1 Guile NEWS --- history of user-visible changes.
2 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 See the end for copying conditions.
5 Please send Guile bug reports to bug-guile@gnu.org.
7 Each release reports the NEWS in the following sections:
9 * Changes to the distribution
10 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
11 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
12 * Changes to the C interface
15 Changes since the stable branch:
17 * Changes to the distribution
19 ** Guile is now licensed with the GNU Lesser General Public License.
21 ** The manual is now licensed with the GNU Free Documentation License.
23 ** Guile now requires GNU MP (http://swox.com/gmp).
25 Guile now uses the GNU MP library for arbitrary precision arithmetic.
26 At the moment it is being used to handle Guile's bignums.
28 ** Guile now has separate private and public configuration headers.
30 Guile now has config.h and libguile/scmconfig.h. The former is not
31 installed and is private. The latter is installed and used by Guile's
32 public headers. config.h is generated by configure and autoheader,
33 and scmconfig.h is generated by a small C program, gen-scmconfig at
34 build time based in part on the contents of config.h.
36 Seen libguile/__scm.h and gen-scmconfig.c for more information.
38 Note too that nearly all public defines are now set to either 1 or 0
39 rather than being set to 1 or left undefined. See gen-scmconfig.c and
40 the GNU Coding Guidelines for the rationale. However, pre-existing
41 defines that were not renamed were not changed. i.e. GUILE_DEBUG is
42 still either 1 or undefined.
44 ** The INSTALL file is now the generic automake installed one.
46 Guile specific instructions can be found in the README.
48 ** Guile now provides and uses an "effective" version number.
50 Guile now provides scm_effective_version and effective-version
51 functions which return the "effective" version number. This is just
52 the normal full version string without the final micro-version number,
53 so the current effective-version is "1.6". The effective version
54 should remain unchanged during a stable series, and should be used for
55 items like the versioned share directory name
56 i.e. /usr/share/guile/1.6.
58 Providing an unchanging version number during a stable release for
59 things like the versioned share directory can be particularly
60 important for Guile "add-on" packages, since it provides a directory
61 that they can install to that won't be changed out from under them
62 with each micro release during a stable series.
64 ** Thread implementation has changed.
66 When you configure "--with-threads=null", you will get the usual
67 threading API (call-with-new-thread, make-mutex, etc), but you can't
68 actually create new threads. Also, "--with-threads=no" is now
69 equivalent to "--with-threads=null". This means that the thread API
70 is always present, although you might not be able to create new
73 When you configure "--with-threads=pthreads" or "--with-threads=yes",
74 you will get threads that are implemented with the portable POSIX
75 threads. These threads can run concurrently (unlike the previous
76 "coop" thread implementation), but need to cooperate for things like
77 the GC. See the manual for details. [XXX - write this.]
79 The default is "pthreads", unless your platform doesn't have pthreads,
80 in which case "null" threads are used.
82 ** New module (ice-9 serialize):
84 (serialize FORM1 ...) and (parallelize FORM1 ...) are useful when
85 you don't trust the thread safety of most of your program, but
86 where you have some section(s) of code which you consider can run
87 in parallel to other sections.
89 They "flag" (with dynamic extent) sections of code to be of
90 "serial" or "parallel" nature and have the single effect of
91 preventing a serial section from being run in parallel with any
92 serial section (including itself).
94 Both serialize and parallelize can be nested. If so, the
95 inner-most construct is in effect.
97 NOTE 1: A serial section can run in parallel with a parallel
100 NOTE 2: If a serial section S is "interrupted" by a parallel
101 section P in the following manner: S = S1 P S2, S2 is not
102 guaranteed to be resumed by the same thread that previously
105 WARNING: Spawning new threads within a serial section have
106 undefined effects. It is OK, though, to spawn threads in unflagged
107 sections of code where neither serialize or parallelize is in
110 A typical usage is when Guile is used as scripting language in some
111 application doing heavy computations. If each thread is
112 encapsulated with a serialize form, you can then put a parallelize
113 form around the code performing the heavy computations (typically a
114 C code primitive), enabling the computations to run in parallel
115 while the scripting code runs single-threadedly.
117 ** New module (srfi srfi-26)
119 This is an implementation of SRFI-26.
121 ** Guile now includes its own version of libltdl.
123 We now use a modified version of libltdl that allows us to make
124 improvements to it without having to rely on libtool releases.
126 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
128 ** New command line option `--no-debug'.
130 Specifying `--no-debug' on the command line will keep the debugging
131 evaluator turned off, even for interactive sessions.
133 ** User-init file ~/.guile is now loaded with the debugging evaluator.
135 Previously, the normal evaluator would have been used. Using the
136 debugging evaluator gives better error messages.
138 ** The '-e' option now 'read's its argument.
140 This is to allow the new '(@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)' construct to
141 be used with '-e'. For example, you can now write a script like
144 exec guile -e '(@ (demo) main)' -s "$0" "$@"
147 (define-module (demo)
151 (format #t "Demo: ~a~%" args))
154 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
156 ** New syntax '@' and '@@':
158 You can now directly refer to variables exported from a module by
161 (@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)
163 For example (@ (ice-9 pretty-print) pretty-print) will directly access
164 the pretty-print variable exported from the (ice-9 pretty-print)
165 module. You don't need to 'use' that module first. You can also use
168 The related syntax (@@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME) works just like '@',
169 but it can also access variables that have not been exported. It is
170 intended only for kluges and temporary fixes and for debugging, not
173 ** 'while' now provides 'break' and 'continue'
175 break and continue were previously bound in a while loop, but not
176 documented, and continue didn't quite work properly. The undocumented
177 parameter to break which gave a return value for the while has been
180 ** 'call-with-current-continuation' is now also available under the name
183 ** Checking for duplicate bindings in module system
185 The module system now can check for name conflicts among imported
188 The behavior can be controlled by specifying one or more duplicates
189 handlers. For example, to make Guile return an error for every name
197 The new default behavior of the module system when a name collision
198 has been detected is to
200 1. Give priority to bindings marked as a replacement.
201 2. Issue a warning (different warning if overriding core binding).
202 3. Give priority to the last encountered binding (this corresponds to
205 If you want the old behavior back without replacements or warnings you
208 (default-duplicate-binding-handler 'last)
210 to your .guile init file.
212 The syntax for the :duplicates option is:
214 :duplicates HANDLER-NAME | (HANDLER1-NAME HANDLER2-NAME ...)
216 Specifying multiple handlers is useful since some handlers (such as
217 replace) can defer conflict resolution to others. Each handler is
218 tried until a binding is selected.
220 Currently available duplicates handlers are:
222 check report an error for bindings with a common name
223 warn issue a warning for bindings with a common name
224 replace replace bindings which have an imported replacement
225 warn-override-core issue a warning for imports which override core bindings
226 and accept the override
227 first select the first encountered binding (override)
228 last select the last encountered binding (override)
230 These two are provided by the (oop goops) module:
232 merge-generics merge generic functions with a common name
233 into an <extended-generic>
234 merge-accessors merge accessors with a common name
236 The default duplicates handler is:
238 (replace warn-override-core warn last)
240 A recommended handler (which is likely to correspond to future Guile
241 behavior) can be installed with:
243 (default-duplicate-binding-handler '(replace warn-override-core check))
245 ** New define-module option: :replace
247 :replace works as :export, but, in addition, marks the binding as a
250 A typical example is `format' in (ice-9 format) which is a replacement
251 for the core binding `format'.
253 ** Adding prefixes to imported bindings in the module system
255 There is now a new :use-module option :prefix. It can be used to add
256 a prefix to all imported bindings.
259 :use-module ((bar) :prefix bar:))
261 will import all bindings exported from bar, but rename them by adding
264 ** Merging generic functions
266 It is sometimes tempting to use GOOPS accessors with short names.
267 For example, it is tempting to use the name `x' for the x-coordinate
270 Assume that we work with a graphical package which needs to use two
271 independent vector packages for 2D and 3D vectors respectively. If
272 both packages export `x' we will encounter a name collision.
274 This can now be resolved automagically with the duplicates handler
275 `merge-generics' which gives the module system license to merge all
276 generic functions sharing a common name:
278 (define-module (math 2D-vectors)
279 :use-module (oop goops)
282 (define-module (math 3D-vectors)
283 :use-module (oop goops)
286 (define-module (my-module)
287 :use-module (math 2D-vectors)
288 :use-module (math 3D-vectors)
289 :duplicates merge-generics)
291 x in (my-module) will now share methods with x in both imported
294 There will, in fact, now be three distinct generic functions named
295 `x': x in (2D-vectors), x in (3D-vectors), and x in (my-module). The
296 last function will be an <extended-generic>, extending the previous
299 Let's call the imported generic functions the "ancestor functions". x
300 in (my-module) is, in turn, a "descendant function" of the imported
301 functions, extending its ancestors.
303 For any generic function G, the applicable methods are selected from
304 the union of the methods of the descendant functions, the methods of G
305 itself and the methods of the ancestor functions.
307 This, ancestor functions share methods with their descendants and vice
308 versa. This implies that x in (math 2D-vectors) can will share the
309 methods of x in (my-module) and vice versa, while x in (math 2D-vectors)
310 doesn't share the methods of x in (math 3D-vectors), thus preserving
313 Sharing is dynamic, so that adding new methods to a descendant implies
314 adding it to the ancestor.
316 If duplicates checking is desired in the above example, the following
317 form of the :duplicates option can be used instead:
319 :duplicates (merge-generics check)
321 ** New function: effective-version
323 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
324 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
325 to the distribution" above.
327 ** Futures: future, make-future, future-ref
329 Futures are like promises, but begun immediately in a new thread. See
330 the "Futures" section in the reference manual.
332 ** New threading functions: parallel, letpar, par-map, and friends
334 These are convenient ways to run calculations in parallel in new
335 threads. See "Parallel forms" in the manual for details.
337 ** Fair mutexes and condition variables
339 Fair mutexes and condition variables have been added. The fairness
340 means that scheduling is arranged to give as equal time shares as
341 possible and that threads are awakened in a first-in-first-out
342 manner. This is not guaranteed with standard mutexes and condition
345 In addition, fair mutexes are recursive. Locking a fair mutex that
346 you have already locked will succeed. Every call to lock-mutex must
347 be matched with a call to unlock-mutex. Only the last call to
348 unlock-mutex will actually unlock the mutex.
350 A fair condition variable must be used together with a fair mutex,
351 just as a standard condition variable must be used together with a
354 ** New functions: make-fair-mutex, make-fair-condition-variable'
356 Make a new fair mutex and a new fair condition variable respectively.
358 ** New function 'try-mutex'.
360 This function will attempt to lock a mutex but will return immediately
361 instead if blocking and indicate failure.
363 ** Waiting on a condition variable can have a timeout.
365 The funtion 'wait-condition-variable' now takes a third, optional
366 argument that specifies the point in time where the waiting should be
369 ** New function 'broadcast-condition-variable'.
371 ** New functions 'all-threads' and 'current-thread'.
373 ** Signals and system asyncs work better with threads.
375 The function 'sigaction' now takes a fourth, optional, argument that
376 specifies the thread that the handler should run in. When the
377 argument is omitted, the handler will run in the thread that called
380 Likewise, 'system-async-mark' takes a second, optional, argument that
381 specifies the thread that the async should run in. When it is
382 omitted, the async will run in the thread that called
385 C code can use the new functions scm_sigaction_for_thread and
386 scm_system_async_mark_for_thread to pass the new thread argument.
388 ** The function 'system-async' is deprecated.
390 You can now pass any zero-argument procedure to 'system-async-mark'.
391 The function 'system-async' will just return its argument unchanged
394 ** New functions 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' and
395 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
397 The expression (call-with-blocked-asyncs PROC) will call PROC and will
398 block execution of system asyncs for the current thread by one level
399 while PROC runs. Likewise, call-with-unblocked-asyncs will call a
400 procedure and will unblock the execution of system asyncs by one
401 level for the current thread.
403 Only system asyncs are affected by these functions.
405 ** The functions 'mask-signals' and 'unmask-signals' are deprecated.
407 Use 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' or 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
408 instead. Those functions are easier to use correctly and can be
411 ** New function 'unsetenv'.
413 ** New macro 'define-syntax-public'.
415 It works like 'define-syntax' and also exports the defined macro (but
418 ** There is support for Infinity and NaNs.
420 Following PLT Scheme, Guile can now work with infinite numbers, and
423 There is new syntax for numbers: "+inf.0" (infinity), "-inf.0"
424 (negative infinity), "+nan.0" (not-a-number), and "-nan.0" (same as
425 "+nan.0"). These numbers are inexact and have no exact counterpart.
427 Dividing by an inexact zero returns +inf.0 or -inf.0, depending on the
428 sign of the dividend. The infinities are integers, and they answer #t
429 for both 'even?' and 'odd?'. The +nan.0 value is not an integer and is
430 not '=' to itself, but '+nan.0' is 'eqv?' to itself.
441 ERROR: Numerical overflow
443 Two new predicates 'inf?' and 'nan?' can be used to test for the
446 ** Inexact zero can have a sign.
448 Guile can now distinguish between plus and minus inexact zero, if your
449 platform supports this, too. The two zeros are equal according to
450 '=', but not according to 'eqv?'. For example
461 ** Guile now has exact rationals.
463 Guile can now represent fractions such as 1/3 exactly. Computing with
464 them is also done exactly, of course:
469 ** 'floor', 'ceiling', 'round' and 'truncate' now return exact numbers
472 For example: (floor 2) now returns an exact 2 where in the past it
473 returned an inexact 2.0. Likewise, (floor 5/4) returns an exact 1.
475 ** inexact->exact no longer returns only integers.
477 Without exact rationals, the closest exact number was always an
478 integer, but now inexact->exact returns the fraction that is exactly
479 equal to a floating point number. For example:
481 (inexact->exact 1.234)
482 => 694680242521899/562949953421312
484 When you want the old behavior, use 'round' explicitely:
486 (inexact->exact (round 1.234))
489 ** New function 'rationalize'.
491 This function finds a simple fraction that is close to a given real
492 number. For example (and compare with inexact->exact above):
494 (rationalize (inexact->exact 1.234) 1/2000)
497 Note that, as required by R5RS, rationalize returns only then an exact
498 result when both its arguments are exact.
500 ** 'odd?' and 'even?' work also for inexact integers.
502 Previously, (odd? 1.0) would signal an error since only exact integers
503 were recognized as integers. Now (odd? 1.0) returns #t, (odd? 2.0)
504 returns #f and (odd? 1.5) signals an error.
506 ** We now have uninterned symbols.
508 The new function 'make-symbol' will return a uninterned symbol. This
509 is a symbol that is unique and is guaranteed to remain unique.
510 However, uninterned symbols can not yet be read back in.
512 Use the new function 'symbol-interned?' to check whether a symbol is
515 ** pretty-print has more options.
517 The function pretty-print from the (ice-9 pretty-print) module can now
518 also be invoked with keyword arguments that control things like
519 maximum output width. See the manual for details.
521 ** Variables have no longer a special behavior for `equal?'.
523 Previously, comparing two variables with `equal?' would recursivly
524 compare their values. This is no longer done. Variables are now only
525 `equal?' if they are `eq?'.
527 ** `(begin)' is now valid.
529 You can now use an empty `begin' form. It will yield #<unspecified>
530 when evaluated and simply be ignored in a definition context.
532 ** Deprecated: procedure->macro
534 Change your code to use either procedure->memoizing-macro or, probably better,
535 to use r5rs macros. Also, be aware that macro expansion will not be done
536 during evaluation, but prior to evaluation.
538 ** Soft ports now allow a `char-ready?' procedure
540 The vector argument to `make-soft-port' can now have a length of
541 either 5 or 6. (Previously the length had to be 5.) The optional 6th
542 element is interpreted as an `input-waiting' thunk -- i.e. a thunk
543 that returns the number of characters that can be read immediately
544 without the soft port blocking.
546 ** New debugging feature: breakpoints.
548 Guile now has breakpoints. For details see the `Debugging Features'
549 chapter in the reference manual.
551 ** Deprecated: undefine
553 There is no replacement for undefine.
555 ** call-with-output-string doesn't segv on closed port
557 Previously call-with-output-string would give a segmentation fault if
558 the string port was closed by the called function. An exception is
561 ** (ice-9 popen) duplicate pipe fd fix
563 open-pipe, open-input-pipe and open-output-pipe left an extra copy of
564 their pipe file descriptor in the child, which was normally harmless,
565 but it can prevent the parent seeing eof or a broken pipe immediately
566 and has now been fixed.
568 ** source-properties and set-source-properties! fix
570 Properties set with set-source-properties! can now be read back
571 correctly with source-properties.
575 delete and delete! now call the "=" procedure with arguments in the
576 order described by the SRFI-1 specification
578 list-copy now accepts improper lists, per the specification.
582 date-week-number now correctly respects the requested day of week
585 * Changes to the C interface
587 ** SCM_CELL_WORD_LOC has been deprecated.
589 Use the new macro SCM_CELL_OBJECT_LOC instead, which return a pointer
590 to a SCM, as opposed to a pointer to a scm_t_bits.
592 This was done to allow the correct use of pointers into the Scheme
593 heap. Previously, the heap words were of type scm_t_bits and local
594 variables and function arguments were of type SCM, making it
595 non-standards-conformant to have a pointer that can point to both.
597 ** New macros SCM_SMOB_DATA_2, SM_SMOB_DATA_3, etc.
599 These macros should be used instead of SCM_CELL_WORD_2/3 to access the
600 second and third words of double smobs. Likewise for
601 SCM_SET_SMOB_DATA_2 and SCM_SET_SMOB_DATA_3.
603 Also, there is SCM_SMOB_FLAGS and SCM_SET_SMOB_FLAGS that should be
604 used to get and set the 16 exra bits in the zeroth word of a smob.
606 And finally, there is SCM_SMOB_OBJECT and SCM_SMOB_SET_OBJECT for
607 accesing the first immediate word of a smob as a SCM value, and there
608 is SCM_SMOB_OBJECT_LOC for getting a pointer to the first immediate
609 smob words. Like wise for SCM_SMOB_OBJECT_2, etc.
611 ** New way to deal with non-local exits and reentries.
613 There is a new set of functions that essentially do what
614 scm_internal_dynamic_wind does, but in a way that is more convenient
615 for C code in some situations. Here is a quick example of how to
616 prevent a potential memory leak:
625 mem = scm_malloc (100);
626 scm_frame_unwind_handler (free, mem, SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITELY);
628 /* MEM would leak if BAR throws an error.
629 SCM_FRAME_UNWIND_HANDLER frees it nevertheless. */
635 /* Because of SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITELY, MEM will be freed by
636 SCM_FRAME_END as well.
640 For full documentation, see the node "Frames" in the manual.
642 ** New way to block and unblock asyncs
644 In addition to scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs you can now also use
645 scm_frame_block_asyncs in a 'frame' (see above). Likewise for
646 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs and scm_frame_unblock_asyncs.
648 ** New way to temporarily set the current input, output or error ports
650 C code can now use scm_frame_current_<foo>_port in a 'frame' (see
651 above). <foo> is one of "input", "output" or "error".
653 ** New way to temporarily set fluids
655 C code can now use scm_frame_fluid in a 'frame' (see
656 above) to temporarily set the value of a fluid.
658 ** New types scm_t_intmax and scm_t_uintmax.
660 On platforms that have them, these types are identical to intmax_t and
661 uintmax_t, respectively. On other platforms, they are identical to
662 the largest integer types that Guile knows about.
664 ** Many public #defines with generic names have been made private.
666 #defines with generic names like HAVE_FOO or SIZEOF_FOO have been made
667 private or renamed with a more suitable public name. See below for
668 the ones which have been renamed.
670 ** HAVE_STDINT_H and HAVE_INTTYPES_H have been removed from public use.
672 HAVE_STDINT_H and HAVE_INTTYPES_H removed from public use. These are
673 no longer needed since the older uses of stdint.h and inttypes.h are
674 now handled by configure.in and gen-scmconfig.c.
676 ** USE_DLL_IMPORT is no longer defined publically.
678 gen-scmconfig now uses it to decide what contents to place in the
679 public scmconfig.h header without adding the USE_DLL_IMPORT itself.
681 ** HAVE_LIMITS_H has been removed from public use.
683 gen-scmconfig now just uses HAVE_LIMITS_H to decide whether or not to
684 add a limits.h include in scmconfig.h.
686 ** time.h, sys/time.h, etc. #ifdefery has been removed from public headers.
688 gen-scmconfig now just uses the same logic to decide what time related
689 #includes to add to scmconfig.h.
691 ** HAVE_STRUCT_TIMESPEC has been removed from public use.
693 scmconfig.h now just defines scm_t_timespec.
695 ** HAVE_PTRDIFF has been removed from public use and Guile doesn't
698 Guile now publically defines scm_t_ptrdiff and
699 SCM_SIZEOF_SCM_T_PTRDIFF in scmconfig.h, and all occurrences of
700 ptrdiff_t have been replaced with scm_t_ptrdiff.
702 Guile defines its own type this rather than just relying on ptrdiff_t
703 and SCM_SIZEOF_PTRDIFF_T because Guile actually typedefs long to
704 scm_t_ptrdiff when ptrdiff_t isn't available. A public "typedef long
705 ptrdiff_t" could conflict with other headers.
707 ** HAVE_UINTPTR_T and HAVE_UINTPTR_T have been removed from public use.
709 They are replaced by public definitions of SCM_SIZEOF_UINTPTR_T and
710 SCM_SIZEOF_INTPTR_T. These are defined to 0 if the corresponding type
713 ** The public #define STDC_HEADERS has been renamed to SCM_HAVE_STDC_HEADERS.
715 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
717 ** The public #define HAVE_SYS_SELECT has been renamed to
718 SCM_HAVE_SYS_SELECT_H.
720 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
722 ** The public #define HAVE_FLOATINGPOINT_H has been renamed to
723 SCM_HAVE_FLOATINGPOINT_H.
725 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
727 ** The public #define HAVE_IEEEFP_H has been renamed to SCM_HAVE_IEEEFP_H.
729 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
731 ** The public #define HAVE_NAN_H has been renamed to SCM_HAVE_NAN_H.
733 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
735 ** The public #define HAVE_WINSOCK2_H has been renamed to SCM_HAVE_WINSOCK2_H.
737 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
739 ** The public #define HAVE_ARRAYS has been renamed to SCM_HAVE_ARRAYS.
741 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
743 ** The public #define STACK_GROWS_UP has been renamed to SCM_STACK_GROWS_UP.
745 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
747 ** The public #define USE_PTHREAD_THREADS has been renamed to
748 SCM_USE_PTHREAD_THREADS.
750 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
752 ** The public #define USE_NULL_THREADS has been renamed to
753 SCM_USE_NULL_THREADS.
755 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
757 ** The public #define USE_COOP_THREADS has been renamed to
758 SCM_USE_COOP_THREADS.
760 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
762 ** SCM_C_INLINE is publically defined if possible.
764 If the platform has a way to define inline functions, SCM_C_INLINE
765 will be defined to that text. Otherwise it will be undefined. This
766 is a little bit different than autoconf's normal handling of the
767 inline define via AC_C_INLINE.
769 ** Guile now publically defines some basic type infrastructure.
774 SCM_SIZEOF_UNSIGNED_CHAR
776 SCM_SIZEOF_UNSIGNED_SHORT
778 SCM_SIZEOF_UNSIGNED_LONG
780 SCM_SIZEOF_UNSIGNED_INT
781 SCM_SIZEOF_LONG_LONG /* defined to 0 if type not available */
782 SCM_SIZEOF_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG /* defined to 0 if type not available */
791 Guile always defines these to 0 or 1
796 and when either of these are defined to 1, also defines
807 ** The function scm_unmemocopy now expects a sequence of body forms
809 Formerly, scm_unmemocopy would have accepted both, a single expression and a
810 sequence of body forms for unmemoization. Now, it only accepts only a
811 sequence of body forms, which was the normal way of using it. Passing it a
812 single expression won't work any more.
814 ** The macro SCM_IFLAGP now only returns true for flags
816 User code should never have used this macro anyway. And, you should not use
817 it in the future either. Thus, the following explanation is just for the
818 impropable case that your code actually made use of this macro, and that you
819 are willing to depend on internals which will probably change in the near
822 Formerly, SCM_IFLAGP also returned true for evaluator bytecodes created with
823 SCM_MAKSPCSYM (short instructions) and evaluator bytecodes created with
824 SCM_MAKISYM (short instructions). Now, SCM_IFLAG only returns true for
825 Guile's special constants created with SCM_MAKIFLAG. To achieve the old
826 behaviour, instead of
830 you would have to write
832 (SCM_ISYMP(x) || SCM_IFLAGP(x))
834 ** The macro SCM_TYP16S has been deprecated.
836 This macro is not intended for public use. However, if you allocated types
837 with tc16 type codes in a way that you would have needed this macro, you are
838 expected to have a deep knowledge of Guile's type system. Thus, you should
839 know how to replace this macro.
841 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_INEXACTP has been deprecated.
843 Use SCM_INEXACTP instead.
845 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_REALP has been deprecated.
847 Use SCM_REALP instead.
849 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_COMPLEXP has been deprecated.
851 Use SCM_COMPLEXP instead.
853 ** The preprocessor define USE_THREADS has been deprecated.
855 Going forward, assume that the thread API is always present.
857 ** The preprocessor define GUILE_ISELECT has been deprecated.
859 Going forward, assume that scm_internal_select is always present.
861 ** The preprocessor define READER_EXTENSIONS has been deprecated.
863 Going forward, assume that the features represented by
864 READER_EXTENSIONS are always present.
866 ** The preprocessor define DEBUG_EXTENSIONS has been deprecated.
868 Going forward, assume that the features represented by
869 DEBUG_EXTENSIONS are always present.
871 ** The preprocessor define DYNAMIC_LINKING has been deprecated.
873 Going forward, assume that the features represented by
874 DYNAMIC_LINKING are always present.
876 ** The preprocessor define STACK_DIRECTION has been deprecated.
878 There should be no need to know about the stack direction for ordinary
879 programs. (Do not use.)
881 ** New function: scm_effective_version
883 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
884 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
885 to the distribution" above.
887 ** The function scm_call_with_new_thread has a new prototype.
889 Instead of taking a list with the thunk and handler, these two
890 arguments are now passed directly:
892 SCM scm_call_with_new_thread (SCM thunk, SCM handler);
894 This is an incompatible change.
896 ** The value 'scm_mask_ints' is no longer writable.
898 Previously, you could set scm_mask_ints directly. This is no longer
899 possible. Use scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
900 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs instead.
902 ** New functions scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
903 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs
905 Like scm_call_with_blocked_asyncs etc. but for C functions.
907 ** New snarfer macro SCM_DEFINE_PUBLIC.
909 This is like SCM_DEFINE, but also calls scm_c_export for the defined
910 function in the init section.
912 ** The snarfer macro SCM_SNARF_INIT is now officially supported.
914 ** New macros SCM_VECTOR_REF and SCM_VECTOR_SET.
916 Use these in preference to SCM_VELTS.
918 ** The SCM_VELTS macros now returns a read-only vector. For writing,
919 use the new macros SCM_WRITABLE_VELTS or SCM_VECTOR_SET. The use of
920 SCM_WRITABLE_VELTS is discouraged, though.
922 ** Garbage collector rewrite.
924 The garbage collector is cleaned up a lot, and now uses lazy
925 sweeping. This is reflected in the output of (gc-stats); since cells
926 are being freed when they are allocated, the cells-allocated field
927 stays roughly constant.
929 For malloc related triggers, the behavior is changed. It uses the same
930 heuristic as the cell-triggered collections. It may be tuned with the
931 environment variables GUILE_MIN_YIELD_MALLOC. This is the percentage
932 for minimum yield of malloc related triggers. The default is 40.
933 GUILE_INIT_MALLOC_LIMIT sets the initial trigger for doing a GC. The
936 Debugging operations for the freelist have been deprecated, along with
937 the C variables that control garbage collection. The environment
938 variables GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE, GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2,
939 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1, and GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2 should be used.
941 ** The function scm_definedp has been renamed to scm_defined_p
943 The name scm_definedp is deprecated.
945 ** The struct scm_cell has been renamed to scm_t_cell
947 This is in accordance to Guile's naming scheme for types. Note that
948 the name scm_cell is now used for a function that allocates and
949 initializes a new cell (see below).
951 ** New functions for memory management
953 A new set of functions for memory management has been added since the
954 old way (scm_must_malloc, scm_must_free, etc) was error prone and
955 indeed, Guile itself contained some long standing bugs that could
956 cause aborts in long running programs.
958 The new functions are more symmetrical and do not need cooperation
959 from smob free routines, among other improvements.
961 The new functions are scm_malloc, scm_realloc, scm_calloc, scm_strdup,
962 scm_strndup, scm_gc_malloc, scm_gc_calloc, scm_gc_realloc,
963 scm_gc_free, scm_gc_register_collectable_memory, and
964 scm_gc_unregister_collectable_memory. Refer to the manual for more
965 details and for upgrading instructions.
967 The old functions for memory management have been deprecated. They
968 are: scm_must_malloc, scm_must_realloc, scm_must_free,
969 scm_must_strdup, scm_must_strndup, scm_done_malloc, scm_done_free.
971 ** New function: scm_str2string
973 This function creates a scheme string from a 0-terminated C string. The input
976 ** Declarations of exported features are marked with SCM_API.
978 Every declaration of a feature that belongs to the exported Guile API
979 has been marked by adding the macro "SCM_API" to the start of the
980 declaration. This macro can expand into different things, the most
981 common of which is just "extern" for Unix platforms. On Win32, it can
982 be used to control which symbols are exported from a DLL.
984 If you `#define SCM_IMPORT' before including <libguile.h>, SCM_API
985 will expand into "__declspec (dllimport) extern", which is needed for
986 linking to the Guile DLL in Windows.
988 There are also SCM_RL_IMPORT, QT_IMPORT, SCM_SRFI1314_IMPORT, and
989 SCM_SRFI4_IMPORT, for the corresponding libraries.
991 ** SCM_NEWCELL and SCM_NEWCELL2 have been deprecated.
993 Use the new functions scm_cell and scm_double_cell instead. The old macros
994 had problems because with them allocation and initialization was separated and
995 the GC could sometimes observe half initialized cells. Only careful coding by
996 the user of SCM_NEWCELL and SCM_NEWCELL2 could make this safe and efficient.
998 ** CHECK_ENTRY, CHECK_APPLY and CHECK_EXIT have been deprecated.
1000 Use the variables scm_check_entry_p, scm_check_apply_p and scm_check_exit_p
1003 ** SRCBRKP has been deprecated.
1005 Use scm_c_source_property_breakpoint_p instead.
1007 ** Deprecated: scm_makmacro
1009 Change your code to use either scm_makmmacro or, probably better, to use r5rs
1010 macros. Also, be aware that macro expansion will not be done during
1011 evaluation, but prior to evaluation.
1013 ** Removed from scm_root_state: def_inp, def_outp, def_errp, together
1014 with corresponding macros scm_def_inp, scm_def_outp and scm_def_errp.
1015 These were undocumented and unused copies of the standard ports at the
1016 time that Guile was initialised. Normally the current ports should be
1017 used instead, obtained from scm_current_input_port () etc. If an
1018 application needs to retain earlier ports, it should save them in a
1019 gc-protected location.
1021 ** Removed compile time option MEMOIZE_LOCALS
1023 Now, caching of local variable positions during memoization is mandatory.
1024 However, the option to disable the caching has most probably not been used
1027 ** Removed compile time option SCM_RECKLESS
1029 Full number of arguments checking of closures is mandatory now. However, the
1030 option to disable the checking has most probably not been used anyway.
1032 ** Removed compile time option SCM_CAUTIOUS
1034 Full number of arguments checking of closures is mandatory now. However, the
1035 option to disable the checking has most probably not been used anyway.
1037 ** Deprecated configure flags USE_THREADS and GUILE_ISELECT
1039 Previously, when the C preprocessor macro USE_THREADS was defined,
1040 libguile included a thread API. This API is now always included, even
1041 when threads are not really supported. Thus, you don't need to test
1044 Analogously, GUILE_ISELECT was defined when the function
1045 scm_internal_select was provided by Guile. This function is now
1046 always defined, and GUILE_ISELECT with it.
1048 ** New function scm_c_port_for_each.
1050 This function is like scm_port_for_each but takes a pointer to a C
1051 function as the callback instead of a SCM value.
1053 ** Deprecated definitions of error strings: scm_s_expression, scm_s_test,
1054 scm_s_body, scm_s_bindings, scm_s_variable, scm_s_clauses, scm_s_formals
1056 These error message strings were used to issue syntax error messages by
1057 guile's evaluator. It's unlikely that they have been used by user code.
1059 ** Deprecated helper macros for evaluation and application: SCM_EVALIM2,
1060 SCM_EVALIM, SCM_XEVAL, SCM_XEVALCAR
1062 These macros were used in the implementation of the evaluator. It's unlikely
1063 that they have been used by user code.
1065 ** Deprecated helper functions for evaluation and application:
1066 scm_m_expand_body, scm_macroexp
1068 These functions were used in the implementation of the evaluator. It's
1069 unlikely that they have been used by user code.
1071 ** Deprecated functions and variables for evaluation and application:
1072 scm_ceval, scm_deval and scm_ceval_ptr
1074 These functions and variables were used in the implementation of the
1075 evaluator. It's unlikely that they have been used by user code. If you have
1076 used these functions, switch to scm_eval or scm_eval_x.
1078 ** Deprecated functions for unmemoization: scm_unmemocar
1080 ** Deprecated definitions for iloc and isym handling
1082 SCM_ILOC00, SCM_IDINC, SCM_IDSTMSK, SCM_IFRINC, SCM_ICDR, SCM_IFRAME,
1083 SCM_IDIST, SCM_ICDRP, SCM_ISYMNUM, SCM_ISYMCHARS, scm_isymnames.
1085 These definitions were used in the implementation of the evaluator. It's
1086 unlikely that they have been used by user code.
1088 ** Removed definitions: scm_lisp_nil, scm_lisp_t, s_nil_ify,
1089 scm_m_nil_ify, s_t_ify, scm_m_t_ify, s_0_cond, scm_m_0_cond, s_0_ify,
1090 scm_m_0_ify, s_1_ify, scm_m_1_ify, scm_debug_newcell,
1091 scm_debug_newcell2, scm_tc16_allocated, SCM_SET_SYMBOL_HASH,
1092 SCM_IM_NIL_IFY, SCM_IM_T_IFY, SCM_IM_0_COND, SCM_IM_0_IFY,
1093 SCM_IM_1_IFY, SCM_GC_SET_ALLOCATED, scm_debug_newcell,
1094 scm_debug_newcell2, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL, SCM_INT_SIGNAL, SCM_FPE_SIGNAL,
1095 SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL, SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL, SCM_GC_SIGNAL,
1096 SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD, SCM_ORD_SIG, SCM_NUM_SIGS,
1097 scm_top_level_lookup_closure_var, *top-level-lookup-closure*,
1098 scm_system_transformer, scm_eval_3, scm_eval2,
1099 root_module_lookup_closure, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP, SCM_RWSTRINGP,
1100 scm_read_only_string_p, scm_make_shared_substring, scm_tc7_substring,
1101 sym_huh, SCM_VARVCELL, SCM_UDVARIABLEP, SCM_DEFVARIABLEP, scm_mkbig,
1102 scm_big2inum, scm_adjbig, scm_normbig, scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big,
1103 scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl, SCM_FIXNUM_BIT, SCM_SETCHARS,
1104 SCM_SLOPPY_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET, SCM_LENGTH_MAX,
1105 SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_ROLENGTH, SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS,
1106 SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR, scm_sym2vcell, scm_intern,
1107 scm_intern0, scm_sysintern, scm_sysintern0,
1108 scm_sysintern0_no_module_lookup, scm_init_symbols_deprecated,
1109 scm_vector_set_length_x, scm_contregs, scm_debug_info,
1110 scm_debug_frame, SCM_DSIDEVAL, SCM_CONST_LONG, SCM_VCELL,
1111 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL, SCM_VCELL_INIT, SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL_INIT,
1112 SCM_HUGE_LENGTH, SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING,
1113 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY, SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY,
1114 SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, DIGITS, scm_small_istr2int, scm_istr2int,
1115 scm_istr2flo, scm_istring2number, scm_istr2int, scm_istr2flo,
1116 scm_istring2number, scm_vtable_index_vcell, scm_si_vcell, SCM_ECONSP,
1117 SCM_NECONSP, SCM_GLOC_VAR, SCM_GLOC_VAL, SCM_GLOC_SET_VAL,
1118 SCM_GLOC_VAL_LOC, scm_make_gloc, scm_gloc_p, scm_tc16_variable
1120 ** Deprecated definitions for debugging: scm_debug_mode, SCM_DEBUGGINGP
1122 These functions were used in the implementation of the evaluator. It's
1123 unlikely that they have been used by user code.
1125 ** Removed macro SCM_MAKSPCSYM
1127 This macro was used for defining byte codes of the evaluator. It is almost
1128 impossible that user code has used this macro.
1131 Changes since Guile 1.4:
1133 * Changes to the distribution
1135 ** A top-level TODO file is included.
1137 ** Guile now uses a versioning scheme similar to that of the Linux kernel.
1139 Guile now always uses three numbers to represent the version,
1140 i.e. "1.6.5". The first number, 1, is the major version number, the
1141 second number, 6, is the minor version number, and the third number,
1142 5, is the micro version number. Changes in major version number
1143 indicate major changes in Guile.
1145 Minor version numbers that are even denote stable releases, and odd
1146 minor version numbers denote development versions (which may be
1147 unstable). The micro version number indicates a minor sub-revision of
1148 a given MAJOR.MINOR release.
1150 In keeping with the new scheme, (minor-version) and scm_minor_version
1151 no longer return everything but the major version number. They now
1152 just return the minor version number. Two new functions
1153 (micro-version) and scm_micro_version have been added to report the
1154 micro version number.
1156 In addition, ./GUILE-VERSION now defines GUILE_MICRO_VERSION.
1158 ** New preprocessor definitions are available for checking versions.
1160 version.h now #defines SCM_MAJOR_VERSION, SCM_MINOR_VERSION, and
1161 SCM_MICRO_VERSION to the appropriate integer values.
1163 ** Guile now actively warns about deprecated features.
1165 The new configure option `--enable-deprecated=LEVEL' and the
1166 environment variable GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATED control this mechanism.
1167 See INSTALL and README for more information.
1169 ** Guile is much more likely to work on 64-bit architectures.
1171 Guile now compiles and passes "make check" with only two UNRESOLVED GC
1172 cases on Alpha and ia64 based machines now. Thanks to John Goerzen
1173 for the use of a test machine, and thanks to Stefan Jahn for ia64
1176 ** New functions: setitimer and getitimer.
1178 These implement a fairly direct interface to the libc functions of the
1181 ** The #. reader extension is now disabled by default.
1183 For safety reasons, #. evaluation is disabled by default. To
1184 re-enable it, set the fluid read-eval? to #t. For example:
1186 (fluid-set! read-eval? #t)
1188 but make sure you realize the potential security risks involved. With
1189 read-eval? enabled, reading a data file from an untrusted source can
1192 ** New SRFI modules have been added:
1194 SRFI-0 `cond-expand' is now supported in Guile, without requiring
1197 (srfi srfi-1) is a library containing many useful pair- and list-processing
1200 (srfi srfi-2) exports and-let*.
1202 (srfi srfi-4) implements homogeneous numeric vector datatypes.
1204 (srfi srfi-6) is a dummy module for now, since guile already provides
1205 all of the srfi-6 procedures by default: open-input-string,
1206 open-output-string, get-output-string.
1208 (srfi srfi-8) exports receive.
1210 (srfi srfi-9) exports define-record-type.
1212 (srfi srfi-10) exports define-reader-ctor and implements the reader
1215 (srfi srfi-11) exports let-values and let*-values.
1217 (srfi srfi-13) implements the SRFI String Library.
1219 (srfi srfi-14) implements the SRFI Character-Set Library.
1221 (srfi srfi-17) implements setter and getter-with-setter and redefines
1222 some accessor procedures as procedures with getters. (such as car,
1223 cdr, vector-ref etc.)
1225 (srfi srfi-19) implements the SRFI Time/Date Library.
1227 ** New scripts / "executable modules"
1229 Subdirectory "scripts" contains Scheme modules that are packaged to
1230 also be executable as scripts. At this time, these scripts are available:
1239 See README there for more info.
1241 These scripts can be invoked from the shell with the new program
1242 "guile-tools", which keeps track of installation directory for you.
1245 $ guile-tools display-commentary srfi/*.scm
1247 guile-tools is copied to the standard $bindir on "make install".
1249 ** New module (ice-9 stack-catch):
1251 stack-catch is like catch, but saves the current state of the stack in
1252 the fluid the-last-stack. This fluid can be useful when using the
1253 debugger and when re-throwing an error.
1255 ** The module (ice-9 and-let*) has been renamed to (ice-9 and-let-star)
1257 This has been done to prevent problems on lesser operating systems
1258 that can't tolerate `*'s in file names. The exported macro continues
1259 to be named `and-let*', of course.
1261 On systems that support it, there is also a compatibility module named
1262 (ice-9 and-let*). It will go away in the next release.
1264 ** New modules (oop goops) etc.:
1267 (oop goops describe)
1269 (oop goops active-slot)
1270 (oop goops composite-slot)
1272 The Guile Object Oriented Programming System (GOOPS) has been
1273 integrated into Guile. For further information, consult the GOOPS
1274 manual and tutorial in the `doc' directory.
1276 ** New module (ice-9 rdelim).
1278 This exports the following procedures which were previously defined
1279 in the default environment:
1281 read-line read-line! read-delimited read-delimited! %read-delimited!
1282 %read-line write-line
1284 For backwards compatibility the definitions are still imported into the
1285 default environment in this version of Guile. However you should add:
1287 (use-modules (ice-9 rdelim))
1289 to any program which uses the definitions, since this may change in
1292 Alternatively, if guile-scsh is installed, the (scsh rdelim) module
1293 can be used for similar functionality.
1295 ** New module (ice-9 rw)
1297 This is a subset of the (scsh rw) module from guile-scsh. Currently
1298 it defines two procedures:
1300 *** New function: read-string!/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
1302 Read characters from a port or file descriptor into a string STR.
1303 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
1304 fport. This procedure is scsh-compatible and can efficiently read
1307 *** New function: write-string/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
1309 Write characters from a string STR to a port or file descriptor.
1310 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
1311 fport. This procedure is mostly compatible and can efficiently
1312 write large strings.
1314 ** New module (ice-9 match)
1316 This module includes Andrew K. Wright's pattern matcher. See
1317 ice-9/match.scm for brief description or
1319 http://www.star-lab.com/wright/code.html
1321 for complete documentation.
1323 ** New module (ice-9 buffered-input)
1325 This module provides procedures to construct an input port from an
1326 underlying source of input that reads and returns its input in chunks.
1327 The underlying input source is a Scheme procedure, specified by the
1328 caller, which the port invokes whenever it needs more input.
1330 This is useful when building an input port whose back end is Readline
1331 or a UI element such as the GtkEntry widget.
1335 The reference and tutorial documentation that was previously
1336 distributed separately, as `guile-doc', is now included in the core
1337 Guile distribution. The documentation consists of the following
1340 - The Guile Tutorial (guile-tut.texi) contains a tutorial introduction
1343 - The Guile Reference Manual (guile.texi) contains (or is intended to
1344 contain) reference documentation on all aspects of Guile.
1346 - The GOOPS Manual (goops.texi) contains both tutorial-style and
1347 reference documentation for using GOOPS, Guile's Object Oriented
1350 - The Revised^5 Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme
1353 See the README file in the `doc' directory for more details.
1355 ** There are a couple of examples in the examples/ directory now.
1357 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
1359 ** New command line option `--use-srfi'
1361 Using this option, SRFI modules can be loaded on startup and be
1362 available right from the beginning. This makes programming portable
1363 Scheme programs easier.
1365 The option `--use-srfi' expects a comma-separated list of numbers,
1366 each representing a SRFI number to be loaded into the interpreter
1367 before starting evaluating a script file or the REPL. Additionally,
1368 the feature identifier for the loaded SRFIs is recognized by
1369 `cond-expand' when using this option.
1372 $ guile --use-srfi=8,13
1373 guile> (receive (x z) (values 1 2) (+ 1 2))
1375 guile> (string-pad "bla" 20)
1378 ** Guile now always starts up in the `(guile-user)' module.
1380 Previously, scripts executed via the `-s' option would run in the
1381 `(guile)' module and the repl would run in the `(guile-user)' module.
1382 Now every user action takes place in the `(guile-user)' module by
1385 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
1387 ** Character classifiers work for non-ASCII characters.
1389 The predicates `char-alphabetic?', `char-numeric?',
1390 `char-whitespace?', `char-lower?', `char-upper?' and `char-is-both?'
1391 no longer check whether their arguments are ASCII characters.
1392 Previously, a character would only be considered alphabetic when it
1393 was also ASCII, for example.
1395 ** Previously deprecated Scheme functions have been removed:
1397 tag - no replacement.
1398 fseek - replaced by seek.
1399 list* - replaced by cons*.
1401 ** It's now possible to create modules with controlled environments
1405 (use-modules (ice-9 safe))
1406 (define m (make-safe-module))
1407 ;;; m will now be a module containing only a safe subset of R5RS
1408 (eval '(+ 1 2) m) --> 3
1409 (eval 'load m) --> ERROR: Unbound variable: load
1411 ** Evaluation of "()", the empty list, is now an error.
1413 Previously, the expression "()" evaluated to the empty list. This has
1414 been changed to signal a "missing expression" error. The correct way
1415 to write the empty list as a literal constant is to use quote: "'()".
1417 ** New concept of `Guile Extensions'.
1419 A Guile Extension is just a ordinary shared library that can be linked
1420 at run-time. We found it advantageous to give this simple concept a
1421 dedicated name to distinguish the issues related to shared libraries
1422 from the issues related to the module system.
1424 *** New function: load-extension
1426 Executing (load-extension lib init) is mostly equivalent to
1428 (dynamic-call init (dynamic-link lib))
1430 except when scm_register_extension has been called previously.
1431 Whenever appropriate, you should use `load-extension' instead of
1432 dynamic-link and dynamic-call.
1434 *** New C function: scm_c_register_extension
1436 This function registers a initialization function for use by
1437 `load-extension'. Use it when you don't want specific extensions to
1438 be loaded as shared libraries (for example on platforms that don't
1439 support dynamic linking).
1441 ** Auto-loading of compiled-code modules is deprecated.
1443 Guile used to be able to automatically find and link a shared
1444 library to satisfy requests for a module. For example, the module
1445 `(foo bar)' could be implemented by placing a shared library named
1446 "foo/libbar.so" (or with a different extension) in a directory on the
1449 This has been found to be too tricky, and is no longer supported. The
1450 shared libraries are now called "extensions". You should now write a
1451 small Scheme file that calls `load-extension' to load the shared
1452 library and initialize it explicitely.
1454 The shared libraries themselves should be installed in the usual
1455 places for shared libraries, with names like "libguile-foo-bar".
1457 For example, place this into a file "foo/bar.scm"
1459 (define-module (foo bar))
1461 (load-extension "libguile-foo-bar" "foobar_init")
1463 ** Backward incompatible change: eval EXP ENVIRONMENT-SPECIFIER
1465 `eval' is now R5RS, that is it takes two arguments.
1466 The second argument is an environment specifier, i.e. either
1468 (scheme-report-environment 5)
1469 (null-environment 5)
1470 (interaction-environment)
1476 ** The module system has been made more disciplined.
1478 The function `eval' will save and restore the current module around
1479 the evaluation of the specified expression. While this expression is
1480 evaluated, `(current-module)' will now return the right module, which
1481 is the module specified as the second argument to `eval'.
1483 A consequence of this change is that `eval' is not particularly
1484 useful when you want allow the evaluated code to change what module is
1485 designated as the current module and have this change persist from one
1486 call to `eval' to the next. The read-eval-print-loop is an example
1487 where `eval' is now inadequate. To compensate, there is a new
1488 function `primitive-eval' that does not take a module specifier and
1489 that does not save/restore the current module. You should use this
1490 function together with `set-current-module', `current-module', etc
1491 when you want to have more control over the state that is carried from
1492 one eval to the next.
1494 Additionally, it has been made sure that forms that are evaluated at
1495 the top level are always evaluated with respect to the current module.
1496 Previously, subforms of top-level forms such as `begin', `case',
1497 etc. did not respect changes to the current module although these
1498 subforms are at the top-level as well.
1500 To prevent strange behavior, the forms `define-module',
1501 `use-modules', `use-syntax', and `export' have been restricted to only
1502 work on the top level. The forms `define-public' and
1503 `defmacro-public' only export the new binding on the top level. They
1504 behave just like `define' and `defmacro', respectively, when they are
1505 used in a lexical environment.
1507 Also, `export' will no longer silently re-export bindings imported
1508 from a used module. It will emit a `deprecation' warning and will
1509 cease to perform any re-export in the next version. If you actually
1510 want to re-export bindings, use the new `re-export' in place of
1511 `export'. The new `re-export' will not make copies of variables when
1512 rexporting them, as `export' did wrongly.
1514 ** Module system now allows selection and renaming of imported bindings
1516 Previously, when using `use-modules' or the `#:use-module' clause in
1517 the `define-module' form, all the bindings (association of symbols to
1518 values) for imported modules were added to the "current module" on an
1519 as-is basis. This has been changed to allow finer control through two
1520 new facilities: selection and renaming.
1522 You can now select which of the imported module's bindings are to be
1523 visible in the current module by using the `:select' clause. This
1524 clause also can be used to rename individual bindings. For example:
1526 ;; import all bindings no questions asked
1527 (use-modules (ice-9 common-list))
1529 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them;
1530 ;; the current module sees: every some zonk-y zonk-n
1531 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1533 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1534 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))))
1536 You can also programmatically rename all selected bindings using the
1537 `:renamer' clause, which specifies a proc that takes a symbol and
1538 returns another symbol. Because it is common practice to use a prefix,
1539 we now provide the convenience procedure `symbol-prefix-proc'. For
1542 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
1543 ;; and all four w/ prefix "CL:";
1544 ;; the current module sees: CL:every CL:some CL:zonk-y CL:zonk-n
1545 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1547 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1548 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
1549 :renamer (symbol-prefix-proc 'CL:)))
1551 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
1552 ;; and all four by upcasing.
1553 ;; the current module sees: EVERY SOME ZONK-Y ZONK-N
1554 (define (upcase-symbol sym)
1555 (string->symbol (string-upcase (symbol->string sym))))
1557 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1559 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1560 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
1561 :renamer upcase-symbol))
1563 Note that programmatic renaming is done *after* individual renaming.
1564 Also, the above examples show `use-modules', but the same facilities are
1565 available for the `#:use-module' clause of `define-module'.
1567 See manual for more info.
1569 ** The semantics of guardians have changed.
1571 The changes are for the most part compatible. An important criterion
1572 was to keep the typical usage of guardians as simple as before, but to
1573 make the semantics safer and (as a result) more useful.
1575 *** All objects returned from guardians are now properly alive.
1577 It is now guaranteed that any object referenced by an object returned
1578 from a guardian is alive. It's now impossible for a guardian to
1579 return a "contained" object before its "containing" object.
1581 One incompatible (but probably not very important) change resulting
1582 from this is that it is no longer possible to guard objects that
1583 indirectly reference themselves (i.e. are parts of cycles). If you do
1584 so accidentally, you'll get a warning.
1586 *** There are now two types of guardians: greedy and sharing.
1588 If you call (make-guardian #t) or just (make-guardian), you'll get a
1589 greedy guardian, and for (make-guardian #f) a sharing guardian.
1591 Greedy guardians are the default because they are more "defensive".
1592 You can only greedily guard an object once. If you guard an object
1593 more than once, once in a greedy guardian and the rest of times in
1594 sharing guardians, then it is guaranteed that the object won't be
1595 returned from sharing guardians as long as it is greedily guarded
1598 Guardians returned by calls to `make-guardian' can now take one more
1599 optional parameter, which says whether to throw an error in case an
1600 attempt is made to greedily guard an object that is already greedily
1601 guarded. The default is true, i.e. throw an error. If the parameter
1602 is false, the guardian invocation returns #t if guarding was
1603 successful and #f if it wasn't.
1605 Also, since greedy guarding is, in effect, a side-effecting operation
1606 on objects, a new function is introduced: `destroy-guardian!'.
1607 Invoking this function on a guardian renders it unoperative and, if
1608 the guardian is greedy, clears the "greedily guarded" property of the
1609 objects that were guarded by it, thus undoing the side effect.
1611 Note that all this hair is hardly very important, since guardian
1612 objects are usually permanent.
1614 ** Continuations created by call-with-current-continuation now accept
1615 any number of arguments, as required by R5RS.
1617 ** New function `issue-deprecation-warning'
1619 This function is used to display the deprecation messages that are
1620 controlled by GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATION as explained in the README.
1623 (issue-deprecation-warning "`id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.")
1627 ;; `id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.
1632 ** New syntax `begin-deprecated'
1634 When deprecated features are included (as determined by the configure
1635 option --enable-deprecated), `begin-deprecated' is identical to
1636 `begin'. When deprecated features are excluded, it always evaluates
1637 to `#f', ignoring the body forms.
1639 ** New function `make-object-property'
1641 This function returns a new `procedure with setter' P that can be used
1642 to attach a property to objects. When calling P as
1646 where `obj' is any kind of object, it attaches `val' to `obj' in such
1647 a way that it can be retrieved by calling P as
1651 This function will replace procedure properties, symbol properties and
1652 source properties eventually.
1654 ** Module (ice-9 optargs) now uses keywords instead of `#&'.
1656 Instead of #&optional, #&key, etc you should now use #:optional,
1657 #:key, etc. Since #:optional is a keyword, you can write it as just
1658 :optional when (read-set! keywords 'prefix) is active.
1660 The old reader syntax `#&' is still supported, but deprecated. It
1661 will be removed in the next release.
1663 ** New define-module option: pure
1665 Tells the module system not to include any bindings from the root
1670 (define-module (totally-empty-module)
1673 ** New define-module option: export NAME1 ...
1675 Export names NAME1 ...
1677 This option is required if you want to be able to export bindings from
1678 a module which doesn't import one of `define-public' or `export'.
1682 (define-module (foo)
1684 :use-module (ice-9 r5rs)
1687 ;;; Note that we're pure R5RS below this point!
1692 ** New function: object->string OBJ
1694 Return a Scheme string obtained by printing a given object.
1696 ** New function: port? X
1698 Returns a boolean indicating whether X is a port. Equivalent to
1699 `(or (input-port? X) (output-port? X))'.
1701 ** New function: file-port?
1703 Determines whether a given object is a port that is related to a file.
1705 ** New function: port-for-each proc
1707 Apply PROC to each port in the Guile port table in turn. The return
1708 value is unspecified. More specifically, PROC is applied exactly once
1709 to every port that exists in the system at the time PORT-FOR-EACH is
1710 invoked. Changes to the port table while PORT-FOR-EACH is running
1711 have no effect as far as PORT-FOR-EACH is concerned.
1713 ** New function: dup2 oldfd newfd
1715 A simple wrapper for the `dup2' system call. Copies the file
1716 descriptor OLDFD to descriptor number NEWFD, replacing the
1717 previous meaning of NEWFD. Both OLDFD and NEWFD must be integers.
1718 Unlike for dup->fdes or primitive-move->fdes, no attempt is made
1719 to move away ports which are using NEWFD. The return value is
1722 ** New function: close-fdes fd
1724 A simple wrapper for the `close' system call. Close file
1725 descriptor FD, which must be an integer. Unlike close (*note
1726 close: Ports and File Descriptors.), the file descriptor will be
1727 closed even if a port is using it. The return value is
1730 ** New function: crypt password salt
1732 Encrypts `password' using the standard unix password encryption
1735 ** New function: chroot path
1737 Change the root directory of the running process to `path'.
1739 ** New functions: getlogin, cuserid
1741 Return the login name or the user name of the current effective user
1744 ** New functions: getpriority which who, setpriority which who prio
1746 Get or set the priority of the running process.
1748 ** New function: getpass prompt
1750 Read a password from the terminal, first displaying `prompt' and
1753 ** New function: flock file operation
1755 Set/remove an advisory shared or exclusive lock on `file'.
1757 ** New functions: sethostname name, gethostname
1759 Set or get the hostname of the machine the current process is running
1762 ** New function: mkstemp! tmpl
1764 mkstemp creates a new unique file in the file system and returns a
1765 new buffered port open for reading and writing to the file. TMPL
1766 is a string specifying where the file should be created: it must
1767 end with `XXXXXX' and will be changed in place to return the name
1768 of the temporary file.
1770 ** New function: open-input-string string
1772 Return an input string port which delivers the characters from
1773 `string'. This procedure, together with `open-output-string' and
1774 `get-output-string' implements SRFI-6.
1776 ** New function: open-output-string
1778 Return an output string port which collects all data written to it.
1779 The data can then be retrieved by `get-output-string'.
1781 ** New function: get-output-string
1783 Return the contents of an output string port.
1785 ** New function: identity
1787 Return the argument.
1789 ** socket, connect, accept etc., now have support for IPv6. IPv6 addresses
1790 are represented in Scheme as integers with normal host byte ordering.
1792 ** New function: inet-pton family address
1794 Convert a printable string network address into an integer. Note that
1795 unlike the C version of this function, the result is an integer with
1796 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
1799 (inet-pton AF_INET "127.0.0.1") => 2130706433
1800 (inet-pton AF_INET6 "::1") => 1
1802 ** New function: inet-ntop family address
1804 Convert an integer network address into a printable string. Note that
1805 unlike the C version of this function, the input is an integer with
1806 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
1809 (inet-ntop AF_INET 2130706433) => "127.0.0.1"
1810 (inet-ntop AF_INET6 (- (expt 2 128) 1)) =>
1811 ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff
1815 Use `identity' instead.
1821 ** Deprecated: return-it
1825 ** Deprecated: string-character-length
1827 Use `string-length' instead.
1829 ** Deprecated: flags
1831 Use `logior' instead.
1833 ** Deprecated: close-all-ports-except.
1835 This was intended for closing ports in a child process after a fork,
1836 but it has the undesirable side effect of flushing buffers.
1837 port-for-each is more flexible.
1839 ** The (ice-9 popen) module now attempts to set up file descriptors in
1840 the child process from the current Scheme ports, instead of using the
1841 current values of file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 in the parent process.
1843 ** Removed function: builtin-weak-bindings
1845 There is no such concept as a weak binding any more.
1847 ** Removed constants: bignum-radix, scm-line-incrementors
1849 ** define-method: New syntax mandatory.
1851 The new method syntax is now mandatory:
1853 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ...) BODY ...)
1854 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ... . REST-ARG) BODY ...)
1856 ARG-SPEC ::= ARG-NAME | (ARG-NAME TYPE)
1857 REST-ARG ::= ARG-NAME
1859 If you have old code using the old syntax, import
1860 (oop goops old-define-method) before (oop goops) as in:
1862 (use-modules (oop goops old-define-method) (oop goops))
1864 ** Deprecated function: builtin-variable
1865 Removed function: builtin-bindings
1867 There is no longer a distinction between builtin or other variables.
1868 Use module system operations for all variables.
1870 ** Lazy-catch handlers are no longer allowed to return.
1872 That is, a call to `throw', `error', etc is now guaranteed to not
1875 ** Bugfixes for (ice-9 getopt-long)
1877 This module is now tested using test-suite/tests/getopt-long.test.
1878 The following bugs have been fixed:
1880 *** Parsing for options that are specified to have `optional' args now checks
1881 if the next element is an option instead of unconditionally taking it as the
1884 *** An error is now thrown for `--opt=val' when the option description
1885 does not specify `(value #t)' or `(value optional)'. This condition used to
1886 be accepted w/o error, contrary to the documentation.
1888 *** The error message for unrecognized options is now more informative.
1889 It used to be "not a record", an artifact of the implementation.
1891 *** The error message for `--opt' terminating the arg list (no value), when
1892 `(value #t)' is specified, is now more informative. It used to be "not enough
1895 *** "Clumped" single-char args now preserve trailing string, use it as arg.
1896 The expansion used to be like so:
1898 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "--xyz")
1900 Note that the "5d" is dropped. Now it is like so:
1902 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "5d" "--xyz")
1904 This enables single-char options to have adjoining arguments as long as their
1905 constituent characters are not potential single-char options.
1907 ** (ice-9 session) procedure `arity' now works with (ice-9 optargs) `lambda*'
1909 The `lambda*' and derivative forms in (ice-9 optargs) now set a procedure
1910 property `arglist', which can be retrieved by `arity'. The result is that
1911 `arity' can give more detailed information than before:
1915 guile> (use-modules (ice-9 optargs))
1916 guile> (define* (foo #:optional a b c) a)
1918 0 or more arguments in `lambda*:G0'.
1923 3 optional arguments: `a', `b' and `c'.
1924 guile> (define* (bar a b #:key c d #:allow-other-keys) a)
1926 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 2 keyword arguments: `c'
1927 and `d', other keywords allowed.
1928 guile> (define* (baz a b #:optional c #:rest r) a)
1930 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 1 optional argument: `c',
1933 * Changes to the C interface
1935 ** Types have been renamed from scm_*_t to scm_t_*.
1937 This has been done for POSIX sake. It reserves identifiers ending
1938 with "_t". What a concept.
1940 The old names are still available with status `deprecated'.
1942 ** scm_t_bits (former scm_bits_t) is now a unsigned type.
1944 ** Deprecated features have been removed.
1948 SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP SCM_ICHRP, SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR
1949 SCM_SETJMPBUF SCM_NSTRINGP SCM_NRWSTRINGP SCM_NVECTORP SCM_DOUBLE_CELLP
1951 *** C Functions removed
1953 scm_sysmissing scm_tag scm_tc16_flo scm_tc_flo
1954 scm_fseek - replaced by scm_seek.
1955 gc-thunk - replaced by after-gc-hook.
1956 gh_int2scmb - replaced by gh_bool2scm.
1957 scm_tc_dblr - replaced by scm_tc16_real.
1958 scm_tc_dblc - replaced by scm_tc16_complex.
1959 scm_list_star - replaced by scm_cons_star.
1961 ** Deprecated: scm_makfromstr
1963 Use scm_mem2string instead.
1965 ** Deprecated: scm_make_shared_substring
1967 Explicit shared substrings will disappear from Guile.
1969 Instead, "normal" strings will be implemented using sharing
1970 internally, combined with a copy-on-write strategy.
1972 ** Deprecated: scm_read_only_string_p
1974 The concept of read-only strings will disappear in next release of
1977 ** Deprecated: scm_sloppy_memq, scm_sloppy_memv, scm_sloppy_member
1979 Instead, use scm_c_memq or scm_memq, scm_memv, scm_member.
1981 ** New functions: scm_call_0, scm_call_1, scm_call_2, scm_call_3
1983 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments. See "Fly
1984 Evaluation" in the manual.
1986 ** New functions: scm_apply_0, scm_apply_1, scm_apply_2, scm_apply_3
1988 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments and a list of
1989 further arguments. See "Fly Evaluation" in the manual.
1991 ** New functions: scm_list_1, scm_list_2, scm_list_3, scm_list_4, scm_list_5
1993 Create a list of the given number of elements. See "List
1994 Constructors" in the manual.
1996 ** Renamed function: scm_listify has been replaced by scm_list_n.
1998 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_LIST0, SCM_LIST1, SCM_LIST2, SCM_LIST3, SCM_LIST4,
1999 SCM_LIST5, SCM_LIST6, SCM_LIST7, SCM_LIST8, SCM_LIST9.
2001 Use functions scm_list_N instead.
2003 ** New function: scm_c_read (SCM port, void *buffer, scm_sizet size)
2005 Used by an application to read arbitrary number of bytes from a port.
2006 Same semantics as libc read, except that scm_c_read only returns less
2007 than SIZE bytes if at end-of-file.
2009 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
2011 ** New function: scm_c_write (SCM port, const void *ptr, scm_sizet size)
2013 Used by an application to write arbitrary number of bytes to an SCM
2014 port. Similar semantics as libc write. However, unlike libc
2015 write, scm_c_write writes the requested number of bytes and has no
2018 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
2020 ** New function: scm_init_guile ()
2022 In contrast to scm_boot_guile, scm_init_guile will return normally
2023 after initializing Guile. It is not available on all systems, tho.
2025 ** New functions: scm_str2symbol, scm_mem2symbol
2027 The function scm_str2symbol takes a const char* pointing to a zero-terminated
2028 field of characters and creates a scheme symbol object from that C string.
2029 The function scm_mem2symbol takes a const char* and a number of characters and
2030 creates a symbol from the characters in that memory area.
2032 ** New functions: scm_primitive_make_property
2033 scm_primitive_property_ref
2034 scm_primitive_property_set_x
2035 scm_primitive_property_del_x
2037 These functions implement a new way to deal with object properties.
2038 See libguile/properties.c for their documentation.
2040 ** New function: scm_done_free (long size)
2042 This function is the inverse of scm_done_malloc. Use it to report the
2043 amount of smob memory you free. The previous method, which involved
2044 calling scm_done_malloc with negative argument, was somewhat
2045 unintuitive (and is still available, of course).
2047 ** New function: scm_c_memq (SCM obj, SCM list)
2049 This function provides a fast C level alternative for scm_memq for the case
2050 that the list parameter is known to be a proper list. The function is a
2051 replacement for scm_sloppy_memq, but is stricter in its requirements on its
2052 list input parameter, since for anything else but a proper list the function's
2053 behaviour is undefined - it may even crash or loop endlessly. Further, for
2054 the case that the object is not found in the list, scm_c_memq returns #f which
2055 is similar to scm_memq, but different from scm_sloppy_memq's behaviour.
2057 ** New functions: scm_remember_upto_here_1, scm_remember_upto_here_2,
2058 scm_remember_upto_here
2060 These functions replace the function scm_remember.
2062 ** Deprecated function: scm_remember
2064 Use one of the new functions scm_remember_upto_here_1,
2065 scm_remember_upto_here_2 or scm_remember_upto_here instead.
2067 ** New function: scm_allocate_string
2069 This function replaces the function scm_makstr.
2071 ** Deprecated function: scm_makstr
2073 Use the new function scm_allocate_string instead.
2075 ** New global variable scm_gc_running_p introduced.
2077 Use this variable to find out if garbage collection is being executed. Up to
2078 now applications have used scm_gc_heap_lock to test if garbage collection was
2079 running, which also works because of the fact that up to know only the garbage
2080 collector has set this variable. But, this is an implementation detail that
2081 may change. Further, scm_gc_heap_lock is not set throughout gc, thus the use
2082 of this variable is (and has been) not fully safe anyway.
2084 ** New macros: SCM_BITVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH
2086 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
2088 ** New macros: SCM_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_CCLO_LENGTH, SCM_STACK_LENGTH,
2089 SCM_STRING_LENGTH, SCM_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
2090 SCM_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_VECTOR_LENGTH.
2092 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH.
2094 ** New macros: SCM_SET_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_SET_STRING_LENGTH,
2095 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_SET_VECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
2096 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_LENGTH
2098 Use these instead of SCM_SETLENGTH
2100 ** New macros: SCM_STRING_CHARS, SCM_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_CCLO_BASE,
2101 SCM_VECTOR_BASE, SCM_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_BITVECTOR_BASE, SCM_COMPLEX_MEM,
2104 Use these instead of SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS, SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS or
2107 ** New macros: SCM_SET_BIGNUM_BASE, SCM_SET_STRING_CHARS,
2108 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_BASE,
2111 Use these instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
2113 ** New macro: SCM_BITVECTOR_P
2115 ** New macro: SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X
2117 Use instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
2119 ** New macros: SCM_DIR_OPEN_P, SCM_DIR_FLAG_OPEN
2121 For directory objects, use these instead of SCM_OPDIRP and SCM_OPN.
2123 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_OUTOFRANGE, SCM_NALLOC, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL,
2124 SCM_INT_SIGNAL, SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL,
2125 SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL, SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD,
2126 SCM_ORD_SIG, SCM_NUM_SIGS, SCM_SYMBOL_SLOTS, SCM_SLOTS, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP,
2127 SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_FREEP, SCM_NFREEP, SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS,
2128 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY,
2129 SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY, SCM_ROLENGTH, SCM_LENGTH, SCM_HUGE_LENGTH,
2130 SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR,
2131 SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_RWSTRINGP, SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, SCM_ROCHARS,
2132 SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_LENGTH_MAX, SCM_GC8MARKP,
2133 SCM_SETGC8MARK, SCM_CLRGC8MARK, SCM_GCTYP16, SCM_GCCDR, SCM_SUBR_DOC,
2134 SCM_OPDIRP, SCM_VALIDATE_OPDIR, SCM_WTA, RETURN_SCM_WTA, SCM_CONST_LONG,
2135 SCM_WNA, SCM_FUNC_NAME, SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_COPY,
2136 SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_DEF_COPY, SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP, SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP,
2137 SCM_SETAND_CDR, SCM_SETOR_CDR, SCM_SETAND_CAR, SCM_SETOR_CAR
2139 Use SCM_ASSERT_RANGE or SCM_VALIDATE_XXX_RANGE instead of SCM_OUTOFRANGE.
2140 Use scm_memory_error instead of SCM_NALLOC.
2141 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP.
2142 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR.
2143 Use SCM_FREE_CELL_P instead of SCM_FREEP/SCM_NFREEP
2144 Use a type specific accessor macro instead of SCM_CHARS/SCM_UCHARS.
2145 Use a type specific accessor instead of SCM(_|_RO|_HUGE_)LENGTH.
2146 Use SCM_VALIDATE_(SYMBOL|STRING) instead of SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING.
2147 Use SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
2148 Use SCM_STRINGP or SCM_SYMBOLP instead of SCM_ROSTRINGP.
2149 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_RWSTRINGP.
2150 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING.
2151 Use SCM_STRING_CHARS instead of SCM_ROCHARS.
2152 Use SCM_STRING_UCHARS instead of SCM_ROUCHARS.
2153 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETLENGTH.
2154 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
2155 Use a type specific length macro instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
2156 Use SCM_GCMARKP instead of SCM_GC8MARKP.
2157 Use SCM_SETGCMARK instead of SCM_SETGC8MARK.
2158 Use SCM_CLRGCMARK instead of SCM_CLRGC8MARK.
2159 Use SCM_TYP16 instead of SCM_GCTYP16.
2160 Use SCM_CDR instead of SCM_GCCDR.
2161 Use SCM_DIR_OPEN_P instead of SCM_OPDIRP.
2162 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of SCM_WTA.
2163 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of RETURN_SCM_WTA.
2164 Use SCM_VCELL_INIT instead of SCM_CONST_LONG.
2165 Use SCM_WRONG_NUM_ARGS instead of SCM_WNA.
2166 Use SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP.
2167 Use !SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP.
2169 ** Removed function: scm_struct_init
2171 ** Removed variable: scm_symhash_dim
2173 ** Renamed function: scm_make_cont has been replaced by
2174 scm_make_continuation, which has a different interface.
2176 ** Deprecated function: scm_call_catching_errors
2178 Use scm_catch or scm_lazy_catch from throw.[ch] instead.
2180 ** Deprecated function: scm_strhash
2182 Use scm_string_hash instead.
2184 ** Deprecated function: scm_vector_set_length_x
2186 Instead, create a fresh vector of the desired size and copy the contents.
2188 ** scm_gensym has changed prototype
2190 scm_gensym now only takes one argument.
2192 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc7_ssymbol, scm_tc7_msymbol, scm_tcs_symbols,
2195 There is now only a single symbol type scm_tc7_symbol.
2196 The tag scm_tc7_lvector was not used anyway.
2198 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe, scm_set_smob_mfpe.
2200 Use scm_make_smob_type and scm_set_smob_XXX instead.
2202 ** New function scm_set_smob_apply.
2204 This can be used to set an apply function to a smob type.
2206 ** Deprecated function: scm_strprint_obj
2208 Use scm_object_to_string instead.
2210 ** Deprecated function: scm_wta
2212 Use scm_wrong_type_arg, or another appropriate error signalling function
2215 ** Explicit support for obarrays has been deprecated.
2217 Use `scm_str2symbol' and the generic hashtable functions instead.
2219 ** The concept of `vcells' has been deprecated.
2221 The data type `variable' is now used exclusively. `Vcells' have been
2222 a low-level concept so you are likely not affected by this change.
2224 *** Deprecated functions: scm_sym2vcell, scm_sysintern,
2225 scm_sysintern0, scm_symbol_value0, scm_intern, scm_intern0.
2227 Use scm_c_define or scm_c_lookup instead, as appropriate.
2229 *** New functions: scm_c_module_lookup, scm_c_lookup,
2230 scm_c_module_define, scm_c_define, scm_module_lookup, scm_lookup,
2231 scm_module_define, scm_define.
2233 These functions work with variables instead of with vcells.
2235 ** New functions for creating and defining `subr's and `gsubr's.
2237 The new functions more clearly distinguish between creating a subr (or
2238 gsubr) object and adding it to the current module.
2240 These new functions are available: scm_c_make_subr, scm_c_define_subr,
2241 scm_c_make_subr_with_generic, scm_c_define_subr_with_generic,
2242 scm_c_make_gsubr, scm_c_define_gsubr, scm_c_make_gsubr_with_generic,
2243 scm_c_define_gsubr_with_generic.
2245 ** Deprecated functions: scm_make_subr, scm_make_subr_opt,
2246 scm_make_subr_with_generic, scm_make_gsubr,
2247 scm_make_gsubr_with_generic.
2249 Use the new ones from above instead.
2251 ** C interface to the module system has changed.
2253 While we suggest that you avoid as many explicit module system
2254 operations from C as possible for the time being, the C interface has
2255 been made more similar to the high-level Scheme module system.
2257 *** New functions: scm_c_define_module, scm_c_use_module,
2258 scm_c_export, scm_c_resolve_module.
2260 They mostly work like their Scheme namesakes. scm_c_define_module
2261 takes a function that is called a context where the new module is
2264 *** Deprecated functions: scm_the_root_module, scm_make_module,
2265 scm_ensure_user_module, scm_load_scheme_module.
2267 Use the new functions instead.
2269 ** Renamed function: scm_internal_with_fluids becomes
2272 scm_internal_with_fluids is available as a deprecated function.
2274 ** New function: scm_c_with_fluid.
2276 Just like scm_c_with_fluids, but takes one fluid and one value instead
2279 ** Deprecated typedefs: long_long, ulong_long.
2281 They are of questionable utility and they pollute the global
2284 ** Deprecated typedef: scm_sizet
2286 It is of questionable utility now that Guile requires ANSI C, and is
2289 ** Deprecated typedefs: scm_port_rw_active, scm_port,
2290 scm_ptob_descriptor, scm_debug_info, scm_debug_frame, scm_fport,
2291 scm_option, scm_rstate, scm_rng, scm_array, scm_array_dim.
2293 Made more compliant with the naming policy by adding a _t at the end.
2295 ** Deprecated functions: scm_mkbig, scm_big2num, scm_adjbig,
2296 scm_normbig, scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big, scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl
2298 With the exception of the mysterious scm_2ulong2big, they are still
2299 available under new names (scm_i_mkbig etc). These functions are not
2300 intended to be used in user code. You should avoid dealing with
2301 bignums directly, and should deal with numbers in general (which can
2304 ** Change in behavior: scm_num2long, scm_num2ulong
2306 The scm_num2[u]long functions don't any longer accept an inexact
2307 argument. This change in behavior is motivated by concordance with
2308 R5RS: It is more common that a primitive doesn't want to accept an
2309 inexact for an exact.
2311 ** New functions: scm_short2num, scm_ushort2num, scm_int2num,
2312 scm_uint2num, scm_size2num, scm_ptrdiff2num, scm_num2short,
2313 scm_num2ushort, scm_num2int, scm_num2uint, scm_num2ptrdiff,
2316 These are conversion functions between the various ANSI C integral
2317 types and Scheme numbers. NOTE: The scm_num2xxx functions don't
2318 accept an inexact argument.
2320 ** New functions: scm_float2num, scm_double2num,
2321 scm_num2float, scm_num2double.
2323 These are conversion functions between the two ANSI C float types and
2326 ** New number validation macros:
2327 SCM_NUM2{SIZE,PTRDIFF,SHORT,USHORT,INT,UINT}[_DEF]
2331 ** New functions: scm_gc_protect_object, scm_gc_unprotect_object
2333 These are just nicer-named old scm_protect_object and
2334 scm_unprotect_object.
2336 ** Deprecated functions: scm_protect_object, scm_unprotect_object
2338 ** New functions: scm_gc_[un]register_root, scm_gc_[un]register_roots
2340 These functions can be used to register pointers to locations that
2343 ** Deprecated function: scm_create_hook.
2345 Its sins are: misleading name, non-modularity and lack of general
2349 Changes since Guile 1.3.4:
2351 * Changes to the distribution
2353 ** Trees from nightly snapshots and CVS now require you to run autogen.sh.
2355 We've changed the way we handle generated files in the Guile source
2356 repository. As a result, the procedure for building trees obtained
2357 from the nightly FTP snapshots or via CVS has changed:
2358 - You must have appropriate versions of autoconf, automake, and
2359 libtool installed on your system. See README for info on how to
2360 obtain these programs.
2361 - Before configuring the tree, you must first run the script
2362 `autogen.sh' at the top of the source tree.
2364 The Guile repository used to contain not only source files, written by
2365 humans, but also some generated files, like configure scripts and
2366 Makefile.in files. Even though the contents of these files could be
2367 derived mechanically from other files present, we thought it would
2368 make the tree easier to build if we checked them into CVS.
2370 However, this approach means that minor differences between
2371 developer's installed tools and habits affected the whole team.
2372 So we have removed the generated files from the repository, and
2373 added the autogen.sh script, which will reconstruct them
2377 ** configure now has experimental options to remove support for certain
2380 --disable-arrays omit array and uniform array support
2381 --disable-posix omit posix interfaces
2382 --disable-networking omit networking interfaces
2383 --disable-regex omit regular expression interfaces
2385 These are likely to become separate modules some day.
2387 ** New configure option --enable-debug-freelist
2389 This enables a debugging version of SCM_NEWCELL(), and also registers
2390 an extra primitive, the setter `gc-set-debug-check-freelist!'.
2392 Configure with the --enable-debug-freelist option to enable
2393 the gc-set-debug-check-freelist! primitive, and then use:
2395 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #t) # turn on checking of the freelist
2396 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #f) # turn off checking
2398 Checking of the freelist forces a traversal of the freelist and
2399 a garbage collection before each allocation of a cell. This can
2400 slow down the interpreter dramatically, so the setter should be used to
2401 turn on this extra processing only when necessary.
2403 ** New configure option --enable-debug-malloc
2405 Include code for debugging of calls to scm_must_malloc/realloc/free.
2409 1. objects freed by scm_must_free has been mallocated by scm_must_malloc
2410 2. objects reallocated by scm_must_realloc has been allocated by
2412 3. reallocated objects are reallocated with the same what string
2414 But, most importantly, it records the number of allocated objects of
2415 each kind. This is useful when searching for memory leaks.
2417 A Guile compiled with this option provides the primitive
2418 `malloc-stats' which returns an alist with pairs of kind and the
2419 number of objects of that kind.
2421 ** All includes are now referenced relative to the root directory
2423 Since some users have had problems with mixups between Guile and
2424 system headers, we have decided to always refer to Guile headers via
2425 their parent directories. This essentially creates a "private name
2426 space" for Guile headers. This means that the compiler only is given
2427 -I options for the root build and root source directory.
2429 ** Header files kw.h and genio.h have been removed.
2431 ** The module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) has been removed.
2433 ** New module (ice-9 documentation)
2435 Implements the interface to documentation strings associated with
2438 ** New module (ice-9 time)
2440 Provides a macro `time', which displays execution time of a given form.
2442 ** New module (ice-9 history)
2444 Loading this module enables value history in the repl.
2446 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
2448 ** New command line option --debug
2450 Start Guile with debugging evaluator and backtraces enabled.
2452 This is useful when debugging your .guile init file or scripts.
2454 ** New help facility
2456 Usage: (help NAME) gives documentation about objects named NAME (a symbol)
2457 (help REGEXP) ditto for objects with names matching REGEXP (a string)
2458 (help 'NAME) gives documentation for NAME, even if it is not an object
2459 (help ,EXPR) gives documentation for object returned by EXPR
2460 (help (my module)) gives module commentary for `(my module)'
2461 (help) gives this text
2463 `help' searches among bindings exported from loaded modules, while
2464 `apropos' searches among bindings visible from the "current" module.
2466 Examples: (help help)
2468 (help "output-string")
2470 ** `help' and `apropos' now prints full module names
2472 ** Dynamic linking now uses libltdl from the libtool package.
2474 The old system dependent code for doing dynamic linking has been
2475 replaced with calls to the libltdl functions which do all the hairy
2478 The major improvement is that you can now directly pass libtool
2479 library names like "libfoo.la" to `dynamic-link' and `dynamic-link'
2480 will be able to do the best shared library job you can get, via
2483 The way dynamic libraries are found has changed and is not really
2484 portable across platforms, probably. It is therefore recommended to
2485 use absolute filenames when possible.
2487 If you pass a filename without an extension to `dynamic-link', it will
2488 try a few appropriate ones. Thus, the most platform ignorant way is
2489 to specify a name like "libfoo", without any directories and
2492 ** Guile COOP threads are now compatible with LinuxThreads
2494 Previously, COOP threading wasn't possible in applications linked with
2495 Linux POSIX threads due to their use of the stack pointer to find the
2496 thread context. This has now been fixed with a workaround which uses
2497 the pthreads to allocate the stack.
2499 ** New primitives: `pkgdata-dir', `site-dir', `library-dir'
2501 ** Positions of erring expression in scripts
2503 With version 1.3.4, the location of the erring expression in Guile
2504 scipts is no longer automatically reported. (This should have been
2505 documented before the 1.3.4 release.)
2507 You can get this information by enabling recording of positions of
2508 source expressions and running the debugging evaluator. Put this at
2509 the top of your script (or in your "site" file):
2511 (read-enable 'positions)
2512 (debug-enable 'debug)
2514 ** Backtraces in scripts
2516 It is now possible to get backtraces in scripts.
2520 (debug-enable 'debug 'backtrace)
2522 at the top of the script.
2524 (The first options enables the debugging evaluator.
2525 The second enables backtraces.)
2527 ** Part of module system symbol lookup now implemented in C
2529 The eval closure of most modules is now implemented in C. Since this
2530 was one of the bottlenecks for loading speed, Guile now loads code
2531 substantially faster than before.
2533 ** Attempting to get the value of an unbound variable now produces
2534 an exception with a key of 'unbound-variable instead of 'misc-error.
2536 ** The initial default output port is now unbuffered if it's using a
2537 tty device. Previously in this situation it was line-buffered.
2539 ** New hook: after-gc-hook
2541 after-gc-hook takes over the role of gc-thunk. This hook is run at
2542 the first SCM_TICK after a GC. (Thus, the code is run at the same
2543 point during evaluation as signal handlers.)
2545 Note that this hook should be used only for diagnostic and debugging
2546 purposes. It is not certain that it will continue to be well-defined
2547 when this hook is run in the future.
2549 C programmers: Note the new C level hooks scm_before_gc_c_hook,
2550 scm_before_sweep_c_hook, scm_after_gc_c_hook.
2552 ** Improvements to garbage collector
2554 Guile 1.4 has a new policy for triggering heap allocation and
2555 determining the sizes of heap segments. It fixes a number of problems
2558 1. The new policy can handle two separate pools of cells
2559 (2-word/4-word) better. (The old policy would run wild, allocating
2560 more and more memory for certain programs.)
2562 2. The old code would sometimes allocate far too much heap so that the
2563 Guile process became gigantic. The new code avoids this.
2565 3. The old code would sometimes allocate too little so that few cells
2566 were freed at GC so that, in turn, too much time was spent in GC.
2568 4. The old code would often trigger heap allocation several times in a
2569 row. (The new scheme predicts how large the segments needs to be
2570 in order not to need further allocation.)
2572 All in all, the new GC policy will make larger applications more
2575 The new GC scheme also is prepared for POSIX threading. Threads can
2576 allocate private pools of cells ("clusters") with just a single
2577 function call. Allocation of single cells from such a cluster can
2578 then proceed without any need of inter-thread synchronization.
2580 ** New environment variables controlling GC parameters
2582 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE Maximal segment size
2585 Allocation of 2-word cell heaps:
2587 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1 Size of initial heap segment in bytes
2590 GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1 Minimum number of freed cells at each
2591 GC in percent of total heap size
2594 Allocation of 4-word cell heaps
2595 (used for real numbers and misc other objects):
2597 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2
2599 (See entry "Way for application to customize GC parameters" under
2600 section "Changes to the scm_ interface" below.)
2602 ** Guile now implements reals using 4-word cells
2604 This speeds up computation with reals. (They were earlier allocated
2605 with `malloc'.) There is still some room for optimizations, however.
2607 ** Some further steps toward POSIX thread support have been taken
2609 *** Guile's critical sections (SCM_DEFER/ALLOW_INTS)
2610 don't have much effect any longer, and many of them will be removed in
2614 are only handled at the top of the evaluator loop, immediately after
2615 I/O, and in scm_equalp.
2617 *** The GC can allocate thread private pools of pairs.
2619 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
2621 ** close-input-port and close-output-port are now R5RS
2623 These procedures have been turned into primitives and have R5RS behaviour.
2625 ** New procedure: simple-format PORT MESSAGE ARG1 ...
2627 (ice-9 boot) makes `format' an alias for `simple-format' until possibly
2628 extended by the more sophisticated version in (ice-9 format)
2630 (simple-format port message . args)
2631 Write MESSAGE to DESTINATION, defaulting to `current-output-port'.
2632 MESSAGE can contain ~A (was %s) and ~S (was %S) escapes. When printed,
2633 the escapes are replaced with corresponding members of ARGS:
2634 ~A formats using `display' and ~S formats using `write'.
2635 If DESTINATION is #t, then use the `current-output-port',
2636 if DESTINATION is #f, then return a string containing the formatted text.
2637 Does not add a trailing newline."
2639 ** string-ref: the second argument is no longer optional.
2641 ** string, list->string: no longer accept strings in their arguments,
2642 only characters, for compatibility with R5RS.
2644 ** New procedure: port-closed? PORT
2645 Returns #t if PORT is closed or #f if it is open.
2647 ** Deprecated: list*
2649 The list* functionality is now provided by cons* (SRFI-1 compliant)
2651 ** New procedure: cons* ARG1 ARG2 ... ARGn
2653 Like `list', but the last arg provides the tail of the constructed list,
2654 returning (cons ARG1 (cons ARG2 (cons ... ARGn))).
2656 Requires at least one argument. If given one argument, that argument
2657 is returned as result.
2659 This function is called `list*' in some other Schemes and in Common LISP.
2661 ** Removed deprecated: serial-map, serial-array-copy!, serial-array-map!
2663 ** New procedure: object-documentation OBJECT
2665 Returns the documentation string associated with OBJECT. The
2666 procedure uses a caching mechanism so that subsequent lookups are
2669 Exported by (ice-9 documentation).
2671 ** module-name now returns full names of modules
2673 Previously, only the last part of the name was returned (`session' for
2674 `(ice-9 session)'). Ex: `(ice-9 session)'.
2676 * Changes to the gh_ interface
2678 ** Deprecated: gh_int2scmb
2680 Use gh_bool2scm instead.
2682 * Changes to the scm_ interface
2684 ** Guile primitives now carry docstrings!
2686 Thanks to Greg Badros!
2688 ** Guile primitives are defined in a new way: SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
2690 Now Guile primitives are defined using the SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
2691 macros and must contain a docstring that is extracted into foo.doc using a new
2692 guile-doc-snarf script (that uses guile-doc-snarf.awk).
2694 However, a major overhaul of these macros is scheduled for the next release of
2697 ** Guile primitives use a new technique for validation of arguments
2699 SCM_VALIDATE_* macros are defined to ease the redundancy and improve
2700 the readability of argument checking.
2702 ** All (nearly?) K&R prototypes for functions replaced with ANSI C equivalents.
2704 ** New macros: SCM_PACK, SCM_UNPACK
2706 Compose/decompose an SCM value.
2708 The SCM type is now treated as an abstract data type and may be defined as a
2709 long, a void* or as a struct, depending on the architecture and compile time
2710 options. This makes it easier to find several types of bugs, for example when
2711 SCM values are treated as integers without conversion. Values of the SCM type
2712 should be treated as "atomic" values. These macros are used when
2713 composing/decomposing an SCM value, either because you want to access
2714 individual bits, or because you want to treat it as an integer value.
2716 E.g., in order to set bit 7 in an SCM value x, use the expression
2718 SCM_PACK (SCM_UNPACK (x) | 0x80)
2720 ** The name property of hooks is deprecated.
2721 Thus, the use of SCM_HOOK_NAME and scm_make_hook_with_name is deprecated.
2723 You can emulate this feature by using object properties.
2725 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP, SCM_CRDY, SCM_ICHRP,
2726 SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR, SCM_SETJMPBUF, SCM_NSTRINGP, SCM_NRWSTRINGP,
2729 These macros will be removed in a future release of Guile.
2731 ** The following types, functions and macros from numbers.h are deprecated:
2732 scm_dblproc, SCM_UNEGFIXABLE, SCM_FLOBUFLEN, SCM_INEXP, SCM_CPLXP, SCM_REAL,
2733 SCM_IMAG, SCM_REALPART, scm_makdbl, SCM_SINGP, SCM_NUM2DBL, SCM_NO_BIGDIG
2735 ** Port internals: the rw_random variable in the scm_port structure
2736 must be set to non-zero in any random access port. In recent Guile
2737 releases it was only set for bidirectional random-access ports.
2739 ** Port internals: the seek ptob procedure is now responsible for
2740 resetting the buffers if required. The change was made so that in the
2741 special case of reading the current position (i.e., seek p 0 SEEK_CUR)
2742 the fport and strport ptobs can avoid resetting the buffers,
2743 in particular to avoid discarding unread chars. An existing port
2744 type can be fixed by adding something like the following to the
2745 beginning of the ptob seek procedure:
2747 if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_READ)
2748 scm_end_input (object);
2749 else if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_WRITE)
2750 ptob->flush (object);
2752 although to actually avoid resetting the buffers and discard unread
2753 chars requires further hacking that depends on the characteristics
2756 ** Deprecated functions: scm_fseek, scm_tag
2758 These functions are no longer used and will be removed in a future version.
2760 ** The scm_sysmissing procedure is no longer used in libguile.
2761 Unless it turns out to be unexpectedly useful to somebody, it will be
2762 removed in a future version.
2764 ** The format of error message strings has changed
2766 The two C procedures: scm_display_error and scm_error, as well as the
2767 primitive `scm-error', now use scm_simple_format to do their work.
2768 This means that the message strings of all code must be updated to use
2769 ~A where %s was used before, and ~S where %S was used before.
2771 During the period when there still are a lot of old Guiles out there,
2772 you might want to support both old and new versions of Guile.
2774 There are basically two methods to achieve this. Both methods use
2777 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(scm_simple_format)
2779 in your configure.in.
2781 Method 1: Use the string concatenation features of ANSI C's
2786 #ifdef HAVE_SCM_SIMPLE_FORMAT
2792 Then represent each of your error messages using a preprocessor macro:
2794 #define E_SPIDER_ERROR "There's a spider in your " ## FMT_S ## "!!!"
2798 (define fmt-s (if (defined? 'simple-format) "~S" "%S"))
2799 (define make-message string-append)
2801 (define e-spider-error (make-message "There's a spider in your " fmt-s "!!!"))
2803 Method 2: Use the oldfmt function found in doc/oldfmt.c.
2807 scm_misc_error ("picnic", scm_c_oldfmt0 ("There's a spider in your ~S!!!"),
2812 (scm-error 'misc-error "picnic" (oldfmt "There's a spider in your ~S!!!")
2816 ** Deprecated: coop_mutex_init, coop_condition_variable_init
2818 Don't use the functions coop_mutex_init and
2819 coop_condition_variable_init. They will change.
2821 Use scm_mutex_init and scm_cond_init instead.
2823 ** New function: int scm_cond_timedwait (scm_cond_t *COND, scm_mutex_t *MUTEX, const struct timespec *ABSTIME)
2824 `scm_cond_timedwait' atomically unlocks MUTEX and waits on
2825 COND, as `scm_cond_wait' does, but it also bounds the duration
2826 of the wait. If COND has not been signaled before time ABSTIME,
2827 the mutex MUTEX is re-acquired and `scm_cond_timedwait'
2828 returns the error code `ETIMEDOUT'.
2830 The ABSTIME parameter specifies an absolute time, with the same
2831 origin as `time' and `gettimeofday': an ABSTIME of 0 corresponds
2832 to 00:00:00 GMT, January 1, 1970.
2834 ** New function: scm_cond_broadcast (scm_cond_t *COND)
2835 `scm_cond_broadcast' restarts all the threads that are waiting
2836 on the condition variable COND. Nothing happens if no threads are
2839 ** New function: scm_key_create (scm_key_t *KEY, void (*destr_function) (void *))
2840 `scm_key_create' allocates a new TSD key. The key is stored in
2841 the location pointed to by KEY. There is no limit on the number
2842 of keys allocated at a given time. The value initially associated
2843 with the returned key is `NULL' in all currently executing threads.
2845 The DESTR_FUNCTION argument, if not `NULL', specifies a destructor
2846 function associated with the key. When a thread terminates,
2847 DESTR_FUNCTION is called on the value associated with the key in
2848 that thread. The DESTR_FUNCTION is not called if a key is deleted
2849 with `scm_key_delete' or a value is changed with
2850 `scm_setspecific'. The order in which destructor functions are
2851 called at thread termination time is unspecified.
2853 Destructors are not yet implemented.
2855 ** New function: scm_setspecific (scm_key_t KEY, const void *POINTER)
2856 `scm_setspecific' changes the value associated with KEY in the
2857 calling thread, storing the given POINTER instead.
2859 ** New function: scm_getspecific (scm_key_t KEY)
2860 `scm_getspecific' returns the value currently associated with
2861 KEY in the calling thread.
2863 ** New function: scm_key_delete (scm_key_t KEY)
2864 `scm_key_delete' deallocates a TSD key. It does not check
2865 whether non-`NULL' values are associated with that key in the
2866 currently executing threads, nor call the destructor function
2867 associated with the key.
2869 ** New function: scm_c_hook_init (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *HOOK_DATA, scm_c_hook_type_t TYPE)
2871 Initialize a C level hook HOOK with associated HOOK_DATA and type
2872 TYPE. (See scm_c_hook_run ().)
2874 ** New function: scm_c_hook_add (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA, int APPENDP)
2876 Add hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA to HOOK. If APPENDP
2877 is true, add it last, otherwise first. The same FUNC can be added
2878 multiple times if FUNC_DATA differ and vice versa.
2880 ** New function: scm_c_hook_remove (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA)
2882 Remove hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA from HOOK. A
2883 function is only removed if both FUNC and FUNC_DATA matches.
2885 ** New function: void *scm_c_hook_run (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *DATA)
2887 Run hook HOOK passing DATA to the hook functions.
2889 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_NORMAL, all hook functions are run. The value
2890 returned is undefined.
2892 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_OR, hook functions are run until a function
2893 returns a non-NULL value. This value is returned as the result of
2894 scm_c_hook_run. If all functions return NULL, NULL is returned.
2896 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_AND, hook functions are run until a function
2897 returns a NULL value, and NULL is returned. If all functions returns
2898 a non-NULL value, the last value is returned.
2900 ** New C level GC hooks
2902 Five new C level hooks has been added to the garbage collector.
2904 scm_before_gc_c_hook
2907 are run before locking and after unlocking the heap. The system is
2908 thus in a mode where evaluation can take place. (Except that
2909 scm_before_gc_c_hook must not allocate new cells.)
2911 scm_before_mark_c_hook
2912 scm_before_sweep_c_hook
2913 scm_after_sweep_c_hook
2915 are run when the heap is locked. These are intended for extension of
2916 the GC in a modular fashion. Examples are the weaks and guardians
2919 ** Way for application to customize GC parameters
2921 The application can set up other default values for the GC heap
2922 allocation parameters
2924 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_1, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1,
2925 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2,
2926 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE,
2930 scm_default_init_heap_size_1, scm_default_min_yield_1,
2931 scm_default_init_heap_size_2, scm_default_min_yield_2,
2932 scm_default_max_segment_size
2934 respectively before callong scm_boot_guile.
2936 (See entry "New environment variables ..." in section
2937 "Changes to the stand-alone interpreter" above.)
2939 ** scm_protect_object/scm_unprotect_object now nest
2941 This means that you can call scm_protect_object multiple times on an
2942 object and count on the object being protected until
2943 scm_unprotect_object has been call the same number of times.
2945 The functions also have better time complexity.
2947 Still, it is usually possible to structure the application in a way
2948 that you don't need to use these functions. For example, if you use a
2949 protected standard Guile list to keep track of live objects rather
2950 than some custom data type, objects will die a natural death when they
2951 are no longer needed.
2953 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc16_flo, scm_tc_flo, scm_tc_dblr, scm_tc_dblc
2955 Guile does not provide the float representation for inexact real numbers any
2956 more. Now, only doubles are used to represent inexact real numbers. Further,
2957 the tag names scm_tc_dblr and scm_tc_dblc have been changed to scm_tc16_real
2958 and scm_tc16_complex, respectively.
2960 ** Removed deprecated type scm_smobfuns
2962 ** Removed deprecated function scm_newsmob
2964 ** Warning: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe might become deprecated in a future release
2966 There is an ongoing discussion among the developers whether to
2967 deprecate `scm_make_smob_type_mfpe' or not. Please use the current
2968 standard interface (scm_make_smob_type, scm_set_smob_XXX) in new code
2969 until this issue has been settled.
2971 ** Removed deprecated type tag scm_tc16_kw
2973 ** Added type tag scm_tc16_keyword
2975 (This was introduced already in release 1.3.4 but was not documented
2978 ** gdb_print now prints "*** Guile not initialized ***" until Guile initialized
2980 * Changes to system call interfaces:
2982 ** The "select" procedure now tests port buffers for the ability to
2983 provide input or accept output. Previously only the underlying file
2984 descriptors were checked.
2986 ** New variable PIPE_BUF: the maximum number of bytes that can be
2987 atomically written to a pipe.
2989 ** If a facility is not available on the system when Guile is
2990 compiled, the corresponding primitive procedure will not be defined.
2991 Previously it would have been defined but would throw a system-error
2992 exception if called. Exception handlers which catch this case may
2993 need minor modification: an error will be thrown with key
2994 'unbound-variable instead of 'system-error. Alternatively it's
2995 now possible to use `defined?' to check whether the facility is
2998 ** Procedures which depend on the timezone should now give the correct
2999 result on systems which cache the TZ environment variable, even if TZ
3000 is changed without calling tzset.
3002 * Changes to the networking interfaces:
3004 ** New functions: htons, ntohs, htonl, ntohl: for converting short and
3005 long integers between network and host format. For now, it's not
3006 particularly convenient to do this kind of thing, but consider:
3008 (define write-network-long
3009 (lambda (value port)
3010 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
3011 (uniform-vector-set! v 0 (htonl value))
3012 (uniform-vector-write v port))))
3014 (define read-network-long
3016 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
3017 (uniform-vector-read! v port)
3018 (ntohl (uniform-vector-ref v 0)))))
3020 ** If inet-aton fails, it now throws an error with key 'misc-error
3021 instead of 'system-error, since errno is not relevant.
3023 ** Certain gethostbyname/gethostbyaddr failures now throw errors with
3024 specific keys instead of 'system-error. The latter is inappropriate
3025 since errno will not have been set. The keys are:
3026 'host-not-found, 'try-again, 'no-recovery and 'no-data.
3028 ** sethostent, setnetent, setprotoent, setservent: now take an
3029 optional argument STAYOPEN, which specifies whether the database
3030 remains open after a database entry is accessed randomly (e.g., using
3031 gethostbyname for the hosts database.) The default is #f. Previously
3035 Changes since Guile 1.3.2:
3037 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
3041 An initial version of the Guile debugger written by Chris Hanson has
3042 been added. The debugger is still under development but is included
3043 in the distribution anyway since it is already quite useful.
3049 after an error to enter the debugger. Type `help' inside the debugger
3050 for a description of available commands.
3052 If you prefer to have stack frames numbered and printed in
3053 anti-chronological order and prefer up in the stack to be down on the
3054 screen as is the case in gdb, you can put
3056 (debug-enable 'backwards)
3058 in your .guile startup file. (However, this means that Guile can't
3059 use indentation to indicate stack level.)
3061 The debugger is autoloaded into Guile at the first use.
3063 ** Further enhancements to backtraces
3065 There is a new debug option `width' which controls the maximum width
3066 on the screen of printed stack frames. Fancy printing parameters
3067 ("level" and "length" as in Common LISP) are adaptively adjusted for
3068 each stack frame to give maximum information while still fitting
3069 within the bounds. If the stack frame can't be made to fit by
3070 adjusting parameters, it is simply cut off at the end. This is marked
3073 ** Some modules are now only loaded when the repl is started
3075 The modules (ice-9 debug), (ice-9 session), (ice-9 threads) and (ice-9
3076 regex) are now loaded into (guile-user) only if the repl has been
3077 started. The effect is that the startup time for scripts has been
3078 reduced to 30% of what it was previously.
3080 Correctly written scripts load the modules they require at the top of
3081 the file and should not be affected by this change.
3083 ** Hooks are now represented as smobs
3085 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
3087 ** Readline support has changed again.
3089 The old (readline-activator) module is gone. Use (ice-9 readline)
3090 instead, which now contains all readline functionality. So the code
3091 to activate readline is now
3093 (use-modules (ice-9 readline))
3096 This should work at any time, including from the guile prompt.
3098 To avoid confusion about the terms of Guile's license, please only
3099 enable readline for your personal use; please don't make it the
3100 default for others. Here is why we make this rather odd-sounding
3103 Guile is normally licensed under a weakened form of the GNU General
3104 Public License, which allows you to link code with Guile without
3105 placing that code under the GPL. This exception is important to some
3108 However, since readline is distributed under the GNU General Public
3109 License, when you link Guile with readline, either statically or
3110 dynamically, you effectively change Guile's license to the strict GPL.
3111 Whenever you link any strictly GPL'd code into Guile, uses of Guile
3112 which are normally permitted become forbidden. This is a rather
3113 non-obvious consequence of the licensing terms.
3115 So, to make sure things remain clear, please let people choose for
3116 themselves whether to link GPL'd libraries like readline with Guile.
3118 ** regexp-substitute/global has changed slightly, but incompatibly.
3120 If you include a function in the item list, the string of the match
3121 object it receives is the same string passed to
3122 regexp-substitute/global, not some suffix of that string.
3123 Correspondingly, the match's positions are relative to the entire
3124 string, not the suffix.
3126 If the regexp can match the empty string, the way matches are chosen
3127 from the string has changed. regexp-substitute/global recognizes the
3128 same set of matches that list-matches does; see below.
3130 ** New function: list-matches REGEXP STRING [FLAGS]
3132 Return a list of match objects, one for every non-overlapping, maximal
3133 match of REGEXP in STRING. The matches appear in left-to-right order.
3134 list-matches only reports matches of the empty string if there are no
3135 other matches which begin on, end at, or include the empty match's
3138 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
3140 ** New function: fold-matches REGEXP STRING INIT PROC [FLAGS]
3142 For each match of REGEXP in STRING, apply PROC to the match object,
3143 and the last value PROC returned, or INIT for the first call. Return
3144 the last value returned by PROC. We apply PROC to the matches as they
3145 appear from left to right.
3147 This function recognizes matches according to the same criteria as
3150 Thus, you could define list-matches like this:
3152 (define (list-matches regexp string . flags)
3153 (reverse! (apply fold-matches regexp string '() cons flags)))
3155 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
3159 *** New function: hook? OBJ
3161 Return #t if OBJ is a hook, otherwise #f.
3163 *** New function: make-hook-with-name NAME [ARITY]
3165 Return a hook with name NAME and arity ARITY. The default value for
3166 ARITY is 0. The only effect of NAME is that it will appear when the
3167 hook object is printed to ease debugging.
3169 *** New function: hook-empty? HOOK
3171 Return #t if HOOK doesn't contain any procedures, otherwise #f.
3173 *** New function: hook->list HOOK
3175 Return a list of the procedures that are called when run-hook is
3178 ** `map' signals an error if its argument lists are not all the same length.
3180 This is the behavior required by R5RS, so this change is really a bug
3181 fix. But it seems to affect a lot of people's code, so we're
3182 mentioning it here anyway.
3184 ** Print-state handling has been made more transparent
3186 Under certain circumstances, ports are represented as a port with an
3187 associated print state. Earlier, this pair was represented as a pair
3188 (see "Some magic has been added to the printer" below). It is now
3189 indistinguishable (almost; see `get-print-state') from a port on the
3192 *** New function: port-with-print-state OUTPUT-PORT PRINT-STATE
3194 Return a new port with the associated print state PRINT-STATE.
3196 *** New function: get-print-state OUTPUT-PORT
3198 Return the print state associated with this port if it exists,
3199 otherwise return #f.
3201 *** New function: directory-stream? OBJECT
3203 Returns true iff OBJECT is a directory stream --- the sort of object
3204 returned by `opendir'.
3206 ** New function: using-readline?
3208 Return #t if readline is in use in the current repl.
3210 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
3212 Structs will be replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into Guile
3213 and use GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
3215 * Changes to the scm_ interface
3217 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
3219 The entire current struct interface (struct.c, struct.h) will be
3220 replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into libguile and use
3221 GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
3223 ** The internal representation of subr's has changed
3225 Instead of giving a hint to the subr name, the CAR field of the subr
3226 now contains an index to a subr entry in scm_subr_table.
3228 *** New variable: scm_subr_table
3230 An array of subr entries. A subr entry contains the name, properties
3231 and documentation associated with the subr. The properties and
3232 documentation slots are not yet used.
3234 ** A new scheme for "forwarding" calls to a builtin to a generic function
3236 It is now possible to extend the functionality of some Guile
3237 primitives by letting them defer a call to a GOOPS generic function on
3238 argument mismatch. This means that there is no loss of efficiency in
3243 (use-modules (oop goops)) ; Must be GOOPS version 0.2.
3244 (define-method + ((x <string>) (y <string>))
3245 (string-append x y))
3247 + will still be as efficient as usual in numerical calculations, but
3248 can also be used for concatenating strings.
3250 Who will be the first one to extend Guile's numerical tower to
3251 rationals? :) [OK, there a few other things to fix before this can
3252 be made in a clean way.]
3254 *** New snarf macros for defining primitives: SCM_GPROC, SCM_GPROC1
3256 New macro: SCM_GPROC (CNAME, SNAME, REQ, OPT, VAR, CFUNC, GENERIC)
3258 New macro: SCM_GPROC1 (CNAME, SNAME, TYPE, CFUNC, GENERIC)
3260 These do the same job as SCM_PROC and SCM_PROC1, but they also define
3261 a variable GENERIC which can be used by the dispatch macros below.
3263 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3265 *** New macros for forwarding control to a generic on arg type error
3267 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_1 (GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
3269 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
3271 These correspond to the scm_wta function call, and have the same
3272 behaviour until the user has called the GOOPS primitive
3273 `enable-primitive-generic!'. After that, these macros will apply the
3274 generic function GENERIC to the argument(s) instead of calling
3277 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3279 *** New macros for argument testing with generic dispatch
3281 New macro: SCM_GASSERT1 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
3283 New macro: SCM_GASSERT2 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
3285 These correspond to the SCM_ASSERT macro, but will defer control to
3286 GENERIC on error after `enable-primitive-generic!' has been called.
3288 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3290 ** New function: SCM scm_eval_body (SCM body, SCM env)
3292 Evaluates the body of a special form.
3294 ** The internal representation of struct's has changed
3296 Previously, four slots were allocated for the procedure(s) of entities
3297 and operators. The motivation for this representation had to do with
3298 the structure of the evaluator, the wish to support tail-recursive
3299 generic functions, and efficiency. Since the generic function
3300 dispatch mechanism has changed, there is no longer a need for such an
3301 expensive representation, and the representation has been simplified.
3303 This should not make any difference for most users.
3305 ** GOOPS support has been cleaned up.
3307 Some code has been moved from eval.c to objects.c and code in both of
3308 these compilation units has been cleaned up and better structured.
3310 *** New functions for applying generic functions
3312 New function: SCM scm_apply_generic (GENERIC, ARGS)
3313 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_0 (GENERIC)
3314 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_1 (GENERIC, ARG1)
3315 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2)
3316 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_3 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, ARG3)
3318 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_named_hook
3320 It is now replaced by:
3322 ** New function: SCM scm_create_hook (const char *name, int arity)
3324 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
3325 binds a variable named NAME to it.
3327 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
3329 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module.
3330 This might change when we get the new module system.
3332 [The behaviour is identical to scm_make_named_hook.]
3336 Changes since Guile 1.3:
3338 * Changes to mailing lists
3340 ** Some of the Guile mailing lists have moved to sourceware.cygnus.com.
3342 See the README file to find current addresses for all the Guile
3345 * Changes to the distribution
3347 ** Readline support is no longer included with Guile by default.
3349 Based on the different license terms of Guile and Readline, we
3350 concluded that Guile should not *by default* cause the linking of
3351 Readline into an application program. Readline support is now offered
3352 as a separate module, which is linked into an application only when
3353 you explicitly specify it.
3355 Although Guile is GNU software, its distribution terms add a special
3356 exception to the usual GNU General Public License (GPL). Guile's
3357 license includes a clause that allows you to link Guile with non-free
3358 programs. We add this exception so as not to put Guile at a
3359 disadvantage vis-a-vis other extensibility packages that support other
3362 In contrast, the GNU Readline library is distributed under the GNU
3363 General Public License pure and simple. This means that you may not
3364 link Readline, even dynamically, into an application unless it is
3365 distributed under a free software license that is compatible the GPL.
3367 Because of this difference in distribution terms, an application that
3368 can use Guile may not be able to use Readline. Now users will be
3369 explicitly offered two independent decisions about the use of these
3372 You can activate the readline support by issuing
3374 (use-modules (readline-activator))
3377 from your ".guile" file, for example.
3379 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
3381 ** All builtins now print as primitives.
3382 Previously builtin procedures not belonging to the fundamental subr
3383 types printed as #<compiled closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>.
3384 Now, they print as #<primitive-procedure NAME>.
3386 ** Backtraces slightly more intelligible.
3387 gsubr-apply and macro transformer application frames no longer appear
3390 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
3392 ** Guile now correctly handles internal defines by rewriting them into
3393 their equivalent letrec. Previously, internal defines would
3394 incrementally add to the innermost environment, without checking
3395 whether the restrictions specified in RnRS were met. This lead to the
3396 correct behaviour when these restriction actually were met, but didn't
3397 catch all illegal uses. Such an illegal use could lead to crashes of
3398 the Guile interpreter or or other unwanted results. An example of
3399 incorrect internal defines that made Guile behave erratically:
3411 The problem with this example is that the definition of `c' uses the
3412 value of `b' directly. This confuses the meoization machine of Guile
3413 so that the second call of `b' (this time in a larger environment that
3414 also contains bindings for `c' and `d') refers to the binding of `c'
3415 instead of `a'. You could also make Guile crash with a variation on
3420 (define (b flag) (if flag a 1))
3421 (define c (1+ (b flag)))
3429 From now on, Guile will issue an `Unbound variable: b' error message
3434 A hook contains a list of functions which should be called on
3435 particular occasions in an existing program. Hooks are used for
3438 A window manager might have a hook before-window-map-hook. The window
3439 manager uses the function run-hooks to call all functions stored in
3440 before-window-map-hook each time a window is mapped. The user can
3441 store functions in the hook using add-hook!.
3443 In Guile, hooks are first class objects.
3445 *** New function: make-hook [N_ARGS]
3447 Return a hook for hook functions which can take N_ARGS arguments.
3448 The default value for N_ARGS is 0.
3450 (See also scm_make_named_hook below.)
3452 *** New function: add-hook! HOOK PROC [APPEND_P]
3454 Put PROC at the beginning of the list of functions stored in HOOK.
3455 If APPEND_P is supplied, and non-false, put PROC at the end instead.
3457 PROC must be able to take the number of arguments specified when the
3460 If PROC already exists in HOOK, then remove it first.
3462 *** New function: remove-hook! HOOK PROC
3464 Remove PROC from the list of functions in HOOK.
3466 *** New function: reset-hook! HOOK
3468 Clear the list of hook functions stored in HOOK.
3470 *** New function: run-hook HOOK ARG1 ...
3472 Run all hook functions stored in HOOK with arguments ARG1 ... .
3473 The number of arguments supplied must correspond to the number given
3474 when the hook was created.
3476 ** The function `dynamic-link' now takes optional keyword arguments.
3477 The only keyword argument that is currently defined is `:global
3478 BOOL'. With it, you can control whether the shared library will be
3479 linked in global mode or not. In global mode, the symbols from the
3480 linked library can be used to resolve references from other
3481 dynamically linked libraries. In non-global mode, the linked
3482 library is essentially invisible and can only be accessed via
3483 `dynamic-func', etc. The default is now to link in global mode.
3484 Previously, the default has been non-global mode.
3486 The `#:global' keyword is only effective on platforms that support
3487 the dlopen family of functions.
3489 ** New function `provided?'
3491 - Function: provided? FEATURE
3492 Return true iff FEATURE is supported by this installation of
3493 Guile. FEATURE must be a symbol naming a feature; the global
3494 variable `*features*' is a list of available features.
3496 ** Changes to the module (ice-9 expect):
3498 *** The expect-strings macro now matches `$' in a regular expression
3499 only at a line-break or end-of-file by default. Previously it would
3500 match the end of the string accumulated so far. The old behaviour
3501 can be obtained by setting the variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
3504 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
3505 for the regexp-exec flags. If `regexp/noteol' is included, then `$'
3506 in a regular expression will still match before a line-break or
3507 end-of-file. The default is `regexp/noteol'.
3509 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable
3510 `expect-strings-compile-flags' for the flags to be supplied to
3511 `make-regexp'. The default is `regexp/newline', which was previously
3514 *** The expect macro now supplies two arguments to a match procedure:
3515 the current accumulated string and a flag to indicate whether
3516 end-of-file has been reached. Previously only the string was supplied.
3517 If end-of-file is reached, the match procedure will be called an
3518 additional time with the same accumulated string as the previous call
3519 but with the flag set.
3521 ** New module (ice-9 format), implementing the Common Lisp `format' function.
3523 This code, and the documentation for it that appears here, was
3524 borrowed from SLIB, with minor adaptations for Guile.
3526 - Function: format DESTINATION FORMAT-STRING . ARGUMENTS
3527 An almost complete implementation of Common LISP format description
3528 according to the CL reference book `Common LISP' from Guy L.
3529 Steele, Digital Press. Backward compatible to most of the
3530 available Scheme format implementations.
3532 Returns `#t', `#f' or a string; has side effect of printing
3533 according to FORMAT-STRING. If DESTINATION is `#t', the output is
3534 to the current output port and `#t' is returned. If DESTINATION
3535 is `#f', a formatted string is returned as the result of the call.
3536 NEW: If DESTINATION is a string, DESTINATION is regarded as the
3537 format string; FORMAT-STRING is then the first argument and the
3538 output is returned as a string. If DESTINATION is a number, the
3539 output is to the current error port if available by the
3540 implementation. Otherwise DESTINATION must be an output port and
3543 FORMAT-STRING must be a string. In case of a formatting error
3544 format returns `#f' and prints a message on the current output or
3545 error port. Characters are output as if the string were output by
3546 the `display' function with the exception of those prefixed by a
3547 tilde (~). For a detailed description of the FORMAT-STRING syntax
3548 please consult a Common LISP format reference manual. For a test
3549 suite to verify this format implementation load `formatst.scm'.
3550 Please send bug reports to `lutzeb@cs.tu-berlin.de'.
3552 Note: `format' is not reentrant, i.e. only one `format'-call may
3553 be executed at a time.
3556 *** Format Specification (Format version 3.0)
3558 Please consult a Common LISP format reference manual for a detailed
3559 description of the format string syntax. For a demonstration of the
3560 implemented directives see `formatst.scm'.
3562 This implementation supports directive parameters and modifiers (`:'
3563 and `@' characters). Multiple parameters must be separated by a comma
3564 (`,'). Parameters can be numerical parameters (positive or negative),
3565 character parameters (prefixed by a quote character (`''), variable
3566 parameters (`v'), number of rest arguments parameter (`#'), empty and
3567 default parameters. Directive characters are case independent. The
3568 general form of a directive is:
3570 DIRECTIVE ::= ~{DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER,}[:][@]DIRECTIVE-CHARACTER
3572 DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER ::= [ [-|+]{0-9}+ | 'CHARACTER | v | # ]
3574 *** Implemented CL Format Control Directives
3576 Documentation syntax: Uppercase characters represent the
3577 corresponding control directive characters. Lowercase characters
3578 represent control directive parameter descriptions.
3581 Any (print as `display' does).
3585 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARA'
3589 S-expression (print as `write' does).
3593 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARS'
3599 print number sign always.
3602 print comma separated.
3604 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARD'
3610 print number sign always.
3613 print comma separated.
3615 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARX'
3621 print number sign always.
3624 print comma separated.
3626 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARO'
3632 print number sign always.
3635 print comma separated.
3637 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARB'
3642 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARR'
3646 print a number as a Roman numeral.
3649 print a number as an "old fashioned" Roman numeral.
3652 print a number as an ordinal English number.
3655 print a number as a cardinal English number.
3660 prints `y' and `ies'.
3663 as `~P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
3666 as `~@P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
3671 prints a character as the reader can understand it (i.e. `#\'
3675 prints a character as emacs does (eg. `^C' for ASCII 03).
3678 Fixed-format floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN).
3679 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHARF'
3681 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
3684 Exponential floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN`E'EE).
3685 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARE'
3687 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
3690 General floating-point (prints a flonum either fixed or
3692 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARG'
3694 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
3697 Dollars floating-point (prints a flonum in fixed with signs
3699 `~DIGITS,SCALE,WIDTH,PADCHAR$'
3701 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
3704 A sign is always printed and appears before the padding.
3707 The sign appears before the padding.
3715 print newline if not at the beginning of the output line.
3717 prints `~&' and then N-1 newlines.
3722 print N page separators.
3732 newline is ignored, white space left.
3735 newline is left, white space ignored.
3740 relative tabulation.
3746 Indirection (expects indirect arguments as a list).
3748 extracts indirect arguments from format arguments.
3751 Case conversion (converts by `string-downcase').
3753 converts by `string-capitalize'.
3756 converts by `string-capitalize-first'.
3759 converts by `string-upcase'.
3762 Argument Jumping (jumps 1 argument forward).
3764 jumps N arguments forward.
3767 jumps 1 argument backward.
3770 jumps N arguments backward.
3773 jumps to the 0th argument.
3776 jumps to the Nth argument (beginning from 0)
3778 `~[STR0~;STR1~;...~;STRN~]'
3779 Conditional Expression (numerical clause conditional).
3781 take argument from N.
3784 true test conditional.
3787 if-else-then conditional.
3793 default clause follows.
3796 Iteration (args come from the next argument (a list)).
3798 at most N iterations.
3801 args from next arg (a list of lists).
3804 args from the rest of arguments.
3807 args from the rest args (lists).
3818 aborts if N <= M <= K
3820 *** Not Implemented CL Format Control Directives
3823 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
3826 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
3832 (sorry I don't understand its semantics completely)
3834 *** Extended, Replaced and Additional Control Directives
3836 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHD'
3837 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHX'
3838 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHO'
3839 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHB'
3840 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHR'
3841 COMMAWIDTH is the number of characters between two comma
3845 print a R4RS complex number as `~F~@Fi' with passed parameters for
3849 Pretty print formatting of an argument for scheme code lists.
3855 Flushes the output if format DESTINATION is a port.
3858 Print a `#\space' character
3860 print N `#\space' characters.
3863 Print a `#\tab' character
3865 print N `#\tab' characters.
3868 Takes N as an integer representation for a character. No arguments
3869 are consumed. N is converted to a character by `integer->char'. N
3870 must be a positive decimal number.
3873 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
3874 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
3875 be processed by `read'.
3878 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
3879 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
3880 be processed by `read'.
3883 Prints information and a copyright notice on the format
3886 prints format version.
3889 may also print number strings, i.e. passing a number as a string
3890 and format it accordingly.
3892 *** Configuration Variables
3894 The format module exports some configuration variables to suit the
3895 systems and users needs. There should be no modification necessary for
3896 the configuration that comes with Guile. Format detects automatically
3897 if the running scheme system implements floating point numbers and
3900 format:symbol-case-conv
3901 Symbols are converted by `symbol->string' so the case type of the
3902 printed symbols is implementation dependent.
3903 `format:symbol-case-conv' is a one arg closure which is either
3904 `#f' (no conversion), `string-upcase', `string-downcase' or
3905 `string-capitalize'. (default `#f')
3907 format:iobj-case-conv
3908 As FORMAT:SYMBOL-CASE-CONV but applies for the representation of
3909 implementation internal objects. (default `#f')
3912 The character prefixing the exponent value in `~E' printing.
3915 *** Compatibility With Other Format Implementations
3921 Downward compatible except for padding support and `~A', `~S',
3922 `~P', `~X' uppercase printing. SLIB format 1.4 uses C-style
3923 `printf' padding support which is completely replaced by the CL
3924 `format' padding style.
3927 Downward compatible except for `~', which is not documented
3928 (ignores all characters inside the format string up to a newline
3929 character). (7.1 implements `~a', `~s', ~NEWLINE, `~~', `~%',
3930 numerical and variable parameters and `:/@' modifiers in the CL
3934 Downward compatible except for `~A' and `~S' which print in
3935 uppercase. (Elk implements `~a', `~s', `~~', and `~%' (no
3936 directive parameters or modifiers)).
3939 Downward compatible except for an optional destination parameter:
3940 S2C accepts a format call without a destination which returns a
3941 formatted string. This is equivalent to a #f destination in S2C.
3942 (S2C implements `~a', `~s', `~c', `~%', and `~~' (no directive
3943 parameters or modifiers)).
3946 ** Changes to string-handling functions.
3948 These functions were added to support the (ice-9 format) module, above.
3950 *** New function: string-upcase STRING
3951 *** New function: string-downcase STRING
3953 These are non-destructive versions of the existing string-upcase! and
3954 string-downcase! functions.
3956 *** New function: string-capitalize! STRING
3957 *** New function: string-capitalize STRING
3959 These functions convert the first letter of each word in the string to
3962 (string-capitalize "howdy there")
3965 As with the other functions, string-capitalize! modifies the string in
3966 place, while string-capitalize returns a modified copy of its argument.
3968 *** New function: string-ci->symbol STRING
3970 Return a symbol whose name is STRING, but having the same case as if
3971 the symbol had be read by `read'.
3973 Guile can be configured to be sensitive or insensitive to case
3974 differences in Scheme identifiers. If Guile is case-insensitive, all
3975 symbols are converted to lower case on input. The `string-ci->symbol'
3976 function returns a symbol whose name in STRING, transformed as Guile
3977 would if STRING were input.
3979 *** New function: substring-move! STRING1 START END STRING2 START
3981 Copy the substring of STRING1 from START (inclusive) to END
3982 (exclusive) to STRING2 at START. STRING1 and STRING2 may be the same
3983 string, and the source and destination areas may overlap; in all
3984 cases, the function behaves as if all the characters were copied
3987 *** Extended functions: substring-move-left! substring-move-right!
3989 These functions now correctly copy arbitrarily overlapping substrings;
3990 they are both synonyms for substring-move!.
3993 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-long), with the function `getopt-long'.
3995 getopt-long is a function for parsing command-line arguments in a
3996 manner consistent with other GNU programs.
3998 (getopt-long ARGS GRAMMAR)
3999 Parse the arguments ARGS according to the argument list grammar GRAMMAR.
4001 ARGS should be a list of strings. Its first element should be the
4002 name of the program; subsequent elements should be the arguments
4003 that were passed to the program on the command line. The
4004 `program-arguments' procedure returns a list of this form.
4006 GRAMMAR is a list of the form:
4007 ((OPTION (PROPERTY VALUE) ...) ...)
4009 Each OPTION should be a symbol. `getopt-long' will accept a
4010 command-line option named `--OPTION'.
4011 Each option can have the following (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs:
4013 (single-char CHAR) --- Accept `-CHAR' as a single-character
4014 equivalent to `--OPTION'. This is how to specify traditional
4016 (required? BOOL) --- If BOOL is true, the option is required.
4017 getopt-long will raise an error if it is not found in ARGS.
4018 (value BOOL) --- If BOOL is #t, the option accepts a value; if
4019 it is #f, it does not; and if it is the symbol
4020 `optional', the option may appear in ARGS with or
4022 (predicate FUNC) --- If the option accepts a value (i.e. you
4023 specified `(value #t)' for this option), then getopt
4024 will apply FUNC to the value, and throw an exception
4025 if it returns #f. FUNC should be a procedure which
4026 accepts a string and returns a boolean value; you may
4027 need to use quasiquotes to get it into GRAMMAR.
4029 The (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs may occur in any order, but each
4030 property may occur only once. By default, options do not have
4031 single-character equivalents, are not required, and do not take
4034 In ARGS, single-character options may be combined, in the usual
4035 Unix fashion: ("-x" "-y") is equivalent to ("-xy"). If an option
4036 accepts values, then it must be the last option in the
4037 combination; the value is the next argument. So, for example, using
4038 the following grammar:
4039 ((apples (single-char #\a))
4040 (blimps (single-char #\b) (value #t))
4041 (catalexis (single-char #\c) (value #t)))
4042 the following argument lists would be acceptable:
4043 ("-a" "-b" "bang" "-c" "couth") ("bang" and "couth" are the values
4044 for "blimps" and "catalexis")
4045 ("-ab" "bang" "-c" "couth") (same)
4046 ("-ac" "couth" "-b" "bang") (same)
4047 ("-abc" "couth" "bang") (an error, since `-b' is not the
4048 last option in its combination)
4050 If an option's value is optional, then `getopt-long' decides
4051 whether it has a value by looking at what follows it in ARGS. If
4052 the next element is a string, and it does not appear to be an
4053 option itself, then that string is the option's value.
4055 The value of a long option can appear as the next element in ARGS,
4056 or it can follow the option name, separated by an `=' character.
4057 Thus, using the same grammar as above, the following argument lists
4059 ("--apples" "Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
4060 ("--apples=Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
4061 ("--blimps" "Goodyear" "--apples=Braeburn")
4063 If the option "--" appears in ARGS, argument parsing stops there;
4064 subsequent arguments are returned as ordinary arguments, even if
4065 they resemble options. So, in the argument list:
4066 ("--apples" "Granny Smith" "--" "--blimp" "Goodyear")
4067 `getopt-long' will recognize the `apples' option as having the
4068 value "Granny Smith", but it will not recognize the `blimp'
4069 option; it will return the strings "--blimp" and "Goodyear" as
4070 ordinary argument strings.
4072 The `getopt-long' function returns the parsed argument list as an
4073 assocation list, mapping option names --- the symbols from GRAMMAR
4074 --- onto their values, or #t if the option does not accept a value.
4075 Unused options do not appear in the alist.
4077 All arguments that are not the value of any option are returned
4078 as a list, associated with the empty list.
4080 `getopt-long' throws an exception if:
4081 - it finds an unrecognized option in ARGS
4082 - a required option is omitted
4083 - an option that requires an argument doesn't get one
4084 - an option that doesn't accept an argument does get one (this can
4085 only happen using the long option `--opt=value' syntax)
4086 - an option predicate fails
4091 `((lockfile-dir (required? #t)
4094 (predicate ,file-is-directory?))
4095 (verbose (required? #f)
4098 (x-includes (single-char #\x))
4099 (rnet-server (single-char #\y)
4100 (predicate ,string?))))
4102 (getopt-long '("my-prog" "-vk" "/tmp" "foo1" "--x-includes=/usr/include"
4103 "--rnet-server=lamprod" "--" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
4105 => ((() "foo1" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
4106 (rnet-server . "lamprod")
4107 (x-includes . "/usr/include")
4108 (lockfile-dir . "/tmp")
4111 ** The (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) module is obsolete; use (ice-9 getopt-long).
4113 It will be removed in a few releases.
4115 ** New syntax: lambda*
4116 ** New syntax: define*
4117 ** New syntax: define*-public
4118 ** New syntax: defmacro*
4119 ** New syntax: defmacro*-public
4120 Guile now supports optional arguments.
4122 `lambda*', `define*', `define*-public', `defmacro*' and
4123 `defmacro*-public' are identical to the non-* versions except that
4124 they use an extended type of parameter list that has the following BNF
4125 syntax (parentheses are literal, square brackets indicate grouping,
4126 and `*', `+' and `?' have the usual meaning):
4128 ext-param-list ::= ( [identifier]* [#&optional [ext-var-decl]+]?
4129 [#&key [ext-var-decl]+ [#&allow-other-keys]?]?
4130 [[#&rest identifier]|[. identifier]]? ) | [identifier]
4132 ext-var-decl ::= identifier | ( identifier expression )
4134 The semantics are best illustrated with the following documentation
4135 and examples for `lambda*':
4138 lambda extended for optional and keyword arguments
4140 lambda* creates a procedure that takes optional arguments. These
4141 are specified by putting them inside brackets at the end of the
4142 paramater list, but before any dotted rest argument. For example,
4143 (lambda* (a b #&optional c d . e) '())
4144 creates a procedure with fixed arguments a and b, optional arguments c
4145 and d, and rest argument e. If the optional arguments are omitted
4146 in a call, the variables for them are unbound in the procedure. This
4147 can be checked with the bound? macro.
4149 lambda* can also take keyword arguments. For example, a procedure
4151 (lambda* (#&key xyzzy larch) '())
4152 can be called with any of the argument lists (#:xyzzy 11)
4153 (#:larch 13) (#:larch 42 #:xyzzy 19) (). Whichever arguments
4154 are given as keywords are bound to values.
4156 Optional and keyword arguments can also be given default values
4157 which they take on when they are not present in a call, by giving a
4158 two-item list in place of an optional argument, for example in:
4159 (lambda* (foo #&optional (bar 42) #&key (baz 73)) (list foo bar baz))
4160 foo is a fixed argument, bar is an optional argument with default
4161 value 42, and baz is a keyword argument with default value 73.
4162 Default value expressions are not evaluated unless they are needed
4163 and until the procedure is called.
4165 lambda* now supports two more special parameter list keywords.
4167 lambda*-defined procedures now throw an error by default if a
4168 keyword other than one of those specified is found in the actual
4169 passed arguments. However, specifying #&allow-other-keys
4170 immediately after the kyword argument declarations restores the
4171 previous behavior of ignoring unknown keywords. lambda* also now
4172 guarantees that if the same keyword is passed more than once, the
4173 last one passed is the one that takes effect. For example,
4174 ((lambda* (#&key (heads 0) (tails 0)) (display (list heads tails)))
4175 #:heads 37 #:tails 42 #:heads 99)
4176 would result in (99 47) being displayed.
4178 #&rest is also now provided as a synonym for the dotted syntax rest
4179 argument. The argument lists (a . b) and (a #&rest b) are equivalent in
4180 all respects to lambda*. This is provided for more similarity to DSSSL,
4181 MIT-Scheme and Kawa among others, as well as for refugees from other
4184 Further documentation may be found in the optargs.scm file itself.
4186 The optional argument module also exports the macros `let-optional',
4187 `let-optional*', `let-keywords', `let-keywords*' and `bound?'. These
4188 are not documented here because they may be removed in the future, but
4189 full documentation is still available in optargs.scm.
4191 ** New syntax: and-let*
4192 Guile now supports the `and-let*' form, described in the draft SRFI-2.
4194 Syntax: (land* (<clause> ...) <body> ...)
4195 Each <clause> should have one of the following forms:
4196 (<variable> <expression>)
4199 Each <variable> or <bound-variable> should be an identifier. Each
4200 <expression> should be a valid expression. The <body> should be a
4201 possibly empty sequence of expressions, like the <body> of a
4204 Semantics: A LAND* expression is evaluated by evaluating the
4205 <expression> or <bound-variable> of each of the <clause>s from
4206 left to right. The value of the first <expression> or
4207 <bound-variable> that evaluates to a false value is returned; the
4208 remaining <expression>s and <bound-variable>s are not evaluated.
4209 The <body> forms are evaluated iff all the <expression>s and
4210 <bound-variable>s evaluate to true values.
4212 The <expression>s and the <body> are evaluated in an environment
4213 binding each <variable> of the preceding (<variable> <expression>)
4214 clauses to the value of the <expression>. Later bindings
4215 shadow earlier bindings.
4217 Guile's and-let* macro was contributed by Michael Livshin.
4219 ** New sorting functions
4221 *** New function: sorted? SEQUENCE LESS?
4222 Returns `#t' when the sequence argument is in non-decreasing order
4223 according to LESS? (that is, there is no adjacent pair `... x y
4224 ...' for which `(less? y x)').
4226 Returns `#f' when the sequence contains at least one out-of-order
4227 pair. It is an error if the sequence is neither a list nor a
4230 *** New function: merge LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
4231 LIST1 and LIST2 are sorted lists.
4232 Returns the sorted list of all elements in LIST1 and LIST2.
4234 Assume that the elements a and b1 in LIST1 and b2 in LIST2 are "equal"
4235 in the sense that (LESS? x y) --> #f for x, y in {a, b1, b2},
4236 and that a < b1 in LIST1. Then a < b1 < b2 in the result.
4237 (Here "<" should read "comes before".)
4239 *** New procedure: merge! LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
4240 Merges two lists, re-using the pairs of LIST1 and LIST2 to build
4241 the result. If the code is compiled, and LESS? constructs no new
4242 pairs, no pairs at all will be allocated. The first pair of the
4243 result will be either the first pair of LIST1 or the first pair of
4246 *** New function: sort SEQUENCE LESS?
4247 Accepts either a list or a vector, and returns a new sequence
4248 which is sorted. The new sequence is the same type as the input.
4249 Always `(sorted? (sort sequence less?) less?)'. The original
4250 sequence is not altered in any way. The new sequence shares its
4251 elements with the old one; no elements are copied.
4253 *** New procedure: sort! SEQUENCE LESS
4254 Returns its sorted result in the original boxes. No new storage is
4255 allocated at all. Proper usage: (set! slist (sort! slist <))
4257 *** New function: stable-sort SEQUENCE LESS?
4258 Similar to `sort' but stable. That is, if "equal" elements are
4259 ordered a < b in the original sequence, they will have the same order
4262 *** New function: stable-sort! SEQUENCE LESS?
4263 Similar to `sort!' but stable.
4264 Uses temporary storage when sorting vectors.
4266 *** New functions: sort-list, sort-list!
4267 Added for compatibility with scsh.
4269 ** New built-in random number support
4271 *** New function: random N [STATE]
4272 Accepts a positive integer or real N and returns a number of the
4273 same type between zero (inclusive) and N (exclusive). The values
4274 returned have a uniform distribution.
4276 The optional argument STATE must be of the type produced by
4277 `copy-random-state' or `seed->random-state'. It defaults to the value
4278 of the variable `*random-state*'. This object is used to maintain the
4279 state of the pseudo-random-number generator and is altered as a side
4280 effect of the `random' operation.
4282 *** New variable: *random-state*
4283 Holds a data structure that encodes the internal state of the
4284 random-number generator that `random' uses by default. The nature
4285 of this data structure is implementation-dependent. It may be
4286 printed out and successfully read back in, but may or may not
4287 function correctly as a random-number state object in another
4290 *** New function: copy-random-state [STATE]
4291 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
4292 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
4293 If argument STATE is given, a copy of it is returned. Otherwise a
4294 copy of `*random-state*' is returned.
4296 *** New function: seed->random-state SEED
4297 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
4298 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
4299 SEED is a string or a number. A new state is generated and
4300 initialized using SEED.
4302 *** New function: random:uniform [STATE]
4303 Returns an uniformly distributed inexact real random number in the
4304 range between 0 and 1.
4306 *** New procedure: random:solid-sphere! VECT [STATE]
4307 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose
4308 squares is less than 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in
4309 space of dimension N = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are
4310 uniformly distributed within the unit N-shere. The sum of the
4311 squares of the numbers is returned. VECT can be either a vector
4312 or a uniform vector of doubles.
4314 *** New procedure: random:hollow-sphere! VECT [STATE]
4315 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose squares
4316 is equal to 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in space of
4317 dimension n = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are uniformly
4318 distributed over the surface of the unit n-shere. VECT can be either
4319 a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
4321 *** New function: random:normal [STATE]
4322 Returns an inexact real in a normal distribution with mean 0 and
4323 standard deviation 1. For a normal distribution with mean M and
4324 standard deviation D use `(+ M (* D (random:normal)))'.
4326 *** New procedure: random:normal-vector! VECT [STATE]
4327 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers which are independent and
4328 standard normally distributed (i.e., with mean 0 and variance 1).
4329 VECT can be either a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
4331 *** New function: random:exp STATE
4332 Returns an inexact real in an exponential distribution with mean 1.
4333 For an exponential distribution with mean U use (* U (random:exp)).
4335 ** The range of logand, logior, logxor, logtest, and logbit? have changed.
4337 These functions now operate on numbers in the range of a C unsigned
4340 These functions used to operate on numbers in the range of a C signed
4341 long; however, this seems inappropriate, because Guile integers don't
4344 ** New function: make-guardian
4345 This is an implementation of guardians as described in
4346 R. Kent Dybvig, Carl Bruggeman, and David Eby (1993) "Guardians in a
4347 Generation-Based Garbage Collector" ACM SIGPLAN Conference on
4348 Programming Language Design and Implementation, June 1993
4349 ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/scheme-repository/doc/pubs/guardians.ps.gz
4351 ** New functions: delq1!, delv1!, delete1!
4352 These procedures behave similar to delq! and friends but delete only
4353 one object if at all.
4355 ** New function: unread-string STRING PORT
4356 Unread STRING to PORT, that is, push it back onto the port so that
4357 next read operation will work on the pushed back characters.
4359 ** unread-char can now be called multiple times
4360 If unread-char is called multiple times, the unread characters will be
4361 read again in last-in first-out order.
4363 ** the procedures uniform-array-read! and uniform-array-write! now
4364 work on any kind of port, not just ports which are open on a file.
4366 ** Now 'l' in a port mode requests line buffering.
4368 ** The procedure truncate-file now works on string ports as well
4369 as file ports. If the size argument is omitted, the current
4370 file position is used.
4372 ** new procedure: seek PORT/FDES OFFSET WHENCE
4373 The arguments are the same as for the old fseek procedure, but it
4374 works on string ports as well as random-access file ports.
4376 ** the fseek procedure now works on string ports, since it has been
4377 redefined using seek.
4379 ** the setvbuf procedure now uses a default size if mode is _IOFBF and
4380 size is not supplied.
4382 ** the newline procedure no longer flushes the port if it's not
4383 line-buffered: previously it did if it was the current output port.
4385 ** open-pipe and close-pipe are no longer primitive procedures, but
4386 an emulation can be obtained using `(use-modules (ice-9 popen))'.
4388 ** the freopen procedure has been removed.
4390 ** new procedure: drain-input PORT
4391 Drains PORT's read buffers (including any pushed-back characters)
4392 and returns the contents as a single string.
4394 ** New function: map-in-order PROC LIST1 LIST2 ...
4395 Version of `map' which guarantees that the procedure is applied to the
4396 lists in serial order.
4398 ** Renamed `serial-array-copy!' and `serial-array-map!' to
4399 `array-copy-in-order!' and `array-map-in-order!'. The old names are
4400 now obsolete and will go away in release 1.5.
4402 ** New syntax: collect BODY1 ...
4403 Version of `begin' which returns a list of the results of the body
4404 forms instead of the result of the last body form. In contrast to
4405 `begin', `collect' allows an empty body.
4407 ** New functions: read-history FILENAME, write-history FILENAME
4408 Read/write command line history from/to file. Returns #t on success
4409 and #f if an error occured.
4411 ** `ls' and `lls' in module (ice-9 ls) now handle no arguments.
4413 These procedures return a list of definitions available in the specified
4414 argument, a relative module reference. In the case of no argument,
4415 `(current-module)' is now consulted for definitions to return, instead
4416 of simply returning #f, the former behavior.
4418 ** The #/ syntax for lists is no longer supported.
4420 Earlier versions of Scheme accepted this syntax, but printed a
4423 ** Guile no longer consults the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable.
4425 Instead, you should set GUILE_LOAD_PATH to tell Guile where to find
4428 * Changes to the gh_ interface
4432 Now takes a second argument which is the result array. If this
4433 pointer is NULL, a new array is malloced (the old behaviour).
4435 ** gh_chars2byvect, gh_shorts2svect, gh_floats2fvect, gh_scm2chars,
4436 gh_scm2shorts, gh_scm2longs, gh_scm2floats
4440 * Changes to the scm_ interface
4442 ** Function: scm_make_named_hook (char* name, int n_args)
4444 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
4445 binds a variable named NAME to it.
4447 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
4449 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module. This
4450 might change when we get the new module system.
4452 ** The smob interface
4454 The interface for creating smobs has changed. For documentation, see
4455 data-rep.info (made from guile-core/doc/data-rep.texi).
4457 *** Deprecated function: SCM scm_newsmob (scm_smobfuns *)
4459 >>> This function will be removed in 1.3.4. <<<
4463 *** Function: SCM scm_make_smob_type (const char *name, scm_sizet size)
4464 This function adds a new smob type, named NAME, with instance size
4465 SIZE to the system. The return value is a tag that is used in
4466 creating instances of the type. If SIZE is 0, then no memory will
4467 be allocated when instances of the smob are created, and nothing
4468 will be freed by the default free function.
4470 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_mark (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
4471 This function sets the smob marking procedure for the smob type
4472 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4473 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4475 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_free (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
4476 This function sets the smob freeing procedure for the smob type
4477 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4478 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4480 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_print (tc, print)
4482 - Function: void scm_set_smob_print (long tc,
4483 scm_sizet (*print) (SCM,
4487 This function sets the smob printing procedure for the smob type
4488 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4489 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4491 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_equalp (long tc, SCM (*equalp) (SCM, SCM))
4492 This function sets the smob equality-testing predicate for the
4493 smob type specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4494 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4496 *** Macro: void SCM_NEWSMOB (SCM var, long tc, void *data)
4497 Make VALUE contain a smob instance of the type with type code TC and
4498 smob data DATA. VALUE must be previously declared as C type `SCM'.
4500 *** Macro: fn_returns SCM_RETURN_NEWSMOB (long tc, void *data)
4501 This macro expands to a block of code that creates a smob instance
4502 of the type with type code TC and smob data DATA, and returns that
4503 `SCM' value. It should be the last piece of code in a block.
4505 ** The interfaces for using I/O ports and implementing port types
4506 (ptobs) have changed significantly. The new interface is based on
4507 shared access to buffers and a new set of ptob procedures.
4509 *** scm_newptob has been removed
4513 *** Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (type_name, fill_buffer, write_flush)
4515 - Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (char *type_name,
4516 int (*fill_buffer) (SCM port),
4517 void (*write_flush) (SCM port));
4519 Similarly to the new smob interface, there is a set of function
4520 setters by which the user can customize the behaviour of his port
4521 type. See ports.h (scm_set_port_XXX).
4523 ** scm_strport_to_string: New function: creates a new string from
4524 a string port's buffer.
4526 ** Plug in interface for random number generators
4527 The variable `scm_the_rng' in random.c contains a value and three
4528 function pointers which together define the current random number
4529 generator being used by the Scheme level interface and the random
4530 number library functions.
4532 The user is free to replace the default generator with the generator
4535 *** Variable: size_t scm_the_rng.rstate_size
4536 The size of the random state type used by the current RNG
4539 *** Function: unsigned long scm_the_rng.random_bits (scm_rstate *STATE)
4540 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
4542 *** Function: void scm_the_rng.init_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE, chars *S, int N)
4543 Seed random state STATE using string S of length N.
4545 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_the_rng.copy_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE)
4546 Given random state STATE, return a malloced copy.
4549 The default RNG is the MWC (Multiply With Carry) random number
4550 generator described by George Marsaglia at the Department of
4551 Statistics and Supercomputer Computations Research Institute, The
4552 Florida State University (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo).
4554 It uses 64 bits, has a period of 4578426017172946943 (4.6e18), and
4555 passes all tests in the DIEHARD test suite
4556 (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo/diehard.html). The generation of 32 bits
4557 costs one multiply and one add on platforms which either supports long
4558 longs (gcc does this on most systems) or have 64 bit longs. The cost
4559 is four multiply on other systems but this can be optimized by writing
4560 scm_i_uniform32 in assembler.
4562 These functions are provided through the scm_the_rng interface for use
4563 by libguile and the application.
4565 *** Function: unsigned long scm_i_uniform32 (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
4566 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
4567 Don't use this function directly. Instead go through the plugin
4568 interface (see "Plug in interface" above).
4570 *** Function: void scm_i_init_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE, char *SEED, int N)
4571 Initialize STATE using SEED of length N.
4573 *** Function: scm_i_rstate *scm_i_copy_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
4574 Return a malloc:ed copy of STATE. This function can easily be re-used
4575 in the interfaces to other RNGs.
4577 ** Random number library functions
4578 These functions use the current RNG through the scm_the_rng interface.
4579 It might be a good idea to use these functions from your C code so
4580 that only one random generator is used by all code in your program.
4582 The default random state is stored in:
4584 *** Variable: SCM scm_var_random_state
4585 Contains the vcell of the Scheme variable "*random-state*" which is
4586 used as default state by all random number functions in the Scheme
4591 double x = scm_c_uniform01 (SCM_RSTATE (SCM_CDR (scm_var_random_state)));
4593 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_default_rstate (void)
4594 This is a convenience function which returns the value of
4595 scm_var_random_state. An error message is generated if this value
4596 isn't a random state.
4598 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_make_rstate (char *SEED, int LENGTH)
4599 Make a new random state from the string SEED of length LENGTH.
4601 It is generally not a good idea to use multiple random states in a
4602 program. While subsequent random numbers generated from one random
4603 state are guaranteed to be reasonably independent, there is no such
4604 guarantee for numbers generated from different random states.
4606 *** Macro: unsigned long scm_c_uniform32 (scm_rstate *STATE)
4607 Return 32 random bits.
4609 *** Function: double scm_c_uniform01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
4610 Return a sample from the uniform(0,1) distribution.
4612 *** Function: double scm_c_normal01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
4613 Return a sample from the normal(0,1) distribution.
4615 *** Function: double scm_c_exp1 (scm_rstate *STATE)
4616 Return a sample from the exp(1) distribution.
4618 *** Function: unsigned long scm_c_random (scm_rstate *STATE, unsigned long M)
4619 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
4621 *** Function: SCM scm_c_random_bignum (scm_rstate *STATE, SCM M)
4622 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
4623 M must be a bignum object. The returned value may be an INUM.
4627 Changes in Guile 1.3 (released Monday, October 19, 1998):
4629 * Changes to the distribution
4631 ** We renamed the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable to GUILE_LOAD_PATH.
4632 To avoid conflicts, programs should name environment variables after
4633 themselves, except when there's a common practice establishing some
4636 For now, Guile supports both GUILE_LOAD_PATH and SCHEME_LOAD_PATH,
4637 giving the former precedence, and printing a warning message if the
4638 latter is set. Guile 1.4 will not recognize SCHEME_LOAD_PATH at all.
4640 ** The header files related to multi-byte characters have been removed.
4641 They were: libguile/extchrs.h and libguile/mbstrings.h. Any C code
4642 which referred to these explicitly will probably need to be rewritten,
4643 since the support for the variant string types has been removed; see
4646 ** The header files append.h and sequences.h have been removed. These
4647 files implemented non-R4RS operations which would encourage
4648 non-portable programming style and less easy-to-read code.
4650 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
4652 ** New procedures have been added to implement a "batch mode":
4654 *** Function: batch-mode?
4656 Returns a boolean indicating whether the interpreter is in batch
4659 *** Function: set-batch-mode?! ARG
4661 If ARG is true, switches the interpreter to batch mode. The `#f'
4662 case has not been implemented.
4664 ** Guile now provides full command-line editing, when run interactively.
4665 To use this feature, you must have the readline library installed.
4666 The Guile build process will notice it, and automatically include
4669 The readline library is available via anonymous FTP from any GNU
4670 mirror site; the canonical location is "ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu".
4672 ** the-last-stack is now a fluid.
4674 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
4676 ** You can now use the `guile-config' utility to build programs that use Guile.
4678 Guile now includes a command-line utility called `guile-config', which
4679 can provide information about how to compile and link programs that
4682 *** `guile-config compile' prints any C compiler flags needed to use Guile.
4683 You should include this command's output on the command line you use
4684 to compile C or C++ code that #includes the Guile header files. It's
4685 usually just a `-I' flag to help the compiler find the Guile headers.
4688 *** `guile-config link' prints any linker flags necessary to link with Guile.
4690 This command writes to its standard output a list of flags which you
4691 must pass to the linker to link your code against the Guile library.
4692 The flags include '-lguile' itself, any other libraries the Guile
4693 library depends upon, and any `-L' flags needed to help the linker
4694 find those libraries.
4696 For example, here is a Makefile rule that builds a program named 'foo'
4697 from the object files ${FOO_OBJECTS}, and links them against Guile:
4700 ${CC} ${CFLAGS} ${FOO_OBJECTS} `guile-config link` -o foo
4702 Previous Guile releases recommended that you use autoconf to detect
4703 which of a predefined set of libraries were present on your system.
4704 It is more robust to use `guile-config', since it records exactly which
4705 libraries the installed Guile library requires.
4707 This was originally called `build-guile', but was renamed to
4708 `guile-config' before Guile 1.3 was released, to be consistent with
4709 the analogous script for the GTK+ GUI toolkit, which is called
4713 ** Use the GUILE_FLAGS macro in your configure.in file to find Guile.
4715 If you are using the GNU autoconf package to configure your program,
4716 you can use the GUILE_FLAGS autoconf macro to call `guile-config'
4717 (described above) and gather the necessary values for use in your
4720 The GUILE_FLAGS macro expands to configure script code which runs the
4721 `guile-config' script, to find out where Guile's header files and
4722 libraries are installed. It sets two variables, marked for
4723 substitution, as by AC_SUBST.
4725 GUILE_CFLAGS --- flags to pass to a C or C++ compiler to build
4726 code that uses Guile header files. This is almost always just a
4729 GUILE_LDFLAGS --- flags to pass to the linker to link a
4730 program against Guile. This includes `-lguile' for the Guile
4731 library itself, any libraries that Guile itself requires (like
4732 -lqthreads), and so on. It may also include a -L flag to tell the
4733 compiler where to find the libraries.
4735 GUILE_FLAGS is defined in the file guile.m4, in the top-level
4736 directory of the Guile distribution. You can copy it into your
4737 package's aclocal.m4 file, and then use it in your configure.in file.
4739 If you are using the `aclocal' program, distributed with GNU automake,
4740 to maintain your aclocal.m4 file, the Guile installation process
4741 installs guile.m4 where aclocal will find it. All you need to do is
4742 use GUILE_FLAGS in your configure.in file, and then run `aclocal';
4743 this will copy the definition of GUILE_FLAGS into your aclocal.m4
4747 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
4749 ** Multi-byte strings have been removed, as have multi-byte and wide
4750 ports. We felt that these were the wrong approach to
4751 internationalization support.
4753 ** New function: readline [PROMPT]
4754 Read a line from the terminal, and allow the user to edit it,
4755 prompting with PROMPT. READLINE provides a large set of Emacs-like
4756 editing commands, lets the user recall previously typed lines, and
4757 works on almost every kind of terminal, including dumb terminals.
4759 READLINE assumes that the cursor is at the beginning of the line when
4760 it is invoked. Thus, you can't print a prompt yourself, and then call
4761 READLINE; you need to package up your prompt as a string, pass it to
4762 the function, and let READLINE print the prompt itself. This is
4763 because READLINE needs to know the prompt's screen width.
4765 For Guile to provide this function, you must have the readline
4766 library, version 2.1 or later, installed on your system. Readline is
4767 available via anonymous FTP from prep.ai.mit.edu in pub/gnu, or from
4768 any GNU mirror site.
4770 See also ADD-HISTORY function.
4772 ** New function: add-history STRING
4773 Add STRING as the most recent line in the history used by the READLINE
4774 command. READLINE does not add lines to the history itself; you must
4775 call ADD-HISTORY to make previous input available to the user.
4777 ** The behavior of the read-line function has changed.
4779 This function now uses standard C library functions to read the line,
4780 for speed. This means that it doesn not respect the value of
4781 scm-line-incrementors; it assumes that lines are delimited with
4784 (Note that this is read-line, the function that reads a line of text
4785 from a port, not readline, the function that reads a line from a
4786 terminal, providing full editing capabilities.)
4788 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style): Parse command-line arguments.
4790 This module provides some simple argument parsing. It exports one
4793 Function: getopt-gnu-style ARG-LS
4794 Parse a list of program arguments into an alist of option
4797 Each item in the list of program arguments is examined to see if
4798 it meets the syntax of a GNU long-named option. An argument like
4799 `--MUMBLE' produces an element of the form (MUMBLE . #t) in the
4800 returned alist, where MUMBLE is a keyword object with the same
4801 name as the argument. An argument like `--MUMBLE=FROB' produces
4802 an element of the form (MUMBLE . FROB), where FROB is a string.
4804 As a special case, the returned alist also contains a pair whose
4805 car is the symbol `rest'. The cdr of this pair is a list
4806 containing all the items in the argument list that are not options
4807 of the form mentioned above.
4809 The argument `--' is treated specially: all items in the argument
4810 list appearing after such an argument are not examined, and are
4811 returned in the special `rest' list.
4813 This function does not parse normal single-character switches.
4814 You will need to parse them out of the `rest' list yourself.
4816 ** The read syntax for byte vectors and short vectors has changed.
4818 Instead of #bytes(...), write #y(...).
4820 Instead of #short(...), write #h(...).
4822 This may seem nutty, but, like the other uniform vectors, byte vectors
4823 and short vectors want to have the same print and read syntax (and,
4824 more basic, want to have read syntax!). Changing the read syntax to
4825 use multiple characters after the hash sign breaks with the
4826 conventions used in R5RS and the conventions used for the other
4827 uniform vectors. It also introduces complexity in the current reader,
4828 both on the C and Scheme levels. (The Right solution is probably to
4829 change the syntax and prototypes for uniform vectors entirely.)
4832 ** The new module (ice-9 session) provides useful interactive functions.
4834 *** New procedure: (apropos REGEXP OPTION ...)
4836 Display a list of top-level variables whose names match REGEXP, and
4837 the modules they are imported from. Each OPTION should be one of the
4840 value --- Show the value of each matching variable.
4841 shadow --- Show bindings shadowed by subsequently imported modules.
4842 full --- Same as both `shadow' and `value'.
4846 guile> (apropos "trace" 'full)
4847 debug: trace #<procedure trace args>
4848 debug: untrace #<procedure untrace args>
4849 the-scm-module: display-backtrace #<compiled-closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>
4850 the-scm-module: before-backtrace-hook ()
4851 the-scm-module: backtrace #<primitive-procedure backtrace>
4852 the-scm-module: after-backtrace-hook ()
4853 the-scm-module: has-shown-backtrace-hint? #f
4856 ** There are new functions and syntax for working with macros.
4858 Guile implements macros as a special object type. Any variable whose
4859 top-level binding is a macro object acts as a macro. The macro object
4860 specifies how the expression should be transformed before evaluation.
4862 *** Macro objects now print in a reasonable way, resembling procedures.
4864 *** New function: (macro? OBJ)
4865 True iff OBJ is a macro object.
4867 *** New function: (primitive-macro? OBJ)
4868 Like (macro? OBJ), but true only if OBJ is one of the Guile primitive
4869 macro transformers, implemented in eval.c rather than Scheme code.
4871 Why do we have this function?
4872 - For symmetry with procedure? and primitive-procedure?,
4873 - to allow custom print procedures to tell whether a macro is
4874 primitive, and display it differently, and
4875 - to allow compilers and user-written evaluators to distinguish
4876 builtin special forms from user-defined ones, which could be
4879 *** New function: (macro-type OBJ)
4880 Return a value indicating what kind of macro OBJ is. Possible return
4883 The symbol `syntax' --- a macro created by procedure->syntax.
4884 The symbol `macro' --- a macro created by procedure->macro.
4885 The symbol `macro!' --- a macro created by procedure->memoizing-macro.
4886 The boolean #f --- if OBJ is not a macro object.
4888 *** New function: (macro-name MACRO)
4889 Return the name of the macro object MACRO's procedure, as returned by
4892 *** New function: (macro-transformer MACRO)
4893 Return the transformer procedure for MACRO.
4895 *** New syntax: (use-syntax MODULE ... TRANSFORMER)
4897 Specify a new macro expander to use in the current module. Each
4898 MODULE is a module name, with the same meaning as in the `use-modules'
4899 form; each named module's exported bindings are added to the current
4900 top-level environment. TRANSFORMER is an expression evaluated in the
4901 resulting environment which must yield a procedure to use as the
4902 module's eval transformer: every expression evaluated in this module
4903 is passed to this function, and the result passed to the Guile
4906 *** macro-eval! is removed. Use local-eval instead.
4908 ** Some magic has been added to the printer to better handle user
4909 written printing routines (like record printers, closure printers).
4911 The problem is that these user written routines must have access to
4912 the current `print-state' to be able to handle fancy things like
4913 detection of circular references. These print-states have to be
4914 passed to the builtin printing routines (display, write, etc) to
4915 properly continue the print chain.
4917 We didn't want to change all existing print code so that it
4918 explicitly passes thru a print state in addition to a port. Instead,
4919 we extented the possible values that the builtin printing routines
4920 accept as a `port'. In addition to a normal port, they now also take
4921 a pair of a normal port and a print-state. Printing will go to the
4922 port and the print-state will be used to control the detection of
4923 circular references, etc. If the builtin function does not care for a
4924 print-state, it is simply ignored.
4926 User written callbacks are now called with such a pair as their
4927 `port', but because every function now accepts this pair as a PORT
4928 argument, you don't have to worry about that. In fact, it is probably
4929 safest to not check for these pairs.
4931 However, it is sometimes necessary to continue a print chain on a
4932 different port, for example to get a intermediate string
4933 representation of the printed value, mangle that string somehow, and
4934 then to finally print the mangled string. Use the new function
4936 inherit-print-state OLD-PORT NEW-PORT
4938 for this. It constructs a new `port' that prints to NEW-PORT but
4939 inherits the print-state of OLD-PORT.
4941 ** struct-vtable-offset renamed to vtable-offset-user
4943 ** New constants: vtable-index-layout, vtable-index-vtable, vtable-index-printer
4945 ** There is now a third optional argument to make-vtable-vtable
4946 (and fourth to make-struct) when constructing new types (vtables).
4947 This argument initializes field vtable-index-printer of the vtable.
4949 ** The detection of circular references has been extended to structs.
4950 That is, a structure that -- in the process of being printed -- prints
4951 itself does not lead to infinite recursion.
4953 ** There is now some basic support for fluids. Please read
4954 "libguile/fluid.h" to find out more. It is accessible from Scheme with
4955 the following functions and macros:
4957 Function: make-fluid
4959 Create a new fluid object. Fluids are not special variables or
4960 some other extension to the semantics of Scheme, but rather
4961 ordinary Scheme objects. You can store them into variables (that
4962 are still lexically scoped, of course) or into any other place you
4963 like. Every fluid has a initial value of `#f'.
4965 Function: fluid? OBJ
4967 Test whether OBJ is a fluid.
4969 Function: fluid-ref FLUID
4970 Function: fluid-set! FLUID VAL
4972 Access/modify the fluid FLUID. Modifications are only visible
4973 within the current dynamic root (that includes threads).
4975 Function: with-fluids* FLUIDS VALUES THUNK
4977 FLUIDS is a list of fluids and VALUES a corresponding list of
4978 values for these fluids. Before THUNK gets called the values are
4979 installed in the fluids and the old values of the fluids are
4980 saved in the VALUES list. When the flow of control leaves THUNK
4981 or reenters it, the values get swapped again. You might think of
4982 this as a `safe-fluid-excursion'. Note that the VALUES list is
4983 modified by `with-fluids*'.
4985 Macro: with-fluids ((FLUID VALUE) ...) FORM ...
4987 The same as `with-fluids*' but with a different syntax. It looks
4988 just like `let', but both FLUID and VALUE are evaluated. Remember,
4989 fluids are not special variables but ordinary objects. FLUID
4990 should evaluate to a fluid.
4992 ** Changes to system call interfaces:
4994 *** close-port, close-input-port and close-output-port now return a
4995 boolean instead of an `unspecified' object. #t means that the port
4996 was successfully closed, while #f means it was already closed. It is
4997 also now possible for these procedures to raise an exception if an
4998 error occurs (some errors from write can be delayed until close.)
5000 *** the first argument to chmod, fcntl, ftell and fseek can now be a
5003 *** the third argument to fcntl is now optional.
5005 *** the first argument to chown can now be a file descriptor or a port.
5007 *** the argument to stat can now be a port.
5009 *** The following new procedures have been added (most use scsh
5012 *** procedure: close PORT/FD
5013 Similar to close-port (*note close-port: Closing Ports.), but also
5014 works on file descriptors. A side effect of closing a file
5015 descriptor is that any ports using that file descriptor are moved
5016 to a different file descriptor and have their revealed counts set
5019 *** procedure: port->fdes PORT
5020 Returns the integer file descriptor underlying PORT. As a side
5021 effect the revealed count of PORT is incremented.
5023 *** procedure: fdes->ports FDES
5024 Returns a list of existing ports which have FDES as an underlying
5025 file descriptor, without changing their revealed counts.
5027 *** procedure: fdes->inport FDES
5028 Returns an existing input port which has FDES as its underlying
5029 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
5030 Otherwise, returns a new input port with a revealed count of 1.
5032 *** procedure: fdes->outport FDES
5033 Returns an existing output port which has FDES as its underlying
5034 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
5035 Otherwise, returns a new output port with a revealed count of 1.
5037 The next group of procedures perform a `dup2' system call, if NEWFD
5038 (an integer) is supplied, otherwise a `dup'. The file descriptor to be
5039 duplicated can be supplied as an integer or contained in a port. The
5040 type of value returned varies depending on which procedure is used.
5042 All procedures also have the side effect when performing `dup2' that
5043 any ports using NEWFD are moved to a different file descriptor and have
5044 their revealed counts set to zero.
5046 *** procedure: dup->fdes PORT/FD [NEWFD]
5047 Returns an integer file descriptor.
5049 *** procedure: dup->inport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
5050 Returns a new input port using the new file descriptor.
5052 *** procedure: dup->outport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
5053 Returns a new output port using the new file descriptor.
5055 *** procedure: dup PORT/FD [NEWFD]
5056 Returns a new port if PORT/FD is a port, with the same mode as the
5057 supplied port, otherwise returns an integer file descriptor.
5059 *** procedure: dup->port PORT/FD MODE [NEWFD]
5060 Returns a new port using the new file descriptor. MODE supplies a
5061 mode string for the port (*note open-file: File Ports.).
5063 *** procedure: setenv NAME VALUE
5064 Modifies the environment of the current process, which is also the
5065 default environment inherited by child processes.
5067 If VALUE is `#f', then NAME is removed from the environment.
5068 Otherwise, the string NAME=VALUE is added to the environment,
5069 replacing any existing string with name matching NAME.
5071 The return value is unspecified.
5073 *** procedure: truncate-file OBJ SIZE
5074 Truncates the file referred to by OBJ to at most SIZE bytes. OBJ
5075 can be a string containing a file name or an integer file
5076 descriptor or port open for output on the file. The underlying
5077 system calls are `truncate' and `ftruncate'.
5079 The return value is unspecified.
5081 *** procedure: setvbuf PORT MODE [SIZE]
5082 Set the buffering mode for PORT. MODE can be:
5090 block buffered, using a newly allocated buffer of SIZE bytes.
5091 However if SIZE is zero or unspecified, the port will be made
5094 This procedure should not be used after I/O has been performed with
5097 Ports are usually block buffered by default, with a default buffer
5098 size. Procedures e.g., *Note open-file: File Ports, which accept a
5099 mode string allow `0' to be added to request an unbuffered port.
5101 *** procedure: fsync PORT/FD
5102 Copies any unwritten data for the specified output file descriptor
5103 to disk. If PORT/FD is a port, its buffer is flushed before the
5104 underlying file descriptor is fsync'd. The return value is
5107 *** procedure: open-fdes PATH FLAGS [MODES]
5108 Similar to `open' but returns a file descriptor instead of a port.
5110 *** procedure: execle PATH ENV [ARG] ...
5111 Similar to `execl', but the environment of the new process is
5112 specified by ENV, which must be a list of strings as returned by
5113 the `environ' procedure.
5115 This procedure is currently implemented using the `execve' system
5116 call, but we call it `execle' because of its Scheme calling
5119 *** procedure: strerror ERRNO
5120 Returns the Unix error message corresponding to ERRNO, an integer.
5122 *** procedure: primitive-exit [STATUS]
5123 Terminate the current process without unwinding the Scheme stack.
5124 This is would typically be useful after a fork. The exit status
5125 is STATUS if supplied, otherwise zero.
5127 *** procedure: times
5128 Returns an object with information about real and processor time.
5129 The following procedures accept such an object as an argument and
5130 return a selected component:
5133 The current real time, expressed as time units relative to an
5137 The CPU time units used by the calling process.
5140 The CPU time units used by the system on behalf of the
5144 The CPU time units used by terminated child processes of the
5145 calling process, whose status has been collected (e.g., using
5149 Similarly, the CPU times units used by the system on behalf of
5150 terminated child processes.
5152 ** Removed: list-length
5153 ** Removed: list-append, list-append!
5154 ** Removed: list-reverse, list-reverse!
5156 ** array-map renamed to array-map!
5158 ** serial-array-map renamed to serial-array-map!
5160 ** catch doesn't take #f as first argument any longer
5162 Previously, it was possible to pass #f instead of a key to `catch'.
5163 That would cause `catch' to pass a jump buffer object to the procedure
5164 passed as second argument. The procedure could then use this jump
5165 buffer objekt as an argument to throw.
5167 This mechanism has been removed since its utility doesn't motivate the
5168 extra complexity it introduces.
5170 ** The `#/' notation for lists now provokes a warning message from Guile.
5171 This syntax will be removed from Guile in the near future.
5173 To disable the warning message, set the GUILE_HUSH environment
5174 variable to any non-empty value.
5176 ** The newline character now prints as `#\newline', following the
5177 normal Scheme notation, not `#\nl'.
5179 * Changes to the gh_ interface
5181 ** The gh_enter function now takes care of loading the Guile startup files.
5182 gh_enter works by calling scm_boot_guile; see the remarks below.
5184 ** Function: void gh_write (SCM x)
5186 Write the printed representation of the scheme object x to the current
5187 output port. Corresponds to the scheme level `write'.
5189 ** gh_list_length renamed to gh_length.
5191 ** vector handling routines
5193 Several major changes. In particular, gh_vector() now resembles
5194 (vector ...) (with a caveat -- see manual), and gh_make_vector() now
5195 exists and behaves like (make-vector ...). gh_vset() and gh_vref()
5196 have been renamed gh_vector_set_x() and gh_vector_ref(). Some missing
5197 vector-related gh_ functions have been implemented.
5199 ** pair and list routines
5201 Implemented several of the R4RS pair and list functions that were
5204 ** gh_scm2doubles, gh_doubles2scm, gh_doubles2dvect
5206 New function. Converts double arrays back and forth between Scheme
5209 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5211 ** The function scm_boot_guile now takes care of loading the startup files.
5213 Guile's primary initialization function, scm_boot_guile, now takes
5214 care of loading `boot-9.scm', in the `ice-9' module, to initialize
5215 Guile, define the module system, and put together some standard
5216 bindings. It also loads `init.scm', which is intended to hold
5217 site-specific initialization code.
5219 Since Guile cannot operate properly until boot-9.scm is loaded, there
5220 is no reason to separate loading boot-9.scm from Guile's other
5221 initialization processes.
5223 This job used to be done by scm_compile_shell_switches, which didn't
5224 make much sense; in particular, it meant that people using Guile for
5225 non-shell-like applications had to jump through hoops to get Guile
5226 initialized properly.
5228 ** The function scm_compile_shell_switches no longer loads the startup files.
5229 Now, Guile always loads the startup files, whenever it is initialized;
5230 see the notes above for scm_boot_guile and scm_load_startup_files.
5232 ** Function: scm_load_startup_files
5233 This new function takes care of loading Guile's initialization file
5234 (`boot-9.scm'), and the site initialization file, `init.scm'. Since
5235 this is always called by the Guile initialization process, it's
5236 probably not too useful to call this yourself, but it's there anyway.
5238 ** The semantics of smob marking have changed slightly.
5240 The smob marking function (the `mark' member of the scm_smobfuns
5241 structure) is no longer responsible for setting the mark bit on the
5242 smob. The generic smob handling code in the garbage collector will
5243 set this bit. The mark function need only ensure that any other
5244 objects the smob refers to get marked.
5246 Note that this change means that the smob's GC8MARK bit is typically
5247 already set upon entry to the mark function. Thus, marking functions
5248 which look like this:
5251 if (SCM_GC8MARKP (ptr))
5253 SCM_SETGC8MARK (ptr);
5254 ... mark objects to which the smob refers ...
5257 are now incorrect, since they will return early, and fail to mark any
5258 other objects the smob refers to. Some code in the Guile library used
5261 ** The semantics of the I/O port functions in scm_ptobfuns have changed.
5263 If you have implemented your own I/O port type, by writing the
5264 functions required by the scm_ptobfuns and then calling scm_newptob,
5265 you will need to change your functions slightly.
5267 The functions in a scm_ptobfuns structure now expect the port itself
5268 as their argument; they used to expect the `stream' member of the
5269 port's scm_port_table structure. This allows functions in an
5270 scm_ptobfuns structure to easily access the port's cell (and any flags
5271 it its CAR), and the port's scm_port_table structure.
5273 Guile now passes the I/O port itself as the `port' argument in the
5274 following scm_ptobfuns functions:
5276 int (*free) (SCM port);
5277 int (*fputc) (int, SCM port);
5278 int (*fputs) (char *, SCM port);
5279 scm_sizet (*fwrite) SCM_P ((char *ptr,
5283 int (*fflush) (SCM port);
5284 int (*fgetc) (SCM port);
5285 int (*fclose) (SCM port);
5287 The interfaces to the `mark', `print', `equalp', and `fgets' methods
5290 If you have existing code which defines its own port types, it is easy
5291 to convert your code to the new interface; simply apply SCM_STREAM to
5292 the port argument to yield the value you code used to expect.
5294 Note that since both the port and the stream have the same type in the
5295 C code --- they are both SCM values --- the C compiler will not remind
5296 you if you forget to update your scm_ptobfuns functions.
5299 ** Function: int scm_internal_select (int fds,
5303 struct timeval *timeout);
5305 This is a replacement for the `select' function provided by the OS.
5306 It enables I/O blocking and sleeping to happen for one cooperative
5307 thread without blocking other threads. It also avoids busy-loops in
5308 these situations. It is intended that all I/O blocking and sleeping
5309 will finally go through this function. Currently, this function is
5310 only available on systems providing `gettimeofday' and `select'.
5312 ** Function: SCM scm_internal_stack_catch (SCM tag,
5313 scm_catch_body_t body,
5315 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
5318 A new sibling to the other two C level `catch' functions
5319 scm_internal_catch and scm_internal_lazy_catch. Use it if you want
5320 the stack to be saved automatically into the variable `the-last-stack'
5321 (scm_the_last_stack_var) on error. This is necessary if you want to
5322 use advanced error reporting, such as calling scm_display_error and
5323 scm_display_backtrace. (They both take a stack object as argument.)
5325 ** Function: SCM scm_spawn_thread (scm_catch_body_t body,
5327 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
5330 Spawns a new thread. It does a job similar to
5331 scm_call_with_new_thread but takes arguments more suitable when
5332 spawning threads from application C code.
5334 ** The hook scm_error_callback has been removed. It was originally
5335 intended as a way for the user to install his own error handler. But
5336 that method works badly since it intervenes between throw and catch,
5337 thereby changing the semantics of expressions like (catch #t ...).
5338 The correct way to do it is to use one of the C level catch functions
5339 in throw.c: scm_internal_catch/lazy_catch/stack_catch.
5341 ** Removed functions:
5343 scm_obj_length, scm_list_length, scm_list_append, scm_list_append_x,
5344 scm_list_reverse, scm_list_reverse_x
5346 ** New macros: SCM_LISTn where n is one of the integers 0-9.
5348 These can be used for pretty list creation from C. The idea is taken
5349 from Erick Gallesio's STk.
5351 ** scm_array_map renamed to scm_array_map_x
5353 ** mbstrings are now removed
5355 This means that the type codes scm_tc7_mb_string and
5356 scm_tc7_mb_substring has been removed.
5358 ** scm_gen_putc, scm_gen_puts, scm_gen_write, and scm_gen_getc have changed.
5360 Since we no longer support multi-byte strings, these I/O functions
5361 have been simplified, and renamed. Here are their old names, and
5362 their new names and arguments:
5364 scm_gen_putc -> void scm_putc (int c, SCM port);
5365 scm_gen_puts -> void scm_puts (char *s, SCM port);
5366 scm_gen_write -> void scm_lfwrite (char *ptr, scm_sizet size, SCM port);
5367 scm_gen_getc -> void scm_getc (SCM port);
5370 ** The macros SCM_TYP7D and SCM_TYP7SD has been removed.
5372 ** The macro SCM_TYP7S has taken the role of the old SCM_TYP7D
5374 SCM_TYP7S now masks away the bit which distinguishes substrings from
5377 ** scm_catch_body_t: Backward incompatible change!
5379 Body functions to scm_internal_catch and friends do not any longer
5380 take a second argument. This is because it is no longer possible to
5381 pass a #f arg to catch.
5383 ** Calls to scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect now nest properly.
5385 The function scm_protect_object protects its argument from being freed
5386 by the garbage collector. scm_unprotect_object removes that
5389 These functions now nest properly. That is, for every object O, there
5390 is a counter which scm_protect_object(O) increments and
5391 scm_unprotect_object(O) decrements, if the counter is greater than
5392 zero. Every object's counter is zero when it is first created. If an
5393 object's counter is greater than zero, the garbage collector will not
5394 reclaim its storage.
5396 This allows you to use scm_protect_object in your code without
5397 worrying that some other function you call will call
5398 scm_unprotect_object, and allow it to be freed. Assuming that the
5399 functions you call are well-behaved, and unprotect only those objects
5400 they protect, you can follow the same rule and have confidence that
5401 objects will be freed only at appropriate times.
5404 Changes in Guile 1.2 (released Tuesday, June 24 1997):
5406 * Changes to the distribution
5408 ** Nightly snapshots are now available from ftp.red-bean.com.
5409 The old server, ftp.cyclic.com, has been relinquished to its rightful
5412 Nightly snapshots of the Guile development sources are now available via
5413 anonymous FTP from ftp.red-bean.com, as /pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz.
5415 Via the web, that's: ftp://ftp.red-bean.com/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
5416 For getit, that's: ftp.red-bean.com:/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
5418 ** To run Guile without installing it, the procedure has changed a bit.
5420 If you used a separate build directory to compile Guile, you'll need
5421 to include the build directory in SCHEME_LOAD_PATH, as well as the
5422 source directory. See the `INSTALL' file for examples.
5424 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
5426 ** The standard Guile load path for Scheme code now includes
5427 $(datadir)/guile (usually /usr/local/share/guile). This means that
5428 you can install your own Scheme files there, and Guile will find them.
5429 (Previous versions of Guile only checked a directory whose name
5430 contained the Guile version number, so you had to re-install or move
5431 your Scheme sources each time you installed a fresh version of Guile.)
5433 The load path also includes $(datadir)/guile/site; we recommend
5434 putting individual Scheme files there. If you want to install a
5435 package with multiple source files, create a directory for them under
5438 ** Guile 1.2 will now use the Rx regular expression library, if it is
5439 installed on your system. When you are linking libguile into your own
5440 programs, this means you will have to link against -lguile, -lqt (if
5441 you configured Guile with thread support), and -lrx.
5443 If you are using autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your
5444 application, the following lines should suffice to add the appropriate
5445 libraries to your link command:
5447 ### Find Rx, quickthreads and libguile.
5448 AC_CHECK_LIB(rx, main)
5449 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
5450 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
5452 The Guile 1.2 distribution does not contain sources for the Rx
5453 library, as Guile 1.0 did. If you want to use Rx, you'll need to
5454 retrieve it from a GNU FTP site and install it separately.
5456 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
5458 ** The dynamic linking features of Guile are now enabled by default.
5459 You can disable them by giving the `--disable-dynamic-linking' option
5462 (dynamic-link FILENAME)
5464 Find the object file denoted by FILENAME (a string) and link it
5465 into the running Guile application. When everything works out,
5466 return a Scheme object suitable for representing the linked object
5467 file. Otherwise an error is thrown. How object files are
5468 searched is system dependent.
5470 (dynamic-object? VAL)
5472 Determine whether VAL represents a dynamically linked object file.
5474 (dynamic-unlink DYNOBJ)
5476 Unlink the indicated object file from the application. DYNOBJ
5477 should be one of the values returned by `dynamic-link'.
5479 (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
5481 Search the C function indicated by FUNCTION (a string or symbol)
5482 in DYNOBJ and return some Scheme object that can later be used
5483 with `dynamic-call' to actually call this function. Right now,
5484 these Scheme objects are formed by casting the address of the
5485 function to `long' and converting this number to its Scheme
5488 (dynamic-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
5490 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ. The
5491 function is passed no arguments and its return value is ignored.
5492 When FUNCTION is something returned by `dynamic-func', call that
5493 function and ignore DYNOBJ. When FUNCTION is a string (or symbol,
5494 etc.), look it up in DYNOBJ; this is equivalent to
5496 (dynamic-call (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ) #f)
5498 Interrupts are deferred while the C function is executing (with
5499 SCM_DEFER_INTS/SCM_ALLOW_INTS).
5501 (dynamic-args-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ ARGS)
5503 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ, but pass it
5504 some arguments and return its return value. The C function is
5505 expected to take two arguments and return an `int', just like
5508 int c_func (int argc, char **argv);
5510 ARGS must be a list of strings and is converted into an array of
5511 `char *'. The array is passed in ARGV and its size in ARGC. The
5512 return value is converted to a Scheme number and returned from the
5513 call to `dynamic-args-call'.
5515 When dynamic linking is disabled or not supported on your system,
5516 the above functions throw errors, but they are still available.
5518 Here is a small example that works on GNU/Linux:
5520 (define libc-obj (dynamic-link "libc.so"))
5521 (dynamic-args-call 'rand libc-obj '())
5523 See the file `libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING' for additional comments.
5525 ** The #/ syntax for module names is depreciated, and will be removed
5526 in a future version of Guile. Instead of
5534 The latter syntax is more consistent with existing Lisp practice.
5536 ** Guile now does fancier printing of structures. Structures are the
5537 underlying implementation for records, which in turn are used to
5538 implement modules, so all of these object now print differently and in
5539 a more informative way.
5541 The Scheme printer will examine the builtin variable *struct-printer*
5542 whenever it needs to print a structure object. When this variable is
5543 not `#f' it is deemed to be a procedure and will be applied to the
5544 structure object and the output port. When *struct-printer* is `#f'
5545 or the procedure return `#f' the structure object will be printed in
5546 the boring #<struct 80458270> form.
5548 This hook is used by some routines in ice-9/boot-9.scm to implement
5549 type specific printing routines. Please read the comments there about
5552 One of the more specific uses of structs are records. The printing
5553 procedure that could be passed to MAKE-RECORD-TYPE is now actually
5554 called. It should behave like a *struct-printer* procedure (described
5557 ** Guile now supports a new R4RS-compliant syntax for keywords. A
5558 token of the form #:NAME, where NAME has the same syntax as a Scheme
5559 symbol, is the external representation of the keyword named NAME.
5560 Keyword objects print using this syntax as well, so values containing
5561 keyword objects can be read back into Guile. When used in an
5562 expression, keywords are self-quoting objects.
5564 Guile suports this read syntax, and uses this print syntax, regardless
5565 of the current setting of the `keyword' read option. The `keyword'
5566 read option only controls whether Guile recognizes the `:NAME' syntax,
5567 which is incompatible with R4RS. (R4RS says such token represent
5570 ** Guile has regular expression support again. Guile 1.0 included
5571 functions for matching regular expressions, based on the Rx library.
5572 In Guile 1.1, the Guile/Rx interface was removed to simplify the
5573 distribution, and thus Guile had no regular expression support. Guile
5574 1.2 again supports the most commonly used functions, and supports all
5575 of SCSH's regular expression functions.
5577 If your system does not include a POSIX regular expression library,
5578 and you have not linked Guile with a third-party regexp library such as
5579 Rx, these functions will not be available. You can tell whether your
5580 Guile installation includes regular expression support by checking
5581 whether the `*features*' list includes the `regex' symbol.
5583 *** regexp functions
5585 By default, Guile supports POSIX extended regular expressions. That
5586 means that the characters `(', `)', `+' and `?' are special, and must
5587 be escaped if you wish to match the literal characters.
5589 This regular expression interface was modeled after that implemented
5590 by SCSH, the Scheme Shell. It is intended to be upwardly compatible
5591 with SCSH regular expressions.
5593 **** Function: string-match PATTERN STR [START]
5594 Compile the string PATTERN into a regular expression and compare
5595 it with STR. The optional numeric argument START specifies the
5596 position of STR at which to begin matching.
5598 `string-match' returns a "match structure" which describes what,
5599 if anything, was matched by the regular expression. *Note Match
5600 Structures::. If STR does not match PATTERN at all,
5601 `string-match' returns `#f'.
5603 Each time `string-match' is called, it must compile its PATTERN
5604 argument into a regular expression structure. This operation is
5605 expensive, which makes `string-match' inefficient if the same regular
5606 expression is used several times (for example, in a loop). For better
5607 performance, you can compile a regular expression in advance and then
5608 match strings against the compiled regexp.
5610 **** Function: make-regexp STR [FLAGS]
5611 Compile the regular expression described by STR, and return the
5612 compiled regexp structure. If STR does not describe a legal
5613 regular expression, `make-regexp' throws a
5614 `regular-expression-syntax' error.
5616 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
5618 **** Constant: regexp/extended
5619 Use POSIX Extended Regular Expression syntax when interpreting
5620 STR. If not set, POSIX Basic Regular Expression syntax is used.
5621 If the FLAGS argument is omitted, we assume regexp/extended.
5623 **** Constant: regexp/icase
5624 Do not differentiate case. Subsequent searches using the
5625 returned regular expression will be case insensitive.
5627 **** Constant: regexp/newline
5628 Match-any-character operators don't match a newline.
5630 A non-matching list ([^...]) not containing a newline matches a
5633 Match-beginning-of-line operator (^) matches the empty string
5634 immediately after a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
5635 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/notbol.
5637 Match-end-of-line operator ($) matches the empty string
5638 immediately before a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
5639 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/noteol.
5641 **** Function: regexp-exec REGEXP STR [START [FLAGS]]
5642 Match the compiled regular expression REGEXP against `str'. If
5643 the optional integer START argument is provided, begin matching
5644 from that position in the string. Return a match structure
5645 describing the results of the match, or `#f' if no match could be
5648 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
5650 **** Constant: regexp/notbol
5651 The match-beginning-of-line operator always fails to match (but
5652 see the compilation flag regexp/newline above) This flag may be
5653 used when different portions of a string are passed to
5654 regexp-exec and the beginning of the string should not be
5655 interpreted as the beginning of the line.
5657 **** Constant: regexp/noteol
5658 The match-end-of-line operator always fails to match (but see the
5659 compilation flag regexp/newline above)
5661 **** Function: regexp? OBJ
5662 Return `#t' if OBJ is a compiled regular expression, or `#f'
5665 Regular expressions are commonly used to find patterns in one string
5666 and replace them with the contents of another string.
5668 **** Function: regexp-substitute PORT MATCH [ITEM...]
5669 Write to the output port PORT selected contents of the match
5670 structure MATCH. Each ITEM specifies what should be written, and
5671 may be one of the following arguments:
5673 * A string. String arguments are written out verbatim.
5675 * An integer. The submatch with that number is written.
5677 * The symbol `pre'. The portion of the matched string preceding
5678 the regexp match is written.
5680 * The symbol `post'. The portion of the matched string
5681 following the regexp match is written.
5683 PORT may be `#f', in which case nothing is written; instead,
5684 `regexp-substitute' constructs a string from the specified ITEMs
5687 **** Function: regexp-substitute/global PORT REGEXP TARGET [ITEM...]
5688 Similar to `regexp-substitute', but can be used to perform global
5689 substitutions on STR. Instead of taking a match structure as an
5690 argument, `regexp-substitute/global' takes two string arguments: a
5691 REGEXP string describing a regular expression, and a TARGET string
5692 which should be matched against this regular expression.
5694 Each ITEM behaves as in REGEXP-SUBSTITUTE, with the following
5697 * A function may be supplied. When this function is called, it
5698 will be passed one argument: a match structure for a given
5699 regular expression match. It should return a string to be
5700 written out to PORT.
5702 * The `post' symbol causes `regexp-substitute/global' to recurse
5703 on the unmatched portion of STR. This *must* be supplied in
5704 order to perform global search-and-replace on STR; if it is
5705 not present among the ITEMs, then `regexp-substitute/global'
5706 will return after processing a single match.
5708 *** Match Structures
5710 A "match structure" is the object returned by `string-match' and
5711 `regexp-exec'. It describes which portion of a string, if any, matched
5712 the given regular expression. Match structures include: a reference to
5713 the string that was checked for matches; the starting and ending
5714 positions of the regexp match; and, if the regexp included any
5715 parenthesized subexpressions, the starting and ending positions of each
5718 In each of the regexp match functions described below, the `match'
5719 argument must be a match structure returned by a previous call to
5720 `string-match' or `regexp-exec'. Most of these functions return some
5721 information about the original target string that was matched against a
5722 regular expression; we will call that string TARGET for easy reference.
5724 **** Function: regexp-match? OBJ
5725 Return `#t' if OBJ is a match structure returned by a previous
5726 call to `regexp-exec', or `#f' otherwise.
5728 **** Function: match:substring MATCH [N]
5729 Return the portion of TARGET matched by subexpression number N.
5730 Submatch 0 (the default) represents the entire regexp match. If
5731 the regular expression as a whole matched, but the subexpression
5732 number N did not match, return `#f'.
5734 **** Function: match:start MATCH [N]
5735 Return the starting position of submatch number N.
5737 **** Function: match:end MATCH [N]
5738 Return the ending position of submatch number N.
5740 **** Function: match:prefix MATCH
5741 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET preceding the regexp match.
5743 **** Function: match:suffix MATCH
5744 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET following the regexp match.
5746 **** Function: match:count MATCH
5747 Return the number of parenthesized subexpressions from MATCH.
5748 Note that the entire regular expression match itself counts as a
5749 subexpression, and failed submatches are included in the count.
5751 **** Function: match:string MATCH
5752 Return the original TARGET string.
5754 *** Backslash Escapes
5756 Sometimes you will want a regexp to match characters like `*' or `$'
5757 exactly. For example, to check whether a particular string represents
5758 a menu entry from an Info node, it would be useful to match it against
5759 a regexp like `^* [^:]*::'. However, this won't work; because the
5760 asterisk is a metacharacter, it won't match the `*' at the beginning of
5761 the string. In this case, we want to make the first asterisk un-magic.
5763 You can do this by preceding the metacharacter with a backslash
5764 character `\'. (This is also called "quoting" the metacharacter, and
5765 is known as a "backslash escape".) When Guile sees a backslash in a
5766 regular expression, it considers the following glyph to be an ordinary
5767 character, no matter what special meaning it would ordinarily have.
5768 Therefore, we can make the above example work by changing the regexp to
5769 `^\* [^:]*::'. The `\*' sequence tells the regular expression engine
5770 to match only a single asterisk in the target string.
5772 Since the backslash is itself a metacharacter, you may force a
5773 regexp to match a backslash in the target string by preceding the
5774 backslash with itself. For example, to find variable references in a
5775 TeX program, you might want to find occurrences of the string `\let\'
5776 followed by any number of alphabetic characters. The regular expression
5777 `\\let\\[A-Za-z]*' would do this: the double backslashes in the regexp
5778 each match a single backslash in the target string.
5780 **** Function: regexp-quote STR
5781 Quote each special character found in STR with a backslash, and
5782 return the resulting string.
5784 *Very important:* Using backslash escapes in Guile source code (as
5785 in Emacs Lisp or C) can be tricky, because the backslash character has
5786 special meaning for the Guile reader. For example, if Guile encounters
5787 the character sequence `\n' in the middle of a string while processing
5788 Scheme code, it replaces those characters with a newline character.
5789 Similarly, the character sequence `\t' is replaced by a horizontal tab.
5790 Several of these "escape sequences" are processed by the Guile reader
5791 before your code is executed. Unrecognized escape sequences are
5792 ignored: if the characters `\*' appear in a string, they will be
5793 translated to the single character `*'.
5795 This translation is obviously undesirable for regular expressions,
5796 since we want to be able to include backslashes in a string in order to
5797 escape regexp metacharacters. Therefore, to make sure that a backslash
5798 is preserved in a string in your Guile program, you must use *two*
5799 consecutive backslashes:
5801 (define Info-menu-entry-pattern (make-regexp "^\\* [^:]*"))
5803 The string in this example is preprocessed by the Guile reader before
5804 any code is executed. The resulting argument to `make-regexp' is the
5805 string `^\* [^:]*', which is what we really want.
5807 This also means that in order to write a regular expression that
5808 matches a single backslash character, the regular expression string in
5809 the source code must include *four* backslashes. Each consecutive pair
5810 of backslashes gets translated by the Guile reader to a single
5811 backslash, and the resulting double-backslash is interpreted by the
5812 regexp engine as matching a single backslash character. Hence:
5814 (define tex-variable-pattern (make-regexp "\\\\let\\\\=[A-Za-z]*"))
5816 The reason for the unwieldiness of this syntax is historical. Both
5817 regular expression pattern matchers and Unix string processing systems
5818 have traditionally used backslashes with the special meanings described
5819 above. The POSIX regular expression specification and ANSI C standard
5820 both require these semantics. Attempting to abandon either convention
5821 would cause other kinds of compatibility problems, possibly more severe
5822 ones. Therefore, without extending the Scheme reader to support
5823 strings with different quoting conventions (an ungainly and confusing
5824 extension when implemented in other languages), we must adhere to this
5825 cumbersome escape syntax.
5827 * Changes to the gh_ interface
5829 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5831 * Changes to system call interfaces:
5833 ** The value returned by `raise' is now unspecified. It throws an exception
5836 *** A new procedure `sigaction' can be used to install signal handlers
5838 (sigaction signum [action] [flags])
5840 signum is the signal number, which can be specified using the value
5843 If action is omitted, sigaction returns a pair: the CAR is the current
5844 signal hander, which will be either an integer with the value SIG_DFL
5845 (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or the Scheme procedure which
5846 handles the signal, or #f if a non-Scheme procedure handles the
5847 signal. The CDR contains the current sigaction flags for the handler.
5849 If action is provided, it is installed as the new handler for signum.
5850 action can be a Scheme procedure taking one argument, or the value of
5851 SIG_DFL (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or #f to restore
5852 whatever signal handler was installed before sigaction was first used.
5853 Flags can optionally be specified for the new handler (SA_RESTART is
5854 always used if the system provides it, so need not be specified.) The
5855 return value is a pair with information about the old handler as
5858 This interface does not provide access to the "signal blocking"
5859 facility. Maybe this is not needed, since the thread support may
5860 provide solutions to the problem of consistent access to data
5863 *** A new procedure `flush-all-ports' is equivalent to running
5864 `force-output' on every port open for output.
5866 ** Guile now provides information on how it was built, via the new
5867 global variable, %guile-build-info. This variable records the values
5868 of the standard GNU makefile directory variables as an assocation
5869 list, mapping variable names (symbols) onto directory paths (strings).
5870 For example, to find out where the Guile link libraries were
5871 installed, you can say:
5873 guile -c "(display (assq-ref %guile-build-info 'libdir)) (newline)"
5876 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5878 ** The new function scm_handle_by_message_noexit is just like the
5879 existing scm_handle_by_message function, except that it doesn't call
5880 exit to terminate the process. Instead, it prints a message and just
5881 returns #f. This might be a more appropriate catch-all handler for
5882 new dynamic roots and threads.
5885 Changes in Guile 1.1 (released Friday, May 16 1997):
5887 * Changes to the distribution.
5889 The Guile 1.0 distribution has been split up into several smaller
5891 guile-core --- the Guile interpreter itself.
5892 guile-tcltk --- the interface between the Guile interpreter and
5893 Tcl/Tk; Tcl is an interpreter for a stringy language, and Tk
5894 is a toolkit for building graphical user interfaces.
5895 guile-rgx-ctax --- the interface between Guile and the Rx regular
5896 expression matcher, and the translator for the Ctax
5897 programming language. These are packaged together because the
5898 Ctax translator uses Rx to parse Ctax source code.
5900 This NEWS file describes the changes made to guile-core since the 1.0
5903 We no longer distribute the documentation, since it was either out of
5904 date, or incomplete. As soon as we have current documentation, we
5909 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
5911 ** guile now accepts command-line arguments compatible with SCSH, Olin
5912 Shivers' Scheme Shell.
5914 In general, arguments are evaluated from left to right, but there are
5915 exceptions. The following switches stop argument processing, and
5916 stash all remaining command-line arguments as the value returned by
5917 the (command-line) function.
5918 -s SCRIPT load Scheme source code from FILE, and exit
5919 -c EXPR evalute Scheme expression EXPR, and exit
5920 -- stop scanning arguments; run interactively
5922 The switches below are processed as they are encountered.
5923 -l FILE load Scheme source code from FILE
5924 -e FUNCTION after reading script, apply FUNCTION to
5925 command line arguments
5926 -ds do -s script at this point
5927 --emacs enable Emacs protocol (experimental)
5928 -h, --help display this help and exit
5929 -v, --version display version information and exit
5930 \ read arguments from following script lines
5932 So, for example, here is a Guile script named `ekko' (thanks, Olin)
5933 which re-implements the traditional "echo" command:
5935 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
5938 (map (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
5942 (main (command-line))
5944 Suppose we invoke this script as follows:
5946 ekko a speckled gecko
5948 Through the magic of Unix script processing (triggered by the `#!'
5949 token at the top of the file), /usr/local/bin/guile receives the
5950 following list of command-line arguments:
5952 ("-s" "./ekko" "a" "speckled" "gecko")
5954 Unix inserts the name of the script after the argument specified on
5955 the first line of the file (in this case, "-s"), and then follows that
5956 with the arguments given to the script. Guile loads the script, which
5957 defines the `main' function, and then applies it to the list of
5958 remaining command-line arguments, ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
5960 In Unix, the first line of a script file must take the following form:
5962 #!INTERPRETER ARGUMENT
5964 where INTERPRETER is the absolute filename of the interpreter
5965 executable, and ARGUMENT is a single command-line argument to pass to
5968 You may only pass one argument to the interpreter, and its length is
5969 limited. These restrictions can be annoying to work around, so Guile
5970 provides a general mechanism (borrowed from, and compatible with,
5971 SCSH) for circumventing them.
5973 If the ARGUMENT in a Guile script is a single backslash character,
5974 `\', Guile will open the script file, parse arguments from its second
5975 and subsequent lines, and replace the `\' with them. So, for example,
5976 here is another implementation of the `ekko' script:
5978 #!/usr/local/bin/guile \
5982 (for-each (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
5986 If the user invokes this script as follows:
5988 ekko a speckled gecko
5990 Unix expands this into
5992 /usr/local/bin/guile \ ekko a speckled gecko
5994 When Guile sees the `\' argument, it replaces it with the arguments
5995 read from the second line of the script, producing:
5997 /usr/local/bin/guile -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
5999 This tells Guile to load the `ekko' script, and apply the function
6000 `main' to the argument list ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
6002 Here is how Guile parses the command-line arguments:
6003 - Each space character terminates an argument. This means that two
6004 spaces in a row introduce an empty-string argument.
6005 - The tab character is not permitted (unless you quote it with the
6006 backslash character, as described below), to avoid confusion.
6007 - The newline character terminates the sequence of arguments, and will
6008 also terminate a final non-empty argument. (However, a newline
6009 following a space will not introduce a final empty-string argument;
6010 it only terminates the argument list.)
6011 - The backslash character is the escape character. It escapes
6012 backslash, space, tab, and newline. The ANSI C escape sequences
6013 like \n and \t are also supported. These produce argument
6014 constituents; the two-character combination \n doesn't act like a
6015 terminating newline. The escape sequence \NNN for exactly three
6016 octal digits reads as the character whose ASCII code is NNN. As
6017 above, characters produced this way are argument constituents.
6018 Backslash followed by other characters is not allowed.
6020 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
6022 ** Guile now builds and installs a shared guile library, if your
6023 system support shared libraries. (It still builds a static library on
6024 all systems.) Guile automatically detects whether your system
6025 supports shared libraries. To prevent Guile from buildisg shared
6026 libraries, pass the `--disable-shared' flag to the configure script.
6028 Guile takes longer to compile when it builds shared libraries, because
6029 it must compile every file twice --- once to produce position-
6030 independent object code, and once to produce normal object code.
6032 ** The libthreads library has been merged into libguile.
6034 To link a program against Guile, you now need only link against
6035 -lguile and -lqt; -lthreads is no longer needed. If you are using
6036 autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your application, the
6037 following lines should suffice to add the appropriate libraries to
6040 ### Find quickthreads and libguile.
6041 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
6042 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
6044 * Changes to Scheme functions
6046 ** Guile Scheme's special syntax for keyword objects is now optional,
6047 and disabled by default.
6049 The syntax variation from R4RS made it difficult to port some
6050 interesting packages to Guile. The routines which accepted keyword
6051 arguments (mostly in the module system) have been modified to also
6052 accept symbols whose names begin with `:'.
6054 To change the keyword syntax, you must first import the (ice-9 debug)
6056 (use-modules (ice-9 debug))
6058 Then you can enable the keyword syntax as follows:
6059 (read-set! keywords 'prefix)
6061 To disable keyword syntax, do this:
6062 (read-set! keywords #f)
6064 ** Many more primitive functions accept shared substrings as
6065 arguments. In the past, these functions required normal, mutable
6066 strings as arguments, although they never made use of this
6069 ** The uniform array functions now operate on byte vectors. These
6070 functions are `array-fill!', `serial-array-copy!', `array-copy!',
6071 `serial-array-map', `array-map', `array-for-each', and
6074 ** The new functions `trace' and `untrace' implement simple debugging
6075 support for Scheme functions.
6077 The `trace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
6078 and tells the Guile interpreter to display each procedure's name and
6079 arguments each time the procedure is invoked. When invoked with no
6080 arguments, `trace' returns the list of procedures currently being
6083 The `untrace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
6084 and tells the Guile interpreter not to trace them any more. When
6085 invoked with no arguments, `untrace' untraces all curretly traced
6088 The tracing in Guile has an advantage over most other systems: we
6089 don't create new procedure objects, but mark the procedure objects
6090 themselves. This means that anonymous and internal procedures can be
6093 ** The function `assert-repl-prompt' has been renamed to
6094 `set-repl-prompt!'. It takes one argument, PROMPT.
6095 - If PROMPT is #f, the Guile read-eval-print loop will not prompt.
6096 - If PROMPT is a string, we use it as a prompt.
6097 - If PROMPT is a procedure accepting no arguments, we call it, and
6098 display the result as a prompt.
6099 - Otherwise, we display "> ".
6101 ** The new function `eval-string' reads Scheme expressions from a
6102 string and evaluates them, returning the value of the last expression
6103 in the string. If the string contains no expressions, it returns an
6106 ** The new function `thunk?' returns true iff its argument is a
6107 procedure of zero arguments.
6109 ** `defined?' is now a builtin function, instead of syntax. This
6110 means that its argument should be quoted. It returns #t iff its
6111 argument is bound in the current module.
6113 ** The new syntax `use-modules' allows you to add new modules to your
6114 environment without re-typing a complete `define-module' form. It
6115 accepts any number of module names as arguments, and imports their
6116 public bindings into the current module.
6118 ** The new function (module-defined? NAME MODULE) returns true iff
6119 NAME, a symbol, is defined in MODULE, a module object.
6121 ** The new function `builtin-bindings' creates and returns a hash
6122 table containing copies of all the root module's bindings.
6124 ** The new function `builtin-weak-bindings' does the same as
6125 `builtin-bindings', but creates a doubly-weak hash table.
6127 ** The `equal?' function now considers variable objects to be
6128 equivalent if they have the same name and the same value.
6130 ** The new function `command-line' returns the command-line arguments
6131 given to Guile, as a list of strings.
6133 When using guile as a script interpreter, `command-line' returns the
6134 script's arguments; those processed by the interpreter (like `-s' or
6135 `-c') are omitted. (In other words, you get the normal, expected
6136 behavior.) Any application that uses scm_shell to process its
6137 command-line arguments gets this behavior as well.
6139 ** The new function `load-user-init' looks for a file called `.guile'
6140 in the user's home directory, and loads it if it exists. This is
6141 mostly for use by the code generated by scm_compile_shell_switches,
6142 but we thought it might also be useful in other circumstances.
6144 ** The new function `log10' returns the base-10 logarithm of its
6147 ** Changes to I/O functions
6149 *** The functions `read', `primitive-load', `read-and-eval!', and
6150 `primitive-load-path' no longer take optional arguments controlling
6151 case insensitivity and a `#' parser.
6153 Case sensitivity is now controlled by a read option called
6154 `case-insensitive'. The user can add new `#' syntaxes with the
6155 `read-hash-extend' function (see below).
6157 *** The new function `read-hash-extend' allows the user to change the
6158 syntax of Guile Scheme in a somewhat controlled way.
6160 (read-hash-extend CHAR PROC)
6161 When parsing S-expressions, if we read a `#' character followed by
6162 the character CHAR, use PROC to parse an object from the stream.
6163 If PROC is #f, remove any parsing procedure registered for CHAR.
6165 The reader applies PROC to two arguments: CHAR and an input port.
6167 *** The new functions read-delimited and read-delimited! provide a
6168 general mechanism for doing delimited input on streams.
6170 (read-delimited DELIMS [PORT HANDLE-DELIM])
6171 Read until we encounter one of the characters in DELIMS (a string),
6172 or end-of-file. PORT is the input port to read from; it defaults to
6173 the current input port. The HANDLE-DELIM parameter determines how
6174 the terminating character is handled; it should be one of the
6177 'trim omit delimiter from result
6178 'peek leave delimiter character in input stream
6179 'concat append delimiter character to returned value
6180 'split return a pair: (RESULT . TERMINATOR)
6182 HANDLE-DELIM defaults to 'peek.
6184 (read-delimited! DELIMS BUF [PORT HANDLE-DELIM START END])
6185 A side-effecting variant of `read-delimited'.
6187 The data is written into the string BUF at the indices in the
6188 half-open interval [START, END); the default interval is the whole
6189 string: START = 0 and END = (string-length BUF). The values of
6190 START and END must specify a well-defined interval in BUF, i.e.
6191 0 <= START <= END <= (string-length BUF).
6193 It returns NBYTES, the number of bytes read. If the buffer filled
6194 up without a delimiter character being found, it returns #f. If the
6195 port is at EOF when the read starts, it returns the EOF object.
6197 If an integer is returned (i.e., the read is successfully terminated
6198 by reading a delimiter character), then the HANDLE-DELIM parameter
6199 determines how to handle the terminating character. It is described
6200 above, and defaults to 'peek.
6202 (The descriptions of these functions were borrowed from the SCSH
6203 manual, by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
6205 *** The `%read-delimited!' function is the primitive used to implement
6206 `read-delimited' and `read-delimited!'.
6208 (%read-delimited! DELIMS BUF GOBBLE? [PORT START END])
6210 This returns a pair of values: (TERMINATOR . NUM-READ).
6211 - TERMINATOR describes why the read was terminated. If it is a
6212 character or the eof object, then that is the value that terminated
6213 the read. If it is #f, the function filled the buffer without finding
6214 a delimiting character.
6215 - NUM-READ is the number of characters read into BUF.
6217 If the read is successfully terminated by reading a delimiter
6218 character, then the gobble? parameter determines what to do with the
6219 terminating character. If true, the character is removed from the
6220 input stream; if false, the character is left in the input stream
6221 where a subsequent read operation will retrieve it. In either case,
6222 the character is also the first value returned by the procedure call.
6224 (The descriptions of this function was borrowed from the SCSH manual,
6225 by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
6227 *** The `read-line' and `read-line!' functions have changed; they now
6228 trim the terminator by default; previously they appended it to the
6229 returned string. For the old behavior, use (read-line PORT 'concat).
6231 *** The functions `uniform-array-read!' and `uniform-array-write!' now
6232 take new optional START and END arguments, specifying the region of
6233 the array to read and write.
6235 *** The `ungetc-char-ready?' function has been removed. We feel it's
6236 inappropriate for an interface to expose implementation details this
6239 ** Changes to the Unix library and system call interface
6241 *** The new fcntl function provides access to the Unix `fcntl' system
6244 (fcntl PORT COMMAND VALUE)
6245 Apply COMMAND to PORT's file descriptor, with VALUE as an argument.
6246 Values for COMMAND are:
6248 F_DUPFD duplicate a file descriptor
6249 F_GETFD read the descriptor's close-on-exec flag
6250 F_SETFD set the descriptor's close-on-exec flag to VALUE
6251 F_GETFL read the descriptor's flags, as set on open
6252 F_SETFL set the descriptor's flags, as set on open to VALUE
6253 F_GETOWN return the process ID of a socket's owner, for SIGIO
6254 F_SETOWN set the process that owns a socket to VALUE, for SIGIO
6255 FD_CLOEXEC not sure what this is
6257 For details, see the documentation for the fcntl system call.
6259 *** The arguments to `select' have changed, for compatibility with
6260 SCSH. The TIMEOUT parameter may now be non-integral, yielding the
6261 expected behavior. The MILLISECONDS parameter has been changed to
6262 MICROSECONDS, to more closely resemble the underlying system call.
6263 The RVEC, WVEC, and EVEC arguments can now be vectors; the type of the
6264 corresponding return set will be the same.
6266 *** The arguments to the `mknod' system call have changed. They are
6269 (mknod PATH TYPE PERMS DEV)
6270 Create a new file (`node') in the file system. PATH is the name of
6271 the file to create. TYPE is the kind of file to create; it should
6272 be 'fifo, 'block-special, or 'char-special. PERMS specifies the
6273 permission bits to give the newly created file. If TYPE is
6274 'block-special or 'char-special, DEV specifies which device the
6275 special file refers to; its interpretation depends on the kind of
6276 special file being created.
6278 *** The `fork' function has been renamed to `primitive-fork', to avoid
6279 clashing with various SCSH forks.
6281 *** The `recv' and `recvfrom' functions have been renamed to `recv!'
6282 and `recvfrom!'. They no longer accept a size for a second argument;
6283 you must pass a string to hold the received value. They no longer
6284 return the buffer. Instead, `recv' returns the length of the message
6285 received, and `recvfrom' returns a pair containing the packet's length
6286 and originating address.
6288 *** The file descriptor datatype has been removed, as have the
6289 `read-fd', `write-fd', `close', `lseek', and `dup' functions.
6290 We plan to replace these functions with a SCSH-compatible interface.
6292 *** The `create' function has been removed; it's just a special case
6295 *** There are new functions to break down process termination status
6296 values. In the descriptions below, STATUS is a value returned by
6299 (status:exit-val STATUS)
6300 If the child process exited normally, this function returns the exit
6301 code for the child process (i.e., the value passed to exit, or
6302 returned from main). If the child process did not exit normally,
6303 this function returns #f.
6305 (status:stop-sig STATUS)
6306 If the child process was suspended by a signal, this function
6307 returns the signal that suspended the child. Otherwise, it returns
6310 (status:term-sig STATUS)
6311 If the child process terminated abnormally, this function returns
6312 the signal that terminated the child. Otherwise, this function
6315 POSIX promises that exactly one of these functions will return true on
6316 a valid STATUS value.
6318 These functions are compatible with SCSH.
6320 *** There are new accessors and setters for the broken-out time vectors
6321 returned by `localtime', `gmtime', and that ilk. They are:
6323 Component Accessor Setter
6324 ========================= ============ ============
6325 seconds tm:sec set-tm:sec
6326 minutes tm:min set-tm:min
6327 hours tm:hour set-tm:hour
6328 day of the month tm:mday set-tm:mday
6329 month tm:mon set-tm:mon
6330 year tm:year set-tm:year
6331 day of the week tm:wday set-tm:wday
6332 day in the year tm:yday set-tm:yday
6333 daylight saving time tm:isdst set-tm:isdst
6334 GMT offset, seconds tm:gmtoff set-tm:gmtoff
6335 name of time zone tm:zone set-tm:zone
6337 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `uname',
6338 describing the host system:
6341 ============================================== ================
6342 name of the operating system implementation utsname:sysname
6343 network name of this machine utsname:nodename
6344 release level of the operating system utsname:release
6345 version level of the operating system utsname:version
6346 machine hardware platform utsname:machine
6348 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getpw',
6349 `getpwnam', `getpwuid', and `getpwent', describing entries from the
6350 system's user database:
6353 ====================== =================
6354 user name passwd:name
6355 user password passwd:passwd
6358 real name passwd:gecos
6359 home directory passwd:dir
6360 shell program passwd:shell
6362 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getgr',
6363 `getgrnam', `getgrgid', and `getgrent', describing entries from the
6364 system's group database:
6367 ======================= ============
6368 group name group:name
6369 group password group:passwd
6371 group members group:mem
6373 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `gethost',
6374 `gethostbyaddr', `gethostbyname', and `gethostent', describing
6378 ========================= ===============
6379 official name of host hostent:name
6380 alias list hostent:aliases
6381 host address type hostent:addrtype
6382 length of address hostent:length
6383 list of addresses hostent:addr-list
6385 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getnet',
6386 `getnetbyaddr', `getnetbyname', and `getnetent', describing internet
6390 ========================= ===============
6391 official name of net netent:name
6392 alias list netent:aliases
6393 net number type netent:addrtype
6394 net number netent:net
6396 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getproto',
6397 `getprotobyname', `getprotobynumber', and `getprotoent', describing
6401 ========================= ===============
6402 official protocol name protoent:name
6403 alias list protoent:aliases
6404 protocol number protoent:proto
6406 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getserv',
6407 `getservbyname', `getservbyport', and `getservent', describing
6411 ========================= ===============
6412 official service name servent:name
6413 alias list servent:aliases
6414 port number servent:port
6415 protocol to use servent:proto
6417 *** There are new accessors for the sockaddr structures returned by
6418 `accept', `getsockname', `getpeername', `recvfrom!':
6421 ======================================== ===============
6422 address format (`family') sockaddr:fam
6423 path, for file domain addresses sockaddr:path
6424 address, for internet domain addresses sockaddr:addr
6425 TCP or UDP port, for internet sockaddr:port
6427 *** The `getpwent', `getgrent', `gethostent', `getnetent',
6428 `getprotoent', and `getservent' functions now return #f at the end of
6429 the user database. (They used to throw an exception.)
6431 Note that calling MUMBLEent function is equivalent to calling the
6432 corresponding MUMBLE function with no arguments.
6434 *** The `setpwent', `setgrent', `sethostent', `setnetent',
6435 `setprotoent', and `setservent' routines now take no arguments.
6437 *** The `gethost', `getproto', `getnet', and `getserv' functions now
6438 provide more useful information when they throw an exception.
6440 *** The `lnaof' function has been renamed to `inet-lnaof'.
6442 *** Guile now claims to have the `current-time' feature.
6444 *** The `mktime' function now takes an optional second argument ZONE,
6445 giving the time zone to use for the conversion. ZONE should be a
6446 string, in the same format as expected for the "TZ" environment variable.
6448 *** The `strptime' function now returns a pair (TIME . COUNT), where
6449 TIME is the parsed time as a vector, and COUNT is the number of
6450 characters from the string left unparsed. This function used to
6451 return the remaining characters as a string.
6453 *** The `gettimeofday' function has replaced the old `time+ticks' function.
6454 The return value is now (SECONDS . MICROSECONDS); the fractional
6455 component is no longer expressed in "ticks".
6457 *** The `ticks/sec' constant has been removed, in light of the above change.
6459 * Changes to the gh_ interface
6461 ** gh_eval_str() now returns an SCM object which is the result of the
6464 ** gh_scm2str() now copies the Scheme data to a caller-provided C
6467 ** gh_scm2newstr() now makes a C array, copies the Scheme data to it,
6468 and returns the array
6470 ** gh_scm2str0() is gone: there is no need to distinguish
6471 null-terminated from non-null-terminated, since gh_scm2newstr() allows
6472 the user to interpret the data both ways.
6474 * Changes to the scm_ interface
6476 ** The new function scm_symbol_value0 provides an easy way to get a
6477 symbol's value from C code:
6479 SCM scm_symbol_value0 (char *NAME)
6480 Return the value of the symbol named by the null-terminated string
6481 NAME in the current module. If the symbol named NAME is unbound in
6482 the current module, return SCM_UNDEFINED.
6484 ** The new function scm_sysintern0 creates new top-level variables,
6485 without assigning them a value.
6487 SCM scm_sysintern0 (char *NAME)
6488 Create a new Scheme top-level variable named NAME. NAME is a
6489 null-terminated string. Return the variable's value cell.
6491 ** The function scm_internal_catch is the guts of catch. It handles
6492 all the mechanics of setting up a catch target, invoking the catch
6493 body, and perhaps invoking the handler if the body does a throw.
6495 The function is designed to be usable from C code, but is general
6496 enough to implement all the semantics Guile Scheme expects from throw.
6498 TAG is the catch tag. Typically, this is a symbol, but this function
6499 doesn't actually care about that.
6501 BODY is a pointer to a C function which runs the body of the catch;
6502 this is the code you can throw from. We call it like this:
6503 BODY (BODY_DATA, JMPBUF)
6505 BODY_DATA is just the BODY_DATA argument we received; we pass it
6506 through to BODY as its first argument. The caller can make
6507 BODY_DATA point to anything useful that BODY might need.
6508 JMPBUF is the Scheme jmpbuf object corresponding to this catch,
6509 which we have just created and initialized.
6511 HANDLER is a pointer to a C function to deal with a throw to TAG,
6512 should one occur. We call it like this:
6513 HANDLER (HANDLER_DATA, THROWN_TAG, THROW_ARGS)
6515 HANDLER_DATA is the HANDLER_DATA argument we recevied; it's the
6516 same idea as BODY_DATA above.
6517 THROWN_TAG is the tag that the user threw to; usually this is
6518 TAG, but it could be something else if TAG was #t (i.e., a
6519 catch-all), or the user threw to a jmpbuf.
6520 THROW_ARGS is the list of arguments the user passed to the THROW
6523 BODY_DATA is just a pointer we pass through to BODY. HANDLER_DATA
6524 is just a pointer we pass through to HANDLER. We don't actually
6525 use either of those pointers otherwise ourselves. The idea is
6526 that, if our caller wants to communicate something to BODY or
6527 HANDLER, it can pass a pointer to it as MUMBLE_DATA, which BODY and
6528 HANDLER can then use. Think of it as a way to make BODY and
6529 HANDLER closures, not just functions; MUMBLE_DATA points to the
6532 Of course, it's up to the caller to make sure that any data a
6533 MUMBLE_DATA needs is protected from GC. A common way to do this is
6534 to make MUMBLE_DATA a pointer to data stored in an automatic
6535 structure variable; since the collector must scan the stack for
6536 references anyway, this assures that any references in MUMBLE_DATA
6539 ** The new function scm_internal_lazy_catch is exactly like
6540 scm_internal_catch, except:
6542 - It does not unwind the stack (this is the major difference).
6543 - If handler returns, its value is returned from the throw.
6544 - BODY always receives #f as its JMPBUF argument (since there's no
6545 jmpbuf associated with a lazy catch, because we don't unwind the
6548 ** scm_body_thunk is a new body function you can pass to
6549 scm_internal_catch if you want the body to be like Scheme's `catch'
6550 --- a thunk, or a function of one argument if the tag is #f.
6552 BODY_DATA is a pointer to a scm_body_thunk_data structure, which
6553 contains the Scheme procedure to invoke as the body, and the tag
6554 we're catching. If the tag is #f, then we pass JMPBUF (created by
6555 scm_internal_catch) to the body procedure; otherwise, the body gets
6558 ** scm_handle_by_proc is a new handler function you can pass to
6559 scm_internal_catch if you want the handler to act like Scheme's catch
6560 --- call a procedure with the tag and the throw arguments.
6562 If the user does a throw to this catch, this function runs a handler
6563 procedure written in Scheme. HANDLER_DATA is a pointer to an SCM
6564 variable holding the Scheme procedure object to invoke. It ought to
6565 be a pointer to an automatic variable (i.e., one living on the stack),
6566 or the procedure object should be otherwise protected from GC.
6568 ** scm_handle_by_message is a new handler function to use with
6569 `scm_internal_catch' if you want Guile to print a message and die.
6570 It's useful for dealing with throws to uncaught keys at the top level.
6572 HANDLER_DATA, if non-zero, is assumed to be a char * pointing to a
6573 message header to print; if zero, we use "guile" instead. That
6574 text is followed by a colon, then the message described by ARGS.
6576 ** The return type of scm_boot_guile is now void; the function does
6577 not return a value, and indeed, never returns at all.
6579 ** The new function scm_shell makes it easy for user applications to
6580 process command-line arguments in a way that is compatible with the
6581 stand-alone guile interpreter (which is in turn compatible with SCSH,
6584 To use the scm_shell function, first initialize any guile modules
6585 linked into your application, and then call scm_shell with the values
6586 of ARGC and ARGV your `main' function received. scm_shell will add
6587 any SCSH-style meta-arguments from the top of the script file to the
6588 argument vector, and then process the command-line arguments. This
6589 generally means loading a script file or starting up an interactive
6590 command interpreter. For details, see "Changes to the stand-alone
6593 ** The new functions scm_get_meta_args and scm_count_argv help you
6594 implement the SCSH-style meta-argument, `\'.
6596 char **scm_get_meta_args (int ARGC, char **ARGV)
6597 If the second element of ARGV is a string consisting of a single
6598 backslash character (i.e. "\\" in Scheme notation), open the file
6599 named by the following argument, parse arguments from it, and return
6600 the spliced command line. The returned array is terminated by a
6603 For details of argument parsing, see above, under "guile now accepts
6604 command-line arguments compatible with SCSH..."
6606 int scm_count_argv (char **ARGV)
6607 Count the arguments in ARGV, assuming it is terminated by a null
6610 For an example of how these functions might be used, see the source
6611 code for the function scm_shell in libguile/script.c.
6613 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
6616 ** The new function scm_compile_shell_switches turns an array of
6617 command-line arguments into Scheme code to carry out the actions they
6618 describe. Given ARGC and ARGV, it returns a Scheme expression to
6619 evaluate, and calls scm_set_program_arguments to make any remaining
6620 command-line arguments available to the Scheme code. For example,
6621 given the following arguments:
6623 -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
6625 scm_set_program_arguments will return the following expression:
6627 (begin (load "ekko") (main (command-line)) (quit))
6629 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
6632 ** The function scm_shell_usage prints a usage message appropriate for
6633 an interpreter that uses scm_compile_shell_switches to handle its
6634 command-line arguments.
6636 void scm_shell_usage (int FATAL, char *MESSAGE)
6637 Print a usage message to the standard error output. If MESSAGE is
6638 non-zero, write it before the usage message, followed by a newline.
6639 If FATAL is non-zero, exit the process, using FATAL as the
6640 termination status. (If you want to be compatible with Guile,
6641 always use 1 as the exit status when terminating due to command-line
6644 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
6647 ** scm_eval_0str now returns SCM_UNSPECIFIED if the string contains no
6648 expressions. It used to return SCM_EOL. Earth-shattering.
6650 ** The macros for declaring scheme objects in C code have been
6651 rearranged slightly. They are now:
6653 SCM_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
6654 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
6655 point to the Scheme symbol whose name is SCHEME_NAME. C_NAME should
6656 be a C identifier, and SCHEME_NAME should be a C string.
6658 SCM_GLOBAL_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
6659 Just like SCM_SYMBOL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
6661 SCM_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
6662 Create a global variable at the Scheme level named SCHEME_NAME.
6663 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
6664 point to the Scheme variable's value cell.
6666 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
6667 Just like SCM_VCELL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
6669 The `guile-snarf' script writes initialization code for these macros
6670 to its standard output, given C source code as input.
6672 The SCM_GLOBAL macro is gone.
6674 ** The scm_read_line and scm_read_line_x functions have been replaced
6675 by Scheme code based on the %read-delimited! procedure (known to C
6676 code as scm_read_delimited_x). See its description above for more
6679 ** The function scm_sys_open has been renamed to scm_open. It now
6680 returns a port instead of an FD object.
6682 * The dynamic linking support has changed. For more information, see
6683 libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING.
6688 User-visible changes from Thursday, September 5, 1996 until Guile 1.0
6691 * Changes to the 'guile' program:
6693 ** Guile now loads some new files when it starts up. Guile first
6694 searches the load path for init.scm, and loads it if found. Then, if
6695 Guile is not being used to execute a script, and the user's home
6696 directory contains a file named `.guile', Guile loads that.
6698 ** You can now use Guile as a shell script interpreter.
6700 To paraphrase the SCSH manual:
6702 When Unix tries to execute an executable file whose first two
6703 characters are the `#!', it treats the file not as machine code to
6704 be directly executed by the native processor, but as source code
6705 to be executed by some interpreter. The interpreter to use is
6706 specified immediately after the #! sequence on the first line of
6707 the source file. The kernel reads in the name of the interpreter,
6708 and executes that instead. It passes the interpreter the source
6709 filename as its first argument, with the original arguments
6710 following. Consult the Unix man page for the `exec' system call
6711 for more information.
6713 Now you can use Guile as an interpreter, using a mechanism which is a
6714 compatible subset of that provided by SCSH.
6716 Guile now recognizes a '-s' command line switch, whose argument is the
6717 name of a file of Scheme code to load. It also treats the two
6718 characters `#!' as the start of a comment, terminated by `!#'. Thus,
6719 to make a file of Scheme code directly executable by Unix, insert the
6720 following two lines at the top of the file:
6722 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
6725 Guile treats the argument of the `-s' command-line switch as the name
6726 of a file of Scheme code to load, and treats the sequence `#!' as the
6727 start of a block comment, terminated by `!#'.
6729 For example, here's a version of 'echo' written in Scheme:
6731 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
6733 (let loop ((args (cdr (program-arguments))))
6736 (display (car args))
6737 (if (pair? (cdr args))
6739 (loop (cdr args)))))
6742 Why does `#!' start a block comment terminated by `!#', instead of the
6743 end of the line? That is the notation SCSH uses, and although we
6744 don't yet support the other SCSH features that motivate that choice,
6745 we would like to be backward-compatible with any existing Guile
6746 scripts once we do. Furthermore, if the path to Guile on your system
6747 is too long for your kernel, you can start the script with this
6751 exec /really/long/path/to/guile -s "$0" ${1+"$@"}
6754 Note that some very old Unix systems don't support the `#!' syntax.
6757 ** You can now run Guile without installing it.
6759 Previous versions of the interactive Guile interpreter (`guile')
6760 couldn't start up unless Guile's Scheme library had been installed;
6761 they used the value of the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH'
6762 later on in the startup process, but not to find the startup code
6763 itself. Now Guile uses `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' in all searches for Scheme
6766 To run Guile without installing it, build it in the normal way, and
6767 then set the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' to a
6768 colon-separated list of directories, including the top-level directory
6769 of the Guile sources. For example, if you unpacked Guile so that the
6770 full filename of this NEWS file is /home/jimb/guile-1.0b3/NEWS, then
6773 export SCHEME_LOAD_PATH=/home/jimb/my-scheme:/home/jimb/guile-1.0b3
6776 ** Guile's read-eval-print loop no longer prints #<unspecified>
6777 results. If the user wants to see this, she can evaluate the
6778 expression (assert-repl-print-unspecified #t), perhaps in her startup
6781 ** Guile no longer shows backtraces by default when an error occurs;
6782 however, it does display a message saying how to get one, and how to
6783 request that they be displayed by default. After an error, evaluate
6785 to see a backtrace, and
6786 (debug-enable 'backtrace)
6787 to see them by default.
6791 * Changes to Guile Scheme:
6793 ** Guile now distinguishes between #f and the empty list.
6795 This is for compatibility with the IEEE standard, the (possibly)
6796 upcoming Revised^5 Report on Scheme, and many extant Scheme
6799 Guile used to have #f and '() denote the same object, to make Scheme's
6800 type system more compatible with Emacs Lisp's. However, the change
6801 caused too much trouble for Scheme programmers, and we found another
6802 way to reconcile Emacs Lisp with Scheme that didn't require this.
6805 ** Guile's delq, delv, delete functions, and their destructive
6806 counterparts, delq!, delv!, and delete!, now remove all matching
6807 elements from the list, not just the first. This matches the behavior
6808 of the corresponding Emacs Lisp functions, and (I believe) the Maclisp
6809 functions which inspired them.
6811 I recognize that this change may break code in subtle ways, but it
6812 seems best to make the change before the FSF's first Guile release,
6816 ** The compiled-library-path function has been deleted from libguile.
6818 ** The facilities for loading Scheme source files have changed.
6820 *** The variable %load-path now tells Guile which directories to search
6821 for Scheme code. Its value is a list of strings, each of which names
6824 *** The variable %load-extensions now tells Guile which extensions to
6825 try appending to a filename when searching the load path. Its value
6826 is a list of strings. Its default value is ("" ".scm").
6828 *** (%search-load-path FILENAME) searches the directories listed in the
6829 value of the %load-path variable for a Scheme file named FILENAME,
6830 with all the extensions listed in %load-extensions. If it finds a
6831 match, then it returns its full filename. If FILENAME is absolute, it
6832 returns it unchanged. Otherwise, it returns #f.
6834 %search-load-path will not return matches that refer to directories.
6836 *** (primitive-load FILENAME :optional CASE-INSENSITIVE-P SHARP)
6837 uses %seach-load-path to find a file named FILENAME, and loads it if
6838 it finds it. If it can't read FILENAME for any reason, it throws an
6841 The arguments CASE-INSENSITIVE-P and SHARP are interpreted as by the
6844 *** load uses the same searching semantics as primitive-load.
6846 *** The functions %try-load, try-load-with-path, %load, load-with-path,
6847 basic-try-load-with-path, basic-load-with-path, try-load-module-with-
6848 path, and load-module-with-path have been deleted. The functions
6849 above should serve their purposes.
6851 *** If the value of the variable %load-hook is a procedure,
6852 `primitive-load' applies its value to the name of the file being
6853 loaded (without the load path directory name prepended). If its value
6854 is #f, it is ignored. Otherwise, an error occurs.
6856 This is mostly useful for printing load notification messages.
6859 ** The function `eval!' is no longer accessible from the scheme level.
6860 We can't allow operations which introduce glocs into the scheme level,
6861 because Guile's type system can't handle these as data. Use `eval' or
6862 `read-and-eval!' (see below) as replacement.
6864 ** The new function read-and-eval! reads an expression from PORT,
6865 evaluates it, and returns the result. This is more efficient than
6866 simply calling `read' and `eval', since it is not necessary to make a
6867 copy of the expression for the evaluator to munge.
6869 Its optional arguments CASE_INSENSITIVE_P and SHARP are interpreted as
6870 for the `read' function.
6873 ** The function `int?' has been removed; its definition was identical
6874 to that of `integer?'.
6876 ** The functions `<?', `<?', `<=?', `=?', `>?', and `>=?'. Code should
6877 use the R4RS names for these functions.
6879 ** The function object-properties no longer returns the hash handle;
6880 it simply returns the object's property list.
6882 ** Many functions have been changed to throw errors, instead of
6883 returning #f on failure. The point of providing exception handling in
6884 the language is to simplify the logic of user code, but this is less
6885 useful if Guile's primitives don't throw exceptions.
6887 ** The function `fileno' has been renamed from `%fileno'.
6889 ** The function primitive-mode->fdes returns #t or #f now, not 1 or 0.
6892 * Changes to Guile's C interface:
6894 ** The library's initialization procedure has been simplified.
6895 scm_boot_guile now has the prototype:
6897 void scm_boot_guile (int ARGC,
6899 void (*main_func) (),
6902 scm_boot_guile calls MAIN_FUNC, passing it CLOSURE, ARGC, and ARGV.
6903 MAIN_FUNC should do all the work of the program (initializing other
6904 packages, reading user input, etc.) before returning. When MAIN_FUNC
6905 returns, call exit (0); this function never returns. If you want some
6906 other exit value, MAIN_FUNC may call exit itself.
6908 scm_boot_guile arranges for program-arguments to return the strings
6909 given by ARGC and ARGV. If MAIN_FUNC modifies ARGC/ARGV, should call
6910 scm_set_program_arguments with the final list, so Scheme code will
6911 know which arguments have been processed.
6913 scm_boot_guile establishes a catch-all catch handler which prints an
6914 error message and exits the process. This means that Guile exits in a
6915 coherent way when system errors occur and the user isn't prepared to
6916 handle it. If the user doesn't like this behavior, they can establish
6917 their own universal catcher in MAIN_FUNC to shadow this one.
6919 Why must the caller do all the real work from MAIN_FUNC? The garbage
6920 collector assumes that all local variables of type SCM will be above
6921 scm_boot_guile's stack frame on the stack. If you try to manipulate
6922 SCM values after this function returns, it's the luck of the draw
6923 whether the GC will be able to find the objects you allocate. So,
6924 scm_boot_guile function exits, rather than returning, to discourage
6925 people from making that mistake.
6927 The IN, OUT, and ERR arguments were removed; there are other
6928 convenient ways to override these when desired.
6930 The RESULT argument was deleted; this function should never return.
6932 The BOOT_CMD argument was deleted; the MAIN_FUNC argument is more
6936 ** Guile's header files should no longer conflict with your system's
6939 In order to compile code which #included <libguile.h>, previous
6940 versions of Guile required you to add a directory containing all the
6941 Guile header files to your #include path. This was a problem, since
6942 Guile's header files have names which conflict with many systems'
6945 Now only <libguile.h> need appear in your #include path; you must
6946 refer to all Guile's other header files as <libguile/mumble.h>.
6947 Guile's installation procedure puts libguile.h in $(includedir), and
6948 the rest in $(includedir)/libguile.
6951 ** Two new C functions, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object,
6952 have been added to the Guile library.
6954 scm_protect_object (OBJ) protects OBJ from the garbage collector.
6955 OBJ will not be freed, even if all other references are dropped,
6956 until someone does scm_unprotect_object (OBJ). Both functions
6959 Note that calls to scm_protect_object do not nest. You can call
6960 scm_protect_object any number of times on a given object, and the
6961 next call to scm_unprotect_object will unprotect it completely.
6963 Basically, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object just
6964 maintain a list of references to things. Since the GC knows about
6965 this list, all objects it mentions stay alive. scm_protect_object
6966 adds its argument to the list; scm_unprotect_object remove its
6967 argument from the list.
6970 ** scm_eval_0str now returns the value of the last expression
6973 ** The new function scm_read_0str reads an s-expression from a
6974 null-terminated string, and returns it.
6976 ** The new function `scm_stdio_to_port' converts a STDIO file pointer
6977 to a Scheme port object.
6979 ** The new function `scm_set_program_arguments' allows C code to set
6980 the value returned by the Scheme `program-arguments' function.
6985 * Guile no longer includes sophisticated Tcl/Tk support.
6987 The old Tcl/Tk support was unsatisfying to us, because it required the
6988 user to link against the Tcl library, as well as Tk and Guile. The
6989 interface was also un-lispy, in that it preserved Tcl/Tk's practice of
6990 referring to widgets by names, rather than exporting widgets to Scheme
6991 code as a special datatype.
6993 In the Usenix Tk Developer's Workshop held in July 1996, the Tcl/Tk
6994 maintainers described some very interesting changes in progress to the
6995 Tcl/Tk internals, which would facilitate clean interfaces between lone
6996 Tk and other interpreters --- even for garbage-collected languages
6997 like Scheme. They expected the new Tk to be publicly available in the
7000 Since it seems that Guile might soon have a new, cleaner interface to
7001 lone Tk, and that the old Guile/Tk glue code would probably need to be
7002 completely rewritten, we (Jim Blandy and Richard Stallman) have
7003 decided not to support the old code. We'll spend the time instead on
7004 a good interface to the newer Tk, as soon as it is available.
7006 Until then, gtcltk-lib provides trivial, low-maintenance functionality.
7009 Copyright information:
7011 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
7013 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
7014 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
7015 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
7016 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
7018 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
7019 of this document, or of portions of it,
7020 under the above conditions, provided also that they
7021 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
7026 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"