1 Guile NEWS --- history of user-visible changes.
2 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 See the end for copying conditions.
5 Please send Guile bug reports to bug-guile@gnu.org.
8 (During the 1.9 series, we will keep an incremental NEWS for the latest
9 prerelease, and a full NEWS corresponding to 1.8 -> 2.0.)
11 Changes in 1.9.5 (since the 1.9.4 prerelease):
13 ** Compiled procedures may now have more than one arity.
15 This can be the case, for example, in case-lambda procedures. The
16 arities of compiled procedures may be accessed via procedures from the
17 `(system vm program)' module; see "Compiled Procedures", "Optional
18 Arguments", and "Case-lambda" in the manual.
20 ** `case-lambda' is now available in the default environment.
22 The binding in the default environment is equivalent to the one from the
23 `(srfi srfi-16)' module. Use the srfi-16 module explicitly if you wish
24 to maintain compatibility with Guile 1.8 and earlier.
26 ** VM calling convention change: callee-parsed arguments
28 As an internal implementation detail, compiled procedures are now
29 responsible for parsing their own arguments, which they receive on the
32 ** VM support for multiple-arity dispatch
34 Calls to procedures with multiple arities, for example those made be
35 `case-lambda', now dispatch via special opcodes, without the need to
38 ** Intermediate language support for multiple-arity procedures.
40 In the intermediate language, tree-il, all procedures may have one or
41 more arities. This allows all Guile languages to have multiple arities.
42 It is, however, an incompatible change, and anyone maintaining a
43 compiler out-of-tree would be advised to get it into Guile soon :)
45 ** `lambda*' and `define*' are now available in the default environment
47 As with `case-lambda', `(ice-9 optargs)' continues to be supported, for
48 compatibility purposes. No semantic change has been made (we hope).
49 Optional and keyword arguments now dispatch via special VM operations,
50 without the need to cons rest arguments, making them very fast.
52 ** Better support for Lisp `nil'.
54 The bit representation of `nil' has been tweaked so that it is now very
55 efficient to check e.g. if a value is equal to Scheme's end-of-list or
56 Lisp's nil. Additionally there are a heap of new, specific predicates
57 like scm_is_null_or_nil. Probably in the future we will #define
58 scm_is_null to scm_is_null_or_nil.
62 Actually the future is still in the state that it was, is, and ever
63 shall be, Amen, except that `futures.c' and `futures.h' are no longer a
64 part of it. These files were experimental, never compiled, and would be
65 better implemented in Scheme anyway. In the future, that is.
67 ** Support for static allocation of strings, symbols, and subrs.
69 Calls to snarfing CPP macros like SCM_DEFINE macro will now allocate
70 much of their associated data as static variables, reducing Guile's
73 ** Inline vector allocation
75 Instead of having vectors point out into the heap for their data, their
76 data is now allocated inline to the vector object itself. The same is
77 true for bytevectors, by default, though there is an indirection
78 available which should allow for making a bytevector from an existing
81 ** New syntax: include-from-path.
83 `include-from-path' is like `include', except it looks for its file in
84 the load path. It can be used to compile other files into a file.
86 ** New syntax: quasisyntax.
88 `quasisyntax' is to `syntax' as `quasiquote' is to `quote'. See the R6RS
89 documentation for more information. Thanks to Andre van Tonder for the
92 ** Cleanups to Guile's primitive object system.
94 There were a number of pieces in `objects.[ch]' that tried to be a
95 minimal object system, but were never documented, and were quickly
96 obseleted by GOOPS' merge into Guile proper. So `scm_make_class_object',
97 `scm_make_subclass_object', `scm_metaclass_standard', and like symbols
98 from objects.h are no more. In the very unlikely case in which these
99 were useful to you, we urge you to contact guile-devel.
103 GOOPS had a number of concepts that were relevant to the days of Tcl,
104 but not any more: operators and entities, mainly. These objects were
105 never documented, and it is unlikely that they were ever used. Operators
106 were a kind of generic specific to the Tcl support. Entities were
107 applicable structures, but were unusable; entities will come back in the
108 next alpha release, but with a less stupid name.
110 ** Faster bit operations.
112 The bit-twiddling operations `ash', `logand', `logior', and `logxor' now
113 have dedicated bytecodes. Guile is not just for symbolic computation,
114 it's for number crunching too.
116 ** `inet-ntop' and `inet-pton' are always available.
118 Guile now use a portable implementation of `inet_pton'/`inet_ntop', so
119 there is no more need to use `inet-aton'/`inet-ntoa'. The latter
120 functions are deprecated.
122 ** R6RS block comment support
124 Guile now supports R6RS nested block comments. The start of a comment is
125 marked with `#|', and the end with `|#'.
127 ** `guile-2' cond-expand feature
129 To test if your code is running under Guile 2.0 (or its alpha releases),
130 test for the `guile-2' cond-expand feature. Like this:
132 (cond-expand (guile-2 (eval-when (compile)
133 ;; This must be evaluated at compile time.
134 (fluid-set! current-reader my-reader)))
136 ;; Earlier versions of Guile do not have a
137 ;; separate compilation phase.
138 (fluid-set! current-reader my-reader)))
142 `scm_search_path' now has the signature it did in 1.8, reverting an
143 incompatible change made in 1.9.0.
145 ** Compile-time warnings: -Warity-mismatch
147 Guile can warn when you pass the wrong number of arguments to a
148 procedure. Pass the -Warity-mismatch on the `guile-tools compile'
149 command line, or add `#:warnings '(arity-mismatch)' to your `compile'
150 or `compile-file' invocation.
152 ** Guile is now built without `-Werror' by default
154 Use the `--enable-error-on-warning' configure option to enable it.
156 ** And of course, the usual collection of bugfixes
158 Interested users should see the ChangeLog for more information.
162 Changes in 1.9.x (since the 1.8.x series):
164 * New modules (see the manual for details)
166 ** `(srfi srfi-18)', more sophisticated multithreading support
167 ** `(ice-9 i18n)', internationalization support
168 ** `(rnrs bytevector)', the R6RS bytevector API
169 ** `(rnrs io ports)', a subset of the R6RS I/O port API
170 ** `(system xref)', a cross-referencing facility (FIXME undocumented)
172 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
174 ** Guile now can compile Scheme to bytecode for a custom virtual machine.
176 Compiled code loads much faster than Scheme source code, and runs around
177 3 or 4 times as fast, generating much less garbage in the process.
179 ** The stack limit is now initialized from the environment.
181 If getrlimit(2) is available and a stack limit is set, Guile will set
182 its stack limit to 80% of the rlimit. Otherwise the limit is 160000
183 words, a four-fold increase from the earlier default limit.
185 ** New environment variables: GUILE_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH,
186 GUILE_SYSTEM_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH
188 GUILE_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH is for compiled files what GUILE_LOAD_PATH is
189 for source files. It is a different path, however, because compiled
190 files are architecture-specific. GUILE_SYSTEM_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH is like
193 ** New read-eval-print loop (REPL) implementation
195 Running Guile with no arguments drops the user into the new REPL. While
196 it is self-documenting to an extent, the new REPL has not yet been
197 documented in the manual. This will be fixed before 2.0.
199 ** New `guile-tools' commands: `compile', `disassemble'
201 Pass the `--help' command-line option to these commands for more
204 ** Guile now adds its install prefix to the LTDL_LIBRARY_PATH
206 Users may now install Guile to nonstandard prefixes and just run
207 `/path/to/bin/guile', instead of also having to set LTDL_LIBRARY_PATH to
208 include `/path/to/lib'.
210 ** Guile's Emacs integration is now more keyboard-friendly
212 Backtraces may now be disclosed with the keyboard in addition to the
215 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
217 ** Procedure removed: `the-environment'
219 This procedure was part of the interpreter's execution model, and does
220 not apply to the compiler.
222 ** Files loaded with `primitive-load-path' will now be compiled
225 If a compiled .go file corresponding to a .scm file is not found or is
226 not fresh, the .scm file will be compiled on the fly, and the resulting
227 .go file stored away. An advisory note will be printed on the console.
229 Note that this mechanism depends on preservation of the .scm and .go
230 modification times; if the .scm or .go files are moved after
231 installation, care should be taken to preserve their original
234 Autocompiled files will be stored in the $XDG_CACHE_HOME/guile/ccache
235 directory, where $XDG_CACHE_HOME defaults to ~/.cache. This directory
236 will be created if needed.
238 To inhibit autocompilation, set the GUILE_AUTO_COMPILE environment
239 variable to 0, or pass --no-autocompile on the Guile command line.
241 Note that there is currently a bug here: automatic compilation will
242 sometimes be attempted when it shouldn't.
244 For example, the old (lang elisp) modules are meant to be interpreted,
245 not compiled. This bug will be fixed before 2.0. FIXME 2.0: Should say
246 something here about module-transformer called for compile.
248 ** Files loaded with `load' will now be compiled automatically.
250 As with files loaded via `primitive-load-path', `load' will also compile
251 its target if autocompilation is enabled, and a fresh compiled file is
254 There are two points of difference to note, however. First, `load' does
255 not search `GUILE_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH' for the file; it only looks in the
256 autocompilation directory, normally a subdirectory of ~/.cache/guile.
258 Secondly, autocompilation also applies to files loaded via the -l
259 command-line argument -- so the user may experience a slight slowdown
260 the first time they run a Guile script, as the script is autocompiled.
262 ** New POSIX procedures: `getrlimit' and `setrlimit'
264 Note however that the interface of these functions is likely to change
265 in the next prerelease.
267 ** New procedure in `(oops goops)': `method-formals'
269 ** BUG: (procedure-property func 'arity) does not work on compiled
272 This will be fixed one way or another before 2.0.
274 ** New procedures in (ice-9 session): `add-value-help-handler!',
275 `remove-value-help-handler!', `add-name-help-handler!'
276 `remove-name-help-handler!', `procedure-arguments',
278 The value and name help handlers provide some minimal extensibility to
279 the help interface. Guile-lib's `(texinfo reflection)' uses them, for
280 example, to make stexinfo help documentation available. See those
281 procedures' docstrings for more information.
283 `procedure-arguments' describes the arguments that a procedure can take,
284 combining arity and formals. For example:
286 (procedure-arguments resolve-interface)
287 => ((required . (name)) (rest . args))
289 Additionally, `module-commentary' is now publically exported from
292 ** Deprecated: `procedure->memoizing-macro', `procedure->syntax'
294 These procedures will not work with syncase expansion, and indeed are
295 not used in the normal course of Guile. They are still used by the old
296 Emacs Lisp support, however.
298 ** New language: ECMAScript
300 Guile now ships with one other high-level language supported,
301 ECMAScript. The goal is to support all of version 3.1 of the standard,
302 but not all of the libraries are there yet. This support is not yet
303 documented; ask on the mailing list if you are interested.
305 ** New language: Brainfuck
307 Brainfuck is a toy language that closely models Turing machines. Guile's
308 brainfuck compiler is meant to be an example of implementing other
309 languages. See the manual for details, or
310 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainfuck for more information about the
311 Brainfuck language itself.
313 ** Defmacros may now have docstrings.
315 Indeed, any macro may have a docstring. `object-documentation' from
316 `(ice-9 documentation)' may be used to retrieve the docstring, once you
317 have a macro value -- but see the above note about first-class macros.
318 Docstrings are associated with the syntax transformer procedures.
320 ** The psyntax expander now knows how to interpret the @ and @@ special
323 ** The psyntax expander is now hygienic with respect to modules.
325 Free variables in a macro are scoped in the module that the macro was
326 defined in, not in the module the macro is used in. For example, code
329 (define-module (foo) #:export (bar))
330 (define (helper x) ...)
332 (syntax-rules () ((_ x) (helper x))))
334 (define-module (baz) #:use-module (foo))
337 It used to be you had to export `helper' from `(foo)' as well.
338 Thankfully, this has been fixed.
340 ** New function, `procedure-module'
342 While useful on its own, `procedure-module' is used by psyntax on syntax
343 transformers to determine the module in which to scope introduced
346 ** `eval-case' has been deprecated, and replaced by `eval-when'.
348 The semantics of `eval-when' are easier to understand. It is still
349 missing documentation, however.
351 ** Guile is now more strict about prohibiting definitions in expression
354 Although previous versions of Guile accepted it, the following
355 expression is not valid, in R5RS or R6RS:
357 (if test (define foo 'bar) (define foo 'baz))
359 In this specific case, it would be better to do:
361 (define foo (if test 'bar 'baz))
363 It is certainly possible to circumvent this resriction with e.g.
364 `(module-define! (current-module) 'foo 'baz)'. We would appreciate
365 feedback about this change (a consequence of using psyntax as the
366 default expander), and may choose to revisit this situation before 2.0
367 in response to user feedback.
369 ** Defmacros must now produce valid Scheme expressions.
371 It used to be that defmacros could unquote in Scheme values, as a way of
372 supporting partial evaluation, and avoiding some hygiene issues. For
375 (define (helper x) ...)
376 (define-macro (foo bar)
379 Assuming this macro is in the `(baz)' module, the direct translation of
382 (define (helper x) ...)
383 (define-macro (foo bar)
384 `((@@ (baz) helper) ,bar))
386 Of course, one could just use a hygienic macro instead:
390 ((_ bar) (helper bar))))
392 ** Guile's psyntax now supports docstrings and internal definitions.
394 The following Scheme is not strictly legal:
401 However its intent is fairly clear. Guile interprets "bar" to be the
402 docstring of `foo', and the definition of `baz' is still in definition
405 ** Macros need to be defined before their first use.
407 It used to be that with lazy memoization, this might work:
411 (define-macro (ref x) x)
414 But now, the body of `foo' is interpreted to mean a call to the toplevel
415 `ref' function, instead of a macro expansion. The solution is to define
416 macros before code that uses them.
418 ** Functions needed by macros at expand-time need to be present at
421 For example, this code will work at the REPL:
423 (define (double-helper x) (* x x))
424 (define-macro (double-literal x) (double-helper x))
425 (double-literal 2) => 4
427 But it will not work when a file is compiled, because the definition of
428 `double-helper' is not present at expand-time. The solution is to wrap
429 the definition of `double-helper' in `eval-when':
431 (eval-when (load compile eval)
432 (define (double-helper x) (* x x)))
433 (define-macro (double-literal x) (double-helper x))
434 (double-literal 2) => 4
436 See the (currently missing) documentation for eval-when for more
439 ** New variable, %pre-modules-transformer
441 Need to document this one some more.
443 ** Temporarily removed functions: `macroexpand', `macroexpand-1'
445 `macroexpand' will be added back before 2.0. It is unclear how to
446 implement `macroexpand-1' with syntax-case, though PLT Scheme does prove
449 ** New reader macros: #' #` #, #,@
451 These macros translate, respectively, to `syntax', `quasisyntax',
452 `unsyntax', and `unsyntax-splicing'. See the R6RS for more information.
453 These reader macros may be overridden by `read-hash-extend'.
455 ** Incompatible change to #'
457 Guile did have a #' hash-extension, by default, which just returned the
458 subsequent datum: #'foo => foo. In the unlikely event that anyone
459 actually used this, this behavior may be reinstated via the
460 `read-hash-extend' mechanism.
462 ** Scheme expresssions may be commented out with #;
464 #; comments out an entire expression. See SRFI-62 or the R6RS for more
467 ** `make-stack' with a tail-called procedural narrowing argument no longer
468 works (with compiled procedures)
470 It used to be the case that a captured stack could be narrowed to select
471 calls only up to or from a certain procedure, even if that procedure
472 already tail-called another procedure. This was because the debug
473 information from the original procedure was kept on the stack.
475 Now with the new compiler, the stack only contains active frames from
476 the current continuation. A narrow to a procedure that is not in the
477 stack will result in an empty stack. To fix this, narrow to a procedure
478 that is active in the current continuation, or narrow to a specific
479 number of stack frames.
481 ** backtraces through compiled procedures only show procedures that are
482 active in the current continuation
484 Similarly to the previous issue, backtraces in compiled code may be
485 different from backtraces in interpreted code. There are no semantic
486 differences, however. Please mail bug-guile@gnu.org if you see any
487 deficiencies with Guile's backtraces.
489 ** syntax-rules and syntax-case macros now propagate source information
490 through to the expanded code
492 This should result in better backtraces.
494 ** The currying behavior of `define' has been removed.
496 Before, `(define ((f a) b) (* a b))' would translate to
498 (define f (lambda (a) (lambda (b) (* a b))))
500 Now a syntax error is signaled, as this syntax is not supported by
501 default. If there is sufficient demand, this syntax can be supported
504 ** All modules have names now
506 Before, you could have anonymous modules: modules without names. Now,
507 because of hygiene and macros, all modules have names. If a module was
508 created without a name, the first time `module-name' is called on it, a
509 fresh name will be lazily generated for it.
511 ** Many syntax errors have different texts now
513 Syntax errors still throw to the `syntax-error' key, but the arguments
514 are often different now. Perhaps in the future, Guile will switch to
515 using standard SRFI-35 conditions.
517 ** Returning multiple values to compiled code will silently truncate the
518 values to the expected number
520 For example, the interpreter would raise an error evaluating the form,
521 `(+ (values 1 2) (values 3 4))', because it would see the operands as
522 being two compound "values" objects, to which `+' does not apply.
524 The compiler, on the other hand, receives multiple values on the stack,
525 not as a compound object. Given that it must check the number of values
526 anyway, if too many values are provided for a continuation, it chooses
527 to truncate those values, effectively evaluating `(+ 1 3)' instead.
529 The idea is that the semantics that the compiler implements is more
530 intuitive, and the use of the interpreter will fade out with time.
531 This behavior is allowed both by the R5RS and the R6RS.
533 ** Multiple values in compiled code are not represented by compound
536 This change may manifest itself in the following situation:
538 (let ((val (foo))) (do-something) val)
540 In the interpreter, if `foo' returns multiple values, multiple values
541 are produced from the `let' expression. In the compiler, those values
542 are truncated to the first value, and that first value is returned. In
543 the compiler, if `foo' returns no values, an error will be raised, while
544 the interpreter would proceed.
546 Both of these behaviors are allowed by R5RS and R6RS. The compiler's
547 behavior is more correct, however. If you wish to preserve a potentially
548 multiply-valued return, you will need to set up a multiple-value
549 continuation, using `call-with-values'.
551 ** Defmacros are now implemented in terms of syntax-case.
553 The practical ramification of this is that the `defmacro?' predicate has
554 been removed, along with `defmacro-transformer', `macro-table',
555 `xformer-table', `assert-defmacro?!', `set-defmacro-transformer!' and
556 `defmacro:transformer'. This is because defmacros are simply macros. If
557 any of these procedures provided useful facilities to you, we encourage
558 you to contact the Guile developers.
560 ** psyntax is now the default expander
562 Scheme code is now expanded by default by the psyntax hygienic macro
563 expander. Expansion is performed completely before compilation or
566 Notably, syntax errors will be signalled before interpretation begins.
567 In the past, many syntax errors were only detected at runtime if the
568 code in question was memoized.
570 As part of its expansion, psyntax renames all lexically-bound
571 identifiers. Original identifier names are preserved and given to the
572 compiler, but the interpreter will see the renamed variables, e.g.,
573 `x432' instead of `x'.
575 Note that the psyntax that Guile uses is a fork, as Guile already had
576 modules before incompatible modules were added to psyntax -- about 10
577 years ago! Thus there are surely a number of bugs that have been fixed
578 in psyntax since then. If you find one, please notify bug-guile@gnu.org.
580 ** syntax-rules and syntax-case are available by default.
582 There is no longer any need to import the `(ice-9 syncase)' module
583 (which is now deprecated). The expander may be invoked directly via
584 `sc-expand', though it is normally searched for via the current module
587 Also, the helper routines for syntax-case are available in the default
588 environment as well: `syntax->datum', `datum->syntax',
589 `bound-identifier=?', `free-identifier=?', `generate-temporaries',
590 `identifier?', and `syntax-violation'. See the R6RS for documentation.
592 ** Lexical bindings introduced by hygienic macros may not be referenced
593 by nonhygienic macros.
595 If a lexical binding is introduced by a hygienic macro, it may not be
596 referenced by a nonhygienic macro. For example, this works:
599 (define-macro (bind-x val body)
600 `(let ((x ,val)) ,body))
601 (define-macro (ref x)
608 (define-syntax bind-x
610 ((_ val body) (let ((x val)) body))))
611 (define-macro (ref x)
615 It is not normal to run into this situation with existing code. However,
616 as code is ported over from defmacros to syntax-case, it is possible to
617 run into situations like this. In the future, Guile will probably port
618 its `while' macro to syntax-case, which makes this issue one to know
621 ** Macros may no longer be referenced as first-class values.
623 In the past, you could evaluate e.g. `if', and get its macro value. Now,
624 expanding this form raises a syntax error.
626 Macros still /exist/ as first-class values, but they must be
627 /referenced/ via the module system, e.g. `(module-ref (current-module)
630 This decision may be revisited before the 2.0 release. Feedback welcome
631 to guile-devel@gnu.org (subscription required) or bug-guile@gnu.org (no
632 subscription required).
634 ** `case-lambda' is now available in the default environment.
636 The binding in the default environment is equivalent to the one from the
637 `(srfi srfi-16)' module. Use the srfi-16 module explicitly if you wish
638 to maintain compatibility with Guile 1.8 and earlier.
640 ** `lambda*' and `define*' are now available in the default environment
642 As with `case-lambda', `(ice-9 optargs)' continues to be supported, for
643 compatibility purposes. No semantic change has been made (we hope).
644 Optional and keyword arguments now dispatch via special VM operations,
645 without the need to cons rest arguments, making them very fast.
647 ** New syntax: include-from-path.
649 `include-from-path' is like `include', except it looks for its file in
650 the load path. It can be used to compile other files into a file.
652 ** New syntax: quasisyntax.
654 `quasisyntax' is to `syntax' as `quasiquote' is to `quote'. See the R6RS
655 documentation for more information. Thanks to Andre van Tonder for the
658 ** Unicode characters
660 Unicode characters may be entered in octal format via e.g. `#\454', or
661 created via (integer->char 300). A hex external representation will
662 probably be introduced at some point.
666 Internally, strings are now represented either in the `latin-1'
667 encoding, one byte per character, or in UTF-32, with four bytes per
668 character. Strings manage their own allocation, switching if needed.
670 Extended characters may be written in a literal string using the
671 hexadecimal escapes `\xXX', `\uXXXX', or `\UXXXXXX', for 8-bit, 16-bit,
672 or 24-bit codepoints, respectively, or entered directly in the native
673 encoding of the port on which the string is read.
677 One may now use U+03BB (GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMBDA) as an identifier.
679 ** Support for non-ASCII source code files
681 The default reader now handles source code files for some of the
682 non-ASCII character encodings, such as UTF-8. A non-ASCII source file
683 should have an encoding declaration near the top of the file. Also,
684 there is a new function, `file-encoding', that scans a port for a coding
685 declaration. See the section of the manual entitled, "Character Encoding
688 The pre-1.9.3 reader handled 8-bit clean but otherwise unspecified source
689 code. This use is now discouraged.
691 ** Support for locale transcoding when reading from and writing to ports
693 Ports now have an associated character encoding, and port read and write
694 operations do conversion to and from locales automatically. Ports also
695 have an associated strategy for how to deal with locale conversion
698 See the documentation in the manual for the four new support functions,
699 `set-port-encoding!', `port-encoding', `set-port-conversion-strategy!',
700 and `port-conversion-strategy'.
702 ** String and SRFI-13 functions can operate on Unicode strings
704 ** Unicode support for SRFI-14 character sets
706 The default character sets are no longer locale dependent and contain
707 characters from the whole Unicode range. There is a new predefined
708 character set, `char-set:designated', which contains all assigned
709 Unicode characters. There is a new debugging function, `%char-set-dump'.
711 ** Character functions operate on Unicode characters
713 `char-upcase' and `char-downcase' use default Unicode casing rules.
714 Character comparisons such as `char<?' and `char-ci<?' now sort based on
717 ** Global variables `scm_charnames' and `scm_charnums' are removed
719 These variables contained the names of control characters and were
720 used when writing characters. While these were global, they were
721 never intended to be public API. They have been replaced with private
724 ** EBCDIC support is removed
726 There was an EBCDIC compile flag that altered some of the character
727 processing. It appeared that full EBCDIC support was never completed
728 and was unmaintained.
730 ** Compile-time warnings: -Wunbound-variable, -Warity-mismatch.
732 Guile can warn about potentially unbound free variables. Pass the
733 -Wunbound-variable on the `guile-tools compile' command line, or add
734 `#:warnings '(unbound-variable)' to your `compile' or `compile-file'
737 Guile can also warn when you pass the wrong number of arguments to a
738 procedure, with -Warity-mismatch, or `arity-mismatch' in the
739 `#:warnings' as above.
741 ** New macro type: syncase-macro
743 XXX Need to decide whether to document this for 2.0, probably should:
744 make-syncase-macro, make-extended-syncase-macro, macro-type,
745 syncase-macro-type, syncase-macro-binding
747 ** A new `memoize-symbol' evaluator trap has been added.
749 This trap can be used for efficiently implementing a Scheme code
752 ** Duplicate bindings among used modules are resolved lazily.
754 This slightly improves program startup times.
756 ** New thread cancellation and thread cleanup API
758 See `cancel-thread', `set-thread-cleanup!', and `thread-cleanup'.
762 GOOPS had a number of concepts that were relevant to the days of Tcl,
763 but not any more: operators and entities, mainly. These objects were
764 never documented, and it is unlikely that they were ever used. Operators
765 were a kind of generic specific to the Tcl support. Entities were
766 applicable structures, but were unusable; entities will come back in the
767 next alpha release, but with a less stupid name.
769 ** `inet-ntop' and `inet-pton' are always available.
771 Guile now use a portable implementation of `inet_pton'/`inet_ntop', so
772 there is no more need to use `inet-aton'/`inet-ntoa'. The latter
773 functions are deprecated.
775 ** R6RS block comment support
777 Guile now supports R6RS nested block comments. The start of a comment is
778 marked with `#|', and the end with `|#'.
780 ** `guile-2' cond-expand feature
782 To test if your code is running under Guile 2.0 (or its alpha releases),
783 test for the `guile-2' cond-expand feature. Like this:
785 (cond-expand (guile-2 (eval-when (compile)
786 ;; This must be evaluated at compile time.
787 (fluid-set! current-reader my-reader)))
789 ;; Earlier versions of Guile do not have a
790 ;; separate compilation phase.
791 (fluid-set! current-reader my-reader)))
793 ** Fix bad interaction between `false-if-exception' and stack-call.
795 Exceptions thrown by `false-if-exception' were erronously causing the
796 stack to be saved, causing later errors to show the incorrectly-saved
797 backtrace. This has been fixed.
799 ** New global variables: %load-compiled-path, %load-compiled-extensions
801 These are analogous to %load-path and %load-extensions.
803 ** New procedure, `make-promise'
805 `(make-promise (lambda () foo))' is equivalent to `(delay foo)'.
807 ** `defined?' may accept a module as its second argument
809 Previously it only accepted internal structures from the evaluator.
811 ** New entry into %guile-build-info: `ccachedir'
813 ** Fix bug in `module-bound?'.
815 `module-bound?' was returning true if a module did have a local
816 variable, but one that was unbound, but another imported module bound
817 the variable. This was an error, and was fixed.
819 ** `(ice-9 syncase)' has been deprecated.
821 As syntax-case is available by default, importing `(ice-9 syncase)' has
822 no effect, and will trigger a deprecation warning.
824 ** New readline history functions
826 The (ice-9 readline) module now provides add-history, read-history,
827 write-history and clear-history, which wrap the corresponding GNU
828 History library functions.
830 ** Removed deprecated uniform array procedures:
831 dimensions->uniform-array, list->uniform-array, array-prototype
833 Instead, use make-typed-array, list->typed-array, or array-type,
836 ** Last but not least, the `λ' macro can be used in lieu of `lambda'
838 * Changes to the C interface
840 ** Guile now uses libgc, the Boehm-Demers-Weiser garbage collector
842 The semantics of `scm_gc_malloc ()' have been changed, in a
843 backward-compatible way. A new allocation routine,
844 `scm_gc_malloc_pointerless ()', was added.
846 Libgc is a conservative GC, which we hope will make interaction with C
847 code easier and less error-prone.
849 ** The GH interface (deprecated in version 1.6, 2001) was removed.
851 ** Internal `scm_i_' functions now have "hidden" linkage with GCC/ELF
853 This makes these internal functions technically not callable from
856 ** Functions for handling `scm_option' now no longer require an argument
857 indicating length of the `scm_t_option' array.
859 ** scm_primitive_load_path has additional argument, exception_on_error
861 ** New C function: scm_module_public_interface
863 This procedure corresponds to Scheme's `module-public-interface'.
865 ** Inline vector allocation
867 Instead of having vectors point out into the heap for their data, their
868 data is now allocated inline to the vector object itself. The same is
869 true for bytevectors, by default, though there is an indirection
870 available which should allow for making a bytevector from an existing
873 ** Removal of Guile's primitive object system.
875 There were a number of pieces in `objects.[ch]' that tried to be a
876 minimal object system, but were never documented, and were quickly
877 obseleted by GOOPS' merge into Guile proper. So `scm_make_class_object',
878 `scm_make_subclass_object', `scm_metaclass_standard', and like symbols
879 from objects.h are no more. In the very unlikely case in which these
880 were useful to you, we urge you to contact guile-devel.
884 Actually the future is still in the state that it was, is, and ever
885 shall be, Amen, except that `futures.c' and `futures.h' are no longer a
886 part of it. These files were experimental, never compiled, and would be
887 better implemented in Scheme anyway. In the future, that is.
889 ** Support for static allocation of strings, symbols, and subrs.
891 Calls to snarfing CPP macros like SCM_DEFINE macro will now allocate
892 much of their associated data as static variables, reducing Guile's
895 ** `scm_stat' has an additional argument, `exception_on_error'
896 ** `scm_primitive_load_path' has an additional argument `exception_on_not_found'
898 ** `scm_set_port_seek' and `scm_set_port_truncate' use the `scm_t_off' type
900 Previously they would use the `off_t' type, which is fragile since its
901 definition depends on the application's value for `_FILE_OFFSET_BITS'.
903 ** The `long_long' C type, deprecated in 1.8, has been removed
905 ** Removed deprecated uniform array procedures: scm_make_uve,
906 scm_array_prototype, scm_list_to_uniform_array,
907 scm_dimensions_to_uniform_array, scm_make_ra, scm_shap2ra, scm_cvref,
908 scm_ra_set_contp, scm_aind, scm_raprin1
910 These functions have been deprecated since early 2005.
912 * Changes to the distribution
914 ** Guile's license is now LGPLv3+
916 In other words the GNU Lesser General Public License, version 3 or
917 later (at the discretion of each person that chooses to redistribute
920 ** GOOPS documentation folded into Guile reference manual
922 GOOPS, Guile's object system, used to be documented in separate manuals.
923 This content is now included in Guile's manual directly.
925 ** `guile-config' will be deprecated in favor of `pkg-config'
927 `guile-config' has been rewritten to get its information from
928 `pkg-config', so this should be a transparent change. Note however that
929 guile.m4 has yet to be modified to call pkg-config instead of
932 ** Guile now provides `guile-2.0.pc' instead of `guile-1.8.pc'
934 Programs that use `pkg-config' to find Guile or one of its Autoconf
935 macros should now require `guile-2.0' instead of `guile-1.8'.
937 ** New installation directory: $(pkglibdir)/1.9/ccache
939 If $(libdir) is /usr/lib, for example, Guile will install its .go files
940 to /usr/lib/guile/1.9/ccache. These files are architecture-specific.
942 ** Dynamically loadable extensions may be placed in a Guile-specific path
944 Before, Guile only searched the system library paths for extensions
945 (e.g. /usr/lib), which meant that the names of Guile extensions had to
946 be globally unique. Installing them to a Guile-specific extensions
947 directory is cleaner. Use `pkg-config --variable=extensionsdir
948 guile-2.0' to get the location of the extensions directory.
950 ** New dependency: libgc
952 See http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Hans_Boehm/gc/, for more information.
954 ** New dependency: GNU libunistring
956 See http://www.gnu.org/software/libunistring/, for more information. Our
957 Unicode support uses routines from libunistring.
961 Changes in 1.8.8 (since 1.8.7)
965 ** Fix possible buffer overruns when parsing numbers
966 ** Avoid clash with system setjmp/longjmp on IA64
967 ** Fix `wrong type arg' exceptions with IPv6 addresses
970 Changes in 1.8.7 (since 1.8.6)
972 * New modules (see the manual for details)
974 ** `(srfi srfi-98)', an interface to access environment variables
978 ** Fix compilation with `--disable-deprecated'
979 ** Fix %fast-slot-ref/set!, to avoid possible segmentation fault
980 ** Fix MinGW build problem caused by HAVE_STRUCT_TIMESPEC confusion
981 ** Fix build problem when scm_t_timespec is different from struct timespec
982 ** Fix build when compiled with -Wundef -Werror
983 ** More build fixes for `alphaev56-dec-osf5.1b' (Tru64)
984 ** Build fixes for `powerpc-ibm-aix5.3.0.0' (AIX 5.3)
985 ** With GCC, always compile with `-mieee' on `alpha*' and `sh*'
986 ** Better diagnose broken `(strftime "%z" ...)' in `time.test' (bug #24130)
987 ** Fix parsing of SRFI-88/postfix keywords longer than 128 characters
988 ** Fix reading of complex numbers where both parts are inexact decimals
990 ** Allow @ macro to work with (ice-9 syncase)
992 Previously, use of the @ macro in a module whose code is being
993 transformed by (ice-9 syncase) would cause an "Invalid syntax" error.
994 Now it works as you would expect (giving the value of the specified
997 ** Have `scm_take_locale_symbol ()' return an interned symbol (bug #25865)
1000 Changes in 1.8.6 (since 1.8.5)
1002 * New features (see the manual for details)
1004 ** New convenience function `scm_c_symbol_length ()'
1006 ** Single stepping through code from Emacs
1008 When you use GDS to evaluate Scheme code from Emacs, you can now use
1009 `C-u' to indicate that you want to single step through that code. See
1010 `Evaluating Scheme Code' in the manual for more details.
1012 ** New "guile(1)" man page!
1014 * Changes to the distribution
1016 ** Automake's `AM_MAINTAINER_MODE' is no longer used
1018 Thus, the `--enable-maintainer-mode' configure option is no longer
1019 available: Guile is now always configured in "maintainer mode".
1021 ** `ChangeLog' files are no longer updated
1023 Instead, changes are detailed in the version control system's logs. See
1024 the top-level `ChangeLog' files for details.
1029 ** `symbol->string' now returns a read-only string, as per R5RS
1030 ** Fix incorrect handling of the FLAGS argument of `fold-matches'
1031 ** `guile-config link' now prints `-L$libdir' before `-lguile'
1032 ** Fix memory corruption involving GOOPS' `class-redefinition'
1033 ** Fix possible deadlock in `mutex-lock'
1034 ** Fix build issue on Tru64 and ia64-hp-hpux11.23 (`SCM_UNPACK' macro)
1035 ** Fix build issue on mips, mipsel, powerpc and ia64 (stack direction)
1036 ** Fix build issue on hppa2.0w-hp-hpux11.11 (`dirent64' and `readdir64_r')
1037 ** Fix build issue on i386-unknown-freebsd7.0 ("break strict-aliasing rules")
1038 ** Fix misleading output from `(help rationalize)'
1039 ** Fix build failure on Debian hppa architecture (bad stack growth detection)
1040 ** Fix `gcd' when called with a single, negative argument.
1041 ** Fix `Stack overflow' errors seen when building on some platforms
1042 ** Fix bug when `scm_with_guile ()' was called several times from the
1044 ** The handler of SRFI-34 `with-exception-handler' is now invoked in the
1045 dynamic environment of the call to `raise'
1046 ** Fix potential deadlock in `make-struct'
1047 ** Fix compilation problem with libltdl from Libtool 2.2.x
1048 ** Fix sloppy bound checking in `string-{ref,set!}' with the empty string
1051 Changes in 1.8.5 (since 1.8.4)
1053 * Infrastructure changes
1055 ** Guile repository switched from CVS to Git
1057 The new repository can be accessed using
1058 "git-clone git://git.sv.gnu.org/guile.git", or can be browsed on-line at
1059 http://git.sv.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=guile.git . See `README' for details.
1061 ** Add support for `pkg-config'
1063 See "Autoconf Support" in the manual for details.
1065 * New modules (see the manual for details)
1069 * New features (see the manual for details)
1071 ** New `postfix' read option, for SRFI-88 keyword syntax
1072 ** Some I/O primitives have been inlined, which improves I/O performance
1073 ** New object-based traps infrastructure
1075 This is a GOOPS-based infrastructure that builds on Guile's low-level
1076 evaluator trap calls and facilitates the development of debugging
1077 features like single-stepping, breakpoints, tracing and profiling.
1078 See the `Traps' node of the manual for details.
1080 ** New support for working on Guile code from within Emacs
1082 Guile now incorporates the `GDS' library (previously distributed
1083 separately) for working on Guile code from within Emacs. See the
1084 `Using Guile In Emacs' node of the manual for details.
1088 ** `scm_add_slot ()' no longer segfaults (fixes bug #22369)
1089 ** Fixed `(ice-9 match)' for patterns like `((_ ...) ...)'
1091 Previously, expressions like `(match '((foo) (bar)) (((_ ...) ...) #t))'
1092 would trigger an unbound variable error for `match:andmap'.
1094 ** `(oop goops describe)' now properly provides the `describe' feature
1095 ** Fixed `args-fold' from `(srfi srfi-37)'
1097 Previously, parsing short option names of argument-less options would
1098 lead to a stack overflow.
1100 ** `(srfi srfi-35)' is now visible through `cond-expand'
1101 ** Fixed type-checking for the second argument of `eval'
1102 ** Fixed type-checking for SRFI-1 `partition'
1103 ** Fixed `struct-ref' and `struct-set!' on "light structs"
1104 ** Honor struct field access rights in GOOPS
1105 ** Changed the storage strategy of source properties, which fixes a deadlock
1106 ** Allow compilation of Guile-using programs in C99 mode with GCC 4.3 and later
1107 ** Fixed build issue for GNU/Linux on IA64
1108 ** Fixed build issues on NetBSD 1.6
1109 ** Fixed build issue on Solaris 2.10 x86_64
1110 ** Fixed build issue with DEC/Compaq/HP's compiler
1111 ** Fixed `scm_from_complex_double' build issue on FreeBSD
1112 ** Fixed `alloca' build issue on FreeBSD 6
1113 ** Removed use of non-portable makefile constructs
1114 ** Fixed shadowing of libc's <random.h> on Tru64, which broke compilation
1115 ** Make sure all tests honor `$TMPDIR'
1118 Changes in 1.8.4 (since 1.8.3)
1122 ** CR (ASCII 0x0d) is (again) recognized as a token delimiter by the reader
1123 ** Fixed a segmentation fault which occurred when displaying the
1124 backtrace of a stack with a promise object (made by `delay') in it.
1125 ** Make `accept' leave guile mode while blocking
1126 ** `scm_c_read ()' and `scm_c_write ()' now type-check their port argument
1127 ** Fixed a build problem on AIX (use of func_data identifier)
1128 ** Fixed a segmentation fault which occurred when hashx-ref or hashx-set! was
1129 called with an associator proc that returns neither a pair nor #f.
1130 ** Secondary threads now always return a valid module for (current-module).
1131 ** Avoid MacOS build problems caused by incorrect combination of "64"
1132 system and library calls.
1133 ** `guile-snarf' now honors `$TMPDIR'
1134 ** `guile-config compile' now reports CPPFLAGS used at compile-time
1135 ** Fixed build with Sun Studio (Solaris 9)
1136 ** Fixed wrong-type-arg errors when creating zero length SRFI-4
1137 uniform vectors on AIX.
1138 ** Fixed a deadlock that occurs upon GC with multiple threads.
1139 ** Fixed compile problem with GCC on Solaris and AIX (use of _Complex_I)
1140 ** Fixed autotool-derived build problems on AIX 6.1.
1141 ** Fixed NetBSD/alpha support
1142 ** Fixed MacOS build problem caused by use of rl_get_keymap(_name)
1144 * New modules (see the manual for details)
1148 * Documentation fixes and improvements
1150 ** Removed premature breakpoint documentation
1152 The features described are not available in the series of 1.8.x
1153 releases, so the documentation was misleading and has been removed.
1155 ** More about Guile's default *random-state* variable
1157 ** GOOPS: more about how to use `next-method'
1159 * Changes to the distribution
1161 ** Corrected a few files that referred incorrectly to the old GPL + special exception licence
1163 In fact Guile since 1.8.0 has been licensed with the GNU Lesser
1164 General Public License, and the few incorrect files have now been
1165 fixed to agree with the rest of the Guile distribution.
1167 ** Removed unnecessary extra copies of COPYING*
1169 The distribution now contains a single COPYING.LESSER at its top level.
1172 Changes in 1.8.3 (since 1.8.2)
1174 * New modules (see the manual for details)
1181 ** The `(ice-9 slib)' module now works as expected
1182 ** Expressions like "(set! 'x #t)" no longer yield a crash
1183 ** Warnings about duplicate bindings now go to stderr
1184 ** A memory leak in `make-socket-address' was fixed
1185 ** Alignment issues (e.g., on SPARC) in network routines were fixed
1186 ** A threading issue that showed up at least on NetBSD was fixed
1187 ** Build problems on Solaris and IRIX fixed
1189 * Implementation improvements
1191 ** The reader is now faster, which reduces startup time
1192 ** Procedures returned by `record-accessor' and `record-modifier' are faster
1195 Changes in 1.8.2 (since 1.8.1):
1197 * New procedures (see the manual for details)
1199 ** set-program-arguments
1202 * Incompatible changes
1204 ** The body of a top-level `define' no longer sees the binding being created
1206 In a top-level `define', the binding being created is no longer visible
1207 from the `define' body. This breaks code like
1208 "(define foo (begin (set! foo 1) (+ foo 1)))", where `foo' is now
1209 unbound in the body. However, such code was not R5RS-compliant anyway,
1214 ** Fractions were not `equal?' if stored in unreduced form.
1215 (A subtle problem, since printing a value reduced it, making it work.)
1216 ** srfi-60 `copy-bit' failed on 64-bit systems
1217 ** "guile --use-srfi" option at the REPL can replace core functions
1218 (Programs run with that option were ok, but in the interactive REPL
1219 the core bindings got priority, preventing SRFI replacements or
1221 ** `regexp-exec' doesn't abort() on #\nul in the input or bad flags arg
1222 ** `kill' on mingw throws an error for a PID other than oneself
1223 ** Procedure names are attached to procedure-with-setters
1224 ** Array read syntax works with negative lower bound
1225 ** `array-in-bounds?' fix if an array has different lower bounds on each index
1226 ** `*' returns exact 0 for "(* inexact 0)"
1227 This follows what it always did for "(* 0 inexact)".
1228 ** SRFI-19: Value returned by `(current-time time-process)' was incorrect
1229 ** SRFI-19: `date->julian-day' did not account for timezone offset
1230 ** `ttyname' no longer crashes when passed a non-tty argument
1231 ** `inet-ntop' no longer crashes on SPARC when passed an `AF_INET' address
1232 ** Small memory leaks have been fixed in `make-fluid' and `add-history'
1233 ** GOOPS: Fixed a bug in `method-more-specific?'
1234 ** Build problems on Solaris fixed
1235 ** Build problems on HP-UX IA64 fixed
1236 ** Build problems on MinGW fixed
1239 Changes in 1.8.1 (since 1.8.0):
1241 * LFS functions are now used to access 64-bit files on 32-bit systems.
1243 * New procedures (see the manual for details)
1245 ** primitive-_exit - [Scheme] the-root-module
1246 ** scm_primitive__exit - [C]
1247 ** make-completion-function - [Scheme] (ice-9 readline)
1248 ** scm_c_locale_stringn_to_number - [C]
1249 ** scm_srfi1_append_reverse [C]
1250 ** scm_srfi1_append_reverse_x [C]
1258 ** Build problems have been fixed on MacOS, SunOS, and QNX.
1260 ** `strftime' fix sign of %z timezone offset.
1262 ** A one-dimensional array can now be 'equal?' to a vector.
1264 ** Structures, records, and SRFI-9 records can now be compared with `equal?'.
1266 ** SRFI-14 standard char sets are recomputed upon a successful `setlocale'.
1268 ** `record-accessor' and `record-modifier' now have strict type checks.
1270 Record accessor and modifier procedures now throw an error if the
1271 record type of the record they're given is not the type expected.
1272 (Previously accessors returned #f and modifiers silently did nothing).
1274 ** It is now OK to use both autoload and use-modules on a given module.
1276 ** `apply' checks the number of arguments more carefully on "0 or 1" funcs.
1278 Previously there was no checking on primatives like make-vector that
1279 accept "one or two" arguments. Now there is.
1281 ** The srfi-1 assoc function now calls its equality predicate properly.
1283 Previously srfi-1 assoc would call the equality predicate with the key
1284 last. According to the SRFI, the key should be first.
1286 ** A bug in n-par-for-each and n-for-each-par-map has been fixed.
1288 ** The array-set! procedure no longer segfaults when given a bit vector.
1290 ** Bugs in make-shared-array have been fixed.
1292 ** string<? and friends now follow char<? etc order on 8-bit chars.
1294 ** The format procedure now handles inf and nan values for ~f correctly.
1296 ** exact->inexact should no longer overflow when given certain large fractions.
1298 ** srfi-9 accessor and modifier procedures now have strict record type checks.
1300 This matches the srfi-9 specification.
1302 ** (ice-9 ftw) procedures won't ignore different files with same inode number.
1304 Previously the (ice-9 ftw) procedures would ignore any file that had
1305 the same inode number as a file they had already seen, even if that
1306 file was on a different device.
1309 Changes in 1.8.0 (changes since the 1.6.x series):
1311 * Changes to the distribution
1313 ** Guile is now licensed with the GNU Lesser General Public License.
1315 ** The manual is now licensed with the GNU Free Documentation License.
1317 ** Guile now requires GNU MP (http://swox.com/gmp).
1319 Guile now uses the GNU MP library for arbitrary precision arithmetic.
1321 ** Guile now has separate private and public configuration headers.
1323 That is, things like HAVE_STRING_H no longer leak from Guile's
1326 ** Guile now provides and uses an "effective" version number.
1328 Guile now provides scm_effective_version and effective-version
1329 functions which return the "effective" version number. This is just
1330 the normal full version string without the final micro-version number,
1331 so the current effective-version is "1.8". The effective version
1332 should remain unchanged during a stable series, and should be used for
1333 items like the versioned share directory name
1334 i.e. /usr/share/guile/1.8.
1336 Providing an unchanging version number during a stable release for
1337 things like the versioned share directory can be particularly
1338 important for Guile "add-on" packages, since it provides a directory
1339 that they can install to that won't be changed out from under them
1340 with each micro release during a stable series.
1342 ** Thread implementation has changed.
1344 When you configure "--with-threads=null", you will get the usual
1345 threading API (call-with-new-thread, make-mutex, etc), but you can't
1346 actually create new threads. Also, "--with-threads=no" is now
1347 equivalent to "--with-threads=null". This means that the thread API
1348 is always present, although you might not be able to create new
1351 When you configure "--with-threads=pthreads" or "--with-threads=yes",
1352 you will get threads that are implemented with the portable POSIX
1353 threads. These threads can run concurrently (unlike the previous
1354 "coop" thread implementation), but need to cooperate for things like
1357 The default is "pthreads", unless your platform doesn't have pthreads,
1358 in which case "null" threads are used.
1360 See the manual for details, nodes "Initialization", "Multi-Threading",
1361 "Blocking", and others.
1363 ** There is the new notion of 'discouraged' features.
1365 This is a milder form of deprecation.
1367 Things that are discouraged should not be used in new code, but it is
1368 OK to leave them in old code for now. When a discouraged feature is
1369 used, no warning message is printed like there is for 'deprecated'
1370 features. Also, things that are merely discouraged are nevertheless
1371 implemented efficiently, while deprecated features can be very slow.
1373 You can omit discouraged features from libguile by configuring it with
1374 the '--disable-discouraged' option.
1376 ** Deprecation warnings can be controlled at run-time.
1378 (debug-enable 'warn-deprecated) switches them on and (debug-disable
1379 'warn-deprecated) switches them off.
1381 ** Support for SRFI 61, extended cond syntax for multiple values has
1384 This SRFI is always available.
1386 ** Support for require-extension, SRFI-55, has been added.
1388 The SRFI-55 special form `require-extension' has been added. It is
1389 available at startup, and provides a portable way to load Scheme
1390 extensions. SRFI-55 only requires support for one type of extension,
1391 "srfi"; so a set of SRFIs may be loaded via (require-extension (srfi 1
1394 ** New module (srfi srfi-26) provides support for `cut' and `cute'.
1396 The (srfi srfi-26) module is an implementation of SRFI-26 which
1397 provides the `cut' and `cute' syntax. These may be used to specialize
1398 parameters without currying.
1400 ** New module (srfi srfi-31)
1402 This is an implementation of SRFI-31 which provides a special form
1403 `rec' for recursive evaluation.
1405 ** The modules (srfi srfi-13), (srfi srfi-14) and (srfi srfi-4) have
1406 been merged with the core, making their functionality always
1409 The modules are still available, tho, and you could use them together
1410 with a renaming import, for example.
1412 ** Guile no longer includes its own version of libltdl.
1414 The official version is good enough now.
1416 ** The --enable-htmldoc option has been removed from 'configure'.
1418 Support for translating the documentation into HTML is now always
1419 provided. Use 'make html'.
1421 ** New module (ice-9 serialize):
1423 (serialize FORM1 ...) and (parallelize FORM1 ...) are useful when you
1424 don't trust the thread safety of most of your program, but where you
1425 have some section(s) of code which you consider can run in parallel to
1426 other sections. See ice-9/serialize.scm for more information.
1428 ** The configure option '--disable-arrays' has been removed.
1430 Support for arrays and uniform numeric arrays is now always included
1433 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
1435 ** New command line option `-L'.
1437 This option adds a directory to the front of the load path.
1439 ** New command line option `--no-debug'.
1441 Specifying `--no-debug' on the command line will keep the debugging
1442 evaluator turned off, even for interactive sessions.
1444 ** User-init file ~/.guile is now loaded with the debugging evaluator.
1446 Previously, the normal evaluator would have been used. Using the
1447 debugging evaluator gives better error messages.
1449 ** The '-e' option now 'read's its argument.
1451 This is to allow the new '(@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)' construct to
1452 be used with '-e'. For example, you can now write a script like
1455 exec guile -e '(@ (demo) main)' -s "$0" "$@"
1458 (define-module (demo)
1462 (format #t "Demo: ~a~%" args))
1465 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
1467 ** Guardians have changed back to their original semantics
1469 Guardians now behave like described in the paper by Dybvig et al. In
1470 particular, they no longer make guarantees about the order in which
1471 they return objects, and they can no longer be greedy.
1473 They no longer drop cyclic data structures.
1475 The C function scm_make_guardian has been changed incompatibly and no
1476 longer takes the 'greedy_p' argument.
1478 ** New function hashx-remove!
1480 This function completes the set of 'hashx' functions.
1482 ** The concept of dynamic roots has been factored into continuation
1483 barriers and dynamic states.
1485 Each thread has a current dynamic state that carries the values of the
1486 fluids. You can create and copy dynamic states and use them as the
1487 second argument for 'eval'. See "Fluids and Dynamic States" in the
1490 To restrict the influence that captured continuations can have on the
1491 control flow, you can errect continuation barriers. See "Continuation
1492 Barriers" in the manual.
1494 The function call-with-dynamic-root now essentially temporarily
1495 installs a new dynamic state and errects a continuation barrier.
1497 ** The default load path no longer includes "." at the end.
1499 Automatically loading modules from the current directory should not
1500 happen by default. If you want to allow it in a more controlled
1501 manner, set the environment variable GUILE_LOAD_PATH or the Scheme
1502 variable %load-path.
1504 ** The uniform vector and array support has been overhauled.
1506 It now complies with SRFI-4 and the weird prototype based uniform
1507 array creation has been deprecated. See the manual for more details.
1509 Some non-compatible changes have been made:
1510 - characters can no longer be stored into byte arrays.
1511 - strings and bit vectors are no longer considered to be uniform numeric
1513 - array-rank throws an error for non-arrays instead of returning zero.
1514 - array-ref does no longer accept non-arrays when no indices are given.
1516 There is the new notion of 'generalized vectors' and corresponding
1517 procedures like 'generalized-vector-ref'. Generalized vectors include
1518 strings, bitvectors, ordinary vectors, and uniform numeric vectors.
1520 Arrays use generalized vectors as their storage, so that you still
1521 have arrays of characters, bits, etc. However, uniform-array-read!
1522 and uniform-array-write can no longer read/write strings and
1525 ** There is now support for copy-on-write substrings, mutation-sharing
1526 substrings and read-only strings.
1528 Three new procedures are related to this: substring/shared,
1529 substring/copy, and substring/read-only. See the manual for more
1532 ** Backtraces will now highlight the value that caused the error.
1534 By default, these values are enclosed in "{...}", such as in this
1543 <unnamed port>:1:1: In procedure car in expression (car (quote a)):
1544 <unnamed port>:1:1: Wrong type (expecting pair): a
1545 ABORT: (wrong-type-arg)
1547 The prefix and suffix used for highlighting can be set via the two new
1548 printer options 'highlight-prefix' and 'highlight-suffix'. For
1549 example, putting this into ~/.guile will output the bad value in bold
1550 on an ANSI terminal:
1552 (print-set! highlight-prefix "\x1b[1m")
1553 (print-set! highlight-suffix "\x1b[22m")
1556 ** 'gettext' support for internationalization has been added.
1558 See the manual for details.
1560 ** New syntax '@' and '@@':
1562 You can now directly refer to variables exported from a module by
1565 (@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)
1567 For example (@ (ice-9 pretty-print) pretty-print) will directly access
1568 the pretty-print variable exported from the (ice-9 pretty-print)
1569 module. You don't need to 'use' that module first. You can also use
1570 '@' as a target of 'set!', as in (set! (@ mod var) val).
1572 The related syntax (@@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME) works just like '@',
1573 but it can also access variables that have not been exported. It is
1574 intended only for kluges and temporary fixes and for debugging, not
1577 ** Keyword syntax has been made more disciplined.
1579 Previously, the name of a keyword was read as a 'token' but printed as
1580 a symbol. Now, it is read as a general Scheme datum which must be a
1591 ERROR: In expression (a b c):
1595 ERROR: Unbound variable: foo
1600 ERROR: Wrong type (expecting symbol): 12
1604 ERROR: Wrong type (expecting symbol): (a b c)
1608 ** The printing of symbols that might look like keywords can be
1611 The new printer option 'quote-keywordish-symbols' controls how symbols
1612 are printed that have a colon as their first or last character. The
1613 default now is to only quote a symbol with #{...}# when the read
1614 option 'keywords' is not '#f'. Thus:
1616 guile> (define foo (string->symbol ":foo"))
1617 guile> (read-set! keywords #f)
1620 guile> (read-set! keywords 'prefix)
1623 guile> (print-set! quote-keywordish-symbols #f)
1627 ** 'while' now provides 'break' and 'continue'
1629 break and continue were previously bound in a while loop, but not
1630 documented, and continue didn't quite work properly. The undocumented
1631 parameter to break which gave a return value for the while has been
1634 ** 'call-with-current-continuation' is now also available under the name
1637 ** The module system now checks for duplicate bindings.
1639 The module system now can check for name conflicts among imported
1642 The behavior can be controlled by specifying one or more 'duplicates'
1643 handlers. For example, to make Guile return an error for every name
1646 (define-module (foo)
1651 The new default behavior of the module system when a name collision
1652 has been detected is to
1654 1. Give priority to bindings marked as a replacement.
1655 2. Issue a warning (different warning if overriding core binding).
1656 3. Give priority to the last encountered binding (this corresponds to
1659 If you want the old behavior back without replacements or warnings you
1662 (default-duplicate-binding-handler 'last)
1664 to your .guile init file.
1666 ** New define-module option: :replace
1668 :replace works as :export, but, in addition, marks the binding as a
1671 A typical example is `format' in (ice-9 format) which is a replacement
1672 for the core binding `format'.
1674 ** Adding prefixes to imported bindings in the module system
1676 There is now a new :use-module option :prefix. It can be used to add
1677 a prefix to all imported bindings.
1679 (define-module (foo)
1680 :use-module ((bar) :prefix bar:))
1682 will import all bindings exported from bar, but rename them by adding
1685 ** Conflicting generic functions can be automatically merged.
1687 When two imported bindings conflict and they are both generic
1688 functions, the two functions can now be merged automatically. This is
1689 activated with the 'duplicates' handler 'merge-generics'.
1691 ** New function: effective-version
1693 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
1694 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
1695 to the distribution" above.
1697 ** New threading functions: parallel, letpar, par-map, and friends
1699 These are convenient ways to run calculations in parallel in new
1700 threads. See "Parallel forms" in the manual for details.
1702 ** New function 'try-mutex'.
1704 This function will attempt to lock a mutex but will return immediately
1705 instead of blocking and indicate failure.
1707 ** Waiting on a condition variable can have a timeout.
1709 The function 'wait-condition-variable' now takes a third, optional
1710 argument that specifies the point in time where the waiting should be
1713 ** New function 'broadcast-condition-variable'.
1715 ** New functions 'all-threads' and 'current-thread'.
1717 ** Signals and system asyncs work better with threads.
1719 The function 'sigaction' now takes a fourth, optional, argument that
1720 specifies the thread that the handler should run in. When the
1721 argument is omitted, the handler will run in the thread that called
1724 Likewise, 'system-async-mark' takes a second, optional, argument that
1725 specifies the thread that the async should run in. When it is
1726 omitted, the async will run in the thread that called
1727 'system-async-mark'.
1729 C code can use the new functions scm_sigaction_for_thread and
1730 scm_system_async_mark_for_thread to pass the new thread argument.
1732 When a thread blocks on a mutex, a condition variable or is waiting
1733 for IO to be possible, it will still execute system asyncs. This can
1734 be used to interrupt such a thread by making it execute a 'throw', for
1737 ** The function 'system-async' is deprecated.
1739 You can now pass any zero-argument procedure to 'system-async-mark'.
1740 The function 'system-async' will just return its argument unchanged
1743 ** New functions 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' and
1744 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
1746 The expression (call-with-blocked-asyncs PROC) will call PROC and will
1747 block execution of system asyncs for the current thread by one level
1748 while PROC runs. Likewise, call-with-unblocked-asyncs will call a
1749 procedure and will unblock the execution of system asyncs by one
1750 level for the current thread.
1752 Only system asyncs are affected by these functions.
1754 ** The functions 'mask-signals' and 'unmask-signals' are deprecated.
1756 Use 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' or 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
1757 instead. Those functions are easier to use correctly and can be
1760 ** New function 'unsetenv'.
1762 ** New macro 'define-syntax-public'.
1764 It works like 'define-syntax' and also exports the defined macro (but
1767 ** There is support for Infinity and NaNs.
1769 Following PLT Scheme, Guile can now work with infinite numbers, and
1772 There is new syntax for numbers: "+inf.0" (infinity), "-inf.0"
1773 (negative infinity), "+nan.0" (not-a-number), and "-nan.0" (same as
1774 "+nan.0"). These numbers are inexact and have no exact counterpart.
1776 Dividing by an inexact zero returns +inf.0 or -inf.0, depending on the
1777 sign of the dividend. The infinities are integers, and they answer #t
1778 for both 'even?' and 'odd?'. The +nan.0 value is not an integer and is
1779 not '=' to itself, but '+nan.0' is 'eqv?' to itself.
1790 ERROR: Numerical overflow
1792 Two new predicates 'inf?' and 'nan?' can be used to test for the
1795 ** Inexact zero can have a sign.
1797 Guile can now distinguish between plus and minus inexact zero, if your
1798 platform supports this, too. The two zeros are equal according to
1799 '=', but not according to 'eqv?'. For example
1810 ** Guile now has exact rationals.
1812 Guile can now represent fractions such as 1/3 exactly. Computing with
1813 them is also done exactly, of course:
1818 ** 'floor', 'ceiling', 'round' and 'truncate' now return exact numbers
1819 for exact arguments.
1821 For example: (floor 2) now returns an exact 2 where in the past it
1822 returned an inexact 2.0. Likewise, (floor 5/4) returns an exact 1.
1824 ** inexact->exact no longer returns only integers.
1826 Without exact rationals, the closest exact number was always an
1827 integer, but now inexact->exact returns the fraction that is exactly
1828 equal to a floating point number. For example:
1830 (inexact->exact 1.234)
1831 => 694680242521899/562949953421312
1833 When you want the old behavior, use 'round' explicitly:
1835 (inexact->exact (round 1.234))
1838 ** New function 'rationalize'.
1840 This function finds a simple fraction that is close to a given real
1841 number. For example (and compare with inexact->exact above):
1843 (rationalize (inexact->exact 1.234) 1/2000)
1846 Note that, as required by R5RS, rationalize returns only then an exact
1847 result when both its arguments are exact.
1849 ** 'odd?' and 'even?' work also for inexact integers.
1851 Previously, (odd? 1.0) would signal an error since only exact integers
1852 were recognized as integers. Now (odd? 1.0) returns #t, (odd? 2.0)
1853 returns #f and (odd? 1.5) signals an error.
1855 ** Guile now has uninterned symbols.
1857 The new function 'make-symbol' will return an uninterned symbol. This
1858 is a symbol that is unique and is guaranteed to remain unique.
1859 However, uninterned symbols can not yet be read back in.
1861 Use the new function 'symbol-interned?' to check whether a symbol is
1864 ** pretty-print has more options.
1866 The function pretty-print from the (ice-9 pretty-print) module can now
1867 also be invoked with keyword arguments that control things like
1868 maximum output width. See the manual for details.
1870 ** Variables have no longer a special behavior for `equal?'.
1872 Previously, comparing two variables with `equal?' would recursivly
1873 compare their values. This is no longer done. Variables are now only
1874 `equal?' if they are `eq?'.
1876 ** `(begin)' is now valid.
1878 You can now use an empty `begin' form. It will yield #<unspecified>
1879 when evaluated and simply be ignored in a definition context.
1881 ** Deprecated: procedure->macro
1883 Change your code to use 'define-macro' or r5rs macros. Also, be aware
1884 that macro expansion will not be done during evaluation, but prior to
1887 ** Soft ports now allow a `char-ready?' procedure
1889 The vector argument to `make-soft-port' can now have a length of
1890 either 5 or 6. (Previously the length had to be 5.) The optional 6th
1891 element is interpreted as an `input-waiting' thunk -- i.e. a thunk
1892 that returns the number of characters that can be read immediately
1893 without the soft port blocking.
1895 ** Deprecated: undefine
1897 There is no replacement for undefine.
1899 ** The functions make-keyword-from-dash-symbol and keyword-dash-symbol
1900 have been discouraged.
1902 They are relics from a time where a keyword like #:foo was used
1903 directly as a Tcl option "-foo" and thus keywords were internally
1904 stored as a symbol with a starting dash. We now store a symbol
1907 Use symbol->keyword and keyword->symbol instead.
1909 ** The `cheap' debug option is now obsolete
1911 Evaluator trap calls are now unconditionally "cheap" - in other words,
1912 they pass a debug object to the trap handler rather than a full
1913 continuation. The trap handler code can capture a full continuation
1914 by using `call-with-current-continuation' in the usual way, if it so
1917 The `cheap' option is retained for now so as not to break existing
1918 code which gets or sets it, but setting it now has no effect. It will
1919 be removed in the next major Guile release.
1921 ** Evaluator trap calls now support `tweaking'
1923 `Tweaking' means that the trap handler code can modify the Scheme
1924 expression that is about to be evaluated (in the case of an
1925 enter-frame trap) or the value that is being returned (in the case of
1926 an exit-frame trap). The trap handler code indicates that it wants to
1927 do this by returning a pair whose car is the symbol 'instead and whose
1928 cdr is the modified expression or return value.
1930 * Changes to the C interface
1932 ** The functions scm_hash_fn_remove_x and scm_hashx_remove_x no longer
1933 take a 'delete' function argument.
1935 This argument makes no sense since the delete function is used to
1936 remove a pair from an alist, and this must not be configurable.
1938 This is an incompatible change.
1940 ** The GH interface is now subject to the deprecation mechanism
1942 The GH interface has been deprecated for quite some time but now it is
1943 actually removed from Guile when it is configured with
1944 --disable-deprecated.
1946 See the manual "Transitioning away from GH" for more information.
1948 ** A new family of functions for converting between C values and
1949 Scheme values has been added.
1951 These functions follow a common naming scheme and are designed to be
1952 easier to use, thread-safe and more future-proof than the older
1955 - int scm_is_* (...)
1957 These are predicates that return a C boolean: 1 or 0. Instead of
1958 SCM_NFALSEP, you can now use scm_is_true, for example.
1960 - <type> scm_to_<type> (SCM val, ...)
1962 These are functions that convert a Scheme value into an appropriate
1963 C value. For example, you can use scm_to_int to safely convert from
1966 - SCM scm_from_<type> (<type> val, ...)
1968 These functions convert from a C type to a SCM value; for example,
1969 scm_from_int for ints.
1971 There is a huge number of these functions, for numbers, strings,
1972 symbols, vectors, etc. They are documented in the reference manual in
1973 the API section together with the types that they apply to.
1975 ** New functions for dealing with complex numbers in C have been added.
1977 The new functions are scm_c_make_rectangular, scm_c_make_polar,
1978 scm_c_real_part, scm_c_imag_part, scm_c_magnitude and scm_c_angle.
1979 They work like scm_make_rectangular etc but take or return doubles
1982 ** The function scm_make_complex has been discouraged.
1984 Use scm_c_make_rectangular instead.
1986 ** The INUM macros have been deprecated.
1988 A lot of code uses these macros to do general integer conversions,
1989 although the macros only work correctly with fixnums. Use the
1990 following alternatives.
1992 SCM_INUMP -> scm_is_integer or similar
1993 SCM_NINUMP -> !scm_is_integer or similar
1994 SCM_MAKINUM -> scm_from_int or similar
1995 SCM_INUM -> scm_to_int or similar
1997 SCM_VALIDATE_INUM_* -> Do not use these; scm_to_int, etc. will
1998 do the validating for you.
2000 ** The scm_num2<type> and scm_<type>2num functions and scm_make_real
2001 have been discouraged.
2003 Use the newer scm_to_<type> and scm_from_<type> functions instead for
2004 new code. The functions have been discouraged since they don't fit
2007 ** The 'boolean' macros SCM_FALSEP etc have been discouraged.
2009 They have strange names, especially SCM_NFALSEP, and SCM_BOOLP
2010 evaluates its argument twice. Use scm_is_true, etc. instead for new
2013 ** The macro SCM_EQ_P has been discouraged.
2015 Use scm_is_eq for new code, which fits better into the naming
2018 ** The macros SCM_CONSP, SCM_NCONSP, SCM_NULLP, and SCM_NNULLP have
2021 Use the function scm_is_pair or scm_is_null instead.
2023 ** The functions scm_round and scm_truncate have been deprecated and
2024 are now available as scm_c_round and scm_c_truncate, respectively.
2026 These functions occupy the names that scm_round_number and
2027 scm_truncate_number should have.
2029 ** The functions scm_c_string2str, scm_c_substring2str, and
2030 scm_c_symbol2str have been deprecated.
2032 Use scm_to_locale_stringbuf or similar instead, maybe together with
2035 ** New functions scm_c_make_string, scm_c_string_length,
2036 scm_c_string_ref, scm_c_string_set_x, scm_c_substring,
2037 scm_c_substring_shared, scm_c_substring_copy.
2039 These are like scm_make_string, scm_length, etc. but are slightly
2040 easier to use from C.
2042 ** The macros SCM_STRINGP, SCM_STRING_CHARS, SCM_STRING_LENGTH,
2043 SCM_SYMBOL_CHARS, and SCM_SYMBOL_LENGTH have been deprecated.
2045 They export too many assumptions about the implementation of strings
2046 and symbols that are no longer true in the presence of
2047 mutation-sharing substrings and when Guile switches to some form of
2050 When working with strings, it is often best to use the normal string
2051 functions provided by Guile, such as scm_c_string_ref,
2052 scm_c_string_set_x, scm_string_append, etc. Be sure to look in the
2053 manual since many more such functions are now provided than
2056 When you want to convert a SCM string to a C string, use the
2057 scm_to_locale_string function or similar instead. For symbols, use
2058 scm_symbol_to_string and then work with that string. Because of the
2059 new string representation, scm_symbol_to_string does not need to copy
2060 and is thus quite efficient.
2062 ** Some string, symbol and keyword functions have been discouraged.
2064 They don't fit into the uniform naming scheme and are not explicit
2065 about the character encoding.
2067 Replace according to the following table:
2069 scm_allocate_string -> scm_c_make_string
2070 scm_take_str -> scm_take_locale_stringn
2071 scm_take0str -> scm_take_locale_string
2072 scm_mem2string -> scm_from_locale_stringn
2073 scm_str2string -> scm_from_locale_string
2074 scm_makfrom0str -> scm_from_locale_string
2075 scm_mem2symbol -> scm_from_locale_symboln
2076 scm_mem2uninterned_symbol -> scm_from_locale_stringn + scm_make_symbol
2077 scm_str2symbol -> scm_from_locale_symbol
2079 SCM_SYMBOL_HASH -> scm_hashq
2080 SCM_SYMBOL_INTERNED_P -> scm_symbol_interned_p
2082 scm_c_make_keyword -> scm_from_locale_keyword
2084 ** The functions scm_keyword_to_symbol and sym_symbol_to_keyword are
2085 now also available to C code.
2087 ** SCM_KEYWORDP and SCM_KEYWORDSYM have been deprecated.
2089 Use scm_is_keyword and scm_keyword_to_symbol instead, but note that
2090 the latter returns the true name of the keyword, not the 'dash name',
2091 as SCM_KEYWORDSYM used to do.
2093 ** A new way to access arrays in a thread-safe and efficient way has
2096 See the manual, node "Accessing Arrays From C".
2098 ** The old uniform vector and bitvector implementations have been
2099 unceremoniously removed.
2101 This implementation exposed the details of the tagging system of
2102 Guile. Use the new C API explained in the manual in node "Uniform
2103 Numeric Vectors" and "Bit Vectors", respectively.
2105 The following macros are gone: SCM_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_BASE,
2106 SCM_UVECTOR_MAXLENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_MAKE_UVECTOR_TAG,
2107 SCM_SET_UVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_BITVECTOR_P, SCM_BITVECTOR_BASE,
2108 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_BASE, SCM_BITVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH,
2109 SCM_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_MAKE_BITVECTOR_TAG,
2110 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_BITVEC_REF, SCM_BITVEC_SET,
2113 ** The macros dealing with vectors have been deprecated.
2115 Use the new functions scm_is_vector, scm_vector_elements,
2116 scm_vector_writable_elements, etc, or scm_is_simple_vector,
2117 SCM_SIMPLE_VECTOR_REF, SCM_SIMPLE_VECTOR_SET, etc instead. See the
2118 manual for more details.
2120 Deprecated are SCM_VECTORP, SCM_VELTS, SCM_VECTOR_MAX_LENGTH,
2121 SCM_VECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_VECTOR_REF, SCM_VECTOR_SET, SCM_WRITABLE_VELTS.
2123 The following macros have been removed: SCM_VECTOR_BASE,
2124 SCM_SET_VECTOR_BASE, SCM_MAKE_VECTOR_TAG, SCM_SET_VECTOR_LENGTH,
2125 SCM_VELTS_AS_STACKITEMS, SCM_SETVELTS, SCM_GC_WRITABLE_VELTS.
2127 ** Some C functions and macros related to arrays have been deprecated.
2129 Migrate according to the following table:
2131 scm_make_uve -> scm_make_typed_array, scm_make_u8vector etc.
2132 scm_make_ra -> scm_make_array
2133 scm_shap2ra -> scm_make_array
2134 scm_cvref -> scm_c_generalized_vector_ref
2135 scm_ra_set_contp -> do not use
2136 scm_aind -> scm_array_handle_pos
2137 scm_raprin1 -> scm_display or scm_write
2139 SCM_ARRAYP -> scm_is_array
2140 SCM_ARRAY_NDIM -> scm_c_array_rank
2141 SCM_ARRAY_DIMS -> scm_array_handle_dims
2142 SCM_ARRAY_CONTP -> do not use
2143 SCM_ARRAY_MEM -> do not use
2144 SCM_ARRAY_V -> scm_array_handle_elements or similar
2145 SCM_ARRAY_BASE -> do not use
2147 ** SCM_CELL_WORD_LOC has been deprecated.
2149 Use the new macro SCM_CELL_OBJECT_LOC instead, which returns a pointer
2150 to a SCM, as opposed to a pointer to a scm_t_bits.
2152 This was done to allow the correct use of pointers into the Scheme
2153 heap. Previously, the heap words were of type scm_t_bits and local
2154 variables and function arguments were of type SCM, making it
2155 non-standards-conformant to have a pointer that can point to both.
2157 ** New macros SCM_SMOB_DATA_2, SCM_SMOB_DATA_3, etc.
2159 These macros should be used instead of SCM_CELL_WORD_2/3 to access the
2160 second and third words of double smobs. Likewise for
2161 SCM_SET_SMOB_DATA_2 and SCM_SET_SMOB_DATA_3.
2163 Also, there is SCM_SMOB_FLAGS and SCM_SET_SMOB_FLAGS that should be
2164 used to get and set the 16 exra bits in the zeroth word of a smob.
2166 And finally, there is SCM_SMOB_OBJECT and SCM_SMOB_SET_OBJECT for
2167 accesing the first immediate word of a smob as a SCM value, and there
2168 is SCM_SMOB_OBJECT_LOC for getting a pointer to the first immediate
2169 smob word. Like wise for SCM_SMOB_OBJECT_2, etc.
2171 ** New way to deal with non-local exits and re-entries.
2173 There is a new set of functions that essentially do what
2174 scm_internal_dynamic_wind does, but in a way that is more convenient
2175 for C code in some situations. Here is a quick example of how to
2176 prevent a potential memory leak:
2183 scm_dynwind_begin (0);
2185 mem = scm_malloc (100);
2186 scm_dynwind_unwind_handler (free, mem, SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITLY);
2188 /* MEM would leak if BAR throws an error.
2189 SCM_DYNWIND_UNWIND_HANDLER frees it nevertheless.
2196 /* Because of SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITLY, MEM will be freed by
2197 SCM_DYNWIND_END as well.
2201 For full documentation, see the node "Dynamic Wind" in the manual.
2203 ** New function scm_dynwind_free
2205 This function calls 'free' on a given pointer when a dynwind context
2206 is left. Thus the call to scm_dynwind_unwind_handler above could be
2207 replaced with simply scm_dynwind_free (mem).
2209 ** New functions scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
2210 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs
2212 Like scm_call_with_blocked_asyncs etc. but for C functions.
2214 ** New functions scm_dynwind_block_asyncs and scm_dynwind_unblock_asyncs
2216 In addition to scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs you can now also use
2217 scm_dynwind_block_asyncs in a 'dynwind context' (see above). Likewise for
2218 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs and scm_dynwind_unblock_asyncs.
2220 ** The macros SCM_DEFER_INTS, SCM_ALLOW_INTS, SCM_REDEFER_INTS,
2221 SCM_REALLOW_INTS have been deprecated.
2223 They do no longer fulfill their original role of blocking signal
2224 delivery. Depending on what you want to achieve, replace a pair of
2225 SCM_DEFER_INTS and SCM_ALLOW_INTS with a dynwind context that locks a
2226 mutex, blocks asyncs, or both. See node "Critical Sections" in the
2229 ** The value 'scm_mask_ints' is no longer writable.
2231 Previously, you could set scm_mask_ints directly. This is no longer
2232 possible. Use scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
2233 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs instead.
2235 ** New way to temporarily set the current input, output or error ports
2237 C code can now use scm_dynwind_current_<foo>_port in a 'dynwind
2238 context' (see above). <foo> is one of "input", "output" or "error".
2240 ** New way to temporarily set fluids
2242 C code can now use scm_dynwind_fluid in a 'dynwind context' (see
2243 above) to temporarily set the value of a fluid.
2245 ** New types scm_t_intmax and scm_t_uintmax.
2247 On platforms that have them, these types are identical to intmax_t and
2248 uintmax_t, respectively. On other platforms, they are identical to
2249 the largest integer types that Guile knows about.
2251 ** The functions scm_unmemocopy and scm_unmemoize have been removed.
2253 You should not have used them.
2255 ** Many public #defines with generic names have been made private.
2257 #defines with generic names like HAVE_FOO or SIZEOF_FOO have been made
2258 private or renamed with a more suitable public name.
2260 ** The macro SCM_TYP16S has been deprecated.
2262 This macro is not intended for public use.
2264 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_INEXACTP has been deprecated.
2266 Use scm_is_true (scm_inexact_p (...)) instead.
2268 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_REALP has been deprecated.
2270 Use scm_is_real instead.
2272 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_COMPLEXP has been deprecated.
2274 Use scm_is_complex instead.
2276 ** Some preprocessor defines have been deprecated.
2278 These defines indicated whether a certain feature was present in Guile
2279 or not. Going forward, assume that the features are always present.
2281 The macros are: USE_THREADS, GUILE_ISELECT, READER_EXTENSIONS,
2282 DEBUG_EXTENSIONS, DYNAMIC_LINKING.
2284 The following macros have been removed completely: MEMOIZE_LOCALS,
2285 SCM_RECKLESS, SCM_CAUTIOUS.
2287 ** The preprocessor define STACK_DIRECTION has been deprecated.
2289 There should be no need to know about the stack direction for ordinary
2292 ** New function: scm_effective_version
2294 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
2295 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
2296 to the distribution" above.
2298 ** The function scm_call_with_new_thread has a new prototype.
2300 Instead of taking a list with the thunk and handler, these two
2301 arguments are now passed directly:
2303 SCM scm_call_with_new_thread (SCM thunk, SCM handler);
2305 This is an incompatible change.
2307 ** New snarfer macro SCM_DEFINE_PUBLIC.
2309 This is like SCM_DEFINE, but also calls scm_c_export for the defined
2310 function in the init section.
2312 ** The snarfer macro SCM_SNARF_INIT is now officially supported.
2314 ** Garbage collector rewrite.
2316 The garbage collector is cleaned up a lot, and now uses lazy
2317 sweeping. This is reflected in the output of (gc-stats); since cells
2318 are being freed when they are allocated, the cells-allocated field
2319 stays roughly constant.
2321 For malloc related triggers, the behavior is changed. It uses the same
2322 heuristic as the cell-triggered collections. It may be tuned with the
2323 environment variables GUILE_MIN_YIELD_MALLOC. This is the percentage
2324 for minimum yield of malloc related triggers. The default is 40.
2325 GUILE_INIT_MALLOC_LIMIT sets the initial trigger for doing a GC. The
2328 Debugging operations for the freelist have been deprecated, along with
2329 the C variables that control garbage collection. The environment
2330 variables GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE, GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2,
2331 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1, and GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2 should be used.
2333 For understanding the memory usage of a GUILE program, the routine
2334 gc-live-object-stats returns an alist containing the number of live
2335 objects for every type.
2338 ** The function scm_definedp has been renamed to scm_defined_p
2340 The name scm_definedp is deprecated.
2342 ** The struct scm_cell type has been renamed to scm_t_cell
2344 This is in accordance to Guile's naming scheme for types. Note that
2345 the name scm_cell is now used for a function that allocates and
2346 initializes a new cell (see below).
2348 ** New functions for memory management
2350 A new set of functions for memory management has been added since the
2351 old way (scm_must_malloc, scm_must_free, etc) was error prone and
2352 indeed, Guile itself contained some long standing bugs that could
2353 cause aborts in long running programs.
2355 The new functions are more symmetrical and do not need cooperation
2356 from smob free routines, among other improvements.
2358 The new functions are scm_malloc, scm_realloc, scm_calloc, scm_strdup,
2359 scm_strndup, scm_gc_malloc, scm_gc_calloc, scm_gc_realloc,
2360 scm_gc_free, scm_gc_register_collectable_memory, and
2361 scm_gc_unregister_collectable_memory. Refer to the manual for more
2362 details and for upgrading instructions.
2364 The old functions for memory management have been deprecated. They
2365 are: scm_must_malloc, scm_must_realloc, scm_must_free,
2366 scm_must_strdup, scm_must_strndup, scm_done_malloc, scm_done_free.
2368 ** Declarations of exported features are marked with SCM_API.
2370 Every declaration of a feature that belongs to the exported Guile API
2371 has been marked by adding the macro "SCM_API" to the start of the
2372 declaration. This macro can expand into different things, the most
2373 common of which is just "extern" for Unix platforms. On Win32, it can
2374 be used to control which symbols are exported from a DLL.
2376 If you `#define SCM_IMPORT' before including <libguile.h>, SCM_API
2377 will expand into "__declspec (dllimport) extern", which is needed for
2378 linking to the Guile DLL in Windows.
2380 There are also SCM_RL_IMPORT, SCM_SRFI1314_IMPORT, and
2381 SCM_SRFI4_IMPORT, for the corresponding libraries.
2383 ** SCM_NEWCELL and SCM_NEWCELL2 have been deprecated.
2385 Use the new functions scm_cell and scm_double_cell instead. The old
2386 macros had problems because with them allocation and initialization
2387 was separated and the GC could sometimes observe half initialized
2388 cells. Only careful coding by the user of SCM_NEWCELL and
2389 SCM_NEWCELL2 could make this safe and efficient.
2391 ** CHECK_ENTRY, CHECK_APPLY and CHECK_EXIT have been deprecated.
2393 Use the variables scm_check_entry_p, scm_check_apply_p and scm_check_exit_p
2396 ** SRCBRKP has been deprecated.
2398 Use scm_c_source_property_breakpoint_p instead.
2400 ** Deprecated: scm_makmacro
2402 Change your code to use either scm_makmmacro or to define macros in
2403 Scheme, using 'define-macro'.
2405 ** New function scm_c_port_for_each.
2407 This function is like scm_port_for_each but takes a pointer to a C
2408 function as the callback instead of a SCM value.
2410 ** The names scm_internal_select, scm_thread_sleep, and
2411 scm_thread_usleep have been discouraged.
2413 Use scm_std_select, scm_std_sleep, scm_std_usleep instead.
2415 ** The GC can no longer be blocked.
2417 The global flags scm_gc_heap_lock and scm_block_gc have been removed.
2418 The GC can now run (partially) concurrently with other code and thus
2419 blocking it is not well defined.
2421 ** Many definitions have been removed that were previously deprecated.
2423 scm_lisp_nil, scm_lisp_t, s_nil_ify, scm_m_nil_ify, s_t_ify,
2424 scm_m_t_ify, s_0_cond, scm_m_0_cond, s_0_ify, scm_m_0_ify, s_1_ify,
2425 scm_m_1_ify, scm_debug_newcell, scm_debug_newcell2,
2426 scm_tc16_allocated, SCM_SET_SYMBOL_HASH, SCM_IM_NIL_IFY, SCM_IM_T_IFY,
2427 SCM_IM_0_COND, SCM_IM_0_IFY, SCM_IM_1_IFY, SCM_GC_SET_ALLOCATED,
2428 scm_debug_newcell, scm_debug_newcell2, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL, SCM_INT_SIGNAL,
2429 SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL, SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL,
2430 SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD, SCM_ORD_SIG,
2431 SCM_NUM_SIGS, scm_top_level_lookup_closure_var,
2432 *top-level-lookup-closure*, scm_system_transformer, scm_eval_3,
2433 scm_eval2, root_module_lookup_closure, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP,
2434 SCM_RWSTRINGP, scm_read_only_string_p, scm_make_shared_substring,
2435 scm_tc7_substring, sym_huh, SCM_VARVCELL, SCM_UDVARIABLEP,
2436 SCM_DEFVARIABLEP, scm_mkbig, scm_big2inum, scm_adjbig, scm_normbig,
2437 scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big, scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl, SCM_FIXNUM_BIT,
2438 SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_SLOPPY_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET,
2439 SCM_LENGTH_MAX, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_ROLENGTH,
2440 SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR,
2441 scm_sym2vcell, scm_intern, scm_intern0, scm_sysintern, scm_sysintern0,
2442 scm_sysintern0_no_module_lookup, scm_init_symbols_deprecated,
2443 scm_vector_set_length_x, scm_contregs, scm_debug_info,
2444 scm_debug_frame, SCM_DSIDEVAL, SCM_CONST_LONG, SCM_VCELL,
2445 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL, SCM_VCELL_INIT, SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL_INIT,
2446 SCM_HUGE_LENGTH, SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING,
2447 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY, SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY,
2448 SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, DIGITS, scm_small_istr2int, scm_istr2int,
2449 scm_istr2flo, scm_istring2number, scm_istr2int, scm_istr2flo,
2450 scm_istring2number, scm_vtable_index_vcell, scm_si_vcell, SCM_ECONSP,
2451 SCM_NECONSP, SCM_GLOC_VAR, SCM_GLOC_VAL, SCM_GLOC_SET_VAL,
2452 SCM_GLOC_VAL_LOC, scm_make_gloc, scm_gloc_p, scm_tc16_variable,
2453 SCM_CHARS, SCM_LENGTH, SCM_SET_STRING_CHARS, SCM_SET_STRING_LENGTH.
2455 * Changes to bundled modules
2459 Using the (ice-9 debug) module no longer automatically switches Guile
2460 to use the debugging evaluator. If you want to switch to the
2461 debugging evaluator (which is needed for backtrace information if you
2462 hit an error), please add an explicit "(debug-enable 'debug)" to your
2463 code just after the code to use (ice-9 debug).
2466 Changes since Guile 1.4:
2468 * Changes to the distribution
2470 ** A top-level TODO file is included.
2472 ** Guile now uses a versioning scheme similar to that of the Linux kernel.
2474 Guile now always uses three numbers to represent the version,
2475 i.e. "1.6.5". The first number, 1, is the major version number, the
2476 second number, 6, is the minor version number, and the third number,
2477 5, is the micro version number. Changes in major version number
2478 indicate major changes in Guile.
2480 Minor version numbers that are even denote stable releases, and odd
2481 minor version numbers denote development versions (which may be
2482 unstable). The micro version number indicates a minor sub-revision of
2483 a given MAJOR.MINOR release.
2485 In keeping with the new scheme, (minor-version) and scm_minor_version
2486 no longer return everything but the major version number. They now
2487 just return the minor version number. Two new functions
2488 (micro-version) and scm_micro_version have been added to report the
2489 micro version number.
2491 In addition, ./GUILE-VERSION now defines GUILE_MICRO_VERSION.
2493 ** New preprocessor definitions are available for checking versions.
2495 version.h now #defines SCM_MAJOR_VERSION, SCM_MINOR_VERSION, and
2496 SCM_MICRO_VERSION to the appropriate integer values.
2498 ** Guile now actively warns about deprecated features.
2500 The new configure option `--enable-deprecated=LEVEL' and the
2501 environment variable GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATED control this mechanism.
2502 See INSTALL and README for more information.
2504 ** Guile is much more likely to work on 64-bit architectures.
2506 Guile now compiles and passes "make check" with only two UNRESOLVED GC
2507 cases on Alpha and ia64 based machines now. Thanks to John Goerzen
2508 for the use of a test machine, and thanks to Stefan Jahn for ia64
2511 ** New functions: setitimer and getitimer.
2513 These implement a fairly direct interface to the libc functions of the
2516 ** The #. reader extension is now disabled by default.
2518 For safety reasons, #. evaluation is disabled by default. To
2519 re-enable it, set the fluid read-eval? to #t. For example:
2521 (fluid-set! read-eval? #t)
2523 but make sure you realize the potential security risks involved. With
2524 read-eval? enabled, reading a data file from an untrusted source can
2527 ** New SRFI modules have been added:
2529 SRFI-0 `cond-expand' is now supported in Guile, without requiring
2532 (srfi srfi-1) is a library containing many useful pair- and list-processing
2535 (srfi srfi-2) exports and-let*.
2537 (srfi srfi-4) implements homogeneous numeric vector datatypes.
2539 (srfi srfi-6) is a dummy module for now, since guile already provides
2540 all of the srfi-6 procedures by default: open-input-string,
2541 open-output-string, get-output-string.
2543 (srfi srfi-8) exports receive.
2545 (srfi srfi-9) exports define-record-type.
2547 (srfi srfi-10) exports define-reader-ctor and implements the reader
2550 (srfi srfi-11) exports let-values and let*-values.
2552 (srfi srfi-13) implements the SRFI String Library.
2554 (srfi srfi-14) implements the SRFI Character-Set Library.
2556 (srfi srfi-17) implements setter and getter-with-setter and redefines
2557 some accessor procedures as procedures with getters. (such as car,
2558 cdr, vector-ref etc.)
2560 (srfi srfi-19) implements the SRFI Time/Date Library.
2562 ** New scripts / "executable modules"
2564 Subdirectory "scripts" contains Scheme modules that are packaged to
2565 also be executable as scripts. At this time, these scripts are available:
2574 See README there for more info.
2576 These scripts can be invoked from the shell with the new program
2577 "guile-tools", which keeps track of installation directory for you.
2580 $ guile-tools display-commentary srfi/*.scm
2582 guile-tools is copied to the standard $bindir on "make install".
2584 ** New module (ice-9 stack-catch):
2586 stack-catch is like catch, but saves the current state of the stack in
2587 the fluid the-last-stack. This fluid can be useful when using the
2588 debugger and when re-throwing an error.
2590 ** The module (ice-9 and-let*) has been renamed to (ice-9 and-let-star)
2592 This has been done to prevent problems on lesser operating systems
2593 that can't tolerate `*'s in file names. The exported macro continues
2594 to be named `and-let*', of course.
2596 On systems that support it, there is also a compatibility module named
2597 (ice-9 and-let*). It will go away in the next release.
2599 ** New modules (oop goops) etc.:
2602 (oop goops describe)
2604 (oop goops active-slot)
2605 (oop goops composite-slot)
2607 The Guile Object Oriented Programming System (GOOPS) has been
2608 integrated into Guile. For further information, consult the GOOPS
2609 manual and tutorial in the `doc' directory.
2611 ** New module (ice-9 rdelim).
2613 This exports the following procedures which were previously defined
2614 in the default environment:
2616 read-line read-line! read-delimited read-delimited! %read-delimited!
2617 %read-line write-line
2619 For backwards compatibility the definitions are still imported into the
2620 default environment in this version of Guile. However you should add:
2622 (use-modules (ice-9 rdelim))
2624 to any program which uses the definitions, since this may change in
2627 Alternatively, if guile-scsh is installed, the (scsh rdelim) module
2628 can be used for similar functionality.
2630 ** New module (ice-9 rw)
2632 This is a subset of the (scsh rw) module from guile-scsh. Currently
2633 it defines two procedures:
2635 *** New function: read-string!/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
2637 Read characters from a port or file descriptor into a string STR.
2638 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
2639 fport. This procedure is scsh-compatible and can efficiently read
2642 *** New function: write-string/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
2644 Write characters from a string STR to a port or file descriptor.
2645 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
2646 fport. This procedure is mostly compatible and can efficiently
2647 write large strings.
2649 ** New module (ice-9 match)
2651 This module includes Andrew K. Wright's pattern matcher. See
2652 ice-9/match.scm for brief description or
2654 http://www.star-lab.com/wright/code.html
2656 for complete documentation.
2658 ** New module (ice-9 buffered-input)
2660 This module provides procedures to construct an input port from an
2661 underlying source of input that reads and returns its input in chunks.
2662 The underlying input source is a Scheme procedure, specified by the
2663 caller, which the port invokes whenever it needs more input.
2665 This is useful when building an input port whose back end is Readline
2666 or a UI element such as the GtkEntry widget.
2670 The reference and tutorial documentation that was previously
2671 distributed separately, as `guile-doc', is now included in the core
2672 Guile distribution. The documentation consists of the following
2675 - The Guile Tutorial (guile-tut.texi) contains a tutorial introduction
2678 - The Guile Reference Manual (guile.texi) contains (or is intended to
2679 contain) reference documentation on all aspects of Guile.
2681 - The GOOPS Manual (goops.texi) contains both tutorial-style and
2682 reference documentation for using GOOPS, Guile's Object Oriented
2685 - The Revised^5 Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme
2688 See the README file in the `doc' directory for more details.
2690 ** There are a couple of examples in the examples/ directory now.
2692 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
2694 ** New command line option `--use-srfi'
2696 Using this option, SRFI modules can be loaded on startup and be
2697 available right from the beginning. This makes programming portable
2698 Scheme programs easier.
2700 The option `--use-srfi' expects a comma-separated list of numbers,
2701 each representing a SRFI number to be loaded into the interpreter
2702 before starting evaluating a script file or the REPL. Additionally,
2703 the feature identifier for the loaded SRFIs is recognized by
2704 `cond-expand' when using this option.
2707 $ guile --use-srfi=8,13
2708 guile> (receive (x z) (values 1 2) (+ 1 2))
2710 guile> (string-pad "bla" 20)
2713 ** Guile now always starts up in the `(guile-user)' module.
2715 Previously, scripts executed via the `-s' option would run in the
2716 `(guile)' module and the repl would run in the `(guile-user)' module.
2717 Now every user action takes place in the `(guile-user)' module by
2720 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
2722 ** Character classifiers work for non-ASCII characters.
2724 The predicates `char-alphabetic?', `char-numeric?',
2725 `char-whitespace?', `char-lower?', `char-upper?' and `char-is-both?'
2726 no longer check whether their arguments are ASCII characters.
2727 Previously, a character would only be considered alphabetic when it
2728 was also ASCII, for example.
2730 ** Previously deprecated Scheme functions have been removed:
2732 tag - no replacement.
2733 fseek - replaced by seek.
2734 list* - replaced by cons*.
2736 ** It's now possible to create modules with controlled environments
2740 (use-modules (ice-9 safe))
2741 (define m (make-safe-module))
2742 ;;; m will now be a module containing only a safe subset of R5RS
2743 (eval '(+ 1 2) m) --> 3
2744 (eval 'load m) --> ERROR: Unbound variable: load
2746 ** Evaluation of "()", the empty list, is now an error.
2748 Previously, the expression "()" evaluated to the empty list. This has
2749 been changed to signal a "missing expression" error. The correct way
2750 to write the empty list as a literal constant is to use quote: "'()".
2752 ** New concept of `Guile Extensions'.
2754 A Guile Extension is just a ordinary shared library that can be linked
2755 at run-time. We found it advantageous to give this simple concept a
2756 dedicated name to distinguish the issues related to shared libraries
2757 from the issues related to the module system.
2759 *** New function: load-extension
2761 Executing (load-extension lib init) is mostly equivalent to
2763 (dynamic-call init (dynamic-link lib))
2765 except when scm_register_extension has been called previously.
2766 Whenever appropriate, you should use `load-extension' instead of
2767 dynamic-link and dynamic-call.
2769 *** New C function: scm_c_register_extension
2771 This function registers a initialization function for use by
2772 `load-extension'. Use it when you don't want specific extensions to
2773 be loaded as shared libraries (for example on platforms that don't
2774 support dynamic linking).
2776 ** Auto-loading of compiled-code modules is deprecated.
2778 Guile used to be able to automatically find and link a shared
2779 library to satisfy requests for a module. For example, the module
2780 `(foo bar)' could be implemented by placing a shared library named
2781 "foo/libbar.so" (or with a different extension) in a directory on the
2784 This has been found to be too tricky, and is no longer supported. The
2785 shared libraries are now called "extensions". You should now write a
2786 small Scheme file that calls `load-extension' to load the shared
2787 library and initialize it explicitly.
2789 The shared libraries themselves should be installed in the usual
2790 places for shared libraries, with names like "libguile-foo-bar".
2792 For example, place this into a file "foo/bar.scm"
2794 (define-module (foo bar))
2796 (load-extension "libguile-foo-bar" "foobar_init")
2798 ** Backward incompatible change: eval EXP ENVIRONMENT-SPECIFIER
2800 `eval' is now R5RS, that is it takes two arguments.
2801 The second argument is an environment specifier, i.e. either
2803 (scheme-report-environment 5)
2804 (null-environment 5)
2805 (interaction-environment)
2811 ** The module system has been made more disciplined.
2813 The function `eval' will save and restore the current module around
2814 the evaluation of the specified expression. While this expression is
2815 evaluated, `(current-module)' will now return the right module, which
2816 is the module specified as the second argument to `eval'.
2818 A consequence of this change is that `eval' is not particularly
2819 useful when you want allow the evaluated code to change what module is
2820 designated as the current module and have this change persist from one
2821 call to `eval' to the next. The read-eval-print-loop is an example
2822 where `eval' is now inadequate. To compensate, there is a new
2823 function `primitive-eval' that does not take a module specifier and
2824 that does not save/restore the current module. You should use this
2825 function together with `set-current-module', `current-module', etc
2826 when you want to have more control over the state that is carried from
2827 one eval to the next.
2829 Additionally, it has been made sure that forms that are evaluated at
2830 the top level are always evaluated with respect to the current module.
2831 Previously, subforms of top-level forms such as `begin', `case',
2832 etc. did not respect changes to the current module although these
2833 subforms are at the top-level as well.
2835 To prevent strange behavior, the forms `define-module',
2836 `use-modules', `use-syntax', and `export' have been restricted to only
2837 work on the top level. The forms `define-public' and
2838 `defmacro-public' only export the new binding on the top level. They
2839 behave just like `define' and `defmacro', respectively, when they are
2840 used in a lexical environment.
2842 Also, `export' will no longer silently re-export bindings imported
2843 from a used module. It will emit a `deprecation' warning and will
2844 cease to perform any re-export in the next version. If you actually
2845 want to re-export bindings, use the new `re-export' in place of
2846 `export'. The new `re-export' will not make copies of variables when
2847 rexporting them, as `export' did wrongly.
2849 ** Module system now allows selection and renaming of imported bindings
2851 Previously, when using `use-modules' or the `#:use-module' clause in
2852 the `define-module' form, all the bindings (association of symbols to
2853 values) for imported modules were added to the "current module" on an
2854 as-is basis. This has been changed to allow finer control through two
2855 new facilities: selection and renaming.
2857 You can now select which of the imported module's bindings are to be
2858 visible in the current module by using the `:select' clause. This
2859 clause also can be used to rename individual bindings. For example:
2861 ;; import all bindings no questions asked
2862 (use-modules (ice-9 common-list))
2864 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them;
2865 ;; the current module sees: every some zonk-y zonk-n
2866 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
2868 (remove-if . zonk-y)
2869 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))))
2871 You can also programmatically rename all selected bindings using the
2872 `:renamer' clause, which specifies a proc that takes a symbol and
2873 returns another symbol. Because it is common practice to use a prefix,
2874 we now provide the convenience procedure `symbol-prefix-proc'. For
2877 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
2878 ;; and all four w/ prefix "CL:";
2879 ;; the current module sees: CL:every CL:some CL:zonk-y CL:zonk-n
2880 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
2882 (remove-if . zonk-y)
2883 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
2884 :renamer (symbol-prefix-proc 'CL:)))
2886 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
2887 ;; and all four by upcasing.
2888 ;; the current module sees: EVERY SOME ZONK-Y ZONK-N
2889 (define (upcase-symbol sym)
2890 (string->symbol (string-upcase (symbol->string sym))))
2892 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
2894 (remove-if . zonk-y)
2895 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
2896 :renamer upcase-symbol))
2898 Note that programmatic renaming is done *after* individual renaming.
2899 Also, the above examples show `use-modules', but the same facilities are
2900 available for the `#:use-module' clause of `define-module'.
2902 See manual for more info.
2904 ** The semantics of guardians have changed.
2906 The changes are for the most part compatible. An important criterion
2907 was to keep the typical usage of guardians as simple as before, but to
2908 make the semantics safer and (as a result) more useful.
2910 *** All objects returned from guardians are now properly alive.
2912 It is now guaranteed that any object referenced by an object returned
2913 from a guardian is alive. It's now impossible for a guardian to
2914 return a "contained" object before its "containing" object.
2916 One incompatible (but probably not very important) change resulting
2917 from this is that it is no longer possible to guard objects that
2918 indirectly reference themselves (i.e. are parts of cycles). If you do
2919 so accidentally, you'll get a warning.
2921 *** There are now two types of guardians: greedy and sharing.
2923 If you call (make-guardian #t) or just (make-guardian), you'll get a
2924 greedy guardian, and for (make-guardian #f) a sharing guardian.
2926 Greedy guardians are the default because they are more "defensive".
2927 You can only greedily guard an object once. If you guard an object
2928 more than once, once in a greedy guardian and the rest of times in
2929 sharing guardians, then it is guaranteed that the object won't be
2930 returned from sharing guardians as long as it is greedily guarded
2933 Guardians returned by calls to `make-guardian' can now take one more
2934 optional parameter, which says whether to throw an error in case an
2935 attempt is made to greedily guard an object that is already greedily
2936 guarded. The default is true, i.e. throw an error. If the parameter
2937 is false, the guardian invocation returns #t if guarding was
2938 successful and #f if it wasn't.
2940 Also, since greedy guarding is, in effect, a side-effecting operation
2941 on objects, a new function is introduced: `destroy-guardian!'.
2942 Invoking this function on a guardian renders it unoperative and, if
2943 the guardian is greedy, clears the "greedily guarded" property of the
2944 objects that were guarded by it, thus undoing the side effect.
2946 Note that all this hair is hardly very important, since guardian
2947 objects are usually permanent.
2949 ** Continuations created by call-with-current-continuation now accept
2950 any number of arguments, as required by R5RS.
2952 ** New function `issue-deprecation-warning'
2954 This function is used to display the deprecation messages that are
2955 controlled by GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATION as explained in the README.
2958 (issue-deprecation-warning "`id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.")
2962 ;; `id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.
2967 ** New syntax `begin-deprecated'
2969 When deprecated features are included (as determined by the configure
2970 option --enable-deprecated), `begin-deprecated' is identical to
2971 `begin'. When deprecated features are excluded, it always evaluates
2972 to `#f', ignoring the body forms.
2974 ** New function `make-object-property'
2976 This function returns a new `procedure with setter' P that can be used
2977 to attach a property to objects. When calling P as
2981 where `obj' is any kind of object, it attaches `val' to `obj' in such
2982 a way that it can be retrieved by calling P as
2986 This function will replace procedure properties, symbol properties and
2987 source properties eventually.
2989 ** Module (ice-9 optargs) now uses keywords instead of `#&'.
2991 Instead of #&optional, #&key, etc you should now use #:optional,
2992 #:key, etc. Since #:optional is a keyword, you can write it as just
2993 :optional when (read-set! keywords 'prefix) is active.
2995 The old reader syntax `#&' is still supported, but deprecated. It
2996 will be removed in the next release.
2998 ** New define-module option: pure
3000 Tells the module system not to include any bindings from the root
3005 (define-module (totally-empty-module)
3008 ** New define-module option: export NAME1 ...
3010 Export names NAME1 ...
3012 This option is required if you want to be able to export bindings from
3013 a module which doesn't import one of `define-public' or `export'.
3017 (define-module (foo)
3019 :use-module (ice-9 r5rs)
3022 ;;; Note that we're pure R5RS below this point!
3027 ** New function: object->string OBJ
3029 Return a Scheme string obtained by printing a given object.
3031 ** New function: port? X
3033 Returns a boolean indicating whether X is a port. Equivalent to
3034 `(or (input-port? X) (output-port? X))'.
3036 ** New function: file-port?
3038 Determines whether a given object is a port that is related to a file.
3040 ** New function: port-for-each proc
3042 Apply PROC to each port in the Guile port table in turn. The return
3043 value is unspecified. More specifically, PROC is applied exactly once
3044 to every port that exists in the system at the time PORT-FOR-EACH is
3045 invoked. Changes to the port table while PORT-FOR-EACH is running
3046 have no effect as far as PORT-FOR-EACH is concerned.
3048 ** New function: dup2 oldfd newfd
3050 A simple wrapper for the `dup2' system call. Copies the file
3051 descriptor OLDFD to descriptor number NEWFD, replacing the
3052 previous meaning of NEWFD. Both OLDFD and NEWFD must be integers.
3053 Unlike for dup->fdes or primitive-move->fdes, no attempt is made
3054 to move away ports which are using NEWFD. The return value is
3057 ** New function: close-fdes fd
3059 A simple wrapper for the `close' system call. Close file
3060 descriptor FD, which must be an integer. Unlike close (*note
3061 close: Ports and File Descriptors.), the file descriptor will be
3062 closed even if a port is using it. The return value is
3065 ** New function: crypt password salt
3067 Encrypts `password' using the standard unix password encryption
3070 ** New function: chroot path
3072 Change the root directory of the running process to `path'.
3074 ** New functions: getlogin, cuserid
3076 Return the login name or the user name of the current effective user
3079 ** New functions: getpriority which who, setpriority which who prio
3081 Get or set the priority of the running process.
3083 ** New function: getpass prompt
3085 Read a password from the terminal, first displaying `prompt' and
3088 ** New function: flock file operation
3090 Set/remove an advisory shared or exclusive lock on `file'.
3092 ** New functions: sethostname name, gethostname
3094 Set or get the hostname of the machine the current process is running
3097 ** New function: mkstemp! tmpl
3099 mkstemp creates a new unique file in the file system and returns a
3100 new buffered port open for reading and writing to the file. TMPL
3101 is a string specifying where the file should be created: it must
3102 end with `XXXXXX' and will be changed in place to return the name
3103 of the temporary file.
3105 ** New function: open-input-string string
3107 Return an input string port which delivers the characters from
3108 `string'. This procedure, together with `open-output-string' and
3109 `get-output-string' implements SRFI-6.
3111 ** New function: open-output-string
3113 Return an output string port which collects all data written to it.
3114 The data can then be retrieved by `get-output-string'.
3116 ** New function: get-output-string
3118 Return the contents of an output string port.
3120 ** New function: identity
3122 Return the argument.
3124 ** socket, connect, accept etc., now have support for IPv6. IPv6 addresses
3125 are represented in Scheme as integers with normal host byte ordering.
3127 ** New function: inet-pton family address
3129 Convert a printable string network address into an integer. Note that
3130 unlike the C version of this function, the result is an integer with
3131 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
3134 (inet-pton AF_INET "127.0.0.1") => 2130706433
3135 (inet-pton AF_INET6 "::1") => 1
3137 ** New function: inet-ntop family address
3139 Convert an integer network address into a printable string. Note that
3140 unlike the C version of this function, the input is an integer with
3141 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
3144 (inet-ntop AF_INET 2130706433) => "127.0.0.1"
3145 (inet-ntop AF_INET6 (- (expt 2 128) 1)) =>
3146 ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff
3150 Use `identity' instead.
3156 ** Deprecated: return-it
3160 ** Deprecated: string-character-length
3162 Use `string-length' instead.
3164 ** Deprecated: flags
3166 Use `logior' instead.
3168 ** Deprecated: close-all-ports-except.
3170 This was intended for closing ports in a child process after a fork,
3171 but it has the undesirable side effect of flushing buffers.
3172 port-for-each is more flexible.
3174 ** The (ice-9 popen) module now attempts to set up file descriptors in
3175 the child process from the current Scheme ports, instead of using the
3176 current values of file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 in the parent process.
3178 ** Removed function: builtin-weak-bindings
3180 There is no such concept as a weak binding any more.
3182 ** Removed constants: bignum-radix, scm-line-incrementors
3184 ** define-method: New syntax mandatory.
3186 The new method syntax is now mandatory:
3188 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ...) BODY ...)
3189 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ... . REST-ARG) BODY ...)
3191 ARG-SPEC ::= ARG-NAME | (ARG-NAME TYPE)
3192 REST-ARG ::= ARG-NAME
3194 If you have old code using the old syntax, import
3195 (oop goops old-define-method) before (oop goops) as in:
3197 (use-modules (oop goops old-define-method) (oop goops))
3199 ** Deprecated function: builtin-variable
3200 Removed function: builtin-bindings
3202 There is no longer a distinction between builtin or other variables.
3203 Use module system operations for all variables.
3205 ** Lazy-catch handlers are no longer allowed to return.
3207 That is, a call to `throw', `error', etc is now guaranteed to not
3210 ** Bugfixes for (ice-9 getopt-long)
3212 This module is now tested using test-suite/tests/getopt-long.test.
3213 The following bugs have been fixed:
3215 *** Parsing for options that are specified to have `optional' args now checks
3216 if the next element is an option instead of unconditionally taking it as the
3219 *** An error is now thrown for `--opt=val' when the option description
3220 does not specify `(value #t)' or `(value optional)'. This condition used to
3221 be accepted w/o error, contrary to the documentation.
3223 *** The error message for unrecognized options is now more informative.
3224 It used to be "not a record", an artifact of the implementation.
3226 *** The error message for `--opt' terminating the arg list (no value), when
3227 `(value #t)' is specified, is now more informative. It used to be "not enough
3230 *** "Clumped" single-char args now preserve trailing string, use it as arg.
3231 The expansion used to be like so:
3233 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "--xyz")
3235 Note that the "5d" is dropped. Now it is like so:
3237 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "5d" "--xyz")
3239 This enables single-char options to have adjoining arguments as long as their
3240 constituent characters are not potential single-char options.
3242 ** (ice-9 session) procedure `arity' now works with (ice-9 optargs) `lambda*'
3244 The `lambda*' and derivative forms in (ice-9 optargs) now set a procedure
3245 property `arglist', which can be retrieved by `arity'. The result is that
3246 `arity' can give more detailed information than before:
3250 guile> (use-modules (ice-9 optargs))
3251 guile> (define* (foo #:optional a b c) a)
3253 0 or more arguments in `lambda*:G0'.
3258 3 optional arguments: `a', `b' and `c'.
3259 guile> (define* (bar a b #:key c d #:allow-other-keys) a)
3261 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 2 keyword arguments: `c'
3262 and `d', other keywords allowed.
3263 guile> (define* (baz a b #:optional c #:rest r) a)
3265 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 1 optional argument: `c',
3268 * Changes to the C interface
3270 ** Types have been renamed from scm_*_t to scm_t_*.
3272 This has been done for POSIX sake. It reserves identifiers ending
3273 with "_t". What a concept.
3275 The old names are still available with status `deprecated'.
3277 ** scm_t_bits (former scm_bits_t) is now a unsigned type.
3279 ** Deprecated features have been removed.
3283 SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP SCM_ICHRP, SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR
3284 SCM_SETJMPBUF SCM_NSTRINGP SCM_NRWSTRINGP SCM_NVECTORP SCM_DOUBLE_CELLP
3286 *** C Functions removed
3288 scm_sysmissing scm_tag scm_tc16_flo scm_tc_flo
3289 scm_fseek - replaced by scm_seek.
3290 gc-thunk - replaced by after-gc-hook.
3291 gh_int2scmb - replaced by gh_bool2scm.
3292 scm_tc_dblr - replaced by scm_tc16_real.
3293 scm_tc_dblc - replaced by scm_tc16_complex.
3294 scm_list_star - replaced by scm_cons_star.
3296 ** Deprecated: scm_makfromstr
3298 Use scm_mem2string instead.
3300 ** Deprecated: scm_make_shared_substring
3302 Explicit shared substrings will disappear from Guile.
3304 Instead, "normal" strings will be implemented using sharing
3305 internally, combined with a copy-on-write strategy.
3307 ** Deprecated: scm_read_only_string_p
3309 The concept of read-only strings will disappear in next release of
3312 ** Deprecated: scm_sloppy_memq, scm_sloppy_memv, scm_sloppy_member
3314 Instead, use scm_c_memq or scm_memq, scm_memv, scm_member.
3316 ** New functions: scm_call_0, scm_call_1, scm_call_2, scm_call_3
3318 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments. See "Fly
3319 Evaluation" in the manual.
3321 ** New functions: scm_apply_0, scm_apply_1, scm_apply_2, scm_apply_3
3323 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments and a list of
3324 further arguments. See "Fly Evaluation" in the manual.
3326 ** New functions: scm_list_1, scm_list_2, scm_list_3, scm_list_4, scm_list_5
3328 Create a list of the given number of elements. See "List
3329 Constructors" in the manual.
3331 ** Renamed function: scm_listify has been replaced by scm_list_n.
3333 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_LIST0, SCM_LIST1, SCM_LIST2, SCM_LIST3, SCM_LIST4,
3334 SCM_LIST5, SCM_LIST6, SCM_LIST7, SCM_LIST8, SCM_LIST9.
3336 Use functions scm_list_N instead.
3338 ** New function: scm_c_read (SCM port, void *buffer, scm_sizet size)
3340 Used by an application to read arbitrary number of bytes from a port.
3341 Same semantics as libc read, except that scm_c_read only returns less
3342 than SIZE bytes if at end-of-file.
3344 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
3346 ** New function: scm_c_write (SCM port, const void *ptr, scm_sizet size)
3348 Used by an application to write arbitrary number of bytes to an SCM
3349 port. Similar semantics as libc write. However, unlike libc
3350 write, scm_c_write writes the requested number of bytes and has no
3353 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
3355 ** New function: scm_init_guile ()
3357 In contrast to scm_boot_guile, scm_init_guile will return normally
3358 after initializing Guile. It is not available on all systems, tho.
3360 ** New functions: scm_str2symbol, scm_mem2symbol
3362 The function scm_str2symbol takes a const char* pointing to a zero-terminated
3363 field of characters and creates a scheme symbol object from that C string.
3364 The function scm_mem2symbol takes a const char* and a number of characters and
3365 creates a symbol from the characters in that memory area.
3367 ** New functions: scm_primitive_make_property
3368 scm_primitive_property_ref
3369 scm_primitive_property_set_x
3370 scm_primitive_property_del_x
3372 These functions implement a new way to deal with object properties.
3373 See libguile/properties.c for their documentation.
3375 ** New function: scm_done_free (long size)
3377 This function is the inverse of scm_done_malloc. Use it to report the
3378 amount of smob memory you free. The previous method, which involved
3379 calling scm_done_malloc with negative argument, was somewhat
3380 unintuitive (and is still available, of course).
3382 ** New function: scm_c_memq (SCM obj, SCM list)
3384 This function provides a fast C level alternative for scm_memq for the case
3385 that the list parameter is known to be a proper list. The function is a
3386 replacement for scm_sloppy_memq, but is stricter in its requirements on its
3387 list input parameter, since for anything else but a proper list the function's
3388 behaviour is undefined - it may even crash or loop endlessly. Further, for
3389 the case that the object is not found in the list, scm_c_memq returns #f which
3390 is similar to scm_memq, but different from scm_sloppy_memq's behaviour.
3392 ** New functions: scm_remember_upto_here_1, scm_remember_upto_here_2,
3393 scm_remember_upto_here
3395 These functions replace the function scm_remember.
3397 ** Deprecated function: scm_remember
3399 Use one of the new functions scm_remember_upto_here_1,
3400 scm_remember_upto_here_2 or scm_remember_upto_here instead.
3402 ** New function: scm_allocate_string
3404 This function replaces the function scm_makstr.
3406 ** Deprecated function: scm_makstr
3408 Use the new function scm_allocate_string instead.
3410 ** New global variable scm_gc_running_p introduced.
3412 Use this variable to find out if garbage collection is being executed. Up to
3413 now applications have used scm_gc_heap_lock to test if garbage collection was
3414 running, which also works because of the fact that up to know only the garbage
3415 collector has set this variable. But, this is an implementation detail that
3416 may change. Further, scm_gc_heap_lock is not set throughout gc, thus the use
3417 of this variable is (and has been) not fully safe anyway.
3419 ** New macros: SCM_BITVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH
3421 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
3423 ** New macros: SCM_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_CCLO_LENGTH, SCM_STACK_LENGTH,
3424 SCM_STRING_LENGTH, SCM_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
3425 SCM_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_VECTOR_LENGTH.
3427 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH.
3429 ** New macros: SCM_SET_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_SET_STRING_LENGTH,
3430 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_SET_VECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
3431 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_LENGTH
3433 Use these instead of SCM_SETLENGTH
3435 ** New macros: SCM_STRING_CHARS, SCM_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_CCLO_BASE,
3436 SCM_VECTOR_BASE, SCM_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_BITVECTOR_BASE, SCM_COMPLEX_MEM,
3439 Use these instead of SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS, SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS or
3442 ** New macros: SCM_SET_BIGNUM_BASE, SCM_SET_STRING_CHARS,
3443 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_BASE,
3446 Use these instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
3448 ** New macro: SCM_BITVECTOR_P
3450 ** New macro: SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X
3452 Use instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
3454 ** New macros: SCM_DIR_OPEN_P, SCM_DIR_FLAG_OPEN
3456 For directory objects, use these instead of SCM_OPDIRP and SCM_OPN.
3458 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_OUTOFRANGE, SCM_NALLOC, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL,
3459 SCM_INT_SIGNAL, SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL,
3460 SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL, SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD,
3461 SCM_ORD_SIG, SCM_NUM_SIGS, SCM_SYMBOL_SLOTS, SCM_SLOTS, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP,
3462 SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_FREEP, SCM_NFREEP, SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS,
3463 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY,
3464 SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY, SCM_ROLENGTH, SCM_LENGTH, SCM_HUGE_LENGTH,
3465 SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR,
3466 SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_RWSTRINGP, SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, SCM_ROCHARS,
3467 SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_LENGTH_MAX, SCM_GC8MARKP,
3468 SCM_SETGC8MARK, SCM_CLRGC8MARK, SCM_GCTYP16, SCM_GCCDR, SCM_SUBR_DOC,
3469 SCM_OPDIRP, SCM_VALIDATE_OPDIR, SCM_WTA, RETURN_SCM_WTA, SCM_CONST_LONG,
3470 SCM_WNA, SCM_FUNC_NAME, SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_COPY,
3471 SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_DEF_COPY, SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP, SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP,
3472 SCM_SETAND_CDR, SCM_SETOR_CDR, SCM_SETAND_CAR, SCM_SETOR_CAR
3474 Use SCM_ASSERT_RANGE or SCM_VALIDATE_XXX_RANGE instead of SCM_OUTOFRANGE.
3475 Use scm_memory_error instead of SCM_NALLOC.
3476 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP.
3477 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR.
3478 Use SCM_FREE_CELL_P instead of SCM_FREEP/SCM_NFREEP
3479 Use a type specific accessor macro instead of SCM_CHARS/SCM_UCHARS.
3480 Use a type specific accessor instead of SCM(_|_RO|_HUGE_)LENGTH.
3481 Use SCM_VALIDATE_(SYMBOL|STRING) instead of SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING.
3482 Use SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
3483 Use SCM_STRINGP or SCM_SYMBOLP instead of SCM_ROSTRINGP.
3484 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_RWSTRINGP.
3485 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING.
3486 Use SCM_STRING_CHARS instead of SCM_ROCHARS.
3487 Use SCM_STRING_UCHARS instead of SCM_ROUCHARS.
3488 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETLENGTH.
3489 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
3490 Use a type specific length macro instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
3491 Use SCM_GCMARKP instead of SCM_GC8MARKP.
3492 Use SCM_SETGCMARK instead of SCM_SETGC8MARK.
3493 Use SCM_CLRGCMARK instead of SCM_CLRGC8MARK.
3494 Use SCM_TYP16 instead of SCM_GCTYP16.
3495 Use SCM_CDR instead of SCM_GCCDR.
3496 Use SCM_DIR_OPEN_P instead of SCM_OPDIRP.
3497 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of SCM_WTA.
3498 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of RETURN_SCM_WTA.
3499 Use SCM_VCELL_INIT instead of SCM_CONST_LONG.
3500 Use SCM_WRONG_NUM_ARGS instead of SCM_WNA.
3501 Use SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP.
3502 Use !SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP.
3504 ** Removed function: scm_struct_init
3506 ** Removed variable: scm_symhash_dim
3508 ** Renamed function: scm_make_cont has been replaced by
3509 scm_make_continuation, which has a different interface.
3511 ** Deprecated function: scm_call_catching_errors
3513 Use scm_catch or scm_lazy_catch from throw.[ch] instead.
3515 ** Deprecated function: scm_strhash
3517 Use scm_string_hash instead.
3519 ** Deprecated function: scm_vector_set_length_x
3521 Instead, create a fresh vector of the desired size and copy the contents.
3523 ** scm_gensym has changed prototype
3525 scm_gensym now only takes one argument.
3527 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc7_ssymbol, scm_tc7_msymbol, scm_tcs_symbols,
3530 There is now only a single symbol type scm_tc7_symbol.
3531 The tag scm_tc7_lvector was not used anyway.
3533 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe, scm_set_smob_mfpe.
3535 Use scm_make_smob_type and scm_set_smob_XXX instead.
3537 ** New function scm_set_smob_apply.
3539 This can be used to set an apply function to a smob type.
3541 ** Deprecated function: scm_strprint_obj
3543 Use scm_object_to_string instead.
3545 ** Deprecated function: scm_wta
3547 Use scm_wrong_type_arg, or another appropriate error signalling function
3550 ** Explicit support for obarrays has been deprecated.
3552 Use `scm_str2symbol' and the generic hashtable functions instead.
3554 ** The concept of `vcells' has been deprecated.
3556 The data type `variable' is now used exclusively. `Vcells' have been
3557 a low-level concept so you are likely not affected by this change.
3559 *** Deprecated functions: scm_sym2vcell, scm_sysintern,
3560 scm_sysintern0, scm_symbol_value0, scm_intern, scm_intern0.
3562 Use scm_c_define or scm_c_lookup instead, as appropriate.
3564 *** New functions: scm_c_module_lookup, scm_c_lookup,
3565 scm_c_module_define, scm_c_define, scm_module_lookup, scm_lookup,
3566 scm_module_define, scm_define.
3568 These functions work with variables instead of with vcells.
3570 ** New functions for creating and defining `subr's and `gsubr's.
3572 The new functions more clearly distinguish between creating a subr (or
3573 gsubr) object and adding it to the current module.
3575 These new functions are available: scm_c_make_subr, scm_c_define_subr,
3576 scm_c_make_subr_with_generic, scm_c_define_subr_with_generic,
3577 scm_c_make_gsubr, scm_c_define_gsubr, scm_c_make_gsubr_with_generic,
3578 scm_c_define_gsubr_with_generic.
3580 ** Deprecated functions: scm_make_subr, scm_make_subr_opt,
3581 scm_make_subr_with_generic, scm_make_gsubr,
3582 scm_make_gsubr_with_generic.
3584 Use the new ones from above instead.
3586 ** C interface to the module system has changed.
3588 While we suggest that you avoid as many explicit module system
3589 operations from C as possible for the time being, the C interface has
3590 been made more similar to the high-level Scheme module system.
3592 *** New functions: scm_c_define_module, scm_c_use_module,
3593 scm_c_export, scm_c_resolve_module.
3595 They mostly work like their Scheme namesakes. scm_c_define_module
3596 takes a function that is called a context where the new module is
3599 *** Deprecated functions: scm_the_root_module, scm_make_module,
3600 scm_ensure_user_module, scm_load_scheme_module.
3602 Use the new functions instead.
3604 ** Renamed function: scm_internal_with_fluids becomes
3607 scm_internal_with_fluids is available as a deprecated function.
3609 ** New function: scm_c_with_fluid.
3611 Just like scm_c_with_fluids, but takes one fluid and one value instead
3614 ** Deprecated typedefs: long_long, ulong_long.
3616 They are of questionable utility and they pollute the global
3619 ** Deprecated typedef: scm_sizet
3621 It is of questionable utility now that Guile requires ANSI C, and is
3624 ** Deprecated typedefs: scm_port_rw_active, scm_port,
3625 scm_ptob_descriptor, scm_debug_info, scm_debug_frame, scm_fport,
3626 scm_option, scm_rstate, scm_rng, scm_array, scm_array_dim.
3628 Made more compliant with the naming policy by adding a _t at the end.
3630 ** Deprecated functions: scm_mkbig, scm_big2num, scm_adjbig,
3631 scm_normbig, scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big, scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl
3633 With the exception of the mysterious scm_2ulong2big, they are still
3634 available under new names (scm_i_mkbig etc). These functions are not
3635 intended to be used in user code. You should avoid dealing with
3636 bignums directly, and should deal with numbers in general (which can
3639 ** Change in behavior: scm_num2long, scm_num2ulong
3641 The scm_num2[u]long functions don't any longer accept an inexact
3642 argument. This change in behavior is motivated by concordance with
3643 R5RS: It is more common that a primitive doesn't want to accept an
3644 inexact for an exact.
3646 ** New functions: scm_short2num, scm_ushort2num, scm_int2num,
3647 scm_uint2num, scm_size2num, scm_ptrdiff2num, scm_num2short,
3648 scm_num2ushort, scm_num2int, scm_num2uint, scm_num2ptrdiff,
3651 These are conversion functions between the various ANSI C integral
3652 types and Scheme numbers. NOTE: The scm_num2xxx functions don't
3653 accept an inexact argument.
3655 ** New functions: scm_float2num, scm_double2num,
3656 scm_num2float, scm_num2double.
3658 These are conversion functions between the two ANSI C float types and
3661 ** New number validation macros:
3662 SCM_NUM2{SIZE,PTRDIFF,SHORT,USHORT,INT,UINT}[_DEF]
3666 ** New functions: scm_gc_protect_object, scm_gc_unprotect_object
3668 These are just nicer-named old scm_protect_object and
3669 scm_unprotect_object.
3671 ** Deprecated functions: scm_protect_object, scm_unprotect_object
3673 ** New functions: scm_gc_[un]register_root, scm_gc_[un]register_roots
3675 These functions can be used to register pointers to locations that
3678 ** Deprecated function: scm_create_hook.
3680 Its sins are: misleading name, non-modularity and lack of general
3684 Changes since Guile 1.3.4:
3686 * Changes to the distribution
3688 ** Trees from nightly snapshots and CVS now require you to run autogen.sh.
3690 We've changed the way we handle generated files in the Guile source
3691 repository. As a result, the procedure for building trees obtained
3692 from the nightly FTP snapshots or via CVS has changed:
3693 - You must have appropriate versions of autoconf, automake, and
3694 libtool installed on your system. See README for info on how to
3695 obtain these programs.
3696 - Before configuring the tree, you must first run the script
3697 `autogen.sh' at the top of the source tree.
3699 The Guile repository used to contain not only source files, written by
3700 humans, but also some generated files, like configure scripts and
3701 Makefile.in files. Even though the contents of these files could be
3702 derived mechanically from other files present, we thought it would
3703 make the tree easier to build if we checked them into CVS.
3705 However, this approach means that minor differences between
3706 developer's installed tools and habits affected the whole team.
3707 So we have removed the generated files from the repository, and
3708 added the autogen.sh script, which will reconstruct them
3712 ** configure now has experimental options to remove support for certain
3715 --disable-arrays omit array and uniform array support
3716 --disable-posix omit posix interfaces
3717 --disable-networking omit networking interfaces
3718 --disable-regex omit regular expression interfaces
3720 These are likely to become separate modules some day.
3722 ** New configure option --enable-debug-freelist
3724 This enables a debugging version of SCM_NEWCELL(), and also registers
3725 an extra primitive, the setter `gc-set-debug-check-freelist!'.
3727 Configure with the --enable-debug-freelist option to enable
3728 the gc-set-debug-check-freelist! primitive, and then use:
3730 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #t) # turn on checking of the freelist
3731 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #f) # turn off checking
3733 Checking of the freelist forces a traversal of the freelist and
3734 a garbage collection before each allocation of a cell. This can
3735 slow down the interpreter dramatically, so the setter should be used to
3736 turn on this extra processing only when necessary.
3738 ** New configure option --enable-debug-malloc
3740 Include code for debugging of calls to scm_must_malloc/realloc/free.
3744 1. objects freed by scm_must_free has been mallocated by scm_must_malloc
3745 2. objects reallocated by scm_must_realloc has been allocated by
3747 3. reallocated objects are reallocated with the same what string
3749 But, most importantly, it records the number of allocated objects of
3750 each kind. This is useful when searching for memory leaks.
3752 A Guile compiled with this option provides the primitive
3753 `malloc-stats' which returns an alist with pairs of kind and the
3754 number of objects of that kind.
3756 ** All includes are now referenced relative to the root directory
3758 Since some users have had problems with mixups between Guile and
3759 system headers, we have decided to always refer to Guile headers via
3760 their parent directories. This essentially creates a "private name
3761 space" for Guile headers. This means that the compiler only is given
3762 -I options for the root build and root source directory.
3764 ** Header files kw.h and genio.h have been removed.
3766 ** The module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) has been removed.
3768 ** New module (ice-9 documentation)
3770 Implements the interface to documentation strings associated with
3773 ** New module (ice-9 time)
3775 Provides a macro `time', which displays execution time of a given form.
3777 ** New module (ice-9 history)
3779 Loading this module enables value history in the repl.
3781 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
3783 ** New command line option --debug
3785 Start Guile with debugging evaluator and backtraces enabled.
3787 This is useful when debugging your .guile init file or scripts.
3789 ** New help facility
3791 Usage: (help NAME) gives documentation about objects named NAME (a symbol)
3792 (help REGEXP) ditto for objects with names matching REGEXP (a string)
3793 (help 'NAME) gives documentation for NAME, even if it is not an object
3794 (help ,EXPR) gives documentation for object returned by EXPR
3795 (help (my module)) gives module commentary for `(my module)'
3796 (help) gives this text
3798 `help' searches among bindings exported from loaded modules, while
3799 `apropos' searches among bindings visible from the "current" module.
3801 Examples: (help help)
3803 (help "output-string")
3805 ** `help' and `apropos' now prints full module names
3807 ** Dynamic linking now uses libltdl from the libtool package.
3809 The old system dependent code for doing dynamic linking has been
3810 replaced with calls to the libltdl functions which do all the hairy
3813 The major improvement is that you can now directly pass libtool
3814 library names like "libfoo.la" to `dynamic-link' and `dynamic-link'
3815 will be able to do the best shared library job you can get, via
3818 The way dynamic libraries are found has changed and is not really
3819 portable across platforms, probably. It is therefore recommended to
3820 use absolute filenames when possible.
3822 If you pass a filename without an extension to `dynamic-link', it will
3823 try a few appropriate ones. Thus, the most platform ignorant way is
3824 to specify a name like "libfoo", without any directories and
3827 ** Guile COOP threads are now compatible with LinuxThreads
3829 Previously, COOP threading wasn't possible in applications linked with
3830 Linux POSIX threads due to their use of the stack pointer to find the
3831 thread context. This has now been fixed with a workaround which uses
3832 the pthreads to allocate the stack.
3834 ** New primitives: `pkgdata-dir', `site-dir', `library-dir'
3836 ** Positions of erring expression in scripts
3838 With version 1.3.4, the location of the erring expression in Guile
3839 scipts is no longer automatically reported. (This should have been
3840 documented before the 1.3.4 release.)
3842 You can get this information by enabling recording of positions of
3843 source expressions and running the debugging evaluator. Put this at
3844 the top of your script (or in your "site" file):
3846 (read-enable 'positions)
3847 (debug-enable 'debug)
3849 ** Backtraces in scripts
3851 It is now possible to get backtraces in scripts.
3855 (debug-enable 'debug 'backtrace)
3857 at the top of the script.
3859 (The first options enables the debugging evaluator.
3860 The second enables backtraces.)
3862 ** Part of module system symbol lookup now implemented in C
3864 The eval closure of most modules is now implemented in C. Since this
3865 was one of the bottlenecks for loading speed, Guile now loads code
3866 substantially faster than before.
3868 ** Attempting to get the value of an unbound variable now produces
3869 an exception with a key of 'unbound-variable instead of 'misc-error.
3871 ** The initial default output port is now unbuffered if it's using a
3872 tty device. Previously in this situation it was line-buffered.
3874 ** New hook: after-gc-hook
3876 after-gc-hook takes over the role of gc-thunk. This hook is run at
3877 the first SCM_TICK after a GC. (Thus, the code is run at the same
3878 point during evaluation as signal handlers.)
3880 Note that this hook should be used only for diagnostic and debugging
3881 purposes. It is not certain that it will continue to be well-defined
3882 when this hook is run in the future.
3884 C programmers: Note the new C level hooks scm_before_gc_c_hook,
3885 scm_before_sweep_c_hook, scm_after_gc_c_hook.
3887 ** Improvements to garbage collector
3889 Guile 1.4 has a new policy for triggering heap allocation and
3890 determining the sizes of heap segments. It fixes a number of problems
3893 1. The new policy can handle two separate pools of cells
3894 (2-word/4-word) better. (The old policy would run wild, allocating
3895 more and more memory for certain programs.)
3897 2. The old code would sometimes allocate far too much heap so that the
3898 Guile process became gigantic. The new code avoids this.
3900 3. The old code would sometimes allocate too little so that few cells
3901 were freed at GC so that, in turn, too much time was spent in GC.
3903 4. The old code would often trigger heap allocation several times in a
3904 row. (The new scheme predicts how large the segments needs to be
3905 in order not to need further allocation.)
3907 All in all, the new GC policy will make larger applications more
3910 The new GC scheme also is prepared for POSIX threading. Threads can
3911 allocate private pools of cells ("clusters") with just a single
3912 function call. Allocation of single cells from such a cluster can
3913 then proceed without any need of inter-thread synchronization.
3915 ** New environment variables controlling GC parameters
3917 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE Maximal segment size
3920 Allocation of 2-word cell heaps:
3922 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1 Size of initial heap segment in bytes
3925 GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1 Minimum number of freed cells at each
3926 GC in percent of total heap size
3929 Allocation of 4-word cell heaps
3930 (used for real numbers and misc other objects):
3932 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2
3934 (See entry "Way for application to customize GC parameters" under
3935 section "Changes to the scm_ interface" below.)
3937 ** Guile now implements reals using 4-word cells
3939 This speeds up computation with reals. (They were earlier allocated
3940 with `malloc'.) There is still some room for optimizations, however.
3942 ** Some further steps toward POSIX thread support have been taken
3944 *** Guile's critical sections (SCM_DEFER/ALLOW_INTS)
3945 don't have much effect any longer, and many of them will be removed in
3949 are only handled at the top of the evaluator loop, immediately after
3950 I/O, and in scm_equalp.
3952 *** The GC can allocate thread private pools of pairs.
3954 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
3956 ** close-input-port and close-output-port are now R5RS
3958 These procedures have been turned into primitives and have R5RS behaviour.
3960 ** New procedure: simple-format PORT MESSAGE ARG1 ...
3962 (ice-9 boot) makes `format' an alias for `simple-format' until possibly
3963 extended by the more sophisticated version in (ice-9 format)
3965 (simple-format port message . args)
3966 Write MESSAGE to DESTINATION, defaulting to `current-output-port'.
3967 MESSAGE can contain ~A (was %s) and ~S (was %S) escapes. When printed,
3968 the escapes are replaced with corresponding members of ARGS:
3969 ~A formats using `display' and ~S formats using `write'.
3970 If DESTINATION is #t, then use the `current-output-port',
3971 if DESTINATION is #f, then return a string containing the formatted text.
3972 Does not add a trailing newline."
3974 ** string-ref: the second argument is no longer optional.
3976 ** string, list->string: no longer accept strings in their arguments,
3977 only characters, for compatibility with R5RS.
3979 ** New procedure: port-closed? PORT
3980 Returns #t if PORT is closed or #f if it is open.
3982 ** Deprecated: list*
3984 The list* functionality is now provided by cons* (SRFI-1 compliant)
3986 ** New procedure: cons* ARG1 ARG2 ... ARGn
3988 Like `list', but the last arg provides the tail of the constructed list,
3989 returning (cons ARG1 (cons ARG2 (cons ... ARGn))).
3991 Requires at least one argument. If given one argument, that argument
3992 is returned as result.
3994 This function is called `list*' in some other Schemes and in Common LISP.
3996 ** Removed deprecated: serial-map, serial-array-copy!, serial-array-map!
3998 ** New procedure: object-documentation OBJECT
4000 Returns the documentation string associated with OBJECT. The
4001 procedure uses a caching mechanism so that subsequent lookups are
4004 Exported by (ice-9 documentation).
4006 ** module-name now returns full names of modules
4008 Previously, only the last part of the name was returned (`session' for
4009 `(ice-9 session)'). Ex: `(ice-9 session)'.
4011 * Changes to the gh_ interface
4013 ** Deprecated: gh_int2scmb
4015 Use gh_bool2scm instead.
4017 * Changes to the scm_ interface
4019 ** Guile primitives now carry docstrings!
4021 Thanks to Greg Badros!
4023 ** Guile primitives are defined in a new way: SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
4025 Now Guile primitives are defined using the SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
4026 macros and must contain a docstring that is extracted into foo.doc using a new
4027 guile-doc-snarf script (that uses guile-doc-snarf.awk).
4029 However, a major overhaul of these macros is scheduled for the next release of
4032 ** Guile primitives use a new technique for validation of arguments
4034 SCM_VALIDATE_* macros are defined to ease the redundancy and improve
4035 the readability of argument checking.
4037 ** All (nearly?) K&R prototypes for functions replaced with ANSI C equivalents.
4039 ** New macros: SCM_PACK, SCM_UNPACK
4041 Compose/decompose an SCM value.
4043 The SCM type is now treated as an abstract data type and may be defined as a
4044 long, a void* or as a struct, depending on the architecture and compile time
4045 options. This makes it easier to find several types of bugs, for example when
4046 SCM values are treated as integers without conversion. Values of the SCM type
4047 should be treated as "atomic" values. These macros are used when
4048 composing/decomposing an SCM value, either because you want to access
4049 individual bits, or because you want to treat it as an integer value.
4051 E.g., in order to set bit 7 in an SCM value x, use the expression
4053 SCM_PACK (SCM_UNPACK (x) | 0x80)
4055 ** The name property of hooks is deprecated.
4056 Thus, the use of SCM_HOOK_NAME and scm_make_hook_with_name is deprecated.
4058 You can emulate this feature by using object properties.
4060 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP, SCM_CRDY, SCM_ICHRP,
4061 SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR, SCM_SETJMPBUF, SCM_NSTRINGP, SCM_NRWSTRINGP,
4064 These macros will be removed in a future release of Guile.
4066 ** The following types, functions and macros from numbers.h are deprecated:
4067 scm_dblproc, SCM_UNEGFIXABLE, SCM_FLOBUFLEN, SCM_INEXP, SCM_CPLXP, SCM_REAL,
4068 SCM_IMAG, SCM_REALPART, scm_makdbl, SCM_SINGP, SCM_NUM2DBL, SCM_NO_BIGDIG
4070 ** Port internals: the rw_random variable in the scm_port structure
4071 must be set to non-zero in any random access port. In recent Guile
4072 releases it was only set for bidirectional random-access ports.
4074 ** Port internals: the seek ptob procedure is now responsible for
4075 resetting the buffers if required. The change was made so that in the
4076 special case of reading the current position (i.e., seek p 0 SEEK_CUR)
4077 the fport and strport ptobs can avoid resetting the buffers,
4078 in particular to avoid discarding unread chars. An existing port
4079 type can be fixed by adding something like the following to the
4080 beginning of the ptob seek procedure:
4082 if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_READ)
4083 scm_end_input (object);
4084 else if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_WRITE)
4085 ptob->flush (object);
4087 although to actually avoid resetting the buffers and discard unread
4088 chars requires further hacking that depends on the characteristics
4091 ** Deprecated functions: scm_fseek, scm_tag
4093 These functions are no longer used and will be removed in a future version.
4095 ** The scm_sysmissing procedure is no longer used in libguile.
4096 Unless it turns out to be unexpectedly useful to somebody, it will be
4097 removed in a future version.
4099 ** The format of error message strings has changed
4101 The two C procedures: scm_display_error and scm_error, as well as the
4102 primitive `scm-error', now use scm_simple_format to do their work.
4103 This means that the message strings of all code must be updated to use
4104 ~A where %s was used before, and ~S where %S was used before.
4106 During the period when there still are a lot of old Guiles out there,
4107 you might want to support both old and new versions of Guile.
4109 There are basically two methods to achieve this. Both methods use
4112 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(scm_simple_format)
4114 in your configure.in.
4116 Method 1: Use the string concatenation features of ANSI C's
4121 #ifdef HAVE_SCM_SIMPLE_FORMAT
4127 Then represent each of your error messages using a preprocessor macro:
4129 #define E_SPIDER_ERROR "There's a spider in your " ## FMT_S ## "!!!"
4133 (define fmt-s (if (defined? 'simple-format) "~S" "%S"))
4134 (define make-message string-append)
4136 (define e-spider-error (make-message "There's a spider in your " fmt-s "!!!"))
4138 Method 2: Use the oldfmt function found in doc/oldfmt.c.
4142 scm_misc_error ("picnic", scm_c_oldfmt0 ("There's a spider in your ~S!!!"),
4147 (scm-error 'misc-error "picnic" (oldfmt "There's a spider in your ~S!!!")
4151 ** Deprecated: coop_mutex_init, coop_condition_variable_init
4153 Don't use the functions coop_mutex_init and
4154 coop_condition_variable_init. They will change.
4156 Use scm_mutex_init and scm_cond_init instead.
4158 ** New function: int scm_cond_timedwait (scm_cond_t *COND, scm_mutex_t *MUTEX, const struct timespec *ABSTIME)
4159 `scm_cond_timedwait' atomically unlocks MUTEX and waits on
4160 COND, as `scm_cond_wait' does, but it also bounds the duration
4161 of the wait. If COND has not been signaled before time ABSTIME,
4162 the mutex MUTEX is re-acquired and `scm_cond_timedwait'
4163 returns the error code `ETIMEDOUT'.
4165 The ABSTIME parameter specifies an absolute time, with the same
4166 origin as `time' and `gettimeofday': an ABSTIME of 0 corresponds
4167 to 00:00:00 GMT, January 1, 1970.
4169 ** New function: scm_cond_broadcast (scm_cond_t *COND)
4170 `scm_cond_broadcast' restarts all the threads that are waiting
4171 on the condition variable COND. Nothing happens if no threads are
4174 ** New function: scm_key_create (scm_key_t *KEY, void (*destr_function) (void *))
4175 `scm_key_create' allocates a new TSD key. The key is stored in
4176 the location pointed to by KEY. There is no limit on the number
4177 of keys allocated at a given time. The value initially associated
4178 with the returned key is `NULL' in all currently executing threads.
4180 The DESTR_FUNCTION argument, if not `NULL', specifies a destructor
4181 function associated with the key. When a thread terminates,
4182 DESTR_FUNCTION is called on the value associated with the key in
4183 that thread. The DESTR_FUNCTION is not called if a key is deleted
4184 with `scm_key_delete' or a value is changed with
4185 `scm_setspecific'. The order in which destructor functions are
4186 called at thread termination time is unspecified.
4188 Destructors are not yet implemented.
4190 ** New function: scm_setspecific (scm_key_t KEY, const void *POINTER)
4191 `scm_setspecific' changes the value associated with KEY in the
4192 calling thread, storing the given POINTER instead.
4194 ** New function: scm_getspecific (scm_key_t KEY)
4195 `scm_getspecific' returns the value currently associated with
4196 KEY in the calling thread.
4198 ** New function: scm_key_delete (scm_key_t KEY)
4199 `scm_key_delete' deallocates a TSD key. It does not check
4200 whether non-`NULL' values are associated with that key in the
4201 currently executing threads, nor call the destructor function
4202 associated with the key.
4204 ** New function: scm_c_hook_init (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *HOOK_DATA, scm_c_hook_type_t TYPE)
4206 Initialize a C level hook HOOK with associated HOOK_DATA and type
4207 TYPE. (See scm_c_hook_run ().)
4209 ** New function: scm_c_hook_add (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA, int APPENDP)
4211 Add hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA to HOOK. If APPENDP
4212 is true, add it last, otherwise first. The same FUNC can be added
4213 multiple times if FUNC_DATA differ and vice versa.
4215 ** New function: scm_c_hook_remove (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA)
4217 Remove hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA from HOOK. A
4218 function is only removed if both FUNC and FUNC_DATA matches.
4220 ** New function: void *scm_c_hook_run (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *DATA)
4222 Run hook HOOK passing DATA to the hook functions.
4224 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_NORMAL, all hook functions are run. The value
4225 returned is undefined.
4227 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_OR, hook functions are run until a function
4228 returns a non-NULL value. This value is returned as the result of
4229 scm_c_hook_run. If all functions return NULL, NULL is returned.
4231 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_AND, hook functions are run until a function
4232 returns a NULL value, and NULL is returned. If all functions returns
4233 a non-NULL value, the last value is returned.
4235 ** New C level GC hooks
4237 Five new C level hooks has been added to the garbage collector.
4239 scm_before_gc_c_hook
4242 are run before locking and after unlocking the heap. The system is
4243 thus in a mode where evaluation can take place. (Except that
4244 scm_before_gc_c_hook must not allocate new cells.)
4246 scm_before_mark_c_hook
4247 scm_before_sweep_c_hook
4248 scm_after_sweep_c_hook
4250 are run when the heap is locked. These are intended for extension of
4251 the GC in a modular fashion. Examples are the weaks and guardians
4254 ** Way for application to customize GC parameters
4256 The application can set up other default values for the GC heap
4257 allocation parameters
4259 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_1, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1,
4260 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2,
4261 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE,
4265 scm_default_init_heap_size_1, scm_default_min_yield_1,
4266 scm_default_init_heap_size_2, scm_default_min_yield_2,
4267 scm_default_max_segment_size
4269 respectively before callong scm_boot_guile.
4271 (See entry "New environment variables ..." in section
4272 "Changes to the stand-alone interpreter" above.)
4274 ** scm_protect_object/scm_unprotect_object now nest
4276 This means that you can call scm_protect_object multiple times on an
4277 object and count on the object being protected until
4278 scm_unprotect_object has been call the same number of times.
4280 The functions also have better time complexity.
4282 Still, it is usually possible to structure the application in a way
4283 that you don't need to use these functions. For example, if you use a
4284 protected standard Guile list to keep track of live objects rather
4285 than some custom data type, objects will die a natural death when they
4286 are no longer needed.
4288 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc16_flo, scm_tc_flo, scm_tc_dblr, scm_tc_dblc
4290 Guile does not provide the float representation for inexact real numbers any
4291 more. Now, only doubles are used to represent inexact real numbers. Further,
4292 the tag names scm_tc_dblr and scm_tc_dblc have been changed to scm_tc16_real
4293 and scm_tc16_complex, respectively.
4295 ** Removed deprecated type scm_smobfuns
4297 ** Removed deprecated function scm_newsmob
4299 ** Warning: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe might become deprecated in a future release
4301 There is an ongoing discussion among the developers whether to
4302 deprecate `scm_make_smob_type_mfpe' or not. Please use the current
4303 standard interface (scm_make_smob_type, scm_set_smob_XXX) in new code
4304 until this issue has been settled.
4306 ** Removed deprecated type tag scm_tc16_kw
4308 ** Added type tag scm_tc16_keyword
4310 (This was introduced already in release 1.3.4 but was not documented
4313 ** gdb_print now prints "*** Guile not initialized ***" until Guile initialized
4315 * Changes to system call interfaces:
4317 ** The "select" procedure now tests port buffers for the ability to
4318 provide input or accept output. Previously only the underlying file
4319 descriptors were checked.
4321 ** New variable PIPE_BUF: the maximum number of bytes that can be
4322 atomically written to a pipe.
4324 ** If a facility is not available on the system when Guile is
4325 compiled, the corresponding primitive procedure will not be defined.
4326 Previously it would have been defined but would throw a system-error
4327 exception if called. Exception handlers which catch this case may
4328 need minor modification: an error will be thrown with key
4329 'unbound-variable instead of 'system-error. Alternatively it's
4330 now possible to use `defined?' to check whether the facility is
4333 ** Procedures which depend on the timezone should now give the correct
4334 result on systems which cache the TZ environment variable, even if TZ
4335 is changed without calling tzset.
4337 * Changes to the networking interfaces:
4339 ** New functions: htons, ntohs, htonl, ntohl: for converting short and
4340 long integers between network and host format. For now, it's not
4341 particularly convenient to do this kind of thing, but consider:
4343 (define write-network-long
4344 (lambda (value port)
4345 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
4346 (uniform-vector-set! v 0 (htonl value))
4347 (uniform-vector-write v port))))
4349 (define read-network-long
4351 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
4352 (uniform-vector-read! v port)
4353 (ntohl (uniform-vector-ref v 0)))))
4355 ** If inet-aton fails, it now throws an error with key 'misc-error
4356 instead of 'system-error, since errno is not relevant.
4358 ** Certain gethostbyname/gethostbyaddr failures now throw errors with
4359 specific keys instead of 'system-error. The latter is inappropriate
4360 since errno will not have been set. The keys are:
4361 'host-not-found, 'try-again, 'no-recovery and 'no-data.
4363 ** sethostent, setnetent, setprotoent, setservent: now take an
4364 optional argument STAYOPEN, which specifies whether the database
4365 remains open after a database entry is accessed randomly (e.g., using
4366 gethostbyname for the hosts database.) The default is #f. Previously
4370 Changes since Guile 1.3.2:
4372 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
4376 An initial version of the Guile debugger written by Chris Hanson has
4377 been added. The debugger is still under development but is included
4378 in the distribution anyway since it is already quite useful.
4384 after an error to enter the debugger. Type `help' inside the debugger
4385 for a description of available commands.
4387 If you prefer to have stack frames numbered and printed in
4388 anti-chronological order and prefer up in the stack to be down on the
4389 screen as is the case in gdb, you can put
4391 (debug-enable 'backwards)
4393 in your .guile startup file. (However, this means that Guile can't
4394 use indentation to indicate stack level.)
4396 The debugger is autoloaded into Guile at the first use.
4398 ** Further enhancements to backtraces
4400 There is a new debug option `width' which controls the maximum width
4401 on the screen of printed stack frames. Fancy printing parameters
4402 ("level" and "length" as in Common LISP) are adaptively adjusted for
4403 each stack frame to give maximum information while still fitting
4404 within the bounds. If the stack frame can't be made to fit by
4405 adjusting parameters, it is simply cut off at the end. This is marked
4408 ** Some modules are now only loaded when the repl is started
4410 The modules (ice-9 debug), (ice-9 session), (ice-9 threads) and (ice-9
4411 regex) are now loaded into (guile-user) only if the repl has been
4412 started. The effect is that the startup time for scripts has been
4413 reduced to 30% of what it was previously.
4415 Correctly written scripts load the modules they require at the top of
4416 the file and should not be affected by this change.
4418 ** Hooks are now represented as smobs
4420 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
4422 ** Readline support has changed again.
4424 The old (readline-activator) module is gone. Use (ice-9 readline)
4425 instead, which now contains all readline functionality. So the code
4426 to activate readline is now
4428 (use-modules (ice-9 readline))
4431 This should work at any time, including from the guile prompt.
4433 To avoid confusion about the terms of Guile's license, please only
4434 enable readline for your personal use; please don't make it the
4435 default for others. Here is why we make this rather odd-sounding
4438 Guile is normally licensed under a weakened form of the GNU General
4439 Public License, which allows you to link code with Guile without
4440 placing that code under the GPL. This exception is important to some
4443 However, since readline is distributed under the GNU General Public
4444 License, when you link Guile with readline, either statically or
4445 dynamically, you effectively change Guile's license to the strict GPL.
4446 Whenever you link any strictly GPL'd code into Guile, uses of Guile
4447 which are normally permitted become forbidden. This is a rather
4448 non-obvious consequence of the licensing terms.
4450 So, to make sure things remain clear, please let people choose for
4451 themselves whether to link GPL'd libraries like readline with Guile.
4453 ** regexp-substitute/global has changed slightly, but incompatibly.
4455 If you include a function in the item list, the string of the match
4456 object it receives is the same string passed to
4457 regexp-substitute/global, not some suffix of that string.
4458 Correspondingly, the match's positions are relative to the entire
4459 string, not the suffix.
4461 If the regexp can match the empty string, the way matches are chosen
4462 from the string has changed. regexp-substitute/global recognizes the
4463 same set of matches that list-matches does; see below.
4465 ** New function: list-matches REGEXP STRING [FLAGS]
4467 Return a list of match objects, one for every non-overlapping, maximal
4468 match of REGEXP in STRING. The matches appear in left-to-right order.
4469 list-matches only reports matches of the empty string if there are no
4470 other matches which begin on, end at, or include the empty match's
4473 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
4475 ** New function: fold-matches REGEXP STRING INIT PROC [FLAGS]
4477 For each match of REGEXP in STRING, apply PROC to the match object,
4478 and the last value PROC returned, or INIT for the first call. Return
4479 the last value returned by PROC. We apply PROC to the matches as they
4480 appear from left to right.
4482 This function recognizes matches according to the same criteria as
4485 Thus, you could define list-matches like this:
4487 (define (list-matches regexp string . flags)
4488 (reverse! (apply fold-matches regexp string '() cons flags)))
4490 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
4494 *** New function: hook? OBJ
4496 Return #t if OBJ is a hook, otherwise #f.
4498 *** New function: make-hook-with-name NAME [ARITY]
4500 Return a hook with name NAME and arity ARITY. The default value for
4501 ARITY is 0. The only effect of NAME is that it will appear when the
4502 hook object is printed to ease debugging.
4504 *** New function: hook-empty? HOOK
4506 Return #t if HOOK doesn't contain any procedures, otherwise #f.
4508 *** New function: hook->list HOOK
4510 Return a list of the procedures that are called when run-hook is
4513 ** `map' signals an error if its argument lists are not all the same length.
4515 This is the behavior required by R5RS, so this change is really a bug
4516 fix. But it seems to affect a lot of people's code, so we're
4517 mentioning it here anyway.
4519 ** Print-state handling has been made more transparent
4521 Under certain circumstances, ports are represented as a port with an
4522 associated print state. Earlier, this pair was represented as a pair
4523 (see "Some magic has been added to the printer" below). It is now
4524 indistinguishable (almost; see `get-print-state') from a port on the
4527 *** New function: port-with-print-state OUTPUT-PORT PRINT-STATE
4529 Return a new port with the associated print state PRINT-STATE.
4531 *** New function: get-print-state OUTPUT-PORT
4533 Return the print state associated with this port if it exists,
4534 otherwise return #f.
4536 *** New function: directory-stream? OBJECT
4538 Returns true iff OBJECT is a directory stream --- the sort of object
4539 returned by `opendir'.
4541 ** New function: using-readline?
4543 Return #t if readline is in use in the current repl.
4545 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
4547 Structs will be replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into Guile
4548 and use GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
4550 * Changes to the scm_ interface
4552 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
4554 The entire current struct interface (struct.c, struct.h) will be
4555 replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into libguile and use
4556 GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
4558 ** The internal representation of subr's has changed
4560 Instead of giving a hint to the subr name, the CAR field of the subr
4561 now contains an index to a subr entry in scm_subr_table.
4563 *** New variable: scm_subr_table
4565 An array of subr entries. A subr entry contains the name, properties
4566 and documentation associated with the subr. The properties and
4567 documentation slots are not yet used.
4569 ** A new scheme for "forwarding" calls to a builtin to a generic function
4571 It is now possible to extend the functionality of some Guile
4572 primitives by letting them defer a call to a GOOPS generic function on
4573 argument mismatch. This means that there is no loss of efficiency in
4578 (use-modules (oop goops)) ; Must be GOOPS version 0.2.
4579 (define-method + ((x <string>) (y <string>))
4580 (string-append x y))
4582 + will still be as efficient as usual in numerical calculations, but
4583 can also be used for concatenating strings.
4585 Who will be the first one to extend Guile's numerical tower to
4586 rationals? :) [OK, there a few other things to fix before this can
4587 be made in a clean way.]
4589 *** New snarf macros for defining primitives: SCM_GPROC, SCM_GPROC1
4591 New macro: SCM_GPROC (CNAME, SNAME, REQ, OPT, VAR, CFUNC, GENERIC)
4593 New macro: SCM_GPROC1 (CNAME, SNAME, TYPE, CFUNC, GENERIC)
4595 These do the same job as SCM_PROC and SCM_PROC1, but they also define
4596 a variable GENERIC which can be used by the dispatch macros below.
4598 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
4600 *** New macros for forwarding control to a generic on arg type error
4602 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_1 (GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
4604 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
4606 These correspond to the scm_wta function call, and have the same
4607 behaviour until the user has called the GOOPS primitive
4608 `enable-primitive-generic!'. After that, these macros will apply the
4609 generic function GENERIC to the argument(s) instead of calling
4612 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
4614 *** New macros for argument testing with generic dispatch
4616 New macro: SCM_GASSERT1 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
4618 New macro: SCM_GASSERT2 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
4620 These correspond to the SCM_ASSERT macro, but will defer control to
4621 GENERIC on error after `enable-primitive-generic!' has been called.
4623 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
4625 ** New function: SCM scm_eval_body (SCM body, SCM env)
4627 Evaluates the body of a special form.
4629 ** The internal representation of struct's has changed
4631 Previously, four slots were allocated for the procedure(s) of entities
4632 and operators. The motivation for this representation had to do with
4633 the structure of the evaluator, the wish to support tail-recursive
4634 generic functions, and efficiency. Since the generic function
4635 dispatch mechanism has changed, there is no longer a need for such an
4636 expensive representation, and the representation has been simplified.
4638 This should not make any difference for most users.
4640 ** GOOPS support has been cleaned up.
4642 Some code has been moved from eval.c to objects.c and code in both of
4643 these compilation units has been cleaned up and better structured.
4645 *** New functions for applying generic functions
4647 New function: SCM scm_apply_generic (GENERIC, ARGS)
4648 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_0 (GENERIC)
4649 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_1 (GENERIC, ARG1)
4650 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2)
4651 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_3 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, ARG3)
4653 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_named_hook
4655 It is now replaced by:
4657 ** New function: SCM scm_create_hook (const char *name, int arity)
4659 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
4660 binds a variable named NAME to it.
4662 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
4664 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module.
4665 This might change when we get the new module system.
4667 [The behaviour is identical to scm_make_named_hook.]
4671 Changes since Guile 1.3:
4673 * Changes to mailing lists
4675 ** Some of the Guile mailing lists have moved to sourceware.cygnus.com.
4677 See the README file to find current addresses for all the Guile
4680 * Changes to the distribution
4682 ** Readline support is no longer included with Guile by default.
4684 Based on the different license terms of Guile and Readline, we
4685 concluded that Guile should not *by default* cause the linking of
4686 Readline into an application program. Readline support is now offered
4687 as a separate module, which is linked into an application only when
4688 you explicitly specify it.
4690 Although Guile is GNU software, its distribution terms add a special
4691 exception to the usual GNU General Public License (GPL). Guile's
4692 license includes a clause that allows you to link Guile with non-free
4693 programs. We add this exception so as not to put Guile at a
4694 disadvantage vis-a-vis other extensibility packages that support other
4697 In contrast, the GNU Readline library is distributed under the GNU
4698 General Public License pure and simple. This means that you may not
4699 link Readline, even dynamically, into an application unless it is
4700 distributed under a free software license that is compatible the GPL.
4702 Because of this difference in distribution terms, an application that
4703 can use Guile may not be able to use Readline. Now users will be
4704 explicitly offered two independent decisions about the use of these
4707 You can activate the readline support by issuing
4709 (use-modules (readline-activator))
4712 from your ".guile" file, for example.
4714 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
4716 ** All builtins now print as primitives.
4717 Previously builtin procedures not belonging to the fundamental subr
4718 types printed as #<compiled closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>.
4719 Now, they print as #<primitive-procedure NAME>.
4721 ** Backtraces slightly more intelligible.
4722 gsubr-apply and macro transformer application frames no longer appear
4725 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
4727 ** Guile now correctly handles internal defines by rewriting them into
4728 their equivalent letrec. Previously, internal defines would
4729 incrementally add to the innermost environment, without checking
4730 whether the restrictions specified in RnRS were met. This lead to the
4731 correct behaviour when these restriction actually were met, but didn't
4732 catch all illegal uses. Such an illegal use could lead to crashes of
4733 the Guile interpreter or or other unwanted results. An example of
4734 incorrect internal defines that made Guile behave erratically:
4746 The problem with this example is that the definition of `c' uses the
4747 value of `b' directly. This confuses the meoization machine of Guile
4748 so that the second call of `b' (this time in a larger environment that
4749 also contains bindings for `c' and `d') refers to the binding of `c'
4750 instead of `a'. You could also make Guile crash with a variation on
4755 (define (b flag) (if flag a 1))
4756 (define c (1+ (b flag)))
4764 From now on, Guile will issue an `Unbound variable: b' error message
4769 A hook contains a list of functions which should be called on
4770 particular occasions in an existing program. Hooks are used for
4773 A window manager might have a hook before-window-map-hook. The window
4774 manager uses the function run-hooks to call all functions stored in
4775 before-window-map-hook each time a window is mapped. The user can
4776 store functions in the hook using add-hook!.
4778 In Guile, hooks are first class objects.
4780 *** New function: make-hook [N_ARGS]
4782 Return a hook for hook functions which can take N_ARGS arguments.
4783 The default value for N_ARGS is 0.
4785 (See also scm_make_named_hook below.)
4787 *** New function: add-hook! HOOK PROC [APPEND_P]
4789 Put PROC at the beginning of the list of functions stored in HOOK.
4790 If APPEND_P is supplied, and non-false, put PROC at the end instead.
4792 PROC must be able to take the number of arguments specified when the
4795 If PROC already exists in HOOK, then remove it first.
4797 *** New function: remove-hook! HOOK PROC
4799 Remove PROC from the list of functions in HOOK.
4801 *** New function: reset-hook! HOOK
4803 Clear the list of hook functions stored in HOOK.
4805 *** New function: run-hook HOOK ARG1 ...
4807 Run all hook functions stored in HOOK with arguments ARG1 ... .
4808 The number of arguments supplied must correspond to the number given
4809 when the hook was created.
4811 ** The function `dynamic-link' now takes optional keyword arguments.
4812 The only keyword argument that is currently defined is `:global
4813 BOOL'. With it, you can control whether the shared library will be
4814 linked in global mode or not. In global mode, the symbols from the
4815 linked library can be used to resolve references from other
4816 dynamically linked libraries. In non-global mode, the linked
4817 library is essentially invisible and can only be accessed via
4818 `dynamic-func', etc. The default is now to link in global mode.
4819 Previously, the default has been non-global mode.
4821 The `#:global' keyword is only effective on platforms that support
4822 the dlopen family of functions.
4824 ** New function `provided?'
4826 - Function: provided? FEATURE
4827 Return true iff FEATURE is supported by this installation of
4828 Guile. FEATURE must be a symbol naming a feature; the global
4829 variable `*features*' is a list of available features.
4831 ** Changes to the module (ice-9 expect):
4833 *** The expect-strings macro now matches `$' in a regular expression
4834 only at a line-break or end-of-file by default. Previously it would
4835 match the end of the string accumulated so far. The old behaviour
4836 can be obtained by setting the variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
4839 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
4840 for the regexp-exec flags. If `regexp/noteol' is included, then `$'
4841 in a regular expression will still match before a line-break or
4842 end-of-file. The default is `regexp/noteol'.
4844 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable
4845 `expect-strings-compile-flags' for the flags to be supplied to
4846 `make-regexp'. The default is `regexp/newline', which was previously
4849 *** The expect macro now supplies two arguments to a match procedure:
4850 the current accumulated string and a flag to indicate whether
4851 end-of-file has been reached. Previously only the string was supplied.
4852 If end-of-file is reached, the match procedure will be called an
4853 additional time with the same accumulated string as the previous call
4854 but with the flag set.
4856 ** New module (ice-9 format), implementing the Common Lisp `format' function.
4858 This code, and the documentation for it that appears here, was
4859 borrowed from SLIB, with minor adaptations for Guile.
4861 - Function: format DESTINATION FORMAT-STRING . ARGUMENTS
4862 An almost complete implementation of Common LISP format description
4863 according to the CL reference book `Common LISP' from Guy L.
4864 Steele, Digital Press. Backward compatible to most of the
4865 available Scheme format implementations.
4867 Returns `#t', `#f' or a string; has side effect of printing
4868 according to FORMAT-STRING. If DESTINATION is `#t', the output is
4869 to the current output port and `#t' is returned. If DESTINATION
4870 is `#f', a formatted string is returned as the result of the call.
4871 NEW: If DESTINATION is a string, DESTINATION is regarded as the
4872 format string; FORMAT-STRING is then the first argument and the
4873 output is returned as a string. If DESTINATION is a number, the
4874 output is to the current error port if available by the
4875 implementation. Otherwise DESTINATION must be an output port and
4878 FORMAT-STRING must be a string. In case of a formatting error
4879 format returns `#f' and prints a message on the current output or
4880 error port. Characters are output as if the string were output by
4881 the `display' function with the exception of those prefixed by a
4882 tilde (~). For a detailed description of the FORMAT-STRING syntax
4883 please consult a Common LISP format reference manual. For a test
4884 suite to verify this format implementation load `formatst.scm'.
4885 Please send bug reports to `lutzeb@cs.tu-berlin.de'.
4887 Note: `format' is not reentrant, i.e. only one `format'-call may
4888 be executed at a time.
4891 *** Format Specification (Format version 3.0)
4893 Please consult a Common LISP format reference manual for a detailed
4894 description of the format string syntax. For a demonstration of the
4895 implemented directives see `formatst.scm'.
4897 This implementation supports directive parameters and modifiers (`:'
4898 and `@' characters). Multiple parameters must be separated by a comma
4899 (`,'). Parameters can be numerical parameters (positive or negative),
4900 character parameters (prefixed by a quote character (`''), variable
4901 parameters (`v'), number of rest arguments parameter (`#'), empty and
4902 default parameters. Directive characters are case independent. The
4903 general form of a directive is:
4905 DIRECTIVE ::= ~{DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER,}[:][@]DIRECTIVE-CHARACTER
4907 DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER ::= [ [-|+]{0-9}+ | 'CHARACTER | v | # ]
4909 *** Implemented CL Format Control Directives
4911 Documentation syntax: Uppercase characters represent the
4912 corresponding control directive characters. Lowercase characters
4913 represent control directive parameter descriptions.
4916 Any (print as `display' does).
4920 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARA'
4924 S-expression (print as `write' does).
4928 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARS'
4934 print number sign always.
4937 print comma separated.
4939 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARD'
4945 print number sign always.
4948 print comma separated.
4950 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARX'
4956 print number sign always.
4959 print comma separated.
4961 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARO'
4967 print number sign always.
4970 print comma separated.
4972 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARB'
4977 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARR'
4981 print a number as a Roman numeral.
4984 print a number as an "old fashioned" Roman numeral.
4987 print a number as an ordinal English number.
4990 print a number as a cardinal English number.
4995 prints `y' and `ies'.
4998 as `~P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
5001 as `~@P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
5006 prints a character as the reader can understand it (i.e. `#\'
5010 prints a character as emacs does (eg. `^C' for ASCII 03).
5013 Fixed-format floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN).
5014 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHARF'
5016 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
5019 Exponential floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN`E'EE).
5020 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARE'
5022 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
5025 General floating-point (prints a flonum either fixed or
5027 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARG'
5029 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
5032 Dollars floating-point (prints a flonum in fixed with signs
5034 `~DIGITS,SCALE,WIDTH,PADCHAR$'
5036 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
5039 A sign is always printed and appears before the padding.
5042 The sign appears before the padding.
5050 print newline if not at the beginning of the output line.
5052 prints `~&' and then N-1 newlines.
5057 print N page separators.
5067 newline is ignored, white space left.
5070 newline is left, white space ignored.
5075 relative tabulation.
5081 Indirection (expects indirect arguments as a list).
5083 extracts indirect arguments from format arguments.
5086 Case conversion (converts by `string-downcase').
5088 converts by `string-capitalize'.
5091 converts by `string-capitalize-first'.
5094 converts by `string-upcase'.
5097 Argument Jumping (jumps 1 argument forward).
5099 jumps N arguments forward.
5102 jumps 1 argument backward.
5105 jumps N arguments backward.
5108 jumps to the 0th argument.
5111 jumps to the Nth argument (beginning from 0)
5113 `~[STR0~;STR1~;...~;STRN~]'
5114 Conditional Expression (numerical clause conditional).
5116 take argument from N.
5119 true test conditional.
5122 if-else-then conditional.
5128 default clause follows.
5131 Iteration (args come from the next argument (a list)).
5133 at most N iterations.
5136 args from next arg (a list of lists).
5139 args from the rest of arguments.
5142 args from the rest args (lists).
5153 aborts if N <= M <= K
5155 *** Not Implemented CL Format Control Directives
5158 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
5161 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
5167 (sorry I don't understand its semantics completely)
5169 *** Extended, Replaced and Additional Control Directives
5171 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHD'
5172 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHX'
5173 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHO'
5174 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHB'
5175 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHR'
5176 COMMAWIDTH is the number of characters between two comma
5180 print a R4RS complex number as `~F~@Fi' with passed parameters for
5184 Pretty print formatting of an argument for scheme code lists.
5190 Flushes the output if format DESTINATION is a port.
5193 Print a `#\space' character
5195 print N `#\space' characters.
5198 Print a `#\tab' character
5200 print N `#\tab' characters.
5203 Takes N as an integer representation for a character. No arguments
5204 are consumed. N is converted to a character by `integer->char'. N
5205 must be a positive decimal number.
5208 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
5209 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
5210 be processed by `read'.
5213 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
5214 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
5215 be processed by `read'.
5218 Prints information and a copyright notice on the format
5221 prints format version.
5224 may also print number strings, i.e. passing a number as a string
5225 and format it accordingly.
5227 *** Configuration Variables
5229 The format module exports some configuration variables to suit the
5230 systems and users needs. There should be no modification necessary for
5231 the configuration that comes with Guile. Format detects automatically
5232 if the running scheme system implements floating point numbers and
5235 format:symbol-case-conv
5236 Symbols are converted by `symbol->string' so the case type of the
5237 printed symbols is implementation dependent.
5238 `format:symbol-case-conv' is a one arg closure which is either
5239 `#f' (no conversion), `string-upcase', `string-downcase' or
5240 `string-capitalize'. (default `#f')
5242 format:iobj-case-conv
5243 As FORMAT:SYMBOL-CASE-CONV but applies for the representation of
5244 implementation internal objects. (default `#f')
5247 The character prefixing the exponent value in `~E' printing.
5250 *** Compatibility With Other Format Implementations
5256 Downward compatible except for padding support and `~A', `~S',
5257 `~P', `~X' uppercase printing. SLIB format 1.4 uses C-style
5258 `printf' padding support which is completely replaced by the CL
5259 `format' padding style.
5262 Downward compatible except for `~', which is not documented
5263 (ignores all characters inside the format string up to a newline
5264 character). (7.1 implements `~a', `~s', ~NEWLINE, `~~', `~%',
5265 numerical and variable parameters and `:/@' modifiers in the CL
5269 Downward compatible except for `~A' and `~S' which print in
5270 uppercase. (Elk implements `~a', `~s', `~~', and `~%' (no
5271 directive parameters or modifiers)).
5274 Downward compatible except for an optional destination parameter:
5275 S2C accepts a format call without a destination which returns a
5276 formatted string. This is equivalent to a #f destination in S2C.
5277 (S2C implements `~a', `~s', `~c', `~%', and `~~' (no directive
5278 parameters or modifiers)).
5281 ** Changes to string-handling functions.
5283 These functions were added to support the (ice-9 format) module, above.
5285 *** New function: string-upcase STRING
5286 *** New function: string-downcase STRING
5288 These are non-destructive versions of the existing string-upcase! and
5289 string-downcase! functions.
5291 *** New function: string-capitalize! STRING
5292 *** New function: string-capitalize STRING
5294 These functions convert the first letter of each word in the string to
5297 (string-capitalize "howdy there")
5300 As with the other functions, string-capitalize! modifies the string in
5301 place, while string-capitalize returns a modified copy of its argument.
5303 *** New function: string-ci->symbol STRING
5305 Return a symbol whose name is STRING, but having the same case as if
5306 the symbol had be read by `read'.
5308 Guile can be configured to be sensitive or insensitive to case
5309 differences in Scheme identifiers. If Guile is case-insensitive, all
5310 symbols are converted to lower case on input. The `string-ci->symbol'
5311 function returns a symbol whose name in STRING, transformed as Guile
5312 would if STRING were input.
5314 *** New function: substring-move! STRING1 START END STRING2 START
5316 Copy the substring of STRING1 from START (inclusive) to END
5317 (exclusive) to STRING2 at START. STRING1 and STRING2 may be the same
5318 string, and the source and destination areas may overlap; in all
5319 cases, the function behaves as if all the characters were copied
5322 *** Extended functions: substring-move-left! substring-move-right!
5324 These functions now correctly copy arbitrarily overlapping substrings;
5325 they are both synonyms for substring-move!.
5328 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-long), with the function `getopt-long'.
5330 getopt-long is a function for parsing command-line arguments in a
5331 manner consistent with other GNU programs.
5333 (getopt-long ARGS GRAMMAR)
5334 Parse the arguments ARGS according to the argument list grammar GRAMMAR.
5336 ARGS should be a list of strings. Its first element should be the
5337 name of the program; subsequent elements should be the arguments
5338 that were passed to the program on the command line. The
5339 `program-arguments' procedure returns a list of this form.
5341 GRAMMAR is a list of the form:
5342 ((OPTION (PROPERTY VALUE) ...) ...)
5344 Each OPTION should be a symbol. `getopt-long' will accept a
5345 command-line option named `--OPTION'.
5346 Each option can have the following (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs:
5348 (single-char CHAR) --- Accept `-CHAR' as a single-character
5349 equivalent to `--OPTION'. This is how to specify traditional
5351 (required? BOOL) --- If BOOL is true, the option is required.
5352 getopt-long will raise an error if it is not found in ARGS.
5353 (value BOOL) --- If BOOL is #t, the option accepts a value; if
5354 it is #f, it does not; and if it is the symbol
5355 `optional', the option may appear in ARGS with or
5357 (predicate FUNC) --- If the option accepts a value (i.e. you
5358 specified `(value #t)' for this option), then getopt
5359 will apply FUNC to the value, and throw an exception
5360 if it returns #f. FUNC should be a procedure which
5361 accepts a string and returns a boolean value; you may
5362 need to use quasiquotes to get it into GRAMMAR.
5364 The (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs may occur in any order, but each
5365 property may occur only once. By default, options do not have
5366 single-character equivalents, are not required, and do not take
5369 In ARGS, single-character options may be combined, in the usual
5370 Unix fashion: ("-x" "-y") is equivalent to ("-xy"). If an option
5371 accepts values, then it must be the last option in the
5372 combination; the value is the next argument. So, for example, using
5373 the following grammar:
5374 ((apples (single-char #\a))
5375 (blimps (single-char #\b) (value #t))
5376 (catalexis (single-char #\c) (value #t)))
5377 the following argument lists would be acceptable:
5378 ("-a" "-b" "bang" "-c" "couth") ("bang" and "couth" are the values
5379 for "blimps" and "catalexis")
5380 ("-ab" "bang" "-c" "couth") (same)
5381 ("-ac" "couth" "-b" "bang") (same)
5382 ("-abc" "couth" "bang") (an error, since `-b' is not the
5383 last option in its combination)
5385 If an option's value is optional, then `getopt-long' decides
5386 whether it has a value by looking at what follows it in ARGS. If
5387 the next element is a string, and it does not appear to be an
5388 option itself, then that string is the option's value.
5390 The value of a long option can appear as the next element in ARGS,
5391 or it can follow the option name, separated by an `=' character.
5392 Thus, using the same grammar as above, the following argument lists
5394 ("--apples" "Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
5395 ("--apples=Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
5396 ("--blimps" "Goodyear" "--apples=Braeburn")
5398 If the option "--" appears in ARGS, argument parsing stops there;
5399 subsequent arguments are returned as ordinary arguments, even if
5400 they resemble options. So, in the argument list:
5401 ("--apples" "Granny Smith" "--" "--blimp" "Goodyear")
5402 `getopt-long' will recognize the `apples' option as having the
5403 value "Granny Smith", but it will not recognize the `blimp'
5404 option; it will return the strings "--blimp" and "Goodyear" as
5405 ordinary argument strings.
5407 The `getopt-long' function returns the parsed argument list as an
5408 assocation list, mapping option names --- the symbols from GRAMMAR
5409 --- onto their values, or #t if the option does not accept a value.
5410 Unused options do not appear in the alist.
5412 All arguments that are not the value of any option are returned
5413 as a list, associated with the empty list.
5415 `getopt-long' throws an exception if:
5416 - it finds an unrecognized option in ARGS
5417 - a required option is omitted
5418 - an option that requires an argument doesn't get one
5419 - an option that doesn't accept an argument does get one (this can
5420 only happen using the long option `--opt=value' syntax)
5421 - an option predicate fails
5426 `((lockfile-dir (required? #t)
5429 (predicate ,file-is-directory?))
5430 (verbose (required? #f)
5433 (x-includes (single-char #\x))
5434 (rnet-server (single-char #\y)
5435 (predicate ,string?))))
5437 (getopt-long '("my-prog" "-vk" "/tmp" "foo1" "--x-includes=/usr/include"
5438 "--rnet-server=lamprod" "--" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
5440 => ((() "foo1" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
5441 (rnet-server . "lamprod")
5442 (x-includes . "/usr/include")
5443 (lockfile-dir . "/tmp")
5446 ** The (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) module is obsolete; use (ice-9 getopt-long).
5448 It will be removed in a few releases.
5450 ** New syntax: lambda*
5451 ** New syntax: define*
5452 ** New syntax: define*-public
5453 ** New syntax: defmacro*
5454 ** New syntax: defmacro*-public
5455 Guile now supports optional arguments.
5457 `lambda*', `define*', `define*-public', `defmacro*' and
5458 `defmacro*-public' are identical to the non-* versions except that
5459 they use an extended type of parameter list that has the following BNF
5460 syntax (parentheses are literal, square brackets indicate grouping,
5461 and `*', `+' and `?' have the usual meaning):
5463 ext-param-list ::= ( [identifier]* [#&optional [ext-var-decl]+]?
5464 [#&key [ext-var-decl]+ [#&allow-other-keys]?]?
5465 [[#&rest identifier]|[. identifier]]? ) | [identifier]
5467 ext-var-decl ::= identifier | ( identifier expression )
5469 The semantics are best illustrated with the following documentation
5470 and examples for `lambda*':
5473 lambda extended for optional and keyword arguments
5475 lambda* creates a procedure that takes optional arguments. These
5476 are specified by putting them inside brackets at the end of the
5477 paramater list, but before any dotted rest argument. For example,
5478 (lambda* (a b #&optional c d . e) '())
5479 creates a procedure with fixed arguments a and b, optional arguments c
5480 and d, and rest argument e. If the optional arguments are omitted
5481 in a call, the variables for them are unbound in the procedure. This
5482 can be checked with the bound? macro.
5484 lambda* can also take keyword arguments. For example, a procedure
5486 (lambda* (#&key xyzzy larch) '())
5487 can be called with any of the argument lists (#:xyzzy 11)
5488 (#:larch 13) (#:larch 42 #:xyzzy 19) (). Whichever arguments
5489 are given as keywords are bound to values.
5491 Optional and keyword arguments can also be given default values
5492 which they take on when they are not present in a call, by giving a
5493 two-item list in place of an optional argument, for example in:
5494 (lambda* (foo #&optional (bar 42) #&key (baz 73)) (list foo bar baz))
5495 foo is a fixed argument, bar is an optional argument with default
5496 value 42, and baz is a keyword argument with default value 73.
5497 Default value expressions are not evaluated unless they are needed
5498 and until the procedure is called.
5500 lambda* now supports two more special parameter list keywords.
5502 lambda*-defined procedures now throw an error by default if a
5503 keyword other than one of those specified is found in the actual
5504 passed arguments. However, specifying #&allow-other-keys
5505 immediately after the kyword argument declarations restores the
5506 previous behavior of ignoring unknown keywords. lambda* also now
5507 guarantees that if the same keyword is passed more than once, the
5508 last one passed is the one that takes effect. For example,
5509 ((lambda* (#&key (heads 0) (tails 0)) (display (list heads tails)))
5510 #:heads 37 #:tails 42 #:heads 99)
5511 would result in (99 47) being displayed.
5513 #&rest is also now provided as a synonym for the dotted syntax rest
5514 argument. The argument lists (a . b) and (a #&rest b) are equivalent in
5515 all respects to lambda*. This is provided for more similarity to DSSSL,
5516 MIT-Scheme and Kawa among others, as well as for refugees from other
5519 Further documentation may be found in the optargs.scm file itself.
5521 The optional argument module also exports the macros `let-optional',
5522 `let-optional*', `let-keywords', `let-keywords*' and `bound?'. These
5523 are not documented here because they may be removed in the future, but
5524 full documentation is still available in optargs.scm.
5526 ** New syntax: and-let*
5527 Guile now supports the `and-let*' form, described in the draft SRFI-2.
5529 Syntax: (land* (<clause> ...) <body> ...)
5530 Each <clause> should have one of the following forms:
5531 (<variable> <expression>)
5534 Each <variable> or <bound-variable> should be an identifier. Each
5535 <expression> should be a valid expression. The <body> should be a
5536 possibly empty sequence of expressions, like the <body> of a
5539 Semantics: A LAND* expression is evaluated by evaluating the
5540 <expression> or <bound-variable> of each of the <clause>s from
5541 left to right. The value of the first <expression> or
5542 <bound-variable> that evaluates to a false value is returned; the
5543 remaining <expression>s and <bound-variable>s are not evaluated.
5544 The <body> forms are evaluated iff all the <expression>s and
5545 <bound-variable>s evaluate to true values.
5547 The <expression>s and the <body> are evaluated in an environment
5548 binding each <variable> of the preceding (<variable> <expression>)
5549 clauses to the value of the <expression>. Later bindings
5550 shadow earlier bindings.
5552 Guile's and-let* macro was contributed by Michael Livshin.
5554 ** New sorting functions
5556 *** New function: sorted? SEQUENCE LESS?
5557 Returns `#t' when the sequence argument is in non-decreasing order
5558 according to LESS? (that is, there is no adjacent pair `... x y
5559 ...' for which `(less? y x)').
5561 Returns `#f' when the sequence contains at least one out-of-order
5562 pair. It is an error if the sequence is neither a list nor a
5565 *** New function: merge LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
5566 LIST1 and LIST2 are sorted lists.
5567 Returns the sorted list of all elements in LIST1 and LIST2.
5569 Assume that the elements a and b1 in LIST1 and b2 in LIST2 are "equal"
5570 in the sense that (LESS? x y) --> #f for x, y in {a, b1, b2},
5571 and that a < b1 in LIST1. Then a < b1 < b2 in the result.
5572 (Here "<" should read "comes before".)
5574 *** New procedure: merge! LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
5575 Merges two lists, re-using the pairs of LIST1 and LIST2 to build
5576 the result. If the code is compiled, and LESS? constructs no new
5577 pairs, no pairs at all will be allocated. The first pair of the
5578 result will be either the first pair of LIST1 or the first pair of
5581 *** New function: sort SEQUENCE LESS?
5582 Accepts either a list or a vector, and returns a new sequence
5583 which is sorted. The new sequence is the same type as the input.
5584 Always `(sorted? (sort sequence less?) less?)'. The original
5585 sequence is not altered in any way. The new sequence shares its
5586 elements with the old one; no elements are copied.
5588 *** New procedure: sort! SEQUENCE LESS
5589 Returns its sorted result in the original boxes. No new storage is
5590 allocated at all. Proper usage: (set! slist (sort! slist <))
5592 *** New function: stable-sort SEQUENCE LESS?
5593 Similar to `sort' but stable. That is, if "equal" elements are
5594 ordered a < b in the original sequence, they will have the same order
5597 *** New function: stable-sort! SEQUENCE LESS?
5598 Similar to `sort!' but stable.
5599 Uses temporary storage when sorting vectors.
5601 *** New functions: sort-list, sort-list!
5602 Added for compatibility with scsh.
5604 ** New built-in random number support
5606 *** New function: random N [STATE]
5607 Accepts a positive integer or real N and returns a number of the
5608 same type between zero (inclusive) and N (exclusive). The values
5609 returned have a uniform distribution.
5611 The optional argument STATE must be of the type produced by
5612 `copy-random-state' or `seed->random-state'. It defaults to the value
5613 of the variable `*random-state*'. This object is used to maintain the
5614 state of the pseudo-random-number generator and is altered as a side
5615 effect of the `random' operation.
5617 *** New variable: *random-state*
5618 Holds a data structure that encodes the internal state of the
5619 random-number generator that `random' uses by default. The nature
5620 of this data structure is implementation-dependent. It may be
5621 printed out and successfully read back in, but may or may not
5622 function correctly as a random-number state object in another
5625 *** New function: copy-random-state [STATE]
5626 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
5627 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
5628 If argument STATE is given, a copy of it is returned. Otherwise a
5629 copy of `*random-state*' is returned.
5631 *** New function: seed->random-state SEED
5632 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
5633 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
5634 SEED is a string or a number. A new state is generated and
5635 initialized using SEED.
5637 *** New function: random:uniform [STATE]
5638 Returns an uniformly distributed inexact real random number in the
5639 range between 0 and 1.
5641 *** New procedure: random:solid-sphere! VECT [STATE]
5642 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose
5643 squares is less than 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in
5644 space of dimension N = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are
5645 uniformly distributed within the unit N-shere. The sum of the
5646 squares of the numbers is returned. VECT can be either a vector
5647 or a uniform vector of doubles.
5649 *** New procedure: random:hollow-sphere! VECT [STATE]
5650 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose squares
5651 is equal to 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in space of
5652 dimension n = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are uniformly
5653 distributed over the surface of the unit n-shere. VECT can be either
5654 a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
5656 *** New function: random:normal [STATE]
5657 Returns an inexact real in a normal distribution with mean 0 and
5658 standard deviation 1. For a normal distribution with mean M and
5659 standard deviation D use `(+ M (* D (random:normal)))'.
5661 *** New procedure: random:normal-vector! VECT [STATE]
5662 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers which are independent and
5663 standard normally distributed (i.e., with mean 0 and variance 1).
5664 VECT can be either a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
5666 *** New function: random:exp STATE
5667 Returns an inexact real in an exponential distribution with mean 1.
5668 For an exponential distribution with mean U use (* U (random:exp)).
5670 ** The range of logand, logior, logxor, logtest, and logbit? have changed.
5672 These functions now operate on numbers in the range of a C unsigned
5675 These functions used to operate on numbers in the range of a C signed
5676 long; however, this seems inappropriate, because Guile integers don't
5679 ** New function: make-guardian
5680 This is an implementation of guardians as described in
5681 R. Kent Dybvig, Carl Bruggeman, and David Eby (1993) "Guardians in a
5682 Generation-Based Garbage Collector" ACM SIGPLAN Conference on
5683 Programming Language Design and Implementation, June 1993
5684 ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/scheme-repository/doc/pubs/guardians.ps.gz
5686 ** New functions: delq1!, delv1!, delete1!
5687 These procedures behave similar to delq! and friends but delete only
5688 one object if at all.
5690 ** New function: unread-string STRING PORT
5691 Unread STRING to PORT, that is, push it back onto the port so that
5692 next read operation will work on the pushed back characters.
5694 ** unread-char can now be called multiple times
5695 If unread-char is called multiple times, the unread characters will be
5696 read again in last-in first-out order.
5698 ** the procedures uniform-array-read! and uniform-array-write! now
5699 work on any kind of port, not just ports which are open on a file.
5701 ** Now 'l' in a port mode requests line buffering.
5703 ** The procedure truncate-file now works on string ports as well
5704 as file ports. If the size argument is omitted, the current
5705 file position is used.
5707 ** new procedure: seek PORT/FDES OFFSET WHENCE
5708 The arguments are the same as for the old fseek procedure, but it
5709 works on string ports as well as random-access file ports.
5711 ** the fseek procedure now works on string ports, since it has been
5712 redefined using seek.
5714 ** the setvbuf procedure now uses a default size if mode is _IOFBF and
5715 size is not supplied.
5717 ** the newline procedure no longer flushes the port if it's not
5718 line-buffered: previously it did if it was the current output port.
5720 ** open-pipe and close-pipe are no longer primitive procedures, but
5721 an emulation can be obtained using `(use-modules (ice-9 popen))'.
5723 ** the freopen procedure has been removed.
5725 ** new procedure: drain-input PORT
5726 Drains PORT's read buffers (including any pushed-back characters)
5727 and returns the contents as a single string.
5729 ** New function: map-in-order PROC LIST1 LIST2 ...
5730 Version of `map' which guarantees that the procedure is applied to the
5731 lists in serial order.
5733 ** Renamed `serial-array-copy!' and `serial-array-map!' to
5734 `array-copy-in-order!' and `array-map-in-order!'. The old names are
5735 now obsolete and will go away in release 1.5.
5737 ** New syntax: collect BODY1 ...
5738 Version of `begin' which returns a list of the results of the body
5739 forms instead of the result of the last body form. In contrast to
5740 `begin', `collect' allows an empty body.
5742 ** New functions: read-history FILENAME, write-history FILENAME
5743 Read/write command line history from/to file. Returns #t on success
5744 and #f if an error occured.
5746 ** `ls' and `lls' in module (ice-9 ls) now handle no arguments.
5748 These procedures return a list of definitions available in the specified
5749 argument, a relative module reference. In the case of no argument,
5750 `(current-module)' is now consulted for definitions to return, instead
5751 of simply returning #f, the former behavior.
5753 ** The #/ syntax for lists is no longer supported.
5755 Earlier versions of Scheme accepted this syntax, but printed a
5758 ** Guile no longer consults the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable.
5760 Instead, you should set GUILE_LOAD_PATH to tell Guile where to find
5763 * Changes to the gh_ interface
5767 Now takes a second argument which is the result array. If this
5768 pointer is NULL, a new array is malloced (the old behaviour).
5770 ** gh_chars2byvect, gh_shorts2svect, gh_floats2fvect, gh_scm2chars,
5771 gh_scm2shorts, gh_scm2longs, gh_scm2floats
5775 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5777 ** Function: scm_make_named_hook (char* name, int n_args)
5779 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
5780 binds a variable named NAME to it.
5782 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
5784 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module. This
5785 might change when we get the new module system.
5787 ** The smob interface
5789 The interface for creating smobs has changed. For documentation, see
5790 data-rep.info (made from guile-core/doc/data-rep.texi).
5792 *** Deprecated function: SCM scm_newsmob (scm_smobfuns *)
5794 >>> This function will be removed in 1.3.4. <<<
5798 *** Function: SCM scm_make_smob_type (const char *name, scm_sizet size)
5799 This function adds a new smob type, named NAME, with instance size
5800 SIZE to the system. The return value is a tag that is used in
5801 creating instances of the type. If SIZE is 0, then no memory will
5802 be allocated when instances of the smob are created, and nothing
5803 will be freed by the default free function.
5805 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_mark (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
5806 This function sets the smob marking procedure for the smob type
5807 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
5808 `scm_make_smob_type'.
5810 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_free (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
5811 This function sets the smob freeing procedure for the smob type
5812 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
5813 `scm_make_smob_type'.
5815 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_print (tc, print)
5817 - Function: void scm_set_smob_print (long tc,
5818 scm_sizet (*print) (SCM,
5822 This function sets the smob printing procedure for the smob type
5823 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
5824 `scm_make_smob_type'.
5826 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_equalp (long tc, SCM (*equalp) (SCM, SCM))
5827 This function sets the smob equality-testing predicate for the
5828 smob type specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
5829 `scm_make_smob_type'.
5831 *** Macro: void SCM_NEWSMOB (SCM var, long tc, void *data)
5832 Make VALUE contain a smob instance of the type with type code TC and
5833 smob data DATA. VALUE must be previously declared as C type `SCM'.
5835 *** Macro: fn_returns SCM_RETURN_NEWSMOB (long tc, void *data)
5836 This macro expands to a block of code that creates a smob instance
5837 of the type with type code TC and smob data DATA, and returns that
5838 `SCM' value. It should be the last piece of code in a block.
5840 ** The interfaces for using I/O ports and implementing port types
5841 (ptobs) have changed significantly. The new interface is based on
5842 shared access to buffers and a new set of ptob procedures.
5844 *** scm_newptob has been removed
5848 *** Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (type_name, fill_buffer, write_flush)
5850 - Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (char *type_name,
5851 int (*fill_buffer) (SCM port),
5852 void (*write_flush) (SCM port));
5854 Similarly to the new smob interface, there is a set of function
5855 setters by which the user can customize the behaviour of his port
5856 type. See ports.h (scm_set_port_XXX).
5858 ** scm_strport_to_string: New function: creates a new string from
5859 a string port's buffer.
5861 ** Plug in interface for random number generators
5862 The variable `scm_the_rng' in random.c contains a value and three
5863 function pointers which together define the current random number
5864 generator being used by the Scheme level interface and the random
5865 number library functions.
5867 The user is free to replace the default generator with the generator
5870 *** Variable: size_t scm_the_rng.rstate_size
5871 The size of the random state type used by the current RNG
5874 *** Function: unsigned long scm_the_rng.random_bits (scm_rstate *STATE)
5875 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
5877 *** Function: void scm_the_rng.init_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE, chars *S, int N)
5878 Seed random state STATE using string S of length N.
5880 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_the_rng.copy_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE)
5881 Given random state STATE, return a malloced copy.
5884 The default RNG is the MWC (Multiply With Carry) random number
5885 generator described by George Marsaglia at the Department of
5886 Statistics and Supercomputer Computations Research Institute, The
5887 Florida State University (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo).
5889 It uses 64 bits, has a period of 4578426017172946943 (4.6e18), and
5890 passes all tests in the DIEHARD test suite
5891 (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo/diehard.html). The generation of 32 bits
5892 costs one multiply and one add on platforms which either supports long
5893 longs (gcc does this on most systems) or have 64 bit longs. The cost
5894 is four multiply on other systems but this can be optimized by writing
5895 scm_i_uniform32 in assembler.
5897 These functions are provided through the scm_the_rng interface for use
5898 by libguile and the application.
5900 *** Function: unsigned long scm_i_uniform32 (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
5901 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
5902 Don't use this function directly. Instead go through the plugin
5903 interface (see "Plug in interface" above).
5905 *** Function: void scm_i_init_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE, char *SEED, int N)
5906 Initialize STATE using SEED of length N.
5908 *** Function: scm_i_rstate *scm_i_copy_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
5909 Return a malloc:ed copy of STATE. This function can easily be re-used
5910 in the interfaces to other RNGs.
5912 ** Random number library functions
5913 These functions use the current RNG through the scm_the_rng interface.
5914 It might be a good idea to use these functions from your C code so
5915 that only one random generator is used by all code in your program.
5917 The default random state is stored in:
5919 *** Variable: SCM scm_var_random_state
5920 Contains the vcell of the Scheme variable "*random-state*" which is
5921 used as default state by all random number functions in the Scheme
5926 double x = scm_c_uniform01 (SCM_RSTATE (SCM_CDR (scm_var_random_state)));
5928 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_default_rstate (void)
5929 This is a convenience function which returns the value of
5930 scm_var_random_state. An error message is generated if this value
5931 isn't a random state.
5933 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_make_rstate (char *SEED, int LENGTH)
5934 Make a new random state from the string SEED of length LENGTH.
5936 It is generally not a good idea to use multiple random states in a
5937 program. While subsequent random numbers generated from one random
5938 state are guaranteed to be reasonably independent, there is no such
5939 guarantee for numbers generated from different random states.
5941 *** Macro: unsigned long scm_c_uniform32 (scm_rstate *STATE)
5942 Return 32 random bits.
5944 *** Function: double scm_c_uniform01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
5945 Return a sample from the uniform(0,1) distribution.
5947 *** Function: double scm_c_normal01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
5948 Return a sample from the normal(0,1) distribution.
5950 *** Function: double scm_c_exp1 (scm_rstate *STATE)
5951 Return a sample from the exp(1) distribution.
5953 *** Function: unsigned long scm_c_random (scm_rstate *STATE, unsigned long M)
5954 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
5956 *** Function: SCM scm_c_random_bignum (scm_rstate *STATE, SCM M)
5957 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
5958 M must be a bignum object. The returned value may be an INUM.
5962 Changes in Guile 1.3 (released Monday, October 19, 1998):
5964 * Changes to the distribution
5966 ** We renamed the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable to GUILE_LOAD_PATH.
5967 To avoid conflicts, programs should name environment variables after
5968 themselves, except when there's a common practice establishing some
5971 For now, Guile supports both GUILE_LOAD_PATH and SCHEME_LOAD_PATH,
5972 giving the former precedence, and printing a warning message if the
5973 latter is set. Guile 1.4 will not recognize SCHEME_LOAD_PATH at all.
5975 ** The header files related to multi-byte characters have been removed.
5976 They were: libguile/extchrs.h and libguile/mbstrings.h. Any C code
5977 which referred to these explicitly will probably need to be rewritten,
5978 since the support for the variant string types has been removed; see
5981 ** The header files append.h and sequences.h have been removed. These
5982 files implemented non-R4RS operations which would encourage
5983 non-portable programming style and less easy-to-read code.
5985 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
5987 ** New procedures have been added to implement a "batch mode":
5989 *** Function: batch-mode?
5991 Returns a boolean indicating whether the interpreter is in batch
5994 *** Function: set-batch-mode?! ARG
5996 If ARG is true, switches the interpreter to batch mode. The `#f'
5997 case has not been implemented.
5999 ** Guile now provides full command-line editing, when run interactively.
6000 To use this feature, you must have the readline library installed.
6001 The Guile build process will notice it, and automatically include
6004 The readline library is available via anonymous FTP from any GNU
6005 mirror site; the canonical location is "ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu".
6007 ** the-last-stack is now a fluid.
6009 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
6011 ** You can now use the `guile-config' utility to build programs that use Guile.
6013 Guile now includes a command-line utility called `guile-config', which
6014 can provide information about how to compile and link programs that
6017 *** `guile-config compile' prints any C compiler flags needed to use Guile.
6018 You should include this command's output on the command line you use
6019 to compile C or C++ code that #includes the Guile header files. It's
6020 usually just a `-I' flag to help the compiler find the Guile headers.
6023 *** `guile-config link' prints any linker flags necessary to link with Guile.
6025 This command writes to its standard output a list of flags which you
6026 must pass to the linker to link your code against the Guile library.
6027 The flags include '-lguile' itself, any other libraries the Guile
6028 library depends upon, and any `-L' flags needed to help the linker
6029 find those libraries.
6031 For example, here is a Makefile rule that builds a program named 'foo'
6032 from the object files ${FOO_OBJECTS}, and links them against Guile:
6035 ${CC} ${CFLAGS} ${FOO_OBJECTS} `guile-config link` -o foo
6037 Previous Guile releases recommended that you use autoconf to detect
6038 which of a predefined set of libraries were present on your system.
6039 It is more robust to use `guile-config', since it records exactly which
6040 libraries the installed Guile library requires.
6042 This was originally called `build-guile', but was renamed to
6043 `guile-config' before Guile 1.3 was released, to be consistent with
6044 the analogous script for the GTK+ GUI toolkit, which is called
6048 ** Use the GUILE_FLAGS macro in your configure.in file to find Guile.
6050 If you are using the GNU autoconf package to configure your program,
6051 you can use the GUILE_FLAGS autoconf macro to call `guile-config'
6052 (described above) and gather the necessary values for use in your
6055 The GUILE_FLAGS macro expands to configure script code which runs the
6056 `guile-config' script, to find out where Guile's header files and
6057 libraries are installed. It sets two variables, marked for
6058 substitution, as by AC_SUBST.
6060 GUILE_CFLAGS --- flags to pass to a C or C++ compiler to build
6061 code that uses Guile header files. This is almost always just a
6064 GUILE_LDFLAGS --- flags to pass to the linker to link a
6065 program against Guile. This includes `-lguile' for the Guile
6066 library itself, any libraries that Guile itself requires (like
6067 -lqthreads), and so on. It may also include a -L flag to tell the
6068 compiler where to find the libraries.
6070 GUILE_FLAGS is defined in the file guile.m4, in the top-level
6071 directory of the Guile distribution. You can copy it into your
6072 package's aclocal.m4 file, and then use it in your configure.in file.
6074 If you are using the `aclocal' program, distributed with GNU automake,
6075 to maintain your aclocal.m4 file, the Guile installation process
6076 installs guile.m4 where aclocal will find it. All you need to do is
6077 use GUILE_FLAGS in your configure.in file, and then run `aclocal';
6078 this will copy the definition of GUILE_FLAGS into your aclocal.m4
6082 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
6084 ** Multi-byte strings have been removed, as have multi-byte and wide
6085 ports. We felt that these were the wrong approach to
6086 internationalization support.
6088 ** New function: readline [PROMPT]
6089 Read a line from the terminal, and allow the user to edit it,
6090 prompting with PROMPT. READLINE provides a large set of Emacs-like
6091 editing commands, lets the user recall previously typed lines, and
6092 works on almost every kind of terminal, including dumb terminals.
6094 READLINE assumes that the cursor is at the beginning of the line when
6095 it is invoked. Thus, you can't print a prompt yourself, and then call
6096 READLINE; you need to package up your prompt as a string, pass it to
6097 the function, and let READLINE print the prompt itself. This is
6098 because READLINE needs to know the prompt's screen width.
6100 For Guile to provide this function, you must have the readline
6101 library, version 2.1 or later, installed on your system. Readline is
6102 available via anonymous FTP from prep.ai.mit.edu in pub/gnu, or from
6103 any GNU mirror site.
6105 See also ADD-HISTORY function.
6107 ** New function: add-history STRING
6108 Add STRING as the most recent line in the history used by the READLINE
6109 command. READLINE does not add lines to the history itself; you must
6110 call ADD-HISTORY to make previous input available to the user.
6112 ** The behavior of the read-line function has changed.
6114 This function now uses standard C library functions to read the line,
6115 for speed. This means that it doesn not respect the value of
6116 scm-line-incrementors; it assumes that lines are delimited with
6119 (Note that this is read-line, the function that reads a line of text
6120 from a port, not readline, the function that reads a line from a
6121 terminal, providing full editing capabilities.)
6123 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style): Parse command-line arguments.
6125 This module provides some simple argument parsing. It exports one
6128 Function: getopt-gnu-style ARG-LS
6129 Parse a list of program arguments into an alist of option
6132 Each item in the list of program arguments is examined to see if
6133 it meets the syntax of a GNU long-named option. An argument like
6134 `--MUMBLE' produces an element of the form (MUMBLE . #t) in the
6135 returned alist, where MUMBLE is a keyword object with the same
6136 name as the argument. An argument like `--MUMBLE=FROB' produces
6137 an element of the form (MUMBLE . FROB), where FROB is a string.
6139 As a special case, the returned alist also contains a pair whose
6140 car is the symbol `rest'. The cdr of this pair is a list
6141 containing all the items in the argument list that are not options
6142 of the form mentioned above.
6144 The argument `--' is treated specially: all items in the argument
6145 list appearing after such an argument are not examined, and are
6146 returned in the special `rest' list.
6148 This function does not parse normal single-character switches.
6149 You will need to parse them out of the `rest' list yourself.
6151 ** The read syntax for byte vectors and short vectors has changed.
6153 Instead of #bytes(...), write #y(...).
6155 Instead of #short(...), write #h(...).
6157 This may seem nutty, but, like the other uniform vectors, byte vectors
6158 and short vectors want to have the same print and read syntax (and,
6159 more basic, want to have read syntax!). Changing the read syntax to
6160 use multiple characters after the hash sign breaks with the
6161 conventions used in R5RS and the conventions used for the other
6162 uniform vectors. It also introduces complexity in the current reader,
6163 both on the C and Scheme levels. (The Right solution is probably to
6164 change the syntax and prototypes for uniform vectors entirely.)
6167 ** The new module (ice-9 session) provides useful interactive functions.
6169 *** New procedure: (apropos REGEXP OPTION ...)
6171 Display a list of top-level variables whose names match REGEXP, and
6172 the modules they are imported from. Each OPTION should be one of the
6175 value --- Show the value of each matching variable.
6176 shadow --- Show bindings shadowed by subsequently imported modules.
6177 full --- Same as both `shadow' and `value'.
6181 guile> (apropos "trace" 'full)
6182 debug: trace #<procedure trace args>
6183 debug: untrace #<procedure untrace args>
6184 the-scm-module: display-backtrace #<compiled-closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>
6185 the-scm-module: before-backtrace-hook ()
6186 the-scm-module: backtrace #<primitive-procedure backtrace>
6187 the-scm-module: after-backtrace-hook ()
6188 the-scm-module: has-shown-backtrace-hint? #f
6191 ** There are new functions and syntax for working with macros.
6193 Guile implements macros as a special object type. Any variable whose
6194 top-level binding is a macro object acts as a macro. The macro object
6195 specifies how the expression should be transformed before evaluation.
6197 *** Macro objects now print in a reasonable way, resembling procedures.
6199 *** New function: (macro? OBJ)
6200 True iff OBJ is a macro object.
6202 *** New function: (primitive-macro? OBJ)
6203 Like (macro? OBJ), but true only if OBJ is one of the Guile primitive
6204 macro transformers, implemented in eval.c rather than Scheme code.
6206 Why do we have this function?
6207 - For symmetry with procedure? and primitive-procedure?,
6208 - to allow custom print procedures to tell whether a macro is
6209 primitive, and display it differently, and
6210 - to allow compilers and user-written evaluators to distinguish
6211 builtin special forms from user-defined ones, which could be
6214 *** New function: (macro-type OBJ)
6215 Return a value indicating what kind of macro OBJ is. Possible return
6218 The symbol `syntax' --- a macro created by procedure->syntax.
6219 The symbol `macro' --- a macro created by procedure->macro.
6220 The symbol `macro!' --- a macro created by procedure->memoizing-macro.
6221 The boolean #f --- if OBJ is not a macro object.
6223 *** New function: (macro-name MACRO)
6224 Return the name of the macro object MACRO's procedure, as returned by
6227 *** New function: (macro-transformer MACRO)
6228 Return the transformer procedure for MACRO.
6230 *** New syntax: (use-syntax MODULE ... TRANSFORMER)
6232 Specify a new macro expander to use in the current module. Each
6233 MODULE is a module name, with the same meaning as in the `use-modules'
6234 form; each named module's exported bindings are added to the current
6235 top-level environment. TRANSFORMER is an expression evaluated in the
6236 resulting environment which must yield a procedure to use as the
6237 module's eval transformer: every expression evaluated in this module
6238 is passed to this function, and the result passed to the Guile
6241 *** macro-eval! is removed. Use local-eval instead.
6243 ** Some magic has been added to the printer to better handle user
6244 written printing routines (like record printers, closure printers).
6246 The problem is that these user written routines must have access to
6247 the current `print-state' to be able to handle fancy things like
6248 detection of circular references. These print-states have to be
6249 passed to the builtin printing routines (display, write, etc) to
6250 properly continue the print chain.
6252 We didn't want to change all existing print code so that it
6253 explicitly passes thru a print state in addition to a port. Instead,
6254 we extented the possible values that the builtin printing routines
6255 accept as a `port'. In addition to a normal port, they now also take
6256 a pair of a normal port and a print-state. Printing will go to the
6257 port and the print-state will be used to control the detection of
6258 circular references, etc. If the builtin function does not care for a
6259 print-state, it is simply ignored.
6261 User written callbacks are now called with such a pair as their
6262 `port', but because every function now accepts this pair as a PORT
6263 argument, you don't have to worry about that. In fact, it is probably
6264 safest to not check for these pairs.
6266 However, it is sometimes necessary to continue a print chain on a
6267 different port, for example to get a intermediate string
6268 representation of the printed value, mangle that string somehow, and
6269 then to finally print the mangled string. Use the new function
6271 inherit-print-state OLD-PORT NEW-PORT
6273 for this. It constructs a new `port' that prints to NEW-PORT but
6274 inherits the print-state of OLD-PORT.
6276 ** struct-vtable-offset renamed to vtable-offset-user
6278 ** New constants: vtable-index-layout, vtable-index-vtable, vtable-index-printer
6280 ** There is now a third optional argument to make-vtable-vtable
6281 (and fourth to make-struct) when constructing new types (vtables).
6282 This argument initializes field vtable-index-printer of the vtable.
6284 ** The detection of circular references has been extended to structs.
6285 That is, a structure that -- in the process of being printed -- prints
6286 itself does not lead to infinite recursion.
6288 ** There is now some basic support for fluids. Please read
6289 "libguile/fluid.h" to find out more. It is accessible from Scheme with
6290 the following functions and macros:
6292 Function: make-fluid
6294 Create a new fluid object. Fluids are not special variables or
6295 some other extension to the semantics of Scheme, but rather
6296 ordinary Scheme objects. You can store them into variables (that
6297 are still lexically scoped, of course) or into any other place you
6298 like. Every fluid has a initial value of `#f'.
6300 Function: fluid? OBJ
6302 Test whether OBJ is a fluid.
6304 Function: fluid-ref FLUID
6305 Function: fluid-set! FLUID VAL
6307 Access/modify the fluid FLUID. Modifications are only visible
6308 within the current dynamic root (that includes threads).
6310 Function: with-fluids* FLUIDS VALUES THUNK
6312 FLUIDS is a list of fluids and VALUES a corresponding list of
6313 values for these fluids. Before THUNK gets called the values are
6314 installed in the fluids and the old values of the fluids are
6315 saved in the VALUES list. When the flow of control leaves THUNK
6316 or reenters it, the values get swapped again. You might think of
6317 this as a `safe-fluid-excursion'. Note that the VALUES list is
6318 modified by `with-fluids*'.
6320 Macro: with-fluids ((FLUID VALUE) ...) FORM ...
6322 The same as `with-fluids*' but with a different syntax. It looks
6323 just like `let', but both FLUID and VALUE are evaluated. Remember,
6324 fluids are not special variables but ordinary objects. FLUID
6325 should evaluate to a fluid.
6327 ** Changes to system call interfaces:
6329 *** close-port, close-input-port and close-output-port now return a
6330 boolean instead of an `unspecified' object. #t means that the port
6331 was successfully closed, while #f means it was already closed. It is
6332 also now possible for these procedures to raise an exception if an
6333 error occurs (some errors from write can be delayed until close.)
6335 *** the first argument to chmod, fcntl, ftell and fseek can now be a
6338 *** the third argument to fcntl is now optional.
6340 *** the first argument to chown can now be a file descriptor or a port.
6342 *** the argument to stat can now be a port.
6344 *** The following new procedures have been added (most use scsh
6347 *** procedure: close PORT/FD
6348 Similar to close-port (*note close-port: Closing Ports.), but also
6349 works on file descriptors. A side effect of closing a file
6350 descriptor is that any ports using that file descriptor are moved
6351 to a different file descriptor and have their revealed counts set
6354 *** procedure: port->fdes PORT
6355 Returns the integer file descriptor underlying PORT. As a side
6356 effect the revealed count of PORT is incremented.
6358 *** procedure: fdes->ports FDES
6359 Returns a list of existing ports which have FDES as an underlying
6360 file descriptor, without changing their revealed counts.
6362 *** procedure: fdes->inport FDES
6363 Returns an existing input port which has FDES as its underlying
6364 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
6365 Otherwise, returns a new input port with a revealed count of 1.
6367 *** procedure: fdes->outport FDES
6368 Returns an existing output port which has FDES as its underlying
6369 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
6370 Otherwise, returns a new output port with a revealed count of 1.
6372 The next group of procedures perform a `dup2' system call, if NEWFD
6373 (an integer) is supplied, otherwise a `dup'. The file descriptor to be
6374 duplicated can be supplied as an integer or contained in a port. The
6375 type of value returned varies depending on which procedure is used.
6377 All procedures also have the side effect when performing `dup2' that
6378 any ports using NEWFD are moved to a different file descriptor and have
6379 their revealed counts set to zero.
6381 *** procedure: dup->fdes PORT/FD [NEWFD]
6382 Returns an integer file descriptor.
6384 *** procedure: dup->inport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
6385 Returns a new input port using the new file descriptor.
6387 *** procedure: dup->outport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
6388 Returns a new output port using the new file descriptor.
6390 *** procedure: dup PORT/FD [NEWFD]
6391 Returns a new port if PORT/FD is a port, with the same mode as the
6392 supplied port, otherwise returns an integer file descriptor.
6394 *** procedure: dup->port PORT/FD MODE [NEWFD]
6395 Returns a new port using the new file descriptor. MODE supplies a
6396 mode string for the port (*note open-file: File Ports.).
6398 *** procedure: setenv NAME VALUE
6399 Modifies the environment of the current process, which is also the
6400 default environment inherited by child processes.
6402 If VALUE is `#f', then NAME is removed from the environment.
6403 Otherwise, the string NAME=VALUE is added to the environment,
6404 replacing any existing string with name matching NAME.
6406 The return value is unspecified.
6408 *** procedure: truncate-file OBJ SIZE
6409 Truncates the file referred to by OBJ to at most SIZE bytes. OBJ
6410 can be a string containing a file name or an integer file
6411 descriptor or port open for output on the file. The underlying
6412 system calls are `truncate' and `ftruncate'.
6414 The return value is unspecified.
6416 *** procedure: setvbuf PORT MODE [SIZE]
6417 Set the buffering mode for PORT. MODE can be:
6425 block buffered, using a newly allocated buffer of SIZE bytes.
6426 However if SIZE is zero or unspecified, the port will be made
6429 This procedure should not be used after I/O has been performed with
6432 Ports are usually block buffered by default, with a default buffer
6433 size. Procedures e.g., *Note open-file: File Ports, which accept a
6434 mode string allow `0' to be added to request an unbuffered port.
6436 *** procedure: fsync PORT/FD
6437 Copies any unwritten data for the specified output file descriptor
6438 to disk. If PORT/FD is a port, its buffer is flushed before the
6439 underlying file descriptor is fsync'd. The return value is
6442 *** procedure: open-fdes PATH FLAGS [MODES]
6443 Similar to `open' but returns a file descriptor instead of a port.
6445 *** procedure: execle PATH ENV [ARG] ...
6446 Similar to `execl', but the environment of the new process is
6447 specified by ENV, which must be a list of strings as returned by
6448 the `environ' procedure.
6450 This procedure is currently implemented using the `execve' system
6451 call, but we call it `execle' because of its Scheme calling
6454 *** procedure: strerror ERRNO
6455 Returns the Unix error message corresponding to ERRNO, an integer.
6457 *** procedure: primitive-exit [STATUS]
6458 Terminate the current process without unwinding the Scheme stack.
6459 This is would typically be useful after a fork. The exit status
6460 is STATUS if supplied, otherwise zero.
6462 *** procedure: times
6463 Returns an object with information about real and processor time.
6464 The following procedures accept such an object as an argument and
6465 return a selected component:
6468 The current real time, expressed as time units relative to an
6472 The CPU time units used by the calling process.
6475 The CPU time units used by the system on behalf of the
6479 The CPU time units used by terminated child processes of the
6480 calling process, whose status has been collected (e.g., using
6484 Similarly, the CPU times units used by the system on behalf of
6485 terminated child processes.
6487 ** Removed: list-length
6488 ** Removed: list-append, list-append!
6489 ** Removed: list-reverse, list-reverse!
6491 ** array-map renamed to array-map!
6493 ** serial-array-map renamed to serial-array-map!
6495 ** catch doesn't take #f as first argument any longer
6497 Previously, it was possible to pass #f instead of a key to `catch'.
6498 That would cause `catch' to pass a jump buffer object to the procedure
6499 passed as second argument. The procedure could then use this jump
6500 buffer objekt as an argument to throw.
6502 This mechanism has been removed since its utility doesn't motivate the
6503 extra complexity it introduces.
6505 ** The `#/' notation for lists now provokes a warning message from Guile.
6506 This syntax will be removed from Guile in the near future.
6508 To disable the warning message, set the GUILE_HUSH environment
6509 variable to any non-empty value.
6511 ** The newline character now prints as `#\newline', following the
6512 normal Scheme notation, not `#\nl'.
6514 * Changes to the gh_ interface
6516 ** The gh_enter function now takes care of loading the Guile startup files.
6517 gh_enter works by calling scm_boot_guile; see the remarks below.
6519 ** Function: void gh_write (SCM x)
6521 Write the printed representation of the scheme object x to the current
6522 output port. Corresponds to the scheme level `write'.
6524 ** gh_list_length renamed to gh_length.
6526 ** vector handling routines
6528 Several major changes. In particular, gh_vector() now resembles
6529 (vector ...) (with a caveat -- see manual), and gh_make_vector() now
6530 exists and behaves like (make-vector ...). gh_vset() and gh_vref()
6531 have been renamed gh_vector_set_x() and gh_vector_ref(). Some missing
6532 vector-related gh_ functions have been implemented.
6534 ** pair and list routines
6536 Implemented several of the R4RS pair and list functions that were
6539 ** gh_scm2doubles, gh_doubles2scm, gh_doubles2dvect
6541 New function. Converts double arrays back and forth between Scheme
6544 * Changes to the scm_ interface
6546 ** The function scm_boot_guile now takes care of loading the startup files.
6548 Guile's primary initialization function, scm_boot_guile, now takes
6549 care of loading `boot-9.scm', in the `ice-9' module, to initialize
6550 Guile, define the module system, and put together some standard
6551 bindings. It also loads `init.scm', which is intended to hold
6552 site-specific initialization code.
6554 Since Guile cannot operate properly until boot-9.scm is loaded, there
6555 is no reason to separate loading boot-9.scm from Guile's other
6556 initialization processes.
6558 This job used to be done by scm_compile_shell_switches, which didn't
6559 make much sense; in particular, it meant that people using Guile for
6560 non-shell-like applications had to jump through hoops to get Guile
6561 initialized properly.
6563 ** The function scm_compile_shell_switches no longer loads the startup files.
6564 Now, Guile always loads the startup files, whenever it is initialized;
6565 see the notes above for scm_boot_guile and scm_load_startup_files.
6567 ** Function: scm_load_startup_files
6568 This new function takes care of loading Guile's initialization file
6569 (`boot-9.scm'), and the site initialization file, `init.scm'. Since
6570 this is always called by the Guile initialization process, it's
6571 probably not too useful to call this yourself, but it's there anyway.
6573 ** The semantics of smob marking have changed slightly.
6575 The smob marking function (the `mark' member of the scm_smobfuns
6576 structure) is no longer responsible for setting the mark bit on the
6577 smob. The generic smob handling code in the garbage collector will
6578 set this bit. The mark function need only ensure that any other
6579 objects the smob refers to get marked.
6581 Note that this change means that the smob's GC8MARK bit is typically
6582 already set upon entry to the mark function. Thus, marking functions
6583 which look like this:
6586 if (SCM_GC8MARKP (ptr))
6588 SCM_SETGC8MARK (ptr);
6589 ... mark objects to which the smob refers ...
6592 are now incorrect, since they will return early, and fail to mark any
6593 other objects the smob refers to. Some code in the Guile library used
6596 ** The semantics of the I/O port functions in scm_ptobfuns have changed.
6598 If you have implemented your own I/O port type, by writing the
6599 functions required by the scm_ptobfuns and then calling scm_newptob,
6600 you will need to change your functions slightly.
6602 The functions in a scm_ptobfuns structure now expect the port itself
6603 as their argument; they used to expect the `stream' member of the
6604 port's scm_port_table structure. This allows functions in an
6605 scm_ptobfuns structure to easily access the port's cell (and any flags
6606 it its CAR), and the port's scm_port_table structure.
6608 Guile now passes the I/O port itself as the `port' argument in the
6609 following scm_ptobfuns functions:
6611 int (*free) (SCM port);
6612 int (*fputc) (int, SCM port);
6613 int (*fputs) (char *, SCM port);
6614 scm_sizet (*fwrite) SCM_P ((char *ptr,
6618 int (*fflush) (SCM port);
6619 int (*fgetc) (SCM port);
6620 int (*fclose) (SCM port);
6622 The interfaces to the `mark', `print', `equalp', and `fgets' methods
6625 If you have existing code which defines its own port types, it is easy
6626 to convert your code to the new interface; simply apply SCM_STREAM to
6627 the port argument to yield the value you code used to expect.
6629 Note that since both the port and the stream have the same type in the
6630 C code --- they are both SCM values --- the C compiler will not remind
6631 you if you forget to update your scm_ptobfuns functions.
6634 ** Function: int scm_internal_select (int fds,
6638 struct timeval *timeout);
6640 This is a replacement for the `select' function provided by the OS.
6641 It enables I/O blocking and sleeping to happen for one cooperative
6642 thread without blocking other threads. It also avoids busy-loops in
6643 these situations. It is intended that all I/O blocking and sleeping
6644 will finally go through this function. Currently, this function is
6645 only available on systems providing `gettimeofday' and `select'.
6647 ** Function: SCM scm_internal_stack_catch (SCM tag,
6648 scm_catch_body_t body,
6650 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
6653 A new sibling to the other two C level `catch' functions
6654 scm_internal_catch and scm_internal_lazy_catch. Use it if you want
6655 the stack to be saved automatically into the variable `the-last-stack'
6656 (scm_the_last_stack_var) on error. This is necessary if you want to
6657 use advanced error reporting, such as calling scm_display_error and
6658 scm_display_backtrace. (They both take a stack object as argument.)
6660 ** Function: SCM scm_spawn_thread (scm_catch_body_t body,
6662 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
6665 Spawns a new thread. It does a job similar to
6666 scm_call_with_new_thread but takes arguments more suitable when
6667 spawning threads from application C code.
6669 ** The hook scm_error_callback has been removed. It was originally
6670 intended as a way for the user to install his own error handler. But
6671 that method works badly since it intervenes between throw and catch,
6672 thereby changing the semantics of expressions like (catch #t ...).
6673 The correct way to do it is to use one of the C level catch functions
6674 in throw.c: scm_internal_catch/lazy_catch/stack_catch.
6676 ** Removed functions:
6678 scm_obj_length, scm_list_length, scm_list_append, scm_list_append_x,
6679 scm_list_reverse, scm_list_reverse_x
6681 ** New macros: SCM_LISTn where n is one of the integers 0-9.
6683 These can be used for pretty list creation from C. The idea is taken
6684 from Erick Gallesio's STk.
6686 ** scm_array_map renamed to scm_array_map_x
6688 ** mbstrings are now removed
6690 This means that the type codes scm_tc7_mb_string and
6691 scm_tc7_mb_substring has been removed.
6693 ** scm_gen_putc, scm_gen_puts, scm_gen_write, and scm_gen_getc have changed.
6695 Since we no longer support multi-byte strings, these I/O functions
6696 have been simplified, and renamed. Here are their old names, and
6697 their new names and arguments:
6699 scm_gen_putc -> void scm_putc (int c, SCM port);
6700 scm_gen_puts -> void scm_puts (char *s, SCM port);
6701 scm_gen_write -> void scm_lfwrite (char *ptr, scm_sizet size, SCM port);
6702 scm_gen_getc -> void scm_getc (SCM port);
6705 ** The macros SCM_TYP7D and SCM_TYP7SD has been removed.
6707 ** The macro SCM_TYP7S has taken the role of the old SCM_TYP7D
6709 SCM_TYP7S now masks away the bit which distinguishes substrings from
6712 ** scm_catch_body_t: Backward incompatible change!
6714 Body functions to scm_internal_catch and friends do not any longer
6715 take a second argument. This is because it is no longer possible to
6716 pass a #f arg to catch.
6718 ** Calls to scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect now nest properly.
6720 The function scm_protect_object protects its argument from being freed
6721 by the garbage collector. scm_unprotect_object removes that
6724 These functions now nest properly. That is, for every object O, there
6725 is a counter which scm_protect_object(O) increments and
6726 scm_unprotect_object(O) decrements, if the counter is greater than
6727 zero. Every object's counter is zero when it is first created. If an
6728 object's counter is greater than zero, the garbage collector will not
6729 reclaim its storage.
6731 This allows you to use scm_protect_object in your code without
6732 worrying that some other function you call will call
6733 scm_unprotect_object, and allow it to be freed. Assuming that the
6734 functions you call are well-behaved, and unprotect only those objects
6735 they protect, you can follow the same rule and have confidence that
6736 objects will be freed only at appropriate times.
6739 Changes in Guile 1.2 (released Tuesday, June 24 1997):
6741 * Changes to the distribution
6743 ** Nightly snapshots are now available from ftp.red-bean.com.
6744 The old server, ftp.cyclic.com, has been relinquished to its rightful
6747 Nightly snapshots of the Guile development sources are now available via
6748 anonymous FTP from ftp.red-bean.com, as /pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz.
6750 Via the web, that's: ftp://ftp.red-bean.com/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
6751 For getit, that's: ftp.red-bean.com:/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
6753 ** To run Guile without installing it, the procedure has changed a bit.
6755 If you used a separate build directory to compile Guile, you'll need
6756 to include the build directory in SCHEME_LOAD_PATH, as well as the
6757 source directory. See the `INSTALL' file for examples.
6759 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
6761 ** The standard Guile load path for Scheme code now includes
6762 $(datadir)/guile (usually /usr/local/share/guile). This means that
6763 you can install your own Scheme files there, and Guile will find them.
6764 (Previous versions of Guile only checked a directory whose name
6765 contained the Guile version number, so you had to re-install or move
6766 your Scheme sources each time you installed a fresh version of Guile.)
6768 The load path also includes $(datadir)/guile/site; we recommend
6769 putting individual Scheme files there. If you want to install a
6770 package with multiple source files, create a directory for them under
6773 ** Guile 1.2 will now use the Rx regular expression library, if it is
6774 installed on your system. When you are linking libguile into your own
6775 programs, this means you will have to link against -lguile, -lqt (if
6776 you configured Guile with thread support), and -lrx.
6778 If you are using autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your
6779 application, the following lines should suffice to add the appropriate
6780 libraries to your link command:
6782 ### Find Rx, quickthreads and libguile.
6783 AC_CHECK_LIB(rx, main)
6784 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
6785 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
6787 The Guile 1.2 distribution does not contain sources for the Rx
6788 library, as Guile 1.0 did. If you want to use Rx, you'll need to
6789 retrieve it from a GNU FTP site and install it separately.
6791 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
6793 ** The dynamic linking features of Guile are now enabled by default.
6794 You can disable them by giving the `--disable-dynamic-linking' option
6797 (dynamic-link FILENAME)
6799 Find the object file denoted by FILENAME (a string) and link it
6800 into the running Guile application. When everything works out,
6801 return a Scheme object suitable for representing the linked object
6802 file. Otherwise an error is thrown. How object files are
6803 searched is system dependent.
6805 (dynamic-object? VAL)
6807 Determine whether VAL represents a dynamically linked object file.
6809 (dynamic-unlink DYNOBJ)
6811 Unlink the indicated object file from the application. DYNOBJ
6812 should be one of the values returned by `dynamic-link'.
6814 (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
6816 Search the C function indicated by FUNCTION (a string or symbol)
6817 in DYNOBJ and return some Scheme object that can later be used
6818 with `dynamic-call' to actually call this function. Right now,
6819 these Scheme objects are formed by casting the address of the
6820 function to `long' and converting this number to its Scheme
6823 (dynamic-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
6825 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ. The
6826 function is passed no arguments and its return value is ignored.
6827 When FUNCTION is something returned by `dynamic-func', call that
6828 function and ignore DYNOBJ. When FUNCTION is a string (or symbol,
6829 etc.), look it up in DYNOBJ; this is equivalent to
6831 (dynamic-call (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ) #f)
6833 Interrupts are deferred while the C function is executing (with
6834 SCM_DEFER_INTS/SCM_ALLOW_INTS).
6836 (dynamic-args-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ ARGS)
6838 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ, but pass it
6839 some arguments and return its return value. The C function is
6840 expected to take two arguments and return an `int', just like
6843 int c_func (int argc, char **argv);
6845 ARGS must be a list of strings and is converted into an array of
6846 `char *'. The array is passed in ARGV and its size in ARGC. The
6847 return value is converted to a Scheme number and returned from the
6848 call to `dynamic-args-call'.
6850 When dynamic linking is disabled or not supported on your system,
6851 the above functions throw errors, but they are still available.
6853 Here is a small example that works on GNU/Linux:
6855 (define libc-obj (dynamic-link "libc.so"))
6856 (dynamic-args-call 'rand libc-obj '())
6858 See the file `libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING' for additional comments.
6860 ** The #/ syntax for module names is depreciated, and will be removed
6861 in a future version of Guile. Instead of
6869 The latter syntax is more consistent with existing Lisp practice.
6871 ** Guile now does fancier printing of structures. Structures are the
6872 underlying implementation for records, which in turn are used to
6873 implement modules, so all of these object now print differently and in
6874 a more informative way.
6876 The Scheme printer will examine the builtin variable *struct-printer*
6877 whenever it needs to print a structure object. When this variable is
6878 not `#f' it is deemed to be a procedure and will be applied to the
6879 structure object and the output port. When *struct-printer* is `#f'
6880 or the procedure return `#f' the structure object will be printed in
6881 the boring #<struct 80458270> form.
6883 This hook is used by some routines in ice-9/boot-9.scm to implement
6884 type specific printing routines. Please read the comments there about
6887 One of the more specific uses of structs are records. The printing
6888 procedure that could be passed to MAKE-RECORD-TYPE is now actually
6889 called. It should behave like a *struct-printer* procedure (described
6892 ** Guile now supports a new R4RS-compliant syntax for keywords. A
6893 token of the form #:NAME, where NAME has the same syntax as a Scheme
6894 symbol, is the external representation of the keyword named NAME.
6895 Keyword objects print using this syntax as well, so values containing
6896 keyword objects can be read back into Guile. When used in an
6897 expression, keywords are self-quoting objects.
6899 Guile suports this read syntax, and uses this print syntax, regardless
6900 of the current setting of the `keyword' read option. The `keyword'
6901 read option only controls whether Guile recognizes the `:NAME' syntax,
6902 which is incompatible with R4RS. (R4RS says such token represent
6905 ** Guile has regular expression support again. Guile 1.0 included
6906 functions for matching regular expressions, based on the Rx library.
6907 In Guile 1.1, the Guile/Rx interface was removed to simplify the
6908 distribution, and thus Guile had no regular expression support. Guile
6909 1.2 again supports the most commonly used functions, and supports all
6910 of SCSH's regular expression functions.
6912 If your system does not include a POSIX regular expression library,
6913 and you have not linked Guile with a third-party regexp library such as
6914 Rx, these functions will not be available. You can tell whether your
6915 Guile installation includes regular expression support by checking
6916 whether the `*features*' list includes the `regex' symbol.
6918 *** regexp functions
6920 By default, Guile supports POSIX extended regular expressions. That
6921 means that the characters `(', `)', `+' and `?' are special, and must
6922 be escaped if you wish to match the literal characters.
6924 This regular expression interface was modeled after that implemented
6925 by SCSH, the Scheme Shell. It is intended to be upwardly compatible
6926 with SCSH regular expressions.
6928 **** Function: string-match PATTERN STR [START]
6929 Compile the string PATTERN into a regular expression and compare
6930 it with STR. The optional numeric argument START specifies the
6931 position of STR at which to begin matching.
6933 `string-match' returns a "match structure" which describes what,
6934 if anything, was matched by the regular expression. *Note Match
6935 Structures::. If STR does not match PATTERN at all,
6936 `string-match' returns `#f'.
6938 Each time `string-match' is called, it must compile its PATTERN
6939 argument into a regular expression structure. This operation is
6940 expensive, which makes `string-match' inefficient if the same regular
6941 expression is used several times (for example, in a loop). For better
6942 performance, you can compile a regular expression in advance and then
6943 match strings against the compiled regexp.
6945 **** Function: make-regexp STR [FLAGS]
6946 Compile the regular expression described by STR, and return the
6947 compiled regexp structure. If STR does not describe a legal
6948 regular expression, `make-regexp' throws a
6949 `regular-expression-syntax' error.
6951 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
6953 **** Constant: regexp/extended
6954 Use POSIX Extended Regular Expression syntax when interpreting
6955 STR. If not set, POSIX Basic Regular Expression syntax is used.
6956 If the FLAGS argument is omitted, we assume regexp/extended.
6958 **** Constant: regexp/icase
6959 Do not differentiate case. Subsequent searches using the
6960 returned regular expression will be case insensitive.
6962 **** Constant: regexp/newline
6963 Match-any-character operators don't match a newline.
6965 A non-matching list ([^...]) not containing a newline matches a
6968 Match-beginning-of-line operator (^) matches the empty string
6969 immediately after a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
6970 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/notbol.
6972 Match-end-of-line operator ($) matches the empty string
6973 immediately before a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
6974 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/noteol.
6976 **** Function: regexp-exec REGEXP STR [START [FLAGS]]
6977 Match the compiled regular expression REGEXP against `str'. If
6978 the optional integer START argument is provided, begin matching
6979 from that position in the string. Return a match structure
6980 describing the results of the match, or `#f' if no match could be
6983 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
6985 **** Constant: regexp/notbol
6986 The match-beginning-of-line operator always fails to match (but
6987 see the compilation flag regexp/newline above) This flag may be
6988 used when different portions of a string are passed to
6989 regexp-exec and the beginning of the string should not be
6990 interpreted as the beginning of the line.
6992 **** Constant: regexp/noteol
6993 The match-end-of-line operator always fails to match (but see the
6994 compilation flag regexp/newline above)
6996 **** Function: regexp? OBJ
6997 Return `#t' if OBJ is a compiled regular expression, or `#f'
7000 Regular expressions are commonly used to find patterns in one string
7001 and replace them with the contents of another string.
7003 **** Function: regexp-substitute PORT MATCH [ITEM...]
7004 Write to the output port PORT selected contents of the match
7005 structure MATCH. Each ITEM specifies what should be written, and
7006 may be one of the following arguments:
7008 * A string. String arguments are written out verbatim.
7010 * An integer. The submatch with that number is written.
7012 * The symbol `pre'. The portion of the matched string preceding
7013 the regexp match is written.
7015 * The symbol `post'. The portion of the matched string
7016 following the regexp match is written.
7018 PORT may be `#f', in which case nothing is written; instead,
7019 `regexp-substitute' constructs a string from the specified ITEMs
7022 **** Function: regexp-substitute/global PORT REGEXP TARGET [ITEM...]
7023 Similar to `regexp-substitute', but can be used to perform global
7024 substitutions on STR. Instead of taking a match structure as an
7025 argument, `regexp-substitute/global' takes two string arguments: a
7026 REGEXP string describing a regular expression, and a TARGET string
7027 which should be matched against this regular expression.
7029 Each ITEM behaves as in REGEXP-SUBSTITUTE, with the following
7032 * A function may be supplied. When this function is called, it
7033 will be passed one argument: a match structure for a given
7034 regular expression match. It should return a string to be
7035 written out to PORT.
7037 * The `post' symbol causes `regexp-substitute/global' to recurse
7038 on the unmatched portion of STR. This *must* be supplied in
7039 order to perform global search-and-replace on STR; if it is
7040 not present among the ITEMs, then `regexp-substitute/global'
7041 will return after processing a single match.
7043 *** Match Structures
7045 A "match structure" is the object returned by `string-match' and
7046 `regexp-exec'. It describes which portion of a string, if any, matched
7047 the given regular expression. Match structures include: a reference to
7048 the string that was checked for matches; the starting and ending
7049 positions of the regexp match; and, if the regexp included any
7050 parenthesized subexpressions, the starting and ending positions of each
7053 In each of the regexp match functions described below, the `match'
7054 argument must be a match structure returned by a previous call to
7055 `string-match' or `regexp-exec'. Most of these functions return some
7056 information about the original target string that was matched against a
7057 regular expression; we will call that string TARGET for easy reference.
7059 **** Function: regexp-match? OBJ
7060 Return `#t' if OBJ is a match structure returned by a previous
7061 call to `regexp-exec', or `#f' otherwise.
7063 **** Function: match:substring MATCH [N]
7064 Return the portion of TARGET matched by subexpression number N.
7065 Submatch 0 (the default) represents the entire regexp match. If
7066 the regular expression as a whole matched, but the subexpression
7067 number N did not match, return `#f'.
7069 **** Function: match:start MATCH [N]
7070 Return the starting position of submatch number N.
7072 **** Function: match:end MATCH [N]
7073 Return the ending position of submatch number N.
7075 **** Function: match:prefix MATCH
7076 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET preceding the regexp match.
7078 **** Function: match:suffix MATCH
7079 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET following the regexp match.
7081 **** Function: match:count MATCH
7082 Return the number of parenthesized subexpressions from MATCH.
7083 Note that the entire regular expression match itself counts as a
7084 subexpression, and failed submatches are included in the count.
7086 **** Function: match:string MATCH
7087 Return the original TARGET string.
7089 *** Backslash Escapes
7091 Sometimes you will want a regexp to match characters like `*' or `$'
7092 exactly. For example, to check whether a particular string represents
7093 a menu entry from an Info node, it would be useful to match it against
7094 a regexp like `^* [^:]*::'. However, this won't work; because the
7095 asterisk is a metacharacter, it won't match the `*' at the beginning of
7096 the string. In this case, we want to make the first asterisk un-magic.
7098 You can do this by preceding the metacharacter with a backslash
7099 character `\'. (This is also called "quoting" the metacharacter, and
7100 is known as a "backslash escape".) When Guile sees a backslash in a
7101 regular expression, it considers the following glyph to be an ordinary
7102 character, no matter what special meaning it would ordinarily have.
7103 Therefore, we can make the above example work by changing the regexp to
7104 `^\* [^:]*::'. The `\*' sequence tells the regular expression engine
7105 to match only a single asterisk in the target string.
7107 Since the backslash is itself a metacharacter, you may force a
7108 regexp to match a backslash in the target string by preceding the
7109 backslash with itself. For example, to find variable references in a
7110 TeX program, you might want to find occurrences of the string `\let\'
7111 followed by any number of alphabetic characters. The regular expression
7112 `\\let\\[A-Za-z]*' would do this: the double backslashes in the regexp
7113 each match a single backslash in the target string.
7115 **** Function: regexp-quote STR
7116 Quote each special character found in STR with a backslash, and
7117 return the resulting string.
7119 *Very important:* Using backslash escapes in Guile source code (as
7120 in Emacs Lisp or C) can be tricky, because the backslash character has
7121 special meaning for the Guile reader. For example, if Guile encounters
7122 the character sequence `\n' in the middle of a string while processing
7123 Scheme code, it replaces those characters with a newline character.
7124 Similarly, the character sequence `\t' is replaced by a horizontal tab.
7125 Several of these "escape sequences" are processed by the Guile reader
7126 before your code is executed. Unrecognized escape sequences are
7127 ignored: if the characters `\*' appear in a string, they will be
7128 translated to the single character `*'.
7130 This translation is obviously undesirable for regular expressions,
7131 since we want to be able to include backslashes in a string in order to
7132 escape regexp metacharacters. Therefore, to make sure that a backslash
7133 is preserved in a string in your Guile program, you must use *two*
7134 consecutive backslashes:
7136 (define Info-menu-entry-pattern (make-regexp "^\\* [^:]*"))
7138 The string in this example is preprocessed by the Guile reader before
7139 any code is executed. The resulting argument to `make-regexp' is the
7140 string `^\* [^:]*', which is what we really want.
7142 This also means that in order to write a regular expression that
7143 matches a single backslash character, the regular expression string in
7144 the source code must include *four* backslashes. Each consecutive pair
7145 of backslashes gets translated by the Guile reader to a single
7146 backslash, and the resulting double-backslash is interpreted by the
7147 regexp engine as matching a single backslash character. Hence:
7149 (define tex-variable-pattern (make-regexp "\\\\let\\\\=[A-Za-z]*"))
7151 The reason for the unwieldiness of this syntax is historical. Both
7152 regular expression pattern matchers and Unix string processing systems
7153 have traditionally used backslashes with the special meanings described
7154 above. The POSIX regular expression specification and ANSI C standard
7155 both require these semantics. Attempting to abandon either convention
7156 would cause other kinds of compatibility problems, possibly more severe
7157 ones. Therefore, without extending the Scheme reader to support
7158 strings with different quoting conventions (an ungainly and confusing
7159 extension when implemented in other languages), we must adhere to this
7160 cumbersome escape syntax.
7162 * Changes to the gh_ interface
7164 * Changes to the scm_ interface
7166 * Changes to system call interfaces:
7168 ** The value returned by `raise' is now unspecified. It throws an exception
7171 *** A new procedure `sigaction' can be used to install signal handlers
7173 (sigaction signum [action] [flags])
7175 signum is the signal number, which can be specified using the value
7178 If action is omitted, sigaction returns a pair: the CAR is the current
7179 signal hander, which will be either an integer with the value SIG_DFL
7180 (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or the Scheme procedure which
7181 handles the signal, or #f if a non-Scheme procedure handles the
7182 signal. The CDR contains the current sigaction flags for the handler.
7184 If action is provided, it is installed as the new handler for signum.
7185 action can be a Scheme procedure taking one argument, or the value of
7186 SIG_DFL (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or #f to restore
7187 whatever signal handler was installed before sigaction was first used.
7188 Flags can optionally be specified for the new handler (SA_RESTART is
7189 always used if the system provides it, so need not be specified.) The
7190 return value is a pair with information about the old handler as
7193 This interface does not provide access to the "signal blocking"
7194 facility. Maybe this is not needed, since the thread support may
7195 provide solutions to the problem of consistent access to data
7198 *** A new procedure `flush-all-ports' is equivalent to running
7199 `force-output' on every port open for output.
7201 ** Guile now provides information on how it was built, via the new
7202 global variable, %guile-build-info. This variable records the values
7203 of the standard GNU makefile directory variables as an assocation
7204 list, mapping variable names (symbols) onto directory paths (strings).
7205 For example, to find out where the Guile link libraries were
7206 installed, you can say:
7208 guile -c "(display (assq-ref %guile-build-info 'libdir)) (newline)"
7211 * Changes to the scm_ interface
7213 ** The new function scm_handle_by_message_noexit is just like the
7214 existing scm_handle_by_message function, except that it doesn't call
7215 exit to terminate the process. Instead, it prints a message and just
7216 returns #f. This might be a more appropriate catch-all handler for
7217 new dynamic roots and threads.
7220 Changes in Guile 1.1 (released Friday, May 16 1997):
7222 * Changes to the distribution.
7224 The Guile 1.0 distribution has been split up into several smaller
7226 guile-core --- the Guile interpreter itself.
7227 guile-tcltk --- the interface between the Guile interpreter and
7228 Tcl/Tk; Tcl is an interpreter for a stringy language, and Tk
7229 is a toolkit for building graphical user interfaces.
7230 guile-rgx-ctax --- the interface between Guile and the Rx regular
7231 expression matcher, and the translator for the Ctax
7232 programming language. These are packaged together because the
7233 Ctax translator uses Rx to parse Ctax source code.
7235 This NEWS file describes the changes made to guile-core since the 1.0
7238 We no longer distribute the documentation, since it was either out of
7239 date, or incomplete. As soon as we have current documentation, we
7244 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
7246 ** guile now accepts command-line arguments compatible with SCSH, Olin
7247 Shivers' Scheme Shell.
7249 In general, arguments are evaluated from left to right, but there are
7250 exceptions. The following switches stop argument processing, and
7251 stash all remaining command-line arguments as the value returned by
7252 the (command-line) function.
7253 -s SCRIPT load Scheme source code from FILE, and exit
7254 -c EXPR evalute Scheme expression EXPR, and exit
7255 -- stop scanning arguments; run interactively
7257 The switches below are processed as they are encountered.
7258 -l FILE load Scheme source code from FILE
7259 -e FUNCTION after reading script, apply FUNCTION to
7260 command line arguments
7261 -ds do -s script at this point
7262 --emacs enable Emacs protocol (experimental)
7263 -h, --help display this help and exit
7264 -v, --version display version information and exit
7265 \ read arguments from following script lines
7267 So, for example, here is a Guile script named `ekko' (thanks, Olin)
7268 which re-implements the traditional "echo" command:
7270 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
7273 (map (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
7277 (main (command-line))
7279 Suppose we invoke this script as follows:
7281 ekko a speckled gecko
7283 Through the magic of Unix script processing (triggered by the `#!'
7284 token at the top of the file), /usr/local/bin/guile receives the
7285 following list of command-line arguments:
7287 ("-s" "./ekko" "a" "speckled" "gecko")
7289 Unix inserts the name of the script after the argument specified on
7290 the first line of the file (in this case, "-s"), and then follows that
7291 with the arguments given to the script. Guile loads the script, which
7292 defines the `main' function, and then applies it to the list of
7293 remaining command-line arguments, ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
7295 In Unix, the first line of a script file must take the following form:
7297 #!INTERPRETER ARGUMENT
7299 where INTERPRETER is the absolute filename of the interpreter
7300 executable, and ARGUMENT is a single command-line argument to pass to
7303 You may only pass one argument to the interpreter, and its length is
7304 limited. These restrictions can be annoying to work around, so Guile
7305 provides a general mechanism (borrowed from, and compatible with,
7306 SCSH) for circumventing them.
7308 If the ARGUMENT in a Guile script is a single backslash character,
7309 `\', Guile will open the script file, parse arguments from its second
7310 and subsequent lines, and replace the `\' with them. So, for example,
7311 here is another implementation of the `ekko' script:
7313 #!/usr/local/bin/guile \
7317 (for-each (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
7321 If the user invokes this script as follows:
7323 ekko a speckled gecko
7325 Unix expands this into
7327 /usr/local/bin/guile \ ekko a speckled gecko
7329 When Guile sees the `\' argument, it replaces it with the arguments
7330 read from the second line of the script, producing:
7332 /usr/local/bin/guile -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
7334 This tells Guile to load the `ekko' script, and apply the function
7335 `main' to the argument list ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
7337 Here is how Guile parses the command-line arguments:
7338 - Each space character terminates an argument. This means that two
7339 spaces in a row introduce an empty-string argument.
7340 - The tab character is not permitted (unless you quote it with the
7341 backslash character, as described below), to avoid confusion.
7342 - The newline character terminates the sequence of arguments, and will
7343 also terminate a final non-empty argument. (However, a newline
7344 following a space will not introduce a final empty-string argument;
7345 it only terminates the argument list.)
7346 - The backslash character is the escape character. It escapes
7347 backslash, space, tab, and newline. The ANSI C escape sequences
7348 like \n and \t are also supported. These produce argument
7349 constituents; the two-character combination \n doesn't act like a
7350 terminating newline. The escape sequence \NNN for exactly three
7351 octal digits reads as the character whose ASCII code is NNN. As
7352 above, characters produced this way are argument constituents.
7353 Backslash followed by other characters is not allowed.
7355 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
7357 ** Guile now builds and installs a shared guile library, if your
7358 system support shared libraries. (It still builds a static library on
7359 all systems.) Guile automatically detects whether your system
7360 supports shared libraries. To prevent Guile from buildisg shared
7361 libraries, pass the `--disable-shared' flag to the configure script.
7363 Guile takes longer to compile when it builds shared libraries, because
7364 it must compile every file twice --- once to produce position-
7365 independent object code, and once to produce normal object code.
7367 ** The libthreads library has been merged into libguile.
7369 To link a program against Guile, you now need only link against
7370 -lguile and -lqt; -lthreads is no longer needed. If you are using
7371 autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your application, the
7372 following lines should suffice to add the appropriate libraries to
7375 ### Find quickthreads and libguile.
7376 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
7377 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
7379 * Changes to Scheme functions
7381 ** Guile Scheme's special syntax for keyword objects is now optional,
7382 and disabled by default.
7384 The syntax variation from R4RS made it difficult to port some
7385 interesting packages to Guile. The routines which accepted keyword
7386 arguments (mostly in the module system) have been modified to also
7387 accept symbols whose names begin with `:'.
7389 To change the keyword syntax, you must first import the (ice-9 debug)
7391 (use-modules (ice-9 debug))
7393 Then you can enable the keyword syntax as follows:
7394 (read-set! keywords 'prefix)
7396 To disable keyword syntax, do this:
7397 (read-set! keywords #f)
7399 ** Many more primitive functions accept shared substrings as
7400 arguments. In the past, these functions required normal, mutable
7401 strings as arguments, although they never made use of this
7404 ** The uniform array functions now operate on byte vectors. These
7405 functions are `array-fill!', `serial-array-copy!', `array-copy!',
7406 `serial-array-map', `array-map', `array-for-each', and
7409 ** The new functions `trace' and `untrace' implement simple debugging
7410 support for Scheme functions.
7412 The `trace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
7413 and tells the Guile interpreter to display each procedure's name and
7414 arguments each time the procedure is invoked. When invoked with no
7415 arguments, `trace' returns the list of procedures currently being
7418 The `untrace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
7419 and tells the Guile interpreter not to trace them any more. When
7420 invoked with no arguments, `untrace' untraces all curretly traced
7423 The tracing in Guile has an advantage over most other systems: we
7424 don't create new procedure objects, but mark the procedure objects
7425 themselves. This means that anonymous and internal procedures can be
7428 ** The function `assert-repl-prompt' has been renamed to
7429 `set-repl-prompt!'. It takes one argument, PROMPT.
7430 - If PROMPT is #f, the Guile read-eval-print loop will not prompt.
7431 - If PROMPT is a string, we use it as a prompt.
7432 - If PROMPT is a procedure accepting no arguments, we call it, and
7433 display the result as a prompt.
7434 - Otherwise, we display "> ".
7436 ** The new function `eval-string' reads Scheme expressions from a
7437 string and evaluates them, returning the value of the last expression
7438 in the string. If the string contains no expressions, it returns an
7441 ** The new function `thunk?' returns true iff its argument is a
7442 procedure of zero arguments.
7444 ** `defined?' is now a builtin function, instead of syntax. This
7445 means that its argument should be quoted. It returns #t iff its
7446 argument is bound in the current module.
7448 ** The new syntax `use-modules' allows you to add new modules to your
7449 environment without re-typing a complete `define-module' form. It
7450 accepts any number of module names as arguments, and imports their
7451 public bindings into the current module.
7453 ** The new function (module-defined? NAME MODULE) returns true iff
7454 NAME, a symbol, is defined in MODULE, a module object.
7456 ** The new function `builtin-bindings' creates and returns a hash
7457 table containing copies of all the root module's bindings.
7459 ** The new function `builtin-weak-bindings' does the same as
7460 `builtin-bindings', but creates a doubly-weak hash table.
7462 ** The `equal?' function now considers variable objects to be
7463 equivalent if they have the same name and the same value.
7465 ** The new function `command-line' returns the command-line arguments
7466 given to Guile, as a list of strings.
7468 When using guile as a script interpreter, `command-line' returns the
7469 script's arguments; those processed by the interpreter (like `-s' or
7470 `-c') are omitted. (In other words, you get the normal, expected
7471 behavior.) Any application that uses scm_shell to process its
7472 command-line arguments gets this behavior as well.
7474 ** The new function `load-user-init' looks for a file called `.guile'
7475 in the user's home directory, and loads it if it exists. This is
7476 mostly for use by the code generated by scm_compile_shell_switches,
7477 but we thought it might also be useful in other circumstances.
7479 ** The new function `log10' returns the base-10 logarithm of its
7482 ** Changes to I/O functions
7484 *** The functions `read', `primitive-load', `read-and-eval!', and
7485 `primitive-load-path' no longer take optional arguments controlling
7486 case insensitivity and a `#' parser.
7488 Case sensitivity is now controlled by a read option called
7489 `case-insensitive'. The user can add new `#' syntaxes with the
7490 `read-hash-extend' function (see below).
7492 *** The new function `read-hash-extend' allows the user to change the
7493 syntax of Guile Scheme in a somewhat controlled way.
7495 (read-hash-extend CHAR PROC)
7496 When parsing S-expressions, if we read a `#' character followed by
7497 the character CHAR, use PROC to parse an object from the stream.
7498 If PROC is #f, remove any parsing procedure registered for CHAR.
7500 The reader applies PROC to two arguments: CHAR and an input port.
7502 *** The new functions read-delimited and read-delimited! provide a
7503 general mechanism for doing delimited input on streams.
7505 (read-delimited DELIMS [PORT HANDLE-DELIM])
7506 Read until we encounter one of the characters in DELIMS (a string),
7507 or end-of-file. PORT is the input port to read from; it defaults to
7508 the current input port. The HANDLE-DELIM parameter determines how
7509 the terminating character is handled; it should be one of the
7512 'trim omit delimiter from result
7513 'peek leave delimiter character in input stream
7514 'concat append delimiter character to returned value
7515 'split return a pair: (RESULT . TERMINATOR)
7517 HANDLE-DELIM defaults to 'peek.
7519 (read-delimited! DELIMS BUF [PORT HANDLE-DELIM START END])
7520 A side-effecting variant of `read-delimited'.
7522 The data is written into the string BUF at the indices in the
7523 half-open interval [START, END); the default interval is the whole
7524 string: START = 0 and END = (string-length BUF). The values of
7525 START and END must specify a well-defined interval in BUF, i.e.
7526 0 <= START <= END <= (string-length BUF).
7528 It returns NBYTES, the number of bytes read. If the buffer filled
7529 up without a delimiter character being found, it returns #f. If the
7530 port is at EOF when the read starts, it returns the EOF object.
7532 If an integer is returned (i.e., the read is successfully terminated
7533 by reading a delimiter character), then the HANDLE-DELIM parameter
7534 determines how to handle the terminating character. It is described
7535 above, and defaults to 'peek.
7537 (The descriptions of these functions were borrowed from the SCSH
7538 manual, by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
7540 *** The `%read-delimited!' function is the primitive used to implement
7541 `read-delimited' and `read-delimited!'.
7543 (%read-delimited! DELIMS BUF GOBBLE? [PORT START END])
7545 This returns a pair of values: (TERMINATOR . NUM-READ).
7546 - TERMINATOR describes why the read was terminated. If it is a
7547 character or the eof object, then that is the value that terminated
7548 the read. If it is #f, the function filled the buffer without finding
7549 a delimiting character.
7550 - NUM-READ is the number of characters read into BUF.
7552 If the read is successfully terminated by reading a delimiter
7553 character, then the gobble? parameter determines what to do with the
7554 terminating character. If true, the character is removed from the
7555 input stream; if false, the character is left in the input stream
7556 where a subsequent read operation will retrieve it. In either case,
7557 the character is also the first value returned by the procedure call.
7559 (The descriptions of this function was borrowed from the SCSH manual,
7560 by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
7562 *** The `read-line' and `read-line!' functions have changed; they now
7563 trim the terminator by default; previously they appended it to the
7564 returned string. For the old behavior, use (read-line PORT 'concat).
7566 *** The functions `uniform-array-read!' and `uniform-array-write!' now
7567 take new optional START and END arguments, specifying the region of
7568 the array to read and write.
7570 *** The `ungetc-char-ready?' function has been removed. We feel it's
7571 inappropriate for an interface to expose implementation details this
7574 ** Changes to the Unix library and system call interface
7576 *** The new fcntl function provides access to the Unix `fcntl' system
7579 (fcntl PORT COMMAND VALUE)
7580 Apply COMMAND to PORT's file descriptor, with VALUE as an argument.
7581 Values for COMMAND are:
7583 F_DUPFD duplicate a file descriptor
7584 F_GETFD read the descriptor's close-on-exec flag
7585 F_SETFD set the descriptor's close-on-exec flag to VALUE
7586 F_GETFL read the descriptor's flags, as set on open
7587 F_SETFL set the descriptor's flags, as set on open to VALUE
7588 F_GETOWN return the process ID of a socket's owner, for SIGIO
7589 F_SETOWN set the process that owns a socket to VALUE, for SIGIO
7590 FD_CLOEXEC not sure what this is
7592 For details, see the documentation for the fcntl system call.
7594 *** The arguments to `select' have changed, for compatibility with
7595 SCSH. The TIMEOUT parameter may now be non-integral, yielding the
7596 expected behavior. The MILLISECONDS parameter has been changed to
7597 MICROSECONDS, to more closely resemble the underlying system call.
7598 The RVEC, WVEC, and EVEC arguments can now be vectors; the type of the
7599 corresponding return set will be the same.
7601 *** The arguments to the `mknod' system call have changed. They are
7604 (mknod PATH TYPE PERMS DEV)
7605 Create a new file (`node') in the file system. PATH is the name of
7606 the file to create. TYPE is the kind of file to create; it should
7607 be 'fifo, 'block-special, or 'char-special. PERMS specifies the
7608 permission bits to give the newly created file. If TYPE is
7609 'block-special or 'char-special, DEV specifies which device the
7610 special file refers to; its interpretation depends on the kind of
7611 special file being created.
7613 *** The `fork' function has been renamed to `primitive-fork', to avoid
7614 clashing with various SCSH forks.
7616 *** The `recv' and `recvfrom' functions have been renamed to `recv!'
7617 and `recvfrom!'. They no longer accept a size for a second argument;
7618 you must pass a string to hold the received value. They no longer
7619 return the buffer. Instead, `recv' returns the length of the message
7620 received, and `recvfrom' returns a pair containing the packet's length
7621 and originating address.
7623 *** The file descriptor datatype has been removed, as have the
7624 `read-fd', `write-fd', `close', `lseek', and `dup' functions.
7625 We plan to replace these functions with a SCSH-compatible interface.
7627 *** The `create' function has been removed; it's just a special case
7630 *** There are new functions to break down process termination status
7631 values. In the descriptions below, STATUS is a value returned by
7634 (status:exit-val STATUS)
7635 If the child process exited normally, this function returns the exit
7636 code for the child process (i.e., the value passed to exit, or
7637 returned from main). If the child process did not exit normally,
7638 this function returns #f.
7640 (status:stop-sig STATUS)
7641 If the child process was suspended by a signal, this function
7642 returns the signal that suspended the child. Otherwise, it returns
7645 (status:term-sig STATUS)
7646 If the child process terminated abnormally, this function returns
7647 the signal that terminated the child. Otherwise, this function
7650 POSIX promises that exactly one of these functions will return true on
7651 a valid STATUS value.
7653 These functions are compatible with SCSH.
7655 *** There are new accessors and setters for the broken-out time vectors
7656 returned by `localtime', `gmtime', and that ilk. They are:
7658 Component Accessor Setter
7659 ========================= ============ ============
7660 seconds tm:sec set-tm:sec
7661 minutes tm:min set-tm:min
7662 hours tm:hour set-tm:hour
7663 day of the month tm:mday set-tm:mday
7664 month tm:mon set-tm:mon
7665 year tm:year set-tm:year
7666 day of the week tm:wday set-tm:wday
7667 day in the year tm:yday set-tm:yday
7668 daylight saving time tm:isdst set-tm:isdst
7669 GMT offset, seconds tm:gmtoff set-tm:gmtoff
7670 name of time zone tm:zone set-tm:zone
7672 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `uname',
7673 describing the host system:
7676 ============================================== ================
7677 name of the operating system implementation utsname:sysname
7678 network name of this machine utsname:nodename
7679 release level of the operating system utsname:release
7680 version level of the operating system utsname:version
7681 machine hardware platform utsname:machine
7683 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getpw',
7684 `getpwnam', `getpwuid', and `getpwent', describing entries from the
7685 system's user database:
7688 ====================== =================
7689 user name passwd:name
7690 user password passwd:passwd
7693 real name passwd:gecos
7694 home directory passwd:dir
7695 shell program passwd:shell
7697 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getgr',
7698 `getgrnam', `getgrgid', and `getgrent', describing entries from the
7699 system's group database:
7702 ======================= ============
7703 group name group:name
7704 group password group:passwd
7706 group members group:mem
7708 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `gethost',
7709 `gethostbyaddr', `gethostbyname', and `gethostent', describing
7713 ========================= ===============
7714 official name of host hostent:name
7715 alias list hostent:aliases
7716 host address type hostent:addrtype
7717 length of address hostent:length
7718 list of addresses hostent:addr-list
7720 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getnet',
7721 `getnetbyaddr', `getnetbyname', and `getnetent', describing internet
7725 ========================= ===============
7726 official name of net netent:name
7727 alias list netent:aliases
7728 net number type netent:addrtype
7729 net number netent:net
7731 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getproto',
7732 `getprotobyname', `getprotobynumber', and `getprotoent', describing
7736 ========================= ===============
7737 official protocol name protoent:name
7738 alias list protoent:aliases
7739 protocol number protoent:proto
7741 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getserv',
7742 `getservbyname', `getservbyport', and `getservent', describing
7746 ========================= ===============
7747 official service name servent:name
7748 alias list servent:aliases
7749 port number servent:port
7750 protocol to use servent:proto
7752 *** There are new accessors for the sockaddr structures returned by
7753 `accept', `getsockname', `getpeername', `recvfrom!':
7756 ======================================== ===============
7757 address format (`family') sockaddr:fam
7758 path, for file domain addresses sockaddr:path
7759 address, for internet domain addresses sockaddr:addr
7760 TCP or UDP port, for internet sockaddr:port
7762 *** The `getpwent', `getgrent', `gethostent', `getnetent',
7763 `getprotoent', and `getservent' functions now return #f at the end of
7764 the user database. (They used to throw an exception.)
7766 Note that calling MUMBLEent function is equivalent to calling the
7767 corresponding MUMBLE function with no arguments.
7769 *** The `setpwent', `setgrent', `sethostent', `setnetent',
7770 `setprotoent', and `setservent' routines now take no arguments.
7772 *** The `gethost', `getproto', `getnet', and `getserv' functions now
7773 provide more useful information when they throw an exception.
7775 *** The `lnaof' function has been renamed to `inet-lnaof'.
7777 *** Guile now claims to have the `current-time' feature.
7779 *** The `mktime' function now takes an optional second argument ZONE,
7780 giving the time zone to use for the conversion. ZONE should be a
7781 string, in the same format as expected for the "TZ" environment variable.
7783 *** The `strptime' function now returns a pair (TIME . COUNT), where
7784 TIME is the parsed time as a vector, and COUNT is the number of
7785 characters from the string left unparsed. This function used to
7786 return the remaining characters as a string.
7788 *** The `gettimeofday' function has replaced the old `time+ticks' function.
7789 The return value is now (SECONDS . MICROSECONDS); the fractional
7790 component is no longer expressed in "ticks".
7792 *** The `ticks/sec' constant has been removed, in light of the above change.
7794 * Changes to the gh_ interface
7796 ** gh_eval_str() now returns an SCM object which is the result of the
7799 ** gh_scm2str() now copies the Scheme data to a caller-provided C
7802 ** gh_scm2newstr() now makes a C array, copies the Scheme data to it,
7803 and returns the array
7805 ** gh_scm2str0() is gone: there is no need to distinguish
7806 null-terminated from non-null-terminated, since gh_scm2newstr() allows
7807 the user to interpret the data both ways.
7809 * Changes to the scm_ interface
7811 ** The new function scm_symbol_value0 provides an easy way to get a
7812 symbol's value from C code:
7814 SCM scm_symbol_value0 (char *NAME)
7815 Return the value of the symbol named by the null-terminated string
7816 NAME in the current module. If the symbol named NAME is unbound in
7817 the current module, return SCM_UNDEFINED.
7819 ** The new function scm_sysintern0 creates new top-level variables,
7820 without assigning them a value.
7822 SCM scm_sysintern0 (char *NAME)
7823 Create a new Scheme top-level variable named NAME. NAME is a
7824 null-terminated string. Return the variable's value cell.
7826 ** The function scm_internal_catch is the guts of catch. It handles
7827 all the mechanics of setting up a catch target, invoking the catch
7828 body, and perhaps invoking the handler if the body does a throw.
7830 The function is designed to be usable from C code, but is general
7831 enough to implement all the semantics Guile Scheme expects from throw.
7833 TAG is the catch tag. Typically, this is a symbol, but this function
7834 doesn't actually care about that.
7836 BODY is a pointer to a C function which runs the body of the catch;
7837 this is the code you can throw from. We call it like this:
7838 BODY (BODY_DATA, JMPBUF)
7840 BODY_DATA is just the BODY_DATA argument we received; we pass it
7841 through to BODY as its first argument. The caller can make
7842 BODY_DATA point to anything useful that BODY might need.
7843 JMPBUF is the Scheme jmpbuf object corresponding to this catch,
7844 which we have just created and initialized.
7846 HANDLER is a pointer to a C function to deal with a throw to TAG,
7847 should one occur. We call it like this:
7848 HANDLER (HANDLER_DATA, THROWN_TAG, THROW_ARGS)
7850 HANDLER_DATA is the HANDLER_DATA argument we recevied; it's the
7851 same idea as BODY_DATA above.
7852 THROWN_TAG is the tag that the user threw to; usually this is
7853 TAG, but it could be something else if TAG was #t (i.e., a
7854 catch-all), or the user threw to a jmpbuf.
7855 THROW_ARGS is the list of arguments the user passed to the THROW
7858 BODY_DATA is just a pointer we pass through to BODY. HANDLER_DATA
7859 is just a pointer we pass through to HANDLER. We don't actually
7860 use either of those pointers otherwise ourselves. The idea is
7861 that, if our caller wants to communicate something to BODY or
7862 HANDLER, it can pass a pointer to it as MUMBLE_DATA, which BODY and
7863 HANDLER can then use. Think of it as a way to make BODY and
7864 HANDLER closures, not just functions; MUMBLE_DATA points to the
7867 Of course, it's up to the caller to make sure that any data a
7868 MUMBLE_DATA needs is protected from GC. A common way to do this is
7869 to make MUMBLE_DATA a pointer to data stored in an automatic
7870 structure variable; since the collector must scan the stack for
7871 references anyway, this assures that any references in MUMBLE_DATA
7874 ** The new function scm_internal_lazy_catch is exactly like
7875 scm_internal_catch, except:
7877 - It does not unwind the stack (this is the major difference).
7878 - If handler returns, its value is returned from the throw.
7879 - BODY always receives #f as its JMPBUF argument (since there's no
7880 jmpbuf associated with a lazy catch, because we don't unwind the
7883 ** scm_body_thunk is a new body function you can pass to
7884 scm_internal_catch if you want the body to be like Scheme's `catch'
7885 --- a thunk, or a function of one argument if the tag is #f.
7887 BODY_DATA is a pointer to a scm_body_thunk_data structure, which
7888 contains the Scheme procedure to invoke as the body, and the tag
7889 we're catching. If the tag is #f, then we pass JMPBUF (created by
7890 scm_internal_catch) to the body procedure; otherwise, the body gets
7893 ** scm_handle_by_proc is a new handler function you can pass to
7894 scm_internal_catch if you want the handler to act like Scheme's catch
7895 --- call a procedure with the tag and the throw arguments.
7897 If the user does a throw to this catch, this function runs a handler
7898 procedure written in Scheme. HANDLER_DATA is a pointer to an SCM
7899 variable holding the Scheme procedure object to invoke. It ought to
7900 be a pointer to an automatic variable (i.e., one living on the stack),
7901 or the procedure object should be otherwise protected from GC.
7903 ** scm_handle_by_message is a new handler function to use with
7904 `scm_internal_catch' if you want Guile to print a message and die.
7905 It's useful for dealing with throws to uncaught keys at the top level.
7907 HANDLER_DATA, if non-zero, is assumed to be a char * pointing to a
7908 message header to print; if zero, we use "guile" instead. That
7909 text is followed by a colon, then the message described by ARGS.
7911 ** The return type of scm_boot_guile is now void; the function does
7912 not return a value, and indeed, never returns at all.
7914 ** The new function scm_shell makes it easy for user applications to
7915 process command-line arguments in a way that is compatible with the
7916 stand-alone guile interpreter (which is in turn compatible with SCSH,
7919 To use the scm_shell function, first initialize any guile modules
7920 linked into your application, and then call scm_shell with the values
7921 of ARGC and ARGV your `main' function received. scm_shell will add
7922 any SCSH-style meta-arguments from the top of the script file to the
7923 argument vector, and then process the command-line arguments. This
7924 generally means loading a script file or starting up an interactive
7925 command interpreter. For details, see "Changes to the stand-alone
7928 ** The new functions scm_get_meta_args and scm_count_argv help you
7929 implement the SCSH-style meta-argument, `\'.
7931 char **scm_get_meta_args (int ARGC, char **ARGV)
7932 If the second element of ARGV is a string consisting of a single
7933 backslash character (i.e. "\\" in Scheme notation), open the file
7934 named by the following argument, parse arguments from it, and return
7935 the spliced command line. The returned array is terminated by a
7938 For details of argument parsing, see above, under "guile now accepts
7939 command-line arguments compatible with SCSH..."
7941 int scm_count_argv (char **ARGV)
7942 Count the arguments in ARGV, assuming it is terminated by a null
7945 For an example of how these functions might be used, see the source
7946 code for the function scm_shell in libguile/script.c.
7948 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
7951 ** The new function scm_compile_shell_switches turns an array of
7952 command-line arguments into Scheme code to carry out the actions they
7953 describe. Given ARGC and ARGV, it returns a Scheme expression to
7954 evaluate, and calls scm_set_program_arguments to make any remaining
7955 command-line arguments available to the Scheme code. For example,
7956 given the following arguments:
7958 -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
7960 scm_set_program_arguments will return the following expression:
7962 (begin (load "ekko") (main (command-line)) (quit))
7964 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
7967 ** The function scm_shell_usage prints a usage message appropriate for
7968 an interpreter that uses scm_compile_shell_switches to handle its
7969 command-line arguments.
7971 void scm_shell_usage (int FATAL, char *MESSAGE)
7972 Print a usage message to the standard error output. If MESSAGE is
7973 non-zero, write it before the usage message, followed by a newline.
7974 If FATAL is non-zero, exit the process, using FATAL as the
7975 termination status. (If you want to be compatible with Guile,
7976 always use 1 as the exit status when terminating due to command-line
7979 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
7982 ** scm_eval_0str now returns SCM_UNSPECIFIED if the string contains no
7983 expressions. It used to return SCM_EOL. Earth-shattering.
7985 ** The macros for declaring scheme objects in C code have been
7986 rearranged slightly. They are now:
7988 SCM_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
7989 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
7990 point to the Scheme symbol whose name is SCHEME_NAME. C_NAME should
7991 be a C identifier, and SCHEME_NAME should be a C string.
7993 SCM_GLOBAL_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
7994 Just like SCM_SYMBOL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
7996 SCM_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
7997 Create a global variable at the Scheme level named SCHEME_NAME.
7998 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
7999 point to the Scheme variable's value cell.
8001 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
8002 Just like SCM_VCELL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
8004 The `guile-snarf' script writes initialization code for these macros
8005 to its standard output, given C source code as input.
8007 The SCM_GLOBAL macro is gone.
8009 ** The scm_read_line and scm_read_line_x functions have been replaced
8010 by Scheme code based on the %read-delimited! procedure (known to C
8011 code as scm_read_delimited_x). See its description above for more
8014 ** The function scm_sys_open has been renamed to scm_open. It now
8015 returns a port instead of an FD object.
8017 * The dynamic linking support has changed. For more information, see
8018 libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING.
8023 User-visible changes from Thursday, September 5, 1996 until Guile 1.0
8026 * Changes to the 'guile' program:
8028 ** Guile now loads some new files when it starts up. Guile first
8029 searches the load path for init.scm, and loads it if found. Then, if
8030 Guile is not being used to execute a script, and the user's home
8031 directory contains a file named `.guile', Guile loads that.
8033 ** You can now use Guile as a shell script interpreter.
8035 To paraphrase the SCSH manual:
8037 When Unix tries to execute an executable file whose first two
8038 characters are the `#!', it treats the file not as machine code to
8039 be directly executed by the native processor, but as source code
8040 to be executed by some interpreter. The interpreter to use is
8041 specified immediately after the #! sequence on the first line of
8042 the source file. The kernel reads in the name of the interpreter,
8043 and executes that instead. It passes the interpreter the source
8044 filename as its first argument, with the original arguments
8045 following. Consult the Unix man page for the `exec' system call
8046 for more information.
8048 Now you can use Guile as an interpreter, using a mechanism which is a
8049 compatible subset of that provided by SCSH.
8051 Guile now recognizes a '-s' command line switch, whose argument is the
8052 name of a file of Scheme code to load. It also treats the two
8053 characters `#!' as the start of a comment, terminated by `!#'. Thus,
8054 to make a file of Scheme code directly executable by Unix, insert the
8055 following two lines at the top of the file:
8057 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
8060 Guile treats the argument of the `-s' command-line switch as the name
8061 of a file of Scheme code to load, and treats the sequence `#!' as the
8062 start of a block comment, terminated by `!#'.
8064 For example, here's a version of 'echo' written in Scheme:
8066 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
8068 (let loop ((args (cdr (program-arguments))))
8071 (display (car args))
8072 (if (pair? (cdr args))
8074 (loop (cdr args)))))
8077 Why does `#!' start a block comment terminated by `!#', instead of the
8078 end of the line? That is the notation SCSH uses, and although we
8079 don't yet support the other SCSH features that motivate that choice,
8080 we would like to be backward-compatible with any existing Guile
8081 scripts once we do. Furthermore, if the path to Guile on your system
8082 is too long for your kernel, you can start the script with this
8086 exec /really/long/path/to/guile -s "$0" ${1+"$@"}
8089 Note that some very old Unix systems don't support the `#!' syntax.
8092 ** You can now run Guile without installing it.
8094 Previous versions of the interactive Guile interpreter (`guile')
8095 couldn't start up unless Guile's Scheme library had been installed;
8096 they used the value of the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH'
8097 later on in the startup process, but not to find the startup code
8098 itself. Now Guile uses `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' in all searches for Scheme
8101 To run Guile without installing it, build it in the normal way, and
8102 then set the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' to a
8103 colon-separated list of directories, including the top-level directory
8104 of the Guile sources. For example, if you unpacked Guile so that the
8105 full filename of this NEWS file is /home/jimb/guile-1.0b3/NEWS, then
8108 export SCHEME_LOAD_PATH=/home/jimb/my-scheme:/home/jimb/guile-1.0b3
8111 ** Guile's read-eval-print loop no longer prints #<unspecified>
8112 results. If the user wants to see this, she can evaluate the
8113 expression (assert-repl-print-unspecified #t), perhaps in her startup
8116 ** Guile no longer shows backtraces by default when an error occurs;
8117 however, it does display a message saying how to get one, and how to
8118 request that they be displayed by default. After an error, evaluate
8120 to see a backtrace, and
8121 (debug-enable 'backtrace)
8122 to see them by default.
8126 * Changes to Guile Scheme:
8128 ** Guile now distinguishes between #f and the empty list.
8130 This is for compatibility with the IEEE standard, the (possibly)
8131 upcoming Revised^5 Report on Scheme, and many extant Scheme
8134 Guile used to have #f and '() denote the same object, to make Scheme's
8135 type system more compatible with Emacs Lisp's. However, the change
8136 caused too much trouble for Scheme programmers, and we found another
8137 way to reconcile Emacs Lisp with Scheme that didn't require this.
8140 ** Guile's delq, delv, delete functions, and their destructive
8141 counterparts, delq!, delv!, and delete!, now remove all matching
8142 elements from the list, not just the first. This matches the behavior
8143 of the corresponding Emacs Lisp functions, and (I believe) the Maclisp
8144 functions which inspired them.
8146 I recognize that this change may break code in subtle ways, but it
8147 seems best to make the change before the FSF's first Guile release,
8151 ** The compiled-library-path function has been deleted from libguile.
8153 ** The facilities for loading Scheme source files have changed.
8155 *** The variable %load-path now tells Guile which directories to search
8156 for Scheme code. Its value is a list of strings, each of which names
8159 *** The variable %load-extensions now tells Guile which extensions to
8160 try appending to a filename when searching the load path. Its value
8161 is a list of strings. Its default value is ("" ".scm").
8163 *** (%search-load-path FILENAME) searches the directories listed in the
8164 value of the %load-path variable for a Scheme file named FILENAME,
8165 with all the extensions listed in %load-extensions. If it finds a
8166 match, then it returns its full filename. If FILENAME is absolute, it
8167 returns it unchanged. Otherwise, it returns #f.
8169 %search-load-path will not return matches that refer to directories.
8171 *** (primitive-load FILENAME :optional CASE-INSENSITIVE-P SHARP)
8172 uses %seach-load-path to find a file named FILENAME, and loads it if
8173 it finds it. If it can't read FILENAME for any reason, it throws an
8176 The arguments CASE-INSENSITIVE-P and SHARP are interpreted as by the
8179 *** load uses the same searching semantics as primitive-load.
8181 *** The functions %try-load, try-load-with-path, %load, load-with-path,
8182 basic-try-load-with-path, basic-load-with-path, try-load-module-with-
8183 path, and load-module-with-path have been deleted. The functions
8184 above should serve their purposes.
8186 *** If the value of the variable %load-hook is a procedure,
8187 `primitive-load' applies its value to the name of the file being
8188 loaded (without the load path directory name prepended). If its value
8189 is #f, it is ignored. Otherwise, an error occurs.
8191 This is mostly useful for printing load notification messages.
8194 ** The function `eval!' is no longer accessible from the scheme level.
8195 We can't allow operations which introduce glocs into the scheme level,
8196 because Guile's type system can't handle these as data. Use `eval' or
8197 `read-and-eval!' (see below) as replacement.
8199 ** The new function read-and-eval! reads an expression from PORT,
8200 evaluates it, and returns the result. This is more efficient than
8201 simply calling `read' and `eval', since it is not necessary to make a
8202 copy of the expression for the evaluator to munge.
8204 Its optional arguments CASE_INSENSITIVE_P and SHARP are interpreted as
8205 for the `read' function.
8208 ** The function `int?' has been removed; its definition was identical
8209 to that of `integer?'.
8211 ** The functions `<?', `<?', `<=?', `=?', `>?', and `>=?'. Code should
8212 use the R4RS names for these functions.
8214 ** The function object-properties no longer returns the hash handle;
8215 it simply returns the object's property list.
8217 ** Many functions have been changed to throw errors, instead of
8218 returning #f on failure. The point of providing exception handling in
8219 the language is to simplify the logic of user code, but this is less
8220 useful if Guile's primitives don't throw exceptions.
8222 ** The function `fileno' has been renamed from `%fileno'.
8224 ** The function primitive-mode->fdes returns #t or #f now, not 1 or 0.
8227 * Changes to Guile's C interface:
8229 ** The library's initialization procedure has been simplified.
8230 scm_boot_guile now has the prototype:
8232 void scm_boot_guile (int ARGC,
8234 void (*main_func) (),
8237 scm_boot_guile calls MAIN_FUNC, passing it CLOSURE, ARGC, and ARGV.
8238 MAIN_FUNC should do all the work of the program (initializing other
8239 packages, reading user input, etc.) before returning. When MAIN_FUNC
8240 returns, call exit (0); this function never returns. If you want some
8241 other exit value, MAIN_FUNC may call exit itself.
8243 scm_boot_guile arranges for program-arguments to return the strings
8244 given by ARGC and ARGV. If MAIN_FUNC modifies ARGC/ARGV, should call
8245 scm_set_program_arguments with the final list, so Scheme code will
8246 know which arguments have been processed.
8248 scm_boot_guile establishes a catch-all catch handler which prints an
8249 error message and exits the process. This means that Guile exits in a
8250 coherent way when system errors occur and the user isn't prepared to
8251 handle it. If the user doesn't like this behavior, they can establish
8252 their own universal catcher in MAIN_FUNC to shadow this one.
8254 Why must the caller do all the real work from MAIN_FUNC? The garbage
8255 collector assumes that all local variables of type SCM will be above
8256 scm_boot_guile's stack frame on the stack. If you try to manipulate
8257 SCM values after this function returns, it's the luck of the draw
8258 whether the GC will be able to find the objects you allocate. So,
8259 scm_boot_guile function exits, rather than returning, to discourage
8260 people from making that mistake.
8262 The IN, OUT, and ERR arguments were removed; there are other
8263 convenient ways to override these when desired.
8265 The RESULT argument was deleted; this function should never return.
8267 The BOOT_CMD argument was deleted; the MAIN_FUNC argument is more
8271 ** Guile's header files should no longer conflict with your system's
8274 In order to compile code which #included <libguile.h>, previous
8275 versions of Guile required you to add a directory containing all the
8276 Guile header files to your #include path. This was a problem, since
8277 Guile's header files have names which conflict with many systems'
8280 Now only <libguile.h> need appear in your #include path; you must
8281 refer to all Guile's other header files as <libguile/mumble.h>.
8282 Guile's installation procedure puts libguile.h in $(includedir), and
8283 the rest in $(includedir)/libguile.
8286 ** Two new C functions, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object,
8287 have been added to the Guile library.
8289 scm_protect_object (OBJ) protects OBJ from the garbage collector.
8290 OBJ will not be freed, even if all other references are dropped,
8291 until someone does scm_unprotect_object (OBJ). Both functions
8294 Note that calls to scm_protect_object do not nest. You can call
8295 scm_protect_object any number of times on a given object, and the
8296 next call to scm_unprotect_object will unprotect it completely.
8298 Basically, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object just
8299 maintain a list of references to things. Since the GC knows about
8300 this list, all objects it mentions stay alive. scm_protect_object
8301 adds its argument to the list; scm_unprotect_object remove its
8302 argument from the list.
8305 ** scm_eval_0str now returns the value of the last expression
8308 ** The new function scm_read_0str reads an s-expression from a
8309 null-terminated string, and returns it.
8311 ** The new function `scm_stdio_to_port' converts a STDIO file pointer
8312 to a Scheme port object.
8314 ** The new function `scm_set_program_arguments' allows C code to set
8315 the value returned by the Scheme `program-arguments' function.
8320 * Guile no longer includes sophisticated Tcl/Tk support.
8322 The old Tcl/Tk support was unsatisfying to us, because it required the
8323 user to link against the Tcl library, as well as Tk and Guile. The
8324 interface was also un-lispy, in that it preserved Tcl/Tk's practice of
8325 referring to widgets by names, rather than exporting widgets to Scheme
8326 code as a special datatype.
8328 In the Usenix Tk Developer's Workshop held in July 1996, the Tcl/Tk
8329 maintainers described some very interesting changes in progress to the
8330 Tcl/Tk internals, which would facilitate clean interfaces between lone
8331 Tk and other interpreters --- even for garbage-collected languages
8332 like Scheme. They expected the new Tk to be publicly available in the
8335 Since it seems that Guile might soon have a new, cleaner interface to
8336 lone Tk, and that the old Guile/Tk glue code would probably need to be
8337 completely rewritten, we (Jim Blandy and Richard Stallman) have
8338 decided not to support the old code. We'll spend the time instead on
8339 a good interface to the newer Tk, as soon as it is available.
8341 Until then, gtcltk-lib provides trivial, low-maintenance functionality.
8344 Copyright information:
8346 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
8348 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
8349 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
8350 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
8351 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
8353 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
8354 of this document, or of portions of it,
8355 under the above conditions, provided also that they
8356 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
8361 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"