1 Guile NEWS --- history of user-visible changes.
2 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 See the end for copying conditions.
5 Please send Guile bug reports to bug-guile@gnu.org.
7 Each release reports the NEWS in the following sections:
9 * Changes to the distribution
10 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
11 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
12 * Changes to the C interface
15 Changes since the stable branch:
17 * Changes to the distribution
19 ** Guile is now licensed with the GNU Lesser General Public License.
21 ** 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 stand-alone 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 ** The '-e' option now 'read's its argument.
134 This is to allow the new '(@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)' construct to
135 be used with '-e'. For example, you can now write a script like
138 exec guile -e '(@ (demo) main)' -s "$0" "$@"
141 (define-module (demo)
145 (format #t "Demo: ~a~%" args))
148 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
150 ** New syntax '@' and '@@':
152 You can now directly refer to variables exported from a module by
155 (@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)
157 For example (@ (ice-9 pretty-print) pretty-print) will directly access
158 the pretty-print variable exported from the (ice-9 pretty-print)
159 module. You don't need to 'use' that module first. You can also use
162 The related syntax (@@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME) works just like '@',
163 but it can also access variables that have not been exported. It is
164 intended only for kluges and temporary fixes and for debugging, not
167 ** 'while' now provides 'break' and 'continue'
169 break and continue were previously bound in a while loop, but not
170 documented, and continue didn't quite work properly. The undocumented
171 parameter to break which gave a return value for the while has been
174 ** 'call-with-current-continuation' is now also available under the name
177 ** Checking for duplicate bindings in module system
179 The module system now can check for name conflicts among imported
182 The behavior can be controlled by specifying one or more duplicates
183 handlers. For example, to make Guile return an error for every name
191 The new default behavior of the module system when a name collision
192 has been detected is to
194 1. Give priority to bindings marked as a replacement.
195 2. Issue a warning (different warning if overriding core binding).
196 3. Give priority to the last encountered binding (this corresponds to
199 If you want the old behavior back without replacements or warnings you
202 (default-duplicate-binding-handler 'last)
204 to your .guile init file.
206 The syntax for the :duplicates option is:
208 :duplicates HANDLER-NAME | (HANDLER1-NAME HANDLER2-NAME ...)
210 Specifying multiple handlers is useful since some handlers (such as
211 replace) can defer conflict resolution to others. Each handler is
212 tried until a binding is selected.
214 Currently available duplicates handlers are:
216 check report an error for bindings with a common name
217 warn issue a warning for bindings with a common name
218 replace replace bindings which have an imported replacement
219 warn-override-core issue a warning for imports which override core bindings
220 and accept the override
221 first select the first encountered binding (override)
222 last select the last encountered binding (override)
224 These two are provided by the (oop goops) module:
226 merge-generics merge generic functions with a common name
227 into an <extended-generic>
228 merge-accessors merge accessors with a common name
230 The default duplicates handler is:
232 (replace warn-override-core warn last)
234 A recommended handler (which is likely to correspond to future Guile
235 behavior) can be installed with:
237 (default-duplicate-binding-handler '(replace warn-override-core check))
239 ** New define-module option: :replace
241 :replace works as :export, but, in addition, marks the binding as a
244 A typical example is `format' in (ice-9 format) which is a replacement
245 for the core binding `format'.
247 ** Adding prefixes to imported bindings in the module system
249 There is now a new :use-module option :prefix. It can be used to add
250 a prefix to all imported bindings.
253 :use-module ((bar) :prefix bar:))
255 will import all bindings exported from bar, but rename them by adding
258 ** Merging generic functions
260 It is sometimes tempting to use GOOPS accessors with short names.
261 For example, it is tempting to use the name `x' for the x-coordinate
264 Assume that we work with a graphical package which needs to use two
265 independent vector packages for 2D and 3D vectors respectively. If
266 both packages export `x' we will encounter a name collision.
268 This can now be resolved automagically with the duplicates handler
269 `merge-generics' which gives the module system license to merge all
270 generic functions sharing a common name:
272 (define-module (math 2D-vectors)
273 :use-module (oop goops)
276 (define-module (math 3D-vectors)
277 :use-module (oop goops)
280 (define-module (my-module)
281 :use-module (math 2D-vectors)
282 :use-module (math 3D-vectors)
283 :duplicates merge-generics)
285 x in (my-module) will now share methods with x in both imported
288 There will, in fact, now be three distinct generic functions named
289 `x': x in (2D-vectors), x in (3D-vectors), and x in (my-module). The
290 last function will be an <extended-generic>, extending the previous
293 Let's call the imported generic functions the "ancestor functions". x
294 in (my-module) is, in turn, a "descendant function" of the imported
295 functions, extending its ancestors.
297 For any generic function G, the applicable methods are selected from
298 the union of the methods of the descendant functions, the methods of G
299 itself and the methods of the ancestor functions.
301 This, ancestor functions share methods with their descendants and vice
302 versa. This implies that x in (math 2D-vectors) can will share the
303 methods of x in (my-module) and vice versa, while x in (math 2D-vectors)
304 doesn't share the methods of x in (math 3D-vectors), thus preserving
307 Sharing is dynamic, so that adding new methods to a descendant implies
308 adding it to the ancestor.
310 If duplicates checking is desired in the above example, the following
311 form of the :duplicates option can be used instead:
313 :duplicates (merge-generics check)
315 ** New function: effective-version
317 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
318 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
319 to the distribution" above.
321 ** Futures: future, make-future, future-ref
323 Futures are like promises, but begun immediately in a new thread. See
324 the "Futures" section in the reference manual.
326 ** New threading functions: parallel, letpar, par-map, and friends
328 These are convenient ways to run calculations in parallel in new
329 threads. See "Parallel forms" in the manual for details.
331 ** Fair mutexes and condition variables
333 Fair mutexes and condition variables have been added. The fairness
334 means that scheduling is arranged to give as equal time shares as
335 possible and that threads are awakened in a first-in-first-out
336 manner. This is not guaranteed with standard mutexes and condition
339 In addition, fair mutexes are recursive. Locking a fair mutex that
340 you have already locked will succeed. Every call to lock-mutex must
341 be matched with a call to unlock-mutex. Only the last call to
342 unlock-mutex will actually unlock the mutex.
344 A fair condition variable must be used together with a fair mutex,
345 just as a standard condition variable must be used together with a
348 ** New functions: make-fair-mutex, make-fair-condition-variable'
350 Make a new fair mutex and a new fair condition variable respectively.
352 ** New function 'try-mutex'.
354 This function will attempt to lock a mutex but will return immediately
355 instead if blocking and indicate failure.
357 ** Waiting on a condition variable can have a timeout.
359 The funtion 'wait-condition-variable' now takes a third, optional
360 argument that specifies the point in time where the waiting should be
363 ** New function 'broadcast-condition-variable'.
365 ** New functions 'all-threads' and 'current-thread'.
367 ** Signals and system asyncs work better with threads.
369 The function 'sigaction' now takes a fourth, optional, argument that
370 specifies the thread that the handler should run in. When the
371 argument is omitted, the handler will run in the thread that called
374 Likewise, 'system-async-mark' takes a second, optional, argument that
375 specifies the thread that the async should run in. When it is
376 omitted, the async will run in the thread that called
379 C code can use the new functions scm_sigaction_for_thread and
380 scm_system_async_mark_for_thread to pass the new thread argument.
382 ** The function 'system-async' is deprecated.
384 You can now pass any zero-argument procedure to 'system-async-mark'.
385 The function 'system-async' will just return its argument unchanged
388 ** New functions 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' and
389 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
391 The expression (call-with-blocked-asyncs PROC) will call PROC and will
392 block execution of system asyncs for the current thread by one level
393 while PROC runs. Likewise, call-with-unblocked-asyncs will call a
394 procedure and will unblock the execution of system asyncs by one
395 level for the current thread.
397 Only system asyncs are affected by these functions.
399 ** The functions 'mask-signals' and 'unmask-signals' are deprecated.
401 Use 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' or 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
402 instead. Those functions are easier to use correctly and can be
405 ** New function 'unsetenv'.
407 ** New macro 'define-syntax-public'.
409 It works like 'define-syntax' and also exports the defined macro (but
412 ** There is support for Infinity and NaNs.
414 Following PLT Scheme, Guile can now work with infinite numbers, and
417 There is new syntax for numbers: "+inf.0" (infinity), "-inf.0"
418 (negative infinity), "+nan.0" (not-a-number), and "-nan.0" (same as
419 "+nan.0"). These numbers are inexact and have no exact counterpart.
421 Dividing by an inexact zero returns +inf.0 or -inf.0, depending on the
422 sign of the dividend. The infinities are integers, and they answer #t
423 for both 'even?' and 'odd?'. The +nan.0 value is not an integer and is
424 not '=' to itself, but '+nan.0' is 'eqv?' to itself.
435 ERROR: Numerical overflow
437 Two new predicates 'inf?' and 'nan?' can be used to test for the
440 ** Inexact zero can have a sign.
442 Guile can now distinguish between plus and minus inexact zero, if your
443 platform supports this, too. The two zeros are equal according to
444 '=', but not according to 'eqv?'. For example
455 ** Guile now has exact rationals.
457 Guile can now represent fractions such as 1/3 exactly. Computing with
458 them is also done exactly, of course:
463 ** 'floor', 'ceiling', 'round' and 'truncate' now return exact numbers
466 For example: (floor 2) now returns an exact 2 where in the past it
467 returned an inexact 2.0. Likewise, (floor 5/4) returns an exact 1.
469 ** inexact->exact no longer returns only integers.
471 Without exact rationals, the closest exact number was always an
472 integer, but now inexact->exact returns the fraction that is exactly
473 equal to a floating point number. For example:
475 (inexact->exact 1.234)
476 => 694680242521899/562949953421312
478 When you want the old behavior, use 'round' explicitely:
480 (inexact->exact (round 1.234))
483 ** New function 'rationalize'.
485 This function finds a simple fraction that is close to a given real
486 number. For example (and compare with inexact->exact above):
488 (rationalize (inexact->exact 1.234) 1/2000)
491 Note that, as required by R5RS, rationalize returns only then an exact
492 result when both its arguments are exact.
494 ** 'odd?' and 'even?' work also for inexact integers.
496 Previously, (odd? 1.0) would signal an error since only exact integers
497 were recognized as integers. Now (odd? 1.0) returns #t, (odd? 2.0)
498 returns #f and (odd? 1.5) signals an error.
500 ** We now have uninterned symbols.
502 The new function 'make-symbol' will return a uninterned symbol. This
503 is a symbol that is unique and is guaranteed to remain unique.
504 However, uninterned symbols can not yet be read back in.
506 Use the new function 'symbol-interned?' to check whether a symbol is
509 ** pretty-print has more options.
511 The function pretty-print from the (ice-9 pretty-print) module can now
512 also be invoked with keyword arguments that control things like
513 maximum output width. See its online documentation.
515 ** Variables have no longer a special behavior for `equal?'.
517 Previously, comparing two variables with `equal?' would recursivly
518 compare their values. This is no longer done. Variables are now only
519 `equal?' if they are `eq?'.
521 ** `(begin)' is now valid.
523 You can now use an empty `begin' form. It will yield #<unspecified>
524 when evaluated and simply be ignored in a definition context.
526 ** Deprecated: procedure->macro
528 Change your code to use either procedure->memoizing-macro or, probably better,
529 to use r5rs macros. Also, be aware that macro expansion will not be done
530 during evaluation, but prior to evaluation.
532 ** Soft ports now allow a `char-ready?' procedure
534 The vector argument to `make-soft-port' can now have a length of
535 either 5 or 6. (Previously the length had to be 5.) The optional 6th
536 element is interpreted as an `input-waiting' thunk -- i.e. a thunk
537 that returns the number of characters that can be read immediately
538 without the soft port blocking.
540 ** New debugging feature: breakpoints.
542 Guile now has breakpoints. For details see the `Debugging Features'
543 chapter in the reference manual.
545 ** Deprecated: undefine
547 There is no replacement for undefine.
549 ** call-with-output-string doesn't segv on closed port
551 Previously call-with-output-string would give a segmentation fault if
552 the string port was closed by the called function. An exception is
555 ** (ice-9 popen) duplicate pipe fd fix
557 open-pipe, open-input-pipe and open-output-pipe left an extra copy of
558 their pipe file descriptor in the child, which was normally harmless,
559 but it can prevent the parent seeing eof or a broken pipe immediately
560 and has now been fixed.
562 ** source-properties and set-source-properties! fix
564 Properties set with set-source-properties! can now be read back
565 correctly with source-properties.
569 delete and delete! now call the "=" procedure with arguments in the
570 order described by the SRFI-1 specification
572 list-copy now accepts improper lists, per the specification.
576 date-week-number now correctly respects the requested day of week
579 * Changes to the C interface
581 ** New way to deal with non-local exits and reentries.
583 There is a new set of functions that essentially do what
584 scm_internal_dynamic_wind does, but in a way that is more convenient
585 for C code in some situations. Here is a quick example of how to
586 prevent a potential memory leak:
595 mem = scm_malloc (100);
596 scm_frame_unwind (free, mem, SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITELY);
598 /* MEM would leak if BAR throws an error. SCM_FRAME_UNWIND frees it
605 /* Because of SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITELY, MEM will be freed by
606 SCM_FRAME_END as well.
610 For full documentation, see the node "Frames" in the manual.
612 ** New way to block and unblock asyncs
614 In addition to scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs you can now also use
615 scm_frame_block_asyncs in a 'frame' (see above). Likewise for
616 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs and scm_frame_unblock_asyncs.
618 ** New way to temporarily set the current input, output or error ports
620 C code can now use scm_frame_current_<foo>_port in a 'frame' (see
621 above). <foo> is one of "input", "output" or "error".
623 ** New way to temporarily set fluids
625 C code can now use scm_frame_fluid in a 'frame' (see
626 above) to temporarily set the value of a fluid.
628 ** New types scm_t_intmax and scm_t_uintmax.
630 On platforms that have them, these types are identical to intmax_t and
631 uintmax_t, respectively. On other platforms, they are identical to
632 the largest integer types that Guile knows about.
634 ** Many public #defines with generic names have been made private.
636 #defines with generic names like HAVE_FOO or SIZEOF_FOO have been made
637 private or renamed with a more suitable public name. See below for
638 the ones which have been renamed.
640 ** HAVE_STDINT_H and HAVE_INTTYPES_H have been removed from public use.
642 HAVE_STDINT_H and HAVE_INTTYPES_H removed from public use. These are
643 no longer needed since the older uses of stdint.h and inttypes.h are
644 now handled by configure.in and gen-scmconfig.c.
646 ** USE_DLL_IMPORT is no longer defined publically.
648 gen-scmconfig now uses it to decide what contents to place in the
649 public scmconfig.h header without adding the USE_DLL_IMPORT itself.
651 ** HAVE_LIMITS_H has been removed from public use.
653 gen-scmconfig now just uses HAVE_LIMITS_H to decide whether or not to
654 add a limits.h include in scmconfig.h.
656 ** time.h, sys/time.h, etc. #ifdefery has been removed from public headers.
658 gen-scmconfig now just uses the same logic to decide what time related
659 #includes to add to scmconfig.h.
661 ** HAVE_STRUCT_TIMESPEC has been removed from public use.
663 scmconfig.h now just defines scm_t_timespec.
665 ** HAVE_PTRDIFF has been removed from public use and Guile doesn't
668 Guile now publically defines scm_t_ptrdiff and
669 SCM_SIZEOF_SCM_T_PTRDIFF in scmconfig.h, and all occurrences of
670 ptrdiff_t have been replaced with scm_t_ptrdiff.
672 Guile defines its own type this rather than just relying on ptrdiff_t
673 and SCM_SIZEOF_PTRDIFF_T because Guile actually typedefs long to
674 scm_t_ptrdiff when ptrdiff_t isn't available. A public "typedef long
675 ptrdiff_t" could conflict with other headers.
677 ** HAVE_UINTPTR_T and HAVE_UINTPTR_T have been removed from public use.
679 They are replaced by public definitions of SCM_SIZEOF_UINTPTR_T and
680 SCM_SIZEOF_INTPTR_T. These are defined to 0 if the corresponding type
683 ** The public #define STDC_HEADERS has been renamed to SCM_HAVE_STDC_HEADERS.
685 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
687 ** The public #define HAVE_SYS_SELECT has been renamed to
688 SCM_HAVE_SYS_SELECT_H.
690 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
692 ** The public #define HAVE_FLOATINGPOINT_H has been renamed to
693 SCM_HAVE_FLOATINGPOINT_H.
695 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
697 ** The public #define HAVE_IEEEFP_H has been renamed to SCM_HAVE_IEEEFP_H.
699 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
701 ** The public #define HAVE_NAN_H has been renamed to SCM_HAVE_NAN_H.
703 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
705 ** The public #define HAVE_WINSOCK2_H has been renamed to SCM_HAVE_WINSOCK2_H.
707 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
709 ** The public #define HAVE_ARRAYS has been renamed to SCM_HAVE_ARRAYS.
711 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
713 ** The public #define STACK_GROWS_UP has been renamed to SCM_STACK_GROWS_UP.
715 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
717 ** The public #define USE_PTHREAD_THREADS has been renamed to
718 SCM_USE_PTHREAD_THREADS.
720 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
722 ** The public #define USE_NULL_THREADS has been renamed to
723 SCM_USE_NULL_THREADS.
725 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
727 ** The public #define USE_COOP_THREADS has been renamed to
728 SCM_USE_COOP_THREADS.
730 The previous name was too generic for the global public namespace.
732 ** SCM_C_INLINE is publically defined if possible.
734 If the platform has a way to define inline functions, SCM_C_INLINE
735 will be defined to that text. Otherwise it will be undefined. This
736 is a little bit different than autoconf's normal handling of the
737 inline define via AC_C_INLINE.
739 ** Guile now publically defines some basic type infrastructure.
744 SCM_SIZEOF_UNSIGNED_CHAR
746 SCM_SIZEOF_UNSIGNED_SHORT
748 SCM_SIZEOF_UNSIGNED_LONG
750 SCM_SIZEOF_UNSIGNED_INT
751 SCM_SIZEOF_LONG_LONG /* defined to 0 if type not available */
752 SCM_SIZEOF_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG /* defined to 0 if type not available */
761 Guile always defines these to 0 or 1
766 and when either of these are defined to 1, also defines
777 ** The macro SCM_IFLAGP now only returns true for flags
779 User code should never have used this macro anyway. And, you should not use
780 it in the future either. Thus, the following explanation is just for the
781 impropable case that your code actually made use of this macro, and that you
782 are willing to depend on internals which will probably change in the near
785 Formerly, SCM_IFLAGP also returned true for evaluator bytecodes created with
786 SCM_MAKSPCSYM (short instructions) and evaluator bytecodes created with
787 SCM_MAKISYM (short instructions). Now, SCM_IFLAG only returns true for
788 Guile's special constants created with SCM_MAKIFLAG. To achieve the old
789 behaviour, instead of
793 you would have to write
795 (SCM_ISYMP(x) || SCM_IFLAGP(x))
797 ** The macro SCM_TYP16S has been deprecated.
799 This macro is not intended for public use. However, if you allocated types
800 with tc16 type codes in a way that you would have needed this macro, you are
801 expected to have a deep knowledge of Guile's type system. Thus, you should
802 know how to replace this macro.
804 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_INEXACTP has been deprecated.
806 Use SCM_INEXACTP instead.
808 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_REALP has been deprecated.
810 Use SCM_REALP instead.
812 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_COMPLEXP has been deprecated.
814 Use SCM_COMPLEXP instead.
816 ** The preprocessor define USE_THREADS has been deprecated.
818 Going forward, assume that the thread API is always present.
820 ** The preprocessor define GUILE_ISELECT has been deprecated.
822 Going forward, assume that scm_internal_select is always present.
824 ** The preprocessor define READER_EXTENSIONS has been deprecated.
826 Going forward, assume that the features represented by
827 READER_EXTENSIONS are always present.
829 ** The preprocessor define DEBUG_EXTENSIONS has been deprecated.
831 Going forward, assume that the features represented by
832 DEBUG_EXTENSIONS are always present.
834 ** The preprocessor define DYNAMIC_LINKING has been deprecated.
836 Going forward, assume that the features represented by
837 DYNAMIC_LINKING are always present.
839 ** The preprocessor define STACK_DIRECTION has been deprecated.
841 There should be no need to know about the stack direction for ordinary
842 programs. (Do not use.)
844 ** New function: scm_effective_version
846 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
847 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
848 to the distribution" above.
850 ** The function scm_call_with_new_thread has a new prototype.
852 Instead of taking a list with the thunk and handler, these two
853 arguments are now passed directly:
855 SCM scm_call_with_new_thread (SCM thunk, SCM handler);
857 This is an incompatible change.
859 ** The value 'scm_mask_ints' is no longer writable.
861 Previously, you could set scm_mask_ints directly. This is no longer
862 possible. Use scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
863 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs instead.
865 ** New functions scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
866 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs
868 Like scm_call_with_blocked_asyncs etc. but for C functions.
870 ** New snarfer macro SCM_DEFINE_PUBLIC.
872 This is like SCM_DEFINE, but also calls scm_c_export for the defined
873 function in the init section.
875 ** The snarfer macro SCM_SNARF_INIT is now officially supported.
877 ** New macros SCM_VECTOR_REF and SCM_VECTOR_SET.
879 Use these in preference to SCM_VELTS.
881 ** The SCM_VELTS macros now returns a read-only vector. For writing,
882 use the new macros SCM_WRITABLE_VELTS or SCM_VECTOR_SET. The use of
883 SCM_WRITABLE_VELTS is discouraged, though.
885 ** Garbage collector rewrite.
887 The garbage collector is cleaned up a lot, and now uses lazy
888 sweeping. This is reflected in the output of (gc-stats); since cells
889 are being freed when they are allocated, the cells-allocated field
890 stays roughly constant.
892 For malloc related triggers, the behavior is changed. It uses the same
893 heuristic as the cell-triggered collections. It may be tuned with the
894 environment variables GUILE_MIN_YIELD_MALLOC. This is the percentage
895 for minimum yield of malloc related triggers. The default is 40.
896 GUILE_INIT_MALLOC_LIMIT sets the initial trigger for doing a GC. The
899 Debugging operations for the freelist have been deprecated, along with
900 the C variables that control garbage collection. The environment
901 variables GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE, GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2,
902 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1, and GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2 should be used.
904 ** The function scm_definedp has been renamed to scm_defined_p
906 The name scm_definedp is deprecated.
908 ** The struct scm_cell has been renamed to scm_t_cell
910 This is in accordance to Guile's naming scheme for types. Note that
911 the name scm_cell is now used for a function that allocates and
912 initializes a new cell (see below).
914 ** New functions for memory management
916 A new set of functions for memory management has been added since the
917 old way (scm_must_malloc, scm_must_free, etc) was error prone and
918 indeed, Guile itself contained some long standing bugs that could
919 cause aborts in long running programs.
921 The new functions are more symmetrical and do not need cooperation
922 from smob free routines, among other improvements.
924 The new functions are scm_malloc, scm_realloc, scm_calloc, scm_strdup,
925 scm_strndup, scm_gc_malloc, scm_gc_calloc, scm_gc_realloc,
926 scm_gc_free, scm_gc_register_collectable_memory, and
927 scm_gc_unregister_collectable_memory. Refer to the manual for more
928 details and for upgrading instructions.
930 The old functions for memory management have been deprecated. They
931 are: scm_must_malloc, scm_must_realloc, scm_must_free,
932 scm_must_strdup, scm_must_strndup, scm_done_malloc, scm_done_free.
934 ** New function: scm_str2string
936 This function creates a scheme string from a 0-terminated C string. The input
939 ** Declarations of exported features are marked with SCM_API.
941 Every declaration of a feature that belongs to the exported Guile API
942 has been marked by adding the macro "SCM_API" to the start of the
943 declaration. This macro can expand into different things, the most
944 common of which is just "extern" for Unix platforms. On Win32, it can
945 be used to control which symbols are exported from a DLL.
947 If you `#define SCM_IMPORT' before including <libguile.h>, SCM_API
948 will expand into "__declspec (dllimport) extern", which is needed for
949 linking to the Guile DLL in Windows.
951 There are also SCM_RL_IMPORT, QT_IMPORT, SCM_SRFI1314_IMPORT, and
952 SCM_SRFI4_IMPORT, for the corresponding libraries.
954 ** SCM_NEWCELL and SCM_NEWCELL2 have been deprecated.
956 Use the new functions scm_cell and scm_double_cell instead. The old macros
957 had problems because with them allocation and initialization was separated and
958 the GC could sometimes observe half initialized cells. Only careful coding by
959 the user of SCM_NEWCELL and SCM_NEWCELL2 could make this safe and efficient.
961 ** CHECK_ENTRY, CHECK_APPLY and CHECK_EXIT have been deprecated.
963 Use the variables scm_check_entry_p, scm_check_apply_p and scm_check_exit_p
966 ** SRCBRKP has been deprecated.
968 Use scm_c_source_property_breakpoint_p instead.
970 ** Deprecated: scm_makmacro
972 Change your code to use either scm_makmmacro or, probably better, to use r5rs
973 macros. Also, be aware that macro expansion will not be done during
974 evaluation, but prior to evaluation.
976 ** Removed from scm_root_state: def_inp, def_outp, def_errp, together
977 with corresponding macros scm_def_inp, scm_def_outp and scm_def_errp.
978 These were undocumented and unused copies of the standard ports at the
979 time that Guile was initialised. Normally the current ports should be
980 used instead, obtained from scm_current_input_port () etc. If an
981 application needs to retain earlier ports, it should save them in a
982 gc-protected location.
984 ** Removed compile time option MEMOIZE_LOCALS
986 Now, caching of local variable positions during memoization is mandatory.
987 However, the option to disable the caching has most probably not been used
990 ** Removed compile time option SCM_RECKLESS
992 Full number of arguments checking of closures is mandatory now. However, the
993 option to disable the checking has most probably not been used anyway.
995 ** Removed compile time option SCM_CAUTIOUS
997 Full number of arguments checking of closures is mandatory now. However, the
998 option to disable the checking has most probably not been used anyway.
1000 ** Deprecated configure flags USE_THREADS and GUILE_ISELECT
1002 Previously, when the C preprocessor macro USE_THREADS was defined,
1003 libguile included a thread API. This API is now always included, even
1004 when threads are not really supported. Thus, you don't need to test
1007 Analogously, GUILE_ISELECT was defined when the function
1008 scm_internal_select was provided by Guile. This function is now
1009 always defined, and GUILE_ISELECT with it.
1011 ** New function scm_c_port_for_each.
1013 This function is like scm_port_for_each but takes a pointer to a C
1014 function as the callback instead of a SCM value.
1016 ** Deprecated definitions of error strings: scm_s_expression, scm_s_test,
1017 scm_s_body, scm_s_bindings, scm_s_variable, scm_s_clauses, scm_s_formals
1019 These error message strings were used to issue syntax error messages by
1020 guile's evaluator. It's unlikely that they have been used by user code.
1022 ** Deprecated helper macros for evaluation and application: SCM_EVALIM2,
1023 SCM_EVALIM, SCM_XEVAL, SCM_XEVALCAR
1025 These macros were used in the implementation of the evaluator. It's unlikely
1026 that they have been used by user code.
1028 ** Deprecated helper functions for evaluation and application:
1029 scm_m_expand_body, scm_macroexp
1031 These functions were used in the implementation of the evaluator. It's
1032 unlikely that they have been used by user code.
1034 ** Deprecated functions for unmemoization: scm_unmemocar
1036 ** Deprecated macros for iloc handling: SCM_ILOC00, SCM_IDINC, SCM_IDSTMSK
1038 These macros were used in the implementation of the evaluator. It's unlikely
1039 that they have been used by user code.
1041 ** Removed definitions: scm_lisp_nil, scm_lisp_t, s_nil_ify,
1042 scm_m_nil_ify, s_t_ify, scm_m_t_ify, s_0_cond, scm_m_0_cond, s_0_ify,
1043 scm_m_0_ify, s_1_ify, scm_m_1_ify, scm_debug_newcell,
1044 scm_debug_newcell2, scm_tc16_allocated, SCM_SET_SYMBOL_HASH,
1045 SCM_IM_NIL_IFY, SCM_IM_T_IFY, SCM_IM_0_COND, SCM_IM_0_IFY,
1046 SCM_IM_1_IFY, SCM_GC_SET_ALLOCATED, scm_debug_newcell,
1047 scm_debug_newcell2, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL, SCM_INT_SIGNAL, SCM_FPE_SIGNAL,
1048 SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL, SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL, SCM_GC_SIGNAL,
1049 SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD, SCM_ORD_SIG, SCM_NUM_SIGS,
1050 scm_top_level_lookup_closure_var, *top-level-lookup-closure*,
1051 scm_system_transformer, scm_eval_3, scm_eval2,
1052 root_module_lookup_closure, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP, SCM_RWSTRINGP,
1053 scm_read_only_string_p, scm_make_shared_substring, scm_tc7_substring,
1054 sym_huh, SCM_VARVCELL, SCM_UDVARIABLEP, SCM_DEFVARIABLEP, scm_mkbig,
1055 scm_big2inum, scm_adjbig, scm_normbig, scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big,
1056 scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl, SCM_FIXNUM_BIT, SCM_SETCHARS,
1057 SCM_SLOPPY_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET, SCM_LENGTH_MAX,
1058 SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_ROLENGTH, SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS,
1059 SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR, scm_sym2vcell, scm_intern,
1060 scm_intern0, scm_sysintern, scm_sysintern0,
1061 scm_sysintern0_no_module_lookup, scm_init_symbols_deprecated,
1062 scm_vector_set_length_x, scm_contregs, scm_debug_info,
1063 scm_debug_frame, SCM_DSIDEVAL, SCM_CONST_LONG, SCM_VCELL,
1064 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL, SCM_VCELL_INIT, SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL_INIT,
1065 SCM_HUGE_LENGTH, SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING,
1066 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY, SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY,
1067 SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, DIGITS, scm_small_istr2int, scm_istr2int,
1068 scm_istr2flo, scm_istring2number, scm_istr2int, scm_istr2flo,
1069 scm_istring2number, scm_vtable_index_vcell, scm_si_vcell, SCM_ECONSP,
1070 SCM_NECONSP, SCM_GLOC_VAR, SCM_GLOC_VAL, SCM_GLOC_SET_VAL,
1071 SCM_GLOC_VAL_LOC, scm_make_gloc, scm_gloc_p, scm_tc16_variable
1074 Changes since Guile 1.4:
1076 * Changes to the distribution
1078 ** A top-level TODO file is included.
1080 ** Guile now uses a versioning scheme similar to that of the Linux kernel.
1082 Guile now always uses three numbers to represent the version,
1083 i.e. "1.6.5". The first number, 1, is the major version number, the
1084 second number, 6, is the minor version number, and the third number,
1085 5, is the micro version number. Changes in major version number
1086 indicate major changes in Guile.
1088 Minor version numbers that are even denote stable releases, and odd
1089 minor version numbers denote development versions (which may be
1090 unstable). The micro version number indicates a minor sub-revision of
1091 a given MAJOR.MINOR release.
1093 In keeping with the new scheme, (minor-version) and scm_minor_version
1094 no longer return everything but the major version number. They now
1095 just return the minor version number. Two new functions
1096 (micro-version) and scm_micro_version have been added to report the
1097 micro version number.
1099 In addition, ./GUILE-VERSION now defines GUILE_MICRO_VERSION.
1101 ** New preprocessor definitions are available for checking versions.
1103 version.h now #defines SCM_MAJOR_VERSION, SCM_MINOR_VERSION, and
1104 SCM_MICRO_VERSION to the appropriate integer values.
1106 ** Guile now actively warns about deprecated features.
1108 The new configure option `--enable-deprecated=LEVEL' and the
1109 environment variable GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATED control this mechanism.
1110 See INSTALL and README for more information.
1112 ** Guile is much more likely to work on 64-bit architectures.
1114 Guile now compiles and passes "make check" with only two UNRESOLVED GC
1115 cases on Alpha and ia64 based machines now. Thanks to John Goerzen
1116 for the use of a test machine, and thanks to Stefan Jahn for ia64
1119 ** New functions: setitimer and getitimer.
1121 These implement a fairly direct interface to the libc functions of the
1124 ** The #. reader extension is now disabled by default.
1126 For safety reasons, #. evaluation is disabled by default. To
1127 re-enable it, set the fluid read-eval? to #t. For example:
1129 (fluid-set! read-eval? #t)
1131 but make sure you realize the potential security risks involved. With
1132 read-eval? enabled, reading a data file from an untrusted source can
1135 ** New SRFI modules have been added:
1137 SRFI-0 `cond-expand' is now supported in Guile, without requiring
1140 (srfi srfi-1) is a library containing many useful pair- and list-processing
1143 (srfi srfi-2) exports and-let*.
1145 (srfi srfi-4) implements homogeneous numeric vector datatypes.
1147 (srfi srfi-6) is a dummy module for now, since guile already provides
1148 all of the srfi-6 procedures by default: open-input-string,
1149 open-output-string, get-output-string.
1151 (srfi srfi-8) exports receive.
1153 (srfi srfi-9) exports define-record-type.
1155 (srfi srfi-10) exports define-reader-ctor and implements the reader
1158 (srfi srfi-11) exports let-values and let*-values.
1160 (srfi srfi-13) implements the SRFI String Library.
1162 (srfi srfi-14) implements the SRFI Character-Set Library.
1164 (srfi srfi-17) implements setter and getter-with-setter and redefines
1165 some accessor procedures as procedures with getters. (such as car,
1166 cdr, vector-ref etc.)
1168 (srfi srfi-19) implements the SRFI Time/Date Library.
1170 ** New scripts / "executable modules"
1172 Subdirectory "scripts" contains Scheme modules that are packaged to
1173 also be executable as scripts. At this time, these scripts are available:
1182 See README there for more info.
1184 These scripts can be invoked from the shell with the new program
1185 "guile-tools", which keeps track of installation directory for you.
1188 $ guile-tools display-commentary srfi/*.scm
1190 guile-tools is copied to the standard $bindir on "make install".
1192 ** New module (ice-9 stack-catch):
1194 stack-catch is like catch, but saves the current state of the stack in
1195 the fluid the-last-stack. This fluid can be useful when using the
1196 debugger and when re-throwing an error.
1198 ** The module (ice-9 and-let*) has been renamed to (ice-9 and-let-star)
1200 This has been done to prevent problems on lesser operating systems
1201 that can't tolerate `*'s in file names. The exported macro continues
1202 to be named `and-let*', of course.
1204 On systems that support it, there is also a compatibility module named
1205 (ice-9 and-let*). It will go away in the next release.
1207 ** New modules (oop goops) etc.:
1210 (oop goops describe)
1212 (oop goops active-slot)
1213 (oop goops composite-slot)
1215 The Guile Object Oriented Programming System (GOOPS) has been
1216 integrated into Guile. For further information, consult the GOOPS
1217 manual and tutorial in the `doc' directory.
1219 ** New module (ice-9 rdelim).
1221 This exports the following procedures which were previously defined
1222 in the default environment:
1224 read-line read-line! read-delimited read-delimited! %read-delimited!
1225 %read-line write-line
1227 For backwards compatibility the definitions are still imported into the
1228 default environment in this version of Guile. However you should add:
1230 (use-modules (ice-9 rdelim))
1232 to any program which uses the definitions, since this may change in
1235 Alternatively, if guile-scsh is installed, the (scsh rdelim) module
1236 can be used for similar functionality.
1238 ** New module (ice-9 rw)
1240 This is a subset of the (scsh rw) module from guile-scsh. Currently
1241 it defines two procedures:
1243 *** New function: read-string!/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
1245 Read characters from a port or file descriptor into a string STR.
1246 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
1247 fport. This procedure is scsh-compatible and can efficiently read
1250 *** New function: write-string/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
1252 Write characters from a string STR to a port or file descriptor.
1253 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
1254 fport. This procedure is mostly compatible and can efficiently
1255 write large strings.
1257 ** New module (ice-9 match)
1259 This module includes Andrew K. Wright's pattern matcher. See
1260 ice-9/match.scm for brief description or
1262 http://www.star-lab.com/wright/code.html
1264 for complete documentation.
1266 ** New module (ice-9 buffered-input)
1268 This module provides procedures to construct an input port from an
1269 underlying source of input that reads and returns its input in chunks.
1270 The underlying input source is a Scheme procedure, specified by the
1271 caller, which the port invokes whenever it needs more input.
1273 This is useful when building an input port whose back end is Readline
1274 or a UI element such as the GtkEntry widget.
1278 The reference and tutorial documentation that was previously
1279 distributed separately, as `guile-doc', is now included in the core
1280 Guile distribution. The documentation consists of the following
1283 - The Guile Tutorial (guile-tut.texi) contains a tutorial introduction
1286 - The Guile Reference Manual (guile.texi) contains (or is intended to
1287 contain) reference documentation on all aspects of Guile.
1289 - The GOOPS Manual (goops.texi) contains both tutorial-style and
1290 reference documentation for using GOOPS, Guile's Object Oriented
1293 - The Revised^5 Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme
1296 See the README file in the `doc' directory for more details.
1298 ** There are a couple of examples in the examples/ directory now.
1300 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
1302 ** New command line option `--use-srfi'
1304 Using this option, SRFI modules can be loaded on startup and be
1305 available right from the beginning. This makes programming portable
1306 Scheme programs easier.
1308 The option `--use-srfi' expects a comma-separated list of numbers,
1309 each representing a SRFI number to be loaded into the interpreter
1310 before starting evaluating a script file or the REPL. Additionally,
1311 the feature identifier for the loaded SRFIs is recognized by
1312 `cond-expand' when using this option.
1315 $ guile --use-srfi=8,13
1316 guile> (receive (x z) (values 1 2) (+ 1 2))
1318 guile> (string-pad "bla" 20)
1321 ** Guile now always starts up in the `(guile-user)' module.
1323 Previously, scripts executed via the `-s' option would run in the
1324 `(guile)' module and the repl would run in the `(guile-user)' module.
1325 Now every user action takes place in the `(guile-user)' module by
1328 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
1330 ** Character classifiers work for non-ASCII characters.
1332 The predicates `char-alphabetic?', `char-numeric?',
1333 `char-whitespace?', `char-lower?', `char-upper?' and `char-is-both?'
1334 no longer check whether their arguments are ASCII characters.
1335 Previously, a character would only be considered alphabetic when it
1336 was also ASCII, for example.
1338 ** Previously deprecated Scheme functions have been removed:
1340 tag - no replacement.
1341 fseek - replaced by seek.
1342 list* - replaced by cons*.
1344 ** It's now possible to create modules with controlled environments
1348 (use-modules (ice-9 safe))
1349 (define m (make-safe-module))
1350 ;;; m will now be a module containing only a safe subset of R5RS
1351 (eval '(+ 1 2) m) --> 3
1352 (eval 'load m) --> ERROR: Unbound variable: load
1354 ** Evaluation of "()", the empty list, is now an error.
1356 Previously, the expression "()" evaluated to the empty list. This has
1357 been changed to signal a "missing expression" error. The correct way
1358 to write the empty list as a literal constant is to use quote: "'()".
1360 ** New concept of `Guile Extensions'.
1362 A Guile Extension is just a ordinary shared library that can be linked
1363 at run-time. We found it advantageous to give this simple concept a
1364 dedicated name to distinguish the issues related to shared libraries
1365 from the issues related to the module system.
1367 *** New function: load-extension
1369 Executing (load-extension lib init) is mostly equivalent to
1371 (dynamic-call init (dynamic-link lib))
1373 except when scm_register_extension has been called previously.
1374 Whenever appropriate, you should use `load-extension' instead of
1375 dynamic-link and dynamic-call.
1377 *** New C function: scm_c_register_extension
1379 This function registers a initialization function for use by
1380 `load-extension'. Use it when you don't want specific extensions to
1381 be loaded as shared libraries (for example on platforms that don't
1382 support dynamic linking).
1384 ** Auto-loading of compiled-code modules is deprecated.
1386 Guile used to be able to automatically find and link a shared
1387 library to satisfy requests for a module. For example, the module
1388 `(foo bar)' could be implemented by placing a shared library named
1389 "foo/libbar.so" (or with a different extension) in a directory on the
1392 This has been found to be too tricky, and is no longer supported. The
1393 shared libraries are now called "extensions". You should now write a
1394 small Scheme file that calls `load-extension' to load the shared
1395 library and initialize it explicitely.
1397 The shared libraries themselves should be installed in the usual
1398 places for shared libraries, with names like "libguile-foo-bar".
1400 For example, place this into a file "foo/bar.scm"
1402 (define-module (foo bar))
1404 (load-extension "libguile-foo-bar" "foobar_init")
1406 ** Backward incompatible change: eval EXP ENVIRONMENT-SPECIFIER
1408 `eval' is now R5RS, that is it takes two arguments.
1409 The second argument is an environment specifier, i.e. either
1411 (scheme-report-environment 5)
1412 (null-environment 5)
1413 (interaction-environment)
1419 ** The module system has been made more disciplined.
1421 The function `eval' will save and restore the current module around
1422 the evaluation of the specified expression. While this expression is
1423 evaluated, `(current-module)' will now return the right module, which
1424 is the module specified as the second argument to `eval'.
1426 A consequence of this change is that `eval' is not particularly
1427 useful when you want allow the evaluated code to change what module is
1428 designated as the current module and have this change persist from one
1429 call to `eval' to the next. The read-eval-print-loop is an example
1430 where `eval' is now inadequate. To compensate, there is a new
1431 function `primitive-eval' that does not take a module specifier and
1432 that does not save/restore the current module. You should use this
1433 function together with `set-current-module', `current-module', etc
1434 when you want to have more control over the state that is carried from
1435 one eval to the next.
1437 Additionally, it has been made sure that forms that are evaluated at
1438 the top level are always evaluated with respect to the current module.
1439 Previously, subforms of top-level forms such as `begin', `case',
1440 etc. did not respect changes to the current module although these
1441 subforms are at the top-level as well.
1443 To prevent strange behavior, the forms `define-module',
1444 `use-modules', `use-syntax', and `export' have been restricted to only
1445 work on the top level. The forms `define-public' and
1446 `defmacro-public' only export the new binding on the top level. They
1447 behave just like `define' and `defmacro', respectively, when they are
1448 used in a lexical environment.
1450 Also, `export' will no longer silently re-export bindings imported
1451 from a used module. It will emit a `deprecation' warning and will
1452 cease to perform any re-export in the next version. If you actually
1453 want to re-export bindings, use the new `re-export' in place of
1454 `export'. The new `re-export' will not make copies of variables when
1455 rexporting them, as `export' did wrongly.
1457 ** Module system now allows selection and renaming of imported bindings
1459 Previously, when using `use-modules' or the `#:use-module' clause in
1460 the `define-module' form, all the bindings (association of symbols to
1461 values) for imported modules were added to the "current module" on an
1462 as-is basis. This has been changed to allow finer control through two
1463 new facilities: selection and renaming.
1465 You can now select which of the imported module's bindings are to be
1466 visible in the current module by using the `:select' clause. This
1467 clause also can be used to rename individual bindings. For example:
1469 ;; import all bindings no questions asked
1470 (use-modules (ice-9 common-list))
1472 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them;
1473 ;; the current module sees: every some zonk-y zonk-n
1474 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1476 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1477 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))))
1479 You can also programmatically rename all selected bindings using the
1480 `:renamer' clause, which specifies a proc that takes a symbol and
1481 returns another symbol. Because it is common practice to use a prefix,
1482 we now provide the convenience procedure `symbol-prefix-proc'. For
1485 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
1486 ;; and all four w/ prefix "CL:";
1487 ;; the current module sees: CL:every CL:some CL:zonk-y CL:zonk-n
1488 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1490 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1491 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
1492 :renamer (symbol-prefix-proc 'CL:)))
1494 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
1495 ;; and all four by upcasing.
1496 ;; the current module sees: EVERY SOME ZONK-Y ZONK-N
1497 (define (upcase-symbol sym)
1498 (string->symbol (string-upcase (symbol->string sym))))
1500 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1502 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1503 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
1504 :renamer upcase-symbol))
1506 Note that programmatic renaming is done *after* individual renaming.
1507 Also, the above examples show `use-modules', but the same facilities are
1508 available for the `#:use-module' clause of `define-module'.
1510 See manual for more info.
1512 ** The semantics of guardians have changed.
1514 The changes are for the most part compatible. An important criterion
1515 was to keep the typical usage of guardians as simple as before, but to
1516 make the semantics safer and (as a result) more useful.
1518 *** All objects returned from guardians are now properly alive.
1520 It is now guaranteed that any object referenced by an object returned
1521 from a guardian is alive. It's now impossible for a guardian to
1522 return a "contained" object before its "containing" object.
1524 One incompatible (but probably not very important) change resulting
1525 from this is that it is no longer possible to guard objects that
1526 indirectly reference themselves (i.e. are parts of cycles). If you do
1527 so accidentally, you'll get a warning.
1529 *** There are now two types of guardians: greedy and sharing.
1531 If you call (make-guardian #t) or just (make-guardian), you'll get a
1532 greedy guardian, and for (make-guardian #f) a sharing guardian.
1534 Greedy guardians are the default because they are more "defensive".
1535 You can only greedily guard an object once. If you guard an object
1536 more than once, once in a greedy guardian and the rest of times in
1537 sharing guardians, then it is guaranteed that the object won't be
1538 returned from sharing guardians as long as it is greedily guarded
1541 Guardians returned by calls to `make-guardian' can now take one more
1542 optional parameter, which says whether to throw an error in case an
1543 attempt is made to greedily guard an object that is already greedily
1544 guarded. The default is true, i.e. throw an error. If the parameter
1545 is false, the guardian invocation returns #t if guarding was
1546 successful and #f if it wasn't.
1548 Also, since greedy guarding is, in effect, a side-effecting operation
1549 on objects, a new function is introduced: `destroy-guardian!'.
1550 Invoking this function on a guardian renders it unoperative and, if
1551 the guardian is greedy, clears the "greedily guarded" property of the
1552 objects that were guarded by it, thus undoing the side effect.
1554 Note that all this hair is hardly very important, since guardian
1555 objects are usually permanent.
1557 ** Continuations created by call-with-current-continuation now accept
1558 any number of arguments, as required by R5RS.
1560 ** New function `issue-deprecation-warning'
1562 This function is used to display the deprecation messages that are
1563 controlled by GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATION as explained in the README.
1566 (issue-deprecation-warning "`id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.")
1570 ;; `id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.
1575 ** New syntax `begin-deprecated'
1577 When deprecated features are included (as determined by the configure
1578 option --enable-deprecated), `begin-deprecated' is identical to
1579 `begin'. When deprecated features are excluded, it always evaluates
1580 to `#f', ignoring the body forms.
1582 ** New function `make-object-property'
1584 This function returns a new `procedure with setter' P that can be used
1585 to attach a property to objects. When calling P as
1589 where `obj' is any kind of object, it attaches `val' to `obj' in such
1590 a way that it can be retrieved by calling P as
1594 This function will replace procedure properties, symbol properties and
1595 source properties eventually.
1597 ** Module (ice-9 optargs) now uses keywords instead of `#&'.
1599 Instead of #&optional, #&key, etc you should now use #:optional,
1600 #:key, etc. Since #:optional is a keyword, you can write it as just
1601 :optional when (read-set! keywords 'prefix) is active.
1603 The old reader syntax `#&' is still supported, but deprecated. It
1604 will be removed in the next release.
1606 ** New define-module option: pure
1608 Tells the module system not to include any bindings from the root
1613 (define-module (totally-empty-module)
1616 ** New define-module option: export NAME1 ...
1618 Export names NAME1 ...
1620 This option is required if you want to be able to export bindings from
1621 a module which doesn't import one of `define-public' or `export'.
1625 (define-module (foo)
1627 :use-module (ice-9 r5rs)
1630 ;;; Note that we're pure R5RS below this point!
1635 ** New function: object->string OBJ
1637 Return a Scheme string obtained by printing a given object.
1639 ** New function: port? X
1641 Returns a boolean indicating whether X is a port. Equivalent to
1642 `(or (input-port? X) (output-port? X))'.
1644 ** New function: file-port?
1646 Determines whether a given object is a port that is related to a file.
1648 ** New function: port-for-each proc
1650 Apply PROC to each port in the Guile port table in turn. The return
1651 value is unspecified. More specifically, PROC is applied exactly once
1652 to every port that exists in the system at the time PORT-FOR-EACH is
1653 invoked. Changes to the port table while PORT-FOR-EACH is running
1654 have no effect as far as PORT-FOR-EACH is concerned.
1656 ** New function: dup2 oldfd newfd
1658 A simple wrapper for the `dup2' system call. Copies the file
1659 descriptor OLDFD to descriptor number NEWFD, replacing the
1660 previous meaning of NEWFD. Both OLDFD and NEWFD must be integers.
1661 Unlike for dup->fdes or primitive-move->fdes, no attempt is made
1662 to move away ports which are using NEWFD. The return value is
1665 ** New function: close-fdes fd
1667 A simple wrapper for the `close' system call. Close file
1668 descriptor FD, which must be an integer. Unlike close (*note
1669 close: Ports and File Descriptors.), the file descriptor will be
1670 closed even if a port is using it. The return value is
1673 ** New function: crypt password salt
1675 Encrypts `password' using the standard unix password encryption
1678 ** New function: chroot path
1680 Change the root directory of the running process to `path'.
1682 ** New functions: getlogin, cuserid
1684 Return the login name or the user name of the current effective user
1687 ** New functions: getpriority which who, setpriority which who prio
1689 Get or set the priority of the running process.
1691 ** New function: getpass prompt
1693 Read a password from the terminal, first displaying `prompt' and
1696 ** New function: flock file operation
1698 Set/remove an advisory shared or exclusive lock on `file'.
1700 ** New functions: sethostname name, gethostname
1702 Set or get the hostname of the machine the current process is running
1705 ** New function: mkstemp! tmpl
1707 mkstemp creates a new unique file in the file system and returns a
1708 new buffered port open for reading and writing to the file. TMPL
1709 is a string specifying where the file should be created: it must
1710 end with `XXXXXX' and will be changed in place to return the name
1711 of the temporary file.
1713 ** New function: open-input-string string
1715 Return an input string port which delivers the characters from
1716 `string'. This procedure, together with `open-output-string' and
1717 `get-output-string' implements SRFI-6.
1719 ** New function: open-output-string
1721 Return an output string port which collects all data written to it.
1722 The data can then be retrieved by `get-output-string'.
1724 ** New function: get-output-string
1726 Return the contents of an output string port.
1728 ** New function: identity
1730 Return the argument.
1732 ** socket, connect, accept etc., now have support for IPv6. IPv6 addresses
1733 are represented in Scheme as integers with normal host byte ordering.
1735 ** New function: inet-pton family address
1737 Convert a printable string network address into an integer. Note that
1738 unlike the C version of this function, the result is an integer with
1739 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
1742 (inet-pton AF_INET "127.0.0.1") => 2130706433
1743 (inet-pton AF_INET6 "::1") => 1
1745 ** New function: inet-ntop family address
1747 Convert an integer network address into a printable string. Note that
1748 unlike the C version of this function, the input is an integer with
1749 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
1752 (inet-ntop AF_INET 2130706433) => "127.0.0.1"
1753 (inet-ntop AF_INET6 (- (expt 2 128) 1)) =>
1754 ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff
1758 Use `identity' instead.
1764 ** Deprecated: return-it
1768 ** Deprecated: string-character-length
1770 Use `string-length' instead.
1772 ** Deprecated: flags
1774 Use `logior' instead.
1776 ** Deprecated: close-all-ports-except.
1778 This was intended for closing ports in a child process after a fork,
1779 but it has the undesirable side effect of flushing buffers.
1780 port-for-each is more flexible.
1782 ** The (ice-9 popen) module now attempts to set up file descriptors in
1783 the child process from the current Scheme ports, instead of using the
1784 current values of file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 in the parent process.
1786 ** Removed function: builtin-weak-bindings
1788 There is no such concept as a weak binding any more.
1790 ** Removed constants: bignum-radix, scm-line-incrementors
1792 ** define-method: New syntax mandatory.
1794 The new method syntax is now mandatory:
1796 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ...) BODY ...)
1797 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ... . REST-ARG) BODY ...)
1799 ARG-SPEC ::= ARG-NAME | (ARG-NAME TYPE)
1800 REST-ARG ::= ARG-NAME
1802 If you have old code using the old syntax, import
1803 (oop goops old-define-method) before (oop goops) as in:
1805 (use-modules (oop goops old-define-method) (oop goops))
1807 ** Deprecated function: builtin-variable
1808 Removed function: builtin-bindings
1810 There is no longer a distinction between builtin or other variables.
1811 Use module system operations for all variables.
1813 ** Lazy-catch handlers are no longer allowed to return.
1815 That is, a call to `throw', `error', etc is now guaranteed to not
1818 ** Bugfixes for (ice-9 getopt-long)
1820 This module is now tested using test-suite/tests/getopt-long.test.
1821 The following bugs have been fixed:
1823 *** Parsing for options that are specified to have `optional' args now checks
1824 if the next element is an option instead of unconditionally taking it as the
1827 *** An error is now thrown for `--opt=val' when the option description
1828 does not specify `(value #t)' or `(value optional)'. This condition used to
1829 be accepted w/o error, contrary to the documentation.
1831 *** The error message for unrecognized options is now more informative.
1832 It used to be "not a record", an artifact of the implementation.
1834 *** The error message for `--opt' terminating the arg list (no value), when
1835 `(value #t)' is specified, is now more informative. It used to be "not enough
1838 *** "Clumped" single-char args now preserve trailing string, use it as arg.
1839 The expansion used to be like so:
1841 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "--xyz")
1843 Note that the "5d" is dropped. Now it is like so:
1845 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "5d" "--xyz")
1847 This enables single-char options to have adjoining arguments as long as their
1848 constituent characters are not potential single-char options.
1850 ** (ice-9 session) procedure `arity' now works with (ice-9 optargs) `lambda*'
1852 The `lambda*' and derivative forms in (ice-9 optargs) now set a procedure
1853 property `arglist', which can be retrieved by `arity'. The result is that
1854 `arity' can give more detailed information than before:
1858 guile> (use-modules (ice-9 optargs))
1859 guile> (define* (foo #:optional a b c) a)
1861 0 or more arguments in `lambda*:G0'.
1866 3 optional arguments: `a', `b' and `c'.
1867 guile> (define* (bar a b #:key c d #:allow-other-keys) a)
1869 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 2 keyword arguments: `c'
1870 and `d', other keywords allowed.
1871 guile> (define* (baz a b #:optional c #:rest r) a)
1873 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 1 optional argument: `c',
1876 * Changes to the C interface
1878 ** Types have been renamed from scm_*_t to scm_t_*.
1880 This has been done for POSIX sake. It reserves identifiers ending
1881 with "_t". What a concept.
1883 The old names are still available with status `deprecated'.
1885 ** scm_t_bits (former scm_bits_t) is now a unsigned type.
1887 ** Deprecated features have been removed.
1891 SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP SCM_ICHRP, SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR
1892 SCM_SETJMPBUF SCM_NSTRINGP SCM_NRWSTRINGP SCM_NVECTORP SCM_DOUBLE_CELLP
1894 *** C Functions removed
1896 scm_sysmissing scm_tag scm_tc16_flo scm_tc_flo
1897 scm_fseek - replaced by scm_seek.
1898 gc-thunk - replaced by after-gc-hook.
1899 gh_int2scmb - replaced by gh_bool2scm.
1900 scm_tc_dblr - replaced by scm_tc16_real.
1901 scm_tc_dblc - replaced by scm_tc16_complex.
1902 scm_list_star - replaced by scm_cons_star.
1904 ** Deprecated: scm_makfromstr
1906 Use scm_mem2string instead.
1908 ** Deprecated: scm_make_shared_substring
1910 Explicit shared substrings will disappear from Guile.
1912 Instead, "normal" strings will be implemented using sharing
1913 internally, combined with a copy-on-write strategy.
1915 ** Deprecated: scm_read_only_string_p
1917 The concept of read-only strings will disappear in next release of
1920 ** Deprecated: scm_sloppy_memq, scm_sloppy_memv, scm_sloppy_member
1922 Instead, use scm_c_memq or scm_memq, scm_memv, scm_member.
1924 ** New functions: scm_call_0, scm_call_1, scm_call_2, scm_call_3
1926 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments. See "Fly
1927 Evaluation" in the manual.
1929 ** New functions: scm_apply_0, scm_apply_1, scm_apply_2, scm_apply_3
1931 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments and a list of
1932 further arguments. See "Fly Evaluation" in the manual.
1934 ** New functions: scm_list_1, scm_list_2, scm_list_3, scm_list_4, scm_list_5
1936 Create a list of the given number of elements. See "List
1937 Constructors" in the manual.
1939 ** Renamed function: scm_listify has been replaced by scm_list_n.
1941 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_LIST0, SCM_LIST1, SCM_LIST2, SCM_LIST3, SCM_LIST4,
1942 SCM_LIST5, SCM_LIST6, SCM_LIST7, SCM_LIST8, SCM_LIST9.
1944 Use functions scm_list_N instead.
1946 ** New function: scm_c_read (SCM port, void *buffer, scm_sizet size)
1948 Used by an application to read arbitrary number of bytes from a port.
1949 Same semantics as libc read, except that scm_c_read only returns less
1950 than SIZE bytes if at end-of-file.
1952 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
1954 ** New function: scm_c_write (SCM port, const void *ptr, scm_sizet size)
1956 Used by an application to write arbitrary number of bytes to an SCM
1957 port. Similar semantics as libc write. However, unlike libc
1958 write, scm_c_write writes the requested number of bytes and has no
1961 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
1963 ** New function: scm_init_guile ()
1965 In contrast to scm_boot_guile, scm_init_guile will return normally
1966 after initializing Guile. It is not available on all systems, tho.
1968 ** New functions: scm_str2symbol, scm_mem2symbol
1970 The function scm_str2symbol takes a const char* pointing to a zero-terminated
1971 field of characters and creates a scheme symbol object from that C string.
1972 The function scm_mem2symbol takes a const char* and a number of characters and
1973 creates a symbol from the characters in that memory area.
1975 ** New functions: scm_primitive_make_property
1976 scm_primitive_property_ref
1977 scm_primitive_property_set_x
1978 scm_primitive_property_del_x
1980 These functions implement a new way to deal with object properties.
1981 See libguile/properties.c for their documentation.
1983 ** New function: scm_done_free (long size)
1985 This function is the inverse of scm_done_malloc. Use it to report the
1986 amount of smob memory you free. The previous method, which involved
1987 calling scm_done_malloc with negative argument, was somewhat
1988 unintuitive (and is still available, of course).
1990 ** New function: scm_c_memq (SCM obj, SCM list)
1992 This function provides a fast C level alternative for scm_memq for the case
1993 that the list parameter is known to be a proper list. The function is a
1994 replacement for scm_sloppy_memq, but is stricter in its requirements on its
1995 list input parameter, since for anything else but a proper list the function's
1996 behaviour is undefined - it may even crash or loop endlessly. Further, for
1997 the case that the object is not found in the list, scm_c_memq returns #f which
1998 is similar to scm_memq, but different from scm_sloppy_memq's behaviour.
2000 ** New functions: scm_remember_upto_here_1, scm_remember_upto_here_2,
2001 scm_remember_upto_here
2003 These functions replace the function scm_remember.
2005 ** Deprecated function: scm_remember
2007 Use one of the new functions scm_remember_upto_here_1,
2008 scm_remember_upto_here_2 or scm_remember_upto_here instead.
2010 ** New function: scm_allocate_string
2012 This function replaces the function scm_makstr.
2014 ** Deprecated function: scm_makstr
2016 Use the new function scm_allocate_string instead.
2018 ** New global variable scm_gc_running_p introduced.
2020 Use this variable to find out if garbage collection is being executed. Up to
2021 now applications have used scm_gc_heap_lock to test if garbage collection was
2022 running, which also works because of the fact that up to know only the garbage
2023 collector has set this variable. But, this is an implementation detail that
2024 may change. Further, scm_gc_heap_lock is not set throughout gc, thus the use
2025 of this variable is (and has been) not fully safe anyway.
2027 ** New macros: SCM_BITVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH
2029 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
2031 ** New macros: SCM_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_CCLO_LENGTH, SCM_STACK_LENGTH,
2032 SCM_STRING_LENGTH, SCM_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
2033 SCM_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_VECTOR_LENGTH.
2035 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH.
2037 ** New macros: SCM_SET_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_SET_STRING_LENGTH,
2038 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_SET_VECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
2039 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_LENGTH
2041 Use these instead of SCM_SETLENGTH
2043 ** New macros: SCM_STRING_CHARS, SCM_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_CCLO_BASE,
2044 SCM_VECTOR_BASE, SCM_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_BITVECTOR_BASE, SCM_COMPLEX_MEM,
2047 Use these instead of SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS, SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS or
2050 ** New macros: SCM_SET_BIGNUM_BASE, SCM_SET_STRING_CHARS,
2051 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_BASE,
2054 Use these instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
2056 ** New macro: SCM_BITVECTOR_P
2058 ** New macro: SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X
2060 Use instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
2062 ** New macros: SCM_DIR_OPEN_P, SCM_DIR_FLAG_OPEN
2064 For directory objects, use these instead of SCM_OPDIRP and SCM_OPN.
2066 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_OUTOFRANGE, SCM_NALLOC, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL,
2067 SCM_INT_SIGNAL, SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL,
2068 SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL, SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD,
2069 SCM_ORD_SIG, SCM_NUM_SIGS, SCM_SYMBOL_SLOTS, SCM_SLOTS, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP,
2070 SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_FREEP, SCM_NFREEP, SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS,
2071 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY,
2072 SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY, SCM_ROLENGTH, SCM_LENGTH, SCM_HUGE_LENGTH,
2073 SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR,
2074 SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_RWSTRINGP, SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, SCM_ROCHARS,
2075 SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_LENGTH_MAX, SCM_GC8MARKP,
2076 SCM_SETGC8MARK, SCM_CLRGC8MARK, SCM_GCTYP16, SCM_GCCDR, SCM_SUBR_DOC,
2077 SCM_OPDIRP, SCM_VALIDATE_OPDIR, SCM_WTA, RETURN_SCM_WTA, SCM_CONST_LONG,
2078 SCM_WNA, SCM_FUNC_NAME, SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_COPY,
2079 SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_DEF_COPY, SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP, SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP,
2080 SCM_SETAND_CDR, SCM_SETOR_CDR, SCM_SETAND_CAR, SCM_SETOR_CAR
2082 Use SCM_ASSERT_RANGE or SCM_VALIDATE_XXX_RANGE instead of SCM_OUTOFRANGE.
2083 Use scm_memory_error instead of SCM_NALLOC.
2084 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP.
2085 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR.
2086 Use SCM_FREE_CELL_P instead of SCM_FREEP/SCM_NFREEP
2087 Use a type specific accessor macro instead of SCM_CHARS/SCM_UCHARS.
2088 Use a type specific accessor instead of SCM(_|_RO|_HUGE_)LENGTH.
2089 Use SCM_VALIDATE_(SYMBOL|STRING) instead of SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING.
2090 Use SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
2091 Use SCM_STRINGP or SCM_SYMBOLP instead of SCM_ROSTRINGP.
2092 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_RWSTRINGP.
2093 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING.
2094 Use SCM_STRING_CHARS instead of SCM_ROCHARS.
2095 Use SCM_STRING_UCHARS instead of SCM_ROUCHARS.
2096 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETLENGTH.
2097 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
2098 Use a type specific length macro instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
2099 Use SCM_GCMARKP instead of SCM_GC8MARKP.
2100 Use SCM_SETGCMARK instead of SCM_SETGC8MARK.
2101 Use SCM_CLRGCMARK instead of SCM_CLRGC8MARK.
2102 Use SCM_TYP16 instead of SCM_GCTYP16.
2103 Use SCM_CDR instead of SCM_GCCDR.
2104 Use SCM_DIR_OPEN_P instead of SCM_OPDIRP.
2105 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of SCM_WTA.
2106 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of RETURN_SCM_WTA.
2107 Use SCM_VCELL_INIT instead of SCM_CONST_LONG.
2108 Use SCM_WRONG_NUM_ARGS instead of SCM_WNA.
2109 Use SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP.
2110 Use !SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP.
2112 ** Removed function: scm_struct_init
2114 ** Removed variable: scm_symhash_dim
2116 ** Renamed function: scm_make_cont has been replaced by
2117 scm_make_continuation, which has a different interface.
2119 ** Deprecated function: scm_call_catching_errors
2121 Use scm_catch or scm_lazy_catch from throw.[ch] instead.
2123 ** Deprecated function: scm_strhash
2125 Use scm_string_hash instead.
2127 ** Deprecated function: scm_vector_set_length_x
2129 Instead, create a fresh vector of the desired size and copy the contents.
2131 ** scm_gensym has changed prototype
2133 scm_gensym now only takes one argument.
2135 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc7_ssymbol, scm_tc7_msymbol, scm_tcs_symbols,
2138 There is now only a single symbol type scm_tc7_symbol.
2139 The tag scm_tc7_lvector was not used anyway.
2141 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe, scm_set_smob_mfpe.
2143 Use scm_make_smob_type and scm_set_smob_XXX instead.
2145 ** New function scm_set_smob_apply.
2147 This can be used to set an apply function to a smob type.
2149 ** Deprecated function: scm_strprint_obj
2151 Use scm_object_to_string instead.
2153 ** Deprecated function: scm_wta
2155 Use scm_wrong_type_arg, or another appropriate error signalling function
2158 ** Explicit support for obarrays has been deprecated.
2160 Use `scm_str2symbol' and the generic hashtable functions instead.
2162 ** The concept of `vcells' has been deprecated.
2164 The data type `variable' is now used exclusively. `Vcells' have been
2165 a low-level concept so you are likely not affected by this change.
2167 *** Deprecated functions: scm_sym2vcell, scm_sysintern,
2168 scm_sysintern0, scm_symbol_value0, scm_intern, scm_intern0.
2170 Use scm_c_define or scm_c_lookup instead, as appropriate.
2172 *** New functions: scm_c_module_lookup, scm_c_lookup,
2173 scm_c_module_define, scm_c_define, scm_module_lookup, scm_lookup,
2174 scm_module_define, scm_define.
2176 These functions work with variables instead of with vcells.
2178 ** New functions for creating and defining `subr's and `gsubr's.
2180 The new functions more clearly distinguish between creating a subr (or
2181 gsubr) object and adding it to the current module.
2183 These new functions are available: scm_c_make_subr, scm_c_define_subr,
2184 scm_c_make_subr_with_generic, scm_c_define_subr_with_generic,
2185 scm_c_make_gsubr, scm_c_define_gsubr, scm_c_make_gsubr_with_generic,
2186 scm_c_define_gsubr_with_generic.
2188 ** Deprecated functions: scm_make_subr, scm_make_subr_opt,
2189 scm_make_subr_with_generic, scm_make_gsubr,
2190 scm_make_gsubr_with_generic.
2192 Use the new ones from above instead.
2194 ** C interface to the module system has changed.
2196 While we suggest that you avoid as many explicit module system
2197 operations from C as possible for the time being, the C interface has
2198 been made more similar to the high-level Scheme module system.
2200 *** New functions: scm_c_define_module, scm_c_use_module,
2201 scm_c_export, scm_c_resolve_module.
2203 They mostly work like their Scheme namesakes. scm_c_define_module
2204 takes a function that is called a context where the new module is
2207 *** Deprecated functions: scm_the_root_module, scm_make_module,
2208 scm_ensure_user_module, scm_load_scheme_module.
2210 Use the new functions instead.
2212 ** Renamed function: scm_internal_with_fluids becomes
2215 scm_internal_with_fluids is available as a deprecated function.
2217 ** New function: scm_c_with_fluid.
2219 Just like scm_c_with_fluids, but takes one fluid and one value instead
2222 ** Deprecated typedefs: long_long, ulong_long.
2224 They are of questionable utility and they pollute the global
2227 ** Deprecated typedef: scm_sizet
2229 It is of questionable utility now that Guile requires ANSI C, and is
2232 ** Deprecated typedefs: scm_port_rw_active, scm_port,
2233 scm_ptob_descriptor, scm_debug_info, scm_debug_frame, scm_fport,
2234 scm_option, scm_rstate, scm_rng, scm_array, scm_array_dim.
2236 Made more compliant with the naming policy by adding a _t at the end.
2238 ** Deprecated functions: scm_mkbig, scm_big2num, scm_adjbig,
2239 scm_normbig, scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big, scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl
2241 With the exception of the mysterious scm_2ulong2big, they are still
2242 available under new names (scm_i_mkbig etc). These functions are not
2243 intended to be used in user code. You should avoid dealing with
2244 bignums directly, and should deal with numbers in general (which can
2247 ** Change in behavior: scm_num2long, scm_num2ulong
2249 The scm_num2[u]long functions don't any longer accept an inexact
2250 argument. This change in behavior is motivated by concordance with
2251 R5RS: It is more common that a primitive doesn't want to accept an
2252 inexact for an exact.
2254 ** New functions: scm_short2num, scm_ushort2num, scm_int2num,
2255 scm_uint2num, scm_size2num, scm_ptrdiff2num, scm_num2short,
2256 scm_num2ushort, scm_num2int, scm_num2uint, scm_num2ptrdiff,
2259 These are conversion functions between the various ANSI C integral
2260 types and Scheme numbers. NOTE: The scm_num2xxx functions don't
2261 accept an inexact argument.
2263 ** New functions: scm_float2num, scm_double2num,
2264 scm_num2float, scm_num2double.
2266 These are conversion functions between the two ANSI C float types and
2269 ** New number validation macros:
2270 SCM_NUM2{SIZE,PTRDIFF,SHORT,USHORT,INT,UINT}[_DEF]
2274 ** New functions: scm_gc_protect_object, scm_gc_unprotect_object
2276 These are just nicer-named old scm_protect_object and
2277 scm_unprotect_object.
2279 ** Deprecated functions: scm_protect_object, scm_unprotect_object
2281 ** New functions: scm_gc_[un]register_root, scm_gc_[un]register_roots
2283 These functions can be used to register pointers to locations that
2286 ** Deprecated function: scm_create_hook.
2288 Its sins are: misleading name, non-modularity and lack of general
2292 Changes since Guile 1.3.4:
2294 * Changes to the distribution
2296 ** Trees from nightly snapshots and CVS now require you to run autogen.sh.
2298 We've changed the way we handle generated files in the Guile source
2299 repository. As a result, the procedure for building trees obtained
2300 from the nightly FTP snapshots or via CVS has changed:
2301 - You must have appropriate versions of autoconf, automake, and
2302 libtool installed on your system. See README for info on how to
2303 obtain these programs.
2304 - Before configuring the tree, you must first run the script
2305 `autogen.sh' at the top of the source tree.
2307 The Guile repository used to contain not only source files, written by
2308 humans, but also some generated files, like configure scripts and
2309 Makefile.in files. Even though the contents of these files could be
2310 derived mechanically from other files present, we thought it would
2311 make the tree easier to build if we checked them into CVS.
2313 However, this approach means that minor differences between
2314 developer's installed tools and habits affected the whole team.
2315 So we have removed the generated files from the repository, and
2316 added the autogen.sh script, which will reconstruct them
2320 ** configure now has experimental options to remove support for certain
2323 --disable-arrays omit array and uniform array support
2324 --disable-posix omit posix interfaces
2325 --disable-networking omit networking interfaces
2326 --disable-regex omit regular expression interfaces
2328 These are likely to become separate modules some day.
2330 ** New configure option --enable-debug-freelist
2332 This enables a debugging version of SCM_NEWCELL(), and also registers
2333 an extra primitive, the setter `gc-set-debug-check-freelist!'.
2335 Configure with the --enable-debug-freelist option to enable
2336 the gc-set-debug-check-freelist! primitive, and then use:
2338 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #t) # turn on checking of the freelist
2339 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #f) # turn off checking
2341 Checking of the freelist forces a traversal of the freelist and
2342 a garbage collection before each allocation of a cell. This can
2343 slow down the interpreter dramatically, so the setter should be used to
2344 turn on this extra processing only when necessary.
2346 ** New configure option --enable-debug-malloc
2348 Include code for debugging of calls to scm_must_malloc/realloc/free.
2352 1. objects freed by scm_must_free has been mallocated by scm_must_malloc
2353 2. objects reallocated by scm_must_realloc has been allocated by
2355 3. reallocated objects are reallocated with the same what string
2357 But, most importantly, it records the number of allocated objects of
2358 each kind. This is useful when searching for memory leaks.
2360 A Guile compiled with this option provides the primitive
2361 `malloc-stats' which returns an alist with pairs of kind and the
2362 number of objects of that kind.
2364 ** All includes are now referenced relative to the root directory
2366 Since some users have had problems with mixups between Guile and
2367 system headers, we have decided to always refer to Guile headers via
2368 their parent directories. This essentially creates a "private name
2369 space" for Guile headers. This means that the compiler only is given
2370 -I options for the root build and root source directory.
2372 ** Header files kw.h and genio.h have been removed.
2374 ** The module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) has been removed.
2376 ** New module (ice-9 documentation)
2378 Implements the interface to documentation strings associated with
2381 ** New module (ice-9 time)
2383 Provides a macro `time', which displays execution time of a given form.
2385 ** New module (ice-9 history)
2387 Loading this module enables value history in the repl.
2389 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
2391 ** New command line option --debug
2393 Start Guile with debugging evaluator and backtraces enabled.
2395 This is useful when debugging your .guile init file or scripts.
2397 ** New help facility
2399 Usage: (help NAME) gives documentation about objects named NAME (a symbol)
2400 (help REGEXP) ditto for objects with names matching REGEXP (a string)
2401 (help 'NAME) gives documentation for NAME, even if it is not an object
2402 (help ,EXPR) gives documentation for object returned by EXPR
2403 (help (my module)) gives module commentary for `(my module)'
2404 (help) gives this text
2406 `help' searches among bindings exported from loaded modules, while
2407 `apropos' searches among bindings visible from the "current" module.
2409 Examples: (help help)
2411 (help "output-string")
2413 ** `help' and `apropos' now prints full module names
2415 ** Dynamic linking now uses libltdl from the libtool package.
2417 The old system dependent code for doing dynamic linking has been
2418 replaced with calls to the libltdl functions which do all the hairy
2421 The major improvement is that you can now directly pass libtool
2422 library names like "libfoo.la" to `dynamic-link' and `dynamic-link'
2423 will be able to do the best shared library job you can get, via
2426 The way dynamic libraries are found has changed and is not really
2427 portable across platforms, probably. It is therefore recommended to
2428 use absolute filenames when possible.
2430 If you pass a filename without an extension to `dynamic-link', it will
2431 try a few appropriate ones. Thus, the most platform ignorant way is
2432 to specify a name like "libfoo", without any directories and
2435 ** Guile COOP threads are now compatible with LinuxThreads
2437 Previously, COOP threading wasn't possible in applications linked with
2438 Linux POSIX threads due to their use of the stack pointer to find the
2439 thread context. This has now been fixed with a workaround which uses
2440 the pthreads to allocate the stack.
2442 ** New primitives: `pkgdata-dir', `site-dir', `library-dir'
2444 ** Positions of erring expression in scripts
2446 With version 1.3.4, the location of the erring expression in Guile
2447 scipts is no longer automatically reported. (This should have been
2448 documented before the 1.3.4 release.)
2450 You can get this information by enabling recording of positions of
2451 source expressions and running the debugging evaluator. Put this at
2452 the top of your script (or in your "site" file):
2454 (read-enable 'positions)
2455 (debug-enable 'debug)
2457 ** Backtraces in scripts
2459 It is now possible to get backtraces in scripts.
2463 (debug-enable 'debug 'backtrace)
2465 at the top of the script.
2467 (The first options enables the debugging evaluator.
2468 The second enables backtraces.)
2470 ** Part of module system symbol lookup now implemented in C
2472 The eval closure of most modules is now implemented in C. Since this
2473 was one of the bottlenecks for loading speed, Guile now loads code
2474 substantially faster than before.
2476 ** Attempting to get the value of an unbound variable now produces
2477 an exception with a key of 'unbound-variable instead of 'misc-error.
2479 ** The initial default output port is now unbuffered if it's using a
2480 tty device. Previously in this situation it was line-buffered.
2482 ** New hook: after-gc-hook
2484 after-gc-hook takes over the role of gc-thunk. This hook is run at
2485 the first SCM_TICK after a GC. (Thus, the code is run at the same
2486 point during evaluation as signal handlers.)
2488 Note that this hook should be used only for diagnostic and debugging
2489 purposes. It is not certain that it will continue to be well-defined
2490 when this hook is run in the future.
2492 C programmers: Note the new C level hooks scm_before_gc_c_hook,
2493 scm_before_sweep_c_hook, scm_after_gc_c_hook.
2495 ** Improvements to garbage collector
2497 Guile 1.4 has a new policy for triggering heap allocation and
2498 determining the sizes of heap segments. It fixes a number of problems
2501 1. The new policy can handle two separate pools of cells
2502 (2-word/4-word) better. (The old policy would run wild, allocating
2503 more and more memory for certain programs.)
2505 2. The old code would sometimes allocate far too much heap so that the
2506 Guile process became gigantic. The new code avoids this.
2508 3. The old code would sometimes allocate too little so that few cells
2509 were freed at GC so that, in turn, too much time was spent in GC.
2511 4. The old code would often trigger heap allocation several times in a
2512 row. (The new scheme predicts how large the segments needs to be
2513 in order not to need further allocation.)
2515 All in all, the new GC policy will make larger applications more
2518 The new GC scheme also is prepared for POSIX threading. Threads can
2519 allocate private pools of cells ("clusters") with just a single
2520 function call. Allocation of single cells from such a cluster can
2521 then proceed without any need of inter-thread synchronization.
2523 ** New environment variables controlling GC parameters
2525 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE Maximal segment size
2528 Allocation of 2-word cell heaps:
2530 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1 Size of initial heap segment in bytes
2533 GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1 Minimum number of freed cells at each
2534 GC in percent of total heap size
2537 Allocation of 4-word cell heaps
2538 (used for real numbers and misc other objects):
2540 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2
2542 (See entry "Way for application to customize GC parameters" under
2543 section "Changes to the scm_ interface" below.)
2545 ** Guile now implements reals using 4-word cells
2547 This speeds up computation with reals. (They were earlier allocated
2548 with `malloc'.) There is still some room for optimizations, however.
2550 ** Some further steps toward POSIX thread support have been taken
2552 *** Guile's critical sections (SCM_DEFER/ALLOW_INTS)
2553 don't have much effect any longer, and many of them will be removed in
2557 are only handled at the top of the evaluator loop, immediately after
2558 I/O, and in scm_equalp.
2560 *** The GC can allocate thread private pools of pairs.
2562 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
2564 ** close-input-port and close-output-port are now R5RS
2566 These procedures have been turned into primitives and have R5RS behaviour.
2568 ** New procedure: simple-format PORT MESSAGE ARG1 ...
2570 (ice-9 boot) makes `format' an alias for `simple-format' until possibly
2571 extended by the more sophisticated version in (ice-9 format)
2573 (simple-format port message . args)
2574 Write MESSAGE to DESTINATION, defaulting to `current-output-port'.
2575 MESSAGE can contain ~A (was %s) and ~S (was %S) escapes. When printed,
2576 the escapes are replaced with corresponding members of ARGS:
2577 ~A formats using `display' and ~S formats using `write'.
2578 If DESTINATION is #t, then use the `current-output-port',
2579 if DESTINATION is #f, then return a string containing the formatted text.
2580 Does not add a trailing newline."
2582 ** string-ref: the second argument is no longer optional.
2584 ** string, list->string: no longer accept strings in their arguments,
2585 only characters, for compatibility with R5RS.
2587 ** New procedure: port-closed? PORT
2588 Returns #t if PORT is closed or #f if it is open.
2590 ** Deprecated: list*
2592 The list* functionality is now provided by cons* (SRFI-1 compliant)
2594 ** New procedure: cons* ARG1 ARG2 ... ARGn
2596 Like `list', but the last arg provides the tail of the constructed list,
2597 returning (cons ARG1 (cons ARG2 (cons ... ARGn))).
2599 Requires at least one argument. If given one argument, that argument
2600 is returned as result.
2602 This function is called `list*' in some other Schemes and in Common LISP.
2604 ** Removed deprecated: serial-map, serial-array-copy!, serial-array-map!
2606 ** New procedure: object-documentation OBJECT
2608 Returns the documentation string associated with OBJECT. The
2609 procedure uses a caching mechanism so that subsequent lookups are
2612 Exported by (ice-9 documentation).
2614 ** module-name now returns full names of modules
2616 Previously, only the last part of the name was returned (`session' for
2617 `(ice-9 session)'). Ex: `(ice-9 session)'.
2619 * Changes to the gh_ interface
2621 ** Deprecated: gh_int2scmb
2623 Use gh_bool2scm instead.
2625 * Changes to the scm_ interface
2627 ** Guile primitives now carry docstrings!
2629 Thanks to Greg Badros!
2631 ** Guile primitives are defined in a new way: SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
2633 Now Guile primitives are defined using the SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
2634 macros and must contain a docstring that is extracted into foo.doc using a new
2635 guile-doc-snarf script (that uses guile-doc-snarf.awk).
2637 However, a major overhaul of these macros is scheduled for the next release of
2640 ** Guile primitives use a new technique for validation of arguments
2642 SCM_VALIDATE_* macros are defined to ease the redundancy and improve
2643 the readability of argument checking.
2645 ** All (nearly?) K&R prototypes for functions replaced with ANSI C equivalents.
2647 ** New macros: SCM_PACK, SCM_UNPACK
2649 Compose/decompose an SCM value.
2651 The SCM type is now treated as an abstract data type and may be defined as a
2652 long, a void* or as a struct, depending on the architecture and compile time
2653 options. This makes it easier to find several types of bugs, for example when
2654 SCM values are treated as integers without conversion. Values of the SCM type
2655 should be treated as "atomic" values. These macros are used when
2656 composing/decomposing an SCM value, either because you want to access
2657 individual bits, or because you want to treat it as an integer value.
2659 E.g., in order to set bit 7 in an SCM value x, use the expression
2661 SCM_PACK (SCM_UNPACK (x) | 0x80)
2663 ** The name property of hooks is deprecated.
2664 Thus, the use of SCM_HOOK_NAME and scm_make_hook_with_name is deprecated.
2666 You can emulate this feature by using object properties.
2668 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP, SCM_CRDY, SCM_ICHRP,
2669 SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR, SCM_SETJMPBUF, SCM_NSTRINGP, SCM_NRWSTRINGP,
2672 These macros will be removed in a future release of Guile.
2674 ** The following types, functions and macros from numbers.h are deprecated:
2675 scm_dblproc, SCM_UNEGFIXABLE, SCM_FLOBUFLEN, SCM_INEXP, SCM_CPLXP, SCM_REAL,
2676 SCM_IMAG, SCM_REALPART, scm_makdbl, SCM_SINGP, SCM_NUM2DBL, SCM_NO_BIGDIG
2678 ** Port internals: the rw_random variable in the scm_port structure
2679 must be set to non-zero in any random access port. In recent Guile
2680 releases it was only set for bidirectional random-access ports.
2682 ** Port internals: the seek ptob procedure is now responsible for
2683 resetting the buffers if required. The change was made so that in the
2684 special case of reading the current position (i.e., seek p 0 SEEK_CUR)
2685 the fport and strport ptobs can avoid resetting the buffers,
2686 in particular to avoid discarding unread chars. An existing port
2687 type can be fixed by adding something like the following to the
2688 beginning of the ptob seek procedure:
2690 if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_READ)
2691 scm_end_input (object);
2692 else if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_WRITE)
2693 ptob->flush (object);
2695 although to actually avoid resetting the buffers and discard unread
2696 chars requires further hacking that depends on the characteristics
2699 ** Deprecated functions: scm_fseek, scm_tag
2701 These functions are no longer used and will be removed in a future version.
2703 ** The scm_sysmissing procedure is no longer used in libguile.
2704 Unless it turns out to be unexpectedly useful to somebody, it will be
2705 removed in a future version.
2707 ** The format of error message strings has changed
2709 The two C procedures: scm_display_error and scm_error, as well as the
2710 primitive `scm-error', now use scm_simple_format to do their work.
2711 This means that the message strings of all code must be updated to use
2712 ~A where %s was used before, and ~S where %S was used before.
2714 During the period when there still are a lot of old Guiles out there,
2715 you might want to support both old and new versions of Guile.
2717 There are basically two methods to achieve this. Both methods use
2720 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(scm_simple_format)
2722 in your configure.in.
2724 Method 1: Use the string concatenation features of ANSI C's
2729 #ifdef HAVE_SCM_SIMPLE_FORMAT
2735 Then represent each of your error messages using a preprocessor macro:
2737 #define E_SPIDER_ERROR "There's a spider in your " ## FMT_S ## "!!!"
2741 (define fmt-s (if (defined? 'simple-format) "~S" "%S"))
2742 (define make-message string-append)
2744 (define e-spider-error (make-message "There's a spider in your " fmt-s "!!!"))
2746 Method 2: Use the oldfmt function found in doc/oldfmt.c.
2750 scm_misc_error ("picnic", scm_c_oldfmt0 ("There's a spider in your ~S!!!"),
2755 (scm-error 'misc-error "picnic" (oldfmt "There's a spider in your ~S!!!")
2759 ** Deprecated: coop_mutex_init, coop_condition_variable_init
2761 Don't use the functions coop_mutex_init and
2762 coop_condition_variable_init. They will change.
2764 Use scm_mutex_init and scm_cond_init instead.
2766 ** New function: int scm_cond_timedwait (scm_cond_t *COND, scm_mutex_t *MUTEX, const struct timespec *ABSTIME)
2767 `scm_cond_timedwait' atomically unlocks MUTEX and waits on
2768 COND, as `scm_cond_wait' does, but it also bounds the duration
2769 of the wait. If COND has not been signaled before time ABSTIME,
2770 the mutex MUTEX is re-acquired and `scm_cond_timedwait'
2771 returns the error code `ETIMEDOUT'.
2773 The ABSTIME parameter specifies an absolute time, with the same
2774 origin as `time' and `gettimeofday': an ABSTIME of 0 corresponds
2775 to 00:00:00 GMT, January 1, 1970.
2777 ** New function: scm_cond_broadcast (scm_cond_t *COND)
2778 `scm_cond_broadcast' restarts all the threads that are waiting
2779 on the condition variable COND. Nothing happens if no threads are
2782 ** New function: scm_key_create (scm_key_t *KEY, void (*destr_function) (void *))
2783 `scm_key_create' allocates a new TSD key. The key is stored in
2784 the location pointed to by KEY. There is no limit on the number
2785 of keys allocated at a given time. The value initially associated
2786 with the returned key is `NULL' in all currently executing threads.
2788 The DESTR_FUNCTION argument, if not `NULL', specifies a destructor
2789 function associated with the key. When a thread terminates,
2790 DESTR_FUNCTION is called on the value associated with the key in
2791 that thread. The DESTR_FUNCTION is not called if a key is deleted
2792 with `scm_key_delete' or a value is changed with
2793 `scm_setspecific'. The order in which destructor functions are
2794 called at thread termination time is unspecified.
2796 Destructors are not yet implemented.
2798 ** New function: scm_setspecific (scm_key_t KEY, const void *POINTER)
2799 `scm_setspecific' changes the value associated with KEY in the
2800 calling thread, storing the given POINTER instead.
2802 ** New function: scm_getspecific (scm_key_t KEY)
2803 `scm_getspecific' returns the value currently associated with
2804 KEY in the calling thread.
2806 ** New function: scm_key_delete (scm_key_t KEY)
2807 `scm_key_delete' deallocates a TSD key. It does not check
2808 whether non-`NULL' values are associated with that key in the
2809 currently executing threads, nor call the destructor function
2810 associated with the key.
2812 ** New function: scm_c_hook_init (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *HOOK_DATA, scm_c_hook_type_t TYPE)
2814 Initialize a C level hook HOOK with associated HOOK_DATA and type
2815 TYPE. (See scm_c_hook_run ().)
2817 ** New function: scm_c_hook_add (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA, int APPENDP)
2819 Add hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA to HOOK. If APPENDP
2820 is true, add it last, otherwise first. The same FUNC can be added
2821 multiple times if FUNC_DATA differ and vice versa.
2823 ** New function: scm_c_hook_remove (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA)
2825 Remove hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA from HOOK. A
2826 function is only removed if both FUNC and FUNC_DATA matches.
2828 ** New function: void *scm_c_hook_run (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *DATA)
2830 Run hook HOOK passing DATA to the hook functions.
2832 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_NORMAL, all hook functions are run. The value
2833 returned is undefined.
2835 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_OR, hook functions are run until a function
2836 returns a non-NULL value. This value is returned as the result of
2837 scm_c_hook_run. If all functions return NULL, NULL is returned.
2839 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_AND, hook functions are run until a function
2840 returns a NULL value, and NULL is returned. If all functions returns
2841 a non-NULL value, the last value is returned.
2843 ** New C level GC hooks
2845 Five new C level hooks has been added to the garbage collector.
2847 scm_before_gc_c_hook
2850 are run before locking and after unlocking the heap. The system is
2851 thus in a mode where evaluation can take place. (Except that
2852 scm_before_gc_c_hook must not allocate new cells.)
2854 scm_before_mark_c_hook
2855 scm_before_sweep_c_hook
2856 scm_after_sweep_c_hook
2858 are run when the heap is locked. These are intended for extension of
2859 the GC in a modular fashion. Examples are the weaks and guardians
2862 ** Way for application to customize GC parameters
2864 The application can set up other default values for the GC heap
2865 allocation parameters
2867 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_1, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1,
2868 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2,
2869 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE,
2873 scm_default_init_heap_size_1, scm_default_min_yield_1,
2874 scm_default_init_heap_size_2, scm_default_min_yield_2,
2875 scm_default_max_segment_size
2877 respectively before callong scm_boot_guile.
2879 (See entry "New environment variables ..." in section
2880 "Changes to the stand-alone interpreter" above.)
2882 ** scm_protect_object/scm_unprotect_object now nest
2884 This means that you can call scm_protect_object multiple times on an
2885 object and count on the object being protected until
2886 scm_unprotect_object has been call the same number of times.
2888 The functions also have better time complexity.
2890 Still, it is usually possible to structure the application in a way
2891 that you don't need to use these functions. For example, if you use a
2892 protected standard Guile list to keep track of live objects rather
2893 than some custom data type, objects will die a natural death when they
2894 are no longer needed.
2896 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc16_flo, scm_tc_flo, scm_tc_dblr, scm_tc_dblc
2898 Guile does not provide the float representation for inexact real numbers any
2899 more. Now, only doubles are used to represent inexact real numbers. Further,
2900 the tag names scm_tc_dblr and scm_tc_dblc have been changed to scm_tc16_real
2901 and scm_tc16_complex, respectively.
2903 ** Removed deprecated type scm_smobfuns
2905 ** Removed deprecated function scm_newsmob
2907 ** Warning: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe might become deprecated in a future release
2909 There is an ongoing discussion among the developers whether to
2910 deprecate `scm_make_smob_type_mfpe' or not. Please use the current
2911 standard interface (scm_make_smob_type, scm_set_smob_XXX) in new code
2912 until this issue has been settled.
2914 ** Removed deprecated type tag scm_tc16_kw
2916 ** Added type tag scm_tc16_keyword
2918 (This was introduced already in release 1.3.4 but was not documented
2921 ** gdb_print now prints "*** Guile not initialized ***" until Guile initialized
2923 * Changes to system call interfaces:
2925 ** The "select" procedure now tests port buffers for the ability to
2926 provide input or accept output. Previously only the underlying file
2927 descriptors were checked.
2929 ** New variable PIPE_BUF: the maximum number of bytes that can be
2930 atomically written to a pipe.
2932 ** If a facility is not available on the system when Guile is
2933 compiled, the corresponding primitive procedure will not be defined.
2934 Previously it would have been defined but would throw a system-error
2935 exception if called. Exception handlers which catch this case may
2936 need minor modification: an error will be thrown with key
2937 'unbound-variable instead of 'system-error. Alternatively it's
2938 now possible to use `defined?' to check whether the facility is
2941 ** Procedures which depend on the timezone should now give the correct
2942 result on systems which cache the TZ environment variable, even if TZ
2943 is changed without calling tzset.
2945 * Changes to the networking interfaces:
2947 ** New functions: htons, ntohs, htonl, ntohl: for converting short and
2948 long integers between network and host format. For now, it's not
2949 particularly convenient to do this kind of thing, but consider:
2951 (define write-network-long
2952 (lambda (value port)
2953 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
2954 (uniform-vector-set! v 0 (htonl value))
2955 (uniform-vector-write v port))))
2957 (define read-network-long
2959 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
2960 (uniform-vector-read! v port)
2961 (ntohl (uniform-vector-ref v 0)))))
2963 ** If inet-aton fails, it now throws an error with key 'misc-error
2964 instead of 'system-error, since errno is not relevant.
2966 ** Certain gethostbyname/gethostbyaddr failures now throw errors with
2967 specific keys instead of 'system-error. The latter is inappropriate
2968 since errno will not have been set. The keys are:
2969 'host-not-found, 'try-again, 'no-recovery and 'no-data.
2971 ** sethostent, setnetent, setprotoent, setservent: now take an
2972 optional argument STAYOPEN, which specifies whether the database
2973 remains open after a database entry is accessed randomly (e.g., using
2974 gethostbyname for the hosts database.) The default is #f. Previously
2978 Changes since Guile 1.3.2:
2980 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
2984 An initial version of the Guile debugger written by Chris Hanson has
2985 been added. The debugger is still under development but is included
2986 in the distribution anyway since it is already quite useful.
2992 after an error to enter the debugger. Type `help' inside the debugger
2993 for a description of available commands.
2995 If you prefer to have stack frames numbered and printed in
2996 anti-chronological order and prefer up in the stack to be down on the
2997 screen as is the case in gdb, you can put
2999 (debug-enable 'backwards)
3001 in your .guile startup file. (However, this means that Guile can't
3002 use indentation to indicate stack level.)
3004 The debugger is autoloaded into Guile at the first use.
3006 ** Further enhancements to backtraces
3008 There is a new debug option `width' which controls the maximum width
3009 on the screen of printed stack frames. Fancy printing parameters
3010 ("level" and "length" as in Common LISP) are adaptively adjusted for
3011 each stack frame to give maximum information while still fitting
3012 within the bounds. If the stack frame can't be made to fit by
3013 adjusting parameters, it is simply cut off at the end. This is marked
3016 ** Some modules are now only loaded when the repl is started
3018 The modules (ice-9 debug), (ice-9 session), (ice-9 threads) and (ice-9
3019 regex) are now loaded into (guile-user) only if the repl has been
3020 started. The effect is that the startup time for scripts has been
3021 reduced to 30% of what it was previously.
3023 Correctly written scripts load the modules they require at the top of
3024 the file and should not be affected by this change.
3026 ** Hooks are now represented as smobs
3028 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
3030 ** Readline support has changed again.
3032 The old (readline-activator) module is gone. Use (ice-9 readline)
3033 instead, which now contains all readline functionality. So the code
3034 to activate readline is now
3036 (use-modules (ice-9 readline))
3039 This should work at any time, including from the guile prompt.
3041 To avoid confusion about the terms of Guile's license, please only
3042 enable readline for your personal use; please don't make it the
3043 default for others. Here is why we make this rather odd-sounding
3046 Guile is normally licensed under a weakened form of the GNU General
3047 Public License, which allows you to link code with Guile without
3048 placing that code under the GPL. This exception is important to some
3051 However, since readline is distributed under the GNU General Public
3052 License, when you link Guile with readline, either statically or
3053 dynamically, you effectively change Guile's license to the strict GPL.
3054 Whenever you link any strictly GPL'd code into Guile, uses of Guile
3055 which are normally permitted become forbidden. This is a rather
3056 non-obvious consequence of the licensing terms.
3058 So, to make sure things remain clear, please let people choose for
3059 themselves whether to link GPL'd libraries like readline with Guile.
3061 ** regexp-substitute/global has changed slightly, but incompatibly.
3063 If you include a function in the item list, the string of the match
3064 object it receives is the same string passed to
3065 regexp-substitute/global, not some suffix of that string.
3066 Correspondingly, the match's positions are relative to the entire
3067 string, not the suffix.
3069 If the regexp can match the empty string, the way matches are chosen
3070 from the string has changed. regexp-substitute/global recognizes the
3071 same set of matches that list-matches does; see below.
3073 ** New function: list-matches REGEXP STRING [FLAGS]
3075 Return a list of match objects, one for every non-overlapping, maximal
3076 match of REGEXP in STRING. The matches appear in left-to-right order.
3077 list-matches only reports matches of the empty string if there are no
3078 other matches which begin on, end at, or include the empty match's
3081 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
3083 ** New function: fold-matches REGEXP STRING INIT PROC [FLAGS]
3085 For each match of REGEXP in STRING, apply PROC to the match object,
3086 and the last value PROC returned, or INIT for the first call. Return
3087 the last value returned by PROC. We apply PROC to the matches as they
3088 appear from left to right.
3090 This function recognizes matches according to the same criteria as
3093 Thus, you could define list-matches like this:
3095 (define (list-matches regexp string . flags)
3096 (reverse! (apply fold-matches regexp string '() cons flags)))
3098 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
3102 *** New function: hook? OBJ
3104 Return #t if OBJ is a hook, otherwise #f.
3106 *** New function: make-hook-with-name NAME [ARITY]
3108 Return a hook with name NAME and arity ARITY. The default value for
3109 ARITY is 0. The only effect of NAME is that it will appear when the
3110 hook object is printed to ease debugging.
3112 *** New function: hook-empty? HOOK
3114 Return #t if HOOK doesn't contain any procedures, otherwise #f.
3116 *** New function: hook->list HOOK
3118 Return a list of the procedures that are called when run-hook is
3121 ** `map' signals an error if its argument lists are not all the same length.
3123 This is the behavior required by R5RS, so this change is really a bug
3124 fix. But it seems to affect a lot of people's code, so we're
3125 mentioning it here anyway.
3127 ** Print-state handling has been made more transparent
3129 Under certain circumstances, ports are represented as a port with an
3130 associated print state. Earlier, this pair was represented as a pair
3131 (see "Some magic has been added to the printer" below). It is now
3132 indistinguishable (almost; see `get-print-state') from a port on the
3135 *** New function: port-with-print-state OUTPUT-PORT PRINT-STATE
3137 Return a new port with the associated print state PRINT-STATE.
3139 *** New function: get-print-state OUTPUT-PORT
3141 Return the print state associated with this port if it exists,
3142 otherwise return #f.
3144 *** New function: directory-stream? OBJECT
3146 Returns true iff OBJECT is a directory stream --- the sort of object
3147 returned by `opendir'.
3149 ** New function: using-readline?
3151 Return #t if readline is in use in the current repl.
3153 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
3155 Structs will be replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into Guile
3156 and use GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
3158 * Changes to the scm_ interface
3160 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
3162 The entire current struct interface (struct.c, struct.h) will be
3163 replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into libguile and use
3164 GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
3166 ** The internal representation of subr's has changed
3168 Instead of giving a hint to the subr name, the CAR field of the subr
3169 now contains an index to a subr entry in scm_subr_table.
3171 *** New variable: scm_subr_table
3173 An array of subr entries. A subr entry contains the name, properties
3174 and documentation associated with the subr. The properties and
3175 documentation slots are not yet used.
3177 ** A new scheme for "forwarding" calls to a builtin to a generic function
3179 It is now possible to extend the functionality of some Guile
3180 primitives by letting them defer a call to a GOOPS generic function on
3181 argument mismatch. This means that there is no loss of efficiency in
3186 (use-modules (oop goops)) ; Must be GOOPS version 0.2.
3187 (define-method + ((x <string>) (y <string>))
3188 (string-append x y))
3190 + will still be as efficient as usual in numerical calculations, but
3191 can also be used for concatenating strings.
3193 Who will be the first one to extend Guile's numerical tower to
3194 rationals? :) [OK, there a few other things to fix before this can
3195 be made in a clean way.]
3197 *** New snarf macros for defining primitives: SCM_GPROC, SCM_GPROC1
3199 New macro: SCM_GPROC (CNAME, SNAME, REQ, OPT, VAR, CFUNC, GENERIC)
3201 New macro: SCM_GPROC1 (CNAME, SNAME, TYPE, CFUNC, GENERIC)
3203 These do the same job as SCM_PROC and SCM_PROC1, but they also define
3204 a variable GENERIC which can be used by the dispatch macros below.
3206 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3208 *** New macros for forwarding control to a generic on arg type error
3210 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_1 (GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
3212 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
3214 These correspond to the scm_wta function call, and have the same
3215 behaviour until the user has called the GOOPS primitive
3216 `enable-primitive-generic!'. After that, these macros will apply the
3217 generic function GENERIC to the argument(s) instead of calling
3220 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3222 *** New macros for argument testing with generic dispatch
3224 New macro: SCM_GASSERT1 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
3226 New macro: SCM_GASSERT2 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
3228 These correspond to the SCM_ASSERT macro, but will defer control to
3229 GENERIC on error after `enable-primitive-generic!' has been called.
3231 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3233 ** New function: SCM scm_eval_body (SCM body, SCM env)
3235 Evaluates the body of a special form.
3237 ** The internal representation of struct's has changed
3239 Previously, four slots were allocated for the procedure(s) of entities
3240 and operators. The motivation for this representation had to do with
3241 the structure of the evaluator, the wish to support tail-recursive
3242 generic functions, and efficiency. Since the generic function
3243 dispatch mechanism has changed, there is no longer a need for such an
3244 expensive representation, and the representation has been simplified.
3246 This should not make any difference for most users.
3248 ** GOOPS support has been cleaned up.
3250 Some code has been moved from eval.c to objects.c and code in both of
3251 these compilation units has been cleaned up and better structured.
3253 *** New functions for applying generic functions
3255 New function: SCM scm_apply_generic (GENERIC, ARGS)
3256 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_0 (GENERIC)
3257 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_1 (GENERIC, ARG1)
3258 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2)
3259 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_3 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, ARG3)
3261 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_named_hook
3263 It is now replaced by:
3265 ** New function: SCM scm_create_hook (const char *name, int arity)
3267 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
3268 binds a variable named NAME to it.
3270 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
3272 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module.
3273 This might change when we get the new module system.
3275 [The behaviour is identical to scm_make_named_hook.]
3279 Changes since Guile 1.3:
3281 * Changes to mailing lists
3283 ** Some of the Guile mailing lists have moved to sourceware.cygnus.com.
3285 See the README file to find current addresses for all the Guile
3288 * Changes to the distribution
3290 ** Readline support is no longer included with Guile by default.
3292 Based on the different license terms of Guile and Readline, we
3293 concluded that Guile should not *by default* cause the linking of
3294 Readline into an application program. Readline support is now offered
3295 as a separate module, which is linked into an application only when
3296 you explicitly specify it.
3298 Although Guile is GNU software, its distribution terms add a special
3299 exception to the usual GNU General Public License (GPL). Guile's
3300 license includes a clause that allows you to link Guile with non-free
3301 programs. We add this exception so as not to put Guile at a
3302 disadvantage vis-a-vis other extensibility packages that support other
3305 In contrast, the GNU Readline library is distributed under the GNU
3306 General Public License pure and simple. This means that you may not
3307 link Readline, even dynamically, into an application unless it is
3308 distributed under a free software license that is compatible the GPL.
3310 Because of this difference in distribution terms, an application that
3311 can use Guile may not be able to use Readline. Now users will be
3312 explicitly offered two independent decisions about the use of these
3315 You can activate the readline support by issuing
3317 (use-modules (readline-activator))
3320 from your ".guile" file, for example.
3322 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
3324 ** All builtins now print as primitives.
3325 Previously builtin procedures not belonging to the fundamental subr
3326 types printed as #<compiled closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>.
3327 Now, they print as #<primitive-procedure NAME>.
3329 ** Backtraces slightly more intelligible.
3330 gsubr-apply and macro transformer application frames no longer appear
3333 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
3335 ** Guile now correctly handles internal defines by rewriting them into
3336 their equivalent letrec. Previously, internal defines would
3337 incrementally add to the innermost environment, without checking
3338 whether the restrictions specified in RnRS were met. This lead to the
3339 correct behaviour when these restriction actually were met, but didn't
3340 catch all illegal uses. Such an illegal use could lead to crashes of
3341 the Guile interpreter or or other unwanted results. An example of
3342 incorrect internal defines that made Guile behave erratically:
3354 The problem with this example is that the definition of `c' uses the
3355 value of `b' directly. This confuses the meoization machine of Guile
3356 so that the second call of `b' (this time in a larger environment that
3357 also contains bindings for `c' and `d') refers to the binding of `c'
3358 instead of `a'. You could also make Guile crash with a variation on
3363 (define (b flag) (if flag a 1))
3364 (define c (1+ (b flag)))
3372 From now on, Guile will issue an `Unbound variable: b' error message
3377 A hook contains a list of functions which should be called on
3378 particular occasions in an existing program. Hooks are used for
3381 A window manager might have a hook before-window-map-hook. The window
3382 manager uses the function run-hooks to call all functions stored in
3383 before-window-map-hook each time a window is mapped. The user can
3384 store functions in the hook using add-hook!.
3386 In Guile, hooks are first class objects.
3388 *** New function: make-hook [N_ARGS]
3390 Return a hook for hook functions which can take N_ARGS arguments.
3391 The default value for N_ARGS is 0.
3393 (See also scm_make_named_hook below.)
3395 *** New function: add-hook! HOOK PROC [APPEND_P]
3397 Put PROC at the beginning of the list of functions stored in HOOK.
3398 If APPEND_P is supplied, and non-false, put PROC at the end instead.
3400 PROC must be able to take the number of arguments specified when the
3403 If PROC already exists in HOOK, then remove it first.
3405 *** New function: remove-hook! HOOK PROC
3407 Remove PROC from the list of functions in HOOK.
3409 *** New function: reset-hook! HOOK
3411 Clear the list of hook functions stored in HOOK.
3413 *** New function: run-hook HOOK ARG1 ...
3415 Run all hook functions stored in HOOK with arguments ARG1 ... .
3416 The number of arguments supplied must correspond to the number given
3417 when the hook was created.
3419 ** The function `dynamic-link' now takes optional keyword arguments.
3420 The only keyword argument that is currently defined is `:global
3421 BOOL'. With it, you can control whether the shared library will be
3422 linked in global mode or not. In global mode, the symbols from the
3423 linked library can be used to resolve references from other
3424 dynamically linked libraries. In non-global mode, the linked
3425 library is essentially invisible and can only be accessed via
3426 `dynamic-func', etc. The default is now to link in global mode.
3427 Previously, the default has been non-global mode.
3429 The `#:global' keyword is only effective on platforms that support
3430 the dlopen family of functions.
3432 ** New function `provided?'
3434 - Function: provided? FEATURE
3435 Return true iff FEATURE is supported by this installation of
3436 Guile. FEATURE must be a symbol naming a feature; the global
3437 variable `*features*' is a list of available features.
3439 ** Changes to the module (ice-9 expect):
3441 *** The expect-strings macro now matches `$' in a regular expression
3442 only at a line-break or end-of-file by default. Previously it would
3443 match the end of the string accumulated so far. The old behaviour
3444 can be obtained by setting the variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
3447 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
3448 for the regexp-exec flags. If `regexp/noteol' is included, then `$'
3449 in a regular expression will still match before a line-break or
3450 end-of-file. The default is `regexp/noteol'.
3452 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable
3453 `expect-strings-compile-flags' for the flags to be supplied to
3454 `make-regexp'. The default is `regexp/newline', which was previously
3457 *** The expect macro now supplies two arguments to a match procedure:
3458 the current accumulated string and a flag to indicate whether
3459 end-of-file has been reached. Previously only the string was supplied.
3460 If end-of-file is reached, the match procedure will be called an
3461 additional time with the same accumulated string as the previous call
3462 but with the flag set.
3464 ** New module (ice-9 format), implementing the Common Lisp `format' function.
3466 This code, and the documentation for it that appears here, was
3467 borrowed from SLIB, with minor adaptations for Guile.
3469 - Function: format DESTINATION FORMAT-STRING . ARGUMENTS
3470 An almost complete implementation of Common LISP format description
3471 according to the CL reference book `Common LISP' from Guy L.
3472 Steele, Digital Press. Backward compatible to most of the
3473 available Scheme format implementations.
3475 Returns `#t', `#f' or a string; has side effect of printing
3476 according to FORMAT-STRING. If DESTINATION is `#t', the output is
3477 to the current output port and `#t' is returned. If DESTINATION
3478 is `#f', a formatted string is returned as the result of the call.
3479 NEW: If DESTINATION is a string, DESTINATION is regarded as the
3480 format string; FORMAT-STRING is then the first argument and the
3481 output is returned as a string. If DESTINATION is a number, the
3482 output is to the current error port if available by the
3483 implementation. Otherwise DESTINATION must be an output port and
3486 FORMAT-STRING must be a string. In case of a formatting error
3487 format returns `#f' and prints a message on the current output or
3488 error port. Characters are output as if the string were output by
3489 the `display' function with the exception of those prefixed by a
3490 tilde (~). For a detailed description of the FORMAT-STRING syntax
3491 please consult a Common LISP format reference manual. For a test
3492 suite to verify this format implementation load `formatst.scm'.
3493 Please send bug reports to `lutzeb@cs.tu-berlin.de'.
3495 Note: `format' is not reentrant, i.e. only one `format'-call may
3496 be executed at a time.
3499 *** Format Specification (Format version 3.0)
3501 Please consult a Common LISP format reference manual for a detailed
3502 description of the format string syntax. For a demonstration of the
3503 implemented directives see `formatst.scm'.
3505 This implementation supports directive parameters and modifiers (`:'
3506 and `@' characters). Multiple parameters must be separated by a comma
3507 (`,'). Parameters can be numerical parameters (positive or negative),
3508 character parameters (prefixed by a quote character (`''), variable
3509 parameters (`v'), number of rest arguments parameter (`#'), empty and
3510 default parameters. Directive characters are case independent. The
3511 general form of a directive is:
3513 DIRECTIVE ::= ~{DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER,}[:][@]DIRECTIVE-CHARACTER
3515 DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER ::= [ [-|+]{0-9}+ | 'CHARACTER | v | # ]
3517 *** Implemented CL Format Control Directives
3519 Documentation syntax: Uppercase characters represent the
3520 corresponding control directive characters. Lowercase characters
3521 represent control directive parameter descriptions.
3524 Any (print as `display' does).
3528 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARA'
3532 S-expression (print as `write' does).
3536 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARS'
3542 print number sign always.
3545 print comma separated.
3547 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARD'
3553 print number sign always.
3556 print comma separated.
3558 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARX'
3564 print number sign always.
3567 print comma separated.
3569 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARO'
3575 print number sign always.
3578 print comma separated.
3580 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARB'
3585 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARR'
3589 print a number as a Roman numeral.
3592 print a number as an "old fashioned" Roman numeral.
3595 print a number as an ordinal English number.
3598 print a number as a cardinal English number.
3603 prints `y' and `ies'.
3606 as `~P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
3609 as `~@P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
3614 prints a character as the reader can understand it (i.e. `#\'
3618 prints a character as emacs does (eg. `^C' for ASCII 03).
3621 Fixed-format floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN).
3622 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHARF'
3624 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
3627 Exponential floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN`E'EE).
3628 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARE'
3630 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
3633 General floating-point (prints a flonum either fixed or
3635 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARG'
3637 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
3640 Dollars floating-point (prints a flonum in fixed with signs
3642 `~DIGITS,SCALE,WIDTH,PADCHAR$'
3644 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
3647 A sign is always printed and appears before the padding.
3650 The sign appears before the padding.
3658 print newline if not at the beginning of the output line.
3660 prints `~&' and then N-1 newlines.
3665 print N page separators.
3675 newline is ignored, white space left.
3678 newline is left, white space ignored.
3683 relative tabulation.
3689 Indirection (expects indirect arguments as a list).
3691 extracts indirect arguments from format arguments.
3694 Case conversion (converts by `string-downcase').
3696 converts by `string-capitalize'.
3699 converts by `string-capitalize-first'.
3702 converts by `string-upcase'.
3705 Argument Jumping (jumps 1 argument forward).
3707 jumps N arguments forward.
3710 jumps 1 argument backward.
3713 jumps N arguments backward.
3716 jumps to the 0th argument.
3719 jumps to the Nth argument (beginning from 0)
3721 `~[STR0~;STR1~;...~;STRN~]'
3722 Conditional Expression (numerical clause conditional).
3724 take argument from N.
3727 true test conditional.
3730 if-else-then conditional.
3736 default clause follows.
3739 Iteration (args come from the next argument (a list)).
3741 at most N iterations.
3744 args from next arg (a list of lists).
3747 args from the rest of arguments.
3750 args from the rest args (lists).
3761 aborts if N <= M <= K
3763 *** Not Implemented CL Format Control Directives
3766 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
3769 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
3775 (sorry I don't understand its semantics completely)
3777 *** Extended, Replaced and Additional Control Directives
3779 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHD'
3780 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHX'
3781 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHO'
3782 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHB'
3783 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHR'
3784 COMMAWIDTH is the number of characters between two comma
3788 print a R4RS complex number as `~F~@Fi' with passed parameters for
3792 Pretty print formatting of an argument for scheme code lists.
3798 Flushes the output if format DESTINATION is a port.
3801 Print a `#\space' character
3803 print N `#\space' characters.
3806 Print a `#\tab' character
3808 print N `#\tab' characters.
3811 Takes N as an integer representation for a character. No arguments
3812 are consumed. N is converted to a character by `integer->char'. N
3813 must be a positive decimal number.
3816 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
3817 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
3818 be processed by `read'.
3821 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
3822 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
3823 be processed by `read'.
3826 Prints information and a copyright notice on the format
3829 prints format version.
3832 may also print number strings, i.e. passing a number as a string
3833 and format it accordingly.
3835 *** Configuration Variables
3837 The format module exports some configuration variables to suit the
3838 systems and users needs. There should be no modification necessary for
3839 the configuration that comes with Guile. Format detects automatically
3840 if the running scheme system implements floating point numbers and
3843 format:symbol-case-conv
3844 Symbols are converted by `symbol->string' so the case type of the
3845 printed symbols is implementation dependent.
3846 `format:symbol-case-conv' is a one arg closure which is either
3847 `#f' (no conversion), `string-upcase', `string-downcase' or
3848 `string-capitalize'. (default `#f')
3850 format:iobj-case-conv
3851 As FORMAT:SYMBOL-CASE-CONV but applies for the representation of
3852 implementation internal objects. (default `#f')
3855 The character prefixing the exponent value in `~E' printing.
3858 *** Compatibility With Other Format Implementations
3864 Downward compatible except for padding support and `~A', `~S',
3865 `~P', `~X' uppercase printing. SLIB format 1.4 uses C-style
3866 `printf' padding support which is completely replaced by the CL
3867 `format' padding style.
3870 Downward compatible except for `~', which is not documented
3871 (ignores all characters inside the format string up to a newline
3872 character). (7.1 implements `~a', `~s', ~NEWLINE, `~~', `~%',
3873 numerical and variable parameters and `:/@' modifiers in the CL
3877 Downward compatible except for `~A' and `~S' which print in
3878 uppercase. (Elk implements `~a', `~s', `~~', and `~%' (no
3879 directive parameters or modifiers)).
3882 Downward compatible except for an optional destination parameter:
3883 S2C accepts a format call without a destination which returns a
3884 formatted string. This is equivalent to a #f destination in S2C.
3885 (S2C implements `~a', `~s', `~c', `~%', and `~~' (no directive
3886 parameters or modifiers)).
3889 ** Changes to string-handling functions.
3891 These functions were added to support the (ice-9 format) module, above.
3893 *** New function: string-upcase STRING
3894 *** New function: string-downcase STRING
3896 These are non-destructive versions of the existing string-upcase! and
3897 string-downcase! functions.
3899 *** New function: string-capitalize! STRING
3900 *** New function: string-capitalize STRING
3902 These functions convert the first letter of each word in the string to
3905 (string-capitalize "howdy there")
3908 As with the other functions, string-capitalize! modifies the string in
3909 place, while string-capitalize returns a modified copy of its argument.
3911 *** New function: string-ci->symbol STRING
3913 Return a symbol whose name is STRING, but having the same case as if
3914 the symbol had be read by `read'.
3916 Guile can be configured to be sensitive or insensitive to case
3917 differences in Scheme identifiers. If Guile is case-insensitive, all
3918 symbols are converted to lower case on input. The `string-ci->symbol'
3919 function returns a symbol whose name in STRING, transformed as Guile
3920 would if STRING were input.
3922 *** New function: substring-move! STRING1 START END STRING2 START
3924 Copy the substring of STRING1 from START (inclusive) to END
3925 (exclusive) to STRING2 at START. STRING1 and STRING2 may be the same
3926 string, and the source and destination areas may overlap; in all
3927 cases, the function behaves as if all the characters were copied
3930 *** Extended functions: substring-move-left! substring-move-right!
3932 These functions now correctly copy arbitrarily overlapping substrings;
3933 they are both synonyms for substring-move!.
3936 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-long), with the function `getopt-long'.
3938 getopt-long is a function for parsing command-line arguments in a
3939 manner consistent with other GNU programs.
3941 (getopt-long ARGS GRAMMAR)
3942 Parse the arguments ARGS according to the argument list grammar GRAMMAR.
3944 ARGS should be a list of strings. Its first element should be the
3945 name of the program; subsequent elements should be the arguments
3946 that were passed to the program on the command line. The
3947 `program-arguments' procedure returns a list of this form.
3949 GRAMMAR is a list of the form:
3950 ((OPTION (PROPERTY VALUE) ...) ...)
3952 Each OPTION should be a symbol. `getopt-long' will accept a
3953 command-line option named `--OPTION'.
3954 Each option can have the following (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs:
3956 (single-char CHAR) --- Accept `-CHAR' as a single-character
3957 equivalent to `--OPTION'. This is how to specify traditional
3959 (required? BOOL) --- If BOOL is true, the option is required.
3960 getopt-long will raise an error if it is not found in ARGS.
3961 (value BOOL) --- If BOOL is #t, the option accepts a value; if
3962 it is #f, it does not; and if it is the symbol
3963 `optional', the option may appear in ARGS with or
3965 (predicate FUNC) --- If the option accepts a value (i.e. you
3966 specified `(value #t)' for this option), then getopt
3967 will apply FUNC to the value, and throw an exception
3968 if it returns #f. FUNC should be a procedure which
3969 accepts a string and returns a boolean value; you may
3970 need to use quasiquotes to get it into GRAMMAR.
3972 The (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs may occur in any order, but each
3973 property may occur only once. By default, options do not have
3974 single-character equivalents, are not required, and do not take
3977 In ARGS, single-character options may be combined, in the usual
3978 Unix fashion: ("-x" "-y") is equivalent to ("-xy"). If an option
3979 accepts values, then it must be the last option in the
3980 combination; the value is the next argument. So, for example, using
3981 the following grammar:
3982 ((apples (single-char #\a))
3983 (blimps (single-char #\b) (value #t))
3984 (catalexis (single-char #\c) (value #t)))
3985 the following argument lists would be acceptable:
3986 ("-a" "-b" "bang" "-c" "couth") ("bang" and "couth" are the values
3987 for "blimps" and "catalexis")
3988 ("-ab" "bang" "-c" "couth") (same)
3989 ("-ac" "couth" "-b" "bang") (same)
3990 ("-abc" "couth" "bang") (an error, since `-b' is not the
3991 last option in its combination)
3993 If an option's value is optional, then `getopt-long' decides
3994 whether it has a value by looking at what follows it in ARGS. If
3995 the next element is a string, and it does not appear to be an
3996 option itself, then that string is the option's value.
3998 The value of a long option can appear as the next element in ARGS,
3999 or it can follow the option name, separated by an `=' character.
4000 Thus, using the same grammar as above, the following argument lists
4002 ("--apples" "Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
4003 ("--apples=Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
4004 ("--blimps" "Goodyear" "--apples=Braeburn")
4006 If the option "--" appears in ARGS, argument parsing stops there;
4007 subsequent arguments are returned as ordinary arguments, even if
4008 they resemble options. So, in the argument list:
4009 ("--apples" "Granny Smith" "--" "--blimp" "Goodyear")
4010 `getopt-long' will recognize the `apples' option as having the
4011 value "Granny Smith", but it will not recognize the `blimp'
4012 option; it will return the strings "--blimp" and "Goodyear" as
4013 ordinary argument strings.
4015 The `getopt-long' function returns the parsed argument list as an
4016 assocation list, mapping option names --- the symbols from GRAMMAR
4017 --- onto their values, or #t if the option does not accept a value.
4018 Unused options do not appear in the alist.
4020 All arguments that are not the value of any option are returned
4021 as a list, associated with the empty list.
4023 `getopt-long' throws an exception if:
4024 - it finds an unrecognized option in ARGS
4025 - a required option is omitted
4026 - an option that requires an argument doesn't get one
4027 - an option that doesn't accept an argument does get one (this can
4028 only happen using the long option `--opt=value' syntax)
4029 - an option predicate fails
4034 `((lockfile-dir (required? #t)
4037 (predicate ,file-is-directory?))
4038 (verbose (required? #f)
4041 (x-includes (single-char #\x))
4042 (rnet-server (single-char #\y)
4043 (predicate ,string?))))
4045 (getopt-long '("my-prog" "-vk" "/tmp" "foo1" "--x-includes=/usr/include"
4046 "--rnet-server=lamprod" "--" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
4048 => ((() "foo1" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
4049 (rnet-server . "lamprod")
4050 (x-includes . "/usr/include")
4051 (lockfile-dir . "/tmp")
4054 ** The (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) module is obsolete; use (ice-9 getopt-long).
4056 It will be removed in a few releases.
4058 ** New syntax: lambda*
4059 ** New syntax: define*
4060 ** New syntax: define*-public
4061 ** New syntax: defmacro*
4062 ** New syntax: defmacro*-public
4063 Guile now supports optional arguments.
4065 `lambda*', `define*', `define*-public', `defmacro*' and
4066 `defmacro*-public' are identical to the non-* versions except that
4067 they use an extended type of parameter list that has the following BNF
4068 syntax (parentheses are literal, square brackets indicate grouping,
4069 and `*', `+' and `?' have the usual meaning):
4071 ext-param-list ::= ( [identifier]* [#&optional [ext-var-decl]+]?
4072 [#&key [ext-var-decl]+ [#&allow-other-keys]?]?
4073 [[#&rest identifier]|[. identifier]]? ) | [identifier]
4075 ext-var-decl ::= identifier | ( identifier expression )
4077 The semantics are best illustrated with the following documentation
4078 and examples for `lambda*':
4081 lambda extended for optional and keyword arguments
4083 lambda* creates a procedure that takes optional arguments. These
4084 are specified by putting them inside brackets at the end of the
4085 paramater list, but before any dotted rest argument. For example,
4086 (lambda* (a b #&optional c d . e) '())
4087 creates a procedure with fixed arguments a and b, optional arguments c
4088 and d, and rest argument e. If the optional arguments are omitted
4089 in a call, the variables for them are unbound in the procedure. This
4090 can be checked with the bound? macro.
4092 lambda* can also take keyword arguments. For example, a procedure
4094 (lambda* (#&key xyzzy larch) '())
4095 can be called with any of the argument lists (#:xyzzy 11)
4096 (#:larch 13) (#:larch 42 #:xyzzy 19) (). Whichever arguments
4097 are given as keywords are bound to values.
4099 Optional and keyword arguments can also be given default values
4100 which they take on when they are not present in a call, by giving a
4101 two-item list in place of an optional argument, for example in:
4102 (lambda* (foo #&optional (bar 42) #&key (baz 73)) (list foo bar baz))
4103 foo is a fixed argument, bar is an optional argument with default
4104 value 42, and baz is a keyword argument with default value 73.
4105 Default value expressions are not evaluated unless they are needed
4106 and until the procedure is called.
4108 lambda* now supports two more special parameter list keywords.
4110 lambda*-defined procedures now throw an error by default if a
4111 keyword other than one of those specified is found in the actual
4112 passed arguments. However, specifying #&allow-other-keys
4113 immediately after the kyword argument declarations restores the
4114 previous behavior of ignoring unknown keywords. lambda* also now
4115 guarantees that if the same keyword is passed more than once, the
4116 last one passed is the one that takes effect. For example,
4117 ((lambda* (#&key (heads 0) (tails 0)) (display (list heads tails)))
4118 #:heads 37 #:tails 42 #:heads 99)
4119 would result in (99 47) being displayed.
4121 #&rest is also now provided as a synonym for the dotted syntax rest
4122 argument. The argument lists (a . b) and (a #&rest b) are equivalent in
4123 all respects to lambda*. This is provided for more similarity to DSSSL,
4124 MIT-Scheme and Kawa among others, as well as for refugees from other
4127 Further documentation may be found in the optargs.scm file itself.
4129 The optional argument module also exports the macros `let-optional',
4130 `let-optional*', `let-keywords', `let-keywords*' and `bound?'. These
4131 are not documented here because they may be removed in the future, but
4132 full documentation is still available in optargs.scm.
4134 ** New syntax: and-let*
4135 Guile now supports the `and-let*' form, described in the draft SRFI-2.
4137 Syntax: (land* (<clause> ...) <body> ...)
4138 Each <clause> should have one of the following forms:
4139 (<variable> <expression>)
4142 Each <variable> or <bound-variable> should be an identifier. Each
4143 <expression> should be a valid expression. The <body> should be a
4144 possibly empty sequence of expressions, like the <body> of a
4147 Semantics: A LAND* expression is evaluated by evaluating the
4148 <expression> or <bound-variable> of each of the <clause>s from
4149 left to right. The value of the first <expression> or
4150 <bound-variable> that evaluates to a false value is returned; the
4151 remaining <expression>s and <bound-variable>s are not evaluated.
4152 The <body> forms are evaluated iff all the <expression>s and
4153 <bound-variable>s evaluate to true values.
4155 The <expression>s and the <body> are evaluated in an environment
4156 binding each <variable> of the preceding (<variable> <expression>)
4157 clauses to the value of the <expression>. Later bindings
4158 shadow earlier bindings.
4160 Guile's and-let* macro was contributed by Michael Livshin.
4162 ** New sorting functions
4164 *** New function: sorted? SEQUENCE LESS?
4165 Returns `#t' when the sequence argument is in non-decreasing order
4166 according to LESS? (that is, there is no adjacent pair `... x y
4167 ...' for which `(less? y x)').
4169 Returns `#f' when the sequence contains at least one out-of-order
4170 pair. It is an error if the sequence is neither a list nor a
4173 *** New function: merge LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
4174 LIST1 and LIST2 are sorted lists.
4175 Returns the sorted list of all elements in LIST1 and LIST2.
4177 Assume that the elements a and b1 in LIST1 and b2 in LIST2 are "equal"
4178 in the sense that (LESS? x y) --> #f for x, y in {a, b1, b2},
4179 and that a < b1 in LIST1. Then a < b1 < b2 in the result.
4180 (Here "<" should read "comes before".)
4182 *** New procedure: merge! LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
4183 Merges two lists, re-using the pairs of LIST1 and LIST2 to build
4184 the result. If the code is compiled, and LESS? constructs no new
4185 pairs, no pairs at all will be allocated. The first pair of the
4186 result will be either the first pair of LIST1 or the first pair of
4189 *** New function: sort SEQUENCE LESS?
4190 Accepts either a list or a vector, and returns a new sequence
4191 which is sorted. The new sequence is the same type as the input.
4192 Always `(sorted? (sort sequence less?) less?)'. The original
4193 sequence is not altered in any way. The new sequence shares its
4194 elements with the old one; no elements are copied.
4196 *** New procedure: sort! SEQUENCE LESS
4197 Returns its sorted result in the original boxes. No new storage is
4198 allocated at all. Proper usage: (set! slist (sort! slist <))
4200 *** New function: stable-sort SEQUENCE LESS?
4201 Similar to `sort' but stable. That is, if "equal" elements are
4202 ordered a < b in the original sequence, they will have the same order
4205 *** New function: stable-sort! SEQUENCE LESS?
4206 Similar to `sort!' but stable.
4207 Uses temporary storage when sorting vectors.
4209 *** New functions: sort-list, sort-list!
4210 Added for compatibility with scsh.
4212 ** New built-in random number support
4214 *** New function: random N [STATE]
4215 Accepts a positive integer or real N and returns a number of the
4216 same type between zero (inclusive) and N (exclusive). The values
4217 returned have a uniform distribution.
4219 The optional argument STATE must be of the type produced by
4220 `copy-random-state' or `seed->random-state'. It defaults to the value
4221 of the variable `*random-state*'. This object is used to maintain the
4222 state of the pseudo-random-number generator and is altered as a side
4223 effect of the `random' operation.
4225 *** New variable: *random-state*
4226 Holds a data structure that encodes the internal state of the
4227 random-number generator that `random' uses by default. The nature
4228 of this data structure is implementation-dependent. It may be
4229 printed out and successfully read back in, but may or may not
4230 function correctly as a random-number state object in another
4233 *** New function: copy-random-state [STATE]
4234 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
4235 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
4236 If argument STATE is given, a copy of it is returned. Otherwise a
4237 copy of `*random-state*' is returned.
4239 *** New function: seed->random-state SEED
4240 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
4241 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
4242 SEED is a string or a number. A new state is generated and
4243 initialized using SEED.
4245 *** New function: random:uniform [STATE]
4246 Returns an uniformly distributed inexact real random number in the
4247 range between 0 and 1.
4249 *** New procedure: random:solid-sphere! VECT [STATE]
4250 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose
4251 squares is less than 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in
4252 space of dimension N = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are
4253 uniformly distributed within the unit N-shere. The sum of the
4254 squares of the numbers is returned. VECT can be either a vector
4255 or a uniform vector of doubles.
4257 *** New procedure: random:hollow-sphere! VECT [STATE]
4258 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose squares
4259 is equal to 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in space of
4260 dimension n = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are uniformly
4261 distributed over the surface of the unit n-shere. VECT can be either
4262 a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
4264 *** New function: random:normal [STATE]
4265 Returns an inexact real in a normal distribution with mean 0 and
4266 standard deviation 1. For a normal distribution with mean M and
4267 standard deviation D use `(+ M (* D (random:normal)))'.
4269 *** New procedure: random:normal-vector! VECT [STATE]
4270 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers which are independent and
4271 standard normally distributed (i.e., with mean 0 and variance 1).
4272 VECT can be either a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
4274 *** New function: random:exp STATE
4275 Returns an inexact real in an exponential distribution with mean 1.
4276 For an exponential distribution with mean U use (* U (random:exp)).
4278 ** The range of logand, logior, logxor, logtest, and logbit? have changed.
4280 These functions now operate on numbers in the range of a C unsigned
4283 These functions used to operate on numbers in the range of a C signed
4284 long; however, this seems inappropriate, because Guile integers don't
4287 ** New function: make-guardian
4288 This is an implementation of guardians as described in
4289 R. Kent Dybvig, Carl Bruggeman, and David Eby (1993) "Guardians in a
4290 Generation-Based Garbage Collector" ACM SIGPLAN Conference on
4291 Programming Language Design and Implementation, June 1993
4292 ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/scheme-repository/doc/pubs/guardians.ps.gz
4294 ** New functions: delq1!, delv1!, delete1!
4295 These procedures behave similar to delq! and friends but delete only
4296 one object if at all.
4298 ** New function: unread-string STRING PORT
4299 Unread STRING to PORT, that is, push it back onto the port so that
4300 next read operation will work on the pushed back characters.
4302 ** unread-char can now be called multiple times
4303 If unread-char is called multiple times, the unread characters will be
4304 read again in last-in first-out order.
4306 ** the procedures uniform-array-read! and uniform-array-write! now
4307 work on any kind of port, not just ports which are open on a file.
4309 ** Now 'l' in a port mode requests line buffering.
4311 ** The procedure truncate-file now works on string ports as well
4312 as file ports. If the size argument is omitted, the current
4313 file position is used.
4315 ** new procedure: seek PORT/FDES OFFSET WHENCE
4316 The arguments are the same as for the old fseek procedure, but it
4317 works on string ports as well as random-access file ports.
4319 ** the fseek procedure now works on string ports, since it has been
4320 redefined using seek.
4322 ** the setvbuf procedure now uses a default size if mode is _IOFBF and
4323 size is not supplied.
4325 ** the newline procedure no longer flushes the port if it's not
4326 line-buffered: previously it did if it was the current output port.
4328 ** open-pipe and close-pipe are no longer primitive procedures, but
4329 an emulation can be obtained using `(use-modules (ice-9 popen))'.
4331 ** the freopen procedure has been removed.
4333 ** new procedure: drain-input PORT
4334 Drains PORT's read buffers (including any pushed-back characters)
4335 and returns the contents as a single string.
4337 ** New function: map-in-order PROC LIST1 LIST2 ...
4338 Version of `map' which guarantees that the procedure is applied to the
4339 lists in serial order.
4341 ** Renamed `serial-array-copy!' and `serial-array-map!' to
4342 `array-copy-in-order!' and `array-map-in-order!'. The old names are
4343 now obsolete and will go away in release 1.5.
4345 ** New syntax: collect BODY1 ...
4346 Version of `begin' which returns a list of the results of the body
4347 forms instead of the result of the last body form. In contrast to
4348 `begin', `collect' allows an empty body.
4350 ** New functions: read-history FILENAME, write-history FILENAME
4351 Read/write command line history from/to file. Returns #t on success
4352 and #f if an error occured.
4354 ** `ls' and `lls' in module (ice-9 ls) now handle no arguments.
4356 These procedures return a list of definitions available in the specified
4357 argument, a relative module reference. In the case of no argument,
4358 `(current-module)' is now consulted for definitions to return, instead
4359 of simply returning #f, the former behavior.
4361 ** The #/ syntax for lists is no longer supported.
4363 Earlier versions of Scheme accepted this syntax, but printed a
4366 ** Guile no longer consults the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable.
4368 Instead, you should set GUILE_LOAD_PATH to tell Guile where to find
4371 * Changes to the gh_ interface
4375 Now takes a second argument which is the result array. If this
4376 pointer is NULL, a new array is malloced (the old behaviour).
4378 ** gh_chars2byvect, gh_shorts2svect, gh_floats2fvect, gh_scm2chars,
4379 gh_scm2shorts, gh_scm2longs, gh_scm2floats
4383 * Changes to the scm_ interface
4385 ** Function: scm_make_named_hook (char* name, int n_args)
4387 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
4388 binds a variable named NAME to it.
4390 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
4392 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module. This
4393 might change when we get the new module system.
4395 ** The smob interface
4397 The interface for creating smobs has changed. For documentation, see
4398 data-rep.info (made from guile-core/doc/data-rep.texi).
4400 *** Deprecated function: SCM scm_newsmob (scm_smobfuns *)
4402 >>> This function will be removed in 1.3.4. <<<
4406 *** Function: SCM scm_make_smob_type (const char *name, scm_sizet size)
4407 This function adds a new smob type, named NAME, with instance size
4408 SIZE to the system. The return value is a tag that is used in
4409 creating instances of the type. If SIZE is 0, then no memory will
4410 be allocated when instances of the smob are created, and nothing
4411 will be freed by the default free function.
4413 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_mark (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
4414 This function sets the smob marking procedure for the smob type
4415 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4416 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4418 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_free (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
4419 This function sets the smob freeing procedure for the smob type
4420 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4421 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4423 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_print (tc, print)
4425 - Function: void scm_set_smob_print (long tc,
4426 scm_sizet (*print) (SCM,
4430 This function sets the smob printing procedure for the smob type
4431 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4432 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4434 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_equalp (long tc, SCM (*equalp) (SCM, SCM))
4435 This function sets the smob equality-testing predicate for the
4436 smob type specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4437 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4439 *** Macro: void SCM_NEWSMOB (SCM var, long tc, void *data)
4440 Make VALUE contain a smob instance of the type with type code TC and
4441 smob data DATA. VALUE must be previously declared as C type `SCM'.
4443 *** Macro: fn_returns SCM_RETURN_NEWSMOB (long tc, void *data)
4444 This macro expands to a block of code that creates a smob instance
4445 of the type with type code TC and smob data DATA, and returns that
4446 `SCM' value. It should be the last piece of code in a block.
4448 ** The interfaces for using I/O ports and implementing port types
4449 (ptobs) have changed significantly. The new interface is based on
4450 shared access to buffers and a new set of ptob procedures.
4452 *** scm_newptob has been removed
4456 *** Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (type_name, fill_buffer, write_flush)
4458 - Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (char *type_name,
4459 int (*fill_buffer) (SCM port),
4460 void (*write_flush) (SCM port));
4462 Similarly to the new smob interface, there is a set of function
4463 setters by which the user can customize the behaviour of his port
4464 type. See ports.h (scm_set_port_XXX).
4466 ** scm_strport_to_string: New function: creates a new string from
4467 a string port's buffer.
4469 ** Plug in interface for random number generators
4470 The variable `scm_the_rng' in random.c contains a value and three
4471 function pointers which together define the current random number
4472 generator being used by the Scheme level interface and the random
4473 number library functions.
4475 The user is free to replace the default generator with the generator
4478 *** Variable: size_t scm_the_rng.rstate_size
4479 The size of the random state type used by the current RNG
4482 *** Function: unsigned long scm_the_rng.random_bits (scm_rstate *STATE)
4483 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
4485 *** Function: void scm_the_rng.init_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE, chars *S, int N)
4486 Seed random state STATE using string S of length N.
4488 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_the_rng.copy_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE)
4489 Given random state STATE, return a malloced copy.
4492 The default RNG is the MWC (Multiply With Carry) random number
4493 generator described by George Marsaglia at the Department of
4494 Statistics and Supercomputer Computations Research Institute, The
4495 Florida State University (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo).
4497 It uses 64 bits, has a period of 4578426017172946943 (4.6e18), and
4498 passes all tests in the DIEHARD test suite
4499 (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo/diehard.html). The generation of 32 bits
4500 costs one multiply and one add on platforms which either supports long
4501 longs (gcc does this on most systems) or have 64 bit longs. The cost
4502 is four multiply on other systems but this can be optimized by writing
4503 scm_i_uniform32 in assembler.
4505 These functions are provided through the scm_the_rng interface for use
4506 by libguile and the application.
4508 *** Function: unsigned long scm_i_uniform32 (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
4509 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
4510 Don't use this function directly. Instead go through the plugin
4511 interface (see "Plug in interface" above).
4513 *** Function: void scm_i_init_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE, char *SEED, int N)
4514 Initialize STATE using SEED of length N.
4516 *** Function: scm_i_rstate *scm_i_copy_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
4517 Return a malloc:ed copy of STATE. This function can easily be re-used
4518 in the interfaces to other RNGs.
4520 ** Random number library functions
4521 These functions use the current RNG through the scm_the_rng interface.
4522 It might be a good idea to use these functions from your C code so
4523 that only one random generator is used by all code in your program.
4525 The default random state is stored in:
4527 *** Variable: SCM scm_var_random_state
4528 Contains the vcell of the Scheme variable "*random-state*" which is
4529 used as default state by all random number functions in the Scheme
4534 double x = scm_c_uniform01 (SCM_RSTATE (SCM_CDR (scm_var_random_state)));
4536 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_default_rstate (void)
4537 This is a convenience function which returns the value of
4538 scm_var_random_state. An error message is generated if this value
4539 isn't a random state.
4541 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_make_rstate (char *SEED, int LENGTH)
4542 Make a new random state from the string SEED of length LENGTH.
4544 It is generally not a good idea to use multiple random states in a
4545 program. While subsequent random numbers generated from one random
4546 state are guaranteed to be reasonably independent, there is no such
4547 guarantee for numbers generated from different random states.
4549 *** Macro: unsigned long scm_c_uniform32 (scm_rstate *STATE)
4550 Return 32 random bits.
4552 *** Function: double scm_c_uniform01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
4553 Return a sample from the uniform(0,1) distribution.
4555 *** Function: double scm_c_normal01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
4556 Return a sample from the normal(0,1) distribution.
4558 *** Function: double scm_c_exp1 (scm_rstate *STATE)
4559 Return a sample from the exp(1) distribution.
4561 *** Function: unsigned long scm_c_random (scm_rstate *STATE, unsigned long M)
4562 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
4564 *** Function: SCM scm_c_random_bignum (scm_rstate *STATE, SCM M)
4565 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
4566 M must be a bignum object. The returned value may be an INUM.
4570 Changes in Guile 1.3 (released Monday, October 19, 1998):
4572 * Changes to the distribution
4574 ** We renamed the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable to GUILE_LOAD_PATH.
4575 To avoid conflicts, programs should name environment variables after
4576 themselves, except when there's a common practice establishing some
4579 For now, Guile supports both GUILE_LOAD_PATH and SCHEME_LOAD_PATH,
4580 giving the former precedence, and printing a warning message if the
4581 latter is set. Guile 1.4 will not recognize SCHEME_LOAD_PATH at all.
4583 ** The header files related to multi-byte characters have been removed.
4584 They were: libguile/extchrs.h and libguile/mbstrings.h. Any C code
4585 which referred to these explicitly will probably need to be rewritten,
4586 since the support for the variant string types has been removed; see
4589 ** The header files append.h and sequences.h have been removed. These
4590 files implemented non-R4RS operations which would encourage
4591 non-portable programming style and less easy-to-read code.
4593 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
4595 ** New procedures have been added to implement a "batch mode":
4597 *** Function: batch-mode?
4599 Returns a boolean indicating whether the interpreter is in batch
4602 *** Function: set-batch-mode?! ARG
4604 If ARG is true, switches the interpreter to batch mode. The `#f'
4605 case has not been implemented.
4607 ** Guile now provides full command-line editing, when run interactively.
4608 To use this feature, you must have the readline library installed.
4609 The Guile build process will notice it, and automatically include
4612 The readline library is available via anonymous FTP from any GNU
4613 mirror site; the canonical location is "ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu".
4615 ** the-last-stack is now a fluid.
4617 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
4619 ** You can now use the `guile-config' utility to build programs that use Guile.
4621 Guile now includes a command-line utility called `guile-config', which
4622 can provide information about how to compile and link programs that
4625 *** `guile-config compile' prints any C compiler flags needed to use Guile.
4626 You should include this command's output on the command line you use
4627 to compile C or C++ code that #includes the Guile header files. It's
4628 usually just a `-I' flag to help the compiler find the Guile headers.
4631 *** `guile-config link' prints any linker flags necessary to link with Guile.
4633 This command writes to its standard output a list of flags which you
4634 must pass to the linker to link your code against the Guile library.
4635 The flags include '-lguile' itself, any other libraries the Guile
4636 library depends upon, and any `-L' flags needed to help the linker
4637 find those libraries.
4639 For example, here is a Makefile rule that builds a program named 'foo'
4640 from the object files ${FOO_OBJECTS}, and links them against Guile:
4643 ${CC} ${CFLAGS} ${FOO_OBJECTS} `guile-config link` -o foo
4645 Previous Guile releases recommended that you use autoconf to detect
4646 which of a predefined set of libraries were present on your system.
4647 It is more robust to use `guile-config', since it records exactly which
4648 libraries the installed Guile library requires.
4650 This was originally called `build-guile', but was renamed to
4651 `guile-config' before Guile 1.3 was released, to be consistent with
4652 the analogous script for the GTK+ GUI toolkit, which is called
4656 ** Use the GUILE_FLAGS macro in your configure.in file to find Guile.
4658 If you are using the GNU autoconf package to configure your program,
4659 you can use the GUILE_FLAGS autoconf macro to call `guile-config'
4660 (described above) and gather the necessary values for use in your
4663 The GUILE_FLAGS macro expands to configure script code which runs the
4664 `guile-config' script, to find out where Guile's header files and
4665 libraries are installed. It sets two variables, marked for
4666 substitution, as by AC_SUBST.
4668 GUILE_CFLAGS --- flags to pass to a C or C++ compiler to build
4669 code that uses Guile header files. This is almost always just a
4672 GUILE_LDFLAGS --- flags to pass to the linker to link a
4673 program against Guile. This includes `-lguile' for the Guile
4674 library itself, any libraries that Guile itself requires (like
4675 -lqthreads), and so on. It may also include a -L flag to tell the
4676 compiler where to find the libraries.
4678 GUILE_FLAGS is defined in the file guile.m4, in the top-level
4679 directory of the Guile distribution. You can copy it into your
4680 package's aclocal.m4 file, and then use it in your configure.in file.
4682 If you are using the `aclocal' program, distributed with GNU automake,
4683 to maintain your aclocal.m4 file, the Guile installation process
4684 installs guile.m4 where aclocal will find it. All you need to do is
4685 use GUILE_FLAGS in your configure.in file, and then run `aclocal';
4686 this will copy the definition of GUILE_FLAGS into your aclocal.m4
4690 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
4692 ** Multi-byte strings have been removed, as have multi-byte and wide
4693 ports. We felt that these were the wrong approach to
4694 internationalization support.
4696 ** New function: readline [PROMPT]
4697 Read a line from the terminal, and allow the user to edit it,
4698 prompting with PROMPT. READLINE provides a large set of Emacs-like
4699 editing commands, lets the user recall previously typed lines, and
4700 works on almost every kind of terminal, including dumb terminals.
4702 READLINE assumes that the cursor is at the beginning of the line when
4703 it is invoked. Thus, you can't print a prompt yourself, and then call
4704 READLINE; you need to package up your prompt as a string, pass it to
4705 the function, and let READLINE print the prompt itself. This is
4706 because READLINE needs to know the prompt's screen width.
4708 For Guile to provide this function, you must have the readline
4709 library, version 2.1 or later, installed on your system. Readline is
4710 available via anonymous FTP from prep.ai.mit.edu in pub/gnu, or from
4711 any GNU mirror site.
4713 See also ADD-HISTORY function.
4715 ** New function: add-history STRING
4716 Add STRING as the most recent line in the history used by the READLINE
4717 command. READLINE does not add lines to the history itself; you must
4718 call ADD-HISTORY to make previous input available to the user.
4720 ** The behavior of the read-line function has changed.
4722 This function now uses standard C library functions to read the line,
4723 for speed. This means that it doesn not respect the value of
4724 scm-line-incrementors; it assumes that lines are delimited with
4727 (Note that this is read-line, the function that reads a line of text
4728 from a port, not readline, the function that reads a line from a
4729 terminal, providing full editing capabilities.)
4731 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style): Parse command-line arguments.
4733 This module provides some simple argument parsing. It exports one
4736 Function: getopt-gnu-style ARG-LS
4737 Parse a list of program arguments into an alist of option
4740 Each item in the list of program arguments is examined to see if
4741 it meets the syntax of a GNU long-named option. An argument like
4742 `--MUMBLE' produces an element of the form (MUMBLE . #t) in the
4743 returned alist, where MUMBLE is a keyword object with the same
4744 name as the argument. An argument like `--MUMBLE=FROB' produces
4745 an element of the form (MUMBLE . FROB), where FROB is a string.
4747 As a special case, the returned alist also contains a pair whose
4748 car is the symbol `rest'. The cdr of this pair is a list
4749 containing all the items in the argument list that are not options
4750 of the form mentioned above.
4752 The argument `--' is treated specially: all items in the argument
4753 list appearing after such an argument are not examined, and are
4754 returned in the special `rest' list.
4756 This function does not parse normal single-character switches.
4757 You will need to parse them out of the `rest' list yourself.
4759 ** The read syntax for byte vectors and short vectors has changed.
4761 Instead of #bytes(...), write #y(...).
4763 Instead of #short(...), write #h(...).
4765 This may seem nutty, but, like the other uniform vectors, byte vectors
4766 and short vectors want to have the same print and read syntax (and,
4767 more basic, want to have read syntax!). Changing the read syntax to
4768 use multiple characters after the hash sign breaks with the
4769 conventions used in R5RS and the conventions used for the other
4770 uniform vectors. It also introduces complexity in the current reader,
4771 both on the C and Scheme levels. (The Right solution is probably to
4772 change the syntax and prototypes for uniform vectors entirely.)
4775 ** The new module (ice-9 session) provides useful interactive functions.
4777 *** New procedure: (apropos REGEXP OPTION ...)
4779 Display a list of top-level variables whose names match REGEXP, and
4780 the modules they are imported from. Each OPTION should be one of the
4783 value --- Show the value of each matching variable.
4784 shadow --- Show bindings shadowed by subsequently imported modules.
4785 full --- Same as both `shadow' and `value'.
4789 guile> (apropos "trace" 'full)
4790 debug: trace #<procedure trace args>
4791 debug: untrace #<procedure untrace args>
4792 the-scm-module: display-backtrace #<compiled-closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>
4793 the-scm-module: before-backtrace-hook ()
4794 the-scm-module: backtrace #<primitive-procedure backtrace>
4795 the-scm-module: after-backtrace-hook ()
4796 the-scm-module: has-shown-backtrace-hint? #f
4799 ** There are new functions and syntax for working with macros.
4801 Guile implements macros as a special object type. Any variable whose
4802 top-level binding is a macro object acts as a macro. The macro object
4803 specifies how the expression should be transformed before evaluation.
4805 *** Macro objects now print in a reasonable way, resembling procedures.
4807 *** New function: (macro? OBJ)
4808 True iff OBJ is a macro object.
4810 *** New function: (primitive-macro? OBJ)
4811 Like (macro? OBJ), but true only if OBJ is one of the Guile primitive
4812 macro transformers, implemented in eval.c rather than Scheme code.
4814 Why do we have this function?
4815 - For symmetry with procedure? and primitive-procedure?,
4816 - to allow custom print procedures to tell whether a macro is
4817 primitive, and display it differently, and
4818 - to allow compilers and user-written evaluators to distinguish
4819 builtin special forms from user-defined ones, which could be
4822 *** New function: (macro-type OBJ)
4823 Return a value indicating what kind of macro OBJ is. Possible return
4826 The symbol `syntax' --- a macro created by procedure->syntax.
4827 The symbol `macro' --- a macro created by procedure->macro.
4828 The symbol `macro!' --- a macro created by procedure->memoizing-macro.
4829 The boolean #f --- if OBJ is not a macro object.
4831 *** New function: (macro-name MACRO)
4832 Return the name of the macro object MACRO's procedure, as returned by
4835 *** New function: (macro-transformer MACRO)
4836 Return the transformer procedure for MACRO.
4838 *** New syntax: (use-syntax MODULE ... TRANSFORMER)
4840 Specify a new macro expander to use in the current module. Each
4841 MODULE is a module name, with the same meaning as in the `use-modules'
4842 form; each named module's exported bindings are added to the current
4843 top-level environment. TRANSFORMER is an expression evaluated in the
4844 resulting environment which must yield a procedure to use as the
4845 module's eval transformer: every expression evaluated in this module
4846 is passed to this function, and the result passed to the Guile
4849 *** macro-eval! is removed. Use local-eval instead.
4851 ** Some magic has been added to the printer to better handle user
4852 written printing routines (like record printers, closure printers).
4854 The problem is that these user written routines must have access to
4855 the current `print-state' to be able to handle fancy things like
4856 detection of circular references. These print-states have to be
4857 passed to the builtin printing routines (display, write, etc) to
4858 properly continue the print chain.
4860 We didn't want to change all existing print code so that it
4861 explicitly passes thru a print state in addition to a port. Instead,
4862 we extented the possible values that the builtin printing routines
4863 accept as a `port'. In addition to a normal port, they now also take
4864 a pair of a normal port and a print-state. Printing will go to the
4865 port and the print-state will be used to control the detection of
4866 circular references, etc. If the builtin function does not care for a
4867 print-state, it is simply ignored.
4869 User written callbacks are now called with such a pair as their
4870 `port', but because every function now accepts this pair as a PORT
4871 argument, you don't have to worry about that. In fact, it is probably
4872 safest to not check for these pairs.
4874 However, it is sometimes necessary to continue a print chain on a
4875 different port, for example to get a intermediate string
4876 representation of the printed value, mangle that string somehow, and
4877 then to finally print the mangled string. Use the new function
4879 inherit-print-state OLD-PORT NEW-PORT
4881 for this. It constructs a new `port' that prints to NEW-PORT but
4882 inherits the print-state of OLD-PORT.
4884 ** struct-vtable-offset renamed to vtable-offset-user
4886 ** New constants: vtable-index-layout, vtable-index-vtable, vtable-index-printer
4888 ** There is now a third optional argument to make-vtable-vtable
4889 (and fourth to make-struct) when constructing new types (vtables).
4890 This argument initializes field vtable-index-printer of the vtable.
4892 ** The detection of circular references has been extended to structs.
4893 That is, a structure that -- in the process of being printed -- prints
4894 itself does not lead to infinite recursion.
4896 ** There is now some basic support for fluids. Please read
4897 "libguile/fluid.h" to find out more. It is accessible from Scheme with
4898 the following functions and macros:
4900 Function: make-fluid
4902 Create a new fluid object. Fluids are not special variables or
4903 some other extension to the semantics of Scheme, but rather
4904 ordinary Scheme objects. You can store them into variables (that
4905 are still lexically scoped, of course) or into any other place you
4906 like. Every fluid has a initial value of `#f'.
4908 Function: fluid? OBJ
4910 Test whether OBJ is a fluid.
4912 Function: fluid-ref FLUID
4913 Function: fluid-set! FLUID VAL
4915 Access/modify the fluid FLUID. Modifications are only visible
4916 within the current dynamic root (that includes threads).
4918 Function: with-fluids* FLUIDS VALUES THUNK
4920 FLUIDS is a list of fluids and VALUES a corresponding list of
4921 values for these fluids. Before THUNK gets called the values are
4922 installed in the fluids and the old values of the fluids are
4923 saved in the VALUES list. When the flow of control leaves THUNK
4924 or reenters it, the values get swapped again. You might think of
4925 this as a `safe-fluid-excursion'. Note that the VALUES list is
4926 modified by `with-fluids*'.
4928 Macro: with-fluids ((FLUID VALUE) ...) FORM ...
4930 The same as `with-fluids*' but with a different syntax. It looks
4931 just like `let', but both FLUID and VALUE are evaluated. Remember,
4932 fluids are not special variables but ordinary objects. FLUID
4933 should evaluate to a fluid.
4935 ** Changes to system call interfaces:
4937 *** close-port, close-input-port and close-output-port now return a
4938 boolean instead of an `unspecified' object. #t means that the port
4939 was successfully closed, while #f means it was already closed. It is
4940 also now possible for these procedures to raise an exception if an
4941 error occurs (some errors from write can be delayed until close.)
4943 *** the first argument to chmod, fcntl, ftell and fseek can now be a
4946 *** the third argument to fcntl is now optional.
4948 *** the first argument to chown can now be a file descriptor or a port.
4950 *** the argument to stat can now be a port.
4952 *** The following new procedures have been added (most use scsh
4955 *** procedure: close PORT/FD
4956 Similar to close-port (*note close-port: Closing Ports.), but also
4957 works on file descriptors. A side effect of closing a file
4958 descriptor is that any ports using that file descriptor are moved
4959 to a different file descriptor and have their revealed counts set
4962 *** procedure: port->fdes PORT
4963 Returns the integer file descriptor underlying PORT. As a side
4964 effect the revealed count of PORT is incremented.
4966 *** procedure: fdes->ports FDES
4967 Returns a list of existing ports which have FDES as an underlying
4968 file descriptor, without changing their revealed counts.
4970 *** procedure: fdes->inport FDES
4971 Returns an existing input port which has FDES as its underlying
4972 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
4973 Otherwise, returns a new input port with a revealed count of 1.
4975 *** procedure: fdes->outport FDES
4976 Returns an existing output port which has FDES as its underlying
4977 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
4978 Otherwise, returns a new output port with a revealed count of 1.
4980 The next group of procedures perform a `dup2' system call, if NEWFD
4981 (an integer) is supplied, otherwise a `dup'. The file descriptor to be
4982 duplicated can be supplied as an integer or contained in a port. The
4983 type of value returned varies depending on which procedure is used.
4985 All procedures also have the side effect when performing `dup2' that
4986 any ports using NEWFD are moved to a different file descriptor and have
4987 their revealed counts set to zero.
4989 *** procedure: dup->fdes PORT/FD [NEWFD]
4990 Returns an integer file descriptor.
4992 *** procedure: dup->inport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
4993 Returns a new input port using the new file descriptor.
4995 *** procedure: dup->outport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
4996 Returns a new output port using the new file descriptor.
4998 *** procedure: dup PORT/FD [NEWFD]
4999 Returns a new port if PORT/FD is a port, with the same mode as the
5000 supplied port, otherwise returns an integer file descriptor.
5002 *** procedure: dup->port PORT/FD MODE [NEWFD]
5003 Returns a new port using the new file descriptor. MODE supplies a
5004 mode string for the port (*note open-file: File Ports.).
5006 *** procedure: setenv NAME VALUE
5007 Modifies the environment of the current process, which is also the
5008 default environment inherited by child processes.
5010 If VALUE is `#f', then NAME is removed from the environment.
5011 Otherwise, the string NAME=VALUE is added to the environment,
5012 replacing any existing string with name matching NAME.
5014 The return value is unspecified.
5016 *** procedure: truncate-file OBJ SIZE
5017 Truncates the file referred to by OBJ to at most SIZE bytes. OBJ
5018 can be a string containing a file name or an integer file
5019 descriptor or port open for output on the file. The underlying
5020 system calls are `truncate' and `ftruncate'.
5022 The return value is unspecified.
5024 *** procedure: setvbuf PORT MODE [SIZE]
5025 Set the buffering mode for PORT. MODE can be:
5033 block buffered, using a newly allocated buffer of SIZE bytes.
5034 However if SIZE is zero or unspecified, the port will be made
5037 This procedure should not be used after I/O has been performed with
5040 Ports are usually block buffered by default, with a default buffer
5041 size. Procedures e.g., *Note open-file: File Ports, which accept a
5042 mode string allow `0' to be added to request an unbuffered port.
5044 *** procedure: fsync PORT/FD
5045 Copies any unwritten data for the specified output file descriptor
5046 to disk. If PORT/FD is a port, its buffer is flushed before the
5047 underlying file descriptor is fsync'd. The return value is
5050 *** procedure: open-fdes PATH FLAGS [MODES]
5051 Similar to `open' but returns a file descriptor instead of a port.
5053 *** procedure: execle PATH ENV [ARG] ...
5054 Similar to `execl', but the environment of the new process is
5055 specified by ENV, which must be a list of strings as returned by
5056 the `environ' procedure.
5058 This procedure is currently implemented using the `execve' system
5059 call, but we call it `execle' because of its Scheme calling
5062 *** procedure: strerror ERRNO
5063 Returns the Unix error message corresponding to ERRNO, an integer.
5065 *** procedure: primitive-exit [STATUS]
5066 Terminate the current process without unwinding the Scheme stack.
5067 This is would typically be useful after a fork. The exit status
5068 is STATUS if supplied, otherwise zero.
5070 *** procedure: times
5071 Returns an object with information about real and processor time.
5072 The following procedures accept such an object as an argument and
5073 return a selected component:
5076 The current real time, expressed as time units relative to an
5080 The CPU time units used by the calling process.
5083 The CPU time units used by the system on behalf of the
5087 The CPU time units used by terminated child processes of the
5088 calling process, whose status has been collected (e.g., using
5092 Similarly, the CPU times units used by the system on behalf of
5093 terminated child processes.
5095 ** Removed: list-length
5096 ** Removed: list-append, list-append!
5097 ** Removed: list-reverse, list-reverse!
5099 ** array-map renamed to array-map!
5101 ** serial-array-map renamed to serial-array-map!
5103 ** catch doesn't take #f as first argument any longer
5105 Previously, it was possible to pass #f instead of a key to `catch'.
5106 That would cause `catch' to pass a jump buffer object to the procedure
5107 passed as second argument. The procedure could then use this jump
5108 buffer objekt as an argument to throw.
5110 This mechanism has been removed since its utility doesn't motivate the
5111 extra complexity it introduces.
5113 ** The `#/' notation for lists now provokes a warning message from Guile.
5114 This syntax will be removed from Guile in the near future.
5116 To disable the warning message, set the GUILE_HUSH environment
5117 variable to any non-empty value.
5119 ** The newline character now prints as `#\newline', following the
5120 normal Scheme notation, not `#\nl'.
5122 * Changes to the gh_ interface
5124 ** The gh_enter function now takes care of loading the Guile startup files.
5125 gh_enter works by calling scm_boot_guile; see the remarks below.
5127 ** Function: void gh_write (SCM x)
5129 Write the printed representation of the scheme object x to the current
5130 output port. Corresponds to the scheme level `write'.
5132 ** gh_list_length renamed to gh_length.
5134 ** vector handling routines
5136 Several major changes. In particular, gh_vector() now resembles
5137 (vector ...) (with a caveat -- see manual), and gh_make_vector() now
5138 exists and behaves like (make-vector ...). gh_vset() and gh_vref()
5139 have been renamed gh_vector_set_x() and gh_vector_ref(). Some missing
5140 vector-related gh_ functions have been implemented.
5142 ** pair and list routines
5144 Implemented several of the R4RS pair and list functions that were
5147 ** gh_scm2doubles, gh_doubles2scm, gh_doubles2dvect
5149 New function. Converts double arrays back and forth between Scheme
5152 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5154 ** The function scm_boot_guile now takes care of loading the startup files.
5156 Guile's primary initialization function, scm_boot_guile, now takes
5157 care of loading `boot-9.scm', in the `ice-9' module, to initialize
5158 Guile, define the module system, and put together some standard
5159 bindings. It also loads `init.scm', which is intended to hold
5160 site-specific initialization code.
5162 Since Guile cannot operate properly until boot-9.scm is loaded, there
5163 is no reason to separate loading boot-9.scm from Guile's other
5164 initialization processes.
5166 This job used to be done by scm_compile_shell_switches, which didn't
5167 make much sense; in particular, it meant that people using Guile for
5168 non-shell-like applications had to jump through hoops to get Guile
5169 initialized properly.
5171 ** The function scm_compile_shell_switches no longer loads the startup files.
5172 Now, Guile always loads the startup files, whenever it is initialized;
5173 see the notes above for scm_boot_guile and scm_load_startup_files.
5175 ** Function: scm_load_startup_files
5176 This new function takes care of loading Guile's initialization file
5177 (`boot-9.scm'), and the site initialization file, `init.scm'. Since
5178 this is always called by the Guile initialization process, it's
5179 probably not too useful to call this yourself, but it's there anyway.
5181 ** The semantics of smob marking have changed slightly.
5183 The smob marking function (the `mark' member of the scm_smobfuns
5184 structure) is no longer responsible for setting the mark bit on the
5185 smob. The generic smob handling code in the garbage collector will
5186 set this bit. The mark function need only ensure that any other
5187 objects the smob refers to get marked.
5189 Note that this change means that the smob's GC8MARK bit is typically
5190 already set upon entry to the mark function. Thus, marking functions
5191 which look like this:
5194 if (SCM_GC8MARKP (ptr))
5196 SCM_SETGC8MARK (ptr);
5197 ... mark objects to which the smob refers ...
5200 are now incorrect, since they will return early, and fail to mark any
5201 other objects the smob refers to. Some code in the Guile library used
5204 ** The semantics of the I/O port functions in scm_ptobfuns have changed.
5206 If you have implemented your own I/O port type, by writing the
5207 functions required by the scm_ptobfuns and then calling scm_newptob,
5208 you will need to change your functions slightly.
5210 The functions in a scm_ptobfuns structure now expect the port itself
5211 as their argument; they used to expect the `stream' member of the
5212 port's scm_port_table structure. This allows functions in an
5213 scm_ptobfuns structure to easily access the port's cell (and any flags
5214 it its CAR), and the port's scm_port_table structure.
5216 Guile now passes the I/O port itself as the `port' argument in the
5217 following scm_ptobfuns functions:
5219 int (*free) (SCM port);
5220 int (*fputc) (int, SCM port);
5221 int (*fputs) (char *, SCM port);
5222 scm_sizet (*fwrite) SCM_P ((char *ptr,
5226 int (*fflush) (SCM port);
5227 int (*fgetc) (SCM port);
5228 int (*fclose) (SCM port);
5230 The interfaces to the `mark', `print', `equalp', and `fgets' methods
5233 If you have existing code which defines its own port types, it is easy
5234 to convert your code to the new interface; simply apply SCM_STREAM to
5235 the port argument to yield the value you code used to expect.
5237 Note that since both the port and the stream have the same type in the
5238 C code --- they are both SCM values --- the C compiler will not remind
5239 you if you forget to update your scm_ptobfuns functions.
5242 ** Function: int scm_internal_select (int fds,
5246 struct timeval *timeout);
5248 This is a replacement for the `select' function provided by the OS.
5249 It enables I/O blocking and sleeping to happen for one cooperative
5250 thread without blocking other threads. It also avoids busy-loops in
5251 these situations. It is intended that all I/O blocking and sleeping
5252 will finally go through this function. Currently, this function is
5253 only available on systems providing `gettimeofday' and `select'.
5255 ** Function: SCM scm_internal_stack_catch (SCM tag,
5256 scm_catch_body_t body,
5258 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
5261 A new sibling to the other two C level `catch' functions
5262 scm_internal_catch and scm_internal_lazy_catch. Use it if you want
5263 the stack to be saved automatically into the variable `the-last-stack'
5264 (scm_the_last_stack_var) on error. This is necessary if you want to
5265 use advanced error reporting, such as calling scm_display_error and
5266 scm_display_backtrace. (They both take a stack object as argument.)
5268 ** Function: SCM scm_spawn_thread (scm_catch_body_t body,
5270 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
5273 Spawns a new thread. It does a job similar to
5274 scm_call_with_new_thread but takes arguments more suitable when
5275 spawning threads from application C code.
5277 ** The hook scm_error_callback has been removed. It was originally
5278 intended as a way for the user to install his own error handler. But
5279 that method works badly since it intervenes between throw and catch,
5280 thereby changing the semantics of expressions like (catch #t ...).
5281 The correct way to do it is to use one of the C level catch functions
5282 in throw.c: scm_internal_catch/lazy_catch/stack_catch.
5284 ** Removed functions:
5286 scm_obj_length, scm_list_length, scm_list_append, scm_list_append_x,
5287 scm_list_reverse, scm_list_reverse_x
5289 ** New macros: SCM_LISTn where n is one of the integers 0-9.
5291 These can be used for pretty list creation from C. The idea is taken
5292 from Erick Gallesio's STk.
5294 ** scm_array_map renamed to scm_array_map_x
5296 ** mbstrings are now removed
5298 This means that the type codes scm_tc7_mb_string and
5299 scm_tc7_mb_substring has been removed.
5301 ** scm_gen_putc, scm_gen_puts, scm_gen_write, and scm_gen_getc have changed.
5303 Since we no longer support multi-byte strings, these I/O functions
5304 have been simplified, and renamed. Here are their old names, and
5305 their new names and arguments:
5307 scm_gen_putc -> void scm_putc (int c, SCM port);
5308 scm_gen_puts -> void scm_puts (char *s, SCM port);
5309 scm_gen_write -> void scm_lfwrite (char *ptr, scm_sizet size, SCM port);
5310 scm_gen_getc -> void scm_getc (SCM port);
5313 ** The macros SCM_TYP7D and SCM_TYP7SD has been removed.
5315 ** The macro SCM_TYP7S has taken the role of the old SCM_TYP7D
5317 SCM_TYP7S now masks away the bit which distinguishes substrings from
5320 ** scm_catch_body_t: Backward incompatible change!
5322 Body functions to scm_internal_catch and friends do not any longer
5323 take a second argument. This is because it is no longer possible to
5324 pass a #f arg to catch.
5326 ** Calls to scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect now nest properly.
5328 The function scm_protect_object protects its argument from being freed
5329 by the garbage collector. scm_unprotect_object removes that
5332 These functions now nest properly. That is, for every object O, there
5333 is a counter which scm_protect_object(O) increments and
5334 scm_unprotect_object(O) decrements, if the counter is greater than
5335 zero. Every object's counter is zero when it is first created. If an
5336 object's counter is greater than zero, the garbage collector will not
5337 reclaim its storage.
5339 This allows you to use scm_protect_object in your code without
5340 worrying that some other function you call will call
5341 scm_unprotect_object, and allow it to be freed. Assuming that the
5342 functions you call are well-behaved, and unprotect only those objects
5343 they protect, you can follow the same rule and have confidence that
5344 objects will be freed only at appropriate times.
5347 Changes in Guile 1.2 (released Tuesday, June 24 1997):
5349 * Changes to the distribution
5351 ** Nightly snapshots are now available from ftp.red-bean.com.
5352 The old server, ftp.cyclic.com, has been relinquished to its rightful
5355 Nightly snapshots of the Guile development sources are now available via
5356 anonymous FTP from ftp.red-bean.com, as /pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz.
5358 Via the web, that's: ftp://ftp.red-bean.com/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
5359 For getit, that's: ftp.red-bean.com:/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
5361 ** To run Guile without installing it, the procedure has changed a bit.
5363 If you used a separate build directory to compile Guile, you'll need
5364 to include the build directory in SCHEME_LOAD_PATH, as well as the
5365 source directory. See the `INSTALL' file for examples.
5367 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
5369 ** The standard Guile load path for Scheme code now includes
5370 $(datadir)/guile (usually /usr/local/share/guile). This means that
5371 you can install your own Scheme files there, and Guile will find them.
5372 (Previous versions of Guile only checked a directory whose name
5373 contained the Guile version number, so you had to re-install or move
5374 your Scheme sources each time you installed a fresh version of Guile.)
5376 The load path also includes $(datadir)/guile/site; we recommend
5377 putting individual Scheme files there. If you want to install a
5378 package with multiple source files, create a directory for them under
5381 ** Guile 1.2 will now use the Rx regular expression library, if it is
5382 installed on your system. When you are linking libguile into your own
5383 programs, this means you will have to link against -lguile, -lqt (if
5384 you configured Guile with thread support), and -lrx.
5386 If you are using autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your
5387 application, the following lines should suffice to add the appropriate
5388 libraries to your link command:
5390 ### Find Rx, quickthreads and libguile.
5391 AC_CHECK_LIB(rx, main)
5392 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
5393 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
5395 The Guile 1.2 distribution does not contain sources for the Rx
5396 library, as Guile 1.0 did. If you want to use Rx, you'll need to
5397 retrieve it from a GNU FTP site and install it separately.
5399 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
5401 ** The dynamic linking features of Guile are now enabled by default.
5402 You can disable them by giving the `--disable-dynamic-linking' option
5405 (dynamic-link FILENAME)
5407 Find the object file denoted by FILENAME (a string) and link it
5408 into the running Guile application. When everything works out,
5409 return a Scheme object suitable for representing the linked object
5410 file. Otherwise an error is thrown. How object files are
5411 searched is system dependent.
5413 (dynamic-object? VAL)
5415 Determine whether VAL represents a dynamically linked object file.
5417 (dynamic-unlink DYNOBJ)
5419 Unlink the indicated object file from the application. DYNOBJ
5420 should be one of the values returned by `dynamic-link'.
5422 (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
5424 Search the C function indicated by FUNCTION (a string or symbol)
5425 in DYNOBJ and return some Scheme object that can later be used
5426 with `dynamic-call' to actually call this function. Right now,
5427 these Scheme objects are formed by casting the address of the
5428 function to `long' and converting this number to its Scheme
5431 (dynamic-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
5433 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ. The
5434 function is passed no arguments and its return value is ignored.
5435 When FUNCTION is something returned by `dynamic-func', call that
5436 function and ignore DYNOBJ. When FUNCTION is a string (or symbol,
5437 etc.), look it up in DYNOBJ; this is equivalent to
5439 (dynamic-call (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ) #f)
5441 Interrupts are deferred while the C function is executing (with
5442 SCM_DEFER_INTS/SCM_ALLOW_INTS).
5444 (dynamic-args-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ ARGS)
5446 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ, but pass it
5447 some arguments and return its return value. The C function is
5448 expected to take two arguments and return an `int', just like
5451 int c_func (int argc, char **argv);
5453 ARGS must be a list of strings and is converted into an array of
5454 `char *'. The array is passed in ARGV and its size in ARGC. The
5455 return value is converted to a Scheme number and returned from the
5456 call to `dynamic-args-call'.
5458 When dynamic linking is disabled or not supported on your system,
5459 the above functions throw errors, but they are still available.
5461 Here is a small example that works on GNU/Linux:
5463 (define libc-obj (dynamic-link "libc.so"))
5464 (dynamic-args-call 'rand libc-obj '())
5466 See the file `libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING' for additional comments.
5468 ** The #/ syntax for module names is depreciated, and will be removed
5469 in a future version of Guile. Instead of
5477 The latter syntax is more consistent with existing Lisp practice.
5479 ** Guile now does fancier printing of structures. Structures are the
5480 underlying implementation for records, which in turn are used to
5481 implement modules, so all of these object now print differently and in
5482 a more informative way.
5484 The Scheme printer will examine the builtin variable *struct-printer*
5485 whenever it needs to print a structure object. When this variable is
5486 not `#f' it is deemed to be a procedure and will be applied to the
5487 structure object and the output port. When *struct-printer* is `#f'
5488 or the procedure return `#f' the structure object will be printed in
5489 the boring #<struct 80458270> form.
5491 This hook is used by some routines in ice-9/boot-9.scm to implement
5492 type specific printing routines. Please read the comments there about
5495 One of the more specific uses of structs are records. The printing
5496 procedure that could be passed to MAKE-RECORD-TYPE is now actually
5497 called. It should behave like a *struct-printer* procedure (described
5500 ** Guile now supports a new R4RS-compliant syntax for keywords. A
5501 token of the form #:NAME, where NAME has the same syntax as a Scheme
5502 symbol, is the external representation of the keyword named NAME.
5503 Keyword objects print using this syntax as well, so values containing
5504 keyword objects can be read back into Guile. When used in an
5505 expression, keywords are self-quoting objects.
5507 Guile suports this read syntax, and uses this print syntax, regardless
5508 of the current setting of the `keyword' read option. The `keyword'
5509 read option only controls whether Guile recognizes the `:NAME' syntax,
5510 which is incompatible with R4RS. (R4RS says such token represent
5513 ** Guile has regular expression support again. Guile 1.0 included
5514 functions for matching regular expressions, based on the Rx library.
5515 In Guile 1.1, the Guile/Rx interface was removed to simplify the
5516 distribution, and thus Guile had no regular expression support. Guile
5517 1.2 again supports the most commonly used functions, and supports all
5518 of SCSH's regular expression functions.
5520 If your system does not include a POSIX regular expression library,
5521 and you have not linked Guile with a third-party regexp library such as
5522 Rx, these functions will not be available. You can tell whether your
5523 Guile installation includes regular expression support by checking
5524 whether the `*features*' list includes the `regex' symbol.
5526 *** regexp functions
5528 By default, Guile supports POSIX extended regular expressions. That
5529 means that the characters `(', `)', `+' and `?' are special, and must
5530 be escaped if you wish to match the literal characters.
5532 This regular expression interface was modeled after that implemented
5533 by SCSH, the Scheme Shell. It is intended to be upwardly compatible
5534 with SCSH regular expressions.
5536 **** Function: string-match PATTERN STR [START]
5537 Compile the string PATTERN into a regular expression and compare
5538 it with STR. The optional numeric argument START specifies the
5539 position of STR at which to begin matching.
5541 `string-match' returns a "match structure" which describes what,
5542 if anything, was matched by the regular expression. *Note Match
5543 Structures::. If STR does not match PATTERN at all,
5544 `string-match' returns `#f'.
5546 Each time `string-match' is called, it must compile its PATTERN
5547 argument into a regular expression structure. This operation is
5548 expensive, which makes `string-match' inefficient if the same regular
5549 expression is used several times (for example, in a loop). For better
5550 performance, you can compile a regular expression in advance and then
5551 match strings against the compiled regexp.
5553 **** Function: make-regexp STR [FLAGS]
5554 Compile the regular expression described by STR, and return the
5555 compiled regexp structure. If STR does not describe a legal
5556 regular expression, `make-regexp' throws a
5557 `regular-expression-syntax' error.
5559 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
5561 **** Constant: regexp/extended
5562 Use POSIX Extended Regular Expression syntax when interpreting
5563 STR. If not set, POSIX Basic Regular Expression syntax is used.
5564 If the FLAGS argument is omitted, we assume regexp/extended.
5566 **** Constant: regexp/icase
5567 Do not differentiate case. Subsequent searches using the
5568 returned regular expression will be case insensitive.
5570 **** Constant: regexp/newline
5571 Match-any-character operators don't match a newline.
5573 A non-matching list ([^...]) not containing a newline matches a
5576 Match-beginning-of-line operator (^) matches the empty string
5577 immediately after a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
5578 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/notbol.
5580 Match-end-of-line operator ($) matches the empty string
5581 immediately before a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
5582 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/noteol.
5584 **** Function: regexp-exec REGEXP STR [START [FLAGS]]
5585 Match the compiled regular expression REGEXP against `str'. If
5586 the optional integer START argument is provided, begin matching
5587 from that position in the string. Return a match structure
5588 describing the results of the match, or `#f' if no match could be
5591 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
5593 **** Constant: regexp/notbol
5594 The match-beginning-of-line operator always fails to match (but
5595 see the compilation flag regexp/newline above) This flag may be
5596 used when different portions of a string are passed to
5597 regexp-exec and the beginning of the string should not be
5598 interpreted as the beginning of the line.
5600 **** Constant: regexp/noteol
5601 The match-end-of-line operator always fails to match (but see the
5602 compilation flag regexp/newline above)
5604 **** Function: regexp? OBJ
5605 Return `#t' if OBJ is a compiled regular expression, or `#f'
5608 Regular expressions are commonly used to find patterns in one string
5609 and replace them with the contents of another string.
5611 **** Function: regexp-substitute PORT MATCH [ITEM...]
5612 Write to the output port PORT selected contents of the match
5613 structure MATCH. Each ITEM specifies what should be written, and
5614 may be one of the following arguments:
5616 * A string. String arguments are written out verbatim.
5618 * An integer. The submatch with that number is written.
5620 * The symbol `pre'. The portion of the matched string preceding
5621 the regexp match is written.
5623 * The symbol `post'. The portion of the matched string
5624 following the regexp match is written.
5626 PORT may be `#f', in which case nothing is written; instead,
5627 `regexp-substitute' constructs a string from the specified ITEMs
5630 **** Function: regexp-substitute/global PORT REGEXP TARGET [ITEM...]
5631 Similar to `regexp-substitute', but can be used to perform global
5632 substitutions on STR. Instead of taking a match structure as an
5633 argument, `regexp-substitute/global' takes two string arguments: a
5634 REGEXP string describing a regular expression, and a TARGET string
5635 which should be matched against this regular expression.
5637 Each ITEM behaves as in REGEXP-SUBSTITUTE, with the following
5640 * A function may be supplied. When this function is called, it
5641 will be passed one argument: a match structure for a given
5642 regular expression match. It should return a string to be
5643 written out to PORT.
5645 * The `post' symbol causes `regexp-substitute/global' to recurse
5646 on the unmatched portion of STR. This *must* be supplied in
5647 order to perform global search-and-replace on STR; if it is
5648 not present among the ITEMs, then `regexp-substitute/global'
5649 will return after processing a single match.
5651 *** Match Structures
5653 A "match structure" is the object returned by `string-match' and
5654 `regexp-exec'. It describes which portion of a string, if any, matched
5655 the given regular expression. Match structures include: a reference to
5656 the string that was checked for matches; the starting and ending
5657 positions of the regexp match; and, if the regexp included any
5658 parenthesized subexpressions, the starting and ending positions of each
5661 In each of the regexp match functions described below, the `match'
5662 argument must be a match structure returned by a previous call to
5663 `string-match' or `regexp-exec'. Most of these functions return some
5664 information about the original target string that was matched against a
5665 regular expression; we will call that string TARGET for easy reference.
5667 **** Function: regexp-match? OBJ
5668 Return `#t' if OBJ is a match structure returned by a previous
5669 call to `regexp-exec', or `#f' otherwise.
5671 **** Function: match:substring MATCH [N]
5672 Return the portion of TARGET matched by subexpression number N.
5673 Submatch 0 (the default) represents the entire regexp match. If
5674 the regular expression as a whole matched, but the subexpression
5675 number N did not match, return `#f'.
5677 **** Function: match:start MATCH [N]
5678 Return the starting position of submatch number N.
5680 **** Function: match:end MATCH [N]
5681 Return the ending position of submatch number N.
5683 **** Function: match:prefix MATCH
5684 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET preceding the regexp match.
5686 **** Function: match:suffix MATCH
5687 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET following the regexp match.
5689 **** Function: match:count MATCH
5690 Return the number of parenthesized subexpressions from MATCH.
5691 Note that the entire regular expression match itself counts as a
5692 subexpression, and failed submatches are included in the count.
5694 **** Function: match:string MATCH
5695 Return the original TARGET string.
5697 *** Backslash Escapes
5699 Sometimes you will want a regexp to match characters like `*' or `$'
5700 exactly. For example, to check whether a particular string represents
5701 a menu entry from an Info node, it would be useful to match it against
5702 a regexp like `^* [^:]*::'. However, this won't work; because the
5703 asterisk is a metacharacter, it won't match the `*' at the beginning of
5704 the string. In this case, we want to make the first asterisk un-magic.
5706 You can do this by preceding the metacharacter with a backslash
5707 character `\'. (This is also called "quoting" the metacharacter, and
5708 is known as a "backslash escape".) When Guile sees a backslash in a
5709 regular expression, it considers the following glyph to be an ordinary
5710 character, no matter what special meaning it would ordinarily have.
5711 Therefore, we can make the above example work by changing the regexp to
5712 `^\* [^:]*::'. The `\*' sequence tells the regular expression engine
5713 to match only a single asterisk in the target string.
5715 Since the backslash is itself a metacharacter, you may force a
5716 regexp to match a backslash in the target string by preceding the
5717 backslash with itself. For example, to find variable references in a
5718 TeX program, you might want to find occurrences of the string `\let\'
5719 followed by any number of alphabetic characters. The regular expression
5720 `\\let\\[A-Za-z]*' would do this: the double backslashes in the regexp
5721 each match a single backslash in the target string.
5723 **** Function: regexp-quote STR
5724 Quote each special character found in STR with a backslash, and
5725 return the resulting string.
5727 *Very important:* Using backslash escapes in Guile source code (as
5728 in Emacs Lisp or C) can be tricky, because the backslash character has
5729 special meaning for the Guile reader. For example, if Guile encounters
5730 the character sequence `\n' in the middle of a string while processing
5731 Scheme code, it replaces those characters with a newline character.
5732 Similarly, the character sequence `\t' is replaced by a horizontal tab.
5733 Several of these "escape sequences" are processed by the Guile reader
5734 before your code is executed. Unrecognized escape sequences are
5735 ignored: if the characters `\*' appear in a string, they will be
5736 translated to the single character `*'.
5738 This translation is obviously undesirable for regular expressions,
5739 since we want to be able to include backslashes in a string in order to
5740 escape regexp metacharacters. Therefore, to make sure that a backslash
5741 is preserved in a string in your Guile program, you must use *two*
5742 consecutive backslashes:
5744 (define Info-menu-entry-pattern (make-regexp "^\\* [^:]*"))
5746 The string in this example is preprocessed by the Guile reader before
5747 any code is executed. The resulting argument to `make-regexp' is the
5748 string `^\* [^:]*', which is what we really want.
5750 This also means that in order to write a regular expression that
5751 matches a single backslash character, the regular expression string in
5752 the source code must include *four* backslashes. Each consecutive pair
5753 of backslashes gets translated by the Guile reader to a single
5754 backslash, and the resulting double-backslash is interpreted by the
5755 regexp engine as matching a single backslash character. Hence:
5757 (define tex-variable-pattern (make-regexp "\\\\let\\\\=[A-Za-z]*"))
5759 The reason for the unwieldiness of this syntax is historical. Both
5760 regular expression pattern matchers and Unix string processing systems
5761 have traditionally used backslashes with the special meanings described
5762 above. The POSIX regular expression specification and ANSI C standard
5763 both require these semantics. Attempting to abandon either convention
5764 would cause other kinds of compatibility problems, possibly more severe
5765 ones. Therefore, without extending the Scheme reader to support
5766 strings with different quoting conventions (an ungainly and confusing
5767 extension when implemented in other languages), we must adhere to this
5768 cumbersome escape syntax.
5770 * Changes to the gh_ interface
5772 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5774 * Changes to system call interfaces:
5776 ** The value returned by `raise' is now unspecified. It throws an exception
5779 *** A new procedure `sigaction' can be used to install signal handlers
5781 (sigaction signum [action] [flags])
5783 signum is the signal number, which can be specified using the value
5786 If action is omitted, sigaction returns a pair: the CAR is the current
5787 signal hander, which will be either an integer with the value SIG_DFL
5788 (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or the Scheme procedure which
5789 handles the signal, or #f if a non-Scheme procedure handles the
5790 signal. The CDR contains the current sigaction flags for the handler.
5792 If action is provided, it is installed as the new handler for signum.
5793 action can be a Scheme procedure taking one argument, or the value of
5794 SIG_DFL (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or #f to restore
5795 whatever signal handler was installed before sigaction was first used.
5796 Flags can optionally be specified for the new handler (SA_RESTART is
5797 always used if the system provides it, so need not be specified.) The
5798 return value is a pair with information about the old handler as
5801 This interface does not provide access to the "signal blocking"
5802 facility. Maybe this is not needed, since the thread support may
5803 provide solutions to the problem of consistent access to data
5806 *** A new procedure `flush-all-ports' is equivalent to running
5807 `force-output' on every port open for output.
5809 ** Guile now provides information on how it was built, via the new
5810 global variable, %guile-build-info. This variable records the values
5811 of the standard GNU makefile directory variables as an assocation
5812 list, mapping variable names (symbols) onto directory paths (strings).
5813 For example, to find out where the Guile link libraries were
5814 installed, you can say:
5816 guile -c "(display (assq-ref %guile-build-info 'libdir)) (newline)"
5819 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5821 ** The new function scm_handle_by_message_noexit is just like the
5822 existing scm_handle_by_message function, except that it doesn't call
5823 exit to terminate the process. Instead, it prints a message and just
5824 returns #f. This might be a more appropriate catch-all handler for
5825 new dynamic roots and threads.
5828 Changes in Guile 1.1 (released Friday, May 16 1997):
5830 * Changes to the distribution.
5832 The Guile 1.0 distribution has been split up into several smaller
5834 guile-core --- the Guile interpreter itself.
5835 guile-tcltk --- the interface between the Guile interpreter and
5836 Tcl/Tk; Tcl is an interpreter for a stringy language, and Tk
5837 is a toolkit for building graphical user interfaces.
5838 guile-rgx-ctax --- the interface between Guile and the Rx regular
5839 expression matcher, and the translator for the Ctax
5840 programming language. These are packaged together because the
5841 Ctax translator uses Rx to parse Ctax source code.
5843 This NEWS file describes the changes made to guile-core since the 1.0
5846 We no longer distribute the documentation, since it was either out of
5847 date, or incomplete. As soon as we have current documentation, we
5852 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
5854 ** guile now accepts command-line arguments compatible with SCSH, Olin
5855 Shivers' Scheme Shell.
5857 In general, arguments are evaluated from left to right, but there are
5858 exceptions. The following switches stop argument processing, and
5859 stash all remaining command-line arguments as the value returned by
5860 the (command-line) function.
5861 -s SCRIPT load Scheme source code from FILE, and exit
5862 -c EXPR evalute Scheme expression EXPR, and exit
5863 -- stop scanning arguments; run interactively
5865 The switches below are processed as they are encountered.
5866 -l FILE load Scheme source code from FILE
5867 -e FUNCTION after reading script, apply FUNCTION to
5868 command line arguments
5869 -ds do -s script at this point
5870 --emacs enable Emacs protocol (experimental)
5871 -h, --help display this help and exit
5872 -v, --version display version information and exit
5873 \ read arguments from following script lines
5875 So, for example, here is a Guile script named `ekko' (thanks, Olin)
5876 which re-implements the traditional "echo" command:
5878 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
5881 (map (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
5885 (main (command-line))
5887 Suppose we invoke this script as follows:
5889 ekko a speckled gecko
5891 Through the magic of Unix script processing (triggered by the `#!'
5892 token at the top of the file), /usr/local/bin/guile receives the
5893 following list of command-line arguments:
5895 ("-s" "./ekko" "a" "speckled" "gecko")
5897 Unix inserts the name of the script after the argument specified on
5898 the first line of the file (in this case, "-s"), and then follows that
5899 with the arguments given to the script. Guile loads the script, which
5900 defines the `main' function, and then applies it to the list of
5901 remaining command-line arguments, ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
5903 In Unix, the first line of a script file must take the following form:
5905 #!INTERPRETER ARGUMENT
5907 where INTERPRETER is the absolute filename of the interpreter
5908 executable, and ARGUMENT is a single command-line argument to pass to
5911 You may only pass one argument to the interpreter, and its length is
5912 limited. These restrictions can be annoying to work around, so Guile
5913 provides a general mechanism (borrowed from, and compatible with,
5914 SCSH) for circumventing them.
5916 If the ARGUMENT in a Guile script is a single backslash character,
5917 `\', Guile will open the script file, parse arguments from its second
5918 and subsequent lines, and replace the `\' with them. So, for example,
5919 here is another implementation of the `ekko' script:
5921 #!/usr/local/bin/guile \
5925 (for-each (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
5929 If the user invokes this script as follows:
5931 ekko a speckled gecko
5933 Unix expands this into
5935 /usr/local/bin/guile \ ekko a speckled gecko
5937 When Guile sees the `\' argument, it replaces it with the arguments
5938 read from the second line of the script, producing:
5940 /usr/local/bin/guile -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
5942 This tells Guile to load the `ekko' script, and apply the function
5943 `main' to the argument list ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
5945 Here is how Guile parses the command-line arguments:
5946 - Each space character terminates an argument. This means that two
5947 spaces in a row introduce an empty-string argument.
5948 - The tab character is not permitted (unless you quote it with the
5949 backslash character, as described below), to avoid confusion.
5950 - The newline character terminates the sequence of arguments, and will
5951 also terminate a final non-empty argument. (However, a newline
5952 following a space will not introduce a final empty-string argument;
5953 it only terminates the argument list.)
5954 - The backslash character is the escape character. It escapes
5955 backslash, space, tab, and newline. The ANSI C escape sequences
5956 like \n and \t are also supported. These produce argument
5957 constituents; the two-character combination \n doesn't act like a
5958 terminating newline. The escape sequence \NNN for exactly three
5959 octal digits reads as the character whose ASCII code is NNN. As
5960 above, characters produced this way are argument constituents.
5961 Backslash followed by other characters is not allowed.
5963 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
5965 ** Guile now builds and installs a shared guile library, if your
5966 system support shared libraries. (It still builds a static library on
5967 all systems.) Guile automatically detects whether your system
5968 supports shared libraries. To prevent Guile from buildisg shared
5969 libraries, pass the `--disable-shared' flag to the configure script.
5971 Guile takes longer to compile when it builds shared libraries, because
5972 it must compile every file twice --- once to produce position-
5973 independent object code, and once to produce normal object code.
5975 ** The libthreads library has been merged into libguile.
5977 To link a program against Guile, you now need only link against
5978 -lguile and -lqt; -lthreads is no longer needed. If you are using
5979 autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your application, the
5980 following lines should suffice to add the appropriate libraries to
5983 ### Find quickthreads and libguile.
5984 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
5985 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
5987 * Changes to Scheme functions
5989 ** Guile Scheme's special syntax for keyword objects is now optional,
5990 and disabled by default.
5992 The syntax variation from R4RS made it difficult to port some
5993 interesting packages to Guile. The routines which accepted keyword
5994 arguments (mostly in the module system) have been modified to also
5995 accept symbols whose names begin with `:'.
5997 To change the keyword syntax, you must first import the (ice-9 debug)
5999 (use-modules (ice-9 debug))
6001 Then you can enable the keyword syntax as follows:
6002 (read-set! keywords 'prefix)
6004 To disable keyword syntax, do this:
6005 (read-set! keywords #f)
6007 ** Many more primitive functions accept shared substrings as
6008 arguments. In the past, these functions required normal, mutable
6009 strings as arguments, although they never made use of this
6012 ** The uniform array functions now operate on byte vectors. These
6013 functions are `array-fill!', `serial-array-copy!', `array-copy!',
6014 `serial-array-map', `array-map', `array-for-each', and
6017 ** The new functions `trace' and `untrace' implement simple debugging
6018 support for Scheme functions.
6020 The `trace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
6021 and tells the Guile interpreter to display each procedure's name and
6022 arguments each time the procedure is invoked. When invoked with no
6023 arguments, `trace' returns the list of procedures currently being
6026 The `untrace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
6027 and tells the Guile interpreter not to trace them any more. When
6028 invoked with no arguments, `untrace' untraces all curretly traced
6031 The tracing in Guile has an advantage over most other systems: we
6032 don't create new procedure objects, but mark the procedure objects
6033 themselves. This means that anonymous and internal procedures can be
6036 ** The function `assert-repl-prompt' has been renamed to
6037 `set-repl-prompt!'. It takes one argument, PROMPT.
6038 - If PROMPT is #f, the Guile read-eval-print loop will not prompt.
6039 - If PROMPT is a string, we use it as a prompt.
6040 - If PROMPT is a procedure accepting no arguments, we call it, and
6041 display the result as a prompt.
6042 - Otherwise, we display "> ".
6044 ** The new function `eval-string' reads Scheme expressions from a
6045 string and evaluates them, returning the value of the last expression
6046 in the string. If the string contains no expressions, it returns an
6049 ** The new function `thunk?' returns true iff its argument is a
6050 procedure of zero arguments.
6052 ** `defined?' is now a builtin function, instead of syntax. This
6053 means that its argument should be quoted. It returns #t iff its
6054 argument is bound in the current module.
6056 ** The new syntax `use-modules' allows you to add new modules to your
6057 environment without re-typing a complete `define-module' form. It
6058 accepts any number of module names as arguments, and imports their
6059 public bindings into the current module.
6061 ** The new function (module-defined? NAME MODULE) returns true iff
6062 NAME, a symbol, is defined in MODULE, a module object.
6064 ** The new function `builtin-bindings' creates and returns a hash
6065 table containing copies of all the root module's bindings.
6067 ** The new function `builtin-weak-bindings' does the same as
6068 `builtin-bindings', but creates a doubly-weak hash table.
6070 ** The `equal?' function now considers variable objects to be
6071 equivalent if they have the same name and the same value.
6073 ** The new function `command-line' returns the command-line arguments
6074 given to Guile, as a list of strings.
6076 When using guile as a script interpreter, `command-line' returns the
6077 script's arguments; those processed by the interpreter (like `-s' or
6078 `-c') are omitted. (In other words, you get the normal, expected
6079 behavior.) Any application that uses scm_shell to process its
6080 command-line arguments gets this behavior as well.
6082 ** The new function `load-user-init' looks for a file called `.guile'
6083 in the user's home directory, and loads it if it exists. This is
6084 mostly for use by the code generated by scm_compile_shell_switches,
6085 but we thought it might also be useful in other circumstances.
6087 ** The new function `log10' returns the base-10 logarithm of its
6090 ** Changes to I/O functions
6092 *** The functions `read', `primitive-load', `read-and-eval!', and
6093 `primitive-load-path' no longer take optional arguments controlling
6094 case insensitivity and a `#' parser.
6096 Case sensitivity is now controlled by a read option called
6097 `case-insensitive'. The user can add new `#' syntaxes with the
6098 `read-hash-extend' function (see below).
6100 *** The new function `read-hash-extend' allows the user to change the
6101 syntax of Guile Scheme in a somewhat controlled way.
6103 (read-hash-extend CHAR PROC)
6104 When parsing S-expressions, if we read a `#' character followed by
6105 the character CHAR, use PROC to parse an object from the stream.
6106 If PROC is #f, remove any parsing procedure registered for CHAR.
6108 The reader applies PROC to two arguments: CHAR and an input port.
6110 *** The new functions read-delimited and read-delimited! provide a
6111 general mechanism for doing delimited input on streams.
6113 (read-delimited DELIMS [PORT HANDLE-DELIM])
6114 Read until we encounter one of the characters in DELIMS (a string),
6115 or end-of-file. PORT is the input port to read from; it defaults to
6116 the current input port. The HANDLE-DELIM parameter determines how
6117 the terminating character is handled; it should be one of the
6120 'trim omit delimiter from result
6121 'peek leave delimiter character in input stream
6122 'concat append delimiter character to returned value
6123 'split return a pair: (RESULT . TERMINATOR)
6125 HANDLE-DELIM defaults to 'peek.
6127 (read-delimited! DELIMS BUF [PORT HANDLE-DELIM START END])
6128 A side-effecting variant of `read-delimited'.
6130 The data is written into the string BUF at the indices in the
6131 half-open interval [START, END); the default interval is the whole
6132 string: START = 0 and END = (string-length BUF). The values of
6133 START and END must specify a well-defined interval in BUF, i.e.
6134 0 <= START <= END <= (string-length BUF).
6136 It returns NBYTES, the number of bytes read. If the buffer filled
6137 up without a delimiter character being found, it returns #f. If the
6138 port is at EOF when the read starts, it returns the EOF object.
6140 If an integer is returned (i.e., the read is successfully terminated
6141 by reading a delimiter character), then the HANDLE-DELIM parameter
6142 determines how to handle the terminating character. It is described
6143 above, and defaults to 'peek.
6145 (The descriptions of these functions were borrowed from the SCSH
6146 manual, by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
6148 *** The `%read-delimited!' function is the primitive used to implement
6149 `read-delimited' and `read-delimited!'.
6151 (%read-delimited! DELIMS BUF GOBBLE? [PORT START END])
6153 This returns a pair of values: (TERMINATOR . NUM-READ).
6154 - TERMINATOR describes why the read was terminated. If it is a
6155 character or the eof object, then that is the value that terminated
6156 the read. If it is #f, the function filled the buffer without finding
6157 a delimiting character.
6158 - NUM-READ is the number of characters read into BUF.
6160 If the read is successfully terminated by reading a delimiter
6161 character, then the gobble? parameter determines what to do with the
6162 terminating character. If true, the character is removed from the
6163 input stream; if false, the character is left in the input stream
6164 where a subsequent read operation will retrieve it. In either case,
6165 the character is also the first value returned by the procedure call.
6167 (The descriptions of this function was borrowed from the SCSH manual,
6168 by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
6170 *** The `read-line' and `read-line!' functions have changed; they now
6171 trim the terminator by default; previously they appended it to the
6172 returned string. For the old behavior, use (read-line PORT 'concat).
6174 *** The functions `uniform-array-read!' and `uniform-array-write!' now
6175 take new optional START and END arguments, specifying the region of
6176 the array to read and write.
6178 *** The `ungetc-char-ready?' function has been removed. We feel it's
6179 inappropriate for an interface to expose implementation details this
6182 ** Changes to the Unix library and system call interface
6184 *** The new fcntl function provides access to the Unix `fcntl' system
6187 (fcntl PORT COMMAND VALUE)
6188 Apply COMMAND to PORT's file descriptor, with VALUE as an argument.
6189 Values for COMMAND are:
6191 F_DUPFD duplicate a file descriptor
6192 F_GETFD read the descriptor's close-on-exec flag
6193 F_SETFD set the descriptor's close-on-exec flag to VALUE
6194 F_GETFL read the descriptor's flags, as set on open
6195 F_SETFL set the descriptor's flags, as set on open to VALUE
6196 F_GETOWN return the process ID of a socket's owner, for SIGIO
6197 F_SETOWN set the process that owns a socket to VALUE, for SIGIO
6198 FD_CLOEXEC not sure what this is
6200 For details, see the documentation for the fcntl system call.
6202 *** The arguments to `select' have changed, for compatibility with
6203 SCSH. The TIMEOUT parameter may now be non-integral, yielding the
6204 expected behavior. The MILLISECONDS parameter has been changed to
6205 MICROSECONDS, to more closely resemble the underlying system call.
6206 The RVEC, WVEC, and EVEC arguments can now be vectors; the type of the
6207 corresponding return set will be the same.
6209 *** The arguments to the `mknod' system call have changed. They are
6212 (mknod PATH TYPE PERMS DEV)
6213 Create a new file (`node') in the file system. PATH is the name of
6214 the file to create. TYPE is the kind of file to create; it should
6215 be 'fifo, 'block-special, or 'char-special. PERMS specifies the
6216 permission bits to give the newly created file. If TYPE is
6217 'block-special or 'char-special, DEV specifies which device the
6218 special file refers to; its interpretation depends on the kind of
6219 special file being created.
6221 *** The `fork' function has been renamed to `primitive-fork', to avoid
6222 clashing with various SCSH forks.
6224 *** The `recv' and `recvfrom' functions have been renamed to `recv!'
6225 and `recvfrom!'. They no longer accept a size for a second argument;
6226 you must pass a string to hold the received value. They no longer
6227 return the buffer. Instead, `recv' returns the length of the message
6228 received, and `recvfrom' returns a pair containing the packet's length
6229 and originating address.
6231 *** The file descriptor datatype has been removed, as have the
6232 `read-fd', `write-fd', `close', `lseek', and `dup' functions.
6233 We plan to replace these functions with a SCSH-compatible interface.
6235 *** The `create' function has been removed; it's just a special case
6238 *** There are new functions to break down process termination status
6239 values. In the descriptions below, STATUS is a value returned by
6242 (status:exit-val STATUS)
6243 If the child process exited normally, this function returns the exit
6244 code for the child process (i.e., the value passed to exit, or
6245 returned from main). If the child process did not exit normally,
6246 this function returns #f.
6248 (status:stop-sig STATUS)
6249 If the child process was suspended by a signal, this function
6250 returns the signal that suspended the child. Otherwise, it returns
6253 (status:term-sig STATUS)
6254 If the child process terminated abnormally, this function returns
6255 the signal that terminated the child. Otherwise, this function
6258 POSIX promises that exactly one of these functions will return true on
6259 a valid STATUS value.
6261 These functions are compatible with SCSH.
6263 *** There are new accessors and setters for the broken-out time vectors
6264 returned by `localtime', `gmtime', and that ilk. They are:
6266 Component Accessor Setter
6267 ========================= ============ ============
6268 seconds tm:sec set-tm:sec
6269 minutes tm:min set-tm:min
6270 hours tm:hour set-tm:hour
6271 day of the month tm:mday set-tm:mday
6272 month tm:mon set-tm:mon
6273 year tm:year set-tm:year
6274 day of the week tm:wday set-tm:wday
6275 day in the year tm:yday set-tm:yday
6276 daylight saving time tm:isdst set-tm:isdst
6277 GMT offset, seconds tm:gmtoff set-tm:gmtoff
6278 name of time zone tm:zone set-tm:zone
6280 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `uname',
6281 describing the host system:
6284 ============================================== ================
6285 name of the operating system implementation utsname:sysname
6286 network name of this machine utsname:nodename
6287 release level of the operating system utsname:release
6288 version level of the operating system utsname:version
6289 machine hardware platform utsname:machine
6291 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getpw',
6292 `getpwnam', `getpwuid', and `getpwent', describing entries from the
6293 system's user database:
6296 ====================== =================
6297 user name passwd:name
6298 user password passwd:passwd
6301 real name passwd:gecos
6302 home directory passwd:dir
6303 shell program passwd:shell
6305 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getgr',
6306 `getgrnam', `getgrgid', and `getgrent', describing entries from the
6307 system's group database:
6310 ======================= ============
6311 group name group:name
6312 group password group:passwd
6314 group members group:mem
6316 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `gethost',
6317 `gethostbyaddr', `gethostbyname', and `gethostent', describing
6321 ========================= ===============
6322 official name of host hostent:name
6323 alias list hostent:aliases
6324 host address type hostent:addrtype
6325 length of address hostent:length
6326 list of addresses hostent:addr-list
6328 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getnet',
6329 `getnetbyaddr', `getnetbyname', and `getnetent', describing internet
6333 ========================= ===============
6334 official name of net netent:name
6335 alias list netent:aliases
6336 net number type netent:addrtype
6337 net number netent:net
6339 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getproto',
6340 `getprotobyname', `getprotobynumber', and `getprotoent', describing
6344 ========================= ===============
6345 official protocol name protoent:name
6346 alias list protoent:aliases
6347 protocol number protoent:proto
6349 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getserv',
6350 `getservbyname', `getservbyport', and `getservent', describing
6354 ========================= ===============
6355 official service name servent:name
6356 alias list servent:aliases
6357 port number servent:port
6358 protocol to use servent:proto
6360 *** There are new accessors for the sockaddr structures returned by
6361 `accept', `getsockname', `getpeername', `recvfrom!':
6364 ======================================== ===============
6365 address format (`family') sockaddr:fam
6366 path, for file domain addresses sockaddr:path
6367 address, for internet domain addresses sockaddr:addr
6368 TCP or UDP port, for internet sockaddr:port
6370 *** The `getpwent', `getgrent', `gethostent', `getnetent',
6371 `getprotoent', and `getservent' functions now return #f at the end of
6372 the user database. (They used to throw an exception.)
6374 Note that calling MUMBLEent function is equivalent to calling the
6375 corresponding MUMBLE function with no arguments.
6377 *** The `setpwent', `setgrent', `sethostent', `setnetent',
6378 `setprotoent', and `setservent' routines now take no arguments.
6380 *** The `gethost', `getproto', `getnet', and `getserv' functions now
6381 provide more useful information when they throw an exception.
6383 *** The `lnaof' function has been renamed to `inet-lnaof'.
6385 *** Guile now claims to have the `current-time' feature.
6387 *** The `mktime' function now takes an optional second argument ZONE,
6388 giving the time zone to use for the conversion. ZONE should be a
6389 string, in the same format as expected for the "TZ" environment variable.
6391 *** The `strptime' function now returns a pair (TIME . COUNT), where
6392 TIME is the parsed time as a vector, and COUNT is the number of
6393 characters from the string left unparsed. This function used to
6394 return the remaining characters as a string.
6396 *** The `gettimeofday' function has replaced the old `time+ticks' function.
6397 The return value is now (SECONDS . MICROSECONDS); the fractional
6398 component is no longer expressed in "ticks".
6400 *** The `ticks/sec' constant has been removed, in light of the above change.
6402 * Changes to the gh_ interface
6404 ** gh_eval_str() now returns an SCM object which is the result of the
6407 ** gh_scm2str() now copies the Scheme data to a caller-provided C
6410 ** gh_scm2newstr() now makes a C array, copies the Scheme data to it,
6411 and returns the array
6413 ** gh_scm2str0() is gone: there is no need to distinguish
6414 null-terminated from non-null-terminated, since gh_scm2newstr() allows
6415 the user to interpret the data both ways.
6417 * Changes to the scm_ interface
6419 ** The new function scm_symbol_value0 provides an easy way to get a
6420 symbol's value from C code:
6422 SCM scm_symbol_value0 (char *NAME)
6423 Return the value of the symbol named by the null-terminated string
6424 NAME in the current module. If the symbol named NAME is unbound in
6425 the current module, return SCM_UNDEFINED.
6427 ** The new function scm_sysintern0 creates new top-level variables,
6428 without assigning them a value.
6430 SCM scm_sysintern0 (char *NAME)
6431 Create a new Scheme top-level variable named NAME. NAME is a
6432 null-terminated string. Return the variable's value cell.
6434 ** The function scm_internal_catch is the guts of catch. It handles
6435 all the mechanics of setting up a catch target, invoking the catch
6436 body, and perhaps invoking the handler if the body does a throw.
6438 The function is designed to be usable from C code, but is general
6439 enough to implement all the semantics Guile Scheme expects from throw.
6441 TAG is the catch tag. Typically, this is a symbol, but this function
6442 doesn't actually care about that.
6444 BODY is a pointer to a C function which runs the body of the catch;
6445 this is the code you can throw from. We call it like this:
6446 BODY (BODY_DATA, JMPBUF)
6448 BODY_DATA is just the BODY_DATA argument we received; we pass it
6449 through to BODY as its first argument. The caller can make
6450 BODY_DATA point to anything useful that BODY might need.
6451 JMPBUF is the Scheme jmpbuf object corresponding to this catch,
6452 which we have just created and initialized.
6454 HANDLER is a pointer to a C function to deal with a throw to TAG,
6455 should one occur. We call it like this:
6456 HANDLER (HANDLER_DATA, THROWN_TAG, THROW_ARGS)
6458 HANDLER_DATA is the HANDLER_DATA argument we recevied; it's the
6459 same idea as BODY_DATA above.
6460 THROWN_TAG is the tag that the user threw to; usually this is
6461 TAG, but it could be something else if TAG was #t (i.e., a
6462 catch-all), or the user threw to a jmpbuf.
6463 THROW_ARGS is the list of arguments the user passed to the THROW
6466 BODY_DATA is just a pointer we pass through to BODY. HANDLER_DATA
6467 is just a pointer we pass through to HANDLER. We don't actually
6468 use either of those pointers otherwise ourselves. The idea is
6469 that, if our caller wants to communicate something to BODY or
6470 HANDLER, it can pass a pointer to it as MUMBLE_DATA, which BODY and
6471 HANDLER can then use. Think of it as a way to make BODY and
6472 HANDLER closures, not just functions; MUMBLE_DATA points to the
6475 Of course, it's up to the caller to make sure that any data a
6476 MUMBLE_DATA needs is protected from GC. A common way to do this is
6477 to make MUMBLE_DATA a pointer to data stored in an automatic
6478 structure variable; since the collector must scan the stack for
6479 references anyway, this assures that any references in MUMBLE_DATA
6482 ** The new function scm_internal_lazy_catch is exactly like
6483 scm_internal_catch, except:
6485 - It does not unwind the stack (this is the major difference).
6486 - If handler returns, its value is returned from the throw.
6487 - BODY always receives #f as its JMPBUF argument (since there's no
6488 jmpbuf associated with a lazy catch, because we don't unwind the
6491 ** scm_body_thunk is a new body function you can pass to
6492 scm_internal_catch if you want the body to be like Scheme's `catch'
6493 --- a thunk, or a function of one argument if the tag is #f.
6495 BODY_DATA is a pointer to a scm_body_thunk_data structure, which
6496 contains the Scheme procedure to invoke as the body, and the tag
6497 we're catching. If the tag is #f, then we pass JMPBUF (created by
6498 scm_internal_catch) to the body procedure; otherwise, the body gets
6501 ** scm_handle_by_proc is a new handler function you can pass to
6502 scm_internal_catch if you want the handler to act like Scheme's catch
6503 --- call a procedure with the tag and the throw arguments.
6505 If the user does a throw to this catch, this function runs a handler
6506 procedure written in Scheme. HANDLER_DATA is a pointer to an SCM
6507 variable holding the Scheme procedure object to invoke. It ought to
6508 be a pointer to an automatic variable (i.e., one living on the stack),
6509 or the procedure object should be otherwise protected from GC.
6511 ** scm_handle_by_message is a new handler function to use with
6512 `scm_internal_catch' if you want Guile to print a message and die.
6513 It's useful for dealing with throws to uncaught keys at the top level.
6515 HANDLER_DATA, if non-zero, is assumed to be a char * pointing to a
6516 message header to print; if zero, we use "guile" instead. That
6517 text is followed by a colon, then the message described by ARGS.
6519 ** The return type of scm_boot_guile is now void; the function does
6520 not return a value, and indeed, never returns at all.
6522 ** The new function scm_shell makes it easy for user applications to
6523 process command-line arguments in a way that is compatible with the
6524 stand-alone guile interpreter (which is in turn compatible with SCSH,
6527 To use the scm_shell function, first initialize any guile modules
6528 linked into your application, and then call scm_shell with the values
6529 of ARGC and ARGV your `main' function received. scm_shell will add
6530 any SCSH-style meta-arguments from the top of the script file to the
6531 argument vector, and then process the command-line arguments. This
6532 generally means loading a script file or starting up an interactive
6533 command interpreter. For details, see "Changes to the stand-alone
6536 ** The new functions scm_get_meta_args and scm_count_argv help you
6537 implement the SCSH-style meta-argument, `\'.
6539 char **scm_get_meta_args (int ARGC, char **ARGV)
6540 If the second element of ARGV is a string consisting of a single
6541 backslash character (i.e. "\\" in Scheme notation), open the file
6542 named by the following argument, parse arguments from it, and return
6543 the spliced command line. The returned array is terminated by a
6546 For details of argument parsing, see above, under "guile now accepts
6547 command-line arguments compatible with SCSH..."
6549 int scm_count_argv (char **ARGV)
6550 Count the arguments in ARGV, assuming it is terminated by a null
6553 For an example of how these functions might be used, see the source
6554 code for the function scm_shell in libguile/script.c.
6556 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
6559 ** The new function scm_compile_shell_switches turns an array of
6560 command-line arguments into Scheme code to carry out the actions they
6561 describe. Given ARGC and ARGV, it returns a Scheme expression to
6562 evaluate, and calls scm_set_program_arguments to make any remaining
6563 command-line arguments available to the Scheme code. For example,
6564 given the following arguments:
6566 -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
6568 scm_set_program_arguments will return the following expression:
6570 (begin (load "ekko") (main (command-line)) (quit))
6572 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
6575 ** The function scm_shell_usage prints a usage message appropriate for
6576 an interpreter that uses scm_compile_shell_switches to handle its
6577 command-line arguments.
6579 void scm_shell_usage (int FATAL, char *MESSAGE)
6580 Print a usage message to the standard error output. If MESSAGE is
6581 non-zero, write it before the usage message, followed by a newline.
6582 If FATAL is non-zero, exit the process, using FATAL as the
6583 termination status. (If you want to be compatible with Guile,
6584 always use 1 as the exit status when terminating due to command-line
6587 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
6590 ** scm_eval_0str now returns SCM_UNSPECIFIED if the string contains no
6591 expressions. It used to return SCM_EOL. Earth-shattering.
6593 ** The macros for declaring scheme objects in C code have been
6594 rearranged slightly. They are now:
6596 SCM_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
6597 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
6598 point to the Scheme symbol whose name is SCHEME_NAME. C_NAME should
6599 be a C identifier, and SCHEME_NAME should be a C string.
6601 SCM_GLOBAL_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
6602 Just like SCM_SYMBOL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
6604 SCM_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
6605 Create a global variable at the Scheme level named SCHEME_NAME.
6606 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
6607 point to the Scheme variable's value cell.
6609 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
6610 Just like SCM_VCELL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
6612 The `guile-snarf' script writes initialization code for these macros
6613 to its standard output, given C source code as input.
6615 The SCM_GLOBAL macro is gone.
6617 ** The scm_read_line and scm_read_line_x functions have been replaced
6618 by Scheme code based on the %read-delimited! procedure (known to C
6619 code as scm_read_delimited_x). See its description above for more
6622 ** The function scm_sys_open has been renamed to scm_open. It now
6623 returns a port instead of an FD object.
6625 * The dynamic linking support has changed. For more information, see
6626 libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING.
6631 User-visible changes from Thursday, September 5, 1996 until Guile 1.0
6634 * Changes to the 'guile' program:
6636 ** Guile now loads some new files when it starts up. Guile first
6637 searches the load path for init.scm, and loads it if found. Then, if
6638 Guile is not being used to execute a script, and the user's home
6639 directory contains a file named `.guile', Guile loads that.
6641 ** You can now use Guile as a shell script interpreter.
6643 To paraphrase the SCSH manual:
6645 When Unix tries to execute an executable file whose first two
6646 characters are the `#!', it treats the file not as machine code to
6647 be directly executed by the native processor, but as source code
6648 to be executed by some interpreter. The interpreter to use is
6649 specified immediately after the #! sequence on the first line of
6650 the source file. The kernel reads in the name of the interpreter,
6651 and executes that instead. It passes the interpreter the source
6652 filename as its first argument, with the original arguments
6653 following. Consult the Unix man page for the `exec' system call
6654 for more information.
6656 Now you can use Guile as an interpreter, using a mechanism which is a
6657 compatible subset of that provided by SCSH.
6659 Guile now recognizes a '-s' command line switch, whose argument is the
6660 name of a file of Scheme code to load. It also treats the two
6661 characters `#!' as the start of a comment, terminated by `!#'. Thus,
6662 to make a file of Scheme code directly executable by Unix, insert the
6663 following two lines at the top of the file:
6665 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
6668 Guile treats the argument of the `-s' command-line switch as the name
6669 of a file of Scheme code to load, and treats the sequence `#!' as the
6670 start of a block comment, terminated by `!#'.
6672 For example, here's a version of 'echo' written in Scheme:
6674 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
6676 (let loop ((args (cdr (program-arguments))))
6679 (display (car args))
6680 (if (pair? (cdr args))
6682 (loop (cdr args)))))
6685 Why does `#!' start a block comment terminated by `!#', instead of the
6686 end of the line? That is the notation SCSH uses, and although we
6687 don't yet support the other SCSH features that motivate that choice,
6688 we would like to be backward-compatible with any existing Guile
6689 scripts once we do. Furthermore, if the path to Guile on your system
6690 is too long for your kernel, you can start the script with this
6694 exec /really/long/path/to/guile -s "$0" ${1+"$@"}
6697 Note that some very old Unix systems don't support the `#!' syntax.
6700 ** You can now run Guile without installing it.
6702 Previous versions of the interactive Guile interpreter (`guile')
6703 couldn't start up unless Guile's Scheme library had been installed;
6704 they used the value of the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH'
6705 later on in the startup process, but not to find the startup code
6706 itself. Now Guile uses `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' in all searches for Scheme
6709 To run Guile without installing it, build it in the normal way, and
6710 then set the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' to a
6711 colon-separated list of directories, including the top-level directory
6712 of the Guile sources. For example, if you unpacked Guile so that the
6713 full filename of this NEWS file is /home/jimb/guile-1.0b3/NEWS, then
6716 export SCHEME_LOAD_PATH=/home/jimb/my-scheme:/home/jimb/guile-1.0b3
6719 ** Guile's read-eval-print loop no longer prints #<unspecified>
6720 results. If the user wants to see this, she can evaluate the
6721 expression (assert-repl-print-unspecified #t), perhaps in her startup
6724 ** Guile no longer shows backtraces by default when an error occurs;
6725 however, it does display a message saying how to get one, and how to
6726 request that they be displayed by default. After an error, evaluate
6728 to see a backtrace, and
6729 (debug-enable 'backtrace)
6730 to see them by default.
6734 * Changes to Guile Scheme:
6736 ** Guile now distinguishes between #f and the empty list.
6738 This is for compatibility with the IEEE standard, the (possibly)
6739 upcoming Revised^5 Report on Scheme, and many extant Scheme
6742 Guile used to have #f and '() denote the same object, to make Scheme's
6743 type system more compatible with Emacs Lisp's. However, the change
6744 caused too much trouble for Scheme programmers, and we found another
6745 way to reconcile Emacs Lisp with Scheme that didn't require this.
6748 ** Guile's delq, delv, delete functions, and their destructive
6749 counterparts, delq!, delv!, and delete!, now remove all matching
6750 elements from the list, not just the first. This matches the behavior
6751 of the corresponding Emacs Lisp functions, and (I believe) the Maclisp
6752 functions which inspired them.
6754 I recognize that this change may break code in subtle ways, but it
6755 seems best to make the change before the FSF's first Guile release,
6759 ** The compiled-library-path function has been deleted from libguile.
6761 ** The facilities for loading Scheme source files have changed.
6763 *** The variable %load-path now tells Guile which directories to search
6764 for Scheme code. Its value is a list of strings, each of which names
6767 *** The variable %load-extensions now tells Guile which extensions to
6768 try appending to a filename when searching the load path. Its value
6769 is a list of strings. Its default value is ("" ".scm").
6771 *** (%search-load-path FILENAME) searches the directories listed in the
6772 value of the %load-path variable for a Scheme file named FILENAME,
6773 with all the extensions listed in %load-extensions. If it finds a
6774 match, then it returns its full filename. If FILENAME is absolute, it
6775 returns it unchanged. Otherwise, it returns #f.
6777 %search-load-path will not return matches that refer to directories.
6779 *** (primitive-load FILENAME :optional CASE-INSENSITIVE-P SHARP)
6780 uses %seach-load-path to find a file named FILENAME, and loads it if
6781 it finds it. If it can't read FILENAME for any reason, it throws an
6784 The arguments CASE-INSENSITIVE-P and SHARP are interpreted as by the
6787 *** load uses the same searching semantics as primitive-load.
6789 *** The functions %try-load, try-load-with-path, %load, load-with-path,
6790 basic-try-load-with-path, basic-load-with-path, try-load-module-with-
6791 path, and load-module-with-path have been deleted. The functions
6792 above should serve their purposes.
6794 *** If the value of the variable %load-hook is a procedure,
6795 `primitive-load' applies its value to the name of the file being
6796 loaded (without the load path directory name prepended). If its value
6797 is #f, it is ignored. Otherwise, an error occurs.
6799 This is mostly useful for printing load notification messages.
6802 ** The function `eval!' is no longer accessible from the scheme level.
6803 We can't allow operations which introduce glocs into the scheme level,
6804 because Guile's type system can't handle these as data. Use `eval' or
6805 `read-and-eval!' (see below) as replacement.
6807 ** The new function read-and-eval! reads an expression from PORT,
6808 evaluates it, and returns the result. This is more efficient than
6809 simply calling `read' and `eval', since it is not necessary to make a
6810 copy of the expression for the evaluator to munge.
6812 Its optional arguments CASE_INSENSITIVE_P and SHARP are interpreted as
6813 for the `read' function.
6816 ** The function `int?' has been removed; its definition was identical
6817 to that of `integer?'.
6819 ** The functions `<?', `<?', `<=?', `=?', `>?', and `>=?'. Code should
6820 use the R4RS names for these functions.
6822 ** The function object-properties no longer returns the hash handle;
6823 it simply returns the object's property list.
6825 ** Many functions have been changed to throw errors, instead of
6826 returning #f on failure. The point of providing exception handling in
6827 the language is to simplify the logic of user code, but this is less
6828 useful if Guile's primitives don't throw exceptions.
6830 ** The function `fileno' has been renamed from `%fileno'.
6832 ** The function primitive-mode->fdes returns #t or #f now, not 1 or 0.
6835 * Changes to Guile's C interface:
6837 ** The library's initialization procedure has been simplified.
6838 scm_boot_guile now has the prototype:
6840 void scm_boot_guile (int ARGC,
6842 void (*main_func) (),
6845 scm_boot_guile calls MAIN_FUNC, passing it CLOSURE, ARGC, and ARGV.
6846 MAIN_FUNC should do all the work of the program (initializing other
6847 packages, reading user input, etc.) before returning. When MAIN_FUNC
6848 returns, call exit (0); this function never returns. If you want some
6849 other exit value, MAIN_FUNC may call exit itself.
6851 scm_boot_guile arranges for program-arguments to return the strings
6852 given by ARGC and ARGV. If MAIN_FUNC modifies ARGC/ARGV, should call
6853 scm_set_program_arguments with the final list, so Scheme code will
6854 know which arguments have been processed.
6856 scm_boot_guile establishes a catch-all catch handler which prints an
6857 error message and exits the process. This means that Guile exits in a
6858 coherent way when system errors occur and the user isn't prepared to
6859 handle it. If the user doesn't like this behavior, they can establish
6860 their own universal catcher in MAIN_FUNC to shadow this one.
6862 Why must the caller do all the real work from MAIN_FUNC? The garbage
6863 collector assumes that all local variables of type SCM will be above
6864 scm_boot_guile's stack frame on the stack. If you try to manipulate
6865 SCM values after this function returns, it's the luck of the draw
6866 whether the GC will be able to find the objects you allocate. So,
6867 scm_boot_guile function exits, rather than returning, to discourage
6868 people from making that mistake.
6870 The IN, OUT, and ERR arguments were removed; there are other
6871 convenient ways to override these when desired.
6873 The RESULT argument was deleted; this function should never return.
6875 The BOOT_CMD argument was deleted; the MAIN_FUNC argument is more
6879 ** Guile's header files should no longer conflict with your system's
6882 In order to compile code which #included <libguile.h>, previous
6883 versions of Guile required you to add a directory containing all the
6884 Guile header files to your #include path. This was a problem, since
6885 Guile's header files have names which conflict with many systems'
6888 Now only <libguile.h> need appear in your #include path; you must
6889 refer to all Guile's other header files as <libguile/mumble.h>.
6890 Guile's installation procedure puts libguile.h in $(includedir), and
6891 the rest in $(includedir)/libguile.
6894 ** Two new C functions, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object,
6895 have been added to the Guile library.
6897 scm_protect_object (OBJ) protects OBJ from the garbage collector.
6898 OBJ will not be freed, even if all other references are dropped,
6899 until someone does scm_unprotect_object (OBJ). Both functions
6902 Note that calls to scm_protect_object do not nest. You can call
6903 scm_protect_object any number of times on a given object, and the
6904 next call to scm_unprotect_object will unprotect it completely.
6906 Basically, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object just
6907 maintain a list of references to things. Since the GC knows about
6908 this list, all objects it mentions stay alive. scm_protect_object
6909 adds its argument to the list; scm_unprotect_object remove its
6910 argument from the list.
6913 ** scm_eval_0str now returns the value of the last expression
6916 ** The new function scm_read_0str reads an s-expression from a
6917 null-terminated string, and returns it.
6919 ** The new function `scm_stdio_to_port' converts a STDIO file pointer
6920 to a Scheme port object.
6922 ** The new function `scm_set_program_arguments' allows C code to set
6923 the value returned by the Scheme `program-arguments' function.
6928 * Guile no longer includes sophisticated Tcl/Tk support.
6930 The old Tcl/Tk support was unsatisfying to us, because it required the
6931 user to link against the Tcl library, as well as Tk and Guile. The
6932 interface was also un-lispy, in that it preserved Tcl/Tk's practice of
6933 referring to widgets by names, rather than exporting widgets to Scheme
6934 code as a special datatype.
6936 In the Usenix Tk Developer's Workshop held in July 1996, the Tcl/Tk
6937 maintainers described some very interesting changes in progress to the
6938 Tcl/Tk internals, which would facilitate clean interfaces between lone
6939 Tk and other interpreters --- even for garbage-collected languages
6940 like Scheme. They expected the new Tk to be publicly available in the
6943 Since it seems that Guile might soon have a new, cleaner interface to
6944 lone Tk, and that the old Guile/Tk glue code would probably need to be
6945 completely rewritten, we (Jim Blandy and Richard Stallman) have
6946 decided not to support the old code. We'll spend the time instead on
6947 a good interface to the newer Tk, as soon as it is available.
6949 Until then, gtcltk-lib provides trivial, low-maintenance functionality.
6952 Copyright information:
6954 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
6956 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
6957 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
6958 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
6959 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
6961 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
6962 of this document, or of portions of it,
6963 under the above conditions, provided also that they
6964 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
6969 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"