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