doc/FAQ

   1 Frequently Asked Questions about Bison:
   2
   3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
   4
   5 Q1.  Is Bison secure?  Does it conform to POSIX?
   6
   7 A1.  If you're looking for a guarantee or certification, we don't
   8      provide it.  However, Bison is intended to be a reliable program
   9      that conforms to the POSIX specification for Yacc.  If you run
  10      into problems, please send us a bug report.
  11
  12 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  13
  14 Q2.  I can't build Bison because "make" complains that "msgfmt" is not
  15      found.  What should I do?
  16
  17 A2.  Like most GNU packages with internationalization support, that
  18      feature is turned on by default.  If you have problems building
  19      in the "po" subdirectory, it indicates that your system's
  20      internationalization support is lacking.  You can re-configure
  21      Bison with "--disable-nls" to turn off this support, or you can
  22      install GNU gettext from <ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gettext/> and
  23      re-configure Bison.  See the file "ABOUT-NLS" for more
  24      information.
  25
  26 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  27
  28 Q3.  I'm having trouble using Bison.  Where can I find help?
  29
  30 A3.  First, read the fine manual which comes with bison.  Beyond that,
  31      you can send mail to <help-bison@gnu.org>.  This mailing list is
  32      intended to be populated with people who are willing to answer
  33      questions about using and installing Bison.  Please keep in mind
  34      that (most of) the people on the list have aspects of their lives
  35      which are not related to Bison (!), so you may not receive an
  36      answer to your question right away.  This can be frustrating, but
  37      please try not to honk them off; remember that any help they
  38      provide is purely voluntary and out of the kindness of their
  39      hearts.
  40
  41 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  42
  43 Q4.  I found a bug.  What should I include in the bug report?
  44
  45 A4.  Before you send a bug report, make sure you are using the latest
  46      version.  Check <ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bison/> or one of its
  47      mirrors.  Be sure to include the version number in your bug
  48      report.  If the bug is present in the latest version but not in a
  49      previous version, try to determine the most recent version which
  50      did not contain the bug.
  51
  52      If the bug is parser-related, you should include the smallest
  53      grammar you can which demonstrates the bug.  The grammar file
  54      should also be complete (i.e., I should be able to run it through
  55      Bison without having to edit or add anything).  The smaller and
  56      simpler the grammar, the easier it will be to fix the bug.
  57
  58      Include information about your compilation environment, including
  59      your operating system's name and version and your compiler's name
  60      and version.  If you have trouble compiling, you should also
  61      include a transcript of the build session, starting with the
  62      invocation of `configure'.  Depending on the nature of the bug,
  63      you may be asked to send additional files as well (such as
  64      `config.h' or `config.cache').
  65
  66      Patches are most welcome, but not required.  That is, do not
  67      hesitate to send a bug report just because you can not provide a
  68      fix.
  69
  70      Send bug reports to <bug-bison@gnu.org>.
  71
  72 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  73
  74 Q5.  Will Bison ever have C++ support?  How about Java or
  75      <insert your favorite language here>?
  76
  77 A5.  C++ support is there now, and is documented in the manual.
  78      We'd love to add other languages; contributions are welcome.
  79
  80 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  81
  82 Q6.  What is involved in being a beta tester?
  83
  84 A6.  It's not terribly involved.  Basically, you would download a test
  85      release, compile it, and use it to build and run a parser or two.
  86      After that, you would submit either a bug report or a message
  87      saying that everything is okay.  It is important to report
  88      successes as well as failures because test releases eventually
  89      become mainstream releases, but only if they are adequately
  90      tested.  If no one tests, development is essentially halted.
  91
  92      Beta testers are particularly needed for operating systems to
  93      which the developers do not have easy access.  They currently
  94      have easy access to recent GNU/Linux and Solaris versions.
  95      Reports about other operating systems are especially welcome.
  96
  97 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  98
  99 Q7.  How do I join the help-bison and bug-bison mailing lists?
 100
 101 A7.  See <http://lists.gnu.org/>.
 102
 103 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 104
 105 Copyright (C) 1999, 2002, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 106
 107 This file is part of Bison, the GNU Compiler Compiler.
 108
 109 Bison is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 110 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 111 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
 112 any later version.
 113
 114 Bison is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 115 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 116 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 117 GNU General Public License for more details.
 118
 119 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 120 along with autoconf; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to
 121 the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
 122 Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.