1 Guile NEWS --- history of user-visible changes.
2 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 See the end for copying conditions.
5 Please send Guile bug reports to bug-guile@gnu.org.
8 Note: During the 1.9 series, we will keep an incremental NEWS for the
9 latest prerelease, and a full NEWS corresponding to 1.8 -> 2.0.
11 Changes since the 1.9.15 prerelease:
13 ** Deprecated: primitive properties
15 The `primitive-make-property', `primitive-property-set!',
16 `primitive-property-ref', and `primitive-property-del!' procedures were
17 crufty and only used to implement object properties, which has a new,
18 threadsafe implementation. Use object properties or weak hash tables
21 ** New syntax: define-once
23 `define-once' is like Lisp's `defvar': it creates a toplevel binding,
24 but only if one does not exist already.
26 ** Improved exactness handling for complex number parsing
28 When parsing non-real complex numbers, exactness specifiers are now
29 applied to each component, as is done in PLT Scheme. For complex
30 numbers written in rectangular form, exactness specifiers are applied
31 to the real and imaginary parts before calling scm_make_rectangular.
32 For complex numbers written in polar form, exactness specifiers are
33 applied to the magnitude and angle before calling scm_make_polar.
35 Previously, exactness specifiers were applied to the number as a whole
36 _after_ calling scm_make_rectangular or scm_make_polar.
38 For example, (string->number "#i5.0+0i") now does the equivalent of:
40 (make-rectangular (exact->inexact 5.0) (exact->inexact 0))
42 which yields 5.0+0.0i. Previously it did the equivalent of:
44 (exact->inexact (make-rectangular 5.0 0))
49 Changes in 1.9.15 (since the 1.9.14 prerelease):
51 ** Formally deprecate omission of port to `format'
53 It used to be that you could omit passing a port to `format', in some
54 cases. This still works, but has been formally deprecated.
58 Noah Lavine and Kan-Ru Chen noticed and fixed a number of embarrassing
59 bugs in object creation, unicode literals in strings, empty function
60 bodies, non-breaking whitespace, and numeric literals.
62 ** `(web ...)' changes
64 *** `parse-uri', `unparse-uri' now called `string->uri', `uri->string'
66 *** `uri-decode' takes `#:encoding' keyword argument, not `#:charset'
68 *** HTTP header representation change
70 Guile properly garbage-collects symbols, so there's no need to read some
71 headers as symbols and some as strings: all header names are symbols
72 now. The same goes for many key-value constructs in headers. Guile
73 parses the challenge/authentication headers now, as well. Header decl
74 objects are no longer exposed to the user.
76 *** Request and response bodies are always bytevectors
78 Reading bodies as latin-1 strings was a cute hack, but not general, so
79 Guile's only official fetch-me-the-body procedures return bytevectors
82 ** New procedures: scm_{to,from}_{utf8,latin1}_symbol{n,}
83 ** New procedures: scm_{to,from}_{utf8,utf32,latin1}_symbol{n,}
85 These new procedures convert to and from string representations in
88 Basically, continue to use locale encoding for user input, user output,
89 or interacting with the C library. Use latin1 for ASCII, and for
90 literals in source code. Use utf8 for interaction with modern libraries
91 which deal in UTF-8. Use utf32 for interaction with utf32-using
92 libraries. Otherwise use scm_to_stringn or scm_from_stringn with a
95 Also, scm_from_latin1_symbol is quite a bit faster now.
97 ** Documentation updates
99 The GOOPS manual saw a lot of work, as well as documentation for the
102 ** Guile uses iconv directly for reading from and writing to ports.
104 In addition to providing faster Unicode I/O (e.g., `display',
105 `read-char'), this change improves error reporting.
107 For instance, the `encoding-error' exception conveys information about
108 the port and character that could not be encoded. Likewise, the new
109 `decoding-error' exception conveys information about the port from which
110 data failed to be decoded, and leaves the port in a known position.
112 ** Source files default to UTF-8.
114 If source files do not specify their encoding via a `coding:' block,
115 the default encoding is UTF-8, instead of being taken from the current
120 Thanks to Mark Harig for many suggestions regarding the manual page,
121 which is getting better.
123 ** Interactive Guile installs the current locale.
125 Instead of leaving the user in the "C" locale, running the Guile REPL
126 installs the current locale. [FIXME xref?]
128 ** `recv!', `recvfrom!', `send', `sendto' now deal in bytevectors
130 These socket procedures now take bytevectors as arguments, instead of
131 strings. There is some deprecated string support, however.
133 ** New foreign API: `define-wrapped-pointer-type', `pointer?'
135 See "Foreign Types", for more.
137 ** Changes and bugfixes in numerics code
139 *** Added two new sets of fast quotient and remainder operators
141 Added two new sets of fast quotient and remainder operator pairs with
142 different semantics than the R5RS operators. They support not only
143 integers, but all reals, including exact rationals and inexact
144 floating point numbers.
146 These procedures accept two real numbers N and D, where the divisor D
147 must be non-zero. `euclidean-quotient' returns the integer Q and
148 `euclidean-remainder' returns the real R such that N = Q*D + R and
149 0 <= R < |D|. `euclidean/' returns both Q and R, and is more
150 efficient than computing each separately. Note that when D > 0,
151 `euclidean-quotient' returns floor(N/D), and when D < 0 it returns
154 `centered-quotient', `centered-remainder', and `centered/' are similar
155 except that the range of remainders is -abs(D/2) <= R < abs(D/2), and
156 `centered-quotient' rounds N/D to the nearest integer.
158 Note that these operators are equivalent to the R6RS integer division
159 operators `div', `mod', `div-and-mod', `div0', `mod0', and
162 *** Complex number changes
164 Guile is now able to represent non-real complex numbers whose
165 imaginary part is an _inexact_ zero (0.0 or -0.0), per R6RS.
166 Previously, such numbers were immediately changed into inexact reals.
168 (real? 0.0+0.0i) now returns #f, per R6RS, although (zero? 0.0+0.0i)
169 still returns #t, per R6RS. (= 0 0.0+0.0i) and (= 0.0 0.0+0.0i) are
170 #t, but the same comparisons using `eqv?' or `equal?' are #f.
172 Like other non-real numbers, these complex numbers with inexact zero
173 imaginary part will raise exceptions is passed to procedures requiring
174 reals, such as `<', `>', `<=', `>=', `min', `max', `positive?',
175 `negative?', `inf?', `nan?', `finite?', etc.
177 **** `make-rectangular' changes
179 scm_make_rectangular `make-rectangular' now returns a real number only
180 if the imaginary part is an _exact_ 0. Previously, it would return a
181 real number if the imaginary part was an inexact zero.
183 scm_c_make_rectangular now always returns a non-real complex number,
184 even if the imaginary part is zero. Previously, it would return a
185 real number if the imaginary part was zero.
187 **** `make-polar' changes
189 scm_make_polar `make-polar' now returns a real number only if the
190 angle or magnitude is an _exact_ 0. If the magnitude is an exact 0,
191 it now returns an exact 0. Previously, it would return a real
192 number if the imaginary part was an inexact zero.
194 scm_c_make_polar now always returns a non-real complex number, even if
195 the imaginary part is 0.0. Previously, it would return a real number
196 if the imaginary part was 0.0.
198 **** `imag-part' changes
200 scm_imag_part `imag-part' now returns an exact 0 if applied to an
201 inexact real number. Previously it returned an inexact zero in this
204 *** `eqv?' and `equal?' now compare numbers equivalently
206 scm_equal_p `equal?' now behaves equivalently to scm_eqv_p `eqv?' for
207 numeric values, per R5RS. Previously, equal? worked differently,
208 e.g. `(equal? 0.0 -0.0)' returned #t but `(eqv? 0.0 -0.0)' returned #f,
209 and `(equal? +nan.0 +nan.0)' returned #f but `(eqv? +nan.0 +nan.0)'
212 *** `(equal? +nan.0 +nan.0)' now returns #t
214 Previously, `(equal? +nan.0 +nan.0)' returned #f, although
215 `(let ((x +nan.0)) (equal? x x))' and `(eqv? +nan.0 +nan.0)'
216 both returned #t. R5RS requires that `equal?' behave like
217 `eqv?' when comparing numbers.
219 *** Change in handling products `*' involving exact 0
221 scm_product `*' now handles exact 0 differently. A product containing
222 an exact 0 now returns an exact 0 if and only if the other arguments
223 are all exact. An inexact zero is returned if and only if the other
224 arguments are all finite but not all exact. If an infinite or NaN
225 value is present, a NaN value is returned. Previously, any product
226 containing an exact 0 yielded an exact 0, regardless of the other
229 *** `expt' and `integer-expt' changes when the base is 0
231 While `(expt 0 0)' is still 1, and `(expt 0 N)' for N > 0 is still
232 zero, `(expt 0 N)' for N < 0 is now a NaN value, and likewise for
233 integer-expt. This is more correct, and conforming to R6RS, but seems
234 to be incompatible with R5RS, which would return 0 for all non-zero
237 *** `expt' and `integer-expt' are more generic, less strict
239 When raising to an exact non-negative integer exponent, `expt' and
240 `integer-expt' are now able to exponentiate any object that can be
241 multiplied using `*'. They can also raise an object to an exact
242 negative integer power if its reciprocal can be taken using `/'.
243 In order to allow this, the type of the first argument is no longer
244 checked when raising to an exact integer power. If the exponent is 0
245 or 1, the first parameter is not manipulated at all, and need not
246 even support multiplication.
248 *** Infinities are no longer integers, nor rationals
250 scm_integer_p `integer?' and scm_rational_p `rational?' now return #f
251 for infinities, per R6RS. Previously they returned #t for real
252 infinities. The real infinities and NaNs are still considered real by
253 scm_real `real?' however, per R6RS.
255 *** NaNs are no longer rationals
257 scm_rational_p `rational?' now returns #f for NaN values, per R6RS.
258 Previously it returned #t for real NaN values. They are still
259 considered real by scm_real `real?' however, per R6RS.
261 *** `inf?' and `nan?' now throw exceptions for non-reals
263 The domain of `inf?' and `nan?' is the real numbers. Guile now signals
264 an error when a non-real number or non-number is passed to these
265 procedures. (Note that NaNs _are_ considered numbers by scheme, despite
268 *** `rationalize' bugfixes and changes
270 Fixed bugs in scm_rationalize `rationalize'. Previously, it returned
271 exact integers unmodified, although that was incorrect if the epsilon
272 was at least 1 or inexact, e.g. (rationalize 4 1) should return 3 per
273 R5RS and R6RS, but previously it returned 4. It also now handles
274 cases involving infinities and NaNs properly, per R6RS.
276 *** Trigonometric functions now return exact numbers in some cases
278 scm_sin `sin', scm_cos `cos', scm_tan `tan', scm_asin `asin', scm_acos
279 `acos', scm_atan `atan', scm_sinh `sinh', scm_cosh `cosh', scm_tanh
280 `tanh', scm_sys_asinh `asinh', scm_sys_acosh `acosh', and
281 scm_sys_atanh `atanh' now return exact results in some cases.
283 *** New procedure: `finite?'
285 Add scm_finite_p `finite?' from R6RS to guile core, which returns #t
286 if and only if its argument is neither infinite nor a NaN. Note that
287 this is not the same as (not (inf? x)) or (not (infinite? x)), since
288 NaNs are neither finite nor infinite.
290 *** R6RS base library changes
292 **** `div', `mod', `div-and-mod', `div0', `mod0', `div0-and-mod0'
294 Efficient versions of these R6RS division operators are now supported.
295 See the NEWS entry entitled `Added two new sets of fast quotient and
296 remainder operators' for more information.
298 **** `infinite?' changes
300 `infinite?' and `finite?' now throw exceptions for non-numbers. (Note
301 that NaNs _are_ considered numbers by scheme, despite their name).
303 **** `real-valued?', `rational-valued?' and `integer-valued?' changes
305 These predicates are now implemented in accordance with R6RS.
307 ** R6RS textual I/O procedures raise R6RS error conditions
309 R6RS procedures `get-char', `put-string', etc. now raise the correct
310 R6RS error coding, i.e., `&i/o-decoding-error' or `&i/o-encoding-error'.
312 ** New reader option: `hungry-eol-escapes'
314 Guile's string syntax is more compatible with R6RS when the
315 `hungry-eol-escapes' option is enabled. See "String Syntax" in the
316 manual, for more information.
318 ** And of course, the usual collection of bugfixes
320 Interested users should see the ChangeLog for more information.
324 Changes in 1.9.x (since the 1.8.x series):
326 * New modules (see the manual for details)
328 ** `(srfi srfi-18)', more sophisticated multithreading support
329 ** `(srfi srfi-27)', sources of random bits
330 ** `(srfi srfi-38)', External Representation for Data With Shared Structure
331 ** `(srfi srfi-42)', eager comprehensions
332 ** `(srfi srfi-45)', primitives for expressing iterative lazy algorithms
333 ** `(srfi srfi-67)', compare procedures
334 ** `(ice-9 i18n)', internationalization support
335 ** `(ice-9 futures)', fine-grain parallelism
336 ** `(rnrs bytevectors)', the R6RS bytevector API
337 ** `(rnrs io ports)', a subset of the R6RS I/O port API
338 ** `(system xref)', a cross-referencing facility (FIXME undocumented)
339 ** `(ice-9 vlist)', lists with constant-time random access; hash lists
340 ** `(system foreign)', foreign function interface
341 ** `(sxml match)', a pattern matcher for SXML
342 ** `(srfi srfi-9 gnu)', extensions to the SRFI-9 record library
343 ** `(system vm coverage)', a line-by-line code coverage library
344 ** `(web uri)', URI data type, parser, and unparser
345 ** `(web http)', HTTP header parsers and unparsers
346 ** `(web request)', HTTP request data type, reader, and writer
347 ** `(web response)', HTTP response data type, reader, and writer
348 ** `(web server)', Generic HTTP server
349 ** `(ice-9 poll)', a poll wrapper
350 ** `(web server http)', HTTP-over-TCP web server implementation
352 ** Replaced `(ice-9 match)' with Alex Shinn's compatible, hygienic matcher.
354 Guile's copy of Andrew K. Wright's `match' library has been replaced by
355 a compatible hygienic implementation by Alex Shinn. It is now
356 documented, see "Pattern Matching" in the manual.
358 Compared to Andrew K. Wright's `match', the new `match' lacks
359 `match-define', `match:error-control', `match:set-error-control',
360 `match:error', `match:set-error', and all structure-related procedures.
362 ** Imported statprof, SSAX, and texinfo modules from Guile-Lib
364 The statprof statistical profiler, the SSAX XML toolkit, and the texinfo
365 toolkit from Guile-Lib have been imported into Guile proper. See
366 "Standard Library" in the manual for more details.
368 ** Integration of lalr-scm, a parser generator
370 Guile has included Dominique Boucher's fine `lalr-scm' parser generator
371 as `(system base lalr)'. See "LALR(1) Parsing" in the manual, for more
374 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
376 ** Guile now can compile Scheme to bytecode for a custom virtual machine.
378 Compiled code loads much faster than Scheme source code, and runs around
379 3 or 4 times as fast, generating much less garbage in the process.
381 ** Evaluating Scheme code does not use the C stack.
383 Besides when compiling Guile itself, Guile no longer uses a recursive C
384 function as an evaluator. This obviates the need to check the C stack
385 pointer for overflow. Continuations still capture the C stack, however.
387 ** New environment variables: GUILE_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH,
388 GUILE_SYSTEM_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH
390 GUILE_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH is for compiled files what GUILE_LOAD_PATH is
391 for source files. It is a different path, however, because compiled
392 files are architecture-specific. GUILE_SYSTEM_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH is like
395 ** New read-eval-print loop (REPL) implementation
397 Running Guile with no arguments drops the user into the new REPL. See
398 "Using Guile Interactively" in the manual, for more information.
400 ** Remove old Emacs interface
402 Guile had an unused `--emacs' command line argument that was supposed to
403 help when running Guile inside Emacs. This option has been removed, and
404 the helper functions `named-module-use!' and `load-emacs-interface' have
407 ** Add `(system repl server)' module and `--listen' command-line argument
409 The `(system repl server)' module exposes procedures to listen on
410 sockets for connections, and serve REPLs to those clients. The --listen
411 command-line argument allows any Guile program to thus be remotely
414 See "Invoking Guile" for more information on `--listen'.
416 ** Command line additions
418 The guile binary now supports a new switch "-x", which can be used to
419 extend the list of filename extensions tried when loading files
422 ** New reader options: `square-brackets' and `r6rs-hex-escapes'
424 The reader supports a new option (changeable via `read-options'),
425 `square-brackets', which instructs it to interpret square brackets as
426 parentheses. This option is on by default.
428 When the new `r6rs-hex-escapes' reader option is enabled, the reader
429 will recognize string escape sequences as defined in R6RS. R6RS string
430 escape sequences are incompatible with Guile's existing escapes, though,
431 so this option is off by default.
433 ** Function profiling and tracing at the REPL
435 The `,profile FORM' REPL meta-command can now be used to statistically
436 profile execution of a form, to see which functions are taking the most
437 time. See `,help profile' for more information.
439 Similarly, `,trace FORM' traces all function applications that occur
440 during the execution of `FORM'. See `,help trace' for more information.
442 ** Recursive debugging REPL on error
444 When Guile sees an error at the REPL, instead of saving the stack, Guile
445 will directly enter a recursive REPL in the dynamic context of the
446 error. See "Error Handling" in the manual, for more information.
448 A recursive REPL is the same as any other REPL, except that it
449 has been augmented with debugging information, so that one can inspect
450 the context of the error. The debugger has been integrated with the REPL
451 via a set of debugging meta-commands.
453 For example, one may access a backtrace with `,backtrace' (or
454 `,bt'). See "Interactive Debugging" in the manual, for more
457 ** New `guile-tools' commands: `compile', `disassemble'
459 Pass the `--help' command-line option to these commands for more
462 ** Guile now adds its install prefix to the LTDL_LIBRARY_PATH
464 Users may now install Guile to nonstandard prefixes and just run
465 `/path/to/bin/guile', instead of also having to set LTDL_LIBRARY_PATH to
466 include `/path/to/lib'.
468 ** Guile's Emacs integration is now more keyboard-friendly
470 Backtraces may now be disclosed with the keyboard in addition to the
473 ** Load path change: search in version-specific paths before site paths
475 When looking for a module, Guile now searches first in Guile's
476 version-specific path (the library path), *then* in the site dir. This
477 allows Guile's copy of SSAX to override any Guile-Lib copy the user has
478 installed. Also it should cut the number of `stat' system calls by half,
481 ** Value history in the REPL on by default
483 By default, the REPL will save computed values in variables like `$1',
484 `$2', and the like. There are programmatic and interactive interfaces to
485 control this. See "Value History" in the manual, for more information.
487 ** Readline tab completion for arguments
489 When readline is enabled, tab completion works for arguments too, not
490 just for the operator position.
492 ** Expression-oriented readline history
494 Guile's readline history now tries to operate on expressions instead of
495 input lines. Let us know what you think!
497 ** Interactive Guile follows GNU conventions
499 As recommended by the GPL, Guile now shows a brief copyright and
500 warranty disclaimer on startup, along with pointers to more information.
502 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
504 ** Support for R6RS libraries
506 The `library' and `import' forms from the latest Scheme report have been
507 added to Guile, in such a way that R6RS libraries share a namespace with
508 Guile modules. R6RS modules may import Guile modules, and are available
509 for Guile modules to import via use-modules and all the rest. See "R6RS
510 Libraries" in the manual for more information.
512 ** Implementations of R6RS libraries
514 Guile now has implementations for all of the libraries defined in the
515 R6RS. Thanks to Julian Graham for this excellent hack. See "R6RS
516 Standard Libraries" in the manual for a full list of libraries.
518 ** Partial R6RS compatibility
520 Guile now has enough support for R6RS to run a reasonably large subset
523 Guile is not fully R6RS compatible. Many incompatibilities are simply
524 bugs, though some parts of Guile will remain R6RS-incompatible for the
525 foreseeable future. See "R6RS Incompatibilities" in the manual, for more
528 Please contact bug-guile@gnu.org if you have found an issue not
529 mentioned in that compatibility list.
531 ** New implementation of `primitive-eval'
533 Guile's `primitive-eval' is now implemented in Scheme. Actually there is
534 still a C evaluator, used when building a fresh Guile to interpret the
535 compiler, so we can compile eval.scm. Thereafter all calls to
536 primitive-eval are implemented by VM-compiled code.
538 This allows all of Guile's procedures, be they interpreted or compiled,
539 to execute on the same stack, unifying multiple-value return semantics,
540 providing for proper tail recursion between interpreted and compiled
541 code, and simplifying debugging.
543 As part of this change, the evaluator no longer mutates the internal
544 representation of the code being evaluated in a thread-unsafe manner.
546 There are two negative aspects of this change, however. First, Guile
547 takes a lot longer to compile now. Also, there is less debugging
548 information available for debugging interpreted code. We hope to improve
549 both of these situations.
551 There are many changes to the internal C evalator interface, but all
552 public interfaces should be the same. See the ChangeLog for details. If
553 we have inadvertantly changed an interface that you were using, please
554 contact bug-guile@gnu.org.
556 ** Procedure removed: `the-environment'
558 This procedure was part of the interpreter's execution model, and does
559 not apply to the compiler.
561 ** No more `local-eval'
563 `local-eval' used to exist so that one could evaluate code in the
564 lexical context of a function. Since there is no way to get the lexical
565 environment any more, as that concept has no meaning for the compiler,
566 and a different meaning for the interpreter, we have removed the
569 If you think you need `local-eval', you should probably implement your
570 own metacircular evaluator. It will probably be as fast as Guile's
573 ** Scheme source files will now be compiled automatically.
575 If a compiled .go file corresponding to a .scm file is not found or is
576 not fresh, the .scm file will be compiled on the fly, and the resulting
577 .go file stored away. An advisory note will be printed on the console.
579 Note that this mechanism depends on the timestamp of the .go file being
580 newer than that of the .scm file; if the .scm or .go files are moved
581 after installation, care should be taken to preserve their original
584 Auto-compiled files will be stored in the $XDG_CACHE_HOME/guile/ccache
585 directory, where $XDG_CACHE_HOME defaults to ~/.cache. This directory
586 will be created if needed.
588 To inhibit automatic compilation, set the GUILE_AUTO_COMPILE environment
589 variable to 0, or pass --no-auto-compile on the Guile command line.
591 ** New POSIX procedures: `getrlimit' and `setrlimit'
593 Note however that the interface of these functions is likely to change
594 in the next prerelease.
596 ** New POSIX procedure: `getsid'
598 Scheme binding for the `getsid' C library call.
600 ** New POSIX procedure: `getaddrinfo'
602 Scheme binding for the `getaddrinfo' C library function.
604 ** Multicast socket options
606 Support was added for the IP_MULTICAST_TTL and IP_MULTICAST_IF socket
607 options. See "Network Sockets and Communication" in the manual, for
610 ** New GNU procedures: `setaffinity' and `getaffinity'.
612 See "Processes" in the manual, for more information.
614 ** New procedures: `compose', `negate', and `const'
616 See "Higher-Order Functions" in the manual, for more information.
618 ** New procedure in `(oops goops)': `method-formals'
620 ** New procedures in (ice-9 session): `add-value-help-handler!',
621 `remove-value-help-handler!', `add-name-help-handler!'
622 `remove-name-help-handler!', `procedure-arguments'
624 The value and name help handlers provide some minimal extensibility to
625 the help interface. Guile-lib's `(texinfo reflection)' uses them, for
626 example, to make stexinfo help documentation available. See those
627 procedures' docstrings for more information.
629 `procedure-arguments' describes the arguments that a procedure can take,
630 combining arity and formals. For example:
632 (procedure-arguments resolve-interface)
633 => ((required . (name)) (rest . args))
635 Additionally, `module-commentary' is now publically exported from
638 ** Removed: `procedure->memoizing-macro', `procedure->syntax'
640 These procedures created primitive fexprs for the old evaluator, and are
641 no longer supported. If you feel that you need these functions, you
642 probably need to write your own metacircular evaluator (which will
643 probably be as fast as Guile's, anyway).
645 ** New language: ECMAScript
647 Guile now ships with one other high-level language supported,
648 ECMAScript. The goal is to support all of version 3.1 of the standard,
649 but not all of the libraries are there yet. This support is not yet
650 documented; ask on the mailing list if you are interested.
652 ** New language: Brainfuck
654 Brainfuck is a toy language that closely models Turing machines. Guile's
655 brainfuck compiler is meant to be an example of implementing other
656 languages. See the manual for details, or
657 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainfuck for more information about the
658 Brainfuck language itself.
660 ** New language: Elisp
662 Guile now has an experimental Emacs Lisp compiler and runtime. You can
663 now switch to Elisp at the repl: `,language elisp'. All kudos to Daniel
664 Kraft and Brian Templeton, and all bugs to bug-guile@gnu.org.
666 ** Better documentation infrastructure for macros
668 It is now possible to introspect on the type of a macro, e.g.
669 syntax-rules, identifier-syntax, etc, and extract information about that
670 macro, such as the syntax-rules patterns or the defmacro arguments.
671 `(texinfo reflection)' takes advantage of this to give better macro
674 ** Support for arbitrary procedure metadata
676 Building on its support for docstrings, Guile now supports multiple
677 docstrings, adding them to the tail of a compiled procedure's
678 properties. For example:
684 (procedure-properties foo)
685 => ((name . foo) (documentation . "one") (documentation . "two"))
687 Also, vectors of pairs are now treated as additional metadata entries:
690 #((quz . #f) (docstring . "xyzzy"))
692 (procedure-properties bar)
693 => ((name . bar) (quz . #f) (docstring . "xyzzy"))
695 This allows arbitrary literals to be embedded as metadata in a compiled
698 ** The psyntax expander now knows how to interpret the @ and @@ special
701 ** The psyntax expander is now hygienic with respect to modules.
703 Free variables in a macro are scoped in the module that the macro was
704 defined in, not in the module the macro is used in. For example, code
707 (define-module (foo) #:export (bar))
708 (define (helper x) ...)
710 (syntax-rules () ((_ x) (helper x))))
712 (define-module (baz) #:use-module (foo))
715 It used to be you had to export `helper' from `(foo)' as well.
716 Thankfully, this has been fixed.
718 ** Support for version information in Guile's `module' form
720 Guile modules now have a `#:version' field. See "R6RS Version
721 References", "General Information about Modules", "Using Guile Modules",
722 and "Creating Guile Modules" in the manual for more information.
724 ** Support for renaming bindings on module export
726 Wherever Guile accepts a symbol as an argument to specify a binding to
727 export, it now also accepts a pair of symbols, indicating that a binding
728 should be renamed on export. See "Creating Guile Modules" in the manual
729 for more information.
731 ** New procedure: `module-export-all!'
733 This procedure exports all current and future bindings from a module.
734 Use as `(module-export-all! (current-module))'.
736 ** New procedure `reload-module', and `,reload' REPL command
738 See "Module System Reflection" and "Module Commands" in the manual, for
741 ** `eval-case' has been deprecated, and replaced by `eval-when'.
743 The semantics of `eval-when' are easier to understand. See "Eval When"
744 in the manual, for more information.
746 ** Guile is now more strict about prohibiting definitions in expression
749 Although previous versions of Guile accepted it, the following
750 expression is not valid, in R5RS or R6RS:
752 (if test (define foo 'bar) (define foo 'baz))
754 In this specific case, it would be better to do:
756 (define foo (if test 'bar 'baz))
758 It is certainly possible to circumvent this resriction with e.g.
759 `(module-define! (current-module) 'foo 'baz)'. We would appreciate
760 feedback about this change (a consequence of using psyntax as the
761 default expander), and may choose to revisit this situation before 2.0
762 in response to user feedback.
764 ** Support for `letrec*'
766 Guile now supports `letrec*', a recursive lexical binding operator in
767 which the identifiers are bound in order. See "Local Bindings" in the
768 manual, for more details.
770 ** Internal definitions now expand to `letrec*'
772 Following the R6RS, internal definitions now expand to letrec* instead
773 of letrec. The following program is invalid for R5RS, but valid for
778 (define baz (+ bar 20))
781 ;; R5RS and Guile <= 1.8:
782 (foo) => Unbound variable: bar
783 ;; R6RS and Guile >= 2.0:
786 This change should not affect correct R5RS programs, or programs written
787 in earlier Guile dialects.
789 ** Macro expansion produces structures instead of s-expressions
791 In the olden days, macroexpanding an s-expression would yield another
792 s-expression. Though the lexical variables were renamed, expansions of
793 core forms like `if' and `begin' were still non-hygienic, as they relied
794 on the toplevel definitions of `if' et al being the conventional ones.
796 The solution is to expand to structures instead of s-expressions. There
797 is an `if' structure, a `begin' structure, a `toplevel-ref' structure,
798 etc. The expander already did this for compilation, producing Tree-IL
799 directly; it has been changed now to do so when expanding for the
802 ** Defmacros must now produce valid Scheme expressions.
804 It used to be that defmacros could unquote in Scheme values, as a way of
805 supporting partial evaluation, and avoiding some hygiene issues. For
808 (define (helper x) ...)
809 (define-macro (foo bar)
812 Assuming this macro is in the `(baz)' module, the direct translation of
815 (define (helper x) ...)
816 (define-macro (foo bar)
817 `((@@ (baz) helper) ,bar))
819 Of course, one could just use a hygienic macro instead:
823 ((_ bar) (helper bar))))
825 ** Guile's psyntax now supports docstrings and internal definitions.
827 The following Scheme is not strictly legal:
834 However its intent is fairly clear. Guile interprets "bar" to be the
835 docstring of `foo', and the definition of `baz' is still in definition
838 ** Support for settable identifier syntax
840 Following the R6RS, "variable transformers" are settable
841 identifier-syntax. See "Identifier macros" in the manual, for more
844 ** syntax-case treats `_' as a placeholder
846 Following R6RS, a `_' in a syntax-rules or syntax-case pattern matches
847 anything, and binds no pattern variables. Unlike the R6RS, Guile also
848 permits `_' to be in the literals list for a pattern.
850 ** Macros need to be defined before their first use.
852 It used to be that with lazy memoization, this might work:
856 (define-macro (ref x) x)
859 But now, the body of `foo' is interpreted to mean a call to the toplevel
860 `ref' function, instead of a macro expansion. The solution is to define
861 macros before code that uses them.
863 ** Functions needed by macros at expand-time need to be present at
866 For example, this code will work at the REPL:
868 (define (double-helper x) (* x x))
869 (define-macro (double-literal x) (double-helper x))
870 (double-literal 2) => 4
872 But it will not work when a file is compiled, because the definition of
873 `double-helper' is not present at expand-time. The solution is to wrap
874 the definition of `double-helper' in `eval-when':
876 (eval-when (load compile eval)
877 (define (double-helper x) (* x x)))
878 (define-macro (double-literal x) (double-helper x))
879 (double-literal 2) => 4
881 See the documentation for eval-when for more information.
883 ** `macroexpand' produces structures, not S-expressions.
885 Given the need to maintain referential transparency, both lexically and
886 modular, the result of expanding Scheme expressions is no longer itself
887 an s-expression. If you want a human-readable approximation of the
888 result of `macroexpand', call `tree-il->scheme' from `(language
891 ** Removed function: `macroexpand-1'
893 It is unclear how to implement `macroexpand-1' with syntax-case, though
894 PLT Scheme does prove that it is possible.
896 ** New reader macros: #' #` #, #,@
898 These macros translate, respectively, to `syntax', `quasisyntax',
899 `unsyntax', and `unsyntax-splicing'. See the R6RS for more information.
900 These reader macros may be overridden by `read-hash-extend'.
902 ** Incompatible change to #'
904 Guile did have a #' hash-extension, by default, which just returned the
905 subsequent datum: #'foo => foo. In the unlikely event that anyone
906 actually used this, this behavior may be reinstated via the
907 `read-hash-extend' mechanism.
909 ** Scheme expresssions may be commented out with #;
911 #; comments out an entire expression. See SRFI-62 or the R6RS for more
914 ** Prompts: Delimited, composable continuations
916 Guile now has prompts as part of its primitive language. See "Prompts"
917 in the manual, for more information.
919 Expressions entered in at the REPL, or from the command line, are
920 surrounded by a prompt with the default prompt tag.
922 ** `make-stack' with a tail-called procedural narrowing argument no longer
923 works (with compiled procedures)
925 It used to be the case that a captured stack could be narrowed to select
926 calls only up to or from a certain procedure, even if that procedure
927 already tail-called another procedure. This was because the debug
928 information from the original procedure was kept on the stack.
930 Now with the new compiler, the stack only contains active frames from
931 the current continuation. A narrow to a procedure that is not in the
932 stack will result in an empty stack. To fix this, narrow to a procedure
933 that is active in the current continuation, or narrow to a specific
934 number of stack frames.
936 ** Backtraces through compiled procedures only show procedures that are
937 active in the current continuation
939 Similarly to the previous issue, backtraces in compiled code may be
940 different from backtraces in interpreted code. There are no semantic
941 differences, however. Please mail bug-guile@gnu.org if you see any
942 deficiencies with Guile's backtraces.
944 ** New macro: `current-source-location'
946 The macro returns the current source location (to be documented).
948 ** syntax-rules and syntax-case macros now propagate source information
949 through to the expanded code
951 This should result in better backtraces.
953 ** The currying behavior of `define' has been removed.
955 Before, `(define ((f a) b) (* a b))' would translate to
957 (define f (lambda (a) (lambda (b) (* a b))))
959 Now a syntax error is signaled, as this syntax is not supported by
960 default. Use the `(ice-9 curried-definitions)' module to get back the
963 ** New procedure, `define!'
965 `define!' is a procedure that takes two arguments, a symbol and a value,
966 and binds the value to the symbol in the current module. It's useful to
967 programmatically make definitions in the current module, and is slightly
968 less verbose than `module-define!'.
970 ** All modules have names now
972 Before, you could have anonymous modules: modules without names. Now,
973 because of hygiene and macros, all modules have names. If a module was
974 created without a name, the first time `module-name' is called on it, a
975 fresh name will be lazily generated for it.
977 ** The module namespace is now separate from the value namespace
979 It was a little-known implementation detail of Guile's module system
980 that it was built on a single hierarchical namespace of values -- that
981 if there was a module named `(foo bar)', then in the module named
982 `(foo)' there was a binding from `bar' to the `(foo bar)' module.
984 This was a neat trick, but presented a number of problems. One problem
985 was that the bindings in a module were not apparent from the module
986 itself; perhaps the `(foo)' module had a private binding for `bar', and
987 then an external contributor defined `(foo bar)'. In the end there can
988 be only one binding, so one of the two will see the wrong thing, and
989 produce an obtuse error of unclear provenance.
991 Also, the public interface of a module was also bound in the value
992 namespace, as `%module-public-interface'. This was a hack from the early
993 days of Guile's modules.
995 Both of these warts have been fixed by the addition of fields in the
996 `module' data type. Access to modules and their interfaces from the
997 value namespace has been deprecated, and all accessors use the new
998 record accessors appropriately.
1000 When Guile is built with support for deprecated code, as is the default,
1001 the value namespace is still searched for modules and public interfaces,
1002 and a deprecation warning is raised as appropriate.
1004 Finally, to support lazy loading of modules as one used to be able to do
1005 with module binder procedures, Guile now has submodule binders, called
1006 if a given submodule is not found. See boot-9.scm for more information.
1008 ** New procedures: module-ref-submodule, module-define-submodule,
1009 nested-ref-module, nested-define-module!, local-ref-module,
1012 These new accessors are like their bare variants, but operate on
1013 namespaces instead of values.
1015 ** The (app modules) module tree is officially deprecated
1017 It used to be that one could access a module named `(foo bar)' via
1018 `(nested-ref the-root-module '(app modules foo bar))'. The `(app
1019 modules)' bit was a never-used and never-documented abstraction, and has
1020 been deprecated. See the following mail for a full discussion:
1022 http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guile-devel/2010-04/msg00168.html
1024 The `%app' binding is also deprecated.
1026 ** `module-filename' field and accessor
1028 Modules now record the file in which they are defined. This field may be
1029 accessed with the new `module-filename' procedure.
1031 ** Modules load within a known environment
1033 It takes a few procedure calls to define a module, and those procedure
1034 calls need to be in scope. Now we ensure that the current module when
1035 loading a module is one that has the needed bindings, instead of relying
1038 ** Many syntax errors have different texts now
1040 Syntax errors still throw to the `syntax-error' key, but the arguments
1041 are often different now. Perhaps in the future, Guile will switch to
1042 using standard SRFI-35 conditions.
1044 ** Returning multiple values to compiled code will silently truncate the
1045 values to the expected number
1047 For example, the interpreter would raise an error evaluating the form,
1048 `(+ (values 1 2) (values 3 4))', because it would see the operands as
1049 being two compound "values" objects, to which `+' does not apply.
1051 The compiler, on the other hand, receives multiple values on the stack,
1052 not as a compound object. Given that it must check the number of values
1053 anyway, if too many values are provided for a continuation, it chooses
1054 to truncate those values, effectively evaluating `(+ 1 3)' instead.
1056 The idea is that the semantics that the compiler implements is more
1057 intuitive, and the use of the interpreter will fade out with time.
1058 This behavior is allowed both by the R5RS and the R6RS.
1060 ** Multiple values in compiled code are not represented by compound
1063 This change may manifest itself in the following situation:
1065 (let ((val (foo))) (do-something) val)
1067 In the interpreter, if `foo' returns multiple values, multiple values
1068 are produced from the `let' expression. In the compiler, those values
1069 are truncated to the first value, and that first value is returned. In
1070 the compiler, if `foo' returns no values, an error will be raised, while
1071 the interpreter would proceed.
1073 Both of these behaviors are allowed by R5RS and R6RS. The compiler's
1074 behavior is more correct, however. If you wish to preserve a potentially
1075 multiply-valued return, you will need to set up a multiple-value
1076 continuation, using `call-with-values'.
1078 ** Defmacros are now implemented in terms of syntax-case.
1080 The practical ramification of this is that the `defmacro?' predicate has
1081 been removed, along with `defmacro-transformer', `macro-table',
1082 `xformer-table', `assert-defmacro?!', `set-defmacro-transformer!' and
1083 `defmacro:transformer'. This is because defmacros are simply macros. If
1084 any of these procedures provided useful facilities to you, we encourage
1085 you to contact the Guile developers.
1087 ** Hygienic macros documented as the primary syntactic extension mechanism.
1089 The macro documentation was finally fleshed out with some documentation
1090 on `syntax-rules' and `syntax-case' macros, and other parts of the macro
1091 expansion process. See "Macros" in the manual, for details.
1093 ** psyntax is now the default expander
1095 Scheme code is now expanded by default by the psyntax hygienic macro
1096 expander. Expansion is performed completely before compilation or
1099 Notably, syntax errors will be signalled before interpretation begins.
1100 In the past, many syntax errors were only detected at runtime if the
1101 code in question was memoized.
1103 As part of its expansion, psyntax renames all lexically-bound
1104 identifiers. Original identifier names are preserved and given to the
1105 compiler, but the interpreter will see the renamed variables, e.g.,
1106 `x432' instead of `x'.
1108 Note that the psyntax that Guile uses is a fork, as Guile already had
1109 modules before incompatible modules were added to psyntax -- about 10
1110 years ago! Thus there are surely a number of bugs that have been fixed
1111 in psyntax since then. If you find one, please notify bug-guile@gnu.org.
1113 ** syntax-rules and syntax-case are available by default.
1115 There is no longer any need to import the `(ice-9 syncase)' module
1116 (which is now deprecated). The expander may be invoked directly via
1117 `macroexpand', though it is normally searched for via the current module
1120 Also, the helper routines for syntax-case are available in the default
1121 environment as well: `syntax->datum', `datum->syntax',
1122 `bound-identifier=?', `free-identifier=?', `generate-temporaries',
1123 `identifier?', and `syntax-violation'. See the R6RS for documentation.
1125 ** Tail patterns in syntax-case
1127 Guile has pulled in some more recent changes from the psyntax portable
1128 syntax expander, to implement support for "tail patterns". Such patterns
1129 are supported by syntax-rules and syntax-case. This allows a syntax-case
1130 match clause to have ellipses, then a pattern at the end. For example:
1133 (syntax-rules (else)
1134 ((_ val match-clause ... (else e e* ...))
1137 Note how there is MATCH-CLAUSE, which is ellipsized, then there is a
1138 tail pattern for the else clause. Thanks to Andreas Rottmann for the
1139 patch, and Kent Dybvig for the code.
1141 ** Lexical bindings introduced by hygienic macros may not be referenced
1142 by nonhygienic macros.
1144 If a lexical binding is introduced by a hygienic macro, it may not be
1145 referenced by a nonhygienic macro. For example, this works:
1148 (define-macro (bind-x val body)
1149 `(let ((x ,val)) ,body))
1150 (define-macro (ref x)
1152 (bind-x 10 (ref x)))
1157 (define-syntax bind-x
1159 ((_ val body) (let ((x val)) body))))
1160 (define-macro (ref x)
1162 (bind-x 10 (ref x)))
1164 It is not normal to run into this situation with existing code. However,
1165 if you have defmacros that expand to hygienic macros, it is possible to
1166 run into situations like this. For example, if you have a defmacro that
1167 generates a `while' expression, the `break' bound by the `while' may not
1168 be visible within other parts of your defmacro. The solution is to port
1169 from defmacros to syntax-rules or syntax-case.
1171 ** Macros may no longer be referenced as first-class values.
1173 In the past, you could evaluate e.g. `if', and get its macro value. Now,
1174 expanding this form raises a syntax error.
1176 Macros still /exist/ as first-class values, but they must be
1177 /referenced/ via the module system, e.g. `(module-ref (current-module)
1180 ** Macros may now have docstrings.
1182 `object-documentation' from `(ice-9 documentation)' may be used to
1183 retrieve the docstring, once you have a macro value -- but see the above
1184 note about first-class macros. Docstrings are associated with the syntax
1185 transformer procedures.
1187 ** `case-lambda' is now available in the default environment.
1189 The binding in the default environment is equivalent to the one from the
1190 `(srfi srfi-16)' module. Use the srfi-16 module explicitly if you wish
1191 to maintain compatibility with Guile 1.8 and earlier.
1193 ** Procedures may now have more than one arity.
1195 This can be the case, for example, in case-lambda procedures. The
1196 arities of compiled procedures may be accessed via procedures from the
1197 `(system vm program)' module; see "Compiled Procedures", "Optional
1198 Arguments", and "Case-lambda" in the manual.
1200 ** Deprecate arity access via (procedure-properties proc 'arity)
1202 Instead of accessing a procedure's arity as a property, use the new
1203 `procedure-minimum-arity' function, which gives the most permissive
1204 arity that the the function has, in the same format as the old arity
1207 ** `lambda*' and `define*' are now available in the default environment
1209 As with `case-lambda', `(ice-9 optargs)' continues to be supported, for
1210 compatibility purposes. No semantic change has been made (we hope).
1211 Optional and keyword arguments now dispatch via special VM operations,
1212 without the need to cons rest arguments, making them very fast.
1214 ** New function, `truncated-print', with `format' support
1216 `(ice-9 pretty-print)' now exports `truncated-print', a printer that
1217 will ensure that the output stays within a certain width, truncating the
1218 output in what is hopefully an intelligent manner. See the manual for
1221 There is a new `format' specifier, `~@y', for doing a truncated
1222 print (as opposed to `~y', which does a pretty-print). See the `format'
1223 documentation for more details.
1225 ** Better pretty-printing
1227 Indentation recognizes more special forms, like `syntax-case', and read
1228 macros like `quote' are printed better.
1230 ** Passing a number as the destination of `format' is deprecated
1232 The `format' procedure in `(ice-9 format)' now emits a deprecation
1233 warning if a number is passed as its first argument.
1235 ** SRFI-4 vectors reimplemented in terms of R6RS bytevectors
1237 Guile now implements SRFI-4 vectors using bytevectors. Often when you
1238 have a numeric vector, you end up wanting to write its bytes somewhere,
1239 or have access to the underlying bytes, or read in bytes from somewhere
1240 else. Bytevectors are very good at this sort of thing. But the SRFI-4
1241 APIs are nicer to use when doing number-crunching, because they are
1242 addressed by element and not by byte.
1244 So as a compromise, Guile allows all bytevector functions to operate on
1245 numeric vectors. They address the underlying bytes in the native
1246 endianness, as one would expect.
1248 Following the same reasoning, that it's just bytes underneath, Guile
1249 also allows uniform vectors of a given type to be accessed as if they
1250 were of any type. One can fill a u32vector, and access its elements with
1251 u8vector-ref. One can use f64vector-ref on bytevectors. It's all the
1254 In this way, uniform numeric vectors may be written to and read from
1255 input/output ports using the procedures that operate on bytevectors.
1257 Calls to SRFI-4 accessors (ref and set functions) from Scheme are now
1258 inlined to the VM instructions for bytevector access.
1260 See "SRFI-4" in the manual, for more information.
1262 ** Nonstandard SRFI-4 procedures now available from `(srfi srfi-4 gnu)'
1264 Guile's `(srfi srfi-4)' now only exports those srfi-4 procedures that
1265 are part of the standard. Complex uniform vectors and the
1266 `any->FOOvector' family are now available only from `(srfi srfi-4 gnu)'.
1268 Guile's default environment imports `(srfi srfi-4)', and probably should
1269 import `(srfi srfi-4 gnu)' as well.
1271 See "SRFI-4 Extensions" in the manual, for more information.
1273 ** New syntax: include-from-path.
1275 `include-from-path' is like `include', except it looks for its file in
1276 the load path. It can be used to compile other files into a file.
1278 ** New syntax: quasisyntax.
1280 `quasisyntax' is to `syntax' as `quasiquote' is to `quote'. See the R6RS
1281 documentation for more information. Thanks to Andre van Tonder for the
1284 ** `*unspecified*' is identifier syntax
1286 `*unspecified*' is no longer a variable, so it is optimized properly by
1287 the compiler, and is not `set!'-able.
1289 ** Unicode characters
1291 Unicode characters may be entered in octal format via e.g. `#\454', or
1292 created via (integer->char 300). A hex external representation will
1293 probably be introduced at some point.
1297 Internally, strings are now represented either in the `latin-1'
1298 encoding, one byte per character, or in UTF-32, with four bytes per
1299 character. Strings manage their own allocation, switching if needed.
1301 Extended characters may be written in a literal string using the
1302 hexadecimal escapes `\xXX', `\uXXXX', or `\UXXXXXX', for 8-bit, 16-bit,
1303 or 24-bit codepoints, respectively, or entered directly in the native
1304 encoding of the port on which the string is read.
1308 One may now use U+03BB (GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMBDA) as an identifier.
1310 ** Support for non-ASCII source code files
1312 The default reader now handles source code files for some of the
1313 non-ASCII character encodings, such as UTF-8. A non-ASCII source file
1314 should have an encoding declaration near the top of the file. Also,
1315 there is a new function, `file-encoding', that scans a port for a coding
1316 declaration. See the section of the manual entitled, "Character Encoding
1319 The pre-1.9.3 reader handled 8-bit clean but otherwise unspecified source
1320 code. This use is now discouraged. Binary input and output is
1321 currently supported by opening ports in the ISO-8859-1 locale.
1323 ** Support for locale transcoding when reading from and writing to ports
1325 Ports now have an associated character encoding, and port read and write
1326 operations do conversion to and from locales automatically. Ports also
1327 have an associated strategy for how to deal with locale conversion
1330 See the documentation in the manual for the four new support functions,
1331 `set-port-encoding!', `port-encoding', `set-port-conversion-strategy!',
1332 and `port-conversion-strategy'.
1334 ** String and SRFI-13 functions can operate on Unicode strings
1336 ** Unicode support for SRFI-14 character sets
1338 The default character sets are no longer locale dependent and contain
1339 characters from the whole Unicode range. There is a new predefined
1340 character set, `char-set:designated', which contains all assigned
1341 Unicode characters. There is a new debugging function, `%char-set-dump'.
1343 ** Character functions operate on Unicode characters
1345 `char-upcase' and `char-downcase' use default Unicode casing rules.
1346 Character comparisons such as `char<?' and `char-ci<?' now sort based on
1347 Unicode code points.
1349 ** Global variables `scm_charnames' and `scm_charnums' are removed
1351 These variables contained the names of control characters and were
1352 used when writing characters. While these were global, they were
1353 never intended to be public API. They have been replaced with private
1356 ** EBCDIC support is removed
1358 There was an EBCDIC compile flag that altered some of the character
1359 processing. It appeared that full EBCDIC support was never completed
1360 and was unmaintained.
1362 ** Compile-time warnings
1364 Guile can warn about potentially unbound free variables. Pass the
1365 -Wunbound-variable on the `guile-tools compile' command line, or add
1366 `#:warnings '(unbound-variable)' to your `compile' or `compile-file'
1367 invocation. Warnings are also enabled by default for expressions entered
1370 Guile can also warn when you pass the wrong number of arguments to a
1371 procedure, with -Warity-mismatch, or `arity-mismatch' in the
1372 `#:warnings' as above.
1374 Other warnings include `-Wunused-variable' and `-Wunused-toplevel', to
1375 warn about unused local or global (top-level) variables, and `-Wformat',
1376 to check for various errors related to the `format' procedure.
1378 ** A new `memoize-symbol' evaluator trap has been added.
1380 This trap can be used for efficiently implementing a Scheme code
1383 ** Duplicate bindings among used modules are resolved lazily.
1385 This slightly improves program startup times.
1387 ** New thread cancellation and thread cleanup API
1389 See `cancel-thread', `set-thread-cleanup!', and `thread-cleanup'.
1391 ** New threads are in `(guile-user)' by default, not `(guile)'
1393 It used to be that a new thread entering Guile would do so in the
1394 `(guile)' module, unless this was the first time Guile was initialized,
1395 in which case it was `(guile-user)'. This has been fixed to have all
1396 new threads unknown to Guile default to `(guile-user)'.
1398 ** GOOPS dispatch in scheme
1400 As an implementation detail, GOOPS dispatch is no longer implemented by
1401 special evaluator bytecodes, but rather directly via a Scheme function
1402 associated with an applicable struct. There is some VM support for the
1403 underlying primitives, like `class-of'.
1405 This change will in the future allow users to customize generic function
1406 dispatch without incurring a performance penalty, and allow us to
1407 implement method combinations.
1409 ** Applicable struct support
1411 One may now make structs from Scheme that may be applied as procedures.
1412 To do so, make a struct whose vtable is `<applicable-struct-vtable>'.
1413 That struct will be the vtable of your applicable structs; instances of
1414 that new struct are assumed to have the procedure in their first slot.
1415 `<applicable-struct-vtable>' is like Common Lisp's
1416 `funcallable-standard-class'. Likewise there is
1417 `<applicable-struct-with-setter-vtable>', which looks for the setter in
1418 the second slot. This needs to be better documented.
1422 GOOPS had a number of concepts that were relevant to the days of Tcl,
1423 but not any more: operators and entities, mainly. These objects were
1424 never documented, and it is unlikely that they were ever used. Operators
1425 were a kind of generic specific to the Tcl support. Entities were
1426 replaced by applicable structs, mentioned above.
1428 ** New struct slot allocation: "hidden"
1430 A hidden slot is readable and writable, but will not be initialized by a
1431 call to make-struct. For example in your layout you would say "ph"
1432 instead of "pw". Hidden slots are useful for adding new slots to a
1433 vtable without breaking existing invocations to make-struct.
1435 ** eqv? not a generic
1437 One used to be able to extend `eqv?' as a primitive-generic, but no
1438 more. Because `eqv?' is in the expansion of `case' (via `memv'), which
1439 should be able to compile to static dispatch tables, it doesn't make
1440 sense to allow extensions that would subvert this optimization.
1442 ** `inet-ntop' and `inet-pton' are always available.
1444 Guile now use a portable implementation of `inet_pton'/`inet_ntop', so
1445 there is no more need to use `inet-aton'/`inet-ntoa'. The latter
1446 functions are deprecated.
1448 ** New primitive: `tmpfile'.
1450 See "File System" in the manual.
1452 ** Random generator state may be serialized to a datum
1454 `random-state->datum' will serialize a random state to a datum, which
1455 may be written out, read back in later, and revivified using
1456 `datum->random-state'. See "Random" in the manual, for more details.
1458 ** Fix random number generator on 64-bit platforms
1460 There was a nasty bug on 64-bit platforms in which asking for a random
1461 integer with a range between 2**32 and 2**64 caused a segfault. After
1462 many embarrassing iterations, this was fixed.
1464 ** Fast bit operations.
1466 The bit-twiddling operations `ash', `logand', `logior', and `logxor' now
1467 have dedicated bytecodes. Guile is not just for symbolic computation,
1468 it's for number crunching too.
1470 ** Faster SRFI-9 record access
1472 SRFI-9 records are now implemented directly on top of Guile's structs,
1473 and their accessors are defined in such a way that normal call-sites
1474 inline to special VM opcodes, while still allowing for the general case
1475 (e.g. passing a record accessor to `apply').
1477 ** R6RS block comment support
1479 Guile now supports R6RS nested block comments. The start of a comment is
1480 marked with `#|', and the end with `|#'.
1482 ** `guile-2' cond-expand feature
1484 To test if your code is running under Guile 2.0 (or its alpha releases),
1485 test for the `guile-2' cond-expand feature. Like this:
1487 (cond-expand (guile-2 (eval-when (compile)
1488 ;; This must be evaluated at compile time.
1489 (fluid-set! current-reader my-reader)))
1491 ;; Earlier versions of Guile do not have a
1492 ;; separate compilation phase.
1493 (fluid-set! current-reader my-reader)))
1495 ** New global variables: %load-compiled-path, %load-compiled-extensions
1497 These are analogous to %load-path and %load-extensions.
1499 ** New fluid: `%file-port-name-canonicalization'
1501 This fluid parameterizes the file names that are associated with file
1502 ports. If %file-port-name-canonicalization is 'absolute, then file names
1503 are canonicalized to be absolute paths. If it is 'relative, then the
1504 name is canonicalized, but any prefix corresponding to a member of
1505 `%load-path' is stripped off. Otherwise the names are passed through
1508 In addition, the `compile-file' and `compile-and-load' procedures bind
1509 %file-port-name-canonicalization to their `#:canonicalization' keyword
1510 argument, which defaults to 'relative. In this way, one might compile
1511 "../module/ice-9/boot-9.scm", but the path that gets residualized into
1512 the .go is "ice-9/boot-9.scm".
1514 ** New procedure, `make-promise'
1516 `(make-promise (lambda () foo))' is equivalent to `(delay foo)'.
1518 ** `defined?' may accept a module as its second argument
1520 Previously it only accepted internal structures from the evaluator.
1522 ** New entry into %guile-build-info: `ccachedir'
1524 ** Fix bug in `module-bound?'.
1526 `module-bound?' was returning true if a module did have a local
1527 variable, but one that was unbound, but another imported module bound
1528 the variable. This was an error, and was fixed.
1530 ** `(ice-9 syncase)' has been deprecated.
1532 As syntax-case is available by default, importing `(ice-9 syncase)' has
1533 no effect, and will trigger a deprecation warning.
1535 ** New readline history functions
1537 The (ice-9 readline) module now provides add-history, read-history,
1538 write-history and clear-history, which wrap the corresponding GNU
1539 History library functions.
1541 ** Removed deprecated uniform array procedures:
1542 dimensions->uniform-array, list->uniform-array, array-prototype
1544 Instead, use make-typed-array, list->typed-array, or array-type,
1547 ** Deprecate the old `scm-style-repl'
1549 The following bindings from boot-9 are now found in `(ice-9
1550 scm-style-repl)': `scm-style-repl', `error-catching-loop',
1551 `error-catching-repl', `bad-throw', `scm-repl-silent'
1552 `assert-repl-silence', `repl-print-unspecified',
1553 `assert-repl-print-unspecified', `scm-repl-verbose',
1554 `assert-repl-verbosity', `scm-repl-prompt', `set-repl-prompt!', `repl',
1555 `default-pre-unwind-handler', `handle-system-error',
1557 The following bindings have been deprecated, with no replacement:
1558 `pre-unwind-handler-dispatch'.
1560 The following bindings have been totally removed:
1561 `before-signal-stack'.
1563 Deprecated forwarding shims have been installed so that users that
1564 expect these bindings in the main namespace will still work, but receive
1565 a deprecation warning.
1567 ** `set-batch-mode?!' replaced by `ensure-batch-mode!'
1569 "Batch mode" is a flag used to tell a program that it is not running
1570 interactively. One usually turns it on after a fork. It may not be
1571 turned off. `ensure-batch-mode!' deprecates the old `set-batch-mode?!',
1572 because it is a better interface, as it can only turn on batch mode, not
1575 ** Deprecate `save-stack', `the-last-stack'
1577 It used to be that the way to debug programs in Guile was to capture the
1578 stack at the time of error, drop back to the REPL, then debug that
1579 stack. But this approach didn't compose, was tricky to get right in the
1580 presence of threads, and was not very powerful.
1582 So `save-stack', `stack-saved?', and `the-last-stack' have been moved to
1583 `(ice-9 save-stack)', with deprecated bindings left in the root module.
1585 ** `top-repl' has its own module
1587 The `top-repl' binding, called with Guile is run interactively, is now
1588 is its own module, `(ice-9 top-repl)'. A deprecated forwarding shim was
1589 left in the default environment.
1591 ** `display-error' takes a frame
1593 The `display-error' / `scm_display_error' helper now takes a frame as an
1594 argument instead of a stack. Stacks are still supported in deprecated
1595 builds. Additionally, `display-error' will again source location
1596 information for the error.
1598 ** No more `(ice-9 debug)'
1600 This module had some debugging helpers that are no longer applicable to
1601 the current debugging model. Importing this module will produce a
1602 deprecation warning. Users should contact bug-guile for support.
1604 ** Remove obsolete debug-options
1606 Removed `breakpoints', `trace', `procnames', `indent', `frames',
1607 `maxdepth', and `debug' debug-options.
1609 ** `backtrace' debug option on by default
1611 Given that Guile 2.0 can always give you a backtrace, backtraces are now
1614 ** `turn-on-debugging' deprecated
1616 ** Remove obsolete print-options
1618 The `source' and `closure-hook' print options are obsolete, and have
1621 ** Remove obsolete read-options
1623 The "elisp-strings" and "elisp-vectors" read options were unused and
1624 obsolete, so they have been removed.
1626 ** Remove eval-options and trap-options
1628 Eval-options and trap-options are obsolete with the new VM and
1631 ** Remove (ice-9 debugger) and (ice-9 debugging)
1633 See "Traps" and "Interactive Debugging" in the manual, for information
1634 on their replacements.
1636 ** Remove the GDS Emacs integration
1638 See "Using Guile in Emacs" in the manual, for info on how we think you
1639 should use Guile with Emacs.
1641 ** Deprecated: `lazy-catch'
1643 `lazy-catch' was a form that captured the stack at the point of a
1644 `throw', but the dynamic state at the point of the `catch'. It was a bit
1645 crazy. Please change to use `catch', possibly with a throw-handler, or
1646 `with-throw-handler'.
1648 ** Deprecated `@bind' syntax
1650 `@bind' was part of an older implementation of the Emacs Lisp language,
1651 and is no longer used.
1653 ** Miscellaneous other deprecations
1655 `apply-to-args', `has-suffix?', `scheme-file-suffix'
1656 `get-option', `for-next-option', `display-usage-report',
1657 `transform-usage-lambda', `collect', `set-batch-mode?!',
1659 `cuserid' has been deprecated, as it only returns 8 bytes of a user's
1660 login. Use `(passwd:name (getpwuid (geteuid)))' instead.
1662 ** Add support for unbound fluids
1664 See `make-unbound-fluid', `fluid-unset!', and `fluid-bound?' in the
1667 ** Add `variable-unset!'
1669 See "Variables" in the manual, for more details.
1671 ** Last but not least, the `λ' macro can be used in lieu of `lambda'
1673 * Changes to the C interface
1675 ** Guile now uses libgc, the Boehm-Demers-Weiser garbage collector
1677 The semantics of `scm_gc_malloc ()' have been changed, in a
1678 backward-compatible way. A new allocation routine,
1679 `scm_gc_malloc_pointerless ()', was added.
1681 Libgc is a conservative GC, which we hope will make interaction with C
1682 code easier and less error-prone.
1684 ** New procedures: `scm_to_latin1_stringn', `scm_from_latin1_stringn'
1686 Use these procedures when you know you have latin1-encoded or
1687 ASCII-encoded strings.
1689 ** New procedures: `scm_to_stringn', `scm_from_stringn'
1691 Use these procedures if you want to encode or decode from a particular
1694 ** New type definitions for `scm_t_intptr' and friends.
1696 `SCM_T_UINTPTR_MAX', `SCM_T_INTPTR_MIN', `SCM_T_INTPTR_MAX',
1697 `SIZEOF_SCM_T_BITS', `scm_t_intptr' and `scm_t_uintptr' are now
1698 available to C. Have fun!
1700 ** The GH interface (deprecated in version 1.6, 2001) was removed.
1702 ** Internal `scm_i_' functions now have "hidden" linkage with GCC/ELF
1704 This makes these internal functions technically not callable from
1707 ** Functions for handling `scm_option' now no longer require an argument
1708 indicating length of the `scm_t_option' array.
1710 ** Procedures-with-setters are now implemented using applicable structs
1712 From a user's perspective this doesn't mean very much. But if, for some
1713 odd reason, you used the SCM_PROCEDURE_WITH_SETTER_P, SCM_PROCEDURE, or
1714 SCM_SETTER macros, know that they're deprecated now. Also, scm_tc7_pws
1717 ** Remove old evaluator closures
1719 There used to be ranges of typecodes allocated to interpreted data
1720 structures, but that it no longer the case, given that interpreted
1721 procedure are now just regular VM closures. As a result, there is a
1722 newly free tc3, and a number of removed macros. See the ChangeLog for
1725 ** Primitive procedures are now VM trampoline procedures
1727 It used to be that there were something like 12 different typecodes
1728 allocated to primitive procedures, each with its own calling convention.
1729 Now there is only one, the gsubr. This may affect user code if you were
1730 defining a procedure using scm_c_make_subr rather scm_c_make_gsubr. The
1731 solution is to switch to use scm_c_make_gsubr. This solution works well
1732 both with the old 1.8 and and with the current 1.9 branch.
1734 Guile's old evaluator used to have special cases for applying "gsubrs",
1735 primitive procedures with specified numbers of required, optional, and
1736 rest arguments. Now, however, Guile represents gsubrs as normal VM
1737 procedures, with appropriate bytecode to parse out the correct number of
1738 arguments, including optional and rest arguments, and then with a
1739 special bytecode to apply the gsubr.
1741 This allows primitive procedures to appear on the VM stack, allowing
1742 them to be accurately counted in profiles. Also they now have more
1743 debugging information attached to them -- their number of arguments, for
1744 example. In addition, the VM can completely inline the application
1745 mechanics, allowing for faster primitive calls.
1747 However there are some changes on the C level. There is no more
1748 `scm_tc7_gsubr' or `scm_tcs_subrs' typecode for primitive procedures, as
1749 they are just VM procedures. Likewise the macros `SCM_GSUBR_TYPE',
1750 `SCM_GSUBR_MAKTYPE', `SCM_GSUBR_REQ', `SCM_GSUBR_OPT', and
1751 `SCM_GSUBR_REST' are gone, as are `SCM_SUBR_META_INFO', `SCM_SUBR_PROPS'
1752 `SCM_SET_SUBR_GENERIC_LOC', and `SCM_SUBR_ARITY_TO_TYPE'.
1754 Perhaps more significantly, `scm_c_make_subr',
1755 `scm_c_make_subr_with_generic', `scm_c_define_subr', and
1756 `scm_c_define_subr_with_generic'. They all operated on subr typecodes,
1757 and there are no more subr typecodes. Use the scm_c_make_gsubr family
1760 Normal users of gsubrs should not be affected, though, as the
1761 scm_c_make_gsubr family still is the correct way to create primitive
1764 ** Remove deprecated array C interfaces
1766 Removed the deprecated array functions `scm_i_arrayp',
1767 `scm_i_array_ndim', `scm_i_array_mem', `scm_i_array_v',
1768 `scm_i_array_base', `scm_i_array_dims', and the deprecated macros
1769 `SCM_ARRAYP', `SCM_ARRAY_NDIM', `SCM_ARRAY_CONTP', `SCM_ARRAY_MEM',
1770 `SCM_ARRAY_V', `SCM_ARRAY_BASE', and `SCM_ARRAY_DIMS'.
1772 ** Remove unused snarf macros
1774 `SCM_DEFINE1', `SCM_PRIMITIVE_GENERIC_1', `SCM_PROC1, and `SCM_GPROC1'
1775 are no more. Use SCM_DEFINE or SCM_PRIMITIVE_GENERIC instead.
1777 ** New functions: `scm_call_n', `scm_c_run_hookn'
1779 `scm_call_n' applies to apply a function to an array of arguments.
1780 `scm_c_run_hookn' runs a hook with an array of arguments.
1782 ** Some SMOB types changed to have static typecodes
1784 Fluids, dynamic states, and hash tables used to be SMOB objects, but now
1785 they have statically allocated tc7 typecodes.
1787 ** Preparations for changing SMOB representation
1789 If things go right, we'll be changing the SMOB representation soon. To
1790 that end, we did a lot of cleanups to calls to e.g. SCM_CELL_WORD_2(x) when
1791 the code meant SCM_SMOB_DATA_2(x); user code will need similar changes
1792 in the future. Code accessing SMOBs using SCM_CELL macros was never
1793 correct, but until now things still worked. Users should be aware of
1796 ** Changed invocation mechanics of applicable SMOBs
1798 Guile's old evaluator used to have special cases for applying SMOB
1799 objects. Now, with the VM, when Guile sees a SMOB, it looks up a VM
1800 trampoline procedure for it, and use the normal mechanics to apply the
1801 trampoline. This simplifies procedure application in the normal,
1804 The upshot is that the mechanics used to apply a SMOB are different from
1805 1.8. Descriptors no longer have `apply_0', `apply_1', `apply_2', and
1806 `apply_3' functions, and the macros SCM_SMOB_APPLY_0 and friends are now
1807 deprecated. Just use the scm_call_0 family of procedures.
1809 ** Removed support shlibs for SRFIs 1, 4, 13, 14, and 60
1811 Though these SRFI support libraries did expose API, they encoded a
1812 strange version string into their library names. That version was never
1813 programmatically exported, so there was no way people could use the
1816 This was a fortunate oversight, as it allows us to remove the need for
1817 extra, needless shared libraries --- the C support code for SRFIs 4, 13,
1818 and 14 was already in core --- and allow us to incrementally return the
1819 SRFI implementation to Scheme.
1821 ** New C function: scm_module_public_interface
1823 This procedure corresponds to Scheme's `module-public-interface'.
1825 ** Undeprecate `scm_the_root_module ()'
1827 It's useful to be able to get the root module from C without doing a
1830 ** Inline vector allocation
1832 Instead of having vectors point out into the heap for their data, their
1833 data is now allocated inline to the vector object itself. The same is
1834 true for bytevectors, by default, though there is an indirection
1835 available which should allow for making a bytevector from an existing
1838 ** New struct constructors that don't involve making lists
1840 `scm_c_make_struct' and `scm_c_make_structv' are new varargs and array
1841 constructors, respectively, for structs. You might find them useful.
1845 In Guile 1.8, there were debugging frames on the C stack. Now there is
1846 no more need to explicitly mark the stack in this way, because Guile has
1847 a VM stack that it knows how to walk, which simplifies the C API
1848 considerably. See the ChangeLog for details; the relevant interface is
1849 in libguile/stacks.h. The Scheme API has not been changed significantly.
1851 ** Removal of Guile's primitive object system.
1853 There were a number of pieces in `objects.[ch]' that tried to be a
1854 minimal object system, but were never documented, and were quickly
1855 obseleted by GOOPS' merge into Guile proper. So `scm_make_class_object',
1856 `scm_make_subclass_object', `scm_metaclass_standard', and like symbols
1857 from objects.h are no more. In the very unlikely case in which these
1858 were useful to you, we urge you to contact guile-devel.
1862 Actually the future is still in the state that it was, is, and ever
1863 shall be, Amen, except that `futures.c' and `futures.h' are no longer a
1864 part of it. These files were experimental, never compiled, and would be
1865 better implemented in Scheme anyway. In the future, that is.
1867 ** Deprecate trampolines
1869 There used to be C functions `scm_trampoline_0', `scm_trampoline_1', and
1870 so on. The point was to do some precomputation on the type of the
1871 procedure, then return a specialized "call" procedure. However this
1872 optimization wasn't actually an optimization, so it is now deprecated.
1873 Just use `scm_call_0', etc instead.
1875 ** Deprecated `scm_badargsp'
1877 This function is unused in Guile, but was part of its API.
1879 ** Better support for Lisp `nil'.
1881 The bit representation of `nil' has been tweaked so that it is now very
1882 efficient to check e.g. if a value is equal to Scheme's end-of-list or
1883 Lisp's nil. Additionally there are a heap of new, specific predicates
1884 like scm_is_null_or_nil.
1886 ** Better integration of Lisp `nil'.
1888 `scm_is_boolean', `scm_is_false', and `scm_is_null' all return true now
1889 for Lisp's `nil'. This shouldn't affect any Scheme code at this point,
1890 but when we start to integrate more with Emacs, it is possible that we
1891 break code that assumes that, for example, `(not x)' implies that `x' is
1892 `eq?' to `#f'. This is not a common assumption. Refactoring affected
1893 code to rely on properties instead of identities will improve code
1894 correctness. See "Nil" in the manual, for more details.
1896 ** Support for static allocation of strings, symbols, and subrs.
1898 Calls to snarfing CPP macros like SCM_DEFINE macro will now allocate
1899 much of their associated data as static variables, reducing Guile's
1902 ** `scm_stat' has an additional argument, `exception_on_error'
1903 ** `scm_primitive_load_path' has an additional argument `exception_on_not_found'
1905 ** `scm_set_port_seek' and `scm_set_port_truncate' use the `scm_t_off' type
1907 Previously they would use the `off_t' type, which is fragile since its
1908 definition depends on the application's value for `_FILE_OFFSET_BITS'.
1910 ** The `long_long' C type, deprecated in 1.8, has been removed
1912 ** Removed deprecated uniform array procedures: scm_make_uve,
1913 scm_array_prototype, scm_list_to_uniform_array,
1914 scm_dimensions_to_uniform_array, scm_make_ra, scm_shap2ra, scm_cvref,
1915 scm_ra_set_contp, scm_aind, scm_raprin1
1917 These functions have been deprecated since early 2005.
1919 * Changes to the distribution
1921 ** Guile's license is now LGPLv3+
1923 In other words the GNU Lesser General Public License, version 3 or
1924 later (at the discretion of each person that chooses to redistribute
1929 Guile's build is visually quieter, due to the use of Automake 1.11's
1930 AM_SILENT_RULES. Build as `make V=1' to see all of the output.
1932 ** GOOPS documentation folded into Guile reference manual
1934 GOOPS, Guile's object system, used to be documented in separate manuals.
1935 This content is now included in Guile's manual directly.
1937 ** `guile-config' will be deprecated in favor of `pkg-config'
1939 `guile-config' has been rewritten to get its information from
1940 `pkg-config', so this should be a transparent change. Note however that
1941 guile.m4 has yet to be modified to call pkg-config instead of
1944 ** Guile now provides `guile-2.0.pc' instead of `guile-1.8.pc'
1946 Programs that use `pkg-config' to find Guile or one of its Autoconf
1947 macros should now require `guile-2.0' instead of `guile-1.8'.
1949 ** New installation directory: $(pkglibdir)/1.9/ccache
1951 If $(libdir) is /usr/lib, for example, Guile will install its .go files
1952 to /usr/lib/guile/1.9/ccache. These files are architecture-specific.
1954 ** Parallel installability fixes
1956 Guile now installs its header files to a effective-version-specific
1957 directory, and includes the effective version (e.g. 2.0) in the library
1958 name (e.g. libguile-2.0.so).
1960 This change should be transparent to users, who should detect Guile via
1961 the guile.m4 macro, or the guile-2.0.pc pkg-config file. It will allow
1962 parallel installs for multiple versions of Guile development
1965 ** Dynamically loadable extensions may be placed in a Guile-specific path
1967 Before, Guile only searched the system library paths for extensions
1968 (e.g. /usr/lib), which meant that the names of Guile extensions had to
1969 be globally unique. Installing them to a Guile-specific extensions
1970 directory is cleaner. Use `pkg-config --variable=extensiondir
1971 guile-2.0' to get the location of the extensions directory.
1973 ** User Scheme code may be placed in a version-specific path
1975 Before, there was only one way to install user Scheme code to a
1976 version-specific Guile directory: install to Guile's own path,
1977 e.g. /usr/share/guile/2.0. The site directory,
1978 e.g. /usr/share/guile/site, was unversioned. This has been changed to
1979 add a version-specific site directory, e.g. /usr/share/guile/site/2.0,
1980 searched before the global site directory.
1982 ** New dependency: libgc
1984 See http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Hans_Boehm/gc/, for more information.
1986 ** New dependency: GNU libunistring
1988 See http://www.gnu.org/software/libunistring/, for more information. Our
1989 Unicode support uses routines from libunistring.
1991 ** New dependency: libffi
1993 See http://sourceware.org/libffi/, for more information.
1997 Changes in 1.8.8 (since 1.8.7)
2001 ** Fix possible buffer overruns when parsing numbers
2002 ** Avoid clash with system setjmp/longjmp on IA64
2003 ** Fix `wrong type arg' exceptions with IPv6 addresses
2006 Changes in 1.8.7 (since 1.8.6)
2008 * New modules (see the manual for details)
2010 ** `(srfi srfi-98)', an interface to access environment variables
2014 ** Fix compilation with `--disable-deprecated'
2015 ** Fix %fast-slot-ref/set!, to avoid possible segmentation fault
2016 ** Fix MinGW build problem caused by HAVE_STRUCT_TIMESPEC confusion
2017 ** Fix build problem when scm_t_timespec is different from struct timespec
2018 ** Fix build when compiled with -Wundef -Werror
2019 ** More build fixes for `alphaev56-dec-osf5.1b' (Tru64)
2020 ** Build fixes for `powerpc-ibm-aix5.3.0.0' (AIX 5.3)
2021 ** With GCC, always compile with `-mieee' on `alpha*' and `sh*'
2022 ** Better diagnose broken `(strftime "%z" ...)' in `time.test' (bug #24130)
2023 ** Fix parsing of SRFI-88/postfix keywords longer than 128 characters
2024 ** Fix reading of complex numbers where both parts are inexact decimals
2026 ** Allow @ macro to work with (ice-9 syncase)
2028 Previously, use of the @ macro in a module whose code is being
2029 transformed by (ice-9 syncase) would cause an "Invalid syntax" error.
2030 Now it works as you would expect (giving the value of the specified
2033 ** Have `scm_take_locale_symbol ()' return an interned symbol (bug #25865)
2036 Changes in 1.8.6 (since 1.8.5)
2038 * New features (see the manual for details)
2040 ** New convenience function `scm_c_symbol_length ()'
2042 ** Single stepping through code from Emacs
2044 When you use GDS to evaluate Scheme code from Emacs, you can now use
2045 `C-u' to indicate that you want to single step through that code. See
2046 `Evaluating Scheme Code' in the manual for more details.
2048 ** New "guile(1)" man page!
2050 * Changes to the distribution
2052 ** Automake's `AM_MAINTAINER_MODE' is no longer used
2054 Thus, the `--enable-maintainer-mode' configure option is no longer
2055 available: Guile is now always configured in "maintainer mode".
2057 ** `ChangeLog' files are no longer updated
2059 Instead, changes are detailed in the version control system's logs. See
2060 the top-level `ChangeLog' files for details.
2065 ** `symbol->string' now returns a read-only string, as per R5RS
2066 ** Fix incorrect handling of the FLAGS argument of `fold-matches'
2067 ** `guile-config link' now prints `-L$libdir' before `-lguile'
2068 ** Fix memory corruption involving GOOPS' `class-redefinition'
2069 ** Fix possible deadlock in `mutex-lock'
2070 ** Fix build issue on Tru64 and ia64-hp-hpux11.23 (`SCM_UNPACK' macro)
2071 ** Fix build issue on mips, mipsel, powerpc and ia64 (stack direction)
2072 ** Fix build issue on hppa2.0w-hp-hpux11.11 (`dirent64' and `readdir64_r')
2073 ** Fix build issue on i386-unknown-freebsd7.0 ("break strict-aliasing rules")
2074 ** Fix misleading output from `(help rationalize)'
2075 ** Fix build failure on Debian hppa architecture (bad stack growth detection)
2076 ** Fix `gcd' when called with a single, negative argument.
2077 ** Fix `Stack overflow' errors seen when building on some platforms
2078 ** Fix bug when `scm_with_guile ()' was called several times from the
2080 ** The handler of SRFI-34 `with-exception-handler' is now invoked in the
2081 dynamic environment of the call to `raise'
2082 ** Fix potential deadlock in `make-struct'
2083 ** Fix compilation problem with libltdl from Libtool 2.2.x
2084 ** Fix sloppy bound checking in `string-{ref,set!}' with the empty string
2087 Changes in 1.8.5 (since 1.8.4)
2089 * Infrastructure changes
2091 ** Guile repository switched from CVS to Git
2093 The new repository can be accessed using
2094 "git-clone git://git.sv.gnu.org/guile.git", or can be browsed on-line at
2095 http://git.sv.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=guile.git . See `README' for details.
2097 ** Add support for `pkg-config'
2099 See "Autoconf Support" in the manual for details.
2101 * New modules (see the manual for details)
2105 * New features (see the manual for details)
2107 ** New `postfix' read option, for SRFI-88 keyword syntax
2108 ** Some I/O primitives have been inlined, which improves I/O performance
2109 ** New object-based traps infrastructure
2111 This is a GOOPS-based infrastructure that builds on Guile's low-level
2112 evaluator trap calls and facilitates the development of debugging
2113 features like single-stepping, breakpoints, tracing and profiling.
2114 See the `Traps' node of the manual for details.
2116 ** New support for working on Guile code from within Emacs
2118 Guile now incorporates the `GDS' library (previously distributed
2119 separately) for working on Guile code from within Emacs. See the
2120 `Using Guile In Emacs' node of the manual for details.
2124 ** `scm_add_slot ()' no longer segfaults (fixes bug #22369)
2125 ** Fixed `(ice-9 match)' for patterns like `((_ ...) ...)'
2127 Previously, expressions like `(match '((foo) (bar)) (((_ ...) ...) #t))'
2128 would trigger an unbound variable error for `match:andmap'.
2130 ** `(oop goops describe)' now properly provides the `describe' feature
2131 ** Fixed `args-fold' from `(srfi srfi-37)'
2133 Previously, parsing short option names of argument-less options would
2134 lead to a stack overflow.
2136 ** `(srfi srfi-35)' is now visible through `cond-expand'
2137 ** Fixed type-checking for the second argument of `eval'
2138 ** Fixed type-checking for SRFI-1 `partition'
2139 ** Fixed `struct-ref' and `struct-set!' on "light structs"
2140 ** Honor struct field access rights in GOOPS
2141 ** Changed the storage strategy of source properties, which fixes a deadlock
2142 ** Allow compilation of Guile-using programs in C99 mode with GCC 4.3 and later
2143 ** Fixed build issue for GNU/Linux on IA64
2144 ** Fixed build issues on NetBSD 1.6
2145 ** Fixed build issue on Solaris 2.10 x86_64
2146 ** Fixed build issue with DEC/Compaq/HP's compiler
2147 ** Fixed `scm_from_complex_double' build issue on FreeBSD
2148 ** Fixed `alloca' build issue on FreeBSD 6
2149 ** Removed use of non-portable makefile constructs
2150 ** Fixed shadowing of libc's <random.h> on Tru64, which broke compilation
2151 ** Make sure all tests honor `$TMPDIR'
2154 Changes in 1.8.4 (since 1.8.3)
2158 ** CR (ASCII 0x0d) is (again) recognized as a token delimiter by the reader
2159 ** Fixed a segmentation fault which occurred when displaying the
2160 backtrace of a stack with a promise object (made by `delay') in it.
2161 ** Make `accept' leave guile mode while blocking
2162 ** `scm_c_read ()' and `scm_c_write ()' now type-check their port argument
2163 ** Fixed a build problem on AIX (use of func_data identifier)
2164 ** Fixed a segmentation fault which occurred when hashx-ref or hashx-set! was
2165 called with an associator proc that returns neither a pair nor #f.
2166 ** Secondary threads now always return a valid module for (current-module).
2167 ** Avoid MacOS build problems caused by incorrect combination of "64"
2168 system and library calls.
2169 ** `guile-snarf' now honors `$TMPDIR'
2170 ** `guile-config compile' now reports CPPFLAGS used at compile-time
2171 ** Fixed build with Sun Studio (Solaris 9)
2172 ** Fixed wrong-type-arg errors when creating zero length SRFI-4
2173 uniform vectors on AIX.
2174 ** Fixed a deadlock that occurs upon GC with multiple threads.
2175 ** Fixed compile problem with GCC on Solaris and AIX (use of _Complex_I)
2176 ** Fixed autotool-derived build problems on AIX 6.1.
2177 ** Fixed NetBSD/alpha support
2178 ** Fixed MacOS build problem caused by use of rl_get_keymap(_name)
2180 * New modules (see the manual for details)
2184 * Documentation fixes and improvements
2186 ** Removed premature breakpoint documentation
2188 The features described are not available in the series of 1.8.x
2189 releases, so the documentation was misleading and has been removed.
2191 ** More about Guile's default *random-state* variable
2193 ** GOOPS: more about how to use `next-method'
2195 * Changes to the distribution
2197 ** Corrected a few files that referred incorrectly to the old GPL + special exception licence
2199 In fact Guile since 1.8.0 has been licensed with the GNU Lesser
2200 General Public License, and the few incorrect files have now been
2201 fixed to agree with the rest of the Guile distribution.
2203 ** Removed unnecessary extra copies of COPYING*
2205 The distribution now contains a single COPYING.LESSER at its top level.
2208 Changes in 1.8.3 (since 1.8.2)
2210 * New modules (see the manual for details)
2217 ** The `(ice-9 slib)' module now works as expected
2218 ** Expressions like "(set! 'x #t)" no longer yield a crash
2219 ** Warnings about duplicate bindings now go to stderr
2220 ** A memory leak in `make-socket-address' was fixed
2221 ** Alignment issues (e.g., on SPARC) in network routines were fixed
2222 ** A threading issue that showed up at least on NetBSD was fixed
2223 ** Build problems on Solaris and IRIX fixed
2225 * Implementation improvements
2227 ** The reader is now faster, which reduces startup time
2228 ** Procedures returned by `record-accessor' and `record-modifier' are faster
2231 Changes in 1.8.2 (since 1.8.1):
2233 * New procedures (see the manual for details)
2235 ** set-program-arguments
2238 * Incompatible changes
2240 ** The body of a top-level `define' no longer sees the binding being created
2242 In a top-level `define', the binding being created is no longer visible
2243 from the `define' body. This breaks code like
2244 "(define foo (begin (set! foo 1) (+ foo 1)))", where `foo' is now
2245 unbound in the body. However, such code was not R5RS-compliant anyway,
2250 ** Fractions were not `equal?' if stored in unreduced form.
2251 (A subtle problem, since printing a value reduced it, making it work.)
2252 ** srfi-60 `copy-bit' failed on 64-bit systems
2253 ** "guile --use-srfi" option at the REPL can replace core functions
2254 (Programs run with that option were ok, but in the interactive REPL
2255 the core bindings got priority, preventing SRFI replacements or
2257 ** `regexp-exec' doesn't abort() on #\nul in the input or bad flags arg
2258 ** `kill' on mingw throws an error for a PID other than oneself
2259 ** Procedure names are attached to procedure-with-setters
2260 ** Array read syntax works with negative lower bound
2261 ** `array-in-bounds?' fix if an array has different lower bounds on each index
2262 ** `*' returns exact 0 for "(* inexact 0)"
2263 This follows what it always did for "(* 0 inexact)".
2264 ** SRFI-19: Value returned by `(current-time time-process)' was incorrect
2265 ** SRFI-19: `date->julian-day' did not account for timezone offset
2266 ** `ttyname' no longer crashes when passed a non-tty argument
2267 ** `inet-ntop' no longer crashes on SPARC when passed an `AF_INET' address
2268 ** Small memory leaks have been fixed in `make-fluid' and `add-history'
2269 ** GOOPS: Fixed a bug in `method-more-specific?'
2270 ** Build problems on Solaris fixed
2271 ** Build problems on HP-UX IA64 fixed
2272 ** Build problems on MinGW fixed
2275 Changes in 1.8.1 (since 1.8.0):
2277 * LFS functions are now used to access 64-bit files on 32-bit systems.
2279 * New procedures (see the manual for details)
2281 ** primitive-_exit - [Scheme] the-root-module
2282 ** scm_primitive__exit - [C]
2283 ** make-completion-function - [Scheme] (ice-9 readline)
2284 ** scm_c_locale_stringn_to_number - [C]
2285 ** scm_srfi1_append_reverse [C]
2286 ** scm_srfi1_append_reverse_x [C]
2294 ** Build problems have been fixed on MacOS, SunOS, and QNX.
2296 ** `strftime' fix sign of %z timezone offset.
2298 ** A one-dimensional array can now be 'equal?' to a vector.
2300 ** Structures, records, and SRFI-9 records can now be compared with `equal?'.
2302 ** SRFI-14 standard char sets are recomputed upon a successful `setlocale'.
2304 ** `record-accessor' and `record-modifier' now have strict type checks.
2306 Record accessor and modifier procedures now throw an error if the
2307 record type of the record they're given is not the type expected.
2308 (Previously accessors returned #f and modifiers silently did nothing).
2310 ** It is now OK to use both autoload and use-modules on a given module.
2312 ** `apply' checks the number of arguments more carefully on "0 or 1" funcs.
2314 Previously there was no checking on primatives like make-vector that
2315 accept "one or two" arguments. Now there is.
2317 ** The srfi-1 assoc function now calls its equality predicate properly.
2319 Previously srfi-1 assoc would call the equality predicate with the key
2320 last. According to the SRFI, the key should be first.
2322 ** A bug in n-par-for-each and n-for-each-par-map has been fixed.
2324 ** The array-set! procedure no longer segfaults when given a bit vector.
2326 ** Bugs in make-shared-array have been fixed.
2328 ** string<? and friends now follow char<? etc order on 8-bit chars.
2330 ** The format procedure now handles inf and nan values for ~f correctly.
2332 ** exact->inexact should no longer overflow when given certain large fractions.
2334 ** srfi-9 accessor and modifier procedures now have strict record type checks.
2336 This matches the srfi-9 specification.
2338 ** (ice-9 ftw) procedures won't ignore different files with same inode number.
2340 Previously the (ice-9 ftw) procedures would ignore any file that had
2341 the same inode number as a file they had already seen, even if that
2342 file was on a different device.
2345 Changes in 1.8.0 (changes since the 1.6.x series):
2347 * Changes to the distribution
2349 ** Guile is now licensed with the GNU Lesser General Public License.
2351 ** The manual is now licensed with the GNU Free Documentation License.
2353 ** Guile now requires GNU MP (http://swox.com/gmp).
2355 Guile now uses the GNU MP library for arbitrary precision arithmetic.
2357 ** Guile now has separate private and public configuration headers.
2359 That is, things like HAVE_STRING_H no longer leak from Guile's
2362 ** Guile now provides and uses an "effective" version number.
2364 Guile now provides scm_effective_version and effective-version
2365 functions which return the "effective" version number. This is just
2366 the normal full version string without the final micro-version number,
2367 so the current effective-version is "1.8". The effective version
2368 should remain unchanged during a stable series, and should be used for
2369 items like the versioned share directory name
2370 i.e. /usr/share/guile/1.8.
2372 Providing an unchanging version number during a stable release for
2373 things like the versioned share directory can be particularly
2374 important for Guile "add-on" packages, since it provides a directory
2375 that they can install to that won't be changed out from under them
2376 with each micro release during a stable series.
2378 ** Thread implementation has changed.
2380 When you configure "--with-threads=null", you will get the usual
2381 threading API (call-with-new-thread, make-mutex, etc), but you can't
2382 actually create new threads. Also, "--with-threads=no" is now
2383 equivalent to "--with-threads=null". This means that the thread API
2384 is always present, although you might not be able to create new
2387 When you configure "--with-threads=pthreads" or "--with-threads=yes",
2388 you will get threads that are implemented with the portable POSIX
2389 threads. These threads can run concurrently (unlike the previous
2390 "coop" thread implementation), but need to cooperate for things like
2393 The default is "pthreads", unless your platform doesn't have pthreads,
2394 in which case "null" threads are used.
2396 See the manual for details, nodes "Initialization", "Multi-Threading",
2397 "Blocking", and others.
2399 ** There is the new notion of 'discouraged' features.
2401 This is a milder form of deprecation.
2403 Things that are discouraged should not be used in new code, but it is
2404 OK to leave them in old code for now. When a discouraged feature is
2405 used, no warning message is printed like there is for 'deprecated'
2406 features. Also, things that are merely discouraged are nevertheless
2407 implemented efficiently, while deprecated features can be very slow.
2409 You can omit discouraged features from libguile by configuring it with
2410 the '--disable-discouraged' option.
2412 ** Deprecation warnings can be controlled at run-time.
2414 (debug-enable 'warn-deprecated) switches them on and (debug-disable
2415 'warn-deprecated) switches them off.
2417 ** Support for SRFI 61, extended cond syntax for multiple values has
2420 This SRFI is always available.
2422 ** Support for require-extension, SRFI-55, has been added.
2424 The SRFI-55 special form `require-extension' has been added. It is
2425 available at startup, and provides a portable way to load Scheme
2426 extensions. SRFI-55 only requires support for one type of extension,
2427 "srfi"; so a set of SRFIs may be loaded via (require-extension (srfi 1
2430 ** New module (srfi srfi-26) provides support for `cut' and `cute'.
2432 The (srfi srfi-26) module is an implementation of SRFI-26 which
2433 provides the `cut' and `cute' syntax. These may be used to specialize
2434 parameters without currying.
2436 ** New module (srfi srfi-31)
2438 This is an implementation of SRFI-31 which provides a special form
2439 `rec' for recursive evaluation.
2441 ** The modules (srfi srfi-13), (srfi srfi-14) and (srfi srfi-4) have
2442 been merged with the core, making their functionality always
2445 The modules are still available, tho, and you could use them together
2446 with a renaming import, for example.
2448 ** Guile no longer includes its own version of libltdl.
2450 The official version is good enough now.
2452 ** The --enable-htmldoc option has been removed from 'configure'.
2454 Support for translating the documentation into HTML is now always
2455 provided. Use 'make html'.
2457 ** New module (ice-9 serialize):
2459 (serialize FORM1 ...) and (parallelize FORM1 ...) are useful when you
2460 don't trust the thread safety of most of your program, but where you
2461 have some section(s) of code which you consider can run in parallel to
2462 other sections. See ice-9/serialize.scm for more information.
2464 ** The configure option '--disable-arrays' has been removed.
2466 Support for arrays and uniform numeric arrays is now always included
2469 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
2471 ** New command line option `-L'.
2473 This option adds a directory to the front of the load path.
2475 ** New command line option `--no-debug'.
2477 Specifying `--no-debug' on the command line will keep the debugging
2478 evaluator turned off, even for interactive sessions.
2480 ** User-init file ~/.guile is now loaded with the debugging evaluator.
2482 Previously, the normal evaluator would have been used. Using the
2483 debugging evaluator gives better error messages.
2485 ** The '-e' option now 'read's its argument.
2487 This is to allow the new '(@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)' construct to
2488 be used with '-e'. For example, you can now write a script like
2491 exec guile -e '(@ (demo) main)' -s "$0" "$@"
2494 (define-module (demo)
2498 (format #t "Demo: ~a~%" args))
2501 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
2503 ** Guardians have changed back to their original semantics
2505 Guardians now behave like described in the paper by Dybvig et al. In
2506 particular, they no longer make guarantees about the order in which
2507 they return objects, and they can no longer be greedy.
2509 They no longer drop cyclic data structures.
2511 The C function scm_make_guardian has been changed incompatibly and no
2512 longer takes the 'greedy_p' argument.
2514 ** New function hashx-remove!
2516 This function completes the set of 'hashx' functions.
2518 ** The concept of dynamic roots has been factored into continuation
2519 barriers and dynamic states.
2521 Each thread has a current dynamic state that carries the values of the
2522 fluids. You can create and copy dynamic states and use them as the
2523 second argument for 'eval'. See "Fluids and Dynamic States" in the
2526 To restrict the influence that captured continuations can have on the
2527 control flow, you can errect continuation barriers. See "Continuation
2528 Barriers" in the manual.
2530 The function call-with-dynamic-root now essentially temporarily
2531 installs a new dynamic state and errects a continuation barrier.
2533 ** The default load path no longer includes "." at the end.
2535 Automatically loading modules from the current directory should not
2536 happen by default. If you want to allow it in a more controlled
2537 manner, set the environment variable GUILE_LOAD_PATH or the Scheme
2538 variable %load-path.
2540 ** The uniform vector and array support has been overhauled.
2542 It now complies with SRFI-4 and the weird prototype based uniform
2543 array creation has been deprecated. See the manual for more details.
2545 Some non-compatible changes have been made:
2546 - characters can no longer be stored into byte arrays.
2547 - strings and bit vectors are no longer considered to be uniform numeric
2549 - array-rank throws an error for non-arrays instead of returning zero.
2550 - array-ref does no longer accept non-arrays when no indices are given.
2552 There is the new notion of 'generalized vectors' and corresponding
2553 procedures like 'generalized-vector-ref'. Generalized vectors include
2554 strings, bitvectors, ordinary vectors, and uniform numeric vectors.
2556 Arrays use generalized vectors as their storage, so that you still
2557 have arrays of characters, bits, etc. However, uniform-array-read!
2558 and uniform-array-write can no longer read/write strings and
2561 ** There is now support for copy-on-write substrings, mutation-sharing
2562 substrings and read-only strings.
2564 Three new procedures are related to this: substring/shared,
2565 substring/copy, and substring/read-only. See the manual for more
2568 ** Backtraces will now highlight the value that caused the error.
2570 By default, these values are enclosed in "{...}", such as in this
2579 <unnamed port>:1:1: In procedure car in expression (car (quote a)):
2580 <unnamed port>:1:1: Wrong type (expecting pair): a
2581 ABORT: (wrong-type-arg)
2583 The prefix and suffix used for highlighting can be set via the two new
2584 printer options 'highlight-prefix' and 'highlight-suffix'. For
2585 example, putting this into ~/.guile will output the bad value in bold
2586 on an ANSI terminal:
2588 (print-set! highlight-prefix "\x1b[1m")
2589 (print-set! highlight-suffix "\x1b[22m")
2592 ** 'gettext' support for internationalization has been added.
2594 See the manual for details.
2596 ** New syntax '@' and '@@':
2598 You can now directly refer to variables exported from a module by
2601 (@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)
2603 For example (@ (ice-9 pretty-print) pretty-print) will directly access
2604 the pretty-print variable exported from the (ice-9 pretty-print)
2605 module. You don't need to 'use' that module first. You can also use
2606 '@' as a target of 'set!', as in (set! (@ mod var) val).
2608 The related syntax (@@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME) works just like '@',
2609 but it can also access variables that have not been exported. It is
2610 intended only for kluges and temporary fixes and for debugging, not
2613 ** Keyword syntax has been made more disciplined.
2615 Previously, the name of a keyword was read as a 'token' but printed as
2616 a symbol. Now, it is read as a general Scheme datum which must be a
2627 ERROR: In expression (a b c):
2631 ERROR: Unbound variable: foo
2636 ERROR: Wrong type (expecting symbol): 12
2640 ERROR: Wrong type (expecting symbol): (a b c)
2644 ** The printing of symbols that might look like keywords can be
2647 The new printer option 'quote-keywordish-symbols' controls how symbols
2648 are printed that have a colon as their first or last character. The
2649 default now is to only quote a symbol with #{...}# when the read
2650 option 'keywords' is not '#f'. Thus:
2652 guile> (define foo (string->symbol ":foo"))
2653 guile> (read-set! keywords #f)
2656 guile> (read-set! keywords 'prefix)
2659 guile> (print-set! quote-keywordish-symbols #f)
2663 ** 'while' now provides 'break' and 'continue'
2665 break and continue were previously bound in a while loop, but not
2666 documented, and continue didn't quite work properly. The undocumented
2667 parameter to break which gave a return value for the while has been
2670 ** 'call-with-current-continuation' is now also available under the name
2673 ** The module system now checks for duplicate bindings.
2675 The module system now can check for name conflicts among imported
2678 The behavior can be controlled by specifying one or more 'duplicates'
2679 handlers. For example, to make Guile return an error for every name
2682 (define-module (foo)
2687 The new default behavior of the module system when a name collision
2688 has been detected is to
2690 1. Give priority to bindings marked as a replacement.
2691 2. Issue a warning (different warning if overriding core binding).
2692 3. Give priority to the last encountered binding (this corresponds to
2695 If you want the old behavior back without replacements or warnings you
2698 (default-duplicate-binding-handler 'last)
2700 to your .guile init file.
2702 ** New define-module option: :replace
2704 :replace works as :export, but, in addition, marks the binding as a
2707 A typical example is `format' in (ice-9 format) which is a replacement
2708 for the core binding `format'.
2710 ** Adding prefixes to imported bindings in the module system
2712 There is now a new :use-module option :prefix. It can be used to add
2713 a prefix to all imported bindings.
2715 (define-module (foo)
2716 :use-module ((bar) :prefix bar:))
2718 will import all bindings exported from bar, but rename them by adding
2721 ** Conflicting generic functions can be automatically merged.
2723 When two imported bindings conflict and they are both generic
2724 functions, the two functions can now be merged automatically. This is
2725 activated with the 'duplicates' handler 'merge-generics'.
2727 ** New function: effective-version
2729 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
2730 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
2731 to the distribution" above.
2733 ** New threading functions: parallel, letpar, par-map, and friends
2735 These are convenient ways to run calculations in parallel in new
2736 threads. See "Parallel forms" in the manual for details.
2738 ** New function 'try-mutex'.
2740 This function will attempt to lock a mutex but will return immediately
2741 instead of blocking and indicate failure.
2743 ** Waiting on a condition variable can have a timeout.
2745 The function 'wait-condition-variable' now takes a third, optional
2746 argument that specifies the point in time where the waiting should be
2749 ** New function 'broadcast-condition-variable'.
2751 ** New functions 'all-threads' and 'current-thread'.
2753 ** Signals and system asyncs work better with threads.
2755 The function 'sigaction' now takes a fourth, optional, argument that
2756 specifies the thread that the handler should run in. When the
2757 argument is omitted, the handler will run in the thread that called
2760 Likewise, 'system-async-mark' takes a second, optional, argument that
2761 specifies the thread that the async should run in. When it is
2762 omitted, the async will run in the thread that called
2763 'system-async-mark'.
2765 C code can use the new functions scm_sigaction_for_thread and
2766 scm_system_async_mark_for_thread to pass the new thread argument.
2768 When a thread blocks on a mutex, a condition variable or is waiting
2769 for IO to be possible, it will still execute system asyncs. This can
2770 be used to interrupt such a thread by making it execute a 'throw', for
2773 ** The function 'system-async' is deprecated.
2775 You can now pass any zero-argument procedure to 'system-async-mark'.
2776 The function 'system-async' will just return its argument unchanged
2779 ** New functions 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' and
2780 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
2782 The expression (call-with-blocked-asyncs PROC) will call PROC and will
2783 block execution of system asyncs for the current thread by one level
2784 while PROC runs. Likewise, call-with-unblocked-asyncs will call a
2785 procedure and will unblock the execution of system asyncs by one
2786 level for the current thread.
2788 Only system asyncs are affected by these functions.
2790 ** The functions 'mask-signals' and 'unmask-signals' are deprecated.
2792 Use 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' or 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
2793 instead. Those functions are easier to use correctly and can be
2796 ** New function 'unsetenv'.
2798 ** New macro 'define-syntax-public'.
2800 It works like 'define-syntax' and also exports the defined macro (but
2803 ** There is support for Infinity and NaNs.
2805 Following PLT Scheme, Guile can now work with infinite numbers, and
2808 There is new syntax for numbers: "+inf.0" (infinity), "-inf.0"
2809 (negative infinity), "+nan.0" (not-a-number), and "-nan.0" (same as
2810 "+nan.0"). These numbers are inexact and have no exact counterpart.
2812 Dividing by an inexact zero returns +inf.0 or -inf.0, depending on the
2813 sign of the dividend. The infinities are integers, and they answer #t
2814 for both 'even?' and 'odd?'. The +nan.0 value is not an integer and is
2815 not '=' to itself, but '+nan.0' is 'eqv?' to itself.
2826 ERROR: Numerical overflow
2828 Two new predicates 'inf?' and 'nan?' can be used to test for the
2831 ** Inexact zero can have a sign.
2833 Guile can now distinguish between plus and minus inexact zero, if your
2834 platform supports this, too. The two zeros are equal according to
2835 '=', but not according to 'eqv?'. For example
2846 ** Guile now has exact rationals.
2848 Guile can now represent fractions such as 1/3 exactly. Computing with
2849 them is also done exactly, of course:
2854 ** 'floor', 'ceiling', 'round' and 'truncate' now return exact numbers
2855 for exact arguments.
2857 For example: (floor 2) now returns an exact 2 where in the past it
2858 returned an inexact 2.0. Likewise, (floor 5/4) returns an exact 1.
2860 ** inexact->exact no longer returns only integers.
2862 Without exact rationals, the closest exact number was always an
2863 integer, but now inexact->exact returns the fraction that is exactly
2864 equal to a floating point number. For example:
2866 (inexact->exact 1.234)
2867 => 694680242521899/562949953421312
2869 When you want the old behavior, use 'round' explicitly:
2871 (inexact->exact (round 1.234))
2874 ** New function 'rationalize'.
2876 This function finds a simple fraction that is close to a given real
2877 number. For example (and compare with inexact->exact above):
2879 (rationalize (inexact->exact 1.234) 1/2000)
2882 Note that, as required by R5RS, rationalize returns only then an exact
2883 result when both its arguments are exact.
2885 ** 'odd?' and 'even?' work also for inexact integers.
2887 Previously, (odd? 1.0) would signal an error since only exact integers
2888 were recognized as integers. Now (odd? 1.0) returns #t, (odd? 2.0)
2889 returns #f and (odd? 1.5) signals an error.
2891 ** Guile now has uninterned symbols.
2893 The new function 'make-symbol' will return an uninterned symbol. This
2894 is a symbol that is unique and is guaranteed to remain unique.
2895 However, uninterned symbols can not yet be read back in.
2897 Use the new function 'symbol-interned?' to check whether a symbol is
2900 ** pretty-print has more options.
2902 The function pretty-print from the (ice-9 pretty-print) module can now
2903 also be invoked with keyword arguments that control things like
2904 maximum output width. See the manual for details.
2906 ** Variables have no longer a special behavior for `equal?'.
2908 Previously, comparing two variables with `equal?' would recursivly
2909 compare their values. This is no longer done. Variables are now only
2910 `equal?' if they are `eq?'.
2912 ** `(begin)' is now valid.
2914 You can now use an empty `begin' form. It will yield #<unspecified>
2915 when evaluated and simply be ignored in a definition context.
2917 ** Deprecated: procedure->macro
2919 Change your code to use 'define-macro' or r5rs macros. Also, be aware
2920 that macro expansion will not be done during evaluation, but prior to
2923 ** Soft ports now allow a `char-ready?' procedure
2925 The vector argument to `make-soft-port' can now have a length of
2926 either 5 or 6. (Previously the length had to be 5.) The optional 6th
2927 element is interpreted as an `input-waiting' thunk -- i.e. a thunk
2928 that returns the number of characters that can be read immediately
2929 without the soft port blocking.
2931 ** Deprecated: undefine
2933 There is no replacement for undefine.
2935 ** The functions make-keyword-from-dash-symbol and keyword-dash-symbol
2936 have been discouraged.
2938 They are relics from a time where a keyword like #:foo was used
2939 directly as a Tcl option "-foo" and thus keywords were internally
2940 stored as a symbol with a starting dash. We now store a symbol
2943 Use symbol->keyword and keyword->symbol instead.
2945 ** The `cheap' debug option is now obsolete
2947 Evaluator trap calls are now unconditionally "cheap" - in other words,
2948 they pass a debug object to the trap handler rather than a full
2949 continuation. The trap handler code can capture a full continuation
2950 by using `call-with-current-continuation' in the usual way, if it so
2953 The `cheap' option is retained for now so as not to break existing
2954 code which gets or sets it, but setting it now has no effect. It will
2955 be removed in the next major Guile release.
2957 ** Evaluator trap calls now support `tweaking'
2959 `Tweaking' means that the trap handler code can modify the Scheme
2960 expression that is about to be evaluated (in the case of an
2961 enter-frame trap) or the value that is being returned (in the case of
2962 an exit-frame trap). The trap handler code indicates that it wants to
2963 do this by returning a pair whose car is the symbol 'instead and whose
2964 cdr is the modified expression or return value.
2966 * Changes to the C interface
2968 ** The functions scm_hash_fn_remove_x and scm_hashx_remove_x no longer
2969 take a 'delete' function argument.
2971 This argument makes no sense since the delete function is used to
2972 remove a pair from an alist, and this must not be configurable.
2974 This is an incompatible change.
2976 ** The GH interface is now subject to the deprecation mechanism
2978 The GH interface has been deprecated for quite some time but now it is
2979 actually removed from Guile when it is configured with
2980 --disable-deprecated.
2982 See the manual "Transitioning away from GH" for more information.
2984 ** A new family of functions for converting between C values and
2985 Scheme values has been added.
2987 These functions follow a common naming scheme and are designed to be
2988 easier to use, thread-safe and more future-proof than the older
2991 - int scm_is_* (...)
2993 These are predicates that return a C boolean: 1 or 0. Instead of
2994 SCM_NFALSEP, you can now use scm_is_true, for example.
2996 - <type> scm_to_<type> (SCM val, ...)
2998 These are functions that convert a Scheme value into an appropriate
2999 C value. For example, you can use scm_to_int to safely convert from
3002 - SCM scm_from_<type> (<type> val, ...)
3004 These functions convert from a C type to a SCM value; for example,
3005 scm_from_int for ints.
3007 There is a huge number of these functions, for numbers, strings,
3008 symbols, vectors, etc. They are documented in the reference manual in
3009 the API section together with the types that they apply to.
3011 ** New functions for dealing with complex numbers in C have been added.
3013 The new functions are scm_c_make_rectangular, scm_c_make_polar,
3014 scm_c_real_part, scm_c_imag_part, scm_c_magnitude and scm_c_angle.
3015 They work like scm_make_rectangular etc but take or return doubles
3018 ** The function scm_make_complex has been discouraged.
3020 Use scm_c_make_rectangular instead.
3022 ** The INUM macros have been deprecated.
3024 A lot of code uses these macros to do general integer conversions,
3025 although the macros only work correctly with fixnums. Use the
3026 following alternatives.
3028 SCM_INUMP -> scm_is_integer or similar
3029 SCM_NINUMP -> !scm_is_integer or similar
3030 SCM_MAKINUM -> scm_from_int or similar
3031 SCM_INUM -> scm_to_int or similar
3033 SCM_VALIDATE_INUM_* -> Do not use these; scm_to_int, etc. will
3034 do the validating for you.
3036 ** The scm_num2<type> and scm_<type>2num functions and scm_make_real
3037 have been discouraged.
3039 Use the newer scm_to_<type> and scm_from_<type> functions instead for
3040 new code. The functions have been discouraged since they don't fit
3043 ** The 'boolean' macros SCM_FALSEP etc have been discouraged.
3045 They have strange names, especially SCM_NFALSEP, and SCM_BOOLP
3046 evaluates its argument twice. Use scm_is_true, etc. instead for new
3049 ** The macro SCM_EQ_P has been discouraged.
3051 Use scm_is_eq for new code, which fits better into the naming
3054 ** The macros SCM_CONSP, SCM_NCONSP, SCM_NULLP, and SCM_NNULLP have
3057 Use the function scm_is_pair or scm_is_null instead.
3059 ** The functions scm_round and scm_truncate have been deprecated and
3060 are now available as scm_c_round and scm_c_truncate, respectively.
3062 These functions occupy the names that scm_round_number and
3063 scm_truncate_number should have.
3065 ** The functions scm_c_string2str, scm_c_substring2str, and
3066 scm_c_symbol2str have been deprecated.
3068 Use scm_to_locale_stringbuf or similar instead, maybe together with
3071 ** New functions scm_c_make_string, scm_c_string_length,
3072 scm_c_string_ref, scm_c_string_set_x, scm_c_substring,
3073 scm_c_substring_shared, scm_c_substring_copy.
3075 These are like scm_make_string, scm_length, etc. but are slightly
3076 easier to use from C.
3078 ** The macros SCM_STRINGP, SCM_STRING_CHARS, SCM_STRING_LENGTH,
3079 SCM_SYMBOL_CHARS, and SCM_SYMBOL_LENGTH have been deprecated.
3081 They export too many assumptions about the implementation of strings
3082 and symbols that are no longer true in the presence of
3083 mutation-sharing substrings and when Guile switches to some form of
3086 When working with strings, it is often best to use the normal string
3087 functions provided by Guile, such as scm_c_string_ref,
3088 scm_c_string_set_x, scm_string_append, etc. Be sure to look in the
3089 manual since many more such functions are now provided than
3092 When you want to convert a SCM string to a C string, use the
3093 scm_to_locale_string function or similar instead. For symbols, use
3094 scm_symbol_to_string and then work with that string. Because of the
3095 new string representation, scm_symbol_to_string does not need to copy
3096 and is thus quite efficient.
3098 ** Some string, symbol and keyword functions have been discouraged.
3100 They don't fit into the uniform naming scheme and are not explicit
3101 about the character encoding.
3103 Replace according to the following table:
3105 scm_allocate_string -> scm_c_make_string
3106 scm_take_str -> scm_take_locale_stringn
3107 scm_take0str -> scm_take_locale_string
3108 scm_mem2string -> scm_from_locale_stringn
3109 scm_str2string -> scm_from_locale_string
3110 scm_makfrom0str -> scm_from_locale_string
3111 scm_mem2symbol -> scm_from_locale_symboln
3112 scm_mem2uninterned_symbol -> scm_from_locale_stringn + scm_make_symbol
3113 scm_str2symbol -> scm_from_locale_symbol
3115 SCM_SYMBOL_HASH -> scm_hashq
3116 SCM_SYMBOL_INTERNED_P -> scm_symbol_interned_p
3118 scm_c_make_keyword -> scm_from_locale_keyword
3120 ** The functions scm_keyword_to_symbol and sym_symbol_to_keyword are
3121 now also available to C code.
3123 ** SCM_KEYWORDP and SCM_KEYWORDSYM have been deprecated.
3125 Use scm_is_keyword and scm_keyword_to_symbol instead, but note that
3126 the latter returns the true name of the keyword, not the 'dash name',
3127 as SCM_KEYWORDSYM used to do.
3129 ** A new way to access arrays in a thread-safe and efficient way has
3132 See the manual, node "Accessing Arrays From C".
3134 ** The old uniform vector and bitvector implementations have been
3135 unceremoniously removed.
3137 This implementation exposed the details of the tagging system of
3138 Guile. Use the new C API explained in the manual in node "Uniform
3139 Numeric Vectors" and "Bit Vectors", respectively.
3141 The following macros are gone: SCM_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_BASE,
3142 SCM_UVECTOR_MAXLENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_MAKE_UVECTOR_TAG,
3143 SCM_SET_UVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_BITVECTOR_P, SCM_BITVECTOR_BASE,
3144 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_BASE, SCM_BITVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH,
3145 SCM_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_MAKE_BITVECTOR_TAG,
3146 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_BITVEC_REF, SCM_BITVEC_SET,
3149 ** The macros dealing with vectors have been deprecated.
3151 Use the new functions scm_is_vector, scm_vector_elements,
3152 scm_vector_writable_elements, etc, or scm_is_simple_vector,
3153 SCM_SIMPLE_VECTOR_REF, SCM_SIMPLE_VECTOR_SET, etc instead. See the
3154 manual for more details.
3156 Deprecated are SCM_VECTORP, SCM_VELTS, SCM_VECTOR_MAX_LENGTH,
3157 SCM_VECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_VECTOR_REF, SCM_VECTOR_SET, SCM_WRITABLE_VELTS.
3159 The following macros have been removed: SCM_VECTOR_BASE,
3160 SCM_SET_VECTOR_BASE, SCM_MAKE_VECTOR_TAG, SCM_SET_VECTOR_LENGTH,
3161 SCM_VELTS_AS_STACKITEMS, SCM_SETVELTS, SCM_GC_WRITABLE_VELTS.
3163 ** Some C functions and macros related to arrays have been deprecated.
3165 Migrate according to the following table:
3167 scm_make_uve -> scm_make_typed_array, scm_make_u8vector etc.
3168 scm_make_ra -> scm_make_array
3169 scm_shap2ra -> scm_make_array
3170 scm_cvref -> scm_c_generalized_vector_ref
3171 scm_ra_set_contp -> do not use
3172 scm_aind -> scm_array_handle_pos
3173 scm_raprin1 -> scm_display or scm_write
3175 SCM_ARRAYP -> scm_is_array
3176 SCM_ARRAY_NDIM -> scm_c_array_rank
3177 SCM_ARRAY_DIMS -> scm_array_handle_dims
3178 SCM_ARRAY_CONTP -> do not use
3179 SCM_ARRAY_MEM -> do not use
3180 SCM_ARRAY_V -> scm_array_handle_elements or similar
3181 SCM_ARRAY_BASE -> do not use
3183 ** SCM_CELL_WORD_LOC has been deprecated.
3185 Use the new macro SCM_CELL_OBJECT_LOC instead, which returns a pointer
3186 to a SCM, as opposed to a pointer to a scm_t_bits.
3188 This was done to allow the correct use of pointers into the Scheme
3189 heap. Previously, the heap words were of type scm_t_bits and local
3190 variables and function arguments were of type SCM, making it
3191 non-standards-conformant to have a pointer that can point to both.
3193 ** New macros SCM_SMOB_DATA_2, SCM_SMOB_DATA_3, etc.
3195 These macros should be used instead of SCM_CELL_WORD_2/3 to access the
3196 second and third words of double smobs. Likewise for
3197 SCM_SET_SMOB_DATA_2 and SCM_SET_SMOB_DATA_3.
3199 Also, there is SCM_SMOB_FLAGS and SCM_SET_SMOB_FLAGS that should be
3200 used to get and set the 16 exra bits in the zeroth word of a smob.
3202 And finally, there is SCM_SMOB_OBJECT and SCM_SMOB_SET_OBJECT for
3203 accesing the first immediate word of a smob as a SCM value, and there
3204 is SCM_SMOB_OBJECT_LOC for getting a pointer to the first immediate
3205 smob word. Like wise for SCM_SMOB_OBJECT_2, etc.
3207 ** New way to deal with non-local exits and re-entries.
3209 There is a new set of functions that essentially do what
3210 scm_internal_dynamic_wind does, but in a way that is more convenient
3211 for C code in some situations. Here is a quick example of how to
3212 prevent a potential memory leak:
3219 scm_dynwind_begin (0);
3221 mem = scm_malloc (100);
3222 scm_dynwind_unwind_handler (free, mem, SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITLY);
3224 /* MEM would leak if BAR throws an error.
3225 SCM_DYNWIND_UNWIND_HANDLER frees it nevertheless.
3232 /* Because of SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITLY, MEM will be freed by
3233 SCM_DYNWIND_END as well.
3237 For full documentation, see the node "Dynamic Wind" in the manual.
3239 ** New function scm_dynwind_free
3241 This function calls 'free' on a given pointer when a dynwind context
3242 is left. Thus the call to scm_dynwind_unwind_handler above could be
3243 replaced with simply scm_dynwind_free (mem).
3245 ** New functions scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
3246 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs
3248 Like scm_call_with_blocked_asyncs etc. but for C functions.
3250 ** New functions scm_dynwind_block_asyncs and scm_dynwind_unblock_asyncs
3252 In addition to scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs you can now also use
3253 scm_dynwind_block_asyncs in a 'dynwind context' (see above). Likewise for
3254 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs and scm_dynwind_unblock_asyncs.
3256 ** The macros SCM_DEFER_INTS, SCM_ALLOW_INTS, SCM_REDEFER_INTS,
3257 SCM_REALLOW_INTS have been deprecated.
3259 They do no longer fulfill their original role of blocking signal
3260 delivery. Depending on what you want to achieve, replace a pair of
3261 SCM_DEFER_INTS and SCM_ALLOW_INTS with a dynwind context that locks a
3262 mutex, blocks asyncs, or both. See node "Critical Sections" in the
3265 ** The value 'scm_mask_ints' is no longer writable.
3267 Previously, you could set scm_mask_ints directly. This is no longer
3268 possible. Use scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
3269 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs instead.
3271 ** New way to temporarily set the current input, output or error ports
3273 C code can now use scm_dynwind_current_<foo>_port in a 'dynwind
3274 context' (see above). <foo> is one of "input", "output" or "error".
3276 ** New way to temporarily set fluids
3278 C code can now use scm_dynwind_fluid in a 'dynwind context' (see
3279 above) to temporarily set the value of a fluid.
3281 ** New types scm_t_intmax and scm_t_uintmax.
3283 On platforms that have them, these types are identical to intmax_t and
3284 uintmax_t, respectively. On other platforms, they are identical to
3285 the largest integer types that Guile knows about.
3287 ** The functions scm_unmemocopy and scm_unmemoize have been removed.
3289 You should not have used them.
3291 ** Many public #defines with generic names have been made private.
3293 #defines with generic names like HAVE_FOO or SIZEOF_FOO have been made
3294 private or renamed with a more suitable public name.
3296 ** The macro SCM_TYP16S has been deprecated.
3298 This macro is not intended for public use.
3300 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_INEXACTP has been deprecated.
3302 Use scm_is_true (scm_inexact_p (...)) instead.
3304 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_REALP has been deprecated.
3306 Use scm_is_real instead.
3308 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_COMPLEXP has been deprecated.
3310 Use scm_is_complex instead.
3312 ** Some preprocessor defines have been deprecated.
3314 These defines indicated whether a certain feature was present in Guile
3315 or not. Going forward, assume that the features are always present.
3317 The macros are: USE_THREADS, GUILE_ISELECT, READER_EXTENSIONS,
3318 DEBUG_EXTENSIONS, DYNAMIC_LINKING.
3320 The following macros have been removed completely: MEMOIZE_LOCALS,
3321 SCM_RECKLESS, SCM_CAUTIOUS.
3323 ** The preprocessor define STACK_DIRECTION has been deprecated.
3325 There should be no need to know about the stack direction for ordinary
3328 ** New function: scm_effective_version
3330 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
3331 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
3332 to the distribution" above.
3334 ** The function scm_call_with_new_thread has a new prototype.
3336 Instead of taking a list with the thunk and handler, these two
3337 arguments are now passed directly:
3339 SCM scm_call_with_new_thread (SCM thunk, SCM handler);
3341 This is an incompatible change.
3343 ** New snarfer macro SCM_DEFINE_PUBLIC.
3345 This is like SCM_DEFINE, but also calls scm_c_export for the defined
3346 function in the init section.
3348 ** The snarfer macro SCM_SNARF_INIT is now officially supported.
3350 ** Garbage collector rewrite.
3352 The garbage collector is cleaned up a lot, and now uses lazy
3353 sweeping. This is reflected in the output of (gc-stats); since cells
3354 are being freed when they are allocated, the cells-allocated field
3355 stays roughly constant.
3357 For malloc related triggers, the behavior is changed. It uses the same
3358 heuristic as the cell-triggered collections. It may be tuned with the
3359 environment variables GUILE_MIN_YIELD_MALLOC. This is the percentage
3360 for minimum yield of malloc related triggers. The default is 40.
3361 GUILE_INIT_MALLOC_LIMIT sets the initial trigger for doing a GC. The
3364 Debugging operations for the freelist have been deprecated, along with
3365 the C variables that control garbage collection. The environment
3366 variables GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE, GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2,
3367 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1, and GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2 should be used.
3369 For understanding the memory usage of a GUILE program, the routine
3370 gc-live-object-stats returns an alist containing the number of live
3371 objects for every type.
3374 ** The function scm_definedp has been renamed to scm_defined_p
3376 The name scm_definedp is deprecated.
3378 ** The struct scm_cell type has been renamed to scm_t_cell
3380 This is in accordance to Guile's naming scheme for types. Note that
3381 the name scm_cell is now used for a function that allocates and
3382 initializes a new cell (see below).
3384 ** New functions for memory management
3386 A new set of functions for memory management has been added since the
3387 old way (scm_must_malloc, scm_must_free, etc) was error prone and
3388 indeed, Guile itself contained some long standing bugs that could
3389 cause aborts in long running programs.
3391 The new functions are more symmetrical and do not need cooperation
3392 from smob free routines, among other improvements.
3394 The new functions are scm_malloc, scm_realloc, scm_calloc, scm_strdup,
3395 scm_strndup, scm_gc_malloc, scm_gc_calloc, scm_gc_realloc,
3396 scm_gc_free, scm_gc_register_collectable_memory, and
3397 scm_gc_unregister_collectable_memory. Refer to the manual for more
3398 details and for upgrading instructions.
3400 The old functions for memory management have been deprecated. They
3401 are: scm_must_malloc, scm_must_realloc, scm_must_free,
3402 scm_must_strdup, scm_must_strndup, scm_done_malloc, scm_done_free.
3404 ** Declarations of exported features are marked with SCM_API.
3406 Every declaration of a feature that belongs to the exported Guile API
3407 has been marked by adding the macro "SCM_API" to the start of the
3408 declaration. This macro can expand into different things, the most
3409 common of which is just "extern" for Unix platforms. On Win32, it can
3410 be used to control which symbols are exported from a DLL.
3412 If you `#define SCM_IMPORT' before including <libguile.h>, SCM_API
3413 will expand into "__declspec (dllimport) extern", which is needed for
3414 linking to the Guile DLL in Windows.
3416 There are also SCM_RL_IMPORT, SCM_SRFI1314_IMPORT, and
3417 SCM_SRFI4_IMPORT, for the corresponding libraries.
3419 ** SCM_NEWCELL and SCM_NEWCELL2 have been deprecated.
3421 Use the new functions scm_cell and scm_double_cell instead. The old
3422 macros had problems because with them allocation and initialization
3423 was separated and the GC could sometimes observe half initialized
3424 cells. Only careful coding by the user of SCM_NEWCELL and
3425 SCM_NEWCELL2 could make this safe and efficient.
3427 ** CHECK_ENTRY, CHECK_APPLY and CHECK_EXIT have been deprecated.
3429 Use the variables scm_check_entry_p, scm_check_apply_p and scm_check_exit_p
3432 ** SRCBRKP has been deprecated.
3434 Use scm_c_source_property_breakpoint_p instead.
3436 ** Deprecated: scm_makmacro
3438 Change your code to use either scm_makmmacro or to define macros in
3439 Scheme, using 'define-macro'.
3441 ** New function scm_c_port_for_each.
3443 This function is like scm_port_for_each but takes a pointer to a C
3444 function as the callback instead of a SCM value.
3446 ** The names scm_internal_select, scm_thread_sleep, and
3447 scm_thread_usleep have been discouraged.
3449 Use scm_std_select, scm_std_sleep, scm_std_usleep instead.
3451 ** The GC can no longer be blocked.
3453 The global flags scm_gc_heap_lock and scm_block_gc have been removed.
3454 The GC can now run (partially) concurrently with other code and thus
3455 blocking it is not well defined.
3457 ** Many definitions have been removed that were previously deprecated.
3459 scm_lisp_nil, scm_lisp_t, s_nil_ify, scm_m_nil_ify, s_t_ify,
3460 scm_m_t_ify, s_0_cond, scm_m_0_cond, s_0_ify, scm_m_0_ify, s_1_ify,
3461 scm_m_1_ify, scm_debug_newcell, scm_debug_newcell2,
3462 scm_tc16_allocated, SCM_SET_SYMBOL_HASH, SCM_IM_NIL_IFY, SCM_IM_T_IFY,
3463 SCM_IM_0_COND, SCM_IM_0_IFY, SCM_IM_1_IFY, SCM_GC_SET_ALLOCATED,
3464 scm_debug_newcell, scm_debug_newcell2, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL, SCM_INT_SIGNAL,
3465 SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL, SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL,
3466 SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD, SCM_ORD_SIG,
3467 SCM_NUM_SIGS, scm_top_level_lookup_closure_var,
3468 *top-level-lookup-closure*, scm_system_transformer, scm_eval_3,
3469 scm_eval2, root_module_lookup_closure, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP,
3470 SCM_RWSTRINGP, scm_read_only_string_p, scm_make_shared_substring,
3471 scm_tc7_substring, sym_huh, SCM_VARVCELL, SCM_UDVARIABLEP,
3472 SCM_DEFVARIABLEP, scm_mkbig, scm_big2inum, scm_adjbig, scm_normbig,
3473 scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big, scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl, SCM_FIXNUM_BIT,
3474 SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_SLOPPY_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET,
3475 SCM_LENGTH_MAX, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_ROLENGTH,
3476 SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR,
3477 scm_sym2vcell, scm_intern, scm_intern0, scm_sysintern, scm_sysintern0,
3478 scm_sysintern0_no_module_lookup, scm_init_symbols_deprecated,
3479 scm_vector_set_length_x, scm_contregs, scm_debug_info,
3480 scm_debug_frame, SCM_DSIDEVAL, SCM_CONST_LONG, SCM_VCELL,
3481 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL, SCM_VCELL_INIT, SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL_INIT,
3482 SCM_HUGE_LENGTH, SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING,
3483 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY, SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY,
3484 SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, DIGITS, scm_small_istr2int, scm_istr2int,
3485 scm_istr2flo, scm_istring2number, scm_istr2int, scm_istr2flo,
3486 scm_istring2number, scm_vtable_index_vcell, scm_si_vcell, SCM_ECONSP,
3487 SCM_NECONSP, SCM_GLOC_VAR, SCM_GLOC_VAL, SCM_GLOC_SET_VAL,
3488 SCM_GLOC_VAL_LOC, scm_make_gloc, scm_gloc_p, scm_tc16_variable,
3489 SCM_CHARS, SCM_LENGTH, SCM_SET_STRING_CHARS, SCM_SET_STRING_LENGTH.
3491 * Changes to bundled modules
3495 Using the (ice-9 debug) module no longer automatically switches Guile
3496 to use the debugging evaluator. If you want to switch to the
3497 debugging evaluator (which is needed for backtrace information if you
3498 hit an error), please add an explicit "(debug-enable 'debug)" to your
3499 code just after the code to use (ice-9 debug).
3502 Changes since Guile 1.4:
3504 * Changes to the distribution
3506 ** A top-level TODO file is included.
3508 ** Guile now uses a versioning scheme similar to that of the Linux kernel.
3510 Guile now always uses three numbers to represent the version,
3511 i.e. "1.6.5". The first number, 1, is the major version number, the
3512 second number, 6, is the minor version number, and the third number,
3513 5, is the micro version number. Changes in major version number
3514 indicate major changes in Guile.
3516 Minor version numbers that are even denote stable releases, and odd
3517 minor version numbers denote development versions (which may be
3518 unstable). The micro version number indicates a minor sub-revision of
3519 a given MAJOR.MINOR release.
3521 In keeping with the new scheme, (minor-version) and scm_minor_version
3522 no longer return everything but the major version number. They now
3523 just return the minor version number. Two new functions
3524 (micro-version) and scm_micro_version have been added to report the
3525 micro version number.
3527 In addition, ./GUILE-VERSION now defines GUILE_MICRO_VERSION.
3529 ** New preprocessor definitions are available for checking versions.
3531 version.h now #defines SCM_MAJOR_VERSION, SCM_MINOR_VERSION, and
3532 SCM_MICRO_VERSION to the appropriate integer values.
3534 ** Guile now actively warns about deprecated features.
3536 The new configure option `--enable-deprecated=LEVEL' and the
3537 environment variable GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATED control this mechanism.
3538 See INSTALL and README for more information.
3540 ** Guile is much more likely to work on 64-bit architectures.
3542 Guile now compiles and passes "make check" with only two UNRESOLVED GC
3543 cases on Alpha and ia64 based machines now. Thanks to John Goerzen
3544 for the use of a test machine, and thanks to Stefan Jahn for ia64
3547 ** New functions: setitimer and getitimer.
3549 These implement a fairly direct interface to the libc functions of the
3552 ** The #. reader extension is now disabled by default.
3554 For safety reasons, #. evaluation is disabled by default. To
3555 re-enable it, set the fluid read-eval? to #t. For example:
3557 (fluid-set! read-eval? #t)
3559 but make sure you realize the potential security risks involved. With
3560 read-eval? enabled, reading a data file from an untrusted source can
3563 ** New SRFI modules have been added:
3565 SRFI-0 `cond-expand' is now supported in Guile, without requiring
3568 (srfi srfi-1) is a library containing many useful pair- and list-processing
3571 (srfi srfi-2) exports and-let*.
3573 (srfi srfi-4) implements homogeneous numeric vector datatypes.
3575 (srfi srfi-6) is a dummy module for now, since guile already provides
3576 all of the srfi-6 procedures by default: open-input-string,
3577 open-output-string, get-output-string.
3579 (srfi srfi-8) exports receive.
3581 (srfi srfi-9) exports define-record-type.
3583 (srfi srfi-10) exports define-reader-ctor and implements the reader
3586 (srfi srfi-11) exports let-values and let*-values.
3588 (srfi srfi-13) implements the SRFI String Library.
3590 (srfi srfi-14) implements the SRFI Character-Set Library.
3592 (srfi srfi-17) implements setter and getter-with-setter and redefines
3593 some accessor procedures as procedures with getters. (such as car,
3594 cdr, vector-ref etc.)
3596 (srfi srfi-19) implements the SRFI Time/Date Library.
3598 ** New scripts / "executable modules"
3600 Subdirectory "scripts" contains Scheme modules that are packaged to
3601 also be executable as scripts. At this time, these scripts are available:
3610 See README there for more info.
3612 These scripts can be invoked from the shell with the new program
3613 "guile-tools", which keeps track of installation directory for you.
3616 $ guile-tools display-commentary srfi/*.scm
3618 guile-tools is copied to the standard $bindir on "make install".
3620 ** New module (ice-9 stack-catch):
3622 stack-catch is like catch, but saves the current state of the stack in
3623 the fluid the-last-stack. This fluid can be useful when using the
3624 debugger and when re-throwing an error.
3626 ** The module (ice-9 and-let*) has been renamed to (ice-9 and-let-star)
3628 This has been done to prevent problems on lesser operating systems
3629 that can't tolerate `*'s in file names. The exported macro continues
3630 to be named `and-let*', of course.
3632 On systems that support it, there is also a compatibility module named
3633 (ice-9 and-let*). It will go away in the next release.
3635 ** New modules (oop goops) etc.:
3638 (oop goops describe)
3640 (oop goops active-slot)
3641 (oop goops composite-slot)
3643 The Guile Object Oriented Programming System (GOOPS) has been
3644 integrated into Guile. For further information, consult the GOOPS
3645 manual and tutorial in the `doc' directory.
3647 ** New module (ice-9 rdelim).
3649 This exports the following procedures which were previously defined
3650 in the default environment:
3652 read-line read-line! read-delimited read-delimited! %read-delimited!
3653 %read-line write-line
3655 For backwards compatibility the definitions are still imported into the
3656 default environment in this version of Guile. However you should add:
3658 (use-modules (ice-9 rdelim))
3660 to any program which uses the definitions, since this may change in
3663 Alternatively, if guile-scsh is installed, the (scsh rdelim) module
3664 can be used for similar functionality.
3666 ** New module (ice-9 rw)
3668 This is a subset of the (scsh rw) module from guile-scsh. Currently
3669 it defines two procedures:
3671 *** New function: read-string!/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
3673 Read characters from a port or file descriptor into a string STR.
3674 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
3675 fport. This procedure is scsh-compatible and can efficiently read
3678 *** New function: write-string/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
3680 Write characters from a string STR to a port or file descriptor.
3681 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
3682 fport. This procedure is mostly compatible and can efficiently
3683 write large strings.
3685 ** New module (ice-9 match)
3687 This module includes Andrew K. Wright's pattern matcher. See
3688 ice-9/match.scm for brief description or
3690 http://www.star-lab.com/wright/code.html
3692 for complete documentation.
3694 ** New module (ice-9 buffered-input)
3696 This module provides procedures to construct an input port from an
3697 underlying source of input that reads and returns its input in chunks.
3698 The underlying input source is a Scheme procedure, specified by the
3699 caller, which the port invokes whenever it needs more input.
3701 This is useful when building an input port whose back end is Readline
3702 or a UI element such as the GtkEntry widget.
3706 The reference and tutorial documentation that was previously
3707 distributed separately, as `guile-doc', is now included in the core
3708 Guile distribution. The documentation consists of the following
3711 - The Guile Tutorial (guile-tut.texi) contains a tutorial introduction
3714 - The Guile Reference Manual (guile.texi) contains (or is intended to
3715 contain) reference documentation on all aspects of Guile.
3717 - The GOOPS Manual (goops.texi) contains both tutorial-style and
3718 reference documentation for using GOOPS, Guile's Object Oriented
3721 - The Revised^5 Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme
3724 See the README file in the `doc' directory for more details.
3726 ** There are a couple of examples in the examples/ directory now.
3728 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
3730 ** New command line option `--use-srfi'
3732 Using this option, SRFI modules can be loaded on startup and be
3733 available right from the beginning. This makes programming portable
3734 Scheme programs easier.
3736 The option `--use-srfi' expects a comma-separated list of numbers,
3737 each representing a SRFI number to be loaded into the interpreter
3738 before starting evaluating a script file or the REPL. Additionally,
3739 the feature identifier for the loaded SRFIs is recognized by
3740 `cond-expand' when using this option.
3743 $ guile --use-srfi=8,13
3744 guile> (receive (x z) (values 1 2) (+ 1 2))
3746 guile> (string-pad "bla" 20)
3749 ** Guile now always starts up in the `(guile-user)' module.
3751 Previously, scripts executed via the `-s' option would run in the
3752 `(guile)' module and the repl would run in the `(guile-user)' module.
3753 Now every user action takes place in the `(guile-user)' module by
3756 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
3758 ** Character classifiers work for non-ASCII characters.
3760 The predicates `char-alphabetic?', `char-numeric?',
3761 `char-whitespace?', `char-lower?', `char-upper?' and `char-is-both?'
3762 no longer check whether their arguments are ASCII characters.
3763 Previously, a character would only be considered alphabetic when it
3764 was also ASCII, for example.
3766 ** Previously deprecated Scheme functions have been removed:
3768 tag - no replacement.
3769 fseek - replaced by seek.
3770 list* - replaced by cons*.
3772 ** It's now possible to create modules with controlled environments
3776 (use-modules (ice-9 safe))
3777 (define m (make-safe-module))
3778 ;;; m will now be a module containing only a safe subset of R5RS
3779 (eval '(+ 1 2) m) --> 3
3780 (eval 'load m) --> ERROR: Unbound variable: load
3782 ** Evaluation of "()", the empty list, is now an error.
3784 Previously, the expression "()" evaluated to the empty list. This has
3785 been changed to signal a "missing expression" error. The correct way
3786 to write the empty list as a literal constant is to use quote: "'()".
3788 ** New concept of `Guile Extensions'.
3790 A Guile Extension is just a ordinary shared library that can be linked
3791 at run-time. We found it advantageous to give this simple concept a
3792 dedicated name to distinguish the issues related to shared libraries
3793 from the issues related to the module system.
3795 *** New function: load-extension
3797 Executing (load-extension lib init) is mostly equivalent to
3799 (dynamic-call init (dynamic-link lib))
3801 except when scm_register_extension has been called previously.
3802 Whenever appropriate, you should use `load-extension' instead of
3803 dynamic-link and dynamic-call.
3805 *** New C function: scm_c_register_extension
3807 This function registers a initialization function for use by
3808 `load-extension'. Use it when you don't want specific extensions to
3809 be loaded as shared libraries (for example on platforms that don't
3810 support dynamic linking).
3812 ** Auto-loading of compiled-code modules is deprecated.
3814 Guile used to be able to automatically find and link a shared
3815 library to satisfy requests for a module. For example, the module
3816 `(foo bar)' could be implemented by placing a shared library named
3817 "foo/libbar.so" (or with a different extension) in a directory on the
3820 This has been found to be too tricky, and is no longer supported. The
3821 shared libraries are now called "extensions". You should now write a
3822 small Scheme file that calls `load-extension' to load the shared
3823 library and initialize it explicitly.
3825 The shared libraries themselves should be installed in the usual
3826 places for shared libraries, with names like "libguile-foo-bar".
3828 For example, place this into a file "foo/bar.scm"
3830 (define-module (foo bar))
3832 (load-extension "libguile-foo-bar" "foobar_init")
3834 ** Backward incompatible change: eval EXP ENVIRONMENT-SPECIFIER
3836 `eval' is now R5RS, that is it takes two arguments.
3837 The second argument is an environment specifier, i.e. either
3839 (scheme-report-environment 5)
3840 (null-environment 5)
3841 (interaction-environment)
3847 ** The module system has been made more disciplined.
3849 The function `eval' will save and restore the current module around
3850 the evaluation of the specified expression. While this expression is
3851 evaluated, `(current-module)' will now return the right module, which
3852 is the module specified as the second argument to `eval'.
3854 A consequence of this change is that `eval' is not particularly
3855 useful when you want allow the evaluated code to change what module is
3856 designated as the current module and have this change persist from one
3857 call to `eval' to the next. The read-eval-print-loop is an example
3858 where `eval' is now inadequate. To compensate, there is a new
3859 function `primitive-eval' that does not take a module specifier and
3860 that does not save/restore the current module. You should use this
3861 function together with `set-current-module', `current-module', etc
3862 when you want to have more control over the state that is carried from
3863 one eval to the next.
3865 Additionally, it has been made sure that forms that are evaluated at
3866 the top level are always evaluated with respect to the current module.
3867 Previously, subforms of top-level forms such as `begin', `case',
3868 etc. did not respect changes to the current module although these
3869 subforms are at the top-level as well.
3871 To prevent strange behavior, the forms `define-module',
3872 `use-modules', `use-syntax', and `export' have been restricted to only
3873 work on the top level. The forms `define-public' and
3874 `defmacro-public' only export the new binding on the top level. They
3875 behave just like `define' and `defmacro', respectively, when they are
3876 used in a lexical environment.
3878 Also, `export' will no longer silently re-export bindings imported
3879 from a used module. It will emit a `deprecation' warning and will
3880 cease to perform any re-export in the next version. If you actually
3881 want to re-export bindings, use the new `re-export' in place of
3882 `export'. The new `re-export' will not make copies of variables when
3883 rexporting them, as `export' did wrongly.
3885 ** Module system now allows selection and renaming of imported bindings
3887 Previously, when using `use-modules' or the `#:use-module' clause in
3888 the `define-module' form, all the bindings (association of symbols to
3889 values) for imported modules were added to the "current module" on an
3890 as-is basis. This has been changed to allow finer control through two
3891 new facilities: selection and renaming.
3893 You can now select which of the imported module's bindings are to be
3894 visible in the current module by using the `:select' clause. This
3895 clause also can be used to rename individual bindings. For example:
3897 ;; import all bindings no questions asked
3898 (use-modules (ice-9 common-list))
3900 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them;
3901 ;; the current module sees: every some zonk-y zonk-n
3902 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
3904 (remove-if . zonk-y)
3905 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))))
3907 You can also programmatically rename all selected bindings using the
3908 `:renamer' clause, which specifies a proc that takes a symbol and
3909 returns another symbol. Because it is common practice to use a prefix,
3910 we now provide the convenience procedure `symbol-prefix-proc'. For
3913 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
3914 ;; and all four w/ prefix "CL:";
3915 ;; the current module sees: CL:every CL:some CL:zonk-y CL:zonk-n
3916 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
3918 (remove-if . zonk-y)
3919 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
3920 :renamer (symbol-prefix-proc 'CL:)))
3922 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
3923 ;; and all four by upcasing.
3924 ;; the current module sees: EVERY SOME ZONK-Y ZONK-N
3925 (define (upcase-symbol sym)
3926 (string->symbol (string-upcase (symbol->string sym))))
3928 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
3930 (remove-if . zonk-y)
3931 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
3932 :renamer upcase-symbol))
3934 Note that programmatic renaming is done *after* individual renaming.
3935 Also, the above examples show `use-modules', but the same facilities are
3936 available for the `#:use-module' clause of `define-module'.
3938 See manual for more info.
3940 ** The semantics of guardians have changed.
3942 The changes are for the most part compatible. An important criterion
3943 was to keep the typical usage of guardians as simple as before, but to
3944 make the semantics safer and (as a result) more useful.
3946 *** All objects returned from guardians are now properly alive.
3948 It is now guaranteed that any object referenced by an object returned
3949 from a guardian is alive. It's now impossible for a guardian to
3950 return a "contained" object before its "containing" object.
3952 One incompatible (but probably not very important) change resulting
3953 from this is that it is no longer possible to guard objects that
3954 indirectly reference themselves (i.e. are parts of cycles). If you do
3955 so accidentally, you'll get a warning.
3957 *** There are now two types of guardians: greedy and sharing.
3959 If you call (make-guardian #t) or just (make-guardian), you'll get a
3960 greedy guardian, and for (make-guardian #f) a sharing guardian.
3962 Greedy guardians are the default because they are more "defensive".
3963 You can only greedily guard an object once. If you guard an object
3964 more than once, once in a greedy guardian and the rest of times in
3965 sharing guardians, then it is guaranteed that the object won't be
3966 returned from sharing guardians as long as it is greedily guarded
3969 Guardians returned by calls to `make-guardian' can now take one more
3970 optional parameter, which says whether to throw an error in case an
3971 attempt is made to greedily guard an object that is already greedily
3972 guarded. The default is true, i.e. throw an error. If the parameter
3973 is false, the guardian invocation returns #t if guarding was
3974 successful and #f if it wasn't.
3976 Also, since greedy guarding is, in effect, a side-effecting operation
3977 on objects, a new function is introduced: `destroy-guardian!'.
3978 Invoking this function on a guardian renders it unoperative and, if
3979 the guardian is greedy, clears the "greedily guarded" property of the
3980 objects that were guarded by it, thus undoing the side effect.
3982 Note that all this hair is hardly very important, since guardian
3983 objects are usually permanent.
3985 ** Continuations created by call-with-current-continuation now accept
3986 any number of arguments, as required by R5RS.
3988 ** New function `issue-deprecation-warning'
3990 This function is used to display the deprecation messages that are
3991 controlled by GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATION as explained in the README.
3994 (issue-deprecation-warning "`id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.")
3998 ;; `id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.
4003 ** New syntax `begin-deprecated'
4005 When deprecated features are included (as determined by the configure
4006 option --enable-deprecated), `begin-deprecated' is identical to
4007 `begin'. When deprecated features are excluded, it always evaluates
4008 to `#f', ignoring the body forms.
4010 ** New function `make-object-property'
4012 This function returns a new `procedure with setter' P that can be used
4013 to attach a property to objects. When calling P as
4017 where `obj' is any kind of object, it attaches `val' to `obj' in such
4018 a way that it can be retrieved by calling P as
4022 This function will replace procedure properties, symbol properties and
4023 source properties eventually.
4025 ** Module (ice-9 optargs) now uses keywords instead of `#&'.
4027 Instead of #&optional, #&key, etc you should now use #:optional,
4028 #:key, etc. Since #:optional is a keyword, you can write it as just
4029 :optional when (read-set! keywords 'prefix) is active.
4031 The old reader syntax `#&' is still supported, but deprecated. It
4032 will be removed in the next release.
4034 ** New define-module option: pure
4036 Tells the module system not to include any bindings from the root
4041 (define-module (totally-empty-module)
4044 ** New define-module option: export NAME1 ...
4046 Export names NAME1 ...
4048 This option is required if you want to be able to export bindings from
4049 a module which doesn't import one of `define-public' or `export'.
4053 (define-module (foo)
4055 :use-module (ice-9 r5rs)
4058 ;;; Note that we're pure R5RS below this point!
4063 ** New function: object->string OBJ
4065 Return a Scheme string obtained by printing a given object.
4067 ** New function: port? X
4069 Returns a boolean indicating whether X is a port. Equivalent to
4070 `(or (input-port? X) (output-port? X))'.
4072 ** New function: file-port?
4074 Determines whether a given object is a port that is related to a file.
4076 ** New function: port-for-each proc
4078 Apply PROC to each port in the Guile port table in turn. The return
4079 value is unspecified. More specifically, PROC is applied exactly once
4080 to every port that exists in the system at the time PORT-FOR-EACH is
4081 invoked. Changes to the port table while PORT-FOR-EACH is running
4082 have no effect as far as PORT-FOR-EACH is concerned.
4084 ** New function: dup2 oldfd newfd
4086 A simple wrapper for the `dup2' system call. Copies the file
4087 descriptor OLDFD to descriptor number NEWFD, replacing the
4088 previous meaning of NEWFD. Both OLDFD and NEWFD must be integers.
4089 Unlike for dup->fdes or primitive-move->fdes, no attempt is made
4090 to move away ports which are using NEWFD. The return value is
4093 ** New function: close-fdes fd
4095 A simple wrapper for the `close' system call. Close file
4096 descriptor FD, which must be an integer. Unlike close (*note
4097 close: Ports and File Descriptors.), the file descriptor will be
4098 closed even if a port is using it. The return value is
4101 ** New function: crypt password salt
4103 Encrypts `password' using the standard unix password encryption
4106 ** New function: chroot path
4108 Change the root directory of the running process to `path'.
4110 ** New functions: getlogin, cuserid
4112 Return the login name or the user name of the current effective user
4115 ** New functions: getpriority which who, setpriority which who prio
4117 Get or set the priority of the running process.
4119 ** New function: getpass prompt
4121 Read a password from the terminal, first displaying `prompt' and
4124 ** New function: flock file operation
4126 Set/remove an advisory shared or exclusive lock on `file'.
4128 ** New functions: sethostname name, gethostname
4130 Set or get the hostname of the machine the current process is running
4133 ** New function: mkstemp! tmpl
4135 mkstemp creates a new unique file in the file system and returns a
4136 new buffered port open for reading and writing to the file. TMPL
4137 is a string specifying where the file should be created: it must
4138 end with `XXXXXX' and will be changed in place to return the name
4139 of the temporary file.
4141 ** New function: open-input-string string
4143 Return an input string port which delivers the characters from
4144 `string'. This procedure, together with `open-output-string' and
4145 `get-output-string' implements SRFI-6.
4147 ** New function: open-output-string
4149 Return an output string port which collects all data written to it.
4150 The data can then be retrieved by `get-output-string'.
4152 ** New function: get-output-string
4154 Return the contents of an output string port.
4156 ** New function: identity
4158 Return the argument.
4160 ** socket, connect, accept etc., now have support for IPv6. IPv6 addresses
4161 are represented in Scheme as integers with normal host byte ordering.
4163 ** New function: inet-pton family address
4165 Convert a printable string network address into an integer. Note that
4166 unlike the C version of this function, the result is an integer with
4167 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
4170 (inet-pton AF_INET "127.0.0.1") => 2130706433
4171 (inet-pton AF_INET6 "::1") => 1
4173 ** New function: inet-ntop family address
4175 Convert an integer network address into a printable string. Note that
4176 unlike the C version of this function, the input is an integer with
4177 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
4180 (inet-ntop AF_INET 2130706433) => "127.0.0.1"
4181 (inet-ntop AF_INET6 (- (expt 2 128) 1)) =>
4182 ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff
4186 Use `identity' instead.
4192 ** Deprecated: return-it
4196 ** Deprecated: string-character-length
4198 Use `string-length' instead.
4200 ** Deprecated: flags
4202 Use `logior' instead.
4204 ** Deprecated: close-all-ports-except.
4206 This was intended for closing ports in a child process after a fork,
4207 but it has the undesirable side effect of flushing buffers.
4208 port-for-each is more flexible.
4210 ** The (ice-9 popen) module now attempts to set up file descriptors in
4211 the child process from the current Scheme ports, instead of using the
4212 current values of file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 in the parent process.
4214 ** Removed function: builtin-weak-bindings
4216 There is no such concept as a weak binding any more.
4218 ** Removed constants: bignum-radix, scm-line-incrementors
4220 ** define-method: New syntax mandatory.
4222 The new method syntax is now mandatory:
4224 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ...) BODY ...)
4225 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ... . REST-ARG) BODY ...)
4227 ARG-SPEC ::= ARG-NAME | (ARG-NAME TYPE)
4228 REST-ARG ::= ARG-NAME
4230 If you have old code using the old syntax, import
4231 (oop goops old-define-method) before (oop goops) as in:
4233 (use-modules (oop goops old-define-method) (oop goops))
4235 ** Deprecated function: builtin-variable
4236 Removed function: builtin-bindings
4238 There is no longer a distinction between builtin or other variables.
4239 Use module system operations for all variables.
4241 ** Lazy-catch handlers are no longer allowed to return.
4243 That is, a call to `throw', `error', etc is now guaranteed to not
4246 ** Bugfixes for (ice-9 getopt-long)
4248 This module is now tested using test-suite/tests/getopt-long.test.
4249 The following bugs have been fixed:
4251 *** Parsing for options that are specified to have `optional' args now checks
4252 if the next element is an option instead of unconditionally taking it as the
4255 *** An error is now thrown for `--opt=val' when the option description
4256 does not specify `(value #t)' or `(value optional)'. This condition used to
4257 be accepted w/o error, contrary to the documentation.
4259 *** The error message for unrecognized options is now more informative.
4260 It used to be "not a record", an artifact of the implementation.
4262 *** The error message for `--opt' terminating the arg list (no value), when
4263 `(value #t)' is specified, is now more informative. It used to be "not enough
4266 *** "Clumped" single-char args now preserve trailing string, use it as arg.
4267 The expansion used to be like so:
4269 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "--xyz")
4271 Note that the "5d" is dropped. Now it is like so:
4273 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "5d" "--xyz")
4275 This enables single-char options to have adjoining arguments as long as their
4276 constituent characters are not potential single-char options.
4278 ** (ice-9 session) procedure `arity' now works with (ice-9 optargs) `lambda*'
4280 The `lambda*' and derivative forms in (ice-9 optargs) now set a procedure
4281 property `arglist', which can be retrieved by `arity'. The result is that
4282 `arity' can give more detailed information than before:
4286 guile> (use-modules (ice-9 optargs))
4287 guile> (define* (foo #:optional a b c) a)
4289 0 or more arguments in `lambda*:G0'.
4294 3 optional arguments: `a', `b' and `c'.
4295 guile> (define* (bar a b #:key c d #:allow-other-keys) a)
4297 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 2 keyword arguments: `c'
4298 and `d', other keywords allowed.
4299 guile> (define* (baz a b #:optional c #:rest r) a)
4301 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 1 optional argument: `c',
4304 * Changes to the C interface
4306 ** Types have been renamed from scm_*_t to scm_t_*.
4308 This has been done for POSIX sake. It reserves identifiers ending
4309 with "_t". What a concept.
4311 The old names are still available with status `deprecated'.
4313 ** scm_t_bits (former scm_bits_t) is now a unsigned type.
4315 ** Deprecated features have been removed.
4319 SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP SCM_ICHRP, SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR
4320 SCM_SETJMPBUF SCM_NSTRINGP SCM_NRWSTRINGP SCM_NVECTORP SCM_DOUBLE_CELLP
4322 *** C Functions removed
4324 scm_sysmissing scm_tag scm_tc16_flo scm_tc_flo
4325 scm_fseek - replaced by scm_seek.
4326 gc-thunk - replaced by after-gc-hook.
4327 gh_int2scmb - replaced by gh_bool2scm.
4328 scm_tc_dblr - replaced by scm_tc16_real.
4329 scm_tc_dblc - replaced by scm_tc16_complex.
4330 scm_list_star - replaced by scm_cons_star.
4332 ** Deprecated: scm_makfromstr
4334 Use scm_mem2string instead.
4336 ** Deprecated: scm_make_shared_substring
4338 Explicit shared substrings will disappear from Guile.
4340 Instead, "normal" strings will be implemented using sharing
4341 internally, combined with a copy-on-write strategy.
4343 ** Deprecated: scm_read_only_string_p
4345 The concept of read-only strings will disappear in next release of
4348 ** Deprecated: scm_sloppy_memq, scm_sloppy_memv, scm_sloppy_member
4350 Instead, use scm_c_memq or scm_memq, scm_memv, scm_member.
4352 ** New functions: scm_call_0, scm_call_1, scm_call_2, scm_call_3
4354 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments. See "Fly
4355 Evaluation" in the manual.
4357 ** New functions: scm_apply_0, scm_apply_1, scm_apply_2, scm_apply_3
4359 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments and a list of
4360 further arguments. See "Fly Evaluation" in the manual.
4362 ** New functions: scm_list_1, scm_list_2, scm_list_3, scm_list_4, scm_list_5
4364 Create a list of the given number of elements. See "List
4365 Constructors" in the manual.
4367 ** Renamed function: scm_listify has been replaced by scm_list_n.
4369 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_LIST0, SCM_LIST1, SCM_LIST2, SCM_LIST3, SCM_LIST4,
4370 SCM_LIST5, SCM_LIST6, SCM_LIST7, SCM_LIST8, SCM_LIST9.
4372 Use functions scm_list_N instead.
4374 ** New function: scm_c_read (SCM port, void *buffer, scm_sizet size)
4376 Used by an application to read arbitrary number of bytes from a port.
4377 Same semantics as libc read, except that scm_c_read only returns less
4378 than SIZE bytes if at end-of-file.
4380 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
4382 ** New function: scm_c_write (SCM port, const void *ptr, scm_sizet size)
4384 Used by an application to write arbitrary number of bytes to an SCM
4385 port. Similar semantics as libc write. However, unlike libc
4386 write, scm_c_write writes the requested number of bytes and has no
4389 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
4391 ** New function: scm_init_guile ()
4393 In contrast to scm_boot_guile, scm_init_guile will return normally
4394 after initializing Guile. It is not available on all systems, tho.
4396 ** New functions: scm_str2symbol, scm_mem2symbol
4398 The function scm_str2symbol takes a const char* pointing to a zero-terminated
4399 field of characters and creates a scheme symbol object from that C string.
4400 The function scm_mem2symbol takes a const char* and a number of characters and
4401 creates a symbol from the characters in that memory area.
4403 ** New functions: scm_primitive_make_property
4404 scm_primitive_property_ref
4405 scm_primitive_property_set_x
4406 scm_primitive_property_del_x
4408 These functions implement a new way to deal with object properties.
4409 See libguile/properties.c for their documentation.
4411 ** New function: scm_done_free (long size)
4413 This function is the inverse of scm_done_malloc. Use it to report the
4414 amount of smob memory you free. The previous method, which involved
4415 calling scm_done_malloc with negative argument, was somewhat
4416 unintuitive (and is still available, of course).
4418 ** New function: scm_c_memq (SCM obj, SCM list)
4420 This function provides a fast C level alternative for scm_memq for the case
4421 that the list parameter is known to be a proper list. The function is a
4422 replacement for scm_sloppy_memq, but is stricter in its requirements on its
4423 list input parameter, since for anything else but a proper list the function's
4424 behaviour is undefined - it may even crash or loop endlessly. Further, for
4425 the case that the object is not found in the list, scm_c_memq returns #f which
4426 is similar to scm_memq, but different from scm_sloppy_memq's behaviour.
4428 ** New functions: scm_remember_upto_here_1, scm_remember_upto_here_2,
4429 scm_remember_upto_here
4431 These functions replace the function scm_remember.
4433 ** Deprecated function: scm_remember
4435 Use one of the new functions scm_remember_upto_here_1,
4436 scm_remember_upto_here_2 or scm_remember_upto_here instead.
4438 ** New function: scm_allocate_string
4440 This function replaces the function scm_makstr.
4442 ** Deprecated function: scm_makstr
4444 Use the new function scm_allocate_string instead.
4446 ** New global variable scm_gc_running_p introduced.
4448 Use this variable to find out if garbage collection is being executed. Up to
4449 now applications have used scm_gc_heap_lock to test if garbage collection was
4450 running, which also works because of the fact that up to know only the garbage
4451 collector has set this variable. But, this is an implementation detail that
4452 may change. Further, scm_gc_heap_lock is not set throughout gc, thus the use
4453 of this variable is (and has been) not fully safe anyway.
4455 ** New macros: SCM_BITVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH
4457 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
4459 ** New macros: SCM_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_CCLO_LENGTH, SCM_STACK_LENGTH,
4460 SCM_STRING_LENGTH, SCM_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
4461 SCM_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_VECTOR_LENGTH.
4463 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH.
4465 ** New macros: SCM_SET_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_SET_STRING_LENGTH,
4466 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_SET_VECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
4467 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_LENGTH
4469 Use these instead of SCM_SETLENGTH
4471 ** New macros: SCM_STRING_CHARS, SCM_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_CCLO_BASE,
4472 SCM_VECTOR_BASE, SCM_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_BITVECTOR_BASE, SCM_COMPLEX_MEM,
4475 Use these instead of SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS, SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS or
4478 ** New macros: SCM_SET_BIGNUM_BASE, SCM_SET_STRING_CHARS,
4479 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_BASE,
4482 Use these instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
4484 ** New macro: SCM_BITVECTOR_P
4486 ** New macro: SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X
4488 Use instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
4490 ** New macros: SCM_DIR_OPEN_P, SCM_DIR_FLAG_OPEN
4492 For directory objects, use these instead of SCM_OPDIRP and SCM_OPN.
4494 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_OUTOFRANGE, SCM_NALLOC, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL,
4495 SCM_INT_SIGNAL, SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL,
4496 SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL, SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD,
4497 SCM_ORD_SIG, SCM_NUM_SIGS, SCM_SYMBOL_SLOTS, SCM_SLOTS, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP,
4498 SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_FREEP, SCM_NFREEP, SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS,
4499 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY,
4500 SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY, SCM_ROLENGTH, SCM_LENGTH, SCM_HUGE_LENGTH,
4501 SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR,
4502 SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_RWSTRINGP, SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, SCM_ROCHARS,
4503 SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_LENGTH_MAX, SCM_GC8MARKP,
4504 SCM_SETGC8MARK, SCM_CLRGC8MARK, SCM_GCTYP16, SCM_GCCDR, SCM_SUBR_DOC,
4505 SCM_OPDIRP, SCM_VALIDATE_OPDIR, SCM_WTA, RETURN_SCM_WTA, SCM_CONST_LONG,
4506 SCM_WNA, SCM_FUNC_NAME, SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_COPY,
4507 SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_DEF_COPY, SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP, SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP,
4508 SCM_SETAND_CDR, SCM_SETOR_CDR, SCM_SETAND_CAR, SCM_SETOR_CAR
4510 Use SCM_ASSERT_RANGE or SCM_VALIDATE_XXX_RANGE instead of SCM_OUTOFRANGE.
4511 Use scm_memory_error instead of SCM_NALLOC.
4512 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP.
4513 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR.
4514 Use SCM_FREE_CELL_P instead of SCM_FREEP/SCM_NFREEP
4515 Use a type specific accessor macro instead of SCM_CHARS/SCM_UCHARS.
4516 Use a type specific accessor instead of SCM(_|_RO|_HUGE_)LENGTH.
4517 Use SCM_VALIDATE_(SYMBOL|STRING) instead of SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING.
4518 Use SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
4519 Use SCM_STRINGP or SCM_SYMBOLP instead of SCM_ROSTRINGP.
4520 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_RWSTRINGP.
4521 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING.
4522 Use SCM_STRING_CHARS instead of SCM_ROCHARS.
4523 Use SCM_STRING_UCHARS instead of SCM_ROUCHARS.
4524 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETLENGTH.
4525 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
4526 Use a type specific length macro instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
4527 Use SCM_GCMARKP instead of SCM_GC8MARKP.
4528 Use SCM_SETGCMARK instead of SCM_SETGC8MARK.
4529 Use SCM_CLRGCMARK instead of SCM_CLRGC8MARK.
4530 Use SCM_TYP16 instead of SCM_GCTYP16.
4531 Use SCM_CDR instead of SCM_GCCDR.
4532 Use SCM_DIR_OPEN_P instead of SCM_OPDIRP.
4533 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of SCM_WTA.
4534 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of RETURN_SCM_WTA.
4535 Use SCM_VCELL_INIT instead of SCM_CONST_LONG.
4536 Use SCM_WRONG_NUM_ARGS instead of SCM_WNA.
4537 Use SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP.
4538 Use !SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP.
4540 ** Removed function: scm_struct_init
4542 ** Removed variable: scm_symhash_dim
4544 ** Renamed function: scm_make_cont has been replaced by
4545 scm_make_continuation, which has a different interface.
4547 ** Deprecated function: scm_call_catching_errors
4549 Use scm_catch or scm_lazy_catch from throw.[ch] instead.
4551 ** Deprecated function: scm_strhash
4553 Use scm_string_hash instead.
4555 ** Deprecated function: scm_vector_set_length_x
4557 Instead, create a fresh vector of the desired size and copy the contents.
4559 ** scm_gensym has changed prototype
4561 scm_gensym now only takes one argument.
4563 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc7_ssymbol, scm_tc7_msymbol, scm_tcs_symbols,
4566 There is now only a single symbol type scm_tc7_symbol.
4567 The tag scm_tc7_lvector was not used anyway.
4569 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe, scm_set_smob_mfpe.
4571 Use scm_make_smob_type and scm_set_smob_XXX instead.
4573 ** New function scm_set_smob_apply.
4575 This can be used to set an apply function to a smob type.
4577 ** Deprecated function: scm_strprint_obj
4579 Use scm_object_to_string instead.
4581 ** Deprecated function: scm_wta
4583 Use scm_wrong_type_arg, or another appropriate error signalling function
4586 ** Explicit support for obarrays has been deprecated.
4588 Use `scm_str2symbol' and the generic hashtable functions instead.
4590 ** The concept of `vcells' has been deprecated.
4592 The data type `variable' is now used exclusively. `Vcells' have been
4593 a low-level concept so you are likely not affected by this change.
4595 *** Deprecated functions: scm_sym2vcell, scm_sysintern,
4596 scm_sysintern0, scm_symbol_value0, scm_intern, scm_intern0.
4598 Use scm_c_define or scm_c_lookup instead, as appropriate.
4600 *** New functions: scm_c_module_lookup, scm_c_lookup,
4601 scm_c_module_define, scm_c_define, scm_module_lookup, scm_lookup,
4602 scm_module_define, scm_define.
4604 These functions work with variables instead of with vcells.
4606 ** New functions for creating and defining `subr's and `gsubr's.
4608 The new functions more clearly distinguish between creating a subr (or
4609 gsubr) object and adding it to the current module.
4611 These new functions are available: scm_c_make_subr, scm_c_define_subr,
4612 scm_c_make_subr_with_generic, scm_c_define_subr_with_generic,
4613 scm_c_make_gsubr, scm_c_define_gsubr, scm_c_make_gsubr_with_generic,
4614 scm_c_define_gsubr_with_generic.
4616 ** Deprecated functions: scm_make_subr, scm_make_subr_opt,
4617 scm_make_subr_with_generic, scm_make_gsubr,
4618 scm_make_gsubr_with_generic.
4620 Use the new ones from above instead.
4622 ** C interface to the module system has changed.
4624 While we suggest that you avoid as many explicit module system
4625 operations from C as possible for the time being, the C interface has
4626 been made more similar to the high-level Scheme module system.
4628 *** New functions: scm_c_define_module, scm_c_use_module,
4629 scm_c_export, scm_c_resolve_module.
4631 They mostly work like their Scheme namesakes. scm_c_define_module
4632 takes a function that is called a context where the new module is
4635 *** Deprecated functions: scm_the_root_module, scm_make_module,
4636 scm_ensure_user_module, scm_load_scheme_module.
4638 Use the new functions instead.
4640 ** Renamed function: scm_internal_with_fluids becomes
4643 scm_internal_with_fluids is available as a deprecated function.
4645 ** New function: scm_c_with_fluid.
4647 Just like scm_c_with_fluids, but takes one fluid and one value instead
4650 ** Deprecated typedefs: long_long, ulong_long.
4652 They are of questionable utility and they pollute the global
4655 ** Deprecated typedef: scm_sizet
4657 It is of questionable utility now that Guile requires ANSI C, and is
4660 ** Deprecated typedefs: scm_port_rw_active, scm_port,
4661 scm_ptob_descriptor, scm_debug_info, scm_debug_frame, scm_fport,
4662 scm_option, scm_rstate, scm_rng, scm_array, scm_array_dim.
4664 Made more compliant with the naming policy by adding a _t at the end.
4666 ** Deprecated functions: scm_mkbig, scm_big2num, scm_adjbig,
4667 scm_normbig, scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big, scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl
4669 With the exception of the mysterious scm_2ulong2big, they are still
4670 available under new names (scm_i_mkbig etc). These functions are not
4671 intended to be used in user code. You should avoid dealing with
4672 bignums directly, and should deal with numbers in general (which can
4675 ** Change in behavior: scm_num2long, scm_num2ulong
4677 The scm_num2[u]long functions don't any longer accept an inexact
4678 argument. This change in behavior is motivated by concordance with
4679 R5RS: It is more common that a primitive doesn't want to accept an
4680 inexact for an exact.
4682 ** New functions: scm_short2num, scm_ushort2num, scm_int2num,
4683 scm_uint2num, scm_size2num, scm_ptrdiff2num, scm_num2short,
4684 scm_num2ushort, scm_num2int, scm_num2uint, scm_num2ptrdiff,
4687 These are conversion functions between the various ANSI C integral
4688 types and Scheme numbers. NOTE: The scm_num2xxx functions don't
4689 accept an inexact argument.
4691 ** New functions: scm_float2num, scm_double2num,
4692 scm_num2float, scm_num2double.
4694 These are conversion functions between the two ANSI C float types and
4697 ** New number validation macros:
4698 SCM_NUM2{SIZE,PTRDIFF,SHORT,USHORT,INT,UINT}[_DEF]
4702 ** New functions: scm_gc_protect_object, scm_gc_unprotect_object
4704 These are just nicer-named old scm_protect_object and
4705 scm_unprotect_object.
4707 ** Deprecated functions: scm_protect_object, scm_unprotect_object
4709 ** New functions: scm_gc_[un]register_root, scm_gc_[un]register_roots
4711 These functions can be used to register pointers to locations that
4714 ** Deprecated function: scm_create_hook.
4716 Its sins are: misleading name, non-modularity and lack of general
4720 Changes since Guile 1.3.4:
4722 * Changes to the distribution
4724 ** Trees from nightly snapshots and CVS now require you to run autogen.sh.
4726 We've changed the way we handle generated files in the Guile source
4727 repository. As a result, the procedure for building trees obtained
4728 from the nightly FTP snapshots or via CVS has changed:
4729 - You must have appropriate versions of autoconf, automake, and
4730 libtool installed on your system. See README for info on how to
4731 obtain these programs.
4732 - Before configuring the tree, you must first run the script
4733 `autogen.sh' at the top of the source tree.
4735 The Guile repository used to contain not only source files, written by
4736 humans, but also some generated files, like configure scripts and
4737 Makefile.in files. Even though the contents of these files could be
4738 derived mechanically from other files present, we thought it would
4739 make the tree easier to build if we checked them into CVS.
4741 However, this approach means that minor differences between
4742 developer's installed tools and habits affected the whole team.
4743 So we have removed the generated files from the repository, and
4744 added the autogen.sh script, which will reconstruct them
4748 ** configure now has experimental options to remove support for certain
4751 --disable-arrays omit array and uniform array support
4752 --disable-posix omit posix interfaces
4753 --disable-networking omit networking interfaces
4754 --disable-regex omit regular expression interfaces
4756 These are likely to become separate modules some day.
4758 ** New configure option --enable-debug-freelist
4760 This enables a debugging version of SCM_NEWCELL(), and also registers
4761 an extra primitive, the setter `gc-set-debug-check-freelist!'.
4763 Configure with the --enable-debug-freelist option to enable
4764 the gc-set-debug-check-freelist! primitive, and then use:
4766 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #t) # turn on checking of the freelist
4767 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #f) # turn off checking
4769 Checking of the freelist forces a traversal of the freelist and
4770 a garbage collection before each allocation of a cell. This can
4771 slow down the interpreter dramatically, so the setter should be used to
4772 turn on this extra processing only when necessary.
4774 ** New configure option --enable-debug-malloc
4776 Include code for debugging of calls to scm_must_malloc/realloc/free.
4780 1. objects freed by scm_must_free has been mallocated by scm_must_malloc
4781 2. objects reallocated by scm_must_realloc has been allocated by
4783 3. reallocated objects are reallocated with the same what string
4785 But, most importantly, it records the number of allocated objects of
4786 each kind. This is useful when searching for memory leaks.
4788 A Guile compiled with this option provides the primitive
4789 `malloc-stats' which returns an alist with pairs of kind and the
4790 number of objects of that kind.
4792 ** All includes are now referenced relative to the root directory
4794 Since some users have had problems with mixups between Guile and
4795 system headers, we have decided to always refer to Guile headers via
4796 their parent directories. This essentially creates a "private name
4797 space" for Guile headers. This means that the compiler only is given
4798 -I options for the root build and root source directory.
4800 ** Header files kw.h and genio.h have been removed.
4802 ** The module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) has been removed.
4804 ** New module (ice-9 documentation)
4806 Implements the interface to documentation strings associated with
4809 ** New module (ice-9 time)
4811 Provides a macro `time', which displays execution time of a given form.
4813 ** New module (ice-9 history)
4815 Loading this module enables value history in the repl.
4817 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
4819 ** New command line option --debug
4821 Start Guile with debugging evaluator and backtraces enabled.
4823 This is useful when debugging your .guile init file or scripts.
4825 ** New help facility
4827 Usage: (help NAME) gives documentation about objects named NAME (a symbol)
4828 (help REGEXP) ditto for objects with names matching REGEXP (a string)
4829 (help 'NAME) gives documentation for NAME, even if it is not an object
4830 (help ,EXPR) gives documentation for object returned by EXPR
4831 (help (my module)) gives module commentary for `(my module)'
4832 (help) gives this text
4834 `help' searches among bindings exported from loaded modules, while
4835 `apropos' searches among bindings visible from the "current" module.
4837 Examples: (help help)
4839 (help "output-string")
4841 ** `help' and `apropos' now prints full module names
4843 ** Dynamic linking now uses libltdl from the libtool package.
4845 The old system dependent code for doing dynamic linking has been
4846 replaced with calls to the libltdl functions which do all the hairy
4849 The major improvement is that you can now directly pass libtool
4850 library names like "libfoo.la" to `dynamic-link' and `dynamic-link'
4851 will be able to do the best shared library job you can get, via
4854 The way dynamic libraries are found has changed and is not really
4855 portable across platforms, probably. It is therefore recommended to
4856 use absolute filenames when possible.
4858 If you pass a filename without an extension to `dynamic-link', it will
4859 try a few appropriate ones. Thus, the most platform ignorant way is
4860 to specify a name like "libfoo", without any directories and
4863 ** Guile COOP threads are now compatible with LinuxThreads
4865 Previously, COOP threading wasn't possible in applications linked with
4866 Linux POSIX threads due to their use of the stack pointer to find the
4867 thread context. This has now been fixed with a workaround which uses
4868 the pthreads to allocate the stack.
4870 ** New primitives: `pkgdata-dir', `site-dir', `library-dir'
4872 ** Positions of erring expression in scripts
4874 With version 1.3.4, the location of the erring expression in Guile
4875 scipts is no longer automatically reported. (This should have been
4876 documented before the 1.3.4 release.)
4878 You can get this information by enabling recording of positions of
4879 source expressions and running the debugging evaluator. Put this at
4880 the top of your script (or in your "site" file):
4882 (read-enable 'positions)
4883 (debug-enable 'debug)
4885 ** Backtraces in scripts
4887 It is now possible to get backtraces in scripts.
4891 (debug-enable 'debug 'backtrace)
4893 at the top of the script.
4895 (The first options enables the debugging evaluator.
4896 The second enables backtraces.)
4898 ** Part of module system symbol lookup now implemented in C
4900 The eval closure of most modules is now implemented in C. Since this
4901 was one of the bottlenecks for loading speed, Guile now loads code
4902 substantially faster than before.
4904 ** Attempting to get the value of an unbound variable now produces
4905 an exception with a key of 'unbound-variable instead of 'misc-error.
4907 ** The initial default output port is now unbuffered if it's using a
4908 tty device. Previously in this situation it was line-buffered.
4910 ** New hook: after-gc-hook
4912 after-gc-hook takes over the role of gc-thunk. This hook is run at
4913 the first SCM_TICK after a GC. (Thus, the code is run at the same
4914 point during evaluation as signal handlers.)
4916 Note that this hook should be used only for diagnostic and debugging
4917 purposes. It is not certain that it will continue to be well-defined
4918 when this hook is run in the future.
4920 C programmers: Note the new C level hooks scm_before_gc_c_hook,
4921 scm_before_sweep_c_hook, scm_after_gc_c_hook.
4923 ** Improvements to garbage collector
4925 Guile 1.4 has a new policy for triggering heap allocation and
4926 determining the sizes of heap segments. It fixes a number of problems
4929 1. The new policy can handle two separate pools of cells
4930 (2-word/4-word) better. (The old policy would run wild, allocating
4931 more and more memory for certain programs.)
4933 2. The old code would sometimes allocate far too much heap so that the
4934 Guile process became gigantic. The new code avoids this.
4936 3. The old code would sometimes allocate too little so that few cells
4937 were freed at GC so that, in turn, too much time was spent in GC.
4939 4. The old code would often trigger heap allocation several times in a
4940 row. (The new scheme predicts how large the segments needs to be
4941 in order not to need further allocation.)
4943 All in all, the new GC policy will make larger applications more
4946 The new GC scheme also is prepared for POSIX threading. Threads can
4947 allocate private pools of cells ("clusters") with just a single
4948 function call. Allocation of single cells from such a cluster can
4949 then proceed without any need of inter-thread synchronization.
4951 ** New environment variables controlling GC parameters
4953 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE Maximal segment size
4956 Allocation of 2-word cell heaps:
4958 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1 Size of initial heap segment in bytes
4961 GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1 Minimum number of freed cells at each
4962 GC in percent of total heap size
4965 Allocation of 4-word cell heaps
4966 (used for real numbers and misc other objects):
4968 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2
4970 (See entry "Way for application to customize GC parameters" under
4971 section "Changes to the scm_ interface" below.)
4973 ** Guile now implements reals using 4-word cells
4975 This speeds up computation with reals. (They were earlier allocated
4976 with `malloc'.) There is still some room for optimizations, however.
4978 ** Some further steps toward POSIX thread support have been taken
4980 *** Guile's critical sections (SCM_DEFER/ALLOW_INTS)
4981 don't have much effect any longer, and many of them will be removed in
4985 are only handled at the top of the evaluator loop, immediately after
4986 I/O, and in scm_equalp.
4988 *** The GC can allocate thread private pools of pairs.
4990 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
4992 ** close-input-port and close-output-port are now R5RS
4994 These procedures have been turned into primitives and have R5RS behaviour.
4996 ** New procedure: simple-format PORT MESSAGE ARG1 ...
4998 (ice-9 boot) makes `format' an alias for `simple-format' until possibly
4999 extended by the more sophisticated version in (ice-9 format)
5001 (simple-format port message . args)
5002 Write MESSAGE to DESTINATION, defaulting to `current-output-port'.
5003 MESSAGE can contain ~A (was %s) and ~S (was %S) escapes. When printed,
5004 the escapes are replaced with corresponding members of ARGS:
5005 ~A formats using `display' and ~S formats using `write'.
5006 If DESTINATION is #t, then use the `current-output-port',
5007 if DESTINATION is #f, then return a string containing the formatted text.
5008 Does not add a trailing newline."
5010 ** string-ref: the second argument is no longer optional.
5012 ** string, list->string: no longer accept strings in their arguments,
5013 only characters, for compatibility with R5RS.
5015 ** New procedure: port-closed? PORT
5016 Returns #t if PORT is closed or #f if it is open.
5018 ** Deprecated: list*
5020 The list* functionality is now provided by cons* (SRFI-1 compliant)
5022 ** New procedure: cons* ARG1 ARG2 ... ARGn
5024 Like `list', but the last arg provides the tail of the constructed list,
5025 returning (cons ARG1 (cons ARG2 (cons ... ARGn))).
5027 Requires at least one argument. If given one argument, that argument
5028 is returned as result.
5030 This function is called `list*' in some other Schemes and in Common LISP.
5032 ** Removed deprecated: serial-map, serial-array-copy!, serial-array-map!
5034 ** New procedure: object-documentation OBJECT
5036 Returns the documentation string associated with OBJECT. The
5037 procedure uses a caching mechanism so that subsequent lookups are
5040 Exported by (ice-9 documentation).
5042 ** module-name now returns full names of modules
5044 Previously, only the last part of the name was returned (`session' for
5045 `(ice-9 session)'). Ex: `(ice-9 session)'.
5047 * Changes to the gh_ interface
5049 ** Deprecated: gh_int2scmb
5051 Use gh_bool2scm instead.
5053 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5055 ** Guile primitives now carry docstrings!
5057 Thanks to Greg Badros!
5059 ** Guile primitives are defined in a new way: SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
5061 Now Guile primitives are defined using the SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
5062 macros and must contain a docstring that is extracted into foo.doc using a new
5063 guile-doc-snarf script (that uses guile-doc-snarf.awk).
5065 However, a major overhaul of these macros is scheduled for the next release of
5068 ** Guile primitives use a new technique for validation of arguments
5070 SCM_VALIDATE_* macros are defined to ease the redundancy and improve
5071 the readability of argument checking.
5073 ** All (nearly?) K&R prototypes for functions replaced with ANSI C equivalents.
5075 ** New macros: SCM_PACK, SCM_UNPACK
5077 Compose/decompose an SCM value.
5079 The SCM type is now treated as an abstract data type and may be defined as a
5080 long, a void* or as a struct, depending on the architecture and compile time
5081 options. This makes it easier to find several types of bugs, for example when
5082 SCM values are treated as integers without conversion. Values of the SCM type
5083 should be treated as "atomic" values. These macros are used when
5084 composing/decomposing an SCM value, either because you want to access
5085 individual bits, or because you want to treat it as an integer value.
5087 E.g., in order to set bit 7 in an SCM value x, use the expression
5089 SCM_PACK (SCM_UNPACK (x) | 0x80)
5091 ** The name property of hooks is deprecated.
5092 Thus, the use of SCM_HOOK_NAME and scm_make_hook_with_name is deprecated.
5094 You can emulate this feature by using object properties.
5096 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP, SCM_CRDY, SCM_ICHRP,
5097 SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR, SCM_SETJMPBUF, SCM_NSTRINGP, SCM_NRWSTRINGP,
5100 These macros will be removed in a future release of Guile.
5102 ** The following types, functions and macros from numbers.h are deprecated:
5103 scm_dblproc, SCM_UNEGFIXABLE, SCM_FLOBUFLEN, SCM_INEXP, SCM_CPLXP, SCM_REAL,
5104 SCM_IMAG, SCM_REALPART, scm_makdbl, SCM_SINGP, SCM_NUM2DBL, SCM_NO_BIGDIG
5106 ** Port internals: the rw_random variable in the scm_port structure
5107 must be set to non-zero in any random access port. In recent Guile
5108 releases it was only set for bidirectional random-access ports.
5110 ** Port internals: the seek ptob procedure is now responsible for
5111 resetting the buffers if required. The change was made so that in the
5112 special case of reading the current position (i.e., seek p 0 SEEK_CUR)
5113 the fport and strport ptobs can avoid resetting the buffers,
5114 in particular to avoid discarding unread chars. An existing port
5115 type can be fixed by adding something like the following to the
5116 beginning of the ptob seek procedure:
5118 if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_READ)
5119 scm_end_input (object);
5120 else if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_WRITE)
5121 ptob->flush (object);
5123 although to actually avoid resetting the buffers and discard unread
5124 chars requires further hacking that depends on the characteristics
5127 ** Deprecated functions: scm_fseek, scm_tag
5129 These functions are no longer used and will be removed in a future version.
5131 ** The scm_sysmissing procedure is no longer used in libguile.
5132 Unless it turns out to be unexpectedly useful to somebody, it will be
5133 removed in a future version.
5135 ** The format of error message strings has changed
5137 The two C procedures: scm_display_error and scm_error, as well as the
5138 primitive `scm-error', now use scm_simple_format to do their work.
5139 This means that the message strings of all code must be updated to use
5140 ~A where %s was used before, and ~S where %S was used before.
5142 During the period when there still are a lot of old Guiles out there,
5143 you might want to support both old and new versions of Guile.
5145 There are basically two methods to achieve this. Both methods use
5148 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(scm_simple_format)
5150 in your configure.in.
5152 Method 1: Use the string concatenation features of ANSI C's
5157 #ifdef HAVE_SCM_SIMPLE_FORMAT
5163 Then represent each of your error messages using a preprocessor macro:
5165 #define E_SPIDER_ERROR "There's a spider in your " ## FMT_S ## "!!!"
5169 (define fmt-s (if (defined? 'simple-format) "~S" "%S"))
5170 (define make-message string-append)
5172 (define e-spider-error (make-message "There's a spider in your " fmt-s "!!!"))
5174 Method 2: Use the oldfmt function found in doc/oldfmt.c.
5178 scm_misc_error ("picnic", scm_c_oldfmt0 ("There's a spider in your ~S!!!"),
5183 (scm-error 'misc-error "picnic" (oldfmt "There's a spider in your ~S!!!")
5187 ** Deprecated: coop_mutex_init, coop_condition_variable_init
5189 Don't use the functions coop_mutex_init and
5190 coop_condition_variable_init. They will change.
5192 Use scm_mutex_init and scm_cond_init instead.
5194 ** New function: int scm_cond_timedwait (scm_cond_t *COND, scm_mutex_t *MUTEX, const struct timespec *ABSTIME)
5195 `scm_cond_timedwait' atomically unlocks MUTEX and waits on
5196 COND, as `scm_cond_wait' does, but it also bounds the duration
5197 of the wait. If COND has not been signaled before time ABSTIME,
5198 the mutex MUTEX is re-acquired and `scm_cond_timedwait'
5199 returns the error code `ETIMEDOUT'.
5201 The ABSTIME parameter specifies an absolute time, with the same
5202 origin as `time' and `gettimeofday': an ABSTIME of 0 corresponds
5203 to 00:00:00 GMT, January 1, 1970.
5205 ** New function: scm_cond_broadcast (scm_cond_t *COND)
5206 `scm_cond_broadcast' restarts all the threads that are waiting
5207 on the condition variable COND. Nothing happens if no threads are
5210 ** New function: scm_key_create (scm_key_t *KEY, void (*destr_function) (void *))
5211 `scm_key_create' allocates a new TSD key. The key is stored in
5212 the location pointed to by KEY. There is no limit on the number
5213 of keys allocated at a given time. The value initially associated
5214 with the returned key is `NULL' in all currently executing threads.
5216 The DESTR_FUNCTION argument, if not `NULL', specifies a destructor
5217 function associated with the key. When a thread terminates,
5218 DESTR_FUNCTION is called on the value associated with the key in
5219 that thread. The DESTR_FUNCTION is not called if a key is deleted
5220 with `scm_key_delete' or a value is changed with
5221 `scm_setspecific'. The order in which destructor functions are
5222 called at thread termination time is unspecified.
5224 Destructors are not yet implemented.
5226 ** New function: scm_setspecific (scm_key_t KEY, const void *POINTER)
5227 `scm_setspecific' changes the value associated with KEY in the
5228 calling thread, storing the given POINTER instead.
5230 ** New function: scm_getspecific (scm_key_t KEY)
5231 `scm_getspecific' returns the value currently associated with
5232 KEY in the calling thread.
5234 ** New function: scm_key_delete (scm_key_t KEY)
5235 `scm_key_delete' deallocates a TSD key. It does not check
5236 whether non-`NULL' values are associated with that key in the
5237 currently executing threads, nor call the destructor function
5238 associated with the key.
5240 ** New function: scm_c_hook_init (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *HOOK_DATA, scm_c_hook_type_t TYPE)
5242 Initialize a C level hook HOOK with associated HOOK_DATA and type
5243 TYPE. (See scm_c_hook_run ().)
5245 ** New function: scm_c_hook_add (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA, int APPENDP)
5247 Add hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA to HOOK. If APPENDP
5248 is true, add it last, otherwise first. The same FUNC can be added
5249 multiple times if FUNC_DATA differ and vice versa.
5251 ** New function: scm_c_hook_remove (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA)
5253 Remove hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA from HOOK. A
5254 function is only removed if both FUNC and FUNC_DATA matches.
5256 ** New function: void *scm_c_hook_run (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *DATA)
5258 Run hook HOOK passing DATA to the hook functions.
5260 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_NORMAL, all hook functions are run. The value
5261 returned is undefined.
5263 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_OR, hook functions are run until a function
5264 returns a non-NULL value. This value is returned as the result of
5265 scm_c_hook_run. If all functions return NULL, NULL is returned.
5267 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_AND, hook functions are run until a function
5268 returns a NULL value, and NULL is returned. If all functions returns
5269 a non-NULL value, the last value is returned.
5271 ** New C level GC hooks
5273 Five new C level hooks has been added to the garbage collector.
5275 scm_before_gc_c_hook
5278 are run before locking and after unlocking the heap. The system is
5279 thus in a mode where evaluation can take place. (Except that
5280 scm_before_gc_c_hook must not allocate new cells.)
5282 scm_before_mark_c_hook
5283 scm_before_sweep_c_hook
5284 scm_after_sweep_c_hook
5286 are run when the heap is locked. These are intended for extension of
5287 the GC in a modular fashion. Examples are the weaks and guardians
5290 ** Way for application to customize GC parameters
5292 The application can set up other default values for the GC heap
5293 allocation parameters
5295 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_1, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1,
5296 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2,
5297 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE,
5301 scm_default_init_heap_size_1, scm_default_min_yield_1,
5302 scm_default_init_heap_size_2, scm_default_min_yield_2,
5303 scm_default_max_segment_size
5305 respectively before callong scm_boot_guile.
5307 (See entry "New environment variables ..." in section
5308 "Changes to the stand-alone interpreter" above.)
5310 ** scm_protect_object/scm_unprotect_object now nest
5312 This means that you can call scm_protect_object multiple times on an
5313 object and count on the object being protected until
5314 scm_unprotect_object has been call the same number of times.
5316 The functions also have better time complexity.
5318 Still, it is usually possible to structure the application in a way
5319 that you don't need to use these functions. For example, if you use a
5320 protected standard Guile list to keep track of live objects rather
5321 than some custom data type, objects will die a natural death when they
5322 are no longer needed.
5324 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc16_flo, scm_tc_flo, scm_tc_dblr, scm_tc_dblc
5326 Guile does not provide the float representation for inexact real numbers any
5327 more. Now, only doubles are used to represent inexact real numbers. Further,
5328 the tag names scm_tc_dblr and scm_tc_dblc have been changed to scm_tc16_real
5329 and scm_tc16_complex, respectively.
5331 ** Removed deprecated type scm_smobfuns
5333 ** Removed deprecated function scm_newsmob
5335 ** Warning: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe might become deprecated in a future release
5337 There is an ongoing discussion among the developers whether to
5338 deprecate `scm_make_smob_type_mfpe' or not. Please use the current
5339 standard interface (scm_make_smob_type, scm_set_smob_XXX) in new code
5340 until this issue has been settled.
5342 ** Removed deprecated type tag scm_tc16_kw
5344 ** Added type tag scm_tc16_keyword
5346 (This was introduced already in release 1.3.4 but was not documented
5349 ** gdb_print now prints "*** Guile not initialized ***" until Guile initialized
5351 * Changes to system call interfaces:
5353 ** The "select" procedure now tests port buffers for the ability to
5354 provide input or accept output. Previously only the underlying file
5355 descriptors were checked.
5357 ** New variable PIPE_BUF: the maximum number of bytes that can be
5358 atomically written to a pipe.
5360 ** If a facility is not available on the system when Guile is
5361 compiled, the corresponding primitive procedure will not be defined.
5362 Previously it would have been defined but would throw a system-error
5363 exception if called. Exception handlers which catch this case may
5364 need minor modification: an error will be thrown with key
5365 'unbound-variable instead of 'system-error. Alternatively it's
5366 now possible to use `defined?' to check whether the facility is
5369 ** Procedures which depend on the timezone should now give the correct
5370 result on systems which cache the TZ environment variable, even if TZ
5371 is changed without calling tzset.
5373 * Changes to the networking interfaces:
5375 ** New functions: htons, ntohs, htonl, ntohl: for converting short and
5376 long integers between network and host format. For now, it's not
5377 particularly convenient to do this kind of thing, but consider:
5379 (define write-network-long
5380 (lambda (value port)
5381 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
5382 (uniform-vector-set! v 0 (htonl value))
5383 (uniform-vector-write v port))))
5385 (define read-network-long
5387 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
5388 (uniform-vector-read! v port)
5389 (ntohl (uniform-vector-ref v 0)))))
5391 ** If inet-aton fails, it now throws an error with key 'misc-error
5392 instead of 'system-error, since errno is not relevant.
5394 ** Certain gethostbyname/gethostbyaddr failures now throw errors with
5395 specific keys instead of 'system-error. The latter is inappropriate
5396 since errno will not have been set. The keys are:
5397 'host-not-found, 'try-again, 'no-recovery and 'no-data.
5399 ** sethostent, setnetent, setprotoent, setservent: now take an
5400 optional argument STAYOPEN, which specifies whether the database
5401 remains open after a database entry is accessed randomly (e.g., using
5402 gethostbyname for the hosts database.) The default is #f. Previously
5406 Changes since Guile 1.3.2:
5408 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
5412 An initial version of the Guile debugger written by Chris Hanson has
5413 been added. The debugger is still under development but is included
5414 in the distribution anyway since it is already quite useful.
5420 after an error to enter the debugger. Type `help' inside the debugger
5421 for a description of available commands.
5423 If you prefer to have stack frames numbered and printed in
5424 anti-chronological order and prefer up in the stack to be down on the
5425 screen as is the case in gdb, you can put
5427 (debug-enable 'backwards)
5429 in your .guile startup file. (However, this means that Guile can't
5430 use indentation to indicate stack level.)
5432 The debugger is autoloaded into Guile at the first use.
5434 ** Further enhancements to backtraces
5436 There is a new debug option `width' which controls the maximum width
5437 on the screen of printed stack frames. Fancy printing parameters
5438 ("level" and "length" as in Common LISP) are adaptively adjusted for
5439 each stack frame to give maximum information while still fitting
5440 within the bounds. If the stack frame can't be made to fit by
5441 adjusting parameters, it is simply cut off at the end. This is marked
5444 ** Some modules are now only loaded when the repl is started
5446 The modules (ice-9 debug), (ice-9 session), (ice-9 threads) and (ice-9
5447 regex) are now loaded into (guile-user) only if the repl has been
5448 started. The effect is that the startup time for scripts has been
5449 reduced to 30% of what it was previously.
5451 Correctly written scripts load the modules they require at the top of
5452 the file and should not be affected by this change.
5454 ** Hooks are now represented as smobs
5456 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
5458 ** Readline support has changed again.
5460 The old (readline-activator) module is gone. Use (ice-9 readline)
5461 instead, which now contains all readline functionality. So the code
5462 to activate readline is now
5464 (use-modules (ice-9 readline))
5467 This should work at any time, including from the guile prompt.
5469 To avoid confusion about the terms of Guile's license, please only
5470 enable readline for your personal use; please don't make it the
5471 default for others. Here is why we make this rather odd-sounding
5474 Guile is normally licensed under a weakened form of the GNU General
5475 Public License, which allows you to link code with Guile without
5476 placing that code under the GPL. This exception is important to some
5479 However, since readline is distributed under the GNU General Public
5480 License, when you link Guile with readline, either statically or
5481 dynamically, you effectively change Guile's license to the strict GPL.
5482 Whenever you link any strictly GPL'd code into Guile, uses of Guile
5483 which are normally permitted become forbidden. This is a rather
5484 non-obvious consequence of the licensing terms.
5486 So, to make sure things remain clear, please let people choose for
5487 themselves whether to link GPL'd libraries like readline with Guile.
5489 ** regexp-substitute/global has changed slightly, but incompatibly.
5491 If you include a function in the item list, the string of the match
5492 object it receives is the same string passed to
5493 regexp-substitute/global, not some suffix of that string.
5494 Correspondingly, the match's positions are relative to the entire
5495 string, not the suffix.
5497 If the regexp can match the empty string, the way matches are chosen
5498 from the string has changed. regexp-substitute/global recognizes the
5499 same set of matches that list-matches does; see below.
5501 ** New function: list-matches REGEXP STRING [FLAGS]
5503 Return a list of match objects, one for every non-overlapping, maximal
5504 match of REGEXP in STRING. The matches appear in left-to-right order.
5505 list-matches only reports matches of the empty string if there are no
5506 other matches which begin on, end at, or include the empty match's
5509 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
5511 ** New function: fold-matches REGEXP STRING INIT PROC [FLAGS]
5513 For each match of REGEXP in STRING, apply PROC to the match object,
5514 and the last value PROC returned, or INIT for the first call. Return
5515 the last value returned by PROC. We apply PROC to the matches as they
5516 appear from left to right.
5518 This function recognizes matches according to the same criteria as
5521 Thus, you could define list-matches like this:
5523 (define (list-matches regexp string . flags)
5524 (reverse! (apply fold-matches regexp string '() cons flags)))
5526 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
5530 *** New function: hook? OBJ
5532 Return #t if OBJ is a hook, otherwise #f.
5534 *** New function: make-hook-with-name NAME [ARITY]
5536 Return a hook with name NAME and arity ARITY. The default value for
5537 ARITY is 0. The only effect of NAME is that it will appear when the
5538 hook object is printed to ease debugging.
5540 *** New function: hook-empty? HOOK
5542 Return #t if HOOK doesn't contain any procedures, otherwise #f.
5544 *** New function: hook->list HOOK
5546 Return a list of the procedures that are called when run-hook is
5549 ** `map' signals an error if its argument lists are not all the same length.
5551 This is the behavior required by R5RS, so this change is really a bug
5552 fix. But it seems to affect a lot of people's code, so we're
5553 mentioning it here anyway.
5555 ** Print-state handling has been made more transparent
5557 Under certain circumstances, ports are represented as a port with an
5558 associated print state. Earlier, this pair was represented as a pair
5559 (see "Some magic has been added to the printer" below). It is now
5560 indistinguishable (almost; see `get-print-state') from a port on the
5563 *** New function: port-with-print-state OUTPUT-PORT PRINT-STATE
5565 Return a new port with the associated print state PRINT-STATE.
5567 *** New function: get-print-state OUTPUT-PORT
5569 Return the print state associated with this port if it exists,
5570 otherwise return #f.
5572 *** New function: directory-stream? OBJECT
5574 Returns true iff OBJECT is a directory stream --- the sort of object
5575 returned by `opendir'.
5577 ** New function: using-readline?
5579 Return #t if readline is in use in the current repl.
5581 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
5583 Structs will be replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into Guile
5584 and use GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
5586 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5588 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
5590 The entire current struct interface (struct.c, struct.h) will be
5591 replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into libguile and use
5592 GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
5594 ** The internal representation of subr's has changed
5596 Instead of giving a hint to the subr name, the CAR field of the subr
5597 now contains an index to a subr entry in scm_subr_table.
5599 *** New variable: scm_subr_table
5601 An array of subr entries. A subr entry contains the name, properties
5602 and documentation associated with the subr. The properties and
5603 documentation slots are not yet used.
5605 ** A new scheme for "forwarding" calls to a builtin to a generic function
5607 It is now possible to extend the functionality of some Guile
5608 primitives by letting them defer a call to a GOOPS generic function on
5609 argument mismatch. This means that there is no loss of efficiency in
5614 (use-modules (oop goops)) ; Must be GOOPS version 0.2.
5615 (define-method + ((x <string>) (y <string>))
5616 (string-append x y))
5618 + will still be as efficient as usual in numerical calculations, but
5619 can also be used for concatenating strings.
5621 Who will be the first one to extend Guile's numerical tower to
5622 rationals? :) [OK, there a few other things to fix before this can
5623 be made in a clean way.]
5625 *** New snarf macros for defining primitives: SCM_GPROC, SCM_GPROC1
5627 New macro: SCM_GPROC (CNAME, SNAME, REQ, OPT, VAR, CFUNC, GENERIC)
5629 New macro: SCM_GPROC1 (CNAME, SNAME, TYPE, CFUNC, GENERIC)
5631 These do the same job as SCM_PROC and SCM_PROC1, but they also define
5632 a variable GENERIC which can be used by the dispatch macros below.
5634 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
5636 *** New macros for forwarding control to a generic on arg type error
5638 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_1 (GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
5640 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
5642 These correspond to the scm_wta function call, and have the same
5643 behaviour until the user has called the GOOPS primitive
5644 `enable-primitive-generic!'. After that, these macros will apply the
5645 generic function GENERIC to the argument(s) instead of calling
5648 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
5650 *** New macros for argument testing with generic dispatch
5652 New macro: SCM_GASSERT1 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
5654 New macro: SCM_GASSERT2 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
5656 These correspond to the SCM_ASSERT macro, but will defer control to
5657 GENERIC on error after `enable-primitive-generic!' has been called.
5659 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
5661 ** New function: SCM scm_eval_body (SCM body, SCM env)
5663 Evaluates the body of a special form.
5665 ** The internal representation of struct's has changed
5667 Previously, four slots were allocated for the procedure(s) of entities
5668 and operators. The motivation for this representation had to do with
5669 the structure of the evaluator, the wish to support tail-recursive
5670 generic functions, and efficiency. Since the generic function
5671 dispatch mechanism has changed, there is no longer a need for such an
5672 expensive representation, and the representation has been simplified.
5674 This should not make any difference for most users.
5676 ** GOOPS support has been cleaned up.
5678 Some code has been moved from eval.c to objects.c and code in both of
5679 these compilation units has been cleaned up and better structured.
5681 *** New functions for applying generic functions
5683 New function: SCM scm_apply_generic (GENERIC, ARGS)
5684 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_0 (GENERIC)
5685 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_1 (GENERIC, ARG1)
5686 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2)
5687 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_3 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, ARG3)
5689 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_named_hook
5691 It is now replaced by:
5693 ** New function: SCM scm_create_hook (const char *name, int arity)
5695 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
5696 binds a variable named NAME to it.
5698 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
5700 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module.
5701 This might change when we get the new module system.
5703 [The behaviour is identical to scm_make_named_hook.]
5707 Changes since Guile 1.3:
5709 * Changes to mailing lists
5711 ** Some of the Guile mailing lists have moved to sourceware.cygnus.com.
5713 See the README file to find current addresses for all the Guile
5716 * Changes to the distribution
5718 ** Readline support is no longer included with Guile by default.
5720 Based on the different license terms of Guile and Readline, we
5721 concluded that Guile should not *by default* cause the linking of
5722 Readline into an application program. Readline support is now offered
5723 as a separate module, which is linked into an application only when
5724 you explicitly specify it.
5726 Although Guile is GNU software, its distribution terms add a special
5727 exception to the usual GNU General Public License (GPL). Guile's
5728 license includes a clause that allows you to link Guile with non-free
5729 programs. We add this exception so as not to put Guile at a
5730 disadvantage vis-a-vis other extensibility packages that support other
5733 In contrast, the GNU Readline library is distributed under the GNU
5734 General Public License pure and simple. This means that you may not
5735 link Readline, even dynamically, into an application unless it is
5736 distributed under a free software license that is compatible the GPL.
5738 Because of this difference in distribution terms, an application that
5739 can use Guile may not be able to use Readline. Now users will be
5740 explicitly offered two independent decisions about the use of these
5743 You can activate the readline support by issuing
5745 (use-modules (readline-activator))
5748 from your ".guile" file, for example.
5750 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
5752 ** All builtins now print as primitives.
5753 Previously builtin procedures not belonging to the fundamental subr
5754 types printed as #<compiled closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>.
5755 Now, they print as #<primitive-procedure NAME>.
5757 ** Backtraces slightly more intelligible.
5758 gsubr-apply and macro transformer application frames no longer appear
5761 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
5763 ** Guile now correctly handles internal defines by rewriting them into
5764 their equivalent letrec. Previously, internal defines would
5765 incrementally add to the innermost environment, without checking
5766 whether the restrictions specified in RnRS were met. This lead to the
5767 correct behaviour when these restriction actually were met, but didn't
5768 catch all illegal uses. Such an illegal use could lead to crashes of
5769 the Guile interpreter or or other unwanted results. An example of
5770 incorrect internal defines that made Guile behave erratically:
5782 The problem with this example is that the definition of `c' uses the
5783 value of `b' directly. This confuses the meoization machine of Guile
5784 so that the second call of `b' (this time in a larger environment that
5785 also contains bindings for `c' and `d') refers to the binding of `c'
5786 instead of `a'. You could also make Guile crash with a variation on
5791 (define (b flag) (if flag a 1))
5792 (define c (1+ (b flag)))
5800 From now on, Guile will issue an `Unbound variable: b' error message
5805 A hook contains a list of functions which should be called on
5806 particular occasions in an existing program. Hooks are used for
5809 A window manager might have a hook before-window-map-hook. The window
5810 manager uses the function run-hooks to call all functions stored in
5811 before-window-map-hook each time a window is mapped. The user can
5812 store functions in the hook using add-hook!.
5814 In Guile, hooks are first class objects.
5816 *** New function: make-hook [N_ARGS]
5818 Return a hook for hook functions which can take N_ARGS arguments.
5819 The default value for N_ARGS is 0.
5821 (See also scm_make_named_hook below.)
5823 *** New function: add-hook! HOOK PROC [APPEND_P]
5825 Put PROC at the beginning of the list of functions stored in HOOK.
5826 If APPEND_P is supplied, and non-false, put PROC at the end instead.
5828 PROC must be able to take the number of arguments specified when the
5831 If PROC already exists in HOOK, then remove it first.
5833 *** New function: remove-hook! HOOK PROC
5835 Remove PROC from the list of functions in HOOK.
5837 *** New function: reset-hook! HOOK
5839 Clear the list of hook functions stored in HOOK.
5841 *** New function: run-hook HOOK ARG1 ...
5843 Run all hook functions stored in HOOK with arguments ARG1 ... .
5844 The number of arguments supplied must correspond to the number given
5845 when the hook was created.
5847 ** The function `dynamic-link' now takes optional keyword arguments.
5848 The only keyword argument that is currently defined is `:global
5849 BOOL'. With it, you can control whether the shared library will be
5850 linked in global mode or not. In global mode, the symbols from the
5851 linked library can be used to resolve references from other
5852 dynamically linked libraries. In non-global mode, the linked
5853 library is essentially invisible and can only be accessed via
5854 `dynamic-func', etc. The default is now to link in global mode.
5855 Previously, the default has been non-global mode.
5857 The `#:global' keyword is only effective on platforms that support
5858 the dlopen family of functions.
5860 ** New function `provided?'
5862 - Function: provided? FEATURE
5863 Return true iff FEATURE is supported by this installation of
5864 Guile. FEATURE must be a symbol naming a feature; the global
5865 variable `*features*' is a list of available features.
5867 ** Changes to the module (ice-9 expect):
5869 *** The expect-strings macro now matches `$' in a regular expression
5870 only at a line-break or end-of-file by default. Previously it would
5871 match the end of the string accumulated so far. The old behaviour
5872 can be obtained by setting the variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
5875 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
5876 for the regexp-exec flags. If `regexp/noteol' is included, then `$'
5877 in a regular expression will still match before a line-break or
5878 end-of-file. The default is `regexp/noteol'.
5880 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable
5881 `expect-strings-compile-flags' for the flags to be supplied to
5882 `make-regexp'. The default is `regexp/newline', which was previously
5885 *** The expect macro now supplies two arguments to a match procedure:
5886 the current accumulated string and a flag to indicate whether
5887 end-of-file has been reached. Previously only the string was supplied.
5888 If end-of-file is reached, the match procedure will be called an
5889 additional time with the same accumulated string as the previous call
5890 but with the flag set.
5892 ** New module (ice-9 format), implementing the Common Lisp `format' function.
5894 This code, and the documentation for it that appears here, was
5895 borrowed from SLIB, with minor adaptations for Guile.
5897 - Function: format DESTINATION FORMAT-STRING . ARGUMENTS
5898 An almost complete implementation of Common LISP format description
5899 according to the CL reference book `Common LISP' from Guy L.
5900 Steele, Digital Press. Backward compatible to most of the
5901 available Scheme format implementations.
5903 Returns `#t', `#f' or a string; has side effect of printing
5904 according to FORMAT-STRING. If DESTINATION is `#t', the output is
5905 to the current output port and `#t' is returned. If DESTINATION
5906 is `#f', a formatted string is returned as the result of the call.
5907 NEW: If DESTINATION is a string, DESTINATION is regarded as the
5908 format string; FORMAT-STRING is then the first argument and the
5909 output is returned as a string. If DESTINATION is a number, the
5910 output is to the current error port if available by the
5911 implementation. Otherwise DESTINATION must be an output port and
5914 FORMAT-STRING must be a string. In case of a formatting error
5915 format returns `#f' and prints a message on the current output or
5916 error port. Characters are output as if the string were output by
5917 the `display' function with the exception of those prefixed by a
5918 tilde (~). For a detailed description of the FORMAT-STRING syntax
5919 please consult a Common LISP format reference manual. For a test
5920 suite to verify this format implementation load `formatst.scm'.
5921 Please send bug reports to `lutzeb@cs.tu-berlin.de'.
5923 Note: `format' is not reentrant, i.e. only one `format'-call may
5924 be executed at a time.
5927 *** Format Specification (Format version 3.0)
5929 Please consult a Common LISP format reference manual for a detailed
5930 description of the format string syntax. For a demonstration of the
5931 implemented directives see `formatst.scm'.
5933 This implementation supports directive parameters and modifiers (`:'
5934 and `@' characters). Multiple parameters must be separated by a comma
5935 (`,'). Parameters can be numerical parameters (positive or negative),
5936 character parameters (prefixed by a quote character (`''), variable
5937 parameters (`v'), number of rest arguments parameter (`#'), empty and
5938 default parameters. Directive characters are case independent. The
5939 general form of a directive is:
5941 DIRECTIVE ::= ~{DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER,}[:][@]DIRECTIVE-CHARACTER
5943 DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER ::= [ [-|+]{0-9}+ | 'CHARACTER | v | # ]
5945 *** Implemented CL Format Control Directives
5947 Documentation syntax: Uppercase characters represent the
5948 corresponding control directive characters. Lowercase characters
5949 represent control directive parameter descriptions.
5952 Any (print as `display' does).
5956 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARA'
5960 S-expression (print as `write' does).
5964 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARS'
5970 print number sign always.
5973 print comma separated.
5975 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARD'
5981 print number sign always.
5984 print comma separated.
5986 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARX'
5992 print number sign always.
5995 print comma separated.
5997 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARO'
6003 print number sign always.
6006 print comma separated.
6008 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARB'
6013 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARR'
6017 print a number as a Roman numeral.
6020 print a number as an "old fashioned" Roman numeral.
6023 print a number as an ordinal English number.
6026 print a number as a cardinal English number.
6031 prints `y' and `ies'.
6034 as `~P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
6037 as `~@P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
6042 prints a character as the reader can understand it (i.e. `#\'
6046 prints a character as emacs does (eg. `^C' for ASCII 03).
6049 Fixed-format floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN).
6050 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHARF'
6052 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
6055 Exponential floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN`E'EE).
6056 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARE'
6058 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
6061 General floating-point (prints a flonum either fixed or
6063 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARG'
6065 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
6068 Dollars floating-point (prints a flonum in fixed with signs
6070 `~DIGITS,SCALE,WIDTH,PADCHAR$'
6072 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
6075 A sign is always printed and appears before the padding.
6078 The sign appears before the padding.
6086 print newline if not at the beginning of the output line.
6088 prints `~&' and then N-1 newlines.
6093 print N page separators.
6103 newline is ignored, white space left.
6106 newline is left, white space ignored.
6111 relative tabulation.
6117 Indirection (expects indirect arguments as a list).
6119 extracts indirect arguments from format arguments.
6122 Case conversion (converts by `string-downcase').
6124 converts by `string-capitalize'.
6127 converts by `string-capitalize-first'.
6130 converts by `string-upcase'.
6133 Argument Jumping (jumps 1 argument forward).
6135 jumps N arguments forward.
6138 jumps 1 argument backward.
6141 jumps N arguments backward.
6144 jumps to the 0th argument.
6147 jumps to the Nth argument (beginning from 0)
6149 `~[STR0~;STR1~;...~;STRN~]'
6150 Conditional Expression (numerical clause conditional).
6152 take argument from N.
6155 true test conditional.
6158 if-else-then conditional.
6164 default clause follows.
6167 Iteration (args come from the next argument (a list)).
6169 at most N iterations.
6172 args from next arg (a list of lists).
6175 args from the rest of arguments.
6178 args from the rest args (lists).
6189 aborts if N <= M <= K
6191 *** Not Implemented CL Format Control Directives
6194 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
6197 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
6203 (sorry I don't understand its semantics completely)
6205 *** Extended, Replaced and Additional Control Directives
6207 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHD'
6208 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHX'
6209 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHO'
6210 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHB'
6211 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHR'
6212 COMMAWIDTH is the number of characters between two comma
6216 print a R4RS complex number as `~F~@Fi' with passed parameters for
6220 Pretty print formatting of an argument for scheme code lists.
6226 Flushes the output if format DESTINATION is a port.
6229 Print a `#\space' character
6231 print N `#\space' characters.
6234 Print a `#\tab' character
6236 print N `#\tab' characters.
6239 Takes N as an integer representation for a character. No arguments
6240 are consumed. N is converted to a character by `integer->char'. N
6241 must be a positive decimal number.
6244 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
6245 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
6246 be processed by `read'.
6249 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
6250 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
6251 be processed by `read'.
6254 Prints information and a copyright notice on the format
6257 prints format version.
6260 may also print number strings, i.e. passing a number as a string
6261 and format it accordingly.
6263 *** Configuration Variables
6265 The format module exports some configuration variables to suit the
6266 systems and users needs. There should be no modification necessary for
6267 the configuration that comes with Guile. Format detects automatically
6268 if the running scheme system implements floating point numbers and
6271 format:symbol-case-conv
6272 Symbols are converted by `symbol->string' so the case type of the
6273 printed symbols is implementation dependent.
6274 `format:symbol-case-conv' is a one arg closure which is either
6275 `#f' (no conversion), `string-upcase', `string-downcase' or
6276 `string-capitalize'. (default `#f')
6278 format:iobj-case-conv
6279 As FORMAT:SYMBOL-CASE-CONV but applies for the representation of
6280 implementation internal objects. (default `#f')
6283 The character prefixing the exponent value in `~E' printing.
6286 *** Compatibility With Other Format Implementations
6292 Downward compatible except for padding support and `~A', `~S',
6293 `~P', `~X' uppercase printing. SLIB format 1.4 uses C-style
6294 `printf' padding support which is completely replaced by the CL
6295 `format' padding style.
6298 Downward compatible except for `~', which is not documented
6299 (ignores all characters inside the format string up to a newline
6300 character). (7.1 implements `~a', `~s', ~NEWLINE, `~~', `~%',
6301 numerical and variable parameters and `:/@' modifiers in the CL
6305 Downward compatible except for `~A' and `~S' which print in
6306 uppercase. (Elk implements `~a', `~s', `~~', and `~%' (no
6307 directive parameters or modifiers)).
6310 Downward compatible except for an optional destination parameter:
6311 S2C accepts a format call without a destination which returns a
6312 formatted string. This is equivalent to a #f destination in S2C.
6313 (S2C implements `~a', `~s', `~c', `~%', and `~~' (no directive
6314 parameters or modifiers)).
6317 ** Changes to string-handling functions.
6319 These functions were added to support the (ice-9 format) module, above.
6321 *** New function: string-upcase STRING
6322 *** New function: string-downcase STRING
6324 These are non-destructive versions of the existing string-upcase! and
6325 string-downcase! functions.
6327 *** New function: string-capitalize! STRING
6328 *** New function: string-capitalize STRING
6330 These functions convert the first letter of each word in the string to
6333 (string-capitalize "howdy there")
6336 As with the other functions, string-capitalize! modifies the string in
6337 place, while string-capitalize returns a modified copy of its argument.
6339 *** New function: string-ci->symbol STRING
6341 Return a symbol whose name is STRING, but having the same case as if
6342 the symbol had be read by `read'.
6344 Guile can be configured to be sensitive or insensitive to case
6345 differences in Scheme identifiers. If Guile is case-insensitive, all
6346 symbols are converted to lower case on input. The `string-ci->symbol'
6347 function returns a symbol whose name in STRING, transformed as Guile
6348 would if STRING were input.
6350 *** New function: substring-move! STRING1 START END STRING2 START
6352 Copy the substring of STRING1 from START (inclusive) to END
6353 (exclusive) to STRING2 at START. STRING1 and STRING2 may be the same
6354 string, and the source and destination areas may overlap; in all
6355 cases, the function behaves as if all the characters were copied
6358 *** Extended functions: substring-move-left! substring-move-right!
6360 These functions now correctly copy arbitrarily overlapping substrings;
6361 they are both synonyms for substring-move!.
6364 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-long), with the function `getopt-long'.
6366 getopt-long is a function for parsing command-line arguments in a
6367 manner consistent with other GNU programs.
6369 (getopt-long ARGS GRAMMAR)
6370 Parse the arguments ARGS according to the argument list grammar GRAMMAR.
6372 ARGS should be a list of strings. Its first element should be the
6373 name of the program; subsequent elements should be the arguments
6374 that were passed to the program on the command line. The
6375 `program-arguments' procedure returns a list of this form.
6377 GRAMMAR is a list of the form:
6378 ((OPTION (PROPERTY VALUE) ...) ...)
6380 Each OPTION should be a symbol. `getopt-long' will accept a
6381 command-line option named `--OPTION'.
6382 Each option can have the following (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs:
6384 (single-char CHAR) --- Accept `-CHAR' as a single-character
6385 equivalent to `--OPTION'. This is how to specify traditional
6387 (required? BOOL) --- If BOOL is true, the option is required.
6388 getopt-long will raise an error if it is not found in ARGS.
6389 (value BOOL) --- If BOOL is #t, the option accepts a value; if
6390 it is #f, it does not; and if it is the symbol
6391 `optional', the option may appear in ARGS with or
6393 (predicate FUNC) --- If the option accepts a value (i.e. you
6394 specified `(value #t)' for this option), then getopt
6395 will apply FUNC to the value, and throw an exception
6396 if it returns #f. FUNC should be a procedure which
6397 accepts a string and returns a boolean value; you may
6398 need to use quasiquotes to get it into GRAMMAR.
6400 The (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs may occur in any order, but each
6401 property may occur only once. By default, options do not have
6402 single-character equivalents, are not required, and do not take
6405 In ARGS, single-character options may be combined, in the usual
6406 Unix fashion: ("-x" "-y") is equivalent to ("-xy"). If an option
6407 accepts values, then it must be the last option in the
6408 combination; the value is the next argument. So, for example, using
6409 the following grammar:
6410 ((apples (single-char #\a))
6411 (blimps (single-char #\b) (value #t))
6412 (catalexis (single-char #\c) (value #t)))
6413 the following argument lists would be acceptable:
6414 ("-a" "-b" "bang" "-c" "couth") ("bang" and "couth" are the values
6415 for "blimps" and "catalexis")
6416 ("-ab" "bang" "-c" "couth") (same)
6417 ("-ac" "couth" "-b" "bang") (same)
6418 ("-abc" "couth" "bang") (an error, since `-b' is not the
6419 last option in its combination)
6421 If an option's value is optional, then `getopt-long' decides
6422 whether it has a value by looking at what follows it in ARGS. If
6423 the next element is a string, and it does not appear to be an
6424 option itself, then that string is the option's value.
6426 The value of a long option can appear as the next element in ARGS,
6427 or it can follow the option name, separated by an `=' character.
6428 Thus, using the same grammar as above, the following argument lists
6430 ("--apples" "Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
6431 ("--apples=Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
6432 ("--blimps" "Goodyear" "--apples=Braeburn")
6434 If the option "--" appears in ARGS, argument parsing stops there;
6435 subsequent arguments are returned as ordinary arguments, even if
6436 they resemble options. So, in the argument list:
6437 ("--apples" "Granny Smith" "--" "--blimp" "Goodyear")
6438 `getopt-long' will recognize the `apples' option as having the
6439 value "Granny Smith", but it will not recognize the `blimp'
6440 option; it will return the strings "--blimp" and "Goodyear" as
6441 ordinary argument strings.
6443 The `getopt-long' function returns the parsed argument list as an
6444 assocation list, mapping option names --- the symbols from GRAMMAR
6445 --- onto their values, or #t if the option does not accept a value.
6446 Unused options do not appear in the alist.
6448 All arguments that are not the value of any option are returned
6449 as a list, associated with the empty list.
6451 `getopt-long' throws an exception if:
6452 - it finds an unrecognized option in ARGS
6453 - a required option is omitted
6454 - an option that requires an argument doesn't get one
6455 - an option that doesn't accept an argument does get one (this can
6456 only happen using the long option `--opt=value' syntax)
6457 - an option predicate fails
6462 `((lockfile-dir (required? #t)
6465 (predicate ,file-is-directory?))
6466 (verbose (required? #f)
6469 (x-includes (single-char #\x))
6470 (rnet-server (single-char #\y)
6471 (predicate ,string?))))
6473 (getopt-long '("my-prog" "-vk" "/tmp" "foo1" "--x-includes=/usr/include"
6474 "--rnet-server=lamprod" "--" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
6476 => ((() "foo1" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
6477 (rnet-server . "lamprod")
6478 (x-includes . "/usr/include")
6479 (lockfile-dir . "/tmp")
6482 ** The (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) module is obsolete; use (ice-9 getopt-long).
6484 It will be removed in a few releases.
6486 ** New syntax: lambda*
6487 ** New syntax: define*
6488 ** New syntax: define*-public
6489 ** New syntax: defmacro*
6490 ** New syntax: defmacro*-public
6491 Guile now supports optional arguments.
6493 `lambda*', `define*', `define*-public', `defmacro*' and
6494 `defmacro*-public' are identical to the non-* versions except that
6495 they use an extended type of parameter list that has the following BNF
6496 syntax (parentheses are literal, square brackets indicate grouping,
6497 and `*', `+' and `?' have the usual meaning):
6499 ext-param-list ::= ( [identifier]* [#&optional [ext-var-decl]+]?
6500 [#&key [ext-var-decl]+ [#&allow-other-keys]?]?
6501 [[#&rest identifier]|[. identifier]]? ) | [identifier]
6503 ext-var-decl ::= identifier | ( identifier expression )
6505 The semantics are best illustrated with the following documentation
6506 and examples for `lambda*':
6509 lambda extended for optional and keyword arguments
6511 lambda* creates a procedure that takes optional arguments. These
6512 are specified by putting them inside brackets at the end of the
6513 paramater list, but before any dotted rest argument. For example,
6514 (lambda* (a b #&optional c d . e) '())
6515 creates a procedure with fixed arguments a and b, optional arguments c
6516 and d, and rest argument e. If the optional arguments are omitted
6517 in a call, the variables for them are unbound in the procedure. This
6518 can be checked with the bound? macro.
6520 lambda* can also take keyword arguments. For example, a procedure
6522 (lambda* (#&key xyzzy larch) '())
6523 can be called with any of the argument lists (#:xyzzy 11)
6524 (#:larch 13) (#:larch 42 #:xyzzy 19) (). Whichever arguments
6525 are given as keywords are bound to values.
6527 Optional and keyword arguments can also be given default values
6528 which they take on when they are not present in a call, by giving a
6529 two-item list in place of an optional argument, for example in:
6530 (lambda* (foo #&optional (bar 42) #&key (baz 73)) (list foo bar baz))
6531 foo is a fixed argument, bar is an optional argument with default
6532 value 42, and baz is a keyword argument with default value 73.
6533 Default value expressions are not evaluated unless they are needed
6534 and until the procedure is called.
6536 lambda* now supports two more special parameter list keywords.
6538 lambda*-defined procedures now throw an error by default if a
6539 keyword other than one of those specified is found in the actual
6540 passed arguments. However, specifying #&allow-other-keys
6541 immediately after the kyword argument declarations restores the
6542 previous behavior of ignoring unknown keywords. lambda* also now
6543 guarantees that if the same keyword is passed more than once, the
6544 last one passed is the one that takes effect. For example,
6545 ((lambda* (#&key (heads 0) (tails 0)) (display (list heads tails)))
6546 #:heads 37 #:tails 42 #:heads 99)
6547 would result in (99 47) being displayed.
6549 #&rest is also now provided as a synonym for the dotted syntax rest
6550 argument. The argument lists (a . b) and (a #&rest b) are equivalent in
6551 all respects to lambda*. This is provided for more similarity to DSSSL,
6552 MIT-Scheme and Kawa among others, as well as for refugees from other
6555 Further documentation may be found in the optargs.scm file itself.
6557 The optional argument module also exports the macros `let-optional',
6558 `let-optional*', `let-keywords', `let-keywords*' and `bound?'. These
6559 are not documented here because they may be removed in the future, but
6560 full documentation is still available in optargs.scm.
6562 ** New syntax: and-let*
6563 Guile now supports the `and-let*' form, described in the draft SRFI-2.
6565 Syntax: (land* (<clause> ...) <body> ...)
6566 Each <clause> should have one of the following forms:
6567 (<variable> <expression>)
6570 Each <variable> or <bound-variable> should be an identifier. Each
6571 <expression> should be a valid expression. The <body> should be a
6572 possibly empty sequence of expressions, like the <body> of a
6575 Semantics: A LAND* expression is evaluated by evaluating the
6576 <expression> or <bound-variable> of each of the <clause>s from
6577 left to right. The value of the first <expression> or
6578 <bound-variable> that evaluates to a false value is returned; the
6579 remaining <expression>s and <bound-variable>s are not evaluated.
6580 The <body> forms are evaluated iff all the <expression>s and
6581 <bound-variable>s evaluate to true values.
6583 The <expression>s and the <body> are evaluated in an environment
6584 binding each <variable> of the preceding (<variable> <expression>)
6585 clauses to the value of the <expression>. Later bindings
6586 shadow earlier bindings.
6588 Guile's and-let* macro was contributed by Michael Livshin.
6590 ** New sorting functions
6592 *** New function: sorted? SEQUENCE LESS?
6593 Returns `#t' when the sequence argument is in non-decreasing order
6594 according to LESS? (that is, there is no adjacent pair `... x y
6595 ...' for which `(less? y x)').
6597 Returns `#f' when the sequence contains at least one out-of-order
6598 pair. It is an error if the sequence is neither a list nor a
6601 *** New function: merge LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
6602 LIST1 and LIST2 are sorted lists.
6603 Returns the sorted list of all elements in LIST1 and LIST2.
6605 Assume that the elements a and b1 in LIST1 and b2 in LIST2 are "equal"
6606 in the sense that (LESS? x y) --> #f for x, y in {a, b1, b2},
6607 and that a < b1 in LIST1. Then a < b1 < b2 in the result.
6608 (Here "<" should read "comes before".)
6610 *** New procedure: merge! LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
6611 Merges two lists, re-using the pairs of LIST1 and LIST2 to build
6612 the result. If the code is compiled, and LESS? constructs no new
6613 pairs, no pairs at all will be allocated. The first pair of the
6614 result will be either the first pair of LIST1 or the first pair of
6617 *** New function: sort SEQUENCE LESS?
6618 Accepts either a list or a vector, and returns a new sequence
6619 which is sorted. The new sequence is the same type as the input.
6620 Always `(sorted? (sort sequence less?) less?)'. The original
6621 sequence is not altered in any way. The new sequence shares its
6622 elements with the old one; no elements are copied.
6624 *** New procedure: sort! SEQUENCE LESS
6625 Returns its sorted result in the original boxes. No new storage is
6626 allocated at all. Proper usage: (set! slist (sort! slist <))
6628 *** New function: stable-sort SEQUENCE LESS?
6629 Similar to `sort' but stable. That is, if "equal" elements are
6630 ordered a < b in the original sequence, they will have the same order
6633 *** New function: stable-sort! SEQUENCE LESS?
6634 Similar to `sort!' but stable.
6635 Uses temporary storage when sorting vectors.
6637 *** New functions: sort-list, sort-list!
6638 Added for compatibility with scsh.
6640 ** New built-in random number support
6642 *** New function: random N [STATE]
6643 Accepts a positive integer or real N and returns a number of the
6644 same type between zero (inclusive) and N (exclusive). The values
6645 returned have a uniform distribution.
6647 The optional argument STATE must be of the type produced by
6648 `copy-random-state' or `seed->random-state'. It defaults to the value
6649 of the variable `*random-state*'. This object is used to maintain the
6650 state of the pseudo-random-number generator and is altered as a side
6651 effect of the `random' operation.
6653 *** New variable: *random-state*
6654 Holds a data structure that encodes the internal state of the
6655 random-number generator that `random' uses by default. The nature
6656 of this data structure is implementation-dependent. It may be
6657 printed out and successfully read back in, but may or may not
6658 function correctly as a random-number state object in another
6661 *** New function: copy-random-state [STATE]
6662 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
6663 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
6664 If argument STATE is given, a copy of it is returned. Otherwise a
6665 copy of `*random-state*' is returned.
6667 *** New function: seed->random-state SEED
6668 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
6669 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
6670 SEED is a string or a number. A new state is generated and
6671 initialized using SEED.
6673 *** New function: random:uniform [STATE]
6674 Returns an uniformly distributed inexact real random number in the
6675 range between 0 and 1.
6677 *** New procedure: random:solid-sphere! VECT [STATE]
6678 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose
6679 squares is less than 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in
6680 space of dimension N = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are
6681 uniformly distributed within the unit N-shere. The sum of the
6682 squares of the numbers is returned. VECT can be either a vector
6683 or a uniform vector of doubles.
6685 *** New procedure: random:hollow-sphere! VECT [STATE]
6686 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose squares
6687 is equal to 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in space of
6688 dimension n = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are uniformly
6689 distributed over the surface of the unit n-shere. VECT can be either
6690 a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
6692 *** New function: random:normal [STATE]
6693 Returns an inexact real in a normal distribution with mean 0 and
6694 standard deviation 1. For a normal distribution with mean M and
6695 standard deviation D use `(+ M (* D (random:normal)))'.
6697 *** New procedure: random:normal-vector! VECT [STATE]
6698 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers which are independent and
6699 standard normally distributed (i.e., with mean 0 and variance 1).
6700 VECT can be either a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
6702 *** New function: random:exp STATE
6703 Returns an inexact real in an exponential distribution with mean 1.
6704 For an exponential distribution with mean U use (* U (random:exp)).
6706 ** The range of logand, logior, logxor, logtest, and logbit? have changed.
6708 These functions now operate on numbers in the range of a C unsigned
6711 These functions used to operate on numbers in the range of a C signed
6712 long; however, this seems inappropriate, because Guile integers don't
6715 ** New function: make-guardian
6716 This is an implementation of guardians as described in
6717 R. Kent Dybvig, Carl Bruggeman, and David Eby (1993) "Guardians in a
6718 Generation-Based Garbage Collector" ACM SIGPLAN Conference on
6719 Programming Language Design and Implementation, June 1993
6720 ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/scheme-repository/doc/pubs/guardians.ps.gz
6722 ** New functions: delq1!, delv1!, delete1!
6723 These procedures behave similar to delq! and friends but delete only
6724 one object if at all.
6726 ** New function: unread-string STRING PORT
6727 Unread STRING to PORT, that is, push it back onto the port so that
6728 next read operation will work on the pushed back characters.
6730 ** unread-char can now be called multiple times
6731 If unread-char is called multiple times, the unread characters will be
6732 read again in last-in first-out order.
6734 ** the procedures uniform-array-read! and uniform-array-write! now
6735 work on any kind of port, not just ports which are open on a file.
6737 ** Now 'l' in a port mode requests line buffering.
6739 ** The procedure truncate-file now works on string ports as well
6740 as file ports. If the size argument is omitted, the current
6741 file position is used.
6743 ** new procedure: seek PORT/FDES OFFSET WHENCE
6744 The arguments are the same as for the old fseek procedure, but it
6745 works on string ports as well as random-access file ports.
6747 ** the fseek procedure now works on string ports, since it has been
6748 redefined using seek.
6750 ** the setvbuf procedure now uses a default size if mode is _IOFBF and
6751 size is not supplied.
6753 ** the newline procedure no longer flushes the port if it's not
6754 line-buffered: previously it did if it was the current output port.
6756 ** open-pipe and close-pipe are no longer primitive procedures, but
6757 an emulation can be obtained using `(use-modules (ice-9 popen))'.
6759 ** the freopen procedure has been removed.
6761 ** new procedure: drain-input PORT
6762 Drains PORT's read buffers (including any pushed-back characters)
6763 and returns the contents as a single string.
6765 ** New function: map-in-order PROC LIST1 LIST2 ...
6766 Version of `map' which guarantees that the procedure is applied to the
6767 lists in serial order.
6769 ** Renamed `serial-array-copy!' and `serial-array-map!' to
6770 `array-copy-in-order!' and `array-map-in-order!'. The old names are
6771 now obsolete and will go away in release 1.5.
6773 ** New syntax: collect BODY1 ...
6774 Version of `begin' which returns a list of the results of the body
6775 forms instead of the result of the last body form. In contrast to
6776 `begin', `collect' allows an empty body.
6778 ** New functions: read-history FILENAME, write-history FILENAME
6779 Read/write command line history from/to file. Returns #t on success
6780 and #f if an error occured.
6782 ** `ls' and `lls' in module (ice-9 ls) now handle no arguments.
6784 These procedures return a list of definitions available in the specified
6785 argument, a relative module reference. In the case of no argument,
6786 `(current-module)' is now consulted for definitions to return, instead
6787 of simply returning #f, the former behavior.
6789 ** The #/ syntax for lists is no longer supported.
6791 Earlier versions of Scheme accepted this syntax, but printed a
6794 ** Guile no longer consults the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable.
6796 Instead, you should set GUILE_LOAD_PATH to tell Guile where to find
6799 * Changes to the gh_ interface
6803 Now takes a second argument which is the result array. If this
6804 pointer is NULL, a new array is malloced (the old behaviour).
6806 ** gh_chars2byvect, gh_shorts2svect, gh_floats2fvect, gh_scm2chars,
6807 gh_scm2shorts, gh_scm2longs, gh_scm2floats
6811 * Changes to the scm_ interface
6813 ** Function: scm_make_named_hook (char* name, int n_args)
6815 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
6816 binds a variable named NAME to it.
6818 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
6820 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module. This
6821 might change when we get the new module system.
6823 ** The smob interface
6825 The interface for creating smobs has changed. For documentation, see
6826 data-rep.info (made from guile-core/doc/data-rep.texi).
6828 *** Deprecated function: SCM scm_newsmob (scm_smobfuns *)
6830 >>> This function will be removed in 1.3.4. <<<
6834 *** Function: SCM scm_make_smob_type (const char *name, scm_sizet size)
6835 This function adds a new smob type, named NAME, with instance size
6836 SIZE to the system. The return value is a tag that is used in
6837 creating instances of the type. If SIZE is 0, then no memory will
6838 be allocated when instances of the smob are created, and nothing
6839 will be freed by the default free function.
6841 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_mark (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
6842 This function sets the smob marking procedure for the smob type
6843 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
6844 `scm_make_smob_type'.
6846 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_free (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
6847 This function sets the smob freeing procedure for the smob type
6848 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
6849 `scm_make_smob_type'.
6851 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_print (tc, print)
6853 - Function: void scm_set_smob_print (long tc,
6854 scm_sizet (*print) (SCM,
6858 This function sets the smob printing procedure for the smob type
6859 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
6860 `scm_make_smob_type'.
6862 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_equalp (long tc, SCM (*equalp) (SCM, SCM))
6863 This function sets the smob equality-testing predicate for the
6864 smob type specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
6865 `scm_make_smob_type'.
6867 *** Macro: void SCM_NEWSMOB (SCM var, long tc, void *data)
6868 Make VALUE contain a smob instance of the type with type code TC and
6869 smob data DATA. VALUE must be previously declared as C type `SCM'.
6871 *** Macro: fn_returns SCM_RETURN_NEWSMOB (long tc, void *data)
6872 This macro expands to a block of code that creates a smob instance
6873 of the type with type code TC and smob data DATA, and returns that
6874 `SCM' value. It should be the last piece of code in a block.
6876 ** The interfaces for using I/O ports and implementing port types
6877 (ptobs) have changed significantly. The new interface is based on
6878 shared access to buffers and a new set of ptob procedures.
6880 *** scm_newptob has been removed
6884 *** Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (type_name, fill_buffer, write_flush)
6886 - Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (char *type_name,
6887 int (*fill_buffer) (SCM port),
6888 void (*write_flush) (SCM port));
6890 Similarly to the new smob interface, there is a set of function
6891 setters by which the user can customize the behaviour of his port
6892 type. See ports.h (scm_set_port_XXX).
6894 ** scm_strport_to_string: New function: creates a new string from
6895 a string port's buffer.
6897 ** Plug in interface for random number generators
6898 The variable `scm_the_rng' in random.c contains a value and three
6899 function pointers which together define the current random number
6900 generator being used by the Scheme level interface and the random
6901 number library functions.
6903 The user is free to replace the default generator with the generator
6906 *** Variable: size_t scm_the_rng.rstate_size
6907 The size of the random state type used by the current RNG
6910 *** Function: unsigned long scm_the_rng.random_bits (scm_rstate *STATE)
6911 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
6913 *** Function: void scm_the_rng.init_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE, chars *S, int N)
6914 Seed random state STATE using string S of length N.
6916 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_the_rng.copy_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE)
6917 Given random state STATE, return a malloced copy.
6920 The default RNG is the MWC (Multiply With Carry) random number
6921 generator described by George Marsaglia at the Department of
6922 Statistics and Supercomputer Computations Research Institute, The
6923 Florida State University (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo).
6925 It uses 64 bits, has a period of 4578426017172946943 (4.6e18), and
6926 passes all tests in the DIEHARD test suite
6927 (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo/diehard.html). The generation of 32 bits
6928 costs one multiply and one add on platforms which either supports long
6929 longs (gcc does this on most systems) or have 64 bit longs. The cost
6930 is four multiply on other systems but this can be optimized by writing
6931 scm_i_uniform32 in assembler.
6933 These functions are provided through the scm_the_rng interface for use
6934 by libguile and the application.
6936 *** Function: unsigned long scm_i_uniform32 (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
6937 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
6938 Don't use this function directly. Instead go through the plugin
6939 interface (see "Plug in interface" above).
6941 *** Function: void scm_i_init_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE, char *SEED, int N)
6942 Initialize STATE using SEED of length N.
6944 *** Function: scm_i_rstate *scm_i_copy_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
6945 Return a malloc:ed copy of STATE. This function can easily be re-used
6946 in the interfaces to other RNGs.
6948 ** Random number library functions
6949 These functions use the current RNG through the scm_the_rng interface.
6950 It might be a good idea to use these functions from your C code so
6951 that only one random generator is used by all code in your program.
6953 The default random state is stored in:
6955 *** Variable: SCM scm_var_random_state
6956 Contains the vcell of the Scheme variable "*random-state*" which is
6957 used as default state by all random number functions in the Scheme
6962 double x = scm_c_uniform01 (SCM_RSTATE (SCM_CDR (scm_var_random_state)));
6964 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_default_rstate (void)
6965 This is a convenience function which returns the value of
6966 scm_var_random_state. An error message is generated if this value
6967 isn't a random state.
6969 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_make_rstate (char *SEED, int LENGTH)
6970 Make a new random state from the string SEED of length LENGTH.
6972 It is generally not a good idea to use multiple random states in a
6973 program. While subsequent random numbers generated from one random
6974 state are guaranteed to be reasonably independent, there is no such
6975 guarantee for numbers generated from different random states.
6977 *** Macro: unsigned long scm_c_uniform32 (scm_rstate *STATE)
6978 Return 32 random bits.
6980 *** Function: double scm_c_uniform01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
6981 Return a sample from the uniform(0,1) distribution.
6983 *** Function: double scm_c_normal01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
6984 Return a sample from the normal(0,1) distribution.
6986 *** Function: double scm_c_exp1 (scm_rstate *STATE)
6987 Return a sample from the exp(1) distribution.
6989 *** Function: unsigned long scm_c_random (scm_rstate *STATE, unsigned long M)
6990 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
6992 *** Function: SCM scm_c_random_bignum (scm_rstate *STATE, SCM M)
6993 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
6994 M must be a bignum object. The returned value may be an INUM.
6998 Changes in Guile 1.3 (released Monday, October 19, 1998):
7000 * Changes to the distribution
7002 ** We renamed the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable to GUILE_LOAD_PATH.
7003 To avoid conflicts, programs should name environment variables after
7004 themselves, except when there's a common practice establishing some
7007 For now, Guile supports both GUILE_LOAD_PATH and SCHEME_LOAD_PATH,
7008 giving the former precedence, and printing a warning message if the
7009 latter is set. Guile 1.4 will not recognize SCHEME_LOAD_PATH at all.
7011 ** The header files related to multi-byte characters have been removed.
7012 They were: libguile/extchrs.h and libguile/mbstrings.h. Any C code
7013 which referred to these explicitly will probably need to be rewritten,
7014 since the support for the variant string types has been removed; see
7017 ** The header files append.h and sequences.h have been removed. These
7018 files implemented non-R4RS operations which would encourage
7019 non-portable programming style and less easy-to-read code.
7021 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
7023 ** New procedures have been added to implement a "batch mode":
7025 *** Function: batch-mode?
7027 Returns a boolean indicating whether the interpreter is in batch
7030 *** Function: set-batch-mode?! ARG
7032 If ARG is true, switches the interpreter to batch mode. The `#f'
7033 case has not been implemented.
7035 ** Guile now provides full command-line editing, when run interactively.
7036 To use this feature, you must have the readline library installed.
7037 The Guile build process will notice it, and automatically include
7040 The readline library is available via anonymous FTP from any GNU
7041 mirror site; the canonical location is "ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu".
7043 ** the-last-stack is now a fluid.
7045 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
7047 ** You can now use the `guile-config' utility to build programs that use Guile.
7049 Guile now includes a command-line utility called `guile-config', which
7050 can provide information about how to compile and link programs that
7053 *** `guile-config compile' prints any C compiler flags needed to use Guile.
7054 You should include this command's output on the command line you use
7055 to compile C or C++ code that #includes the Guile header files. It's
7056 usually just a `-I' flag to help the compiler find the Guile headers.
7059 *** `guile-config link' prints any linker flags necessary to link with Guile.
7061 This command writes to its standard output a list of flags which you
7062 must pass to the linker to link your code against the Guile library.
7063 The flags include '-lguile' itself, any other libraries the Guile
7064 library depends upon, and any `-L' flags needed to help the linker
7065 find those libraries.
7067 For example, here is a Makefile rule that builds a program named 'foo'
7068 from the object files ${FOO_OBJECTS}, and links them against Guile:
7071 ${CC} ${CFLAGS} ${FOO_OBJECTS} `guile-config link` -o foo
7073 Previous Guile releases recommended that you use autoconf to detect
7074 which of a predefined set of libraries were present on your system.
7075 It is more robust to use `guile-config', since it records exactly which
7076 libraries the installed Guile library requires.
7078 This was originally called `build-guile', but was renamed to
7079 `guile-config' before Guile 1.3 was released, to be consistent with
7080 the analogous script for the GTK+ GUI toolkit, which is called
7084 ** Use the GUILE_FLAGS macro in your configure.in file to find Guile.
7086 If you are using the GNU autoconf package to configure your program,
7087 you can use the GUILE_FLAGS autoconf macro to call `guile-config'
7088 (described above) and gather the necessary values for use in your
7091 The GUILE_FLAGS macro expands to configure script code which runs the
7092 `guile-config' script, to find out where Guile's header files and
7093 libraries are installed. It sets two variables, marked for
7094 substitution, as by AC_SUBST.
7096 GUILE_CFLAGS --- flags to pass to a C or C++ compiler to build
7097 code that uses Guile header files. This is almost always just a
7100 GUILE_LDFLAGS --- flags to pass to the linker to link a
7101 program against Guile. This includes `-lguile' for the Guile
7102 library itself, any libraries that Guile itself requires (like
7103 -lqthreads), and so on. It may also include a -L flag to tell the
7104 compiler where to find the libraries.
7106 GUILE_FLAGS is defined in the file guile.m4, in the top-level
7107 directory of the Guile distribution. You can copy it into your
7108 package's aclocal.m4 file, and then use it in your configure.in file.
7110 If you are using the `aclocal' program, distributed with GNU automake,
7111 to maintain your aclocal.m4 file, the Guile installation process
7112 installs guile.m4 where aclocal will find it. All you need to do is
7113 use GUILE_FLAGS in your configure.in file, and then run `aclocal';
7114 this will copy the definition of GUILE_FLAGS into your aclocal.m4
7118 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
7120 ** Multi-byte strings have been removed, as have multi-byte and wide
7121 ports. We felt that these were the wrong approach to
7122 internationalization support.
7124 ** New function: readline [PROMPT]
7125 Read a line from the terminal, and allow the user to edit it,
7126 prompting with PROMPT. READLINE provides a large set of Emacs-like
7127 editing commands, lets the user recall previously typed lines, and
7128 works on almost every kind of terminal, including dumb terminals.
7130 READLINE assumes that the cursor is at the beginning of the line when
7131 it is invoked. Thus, you can't print a prompt yourself, and then call
7132 READLINE; you need to package up your prompt as a string, pass it to
7133 the function, and let READLINE print the prompt itself. This is
7134 because READLINE needs to know the prompt's screen width.
7136 For Guile to provide this function, you must have the readline
7137 library, version 2.1 or later, installed on your system. Readline is
7138 available via anonymous FTP from prep.ai.mit.edu in pub/gnu, or from
7139 any GNU mirror site.
7141 See also ADD-HISTORY function.
7143 ** New function: add-history STRING
7144 Add STRING as the most recent line in the history used by the READLINE
7145 command. READLINE does not add lines to the history itself; you must
7146 call ADD-HISTORY to make previous input available to the user.
7148 ** The behavior of the read-line function has changed.
7150 This function now uses standard C library functions to read the line,
7151 for speed. This means that it doesn not respect the value of
7152 scm-line-incrementors; it assumes that lines are delimited with
7155 (Note that this is read-line, the function that reads a line of text
7156 from a port, not readline, the function that reads a line from a
7157 terminal, providing full editing capabilities.)
7159 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style): Parse command-line arguments.
7161 This module provides some simple argument parsing. It exports one
7164 Function: getopt-gnu-style ARG-LS
7165 Parse a list of program arguments into an alist of option
7168 Each item in the list of program arguments is examined to see if
7169 it meets the syntax of a GNU long-named option. An argument like
7170 `--MUMBLE' produces an element of the form (MUMBLE . #t) in the
7171 returned alist, where MUMBLE is a keyword object with the same
7172 name as the argument. An argument like `--MUMBLE=FROB' produces
7173 an element of the form (MUMBLE . FROB), where FROB is a string.
7175 As a special case, the returned alist also contains a pair whose
7176 car is the symbol `rest'. The cdr of this pair is a list
7177 containing all the items in the argument list that are not options
7178 of the form mentioned above.
7180 The argument `--' is treated specially: all items in the argument
7181 list appearing after such an argument are not examined, and are
7182 returned in the special `rest' list.
7184 This function does not parse normal single-character switches.
7185 You will need to parse them out of the `rest' list yourself.
7187 ** The read syntax for byte vectors and short vectors has changed.
7189 Instead of #bytes(...), write #y(...).
7191 Instead of #short(...), write #h(...).
7193 This may seem nutty, but, like the other uniform vectors, byte vectors
7194 and short vectors want to have the same print and read syntax (and,
7195 more basic, want to have read syntax!). Changing the read syntax to
7196 use multiple characters after the hash sign breaks with the
7197 conventions used in R5RS and the conventions used for the other
7198 uniform vectors. It also introduces complexity in the current reader,
7199 both on the C and Scheme levels. (The Right solution is probably to
7200 change the syntax and prototypes for uniform vectors entirely.)
7203 ** The new module (ice-9 session) provides useful interactive functions.
7205 *** New procedure: (apropos REGEXP OPTION ...)
7207 Display a list of top-level variables whose names match REGEXP, and
7208 the modules they are imported from. Each OPTION should be one of the
7211 value --- Show the value of each matching variable.
7212 shadow --- Show bindings shadowed by subsequently imported modules.
7213 full --- Same as both `shadow' and `value'.
7217 guile> (apropos "trace" 'full)
7218 debug: trace #<procedure trace args>
7219 debug: untrace #<procedure untrace args>
7220 the-scm-module: display-backtrace #<compiled-closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>
7221 the-scm-module: before-backtrace-hook ()
7222 the-scm-module: backtrace #<primitive-procedure backtrace>
7223 the-scm-module: after-backtrace-hook ()
7224 the-scm-module: has-shown-backtrace-hint? #f
7227 ** There are new functions and syntax for working with macros.
7229 Guile implements macros as a special object type. Any variable whose
7230 top-level binding is a macro object acts as a macro. The macro object
7231 specifies how the expression should be transformed before evaluation.
7233 *** Macro objects now print in a reasonable way, resembling procedures.
7235 *** New function: (macro? OBJ)
7236 True iff OBJ is a macro object.
7238 *** New function: (primitive-macro? OBJ)
7239 Like (macro? OBJ), but true only if OBJ is one of the Guile primitive
7240 macro transformers, implemented in eval.c rather than Scheme code.
7242 Why do we have this function?
7243 - For symmetry with procedure? and primitive-procedure?,
7244 - to allow custom print procedures to tell whether a macro is
7245 primitive, and display it differently, and
7246 - to allow compilers and user-written evaluators to distinguish
7247 builtin special forms from user-defined ones, which could be
7250 *** New function: (macro-type OBJ)
7251 Return a value indicating what kind of macro OBJ is. Possible return
7254 The symbol `syntax' --- a macro created by procedure->syntax.
7255 The symbol `macro' --- a macro created by procedure->macro.
7256 The symbol `macro!' --- a macro created by procedure->memoizing-macro.
7257 The boolean #f --- if OBJ is not a macro object.
7259 *** New function: (macro-name MACRO)
7260 Return the name of the macro object MACRO's procedure, as returned by
7263 *** New function: (macro-transformer MACRO)
7264 Return the transformer procedure for MACRO.
7266 *** New syntax: (use-syntax MODULE ... TRANSFORMER)
7268 Specify a new macro expander to use in the current module. Each
7269 MODULE is a module name, with the same meaning as in the `use-modules'
7270 form; each named module's exported bindings are added to the current
7271 top-level environment. TRANSFORMER is an expression evaluated in the
7272 resulting environment which must yield a procedure to use as the
7273 module's eval transformer: every expression evaluated in this module
7274 is passed to this function, and the result passed to the Guile
7277 *** macro-eval! is removed. Use local-eval instead.
7279 ** Some magic has been added to the printer to better handle user
7280 written printing routines (like record printers, closure printers).
7282 The problem is that these user written routines must have access to
7283 the current `print-state' to be able to handle fancy things like
7284 detection of circular references. These print-states have to be
7285 passed to the builtin printing routines (display, write, etc) to
7286 properly continue the print chain.
7288 We didn't want to change all existing print code so that it
7289 explicitly passes thru a print state in addition to a port. Instead,
7290 we extented the possible values that the builtin printing routines
7291 accept as a `port'. In addition to a normal port, they now also take
7292 a pair of a normal port and a print-state. Printing will go to the
7293 port and the print-state will be used to control the detection of
7294 circular references, etc. If the builtin function does not care for a
7295 print-state, it is simply ignored.
7297 User written callbacks are now called with such a pair as their
7298 `port', but because every function now accepts this pair as a PORT
7299 argument, you don't have to worry about that. In fact, it is probably
7300 safest to not check for these pairs.
7302 However, it is sometimes necessary to continue a print chain on a
7303 different port, for example to get a intermediate string
7304 representation of the printed value, mangle that string somehow, and
7305 then to finally print the mangled string. Use the new function
7307 inherit-print-state OLD-PORT NEW-PORT
7309 for this. It constructs a new `port' that prints to NEW-PORT but
7310 inherits the print-state of OLD-PORT.
7312 ** struct-vtable-offset renamed to vtable-offset-user
7314 ** New constants: vtable-index-layout, vtable-index-vtable, vtable-index-printer
7316 ** There is now a third optional argument to make-vtable-vtable
7317 (and fourth to make-struct) when constructing new types (vtables).
7318 This argument initializes field vtable-index-printer of the vtable.
7320 ** The detection of circular references has been extended to structs.
7321 That is, a structure that -- in the process of being printed -- prints
7322 itself does not lead to infinite recursion.
7324 ** There is now some basic support for fluids. Please read
7325 "libguile/fluid.h" to find out more. It is accessible from Scheme with
7326 the following functions and macros:
7328 Function: make-fluid
7330 Create a new fluid object. Fluids are not special variables or
7331 some other extension to the semantics of Scheme, but rather
7332 ordinary Scheme objects. You can store them into variables (that
7333 are still lexically scoped, of course) or into any other place you
7334 like. Every fluid has a initial value of `#f'.
7336 Function: fluid? OBJ
7338 Test whether OBJ is a fluid.
7340 Function: fluid-ref FLUID
7341 Function: fluid-set! FLUID VAL
7343 Access/modify the fluid FLUID. Modifications are only visible
7344 within the current dynamic root (that includes threads).
7346 Function: with-fluids* FLUIDS VALUES THUNK
7348 FLUIDS is a list of fluids and VALUES a corresponding list of
7349 values for these fluids. Before THUNK gets called the values are
7350 installed in the fluids and the old values of the fluids are
7351 saved in the VALUES list. When the flow of control leaves THUNK
7352 or reenters it, the values get swapped again. You might think of
7353 this as a `safe-fluid-excursion'. Note that the VALUES list is
7354 modified by `with-fluids*'.
7356 Macro: with-fluids ((FLUID VALUE) ...) FORM ...
7358 The same as `with-fluids*' but with a different syntax. It looks
7359 just like `let', but both FLUID and VALUE are evaluated. Remember,
7360 fluids are not special variables but ordinary objects. FLUID
7361 should evaluate to a fluid.
7363 ** Changes to system call interfaces:
7365 *** close-port, close-input-port and close-output-port now return a
7366 boolean instead of an `unspecified' object. #t means that the port
7367 was successfully closed, while #f means it was already closed. It is
7368 also now possible for these procedures to raise an exception if an
7369 error occurs (some errors from write can be delayed until close.)
7371 *** the first argument to chmod, fcntl, ftell and fseek can now be a
7374 *** the third argument to fcntl is now optional.
7376 *** the first argument to chown can now be a file descriptor or a port.
7378 *** the argument to stat can now be a port.
7380 *** The following new procedures have been added (most use scsh
7383 *** procedure: close PORT/FD
7384 Similar to close-port (*note close-port: Closing Ports.), but also
7385 works on file descriptors. A side effect of closing a file
7386 descriptor is that any ports using that file descriptor are moved
7387 to a different file descriptor and have their revealed counts set
7390 *** procedure: port->fdes PORT
7391 Returns the integer file descriptor underlying PORT. As a side
7392 effect the revealed count of PORT is incremented.
7394 *** procedure: fdes->ports FDES
7395 Returns a list of existing ports which have FDES as an underlying
7396 file descriptor, without changing their revealed counts.
7398 *** procedure: fdes->inport FDES
7399 Returns an existing input port which has FDES as its underlying
7400 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
7401 Otherwise, returns a new input port with a revealed count of 1.
7403 *** procedure: fdes->outport FDES
7404 Returns an existing output port which has FDES as its underlying
7405 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
7406 Otherwise, returns a new output port with a revealed count of 1.
7408 The next group of procedures perform a `dup2' system call, if NEWFD
7409 (an integer) is supplied, otherwise a `dup'. The file descriptor to be
7410 duplicated can be supplied as an integer or contained in a port. The
7411 type of value returned varies depending on which procedure is used.
7413 All procedures also have the side effect when performing `dup2' that
7414 any ports using NEWFD are moved to a different file descriptor and have
7415 their revealed counts set to zero.
7417 *** procedure: dup->fdes PORT/FD [NEWFD]
7418 Returns an integer file descriptor.
7420 *** procedure: dup->inport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
7421 Returns a new input port using the new file descriptor.
7423 *** procedure: dup->outport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
7424 Returns a new output port using the new file descriptor.
7426 *** procedure: dup PORT/FD [NEWFD]
7427 Returns a new port if PORT/FD is a port, with the same mode as the
7428 supplied port, otherwise returns an integer file descriptor.
7430 *** procedure: dup->port PORT/FD MODE [NEWFD]
7431 Returns a new port using the new file descriptor. MODE supplies a
7432 mode string for the port (*note open-file: File Ports.).
7434 *** procedure: setenv NAME VALUE
7435 Modifies the environment of the current process, which is also the
7436 default environment inherited by child processes.
7438 If VALUE is `#f', then NAME is removed from the environment.
7439 Otherwise, the string NAME=VALUE is added to the environment,
7440 replacing any existing string with name matching NAME.
7442 The return value is unspecified.
7444 *** procedure: truncate-file OBJ SIZE
7445 Truncates the file referred to by OBJ to at most SIZE bytes. OBJ
7446 can be a string containing a file name or an integer file
7447 descriptor or port open for output on the file. The underlying
7448 system calls are `truncate' and `ftruncate'.
7450 The return value is unspecified.
7452 *** procedure: setvbuf PORT MODE [SIZE]
7453 Set the buffering mode for PORT. MODE can be:
7461 block buffered, using a newly allocated buffer of SIZE bytes.
7462 However if SIZE is zero or unspecified, the port will be made
7465 This procedure should not be used after I/O has been performed with
7468 Ports are usually block buffered by default, with a default buffer
7469 size. Procedures e.g., *Note open-file: File Ports, which accept a
7470 mode string allow `0' to be added to request an unbuffered port.
7472 *** procedure: fsync PORT/FD
7473 Copies any unwritten data for the specified output file descriptor
7474 to disk. If PORT/FD is a port, its buffer is flushed before the
7475 underlying file descriptor is fsync'd. The return value is
7478 *** procedure: open-fdes PATH FLAGS [MODES]
7479 Similar to `open' but returns a file descriptor instead of a port.
7481 *** procedure: execle PATH ENV [ARG] ...
7482 Similar to `execl', but the environment of the new process is
7483 specified by ENV, which must be a list of strings as returned by
7484 the `environ' procedure.
7486 This procedure is currently implemented using the `execve' system
7487 call, but we call it `execle' because of its Scheme calling
7490 *** procedure: strerror ERRNO
7491 Returns the Unix error message corresponding to ERRNO, an integer.
7493 *** procedure: primitive-exit [STATUS]
7494 Terminate the current process without unwinding the Scheme stack.
7495 This is would typically be useful after a fork. The exit status
7496 is STATUS if supplied, otherwise zero.
7498 *** procedure: times
7499 Returns an object with information about real and processor time.
7500 The following procedures accept such an object as an argument and
7501 return a selected component:
7504 The current real time, expressed as time units relative to an
7508 The CPU time units used by the calling process.
7511 The CPU time units used by the system on behalf of the
7515 The CPU time units used by terminated child processes of the
7516 calling process, whose status has been collected (e.g., using
7520 Similarly, the CPU times units used by the system on behalf of
7521 terminated child processes.
7523 ** Removed: list-length
7524 ** Removed: list-append, list-append!
7525 ** Removed: list-reverse, list-reverse!
7527 ** array-map renamed to array-map!
7529 ** serial-array-map renamed to serial-array-map!
7531 ** catch doesn't take #f as first argument any longer
7533 Previously, it was possible to pass #f instead of a key to `catch'.
7534 That would cause `catch' to pass a jump buffer object to the procedure
7535 passed as second argument. The procedure could then use this jump
7536 buffer objekt as an argument to throw.
7538 This mechanism has been removed since its utility doesn't motivate the
7539 extra complexity it introduces.
7541 ** The `#/' notation for lists now provokes a warning message from Guile.
7542 This syntax will be removed from Guile in the near future.
7544 To disable the warning message, set the GUILE_HUSH environment
7545 variable to any non-empty value.
7547 ** The newline character now prints as `#\newline', following the
7548 normal Scheme notation, not `#\nl'.
7550 * Changes to the gh_ interface
7552 ** The gh_enter function now takes care of loading the Guile startup files.
7553 gh_enter works by calling scm_boot_guile; see the remarks below.
7555 ** Function: void gh_write (SCM x)
7557 Write the printed representation of the scheme object x to the current
7558 output port. Corresponds to the scheme level `write'.
7560 ** gh_list_length renamed to gh_length.
7562 ** vector handling routines
7564 Several major changes. In particular, gh_vector() now resembles
7565 (vector ...) (with a caveat -- see manual), and gh_make_vector() now
7566 exists and behaves like (make-vector ...). gh_vset() and gh_vref()
7567 have been renamed gh_vector_set_x() and gh_vector_ref(). Some missing
7568 vector-related gh_ functions have been implemented.
7570 ** pair and list routines
7572 Implemented several of the R4RS pair and list functions that were
7575 ** gh_scm2doubles, gh_doubles2scm, gh_doubles2dvect
7577 New function. Converts double arrays back and forth between Scheme
7580 * Changes to the scm_ interface
7582 ** The function scm_boot_guile now takes care of loading the startup files.
7584 Guile's primary initialization function, scm_boot_guile, now takes
7585 care of loading `boot-9.scm', in the `ice-9' module, to initialize
7586 Guile, define the module system, and put together some standard
7587 bindings. It also loads `init.scm', which is intended to hold
7588 site-specific initialization code.
7590 Since Guile cannot operate properly until boot-9.scm is loaded, there
7591 is no reason to separate loading boot-9.scm from Guile's other
7592 initialization processes.
7594 This job used to be done by scm_compile_shell_switches, which didn't
7595 make much sense; in particular, it meant that people using Guile for
7596 non-shell-like applications had to jump through hoops to get Guile
7597 initialized properly.
7599 ** The function scm_compile_shell_switches no longer loads the startup files.
7600 Now, Guile always loads the startup files, whenever it is initialized;
7601 see the notes above for scm_boot_guile and scm_load_startup_files.
7603 ** Function: scm_load_startup_files
7604 This new function takes care of loading Guile's initialization file
7605 (`boot-9.scm'), and the site initialization file, `init.scm'. Since
7606 this is always called by the Guile initialization process, it's
7607 probably not too useful to call this yourself, but it's there anyway.
7609 ** The semantics of smob marking have changed slightly.
7611 The smob marking function (the `mark' member of the scm_smobfuns
7612 structure) is no longer responsible for setting the mark bit on the
7613 smob. The generic smob handling code in the garbage collector will
7614 set this bit. The mark function need only ensure that any other
7615 objects the smob refers to get marked.
7617 Note that this change means that the smob's GC8MARK bit is typically
7618 already set upon entry to the mark function. Thus, marking functions
7619 which look like this:
7622 if (SCM_GC8MARKP (ptr))
7624 SCM_SETGC8MARK (ptr);
7625 ... mark objects to which the smob refers ...
7628 are now incorrect, since they will return early, and fail to mark any
7629 other objects the smob refers to. Some code in the Guile library used
7632 ** The semantics of the I/O port functions in scm_ptobfuns have changed.
7634 If you have implemented your own I/O port type, by writing the
7635 functions required by the scm_ptobfuns and then calling scm_newptob,
7636 you will need to change your functions slightly.
7638 The functions in a scm_ptobfuns structure now expect the port itself
7639 as their argument; they used to expect the `stream' member of the
7640 port's scm_port_table structure. This allows functions in an
7641 scm_ptobfuns structure to easily access the port's cell (and any flags
7642 it its CAR), and the port's scm_port_table structure.
7644 Guile now passes the I/O port itself as the `port' argument in the
7645 following scm_ptobfuns functions:
7647 int (*free) (SCM port);
7648 int (*fputc) (int, SCM port);
7649 int (*fputs) (char *, SCM port);
7650 scm_sizet (*fwrite) SCM_P ((char *ptr,
7654 int (*fflush) (SCM port);
7655 int (*fgetc) (SCM port);
7656 int (*fclose) (SCM port);
7658 The interfaces to the `mark', `print', `equalp', and `fgets' methods
7661 If you have existing code which defines its own port types, it is easy
7662 to convert your code to the new interface; simply apply SCM_STREAM to
7663 the port argument to yield the value you code used to expect.
7665 Note that since both the port and the stream have the same type in the
7666 C code --- they are both SCM values --- the C compiler will not remind
7667 you if you forget to update your scm_ptobfuns functions.
7670 ** Function: int scm_internal_select (int fds,
7674 struct timeval *timeout);
7676 This is a replacement for the `select' function provided by the OS.
7677 It enables I/O blocking and sleeping to happen for one cooperative
7678 thread without blocking other threads. It also avoids busy-loops in
7679 these situations. It is intended that all I/O blocking and sleeping
7680 will finally go through this function. Currently, this function is
7681 only available on systems providing `gettimeofday' and `select'.
7683 ** Function: SCM scm_internal_stack_catch (SCM tag,
7684 scm_catch_body_t body,
7686 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
7689 A new sibling to the other two C level `catch' functions
7690 scm_internal_catch and scm_internal_lazy_catch. Use it if you want
7691 the stack to be saved automatically into the variable `the-last-stack'
7692 (scm_the_last_stack_var) on error. This is necessary if you want to
7693 use advanced error reporting, such as calling scm_display_error and
7694 scm_display_backtrace. (They both take a stack object as argument.)
7696 ** Function: SCM scm_spawn_thread (scm_catch_body_t body,
7698 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
7701 Spawns a new thread. It does a job similar to
7702 scm_call_with_new_thread but takes arguments more suitable when
7703 spawning threads from application C code.
7705 ** The hook scm_error_callback has been removed. It was originally
7706 intended as a way for the user to install his own error handler. But
7707 that method works badly since it intervenes between throw and catch,
7708 thereby changing the semantics of expressions like (catch #t ...).
7709 The correct way to do it is to use one of the C level catch functions
7710 in throw.c: scm_internal_catch/lazy_catch/stack_catch.
7712 ** Removed functions:
7714 scm_obj_length, scm_list_length, scm_list_append, scm_list_append_x,
7715 scm_list_reverse, scm_list_reverse_x
7717 ** New macros: SCM_LISTn where n is one of the integers 0-9.
7719 These can be used for pretty list creation from C. The idea is taken
7720 from Erick Gallesio's STk.
7722 ** scm_array_map renamed to scm_array_map_x
7724 ** mbstrings are now removed
7726 This means that the type codes scm_tc7_mb_string and
7727 scm_tc7_mb_substring has been removed.
7729 ** scm_gen_putc, scm_gen_puts, scm_gen_write, and scm_gen_getc have changed.
7731 Since we no longer support multi-byte strings, these I/O functions
7732 have been simplified, and renamed. Here are their old names, and
7733 their new names and arguments:
7735 scm_gen_putc -> void scm_putc (int c, SCM port);
7736 scm_gen_puts -> void scm_puts (char *s, SCM port);
7737 scm_gen_write -> void scm_lfwrite (char *ptr, scm_sizet size, SCM port);
7738 scm_gen_getc -> void scm_getc (SCM port);
7741 ** The macros SCM_TYP7D and SCM_TYP7SD has been removed.
7743 ** The macro SCM_TYP7S has taken the role of the old SCM_TYP7D
7745 SCM_TYP7S now masks away the bit which distinguishes substrings from
7748 ** scm_catch_body_t: Backward incompatible change!
7750 Body functions to scm_internal_catch and friends do not any longer
7751 take a second argument. This is because it is no longer possible to
7752 pass a #f arg to catch.
7754 ** Calls to scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect now nest properly.
7756 The function scm_protect_object protects its argument from being freed
7757 by the garbage collector. scm_unprotect_object removes that
7760 These functions now nest properly. That is, for every object O, there
7761 is a counter which scm_protect_object(O) increments and
7762 scm_unprotect_object(O) decrements, if the counter is greater than
7763 zero. Every object's counter is zero when it is first created. If an
7764 object's counter is greater than zero, the garbage collector will not
7765 reclaim its storage.
7767 This allows you to use scm_protect_object in your code without
7768 worrying that some other function you call will call
7769 scm_unprotect_object, and allow it to be freed. Assuming that the
7770 functions you call are well-behaved, and unprotect only those objects
7771 they protect, you can follow the same rule and have confidence that
7772 objects will be freed only at appropriate times.
7775 Changes in Guile 1.2 (released Tuesday, June 24 1997):
7777 * Changes to the distribution
7779 ** Nightly snapshots are now available from ftp.red-bean.com.
7780 The old server, ftp.cyclic.com, has been relinquished to its rightful
7783 Nightly snapshots of the Guile development sources are now available via
7784 anonymous FTP from ftp.red-bean.com, as /pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz.
7786 Via the web, that's: ftp://ftp.red-bean.com/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
7787 For getit, that's: ftp.red-bean.com:/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
7789 ** To run Guile without installing it, the procedure has changed a bit.
7791 If you used a separate build directory to compile Guile, you'll need
7792 to include the build directory in SCHEME_LOAD_PATH, as well as the
7793 source directory. See the `INSTALL' file for examples.
7795 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
7797 ** The standard Guile load path for Scheme code now includes
7798 $(datadir)/guile (usually /usr/local/share/guile). This means that
7799 you can install your own Scheme files there, and Guile will find them.
7800 (Previous versions of Guile only checked a directory whose name
7801 contained the Guile version number, so you had to re-install or move
7802 your Scheme sources each time you installed a fresh version of Guile.)
7804 The load path also includes $(datadir)/guile/site; we recommend
7805 putting individual Scheme files there. If you want to install a
7806 package with multiple source files, create a directory for them under
7809 ** Guile 1.2 will now use the Rx regular expression library, if it is
7810 installed on your system. When you are linking libguile into your own
7811 programs, this means you will have to link against -lguile, -lqt (if
7812 you configured Guile with thread support), and -lrx.
7814 If you are using autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your
7815 application, the following lines should suffice to add the appropriate
7816 libraries to your link command:
7818 ### Find Rx, quickthreads and libguile.
7819 AC_CHECK_LIB(rx, main)
7820 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
7821 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
7823 The Guile 1.2 distribution does not contain sources for the Rx
7824 library, as Guile 1.0 did. If you want to use Rx, you'll need to
7825 retrieve it from a GNU FTP site and install it separately.
7827 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
7829 ** The dynamic linking features of Guile are now enabled by default.
7830 You can disable them by giving the `--disable-dynamic-linking' option
7833 (dynamic-link FILENAME)
7835 Find the object file denoted by FILENAME (a string) and link it
7836 into the running Guile application. When everything works out,
7837 return a Scheme object suitable for representing the linked object
7838 file. Otherwise an error is thrown. How object files are
7839 searched is system dependent.
7841 (dynamic-object? VAL)
7843 Determine whether VAL represents a dynamically linked object file.
7845 (dynamic-unlink DYNOBJ)
7847 Unlink the indicated object file from the application. DYNOBJ
7848 should be one of the values returned by `dynamic-link'.
7850 (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
7852 Search the C function indicated by FUNCTION (a string or symbol)
7853 in DYNOBJ and return some Scheme object that can later be used
7854 with `dynamic-call' to actually call this function. Right now,
7855 these Scheme objects are formed by casting the address of the
7856 function to `long' and converting this number to its Scheme
7859 (dynamic-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
7861 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ. The
7862 function is passed no arguments and its return value is ignored.
7863 When FUNCTION is something returned by `dynamic-func', call that
7864 function and ignore DYNOBJ. When FUNCTION is a string (or symbol,
7865 etc.), look it up in DYNOBJ; this is equivalent to
7867 (dynamic-call (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ) #f)
7869 Interrupts are deferred while the C function is executing (with
7870 SCM_DEFER_INTS/SCM_ALLOW_INTS).
7872 (dynamic-args-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ ARGS)
7874 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ, but pass it
7875 some arguments and return its return value. The C function is
7876 expected to take two arguments and return an `int', just like
7879 int c_func (int argc, char **argv);
7881 ARGS must be a list of strings and is converted into an array of
7882 `char *'. The array is passed in ARGV and its size in ARGC. The
7883 return value is converted to a Scheme number and returned from the
7884 call to `dynamic-args-call'.
7886 When dynamic linking is disabled or not supported on your system,
7887 the above functions throw errors, but they are still available.
7889 Here is a small example that works on GNU/Linux:
7891 (define libc-obj (dynamic-link "libc.so"))
7892 (dynamic-args-call 'rand libc-obj '())
7894 See the file `libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING' for additional comments.
7896 ** The #/ syntax for module names is depreciated, and will be removed
7897 in a future version of Guile. Instead of
7905 The latter syntax is more consistent with existing Lisp practice.
7907 ** Guile now does fancier printing of structures. Structures are the
7908 underlying implementation for records, which in turn are used to
7909 implement modules, so all of these object now print differently and in
7910 a more informative way.
7912 The Scheme printer will examine the builtin variable *struct-printer*
7913 whenever it needs to print a structure object. When this variable is
7914 not `#f' it is deemed to be a procedure and will be applied to the
7915 structure object and the output port. When *struct-printer* is `#f'
7916 or the procedure return `#f' the structure object will be printed in
7917 the boring #<struct 80458270> form.
7919 This hook is used by some routines in ice-9/boot-9.scm to implement
7920 type specific printing routines. Please read the comments there about
7923 One of the more specific uses of structs are records. The printing
7924 procedure that could be passed to MAKE-RECORD-TYPE is now actually
7925 called. It should behave like a *struct-printer* procedure (described
7928 ** Guile now supports a new R4RS-compliant syntax for keywords. A
7929 token of the form #:NAME, where NAME has the same syntax as a Scheme
7930 symbol, is the external representation of the keyword named NAME.
7931 Keyword objects print using this syntax as well, so values containing
7932 keyword objects can be read back into Guile. When used in an
7933 expression, keywords are self-quoting objects.
7935 Guile suports this read syntax, and uses this print syntax, regardless
7936 of the current setting of the `keyword' read option. The `keyword'
7937 read option only controls whether Guile recognizes the `:NAME' syntax,
7938 which is incompatible with R4RS. (R4RS says such token represent
7941 ** Guile has regular expression support again. Guile 1.0 included
7942 functions for matching regular expressions, based on the Rx library.
7943 In Guile 1.1, the Guile/Rx interface was removed to simplify the
7944 distribution, and thus Guile had no regular expression support. Guile
7945 1.2 again supports the most commonly used functions, and supports all
7946 of SCSH's regular expression functions.
7948 If your system does not include a POSIX regular expression library,
7949 and you have not linked Guile with a third-party regexp library such as
7950 Rx, these functions will not be available. You can tell whether your
7951 Guile installation includes regular expression support by checking
7952 whether the `*features*' list includes the `regex' symbol.
7954 *** regexp functions
7956 By default, Guile supports POSIX extended regular expressions. That
7957 means that the characters `(', `)', `+' and `?' are special, and must
7958 be escaped if you wish to match the literal characters.
7960 This regular expression interface was modeled after that implemented
7961 by SCSH, the Scheme Shell. It is intended to be upwardly compatible
7962 with SCSH regular expressions.
7964 **** Function: string-match PATTERN STR [START]
7965 Compile the string PATTERN into a regular expression and compare
7966 it with STR. The optional numeric argument START specifies the
7967 position of STR at which to begin matching.
7969 `string-match' returns a "match structure" which describes what,
7970 if anything, was matched by the regular expression. *Note Match
7971 Structures::. If STR does not match PATTERN at all,
7972 `string-match' returns `#f'.
7974 Each time `string-match' is called, it must compile its PATTERN
7975 argument into a regular expression structure. This operation is
7976 expensive, which makes `string-match' inefficient if the same regular
7977 expression is used several times (for example, in a loop). For better
7978 performance, you can compile a regular expression in advance and then
7979 match strings against the compiled regexp.
7981 **** Function: make-regexp STR [FLAGS]
7982 Compile the regular expression described by STR, and return the
7983 compiled regexp structure. If STR does not describe a legal
7984 regular expression, `make-regexp' throws a
7985 `regular-expression-syntax' error.
7987 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
7989 **** Constant: regexp/extended
7990 Use POSIX Extended Regular Expression syntax when interpreting
7991 STR. If not set, POSIX Basic Regular Expression syntax is used.
7992 If the FLAGS argument is omitted, we assume regexp/extended.
7994 **** Constant: regexp/icase
7995 Do not differentiate case. Subsequent searches using the
7996 returned regular expression will be case insensitive.
7998 **** Constant: regexp/newline
7999 Match-any-character operators don't match a newline.
8001 A non-matching list ([^...]) not containing a newline matches a
8004 Match-beginning-of-line operator (^) matches the empty string
8005 immediately after a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
8006 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/notbol.
8008 Match-end-of-line operator ($) matches the empty string
8009 immediately before a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
8010 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/noteol.
8012 **** Function: regexp-exec REGEXP STR [START [FLAGS]]
8013 Match the compiled regular expression REGEXP against `str'. If
8014 the optional integer START argument is provided, begin matching
8015 from that position in the string. Return a match structure
8016 describing the results of the match, or `#f' if no match could be
8019 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
8021 **** Constant: regexp/notbol
8022 The match-beginning-of-line operator always fails to match (but
8023 see the compilation flag regexp/newline above) This flag may be
8024 used when different portions of a string are passed to
8025 regexp-exec and the beginning of the string should not be
8026 interpreted as the beginning of the line.
8028 **** Constant: regexp/noteol
8029 The match-end-of-line operator always fails to match (but see the
8030 compilation flag regexp/newline above)
8032 **** Function: regexp? OBJ
8033 Return `#t' if OBJ is a compiled regular expression, or `#f'
8036 Regular expressions are commonly used to find patterns in one string
8037 and replace them with the contents of another string.
8039 **** Function: regexp-substitute PORT MATCH [ITEM...]
8040 Write to the output port PORT selected contents of the match
8041 structure MATCH. Each ITEM specifies what should be written, and
8042 may be one of the following arguments:
8044 * A string. String arguments are written out verbatim.
8046 * An integer. The submatch with that number is written.
8048 * The symbol `pre'. The portion of the matched string preceding
8049 the regexp match is written.
8051 * The symbol `post'. The portion of the matched string
8052 following the regexp match is written.
8054 PORT may be `#f', in which case nothing is written; instead,
8055 `regexp-substitute' constructs a string from the specified ITEMs
8058 **** Function: regexp-substitute/global PORT REGEXP TARGET [ITEM...]
8059 Similar to `regexp-substitute', but can be used to perform global
8060 substitutions on STR. Instead of taking a match structure as an
8061 argument, `regexp-substitute/global' takes two string arguments: a
8062 REGEXP string describing a regular expression, and a TARGET string
8063 which should be matched against this regular expression.
8065 Each ITEM behaves as in REGEXP-SUBSTITUTE, with the following
8068 * A function may be supplied. When this function is called, it
8069 will be passed one argument: a match structure for a given
8070 regular expression match. It should return a string to be
8071 written out to PORT.
8073 * The `post' symbol causes `regexp-substitute/global' to recurse
8074 on the unmatched portion of STR. This *must* be supplied in
8075 order to perform global search-and-replace on STR; if it is
8076 not present among the ITEMs, then `regexp-substitute/global'
8077 will return after processing a single match.
8079 *** Match Structures
8081 A "match structure" is the object returned by `string-match' and
8082 `regexp-exec'. It describes which portion of a string, if any, matched
8083 the given regular expression. Match structures include: a reference to
8084 the string that was checked for matches; the starting and ending
8085 positions of the regexp match; and, if the regexp included any
8086 parenthesized subexpressions, the starting and ending positions of each
8089 In each of the regexp match functions described below, the `match'
8090 argument must be a match structure returned by a previous call to
8091 `string-match' or `regexp-exec'. Most of these functions return some
8092 information about the original target string that was matched against a
8093 regular expression; we will call that string TARGET for easy reference.
8095 **** Function: regexp-match? OBJ
8096 Return `#t' if OBJ is a match structure returned by a previous
8097 call to `regexp-exec', or `#f' otherwise.
8099 **** Function: match:substring MATCH [N]
8100 Return the portion of TARGET matched by subexpression number N.
8101 Submatch 0 (the default) represents the entire regexp match. If
8102 the regular expression as a whole matched, but the subexpression
8103 number N did not match, return `#f'.
8105 **** Function: match:start MATCH [N]
8106 Return the starting position of submatch number N.
8108 **** Function: match:end MATCH [N]
8109 Return the ending position of submatch number N.
8111 **** Function: match:prefix MATCH
8112 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET preceding the regexp match.
8114 **** Function: match:suffix MATCH
8115 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET following the regexp match.
8117 **** Function: match:count MATCH
8118 Return the number of parenthesized subexpressions from MATCH.
8119 Note that the entire regular expression match itself counts as a
8120 subexpression, and failed submatches are included in the count.
8122 **** Function: match:string MATCH
8123 Return the original TARGET string.
8125 *** Backslash Escapes
8127 Sometimes you will want a regexp to match characters like `*' or `$'
8128 exactly. For example, to check whether a particular string represents
8129 a menu entry from an Info node, it would be useful to match it against
8130 a regexp like `^* [^:]*::'. However, this won't work; because the
8131 asterisk is a metacharacter, it won't match the `*' at the beginning of
8132 the string. In this case, we want to make the first asterisk un-magic.
8134 You can do this by preceding the metacharacter with a backslash
8135 character `\'. (This is also called "quoting" the metacharacter, and
8136 is known as a "backslash escape".) When Guile sees a backslash in a
8137 regular expression, it considers the following glyph to be an ordinary
8138 character, no matter what special meaning it would ordinarily have.
8139 Therefore, we can make the above example work by changing the regexp to
8140 `^\* [^:]*::'. The `\*' sequence tells the regular expression engine
8141 to match only a single asterisk in the target string.
8143 Since the backslash is itself a metacharacter, you may force a
8144 regexp to match a backslash in the target string by preceding the
8145 backslash with itself. For example, to find variable references in a
8146 TeX program, you might want to find occurrences of the string `\let\'
8147 followed by any number of alphabetic characters. The regular expression
8148 `\\let\\[A-Za-z]*' would do this: the double backslashes in the regexp
8149 each match a single backslash in the target string.
8151 **** Function: regexp-quote STR
8152 Quote each special character found in STR with a backslash, and
8153 return the resulting string.
8155 *Very important:* Using backslash escapes in Guile source code (as
8156 in Emacs Lisp or C) can be tricky, because the backslash character has
8157 special meaning for the Guile reader. For example, if Guile encounters
8158 the character sequence `\n' in the middle of a string while processing
8159 Scheme code, it replaces those characters with a newline character.
8160 Similarly, the character sequence `\t' is replaced by a horizontal tab.
8161 Several of these "escape sequences" are processed by the Guile reader
8162 before your code is executed. Unrecognized escape sequences are
8163 ignored: if the characters `\*' appear in a string, they will be
8164 translated to the single character `*'.
8166 This translation is obviously undesirable for regular expressions,
8167 since we want to be able to include backslashes in a string in order to
8168 escape regexp metacharacters. Therefore, to make sure that a backslash
8169 is preserved in a string in your Guile program, you must use *two*
8170 consecutive backslashes:
8172 (define Info-menu-entry-pattern (make-regexp "^\\* [^:]*"))
8174 The string in this example is preprocessed by the Guile reader before
8175 any code is executed. The resulting argument to `make-regexp' is the
8176 string `^\* [^:]*', which is what we really want.
8178 This also means that in order to write a regular expression that
8179 matches a single backslash character, the regular expression string in
8180 the source code must include *four* backslashes. Each consecutive pair
8181 of backslashes gets translated by the Guile reader to a single
8182 backslash, and the resulting double-backslash is interpreted by the
8183 regexp engine as matching a single backslash character. Hence:
8185 (define tex-variable-pattern (make-regexp "\\\\let\\\\=[A-Za-z]*"))
8187 The reason for the unwieldiness of this syntax is historical. Both
8188 regular expression pattern matchers and Unix string processing systems
8189 have traditionally used backslashes with the special meanings described
8190 above. The POSIX regular expression specification and ANSI C standard
8191 both require these semantics. Attempting to abandon either convention
8192 would cause other kinds of compatibility problems, possibly more severe
8193 ones. Therefore, without extending the Scheme reader to support
8194 strings with different quoting conventions (an ungainly and confusing
8195 extension when implemented in other languages), we must adhere to this
8196 cumbersome escape syntax.
8198 * Changes to the gh_ interface
8200 * Changes to the scm_ interface
8202 * Changes to system call interfaces:
8204 ** The value returned by `raise' is now unspecified. It throws an exception
8207 *** A new procedure `sigaction' can be used to install signal handlers
8209 (sigaction signum [action] [flags])
8211 signum is the signal number, which can be specified using the value
8214 If action is omitted, sigaction returns a pair: the CAR is the current
8215 signal hander, which will be either an integer with the value SIG_DFL
8216 (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or the Scheme procedure which
8217 handles the signal, or #f if a non-Scheme procedure handles the
8218 signal. The CDR contains the current sigaction flags for the handler.
8220 If action is provided, it is installed as the new handler for signum.
8221 action can be a Scheme procedure taking one argument, or the value of
8222 SIG_DFL (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or #f to restore
8223 whatever signal handler was installed before sigaction was first used.
8224 Flags can optionally be specified for the new handler (SA_RESTART is
8225 always used if the system provides it, so need not be specified.) The
8226 return value is a pair with information about the old handler as
8229 This interface does not provide access to the "signal blocking"
8230 facility. Maybe this is not needed, since the thread support may
8231 provide solutions to the problem of consistent access to data
8234 *** A new procedure `flush-all-ports' is equivalent to running
8235 `force-output' on every port open for output.
8237 ** Guile now provides information on how it was built, via the new
8238 global variable, %guile-build-info. This variable records the values
8239 of the standard GNU makefile directory variables as an assocation
8240 list, mapping variable names (symbols) onto directory paths (strings).
8241 For example, to find out where the Guile link libraries were
8242 installed, you can say:
8244 guile -c "(display (assq-ref %guile-build-info 'libdir)) (newline)"
8247 * Changes to the scm_ interface
8249 ** The new function scm_handle_by_message_noexit is just like the
8250 existing scm_handle_by_message function, except that it doesn't call
8251 exit to terminate the process. Instead, it prints a message and just
8252 returns #f. This might be a more appropriate catch-all handler for
8253 new dynamic roots and threads.
8256 Changes in Guile 1.1 (released Friday, May 16 1997):
8258 * Changes to the distribution.
8260 The Guile 1.0 distribution has been split up into several smaller
8262 guile-core --- the Guile interpreter itself.
8263 guile-tcltk --- the interface between the Guile interpreter and
8264 Tcl/Tk; Tcl is an interpreter for a stringy language, and Tk
8265 is a toolkit for building graphical user interfaces.
8266 guile-rgx-ctax --- the interface between Guile and the Rx regular
8267 expression matcher, and the translator for the Ctax
8268 programming language. These are packaged together because the
8269 Ctax translator uses Rx to parse Ctax source code.
8271 This NEWS file describes the changes made to guile-core since the 1.0
8274 We no longer distribute the documentation, since it was either out of
8275 date, or incomplete. As soon as we have current documentation, we
8280 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
8282 ** guile now accepts command-line arguments compatible with SCSH, Olin
8283 Shivers' Scheme Shell.
8285 In general, arguments are evaluated from left to right, but there are
8286 exceptions. The following switches stop argument processing, and
8287 stash all remaining command-line arguments as the value returned by
8288 the (command-line) function.
8289 -s SCRIPT load Scheme source code from FILE, and exit
8290 -c EXPR evalute Scheme expression EXPR, and exit
8291 -- stop scanning arguments; run interactively
8293 The switches below are processed as they are encountered.
8294 -l FILE load Scheme source code from FILE
8295 -e FUNCTION after reading script, apply FUNCTION to
8296 command line arguments
8297 -ds do -s script at this point
8298 --emacs enable Emacs protocol (experimental)
8299 -h, --help display this help and exit
8300 -v, --version display version information and exit
8301 \ read arguments from following script lines
8303 So, for example, here is a Guile script named `ekko' (thanks, Olin)
8304 which re-implements the traditional "echo" command:
8306 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
8309 (map (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
8313 (main (command-line))
8315 Suppose we invoke this script as follows:
8317 ekko a speckled gecko
8319 Through the magic of Unix script processing (triggered by the `#!'
8320 token at the top of the file), /usr/local/bin/guile receives the
8321 following list of command-line arguments:
8323 ("-s" "./ekko" "a" "speckled" "gecko")
8325 Unix inserts the name of the script after the argument specified on
8326 the first line of the file (in this case, "-s"), and then follows that
8327 with the arguments given to the script. Guile loads the script, which
8328 defines the `main' function, and then applies it to the list of
8329 remaining command-line arguments, ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
8331 In Unix, the first line of a script file must take the following form:
8333 #!INTERPRETER ARGUMENT
8335 where INTERPRETER is the absolute filename of the interpreter
8336 executable, and ARGUMENT is a single command-line argument to pass to
8339 You may only pass one argument to the interpreter, and its length is
8340 limited. These restrictions can be annoying to work around, so Guile
8341 provides a general mechanism (borrowed from, and compatible with,
8342 SCSH) for circumventing them.
8344 If the ARGUMENT in a Guile script is a single backslash character,
8345 `\', Guile will open the script file, parse arguments from its second
8346 and subsequent lines, and replace the `\' with them. So, for example,
8347 here is another implementation of the `ekko' script:
8349 #!/usr/local/bin/guile \
8353 (for-each (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
8357 If the user invokes this script as follows:
8359 ekko a speckled gecko
8361 Unix expands this into
8363 /usr/local/bin/guile \ ekko a speckled gecko
8365 When Guile sees the `\' argument, it replaces it with the arguments
8366 read from the second line of the script, producing:
8368 /usr/local/bin/guile -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
8370 This tells Guile to load the `ekko' script, and apply the function
8371 `main' to the argument list ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
8373 Here is how Guile parses the command-line arguments:
8374 - Each space character terminates an argument. This means that two
8375 spaces in a row introduce an empty-string argument.
8376 - The tab character is not permitted (unless you quote it with the
8377 backslash character, as described below), to avoid confusion.
8378 - The newline character terminates the sequence of arguments, and will
8379 also terminate a final non-empty argument. (However, a newline
8380 following a space will not introduce a final empty-string argument;
8381 it only terminates the argument list.)
8382 - The backslash character is the escape character. It escapes
8383 backslash, space, tab, and newline. The ANSI C escape sequences
8384 like \n and \t are also supported. These produce argument
8385 constituents; the two-character combination \n doesn't act like a
8386 terminating newline. The escape sequence \NNN for exactly three
8387 octal digits reads as the character whose ASCII code is NNN. As
8388 above, characters produced this way are argument constituents.
8389 Backslash followed by other characters is not allowed.
8391 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
8393 ** Guile now builds and installs a shared guile library, if your
8394 system support shared libraries. (It still builds a static library on
8395 all systems.) Guile automatically detects whether your system
8396 supports shared libraries. To prevent Guile from buildisg shared
8397 libraries, pass the `--disable-shared' flag to the configure script.
8399 Guile takes longer to compile when it builds shared libraries, because
8400 it must compile every file twice --- once to produce position-
8401 independent object code, and once to produce normal object code.
8403 ** The libthreads library has been merged into libguile.
8405 To link a program against Guile, you now need only link against
8406 -lguile and -lqt; -lthreads is no longer needed. If you are using
8407 autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your application, the
8408 following lines should suffice to add the appropriate libraries to
8411 ### Find quickthreads and libguile.
8412 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
8413 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
8415 * Changes to Scheme functions
8417 ** Guile Scheme's special syntax for keyword objects is now optional,
8418 and disabled by default.
8420 The syntax variation from R4RS made it difficult to port some
8421 interesting packages to Guile. The routines which accepted keyword
8422 arguments (mostly in the module system) have been modified to also
8423 accept symbols whose names begin with `:'.
8425 To change the keyword syntax, you must first import the (ice-9 debug)
8427 (use-modules (ice-9 debug))
8429 Then you can enable the keyword syntax as follows:
8430 (read-set! keywords 'prefix)
8432 To disable keyword syntax, do this:
8433 (read-set! keywords #f)
8435 ** Many more primitive functions accept shared substrings as
8436 arguments. In the past, these functions required normal, mutable
8437 strings as arguments, although they never made use of this
8440 ** The uniform array functions now operate on byte vectors. These
8441 functions are `array-fill!', `serial-array-copy!', `array-copy!',
8442 `serial-array-map', `array-map', `array-for-each', and
8445 ** The new functions `trace' and `untrace' implement simple debugging
8446 support for Scheme functions.
8448 The `trace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
8449 and tells the Guile interpreter to display each procedure's name and
8450 arguments each time the procedure is invoked. When invoked with no
8451 arguments, `trace' returns the list of procedures currently being
8454 The `untrace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
8455 and tells the Guile interpreter not to trace them any more. When
8456 invoked with no arguments, `untrace' untraces all curretly traced
8459 The tracing in Guile has an advantage over most other systems: we
8460 don't create new procedure objects, but mark the procedure objects
8461 themselves. This means that anonymous and internal procedures can be
8464 ** The function `assert-repl-prompt' has been renamed to
8465 `set-repl-prompt!'. It takes one argument, PROMPT.
8466 - If PROMPT is #f, the Guile read-eval-print loop will not prompt.
8467 - If PROMPT is a string, we use it as a prompt.
8468 - If PROMPT is a procedure accepting no arguments, we call it, and
8469 display the result as a prompt.
8470 - Otherwise, we display "> ".
8472 ** The new function `eval-string' reads Scheme expressions from a
8473 string and evaluates them, returning the value of the last expression
8474 in the string. If the string contains no expressions, it returns an
8477 ** The new function `thunk?' returns true iff its argument is a
8478 procedure of zero arguments.
8480 ** `defined?' is now a builtin function, instead of syntax. This
8481 means that its argument should be quoted. It returns #t iff its
8482 argument is bound in the current module.
8484 ** The new syntax `use-modules' allows you to add new modules to your
8485 environment without re-typing a complete `define-module' form. It
8486 accepts any number of module names as arguments, and imports their
8487 public bindings into the current module.
8489 ** The new function (module-defined? NAME MODULE) returns true iff
8490 NAME, a symbol, is defined in MODULE, a module object.
8492 ** The new function `builtin-bindings' creates and returns a hash
8493 table containing copies of all the root module's bindings.
8495 ** The new function `builtin-weak-bindings' does the same as
8496 `builtin-bindings', but creates a doubly-weak hash table.
8498 ** The `equal?' function now considers variable objects to be
8499 equivalent if they have the same name and the same value.
8501 ** The new function `command-line' returns the command-line arguments
8502 given to Guile, as a list of strings.
8504 When using guile as a script interpreter, `command-line' returns the
8505 script's arguments; those processed by the interpreter (like `-s' or
8506 `-c') are omitted. (In other words, you get the normal, expected
8507 behavior.) Any application that uses scm_shell to process its
8508 command-line arguments gets this behavior as well.
8510 ** The new function `load-user-init' looks for a file called `.guile'
8511 in the user's home directory, and loads it if it exists. This is
8512 mostly for use by the code generated by scm_compile_shell_switches,
8513 but we thought it might also be useful in other circumstances.
8515 ** The new function `log10' returns the base-10 logarithm of its
8518 ** Changes to I/O functions
8520 *** The functions `read', `primitive-load', `read-and-eval!', and
8521 `primitive-load-path' no longer take optional arguments controlling
8522 case insensitivity and a `#' parser.
8524 Case sensitivity is now controlled by a read option called
8525 `case-insensitive'. The user can add new `#' syntaxes with the
8526 `read-hash-extend' function (see below).
8528 *** The new function `read-hash-extend' allows the user to change the
8529 syntax of Guile Scheme in a somewhat controlled way.
8531 (read-hash-extend CHAR PROC)
8532 When parsing S-expressions, if we read a `#' character followed by
8533 the character CHAR, use PROC to parse an object from the stream.
8534 If PROC is #f, remove any parsing procedure registered for CHAR.
8536 The reader applies PROC to two arguments: CHAR and an input port.
8538 *** The new functions read-delimited and read-delimited! provide a
8539 general mechanism for doing delimited input on streams.
8541 (read-delimited DELIMS [PORT HANDLE-DELIM])
8542 Read until we encounter one of the characters in DELIMS (a string),
8543 or end-of-file. PORT is the input port to read from; it defaults to
8544 the current input port. The HANDLE-DELIM parameter determines how
8545 the terminating character is handled; it should be one of the
8548 'trim omit delimiter from result
8549 'peek leave delimiter character in input stream
8550 'concat append delimiter character to returned value
8551 'split return a pair: (RESULT . TERMINATOR)
8553 HANDLE-DELIM defaults to 'peek.
8555 (read-delimited! DELIMS BUF [PORT HANDLE-DELIM START END])
8556 A side-effecting variant of `read-delimited'.
8558 The data is written into the string BUF at the indices in the
8559 half-open interval [START, END); the default interval is the whole
8560 string: START = 0 and END = (string-length BUF). The values of
8561 START and END must specify a well-defined interval in BUF, i.e.
8562 0 <= START <= END <= (string-length BUF).
8564 It returns NBYTES, the number of bytes read. If the buffer filled
8565 up without a delimiter character being found, it returns #f. If the
8566 port is at EOF when the read starts, it returns the EOF object.
8568 If an integer is returned (i.e., the read is successfully terminated
8569 by reading a delimiter character), then the HANDLE-DELIM parameter
8570 determines how to handle the terminating character. It is described
8571 above, and defaults to 'peek.
8573 (The descriptions of these functions were borrowed from the SCSH
8574 manual, by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
8576 *** The `%read-delimited!' function is the primitive used to implement
8577 `read-delimited' and `read-delimited!'.
8579 (%read-delimited! DELIMS BUF GOBBLE? [PORT START END])
8581 This returns a pair of values: (TERMINATOR . NUM-READ).
8582 - TERMINATOR describes why the read was terminated. If it is a
8583 character or the eof object, then that is the value that terminated
8584 the read. If it is #f, the function filled the buffer without finding
8585 a delimiting character.
8586 - NUM-READ is the number of characters read into BUF.
8588 If the read is successfully terminated by reading a delimiter
8589 character, then the gobble? parameter determines what to do with the
8590 terminating character. If true, the character is removed from the
8591 input stream; if false, the character is left in the input stream
8592 where a subsequent read operation will retrieve it. In either case,
8593 the character is also the first value returned by the procedure call.
8595 (The descriptions of this function was borrowed from the SCSH manual,
8596 by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
8598 *** The `read-line' and `read-line!' functions have changed; they now
8599 trim the terminator by default; previously they appended it to the
8600 returned string. For the old behavior, use (read-line PORT 'concat).
8602 *** The functions `uniform-array-read!' and `uniform-array-write!' now
8603 take new optional START and END arguments, specifying the region of
8604 the array to read and write.
8606 *** The `ungetc-char-ready?' function has been removed. We feel it's
8607 inappropriate for an interface to expose implementation details this
8610 ** Changes to the Unix library and system call interface
8612 *** The new fcntl function provides access to the Unix `fcntl' system
8615 (fcntl PORT COMMAND VALUE)
8616 Apply COMMAND to PORT's file descriptor, with VALUE as an argument.
8617 Values for COMMAND are:
8619 F_DUPFD duplicate a file descriptor
8620 F_GETFD read the descriptor's close-on-exec flag
8621 F_SETFD set the descriptor's close-on-exec flag to VALUE
8622 F_GETFL read the descriptor's flags, as set on open
8623 F_SETFL set the descriptor's flags, as set on open to VALUE
8624 F_GETOWN return the process ID of a socket's owner, for SIGIO
8625 F_SETOWN set the process that owns a socket to VALUE, for SIGIO
8626 FD_CLOEXEC not sure what this is
8628 For details, see the documentation for the fcntl system call.
8630 *** The arguments to `select' have changed, for compatibility with
8631 SCSH. The TIMEOUT parameter may now be non-integral, yielding the
8632 expected behavior. The MILLISECONDS parameter has been changed to
8633 MICROSECONDS, to more closely resemble the underlying system call.
8634 The RVEC, WVEC, and EVEC arguments can now be vectors; the type of the
8635 corresponding return set will be the same.
8637 *** The arguments to the `mknod' system call have changed. They are
8640 (mknod PATH TYPE PERMS DEV)
8641 Create a new file (`node') in the file system. PATH is the name of
8642 the file to create. TYPE is the kind of file to create; it should
8643 be 'fifo, 'block-special, or 'char-special. PERMS specifies the
8644 permission bits to give the newly created file. If TYPE is
8645 'block-special or 'char-special, DEV specifies which device the
8646 special file refers to; its interpretation depends on the kind of
8647 special file being created.
8649 *** The `fork' function has been renamed to `primitive-fork', to avoid
8650 clashing with various SCSH forks.
8652 *** The `recv' and `recvfrom' functions have been renamed to `recv!'
8653 and `recvfrom!'. They no longer accept a size for a second argument;
8654 you must pass a string to hold the received value. They no longer
8655 return the buffer. Instead, `recv' returns the length of the message
8656 received, and `recvfrom' returns a pair containing the packet's length
8657 and originating address.
8659 *** The file descriptor datatype has been removed, as have the
8660 `read-fd', `write-fd', `close', `lseek', and `dup' functions.
8661 We plan to replace these functions with a SCSH-compatible interface.
8663 *** The `create' function has been removed; it's just a special case
8666 *** There are new functions to break down process termination status
8667 values. In the descriptions below, STATUS is a value returned by
8670 (status:exit-val STATUS)
8671 If the child process exited normally, this function returns the exit
8672 code for the child process (i.e., the value passed to exit, or
8673 returned from main). If the child process did not exit normally,
8674 this function returns #f.
8676 (status:stop-sig STATUS)
8677 If the child process was suspended by a signal, this function
8678 returns the signal that suspended the child. Otherwise, it returns
8681 (status:term-sig STATUS)
8682 If the child process terminated abnormally, this function returns
8683 the signal that terminated the child. Otherwise, this function
8686 POSIX promises that exactly one of these functions will return true on
8687 a valid STATUS value.
8689 These functions are compatible with SCSH.
8691 *** There are new accessors and setters for the broken-out time vectors
8692 returned by `localtime', `gmtime', and that ilk. They are:
8694 Component Accessor Setter
8695 ========================= ============ ============
8696 seconds tm:sec set-tm:sec
8697 minutes tm:min set-tm:min
8698 hours tm:hour set-tm:hour
8699 day of the month tm:mday set-tm:mday
8700 month tm:mon set-tm:mon
8701 year tm:year set-tm:year
8702 day of the week tm:wday set-tm:wday
8703 day in the year tm:yday set-tm:yday
8704 daylight saving time tm:isdst set-tm:isdst
8705 GMT offset, seconds tm:gmtoff set-tm:gmtoff
8706 name of time zone tm:zone set-tm:zone
8708 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `uname',
8709 describing the host system:
8712 ============================================== ================
8713 name of the operating system implementation utsname:sysname
8714 network name of this machine utsname:nodename
8715 release level of the operating system utsname:release
8716 version level of the operating system utsname:version
8717 machine hardware platform utsname:machine
8719 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getpw',
8720 `getpwnam', `getpwuid', and `getpwent', describing entries from the
8721 system's user database:
8724 ====================== =================
8725 user name passwd:name
8726 user password passwd:passwd
8729 real name passwd:gecos
8730 home directory passwd:dir
8731 shell program passwd:shell
8733 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getgr',
8734 `getgrnam', `getgrgid', and `getgrent', describing entries from the
8735 system's group database:
8738 ======================= ============
8739 group name group:name
8740 group password group:passwd
8742 group members group:mem
8744 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `gethost',
8745 `gethostbyaddr', `gethostbyname', and `gethostent', describing
8749 ========================= ===============
8750 official name of host hostent:name
8751 alias list hostent:aliases
8752 host address type hostent:addrtype
8753 length of address hostent:length
8754 list of addresses hostent:addr-list
8756 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getnet',
8757 `getnetbyaddr', `getnetbyname', and `getnetent', describing internet
8761 ========================= ===============
8762 official name of net netent:name
8763 alias list netent:aliases
8764 net number type netent:addrtype
8765 net number netent:net
8767 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getproto',
8768 `getprotobyname', `getprotobynumber', and `getprotoent', describing
8772 ========================= ===============
8773 official protocol name protoent:name
8774 alias list protoent:aliases
8775 protocol number protoent:proto
8777 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getserv',
8778 `getservbyname', `getservbyport', and `getservent', describing
8782 ========================= ===============
8783 official service name servent:name
8784 alias list servent:aliases
8785 port number servent:port
8786 protocol to use servent:proto
8788 *** There are new accessors for the sockaddr structures returned by
8789 `accept', `getsockname', `getpeername', `recvfrom!':
8792 ======================================== ===============
8793 address format (`family') sockaddr:fam
8794 path, for file domain addresses sockaddr:path
8795 address, for internet domain addresses sockaddr:addr
8796 TCP or UDP port, for internet sockaddr:port
8798 *** The `getpwent', `getgrent', `gethostent', `getnetent',
8799 `getprotoent', and `getservent' functions now return #f at the end of
8800 the user database. (They used to throw an exception.)
8802 Note that calling MUMBLEent function is equivalent to calling the
8803 corresponding MUMBLE function with no arguments.
8805 *** The `setpwent', `setgrent', `sethostent', `setnetent',
8806 `setprotoent', and `setservent' routines now take no arguments.
8808 *** The `gethost', `getproto', `getnet', and `getserv' functions now
8809 provide more useful information when they throw an exception.
8811 *** The `lnaof' function has been renamed to `inet-lnaof'.
8813 *** Guile now claims to have the `current-time' feature.
8815 *** The `mktime' function now takes an optional second argument ZONE,
8816 giving the time zone to use for the conversion. ZONE should be a
8817 string, in the same format as expected for the "TZ" environment variable.
8819 *** The `strptime' function now returns a pair (TIME . COUNT), where
8820 TIME is the parsed time as a vector, and COUNT is the number of
8821 characters from the string left unparsed. This function used to
8822 return the remaining characters as a string.
8824 *** The `gettimeofday' function has replaced the old `time+ticks' function.
8825 The return value is now (SECONDS . MICROSECONDS); the fractional
8826 component is no longer expressed in "ticks".
8828 *** The `ticks/sec' constant has been removed, in light of the above change.
8830 * Changes to the gh_ interface
8832 ** gh_eval_str() now returns an SCM object which is the result of the
8835 ** gh_scm2str() now copies the Scheme data to a caller-provided C
8838 ** gh_scm2newstr() now makes a C array, copies the Scheme data to it,
8839 and returns the array
8841 ** gh_scm2str0() is gone: there is no need to distinguish
8842 null-terminated from non-null-terminated, since gh_scm2newstr() allows
8843 the user to interpret the data both ways.
8845 * Changes to the scm_ interface
8847 ** The new function scm_symbol_value0 provides an easy way to get a
8848 symbol's value from C code:
8850 SCM scm_symbol_value0 (char *NAME)
8851 Return the value of the symbol named by the null-terminated string
8852 NAME in the current module. If the symbol named NAME is unbound in
8853 the current module, return SCM_UNDEFINED.
8855 ** The new function scm_sysintern0 creates new top-level variables,
8856 without assigning them a value.
8858 SCM scm_sysintern0 (char *NAME)
8859 Create a new Scheme top-level variable named NAME. NAME is a
8860 null-terminated string. Return the variable's value cell.
8862 ** The function scm_internal_catch is the guts of catch. It handles
8863 all the mechanics of setting up a catch target, invoking the catch
8864 body, and perhaps invoking the handler if the body does a throw.
8866 The function is designed to be usable from C code, but is general
8867 enough to implement all the semantics Guile Scheme expects from throw.
8869 TAG is the catch tag. Typically, this is a symbol, but this function
8870 doesn't actually care about that.
8872 BODY is a pointer to a C function which runs the body of the catch;
8873 this is the code you can throw from. We call it like this:
8874 BODY (BODY_DATA, JMPBUF)
8876 BODY_DATA is just the BODY_DATA argument we received; we pass it
8877 through to BODY as its first argument. The caller can make
8878 BODY_DATA point to anything useful that BODY might need.
8879 JMPBUF is the Scheme jmpbuf object corresponding to this catch,
8880 which we have just created and initialized.
8882 HANDLER is a pointer to a C function to deal with a throw to TAG,
8883 should one occur. We call it like this:
8884 HANDLER (HANDLER_DATA, THROWN_TAG, THROW_ARGS)
8886 HANDLER_DATA is the HANDLER_DATA argument we recevied; it's the
8887 same idea as BODY_DATA above.
8888 THROWN_TAG is the tag that the user threw to; usually this is
8889 TAG, but it could be something else if TAG was #t (i.e., a
8890 catch-all), or the user threw to a jmpbuf.
8891 THROW_ARGS is the list of arguments the user passed to the THROW
8894 BODY_DATA is just a pointer we pass through to BODY. HANDLER_DATA
8895 is just a pointer we pass through to HANDLER. We don't actually
8896 use either of those pointers otherwise ourselves. The idea is
8897 that, if our caller wants to communicate something to BODY or
8898 HANDLER, it can pass a pointer to it as MUMBLE_DATA, which BODY and
8899 HANDLER can then use. Think of it as a way to make BODY and
8900 HANDLER closures, not just functions; MUMBLE_DATA points to the
8903 Of course, it's up to the caller to make sure that any data a
8904 MUMBLE_DATA needs is protected from GC. A common way to do this is
8905 to make MUMBLE_DATA a pointer to data stored in an automatic
8906 structure variable; since the collector must scan the stack for
8907 references anyway, this assures that any references in MUMBLE_DATA
8910 ** The new function scm_internal_lazy_catch is exactly like
8911 scm_internal_catch, except:
8913 - It does not unwind the stack (this is the major difference).
8914 - If handler returns, its value is returned from the throw.
8915 - BODY always receives #f as its JMPBUF argument (since there's no
8916 jmpbuf associated with a lazy catch, because we don't unwind the
8919 ** scm_body_thunk is a new body function you can pass to
8920 scm_internal_catch if you want the body to be like Scheme's `catch'
8921 --- a thunk, or a function of one argument if the tag is #f.
8923 BODY_DATA is a pointer to a scm_body_thunk_data structure, which
8924 contains the Scheme procedure to invoke as the body, and the tag
8925 we're catching. If the tag is #f, then we pass JMPBUF (created by
8926 scm_internal_catch) to the body procedure; otherwise, the body gets
8929 ** scm_handle_by_proc is a new handler function you can pass to
8930 scm_internal_catch if you want the handler to act like Scheme's catch
8931 --- call a procedure with the tag and the throw arguments.
8933 If the user does a throw to this catch, this function runs a handler
8934 procedure written in Scheme. HANDLER_DATA is a pointer to an SCM
8935 variable holding the Scheme procedure object to invoke. It ought to
8936 be a pointer to an automatic variable (i.e., one living on the stack),
8937 or the procedure object should be otherwise protected from GC.
8939 ** scm_handle_by_message is a new handler function to use with
8940 `scm_internal_catch' if you want Guile to print a message and die.
8941 It's useful for dealing with throws to uncaught keys at the top level.
8943 HANDLER_DATA, if non-zero, is assumed to be a char * pointing to a
8944 message header to print; if zero, we use "guile" instead. That
8945 text is followed by a colon, then the message described by ARGS.
8947 ** The return type of scm_boot_guile is now void; the function does
8948 not return a value, and indeed, never returns at all.
8950 ** The new function scm_shell makes it easy for user applications to
8951 process command-line arguments in a way that is compatible with the
8952 stand-alone guile interpreter (which is in turn compatible with SCSH,
8955 To use the scm_shell function, first initialize any guile modules
8956 linked into your application, and then call scm_shell with the values
8957 of ARGC and ARGV your `main' function received. scm_shell will add
8958 any SCSH-style meta-arguments from the top of the script file to the
8959 argument vector, and then process the command-line arguments. This
8960 generally means loading a script file or starting up an interactive
8961 command interpreter. For details, see "Changes to the stand-alone
8964 ** The new functions scm_get_meta_args and scm_count_argv help you
8965 implement the SCSH-style meta-argument, `\'.
8967 char **scm_get_meta_args (int ARGC, char **ARGV)
8968 If the second element of ARGV is a string consisting of a single
8969 backslash character (i.e. "\\" in Scheme notation), open the file
8970 named by the following argument, parse arguments from it, and return
8971 the spliced command line. The returned array is terminated by a
8974 For details of argument parsing, see above, under "guile now accepts
8975 command-line arguments compatible with SCSH..."
8977 int scm_count_argv (char **ARGV)
8978 Count the arguments in ARGV, assuming it is terminated by a null
8981 For an example of how these functions might be used, see the source
8982 code for the function scm_shell in libguile/script.c.
8984 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
8987 ** The new function scm_compile_shell_switches turns an array of
8988 command-line arguments into Scheme code to carry out the actions they
8989 describe. Given ARGC and ARGV, it returns a Scheme expression to
8990 evaluate, and calls scm_set_program_arguments to make any remaining
8991 command-line arguments available to the Scheme code. For example,
8992 given the following arguments:
8994 -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
8996 scm_set_program_arguments will return the following expression:
8998 (begin (load "ekko") (main (command-line)) (quit))
9000 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
9003 ** The function scm_shell_usage prints a usage message appropriate for
9004 an interpreter that uses scm_compile_shell_switches to handle its
9005 command-line arguments.
9007 void scm_shell_usage (int FATAL, char *MESSAGE)
9008 Print a usage message to the standard error output. If MESSAGE is
9009 non-zero, write it before the usage message, followed by a newline.
9010 If FATAL is non-zero, exit the process, using FATAL as the
9011 termination status. (If you want to be compatible with Guile,
9012 always use 1 as the exit status when terminating due to command-line
9015 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
9018 ** scm_eval_0str now returns SCM_UNSPECIFIED if the string contains no
9019 expressions. It used to return SCM_EOL. Earth-shattering.
9021 ** The macros for declaring scheme objects in C code have been
9022 rearranged slightly. They are now:
9024 SCM_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
9025 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
9026 point to the Scheme symbol whose name is SCHEME_NAME. C_NAME should
9027 be a C identifier, and SCHEME_NAME should be a C string.
9029 SCM_GLOBAL_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
9030 Just like SCM_SYMBOL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
9032 SCM_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
9033 Create a global variable at the Scheme level named SCHEME_NAME.
9034 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
9035 point to the Scheme variable's value cell.
9037 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
9038 Just like SCM_VCELL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
9040 The `guile-snarf' script writes initialization code for these macros
9041 to its standard output, given C source code as input.
9043 The SCM_GLOBAL macro is gone.
9045 ** The scm_read_line and scm_read_line_x functions have been replaced
9046 by Scheme code based on the %read-delimited! procedure (known to C
9047 code as scm_read_delimited_x). See its description above for more
9050 ** The function scm_sys_open has been renamed to scm_open. It now
9051 returns a port instead of an FD object.
9053 * The dynamic linking support has changed. For more information, see
9054 libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING.
9059 User-visible changes from Thursday, September 5, 1996 until Guile 1.0
9062 * Changes to the 'guile' program:
9064 ** Guile now loads some new files when it starts up. Guile first
9065 searches the load path for init.scm, and loads it if found. Then, if
9066 Guile is not being used to execute a script, and the user's home
9067 directory contains a file named `.guile', Guile loads that.
9069 ** You can now use Guile as a shell script interpreter.
9071 To paraphrase the SCSH manual:
9073 When Unix tries to execute an executable file whose first two
9074 characters are the `#!', it treats the file not as machine code to
9075 be directly executed by the native processor, but as source code
9076 to be executed by some interpreter. The interpreter to use is
9077 specified immediately after the #! sequence on the first line of
9078 the source file. The kernel reads in the name of the interpreter,
9079 and executes that instead. It passes the interpreter the source
9080 filename as its first argument, with the original arguments
9081 following. Consult the Unix man page for the `exec' system call
9082 for more information.
9084 Now you can use Guile as an interpreter, using a mechanism which is a
9085 compatible subset of that provided by SCSH.
9087 Guile now recognizes a '-s' command line switch, whose argument is the
9088 name of a file of Scheme code to load. It also treats the two
9089 characters `#!' as the start of a comment, terminated by `!#'. Thus,
9090 to make a file of Scheme code directly executable by Unix, insert the
9091 following two lines at the top of the file:
9093 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
9096 Guile treats the argument of the `-s' command-line switch as the name
9097 of a file of Scheme code to load, and treats the sequence `#!' as the
9098 start of a block comment, terminated by `!#'.
9100 For example, here's a version of 'echo' written in Scheme:
9102 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
9104 (let loop ((args (cdr (program-arguments))))
9107 (display (car args))
9108 (if (pair? (cdr args))
9110 (loop (cdr args)))))
9113 Why does `#!' start a block comment terminated by `!#', instead of the
9114 end of the line? That is the notation SCSH uses, and although we
9115 don't yet support the other SCSH features that motivate that choice,
9116 we would like to be backward-compatible with any existing Guile
9117 scripts once we do. Furthermore, if the path to Guile on your system
9118 is too long for your kernel, you can start the script with this
9122 exec /really/long/path/to/guile -s "$0" ${1+"$@"}
9125 Note that some very old Unix systems don't support the `#!' syntax.
9128 ** You can now run Guile without installing it.
9130 Previous versions of the interactive Guile interpreter (`guile')
9131 couldn't start up unless Guile's Scheme library had been installed;
9132 they used the value of the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH'
9133 later on in the startup process, but not to find the startup code
9134 itself. Now Guile uses `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' in all searches for Scheme
9137 To run Guile without installing it, build it in the normal way, and
9138 then set the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' to a
9139 colon-separated list of directories, including the top-level directory
9140 of the Guile sources. For example, if you unpacked Guile so that the
9141 full filename of this NEWS file is /home/jimb/guile-1.0b3/NEWS, then
9144 export SCHEME_LOAD_PATH=/home/jimb/my-scheme:/home/jimb/guile-1.0b3
9147 ** Guile's read-eval-print loop no longer prints #<unspecified>
9148 results. If the user wants to see this, she can evaluate the
9149 expression (assert-repl-print-unspecified #t), perhaps in her startup
9152 ** Guile no longer shows backtraces by default when an error occurs;
9153 however, it does display a message saying how to get one, and how to
9154 request that they be displayed by default. After an error, evaluate
9156 to see a backtrace, and
9157 (debug-enable 'backtrace)
9158 to see them by default.
9162 * Changes to Guile Scheme:
9164 ** Guile now distinguishes between #f and the empty list.
9166 This is for compatibility with the IEEE standard, the (possibly)
9167 upcoming Revised^5 Report on Scheme, and many extant Scheme
9170 Guile used to have #f and '() denote the same object, to make Scheme's
9171 type system more compatible with Emacs Lisp's. However, the change
9172 caused too much trouble for Scheme programmers, and we found another
9173 way to reconcile Emacs Lisp with Scheme that didn't require this.
9176 ** Guile's delq, delv, delete functions, and their destructive
9177 counterparts, delq!, delv!, and delete!, now remove all matching
9178 elements from the list, not just the first. This matches the behavior
9179 of the corresponding Emacs Lisp functions, and (I believe) the Maclisp
9180 functions which inspired them.
9182 I recognize that this change may break code in subtle ways, but it
9183 seems best to make the change before the FSF's first Guile release,
9187 ** The compiled-library-path function has been deleted from libguile.
9189 ** The facilities for loading Scheme source files have changed.
9191 *** The variable %load-path now tells Guile which directories to search
9192 for Scheme code. Its value is a list of strings, each of which names
9195 *** The variable %load-extensions now tells Guile which extensions to
9196 try appending to a filename when searching the load path. Its value
9197 is a list of strings. Its default value is ("" ".scm").
9199 *** (%search-load-path FILENAME) searches the directories listed in the
9200 value of the %load-path variable for a Scheme file named FILENAME,
9201 with all the extensions listed in %load-extensions. If it finds a
9202 match, then it returns its full filename. If FILENAME is absolute, it
9203 returns it unchanged. Otherwise, it returns #f.
9205 %search-load-path will not return matches that refer to directories.
9207 *** (primitive-load FILENAME :optional CASE-INSENSITIVE-P SHARP)
9208 uses %seach-load-path to find a file named FILENAME, and loads it if
9209 it finds it. If it can't read FILENAME for any reason, it throws an
9212 The arguments CASE-INSENSITIVE-P and SHARP are interpreted as by the
9215 *** load uses the same searching semantics as primitive-load.
9217 *** The functions %try-load, try-load-with-path, %load, load-with-path,
9218 basic-try-load-with-path, basic-load-with-path, try-load-module-with-
9219 path, and load-module-with-path have been deleted. The functions
9220 above should serve their purposes.
9222 *** If the value of the variable %load-hook is a procedure,
9223 `primitive-load' applies its value to the name of the file being
9224 loaded (without the load path directory name prepended). If its value
9225 is #f, it is ignored. Otherwise, an error occurs.
9227 This is mostly useful for printing load notification messages.
9230 ** The function `eval!' is no longer accessible from the scheme level.
9231 We can't allow operations which introduce glocs into the scheme level,
9232 because Guile's type system can't handle these as data. Use `eval' or
9233 `read-and-eval!' (see below) as replacement.
9235 ** The new function read-and-eval! reads an expression from PORT,
9236 evaluates it, and returns the result. This is more efficient than
9237 simply calling `read' and `eval', since it is not necessary to make a
9238 copy of the expression for the evaluator to munge.
9240 Its optional arguments CASE_INSENSITIVE_P and SHARP are interpreted as
9241 for the `read' function.
9244 ** The function `int?' has been removed; its definition was identical
9245 to that of `integer?'.
9247 ** The functions `<?', `<?', `<=?', `=?', `>?', and `>=?'. Code should
9248 use the R4RS names for these functions.
9250 ** The function object-properties no longer returns the hash handle;
9251 it simply returns the object's property list.
9253 ** Many functions have been changed to throw errors, instead of
9254 returning #f on failure. The point of providing exception handling in
9255 the language is to simplify the logic of user code, but this is less
9256 useful if Guile's primitives don't throw exceptions.
9258 ** The function `fileno' has been renamed from `%fileno'.
9260 ** The function primitive-mode->fdes returns #t or #f now, not 1 or 0.
9263 * Changes to Guile's C interface:
9265 ** The library's initialization procedure has been simplified.
9266 scm_boot_guile now has the prototype:
9268 void scm_boot_guile (int ARGC,
9270 void (*main_func) (),
9273 scm_boot_guile calls MAIN_FUNC, passing it CLOSURE, ARGC, and ARGV.
9274 MAIN_FUNC should do all the work of the program (initializing other
9275 packages, reading user input, etc.) before returning. When MAIN_FUNC
9276 returns, call exit (0); this function never returns. If you want some
9277 other exit value, MAIN_FUNC may call exit itself.
9279 scm_boot_guile arranges for program-arguments to return the strings
9280 given by ARGC and ARGV. If MAIN_FUNC modifies ARGC/ARGV, should call
9281 scm_set_program_arguments with the final list, so Scheme code will
9282 know which arguments have been processed.
9284 scm_boot_guile establishes a catch-all catch handler which prints an
9285 error message and exits the process. This means that Guile exits in a
9286 coherent way when system errors occur and the user isn't prepared to
9287 handle it. If the user doesn't like this behavior, they can establish
9288 their own universal catcher in MAIN_FUNC to shadow this one.
9290 Why must the caller do all the real work from MAIN_FUNC? The garbage
9291 collector assumes that all local variables of type SCM will be above
9292 scm_boot_guile's stack frame on the stack. If you try to manipulate
9293 SCM values after this function returns, it's the luck of the draw
9294 whether the GC will be able to find the objects you allocate. So,
9295 scm_boot_guile function exits, rather than returning, to discourage
9296 people from making that mistake.
9298 The IN, OUT, and ERR arguments were removed; there are other
9299 convenient ways to override these when desired.
9301 The RESULT argument was deleted; this function should never return.
9303 The BOOT_CMD argument was deleted; the MAIN_FUNC argument is more
9307 ** Guile's header files should no longer conflict with your system's
9310 In order to compile code which #included <libguile.h>, previous
9311 versions of Guile required you to add a directory containing all the
9312 Guile header files to your #include path. This was a problem, since
9313 Guile's header files have names which conflict with many systems'
9316 Now only <libguile.h> need appear in your #include path; you must
9317 refer to all Guile's other header files as <libguile/mumble.h>.
9318 Guile's installation procedure puts libguile.h in $(includedir), and
9319 the rest in $(includedir)/libguile.
9322 ** Two new C functions, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object,
9323 have been added to the Guile library.
9325 scm_protect_object (OBJ) protects OBJ from the garbage collector.
9326 OBJ will not be freed, even if all other references are dropped,
9327 until someone does scm_unprotect_object (OBJ). Both functions
9330 Note that calls to scm_protect_object do not nest. You can call
9331 scm_protect_object any number of times on a given object, and the
9332 next call to scm_unprotect_object will unprotect it completely.
9334 Basically, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object just
9335 maintain a list of references to things. Since the GC knows about
9336 this list, all objects it mentions stay alive. scm_protect_object
9337 adds its argument to the list; scm_unprotect_object remove its
9338 argument from the list.
9341 ** scm_eval_0str now returns the value of the last expression
9344 ** The new function scm_read_0str reads an s-expression from a
9345 null-terminated string, and returns it.
9347 ** The new function `scm_stdio_to_port' converts a STDIO file pointer
9348 to a Scheme port object.
9350 ** The new function `scm_set_program_arguments' allows C code to set
9351 the value returned by the Scheme `program-arguments' function.
9356 * Guile no longer includes sophisticated Tcl/Tk support.
9358 The old Tcl/Tk support was unsatisfying to us, because it required the
9359 user to link against the Tcl library, as well as Tk and Guile. The
9360 interface was also un-lispy, in that it preserved Tcl/Tk's practice of
9361 referring to widgets by names, rather than exporting widgets to Scheme
9362 code as a special datatype.
9364 In the Usenix Tk Developer's Workshop held in July 1996, the Tcl/Tk
9365 maintainers described some very interesting changes in progress to the
9366 Tcl/Tk internals, which would facilitate clean interfaces between lone
9367 Tk and other interpreters --- even for garbage-collected languages
9368 like Scheme. They expected the new Tk to be publicly available in the
9371 Since it seems that Guile might soon have a new, cleaner interface to
9372 lone Tk, and that the old Guile/Tk glue code would probably need to be
9373 completely rewritten, we (Jim Blandy and Richard Stallman) have
9374 decided not to support the old code. We'll spend the time instead on
9375 a good interface to the newer Tk, as soon as it is available.
9377 Until then, gtcltk-lib provides trivial, low-maintenance functionality.
9380 Copyright information:
9382 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
9384 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
9385 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
9386 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
9387 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
9389 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
9390 of this document, or of portions of it,
9391 under the above conditions, provided also that they
9392 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
9397 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"