1 Guile NEWS --- history of user-visible changes.
2 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 See the end for copying conditions.
5 Please send Guile bug reports to bug-guile@gnu.org.
7 Each release reports the NEWS in the following sections:
9 * Changes to the distribution
10 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
11 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
12 * Changes to the C interface
15 Changes since the stable branch:
17 * Changes to the distribution
19 ** Guile is now licensed with the GNU Lesser General Public License.
21 ** Guile now requires GNU MP (http://swox.com/gmp).
23 Guile now uses the GNU MP library for arbitrary precision arithmetic.
24 At the moment it is being used to handle Guile's bignums.
26 ** Guile now has separate private and public configuration headers.
28 Guile now has config.h and libguile/scmconfig.h. The former is not
29 installed and is private. The latter is installed and used by Guile's
30 public headers. config.h is generated by configure and autoheader,
31 and scmconfig.h is generated by a small C program, gen-scmconfig at
32 build time based in part on the contents of config.h.
34 Seen libguile/__scm.h and gen-scmconfig.c for more information.
36 Note too that nearly all public defines are now set to either 1 or 0
37 rather than being set to 1 or left undefined. See gen-scmconfig.c and
38 the GNU Coding Guidelines for the rationale. However, pre-existing
39 defines that were not renamed were not changed. i.e. GUILE_DEBUG is
40 still either 1 or undefined.
42 ** The INSTALL file is now the generic automake installed one.
44 Guile specific instructions can be found in the README.
46 ** Guile now provides and uses an "effective" version number.
48 Guile now provides scm_effective_version and effective-version
49 functions which return the "effective" version number. This is just
50 the normal full version string without the final micro-version number,
51 so the current effective-version is "1.6". The effective version
52 should remain unchanged during a stable series, and should be used for
53 items like the versioned share directory name
54 i.e. /usr/share/guile/1.6.
56 Providing an unchanging version number during a stable release for
57 things like the versioned share directory can be particularly
58 important for Guile "add-on" packages, since it provides a directory
59 that they can install to that won't be changed out from under them
60 with each micro release during a stable series.
62 ** Thread implementation has changed.
64 When you configure "--with-threads=null", you will get the usual
65 threading API (call-with-new-thread, make-mutex, etc), but you can't
66 actually create new threads. Also, "--with-threads=no" is now
67 equivalent to "--with-threads=null". This means that the thread API
68 is always present, although you might not be able to create new
71 When you configure "--with-threads=pthreads" or "--with-threads=yes",
72 you will get threads that are implemented with the portable POSIX
73 threads. These threads can run concurrently (unlike the previous
74 "coop" thread implementation), but need to cooperate for things like
75 the GC. See the manual for details. [XXX - write this.]
77 The default is "pthreads", unless your platform doesn't have pthreads,
78 in which case "null" threads are used.
80 ** New module (ice-9 serialize):
82 (serialize FORM1 ...) and (parallelize FORM1 ...) are useful when
83 you don't trust the thread safety of most of your program, but
84 where you have some section(s) of code which you consider can run
85 in parallel to other sections.
87 They "flag" (with dynamic extent) sections of code to be of
88 "serial" or "parallel" nature and have the single effect of
89 preventing a serial section from being run in parallel with any
90 serial section (including itself).
92 Both serialize and parallelize can be nested. If so, the
93 inner-most construct is in effect.
95 NOTE 1: A serial section can run in parallel with a parallel
98 NOTE 2: If a serial section S is "interrupted" by a parallel
99 section P in the following manner: S = S1 P S2, S2 is not
100 guaranteed to be resumed by the same thread that previously
103 WARNING: Spawning new threads within a serial section have
104 undefined effects. It is OK, though, to spawn threads in unflagged
105 sections of code where neither serialize or parallelize is in
108 A typical usage is when Guile is used as scripting language in some
109 application doing heavy computations. If each thread is
110 encapsulated with a serialize form, you can then put a parallelize
111 form around the code performing the heavy computations (typically a
112 C code primitive), enabling the computations to run in parallel
113 while the scripting code runs single-threadedly.
115 ** Guile now includes its own version of libltdl.
117 We now use a modified version of libltdl that allows us to make
118 improvements to it without having to rely on libtool releases.
120 * Changes to the standalone interpreter
122 ** New command line option `--no-debug'.
124 Specifying `--no-debug' on the command line will keep the debugging
125 evaluator turned off, even for interactive sessions.
127 ** User-init file ~/.guile is now loaded with the debugging evaluator.
129 Previously, the normal evaluator would have been used. Using the
130 debugging evaluator gives better error messages.
132 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
134 ** 'while' now provides 'break' and 'continue'
136 break and continue were previously bound in a while loop, but not
137 documented, and continue didn't quite work properly. The undocumented
138 parameter to break which gave a return value for the while has been
141 ** 'call-with-current-continuation' is now also available under the name
144 ** Checking for duplicate bindings in module system
146 The module system now can check for name conflicts among imported
149 The behavior can be controlled by specifying one or more duplicates
150 handlers. For example, to make Guile return an error for every name
158 The new default behavior of the module system when a name collision
159 has been detected is to
161 1. Give priority to bindings marked as a replacement.
162 2. Issue a warning (different warning if overriding core binding).
163 3. Give priority to the last encountered binding (this corresponds to
166 If you want the old behavior back without replacements or warnings you
169 (default-duplicate-binding-handler 'last)
171 to your .guile init file.
173 The syntax for the :duplicates option is:
175 :duplicates HANDLER-NAME | (HANDLER1-NAME HANDLER2-NAME ...)
177 Specifying multiple handlers is useful since some handlers (such as
178 replace) can defer conflict resolution to others. Each handler is
179 tried until a binding is selected.
181 Currently available duplicates handlers are:
183 check report an error for bindings with a common name
184 warn issue a warning for bindings with a common name
185 replace replace bindings which have an imported replacement
186 warn-override-core issue a warning for imports which override core bindings
187 and accept the override
188 first select the first encountered binding (override)
189 last select the last encountered binding (override)
191 These two are provided by the (oop goops) module:
193 merge-generics merge generic functions with a common name
194 into an <extended-generic>
195 merge-accessors merge accessors with a common name
197 The default duplicates handler is:
199 (replace warn-override-core warn last)
201 A recommended handler (which is likely to correspond to future Guile
202 behavior) can be installed with:
204 (default-duplicate-binding-handler '(replace warn-override-core check))
206 ** New define-module option: :replace
208 :replace works as :export, but, in addition, marks the binding as a
211 A typical example is `format' in (ice-9 format) which is a replacement
212 for the core binding `format'.
214 ** Adding prefixes to imported bindings in the module system
216 There is now a new :use-module option :prefix. It can be used to add
217 a prefix to all imported bindings.
220 :use-module ((bar) :prefix bar:))
222 will import all bindings exported from bar, but rename them by adding
225 ** Merging generic functions
227 It is sometimes tempting to use GOOPS accessors with short names.
228 For example, it is tempting to use the name `x' for the x-coordinate
231 Assume that we work with a graphical package which needs to use two
232 independent vector packages for 2D and 3D vectors respectively. If
233 both packages export `x' we will encounter a name collision.
235 This can now be resolved automagically with the duplicates handler
236 `merge-generics' which gives the module system license to merge all
237 generic functions sharing a common name:
239 (define-module (math 2D-vectors)
240 :use-module (oop goops)
243 (define-module (math 3D-vectors)
244 :use-module (oop goops)
247 (define-module (my-module)
248 :use-module (math 2D-vectors)
249 :use-module (math 3D-vectors)
250 :duplicates merge-generics)
252 x in (my-module) will now share methods with x in both imported
255 There will, in fact, now be three distinct generic functions named
256 `x': x in (2D-vectors), x in (3D-vectors), and x in (my-module). The
257 last function will be an <extended-generic>, extending the previous
260 Let's call the imported generic functions the "ancestor functions". x
261 in (my-module) is, in turn, a "descendant function" of the imported
262 functions, extending its ancestors.
264 For any generic function G, the applicable methods are selected from
265 the union of the methods of the descendant functions, the methods of G
266 itself and the methods of the ancestor functions.
268 This, ancestor functions share methods with their descendants and vice
269 versa. This implies that x in (math 2D-vectors) can will share the
270 methods of x in (my-module) and vice versa, while x in (math 2D-vectors)
271 doesn't share the methods of x in (math 3D-vectors), thus preserving
274 Sharing is dynamic, so that adding new methods to a descendant implies
275 adding it to the ancestor.
277 If duplicates checking is desired in the above example, the following
278 form of the :duplicates option can be used instead:
280 :duplicates (merge-generics check)
282 ** New function: effective-version
284 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
285 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
286 to the distribution" above.
288 ** Futures: future, make-future, future-ref
290 Futures are like promises, but begun immediately in a new thread. See
291 the "Futures" section in the reference manual.
293 ** New threading functions: parallel, letpar, par-map, and friends
295 These are convenient ways to run calculations in parallel in new
296 threads. See "Parallel forms" in the manual for details.
298 ** Fair mutexes and condition variables
300 Fair mutexes and condition variables have been added. The fairness
301 means that scheduling is arranged to give as equal time shares as
302 possible and that threads are awakened in a first-in-first-out
303 manner. This is not guaranteed with standard mutexes and condition
306 In addition, fair mutexes are recursive. Locking a fair mutex that
307 you have already locked will succeed. Every call to lock-mutex must
308 be matched with a call to unlock-mutex. Only the last call to
309 unlock-mutex will actually unlock the mutex.
311 A fair condition variable must be used together with a fair mutex,
312 just as a standard condition variable must be used together with a
315 ** New functions: make-fair-mutex, make-fair-condition-variable'
317 Make a new fair mutex and a new fair condition variable respectively.
319 ** New function 'try-mutex'.
321 This function will attempt to lock a mutex but will return immediately
322 instead if blocking and indicate failure.
324 ** Waiting on a condition variable can have a timeout.
326 The funtion 'wait-condition-variable' now takes a third, optional
327 argument that specifies the point in time where the waiting should be
330 ** New function 'broadcast-condition-variable'.
332 ** New functions 'all-threads' and 'current-thread'.
334 ** Signals and system asyncs work better with threads.
336 The function 'sigaction' now takes a fourth, optional, argument that
337 specifies the thread that the handler should run in. When the
338 argument is omitted, the handler will run in the thread that called
341 Likewise, 'system-async-mark' takes a second, optional, argument that
342 specifies the thread that the async should run in. When it is
343 omitted, the async will run in the thread that called
346 C code can use the new functions scm_sigaction_for_thread and
347 scm_system_async_mark_for_thread to pass the new thread argument.
349 ** The function 'system-async' is deprecated.
351 You can now pass any zero-argument procedure to 'system-async-mark'.
352 The function 'system-async' will just return its argument unchanged
355 ** New functions 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' and
356 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
358 The expression (call-with-blocked-asyncs PROC) will call PROC and will
359 block execution of system asyncs for the current thread by one level
360 while PROC runs. Likewise, call-with-unblocked-asyncs will call a
361 procedure and will unblock the execution of system asyncs by one
362 level for the current thread.
364 Only system asyncs are affected by these functions.
366 ** The functions 'mask-signals' and 'unmask-signals' are deprecated.
368 Use 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' or 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
369 instead. Those functions are easier to use correctly and can be
372 ** New function 'unsetenv'.
374 ** New macro 'define-syntax-public'.
376 It works like 'define-syntax' and also exports the defined macro (but
379 ** There is support for Infinity and NaNs.
381 Following PLT Scheme, Guile can now work with infinite numbers, and
384 There is new syntax for numbers: "+inf.0" (infinity), "-inf.0"
385 (negative infinity), "+nan.0" (not-a-number), and "-nan.0" (same as
386 "+nan.0"). These numbers are inexact and have no exact counterpart.
388 Dividing by an inexact zero returns +inf.0 or -inf.0, depending on the
389 sign of the dividend. The infinities are integers, and they answer #t
390 for both 'even?' and 'odd?'. The +nan.0 value is not an integer and is
391 not '=' to itself, but '+nan.0' is 'eqv?' to itself.
402 ERROR: Numerical overflow
404 Two new predicates 'inf?' and 'nan?' can be used to test for the
407 ** Inexact zero can have a sign.
409 Guile can now distinguish between plus and minus inexact zero, if your
410 platform supports this, too. The two zeros are equal according to
411 '=', but not according to 'eqv?'. For example
422 ** We now have uninterned symbols.
424 The new function 'make-symbol' will return a uninterned symbol. This
425 is a symbol that is unique and is guaranteed to remain unique.
426 However, uninterned symbols can not yet be read back in.
428 Use the new function 'symbol-interned?' to check whether a symbol is
431 ** pretty-print has more options.
433 The function pretty-print from the (ice-9 pretty-print) module can now
434 also be invoked with keyword arguments that control things like
435 maximum output width. See its online documentation.
437 ** Variables have no longer a special behavior for `equal?'.
439 Previously, comparing two variables with `equal?' would recursivly
440 compare their values. This is no longer done. Variables are now only
441 `equal?' if they are `eq?'.
443 ** `(begin)' is now valid.
445 You can now use an empty `begin' form. It will yield #<unspecified>
446 when evaluated and simply be ignored in a definition context.
448 ** Deprecated: procedure->macro
450 Change your code to use either procedure->memoizing-macro or, probably better,
451 to use r5rs macros. Also, be aware that macro expansion will not be done
452 during evaluation, but prior to evaluation.
454 ** Soft ports now allow a `char-ready?' procedure
456 The vector argument to `make-soft-port' can now have a length of
457 either 5 or 6. (Previously the length had to be 5.) The optional 6th
458 element is interpreted as an `input-waiting' thunk -- i.e. a thunk
459 that returns the number of characters that can be read immediately
460 without the soft port blocking.
462 ** New debugging feature: breakpoints.
464 Guile now has breakpoints. For details see the `Debugging Features'
465 chapter in the reference manual.
467 ** Deprecated: undefine
469 There is no replacement for undefine.
471 ** source-properties and set-source-properties! fix
473 Properties set with set-source-properties! can now be read back
474 correctly with source-properties.
478 delete and delete! now call the "=" procedure with arguments in the
479 order described by the SRFI-1 specification
481 list-copy now accepts improper lists, per the specification.
485 date-week-number now correctly respects the requested day of week
488 * Changes to the C interface
490 ** Many public #defines with generic names have been made private.
492 #defines with generic names like HAVE_FOO or SIZEOF_FOO have been made
493 private or renamed with a more suitable public name. See below for
494 the ones which have been renamed.
496 ** HAVE_STDINT_H and HAVE_INTTYPES_H have been removed from public use.
498 HAVE_STDINT_H and HAVE_INTTYPES_H removed from public use. These are
499 no longer needed since the older uses of stdint.h and inttypes.h are
500 now handled by configure.in and gen-scmconfig.c.
502 ** USE_DLL_IMPORT is no longer defined publically.
504 gen-scmconfig now uses it to decide what contents to place in the
505 public scmconfig.h header without adding the USE_DLL_IMPORT itself.
507 ** HAVE_LIMITS_H has been removed from public use.
509 gen-scmconfig now just uses HAVE_LIMITS_H to decide whether or not to
510 add a limits.h include in scmconfig.h.
512 ** time.h, sys/time.h, etc. #ifdefery has been removed from public headers.
514 gen-scmconfig now just uses the same logic to decide what time related
515 #includes to add to scmconfig.h.
517 ** HAVE_STRUCT_TIMESPEC has been removed from public use.
519 scmconfig.h now just defines scm_t_timespec.
521 ** HAVE_PTRDIFF has been removed from public use and Guile doesn't
524 Guile now publically defines scm_t_ptrdiff and
525 SCM_SIZEOF_SCM_T_PTRDIFF in scmconfig.h, and all occurrences of
526 ptrdiff_t have been replaced with scm_t_ptrdiff.
528 Guile defines its own type this rather than just relying on ptrdiff_t
529 and SCM_SIZEOF_PTRDIFF_T because Guile actually typedefs long to
530 scm_t_ptrdiff when ptrdiff_t isn't available. A public "typedef long
531 ptrdiff_t" could conflict with other headers.
533 ** HAVE_UINTPTR_T and HAVE_UINTPTR_T have been removed from public use.
535 They are replaced by public definitions of SCM_SIZEOF_UINTPTR_T and
536 SCM_SIZEOF_INTPTR_T. These are defined to 0 if the corresponding type
539 ** The public #define STDC_HEADERS has been renamed to SCM_HAVE_STDC_HEADERS.
541 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
543 ** The public #define HAVE_SYS_SELECT has been renamed to
544 SCM_HAVE_SYS_SELECT_H.
546 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
548 ** The public #define HAVE_FLOATINGPOINT_H has been renamed to
549 SCM_HAVE_FLOATINGPOINT_H.
551 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
553 ** The public #define HAVE_IEEEFP_H has been renamed to SCM_HAVE_IEEEFP_H.
555 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
557 ** The public #define HAVE_NAN_H has been renamed to SCM_HAVE_NAN_H.
559 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
561 ** The public #define HAVE_WINSOCK2_H has been renamed to SCM_HAVE_WINSOCK2_H.
563 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
565 ** The public #define HAVE_ARRAYS has been renamed to SCM_HAVE_ARRAYS.
567 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
569 ** The public #define STACK_GROWS_UP has been renamed to SCM_STACK_GROWS_UP.
571 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
573 ** The public #define USE_PTHREAD_THREADS has been renamed to
574 SCM_USE_PTHREAD_THREADS.
576 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
578 ** The public #define USE_NULL_THREADS has been renamed to
579 SCM_USE_NULL_THREADS.
581 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
583 ** The public #define USE_COOP_THREADS has been renamed to
584 SCM_USE_COOP_THREADS.
586 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
588 ** SCM_C_INLINE is publically defined if possible.
590 If the platform has a way to define inline functions, SCM_C_INLINE
591 will be defined to that text. Otherwise it will be undefined. This
592 is a little bit different than autoconf's normal handling of the
593 inline define via AC_C_INLINE.
595 ** Guile now publically defines some basic type infrastructure.
600 SCM_SIZEOF_UNSIGNED_CHAR
602 SCM_SIZEOF_UNSIGNED_SHORT
604 SCM_SIZEOF_UNSIGNED_LONG
606 SCM_SIZEOF_UNSIGNED_INT
607 SCM_SIZEOF_LONG_LONG /* defined to 0 if type not available */
608 SCM_SIZEOF_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG /* defined to 0 if type not available */
622 and when either of these are defined to 1, optionally defines
633 ** The preprocessor define USE_THREADS has been deprecated.
635 Going forward, assume that the thread API is always present.
637 ** The preprocessor define GUILE_ISELECT has been deprecated.
639 Going forward, assume that scm_internal_select is always present.
641 ** The preprocessor define READER_EXTENSIONS has been deprecated.
643 Going forward, assume that the features represented by
644 READER_EXTENSIONS are always present.
646 ** The preprocessor define DEBUG_EXTENSIONS has been deprecated.
648 Going forward, assume that the features represented by
649 DEBUG_EXTENSIONS are always present.
651 ** The preprocessor define DYNAMIC_LINKING has been deprecated.
653 Going forward, assume that the features represented by
654 DYNAMIC_LINKING are always present.
656 ** The preprocessor define STACK_DIRECTION has been deprecated.
658 There should be no need to know about the stack direction for ordinary
659 programs. (Do not use.)
661 ** New function: scm_effective_version
663 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
664 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
665 to the distribution" above.
667 ** The function scm_call_with_new_thread has a new prototype.
669 Instead of taking a list with the thunk and handler, these two
670 arguments are now passed directly:
672 SCM scm_call_with_new_thread (SCM thunk, SCM handler);
674 This is an incompatible change.
676 ** The value 'scm_mask_ints' is no longer writable.
678 Previously, you could set scm_mask_ints directly. This is no longer
679 possible. Use scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
680 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs instead.
682 ** New functions scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
683 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs
685 Like scm_call_with_blocked_asyncs etc. but for C functions.
687 ** New snarfer macro SCM_DEFINE_PUBLIC.
689 This is like SCM_DEFINE, but also calls scm_c_export for the defined
690 function in the init section.
692 ** The snarfer macro SCM_SNARF_INIT is now officially supported.
694 ** New macros SCM_VECTOR_REF and SCM_VECTOR_SET.
696 Use these in preference to SCM_VELTS.
698 ** The SCM_VELTS macros now returns a read-only vector. For writing,
699 use the new macros SCM_WRITABLE_VELTS or SCM_VECTOR_SET. The use of
700 SCM_WRITABLE_VELTS is discouraged, though.
702 ** Garbage collector rewrite.
704 The garbage collector is cleaned up a lot, and now uses lazy
705 sweeping. This is reflected in the output of (gc-stats); since cells
706 are being freed when they are allocated, the cells-allocated field
707 stays roughly constant.
709 For malloc related triggers, the behavior is changed. It uses the same
710 heuristic as the cell-triggered collections. It may be tuned with the
711 environment variables GUILE_MIN_YIELD_MALLOC. This is the percentage
712 for minimum yield of malloc related triggers. The default is 40.
713 GUILE_INIT_MALLOC_LIMIT sets the initial trigger for doing a GC. The
716 Debugging operations for the freelist have been deprecated, along with
717 the C variables that control garbage collection. The environment
718 variables GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE, GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2,
719 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1, and GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2 should be used.
721 ** The function scm_definedp has been renamed to scm_defined_p
723 The name scm_definedp is deprecated.
725 ** The struct scm_cell has been renamed to scm_t_cell
727 This is in accordance to Guile's naming scheme for types. Note that
728 the name scm_cell is now used for a function that allocates and
729 initializes a new cell (see below).
731 ** New functions for memory management
733 A new set of functions for memory management has been added since the
734 old way (scm_must_malloc, scm_must_free, etc) was error prone and
735 indeed, Guile itself contained some long standing bugs that could
736 cause aborts in long running programs.
738 The new functions are more symmetrical and do not need cooperation
739 from smob free routines, among other improvements.
741 The new functions are scm_malloc, scm_realloc, scm_calloc, scm_strdup,
742 scm_strndup, scm_gc_malloc, scm_gc_calloc, scm_gc_realloc,
743 scm_gc_free, scm_gc_register_collectable_memory, and
744 scm_gc_unregister_collectable_memory. Refer to the manual for more
745 details and for upgrading instructions.
747 The old functions for memory management have been deprecated. They
748 are: scm_must_malloc, scm_must_realloc, scm_must_free,
749 scm_must_strdup, scm_must_strndup, scm_done_malloc, scm_done_free.
751 ** New function: scm_str2string
753 This function creates a scheme string from a 0-terminated C string. The input
756 ** Declarations of exported features are marked with SCM_API.
758 Every declaration of a feature that belongs to the exported Guile API
759 has been marked by adding the macro "SCM_API" to the start of the
760 declaration. This macro can expand into different things, the most
761 common of which is just "extern" for Unix platforms. On Win32, it can
762 be used to control which symbols are exported from a DLL.
764 If you `#define SCM_IMPORT' before including <libguile.h>, SCM_API
765 will expand into "__declspec (dllimport) extern", which is needed for
766 linking to the Guile DLL in Windows.
768 There are also SCM_RL_IMPORT, QT_IMPORT, SCM_SRFI1314_IMPORT, and
769 SCM_SRFI4_IMPORT, for the corresponding libraries.
771 ** SCM_NEWCELL and SCM_NEWCELL2 have been deprecated.
773 Use the new functions scm_cell and scm_double_cell instead. The old macros
774 had problems because with them allocation and initialization was separated and
775 the GC could sometimes observe half initialized cells. Only careful coding by
776 the user of SCM_NEWCELL and SCM_NEWCELL2 could make this safe and efficient.
778 ** CHECK_ENTRY, CHECK_APPLY and CHECK_EXIT have been deprecated.
780 Use the variables scm_check_entry_p, scm_check_apply_p and scm_check_exit_p
783 ** SRCBRKP has been deprecated.
785 Use scm_c_source_property_breakpoint_p instead.
787 ** Deprecated: scm_makmacro
789 Change your code to use either scm_makmmacro or, probably better, to use r5rs
790 macros. Also, be aware that macro expansion will not be done during
791 evaluation, but prior to evaluation.
793 ** Removed from scm_root_state: def_inp, def_outp, def_errp, together
794 with corresponding macros scm_def_inp, scm_def_outp and scm_def_errp.
795 These were undocumented and unused copies of the standard ports at the
796 time that Guile was initialised. Normally the current ports should be
797 used instead, obtained from scm_current_input_port () etc. If an
798 application needs to retain earlier ports, it should save them in a
799 gc-protected location.
801 ** Removed compile time option MEMOIZE_LOCALS
803 Now, caching of local variable positions during memoization is mandatory.
804 However, the option to disable the caching has most probably not been used
807 ** Removed compile time option SCM_RECKLESS
809 Full number of arguments checking of closures is mandatory now. However, the
810 option to disable the checking has most probably not been used anyway.
812 ** Removed compile time option SCM_CAUTIOUS
814 Full number of arguments checking of closures is mandatory now. However, the
815 option to disable the checking has most probably not been used anyway.
817 ** Deprecated configure flags USE_THREADS and GUILE_ISELECT
819 Previously, when the C preprocessor macro USE_THREADS was defined,
820 libguile included a thread API. This API is now always included, even
821 when threads are not really supported. Thus, you don't need to test
824 Analogously, GUILE_ISELECT was defined when the function
825 scm_internal_select was provided by Guile. This function is now
826 always defined, and GUILE_ISELECT with it.
828 ** New function scm_c_port_for_each.
830 This function is like scm_port_for_each but takes a pointer to a C
831 function as the callback instead of a SCM value.
833 ** Deprecated definitions of error strings: scm_s_expression, scm_s_test,
834 scm_s_body, scm_s_bindings, scm_s_variable, scm_s_clauses, scm_s_formals
836 These error message strings were used to issue syntax error messages by
837 guile's evaluator. It's unlikely that they have been used by user code.
839 ** Deprecated helper macros for evaluation and application: SCM_EVALIM2,
840 SCM_EVALIM, SCM_XEVAL, SCM_XEVALCAR
842 These macros were used in the implementation of the evaluator. It's unlikely
843 that they have been used by user code.
845 ** Deprecated macros for iloc handling: SCM_ILOC00, SCM_IDINC, SCM_IDSTMSK
847 These macros were used in the implementation of the evaluator. It's unlikely
848 that they have been used by user code.
850 ** Removed definitions: scm_lisp_nil, scm_lisp_t, s_nil_ify,
851 scm_m_nil_ify, s_t_ify, scm_m_t_ify, s_0_cond, scm_m_0_cond, s_0_ify,
852 scm_m_0_ify, s_1_ify, scm_m_1_ify, scm_debug_newcell,
853 scm_debug_newcell2, scm_tc16_allocated, SCM_SET_SYMBOL_HASH,
854 SCM_IM_NIL_IFY, SCM_IM_T_IFY, SCM_IM_0_COND, SCM_IM_0_IFY,
855 SCM_IM_1_IFY, SCM_GC_SET_ALLOCATED, scm_debug_newcell,
856 scm_debug_newcell2, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL, SCM_INT_SIGNAL, SCM_FPE_SIGNAL,
857 SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL, SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL, SCM_GC_SIGNAL,
858 SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD, SCM_ORD_SIG, SCM_NUM_SIGS,
859 *top-level-lookup-closure*, scm_top_level_lookup_closure_var,
860 scm_system_transformer, scm_eval_3, scm_eval2,
861 root_module_lookup_closure, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP, SCM_RWSTRINGP,
862 scm_read_only_string_p, scm_make_shared_substring, scm_tc7_substring,
863 sym_huh, SCM_VARVCELL, SCM_UDVARIABLEP, SCM_DEFVARIABLEP, scm_mkbig,
864 scm_big2inum, scm_adjbig, scm_normbig, scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big,
865 scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl, SCM_FIXNUM_BIT, SCM_SETCHARS,
866 SCM_SLOPPY_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET, SCM_LENGTH_MAX,
867 SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_ROLENGTH, SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS,
868 SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR, scm_sym2vcell, scm_intern,
869 scm_intern0, scm_sysintern, scm_sysintern0,
870 scm_sysintern0_no_module_lookup, scm_init_symbols_deprecated,
871 scm_vector_set_length_x, scm_contregs, scm_debug_info,
872 scm_debug_frame, SCM_DSIDEVAL, SCM_CONST_LONG, SCM_VCELL,
873 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL, SCM_VCELL_INIT, SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL_INIT,
874 SCM_HUGE_LENGTH, SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING,
875 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY, SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY,
876 SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, DIGITS, scm_small_istr2int, scm_istr2int,
877 scm_istr2flo, scm_istring2number, scm_istr2int, scm_istr2flo,
878 scm_istring2number, scm_vtable_index_vcell, scm_si_vcell, SCM_ECONSP,
879 SCM_NECONSP, SCM_GLOC_VAR, SCM_GLOC_VAL, SCM_GLOC_SET_VAL,
880 SCM_GLOC_VAL_LOC, scm_make_gloc, scm_gloc_p, scm_tc16_variable
882 Changes since Guile 1.4:
884 * Changes to the distribution
886 ** A top-level TODO file is included.
888 ** Guile now uses a versioning scheme similar to that of the Linux kernel.
890 Guile now always uses three numbers to represent the version,
891 i.e. "1.6.5". The first number, 1, is the major version number, the
892 second number, 6, is the minor version number, and the third number,
893 5, is the micro version number. Changes in major version number
894 indicate major changes in Guile.
896 Minor version numbers that are even denote stable releases, and odd
897 minor version numbers denote development versions (which may be
898 unstable). The micro version number indicates a minor sub-revision of
899 a given MAJOR.MINOR release.
901 In keeping with the new scheme, (minor-version) and scm_minor_version
902 no longer return everything but the major version number. They now
903 just return the minor version number. Two new functions
904 (micro-version) and scm_micro_version have been added to report the
905 micro version number.
907 In addition, ./GUILE-VERSION now defines GUILE_MICRO_VERSION.
909 ** New preprocessor definitions are available for checking versions.
911 version.h now #defines SCM_MAJOR_VERSION, SCM_MINOR_VERSION, and
912 SCM_MICRO_VERSION to the appropriate integer values.
914 ** Guile now actively warns about deprecated features.
916 The new configure option `--enable-deprecated=LEVEL' and the
917 environment variable GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATED control this mechanism.
918 See INSTALL and README for more information.
920 ** Guile is much more likely to work on 64-bit architectures.
922 Guile now compiles and passes "make check" with only two UNRESOLVED GC
923 cases on Alpha and ia64 based machines now. Thanks to John Goerzen
924 for the use of a test machine, and thanks to Stefan Jahn for ia64
927 ** New functions: setitimer and getitimer.
929 These implement a fairly direct interface to the libc functions of the
932 ** The #. reader extension is now disabled by default.
934 For safety reasons, #. evaluation is disabled by default. To
935 re-enable it, set the fluid read-eval? to #t. For example:
937 (fluid-set! read-eval? #t)
939 but make sure you realize the potential security risks involved. With
940 read-eval? enabled, reading a data file from an untrusted source can
943 ** New SRFI modules have been added:
945 SRFI-0 `cond-expand' is now supported in Guile, without requiring
948 (srfi srfi-1) is a library containing many useful pair- and list-processing
951 (srfi srfi-2) exports and-let*.
953 (srfi srfi-4) implements homogeneous numeric vector datatypes.
955 (srfi srfi-6) is a dummy module for now, since guile already provides
956 all of the srfi-6 procedures by default: open-input-string,
957 open-output-string, get-output-string.
959 (srfi srfi-8) exports receive.
961 (srfi srfi-9) exports define-record-type.
963 (srfi srfi-10) exports define-reader-ctor and implements the reader
966 (srfi srfi-11) exports let-values and let*-values.
968 (srfi srfi-13) implements the SRFI String Library.
970 (srfi srfi-14) implements the SRFI Character-Set Library.
972 (srfi srfi-17) implements setter and getter-with-setter and redefines
973 some accessor procedures as procedures with getters. (such as car,
974 cdr, vector-ref etc.)
976 (srfi srfi-19) implements the SRFI Time/Date Library.
978 ** New scripts / "executable modules"
980 Subdirectory "scripts" contains Scheme modules that are packaged to
981 also be executable as scripts. At this time, these scripts are available:
990 See README there for more info.
992 These scripts can be invoked from the shell with the new program
993 "guile-tools", which keeps track of installation directory for you.
996 $ guile-tools display-commentary srfi/*.scm
998 guile-tools is copied to the standard $bindir on "make install".
1000 ** New module (ice-9 stack-catch):
1002 stack-catch is like catch, but saves the current state of the stack in
1003 the fluid the-last-stack. This fluid can be useful when using the
1004 debugger and when re-throwing an error.
1006 ** The module (ice-9 and-let*) has been renamed to (ice-9 and-let-star)
1008 This has been done to prevent problems on lesser operating systems
1009 that can't tolerate `*'s in file names. The exported macro continues
1010 to be named `and-let*', of course.
1012 On systems that support it, there is also a compatibility module named
1013 (ice-9 and-let*). It will go away in the next release.
1015 ** New modules (oop goops) etc.:
1018 (oop goops describe)
1020 (oop goops active-slot)
1021 (oop goops composite-slot)
1023 The Guile Object Oriented Programming System (GOOPS) has been
1024 integrated into Guile. For further information, consult the GOOPS
1025 manual and tutorial in the `doc' directory.
1027 ** New module (ice-9 rdelim).
1029 This exports the following procedures which were previously defined
1030 in the default environment:
1032 read-line read-line! read-delimited read-delimited! %read-delimited!
1033 %read-line write-line
1035 For backwards compatibility the definitions are still imported into the
1036 default environment in this version of Guile. However you should add:
1038 (use-modules (ice-9 rdelim))
1040 to any program which uses the definitions, since this may change in
1043 Alternatively, if guile-scsh is installed, the (scsh rdelim) module
1044 can be used for similar functionality.
1046 ** New module (ice-9 rw)
1048 This is a subset of the (scsh rw) module from guile-scsh. Currently
1049 it defines two procedures:
1051 *** New function: read-string!/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
1053 Read characters from a port or file descriptor into a string STR.
1054 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
1055 fport. This procedure is scsh-compatible and can efficiently read
1058 *** New function: write-string/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
1060 Write characters from a string STR to a port or file descriptor.
1061 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
1062 fport. This procedure is mostly compatible and can efficiently
1063 write large strings.
1065 ** New module (ice-9 match)
1067 This module includes Andrew K. Wright's pattern matcher. See
1068 ice-9/match.scm for brief description or
1070 http://www.star-lab.com/wright/code.html
1072 for complete documentation.
1074 ** New module (ice-9 buffered-input)
1076 This module provides procedures to construct an input port from an
1077 underlying source of input that reads and returns its input in chunks.
1078 The underlying input source is a Scheme procedure, specified by the
1079 caller, which the port invokes whenever it needs more input.
1081 This is useful when building an input port whose back end is Readline
1082 or a UI element such as the GtkEntry widget.
1086 The reference and tutorial documentation that was previously
1087 distributed separately, as `guile-doc', is now included in the core
1088 Guile distribution. The documentation consists of the following
1091 - The Guile Tutorial (guile-tut.texi) contains a tutorial introduction
1094 - The Guile Reference Manual (guile.texi) contains (or is intended to
1095 contain) reference documentation on all aspects of Guile.
1097 - The GOOPS Manual (goops.texi) contains both tutorial-style and
1098 reference documentation for using GOOPS, Guile's Object Oriented
1101 - The Revised^5 Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme
1104 See the README file in the `doc' directory for more details.
1106 ** There are a couple of examples in the examples/ directory now.
1108 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
1110 ** New command line option `--use-srfi'
1112 Using this option, SRFI modules can be loaded on startup and be
1113 available right from the beginning. This makes programming portable
1114 Scheme programs easier.
1116 The option `--use-srfi' expects a comma-separated list of numbers,
1117 each representing a SRFI number to be loaded into the interpreter
1118 before starting evaluating a script file or the REPL. Additionally,
1119 the feature identifier for the loaded SRFIs is recognized by
1120 `cond-expand' when using this option.
1123 $ guile --use-srfi=8,13
1124 guile> (receive (x z) (values 1 2) (+ 1 2))
1126 guile> (string-pad "bla" 20)
1129 ** Guile now always starts up in the `(guile-user)' module.
1131 Previously, scripts executed via the `-s' option would run in the
1132 `(guile)' module and the repl would run in the `(guile-user)' module.
1133 Now every user action takes place in the `(guile-user)' module by
1136 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
1138 ** Character classifiers work for non-ASCII characters.
1140 The predicates `char-alphabetic?', `char-numeric?',
1141 `char-whitespace?', `char-lower?', `char-upper?' and `char-is-both?'
1142 no longer check whether their arguments are ASCII characters.
1143 Previously, a character would only be considered alphabetic when it
1144 was also ASCII, for example.
1146 ** Previously deprecated Scheme functions have been removed:
1148 tag - no replacement.
1149 fseek - replaced by seek.
1150 list* - replaced by cons*.
1152 ** It's now possible to create modules with controlled environments
1156 (use-modules (ice-9 safe))
1157 (define m (make-safe-module))
1158 ;;; m will now be a module containing only a safe subset of R5RS
1159 (eval '(+ 1 2) m) --> 3
1160 (eval 'load m) --> ERROR: Unbound variable: load
1162 ** Evaluation of "()", the empty list, is now an error.
1164 Previously, the expression "()" evaluated to the empty list. This has
1165 been changed to signal a "missing expression" error. The correct way
1166 to write the empty list as a literal constant is to use quote: "'()".
1168 ** New concept of `Guile Extensions'.
1170 A Guile Extension is just a ordinary shared library that can be linked
1171 at run-time. We found it advantageous to give this simple concept a
1172 dedicated name to distinguish the issues related to shared libraries
1173 from the issues related to the module system.
1175 *** New function: load-extension
1177 Executing (load-extension lib init) is mostly equivalent to
1179 (dynamic-call init (dynamic-link lib))
1181 except when scm_register_extension has been called previously.
1182 Whenever appropriate, you should use `load-extension' instead of
1183 dynamic-link and dynamic-call.
1185 *** New C function: scm_c_register_extension
1187 This function registers a initialization function for use by
1188 `load-extension'. Use it when you don't want specific extensions to
1189 be loaded as shared libraries (for example on platforms that don't
1190 support dynamic linking).
1192 ** Auto-loading of compiled-code modules is deprecated.
1194 Guile used to be able to automatically find and link a shared
1195 library to satisfy requests for a module. For example, the module
1196 `(foo bar)' could be implemented by placing a shared library named
1197 "foo/libbar.so" (or with a different extension) in a directory on the
1200 This has been found to be too tricky, and is no longer supported. The
1201 shared libraries are now called "extensions". You should now write a
1202 small Scheme file that calls `load-extension' to load the shared
1203 library and initialize it explicitely.
1205 The shared libraries themselves should be installed in the usual
1206 places for shared libraries, with names like "libguile-foo-bar".
1208 For example, place this into a file "foo/bar.scm"
1210 (define-module (foo bar))
1212 (load-extension "libguile-foo-bar" "foobar_init")
1214 ** Backward incompatible change: eval EXP ENVIRONMENT-SPECIFIER
1216 `eval' is now R5RS, that is it takes two arguments.
1217 The second argument is an environment specifier, i.e. either
1219 (scheme-report-environment 5)
1220 (null-environment 5)
1221 (interaction-environment)
1227 ** The module system has been made more disciplined.
1229 The function `eval' will save and restore the current module around
1230 the evaluation of the specified expression. While this expression is
1231 evaluated, `(current-module)' will now return the right module, which
1232 is the module specified as the second argument to `eval'.
1234 A consequence of this change is that `eval' is not particularly
1235 useful when you want allow the evaluated code to change what module is
1236 designated as the current module and have this change persist from one
1237 call to `eval' to the next. The read-eval-print-loop is an example
1238 where `eval' is now inadequate. To compensate, there is a new
1239 function `primitive-eval' that does not take a module specifier and
1240 that does not save/restore the current module. You should use this
1241 function together with `set-current-module', `current-module', etc
1242 when you want to have more control over the state that is carried from
1243 one eval to the next.
1245 Additionally, it has been made sure that forms that are evaluated at
1246 the top level are always evaluated with respect to the current module.
1247 Previously, subforms of top-level forms such as `begin', `case',
1248 etc. did not respect changes to the current module although these
1249 subforms are at the top-level as well.
1251 To prevent strange behavior, the forms `define-module',
1252 `use-modules', `use-syntax', and `export' have been restricted to only
1253 work on the top level. The forms `define-public' and
1254 `defmacro-public' only export the new binding on the top level. They
1255 behave just like `define' and `defmacro', respectively, when they are
1256 used in a lexical environment.
1258 Also, `export' will no longer silently re-export bindings imported
1259 from a used module. It will emit a `deprecation' warning and will
1260 cease to perform any re-export in the next version. If you actually
1261 want to re-export bindings, use the new `re-export' in place of
1262 `export'. The new `re-export' will not make copies of variables when
1263 rexporting them, as `export' did wrongly.
1265 ** Module system now allows selection and renaming of imported bindings
1267 Previously, when using `use-modules' or the `#:use-module' clause in
1268 the `define-module' form, all the bindings (association of symbols to
1269 values) for imported modules were added to the "current module" on an
1270 as-is basis. This has been changed to allow finer control through two
1271 new facilities: selection and renaming.
1273 You can now select which of the imported module's bindings are to be
1274 visible in the current module by using the `:select' clause. This
1275 clause also can be used to rename individual bindings. For example:
1277 ;; import all bindings no questions asked
1278 (use-modules (ice-9 common-list))
1280 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them;
1281 ;; the current module sees: every some zonk-y zonk-n
1282 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1284 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1285 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))))
1287 You can also programmatically rename all selected bindings using the
1288 `:renamer' clause, which specifies a proc that takes a symbol and
1289 returns another symbol. Because it is common practice to use a prefix,
1290 we now provide the convenience procedure `symbol-prefix-proc'. For
1293 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
1294 ;; and all four w/ prefix "CL:";
1295 ;; the current module sees: CL:every CL:some CL:zonk-y CL:zonk-n
1296 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1298 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1299 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
1300 :renamer (symbol-prefix-proc 'CL:)))
1302 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
1303 ;; and all four by upcasing.
1304 ;; the current module sees: EVERY SOME ZONK-Y ZONK-N
1305 (define (upcase-symbol sym)
1306 (string->symbol (string-upcase (symbol->string sym))))
1308 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1310 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1311 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
1312 :renamer upcase-symbol))
1314 Note that programmatic renaming is done *after* individual renaming.
1315 Also, the above examples show `use-modules', but the same facilities are
1316 available for the `#:use-module' clause of `define-module'.
1318 See manual for more info.
1320 ** The semantics of guardians have changed.
1322 The changes are for the most part compatible. An important criterion
1323 was to keep the typical usage of guardians as simple as before, but to
1324 make the semantics safer and (as a result) more useful.
1326 *** All objects returned from guardians are now properly alive.
1328 It is now guaranteed that any object referenced by an object returned
1329 from a guardian is alive. It's now impossible for a guardian to
1330 return a "contained" object before its "containing" object.
1332 One incompatible (but probably not very important) change resulting
1333 from this is that it is no longer possible to guard objects that
1334 indirectly reference themselves (i.e. are parts of cycles). If you do
1335 so accidentally, you'll get a warning.
1337 *** There are now two types of guardians: greedy and sharing.
1339 If you call (make-guardian #t) or just (make-guardian), you'll get a
1340 greedy guardian, and for (make-guardian #f) a sharing guardian.
1342 Greedy guardians are the default because they are more "defensive".
1343 You can only greedily guard an object once. If you guard an object
1344 more than once, once in a greedy guardian and the rest of times in
1345 sharing guardians, then it is guaranteed that the object won't be
1346 returned from sharing guardians as long as it is greedily guarded
1349 Guardians returned by calls to `make-guardian' can now take one more
1350 optional parameter, which says whether to throw an error in case an
1351 attempt is made to greedily guard an object that is already greedily
1352 guarded. The default is true, i.e. throw an error. If the parameter
1353 is false, the guardian invocation returns #t if guarding was
1354 successful and #f if it wasn't.
1356 Also, since greedy guarding is, in effect, a side-effecting operation
1357 on objects, a new function is introduced: `destroy-guardian!'.
1358 Invoking this function on a guardian renders it unoperative and, if
1359 the guardian is greedy, clears the "greedily guarded" property of the
1360 objects that were guarded by it, thus undoing the side effect.
1362 Note that all this hair is hardly very important, since guardian
1363 objects are usually permanent.
1365 ** Continuations created by call-with-current-continuation now accept
1366 any number of arguments, as required by R5RS.
1368 ** New function `issue-deprecation-warning'
1370 This function is used to display the deprecation messages that are
1371 controlled by GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATION as explained in the README.
1374 (issue-deprecation-warning "`id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.")
1378 ;; `id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.
1383 ** New syntax `begin-deprecated'
1385 When deprecated features are included (as determined by the configure
1386 option --enable-deprecated), `begin-deprecated' is identical to
1387 `begin'. When deprecated features are excluded, it always evaluates
1388 to `#f', ignoring the body forms.
1390 ** New function `make-object-property'
1392 This function returns a new `procedure with setter' P that can be used
1393 to attach a property to objects. When calling P as
1397 where `obj' is any kind of object, it attaches `val' to `obj' in such
1398 a way that it can be retrieved by calling P as
1402 This function will replace procedure properties, symbol properties and
1403 source properties eventually.
1405 ** Module (ice-9 optargs) now uses keywords instead of `#&'.
1407 Instead of #&optional, #&key, etc you should now use #:optional,
1408 #:key, etc. Since #:optional is a keyword, you can write it as just
1409 :optional when (read-set! keywords 'prefix) is active.
1411 The old reader syntax `#&' is still supported, but deprecated. It
1412 will be removed in the next release.
1414 ** New define-module option: pure
1416 Tells the module system not to include any bindings from the root
1421 (define-module (totally-empty-module)
1424 ** New define-module option: export NAME1 ...
1426 Export names NAME1 ...
1428 This option is required if you want to be able to export bindings from
1429 a module which doesn't import one of `define-public' or `export'.
1433 (define-module (foo)
1435 :use-module (ice-9 r5rs)
1438 ;;; Note that we're pure R5RS below this point!
1443 ** New function: object->string OBJ
1445 Return a Scheme string obtained by printing a given object.
1447 ** New function: port? X
1449 Returns a boolean indicating whether X is a port. Equivalent to
1450 `(or (input-port? X) (output-port? X))'.
1452 ** New function: file-port?
1454 Determines whether a given object is a port that is related to a file.
1456 ** New function: port-for-each proc
1458 Apply PROC to each port in the Guile port table in turn. The return
1459 value is unspecified. More specifically, PROC is applied exactly once
1460 to every port that exists in the system at the time PORT-FOR-EACH is
1461 invoked. Changes to the port table while PORT-FOR-EACH is running
1462 have no effect as far as PORT-FOR-EACH is concerned.
1464 ** New function: dup2 oldfd newfd
1466 A simple wrapper for the `dup2' system call. Copies the file
1467 descriptor OLDFD to descriptor number NEWFD, replacing the
1468 previous meaning of NEWFD. Both OLDFD and NEWFD must be integers.
1469 Unlike for dup->fdes or primitive-move->fdes, no attempt is made
1470 to move away ports which are using NEWFD. The return value is
1473 ** New function: close-fdes fd
1475 A simple wrapper for the `close' system call. Close file
1476 descriptor FD, which must be an integer. Unlike close (*note
1477 close: Ports and File Descriptors.), the file descriptor will be
1478 closed even if a port is using it. The return value is
1481 ** New function: crypt password salt
1483 Encrypts `password' using the standard unix password encryption
1486 ** New function: chroot path
1488 Change the root directory of the running process to `path'.
1490 ** New functions: getlogin, cuserid
1492 Return the login name or the user name of the current effective user
1495 ** New functions: getpriority which who, setpriority which who prio
1497 Get or set the priority of the running process.
1499 ** New function: getpass prompt
1501 Read a password from the terminal, first displaying `prompt' and
1504 ** New function: flock file operation
1506 Set/remove an advisory shared or exclusive lock on `file'.
1508 ** New functions: sethostname name, gethostname
1510 Set or get the hostname of the machine the current process is running
1513 ** New function: mkstemp! tmpl
1515 mkstemp creates a new unique file in the file system and returns a
1516 new buffered port open for reading and writing to the file. TMPL
1517 is a string specifying where the file should be created: it must
1518 end with `XXXXXX' and will be changed in place to return the name
1519 of the temporary file.
1521 ** New function: open-input-string string
1523 Return an input string port which delivers the characters from
1524 `string'. This procedure, together with `open-output-string' and
1525 `get-output-string' implements SRFI-6.
1527 ** New function: open-output-string
1529 Return an output string port which collects all data written to it.
1530 The data can then be retrieved by `get-output-string'.
1532 ** New function: get-output-string
1534 Return the contents of an output string port.
1536 ** New function: identity
1538 Return the argument.
1540 ** socket, connect, accept etc., now have support for IPv6. IPv6 addresses
1541 are represented in Scheme as integers with normal host byte ordering.
1543 ** New function: inet-pton family address
1545 Convert a printable string network address into an integer. Note that
1546 unlike the C version of this function, the result is an integer with
1547 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
1550 (inet-pton AF_INET "127.0.0.1") => 2130706433
1551 (inet-pton AF_INET6 "::1") => 1
1553 ** New function: inet-ntop family address
1555 Convert an integer network address into a printable string. Note that
1556 unlike the C version of this function, the input is an integer with
1557 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
1560 (inet-ntop AF_INET 2130706433) => "127.0.0.1"
1561 (inet-ntop AF_INET6 (- (expt 2 128) 1)) =>
1562 ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff
1566 Use `identity' instead.
1572 ** Deprecated: return-it
1576 ** Deprecated: string-character-length
1578 Use `string-length' instead.
1580 ** Deprecated: flags
1582 Use `logior' instead.
1584 ** Deprecated: close-all-ports-except.
1586 This was intended for closing ports in a child process after a fork,
1587 but it has the undesirable side effect of flushing buffers.
1588 port-for-each is more flexible.
1590 ** The (ice-9 popen) module now attempts to set up file descriptors in
1591 the child process from the current Scheme ports, instead of using the
1592 current values of file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 in the parent process.
1594 ** Removed function: builtin-weak-bindings
1596 There is no such concept as a weak binding any more.
1598 ** Removed constants: bignum-radix, scm-line-incrementors
1600 ** define-method: New syntax mandatory.
1602 The new method syntax is now mandatory:
1604 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ...) BODY ...)
1605 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ... . REST-ARG) BODY ...)
1607 ARG-SPEC ::= ARG-NAME | (ARG-NAME TYPE)
1608 REST-ARG ::= ARG-NAME
1610 If you have old code using the old syntax, import
1611 (oop goops old-define-method) before (oop goops) as in:
1613 (use-modules (oop goops old-define-method) (oop goops))
1615 ** Deprecated function: builtin-variable
1616 Removed function: builtin-bindings
1618 There is no longer a distinction between builtin or other variables.
1619 Use module system operations for all variables.
1621 ** Lazy-catch handlers are no longer allowed to return.
1623 That is, a call to `throw', `error', etc is now guaranteed to not
1626 ** Bugfixes for (ice-9 getopt-long)
1628 This module is now tested using test-suite/tests/getopt-long.test.
1629 The following bugs have been fixed:
1631 *** Parsing for options that are specified to have `optional' args now checks
1632 if the next element is an option instead of unconditionally taking it as the
1635 *** An error is now thrown for `--opt=val' when the option description
1636 does not specify `(value #t)' or `(value optional)'. This condition used to
1637 be accepted w/o error, contrary to the documentation.
1639 *** The error message for unrecognized options is now more informative.
1640 It used to be "not a record", an artifact of the implementation.
1642 *** The error message for `--opt' terminating the arg list (no value), when
1643 `(value #t)' is specified, is now more informative. It used to be "not enough
1646 *** "Clumped" single-char args now preserve trailing string, use it as arg.
1647 The expansion used to be like so:
1649 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "--xyz")
1651 Note that the "5d" is dropped. Now it is like so:
1653 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "5d" "--xyz")
1655 This enables single-char options to have adjoining arguments as long as their
1656 constituent characters are not potential single-char options.
1658 ** (ice-9 session) procedure `arity' now works with (ice-9 optargs) `lambda*'
1660 The `lambda*' and derivative forms in (ice-9 optargs) now set a procedure
1661 property `arglist', which can be retrieved by `arity'. The result is that
1662 `arity' can give more detailed information than before:
1666 guile> (use-modules (ice-9 optargs))
1667 guile> (define* (foo #:optional a b c) a)
1669 0 or more arguments in `lambda*:G0'.
1674 3 optional arguments: `a', `b' and `c'.
1675 guile> (define* (bar a b #:key c d #:allow-other-keys) a)
1677 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 2 keyword arguments: `c'
1678 and `d', other keywords allowed.
1679 guile> (define* (baz a b #:optional c #:rest r) a)
1681 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 1 optional argument: `c',
1684 * Changes to the C interface
1686 ** Types have been renamed from scm_*_t to scm_t_*.
1688 This has been done for POSIX sake. It reserves identifiers ending
1689 with "_t". What a concept.
1691 The old names are still available with status `deprecated'.
1693 ** scm_t_bits (former scm_bits_t) is now a unsigned type.
1695 ** Deprecated features have been removed.
1699 SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP SCM_ICHRP, SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR
1700 SCM_SETJMPBUF SCM_NSTRINGP SCM_NRWSTRINGP SCM_NVECTORP SCM_DOUBLE_CELLP
1702 *** C Functions removed
1704 scm_sysmissing scm_tag scm_tc16_flo scm_tc_flo
1705 scm_fseek - replaced by scm_seek.
1706 gc-thunk - replaced by after-gc-hook.
1707 gh_int2scmb - replaced by gh_bool2scm.
1708 scm_tc_dblr - replaced by scm_tc16_real.
1709 scm_tc_dblc - replaced by scm_tc16_complex.
1710 scm_list_star - replaced by scm_cons_star.
1712 ** Deprecated: scm_makfromstr
1714 Use scm_mem2string instead.
1716 ** Deprecated: scm_make_shared_substring
1718 Explicit shared substrings will disappear from Guile.
1720 Instead, "normal" strings will be implemented using sharing
1721 internally, combined with a copy-on-write strategy.
1723 ** Deprecated: scm_read_only_string_p
1725 The concept of read-only strings will disappear in next release of
1728 ** Deprecated: scm_sloppy_memq, scm_sloppy_memv, scm_sloppy_member
1730 Instead, use scm_c_memq or scm_memq, scm_memv, scm_member.
1732 ** New functions: scm_call_0, scm_call_1, scm_call_2, scm_call_3
1734 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments. See "Fly
1735 Evaluation" in the manual.
1737 ** New functions: scm_apply_0, scm_apply_1, scm_apply_2, scm_apply_3
1739 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments and a list of
1740 further arguments. See "Fly Evaluation" in the manual.
1742 ** New functions: scm_list_1, scm_list_2, scm_list_3, scm_list_4, scm_list_5
1744 Create a list of the given number of elements. See "List
1745 Constructors" in the manual.
1747 ** Renamed function: scm_listify has been replaced by scm_list_n.
1749 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_LIST0, SCM_LIST1, SCM_LIST2, SCM_LIST3, SCM_LIST4,
1750 SCM_LIST5, SCM_LIST6, SCM_LIST7, SCM_LIST8, SCM_LIST9.
1752 Use functions scm_list_N instead.
1754 ** New function: scm_c_read (SCM port, void *buffer, scm_sizet size)
1756 Used by an application to read arbitrary number of bytes from a port.
1757 Same semantics as libc read, except that scm_c_read only returns less
1758 than SIZE bytes if at end-of-file.
1760 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
1762 ** New function: scm_c_write (SCM port, const void *ptr, scm_sizet size)
1764 Used by an application to write arbitrary number of bytes to an SCM
1765 port. Similar semantics as libc write. However, unlike libc
1766 write, scm_c_write writes the requested number of bytes and has no
1769 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
1771 ** New function: scm_init_guile ()
1773 In contrast to scm_boot_guile, scm_init_guile will return normally
1774 after initializing Guile. It is not available on all systems, tho.
1776 ** New functions: scm_str2symbol, scm_mem2symbol
1778 The function scm_str2symbol takes a const char* pointing to a zero-terminated
1779 field of characters and creates a scheme symbol object from that C string.
1780 The function scm_mem2symbol takes a const char* and a number of characters and
1781 creates a symbol from the characters in that memory area.
1783 ** New functions: scm_primitive_make_property
1784 scm_primitive_property_ref
1785 scm_primitive_property_set_x
1786 scm_primitive_property_del_x
1788 These functions implement a new way to deal with object properties.
1789 See libguile/properties.c for their documentation.
1791 ** New function: scm_done_free (long size)
1793 This function is the inverse of scm_done_malloc. Use it to report the
1794 amount of smob memory you free. The previous method, which involved
1795 calling scm_done_malloc with negative argument, was somewhat
1796 unintuitive (and is still available, of course).
1798 ** New function: scm_c_memq (SCM obj, SCM list)
1800 This function provides a fast C level alternative for scm_memq for the case
1801 that the list parameter is known to be a proper list. The function is a
1802 replacement for scm_sloppy_memq, but is stricter in its requirements on its
1803 list input parameter, since for anything else but a proper list the function's
1804 behaviour is undefined - it may even crash or loop endlessly. Further, for
1805 the case that the object is not found in the list, scm_c_memq returns #f which
1806 is similar to scm_memq, but different from scm_sloppy_memq's behaviour.
1808 ** New functions: scm_remember_upto_here_1, scm_remember_upto_here_2,
1809 scm_remember_upto_here
1811 These functions replace the function scm_remember.
1813 ** Deprecated function: scm_remember
1815 Use one of the new functions scm_remember_upto_here_1,
1816 scm_remember_upto_here_2 or scm_remember_upto_here instead.
1818 ** New function: scm_allocate_string
1820 This function replaces the function scm_makstr.
1822 ** Deprecated function: scm_makstr
1824 Use the new function scm_allocate_string instead.
1826 ** New global variable scm_gc_running_p introduced.
1828 Use this variable to find out if garbage collection is being executed. Up to
1829 now applications have used scm_gc_heap_lock to test if garbage collection was
1830 running, which also works because of the fact that up to know only the garbage
1831 collector has set this variable. But, this is an implementation detail that
1832 may change. Further, scm_gc_heap_lock is not set throughout gc, thus the use
1833 of this variable is (and has been) not fully safe anyway.
1835 ** New macros: SCM_BITVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH
1837 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
1839 ** New macros: SCM_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_CCLO_LENGTH, SCM_STACK_LENGTH,
1840 SCM_STRING_LENGTH, SCM_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
1841 SCM_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_VECTOR_LENGTH.
1843 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH.
1845 ** New macros: SCM_SET_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_SET_STRING_LENGTH,
1846 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_SET_VECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
1847 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_LENGTH
1849 Use these instead of SCM_SETLENGTH
1851 ** New macros: SCM_STRING_CHARS, SCM_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_CCLO_BASE,
1852 SCM_VECTOR_BASE, SCM_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_BITVECTOR_BASE, SCM_COMPLEX_MEM,
1855 Use these instead of SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS, SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS or
1858 ** New macros: SCM_SET_BIGNUM_BASE, SCM_SET_STRING_CHARS,
1859 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_BASE,
1862 Use these instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
1864 ** New macro: SCM_BITVECTOR_P
1866 ** New macro: SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X
1868 Use instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
1870 ** New macros: SCM_DIR_OPEN_P, SCM_DIR_FLAG_OPEN
1872 For directory objects, use these instead of SCM_OPDIRP and SCM_OPN.
1874 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_OUTOFRANGE, SCM_NALLOC, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL,
1875 SCM_INT_SIGNAL, SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL,
1876 SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL, SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD,
1877 SCM_ORD_SIG, SCM_NUM_SIGS, SCM_SYMBOL_SLOTS, SCM_SLOTS, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP,
1878 SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_FREEP, SCM_NFREEP, SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS,
1879 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY,
1880 SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY, SCM_ROLENGTH, SCM_LENGTH, SCM_HUGE_LENGTH,
1881 SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR,
1882 SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_RWSTRINGP, SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, SCM_ROCHARS,
1883 SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_LENGTH_MAX, SCM_GC8MARKP,
1884 SCM_SETGC8MARK, SCM_CLRGC8MARK, SCM_GCTYP16, SCM_GCCDR, SCM_SUBR_DOC,
1885 SCM_OPDIRP, SCM_VALIDATE_OPDIR, SCM_WTA, RETURN_SCM_WTA, SCM_CONST_LONG,
1886 SCM_WNA, SCM_FUNC_NAME, SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_COPY,
1887 SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_DEF_COPY, SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP, SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP,
1888 SCM_SETAND_CDR, SCM_SETOR_CDR, SCM_SETAND_CAR, SCM_SETOR_CAR
1890 Use SCM_ASSERT_RANGE or SCM_VALIDATE_XXX_RANGE instead of SCM_OUTOFRANGE.
1891 Use scm_memory_error instead of SCM_NALLOC.
1892 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP.
1893 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR.
1894 Use SCM_FREE_CELL_P instead of SCM_FREEP/SCM_NFREEP
1895 Use a type specific accessor macro instead of SCM_CHARS/SCM_UCHARS.
1896 Use a type specific accessor instead of SCM(_|_RO|_HUGE_)LENGTH.
1897 Use SCM_VALIDATE_(SYMBOL|STRING) instead of SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING.
1898 Use SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
1899 Use SCM_STRINGP or SCM_SYMBOLP instead of SCM_ROSTRINGP.
1900 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_RWSTRINGP.
1901 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING.
1902 Use SCM_STRING_CHARS instead of SCM_ROCHARS.
1903 Use SCM_STRING_UCHARS instead of SCM_ROUCHARS.
1904 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETLENGTH.
1905 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
1906 Use a type specific length macro instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
1907 Use SCM_GCMARKP instead of SCM_GC8MARKP.
1908 Use SCM_SETGCMARK instead of SCM_SETGC8MARK.
1909 Use SCM_CLRGCMARK instead of SCM_CLRGC8MARK.
1910 Use SCM_TYP16 instead of SCM_GCTYP16.
1911 Use SCM_CDR instead of SCM_GCCDR.
1912 Use SCM_DIR_OPEN_P instead of SCM_OPDIRP.
1913 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of SCM_WTA.
1914 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of RETURN_SCM_WTA.
1915 Use SCM_VCELL_INIT instead of SCM_CONST_LONG.
1916 Use SCM_WRONG_NUM_ARGS instead of SCM_WNA.
1917 Use SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP.
1918 Use !SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP.
1920 ** Removed function: scm_struct_init
1922 ** Removed variable: scm_symhash_dim
1924 ** Renamed function: scm_make_cont has been replaced by
1925 scm_make_continuation, which has a different interface.
1927 ** Deprecated function: scm_call_catching_errors
1929 Use scm_catch or scm_lazy_catch from throw.[ch] instead.
1931 ** Deprecated function: scm_strhash
1933 Use scm_string_hash instead.
1935 ** Deprecated function: scm_vector_set_length_x
1937 Instead, create a fresh vector of the desired size and copy the contents.
1939 ** scm_gensym has changed prototype
1941 scm_gensym now only takes one argument.
1943 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc7_ssymbol, scm_tc7_msymbol, scm_tcs_symbols,
1946 There is now only a single symbol type scm_tc7_symbol.
1947 The tag scm_tc7_lvector was not used anyway.
1949 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe, scm_set_smob_mfpe.
1951 Use scm_make_smob_type and scm_set_smob_XXX instead.
1953 ** New function scm_set_smob_apply.
1955 This can be used to set an apply function to a smob type.
1957 ** Deprecated function: scm_strprint_obj
1959 Use scm_object_to_string instead.
1961 ** Deprecated function: scm_wta
1963 Use scm_wrong_type_arg, or another appropriate error signalling function
1966 ** Explicit support for obarrays has been deprecated.
1968 Use `scm_str2symbol' and the generic hashtable functions instead.
1970 ** The concept of `vcells' has been deprecated.
1972 The data type `variable' is now used exclusively. `Vcells' have been
1973 a low-level concept so you are likely not affected by this change.
1975 *** Deprecated functions: scm_sym2vcell, scm_sysintern,
1976 scm_sysintern0, scm_symbol_value0, scm_intern, scm_intern0.
1978 Use scm_c_define or scm_c_lookup instead, as appropriate.
1980 *** New functions: scm_c_module_lookup, scm_c_lookup,
1981 scm_c_module_define, scm_c_define, scm_module_lookup, scm_lookup,
1982 scm_module_define, scm_define.
1984 These functions work with variables instead of with vcells.
1986 ** New functions for creating and defining `subr's and `gsubr's.
1988 The new functions more clearly distinguish between creating a subr (or
1989 gsubr) object and adding it to the current module.
1991 These new functions are available: scm_c_make_subr, scm_c_define_subr,
1992 scm_c_make_subr_with_generic, scm_c_define_subr_with_generic,
1993 scm_c_make_gsubr, scm_c_define_gsubr, scm_c_make_gsubr_with_generic,
1994 scm_c_define_gsubr_with_generic.
1996 ** Deprecated functions: scm_make_subr, scm_make_subr_opt,
1997 scm_make_subr_with_generic, scm_make_gsubr,
1998 scm_make_gsubr_with_generic.
2000 Use the new ones from above instead.
2002 ** C interface to the module system has changed.
2004 While we suggest that you avoid as many explicit module system
2005 operations from C as possible for the time being, the C interface has
2006 been made more similar to the high-level Scheme module system.
2008 *** New functions: scm_c_define_module, scm_c_use_module,
2009 scm_c_export, scm_c_resolve_module.
2011 They mostly work like their Scheme namesakes. scm_c_define_module
2012 takes a function that is called a context where the new module is
2015 *** Deprecated functions: scm_the_root_module, scm_make_module,
2016 scm_ensure_user_module, scm_load_scheme_module.
2018 Use the new functions instead.
2020 ** Renamed function: scm_internal_with_fluids becomes
2023 scm_internal_with_fluids is available as a deprecated function.
2025 ** New function: scm_c_with_fluid.
2027 Just like scm_c_with_fluids, but takes one fluid and one value instead
2030 ** Deprecated typedefs: long_long, ulong_long.
2032 They are of questionable utility and they pollute the global
2035 ** Deprecated typedef: scm_sizet
2037 It is of questionable utility now that Guile requires ANSI C, and is
2040 ** Deprecated typedefs: scm_port_rw_active, scm_port,
2041 scm_ptob_descriptor, scm_debug_info, scm_debug_frame, scm_fport,
2042 scm_option, scm_rstate, scm_rng, scm_array, scm_array_dim.
2044 Made more compliant with the naming policy by adding a _t at the end.
2046 ** Deprecated functions: scm_mkbig, scm_big2num, scm_adjbig,
2047 scm_normbig, scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big, scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl
2049 With the exception of the mysterious scm_2ulong2big, they are still
2050 available under new names (scm_i_mkbig etc). These functions are not
2051 intended to be used in user code. You should avoid dealing with
2052 bignums directly, and should deal with numbers in general (which can
2055 ** Change in behavior: scm_num2long, scm_num2ulong
2057 The scm_num2[u]long functions don't any longer accept an inexact
2058 argument. This change in behavior is motivated by concordance with
2059 R5RS: It is more common that a primitive doesn't want to accept an
2060 inexact for an exact.
2062 ** New functions: scm_short2num, scm_ushort2num, scm_int2num,
2063 scm_uint2num, scm_size2num, scm_ptrdiff2num, scm_num2short,
2064 scm_num2ushort, scm_num2int, scm_num2uint, scm_num2ptrdiff,
2067 These are conversion functions between the various ANSI C integral
2068 types and Scheme numbers. NOTE: The scm_num2xxx functions don't
2069 accept an inexact argument.
2071 ** New functions: scm_float2num, scm_double2num,
2072 scm_num2float, scm_num2double.
2074 These are conversion functions between the two ANSI C float types and
2077 ** New number validation macros:
2078 SCM_NUM2{SIZE,PTRDIFF,SHORT,USHORT,INT,UINT}[_DEF]
2082 ** New functions: scm_gc_protect_object, scm_gc_unprotect_object
2084 These are just nicer-named old scm_protect_object and
2085 scm_unprotect_object.
2087 ** Deprecated functions: scm_protect_object, scm_unprotect_object
2089 ** New functions: scm_gc_[un]register_root, scm_gc_[un]register_roots
2091 These functions can be used to register pointers to locations that
2094 ** Deprecated function: scm_create_hook.
2096 Its sins are: misleading name, non-modularity and lack of general
2100 Changes since Guile 1.3.4:
2102 * Changes to the distribution
2104 ** Trees from nightly snapshots and CVS now require you to run autogen.sh.
2106 We've changed the way we handle generated files in the Guile source
2107 repository. As a result, the procedure for building trees obtained
2108 from the nightly FTP snapshots or via CVS has changed:
2109 - You must have appropriate versions of autoconf, automake, and
2110 libtool installed on your system. See README for info on how to
2111 obtain these programs.
2112 - Before configuring the tree, you must first run the script
2113 `autogen.sh' at the top of the source tree.
2115 The Guile repository used to contain not only source files, written by
2116 humans, but also some generated files, like configure scripts and
2117 Makefile.in files. Even though the contents of these files could be
2118 derived mechanically from other files present, we thought it would
2119 make the tree easier to build if we checked them into CVS.
2121 However, this approach means that minor differences between
2122 developer's installed tools and habits affected the whole team.
2123 So we have removed the generated files from the repository, and
2124 added the autogen.sh script, which will reconstruct them
2128 ** configure now has experimental options to remove support for certain
2131 --disable-arrays omit array and uniform array support
2132 --disable-posix omit posix interfaces
2133 --disable-networking omit networking interfaces
2134 --disable-regex omit regular expression interfaces
2136 These are likely to become separate modules some day.
2138 ** New configure option --enable-debug-freelist
2140 This enables a debugging version of SCM_NEWCELL(), and also registers
2141 an extra primitive, the setter `gc-set-debug-check-freelist!'.
2143 Configure with the --enable-debug-freelist option to enable
2144 the gc-set-debug-check-freelist! primitive, and then use:
2146 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #t) # turn on checking of the freelist
2147 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #f) # turn off checking
2149 Checking of the freelist forces a traversal of the freelist and
2150 a garbage collection before each allocation of a cell. This can
2151 slow down the interpreter dramatically, so the setter should be used to
2152 turn on this extra processing only when necessary.
2154 ** New configure option --enable-debug-malloc
2156 Include code for debugging of calls to scm_must_malloc/realloc/free.
2160 1. objects freed by scm_must_free has been mallocated by scm_must_malloc
2161 2. objects reallocated by scm_must_realloc has been allocated by
2163 3. reallocated objects are reallocated with the same what string
2165 But, most importantly, it records the number of allocated objects of
2166 each kind. This is useful when searching for memory leaks.
2168 A Guile compiled with this option provides the primitive
2169 `malloc-stats' which returns an alist with pairs of kind and the
2170 number of objects of that kind.
2172 ** All includes are now referenced relative to the root directory
2174 Since some users have had problems with mixups between Guile and
2175 system headers, we have decided to always refer to Guile headers via
2176 their parent directories. This essentially creates a "private name
2177 space" for Guile headers. This means that the compiler only is given
2178 -I options for the root build and root source directory.
2180 ** Header files kw.h and genio.h have been removed.
2182 ** The module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) has been removed.
2184 ** New module (ice-9 documentation)
2186 Implements the interface to documentation strings associated with
2189 ** New module (ice-9 time)
2191 Provides a macro `time', which displays execution time of a given form.
2193 ** New module (ice-9 history)
2195 Loading this module enables value history in the repl.
2197 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
2199 ** New command line option --debug
2201 Start Guile with debugging evaluator and backtraces enabled.
2203 This is useful when debugging your .guile init file or scripts.
2205 ** New help facility
2207 Usage: (help NAME) gives documentation about objects named NAME (a symbol)
2208 (help REGEXP) ditto for objects with names matching REGEXP (a string)
2209 (help 'NAME) gives documentation for NAME, even if it is not an object
2210 (help ,EXPR) gives documentation for object returned by EXPR
2211 (help (my module)) gives module commentary for `(my module)'
2212 (help) gives this text
2214 `help' searches among bindings exported from loaded modules, while
2215 `apropos' searches among bindings visible from the "current" module.
2217 Examples: (help help)
2219 (help "output-string")
2221 ** `help' and `apropos' now prints full module names
2223 ** Dynamic linking now uses libltdl from the libtool package.
2225 The old system dependent code for doing dynamic linking has been
2226 replaced with calls to the libltdl functions which do all the hairy
2229 The major improvement is that you can now directly pass libtool
2230 library names like "libfoo.la" to `dynamic-link' and `dynamic-link'
2231 will be able to do the best shared library job you can get, via
2234 The way dynamic libraries are found has changed and is not really
2235 portable across platforms, probably. It is therefore recommended to
2236 use absolute filenames when possible.
2238 If you pass a filename without an extension to `dynamic-link', it will
2239 try a few appropriate ones. Thus, the most platform ignorant way is
2240 to specify a name like "libfoo", without any directories and
2243 ** Guile COOP threads are now compatible with LinuxThreads
2245 Previously, COOP threading wasn't possible in applications linked with
2246 Linux POSIX threads due to their use of the stack pointer to find the
2247 thread context. This has now been fixed with a workaround which uses
2248 the pthreads to allocate the stack.
2250 ** New primitives: `pkgdata-dir', `site-dir', `library-dir'
2252 ** Positions of erring expression in scripts
2254 With version 1.3.4, the location of the erring expression in Guile
2255 scipts is no longer automatically reported. (This should have been
2256 documented before the 1.3.4 release.)
2258 You can get this information by enabling recording of positions of
2259 source expressions and running the debugging evaluator. Put this at
2260 the top of your script (or in your "site" file):
2262 (read-enable 'positions)
2263 (debug-enable 'debug)
2265 ** Backtraces in scripts
2267 It is now possible to get backtraces in scripts.
2271 (debug-enable 'debug 'backtrace)
2273 at the top of the script.
2275 (The first options enables the debugging evaluator.
2276 The second enables backtraces.)
2278 ** Part of module system symbol lookup now implemented in C
2280 The eval closure of most modules is now implemented in C. Since this
2281 was one of the bottlenecks for loading speed, Guile now loads code
2282 substantially faster than before.
2284 ** Attempting to get the value of an unbound variable now produces
2285 an exception with a key of 'unbound-variable instead of 'misc-error.
2287 ** The initial default output port is now unbuffered if it's using a
2288 tty device. Previously in this situation it was line-buffered.
2290 ** New hook: after-gc-hook
2292 after-gc-hook takes over the role of gc-thunk. This hook is run at
2293 the first SCM_TICK after a GC. (Thus, the code is run at the same
2294 point during evaluation as signal handlers.)
2296 Note that this hook should be used only for diagnostic and debugging
2297 purposes. It is not certain that it will continue to be well-defined
2298 when this hook is run in the future.
2300 C programmers: Note the new C level hooks scm_before_gc_c_hook,
2301 scm_before_sweep_c_hook, scm_after_gc_c_hook.
2303 ** Improvements to garbage collector
2305 Guile 1.4 has a new policy for triggering heap allocation and
2306 determining the sizes of heap segments. It fixes a number of problems
2309 1. The new policy can handle two separate pools of cells
2310 (2-word/4-word) better. (The old policy would run wild, allocating
2311 more and more memory for certain programs.)
2313 2. The old code would sometimes allocate far too much heap so that the
2314 Guile process became gigantic. The new code avoids this.
2316 3. The old code would sometimes allocate too little so that few cells
2317 were freed at GC so that, in turn, too much time was spent in GC.
2319 4. The old code would often trigger heap allocation several times in a
2320 row. (The new scheme predicts how large the segments needs to be
2321 in order not to need further allocation.)
2323 All in all, the new GC policy will make larger applications more
2326 The new GC scheme also is prepared for POSIX threading. Threads can
2327 allocate private pools of cells ("clusters") with just a single
2328 function call. Allocation of single cells from such a cluster can
2329 then proceed without any need of inter-thread synchronization.
2331 ** New environment variables controlling GC parameters
2333 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE Maximal segment size
2336 Allocation of 2-word cell heaps:
2338 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1 Size of initial heap segment in bytes
2341 GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1 Minimum number of freed cells at each
2342 GC in percent of total heap size
2345 Allocation of 4-word cell heaps
2346 (used for real numbers and misc other objects):
2348 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2
2350 (See entry "Way for application to customize GC parameters" under
2351 section "Changes to the scm_ interface" below.)
2353 ** Guile now implements reals using 4-word cells
2355 This speeds up computation with reals. (They were earlier allocated
2356 with `malloc'.) There is still some room for optimizations, however.
2358 ** Some further steps toward POSIX thread support have been taken
2360 *** Guile's critical sections (SCM_DEFER/ALLOW_INTS)
2361 don't have much effect any longer, and many of them will be removed in
2365 are only handled at the top of the evaluator loop, immediately after
2366 I/O, and in scm_equalp.
2368 *** The GC can allocate thread private pools of pairs.
2370 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
2372 ** close-input-port and close-output-port are now R5RS
2374 These procedures have been turned into primitives and have R5RS behaviour.
2376 ** New procedure: simple-format PORT MESSAGE ARG1 ...
2378 (ice-9 boot) makes `format' an alias for `simple-format' until possibly
2379 extended by the more sophisticated version in (ice-9 format)
2381 (simple-format port message . args)
2382 Write MESSAGE to DESTINATION, defaulting to `current-output-port'.
2383 MESSAGE can contain ~A (was %s) and ~S (was %S) escapes. When printed,
2384 the escapes are replaced with corresponding members of ARGS:
2385 ~A formats using `display' and ~S formats using `write'.
2386 If DESTINATION is #t, then use the `current-output-port',
2387 if DESTINATION is #f, then return a string containing the formatted text.
2388 Does not add a trailing newline."
2390 ** string-ref: the second argument is no longer optional.
2392 ** string, list->string: no longer accept strings in their arguments,
2393 only characters, for compatibility with R5RS.
2395 ** New procedure: port-closed? PORT
2396 Returns #t if PORT is closed or #f if it is open.
2398 ** Deprecated: list*
2400 The list* functionality is now provided by cons* (SRFI-1 compliant)
2402 ** New procedure: cons* ARG1 ARG2 ... ARGn
2404 Like `list', but the last arg provides the tail of the constructed list,
2405 returning (cons ARG1 (cons ARG2 (cons ... ARGn))).
2407 Requires at least one argument. If given one argument, that argument
2408 is returned as result.
2410 This function is called `list*' in some other Schemes and in Common LISP.
2412 ** Removed deprecated: serial-map, serial-array-copy!, serial-array-map!
2414 ** New procedure: object-documentation OBJECT
2416 Returns the documentation string associated with OBJECT. The
2417 procedure uses a caching mechanism so that subsequent lookups are
2420 Exported by (ice-9 documentation).
2422 ** module-name now returns full names of modules
2424 Previously, only the last part of the name was returned (`session' for
2425 `(ice-9 session)'). Ex: `(ice-9 session)'.
2427 * Changes to the gh_ interface
2429 ** Deprecated: gh_int2scmb
2431 Use gh_bool2scm instead.
2433 * Changes to the scm_ interface
2435 ** Guile primitives now carry docstrings!
2437 Thanks to Greg Badros!
2439 ** Guile primitives are defined in a new way: SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
2441 Now Guile primitives are defined using the SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
2442 macros and must contain a docstring that is extracted into foo.doc using a new
2443 guile-doc-snarf script (that uses guile-doc-snarf.awk).
2445 However, a major overhaul of these macros is scheduled for the next release of
2448 ** Guile primitives use a new technique for validation of arguments
2450 SCM_VALIDATE_* macros are defined to ease the redundancy and improve
2451 the readability of argument checking.
2453 ** All (nearly?) K&R prototypes for functions replaced with ANSI C equivalents.
2455 ** New macros: SCM_PACK, SCM_UNPACK
2457 Compose/decompose an SCM value.
2459 The SCM type is now treated as an abstract data type and may be defined as a
2460 long, a void* or as a struct, depending on the architecture and compile time
2461 options. This makes it easier to find several types of bugs, for example when
2462 SCM values are treated as integers without conversion. Values of the SCM type
2463 should be treated as "atomic" values. These macros are used when
2464 composing/decomposing an SCM value, either because you want to access
2465 individual bits, or because you want to treat it as an integer value.
2467 E.g., in order to set bit 7 in an SCM value x, use the expression
2469 SCM_PACK (SCM_UNPACK (x) | 0x80)
2471 ** The name property of hooks is deprecated.
2472 Thus, the use of SCM_HOOK_NAME and scm_make_hook_with_name is deprecated.
2474 You can emulate this feature by using object properties.
2476 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP, SCM_CRDY, SCM_ICHRP,
2477 SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR, SCM_SETJMPBUF, SCM_NSTRINGP, SCM_NRWSTRINGP,
2480 These macros will be removed in a future release of Guile.
2482 ** The following types, functions and macros from numbers.h are deprecated:
2483 scm_dblproc, SCM_UNEGFIXABLE, SCM_FLOBUFLEN, SCM_INEXP, SCM_CPLXP, SCM_REAL,
2484 SCM_IMAG, SCM_REALPART, scm_makdbl, SCM_SINGP, SCM_NUM2DBL, SCM_NO_BIGDIG
2486 ** Port internals: the rw_random variable in the scm_port structure
2487 must be set to non-zero in any random access port. In recent Guile
2488 releases it was only set for bidirectional random-access ports.
2490 ** Port internals: the seek ptob procedure is now responsible for
2491 resetting the buffers if required. The change was made so that in the
2492 special case of reading the current position (i.e., seek p 0 SEEK_CUR)
2493 the fport and strport ptobs can avoid resetting the buffers,
2494 in particular to avoid discarding unread chars. An existing port
2495 type can be fixed by adding something like the following to the
2496 beginning of the ptob seek procedure:
2498 if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_READ)
2499 scm_end_input (object);
2500 else if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_WRITE)
2501 ptob->flush (object);
2503 although to actually avoid resetting the buffers and discard unread
2504 chars requires further hacking that depends on the characteristics
2507 ** Deprecated functions: scm_fseek, scm_tag
2509 These functions are no longer used and will be removed in a future version.
2511 ** The scm_sysmissing procedure is no longer used in libguile.
2512 Unless it turns out to be unexpectedly useful to somebody, it will be
2513 removed in a future version.
2515 ** The format of error message strings has changed
2517 The two C procedures: scm_display_error and scm_error, as well as the
2518 primitive `scm-error', now use scm_simple_format to do their work.
2519 This means that the message strings of all code must be updated to use
2520 ~A where %s was used before, and ~S where %S was used before.
2522 During the period when there still are a lot of old Guiles out there,
2523 you might want to support both old and new versions of Guile.
2525 There are basically two methods to achieve this. Both methods use
2528 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(scm_simple_format)
2530 in your configure.in.
2532 Method 1: Use the string concatenation features of ANSI C's
2537 #ifdef HAVE_SCM_SIMPLE_FORMAT
2543 Then represent each of your error messages using a preprocessor macro:
2545 #define E_SPIDER_ERROR "There's a spider in your " ## FMT_S ## "!!!"
2549 (define fmt-s (if (defined? 'simple-format) "~S" "%S"))
2550 (define make-message string-append)
2552 (define e-spider-error (make-message "There's a spider in your " fmt-s "!!!"))
2554 Method 2: Use the oldfmt function found in doc/oldfmt.c.
2558 scm_misc_error ("picnic", scm_c_oldfmt0 ("There's a spider in your ~S!!!"),
2563 (scm-error 'misc-error "picnic" (oldfmt "There's a spider in your ~S!!!")
2567 ** Deprecated: coop_mutex_init, coop_condition_variable_init
2569 Don't use the functions coop_mutex_init and
2570 coop_condition_variable_init. They will change.
2572 Use scm_mutex_init and scm_cond_init instead.
2574 ** New function: int scm_cond_timedwait (scm_cond_t *COND, scm_mutex_t *MUTEX, const struct timespec *ABSTIME)
2575 `scm_cond_timedwait' atomically unlocks MUTEX and waits on
2576 COND, as `scm_cond_wait' does, but it also bounds the duration
2577 of the wait. If COND has not been signaled before time ABSTIME,
2578 the mutex MUTEX is re-acquired and `scm_cond_timedwait'
2579 returns the error code `ETIMEDOUT'.
2581 The ABSTIME parameter specifies an absolute time, with the same
2582 origin as `time' and `gettimeofday': an ABSTIME of 0 corresponds
2583 to 00:00:00 GMT, January 1, 1970.
2585 ** New function: scm_cond_broadcast (scm_cond_t *COND)
2586 `scm_cond_broadcast' restarts all the threads that are waiting
2587 on the condition variable COND. Nothing happens if no threads are
2590 ** New function: scm_key_create (scm_key_t *KEY, void (*destr_function) (void *))
2591 `scm_key_create' allocates a new TSD key. The key is stored in
2592 the location pointed to by KEY. There is no limit on the number
2593 of keys allocated at a given time. The value initially associated
2594 with the returned key is `NULL' in all currently executing threads.
2596 The DESTR_FUNCTION argument, if not `NULL', specifies a destructor
2597 function associated with the key. When a thread terminates,
2598 DESTR_FUNCTION is called on the value associated with the key in
2599 that thread. The DESTR_FUNCTION is not called if a key is deleted
2600 with `scm_key_delete' or a value is changed with
2601 `scm_setspecific'. The order in which destructor functions are
2602 called at thread termination time is unspecified.
2604 Destructors are not yet implemented.
2606 ** New function: scm_setspecific (scm_key_t KEY, const void *POINTER)
2607 `scm_setspecific' changes the value associated with KEY in the
2608 calling thread, storing the given POINTER instead.
2610 ** New function: scm_getspecific (scm_key_t KEY)
2611 `scm_getspecific' returns the value currently associated with
2612 KEY in the calling thread.
2614 ** New function: scm_key_delete (scm_key_t KEY)
2615 `scm_key_delete' deallocates a TSD key. It does not check
2616 whether non-`NULL' values are associated with that key in the
2617 currently executing threads, nor call the destructor function
2618 associated with the key.
2620 ** New function: scm_c_hook_init (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *HOOK_DATA, scm_c_hook_type_t TYPE)
2622 Initialize a C level hook HOOK with associated HOOK_DATA and type
2623 TYPE. (See scm_c_hook_run ().)
2625 ** New function: scm_c_hook_add (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA, int APPENDP)
2627 Add hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA to HOOK. If APPENDP
2628 is true, add it last, otherwise first. The same FUNC can be added
2629 multiple times if FUNC_DATA differ and vice versa.
2631 ** New function: scm_c_hook_remove (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA)
2633 Remove hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA from HOOK. A
2634 function is only removed if both FUNC and FUNC_DATA matches.
2636 ** New function: void *scm_c_hook_run (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *DATA)
2638 Run hook HOOK passing DATA to the hook functions.
2640 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_NORMAL, all hook functions are run. The value
2641 returned is undefined.
2643 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_OR, hook functions are run until a function
2644 returns a non-NULL value. This value is returned as the result of
2645 scm_c_hook_run. If all functions return NULL, NULL is returned.
2647 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_AND, hook functions are run until a function
2648 returns a NULL value, and NULL is returned. If all functions returns
2649 a non-NULL value, the last value is returned.
2651 ** New C level GC hooks
2653 Five new C level hooks has been added to the garbage collector.
2655 scm_before_gc_c_hook
2658 are run before locking and after unlocking the heap. The system is
2659 thus in a mode where evaluation can take place. (Except that
2660 scm_before_gc_c_hook must not allocate new cells.)
2662 scm_before_mark_c_hook
2663 scm_before_sweep_c_hook
2664 scm_after_sweep_c_hook
2666 are run when the heap is locked. These are intended for extension of
2667 the GC in a modular fashion. Examples are the weaks and guardians
2670 ** Way for application to customize GC parameters
2672 The application can set up other default values for the GC heap
2673 allocation parameters
2675 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_1, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1,
2676 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2,
2677 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE,
2681 scm_default_init_heap_size_1, scm_default_min_yield_1,
2682 scm_default_init_heap_size_2, scm_default_min_yield_2,
2683 scm_default_max_segment_size
2685 respectively before callong scm_boot_guile.
2687 (See entry "New environment variables ..." in section
2688 "Changes to the stand-alone interpreter" above.)
2690 ** scm_protect_object/scm_unprotect_object now nest
2692 This means that you can call scm_protect_object multiple times on an
2693 object and count on the object being protected until
2694 scm_unprotect_object has been call the same number of times.
2696 The functions also have better time complexity.
2698 Still, it is usually possible to structure the application in a way
2699 that you don't need to use these functions. For example, if you use a
2700 protected standard Guile list to keep track of live objects rather
2701 than some custom data type, objects will die a natural death when they
2702 are no longer needed.
2704 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc16_flo, scm_tc_flo, scm_tc_dblr, scm_tc_dblc
2706 Guile does not provide the float representation for inexact real numbers any
2707 more. Now, only doubles are used to represent inexact real numbers. Further,
2708 the tag names scm_tc_dblr and scm_tc_dblc have been changed to scm_tc16_real
2709 and scm_tc16_complex, respectively.
2711 ** Removed deprecated type scm_smobfuns
2713 ** Removed deprecated function scm_newsmob
2715 ** Warning: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe might become deprecated in a future release
2717 There is an ongoing discussion among the developers whether to
2718 deprecate `scm_make_smob_type_mfpe' or not. Please use the current
2719 standard interface (scm_make_smob_type, scm_set_smob_XXX) in new code
2720 until this issue has been settled.
2722 ** Removed deprecated type tag scm_tc16_kw
2724 ** Added type tag scm_tc16_keyword
2726 (This was introduced already in release 1.3.4 but was not documented
2729 ** gdb_print now prints "*** Guile not initialized ***" until Guile initialized
2731 * Changes to system call interfaces:
2733 ** The "select" procedure now tests port buffers for the ability to
2734 provide input or accept output. Previously only the underlying file
2735 descriptors were checked.
2737 ** New variable PIPE_BUF: the maximum number of bytes that can be
2738 atomically written to a pipe.
2740 ** If a facility is not available on the system when Guile is
2741 compiled, the corresponding primitive procedure will not be defined.
2742 Previously it would have been defined but would throw a system-error
2743 exception if called. Exception handlers which catch this case may
2744 need minor modification: an error will be thrown with key
2745 'unbound-variable instead of 'system-error. Alternatively it's
2746 now possible to use `defined?' to check whether the facility is
2749 ** Procedures which depend on the timezone should now give the correct
2750 result on systems which cache the TZ environment variable, even if TZ
2751 is changed without calling tzset.
2753 * Changes to the networking interfaces:
2755 ** New functions: htons, ntohs, htonl, ntohl: for converting short and
2756 long integers between network and host format. For now, it's not
2757 particularly convenient to do this kind of thing, but consider:
2759 (define write-network-long
2760 (lambda (value port)
2761 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
2762 (uniform-vector-set! v 0 (htonl value))
2763 (uniform-vector-write v port))))
2765 (define read-network-long
2767 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
2768 (uniform-vector-read! v port)
2769 (ntohl (uniform-vector-ref v 0)))))
2771 ** If inet-aton fails, it now throws an error with key 'misc-error
2772 instead of 'system-error, since errno is not relevant.
2774 ** Certain gethostbyname/gethostbyaddr failures now throw errors with
2775 specific keys instead of 'system-error. The latter is inappropriate
2776 since errno will not have been set. The keys are:
2777 'host-not-found, 'try-again, 'no-recovery and 'no-data.
2779 ** sethostent, setnetent, setprotoent, setservent: now take an
2780 optional argument STAYOPEN, which specifies whether the database
2781 remains open after a database entry is accessed randomly (e.g., using
2782 gethostbyname for the hosts database.) The default is #f. Previously
2786 Changes since Guile 1.3.2:
2788 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
2792 An initial version of the Guile debugger written by Chris Hanson has
2793 been added. The debugger is still under development but is included
2794 in the distribution anyway since it is already quite useful.
2800 after an error to enter the debugger. Type `help' inside the debugger
2801 for a description of available commands.
2803 If you prefer to have stack frames numbered and printed in
2804 anti-chronological order and prefer up in the stack to be down on the
2805 screen as is the case in gdb, you can put
2807 (debug-enable 'backwards)
2809 in your .guile startup file. (However, this means that Guile can't
2810 use indentation to indicate stack level.)
2812 The debugger is autoloaded into Guile at the first use.
2814 ** Further enhancements to backtraces
2816 There is a new debug option `width' which controls the maximum width
2817 on the screen of printed stack frames. Fancy printing parameters
2818 ("level" and "length" as in Common LISP) are adaptively adjusted for
2819 each stack frame to give maximum information while still fitting
2820 within the bounds. If the stack frame can't be made to fit by
2821 adjusting parameters, it is simply cut off at the end. This is marked
2824 ** Some modules are now only loaded when the repl is started
2826 The modules (ice-9 debug), (ice-9 session), (ice-9 threads) and (ice-9
2827 regex) are now loaded into (guile-user) only if the repl has been
2828 started. The effect is that the startup time for scripts has been
2829 reduced to 30% of what it was previously.
2831 Correctly written scripts load the modules they require at the top of
2832 the file and should not be affected by this change.
2834 ** Hooks are now represented as smobs
2836 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
2838 ** Readline support has changed again.
2840 The old (readline-activator) module is gone. Use (ice-9 readline)
2841 instead, which now contains all readline functionality. So the code
2842 to activate readline is now
2844 (use-modules (ice-9 readline))
2847 This should work at any time, including from the guile prompt.
2849 To avoid confusion about the terms of Guile's license, please only
2850 enable readline for your personal use; please don't make it the
2851 default for others. Here is why we make this rather odd-sounding
2854 Guile is normally licensed under a weakened form of the GNU General
2855 Public License, which allows you to link code with Guile without
2856 placing that code under the GPL. This exception is important to some
2859 However, since readline is distributed under the GNU General Public
2860 License, when you link Guile with readline, either statically or
2861 dynamically, you effectively change Guile's license to the strict GPL.
2862 Whenever you link any strictly GPL'd code into Guile, uses of Guile
2863 which are normally permitted become forbidden. This is a rather
2864 non-obvious consequence of the licensing terms.
2866 So, to make sure things remain clear, please let people choose for
2867 themselves whether to link GPL'd libraries like readline with Guile.
2869 ** regexp-substitute/global has changed slightly, but incompatibly.
2871 If you include a function in the item list, the string of the match
2872 object it receives is the same string passed to
2873 regexp-substitute/global, not some suffix of that string.
2874 Correspondingly, the match's positions are relative to the entire
2875 string, not the suffix.
2877 If the regexp can match the empty string, the way matches are chosen
2878 from the string has changed. regexp-substitute/global recognizes the
2879 same set of matches that list-matches does; see below.
2881 ** New function: list-matches REGEXP STRING [FLAGS]
2883 Return a list of match objects, one for every non-overlapping, maximal
2884 match of REGEXP in STRING. The matches appear in left-to-right order.
2885 list-matches only reports matches of the empty string if there are no
2886 other matches which begin on, end at, or include the empty match's
2889 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
2891 ** New function: fold-matches REGEXP STRING INIT PROC [FLAGS]
2893 For each match of REGEXP in STRING, apply PROC to the match object,
2894 and the last value PROC returned, or INIT for the first call. Return
2895 the last value returned by PROC. We apply PROC to the matches as they
2896 appear from left to right.
2898 This function recognizes matches according to the same criteria as
2901 Thus, you could define list-matches like this:
2903 (define (list-matches regexp string . flags)
2904 (reverse! (apply fold-matches regexp string '() cons flags)))
2906 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
2910 *** New function: hook? OBJ
2912 Return #t if OBJ is a hook, otherwise #f.
2914 *** New function: make-hook-with-name NAME [ARITY]
2916 Return a hook with name NAME and arity ARITY. The default value for
2917 ARITY is 0. The only effect of NAME is that it will appear when the
2918 hook object is printed to ease debugging.
2920 *** New function: hook-empty? HOOK
2922 Return #t if HOOK doesn't contain any procedures, otherwise #f.
2924 *** New function: hook->list HOOK
2926 Return a list of the procedures that are called when run-hook is
2929 ** `map' signals an error if its argument lists are not all the same length.
2931 This is the behavior required by R5RS, so this change is really a bug
2932 fix. But it seems to affect a lot of people's code, so we're
2933 mentioning it here anyway.
2935 ** Print-state handling has been made more transparent
2937 Under certain circumstances, ports are represented as a port with an
2938 associated print state. Earlier, this pair was represented as a pair
2939 (see "Some magic has been added to the printer" below). It is now
2940 indistinguishable (almost; see `get-print-state') from a port on the
2943 *** New function: port-with-print-state OUTPUT-PORT PRINT-STATE
2945 Return a new port with the associated print state PRINT-STATE.
2947 *** New function: get-print-state OUTPUT-PORT
2949 Return the print state associated with this port if it exists,
2950 otherwise return #f.
2952 *** New function: directory-stream? OBJECT
2954 Returns true iff OBJECT is a directory stream --- the sort of object
2955 returned by `opendir'.
2957 ** New function: using-readline?
2959 Return #t if readline is in use in the current repl.
2961 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
2963 Structs will be replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into Guile
2964 and use GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
2966 * Changes to the scm_ interface
2968 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
2970 The entire current struct interface (struct.c, struct.h) will be
2971 replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into libguile and use
2972 GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
2974 ** The internal representation of subr's has changed
2976 Instead of giving a hint to the subr name, the CAR field of the subr
2977 now contains an index to a subr entry in scm_subr_table.
2979 *** New variable: scm_subr_table
2981 An array of subr entries. A subr entry contains the name, properties
2982 and documentation associated with the subr. The properties and
2983 documentation slots are not yet used.
2985 ** A new scheme for "forwarding" calls to a builtin to a generic function
2987 It is now possible to extend the functionality of some Guile
2988 primitives by letting them defer a call to a GOOPS generic function on
2989 argument mismatch. This means that there is no loss of efficiency in
2994 (use-modules (oop goops)) ; Must be GOOPS version 0.2.
2995 (define-method + ((x <string>) (y <string>))
2996 (string-append x y))
2998 + will still be as efficient as usual in numerical calculations, but
2999 can also be used for concatenating strings.
3001 Who will be the first one to extend Guile's numerical tower to
3002 rationals? :) [OK, there a few other things to fix before this can
3003 be made in a clean way.]
3005 *** New snarf macros for defining primitives: SCM_GPROC, SCM_GPROC1
3007 New macro: SCM_GPROC (CNAME, SNAME, REQ, OPT, VAR, CFUNC, GENERIC)
3009 New macro: SCM_GPROC1 (CNAME, SNAME, TYPE, CFUNC, GENERIC)
3011 These do the same job as SCM_PROC and SCM_PROC1, but they also define
3012 a variable GENERIC which can be used by the dispatch macros below.
3014 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3016 *** New macros for forwarding control to a generic on arg type error
3018 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_1 (GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
3020 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
3022 These correspond to the scm_wta function call, and have the same
3023 behaviour until the user has called the GOOPS primitive
3024 `enable-primitive-generic!'. After that, these macros will apply the
3025 generic function GENERIC to the argument(s) instead of calling
3028 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3030 *** New macros for argument testing with generic dispatch
3032 New macro: SCM_GASSERT1 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
3034 New macro: SCM_GASSERT2 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
3036 These correspond to the SCM_ASSERT macro, but will defer control to
3037 GENERIC on error after `enable-primitive-generic!' has been called.
3039 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3041 ** New function: SCM scm_eval_body (SCM body, SCM env)
3043 Evaluates the body of a special form.
3045 ** The internal representation of struct's has changed
3047 Previously, four slots were allocated for the procedure(s) of entities
3048 and operators. The motivation for this representation had to do with
3049 the structure of the evaluator, the wish to support tail-recursive
3050 generic functions, and efficiency. Since the generic function
3051 dispatch mechanism has changed, there is no longer a need for such an
3052 expensive representation, and the representation has been simplified.
3054 This should not make any difference for most users.
3056 ** GOOPS support has been cleaned up.
3058 Some code has been moved from eval.c to objects.c and code in both of
3059 these compilation units has been cleaned up and better structured.
3061 *** New functions for applying generic functions
3063 New function: SCM scm_apply_generic (GENERIC, ARGS)
3064 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_0 (GENERIC)
3065 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_1 (GENERIC, ARG1)
3066 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2)
3067 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_3 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, ARG3)
3069 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_named_hook
3071 It is now replaced by:
3073 ** New function: SCM scm_create_hook (const char *name, int arity)
3075 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
3076 binds a variable named NAME to it.
3078 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
3080 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module.
3081 This might change when we get the new module system.
3083 [The behaviour is identical to scm_make_named_hook.]
3087 Changes since Guile 1.3:
3089 * Changes to mailing lists
3091 ** Some of the Guile mailing lists have moved to sourceware.cygnus.com.
3093 See the README file to find current addresses for all the Guile
3096 * Changes to the distribution
3098 ** Readline support is no longer included with Guile by default.
3100 Based on the different license terms of Guile and Readline, we
3101 concluded that Guile should not *by default* cause the linking of
3102 Readline into an application program. Readline support is now offered
3103 as a separate module, which is linked into an application only when
3104 you explicitly specify it.
3106 Although Guile is GNU software, its distribution terms add a special
3107 exception to the usual GNU General Public License (GPL). Guile's
3108 license includes a clause that allows you to link Guile with non-free
3109 programs. We add this exception so as not to put Guile at a
3110 disadvantage vis-a-vis other extensibility packages that support other
3113 In contrast, the GNU Readline library is distributed under the GNU
3114 General Public License pure and simple. This means that you may not
3115 link Readline, even dynamically, into an application unless it is
3116 distributed under a free software license that is compatible the GPL.
3118 Because of this difference in distribution terms, an application that
3119 can use Guile may not be able to use Readline. Now users will be
3120 explicitly offered two independent decisions about the use of these
3123 You can activate the readline support by issuing
3125 (use-modules (readline-activator))
3128 from your ".guile" file, for example.
3130 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
3132 ** All builtins now print as primitives.
3133 Previously builtin procedures not belonging to the fundamental subr
3134 types printed as #<compiled closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>.
3135 Now, they print as #<primitive-procedure NAME>.
3137 ** Backtraces slightly more intelligible.
3138 gsubr-apply and macro transformer application frames no longer appear
3141 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
3143 ** Guile now correctly handles internal defines by rewriting them into
3144 their equivalent letrec. Previously, internal defines would
3145 incrementally add to the innermost environment, without checking
3146 whether the restrictions specified in RnRS were met. This lead to the
3147 correct behaviour when these restriction actually were met, but didn't
3148 catch all illegal uses. Such an illegal use could lead to crashes of
3149 the Guile interpreter or or other unwanted results. An example of
3150 incorrect internal defines that made Guile behave erratically:
3162 The problem with this example is that the definition of `c' uses the
3163 value of `b' directly. This confuses the meoization machine of Guile
3164 so that the second call of `b' (this time in a larger environment that
3165 also contains bindings for `c' and `d') refers to the binding of `c'
3166 instead of `a'. You could also make Guile crash with a variation on
3171 (define (b flag) (if flag a 1))
3172 (define c (1+ (b flag)))
3180 From now on, Guile will issue an `Unbound variable: b' error message
3185 A hook contains a list of functions which should be called on
3186 particular occasions in an existing program. Hooks are used for
3189 A window manager might have a hook before-window-map-hook. The window
3190 manager uses the function run-hooks to call all functions stored in
3191 before-window-map-hook each time a window is mapped. The user can
3192 store functions in the hook using add-hook!.
3194 In Guile, hooks are first class objects.
3196 *** New function: make-hook [N_ARGS]
3198 Return a hook for hook functions which can take N_ARGS arguments.
3199 The default value for N_ARGS is 0.
3201 (See also scm_make_named_hook below.)
3203 *** New function: add-hook! HOOK PROC [APPEND_P]
3205 Put PROC at the beginning of the list of functions stored in HOOK.
3206 If APPEND_P is supplied, and non-false, put PROC at the end instead.
3208 PROC must be able to take the number of arguments specified when the
3211 If PROC already exists in HOOK, then remove it first.
3213 *** New function: remove-hook! HOOK PROC
3215 Remove PROC from the list of functions in HOOK.
3217 *** New function: reset-hook! HOOK
3219 Clear the list of hook functions stored in HOOK.
3221 *** New function: run-hook HOOK ARG1 ...
3223 Run all hook functions stored in HOOK with arguments ARG1 ... .
3224 The number of arguments supplied must correspond to the number given
3225 when the hook was created.
3227 ** The function `dynamic-link' now takes optional keyword arguments.
3228 The only keyword argument that is currently defined is `:global
3229 BOOL'. With it, you can control whether the shared library will be
3230 linked in global mode or not. In global mode, the symbols from the
3231 linked library can be used to resolve references from other
3232 dynamically linked libraries. In non-global mode, the linked
3233 library is essentially invisible and can only be accessed via
3234 `dynamic-func', etc. The default is now to link in global mode.
3235 Previously, the default has been non-global mode.
3237 The `#:global' keyword is only effective on platforms that support
3238 the dlopen family of functions.
3240 ** New function `provided?'
3242 - Function: provided? FEATURE
3243 Return true iff FEATURE is supported by this installation of
3244 Guile. FEATURE must be a symbol naming a feature; the global
3245 variable `*features*' is a list of available features.
3247 ** Changes to the module (ice-9 expect):
3249 *** The expect-strings macro now matches `$' in a regular expression
3250 only at a line-break or end-of-file by default. Previously it would
3251 match the end of the string accumulated so far. The old behaviour
3252 can be obtained by setting the variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
3255 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
3256 for the regexp-exec flags. If `regexp/noteol' is included, then `$'
3257 in a regular expression will still match before a line-break or
3258 end-of-file. The default is `regexp/noteol'.
3260 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable
3261 `expect-strings-compile-flags' for the flags to be supplied to
3262 `make-regexp'. The default is `regexp/newline', which was previously
3265 *** The expect macro now supplies two arguments to a match procedure:
3266 the current accumulated string and a flag to indicate whether
3267 end-of-file has been reached. Previously only the string was supplied.
3268 If end-of-file is reached, the match procedure will be called an
3269 additional time with the same accumulated string as the previous call
3270 but with the flag set.
3272 ** New module (ice-9 format), implementing the Common Lisp `format' function.
3274 This code, and the documentation for it that appears here, was
3275 borrowed from SLIB, with minor adaptations for Guile.
3277 - Function: format DESTINATION FORMAT-STRING . ARGUMENTS
3278 An almost complete implementation of Common LISP format description
3279 according to the CL reference book `Common LISP' from Guy L.
3280 Steele, Digital Press. Backward compatible to most of the
3281 available Scheme format implementations.
3283 Returns `#t', `#f' or a string; has side effect of printing
3284 according to FORMAT-STRING. If DESTINATION is `#t', the output is
3285 to the current output port and `#t' is returned. If DESTINATION
3286 is `#f', a formatted string is returned as the result of the call.
3287 NEW: If DESTINATION is a string, DESTINATION is regarded as the
3288 format string; FORMAT-STRING is then the first argument and the
3289 output is returned as a string. If DESTINATION is a number, the
3290 output is to the current error port if available by the
3291 implementation. Otherwise DESTINATION must be an output port and
3294 FORMAT-STRING must be a string. In case of a formatting error
3295 format returns `#f' and prints a message on the current output or
3296 error port. Characters are output as if the string were output by
3297 the `display' function with the exception of those prefixed by a
3298 tilde (~). For a detailed description of the FORMAT-STRING syntax
3299 please consult a Common LISP format reference manual. For a test
3300 suite to verify this format implementation load `formatst.scm'.
3301 Please send bug reports to `lutzeb@cs.tu-berlin.de'.
3303 Note: `format' is not reentrant, i.e. only one `format'-call may
3304 be executed at a time.
3307 *** Format Specification (Format version 3.0)
3309 Please consult a Common LISP format reference manual for a detailed
3310 description of the format string syntax. For a demonstration of the
3311 implemented directives see `formatst.scm'.
3313 This implementation supports directive parameters and modifiers (`:'
3314 and `@' characters). Multiple parameters must be separated by a comma
3315 (`,'). Parameters can be numerical parameters (positive or negative),
3316 character parameters (prefixed by a quote character (`''), variable
3317 parameters (`v'), number of rest arguments parameter (`#'), empty and
3318 default parameters. Directive characters are case independent. The
3319 general form of a directive is:
3321 DIRECTIVE ::= ~{DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER,}[:][@]DIRECTIVE-CHARACTER
3323 DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER ::= [ [-|+]{0-9}+ | 'CHARACTER | v | # ]
3325 *** Implemented CL Format Control Directives
3327 Documentation syntax: Uppercase characters represent the
3328 corresponding control directive characters. Lowercase characters
3329 represent control directive parameter descriptions.
3332 Any (print as `display' does).
3336 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARA'
3340 S-expression (print as `write' does).
3344 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARS'
3350 print number sign always.
3353 print comma separated.
3355 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARD'
3361 print number sign always.
3364 print comma separated.
3366 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARX'
3372 print number sign always.
3375 print comma separated.
3377 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARO'
3383 print number sign always.
3386 print comma separated.
3388 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARB'
3393 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARR'
3397 print a number as a Roman numeral.
3400 print a number as an "old fashioned" Roman numeral.
3403 print a number as an ordinal English number.
3406 print a number as a cardinal English number.
3411 prints `y' and `ies'.
3414 as `~P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
3417 as `~@P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
3422 prints a character as the reader can understand it (i.e. `#\'
3426 prints a character as emacs does (eg. `^C' for ASCII 03).
3429 Fixed-format floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN).
3430 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHARF'
3432 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
3435 Exponential floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN`E'EE).
3436 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARE'
3438 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
3441 General floating-point (prints a flonum either fixed or
3443 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARG'
3445 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
3448 Dollars floating-point (prints a flonum in fixed with signs
3450 `~DIGITS,SCALE,WIDTH,PADCHAR$'
3452 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
3455 A sign is always printed and appears before the padding.
3458 The sign appears before the padding.
3466 print newline if not at the beginning of the output line.
3468 prints `~&' and then N-1 newlines.
3473 print N page separators.
3483 newline is ignored, white space left.
3486 newline is left, white space ignored.
3491 relative tabulation.
3497 Indirection (expects indirect arguments as a list).
3499 extracts indirect arguments from format arguments.
3502 Case conversion (converts by `string-downcase').
3504 converts by `string-capitalize'.
3507 converts by `string-capitalize-first'.
3510 converts by `string-upcase'.
3513 Argument Jumping (jumps 1 argument forward).
3515 jumps N arguments forward.
3518 jumps 1 argument backward.
3521 jumps N arguments backward.
3524 jumps to the 0th argument.
3527 jumps to the Nth argument (beginning from 0)
3529 `~[STR0~;STR1~;...~;STRN~]'
3530 Conditional Expression (numerical clause conditional).
3532 take argument from N.
3535 true test conditional.
3538 if-else-then conditional.
3544 default clause follows.
3547 Iteration (args come from the next argument (a list)).
3549 at most N iterations.
3552 args from next arg (a list of lists).
3555 args from the rest of arguments.
3558 args from the rest args (lists).
3569 aborts if N <= M <= K
3571 *** Not Implemented CL Format Control Directives
3574 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
3577 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
3583 (sorry I don't understand its semantics completely)
3585 *** Extended, Replaced and Additional Control Directives
3587 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHD'
3588 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHX'
3589 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHO'
3590 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHB'
3591 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHR'
3592 COMMAWIDTH is the number of characters between two comma
3596 print a R4RS complex number as `~F~@Fi' with passed parameters for
3600 Pretty print formatting of an argument for scheme code lists.
3606 Flushes the output if format DESTINATION is a port.
3609 Print a `#\space' character
3611 print N `#\space' characters.
3614 Print a `#\tab' character
3616 print N `#\tab' characters.
3619 Takes N as an integer representation for a character. No arguments
3620 are consumed. N is converted to a character by `integer->char'. N
3621 must be a positive decimal number.
3624 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
3625 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
3626 be processed by `read'.
3629 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
3630 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
3631 be processed by `read'.
3634 Prints information and a copyright notice on the format
3637 prints format version.
3640 may also print number strings, i.e. passing a number as a string
3641 and format it accordingly.
3643 *** Configuration Variables
3645 The format module exports some configuration variables to suit the
3646 systems and users needs. There should be no modification necessary for
3647 the configuration that comes with Guile. Format detects automatically
3648 if the running scheme system implements floating point numbers and
3651 format:symbol-case-conv
3652 Symbols are converted by `symbol->string' so the case type of the
3653 printed symbols is implementation dependent.
3654 `format:symbol-case-conv' is a one arg closure which is either
3655 `#f' (no conversion), `string-upcase', `string-downcase' or
3656 `string-capitalize'. (default `#f')
3658 format:iobj-case-conv
3659 As FORMAT:SYMBOL-CASE-CONV but applies for the representation of
3660 implementation internal objects. (default `#f')
3663 The character prefixing the exponent value in `~E' printing.
3666 *** Compatibility With Other Format Implementations
3672 Downward compatible except for padding support and `~A', `~S',
3673 `~P', `~X' uppercase printing. SLIB format 1.4 uses C-style
3674 `printf' padding support which is completely replaced by the CL
3675 `format' padding style.
3678 Downward compatible except for `~', which is not documented
3679 (ignores all characters inside the format string up to a newline
3680 character). (7.1 implements `~a', `~s', ~NEWLINE, `~~', `~%',
3681 numerical and variable parameters and `:/@' modifiers in the CL
3685 Downward compatible except for `~A' and `~S' which print in
3686 uppercase. (Elk implements `~a', `~s', `~~', and `~%' (no
3687 directive parameters or modifiers)).
3690 Downward compatible except for an optional destination parameter:
3691 S2C accepts a format call without a destination which returns a
3692 formatted string. This is equivalent to a #f destination in S2C.
3693 (S2C implements `~a', `~s', `~c', `~%', and `~~' (no directive
3694 parameters or modifiers)).
3697 ** Changes to string-handling functions.
3699 These functions were added to support the (ice-9 format) module, above.
3701 *** New function: string-upcase STRING
3702 *** New function: string-downcase STRING
3704 These are non-destructive versions of the existing string-upcase! and
3705 string-downcase! functions.
3707 *** New function: string-capitalize! STRING
3708 *** New function: string-capitalize STRING
3710 These functions convert the first letter of each word in the string to
3713 (string-capitalize "howdy there")
3716 As with the other functions, string-capitalize! modifies the string in
3717 place, while string-capitalize returns a modified copy of its argument.
3719 *** New function: string-ci->symbol STRING
3721 Return a symbol whose name is STRING, but having the same case as if
3722 the symbol had be read by `read'.
3724 Guile can be configured to be sensitive or insensitive to case
3725 differences in Scheme identifiers. If Guile is case-insensitive, all
3726 symbols are converted to lower case on input. The `string-ci->symbol'
3727 function returns a symbol whose name in STRING, transformed as Guile
3728 would if STRING were input.
3730 *** New function: substring-move! STRING1 START END STRING2 START
3732 Copy the substring of STRING1 from START (inclusive) to END
3733 (exclusive) to STRING2 at START. STRING1 and STRING2 may be the same
3734 string, and the source and destination areas may overlap; in all
3735 cases, the function behaves as if all the characters were copied
3738 *** Extended functions: substring-move-left! substring-move-right!
3740 These functions now correctly copy arbitrarily overlapping substrings;
3741 they are both synonyms for substring-move!.
3744 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-long), with the function `getopt-long'.
3746 getopt-long is a function for parsing command-line arguments in a
3747 manner consistent with other GNU programs.
3749 (getopt-long ARGS GRAMMAR)
3750 Parse the arguments ARGS according to the argument list grammar GRAMMAR.
3752 ARGS should be a list of strings. Its first element should be the
3753 name of the program; subsequent elements should be the arguments
3754 that were passed to the program on the command line. The
3755 `program-arguments' procedure returns a list of this form.
3757 GRAMMAR is a list of the form:
3758 ((OPTION (PROPERTY VALUE) ...) ...)
3760 Each OPTION should be a symbol. `getopt-long' will accept a
3761 command-line option named `--OPTION'.
3762 Each option can have the following (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs:
3764 (single-char CHAR) --- Accept `-CHAR' as a single-character
3765 equivalent to `--OPTION'. This is how to specify traditional
3767 (required? BOOL) --- If BOOL is true, the option is required.
3768 getopt-long will raise an error if it is not found in ARGS.
3769 (value BOOL) --- If BOOL is #t, the option accepts a value; if
3770 it is #f, it does not; and if it is the symbol
3771 `optional', the option may appear in ARGS with or
3773 (predicate FUNC) --- If the option accepts a value (i.e. you
3774 specified `(value #t)' for this option), then getopt
3775 will apply FUNC to the value, and throw an exception
3776 if it returns #f. FUNC should be a procedure which
3777 accepts a string and returns a boolean value; you may
3778 need to use quasiquotes to get it into GRAMMAR.
3780 The (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs may occur in any order, but each
3781 property may occur only once. By default, options do not have
3782 single-character equivalents, are not required, and do not take
3785 In ARGS, single-character options may be combined, in the usual
3786 Unix fashion: ("-x" "-y") is equivalent to ("-xy"). If an option
3787 accepts values, then it must be the last option in the
3788 combination; the value is the next argument. So, for example, using
3789 the following grammar:
3790 ((apples (single-char #\a))
3791 (blimps (single-char #\b) (value #t))
3792 (catalexis (single-char #\c) (value #t)))
3793 the following argument lists would be acceptable:
3794 ("-a" "-b" "bang" "-c" "couth") ("bang" and "couth" are the values
3795 for "blimps" and "catalexis")
3796 ("-ab" "bang" "-c" "couth") (same)
3797 ("-ac" "couth" "-b" "bang") (same)
3798 ("-abc" "couth" "bang") (an error, since `-b' is not the
3799 last option in its combination)
3801 If an option's value is optional, then `getopt-long' decides
3802 whether it has a value by looking at what follows it in ARGS. If
3803 the next element is a string, and it does not appear to be an
3804 option itself, then that string is the option's value.
3806 The value of a long option can appear as the next element in ARGS,
3807 or it can follow the option name, separated by an `=' character.
3808 Thus, using the same grammar as above, the following argument lists
3810 ("--apples" "Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
3811 ("--apples=Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
3812 ("--blimps" "Goodyear" "--apples=Braeburn")
3814 If the option "--" appears in ARGS, argument parsing stops there;
3815 subsequent arguments are returned as ordinary arguments, even if
3816 they resemble options. So, in the argument list:
3817 ("--apples" "Granny Smith" "--" "--blimp" "Goodyear")
3818 `getopt-long' will recognize the `apples' option as having the
3819 value "Granny Smith", but it will not recognize the `blimp'
3820 option; it will return the strings "--blimp" and "Goodyear" as
3821 ordinary argument strings.
3823 The `getopt-long' function returns the parsed argument list as an
3824 assocation list, mapping option names --- the symbols from GRAMMAR
3825 --- onto their values, or #t if the option does not accept a value.
3826 Unused options do not appear in the alist.
3828 All arguments that are not the value of any option are returned
3829 as a list, associated with the empty list.
3831 `getopt-long' throws an exception if:
3832 - it finds an unrecognized option in ARGS
3833 - a required option is omitted
3834 - an option that requires an argument doesn't get one
3835 - an option that doesn't accept an argument does get one (this can
3836 only happen using the long option `--opt=value' syntax)
3837 - an option predicate fails
3842 `((lockfile-dir (required? #t)
3845 (predicate ,file-is-directory?))
3846 (verbose (required? #f)
3849 (x-includes (single-char #\x))
3850 (rnet-server (single-char #\y)
3851 (predicate ,string?))))
3853 (getopt-long '("my-prog" "-vk" "/tmp" "foo1" "--x-includes=/usr/include"
3854 "--rnet-server=lamprod" "--" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
3856 => ((() "foo1" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
3857 (rnet-server . "lamprod")
3858 (x-includes . "/usr/include")
3859 (lockfile-dir . "/tmp")
3862 ** The (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) module is obsolete; use (ice-9 getopt-long).
3864 It will be removed in a few releases.
3866 ** New syntax: lambda*
3867 ** New syntax: define*
3868 ** New syntax: define*-public
3869 ** New syntax: defmacro*
3870 ** New syntax: defmacro*-public
3871 Guile now supports optional arguments.
3873 `lambda*', `define*', `define*-public', `defmacro*' and
3874 `defmacro*-public' are identical to the non-* versions except that
3875 they use an extended type of parameter list that has the following BNF
3876 syntax (parentheses are literal, square brackets indicate grouping,
3877 and `*', `+' and `?' have the usual meaning):
3879 ext-param-list ::= ( [identifier]* [#&optional [ext-var-decl]+]?
3880 [#&key [ext-var-decl]+ [#&allow-other-keys]?]?
3881 [[#&rest identifier]|[. identifier]]? ) | [identifier]
3883 ext-var-decl ::= identifier | ( identifier expression )
3885 The semantics are best illustrated with the following documentation
3886 and examples for `lambda*':
3889 lambda extended for optional and keyword arguments
3891 lambda* creates a procedure that takes optional arguments. These
3892 are specified by putting them inside brackets at the end of the
3893 paramater list, but before any dotted rest argument. For example,
3894 (lambda* (a b #&optional c d . e) '())
3895 creates a procedure with fixed arguments a and b, optional arguments c
3896 and d, and rest argument e. If the optional arguments are omitted
3897 in a call, the variables for them are unbound in the procedure. This
3898 can be checked with the bound? macro.
3900 lambda* can also take keyword arguments. For example, a procedure
3902 (lambda* (#&key xyzzy larch) '())
3903 can be called with any of the argument lists (#:xyzzy 11)
3904 (#:larch 13) (#:larch 42 #:xyzzy 19) (). Whichever arguments
3905 are given as keywords are bound to values.
3907 Optional and keyword arguments can also be given default values
3908 which they take on when they are not present in a call, by giving a
3909 two-item list in place of an optional argument, for example in:
3910 (lambda* (foo #&optional (bar 42) #&key (baz 73)) (list foo bar baz))
3911 foo is a fixed argument, bar is an optional argument with default
3912 value 42, and baz is a keyword argument with default value 73.
3913 Default value expressions are not evaluated unless they are needed
3914 and until the procedure is called.
3916 lambda* now supports two more special parameter list keywords.
3918 lambda*-defined procedures now throw an error by default if a
3919 keyword other than one of those specified is found in the actual
3920 passed arguments. However, specifying #&allow-other-keys
3921 immediately after the kyword argument declarations restores the
3922 previous behavior of ignoring unknown keywords. lambda* also now
3923 guarantees that if the same keyword is passed more than once, the
3924 last one passed is the one that takes effect. For example,
3925 ((lambda* (#&key (heads 0) (tails 0)) (display (list heads tails)))
3926 #:heads 37 #:tails 42 #:heads 99)
3927 would result in (99 47) being displayed.
3929 #&rest is also now provided as a synonym for the dotted syntax rest
3930 argument. The argument lists (a . b) and (a #&rest b) are equivalent in
3931 all respects to lambda*. This is provided for more similarity to DSSSL,
3932 MIT-Scheme and Kawa among others, as well as for refugees from other
3935 Further documentation may be found in the optargs.scm file itself.
3937 The optional argument module also exports the macros `let-optional',
3938 `let-optional*', `let-keywords', `let-keywords*' and `bound?'. These
3939 are not documented here because they may be removed in the future, but
3940 full documentation is still available in optargs.scm.
3942 ** New syntax: and-let*
3943 Guile now supports the `and-let*' form, described in the draft SRFI-2.
3945 Syntax: (land* (<clause> ...) <body> ...)
3946 Each <clause> should have one of the following forms:
3947 (<variable> <expression>)
3950 Each <variable> or <bound-variable> should be an identifier. Each
3951 <expression> should be a valid expression. The <body> should be a
3952 possibly empty sequence of expressions, like the <body> of a
3955 Semantics: A LAND* expression is evaluated by evaluating the
3956 <expression> or <bound-variable> of each of the <clause>s from
3957 left to right. The value of the first <expression> or
3958 <bound-variable> that evaluates to a false value is returned; the
3959 remaining <expression>s and <bound-variable>s are not evaluated.
3960 The <body> forms are evaluated iff all the <expression>s and
3961 <bound-variable>s evaluate to true values.
3963 The <expression>s and the <body> are evaluated in an environment
3964 binding each <variable> of the preceding (<variable> <expression>)
3965 clauses to the value of the <expression>. Later bindings
3966 shadow earlier bindings.
3968 Guile's and-let* macro was contributed by Michael Livshin.
3970 ** New sorting functions
3972 *** New function: sorted? SEQUENCE LESS?
3973 Returns `#t' when the sequence argument is in non-decreasing order
3974 according to LESS? (that is, there is no adjacent pair `... x y
3975 ...' for which `(less? y x)').
3977 Returns `#f' when the sequence contains at least one out-of-order
3978 pair. It is an error if the sequence is neither a list nor a
3981 *** New function: merge LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
3982 LIST1 and LIST2 are sorted lists.
3983 Returns the sorted list of all elements in LIST1 and LIST2.
3985 Assume that the elements a and b1 in LIST1 and b2 in LIST2 are "equal"
3986 in the sense that (LESS? x y) --> #f for x, y in {a, b1, b2},
3987 and that a < b1 in LIST1. Then a < b1 < b2 in the result.
3988 (Here "<" should read "comes before".)
3990 *** New procedure: merge! LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
3991 Merges two lists, re-using the pairs of LIST1 and LIST2 to build
3992 the result. If the code is compiled, and LESS? constructs no new
3993 pairs, no pairs at all will be allocated. The first pair of the
3994 result will be either the first pair of LIST1 or the first pair of
3997 *** New function: sort SEQUENCE LESS?
3998 Accepts either a list or a vector, and returns a new sequence
3999 which is sorted. The new sequence is the same type as the input.
4000 Always `(sorted? (sort sequence less?) less?)'. The original
4001 sequence is not altered in any way. The new sequence shares its
4002 elements with the old one; no elements are copied.
4004 *** New procedure: sort! SEQUENCE LESS
4005 Returns its sorted result in the original boxes. No new storage is
4006 allocated at all. Proper usage: (set! slist (sort! slist <))
4008 *** New function: stable-sort SEQUENCE LESS?
4009 Similar to `sort' but stable. That is, if "equal" elements are
4010 ordered a < b in the original sequence, they will have the same order
4013 *** New function: stable-sort! SEQUENCE LESS?
4014 Similar to `sort!' but stable.
4015 Uses temporary storage when sorting vectors.
4017 *** New functions: sort-list, sort-list!
4018 Added for compatibility with scsh.
4020 ** New built-in random number support
4022 *** New function: random N [STATE]
4023 Accepts a positive integer or real N and returns a number of the
4024 same type between zero (inclusive) and N (exclusive). The values
4025 returned have a uniform distribution.
4027 The optional argument STATE must be of the type produced by
4028 `copy-random-state' or `seed->random-state'. It defaults to the value
4029 of the variable `*random-state*'. This object is used to maintain the
4030 state of the pseudo-random-number generator and is altered as a side
4031 effect of the `random' operation.
4033 *** New variable: *random-state*
4034 Holds a data structure that encodes the internal state of the
4035 random-number generator that `random' uses by default. The nature
4036 of this data structure is implementation-dependent. It may be
4037 printed out and successfully read back in, but may or may not
4038 function correctly as a random-number state object in another
4041 *** New function: copy-random-state [STATE]
4042 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
4043 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
4044 If argument STATE is given, a copy of it is returned. Otherwise a
4045 copy of `*random-state*' is returned.
4047 *** New function: seed->random-state SEED
4048 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
4049 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
4050 SEED is a string or a number. A new state is generated and
4051 initialized using SEED.
4053 *** New function: random:uniform [STATE]
4054 Returns an uniformly distributed inexact real random number in the
4055 range between 0 and 1.
4057 *** New procedure: random:solid-sphere! VECT [STATE]
4058 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose
4059 squares is less than 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in
4060 space of dimension N = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are
4061 uniformly distributed within the unit N-shere. The sum of the
4062 squares of the numbers is returned. VECT can be either a vector
4063 or a uniform vector of doubles.
4065 *** New procedure: random:hollow-sphere! VECT [STATE]
4066 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose squares
4067 is equal to 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in space of
4068 dimension n = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are uniformly
4069 distributed over the surface of the unit n-shere. VECT can be either
4070 a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
4072 *** New function: random:normal [STATE]
4073 Returns an inexact real in a normal distribution with mean 0 and
4074 standard deviation 1. For a normal distribution with mean M and
4075 standard deviation D use `(+ M (* D (random:normal)))'.
4077 *** New procedure: random:normal-vector! VECT [STATE]
4078 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers which are independent and
4079 standard normally distributed (i.e., with mean 0 and variance 1).
4080 VECT can be either a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
4082 *** New function: random:exp STATE
4083 Returns an inexact real in an exponential distribution with mean 1.
4084 For an exponential distribution with mean U use (* U (random:exp)).
4086 ** The range of logand, logior, logxor, logtest, and logbit? have changed.
4088 These functions now operate on numbers in the range of a C unsigned
4091 These functions used to operate on numbers in the range of a C signed
4092 long; however, this seems inappropriate, because Guile integers don't
4095 ** New function: make-guardian
4096 This is an implementation of guardians as described in
4097 R. Kent Dybvig, Carl Bruggeman, and David Eby (1993) "Guardians in a
4098 Generation-Based Garbage Collector" ACM SIGPLAN Conference on
4099 Programming Language Design and Implementation, June 1993
4100 ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/scheme-repository/doc/pubs/guardians.ps.gz
4102 ** New functions: delq1!, delv1!, delete1!
4103 These procedures behave similar to delq! and friends but delete only
4104 one object if at all.
4106 ** New function: unread-string STRING PORT
4107 Unread STRING to PORT, that is, push it back onto the port so that
4108 next read operation will work on the pushed back characters.
4110 ** unread-char can now be called multiple times
4111 If unread-char is called multiple times, the unread characters will be
4112 read again in last-in first-out order.
4114 ** the procedures uniform-array-read! and uniform-array-write! now
4115 work on any kind of port, not just ports which are open on a file.
4117 ** Now 'l' in a port mode requests line buffering.
4119 ** The procedure truncate-file now works on string ports as well
4120 as file ports. If the size argument is omitted, the current
4121 file position is used.
4123 ** new procedure: seek PORT/FDES OFFSET WHENCE
4124 The arguments are the same as for the old fseek procedure, but it
4125 works on string ports as well as random-access file ports.
4127 ** the fseek procedure now works on string ports, since it has been
4128 redefined using seek.
4130 ** the setvbuf procedure now uses a default size if mode is _IOFBF and
4131 size is not supplied.
4133 ** the newline procedure no longer flushes the port if it's not
4134 line-buffered: previously it did if it was the current output port.
4136 ** open-pipe and close-pipe are no longer primitive procedures, but
4137 an emulation can be obtained using `(use-modules (ice-9 popen))'.
4139 ** the freopen procedure has been removed.
4141 ** new procedure: drain-input PORT
4142 Drains PORT's read buffers (including any pushed-back characters)
4143 and returns the contents as a single string.
4145 ** New function: map-in-order PROC LIST1 LIST2 ...
4146 Version of `map' which guarantees that the procedure is applied to the
4147 lists in serial order.
4149 ** Renamed `serial-array-copy!' and `serial-array-map!' to
4150 `array-copy-in-order!' and `array-map-in-order!'. The old names are
4151 now obsolete and will go away in release 1.5.
4153 ** New syntax: collect BODY1 ...
4154 Version of `begin' which returns a list of the results of the body
4155 forms instead of the result of the last body form. In contrast to
4156 `begin', `collect' allows an empty body.
4158 ** New functions: read-history FILENAME, write-history FILENAME
4159 Read/write command line history from/to file. Returns #t on success
4160 and #f if an error occured.
4162 ** `ls' and `lls' in module (ice-9 ls) now handle no arguments.
4164 These procedures return a list of definitions available in the specified
4165 argument, a relative module reference. In the case of no argument,
4166 `(current-module)' is now consulted for definitions to return, instead
4167 of simply returning #f, the former behavior.
4169 ** The #/ syntax for lists is no longer supported.
4171 Earlier versions of Scheme accepted this syntax, but printed a
4174 ** Guile no longer consults the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable.
4176 Instead, you should set GUILE_LOAD_PATH to tell Guile where to find
4179 * Changes to the gh_ interface
4183 Now takes a second argument which is the result array. If this
4184 pointer is NULL, a new array is malloced (the old behaviour).
4186 ** gh_chars2byvect, gh_shorts2svect, gh_floats2fvect, gh_scm2chars,
4187 gh_scm2shorts, gh_scm2longs, gh_scm2floats
4191 * Changes to the scm_ interface
4193 ** Function: scm_make_named_hook (char* name, int n_args)
4195 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
4196 binds a variable named NAME to it.
4198 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
4200 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module. This
4201 might change when we get the new module system.
4203 ** The smob interface
4205 The interface for creating smobs has changed. For documentation, see
4206 data-rep.info (made from guile-core/doc/data-rep.texi).
4208 *** Deprecated function: SCM scm_newsmob (scm_smobfuns *)
4210 >>> This function will be removed in 1.3.4. <<<
4214 *** Function: SCM scm_make_smob_type (const char *name, scm_sizet size)
4215 This function adds a new smob type, named NAME, with instance size
4216 SIZE to the system. The return value is a tag that is used in
4217 creating instances of the type. If SIZE is 0, then no memory will
4218 be allocated when instances of the smob are created, and nothing
4219 will be freed by the default free function.
4221 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_mark (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
4222 This function sets the smob marking procedure for the smob type
4223 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4224 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4226 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_free (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
4227 This function sets the smob freeing procedure for the smob type
4228 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4229 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4231 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_print (tc, print)
4233 - Function: void scm_set_smob_print (long tc,
4234 scm_sizet (*print) (SCM,
4238 This function sets the smob printing procedure for the smob type
4239 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4240 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4242 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_equalp (long tc, SCM (*equalp) (SCM, SCM))
4243 This function sets the smob equality-testing predicate for the
4244 smob type specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4245 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4247 *** Macro: void SCM_NEWSMOB (SCM var, long tc, void *data)
4248 Make VALUE contain a smob instance of the type with type code TC and
4249 smob data DATA. VALUE must be previously declared as C type `SCM'.
4251 *** Macro: fn_returns SCM_RETURN_NEWSMOB (long tc, void *data)
4252 This macro expands to a block of code that creates a smob instance
4253 of the type with type code TC and smob data DATA, and returns that
4254 `SCM' value. It should be the last piece of code in a block.
4256 ** The interfaces for using I/O ports and implementing port types
4257 (ptobs) have changed significantly. The new interface is based on
4258 shared access to buffers and a new set of ptob procedures.
4260 *** scm_newptob has been removed
4264 *** Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (type_name, fill_buffer, write_flush)
4266 - Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (char *type_name,
4267 int (*fill_buffer) (SCM port),
4268 void (*write_flush) (SCM port));
4270 Similarly to the new smob interface, there is a set of function
4271 setters by which the user can customize the behaviour of his port
4272 type. See ports.h (scm_set_port_XXX).
4274 ** scm_strport_to_string: New function: creates a new string from
4275 a string port's buffer.
4277 ** Plug in interface for random number generators
4278 The variable `scm_the_rng' in random.c contains a value and three
4279 function pointers which together define the current random number
4280 generator being used by the Scheme level interface and the random
4281 number library functions.
4283 The user is free to replace the default generator with the generator
4286 *** Variable: size_t scm_the_rng.rstate_size
4287 The size of the random state type used by the current RNG
4290 *** Function: unsigned long scm_the_rng.random_bits (scm_rstate *STATE)
4291 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
4293 *** Function: void scm_the_rng.init_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE, chars *S, int N)
4294 Seed random state STATE using string S of length N.
4296 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_the_rng.copy_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE)
4297 Given random state STATE, return a malloced copy.
4300 The default RNG is the MWC (Multiply With Carry) random number
4301 generator described by George Marsaglia at the Department of
4302 Statistics and Supercomputer Computations Research Institute, The
4303 Florida State University (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo).
4305 It uses 64 bits, has a period of 4578426017172946943 (4.6e18), and
4306 passes all tests in the DIEHARD test suite
4307 (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo/diehard.html). The generation of 32 bits
4308 costs one multiply and one add on platforms which either supports long
4309 longs (gcc does this on most systems) or have 64 bit longs. The cost
4310 is four multiply on other systems but this can be optimized by writing
4311 scm_i_uniform32 in assembler.
4313 These functions are provided through the scm_the_rng interface for use
4314 by libguile and the application.
4316 *** Function: unsigned long scm_i_uniform32 (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
4317 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
4318 Don't use this function directly. Instead go through the plugin
4319 interface (see "Plug in interface" above).
4321 *** Function: void scm_i_init_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE, char *SEED, int N)
4322 Initialize STATE using SEED of length N.
4324 *** Function: scm_i_rstate *scm_i_copy_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
4325 Return a malloc:ed copy of STATE. This function can easily be re-used
4326 in the interfaces to other RNGs.
4328 ** Random number library functions
4329 These functions use the current RNG through the scm_the_rng interface.
4330 It might be a good idea to use these functions from your C code so
4331 that only one random generator is used by all code in your program.
4333 The default random state is stored in:
4335 *** Variable: SCM scm_var_random_state
4336 Contains the vcell of the Scheme variable "*random-state*" which is
4337 used as default state by all random number functions in the Scheme
4342 double x = scm_c_uniform01 (SCM_RSTATE (SCM_CDR (scm_var_random_state)));
4344 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_default_rstate (void)
4345 This is a convenience function which returns the value of
4346 scm_var_random_state. An error message is generated if this value
4347 isn't a random state.
4349 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_make_rstate (char *SEED, int LENGTH)
4350 Make a new random state from the string SEED of length LENGTH.
4352 It is generally not a good idea to use multiple random states in a
4353 program. While subsequent random numbers generated from one random
4354 state are guaranteed to be reasonably independent, there is no such
4355 guarantee for numbers generated from different random states.
4357 *** Macro: unsigned long scm_c_uniform32 (scm_rstate *STATE)
4358 Return 32 random bits.
4360 *** Function: double scm_c_uniform01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
4361 Return a sample from the uniform(0,1) distribution.
4363 *** Function: double scm_c_normal01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
4364 Return a sample from the normal(0,1) distribution.
4366 *** Function: double scm_c_exp1 (scm_rstate *STATE)
4367 Return a sample from the exp(1) distribution.
4369 *** Function: unsigned long scm_c_random (scm_rstate *STATE, unsigned long M)
4370 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
4372 *** Function: SCM scm_c_random_bignum (scm_rstate *STATE, SCM M)
4373 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
4374 M must be a bignum object. The returned value may be an INUM.
4378 Changes in Guile 1.3 (released Monday, October 19, 1998):
4380 * Changes to the distribution
4382 ** We renamed the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable to GUILE_LOAD_PATH.
4383 To avoid conflicts, programs should name environment variables after
4384 themselves, except when there's a common practice establishing some
4387 For now, Guile supports both GUILE_LOAD_PATH and SCHEME_LOAD_PATH,
4388 giving the former precedence, and printing a warning message if the
4389 latter is set. Guile 1.4 will not recognize SCHEME_LOAD_PATH at all.
4391 ** The header files related to multi-byte characters have been removed.
4392 They were: libguile/extchrs.h and libguile/mbstrings.h. Any C code
4393 which referred to these explicitly will probably need to be rewritten,
4394 since the support for the variant string types has been removed; see
4397 ** The header files append.h and sequences.h have been removed. These
4398 files implemented non-R4RS operations which would encourage
4399 non-portable programming style and less easy-to-read code.
4401 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
4403 ** New procedures have been added to implement a "batch mode":
4405 *** Function: batch-mode?
4407 Returns a boolean indicating whether the interpreter is in batch
4410 *** Function: set-batch-mode?! ARG
4412 If ARG is true, switches the interpreter to batch mode. The `#f'
4413 case has not been implemented.
4415 ** Guile now provides full command-line editing, when run interactively.
4416 To use this feature, you must have the readline library installed.
4417 The Guile build process will notice it, and automatically include
4420 The readline library is available via anonymous FTP from any GNU
4421 mirror site; the canonical location is "ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu".
4423 ** the-last-stack is now a fluid.
4425 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
4427 ** You can now use the `guile-config' utility to build programs that use Guile.
4429 Guile now includes a command-line utility called `guile-config', which
4430 can provide information about how to compile and link programs that
4433 *** `guile-config compile' prints any C compiler flags needed to use Guile.
4434 You should include this command's output on the command line you use
4435 to compile C or C++ code that #includes the Guile header files. It's
4436 usually just a `-I' flag to help the compiler find the Guile headers.
4439 *** `guile-config link' prints any linker flags necessary to link with Guile.
4441 This command writes to its standard output a list of flags which you
4442 must pass to the linker to link your code against the Guile library.
4443 The flags include '-lguile' itself, any other libraries the Guile
4444 library depends upon, and any `-L' flags needed to help the linker
4445 find those libraries.
4447 For example, here is a Makefile rule that builds a program named 'foo'
4448 from the object files ${FOO_OBJECTS}, and links them against Guile:
4451 ${CC} ${CFLAGS} ${FOO_OBJECTS} `guile-config link` -o foo
4453 Previous Guile releases recommended that you use autoconf to detect
4454 which of a predefined set of libraries were present on your system.
4455 It is more robust to use `guile-config', since it records exactly which
4456 libraries the installed Guile library requires.
4458 This was originally called `build-guile', but was renamed to
4459 `guile-config' before Guile 1.3 was released, to be consistent with
4460 the analogous script for the GTK+ GUI toolkit, which is called
4464 ** Use the GUILE_FLAGS macro in your configure.in file to find Guile.
4466 If you are using the GNU autoconf package to configure your program,
4467 you can use the GUILE_FLAGS autoconf macro to call `guile-config'
4468 (described above) and gather the necessary values for use in your
4471 The GUILE_FLAGS macro expands to configure script code which runs the
4472 `guile-config' script, to find out where Guile's header files and
4473 libraries are installed. It sets two variables, marked for
4474 substitution, as by AC_SUBST.
4476 GUILE_CFLAGS --- flags to pass to a C or C++ compiler to build
4477 code that uses Guile header files. This is almost always just a
4480 GUILE_LDFLAGS --- flags to pass to the linker to link a
4481 program against Guile. This includes `-lguile' for the Guile
4482 library itself, any libraries that Guile itself requires (like
4483 -lqthreads), and so on. It may also include a -L flag to tell the
4484 compiler where to find the libraries.
4486 GUILE_FLAGS is defined in the file guile.m4, in the top-level
4487 directory of the Guile distribution. You can copy it into your
4488 package's aclocal.m4 file, and then use it in your configure.in file.
4490 If you are using the `aclocal' program, distributed with GNU automake,
4491 to maintain your aclocal.m4 file, the Guile installation process
4492 installs guile.m4 where aclocal will find it. All you need to do is
4493 use GUILE_FLAGS in your configure.in file, and then run `aclocal';
4494 this will copy the definition of GUILE_FLAGS into your aclocal.m4
4498 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
4500 ** Multi-byte strings have been removed, as have multi-byte and wide
4501 ports. We felt that these were the wrong approach to
4502 internationalization support.
4504 ** New function: readline [PROMPT]
4505 Read a line from the terminal, and allow the user to edit it,
4506 prompting with PROMPT. READLINE provides a large set of Emacs-like
4507 editing commands, lets the user recall previously typed lines, and
4508 works on almost every kind of terminal, including dumb terminals.
4510 READLINE assumes that the cursor is at the beginning of the line when
4511 it is invoked. Thus, you can't print a prompt yourself, and then call
4512 READLINE; you need to package up your prompt as a string, pass it to
4513 the function, and let READLINE print the prompt itself. This is
4514 because READLINE needs to know the prompt's screen width.
4516 For Guile to provide this function, you must have the readline
4517 library, version 2.1 or later, installed on your system. Readline is
4518 available via anonymous FTP from prep.ai.mit.edu in pub/gnu, or from
4519 any GNU mirror site.
4521 See also ADD-HISTORY function.
4523 ** New function: add-history STRING
4524 Add STRING as the most recent line in the history used by the READLINE
4525 command. READLINE does not add lines to the history itself; you must
4526 call ADD-HISTORY to make previous input available to the user.
4528 ** The behavior of the read-line function has changed.
4530 This function now uses standard C library functions to read the line,
4531 for speed. This means that it doesn not respect the value of
4532 scm-line-incrementors; it assumes that lines are delimited with
4535 (Note that this is read-line, the function that reads a line of text
4536 from a port, not readline, the function that reads a line from a
4537 terminal, providing full editing capabilities.)
4539 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style): Parse command-line arguments.
4541 This module provides some simple argument parsing. It exports one
4544 Function: getopt-gnu-style ARG-LS
4545 Parse a list of program arguments into an alist of option
4548 Each item in the list of program arguments is examined to see if
4549 it meets the syntax of a GNU long-named option. An argument like
4550 `--MUMBLE' produces an element of the form (MUMBLE . #t) in the
4551 returned alist, where MUMBLE is a keyword object with the same
4552 name as the argument. An argument like `--MUMBLE=FROB' produces
4553 an element of the form (MUMBLE . FROB), where FROB is a string.
4555 As a special case, the returned alist also contains a pair whose
4556 car is the symbol `rest'. The cdr of this pair is a list
4557 containing all the items in the argument list that are not options
4558 of the form mentioned above.
4560 The argument `--' is treated specially: all items in the argument
4561 list appearing after such an argument are not examined, and are
4562 returned in the special `rest' list.
4564 This function does not parse normal single-character switches.
4565 You will need to parse them out of the `rest' list yourself.
4567 ** The read syntax for byte vectors and short vectors has changed.
4569 Instead of #bytes(...), write #y(...).
4571 Instead of #short(...), write #h(...).
4573 This may seem nutty, but, like the other uniform vectors, byte vectors
4574 and short vectors want to have the same print and read syntax (and,
4575 more basic, want to have read syntax!). Changing the read syntax to
4576 use multiple characters after the hash sign breaks with the
4577 conventions used in R5RS and the conventions used for the other
4578 uniform vectors. It also introduces complexity in the current reader,
4579 both on the C and Scheme levels. (The Right solution is probably to
4580 change the syntax and prototypes for uniform vectors entirely.)
4583 ** The new module (ice-9 session) provides useful interactive functions.
4585 *** New procedure: (apropos REGEXP OPTION ...)
4587 Display a list of top-level variables whose names match REGEXP, and
4588 the modules they are imported from. Each OPTION should be one of the
4591 value --- Show the value of each matching variable.
4592 shadow --- Show bindings shadowed by subsequently imported modules.
4593 full --- Same as both `shadow' and `value'.
4597 guile> (apropos "trace" 'full)
4598 debug: trace #<procedure trace args>
4599 debug: untrace #<procedure untrace args>
4600 the-scm-module: display-backtrace #<compiled-closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>
4601 the-scm-module: before-backtrace-hook ()
4602 the-scm-module: backtrace #<primitive-procedure backtrace>
4603 the-scm-module: after-backtrace-hook ()
4604 the-scm-module: has-shown-backtrace-hint? #f
4607 ** There are new functions and syntax for working with macros.
4609 Guile implements macros as a special object type. Any variable whose
4610 top-level binding is a macro object acts as a macro. The macro object
4611 specifies how the expression should be transformed before evaluation.
4613 *** Macro objects now print in a reasonable way, resembling procedures.
4615 *** New function: (macro? OBJ)
4616 True iff OBJ is a macro object.
4618 *** New function: (primitive-macro? OBJ)
4619 Like (macro? OBJ), but true only if OBJ is one of the Guile primitive
4620 macro transformers, implemented in eval.c rather than Scheme code.
4622 Why do we have this function?
4623 - For symmetry with procedure? and primitive-procedure?,
4624 - to allow custom print procedures to tell whether a macro is
4625 primitive, and display it differently, and
4626 - to allow compilers and user-written evaluators to distinguish
4627 builtin special forms from user-defined ones, which could be
4630 *** New function: (macro-type OBJ)
4631 Return a value indicating what kind of macro OBJ is. Possible return
4634 The symbol `syntax' --- a macro created by procedure->syntax.
4635 The symbol `macro' --- a macro created by procedure->macro.
4636 The symbol `macro!' --- a macro created by procedure->memoizing-macro.
4637 The boolean #f --- if OBJ is not a macro object.
4639 *** New function: (macro-name MACRO)
4640 Return the name of the macro object MACRO's procedure, as returned by
4643 *** New function: (macro-transformer MACRO)
4644 Return the transformer procedure for MACRO.
4646 *** New syntax: (use-syntax MODULE ... TRANSFORMER)
4648 Specify a new macro expander to use in the current module. Each
4649 MODULE is a module name, with the same meaning as in the `use-modules'
4650 form; each named module's exported bindings are added to the current
4651 top-level environment. TRANSFORMER is an expression evaluated in the
4652 resulting environment which must yield a procedure to use as the
4653 module's eval transformer: every expression evaluated in this module
4654 is passed to this function, and the result passed to the Guile
4657 *** macro-eval! is removed. Use local-eval instead.
4659 ** Some magic has been added to the printer to better handle user
4660 written printing routines (like record printers, closure printers).
4662 The problem is that these user written routines must have access to
4663 the current `print-state' to be able to handle fancy things like
4664 detection of circular references. These print-states have to be
4665 passed to the builtin printing routines (display, write, etc) to
4666 properly continue the print chain.
4668 We didn't want to change all existing print code so that it
4669 explicitly passes thru a print state in addition to a port. Instead,
4670 we extented the possible values that the builtin printing routines
4671 accept as a `port'. In addition to a normal port, they now also take
4672 a pair of a normal port and a print-state. Printing will go to the
4673 port and the print-state will be used to control the detection of
4674 circular references, etc. If the builtin function does not care for a
4675 print-state, it is simply ignored.
4677 User written callbacks are now called with such a pair as their
4678 `port', but because every function now accepts this pair as a PORT
4679 argument, you don't have to worry about that. In fact, it is probably
4680 safest to not check for these pairs.
4682 However, it is sometimes necessary to continue a print chain on a
4683 different port, for example to get a intermediate string
4684 representation of the printed value, mangle that string somehow, and
4685 then to finally print the mangled string. Use the new function
4687 inherit-print-state OLD-PORT NEW-PORT
4689 for this. It constructs a new `port' that prints to NEW-PORT but
4690 inherits the print-state of OLD-PORT.
4692 ** struct-vtable-offset renamed to vtable-offset-user
4694 ** New constants: vtable-index-layout, vtable-index-vtable, vtable-index-printer
4696 ** There is now a third optional argument to make-vtable-vtable
4697 (and fourth to make-struct) when constructing new types (vtables).
4698 This argument initializes field vtable-index-printer of the vtable.
4700 ** The detection of circular references has been extended to structs.
4701 That is, a structure that -- in the process of being printed -- prints
4702 itself does not lead to infinite recursion.
4704 ** There is now some basic support for fluids. Please read
4705 "libguile/fluid.h" to find out more. It is accessible from Scheme with
4706 the following functions and macros:
4708 Function: make-fluid
4710 Create a new fluid object. Fluids are not special variables or
4711 some other extension to the semantics of Scheme, but rather
4712 ordinary Scheme objects. You can store them into variables (that
4713 are still lexically scoped, of course) or into any other place you
4714 like. Every fluid has a initial value of `#f'.
4716 Function: fluid? OBJ
4718 Test whether OBJ is a fluid.
4720 Function: fluid-ref FLUID
4721 Function: fluid-set! FLUID VAL
4723 Access/modify the fluid FLUID. Modifications are only visible
4724 within the current dynamic root (that includes threads).
4726 Function: with-fluids* FLUIDS VALUES THUNK
4728 FLUIDS is a list of fluids and VALUES a corresponding list of
4729 values for these fluids. Before THUNK gets called the values are
4730 installed in the fluids and the old values of the fluids are
4731 saved in the VALUES list. When the flow of control leaves THUNK
4732 or reenters it, the values get swapped again. You might think of
4733 this as a `safe-fluid-excursion'. Note that the VALUES list is
4734 modified by `with-fluids*'.
4736 Macro: with-fluids ((FLUID VALUE) ...) FORM ...
4738 The same as `with-fluids*' but with a different syntax. It looks
4739 just like `let', but both FLUID and VALUE are evaluated. Remember,
4740 fluids are not special variables but ordinary objects. FLUID
4741 should evaluate to a fluid.
4743 ** Changes to system call interfaces:
4745 *** close-port, close-input-port and close-output-port now return a
4746 boolean instead of an `unspecified' object. #t means that the port
4747 was successfully closed, while #f means it was already closed. It is
4748 also now possible for these procedures to raise an exception if an
4749 error occurs (some errors from write can be delayed until close.)
4751 *** the first argument to chmod, fcntl, ftell and fseek can now be a
4754 *** the third argument to fcntl is now optional.
4756 *** the first argument to chown can now be a file descriptor or a port.
4758 *** the argument to stat can now be a port.
4760 *** The following new procedures have been added (most use scsh
4763 *** procedure: close PORT/FD
4764 Similar to close-port (*note close-port: Closing Ports.), but also
4765 works on file descriptors. A side effect of closing a file
4766 descriptor is that any ports using that file descriptor are moved
4767 to a different file descriptor and have their revealed counts set
4770 *** procedure: port->fdes PORT
4771 Returns the integer file descriptor underlying PORT. As a side
4772 effect the revealed count of PORT is incremented.
4774 *** procedure: fdes->ports FDES
4775 Returns a list of existing ports which have FDES as an underlying
4776 file descriptor, without changing their revealed counts.
4778 *** procedure: fdes->inport FDES
4779 Returns an existing input port which has FDES as its underlying
4780 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
4781 Otherwise, returns a new input port with a revealed count of 1.
4783 *** procedure: fdes->outport FDES
4784 Returns an existing output port which has FDES as its underlying
4785 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
4786 Otherwise, returns a new output port with a revealed count of 1.
4788 The next group of procedures perform a `dup2' system call, if NEWFD
4789 (an integer) is supplied, otherwise a `dup'. The file descriptor to be
4790 duplicated can be supplied as an integer or contained in a port. The
4791 type of value returned varies depending on which procedure is used.
4793 All procedures also have the side effect when performing `dup2' that
4794 any ports using NEWFD are moved to a different file descriptor and have
4795 their revealed counts set to zero.
4797 *** procedure: dup->fdes PORT/FD [NEWFD]
4798 Returns an integer file descriptor.
4800 *** procedure: dup->inport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
4801 Returns a new input port using the new file descriptor.
4803 *** procedure: dup->outport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
4804 Returns a new output port using the new file descriptor.
4806 *** procedure: dup PORT/FD [NEWFD]
4807 Returns a new port if PORT/FD is a port, with the same mode as the
4808 supplied port, otherwise returns an integer file descriptor.
4810 *** procedure: dup->port PORT/FD MODE [NEWFD]
4811 Returns a new port using the new file descriptor. MODE supplies a
4812 mode string for the port (*note open-file: File Ports.).
4814 *** procedure: setenv NAME VALUE
4815 Modifies the environment of the current process, which is also the
4816 default environment inherited by child processes.
4818 If VALUE is `#f', then NAME is removed from the environment.
4819 Otherwise, the string NAME=VALUE is added to the environment,
4820 replacing any existing string with name matching NAME.
4822 The return value is unspecified.
4824 *** procedure: truncate-file OBJ SIZE
4825 Truncates the file referred to by OBJ to at most SIZE bytes. OBJ
4826 can be a string containing a file name or an integer file
4827 descriptor or port open for output on the file. The underlying
4828 system calls are `truncate' and `ftruncate'.
4830 The return value is unspecified.
4832 *** procedure: setvbuf PORT MODE [SIZE]
4833 Set the buffering mode for PORT. MODE can be:
4841 block buffered, using a newly allocated buffer of SIZE bytes.
4842 However if SIZE is zero or unspecified, the port will be made
4845 This procedure should not be used after I/O has been performed with
4848 Ports are usually block buffered by default, with a default buffer
4849 size. Procedures e.g., *Note open-file: File Ports, which accept a
4850 mode string allow `0' to be added to request an unbuffered port.
4852 *** procedure: fsync PORT/FD
4853 Copies any unwritten data for the specified output file descriptor
4854 to disk. If PORT/FD is a port, its buffer is flushed before the
4855 underlying file descriptor is fsync'd. The return value is
4858 *** procedure: open-fdes PATH FLAGS [MODES]
4859 Similar to `open' but returns a file descriptor instead of a port.
4861 *** procedure: execle PATH ENV [ARG] ...
4862 Similar to `execl', but the environment of the new process is
4863 specified by ENV, which must be a list of strings as returned by
4864 the `environ' procedure.
4866 This procedure is currently implemented using the `execve' system
4867 call, but we call it `execle' because of its Scheme calling
4870 *** procedure: strerror ERRNO
4871 Returns the Unix error message corresponding to ERRNO, an integer.
4873 *** procedure: primitive-exit [STATUS]
4874 Terminate the current process without unwinding the Scheme stack.
4875 This is would typically be useful after a fork. The exit status
4876 is STATUS if supplied, otherwise zero.
4878 *** procedure: times
4879 Returns an object with information about real and processor time.
4880 The following procedures accept such an object as an argument and
4881 return a selected component:
4884 The current real time, expressed as time units relative to an
4888 The CPU time units used by the calling process.
4891 The CPU time units used by the system on behalf of the
4895 The CPU time units used by terminated child processes of the
4896 calling process, whose status has been collected (e.g., using
4900 Similarly, the CPU times units used by the system on behalf of
4901 terminated child processes.
4903 ** Removed: list-length
4904 ** Removed: list-append, list-append!
4905 ** Removed: list-reverse, list-reverse!
4907 ** array-map renamed to array-map!
4909 ** serial-array-map renamed to serial-array-map!
4911 ** catch doesn't take #f as first argument any longer
4913 Previously, it was possible to pass #f instead of a key to `catch'.
4914 That would cause `catch' to pass a jump buffer object to the procedure
4915 passed as second argument. The procedure could then use this jump
4916 buffer objekt as an argument to throw.
4918 This mechanism has been removed since its utility doesn't motivate the
4919 extra complexity it introduces.
4921 ** The `#/' notation for lists now provokes a warning message from Guile.
4922 This syntax will be removed from Guile in the near future.
4924 To disable the warning message, set the GUILE_HUSH environment
4925 variable to any non-empty value.
4927 ** The newline character now prints as `#\newline', following the
4928 normal Scheme notation, not `#\nl'.
4930 * Changes to the gh_ interface
4932 ** The gh_enter function now takes care of loading the Guile startup files.
4933 gh_enter works by calling scm_boot_guile; see the remarks below.
4935 ** Function: void gh_write (SCM x)
4937 Write the printed representation of the scheme object x to the current
4938 output port. Corresponds to the scheme level `write'.
4940 ** gh_list_length renamed to gh_length.
4942 ** vector handling routines
4944 Several major changes. In particular, gh_vector() now resembles
4945 (vector ...) (with a caveat -- see manual), and gh_make_vector() now
4946 exists and behaves like (make-vector ...). gh_vset() and gh_vref()
4947 have been renamed gh_vector_set_x() and gh_vector_ref(). Some missing
4948 vector-related gh_ functions have been implemented.
4950 ** pair and list routines
4952 Implemented several of the R4RS pair and list functions that were
4955 ** gh_scm2doubles, gh_doubles2scm, gh_doubles2dvect
4957 New function. Converts double arrays back and forth between Scheme
4960 * Changes to the scm_ interface
4962 ** The function scm_boot_guile now takes care of loading the startup files.
4964 Guile's primary initialization function, scm_boot_guile, now takes
4965 care of loading `boot-9.scm', in the `ice-9' module, to initialize
4966 Guile, define the module system, and put together some standard
4967 bindings. It also loads `init.scm', which is intended to hold
4968 site-specific initialization code.
4970 Since Guile cannot operate properly until boot-9.scm is loaded, there
4971 is no reason to separate loading boot-9.scm from Guile's other
4972 initialization processes.
4974 This job used to be done by scm_compile_shell_switches, which didn't
4975 make much sense; in particular, it meant that people using Guile for
4976 non-shell-like applications had to jump through hoops to get Guile
4977 initialized properly.
4979 ** The function scm_compile_shell_switches no longer loads the startup files.
4980 Now, Guile always loads the startup files, whenever it is initialized;
4981 see the notes above for scm_boot_guile and scm_load_startup_files.
4983 ** Function: scm_load_startup_files
4984 This new function takes care of loading Guile's initialization file
4985 (`boot-9.scm'), and the site initialization file, `init.scm'. Since
4986 this is always called by the Guile initialization process, it's
4987 probably not too useful to call this yourself, but it's there anyway.
4989 ** The semantics of smob marking have changed slightly.
4991 The smob marking function (the `mark' member of the scm_smobfuns
4992 structure) is no longer responsible for setting the mark bit on the
4993 smob. The generic smob handling code in the garbage collector will
4994 set this bit. The mark function need only ensure that any other
4995 objects the smob refers to get marked.
4997 Note that this change means that the smob's GC8MARK bit is typically
4998 already set upon entry to the mark function. Thus, marking functions
4999 which look like this:
5002 if (SCM_GC8MARKP (ptr))
5004 SCM_SETGC8MARK (ptr);
5005 ... mark objects to which the smob refers ...
5008 are now incorrect, since they will return early, and fail to mark any
5009 other objects the smob refers to. Some code in the Guile library used
5012 ** The semantics of the I/O port functions in scm_ptobfuns have changed.
5014 If you have implemented your own I/O port type, by writing the
5015 functions required by the scm_ptobfuns and then calling scm_newptob,
5016 you will need to change your functions slightly.
5018 The functions in a scm_ptobfuns structure now expect the port itself
5019 as their argument; they used to expect the `stream' member of the
5020 port's scm_port_table structure. This allows functions in an
5021 scm_ptobfuns structure to easily access the port's cell (and any flags
5022 it its CAR), and the port's scm_port_table structure.
5024 Guile now passes the I/O port itself as the `port' argument in the
5025 following scm_ptobfuns functions:
5027 int (*free) (SCM port);
5028 int (*fputc) (int, SCM port);
5029 int (*fputs) (char *, SCM port);
5030 scm_sizet (*fwrite) SCM_P ((char *ptr,
5034 int (*fflush) (SCM port);
5035 int (*fgetc) (SCM port);
5036 int (*fclose) (SCM port);
5038 The interfaces to the `mark', `print', `equalp', and `fgets' methods
5041 If you have existing code which defines its own port types, it is easy
5042 to convert your code to the new interface; simply apply SCM_STREAM to
5043 the port argument to yield the value you code used to expect.
5045 Note that since both the port and the stream have the same type in the
5046 C code --- they are both SCM values --- the C compiler will not remind
5047 you if you forget to update your scm_ptobfuns functions.
5050 ** Function: int scm_internal_select (int fds,
5054 struct timeval *timeout);
5056 This is a replacement for the `select' function provided by the OS.
5057 It enables I/O blocking and sleeping to happen for one cooperative
5058 thread without blocking other threads. It also avoids busy-loops in
5059 these situations. It is intended that all I/O blocking and sleeping
5060 will finally go through this function. Currently, this function is
5061 only available on systems providing `gettimeofday' and `select'.
5063 ** Function: SCM scm_internal_stack_catch (SCM tag,
5064 scm_catch_body_t body,
5066 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
5069 A new sibling to the other two C level `catch' functions
5070 scm_internal_catch and scm_internal_lazy_catch. Use it if you want
5071 the stack to be saved automatically into the variable `the-last-stack'
5072 (scm_the_last_stack_var) on error. This is necessary if you want to
5073 use advanced error reporting, such as calling scm_display_error and
5074 scm_display_backtrace. (They both take a stack object as argument.)
5076 ** Function: SCM scm_spawn_thread (scm_catch_body_t body,
5078 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
5081 Spawns a new thread. It does a job similar to
5082 scm_call_with_new_thread but takes arguments more suitable when
5083 spawning threads from application C code.
5085 ** The hook scm_error_callback has been removed. It was originally
5086 intended as a way for the user to install his own error handler. But
5087 that method works badly since it intervenes between throw and catch,
5088 thereby changing the semantics of expressions like (catch #t ...).
5089 The correct way to do it is to use one of the C level catch functions
5090 in throw.c: scm_internal_catch/lazy_catch/stack_catch.
5092 ** Removed functions:
5094 scm_obj_length, scm_list_length, scm_list_append, scm_list_append_x,
5095 scm_list_reverse, scm_list_reverse_x
5097 ** New macros: SCM_LISTn where n is one of the integers 0-9.
5099 These can be used for pretty list creation from C. The idea is taken
5100 from Erick Gallesio's STk.
5102 ** scm_array_map renamed to scm_array_map_x
5104 ** mbstrings are now removed
5106 This means that the type codes scm_tc7_mb_string and
5107 scm_tc7_mb_substring has been removed.
5109 ** scm_gen_putc, scm_gen_puts, scm_gen_write, and scm_gen_getc have changed.
5111 Since we no longer support multi-byte strings, these I/O functions
5112 have been simplified, and renamed. Here are their old names, and
5113 their new names and arguments:
5115 scm_gen_putc -> void scm_putc (int c, SCM port);
5116 scm_gen_puts -> void scm_puts (char *s, SCM port);
5117 scm_gen_write -> void scm_lfwrite (char *ptr, scm_sizet size, SCM port);
5118 scm_gen_getc -> void scm_getc (SCM port);
5121 ** The macros SCM_TYP7D and SCM_TYP7SD has been removed.
5123 ** The macro SCM_TYP7S has taken the role of the old SCM_TYP7D
5125 SCM_TYP7S now masks away the bit which distinguishes substrings from
5128 ** scm_catch_body_t: Backward incompatible change!
5130 Body functions to scm_internal_catch and friends do not any longer
5131 take a second argument. This is because it is no longer possible to
5132 pass a #f arg to catch.
5134 ** Calls to scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect now nest properly.
5136 The function scm_protect_object protects its argument from being freed
5137 by the garbage collector. scm_unprotect_object removes that
5140 These functions now nest properly. That is, for every object O, there
5141 is a counter which scm_protect_object(O) increments and
5142 scm_unprotect_object(O) decrements, if the counter is greater than
5143 zero. Every object's counter is zero when it is first created. If an
5144 object's counter is greater than zero, the garbage collector will not
5145 reclaim its storage.
5147 This allows you to use scm_protect_object in your code without
5148 worrying that some other function you call will call
5149 scm_unprotect_object, and allow it to be freed. Assuming that the
5150 functions you call are well-behaved, and unprotect only those objects
5151 they protect, you can follow the same rule and have confidence that
5152 objects will be freed only at appropriate times.
5155 Changes in Guile 1.2 (released Tuesday, June 24 1997):
5157 * Changes to the distribution
5159 ** Nightly snapshots are now available from ftp.red-bean.com.
5160 The old server, ftp.cyclic.com, has been relinquished to its rightful
5163 Nightly snapshots of the Guile development sources are now available via
5164 anonymous FTP from ftp.red-bean.com, as /pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz.
5166 Via the web, that's: ftp://ftp.red-bean.com/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
5167 For getit, that's: ftp.red-bean.com:/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
5169 ** To run Guile without installing it, the procedure has changed a bit.
5171 If you used a separate build directory to compile Guile, you'll need
5172 to include the build directory in SCHEME_LOAD_PATH, as well as the
5173 source directory. See the `INSTALL' file for examples.
5175 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
5177 ** The standard Guile load path for Scheme code now includes
5178 $(datadir)/guile (usually /usr/local/share/guile). This means that
5179 you can install your own Scheme files there, and Guile will find them.
5180 (Previous versions of Guile only checked a directory whose name
5181 contained the Guile version number, so you had to re-install or move
5182 your Scheme sources each time you installed a fresh version of Guile.)
5184 The load path also includes $(datadir)/guile/site; we recommend
5185 putting individual Scheme files there. If you want to install a
5186 package with multiple source files, create a directory for them under
5189 ** Guile 1.2 will now use the Rx regular expression library, if it is
5190 installed on your system. When you are linking libguile into your own
5191 programs, this means you will have to link against -lguile, -lqt (if
5192 you configured Guile with thread support), and -lrx.
5194 If you are using autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your
5195 application, the following lines should suffice to add the appropriate
5196 libraries to your link command:
5198 ### Find Rx, quickthreads and libguile.
5199 AC_CHECK_LIB(rx, main)
5200 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
5201 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
5203 The Guile 1.2 distribution does not contain sources for the Rx
5204 library, as Guile 1.0 did. If you want to use Rx, you'll need to
5205 retrieve it from a GNU FTP site and install it separately.
5207 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
5209 ** The dynamic linking features of Guile are now enabled by default.
5210 You can disable them by giving the `--disable-dynamic-linking' option
5213 (dynamic-link FILENAME)
5215 Find the object file denoted by FILENAME (a string) and link it
5216 into the running Guile application. When everything works out,
5217 return a Scheme object suitable for representing the linked object
5218 file. Otherwise an error is thrown. How object files are
5219 searched is system dependent.
5221 (dynamic-object? VAL)
5223 Determine whether VAL represents a dynamically linked object file.
5225 (dynamic-unlink DYNOBJ)
5227 Unlink the indicated object file from the application. DYNOBJ
5228 should be one of the values returned by `dynamic-link'.
5230 (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
5232 Search the C function indicated by FUNCTION (a string or symbol)
5233 in DYNOBJ and return some Scheme object that can later be used
5234 with `dynamic-call' to actually call this function. Right now,
5235 these Scheme objects are formed by casting the address of the
5236 function to `long' and converting this number to its Scheme
5239 (dynamic-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
5241 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ. The
5242 function is passed no arguments and its return value is ignored.
5243 When FUNCTION is something returned by `dynamic-func', call that
5244 function and ignore DYNOBJ. When FUNCTION is a string (or symbol,
5245 etc.), look it up in DYNOBJ; this is equivalent to
5247 (dynamic-call (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ) #f)
5249 Interrupts are deferred while the C function is executing (with
5250 SCM_DEFER_INTS/SCM_ALLOW_INTS).
5252 (dynamic-args-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ ARGS)
5254 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ, but pass it
5255 some arguments and return its return value. The C function is
5256 expected to take two arguments and return an `int', just like
5259 int c_func (int argc, char **argv);
5261 ARGS must be a list of strings and is converted into an array of
5262 `char *'. The array is passed in ARGV and its size in ARGC. The
5263 return value is converted to a Scheme number and returned from the
5264 call to `dynamic-args-call'.
5266 When dynamic linking is disabled or not supported on your system,
5267 the above functions throw errors, but they are still available.
5269 Here is a small example that works on GNU/Linux:
5271 (define libc-obj (dynamic-link "libc.so"))
5272 (dynamic-args-call 'rand libc-obj '())
5274 See the file `libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING' for additional comments.
5276 ** The #/ syntax for module names is depreciated, and will be removed
5277 in a future version of Guile. Instead of
5285 The latter syntax is more consistent with existing Lisp practice.
5287 ** Guile now does fancier printing of structures. Structures are the
5288 underlying implementation for records, which in turn are used to
5289 implement modules, so all of these object now print differently and in
5290 a more informative way.
5292 The Scheme printer will examine the builtin variable *struct-printer*
5293 whenever it needs to print a structure object. When this variable is
5294 not `#f' it is deemed to be a procedure and will be applied to the
5295 structure object and the output port. When *struct-printer* is `#f'
5296 or the procedure return `#f' the structure object will be printed in
5297 the boring #<struct 80458270> form.
5299 This hook is used by some routines in ice-9/boot-9.scm to implement
5300 type specific printing routines. Please read the comments there about
5303 One of the more specific uses of structs are records. The printing
5304 procedure that could be passed to MAKE-RECORD-TYPE is now actually
5305 called. It should behave like a *struct-printer* procedure (described
5308 ** Guile now supports a new R4RS-compliant syntax for keywords. A
5309 token of the form #:NAME, where NAME has the same syntax as a Scheme
5310 symbol, is the external representation of the keyword named NAME.
5311 Keyword objects print using this syntax as well, so values containing
5312 keyword objects can be read back into Guile. When used in an
5313 expression, keywords are self-quoting objects.
5315 Guile suports this read syntax, and uses this print syntax, regardless
5316 of the current setting of the `keyword' read option. The `keyword'
5317 read option only controls whether Guile recognizes the `:NAME' syntax,
5318 which is incompatible with R4RS. (R4RS says such token represent
5321 ** Guile has regular expression support again. Guile 1.0 included
5322 functions for matching regular expressions, based on the Rx library.
5323 In Guile 1.1, the Guile/Rx interface was removed to simplify the
5324 distribution, and thus Guile had no regular expression support. Guile
5325 1.2 again supports the most commonly used functions, and supports all
5326 of SCSH's regular expression functions.
5328 If your system does not include a POSIX regular expression library,
5329 and you have not linked Guile with a third-party regexp library such as
5330 Rx, these functions will not be available. You can tell whether your
5331 Guile installation includes regular expression support by checking
5332 whether the `*features*' list includes the `regex' symbol.
5334 *** regexp functions
5336 By default, Guile supports POSIX extended regular expressions. That
5337 means that the characters `(', `)', `+' and `?' are special, and must
5338 be escaped if you wish to match the literal characters.
5340 This regular expression interface was modeled after that implemented
5341 by SCSH, the Scheme Shell. It is intended to be upwardly compatible
5342 with SCSH regular expressions.
5344 **** Function: string-match PATTERN STR [START]
5345 Compile the string PATTERN into a regular expression and compare
5346 it with STR. The optional numeric argument START specifies the
5347 position of STR at which to begin matching.
5349 `string-match' returns a "match structure" which describes what,
5350 if anything, was matched by the regular expression. *Note Match
5351 Structures::. If STR does not match PATTERN at all,
5352 `string-match' returns `#f'.
5354 Each time `string-match' is called, it must compile its PATTERN
5355 argument into a regular expression structure. This operation is
5356 expensive, which makes `string-match' inefficient if the same regular
5357 expression is used several times (for example, in a loop). For better
5358 performance, you can compile a regular expression in advance and then
5359 match strings against the compiled regexp.
5361 **** Function: make-regexp STR [FLAGS]
5362 Compile the regular expression described by STR, and return the
5363 compiled regexp structure. If STR does not describe a legal
5364 regular expression, `make-regexp' throws a
5365 `regular-expression-syntax' error.
5367 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
5369 **** Constant: regexp/extended
5370 Use POSIX Extended Regular Expression syntax when interpreting
5371 STR. If not set, POSIX Basic Regular Expression syntax is used.
5372 If the FLAGS argument is omitted, we assume regexp/extended.
5374 **** Constant: regexp/icase
5375 Do not differentiate case. Subsequent searches using the
5376 returned regular expression will be case insensitive.
5378 **** Constant: regexp/newline
5379 Match-any-character operators don't match a newline.
5381 A non-matching list ([^...]) not containing a newline matches a
5384 Match-beginning-of-line operator (^) matches the empty string
5385 immediately after a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
5386 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/notbol.
5388 Match-end-of-line operator ($) matches the empty string
5389 immediately before a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
5390 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/noteol.
5392 **** Function: regexp-exec REGEXP STR [START [FLAGS]]
5393 Match the compiled regular expression REGEXP against `str'. If
5394 the optional integer START argument is provided, begin matching
5395 from that position in the string. Return a match structure
5396 describing the results of the match, or `#f' if no match could be
5399 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
5401 **** Constant: regexp/notbol
5402 The match-beginning-of-line operator always fails to match (but
5403 see the compilation flag regexp/newline above) This flag may be
5404 used when different portions of a string are passed to
5405 regexp-exec and the beginning of the string should not be
5406 interpreted as the beginning of the line.
5408 **** Constant: regexp/noteol
5409 The match-end-of-line operator always fails to match (but see the
5410 compilation flag regexp/newline above)
5412 **** Function: regexp? OBJ
5413 Return `#t' if OBJ is a compiled regular expression, or `#f'
5416 Regular expressions are commonly used to find patterns in one string
5417 and replace them with the contents of another string.
5419 **** Function: regexp-substitute PORT MATCH [ITEM...]
5420 Write to the output port PORT selected contents of the match
5421 structure MATCH. Each ITEM specifies what should be written, and
5422 may be one of the following arguments:
5424 * A string. String arguments are written out verbatim.
5426 * An integer. The submatch with that number is written.
5428 * The symbol `pre'. The portion of the matched string preceding
5429 the regexp match is written.
5431 * The symbol `post'. The portion of the matched string
5432 following the regexp match is written.
5434 PORT may be `#f', in which case nothing is written; instead,
5435 `regexp-substitute' constructs a string from the specified ITEMs
5438 **** Function: regexp-substitute/global PORT REGEXP TARGET [ITEM...]
5439 Similar to `regexp-substitute', but can be used to perform global
5440 substitutions on STR. Instead of taking a match structure as an
5441 argument, `regexp-substitute/global' takes two string arguments: a
5442 REGEXP string describing a regular expression, and a TARGET string
5443 which should be matched against this regular expression.
5445 Each ITEM behaves as in REGEXP-SUBSTITUTE, with the following
5448 * A function may be supplied. When this function is called, it
5449 will be passed one argument: a match structure for a given
5450 regular expression match. It should return a string to be
5451 written out to PORT.
5453 * The `post' symbol causes `regexp-substitute/global' to recurse
5454 on the unmatched portion of STR. This *must* be supplied in
5455 order to perform global search-and-replace on STR; if it is
5456 not present among the ITEMs, then `regexp-substitute/global'
5457 will return after processing a single match.
5459 *** Match Structures
5461 A "match structure" is the object returned by `string-match' and
5462 `regexp-exec'. It describes which portion of a string, if any, matched
5463 the given regular expression. Match structures include: a reference to
5464 the string that was checked for matches; the starting and ending
5465 positions of the regexp match; and, if the regexp included any
5466 parenthesized subexpressions, the starting and ending positions of each
5469 In each of the regexp match functions described below, the `match'
5470 argument must be a match structure returned by a previous call to
5471 `string-match' or `regexp-exec'. Most of these functions return some
5472 information about the original target string that was matched against a
5473 regular expression; we will call that string TARGET for easy reference.
5475 **** Function: regexp-match? OBJ
5476 Return `#t' if OBJ is a match structure returned by a previous
5477 call to `regexp-exec', or `#f' otherwise.
5479 **** Function: match:substring MATCH [N]
5480 Return the portion of TARGET matched by subexpression number N.
5481 Submatch 0 (the default) represents the entire regexp match. If
5482 the regular expression as a whole matched, but the subexpression
5483 number N did not match, return `#f'.
5485 **** Function: match:start MATCH [N]
5486 Return the starting position of submatch number N.
5488 **** Function: match:end MATCH [N]
5489 Return the ending position of submatch number N.
5491 **** Function: match:prefix MATCH
5492 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET preceding the regexp match.
5494 **** Function: match:suffix MATCH
5495 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET following the regexp match.
5497 **** Function: match:count MATCH
5498 Return the number of parenthesized subexpressions from MATCH.
5499 Note that the entire regular expression match itself counts as a
5500 subexpression, and failed submatches are included in the count.
5502 **** Function: match:string MATCH
5503 Return the original TARGET string.
5505 *** Backslash Escapes
5507 Sometimes you will want a regexp to match characters like `*' or `$'
5508 exactly. For example, to check whether a particular string represents
5509 a menu entry from an Info node, it would be useful to match it against
5510 a regexp like `^* [^:]*::'. However, this won't work; because the
5511 asterisk is a metacharacter, it won't match the `*' at the beginning of
5512 the string. In this case, we want to make the first asterisk un-magic.
5514 You can do this by preceding the metacharacter with a backslash
5515 character `\'. (This is also called "quoting" the metacharacter, and
5516 is known as a "backslash escape".) When Guile sees a backslash in a
5517 regular expression, it considers the following glyph to be an ordinary
5518 character, no matter what special meaning it would ordinarily have.
5519 Therefore, we can make the above example work by changing the regexp to
5520 `^\* [^:]*::'. The `\*' sequence tells the regular expression engine
5521 to match only a single asterisk in the target string.
5523 Since the backslash is itself a metacharacter, you may force a
5524 regexp to match a backslash in the target string by preceding the
5525 backslash with itself. For example, to find variable references in a
5526 TeX program, you might want to find occurrences of the string `\let\'
5527 followed by any number of alphabetic characters. The regular expression
5528 `\\let\\[A-Za-z]*' would do this: the double backslashes in the regexp
5529 each match a single backslash in the target string.
5531 **** Function: regexp-quote STR
5532 Quote each special character found in STR with a backslash, and
5533 return the resulting string.
5535 *Very important:* Using backslash escapes in Guile source code (as
5536 in Emacs Lisp or C) can be tricky, because the backslash character has
5537 special meaning for the Guile reader. For example, if Guile encounters
5538 the character sequence `\n' in the middle of a string while processing
5539 Scheme code, it replaces those characters with a newline character.
5540 Similarly, the character sequence `\t' is replaced by a horizontal tab.
5541 Several of these "escape sequences" are processed by the Guile reader
5542 before your code is executed. Unrecognized escape sequences are
5543 ignored: if the characters `\*' appear in a string, they will be
5544 translated to the single character `*'.
5546 This translation is obviously undesirable for regular expressions,
5547 since we want to be able to include backslashes in a string in order to
5548 escape regexp metacharacters. Therefore, to make sure that a backslash
5549 is preserved in a string in your Guile program, you must use *two*
5550 consecutive backslashes:
5552 (define Info-menu-entry-pattern (make-regexp "^\\* [^:]*"))
5554 The string in this example is preprocessed by the Guile reader before
5555 any code is executed. The resulting argument to `make-regexp' is the
5556 string `^\* [^:]*', which is what we really want.
5558 This also means that in order to write a regular expression that
5559 matches a single backslash character, the regular expression string in
5560 the source code must include *four* backslashes. Each consecutive pair
5561 of backslashes gets translated by the Guile reader to a single
5562 backslash, and the resulting double-backslash is interpreted by the
5563 regexp engine as matching a single backslash character. Hence:
5565 (define tex-variable-pattern (make-regexp "\\\\let\\\\=[A-Za-z]*"))
5567 The reason for the unwieldiness of this syntax is historical. Both
5568 regular expression pattern matchers and Unix string processing systems
5569 have traditionally used backslashes with the special meanings described
5570 above. The POSIX regular expression specification and ANSI C standard
5571 both require these semantics. Attempting to abandon either convention
5572 would cause other kinds of compatibility problems, possibly more severe
5573 ones. Therefore, without extending the Scheme reader to support
5574 strings with different quoting conventions (an ungainly and confusing
5575 extension when implemented in other languages), we must adhere to this
5576 cumbersome escape syntax.
5578 * Changes to the gh_ interface
5580 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5582 * Changes to system call interfaces:
5584 ** The value returned by `raise' is now unspecified. It throws an exception
5587 *** A new procedure `sigaction' can be used to install signal handlers
5589 (sigaction signum [action] [flags])
5591 signum is the signal number, which can be specified using the value
5594 If action is omitted, sigaction returns a pair: the CAR is the current
5595 signal hander, which will be either an integer with the value SIG_DFL
5596 (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or the Scheme procedure which
5597 handles the signal, or #f if a non-Scheme procedure handles the
5598 signal. The CDR contains the current sigaction flags for the handler.
5600 If action is provided, it is installed as the new handler for signum.
5601 action can be a Scheme procedure taking one argument, or the value of
5602 SIG_DFL (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or #f to restore
5603 whatever signal handler was installed before sigaction was first used.
5604 Flags can optionally be specified for the new handler (SA_RESTART is
5605 always used if the system provides it, so need not be specified.) The
5606 return value is a pair with information about the old handler as
5609 This interface does not provide access to the "signal blocking"
5610 facility. Maybe this is not needed, since the thread support may
5611 provide solutions to the problem of consistent access to data
5614 *** A new procedure `flush-all-ports' is equivalent to running
5615 `force-output' on every port open for output.
5617 ** Guile now provides information on how it was built, via the new
5618 global variable, %guile-build-info. This variable records the values
5619 of the standard GNU makefile directory variables as an assocation
5620 list, mapping variable names (symbols) onto directory paths (strings).
5621 For example, to find out where the Guile link libraries were
5622 installed, you can say:
5624 guile -c "(display (assq-ref %guile-build-info 'libdir)) (newline)"
5627 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5629 ** The new function scm_handle_by_message_noexit is just like the
5630 existing scm_handle_by_message function, except that it doesn't call
5631 exit to terminate the process. Instead, it prints a message and just
5632 returns #f. This might be a more appropriate catch-all handler for
5633 new dynamic roots and threads.
5636 Changes in Guile 1.1 (released Friday, May 16 1997):
5638 * Changes to the distribution.
5640 The Guile 1.0 distribution has been split up into several smaller
5642 guile-core --- the Guile interpreter itself.
5643 guile-tcltk --- the interface between the Guile interpreter and
5644 Tcl/Tk; Tcl is an interpreter for a stringy language, and Tk
5645 is a toolkit for building graphical user interfaces.
5646 guile-rgx-ctax --- the interface between Guile and the Rx regular
5647 expression matcher, and the translator for the Ctax
5648 programming language. These are packaged together because the
5649 Ctax translator uses Rx to parse Ctax source code.
5651 This NEWS file describes the changes made to guile-core since the 1.0
5654 We no longer distribute the documentation, since it was either out of
5655 date, or incomplete. As soon as we have current documentation, we
5660 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
5662 ** guile now accepts command-line arguments compatible with SCSH, Olin
5663 Shivers' Scheme Shell.
5665 In general, arguments are evaluated from left to right, but there are
5666 exceptions. The following switches stop argument processing, and
5667 stash all remaining command-line arguments as the value returned by
5668 the (command-line) function.
5669 -s SCRIPT load Scheme source code from FILE, and exit
5670 -c EXPR evalute Scheme expression EXPR, and exit
5671 -- stop scanning arguments; run interactively
5673 The switches below are processed as they are encountered.
5674 -l FILE load Scheme source code from FILE
5675 -e FUNCTION after reading script, apply FUNCTION to
5676 command line arguments
5677 -ds do -s script at this point
5678 --emacs enable Emacs protocol (experimental)
5679 -h, --help display this help and exit
5680 -v, --version display version information and exit
5681 \ read arguments from following script lines
5683 So, for example, here is a Guile script named `ekko' (thanks, Olin)
5684 which re-implements the traditional "echo" command:
5686 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
5689 (map (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
5693 (main (command-line))
5695 Suppose we invoke this script as follows:
5697 ekko a speckled gecko
5699 Through the magic of Unix script processing (triggered by the `#!'
5700 token at the top of the file), /usr/local/bin/guile receives the
5701 following list of command-line arguments:
5703 ("-s" "./ekko" "a" "speckled" "gecko")
5705 Unix inserts the name of the script after the argument specified on
5706 the first line of the file (in this case, "-s"), and then follows that
5707 with the arguments given to the script. Guile loads the script, which
5708 defines the `main' function, and then applies it to the list of
5709 remaining command-line arguments, ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
5711 In Unix, the first line of a script file must take the following form:
5713 #!INTERPRETER ARGUMENT
5715 where INTERPRETER is the absolute filename of the interpreter
5716 executable, and ARGUMENT is a single command-line argument to pass to
5719 You may only pass one argument to the interpreter, and its length is
5720 limited. These restrictions can be annoying to work around, so Guile
5721 provides a general mechanism (borrowed from, and compatible with,
5722 SCSH) for circumventing them.
5724 If the ARGUMENT in a Guile script is a single backslash character,
5725 `\', Guile will open the script file, parse arguments from its second
5726 and subsequent lines, and replace the `\' with them. So, for example,
5727 here is another implementation of the `ekko' script:
5729 #!/usr/local/bin/guile \
5733 (for-each (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
5737 If the user invokes this script as follows:
5739 ekko a speckled gecko
5741 Unix expands this into
5743 /usr/local/bin/guile \ ekko a speckled gecko
5745 When Guile sees the `\' argument, it replaces it with the arguments
5746 read from the second line of the script, producing:
5748 /usr/local/bin/guile -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
5750 This tells Guile to load the `ekko' script, and apply the function
5751 `main' to the argument list ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
5753 Here is how Guile parses the command-line arguments:
5754 - Each space character terminates an argument. This means that two
5755 spaces in a row introduce an empty-string argument.
5756 - The tab character is not permitted (unless you quote it with the
5757 backslash character, as described below), to avoid confusion.
5758 - The newline character terminates the sequence of arguments, and will
5759 also terminate a final non-empty argument. (However, a newline
5760 following a space will not introduce a final empty-string argument;
5761 it only terminates the argument list.)
5762 - The backslash character is the escape character. It escapes
5763 backslash, space, tab, and newline. The ANSI C escape sequences
5764 like \n and \t are also supported. These produce argument
5765 constituents; the two-character combination \n doesn't act like a
5766 terminating newline. The escape sequence \NNN for exactly three
5767 octal digits reads as the character whose ASCII code is NNN. As
5768 above, characters produced this way are argument constituents.
5769 Backslash followed by other characters is not allowed.
5771 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
5773 ** Guile now builds and installs a shared guile library, if your
5774 system support shared libraries. (It still builds a static library on
5775 all systems.) Guile automatically detects whether your system
5776 supports shared libraries. To prevent Guile from buildisg shared
5777 libraries, pass the `--disable-shared' flag to the configure script.
5779 Guile takes longer to compile when it builds shared libraries, because
5780 it must compile every file twice --- once to produce position-
5781 independent object code, and once to produce normal object code.
5783 ** The libthreads library has been merged into libguile.
5785 To link a program against Guile, you now need only link against
5786 -lguile and -lqt; -lthreads is no longer needed. If you are using
5787 autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your application, the
5788 following lines should suffice to add the appropriate libraries to
5791 ### Find quickthreads and libguile.
5792 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
5793 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
5795 * Changes to Scheme functions
5797 ** Guile Scheme's special syntax for keyword objects is now optional,
5798 and disabled by default.
5800 The syntax variation from R4RS made it difficult to port some
5801 interesting packages to Guile. The routines which accepted keyword
5802 arguments (mostly in the module system) have been modified to also
5803 accept symbols whose names begin with `:'.
5805 To change the keyword syntax, you must first import the (ice-9 debug)
5807 (use-modules (ice-9 debug))
5809 Then you can enable the keyword syntax as follows:
5810 (read-set! keywords 'prefix)
5812 To disable keyword syntax, do this:
5813 (read-set! keywords #f)
5815 ** Many more primitive functions accept shared substrings as
5816 arguments. In the past, these functions required normal, mutable
5817 strings as arguments, although they never made use of this
5820 ** The uniform array functions now operate on byte vectors. These
5821 functions are `array-fill!', `serial-array-copy!', `array-copy!',
5822 `serial-array-map', `array-map', `array-for-each', and
5825 ** The new functions `trace' and `untrace' implement simple debugging
5826 support for Scheme functions.
5828 The `trace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
5829 and tells the Guile interpreter to display each procedure's name and
5830 arguments each time the procedure is invoked. When invoked with no
5831 arguments, `trace' returns the list of procedures currently being
5834 The `untrace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
5835 and tells the Guile interpreter not to trace them any more. When
5836 invoked with no arguments, `untrace' untraces all curretly traced
5839 The tracing in Guile has an advantage over most other systems: we
5840 don't create new procedure objects, but mark the procedure objects
5841 themselves. This means that anonymous and internal procedures can be
5844 ** The function `assert-repl-prompt' has been renamed to
5845 `set-repl-prompt!'. It takes one argument, PROMPT.
5846 - If PROMPT is #f, the Guile read-eval-print loop will not prompt.
5847 - If PROMPT is a string, we use it as a prompt.
5848 - If PROMPT is a procedure accepting no arguments, we call it, and
5849 display the result as a prompt.
5850 - Otherwise, we display "> ".
5852 ** The new function `eval-string' reads Scheme expressions from a
5853 string and evaluates them, returning the value of the last expression
5854 in the string. If the string contains no expressions, it returns an
5857 ** The new function `thunk?' returns true iff its argument is a
5858 procedure of zero arguments.
5860 ** `defined?' is now a builtin function, instead of syntax. This
5861 means that its argument should be quoted. It returns #t iff its
5862 argument is bound in the current module.
5864 ** The new syntax `use-modules' allows you to add new modules to your
5865 environment without re-typing a complete `define-module' form. It
5866 accepts any number of module names as arguments, and imports their
5867 public bindings into the current module.
5869 ** The new function (module-defined? NAME MODULE) returns true iff
5870 NAME, a symbol, is defined in MODULE, a module object.
5872 ** The new function `builtin-bindings' creates and returns a hash
5873 table containing copies of all the root module's bindings.
5875 ** The new function `builtin-weak-bindings' does the same as
5876 `builtin-bindings', but creates a doubly-weak hash table.
5878 ** The `equal?' function now considers variable objects to be
5879 equivalent if they have the same name and the same value.
5881 ** The new function `command-line' returns the command-line arguments
5882 given to Guile, as a list of strings.
5884 When using guile as a script interpreter, `command-line' returns the
5885 script's arguments; those processed by the interpreter (like `-s' or
5886 `-c') are omitted. (In other words, you get the normal, expected
5887 behavior.) Any application that uses scm_shell to process its
5888 command-line arguments gets this behavior as well.
5890 ** The new function `load-user-init' looks for a file called `.guile'
5891 in the user's home directory, and loads it if it exists. This is
5892 mostly for use by the code generated by scm_compile_shell_switches,
5893 but we thought it might also be useful in other circumstances.
5895 ** The new function `log10' returns the base-10 logarithm of its
5898 ** Changes to I/O functions
5900 *** The functions `read', `primitive-load', `read-and-eval!', and
5901 `primitive-load-path' no longer take optional arguments controlling
5902 case insensitivity and a `#' parser.
5904 Case sensitivity is now controlled by a read option called
5905 `case-insensitive'. The user can add new `#' syntaxes with the
5906 `read-hash-extend' function (see below).
5908 *** The new function `read-hash-extend' allows the user to change the
5909 syntax of Guile Scheme in a somewhat controlled way.
5911 (read-hash-extend CHAR PROC)
5912 When parsing S-expressions, if we read a `#' character followed by
5913 the character CHAR, use PROC to parse an object from the stream.
5914 If PROC is #f, remove any parsing procedure registered for CHAR.
5916 The reader applies PROC to two arguments: CHAR and an input port.
5918 *** The new functions read-delimited and read-delimited! provide a
5919 general mechanism for doing delimited input on streams.
5921 (read-delimited DELIMS [PORT HANDLE-DELIM])
5922 Read until we encounter one of the characters in DELIMS (a string),
5923 or end-of-file. PORT is the input port to read from; it defaults to
5924 the current input port. The HANDLE-DELIM parameter determines how
5925 the terminating character is handled; it should be one of the
5928 'trim omit delimiter from result
5929 'peek leave delimiter character in input stream
5930 'concat append delimiter character to returned value
5931 'split return a pair: (RESULT . TERMINATOR)
5933 HANDLE-DELIM defaults to 'peek.
5935 (read-delimited! DELIMS BUF [PORT HANDLE-DELIM START END])
5936 A side-effecting variant of `read-delimited'.
5938 The data is written into the string BUF at the indices in the
5939 half-open interval [START, END); the default interval is the whole
5940 string: START = 0 and END = (string-length BUF). The values of
5941 START and END must specify a well-defined interval in BUF, i.e.
5942 0 <= START <= END <= (string-length BUF).
5944 It returns NBYTES, the number of bytes read. If the buffer filled
5945 up without a delimiter character being found, it returns #f. If the
5946 port is at EOF when the read starts, it returns the EOF object.
5948 If an integer is returned (i.e., the read is successfully terminated
5949 by reading a delimiter character), then the HANDLE-DELIM parameter
5950 determines how to handle the terminating character. It is described
5951 above, and defaults to 'peek.
5953 (The descriptions of these functions were borrowed from the SCSH
5954 manual, by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
5956 *** The `%read-delimited!' function is the primitive used to implement
5957 `read-delimited' and `read-delimited!'.
5959 (%read-delimited! DELIMS BUF GOBBLE? [PORT START END])
5961 This returns a pair of values: (TERMINATOR . NUM-READ).
5962 - TERMINATOR describes why the read was terminated. If it is a
5963 character or the eof object, then that is the value that terminated
5964 the read. If it is #f, the function filled the buffer without finding
5965 a delimiting character.
5966 - NUM-READ is the number of characters read into BUF.
5968 If the read is successfully terminated by reading a delimiter
5969 character, then the gobble? parameter determines what to do with the
5970 terminating character. If true, the character is removed from the
5971 input stream; if false, the character is left in the input stream
5972 where a subsequent read operation will retrieve it. In either case,
5973 the character is also the first value returned by the procedure call.
5975 (The descriptions of this function was borrowed from the SCSH manual,
5976 by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
5978 *** The `read-line' and `read-line!' functions have changed; they now
5979 trim the terminator by default; previously they appended it to the
5980 returned string. For the old behavior, use (read-line PORT 'concat).
5982 *** The functions `uniform-array-read!' and `uniform-array-write!' now
5983 take new optional START and END arguments, specifying the region of
5984 the array to read and write.
5986 *** The `ungetc-char-ready?' function has been removed. We feel it's
5987 inappropriate for an interface to expose implementation details this
5990 ** Changes to the Unix library and system call interface
5992 *** The new fcntl function provides access to the Unix `fcntl' system
5995 (fcntl PORT COMMAND VALUE)
5996 Apply COMMAND to PORT's file descriptor, with VALUE as an argument.
5997 Values for COMMAND are:
5999 F_DUPFD duplicate a file descriptor
6000 F_GETFD read the descriptor's close-on-exec flag
6001 F_SETFD set the descriptor's close-on-exec flag to VALUE
6002 F_GETFL read the descriptor's flags, as set on open
6003 F_SETFL set the descriptor's flags, as set on open to VALUE
6004 F_GETOWN return the process ID of a socket's owner, for SIGIO
6005 F_SETOWN set the process that owns a socket to VALUE, for SIGIO
6006 FD_CLOEXEC not sure what this is
6008 For details, see the documentation for the fcntl system call.
6010 *** The arguments to `select' have changed, for compatibility with
6011 SCSH. The TIMEOUT parameter may now be non-integral, yielding the
6012 expected behavior. The MILLISECONDS parameter has been changed to
6013 MICROSECONDS, to more closely resemble the underlying system call.
6014 The RVEC, WVEC, and EVEC arguments can now be vectors; the type of the
6015 corresponding return set will be the same.
6017 *** The arguments to the `mknod' system call have changed. They are
6020 (mknod PATH TYPE PERMS DEV)
6021 Create a new file (`node') in the file system. PATH is the name of
6022 the file to create. TYPE is the kind of file to create; it should
6023 be 'fifo, 'block-special, or 'char-special. PERMS specifies the
6024 permission bits to give the newly created file. If TYPE is
6025 'block-special or 'char-special, DEV specifies which device the
6026 special file refers to; its interpretation depends on the kind of
6027 special file being created.
6029 *** The `fork' function has been renamed to `primitive-fork', to avoid
6030 clashing with various SCSH forks.
6032 *** The `recv' and `recvfrom' functions have been renamed to `recv!'
6033 and `recvfrom!'. They no longer accept a size for a second argument;
6034 you must pass a string to hold the received value. They no longer
6035 return the buffer. Instead, `recv' returns the length of the message
6036 received, and `recvfrom' returns a pair containing the packet's length
6037 and originating address.
6039 *** The file descriptor datatype has been removed, as have the
6040 `read-fd', `write-fd', `close', `lseek', and `dup' functions.
6041 We plan to replace these functions with a SCSH-compatible interface.
6043 *** The `create' function has been removed; it's just a special case
6046 *** There are new functions to break down process termination status
6047 values. In the descriptions below, STATUS is a value returned by
6050 (status:exit-val STATUS)
6051 If the child process exited normally, this function returns the exit
6052 code for the child process (i.e., the value passed to exit, or
6053 returned from main). If the child process did not exit normally,
6054 this function returns #f.
6056 (status:stop-sig STATUS)
6057 If the child process was suspended by a signal, this function
6058 returns the signal that suspended the child. Otherwise, it returns
6061 (status:term-sig STATUS)
6062 If the child process terminated abnormally, this function returns
6063 the signal that terminated the child. Otherwise, this function
6066 POSIX promises that exactly one of these functions will return true on
6067 a valid STATUS value.
6069 These functions are compatible with SCSH.
6071 *** There are new accessors and setters for the broken-out time vectors
6072 returned by `localtime', `gmtime', and that ilk. They are:
6074 Component Accessor Setter
6075 ========================= ============ ============
6076 seconds tm:sec set-tm:sec
6077 minutes tm:min set-tm:min
6078 hours tm:hour set-tm:hour
6079 day of the month tm:mday set-tm:mday
6080 month tm:mon set-tm:mon
6081 year tm:year set-tm:year
6082 day of the week tm:wday set-tm:wday
6083 day in the year tm:yday set-tm:yday
6084 daylight saving time tm:isdst set-tm:isdst
6085 GMT offset, seconds tm:gmtoff set-tm:gmtoff
6086 name of time zone tm:zone set-tm:zone
6088 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `uname',
6089 describing the host system:
6092 ============================================== ================
6093 name of the operating system implementation utsname:sysname
6094 network name of this machine utsname:nodename
6095 release level of the operating system utsname:release
6096 version level of the operating system utsname:version
6097 machine hardware platform utsname:machine
6099 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getpw',
6100 `getpwnam', `getpwuid', and `getpwent', describing entries from the
6101 system's user database:
6104 ====================== =================
6105 user name passwd:name
6106 user password passwd:passwd
6109 real name passwd:gecos
6110 home directory passwd:dir
6111 shell program passwd:shell
6113 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getgr',
6114 `getgrnam', `getgrgid', and `getgrent', describing entries from the
6115 system's group database:
6118 ======================= ============
6119 group name group:name
6120 group password group:passwd
6122 group members group:mem
6124 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `gethost',
6125 `gethostbyaddr', `gethostbyname', and `gethostent', describing
6129 ========================= ===============
6130 official name of host hostent:name
6131 alias list hostent:aliases
6132 host address type hostent:addrtype
6133 length of address hostent:length
6134 list of addresses hostent:addr-list
6136 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getnet',
6137 `getnetbyaddr', `getnetbyname', and `getnetent', describing internet
6141 ========================= ===============
6142 official name of net netent:name
6143 alias list netent:aliases
6144 net number type netent:addrtype
6145 net number netent:net
6147 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getproto',
6148 `getprotobyname', `getprotobynumber', and `getprotoent', describing
6152 ========================= ===============
6153 official protocol name protoent:name
6154 alias list protoent:aliases
6155 protocol number protoent:proto
6157 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getserv',
6158 `getservbyname', `getservbyport', and `getservent', describing
6162 ========================= ===============
6163 official service name servent:name
6164 alias list servent:aliases
6165 port number servent:port
6166 protocol to use servent:proto
6168 *** There are new accessors for the sockaddr structures returned by
6169 `accept', `getsockname', `getpeername', `recvfrom!':
6172 ======================================== ===============
6173 address format (`family') sockaddr:fam
6174 path, for file domain addresses sockaddr:path
6175 address, for internet domain addresses sockaddr:addr
6176 TCP or UDP port, for internet sockaddr:port
6178 *** The `getpwent', `getgrent', `gethostent', `getnetent',
6179 `getprotoent', and `getservent' functions now return #f at the end of
6180 the user database. (They used to throw an exception.)
6182 Note that calling MUMBLEent function is equivalent to calling the
6183 corresponding MUMBLE function with no arguments.
6185 *** The `setpwent', `setgrent', `sethostent', `setnetent',
6186 `setprotoent', and `setservent' routines now take no arguments.
6188 *** The `gethost', `getproto', `getnet', and `getserv' functions now
6189 provide more useful information when they throw an exception.
6191 *** The `lnaof' function has been renamed to `inet-lnaof'.
6193 *** Guile now claims to have the `current-time' feature.
6195 *** The `mktime' function now takes an optional second argument ZONE,
6196 giving the time zone to use for the conversion. ZONE should be a
6197 string, in the same format as expected for the "TZ" environment variable.
6199 *** The `strptime' function now returns a pair (TIME . COUNT), where
6200 TIME is the parsed time as a vector, and COUNT is the number of
6201 characters from the string left unparsed. This function used to
6202 return the remaining characters as a string.
6204 *** The `gettimeofday' function has replaced the old `time+ticks' function.
6205 The return value is now (SECONDS . MICROSECONDS); the fractional
6206 component is no longer expressed in "ticks".
6208 *** The `ticks/sec' constant has been removed, in light of the above change.
6210 * Changes to the gh_ interface
6212 ** gh_eval_str() now returns an SCM object which is the result of the
6215 ** gh_scm2str() now copies the Scheme data to a caller-provided C
6218 ** gh_scm2newstr() now makes a C array, copies the Scheme data to it,
6219 and returns the array
6221 ** gh_scm2str0() is gone: there is no need to distinguish
6222 null-terminated from non-null-terminated, since gh_scm2newstr() allows
6223 the user to interpret the data both ways.
6225 * Changes to the scm_ interface
6227 ** The new function scm_symbol_value0 provides an easy way to get a
6228 symbol's value from C code:
6230 SCM scm_symbol_value0 (char *NAME)
6231 Return the value of the symbol named by the null-terminated string
6232 NAME in the current module. If the symbol named NAME is unbound in
6233 the current module, return SCM_UNDEFINED.
6235 ** The new function scm_sysintern0 creates new top-level variables,
6236 without assigning them a value.
6238 SCM scm_sysintern0 (char *NAME)
6239 Create a new Scheme top-level variable named NAME. NAME is a
6240 null-terminated string. Return the variable's value cell.
6242 ** The function scm_internal_catch is the guts of catch. It handles
6243 all the mechanics of setting up a catch target, invoking the catch
6244 body, and perhaps invoking the handler if the body does a throw.
6246 The function is designed to be usable from C code, but is general
6247 enough to implement all the semantics Guile Scheme expects from throw.
6249 TAG is the catch tag. Typically, this is a symbol, but this function
6250 doesn't actually care about that.
6252 BODY is a pointer to a C function which runs the body of the catch;
6253 this is the code you can throw from. We call it like this:
6254 BODY (BODY_DATA, JMPBUF)
6256 BODY_DATA is just the BODY_DATA argument we received; we pass it
6257 through to BODY as its first argument. The caller can make
6258 BODY_DATA point to anything useful that BODY might need.
6259 JMPBUF is the Scheme jmpbuf object corresponding to this catch,
6260 which we have just created and initialized.
6262 HANDLER is a pointer to a C function to deal with a throw to TAG,
6263 should one occur. We call it like this:
6264 HANDLER (HANDLER_DATA, THROWN_TAG, THROW_ARGS)
6266 HANDLER_DATA is the HANDLER_DATA argument we recevied; it's the
6267 same idea as BODY_DATA above.
6268 THROWN_TAG is the tag that the user threw to; usually this is
6269 TAG, but it could be something else if TAG was #t (i.e., a
6270 catch-all), or the user threw to a jmpbuf.
6271 THROW_ARGS is the list of arguments the user passed to the THROW
6274 BODY_DATA is just a pointer we pass through to BODY. HANDLER_DATA
6275 is just a pointer we pass through to HANDLER. We don't actually
6276 use either of those pointers otherwise ourselves. The idea is
6277 that, if our caller wants to communicate something to BODY or
6278 HANDLER, it can pass a pointer to it as MUMBLE_DATA, which BODY and
6279 HANDLER can then use. Think of it as a way to make BODY and
6280 HANDLER closures, not just functions; MUMBLE_DATA points to the
6283 Of course, it's up to the caller to make sure that any data a
6284 MUMBLE_DATA needs is protected from GC. A common way to do this is
6285 to make MUMBLE_DATA a pointer to data stored in an automatic
6286 structure variable; since the collector must scan the stack for
6287 references anyway, this assures that any references in MUMBLE_DATA
6290 ** The new function scm_internal_lazy_catch is exactly like
6291 scm_internal_catch, except:
6293 - It does not unwind the stack (this is the major difference).
6294 - If handler returns, its value is returned from the throw.
6295 - BODY always receives #f as its JMPBUF argument (since there's no
6296 jmpbuf associated with a lazy catch, because we don't unwind the
6299 ** scm_body_thunk is a new body function you can pass to
6300 scm_internal_catch if you want the body to be like Scheme's `catch'
6301 --- a thunk, or a function of one argument if the tag is #f.
6303 BODY_DATA is a pointer to a scm_body_thunk_data structure, which
6304 contains the Scheme procedure to invoke as the body, and the tag
6305 we're catching. If the tag is #f, then we pass JMPBUF (created by
6306 scm_internal_catch) to the body procedure; otherwise, the body gets
6309 ** scm_handle_by_proc is a new handler function you can pass to
6310 scm_internal_catch if you want the handler to act like Scheme's catch
6311 --- call a procedure with the tag and the throw arguments.
6313 If the user does a throw to this catch, this function runs a handler
6314 procedure written in Scheme. HANDLER_DATA is a pointer to an SCM
6315 variable holding the Scheme procedure object to invoke. It ought to
6316 be a pointer to an automatic variable (i.e., one living on the stack),
6317 or the procedure object should be otherwise protected from GC.
6319 ** scm_handle_by_message is a new handler function to use with
6320 `scm_internal_catch' if you want Guile to print a message and die.
6321 It's useful for dealing with throws to uncaught keys at the top level.
6323 HANDLER_DATA, if non-zero, is assumed to be a char * pointing to a
6324 message header to print; if zero, we use "guile" instead. That
6325 text is followed by a colon, then the message described by ARGS.
6327 ** The return type of scm_boot_guile is now void; the function does
6328 not return a value, and indeed, never returns at all.
6330 ** The new function scm_shell makes it easy for user applications to
6331 process command-line arguments in a way that is compatible with the
6332 stand-alone guile interpreter (which is in turn compatible with SCSH,
6335 To use the scm_shell function, first initialize any guile modules
6336 linked into your application, and then call scm_shell with the values
6337 of ARGC and ARGV your `main' function received. scm_shell will add
6338 any SCSH-style meta-arguments from the top of the script file to the
6339 argument vector, and then process the command-line arguments. This
6340 generally means loading a script file or starting up an interactive
6341 command interpreter. For details, see "Changes to the stand-alone
6344 ** The new functions scm_get_meta_args and scm_count_argv help you
6345 implement the SCSH-style meta-argument, `\'.
6347 char **scm_get_meta_args (int ARGC, char **ARGV)
6348 If the second element of ARGV is a string consisting of a single
6349 backslash character (i.e. "\\" in Scheme notation), open the file
6350 named by the following argument, parse arguments from it, and return
6351 the spliced command line. The returned array is terminated by a
6354 For details of argument parsing, see above, under "guile now accepts
6355 command-line arguments compatible with SCSH..."
6357 int scm_count_argv (char **ARGV)
6358 Count the arguments in ARGV, assuming it is terminated by a null
6361 For an example of how these functions might be used, see the source
6362 code for the function scm_shell in libguile/script.c.
6364 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
6367 ** The new function scm_compile_shell_switches turns an array of
6368 command-line arguments into Scheme code to carry out the actions they
6369 describe. Given ARGC and ARGV, it returns a Scheme expression to
6370 evaluate, and calls scm_set_program_arguments to make any remaining
6371 command-line arguments available to the Scheme code. For example,
6372 given the following arguments:
6374 -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
6376 scm_set_program_arguments will return the following expression:
6378 (begin (load "ekko") (main (command-line)) (quit))
6380 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
6383 ** The function scm_shell_usage prints a usage message appropriate for
6384 an interpreter that uses scm_compile_shell_switches to handle its
6385 command-line arguments.
6387 void scm_shell_usage (int FATAL, char *MESSAGE)
6388 Print a usage message to the standard error output. If MESSAGE is
6389 non-zero, write it before the usage message, followed by a newline.
6390 If FATAL is non-zero, exit the process, using FATAL as the
6391 termination status. (If you want to be compatible with Guile,
6392 always use 1 as the exit status when terminating due to command-line
6395 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
6398 ** scm_eval_0str now returns SCM_UNSPECIFIED if the string contains no
6399 expressions. It used to return SCM_EOL. Earth-shattering.
6401 ** The macros for declaring scheme objects in C code have been
6402 rearranged slightly. They are now:
6404 SCM_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
6405 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
6406 point to the Scheme symbol whose name is SCHEME_NAME. C_NAME should
6407 be a C identifier, and SCHEME_NAME should be a C string.
6409 SCM_GLOBAL_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
6410 Just like SCM_SYMBOL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
6412 SCM_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
6413 Create a global variable at the Scheme level named SCHEME_NAME.
6414 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
6415 point to the Scheme variable's value cell.
6417 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
6418 Just like SCM_VCELL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
6420 The `guile-snarf' script writes initialization code for these macros
6421 to its standard output, given C source code as input.
6423 The SCM_GLOBAL macro is gone.
6425 ** The scm_read_line and scm_read_line_x functions have been replaced
6426 by Scheme code based on the %read-delimited! procedure (known to C
6427 code as scm_read_delimited_x). See its description above for more
6430 ** The function scm_sys_open has been renamed to scm_open. It now
6431 returns a port instead of an FD object.
6433 * The dynamic linking support has changed. For more information, see
6434 libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING.
6439 User-visible changes from Thursday, September 5, 1996 until Guile 1.0
6442 * Changes to the 'guile' program:
6444 ** Guile now loads some new files when it starts up. Guile first
6445 searches the load path for init.scm, and loads it if found. Then, if
6446 Guile is not being used to execute a script, and the user's home
6447 directory contains a file named `.guile', Guile loads that.
6449 ** You can now use Guile as a shell script interpreter.
6451 To paraphrase the SCSH manual:
6453 When Unix tries to execute an executable file whose first two
6454 characters are the `#!', it treats the file not as machine code to
6455 be directly executed by the native processor, but as source code
6456 to be executed by some interpreter. The interpreter to use is
6457 specified immediately after the #! sequence on the first line of
6458 the source file. The kernel reads in the name of the interpreter,
6459 and executes that instead. It passes the interpreter the source
6460 filename as its first argument, with the original arguments
6461 following. Consult the Unix man page for the `exec' system call
6462 for more information.
6464 Now you can use Guile as an interpreter, using a mechanism which is a
6465 compatible subset of that provided by SCSH.
6467 Guile now recognizes a '-s' command line switch, whose argument is the
6468 name of a file of Scheme code to load. It also treats the two
6469 characters `#!' as the start of a comment, terminated by `!#'. Thus,
6470 to make a file of Scheme code directly executable by Unix, insert the
6471 following two lines at the top of the file:
6473 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
6476 Guile treats the argument of the `-s' command-line switch as the name
6477 of a file of Scheme code to load, and treats the sequence `#!' as the
6478 start of a block comment, terminated by `!#'.
6480 For example, here's a version of 'echo' written in Scheme:
6482 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
6484 (let loop ((args (cdr (program-arguments))))
6487 (display (car args))
6488 (if (pair? (cdr args))
6490 (loop (cdr args)))))
6493 Why does `#!' start a block comment terminated by `!#', instead of the
6494 end of the line? That is the notation SCSH uses, and although we
6495 don't yet support the other SCSH features that motivate that choice,
6496 we would like to be backward-compatible with any existing Guile
6497 scripts once we do. Furthermore, if the path to Guile on your system
6498 is too long for your kernel, you can start the script with this
6502 exec /really/long/path/to/guile -s "$0" ${1+"$@"}
6505 Note that some very old Unix systems don't support the `#!' syntax.
6508 ** You can now run Guile without installing it.
6510 Previous versions of the interactive Guile interpreter (`guile')
6511 couldn't start up unless Guile's Scheme library had been installed;
6512 they used the value of the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH'
6513 later on in the startup process, but not to find the startup code
6514 itself. Now Guile uses `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' in all searches for Scheme
6517 To run Guile without installing it, build it in the normal way, and
6518 then set the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' to a
6519 colon-separated list of directories, including the top-level directory
6520 of the Guile sources. For example, if you unpacked Guile so that the
6521 full filename of this NEWS file is /home/jimb/guile-1.0b3/NEWS, then
6524 export SCHEME_LOAD_PATH=/home/jimb/my-scheme:/home/jimb/guile-1.0b3
6527 ** Guile's read-eval-print loop no longer prints #<unspecified>
6528 results. If the user wants to see this, she can evaluate the
6529 expression (assert-repl-print-unspecified #t), perhaps in her startup
6532 ** Guile no longer shows backtraces by default when an error occurs;
6533 however, it does display a message saying how to get one, and how to
6534 request that they be displayed by default. After an error, evaluate
6536 to see a backtrace, and
6537 (debug-enable 'backtrace)
6538 to see them by default.
6542 * Changes to Guile Scheme:
6544 ** Guile now distinguishes between #f and the empty list.
6546 This is for compatibility with the IEEE standard, the (possibly)
6547 upcoming Revised^5 Report on Scheme, and many extant Scheme
6550 Guile used to have #f and '() denote the same object, to make Scheme's
6551 type system more compatible with Emacs Lisp's. However, the change
6552 caused too much trouble for Scheme programmers, and we found another
6553 way to reconcile Emacs Lisp with Scheme that didn't require this.
6556 ** Guile's delq, delv, delete functions, and their destructive
6557 counterparts, delq!, delv!, and delete!, now remove all matching
6558 elements from the list, not just the first. This matches the behavior
6559 of the corresponding Emacs Lisp functions, and (I believe) the Maclisp
6560 functions which inspired them.
6562 I recognize that this change may break code in subtle ways, but it
6563 seems best to make the change before the FSF's first Guile release,
6567 ** The compiled-library-path function has been deleted from libguile.
6569 ** The facilities for loading Scheme source files have changed.
6571 *** The variable %load-path now tells Guile which directories to search
6572 for Scheme code. Its value is a list of strings, each of which names
6575 *** The variable %load-extensions now tells Guile which extensions to
6576 try appending to a filename when searching the load path. Its value
6577 is a list of strings. Its default value is ("" ".scm").
6579 *** (%search-load-path FILENAME) searches the directories listed in the
6580 value of the %load-path variable for a Scheme file named FILENAME,
6581 with all the extensions listed in %load-extensions. If it finds a
6582 match, then it returns its full filename. If FILENAME is absolute, it
6583 returns it unchanged. Otherwise, it returns #f.
6585 %search-load-path will not return matches that refer to directories.
6587 *** (primitive-load FILENAME :optional CASE-INSENSITIVE-P SHARP)
6588 uses %seach-load-path to find a file named FILENAME, and loads it if
6589 it finds it. If it can't read FILENAME for any reason, it throws an
6592 The arguments CASE-INSENSITIVE-P and SHARP are interpreted as by the
6595 *** load uses the same searching semantics as primitive-load.
6597 *** The functions %try-load, try-load-with-path, %load, load-with-path,
6598 basic-try-load-with-path, basic-load-with-path, try-load-module-with-
6599 path, and load-module-with-path have been deleted. The functions
6600 above should serve their purposes.
6602 *** If the value of the variable %load-hook is a procedure,
6603 `primitive-load' applies its value to the name of the file being
6604 loaded (without the load path directory name prepended). If its value
6605 is #f, it is ignored. Otherwise, an error occurs.
6607 This is mostly useful for printing load notification messages.
6610 ** The function `eval!' is no longer accessible from the scheme level.
6611 We can't allow operations which introduce glocs into the scheme level,
6612 because Guile's type system can't handle these as data. Use `eval' or
6613 `read-and-eval!' (see below) as replacement.
6615 ** The new function read-and-eval! reads an expression from PORT,
6616 evaluates it, and returns the result. This is more efficient than
6617 simply calling `read' and `eval', since it is not necessary to make a
6618 copy of the expression for the evaluator to munge.
6620 Its optional arguments CASE_INSENSITIVE_P and SHARP are interpreted as
6621 for the `read' function.
6624 ** The function `int?' has been removed; its definition was identical
6625 to that of `integer?'.
6627 ** The functions `<?', `<?', `<=?', `=?', `>?', and `>=?'. Code should
6628 use the R4RS names for these functions.
6630 ** The function object-properties no longer returns the hash handle;
6631 it simply returns the object's property list.
6633 ** Many functions have been changed to throw errors, instead of
6634 returning #f on failure. The point of providing exception handling in
6635 the language is to simplify the logic of user code, but this is less
6636 useful if Guile's primitives don't throw exceptions.
6638 ** The function `fileno' has been renamed from `%fileno'.
6640 ** The function primitive-mode->fdes returns #t or #f now, not 1 or 0.
6643 * Changes to Guile's C interface:
6645 ** The library's initialization procedure has been simplified.
6646 scm_boot_guile now has the prototype:
6648 void scm_boot_guile (int ARGC,
6650 void (*main_func) (),
6653 scm_boot_guile calls MAIN_FUNC, passing it CLOSURE, ARGC, and ARGV.
6654 MAIN_FUNC should do all the work of the program (initializing other
6655 packages, reading user input, etc.) before returning. When MAIN_FUNC
6656 returns, call exit (0); this function never returns. If you want some
6657 other exit value, MAIN_FUNC may call exit itself.
6659 scm_boot_guile arranges for program-arguments to return the strings
6660 given by ARGC and ARGV. If MAIN_FUNC modifies ARGC/ARGV, should call
6661 scm_set_program_arguments with the final list, so Scheme code will
6662 know which arguments have been processed.
6664 scm_boot_guile establishes a catch-all catch handler which prints an
6665 error message and exits the process. This means that Guile exits in a
6666 coherent way when system errors occur and the user isn't prepared to
6667 handle it. If the user doesn't like this behavior, they can establish
6668 their own universal catcher in MAIN_FUNC to shadow this one.
6670 Why must the caller do all the real work from MAIN_FUNC? The garbage
6671 collector assumes that all local variables of type SCM will be above
6672 scm_boot_guile's stack frame on the stack. If you try to manipulate
6673 SCM values after this function returns, it's the luck of the draw
6674 whether the GC will be able to find the objects you allocate. So,
6675 scm_boot_guile function exits, rather than returning, to discourage
6676 people from making that mistake.
6678 The IN, OUT, and ERR arguments were removed; there are other
6679 convenient ways to override these when desired.
6681 The RESULT argument was deleted; this function should never return.
6683 The BOOT_CMD argument was deleted; the MAIN_FUNC argument is more
6687 ** Guile's header files should no longer conflict with your system's
6690 In order to compile code which #included <libguile.h>, previous
6691 versions of Guile required you to add a directory containing all the
6692 Guile header files to your #include path. This was a problem, since
6693 Guile's header files have names which conflict with many systems'
6696 Now only <libguile.h> need appear in your #include path; you must
6697 refer to all Guile's other header files as <libguile/mumble.h>.
6698 Guile's installation procedure puts libguile.h in $(includedir), and
6699 the rest in $(includedir)/libguile.
6702 ** Two new C functions, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object,
6703 have been added to the Guile library.
6705 scm_protect_object (OBJ) protects OBJ from the garbage collector.
6706 OBJ will not be freed, even if all other references are dropped,
6707 until someone does scm_unprotect_object (OBJ). Both functions
6710 Note that calls to scm_protect_object do not nest. You can call
6711 scm_protect_object any number of times on a given object, and the
6712 next call to scm_unprotect_object will unprotect it completely.
6714 Basically, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object just
6715 maintain a list of references to things. Since the GC knows about
6716 this list, all objects it mentions stay alive. scm_protect_object
6717 adds its argument to the list; scm_unprotect_object remove its
6718 argument from the list.
6721 ** scm_eval_0str now returns the value of the last expression
6724 ** The new function scm_read_0str reads an s-expression from a
6725 null-terminated string, and returns it.
6727 ** The new function `scm_stdio_to_port' converts a STDIO file pointer
6728 to a Scheme port object.
6730 ** The new function `scm_set_program_arguments' allows C code to set
6731 the value returned by the Scheme `program-arguments' function.
6736 * Guile no longer includes sophisticated Tcl/Tk support.
6738 The old Tcl/Tk support was unsatisfying to us, because it required the
6739 user to link against the Tcl library, as well as Tk and Guile. The
6740 interface was also un-lispy, in that it preserved Tcl/Tk's practice of
6741 referring to widgets by names, rather than exporting widgets to Scheme
6742 code as a special datatype.
6744 In the Usenix Tk Developer's Workshop held in July 1996, the Tcl/Tk
6745 maintainers described some very interesting changes in progress to the
6746 Tcl/Tk internals, which would facilitate clean interfaces between lone
6747 Tk and other interpreters --- even for garbage-collected languages
6748 like Scheme. They expected the new Tk to be publicly available in the
6751 Since it seems that Guile might soon have a new, cleaner interface to
6752 lone Tk, and that the old Guile/Tk glue code would probably need to be
6753 completely rewritten, we (Jim Blandy and Richard Stallman) have
6754 decided not to support the old code. We'll spend the time instead on
6755 a good interface to the newer Tk, as soon as it is available.
6757 Until then, gtcltk-lib provides trivial, low-maintenance functionality.
6760 Copyright information:
6762 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
6764 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
6765 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
6766 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
6767 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
6769 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
6770 of this document, or of portions of it,
6771 under the above conditions, provided also that they
6772 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
6777 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"