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1 | Guile NEWS --- history of user-visible changes. -*- text -*- |
2 | Copyright (C) 1996, 1997 Free Software Foundation, Inc. | |
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3 | See the end for copying conditions. |
4 | ||
16f2ebea | 5 | Please send Guile bug reports to bug-guile@prep.ai.mit.edu. |
5c54da76 | 6 | \f |
f7b47737 | 7 | Changes since Guile 1.0 (Sun 5 Jan 1997): |
6685dc83 | 8 | |
ea00ecba MG |
9 | * Changes to the gh_ interface |
10 | ||
11 | ** gh_eval_str() now returns an SCM object which is the result of the | |
12 | evaluation | |
13 | ||
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14 | ** gh_scm2str() now copies the Scheme data to a caller-provided C |
15 | array | |
16 | ||
17 | ** gh_scm2newstr() now makes a C array, copies the Scheme data to it, | |
18 | and returns the array | |
19 | ||
20 | ** gh_scm2str0() is gone: there is no need to distinguish | |
21 | null-terminated from non-null-terminated, since gh_scm2newstr() allows | |
22 | the user to interpret the data both ways. | |
23 | ||
ea00ecba MG |
24 | * Changes to documentation |
25 | ||
26 | ** the $(srcdir)/newdoc hierarchy now contains a new approach to the | |
27 | manuals. The approach, recommended by Jim Blandy, is to have: (*) a | |
28 | tutorial with the pedagogical style of guile-user, and a non-dry | |
29 | reference manual in the style of the most excellent GNU libc reference | |
30 | manual: the reference manual should be complete, but at the same time | |
31 | it should have an introductory screen for each major topic, which can | |
32 | be referenced if the user goes "up" a level in the info documentation. | |
33 | ||
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34 | \f |
35 | Guile 1.0b3 | |
3065a62a | 36 | |
f7b47737 | 37 | User-visible changes from Thursday, September 5, 1996 until Guile 1.0: |
3065a62a | 38 | |
4b521edb | 39 | * Changes to the 'guile' program: |
3065a62a | 40 | |
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41 | ** Guile now loads some new files when it starts up. Guile first |
42 | searches the load path for init.scm, and loads it if found. Then, if | |
43 | Guile is not being used to execute a script, and the user's home | |
44 | directory contains a file named `.guile', Guile loads that. | |
c6486f8a | 45 | |
4b521edb | 46 | ** You can now use Guile as a shell script interpreter. |
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47 | |
48 | To paraphrase the SCSH manual: | |
49 | ||
50 | When Unix tries to execute an executable file whose first two | |
51 | characters are the `#!', it treats the file not as machine code to | |
52 | be directly executed by the native processor, but as source code | |
53 | to be executed by some interpreter. The interpreter to use is | |
54 | specified immediately after the #! sequence on the first line of | |
55 | the source file. The kernel reads in the name of the interpreter, | |
56 | and executes that instead. It passes the interpreter the source | |
57 | filename as its first argument, with the original arguments | |
58 | following. Consult the Unix man page for the `exec' system call | |
59 | for more information. | |
60 | ||
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61 | Now you can use Guile as an interpreter, using a mechanism which is a |
62 | compatible subset of that provided by SCSH. | |
63 | ||
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64 | Guile now recognizes a '-s' command line switch, whose argument is the |
65 | name of a file of Scheme code to load. It also treats the two | |
66 | characters `#!' as the start of a comment, terminated by `!#'. Thus, | |
67 | to make a file of Scheme code directly executable by Unix, insert the | |
68 | following two lines at the top of the file: | |
69 | ||
70 | #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s | |
71 | !# | |
72 | ||
73 | Guile treats the argument of the `-s' command-line switch as the name | |
74 | of a file of Scheme code to load, and treats the sequence `#!' as the | |
75 | start of a block comment, terminated by `!#'. | |
76 | ||
77 | For example, here's a version of 'echo' written in Scheme: | |
78 | ||
79 | #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s | |
80 | !# | |
81 | (let loop ((args (cdr (program-arguments)))) | |
82 | (if (pair? args) | |
83 | (begin | |
84 | (display (car args)) | |
85 | (if (pair? (cdr args)) | |
86 | (display " ")) | |
87 | (loop (cdr args))))) | |
88 | (newline) | |
89 | ||
90 | Why does `#!' start a block comment terminated by `!#', instead of the | |
91 | end of the line? That is the notation SCSH uses, and although we | |
92 | don't yet support the other SCSH features that motivate that choice, | |
93 | we would like to be backward-compatible with any existing Guile | |
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94 | scripts once we do. Furthermore, if the path to Guile on your system |
95 | is too long for your kernel, you can start the script with this | |
96 | horrible hack: | |
97 | ||
98 | #!/bin/sh | |
99 | exec /really/long/path/to/guile -s "$0" ${1+"$@"} | |
100 | !# | |
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101 | |
102 | Note that some very old Unix systems don't support the `#!' syntax. | |
103 | ||
c6486f8a | 104 | |
4b521edb | 105 | ** You can now run Guile without installing it. |
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106 | |
107 | Previous versions of the interactive Guile interpreter (`guile') | |
108 | couldn't start up unless Guile's Scheme library had been installed; | |
109 | they used the value of the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' | |
110 | later on in the startup process, but not to find the startup code | |
111 | itself. Now Guile uses `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' in all searches for Scheme | |
112 | code. | |
113 | ||
114 | To run Guile without installing it, build it in the normal way, and | |
115 | then set the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' to a | |
116 | colon-separated list of directories, including the top-level directory | |
117 | of the Guile sources. For example, if you unpacked Guile so that the | |
118 | full filename of this NEWS file is /home/jimb/guile-1.0b3/NEWS, then | |
119 | you might say | |
120 | ||
121 | export SCHEME_LOAD_PATH=/home/jimb/my-scheme:/home/jimb/guile-1.0b3 | |
122 | ||
c6486f8a | 123 | |
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124 | ** Guile's read-eval-print loop no longer prints #<unspecified> |
125 | results. If the user wants to see this, she can evaluate the | |
126 | expression (assert-repl-print-unspecified #t), perhaps in her startup | |
127 | file. | |
6685dc83 | 128 | |
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129 | ** Guile no longer shows backtraces by default when an error occurs; |
130 | however, it does display a message saying how to get one, and how to | |
131 | request that they be displayed by default. After an error, evaluate | |
132 | (backtrace) | |
133 | to see a backtrace, and | |
134 | (debug-enable 'backtrace) | |
135 | to see them by default. | |
6685dc83 | 136 | |
6685dc83 | 137 | |
d9fb83d9 | 138 | |
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139 | * Changes to Guile Scheme: |
140 | ||
141 | ** Guile now distinguishes between #f and the empty list. | |
142 | ||
143 | This is for compatibility with the IEEE standard, the (possibly) | |
144 | upcoming Revised^5 Report on Scheme, and many extant Scheme | |
145 | implementations. | |
146 | ||
147 | Guile used to have #f and '() denote the same object, to make Scheme's | |
148 | type system more compatible with Emacs Lisp's. However, the change | |
149 | caused too much trouble for Scheme programmers, and we found another | |
150 | way to reconcile Emacs Lisp with Scheme that didn't require this. | |
151 | ||
152 | ||
153 | ** Guile's delq, delv, delete functions, and their destructive | |
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154 | counterparts, delq!, delv!, and delete!, now remove all matching |
155 | elements from the list, not just the first. This matches the behavior | |
156 | of the corresponding Emacs Lisp functions, and (I believe) the Maclisp | |
157 | functions which inspired them. | |
158 | ||
159 | I recognize that this change may break code in subtle ways, but it | |
160 | seems best to make the change before the FSF's first Guile release, | |
161 | rather than after. | |
162 | ||
163 | ||
4b521edb | 164 | ** The compiled-library-path function has been deleted from libguile. |
6685dc83 | 165 | |
4b521edb | 166 | ** The facilities for loading Scheme source files have changed. |
c6486f8a | 167 | |
4b521edb | 168 | *** The variable %load-path now tells Guile which directories to search |
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169 | for Scheme code. Its value is a list of strings, each of which names |
170 | a directory. | |
171 | ||
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172 | *** The variable %load-extensions now tells Guile which extensions to |
173 | try appending to a filename when searching the load path. Its value | |
174 | is a list of strings. Its default value is ("" ".scm"). | |
175 | ||
176 | *** (%search-load-path FILENAME) searches the directories listed in the | |
177 | value of the %load-path variable for a Scheme file named FILENAME, | |
178 | with all the extensions listed in %load-extensions. If it finds a | |
179 | match, then it returns its full filename. If FILENAME is absolute, it | |
180 | returns it unchanged. Otherwise, it returns #f. | |
6685dc83 | 181 | |
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182 | %search-load-path will not return matches that refer to directories. |
183 | ||
184 | *** (primitive-load FILENAME :optional CASE-INSENSITIVE-P SHARP) | |
185 | uses %seach-load-path to find a file named FILENAME, and loads it if | |
186 | it finds it. If it can't read FILENAME for any reason, it throws an | |
187 | error. | |
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188 | |
189 | The arguments CASE-INSENSITIVE-P and SHARP are interpreted as by the | |
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190 | `read' function. |
191 | ||
192 | *** load uses the same searching semantics as primitive-load. | |
193 | ||
194 | *** The functions %try-load, try-load-with-path, %load, load-with-path, | |
195 | basic-try-load-with-path, basic-load-with-path, try-load-module-with- | |
196 | path, and load-module-with-path have been deleted. The functions | |
197 | above should serve their purposes. | |
198 | ||
199 | *** If the value of the variable %load-hook is a procedure, | |
200 | `primitive-load' applies its value to the name of the file being | |
201 | loaded (without the load path directory name prepended). If its value | |
202 | is #f, it is ignored. Otherwise, an error occurs. | |
203 | ||
204 | This is mostly useful for printing load notification messages. | |
205 | ||
206 | ||
207 | ** The function `eval!' is no longer accessible from the scheme level. | |
208 | We can't allow operations which introduce glocs into the scheme level, | |
209 | because Guile's type system can't handle these as data. Use `eval' or | |
210 | `read-and-eval!' (see below) as replacement. | |
211 | ||
212 | ** The new function read-and-eval! reads an expression from PORT, | |
213 | evaluates it, and returns the result. This is more efficient than | |
214 | simply calling `read' and `eval', since it is not necessary to make a | |
215 | copy of the expression for the evaluator to munge. | |
216 | ||
217 | Its optional arguments CASE_INSENSITIVE_P and SHARP are interpreted as | |
218 | for the `read' function. | |
219 | ||
220 | ||
221 | ** The function `int?' has been removed; its definition was identical | |
222 | to that of `integer?'. | |
223 | ||
224 | ** The functions `<?', `<?', `<=?', `=?', `>?', and `>=?'. Code should | |
225 | use the R4RS names for these functions. | |
226 | ||
227 | ** The function object-properties no longer returns the hash handle; | |
228 | it simply returns the object's property list. | |
229 | ||
230 | ** Many functions have been changed to throw errors, instead of | |
231 | returning #f on failure. The point of providing exception handling in | |
232 | the language is to simplify the logic of user code, but this is less | |
233 | useful if Guile's primitives don't throw exceptions. | |
234 | ||
235 | ** The function `fileno' has been renamed from `%fileno'. | |
236 | ||
237 | ** The function primitive-mode->fdes returns #t or #f now, not 1 or 0. | |
238 | ||
239 | ||
240 | * Changes to Guile's C interface: | |
241 | ||
242 | ** The library's initialization procedure has been simplified. | |
243 | scm_boot_guile now has the prototype: | |
244 | ||
245 | void scm_boot_guile (int ARGC, | |
246 | char **ARGV, | |
247 | void (*main_func) (), | |
248 | void *closure); | |
249 | ||
250 | scm_boot_guile calls MAIN_FUNC, passing it CLOSURE, ARGC, and ARGV. | |
251 | MAIN_FUNC should do all the work of the program (initializing other | |
252 | packages, reading user input, etc.) before returning. When MAIN_FUNC | |
253 | returns, call exit (0); this function never returns. If you want some | |
254 | other exit value, MAIN_FUNC may call exit itself. | |
255 | ||
256 | scm_boot_guile arranges for program-arguments to return the strings | |
257 | given by ARGC and ARGV. If MAIN_FUNC modifies ARGC/ARGV, should call | |
258 | scm_set_program_arguments with the final list, so Scheme code will | |
259 | know which arguments have been processed. | |
260 | ||
261 | scm_boot_guile establishes a catch-all catch handler which prints an | |
262 | error message and exits the process. This means that Guile exits in a | |
263 | coherent way when system errors occur and the user isn't prepared to | |
264 | handle it. If the user doesn't like this behavior, they can establish | |
265 | their own universal catcher in MAIN_FUNC to shadow this one. | |
266 | ||
267 | Why must the caller do all the real work from MAIN_FUNC? The garbage | |
268 | collector assumes that all local variables of type SCM will be above | |
269 | scm_boot_guile's stack frame on the stack. If you try to manipulate | |
270 | SCM values after this function returns, it's the luck of the draw | |
271 | whether the GC will be able to find the objects you allocate. So, | |
272 | scm_boot_guile function exits, rather than returning, to discourage | |
273 | people from making that mistake. | |
274 | ||
275 | The IN, OUT, and ERR arguments were removed; there are other | |
276 | convenient ways to override these when desired. | |
277 | ||
278 | The RESULT argument was deleted; this function should never return. | |
279 | ||
280 | The BOOT_CMD argument was deleted; the MAIN_FUNC argument is more | |
281 | general. | |
282 | ||
283 | ||
284 | ** Guile's header files should no longer conflict with your system's | |
285 | header files. | |
286 | ||
287 | In order to compile code which #included <libguile.h>, previous | |
288 | versions of Guile required you to add a directory containing all the | |
289 | Guile header files to your #include path. This was a problem, since | |
290 | Guile's header files have names which conflict with many systems' | |
291 | header files. | |
292 | ||
293 | Now only <libguile.h> need appear in your #include path; you must | |
294 | refer to all Guile's other header files as <libguile/mumble.h>. | |
295 | Guile's installation procedure puts libguile.h in $(includedir), and | |
296 | the rest in $(includedir)/libguile. | |
297 | ||
298 | ||
299 | ** Two new C functions, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object, | |
300 | have been added to the Guile library. | |
301 | ||
302 | scm_protect_object (OBJ) protects OBJ from the garbage collector. | |
303 | OBJ will not be freed, even if all other references are dropped, | |
304 | until someone does scm_unprotect_object (OBJ). Both functions | |
305 | return OBJ. | |
306 | ||
307 | Note that calls to scm_protect_object do not nest. You can call | |
308 | scm_protect_object any number of times on a given object, and the | |
309 | next call to scm_unprotect_object will unprotect it completely. | |
310 | ||
311 | Basically, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object just | |
312 | maintain a list of references to things. Since the GC knows about | |
313 | this list, all objects it mentions stay alive. scm_protect_object | |
314 | adds its argument to the list; scm_unprotect_object remove its | |
315 | argument from the list. | |
316 | ||
317 | ||
318 | ** scm_eval_0str now returns the value of the last expression | |
319 | evaluated. | |
320 | ||
321 | ** The new function scm_read_0str reads an s-expression from a | |
322 | null-terminated string, and returns it. | |
323 | ||
324 | ** The new function `scm_stdio_to_port' converts a STDIO file pointer | |
325 | to a Scheme port object. | |
326 | ||
327 | ** The new function `scm_set_program_arguments' allows C code to set | |
328 | the value teruturned by the Scheme `program-arguments' function. | |
6685dc83 | 329 | |
6685dc83 | 330 | \f |
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331 | Older changes: |
332 | ||
333 | * Guile no longer includes sophisticated Tcl/Tk support. | |
334 | ||
335 | The old Tcl/Tk support was unsatisfying to us, because it required the | |
336 | user to link against the Tcl library, as well as Tk and Guile. The | |
337 | interface was also un-lispy, in that it preserved Tcl/Tk's practice of | |
338 | referring to widgets by names, rather than exporting widgets to Scheme | |
339 | code as a special datatype. | |
340 | ||
341 | In the Usenix Tk Developer's Workshop held in July 1996, the Tcl/Tk | |
342 | maintainers described some very interesting changes in progress to the | |
343 | Tcl/Tk internals, which would facilitate clean interfaces between lone | |
344 | Tk and other interpreters --- even for garbage-collected languages | |
345 | like Scheme. They expected the new Tk to be publicly available in the | |
346 | fall of 1996. | |
347 | ||
348 | Since it seems that Guile might soon have a new, cleaner interface to | |
349 | lone Tk, and that the old Guile/Tk glue code would probably need to be | |
350 | completely rewritten, we (Jim Blandy and Richard Stallman) have | |
351 | decided not to support the old code. We'll spend the time instead on | |
352 | a good interface to the newer Tk, as soon as it is available. | |
5c54da76 | 353 | |
8512dea6 | 354 | Until then, gtcltk-lib provides trivial, low-maintenance functionality. |
deb95d71 | 355 | |
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356 | \f |
357 | Copyright information: | |
358 | ||
ea00ecba | 359 | Copyright (C) 1996,1997 Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
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360 | |
361 | Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies | |
362 | of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the | |
363 | copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved, | |
364 | thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn. | |
365 | ||
366 | Permission is granted to distribute modified versions | |
367 | of this document, or of portions of it, | |
368 | under the above conditions, provided also that they | |
369 | carry prominent notices stating who last changed them. | |
370 |