Some code and documentation improvements.

[bison.git] / NEWS

diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 92a935fb98e5f77293330791cb9307061188769f..d300fbc4c45ed2ac024d4a4c4906045acde7600a 100644 (file)
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -25,27 +25,57 @@ Bison News
     %define lr.type "canonical LR"
 
   The default reduction optimization in the parser tables can also be
-  adjusted using `%define lr.default_reductions'.  See the documentation
-  for `%define lr.type' and `%define lr.default_reductions' in the
+  adjusted using `%define lr.default-reductions'.  See the documentation
+  for `%define lr.type' and `%define lr.default-reductions' in the
   section `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison manual for the
   details.
 
   These features are experimental.  More user feedback will help to
   stabilize them.
 
+** Multiple %define's for any variable is now an error not a warning.
+
 ** %define can now be invoked via the command line.
 
-  Each of these bison command-line options
+  Each of these command-line options
+
+    -D NAME[=VALUE]
+    --define=NAME[=VALUE]
 
-    -D NAME=VALUE
-    --define=NAME=VALUE
+    -F NAME[=VALUE]
+    --force-define=NAME[=VALUE]
 
   is equivalent to this grammar file declaration
 
-    %define NAME "VALUE"
+    %define NAME ["VALUE"]
+
+  except that the manner in which Bison processes multiple definitions
+  for the same NAME differs.  Most importantly, -F and --force-define
+  quietly override %define, but -D and --define do not.  For further
+  details, see the section "Bison Options" in the Bison manual.
+
+** %define variables renamed.
+
+  The following %define variables
 
-  for any NAME and VALUE.  Omitting `=VALUE' on the command line is
-  equivalent to omitting `"VALUE"' in the declaration.
+    api.push_pull
+    lr.keep_unreachable_states
+
+  have been renamed to
+
+    api.push-pull
+    lr.keep-unreachable-states
+
+  The old names are now deprecated but will be maintained indefinitely
+  for backward compatibility.
+
+** Symbols names
+
+  Consistently with directives (such as %error-verbose) and variables
+  (e.g. push-pull), symbol names may include dashes in any position,
+  similarly to periods and underscores.  This is GNU extension over
+  POSIX Yacc whose use is reported by -Wyacc, and rejected in Yacc
+  mode (--yacc).
 
 ** Temporary hack for adding a semicolon to the user action.
 
@@ -68,8 +98,46 @@ Bison News
   about a missing semicolon where it did not before.  Future releases of
   Bison will cease to append semicolons entirely.
 
+** Character literals not of length one.
+
+  Previously, Bison quietly converted all character literals to length
+  one.  For example, without warning, Bison interpreted the operators in
+  the following grammar to be the same token:
+
+    exp: exp '++'
+       | exp '+' exp
+       ;
+
+  Bison now warns when a character literal is not of length one.  In
+  some future release, Bison will report an error instead.
+
 * Changes in version 2.4.2 (????-??-??):
 
+** Detection of GNU M4 1.4.6 or newer during configure is improved.
+
+** %code is now a permanent feature.
+
+  A traditional Yacc prologue directive is written in the form:
+
+    %{CODE%}
+
+  To provide a more flexible alternative, Bison 2.3b introduced the
+  %code directive with the following forms for C/C++:
+
+    %code          {CODE}
+    %code requires {CODE}
+    %code provides {CODE}
+    %code top      {CODE}
+
+  These forms are now considered permanent features of Bison.  See the
+  %code entries in the section "Bison Declaration Summary" in the Bison
+  manual for a summary of their functionality.  See the section
+  "Prologue Alternatives" for a detailed discussion including the
+  advantages of %code over the traditional Yacc prologue directive.
+
+  Bison's Java feature as a whole including its current usage of %code
+  is still considered experimental.
+
 * Changes in version 2.4.1 (2008-12-11):
 
 ** In the GLR defines file, unexpanded M4 macros in the yylval and yylloc