Bison News
----------
-Changes in version 1.49a:
+Changes in the next version (not yet released):
+
+* Bison-generated parsers now support the translation of diagnostics like
+ "syntax error" into languages other than English. The default
+ language is still English. For details, please see the new
+ Internationalization section of the Bison manual. Software
+ distributors should also see the new PACKAGING file. Thanks to
+ Bruno Haible for this new feature.
+
+* Wording in the Bison-generated parsers has been changed slightly to
+ simplify translation. In particular, the message "memory exhausted"
+ has replaced "parser stack overflow", as the old message was not
+ always accurate for modern Bison-generated parsers.
+
+The following change was also in version 2.0a, 2005-05-22:
+
+* When generating verbose diagnostics, Bison-generated parsers no longer
+ quote the literal strings associated with tokens. For example, for
+ a syntax error associated with '%token NUM "number"' they might
+ print 'syntax error, unexpected number' instead of 'syntax error,
+ unexpected "number"'.
+
+Changes in version 2.0, 2004-12-25:
+
+* Possibly-incompatible changes
+
+ - Bison-generated parsers no longer default to using the alloca function
+ (when available) to extend the parser stack, due to widespread
+ problems in unchecked stack-overflow detection. You can "#define
+ YYSTACK_USE_ALLOCA 1" to require the use of alloca, but please read
+ the manual to determine safe values for YYMAXDEPTH in that case.
+
+ - Error token location.
+ During error recovery, the location of the syntax error is updated
+ to cover the whole sequence covered by the error token: it includes
+ the shifted symbols thrown away during the first part of the error
+ recovery, and the lookahead rejected during the second part.
+
+ - Semicolon changes:
+ . Stray semicolons are no longer allowed at the start of a grammar.
+ . Semicolons are now required after in-grammar declarations.
+
+ - Unescaped newlines are no longer allowed in character constants or
+ string literals. They were never portable, and GCC 3.4.0 has
+ dropped support for them. Better diagnostics are now generated if
+ forget a closing quote.
+
+ - NUL bytes are no longer allowed in Bison string literals, unfortunately.
+
+* New features
+
+ - GLR grammars now support locations.
+
+ - New directive: %initial-action.
+ This directive allows the user to run arbitrary code (including
+ initializing @$) from yyparse before parsing starts.
+
+ - A new directive "%expect-rr N" specifies the expected number of
+ reduce/reduce conflicts in GLR parsers.
+
+ - %token numbers can now be hexadecimal integers, e.g., `%token FOO 0x12d'.
+ This is a GNU extension.
+
+ - The option `--report=lookahead' was changed to `--report=look-ahead'.
+ The old spelling still works, but is not documented and will be
+ removed.
+
+ - Experimental %destructor support has been added to lalr1.cc.
+
+ - New configure option --disable-yacc, to disable installation of the
+ yacc command and -ly library introduced in 1.875 for POSIX conformance.
+
+* Bug fixes
+
+ - For now, %expect-count violations are now just warnings, not errors.
+ This is for compatibility with Bison 1.75 and earlier (when there are
+ reduce/reduce conflicts) and with Bison 1.30 and earlier (when there
+ are too many or too few shift/reduce conflicts). However, in future
+ versions of Bison we plan to improve the %expect machinery so that
+ these violations will become errors again.
+
+ - Within Bison itself, numbers (e.g., goto numbers) are no longer
+ arbitrarily limited to 16-bit counts.
+
+ - Semicolons are now allowed before "|" in grammar rules, as POSIX requires.
+\f
+Changes in version 1.875, 2003-01-01:
+
+* The documentation license has been upgraded to version 1.2
+ of the GNU Free Documentation License.
+
+* syntax error processing
+
+ - In Yacc-style parsers YYLLOC_DEFAULT is now used to compute error
+ locations too. This fixes bugs in error-location computation.
+
+ - %destructor
+ It is now possible to reclaim the memory associated to symbols
+ discarded during error recovery. This feature is still experimental.
+
+ - %error-verbose
+ This new directive is preferred over YYERROR_VERBOSE.
+
+ - #defining yyerror to steal internal variables is discouraged.
+ It is not guaranteed to work forever.
+
+* POSIX conformance
+
+ - Semicolons are once again optional at the end of grammar rules.
+ This reverts to the behavior of Bison 1.33 and earlier, and improves
+ compatibility with Yacc.
+
+ - `parse error' -> `syntax error'
+ Bison now uniformly uses the term `syntax error'; formerly, the code
+ and manual sometimes used the term `parse error' instead. POSIX
+ requires `syntax error' in diagnostics, and it was thought better to
+ be consistent.
+
+ - The documentation now emphasizes that yylex and yyerror must be
+ declared before use. C99 requires this.
+
+ - Bison now parses C99 lexical constructs like UCNs and
+ backslash-newline within C escape sequences, as POSIX 1003.1-2001 requires.
+
+ - File names are properly escaped in C output. E.g., foo\bar.y is
+ output as "foo\\bar.y".
+
+ - Yacc command and library now available
+ The Bison distribution now installs a `yacc' command, as POSIX requires.
+ Also, Bison now installs a small library liby.a containing
+ implementations of Yacc-compatible yyerror and main functions.
+ This library is normally not useful, but POSIX requires it.
+
+ - Type clashes now generate warnings, not errors.
+
+ - If the user does not define YYSTYPE as a macro, Bison now declares it
+ using typedef instead of defining it as a macro.
+ For consistency, YYLTYPE is also declared instead of defined.
+
+* Other compatibility issues
+
+ - %union directives can now have a tag before the `{', e.g., the
+ directive `%union foo {...}' now generates the C code
+ `typedef union foo { ... } YYSTYPE;'; this is for Yacc compatibility.
+ The default union tag is `YYSTYPE', for compatibility with Solaris 9 Yacc.
+ For consistency, YYLTYPE's struct tag is now `YYLTYPE' not `yyltype'.
+ This is for compatibility with both Yacc and Bison 1.35.
+
+ - `;' is output before the terminating `}' of an action, for
+ compatibility with Bison 1.35.
+
+ - Bison now uses a Yacc-style format for conflict reports, e.g.,
+ `conflicts: 2 shift/reduce, 1 reduce/reduce'.
+
+ - `yystype' and `yyltype' are now obsolescent macros instead of being
+ typedefs or tags; they are no longer documented and are planned to be
+ withdrawn in a future release.
+
+* GLR parser notes
+
+ - GLR and inline
+ Users of Bison have to decide how they handle the portability of the
+ C keyword `inline'.
+
+ - `parsing stack overflow...' -> `parser stack overflow'
+ GLR parsers now report `parser stack overflow' as per the Bison manual.
+
+* Bison now warns if it detects conflicting outputs to the same file,
+ e.g., it generates a warning for `bison -d -o foo.h foo.y' since
+ that command outputs both code and header to foo.h.
+
+* #line in output files
+ - --no-line works properly.
+
+* Bison can no longer be built by a K&R C compiler; it requires C89 or
+ later to be built. This change originally took place a few versions
+ ago, but nobody noticed until we recently asked someone to try
+ building Bison with a K&R C compiler.
+\f
+Changes in version 1.75, 2002-10-14:
+
+* Bison should now work on 64-bit hosts.
+
+* Indonesian translation thanks to Tedi Heriyanto.
+
+* GLR parsers
+ Fix spurious parse errors.
+
+* Pure parsers
+ Some people redefine yyerror to steal yyparse' private variables.
+ Reenable this trick until an official feature replaces it.
+
+* Type Clashes
+ In agreement with POSIX and with other Yaccs, leaving a default
+ action is valid when $$ is untyped, and $1 typed:
+
+ untyped: ... typed;
+
+ but the converse remains an error:
+
+ typed: ... untyped;
+
+* Values of mid-rule actions
+ The following code:
+
+ foo: { ... } { $$ = $1; } ...
+
+ was incorrectly rejected: $1 is defined in the second mid-rule
+ action, and is equal to the $$ of the first mid-rule action.
+\f
+Changes in version 1.50, 2002-10-04:
+
+* GLR parsing
+ The declaration
+ %glr-parser
+ causes Bison to produce a Generalized LR (GLR) parser, capable of handling
+ almost any context-free grammar, ambiguous or not. The new declarations
+ %dprec and %merge on grammar rules allow parse-time resolution of
+ ambiguities. Contributed by Paul Hilfinger.
+
+ Unfortunately Bison 1.50 does not work properly on 64-bit hosts
+ like the Alpha, so please stick to 32-bit hosts for now.
+
+* Output Directory
+ When not in Yacc compatibility mode, when the output file was not
+ specified, running `bison foo/bar.y' created `foo/bar.c'. It
+ now creates `bar.c'.
* Undefined token
The undefined token was systematically mapped to 2 which prevented
- the use of 2 from the user. This is no longer the case.
+ the use of 2 by the user. This is no longer the case.
-* Undefined token
- If yylex returned a code out of range, yyparse could die. This is
+* Unknown token numbers
+ If yylex returned an out of range value, yyparse could die. This is
no longer the case.
* Error token
- According to POSIX, the error token should be numbered as 256.
+ According to POSIX, the error token must be 256.
Bison extends this requirement by making it a preference: *if* the
user specified that one of her tokens is numbered 256, then error
will be mapped onto another number.
-* Large grammars
- Are now supported (large token numbers, large grammar size (= sum of
- the LHS and RHS lengths), large LALR tables).
-
-* The initial rule is explicit.
+* Verbose error messages
+ They no longer report `..., expecting error or...' for states where
+ error recovery is possible.
+
+* End token
+ Defaults to `$end' instead of `$'.
+
+* Error recovery now conforms to documentation and to POSIX
+ When a Bison-generated parser encounters a syntax error, it now pops
+ the stack until it finds a state that allows shifting the error
+ token. Formerly, it popped the stack until it found a state that
+ allowed some non-error action other than a default reduction on the
+ error token. The new behavior has long been the documented behavior,
+ and has long been required by POSIX. For more details, please see
+ Paul Eggert, "Reductions during Bison error handling" (2002-05-20)
+ <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-bison/2002-05/msg00038.html>.
+
+* Traces
+ Popped tokens and nonterminals are now reported.
+
+* Larger grammars
+ Larger grammars are now supported (larger token numbers, larger grammar
+ size (= sum of the LHS and RHS lengths), larger LALR tables).
+ Formerly, many of these numbers ran afoul of 16-bit limits;
+ now these limits are 32 bits on most hosts.
+
+* Explicit initial rule
Bison used to play hacks with the initial rule, which the user does
not write. It is now explicit, and visible in the reports and
graphs as rule 0.
-* Useless rules are actually removed.
+* Useless rules
Before, Bison reported the useless rules, but, although not used,
- included them in the parsers.
+ included them in the parsers. They are now actually removed.
+
+* Useless rules, useless nonterminals
+ They are now reported, as a warning, with their locations.
+
+* Rules never reduced
+ Rules that can never be reduced because of conflicts are now
+ reported.
-* False `Token not used' report fixed.
+* Incorrect `Token not used'
On a grammar such as
%token useless useful
where a token was used to set the precedence of the last rule,
bison reported both `useful' and `useless' as useless tokens.
-* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31, as they caused too
- many portability hassles.
+* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31
+ as they caused too many portability hassles.
-* Items overflow
- Bison no longer dumps core when there are too many items, it just
- dies.
+* Default locations
+ By an accident of design, the default computation of @$ was
+ performed after another default computation was performed: @$ = @1.
+ The latter is now removed: YYLLOC_DEFAULT is fully responsible of
+ the computation of @$.
* Token end-of-file
The token end of file may be specified by the user, in which case,
the user symbol is used in the reports, the graphs, and the verbose
- error messages instead of `$', which remains being the defaults.
+ error messages instead of `$end', which remains being the default.
For instance
- %token YYEOF 0
+ %token MYEOF 0
or
- %token YYEOF 0 "end of file"
+ %token MYEOF 0 "end of file"
+
+* Semantic parser
+ This old option, which has been broken for ages, is removed.
+
+* New translations
+ Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to Alexandre Folle de Menezes.
+ Croatian, thanks to Denis Lackovic.
+
+* Incorrect token definitions
+ When given `%token 'a' "A"', Bison used to output `#define 'a' 65'.
+
+* Token definitions as enums
+ Tokens are output both as the traditional #define's, and, provided
+ the compiler supports ANSI C or is a C++ compiler, as enums.
+ This lets debuggers display names instead of integers.
+
+* Reports
+ In addition to --verbose, bison supports --report=THINGS, which
+ produces additional information:
+ - itemset
+ complete the core item sets with their closure
+ - lookahead [changed to `look-ahead' in 1.875e and later]
+ explicitly associate look-ahead tokens to items
+ - solved
+ describe shift/reduce conflicts solving.
+ Bison used to systematically output this information on top of
+ the report. Solved conflicts are now attached to their states.
+
+* Type clashes
+ Previous versions don't complain when there is a type clash on
+ the default action if the rule has a mid-rule action, such as in:
+
+ %type <foo> bar
+ %%
+ bar: '0' {} '0';
+
+ This is fixed.
+
+* GNU M4 is now required when using Bison.
+\f
+Changes in version 1.35, 2002-03-25:
+
+* C Skeleton
+ Some projects use Bison's C parser with C++ compilers, and define
+ YYSTYPE as a class. The recent adjustment of C parsers for data
+ alignment and 64 bit architectures made this impossible.
+
+ Because for the time being no real solution for C++ parser
+ generation exists, kludges were implemented in the parser to
+ maintain this use. In the future, when Bison has C++ parsers, this
+ kludge will be disabled.
+
+ This kludge also addresses some C++ problems when the stack was
+ extended.
+\f
+Changes in version 1.34, 2002-03-12:
+
+* File name clashes are detected
+ $ bison foo.y -d -o foo.x
+ fatal error: header and parser would both be named `foo.x'
+
+* A missing `;' at the end of a rule triggers a warning
+ In accordance with POSIX, and in agreement with other
+ Yacc implementations, Bison will mandate this semicolon in the near
+ future. This eases the implementation of a Bison parser of Bison
+ grammars by making this grammar LALR(1) instead of LR(2). To
+ facilitate the transition, this release introduces a warning.
+
+* Revert the C++ namespace changes introduced in 1.31, as they caused too
+ many portability hassles.
+
+* DJGPP support added.
+
+* Fix test suite portability problems.
+\f
+Changes in version 1.33, 2002-02-07:
+
+* Fix C++ issues
+ Groff could not be compiled for the definition of size_t was lacking
+ under some conditions.
+
+* Catch invalid @n
+ As is done with $n.
+\f
+Changes in version 1.32, 2002-01-23:
+
+* Fix Yacc output file names
+
+* Portability fixes
+
+* Italian, Dutch translations
\f
Changes in version 1.31, 2002-01-14:
* Better C++ compliance
The output parsers try to respect C++ namespaces.
+ [This turned out to be a failed experiment, and it was reverted later.]
* Reduced Grammars
Fixed bugs when reporting useless nonterminals.
* --output
New, aliasing `--output-file'.
\f
-Changes in version 1.30:
+Changes in version 1.30, 2001-10-26:
-* `--defines' and `--graph' have now an optionnal argument which is the
- output file name. `-d' and `-g' do not change, they do not take any
+* `--defines' and `--graph' have now an optional argument which is the
+ output file name. `-d' and `-g' do not change; they do not take any
argument.
* `%source_extension' and `%header_extension' are removed, failed
Local Variables:
mode: outline
End:
+
+-----
+
+Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
+Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+
+This file is part of Bison, the GNU Compiler Compiler.
+
+Bison is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
+any later version.
+
+Bison is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+along with autoconf; see the file COPYING. If not, write to
+the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
+Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
projects / bison.git / blobdiff