Changes in version 2.3a+ (????-??-??):
+* Previously, Bison sometimes generated parser tables with states that were
+ unreachable due to conflicts in predecessor states. Bison now:
+
+ 1. Removes unreachable states.
+
+ 2. Does not report any conflicts that appeared in unreachable states.
+ WARNING: As a result, you may need to update %expect and %expect-rr
+ directives in existing grammar files.
+
+ 3. For any rule used only in such states, Bison now reports the rule as
+ "never reduced because of conflicts".
+
* The -g and --graph options now output graphs in Graphviz DOT format,
not VCG format.
-* The Yacc prologue alternatives from Bison 2.3a have been rewritten as the
- following directives:
+* An experimental directive %language specifies the language of the
+ generated parser, which can be C (the default) or C++. This
+ directive affects the skeleton used, and the names of the generated
+ files if the grammar file's name ends in ".y".
+
+* The grammar file may now specify the name of the parser header file using
+ %defines. For example:
+
+ %defines "parser.h"
+
+* The `=' that used to be required in the following directives is now
+ deprecated:
- 1. %code {CODE}
+ %file-prefix "parser"
+ %name-prefix "c_"
+ %output "parser.c"
- Other than semantic actions, this is probably the most common place you
- should write verbatim code for the parser implementation. For C/C++, it
- replaces the traditional Yacc prologue, `%{CODE%}', for most purposes.
- For Java, it inserts your CODE into the parser class. Compare with:
+* The quotes around NAME that used to be required in the following directive
+ are now deprecated:
- - `%{CODE%}' appearing after the first `%union {CODE}' in a C/C++
- based grammar file. While Bison will continue to support `%{CODE%}'
- for backward compatibility, `%code {CODE}' is cleaner as its
- functionality does not depend on its position in the grammar file
- relative to any `%union {CODE}'. Specifically, `%code {CODE}'
- always inserts your CODE into the parser code file after the usual
- contents of the parser header file.
- - `%after-header {CODE}', which only Bison 2.3a supported.
+ %define NAME "VALUE"
- 2. %requires {CODE}
+* Bison 2.3a provided a new set of directives as a more flexible alternative to
+ the traditional Yacc prologue blocks. Those have now been consolidated into
+ a single %code directive with an optional qualifier field, which identifies
+ the purpose of the code and thus the location(s) where Bison should generate
+ it:
- This is the right place to write dependency code for externally exposed
- definitions required by Bison. For C/C++, such exposed definitions are
- those usually appearing in the parser header file. Thus, this is the
- right place to define types referenced in `%union {CODE}' directives,
- and it is the right place to override Bison's default YYSTYPE and
- YYLTYPE definitions. For Java, this is the right place to write import
- directives. Compare with:
+ 1. `%code {CODE}' replaces `%after-header {CODE}'
+ 2. `%code requires {CODE}' replaces `%start-header {CODE}'
+ 3. `%code provides {CODE}' replaces `%end-header {CODE}'
+ 4. `%code top {CODE}' replaces `%before-header {CODE}'
- - `%{CODE%}' appearing before the first `%union {CODE}' in a C/C++
- based grammar file. Unlike `%{CODE%}', `%requires {CODE}' inserts
- your CODE both into the parser code file and into the parser header
- file since Bison's required definitions should depend on it in both
- places.
- - `%start-header {CODE}', which only Bison 2.3a supported.
+ See the %code entries in section `Bison Declaration Summary' in the Bison
+ manual for a summary of the new functionality. See the new section `Prologue
+ Alternatives' for a detailed discussion including the advantages of %code
+ over the traditional Yacc prologues.
- 3. %provides {CODE}
-
- This is the right place to write additional definitions you would like
- Bison to expose externally. For C/C++, this directive inserts your CODE
- both into the parser header file and into the parser code file after
- Bison's required definitions. For Java, it inserts your CODE into the
- parser java file after the parser class. Compare with:
+ The prologue alternatives are experimental. More user feedback will help to
+ determine whether they should become permanent features.
- - `%end-header {CODE}', which only Bison 2.3a supported.
+* Revised warning: unset or unused mid-rule values
- 4. %code-top {CODE}
+ Since Bison 2.2, Bison has warned about mid-rule values that are set but not
+ used within any of the actions of the parent rule. For example, Bison warns
+ about unused $2 in:
- Occasionally for C/C++ it is desirable to insert code near the top of
- the parser code file. For example:
+ exp: '1' { $$ = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $1 + $4; };
- %code-top {
- #define _GNU_SOURCE
- #include <stdio.h>
- }
+ Now, Bison also warns about mid-rule values that are used but not set. For
+ example, Bison warns about unset $$ in the mid-rule action in:
- For Java, `%code-top {CODE}' is currently unused. Compare with:
+ exp: '1' { $1 = 1; } '+' exp { $$ = $2 + $4; };
- - `%{CODE%}' appearing before the first `%union {CODE}' in a C/C++
- based grammar file. `%code-top {CODE}' is cleaner as its
- functionality does not depend on its position in the grammar file
- relative to any `%union {CODE}'.
- - `%before-header {CODE}', which only Bison 2.3a supported.
+ However, Bison now disables both of these warnings by default since they
+ sometimes prove to be false alarms in existing grammars employing the Yacc
+ constructs $0 or $-N (where N is some positive integer).
- If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above four directives,
- Bison will concatenate the contents in the order they appear in the grammar
- file.
+ To enable these warnings, specify the flag `--warnings=midrule-values' or
+ `-W', which is a synonym for `--warnings=all'.
- Also see the new section `Prologue Alternatives' in the Bison manual.
+* Bison now recognizes two separate kinds of default %destructor's and
+ %printer's:
+
+ 1. Place `<*>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
+ %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols for which you have formally
+ declared semantic type tags.
+
+ 2. Place `<>' in a %destructor/%printer symbol list to define a default
+ %destructor/%printer for all grammar symbols without declared semantic
+ type tags.
+
+ Bison no longer supports the `%symbol-default' notation from Bison 2.3a.
+ `<*>' and `<>' combined achieve the same effect with one exception: Bison no
+ longer applies any %destructor to a mid-rule value if that mid-rule value is
+ not actually ever referenced using either $$ or $n in a semantic action.
+
+ The default %destructor's and %printer's are experimental. More user
+ feedback will help to determine whether they should become permanent
+ features.
+
+ See the section `Freeing Discarded Symbols' in the Bison manual for further
+ details.
Changes in version 2.3a, 2006-09-13:
also prints its line number to `stdout'. It performs only the second
`%destructor' in this case, so it invokes `free' only once.
+ [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the default
+ %destructor's and %printer's were experimental, and they were rewritten in
+ future versions.]
+
* Except for LALR(1) parsers in C with POSIX Yacc emulation enabled (with `-y',
`--yacc', or `%yacc'), Bison no longer generates #define statements for
associating token numbers with token names. Removing the #define statements
If you have multiple occurrences of any one of the above declarations, Bison
will concatenate the contents in declaration order.
+ [Although we failed to mention this here in the 2.3a release, the prologue
+ alternatives were experimental, and they were rewritten in future versions.]
+
* The option `--report=look-ahead' has been changed to `--report=lookahead'.
The old spelling still works, but is not documented and may be removed
in a future release.
-----
Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
-2004, 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This file is part of Bison, the GNU Compiler Compiler.
projects / bison.git / blobdiff