiguous or not. The new declarations
791 %dprec and %merge on grammar rules allow parse-time resolution of
792 ambiguities. Contributed by Paul Hilfinger.
794 Unfortunately Bison 1.50 does not work properly on 64-bit hosts
795 like the Alpha, so please stick to 32-bit hosts for now.
798 When not in Yacc compatibility mode, when the output file was not
799 specified, running `bison foo/bar.y' created `foo/bar.c'. It
803 The undefined token was systematically mapped to 2 which prevented
804 the use of 2 by the user. This is no longer the case.
806 ** Unknown token numbers
807 If yylex returned an out of range value, yyparse could die. This is
811 According to POSIX, the error token must be 256.
812 Bison extends this requirement by making it a preference: *if* the
813 user specified that one of her tokens is numbered 256, then error
814 will be mapped onto another number.
816 ** Verbose error messages
817 They no longer report `..., expecting error or...' for states where
818 error recovery is possible.
821 Defaults to `$end' instead of `$'.
823 ** Error recovery now conforms to documentation and to POSIX
824 When a Bison-generated parser encounters a syntax error, it now pops
825 the stack until it finds a state that allows shifting the error
826 token. Formerly, it popped the stack until it found a state that
827 allowed some non-error action other than a default reduction on the
828 error token. The new behavior has long been the documented behavior,
829 and has long been required by POSIX. For more details, please see
830 Paul Eggert, "Reductions during Bison error handling" (2002-05-20)
831 <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-bison/2002-05/msg00038.html>.
834 Popped tokens and nonterminals are now reported.
837 Larger grammars are now supported (larger token numbers, larger grammar
838 size (= sum of the LHS and RHS lengths), larger LALR tables).
839 Formerly, many of these numbers ran afoul of 16-bit limits;
840 now these limits are 32 bits on most hosts.
842 ** Explicit initial rule
843 Bison used to play hacks with the initial rule, which the user does
844 not write. It is now explicit, and visible in the reports and
848 Before, Bison reported the useless rules, but, although not used,
849 included them in the parsers. They are now actually removed.
851 ** Useless rules, useless nonterminals
852 They are now reported, as a warning, with their locations.
854 ** Rules never reduced
855 Rules that can never be reduced because of conflicts are now
858 ** Incorrect `Token not used'
861 %token useless useful
863 exp: '0' %prec useful;
865 where a token was used to set the precedence of the last rule,
866 bison reported both `useful' and `useless' as useless tokens.
868 ** Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31
869 as they caused too many portability hassles.
872 By an accident of design, the default computation of @$ was
873 performed after another default computation was performed: @$ = @1.
874 The latter is now removed: YYLLOC_DEFAULT is fully responsible of
875 the computation of @$.
878 The token end of file may be specified by the user, in which case,
879 the user symbol is used in the reports, the graphs, and the verbose
880 error messages instead of `$end', which remains being the default.
884 %token MYEOF 0 "end of file"
887 This old option, which has been broken for ages, is removed.
890 Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to Alexandre Folle de Menezes.
891 Croatian, thanks to Denis Lackovic.
893 ** Incorrect token definitions
894 When given `%token 'a' "A"', Bison used to output `#define 'a' 65'.
896 ** Token definitions as enums
897 Tokens are output both as the traditional #define's, and, provided
898 the compiler supports ANSI C or is a C++ compiler, as enums.
899 This lets debuggers display names instead of integers.
902 In addition to --verbose, bison supports --report=THINGS, which
903 produces additional information:
905 complete the core item sets with their closure
906 - lookahead [changed to `look-ahead' in 1.875e through 2.3, but changed back]
907 explicitly associate lookahead tokens to items
909 describe shift/reduce conflicts solving.
910 Bison used to systematically output this information on top of
911 the report. Solved conflicts are now attached to their states.
914 Previous versions don't complain when there is a type clash on
915 the default action if the rule has a mid-rule action, such as in:
923 ** GNU M4 is now required when using Bison.
925 * Changes in version 1.35, 2002-03-25:
928 Some projects use Bison's C parser with C++ compilers, and define
929 YYSTYPE as a class. The recent adjustment of C parsers for data
930 alignment and 64 bit architectures made this impossible.
932 Because for the time being no real solution for C++ parser
933 generation exists, kludges were implemented in the parser to
934 maintain this use. In the future, when Bison has C++ parsers, this
935 kludge will be disabled.
937 This kludge also addresses some C++ problems when the stack was
940 * Changes in version 1.34, 2002-03-12:
942 ** File name clashes are detected
943 $ bison foo.y -d -o foo.x
944 fatal error: header and parser would both be named `foo.x'
946 ** A missing `;' at the end of a rule triggers a warning
947 In accordance with POSIX, and in agreement with other
948 Yacc implementations, Bison will mandate this semicolon in the near
949 future. This eases the implementation of a Bison parser of Bison
950 grammars by making this grammar LALR(1) instead of LR(2). To
951 facilitate the transition, this release introduces a warning.
953 ** Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31, as they caused too
954 many portability hassles.
956 ** DJGPP support added.
958 ** Fix test suite portability problems.
960 * Changes in version 1.33, 2002-02-07:
963 Groff could not be compiled for the definition of size_t was lacking
964 under some conditions.
969 * Changes in version 1.32, 2002-01-23:
971 ** Fix Yacc output file names
975 ** Italian, Dutch translations
977 * Changes in version 1.31, 2002-01-14:
981 ** GNU Gettext and %expect
982 GNU Gettext asserts 10 s/r conflicts, but there are 7. Now that
983 Bison dies on incorrect %expectations, we fear there will be
984 too many bug reports for Gettext, so _for the time being_, %expect
985 does not trigger an error when the input file is named `plural.y'.
987 ** Use of alloca in parsers
988 If YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA is defined to 0, then the parsers will use
989 malloc exclusively. Since 1.29, but was not NEWS'ed.
991 alloca is used only when compiled with GCC, to avoid portability
994 ** yyparse now returns 2 if memory is exhausted; formerly it dumped core.
996 ** When the generated parser lacks debugging code, YYDEBUG is now 0
997 (as POSIX requires) instead of being undefined.
1000 Bison has always permitted actions such as { $$ = $1 }: it adds the
1001 ending semicolon. Now if in Yacc compatibility mode, the semicolon
1002 is no longer output: one has to write { $$ = $1; }.
1004 ** Better C++ compliance
1005 The output parsers try to respect C++ namespaces.
1006 [This turned out to be a failed experiment, and it was reverted later.]
1009 Fixed bugs when reporting useless nonterminals.
1012 The parsers work properly on 64 bit hosts.
1015 Some calls to strerror resulted in scrambled or missing error messages.
1018 When the number of shift/reduce conflicts is correct, don't issue
1021 ** The verbose report includes the rule line numbers.
1023 ** Rule line numbers are fixed in traces.
1025 ** Swedish translation
1028 Verbose parse error messages from the parsers are better looking.
1029 Before: parse error: unexpected `'/'', expecting `"number"' or `'-'' or `'(''
1030 Now: parse error: unexpected '/', expecting "number" or '-' or '('
1032 ** Fixed parser memory leaks.
1033 When the generated parser was using malloc to extend its stacks, the
1034 previous allocations were not freed.
1036 ** Fixed verbose output file.
1037 Some newlines were missing.
1038 Some conflicts in state descriptions were missing.
1040 ** Fixed conflict report.
1041 Option -v was needed to get the result.
1045 Mismatches are errors, not warnings.
1047 ** Fixed incorrect processing of some invalid input.
1049 ** Fixed CPP guards: 9foo.h uses BISON_9FOO_H instead of 9FOO_H.
1051 ** Fixed some typos in the documentation.
1053 ** %token MY_EOF 0 is supported.
1054 Before, MY_EOF was silently renumbered as 257.
1056 ** doc/refcard.tex is updated.
1058 ** %output, %file-prefix, %name-prefix.
1062 New, aliasing `--output-file'.
1064 * Changes in version 1.30, 2001-10-26:
1066 ** `--defines' and `--graph' have now an optional argument which is the
1067 output file name. `-d' and `-g' do not change; they do not take any
1070 ** `%source_extension' and `%header_extension' are removed, failed
1073 ** Portability fixes.
1075 * Changes in version 1.29, 2001-09-07:
1077 ** The output file does not define const, as this caused problems when used
1078 with common autoconfiguration schemes. If you still use ancient compilers
1079 that lack const, compile with the equivalent of the C compiler option
1080 `-Dconst='. autoconf's AC_C_CONST macro provides one way to do this.
1082 ** Added `-g' and `--graph'.
1084 ** The Bison manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL.
1086 ** The input and the output files has automatically a similar extension.
1088 ** Russian translation added.
1090 ** NLS support updated; should hopefully be less troublesome.
1092 ** Added the old Bison reference card.
1094 ** Added `--locations' and `%locations'.
1096 ** Added `-S' and `--skeleton'.
1098 ** `%raw', `-r', `--raw' is disabled.
1100 ** Special characters are escaped when output. This solves the problems
1101 of the #line lines with path names including backslashes.
1104 `%yacc', `%fixed_output_files', `%defines', `%no_parser', `%verbose',
1105 `%debug', `%source_extension' and `%header_extension'.
1108 Automatic location tracking.
1110 * Changes in version 1.28, 1999-07-06:
1112 ** Should compile better now with K&R compilers.
1116 ** Fixed a problem with escaping the double quote character.
1118 ** There is now a FAQ.
1120 * Changes in version 1.27:
1122 ** The make rule which prevented bison.simple from being created on
1123 some systems has been fixed.
1125 * Changes in version 1.26:
1127 ** Bison now uses automake.
1129 ** New mailing lists: <bug-bison@gnu.org> and <help-bison@gnu.org>.
1131 ** Token numbers now start at 257 as previously documented, not 258.
1133 ** Bison honors the TMPDIR environment variable.
1135 ** A couple of buffer overruns have been fixed.
1137 ** Problems when closing files should now be reported.
1139 ** Generated parsers should now work even on operating systems which do
1140 not provide alloca().
1142 * Changes in version 1.25, 1995-10-16:
1144 ** Errors in the input grammar are not fatal; Bison keeps reading
1145 the grammar file, and reports all the errors found in it.
1147 ** Tokens can now be specified as multiple-character strings: for
1148 example, you could use "<=" for a token which looks like <=, instead
1149 of chosing a name like LESSEQ.
1151 ** The %token_table declaration says to write a table of tokens (names
1152 and numbers) into the parser file. The yylex function can use this
1153 table to recognize multiple-character string tokens, or for other
1156 ** The %no_lines declaration says not to generate any #line preprocessor
1157 directives in the parser file.
1159 ** The %raw declaration says to use internal Bison token numbers, not
1160 Yacc-compatible token numbers, when token names are defined as macros.
1162 ** The --no-parser option produces the parser tables without including
1163 the parser engine; a project can now use its own parser engine.
1164 The actions go into a separate file called NAME.act, in the form of
1165 a switch statement body.
1167 * Changes in version 1.23:
1169 The user can define YYPARSE_PARAM as the name of an argument to be
1170 passed into yyparse. The argument should have type void *. It should
1171 actually point to an object. Grammar actions can access the variable
1172 by casting it to the proper pointer type.
1174 Line numbers in output file corrected.
1176 * Changes in version 1.22:
1178 --help option added.
1180 * Changes in version 1.20:
1182 Output file does not redefine const for C++.
1190 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
1191 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
1193 This file is part of Bison, the GNU Parser Generator.
1195 This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
1196 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
1197 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
1198 (at your option) any later version.
1200 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
1201 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
1202 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
1203 GNU General Public License for more details.
1205 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
1206 along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.