1 Guile NEWS --- history of user-visible changes.
2 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 See the end for copying conditions.
5 Please send Guile bug reports to bug-guile@gnu.org.
10 * New modules (see the manual for details)
12 ** `(srfi srfi-18)', multithreading support
13 ** The `(ice-9 i18n)' module provides internationalization support
15 * Changes to the distribution
17 ** Guile now uses Gnulib as a portability aid
19 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
20 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
22 ** A new 'memoize-symbol evaluator trap has been added. This trap can
23 be used for efficiently implementing a Scheme code coverage.
25 ** Duplicate bindings among used modules are resolved lazily.
26 This slightly improves program startup times.
28 ** New thread cancellation and thread cleanup API
29 See `cancel-thread', `set-thread-cleanup!', and `thread-cleanup'.
31 * Changes to the C interface
33 ** The GH interface (deprecated in version 1.6, 2001) was removed.
35 ** Internal `scm_i_' functions now have "hidden" linkage with GCC/ELF
37 This makes these internal functions technically not callable from
40 ** Functions for handling `scm_option' now no longer require an argument
41 indicating length of the `scm_t_option' array.
43 ** Primitive procedures (aka. "subrs") are now stored in double cells
44 This removes the subr table and simplifies the code.
46 ** Primitive procedures with more than 3 arguments (aka. "gsubrs") are
47 no longer implemented using the "compiled closure" mechanism. This
48 simplifies code and reduces both the storage and run-time overhead.
51 Changes in 1.8.7 (since 1.8.6)
55 ** Fix compilation with `--disable-deprecated'
56 ** Fix %fast-slot-ref/set!, to avoid possible segmentation fault
57 ** Fix MinGW build problem caused by HAVE_STRUCT_TIMESPEC confusion
58 ** Fix build problem when scm_t_timespec is different from struct timespec
59 ** Fix build when compiled with -Wundef -Werror
61 ** Allow @ macro to work with (ice-9 syncase)
63 Previously, use of the @ macro in a module whose code is being
64 transformed by (ice-9 syncase) would cause an "Invalid syntax" error.
65 Now it works as you would expect (giving the value of the specified
68 ** Have `scm_take_locale_symbol ()' return an interned symbol (bug #25865)
71 Changes in 1.8.6 (since 1.8.5)
73 * New features (see the manual for details)
75 ** New convenience function `scm_c_symbol_length ()'
77 ** Single stepping through code from Emacs
79 When you use GDS to evaluate Scheme code from Emacs, you can now use
80 `C-u' to indicate that you want to single step through that code. See
81 `Evaluating Scheme Code' in the manual for more details.
83 ** New "guile(1)" man page!
85 * Changes to the distribution
87 ** Automake's `AM_MAINTAINER_MODE' is no longer used
89 Thus, the `--enable-maintainer-mode' configure option is no longer
90 available: Guile is now always configured in "maintainer mode".
92 ** `ChangeLog' files are no longer updated
94 Instead, changes are detailed in the version control system's logs. See
95 the top-level `ChangeLog' files for details.
100 ** `symbol->string' now returns a read-only string, as per R5RS
101 ** Fix incorrect handling of the FLAGS argument of `fold-matches'
102 ** `guile-config link' now prints `-L$libdir' before `-lguile'
103 ** Fix memory corruption involving GOOPS' `class-redefinition'
104 ** Fix possible deadlock in `mutex-lock'
105 ** Fix build issue on Tru64 and ia64-hp-hpux11.23 (`SCM_UNPACK' macro)
106 ** Fix build issue on mips, mipsel, powerpc and ia64 (stack direction)
107 ** Fix build issue on hppa2.0w-hp-hpux11.11 (`dirent64' and `readdir64_r')
108 ** Fix build issue on i386-unknown-freebsd7.0 ("break strict-aliasing rules")
109 ** Fix misleading output from `(help rationalize)'
110 ** Fix build failure on Debian hppa architecture (bad stack growth detection)
111 ** Fix `gcd' when called with a single, negative argument.
112 ** Fix `Stack overflow' errors seen when building on some platforms
113 ** Fix bug when `scm_with_guile ()' was called several times from the
115 ** The handler of SRFI-34 `with-exception-handler' is now invoked in the
116 dynamic environment of the call to `raise'
117 ** Fix potential deadlock in `make-struct'
118 ** Fix compilation problem with libltdl from Libtool 2.2.x
119 ** Fix sloppy bound checking in `string-{ref,set!}' with the empty string
122 Changes in 1.8.5 (since 1.8.4)
124 * Infrastructure changes
126 ** Guile repository switched from CVS to Git
128 The new repository can be accessed using
129 "git-clone git://git.sv.gnu.org/guile.git", or can be browsed on-line at
130 http://git.sv.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=guile.git . See `README' for details.
132 ** Add support for `pkg-config'
134 See "Autoconf Support" in the manual for details.
136 * New modules (see the manual for details)
140 * New features (see the manual for details)
142 ** New `postfix' read option, for SRFI-88 keyword syntax
143 ** Some I/O primitives have been inlined, which improves I/O performance
144 ** New object-based traps infrastructure
146 This is a GOOPS-based infrastructure that builds on Guile's low-level
147 evaluator trap calls and facilitates the development of debugging
148 features like single-stepping, breakpoints, tracing and profiling.
149 See the `Traps' node of the manual for details.
151 ** New support for working on Guile code from within Emacs
153 Guile now incorporates the `GDS' library (previously distributed
154 separately) for working on Guile code from within Emacs. See the
155 `Using Guile In Emacs' node of the manual for details.
159 ** `scm_add_slot ()' no longer segfaults (fixes bug #22369)
160 ** Fixed `(ice-9 match)' for patterns like `((_ ...) ...)'
162 Previously, expressions like `(match '((foo) (bar)) (((_ ...) ...) #t))'
163 would trigger an unbound variable error for `match:andmap'.
165 ** `(oop goops describe)' now properly provides the `describe' feature
166 ** Fixed `args-fold' from `(srfi srfi-37)'
168 Previously, parsing short option names of argument-less options would
169 lead to a stack overflow.
171 ** `(srfi srfi-35)' is now visible through `cond-expand'
172 ** Fixed type-checking for the second argument of `eval'
173 ** Fixed type-checking for SRFI-1 `partition'
174 ** Fixed `struct-ref' and `struct-set!' on "light structs"
175 ** Honor struct field access rights in GOOPS
176 ** Changed the storage strategy of source properties, which fixes a deadlock
177 ** Allow compilation of Guile-using programs in C99 mode with GCC 4.3 and later
178 ** Fixed build issue for GNU/Linux on IA64
179 ** Fixed build issues on NetBSD 1.6
180 ** Fixed build issue on Solaris 2.10 x86_64
181 ** Fixed build issue with DEC/Compaq/HP's compiler
182 ** Fixed `scm_from_complex_double' build issue on FreeBSD
183 ** Fixed `alloca' build issue on FreeBSD 6
184 ** Removed use of non-portable makefile constructs
185 ** Fixed shadowing of libc's <random.h> on Tru64, which broke compilation
186 ** Make sure all tests honor `$TMPDIR'
188 * Changes to the distribution
192 We've started collecting Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), and will
193 distribute these (with answers!) in future Guile releases.
196 Changes in 1.8.4 (since 1.8.3)
200 ** CR (ASCII 0x0d) is (again) recognized as a token delimiter by the reader
201 ** Fixed a segmentation fault which occurred when displaying the
202 backtrace of a stack with a promise object (made by `delay') in it.
203 ** Make `accept' leave guile mode while blocking
204 ** `scm_c_read ()' and `scm_c_write ()' now type-check their port argument
205 ** Fixed a build problem on AIX (use of func_data identifier)
206 ** Fixed a segmentation fault which occurred when hashx-ref or hashx-set! was
207 called with an associator proc that returns neither a pair nor #f.
208 ** Secondary threads now always return a valid module for (current-module).
209 ** Avoid MacOS build problems caused by incorrect combination of "64"
210 system and library calls.
211 ** `guile-snarf' now honors `$TMPDIR'
212 ** `guile-config compile' now reports CPPFLAGS used at compile-time
213 ** Fixed build with Sun Studio (Solaris 9)
214 ** Fixed wrong-type-arg errors when creating zero length SRFI-4
215 uniform vectors on AIX.
216 ** Fixed a deadlock that occurs upon GC with multiple threads.
217 ** Fixed compile problem with GCC on Solaris and AIX (use of _Complex_I)
218 ** Fixed autotool-derived build problems on AIX 6.1.
219 ** Fixed NetBSD/alpha support
220 ** Fixed MacOS build problem caused by use of rl_get_keymap(_name)
222 * New modules (see the manual for details)
226 * Documentation fixes and improvements
228 ** Removed premature breakpoint documentation
230 The features described are not available in the series of 1.8.x
231 releases, so the documentation was misleading and has been removed.
233 ** More about Guile's default *random-state* variable
235 ** GOOPS: more about how to use `next-method'
237 * Changes to the distribution
239 ** Corrected a few files that referred incorrectly to the old GPL + special exception licence
241 In fact Guile since 1.8.0 has been licensed with the GNU Lesser
242 General Public License, and the few incorrect files have now been
243 fixed to agree with the rest of the Guile distribution.
245 ** Removed unnecessary extra copies of COPYING*
247 The distribution now contains a single COPYING.LESSER at its top level.
250 Changes in 1.8.3 (since 1.8.2)
252 * New modules (see the manual for details)
259 ** The `(ice-9 slib)' module now works as expected
260 ** Expressions like "(set! 'x #t)" no longer yield a crash
261 ** Warnings about duplicate bindings now go to stderr
262 ** A memory leak in `make-socket-address' was fixed
263 ** Alignment issues (e.g., on SPARC) in network routines were fixed
264 ** A threading issue that showed up at least on NetBSD was fixed
265 ** Build problems on Solaris and IRIX fixed
267 * Implementation improvements
269 ** The reader is now faster, which reduces startup time
270 ** Procedures returned by `record-accessor' and `record-modifier' are faster
273 Changes in 1.8.2 (since 1.8.1):
275 * New procedures (see the manual for details)
277 ** set-program-arguments
280 * Incompatible changes
282 ** The body of a top-level `define' no longer sees the binding being created
284 In a top-level `define', the binding being created is no longer visible
285 from the `define' body. This breaks code like
286 "(define foo (begin (set! foo 1) (+ foo 1)))", where `foo' is now
287 unbound in the body. However, such code was not R5RS-compliant anyway,
292 ** Fractions were not `equal?' if stored in unreduced form.
293 (A subtle problem, since printing a value reduced it, making it work.)
294 ** srfi-60 `copy-bit' failed on 64-bit systems
295 ** "guile --use-srfi" option at the REPL can replace core functions
296 (Programs run with that option were ok, but in the interactive REPL
297 the core bindings got priority, preventing SRFI replacements or
299 ** `regexp-exec' doesn't abort() on #\nul in the input or bad flags arg
300 ** `kill' on mingw throws an error for a PID other than oneself
301 ** Procedure names are attached to procedure-with-setters
302 ** Array read syntax works with negative lower bound
303 ** `array-in-bounds?' fix if an array has different lower bounds on each index
304 ** `*' returns exact 0 for "(* inexact 0)"
305 This follows what it always did for "(* 0 inexact)".
306 ** SRFI-19: Value returned by `(current-time time-process)' was incorrect
307 ** SRFI-19: `date->julian-day' did not account for timezone offset
308 ** `ttyname' no longer crashes when passed a non-tty argument
309 ** `inet-ntop' no longer crashes on SPARC when passed an `AF_INET' address
310 ** Small memory leaks have been fixed in `make-fluid' and `add-history'
311 ** GOOPS: Fixed a bug in `method-more-specific?'
312 ** Build problems on Solaris fixed
313 ** Build problems on HP-UX IA64 fixed
314 ** Build problems on MinGW fixed
317 Changes in 1.8.1 (since 1.8.0):
319 * LFS functions are now used to access 64-bit files on 32-bit systems.
321 * New procedures (see the manual for details)
323 ** primitive-_exit - [Scheme] the-root-module
324 ** scm_primitive__exit - [C]
325 ** make-completion-function - [Scheme] (ice-9 readline)
326 ** scm_c_locale_stringn_to_number - [C]
327 ** scm_srfi1_append_reverse [C]
328 ** scm_srfi1_append_reverse_x [C]
336 ** Build problems have been fixed on MacOS, SunOS, and QNX.
338 ** `strftime' fix sign of %z timezone offset.
340 ** A one-dimensional array can now be 'equal?' to a vector.
342 ** Structures, records, and SRFI-9 records can now be compared with `equal?'.
344 ** SRFI-14 standard char sets are recomputed upon a successful `setlocale'.
346 ** `record-accessor' and `record-modifier' now have strict type checks.
348 Record accessor and modifier procedures now throw an error if the
349 record type of the record they're given is not the type expected.
350 (Previously accessors returned #f and modifiers silently did nothing).
352 ** It is now OK to use both autoload and use-modules on a given module.
354 ** `apply' checks the number of arguments more carefully on "0 or 1" funcs.
356 Previously there was no checking on primatives like make-vector that
357 accept "one or two" arguments. Now there is.
359 ** The srfi-1 assoc function now calls its equality predicate properly.
361 Previously srfi-1 assoc would call the equality predicate with the key
362 last. According to the SRFI, the key should be first.
364 ** A bug in n-par-for-each and n-for-each-par-map has been fixed.
366 ** The array-set! procedure no longer segfaults when given a bit vector.
368 ** Bugs in make-shared-array have been fixed.
370 ** string<? and friends now follow char<? etc order on 8-bit chars.
372 ** The format procedure now handles inf and nan values for ~f correctly.
374 ** exact->inexact should no longer overflow when given certain large fractions.
376 ** srfi-9 accessor and modifier procedures now have strict record type checks.
378 This matches the srfi-9 specification.
380 ** (ice-9 ftw) procedures won't ignore different files with same inode number.
382 Previously the (ice-9 ftw) procedures would ignore any file that had
383 the same inode number as a file they had already seen, even if that
384 file was on a different device.
387 Changes in 1.8.0 (changes since the 1.6.x series):
389 * Changes to the distribution
391 ** Guile is now licensed with the GNU Lesser General Public License.
393 ** The manual is now licensed with the GNU Free Documentation License.
395 ** Guile now requires GNU MP (http://swox.com/gmp).
397 Guile now uses the GNU MP library for arbitrary precision arithmetic.
399 ** Guile now has separate private and public configuration headers.
401 That is, things like HAVE_STRING_H no longer leak from Guile's
404 ** Guile now provides and uses an "effective" version number.
406 Guile now provides scm_effective_version and effective-version
407 functions which return the "effective" version number. This is just
408 the normal full version string without the final micro-version number,
409 so the current effective-version is "1.8". The effective version
410 should remain unchanged during a stable series, and should be used for
411 items like the versioned share directory name
412 i.e. /usr/share/guile/1.8.
414 Providing an unchanging version number during a stable release for
415 things like the versioned share directory can be particularly
416 important for Guile "add-on" packages, since it provides a directory
417 that they can install to that won't be changed out from under them
418 with each micro release during a stable series.
420 ** Thread implementation has changed.
422 When you configure "--with-threads=null", you will get the usual
423 threading API (call-with-new-thread, make-mutex, etc), but you can't
424 actually create new threads. Also, "--with-threads=no" is now
425 equivalent to "--with-threads=null". This means that the thread API
426 is always present, although you might not be able to create new
429 When you configure "--with-threads=pthreads" or "--with-threads=yes",
430 you will get threads that are implemented with the portable POSIX
431 threads. These threads can run concurrently (unlike the previous
432 "coop" thread implementation), but need to cooperate for things like
435 The default is "pthreads", unless your platform doesn't have pthreads,
436 in which case "null" threads are used.
438 See the manual for details, nodes "Initialization", "Multi-Threading",
439 "Blocking", and others.
441 ** There is the new notion of 'discouraged' features.
443 This is a milder form of deprecation.
445 Things that are discouraged should not be used in new code, but it is
446 OK to leave them in old code for now. When a discouraged feature is
447 used, no warning message is printed like there is for 'deprecated'
448 features. Also, things that are merely discouraged are nevertheless
449 implemented efficiently, while deprecated features can be very slow.
451 You can omit discouraged features from libguile by configuring it with
452 the '--disable-discouraged' option.
454 ** Deprecation warnings can be controlled at run-time.
456 (debug-enable 'warn-deprecated) switches them on and (debug-disable
457 'warn-deprecated) switches them off.
459 ** Support for SRFI 61, extended cond syntax for multiple values has
462 This SRFI is always available.
464 ** Support for require-extension, SRFI-55, has been added.
466 The SRFI-55 special form `require-extension' has been added. It is
467 available at startup, and provides a portable way to load Scheme
468 extensions. SRFI-55 only requires support for one type of extension,
469 "srfi"; so a set of SRFIs may be loaded via (require-extension (srfi 1
472 ** New module (srfi srfi-26) provides support for `cut' and `cute'.
474 The (srfi srfi-26) module is an implementation of SRFI-26 which
475 provides the `cut' and `cute' syntax. These may be used to specialize
476 parameters without currying.
478 ** New module (srfi srfi-31)
480 This is an implementation of SRFI-31 which provides a special form
481 `rec' for recursive evaluation.
483 ** The modules (srfi srfi-13), (srfi srfi-14) and (srfi srfi-4) have
484 been merged with the core, making their functionality always
487 The modules are still available, tho, and you could use them together
488 with a renaming import, for example.
490 ** Guile no longer includes its own version of libltdl.
492 The official version is good enough now.
494 ** The --enable-htmldoc option has been removed from 'configure'.
496 Support for translating the documentation into HTML is now always
497 provided. Use 'make html'.
499 ** New module (ice-9 serialize):
501 (serialize FORM1 ...) and (parallelize FORM1 ...) are useful when you
502 don't trust the thread safety of most of your program, but where you
503 have some section(s) of code which you consider can run in parallel to
504 other sections. See ice-9/serialize.scm for more information.
506 ** The configure option '--disable-arrays' has been removed.
508 Support for arrays and uniform numeric arrays is now always included
511 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
513 ** New command line option `-L'.
515 This option adds a directory to the front of the load path.
517 ** New command line option `--no-debug'.
519 Specifying `--no-debug' on the command line will keep the debugging
520 evaluator turned off, even for interactive sessions.
522 ** User-init file ~/.guile is now loaded with the debugging evaluator.
524 Previously, the normal evaluator would have been used. Using the
525 debugging evaluator gives better error messages.
527 ** The '-e' option now 'read's its argument.
529 This is to allow the new '(@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)' construct to
530 be used with '-e'. For example, you can now write a script like
533 exec guile -e '(@ (demo) main)' -s "$0" "$@"
536 (define-module (demo)
540 (format #t "Demo: ~a~%" args))
543 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
545 ** Guardians have changed back to their original semantics
547 Guardians now behave like described in the paper by Dybvig et al. In
548 particular, they no longer make guarantees about the order in which
549 they return objects, and they can no longer be greedy.
551 They no longer drop cyclic data structures.
553 The C function scm_make_guardian has been changed incompatibly and no
554 longer takes the 'greedy_p' argument.
556 ** New function hashx-remove!
558 This function completes the set of 'hashx' functions.
560 ** The concept of dynamic roots has been factored into continuation
561 barriers and dynamic states.
563 Each thread has a current dynamic state that carries the values of the
564 fluids. You can create and copy dynamic states and use them as the
565 second argument for 'eval'. See "Fluids and Dynamic States" in the
568 To restrict the influence that captured continuations can have on the
569 control flow, you can errect continuation barriers. See "Continuation
570 Barriers" in the manual.
572 The function call-with-dynamic-root now essentially temporarily
573 installs a new dynamic state and errects a continuation barrier.
575 ** The default load path no longer includes "." at the end.
577 Automatically loading modules from the current directory should not
578 happen by default. If you want to allow it in a more controlled
579 manner, set the environment variable GUILE_LOAD_PATH or the Scheme
582 ** The uniform vector and array support has been overhauled.
584 It now complies with SRFI-4 and the weird prototype based uniform
585 array creation has been deprecated. See the manual for more details.
587 Some non-compatible changes have been made:
588 - characters can no longer be stored into byte arrays.
589 - strings and bit vectors are no longer considered to be uniform numeric
591 - array-rank throws an error for non-arrays instead of returning zero.
592 - array-ref does no longer accept non-arrays when no indices are given.
594 There is the new notion of 'generalized vectors' and corresponding
595 procedures like 'generalized-vector-ref'. Generalized vectors include
596 strings, bitvectors, ordinary vectors, and uniform numeric vectors.
598 Arrays use generalized vectors as their storage, so that you still
599 have arrays of characters, bits, etc. However, uniform-array-read!
600 and uniform-array-write can no longer read/write strings and
603 ** There is now support for copy-on-write substrings, mutation-sharing
604 substrings and read-only strings.
606 Three new procedures are related to this: substring/shared,
607 substring/copy, and substring/read-only. See the manual for more
610 ** Backtraces will now highlight the value that caused the error.
612 By default, these values are enclosed in "{...}", such as in this
621 <unnamed port>:1:1: In procedure car in expression (car (quote a)):
622 <unnamed port>:1:1: Wrong type (expecting pair): a
623 ABORT: (wrong-type-arg)
625 The prefix and suffix used for highlighting can be set via the two new
626 printer options 'highlight-prefix' and 'highlight-suffix'. For
627 example, putting this into ~/.guile will output the bad value in bold
630 (print-set! highlight-prefix "\x1b[1m")
631 (print-set! highlight-suffix "\x1b[22m")
634 ** 'gettext' support for internationalization has been added.
636 See the manual for details.
638 ** New syntax '@' and '@@':
640 You can now directly refer to variables exported from a module by
643 (@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)
645 For example (@ (ice-9 pretty-print) pretty-print) will directly access
646 the pretty-print variable exported from the (ice-9 pretty-print)
647 module. You don't need to 'use' that module first. You can also use
648 '@' as a target of 'set!', as in (set! (@ mod var) val).
650 The related syntax (@@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME) works just like '@',
651 but it can also access variables that have not been exported. It is
652 intended only for kluges and temporary fixes and for debugging, not
655 ** Keyword syntax has been made more disciplined.
657 Previously, the name of a keyword was read as a 'token' but printed as
658 a symbol. Now, it is read as a general Scheme datum which must be a
669 ERROR: In expression (a b c):
673 ERROR: Unbound variable: foo
678 ERROR: Wrong type (expecting symbol): 12
682 ERROR: Wrong type (expecting symbol): (a b c)
686 ** The printing of symbols that might look like keywords can be
689 The new printer option 'quote-keywordish-symbols' controls how symbols
690 are printed that have a colon as their first or last character. The
691 default now is to only quote a symbol with #{...}# when the read
692 option 'keywords' is not '#f'. Thus:
694 guile> (define foo (string->symbol ":foo"))
695 guile> (read-set! keywords #f)
698 guile> (read-set! keywords 'prefix)
701 guile> (print-set! quote-keywordish-symbols #f)
705 ** 'while' now provides 'break' and 'continue'
707 break and continue were previously bound in a while loop, but not
708 documented, and continue didn't quite work properly. The undocumented
709 parameter to break which gave a return value for the while has been
712 ** 'call-with-current-continuation' is now also available under the name
715 ** The module system now checks for duplicate bindings.
717 The module system now can check for name conflicts among imported
720 The behavior can be controlled by specifying one or more 'duplicates'
721 handlers. For example, to make Guile return an error for every name
729 The new default behavior of the module system when a name collision
730 has been detected is to
732 1. Give priority to bindings marked as a replacement.
733 2. Issue a warning (different warning if overriding core binding).
734 3. Give priority to the last encountered binding (this corresponds to
737 If you want the old behavior back without replacements or warnings you
740 (default-duplicate-binding-handler 'last)
742 to your .guile init file.
744 ** New define-module option: :replace
746 :replace works as :export, but, in addition, marks the binding as a
749 A typical example is `format' in (ice-9 format) which is a replacement
750 for the core binding `format'.
752 ** Adding prefixes to imported bindings in the module system
754 There is now a new :use-module option :prefix. It can be used to add
755 a prefix to all imported bindings.
758 :use-module ((bar) :prefix bar:))
760 will import all bindings exported from bar, but rename them by adding
763 ** Conflicting generic functions can be automatically merged.
765 When two imported bindings conflict and they are both generic
766 functions, the two functions can now be merged automatically. This is
767 activated with the 'duplicates' handler 'merge-generics'.
769 ** New function: effective-version
771 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
772 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
773 to the distribution" above.
775 ** New threading functions: parallel, letpar, par-map, and friends
777 These are convenient ways to run calculations in parallel in new
778 threads. See "Parallel forms" in the manual for details.
780 ** New function 'try-mutex'.
782 This function will attempt to lock a mutex but will return immediately
783 instead of blocking and indicate failure.
785 ** Waiting on a condition variable can have a timeout.
787 The function 'wait-condition-variable' now takes a third, optional
788 argument that specifies the point in time where the waiting should be
791 ** New function 'broadcast-condition-variable'.
793 ** New functions 'all-threads' and 'current-thread'.
795 ** Signals and system asyncs work better with threads.
797 The function 'sigaction' now takes a fourth, optional, argument that
798 specifies the thread that the handler should run in. When the
799 argument is omitted, the handler will run in the thread that called
802 Likewise, 'system-async-mark' takes a second, optional, argument that
803 specifies the thread that the async should run in. When it is
804 omitted, the async will run in the thread that called
807 C code can use the new functions scm_sigaction_for_thread and
808 scm_system_async_mark_for_thread to pass the new thread argument.
810 When a thread blocks on a mutex, a condition variable or is waiting
811 for IO to be possible, it will still execute system asyncs. This can
812 be used to interrupt such a thread by making it execute a 'throw', for
815 ** The function 'system-async' is deprecated.
817 You can now pass any zero-argument procedure to 'system-async-mark'.
818 The function 'system-async' will just return its argument unchanged
821 ** New functions 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' and
822 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
824 The expression (call-with-blocked-asyncs PROC) will call PROC and will
825 block execution of system asyncs for the current thread by one level
826 while PROC runs. Likewise, call-with-unblocked-asyncs will call a
827 procedure and will unblock the execution of system asyncs by one
828 level for the current thread.
830 Only system asyncs are affected by these functions.
832 ** The functions 'mask-signals' and 'unmask-signals' are deprecated.
834 Use 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' or 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
835 instead. Those functions are easier to use correctly and can be
838 ** New function 'unsetenv'.
840 ** New macro 'define-syntax-public'.
842 It works like 'define-syntax' and also exports the defined macro (but
845 ** There is support for Infinity and NaNs.
847 Following PLT Scheme, Guile can now work with infinite numbers, and
850 There is new syntax for numbers: "+inf.0" (infinity), "-inf.0"
851 (negative infinity), "+nan.0" (not-a-number), and "-nan.0" (same as
852 "+nan.0"). These numbers are inexact and have no exact counterpart.
854 Dividing by an inexact zero returns +inf.0 or -inf.0, depending on the
855 sign of the dividend. The infinities are integers, and they answer #t
856 for both 'even?' and 'odd?'. The +nan.0 value is not an integer and is
857 not '=' to itself, but '+nan.0' is 'eqv?' to itself.
868 ERROR: Numerical overflow
870 Two new predicates 'inf?' and 'nan?' can be used to test for the
873 ** Inexact zero can have a sign.
875 Guile can now distinguish between plus and minus inexact zero, if your
876 platform supports this, too. The two zeros are equal according to
877 '=', but not according to 'eqv?'. For example
888 ** Guile now has exact rationals.
890 Guile can now represent fractions such as 1/3 exactly. Computing with
891 them is also done exactly, of course:
896 ** 'floor', 'ceiling', 'round' and 'truncate' now return exact numbers
899 For example: (floor 2) now returns an exact 2 where in the past it
900 returned an inexact 2.0. Likewise, (floor 5/4) returns an exact 1.
902 ** inexact->exact no longer returns only integers.
904 Without exact rationals, the closest exact number was always an
905 integer, but now inexact->exact returns the fraction that is exactly
906 equal to a floating point number. For example:
908 (inexact->exact 1.234)
909 => 694680242521899/562949953421312
911 When you want the old behavior, use 'round' explicitly:
913 (inexact->exact (round 1.234))
916 ** New function 'rationalize'.
918 This function finds a simple fraction that is close to a given real
919 number. For example (and compare with inexact->exact above):
921 (rationalize (inexact->exact 1.234) 1/2000)
924 Note that, as required by R5RS, rationalize returns only then an exact
925 result when both its arguments are exact.
927 ** 'odd?' and 'even?' work also for inexact integers.
929 Previously, (odd? 1.0) would signal an error since only exact integers
930 were recognized as integers. Now (odd? 1.0) returns #t, (odd? 2.0)
931 returns #f and (odd? 1.5) signals an error.
933 ** Guile now has uninterned symbols.
935 The new function 'make-symbol' will return an uninterned symbol. This
936 is a symbol that is unique and is guaranteed to remain unique.
937 However, uninterned symbols can not yet be read back in.
939 Use the new function 'symbol-interned?' to check whether a symbol is
942 ** pretty-print has more options.
944 The function pretty-print from the (ice-9 pretty-print) module can now
945 also be invoked with keyword arguments that control things like
946 maximum output width. See the manual for details.
948 ** Variables have no longer a special behavior for `equal?'.
950 Previously, comparing two variables with `equal?' would recursivly
951 compare their values. This is no longer done. Variables are now only
952 `equal?' if they are `eq?'.
954 ** `(begin)' is now valid.
956 You can now use an empty `begin' form. It will yield #<unspecified>
957 when evaluated and simply be ignored in a definition context.
959 ** Deprecated: procedure->macro
961 Change your code to use 'define-macro' or r5rs macros. Also, be aware
962 that macro expansion will not be done during evaluation, but prior to
965 ** Soft ports now allow a `char-ready?' procedure
967 The vector argument to `make-soft-port' can now have a length of
968 either 5 or 6. (Previously the length had to be 5.) The optional 6th
969 element is interpreted as an `input-waiting' thunk -- i.e. a thunk
970 that returns the number of characters that can be read immediately
971 without the soft port blocking.
973 ** Deprecated: undefine
975 There is no replacement for undefine.
977 ** The functions make-keyword-from-dash-symbol and keyword-dash-symbol
978 have been discouraged.
980 They are relics from a time where a keyword like #:foo was used
981 directly as a Tcl option "-foo" and thus keywords were internally
982 stored as a symbol with a starting dash. We now store a symbol
985 Use symbol->keyword and keyword->symbol instead.
987 ** The `cheap' debug option is now obsolete
989 Evaluator trap calls are now unconditionally "cheap" - in other words,
990 they pass a debug object to the trap handler rather than a full
991 continuation. The trap handler code can capture a full continuation
992 by using `call-with-current-continuation' in the usual way, if it so
995 The `cheap' option is retained for now so as not to break existing
996 code which gets or sets it, but setting it now has no effect. It will
997 be removed in the next major Guile release.
999 ** Evaluator trap calls now support `tweaking'
1001 `Tweaking' means that the trap handler code can modify the Scheme
1002 expression that is about to be evaluated (in the case of an
1003 enter-frame trap) or the value that is being returned (in the case of
1004 an exit-frame trap). The trap handler code indicates that it wants to
1005 do this by returning a pair whose car is the symbol 'instead and whose
1006 cdr is the modified expression or return value.
1008 * Changes to the C interface
1010 ** The functions scm_hash_fn_remove_x and scm_hashx_remove_x no longer
1011 take a 'delete' function argument.
1013 This argument makes no sense since the delete function is used to
1014 remove a pair from an alist, and this must not be configurable.
1016 This is an incompatible change.
1018 ** The GH interface is now subject to the deprecation mechanism
1020 The GH interface has been deprecated for quite some time but now it is
1021 actually removed from Guile when it is configured with
1022 --disable-deprecated.
1024 See the manual "Transitioning away from GH" for more information.
1026 ** A new family of functions for converting between C values and
1027 Scheme values has been added.
1029 These functions follow a common naming scheme and are designed to be
1030 easier to use, thread-safe and more future-proof than the older
1033 - int scm_is_* (...)
1035 These are predicates that return a C boolean: 1 or 0. Instead of
1036 SCM_NFALSEP, you can now use scm_is_true, for example.
1038 - <type> scm_to_<type> (SCM val, ...)
1040 These are functions that convert a Scheme value into an appropriate
1041 C value. For example, you can use scm_to_int to safely convert from
1044 - SCM scm_from_<type> (<type> val, ...)
1046 These functions convert from a C type to a SCM value; for example,
1047 scm_from_int for ints.
1049 There is a huge number of these functions, for numbers, strings,
1050 symbols, vectors, etc. They are documented in the reference manual in
1051 the API section together with the types that they apply to.
1053 ** New functions for dealing with complex numbers in C have been added.
1055 The new functions are scm_c_make_rectangular, scm_c_make_polar,
1056 scm_c_real_part, scm_c_imag_part, scm_c_magnitude and scm_c_angle.
1057 They work like scm_make_rectangular etc but take or return doubles
1060 ** The function scm_make_complex has been discouraged.
1062 Use scm_c_make_rectangular instead.
1064 ** The INUM macros have been deprecated.
1066 A lot of code uses these macros to do general integer conversions,
1067 although the macros only work correctly with fixnums. Use the
1068 following alternatives.
1070 SCM_INUMP -> scm_is_integer or similar
1071 SCM_NINUMP -> !scm_is_integer or similar
1072 SCM_MAKINUM -> scm_from_int or similar
1073 SCM_INUM -> scm_to_int or similar
1075 SCM_VALIDATE_INUM_* -> Do not use these; scm_to_int, etc. will
1076 do the validating for you.
1078 ** The scm_num2<type> and scm_<type>2num functions and scm_make_real
1079 have been discouraged.
1081 Use the newer scm_to_<type> and scm_from_<type> functions instead for
1082 new code. The functions have been discouraged since they don't fit
1085 ** The 'boolean' macros SCM_FALSEP etc have been discouraged.
1087 They have strange names, especially SCM_NFALSEP, and SCM_BOOLP
1088 evaluates its argument twice. Use scm_is_true, etc. instead for new
1091 ** The macro SCM_EQ_P has been discouraged.
1093 Use scm_is_eq for new code, which fits better into the naming
1096 ** The macros SCM_CONSP, SCM_NCONSP, SCM_NULLP, and SCM_NNULLP have
1099 Use the function scm_is_pair or scm_is_null instead.
1101 ** The functions scm_round and scm_truncate have been deprecated and
1102 are now available as scm_c_round and scm_c_truncate, respectively.
1104 These functions occupy the names that scm_round_number and
1105 scm_truncate_number should have.
1107 ** The functions scm_c_string2str, scm_c_substring2str, and
1108 scm_c_symbol2str have been deprecated.
1110 Use scm_to_locale_stringbuf or similar instead, maybe together with
1113 ** New functions scm_c_make_string, scm_c_string_length,
1114 scm_c_string_ref, scm_c_string_set_x, scm_c_substring,
1115 scm_c_substring_shared, scm_c_substring_copy.
1117 These are like scm_make_string, scm_length, etc. but are slightly
1118 easier to use from C.
1120 ** The macros SCM_STRINGP, SCM_STRING_CHARS, SCM_STRING_LENGTH,
1121 SCM_SYMBOL_CHARS, and SCM_SYMBOL_LENGTH have been deprecated.
1123 They export too many assumptions about the implementation of strings
1124 and symbols that are no longer true in the presence of
1125 mutation-sharing substrings and when Guile switches to some form of
1128 When working with strings, it is often best to use the normal string
1129 functions provided by Guile, such as scm_c_string_ref,
1130 scm_c_string_set_x, scm_string_append, etc. Be sure to look in the
1131 manual since many more such functions are now provided than
1134 When you want to convert a SCM string to a C string, use the
1135 scm_to_locale_string function or similar instead. For symbols, use
1136 scm_symbol_to_string and then work with that string. Because of the
1137 new string representation, scm_symbol_to_string does not need to copy
1138 and is thus quite efficient.
1140 ** Some string, symbol and keyword functions have been discouraged.
1142 They don't fit into the uniform naming scheme and are not explicit
1143 about the character encoding.
1145 Replace according to the following table:
1147 scm_allocate_string -> scm_c_make_string
1148 scm_take_str -> scm_take_locale_stringn
1149 scm_take0str -> scm_take_locale_string
1150 scm_mem2string -> scm_from_locale_stringn
1151 scm_str2string -> scm_from_locale_string
1152 scm_makfrom0str -> scm_from_locale_string
1153 scm_mem2symbol -> scm_from_locale_symboln
1154 scm_mem2uninterned_symbol -> scm_from_locale_stringn + scm_make_symbol
1155 scm_str2symbol -> scm_from_locale_symbol
1157 SCM_SYMBOL_HASH -> scm_hashq
1158 SCM_SYMBOL_INTERNED_P -> scm_symbol_interned_p
1160 scm_c_make_keyword -> scm_from_locale_keyword
1162 ** The functions scm_keyword_to_symbol and sym_symbol_to_keyword are
1163 now also available to C code.
1165 ** SCM_KEYWORDP and SCM_KEYWORDSYM have been deprecated.
1167 Use scm_is_keyword and scm_keyword_to_symbol instead, but note that
1168 the latter returns the true name of the keyword, not the 'dash name',
1169 as SCM_KEYWORDSYM used to do.
1171 ** A new way to access arrays in a thread-safe and efficient way has
1174 See the manual, node "Accessing Arrays From C".
1176 ** The old uniform vector and bitvector implementations have been
1177 unceremoniously removed.
1179 This implementation exposed the details of the tagging system of
1180 Guile. Use the new C API explained in the manual in node "Uniform
1181 Numeric Vectors" and "Bit Vectors", respectively.
1183 The following macros are gone: SCM_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_BASE,
1184 SCM_UVECTOR_MAXLENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_MAKE_UVECTOR_TAG,
1185 SCM_SET_UVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_BITVECTOR_P, SCM_BITVECTOR_BASE,
1186 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_BASE, SCM_BITVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH,
1187 SCM_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_MAKE_BITVECTOR_TAG,
1188 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_BITVEC_REF, SCM_BITVEC_SET,
1191 ** The macros dealing with vectors have been deprecated.
1193 Use the new functions scm_is_vector, scm_vector_elements,
1194 scm_vector_writable_elements, etc, or scm_is_simple_vector,
1195 SCM_SIMPLE_VECTOR_REF, SCM_SIMPLE_VECTOR_SET, etc instead. See the
1196 manual for more details.
1198 Deprecated are SCM_VECTORP, SCM_VELTS, SCM_VECTOR_MAX_LENGTH,
1199 SCM_VECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_VECTOR_REF, SCM_VECTOR_SET, SCM_WRITABLE_VELTS.
1201 The following macros have been removed: SCM_VECTOR_BASE,
1202 SCM_SET_VECTOR_BASE, SCM_MAKE_VECTOR_TAG, SCM_SET_VECTOR_LENGTH,
1203 SCM_VELTS_AS_STACKITEMS, SCM_SETVELTS, SCM_GC_WRITABLE_VELTS.
1205 ** Some C functions and macros related to arrays have been deprecated.
1207 Migrate according to the following table:
1209 scm_make_uve -> scm_make_typed_array, scm_make_u8vector etc.
1210 scm_make_ra -> scm_make_array
1211 scm_shap2ra -> scm_make_array
1212 scm_cvref -> scm_c_generalized_vector_ref
1213 scm_ra_set_contp -> do not use
1214 scm_aind -> scm_array_handle_pos
1215 scm_raprin1 -> scm_display or scm_write
1217 SCM_ARRAYP -> scm_is_array
1218 SCM_ARRAY_NDIM -> scm_c_array_rank
1219 SCM_ARRAY_DIMS -> scm_array_handle_dims
1220 SCM_ARRAY_CONTP -> do not use
1221 SCM_ARRAY_MEM -> do not use
1222 SCM_ARRAY_V -> scm_array_handle_elements or similar
1223 SCM_ARRAY_BASE -> do not use
1225 ** SCM_CELL_WORD_LOC has been deprecated.
1227 Use the new macro SCM_CELL_OBJECT_LOC instead, which returns a pointer
1228 to a SCM, as opposed to a pointer to a scm_t_bits.
1230 This was done to allow the correct use of pointers into the Scheme
1231 heap. Previously, the heap words were of type scm_t_bits and local
1232 variables and function arguments were of type SCM, making it
1233 non-standards-conformant to have a pointer that can point to both.
1235 ** New macros SCM_SMOB_DATA_2, SCM_SMOB_DATA_3, etc.
1237 These macros should be used instead of SCM_CELL_WORD_2/3 to access the
1238 second and third words of double smobs. Likewise for
1239 SCM_SET_SMOB_DATA_2 and SCM_SET_SMOB_DATA_3.
1241 Also, there is SCM_SMOB_FLAGS and SCM_SET_SMOB_FLAGS that should be
1242 used to get and set the 16 exra bits in the zeroth word of a smob.
1244 And finally, there is SCM_SMOB_OBJECT and SCM_SMOB_SET_OBJECT for
1245 accesing the first immediate word of a smob as a SCM value, and there
1246 is SCM_SMOB_OBJECT_LOC for getting a pointer to the first immediate
1247 smob word. Like wise for SCM_SMOB_OBJECT_2, etc.
1249 ** New way to deal with non-local exits and re-entries.
1251 There is a new set of functions that essentially do what
1252 scm_internal_dynamic_wind does, but in a way that is more convenient
1253 for C code in some situations. Here is a quick example of how to
1254 prevent a potential memory leak:
1261 scm_dynwind_begin (0);
1263 mem = scm_malloc (100);
1264 scm_dynwind_unwind_handler (free, mem, SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITLY);
1266 /* MEM would leak if BAR throws an error.
1267 SCM_DYNWIND_UNWIND_HANDLER frees it nevertheless.
1274 /* Because of SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITLY, MEM will be freed by
1275 SCM_DYNWIND_END as well.
1279 For full documentation, see the node "Dynamic Wind" in the manual.
1281 ** New function scm_dynwind_free
1283 This function calls 'free' on a given pointer when a dynwind context
1284 is left. Thus the call to scm_dynwind_unwind_handler above could be
1285 replaced with simply scm_dynwind_free (mem).
1287 ** New functions scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
1288 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs
1290 Like scm_call_with_blocked_asyncs etc. but for C functions.
1292 ** New functions scm_dynwind_block_asyncs and scm_dynwind_unblock_asyncs
1294 In addition to scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs you can now also use
1295 scm_dynwind_block_asyncs in a 'dynwind context' (see above). Likewise for
1296 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs and scm_dynwind_unblock_asyncs.
1298 ** The macros SCM_DEFER_INTS, SCM_ALLOW_INTS, SCM_REDEFER_INTS,
1299 SCM_REALLOW_INTS have been deprecated.
1301 They do no longer fulfill their original role of blocking signal
1302 delivery. Depending on what you want to achieve, replace a pair of
1303 SCM_DEFER_INTS and SCM_ALLOW_INTS with a dynwind context that locks a
1304 mutex, blocks asyncs, or both. See node "Critical Sections" in the
1307 ** The value 'scm_mask_ints' is no longer writable.
1309 Previously, you could set scm_mask_ints directly. This is no longer
1310 possible. Use scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
1311 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs instead.
1313 ** New way to temporarily set the current input, output or error ports
1315 C code can now use scm_dynwind_current_<foo>_port in a 'dynwind
1316 context' (see above). <foo> is one of "input", "output" or "error".
1318 ** New way to temporarily set fluids
1320 C code can now use scm_dynwind_fluid in a 'dynwind context' (see
1321 above) to temporarily set the value of a fluid.
1323 ** New types scm_t_intmax and scm_t_uintmax.
1325 On platforms that have them, these types are identical to intmax_t and
1326 uintmax_t, respectively. On other platforms, they are identical to
1327 the largest integer types that Guile knows about.
1329 ** The functions scm_unmemocopy and scm_unmemoize have been removed.
1331 You should not have used them.
1333 ** Many public #defines with generic names have been made private.
1335 #defines with generic names like HAVE_FOO or SIZEOF_FOO have been made
1336 private or renamed with a more suitable public name.
1338 ** The macro SCM_TYP16S has been deprecated.
1340 This macro is not intended for public use.
1342 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_INEXACTP has been deprecated.
1344 Use scm_is_true (scm_inexact_p (...)) instead.
1346 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_REALP has been deprecated.
1348 Use scm_is_real instead.
1350 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_COMPLEXP has been deprecated.
1352 Use scm_is_complex instead.
1354 ** Some preprocessor defines have been deprecated.
1356 These defines indicated whether a certain feature was present in Guile
1357 or not. Going forward, assume that the features are always present.
1359 The macros are: USE_THREADS, GUILE_ISELECT, READER_EXTENSIONS,
1360 DEBUG_EXTENSIONS, DYNAMIC_LINKING.
1362 The following macros have been removed completely: MEMOIZE_LOCALS,
1363 SCM_RECKLESS, SCM_CAUTIOUS.
1365 ** The preprocessor define STACK_DIRECTION has been deprecated.
1367 There should be no need to know about the stack direction for ordinary
1370 ** New function: scm_effective_version
1372 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
1373 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
1374 to the distribution" above.
1376 ** The function scm_call_with_new_thread has a new prototype.
1378 Instead of taking a list with the thunk and handler, these two
1379 arguments are now passed directly:
1381 SCM scm_call_with_new_thread (SCM thunk, SCM handler);
1383 This is an incompatible change.
1385 ** New snarfer macro SCM_DEFINE_PUBLIC.
1387 This is like SCM_DEFINE, but also calls scm_c_export for the defined
1388 function in the init section.
1390 ** The snarfer macro SCM_SNARF_INIT is now officially supported.
1392 ** Garbage collector rewrite.
1394 The garbage collector is cleaned up a lot, and now uses lazy
1395 sweeping. This is reflected in the output of (gc-stats); since cells
1396 are being freed when they are allocated, the cells-allocated field
1397 stays roughly constant.
1399 For malloc related triggers, the behavior is changed. It uses the same
1400 heuristic as the cell-triggered collections. It may be tuned with the
1401 environment variables GUILE_MIN_YIELD_MALLOC. This is the percentage
1402 for minimum yield of malloc related triggers. The default is 40.
1403 GUILE_INIT_MALLOC_LIMIT sets the initial trigger for doing a GC. The
1406 Debugging operations for the freelist have been deprecated, along with
1407 the C variables that control garbage collection. The environment
1408 variables GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE, GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2,
1409 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1, and GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2 should be used.
1411 For understanding the memory usage of a GUILE program, the routine
1412 gc-live-object-stats returns an alist containing the number of live
1413 objects for every type.
1416 ** The function scm_definedp has been renamed to scm_defined_p
1418 The name scm_definedp is deprecated.
1420 ** The struct scm_cell type has been renamed to scm_t_cell
1422 This is in accordance to Guile's naming scheme for types. Note that
1423 the name scm_cell is now used for a function that allocates and
1424 initializes a new cell (see below).
1426 ** New functions for memory management
1428 A new set of functions for memory management has been added since the
1429 old way (scm_must_malloc, scm_must_free, etc) was error prone and
1430 indeed, Guile itself contained some long standing bugs that could
1431 cause aborts in long running programs.
1433 The new functions are more symmetrical and do not need cooperation
1434 from smob free routines, among other improvements.
1436 The new functions are scm_malloc, scm_realloc, scm_calloc, scm_strdup,
1437 scm_strndup, scm_gc_malloc, scm_gc_calloc, scm_gc_realloc,
1438 scm_gc_free, scm_gc_register_collectable_memory, and
1439 scm_gc_unregister_collectable_memory. Refer to the manual for more
1440 details and for upgrading instructions.
1442 The old functions for memory management have been deprecated. They
1443 are: scm_must_malloc, scm_must_realloc, scm_must_free,
1444 scm_must_strdup, scm_must_strndup, scm_done_malloc, scm_done_free.
1446 ** Declarations of exported features are marked with SCM_API.
1448 Every declaration of a feature that belongs to the exported Guile API
1449 has been marked by adding the macro "SCM_API" to the start of the
1450 declaration. This macro can expand into different things, the most
1451 common of which is just "extern" for Unix platforms. On Win32, it can
1452 be used to control which symbols are exported from a DLL.
1454 If you `#define SCM_IMPORT' before including <libguile.h>, SCM_API
1455 will expand into "__declspec (dllimport) extern", which is needed for
1456 linking to the Guile DLL in Windows.
1458 There are also SCM_RL_IMPORT, SCM_SRFI1314_IMPORT, and
1459 SCM_SRFI4_IMPORT, for the corresponding libraries.
1461 ** SCM_NEWCELL and SCM_NEWCELL2 have been deprecated.
1463 Use the new functions scm_cell and scm_double_cell instead. The old
1464 macros had problems because with them allocation and initialization
1465 was separated and the GC could sometimes observe half initialized
1466 cells. Only careful coding by the user of SCM_NEWCELL and
1467 SCM_NEWCELL2 could make this safe and efficient.
1469 ** CHECK_ENTRY, CHECK_APPLY and CHECK_EXIT have been deprecated.
1471 Use the variables scm_check_entry_p, scm_check_apply_p and scm_check_exit_p
1474 ** SRCBRKP has been deprecated.
1476 Use scm_c_source_property_breakpoint_p instead.
1478 ** Deprecated: scm_makmacro
1480 Change your code to use either scm_makmmacro or to define macros in
1481 Scheme, using 'define-macro'.
1483 ** New function scm_c_port_for_each.
1485 This function is like scm_port_for_each but takes a pointer to a C
1486 function as the callback instead of a SCM value.
1488 ** The names scm_internal_select, scm_thread_sleep, and
1489 scm_thread_usleep have been discouraged.
1491 Use scm_std_select, scm_std_sleep, scm_std_usleep instead.
1493 ** The GC can no longer be blocked.
1495 The global flags scm_gc_heap_lock and scm_block_gc have been removed.
1496 The GC can now run (partially) concurrently with other code and thus
1497 blocking it is not well defined.
1499 ** Many definitions have been removed that were previously deprecated.
1501 scm_lisp_nil, scm_lisp_t, s_nil_ify, scm_m_nil_ify, s_t_ify,
1502 scm_m_t_ify, s_0_cond, scm_m_0_cond, s_0_ify, scm_m_0_ify, s_1_ify,
1503 scm_m_1_ify, scm_debug_newcell, scm_debug_newcell2,
1504 scm_tc16_allocated, SCM_SET_SYMBOL_HASH, SCM_IM_NIL_IFY, SCM_IM_T_IFY,
1505 SCM_IM_0_COND, SCM_IM_0_IFY, SCM_IM_1_IFY, SCM_GC_SET_ALLOCATED,
1506 scm_debug_newcell, scm_debug_newcell2, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL, SCM_INT_SIGNAL,
1507 SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL, SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL,
1508 SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD, SCM_ORD_SIG,
1509 SCM_NUM_SIGS, scm_top_level_lookup_closure_var,
1510 *top-level-lookup-closure*, scm_system_transformer, scm_eval_3,
1511 scm_eval2, root_module_lookup_closure, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP,
1512 SCM_RWSTRINGP, scm_read_only_string_p, scm_make_shared_substring,
1513 scm_tc7_substring, sym_huh, SCM_VARVCELL, SCM_UDVARIABLEP,
1514 SCM_DEFVARIABLEP, scm_mkbig, scm_big2inum, scm_adjbig, scm_normbig,
1515 scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big, scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl, SCM_FIXNUM_BIT,
1516 SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_SLOPPY_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET,
1517 SCM_LENGTH_MAX, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_ROLENGTH,
1518 SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR,
1519 scm_sym2vcell, scm_intern, scm_intern0, scm_sysintern, scm_sysintern0,
1520 scm_sysintern0_no_module_lookup, scm_init_symbols_deprecated,
1521 scm_vector_set_length_x, scm_contregs, scm_debug_info,
1522 scm_debug_frame, SCM_DSIDEVAL, SCM_CONST_LONG, SCM_VCELL,
1523 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL, SCM_VCELL_INIT, SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL_INIT,
1524 SCM_HUGE_LENGTH, SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING,
1525 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY, SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY,
1526 SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, DIGITS, scm_small_istr2int, scm_istr2int,
1527 scm_istr2flo, scm_istring2number, scm_istr2int, scm_istr2flo,
1528 scm_istring2number, scm_vtable_index_vcell, scm_si_vcell, SCM_ECONSP,
1529 SCM_NECONSP, SCM_GLOC_VAR, SCM_GLOC_VAL, SCM_GLOC_SET_VAL,
1530 SCM_GLOC_VAL_LOC, scm_make_gloc, scm_gloc_p, scm_tc16_variable,
1531 SCM_CHARS, SCM_LENGTH, SCM_SET_STRING_CHARS, SCM_SET_STRING_LENGTH.
1533 * Changes to bundled modules
1537 Using the (ice-9 debug) module no longer automatically switches Guile
1538 to use the debugging evaluator. If you want to switch to the
1539 debugging evaluator (which is needed for backtrace information if you
1540 hit an error), please add an explicit "(debug-enable 'debug)" to your
1541 code just after the code to use (ice-9 debug).
1544 Changes since Guile 1.4:
1546 * Changes to the distribution
1548 ** A top-level TODO file is included.
1550 ** Guile now uses a versioning scheme similar to that of the Linux kernel.
1552 Guile now always uses three numbers to represent the version,
1553 i.e. "1.6.5". The first number, 1, is the major version number, the
1554 second number, 6, is the minor version number, and the third number,
1555 5, is the micro version number. Changes in major version number
1556 indicate major changes in Guile.
1558 Minor version numbers that are even denote stable releases, and odd
1559 minor version numbers denote development versions (which may be
1560 unstable). The micro version number indicates a minor sub-revision of
1561 a given MAJOR.MINOR release.
1563 In keeping with the new scheme, (minor-version) and scm_minor_version
1564 no longer return everything but the major version number. They now
1565 just return the minor version number. Two new functions
1566 (micro-version) and scm_micro_version have been added to report the
1567 micro version number.
1569 In addition, ./GUILE-VERSION now defines GUILE_MICRO_VERSION.
1571 ** New preprocessor definitions are available for checking versions.
1573 version.h now #defines SCM_MAJOR_VERSION, SCM_MINOR_VERSION, and
1574 SCM_MICRO_VERSION to the appropriate integer values.
1576 ** Guile now actively warns about deprecated features.
1578 The new configure option `--enable-deprecated=LEVEL' and the
1579 environment variable GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATED control this mechanism.
1580 See INSTALL and README for more information.
1582 ** Guile is much more likely to work on 64-bit architectures.
1584 Guile now compiles and passes "make check" with only two UNRESOLVED GC
1585 cases on Alpha and ia64 based machines now. Thanks to John Goerzen
1586 for the use of a test machine, and thanks to Stefan Jahn for ia64
1589 ** New functions: setitimer and getitimer.
1591 These implement a fairly direct interface to the libc functions of the
1594 ** The #. reader extension is now disabled by default.
1596 For safety reasons, #. evaluation is disabled by default. To
1597 re-enable it, set the fluid read-eval? to #t. For example:
1599 (fluid-set! read-eval? #t)
1601 but make sure you realize the potential security risks involved. With
1602 read-eval? enabled, reading a data file from an untrusted source can
1605 ** New SRFI modules have been added:
1607 SRFI-0 `cond-expand' is now supported in Guile, without requiring
1610 (srfi srfi-1) is a library containing many useful pair- and list-processing
1613 (srfi srfi-2) exports and-let*.
1615 (srfi srfi-4) implements homogeneous numeric vector datatypes.
1617 (srfi srfi-6) is a dummy module for now, since guile already provides
1618 all of the srfi-6 procedures by default: open-input-string,
1619 open-output-string, get-output-string.
1621 (srfi srfi-8) exports receive.
1623 (srfi srfi-9) exports define-record-type.
1625 (srfi srfi-10) exports define-reader-ctor and implements the reader
1628 (srfi srfi-11) exports let-values and let*-values.
1630 (srfi srfi-13) implements the SRFI String Library.
1632 (srfi srfi-14) implements the SRFI Character-Set Library.
1634 (srfi srfi-17) implements setter and getter-with-setter and redefines
1635 some accessor procedures as procedures with getters. (such as car,
1636 cdr, vector-ref etc.)
1638 (srfi srfi-19) implements the SRFI Time/Date Library.
1640 ** New scripts / "executable modules"
1642 Subdirectory "scripts" contains Scheme modules that are packaged to
1643 also be executable as scripts. At this time, these scripts are available:
1652 See README there for more info.
1654 These scripts can be invoked from the shell with the new program
1655 "guile-tools", which keeps track of installation directory for you.
1658 $ guile-tools display-commentary srfi/*.scm
1660 guile-tools is copied to the standard $bindir on "make install".
1662 ** New module (ice-9 stack-catch):
1664 stack-catch is like catch, but saves the current state of the stack in
1665 the fluid the-last-stack. This fluid can be useful when using the
1666 debugger and when re-throwing an error.
1668 ** The module (ice-9 and-let*) has been renamed to (ice-9 and-let-star)
1670 This has been done to prevent problems on lesser operating systems
1671 that can't tolerate `*'s in file names. The exported macro continues
1672 to be named `and-let*', of course.
1674 On systems that support it, there is also a compatibility module named
1675 (ice-9 and-let*). It will go away in the next release.
1677 ** New modules (oop goops) etc.:
1680 (oop goops describe)
1682 (oop goops active-slot)
1683 (oop goops composite-slot)
1685 The Guile Object Oriented Programming System (GOOPS) has been
1686 integrated into Guile. For further information, consult the GOOPS
1687 manual and tutorial in the `doc' directory.
1689 ** New module (ice-9 rdelim).
1691 This exports the following procedures which were previously defined
1692 in the default environment:
1694 read-line read-line! read-delimited read-delimited! %read-delimited!
1695 %read-line write-line
1697 For backwards compatibility the definitions are still imported into the
1698 default environment in this version of Guile. However you should add:
1700 (use-modules (ice-9 rdelim))
1702 to any program which uses the definitions, since this may change in
1705 Alternatively, if guile-scsh is installed, the (scsh rdelim) module
1706 can be used for similar functionality.
1708 ** New module (ice-9 rw)
1710 This is a subset of the (scsh rw) module from guile-scsh. Currently
1711 it defines two procedures:
1713 *** New function: read-string!/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
1715 Read characters from a port or file descriptor into a string STR.
1716 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
1717 fport. This procedure is scsh-compatible and can efficiently read
1720 *** New function: write-string/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
1722 Write characters from a string STR to a port or file descriptor.
1723 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
1724 fport. This procedure is mostly compatible and can efficiently
1725 write large strings.
1727 ** New module (ice-9 match)
1729 This module includes Andrew K. Wright's pattern matcher. See
1730 ice-9/match.scm for brief description or
1732 http://www.star-lab.com/wright/code.html
1734 for complete documentation.
1736 ** New module (ice-9 buffered-input)
1738 This module provides procedures to construct an input port from an
1739 underlying source of input that reads and returns its input in chunks.
1740 The underlying input source is a Scheme procedure, specified by the
1741 caller, which the port invokes whenever it needs more input.
1743 This is useful when building an input port whose back end is Readline
1744 or a UI element such as the GtkEntry widget.
1748 The reference and tutorial documentation that was previously
1749 distributed separately, as `guile-doc', is now included in the core
1750 Guile distribution. The documentation consists of the following
1753 - The Guile Tutorial (guile-tut.texi) contains a tutorial introduction
1756 - The Guile Reference Manual (guile.texi) contains (or is intended to
1757 contain) reference documentation on all aspects of Guile.
1759 - The GOOPS Manual (goops.texi) contains both tutorial-style and
1760 reference documentation for using GOOPS, Guile's Object Oriented
1763 - The Revised^5 Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme
1766 See the README file in the `doc' directory for more details.
1768 ** There are a couple of examples in the examples/ directory now.
1770 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
1772 ** New command line option `--use-srfi'
1774 Using this option, SRFI modules can be loaded on startup and be
1775 available right from the beginning. This makes programming portable
1776 Scheme programs easier.
1778 The option `--use-srfi' expects a comma-separated list of numbers,
1779 each representing a SRFI number to be loaded into the interpreter
1780 before starting evaluating a script file or the REPL. Additionally,
1781 the feature identifier for the loaded SRFIs is recognized by
1782 `cond-expand' when using this option.
1785 $ guile --use-srfi=8,13
1786 guile> (receive (x z) (values 1 2) (+ 1 2))
1788 guile> (string-pad "bla" 20)
1791 ** Guile now always starts up in the `(guile-user)' module.
1793 Previously, scripts executed via the `-s' option would run in the
1794 `(guile)' module and the repl would run in the `(guile-user)' module.
1795 Now every user action takes place in the `(guile-user)' module by
1798 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
1800 ** Character classifiers work for non-ASCII characters.
1802 The predicates `char-alphabetic?', `char-numeric?',
1803 `char-whitespace?', `char-lower?', `char-upper?' and `char-is-both?'
1804 no longer check whether their arguments are ASCII characters.
1805 Previously, a character would only be considered alphabetic when it
1806 was also ASCII, for example.
1808 ** Previously deprecated Scheme functions have been removed:
1810 tag - no replacement.
1811 fseek - replaced by seek.
1812 list* - replaced by cons*.
1814 ** It's now possible to create modules with controlled environments
1818 (use-modules (ice-9 safe))
1819 (define m (make-safe-module))
1820 ;;; m will now be a module containing only a safe subset of R5RS
1821 (eval '(+ 1 2) m) --> 3
1822 (eval 'load m) --> ERROR: Unbound variable: load
1824 ** Evaluation of "()", the empty list, is now an error.
1826 Previously, the expression "()" evaluated to the empty list. This has
1827 been changed to signal a "missing expression" error. The correct way
1828 to write the empty list as a literal constant is to use quote: "'()".
1830 ** New concept of `Guile Extensions'.
1832 A Guile Extension is just a ordinary shared library that can be linked
1833 at run-time. We found it advantageous to give this simple concept a
1834 dedicated name to distinguish the issues related to shared libraries
1835 from the issues related to the module system.
1837 *** New function: load-extension
1839 Executing (load-extension lib init) is mostly equivalent to
1841 (dynamic-call init (dynamic-link lib))
1843 except when scm_register_extension has been called previously.
1844 Whenever appropriate, you should use `load-extension' instead of
1845 dynamic-link and dynamic-call.
1847 *** New C function: scm_c_register_extension
1849 This function registers a initialization function for use by
1850 `load-extension'. Use it when you don't want specific extensions to
1851 be loaded as shared libraries (for example on platforms that don't
1852 support dynamic linking).
1854 ** Auto-loading of compiled-code modules is deprecated.
1856 Guile used to be able to automatically find and link a shared
1857 library to satisfy requests for a module. For example, the module
1858 `(foo bar)' could be implemented by placing a shared library named
1859 "foo/libbar.so" (or with a different extension) in a directory on the
1862 This has been found to be too tricky, and is no longer supported. The
1863 shared libraries are now called "extensions". You should now write a
1864 small Scheme file that calls `load-extension' to load the shared
1865 library and initialize it explicitly.
1867 The shared libraries themselves should be installed in the usual
1868 places for shared libraries, with names like "libguile-foo-bar".
1870 For example, place this into a file "foo/bar.scm"
1872 (define-module (foo bar))
1874 (load-extension "libguile-foo-bar" "foobar_init")
1876 ** Backward incompatible change: eval EXP ENVIRONMENT-SPECIFIER
1878 `eval' is now R5RS, that is it takes two arguments.
1879 The second argument is an environment specifier, i.e. either
1881 (scheme-report-environment 5)
1882 (null-environment 5)
1883 (interaction-environment)
1889 ** The module system has been made more disciplined.
1891 The function `eval' will save and restore the current module around
1892 the evaluation of the specified expression. While this expression is
1893 evaluated, `(current-module)' will now return the right module, which
1894 is the module specified as the second argument to `eval'.
1896 A consequence of this change is that `eval' is not particularly
1897 useful when you want allow the evaluated code to change what module is
1898 designated as the current module and have this change persist from one
1899 call to `eval' to the next. The read-eval-print-loop is an example
1900 where `eval' is now inadequate. To compensate, there is a new
1901 function `primitive-eval' that does not take a module specifier and
1902 that does not save/restore the current module. You should use this
1903 function together with `set-current-module', `current-module', etc
1904 when you want to have more control over the state that is carried from
1905 one eval to the next.
1907 Additionally, it has been made sure that forms that are evaluated at
1908 the top level are always evaluated with respect to the current module.
1909 Previously, subforms of top-level forms such as `begin', `case',
1910 etc. did not respect changes to the current module although these
1911 subforms are at the top-level as well.
1913 To prevent strange behavior, the forms `define-module',
1914 `use-modules', `use-syntax', and `export' have been restricted to only
1915 work on the top level. The forms `define-public' and
1916 `defmacro-public' only export the new binding on the top level. They
1917 behave just like `define' and `defmacro', respectively, when they are
1918 used in a lexical environment.
1920 Also, `export' will no longer silently re-export bindings imported
1921 from a used module. It will emit a `deprecation' warning and will
1922 cease to perform any re-export in the next version. If you actually
1923 want to re-export bindings, use the new `re-export' in place of
1924 `export'. The new `re-export' will not make copies of variables when
1925 rexporting them, as `export' did wrongly.
1927 ** Module system now allows selection and renaming of imported bindings
1929 Previously, when using `use-modules' or the `#:use-module' clause in
1930 the `define-module' form, all the bindings (association of symbols to
1931 values) for imported modules were added to the "current module" on an
1932 as-is basis. This has been changed to allow finer control through two
1933 new facilities: selection and renaming.
1935 You can now select which of the imported module's bindings are to be
1936 visible in the current module by using the `:select' clause. This
1937 clause also can be used to rename individual bindings. For example:
1939 ;; import all bindings no questions asked
1940 (use-modules (ice-9 common-list))
1942 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them;
1943 ;; the current module sees: every some zonk-y zonk-n
1944 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1946 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1947 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))))
1949 You can also programmatically rename all selected bindings using the
1950 `:renamer' clause, which specifies a proc that takes a symbol and
1951 returns another symbol. Because it is common practice to use a prefix,
1952 we now provide the convenience procedure `symbol-prefix-proc'. For
1955 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
1956 ;; and all four w/ prefix "CL:";
1957 ;; the current module sees: CL:every CL:some CL:zonk-y CL:zonk-n
1958 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1960 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1961 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
1962 :renamer (symbol-prefix-proc 'CL:)))
1964 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
1965 ;; and all four by upcasing.
1966 ;; the current module sees: EVERY SOME ZONK-Y ZONK-N
1967 (define (upcase-symbol sym)
1968 (string->symbol (string-upcase (symbol->string sym))))
1970 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1972 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1973 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
1974 :renamer upcase-symbol))
1976 Note that programmatic renaming is done *after* individual renaming.
1977 Also, the above examples show `use-modules', but the same facilities are
1978 available for the `#:use-module' clause of `define-module'.
1980 See manual for more info.
1982 ** The semantics of guardians have changed.
1984 The changes are for the most part compatible. An important criterion
1985 was to keep the typical usage of guardians as simple as before, but to
1986 make the semantics safer and (as a result) more useful.
1988 *** All objects returned from guardians are now properly alive.
1990 It is now guaranteed that any object referenced by an object returned
1991 from a guardian is alive. It's now impossible for a guardian to
1992 return a "contained" object before its "containing" object.
1994 One incompatible (but probably not very important) change resulting
1995 from this is that it is no longer possible to guard objects that
1996 indirectly reference themselves (i.e. are parts of cycles). If you do
1997 so accidentally, you'll get a warning.
1999 *** There are now two types of guardians: greedy and sharing.
2001 If you call (make-guardian #t) or just (make-guardian), you'll get a
2002 greedy guardian, and for (make-guardian #f) a sharing guardian.
2004 Greedy guardians are the default because they are more "defensive".
2005 You can only greedily guard an object once. If you guard an object
2006 more than once, once in a greedy guardian and the rest of times in
2007 sharing guardians, then it is guaranteed that the object won't be
2008 returned from sharing guardians as long as it is greedily guarded
2011 Guardians returned by calls to `make-guardian' can now take one more
2012 optional parameter, which says whether to throw an error in case an
2013 attempt is made to greedily guard an object that is already greedily
2014 guarded. The default is true, i.e. throw an error. If the parameter
2015 is false, the guardian invocation returns #t if guarding was
2016 successful and #f if it wasn't.
2018 Also, since greedy guarding is, in effect, a side-effecting operation
2019 on objects, a new function is introduced: `destroy-guardian!'.
2020 Invoking this function on a guardian renders it unoperative and, if
2021 the guardian is greedy, clears the "greedily guarded" property of the
2022 objects that were guarded by it, thus undoing the side effect.
2024 Note that all this hair is hardly very important, since guardian
2025 objects are usually permanent.
2027 ** Continuations created by call-with-current-continuation now accept
2028 any number of arguments, as required by R5RS.
2030 ** New function `issue-deprecation-warning'
2032 This function is used to display the deprecation messages that are
2033 controlled by GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATION as explained in the README.
2036 (issue-deprecation-warning "`id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.")
2040 ;; `id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.
2045 ** New syntax `begin-deprecated'
2047 When deprecated features are included (as determined by the configure
2048 option --enable-deprecated), `begin-deprecated' is identical to
2049 `begin'. When deprecated features are excluded, it always evaluates
2050 to `#f', ignoring the body forms.
2052 ** New function `make-object-property'
2054 This function returns a new `procedure with setter' P that can be used
2055 to attach a property to objects. When calling P as
2059 where `obj' is any kind of object, it attaches `val' to `obj' in such
2060 a way that it can be retrieved by calling P as
2064 This function will replace procedure properties, symbol properties and
2065 source properties eventually.
2067 ** Module (ice-9 optargs) now uses keywords instead of `#&'.
2069 Instead of #&optional, #&key, etc you should now use #:optional,
2070 #:key, etc. Since #:optional is a keyword, you can write it as just
2071 :optional when (read-set! keywords 'prefix) is active.
2073 The old reader syntax `#&' is still supported, but deprecated. It
2074 will be removed in the next release.
2076 ** New define-module option: pure
2078 Tells the module system not to include any bindings from the root
2083 (define-module (totally-empty-module)
2086 ** New define-module option: export NAME1 ...
2088 Export names NAME1 ...
2090 This option is required if you want to be able to export bindings from
2091 a module which doesn't import one of `define-public' or `export'.
2095 (define-module (foo)
2097 :use-module (ice-9 r5rs)
2100 ;;; Note that we're pure R5RS below this point!
2105 ** New function: object->string OBJ
2107 Return a Scheme string obtained by printing a given object.
2109 ** New function: port? X
2111 Returns a boolean indicating whether X is a port. Equivalent to
2112 `(or (input-port? X) (output-port? X))'.
2114 ** New function: file-port?
2116 Determines whether a given object is a port that is related to a file.
2118 ** New function: port-for-each proc
2120 Apply PROC to each port in the Guile port table in turn. The return
2121 value is unspecified. More specifically, PROC is applied exactly once
2122 to every port that exists in the system at the time PORT-FOR-EACH is
2123 invoked. Changes to the port table while PORT-FOR-EACH is running
2124 have no effect as far as PORT-FOR-EACH is concerned.
2126 ** New function: dup2 oldfd newfd
2128 A simple wrapper for the `dup2' system call. Copies the file
2129 descriptor OLDFD to descriptor number NEWFD, replacing the
2130 previous meaning of NEWFD. Both OLDFD and NEWFD must be integers.
2131 Unlike for dup->fdes or primitive-move->fdes, no attempt is made
2132 to move away ports which are using NEWFD. The return value is
2135 ** New function: close-fdes fd
2137 A simple wrapper for the `close' system call. Close file
2138 descriptor FD, which must be an integer. Unlike close (*note
2139 close: Ports and File Descriptors.), the file descriptor will be
2140 closed even if a port is using it. The return value is
2143 ** New function: crypt password salt
2145 Encrypts `password' using the standard unix password encryption
2148 ** New function: chroot path
2150 Change the root directory of the running process to `path'.
2152 ** New functions: getlogin, cuserid
2154 Return the login name or the user name of the current effective user
2157 ** New functions: getpriority which who, setpriority which who prio
2159 Get or set the priority of the running process.
2161 ** New function: getpass prompt
2163 Read a password from the terminal, first displaying `prompt' and
2166 ** New function: flock file operation
2168 Set/remove an advisory shared or exclusive lock on `file'.
2170 ** New functions: sethostname name, gethostname
2172 Set or get the hostname of the machine the current process is running
2175 ** New function: mkstemp! tmpl
2177 mkstemp creates a new unique file in the file system and returns a
2178 new buffered port open for reading and writing to the file. TMPL
2179 is a string specifying where the file should be created: it must
2180 end with `XXXXXX' and will be changed in place to return the name
2181 of the temporary file.
2183 ** New function: open-input-string string
2185 Return an input string port which delivers the characters from
2186 `string'. This procedure, together with `open-output-string' and
2187 `get-output-string' implements SRFI-6.
2189 ** New function: open-output-string
2191 Return an output string port which collects all data written to it.
2192 The data can then be retrieved by `get-output-string'.
2194 ** New function: get-output-string
2196 Return the contents of an output string port.
2198 ** New function: identity
2200 Return the argument.
2202 ** socket, connect, accept etc., now have support for IPv6. IPv6 addresses
2203 are represented in Scheme as integers with normal host byte ordering.
2205 ** New function: inet-pton family address
2207 Convert a printable string network address into an integer. Note that
2208 unlike the C version of this function, the result is an integer with
2209 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
2212 (inet-pton AF_INET "127.0.0.1") => 2130706433
2213 (inet-pton AF_INET6 "::1") => 1
2215 ** New function: inet-ntop family address
2217 Convert an integer network address into a printable string. Note that
2218 unlike the C version of this function, the input is an integer with
2219 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
2222 (inet-ntop AF_INET 2130706433) => "127.0.0.1"
2223 (inet-ntop AF_INET6 (- (expt 2 128) 1)) =>
2224 ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff
2228 Use `identity' instead.
2234 ** Deprecated: return-it
2238 ** Deprecated: string-character-length
2240 Use `string-length' instead.
2242 ** Deprecated: flags
2244 Use `logior' instead.
2246 ** Deprecated: close-all-ports-except.
2248 This was intended for closing ports in a child process after a fork,
2249 but it has the undesirable side effect of flushing buffers.
2250 port-for-each is more flexible.
2252 ** The (ice-9 popen) module now attempts to set up file descriptors in
2253 the child process from the current Scheme ports, instead of using the
2254 current values of file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 in the parent process.
2256 ** Removed function: builtin-weak-bindings
2258 There is no such concept as a weak binding any more.
2260 ** Removed constants: bignum-radix, scm-line-incrementors
2262 ** define-method: New syntax mandatory.
2264 The new method syntax is now mandatory:
2266 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ...) BODY ...)
2267 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ... . REST-ARG) BODY ...)
2269 ARG-SPEC ::= ARG-NAME | (ARG-NAME TYPE)
2270 REST-ARG ::= ARG-NAME
2272 If you have old code using the old syntax, import
2273 (oop goops old-define-method) before (oop goops) as in:
2275 (use-modules (oop goops old-define-method) (oop goops))
2277 ** Deprecated function: builtin-variable
2278 Removed function: builtin-bindings
2280 There is no longer a distinction between builtin or other variables.
2281 Use module system operations for all variables.
2283 ** Lazy-catch handlers are no longer allowed to return.
2285 That is, a call to `throw', `error', etc is now guaranteed to not
2288 ** Bugfixes for (ice-9 getopt-long)
2290 This module is now tested using test-suite/tests/getopt-long.test.
2291 The following bugs have been fixed:
2293 *** Parsing for options that are specified to have `optional' args now checks
2294 if the next element is an option instead of unconditionally taking it as the
2297 *** An error is now thrown for `--opt=val' when the option description
2298 does not specify `(value #t)' or `(value optional)'. This condition used to
2299 be accepted w/o error, contrary to the documentation.
2301 *** The error message for unrecognized options is now more informative.
2302 It used to be "not a record", an artifact of the implementation.
2304 *** The error message for `--opt' terminating the arg list (no value), when
2305 `(value #t)' is specified, is now more informative. It used to be "not enough
2308 *** "Clumped" single-char args now preserve trailing string, use it as arg.
2309 The expansion used to be like so:
2311 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "--xyz")
2313 Note that the "5d" is dropped. Now it is like so:
2315 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "5d" "--xyz")
2317 This enables single-char options to have adjoining arguments as long as their
2318 constituent characters are not potential single-char options.
2320 ** (ice-9 session) procedure `arity' now works with (ice-9 optargs) `lambda*'
2322 The `lambda*' and derivative forms in (ice-9 optargs) now set a procedure
2323 property `arglist', which can be retrieved by `arity'. The result is that
2324 `arity' can give more detailed information than before:
2328 guile> (use-modules (ice-9 optargs))
2329 guile> (define* (foo #:optional a b c) a)
2331 0 or more arguments in `lambda*:G0'.
2336 3 optional arguments: `a', `b' and `c'.
2337 guile> (define* (bar a b #:key c d #:allow-other-keys) a)
2339 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 2 keyword arguments: `c'
2340 and `d', other keywords allowed.
2341 guile> (define* (baz a b #:optional c #:rest r) a)
2343 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 1 optional argument: `c',
2346 * Changes to the C interface
2348 ** Types have been renamed from scm_*_t to scm_t_*.
2350 This has been done for POSIX sake. It reserves identifiers ending
2351 with "_t". What a concept.
2353 The old names are still available with status `deprecated'.
2355 ** scm_t_bits (former scm_bits_t) is now a unsigned type.
2357 ** Deprecated features have been removed.
2361 SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP SCM_ICHRP, SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR
2362 SCM_SETJMPBUF SCM_NSTRINGP SCM_NRWSTRINGP SCM_NVECTORP SCM_DOUBLE_CELLP
2364 *** C Functions removed
2366 scm_sysmissing scm_tag scm_tc16_flo scm_tc_flo
2367 scm_fseek - replaced by scm_seek.
2368 gc-thunk - replaced by after-gc-hook.
2369 gh_int2scmb - replaced by gh_bool2scm.
2370 scm_tc_dblr - replaced by scm_tc16_real.
2371 scm_tc_dblc - replaced by scm_tc16_complex.
2372 scm_list_star - replaced by scm_cons_star.
2374 ** Deprecated: scm_makfromstr
2376 Use scm_mem2string instead.
2378 ** Deprecated: scm_make_shared_substring
2380 Explicit shared substrings will disappear from Guile.
2382 Instead, "normal" strings will be implemented using sharing
2383 internally, combined with a copy-on-write strategy.
2385 ** Deprecated: scm_read_only_string_p
2387 The concept of read-only strings will disappear in next release of
2390 ** Deprecated: scm_sloppy_memq, scm_sloppy_memv, scm_sloppy_member
2392 Instead, use scm_c_memq or scm_memq, scm_memv, scm_member.
2394 ** New functions: scm_call_0, scm_call_1, scm_call_2, scm_call_3
2396 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments. See "Fly
2397 Evaluation" in the manual.
2399 ** New functions: scm_apply_0, scm_apply_1, scm_apply_2, scm_apply_3
2401 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments and a list of
2402 further arguments. See "Fly Evaluation" in the manual.
2404 ** New functions: scm_list_1, scm_list_2, scm_list_3, scm_list_4, scm_list_5
2406 Create a list of the given number of elements. See "List
2407 Constructors" in the manual.
2409 ** Renamed function: scm_listify has been replaced by scm_list_n.
2411 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_LIST0, SCM_LIST1, SCM_LIST2, SCM_LIST3, SCM_LIST4,
2412 SCM_LIST5, SCM_LIST6, SCM_LIST7, SCM_LIST8, SCM_LIST9.
2414 Use functions scm_list_N instead.
2416 ** New function: scm_c_read (SCM port, void *buffer, scm_sizet size)
2418 Used by an application to read arbitrary number of bytes from a port.
2419 Same semantics as libc read, except that scm_c_read only returns less
2420 than SIZE bytes if at end-of-file.
2422 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
2424 ** New function: scm_c_write (SCM port, const void *ptr, scm_sizet size)
2426 Used by an application to write arbitrary number of bytes to an SCM
2427 port. Similar semantics as libc write. However, unlike libc
2428 write, scm_c_write writes the requested number of bytes and has no
2431 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
2433 ** New function: scm_init_guile ()
2435 In contrast to scm_boot_guile, scm_init_guile will return normally
2436 after initializing Guile. It is not available on all systems, tho.
2438 ** New functions: scm_str2symbol, scm_mem2symbol
2440 The function scm_str2symbol takes a const char* pointing to a zero-terminated
2441 field of characters and creates a scheme symbol object from that C string.
2442 The function scm_mem2symbol takes a const char* and a number of characters and
2443 creates a symbol from the characters in that memory area.
2445 ** New functions: scm_primitive_make_property
2446 scm_primitive_property_ref
2447 scm_primitive_property_set_x
2448 scm_primitive_property_del_x
2450 These functions implement a new way to deal with object properties.
2451 See libguile/properties.c for their documentation.
2453 ** New function: scm_done_free (long size)
2455 This function is the inverse of scm_done_malloc. Use it to report the
2456 amount of smob memory you free. The previous method, which involved
2457 calling scm_done_malloc with negative argument, was somewhat
2458 unintuitive (and is still available, of course).
2460 ** New function: scm_c_memq (SCM obj, SCM list)
2462 This function provides a fast C level alternative for scm_memq for the case
2463 that the list parameter is known to be a proper list. The function is a
2464 replacement for scm_sloppy_memq, but is stricter in its requirements on its
2465 list input parameter, since for anything else but a proper list the function's
2466 behaviour is undefined - it may even crash or loop endlessly. Further, for
2467 the case that the object is not found in the list, scm_c_memq returns #f which
2468 is similar to scm_memq, but different from scm_sloppy_memq's behaviour.
2470 ** New functions: scm_remember_upto_here_1, scm_remember_upto_here_2,
2471 scm_remember_upto_here
2473 These functions replace the function scm_remember.
2475 ** Deprecated function: scm_remember
2477 Use one of the new functions scm_remember_upto_here_1,
2478 scm_remember_upto_here_2 or scm_remember_upto_here instead.
2480 ** New function: scm_allocate_string
2482 This function replaces the function scm_makstr.
2484 ** Deprecated function: scm_makstr
2486 Use the new function scm_allocate_string instead.
2488 ** New global variable scm_gc_running_p introduced.
2490 Use this variable to find out if garbage collection is being executed. Up to
2491 now applications have used scm_gc_heap_lock to test if garbage collection was
2492 running, which also works because of the fact that up to know only the garbage
2493 collector has set this variable. But, this is an implementation detail that
2494 may change. Further, scm_gc_heap_lock is not set throughout gc, thus the use
2495 of this variable is (and has been) not fully safe anyway.
2497 ** New macros: SCM_BITVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH
2499 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
2501 ** New macros: SCM_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_CCLO_LENGTH, SCM_STACK_LENGTH,
2502 SCM_STRING_LENGTH, SCM_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
2503 SCM_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_VECTOR_LENGTH.
2505 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH.
2507 ** New macros: SCM_SET_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_SET_STRING_LENGTH,
2508 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_SET_VECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
2509 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_LENGTH
2511 Use these instead of SCM_SETLENGTH
2513 ** New macros: SCM_STRING_CHARS, SCM_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_CCLO_BASE,
2514 SCM_VECTOR_BASE, SCM_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_BITVECTOR_BASE, SCM_COMPLEX_MEM,
2517 Use these instead of SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS, SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS or
2520 ** New macros: SCM_SET_BIGNUM_BASE, SCM_SET_STRING_CHARS,
2521 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_BASE,
2524 Use these instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
2526 ** New macro: SCM_BITVECTOR_P
2528 ** New macro: SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X
2530 Use instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
2532 ** New macros: SCM_DIR_OPEN_P, SCM_DIR_FLAG_OPEN
2534 For directory objects, use these instead of SCM_OPDIRP and SCM_OPN.
2536 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_OUTOFRANGE, SCM_NALLOC, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL,
2537 SCM_INT_SIGNAL, SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL,
2538 SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL, SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD,
2539 SCM_ORD_SIG, SCM_NUM_SIGS, SCM_SYMBOL_SLOTS, SCM_SLOTS, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP,
2540 SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_FREEP, SCM_NFREEP, SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS,
2541 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY,
2542 SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY, SCM_ROLENGTH, SCM_LENGTH, SCM_HUGE_LENGTH,
2543 SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR,
2544 SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_RWSTRINGP, SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, SCM_ROCHARS,
2545 SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_LENGTH_MAX, SCM_GC8MARKP,
2546 SCM_SETGC8MARK, SCM_CLRGC8MARK, SCM_GCTYP16, SCM_GCCDR, SCM_SUBR_DOC,
2547 SCM_OPDIRP, SCM_VALIDATE_OPDIR, SCM_WTA, RETURN_SCM_WTA, SCM_CONST_LONG,
2548 SCM_WNA, SCM_FUNC_NAME, SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_COPY,
2549 SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_DEF_COPY, SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP, SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP,
2550 SCM_SETAND_CDR, SCM_SETOR_CDR, SCM_SETAND_CAR, SCM_SETOR_CAR
2552 Use SCM_ASSERT_RANGE or SCM_VALIDATE_XXX_RANGE instead of SCM_OUTOFRANGE.
2553 Use scm_memory_error instead of SCM_NALLOC.
2554 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP.
2555 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR.
2556 Use SCM_FREE_CELL_P instead of SCM_FREEP/SCM_NFREEP
2557 Use a type specific accessor macro instead of SCM_CHARS/SCM_UCHARS.
2558 Use a type specific accessor instead of SCM(_|_RO|_HUGE_)LENGTH.
2559 Use SCM_VALIDATE_(SYMBOL|STRING) instead of SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING.
2560 Use SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
2561 Use SCM_STRINGP or SCM_SYMBOLP instead of SCM_ROSTRINGP.
2562 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_RWSTRINGP.
2563 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING.
2564 Use SCM_STRING_CHARS instead of SCM_ROCHARS.
2565 Use SCM_STRING_UCHARS instead of SCM_ROUCHARS.
2566 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETLENGTH.
2567 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
2568 Use a type specific length macro instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
2569 Use SCM_GCMARKP instead of SCM_GC8MARKP.
2570 Use SCM_SETGCMARK instead of SCM_SETGC8MARK.
2571 Use SCM_CLRGCMARK instead of SCM_CLRGC8MARK.
2572 Use SCM_TYP16 instead of SCM_GCTYP16.
2573 Use SCM_CDR instead of SCM_GCCDR.
2574 Use SCM_DIR_OPEN_P instead of SCM_OPDIRP.
2575 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of SCM_WTA.
2576 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of RETURN_SCM_WTA.
2577 Use SCM_VCELL_INIT instead of SCM_CONST_LONG.
2578 Use SCM_WRONG_NUM_ARGS instead of SCM_WNA.
2579 Use SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP.
2580 Use !SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP.
2582 ** Removed function: scm_struct_init
2584 ** Removed variable: scm_symhash_dim
2586 ** Renamed function: scm_make_cont has been replaced by
2587 scm_make_continuation, which has a different interface.
2589 ** Deprecated function: scm_call_catching_errors
2591 Use scm_catch or scm_lazy_catch from throw.[ch] instead.
2593 ** Deprecated function: scm_strhash
2595 Use scm_string_hash instead.
2597 ** Deprecated function: scm_vector_set_length_x
2599 Instead, create a fresh vector of the desired size and copy the contents.
2601 ** scm_gensym has changed prototype
2603 scm_gensym now only takes one argument.
2605 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc7_ssymbol, scm_tc7_msymbol, scm_tcs_symbols,
2608 There is now only a single symbol type scm_tc7_symbol.
2609 The tag scm_tc7_lvector was not used anyway.
2611 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe, scm_set_smob_mfpe.
2613 Use scm_make_smob_type and scm_set_smob_XXX instead.
2615 ** New function scm_set_smob_apply.
2617 This can be used to set an apply function to a smob type.
2619 ** Deprecated function: scm_strprint_obj
2621 Use scm_object_to_string instead.
2623 ** Deprecated function: scm_wta
2625 Use scm_wrong_type_arg, or another appropriate error signalling function
2628 ** Explicit support for obarrays has been deprecated.
2630 Use `scm_str2symbol' and the generic hashtable functions instead.
2632 ** The concept of `vcells' has been deprecated.
2634 The data type `variable' is now used exclusively. `Vcells' have been
2635 a low-level concept so you are likely not affected by this change.
2637 *** Deprecated functions: scm_sym2vcell, scm_sysintern,
2638 scm_sysintern0, scm_symbol_value0, scm_intern, scm_intern0.
2640 Use scm_c_define or scm_c_lookup instead, as appropriate.
2642 *** New functions: scm_c_module_lookup, scm_c_lookup,
2643 scm_c_module_define, scm_c_define, scm_module_lookup, scm_lookup,
2644 scm_module_define, scm_define.
2646 These functions work with variables instead of with vcells.
2648 ** New functions for creating and defining `subr's and `gsubr's.
2650 The new functions more clearly distinguish between creating a subr (or
2651 gsubr) object and adding it to the current module.
2653 These new functions are available: scm_c_make_subr, scm_c_define_subr,
2654 scm_c_make_subr_with_generic, scm_c_define_subr_with_generic,
2655 scm_c_make_gsubr, scm_c_define_gsubr, scm_c_make_gsubr_with_generic,
2656 scm_c_define_gsubr_with_generic.
2658 ** Deprecated functions: scm_make_subr, scm_make_subr_opt,
2659 scm_make_subr_with_generic, scm_make_gsubr,
2660 scm_make_gsubr_with_generic.
2662 Use the new ones from above instead.
2664 ** C interface to the module system has changed.
2666 While we suggest that you avoid as many explicit module system
2667 operations from C as possible for the time being, the C interface has
2668 been made more similar to the high-level Scheme module system.
2670 *** New functions: scm_c_define_module, scm_c_use_module,
2671 scm_c_export, scm_c_resolve_module.
2673 They mostly work like their Scheme namesakes. scm_c_define_module
2674 takes a function that is called a context where the new module is
2677 *** Deprecated functions: scm_the_root_module, scm_make_module,
2678 scm_ensure_user_module, scm_load_scheme_module.
2680 Use the new functions instead.
2682 ** Renamed function: scm_internal_with_fluids becomes
2685 scm_internal_with_fluids is available as a deprecated function.
2687 ** New function: scm_c_with_fluid.
2689 Just like scm_c_with_fluids, but takes one fluid and one value instead
2692 ** Deprecated typedefs: long_long, ulong_long.
2694 They are of questionable utility and they pollute the global
2697 ** Deprecated typedef: scm_sizet
2699 It is of questionable utility now that Guile requires ANSI C, and is
2702 ** Deprecated typedefs: scm_port_rw_active, scm_port,
2703 scm_ptob_descriptor, scm_debug_info, scm_debug_frame, scm_fport,
2704 scm_option, scm_rstate, scm_rng, scm_array, scm_array_dim.
2706 Made more compliant with the naming policy by adding a _t at the end.
2708 ** Deprecated functions: scm_mkbig, scm_big2num, scm_adjbig,
2709 scm_normbig, scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big, scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl
2711 With the exception of the mysterious scm_2ulong2big, they are still
2712 available under new names (scm_i_mkbig etc). These functions are not
2713 intended to be used in user code. You should avoid dealing with
2714 bignums directly, and should deal with numbers in general (which can
2717 ** Change in behavior: scm_num2long, scm_num2ulong
2719 The scm_num2[u]long functions don't any longer accept an inexact
2720 argument. This change in behavior is motivated by concordance with
2721 R5RS: It is more common that a primitive doesn't want to accept an
2722 inexact for an exact.
2724 ** New functions: scm_short2num, scm_ushort2num, scm_int2num,
2725 scm_uint2num, scm_size2num, scm_ptrdiff2num, scm_num2short,
2726 scm_num2ushort, scm_num2int, scm_num2uint, scm_num2ptrdiff,
2729 These are conversion functions between the various ANSI C integral
2730 types and Scheme numbers. NOTE: The scm_num2xxx functions don't
2731 accept an inexact argument.
2733 ** New functions: scm_float2num, scm_double2num,
2734 scm_num2float, scm_num2double.
2736 These are conversion functions between the two ANSI C float types and
2739 ** New number validation macros:
2740 SCM_NUM2{SIZE,PTRDIFF,SHORT,USHORT,INT,UINT}[_DEF]
2744 ** New functions: scm_gc_protect_object, scm_gc_unprotect_object
2746 These are just nicer-named old scm_protect_object and
2747 scm_unprotect_object.
2749 ** Deprecated functions: scm_protect_object, scm_unprotect_object
2751 ** New functions: scm_gc_[un]register_root, scm_gc_[un]register_roots
2753 These functions can be used to register pointers to locations that
2756 ** Deprecated function: scm_create_hook.
2758 Its sins are: misleading name, non-modularity and lack of general
2762 Changes since Guile 1.3.4:
2764 * Changes to the distribution
2766 ** Trees from nightly snapshots and CVS now require you to run autogen.sh.
2768 We've changed the way we handle generated files in the Guile source
2769 repository. As a result, the procedure for building trees obtained
2770 from the nightly FTP snapshots or via CVS has changed:
2771 - You must have appropriate versions of autoconf, automake, and
2772 libtool installed on your system. See README for info on how to
2773 obtain these programs.
2774 - Before configuring the tree, you must first run the script
2775 `autogen.sh' at the top of the source tree.
2777 The Guile repository used to contain not only source files, written by
2778 humans, but also some generated files, like configure scripts and
2779 Makefile.in files. Even though the contents of these files could be
2780 derived mechanically from other files present, we thought it would
2781 make the tree easier to build if we checked them into CVS.
2783 However, this approach means that minor differences between
2784 developer's installed tools and habits affected the whole team.
2785 So we have removed the generated files from the repository, and
2786 added the autogen.sh script, which will reconstruct them
2790 ** configure now has experimental options to remove support for certain
2793 --disable-arrays omit array and uniform array support
2794 --disable-posix omit posix interfaces
2795 --disable-networking omit networking interfaces
2796 --disable-regex omit regular expression interfaces
2798 These are likely to become separate modules some day.
2800 ** New configure option --enable-debug-freelist
2802 This enables a debugging version of SCM_NEWCELL(), and also registers
2803 an extra primitive, the setter `gc-set-debug-check-freelist!'.
2805 Configure with the --enable-debug-freelist option to enable
2806 the gc-set-debug-check-freelist! primitive, and then use:
2808 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #t) # turn on checking of the freelist
2809 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #f) # turn off checking
2811 Checking of the freelist forces a traversal of the freelist and
2812 a garbage collection before each allocation of a cell. This can
2813 slow down the interpreter dramatically, so the setter should be used to
2814 turn on this extra processing only when necessary.
2816 ** New configure option --enable-debug-malloc
2818 Include code for debugging of calls to scm_must_malloc/realloc/free.
2822 1. objects freed by scm_must_free has been mallocated by scm_must_malloc
2823 2. objects reallocated by scm_must_realloc has been allocated by
2825 3. reallocated objects are reallocated with the same what string
2827 But, most importantly, it records the number of allocated objects of
2828 each kind. This is useful when searching for memory leaks.
2830 A Guile compiled with this option provides the primitive
2831 `malloc-stats' which returns an alist with pairs of kind and the
2832 number of objects of that kind.
2834 ** All includes are now referenced relative to the root directory
2836 Since some users have had problems with mixups between Guile and
2837 system headers, we have decided to always refer to Guile headers via
2838 their parent directories. This essentially creates a "private name
2839 space" for Guile headers. This means that the compiler only is given
2840 -I options for the root build and root source directory.
2842 ** Header files kw.h and genio.h have been removed.
2844 ** The module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) has been removed.
2846 ** New module (ice-9 documentation)
2848 Implements the interface to documentation strings associated with
2851 ** New module (ice-9 time)
2853 Provides a macro `time', which displays execution time of a given form.
2855 ** New module (ice-9 history)
2857 Loading this module enables value history in the repl.
2859 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
2861 ** New command line option --debug
2863 Start Guile with debugging evaluator and backtraces enabled.
2865 This is useful when debugging your .guile init file or scripts.
2867 ** New help facility
2869 Usage: (help NAME) gives documentation about objects named NAME (a symbol)
2870 (help REGEXP) ditto for objects with names matching REGEXP (a string)
2871 (help 'NAME) gives documentation for NAME, even if it is not an object
2872 (help ,EXPR) gives documentation for object returned by EXPR
2873 (help (my module)) gives module commentary for `(my module)'
2874 (help) gives this text
2876 `help' searches among bindings exported from loaded modules, while
2877 `apropos' searches among bindings visible from the "current" module.
2879 Examples: (help help)
2881 (help "output-string")
2883 ** `help' and `apropos' now prints full module names
2885 ** Dynamic linking now uses libltdl from the libtool package.
2887 The old system dependent code for doing dynamic linking has been
2888 replaced with calls to the libltdl functions which do all the hairy
2891 The major improvement is that you can now directly pass libtool
2892 library names like "libfoo.la" to `dynamic-link' and `dynamic-link'
2893 will be able to do the best shared library job you can get, via
2896 The way dynamic libraries are found has changed and is not really
2897 portable across platforms, probably. It is therefore recommended to
2898 use absolute filenames when possible.
2900 If you pass a filename without an extension to `dynamic-link', it will
2901 try a few appropriate ones. Thus, the most platform ignorant way is
2902 to specify a name like "libfoo", without any directories and
2905 ** Guile COOP threads are now compatible with LinuxThreads
2907 Previously, COOP threading wasn't possible in applications linked with
2908 Linux POSIX threads due to their use of the stack pointer to find the
2909 thread context. This has now been fixed with a workaround which uses
2910 the pthreads to allocate the stack.
2912 ** New primitives: `pkgdata-dir', `site-dir', `library-dir'
2914 ** Positions of erring expression in scripts
2916 With version 1.3.4, the location of the erring expression in Guile
2917 scipts is no longer automatically reported. (This should have been
2918 documented before the 1.3.4 release.)
2920 You can get this information by enabling recording of positions of
2921 source expressions and running the debugging evaluator. Put this at
2922 the top of your script (or in your "site" file):
2924 (read-enable 'positions)
2925 (debug-enable 'debug)
2927 ** Backtraces in scripts
2929 It is now possible to get backtraces in scripts.
2933 (debug-enable 'debug 'backtrace)
2935 at the top of the script.
2937 (The first options enables the debugging evaluator.
2938 The second enables backtraces.)
2940 ** Part of module system symbol lookup now implemented in C
2942 The eval closure of most modules is now implemented in C. Since this
2943 was one of the bottlenecks for loading speed, Guile now loads code
2944 substantially faster than before.
2946 ** Attempting to get the value of an unbound variable now produces
2947 an exception with a key of 'unbound-variable instead of 'misc-error.
2949 ** The initial default output port is now unbuffered if it's using a
2950 tty device. Previously in this situation it was line-buffered.
2952 ** New hook: after-gc-hook
2954 after-gc-hook takes over the role of gc-thunk. This hook is run at
2955 the first SCM_TICK after a GC. (Thus, the code is run at the same
2956 point during evaluation as signal handlers.)
2958 Note that this hook should be used only for diagnostic and debugging
2959 purposes. It is not certain that it will continue to be well-defined
2960 when this hook is run in the future.
2962 C programmers: Note the new C level hooks scm_before_gc_c_hook,
2963 scm_before_sweep_c_hook, scm_after_gc_c_hook.
2965 ** Improvements to garbage collector
2967 Guile 1.4 has a new policy for triggering heap allocation and
2968 determining the sizes of heap segments. It fixes a number of problems
2971 1. The new policy can handle two separate pools of cells
2972 (2-word/4-word) better. (The old policy would run wild, allocating
2973 more and more memory for certain programs.)
2975 2. The old code would sometimes allocate far too much heap so that the
2976 Guile process became gigantic. The new code avoids this.
2978 3. The old code would sometimes allocate too little so that few cells
2979 were freed at GC so that, in turn, too much time was spent in GC.
2981 4. The old code would often trigger heap allocation several times in a
2982 row. (The new scheme predicts how large the segments needs to be
2983 in order not to need further allocation.)
2985 All in all, the new GC policy will make larger applications more
2988 The new GC scheme also is prepared for POSIX threading. Threads can
2989 allocate private pools of cells ("clusters") with just a single
2990 function call. Allocation of single cells from such a cluster can
2991 then proceed without any need of inter-thread synchronization.
2993 ** New environment variables controlling GC parameters
2995 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE Maximal segment size
2998 Allocation of 2-word cell heaps:
3000 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1 Size of initial heap segment in bytes
3003 GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1 Minimum number of freed cells at each
3004 GC in percent of total heap size
3007 Allocation of 4-word cell heaps
3008 (used for real numbers and misc other objects):
3010 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2
3012 (See entry "Way for application to customize GC parameters" under
3013 section "Changes to the scm_ interface" below.)
3015 ** Guile now implements reals using 4-word cells
3017 This speeds up computation with reals. (They were earlier allocated
3018 with `malloc'.) There is still some room for optimizations, however.
3020 ** Some further steps toward POSIX thread support have been taken
3022 *** Guile's critical sections (SCM_DEFER/ALLOW_INTS)
3023 don't have much effect any longer, and many of them will be removed in
3027 are only handled at the top of the evaluator loop, immediately after
3028 I/O, and in scm_equalp.
3030 *** The GC can allocate thread private pools of pairs.
3032 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
3034 ** close-input-port and close-output-port are now R5RS
3036 These procedures have been turned into primitives and have R5RS behaviour.
3038 ** New procedure: simple-format PORT MESSAGE ARG1 ...
3040 (ice-9 boot) makes `format' an alias for `simple-format' until possibly
3041 extended by the more sophisticated version in (ice-9 format)
3043 (simple-format port message . args)
3044 Write MESSAGE to DESTINATION, defaulting to `current-output-port'.
3045 MESSAGE can contain ~A (was %s) and ~S (was %S) escapes. When printed,
3046 the escapes are replaced with corresponding members of ARGS:
3047 ~A formats using `display' and ~S formats using `write'.
3048 If DESTINATION is #t, then use the `current-output-port',
3049 if DESTINATION is #f, then return a string containing the formatted text.
3050 Does not add a trailing newline."
3052 ** string-ref: the second argument is no longer optional.
3054 ** string, list->string: no longer accept strings in their arguments,
3055 only characters, for compatibility with R5RS.
3057 ** New procedure: port-closed? PORT
3058 Returns #t if PORT is closed or #f if it is open.
3060 ** Deprecated: list*
3062 The list* functionality is now provided by cons* (SRFI-1 compliant)
3064 ** New procedure: cons* ARG1 ARG2 ... ARGn
3066 Like `list', but the last arg provides the tail of the constructed list,
3067 returning (cons ARG1 (cons ARG2 (cons ... ARGn))).
3069 Requires at least one argument. If given one argument, that argument
3070 is returned as result.
3072 This function is called `list*' in some other Schemes and in Common LISP.
3074 ** Removed deprecated: serial-map, serial-array-copy!, serial-array-map!
3076 ** New procedure: object-documentation OBJECT
3078 Returns the documentation string associated with OBJECT. The
3079 procedure uses a caching mechanism so that subsequent lookups are
3082 Exported by (ice-9 documentation).
3084 ** module-name now returns full names of modules
3086 Previously, only the last part of the name was returned (`session' for
3087 `(ice-9 session)'). Ex: `(ice-9 session)'.
3089 * Changes to the gh_ interface
3091 ** Deprecated: gh_int2scmb
3093 Use gh_bool2scm instead.
3095 * Changes to the scm_ interface
3097 ** Guile primitives now carry docstrings!
3099 Thanks to Greg Badros!
3101 ** Guile primitives are defined in a new way: SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
3103 Now Guile primitives are defined using the SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
3104 macros and must contain a docstring that is extracted into foo.doc using a new
3105 guile-doc-snarf script (that uses guile-doc-snarf.awk).
3107 However, a major overhaul of these macros is scheduled for the next release of
3110 ** Guile primitives use a new technique for validation of arguments
3112 SCM_VALIDATE_* macros are defined to ease the redundancy and improve
3113 the readability of argument checking.
3115 ** All (nearly?) K&R prototypes for functions replaced with ANSI C equivalents.
3117 ** New macros: SCM_PACK, SCM_UNPACK
3119 Compose/decompose an SCM value.
3121 The SCM type is now treated as an abstract data type and may be defined as a
3122 long, a void* or as a struct, depending on the architecture and compile time
3123 options. This makes it easier to find several types of bugs, for example when
3124 SCM values are treated as integers without conversion. Values of the SCM type
3125 should be treated as "atomic" values. These macros are used when
3126 composing/decomposing an SCM value, either because you want to access
3127 individual bits, or because you want to treat it as an integer value.
3129 E.g., in order to set bit 7 in an SCM value x, use the expression
3131 SCM_PACK (SCM_UNPACK (x) | 0x80)
3133 ** The name property of hooks is deprecated.
3134 Thus, the use of SCM_HOOK_NAME and scm_make_hook_with_name is deprecated.
3136 You can emulate this feature by using object properties.
3138 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP, SCM_CRDY, SCM_ICHRP,
3139 SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR, SCM_SETJMPBUF, SCM_NSTRINGP, SCM_NRWSTRINGP,
3142 These macros will be removed in a future release of Guile.
3144 ** The following types, functions and macros from numbers.h are deprecated:
3145 scm_dblproc, SCM_UNEGFIXABLE, SCM_FLOBUFLEN, SCM_INEXP, SCM_CPLXP, SCM_REAL,
3146 SCM_IMAG, SCM_REALPART, scm_makdbl, SCM_SINGP, SCM_NUM2DBL, SCM_NO_BIGDIG
3148 ** Port internals: the rw_random variable in the scm_port structure
3149 must be set to non-zero in any random access port. In recent Guile
3150 releases it was only set for bidirectional random-access ports.
3152 ** Port internals: the seek ptob procedure is now responsible for
3153 resetting the buffers if required. The change was made so that in the
3154 special case of reading the current position (i.e., seek p 0 SEEK_CUR)
3155 the fport and strport ptobs can avoid resetting the buffers,
3156 in particular to avoid discarding unread chars. An existing port
3157 type can be fixed by adding something like the following to the
3158 beginning of the ptob seek procedure:
3160 if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_READ)
3161 scm_end_input (object);
3162 else if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_WRITE)
3163 ptob->flush (object);
3165 although to actually avoid resetting the buffers and discard unread
3166 chars requires further hacking that depends on the characteristics
3169 ** Deprecated functions: scm_fseek, scm_tag
3171 These functions are no longer used and will be removed in a future version.
3173 ** The scm_sysmissing procedure is no longer used in libguile.
3174 Unless it turns out to be unexpectedly useful to somebody, it will be
3175 removed in a future version.
3177 ** The format of error message strings has changed
3179 The two C procedures: scm_display_error and scm_error, as well as the
3180 primitive `scm-error', now use scm_simple_format to do their work.
3181 This means that the message strings of all code must be updated to use
3182 ~A where %s was used before, and ~S where %S was used before.
3184 During the period when there still are a lot of old Guiles out there,
3185 you might want to support both old and new versions of Guile.
3187 There are basically two methods to achieve this. Both methods use
3190 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(scm_simple_format)
3192 in your configure.in.
3194 Method 1: Use the string concatenation features of ANSI C's
3199 #ifdef HAVE_SCM_SIMPLE_FORMAT
3205 Then represent each of your error messages using a preprocessor macro:
3207 #define E_SPIDER_ERROR "There's a spider in your " ## FMT_S ## "!!!"
3211 (define fmt-s (if (defined? 'simple-format) "~S" "%S"))
3212 (define make-message string-append)
3214 (define e-spider-error (make-message "There's a spider in your " fmt-s "!!!"))
3216 Method 2: Use the oldfmt function found in doc/oldfmt.c.
3220 scm_misc_error ("picnic", scm_c_oldfmt0 ("There's a spider in your ~S!!!"),
3225 (scm-error 'misc-error "picnic" (oldfmt "There's a spider in your ~S!!!")
3229 ** Deprecated: coop_mutex_init, coop_condition_variable_init
3231 Don't use the functions coop_mutex_init and
3232 coop_condition_variable_init. They will change.
3234 Use scm_mutex_init and scm_cond_init instead.
3236 ** New function: int scm_cond_timedwait (scm_cond_t *COND, scm_mutex_t *MUTEX, const struct timespec *ABSTIME)
3237 `scm_cond_timedwait' atomically unlocks MUTEX and waits on
3238 COND, as `scm_cond_wait' does, but it also bounds the duration
3239 of the wait. If COND has not been signaled before time ABSTIME,
3240 the mutex MUTEX is re-acquired and `scm_cond_timedwait'
3241 returns the error code `ETIMEDOUT'.
3243 The ABSTIME parameter specifies an absolute time, with the same
3244 origin as `time' and `gettimeofday': an ABSTIME of 0 corresponds
3245 to 00:00:00 GMT, January 1, 1970.
3247 ** New function: scm_cond_broadcast (scm_cond_t *COND)
3248 `scm_cond_broadcast' restarts all the threads that are waiting
3249 on the condition variable COND. Nothing happens if no threads are
3252 ** New function: scm_key_create (scm_key_t *KEY, void (*destr_function) (void *))
3253 `scm_key_create' allocates a new TSD key. The key is stored in
3254 the location pointed to by KEY. There is no limit on the number
3255 of keys allocated at a given time. The value initially associated
3256 with the returned key is `NULL' in all currently executing threads.
3258 The DESTR_FUNCTION argument, if not `NULL', specifies a destructor
3259 function associated with the key. When a thread terminates,
3260 DESTR_FUNCTION is called on the value associated with the key in
3261 that thread. The DESTR_FUNCTION is not called if a key is deleted
3262 with `scm_key_delete' or a value is changed with
3263 `scm_setspecific'. The order in which destructor functions are
3264 called at thread termination time is unspecified.
3266 Destructors are not yet implemented.
3268 ** New function: scm_setspecific (scm_key_t KEY, const void *POINTER)
3269 `scm_setspecific' changes the value associated with KEY in the
3270 calling thread, storing the given POINTER instead.
3272 ** New function: scm_getspecific (scm_key_t KEY)
3273 `scm_getspecific' returns the value currently associated with
3274 KEY in the calling thread.
3276 ** New function: scm_key_delete (scm_key_t KEY)
3277 `scm_key_delete' deallocates a TSD key. It does not check
3278 whether non-`NULL' values are associated with that key in the
3279 currently executing threads, nor call the destructor function
3280 associated with the key.
3282 ** New function: scm_c_hook_init (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *HOOK_DATA, scm_c_hook_type_t TYPE)
3284 Initialize a C level hook HOOK with associated HOOK_DATA and type
3285 TYPE. (See scm_c_hook_run ().)
3287 ** New function: scm_c_hook_add (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA, int APPENDP)
3289 Add hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA to HOOK. If APPENDP
3290 is true, add it last, otherwise first. The same FUNC can be added
3291 multiple times if FUNC_DATA differ and vice versa.
3293 ** New function: scm_c_hook_remove (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA)
3295 Remove hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA from HOOK. A
3296 function is only removed if both FUNC and FUNC_DATA matches.
3298 ** New function: void *scm_c_hook_run (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *DATA)
3300 Run hook HOOK passing DATA to the hook functions.
3302 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_NORMAL, all hook functions are run. The value
3303 returned is undefined.
3305 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_OR, hook functions are run until a function
3306 returns a non-NULL value. This value is returned as the result of
3307 scm_c_hook_run. If all functions return NULL, NULL is returned.
3309 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_AND, hook functions are run until a function
3310 returns a NULL value, and NULL is returned. If all functions returns
3311 a non-NULL value, the last value is returned.
3313 ** New C level GC hooks
3315 Five new C level hooks has been added to the garbage collector.
3317 scm_before_gc_c_hook
3320 are run before locking and after unlocking the heap. The system is
3321 thus in a mode where evaluation can take place. (Except that
3322 scm_before_gc_c_hook must not allocate new cells.)
3324 scm_before_mark_c_hook
3325 scm_before_sweep_c_hook
3326 scm_after_sweep_c_hook
3328 are run when the heap is locked. These are intended for extension of
3329 the GC in a modular fashion. Examples are the weaks and guardians
3332 ** Way for application to customize GC parameters
3334 The application can set up other default values for the GC heap
3335 allocation parameters
3337 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_1, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1,
3338 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2,
3339 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE,
3343 scm_default_init_heap_size_1, scm_default_min_yield_1,
3344 scm_default_init_heap_size_2, scm_default_min_yield_2,
3345 scm_default_max_segment_size
3347 respectively before callong scm_boot_guile.
3349 (See entry "New environment variables ..." in section
3350 "Changes to the stand-alone interpreter" above.)
3352 ** scm_protect_object/scm_unprotect_object now nest
3354 This means that you can call scm_protect_object multiple times on an
3355 object and count on the object being protected until
3356 scm_unprotect_object has been call the same number of times.
3358 The functions also have better time complexity.
3360 Still, it is usually possible to structure the application in a way
3361 that you don't need to use these functions. For example, if you use a
3362 protected standard Guile list to keep track of live objects rather
3363 than some custom data type, objects will die a natural death when they
3364 are no longer needed.
3366 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc16_flo, scm_tc_flo, scm_tc_dblr, scm_tc_dblc
3368 Guile does not provide the float representation for inexact real numbers any
3369 more. Now, only doubles are used to represent inexact real numbers. Further,
3370 the tag names scm_tc_dblr and scm_tc_dblc have been changed to scm_tc16_real
3371 and scm_tc16_complex, respectively.
3373 ** Removed deprecated type scm_smobfuns
3375 ** Removed deprecated function scm_newsmob
3377 ** Warning: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe might become deprecated in a future release
3379 There is an ongoing discussion among the developers whether to
3380 deprecate `scm_make_smob_type_mfpe' or not. Please use the current
3381 standard interface (scm_make_smob_type, scm_set_smob_XXX) in new code
3382 until this issue has been settled.
3384 ** Removed deprecated type tag scm_tc16_kw
3386 ** Added type tag scm_tc16_keyword
3388 (This was introduced already in release 1.3.4 but was not documented
3391 ** gdb_print now prints "*** Guile not initialized ***" until Guile initialized
3393 * Changes to system call interfaces:
3395 ** The "select" procedure now tests port buffers for the ability to
3396 provide input or accept output. Previously only the underlying file
3397 descriptors were checked.
3399 ** New variable PIPE_BUF: the maximum number of bytes that can be
3400 atomically written to a pipe.
3402 ** If a facility is not available on the system when Guile is
3403 compiled, the corresponding primitive procedure will not be defined.
3404 Previously it would have been defined but would throw a system-error
3405 exception if called. Exception handlers which catch this case may
3406 need minor modification: an error will be thrown with key
3407 'unbound-variable instead of 'system-error. Alternatively it's
3408 now possible to use `defined?' to check whether the facility is
3411 ** Procedures which depend on the timezone should now give the correct
3412 result on systems which cache the TZ environment variable, even if TZ
3413 is changed without calling tzset.
3415 * Changes to the networking interfaces:
3417 ** New functions: htons, ntohs, htonl, ntohl: for converting short and
3418 long integers between network and host format. For now, it's not
3419 particularly convenient to do this kind of thing, but consider:
3421 (define write-network-long
3422 (lambda (value port)
3423 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
3424 (uniform-vector-set! v 0 (htonl value))
3425 (uniform-vector-write v port))))
3427 (define read-network-long
3429 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
3430 (uniform-vector-read! v port)
3431 (ntohl (uniform-vector-ref v 0)))))
3433 ** If inet-aton fails, it now throws an error with key 'misc-error
3434 instead of 'system-error, since errno is not relevant.
3436 ** Certain gethostbyname/gethostbyaddr failures now throw errors with
3437 specific keys instead of 'system-error. The latter is inappropriate
3438 since errno will not have been set. The keys are:
3439 'host-not-found, 'try-again, 'no-recovery and 'no-data.
3441 ** sethostent, setnetent, setprotoent, setservent: now take an
3442 optional argument STAYOPEN, which specifies whether the database
3443 remains open after a database entry is accessed randomly (e.g., using
3444 gethostbyname for the hosts database.) The default is #f. Previously
3448 Changes since Guile 1.3.2:
3450 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
3454 An initial version of the Guile debugger written by Chris Hanson has
3455 been added. The debugger is still under development but is included
3456 in the distribution anyway since it is already quite useful.
3462 after an error to enter the debugger. Type `help' inside the debugger
3463 for a description of available commands.
3465 If you prefer to have stack frames numbered and printed in
3466 anti-chronological order and prefer up in the stack to be down on the
3467 screen as is the case in gdb, you can put
3469 (debug-enable 'backwards)
3471 in your .guile startup file. (However, this means that Guile can't
3472 use indentation to indicate stack level.)
3474 The debugger is autoloaded into Guile at the first use.
3476 ** Further enhancements to backtraces
3478 There is a new debug option `width' which controls the maximum width
3479 on the screen of printed stack frames. Fancy printing parameters
3480 ("level" and "length" as in Common LISP) are adaptively adjusted for
3481 each stack frame to give maximum information while still fitting
3482 within the bounds. If the stack frame can't be made to fit by
3483 adjusting parameters, it is simply cut off at the end. This is marked
3486 ** Some modules are now only loaded when the repl is started
3488 The modules (ice-9 debug), (ice-9 session), (ice-9 threads) and (ice-9
3489 regex) are now loaded into (guile-user) only if the repl has been
3490 started. The effect is that the startup time for scripts has been
3491 reduced to 30% of what it was previously.
3493 Correctly written scripts load the modules they require at the top of
3494 the file and should not be affected by this change.
3496 ** Hooks are now represented as smobs
3498 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
3500 ** Readline support has changed again.
3502 The old (readline-activator) module is gone. Use (ice-9 readline)
3503 instead, which now contains all readline functionality. So the code
3504 to activate readline is now
3506 (use-modules (ice-9 readline))
3509 This should work at any time, including from the guile prompt.
3511 To avoid confusion about the terms of Guile's license, please only
3512 enable readline for your personal use; please don't make it the
3513 default for others. Here is why we make this rather odd-sounding
3516 Guile is normally licensed under a weakened form of the GNU General
3517 Public License, which allows you to link code with Guile without
3518 placing that code under the GPL. This exception is important to some
3521 However, since readline is distributed under the GNU General Public
3522 License, when you link Guile with readline, either statically or
3523 dynamically, you effectively change Guile's license to the strict GPL.
3524 Whenever you link any strictly GPL'd code into Guile, uses of Guile
3525 which are normally permitted become forbidden. This is a rather
3526 non-obvious consequence of the licensing terms.
3528 So, to make sure things remain clear, please let people choose for
3529 themselves whether to link GPL'd libraries like readline with Guile.
3531 ** regexp-substitute/global has changed slightly, but incompatibly.
3533 If you include a function in the item list, the string of the match
3534 object it receives is the same string passed to
3535 regexp-substitute/global, not some suffix of that string.
3536 Correspondingly, the match's positions are relative to the entire
3537 string, not the suffix.
3539 If the regexp can match the empty string, the way matches are chosen
3540 from the string has changed. regexp-substitute/global recognizes the
3541 same set of matches that list-matches does; see below.
3543 ** New function: list-matches REGEXP STRING [FLAGS]
3545 Return a list of match objects, one for every non-overlapping, maximal
3546 match of REGEXP in STRING. The matches appear in left-to-right order.
3547 list-matches only reports matches of the empty string if there are no
3548 other matches which begin on, end at, or include the empty match's
3551 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
3553 ** New function: fold-matches REGEXP STRING INIT PROC [FLAGS]
3555 For each match of REGEXP in STRING, apply PROC to the match object,
3556 and the last value PROC returned, or INIT for the first call. Return
3557 the last value returned by PROC. We apply PROC to the matches as they
3558 appear from left to right.
3560 This function recognizes matches according to the same criteria as
3563 Thus, you could define list-matches like this:
3565 (define (list-matches regexp string . flags)
3566 (reverse! (apply fold-matches regexp string '() cons flags)))
3568 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
3572 *** New function: hook? OBJ
3574 Return #t if OBJ is a hook, otherwise #f.
3576 *** New function: make-hook-with-name NAME [ARITY]
3578 Return a hook with name NAME and arity ARITY. The default value for
3579 ARITY is 0. The only effect of NAME is that it will appear when the
3580 hook object is printed to ease debugging.
3582 *** New function: hook-empty? HOOK
3584 Return #t if HOOK doesn't contain any procedures, otherwise #f.
3586 *** New function: hook->list HOOK
3588 Return a list of the procedures that are called when run-hook is
3591 ** `map' signals an error if its argument lists are not all the same length.
3593 This is the behavior required by R5RS, so this change is really a bug
3594 fix. But it seems to affect a lot of people's code, so we're
3595 mentioning it here anyway.
3597 ** Print-state handling has been made more transparent
3599 Under certain circumstances, ports are represented as a port with an
3600 associated print state. Earlier, this pair was represented as a pair
3601 (see "Some magic has been added to the printer" below). It is now
3602 indistinguishable (almost; see `get-print-state') from a port on the
3605 *** New function: port-with-print-state OUTPUT-PORT PRINT-STATE
3607 Return a new port with the associated print state PRINT-STATE.
3609 *** New function: get-print-state OUTPUT-PORT
3611 Return the print state associated with this port if it exists,
3612 otherwise return #f.
3614 *** New function: directory-stream? OBJECT
3616 Returns true iff OBJECT is a directory stream --- the sort of object
3617 returned by `opendir'.
3619 ** New function: using-readline?
3621 Return #t if readline is in use in the current repl.
3623 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
3625 Structs will be replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into Guile
3626 and use GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
3628 * Changes to the scm_ interface
3630 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
3632 The entire current struct interface (struct.c, struct.h) will be
3633 replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into libguile and use
3634 GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
3636 ** The internal representation of subr's has changed
3638 Instead of giving a hint to the subr name, the CAR field of the subr
3639 now contains an index to a subr entry in scm_subr_table.
3641 *** New variable: scm_subr_table
3643 An array of subr entries. A subr entry contains the name, properties
3644 and documentation associated with the subr. The properties and
3645 documentation slots are not yet used.
3647 ** A new scheme for "forwarding" calls to a builtin to a generic function
3649 It is now possible to extend the functionality of some Guile
3650 primitives by letting them defer a call to a GOOPS generic function on
3651 argument mismatch. This means that there is no loss of efficiency in
3656 (use-modules (oop goops)) ; Must be GOOPS version 0.2.
3657 (define-method + ((x <string>) (y <string>))
3658 (string-append x y))
3660 + will still be as efficient as usual in numerical calculations, but
3661 can also be used for concatenating strings.
3663 Who will be the first one to extend Guile's numerical tower to
3664 rationals? :) [OK, there a few other things to fix before this can
3665 be made in a clean way.]
3667 *** New snarf macros for defining primitives: SCM_GPROC, SCM_GPROC1
3669 New macro: SCM_GPROC (CNAME, SNAME, REQ, OPT, VAR, CFUNC, GENERIC)
3671 New macro: SCM_GPROC1 (CNAME, SNAME, TYPE, CFUNC, GENERIC)
3673 These do the same job as SCM_PROC and SCM_PROC1, but they also define
3674 a variable GENERIC which can be used by the dispatch macros below.
3676 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3678 *** New macros for forwarding control to a generic on arg type error
3680 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_1 (GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
3682 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
3684 These correspond to the scm_wta function call, and have the same
3685 behaviour until the user has called the GOOPS primitive
3686 `enable-primitive-generic!'. After that, these macros will apply the
3687 generic function GENERIC to the argument(s) instead of calling
3690 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3692 *** New macros for argument testing with generic dispatch
3694 New macro: SCM_GASSERT1 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
3696 New macro: SCM_GASSERT2 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
3698 These correspond to the SCM_ASSERT macro, but will defer control to
3699 GENERIC on error after `enable-primitive-generic!' has been called.
3701 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3703 ** New function: SCM scm_eval_body (SCM body, SCM env)
3705 Evaluates the body of a special form.
3707 ** The internal representation of struct's has changed
3709 Previously, four slots were allocated for the procedure(s) of entities
3710 and operators. The motivation for this representation had to do with
3711 the structure of the evaluator, the wish to support tail-recursive
3712 generic functions, and efficiency. Since the generic function
3713 dispatch mechanism has changed, there is no longer a need for such an
3714 expensive representation, and the representation has been simplified.
3716 This should not make any difference for most users.
3718 ** GOOPS support has been cleaned up.
3720 Some code has been moved from eval.c to objects.c and code in both of
3721 these compilation units has been cleaned up and better structured.
3723 *** New functions for applying generic functions
3725 New function: SCM scm_apply_generic (GENERIC, ARGS)
3726 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_0 (GENERIC)
3727 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_1 (GENERIC, ARG1)
3728 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2)
3729 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_3 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, ARG3)
3731 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_named_hook
3733 It is now replaced by:
3735 ** New function: SCM scm_create_hook (const char *name, int arity)
3737 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
3738 binds a variable named NAME to it.
3740 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
3742 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module.
3743 This might change when we get the new module system.
3745 [The behaviour is identical to scm_make_named_hook.]
3749 Changes since Guile 1.3:
3751 * Changes to mailing lists
3753 ** Some of the Guile mailing lists have moved to sourceware.cygnus.com.
3755 See the README file to find current addresses for all the Guile
3758 * Changes to the distribution
3760 ** Readline support is no longer included with Guile by default.
3762 Based on the different license terms of Guile and Readline, we
3763 concluded that Guile should not *by default* cause the linking of
3764 Readline into an application program. Readline support is now offered
3765 as a separate module, which is linked into an application only when
3766 you explicitly specify it.
3768 Although Guile is GNU software, its distribution terms add a special
3769 exception to the usual GNU General Public License (GPL). Guile's
3770 license includes a clause that allows you to link Guile with non-free
3771 programs. We add this exception so as not to put Guile at a
3772 disadvantage vis-a-vis other extensibility packages that support other
3775 In contrast, the GNU Readline library is distributed under the GNU
3776 General Public License pure and simple. This means that you may not
3777 link Readline, even dynamically, into an application unless it is
3778 distributed under a free software license that is compatible the GPL.
3780 Because of this difference in distribution terms, an application that
3781 can use Guile may not be able to use Readline. Now users will be
3782 explicitly offered two independent decisions about the use of these
3785 You can activate the readline support by issuing
3787 (use-modules (readline-activator))
3790 from your ".guile" file, for example.
3792 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
3794 ** All builtins now print as primitives.
3795 Previously builtin procedures not belonging to the fundamental subr
3796 types printed as #<compiled closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>.
3797 Now, they print as #<primitive-procedure NAME>.
3799 ** Backtraces slightly more intelligible.
3800 gsubr-apply and macro transformer application frames no longer appear
3803 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
3805 ** Guile now correctly handles internal defines by rewriting them into
3806 their equivalent letrec. Previously, internal defines would
3807 incrementally add to the innermost environment, without checking
3808 whether the restrictions specified in RnRS were met. This lead to the
3809 correct behaviour when these restriction actually were met, but didn't
3810 catch all illegal uses. Such an illegal use could lead to crashes of
3811 the Guile interpreter or or other unwanted results. An example of
3812 incorrect internal defines that made Guile behave erratically:
3824 The problem with this example is that the definition of `c' uses the
3825 value of `b' directly. This confuses the meoization machine of Guile
3826 so that the second call of `b' (this time in a larger environment that
3827 also contains bindings for `c' and `d') refers to the binding of `c'
3828 instead of `a'. You could also make Guile crash with a variation on
3833 (define (b flag) (if flag a 1))
3834 (define c (1+ (b flag)))
3842 From now on, Guile will issue an `Unbound variable: b' error message
3847 A hook contains a list of functions which should be called on
3848 particular occasions in an existing program. Hooks are used for
3851 A window manager might have a hook before-window-map-hook. The window
3852 manager uses the function run-hooks to call all functions stored in
3853 before-window-map-hook each time a window is mapped. The user can
3854 store functions in the hook using add-hook!.
3856 In Guile, hooks are first class objects.
3858 *** New function: make-hook [N_ARGS]
3860 Return a hook for hook functions which can take N_ARGS arguments.
3861 The default value for N_ARGS is 0.
3863 (See also scm_make_named_hook below.)
3865 *** New function: add-hook! HOOK PROC [APPEND_P]
3867 Put PROC at the beginning of the list of functions stored in HOOK.
3868 If APPEND_P is supplied, and non-false, put PROC at the end instead.
3870 PROC must be able to take the number of arguments specified when the
3873 If PROC already exists in HOOK, then remove it first.
3875 *** New function: remove-hook! HOOK PROC
3877 Remove PROC from the list of functions in HOOK.
3879 *** New function: reset-hook! HOOK
3881 Clear the list of hook functions stored in HOOK.
3883 *** New function: run-hook HOOK ARG1 ...
3885 Run all hook functions stored in HOOK with arguments ARG1 ... .
3886 The number of arguments supplied must correspond to the number given
3887 when the hook was created.
3889 ** The function `dynamic-link' now takes optional keyword arguments.
3890 The only keyword argument that is currently defined is `:global
3891 BOOL'. With it, you can control whether the shared library will be
3892 linked in global mode or not. In global mode, the symbols from the
3893 linked library can be used to resolve references from other
3894 dynamically linked libraries. In non-global mode, the linked
3895 library is essentially invisible and can only be accessed via
3896 `dynamic-func', etc. The default is now to link in global mode.
3897 Previously, the default has been non-global mode.
3899 The `#:global' keyword is only effective on platforms that support
3900 the dlopen family of functions.
3902 ** New function `provided?'
3904 - Function: provided? FEATURE
3905 Return true iff FEATURE is supported by this installation of
3906 Guile. FEATURE must be a symbol naming a feature; the global
3907 variable `*features*' is a list of available features.
3909 ** Changes to the module (ice-9 expect):
3911 *** The expect-strings macro now matches `$' in a regular expression
3912 only at a line-break or end-of-file by default. Previously it would
3913 match the end of the string accumulated so far. The old behaviour
3914 can be obtained by setting the variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
3917 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
3918 for the regexp-exec flags. If `regexp/noteol' is included, then `$'
3919 in a regular expression will still match before a line-break or
3920 end-of-file. The default is `regexp/noteol'.
3922 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable
3923 `expect-strings-compile-flags' for the flags to be supplied to
3924 `make-regexp'. The default is `regexp/newline', which was previously
3927 *** The expect macro now supplies two arguments to a match procedure:
3928 the current accumulated string and a flag to indicate whether
3929 end-of-file has been reached. Previously only the string was supplied.
3930 If end-of-file is reached, the match procedure will be called an
3931 additional time with the same accumulated string as the previous call
3932 but with the flag set.
3934 ** New module (ice-9 format), implementing the Common Lisp `format' function.
3936 This code, and the documentation for it that appears here, was
3937 borrowed from SLIB, with minor adaptations for Guile.
3939 - Function: format DESTINATION FORMAT-STRING . ARGUMENTS
3940 An almost complete implementation of Common LISP format description
3941 according to the CL reference book `Common LISP' from Guy L.
3942 Steele, Digital Press. Backward compatible to most of the
3943 available Scheme format implementations.
3945 Returns `#t', `#f' or a string; has side effect of printing
3946 according to FORMAT-STRING. If DESTINATION is `#t', the output is
3947 to the current output port and `#t' is returned. If DESTINATION
3948 is `#f', a formatted string is returned as the result of the call.
3949 NEW: If DESTINATION is a string, DESTINATION is regarded as the
3950 format string; FORMAT-STRING is then the first argument and the
3951 output is returned as a string. If DESTINATION is a number, the
3952 output is to the current error port if available by the
3953 implementation. Otherwise DESTINATION must be an output port and
3956 FORMAT-STRING must be a string. In case of a formatting error
3957 format returns `#f' and prints a message on the current output or
3958 error port. Characters are output as if the string were output by
3959 the `display' function with the exception of those prefixed by a
3960 tilde (~). For a detailed description of the FORMAT-STRING syntax
3961 please consult a Common LISP format reference manual. For a test
3962 suite to verify this format implementation load `formatst.scm'.
3963 Please send bug reports to `lutzeb@cs.tu-berlin.de'.
3965 Note: `format' is not reentrant, i.e. only one `format'-call may
3966 be executed at a time.
3969 *** Format Specification (Format version 3.0)
3971 Please consult a Common LISP format reference manual for a detailed
3972 description of the format string syntax. For a demonstration of the
3973 implemented directives see `formatst.scm'.
3975 This implementation supports directive parameters and modifiers (`:'
3976 and `@' characters). Multiple parameters must be separated by a comma
3977 (`,'). Parameters can be numerical parameters (positive or negative),
3978 character parameters (prefixed by a quote character (`''), variable
3979 parameters (`v'), number of rest arguments parameter (`#'), empty and
3980 default parameters. Directive characters are case independent. The
3981 general form of a directive is:
3983 DIRECTIVE ::= ~{DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER,}[:][@]DIRECTIVE-CHARACTER
3985 DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER ::= [ [-|+]{0-9}+ | 'CHARACTER | v | # ]
3987 *** Implemented CL Format Control Directives
3989 Documentation syntax: Uppercase characters represent the
3990 corresponding control directive characters. Lowercase characters
3991 represent control directive parameter descriptions.
3994 Any (print as `display' does).
3998 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARA'
4002 S-expression (print as `write' does).
4006 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARS'
4012 print number sign always.
4015 print comma separated.
4017 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARD'
4023 print number sign always.
4026 print comma separated.
4028 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARX'
4034 print number sign always.
4037 print comma separated.
4039 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARO'
4045 print number sign always.
4048 print comma separated.
4050 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARB'
4055 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARR'
4059 print a number as a Roman numeral.
4062 print a number as an "old fashioned" Roman numeral.
4065 print a number as an ordinal English number.
4068 print a number as a cardinal English number.
4073 prints `y' and `ies'.
4076 as `~P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
4079 as `~@P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
4084 prints a character as the reader can understand it (i.e. `#\'
4088 prints a character as emacs does (eg. `^C' for ASCII 03).
4091 Fixed-format floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN).
4092 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHARF'
4094 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
4097 Exponential floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN`E'EE).
4098 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARE'
4100 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
4103 General floating-point (prints a flonum either fixed or
4105 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARG'
4107 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
4110 Dollars floating-point (prints a flonum in fixed with signs
4112 `~DIGITS,SCALE,WIDTH,PADCHAR$'
4114 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
4117 A sign is always printed and appears before the padding.
4120 The sign appears before the padding.
4128 print newline if not at the beginning of the output line.
4130 prints `~&' and then N-1 newlines.
4135 print N page separators.
4145 newline is ignored, white space left.
4148 newline is left, white space ignored.
4153 relative tabulation.
4159 Indirection (expects indirect arguments as a list).
4161 extracts indirect arguments from format arguments.
4164 Case conversion (converts by `string-downcase').
4166 converts by `string-capitalize'.
4169 converts by `string-capitalize-first'.
4172 converts by `string-upcase'.
4175 Argument Jumping (jumps 1 argument forward).
4177 jumps N arguments forward.
4180 jumps 1 argument backward.
4183 jumps N arguments backward.
4186 jumps to the 0th argument.
4189 jumps to the Nth argument (beginning from 0)
4191 `~[STR0~;STR1~;...~;STRN~]'
4192 Conditional Expression (numerical clause conditional).
4194 take argument from N.
4197 true test conditional.
4200 if-else-then conditional.
4206 default clause follows.
4209 Iteration (args come from the next argument (a list)).
4211 at most N iterations.
4214 args from next arg (a list of lists).
4217 args from the rest of arguments.
4220 args from the rest args (lists).
4231 aborts if N <= M <= K
4233 *** Not Implemented CL Format Control Directives
4236 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
4239 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
4245 (sorry I don't understand its semantics completely)
4247 *** Extended, Replaced and Additional Control Directives
4249 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHD'
4250 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHX'
4251 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHO'
4252 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHB'
4253 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHR'
4254 COMMAWIDTH is the number of characters between two comma
4258 print a R4RS complex number as `~F~@Fi' with passed parameters for
4262 Pretty print formatting of an argument for scheme code lists.
4268 Flushes the output if format DESTINATION is a port.
4271 Print a `#\space' character
4273 print N `#\space' characters.
4276 Print a `#\tab' character
4278 print N `#\tab' characters.
4281 Takes N as an integer representation for a character. No arguments
4282 are consumed. N is converted to a character by `integer->char'. N
4283 must be a positive decimal number.
4286 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
4287 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
4288 be processed by `read'.
4291 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
4292 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
4293 be processed by `read'.
4296 Prints information and a copyright notice on the format
4299 prints format version.
4302 may also print number strings, i.e. passing a number as a string
4303 and format it accordingly.
4305 *** Configuration Variables
4307 The format module exports some configuration variables to suit the
4308 systems and users needs. There should be no modification necessary for
4309 the configuration that comes with Guile. Format detects automatically
4310 if the running scheme system implements floating point numbers and
4313 format:symbol-case-conv
4314 Symbols are converted by `symbol->string' so the case type of the
4315 printed symbols is implementation dependent.
4316 `format:symbol-case-conv' is a one arg closure which is either
4317 `#f' (no conversion), `string-upcase', `string-downcase' or
4318 `string-capitalize'. (default `#f')
4320 format:iobj-case-conv
4321 As FORMAT:SYMBOL-CASE-CONV but applies for the representation of
4322 implementation internal objects. (default `#f')
4325 The character prefixing the exponent value in `~E' printing.
4328 *** Compatibility With Other Format Implementations
4334 Downward compatible except for padding support and `~A', `~S',
4335 `~P', `~X' uppercase printing. SLIB format 1.4 uses C-style
4336 `printf' padding support which is completely replaced by the CL
4337 `format' padding style.
4340 Downward compatible except for `~', which is not documented
4341 (ignores all characters inside the format string up to a newline
4342 character). (7.1 implements `~a', `~s', ~NEWLINE, `~~', `~%',
4343 numerical and variable parameters and `:/@' modifiers in the CL
4347 Downward compatible except for `~A' and `~S' which print in
4348 uppercase. (Elk implements `~a', `~s', `~~', and `~%' (no
4349 directive parameters or modifiers)).
4352 Downward compatible except for an optional destination parameter:
4353 S2C accepts a format call without a destination which returns a
4354 formatted string. This is equivalent to a #f destination in S2C.
4355 (S2C implements `~a', `~s', `~c', `~%', and `~~' (no directive
4356 parameters or modifiers)).
4359 ** Changes to string-handling functions.
4361 These functions were added to support the (ice-9 format) module, above.
4363 *** New function: string-upcase STRING
4364 *** New function: string-downcase STRING
4366 These are non-destructive versions of the existing string-upcase! and
4367 string-downcase! functions.
4369 *** New function: string-capitalize! STRING
4370 *** New function: string-capitalize STRING
4372 These functions convert the first letter of each word in the string to
4375 (string-capitalize "howdy there")
4378 As with the other functions, string-capitalize! modifies the string in
4379 place, while string-capitalize returns a modified copy of its argument.
4381 *** New function: string-ci->symbol STRING
4383 Return a symbol whose name is STRING, but having the same case as if
4384 the symbol had be read by `read'.
4386 Guile can be configured to be sensitive or insensitive to case
4387 differences in Scheme identifiers. If Guile is case-insensitive, all
4388 symbols are converted to lower case on input. The `string-ci->symbol'
4389 function returns a symbol whose name in STRING, transformed as Guile
4390 would if STRING were input.
4392 *** New function: substring-move! STRING1 START END STRING2 START
4394 Copy the substring of STRING1 from START (inclusive) to END
4395 (exclusive) to STRING2 at START. STRING1 and STRING2 may be the same
4396 string, and the source and destination areas may overlap; in all
4397 cases, the function behaves as if all the characters were copied
4400 *** Extended functions: substring-move-left! substring-move-right!
4402 These functions now correctly copy arbitrarily overlapping substrings;
4403 they are both synonyms for substring-move!.
4406 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-long), with the function `getopt-long'.
4408 getopt-long is a function for parsing command-line arguments in a
4409 manner consistent with other GNU programs.
4411 (getopt-long ARGS GRAMMAR)
4412 Parse the arguments ARGS according to the argument list grammar GRAMMAR.
4414 ARGS should be a list of strings. Its first element should be the
4415 name of the program; subsequent elements should be the arguments
4416 that were passed to the program on the command line. The
4417 `program-arguments' procedure returns a list of this form.
4419 GRAMMAR is a list of the form:
4420 ((OPTION (PROPERTY VALUE) ...) ...)
4422 Each OPTION should be a symbol. `getopt-long' will accept a
4423 command-line option named `--OPTION'.
4424 Each option can have the following (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs:
4426 (single-char CHAR) --- Accept `-CHAR' as a single-character
4427 equivalent to `--OPTION'. This is how to specify traditional
4429 (required? BOOL) --- If BOOL is true, the option is required.
4430 getopt-long will raise an error if it is not found in ARGS.
4431 (value BOOL) --- If BOOL is #t, the option accepts a value; if
4432 it is #f, it does not; and if it is the symbol
4433 `optional', the option may appear in ARGS with or
4435 (predicate FUNC) --- If the option accepts a value (i.e. you
4436 specified `(value #t)' for this option), then getopt
4437 will apply FUNC to the value, and throw an exception
4438 if it returns #f. FUNC should be a procedure which
4439 accepts a string and returns a boolean value; you may
4440 need to use quasiquotes to get it into GRAMMAR.
4442 The (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs may occur in any order, but each
4443 property may occur only once. By default, options do not have
4444 single-character equivalents, are not required, and do not take
4447 In ARGS, single-character options may be combined, in the usual
4448 Unix fashion: ("-x" "-y") is equivalent to ("-xy"). If an option
4449 accepts values, then it must be the last option in the
4450 combination; the value is the next argument. So, for example, using
4451 the following grammar:
4452 ((apples (single-char #\a))
4453 (blimps (single-char #\b) (value #t))
4454 (catalexis (single-char #\c) (value #t)))
4455 the following argument lists would be acceptable:
4456 ("-a" "-b" "bang" "-c" "couth") ("bang" and "couth" are the values
4457 for "blimps" and "catalexis")
4458 ("-ab" "bang" "-c" "couth") (same)
4459 ("-ac" "couth" "-b" "bang") (same)
4460 ("-abc" "couth" "bang") (an error, since `-b' is not the
4461 last option in its combination)
4463 If an option's value is optional, then `getopt-long' decides
4464 whether it has a value by looking at what follows it in ARGS. If
4465 the next element is a string, and it does not appear to be an
4466 option itself, then that string is the option's value.
4468 The value of a long option can appear as the next element in ARGS,
4469 or it can follow the option name, separated by an `=' character.
4470 Thus, using the same grammar as above, the following argument lists
4472 ("--apples" "Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
4473 ("--apples=Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
4474 ("--blimps" "Goodyear" "--apples=Braeburn")
4476 If the option "--" appears in ARGS, argument parsing stops there;
4477 subsequent arguments are returned as ordinary arguments, even if
4478 they resemble options. So, in the argument list:
4479 ("--apples" "Granny Smith" "--" "--blimp" "Goodyear")
4480 `getopt-long' will recognize the `apples' option as having the
4481 value "Granny Smith", but it will not recognize the `blimp'
4482 option; it will return the strings "--blimp" and "Goodyear" as
4483 ordinary argument strings.
4485 The `getopt-long' function returns the parsed argument list as an
4486 assocation list, mapping option names --- the symbols from GRAMMAR
4487 --- onto their values, or #t if the option does not accept a value.
4488 Unused options do not appear in the alist.
4490 All arguments that are not the value of any option are returned
4491 as a list, associated with the empty list.
4493 `getopt-long' throws an exception if:
4494 - it finds an unrecognized option in ARGS
4495 - a required option is omitted
4496 - an option that requires an argument doesn't get one
4497 - an option that doesn't accept an argument does get one (this can
4498 only happen using the long option `--opt=value' syntax)
4499 - an option predicate fails
4504 `((lockfile-dir (required? #t)
4507 (predicate ,file-is-directory?))
4508 (verbose (required? #f)
4511 (x-includes (single-char #\x))
4512 (rnet-server (single-char #\y)
4513 (predicate ,string?))))
4515 (getopt-long '("my-prog" "-vk" "/tmp" "foo1" "--x-includes=/usr/include"
4516 "--rnet-server=lamprod" "--" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
4518 => ((() "foo1" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
4519 (rnet-server . "lamprod")
4520 (x-includes . "/usr/include")
4521 (lockfile-dir . "/tmp")
4524 ** The (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) module is obsolete; use (ice-9 getopt-long).
4526 It will be removed in a few releases.
4528 ** New syntax: lambda*
4529 ** New syntax: define*
4530 ** New syntax: define*-public
4531 ** New syntax: defmacro*
4532 ** New syntax: defmacro*-public
4533 Guile now supports optional arguments.
4535 `lambda*', `define*', `define*-public', `defmacro*' and
4536 `defmacro*-public' are identical to the non-* versions except that
4537 they use an extended type of parameter list that has the following BNF
4538 syntax (parentheses are literal, square brackets indicate grouping,
4539 and `*', `+' and `?' have the usual meaning):
4541 ext-param-list ::= ( [identifier]* [#&optional [ext-var-decl]+]?
4542 [#&key [ext-var-decl]+ [#&allow-other-keys]?]?
4543 [[#&rest identifier]|[. identifier]]? ) | [identifier]
4545 ext-var-decl ::= identifier | ( identifier expression )
4547 The semantics are best illustrated with the following documentation
4548 and examples for `lambda*':
4551 lambda extended for optional and keyword arguments
4553 lambda* creates a procedure that takes optional arguments. These
4554 are specified by putting them inside brackets at the end of the
4555 paramater list, but before any dotted rest argument. For example,
4556 (lambda* (a b #&optional c d . e) '())
4557 creates a procedure with fixed arguments a and b, optional arguments c
4558 and d, and rest argument e. If the optional arguments are omitted
4559 in a call, the variables for them are unbound in the procedure. This
4560 can be checked with the bound? macro.
4562 lambda* can also take keyword arguments. For example, a procedure
4564 (lambda* (#&key xyzzy larch) '())
4565 can be called with any of the argument lists (#:xyzzy 11)
4566 (#:larch 13) (#:larch 42 #:xyzzy 19) (). Whichever arguments
4567 are given as keywords are bound to values.
4569 Optional and keyword arguments can also be given default values
4570 which they take on when they are not present in a call, by giving a
4571 two-item list in place of an optional argument, for example in:
4572 (lambda* (foo #&optional (bar 42) #&key (baz 73)) (list foo bar baz))
4573 foo is a fixed argument, bar is an optional argument with default
4574 value 42, and baz is a keyword argument with default value 73.
4575 Default value expressions are not evaluated unless they are needed
4576 and until the procedure is called.
4578 lambda* now supports two more special parameter list keywords.
4580 lambda*-defined procedures now throw an error by default if a
4581 keyword other than one of those specified is found in the actual
4582 passed arguments. However, specifying #&allow-other-keys
4583 immediately after the kyword argument declarations restores the
4584 previous behavior of ignoring unknown keywords. lambda* also now
4585 guarantees that if the same keyword is passed more than once, the
4586 last one passed is the one that takes effect. For example,
4587 ((lambda* (#&key (heads 0) (tails 0)) (display (list heads tails)))
4588 #:heads 37 #:tails 42 #:heads 99)
4589 would result in (99 47) being displayed.
4591 #&rest is also now provided as a synonym for the dotted syntax rest
4592 argument. The argument lists (a . b) and (a #&rest b) are equivalent in
4593 all respects to lambda*. This is provided for more similarity to DSSSL,
4594 MIT-Scheme and Kawa among others, as well as for refugees from other
4597 Further documentation may be found in the optargs.scm file itself.
4599 The optional argument module also exports the macros `let-optional',
4600 `let-optional*', `let-keywords', `let-keywords*' and `bound?'. These
4601 are not documented here because they may be removed in the future, but
4602 full documentation is still available in optargs.scm.
4604 ** New syntax: and-let*
4605 Guile now supports the `and-let*' form, described in the draft SRFI-2.
4607 Syntax: (land* (<clause> ...) <body> ...)
4608 Each <clause> should have one of the following forms:
4609 (<variable> <expression>)
4612 Each <variable> or <bound-variable> should be an identifier. Each
4613 <expression> should be a valid expression. The <body> should be a
4614 possibly empty sequence of expressions, like the <body> of a
4617 Semantics: A LAND* expression is evaluated by evaluating the
4618 <expression> or <bound-variable> of each of the <clause>s from
4619 left to right. The value of the first <expression> or
4620 <bound-variable> that evaluates to a false value is returned; the
4621 remaining <expression>s and <bound-variable>s are not evaluated.
4622 The <body> forms are evaluated iff all the <expression>s and
4623 <bound-variable>s evaluate to true values.
4625 The <expression>s and the <body> are evaluated in an environment
4626 binding each <variable> of the preceding (<variable> <expression>)
4627 clauses to the value of the <expression>. Later bindings
4628 shadow earlier bindings.
4630 Guile's and-let* macro was contributed by Michael Livshin.
4632 ** New sorting functions
4634 *** New function: sorted? SEQUENCE LESS?
4635 Returns `#t' when the sequence argument is in non-decreasing order
4636 according to LESS? (that is, there is no adjacent pair `... x y
4637 ...' for which `(less? y x)').
4639 Returns `#f' when the sequence contains at least one out-of-order
4640 pair. It is an error if the sequence is neither a list nor a
4643 *** New function: merge LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
4644 LIST1 and LIST2 are sorted lists.
4645 Returns the sorted list of all elements in LIST1 and LIST2.
4647 Assume that the elements a and b1 in LIST1 and b2 in LIST2 are "equal"
4648 in the sense that (LESS? x y) --> #f for x, y in {a, b1, b2},
4649 and that a < b1 in LIST1. Then a < b1 < b2 in the result.
4650 (Here "<" should read "comes before".)
4652 *** New procedure: merge! LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
4653 Merges two lists, re-using the pairs of LIST1 and LIST2 to build
4654 the result. If the code is compiled, and LESS? constructs no new
4655 pairs, no pairs at all will be allocated. The first pair of the
4656 result will be either the first pair of LIST1 or the first pair of
4659 *** New function: sort SEQUENCE LESS?
4660 Accepts either a list or a vector, and returns a new sequence
4661 which is sorted. The new sequence is the same type as the input.
4662 Always `(sorted? (sort sequence less?) less?)'. The original
4663 sequence is not altered in any way. The new sequence shares its
4664 elements with the old one; no elements are copied.
4666 *** New procedure: sort! SEQUENCE LESS
4667 Returns its sorted result in the original boxes. No new storage is
4668 allocated at all. Proper usage: (set! slist (sort! slist <))
4670 *** New function: stable-sort SEQUENCE LESS?
4671 Similar to `sort' but stable. That is, if "equal" elements are
4672 ordered a < b in the original sequence, they will have the same order
4675 *** New function: stable-sort! SEQUENCE LESS?
4676 Similar to `sort!' but stable.
4677 Uses temporary storage when sorting vectors.
4679 *** New functions: sort-list, sort-list!
4680 Added for compatibility with scsh.
4682 ** New built-in random number support
4684 *** New function: random N [STATE]
4685 Accepts a positive integer or real N and returns a number of the
4686 same type between zero (inclusive) and N (exclusive). The values
4687 returned have a uniform distribution.
4689 The optional argument STATE must be of the type produced by
4690 `copy-random-state' or `seed->random-state'. It defaults to the value
4691 of the variable `*random-state*'. This object is used to maintain the
4692 state of the pseudo-random-number generator and is altered as a side
4693 effect of the `random' operation.
4695 *** New variable: *random-state*
4696 Holds a data structure that encodes the internal state of the
4697 random-number generator that `random' uses by default. The nature
4698 of this data structure is implementation-dependent. It may be
4699 printed out and successfully read back in, but may or may not
4700 function correctly as a random-number state object in another
4703 *** New function: copy-random-state [STATE]
4704 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
4705 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
4706 If argument STATE is given, a copy of it is returned. Otherwise a
4707 copy of `*random-state*' is returned.
4709 *** New function: seed->random-state SEED
4710 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
4711 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
4712 SEED is a string or a number. A new state is generated and
4713 initialized using SEED.
4715 *** New function: random:uniform [STATE]
4716 Returns an uniformly distributed inexact real random number in the
4717 range between 0 and 1.
4719 *** New procedure: random:solid-sphere! VECT [STATE]
4720 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose
4721 squares is less than 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in
4722 space of dimension N = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are
4723 uniformly distributed within the unit N-shere. The sum of the
4724 squares of the numbers is returned. VECT can be either a vector
4725 or a uniform vector of doubles.
4727 *** New procedure: random:hollow-sphere! VECT [STATE]
4728 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose squares
4729 is equal to 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in space of
4730 dimension n = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are uniformly
4731 distributed over the surface of the unit n-shere. VECT can be either
4732 a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
4734 *** New function: random:normal [STATE]
4735 Returns an inexact real in a normal distribution with mean 0 and
4736 standard deviation 1. For a normal distribution with mean M and
4737 standard deviation D use `(+ M (* D (random:normal)))'.
4739 *** New procedure: random:normal-vector! VECT [STATE]
4740 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers which are independent and
4741 standard normally distributed (i.e., with mean 0 and variance 1).
4742 VECT can be either a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
4744 *** New function: random:exp STATE
4745 Returns an inexact real in an exponential distribution with mean 1.
4746 For an exponential distribution with mean U use (* U (random:exp)).
4748 ** The range of logand, logior, logxor, logtest, and logbit? have changed.
4750 These functions now operate on numbers in the range of a C unsigned
4753 These functions used to operate on numbers in the range of a C signed
4754 long; however, this seems inappropriate, because Guile integers don't
4757 ** New function: make-guardian
4758 This is an implementation of guardians as described in
4759 R. Kent Dybvig, Carl Bruggeman, and David Eby (1993) "Guardians in a
4760 Generation-Based Garbage Collector" ACM SIGPLAN Conference on
4761 Programming Language Design and Implementation, June 1993
4762 ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/scheme-repository/doc/pubs/guardians.ps.gz
4764 ** New functions: delq1!, delv1!, delete1!
4765 These procedures behave similar to delq! and friends but delete only
4766 one object if at all.
4768 ** New function: unread-string STRING PORT
4769 Unread STRING to PORT, that is, push it back onto the port so that
4770 next read operation will work on the pushed back characters.
4772 ** unread-char can now be called multiple times
4773 If unread-char is called multiple times, the unread characters will be
4774 read again in last-in first-out order.
4776 ** the procedures uniform-array-read! and uniform-array-write! now
4777 work on any kind of port, not just ports which are open on a file.
4779 ** Now 'l' in a port mode requests line buffering.
4781 ** The procedure truncate-file now works on string ports as well
4782 as file ports. If the size argument is omitted, the current
4783 file position is used.
4785 ** new procedure: seek PORT/FDES OFFSET WHENCE
4786 The arguments are the same as for the old fseek procedure, but it
4787 works on string ports as well as random-access file ports.
4789 ** the fseek procedure now works on string ports, since it has been
4790 redefined using seek.
4792 ** the setvbuf procedure now uses a default size if mode is _IOFBF and
4793 size is not supplied.
4795 ** the newline procedure no longer flushes the port if it's not
4796 line-buffered: previously it did if it was the current output port.
4798 ** open-pipe and close-pipe are no longer primitive procedures, but
4799 an emulation can be obtained using `(use-modules (ice-9 popen))'.
4801 ** the freopen procedure has been removed.
4803 ** new procedure: drain-input PORT
4804 Drains PORT's read buffers (including any pushed-back characters)
4805 and returns the contents as a single string.
4807 ** New function: map-in-order PROC LIST1 LIST2 ...
4808 Version of `map' which guarantees that the procedure is applied to the
4809 lists in serial order.
4811 ** Renamed `serial-array-copy!' and `serial-array-map!' to
4812 `array-copy-in-order!' and `array-map-in-order!'. The old names are
4813 now obsolete and will go away in release 1.5.
4815 ** New syntax: collect BODY1 ...
4816 Version of `begin' which returns a list of the results of the body
4817 forms instead of the result of the last body form. In contrast to
4818 `begin', `collect' allows an empty body.
4820 ** New functions: read-history FILENAME, write-history FILENAME
4821 Read/write command line history from/to file. Returns #t on success
4822 and #f if an error occured.
4824 ** `ls' and `lls' in module (ice-9 ls) now handle no arguments.
4826 These procedures return a list of definitions available in the specified
4827 argument, a relative module reference. In the case of no argument,
4828 `(current-module)' is now consulted for definitions to return, instead
4829 of simply returning #f, the former behavior.
4831 ** The #/ syntax for lists is no longer supported.
4833 Earlier versions of Scheme accepted this syntax, but printed a
4836 ** Guile no longer consults the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable.
4838 Instead, you should set GUILE_LOAD_PATH to tell Guile where to find
4841 * Changes to the gh_ interface
4845 Now takes a second argument which is the result array. If this
4846 pointer is NULL, a new array is malloced (the old behaviour).
4848 ** gh_chars2byvect, gh_shorts2svect, gh_floats2fvect, gh_scm2chars,
4849 gh_scm2shorts, gh_scm2longs, gh_scm2floats
4853 * Changes to the scm_ interface
4855 ** Function: scm_make_named_hook (char* name, int n_args)
4857 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
4858 binds a variable named NAME to it.
4860 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
4862 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module. This
4863 might change when we get the new module system.
4865 ** The smob interface
4867 The interface for creating smobs has changed. For documentation, see
4868 data-rep.info (made from guile-core/doc/data-rep.texi).
4870 *** Deprecated function: SCM scm_newsmob (scm_smobfuns *)
4872 >>> This function will be removed in 1.3.4. <<<
4876 *** Function: SCM scm_make_smob_type (const char *name, scm_sizet size)
4877 This function adds a new smob type, named NAME, with instance size
4878 SIZE to the system. The return value is a tag that is used in
4879 creating instances of the type. If SIZE is 0, then no memory will
4880 be allocated when instances of the smob are created, and nothing
4881 will be freed by the default free function.
4883 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_mark (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
4884 This function sets the smob marking procedure for the smob type
4885 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4886 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4888 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_free (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
4889 This function sets the smob freeing procedure for the smob type
4890 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4891 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4893 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_print (tc, print)
4895 - Function: void scm_set_smob_print (long tc,
4896 scm_sizet (*print) (SCM,
4900 This function sets the smob printing procedure for the smob type
4901 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4902 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4904 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_equalp (long tc, SCM (*equalp) (SCM, SCM))
4905 This function sets the smob equality-testing predicate for the
4906 smob type specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4907 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4909 *** Macro: void SCM_NEWSMOB (SCM var, long tc, void *data)
4910 Make VALUE contain a smob instance of the type with type code TC and
4911 smob data DATA. VALUE must be previously declared as C type `SCM'.
4913 *** Macro: fn_returns SCM_RETURN_NEWSMOB (long tc, void *data)
4914 This macro expands to a block of code that creates a smob instance
4915 of the type with type code TC and smob data DATA, and returns that
4916 `SCM' value. It should be the last piece of code in a block.
4918 ** The interfaces for using I/O ports and implementing port types
4919 (ptobs) have changed significantly. The new interface is based on
4920 shared access to buffers and a new set of ptob procedures.
4922 *** scm_newptob has been removed
4926 *** Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (type_name, fill_buffer, write_flush)
4928 - Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (char *type_name,
4929 int (*fill_buffer) (SCM port),
4930 void (*write_flush) (SCM port));
4932 Similarly to the new smob interface, there is a set of function
4933 setters by which the user can customize the behaviour of his port
4934 type. See ports.h (scm_set_port_XXX).
4936 ** scm_strport_to_string: New function: creates a new string from
4937 a string port's buffer.
4939 ** Plug in interface for random number generators
4940 The variable `scm_the_rng' in random.c contains a value and three
4941 function pointers which together define the current random number
4942 generator being used by the Scheme level interface and the random
4943 number library functions.
4945 The user is free to replace the default generator with the generator
4948 *** Variable: size_t scm_the_rng.rstate_size
4949 The size of the random state type used by the current RNG
4952 *** Function: unsigned long scm_the_rng.random_bits (scm_rstate *STATE)
4953 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
4955 *** Function: void scm_the_rng.init_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE, chars *S, int N)
4956 Seed random state STATE using string S of length N.
4958 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_the_rng.copy_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE)
4959 Given random state STATE, return a malloced copy.
4962 The default RNG is the MWC (Multiply With Carry) random number
4963 generator described by George Marsaglia at the Department of
4964 Statistics and Supercomputer Computations Research Institute, The
4965 Florida State University (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo).
4967 It uses 64 bits, has a period of 4578426017172946943 (4.6e18), and
4968 passes all tests in the DIEHARD test suite
4969 (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo/diehard.html). The generation of 32 bits
4970 costs one multiply and one add on platforms which either supports long
4971 longs (gcc does this on most systems) or have 64 bit longs. The cost
4972 is four multiply on other systems but this can be optimized by writing
4973 scm_i_uniform32 in assembler.
4975 These functions are provided through the scm_the_rng interface for use
4976 by libguile and the application.
4978 *** Function: unsigned long scm_i_uniform32 (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
4979 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
4980 Don't use this function directly. Instead go through the plugin
4981 interface (see "Plug in interface" above).
4983 *** Function: void scm_i_init_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE, char *SEED, int N)
4984 Initialize STATE using SEED of length N.
4986 *** Function: scm_i_rstate *scm_i_copy_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
4987 Return a malloc:ed copy of STATE. This function can easily be re-used
4988 in the interfaces to other RNGs.
4990 ** Random number library functions
4991 These functions use the current RNG through the scm_the_rng interface.
4992 It might be a good idea to use these functions from your C code so
4993 that only one random generator is used by all code in your program.
4995 The default random state is stored in:
4997 *** Variable: SCM scm_var_random_state
4998 Contains the vcell of the Scheme variable "*random-state*" which is
4999 used as default state by all random number functions in the Scheme
5004 double x = scm_c_uniform01 (SCM_RSTATE (SCM_CDR (scm_var_random_state)));
5006 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_default_rstate (void)
5007 This is a convenience function which returns the value of
5008 scm_var_random_state. An error message is generated if this value
5009 isn't a random state.
5011 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_make_rstate (char *SEED, int LENGTH)
5012 Make a new random state from the string SEED of length LENGTH.
5014 It is generally not a good idea to use multiple random states in a
5015 program. While subsequent random numbers generated from one random
5016 state are guaranteed to be reasonably independent, there is no such
5017 guarantee for numbers generated from different random states.
5019 *** Macro: unsigned long scm_c_uniform32 (scm_rstate *STATE)
5020 Return 32 random bits.
5022 *** Function: double scm_c_uniform01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
5023 Return a sample from the uniform(0,1) distribution.
5025 *** Function: double scm_c_normal01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
5026 Return a sample from the normal(0,1) distribution.
5028 *** Function: double scm_c_exp1 (scm_rstate *STATE)
5029 Return a sample from the exp(1) distribution.
5031 *** Function: unsigned long scm_c_random (scm_rstate *STATE, unsigned long M)
5032 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
5034 *** Function: SCM scm_c_random_bignum (scm_rstate *STATE, SCM M)
5035 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
5036 M must be a bignum object. The returned value may be an INUM.
5040 Changes in Guile 1.3 (released Monday, October 19, 1998):
5042 * Changes to the distribution
5044 ** We renamed the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable to GUILE_LOAD_PATH.
5045 To avoid conflicts, programs should name environment variables after
5046 themselves, except when there's a common practice establishing some
5049 For now, Guile supports both GUILE_LOAD_PATH and SCHEME_LOAD_PATH,
5050 giving the former precedence, and printing a warning message if the
5051 latter is set. Guile 1.4 will not recognize SCHEME_LOAD_PATH at all.
5053 ** The header files related to multi-byte characters have been removed.
5054 They were: libguile/extchrs.h and libguile/mbstrings.h. Any C code
5055 which referred to these explicitly will probably need to be rewritten,
5056 since the support for the variant string types has been removed; see
5059 ** The header files append.h and sequences.h have been removed. These
5060 files implemented non-R4RS operations which would encourage
5061 non-portable programming style and less easy-to-read code.
5063 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
5065 ** New procedures have been added to implement a "batch mode":
5067 *** Function: batch-mode?
5069 Returns a boolean indicating whether the interpreter is in batch
5072 *** Function: set-batch-mode?! ARG
5074 If ARG is true, switches the interpreter to batch mode. The `#f'
5075 case has not been implemented.
5077 ** Guile now provides full command-line editing, when run interactively.
5078 To use this feature, you must have the readline library installed.
5079 The Guile build process will notice it, and automatically include
5082 The readline library is available via anonymous FTP from any GNU
5083 mirror site; the canonical location is "ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu".
5085 ** the-last-stack is now a fluid.
5087 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
5089 ** You can now use the `guile-config' utility to build programs that use Guile.
5091 Guile now includes a command-line utility called `guile-config', which
5092 can provide information about how to compile and link programs that
5095 *** `guile-config compile' prints any C compiler flags needed to use Guile.
5096 You should include this command's output on the command line you use
5097 to compile C or C++ code that #includes the Guile header files. It's
5098 usually just a `-I' flag to help the compiler find the Guile headers.
5101 *** `guile-config link' prints any linker flags necessary to link with Guile.
5103 This command writes to its standard output a list of flags which you
5104 must pass to the linker to link your code against the Guile library.
5105 The flags include '-lguile' itself, any other libraries the Guile
5106 library depends upon, and any `-L' flags needed to help the linker
5107 find those libraries.
5109 For example, here is a Makefile rule that builds a program named 'foo'
5110 from the object files ${FOO_OBJECTS}, and links them against Guile:
5113 ${CC} ${CFLAGS} ${FOO_OBJECTS} `guile-config link` -o foo
5115 Previous Guile releases recommended that you use autoconf to detect
5116 which of a predefined set of libraries were present on your system.
5117 It is more robust to use `guile-config', since it records exactly which
5118 libraries the installed Guile library requires.
5120 This was originally called `build-guile', but was renamed to
5121 `guile-config' before Guile 1.3 was released, to be consistent with
5122 the analogous script for the GTK+ GUI toolkit, which is called
5126 ** Use the GUILE_FLAGS macro in your configure.in file to find Guile.
5128 If you are using the GNU autoconf package to configure your program,
5129 you can use the GUILE_FLAGS autoconf macro to call `guile-config'
5130 (described above) and gather the necessary values for use in your
5133 The GUILE_FLAGS macro expands to configure script code which runs the
5134 `guile-config' script, to find out where Guile's header files and
5135 libraries are installed. It sets two variables, marked for
5136 substitution, as by AC_SUBST.
5138 GUILE_CFLAGS --- flags to pass to a C or C++ compiler to build
5139 code that uses Guile header files. This is almost always just a
5142 GUILE_LDFLAGS --- flags to pass to the linker to link a
5143 program against Guile. This includes `-lguile' for the Guile
5144 library itself, any libraries that Guile itself requires (like
5145 -lqthreads), and so on. It may also include a -L flag to tell the
5146 compiler where to find the libraries.
5148 GUILE_FLAGS is defined in the file guile.m4, in the top-level
5149 directory of the Guile distribution. You can copy it into your
5150 package's aclocal.m4 file, and then use it in your configure.in file.
5152 If you are using the `aclocal' program, distributed with GNU automake,
5153 to maintain your aclocal.m4 file, the Guile installation process
5154 installs guile.m4 where aclocal will find it. All you need to do is
5155 use GUILE_FLAGS in your configure.in file, and then run `aclocal';
5156 this will copy the definition of GUILE_FLAGS into your aclocal.m4
5160 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
5162 ** Multi-byte strings have been removed, as have multi-byte and wide
5163 ports. We felt that these were the wrong approach to
5164 internationalization support.
5166 ** New function: readline [PROMPT]
5167 Read a line from the terminal, and allow the user to edit it,
5168 prompting with PROMPT. READLINE provides a large set of Emacs-like
5169 editing commands, lets the user recall previously typed lines, and
5170 works on almost every kind of terminal, including dumb terminals.
5172 READLINE assumes that the cursor is at the beginning of the line when
5173 it is invoked. Thus, you can't print a prompt yourself, and then call
5174 READLINE; you need to package up your prompt as a string, pass it to
5175 the function, and let READLINE print the prompt itself. This is
5176 because READLINE needs to know the prompt's screen width.
5178 For Guile to provide this function, you must have the readline
5179 library, version 2.1 or later, installed on your system. Readline is
5180 available via anonymous FTP from prep.ai.mit.edu in pub/gnu, or from
5181 any GNU mirror site.
5183 See also ADD-HISTORY function.
5185 ** New function: add-history STRING
5186 Add STRING as the most recent line in the history used by the READLINE
5187 command. READLINE does not add lines to the history itself; you must
5188 call ADD-HISTORY to make previous input available to the user.
5190 ** The behavior of the read-line function has changed.
5192 This function now uses standard C library functions to read the line,
5193 for speed. This means that it doesn not respect the value of
5194 scm-line-incrementors; it assumes that lines are delimited with
5197 (Note that this is read-line, the function that reads a line of text
5198 from a port, not readline, the function that reads a line from a
5199 terminal, providing full editing capabilities.)
5201 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style): Parse command-line arguments.
5203 This module provides some simple argument parsing. It exports one
5206 Function: getopt-gnu-style ARG-LS
5207 Parse a list of program arguments into an alist of option
5210 Each item in the list of program arguments is examined to see if
5211 it meets the syntax of a GNU long-named option. An argument like
5212 `--MUMBLE' produces an element of the form (MUMBLE . #t) in the
5213 returned alist, where MUMBLE is a keyword object with the same
5214 name as the argument. An argument like `--MUMBLE=FROB' produces
5215 an element of the form (MUMBLE . FROB), where FROB is a string.
5217 As a special case, the returned alist also contains a pair whose
5218 car is the symbol `rest'. The cdr of this pair is a list
5219 containing all the items in the argument list that are not options
5220 of the form mentioned above.
5222 The argument `--' is treated specially: all items in the argument
5223 list appearing after such an argument are not examined, and are
5224 returned in the special `rest' list.
5226 This function does not parse normal single-character switches.
5227 You will need to parse them out of the `rest' list yourself.
5229 ** The read syntax for byte vectors and short vectors has changed.
5231 Instead of #bytes(...), write #y(...).
5233 Instead of #short(...), write #h(...).
5235 This may seem nutty, but, like the other uniform vectors, byte vectors
5236 and short vectors want to have the same print and read syntax (and,
5237 more basic, want to have read syntax!). Changing the read syntax to
5238 use multiple characters after the hash sign breaks with the
5239 conventions used in R5RS and the conventions used for the other
5240 uniform vectors. It also introduces complexity in the current reader,
5241 both on the C and Scheme levels. (The Right solution is probably to
5242 change the syntax and prototypes for uniform vectors entirely.)
5245 ** The new module (ice-9 session) provides useful interactive functions.
5247 *** New procedure: (apropos REGEXP OPTION ...)
5249 Display a list of top-level variables whose names match REGEXP, and
5250 the modules they are imported from. Each OPTION should be one of the
5253 value --- Show the value of each matching variable.
5254 shadow --- Show bindings shadowed by subsequently imported modules.
5255 full --- Same as both `shadow' and `value'.
5259 guile> (apropos "trace" 'full)
5260 debug: trace #<procedure trace args>
5261 debug: untrace #<procedure untrace args>
5262 the-scm-module: display-backtrace #<compiled-closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>
5263 the-scm-module: before-backtrace-hook ()
5264 the-scm-module: backtrace #<primitive-procedure backtrace>
5265 the-scm-module: after-backtrace-hook ()
5266 the-scm-module: has-shown-backtrace-hint? #f
5269 ** There are new functions and syntax for working with macros.
5271 Guile implements macros as a special object type. Any variable whose
5272 top-level binding is a macro object acts as a macro. The macro object
5273 specifies how the expression should be transformed before evaluation.
5275 *** Macro objects now print in a reasonable way, resembling procedures.
5277 *** New function: (macro? OBJ)
5278 True iff OBJ is a macro object.
5280 *** New function: (primitive-macro? OBJ)
5281 Like (macro? OBJ), but true only if OBJ is one of the Guile primitive
5282 macro transformers, implemented in eval.c rather than Scheme code.
5284 Why do we have this function?
5285 - For symmetry with procedure? and primitive-procedure?,
5286 - to allow custom print procedures to tell whether a macro is
5287 primitive, and display it differently, and
5288 - to allow compilers and user-written evaluators to distinguish
5289 builtin special forms from user-defined ones, which could be
5292 *** New function: (macro-type OBJ)
5293 Return a value indicating what kind of macro OBJ is. Possible return
5296 The symbol `syntax' --- a macro created by procedure->syntax.
5297 The symbol `macro' --- a macro created by procedure->macro.
5298 The symbol `macro!' --- a macro created by procedure->memoizing-macro.
5299 The boolean #f --- if OBJ is not a macro object.
5301 *** New function: (macro-name MACRO)
5302 Return the name of the macro object MACRO's procedure, as returned by
5305 *** New function: (macro-transformer MACRO)
5306 Return the transformer procedure for MACRO.
5308 *** New syntax: (use-syntax MODULE ... TRANSFORMER)
5310 Specify a new macro expander to use in the current module. Each
5311 MODULE is a module name, with the same meaning as in the `use-modules'
5312 form; each named module's exported bindings are added to the current
5313 top-level environment. TRANSFORMER is an expression evaluated in the
5314 resulting environment which must yield a procedure to use as the
5315 module's eval transformer: every expression evaluated in this module
5316 is passed to this function, and the result passed to the Guile
5319 *** macro-eval! is removed. Use local-eval instead.
5321 ** Some magic has been added to the printer to better handle user
5322 written printing routines (like record printers, closure printers).
5324 The problem is that these user written routines must have access to
5325 the current `print-state' to be able to handle fancy things like
5326 detection of circular references. These print-states have to be
5327 passed to the builtin printing routines (display, write, etc) to
5328 properly continue the print chain.
5330 We didn't want to change all existing print code so that it
5331 explicitly passes thru a print state in addition to a port. Instead,
5332 we extented the possible values that the builtin printing routines
5333 accept as a `port'. In addition to a normal port, they now also take
5334 a pair of a normal port and a print-state. Printing will go to the
5335 port and the print-state will be used to control the detection of
5336 circular references, etc. If the builtin function does not care for a
5337 print-state, it is simply ignored.
5339 User written callbacks are now called with such a pair as their
5340 `port', but because every function now accepts this pair as a PORT
5341 argument, you don't have to worry about that. In fact, it is probably
5342 safest to not check for these pairs.
5344 However, it is sometimes necessary to continue a print chain on a
5345 different port, for example to get a intermediate string
5346 representation of the printed value, mangle that string somehow, and
5347 then to finally print the mangled string. Use the new function
5349 inherit-print-state OLD-PORT NEW-PORT
5351 for this. It constructs a new `port' that prints to NEW-PORT but
5352 inherits the print-state of OLD-PORT.
5354 ** struct-vtable-offset renamed to vtable-offset-user
5356 ** New constants: vtable-index-layout, vtable-index-vtable, vtable-index-printer
5358 ** There is now a third optional argument to make-vtable-vtable
5359 (and fourth to make-struct) when constructing new types (vtables).
5360 This argument initializes field vtable-index-printer of the vtable.
5362 ** The detection of circular references has been extended to structs.
5363 That is, a structure that -- in the process of being printed -- prints
5364 itself does not lead to infinite recursion.
5366 ** There is now some basic support for fluids. Please read
5367 "libguile/fluid.h" to find out more. It is accessible from Scheme with
5368 the following functions and macros:
5370 Function: make-fluid
5372 Create a new fluid object. Fluids are not special variables or
5373 some other extension to the semantics of Scheme, but rather
5374 ordinary Scheme objects. You can store them into variables (that
5375 are still lexically scoped, of course) or into any other place you
5376 like. Every fluid has a initial value of `#f'.
5378 Function: fluid? OBJ
5380 Test whether OBJ is a fluid.
5382 Function: fluid-ref FLUID
5383 Function: fluid-set! FLUID VAL
5385 Access/modify the fluid FLUID. Modifications are only visible
5386 within the current dynamic root (that includes threads).
5388 Function: with-fluids* FLUIDS VALUES THUNK
5390 FLUIDS is a list of fluids and VALUES a corresponding list of
5391 values for these fluids. Before THUNK gets called the values are
5392 installed in the fluids and the old values of the fluids are
5393 saved in the VALUES list. When the flow of control leaves THUNK
5394 or reenters it, the values get swapped again. You might think of
5395 this as a `safe-fluid-excursion'. Note that the VALUES list is
5396 modified by `with-fluids*'.
5398 Macro: with-fluids ((FLUID VALUE) ...) FORM ...
5400 The same as `with-fluids*' but with a different syntax. It looks
5401 just like `let', but both FLUID and VALUE are evaluated. Remember,
5402 fluids are not special variables but ordinary objects. FLUID
5403 should evaluate to a fluid.
5405 ** Changes to system call interfaces:
5407 *** close-port, close-input-port and close-output-port now return a
5408 boolean instead of an `unspecified' object. #t means that the port
5409 was successfully closed, while #f means it was already closed. It is
5410 also now possible for these procedures to raise an exception if an
5411 error occurs (some errors from write can be delayed until close.)
5413 *** the first argument to chmod, fcntl, ftell and fseek can now be a
5416 *** the third argument to fcntl is now optional.
5418 *** the first argument to chown can now be a file descriptor or a port.
5420 *** the argument to stat can now be a port.
5422 *** The following new procedures have been added (most use scsh
5425 *** procedure: close PORT/FD
5426 Similar to close-port (*note close-port: Closing Ports.), but also
5427 works on file descriptors. A side effect of closing a file
5428 descriptor is that any ports using that file descriptor are moved
5429 to a different file descriptor and have their revealed counts set
5432 *** procedure: port->fdes PORT
5433 Returns the integer file descriptor underlying PORT. As a side
5434 effect the revealed count of PORT is incremented.
5436 *** procedure: fdes->ports FDES
5437 Returns a list of existing ports which have FDES as an underlying
5438 file descriptor, without changing their revealed counts.
5440 *** procedure: fdes->inport FDES
5441 Returns an existing input port which has FDES as its underlying
5442 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
5443 Otherwise, returns a new input port with a revealed count of 1.
5445 *** procedure: fdes->outport FDES
5446 Returns an existing output port which has FDES as its underlying
5447 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
5448 Otherwise, returns a new output port with a revealed count of 1.
5450 The next group of procedures perform a `dup2' system call, if NEWFD
5451 (an integer) is supplied, otherwise a `dup'. The file descriptor to be
5452 duplicated can be supplied as an integer or contained in a port. The
5453 type of value returned varies depending on which procedure is used.
5455 All procedures also have the side effect when performing `dup2' that
5456 any ports using NEWFD are moved to a different file descriptor and have
5457 their revealed counts set to zero.
5459 *** procedure: dup->fdes PORT/FD [NEWFD]
5460 Returns an integer file descriptor.
5462 *** procedure: dup->inport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
5463 Returns a new input port using the new file descriptor.
5465 *** procedure: dup->outport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
5466 Returns a new output port using the new file descriptor.
5468 *** procedure: dup PORT/FD [NEWFD]
5469 Returns a new port if PORT/FD is a port, with the same mode as the
5470 supplied port, otherwise returns an integer file descriptor.
5472 *** procedure: dup->port PORT/FD MODE [NEWFD]
5473 Returns a new port using the new file descriptor. MODE supplies a
5474 mode string for the port (*note open-file: File Ports.).
5476 *** procedure: setenv NAME VALUE
5477 Modifies the environment of the current process, which is also the
5478 default environment inherited by child processes.
5480 If VALUE is `#f', then NAME is removed from the environment.
5481 Otherwise, the string NAME=VALUE is added to the environment,
5482 replacing any existing string with name matching NAME.
5484 The return value is unspecified.
5486 *** procedure: truncate-file OBJ SIZE
5487 Truncates the file referred to by OBJ to at most SIZE bytes. OBJ
5488 can be a string containing a file name or an integer file
5489 descriptor or port open for output on the file. The underlying
5490 system calls are `truncate' and `ftruncate'.
5492 The return value is unspecified.
5494 *** procedure: setvbuf PORT MODE [SIZE]
5495 Set the buffering mode for PORT. MODE can be:
5503 block buffered, using a newly allocated buffer of SIZE bytes.
5504 However if SIZE is zero or unspecified, the port will be made
5507 This procedure should not be used after I/O has been performed with
5510 Ports are usually block buffered by default, with a default buffer
5511 size. Procedures e.g., *Note open-file: File Ports, which accept a
5512 mode string allow `0' to be added to request an unbuffered port.
5514 *** procedure: fsync PORT/FD
5515 Copies any unwritten data for the specified output file descriptor
5516 to disk. If PORT/FD is a port, its buffer is flushed before the
5517 underlying file descriptor is fsync'd. The return value is
5520 *** procedure: open-fdes PATH FLAGS [MODES]
5521 Similar to `open' but returns a file descriptor instead of a port.
5523 *** procedure: execle PATH ENV [ARG] ...
5524 Similar to `execl', but the environment of the new process is
5525 specified by ENV, which must be a list of strings as returned by
5526 the `environ' procedure.
5528 This procedure is currently implemented using the `execve' system
5529 call, but we call it `execle' because of its Scheme calling
5532 *** procedure: strerror ERRNO
5533 Returns the Unix error message corresponding to ERRNO, an integer.
5535 *** procedure: primitive-exit [STATUS]
5536 Terminate the current process without unwinding the Scheme stack.
5537 This is would typically be useful after a fork. The exit status
5538 is STATUS if supplied, otherwise zero.
5540 *** procedure: times
5541 Returns an object with information about real and processor time.
5542 The following procedures accept such an object as an argument and
5543 return a selected component:
5546 The current real time, expressed as time units relative to an
5550 The CPU time units used by the calling process.
5553 The CPU time units used by the system on behalf of the
5557 The CPU time units used by terminated child processes of the
5558 calling process, whose status has been collected (e.g., using
5562 Similarly, the CPU times units used by the system on behalf of
5563 terminated child processes.
5565 ** Removed: list-length
5566 ** Removed: list-append, list-append!
5567 ** Removed: list-reverse, list-reverse!
5569 ** array-map renamed to array-map!
5571 ** serial-array-map renamed to serial-array-map!
5573 ** catch doesn't take #f as first argument any longer
5575 Previously, it was possible to pass #f instead of a key to `catch'.
5576 That would cause `catch' to pass a jump buffer object to the procedure
5577 passed as second argument. The procedure could then use this jump
5578 buffer objekt as an argument to throw.
5580 This mechanism has been removed since its utility doesn't motivate the
5581 extra complexity it introduces.
5583 ** The `#/' notation for lists now provokes a warning message from Guile.
5584 This syntax will be removed from Guile in the near future.
5586 To disable the warning message, set the GUILE_HUSH environment
5587 variable to any non-empty value.
5589 ** The newline character now prints as `#\newline', following the
5590 normal Scheme notation, not `#\nl'.
5592 * Changes to the gh_ interface
5594 ** The gh_enter function now takes care of loading the Guile startup files.
5595 gh_enter works by calling scm_boot_guile; see the remarks below.
5597 ** Function: void gh_write (SCM x)
5599 Write the printed representation of the scheme object x to the current
5600 output port. Corresponds to the scheme level `write'.
5602 ** gh_list_length renamed to gh_length.
5604 ** vector handling routines
5606 Several major changes. In particular, gh_vector() now resembles
5607 (vector ...) (with a caveat -- see manual), and gh_make_vector() now
5608 exists and behaves like (make-vector ...). gh_vset() and gh_vref()
5609 have been renamed gh_vector_set_x() and gh_vector_ref(). Some missing
5610 vector-related gh_ functions have been implemented.
5612 ** pair and list routines
5614 Implemented several of the R4RS pair and list functions that were
5617 ** gh_scm2doubles, gh_doubles2scm, gh_doubles2dvect
5619 New function. Converts double arrays back and forth between Scheme
5622 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5624 ** The function scm_boot_guile now takes care of loading the startup files.
5626 Guile's primary initialization function, scm_boot_guile, now takes
5627 care of loading `boot-9.scm', in the `ice-9' module, to initialize
5628 Guile, define the module system, and put together some standard
5629 bindings. It also loads `init.scm', which is intended to hold
5630 site-specific initialization code.
5632 Since Guile cannot operate properly until boot-9.scm is loaded, there
5633 is no reason to separate loading boot-9.scm from Guile's other
5634 initialization processes.
5636 This job used to be done by scm_compile_shell_switches, which didn't
5637 make much sense; in particular, it meant that people using Guile for
5638 non-shell-like applications had to jump through hoops to get Guile
5639 initialized properly.
5641 ** The function scm_compile_shell_switches no longer loads the startup files.
5642 Now, Guile always loads the startup files, whenever it is initialized;
5643 see the notes above for scm_boot_guile and scm_load_startup_files.
5645 ** Function: scm_load_startup_files
5646 This new function takes care of loading Guile's initialization file
5647 (`boot-9.scm'), and the site initialization file, `init.scm'. Since
5648 this is always called by the Guile initialization process, it's
5649 probably not too useful to call this yourself, but it's there anyway.
5651 ** The semantics of smob marking have changed slightly.
5653 The smob marking function (the `mark' member of the scm_smobfuns
5654 structure) is no longer responsible for setting the mark bit on the
5655 smob. The generic smob handling code in the garbage collector will
5656 set this bit. The mark function need only ensure that any other
5657 objects the smob refers to get marked.
5659 Note that this change means that the smob's GC8MARK bit is typically
5660 already set upon entry to the mark function. Thus, marking functions
5661 which look like this:
5664 if (SCM_GC8MARKP (ptr))
5666 SCM_SETGC8MARK (ptr);
5667 ... mark objects to which the smob refers ...
5670 are now incorrect, since they will return early, and fail to mark any
5671 other objects the smob refers to. Some code in the Guile library used
5674 ** The semantics of the I/O port functions in scm_ptobfuns have changed.
5676 If you have implemented your own I/O port type, by writing the
5677 functions required by the scm_ptobfuns and then calling scm_newptob,
5678 you will need to change your functions slightly.
5680 The functions in a scm_ptobfuns structure now expect the port itself
5681 as their argument; they used to expect the `stream' member of the
5682 port's scm_port_table structure. This allows functions in an
5683 scm_ptobfuns structure to easily access the port's cell (and any flags
5684 it its CAR), and the port's scm_port_table structure.
5686 Guile now passes the I/O port itself as the `port' argument in the
5687 following scm_ptobfuns functions:
5689 int (*free) (SCM port);
5690 int (*fputc) (int, SCM port);
5691 int (*fputs) (char *, SCM port);
5692 scm_sizet (*fwrite) SCM_P ((char *ptr,
5696 int (*fflush) (SCM port);
5697 int (*fgetc) (SCM port);
5698 int (*fclose) (SCM port);
5700 The interfaces to the `mark', `print', `equalp', and `fgets' methods
5703 If you have existing code which defines its own port types, it is easy
5704 to convert your code to the new interface; simply apply SCM_STREAM to
5705 the port argument to yield the value you code used to expect.
5707 Note that since both the port and the stream have the same type in the
5708 C code --- they are both SCM values --- the C compiler will not remind
5709 you if you forget to update your scm_ptobfuns functions.
5712 ** Function: int scm_internal_select (int fds,
5716 struct timeval *timeout);
5718 This is a replacement for the `select' function provided by the OS.
5719 It enables I/O blocking and sleeping to happen for one cooperative
5720 thread without blocking other threads. It also avoids busy-loops in
5721 these situations. It is intended that all I/O blocking and sleeping
5722 will finally go through this function. Currently, this function is
5723 only available on systems providing `gettimeofday' and `select'.
5725 ** Function: SCM scm_internal_stack_catch (SCM tag,
5726 scm_catch_body_t body,
5728 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
5731 A new sibling to the other two C level `catch' functions
5732 scm_internal_catch and scm_internal_lazy_catch. Use it if you want
5733 the stack to be saved automatically into the variable `the-last-stack'
5734 (scm_the_last_stack_var) on error. This is necessary if you want to
5735 use advanced error reporting, such as calling scm_display_error and
5736 scm_display_backtrace. (They both take a stack object as argument.)
5738 ** Function: SCM scm_spawn_thread (scm_catch_body_t body,
5740 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
5743 Spawns a new thread. It does a job similar to
5744 scm_call_with_new_thread but takes arguments more suitable when
5745 spawning threads from application C code.
5747 ** The hook scm_error_callback has been removed. It was originally
5748 intended as a way for the user to install his own error handler. But
5749 that method works badly since it intervenes between throw and catch,
5750 thereby changing the semantics of expressions like (catch #t ...).
5751 The correct way to do it is to use one of the C level catch functions
5752 in throw.c: scm_internal_catch/lazy_catch/stack_catch.
5754 ** Removed functions:
5756 scm_obj_length, scm_list_length, scm_list_append, scm_list_append_x,
5757 scm_list_reverse, scm_list_reverse_x
5759 ** New macros: SCM_LISTn where n is one of the integers 0-9.
5761 These can be used for pretty list creation from C. The idea is taken
5762 from Erick Gallesio's STk.
5764 ** scm_array_map renamed to scm_array_map_x
5766 ** mbstrings are now removed
5768 This means that the type codes scm_tc7_mb_string and
5769 scm_tc7_mb_substring has been removed.
5771 ** scm_gen_putc, scm_gen_puts, scm_gen_write, and scm_gen_getc have changed.
5773 Since we no longer support multi-byte strings, these I/O functions
5774 have been simplified, and renamed. Here are their old names, and
5775 their new names and arguments:
5777 scm_gen_putc -> void scm_putc (int c, SCM port);
5778 scm_gen_puts -> void scm_puts (char *s, SCM port);
5779 scm_gen_write -> void scm_lfwrite (char *ptr, scm_sizet size, SCM port);
5780 scm_gen_getc -> void scm_getc (SCM port);
5783 ** The macros SCM_TYP7D and SCM_TYP7SD has been removed.
5785 ** The macro SCM_TYP7S has taken the role of the old SCM_TYP7D
5787 SCM_TYP7S now masks away the bit which distinguishes substrings from
5790 ** scm_catch_body_t: Backward incompatible change!
5792 Body functions to scm_internal_catch and friends do not any longer
5793 take a second argument. This is because it is no longer possible to
5794 pass a #f arg to catch.
5796 ** Calls to scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect now nest properly.
5798 The function scm_protect_object protects its argument from being freed
5799 by the garbage collector. scm_unprotect_object removes that
5802 These functions now nest properly. That is, for every object O, there
5803 is a counter which scm_protect_object(O) increments and
5804 scm_unprotect_object(O) decrements, if the counter is greater than
5805 zero. Every object's counter is zero when it is first created. If an
5806 object's counter is greater than zero, the garbage collector will not
5807 reclaim its storage.
5809 This allows you to use scm_protect_object in your code without
5810 worrying that some other function you call will call
5811 scm_unprotect_object, and allow it to be freed. Assuming that the
5812 functions you call are well-behaved, and unprotect only those objects
5813 they protect, you can follow the same rule and have confidence that
5814 objects will be freed only at appropriate times.
5817 Changes in Guile 1.2 (released Tuesday, June 24 1997):
5819 * Changes to the distribution
5821 ** Nightly snapshots are now available from ftp.red-bean.com.
5822 The old server, ftp.cyclic.com, has been relinquished to its rightful
5825 Nightly snapshots of the Guile development sources are now available via
5826 anonymous FTP from ftp.red-bean.com, as /pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz.
5828 Via the web, that's: ftp://ftp.red-bean.com/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
5829 For getit, that's: ftp.red-bean.com:/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
5831 ** To run Guile without installing it, the procedure has changed a bit.
5833 If you used a separate build directory to compile Guile, you'll need
5834 to include the build directory in SCHEME_LOAD_PATH, as well as the
5835 source directory. See the `INSTALL' file for examples.
5837 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
5839 ** The standard Guile load path for Scheme code now includes
5840 $(datadir)/guile (usually /usr/local/share/guile). This means that
5841 you can install your own Scheme files there, and Guile will find them.
5842 (Previous versions of Guile only checked a directory whose name
5843 contained the Guile version number, so you had to re-install or move
5844 your Scheme sources each time you installed a fresh version of Guile.)
5846 The load path also includes $(datadir)/guile/site; we recommend
5847 putting individual Scheme files there. If you want to install a
5848 package with multiple source files, create a directory for them under
5851 ** Guile 1.2 will now use the Rx regular expression library, if it is
5852 installed on your system. When you are linking libguile into your own
5853 programs, this means you will have to link against -lguile, -lqt (if
5854 you configured Guile with thread support), and -lrx.
5856 If you are using autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your
5857 application, the following lines should suffice to add the appropriate
5858 libraries to your link command:
5860 ### Find Rx, quickthreads and libguile.
5861 AC_CHECK_LIB(rx, main)
5862 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
5863 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
5865 The Guile 1.2 distribution does not contain sources for the Rx
5866 library, as Guile 1.0 did. If you want to use Rx, you'll need to
5867 retrieve it from a GNU FTP site and install it separately.
5869 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
5871 ** The dynamic linking features of Guile are now enabled by default.
5872 You can disable them by giving the `--disable-dynamic-linking' option
5875 (dynamic-link FILENAME)
5877 Find the object file denoted by FILENAME (a string) and link it
5878 into the running Guile application. When everything works out,
5879 return a Scheme object suitable for representing the linked object
5880 file. Otherwise an error is thrown. How object files are
5881 searched is system dependent.
5883 (dynamic-object? VAL)
5885 Determine whether VAL represents a dynamically linked object file.
5887 (dynamic-unlink DYNOBJ)
5889 Unlink the indicated object file from the application. DYNOBJ
5890 should be one of the values returned by `dynamic-link'.
5892 (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
5894 Search the C function indicated by FUNCTION (a string or symbol)
5895 in DYNOBJ and return some Scheme object that can later be used
5896 with `dynamic-call' to actually call this function. Right now,
5897 these Scheme objects are formed by casting the address of the
5898 function to `long' and converting this number to its Scheme
5901 (dynamic-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
5903 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ. The
5904 function is passed no arguments and its return value is ignored.
5905 When FUNCTION is something returned by `dynamic-func', call that
5906 function and ignore DYNOBJ. When FUNCTION is a string (or symbol,
5907 etc.), look it up in DYNOBJ; this is equivalent to
5909 (dynamic-call (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ) #f)
5911 Interrupts are deferred while the C function is executing (with
5912 SCM_DEFER_INTS/SCM_ALLOW_INTS).
5914 (dynamic-args-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ ARGS)
5916 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ, but pass it
5917 some arguments and return its return value. The C function is
5918 expected to take two arguments and return an `int', just like
5921 int c_func (int argc, char **argv);
5923 ARGS must be a list of strings and is converted into an array of
5924 `char *'. The array is passed in ARGV and its size in ARGC. The
5925 return value is converted to a Scheme number and returned from the
5926 call to `dynamic-args-call'.
5928 When dynamic linking is disabled or not supported on your system,
5929 the above functions throw errors, but they are still available.
5931 Here is a small example that works on GNU/Linux:
5933 (define libc-obj (dynamic-link "libc.so"))
5934 (dynamic-args-call 'rand libc-obj '())
5936 See the file `libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING' for additional comments.
5938 ** The #/ syntax for module names is depreciated, and will be removed
5939 in a future version of Guile. Instead of
5947 The latter syntax is more consistent with existing Lisp practice.
5949 ** Guile now does fancier printing of structures. Structures are the
5950 underlying implementation for records, which in turn are used to
5951 implement modules, so all of these object now print differently and in
5952 a more informative way.
5954 The Scheme printer will examine the builtin variable *struct-printer*
5955 whenever it needs to print a structure object. When this variable is
5956 not `#f' it is deemed to be a procedure and will be applied to the
5957 structure object and the output port. When *struct-printer* is `#f'
5958 or the procedure return `#f' the structure object will be printed in
5959 the boring #<struct 80458270> form.
5961 This hook is used by some routines in ice-9/boot-9.scm to implement
5962 type specific printing routines. Please read the comments there about
5965 One of the more specific uses of structs are records. The printing
5966 procedure that could be passed to MAKE-RECORD-TYPE is now actually
5967 called. It should behave like a *struct-printer* procedure (described
5970 ** Guile now supports a new R4RS-compliant syntax for keywords. A
5971 token of the form #:NAME, where NAME has the same syntax as a Scheme
5972 symbol, is the external representation of the keyword named NAME.
5973 Keyword objects print using this syntax as well, so values containing
5974 keyword objects can be read back into Guile. When used in an
5975 expression, keywords are self-quoting objects.
5977 Guile suports this read syntax, and uses this print syntax, regardless
5978 of the current setting of the `keyword' read option. The `keyword'
5979 read option only controls whether Guile recognizes the `:NAME' syntax,
5980 which is incompatible with R4RS. (R4RS says such token represent
5983 ** Guile has regular expression support again. Guile 1.0 included
5984 functions for matching regular expressions, based on the Rx library.
5985 In Guile 1.1, the Guile/Rx interface was removed to simplify the
5986 distribution, and thus Guile had no regular expression support. Guile
5987 1.2 again supports the most commonly used functions, and supports all
5988 of SCSH's regular expression functions.
5990 If your system does not include a POSIX regular expression library,
5991 and you have not linked Guile with a third-party regexp library such as
5992 Rx, these functions will not be available. You can tell whether your
5993 Guile installation includes regular expression support by checking
5994 whether the `*features*' list includes the `regex' symbol.
5996 *** regexp functions
5998 By default, Guile supports POSIX extended regular expressions. That
5999 means that the characters `(', `)', `+' and `?' are special, and must
6000 be escaped if you wish to match the literal characters.
6002 This regular expression interface was modeled after that implemented
6003 by SCSH, the Scheme Shell. It is intended to be upwardly compatible
6004 with SCSH regular expressions.
6006 **** Function: string-match PATTERN STR [START]
6007 Compile the string PATTERN into a regular expression and compare
6008 it with STR. The optional numeric argument START specifies the
6009 position of STR at which to begin matching.
6011 `string-match' returns a "match structure" which describes what,
6012 if anything, was matched by the regular expression. *Note Match
6013 Structures::. If STR does not match PATTERN at all,
6014 `string-match' returns `#f'.
6016 Each time `string-match' is called, it must compile its PATTERN
6017 argument into a regular expression structure. This operation is
6018 expensive, which makes `string-match' inefficient if the same regular
6019 expression is used several times (for example, in a loop). For better
6020 performance, you can compile a regular expression in advance and then
6021 match strings against the compiled regexp.
6023 **** Function: make-regexp STR [FLAGS]
6024 Compile the regular expression described by STR, and return the
6025 compiled regexp structure. If STR does not describe a legal
6026 regular expression, `make-regexp' throws a
6027 `regular-expression-syntax' error.
6029 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
6031 **** Constant: regexp/extended
6032 Use POSIX Extended Regular Expression syntax when interpreting
6033 STR. If not set, POSIX Basic Regular Expression syntax is used.
6034 If the FLAGS argument is omitted, we assume regexp/extended.
6036 **** Constant: regexp/icase
6037 Do not differentiate case. Subsequent searches using the
6038 returned regular expression will be case insensitive.
6040 **** Constant: regexp/newline
6041 Match-any-character operators don't match a newline.
6043 A non-matching list ([^...]) not containing a newline matches a
6046 Match-beginning-of-line operator (^) matches the empty string
6047 immediately after a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
6048 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/notbol.
6050 Match-end-of-line operator ($) matches the empty string
6051 immediately before a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
6052 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/noteol.
6054 **** Function: regexp-exec REGEXP STR [START [FLAGS]]
6055 Match the compiled regular expression REGEXP against `str'. If
6056 the optional integer START argument is provided, begin matching
6057 from that position in the string. Return a match structure
6058 describing the results of the match, or `#f' if no match could be
6061 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
6063 **** Constant: regexp/notbol
6064 The match-beginning-of-line operator always fails to match (but
6065 see the compilation flag regexp/newline above) This flag may be
6066 used when different portions of a string are passed to
6067 regexp-exec and the beginning of the string should not be
6068 interpreted as the beginning of the line.
6070 **** Constant: regexp/noteol
6071 The match-end-of-line operator always fails to match (but see the
6072 compilation flag regexp/newline above)
6074 **** Function: regexp? OBJ
6075 Return `#t' if OBJ is a compiled regular expression, or `#f'
6078 Regular expressions are commonly used to find patterns in one string
6079 and replace them with the contents of another string.
6081 **** Function: regexp-substitute PORT MATCH [ITEM...]
6082 Write to the output port PORT selected contents of the match
6083 structure MATCH. Each ITEM specifies what should be written, and
6084 may be one of the following arguments:
6086 * A string. String arguments are written out verbatim.
6088 * An integer. The submatch with that number is written.
6090 * The symbol `pre'. The portion of the matched string preceding
6091 the regexp match is written.
6093 * The symbol `post'. The portion of the matched string
6094 following the regexp match is written.
6096 PORT may be `#f', in which case nothing is written; instead,
6097 `regexp-substitute' constructs a string from the specified ITEMs
6100 **** Function: regexp-substitute/global PORT REGEXP TARGET [ITEM...]
6101 Similar to `regexp-substitute', but can be used to perform global
6102 substitutions on STR. Instead of taking a match structure as an
6103 argument, `regexp-substitute/global' takes two string arguments: a
6104 REGEXP string describing a regular expression, and a TARGET string
6105 which should be matched against this regular expression.
6107 Each ITEM behaves as in REGEXP-SUBSTITUTE, with the following
6110 * A function may be supplied. When this function is called, it
6111 will be passed one argument: a match structure for a given
6112 regular expression match. It should return a string to be
6113 written out to PORT.
6115 * The `post' symbol causes `regexp-substitute/global' to recurse
6116 on the unmatched portion of STR. This *must* be supplied in
6117 order to perform global search-and-replace on STR; if it is
6118 not present among the ITEMs, then `regexp-substitute/global'
6119 will return after processing a single match.
6121 *** Match Structures
6123 A "match structure" is the object returned by `string-match' and
6124 `regexp-exec'. It describes which portion of a string, if any, matched
6125 the given regular expression. Match structures include: a reference to
6126 the string that was checked for matches; the starting and ending
6127 positions of the regexp match; and, if the regexp included any
6128 parenthesized subexpressions, the starting and ending positions of each
6131 In each of the regexp match functions described below, the `match'
6132 argument must be a match structure returned by a previous call to
6133 `string-match' or `regexp-exec'. Most of these functions return some
6134 information about the original target string that was matched against a
6135 regular expression; we will call that string TARGET for easy reference.
6137 **** Function: regexp-match? OBJ
6138 Return `#t' if OBJ is a match structure returned by a previous
6139 call to `regexp-exec', or `#f' otherwise.
6141 **** Function: match:substring MATCH [N]
6142 Return the portion of TARGET matched by subexpression number N.
6143 Submatch 0 (the default) represents the entire regexp match. If
6144 the regular expression as a whole matched, but the subexpression
6145 number N did not match, return `#f'.
6147 **** Function: match:start MATCH [N]
6148 Return the starting position of submatch number N.
6150 **** Function: match:end MATCH [N]
6151 Return the ending position of submatch number N.
6153 **** Function: match:prefix MATCH
6154 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET preceding the regexp match.
6156 **** Function: match:suffix MATCH
6157 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET following the regexp match.
6159 **** Function: match:count MATCH
6160 Return the number of parenthesized subexpressions from MATCH.
6161 Note that the entire regular expression match itself counts as a
6162 subexpression, and failed submatches are included in the count.
6164 **** Function: match:string MATCH
6165 Return the original TARGET string.
6167 *** Backslash Escapes
6169 Sometimes you will want a regexp to match characters like `*' or `$'
6170 exactly. For example, to check whether a particular string represents
6171 a menu entry from an Info node, it would be useful to match it against
6172 a regexp like `^* [^:]*::'. However, this won't work; because the
6173 asterisk is a metacharacter, it won't match the `*' at the beginning of
6174 the string. In this case, we want to make the first asterisk un-magic.
6176 You can do this by preceding the metacharacter with a backslash
6177 character `\'. (This is also called "quoting" the metacharacter, and
6178 is known as a "backslash escape".) When Guile sees a backslash in a
6179 regular expression, it considers the following glyph to be an ordinary
6180 character, no matter what special meaning it would ordinarily have.
6181 Therefore, we can make the above example work by changing the regexp to
6182 `^\* [^:]*::'. The `\*' sequence tells the regular expression engine
6183 to match only a single asterisk in the target string.
6185 Since the backslash is itself a metacharacter, you may force a
6186 regexp to match a backslash in the target string by preceding the
6187 backslash with itself. For example, to find variable references in a
6188 TeX program, you might want to find occurrences of the string `\let\'
6189 followed by any number of alphabetic characters. The regular expression
6190 `\\let\\[A-Za-z]*' would do this: the double backslashes in the regexp
6191 each match a single backslash in the target string.
6193 **** Function: regexp-quote STR
6194 Quote each special character found in STR with a backslash, and
6195 return the resulting string.
6197 *Very important:* Using backslash escapes in Guile source code (as
6198 in Emacs Lisp or C) can be tricky, because the backslash character has
6199 special meaning for the Guile reader. For example, if Guile encounters
6200 the character sequence `\n' in the middle of a string while processing
6201 Scheme code, it replaces those characters with a newline character.
6202 Similarly, the character sequence `\t' is replaced by a horizontal tab.
6203 Several of these "escape sequences" are processed by the Guile reader
6204 before your code is executed. Unrecognized escape sequences are
6205 ignored: if the characters `\*' appear in a string, they will be
6206 translated to the single character `*'.
6208 This translation is obviously undesirable for regular expressions,
6209 since we want to be able to include backslashes in a string in order to
6210 escape regexp metacharacters. Therefore, to make sure that a backslash
6211 is preserved in a string in your Guile program, you must use *two*
6212 consecutive backslashes:
6214 (define Info-menu-entry-pattern (make-regexp "^\\* [^:]*"))
6216 The string in this example is preprocessed by the Guile reader before
6217 any code is executed. The resulting argument to `make-regexp' is the
6218 string `^\* [^:]*', which is what we really want.
6220 This also means that in order to write a regular expression that
6221 matches a single backslash character, the regular expression string in
6222 the source code must include *four* backslashes. Each consecutive pair
6223 of backslashes gets translated by the Guile reader to a single
6224 backslash, and the resulting double-backslash is interpreted by the
6225 regexp engine as matching a single backslash character. Hence:
6227 (define tex-variable-pattern (make-regexp "\\\\let\\\\=[A-Za-z]*"))
6229 The reason for the unwieldiness of this syntax is historical. Both
6230 regular expression pattern matchers and Unix string processing systems
6231 have traditionally used backslashes with the special meanings described
6232 above. The POSIX regular expression specification and ANSI C standard
6233 both require these semantics. Attempting to abandon either convention
6234 would cause other kinds of compatibility problems, possibly more severe
6235 ones. Therefore, without extending the Scheme reader to support
6236 strings with different quoting conventions (an ungainly and confusing
6237 extension when implemented in other languages), we must adhere to this
6238 cumbersome escape syntax.
6240 * Changes to the gh_ interface
6242 * Changes to the scm_ interface
6244 * Changes to system call interfaces:
6246 ** The value returned by `raise' is now unspecified. It throws an exception
6249 *** A new procedure `sigaction' can be used to install signal handlers
6251 (sigaction signum [action] [flags])
6253 signum is the signal number, which can be specified using the value
6256 If action is omitted, sigaction returns a pair: the CAR is the current
6257 signal hander, which will be either an integer with the value SIG_DFL
6258 (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or the Scheme procedure which
6259 handles the signal, or #f if a non-Scheme procedure handles the
6260 signal. The CDR contains the current sigaction flags for the handler.
6262 If action is provided, it is installed as the new handler for signum.
6263 action can be a Scheme procedure taking one argument, or the value of
6264 SIG_DFL (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or #f to restore
6265 whatever signal handler was installed before sigaction was first used.
6266 Flags can optionally be specified for the new handler (SA_RESTART is
6267 always used if the system provides it, so need not be specified.) The
6268 return value is a pair with information about the old handler as
6271 This interface does not provide access to the "signal blocking"
6272 facility. Maybe this is not needed, since the thread support may
6273 provide solutions to the problem of consistent access to data
6276 *** A new procedure `flush-all-ports' is equivalent to running
6277 `force-output' on every port open for output.
6279 ** Guile now provides information on how it was built, via the new
6280 global variable, %guile-build-info. This variable records the values
6281 of the standard GNU makefile directory variables as an assocation
6282 list, mapping variable names (symbols) onto directory paths (strings).
6283 For example, to find out where the Guile link libraries were
6284 installed, you can say:
6286 guile -c "(display (assq-ref %guile-build-info 'libdir)) (newline)"
6289 * Changes to the scm_ interface
6291 ** The new function scm_handle_by_message_noexit is just like the
6292 existing scm_handle_by_message function, except that it doesn't call
6293 exit to terminate the process. Instead, it prints a message and just
6294 returns #f. This might be a more appropriate catch-all handler for
6295 new dynamic roots and threads.
6298 Changes in Guile 1.1 (released Friday, May 16 1997):
6300 * Changes to the distribution.
6302 The Guile 1.0 distribution has been split up into several smaller
6304 guile-core --- the Guile interpreter itself.
6305 guile-tcltk --- the interface between the Guile interpreter and
6306 Tcl/Tk; Tcl is an interpreter for a stringy language, and Tk
6307 is a toolkit for building graphical user interfaces.
6308 guile-rgx-ctax --- the interface between Guile and the Rx regular
6309 expression matcher, and the translator for the Ctax
6310 programming language. These are packaged together because the
6311 Ctax translator uses Rx to parse Ctax source code.
6313 This NEWS file describes the changes made to guile-core since the 1.0
6316 We no longer distribute the documentation, since it was either out of
6317 date, or incomplete. As soon as we have current documentation, we
6322 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
6324 ** guile now accepts command-line arguments compatible with SCSH, Olin
6325 Shivers' Scheme Shell.
6327 In general, arguments are evaluated from left to right, but there are
6328 exceptions. The following switches stop argument processing, and
6329 stash all remaining command-line arguments as the value returned by
6330 the (command-line) function.
6331 -s SCRIPT load Scheme source code from FILE, and exit
6332 -c EXPR evalute Scheme expression EXPR, and exit
6333 -- stop scanning arguments; run interactively
6335 The switches below are processed as they are encountered.
6336 -l FILE load Scheme source code from FILE
6337 -e FUNCTION after reading script, apply FUNCTION to
6338 command line arguments
6339 -ds do -s script at this point
6340 --emacs enable Emacs protocol (experimental)
6341 -h, --help display this help and exit
6342 -v, --version display version information and exit
6343 \ read arguments from following script lines
6345 So, for example, here is a Guile script named `ekko' (thanks, Olin)
6346 which re-implements the traditional "echo" command:
6348 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
6351 (map (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
6355 (main (command-line))
6357 Suppose we invoke this script as follows:
6359 ekko a speckled gecko
6361 Through the magic of Unix script processing (triggered by the `#!'
6362 token at the top of the file), /usr/local/bin/guile receives the
6363 following list of command-line arguments:
6365 ("-s" "./ekko" "a" "speckled" "gecko")
6367 Unix inserts the name of the script after the argument specified on
6368 the first line of the file (in this case, "-s"), and then follows that
6369 with the arguments given to the script. Guile loads the script, which
6370 defines the `main' function, and then applies it to the list of
6371 remaining command-line arguments, ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
6373 In Unix, the first line of a script file must take the following form:
6375 #!INTERPRETER ARGUMENT
6377 where INTERPRETER is the absolute filename of the interpreter
6378 executable, and ARGUMENT is a single command-line argument to pass to
6381 You may only pass one argument to the interpreter, and its length is
6382 limited. These restrictions can be annoying to work around, so Guile
6383 provides a general mechanism (borrowed from, and compatible with,
6384 SCSH) for circumventing them.
6386 If the ARGUMENT in a Guile script is a single backslash character,
6387 `\', Guile will open the script file, parse arguments from its second
6388 and subsequent lines, and replace the `\' with them. So, for example,
6389 here is another implementation of the `ekko' script:
6391 #!/usr/local/bin/guile \
6395 (for-each (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
6399 If the user invokes this script as follows:
6401 ekko a speckled gecko
6403 Unix expands this into
6405 /usr/local/bin/guile \ ekko a speckled gecko
6407 When Guile sees the `\' argument, it replaces it with the arguments
6408 read from the second line of the script, producing:
6410 /usr/local/bin/guile -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
6412 This tells Guile to load the `ekko' script, and apply the function
6413 `main' to the argument list ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
6415 Here is how Guile parses the command-line arguments:
6416 - Each space character terminates an argument. This means that two
6417 spaces in a row introduce an empty-string argument.
6418 - The tab character is not permitted (unless you quote it with the
6419 backslash character, as described below), to avoid confusion.
6420 - The newline character terminates the sequence of arguments, and will
6421 also terminate a final non-empty argument. (However, a newline
6422 following a space will not introduce a final empty-string argument;
6423 it only terminates the argument list.)
6424 - The backslash character is the escape character. It escapes
6425 backslash, space, tab, and newline. The ANSI C escape sequences
6426 like \n and \t are also supported. These produce argument
6427 constituents; the two-character combination \n doesn't act like a
6428 terminating newline. The escape sequence \NNN for exactly three
6429 octal digits reads as the character whose ASCII code is NNN. As
6430 above, characters produced this way are argument constituents.
6431 Backslash followed by other characters is not allowed.
6433 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
6435 ** Guile now builds and installs a shared guile library, if your
6436 system support shared libraries. (It still builds a static library on
6437 all systems.) Guile automatically detects whether your system
6438 supports shared libraries. To prevent Guile from buildisg shared
6439 libraries, pass the `--disable-shared' flag to the configure script.
6441 Guile takes longer to compile when it builds shared libraries, because
6442 it must compile every file twice --- once to produce position-
6443 independent object code, and once to produce normal object code.
6445 ** The libthreads library has been merged into libguile.
6447 To link a program against Guile, you now need only link against
6448 -lguile and -lqt; -lthreads is no longer needed. If you are using
6449 autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your application, the
6450 following lines should suffice to add the appropriate libraries to
6453 ### Find quickthreads and libguile.
6454 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
6455 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
6457 * Changes to Scheme functions
6459 ** Guile Scheme's special syntax for keyword objects is now optional,
6460 and disabled by default.
6462 The syntax variation from R4RS made it difficult to port some
6463 interesting packages to Guile. The routines which accepted keyword
6464 arguments (mostly in the module system) have been modified to also
6465 accept symbols whose names begin with `:'.
6467 To change the keyword syntax, you must first import the (ice-9 debug)
6469 (use-modules (ice-9 debug))
6471 Then you can enable the keyword syntax as follows:
6472 (read-set! keywords 'prefix)
6474 To disable keyword syntax, do this:
6475 (read-set! keywords #f)
6477 ** Many more primitive functions accept shared substrings as
6478 arguments. In the past, these functions required normal, mutable
6479 strings as arguments, although they never made use of this
6482 ** The uniform array functions now operate on byte vectors. These
6483 functions are `array-fill!', `serial-array-copy!', `array-copy!',
6484 `serial-array-map', `array-map', `array-for-each', and
6487 ** The new functions `trace' and `untrace' implement simple debugging
6488 support for Scheme functions.
6490 The `trace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
6491 and tells the Guile interpreter to display each procedure's name and
6492 arguments each time the procedure is invoked. When invoked with no
6493 arguments, `trace' returns the list of procedures currently being
6496 The `untrace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
6497 and tells the Guile interpreter not to trace them any more. When
6498 invoked with no arguments, `untrace' untraces all curretly traced
6501 The tracing in Guile has an advantage over most other systems: we
6502 don't create new procedure objects, but mark the procedure objects
6503 themselves. This means that anonymous and internal procedures can be
6506 ** The function `assert-repl-prompt' has been renamed to
6507 `set-repl-prompt!'. It takes one argument, PROMPT.
6508 - If PROMPT is #f, the Guile read-eval-print loop will not prompt.
6509 - If PROMPT is a string, we use it as a prompt.
6510 - If PROMPT is a procedure accepting no arguments, we call it, and
6511 display the result as a prompt.
6512 - Otherwise, we display "> ".
6514 ** The new function `eval-string' reads Scheme expressions from a
6515 string and evaluates them, returning the value of the last expression
6516 in the string. If the string contains no expressions, it returns an
6519 ** The new function `thunk?' returns true iff its argument is a
6520 procedure of zero arguments.
6522 ** `defined?' is now a builtin function, instead of syntax. This
6523 means that its argument should be quoted. It returns #t iff its
6524 argument is bound in the current module.
6526 ** The new syntax `use-modules' allows you to add new modules to your
6527 environment without re-typing a complete `define-module' form. It
6528 accepts any number of module names as arguments, and imports their
6529 public bindings into the current module.
6531 ** The new function (module-defined? NAME MODULE) returns true iff
6532 NAME, a symbol, is defined in MODULE, a module object.
6534 ** The new function `builtin-bindings' creates and returns a hash
6535 table containing copies of all the root module's bindings.
6537 ** The new function `builtin-weak-bindings' does the same as
6538 `builtin-bindings', but creates a doubly-weak hash table.
6540 ** The `equal?' function now considers variable objects to be
6541 equivalent if they have the same name and the same value.
6543 ** The new function `command-line' returns the command-line arguments
6544 given to Guile, as a list of strings.
6546 When using guile as a script interpreter, `command-line' returns the
6547 script's arguments; those processed by the interpreter (like `-s' or
6548 `-c') are omitted. (In other words, you get the normal, expected
6549 behavior.) Any application that uses scm_shell to process its
6550 command-line arguments gets this behavior as well.
6552 ** The new function `load-user-init' looks for a file called `.guile'
6553 in the user's home directory, and loads it if it exists. This is
6554 mostly for use by the code generated by scm_compile_shell_switches,
6555 but we thought it might also be useful in other circumstances.
6557 ** The new function `log10' returns the base-10 logarithm of its
6560 ** Changes to I/O functions
6562 *** The functions `read', `primitive-load', `read-and-eval!', and
6563 `primitive-load-path' no longer take optional arguments controlling
6564 case insensitivity and a `#' parser.
6566 Case sensitivity is now controlled by a read option called
6567 `case-insensitive'. The user can add new `#' syntaxes with the
6568 `read-hash-extend' function (see below).
6570 *** The new function `read-hash-extend' allows the user to change the
6571 syntax of Guile Scheme in a somewhat controlled way.
6573 (read-hash-extend CHAR PROC)
6574 When parsing S-expressions, if we read a `#' character followed by
6575 the character CHAR, use PROC to parse an object from the stream.
6576 If PROC is #f, remove any parsing procedure registered for CHAR.
6578 The reader applies PROC to two arguments: CHAR and an input port.
6580 *** The new functions read-delimited and read-delimited! provide a
6581 general mechanism for doing delimited input on streams.
6583 (read-delimited DELIMS [PORT HANDLE-DELIM])
6584 Read until we encounter one of the characters in DELIMS (a string),
6585 or end-of-file. PORT is the input port to read from; it defaults to
6586 the current input port. The HANDLE-DELIM parameter determines how
6587 the terminating character is handled; it should be one of the
6590 'trim omit delimiter from result
6591 'peek leave delimiter character in input stream
6592 'concat append delimiter character to returned value
6593 'split return a pair: (RESULT . TERMINATOR)
6595 HANDLE-DELIM defaults to 'peek.
6597 (read-delimited! DELIMS BUF [PORT HANDLE-DELIM START END])
6598 A side-effecting variant of `read-delimited'.
6600 The data is written into the string BUF at the indices in the
6601 half-open interval [START, END); the default interval is the whole
6602 string: START = 0 and END = (string-length BUF). The values of
6603 START and END must specify a well-defined interval in BUF, i.e.
6604 0 <= START <= END <= (string-length BUF).
6606 It returns NBYTES, the number of bytes read. If the buffer filled
6607 up without a delimiter character being found, it returns #f. If the
6608 port is at EOF when the read starts, it returns the EOF object.
6610 If an integer is returned (i.e., the read is successfully terminated
6611 by reading a delimiter character), then the HANDLE-DELIM parameter
6612 determines how to handle the terminating character. It is described
6613 above, and defaults to 'peek.
6615 (The descriptions of these functions were borrowed from the SCSH
6616 manual, by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
6618 *** The `%read-delimited!' function is the primitive used to implement
6619 `read-delimited' and `read-delimited!'.
6621 (%read-delimited! DELIMS BUF GOBBLE? [PORT START END])
6623 This returns a pair of values: (TERMINATOR . NUM-READ).
6624 - TERMINATOR describes why the read was terminated. If it is a
6625 character or the eof object, then that is the value that terminated
6626 the read. If it is #f, the function filled the buffer without finding
6627 a delimiting character.
6628 - NUM-READ is the number of characters read into BUF.
6630 If the read is successfully terminated by reading a delimiter
6631 character, then the gobble? parameter determines what to do with the
6632 terminating character. If true, the character is removed from the
6633 input stream; if false, the character is left in the input stream
6634 where a subsequent read operation will retrieve it. In either case,
6635 the character is also the first value returned by the procedure call.
6637 (The descriptions of this function was borrowed from the SCSH manual,
6638 by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
6640 *** The `read-line' and `read-line!' functions have changed; they now
6641 trim the terminator by default; previously they appended it to the
6642 returned string. For the old behavior, use (read-line PORT 'concat).
6644 *** The functions `uniform-array-read!' and `uniform-array-write!' now
6645 take new optional START and END arguments, specifying the region of
6646 the array to read and write.
6648 *** The `ungetc-char-ready?' function has been removed. We feel it's
6649 inappropriate for an interface to expose implementation details this
6652 ** Changes to the Unix library and system call interface
6654 *** The new fcntl function provides access to the Unix `fcntl' system
6657 (fcntl PORT COMMAND VALUE)
6658 Apply COMMAND to PORT's file descriptor, with VALUE as an argument.
6659 Values for COMMAND are:
6661 F_DUPFD duplicate a file descriptor
6662 F_GETFD read the descriptor's close-on-exec flag
6663 F_SETFD set the descriptor's close-on-exec flag to VALUE
6664 F_GETFL read the descriptor's flags, as set on open
6665 F_SETFL set the descriptor's flags, as set on open to VALUE
6666 F_GETOWN return the process ID of a socket's owner, for SIGIO
6667 F_SETOWN set the process that owns a socket to VALUE, for SIGIO
6668 FD_CLOEXEC not sure what this is
6670 For details, see the documentation for the fcntl system call.
6672 *** The arguments to `select' have changed, for compatibility with
6673 SCSH. The TIMEOUT parameter may now be non-integral, yielding the
6674 expected behavior. The MILLISECONDS parameter has been changed to
6675 MICROSECONDS, to more closely resemble the underlying system call.
6676 The RVEC, WVEC, and EVEC arguments can now be vectors; the type of the
6677 corresponding return set will be the same.
6679 *** The arguments to the `mknod' system call have changed. They are
6682 (mknod PATH TYPE PERMS DEV)
6683 Create a new file (`node') in the file system. PATH is the name of
6684 the file to create. TYPE is the kind of file to create; it should
6685 be 'fifo, 'block-special, or 'char-special. PERMS specifies the
6686 permission bits to give the newly created file. If TYPE is
6687 'block-special or 'char-special, DEV specifies which device the
6688 special file refers to; its interpretation depends on the kind of
6689 special file being created.
6691 *** The `fork' function has been renamed to `primitive-fork', to avoid
6692 clashing with various SCSH forks.
6694 *** The `recv' and `recvfrom' functions have been renamed to `recv!'
6695 and `recvfrom!'. They no longer accept a size for a second argument;
6696 you must pass a string to hold the received value. They no longer
6697 return the buffer. Instead, `recv' returns the length of the message
6698 received, and `recvfrom' returns a pair containing the packet's length
6699 and originating address.
6701 *** The file descriptor datatype has been removed, as have the
6702 `read-fd', `write-fd', `close', `lseek', and `dup' functions.
6703 We plan to replace these functions with a SCSH-compatible interface.
6705 *** The `create' function has been removed; it's just a special case
6708 *** There are new functions to break down process termination status
6709 values. In the descriptions below, STATUS is a value returned by
6712 (status:exit-val STATUS)
6713 If the child process exited normally, this function returns the exit
6714 code for the child process (i.e., the value passed to exit, or
6715 returned from main). If the child process did not exit normally,
6716 this function returns #f.
6718 (status:stop-sig STATUS)
6719 If the child process was suspended by a signal, this function
6720 returns the signal that suspended the child. Otherwise, it returns
6723 (status:term-sig STATUS)
6724 If the child process terminated abnormally, this function returns
6725 the signal that terminated the child. Otherwise, this function
6728 POSIX promises that exactly one of these functions will return true on
6729 a valid STATUS value.
6731 These functions are compatible with SCSH.
6733 *** There are new accessors and setters for the broken-out time vectors
6734 returned by `localtime', `gmtime', and that ilk. They are:
6736 Component Accessor Setter
6737 ========================= ============ ============
6738 seconds tm:sec set-tm:sec
6739 minutes tm:min set-tm:min
6740 hours tm:hour set-tm:hour
6741 day of the month tm:mday set-tm:mday
6742 month tm:mon set-tm:mon
6743 year tm:year set-tm:year
6744 day of the week tm:wday set-tm:wday
6745 day in the year tm:yday set-tm:yday
6746 daylight saving time tm:isdst set-tm:isdst
6747 GMT offset, seconds tm:gmtoff set-tm:gmtoff
6748 name of time zone tm:zone set-tm:zone
6750 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `uname',
6751 describing the host system:
6754 ============================================== ================
6755 name of the operating system implementation utsname:sysname
6756 network name of this machine utsname:nodename
6757 release level of the operating system utsname:release
6758 version level of the operating system utsname:version
6759 machine hardware platform utsname:machine
6761 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getpw',
6762 `getpwnam', `getpwuid', and `getpwent', describing entries from the
6763 system's user database:
6766 ====================== =================
6767 user name passwd:name
6768 user password passwd:passwd
6771 real name passwd:gecos
6772 home directory passwd:dir
6773 shell program passwd:shell
6775 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getgr',
6776 `getgrnam', `getgrgid', and `getgrent', describing entries from the
6777 system's group database:
6780 ======================= ============
6781 group name group:name
6782 group password group:passwd
6784 group members group:mem
6786 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `gethost',
6787 `gethostbyaddr', `gethostbyname', and `gethostent', describing
6791 ========================= ===============
6792 official name of host hostent:name
6793 alias list hostent:aliases
6794 host address type hostent:addrtype
6795 length of address hostent:length
6796 list of addresses hostent:addr-list
6798 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getnet',
6799 `getnetbyaddr', `getnetbyname', and `getnetent', describing internet
6803 ========================= ===============
6804 official name of net netent:name
6805 alias list netent:aliases
6806 net number type netent:addrtype
6807 net number netent:net
6809 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getproto',
6810 `getprotobyname', `getprotobynumber', and `getprotoent', describing
6814 ========================= ===============
6815 official protocol name protoent:name
6816 alias list protoent:aliases
6817 protocol number protoent:proto
6819 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getserv',
6820 `getservbyname', `getservbyport', and `getservent', describing
6824 ========================= ===============
6825 official service name servent:name
6826 alias list servent:aliases
6827 port number servent:port
6828 protocol to use servent:proto
6830 *** There are new accessors for the sockaddr structures returned by
6831 `accept', `getsockname', `getpeername', `recvfrom!':
6834 ======================================== ===============
6835 address format (`family') sockaddr:fam
6836 path, for file domain addresses sockaddr:path
6837 address, for internet domain addresses sockaddr:addr
6838 TCP or UDP port, for internet sockaddr:port
6840 *** The `getpwent', `getgrent', `gethostent', `getnetent',
6841 `getprotoent', and `getservent' functions now return #f at the end of
6842 the user database. (They used to throw an exception.)
6844 Note that calling MUMBLEent function is equivalent to calling the
6845 corresponding MUMBLE function with no arguments.
6847 *** The `setpwent', `setgrent', `sethostent', `setnetent',
6848 `setprotoent', and `setservent' routines now take no arguments.
6850 *** The `gethost', `getproto', `getnet', and `getserv' functions now
6851 provide more useful information when they throw an exception.
6853 *** The `lnaof' function has been renamed to `inet-lnaof'.
6855 *** Guile now claims to have the `current-time' feature.
6857 *** The `mktime' function now takes an optional second argument ZONE,
6858 giving the time zone to use for the conversion. ZONE should be a
6859 string, in the same format as expected for the "TZ" environment variable.
6861 *** The `strptime' function now returns a pair (TIME . COUNT), where
6862 TIME is the parsed time as a vector, and COUNT is the number of
6863 characters from the string left unparsed. This function used to
6864 return the remaining characters as a string.
6866 *** The `gettimeofday' function has replaced the old `time+ticks' function.
6867 The return value is now (SECONDS . MICROSECONDS); the fractional
6868 component is no longer expressed in "ticks".
6870 *** The `ticks/sec' constant has been removed, in light of the above change.
6872 * Changes to the gh_ interface
6874 ** gh_eval_str() now returns an SCM object which is the result of the
6877 ** gh_scm2str() now copies the Scheme data to a caller-provided C
6880 ** gh_scm2newstr() now makes a C array, copies the Scheme data to it,
6881 and returns the array
6883 ** gh_scm2str0() is gone: there is no need to distinguish
6884 null-terminated from non-null-terminated, since gh_scm2newstr() allows
6885 the user to interpret the data both ways.
6887 * Changes to the scm_ interface
6889 ** The new function scm_symbol_value0 provides an easy way to get a
6890 symbol's value from C code:
6892 SCM scm_symbol_value0 (char *NAME)
6893 Return the value of the symbol named by the null-terminated string
6894 NAME in the current module. If the symbol named NAME is unbound in
6895 the current module, return SCM_UNDEFINED.
6897 ** The new function scm_sysintern0 creates new top-level variables,
6898 without assigning them a value.
6900 SCM scm_sysintern0 (char *NAME)
6901 Create a new Scheme top-level variable named NAME. NAME is a
6902 null-terminated string. Return the variable's value cell.
6904 ** The function scm_internal_catch is the guts of catch. It handles
6905 all the mechanics of setting up a catch target, invoking the catch
6906 body, and perhaps invoking the handler if the body does a throw.
6908 The function is designed to be usable from C code, but is general
6909 enough to implement all the semantics Guile Scheme expects from throw.
6911 TAG is the catch tag. Typically, this is a symbol, but this function
6912 doesn't actually care about that.
6914 BODY is a pointer to a C function which runs the body of the catch;
6915 this is the code you can throw from. We call it like this:
6916 BODY (BODY_DATA, JMPBUF)
6918 BODY_DATA is just the BODY_DATA argument we received; we pass it
6919 through to BODY as its first argument. The caller can make
6920 BODY_DATA point to anything useful that BODY might need.
6921 JMPBUF is the Scheme jmpbuf object corresponding to this catch,
6922 which we have just created and initialized.
6924 HANDLER is a pointer to a C function to deal with a throw to TAG,
6925 should one occur. We call it like this:
6926 HANDLER (HANDLER_DATA, THROWN_TAG, THROW_ARGS)
6928 HANDLER_DATA is the HANDLER_DATA argument we recevied; it's the
6929 same idea as BODY_DATA above.
6930 THROWN_TAG is the tag that the user threw to; usually this is
6931 TAG, but it could be something else if TAG was #t (i.e., a
6932 catch-all), or the user threw to a jmpbuf.
6933 THROW_ARGS is the list of arguments the user passed to the THROW
6936 BODY_DATA is just a pointer we pass through to BODY. HANDLER_DATA
6937 is just a pointer we pass through to HANDLER. We don't actually
6938 use either of those pointers otherwise ourselves. The idea is
6939 that, if our caller wants to communicate something to BODY or
6940 HANDLER, it can pass a pointer to it as MUMBLE_DATA, which BODY and
6941 HANDLER can then use. Think of it as a way to make BODY and
6942 HANDLER closures, not just functions; MUMBLE_DATA points to the
6945 Of course, it's up to the caller to make sure that any data a
6946 MUMBLE_DATA needs is protected from GC. A common way to do this is
6947 to make MUMBLE_DATA a pointer to data stored in an automatic
6948 structure variable; since the collector must scan the stack for
6949 references anyway, this assures that any references in MUMBLE_DATA
6952 ** The new function scm_internal_lazy_catch is exactly like
6953 scm_internal_catch, except:
6955 - It does not unwind the stack (this is the major difference).
6956 - If handler returns, its value is returned from the throw.
6957 - BODY always receives #f as its JMPBUF argument (since there's no
6958 jmpbuf associated with a lazy catch, because we don't unwind the
6961 ** scm_body_thunk is a new body function you can pass to
6962 scm_internal_catch if you want the body to be like Scheme's `catch'
6963 --- a thunk, or a function of one argument if the tag is #f.
6965 BODY_DATA is a pointer to a scm_body_thunk_data structure, which
6966 contains the Scheme procedure to invoke as the body, and the tag
6967 we're catching. If the tag is #f, then we pass JMPBUF (created by
6968 scm_internal_catch) to the body procedure; otherwise, the body gets
6971 ** scm_handle_by_proc is a new handler function you can pass to
6972 scm_internal_catch if you want the handler to act like Scheme's catch
6973 --- call a procedure with the tag and the throw arguments.
6975 If the user does a throw to this catch, this function runs a handler
6976 procedure written in Scheme. HANDLER_DATA is a pointer to an SCM
6977 variable holding the Scheme procedure object to invoke. It ought to
6978 be a pointer to an automatic variable (i.e., one living on the stack),
6979 or the procedure object should be otherwise protected from GC.
6981 ** scm_handle_by_message is a new handler function to use with
6982 `scm_internal_catch' if you want Guile to print a message and die.
6983 It's useful for dealing with throws to uncaught keys at the top level.
6985 HANDLER_DATA, if non-zero, is assumed to be a char * pointing to a
6986 message header to print; if zero, we use "guile" instead. That
6987 text is followed by a colon, then the message described by ARGS.
6989 ** The return type of scm_boot_guile is now void; the function does
6990 not return a value, and indeed, never returns at all.
6992 ** The new function scm_shell makes it easy for user applications to
6993 process command-line arguments in a way that is compatible with the
6994 stand-alone guile interpreter (which is in turn compatible with SCSH,
6997 To use the scm_shell function, first initialize any guile modules
6998 linked into your application, and then call scm_shell with the values
6999 of ARGC and ARGV your `main' function received. scm_shell will add
7000 any SCSH-style meta-arguments from the top of the script file to the
7001 argument vector, and then process the command-line arguments. This
7002 generally means loading a script file or starting up an interactive
7003 command interpreter. For details, see "Changes to the stand-alone
7006 ** The new functions scm_get_meta_args and scm_count_argv help you
7007 implement the SCSH-style meta-argument, `\'.
7009 char **scm_get_meta_args (int ARGC, char **ARGV)
7010 If the second element of ARGV is a string consisting of a single
7011 backslash character (i.e. "\\" in Scheme notation), open the file
7012 named by the following argument, parse arguments from it, and return
7013 the spliced command line. The returned array is terminated by a
7016 For details of argument parsing, see above, under "guile now accepts
7017 command-line arguments compatible with SCSH..."
7019 int scm_count_argv (char **ARGV)
7020 Count the arguments in ARGV, assuming it is terminated by a null
7023 For an example of how these functions might be used, see the source
7024 code for the function scm_shell in libguile/script.c.
7026 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
7029 ** The new function scm_compile_shell_switches turns an array of
7030 command-line arguments into Scheme code to carry out the actions they
7031 describe. Given ARGC and ARGV, it returns a Scheme expression to
7032 evaluate, and calls scm_set_program_arguments to make any remaining
7033 command-line arguments available to the Scheme code. For example,
7034 given the following arguments:
7036 -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
7038 scm_set_program_arguments will return the following expression:
7040 (begin (load "ekko") (main (command-line)) (quit))
7042 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
7045 ** The function scm_shell_usage prints a usage message appropriate for
7046 an interpreter that uses scm_compile_shell_switches to handle its
7047 command-line arguments.
7049 void scm_shell_usage (int FATAL, char *MESSAGE)
7050 Print a usage message to the standard error output. If MESSAGE is
7051 non-zero, write it before the usage message, followed by a newline.
7052 If FATAL is non-zero, exit the process, using FATAL as the
7053 termination status. (If you want to be compatible with Guile,
7054 always use 1 as the exit status when terminating due to command-line
7057 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
7060 ** scm_eval_0str now returns SCM_UNSPECIFIED if the string contains no
7061 expressions. It used to return SCM_EOL. Earth-shattering.
7063 ** The macros for declaring scheme objects in C code have been
7064 rearranged slightly. They are now:
7066 SCM_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
7067 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
7068 point to the Scheme symbol whose name is SCHEME_NAME. C_NAME should
7069 be a C identifier, and SCHEME_NAME should be a C string.
7071 SCM_GLOBAL_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
7072 Just like SCM_SYMBOL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
7074 SCM_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
7075 Create a global variable at the Scheme level named SCHEME_NAME.
7076 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
7077 point to the Scheme variable's value cell.
7079 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
7080 Just like SCM_VCELL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
7082 The `guile-snarf' script writes initialization code for these macros
7083 to its standard output, given C source code as input.
7085 The SCM_GLOBAL macro is gone.
7087 ** The scm_read_line and scm_read_line_x functions have been replaced
7088 by Scheme code based on the %read-delimited! procedure (known to C
7089 code as scm_read_delimited_x). See its description above for more
7092 ** The function scm_sys_open has been renamed to scm_open. It now
7093 returns a port instead of an FD object.
7095 * The dynamic linking support has changed. For more information, see
7096 libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING.
7101 User-visible changes from Thursday, September 5, 1996 until Guile 1.0
7104 * Changes to the 'guile' program:
7106 ** Guile now loads some new files when it starts up. Guile first
7107 searches the load path for init.scm, and loads it if found. Then, if
7108 Guile is not being used to execute a script, and the user's home
7109 directory contains a file named `.guile', Guile loads that.
7111 ** You can now use Guile as a shell script interpreter.
7113 To paraphrase the SCSH manual:
7115 When Unix tries to execute an executable file whose first two
7116 characters are the `#!', it treats the file not as machine code to
7117 be directly executed by the native processor, but as source code
7118 to be executed by some interpreter. The interpreter to use is
7119 specified immediately after the #! sequence on the first line of
7120 the source file. The kernel reads in the name of the interpreter,
7121 and executes that instead. It passes the interpreter the source
7122 filename as its first argument, with the original arguments
7123 following. Consult the Unix man page for the `exec' system call
7124 for more information.
7126 Now you can use Guile as an interpreter, using a mechanism which is a
7127 compatible subset of that provided by SCSH.
7129 Guile now recognizes a '-s' command line switch, whose argument is the
7130 name of a file of Scheme code to load. It also treats the two
7131 characters `#!' as the start of a comment, terminated by `!#'. Thus,
7132 to make a file of Scheme code directly executable by Unix, insert the
7133 following two lines at the top of the file:
7135 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
7138 Guile treats the argument of the `-s' command-line switch as the name
7139 of a file of Scheme code to load, and treats the sequence `#!' as the
7140 start of a block comment, terminated by `!#'.
7142 For example, here's a version of 'echo' written in Scheme:
7144 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
7146 (let loop ((args (cdr (program-arguments))))
7149 (display (car args))
7150 (if (pair? (cdr args))
7152 (loop (cdr args)))))
7155 Why does `#!' start a block comment terminated by `!#', instead of the
7156 end of the line? That is the notation SCSH uses, and although we
7157 don't yet support the other SCSH features that motivate that choice,
7158 we would like to be backward-compatible with any existing Guile
7159 scripts once we do. Furthermore, if the path to Guile on your system
7160 is too long for your kernel, you can start the script with this
7164 exec /really/long/path/to/guile -s "$0" ${1+"$@"}
7167 Note that some very old Unix systems don't support the `#!' syntax.
7170 ** You can now run Guile without installing it.
7172 Previous versions of the interactive Guile interpreter (`guile')
7173 couldn't start up unless Guile's Scheme library had been installed;
7174 they used the value of the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH'
7175 later on in the startup process, but not to find the startup code
7176 itself. Now Guile uses `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' in all searches for Scheme
7179 To run Guile without installing it, build it in the normal way, and
7180 then set the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' to a
7181 colon-separated list of directories, including the top-level directory
7182 of the Guile sources. For example, if you unpacked Guile so that the
7183 full filename of this NEWS file is /home/jimb/guile-1.0b3/NEWS, then
7186 export SCHEME_LOAD_PATH=/home/jimb/my-scheme:/home/jimb/guile-1.0b3
7189 ** Guile's read-eval-print loop no longer prints #<unspecified>
7190 results. If the user wants to see this, she can evaluate the
7191 expression (assert-repl-print-unspecified #t), perhaps in her startup
7194 ** Guile no longer shows backtraces by default when an error occurs;
7195 however, it does display a message saying how to get one, and how to
7196 request that they be displayed by default. After an error, evaluate
7198 to see a backtrace, and
7199 (debug-enable 'backtrace)
7200 to see them by default.
7204 * Changes to Guile Scheme:
7206 ** Guile now distinguishes between #f and the empty list.
7208 This is for compatibility with the IEEE standard, the (possibly)
7209 upcoming Revised^5 Report on Scheme, and many extant Scheme
7212 Guile used to have #f and '() denote the same object, to make Scheme's
7213 type system more compatible with Emacs Lisp's. However, the change
7214 caused too much trouble for Scheme programmers, and we found another
7215 way to reconcile Emacs Lisp with Scheme that didn't require this.
7218 ** Guile's delq, delv, delete functions, and their destructive
7219 counterparts, delq!, delv!, and delete!, now remove all matching
7220 elements from the list, not just the first. This matches the behavior
7221 of the corresponding Emacs Lisp functions, and (I believe) the Maclisp
7222 functions which inspired them.
7224 I recognize that this change may break code in subtle ways, but it
7225 seems best to make the change before the FSF's first Guile release,
7229 ** The compiled-library-path function has been deleted from libguile.
7231 ** The facilities for loading Scheme source files have changed.
7233 *** The variable %load-path now tells Guile which directories to search
7234 for Scheme code. Its value is a list of strings, each of which names
7237 *** The variable %load-extensions now tells Guile which extensions to
7238 try appending to a filename when searching the load path. Its value
7239 is a list of strings. Its default value is ("" ".scm").
7241 *** (%search-load-path FILENAME) searches the directories listed in the
7242 value of the %load-path variable for a Scheme file named FILENAME,
7243 with all the extensions listed in %load-extensions. If it finds a
7244 match, then it returns its full filename. If FILENAME is absolute, it
7245 returns it unchanged. Otherwise, it returns #f.
7247 %search-load-path will not return matches that refer to directories.
7249 *** (primitive-load FILENAME :optional CASE-INSENSITIVE-P SHARP)
7250 uses %seach-load-path to find a file named FILENAME, and loads it if
7251 it finds it. If it can't read FILENAME for any reason, it throws an
7254 The arguments CASE-INSENSITIVE-P and SHARP are interpreted as by the
7257 *** load uses the same searching semantics as primitive-load.
7259 *** The functions %try-load, try-load-with-path, %load, load-with-path,
7260 basic-try-load-with-path, basic-load-with-path, try-load-module-with-
7261 path, and load-module-with-path have been deleted. The functions
7262 above should serve their purposes.
7264 *** If the value of the variable %load-hook is a procedure,
7265 `primitive-load' applies its value to the name of the file being
7266 loaded (without the load path directory name prepended). If its value
7267 is #f, it is ignored. Otherwise, an error occurs.
7269 This is mostly useful for printing load notification messages.
7272 ** The function `eval!' is no longer accessible from the scheme level.
7273 We can't allow operations which introduce glocs into the scheme level,
7274 because Guile's type system can't handle these as data. Use `eval' or
7275 `read-and-eval!' (see below) as replacement.
7277 ** The new function read-and-eval! reads an expression from PORT,
7278 evaluates it, and returns the result. This is more efficient than
7279 simply calling `read' and `eval', since it is not necessary to make a
7280 copy of the expression for the evaluator to munge.
7282 Its optional arguments CASE_INSENSITIVE_P and SHARP are interpreted as
7283 for the `read' function.
7286 ** The function `int?' has been removed; its definition was identical
7287 to that of `integer?'.
7289 ** The functions `<?', `<?', `<=?', `=?', `>?', and `>=?'. Code should
7290 use the R4RS names for these functions.
7292 ** The function object-properties no longer returns the hash handle;
7293 it simply returns the object's property list.
7295 ** Many functions have been changed to throw errors, instead of
7296 returning #f on failure. The point of providing exception handling in
7297 the language is to simplify the logic of user code, but this is less
7298 useful if Guile's primitives don't throw exceptions.
7300 ** The function `fileno' has been renamed from `%fileno'.
7302 ** The function primitive-mode->fdes returns #t or #f now, not 1 or 0.
7305 * Changes to Guile's C interface:
7307 ** The library's initialization procedure has been simplified.
7308 scm_boot_guile now has the prototype:
7310 void scm_boot_guile (int ARGC,
7312 void (*main_func) (),
7315 scm_boot_guile calls MAIN_FUNC, passing it CLOSURE, ARGC, and ARGV.
7316 MAIN_FUNC should do all the work of the program (initializing other
7317 packages, reading user input, etc.) before returning. When MAIN_FUNC
7318 returns, call exit (0); this function never returns. If you want some
7319 other exit value, MAIN_FUNC may call exit itself.
7321 scm_boot_guile arranges for program-arguments to return the strings
7322 given by ARGC and ARGV. If MAIN_FUNC modifies ARGC/ARGV, should call
7323 scm_set_program_arguments with the final list, so Scheme code will
7324 know which arguments have been processed.
7326 scm_boot_guile establishes a catch-all catch handler which prints an
7327 error message and exits the process. This means that Guile exits in a
7328 coherent way when system errors occur and the user isn't prepared to
7329 handle it. If the user doesn't like this behavior, they can establish
7330 their own universal catcher in MAIN_FUNC to shadow this one.
7332 Why must the caller do all the real work from MAIN_FUNC? The garbage
7333 collector assumes that all local variables of type SCM will be above
7334 scm_boot_guile's stack frame on the stack. If you try to manipulate
7335 SCM values after this function returns, it's the luck of the draw
7336 whether the GC will be able to find the objects you allocate. So,
7337 scm_boot_guile function exits, rather than returning, to discourage
7338 people from making that mistake.
7340 The IN, OUT, and ERR arguments were removed; there are other
7341 convenient ways to override these when desired.
7343 The RESULT argument was deleted; this function should never return.
7345 The BOOT_CMD argument was deleted; the MAIN_FUNC argument is more
7349 ** Guile's header files should no longer conflict with your system's
7352 In order to compile code which #included <libguile.h>, previous
7353 versions of Guile required you to add a directory containing all the
7354 Guile header files to your #include path. This was a problem, since
7355 Guile's header files have names which conflict with many systems'
7358 Now only <libguile.h> need appear in your #include path; you must
7359 refer to all Guile's other header files as <libguile/mumble.h>.
7360 Guile's installation procedure puts libguile.h in $(includedir), and
7361 the rest in $(includedir)/libguile.
7364 ** Two new C functions, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object,
7365 have been added to the Guile library.
7367 scm_protect_object (OBJ) protects OBJ from the garbage collector.
7368 OBJ will not be freed, even if all other references are dropped,
7369 until someone does scm_unprotect_object (OBJ). Both functions
7372 Note that calls to scm_protect_object do not nest. You can call
7373 scm_protect_object any number of times on a given object, and the
7374 next call to scm_unprotect_object will unprotect it completely.
7376 Basically, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object just
7377 maintain a list of references to things. Since the GC knows about
7378 this list, all objects it mentions stay alive. scm_protect_object
7379 adds its argument to the list; scm_unprotect_object remove its
7380 argument from the list.
7383 ** scm_eval_0str now returns the value of the last expression
7386 ** The new function scm_read_0str reads an s-expression from a
7387 null-terminated string, and returns it.
7389 ** The new function `scm_stdio_to_port' converts a STDIO file pointer
7390 to a Scheme port object.
7392 ** The new function `scm_set_program_arguments' allows C code to set
7393 the value returned by the Scheme `program-arguments' function.
7398 * Guile no longer includes sophisticated Tcl/Tk support.
7400 The old Tcl/Tk support was unsatisfying to us, because it required the
7401 user to link against the Tcl library, as well as Tk and Guile. The
7402 interface was also un-lispy, in that it preserved Tcl/Tk's practice of
7403 referring to widgets by names, rather than exporting widgets to Scheme
7404 code as a special datatype.
7406 In the Usenix Tk Developer's Workshop held in July 1996, the Tcl/Tk
7407 maintainers described some very interesting changes in progress to the
7408 Tcl/Tk internals, which would facilitate clean interfaces between lone
7409 Tk and other interpreters --- even for garbage-collected languages
7410 like Scheme. They expected the new Tk to be publicly available in the
7413 Since it seems that Guile might soon have a new, cleaner interface to
7414 lone Tk, and that the old Guile/Tk glue code would probably need to be
7415 completely rewritten, we (Jim Blandy and Richard Stallman) have
7416 decided not to support the old code. We'll spend the time instead on
7417 a good interface to the newer Tk, as soon as it is available.
7419 Until then, gtcltk-lib provides trivial, low-maintenance functionality.
7422 Copyright information:
7424 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
7426 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
7427 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
7428 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
7429 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
7431 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
7432 of this document, or of portions of it,
7433 under the above conditions, provided also that they
7434 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
7439 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"