1 Guile NEWS --- history of user-visible changes.
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12 * New modules (see the manual for details)
14 ** The `(ice-9 i18n)' module provides internationalization support
16 * Changes to the distribution
18 ** Guile now uses Gnulib as a portability aid
20 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
21 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
23 ** A new 'memoize-symbol evaluator trap has been added. This trap can
24 be used for efficiently implementing a Scheme code coverage.
26 ** Duplicate bindings among used modules are resolved lazily.
27 This slightly improves program startup times.
29 ** New thread cancellation and thread cleanup API
30 See `cancel-thread', `set-thread-cleanup!', and `thread-cleanup'.
32 * Changes to the C interface
34 ** Functions for handling `scm_option' now no longer require an argument
35 indicating length of the `scm_t_option' array.
39 Changes in 1.8.4 (since 1.8.3)
43 ** CR (ASCII 0x0d) is (again) recognized as a token delimiter by the reader
44 ** Fixed a segmentation fault which occurred when displaying the
45 backtrace of a stack with a promise object (made by `delay') in it.
46 ** Make `accept' leave guile mode while blocking
47 ** `scm_c_read ()' and `scm_c_write ()' now type-check their port argument
48 ** Fixed a build problem on AIX (use of func_data identifier)
49 ** Fixed a segmentation fault which occurred when hashx-ref or hashx-set! was
50 called with an associator proc that returns neither a pair nor #f.
51 ** Secondary threads now always return a valid module for (current-module).
52 ** Avoid MacOS build problems caused by incorrect combination of "64"
53 system and library calls.
54 ** `guile-snarf' now honors `$TMPDIR'
55 ** `guile-config compile' now reports CPPFLAGS used at compile-time
56 ** Fixed build with Sun Studio (Solaris 9)
57 ** Fixed wrong-type-arg errors when creating zero length SRFI-4
58 uniform vectors on AIX.
59 ** Fixed a deadlock that occurs upon GC with multiple threads.
60 ** Fixed compile problem with GCC on Solaris and AIX (use of _Complex_I)
61 ** Fixed autotool-derived build problems on AIX 6.1.
62 ** Fixed NetBSD/alpha support
63 ** Fixed MacOS build problem caused by use of rl_get_keymap(_name)
65 * New modules (see the manual for details)
69 * Documentation fixes and improvements
71 ** Removed premature breakpoint documentation
73 The features described are not available in the series of 1.8.x
74 releases, so the documentation was misleading and has been removed.
76 ** More about Guile's default *random-state* variable
78 ** GOOPS: more about how to use `next-method'
80 * Changes to the distribution
82 ** Corrected a few files that referred incorrectly to the old GPL + special exception licence
84 In fact Guile since 1.8.0 has been licensed with the GNU Lesser
85 General Public License, and the few incorrect files have now been
86 fixed to agree with the rest of the Guile distribution.
88 ** Removed unnecessary extra copies of COPYING*
90 The distribution now contains a single COPYING.LESSER at its top level.
93 Changes in 1.8.3 (since 1.8.2)
95 * New modules (see the manual for details)
102 ** The `(ice-9 slib)' module now works as expected
103 ** Expressions like "(set! 'x #t)" no longer yield a crash
104 ** Warnings about duplicate bindings now go to stderr
105 ** A memory leak in `make-socket-address' was fixed
106 ** Alignment issues (e.g., on SPARC) in network routines were fixed
107 ** A threading issue that showed up at least on NetBSD was fixed
108 ** Build problems on Solaris and IRIX fixed
110 * Implementation improvements
112 ** The reader is now faster, which reduces startup time
113 ** Procedures returned by `record-accessor' and `record-modifier' are faster
117 Changes in 1.8.2 (since 1.8.1):
119 * New procedures (see the manual for details)
121 ** set-program-arguments
126 ** Fractions were not `equal?' if stored in unreduced form.
127 (A subtle problem, since printing a value reduced it, making it work.)
128 ** srfi-60 `copy-bit' failed on 64-bit systems
129 ** "guile --use-srfi" option at the REPL can replace core functions
130 (Programs run with that option were ok, but in the interactive REPL
131 the core bindings got priority, preventing SRFI replacements or
133 ** `regexp-exec' doesn't abort() on #\nul in the input or bad flags arg
134 ** `kill' on mingw throws an error for a PID other than oneself
135 ** Procedure names are attached to procedure-with-setters
136 ** Array read syntax works with negative lower bound
137 ** `array-in-bounds?' fix if an array has different lower bounds on each index
138 ** `*' returns exact 0 for "(* inexact 0)"
139 This follows what it always did for "(* 0 inexact)".
140 ** SRFI-19: Value returned by `(current-time time-process)' was incorrect
141 ** SRFI-19: `date->julian-day' did not account for timezone offset
142 ** `ttyname' no longer crashes when passed a non-tty argument
143 ** `inet-ntop' no longer crashes on SPARC when passed an `AF_INET' address
144 ** Small memory leaks have been fixed in `make-fluid' and `add-history'
145 ** GOOPS: Fixed a bug in `method-more-specific?'
146 ** Build problems on Solaris fixed
147 ** Build problems on HP-UX IA64 fixed
148 ** Build problems on MinGW fixed
151 Changes in 1.8.1 (since 1.8.0):
153 * LFS functions are now used to access 64-bit files on 32-bit systems.
155 * New procedures (see the manual for details)
157 ** primitive-_exit - [Scheme] the-root-module
158 ** scm_primitive__exit - [C]
159 ** make-completion-function - [Scheme] (ice-9 readline)
160 ** scm_c_locale_stringn_to_number - [C]
161 ** scm_srfi1_append_reverse [C]
162 ** scm_srfi1_append_reverse_x [C]
168 * New `(ice-9 i18n)' module (see the manual for details)
172 ** Build problems have been fixed on MacOS, SunOS, and QNX.
174 ** `strftime' fix sign of %z timezone offset.
176 ** A one-dimensional array can now be 'equal?' to a vector.
178 ** Structures, records, and SRFI-9 records can now be compared with `equal?'.
180 ** SRFI-14 standard char sets are recomputed upon a successful `setlocale'.
182 ** `record-accessor' and `record-modifier' now have strict type checks.
184 Record accessor and modifier procedures now throw an error if the
185 record type of the record they're given is not the type expected.
186 (Previously accessors returned #f and modifiers silently did nothing).
188 ** It is now OK to use both autoload and use-modules on a given module.
190 ** `apply' checks the number of arguments more carefully on "0 or 1" funcs.
192 Previously there was no checking on primatives like make-vector that
193 accept "one or two" arguments. Now there is.
195 ** The srfi-1 assoc function now calls its equality predicate properly.
197 Previously srfi-1 assoc would call the equality predicate with the key
198 last. According to the SRFI, the key should be first.
200 ** A bug in n-par-for-each and n-for-each-par-map has been fixed.
202 ** The array-set! procedure no longer segfaults when given a bit vector.
204 ** Bugs in make-shared-array have been fixed.
206 ** string<? and friends now follow char<? etc order on 8-bit chars.
208 ** The format procedure now handles inf and nan values for ~f correctly.
210 ** exact->inexact should no longer overflow when given certain large fractions.
212 ** srfi-9 accessor and modifier procedures now have strict record type checks.
214 This matches the srfi-9 specification.
216 ** (ice-9 ftw) procedures won't ignore different files with same inode number.
218 Previously the (ice-9 ftw) procedures would ignore any file that had
219 the same inode number as a file they had already seen, even if that
220 file was on a different device.
223 Changes in 1.8.0 (changes since the 1.6.x series):
225 * Changes to the distribution
227 ** Guile is now licensed with the GNU Lesser General Public License.
229 ** The manual is now licensed with the GNU Free Documentation License.
231 ** Guile now requires GNU MP (http://swox.com/gmp).
233 Guile now uses the GNU MP library for arbitrary precision arithmetic.
235 ** Guile now has separate private and public configuration headers.
237 That is, things like HAVE_STRING_H no longer leak from Guile's
240 ** Guile now provides and uses an "effective" version number.
242 Guile now provides scm_effective_version and effective-version
243 functions which return the "effective" version number. This is just
244 the normal full version string without the final micro-version number,
245 so the current effective-version is "1.8". The effective version
246 should remain unchanged during a stable series, and should be used for
247 items like the versioned share directory name
248 i.e. /usr/share/guile/1.8.
250 Providing an unchanging version number during a stable release for
251 things like the versioned share directory can be particularly
252 important for Guile "add-on" packages, since it provides a directory
253 that they can install to that won't be changed out from under them
254 with each micro release during a stable series.
256 ** Thread implementation has changed.
258 When you configure "--with-threads=null", you will get the usual
259 threading API (call-with-new-thread, make-mutex, etc), but you can't
260 actually create new threads. Also, "--with-threads=no" is now
261 equivalent to "--with-threads=null". This means that the thread API
262 is always present, although you might not be able to create new
265 When you configure "--with-threads=pthreads" or "--with-threads=yes",
266 you will get threads that are implemented with the portable POSIX
267 threads. These threads can run concurrently (unlike the previous
268 "coop" thread implementation), but need to cooperate for things like
271 The default is "pthreads", unless your platform doesn't have pthreads,
272 in which case "null" threads are used.
274 See the manual for details, nodes "Initialization", "Multi-Threading",
275 "Blocking", and others.
277 ** There is the new notion of 'discouraged' features.
279 This is a milder form of deprecation.
281 Things that are discouraged should not be used in new code, but it is
282 OK to leave them in old code for now. When a discouraged feature is
283 used, no warning message is printed like there is for 'deprecated'
284 features. Also, things that are merely discouraged are nevertheless
285 implemented efficiently, while deprecated features can be very slow.
287 You can omit discouraged features from libguile by configuring it with
288 the '--disable-discouraged' option.
290 ** Deprecation warnings can be controlled at run-time.
292 (debug-enable 'warn-deprecated) switches them on and (debug-disable
293 'warn-deprecated) switches them off.
295 ** Support for SRFI 61, extended cond syntax for multiple values has
298 This SRFI is always available.
300 ** Support for require-extension, SRFI-55, has been added.
302 The SRFI-55 special form `require-extension' has been added. It is
303 available at startup, and provides a portable way to load Scheme
304 extensions. SRFI-55 only requires support for one type of extension,
305 "srfi"; so a set of SRFIs may be loaded via (require-extension (srfi 1
308 ** New module (srfi srfi-26) provides support for `cut' and `cute'.
310 The (srfi srfi-26) module is an implementation of SRFI-26 which
311 provides the `cut' and `cute' syntax. These may be used to specialize
312 parameters without currying.
314 ** New module (srfi srfi-31)
316 This is an implementation of SRFI-31 which provides a special form
317 `rec' for recursive evaluation.
319 ** The modules (srfi srfi-13), (srfi srfi-14) and (srfi srfi-4) have
320 been merged with the core, making their functionality always
323 The modules are still available, tho, and you could use them together
324 with a renaming import, for example.
326 ** Guile no longer includes its own version of libltdl.
328 The official version is good enough now.
330 ** The --enable-htmldoc option has been removed from 'configure'.
332 Support for translating the documentation into HTML is now always
333 provided. Use 'make html'.
335 ** New module (ice-9 serialize):
337 (serialize FORM1 ...) and (parallelize FORM1 ...) are useful when you
338 don't trust the thread safety of most of your program, but where you
339 have some section(s) of code which you consider can run in parallel to
340 other sections. See ice-9/serialize.scm for more information.
342 ** The configure option '--disable-arrays' has been removed.
344 Support for arrays and uniform numeric arrays is now always included
347 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
349 ** New command line option `-L'.
351 This option adds a directory to the front of the load path.
353 ** New command line option `--no-debug'.
355 Specifying `--no-debug' on the command line will keep the debugging
356 evaluator turned off, even for interactive sessions.
358 ** User-init file ~/.guile is now loaded with the debugging evaluator.
360 Previously, the normal evaluator would have been used. Using the
361 debugging evaluator gives better error messages.
363 ** The '-e' option now 'read's its argument.
365 This is to allow the new '(@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)' construct to
366 be used with '-e'. For example, you can now write a script like
369 exec guile -e '(@ (demo) main)' -s "$0" "$@"
372 (define-module (demo)
376 (format #t "Demo: ~a~%" args))
379 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
381 ** Guardians have changed back to their original semantics
383 Guardians now behave like described in the paper by Dybvig et al. In
384 particular, they no longer make guarantees about the order in which
385 they return objects, and they can no longer be greedy.
387 They no longer drop cyclic data structures.
389 The C function scm_make_guardian has been changed incompatibly and no
390 longer takes the 'greedy_p' argument.
392 ** New function hashx-remove!
394 This function completes the set of 'hashx' functions.
396 ** The concept of dynamic roots has been factored into continuation
397 barriers and dynamic states.
399 Each thread has a current dynamic state that carries the values of the
400 fluids. You can create and copy dynamic states and use them as the
401 second argument for 'eval'. See "Fluids and Dynamic States" in the
404 To restrict the influence that captured continuations can have on the
405 control flow, you can errect continuation barriers. See "Continuation
406 Barriers" in the manual.
408 The function call-with-dynamic-root now essentially temporarily
409 installs a new dynamic state and errects a continuation barrier.
411 ** The default load path no longer includes "." at the end.
413 Automatically loading modules from the current directory should not
414 happen by default. If you want to allow it in a more controlled
415 manner, set the environment variable GUILE_LOAD_PATH or the Scheme
418 ** The uniform vector and array support has been overhauled.
420 It now complies with SRFI-4 and the weird prototype based uniform
421 array creation has been deprecated. See the manual for more details.
423 Some non-compatible changes have been made:
424 - characters can no longer be stored into byte arrays.
425 - strings and bit vectors are no longer considered to be uniform numeric
427 - array-rank throws an error for non-arrays instead of returning zero.
428 - array-ref does no longer accept non-arrays when no indices are given.
430 There is the new notion of 'generalized vectors' and corresponding
431 procedures like 'generalized-vector-ref'. Generalized vectors include
432 strings, bitvectors, ordinary vectors, and uniform numeric vectors.
434 Arrays use generalized vectors as their storage, so that you still
435 have arrays of characters, bits, etc. However, uniform-array-read!
436 and uniform-array-write can no longer read/write strings and
439 ** There is now support for copy-on-write substrings, mutation-sharing
440 substrings and read-only strings.
442 Three new procedures are related to this: substring/shared,
443 substring/copy, and substring/read-only. See the manual for more
446 ** Backtraces will now highlight the value that caused the error.
448 By default, these values are enclosed in "{...}", such as in this
457 <unnamed port>:1:1: In procedure car in expression (car (quote a)):
458 <unnamed port>:1:1: Wrong type (expecting pair): a
459 ABORT: (wrong-type-arg)
461 The prefix and suffix used for highlighting can be set via the two new
462 printer options 'highlight-prefix' and 'highlight-suffix'. For
463 example, putting this into ~/.guile will output the bad value in bold
466 (print-set! highlight-prefix "\x1b[1m")
467 (print-set! highlight-suffix "\x1b[22m")
470 ** 'gettext' support for internationalization has been added.
472 See the manual for details.
474 ** New syntax '@' and '@@':
476 You can now directly refer to variables exported from a module by
479 (@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)
481 For example (@ (ice-9 pretty-print) pretty-print) will directly access
482 the pretty-print variable exported from the (ice-9 pretty-print)
483 module. You don't need to 'use' that module first. You can also use
484 '@' as a target of 'set!', as in (set! (@ mod var) val).
486 The related syntax (@@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME) works just like '@',
487 but it can also access variables that have not been exported. It is
488 intended only for kluges and temporary fixes and for debugging, not
491 ** Keyword syntax has been made more disciplined.
493 Previously, the name of a keyword was read as a 'token' but printed as
494 a symbol. Now, it is read as a general Scheme datum which must be a
505 ERROR: In expression (a b c):
509 ERROR: Unbound variable: foo
514 ERROR: Wrong type (expecting symbol): 12
518 ERROR: Wrong type (expecting symbol): (a b c)
522 ** The printing of symbols that might look like keywords can be
525 The new printer option 'quote-keywordish-symbols' controls how symbols
526 are printed that have a colon as their first or last character. The
527 default now is to only quote a symbol with #{...}# when the read
528 option 'keywords' is not '#f'. Thus:
530 guile> (define foo (string->symbol ":foo"))
531 guile> (read-set! keywords #f)
534 guile> (read-set! keywords 'prefix)
537 guile> (print-set! quote-keywordish-symbols #f)
541 ** 'while' now provides 'break' and 'continue'
543 break and continue were previously bound in a while loop, but not
544 documented, and continue didn't quite work properly. The undocumented
545 parameter to break which gave a return value for the while has been
548 ** 'call-with-current-continuation' is now also available under the name
551 ** The module system now checks for duplicate bindings.
553 The module system now can check for name conflicts among imported
556 The behavior can be controlled by specifying one or more 'duplicates'
557 handlers. For example, to make Guile return an error for every name
565 The new default behavior of the module system when a name collision
566 has been detected is to
568 1. Give priority to bindings marked as a replacement.
569 2. Issue a warning (different warning if overriding core binding).
570 3. Give priority to the last encountered binding (this corresponds to
573 If you want the old behavior back without replacements or warnings you
576 (default-duplicate-binding-handler 'last)
578 to your .guile init file.
580 ** New define-module option: :replace
582 :replace works as :export, but, in addition, marks the binding as a
585 A typical example is `format' in (ice-9 format) which is a replacement
586 for the core binding `format'.
588 ** Adding prefixes to imported bindings in the module system
590 There is now a new :use-module option :prefix. It can be used to add
591 a prefix to all imported bindings.
594 :use-module ((bar) :prefix bar:))
596 will import all bindings exported from bar, but rename them by adding
599 ** Conflicting generic functions can be automatically merged.
601 When two imported bindings conflict and they are both generic
602 functions, the two functions can now be merged automatically. This is
603 activated with the 'duplicates' handler 'merge-generics'.
605 ** New function: effective-version
607 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
608 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
609 to the distribution" above.
611 ** New threading functions: parallel, letpar, par-map, and friends
613 These are convenient ways to run calculations in parallel in new
614 threads. See "Parallel forms" in the manual for details.
616 ** New function 'try-mutex'.
618 This function will attempt to lock a mutex but will return immediately
619 instead of blocking and indicate failure.
621 ** Waiting on a condition variable can have a timeout.
623 The function 'wait-condition-variable' now takes a third, optional
624 argument that specifies the point in time where the waiting should be
627 ** New function 'broadcast-condition-variable'.
629 ** New functions 'all-threads' and 'current-thread'.
631 ** Signals and system asyncs work better with threads.
633 The function 'sigaction' now takes a fourth, optional, argument that
634 specifies the thread that the handler should run in. When the
635 argument is omitted, the handler will run in the thread that called
638 Likewise, 'system-async-mark' takes a second, optional, argument that
639 specifies the thread that the async should run in. When it is
640 omitted, the async will run in the thread that called
643 C code can use the new functions scm_sigaction_for_thread and
644 scm_system_async_mark_for_thread to pass the new thread argument.
646 When a thread blocks on a mutex, a condition variable or is waiting
647 for IO to be possible, it will still execute system asyncs. This can
648 be used to interrupt such a thread by making it execute a 'throw', for
651 ** The function 'system-async' is deprecated.
653 You can now pass any zero-argument procedure to 'system-async-mark'.
654 The function 'system-async' will just return its argument unchanged
657 ** New functions 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' and
658 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
660 The expression (call-with-blocked-asyncs PROC) will call PROC and will
661 block execution of system asyncs for the current thread by one level
662 while PROC runs. Likewise, call-with-unblocked-asyncs will call a
663 procedure and will unblock the execution of system asyncs by one
664 level for the current thread.
666 Only system asyncs are affected by these functions.
668 ** The functions 'mask-signals' and 'unmask-signals' are deprecated.
670 Use 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' or 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
671 instead. Those functions are easier to use correctly and can be
674 ** New function 'unsetenv'.
676 ** New macro 'define-syntax-public'.
678 It works like 'define-syntax' and also exports the defined macro (but
681 ** There is support for Infinity and NaNs.
683 Following PLT Scheme, Guile can now work with infinite numbers, and
686 There is new syntax for numbers: "+inf.0" (infinity), "-inf.0"
687 (negative infinity), "+nan.0" (not-a-number), and "-nan.0" (same as
688 "+nan.0"). These numbers are inexact and have no exact counterpart.
690 Dividing by an inexact zero returns +inf.0 or -inf.0, depending on the
691 sign of the dividend. The infinities are integers, and they answer #t
692 for both 'even?' and 'odd?'. The +nan.0 value is not an integer and is
693 not '=' to itself, but '+nan.0' is 'eqv?' to itself.
704 ERROR: Numerical overflow
706 Two new predicates 'inf?' and 'nan?' can be used to test for the
709 ** Inexact zero can have a sign.
711 Guile can now distinguish between plus and minus inexact zero, if your
712 platform supports this, too. The two zeros are equal according to
713 '=', but not according to 'eqv?'. For example
724 ** Guile now has exact rationals.
726 Guile can now represent fractions such as 1/3 exactly. Computing with
727 them is also done exactly, of course:
732 ** 'floor', 'ceiling', 'round' and 'truncate' now return exact numbers
735 For example: (floor 2) now returns an exact 2 where in the past it
736 returned an inexact 2.0. Likewise, (floor 5/4) returns an exact 1.
738 ** inexact->exact no longer returns only integers.
740 Without exact rationals, the closest exact number was always an
741 integer, but now inexact->exact returns the fraction that is exactly
742 equal to a floating point number. For example:
744 (inexact->exact 1.234)
745 => 694680242521899/562949953421312
747 When you want the old behavior, use 'round' explicitly:
749 (inexact->exact (round 1.234))
752 ** New function 'rationalize'.
754 This function finds a simple fraction that is close to a given real
755 number. For example (and compare with inexact->exact above):
757 (rationalize (inexact->exact 1.234) 1/2000)
760 Note that, as required by R5RS, rationalize returns only then an exact
761 result when both its arguments are exact.
763 ** 'odd?' and 'even?' work also for inexact integers.
765 Previously, (odd? 1.0) would signal an error since only exact integers
766 were recognized as integers. Now (odd? 1.0) returns #t, (odd? 2.0)
767 returns #f and (odd? 1.5) signals an error.
769 ** Guile now has uninterned symbols.
771 The new function 'make-symbol' will return an uninterned symbol. This
772 is a symbol that is unique and is guaranteed to remain unique.
773 However, uninterned symbols can not yet be read back in.
775 Use the new function 'symbol-interned?' to check whether a symbol is
778 ** pretty-print has more options.
780 The function pretty-print from the (ice-9 pretty-print) module can now
781 also be invoked with keyword arguments that control things like
782 maximum output width. See the manual for details.
784 ** Variables have no longer a special behavior for `equal?'.
786 Previously, comparing two variables with `equal?' would recursivly
787 compare their values. This is no longer done. Variables are now only
788 `equal?' if they are `eq?'.
790 ** `(begin)' is now valid.
792 You can now use an empty `begin' form. It will yield #<unspecified>
793 when evaluated and simply be ignored in a definition context.
795 ** Deprecated: procedure->macro
797 Change your code to use 'define-macro' or r5rs macros. Also, be aware
798 that macro expansion will not be done during evaluation, but prior to
801 ** Soft ports now allow a `char-ready?' procedure
803 The vector argument to `make-soft-port' can now have a length of
804 either 5 or 6. (Previously the length had to be 5.) The optional 6th
805 element is interpreted as an `input-waiting' thunk -- i.e. a thunk
806 that returns the number of characters that can be read immediately
807 without the soft port blocking.
809 ** Deprecated: undefine
811 There is no replacement for undefine.
813 ** The functions make-keyword-from-dash-symbol and keyword-dash-symbol
814 have been discouraged.
816 They are relics from a time where a keyword like #:foo was used
817 directly as a Tcl option "-foo" and thus keywords were internally
818 stored as a symbol with a starting dash. We now store a symbol
821 Use symbol->keyword and keyword->symbol instead.
823 ** The `cheap' debug option is now obsolete
825 Evaluator trap calls are now unconditionally "cheap" - in other words,
826 they pass a debug object to the trap handler rather than a full
827 continuation. The trap handler code can capture a full continuation
828 by using `call-with-current-continuation' in the usual way, if it so
831 The `cheap' option is retained for now so as not to break existing
832 code which gets or sets it, but setting it now has no effect. It will
833 be removed in the next major Guile release.
835 ** Evaluator trap calls now support `tweaking'
837 `Tweaking' means that the trap handler code can modify the Scheme
838 expression that is about to be evaluated (in the case of an
839 enter-frame trap) or the value that is being returned (in the case of
840 an exit-frame trap). The trap handler code indicates that it wants to
841 do this by returning a pair whose car is the symbol 'instead and whose
842 cdr is the modified expression or return value.
844 * Changes to the C interface
846 ** The functions scm_hash_fn_remove_x and scm_hashx_remove_x no longer
847 take a 'delete' function argument.
849 This argument makes no sense since the delete function is used to
850 remove a pair from an alist, and this must not be configurable.
852 This is an incompatible change.
854 ** The GH interface is now subject to the deprecation mechanism
856 The GH interface has been deprecated for quite some time but now it is
857 actually removed from Guile when it is configured with
858 --disable-deprecated.
860 See the manual "Transitioning away from GH" for more information.
862 ** A new family of functions for converting between C values and
863 Scheme values has been added.
865 These functions follow a common naming scheme and are designed to be
866 easier to use, thread-safe and more future-proof than the older
871 These are predicates that return a C boolean: 1 or 0. Instead of
872 SCM_NFALSEP, you can now use scm_is_true, for example.
874 - <type> scm_to_<type> (SCM val, ...)
876 These are functions that convert a Scheme value into an appropriate
877 C value. For example, you can use scm_to_int to safely convert from
880 - SCM scm_from_<type> (<type> val, ...)
882 These functions convert from a C type to a SCM value; for example,
883 scm_from_int for ints.
885 There is a huge number of these functions, for numbers, strings,
886 symbols, vectors, etc. They are documented in the reference manual in
887 the API section together with the types that they apply to.
889 ** New functions for dealing with complex numbers in C have been added.
891 The new functions are scm_c_make_rectangular, scm_c_make_polar,
892 scm_c_real_part, scm_c_imag_part, scm_c_magnitude and scm_c_angle.
893 They work like scm_make_rectangular etc but take or return doubles
896 ** The function scm_make_complex has been discouraged.
898 Use scm_c_make_rectangular instead.
900 ** The INUM macros have been deprecated.
902 A lot of code uses these macros to do general integer conversions,
903 although the macros only work correctly with fixnums. Use the
904 following alternatives.
906 SCM_INUMP -> scm_is_integer or similar
907 SCM_NINUMP -> !scm_is_integer or similar
908 SCM_MAKINUM -> scm_from_int or similar
909 SCM_INUM -> scm_to_int or similar
911 SCM_VALIDATE_INUM_* -> Do not use these; scm_to_int, etc. will
912 do the validating for you.
914 ** The scm_num2<type> and scm_<type>2num functions and scm_make_real
915 have been discouraged.
917 Use the newer scm_to_<type> and scm_from_<type> functions instead for
918 new code. The functions have been discouraged since they don't fit
921 ** The 'boolean' macros SCM_FALSEP etc have been discouraged.
923 They have strange names, especially SCM_NFALSEP, and SCM_BOOLP
924 evaluates its argument twice. Use scm_is_true, etc. instead for new
927 ** The macro SCM_EQ_P has been discouraged.
929 Use scm_is_eq for new code, which fits better into the naming
932 ** The macros SCM_CONSP, SCM_NCONSP, SCM_NULLP, and SCM_NNULLP have
935 Use the function scm_is_pair or scm_is_null instead.
937 ** The functions scm_round and scm_truncate have been deprecated and
938 are now available as scm_c_round and scm_c_truncate, respectively.
940 These functions occupy the names that scm_round_number and
941 scm_truncate_number should have.
943 ** The functions scm_c_string2str, scm_c_substring2str, and
944 scm_c_symbol2str have been deprecated.
946 Use scm_to_locale_stringbuf or similar instead, maybe together with
949 ** New functions scm_c_make_string, scm_c_string_length,
950 scm_c_string_ref, scm_c_string_set_x, scm_c_substring,
951 scm_c_substring_shared, scm_c_substring_copy.
953 These are like scm_make_string, scm_length, etc. but are slightly
954 easier to use from C.
956 ** The macros SCM_STRINGP, SCM_STRING_CHARS, SCM_STRING_LENGTH,
957 SCM_SYMBOL_CHARS, and SCM_SYMBOL_LENGTH have been deprecated.
959 They export too many assumptions about the implementation of strings
960 and symbols that are no longer true in the presence of
961 mutation-sharing substrings and when Guile switches to some form of
964 When working with strings, it is often best to use the normal string
965 functions provided by Guile, such as scm_c_string_ref,
966 scm_c_string_set_x, scm_string_append, etc. Be sure to look in the
967 manual since many more such functions are now provided than
970 When you want to convert a SCM string to a C string, use the
971 scm_to_locale_string function or similar instead. For symbols, use
972 scm_symbol_to_string and then work with that string. Because of the
973 new string representation, scm_symbol_to_string does not need to copy
974 and is thus quite efficient.
976 ** Some string, symbol and keyword functions have been discouraged.
978 They don't fit into the uniform naming scheme and are not explicit
979 about the character encoding.
981 Replace according to the following table:
983 scm_allocate_string -> scm_c_make_string
984 scm_take_str -> scm_take_locale_stringn
985 scm_take0str -> scm_take_locale_string
986 scm_mem2string -> scm_from_locale_stringn
987 scm_str2string -> scm_from_locale_string
988 scm_makfrom0str -> scm_from_locale_string
989 scm_mem2symbol -> scm_from_locale_symboln
990 scm_mem2uninterned_symbol -> scm_from_locale_stringn + scm_make_symbol
991 scm_str2symbol -> scm_from_locale_symbol
993 SCM_SYMBOL_HASH -> scm_hashq
994 SCM_SYMBOL_INTERNED_P -> scm_symbol_interned_p
996 scm_c_make_keyword -> scm_from_locale_keyword
998 ** The functions scm_keyword_to_symbol and sym_symbol_to_keyword are
999 now also available to C code.
1001 ** SCM_KEYWORDP and SCM_KEYWORDSYM have been deprecated.
1003 Use scm_is_keyword and scm_keyword_to_symbol instead, but note that
1004 the latter returns the true name of the keyword, not the 'dash name',
1005 as SCM_KEYWORDSYM used to do.
1007 ** A new way to access arrays in a thread-safe and efficient way has
1010 See the manual, node "Accessing Arrays From C".
1012 ** The old uniform vector and bitvector implementations have been
1013 unceremoniously removed.
1015 This implementation exposed the details of the tagging system of
1016 Guile. Use the new C API explained in the manual in node "Uniform
1017 Numeric Vectors" and "Bit Vectors", respectively.
1019 The following macros are gone: SCM_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_BASE,
1020 SCM_UVECTOR_MAXLENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_MAKE_UVECTOR_TAG,
1021 SCM_SET_UVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_BITVECTOR_P, SCM_BITVECTOR_BASE,
1022 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_BASE, SCM_BITVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH,
1023 SCM_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_MAKE_BITVECTOR_TAG,
1024 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_BITVEC_REF, SCM_BITVEC_SET,
1027 ** The macros dealing with vectors have been deprecated.
1029 Use the new functions scm_is_vector, scm_vector_elements,
1030 scm_vector_writable_elements, etc, or scm_is_simple_vector,
1031 SCM_SIMPLE_VECTOR_REF, SCM_SIMPLE_VECTOR_SET, etc instead. See the
1032 manual for more details.
1034 Deprecated are SCM_VECTORP, SCM_VELTS, SCM_VECTOR_MAX_LENGTH,
1035 SCM_VECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_VECTOR_REF, SCM_VECTOR_SET, SCM_WRITABLE_VELTS.
1037 The following macros have been removed: SCM_VECTOR_BASE,
1038 SCM_SET_VECTOR_BASE, SCM_MAKE_VECTOR_TAG, SCM_SET_VECTOR_LENGTH,
1039 SCM_VELTS_AS_STACKITEMS, SCM_SETVELTS, SCM_GC_WRITABLE_VELTS.
1041 ** Some C functions and macros related to arrays have been deprecated.
1043 Migrate according to the following table:
1045 scm_make_uve -> scm_make_typed_array, scm_make_u8vector etc.
1046 scm_make_ra -> scm_make_array
1047 scm_shap2ra -> scm_make_array
1048 scm_cvref -> scm_c_generalized_vector_ref
1049 scm_ra_set_contp -> do not use
1050 scm_aind -> scm_array_handle_pos
1051 scm_raprin1 -> scm_display or scm_write
1053 SCM_ARRAYP -> scm_is_array
1054 SCM_ARRAY_NDIM -> scm_c_array_rank
1055 SCM_ARRAY_DIMS -> scm_array_handle_dims
1056 SCM_ARRAY_CONTP -> do not use
1057 SCM_ARRAY_MEM -> do not use
1058 SCM_ARRAY_V -> scm_array_handle_elements or similar
1059 SCM_ARRAY_BASE -> do not use
1061 ** SCM_CELL_WORD_LOC has been deprecated.
1063 Use the new macro SCM_CELL_OBJECT_LOC instead, which returns a pointer
1064 to a SCM, as opposed to a pointer to a scm_t_bits.
1066 This was done to allow the correct use of pointers into the Scheme
1067 heap. Previously, the heap words were of type scm_t_bits and local
1068 variables and function arguments were of type SCM, making it
1069 non-standards-conformant to have a pointer that can point to both.
1071 ** New macros SCM_SMOB_DATA_2, SCM_SMOB_DATA_3, etc.
1073 These macros should be used instead of SCM_CELL_WORD_2/3 to access the
1074 second and third words of double smobs. Likewise for
1075 SCM_SET_SMOB_DATA_2 and SCM_SET_SMOB_DATA_3.
1077 Also, there is SCM_SMOB_FLAGS and SCM_SET_SMOB_FLAGS that should be
1078 used to get and set the 16 exra bits in the zeroth word of a smob.
1080 And finally, there is SCM_SMOB_OBJECT and SCM_SMOB_SET_OBJECT for
1081 accesing the first immediate word of a smob as a SCM value, and there
1082 is SCM_SMOB_OBJECT_LOC for getting a pointer to the first immediate
1083 smob word. Like wise for SCM_SMOB_OBJECT_2, etc.
1085 ** New way to deal with non-local exits and re-entries.
1087 There is a new set of functions that essentially do what
1088 scm_internal_dynamic_wind does, but in a way that is more convenient
1089 for C code in some situations. Here is a quick example of how to
1090 prevent a potential memory leak:
1097 scm_dynwind_begin (0);
1099 mem = scm_malloc (100);
1100 scm_dynwind_unwind_handler (free, mem, SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITLY);
1102 /* MEM would leak if BAR throws an error.
1103 SCM_DYNWIND_UNWIND_HANDLER frees it nevertheless.
1110 /* Because of SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITLY, MEM will be freed by
1111 SCM_DYNWIND_END as well.
1115 For full documentation, see the node "Dynamic Wind" in the manual.
1117 ** New function scm_dynwind_free
1119 This function calls 'free' on a given pointer when a dynwind context
1120 is left. Thus the call to scm_dynwind_unwind_handler above could be
1121 replaced with simply scm_dynwind_free (mem).
1123 ** New functions scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
1124 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs
1126 Like scm_call_with_blocked_asyncs etc. but for C functions.
1128 ** New functions scm_dynwind_block_asyncs and scm_dynwind_unblock_asyncs
1130 In addition to scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs you can now also use
1131 scm_dynwind_block_asyncs in a 'dynwind context' (see above). Likewise for
1132 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs and scm_dynwind_unblock_asyncs.
1134 ** The macros SCM_DEFER_INTS, SCM_ALLOW_INTS, SCM_REDEFER_INTS,
1135 SCM_REALLOW_INTS have been deprecated.
1137 They do no longer fulfill their original role of blocking signal
1138 delivery. Depending on what you want to achieve, replace a pair of
1139 SCM_DEFER_INTS and SCM_ALLOW_INTS with a dynwind context that locks a
1140 mutex, blocks asyncs, or both. See node "Critical Sections" in the
1143 ** The value 'scm_mask_ints' is no longer writable.
1145 Previously, you could set scm_mask_ints directly. This is no longer
1146 possible. Use scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
1147 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs instead.
1149 ** New way to temporarily set the current input, output or error ports
1151 C code can now use scm_dynwind_current_<foo>_port in a 'dynwind
1152 context' (see above). <foo> is one of "input", "output" or "error".
1154 ** New way to temporarily set fluids
1156 C code can now use scm_dynwind_fluid in a 'dynwind context' (see
1157 above) to temporarily set the value of a fluid.
1159 ** New types scm_t_intmax and scm_t_uintmax.
1161 On platforms that have them, these types are identical to intmax_t and
1162 uintmax_t, respectively. On other platforms, they are identical to
1163 the largest integer types that Guile knows about.
1165 ** The functions scm_unmemocopy and scm_unmemoize have been removed.
1167 You should not have used them.
1169 ** Many public #defines with generic names have been made private.
1171 #defines with generic names like HAVE_FOO or SIZEOF_FOO have been made
1172 private or renamed with a more suitable public name.
1174 ** The macro SCM_TYP16S has been deprecated.
1176 This macro is not intended for public use.
1178 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_INEXACTP has been deprecated.
1180 Use scm_is_true (scm_inexact_p (...)) instead.
1182 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_REALP has been deprecated.
1184 Use scm_is_real instead.
1186 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_COMPLEXP has been deprecated.
1188 Use scm_is_complex instead.
1190 ** Some preprocessor defines have been deprecated.
1192 These defines indicated whether a certain feature was present in Guile
1193 or not. Going forward, assume that the features are always present.
1195 The macros are: USE_THREADS, GUILE_ISELECT, READER_EXTENSIONS,
1196 DEBUG_EXTENSIONS, DYNAMIC_LINKING.
1198 The following macros have been removed completely: MEMOIZE_LOCALS,
1199 SCM_RECKLESS, SCM_CAUTIOUS.
1201 ** The preprocessor define STACK_DIRECTION has been deprecated.
1203 There should be no need to know about the stack direction for ordinary
1206 ** New function: scm_effective_version
1208 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
1209 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
1210 to the distribution" above.
1212 ** The function scm_call_with_new_thread has a new prototype.
1214 Instead of taking a list with the thunk and handler, these two
1215 arguments are now passed directly:
1217 SCM scm_call_with_new_thread (SCM thunk, SCM handler);
1219 This is an incompatible change.
1221 ** New snarfer macro SCM_DEFINE_PUBLIC.
1223 This is like SCM_DEFINE, but also calls scm_c_export for the defined
1224 function in the init section.
1226 ** The snarfer macro SCM_SNARF_INIT is now officially supported.
1228 ** Garbage collector rewrite.
1230 The garbage collector is cleaned up a lot, and now uses lazy
1231 sweeping. This is reflected in the output of (gc-stats); since cells
1232 are being freed when they are allocated, the cells-allocated field
1233 stays roughly constant.
1235 For malloc related triggers, the behavior is changed. It uses the same
1236 heuristic as the cell-triggered collections. It may be tuned with the
1237 environment variables GUILE_MIN_YIELD_MALLOC. This is the percentage
1238 for minimum yield of malloc related triggers. The default is 40.
1239 GUILE_INIT_MALLOC_LIMIT sets the initial trigger for doing a GC. The
1242 Debugging operations for the freelist have been deprecated, along with
1243 the C variables that control garbage collection. The environment
1244 variables GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE, GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2,
1245 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1, and GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2 should be used.
1247 For understanding the memory usage of a GUILE program, the routine
1248 gc-live-object-stats returns an alist containing the number of live
1249 objects for every type.
1252 ** The function scm_definedp has been renamed to scm_defined_p
1254 The name scm_definedp is deprecated.
1256 ** The struct scm_cell type has been renamed to scm_t_cell
1258 This is in accordance to Guile's naming scheme for types. Note that
1259 the name scm_cell is now used for a function that allocates and
1260 initializes a new cell (see below).
1262 ** New functions for memory management
1264 A new set of functions for memory management has been added since the
1265 old way (scm_must_malloc, scm_must_free, etc) was error prone and
1266 indeed, Guile itself contained some long standing bugs that could
1267 cause aborts in long running programs.
1269 The new functions are more symmetrical and do not need cooperation
1270 from smob free routines, among other improvements.
1272 The new functions are scm_malloc, scm_realloc, scm_calloc, scm_strdup,
1273 scm_strndup, scm_gc_malloc, scm_gc_calloc, scm_gc_realloc,
1274 scm_gc_free, scm_gc_register_collectable_memory, and
1275 scm_gc_unregister_collectable_memory. Refer to the manual for more
1276 details and for upgrading instructions.
1278 The old functions for memory management have been deprecated. They
1279 are: scm_must_malloc, scm_must_realloc, scm_must_free,
1280 scm_must_strdup, scm_must_strndup, scm_done_malloc, scm_done_free.
1282 ** Declarations of exported features are marked with SCM_API.
1284 Every declaration of a feature that belongs to the exported Guile API
1285 has been marked by adding the macro "SCM_API" to the start of the
1286 declaration. This macro can expand into different things, the most
1287 common of which is just "extern" for Unix platforms. On Win32, it can
1288 be used to control which symbols are exported from a DLL.
1290 If you `#define SCM_IMPORT' before including <libguile.h>, SCM_API
1291 will expand into "__declspec (dllimport) extern", which is needed for
1292 linking to the Guile DLL in Windows.
1294 There are also SCM_RL_IMPORT, SCM_SRFI1314_IMPORT, and
1295 SCM_SRFI4_IMPORT, for the corresponding libraries.
1297 ** SCM_NEWCELL and SCM_NEWCELL2 have been deprecated.
1299 Use the new functions scm_cell and scm_double_cell instead. The old
1300 macros had problems because with them allocation and initialization
1301 was separated and the GC could sometimes observe half initialized
1302 cells. Only careful coding by the user of SCM_NEWCELL and
1303 SCM_NEWCELL2 could make this safe and efficient.
1305 ** CHECK_ENTRY, CHECK_APPLY and CHECK_EXIT have been deprecated.
1307 Use the variables scm_check_entry_p, scm_check_apply_p and scm_check_exit_p
1310 ** SRCBRKP has been deprecated.
1312 Use scm_c_source_property_breakpoint_p instead.
1314 ** Deprecated: scm_makmacro
1316 Change your code to use either scm_makmmacro or to define macros in
1317 Scheme, using 'define-macro'.
1319 ** New function scm_c_port_for_each.
1321 This function is like scm_port_for_each but takes a pointer to a C
1322 function as the callback instead of a SCM value.
1324 ** The names scm_internal_select, scm_thread_sleep, and
1325 scm_thread_usleep have been discouraged.
1327 Use scm_std_select, scm_std_sleep, scm_std_usleep instead.
1329 ** The GC can no longer be blocked.
1331 The global flags scm_gc_heap_lock and scm_block_gc have been removed.
1332 The GC can now run (partially) concurrently with other code and thus
1333 blocking it is not well defined.
1335 ** Many definitions have been removed that were previously deprecated.
1337 scm_lisp_nil, scm_lisp_t, s_nil_ify, scm_m_nil_ify, s_t_ify,
1338 scm_m_t_ify, s_0_cond, scm_m_0_cond, s_0_ify, scm_m_0_ify, s_1_ify,
1339 scm_m_1_ify, scm_debug_newcell, scm_debug_newcell2,
1340 scm_tc16_allocated, SCM_SET_SYMBOL_HASH, SCM_IM_NIL_IFY, SCM_IM_T_IFY,
1341 SCM_IM_0_COND, SCM_IM_0_IFY, SCM_IM_1_IFY, SCM_GC_SET_ALLOCATED,
1342 scm_debug_newcell, scm_debug_newcell2, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL, SCM_INT_SIGNAL,
1343 SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL, SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL,
1344 SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD, SCM_ORD_SIG,
1345 SCM_NUM_SIGS, scm_top_level_lookup_closure_var,
1346 *top-level-lookup-closure*, scm_system_transformer, scm_eval_3,
1347 scm_eval2, root_module_lookup_closure, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP,
1348 SCM_RWSTRINGP, scm_read_only_string_p, scm_make_shared_substring,
1349 scm_tc7_substring, sym_huh, SCM_VARVCELL, SCM_UDVARIABLEP,
1350 SCM_DEFVARIABLEP, scm_mkbig, scm_big2inum, scm_adjbig, scm_normbig,
1351 scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big, scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl, SCM_FIXNUM_BIT,
1352 SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_SLOPPY_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET,
1353 SCM_LENGTH_MAX, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_ROLENGTH,
1354 SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR,
1355 scm_sym2vcell, scm_intern, scm_intern0, scm_sysintern, scm_sysintern0,
1356 scm_sysintern0_no_module_lookup, scm_init_symbols_deprecated,
1357 scm_vector_set_length_x, scm_contregs, scm_debug_info,
1358 scm_debug_frame, SCM_DSIDEVAL, SCM_CONST_LONG, SCM_VCELL,
1359 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL, SCM_VCELL_INIT, SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL_INIT,
1360 SCM_HUGE_LENGTH, SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING,
1361 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY, SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY,
1362 SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, DIGITS, scm_small_istr2int, scm_istr2int,
1363 scm_istr2flo, scm_istring2number, scm_istr2int, scm_istr2flo,
1364 scm_istring2number, scm_vtable_index_vcell, scm_si_vcell, SCM_ECONSP,
1365 SCM_NECONSP, SCM_GLOC_VAR, SCM_GLOC_VAL, SCM_GLOC_SET_VAL,
1366 SCM_GLOC_VAL_LOC, scm_make_gloc, scm_gloc_p, scm_tc16_variable,
1367 SCM_CHARS, SCM_LENGTH, SCM_SET_STRING_CHARS, SCM_SET_STRING_LENGTH.
1369 * Changes to bundled modules
1373 Using the (ice-9 debug) module no longer automatically switches Guile
1374 to use the debugging evaluator. If you want to switch to the
1375 debugging evaluator (which is needed for backtrace information if you
1376 hit an error), please add an explicit "(debug-enable 'debug)" to your
1377 code just after the code to use (ice-9 debug).
1380 Changes since Guile 1.4:
1382 * Changes to the distribution
1384 ** A top-level TODO file is included.
1386 ** Guile now uses a versioning scheme similar to that of the Linux kernel.
1388 Guile now always uses three numbers to represent the version,
1389 i.e. "1.6.5". The first number, 1, is the major version number, the
1390 second number, 6, is the minor version number, and the third number,
1391 5, is the micro version number. Changes in major version number
1392 indicate major changes in Guile.
1394 Minor version numbers that are even denote stable releases, and odd
1395 minor version numbers denote development versions (which may be
1396 unstable). The micro version number indicates a minor sub-revision of
1397 a given MAJOR.MINOR release.
1399 In keeping with the new scheme, (minor-version) and scm_minor_version
1400 no longer return everything but the major version number. They now
1401 just return the minor version number. Two new functions
1402 (micro-version) and scm_micro_version have been added to report the
1403 micro version number.
1405 In addition, ./GUILE-VERSION now defines GUILE_MICRO_VERSION.
1407 ** New preprocessor definitions are available for checking versions.
1409 version.h now #defines SCM_MAJOR_VERSION, SCM_MINOR_VERSION, and
1410 SCM_MICRO_VERSION to the appropriate integer values.
1412 ** Guile now actively warns about deprecated features.
1414 The new configure option `--enable-deprecated=LEVEL' and the
1415 environment variable GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATED control this mechanism.
1416 See INSTALL and README for more information.
1418 ** Guile is much more likely to work on 64-bit architectures.
1420 Guile now compiles and passes "make check" with only two UNRESOLVED GC
1421 cases on Alpha and ia64 based machines now. Thanks to John Goerzen
1422 for the use of a test machine, and thanks to Stefan Jahn for ia64
1425 ** New functions: setitimer and getitimer.
1427 These implement a fairly direct interface to the libc functions of the
1430 ** The #. reader extension is now disabled by default.
1432 For safety reasons, #. evaluation is disabled by default. To
1433 re-enable it, set the fluid read-eval? to #t. For example:
1435 (fluid-set! read-eval? #t)
1437 but make sure you realize the potential security risks involved. With
1438 read-eval? enabled, reading a data file from an untrusted source can
1441 ** New SRFI modules have been added:
1443 SRFI-0 `cond-expand' is now supported in Guile, without requiring
1446 (srfi srfi-1) is a library containing many useful pair- and list-processing
1449 (srfi srfi-2) exports and-let*.
1451 (srfi srfi-4) implements homogeneous numeric vector datatypes.
1453 (srfi srfi-6) is a dummy module for now, since guile already provides
1454 all of the srfi-6 procedures by default: open-input-string,
1455 open-output-string, get-output-string.
1457 (srfi srfi-8) exports receive.
1459 (srfi srfi-9) exports define-record-type.
1461 (srfi srfi-10) exports define-reader-ctor and implements the reader
1464 (srfi srfi-11) exports let-values and let*-values.
1466 (srfi srfi-13) implements the SRFI String Library.
1468 (srfi srfi-14) implements the SRFI Character-Set Library.
1470 (srfi srfi-17) implements setter and getter-with-setter and redefines
1471 some accessor procedures as procedures with getters. (such as car,
1472 cdr, vector-ref etc.)
1474 (srfi srfi-19) implements the SRFI Time/Date Library.
1476 ** New scripts / "executable modules"
1478 Subdirectory "scripts" contains Scheme modules that are packaged to
1479 also be executable as scripts. At this time, these scripts are available:
1488 See README there for more info.
1490 These scripts can be invoked from the shell with the new program
1491 "guile-tools", which keeps track of installation directory for you.
1494 $ guile-tools display-commentary srfi/*.scm
1496 guile-tools is copied to the standard $bindir on "make install".
1498 ** New module (ice-9 stack-catch):
1500 stack-catch is like catch, but saves the current state of the stack in
1501 the fluid the-last-stack. This fluid can be useful when using the
1502 debugger and when re-throwing an error.
1504 ** The module (ice-9 and-let*) has been renamed to (ice-9 and-let-star)
1506 This has been done to prevent problems on lesser operating systems
1507 that can't tolerate `*'s in file names. The exported macro continues
1508 to be named `and-let*', of course.
1510 On systems that support it, there is also a compatibility module named
1511 (ice-9 and-let*). It will go away in the next release.
1513 ** New modules (oop goops) etc.:
1516 (oop goops describe)
1518 (oop goops active-slot)
1519 (oop goops composite-slot)
1521 The Guile Object Oriented Programming System (GOOPS) has been
1522 integrated into Guile. For further information, consult the GOOPS
1523 manual and tutorial in the `doc' directory.
1525 ** New module (ice-9 rdelim).
1527 This exports the following procedures which were previously defined
1528 in the default environment:
1530 read-line read-line! read-delimited read-delimited! %read-delimited!
1531 %read-line write-line
1533 For backwards compatibility the definitions are still imported into the
1534 default environment in this version of Guile. However you should add:
1536 (use-modules (ice-9 rdelim))
1538 to any program which uses the definitions, since this may change in
1541 Alternatively, if guile-scsh is installed, the (scsh rdelim) module
1542 can be used for similar functionality.
1544 ** New module (ice-9 rw)
1546 This is a subset of the (scsh rw) module from guile-scsh. Currently
1547 it defines two procedures:
1549 *** New function: read-string!/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
1551 Read characters from a port or file descriptor into a string STR.
1552 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
1553 fport. This procedure is scsh-compatible and can efficiently read
1556 *** New function: write-string/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
1558 Write characters from a string STR to a port or file descriptor.
1559 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
1560 fport. This procedure is mostly compatible and can efficiently
1561 write large strings.
1563 ** New module (ice-9 match)
1565 This module includes Andrew K. Wright's pattern matcher. See
1566 ice-9/match.scm for brief description or
1568 http://www.star-lab.com/wright/code.html
1570 for complete documentation.
1572 ** New module (ice-9 buffered-input)
1574 This module provides procedures to construct an input port from an
1575 underlying source of input that reads and returns its input in chunks.
1576 The underlying input source is a Scheme procedure, specified by the
1577 caller, which the port invokes whenever it needs more input.
1579 This is useful when building an input port whose back end is Readline
1580 or a UI element such as the GtkEntry widget.
1584 The reference and tutorial documentation that was previously
1585 distributed separately, as `guile-doc', is now included in the core
1586 Guile distribution. The documentation consists of the following
1589 - The Guile Tutorial (guile-tut.texi) contains a tutorial introduction
1592 - The Guile Reference Manual (guile.texi) contains (or is intended to
1593 contain) reference documentation on all aspects of Guile.
1595 - The GOOPS Manual (goops.texi) contains both tutorial-style and
1596 reference documentation for using GOOPS, Guile's Object Oriented
1599 - The Revised^5 Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme
1602 See the README file in the `doc' directory for more details.
1604 ** There are a couple of examples in the examples/ directory now.
1606 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
1608 ** New command line option `--use-srfi'
1610 Using this option, SRFI modules can be loaded on startup and be
1611 available right from the beginning. This makes programming portable
1612 Scheme programs easier.
1614 The option `--use-srfi' expects a comma-separated list of numbers,
1615 each representing a SRFI number to be loaded into the interpreter
1616 before starting evaluating a script file or the REPL. Additionally,
1617 the feature identifier for the loaded SRFIs is recognized by
1618 `cond-expand' when using this option.
1621 $ guile --use-srfi=8,13
1622 guile> (receive (x z) (values 1 2) (+ 1 2))
1624 guile> (string-pad "bla" 20)
1627 ** Guile now always starts up in the `(guile-user)' module.
1629 Previously, scripts executed via the `-s' option would run in the
1630 `(guile)' module and the repl would run in the `(guile-user)' module.
1631 Now every user action takes place in the `(guile-user)' module by
1634 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
1636 ** Character classifiers work for non-ASCII characters.
1638 The predicates `char-alphabetic?', `char-numeric?',
1639 `char-whitespace?', `char-lower?', `char-upper?' and `char-is-both?'
1640 no longer check whether their arguments are ASCII characters.
1641 Previously, a character would only be considered alphabetic when it
1642 was also ASCII, for example.
1644 ** Previously deprecated Scheme functions have been removed:
1646 tag - no replacement.
1647 fseek - replaced by seek.
1648 list* - replaced by cons*.
1650 ** It's now possible to create modules with controlled environments
1654 (use-modules (ice-9 safe))
1655 (define m (make-safe-module))
1656 ;;; m will now be a module containing only a safe subset of R5RS
1657 (eval '(+ 1 2) m) --> 3
1658 (eval 'load m) --> ERROR: Unbound variable: load
1660 ** Evaluation of "()", the empty list, is now an error.
1662 Previously, the expression "()" evaluated to the empty list. This has
1663 been changed to signal a "missing expression" error. The correct way
1664 to write the empty list as a literal constant is to use quote: "'()".
1666 ** New concept of `Guile Extensions'.
1668 A Guile Extension is just a ordinary shared library that can be linked
1669 at run-time. We found it advantageous to give this simple concept a
1670 dedicated name to distinguish the issues related to shared libraries
1671 from the issues related to the module system.
1673 *** New function: load-extension
1675 Executing (load-extension lib init) is mostly equivalent to
1677 (dynamic-call init (dynamic-link lib))
1679 except when scm_register_extension has been called previously.
1680 Whenever appropriate, you should use `load-extension' instead of
1681 dynamic-link and dynamic-call.
1683 *** New C function: scm_c_register_extension
1685 This function registers a initialization function for use by
1686 `load-extension'. Use it when you don't want specific extensions to
1687 be loaded as shared libraries (for example on platforms that don't
1688 support dynamic linking).
1690 ** Auto-loading of compiled-code modules is deprecated.
1692 Guile used to be able to automatically find and link a shared
1693 library to satisfy requests for a module. For example, the module
1694 `(foo bar)' could be implemented by placing a shared library named
1695 "foo/libbar.so" (or with a different extension) in a directory on the
1698 This has been found to be too tricky, and is no longer supported. The
1699 shared libraries are now called "extensions". You should now write a
1700 small Scheme file that calls `load-extension' to load the shared
1701 library and initialize it explicitly.
1703 The shared libraries themselves should be installed in the usual
1704 places for shared libraries, with names like "libguile-foo-bar".
1706 For example, place this into a file "foo/bar.scm"
1708 (define-module (foo bar))
1710 (load-extension "libguile-foo-bar" "foobar_init")
1712 ** Backward incompatible change: eval EXP ENVIRONMENT-SPECIFIER
1714 `eval' is now R5RS, that is it takes two arguments.
1715 The second argument is an environment specifier, i.e. either
1717 (scheme-report-environment 5)
1718 (null-environment 5)
1719 (interaction-environment)
1725 ** The module system has been made more disciplined.
1727 The function `eval' will save and restore the current module around
1728 the evaluation of the specified expression. While this expression is
1729 evaluated, `(current-module)' will now return the right module, which
1730 is the module specified as the second argument to `eval'.
1732 A consequence of this change is that `eval' is not particularly
1733 useful when you want allow the evaluated code to change what module is
1734 designated as the current module and have this change persist from one
1735 call to `eval' to the next. The read-eval-print-loop is an example
1736 where `eval' is now inadequate. To compensate, there is a new
1737 function `primitive-eval' that does not take a module specifier and
1738 that does not save/restore the current module. You should use this
1739 function together with `set-current-module', `current-module', etc
1740 when you want to have more control over the state that is carried from
1741 one eval to the next.
1743 Additionally, it has been made sure that forms that are evaluated at
1744 the top level are always evaluated with respect to the current module.
1745 Previously, subforms of top-level forms such as `begin', `case',
1746 etc. did not respect changes to the current module although these
1747 subforms are at the top-level as well.
1749 To prevent strange behavior, the forms `define-module',
1750 `use-modules', `use-syntax', and `export' have been restricted to only
1751 work on the top level. The forms `define-public' and
1752 `defmacro-public' only export the new binding on the top level. They
1753 behave just like `define' and `defmacro', respectively, when they are
1754 used in a lexical environment.
1756 Also, `export' will no longer silently re-export bindings imported
1757 from a used module. It will emit a `deprecation' warning and will
1758 cease to perform any re-export in the next version. If you actually
1759 want to re-export bindings, use the new `re-export' in place of
1760 `export'. The new `re-export' will not make copies of variables when
1761 rexporting them, as `export' did wrongly.
1763 ** Module system now allows selection and renaming of imported bindings
1765 Previously, when using `use-modules' or the `#:use-module' clause in
1766 the `define-module' form, all the bindings (association of symbols to
1767 values) for imported modules were added to the "current module" on an
1768 as-is basis. This has been changed to allow finer control through two
1769 new facilities: selection and renaming.
1771 You can now select which of the imported module's bindings are to be
1772 visible in the current module by using the `:select' clause. This
1773 clause also can be used to rename individual bindings. For example:
1775 ;; import all bindings no questions asked
1776 (use-modules (ice-9 common-list))
1778 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them;
1779 ;; the current module sees: every some zonk-y zonk-n
1780 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1782 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1783 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))))
1785 You can also programmatically rename all selected bindings using the
1786 `:renamer' clause, which specifies a proc that takes a symbol and
1787 returns another symbol. Because it is common practice to use a prefix,
1788 we now provide the convenience procedure `symbol-prefix-proc'. For
1791 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
1792 ;; and all four w/ prefix "CL:";
1793 ;; the current module sees: CL:every CL:some CL:zonk-y CL:zonk-n
1794 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1796 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1797 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
1798 :renamer (symbol-prefix-proc 'CL:)))
1800 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
1801 ;; and all four by upcasing.
1802 ;; the current module sees: EVERY SOME ZONK-Y ZONK-N
1803 (define (upcase-symbol sym)
1804 (string->symbol (string-upcase (symbol->string sym))))
1806 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1808 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1809 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
1810 :renamer upcase-symbol))
1812 Note that programmatic renaming is done *after* individual renaming.
1813 Also, the above examples show `use-modules', but the same facilities are
1814 available for the `#:use-module' clause of `define-module'.
1816 See manual for more info.
1818 ** The semantics of guardians have changed.
1820 The changes are for the most part compatible. An important criterion
1821 was to keep the typical usage of guardians as simple as before, but to
1822 make the semantics safer and (as a result) more useful.
1824 *** All objects returned from guardians are now properly alive.
1826 It is now guaranteed that any object referenced by an object returned
1827 from a guardian is alive. It's now impossible for a guardian to
1828 return a "contained" object before its "containing" object.
1830 One incompatible (but probably not very important) change resulting
1831 from this is that it is no longer possible to guard objects that
1832 indirectly reference themselves (i.e. are parts of cycles). If you do
1833 so accidentally, you'll get a warning.
1835 *** There are now two types of guardians: greedy and sharing.
1837 If you call (make-guardian #t) or just (make-guardian), you'll get a
1838 greedy guardian, and for (make-guardian #f) a sharing guardian.
1840 Greedy guardians are the default because they are more "defensive".
1841 You can only greedily guard an object once. If you guard an object
1842 more than once, once in a greedy guardian and the rest of times in
1843 sharing guardians, then it is guaranteed that the object won't be
1844 returned from sharing guardians as long as it is greedily guarded
1847 Guardians returned by calls to `make-guardian' can now take one more
1848 optional parameter, which says whether to throw an error in case an
1849 attempt is made to greedily guard an object that is already greedily
1850 guarded. The default is true, i.e. throw an error. If the parameter
1851 is false, the guardian invocation returns #t if guarding was
1852 successful and #f if it wasn't.
1854 Also, since greedy guarding is, in effect, a side-effecting operation
1855 on objects, a new function is introduced: `destroy-guardian!'.
1856 Invoking this function on a guardian renders it unoperative and, if
1857 the guardian is greedy, clears the "greedily guarded" property of the
1858 objects that were guarded by it, thus undoing the side effect.
1860 Note that all this hair is hardly very important, since guardian
1861 objects are usually permanent.
1863 ** Continuations created by call-with-current-continuation now accept
1864 any number of arguments, as required by R5RS.
1866 ** New function `issue-deprecation-warning'
1868 This function is used to display the deprecation messages that are
1869 controlled by GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATION as explained in the README.
1872 (issue-deprecation-warning "`id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.")
1876 ;; `id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.
1881 ** New syntax `begin-deprecated'
1883 When deprecated features are included (as determined by the configure
1884 option --enable-deprecated), `begin-deprecated' is identical to
1885 `begin'. When deprecated features are excluded, it always evaluates
1886 to `#f', ignoring the body forms.
1888 ** New function `make-object-property'
1890 This function returns a new `procedure with setter' P that can be used
1891 to attach a property to objects. When calling P as
1895 where `obj' is any kind of object, it attaches `val' to `obj' in such
1896 a way that it can be retrieved by calling P as
1900 This function will replace procedure properties, symbol properties and
1901 source properties eventually.
1903 ** Module (ice-9 optargs) now uses keywords instead of `#&'.
1905 Instead of #&optional, #&key, etc you should now use #:optional,
1906 #:key, etc. Since #:optional is a keyword, you can write it as just
1907 :optional when (read-set! keywords 'prefix) is active.
1909 The old reader syntax `#&' is still supported, but deprecated. It
1910 will be removed in the next release.
1912 ** New define-module option: pure
1914 Tells the module system not to include any bindings from the root
1919 (define-module (totally-empty-module)
1922 ** New define-module option: export NAME1 ...
1924 Export names NAME1 ...
1926 This option is required if you want to be able to export bindings from
1927 a module which doesn't import one of `define-public' or `export'.
1931 (define-module (foo)
1933 :use-module (ice-9 r5rs)
1936 ;;; Note that we're pure R5RS below this point!
1941 ** New function: object->string OBJ
1943 Return a Scheme string obtained by printing a given object.
1945 ** New function: port? X
1947 Returns a boolean indicating whether X is a port. Equivalent to
1948 `(or (input-port? X) (output-port? X))'.
1950 ** New function: file-port?
1952 Determines whether a given object is a port that is related to a file.
1954 ** New function: port-for-each proc
1956 Apply PROC to each port in the Guile port table in turn. The return
1957 value is unspecified. More specifically, PROC is applied exactly once
1958 to every port that exists in the system at the time PORT-FOR-EACH is
1959 invoked. Changes to the port table while PORT-FOR-EACH is running
1960 have no effect as far as PORT-FOR-EACH is concerned.
1962 ** New function: dup2 oldfd newfd
1964 A simple wrapper for the `dup2' system call. Copies the file
1965 descriptor OLDFD to descriptor number NEWFD, replacing the
1966 previous meaning of NEWFD. Both OLDFD and NEWFD must be integers.
1967 Unlike for dup->fdes or primitive-move->fdes, no attempt is made
1968 to move away ports which are using NEWFD. The return value is
1971 ** New function: close-fdes fd
1973 A simple wrapper for the `close' system call. Close file
1974 descriptor FD, which must be an integer. Unlike close (*note
1975 close: Ports and File Descriptors.), the file descriptor will be
1976 closed even if a port is using it. The return value is
1979 ** New function: crypt password salt
1981 Encrypts `password' using the standard unix password encryption
1984 ** New function: chroot path
1986 Change the root directory of the running process to `path'.
1988 ** New functions: getlogin, cuserid
1990 Return the login name or the user name of the current effective user
1993 ** New functions: getpriority which who, setpriority which who prio
1995 Get or set the priority of the running process.
1997 ** New function: getpass prompt
1999 Read a password from the terminal, first displaying `prompt' and
2002 ** New function: flock file operation
2004 Set/remove an advisory shared or exclusive lock on `file'.
2006 ** New functions: sethostname name, gethostname
2008 Set or get the hostname of the machine the current process is running
2011 ** New function: mkstemp! tmpl
2013 mkstemp creates a new unique file in the file system and returns a
2014 new buffered port open for reading and writing to the file. TMPL
2015 is a string specifying where the file should be created: it must
2016 end with `XXXXXX' and will be changed in place to return the name
2017 of the temporary file.
2019 ** New function: open-input-string string
2021 Return an input string port which delivers the characters from
2022 `string'. This procedure, together with `open-output-string' and
2023 `get-output-string' implements SRFI-6.
2025 ** New function: open-output-string
2027 Return an output string port which collects all data written to it.
2028 The data can then be retrieved by `get-output-string'.
2030 ** New function: get-output-string
2032 Return the contents of an output string port.
2034 ** New function: identity
2036 Return the argument.
2038 ** socket, connect, accept etc., now have support for IPv6. IPv6 addresses
2039 are represented in Scheme as integers with normal host byte ordering.
2041 ** New function: inet-pton family address
2043 Convert a printable string network address into an integer. Note that
2044 unlike the C version of this function, the result is an integer with
2045 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
2048 (inet-pton AF_INET "127.0.0.1") => 2130706433
2049 (inet-pton AF_INET6 "::1") => 1
2051 ** New function: inet-ntop family address
2053 Convert an integer network address into a printable string. Note that
2054 unlike the C version of this function, the input is an integer with
2055 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
2058 (inet-ntop AF_INET 2130706433) => "127.0.0.1"
2059 (inet-ntop AF_INET6 (- (expt 2 128) 1)) =>
2060 ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff
2064 Use `identity' instead.
2070 ** Deprecated: return-it
2074 ** Deprecated: string-character-length
2076 Use `string-length' instead.
2078 ** Deprecated: flags
2080 Use `logior' instead.
2082 ** Deprecated: close-all-ports-except.
2084 This was intended for closing ports in a child process after a fork,
2085 but it has the undesirable side effect of flushing buffers.
2086 port-for-each is more flexible.
2088 ** The (ice-9 popen) module now attempts to set up file descriptors in
2089 the child process from the current Scheme ports, instead of using the
2090 current values of file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 in the parent process.
2092 ** Removed function: builtin-weak-bindings
2094 There is no such concept as a weak binding any more.
2096 ** Removed constants: bignum-radix, scm-line-incrementors
2098 ** define-method: New syntax mandatory.
2100 The new method syntax is now mandatory:
2102 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ...) BODY ...)
2103 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ... . REST-ARG) BODY ...)
2105 ARG-SPEC ::= ARG-NAME | (ARG-NAME TYPE)
2106 REST-ARG ::= ARG-NAME
2108 If you have old code using the old syntax, import
2109 (oop goops old-define-method) before (oop goops) as in:
2111 (use-modules (oop goops old-define-method) (oop goops))
2113 ** Deprecated function: builtin-variable
2114 Removed function: builtin-bindings
2116 There is no longer a distinction between builtin or other variables.
2117 Use module system operations for all variables.
2119 ** Lazy-catch handlers are no longer allowed to return.
2121 That is, a call to `throw', `error', etc is now guaranteed to not
2124 ** Bugfixes for (ice-9 getopt-long)
2126 This module is now tested using test-suite/tests/getopt-long.test.
2127 The following bugs have been fixed:
2129 *** Parsing for options that are specified to have `optional' args now checks
2130 if the next element is an option instead of unconditionally taking it as the
2133 *** An error is now thrown for `--opt=val' when the option description
2134 does not specify `(value #t)' or `(value optional)'. This condition used to
2135 be accepted w/o error, contrary to the documentation.
2137 *** The error message for unrecognized options is now more informative.
2138 It used to be "not a record", an artifact of the implementation.
2140 *** The error message for `--opt' terminating the arg list (no value), when
2141 `(value #t)' is specified, is now more informative. It used to be "not enough
2144 *** "Clumped" single-char args now preserve trailing string, use it as arg.
2145 The expansion used to be like so:
2147 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "--xyz")
2149 Note that the "5d" is dropped. Now it is like so:
2151 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "5d" "--xyz")
2153 This enables single-char options to have adjoining arguments as long as their
2154 constituent characters are not potential single-char options.
2156 ** (ice-9 session) procedure `arity' now works with (ice-9 optargs) `lambda*'
2158 The `lambda*' and derivative forms in (ice-9 optargs) now set a procedure
2159 property `arglist', which can be retrieved by `arity'. The result is that
2160 `arity' can give more detailed information than before:
2164 guile> (use-modules (ice-9 optargs))
2165 guile> (define* (foo #:optional a b c) a)
2167 0 or more arguments in `lambda*:G0'.
2172 3 optional arguments: `a', `b' and `c'.
2173 guile> (define* (bar a b #:key c d #:allow-other-keys) a)
2175 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 2 keyword arguments: `c'
2176 and `d', other keywords allowed.
2177 guile> (define* (baz a b #:optional c #:rest r) a)
2179 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 1 optional argument: `c',
2182 * Changes to the C interface
2184 ** Types have been renamed from scm_*_t to scm_t_*.
2186 This has been done for POSIX sake. It reserves identifiers ending
2187 with "_t". What a concept.
2189 The old names are still available with status `deprecated'.
2191 ** scm_t_bits (former scm_bits_t) is now a unsigned type.
2193 ** Deprecated features have been removed.
2197 SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP SCM_ICHRP, SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR
2198 SCM_SETJMPBUF SCM_NSTRINGP SCM_NRWSTRINGP SCM_NVECTORP SCM_DOUBLE_CELLP
2200 *** C Functions removed
2202 scm_sysmissing scm_tag scm_tc16_flo scm_tc_flo
2203 scm_fseek - replaced by scm_seek.
2204 gc-thunk - replaced by after-gc-hook.
2205 gh_int2scmb - replaced by gh_bool2scm.
2206 scm_tc_dblr - replaced by scm_tc16_real.
2207 scm_tc_dblc - replaced by scm_tc16_complex.
2208 scm_list_star - replaced by scm_cons_star.
2210 ** Deprecated: scm_makfromstr
2212 Use scm_mem2string instead.
2214 ** Deprecated: scm_make_shared_substring
2216 Explicit shared substrings will disappear from Guile.
2218 Instead, "normal" strings will be implemented using sharing
2219 internally, combined with a copy-on-write strategy.
2221 ** Deprecated: scm_read_only_string_p
2223 The concept of read-only strings will disappear in next release of
2226 ** Deprecated: scm_sloppy_memq, scm_sloppy_memv, scm_sloppy_member
2228 Instead, use scm_c_memq or scm_memq, scm_memv, scm_member.
2230 ** New functions: scm_call_0, scm_call_1, scm_call_2, scm_call_3
2232 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments. See "Fly
2233 Evaluation" in the manual.
2235 ** New functions: scm_apply_0, scm_apply_1, scm_apply_2, scm_apply_3
2237 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments and a list of
2238 further arguments. See "Fly Evaluation" in the manual.
2240 ** New functions: scm_list_1, scm_list_2, scm_list_3, scm_list_4, scm_list_5
2242 Create a list of the given number of elements. See "List
2243 Constructors" in the manual.
2245 ** Renamed function: scm_listify has been replaced by scm_list_n.
2247 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_LIST0, SCM_LIST1, SCM_LIST2, SCM_LIST3, SCM_LIST4,
2248 SCM_LIST5, SCM_LIST6, SCM_LIST7, SCM_LIST8, SCM_LIST9.
2250 Use functions scm_list_N instead.
2252 ** New function: scm_c_read (SCM port, void *buffer, scm_sizet size)
2254 Used by an application to read arbitrary number of bytes from a port.
2255 Same semantics as libc read, except that scm_c_read only returns less
2256 than SIZE bytes if at end-of-file.
2258 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
2260 ** New function: scm_c_write (SCM port, const void *ptr, scm_sizet size)
2262 Used by an application to write arbitrary number of bytes to an SCM
2263 port. Similar semantics as libc write. However, unlike libc
2264 write, scm_c_write writes the requested number of bytes and has no
2267 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
2269 ** New function: scm_init_guile ()
2271 In contrast to scm_boot_guile, scm_init_guile will return normally
2272 after initializing Guile. It is not available on all systems, tho.
2274 ** New functions: scm_str2symbol, scm_mem2symbol
2276 The function scm_str2symbol takes a const char* pointing to a zero-terminated
2277 field of characters and creates a scheme symbol object from that C string.
2278 The function scm_mem2symbol takes a const char* and a number of characters and
2279 creates a symbol from the characters in that memory area.
2281 ** New functions: scm_primitive_make_property
2282 scm_primitive_property_ref
2283 scm_primitive_property_set_x
2284 scm_primitive_property_del_x
2286 These functions implement a new way to deal with object properties.
2287 See libguile/properties.c for their documentation.
2289 ** New function: scm_done_free (long size)
2291 This function is the inverse of scm_done_malloc. Use it to report the
2292 amount of smob memory you free. The previous method, which involved
2293 calling scm_done_malloc with negative argument, was somewhat
2294 unintuitive (and is still available, of course).
2296 ** New function: scm_c_memq (SCM obj, SCM list)
2298 This function provides a fast C level alternative for scm_memq for the case
2299 that the list parameter is known to be a proper list. The function is a
2300 replacement for scm_sloppy_memq, but is stricter in its requirements on its
2301 list input parameter, since for anything else but a proper list the function's
2302 behaviour is undefined - it may even crash or loop endlessly. Further, for
2303 the case that the object is not found in the list, scm_c_memq returns #f which
2304 is similar to scm_memq, but different from scm_sloppy_memq's behaviour.
2306 ** New functions: scm_remember_upto_here_1, scm_remember_upto_here_2,
2307 scm_remember_upto_here
2309 These functions replace the function scm_remember.
2311 ** Deprecated function: scm_remember
2313 Use one of the new functions scm_remember_upto_here_1,
2314 scm_remember_upto_here_2 or scm_remember_upto_here instead.
2316 ** New function: scm_allocate_string
2318 This function replaces the function scm_makstr.
2320 ** Deprecated function: scm_makstr
2322 Use the new function scm_allocate_string instead.
2324 ** New global variable scm_gc_running_p introduced.
2326 Use this variable to find out if garbage collection is being executed. Up to
2327 now applications have used scm_gc_heap_lock to test if garbage collection was
2328 running, which also works because of the fact that up to know only the garbage
2329 collector has set this variable. But, this is an implementation detail that
2330 may change. Further, scm_gc_heap_lock is not set throughout gc, thus the use
2331 of this variable is (and has been) not fully safe anyway.
2333 ** New macros: SCM_BITVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH
2335 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
2337 ** New macros: SCM_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_CCLO_LENGTH, SCM_STACK_LENGTH,
2338 SCM_STRING_LENGTH, SCM_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
2339 SCM_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_VECTOR_LENGTH.
2341 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH.
2343 ** New macros: SCM_SET_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_SET_STRING_LENGTH,
2344 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_SET_VECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
2345 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_LENGTH
2347 Use these instead of SCM_SETLENGTH
2349 ** New macros: SCM_STRING_CHARS, SCM_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_CCLO_BASE,
2350 SCM_VECTOR_BASE, SCM_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_BITVECTOR_BASE, SCM_COMPLEX_MEM,
2353 Use these instead of SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS, SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS or
2356 ** New macros: SCM_SET_BIGNUM_BASE, SCM_SET_STRING_CHARS,
2357 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_BASE,
2360 Use these instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
2362 ** New macro: SCM_BITVECTOR_P
2364 ** New macro: SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X
2366 Use instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
2368 ** New macros: SCM_DIR_OPEN_P, SCM_DIR_FLAG_OPEN
2370 For directory objects, use these instead of SCM_OPDIRP and SCM_OPN.
2372 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_OUTOFRANGE, SCM_NALLOC, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL,
2373 SCM_INT_SIGNAL, SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL,
2374 SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL, SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD,
2375 SCM_ORD_SIG, SCM_NUM_SIGS, SCM_SYMBOL_SLOTS, SCM_SLOTS, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP,
2376 SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_FREEP, SCM_NFREEP, SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS,
2377 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY,
2378 SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY, SCM_ROLENGTH, SCM_LENGTH, SCM_HUGE_LENGTH,
2379 SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR,
2380 SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_RWSTRINGP, SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, SCM_ROCHARS,
2381 SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_LENGTH_MAX, SCM_GC8MARKP,
2382 SCM_SETGC8MARK, SCM_CLRGC8MARK, SCM_GCTYP16, SCM_GCCDR, SCM_SUBR_DOC,
2383 SCM_OPDIRP, SCM_VALIDATE_OPDIR, SCM_WTA, RETURN_SCM_WTA, SCM_CONST_LONG,
2384 SCM_WNA, SCM_FUNC_NAME, SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_COPY,
2385 SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_DEF_COPY, SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP, SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP,
2386 SCM_SETAND_CDR, SCM_SETOR_CDR, SCM_SETAND_CAR, SCM_SETOR_CAR
2388 Use SCM_ASSERT_RANGE or SCM_VALIDATE_XXX_RANGE instead of SCM_OUTOFRANGE.
2389 Use scm_memory_error instead of SCM_NALLOC.
2390 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP.
2391 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR.
2392 Use SCM_FREE_CELL_P instead of SCM_FREEP/SCM_NFREEP
2393 Use a type specific accessor macro instead of SCM_CHARS/SCM_UCHARS.
2394 Use a type specific accessor instead of SCM(_|_RO|_HUGE_)LENGTH.
2395 Use SCM_VALIDATE_(SYMBOL|STRING) instead of SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING.
2396 Use SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
2397 Use SCM_STRINGP or SCM_SYMBOLP instead of SCM_ROSTRINGP.
2398 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_RWSTRINGP.
2399 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING.
2400 Use SCM_STRING_CHARS instead of SCM_ROCHARS.
2401 Use SCM_STRING_UCHARS instead of SCM_ROUCHARS.
2402 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETLENGTH.
2403 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
2404 Use a type specific length macro instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
2405 Use SCM_GCMARKP instead of SCM_GC8MARKP.
2406 Use SCM_SETGCMARK instead of SCM_SETGC8MARK.
2407 Use SCM_CLRGCMARK instead of SCM_CLRGC8MARK.
2408 Use SCM_TYP16 instead of SCM_GCTYP16.
2409 Use SCM_CDR instead of SCM_GCCDR.
2410 Use SCM_DIR_OPEN_P instead of SCM_OPDIRP.
2411 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of SCM_WTA.
2412 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of RETURN_SCM_WTA.
2413 Use SCM_VCELL_INIT instead of SCM_CONST_LONG.
2414 Use SCM_WRONG_NUM_ARGS instead of SCM_WNA.
2415 Use SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP.
2416 Use !SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP.
2418 ** Removed function: scm_struct_init
2420 ** Removed variable: scm_symhash_dim
2422 ** Renamed function: scm_make_cont has been replaced by
2423 scm_make_continuation, which has a different interface.
2425 ** Deprecated function: scm_call_catching_errors
2427 Use scm_catch or scm_lazy_catch from throw.[ch] instead.
2429 ** Deprecated function: scm_strhash
2431 Use scm_string_hash instead.
2433 ** Deprecated function: scm_vector_set_length_x
2435 Instead, create a fresh vector of the desired size and copy the contents.
2437 ** scm_gensym has changed prototype
2439 scm_gensym now only takes one argument.
2441 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc7_ssymbol, scm_tc7_msymbol, scm_tcs_symbols,
2444 There is now only a single symbol type scm_tc7_symbol.
2445 The tag scm_tc7_lvector was not used anyway.
2447 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe, scm_set_smob_mfpe.
2449 Use scm_make_smob_type and scm_set_smob_XXX instead.
2451 ** New function scm_set_smob_apply.
2453 This can be used to set an apply function to a smob type.
2455 ** Deprecated function: scm_strprint_obj
2457 Use scm_object_to_string instead.
2459 ** Deprecated function: scm_wta
2461 Use scm_wrong_type_arg, or another appropriate error signalling function
2464 ** Explicit support for obarrays has been deprecated.
2466 Use `scm_str2symbol' and the generic hashtable functions instead.
2468 ** The concept of `vcells' has been deprecated.
2470 The data type `variable' is now used exclusively. `Vcells' have been
2471 a low-level concept so you are likely not affected by this change.
2473 *** Deprecated functions: scm_sym2vcell, scm_sysintern,
2474 scm_sysintern0, scm_symbol_value0, scm_intern, scm_intern0.
2476 Use scm_c_define or scm_c_lookup instead, as appropriate.
2478 *** New functions: scm_c_module_lookup, scm_c_lookup,
2479 scm_c_module_define, scm_c_define, scm_module_lookup, scm_lookup,
2480 scm_module_define, scm_define.
2482 These functions work with variables instead of with vcells.
2484 ** New functions for creating and defining `subr's and `gsubr's.
2486 The new functions more clearly distinguish between creating a subr (or
2487 gsubr) object and adding it to the current module.
2489 These new functions are available: scm_c_make_subr, scm_c_define_subr,
2490 scm_c_make_subr_with_generic, scm_c_define_subr_with_generic,
2491 scm_c_make_gsubr, scm_c_define_gsubr, scm_c_make_gsubr_with_generic,
2492 scm_c_define_gsubr_with_generic.
2494 ** Deprecated functions: scm_make_subr, scm_make_subr_opt,
2495 scm_make_subr_with_generic, scm_make_gsubr,
2496 scm_make_gsubr_with_generic.
2498 Use the new ones from above instead.
2500 ** C interface to the module system has changed.
2502 While we suggest that you avoid as many explicit module system
2503 operations from C as possible for the time being, the C interface has
2504 been made more similar to the high-level Scheme module system.
2506 *** New functions: scm_c_define_module, scm_c_use_module,
2507 scm_c_export, scm_c_resolve_module.
2509 They mostly work like their Scheme namesakes. scm_c_define_module
2510 takes a function that is called a context where the new module is
2513 *** Deprecated functions: scm_the_root_module, scm_make_module,
2514 scm_ensure_user_module, scm_load_scheme_module.
2516 Use the new functions instead.
2518 ** Renamed function: scm_internal_with_fluids becomes
2521 scm_internal_with_fluids is available as a deprecated function.
2523 ** New function: scm_c_with_fluid.
2525 Just like scm_c_with_fluids, but takes one fluid and one value instead
2528 ** Deprecated typedefs: long_long, ulong_long.
2530 They are of questionable utility and they pollute the global
2533 ** Deprecated typedef: scm_sizet
2535 It is of questionable utility now that Guile requires ANSI C, and is
2538 ** Deprecated typedefs: scm_port_rw_active, scm_port,
2539 scm_ptob_descriptor, scm_debug_info, scm_debug_frame, scm_fport,
2540 scm_option, scm_rstate, scm_rng, scm_array, scm_array_dim.
2542 Made more compliant with the naming policy by adding a _t at the end.
2544 ** Deprecated functions: scm_mkbig, scm_big2num, scm_adjbig,
2545 scm_normbig, scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big, scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl
2547 With the exception of the mysterious scm_2ulong2big, they are still
2548 available under new names (scm_i_mkbig etc). These functions are not
2549 intended to be used in user code. You should avoid dealing with
2550 bignums directly, and should deal with numbers in general (which can
2553 ** Change in behavior: scm_num2long, scm_num2ulong
2555 The scm_num2[u]long functions don't any longer accept an inexact
2556 argument. This change in behavior is motivated by concordance with
2557 R5RS: It is more common that a primitive doesn't want to accept an
2558 inexact for an exact.
2560 ** New functions: scm_short2num, scm_ushort2num, scm_int2num,
2561 scm_uint2num, scm_size2num, scm_ptrdiff2num, scm_num2short,
2562 scm_num2ushort, scm_num2int, scm_num2uint, scm_num2ptrdiff,
2565 These are conversion functions between the various ANSI C integral
2566 types and Scheme numbers. NOTE: The scm_num2xxx functions don't
2567 accept an inexact argument.
2569 ** New functions: scm_float2num, scm_double2num,
2570 scm_num2float, scm_num2double.
2572 These are conversion functions between the two ANSI C float types and
2575 ** New number validation macros:
2576 SCM_NUM2{SIZE,PTRDIFF,SHORT,USHORT,INT,UINT}[_DEF]
2580 ** New functions: scm_gc_protect_object, scm_gc_unprotect_object
2582 These are just nicer-named old scm_protect_object and
2583 scm_unprotect_object.
2585 ** Deprecated functions: scm_protect_object, scm_unprotect_object
2587 ** New functions: scm_gc_[un]register_root, scm_gc_[un]register_roots
2589 These functions can be used to register pointers to locations that
2592 ** Deprecated function: scm_create_hook.
2594 Its sins are: misleading name, non-modularity and lack of general
2598 Changes since Guile 1.3.4:
2600 * Changes to the distribution
2602 ** Trees from nightly snapshots and CVS now require you to run autogen.sh.
2604 We've changed the way we handle generated files in the Guile source
2605 repository. As a result, the procedure for building trees obtained
2606 from the nightly FTP snapshots or via CVS has changed:
2607 - You must have appropriate versions of autoconf, automake, and
2608 libtool installed on your system. See README for info on how to
2609 obtain these programs.
2610 - Before configuring the tree, you must first run the script
2611 `autogen.sh' at the top of the source tree.
2613 The Guile repository used to contain not only source files, written by
2614 humans, but also some generated files, like configure scripts and
2615 Makefile.in files. Even though the contents of these files could be
2616 derived mechanically from other files present, we thought it would
2617 make the tree easier to build if we checked them into CVS.
2619 However, this approach means that minor differences between
2620 developer's installed tools and habits affected the whole team.
2621 So we have removed the generated files from the repository, and
2622 added the autogen.sh script, which will reconstruct them
2626 ** configure now has experimental options to remove support for certain
2629 --disable-arrays omit array and uniform array support
2630 --disable-posix omit posix interfaces
2631 --disable-networking omit networking interfaces
2632 --disable-regex omit regular expression interfaces
2634 These are likely to become separate modules some day.
2636 ** New configure option --enable-debug-freelist
2638 This enables a debugging version of SCM_NEWCELL(), and also registers
2639 an extra primitive, the setter `gc-set-debug-check-freelist!'.
2641 Configure with the --enable-debug-freelist option to enable
2642 the gc-set-debug-check-freelist! primitive, and then use:
2644 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #t) # turn on checking of the freelist
2645 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #f) # turn off checking
2647 Checking of the freelist forces a traversal of the freelist and
2648 a garbage collection before each allocation of a cell. This can
2649 slow down the interpreter dramatically, so the setter should be used to
2650 turn on this extra processing only when necessary.
2652 ** New configure option --enable-debug-malloc
2654 Include code for debugging of calls to scm_must_malloc/realloc/free.
2658 1. objects freed by scm_must_free has been mallocated by scm_must_malloc
2659 2. objects reallocated by scm_must_realloc has been allocated by
2661 3. reallocated objects are reallocated with the same what string
2663 But, most importantly, it records the number of allocated objects of
2664 each kind. This is useful when searching for memory leaks.
2666 A Guile compiled with this option provides the primitive
2667 `malloc-stats' which returns an alist with pairs of kind and the
2668 number of objects of that kind.
2670 ** All includes are now referenced relative to the root directory
2672 Since some users have had problems with mixups between Guile and
2673 system headers, we have decided to always refer to Guile headers via
2674 their parent directories. This essentially creates a "private name
2675 space" for Guile headers. This means that the compiler only is given
2676 -I options for the root build and root source directory.
2678 ** Header files kw.h and genio.h have been removed.
2680 ** The module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) has been removed.
2682 ** New module (ice-9 documentation)
2684 Implements the interface to documentation strings associated with
2687 ** New module (ice-9 time)
2689 Provides a macro `time', which displays execution time of a given form.
2691 ** New module (ice-9 history)
2693 Loading this module enables value history in the repl.
2695 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
2697 ** New command line option --debug
2699 Start Guile with debugging evaluator and backtraces enabled.
2701 This is useful when debugging your .guile init file or scripts.
2703 ** New help facility
2705 Usage: (help NAME) gives documentation about objects named NAME (a symbol)
2706 (help REGEXP) ditto for objects with names matching REGEXP (a string)
2707 (help 'NAME) gives documentation for NAME, even if it is not an object
2708 (help ,EXPR) gives documentation for object returned by EXPR
2709 (help (my module)) gives module commentary for `(my module)'
2710 (help) gives this text
2712 `help' searches among bindings exported from loaded modules, while
2713 `apropos' searches among bindings visible from the "current" module.
2715 Examples: (help help)
2717 (help "output-string")
2719 ** `help' and `apropos' now prints full module names
2721 ** Dynamic linking now uses libltdl from the libtool package.
2723 The old system dependent code for doing dynamic linking has been
2724 replaced with calls to the libltdl functions which do all the hairy
2727 The major improvement is that you can now directly pass libtool
2728 library names like "libfoo.la" to `dynamic-link' and `dynamic-link'
2729 will be able to do the best shared library job you can get, via
2732 The way dynamic libraries are found has changed and is not really
2733 portable across platforms, probably. It is therefore recommended to
2734 use absolute filenames when possible.
2736 If you pass a filename without an extension to `dynamic-link', it will
2737 try a few appropriate ones. Thus, the most platform ignorant way is
2738 to specify a name like "libfoo", without any directories and
2741 ** Guile COOP threads are now compatible with LinuxThreads
2743 Previously, COOP threading wasn't possible in applications linked with
2744 Linux POSIX threads due to their use of the stack pointer to find the
2745 thread context. This has now been fixed with a workaround which uses
2746 the pthreads to allocate the stack.
2748 ** New primitives: `pkgdata-dir', `site-dir', `library-dir'
2750 ** Positions of erring expression in scripts
2752 With version 1.3.4, the location of the erring expression in Guile
2753 scipts is no longer automatically reported. (This should have been
2754 documented before the 1.3.4 release.)
2756 You can get this information by enabling recording of positions of
2757 source expressions and running the debugging evaluator. Put this at
2758 the top of your script (or in your "site" file):
2760 (read-enable 'positions)
2761 (debug-enable 'debug)
2763 ** Backtraces in scripts
2765 It is now possible to get backtraces in scripts.
2769 (debug-enable 'debug 'backtrace)
2771 at the top of the script.
2773 (The first options enables the debugging evaluator.
2774 The second enables backtraces.)
2776 ** Part of module system symbol lookup now implemented in C
2778 The eval closure of most modules is now implemented in C. Since this
2779 was one of the bottlenecks for loading speed, Guile now loads code
2780 substantially faster than before.
2782 ** Attempting to get the value of an unbound variable now produces
2783 an exception with a key of 'unbound-variable instead of 'misc-error.
2785 ** The initial default output port is now unbuffered if it's using a
2786 tty device. Previously in this situation it was line-buffered.
2788 ** New hook: after-gc-hook
2790 after-gc-hook takes over the role of gc-thunk. This hook is run at
2791 the first SCM_TICK after a GC. (Thus, the code is run at the same
2792 point during evaluation as signal handlers.)
2794 Note that this hook should be used only for diagnostic and debugging
2795 purposes. It is not certain that it will continue to be well-defined
2796 when this hook is run in the future.
2798 C programmers: Note the new C level hooks scm_before_gc_c_hook,
2799 scm_before_sweep_c_hook, scm_after_gc_c_hook.
2801 ** Improvements to garbage collector
2803 Guile 1.4 has a new policy for triggering heap allocation and
2804 determining the sizes of heap segments. It fixes a number of problems
2807 1. The new policy can handle two separate pools of cells
2808 (2-word/4-word) better. (The old policy would run wild, allocating
2809 more and more memory for certain programs.)
2811 2. The old code would sometimes allocate far too much heap so that the
2812 Guile process became gigantic. The new code avoids this.
2814 3. The old code would sometimes allocate too little so that few cells
2815 were freed at GC so that, in turn, too much time was spent in GC.
2817 4. The old code would often trigger heap allocation several times in a
2818 row. (The new scheme predicts how large the segments needs to be
2819 in order not to need further allocation.)
2821 All in all, the new GC policy will make larger applications more
2824 The new GC scheme also is prepared for POSIX threading. Threads can
2825 allocate private pools of cells ("clusters") with just a single
2826 function call. Allocation of single cells from such a cluster can
2827 then proceed without any need of inter-thread synchronization.
2829 ** New environment variables controlling GC parameters
2831 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE Maximal segment size
2834 Allocation of 2-word cell heaps:
2836 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1 Size of initial heap segment in bytes
2839 GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1 Minimum number of freed cells at each
2840 GC in percent of total heap size
2843 Allocation of 4-word cell heaps
2844 (used for real numbers and misc other objects):
2846 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2
2848 (See entry "Way for application to customize GC parameters" under
2849 section "Changes to the scm_ interface" below.)
2851 ** Guile now implements reals using 4-word cells
2853 This speeds up computation with reals. (They were earlier allocated
2854 with `malloc'.) There is still some room for optimizations, however.
2856 ** Some further steps toward POSIX thread support have been taken
2858 *** Guile's critical sections (SCM_DEFER/ALLOW_INTS)
2859 don't have much effect any longer, and many of them will be removed in
2863 are only handled at the top of the evaluator loop, immediately after
2864 I/O, and in scm_equalp.
2866 *** The GC can allocate thread private pools of pairs.
2868 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
2870 ** close-input-port and close-output-port are now R5RS
2872 These procedures have been turned into primitives and have R5RS behaviour.
2874 ** New procedure: simple-format PORT MESSAGE ARG1 ...
2876 (ice-9 boot) makes `format' an alias for `simple-format' until possibly
2877 extended by the more sophisticated version in (ice-9 format)
2879 (simple-format port message . args)
2880 Write MESSAGE to DESTINATION, defaulting to `current-output-port'.
2881 MESSAGE can contain ~A (was %s) and ~S (was %S) escapes. When printed,
2882 the escapes are replaced with corresponding members of ARGS:
2883 ~A formats using `display' and ~S formats using `write'.
2884 If DESTINATION is #t, then use the `current-output-port',
2885 if DESTINATION is #f, then return a string containing the formatted text.
2886 Does not add a trailing newline."
2888 ** string-ref: the second argument is no longer optional.
2890 ** string, list->string: no longer accept strings in their arguments,
2891 only characters, for compatibility with R5RS.
2893 ** New procedure: port-closed? PORT
2894 Returns #t if PORT is closed or #f if it is open.
2896 ** Deprecated: list*
2898 The list* functionality is now provided by cons* (SRFI-1 compliant)
2900 ** New procedure: cons* ARG1 ARG2 ... ARGn
2902 Like `list', but the last arg provides the tail of the constructed list,
2903 returning (cons ARG1 (cons ARG2 (cons ... ARGn))).
2905 Requires at least one argument. If given one argument, that argument
2906 is returned as result.
2908 This function is called `list*' in some other Schemes and in Common LISP.
2910 ** Removed deprecated: serial-map, serial-array-copy!, serial-array-map!
2912 ** New procedure: object-documentation OBJECT
2914 Returns the documentation string associated with OBJECT. The
2915 procedure uses a caching mechanism so that subsequent lookups are
2918 Exported by (ice-9 documentation).
2920 ** module-name now returns full names of modules
2922 Previously, only the last part of the name was returned (`session' for
2923 `(ice-9 session)'). Ex: `(ice-9 session)'.
2925 * Changes to the gh_ interface
2927 ** Deprecated: gh_int2scmb
2929 Use gh_bool2scm instead.
2931 * Changes to the scm_ interface
2933 ** Guile primitives now carry docstrings!
2935 Thanks to Greg Badros!
2937 ** Guile primitives are defined in a new way: SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
2939 Now Guile primitives are defined using the SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
2940 macros and must contain a docstring that is extracted into foo.doc using a new
2941 guile-doc-snarf script (that uses guile-doc-snarf.awk).
2943 However, a major overhaul of these macros is scheduled for the next release of
2946 ** Guile primitives use a new technique for validation of arguments
2948 SCM_VALIDATE_* macros are defined to ease the redundancy and improve
2949 the readability of argument checking.
2951 ** All (nearly?) K&R prototypes for functions replaced with ANSI C equivalents.
2953 ** New macros: SCM_PACK, SCM_UNPACK
2955 Compose/decompose an SCM value.
2957 The SCM type is now treated as an abstract data type and may be defined as a
2958 long, a void* or as a struct, depending on the architecture and compile time
2959 options. This makes it easier to find several types of bugs, for example when
2960 SCM values are treated as integers without conversion. Values of the SCM type
2961 should be treated as "atomic" values. These macros are used when
2962 composing/decomposing an SCM value, either because you want to access
2963 individual bits, or because you want to treat it as an integer value.
2965 E.g., in order to set bit 7 in an SCM value x, use the expression
2967 SCM_PACK (SCM_UNPACK (x) | 0x80)
2969 ** The name property of hooks is deprecated.
2970 Thus, the use of SCM_HOOK_NAME and scm_make_hook_with_name is deprecated.
2972 You can emulate this feature by using object properties.
2974 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP, SCM_CRDY, SCM_ICHRP,
2975 SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR, SCM_SETJMPBUF, SCM_NSTRINGP, SCM_NRWSTRINGP,
2978 These macros will be removed in a future release of Guile.
2980 ** The following types, functions and macros from numbers.h are deprecated:
2981 scm_dblproc, SCM_UNEGFIXABLE, SCM_FLOBUFLEN, SCM_INEXP, SCM_CPLXP, SCM_REAL,
2982 SCM_IMAG, SCM_REALPART, scm_makdbl, SCM_SINGP, SCM_NUM2DBL, SCM_NO_BIGDIG
2984 ** Port internals: the rw_random variable in the scm_port structure
2985 must be set to non-zero in any random access port. In recent Guile
2986 releases it was only set for bidirectional random-access ports.
2988 ** Port internals: the seek ptob procedure is now responsible for
2989 resetting the buffers if required. The change was made so that in the
2990 special case of reading the current position (i.e., seek p 0 SEEK_CUR)
2991 the fport and strport ptobs can avoid resetting the buffers,
2992 in particular to avoid discarding unread chars. An existing port
2993 type can be fixed by adding something like the following to the
2994 beginning of the ptob seek procedure:
2996 if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_READ)
2997 scm_end_input (object);
2998 else if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_WRITE)
2999 ptob->flush (object);
3001 although to actually avoid resetting the buffers and discard unread
3002 chars requires further hacking that depends on the characteristics
3005 ** Deprecated functions: scm_fseek, scm_tag
3007 These functions are no longer used and will be removed in a future version.
3009 ** The scm_sysmissing procedure is no longer used in libguile.
3010 Unless it turns out to be unexpectedly useful to somebody, it will be
3011 removed in a future version.
3013 ** The format of error message strings has changed
3015 The two C procedures: scm_display_error and scm_error, as well as the
3016 primitive `scm-error', now use scm_simple_format to do their work.
3017 This means that the message strings of all code must be updated to use
3018 ~A where %s was used before, and ~S where %S was used before.
3020 During the period when there still are a lot of old Guiles out there,
3021 you might want to support both old and new versions of Guile.
3023 There are basically two methods to achieve this. Both methods use
3026 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(scm_simple_format)
3028 in your configure.in.
3030 Method 1: Use the string concatenation features of ANSI C's
3035 #ifdef HAVE_SCM_SIMPLE_FORMAT
3041 Then represent each of your error messages using a preprocessor macro:
3043 #define E_SPIDER_ERROR "There's a spider in your " ## FMT_S ## "!!!"
3047 (define fmt-s (if (defined? 'simple-format) "~S" "%S"))
3048 (define make-message string-append)
3050 (define e-spider-error (make-message "There's a spider in your " fmt-s "!!!"))
3052 Method 2: Use the oldfmt function found in doc/oldfmt.c.
3056 scm_misc_error ("picnic", scm_c_oldfmt0 ("There's a spider in your ~S!!!"),
3061 (scm-error 'misc-error "picnic" (oldfmt "There's a spider in your ~S!!!")
3065 ** Deprecated: coop_mutex_init, coop_condition_variable_init
3067 Don't use the functions coop_mutex_init and
3068 coop_condition_variable_init. They will change.
3070 Use scm_mutex_init and scm_cond_init instead.
3072 ** New function: int scm_cond_timedwait (scm_cond_t *COND, scm_mutex_t *MUTEX, const struct timespec *ABSTIME)
3073 `scm_cond_timedwait' atomically unlocks MUTEX and waits on
3074 COND, as `scm_cond_wait' does, but it also bounds the duration
3075 of the wait. If COND has not been signaled before time ABSTIME,
3076 the mutex MUTEX is re-acquired and `scm_cond_timedwait'
3077 returns the error code `ETIMEDOUT'.
3079 The ABSTIME parameter specifies an absolute time, with the same
3080 origin as `time' and `gettimeofday': an ABSTIME of 0 corresponds
3081 to 00:00:00 GMT, January 1, 1970.
3083 ** New function: scm_cond_broadcast (scm_cond_t *COND)
3084 `scm_cond_broadcast' restarts all the threads that are waiting
3085 on the condition variable COND. Nothing happens if no threads are
3088 ** New function: scm_key_create (scm_key_t *KEY, void (*destr_function) (void *))
3089 `scm_key_create' allocates a new TSD key. The key is stored in
3090 the location pointed to by KEY. There is no limit on the number
3091 of keys allocated at a given time. The value initially associated
3092 with the returned key is `NULL' in all currently executing threads.
3094 The DESTR_FUNCTION argument, if not `NULL', specifies a destructor
3095 function associated with the key. When a thread terminates,
3096 DESTR_FUNCTION is called on the value associated with the key in
3097 that thread. The DESTR_FUNCTION is not called if a key is deleted
3098 with `scm_key_delete' or a value is changed with
3099 `scm_setspecific'. The order in which destructor functions are
3100 called at thread termination time is unspecified.
3102 Destructors are not yet implemented.
3104 ** New function: scm_setspecific (scm_key_t KEY, const void *POINTER)
3105 `scm_setspecific' changes the value associated with KEY in the
3106 calling thread, storing the given POINTER instead.
3108 ** New function: scm_getspecific (scm_key_t KEY)
3109 `scm_getspecific' returns the value currently associated with
3110 KEY in the calling thread.
3112 ** New function: scm_key_delete (scm_key_t KEY)
3113 `scm_key_delete' deallocates a TSD key. It does not check
3114 whether non-`NULL' values are associated with that key in the
3115 currently executing threads, nor call the destructor function
3116 associated with the key.
3118 ** New function: scm_c_hook_init (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *HOOK_DATA, scm_c_hook_type_t TYPE)
3120 Initialize a C level hook HOOK with associated HOOK_DATA and type
3121 TYPE. (See scm_c_hook_run ().)
3123 ** New function: scm_c_hook_add (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA, int APPENDP)
3125 Add hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA to HOOK. If APPENDP
3126 is true, add it last, otherwise first. The same FUNC can be added
3127 multiple times if FUNC_DATA differ and vice versa.
3129 ** New function: scm_c_hook_remove (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA)
3131 Remove hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA from HOOK. A
3132 function is only removed if both FUNC and FUNC_DATA matches.
3134 ** New function: void *scm_c_hook_run (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *DATA)
3136 Run hook HOOK passing DATA to the hook functions.
3138 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_NORMAL, all hook functions are run. The value
3139 returned is undefined.
3141 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_OR, hook functions are run until a function
3142 returns a non-NULL value. This value is returned as the result of
3143 scm_c_hook_run. If all functions return NULL, NULL is returned.
3145 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_AND, hook functions are run until a function
3146 returns a NULL value, and NULL is returned. If all functions returns
3147 a non-NULL value, the last value is returned.
3149 ** New C level GC hooks
3151 Five new C level hooks has been added to the garbage collector.
3153 scm_before_gc_c_hook
3156 are run before locking and after unlocking the heap. The system is
3157 thus in a mode where evaluation can take place. (Except that
3158 scm_before_gc_c_hook must not allocate new cells.)
3160 scm_before_mark_c_hook
3161 scm_before_sweep_c_hook
3162 scm_after_sweep_c_hook
3164 are run when the heap is locked. These are intended for extension of
3165 the GC in a modular fashion. Examples are the weaks and guardians
3168 ** Way for application to customize GC parameters
3170 The application can set up other default values for the GC heap
3171 allocation parameters
3173 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_1, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1,
3174 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2,
3175 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE,
3179 scm_default_init_heap_size_1, scm_default_min_yield_1,
3180 scm_default_init_heap_size_2, scm_default_min_yield_2,
3181 scm_default_max_segment_size
3183 respectively before callong scm_boot_guile.
3185 (See entry "New environment variables ..." in section
3186 "Changes to the stand-alone interpreter" above.)
3188 ** scm_protect_object/scm_unprotect_object now nest
3190 This means that you can call scm_protect_object multiple times on an
3191 object and count on the object being protected until
3192 scm_unprotect_object has been call the same number of times.
3194 The functions also have better time complexity.
3196 Still, it is usually possible to structure the application in a way
3197 that you don't need to use these functions. For example, if you use a
3198 protected standard Guile list to keep track of live objects rather
3199 than some custom data type, objects will die a natural death when they
3200 are no longer needed.
3202 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc16_flo, scm_tc_flo, scm_tc_dblr, scm_tc_dblc
3204 Guile does not provide the float representation for inexact real numbers any
3205 more. Now, only doubles are used to represent inexact real numbers. Further,
3206 the tag names scm_tc_dblr and scm_tc_dblc have been changed to scm_tc16_real
3207 and scm_tc16_complex, respectively.
3209 ** Removed deprecated type scm_smobfuns
3211 ** Removed deprecated function scm_newsmob
3213 ** Warning: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe might become deprecated in a future release
3215 There is an ongoing discussion among the developers whether to
3216 deprecate `scm_make_smob_type_mfpe' or not. Please use the current
3217 standard interface (scm_make_smob_type, scm_set_smob_XXX) in new code
3218 until this issue has been settled.
3220 ** Removed deprecated type tag scm_tc16_kw
3222 ** Added type tag scm_tc16_keyword
3224 (This was introduced already in release 1.3.4 but was not documented
3227 ** gdb_print now prints "*** Guile not initialized ***" until Guile initialized
3229 * Changes to system call interfaces:
3231 ** The "select" procedure now tests port buffers for the ability to
3232 provide input or accept output. Previously only the underlying file
3233 descriptors were checked.
3235 ** New variable PIPE_BUF: the maximum number of bytes that can be
3236 atomically written to a pipe.
3238 ** If a facility is not available on the system when Guile is
3239 compiled, the corresponding primitive procedure will not be defined.
3240 Previously it would have been defined but would throw a system-error
3241 exception if called. Exception handlers which catch this case may
3242 need minor modification: an error will be thrown with key
3243 'unbound-variable instead of 'system-error. Alternatively it's
3244 now possible to use `defined?' to check whether the facility is
3247 ** Procedures which depend on the timezone should now give the correct
3248 result on systems which cache the TZ environment variable, even if TZ
3249 is changed without calling tzset.
3251 * Changes to the networking interfaces:
3253 ** New functions: htons, ntohs, htonl, ntohl: for converting short and
3254 long integers between network and host format. For now, it's not
3255 particularly convenient to do this kind of thing, but consider:
3257 (define write-network-long
3258 (lambda (value port)
3259 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
3260 (uniform-vector-set! v 0 (htonl value))
3261 (uniform-vector-write v port))))
3263 (define read-network-long
3265 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
3266 (uniform-vector-read! v port)
3267 (ntohl (uniform-vector-ref v 0)))))
3269 ** If inet-aton fails, it now throws an error with key 'misc-error
3270 instead of 'system-error, since errno is not relevant.
3272 ** Certain gethostbyname/gethostbyaddr failures now throw errors with
3273 specific keys instead of 'system-error. The latter is inappropriate
3274 since errno will not have been set. The keys are:
3275 'host-not-found, 'try-again, 'no-recovery and 'no-data.
3277 ** sethostent, setnetent, setprotoent, setservent: now take an
3278 optional argument STAYOPEN, which specifies whether the database
3279 remains open after a database entry is accessed randomly (e.g., using
3280 gethostbyname for the hosts database.) The default is #f. Previously
3284 Changes since Guile 1.3.2:
3286 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
3290 An initial version of the Guile debugger written by Chris Hanson has
3291 been added. The debugger is still under development but is included
3292 in the distribution anyway since it is already quite useful.
3298 after an error to enter the debugger. Type `help' inside the debugger
3299 for a description of available commands.
3301 If you prefer to have stack frames numbered and printed in
3302 anti-chronological order and prefer up in the stack to be down on the
3303 screen as is the case in gdb, you can put
3305 (debug-enable 'backwards)
3307 in your .guile startup file. (However, this means that Guile can't
3308 use indentation to indicate stack level.)
3310 The debugger is autoloaded into Guile at the first use.
3312 ** Further enhancements to backtraces
3314 There is a new debug option `width' which controls the maximum width
3315 on the screen of printed stack frames. Fancy printing parameters
3316 ("level" and "length" as in Common LISP) are adaptively adjusted for
3317 each stack frame to give maximum information while still fitting
3318 within the bounds. If the stack frame can't be made to fit by
3319 adjusting parameters, it is simply cut off at the end. This is marked
3322 ** Some modules are now only loaded when the repl is started
3324 The modules (ice-9 debug), (ice-9 session), (ice-9 threads) and (ice-9
3325 regex) are now loaded into (guile-user) only if the repl has been
3326 started. The effect is that the startup time for scripts has been
3327 reduced to 30% of what it was previously.
3329 Correctly written scripts load the modules they require at the top of
3330 the file and should not be affected by this change.
3332 ** Hooks are now represented as smobs
3334 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
3336 ** Readline support has changed again.
3338 The old (readline-activator) module is gone. Use (ice-9 readline)
3339 instead, which now contains all readline functionality. So the code
3340 to activate readline is now
3342 (use-modules (ice-9 readline))
3345 This should work at any time, including from the guile prompt.
3347 To avoid confusion about the terms of Guile's license, please only
3348 enable readline for your personal use; please don't make it the
3349 default for others. Here is why we make this rather odd-sounding
3352 Guile is normally licensed under a weakened form of the GNU General
3353 Public License, which allows you to link code with Guile without
3354 placing that code under the GPL. This exception is important to some
3357 However, since readline is distributed under the GNU General Public
3358 License, when you link Guile with readline, either statically or
3359 dynamically, you effectively change Guile's license to the strict GPL.
3360 Whenever you link any strictly GPL'd code into Guile, uses of Guile
3361 which are normally permitted become forbidden. This is a rather
3362 non-obvious consequence of the licensing terms.
3364 So, to make sure things remain clear, please let people choose for
3365 themselves whether to link GPL'd libraries like readline with Guile.
3367 ** regexp-substitute/global has changed slightly, but incompatibly.
3369 If you include a function in the item list, the string of the match
3370 object it receives is the same string passed to
3371 regexp-substitute/global, not some suffix of that string.
3372 Correspondingly, the match's positions are relative to the entire
3373 string, not the suffix.
3375 If the regexp can match the empty string, the way matches are chosen
3376 from the string has changed. regexp-substitute/global recognizes the
3377 same set of matches that list-matches does; see below.
3379 ** New function: list-matches REGEXP STRING [FLAGS]
3381 Return a list of match objects, one for every non-overlapping, maximal
3382 match of REGEXP in STRING. The matches appear in left-to-right order.
3383 list-matches only reports matches of the empty string if there are no
3384 other matches which begin on, end at, or include the empty match's
3387 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
3389 ** New function: fold-matches REGEXP STRING INIT PROC [FLAGS]
3391 For each match of REGEXP in STRING, apply PROC to the match object,
3392 and the last value PROC returned, or INIT for the first call. Return
3393 the last value returned by PROC. We apply PROC to the matches as they
3394 appear from left to right.
3396 This function recognizes matches according to the same criteria as
3399 Thus, you could define list-matches like this:
3401 (define (list-matches regexp string . flags)
3402 (reverse! (apply fold-matches regexp string '() cons flags)))
3404 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
3408 *** New function: hook? OBJ
3410 Return #t if OBJ is a hook, otherwise #f.
3412 *** New function: make-hook-with-name NAME [ARITY]
3414 Return a hook with name NAME and arity ARITY. The default value for
3415 ARITY is 0. The only effect of NAME is that it will appear when the
3416 hook object is printed to ease debugging.
3418 *** New function: hook-empty? HOOK
3420 Return #t if HOOK doesn't contain any procedures, otherwise #f.
3422 *** New function: hook->list HOOK
3424 Return a list of the procedures that are called when run-hook is
3427 ** `map' signals an error if its argument lists are not all the same length.
3429 This is the behavior required by R5RS, so this change is really a bug
3430 fix. But it seems to affect a lot of people's code, so we're
3431 mentioning it here anyway.
3433 ** Print-state handling has been made more transparent
3435 Under certain circumstances, ports are represented as a port with an
3436 associated print state. Earlier, this pair was represented as a pair
3437 (see "Some magic has been added to the printer" below). It is now
3438 indistinguishable (almost; see `get-print-state') from a port on the
3441 *** New function: port-with-print-state OUTPUT-PORT PRINT-STATE
3443 Return a new port with the associated print state PRINT-STATE.
3445 *** New function: get-print-state OUTPUT-PORT
3447 Return the print state associated with this port if it exists,
3448 otherwise return #f.
3450 *** New function: directory-stream? OBJECT
3452 Returns true iff OBJECT is a directory stream --- the sort of object
3453 returned by `opendir'.
3455 ** New function: using-readline?
3457 Return #t if readline is in use in the current repl.
3459 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
3461 Structs will be replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into Guile
3462 and use GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
3464 * Changes to the scm_ interface
3466 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
3468 The entire current struct interface (struct.c, struct.h) will be
3469 replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into libguile and use
3470 GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
3472 ** The internal representation of subr's has changed
3474 Instead of giving a hint to the subr name, the CAR field of the subr
3475 now contains an index to a subr entry in scm_subr_table.
3477 *** New variable: scm_subr_table
3479 An array of subr entries. A subr entry contains the name, properties
3480 and documentation associated with the subr. The properties and
3481 documentation slots are not yet used.
3483 ** A new scheme for "forwarding" calls to a builtin to a generic function
3485 It is now possible to extend the functionality of some Guile
3486 primitives by letting them defer a call to a GOOPS generic function on
3487 argument mismatch. This means that there is no loss of efficiency in
3492 (use-modules (oop goops)) ; Must be GOOPS version 0.2.
3493 (define-method + ((x <string>) (y <string>))
3494 (string-append x y))
3496 + will still be as efficient as usual in numerical calculations, but
3497 can also be used for concatenating strings.
3499 Who will be the first one to extend Guile's numerical tower to
3500 rationals? :) [OK, there a few other things to fix before this can
3501 be made in a clean way.]
3503 *** New snarf macros for defining primitives: SCM_GPROC, SCM_GPROC1
3505 New macro: SCM_GPROC (CNAME, SNAME, REQ, OPT, VAR, CFUNC, GENERIC)
3507 New macro: SCM_GPROC1 (CNAME, SNAME, TYPE, CFUNC, GENERIC)
3509 These do the same job as SCM_PROC and SCM_PROC1, but they also define
3510 a variable GENERIC which can be used by the dispatch macros below.
3512 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3514 *** New macros for forwarding control to a generic on arg type error
3516 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_1 (GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
3518 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
3520 These correspond to the scm_wta function call, and have the same
3521 behaviour until the user has called the GOOPS primitive
3522 `enable-primitive-generic!'. After that, these macros will apply the
3523 generic function GENERIC to the argument(s) instead of calling
3526 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3528 *** New macros for argument testing with generic dispatch
3530 New macro: SCM_GASSERT1 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
3532 New macro: SCM_GASSERT2 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
3534 These correspond to the SCM_ASSERT macro, but will defer control to
3535 GENERIC on error after `enable-primitive-generic!' has been called.
3537 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3539 ** New function: SCM scm_eval_body (SCM body, SCM env)
3541 Evaluates the body of a special form.
3543 ** The internal representation of struct's has changed
3545 Previously, four slots were allocated for the procedure(s) of entities
3546 and operators. The motivation for this representation had to do with
3547 the structure of the evaluator, the wish to support tail-recursive
3548 generic functions, and efficiency. Since the generic function
3549 dispatch mechanism has changed, there is no longer a need for such an
3550 expensive representation, and the representation has been simplified.
3552 This should not make any difference for most users.
3554 ** GOOPS support has been cleaned up.
3556 Some code has been moved from eval.c to objects.c and code in both of
3557 these compilation units has been cleaned up and better structured.
3559 *** New functions for applying generic functions
3561 New function: SCM scm_apply_generic (GENERIC, ARGS)
3562 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_0 (GENERIC)
3563 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_1 (GENERIC, ARG1)
3564 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2)
3565 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_3 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, ARG3)
3567 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_named_hook
3569 It is now replaced by:
3571 ** New function: SCM scm_create_hook (const char *name, int arity)
3573 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
3574 binds a variable named NAME to it.
3576 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
3578 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module.
3579 This might change when we get the new module system.
3581 [The behaviour is identical to scm_make_named_hook.]
3585 Changes since Guile 1.3:
3587 * Changes to mailing lists
3589 ** Some of the Guile mailing lists have moved to sourceware.cygnus.com.
3591 See the README file to find current addresses for all the Guile
3594 * Changes to the distribution
3596 ** Readline support is no longer included with Guile by default.
3598 Based on the different license terms of Guile and Readline, we
3599 concluded that Guile should not *by default* cause the linking of
3600 Readline into an application program. Readline support is now offered
3601 as a separate module, which is linked into an application only when
3602 you explicitly specify it.
3604 Although Guile is GNU software, its distribution terms add a special
3605 exception to the usual GNU General Public License (GPL). Guile's
3606 license includes a clause that allows you to link Guile with non-free
3607 programs. We add this exception so as not to put Guile at a
3608 disadvantage vis-a-vis other extensibility packages that support other
3611 In contrast, the GNU Readline library is distributed under the GNU
3612 General Public License pure and simple. This means that you may not
3613 link Readline, even dynamically, into an application unless it is
3614 distributed under a free software license that is compatible the GPL.
3616 Because of this difference in distribution terms, an application that
3617 can use Guile may not be able to use Readline. Now users will be
3618 explicitly offered two independent decisions about the use of these
3621 You can activate the readline support by issuing
3623 (use-modules (readline-activator))
3626 from your ".guile" file, for example.
3628 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
3630 ** All builtins now print as primitives.
3631 Previously builtin procedures not belonging to the fundamental subr
3632 types printed as #<compiled closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>.
3633 Now, they print as #<primitive-procedure NAME>.
3635 ** Backtraces slightly more intelligible.
3636 gsubr-apply and macro transformer application frames no longer appear
3639 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
3641 ** Guile now correctly handles internal defines by rewriting them into
3642 their equivalent letrec. Previously, internal defines would
3643 incrementally add to the innermost environment, without checking
3644 whether the restrictions specified in RnRS were met. This lead to the
3645 correct behaviour when these restriction actually were met, but didn't
3646 catch all illegal uses. Such an illegal use could lead to crashes of
3647 the Guile interpreter or or other unwanted results. An example of
3648 incorrect internal defines that made Guile behave erratically:
3660 The problem with this example is that the definition of `c' uses the
3661 value of `b' directly. This confuses the meoization machine of Guile
3662 so that the second call of `b' (this time in a larger environment that
3663 also contains bindings for `c' and `d') refers to the binding of `c'
3664 instead of `a'. You could also make Guile crash with a variation on
3669 (define (b flag) (if flag a 1))
3670 (define c (1+ (b flag)))
3678 From now on, Guile will issue an `Unbound variable: b' error message
3683 A hook contains a list of functions which should be called on
3684 particular occasions in an existing program. Hooks are used for
3687 A window manager might have a hook before-window-map-hook. The window
3688 manager uses the function run-hooks to call all functions stored in
3689 before-window-map-hook each time a window is mapped. The user can
3690 store functions in the hook using add-hook!.
3692 In Guile, hooks are first class objects.
3694 *** New function: make-hook [N_ARGS]
3696 Return a hook for hook functions which can take N_ARGS arguments.
3697 The default value for N_ARGS is 0.
3699 (See also scm_make_named_hook below.)
3701 *** New function: add-hook! HOOK PROC [APPEND_P]
3703 Put PROC at the beginning of the list of functions stored in HOOK.
3704 If APPEND_P is supplied, and non-false, put PROC at the end instead.
3706 PROC must be able to take the number of arguments specified when the
3709 If PROC already exists in HOOK, then remove it first.
3711 *** New function: remove-hook! HOOK PROC
3713 Remove PROC from the list of functions in HOOK.
3715 *** New function: reset-hook! HOOK
3717 Clear the list of hook functions stored in HOOK.
3719 *** New function: run-hook HOOK ARG1 ...
3721 Run all hook functions stored in HOOK with arguments ARG1 ... .
3722 The number of arguments supplied must correspond to the number given
3723 when the hook was created.
3725 ** The function `dynamic-link' now takes optional keyword arguments.
3726 The only keyword argument that is currently defined is `:global
3727 BOOL'. With it, you can control whether the shared library will be
3728 linked in global mode or not. In global mode, the symbols from the
3729 linked library can be used to resolve references from other
3730 dynamically linked libraries. In non-global mode, the linked
3731 library is essentially invisible and can only be accessed via
3732 `dynamic-func', etc. The default is now to link in global mode.
3733 Previously, the default has been non-global mode.
3735 The `#:global' keyword is only effective on platforms that support
3736 the dlopen family of functions.
3738 ** New function `provided?'
3740 - Function: provided? FEATURE
3741 Return true iff FEATURE is supported by this installation of
3742 Guile. FEATURE must be a symbol naming a feature; the global
3743 variable `*features*' is a list of available features.
3745 ** Changes to the module (ice-9 expect):
3747 *** The expect-strings macro now matches `$' in a regular expression
3748 only at a line-break or end-of-file by default. Previously it would
3749 match the end of the string accumulated so far. The old behaviour
3750 can be obtained by setting the variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
3753 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
3754 for the regexp-exec flags. If `regexp/noteol' is included, then `$'
3755 in a regular expression will still match before a line-break or
3756 end-of-file. The default is `regexp/noteol'.
3758 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable
3759 `expect-strings-compile-flags' for the flags to be supplied to
3760 `make-regexp'. The default is `regexp/newline', which was previously
3763 *** The expect macro now supplies two arguments to a match procedure:
3764 the current accumulated string and a flag to indicate whether
3765 end-of-file has been reached. Previously only the string was supplied.
3766 If end-of-file is reached, the match procedure will be called an
3767 additional time with the same accumulated string as the previous call
3768 but with the flag set.
3770 ** New module (ice-9 format), implementing the Common Lisp `format' function.
3772 This code, and the documentation for it that appears here, was
3773 borrowed from SLIB, with minor adaptations for Guile.
3775 - Function: format DESTINATION FORMAT-STRING . ARGUMENTS
3776 An almost complete implementation of Common LISP format description
3777 according to the CL reference book `Common LISP' from Guy L.
3778 Steele, Digital Press. Backward compatible to most of the
3779 available Scheme format implementations.
3781 Returns `#t', `#f' or a string; has side effect of printing
3782 according to FORMAT-STRING. If DESTINATION is `#t', the output is
3783 to the current output port and `#t' is returned. If DESTINATION
3784 is `#f', a formatted string is returned as the result of the call.
3785 NEW: If DESTINATION is a string, DESTINATION is regarded as the
3786 format string; FORMAT-STRING is then the first argument and the
3787 output is returned as a string. If DESTINATION is a number, the
3788 output is to the current error port if available by the
3789 implementation. Otherwise DESTINATION must be an output port and
3792 FORMAT-STRING must be a string. In case of a formatting error
3793 format returns `#f' and prints a message on the current output or
3794 error port. Characters are output as if the string were output by
3795 the `display' function with the exception of those prefixed by a
3796 tilde (~). For a detailed description of the FORMAT-STRING syntax
3797 please consult a Common LISP format reference manual. For a test
3798 suite to verify this format implementation load `formatst.scm'.
3799 Please send bug reports to `lutzeb@cs.tu-berlin.de'.
3801 Note: `format' is not reentrant, i.e. only one `format'-call may
3802 be executed at a time.
3805 *** Format Specification (Format version 3.0)
3807 Please consult a Common LISP format reference manual for a detailed
3808 description of the format string syntax. For a demonstration of the
3809 implemented directives see `formatst.scm'.
3811 This implementation supports directive parameters and modifiers (`:'
3812 and `@' characters). Multiple parameters must be separated by a comma
3813 (`,'). Parameters can be numerical parameters (positive or negative),
3814 character parameters (prefixed by a quote character (`''), variable
3815 parameters (`v'), number of rest arguments parameter (`#'), empty and
3816 default parameters. Directive characters are case independent. The
3817 general form of a directive is:
3819 DIRECTIVE ::= ~{DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER,}[:][@]DIRECTIVE-CHARACTER
3821 DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER ::= [ [-|+]{0-9}+ | 'CHARACTER | v | # ]
3823 *** Implemented CL Format Control Directives
3825 Documentation syntax: Uppercase characters represent the
3826 corresponding control directive characters. Lowercase characters
3827 represent control directive parameter descriptions.
3830 Any (print as `display' does).
3834 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARA'
3838 S-expression (print as `write' does).
3842 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARS'
3848 print number sign always.
3851 print comma separated.
3853 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARD'
3859 print number sign always.
3862 print comma separated.
3864 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARX'
3870 print number sign always.
3873 print comma separated.
3875 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARO'
3881 print number sign always.
3884 print comma separated.
3886 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARB'
3891 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARR'
3895 print a number as a Roman numeral.
3898 print a number as an "old fashioned" Roman numeral.
3901 print a number as an ordinal English number.
3904 print a number as a cardinal English number.
3909 prints `y' and `ies'.
3912 as `~P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
3915 as `~@P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
3920 prints a character as the reader can understand it (i.e. `#\'
3924 prints a character as emacs does (eg. `^C' for ASCII 03).
3927 Fixed-format floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN).
3928 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHARF'
3930 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
3933 Exponential floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN`E'EE).
3934 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARE'
3936 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
3939 General floating-point (prints a flonum either fixed or
3941 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARG'
3943 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
3946 Dollars floating-point (prints a flonum in fixed with signs
3948 `~DIGITS,SCALE,WIDTH,PADCHAR$'
3950 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
3953 A sign is always printed and appears before the padding.
3956 The sign appears before the padding.
3964 print newline if not at the beginning of the output line.
3966 prints `~&' and then N-1 newlines.
3971 print N page separators.
3981 newline is ignored, white space left.
3984 newline is left, white space ignored.
3989 relative tabulation.
3995 Indirection (expects indirect arguments as a list).
3997 extracts indirect arguments from format arguments.
4000 Case conversion (converts by `string-downcase').
4002 converts by `string-capitalize'.
4005 converts by `string-capitalize-first'.
4008 converts by `string-upcase'.
4011 Argument Jumping (jumps 1 argument forward).
4013 jumps N arguments forward.
4016 jumps 1 argument backward.
4019 jumps N arguments backward.
4022 jumps to the 0th argument.
4025 jumps to the Nth argument (beginning from 0)
4027 `~[STR0~;STR1~;...~;STRN~]'
4028 Conditional Expression (numerical clause conditional).
4030 take argument from N.
4033 true test conditional.
4036 if-else-then conditional.
4042 default clause follows.
4045 Iteration (args come from the next argument (a list)).
4047 at most N iterations.
4050 args from next arg (a list of lists).
4053 args from the rest of arguments.
4056 args from the rest args (lists).
4067 aborts if N <= M <= K
4069 *** Not Implemented CL Format Control Directives
4072 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
4075 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
4081 (sorry I don't understand its semantics completely)
4083 *** Extended, Replaced and Additional Control Directives
4085 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHD'
4086 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHX'
4087 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHO'
4088 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHB'
4089 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHR'
4090 COMMAWIDTH is the number of characters between two comma
4094 print a R4RS complex number as `~F~@Fi' with passed parameters for
4098 Pretty print formatting of an argument for scheme code lists.
4104 Flushes the output if format DESTINATION is a port.
4107 Print a `#\space' character
4109 print N `#\space' characters.
4112 Print a `#\tab' character
4114 print N `#\tab' characters.
4117 Takes N as an integer representation for a character. No arguments
4118 are consumed. N is converted to a character by `integer->char'. N
4119 must be a positive decimal number.
4122 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
4123 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
4124 be processed by `read'.
4127 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
4128 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
4129 be processed by `read'.
4132 Prints information and a copyright notice on the format
4135 prints format version.
4138 may also print number strings, i.e. passing a number as a string
4139 and format it accordingly.
4141 *** Configuration Variables
4143 The format module exports some configuration variables to suit the
4144 systems and users needs. There should be no modification necessary for
4145 the configuration that comes with Guile. Format detects automatically
4146 if the running scheme system implements floating point numbers and
4149 format:symbol-case-conv
4150 Symbols are converted by `symbol->string' so the case type of the
4151 printed symbols is implementation dependent.
4152 `format:symbol-case-conv' is a one arg closure which is either
4153 `#f' (no conversion), `string-upcase', `string-downcase' or
4154 `string-capitalize'. (default `#f')
4156 format:iobj-case-conv
4157 As FORMAT:SYMBOL-CASE-CONV but applies for the representation of
4158 implementation internal objects. (default `#f')
4161 The character prefixing the exponent value in `~E' printing.
4164 *** Compatibility With Other Format Implementations
4170 Downward compatible except for padding support and `~A', `~S',
4171 `~P', `~X' uppercase printing. SLIB format 1.4 uses C-style
4172 `printf' padding support which is completely replaced by the CL
4173 `format' padding style.
4176 Downward compatible except for `~', which is not documented
4177 (ignores all characters inside the format string up to a newline
4178 character). (7.1 implements `~a', `~s', ~NEWLINE, `~~', `~%',
4179 numerical and variable parameters and `:/@' modifiers in the CL
4183 Downward compatible except for `~A' and `~S' which print in
4184 uppercase. (Elk implements `~a', `~s', `~~', and `~%' (no
4185 directive parameters or modifiers)).
4188 Downward compatible except for an optional destination parameter:
4189 S2C accepts a format call without a destination which returns a
4190 formatted string. This is equivalent to a #f destination in S2C.
4191 (S2C implements `~a', `~s', `~c', `~%', and `~~' (no directive
4192 parameters or modifiers)).
4195 ** Changes to string-handling functions.
4197 These functions were added to support the (ice-9 format) module, above.
4199 *** New function: string-upcase STRING
4200 *** New function: string-downcase STRING
4202 These are non-destructive versions of the existing string-upcase! and
4203 string-downcase! functions.
4205 *** New function: string-capitalize! STRING
4206 *** New function: string-capitalize STRING
4208 These functions convert the first letter of each word in the string to
4211 (string-capitalize "howdy there")
4214 As with the other functions, string-capitalize! modifies the string in
4215 place, while string-capitalize returns a modified copy of its argument.
4217 *** New function: string-ci->symbol STRING
4219 Return a symbol whose name is STRING, but having the same case as if
4220 the symbol had be read by `read'.
4222 Guile can be configured to be sensitive or insensitive to case
4223 differences in Scheme identifiers. If Guile is case-insensitive, all
4224 symbols are converted to lower case on input. The `string-ci->symbol'
4225 function returns a symbol whose name in STRING, transformed as Guile
4226 would if STRING were input.
4228 *** New function: substring-move! STRING1 START END STRING2 START
4230 Copy the substring of STRING1 from START (inclusive) to END
4231 (exclusive) to STRING2 at START. STRING1 and STRING2 may be the same
4232 string, and the source and destination areas may overlap; in all
4233 cases, the function behaves as if all the characters were copied
4236 *** Extended functions: substring-move-left! substring-move-right!
4238 These functions now correctly copy arbitrarily overlapping substrings;
4239 they are both synonyms for substring-move!.
4242 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-long), with the function `getopt-long'.
4244 getopt-long is a function for parsing command-line arguments in a
4245 manner consistent with other GNU programs.
4247 (getopt-long ARGS GRAMMAR)
4248 Parse the arguments ARGS according to the argument list grammar GRAMMAR.
4250 ARGS should be a list of strings. Its first element should be the
4251 name of the program; subsequent elements should be the arguments
4252 that were passed to the program on the command line. The
4253 `program-arguments' procedure returns a list of this form.
4255 GRAMMAR is a list of the form:
4256 ((OPTION (PROPERTY VALUE) ...) ...)
4258 Each OPTION should be a symbol. `getopt-long' will accept a
4259 command-line option named `--OPTION'.
4260 Each option can have the following (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs:
4262 (single-char CHAR) --- Accept `-CHAR' as a single-character
4263 equivalent to `--OPTION'. This is how to specify traditional
4265 (required? BOOL) --- If BOOL is true, the option is required.
4266 getopt-long will raise an error if it is not found in ARGS.
4267 (value BOOL) --- If BOOL is #t, the option accepts a value; if
4268 it is #f, it does not; and if it is the symbol
4269 `optional', the option may appear in ARGS with or
4271 (predicate FUNC) --- If the option accepts a value (i.e. you
4272 specified `(value #t)' for this option), then getopt
4273 will apply FUNC to the value, and throw an exception
4274 if it returns #f. FUNC should be a procedure which
4275 accepts a string and returns a boolean value; you may
4276 need to use quasiquotes to get it into GRAMMAR.
4278 The (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs may occur in any order, but each
4279 property may occur only once. By default, options do not have
4280 single-character equivalents, are not required, and do not take
4283 In ARGS, single-character options may be combined, in the usual
4284 Unix fashion: ("-x" "-y") is equivalent to ("-xy"). If an option
4285 accepts values, then it must be the last option in the
4286 combination; the value is the next argument. So, for example, using
4287 the following grammar:
4288 ((apples (single-char #\a))
4289 (blimps (single-char #\b) (value #t))
4290 (catalexis (single-char #\c) (value #t)))
4291 the following argument lists would be acceptable:
4292 ("-a" "-b" "bang" "-c" "couth") ("bang" and "couth" are the values
4293 for "blimps" and "catalexis")
4294 ("-ab" "bang" "-c" "couth") (same)
4295 ("-ac" "couth" "-b" "bang") (same)
4296 ("-abc" "couth" "bang") (an error, since `-b' is not the
4297 last option in its combination)
4299 If an option's value is optional, then `getopt-long' decides
4300 whether it has a value by looking at what follows it in ARGS. If
4301 the next element is a string, and it does not appear to be an
4302 option itself, then that string is the option's value.
4304 The value of a long option can appear as the next element in ARGS,
4305 or it can follow the option name, separated by an `=' character.
4306 Thus, using the same grammar as above, the following argument lists
4308 ("--apples" "Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
4309 ("--apples=Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
4310 ("--blimps" "Goodyear" "--apples=Braeburn")
4312 If the option "--" appears in ARGS, argument parsing stops there;
4313 subsequent arguments are returned as ordinary arguments, even if
4314 they resemble options. So, in the argument list:
4315 ("--apples" "Granny Smith" "--" "--blimp" "Goodyear")
4316 `getopt-long' will recognize the `apples' option as having the
4317 value "Granny Smith", but it will not recognize the `blimp'
4318 option; it will return the strings "--blimp" and "Goodyear" as
4319 ordinary argument strings.
4321 The `getopt-long' function returns the parsed argument list as an
4322 assocation list, mapping option names --- the symbols from GRAMMAR
4323 --- onto their values, or #t if the option does not accept a value.
4324 Unused options do not appear in the alist.
4326 All arguments that are not the value of any option are returned
4327 as a list, associated with the empty list.
4329 `getopt-long' throws an exception if:
4330 - it finds an unrecognized option in ARGS
4331 - a required option is omitted
4332 - an option that requires an argument doesn't get one
4333 - an option that doesn't accept an argument does get one (this can
4334 only happen using the long option `--opt=value' syntax)
4335 - an option predicate fails
4340 `((lockfile-dir (required? #t)
4343 (predicate ,file-is-directory?))
4344 (verbose (required? #f)
4347 (x-includes (single-char #\x))
4348 (rnet-server (single-char #\y)
4349 (predicate ,string?))))
4351 (getopt-long '("my-prog" "-vk" "/tmp" "foo1" "--x-includes=/usr/include"
4352 "--rnet-server=lamprod" "--" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
4354 => ((() "foo1" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
4355 (rnet-server . "lamprod")
4356 (x-includes . "/usr/include")
4357 (lockfile-dir . "/tmp")
4360 ** The (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) module is obsolete; use (ice-9 getopt-long).
4362 It will be removed in a few releases.
4364 ** New syntax: lambda*
4365 ** New syntax: define*
4366 ** New syntax: define*-public
4367 ** New syntax: defmacro*
4368 ** New syntax: defmacro*-public
4369 Guile now supports optional arguments.
4371 `lambda*', `define*', `define*-public', `defmacro*' and
4372 `defmacro*-public' are identical to the non-* versions except that
4373 they use an extended type of parameter list that has the following BNF
4374 syntax (parentheses are literal, square brackets indicate grouping,
4375 and `*', `+' and `?' have the usual meaning):
4377 ext-param-list ::= ( [identifier]* [#&optional [ext-var-decl]+]?
4378 [#&key [ext-var-decl]+ [#&allow-other-keys]?]?
4379 [[#&rest identifier]|[. identifier]]? ) | [identifier]
4381 ext-var-decl ::= identifier | ( identifier expression )
4383 The semantics are best illustrated with the following documentation
4384 and examples for `lambda*':
4387 lambda extended for optional and keyword arguments
4389 lambda* creates a procedure that takes optional arguments. These
4390 are specified by putting them inside brackets at the end of the
4391 paramater list, but before any dotted rest argument. For example,
4392 (lambda* (a b #&optional c d . e) '())
4393 creates a procedure with fixed arguments a and b, optional arguments c
4394 and d, and rest argument e. If the optional arguments are omitted
4395 in a call, the variables for them are unbound in the procedure. This
4396 can be checked with the bound? macro.
4398 lambda* can also take keyword arguments. For example, a procedure
4400 (lambda* (#&key xyzzy larch) '())
4401 can be called with any of the argument lists (#:xyzzy 11)
4402 (#:larch 13) (#:larch 42 #:xyzzy 19) (). Whichever arguments
4403 are given as keywords are bound to values.
4405 Optional and keyword arguments can also be given default values
4406 which they take on when they are not present in a call, by giving a
4407 two-item list in place of an optional argument, for example in:
4408 (lambda* (foo #&optional (bar 42) #&key (baz 73)) (list foo bar baz))
4409 foo is a fixed argument, bar is an optional argument with default
4410 value 42, and baz is a keyword argument with default value 73.
4411 Default value expressions are not evaluated unless they are needed
4412 and until the procedure is called.
4414 lambda* now supports two more special parameter list keywords.
4416 lambda*-defined procedures now throw an error by default if a
4417 keyword other than one of those specified is found in the actual
4418 passed arguments. However, specifying #&allow-other-keys
4419 immediately after the kyword argument declarations restores the
4420 previous behavior of ignoring unknown keywords. lambda* also now
4421 guarantees that if the same keyword is passed more than once, the
4422 last one passed is the one that takes effect. For example,
4423 ((lambda* (#&key (heads 0) (tails 0)) (display (list heads tails)))
4424 #:heads 37 #:tails 42 #:heads 99)
4425 would result in (99 47) being displayed.
4427 #&rest is also now provided as a synonym for the dotted syntax rest
4428 argument. The argument lists (a . b) and (a #&rest b) are equivalent in
4429 all respects to lambda*. This is provided for more similarity to DSSSL,
4430 MIT-Scheme and Kawa among others, as well as for refugees from other
4433 Further documentation may be found in the optargs.scm file itself.
4435 The optional argument module also exports the macros `let-optional',
4436 `let-optional*', `let-keywords', `let-keywords*' and `bound?'. These
4437 are not documented here because they may be removed in the future, but
4438 full documentation is still available in optargs.scm.
4440 ** New syntax: and-let*
4441 Guile now supports the `and-let*' form, described in the draft SRFI-2.
4443 Syntax: (land* (<clause> ...) <body> ...)
4444 Each <clause> should have one of the following forms:
4445 (<variable> <expression>)
4448 Each <variable> or <bound-variable> should be an identifier. Each
4449 <expression> should be a valid expression. The <body> should be a
4450 possibly empty sequence of expressions, like the <body> of a
4453 Semantics: A LAND* expression is evaluated by evaluating the
4454 <expression> or <bound-variable> of each of the <clause>s from
4455 left to right. The value of the first <expression> or
4456 <bound-variable> that evaluates to a false value is returned; the
4457 remaining <expression>s and <bound-variable>s are not evaluated.
4458 The <body> forms are evaluated iff all the <expression>s and
4459 <bound-variable>s evaluate to true values.
4461 The <expression>s and the <body> are evaluated in an environment
4462 binding each <variable> of the preceding (<variable> <expression>)
4463 clauses to the value of the <expression>. Later bindings
4464 shadow earlier bindings.
4466 Guile's and-let* macro was contributed by Michael Livshin.
4468 ** New sorting functions
4470 *** New function: sorted? SEQUENCE LESS?
4471 Returns `#t' when the sequence argument is in non-decreasing order
4472 according to LESS? (that is, there is no adjacent pair `... x y
4473 ...' for which `(less? y x)').
4475 Returns `#f' when the sequence contains at least one out-of-order
4476 pair. It is an error if the sequence is neither a list nor a
4479 *** New function: merge LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
4480 LIST1 and LIST2 are sorted lists.
4481 Returns the sorted list of all elements in LIST1 and LIST2.
4483 Assume that the elements a and b1 in LIST1 and b2 in LIST2 are "equal"
4484 in the sense that (LESS? x y) --> #f for x, y in {a, b1, b2},
4485 and that a < b1 in LIST1. Then a < b1 < b2 in the result.
4486 (Here "<" should read "comes before".)
4488 *** New procedure: merge! LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
4489 Merges two lists, re-using the pairs of LIST1 and LIST2 to build
4490 the result. If the code is compiled, and LESS? constructs no new
4491 pairs, no pairs at all will be allocated. The first pair of the
4492 result will be either the first pair of LIST1 or the first pair of
4495 *** New function: sort SEQUENCE LESS?
4496 Accepts either a list or a vector, and returns a new sequence
4497 which is sorted. The new sequence is the same type as the input.
4498 Always `(sorted? (sort sequence less?) less?)'. The original
4499 sequence is not altered in any way. The new sequence shares its
4500 elements with the old one; no elements are copied.
4502 *** New procedure: sort! SEQUENCE LESS
4503 Returns its sorted result in the original boxes. No new storage is
4504 allocated at all. Proper usage: (set! slist (sort! slist <))
4506 *** New function: stable-sort SEQUENCE LESS?
4507 Similar to `sort' but stable. That is, if "equal" elements are
4508 ordered a < b in the original sequence, they will have the same order
4511 *** New function: stable-sort! SEQUENCE LESS?
4512 Similar to `sort!' but stable.
4513 Uses temporary storage when sorting vectors.
4515 *** New functions: sort-list, sort-list!
4516 Added for compatibility with scsh.
4518 ** New built-in random number support
4520 *** New function: random N [STATE]
4521 Accepts a positive integer or real N and returns a number of the
4522 same type between zero (inclusive) and N (exclusive). The values
4523 returned have a uniform distribution.
4525 The optional argument STATE must be of the type produced by
4526 `copy-random-state' or `seed->random-state'. It defaults to the value
4527 of the variable `*random-state*'. This object is used to maintain the
4528 state of the pseudo-random-number generator and is altered as a side
4529 effect of the `random' operation.
4531 *** New variable: *random-state*
4532 Holds a data structure that encodes the internal state of the
4533 random-number generator that `random' uses by default. The nature
4534 of this data structure is implementation-dependent. It may be
4535 printed out and successfully read back in, but may or may not
4536 function correctly as a random-number state object in another
4539 *** New function: copy-random-state [STATE]
4540 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
4541 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
4542 If argument STATE is given, a copy of it is returned. Otherwise a
4543 copy of `*random-state*' is returned.
4545 *** New function: seed->random-state SEED
4546 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
4547 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
4548 SEED is a string or a number. A new state is generated and
4549 initialized using SEED.
4551 *** New function: random:uniform [STATE]
4552 Returns an uniformly distributed inexact real random number in the
4553 range between 0 and 1.
4555 *** New procedure: random:solid-sphere! VECT [STATE]
4556 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose
4557 squares is less than 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in
4558 space of dimension N = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are
4559 uniformly distributed within the unit N-shere. The sum of the
4560 squares of the numbers is returned. VECT can be either a vector
4561 or a uniform vector of doubles.
4563 *** New procedure: random:hollow-sphere! VECT [STATE]
4564 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose squares
4565 is equal to 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in space of
4566 dimension n = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are uniformly
4567 distributed over the surface of the unit n-shere. VECT can be either
4568 a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
4570 *** New function: random:normal [STATE]
4571 Returns an inexact real in a normal distribution with mean 0 and
4572 standard deviation 1. For a normal distribution with mean M and
4573 standard deviation D use `(+ M (* D (random:normal)))'.
4575 *** New procedure: random:normal-vector! VECT [STATE]
4576 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers which are independent and
4577 standard normally distributed (i.e., with mean 0 and variance 1).
4578 VECT can be either a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
4580 *** New function: random:exp STATE
4581 Returns an inexact real in an exponential distribution with mean 1.
4582 For an exponential distribution with mean U use (* U (random:exp)).
4584 ** The range of logand, logior, logxor, logtest, and logbit? have changed.
4586 These functions now operate on numbers in the range of a C unsigned
4589 These functions used to operate on numbers in the range of a C signed
4590 long; however, this seems inappropriate, because Guile integers don't
4593 ** New function: make-guardian
4594 This is an implementation of guardians as described in
4595 R. Kent Dybvig, Carl Bruggeman, and David Eby (1993) "Guardians in a
4596 Generation-Based Garbage Collector" ACM SIGPLAN Conference on
4597 Programming Language Design and Implementation, June 1993
4598 ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/scheme-repository/doc/pubs/guardians.ps.gz
4600 ** New functions: delq1!, delv1!, delete1!
4601 These procedures behave similar to delq! and friends but delete only
4602 one object if at all.
4604 ** New function: unread-string STRING PORT
4605 Unread STRING to PORT, that is, push it back onto the port so that
4606 next read operation will work on the pushed back characters.
4608 ** unread-char can now be called multiple times
4609 If unread-char is called multiple times, the unread characters will be
4610 read again in last-in first-out order.
4612 ** the procedures uniform-array-read! and uniform-array-write! now
4613 work on any kind of port, not just ports which are open on a file.
4615 ** Now 'l' in a port mode requests line buffering.
4617 ** The procedure truncate-file now works on string ports as well
4618 as file ports. If the size argument is omitted, the current
4619 file position is used.
4621 ** new procedure: seek PORT/FDES OFFSET WHENCE
4622 The arguments are the same as for the old fseek procedure, but it
4623 works on string ports as well as random-access file ports.
4625 ** the fseek procedure now works on string ports, since it has been
4626 redefined using seek.
4628 ** the setvbuf procedure now uses a default size if mode is _IOFBF and
4629 size is not supplied.
4631 ** the newline procedure no longer flushes the port if it's not
4632 line-buffered: previously it did if it was the current output port.
4634 ** open-pipe and close-pipe are no longer primitive procedures, but
4635 an emulation can be obtained using `(use-modules (ice-9 popen))'.
4637 ** the freopen procedure has been removed.
4639 ** new procedure: drain-input PORT
4640 Drains PORT's read buffers (including any pushed-back characters)
4641 and returns the contents as a single string.
4643 ** New function: map-in-order PROC LIST1 LIST2 ...
4644 Version of `map' which guarantees that the procedure is applied to the
4645 lists in serial order.
4647 ** Renamed `serial-array-copy!' and `serial-array-map!' to
4648 `array-copy-in-order!' and `array-map-in-order!'. The old names are
4649 now obsolete and will go away in release 1.5.
4651 ** New syntax: collect BODY1 ...
4652 Version of `begin' which returns a list of the results of the body
4653 forms instead of the result of the last body form. In contrast to
4654 `begin', `collect' allows an empty body.
4656 ** New functions: read-history FILENAME, write-history FILENAME
4657 Read/write command line history from/to file. Returns #t on success
4658 and #f if an error occured.
4660 ** `ls' and `lls' in module (ice-9 ls) now handle no arguments.
4662 These procedures return a list of definitions available in the specified
4663 argument, a relative module reference. In the case of no argument,
4664 `(current-module)' is now consulted for definitions to return, instead
4665 of simply returning #f, the former behavior.
4667 ** The #/ syntax for lists is no longer supported.
4669 Earlier versions of Scheme accepted this syntax, but printed a
4672 ** Guile no longer consults the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable.
4674 Instead, you should set GUILE_LOAD_PATH to tell Guile where to find
4677 * Changes to the gh_ interface
4681 Now takes a second argument which is the result array. If this
4682 pointer is NULL, a new array is malloced (the old behaviour).
4684 ** gh_chars2byvect, gh_shorts2svect, gh_floats2fvect, gh_scm2chars,
4685 gh_scm2shorts, gh_scm2longs, gh_scm2floats
4689 * Changes to the scm_ interface
4691 ** Function: scm_make_named_hook (char* name, int n_args)
4693 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
4694 binds a variable named NAME to it.
4696 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
4698 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module. This
4699 might change when we get the new module system.
4701 ** The smob interface
4703 The interface for creating smobs has changed. For documentation, see
4704 data-rep.info (made from guile-core/doc/data-rep.texi).
4706 *** Deprecated function: SCM scm_newsmob (scm_smobfuns *)
4708 >>> This function will be removed in 1.3.4. <<<
4712 *** Function: SCM scm_make_smob_type (const char *name, scm_sizet size)
4713 This function adds a new smob type, named NAME, with instance size
4714 SIZE to the system. The return value is a tag that is used in
4715 creating instances of the type. If SIZE is 0, then no memory will
4716 be allocated when instances of the smob are created, and nothing
4717 will be freed by the default free function.
4719 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_mark (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
4720 This function sets the smob marking procedure for the smob type
4721 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4722 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4724 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_free (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
4725 This function sets the smob freeing procedure for the smob type
4726 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4727 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4729 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_print (tc, print)
4731 - Function: void scm_set_smob_print (long tc,
4732 scm_sizet (*print) (SCM,
4736 This function sets the smob printing procedure for the smob type
4737 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4738 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4740 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_equalp (long tc, SCM (*equalp) (SCM, SCM))
4741 This function sets the smob equality-testing predicate for the
4742 smob type specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4743 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4745 *** Macro: void SCM_NEWSMOB (SCM var, long tc, void *data)
4746 Make VALUE contain a smob instance of the type with type code TC and
4747 smob data DATA. VALUE must be previously declared as C type `SCM'.
4749 *** Macro: fn_returns SCM_RETURN_NEWSMOB (long tc, void *data)
4750 This macro expands to a block of code that creates a smob instance
4751 of the type with type code TC and smob data DATA, and returns that
4752 `SCM' value. It should be the last piece of code in a block.
4754 ** The interfaces for using I/O ports and implementing port types
4755 (ptobs) have changed significantly. The new interface is based on
4756 shared access to buffers and a new set of ptob procedures.
4758 *** scm_newptob has been removed
4762 *** Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (type_name, fill_buffer, write_flush)
4764 - Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (char *type_name,
4765 int (*fill_buffer) (SCM port),
4766 void (*write_flush) (SCM port));
4768 Similarly to the new smob interface, there is a set of function
4769 setters by which the user can customize the behaviour of his port
4770 type. See ports.h (scm_set_port_XXX).
4772 ** scm_strport_to_string: New function: creates a new string from
4773 a string port's buffer.
4775 ** Plug in interface for random number generators
4776 The variable `scm_the_rng' in random.c contains a value and three
4777 function pointers which together define the current random number
4778 generator being used by the Scheme level interface and the random
4779 number library functions.
4781 The user is free to replace the default generator with the generator
4784 *** Variable: size_t scm_the_rng.rstate_size
4785 The size of the random state type used by the current RNG
4788 *** Function: unsigned long scm_the_rng.random_bits (scm_rstate *STATE)
4789 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
4791 *** Function: void scm_the_rng.init_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE, chars *S, int N)
4792 Seed random state STATE using string S of length N.
4794 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_the_rng.copy_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE)
4795 Given random state STATE, return a malloced copy.
4798 The default RNG is the MWC (Multiply With Carry) random number
4799 generator described by George Marsaglia at the Department of
4800 Statistics and Supercomputer Computations Research Institute, The
4801 Florida State University (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo).
4803 It uses 64 bits, has a period of 4578426017172946943 (4.6e18), and
4804 passes all tests in the DIEHARD test suite
4805 (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo/diehard.html). The generation of 32 bits
4806 costs one multiply and one add on platforms which either supports long
4807 longs (gcc does this on most systems) or have 64 bit longs. The cost
4808 is four multiply on other systems but this can be optimized by writing
4809 scm_i_uniform32 in assembler.
4811 These functions are provided through the scm_the_rng interface for use
4812 by libguile and the application.
4814 *** Function: unsigned long scm_i_uniform32 (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
4815 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
4816 Don't use this function directly. Instead go through the plugin
4817 interface (see "Plug in interface" above).
4819 *** Function: void scm_i_init_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE, char *SEED, int N)
4820 Initialize STATE using SEED of length N.
4822 *** Function: scm_i_rstate *scm_i_copy_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
4823 Return a malloc:ed copy of STATE. This function can easily be re-used
4824 in the interfaces to other RNGs.
4826 ** Random number library functions
4827 These functions use the current RNG through the scm_the_rng interface.
4828 It might be a good idea to use these functions from your C code so
4829 that only one random generator is used by all code in your program.
4831 The default random state is stored in:
4833 *** Variable: SCM scm_var_random_state
4834 Contains the vcell of the Scheme variable "*random-state*" which is
4835 used as default state by all random number functions in the Scheme
4840 double x = scm_c_uniform01 (SCM_RSTATE (SCM_CDR (scm_var_random_state)));
4842 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_default_rstate (void)
4843 This is a convenience function which returns the value of
4844 scm_var_random_state. An error message is generated if this value
4845 isn't a random state.
4847 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_make_rstate (char *SEED, int LENGTH)
4848 Make a new random state from the string SEED of length LENGTH.
4850 It is generally not a good idea to use multiple random states in a
4851 program. While subsequent random numbers generated from one random
4852 state are guaranteed to be reasonably independent, there is no such
4853 guarantee for numbers generated from different random states.
4855 *** Macro: unsigned long scm_c_uniform32 (scm_rstate *STATE)
4856 Return 32 random bits.
4858 *** Function: double scm_c_uniform01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
4859 Return a sample from the uniform(0,1) distribution.
4861 *** Function: double scm_c_normal01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
4862 Return a sample from the normal(0,1) distribution.
4864 *** Function: double scm_c_exp1 (scm_rstate *STATE)
4865 Return a sample from the exp(1) distribution.
4867 *** Function: unsigned long scm_c_random (scm_rstate *STATE, unsigned long M)
4868 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
4870 *** Function: SCM scm_c_random_bignum (scm_rstate *STATE, SCM M)
4871 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
4872 M must be a bignum object. The returned value may be an INUM.
4876 Changes in Guile 1.3 (released Monday, October 19, 1998):
4878 * Changes to the distribution
4880 ** We renamed the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable to GUILE_LOAD_PATH.
4881 To avoid conflicts, programs should name environment variables after
4882 themselves, except when there's a common practice establishing some
4885 For now, Guile supports both GUILE_LOAD_PATH and SCHEME_LOAD_PATH,
4886 giving the former precedence, and printing a warning message if the
4887 latter is set. Guile 1.4 will not recognize SCHEME_LOAD_PATH at all.
4889 ** The header files related to multi-byte characters have been removed.
4890 They were: libguile/extchrs.h and libguile/mbstrings.h. Any C code
4891 which referred to these explicitly will probably need to be rewritten,
4892 since the support for the variant string types has been removed; see
4895 ** The header files append.h and sequences.h have been removed. These
4896 files implemented non-R4RS operations which would encourage
4897 non-portable programming style and less easy-to-read code.
4899 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
4901 ** New procedures have been added to implement a "batch mode":
4903 *** Function: batch-mode?
4905 Returns a boolean indicating whether the interpreter is in batch
4908 *** Function: set-batch-mode?! ARG
4910 If ARG is true, switches the interpreter to batch mode. The `#f'
4911 case has not been implemented.
4913 ** Guile now provides full command-line editing, when run interactively.
4914 To use this feature, you must have the readline library installed.
4915 The Guile build process will notice it, and automatically include
4918 The readline library is available via anonymous FTP from any GNU
4919 mirror site; the canonical location is "ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu".
4921 ** the-last-stack is now a fluid.
4923 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
4925 ** You can now use the `guile-config' utility to build programs that use Guile.
4927 Guile now includes a command-line utility called `guile-config', which
4928 can provide information about how to compile and link programs that
4931 *** `guile-config compile' prints any C compiler flags needed to use Guile.
4932 You should include this command's output on the command line you use
4933 to compile C or C++ code that #includes the Guile header files. It's
4934 usually just a `-I' flag to help the compiler find the Guile headers.
4937 *** `guile-config link' prints any linker flags necessary to link with Guile.
4939 This command writes to its standard output a list of flags which you
4940 must pass to the linker to link your code against the Guile library.
4941 The flags include '-lguile' itself, any other libraries the Guile
4942 library depends upon, and any `-L' flags needed to help the linker
4943 find those libraries.
4945 For example, here is a Makefile rule that builds a program named 'foo'
4946 from the object files ${FOO_OBJECTS}, and links them against Guile:
4949 ${CC} ${CFLAGS} ${FOO_OBJECTS} `guile-config link` -o foo
4951 Previous Guile releases recommended that you use autoconf to detect
4952 which of a predefined set of libraries were present on your system.
4953 It is more robust to use `guile-config', since it records exactly which
4954 libraries the installed Guile library requires.
4956 This was originally called `build-guile', but was renamed to
4957 `guile-config' before Guile 1.3 was released, to be consistent with
4958 the analogous script for the GTK+ GUI toolkit, which is called
4962 ** Use the GUILE_FLAGS macro in your configure.in file to find Guile.
4964 If you are using the GNU autoconf package to configure your program,
4965 you can use the GUILE_FLAGS autoconf macro to call `guile-config'
4966 (described above) and gather the necessary values for use in your
4969 The GUILE_FLAGS macro expands to configure script code which runs the
4970 `guile-config' script, to find out where Guile's header files and
4971 libraries are installed. It sets two variables, marked for
4972 substitution, as by AC_SUBST.
4974 GUILE_CFLAGS --- flags to pass to a C or C++ compiler to build
4975 code that uses Guile header files. This is almost always just a
4978 GUILE_LDFLAGS --- flags to pass to the linker to link a
4979 program against Guile. This includes `-lguile' for the Guile
4980 library itself, any libraries that Guile itself requires (like
4981 -lqthreads), and so on. It may also include a -L flag to tell the
4982 compiler where to find the libraries.
4984 GUILE_FLAGS is defined in the file guile.m4, in the top-level
4985 directory of the Guile distribution. You can copy it into your
4986 package's aclocal.m4 file, and then use it in your configure.in file.
4988 If you are using the `aclocal' program, distributed with GNU automake,
4989 to maintain your aclocal.m4 file, the Guile installation process
4990 installs guile.m4 where aclocal will find it. All you need to do is
4991 use GUILE_FLAGS in your configure.in file, and then run `aclocal';
4992 this will copy the definition of GUILE_FLAGS into your aclocal.m4
4996 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
4998 ** Multi-byte strings have been removed, as have multi-byte and wide
4999 ports. We felt that these were the wrong approach to
5000 internationalization support.
5002 ** New function: readline [PROMPT]
5003 Read a line from the terminal, and allow the user to edit it,
5004 prompting with PROMPT. READLINE provides a large set of Emacs-like
5005 editing commands, lets the user recall previously typed lines, and
5006 works on almost every kind of terminal, including dumb terminals.
5008 READLINE assumes that the cursor is at the beginning of the line when
5009 it is invoked. Thus, you can't print a prompt yourself, and then call
5010 READLINE; you need to package up your prompt as a string, pass it to
5011 the function, and let READLINE print the prompt itself. This is
5012 because READLINE needs to know the prompt's screen width.
5014 For Guile to provide this function, you must have the readline
5015 library, version 2.1 or later, installed on your system. Readline is
5016 available via anonymous FTP from prep.ai.mit.edu in pub/gnu, or from
5017 any GNU mirror site.
5019 See also ADD-HISTORY function.
5021 ** New function: add-history STRING
5022 Add STRING as the most recent line in the history used by the READLINE
5023 command. READLINE does not add lines to the history itself; you must
5024 call ADD-HISTORY to make previous input available to the user.
5026 ** The behavior of the read-line function has changed.
5028 This function now uses standard C library functions to read the line,
5029 for speed. This means that it doesn not respect the value of
5030 scm-line-incrementors; it assumes that lines are delimited with
5033 (Note that this is read-line, the function that reads a line of text
5034 from a port, not readline, the function that reads a line from a
5035 terminal, providing full editing capabilities.)
5037 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style): Parse command-line arguments.
5039 This module provides some simple argument parsing. It exports one
5042 Function: getopt-gnu-style ARG-LS
5043 Parse a list of program arguments into an alist of option
5046 Each item in the list of program arguments is examined to see if
5047 it meets the syntax of a GNU long-named option. An argument like
5048 `--MUMBLE' produces an element of the form (MUMBLE . #t) in the
5049 returned alist, where MUMBLE is a keyword object with the same
5050 name as the argument. An argument like `--MUMBLE=FROB' produces
5051 an element of the form (MUMBLE . FROB), where FROB is a string.
5053 As a special case, the returned alist also contains a pair whose
5054 car is the symbol `rest'. The cdr of this pair is a list
5055 containing all the items in the argument list that are not options
5056 of the form mentioned above.
5058 The argument `--' is treated specially: all items in the argument
5059 list appearing after such an argument are not examined, and are
5060 returned in the special `rest' list.
5062 This function does not parse normal single-character switches.
5063 You will need to parse them out of the `rest' list yourself.
5065 ** The read syntax for byte vectors and short vectors has changed.
5067 Instead of #bytes(...), write #y(...).
5069 Instead of #short(...), write #h(...).
5071 This may seem nutty, but, like the other uniform vectors, byte vectors
5072 and short vectors want to have the same print and read syntax (and,
5073 more basic, want to have read syntax!). Changing the read syntax to
5074 use multiple characters after the hash sign breaks with the
5075 conventions used in R5RS and the conventions used for the other
5076 uniform vectors. It also introduces complexity in the current reader,
5077 both on the C and Scheme levels. (The Right solution is probably to
5078 change the syntax and prototypes for uniform vectors entirely.)
5081 ** The new module (ice-9 session) provides useful interactive functions.
5083 *** New procedure: (apropos REGEXP OPTION ...)
5085 Display a list of top-level variables whose names match REGEXP, and
5086 the modules they are imported from. Each OPTION should be one of the
5089 value --- Show the value of each matching variable.
5090 shadow --- Show bindings shadowed by subsequently imported modules.
5091 full --- Same as both `shadow' and `value'.
5095 guile> (apropos "trace" 'full)
5096 debug: trace #<procedure trace args>
5097 debug: untrace #<procedure untrace args>
5098 the-scm-module: display-backtrace #<compiled-closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>
5099 the-scm-module: before-backtrace-hook ()
5100 the-scm-module: backtrace #<primitive-procedure backtrace>
5101 the-scm-module: after-backtrace-hook ()
5102 the-scm-module: has-shown-backtrace-hint? #f
5105 ** There are new functions and syntax for working with macros.
5107 Guile implements macros as a special object type. Any variable whose
5108 top-level binding is a macro object acts as a macro. The macro object
5109 specifies how the expression should be transformed before evaluation.
5111 *** Macro objects now print in a reasonable way, resembling procedures.
5113 *** New function: (macro? OBJ)
5114 True iff OBJ is a macro object.
5116 *** New function: (primitive-macro? OBJ)
5117 Like (macro? OBJ), but true only if OBJ is one of the Guile primitive
5118 macro transformers, implemented in eval.c rather than Scheme code.
5120 Why do we have this function?
5121 - For symmetry with procedure? and primitive-procedure?,
5122 - to allow custom print procedures to tell whether a macro is
5123 primitive, and display it differently, and
5124 - to allow compilers and user-written evaluators to distinguish
5125 builtin special forms from user-defined ones, which could be
5128 *** New function: (macro-type OBJ)
5129 Return a value indicating what kind of macro OBJ is. Possible return
5132 The symbol `syntax' --- a macro created by procedure->syntax.
5133 The symbol `macro' --- a macro created by procedure->macro.
5134 The symbol `macro!' --- a macro created by procedure->memoizing-macro.
5135 The boolean #f --- if OBJ is not a macro object.
5137 *** New function: (macro-name MACRO)
5138 Return the name of the macro object MACRO's procedure, as returned by
5141 *** New function: (macro-transformer MACRO)
5142 Return the transformer procedure for MACRO.
5144 *** New syntax: (use-syntax MODULE ... TRANSFORMER)
5146 Specify a new macro expander to use in the current module. Each
5147 MODULE is a module name, with the same meaning as in the `use-modules'
5148 form; each named module's exported bindings are added to the current
5149 top-level environment. TRANSFORMER is an expression evaluated in the
5150 resulting environment which must yield a procedure to use as the
5151 module's eval transformer: every expression evaluated in this module
5152 is passed to this function, and the result passed to the Guile
5155 *** macro-eval! is removed. Use local-eval instead.
5157 ** Some magic has been added to the printer to better handle user
5158 written printing routines (like record printers, closure printers).
5160 The problem is that these user written routines must have access to
5161 the current `print-state' to be able to handle fancy things like
5162 detection of circular references. These print-states have to be
5163 passed to the builtin printing routines (display, write, etc) to
5164 properly continue the print chain.
5166 We didn't want to change all existing print code so that it
5167 explicitly passes thru a print state in addition to a port. Instead,
5168 we extented the possible values that the builtin printing routines
5169 accept as a `port'. In addition to a normal port, they now also take
5170 a pair of a normal port and a print-state. Printing will go to the
5171 port and the print-state will be used to control the detection of
5172 circular references, etc. If the builtin function does not care for a
5173 print-state, it is simply ignored.
5175 User written callbacks are now called with such a pair as their
5176 `port', but because every function now accepts this pair as a PORT
5177 argument, you don't have to worry about that. In fact, it is probably
5178 safest to not check for these pairs.
5180 However, it is sometimes necessary to continue a print chain on a
5181 different port, for example to get a intermediate string
5182 representation of the printed value, mangle that string somehow, and
5183 then to finally print the mangled string. Use the new function
5185 inherit-print-state OLD-PORT NEW-PORT
5187 for this. It constructs a new `port' that prints to NEW-PORT but
5188 inherits the print-state of OLD-PORT.
5190 ** struct-vtable-offset renamed to vtable-offset-user
5192 ** New constants: vtable-index-layout, vtable-index-vtable, vtable-index-printer
5194 ** There is now a third optional argument to make-vtable-vtable
5195 (and fourth to make-struct) when constructing new types (vtables).
5196 This argument initializes field vtable-index-printer of the vtable.
5198 ** The detection of circular references has been extended to structs.
5199 That is, a structure that -- in the process of being printed -- prints
5200 itself does not lead to infinite recursion.
5202 ** There is now some basic support for fluids. Please read
5203 "libguile/fluid.h" to find out more. It is accessible from Scheme with
5204 the following functions and macros:
5206 Function: make-fluid
5208 Create a new fluid object. Fluids are not special variables or
5209 some other extension to the semantics of Scheme, but rather
5210 ordinary Scheme objects. You can store them into variables (that
5211 are still lexically scoped, of course) or into any other place you
5212 like. Every fluid has a initial value of `#f'.
5214 Function: fluid? OBJ
5216 Test whether OBJ is a fluid.
5218 Function: fluid-ref FLUID
5219 Function: fluid-set! FLUID VAL
5221 Access/modify the fluid FLUID. Modifications are only visible
5222 within the current dynamic root (that includes threads).
5224 Function: with-fluids* FLUIDS VALUES THUNK
5226 FLUIDS is a list of fluids and VALUES a corresponding list of
5227 values for these fluids. Before THUNK gets called the values are
5228 installed in the fluids and the old values of the fluids are
5229 saved in the VALUES list. When the flow of control leaves THUNK
5230 or reenters it, the values get swapped again. You might think of
5231 this as a `safe-fluid-excursion'. Note that the VALUES list is
5232 modified by `with-fluids*'.
5234 Macro: with-fluids ((FLUID VALUE) ...) FORM ...
5236 The same as `with-fluids*' but with a different syntax. It looks
5237 just like `let', but both FLUID and VALUE are evaluated. Remember,
5238 fluids are not special variables but ordinary objects. FLUID
5239 should evaluate to a fluid.
5241 ** Changes to system call interfaces:
5243 *** close-port, close-input-port and close-output-port now return a
5244 boolean instead of an `unspecified' object. #t means that the port
5245 was successfully closed, while #f means it was already closed. It is
5246 also now possible for these procedures to raise an exception if an
5247 error occurs (some errors from write can be delayed until close.)
5249 *** the first argument to chmod, fcntl, ftell and fseek can now be a
5252 *** the third argument to fcntl is now optional.
5254 *** the first argument to chown can now be a file descriptor or a port.
5256 *** the argument to stat can now be a port.
5258 *** The following new procedures have been added (most use scsh
5261 *** procedure: close PORT/FD
5262 Similar to close-port (*note close-port: Closing Ports.), but also
5263 works on file descriptors. A side effect of closing a file
5264 descriptor is that any ports using that file descriptor are moved
5265 to a different file descriptor and have their revealed counts set
5268 *** procedure: port->fdes PORT
5269 Returns the integer file descriptor underlying PORT. As a side
5270 effect the revealed count of PORT is incremented.
5272 *** procedure: fdes->ports FDES
5273 Returns a list of existing ports which have FDES as an underlying
5274 file descriptor, without changing their revealed counts.
5276 *** procedure: fdes->inport FDES
5277 Returns an existing input port which has FDES as its underlying
5278 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
5279 Otherwise, returns a new input port with a revealed count of 1.
5281 *** procedure: fdes->outport FDES
5282 Returns an existing output port which has FDES as its underlying
5283 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
5284 Otherwise, returns a new output port with a revealed count of 1.
5286 The next group of procedures perform a `dup2' system call, if NEWFD
5287 (an integer) is supplied, otherwise a `dup'. The file descriptor to be
5288 duplicated can be supplied as an integer or contained in a port. The
5289 type of value returned varies depending on which procedure is used.
5291 All procedures also have the side effect when performing `dup2' that
5292 any ports using NEWFD are moved to a different file descriptor and have
5293 their revealed counts set to zero.
5295 *** procedure: dup->fdes PORT/FD [NEWFD]
5296 Returns an integer file descriptor.
5298 *** procedure: dup->inport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
5299 Returns a new input port using the new file descriptor.
5301 *** procedure: dup->outport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
5302 Returns a new output port using the new file descriptor.
5304 *** procedure: dup PORT/FD [NEWFD]
5305 Returns a new port if PORT/FD is a port, with the same mode as the
5306 supplied port, otherwise returns an integer file descriptor.
5308 *** procedure: dup->port PORT/FD MODE [NEWFD]
5309 Returns a new port using the new file descriptor. MODE supplies a
5310 mode string for the port (*note open-file: File Ports.).
5312 *** procedure: setenv NAME VALUE
5313 Modifies the environment of the current process, which is also the
5314 default environment inherited by child processes.
5316 If VALUE is `#f', then NAME is removed from the environment.
5317 Otherwise, the string NAME=VALUE is added to the environment,
5318 replacing any existing string with name matching NAME.
5320 The return value is unspecified.
5322 *** procedure: truncate-file OBJ SIZE
5323 Truncates the file referred to by OBJ to at most SIZE bytes. OBJ
5324 can be a string containing a file name or an integer file
5325 descriptor or port open for output on the file. The underlying
5326 system calls are `truncate' and `ftruncate'.
5328 The return value is unspecified.
5330 *** procedure: setvbuf PORT MODE [SIZE]
5331 Set the buffering mode for PORT. MODE can be:
5339 block buffered, using a newly allocated buffer of SIZE bytes.
5340 However if SIZE is zero or unspecified, the port will be made
5343 This procedure should not be used after I/O has been performed with
5346 Ports are usually block buffered by default, with a default buffer
5347 size. Procedures e.g., *Note open-file: File Ports, which accept a
5348 mode string allow `0' to be added to request an unbuffered port.
5350 *** procedure: fsync PORT/FD
5351 Copies any unwritten data for the specified output file descriptor
5352 to disk. If PORT/FD is a port, its buffer is flushed before the
5353 underlying file descriptor is fsync'd. The return value is
5356 *** procedure: open-fdes PATH FLAGS [MODES]
5357 Similar to `open' but returns a file descriptor instead of a port.
5359 *** procedure: execle PATH ENV [ARG] ...
5360 Similar to `execl', but the environment of the new process is
5361 specified by ENV, which must be a list of strings as returned by
5362 the `environ' procedure.
5364 This procedure is currently implemented using the `execve' system
5365 call, but we call it `execle' because of its Scheme calling
5368 *** procedure: strerror ERRNO
5369 Returns the Unix error message corresponding to ERRNO, an integer.
5371 *** procedure: primitive-exit [STATUS]
5372 Terminate the current process without unwinding the Scheme stack.
5373 This is would typically be useful after a fork. The exit status
5374 is STATUS if supplied, otherwise zero.
5376 *** procedure: times
5377 Returns an object with information about real and processor time.
5378 The following procedures accept such an object as an argument and
5379 return a selected component:
5382 The current real time, expressed as time units relative to an
5386 The CPU time units used by the calling process.
5389 The CPU time units used by the system on behalf of the
5393 The CPU time units used by terminated child processes of the
5394 calling process, whose status has been collected (e.g., using
5398 Similarly, the CPU times units used by the system on behalf of
5399 terminated child processes.
5401 ** Removed: list-length
5402 ** Removed: list-append, list-append!
5403 ** Removed: list-reverse, list-reverse!
5405 ** array-map renamed to array-map!
5407 ** serial-array-map renamed to serial-array-map!
5409 ** catch doesn't take #f as first argument any longer
5411 Previously, it was possible to pass #f instead of a key to `catch'.
5412 That would cause `catch' to pass a jump buffer object to the procedure
5413 passed as second argument. The procedure could then use this jump
5414 buffer objekt as an argument to throw.
5416 This mechanism has been removed since its utility doesn't motivate the
5417 extra complexity it introduces.
5419 ** The `#/' notation for lists now provokes a warning message from Guile.
5420 This syntax will be removed from Guile in the near future.
5422 To disable the warning message, set the GUILE_HUSH environment
5423 variable to any non-empty value.
5425 ** The newline character now prints as `#\newline', following the
5426 normal Scheme notation, not `#\nl'.
5428 * Changes to the gh_ interface
5430 ** The gh_enter function now takes care of loading the Guile startup files.
5431 gh_enter works by calling scm_boot_guile; see the remarks below.
5433 ** Function: void gh_write (SCM x)
5435 Write the printed representation of the scheme object x to the current
5436 output port. Corresponds to the scheme level `write'.
5438 ** gh_list_length renamed to gh_length.
5440 ** vector handling routines
5442 Several major changes. In particular, gh_vector() now resembles
5443 (vector ...) (with a caveat -- see manual), and gh_make_vector() now
5444 exists and behaves like (make-vector ...). gh_vset() and gh_vref()
5445 have been renamed gh_vector_set_x() and gh_vector_ref(). Some missing
5446 vector-related gh_ functions have been implemented.
5448 ** pair and list routines
5450 Implemented several of the R4RS pair and list functions that were
5453 ** gh_scm2doubles, gh_doubles2scm, gh_doubles2dvect
5455 New function. Converts double arrays back and forth between Scheme
5458 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5460 ** The function scm_boot_guile now takes care of loading the startup files.
5462 Guile's primary initialization function, scm_boot_guile, now takes
5463 care of loading `boot-9.scm', in the `ice-9' module, to initialize
5464 Guile, define the module system, and put together some standard
5465 bindings. It also loads `init.scm', which is intended to hold
5466 site-specific initialization code.
5468 Since Guile cannot operate properly until boot-9.scm is loaded, there
5469 is no reason to separate loading boot-9.scm from Guile's other
5470 initialization processes.
5472 This job used to be done by scm_compile_shell_switches, which didn't
5473 make much sense; in particular, it meant that people using Guile for
5474 non-shell-like applications had to jump through hoops to get Guile
5475 initialized properly.
5477 ** The function scm_compile_shell_switches no longer loads the startup files.
5478 Now, Guile always loads the startup files, whenever it is initialized;
5479 see the notes above for scm_boot_guile and scm_load_startup_files.
5481 ** Function: scm_load_startup_files
5482 This new function takes care of loading Guile's initialization file
5483 (`boot-9.scm'), and the site initialization file, `init.scm'. Since
5484 this is always called by the Guile initialization process, it's
5485 probably not too useful to call this yourself, but it's there anyway.
5487 ** The semantics of smob marking have changed slightly.
5489 The smob marking function (the `mark' member of the scm_smobfuns
5490 structure) is no longer responsible for setting the mark bit on the
5491 smob. The generic smob handling code in the garbage collector will
5492 set this bit. The mark function need only ensure that any other
5493 objects the smob refers to get marked.
5495 Note that this change means that the smob's GC8MARK bit is typically
5496 already set upon entry to the mark function. Thus, marking functions
5497 which look like this:
5500 if (SCM_GC8MARKP (ptr))
5502 SCM_SETGC8MARK (ptr);
5503 ... mark objects to which the smob refers ...
5506 are now incorrect, since they will return early, and fail to mark any
5507 other objects the smob refers to. Some code in the Guile library used
5510 ** The semantics of the I/O port functions in scm_ptobfuns have changed.
5512 If you have implemented your own I/O port type, by writing the
5513 functions required by the scm_ptobfuns and then calling scm_newptob,
5514 you will need to change your functions slightly.
5516 The functions in a scm_ptobfuns structure now expect the port itself
5517 as their argument; they used to expect the `stream' member of the
5518 port's scm_port_table structure. This allows functions in an
5519 scm_ptobfuns structure to easily access the port's cell (and any flags
5520 it its CAR), and the port's scm_port_table structure.
5522 Guile now passes the I/O port itself as the `port' argument in the
5523 following scm_ptobfuns functions:
5525 int (*free) (SCM port);
5526 int (*fputc) (int, SCM port);
5527 int (*fputs) (char *, SCM port);
5528 scm_sizet (*fwrite) SCM_P ((char *ptr,
5532 int (*fflush) (SCM port);
5533 int (*fgetc) (SCM port);
5534 int (*fclose) (SCM port);
5536 The interfaces to the `mark', `print', `equalp', and `fgets' methods
5539 If you have existing code which defines its own port types, it is easy
5540 to convert your code to the new interface; simply apply SCM_STREAM to
5541 the port argument to yield the value you code used to expect.
5543 Note that since both the port and the stream have the same type in the
5544 C code --- they are both SCM values --- the C compiler will not remind
5545 you if you forget to update your scm_ptobfuns functions.
5548 ** Function: int scm_internal_select (int fds,
5552 struct timeval *timeout);
5554 This is a replacement for the `select' function provided by the OS.
5555 It enables I/O blocking and sleeping to happen for one cooperative
5556 thread without blocking other threads. It also avoids busy-loops in
5557 these situations. It is intended that all I/O blocking and sleeping
5558 will finally go through this function. Currently, this function is
5559 only available on systems providing `gettimeofday' and `select'.
5561 ** Function: SCM scm_internal_stack_catch (SCM tag,
5562 scm_catch_body_t body,
5564 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
5567 A new sibling to the other two C level `catch' functions
5568 scm_internal_catch and scm_internal_lazy_catch. Use it if you want
5569 the stack to be saved automatically into the variable `the-last-stack'
5570 (scm_the_last_stack_var) on error. This is necessary if you want to
5571 use advanced error reporting, such as calling scm_display_error and
5572 scm_display_backtrace. (They both take a stack object as argument.)
5574 ** Function: SCM scm_spawn_thread (scm_catch_body_t body,
5576 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
5579 Spawns a new thread. It does a job similar to
5580 scm_call_with_new_thread but takes arguments more suitable when
5581 spawning threads from application C code.
5583 ** The hook scm_error_callback has been removed. It was originally
5584 intended as a way for the user to install his own error handler. But
5585 that method works badly since it intervenes between throw and catch,
5586 thereby changing the semantics of expressions like (catch #t ...).
5587 The correct way to do it is to use one of the C level catch functions
5588 in throw.c: scm_internal_catch/lazy_catch/stack_catch.
5590 ** Removed functions:
5592 scm_obj_length, scm_list_length, scm_list_append, scm_list_append_x,
5593 scm_list_reverse, scm_list_reverse_x
5595 ** New macros: SCM_LISTn where n is one of the integers 0-9.
5597 These can be used for pretty list creation from C. The idea is taken
5598 from Erick Gallesio's STk.
5600 ** scm_array_map renamed to scm_array_map_x
5602 ** mbstrings are now removed
5604 This means that the type codes scm_tc7_mb_string and
5605 scm_tc7_mb_substring has been removed.
5607 ** scm_gen_putc, scm_gen_puts, scm_gen_write, and scm_gen_getc have changed.
5609 Since we no longer support multi-byte strings, these I/O functions
5610 have been simplified, and renamed. Here are their old names, and
5611 their new names and arguments:
5613 scm_gen_putc -> void scm_putc (int c, SCM port);
5614 scm_gen_puts -> void scm_puts (char *s, SCM port);
5615 scm_gen_write -> void scm_lfwrite (char *ptr, scm_sizet size, SCM port);
5616 scm_gen_getc -> void scm_getc (SCM port);
5619 ** The macros SCM_TYP7D and SCM_TYP7SD has been removed.
5621 ** The macro SCM_TYP7S has taken the role of the old SCM_TYP7D
5623 SCM_TYP7S now masks away the bit which distinguishes substrings from
5626 ** scm_catch_body_t: Backward incompatible change!
5628 Body functions to scm_internal_catch and friends do not any longer
5629 take a second argument. This is because it is no longer possible to
5630 pass a #f arg to catch.
5632 ** Calls to scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect now nest properly.
5634 The function scm_protect_object protects its argument from being freed
5635 by the garbage collector. scm_unprotect_object removes that
5638 These functions now nest properly. That is, for every object O, there
5639 is a counter which scm_protect_object(O) increments and
5640 scm_unprotect_object(O) decrements, if the counter is greater than
5641 zero. Every object's counter is zero when it is first created. If an
5642 object's counter is greater than zero, the garbage collector will not
5643 reclaim its storage.
5645 This allows you to use scm_protect_object in your code without
5646 worrying that some other function you call will call
5647 scm_unprotect_object, and allow it to be freed. Assuming that the
5648 functions you call are well-behaved, and unprotect only those objects
5649 they protect, you can follow the same rule and have confidence that
5650 objects will be freed only at appropriate times.
5653 Changes in Guile 1.2 (released Tuesday, June 24 1997):
5655 * Changes to the distribution
5657 ** Nightly snapshots are now available from ftp.red-bean.com.
5658 The old server, ftp.cyclic.com, has been relinquished to its rightful
5661 Nightly snapshots of the Guile development sources are now available via
5662 anonymous FTP from ftp.red-bean.com, as /pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz.
5664 Via the web, that's: ftp://ftp.red-bean.com/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
5665 For getit, that's: ftp.red-bean.com:/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
5667 ** To run Guile without installing it, the procedure has changed a bit.
5669 If you used a separate build directory to compile Guile, you'll need
5670 to include the build directory in SCHEME_LOAD_PATH, as well as the
5671 source directory. See the `INSTALL' file for examples.
5673 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
5675 ** The standard Guile load path for Scheme code now includes
5676 $(datadir)/guile (usually /usr/local/share/guile). This means that
5677 you can install your own Scheme files there, and Guile will find them.
5678 (Previous versions of Guile only checked a directory whose name
5679 contained the Guile version number, so you had to re-install or move
5680 your Scheme sources each time you installed a fresh version of Guile.)
5682 The load path also includes $(datadir)/guile/site; we recommend
5683 putting individual Scheme files there. If you want to install a
5684 package with multiple source files, create a directory for them under
5687 ** Guile 1.2 will now use the Rx regular expression library, if it is
5688 installed on your system. When you are linking libguile into your own
5689 programs, this means you will have to link against -lguile, -lqt (if
5690 you configured Guile with thread support), and -lrx.
5692 If you are using autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your
5693 application, the following lines should suffice to add the appropriate
5694 libraries to your link command:
5696 ### Find Rx, quickthreads and libguile.
5697 AC_CHECK_LIB(rx, main)
5698 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
5699 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
5701 The Guile 1.2 distribution does not contain sources for the Rx
5702 library, as Guile 1.0 did. If you want to use Rx, you'll need to
5703 retrieve it from a GNU FTP site and install it separately.
5705 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
5707 ** The dynamic linking features of Guile are now enabled by default.
5708 You can disable them by giving the `--disable-dynamic-linking' option
5711 (dynamic-link FILENAME)
5713 Find the object file denoted by FILENAME (a string) and link it
5714 into the running Guile application. When everything works out,
5715 return a Scheme object suitable for representing the linked object
5716 file. Otherwise an error is thrown. How object files are
5717 searched is system dependent.
5719 (dynamic-object? VAL)
5721 Determine whether VAL represents a dynamically linked object file.
5723 (dynamic-unlink DYNOBJ)
5725 Unlink the indicated object file from the application. DYNOBJ
5726 should be one of the values returned by `dynamic-link'.
5728 (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
5730 Search the C function indicated by FUNCTION (a string or symbol)
5731 in DYNOBJ and return some Scheme object that can later be used
5732 with `dynamic-call' to actually call this function. Right now,
5733 these Scheme objects are formed by casting the address of the
5734 function to `long' and converting this number to its Scheme
5737 (dynamic-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
5739 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ. The
5740 function is passed no arguments and its return value is ignored.
5741 When FUNCTION is something returned by `dynamic-func', call that
5742 function and ignore DYNOBJ. When FUNCTION is a string (or symbol,
5743 etc.), look it up in DYNOBJ; this is equivalent to
5745 (dynamic-call (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ) #f)
5747 Interrupts are deferred while the C function is executing (with
5748 SCM_DEFER_INTS/SCM_ALLOW_INTS).
5750 (dynamic-args-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ ARGS)
5752 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ, but pass it
5753 some arguments and return its return value. The C function is
5754 expected to take two arguments and return an `int', just like
5757 int c_func (int argc, char **argv);
5759 ARGS must be a list of strings and is converted into an array of
5760 `char *'. The array is passed in ARGV and its size in ARGC. The
5761 return value is converted to a Scheme number and returned from the
5762 call to `dynamic-args-call'.
5764 When dynamic linking is disabled or not supported on your system,
5765 the above functions throw errors, but they are still available.
5767 Here is a small example that works on GNU/Linux:
5769 (define libc-obj (dynamic-link "libc.so"))
5770 (dynamic-args-call 'rand libc-obj '())
5772 See the file `libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING' for additional comments.
5774 ** The #/ syntax for module names is depreciated, and will be removed
5775 in a future version of Guile. Instead of
5783 The latter syntax is more consistent with existing Lisp practice.
5785 ** Guile now does fancier printing of structures. Structures are the
5786 underlying implementation for records, which in turn are used to
5787 implement modules, so all of these object now print differently and in
5788 a more informative way.
5790 The Scheme printer will examine the builtin variable *struct-printer*
5791 whenever it needs to print a structure object. When this variable is
5792 not `#f' it is deemed to be a procedure and will be applied to the
5793 structure object and the output port. When *struct-printer* is `#f'
5794 or the procedure return `#f' the structure object will be printed in
5795 the boring #<struct 80458270> form.
5797 This hook is used by some routines in ice-9/boot-9.scm to implement
5798 type specific printing routines. Please read the comments there about
5801 One of the more specific uses of structs are records. The printing
5802 procedure that could be passed to MAKE-RECORD-TYPE is now actually
5803 called. It should behave like a *struct-printer* procedure (described
5806 ** Guile now supports a new R4RS-compliant syntax for keywords. A
5807 token of the form #:NAME, where NAME has the same syntax as a Scheme
5808 symbol, is the external representation of the keyword named NAME.
5809 Keyword objects print using this syntax as well, so values containing
5810 keyword objects can be read back into Guile. When used in an
5811 expression, keywords are self-quoting objects.
5813 Guile suports this read syntax, and uses this print syntax, regardless
5814 of the current setting of the `keyword' read option. The `keyword'
5815 read option only controls whether Guile recognizes the `:NAME' syntax,
5816 which is incompatible with R4RS. (R4RS says such token represent
5819 ** Guile has regular expression support again. Guile 1.0 included
5820 functions for matching regular expressions, based on the Rx library.
5821 In Guile 1.1, the Guile/Rx interface was removed to simplify the
5822 distribution, and thus Guile had no regular expression support. Guile
5823 1.2 again supports the most commonly used functions, and supports all
5824 of SCSH's regular expression functions.
5826 If your system does not include a POSIX regular expression library,
5827 and you have not linked Guile with a third-party regexp library such as
5828 Rx, these functions will not be available. You can tell whether your
5829 Guile installation includes regular expression support by checking
5830 whether the `*features*' list includes the `regex' symbol.
5832 *** regexp functions
5834 By default, Guile supports POSIX extended regular expressions. That
5835 means that the characters `(', `)', `+' and `?' are special, and must
5836 be escaped if you wish to match the literal characters.
5838 This regular expression interface was modeled after that implemented
5839 by SCSH, the Scheme Shell. It is intended to be upwardly compatible
5840 with SCSH regular expressions.
5842 **** Function: string-match PATTERN STR [START]
5843 Compile the string PATTERN into a regular expression and compare
5844 it with STR. The optional numeric argument START specifies the
5845 position of STR at which to begin matching.
5847 `string-match' returns a "match structure" which describes what,
5848 if anything, was matched by the regular expression. *Note Match
5849 Structures::. If STR does not match PATTERN at all,
5850 `string-match' returns `#f'.
5852 Each time `string-match' is called, it must compile its PATTERN
5853 argument into a regular expression structure. This operation is
5854 expensive, which makes `string-match' inefficient if the same regular
5855 expression is used several times (for example, in a loop). For better
5856 performance, you can compile a regular expression in advance and then
5857 match strings against the compiled regexp.
5859 **** Function: make-regexp STR [FLAGS]
5860 Compile the regular expression described by STR, and return the
5861 compiled regexp structure. If STR does not describe a legal
5862 regular expression, `make-regexp' throws a
5863 `regular-expression-syntax' error.
5865 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
5867 **** Constant: regexp/extended
5868 Use POSIX Extended Regular Expression syntax when interpreting
5869 STR. If not set, POSIX Basic Regular Expression syntax is used.
5870 If the FLAGS argument is omitted, we assume regexp/extended.
5872 **** Constant: regexp/icase
5873 Do not differentiate case. Subsequent searches using the
5874 returned regular expression will be case insensitive.
5876 **** Constant: regexp/newline
5877 Match-any-character operators don't match a newline.
5879 A non-matching list ([^...]) not containing a newline matches a
5882 Match-beginning-of-line operator (^) matches the empty string
5883 immediately after a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
5884 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/notbol.
5886 Match-end-of-line operator ($) matches the empty string
5887 immediately before a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
5888 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/noteol.
5890 **** Function: regexp-exec REGEXP STR [START [FLAGS]]
5891 Match the compiled regular expression REGEXP against `str'. If
5892 the optional integer START argument is provided, begin matching
5893 from that position in the string. Return a match structure
5894 describing the results of the match, or `#f' if no match could be
5897 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
5899 **** Constant: regexp/notbol
5900 The match-beginning-of-line operator always fails to match (but
5901 see the compilation flag regexp/newline above) This flag may be
5902 used when different portions of a string are passed to
5903 regexp-exec and the beginning of the string should not be
5904 interpreted as the beginning of the line.
5906 **** Constant: regexp/noteol
5907 The match-end-of-line operator always fails to match (but see the
5908 compilation flag regexp/newline above)
5910 **** Function: regexp? OBJ
5911 Return `#t' if OBJ is a compiled regular expression, or `#f'
5914 Regular expressions are commonly used to find patterns in one string
5915 and replace them with the contents of another string.
5917 **** Function: regexp-substitute PORT MATCH [ITEM...]
5918 Write to the output port PORT selected contents of the match
5919 structure MATCH. Each ITEM specifies what should be written, and
5920 may be one of the following arguments:
5922 * A string. String arguments are written out verbatim.
5924 * An integer. The submatch with that number is written.
5926 * The symbol `pre'. The portion of the matched string preceding
5927 the regexp match is written.
5929 * The symbol `post'. The portion of the matched string
5930 following the regexp match is written.
5932 PORT may be `#f', in which case nothing is written; instead,
5933 `regexp-substitute' constructs a string from the specified ITEMs
5936 **** Function: regexp-substitute/global PORT REGEXP TARGET [ITEM...]
5937 Similar to `regexp-substitute', but can be used to perform global
5938 substitutions on STR. Instead of taking a match structure as an
5939 argument, `regexp-substitute/global' takes two string arguments: a
5940 REGEXP string describing a regular expression, and a TARGET string
5941 which should be matched against this regular expression.
5943 Each ITEM behaves as in REGEXP-SUBSTITUTE, with the following
5946 * A function may be supplied. When this function is called, it
5947 will be passed one argument: a match structure for a given
5948 regular expression match. It should return a string to be
5949 written out to PORT.
5951 * The `post' symbol causes `regexp-substitute/global' to recurse
5952 on the unmatched portion of STR. This *must* be supplied in
5953 order to perform global search-and-replace on STR; if it is
5954 not present among the ITEMs, then `regexp-substitute/global'
5955 will return after processing a single match.
5957 *** Match Structures
5959 A "match structure" is the object returned by `string-match' and
5960 `regexp-exec'. It describes which portion of a string, if any, matched
5961 the given regular expression. Match structures include: a reference to
5962 the string that was checked for matches; the starting and ending
5963 positions of the regexp match; and, if the regexp included any
5964 parenthesized subexpressions, the starting and ending positions of each
5967 In each of the regexp match functions described below, the `match'
5968 argument must be a match structure returned by a previous call to
5969 `string-match' or `regexp-exec'. Most of these functions return some
5970 information about the original target string that was matched against a
5971 regular expression; we will call that string TARGET for easy reference.
5973 **** Function: regexp-match? OBJ
5974 Return `#t' if OBJ is a match structure returned by a previous
5975 call to `regexp-exec', or `#f' otherwise.
5977 **** Function: match:substring MATCH [N]
5978 Return the portion of TARGET matched by subexpression number N.
5979 Submatch 0 (the default) represents the entire regexp match. If
5980 the regular expression as a whole matched, but the subexpression
5981 number N did not match, return `#f'.
5983 **** Function: match:start MATCH [N]
5984 Return the starting position of submatch number N.
5986 **** Function: match:end MATCH [N]
5987 Return the ending position of submatch number N.
5989 **** Function: match:prefix MATCH
5990 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET preceding the regexp match.
5992 **** Function: match:suffix MATCH
5993 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET following the regexp match.
5995 **** Function: match:count MATCH
5996 Return the number of parenthesized subexpressions from MATCH.
5997 Note that the entire regular expression match itself counts as a
5998 subexpression, and failed submatches are included in the count.
6000 **** Function: match:string MATCH
6001 Return the original TARGET string.
6003 *** Backslash Escapes
6005 Sometimes you will want a regexp to match characters like `*' or `$'
6006 exactly. For example, to check whether a particular string represents
6007 a menu entry from an Info node, it would be useful to match it against
6008 a regexp like `^* [^:]*::'. However, this won't work; because the
6009 asterisk is a metacharacter, it won't match the `*' at the beginning of
6010 the string. In this case, we want to make the first asterisk un-magic.
6012 You can do this by preceding the metacharacter with a backslash
6013 character `\'. (This is also called "quoting" the metacharacter, and
6014 is known as a "backslash escape".) When Guile sees a backslash in a
6015 regular expression, it considers the following glyph to be an ordinary
6016 character, no matter what special meaning it would ordinarily have.
6017 Therefore, we can make the above example work by changing the regexp to
6018 `^\* [^:]*::'. The `\*' sequence tells the regular expression engine
6019 to match only a single asterisk in the target string.
6021 Since the backslash is itself a metacharacter, you may force a
6022 regexp to match a backslash in the target string by preceding the
6023 backslash with itself. For example, to find variable references in a
6024 TeX program, you might want to find occurrences of the string `\let\'
6025 followed by any number of alphabetic characters. The regular expression
6026 `\\let\\[A-Za-z]*' would do this: the double backslashes in the regexp
6027 each match a single backslash in the target string.
6029 **** Function: regexp-quote STR
6030 Quote each special character found in STR with a backslash, and
6031 return the resulting string.
6033 *Very important:* Using backslash escapes in Guile source code (as
6034 in Emacs Lisp or C) can be tricky, because the backslash character has
6035 special meaning for the Guile reader. For example, if Guile encounters
6036 the character sequence `\n' in the middle of a string while processing
6037 Scheme code, it replaces those characters with a newline character.
6038 Similarly, the character sequence `\t' is replaced by a horizontal tab.
6039 Several of these "escape sequences" are processed by the Guile reader
6040 before your code is executed. Unrecognized escape sequences are
6041 ignored: if the characters `\*' appear in a string, they will be
6042 translated to the single character `*'.
6044 This translation is obviously undesirable for regular expressions,
6045 since we want to be able to include backslashes in a string in order to
6046 escape regexp metacharacters. Therefore, to make sure that a backslash
6047 is preserved in a string in your Guile program, you must use *two*
6048 consecutive backslashes:
6050 (define Info-menu-entry-pattern (make-regexp "^\\* [^:]*"))
6052 The string in this example is preprocessed by the Guile reader before
6053 any code is executed. The resulting argument to `make-regexp' is the
6054 string `^\* [^:]*', which is what we really want.
6056 This also means that in order to write a regular expression that
6057 matches a single backslash character, the regular expression string in
6058 the source code must include *four* backslashes. Each consecutive pair
6059 of backslashes gets translated by the Guile reader to a single
6060 backslash, and the resulting double-backslash is interpreted by the
6061 regexp engine as matching a single backslash character. Hence:
6063 (define tex-variable-pattern (make-regexp "\\\\let\\\\=[A-Za-z]*"))
6065 The reason for the unwieldiness of this syntax is historical. Both
6066 regular expression pattern matchers and Unix string processing systems
6067 have traditionally used backslashes with the special meanings described
6068 above. The POSIX regular expression specification and ANSI C standard
6069 both require these semantics. Attempting to abandon either convention
6070 would cause other kinds of compatibility problems, possibly more severe
6071 ones. Therefore, without extending the Scheme reader to support
6072 strings with different quoting conventions (an ungainly and confusing
6073 extension when implemented in other languages), we must adhere to this
6074 cumbersome escape syntax.
6076 * Changes to the gh_ interface
6078 * Changes to the scm_ interface
6080 * Changes to system call interfaces:
6082 ** The value returned by `raise' is now unspecified. It throws an exception
6085 *** A new procedure `sigaction' can be used to install signal handlers
6087 (sigaction signum [action] [flags])
6089 signum is the signal number, which can be specified using the value
6092 If action is omitted, sigaction returns a pair: the CAR is the current
6093 signal hander, which will be either an integer with the value SIG_DFL
6094 (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or the Scheme procedure which
6095 handles the signal, or #f if a non-Scheme procedure handles the
6096 signal. The CDR contains the current sigaction flags for the handler.
6098 If action is provided, it is installed as the new handler for signum.
6099 action can be a Scheme procedure taking one argument, or the value of
6100 SIG_DFL (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or #f to restore
6101 whatever signal handler was installed before sigaction was first used.
6102 Flags can optionally be specified for the new handler (SA_RESTART is
6103 always used if the system provides it, so need not be specified.) The
6104 return value is a pair with information about the old handler as
6107 This interface does not provide access to the "signal blocking"
6108 facility. Maybe this is not needed, since the thread support may
6109 provide solutions to the problem of consistent access to data
6112 *** A new procedure `flush-all-ports' is equivalent to running
6113 `force-output' on every port open for output.
6115 ** Guile now provides information on how it was built, via the new
6116 global variable, %guile-build-info. This variable records the values
6117 of the standard GNU makefile directory variables as an assocation
6118 list, mapping variable names (symbols) onto directory paths (strings).
6119 For example, to find out where the Guile link libraries were
6120 installed, you can say:
6122 guile -c "(display (assq-ref %guile-build-info 'libdir)) (newline)"
6125 * Changes to the scm_ interface
6127 ** The new function scm_handle_by_message_noexit is just like the
6128 existing scm_handle_by_message function, except that it doesn't call
6129 exit to terminate the process. Instead, it prints a message and just
6130 returns #f. This might be a more appropriate catch-all handler for
6131 new dynamic roots and threads.
6134 Changes in Guile 1.1 (released Friday, May 16 1997):
6136 * Changes to the distribution.
6138 The Guile 1.0 distribution has been split up into several smaller
6140 guile-core --- the Guile interpreter itself.
6141 guile-tcltk --- the interface between the Guile interpreter and
6142 Tcl/Tk; Tcl is an interpreter for a stringy language, and Tk
6143 is a toolkit for building graphical user interfaces.
6144 guile-rgx-ctax --- the interface between Guile and the Rx regular
6145 expression matcher, and the translator for the Ctax
6146 programming language. These are packaged together because the
6147 Ctax translator uses Rx to parse Ctax source code.
6149 This NEWS file describes the changes made to guile-core since the 1.0
6152 We no longer distribute the documentation, since it was either out of
6153 date, or incomplete. As soon as we have current documentation, we
6158 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
6160 ** guile now accepts command-line arguments compatible with SCSH, Olin
6161 Shivers' Scheme Shell.
6163 In general, arguments are evaluated from left to right, but there are
6164 exceptions. The following switches stop argument processing, and
6165 stash all remaining command-line arguments as the value returned by
6166 the (command-line) function.
6167 -s SCRIPT load Scheme source code from FILE, and exit
6168 -c EXPR evalute Scheme expression EXPR, and exit
6169 -- stop scanning arguments; run interactively
6171 The switches below are processed as they are encountered.
6172 -l FILE load Scheme source code from FILE
6173 -e FUNCTION after reading script, apply FUNCTION to
6174 command line arguments
6175 -ds do -s script at this point
6176 --emacs enable Emacs protocol (experimental)
6177 -h, --help display this help and exit
6178 -v, --version display version information and exit
6179 \ read arguments from following script lines
6181 So, for example, here is a Guile script named `ekko' (thanks, Olin)
6182 which re-implements the traditional "echo" command:
6184 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
6187 (map (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
6191 (main (command-line))
6193 Suppose we invoke this script as follows:
6195 ekko a speckled gecko
6197 Through the magic of Unix script processing (triggered by the `#!'
6198 token at the top of the file), /usr/local/bin/guile receives the
6199 following list of command-line arguments:
6201 ("-s" "./ekko" "a" "speckled" "gecko")
6203 Unix inserts the name of the script after the argument specified on
6204 the first line of the file (in this case, "-s"), and then follows that
6205 with the arguments given to the script. Guile loads the script, which
6206 defines the `main' function, and then applies it to the list of
6207 remaining command-line arguments, ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
6209 In Unix, the first line of a script file must take the following form:
6211 #!INTERPRETER ARGUMENT
6213 where INTERPRETER is the absolute filename of the interpreter
6214 executable, and ARGUMENT is a single command-line argument to pass to
6217 You may only pass one argument to the interpreter, and its length is
6218 limited. These restrictions can be annoying to work around, so Guile
6219 provides a general mechanism (borrowed from, and compatible with,
6220 SCSH) for circumventing them.
6222 If the ARGUMENT in a Guile script is a single backslash character,
6223 `\', Guile will open the script file, parse arguments from its second
6224 and subsequent lines, and replace the `\' with them. So, for example,
6225 here is another implementation of the `ekko' script:
6227 #!/usr/local/bin/guile \
6231 (for-each (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
6235 If the user invokes this script as follows:
6237 ekko a speckled gecko
6239 Unix expands this into
6241 /usr/local/bin/guile \ ekko a speckled gecko
6243 When Guile sees the `\' argument, it replaces it with the arguments
6244 read from the second line of the script, producing:
6246 /usr/local/bin/guile -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
6248 This tells Guile to load the `ekko' script, and apply the function
6249 `main' to the argument list ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
6251 Here is how Guile parses the command-line arguments:
6252 - Each space character terminates an argument. This means that two
6253 spaces in a row introduce an empty-string argument.
6254 - The tab character is not permitted (unless you quote it with the
6255 backslash character, as described below), to avoid confusion.
6256 - The newline character terminates the sequence of arguments, and will
6257 also terminate a final non-empty argument. (However, a newline
6258 following a space will not introduce a final empty-string argument;
6259 it only terminates the argument list.)
6260 - The backslash character is the escape character. It escapes
6261 backslash, space, tab, and newline. The ANSI C escape sequences
6262 like \n and \t are also supported. These produce argument
6263 constituents; the two-character combination \n doesn't act like a
6264 terminating newline. The escape sequence \NNN for exactly three
6265 octal digits reads as the character whose ASCII code is NNN. As
6266 above, characters produced this way are argument constituents.
6267 Backslash followed by other characters is not allowed.
6269 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
6271 ** Guile now builds and installs a shared guile library, if your
6272 system support shared libraries. (It still builds a static library on
6273 all systems.) Guile automatically detects whether your system
6274 supports shared libraries. To prevent Guile from buildisg shared
6275 libraries, pass the `--disable-shared' flag to the configure script.
6277 Guile takes longer to compile when it builds shared libraries, because
6278 it must compile every file twice --- once to produce position-
6279 independent object code, and once to produce normal object code.
6281 ** The libthreads library has been merged into libguile.
6283 To link a program against Guile, you now need only link against
6284 -lguile and -lqt; -lthreads is no longer needed. If you are using
6285 autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your application, the
6286 following lines should suffice to add the appropriate libraries to
6289 ### Find quickthreads and libguile.
6290 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
6291 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
6293 * Changes to Scheme functions
6295 ** Guile Scheme's special syntax for keyword objects is now optional,
6296 and disabled by default.
6298 The syntax variation from R4RS made it difficult to port some
6299 interesting packages to Guile. The routines which accepted keyword
6300 arguments (mostly in the module system) have been modified to also
6301 accept symbols whose names begin with `:'.
6303 To change the keyword syntax, you must first import the (ice-9 debug)
6305 (use-modules (ice-9 debug))
6307 Then you can enable the keyword syntax as follows:
6308 (read-set! keywords 'prefix)
6310 To disable keyword syntax, do this:
6311 (read-set! keywords #f)
6313 ** Many more primitive functions accept shared substrings as
6314 arguments. In the past, these functions required normal, mutable
6315 strings as arguments, although they never made use of this
6318 ** The uniform array functions now operate on byte vectors. These
6319 functions are `array-fill!', `serial-array-copy!', `array-copy!',
6320 `serial-array-map', `array-map', `array-for-each', and
6323 ** The new functions `trace' and `untrace' implement simple debugging
6324 support for Scheme functions.
6326 The `trace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
6327 and tells the Guile interpreter to display each procedure's name and
6328 arguments each time the procedure is invoked. When invoked with no
6329 arguments, `trace' returns the list of procedures currently being
6332 The `untrace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
6333 and tells the Guile interpreter not to trace them any more. When
6334 invoked with no arguments, `untrace' untraces all curretly traced
6337 The tracing in Guile has an advantage over most other systems: we
6338 don't create new procedure objects, but mark the procedure objects
6339 themselves. This means that anonymous and internal procedures can be
6342 ** The function `assert-repl-prompt' has been renamed to
6343 `set-repl-prompt!'. It takes one argument, PROMPT.
6344 - If PROMPT is #f, the Guile read-eval-print loop will not prompt.
6345 - If PROMPT is a string, we use it as a prompt.
6346 - If PROMPT is a procedure accepting no arguments, we call it, and
6347 display the result as a prompt.
6348 - Otherwise, we display "> ".
6350 ** The new function `eval-string' reads Scheme expressions from a
6351 string and evaluates them, returning the value of the last expression
6352 in the string. If the string contains no expressions, it returns an
6355 ** The new function `thunk?' returns true iff its argument is a
6356 procedure of zero arguments.
6358 ** `defined?' is now a builtin function, instead of syntax. This
6359 means that its argument should be quoted. It returns #t iff its
6360 argument is bound in the current module.
6362 ** The new syntax `use-modules' allows you to add new modules to your
6363 environment without re-typing a complete `define-module' form. It
6364 accepts any number of module names as arguments, and imports their
6365 public bindings into the current module.
6367 ** The new function (module-defined? NAME MODULE) returns true iff
6368 NAME, a symbol, is defined in MODULE, a module object.
6370 ** The new function `builtin-bindings' creates and returns a hash
6371 table containing copies of all the root module's bindings.
6373 ** The new function `builtin-weak-bindings' does the same as
6374 `builtin-bindings', but creates a doubly-weak hash table.
6376 ** The `equal?' function now considers variable objects to be
6377 equivalent if they have the same name and the same value.
6379 ** The new function `command-line' returns the command-line arguments
6380 given to Guile, as a list of strings.
6382 When using guile as a script interpreter, `command-line' returns the
6383 script's arguments; those processed by the interpreter (like `-s' or
6384 `-c') are omitted. (In other words, you get the normal, expected
6385 behavior.) Any application that uses scm_shell to process its
6386 command-line arguments gets this behavior as well.
6388 ** The new function `load-user-init' looks for a file called `.guile'
6389 in the user's home directory, and loads it if it exists. This is
6390 mostly for use by the code generated by scm_compile_shell_switches,
6391 but we thought it might also be useful in other circumstances.
6393 ** The new function `log10' returns the base-10 logarithm of its
6396 ** Changes to I/O functions
6398 *** The functions `read', `primitive-load', `read-and-eval!', and
6399 `primitive-load-path' no longer take optional arguments controlling
6400 case insensitivity and a `#' parser.
6402 Case sensitivity is now controlled by a read option called
6403 `case-insensitive'. The user can add new `#' syntaxes with the
6404 `read-hash-extend' function (see below).
6406 *** The new function `read-hash-extend' allows the user to change the
6407 syntax of Guile Scheme in a somewhat controlled way.
6409 (read-hash-extend CHAR PROC)
6410 When parsing S-expressions, if we read a `#' character followed by
6411 the character CHAR, use PROC to parse an object from the stream.
6412 If PROC is #f, remove any parsing procedure registered for CHAR.
6414 The reader applies PROC to two arguments: CHAR and an input port.
6416 *** The new functions read-delimited and read-delimited! provide a
6417 general mechanism for doing delimited input on streams.
6419 (read-delimited DELIMS [PORT HANDLE-DELIM])
6420 Read until we encounter one of the characters in DELIMS (a string),
6421 or end-of-file. PORT is the input port to read from; it defaults to
6422 the current input port. The HANDLE-DELIM parameter determines how
6423 the terminating character is handled; it should be one of the
6426 'trim omit delimiter from result
6427 'peek leave delimiter character in input stream
6428 'concat append delimiter character to returned value
6429 'split return a pair: (RESULT . TERMINATOR)
6431 HANDLE-DELIM defaults to 'peek.
6433 (read-delimited! DELIMS BUF [PORT HANDLE-DELIM START END])
6434 A side-effecting variant of `read-delimited'.
6436 The data is written into the string BUF at the indices in the
6437 half-open interval [START, END); the default interval is the whole
6438 string: START = 0 and END = (string-length BUF). The values of
6439 START and END must specify a well-defined interval in BUF, i.e.
6440 0 <= START <= END <= (string-length BUF).
6442 It returns NBYTES, the number of bytes read. If the buffer filled
6443 up without a delimiter character being found, it returns #f. If the
6444 port is at EOF when the read starts, it returns the EOF object.
6446 If an integer is returned (i.e., the read is successfully terminated
6447 by reading a delimiter character), then the HANDLE-DELIM parameter
6448 determines how to handle the terminating character. It is described
6449 above, and defaults to 'peek.
6451 (The descriptions of these functions were borrowed from the SCSH
6452 manual, by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
6454 *** The `%read-delimited!' function is the primitive used to implement
6455 `read-delimited' and `read-delimited!'.
6457 (%read-delimited! DELIMS BUF GOBBLE? [PORT START END])
6459 This returns a pair of values: (TERMINATOR . NUM-READ).
6460 - TERMINATOR describes why the read was terminated. If it is a
6461 character or the eof object, then that is the value that terminated
6462 the read. If it is #f, the function filled the buffer without finding
6463 a delimiting character.
6464 - NUM-READ is the number of characters read into BUF.
6466 If the read is successfully terminated by reading a delimiter
6467 character, then the gobble? parameter determines what to do with the
6468 terminating character. If true, the character is removed from the
6469 input stream; if false, the character is left in the input stream
6470 where a subsequent read operation will retrieve it. In either case,
6471 the character is also the first value returned by the procedure call.
6473 (The descriptions of this function was borrowed from the SCSH manual,
6474 by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
6476 *** The `read-line' and `read-line!' functions have changed; they now
6477 trim the terminator by default; previously they appended it to the
6478 returned string. For the old behavior, use (read-line PORT 'concat).
6480 *** The functions `uniform-array-read!' and `uniform-array-write!' now
6481 take new optional START and END arguments, specifying the region of
6482 the array to read and write.
6484 *** The `ungetc-char-ready?' function has been removed. We feel it's
6485 inappropriate for an interface to expose implementation details this
6488 ** Changes to the Unix library and system call interface
6490 *** The new fcntl function provides access to the Unix `fcntl' system
6493 (fcntl PORT COMMAND VALUE)
6494 Apply COMMAND to PORT's file descriptor, with VALUE as an argument.
6495 Values for COMMAND are:
6497 F_DUPFD duplicate a file descriptor
6498 F_GETFD read the descriptor's close-on-exec flag
6499 F_SETFD set the descriptor's close-on-exec flag to VALUE
6500 F_GETFL read the descriptor's flags, as set on open
6501 F_SETFL set the descriptor's flags, as set on open to VALUE
6502 F_GETOWN return the process ID of a socket's owner, for SIGIO
6503 F_SETOWN set the process that owns a socket to VALUE, for SIGIO
6504 FD_CLOEXEC not sure what this is
6506 For details, see the documentation for the fcntl system call.
6508 *** The arguments to `select' have changed, for compatibility with
6509 SCSH. The TIMEOUT parameter may now be non-integral, yielding the
6510 expected behavior. The MILLISECONDS parameter has been changed to
6511 MICROSECONDS, to more closely resemble the underlying system call.
6512 The RVEC, WVEC, and EVEC arguments can now be vectors; the type of the
6513 corresponding return set will be the same.
6515 *** The arguments to the `mknod' system call have changed. They are
6518 (mknod PATH TYPE PERMS DEV)
6519 Create a new file (`node') in the file system. PATH is the name of
6520 the file to create. TYPE is the kind of file to create; it should
6521 be 'fifo, 'block-special, or 'char-special. PERMS specifies the
6522 permission bits to give the newly created file. If TYPE is
6523 'block-special or 'char-special, DEV specifies which device the
6524 special file refers to; its interpretation depends on the kind of
6525 special file being created.
6527 *** The `fork' function has been renamed to `primitive-fork', to avoid
6528 clashing with various SCSH forks.
6530 *** The `recv' and `recvfrom' functions have been renamed to `recv!'
6531 and `recvfrom!'. They no longer accept a size for a second argument;
6532 you must pass a string to hold the received value. They no longer
6533 return the buffer. Instead, `recv' returns the length of the message
6534 received, and `recvfrom' returns a pair containing the packet's length
6535 and originating address.
6537 *** The file descriptor datatype has been removed, as have the
6538 `read-fd', `write-fd', `close', `lseek', and `dup' functions.
6539 We plan to replace these functions with a SCSH-compatible interface.
6541 *** The `create' function has been removed; it's just a special case
6544 *** There are new functions to break down process termination status
6545 values. In the descriptions below, STATUS is a value returned by
6548 (status:exit-val STATUS)
6549 If the child process exited normally, this function returns the exit
6550 code for the child process (i.e., the value passed to exit, or
6551 returned from main). If the child process did not exit normally,
6552 this function returns #f.
6554 (status:stop-sig STATUS)
6555 If the child process was suspended by a signal, this function
6556 returns the signal that suspended the child. Otherwise, it returns
6559 (status:term-sig STATUS)
6560 If the child process terminated abnormally, this function returns
6561 the signal that terminated the child. Otherwise, this function
6564 POSIX promises that exactly one of these functions will return true on
6565 a valid STATUS value.
6567 These functions are compatible with SCSH.
6569 *** There are new accessors and setters for the broken-out time vectors
6570 returned by `localtime', `gmtime', and that ilk. They are:
6572 Component Accessor Setter
6573 ========================= ============ ============
6574 seconds tm:sec set-tm:sec
6575 minutes tm:min set-tm:min
6576 hours tm:hour set-tm:hour
6577 day of the month tm:mday set-tm:mday
6578 month tm:mon set-tm:mon
6579 year tm:year set-tm:year
6580 day of the week tm:wday set-tm:wday
6581 day in the year tm:yday set-tm:yday
6582 daylight saving time tm:isdst set-tm:isdst
6583 GMT offset, seconds tm:gmtoff set-tm:gmtoff
6584 name of time zone tm:zone set-tm:zone
6586 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `uname',
6587 describing the host system:
6590 ============================================== ================
6591 name of the operating system implementation utsname:sysname
6592 network name of this machine utsname:nodename
6593 release level of the operating system utsname:release
6594 version level of the operating system utsname:version
6595 machine hardware platform utsname:machine
6597 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getpw',
6598 `getpwnam', `getpwuid', and `getpwent', describing entries from the
6599 system's user database:
6602 ====================== =================
6603 user name passwd:name
6604 user password passwd:passwd
6607 real name passwd:gecos
6608 home directory passwd:dir
6609 shell program passwd:shell
6611 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getgr',
6612 `getgrnam', `getgrgid', and `getgrent', describing entries from the
6613 system's group database:
6616 ======================= ============
6617 group name group:name
6618 group password group:passwd
6620 group members group:mem
6622 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `gethost',
6623 `gethostbyaddr', `gethostbyname', and `gethostent', describing
6627 ========================= ===============
6628 official name of host hostent:name
6629 alias list hostent:aliases
6630 host address type hostent:addrtype
6631 length of address hostent:length
6632 list of addresses hostent:addr-list
6634 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getnet',
6635 `getnetbyaddr', `getnetbyname', and `getnetent', describing internet
6639 ========================= ===============
6640 official name of net netent:name
6641 alias list netent:aliases
6642 net number type netent:addrtype
6643 net number netent:net
6645 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getproto',
6646 `getprotobyname', `getprotobynumber', and `getprotoent', describing
6650 ========================= ===============
6651 official protocol name protoent:name
6652 alias list protoent:aliases
6653 protocol number protoent:proto
6655 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getserv',
6656 `getservbyname', `getservbyport', and `getservent', describing
6660 ========================= ===============
6661 official service name servent:name
6662 alias list servent:aliases
6663 port number servent:port
6664 protocol to use servent:proto
6666 *** There are new accessors for the sockaddr structures returned by
6667 `accept', `getsockname', `getpeername', `recvfrom!':
6670 ======================================== ===============
6671 address format (`family') sockaddr:fam
6672 path, for file domain addresses sockaddr:path
6673 address, for internet domain addresses sockaddr:addr
6674 TCP or UDP port, for internet sockaddr:port
6676 *** The `getpwent', `getgrent', `gethostent', `getnetent',
6677 `getprotoent', and `getservent' functions now return #f at the end of
6678 the user database. (They used to throw an exception.)
6680 Note that calling MUMBLEent function is equivalent to calling the
6681 corresponding MUMBLE function with no arguments.
6683 *** The `setpwent', `setgrent', `sethostent', `setnetent',
6684 `setprotoent', and `setservent' routines now take no arguments.
6686 *** The `gethost', `getproto', `getnet', and `getserv' functions now
6687 provide more useful information when they throw an exception.
6689 *** The `lnaof' function has been renamed to `inet-lnaof'.
6691 *** Guile now claims to have the `current-time' feature.
6693 *** The `mktime' function now takes an optional second argument ZONE,
6694 giving the time zone to use for the conversion. ZONE should be a
6695 string, in the same format as expected for the "TZ" environment variable.
6697 *** The `strptime' function now returns a pair (TIME . COUNT), where
6698 TIME is the parsed time as a vector, and COUNT is the number of
6699 characters from the string left unparsed. This function used to
6700 return the remaining characters as a string.
6702 *** The `gettimeofday' function has replaced the old `time+ticks' function.
6703 The return value is now (SECONDS . MICROSECONDS); the fractional
6704 component is no longer expressed in "ticks".
6706 *** The `ticks/sec' constant has been removed, in light of the above change.
6708 * Changes to the gh_ interface
6710 ** gh_eval_str() now returns an SCM object which is the result of the
6713 ** gh_scm2str() now copies the Scheme data to a caller-provided C
6716 ** gh_scm2newstr() now makes a C array, copies the Scheme data to it,
6717 and returns the array
6719 ** gh_scm2str0() is gone: there is no need to distinguish
6720 null-terminated from non-null-terminated, since gh_scm2newstr() allows
6721 the user to interpret the data both ways.
6723 * Changes to the scm_ interface
6725 ** The new function scm_symbol_value0 provides an easy way to get a
6726 symbol's value from C code:
6728 SCM scm_symbol_value0 (char *NAME)
6729 Return the value of the symbol named by the null-terminated string
6730 NAME in the current module. If the symbol named NAME is unbound in
6731 the current module, return SCM_UNDEFINED.
6733 ** The new function scm_sysintern0 creates new top-level variables,
6734 without assigning them a value.
6736 SCM scm_sysintern0 (char *NAME)
6737 Create a new Scheme top-level variable named NAME. NAME is a
6738 null-terminated string. Return the variable's value cell.
6740 ** The function scm_internal_catch is the guts of catch. It handles
6741 all the mechanics of setting up a catch target, invoking the catch
6742 body, and perhaps invoking the handler if the body does a throw.
6744 The function is designed to be usable from C code, but is general
6745 enough to implement all the semantics Guile Scheme expects from throw.
6747 TAG is the catch tag. Typically, this is a symbol, but this function
6748 doesn't actually care about that.
6750 BODY is a pointer to a C function which runs the body of the catch;
6751 this is the code you can throw from. We call it like this:
6752 BODY (BODY_DATA, JMPBUF)
6754 BODY_DATA is just the BODY_DATA argument we received; we pass it
6755 through to BODY as its first argument. The caller can make
6756 BODY_DATA point to anything useful that BODY might need.
6757 JMPBUF is the Scheme jmpbuf object corresponding to this catch,
6758 which we have just created and initialized.
6760 HANDLER is a pointer to a C function to deal with a throw to TAG,
6761 should one occur. We call it like this:
6762 HANDLER (HANDLER_DATA, THROWN_TAG, THROW_ARGS)
6764 HANDLER_DATA is the HANDLER_DATA argument we recevied; it's the
6765 same idea as BODY_DATA above.
6766 THROWN_TAG is the tag that the user threw to; usually this is
6767 TAG, but it could be something else if TAG was #t (i.e., a
6768 catch-all), or the user threw to a jmpbuf.
6769 THROW_ARGS is the list of arguments the user passed to the THROW
6772 BODY_DATA is just a pointer we pass through to BODY. HANDLER_DATA
6773 is just a pointer we pass through to HANDLER. We don't actually
6774 use either of those pointers otherwise ourselves. The idea is
6775 that, if our caller wants to communicate something to BODY or
6776 HANDLER, it can pass a pointer to it as MUMBLE_DATA, which BODY and
6777 HANDLER can then use. Think of it as a way to make BODY and
6778 HANDLER closures, not just functions; MUMBLE_DATA points to the
6781 Of course, it's up to the caller to make sure that any data a
6782 MUMBLE_DATA needs is protected from GC. A common way to do this is
6783 to make MUMBLE_DATA a pointer to data stored in an automatic
6784 structure variable; since the collector must scan the stack for
6785 references anyway, this assures that any references in MUMBLE_DATA
6788 ** The new function scm_internal_lazy_catch is exactly like
6789 scm_internal_catch, except:
6791 - It does not unwind the stack (this is the major difference).
6792 - If handler returns, its value is returned from the throw.
6793 - BODY always receives #f as its JMPBUF argument (since there's no
6794 jmpbuf associated with a lazy catch, because we don't unwind the
6797 ** scm_body_thunk is a new body function you can pass to
6798 scm_internal_catch if you want the body to be like Scheme's `catch'
6799 --- a thunk, or a function of one argument if the tag is #f.
6801 BODY_DATA is a pointer to a scm_body_thunk_data structure, which
6802 contains the Scheme procedure to invoke as the body, and the tag
6803 we're catching. If the tag is #f, then we pass JMPBUF (created by
6804 scm_internal_catch) to the body procedure; otherwise, the body gets
6807 ** scm_handle_by_proc is a new handler function you can pass to
6808 scm_internal_catch if you want the handler to act like Scheme's catch
6809 --- call a procedure with the tag and the throw arguments.
6811 If the user does a throw to this catch, this function runs a handler
6812 procedure written in Scheme. HANDLER_DATA is a pointer to an SCM
6813 variable holding the Scheme procedure object to invoke. It ought to
6814 be a pointer to an automatic variable (i.e., one living on the stack),
6815 or the procedure object should be otherwise protected from GC.
6817 ** scm_handle_by_message is a new handler function to use with
6818 `scm_internal_catch' if you want Guile to print a message and die.
6819 It's useful for dealing with throws to uncaught keys at the top level.
6821 HANDLER_DATA, if non-zero, is assumed to be a char * pointing to a
6822 message header to print; if zero, we use "guile" instead. That
6823 text is followed by a colon, then the message described by ARGS.
6825 ** The return type of scm_boot_guile is now void; the function does
6826 not return a value, and indeed, never returns at all.
6828 ** The new function scm_shell makes it easy for user applications to
6829 process command-line arguments in a way that is compatible with the
6830 stand-alone guile interpreter (which is in turn compatible with SCSH,
6833 To use the scm_shell function, first initialize any guile modules
6834 linked into your application, and then call scm_shell with the values
6835 of ARGC and ARGV your `main' function received. scm_shell will add
6836 any SCSH-style meta-arguments from the top of the script file to the
6837 argument vector, and then process the command-line arguments. This
6838 generally means loading a script file or starting up an interactive
6839 command interpreter. For details, see "Changes to the stand-alone
6842 ** The new functions scm_get_meta_args and scm_count_argv help you
6843 implement the SCSH-style meta-argument, `\'.
6845 char **scm_get_meta_args (int ARGC, char **ARGV)
6846 If the second element of ARGV is a string consisting of a single
6847 backslash character (i.e. "\\" in Scheme notation), open the file
6848 named by the following argument, parse arguments from it, and return
6849 the spliced command line. The returned array is terminated by a
6852 For details of argument parsing, see above, under "guile now accepts
6853 command-line arguments compatible with SCSH..."
6855 int scm_count_argv (char **ARGV)
6856 Count the arguments in ARGV, assuming it is terminated by a null
6859 For an example of how these functions might be used, see the source
6860 code for the function scm_shell in libguile/script.c.
6862 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
6865 ** The new function scm_compile_shell_switches turns an array of
6866 command-line arguments into Scheme code to carry out the actions they
6867 describe. Given ARGC and ARGV, it returns a Scheme expression to
6868 evaluate, and calls scm_set_program_arguments to make any remaining
6869 command-line arguments available to the Scheme code. For example,
6870 given the following arguments:
6872 -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
6874 scm_set_program_arguments will return the following expression:
6876 (begin (load "ekko") (main (command-line)) (quit))
6878 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
6881 ** The function scm_shell_usage prints a usage message appropriate for
6882 an interpreter that uses scm_compile_shell_switches to handle its
6883 command-line arguments.
6885 void scm_shell_usage (int FATAL, char *MESSAGE)
6886 Print a usage message to the standard error output. If MESSAGE is
6887 non-zero, write it before the usage message, followed by a newline.
6888 If FATAL is non-zero, exit the process, using FATAL as the
6889 termination status. (If you want to be compatible with Guile,
6890 always use 1 as the exit status when terminating due to command-line
6893 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
6896 ** scm_eval_0str now returns SCM_UNSPECIFIED if the string contains no
6897 expressions. It used to return SCM_EOL. Earth-shattering.
6899 ** The macros for declaring scheme objects in C code have been
6900 rearranged slightly. They are now:
6902 SCM_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
6903 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
6904 point to the Scheme symbol whose name is SCHEME_NAME. C_NAME should
6905 be a C identifier, and SCHEME_NAME should be a C string.
6907 SCM_GLOBAL_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
6908 Just like SCM_SYMBOL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
6910 SCM_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
6911 Create a global variable at the Scheme level named SCHEME_NAME.
6912 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
6913 point to the Scheme variable's value cell.
6915 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
6916 Just like SCM_VCELL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
6918 The `guile-snarf' script writes initialization code for these macros
6919 to its standard output, given C source code as input.
6921 The SCM_GLOBAL macro is gone.
6923 ** The scm_read_line and scm_read_line_x functions have been replaced
6924 by Scheme code based on the %read-delimited! procedure (known to C
6925 code as scm_read_delimited_x). See its description above for more
6928 ** The function scm_sys_open has been renamed to scm_open. It now
6929 returns a port instead of an FD object.
6931 * The dynamic linking support has changed. For more information, see
6932 libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING.
6937 User-visible changes from Thursday, September 5, 1996 until Guile 1.0
6940 * Changes to the 'guile' program:
6942 ** Guile now loads some new files when it starts up. Guile first
6943 searches the load path for init.scm, and loads it if found. Then, if
6944 Guile is not being used to execute a script, and the user's home
6945 directory contains a file named `.guile', Guile loads that.
6947 ** You can now use Guile as a shell script interpreter.
6949 To paraphrase the SCSH manual:
6951 When Unix tries to execute an executable file whose first two
6952 characters are the `#!', it treats the file not as machine code to
6953 be directly executed by the native processor, but as source code
6954 to be executed by some interpreter. The interpreter to use is
6955 specified immediately after the #! sequence on the first line of
6956 the source file. The kernel reads in the name of the interpreter,
6957 and executes that instead. It passes the interpreter the source
6958 filename as its first argument, with the original arguments
6959 following. Consult the Unix man page for the `exec' system call
6960 for more information.
6962 Now you can use Guile as an interpreter, using a mechanism which is a
6963 compatible subset of that provided by SCSH.
6965 Guile now recognizes a '-s' command line switch, whose argument is the
6966 name of a file of Scheme code to load. It also treats the two
6967 characters `#!' as the start of a comment, terminated by `!#'. Thus,
6968 to make a file of Scheme code directly executable by Unix, insert the
6969 following two lines at the top of the file:
6971 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
6974 Guile treats the argument of the `-s' command-line switch as the name
6975 of a file of Scheme code to load, and treats the sequence `#!' as the
6976 start of a block comment, terminated by `!#'.
6978 For example, here's a version of 'echo' written in Scheme:
6980 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
6982 (let loop ((args (cdr (program-arguments))))
6985 (display (car args))
6986 (if (pair? (cdr args))
6988 (loop (cdr args)))))
6991 Why does `#!' start a block comment terminated by `!#', instead of the
6992 end of the line? That is the notation SCSH uses, and although we
6993 don't yet support the other SCSH features that motivate that choice,
6994 we would like to be backward-compatible with any existing Guile
6995 scripts once we do. Furthermore, if the path to Guile on your system
6996 is too long for your kernel, you can start the script with this
7000 exec /really/long/path/to/guile -s "$0" ${1+"$@"}
7003 Note that some very old Unix systems don't support the `#!' syntax.
7006 ** You can now run Guile without installing it.
7008 Previous versions of the interactive Guile interpreter (`guile')
7009 couldn't start up unless Guile's Scheme library had been installed;
7010 they used the value of the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH'
7011 later on in the startup process, but not to find the startup code
7012 itself. Now Guile uses `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' in all searches for Scheme
7015 To run Guile without installing it, build it in the normal way, and
7016 then set the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' to a
7017 colon-separated list of directories, including the top-level directory
7018 of the Guile sources. For example, if you unpacked Guile so that the
7019 full filename of this NEWS file is /home/jimb/guile-1.0b3/NEWS, then
7022 export SCHEME_LOAD_PATH=/home/jimb/my-scheme:/home/jimb/guile-1.0b3
7025 ** Guile's read-eval-print loop no longer prints #<unspecified>
7026 results. If the user wants to see this, she can evaluate the
7027 expression (assert-repl-print-unspecified #t), perhaps in her startup
7030 ** Guile no longer shows backtraces by default when an error occurs;
7031 however, it does display a message saying how to get one, and how to
7032 request that they be displayed by default. After an error, evaluate
7034 to see a backtrace, and
7035 (debug-enable 'backtrace)
7036 to see them by default.
7040 * Changes to Guile Scheme:
7042 ** Guile now distinguishes between #f and the empty list.
7044 This is for compatibility with the IEEE standard, the (possibly)
7045 upcoming Revised^5 Report on Scheme, and many extant Scheme
7048 Guile used to have #f and '() denote the same object, to make Scheme's
7049 type system more compatible with Emacs Lisp's. However, the change
7050 caused too much trouble for Scheme programmers, and we found another
7051 way to reconcile Emacs Lisp with Scheme that didn't require this.
7054 ** Guile's delq, delv, delete functions, and their destructive
7055 counterparts, delq!, delv!, and delete!, now remove all matching
7056 elements from the list, not just the first. This matches the behavior
7057 of the corresponding Emacs Lisp functions, and (I believe) the Maclisp
7058 functions which inspired them.
7060 I recognize that this change may break code in subtle ways, but it
7061 seems best to make the change before the FSF's first Guile release,
7065 ** The compiled-library-path function has been deleted from libguile.
7067 ** The facilities for loading Scheme source files have changed.
7069 *** The variable %load-path now tells Guile which directories to search
7070 for Scheme code. Its value is a list of strings, each of which names
7073 *** The variable %load-extensions now tells Guile which extensions to
7074 try appending to a filename when searching the load path. Its value
7075 is a list of strings. Its default value is ("" ".scm").
7077 *** (%search-load-path FILENAME) searches the directories listed in the
7078 value of the %load-path variable for a Scheme file named FILENAME,
7079 with all the extensions listed in %load-extensions. If it finds a
7080 match, then it returns its full filename. If FILENAME is absolute, it
7081 returns it unchanged. Otherwise, it returns #f.
7083 %search-load-path will not return matches that refer to directories.
7085 *** (primitive-load FILENAME :optional CASE-INSENSITIVE-P SHARP)
7086 uses %seach-load-path to find a file named FILENAME, and loads it if
7087 it finds it. If it can't read FILENAME for any reason, it throws an
7090 The arguments CASE-INSENSITIVE-P and SHARP are interpreted as by the
7093 *** load uses the same searching semantics as primitive-load.
7095 *** The functions %try-load, try-load-with-path, %load, load-with-path,
7096 basic-try-load-with-path, basic-load-with-path, try-load-module-with-
7097 path, and load-module-with-path have been deleted. The functions
7098 above should serve their purposes.
7100 *** If the value of the variable %load-hook is a procedure,
7101 `primitive-load' applies its value to the name of the file being
7102 loaded (without the load path directory name prepended). If its value
7103 is #f, it is ignored. Otherwise, an error occurs.
7105 This is mostly useful for printing load notification messages.
7108 ** The function `eval!' is no longer accessible from the scheme level.
7109 We can't allow operations which introduce glocs into the scheme level,
7110 because Guile's type system can't handle these as data. Use `eval' or
7111 `read-and-eval!' (see below) as replacement.
7113 ** The new function read-and-eval! reads an expression from PORT,
7114 evaluates it, and returns the result. This is more efficient than
7115 simply calling `read' and `eval', since it is not necessary to make a
7116 copy of the expression for the evaluator to munge.
7118 Its optional arguments CASE_INSENSITIVE_P and SHARP are interpreted as
7119 for the `read' function.
7122 ** The function `int?' has been removed; its definition was identical
7123 to that of `integer?'.
7125 ** The functions `<?', `<?', `<=?', `=?', `>?', and `>=?'. Code should
7126 use the R4RS names for these functions.
7128 ** The function object-properties no longer returns the hash handle;
7129 it simply returns the object's property list.
7131 ** Many functions have been changed to throw errors, instead of
7132 returning #f on failure. The point of providing exception handling in
7133 the language is to simplify the logic of user code, but this is less
7134 useful if Guile's primitives don't throw exceptions.
7136 ** The function `fileno' has been renamed from `%fileno'.
7138 ** The function primitive-mode->fdes returns #t or #f now, not 1 or 0.
7141 * Changes to Guile's C interface:
7143 ** The library's initialization procedure has been simplified.
7144 scm_boot_guile now has the prototype:
7146 void scm_boot_guile (int ARGC,
7148 void (*main_func) (),
7151 scm_boot_guile calls MAIN_FUNC, passing it CLOSURE, ARGC, and ARGV.
7152 MAIN_FUNC should do all the work of the program (initializing other
7153 packages, reading user input, etc.) before returning. When MAIN_FUNC
7154 returns, call exit (0); this function never returns. If you want some
7155 other exit value, MAIN_FUNC may call exit itself.
7157 scm_boot_guile arranges for program-arguments to return the strings
7158 given by ARGC and ARGV. If MAIN_FUNC modifies ARGC/ARGV, should call
7159 scm_set_program_arguments with the final list, so Scheme code will
7160 know which arguments have been processed.
7162 scm_boot_guile establishes a catch-all catch handler which prints an
7163 error message and exits the process. This means that Guile exits in a
7164 coherent way when system errors occur and the user isn't prepared to
7165 handle it. If the user doesn't like this behavior, they can establish
7166 their own universal catcher in MAIN_FUNC to shadow this one.
7168 Why must the caller do all the real work from MAIN_FUNC? The garbage
7169 collector assumes that all local variables of type SCM will be above
7170 scm_boot_guile's stack frame on the stack. If you try to manipulate
7171 SCM values after this function returns, it's the luck of the draw
7172 whether the GC will be able to find the objects you allocate. So,
7173 scm_boot_guile function exits, rather than returning, to discourage
7174 people from making that mistake.
7176 The IN, OUT, and ERR arguments were removed; there are other
7177 convenient ways to override these when desired.
7179 The RESULT argument was deleted; this function should never return.
7181 The BOOT_CMD argument was deleted; the MAIN_FUNC argument is more
7185 ** Guile's header files should no longer conflict with your system's
7188 In order to compile code which #included <libguile.h>, previous
7189 versions of Guile required you to add a directory containing all the
7190 Guile header files to your #include path. This was a problem, since
7191 Guile's header files have names which conflict with many systems'
7194 Now only <libguile.h> need appear in your #include path; you must
7195 refer to all Guile's other header files as <libguile/mumble.h>.
7196 Guile's installation procedure puts libguile.h in $(includedir), and
7197 the rest in $(includedir)/libguile.
7200 ** Two new C functions, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object,
7201 have been added to the Guile library.
7203 scm_protect_object (OBJ) protects OBJ from the garbage collector.
7204 OBJ will not be freed, even if all other references are dropped,
7205 until someone does scm_unprotect_object (OBJ). Both functions
7208 Note that calls to scm_protect_object do not nest. You can call
7209 scm_protect_object any number of times on a given object, and the
7210 next call to scm_unprotect_object will unprotect it completely.
7212 Basically, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object just
7213 maintain a list of references to things. Since the GC knows about
7214 this list, all objects it mentions stay alive. scm_protect_object
7215 adds its argument to the list; scm_unprotect_object remove its
7216 argument from the list.
7219 ** scm_eval_0str now returns the value of the last expression
7222 ** The new function scm_read_0str reads an s-expression from a
7223 null-terminated string, and returns it.
7225 ** The new function `scm_stdio_to_port' converts a STDIO file pointer
7226 to a Scheme port object.
7228 ** The new function `scm_set_program_arguments' allows C code to set
7229 the value returned by the Scheme `program-arguments' function.
7234 * Guile no longer includes sophisticated Tcl/Tk support.
7236 The old Tcl/Tk support was unsatisfying to us, because it required the
7237 user to link against the Tcl library, as well as Tk and Guile. The
7238 interface was also un-lispy, in that it preserved Tcl/Tk's practice of
7239 referring to widgets by names, rather than exporting widgets to Scheme
7240 code as a special datatype.
7242 In the Usenix Tk Developer's Workshop held in July 1996, the Tcl/Tk
7243 maintainers described some very interesting changes in progress to the
7244 Tcl/Tk internals, which would facilitate clean interfaces between lone
7245 Tk and other interpreters --- even for garbage-collected languages
7246 like Scheme. They expected the new Tk to be publicly available in the
7249 Since it seems that Guile might soon have a new, cleaner interface to
7250 lone Tk, and that the old Guile/Tk glue code would probably need to be
7251 completely rewritten, we (Jim Blandy and Richard Stallman) have
7252 decided not to support the old code. We'll spend the time instead on
7253 a good interface to the newer Tk, as soon as it is available.
7255 Until then, gtcltk-lib provides trivial, low-maintenance functionality.
7258 Copyright information:
7260 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
7262 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
7263 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
7264 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
7265 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
7267 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
7268 of this document, or of portions of it,
7269 under the above conditions, provided also that they
7270 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
7275 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"