1 Guile NEWS --- history of user-visible changes.
2 Copyright (C) 1996-2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 See the end for copying conditions.
5 Please send Guile bug reports to bug-guile@gnu.org.
8 Changes in 2.0.1 (since 2.0.0):
12 ** guile.m4 supports linking with rpath
14 The GUILE_FLAGS macro now sets GUILE_LIBS and GUILE_LTLIBS, which
15 include appropriate directives to the linker to include libguile-2.0.so
16 in the runtime library lookup path.
18 ** `begin' expands macros in its body before other expressions
20 This enables support for programs like the following:
25 (or (= x 0) (odd? (- x 1)))))
28 ((odd? x) (not (even? x)))))
31 ** REPL reader usability enhancements
33 The REPL now flushes input after a read error, which should prevent one
34 error from causing other errors. The REPL also now interprets comments
37 ** REPL output has configurable width
39 The REPL now defaults to output with the current terminal's width, in
40 columns. See "Debug Commands" in the manual for more information on
43 ** Better C access to the module system
45 Guile now has convenient C accessors to look up variables or values in
46 modules and their public interfaces. See `scm_c_public_ref' and friends
47 in "Accessing Modules from C" in the manual.
49 ** Added `scm_call_5', `scm_call_6'
51 See "Fly Evaluation" in the manual.
53 ** Added `scm_from_latin1_keyword', `scm_from_utf8_keyword'
55 See "Keyword Procedures" in the manual, for more. Note that
56 `scm_from_locale_keyword' should not be used when the name is a C string
59 ** R6RS unicode and string I/O work
61 Added efficient implementations of `get-string-n' and `get-string-n!'
62 for binary ports. Exported `current-input-port', `current-output-port'
63 and `current-error-port' from `(rnrs io ports)', and enhanced support
66 ** Added `pointer->scm', `scm->pointer' to `(system foreign)'
68 These procedure are useful if one needs to pass and receive SCM values
69 to and from foreign functions. See "Foreign Variables" in the manual,
72 ** Added `heap-allocated-since-gc' to `(gc-stats)'
74 Also fixed the long-standing bug in the REPL `,stat' command.
76 ** Add `on-error' REPL option
78 This option controls what happens when an error occurs at the REPL, and
79 defaults to `debug', indicating that Guile should enter the debugger.
80 Other values include `report', which will simply print a backtrace
81 without entering the debugger. See "System Commands" in the manual.
83 ** Enforce immutability of string literals
85 Attempting to mutate a string literal now causes a runtime error.
87 ** Fix pthread redirection
89 Guile 2.0.0 shipped with headers that, if configured with pthread
90 support, would re-define `pthread_create', `pthread_join', and other API
91 to redirect to the BDW-GC wrappers, `GC_pthread_create', etc. This was
92 unintended, and not necessary: because threads must enter Guile with
93 scm_with_guile, Guile can handle thread registration itself, without
94 needing to make the GC aware of all threads. This oversight has been
97 ** `with-continuation-barrier' now unwinds on `quit'
99 A throw to `quit' in a continuation barrier will cause Guile to exit.
100 Before, it would do so before unwinding to the barrier, which would
101 prevent cleanup handlers from running. This has been fixed so that it
102 exits only after unwinding.
104 ** `string->pointer' and `pointer->string' have optional encoding arg
106 This allows users of the FFI to more easily deal in strings with
107 particular (non-locale) encodings, like "utf-8". See "Void Pointers and
108 Byte Access" in the manual, for more.
110 ** R6RS fixnum arithmetic optimizations
112 R6RS fixnum operations are are still slower than generic arithmetic,
115 ** New procedure: `define-inlinable'
117 See "Inlinable Procedures" in the manual, for more.
119 ** New procedure: `exact-integer-sqrt'
121 See "Integer Operations" in the manual, for more.
123 ** "Extended read syntax" for symbols parses better
125 In #{foo}# symbols, backslashes are now treated as escapes, as the
126 symbol-printing code intended. Additionally, "\x" within #{foo}# is now
127 interpreted as starting an R6RS hex escape. This is backward compatible
128 because the symbol printer would never produce a "\x" before. The
129 printer also works better too.
133 ** GOOPS documentation updates
137 Thanks to Mark Harig for improvements to guile.1.
139 ** SRFI-23 documented
141 The humble `error' SRFI now has an entry in the manual.
145 ** `(ice-9 binary-ports)': XXX, in the manual
146 ** `(ice-9 eval-string)': "Fly Evaluation", in the manual
150 ** Fixed iconv_t memory leak on close-port
151 ** Fixed some leaks with weak hash tables
152 ** Export `vhash-delq' and `vhash-delv' from `(ice-9 vlist)'
153 ** `after-gc-hook' works again
154 ** `define-record-type' now allowed in nested contexts
155 ** `exact-integer-sqrt' now handles large integers correctly
156 ** Fixed C extension examples in manual
157 ** `vhash-delete' honors HASH argument
158 ** Make `locale-digit-grouping' more robust
159 ** Default exception printer robustness fixes
160 ** Fix presence of non-I CPPFLAGS in `guile-2.0.pc'
161 ** `read' updates line/column numbers when reading SCSH block comments
162 ** Fix imports of multiple custom interfaces of same module
163 ** Fix encoding scanning for non-seekable ports
164 ** Fix `setter' when called with a non-setter generic
165 ** Fix f32 and f64 bytevectors to not accept rationals
166 ** Fix description of the R6RS `finite?' in manual
167 ** Quotient, remainder and modulo accept inexact integers again
168 ** Fix `continue' within `while' to take zero arguments
169 ** Fix alignment for structures in FFI
170 ** Fix port-filename of stdin, stdout, stderr to match the docs
171 ** Fix weak hash table-related bug in `define-wrapped-pointer-type'
172 ** Fix partial continuation application with pending procedure calls
173 ** scm_{to,from}_locale_string use current locale, not current ports
174 ** Fix thread cleanup, by using a pthread_key destructor
175 ** Fix `quit' at the REPL
176 ** Fix a failure to sync regs in vm bytevector ops
177 ** Fix (texinfo reflection) to handle nested structures like syntax patterns
178 ** Fix stexi->html double translation
179 ** Fix tree-il->scheme fix for <prompt>
180 ** Fix compilation of <prompt> in <fix> in single-value context
181 ** Fix race condition in ensure-writable-dir
182 ** Fix error message on ,disassemble "non-procedure"
183 ** Fix prompt and abort with the boot evaluator
184 ** Fix `procedure->pointer' for functions returning `void'
185 ** Fix error reporting in dynamic-pointer
186 ** Fix problems detecting coding: in block comments
187 ** Fix duplicate load-path and load-compiled-path in compilation environment
188 ** Add fallback read(2) suppport for .go files if mmap(2) unavailable
189 ** Fix c32vector-set!, c64vector-set!
190 ** Fix mistakenly deprecated read syntax for uniform complex vectors
191 ** Fix parsing of exact numbers with negative exponents
192 ** Ignore SIGPIPE in (system repl server)
193 ** Fix optional second arg to R6RS log function
194 ** Fix R6RS `assert' to return true value.
195 ** Fix fencepost error when seeking in bytevector input ports
199 Changes in 2.0.0 (changes since the 1.8.x series):
201 * New modules (see the manual for details)
203 ** `(srfi srfi-18)', more sophisticated multithreading support
204 ** `(srfi srfi-27)', sources of random bits
205 ** `(srfi srfi-38)', External Representation for Data With Shared Structure
206 ** `(srfi srfi-42)', eager comprehensions
207 ** `(srfi srfi-45)', primitives for expressing iterative lazy algorithms
208 ** `(srfi srfi-67)', compare procedures
209 ** `(ice-9 i18n)', internationalization support
210 ** `(ice-9 futures)', fine-grain parallelism
211 ** `(rnrs bytevectors)', the R6RS bytevector API
212 ** `(rnrs io ports)', a subset of the R6RS I/O port API
213 ** `(system xref)', a cross-referencing facility (FIXME undocumented)
214 ** `(ice-9 vlist)', lists with constant-time random access; hash lists
215 ** `(system foreign)', foreign function interface
216 ** `(sxml match)', a pattern matcher for SXML
217 ** `(srfi srfi-9 gnu)', extensions to the SRFI-9 record library
218 ** `(system vm coverage)', a line-by-line code coverage library
219 ** `(web uri)', URI data type, parser, and unparser
220 ** `(web http)', HTTP header parsers and unparsers
221 ** `(web request)', HTTP request data type, reader, and writer
222 ** `(web response)', HTTP response data type, reader, and writer
223 ** `(web server)', Generic HTTP server
224 ** `(ice-9 poll)', a poll wrapper
225 ** `(web server http)', HTTP-over-TCP web server implementation
227 ** Replaced `(ice-9 match)' with Alex Shinn's compatible, hygienic matcher.
229 Guile's copy of Andrew K. Wright's `match' library has been replaced by
230 a compatible hygienic implementation by Alex Shinn. It is now
231 documented, see "Pattern Matching" in the manual.
233 Compared to Andrew K. Wright's `match', the new `match' lacks
234 `match-define', `match:error-control', `match:set-error-control',
235 `match:error', `match:set-error', and all structure-related procedures.
237 ** Imported statprof, SSAX, and texinfo modules from Guile-Lib
239 The statprof statistical profiler, the SSAX XML toolkit, and the texinfo
240 toolkit from Guile-Lib have been imported into Guile proper. See
241 "Standard Library" in the manual for more details.
243 ** Integration of lalr-scm, a parser generator
245 Guile has included Dominique Boucher's fine `lalr-scm' parser generator
246 as `(system base lalr)'. See "LALR(1) Parsing" in the manual, for more
249 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
251 ** Guile now can compile Scheme to bytecode for a custom virtual machine.
253 Compiled code loads much faster than Scheme source code, and runs around
254 3 or 4 times as fast, generating much less garbage in the process.
256 ** Evaluating Scheme code does not use the C stack.
258 Besides when compiling Guile itself, Guile no longer uses a recursive C
259 function as an evaluator. This obviates the need to check the C stack
260 pointer for overflow. Continuations still capture the C stack, however.
262 ** New environment variables: GUILE_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH,
263 GUILE_SYSTEM_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH
265 GUILE_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH is for compiled files what GUILE_LOAD_PATH is
266 for source files. It is a different path, however, because compiled
267 files are architecture-specific. GUILE_SYSTEM_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH is like
270 ** New read-eval-print loop (REPL) implementation
272 Running Guile with no arguments drops the user into the new REPL. See
273 "Using Guile Interactively" in the manual, for more information.
275 ** Remove old Emacs interface
277 Guile had an unused `--emacs' command line argument that was supposed to
278 help when running Guile inside Emacs. This option has been removed, and
279 the helper functions `named-module-use!' and `load-emacs-interface' have
282 ** Add `(system repl server)' module and `--listen' command-line argument
284 The `(system repl server)' module exposes procedures to listen on
285 sockets for connections, and serve REPLs to those clients. The --listen
286 command-line argument allows any Guile program to thus be remotely
289 See "Invoking Guile" for more information on `--listen'.
291 ** Command line additions
293 The guile binary now supports a new switch "-x", which can be used to
294 extend the list of filename extensions tried when loading files
297 ** New reader options: `square-brackets', `r6rs-hex-escapes',
300 The reader supports a new option (changeable via `read-options'),
301 `square-brackets', which instructs it to interpret square brackets as
302 parentheses. This option is on by default.
304 When the new `r6rs-hex-escapes' reader option is enabled, the reader
305 will recognize string escape sequences as defined in R6RS. R6RS string
306 escape sequences are incompatible with Guile's existing escapes, though,
307 so this option is off by default.
309 Additionally, Guile follows the R6RS newline escaping rules when the
310 `hungry-eol-escapes' option is enabled.
312 See "String Syntax" in the manual, for more information.
314 ** Function profiling and tracing at the REPL
316 The `,profile FORM' REPL meta-command can now be used to statistically
317 profile execution of a form, to see which functions are taking the most
318 time. See `,help profile' for more information.
320 Similarly, `,trace FORM' traces all function applications that occur
321 during the execution of `FORM'. See `,help trace' for more information.
323 ** Recursive debugging REPL on error
325 When Guile sees an error at the REPL, instead of saving the stack, Guile
326 will directly enter a recursive REPL in the dynamic context of the
327 error. See "Error Handling" in the manual, for more information.
329 A recursive REPL is the same as any other REPL, except that it
330 has been augmented with debugging information, so that one can inspect
331 the context of the error. The debugger has been integrated with the REPL
332 via a set of debugging meta-commands.
334 For example, one may access a backtrace with `,backtrace' (or
335 `,bt'). See "Interactive Debugging" in the manual, for more
338 ** New `guile-tools' commands: `compile', `disassemble'
340 Pass the `--help' command-line option to these commands for more
343 ** Guile now adds its install prefix to the LTDL_LIBRARY_PATH
345 Users may now install Guile to nonstandard prefixes and just run
346 `/path/to/bin/guile', instead of also having to set LTDL_LIBRARY_PATH to
347 include `/path/to/lib'.
349 ** Guile's Emacs integration is now more keyboard-friendly
351 Backtraces may now be disclosed with the keyboard in addition to the
354 ** Load path change: search in version-specific paths before site paths
356 When looking for a module, Guile now searches first in Guile's
357 version-specific path (the library path), *then* in the site dir. This
358 allows Guile's copy of SSAX to override any Guile-Lib copy the user has
359 installed. Also it should cut the number of `stat' system calls by half,
362 ** Value history in the REPL on by default
364 By default, the REPL will save computed values in variables like `$1',
365 `$2', and the like. There are programmatic and interactive interfaces to
366 control this. See "Value History" in the manual, for more information.
368 ** Readline tab completion for arguments
370 When readline is enabled, tab completion works for arguments too, not
371 just for the operator position.
373 ** Expression-oriented readline history
375 Guile's readline history now tries to operate on expressions instead of
376 input lines. Let us know what you think!
378 ** Interactive Guile follows GNU conventions
380 As recommended by the GPL, Guile now shows a brief copyright and
381 warranty disclaimer on startup, along with pointers to more information.
383 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
385 ** Support for R6RS libraries
387 The `library' and `import' forms from the latest Scheme report have been
388 added to Guile, in such a way that R6RS libraries share a namespace with
389 Guile modules. R6RS modules may import Guile modules, and are available
390 for Guile modules to import via use-modules and all the rest. See "R6RS
391 Libraries" in the manual for more information.
393 ** Implementations of R6RS libraries
395 Guile now has implementations for all of the libraries defined in the
396 R6RS. Thanks to Julian Graham for this excellent hack. See "R6RS
397 Standard Libraries" in the manual for a full list of libraries.
399 ** Partial R6RS compatibility
401 Guile now has enough support for R6RS to run a reasonably large subset
404 Guile is not fully R6RS compatible. Many incompatibilities are simply
405 bugs, though some parts of Guile will remain R6RS-incompatible for the
406 foreseeable future. See "R6RS Incompatibilities" in the manual, for more
409 Please contact bug-guile@gnu.org if you have found an issue not
410 mentioned in that compatibility list.
412 ** New implementation of `primitive-eval'
414 Guile's `primitive-eval' is now implemented in Scheme. Actually there is
415 still a C evaluator, used when building a fresh Guile to interpret the
416 compiler, so we can compile eval.scm. Thereafter all calls to
417 primitive-eval are implemented by VM-compiled code.
419 This allows all of Guile's procedures, be they interpreted or compiled,
420 to execute on the same stack, unifying multiple-value return semantics,
421 providing for proper tail recursion between interpreted and compiled
422 code, and simplifying debugging.
424 As part of this change, the evaluator no longer mutates the internal
425 representation of the code being evaluated in a thread-unsafe manner.
427 There are two negative aspects of this change, however. First, Guile
428 takes a lot longer to compile now. Also, there is less debugging
429 information available for debugging interpreted code. We hope to improve
430 both of these situations.
432 There are many changes to the internal C evalator interface, but all
433 public interfaces should be the same. See the ChangeLog for details. If
434 we have inadvertantly changed an interface that you were using, please
435 contact bug-guile@gnu.org.
437 ** Procedure removed: `the-environment'
439 This procedure was part of the interpreter's execution model, and does
440 not apply to the compiler.
442 ** No more `local-eval'
444 `local-eval' used to exist so that one could evaluate code in the
445 lexical context of a function. Since there is no way to get the lexical
446 environment any more, as that concept has no meaning for the compiler,
447 and a different meaning for the interpreter, we have removed the
450 If you think you need `local-eval', you should probably implement your
451 own metacircular evaluator. It will probably be as fast as Guile's
454 ** Scheme source files will now be compiled automatically.
456 If a compiled .go file corresponding to a .scm file is not found or is
457 not fresh, the .scm file will be compiled on the fly, and the resulting
458 .go file stored away. An advisory note will be printed on the console.
460 Note that this mechanism depends on the timestamp of the .go file being
461 newer than that of the .scm file; if the .scm or .go files are moved
462 after installation, care should be taken to preserve their original
465 Auto-compiled files will be stored in the $XDG_CACHE_HOME/guile/ccache
466 directory, where $XDG_CACHE_HOME defaults to ~/.cache. This directory
467 will be created if needed.
469 To inhibit automatic compilation, set the GUILE_AUTO_COMPILE environment
470 variable to 0, or pass --no-auto-compile on the Guile command line.
472 ** New POSIX procedures: `getrlimit' and `setrlimit'
474 Note however that the interface of these functions is likely to change
475 in the next prerelease.
477 ** New POSIX procedure: `getsid'
479 Scheme binding for the `getsid' C library call.
481 ** New POSIX procedure: `getaddrinfo'
483 Scheme binding for the `getaddrinfo' C library function.
485 ** Multicast socket options
487 Support was added for the IP_MULTICAST_TTL and IP_MULTICAST_IF socket
488 options. See "Network Sockets and Communication" in the manual, for
491 ** `recv!', `recvfrom!', `send', `sendto' now deal in bytevectors
493 These socket procedures now take bytevectors as arguments, instead of
494 strings. There is some deprecated string support, however.
496 ** New GNU procedures: `setaffinity' and `getaffinity'.
498 See "Processes" in the manual, for more information.
500 ** New procedures: `compose', `negate', and `const'
502 See "Higher-Order Functions" in the manual, for more information.
504 ** New procedure in `(oops goops)': `method-formals'
506 ** New procedures in (ice-9 session): `add-value-help-handler!',
507 `remove-value-help-handler!', `add-name-help-handler!'
508 `remove-name-help-handler!', `procedure-arguments'
510 The value and name help handlers provide some minimal extensibility to
511 the help interface. Guile-lib's `(texinfo reflection)' uses them, for
512 example, to make stexinfo help documentation available. See those
513 procedures' docstrings for more information.
515 `procedure-arguments' describes the arguments that a procedure can take,
516 combining arity and formals. For example:
518 (procedure-arguments resolve-interface)
519 => ((required . (name)) (rest . args))
521 Additionally, `module-commentary' is now publically exported from
524 ** Removed: `procedure->memoizing-macro', `procedure->syntax'
526 These procedures created primitive fexprs for the old evaluator, and are
527 no longer supported. If you feel that you need these functions, you
528 probably need to write your own metacircular evaluator (which will
529 probably be as fast as Guile's, anyway).
531 ** New language: ECMAScript
533 Guile now ships with one other high-level language supported,
534 ECMAScript. The goal is to support all of version 3.1 of the standard,
535 but not all of the libraries are there yet. This support is not yet
536 documented; ask on the mailing list if you are interested.
538 ** New language: Brainfuck
540 Brainfuck is a toy language that closely models Turing machines. Guile's
541 brainfuck compiler is meant to be an example of implementing other
542 languages. See the manual for details, or
543 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainfuck for more information about the
544 Brainfuck language itself.
546 ** New language: Elisp
548 Guile now has an experimental Emacs Lisp compiler and runtime. You can
549 now switch to Elisp at the repl: `,language elisp'. All kudos to Daniel
550 Kraft and Brian Templeton, and all bugs to bug-guile@gnu.org.
552 ** Better documentation infrastructure for macros
554 It is now possible to introspect on the type of a macro, e.g.
555 syntax-rules, identifier-syntax, etc, and extract information about that
556 macro, such as the syntax-rules patterns or the defmacro arguments.
557 `(texinfo reflection)' takes advantage of this to give better macro
560 ** Support for arbitrary procedure metadata
562 Building on its support for docstrings, Guile now supports multiple
563 docstrings, adding them to the tail of a compiled procedure's
564 properties. For example:
570 (procedure-properties foo)
571 => ((name . foo) (documentation . "one") (documentation . "two"))
573 Also, vectors of pairs are now treated as additional metadata entries:
576 #((quz . #f) (docstring . "xyzzy"))
578 (procedure-properties bar)
579 => ((name . bar) (quz . #f) (docstring . "xyzzy"))
581 This allows arbitrary literals to be embedded as metadata in a compiled
584 ** The psyntax expander now knows how to interpret the @ and @@ special
587 ** The psyntax expander is now hygienic with respect to modules.
589 Free variables in a macro are scoped in the module that the macro was
590 defined in, not in the module the macro is used in. For example, code
593 (define-module (foo) #:export (bar))
594 (define (helper x) ...)
596 (syntax-rules () ((_ x) (helper x))))
598 (define-module (baz) #:use-module (foo))
601 It used to be you had to export `helper' from `(foo)' as well.
602 Thankfully, this has been fixed.
604 ** Support for version information in Guile's `module' form
606 Guile modules now have a `#:version' field. See "R6RS Version
607 References", "General Information about Modules", "Using Guile Modules",
608 and "Creating Guile Modules" in the manual for more information.
610 ** Support for renaming bindings on module export
612 Wherever Guile accepts a symbol as an argument to specify a binding to
613 export, it now also accepts a pair of symbols, indicating that a binding
614 should be renamed on export. See "Creating Guile Modules" in the manual
615 for more information.
617 ** New procedure: `module-export-all!'
619 This procedure exports all current and future bindings from a module.
620 Use as `(module-export-all! (current-module))'.
622 ** New procedure `reload-module', and `,reload' REPL command
624 See "Module System Reflection" and "Module Commands" in the manual, for
627 ** `eval-case' has been deprecated, and replaced by `eval-when'.
629 The semantics of `eval-when' are easier to understand. See "Eval When"
630 in the manual, for more information.
632 ** Guile is now more strict about prohibiting definitions in expression
635 Although previous versions of Guile accepted it, the following
636 expression is not valid, in R5RS or R6RS:
638 (if test (define foo 'bar) (define foo 'baz))
640 In this specific case, it would be better to do:
642 (define foo (if test 'bar 'baz))
644 It is possible to circumvent this restriction with e.g.
645 `(module-define! (current-module) 'foo 'baz)'. Contact the list if you
648 ** Support for `letrec*'
650 Guile now supports `letrec*', a recursive lexical binding operator in
651 which the identifiers are bound in order. See "Local Bindings" in the
652 manual, for more details.
654 ** Internal definitions now expand to `letrec*'
656 Following the R6RS, internal definitions now expand to letrec* instead
657 of letrec. The following program is invalid for R5RS, but valid for
662 (define baz (+ bar 20))
665 ;; R5RS and Guile <= 1.8:
666 (foo) => Unbound variable: bar
667 ;; R6RS and Guile >= 2.0:
670 This change should not affect correct R5RS programs, or programs written
671 in earlier Guile dialects.
673 ** Macro expansion produces structures instead of s-expressions
675 In the olden days, macroexpanding an s-expression would yield another
676 s-expression. Though the lexical variables were renamed, expansions of
677 core forms like `if' and `begin' were still non-hygienic, as they relied
678 on the toplevel definitions of `if' et al being the conventional ones.
680 The solution is to expand to structures instead of s-expressions. There
681 is an `if' structure, a `begin' structure, a `toplevel-ref' structure,
682 etc. The expander already did this for compilation, producing Tree-IL
683 directly; it has been changed now to do so when expanding for the
686 ** Defmacros must now produce valid Scheme expressions.
688 It used to be that defmacros could unquote in Scheme values, as a way of
689 supporting partial evaluation, and avoiding some hygiene issues. For
692 (define (helper x) ...)
693 (define-macro (foo bar)
696 Assuming this macro is in the `(baz)' module, the direct translation of
699 (define (helper x) ...)
700 (define-macro (foo bar)
701 `((@@ (baz) helper) ,bar))
703 Of course, one could just use a hygienic macro instead:
707 ((_ bar) (helper bar))))
709 ** Guile's psyntax now supports docstrings and internal definitions.
711 The following Scheme is not strictly legal:
718 However its intent is fairly clear. Guile interprets "bar" to be the
719 docstring of `foo', and the definition of `baz' is still in definition
722 ** Support for settable identifier syntax
724 Following the R6RS, "variable transformers" are settable
725 identifier-syntax. See "Identifier macros" in the manual, for more
728 ** syntax-case treats `_' as a placeholder
730 Following R6RS, a `_' in a syntax-rules or syntax-case pattern matches
731 anything, and binds no pattern variables. Unlike the R6RS, Guile also
732 permits `_' to be in the literals list for a pattern.
734 ** Macros need to be defined before their first use.
736 It used to be that with lazy memoization, this might work:
740 (define-macro (ref x) x)
743 But now, the body of `foo' is interpreted to mean a call to the toplevel
744 `ref' function, instead of a macro expansion. The solution is to define
745 macros before code that uses them.
747 ** Functions needed by macros at expand-time need to be present at
750 For example, this code will work at the REPL:
752 (define (double-helper x) (* x x))
753 (define-macro (double-literal x) (double-helper x))
754 (double-literal 2) => 4
756 But it will not work when a file is compiled, because the definition of
757 `double-helper' is not present at expand-time. The solution is to wrap
758 the definition of `double-helper' in `eval-when':
760 (eval-when (load compile eval)
761 (define (double-helper x) (* x x)))
762 (define-macro (double-literal x) (double-helper x))
763 (double-literal 2) => 4
765 See the documentation for eval-when for more information.
767 ** `macroexpand' produces structures, not S-expressions.
769 Given the need to maintain referential transparency, both lexically and
770 modular, the result of expanding Scheme expressions is no longer itself
771 an s-expression. If you want a human-readable approximation of the
772 result of `macroexpand', call `tree-il->scheme' from `(language
775 ** Removed function: `macroexpand-1'
777 It is unclear how to implement `macroexpand-1' with syntax-case, though
778 PLT Scheme does prove that it is possible.
780 ** New reader macros: #' #` #, #,@
782 These macros translate, respectively, to `syntax', `quasisyntax',
783 `unsyntax', and `unsyntax-splicing'. See the R6RS for more information.
784 These reader macros may be overridden by `read-hash-extend'.
786 ** Incompatible change to #'
788 Guile did have a #' hash-extension, by default, which just returned the
789 subsequent datum: #'foo => foo. In the unlikely event that anyone
790 actually used this, this behavior may be reinstated via the
791 `read-hash-extend' mechanism.
793 ** `unquote' and `unquote-splicing' accept multiple expressions
795 As per the R6RS, these syntax operators can now accept any number of
796 expressions to unquote.
798 ** Scheme expresssions may be commented out with #;
800 #; comments out an entire expression. See SRFI-62 or the R6RS for more
803 ** Prompts: Delimited, composable continuations
805 Guile now has prompts as part of its primitive language. See "Prompts"
806 in the manual, for more information.
808 Expressions entered in at the REPL, or from the command line, are
809 surrounded by a prompt with the default prompt tag.
811 ** `make-stack' with a tail-called procedural narrowing argument no longer
812 works (with compiled procedures)
814 It used to be the case that a captured stack could be narrowed to select
815 calls only up to or from a certain procedure, even if that procedure
816 already tail-called another procedure. This was because the debug
817 information from the original procedure was kept on the stack.
819 Now with the new compiler, the stack only contains active frames from
820 the current continuation. A narrow to a procedure that is not in the
821 stack will result in an empty stack. To fix this, narrow to a procedure
822 that is active in the current continuation, or narrow to a specific
823 number of stack frames.
825 ** Backtraces through compiled procedures only show procedures that are
826 active in the current continuation
828 Similarly to the previous issue, backtraces in compiled code may be
829 different from backtraces in interpreted code. There are no semantic
830 differences, however. Please mail bug-guile@gnu.org if you see any
831 deficiencies with Guile's backtraces.
833 ** `positions' reader option enabled by default
835 This change allows primitive-load without --auto-compile to also
836 propagate source information through the expander, for better errors and
837 to let macros know their source locations. The compiler was already
838 turning it on anyway.
840 ** New macro: `current-source-location'
842 The macro returns the current source location (to be documented).
844 ** syntax-rules and syntax-case macros now propagate source information
845 through to the expanded code
847 This should result in better backtraces.
849 ** The currying behavior of `define' has been removed.
851 Before, `(define ((f a) b) (* a b))' would translate to
853 (define f (lambda (a) (lambda (b) (* a b))))
855 Now a syntax error is signaled, as this syntax is not supported by
856 default. Use the `(ice-9 curried-definitions)' module to get back the
859 ** New procedure, `define!'
861 `define!' is a procedure that takes two arguments, a symbol and a value,
862 and binds the value to the symbol in the current module. It's useful to
863 programmatically make definitions in the current module, and is slightly
864 less verbose than `module-define!'.
866 ** All modules have names now
868 Before, you could have anonymous modules: modules without names. Now,
869 because of hygiene and macros, all modules have names. If a module was
870 created without a name, the first time `module-name' is called on it, a
871 fresh name will be lazily generated for it.
873 ** The module namespace is now separate from the value namespace
875 It was a little-known implementation detail of Guile's module system
876 that it was built on a single hierarchical namespace of values -- that
877 if there was a module named `(foo bar)', then in the module named
878 `(foo)' there was a binding from `bar' to the `(foo bar)' module.
880 This was a neat trick, but presented a number of problems. One problem
881 was that the bindings in a module were not apparent from the module
882 itself; perhaps the `(foo)' module had a private binding for `bar', and
883 then an external contributor defined `(foo bar)'. In the end there can
884 be only one binding, so one of the two will see the wrong thing, and
885 produce an obtuse error of unclear provenance.
887 Also, the public interface of a module was also bound in the value
888 namespace, as `%module-public-interface'. This was a hack from the early
889 days of Guile's modules.
891 Both of these warts have been fixed by the addition of fields in the
892 `module' data type. Access to modules and their interfaces from the
893 value namespace has been deprecated, and all accessors use the new
894 record accessors appropriately.
896 When Guile is built with support for deprecated code, as is the default,
897 the value namespace is still searched for modules and public interfaces,
898 and a deprecation warning is raised as appropriate.
900 Finally, to support lazy loading of modules as one used to be able to do
901 with module binder procedures, Guile now has submodule binders, called
902 if a given submodule is not found. See boot-9.scm for more information.
904 ** New procedures: module-ref-submodule, module-define-submodule,
905 nested-ref-module, nested-define-module!, local-ref-module,
908 These new accessors are like their bare variants, but operate on
909 namespaces instead of values.
911 ** The (app modules) module tree is officially deprecated
913 It used to be that one could access a module named `(foo bar)' via
914 `(nested-ref the-root-module '(app modules foo bar))'. The `(app
915 modules)' bit was a never-used and never-documented abstraction, and has
916 been deprecated. See the following mail for a full discussion:
918 http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guile-devel/2010-04/msg00168.html
920 The `%app' binding is also deprecated.
922 ** `module-filename' field and accessor
924 Modules now record the file in which they are defined. This field may be
925 accessed with the new `module-filename' procedure.
927 ** Modules load within a known environment
929 It takes a few procedure calls to define a module, and those procedure
930 calls need to be in scope. Now we ensure that the current module when
931 loading a module is one that has the needed bindings, instead of relying
934 ** `load' is a macro (!) that resolves paths relative to source file dir
936 The familiar Schem `load' procedure is now a macro that captures the
937 name of the source file being expanded, and dispatches to the new
938 `load-in-vicinity'. Referencing `load' by bare name returns a closure
939 that embeds the current source file name.
941 This fix allows `load' of relative paths to be resolved with respect to
942 the location of the file that calls `load'.
944 ** Many syntax errors have different texts now
946 Syntax errors still throw to the `syntax-error' key, but the arguments
947 are often different now. Perhaps in the future, Guile will switch to
948 using standard SRFI-35 conditions.
950 ** Returning multiple values to compiled code will silently truncate the
951 values to the expected number
953 For example, the interpreter would raise an error evaluating the form,
954 `(+ (values 1 2) (values 3 4))', because it would see the operands as
955 being two compound "values" objects, to which `+' does not apply.
957 The compiler, on the other hand, receives multiple values on the stack,
958 not as a compound object. Given that it must check the number of values
959 anyway, if too many values are provided for a continuation, it chooses
960 to truncate those values, effectively evaluating `(+ 1 3)' instead.
962 The idea is that the semantics that the compiler implements is more
963 intuitive, and the use of the interpreter will fade out with time.
964 This behavior is allowed both by the R5RS and the R6RS.
966 ** Multiple values in compiled code are not represented by compound
969 This change may manifest itself in the following situation:
971 (let ((val (foo))) (do-something) val)
973 In the interpreter, if `foo' returns multiple values, multiple values
974 are produced from the `let' expression. In the compiler, those values
975 are truncated to the first value, and that first value is returned. In
976 the compiler, if `foo' returns no values, an error will be raised, while
977 the interpreter would proceed.
979 Both of these behaviors are allowed by R5RS and R6RS. The compiler's
980 behavior is more correct, however. If you wish to preserve a potentially
981 multiply-valued return, you will need to set up a multiple-value
982 continuation, using `call-with-values'.
984 ** Defmacros are now implemented in terms of syntax-case.
986 The practical ramification of this is that the `defmacro?' predicate has
987 been removed, along with `defmacro-transformer', `macro-table',
988 `xformer-table', `assert-defmacro?!', `set-defmacro-transformer!' and
989 `defmacro:transformer'. This is because defmacros are simply macros. If
990 any of these procedures provided useful facilities to you, we encourage
991 you to contact the Guile developers.
993 ** Hygienic macros documented as the primary syntactic extension mechanism.
995 The macro documentation was finally fleshed out with some documentation
996 on `syntax-rules' and `syntax-case' macros, and other parts of the macro
997 expansion process. See "Macros" in the manual, for details.
999 ** psyntax is now the default expander
1001 Scheme code is now expanded by default by the psyntax hygienic macro
1002 expander. Expansion is performed completely before compilation or
1005 Notably, syntax errors will be signalled before interpretation begins.
1006 In the past, many syntax errors were only detected at runtime if the
1007 code in question was memoized.
1009 As part of its expansion, psyntax renames all lexically-bound
1010 identifiers. Original identifier names are preserved and given to the
1011 compiler, but the interpreter will see the renamed variables, e.g.,
1012 `x432' instead of `x'.
1014 Note that the psyntax that Guile uses is a fork, as Guile already had
1015 modules before incompatible modules were added to psyntax -- about 10
1016 years ago! Thus there are surely a number of bugs that have been fixed
1017 in psyntax since then. If you find one, please notify bug-guile@gnu.org.
1019 ** syntax-rules and syntax-case are available by default.
1021 There is no longer any need to import the `(ice-9 syncase)' module
1022 (which is now deprecated). The expander may be invoked directly via
1023 `macroexpand', though it is normally searched for via the current module
1026 Also, the helper routines for syntax-case are available in the default
1027 environment as well: `syntax->datum', `datum->syntax',
1028 `bound-identifier=?', `free-identifier=?', `generate-temporaries',
1029 `identifier?', and `syntax-violation'. See the R6RS for documentation.
1031 ** Tail patterns in syntax-case
1033 Guile has pulled in some more recent changes from the psyntax portable
1034 syntax expander, to implement support for "tail patterns". Such patterns
1035 are supported by syntax-rules and syntax-case. This allows a syntax-case
1036 match clause to have ellipses, then a pattern at the end. For example:
1039 (syntax-rules (else)
1040 ((_ val match-clause ... (else e e* ...))
1043 Note how there is MATCH-CLAUSE, which is ellipsized, then there is a
1044 tail pattern for the else clause. Thanks to Andreas Rottmann for the
1045 patch, and Kent Dybvig for the code.
1047 ** Lexical bindings introduced by hygienic macros may not be referenced
1048 by nonhygienic macros.
1050 If a lexical binding is introduced by a hygienic macro, it may not be
1051 referenced by a nonhygienic macro. For example, this works:
1054 (define-macro (bind-x val body)
1055 `(let ((x ,val)) ,body))
1056 (define-macro (ref x)
1058 (bind-x 10 (ref x)))
1063 (define-syntax bind-x
1065 ((_ val body) (let ((x val)) body))))
1066 (define-macro (ref x)
1068 (bind-x 10 (ref x)))
1070 It is not normal to run into this situation with existing code. However,
1071 if you have defmacros that expand to hygienic macros, it is possible to
1072 run into situations like this. For example, if you have a defmacro that
1073 generates a `while' expression, the `break' bound by the `while' may not
1074 be visible within other parts of your defmacro. The solution is to port
1075 from defmacros to syntax-rules or syntax-case.
1077 ** Macros may no longer be referenced as first-class values.
1079 In the past, you could evaluate e.g. `if', and get its macro value. Now,
1080 expanding this form raises a syntax error.
1082 Macros still /exist/ as first-class values, but they must be
1083 /referenced/ via the module system, e.g. `(module-ref (current-module)
1086 ** Macros may now have docstrings.
1088 `object-documentation' from `(ice-9 documentation)' may be used to
1089 retrieve the docstring, once you have a macro value -- but see the above
1090 note about first-class macros. Docstrings are associated with the syntax
1091 transformer procedures.
1093 ** `case-lambda' is now available in the default environment.
1095 The binding in the default environment is equivalent to the one from the
1096 `(srfi srfi-16)' module. Use the srfi-16 module explicitly if you wish
1097 to maintain compatibility with Guile 1.8 and earlier.
1099 ** Procedures may now have more than one arity.
1101 This can be the case, for example, in case-lambda procedures. The
1102 arities of compiled procedures may be accessed via procedures from the
1103 `(system vm program)' module; see "Compiled Procedures", "Optional
1104 Arguments", and "Case-lambda" in the manual.
1106 ** Deprecate arity access via (procedure-properties proc 'arity)
1108 Instead of accessing a procedure's arity as a property, use the new
1109 `procedure-minimum-arity' function, which gives the most permissive
1110 arity that the the function has, in the same format as the old arity
1113 ** `lambda*' and `define*' are now available in the default environment
1115 As with `case-lambda', `(ice-9 optargs)' continues to be supported, for
1116 compatibility purposes. No semantic change has been made (we hope).
1117 Optional and keyword arguments now dispatch via special VM operations,
1118 without the need to cons rest arguments, making them very fast.
1120 ** New syntax: define-once
1122 `define-once' is like Lisp's `defvar': it creates a toplevel binding,
1123 but only if one does not exist already.
1125 ** New function, `truncated-print', with `format' support
1127 `(ice-9 pretty-print)' now exports `truncated-print', a printer that
1128 will ensure that the output stays within a certain width, truncating the
1129 output in what is hopefully an intelligent manner. See the manual for
1132 There is a new `format' specifier, `~@y', for doing a truncated
1133 print (as opposed to `~y', which does a pretty-print). See the `format'
1134 documentation for more details.
1136 ** Better pretty-printing
1138 Indentation recognizes more special forms, like `syntax-case', and read
1139 macros like `quote' are printed better.
1141 ** Passing a number as the destination of `format' is deprecated
1143 The `format' procedure in `(ice-9 format)' now emits a deprecation
1144 warning if a number is passed as its first argument.
1146 Also, it used to be that you could omit passing a port to `format', in
1147 some cases. This still works, but has been formally deprecated.
1149 ** SRFI-4 vectors reimplemented in terms of R6RS bytevectors
1151 Guile now implements SRFI-4 vectors using bytevectors. Often when you
1152 have a numeric vector, you end up wanting to write its bytes somewhere,
1153 or have access to the underlying bytes, or read in bytes from somewhere
1154 else. Bytevectors are very good at this sort of thing. But the SRFI-4
1155 APIs are nicer to use when doing number-crunching, because they are
1156 addressed by element and not by byte.
1158 So as a compromise, Guile allows all bytevector functions to operate on
1159 numeric vectors. They address the underlying bytes in the native
1160 endianness, as one would expect.
1162 Following the same reasoning, that it's just bytes underneath, Guile
1163 also allows uniform vectors of a given type to be accessed as if they
1164 were of any type. One can fill a u32vector, and access its elements with
1165 u8vector-ref. One can use f64vector-ref on bytevectors. It's all the
1168 In this way, uniform numeric vectors may be written to and read from
1169 input/output ports using the procedures that operate on bytevectors.
1171 Calls to SRFI-4 accessors (ref and set functions) from Scheme are now
1172 inlined to the VM instructions for bytevector access.
1174 See "SRFI-4" in the manual, for more information.
1176 ** Nonstandard SRFI-4 procedures now available from `(srfi srfi-4 gnu)'
1178 Guile's `(srfi srfi-4)' now only exports those srfi-4 procedures that
1179 are part of the standard. Complex uniform vectors and the
1180 `any->FOOvector' family are now available only from `(srfi srfi-4 gnu)'.
1182 Guile's default environment imports `(srfi srfi-4)', and probably should
1183 import `(srfi srfi-4 gnu)' as well.
1185 See "SRFI-4 Extensions" in the manual, for more information.
1187 ** New syntax: include-from-path.
1189 `include-from-path' is like `include', except it looks for its file in
1190 the load path. It can be used to compile other files into a file.
1192 ** New syntax: quasisyntax.
1194 `quasisyntax' is to `syntax' as `quasiquote' is to `quote'. See the R6RS
1195 documentation for more information. Thanks to Andre van Tonder for the
1198 ** `*unspecified*' is identifier syntax
1200 `*unspecified*' is no longer a variable, so it is optimized properly by
1201 the compiler, and is not `set!'-able.
1203 ** Changes and bugfixes in numerics code
1205 *** Added six new sets of fast quotient and remainder operators
1207 Added six new sets of fast quotient and remainder operator pairs with
1208 different semantics than the R5RS operators. They support not only
1209 integers, but all reals, including exact rationals and inexact
1210 floating point numbers.
1212 These procedures accept two real numbers N and D, where the divisor D
1213 must be non-zero. Each set of operators computes an integer quotient
1214 Q and a real remainder R such that N = Q*D + R and |R| < |D|. They
1215 differ only in how N/D is rounded to produce Q.
1217 `euclidean-quotient' returns the integer Q and `euclidean-remainder'
1218 returns the real R such that N = Q*D + R and 0 <= R < |D|. `euclidean/'
1219 returns both Q and R, and is more efficient than computing each
1220 separately. Note that when D > 0, `euclidean-quotient' returns
1221 floor(N/D), and when D < 0 it returns ceiling(N/D).
1223 `centered-quotient', `centered-remainder', and `centered/' are similar
1224 except that the range of remainders is -abs(D/2) <= R < abs(D/2), and
1225 `centered-quotient' rounds N/D to the nearest integer. Note that these
1226 operators are equivalent to the R6RS integer division operators `div',
1227 `mod', `div-and-mod', `div0', `mod0', and `div0-and-mod0'.
1229 `floor-quotient' and `floor-remainder' compute Q and R, respectively,
1230 where Q has been rounded toward negative infinity. `floor/' returns
1231 both Q and R, and is more efficient than computing each separately.
1232 Note that when applied to integers, `floor-remainder' is equivalent to
1233 the R5RS integer-only `modulo' operator. `ceiling-quotient',
1234 `ceiling-remainder', and `ceiling/' are similar except that Q is
1235 rounded toward positive infinity.
1237 For `truncate-quotient', `truncate-remainder', and `truncate/', Q is
1238 rounded toward zero. Note that when applied to integers,
1239 `truncate-quotient' and `truncate-remainder' are equivalent to the
1240 R5RS integer-only operators `quotient' and `remainder'.
1242 For `round-quotient', `round-remainder', and `round/', Q is rounded to
1243 the nearest integer, with ties going to the nearest even integer.
1245 *** Complex number changes
1247 Guile is now able to represent non-real complex numbers whose
1248 imaginary part is an _inexact_ zero (0.0 or -0.0), per R6RS.
1249 Previously, such numbers were immediately changed into inexact reals.
1251 (real? 0.0+0.0i) now returns #f, per R6RS, although (zero? 0.0+0.0i)
1252 still returns #t, per R6RS. (= 0 0.0+0.0i) and (= 0.0 0.0+0.0i) are
1253 #t, but the same comparisons using `eqv?' or `equal?' are #f.
1255 Like other non-real numbers, these complex numbers with inexact zero
1256 imaginary part will raise exceptions is passed to procedures requiring
1257 reals, such as `<', `>', `<=', `>=', `min', `max', `positive?',
1258 `negative?', `inf?', `nan?', `finite?', etc.
1260 **** `make-rectangular' changes
1262 scm_make_rectangular `make-rectangular' now returns a real number only
1263 if the imaginary part is an _exact_ 0. Previously, it would return a
1264 real number if the imaginary part was an inexact zero.
1266 scm_c_make_rectangular now always returns a non-real complex number,
1267 even if the imaginary part is zero. Previously, it would return a
1268 real number if the imaginary part was zero.
1270 **** `make-polar' changes
1272 scm_make_polar `make-polar' now returns a real number only if the
1273 angle or magnitude is an _exact_ 0. If the magnitude is an exact 0,
1274 it now returns an exact 0. Previously, it would return a real
1275 number if the imaginary part was an inexact zero.
1277 scm_c_make_polar now always returns a non-real complex number, even if
1278 the imaginary part is 0.0. Previously, it would return a real number
1279 if the imaginary part was 0.0.
1281 **** `imag-part' changes
1283 scm_imag_part `imag-part' now returns an exact 0 if applied to an
1284 inexact real number. Previously it returned an inexact zero in this
1287 *** `eqv?' and `equal?' now compare numbers equivalently
1289 scm_equal_p `equal?' now behaves equivalently to scm_eqv_p `eqv?' for
1290 numeric values, per R5RS. Previously, equal? worked differently,
1291 e.g. `(equal? 0.0 -0.0)' returned #t but `(eqv? 0.0 -0.0)' returned #f,
1292 and `(equal? +nan.0 +nan.0)' returned #f but `(eqv? +nan.0 +nan.0)'
1295 *** `(equal? +nan.0 +nan.0)' now returns #t
1297 Previously, `(equal? +nan.0 +nan.0)' returned #f, although
1298 `(let ((x +nan.0)) (equal? x x))' and `(eqv? +nan.0 +nan.0)'
1299 both returned #t. R5RS requires that `equal?' behave like
1300 `eqv?' when comparing numbers.
1302 *** Change in handling products `*' involving exact 0
1304 scm_product `*' now handles exact 0 differently. A product containing
1305 an exact 0 now returns an exact 0 if and only if the other arguments
1306 are all exact. An inexact zero is returned if and only if the other
1307 arguments are all finite but not all exact. If an infinite or NaN
1308 value is present, a NaN value is returned. Previously, any product
1309 containing an exact 0 yielded an exact 0, regardless of the other
1312 *** `expt' and `integer-expt' changes when the base is 0
1314 While `(expt 0 0)' is still 1, and `(expt 0 N)' for N > 0 is still
1315 zero, `(expt 0 N)' for N < 0 is now a NaN value, and likewise for
1316 integer-expt. This is more correct, and conforming to R6RS, but seems
1317 to be incompatible with R5RS, which would return 0 for all non-zero
1320 *** `expt' and `integer-expt' are more generic, less strict
1322 When raising to an exact non-negative integer exponent, `expt' and
1323 `integer-expt' are now able to exponentiate any object that can be
1324 multiplied using `*'. They can also raise an object to an exact
1325 negative integer power if its reciprocal can be taken using `/'.
1326 In order to allow this, the type of the first argument is no longer
1327 checked when raising to an exact integer power. If the exponent is 0
1328 or 1, the first parameter is not manipulated at all, and need not
1329 even support multiplication.
1331 *** Infinities are no longer integers, nor rationals
1333 scm_integer_p `integer?' and scm_rational_p `rational?' now return #f
1334 for infinities, per R6RS. Previously they returned #t for real
1335 infinities. The real infinities and NaNs are still considered real by
1336 scm_real `real?' however, per R6RS.
1338 *** NaNs are no longer rationals
1340 scm_rational_p `rational?' now returns #f for NaN values, per R6RS.
1341 Previously it returned #t for real NaN values. They are still
1342 considered real by scm_real `real?' however, per R6RS.
1344 *** `inf?' and `nan?' now throw exceptions for non-reals
1346 The domain of `inf?' and `nan?' is the real numbers. Guile now signals
1347 an error when a non-real number or non-number is passed to these
1348 procedures. (Note that NaNs _are_ considered numbers by scheme, despite
1351 *** `rationalize' bugfixes and changes
1353 Fixed bugs in scm_rationalize `rationalize'. Previously, it returned
1354 exact integers unmodified, although that was incorrect if the epsilon
1355 was at least 1 or inexact, e.g. (rationalize 4 1) should return 3 per
1356 R5RS and R6RS, but previously it returned 4. It also now handles
1357 cases involving infinities and NaNs properly, per R6RS.
1359 *** Trigonometric functions now return exact numbers in some cases
1361 scm_sin `sin', scm_cos `cos', scm_tan `tan', scm_asin `asin', scm_acos
1362 `acos', scm_atan `atan', scm_sinh `sinh', scm_cosh `cosh', scm_tanh
1363 `tanh', scm_sys_asinh `asinh', scm_sys_acosh `acosh', and
1364 scm_sys_atanh `atanh' now return exact results in some cases.
1366 *** New procedure: `finite?'
1368 Add scm_finite_p `finite?' from R6RS to guile core, which returns #t
1369 if and only if its argument is neither infinite nor a NaN. Note that
1370 this is not the same as (not (inf? x)) or (not (infinite? x)), since
1371 NaNs are neither finite nor infinite.
1373 *** Improved exactness handling for complex number parsing
1375 When parsing non-real complex numbers, exactness specifiers are now
1376 applied to each component, as is done in PLT Scheme. For complex
1377 numbers written in rectangular form, exactness specifiers are applied
1378 to the real and imaginary parts before calling scm_make_rectangular.
1379 For complex numbers written in polar form, exactness specifiers are
1380 applied to the magnitude and angle before calling scm_make_polar.
1382 Previously, exactness specifiers were applied to the number as a whole
1383 _after_ calling scm_make_rectangular or scm_make_polar.
1385 For example, (string->number "#i5.0+0i") now does the equivalent of:
1387 (make-rectangular (exact->inexact 5.0) (exact->inexact 0))
1389 which yields 5.0+0.0i. Previously it did the equivalent of:
1391 (exact->inexact (make-rectangular 5.0 0))
1395 ** Unicode characters
1397 Unicode characters may be entered in octal format via e.g. `#\454', or
1398 created via (integer->char 300). A hex external representation will
1399 probably be introduced at some point.
1403 Internally, strings are now represented either in the `latin-1'
1404 encoding, one byte per character, or in UTF-32, with four bytes per
1405 character. Strings manage their own allocation, switching if needed.
1407 Extended characters may be written in a literal string using the
1408 hexadecimal escapes `\xXX', `\uXXXX', or `\UXXXXXX', for 8-bit, 16-bit,
1409 or 24-bit codepoints, respectively, or entered directly in the native
1410 encoding of the port on which the string is read.
1414 One may now use U+03BB (GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMBDA) as an identifier.
1416 ** Support for non-ASCII source code files
1418 The default reader now handles source code files for some of the
1419 non-ASCII character encodings, such as UTF-8. A non-ASCII source file
1420 should have an encoding declaration near the top of the file. Also,
1421 there is a new function, `file-encoding', that scans a port for a coding
1422 declaration. See the section of the manual entitled, "Character Encoding
1425 The pre-1.9.3 reader handled 8-bit clean but otherwise unspecified source
1426 code. This use is now discouraged. Binary input and output is
1427 currently supported by opening ports in the ISO-8859-1 locale.
1429 ** Source files default to UTF-8.
1431 If source files do not specify their encoding via a `coding:' block,
1432 the default encoding is UTF-8, instead of being taken from the current
1435 ** Interactive Guile installs the current locale.
1437 Instead of leaving the user in the "C" locale, running the Guile REPL
1438 installs the current locale. [FIXME xref?]
1440 ** Support for locale transcoding when reading from and writing to ports
1442 Ports now have an associated character encoding, and port read and write
1443 operations do conversion to and from locales automatically. Ports also
1444 have an associated strategy for how to deal with locale conversion
1447 See the documentation in the manual for the four new support functions,
1448 `set-port-encoding!', `port-encoding', `set-port-conversion-strategy!',
1449 and `port-conversion-strategy'.
1451 ** String and SRFI-13 functions can operate on Unicode strings
1453 ** Unicode support for SRFI-14 character sets
1455 The default character sets are no longer locale dependent and contain
1456 characters from the whole Unicode range. There is a new predefined
1457 character set, `char-set:designated', which contains all assigned
1458 Unicode characters. There is a new debugging function, `%char-set-dump'.
1460 ** Character functions operate on Unicode characters
1462 `char-upcase' and `char-downcase' use default Unicode casing rules.
1463 Character comparisons such as `char<?' and `char-ci<?' now sort based on
1464 Unicode code points.
1466 ** Global variables `scm_charnames' and `scm_charnums' are removed
1468 These variables contained the names of control characters and were
1469 used when writing characters. While these were global, they were
1470 never intended to be public API. They have been replaced with private
1473 ** EBCDIC support is removed
1475 There was an EBCDIC compile flag that altered some of the character
1476 processing. It appeared that full EBCDIC support was never completed
1477 and was unmaintained.
1479 ** Compile-time warnings
1481 Guile can warn about potentially unbound free variables. Pass the
1482 -Wunbound-variable on the `guile-tools compile' command line, or add
1483 `#:warnings '(unbound-variable)' to your `compile' or `compile-file'
1484 invocation. Warnings are also enabled by default for expressions entered
1487 Guile can also warn when you pass the wrong number of arguments to a
1488 procedure, with -Warity-mismatch, or `arity-mismatch' in the
1489 `#:warnings' as above.
1491 Other warnings include `-Wunused-variable' and `-Wunused-toplevel', to
1492 warn about unused local or global (top-level) variables, and `-Wformat',
1493 to check for various errors related to the `format' procedure.
1495 ** A new `memoize-symbol' evaluator trap has been added.
1497 This trap can be used for efficiently implementing a Scheme code
1500 ** Duplicate bindings among used modules are resolved lazily.
1502 This slightly improves program startup times.
1504 ** New thread cancellation and thread cleanup API
1506 See `cancel-thread', `set-thread-cleanup!', and `thread-cleanup'.
1508 ** New threads are in `(guile-user)' by default, not `(guile)'
1510 It used to be that a new thread entering Guile would do so in the
1511 `(guile)' module, unless this was the first time Guile was initialized,
1512 in which case it was `(guile-user)'. This has been fixed to have all
1513 new threads unknown to Guile default to `(guile-user)'.
1515 ** New helpers: `print-exception', `set-exception-printer!'
1517 These functions implement an extensible exception printer. Guile
1518 registers printers for all of the exceptions it throws. Users may add
1519 their own printers. There is also `scm_print_exception', for use by C
1520 programs. Pleasantly, this allows SRFI-35 and R6RS exceptions to be
1521 printed appropriately.
1523 ** GOOPS dispatch in scheme
1525 As an implementation detail, GOOPS dispatch is no longer implemented by
1526 special evaluator bytecodes, but rather directly via a Scheme function
1527 associated with an applicable struct. There is some VM support for the
1528 underlying primitives, like `class-of'.
1530 This change will in the future allow users to customize generic function
1531 dispatch without incurring a performance penalty, and allow us to
1532 implement method combinations.
1534 ** Applicable struct support
1536 One may now make structs from Scheme that may be applied as procedures.
1537 To do so, make a struct whose vtable is `<applicable-struct-vtable>'.
1538 That struct will be the vtable of your applicable structs; instances of
1539 that new struct are assumed to have the procedure in their first slot.
1540 `<applicable-struct-vtable>' is like Common Lisp's
1541 `funcallable-standard-class'. Likewise there is
1542 `<applicable-struct-with-setter-vtable>', which looks for the setter in
1543 the second slot. This needs to be better documented.
1547 GOOPS had a number of concepts that were relevant to the days of Tcl,
1548 but not any more: operators and entities, mainly. These objects were
1549 never documented, and it is unlikely that they were ever used. Operators
1550 were a kind of generic specific to the Tcl support. Entities were
1551 replaced by applicable structs, mentioned above.
1553 ** New struct slot allocation: "hidden"
1555 A hidden slot is readable and writable, but will not be initialized by a
1556 call to make-struct. For example in your layout you would say "ph"
1557 instead of "pw". Hidden slots are useful for adding new slots to a
1558 vtable without breaking existing invocations to make-struct.
1560 ** eqv? not a generic
1562 One used to be able to extend `eqv?' as a primitive-generic, but no
1563 more. Because `eqv?' is in the expansion of `case' (via `memv'), which
1564 should be able to compile to static dispatch tables, it doesn't make
1565 sense to allow extensions that would subvert this optimization.
1567 ** `inet-ntop' and `inet-pton' are always available.
1569 Guile now use a portable implementation of `inet_pton'/`inet_ntop', so
1570 there is no more need to use `inet-aton'/`inet-ntoa'. The latter
1571 functions are deprecated.
1573 ** `getopt-long' parsing errors throw to `quit', not `misc-error'
1575 This change should inhibit backtraces on argument parsing errors.
1576 `getopt-long' has been modified to print out the error that it throws
1579 ** New primitive: `tmpfile'.
1581 See "File System" in the manual.
1583 ** Random generator state may be serialized to a datum
1585 `random-state->datum' will serialize a random state to a datum, which
1586 may be written out, read back in later, and revivified using
1587 `datum->random-state'. See "Random" in the manual, for more details.
1589 ** Fix random number generator on 64-bit platforms
1591 There was a nasty bug on 64-bit platforms in which asking for a random
1592 integer with a range between 2**32 and 2**64 caused a segfault. After
1593 many embarrassing iterations, this was fixed.
1595 ** Fast bit operations.
1597 The bit-twiddling operations `ash', `logand', `logior', and `logxor' now
1598 have dedicated bytecodes. Guile is not just for symbolic computation,
1599 it's for number crunching too.
1601 ** Faster SRFI-9 record access
1603 SRFI-9 records are now implemented directly on top of Guile's structs,
1604 and their accessors are defined in such a way that normal call-sites
1605 inline to special VM opcodes, while still allowing for the general case
1606 (e.g. passing a record accessor to `apply').
1608 ** R6RS block comment support
1610 Guile now supports R6RS nested block comments. The start of a comment is
1611 marked with `#|', and the end with `|#'.
1613 ** `guile-2' cond-expand feature
1615 To test if your code is running under Guile 2.0 (or its alpha releases),
1616 test for the `guile-2' cond-expand feature. Like this:
1618 (cond-expand (guile-2 (eval-when (compile)
1619 ;; This must be evaluated at compile time.
1620 (fluid-set! current-reader my-reader)))
1622 ;; Earlier versions of Guile do not have a
1623 ;; separate compilation phase.
1624 (fluid-set! current-reader my-reader)))
1626 ** New global variables: %load-compiled-path, %load-compiled-extensions
1628 These are analogous to %load-path and %load-extensions.
1630 ** New fluid: `%file-port-name-canonicalization'
1632 This fluid parameterizes the file names that are associated with file
1633 ports. If %file-port-name-canonicalization is 'absolute, then file names
1634 are canonicalized to be absolute paths. If it is 'relative, then the
1635 name is canonicalized, but any prefix corresponding to a member of
1636 `%load-path' is stripped off. Otherwise the names are passed through
1639 In addition, the `compile-file' and `compile-and-load' procedures bind
1640 %file-port-name-canonicalization to their `#:canonicalization' keyword
1641 argument, which defaults to 'relative. In this way, one might compile
1642 "../module/ice-9/boot-9.scm", but the path that gets residualized into
1643 the .go is "ice-9/boot-9.scm".
1645 ** New procedure, `make-promise'
1647 `(make-promise (lambda () foo))' is equivalent to `(delay foo)'.
1649 ** `defined?' may accept a module as its second argument
1651 Previously it only accepted internal structures from the evaluator.
1653 ** New entry into %guile-build-info: `ccachedir'
1655 ** Fix bug in `module-bound?'.
1657 `module-bound?' was returning true if a module did have a local
1658 variable, but one that was unbound, but another imported module bound
1659 the variable. This was an error, and was fixed.
1661 ** `(ice-9 syncase)' has been deprecated.
1663 As syntax-case is available by default, importing `(ice-9 syncase)' has
1664 no effect, and will trigger a deprecation warning.
1666 ** New readline history functions
1668 The (ice-9 readline) module now provides add-history, read-history,
1669 write-history and clear-history, which wrap the corresponding GNU
1670 History library functions.
1672 ** Removed deprecated uniform array procedures:
1673 dimensions->uniform-array, list->uniform-array, array-prototype
1675 Instead, use make-typed-array, list->typed-array, or array-type,
1678 ** Deprecate the old `scm-style-repl'
1680 The following bindings from boot-9 are now found in `(ice-9
1681 scm-style-repl)': `scm-style-repl', `error-catching-loop',
1682 `error-catching-repl', `bad-throw', `scm-repl-silent'
1683 `assert-repl-silence', `repl-print-unspecified',
1684 `assert-repl-print-unspecified', `scm-repl-verbose',
1685 `assert-repl-verbosity', `scm-repl-prompt', `set-repl-prompt!', `repl',
1686 `default-pre-unwind-handler', `handle-system-error',
1688 The following bindings have been deprecated, with no replacement:
1689 `pre-unwind-handler-dispatch'.
1691 The following bindings have been totally removed:
1692 `before-signal-stack'.
1694 Deprecated forwarding shims have been installed so that users that
1695 expect these bindings in the main namespace will still work, but receive
1696 a deprecation warning.
1698 ** `set-batch-mode?!' replaced by `ensure-batch-mode!'
1700 "Batch mode" is a flag used to tell a program that it is not running
1701 interactively. One usually turns it on after a fork. It may not be
1702 turned off. `ensure-batch-mode!' deprecates the old `set-batch-mode?!',
1703 because it is a better interface, as it can only turn on batch mode, not
1706 ** Deprecate `save-stack', `the-last-stack'
1708 It used to be that the way to debug programs in Guile was to capture the
1709 stack at the time of error, drop back to the REPL, then debug that
1710 stack. But this approach didn't compose, was tricky to get right in the
1711 presence of threads, and was not very powerful.
1713 So `save-stack', `stack-saved?', and `the-last-stack' have been moved to
1714 `(ice-9 save-stack)', with deprecated bindings left in the root module.
1716 ** `top-repl' has its own module
1718 The `top-repl' binding, called with Guile is run interactively, is now
1719 is its own module, `(ice-9 top-repl)'. A deprecated forwarding shim was
1720 left in the default environment.
1722 ** `display-error' takes a frame
1724 The `display-error' / `scm_display_error' helper now takes a frame as an
1725 argument instead of a stack. Stacks are still supported in deprecated
1726 builds. Additionally, `display-error' will again source location
1727 information for the error.
1729 ** No more `(ice-9 debug)'
1731 This module had some debugging helpers that are no longer applicable to
1732 the current debugging model. Importing this module will produce a
1733 deprecation warning. Users should contact bug-guile for support.
1735 ** Remove obsolete debug-options
1737 Removed `breakpoints', `trace', `procnames', `indent', `frames',
1738 `maxdepth', and `debug' debug-options.
1740 ** `backtrace' debug option on by default
1742 Given that Guile 2.0 can always give you a backtrace, backtraces are now
1745 ** `turn-on-debugging' deprecated
1747 ** Remove obsolete print-options
1749 The `source' and `closure-hook' print options are obsolete, and have
1752 ** Remove obsolete read-options
1754 The "elisp-strings" and "elisp-vectors" read options were unused and
1755 obsolete, so they have been removed.
1757 ** Remove eval-options and trap-options
1759 Eval-options and trap-options are obsolete with the new VM and
1762 ** Remove (ice-9 debugger) and (ice-9 debugging)
1764 See "Traps" and "Interactive Debugging" in the manual, for information
1765 on their replacements.
1767 ** Remove the GDS Emacs integration
1769 See "Using Guile in Emacs" in the manual, for info on how we think you
1770 should use Guile with Emacs.
1772 ** Deprecated: `lazy-catch'
1774 `lazy-catch' was a form that captured the stack at the point of a
1775 `throw', but the dynamic state at the point of the `catch'. It was a bit
1776 crazy. Please change to use `catch', possibly with a throw-handler, or
1777 `with-throw-handler'.
1779 ** Deprecated: primitive properties
1781 The `primitive-make-property', `primitive-property-set!',
1782 `primitive-property-ref', and `primitive-property-del!' procedures were
1783 crufty and only used to implement object properties, which has a new,
1784 threadsafe implementation. Use object properties or weak hash tables
1787 ** Deprecated `@bind' syntax
1789 `@bind' was part of an older implementation of the Emacs Lisp language,
1790 and is no longer used.
1792 ** Miscellaneous other deprecations
1794 `cuserid' has been deprecated, as it only returns 8 bytes of a user's
1795 login. Use `(passwd:name (getpwuid (geteuid)))' instead.
1797 Additionally, the procedures `apply-to-args', `has-suffix?', `scheme-file-suffix'
1798 `get-option', `for-next-option', `display-usage-report',
1799 `transform-usage-lambda', `collect', and `set-batch-mode?!' have all
1802 ** Add support for unbound fluids
1804 See `make-unbound-fluid', `fluid-unset!', and `fluid-bound?' in the
1807 ** Add `variable-unset!'
1809 See "Variables" in the manual, for more details.
1811 ** Last but not least, the `λ' macro can be used in lieu of `lambda'
1813 * Changes to the C interface
1815 ** Guile now uses libgc, the Boehm-Demers-Weiser garbage collector
1817 The semantics of `scm_gc_malloc ()' have been changed, in a
1818 backward-compatible way. A new allocation routine,
1819 `scm_gc_malloc_pointerless ()', was added.
1821 Libgc is a conservative GC, which we hope will make interaction with C
1822 code easier and less error-prone.
1824 ** New procedures: `scm_to_stringn', `scm_from_stringn'
1825 ** New procedures: scm_{to,from}_{utf8,latin1}_symbol{n,}
1826 ** New procedures: scm_{to,from}_{utf8,utf32,latin1}_string{n,}
1828 These new procedures convert to and from string representations in
1829 particular encodings.
1831 Users should continue to use locale encoding for user input, user
1832 output, or interacting with the C library.
1834 Use the Latin-1 functions for ASCII, and for literals in source code.
1836 Use UTF-8 functions for interaction with modern libraries which deal in
1837 UTF-8, and UTF-32 for interaction with utf32-using libraries.
1839 Otherwise, use scm_to_stringn or scm_from_stringn with a specific
1842 ** New type definitions for `scm_t_intptr' and friends.
1844 `SCM_T_UINTPTR_MAX', `SCM_T_INTPTR_MIN', `SCM_T_INTPTR_MAX',
1845 `SIZEOF_SCM_T_BITS', `scm_t_intptr' and `scm_t_uintptr' are now
1846 available to C. Have fun!
1848 ** The GH interface (deprecated in version 1.6, 2001) was removed.
1850 ** Internal `scm_i_' functions now have "hidden" linkage with GCC/ELF
1852 This makes these internal functions technically not callable from
1855 ** Functions for handling `scm_option' now no longer require an argument
1856 indicating length of the `scm_t_option' array.
1858 ** Procedures-with-setters are now implemented using applicable structs
1860 From a user's perspective this doesn't mean very much. But if, for some
1861 odd reason, you used the SCM_PROCEDURE_WITH_SETTER_P, SCM_PROCEDURE, or
1862 SCM_SETTER macros, know that they're deprecated now. Also, scm_tc7_pws
1865 ** Remove old evaluator closures
1867 There used to be ranges of typecodes allocated to interpreted data
1868 structures, but that it no longer the case, given that interpreted
1869 procedure are now just regular VM closures. As a result, there is a
1870 newly free tc3, and a number of removed macros. See the ChangeLog for
1873 ** Primitive procedures are now VM trampoline procedures
1875 It used to be that there were something like 12 different typecodes
1876 allocated to primitive procedures, each with its own calling convention.
1877 Now there is only one, the gsubr. This may affect user code if you were
1878 defining a procedure using scm_c_make_subr rather scm_c_make_gsubr. The
1879 solution is to switch to use scm_c_make_gsubr. This solution works well
1880 both with the old 1.8 and and with the current 1.9 branch.
1882 Guile's old evaluator used to have special cases for applying "gsubrs",
1883 primitive procedures with specified numbers of required, optional, and
1884 rest arguments. Now, however, Guile represents gsubrs as normal VM
1885 procedures, with appropriate bytecode to parse out the correct number of
1886 arguments, including optional and rest arguments, and then with a
1887 special bytecode to apply the gsubr.
1889 This allows primitive procedures to appear on the VM stack, allowing
1890 them to be accurately counted in profiles. Also they now have more
1891 debugging information attached to them -- their number of arguments, for
1892 example. In addition, the VM can completely inline the application
1893 mechanics, allowing for faster primitive calls.
1895 However there are some changes on the C level. There is no more
1896 `scm_tc7_gsubr' or `scm_tcs_subrs' typecode for primitive procedures, as
1897 they are just VM procedures. Likewise the macros `SCM_GSUBR_TYPE',
1898 `SCM_GSUBR_MAKTYPE', `SCM_GSUBR_REQ', `SCM_GSUBR_OPT', and
1899 `SCM_GSUBR_REST' are gone, as are `SCM_SUBR_META_INFO', `SCM_SUBR_PROPS'
1900 `SCM_SET_SUBR_GENERIC_LOC', and `SCM_SUBR_ARITY_TO_TYPE'.
1902 Perhaps more significantly, `scm_c_make_subr',
1903 `scm_c_make_subr_with_generic', `scm_c_define_subr', and
1904 `scm_c_define_subr_with_generic'. They all operated on subr typecodes,
1905 and there are no more subr typecodes. Use the scm_c_make_gsubr family
1908 Normal users of gsubrs should not be affected, though, as the
1909 scm_c_make_gsubr family still is the correct way to create primitive
1912 ** Remove deprecated array C interfaces
1914 Removed the deprecated array functions `scm_i_arrayp',
1915 `scm_i_array_ndim', `scm_i_array_mem', `scm_i_array_v',
1916 `scm_i_array_base', `scm_i_array_dims', and the deprecated macros
1917 `SCM_ARRAYP', `SCM_ARRAY_NDIM', `SCM_ARRAY_CONTP', `SCM_ARRAY_MEM',
1918 `SCM_ARRAY_V', `SCM_ARRAY_BASE', and `SCM_ARRAY_DIMS'.
1920 ** Remove unused snarf macros
1922 `SCM_DEFINE1', `SCM_PRIMITIVE_GENERIC_1', `SCM_PROC1, and `SCM_GPROC1'
1923 are no more. Use SCM_DEFINE or SCM_PRIMITIVE_GENERIC instead.
1925 ** New functions: `scm_call_n', `scm_c_run_hookn'
1927 `scm_call_n' applies to apply a function to an array of arguments.
1928 `scm_c_run_hookn' runs a hook with an array of arguments.
1930 ** Some SMOB types changed to have static typecodes
1932 Fluids, dynamic states, and hash tables used to be SMOB objects, but now
1933 they have statically allocated tc7 typecodes.
1935 ** Preparations for changing SMOB representation
1937 If things go right, we'll be changing the SMOB representation soon. To
1938 that end, we did a lot of cleanups to calls to e.g. SCM_CELL_WORD_2(x) when
1939 the code meant SCM_SMOB_DATA_2(x); user code will need similar changes
1940 in the future. Code accessing SMOBs using SCM_CELL macros was never
1941 correct, but until now things still worked. Users should be aware of
1944 ** Changed invocation mechanics of applicable SMOBs
1946 Guile's old evaluator used to have special cases for applying SMOB
1947 objects. Now, with the VM, when Guile sees a SMOB, it looks up a VM
1948 trampoline procedure for it, and use the normal mechanics to apply the
1949 trampoline. This simplifies procedure application in the normal,
1952 The upshot is that the mechanics used to apply a SMOB are different from
1953 1.8. Descriptors no longer have `apply_0', `apply_1', `apply_2', and
1954 `apply_3' functions, and the macros SCM_SMOB_APPLY_0 and friends are now
1955 deprecated. Just use the scm_call_0 family of procedures.
1957 ** Removed support shlibs for SRFIs 1, 4, 13, 14, and 60
1959 Though these SRFI support libraries did expose API, they encoded a
1960 strange version string into their library names. That version was never
1961 programmatically exported, so there was no way people could use the
1964 This was a fortunate oversight, as it allows us to remove the need for
1965 extra, needless shared libraries --- the C support code for SRFIs 4, 13,
1966 and 14 was already in core --- and allow us to incrementally return the
1967 SRFI implementation to Scheme.
1969 ** New C function: scm_module_public_interface
1971 This procedure corresponds to Scheme's `module-public-interface'.
1973 ** Undeprecate `scm_the_root_module ()'
1975 It's useful to be able to get the root module from C without doing a
1978 ** Inline vector allocation
1980 Instead of having vectors point out into the heap for their data, their
1981 data is now allocated inline to the vector object itself. The same is
1982 true for bytevectors, by default, though there is an indirection
1983 available which should allow for making a bytevector from an existing
1986 ** New struct constructors that don't involve making lists
1988 `scm_c_make_struct' and `scm_c_make_structv' are new varargs and array
1989 constructors, respectively, for structs. You might find them useful.
1993 In Guile 1.8, there were debugging frames on the C stack. Now there is
1994 no more need to explicitly mark the stack in this way, because Guile has
1995 a VM stack that it knows how to walk, which simplifies the C API
1996 considerably. See the ChangeLog for details; the relevant interface is
1997 in libguile/stacks.h. The Scheme API has not been changed significantly.
1999 ** Removal of Guile's primitive object system.
2001 There were a number of pieces in `objects.[ch]' that tried to be a
2002 minimal object system, but were never documented, and were quickly
2003 obseleted by GOOPS' merge into Guile proper. So `scm_make_class_object',
2004 `scm_make_subclass_object', `scm_metaclass_standard', and like symbols
2005 from objects.h are no more. In the very unlikely case in which these
2006 were useful to you, we urge you to contact guile-devel.
2010 Actually the future is still in the state that it was, is, and ever
2011 shall be, Amen, except that `futures.c' and `futures.h' are no longer a
2012 part of it. These files were experimental, never compiled, and would be
2013 better implemented in Scheme anyway. In the future, that is.
2015 ** Deprecate trampolines
2017 There used to be C functions `scm_trampoline_0', `scm_trampoline_1', and
2018 so on. The point was to do some precomputation on the type of the
2019 procedure, then return a specialized "call" procedure. However this
2020 optimization wasn't actually an optimization, so it is now deprecated.
2021 Just use `scm_call_0', etc instead.
2023 ** Deprecated `scm_badargsp'
2025 This function is unused in Guile, but was part of its API.
2027 ** Better support for Lisp `nil'.
2029 The bit representation of `nil' has been tweaked so that it is now very
2030 efficient to check e.g. if a value is equal to Scheme's end-of-list or
2031 Lisp's nil. Additionally there are a heap of new, specific predicates
2032 like scm_is_null_or_nil.
2034 ** Better integration of Lisp `nil'.
2036 `scm_is_boolean', `scm_is_false', and `scm_is_null' all return true now
2037 for Lisp's `nil'. This shouldn't affect any Scheme code at this point,
2038 but when we start to integrate more with Emacs, it is possible that we
2039 break code that assumes that, for example, `(not x)' implies that `x' is
2040 `eq?' to `#f'. This is not a common assumption. Refactoring affected
2041 code to rely on properties instead of identities will improve code
2042 correctness. See "Nil" in the manual, for more details.
2044 ** Support for static allocation of strings, symbols, and subrs.
2046 Calls to snarfing CPP macros like SCM_DEFINE macro will now allocate
2047 much of their associated data as static variables, reducing Guile's
2050 ** `scm_stat' has an additional argument, `exception_on_error'
2051 ** `scm_primitive_load_path' has an additional argument `exception_on_not_found'
2053 ** `scm_set_port_seek' and `scm_set_port_truncate' use the `scm_t_off' type
2055 Previously they would use the `off_t' type, which is fragile since its
2056 definition depends on the application's value for `_FILE_OFFSET_BITS'.
2058 ** The `long_long' C type, deprecated in 1.8, has been removed
2060 ** Removed deprecated uniform array procedures: scm_make_uve,
2061 scm_array_prototype, scm_list_to_uniform_array,
2062 scm_dimensions_to_uniform_array, scm_make_ra, scm_shap2ra, scm_cvref,
2063 scm_ra_set_contp, scm_aind, scm_raprin1
2065 These functions have been deprecated since early 2005.
2067 * Changes to the distribution
2069 ** Guile's license is now LGPLv3+
2071 In other words the GNU Lesser General Public License, version 3 or
2072 later (at the discretion of each person that chooses to redistribute
2077 Guile's build is visually quieter, due to the use of Automake 1.11's
2078 AM_SILENT_RULES. Build as `make V=1' to see all of the output.
2080 ** GOOPS documentation folded into Guile reference manual
2082 GOOPS, Guile's object system, used to be documented in separate manuals.
2083 This content is now included in Guile's manual directly.
2085 ** `guile-config' will be deprecated in favor of `pkg-config'
2087 `guile-config' has been rewritten to get its information from
2088 `pkg-config', so this should be a transparent change. Note however that
2089 guile.m4 has yet to be modified to call pkg-config instead of
2092 ** Guile now provides `guile-2.0.pc' instead of `guile-1.8.pc'
2094 Programs that use `pkg-config' to find Guile or one of its Autoconf
2095 macros should now require `guile-2.0' instead of `guile-1.8'.
2097 ** New installation directory: $(pkglibdir)/1.9/ccache
2099 If $(libdir) is /usr/lib, for example, Guile will install its .go files
2100 to /usr/lib/guile/1.9/ccache. These files are architecture-specific.
2102 ** Parallel installability fixes
2104 Guile now installs its header files to a effective-version-specific
2105 directory, and includes the effective version (e.g. 2.0) in the library
2106 name (e.g. libguile-2.0.so).
2108 This change should be transparent to users, who should detect Guile via
2109 the guile.m4 macro, or the guile-2.0.pc pkg-config file. It will allow
2110 parallel installs for multiple versions of Guile development
2113 ** Dynamically loadable extensions may be placed in a Guile-specific path
2115 Before, Guile only searched the system library paths for extensions
2116 (e.g. /usr/lib), which meant that the names of Guile extensions had to
2117 be globally unique. Installing them to a Guile-specific extensions
2118 directory is cleaner. Use `pkg-config --variable=extensiondir
2119 guile-2.0' to get the location of the extensions directory.
2121 ** User Scheme code may be placed in a version-specific path
2123 Before, there was only one way to install user Scheme code to a
2124 version-specific Guile directory: install to Guile's own path,
2125 e.g. /usr/share/guile/2.0. The site directory,
2126 e.g. /usr/share/guile/site, was unversioned. This has been changed to
2127 add a version-specific site directory, e.g. /usr/share/guile/site/2.0,
2128 searched before the global site directory.
2130 ** New dependency: libgc
2132 See http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Hans_Boehm/gc/, for more information.
2134 ** New dependency: GNU libunistring
2136 See http://www.gnu.org/software/libunistring/, for more information. Our
2137 Unicode support uses routines from libunistring.
2139 ** New dependency: libffi
2141 See http://sourceware.org/libffi/, for more information.
2145 Changes in 1.8.8 (since 1.8.7)
2149 ** Fix possible buffer overruns when parsing numbers
2150 ** Avoid clash with system setjmp/longjmp on IA64
2151 ** Fix `wrong type arg' exceptions with IPv6 addresses
2154 Changes in 1.8.7 (since 1.8.6)
2156 * New modules (see the manual for details)
2158 ** `(srfi srfi-98)', an interface to access environment variables
2162 ** Fix compilation with `--disable-deprecated'
2163 ** Fix %fast-slot-ref/set!, to avoid possible segmentation fault
2164 ** Fix MinGW build problem caused by HAVE_STRUCT_TIMESPEC confusion
2165 ** Fix build problem when scm_t_timespec is different from struct timespec
2166 ** Fix build when compiled with -Wundef -Werror
2167 ** More build fixes for `alphaev56-dec-osf5.1b' (Tru64)
2168 ** Build fixes for `powerpc-ibm-aix5.3.0.0' (AIX 5.3)
2169 ** With GCC, always compile with `-mieee' on `alpha*' and `sh*'
2170 ** Better diagnose broken `(strftime "%z" ...)' in `time.test' (bug #24130)
2171 ** Fix parsing of SRFI-88/postfix keywords longer than 128 characters
2172 ** Fix reading of complex numbers where both parts are inexact decimals
2174 ** Allow @ macro to work with (ice-9 syncase)
2176 Previously, use of the @ macro in a module whose code is being
2177 transformed by (ice-9 syncase) would cause an "Invalid syntax" error.
2178 Now it works as you would expect (giving the value of the specified
2181 ** Have `scm_take_locale_symbol ()' return an interned symbol (bug #25865)
2184 Changes in 1.8.6 (since 1.8.5)
2186 * New features (see the manual for details)
2188 ** New convenience function `scm_c_symbol_length ()'
2190 ** Single stepping through code from Emacs
2192 When you use GDS to evaluate Scheme code from Emacs, you can now use
2193 `C-u' to indicate that you want to single step through that code. See
2194 `Evaluating Scheme Code' in the manual for more details.
2196 ** New "guile(1)" man page!
2198 * Changes to the distribution
2200 ** Automake's `AM_MAINTAINER_MODE' is no longer used
2202 Thus, the `--enable-maintainer-mode' configure option is no longer
2203 available: Guile is now always configured in "maintainer mode".
2205 ** `ChangeLog' files are no longer updated
2207 Instead, changes are detailed in the version control system's logs. See
2208 the top-level `ChangeLog' files for details.
2213 ** `symbol->string' now returns a read-only string, as per R5RS
2214 ** Fix incorrect handling of the FLAGS argument of `fold-matches'
2215 ** `guile-config link' now prints `-L$libdir' before `-lguile'
2216 ** Fix memory corruption involving GOOPS' `class-redefinition'
2217 ** Fix possible deadlock in `mutex-lock'
2218 ** Fix build issue on Tru64 and ia64-hp-hpux11.23 (`SCM_UNPACK' macro)
2219 ** Fix build issue on mips, mipsel, powerpc and ia64 (stack direction)
2220 ** Fix build issue on hppa2.0w-hp-hpux11.11 (`dirent64' and `readdir64_r')
2221 ** Fix build issue on i386-unknown-freebsd7.0 ("break strict-aliasing rules")
2222 ** Fix misleading output from `(help rationalize)'
2223 ** Fix build failure on Debian hppa architecture (bad stack growth detection)
2224 ** Fix `gcd' when called with a single, negative argument.
2225 ** Fix `Stack overflow' errors seen when building on some platforms
2226 ** Fix bug when `scm_with_guile ()' was called several times from the
2228 ** The handler of SRFI-34 `with-exception-handler' is now invoked in the
2229 dynamic environment of the call to `raise'
2230 ** Fix potential deadlock in `make-struct'
2231 ** Fix compilation problem with libltdl from Libtool 2.2.x
2232 ** Fix sloppy bound checking in `string-{ref,set!}' with the empty string
2235 Changes in 1.8.5 (since 1.8.4)
2237 * Infrastructure changes
2239 ** Guile repository switched from CVS to Git
2241 The new repository can be accessed using
2242 "git-clone git://git.sv.gnu.org/guile.git", or can be browsed on-line at
2243 http://git.sv.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=guile.git . See `README' for details.
2245 ** Add support for `pkg-config'
2247 See "Autoconf Support" in the manual for details.
2249 * New modules (see the manual for details)
2253 * New features (see the manual for details)
2255 ** New `postfix' read option, for SRFI-88 keyword syntax
2256 ** Some I/O primitives have been inlined, which improves I/O performance
2257 ** New object-based traps infrastructure
2259 This is a GOOPS-based infrastructure that builds on Guile's low-level
2260 evaluator trap calls and facilitates the development of debugging
2261 features like single-stepping, breakpoints, tracing and profiling.
2262 See the `Traps' node of the manual for details.
2264 ** New support for working on Guile code from within Emacs
2266 Guile now incorporates the `GDS' library (previously distributed
2267 separately) for working on Guile code from within Emacs. See the
2268 `Using Guile In Emacs' node of the manual for details.
2272 ** `scm_add_slot ()' no longer segfaults (fixes bug #22369)
2273 ** Fixed `(ice-9 match)' for patterns like `((_ ...) ...)'
2275 Previously, expressions like `(match '((foo) (bar)) (((_ ...) ...) #t))'
2276 would trigger an unbound variable error for `match:andmap'.
2278 ** `(oop goops describe)' now properly provides the `describe' feature
2279 ** Fixed `args-fold' from `(srfi srfi-37)'
2281 Previously, parsing short option names of argument-less options would
2282 lead to a stack overflow.
2284 ** `(srfi srfi-35)' is now visible through `cond-expand'
2285 ** Fixed type-checking for the second argument of `eval'
2286 ** Fixed type-checking for SRFI-1 `partition'
2287 ** Fixed `struct-ref' and `struct-set!' on "light structs"
2288 ** Honor struct field access rights in GOOPS
2289 ** Changed the storage strategy of source properties, which fixes a deadlock
2290 ** Allow compilation of Guile-using programs in C99 mode with GCC 4.3 and later
2291 ** Fixed build issue for GNU/Linux on IA64
2292 ** Fixed build issues on NetBSD 1.6
2293 ** Fixed build issue on Solaris 2.10 x86_64
2294 ** Fixed build issue with DEC/Compaq/HP's compiler
2295 ** Fixed `scm_from_complex_double' build issue on FreeBSD
2296 ** Fixed `alloca' build issue on FreeBSD 6
2297 ** Removed use of non-portable makefile constructs
2298 ** Fixed shadowing of libc's <random.h> on Tru64, which broke compilation
2299 ** Make sure all tests honor `$TMPDIR'
2302 Changes in 1.8.4 (since 1.8.3)
2306 ** CR (ASCII 0x0d) is (again) recognized as a token delimiter by the reader
2307 ** Fixed a segmentation fault which occurred when displaying the
2308 backtrace of a stack with a promise object (made by `delay') in it.
2309 ** Make `accept' leave guile mode while blocking
2310 ** `scm_c_read ()' and `scm_c_write ()' now type-check their port argument
2311 ** Fixed a build problem on AIX (use of func_data identifier)
2312 ** Fixed a segmentation fault which occurred when hashx-ref or hashx-set! was
2313 called with an associator proc that returns neither a pair nor #f.
2314 ** Secondary threads now always return a valid module for (current-module).
2315 ** Avoid MacOS build problems caused by incorrect combination of "64"
2316 system and library calls.
2317 ** `guile-snarf' now honors `$TMPDIR'
2318 ** `guile-config compile' now reports CPPFLAGS used at compile-time
2319 ** Fixed build with Sun Studio (Solaris 9)
2320 ** Fixed wrong-type-arg errors when creating zero length SRFI-4
2321 uniform vectors on AIX.
2322 ** Fixed a deadlock that occurs upon GC with multiple threads.
2323 ** Fixed compile problem with GCC on Solaris and AIX (use of _Complex_I)
2324 ** Fixed autotool-derived build problems on AIX 6.1.
2325 ** Fixed NetBSD/alpha support
2326 ** Fixed MacOS build problem caused by use of rl_get_keymap(_name)
2328 * New modules (see the manual for details)
2332 * Documentation fixes and improvements
2334 ** Removed premature breakpoint documentation
2336 The features described are not available in the series of 1.8.x
2337 releases, so the documentation was misleading and has been removed.
2339 ** More about Guile's default *random-state* variable
2341 ** GOOPS: more about how to use `next-method'
2343 * Changes to the distribution
2345 ** Corrected a few files that referred incorrectly to the old GPL + special exception licence
2347 In fact Guile since 1.8.0 has been licensed with the GNU Lesser
2348 General Public License, and the few incorrect files have now been
2349 fixed to agree with the rest of the Guile distribution.
2351 ** Removed unnecessary extra copies of COPYING*
2353 The distribution now contains a single COPYING.LESSER at its top level.
2356 Changes in 1.8.3 (since 1.8.2)
2358 * New modules (see the manual for details)
2365 ** The `(ice-9 slib)' module now works as expected
2366 ** Expressions like "(set! 'x #t)" no longer yield a crash
2367 ** Warnings about duplicate bindings now go to stderr
2368 ** A memory leak in `make-socket-address' was fixed
2369 ** Alignment issues (e.g., on SPARC) in network routines were fixed
2370 ** A threading issue that showed up at least on NetBSD was fixed
2371 ** Build problems on Solaris and IRIX fixed
2373 * Implementation improvements
2375 ** The reader is now faster, which reduces startup time
2376 ** Procedures returned by `record-accessor' and `record-modifier' are faster
2379 Changes in 1.8.2 (since 1.8.1):
2381 * New procedures (see the manual for details)
2383 ** set-program-arguments
2386 * Incompatible changes
2388 ** The body of a top-level `define' no longer sees the binding being created
2390 In a top-level `define', the binding being created is no longer visible
2391 from the `define' body. This breaks code like
2392 "(define foo (begin (set! foo 1) (+ foo 1)))", where `foo' is now
2393 unbound in the body. However, such code was not R5RS-compliant anyway,
2398 ** Fractions were not `equal?' if stored in unreduced form.
2399 (A subtle problem, since printing a value reduced it, making it work.)
2400 ** srfi-60 `copy-bit' failed on 64-bit systems
2401 ** "guile --use-srfi" option at the REPL can replace core functions
2402 (Programs run with that option were ok, but in the interactive REPL
2403 the core bindings got priority, preventing SRFI replacements or
2405 ** `regexp-exec' doesn't abort() on #\nul in the input or bad flags arg
2406 ** `kill' on mingw throws an error for a PID other than oneself
2407 ** Procedure names are attached to procedure-with-setters
2408 ** Array read syntax works with negative lower bound
2409 ** `array-in-bounds?' fix if an array has different lower bounds on each index
2410 ** `*' returns exact 0 for "(* inexact 0)"
2411 This follows what it always did for "(* 0 inexact)".
2412 ** SRFI-19: Value returned by `(current-time time-process)' was incorrect
2413 ** SRFI-19: `date->julian-day' did not account for timezone offset
2414 ** `ttyname' no longer crashes when passed a non-tty argument
2415 ** `inet-ntop' no longer crashes on SPARC when passed an `AF_INET' address
2416 ** Small memory leaks have been fixed in `make-fluid' and `add-history'
2417 ** GOOPS: Fixed a bug in `method-more-specific?'
2418 ** Build problems on Solaris fixed
2419 ** Build problems on HP-UX IA64 fixed
2420 ** Build problems on MinGW fixed
2423 Changes in 1.8.1 (since 1.8.0):
2425 * LFS functions are now used to access 64-bit files on 32-bit systems.
2427 * New procedures (see the manual for details)
2429 ** primitive-_exit - [Scheme] the-root-module
2430 ** scm_primitive__exit - [C]
2431 ** make-completion-function - [Scheme] (ice-9 readline)
2432 ** scm_c_locale_stringn_to_number - [C]
2433 ** scm_srfi1_append_reverse [C]
2434 ** scm_srfi1_append_reverse_x [C]
2442 ** Build problems have been fixed on MacOS, SunOS, and QNX.
2444 ** `strftime' fix sign of %z timezone offset.
2446 ** A one-dimensional array can now be 'equal?' to a vector.
2448 ** Structures, records, and SRFI-9 records can now be compared with `equal?'.
2450 ** SRFI-14 standard char sets are recomputed upon a successful `setlocale'.
2452 ** `record-accessor' and `record-modifier' now have strict type checks.
2454 Record accessor and modifier procedures now throw an error if the
2455 record type of the record they're given is not the type expected.
2456 (Previously accessors returned #f and modifiers silently did nothing).
2458 ** It is now OK to use both autoload and use-modules on a given module.
2460 ** `apply' checks the number of arguments more carefully on "0 or 1" funcs.
2462 Previously there was no checking on primatives like make-vector that
2463 accept "one or two" arguments. Now there is.
2465 ** The srfi-1 assoc function now calls its equality predicate properly.
2467 Previously srfi-1 assoc would call the equality predicate with the key
2468 last. According to the SRFI, the key should be first.
2470 ** A bug in n-par-for-each and n-for-each-par-map has been fixed.
2472 ** The array-set! procedure no longer segfaults when given a bit vector.
2474 ** Bugs in make-shared-array have been fixed.
2476 ** string<? and friends now follow char<? etc order on 8-bit chars.
2478 ** The format procedure now handles inf and nan values for ~f correctly.
2480 ** exact->inexact should no longer overflow when given certain large fractions.
2482 ** srfi-9 accessor and modifier procedures now have strict record type checks.
2484 This matches the srfi-9 specification.
2486 ** (ice-9 ftw) procedures won't ignore different files with same inode number.
2488 Previously the (ice-9 ftw) procedures would ignore any file that had
2489 the same inode number as a file they had already seen, even if that
2490 file was on a different device.
2493 Changes in 1.8.0 (changes since the 1.6.x series):
2495 * Changes to the distribution
2497 ** Guile is now licensed with the GNU Lesser General Public License.
2499 ** The manual is now licensed with the GNU Free Documentation License.
2501 ** Guile now requires GNU MP (http://swox.com/gmp).
2503 Guile now uses the GNU MP library for arbitrary precision arithmetic.
2505 ** Guile now has separate private and public configuration headers.
2507 That is, things like HAVE_STRING_H no longer leak from Guile's
2510 ** Guile now provides and uses an "effective" version number.
2512 Guile now provides scm_effective_version and effective-version
2513 functions which return the "effective" version number. This is just
2514 the normal full version string without the final micro-version number,
2515 so the current effective-version is "1.8". The effective version
2516 should remain unchanged during a stable series, and should be used for
2517 items like the versioned share directory name
2518 i.e. /usr/share/guile/1.8.
2520 Providing an unchanging version number during a stable release for
2521 things like the versioned share directory can be particularly
2522 important for Guile "add-on" packages, since it provides a directory
2523 that they can install to that won't be changed out from under them
2524 with each micro release during a stable series.
2526 ** Thread implementation has changed.
2528 When you configure "--with-threads=null", you will get the usual
2529 threading API (call-with-new-thread, make-mutex, etc), but you can't
2530 actually create new threads. Also, "--with-threads=no" is now
2531 equivalent to "--with-threads=null". This means that the thread API
2532 is always present, although you might not be able to create new
2535 When you configure "--with-threads=pthreads" or "--with-threads=yes",
2536 you will get threads that are implemented with the portable POSIX
2537 threads. These threads can run concurrently (unlike the previous
2538 "coop" thread implementation), but need to cooperate for things like
2541 The default is "pthreads", unless your platform doesn't have pthreads,
2542 in which case "null" threads are used.
2544 See the manual for details, nodes "Initialization", "Multi-Threading",
2545 "Blocking", and others.
2547 ** There is the new notion of 'discouraged' features.
2549 This is a milder form of deprecation.
2551 Things that are discouraged should not be used in new code, but it is
2552 OK to leave them in old code for now. When a discouraged feature is
2553 used, no warning message is printed like there is for 'deprecated'
2554 features. Also, things that are merely discouraged are nevertheless
2555 implemented efficiently, while deprecated features can be very slow.
2557 You can omit discouraged features from libguile by configuring it with
2558 the '--disable-discouraged' option.
2560 ** Deprecation warnings can be controlled at run-time.
2562 (debug-enable 'warn-deprecated) switches them on and (debug-disable
2563 'warn-deprecated) switches them off.
2565 ** Support for SRFI 61, extended cond syntax for multiple values has
2568 This SRFI is always available.
2570 ** Support for require-extension, SRFI-55, has been added.
2572 The SRFI-55 special form `require-extension' has been added. It is
2573 available at startup, and provides a portable way to load Scheme
2574 extensions. SRFI-55 only requires support for one type of extension,
2575 "srfi"; so a set of SRFIs may be loaded via (require-extension (srfi 1
2578 ** New module (srfi srfi-26) provides support for `cut' and `cute'.
2580 The (srfi srfi-26) module is an implementation of SRFI-26 which
2581 provides the `cut' and `cute' syntax. These may be used to specialize
2582 parameters without currying.
2584 ** New module (srfi srfi-31)
2586 This is an implementation of SRFI-31 which provides a special form
2587 `rec' for recursive evaluation.
2589 ** The modules (srfi srfi-13), (srfi srfi-14) and (srfi srfi-4) have
2590 been merged with the core, making their functionality always
2593 The modules are still available, tho, and you could use them together
2594 with a renaming import, for example.
2596 ** Guile no longer includes its own version of libltdl.
2598 The official version is good enough now.
2600 ** The --enable-htmldoc option has been removed from 'configure'.
2602 Support for translating the documentation into HTML is now always
2603 provided. Use 'make html'.
2605 ** New module (ice-9 serialize):
2607 (serialize FORM1 ...) and (parallelize FORM1 ...) are useful when you
2608 don't trust the thread safety of most of your program, but where you
2609 have some section(s) of code which you consider can run in parallel to
2610 other sections. See ice-9/serialize.scm for more information.
2612 ** The configure option '--disable-arrays' has been removed.
2614 Support for arrays and uniform numeric arrays is now always included
2617 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
2619 ** New command line option `-L'.
2621 This option adds a directory to the front of the load path.
2623 ** New command line option `--no-debug'.
2625 Specifying `--no-debug' on the command line will keep the debugging
2626 evaluator turned off, even for interactive sessions.
2628 ** User-init file ~/.guile is now loaded with the debugging evaluator.
2630 Previously, the normal evaluator would have been used. Using the
2631 debugging evaluator gives better error messages.
2633 ** The '-e' option now 'read's its argument.
2635 This is to allow the new '(@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)' construct to
2636 be used with '-e'. For example, you can now write a script like
2639 exec guile -e '(@ (demo) main)' -s "$0" "$@"
2642 (define-module (demo)
2646 (format #t "Demo: ~a~%" args))
2649 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
2651 ** Guardians have changed back to their original semantics
2653 Guardians now behave like described in the paper by Dybvig et al. In
2654 particular, they no longer make guarantees about the order in which
2655 they return objects, and they can no longer be greedy.
2657 They no longer drop cyclic data structures.
2659 The C function scm_make_guardian has been changed incompatibly and no
2660 longer takes the 'greedy_p' argument.
2662 ** New function hashx-remove!
2664 This function completes the set of 'hashx' functions.
2666 ** The concept of dynamic roots has been factored into continuation
2667 barriers and dynamic states.
2669 Each thread has a current dynamic state that carries the values of the
2670 fluids. You can create and copy dynamic states and use them as the
2671 second argument for 'eval'. See "Fluids and Dynamic States" in the
2674 To restrict the influence that captured continuations can have on the
2675 control flow, you can errect continuation barriers. See "Continuation
2676 Barriers" in the manual.
2678 The function call-with-dynamic-root now essentially temporarily
2679 installs a new dynamic state and errects a continuation barrier.
2681 ** The default load path no longer includes "." at the end.
2683 Automatically loading modules from the current directory should not
2684 happen by default. If you want to allow it in a more controlled
2685 manner, set the environment variable GUILE_LOAD_PATH or the Scheme
2686 variable %load-path.
2688 ** The uniform vector and array support has been overhauled.
2690 It now complies with SRFI-4 and the weird prototype based uniform
2691 array creation has been deprecated. See the manual for more details.
2693 Some non-compatible changes have been made:
2694 - characters can no longer be stored into byte arrays.
2695 - strings and bit vectors are no longer considered to be uniform numeric
2697 - array-rank throws an error for non-arrays instead of returning zero.
2698 - array-ref does no longer accept non-arrays when no indices are given.
2700 There is the new notion of 'generalized vectors' and corresponding
2701 procedures like 'generalized-vector-ref'. Generalized vectors include
2702 strings, bitvectors, ordinary vectors, and uniform numeric vectors.
2704 Arrays use generalized vectors as their storage, so that you still
2705 have arrays of characters, bits, etc. However, uniform-array-read!
2706 and uniform-array-write can no longer read/write strings and
2709 ** There is now support for copy-on-write substrings, mutation-sharing
2710 substrings and read-only strings.
2712 Three new procedures are related to this: substring/shared,
2713 substring/copy, and substring/read-only. See the manual for more
2716 ** Backtraces will now highlight the value that caused the error.
2718 By default, these values are enclosed in "{...}", such as in this
2727 <unnamed port>:1:1: In procedure car in expression (car (quote a)):
2728 <unnamed port>:1:1: Wrong type (expecting pair): a
2729 ABORT: (wrong-type-arg)
2731 The prefix and suffix used for highlighting can be set via the two new
2732 printer options 'highlight-prefix' and 'highlight-suffix'. For
2733 example, putting this into ~/.guile will output the bad value in bold
2734 on an ANSI terminal:
2736 (print-set! highlight-prefix "\x1b[1m")
2737 (print-set! highlight-suffix "\x1b[22m")
2740 ** 'gettext' support for internationalization has been added.
2742 See the manual for details.
2744 ** New syntax '@' and '@@':
2746 You can now directly refer to variables exported from a module by
2749 (@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)
2751 For example (@ (ice-9 pretty-print) pretty-print) will directly access
2752 the pretty-print variable exported from the (ice-9 pretty-print)
2753 module. You don't need to 'use' that module first. You can also use
2754 '@' as a target of 'set!', as in (set! (@ mod var) val).
2756 The related syntax (@@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME) works just like '@',
2757 but it can also access variables that have not been exported. It is
2758 intended only for kluges and temporary fixes and for debugging, not
2761 ** Keyword syntax has been made more disciplined.
2763 Previously, the name of a keyword was read as a 'token' but printed as
2764 a symbol. Now, it is read as a general Scheme datum which must be a
2775 ERROR: In expression (a b c):
2779 ERROR: Unbound variable: foo
2784 ERROR: Wrong type (expecting symbol): 12
2788 ERROR: Wrong type (expecting symbol): (a b c)
2792 ** The printing of symbols that might look like keywords can be
2795 The new printer option 'quote-keywordish-symbols' controls how symbols
2796 are printed that have a colon as their first or last character. The
2797 default now is to only quote a symbol with #{...}# when the read
2798 option 'keywords' is not '#f'. Thus:
2800 guile> (define foo (string->symbol ":foo"))
2801 guile> (read-set! keywords #f)
2804 guile> (read-set! keywords 'prefix)
2807 guile> (print-set! quote-keywordish-symbols #f)
2811 ** 'while' now provides 'break' and 'continue'
2813 break and continue were previously bound in a while loop, but not
2814 documented, and continue didn't quite work properly. The undocumented
2815 parameter to break which gave a return value for the while has been
2818 ** 'call-with-current-continuation' is now also available under the name
2821 ** The module system now checks for duplicate bindings.
2823 The module system now can check for name conflicts among imported
2826 The behavior can be controlled by specifying one or more 'duplicates'
2827 handlers. For example, to make Guile return an error for every name
2830 (define-module (foo)
2835 The new default behavior of the module system when a name collision
2836 has been detected is to
2838 1. Give priority to bindings marked as a replacement.
2839 2. Issue a warning (different warning if overriding core binding).
2840 3. Give priority to the last encountered binding (this corresponds to
2843 If you want the old behavior back without replacements or warnings you
2846 (default-duplicate-binding-handler 'last)
2848 to your .guile init file.
2850 ** New define-module option: :replace
2852 :replace works as :export, but, in addition, marks the binding as a
2855 A typical example is `format' in (ice-9 format) which is a replacement
2856 for the core binding `format'.
2858 ** Adding prefixes to imported bindings in the module system
2860 There is now a new :use-module option :prefix. It can be used to add
2861 a prefix to all imported bindings.
2863 (define-module (foo)
2864 :use-module ((bar) :prefix bar:))
2866 will import all bindings exported from bar, but rename them by adding
2869 ** Conflicting generic functions can be automatically merged.
2871 When two imported bindings conflict and they are both generic
2872 functions, the two functions can now be merged automatically. This is
2873 activated with the 'duplicates' handler 'merge-generics'.
2875 ** New function: effective-version
2877 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
2878 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
2879 to the distribution" above.
2881 ** New threading functions: parallel, letpar, par-map, and friends
2883 These are convenient ways to run calculations in parallel in new
2884 threads. See "Parallel forms" in the manual for details.
2886 ** New function 'try-mutex'.
2888 This function will attempt to lock a mutex but will return immediately
2889 instead of blocking and indicate failure.
2891 ** Waiting on a condition variable can have a timeout.
2893 The function 'wait-condition-variable' now takes a third, optional
2894 argument that specifies the point in time where the waiting should be
2897 ** New function 'broadcast-condition-variable'.
2899 ** New functions 'all-threads' and 'current-thread'.
2901 ** Signals and system asyncs work better with threads.
2903 The function 'sigaction' now takes a fourth, optional, argument that
2904 specifies the thread that the handler should run in. When the
2905 argument is omitted, the handler will run in the thread that called
2908 Likewise, 'system-async-mark' takes a second, optional, argument that
2909 specifies the thread that the async should run in. When it is
2910 omitted, the async will run in the thread that called
2911 'system-async-mark'.
2913 C code can use the new functions scm_sigaction_for_thread and
2914 scm_system_async_mark_for_thread to pass the new thread argument.
2916 When a thread blocks on a mutex, a condition variable or is waiting
2917 for IO to be possible, it will still execute system asyncs. This can
2918 be used to interrupt such a thread by making it execute a 'throw', for
2921 ** The function 'system-async' is deprecated.
2923 You can now pass any zero-argument procedure to 'system-async-mark'.
2924 The function 'system-async' will just return its argument unchanged
2927 ** New functions 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' and
2928 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
2930 The expression (call-with-blocked-asyncs PROC) will call PROC and will
2931 block execution of system asyncs for the current thread by one level
2932 while PROC runs. Likewise, call-with-unblocked-asyncs will call a
2933 procedure and will unblock the execution of system asyncs by one
2934 level for the current thread.
2936 Only system asyncs are affected by these functions.
2938 ** The functions 'mask-signals' and 'unmask-signals' are deprecated.
2940 Use 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' or 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
2941 instead. Those functions are easier to use correctly and can be
2944 ** New function 'unsetenv'.
2946 ** New macro 'define-syntax-public'.
2948 It works like 'define-syntax' and also exports the defined macro (but
2951 ** There is support for Infinity and NaNs.
2953 Following PLT Scheme, Guile can now work with infinite numbers, and
2956 There is new syntax for numbers: "+inf.0" (infinity), "-inf.0"
2957 (negative infinity), "+nan.0" (not-a-number), and "-nan.0" (same as
2958 "+nan.0"). These numbers are inexact and have no exact counterpart.
2960 Dividing by an inexact zero returns +inf.0 or -inf.0, depending on the
2961 sign of the dividend. The infinities are integers, and they answer #t
2962 for both 'even?' and 'odd?'. The +nan.0 value is not an integer and is
2963 not '=' to itself, but '+nan.0' is 'eqv?' to itself.
2974 ERROR: Numerical overflow
2976 Two new predicates 'inf?' and 'nan?' can be used to test for the
2979 ** Inexact zero can have a sign.
2981 Guile can now distinguish between plus and minus inexact zero, if your
2982 platform supports this, too. The two zeros are equal according to
2983 '=', but not according to 'eqv?'. For example
2994 ** Guile now has exact rationals.
2996 Guile can now represent fractions such as 1/3 exactly. Computing with
2997 them is also done exactly, of course:
3002 ** 'floor', 'ceiling', 'round' and 'truncate' now return exact numbers
3003 for exact arguments.
3005 For example: (floor 2) now returns an exact 2 where in the past it
3006 returned an inexact 2.0. Likewise, (floor 5/4) returns an exact 1.
3008 ** inexact->exact no longer returns only integers.
3010 Without exact rationals, the closest exact number was always an
3011 integer, but now inexact->exact returns the fraction that is exactly
3012 equal to a floating point number. For example:
3014 (inexact->exact 1.234)
3015 => 694680242521899/562949953421312
3017 When you want the old behavior, use 'round' explicitly:
3019 (inexact->exact (round 1.234))
3022 ** New function 'rationalize'.
3024 This function finds a simple fraction that is close to a given real
3025 number. For example (and compare with inexact->exact above):
3027 (rationalize (inexact->exact 1.234) 1/2000)
3030 Note that, as required by R5RS, rationalize returns only then an exact
3031 result when both its arguments are exact.
3033 ** 'odd?' and 'even?' work also for inexact integers.
3035 Previously, (odd? 1.0) would signal an error since only exact integers
3036 were recognized as integers. Now (odd? 1.0) returns #t, (odd? 2.0)
3037 returns #f and (odd? 1.5) signals an error.
3039 ** Guile now has uninterned symbols.
3041 The new function 'make-symbol' will return an uninterned symbol. This
3042 is a symbol that is unique and is guaranteed to remain unique.
3043 However, uninterned symbols can not yet be read back in.
3045 Use the new function 'symbol-interned?' to check whether a symbol is
3048 ** pretty-print has more options.
3050 The function pretty-print from the (ice-9 pretty-print) module can now
3051 also be invoked with keyword arguments that control things like
3052 maximum output width. See the manual for details.
3054 ** Variables have no longer a special behavior for `equal?'.
3056 Previously, comparing two variables with `equal?' would recursivly
3057 compare their values. This is no longer done. Variables are now only
3058 `equal?' if they are `eq?'.
3060 ** `(begin)' is now valid.
3062 You can now use an empty `begin' form. It will yield #<unspecified>
3063 when evaluated and simply be ignored in a definition context.
3065 ** Deprecated: procedure->macro
3067 Change your code to use 'define-macro' or r5rs macros. Also, be aware
3068 that macro expansion will not be done during evaluation, but prior to
3071 ** Soft ports now allow a `char-ready?' procedure
3073 The vector argument to `make-soft-port' can now have a length of
3074 either 5 or 6. (Previously the length had to be 5.) The optional 6th
3075 element is interpreted as an `input-waiting' thunk -- i.e. a thunk
3076 that returns the number of characters that can be read immediately
3077 without the soft port blocking.
3079 ** Deprecated: undefine
3081 There is no replacement for undefine.
3083 ** The functions make-keyword-from-dash-symbol and keyword-dash-symbol
3084 have been discouraged.
3086 They are relics from a time where a keyword like #:foo was used
3087 directly as a Tcl option "-foo" and thus keywords were internally
3088 stored as a symbol with a starting dash. We now store a symbol
3091 Use symbol->keyword and keyword->symbol instead.
3093 ** The `cheap' debug option is now obsolete
3095 Evaluator trap calls are now unconditionally "cheap" - in other words,
3096 they pass a debug object to the trap handler rather than a full
3097 continuation. The trap handler code can capture a full continuation
3098 by using `call-with-current-continuation' in the usual way, if it so
3101 The `cheap' option is retained for now so as not to break existing
3102 code which gets or sets it, but setting it now has no effect. It will
3103 be removed in the next major Guile release.
3105 ** Evaluator trap calls now support `tweaking'
3107 `Tweaking' means that the trap handler code can modify the Scheme
3108 expression that is about to be evaluated (in the case of an
3109 enter-frame trap) or the value that is being returned (in the case of
3110 an exit-frame trap). The trap handler code indicates that it wants to
3111 do this by returning a pair whose car is the symbol 'instead and whose
3112 cdr is the modified expression or return value.
3114 * Changes to the C interface
3116 ** The functions scm_hash_fn_remove_x and scm_hashx_remove_x no longer
3117 take a 'delete' function argument.
3119 This argument makes no sense since the delete function is used to
3120 remove a pair from an alist, and this must not be configurable.
3122 This is an incompatible change.
3124 ** The GH interface is now subject to the deprecation mechanism
3126 The GH interface has been deprecated for quite some time but now it is
3127 actually removed from Guile when it is configured with
3128 --disable-deprecated.
3130 See the manual "Transitioning away from GH" for more information.
3132 ** A new family of functions for converting between C values and
3133 Scheme values has been added.
3135 These functions follow a common naming scheme and are designed to be
3136 easier to use, thread-safe and more future-proof than the older
3139 - int scm_is_* (...)
3141 These are predicates that return a C boolean: 1 or 0. Instead of
3142 SCM_NFALSEP, you can now use scm_is_true, for example.
3144 - <type> scm_to_<type> (SCM val, ...)
3146 These are functions that convert a Scheme value into an appropriate
3147 C value. For example, you can use scm_to_int to safely convert from
3150 - SCM scm_from_<type> (<type> val, ...)
3152 These functions convert from a C type to a SCM value; for example,
3153 scm_from_int for ints.
3155 There is a huge number of these functions, for numbers, strings,
3156 symbols, vectors, etc. They are documented in the reference manual in
3157 the API section together with the types that they apply to.
3159 ** New functions for dealing with complex numbers in C have been added.
3161 The new functions are scm_c_make_rectangular, scm_c_make_polar,
3162 scm_c_real_part, scm_c_imag_part, scm_c_magnitude and scm_c_angle.
3163 They work like scm_make_rectangular etc but take or return doubles
3166 ** The function scm_make_complex has been discouraged.
3168 Use scm_c_make_rectangular instead.
3170 ** The INUM macros have been deprecated.
3172 A lot of code uses these macros to do general integer conversions,
3173 although the macros only work correctly with fixnums. Use the
3174 following alternatives.
3176 SCM_INUMP -> scm_is_integer or similar
3177 SCM_NINUMP -> !scm_is_integer or similar
3178 SCM_MAKINUM -> scm_from_int or similar
3179 SCM_INUM -> scm_to_int or similar
3181 SCM_VALIDATE_INUM_* -> Do not use these; scm_to_int, etc. will
3182 do the validating for you.
3184 ** The scm_num2<type> and scm_<type>2num functions and scm_make_real
3185 have been discouraged.
3187 Use the newer scm_to_<type> and scm_from_<type> functions instead for
3188 new code. The functions have been discouraged since they don't fit
3191 ** The 'boolean' macros SCM_FALSEP etc have been discouraged.
3193 They have strange names, especially SCM_NFALSEP, and SCM_BOOLP
3194 evaluates its argument twice. Use scm_is_true, etc. instead for new
3197 ** The macro SCM_EQ_P has been discouraged.
3199 Use scm_is_eq for new code, which fits better into the naming
3202 ** The macros SCM_CONSP, SCM_NCONSP, SCM_NULLP, and SCM_NNULLP have
3205 Use the function scm_is_pair or scm_is_null instead.
3207 ** The functions scm_round and scm_truncate have been deprecated and
3208 are now available as scm_c_round and scm_c_truncate, respectively.
3210 These functions occupy the names that scm_round_number and
3211 scm_truncate_number should have.
3213 ** The functions scm_c_string2str, scm_c_substring2str, and
3214 scm_c_symbol2str have been deprecated.
3216 Use scm_to_locale_stringbuf or similar instead, maybe together with
3219 ** New functions scm_c_make_string, scm_c_string_length,
3220 scm_c_string_ref, scm_c_string_set_x, scm_c_substring,
3221 scm_c_substring_shared, scm_c_substring_copy.
3223 These are like scm_make_string, scm_length, etc. but are slightly
3224 easier to use from C.
3226 ** The macros SCM_STRINGP, SCM_STRING_CHARS, SCM_STRING_LENGTH,
3227 SCM_SYMBOL_CHARS, and SCM_SYMBOL_LENGTH have been deprecated.
3229 They export too many assumptions about the implementation of strings
3230 and symbols that are no longer true in the presence of
3231 mutation-sharing substrings and when Guile switches to some form of
3234 When working with strings, it is often best to use the normal string
3235 functions provided by Guile, such as scm_c_string_ref,
3236 scm_c_string_set_x, scm_string_append, etc. Be sure to look in the
3237 manual since many more such functions are now provided than
3240 When you want to convert a SCM string to a C string, use the
3241 scm_to_locale_string function or similar instead. For symbols, use
3242 scm_symbol_to_string and then work with that string. Because of the
3243 new string representation, scm_symbol_to_string does not need to copy
3244 and is thus quite efficient.
3246 ** Some string, symbol and keyword functions have been discouraged.
3248 They don't fit into the uniform naming scheme and are not explicit
3249 about the character encoding.
3251 Replace according to the following table:
3253 scm_allocate_string -> scm_c_make_string
3254 scm_take_str -> scm_take_locale_stringn
3255 scm_take0str -> scm_take_locale_string
3256 scm_mem2string -> scm_from_locale_stringn
3257 scm_str2string -> scm_from_locale_string
3258 scm_makfrom0str -> scm_from_locale_string
3259 scm_mem2symbol -> scm_from_locale_symboln
3260 scm_mem2uninterned_symbol -> scm_from_locale_stringn + scm_make_symbol
3261 scm_str2symbol -> scm_from_locale_symbol
3263 SCM_SYMBOL_HASH -> scm_hashq
3264 SCM_SYMBOL_INTERNED_P -> scm_symbol_interned_p
3266 scm_c_make_keyword -> scm_from_locale_keyword
3268 ** The functions scm_keyword_to_symbol and sym_symbol_to_keyword are
3269 now also available to C code.
3271 ** SCM_KEYWORDP and SCM_KEYWORDSYM have been deprecated.
3273 Use scm_is_keyword and scm_keyword_to_symbol instead, but note that
3274 the latter returns the true name of the keyword, not the 'dash name',
3275 as SCM_KEYWORDSYM used to do.
3277 ** A new way to access arrays in a thread-safe and efficient way has
3280 See the manual, node "Accessing Arrays From C".
3282 ** The old uniform vector and bitvector implementations have been
3283 unceremoniously removed.
3285 This implementation exposed the details of the tagging system of
3286 Guile. Use the new C API explained in the manual in node "Uniform
3287 Numeric Vectors" and "Bit Vectors", respectively.
3289 The following macros are gone: SCM_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_BASE,
3290 SCM_UVECTOR_MAXLENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_MAKE_UVECTOR_TAG,
3291 SCM_SET_UVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_BITVECTOR_P, SCM_BITVECTOR_BASE,
3292 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_BASE, SCM_BITVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH,
3293 SCM_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_MAKE_BITVECTOR_TAG,
3294 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_BITVEC_REF, SCM_BITVEC_SET,
3297 ** The macros dealing with vectors have been deprecated.
3299 Use the new functions scm_is_vector, scm_vector_elements,
3300 scm_vector_writable_elements, etc, or scm_is_simple_vector,
3301 SCM_SIMPLE_VECTOR_REF, SCM_SIMPLE_VECTOR_SET, etc instead. See the
3302 manual for more details.
3304 Deprecated are SCM_VECTORP, SCM_VELTS, SCM_VECTOR_MAX_LENGTH,
3305 SCM_VECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_VECTOR_REF, SCM_VECTOR_SET, SCM_WRITABLE_VELTS.
3307 The following macros have been removed: SCM_VECTOR_BASE,
3308 SCM_SET_VECTOR_BASE, SCM_MAKE_VECTOR_TAG, SCM_SET_VECTOR_LENGTH,
3309 SCM_VELTS_AS_STACKITEMS, SCM_SETVELTS, SCM_GC_WRITABLE_VELTS.
3311 ** Some C functions and macros related to arrays have been deprecated.
3313 Migrate according to the following table:
3315 scm_make_uve -> scm_make_typed_array, scm_make_u8vector etc.
3316 scm_make_ra -> scm_make_array
3317 scm_shap2ra -> scm_make_array
3318 scm_cvref -> scm_c_generalized_vector_ref
3319 scm_ra_set_contp -> do not use
3320 scm_aind -> scm_array_handle_pos
3321 scm_raprin1 -> scm_display or scm_write
3323 SCM_ARRAYP -> scm_is_array
3324 SCM_ARRAY_NDIM -> scm_c_array_rank
3325 SCM_ARRAY_DIMS -> scm_array_handle_dims
3326 SCM_ARRAY_CONTP -> do not use
3327 SCM_ARRAY_MEM -> do not use
3328 SCM_ARRAY_V -> scm_array_handle_elements or similar
3329 SCM_ARRAY_BASE -> do not use
3331 ** SCM_CELL_WORD_LOC has been deprecated.
3333 Use the new macro SCM_CELL_OBJECT_LOC instead, which returns a pointer
3334 to a SCM, as opposed to a pointer to a scm_t_bits.
3336 This was done to allow the correct use of pointers into the Scheme
3337 heap. Previously, the heap words were of type scm_t_bits and local
3338 variables and function arguments were of type SCM, making it
3339 non-standards-conformant to have a pointer that can point to both.
3341 ** New macros SCM_SMOB_DATA_2, SCM_SMOB_DATA_3, etc.
3343 These macros should be used instead of SCM_CELL_WORD_2/3 to access the
3344 second and third words of double smobs. Likewise for
3345 SCM_SET_SMOB_DATA_2 and SCM_SET_SMOB_DATA_3.
3347 Also, there is SCM_SMOB_FLAGS and SCM_SET_SMOB_FLAGS that should be
3348 used to get and set the 16 exra bits in the zeroth word of a smob.
3350 And finally, there is SCM_SMOB_OBJECT and SCM_SMOB_SET_OBJECT for
3351 accesing the first immediate word of a smob as a SCM value, and there
3352 is SCM_SMOB_OBJECT_LOC for getting a pointer to the first immediate
3353 smob word. Like wise for SCM_SMOB_OBJECT_2, etc.
3355 ** New way to deal with non-local exits and re-entries.
3357 There is a new set of functions that essentially do what
3358 scm_internal_dynamic_wind does, but in a way that is more convenient
3359 for C code in some situations. Here is a quick example of how to
3360 prevent a potential memory leak:
3367 scm_dynwind_begin (0);
3369 mem = scm_malloc (100);
3370 scm_dynwind_unwind_handler (free, mem, SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITLY);
3372 /* MEM would leak if BAR throws an error.
3373 SCM_DYNWIND_UNWIND_HANDLER frees it nevertheless.
3380 /* Because of SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITLY, MEM will be freed by
3381 SCM_DYNWIND_END as well.
3385 For full documentation, see the node "Dynamic Wind" in the manual.
3387 ** New function scm_dynwind_free
3389 This function calls 'free' on a given pointer when a dynwind context
3390 is left. Thus the call to scm_dynwind_unwind_handler above could be
3391 replaced with simply scm_dynwind_free (mem).
3393 ** New functions scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
3394 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs
3396 Like scm_call_with_blocked_asyncs etc. but for C functions.
3398 ** New functions scm_dynwind_block_asyncs and scm_dynwind_unblock_asyncs
3400 In addition to scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs you can now also use
3401 scm_dynwind_block_asyncs in a 'dynwind context' (see above). Likewise for
3402 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs and scm_dynwind_unblock_asyncs.
3404 ** The macros SCM_DEFER_INTS, SCM_ALLOW_INTS, SCM_REDEFER_INTS,
3405 SCM_REALLOW_INTS have been deprecated.
3407 They do no longer fulfill their original role of blocking signal
3408 delivery. Depending on what you want to achieve, replace a pair of
3409 SCM_DEFER_INTS and SCM_ALLOW_INTS with a dynwind context that locks a
3410 mutex, blocks asyncs, or both. See node "Critical Sections" in the
3413 ** The value 'scm_mask_ints' is no longer writable.
3415 Previously, you could set scm_mask_ints directly. This is no longer
3416 possible. Use scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
3417 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs instead.
3419 ** New way to temporarily set the current input, output or error ports
3421 C code can now use scm_dynwind_current_<foo>_port in a 'dynwind
3422 context' (see above). <foo> is one of "input", "output" or "error".
3424 ** New way to temporarily set fluids
3426 C code can now use scm_dynwind_fluid in a 'dynwind context' (see
3427 above) to temporarily set the value of a fluid.
3429 ** New types scm_t_intmax and scm_t_uintmax.
3431 On platforms that have them, these types are identical to intmax_t and
3432 uintmax_t, respectively. On other platforms, they are identical to
3433 the largest integer types that Guile knows about.
3435 ** The functions scm_unmemocopy and scm_unmemoize have been removed.
3437 You should not have used them.
3439 ** Many public #defines with generic names have been made private.
3441 #defines with generic names like HAVE_FOO or SIZEOF_FOO have been made
3442 private or renamed with a more suitable public name.
3444 ** The macro SCM_TYP16S has been deprecated.
3446 This macro is not intended for public use.
3448 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_INEXACTP has been deprecated.
3450 Use scm_is_true (scm_inexact_p (...)) instead.
3452 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_REALP has been deprecated.
3454 Use scm_is_real instead.
3456 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_COMPLEXP has been deprecated.
3458 Use scm_is_complex instead.
3460 ** Some preprocessor defines have been deprecated.
3462 These defines indicated whether a certain feature was present in Guile
3463 or not. Going forward, assume that the features are always present.
3465 The macros are: USE_THREADS, GUILE_ISELECT, READER_EXTENSIONS,
3466 DEBUG_EXTENSIONS, DYNAMIC_LINKING.
3468 The following macros have been removed completely: MEMOIZE_LOCALS,
3469 SCM_RECKLESS, SCM_CAUTIOUS.
3471 ** The preprocessor define STACK_DIRECTION has been deprecated.
3473 There should be no need to know about the stack direction for ordinary
3476 ** New function: scm_effective_version
3478 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
3479 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
3480 to the distribution" above.
3482 ** The function scm_call_with_new_thread has a new prototype.
3484 Instead of taking a list with the thunk and handler, these two
3485 arguments are now passed directly:
3487 SCM scm_call_with_new_thread (SCM thunk, SCM handler);
3489 This is an incompatible change.
3491 ** New snarfer macro SCM_DEFINE_PUBLIC.
3493 This is like SCM_DEFINE, but also calls scm_c_export for the defined
3494 function in the init section.
3496 ** The snarfer macro SCM_SNARF_INIT is now officially supported.
3498 ** Garbage collector rewrite.
3500 The garbage collector is cleaned up a lot, and now uses lazy
3501 sweeping. This is reflected in the output of (gc-stats); since cells
3502 are being freed when they are allocated, the cells-allocated field
3503 stays roughly constant.
3505 For malloc related triggers, the behavior is changed. It uses the same
3506 heuristic as the cell-triggered collections. It may be tuned with the
3507 environment variables GUILE_MIN_YIELD_MALLOC. This is the percentage
3508 for minimum yield of malloc related triggers. The default is 40.
3509 GUILE_INIT_MALLOC_LIMIT sets the initial trigger for doing a GC. The
3512 Debugging operations for the freelist have been deprecated, along with
3513 the C variables that control garbage collection. The environment
3514 variables GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE, GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2,
3515 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1, and GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2 should be used.
3517 For understanding the memory usage of a GUILE program, the routine
3518 gc-live-object-stats returns an alist containing the number of live
3519 objects for every type.
3522 ** The function scm_definedp has been renamed to scm_defined_p
3524 The name scm_definedp is deprecated.
3526 ** The struct scm_cell type has been renamed to scm_t_cell
3528 This is in accordance to Guile's naming scheme for types. Note that
3529 the name scm_cell is now used for a function that allocates and
3530 initializes a new cell (see below).
3532 ** New functions for memory management
3534 A new set of functions for memory management has been added since the
3535 old way (scm_must_malloc, scm_must_free, etc) was error prone and
3536 indeed, Guile itself contained some long standing bugs that could
3537 cause aborts in long running programs.
3539 The new functions are more symmetrical and do not need cooperation
3540 from smob free routines, among other improvements.
3542 The new functions are scm_malloc, scm_realloc, scm_calloc, scm_strdup,
3543 scm_strndup, scm_gc_malloc, scm_gc_calloc, scm_gc_realloc,
3544 scm_gc_free, scm_gc_register_collectable_memory, and
3545 scm_gc_unregister_collectable_memory. Refer to the manual for more
3546 details and for upgrading instructions.
3548 The old functions for memory management have been deprecated. They
3549 are: scm_must_malloc, scm_must_realloc, scm_must_free,
3550 scm_must_strdup, scm_must_strndup, scm_done_malloc, scm_done_free.
3552 ** Declarations of exported features are marked with SCM_API.
3554 Every declaration of a feature that belongs to the exported Guile API
3555 has been marked by adding the macro "SCM_API" to the start of the
3556 declaration. This macro can expand into different things, the most
3557 common of which is just "extern" for Unix platforms. On Win32, it can
3558 be used to control which symbols are exported from a DLL.
3560 If you `#define SCM_IMPORT' before including <libguile.h>, SCM_API
3561 will expand into "__declspec (dllimport) extern", which is needed for
3562 linking to the Guile DLL in Windows.
3564 There are also SCM_RL_IMPORT, SCM_SRFI1314_IMPORT, and
3565 SCM_SRFI4_IMPORT, for the corresponding libraries.
3567 ** SCM_NEWCELL and SCM_NEWCELL2 have been deprecated.
3569 Use the new functions scm_cell and scm_double_cell instead. The old
3570 macros had problems because with them allocation and initialization
3571 was separated and the GC could sometimes observe half initialized
3572 cells. Only careful coding by the user of SCM_NEWCELL and
3573 SCM_NEWCELL2 could make this safe and efficient.
3575 ** CHECK_ENTRY, CHECK_APPLY and CHECK_EXIT have been deprecated.
3577 Use the variables scm_check_entry_p, scm_check_apply_p and scm_check_exit_p
3580 ** SRCBRKP has been deprecated.
3582 Use scm_c_source_property_breakpoint_p instead.
3584 ** Deprecated: scm_makmacro
3586 Change your code to use either scm_makmmacro or to define macros in
3587 Scheme, using 'define-macro'.
3589 ** New function scm_c_port_for_each.
3591 This function is like scm_port_for_each but takes a pointer to a C
3592 function as the callback instead of a SCM value.
3594 ** The names scm_internal_select, scm_thread_sleep, and
3595 scm_thread_usleep have been discouraged.
3597 Use scm_std_select, scm_std_sleep, scm_std_usleep instead.
3599 ** The GC can no longer be blocked.
3601 The global flags scm_gc_heap_lock and scm_block_gc have been removed.
3602 The GC can now run (partially) concurrently with other code and thus
3603 blocking it is not well defined.
3605 ** Many definitions have been removed that were previously deprecated.
3607 scm_lisp_nil, scm_lisp_t, s_nil_ify, scm_m_nil_ify, s_t_ify,
3608 scm_m_t_ify, s_0_cond, scm_m_0_cond, s_0_ify, scm_m_0_ify, s_1_ify,
3609 scm_m_1_ify, scm_debug_newcell, scm_debug_newcell2,
3610 scm_tc16_allocated, SCM_SET_SYMBOL_HASH, SCM_IM_NIL_IFY, SCM_IM_T_IFY,
3611 SCM_IM_0_COND, SCM_IM_0_IFY, SCM_IM_1_IFY, SCM_GC_SET_ALLOCATED,
3612 scm_debug_newcell, scm_debug_newcell2, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL, SCM_INT_SIGNAL,
3613 SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL, SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL,
3614 SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD, SCM_ORD_SIG,
3615 SCM_NUM_SIGS, scm_top_level_lookup_closure_var,
3616 *top-level-lookup-closure*, scm_system_transformer, scm_eval_3,
3617 scm_eval2, root_module_lookup_closure, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP,
3618 SCM_RWSTRINGP, scm_read_only_string_p, scm_make_shared_substring,
3619 scm_tc7_substring, sym_huh, SCM_VARVCELL, SCM_UDVARIABLEP,
3620 SCM_DEFVARIABLEP, scm_mkbig, scm_big2inum, scm_adjbig, scm_normbig,
3621 scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big, scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl, SCM_FIXNUM_BIT,
3622 SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_SLOPPY_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET,
3623 SCM_LENGTH_MAX, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_ROLENGTH,
3624 SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR,
3625 scm_sym2vcell, scm_intern, scm_intern0, scm_sysintern, scm_sysintern0,
3626 scm_sysintern0_no_module_lookup, scm_init_symbols_deprecated,
3627 scm_vector_set_length_x, scm_contregs, scm_debug_info,
3628 scm_debug_frame, SCM_DSIDEVAL, SCM_CONST_LONG, SCM_VCELL,
3629 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL, SCM_VCELL_INIT, SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL_INIT,
3630 SCM_HUGE_LENGTH, SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING,
3631 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY, SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY,
3632 SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, DIGITS, scm_small_istr2int, scm_istr2int,
3633 scm_istr2flo, scm_istring2number, scm_istr2int, scm_istr2flo,
3634 scm_istring2number, scm_vtable_index_vcell, scm_si_vcell, SCM_ECONSP,
3635 SCM_NECONSP, SCM_GLOC_VAR, SCM_GLOC_VAL, SCM_GLOC_SET_VAL,
3636 SCM_GLOC_VAL_LOC, scm_make_gloc, scm_gloc_p, scm_tc16_variable,
3637 SCM_CHARS, SCM_LENGTH, SCM_SET_STRING_CHARS, SCM_SET_STRING_LENGTH.
3639 * Changes to bundled modules
3643 Using the (ice-9 debug) module no longer automatically switches Guile
3644 to use the debugging evaluator. If you want to switch to the
3645 debugging evaluator (which is needed for backtrace information if you
3646 hit an error), please add an explicit "(debug-enable 'debug)" to your
3647 code just after the code to use (ice-9 debug).
3650 Changes since Guile 1.4:
3652 * Changes to the distribution
3654 ** A top-level TODO file is included.
3656 ** Guile now uses a versioning scheme similar to that of the Linux kernel.
3658 Guile now always uses three numbers to represent the version,
3659 i.e. "1.6.5". The first number, 1, is the major version number, the
3660 second number, 6, is the minor version number, and the third number,
3661 5, is the micro version number. Changes in major version number
3662 indicate major changes in Guile.
3664 Minor version numbers that are even denote stable releases, and odd
3665 minor version numbers denote development versions (which may be
3666 unstable). The micro version number indicates a minor sub-revision of
3667 a given MAJOR.MINOR release.
3669 In keeping with the new scheme, (minor-version) and scm_minor_version
3670 no longer return everything but the major version number. They now
3671 just return the minor version number. Two new functions
3672 (micro-version) and scm_micro_version have been added to report the
3673 micro version number.
3675 In addition, ./GUILE-VERSION now defines GUILE_MICRO_VERSION.
3677 ** New preprocessor definitions are available for checking versions.
3679 version.h now #defines SCM_MAJOR_VERSION, SCM_MINOR_VERSION, and
3680 SCM_MICRO_VERSION to the appropriate integer values.
3682 ** Guile now actively warns about deprecated features.
3684 The new configure option `--enable-deprecated=LEVEL' and the
3685 environment variable GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATED control this mechanism.
3686 See INSTALL and README for more information.
3688 ** Guile is much more likely to work on 64-bit architectures.
3690 Guile now compiles and passes "make check" with only two UNRESOLVED GC
3691 cases on Alpha and ia64 based machines now. Thanks to John Goerzen
3692 for the use of a test machine, and thanks to Stefan Jahn for ia64
3695 ** New functions: setitimer and getitimer.
3697 These implement a fairly direct interface to the libc functions of the
3700 ** The #. reader extension is now disabled by default.
3702 For safety reasons, #. evaluation is disabled by default. To
3703 re-enable it, set the fluid read-eval? to #t. For example:
3705 (fluid-set! read-eval? #t)
3707 but make sure you realize the potential security risks involved. With
3708 read-eval? enabled, reading a data file from an untrusted source can
3711 ** New SRFI modules have been added:
3713 SRFI-0 `cond-expand' is now supported in Guile, without requiring
3716 (srfi srfi-1) is a library containing many useful pair- and list-processing
3719 (srfi srfi-2) exports and-let*.
3721 (srfi srfi-4) implements homogeneous numeric vector datatypes.
3723 (srfi srfi-6) is a dummy module for now, since guile already provides
3724 all of the srfi-6 procedures by default: open-input-string,
3725 open-output-string, get-output-string.
3727 (srfi srfi-8) exports receive.
3729 (srfi srfi-9) exports define-record-type.
3731 (srfi srfi-10) exports define-reader-ctor and implements the reader
3734 (srfi srfi-11) exports let-values and let*-values.
3736 (srfi srfi-13) implements the SRFI String Library.
3738 (srfi srfi-14) implements the SRFI Character-Set Library.
3740 (srfi srfi-17) implements setter and getter-with-setter and redefines
3741 some accessor procedures as procedures with getters. (such as car,
3742 cdr, vector-ref etc.)
3744 (srfi srfi-19) implements the SRFI Time/Date Library.
3746 ** New scripts / "executable modules"
3748 Subdirectory "scripts" contains Scheme modules that are packaged to
3749 also be executable as scripts. At this time, these scripts are available:
3758 See README there for more info.
3760 These scripts can be invoked from the shell with the new program
3761 "guile-tools", which keeps track of installation directory for you.
3764 $ guile-tools display-commentary srfi/*.scm
3766 guile-tools is copied to the standard $bindir on "make install".
3768 ** New module (ice-9 stack-catch):
3770 stack-catch is like catch, but saves the current state of the stack in
3771 the fluid the-last-stack. This fluid can be useful when using the
3772 debugger and when re-throwing an error.
3774 ** The module (ice-9 and-let*) has been renamed to (ice-9 and-let-star)
3776 This has been done to prevent problems on lesser operating systems
3777 that can't tolerate `*'s in file names. The exported macro continues
3778 to be named `and-let*', of course.
3780 On systems that support it, there is also a compatibility module named
3781 (ice-9 and-let*). It will go away in the next release.
3783 ** New modules (oop goops) etc.:
3786 (oop goops describe)
3788 (oop goops active-slot)
3789 (oop goops composite-slot)
3791 The Guile Object Oriented Programming System (GOOPS) has been
3792 integrated into Guile. For further information, consult the GOOPS
3793 manual and tutorial in the `doc' directory.
3795 ** New module (ice-9 rdelim).
3797 This exports the following procedures which were previously defined
3798 in the default environment:
3800 read-line read-line! read-delimited read-delimited! %read-delimited!
3801 %read-line write-line
3803 For backwards compatibility the definitions are still imported into the
3804 default environment in this version of Guile. However you should add:
3806 (use-modules (ice-9 rdelim))
3808 to any program which uses the definitions, since this may change in
3811 Alternatively, if guile-scsh is installed, the (scsh rdelim) module
3812 can be used for similar functionality.
3814 ** New module (ice-9 rw)
3816 This is a subset of the (scsh rw) module from guile-scsh. Currently
3817 it defines two procedures:
3819 *** New function: read-string!/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
3821 Read characters from a port or file descriptor into a string STR.
3822 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
3823 fport. This procedure is scsh-compatible and can efficiently read
3826 *** New function: write-string/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
3828 Write characters from a string STR to a port or file descriptor.
3829 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
3830 fport. This procedure is mostly compatible and can efficiently
3831 write large strings.
3833 ** New module (ice-9 match)
3835 This module includes Andrew K. Wright's pattern matcher. See
3836 ice-9/match.scm for brief description or
3838 http://www.star-lab.com/wright/code.html
3840 for complete documentation.
3842 ** New module (ice-9 buffered-input)
3844 This module provides procedures to construct an input port from an
3845 underlying source of input that reads and returns its input in chunks.
3846 The underlying input source is a Scheme procedure, specified by the
3847 caller, which the port invokes whenever it needs more input.
3849 This is useful when building an input port whose back end is Readline
3850 or a UI element such as the GtkEntry widget.
3854 The reference and tutorial documentation that was previously
3855 distributed separately, as `guile-doc', is now included in the core
3856 Guile distribution. The documentation consists of the following
3859 - The Guile Tutorial (guile-tut.texi) contains a tutorial introduction
3862 - The Guile Reference Manual (guile.texi) contains (or is intended to
3863 contain) reference documentation on all aspects of Guile.
3865 - The GOOPS Manual (goops.texi) contains both tutorial-style and
3866 reference documentation for using GOOPS, Guile's Object Oriented
3869 - The Revised^5 Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme
3872 See the README file in the `doc' directory for more details.
3874 ** There are a couple of examples in the examples/ directory now.
3876 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
3878 ** New command line option `--use-srfi'
3880 Using this option, SRFI modules can be loaded on startup and be
3881 available right from the beginning. This makes programming portable
3882 Scheme programs easier.
3884 The option `--use-srfi' expects a comma-separated list of numbers,
3885 each representing a SRFI number to be loaded into the interpreter
3886 before starting evaluating a script file or the REPL. Additionally,
3887 the feature identifier for the loaded SRFIs is recognized by
3888 `cond-expand' when using this option.
3891 $ guile --use-srfi=8,13
3892 guile> (receive (x z) (values 1 2) (+ 1 2))
3894 guile> (string-pad "bla" 20)
3897 ** Guile now always starts up in the `(guile-user)' module.
3899 Previously, scripts executed via the `-s' option would run in the
3900 `(guile)' module and the repl would run in the `(guile-user)' module.
3901 Now every user action takes place in the `(guile-user)' module by
3904 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
3906 ** Character classifiers work for non-ASCII characters.
3908 The predicates `char-alphabetic?', `char-numeric?',
3909 `char-whitespace?', `char-lower?', `char-upper?' and `char-is-both?'
3910 no longer check whether their arguments are ASCII characters.
3911 Previously, a character would only be considered alphabetic when it
3912 was also ASCII, for example.
3914 ** Previously deprecated Scheme functions have been removed:
3916 tag - no replacement.
3917 fseek - replaced by seek.
3918 list* - replaced by cons*.
3920 ** It's now possible to create modules with controlled environments
3924 (use-modules (ice-9 safe))
3925 (define m (make-safe-module))
3926 ;;; m will now be a module containing only a safe subset of R5RS
3927 (eval '(+ 1 2) m) --> 3
3928 (eval 'load m) --> ERROR: Unbound variable: load
3930 ** Evaluation of "()", the empty list, is now an error.
3932 Previously, the expression "()" evaluated to the empty list. This has
3933 been changed to signal a "missing expression" error. The correct way
3934 to write the empty list as a literal constant is to use quote: "'()".
3936 ** New concept of `Guile Extensions'.
3938 A Guile Extension is just a ordinary shared library that can be linked
3939 at run-time. We found it advantageous to give this simple concept a
3940 dedicated name to distinguish the issues related to shared libraries
3941 from the issues related to the module system.
3943 *** New function: load-extension
3945 Executing (load-extension lib init) is mostly equivalent to
3947 (dynamic-call init (dynamic-link lib))
3949 except when scm_register_extension has been called previously.
3950 Whenever appropriate, you should use `load-extension' instead of
3951 dynamic-link and dynamic-call.
3953 *** New C function: scm_c_register_extension
3955 This function registers a initialization function for use by
3956 `load-extension'. Use it when you don't want specific extensions to
3957 be loaded as shared libraries (for example on platforms that don't
3958 support dynamic linking).
3960 ** Auto-loading of compiled-code modules is deprecated.
3962 Guile used to be able to automatically find and link a shared
3963 library to satisfy requests for a module. For example, the module
3964 `(foo bar)' could be implemented by placing a shared library named
3965 "foo/libbar.so" (or with a different extension) in a directory on the
3968 This has been found to be too tricky, and is no longer supported. The
3969 shared libraries are now called "extensions". You should now write a
3970 small Scheme file that calls `load-extension' to load the shared
3971 library and initialize it explicitly.
3973 The shared libraries themselves should be installed in the usual
3974 places for shared libraries, with names like "libguile-foo-bar".
3976 For example, place this into a file "foo/bar.scm"
3978 (define-module (foo bar))
3980 (load-extension "libguile-foo-bar" "foobar_init")
3982 ** Backward incompatible change: eval EXP ENVIRONMENT-SPECIFIER
3984 `eval' is now R5RS, that is it takes two arguments.
3985 The second argument is an environment specifier, i.e. either
3987 (scheme-report-environment 5)
3988 (null-environment 5)
3989 (interaction-environment)
3995 ** The module system has been made more disciplined.
3997 The function `eval' will save and restore the current module around
3998 the evaluation of the specified expression. While this expression is
3999 evaluated, `(current-module)' will now return the right module, which
4000 is the module specified as the second argument to `eval'.
4002 A consequence of this change is that `eval' is not particularly
4003 useful when you want allow the evaluated code to change what module is
4004 designated as the current module and have this change persist from one
4005 call to `eval' to the next. The read-eval-print-loop is an example
4006 where `eval' is now inadequate. To compensate, there is a new
4007 function `primitive-eval' that does not take a module specifier and
4008 that does not save/restore the current module. You should use this
4009 function together with `set-current-module', `current-module', etc
4010 when you want to have more control over the state that is carried from
4011 one eval to the next.
4013 Additionally, it has been made sure that forms that are evaluated at
4014 the top level are always evaluated with respect to the current module.
4015 Previously, subforms of top-level forms such as `begin', `case',
4016 etc. did not respect changes to the current module although these
4017 subforms are at the top-level as well.
4019 To prevent strange behavior, the forms `define-module',
4020 `use-modules', `use-syntax', and `export' have been restricted to only
4021 work on the top level. The forms `define-public' and
4022 `defmacro-public' only export the new binding on the top level. They
4023 behave just like `define' and `defmacro', respectively, when they are
4024 used in a lexical environment.
4026 Also, `export' will no longer silently re-export bindings imported
4027 from a used module. It will emit a `deprecation' warning and will
4028 cease to perform any re-export in the next version. If you actually
4029 want to re-export bindings, use the new `re-export' in place of
4030 `export'. The new `re-export' will not make copies of variables when
4031 rexporting them, as `export' did wrongly.
4033 ** Module system now allows selection and renaming of imported bindings
4035 Previously, when using `use-modules' or the `#:use-module' clause in
4036 the `define-module' form, all the bindings (association of symbols to
4037 values) for imported modules were added to the "current module" on an
4038 as-is basis. This has been changed to allow finer control through two
4039 new facilities: selection and renaming.
4041 You can now select which of the imported module's bindings are to be
4042 visible in the current module by using the `:select' clause. This
4043 clause also can be used to rename individual bindings. For example:
4045 ;; import all bindings no questions asked
4046 (use-modules (ice-9 common-list))
4048 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them;
4049 ;; the current module sees: every some zonk-y zonk-n
4050 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
4052 (remove-if . zonk-y)
4053 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))))
4055 You can also programmatically rename all selected bindings using the
4056 `:renamer' clause, which specifies a proc that takes a symbol and
4057 returns another symbol. Because it is common practice to use a prefix,
4058 we now provide the convenience procedure `symbol-prefix-proc'. For
4061 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
4062 ;; and all four w/ prefix "CL:";
4063 ;; the current module sees: CL:every CL:some CL:zonk-y CL:zonk-n
4064 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
4066 (remove-if . zonk-y)
4067 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
4068 :renamer (symbol-prefix-proc 'CL:)))
4070 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
4071 ;; and all four by upcasing.
4072 ;; the current module sees: EVERY SOME ZONK-Y ZONK-N
4073 (define (upcase-symbol sym)
4074 (string->symbol (string-upcase (symbol->string sym))))
4076 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
4078 (remove-if . zonk-y)
4079 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
4080 :renamer upcase-symbol))
4082 Note that programmatic renaming is done *after* individual renaming.
4083 Also, the above examples show `use-modules', but the same facilities are
4084 available for the `#:use-module' clause of `define-module'.
4086 See manual for more info.
4088 ** The semantics of guardians have changed.
4090 The changes are for the most part compatible. An important criterion
4091 was to keep the typical usage of guardians as simple as before, but to
4092 make the semantics safer and (as a result) more useful.
4094 *** All objects returned from guardians are now properly alive.
4096 It is now guaranteed that any object referenced by an object returned
4097 from a guardian is alive. It's now impossible for a guardian to
4098 return a "contained" object before its "containing" object.
4100 One incompatible (but probably not very important) change resulting
4101 from this is that it is no longer possible to guard objects that
4102 indirectly reference themselves (i.e. are parts of cycles). If you do
4103 so accidentally, you'll get a warning.
4105 *** There are now two types of guardians: greedy and sharing.
4107 If you call (make-guardian #t) or just (make-guardian), you'll get a
4108 greedy guardian, and for (make-guardian #f) a sharing guardian.
4110 Greedy guardians are the default because they are more "defensive".
4111 You can only greedily guard an object once. If you guard an object
4112 more than once, once in a greedy guardian and the rest of times in
4113 sharing guardians, then it is guaranteed that the object won't be
4114 returned from sharing guardians as long as it is greedily guarded
4117 Guardians returned by calls to `make-guardian' can now take one more
4118 optional parameter, which says whether to throw an error in case an
4119 attempt is made to greedily guard an object that is already greedily
4120 guarded. The default is true, i.e. throw an error. If the parameter
4121 is false, the guardian invocation returns #t if guarding was
4122 successful and #f if it wasn't.
4124 Also, since greedy guarding is, in effect, a side-effecting operation
4125 on objects, a new function is introduced: `destroy-guardian!'.
4126 Invoking this function on a guardian renders it unoperative and, if
4127 the guardian is greedy, clears the "greedily guarded" property of the
4128 objects that were guarded by it, thus undoing the side effect.
4130 Note that all this hair is hardly very important, since guardian
4131 objects are usually permanent.
4133 ** Continuations created by call-with-current-continuation now accept
4134 any number of arguments, as required by R5RS.
4136 ** New function `issue-deprecation-warning'
4138 This function is used to display the deprecation messages that are
4139 controlled by GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATION as explained in the README.
4142 (issue-deprecation-warning "`id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.")
4146 ;; `id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.
4151 ** New syntax `begin-deprecated'
4153 When deprecated features are included (as determined by the configure
4154 option --enable-deprecated), `begin-deprecated' is identical to
4155 `begin'. When deprecated features are excluded, it always evaluates
4156 to `#f', ignoring the body forms.
4158 ** New function `make-object-property'
4160 This function returns a new `procedure with setter' P that can be used
4161 to attach a property to objects. When calling P as
4165 where `obj' is any kind of object, it attaches `val' to `obj' in such
4166 a way that it can be retrieved by calling P as
4170 This function will replace procedure properties, symbol properties and
4171 source properties eventually.
4173 ** Module (ice-9 optargs) now uses keywords instead of `#&'.
4175 Instead of #&optional, #&key, etc you should now use #:optional,
4176 #:key, etc. Since #:optional is a keyword, you can write it as just
4177 :optional when (read-set! keywords 'prefix) is active.
4179 The old reader syntax `#&' is still supported, but deprecated. It
4180 will be removed in the next release.
4182 ** New define-module option: pure
4184 Tells the module system not to include any bindings from the root
4189 (define-module (totally-empty-module)
4192 ** New define-module option: export NAME1 ...
4194 Export names NAME1 ...
4196 This option is required if you want to be able to export bindings from
4197 a module which doesn't import one of `define-public' or `export'.
4201 (define-module (foo)
4203 :use-module (ice-9 r5rs)
4206 ;;; Note that we're pure R5RS below this point!
4211 ** New function: object->string OBJ
4213 Return a Scheme string obtained by printing a given object.
4215 ** New function: port? X
4217 Returns a boolean indicating whether X is a port. Equivalent to
4218 `(or (input-port? X) (output-port? X))'.
4220 ** New function: file-port?
4222 Determines whether a given object is a port that is related to a file.
4224 ** New function: port-for-each proc
4226 Apply PROC to each port in the Guile port table in turn. The return
4227 value is unspecified. More specifically, PROC is applied exactly once
4228 to every port that exists in the system at the time PORT-FOR-EACH is
4229 invoked. Changes to the port table while PORT-FOR-EACH is running
4230 have no effect as far as PORT-FOR-EACH is concerned.
4232 ** New function: dup2 oldfd newfd
4234 A simple wrapper for the `dup2' system call. Copies the file
4235 descriptor OLDFD to descriptor number NEWFD, replacing the
4236 previous meaning of NEWFD. Both OLDFD and NEWFD must be integers.
4237 Unlike for dup->fdes or primitive-move->fdes, no attempt is made
4238 to move away ports which are using NEWFD. The return value is
4241 ** New function: close-fdes fd
4243 A simple wrapper for the `close' system call. Close file
4244 descriptor FD, which must be an integer. Unlike close (*note
4245 close: Ports and File Descriptors.), the file descriptor will be
4246 closed even if a port is using it. The return value is
4249 ** New function: crypt password salt
4251 Encrypts `password' using the standard unix password encryption
4254 ** New function: chroot path
4256 Change the root directory of the running process to `path'.
4258 ** New functions: getlogin, cuserid
4260 Return the login name or the user name of the current effective user
4263 ** New functions: getpriority which who, setpriority which who prio
4265 Get or set the priority of the running process.
4267 ** New function: getpass prompt
4269 Read a password from the terminal, first displaying `prompt' and
4272 ** New function: flock file operation
4274 Set/remove an advisory shared or exclusive lock on `file'.
4276 ** New functions: sethostname name, gethostname
4278 Set or get the hostname of the machine the current process is running
4281 ** New function: mkstemp! tmpl
4283 mkstemp creates a new unique file in the file system and returns a
4284 new buffered port open for reading and writing to the file. TMPL
4285 is a string specifying where the file should be created: it must
4286 end with `XXXXXX' and will be changed in place to return the name
4287 of the temporary file.
4289 ** New function: open-input-string string
4291 Return an input string port which delivers the characters from
4292 `string'. This procedure, together with `open-output-string' and
4293 `get-output-string' implements SRFI-6.
4295 ** New function: open-output-string
4297 Return an output string port which collects all data written to it.
4298 The data can then be retrieved by `get-output-string'.
4300 ** New function: get-output-string
4302 Return the contents of an output string port.
4304 ** New function: identity
4306 Return the argument.
4308 ** socket, connect, accept etc., now have support for IPv6. IPv6 addresses
4309 are represented in Scheme as integers with normal host byte ordering.
4311 ** New function: inet-pton family address
4313 Convert a printable string network address into an integer. Note that
4314 unlike the C version of this function, the result is an integer with
4315 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
4318 (inet-pton AF_INET "127.0.0.1") => 2130706433
4319 (inet-pton AF_INET6 "::1") => 1
4321 ** New function: inet-ntop family address
4323 Convert an integer network address into a printable string. Note that
4324 unlike the C version of this function, the input is an integer with
4325 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
4328 (inet-ntop AF_INET 2130706433) => "127.0.0.1"
4329 (inet-ntop AF_INET6 (- (expt 2 128) 1)) =>
4330 ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff
4334 Use `identity' instead.
4340 ** Deprecated: return-it
4344 ** Deprecated: string-character-length
4346 Use `string-length' instead.
4348 ** Deprecated: flags
4350 Use `logior' instead.
4352 ** Deprecated: close-all-ports-except.
4354 This was intended for closing ports in a child process after a fork,
4355 but it has the undesirable side effect of flushing buffers.
4356 port-for-each is more flexible.
4358 ** The (ice-9 popen) module now attempts to set up file descriptors in
4359 the child process from the current Scheme ports, instead of using the
4360 current values of file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 in the parent process.
4362 ** Removed function: builtin-weak-bindings
4364 There is no such concept as a weak binding any more.
4366 ** Removed constants: bignum-radix, scm-line-incrementors
4368 ** define-method: New syntax mandatory.
4370 The new method syntax is now mandatory:
4372 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ...) BODY ...)
4373 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ... . REST-ARG) BODY ...)
4375 ARG-SPEC ::= ARG-NAME | (ARG-NAME TYPE)
4376 REST-ARG ::= ARG-NAME
4378 If you have old code using the old syntax, import
4379 (oop goops old-define-method) before (oop goops) as in:
4381 (use-modules (oop goops old-define-method) (oop goops))
4383 ** Deprecated function: builtin-variable
4384 Removed function: builtin-bindings
4386 There is no longer a distinction between builtin or other variables.
4387 Use module system operations for all variables.
4389 ** Lazy-catch handlers are no longer allowed to return.
4391 That is, a call to `throw', `error', etc is now guaranteed to not
4394 ** Bugfixes for (ice-9 getopt-long)
4396 This module is now tested using test-suite/tests/getopt-long.test.
4397 The following bugs have been fixed:
4399 *** Parsing for options that are specified to have `optional' args now checks
4400 if the next element is an option instead of unconditionally taking it as the
4403 *** An error is now thrown for `--opt=val' when the option description
4404 does not specify `(value #t)' or `(value optional)'. This condition used to
4405 be accepted w/o error, contrary to the documentation.
4407 *** The error message for unrecognized options is now more informative.
4408 It used to be "not a record", an artifact of the implementation.
4410 *** The error message for `--opt' terminating the arg list (no value), when
4411 `(value #t)' is specified, is now more informative. It used to be "not enough
4414 *** "Clumped" single-char args now preserve trailing string, use it as arg.
4415 The expansion used to be like so:
4417 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "--xyz")
4419 Note that the "5d" is dropped. Now it is like so:
4421 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "5d" "--xyz")
4423 This enables single-char options to have adjoining arguments as long as their
4424 constituent characters are not potential single-char options.
4426 ** (ice-9 session) procedure `arity' now works with (ice-9 optargs) `lambda*'
4428 The `lambda*' and derivative forms in (ice-9 optargs) now set a procedure
4429 property `arglist', which can be retrieved by `arity'. The result is that
4430 `arity' can give more detailed information than before:
4434 guile> (use-modules (ice-9 optargs))
4435 guile> (define* (foo #:optional a b c) a)
4437 0 or more arguments in `lambda*:G0'.
4442 3 optional arguments: `a', `b' and `c'.
4443 guile> (define* (bar a b #:key c d #:allow-other-keys) a)
4445 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 2 keyword arguments: `c'
4446 and `d', other keywords allowed.
4447 guile> (define* (baz a b #:optional c #:rest r) a)
4449 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 1 optional argument: `c',
4452 * Changes to the C interface
4454 ** Types have been renamed from scm_*_t to scm_t_*.
4456 This has been done for POSIX sake. It reserves identifiers ending
4457 with "_t". What a concept.
4459 The old names are still available with status `deprecated'.
4461 ** scm_t_bits (former scm_bits_t) is now a unsigned type.
4463 ** Deprecated features have been removed.
4467 SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP SCM_ICHRP, SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR
4468 SCM_SETJMPBUF SCM_NSTRINGP SCM_NRWSTRINGP SCM_NVECTORP SCM_DOUBLE_CELLP
4470 *** C Functions removed
4472 scm_sysmissing scm_tag scm_tc16_flo scm_tc_flo
4473 scm_fseek - replaced by scm_seek.
4474 gc-thunk - replaced by after-gc-hook.
4475 gh_int2scmb - replaced by gh_bool2scm.
4476 scm_tc_dblr - replaced by scm_tc16_real.
4477 scm_tc_dblc - replaced by scm_tc16_complex.
4478 scm_list_star - replaced by scm_cons_star.
4480 ** Deprecated: scm_makfromstr
4482 Use scm_mem2string instead.
4484 ** Deprecated: scm_make_shared_substring
4486 Explicit shared substrings will disappear from Guile.
4488 Instead, "normal" strings will be implemented using sharing
4489 internally, combined with a copy-on-write strategy.
4491 ** Deprecated: scm_read_only_string_p
4493 The concept of read-only strings will disappear in next release of
4496 ** Deprecated: scm_sloppy_memq, scm_sloppy_memv, scm_sloppy_member
4498 Instead, use scm_c_memq or scm_memq, scm_memv, scm_member.
4500 ** New functions: scm_call_0, scm_call_1, scm_call_2, scm_call_3
4502 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments. See "Fly
4503 Evaluation" in the manual.
4505 ** New functions: scm_apply_0, scm_apply_1, scm_apply_2, scm_apply_3
4507 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments and a list of
4508 further arguments. See "Fly Evaluation" in the manual.
4510 ** New functions: scm_list_1, scm_list_2, scm_list_3, scm_list_4, scm_list_5
4512 Create a list of the given number of elements. See "List
4513 Constructors" in the manual.
4515 ** Renamed function: scm_listify has been replaced by scm_list_n.
4517 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_LIST0, SCM_LIST1, SCM_LIST2, SCM_LIST3, SCM_LIST4,
4518 SCM_LIST5, SCM_LIST6, SCM_LIST7, SCM_LIST8, SCM_LIST9.
4520 Use functions scm_list_N instead.
4522 ** New function: scm_c_read (SCM port, void *buffer, scm_sizet size)
4524 Used by an application to read arbitrary number of bytes from a port.
4525 Same semantics as libc read, except that scm_c_read only returns less
4526 than SIZE bytes if at end-of-file.
4528 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
4530 ** New function: scm_c_write (SCM port, const void *ptr, scm_sizet size)
4532 Used by an application to write arbitrary number of bytes to an SCM
4533 port. Similar semantics as libc write. However, unlike libc
4534 write, scm_c_write writes the requested number of bytes and has no
4537 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
4539 ** New function: scm_init_guile ()
4541 In contrast to scm_boot_guile, scm_init_guile will return normally
4542 after initializing Guile. It is not available on all systems, tho.
4544 ** New functions: scm_str2symbol, scm_mem2symbol
4546 The function scm_str2symbol takes a const char* pointing to a zero-terminated
4547 field of characters and creates a scheme symbol object from that C string.
4548 The function scm_mem2symbol takes a const char* and a number of characters and
4549 creates a symbol from the characters in that memory area.
4551 ** New functions: scm_primitive_make_property
4552 scm_primitive_property_ref
4553 scm_primitive_property_set_x
4554 scm_primitive_property_del_x
4556 These functions implement a new way to deal with object properties.
4557 See libguile/properties.c for their documentation.
4559 ** New function: scm_done_free (long size)
4561 This function is the inverse of scm_done_malloc. Use it to report the
4562 amount of smob memory you free. The previous method, which involved
4563 calling scm_done_malloc with negative argument, was somewhat
4564 unintuitive (and is still available, of course).
4566 ** New function: scm_c_memq (SCM obj, SCM list)
4568 This function provides a fast C level alternative for scm_memq for the case
4569 that the list parameter is known to be a proper list. The function is a
4570 replacement for scm_sloppy_memq, but is stricter in its requirements on its
4571 list input parameter, since for anything else but a proper list the function's
4572 behaviour is undefined - it may even crash or loop endlessly. Further, for
4573 the case that the object is not found in the list, scm_c_memq returns #f which
4574 is similar to scm_memq, but different from scm_sloppy_memq's behaviour.
4576 ** New functions: scm_remember_upto_here_1, scm_remember_upto_here_2,
4577 scm_remember_upto_here
4579 These functions replace the function scm_remember.
4581 ** Deprecated function: scm_remember
4583 Use one of the new functions scm_remember_upto_here_1,
4584 scm_remember_upto_here_2 or scm_remember_upto_here instead.
4586 ** New function: scm_allocate_string
4588 This function replaces the function scm_makstr.
4590 ** Deprecated function: scm_makstr
4592 Use the new function scm_allocate_string instead.
4594 ** New global variable scm_gc_running_p introduced.
4596 Use this variable to find out if garbage collection is being executed. Up to
4597 now applications have used scm_gc_heap_lock to test if garbage collection was
4598 running, which also works because of the fact that up to know only the garbage
4599 collector has set this variable. But, this is an implementation detail that
4600 may change. Further, scm_gc_heap_lock is not set throughout gc, thus the use
4601 of this variable is (and has been) not fully safe anyway.
4603 ** New macros: SCM_BITVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH
4605 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
4607 ** New macros: SCM_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_CCLO_LENGTH, SCM_STACK_LENGTH,
4608 SCM_STRING_LENGTH, SCM_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
4609 SCM_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_VECTOR_LENGTH.
4611 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH.
4613 ** New macros: SCM_SET_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_SET_STRING_LENGTH,
4614 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_SET_VECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
4615 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_LENGTH
4617 Use these instead of SCM_SETLENGTH
4619 ** New macros: SCM_STRING_CHARS, SCM_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_CCLO_BASE,
4620 SCM_VECTOR_BASE, SCM_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_BITVECTOR_BASE, SCM_COMPLEX_MEM,
4623 Use these instead of SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS, SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS or
4626 ** New macros: SCM_SET_BIGNUM_BASE, SCM_SET_STRING_CHARS,
4627 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_BASE,
4630 Use these instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
4632 ** New macro: SCM_BITVECTOR_P
4634 ** New macro: SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X
4636 Use instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
4638 ** New macros: SCM_DIR_OPEN_P, SCM_DIR_FLAG_OPEN
4640 For directory objects, use these instead of SCM_OPDIRP and SCM_OPN.
4642 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_OUTOFRANGE, SCM_NALLOC, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL,
4643 SCM_INT_SIGNAL, SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL,
4644 SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL, SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD,
4645 SCM_ORD_SIG, SCM_NUM_SIGS, SCM_SYMBOL_SLOTS, SCM_SLOTS, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP,
4646 SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_FREEP, SCM_NFREEP, SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS,
4647 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY,
4648 SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY, SCM_ROLENGTH, SCM_LENGTH, SCM_HUGE_LENGTH,
4649 SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR,
4650 SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_RWSTRINGP, SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, SCM_ROCHARS,
4651 SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_LENGTH_MAX, SCM_GC8MARKP,
4652 SCM_SETGC8MARK, SCM_CLRGC8MARK, SCM_GCTYP16, SCM_GCCDR, SCM_SUBR_DOC,
4653 SCM_OPDIRP, SCM_VALIDATE_OPDIR, SCM_WTA, RETURN_SCM_WTA, SCM_CONST_LONG,
4654 SCM_WNA, SCM_FUNC_NAME, SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_COPY,
4655 SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_DEF_COPY, SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP, SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP,
4656 SCM_SETAND_CDR, SCM_SETOR_CDR, SCM_SETAND_CAR, SCM_SETOR_CAR
4658 Use SCM_ASSERT_RANGE or SCM_VALIDATE_XXX_RANGE instead of SCM_OUTOFRANGE.
4659 Use scm_memory_error instead of SCM_NALLOC.
4660 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP.
4661 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR.
4662 Use SCM_FREE_CELL_P instead of SCM_FREEP/SCM_NFREEP
4663 Use a type specific accessor macro instead of SCM_CHARS/SCM_UCHARS.
4664 Use a type specific accessor instead of SCM(_|_RO|_HUGE_)LENGTH.
4665 Use SCM_VALIDATE_(SYMBOL|STRING) instead of SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING.
4666 Use SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
4667 Use SCM_STRINGP or SCM_SYMBOLP instead of SCM_ROSTRINGP.
4668 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_RWSTRINGP.
4669 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING.
4670 Use SCM_STRING_CHARS instead of SCM_ROCHARS.
4671 Use SCM_STRING_UCHARS instead of SCM_ROUCHARS.
4672 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETLENGTH.
4673 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
4674 Use a type specific length macro instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
4675 Use SCM_GCMARKP instead of SCM_GC8MARKP.
4676 Use SCM_SETGCMARK instead of SCM_SETGC8MARK.
4677 Use SCM_CLRGCMARK instead of SCM_CLRGC8MARK.
4678 Use SCM_TYP16 instead of SCM_GCTYP16.
4679 Use SCM_CDR instead of SCM_GCCDR.
4680 Use SCM_DIR_OPEN_P instead of SCM_OPDIRP.
4681 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of SCM_WTA.
4682 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of RETURN_SCM_WTA.
4683 Use SCM_VCELL_INIT instead of SCM_CONST_LONG.
4684 Use SCM_WRONG_NUM_ARGS instead of SCM_WNA.
4685 Use SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP.
4686 Use !SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP.
4688 ** Removed function: scm_struct_init
4690 ** Removed variable: scm_symhash_dim
4692 ** Renamed function: scm_make_cont has been replaced by
4693 scm_make_continuation, which has a different interface.
4695 ** Deprecated function: scm_call_catching_errors
4697 Use scm_catch or scm_lazy_catch from throw.[ch] instead.
4699 ** Deprecated function: scm_strhash
4701 Use scm_string_hash instead.
4703 ** Deprecated function: scm_vector_set_length_x
4705 Instead, create a fresh vector of the desired size and copy the contents.
4707 ** scm_gensym has changed prototype
4709 scm_gensym now only takes one argument.
4711 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc7_ssymbol, scm_tc7_msymbol, scm_tcs_symbols,
4714 There is now only a single symbol type scm_tc7_symbol.
4715 The tag scm_tc7_lvector was not used anyway.
4717 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe, scm_set_smob_mfpe.
4719 Use scm_make_smob_type and scm_set_smob_XXX instead.
4721 ** New function scm_set_smob_apply.
4723 This can be used to set an apply function to a smob type.
4725 ** Deprecated function: scm_strprint_obj
4727 Use scm_object_to_string instead.
4729 ** Deprecated function: scm_wta
4731 Use scm_wrong_type_arg, or another appropriate error signalling function
4734 ** Explicit support for obarrays has been deprecated.
4736 Use `scm_str2symbol' and the generic hashtable functions instead.
4738 ** The concept of `vcells' has been deprecated.
4740 The data type `variable' is now used exclusively. `Vcells' have been
4741 a low-level concept so you are likely not affected by this change.
4743 *** Deprecated functions: scm_sym2vcell, scm_sysintern,
4744 scm_sysintern0, scm_symbol_value0, scm_intern, scm_intern0.
4746 Use scm_c_define or scm_c_lookup instead, as appropriate.
4748 *** New functions: scm_c_module_lookup, scm_c_lookup,
4749 scm_c_module_define, scm_c_define, scm_module_lookup, scm_lookup,
4750 scm_module_define, scm_define.
4752 These functions work with variables instead of with vcells.
4754 ** New functions for creating and defining `subr's and `gsubr's.
4756 The new functions more clearly distinguish between creating a subr (or
4757 gsubr) object and adding it to the current module.
4759 These new functions are available: scm_c_make_subr, scm_c_define_subr,
4760 scm_c_make_subr_with_generic, scm_c_define_subr_with_generic,
4761 scm_c_make_gsubr, scm_c_define_gsubr, scm_c_make_gsubr_with_generic,
4762 scm_c_define_gsubr_with_generic.
4764 ** Deprecated functions: scm_make_subr, scm_make_subr_opt,
4765 scm_make_subr_with_generic, scm_make_gsubr,
4766 scm_make_gsubr_with_generic.
4768 Use the new ones from above instead.
4770 ** C interface to the module system has changed.
4772 While we suggest that you avoid as many explicit module system
4773 operations from C as possible for the time being, the C interface has
4774 been made more similar to the high-level Scheme module system.
4776 *** New functions: scm_c_define_module, scm_c_use_module,
4777 scm_c_export, scm_c_resolve_module.
4779 They mostly work like their Scheme namesakes. scm_c_define_module
4780 takes a function that is called a context where the new module is
4783 *** Deprecated functions: scm_the_root_module, scm_make_module,
4784 scm_ensure_user_module, scm_load_scheme_module.
4786 Use the new functions instead.
4788 ** Renamed function: scm_internal_with_fluids becomes
4791 scm_internal_with_fluids is available as a deprecated function.
4793 ** New function: scm_c_with_fluid.
4795 Just like scm_c_with_fluids, but takes one fluid and one value instead
4798 ** Deprecated typedefs: long_long, ulong_long.
4800 They are of questionable utility and they pollute the global
4803 ** Deprecated typedef: scm_sizet
4805 It is of questionable utility now that Guile requires ANSI C, and is
4808 ** Deprecated typedefs: scm_port_rw_active, scm_port,
4809 scm_ptob_descriptor, scm_debug_info, scm_debug_frame, scm_fport,
4810 scm_option, scm_rstate, scm_rng, scm_array, scm_array_dim.
4812 Made more compliant with the naming policy by adding a _t at the end.
4814 ** Deprecated functions: scm_mkbig, scm_big2num, scm_adjbig,
4815 scm_normbig, scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big, scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl
4817 With the exception of the mysterious scm_2ulong2big, they are still
4818 available under new names (scm_i_mkbig etc). These functions are not
4819 intended to be used in user code. You should avoid dealing with
4820 bignums directly, and should deal with numbers in general (which can
4823 ** Change in behavior: scm_num2long, scm_num2ulong
4825 The scm_num2[u]long functions don't any longer accept an inexact
4826 argument. This change in behavior is motivated by concordance with
4827 R5RS: It is more common that a primitive doesn't want to accept an
4828 inexact for an exact.
4830 ** New functions: scm_short2num, scm_ushort2num, scm_int2num,
4831 scm_uint2num, scm_size2num, scm_ptrdiff2num, scm_num2short,
4832 scm_num2ushort, scm_num2int, scm_num2uint, scm_num2ptrdiff,
4835 These are conversion functions between the various ANSI C integral
4836 types and Scheme numbers. NOTE: The scm_num2xxx functions don't
4837 accept an inexact argument.
4839 ** New functions: scm_float2num, scm_double2num,
4840 scm_num2float, scm_num2double.
4842 These are conversion functions between the two ANSI C float types and
4845 ** New number validation macros:
4846 SCM_NUM2{SIZE,PTRDIFF,SHORT,USHORT,INT,UINT}[_DEF]
4850 ** New functions: scm_gc_protect_object, scm_gc_unprotect_object
4852 These are just nicer-named old scm_protect_object and
4853 scm_unprotect_object.
4855 ** Deprecated functions: scm_protect_object, scm_unprotect_object
4857 ** New functions: scm_gc_[un]register_root, scm_gc_[un]register_roots
4859 These functions can be used to register pointers to locations that
4862 ** Deprecated function: scm_create_hook.
4864 Its sins are: misleading name, non-modularity and lack of general
4868 Changes since Guile 1.3.4:
4870 * Changes to the distribution
4872 ** Trees from nightly snapshots and CVS now require you to run autogen.sh.
4874 We've changed the way we handle generated files in the Guile source
4875 repository. As a result, the procedure for building trees obtained
4876 from the nightly FTP snapshots or via CVS has changed:
4877 - You must have appropriate versions of autoconf, automake, and
4878 libtool installed on your system. See README for info on how to
4879 obtain these programs.
4880 - Before configuring the tree, you must first run the script
4881 `autogen.sh' at the top of the source tree.
4883 The Guile repository used to contain not only source files, written by
4884 humans, but also some generated files, like configure scripts and
4885 Makefile.in files. Even though the contents of these files could be
4886 derived mechanically from other files present, we thought it would
4887 make the tree easier to build if we checked them into CVS.
4889 However, this approach means that minor differences between
4890 developer's installed tools and habits affected the whole team.
4891 So we have removed the generated files from the repository, and
4892 added the autogen.sh script, which will reconstruct them
4896 ** configure now has experimental options to remove support for certain
4899 --disable-arrays omit array and uniform array support
4900 --disable-posix omit posix interfaces
4901 --disable-networking omit networking interfaces
4902 --disable-regex omit regular expression interfaces
4904 These are likely to become separate modules some day.
4906 ** New configure option --enable-debug-freelist
4908 This enables a debugging version of SCM_NEWCELL(), and also registers
4909 an extra primitive, the setter `gc-set-debug-check-freelist!'.
4911 Configure with the --enable-debug-freelist option to enable
4912 the gc-set-debug-check-freelist! primitive, and then use:
4914 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #t) # turn on checking of the freelist
4915 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #f) # turn off checking
4917 Checking of the freelist forces a traversal of the freelist and
4918 a garbage collection before each allocation of a cell. This can
4919 slow down the interpreter dramatically, so the setter should be used to
4920 turn on this extra processing only when necessary.
4922 ** New configure option --enable-debug-malloc
4924 Include code for debugging of calls to scm_must_malloc/realloc/free.
4928 1. objects freed by scm_must_free has been mallocated by scm_must_malloc
4929 2. objects reallocated by scm_must_realloc has been allocated by
4931 3. reallocated objects are reallocated with the same what string
4933 But, most importantly, it records the number of allocated objects of
4934 each kind. This is useful when searching for memory leaks.
4936 A Guile compiled with this option provides the primitive
4937 `malloc-stats' which returns an alist with pairs of kind and the
4938 number of objects of that kind.
4940 ** All includes are now referenced relative to the root directory
4942 Since some users have had problems with mixups between Guile and
4943 system headers, we have decided to always refer to Guile headers via
4944 their parent directories. This essentially creates a "private name
4945 space" for Guile headers. This means that the compiler only is given
4946 -I options for the root build and root source directory.
4948 ** Header files kw.h and genio.h have been removed.
4950 ** The module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) has been removed.
4952 ** New module (ice-9 documentation)
4954 Implements the interface to documentation strings associated with
4957 ** New module (ice-9 time)
4959 Provides a macro `time', which displays execution time of a given form.
4961 ** New module (ice-9 history)
4963 Loading this module enables value history in the repl.
4965 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
4967 ** New command line option --debug
4969 Start Guile with debugging evaluator and backtraces enabled.
4971 This is useful when debugging your .guile init file or scripts.
4973 ** New help facility
4975 Usage: (help NAME) gives documentation about objects named NAME (a symbol)
4976 (help REGEXP) ditto for objects with names matching REGEXP (a string)
4977 (help 'NAME) gives documentation for NAME, even if it is not an object
4978 (help ,EXPR) gives documentation for object returned by EXPR
4979 (help (my module)) gives module commentary for `(my module)'
4980 (help) gives this text
4982 `help' searches among bindings exported from loaded modules, while
4983 `apropos' searches among bindings visible from the "current" module.
4985 Examples: (help help)
4987 (help "output-string")
4989 ** `help' and `apropos' now prints full module names
4991 ** Dynamic linking now uses libltdl from the libtool package.
4993 The old system dependent code for doing dynamic linking has been
4994 replaced with calls to the libltdl functions which do all the hairy
4997 The major improvement is that you can now directly pass libtool
4998 library names like "libfoo.la" to `dynamic-link' and `dynamic-link'
4999 will be able to do the best shared library job you can get, via
5002 The way dynamic libraries are found has changed and is not really
5003 portable across platforms, probably. It is therefore recommended to
5004 use absolute filenames when possible.
5006 If you pass a filename without an extension to `dynamic-link', it will
5007 try a few appropriate ones. Thus, the most platform ignorant way is
5008 to specify a name like "libfoo", without any directories and
5011 ** Guile COOP threads are now compatible with LinuxThreads
5013 Previously, COOP threading wasn't possible in applications linked with
5014 Linux POSIX threads due to their use of the stack pointer to find the
5015 thread context. This has now been fixed with a workaround which uses
5016 the pthreads to allocate the stack.
5018 ** New primitives: `pkgdata-dir', `site-dir', `library-dir'
5020 ** Positions of erring expression in scripts
5022 With version 1.3.4, the location of the erring expression in Guile
5023 scipts is no longer automatically reported. (This should have been
5024 documented before the 1.3.4 release.)
5026 You can get this information by enabling recording of positions of
5027 source expressions and running the debugging evaluator. Put this at
5028 the top of your script (or in your "site" file):
5030 (read-enable 'positions)
5031 (debug-enable 'debug)
5033 ** Backtraces in scripts
5035 It is now possible to get backtraces in scripts.
5039 (debug-enable 'debug 'backtrace)
5041 at the top of the script.
5043 (The first options enables the debugging evaluator.
5044 The second enables backtraces.)
5046 ** Part of module system symbol lookup now implemented in C
5048 The eval closure of most modules is now implemented in C. Since this
5049 was one of the bottlenecks for loading speed, Guile now loads code
5050 substantially faster than before.
5052 ** Attempting to get the value of an unbound variable now produces
5053 an exception with a key of 'unbound-variable instead of 'misc-error.
5055 ** The initial default output port is now unbuffered if it's using a
5056 tty device. Previously in this situation it was line-buffered.
5058 ** New hook: after-gc-hook
5060 after-gc-hook takes over the role of gc-thunk. This hook is run at
5061 the first SCM_TICK after a GC. (Thus, the code is run at the same
5062 point during evaluation as signal handlers.)
5064 Note that this hook should be used only for diagnostic and debugging
5065 purposes. It is not certain that it will continue to be well-defined
5066 when this hook is run in the future.
5068 C programmers: Note the new C level hooks scm_before_gc_c_hook,
5069 scm_before_sweep_c_hook, scm_after_gc_c_hook.
5071 ** Improvements to garbage collector
5073 Guile 1.4 has a new policy for triggering heap allocation and
5074 determining the sizes of heap segments. It fixes a number of problems
5077 1. The new policy can handle two separate pools of cells
5078 (2-word/4-word) better. (The old policy would run wild, allocating
5079 more and more memory for certain programs.)
5081 2. The old code would sometimes allocate far too much heap so that the
5082 Guile process became gigantic. The new code avoids this.
5084 3. The old code would sometimes allocate too little so that few cells
5085 were freed at GC so that, in turn, too much time was spent in GC.
5087 4. The old code would often trigger heap allocation several times in a
5088 row. (The new scheme predicts how large the segments needs to be
5089 in order not to need further allocation.)
5091 All in all, the new GC policy will make larger applications more
5094 The new GC scheme also is prepared for POSIX threading. Threads can
5095 allocate private pools of cells ("clusters") with just a single
5096 function call. Allocation of single cells from such a cluster can
5097 then proceed without any need of inter-thread synchronization.
5099 ** New environment variables controlling GC parameters
5101 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE Maximal segment size
5104 Allocation of 2-word cell heaps:
5106 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1 Size of initial heap segment in bytes
5109 GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1 Minimum number of freed cells at each
5110 GC in percent of total heap size
5113 Allocation of 4-word cell heaps
5114 (used for real numbers and misc other objects):
5116 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2
5118 (See entry "Way for application to customize GC parameters" under
5119 section "Changes to the scm_ interface" below.)
5121 ** Guile now implements reals using 4-word cells
5123 This speeds up computation with reals. (They were earlier allocated
5124 with `malloc'.) There is still some room for optimizations, however.
5126 ** Some further steps toward POSIX thread support have been taken
5128 *** Guile's critical sections (SCM_DEFER/ALLOW_INTS)
5129 don't have much effect any longer, and many of them will be removed in
5133 are only handled at the top of the evaluator loop, immediately after
5134 I/O, and in scm_equalp.
5136 *** The GC can allocate thread private pools of pairs.
5138 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
5140 ** close-input-port and close-output-port are now R5RS
5142 These procedures have been turned into primitives and have R5RS behaviour.
5144 ** New procedure: simple-format PORT MESSAGE ARG1 ...
5146 (ice-9 boot) makes `format' an alias for `simple-format' until possibly
5147 extended by the more sophisticated version in (ice-9 format)
5149 (simple-format port message . args)
5150 Write MESSAGE to DESTINATION, defaulting to `current-output-port'.
5151 MESSAGE can contain ~A (was %s) and ~S (was %S) escapes. When printed,
5152 the escapes are replaced with corresponding members of ARGS:
5153 ~A formats using `display' and ~S formats using `write'.
5154 If DESTINATION is #t, then use the `current-output-port',
5155 if DESTINATION is #f, then return a string containing the formatted text.
5156 Does not add a trailing newline."
5158 ** string-ref: the second argument is no longer optional.
5160 ** string, list->string: no longer accept strings in their arguments,
5161 only characters, for compatibility with R5RS.
5163 ** New procedure: port-closed? PORT
5164 Returns #t if PORT is closed or #f if it is open.
5166 ** Deprecated: list*
5168 The list* functionality is now provided by cons* (SRFI-1 compliant)
5170 ** New procedure: cons* ARG1 ARG2 ... ARGn
5172 Like `list', but the last arg provides the tail of the constructed list,
5173 returning (cons ARG1 (cons ARG2 (cons ... ARGn))).
5175 Requires at least one argument. If given one argument, that argument
5176 is returned as result.
5178 This function is called `list*' in some other Schemes and in Common LISP.
5180 ** Removed deprecated: serial-map, serial-array-copy!, serial-array-map!
5182 ** New procedure: object-documentation OBJECT
5184 Returns the documentation string associated with OBJECT. The
5185 procedure uses a caching mechanism so that subsequent lookups are
5188 Exported by (ice-9 documentation).
5190 ** module-name now returns full names of modules
5192 Previously, only the last part of the name was returned (`session' for
5193 `(ice-9 session)'). Ex: `(ice-9 session)'.
5195 * Changes to the gh_ interface
5197 ** Deprecated: gh_int2scmb
5199 Use gh_bool2scm instead.
5201 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5203 ** Guile primitives now carry docstrings!
5205 Thanks to Greg Badros!
5207 ** Guile primitives are defined in a new way: SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
5209 Now Guile primitives are defined using the SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
5210 macros and must contain a docstring that is extracted into foo.doc using a new
5211 guile-doc-snarf script (that uses guile-doc-snarf.awk).
5213 However, a major overhaul of these macros is scheduled for the next release of
5216 ** Guile primitives use a new technique for validation of arguments
5218 SCM_VALIDATE_* macros are defined to ease the redundancy and improve
5219 the readability of argument checking.
5221 ** All (nearly?) K&R prototypes for functions replaced with ANSI C equivalents.
5223 ** New macros: SCM_PACK, SCM_UNPACK
5225 Compose/decompose an SCM value.
5227 The SCM type is now treated as an abstract data type and may be defined as a
5228 long, a void* or as a struct, depending on the architecture and compile time
5229 options. This makes it easier to find several types of bugs, for example when
5230 SCM values are treated as integers without conversion. Values of the SCM type
5231 should be treated as "atomic" values. These macros are used when
5232 composing/decomposing an SCM value, either because you want to access
5233 individual bits, or because you want to treat it as an integer value.
5235 E.g., in order to set bit 7 in an SCM value x, use the expression
5237 SCM_PACK (SCM_UNPACK (x) | 0x80)
5239 ** The name property of hooks is deprecated.
5240 Thus, the use of SCM_HOOK_NAME and scm_make_hook_with_name is deprecated.
5242 You can emulate this feature by using object properties.
5244 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP, SCM_CRDY, SCM_ICHRP,
5245 SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR, SCM_SETJMPBUF, SCM_NSTRINGP, SCM_NRWSTRINGP,
5248 These macros will be removed in a future release of Guile.
5250 ** The following types, functions and macros from numbers.h are deprecated:
5251 scm_dblproc, SCM_UNEGFIXABLE, SCM_FLOBUFLEN, SCM_INEXP, SCM_CPLXP, SCM_REAL,
5252 SCM_IMAG, SCM_REALPART, scm_makdbl, SCM_SINGP, SCM_NUM2DBL, SCM_NO_BIGDIG
5254 ** Port internals: the rw_random variable in the scm_port structure
5255 must be set to non-zero in any random access port. In recent Guile
5256 releases it was only set for bidirectional random-access ports.
5258 ** Port internals: the seek ptob procedure is now responsible for
5259 resetting the buffers if required. The change was made so that in the
5260 special case of reading the current position (i.e., seek p 0 SEEK_CUR)
5261 the fport and strport ptobs can avoid resetting the buffers,
5262 in particular to avoid discarding unread chars. An existing port
5263 type can be fixed by adding something like the following to the
5264 beginning of the ptob seek procedure:
5266 if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_READ)
5267 scm_end_input (object);
5268 else if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_WRITE)
5269 ptob->flush (object);
5271 although to actually avoid resetting the buffers and discard unread
5272 chars requires further hacking that depends on the characteristics
5275 ** Deprecated functions: scm_fseek, scm_tag
5277 These functions are no longer used and will be removed in a future version.
5279 ** The scm_sysmissing procedure is no longer used in libguile.
5280 Unless it turns out to be unexpectedly useful to somebody, it will be
5281 removed in a future version.
5283 ** The format of error message strings has changed
5285 The two C procedures: scm_display_error and scm_error, as well as the
5286 primitive `scm-error', now use scm_simple_format to do their work.
5287 This means that the message strings of all code must be updated to use
5288 ~A where %s was used before, and ~S where %S was used before.
5290 During the period when there still are a lot of old Guiles out there,
5291 you might want to support both old and new versions of Guile.
5293 There are basically two methods to achieve this. Both methods use
5296 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(scm_simple_format)
5298 in your configure.in.
5300 Method 1: Use the string concatenation features of ANSI C's
5305 #ifdef HAVE_SCM_SIMPLE_FORMAT
5311 Then represent each of your error messages using a preprocessor macro:
5313 #define E_SPIDER_ERROR "There's a spider in your " ## FMT_S ## "!!!"
5317 (define fmt-s (if (defined? 'simple-format) "~S" "%S"))
5318 (define make-message string-append)
5320 (define e-spider-error (make-message "There's a spider in your " fmt-s "!!!"))
5322 Method 2: Use the oldfmt function found in doc/oldfmt.c.
5326 scm_misc_error ("picnic", scm_c_oldfmt0 ("There's a spider in your ~S!!!"),
5331 (scm-error 'misc-error "picnic" (oldfmt "There's a spider in your ~S!!!")
5335 ** Deprecated: coop_mutex_init, coop_condition_variable_init
5337 Don't use the functions coop_mutex_init and
5338 coop_condition_variable_init. They will change.
5340 Use scm_mutex_init and scm_cond_init instead.
5342 ** New function: int scm_cond_timedwait (scm_cond_t *COND, scm_mutex_t *MUTEX, const struct timespec *ABSTIME)
5343 `scm_cond_timedwait' atomically unlocks MUTEX and waits on
5344 COND, as `scm_cond_wait' does, but it also bounds the duration
5345 of the wait. If COND has not been signaled before time ABSTIME,
5346 the mutex MUTEX is re-acquired and `scm_cond_timedwait'
5347 returns the error code `ETIMEDOUT'.
5349 The ABSTIME parameter specifies an absolute time, with the same
5350 origin as `time' and `gettimeofday': an ABSTIME of 0 corresponds
5351 to 00:00:00 GMT, January 1, 1970.
5353 ** New function: scm_cond_broadcast (scm_cond_t *COND)
5354 `scm_cond_broadcast' restarts all the threads that are waiting
5355 on the condition variable COND. Nothing happens if no threads are
5358 ** New function: scm_key_create (scm_key_t *KEY, void (*destr_function) (void *))
5359 `scm_key_create' allocates a new TSD key. The key is stored in
5360 the location pointed to by KEY. There is no limit on the number
5361 of keys allocated at a given time. The value initially associated
5362 with the returned key is `NULL' in all currently executing threads.
5364 The DESTR_FUNCTION argument, if not `NULL', specifies a destructor
5365 function associated with the key. When a thread terminates,
5366 DESTR_FUNCTION is called on the value associated with the key in
5367 that thread. The DESTR_FUNCTION is not called if a key is deleted
5368 with `scm_key_delete' or a value is changed with
5369 `scm_setspecific'. The order in which destructor functions are
5370 called at thread termination time is unspecified.
5372 Destructors are not yet implemented.
5374 ** New function: scm_setspecific (scm_key_t KEY, const void *POINTER)
5375 `scm_setspecific' changes the value associated with KEY in the
5376 calling thread, storing the given POINTER instead.
5378 ** New function: scm_getspecific (scm_key_t KEY)
5379 `scm_getspecific' returns the value currently associated with
5380 KEY in the calling thread.
5382 ** New function: scm_key_delete (scm_key_t KEY)
5383 `scm_key_delete' deallocates a TSD key. It does not check
5384 whether non-`NULL' values are associated with that key in the
5385 currently executing threads, nor call the destructor function
5386 associated with the key.
5388 ** New function: scm_c_hook_init (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *HOOK_DATA, scm_c_hook_type_t TYPE)
5390 Initialize a C level hook HOOK with associated HOOK_DATA and type
5391 TYPE. (See scm_c_hook_run ().)
5393 ** New function: scm_c_hook_add (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA, int APPENDP)
5395 Add hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA to HOOK. If APPENDP
5396 is true, add it last, otherwise first. The same FUNC can be added
5397 multiple times if FUNC_DATA differ and vice versa.
5399 ** New function: scm_c_hook_remove (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA)
5401 Remove hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA from HOOK. A
5402 function is only removed if both FUNC and FUNC_DATA matches.
5404 ** New function: void *scm_c_hook_run (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *DATA)
5406 Run hook HOOK passing DATA to the hook functions.
5408 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_NORMAL, all hook functions are run. The value
5409 returned is undefined.
5411 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_OR, hook functions are run until a function
5412 returns a non-NULL value. This value is returned as the result of
5413 scm_c_hook_run. If all functions return NULL, NULL is returned.
5415 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_AND, hook functions are run until a function
5416 returns a NULL value, and NULL is returned. If all functions returns
5417 a non-NULL value, the last value is returned.
5419 ** New C level GC hooks
5421 Five new C level hooks has been added to the garbage collector.
5423 scm_before_gc_c_hook
5426 are run before locking and after unlocking the heap. The system is
5427 thus in a mode where evaluation can take place. (Except that
5428 scm_before_gc_c_hook must not allocate new cells.)
5430 scm_before_mark_c_hook
5431 scm_before_sweep_c_hook
5432 scm_after_sweep_c_hook
5434 are run when the heap is locked. These are intended for extension of
5435 the GC in a modular fashion. Examples are the weaks and guardians
5438 ** Way for application to customize GC parameters
5440 The application can set up other default values for the GC heap
5441 allocation parameters
5443 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_1, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1,
5444 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2,
5445 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE,
5449 scm_default_init_heap_size_1, scm_default_min_yield_1,
5450 scm_default_init_heap_size_2, scm_default_min_yield_2,
5451 scm_default_max_segment_size
5453 respectively before callong scm_boot_guile.
5455 (See entry "New environment variables ..." in section
5456 "Changes to the stand-alone interpreter" above.)
5458 ** scm_protect_object/scm_unprotect_object now nest
5460 This means that you can call scm_protect_object multiple times on an
5461 object and count on the object being protected until
5462 scm_unprotect_object has been call the same number of times.
5464 The functions also have better time complexity.
5466 Still, it is usually possible to structure the application in a way
5467 that you don't need to use these functions. For example, if you use a
5468 protected standard Guile list to keep track of live objects rather
5469 than some custom data type, objects will die a natural death when they
5470 are no longer needed.
5472 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc16_flo, scm_tc_flo, scm_tc_dblr, scm_tc_dblc
5474 Guile does not provide the float representation for inexact real numbers any
5475 more. Now, only doubles are used to represent inexact real numbers. Further,
5476 the tag names scm_tc_dblr and scm_tc_dblc have been changed to scm_tc16_real
5477 and scm_tc16_complex, respectively.
5479 ** Removed deprecated type scm_smobfuns
5481 ** Removed deprecated function scm_newsmob
5483 ** Warning: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe might become deprecated in a future release
5485 There is an ongoing discussion among the developers whether to
5486 deprecate `scm_make_smob_type_mfpe' or not. Please use the current
5487 standard interface (scm_make_smob_type, scm_set_smob_XXX) in new code
5488 until this issue has been settled.
5490 ** Removed deprecated type tag scm_tc16_kw
5492 ** Added type tag scm_tc16_keyword
5494 (This was introduced already in release 1.3.4 but was not documented
5497 ** gdb_print now prints "*** Guile not initialized ***" until Guile initialized
5499 * Changes to system call interfaces:
5501 ** The "select" procedure now tests port buffers for the ability to
5502 provide input or accept output. Previously only the underlying file
5503 descriptors were checked.
5505 ** New variable PIPE_BUF: the maximum number of bytes that can be
5506 atomically written to a pipe.
5508 ** If a facility is not available on the system when Guile is
5509 compiled, the corresponding primitive procedure will not be defined.
5510 Previously it would have been defined but would throw a system-error
5511 exception if called. Exception handlers which catch this case may
5512 need minor modification: an error will be thrown with key
5513 'unbound-variable instead of 'system-error. Alternatively it's
5514 now possible to use `defined?' to check whether the facility is
5517 ** Procedures which depend on the timezone should now give the correct
5518 result on systems which cache the TZ environment variable, even if TZ
5519 is changed without calling tzset.
5521 * Changes to the networking interfaces:
5523 ** New functions: htons, ntohs, htonl, ntohl: for converting short and
5524 long integers between network and host format. For now, it's not
5525 particularly convenient to do this kind of thing, but consider:
5527 (define write-network-long
5528 (lambda (value port)
5529 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
5530 (uniform-vector-set! v 0 (htonl value))
5531 (uniform-vector-write v port))))
5533 (define read-network-long
5535 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
5536 (uniform-vector-read! v port)
5537 (ntohl (uniform-vector-ref v 0)))))
5539 ** If inet-aton fails, it now throws an error with key 'misc-error
5540 instead of 'system-error, since errno is not relevant.
5542 ** Certain gethostbyname/gethostbyaddr failures now throw errors with
5543 specific keys instead of 'system-error. The latter is inappropriate
5544 since errno will not have been set. The keys are:
5545 'host-not-found, 'try-again, 'no-recovery and 'no-data.
5547 ** sethostent, setnetent, setprotoent, setservent: now take an
5548 optional argument STAYOPEN, which specifies whether the database
5549 remains open after a database entry is accessed randomly (e.g., using
5550 gethostbyname for the hosts database.) The default is #f. Previously
5554 Changes since Guile 1.3.2:
5556 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
5560 An initial version of the Guile debugger written by Chris Hanson has
5561 been added. The debugger is still under development but is included
5562 in the distribution anyway since it is already quite useful.
5568 after an error to enter the debugger. Type `help' inside the debugger
5569 for a description of available commands.
5571 If you prefer to have stack frames numbered and printed in
5572 anti-chronological order and prefer up in the stack to be down on the
5573 screen as is the case in gdb, you can put
5575 (debug-enable 'backwards)
5577 in your .guile startup file. (However, this means that Guile can't
5578 use indentation to indicate stack level.)
5580 The debugger is autoloaded into Guile at the first use.
5582 ** Further enhancements to backtraces
5584 There is a new debug option `width' which controls the maximum width
5585 on the screen of printed stack frames. Fancy printing parameters
5586 ("level" and "length" as in Common LISP) are adaptively adjusted for
5587 each stack frame to give maximum information while still fitting
5588 within the bounds. If the stack frame can't be made to fit by
5589 adjusting parameters, it is simply cut off at the end. This is marked
5592 ** Some modules are now only loaded when the repl is started
5594 The modules (ice-9 debug), (ice-9 session), (ice-9 threads) and (ice-9
5595 regex) are now loaded into (guile-user) only if the repl has been
5596 started. The effect is that the startup time for scripts has been
5597 reduced to 30% of what it was previously.
5599 Correctly written scripts load the modules they require at the top of
5600 the file and should not be affected by this change.
5602 ** Hooks are now represented as smobs
5604 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
5606 ** Readline support has changed again.
5608 The old (readline-activator) module is gone. Use (ice-9 readline)
5609 instead, which now contains all readline functionality. So the code
5610 to activate readline is now
5612 (use-modules (ice-9 readline))
5615 This should work at any time, including from the guile prompt.
5617 To avoid confusion about the terms of Guile's license, please only
5618 enable readline for your personal use; please don't make it the
5619 default for others. Here is why we make this rather odd-sounding
5622 Guile is normally licensed under a weakened form of the GNU General
5623 Public License, which allows you to link code with Guile without
5624 placing that code under the GPL. This exception is important to some
5627 However, since readline is distributed under the GNU General Public
5628 License, when you link Guile with readline, either statically or
5629 dynamically, you effectively change Guile's license to the strict GPL.
5630 Whenever you link any strictly GPL'd code into Guile, uses of Guile
5631 which are normally permitted become forbidden. This is a rather
5632 non-obvious consequence of the licensing terms.
5634 So, to make sure things remain clear, please let people choose for
5635 themselves whether to link GPL'd libraries like readline with Guile.
5637 ** regexp-substitute/global has changed slightly, but incompatibly.
5639 If you include a function in the item list, the string of the match
5640 object it receives is the same string passed to
5641 regexp-substitute/global, not some suffix of that string.
5642 Correspondingly, the match's positions are relative to the entire
5643 string, not the suffix.
5645 If the regexp can match the empty string, the way matches are chosen
5646 from the string has changed. regexp-substitute/global recognizes the
5647 same set of matches that list-matches does; see below.
5649 ** New function: list-matches REGEXP STRING [FLAGS]
5651 Return a list of match objects, one for every non-overlapping, maximal
5652 match of REGEXP in STRING. The matches appear in left-to-right order.
5653 list-matches only reports matches of the empty string if there are no
5654 other matches which begin on, end at, or include the empty match's
5657 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
5659 ** New function: fold-matches REGEXP STRING INIT PROC [FLAGS]
5661 For each match of REGEXP in STRING, apply PROC to the match object,
5662 and the last value PROC returned, or INIT for the first call. Return
5663 the last value returned by PROC. We apply PROC to the matches as they
5664 appear from left to right.
5666 This function recognizes matches according to the same criteria as
5669 Thus, you could define list-matches like this:
5671 (define (list-matches regexp string . flags)
5672 (reverse! (apply fold-matches regexp string '() cons flags)))
5674 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
5678 *** New function: hook? OBJ
5680 Return #t if OBJ is a hook, otherwise #f.
5682 *** New function: make-hook-with-name NAME [ARITY]
5684 Return a hook with name NAME and arity ARITY. The default value for
5685 ARITY is 0. The only effect of NAME is that it will appear when the
5686 hook object is printed to ease debugging.
5688 *** New function: hook-empty? HOOK
5690 Return #t if HOOK doesn't contain any procedures, otherwise #f.
5692 *** New function: hook->list HOOK
5694 Return a list of the procedures that are called when run-hook is
5697 ** `map' signals an error if its argument lists are not all the same length.
5699 This is the behavior required by R5RS, so this change is really a bug
5700 fix. But it seems to affect a lot of people's code, so we're
5701 mentioning it here anyway.
5703 ** Print-state handling has been made more transparent
5705 Under certain circumstances, ports are represented as a port with an
5706 associated print state. Earlier, this pair was represented as a pair
5707 (see "Some magic has been added to the printer" below). It is now
5708 indistinguishable (almost; see `get-print-state') from a port on the
5711 *** New function: port-with-print-state OUTPUT-PORT PRINT-STATE
5713 Return a new port with the associated print state PRINT-STATE.
5715 *** New function: get-print-state OUTPUT-PORT
5717 Return the print state associated with this port if it exists,
5718 otherwise return #f.
5720 *** New function: directory-stream? OBJECT
5722 Returns true iff OBJECT is a directory stream --- the sort of object
5723 returned by `opendir'.
5725 ** New function: using-readline?
5727 Return #t if readline is in use in the current repl.
5729 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
5731 Structs will be replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into Guile
5732 and use GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
5734 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5736 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
5738 The entire current struct interface (struct.c, struct.h) will be
5739 replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into libguile and use
5740 GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
5742 ** The internal representation of subr's has changed
5744 Instead of giving a hint to the subr name, the CAR field of the subr
5745 now contains an index to a subr entry in scm_subr_table.
5747 *** New variable: scm_subr_table
5749 An array of subr entries. A subr entry contains the name, properties
5750 and documentation associated with the subr. The properties and
5751 documentation slots are not yet used.
5753 ** A new scheme for "forwarding" calls to a builtin to a generic function
5755 It is now possible to extend the functionality of some Guile
5756 primitives by letting them defer a call to a GOOPS generic function on
5757 argument mismatch. This means that there is no loss of efficiency in
5762 (use-modules (oop goops)) ; Must be GOOPS version 0.2.
5763 (define-method + ((x <string>) (y <string>))
5764 (string-append x y))
5766 + will still be as efficient as usual in numerical calculations, but
5767 can also be used for concatenating strings.
5769 Who will be the first one to extend Guile's numerical tower to
5770 rationals? :) [OK, there a few other things to fix before this can
5771 be made in a clean way.]
5773 *** New snarf macros for defining primitives: SCM_GPROC, SCM_GPROC1
5775 New macro: SCM_GPROC (CNAME, SNAME, REQ, OPT, VAR, CFUNC, GENERIC)
5777 New macro: SCM_GPROC1 (CNAME, SNAME, TYPE, CFUNC, GENERIC)
5779 These do the same job as SCM_PROC and SCM_PROC1, but they also define
5780 a variable GENERIC which can be used by the dispatch macros below.
5782 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
5784 *** New macros for forwarding control to a generic on arg type error
5786 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_1 (GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
5788 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
5790 These correspond to the scm_wta function call, and have the same
5791 behaviour until the user has called the GOOPS primitive
5792 `enable-primitive-generic!'. After that, these macros will apply the
5793 generic function GENERIC to the argument(s) instead of calling
5796 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
5798 *** New macros for argument testing with generic dispatch
5800 New macro: SCM_GASSERT1 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
5802 New macro: SCM_GASSERT2 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
5804 These correspond to the SCM_ASSERT macro, but will defer control to
5805 GENERIC on error after `enable-primitive-generic!' has been called.
5807 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
5809 ** New function: SCM scm_eval_body (SCM body, SCM env)
5811 Evaluates the body of a special form.
5813 ** The internal representation of struct's has changed
5815 Previously, four slots were allocated for the procedure(s) of entities
5816 and operators. The motivation for this representation had to do with
5817 the structure of the evaluator, the wish to support tail-recursive
5818 generic functions, and efficiency. Since the generic function
5819 dispatch mechanism has changed, there is no longer a need for such an
5820 expensive representation, and the representation has been simplified.
5822 This should not make any difference for most users.
5824 ** GOOPS support has been cleaned up.
5826 Some code has been moved from eval.c to objects.c and code in both of
5827 these compilation units has been cleaned up and better structured.
5829 *** New functions for applying generic functions
5831 New function: SCM scm_apply_generic (GENERIC, ARGS)
5832 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_0 (GENERIC)
5833 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_1 (GENERIC, ARG1)
5834 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2)
5835 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_3 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, ARG3)
5837 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_named_hook
5839 It is now replaced by:
5841 ** New function: SCM scm_create_hook (const char *name, int arity)
5843 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
5844 binds a variable named NAME to it.
5846 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
5848 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module.
5849 This might change when we get the new module system.
5851 [The behaviour is identical to scm_make_named_hook.]
5855 Changes since Guile 1.3:
5857 * Changes to mailing lists
5859 ** Some of the Guile mailing lists have moved to sourceware.cygnus.com.
5861 See the README file to find current addresses for all the Guile
5864 * Changes to the distribution
5866 ** Readline support is no longer included with Guile by default.
5868 Based on the different license terms of Guile and Readline, we
5869 concluded that Guile should not *by default* cause the linking of
5870 Readline into an application program. Readline support is now offered
5871 as a separate module, which is linked into an application only when
5872 you explicitly specify it.
5874 Although Guile is GNU software, its distribution terms add a special
5875 exception to the usual GNU General Public License (GPL). Guile's
5876 license includes a clause that allows you to link Guile with non-free
5877 programs. We add this exception so as not to put Guile at a
5878 disadvantage vis-a-vis other extensibility packages that support other
5881 In contrast, the GNU Readline library is distributed under the GNU
5882 General Public License pure and simple. This means that you may not
5883 link Readline, even dynamically, into an application unless it is
5884 distributed under a free software license that is compatible the GPL.
5886 Because of this difference in distribution terms, an application that
5887 can use Guile may not be able to use Readline. Now users will be
5888 explicitly offered two independent decisions about the use of these
5891 You can activate the readline support by issuing
5893 (use-modules (readline-activator))
5896 from your ".guile" file, for example.
5898 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
5900 ** All builtins now print as primitives.
5901 Previously builtin procedures not belonging to the fundamental subr
5902 types printed as #<compiled closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>.
5903 Now, they print as #<primitive-procedure NAME>.
5905 ** Backtraces slightly more intelligible.
5906 gsubr-apply and macro transformer application frames no longer appear
5909 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
5911 ** Guile now correctly handles internal defines by rewriting them into
5912 their equivalent letrec. Previously, internal defines would
5913 incrementally add to the innermost environment, without checking
5914 whether the restrictions specified in RnRS were met. This lead to the
5915 correct behaviour when these restriction actually were met, but didn't
5916 catch all illegal uses. Such an illegal use could lead to crashes of
5917 the Guile interpreter or or other unwanted results. An example of
5918 incorrect internal defines that made Guile behave erratically:
5930 The problem with this example is that the definition of `c' uses the
5931 value of `b' directly. This confuses the meoization machine of Guile
5932 so that the second call of `b' (this time in a larger environment that
5933 also contains bindings for `c' and `d') refers to the binding of `c'
5934 instead of `a'. You could also make Guile crash with a variation on
5939 (define (b flag) (if flag a 1))
5940 (define c (1+ (b flag)))
5948 From now on, Guile will issue an `Unbound variable: b' error message
5953 A hook contains a list of functions which should be called on
5954 particular occasions in an existing program. Hooks are used for
5957 A window manager might have a hook before-window-map-hook. The window
5958 manager uses the function run-hooks to call all functions stored in
5959 before-window-map-hook each time a window is mapped. The user can
5960 store functions in the hook using add-hook!.
5962 In Guile, hooks are first class objects.
5964 *** New function: make-hook [N_ARGS]
5966 Return a hook for hook functions which can take N_ARGS arguments.
5967 The default value for N_ARGS is 0.
5969 (See also scm_make_named_hook below.)
5971 *** New function: add-hook! HOOK PROC [APPEND_P]
5973 Put PROC at the beginning of the list of functions stored in HOOK.
5974 If APPEND_P is supplied, and non-false, put PROC at the end instead.
5976 PROC must be able to take the number of arguments specified when the
5979 If PROC already exists in HOOK, then remove it first.
5981 *** New function: remove-hook! HOOK PROC
5983 Remove PROC from the list of functions in HOOK.
5985 *** New function: reset-hook! HOOK
5987 Clear the list of hook functions stored in HOOK.
5989 *** New function: run-hook HOOK ARG1 ...
5991 Run all hook functions stored in HOOK with arguments ARG1 ... .
5992 The number of arguments supplied must correspond to the number given
5993 when the hook was created.
5995 ** The function `dynamic-link' now takes optional keyword arguments.
5996 The only keyword argument that is currently defined is `:global
5997 BOOL'. With it, you can control whether the shared library will be
5998 linked in global mode or not. In global mode, the symbols from the
5999 linked library can be used to resolve references from other
6000 dynamically linked libraries. In non-global mode, the linked
6001 library is essentially invisible and can only be accessed via
6002 `dynamic-func', etc. The default is now to link in global mode.
6003 Previously, the default has been non-global mode.
6005 The `#:global' keyword is only effective on platforms that support
6006 the dlopen family of functions.
6008 ** New function `provided?'
6010 - Function: provided? FEATURE
6011 Return true iff FEATURE is supported by this installation of
6012 Guile. FEATURE must be a symbol naming a feature; the global
6013 variable `*features*' is a list of available features.
6015 ** Changes to the module (ice-9 expect):
6017 *** The expect-strings macro now matches `$' in a regular expression
6018 only at a line-break or end-of-file by default. Previously it would
6019 match the end of the string accumulated so far. The old behaviour
6020 can be obtained by setting the variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
6023 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
6024 for the regexp-exec flags. If `regexp/noteol' is included, then `$'
6025 in a regular expression will still match before a line-break or
6026 end-of-file. The default is `regexp/noteol'.
6028 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable
6029 `expect-strings-compile-flags' for the flags to be supplied to
6030 `make-regexp'. The default is `regexp/newline', which was previously
6033 *** The expect macro now supplies two arguments to a match procedure:
6034 the current accumulated string and a flag to indicate whether
6035 end-of-file has been reached. Previously only the string was supplied.
6036 If end-of-file is reached, the match procedure will be called an
6037 additional time with the same accumulated string as the previous call
6038 but with the flag set.
6040 ** New module (ice-9 format), implementing the Common Lisp `format' function.
6042 This code, and the documentation for it that appears here, was
6043 borrowed from SLIB, with minor adaptations for Guile.
6045 - Function: format DESTINATION FORMAT-STRING . ARGUMENTS
6046 An almost complete implementation of Common LISP format description
6047 according to the CL reference book `Common LISP' from Guy L.
6048 Steele, Digital Press. Backward compatible to most of the
6049 available Scheme format implementations.
6051 Returns `#t', `#f' or a string; has side effect of printing
6052 according to FORMAT-STRING. If DESTINATION is `#t', the output is
6053 to the current output port and `#t' is returned. If DESTINATION
6054 is `#f', a formatted string is returned as the result of the call.
6055 NEW: If DESTINATION is a string, DESTINATION is regarded as the
6056 format string; FORMAT-STRING is then the first argument and the
6057 output is returned as a string. If DESTINATION is a number, the
6058 output is to the current error port if available by the
6059 implementation. Otherwise DESTINATION must be an output port and
6062 FORMAT-STRING must be a string. In case of a formatting error
6063 format returns `#f' and prints a message on the current output or
6064 error port. Characters are output as if the string were output by
6065 the `display' function with the exception of those prefixed by a
6066 tilde (~). For a detailed description of the FORMAT-STRING syntax
6067 please consult a Common LISP format reference manual. For a test
6068 suite to verify this format implementation load `formatst.scm'.
6069 Please send bug reports to `lutzeb@cs.tu-berlin.de'.
6071 Note: `format' is not reentrant, i.e. only one `format'-call may
6072 be executed at a time.
6075 *** Format Specification (Format version 3.0)
6077 Please consult a Common LISP format reference manual for a detailed
6078 description of the format string syntax. For a demonstration of the
6079 implemented directives see `formatst.scm'.
6081 This implementation supports directive parameters and modifiers (`:'
6082 and `@' characters). Multiple parameters must be separated by a comma
6083 (`,'). Parameters can be numerical parameters (positive or negative),
6084 character parameters (prefixed by a quote character (`''), variable
6085 parameters (`v'), number of rest arguments parameter (`#'), empty and
6086 default parameters. Directive characters are case independent. The
6087 general form of a directive is:
6089 DIRECTIVE ::= ~{DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER,}[:][@]DIRECTIVE-CHARACTER
6091 DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER ::= [ [-|+]{0-9}+ | 'CHARACTER | v | # ]
6093 *** Implemented CL Format Control Directives
6095 Documentation syntax: Uppercase characters represent the
6096 corresponding control directive characters. Lowercase characters
6097 represent control directive parameter descriptions.
6100 Any (print as `display' does).
6104 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARA'
6108 S-expression (print as `write' does).
6112 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARS'
6118 print number sign always.
6121 print comma separated.
6123 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARD'
6129 print number sign always.
6132 print comma separated.
6134 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARX'
6140 print number sign always.
6143 print comma separated.
6145 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARO'
6151 print number sign always.
6154 print comma separated.
6156 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARB'
6161 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARR'
6165 print a number as a Roman numeral.
6168 print a number as an "old fashioned" Roman numeral.
6171 print a number as an ordinal English number.
6174 print a number as a cardinal English number.
6179 prints `y' and `ies'.
6182 as `~P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
6185 as `~@P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
6190 prints a character as the reader can understand it (i.e. `#\'
6194 prints a character as emacs does (eg. `^C' for ASCII 03).
6197 Fixed-format floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN).
6198 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHARF'
6200 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
6203 Exponential floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN`E'EE).
6204 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARE'
6206 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
6209 General floating-point (prints a flonum either fixed or
6211 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARG'
6213 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
6216 Dollars floating-point (prints a flonum in fixed with signs
6218 `~DIGITS,SCALE,WIDTH,PADCHAR$'
6220 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
6223 A sign is always printed and appears before the padding.
6226 The sign appears before the padding.
6234 print newline if not at the beginning of the output line.
6236 prints `~&' and then N-1 newlines.
6241 print N page separators.
6251 newline is ignored, white space left.
6254 newline is left, white space ignored.
6259 relative tabulation.
6265 Indirection (expects indirect arguments as a list).
6267 extracts indirect arguments from format arguments.
6270 Case conversion (converts by `string-downcase').
6272 converts by `string-capitalize'.
6275 converts by `string-capitalize-first'.
6278 converts by `string-upcase'.
6281 Argument Jumping (jumps 1 argument forward).
6283 jumps N arguments forward.
6286 jumps 1 argument backward.
6289 jumps N arguments backward.
6292 jumps to the 0th argument.
6295 jumps to the Nth argument (beginning from 0)
6297 `~[STR0~;STR1~;...~;STRN~]'
6298 Conditional Expression (numerical clause conditional).
6300 take argument from N.
6303 true test conditional.
6306 if-else-then conditional.
6312 default clause follows.
6315 Iteration (args come from the next argument (a list)).
6317 at most N iterations.
6320 args from next arg (a list of lists).
6323 args from the rest of arguments.
6326 args from the rest args (lists).
6337 aborts if N <= M <= K
6339 *** Not Implemented CL Format Control Directives
6342 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
6345 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
6351 (sorry I don't understand its semantics completely)
6353 *** Extended, Replaced and Additional Control Directives
6355 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHD'
6356 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHX'
6357 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHO'
6358 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHB'
6359 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHR'
6360 COMMAWIDTH is the number of characters between two comma
6364 print a R4RS complex number as `~F~@Fi' with passed parameters for
6368 Pretty print formatting of an argument for scheme code lists.
6374 Flushes the output if format DESTINATION is a port.
6377 Print a `#\space' character
6379 print N `#\space' characters.
6382 Print a `#\tab' character
6384 print N `#\tab' characters.
6387 Takes N as an integer representation for a character. No arguments
6388 are consumed. N is converted to a character by `integer->char'. N
6389 must be a positive decimal number.
6392 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
6393 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
6394 be processed by `read'.
6397 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
6398 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
6399 be processed by `read'.
6402 Prints information and a copyright notice on the format
6405 prints format version.
6408 may also print number strings, i.e. passing a number as a string
6409 and format it accordingly.
6411 *** Configuration Variables
6413 The format module exports some configuration variables to suit the
6414 systems and users needs. There should be no modification necessary for
6415 the configuration that comes with Guile. Format detects automatically
6416 if the running scheme system implements floating point numbers and
6419 format:symbol-case-conv
6420 Symbols are converted by `symbol->string' so the case type of the
6421 printed symbols is implementation dependent.
6422 `format:symbol-case-conv' is a one arg closure which is either
6423 `#f' (no conversion), `string-upcase', `string-downcase' or
6424 `string-capitalize'. (default `#f')
6426 format:iobj-case-conv
6427 As FORMAT:SYMBOL-CASE-CONV but applies for the representation of
6428 implementation internal objects. (default `#f')
6431 The character prefixing the exponent value in `~E' printing.
6434 *** Compatibility With Other Format Implementations
6440 Downward compatible except for padding support and `~A', `~S',
6441 `~P', `~X' uppercase printing. SLIB format 1.4 uses C-style
6442 `printf' padding support which is completely replaced by the CL
6443 `format' padding style.
6446 Downward compatible except for `~', which is not documented
6447 (ignores all characters inside the format string up to a newline
6448 character). (7.1 implements `~a', `~s', ~NEWLINE, `~~', `~%',
6449 numerical and variable parameters and `:/@' modifiers in the CL
6453 Downward compatible except for `~A' and `~S' which print in
6454 uppercase. (Elk implements `~a', `~s', `~~', and `~%' (no
6455 directive parameters or modifiers)).
6458 Downward compatible except for an optional destination parameter:
6459 S2C accepts a format call without a destination which returns a
6460 formatted string. This is equivalent to a #f destination in S2C.
6461 (S2C implements `~a', `~s', `~c', `~%', and `~~' (no directive
6462 parameters or modifiers)).
6465 ** Changes to string-handling functions.
6467 These functions were added to support the (ice-9 format) module, above.
6469 *** New function: string-upcase STRING
6470 *** New function: string-downcase STRING
6472 These are non-destructive versions of the existing string-upcase! and
6473 string-downcase! functions.
6475 *** New function: string-capitalize! STRING
6476 *** New function: string-capitalize STRING
6478 These functions convert the first letter of each word in the string to
6481 (string-capitalize "howdy there")
6484 As with the other functions, string-capitalize! modifies the string in
6485 place, while string-capitalize returns a modified copy of its argument.
6487 *** New function: string-ci->symbol STRING
6489 Return a symbol whose name is STRING, but having the same case as if
6490 the symbol had be read by `read'.
6492 Guile can be configured to be sensitive or insensitive to case
6493 differences in Scheme identifiers. If Guile is case-insensitive, all
6494 symbols are converted to lower case on input. The `string-ci->symbol'
6495 function returns a symbol whose name in STRING, transformed as Guile
6496 would if STRING were input.
6498 *** New function: substring-move! STRING1 START END STRING2 START
6500 Copy the substring of STRING1 from START (inclusive) to END
6501 (exclusive) to STRING2 at START. STRING1 and STRING2 may be the same
6502 string, and the source and destination areas may overlap; in all
6503 cases, the function behaves as if all the characters were copied
6506 *** Extended functions: substring-move-left! substring-move-right!
6508 These functions now correctly copy arbitrarily overlapping substrings;
6509 they are both synonyms for substring-move!.
6512 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-long), with the function `getopt-long'.
6514 getopt-long is a function for parsing command-line arguments in a
6515 manner consistent with other GNU programs.
6517 (getopt-long ARGS GRAMMAR)
6518 Parse the arguments ARGS according to the argument list grammar GRAMMAR.
6520 ARGS should be a list of strings. Its first element should be the
6521 name of the program; subsequent elements should be the arguments
6522 that were passed to the program on the command line. The
6523 `program-arguments' procedure returns a list of this form.
6525 GRAMMAR is a list of the form:
6526 ((OPTION (PROPERTY VALUE) ...) ...)
6528 Each OPTION should be a symbol. `getopt-long' will accept a
6529 command-line option named `--OPTION'.
6530 Each option can have the following (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs:
6532 (single-char CHAR) --- Accept `-CHAR' as a single-character
6533 equivalent to `--OPTION'. This is how to specify traditional
6535 (required? BOOL) --- If BOOL is true, the option is required.
6536 getopt-long will raise an error if it is not found in ARGS.
6537 (value BOOL) --- If BOOL is #t, the option accepts a value; if
6538 it is #f, it does not; and if it is the symbol
6539 `optional', the option may appear in ARGS with or
6541 (predicate FUNC) --- If the option accepts a value (i.e. you
6542 specified `(value #t)' for this option), then getopt
6543 will apply FUNC to the value, and throw an exception
6544 if it returns #f. FUNC should be a procedure which
6545 accepts a string and returns a boolean value; you may
6546 need to use quasiquotes to get it into GRAMMAR.
6548 The (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs may occur in any order, but each
6549 property may occur only once. By default, options do not have
6550 single-character equivalents, are not required, and do not take
6553 In ARGS, single-character options may be combined, in the usual
6554 Unix fashion: ("-x" "-y") is equivalent to ("-xy"). If an option
6555 accepts values, then it must be the last option in the
6556 combination; the value is the next argument. So, for example, using
6557 the following grammar:
6558 ((apples (single-char #\a))
6559 (blimps (single-char #\b) (value #t))
6560 (catalexis (single-char #\c) (value #t)))
6561 the following argument lists would be acceptable:
6562 ("-a" "-b" "bang" "-c" "couth") ("bang" and "couth" are the values
6563 for "blimps" and "catalexis")
6564 ("-ab" "bang" "-c" "couth") (same)
6565 ("-ac" "couth" "-b" "bang") (same)
6566 ("-abc" "couth" "bang") (an error, since `-b' is not the
6567 last option in its combination)
6569 If an option's value is optional, then `getopt-long' decides
6570 whether it has a value by looking at what follows it in ARGS. If
6571 the next element is a string, and it does not appear to be an
6572 option itself, then that string is the option's value.
6574 The value of a long option can appear as the next element in ARGS,
6575 or it can follow the option name, separated by an `=' character.
6576 Thus, using the same grammar as above, the following argument lists
6578 ("--apples" "Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
6579 ("--apples=Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
6580 ("--blimps" "Goodyear" "--apples=Braeburn")
6582 If the option "--" appears in ARGS, argument parsing stops there;
6583 subsequent arguments are returned as ordinary arguments, even if
6584 they resemble options. So, in the argument list:
6585 ("--apples" "Granny Smith" "--" "--blimp" "Goodyear")
6586 `getopt-long' will recognize the `apples' option as having the
6587 value "Granny Smith", but it will not recognize the `blimp'
6588 option; it will return the strings "--blimp" and "Goodyear" as
6589 ordinary argument strings.
6591 The `getopt-long' function returns the parsed argument list as an
6592 assocation list, mapping option names --- the symbols from GRAMMAR
6593 --- onto their values, or #t if the option does not accept a value.
6594 Unused options do not appear in the alist.
6596 All arguments that are not the value of any option are returned
6597 as a list, associated with the empty list.
6599 `getopt-long' throws an exception if:
6600 - it finds an unrecognized option in ARGS
6601 - a required option is omitted
6602 - an option that requires an argument doesn't get one
6603 - an option that doesn't accept an argument does get one (this can
6604 only happen using the long option `--opt=value' syntax)
6605 - an option predicate fails
6610 `((lockfile-dir (required? #t)
6613 (predicate ,file-is-directory?))
6614 (verbose (required? #f)
6617 (x-includes (single-char #\x))
6618 (rnet-server (single-char #\y)
6619 (predicate ,string?))))
6621 (getopt-long '("my-prog" "-vk" "/tmp" "foo1" "--x-includes=/usr/include"
6622 "--rnet-server=lamprod" "--" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
6624 => ((() "foo1" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
6625 (rnet-server . "lamprod")
6626 (x-includes . "/usr/include")
6627 (lockfile-dir . "/tmp")
6630 ** The (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) module is obsolete; use (ice-9 getopt-long).
6632 It will be removed in a few releases.
6634 ** New syntax: lambda*
6635 ** New syntax: define*
6636 ** New syntax: define*-public
6637 ** New syntax: defmacro*
6638 ** New syntax: defmacro*-public
6639 Guile now supports optional arguments.
6641 `lambda*', `define*', `define*-public', `defmacro*' and
6642 `defmacro*-public' are identical to the non-* versions except that
6643 they use an extended type of parameter list that has the following BNF
6644 syntax (parentheses are literal, square brackets indicate grouping,
6645 and `*', `+' and `?' have the usual meaning):
6647 ext-param-list ::= ( [identifier]* [#&optional [ext-var-decl]+]?
6648 [#&key [ext-var-decl]+ [#&allow-other-keys]?]?
6649 [[#&rest identifier]|[. identifier]]? ) | [identifier]
6651 ext-var-decl ::= identifier | ( identifier expression )
6653 The semantics are best illustrated with the following documentation
6654 and examples for `lambda*':
6657 lambda extended for optional and keyword arguments
6659 lambda* creates a procedure that takes optional arguments. These
6660 are specified by putting them inside brackets at the end of the
6661 paramater list, but before any dotted rest argument. For example,
6662 (lambda* (a b #&optional c d . e) '())
6663 creates a procedure with fixed arguments a and b, optional arguments c
6664 and d, and rest argument e. If the optional arguments are omitted
6665 in a call, the variables for them are unbound in the procedure. This
6666 can be checked with the bound? macro.
6668 lambda* can also take keyword arguments. For example, a procedure
6670 (lambda* (#&key xyzzy larch) '())
6671 can be called with any of the argument lists (#:xyzzy 11)
6672 (#:larch 13) (#:larch 42 #:xyzzy 19) (). Whichever arguments
6673 are given as keywords are bound to values.
6675 Optional and keyword arguments can also be given default values
6676 which they take on when they are not present in a call, by giving a
6677 two-item list in place of an optional argument, for example in:
6678 (lambda* (foo #&optional (bar 42) #&key (baz 73)) (list foo bar baz))
6679 foo is a fixed argument, bar is an optional argument with default
6680 value 42, and baz is a keyword argument with default value 73.
6681 Default value expressions are not evaluated unless they are needed
6682 and until the procedure is called.
6684 lambda* now supports two more special parameter list keywords.
6686 lambda*-defined procedures now throw an error by default if a
6687 keyword other than one of those specified is found in the actual
6688 passed arguments. However, specifying #&allow-other-keys
6689 immediately after the kyword argument declarations restores the
6690 previous behavior of ignoring unknown keywords. lambda* also now
6691 guarantees that if the same keyword is passed more than once, the
6692 last one passed is the one that takes effect. For example,
6693 ((lambda* (#&key (heads 0) (tails 0)) (display (list heads tails)))
6694 #:heads 37 #:tails 42 #:heads 99)
6695 would result in (99 47) being displayed.
6697 #&rest is also now provided as a synonym for the dotted syntax rest
6698 argument. The argument lists (a . b) and (a #&rest b) are equivalent in
6699 all respects to lambda*. This is provided for more similarity to DSSSL,
6700 MIT-Scheme and Kawa among others, as well as for refugees from other
6703 Further documentation may be found in the optargs.scm file itself.
6705 The optional argument module also exports the macros `let-optional',
6706 `let-optional*', `let-keywords', `let-keywords*' and `bound?'. These
6707 are not documented here because they may be removed in the future, but
6708 full documentation is still available in optargs.scm.
6710 ** New syntax: and-let*
6711 Guile now supports the `and-let*' form, described in the draft SRFI-2.
6713 Syntax: (land* (<clause> ...) <body> ...)
6714 Each <clause> should have one of the following forms:
6715 (<variable> <expression>)
6718 Each <variable> or <bound-variable> should be an identifier. Each
6719 <expression> should be a valid expression. The <body> should be a
6720 possibly empty sequence of expressions, like the <body> of a
6723 Semantics: A LAND* expression is evaluated by evaluating the
6724 <expression> or <bound-variable> of each of the <clause>s from
6725 left to right. The value of the first <expression> or
6726 <bound-variable> that evaluates to a false value is returned; the
6727 remaining <expression>s and <bound-variable>s are not evaluated.
6728 The <body> forms are evaluated iff all the <expression>s and
6729 <bound-variable>s evaluate to true values.
6731 The <expression>s and the <body> are evaluated in an environment
6732 binding each <variable> of the preceding (<variable> <expression>)
6733 clauses to the value of the <expression>. Later bindings
6734 shadow earlier bindings.
6736 Guile's and-let* macro was contributed by Michael Livshin.
6738 ** New sorting functions
6740 *** New function: sorted? SEQUENCE LESS?
6741 Returns `#t' when the sequence argument is in non-decreasing order
6742 according to LESS? (that is, there is no adjacent pair `... x y
6743 ...' for which `(less? y x)').
6745 Returns `#f' when the sequence contains at least one out-of-order
6746 pair. It is an error if the sequence is neither a list nor a
6749 *** New function: merge LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
6750 LIST1 and LIST2 are sorted lists.
6751 Returns the sorted list of all elements in LIST1 and LIST2.
6753 Assume that the elements a and b1 in LIST1 and b2 in LIST2 are "equal"
6754 in the sense that (LESS? x y) --> #f for x, y in {a, b1, b2},
6755 and that a < b1 in LIST1. Then a < b1 < b2 in the result.
6756 (Here "<" should read "comes before".)
6758 *** New procedure: merge! LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
6759 Merges two lists, re-using the pairs of LIST1 and LIST2 to build
6760 the result. If the code is compiled, and LESS? constructs no new
6761 pairs, no pairs at all will be allocated. The first pair of the
6762 result will be either the first pair of LIST1 or the first pair of
6765 *** New function: sort SEQUENCE LESS?
6766 Accepts either a list or a vector, and returns a new sequence
6767 which is sorted. The new sequence is the same type as the input.
6768 Always `(sorted? (sort sequence less?) less?)'. The original
6769 sequence is not altered in any way. The new sequence shares its
6770 elements with the old one; no elements are copied.
6772 *** New procedure: sort! SEQUENCE LESS
6773 Returns its sorted result in the original boxes. No new storage is
6774 allocated at all. Proper usage: (set! slist (sort! slist <))
6776 *** New function: stable-sort SEQUENCE LESS?
6777 Similar to `sort' but stable. That is, if "equal" elements are
6778 ordered a < b in the original sequence, they will have the same order
6781 *** New function: stable-sort! SEQUENCE LESS?
6782 Similar to `sort!' but stable.
6783 Uses temporary storage when sorting vectors.
6785 *** New functions: sort-list, sort-list!
6786 Added for compatibility with scsh.
6788 ** New built-in random number support
6790 *** New function: random N [STATE]
6791 Accepts a positive integer or real N and returns a number of the
6792 same type between zero (inclusive) and N (exclusive). The values
6793 returned have a uniform distribution.
6795 The optional argument STATE must be of the type produced by
6796 `copy-random-state' or `seed->random-state'. It defaults to the value
6797 of the variable `*random-state*'. This object is used to maintain the
6798 state of the pseudo-random-number generator and is altered as a side
6799 effect of the `random' operation.
6801 *** New variable: *random-state*
6802 Holds a data structure that encodes the internal state of the
6803 random-number generator that `random' uses by default. The nature
6804 of this data structure is implementation-dependent. It may be
6805 printed out and successfully read back in, but may or may not
6806 function correctly as a random-number state object in another
6809 *** New function: copy-random-state [STATE]
6810 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
6811 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
6812 If argument STATE is given, a copy of it is returned. Otherwise a
6813 copy of `*random-state*' is returned.
6815 *** New function: seed->random-state SEED
6816 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
6817 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
6818 SEED is a string or a number. A new state is generated and
6819 initialized using SEED.
6821 *** New function: random:uniform [STATE]
6822 Returns an uniformly distributed inexact real random number in the
6823 range between 0 and 1.
6825 *** New procedure: random:solid-sphere! VECT [STATE]
6826 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose
6827 squares is less than 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in
6828 space of dimension N = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are
6829 uniformly distributed within the unit N-shere. The sum of the
6830 squares of the numbers is returned. VECT can be either a vector
6831 or a uniform vector of doubles.
6833 *** New procedure: random:hollow-sphere! VECT [STATE]
6834 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose squares
6835 is equal to 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in space of
6836 dimension n = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are uniformly
6837 distributed over the surface of the unit n-shere. VECT can be either
6838 a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
6840 *** New function: random:normal [STATE]
6841 Returns an inexact real in a normal distribution with mean 0 and
6842 standard deviation 1. For a normal distribution with mean M and
6843 standard deviation D use `(+ M (* D (random:normal)))'.
6845 *** New procedure: random:normal-vector! VECT [STATE]
6846 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers which are independent and
6847 standard normally distributed (i.e., with mean 0 and variance 1).
6848 VECT can be either a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
6850 *** New function: random:exp STATE
6851 Returns an inexact real in an exponential distribution with mean 1.
6852 For an exponential distribution with mean U use (* U (random:exp)).
6854 ** The range of logand, logior, logxor, logtest, and logbit? have changed.
6856 These functions now operate on numbers in the range of a C unsigned
6859 These functions used to operate on numbers in the range of a C signed
6860 long; however, this seems inappropriate, because Guile integers don't
6863 ** New function: make-guardian
6864 This is an implementation of guardians as described in
6865 R. Kent Dybvig, Carl Bruggeman, and David Eby (1993) "Guardians in a
6866 Generation-Based Garbage Collector" ACM SIGPLAN Conference on
6867 Programming Language Design and Implementation, June 1993
6868 ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/scheme-repository/doc/pubs/guardians.ps.gz
6870 ** New functions: delq1!, delv1!, delete1!
6871 These procedures behave similar to delq! and friends but delete only
6872 one object if at all.
6874 ** New function: unread-string STRING PORT
6875 Unread STRING to PORT, that is, push it back onto the port so that
6876 next read operation will work on the pushed back characters.
6878 ** unread-char can now be called multiple times
6879 If unread-char is called multiple times, the unread characters will be
6880 read again in last-in first-out order.
6882 ** the procedures uniform-array-read! and uniform-array-write! now
6883 work on any kind of port, not just ports which are open on a file.
6885 ** Now 'l' in a port mode requests line buffering.
6887 ** The procedure truncate-file now works on string ports as well
6888 as file ports. If the size argument is omitted, the current
6889 file position is used.
6891 ** new procedure: seek PORT/FDES OFFSET WHENCE
6892 The arguments are the same as for the old fseek procedure, but it
6893 works on string ports as well as random-access file ports.
6895 ** the fseek procedure now works on string ports, since it has been
6896 redefined using seek.
6898 ** the setvbuf procedure now uses a default size if mode is _IOFBF and
6899 size is not supplied.
6901 ** the newline procedure no longer flushes the port if it's not
6902 line-buffered: previously it did if it was the current output port.
6904 ** open-pipe and close-pipe are no longer primitive procedures, but
6905 an emulation can be obtained using `(use-modules (ice-9 popen))'.
6907 ** the freopen procedure has been removed.
6909 ** new procedure: drain-input PORT
6910 Drains PORT's read buffers (including any pushed-back characters)
6911 and returns the contents as a single string.
6913 ** New function: map-in-order PROC LIST1 LIST2 ...
6914 Version of `map' which guarantees that the procedure is applied to the
6915 lists in serial order.
6917 ** Renamed `serial-array-copy!' and `serial-array-map!' to
6918 `array-copy-in-order!' and `array-map-in-order!'. The old names are
6919 now obsolete and will go away in release 1.5.
6921 ** New syntax: collect BODY1 ...
6922 Version of `begin' which returns a list of the results of the body
6923 forms instead of the result of the last body form. In contrast to
6924 `begin', `collect' allows an empty body.
6926 ** New functions: read-history FILENAME, write-history FILENAME
6927 Read/write command line history from/to file. Returns #t on success
6928 and #f if an error occured.
6930 ** `ls' and `lls' in module (ice-9 ls) now handle no arguments.
6932 These procedures return a list of definitions available in the specified
6933 argument, a relative module reference. In the case of no argument,
6934 `(current-module)' is now consulted for definitions to return, instead
6935 of simply returning #f, the former behavior.
6937 ** The #/ syntax for lists is no longer supported.
6939 Earlier versions of Scheme accepted this syntax, but printed a
6942 ** Guile no longer consults the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable.
6944 Instead, you should set GUILE_LOAD_PATH to tell Guile where to find
6947 * Changes to the gh_ interface
6951 Now takes a second argument which is the result array. If this
6952 pointer is NULL, a new array is malloced (the old behaviour).
6954 ** gh_chars2byvect, gh_shorts2svect, gh_floats2fvect, gh_scm2chars,
6955 gh_scm2shorts, gh_scm2longs, gh_scm2floats
6959 * Changes to the scm_ interface
6961 ** Function: scm_make_named_hook (char* name, int n_args)
6963 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
6964 binds a variable named NAME to it.
6966 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
6968 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module. This
6969 might change when we get the new module system.
6971 ** The smob interface
6973 The interface for creating smobs has changed. For documentation, see
6974 data-rep.info (made from guile-core/doc/data-rep.texi).
6976 *** Deprecated function: SCM scm_newsmob (scm_smobfuns *)
6978 >>> This function will be removed in 1.3.4. <<<
6982 *** Function: SCM scm_make_smob_type (const char *name, scm_sizet size)
6983 This function adds a new smob type, named NAME, with instance size
6984 SIZE to the system. The return value is a tag that is used in
6985 creating instances of the type. If SIZE is 0, then no memory will
6986 be allocated when instances of the smob are created, and nothing
6987 will be freed by the default free function.
6989 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_mark (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
6990 This function sets the smob marking procedure for the smob type
6991 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
6992 `scm_make_smob_type'.
6994 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_free (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
6995 This function sets the smob freeing procedure for the smob type
6996 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
6997 `scm_make_smob_type'.
6999 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_print (tc, print)
7001 - Function: void scm_set_smob_print (long tc,
7002 scm_sizet (*print) (SCM,
7006 This function sets the smob printing procedure for the smob type
7007 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
7008 `scm_make_smob_type'.
7010 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_equalp (long tc, SCM (*equalp) (SCM, SCM))
7011 This function sets the smob equality-testing predicate for the
7012 smob type specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
7013 `scm_make_smob_type'.
7015 *** Macro: void SCM_NEWSMOB (SCM var, long tc, void *data)
7016 Make VALUE contain a smob instance of the type with type code TC and
7017 smob data DATA. VALUE must be previously declared as C type `SCM'.
7019 *** Macro: fn_returns SCM_RETURN_NEWSMOB (long tc, void *data)
7020 This macro expands to a block of code that creates a smob instance
7021 of the type with type code TC and smob data DATA, and returns that
7022 `SCM' value. It should be the last piece of code in a block.
7024 ** The interfaces for using I/O ports and implementing port types
7025 (ptobs) have changed significantly. The new interface is based on
7026 shared access to buffers and a new set of ptob procedures.
7028 *** scm_newptob has been removed
7032 *** Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (type_name, fill_buffer, write_flush)
7034 - Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (char *type_name,
7035 int (*fill_buffer) (SCM port),
7036 void (*write_flush) (SCM port));
7038 Similarly to the new smob interface, there is a set of function
7039 setters by which the user can customize the behaviour of his port
7040 type. See ports.h (scm_set_port_XXX).
7042 ** scm_strport_to_string: New function: creates a new string from
7043 a string port's buffer.
7045 ** Plug in interface for random number generators
7046 The variable `scm_the_rng' in random.c contains a value and three
7047 function pointers which together define the current random number
7048 generator being used by the Scheme level interface and the random
7049 number library functions.
7051 The user is free to replace the default generator with the generator
7054 *** Variable: size_t scm_the_rng.rstate_size
7055 The size of the random state type used by the current RNG
7058 *** Function: unsigned long scm_the_rng.random_bits (scm_rstate *STATE)
7059 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
7061 *** Function: void scm_the_rng.init_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE, chars *S, int N)
7062 Seed random state STATE using string S of length N.
7064 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_the_rng.copy_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE)
7065 Given random state STATE, return a malloced copy.
7068 The default RNG is the MWC (Multiply With Carry) random number
7069 generator described by George Marsaglia at the Department of
7070 Statistics and Supercomputer Computations Research Institute, The
7071 Florida State University (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo).
7073 It uses 64 bits, has a period of 4578426017172946943 (4.6e18), and
7074 passes all tests in the DIEHARD test suite
7075 (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo/diehard.html). The generation of 32 bits
7076 costs one multiply and one add on platforms which either supports long
7077 longs (gcc does this on most systems) or have 64 bit longs. The cost
7078 is four multiply on other systems but this can be optimized by writing
7079 scm_i_uniform32 in assembler.
7081 These functions are provided through the scm_the_rng interface for use
7082 by libguile and the application.
7084 *** Function: unsigned long scm_i_uniform32 (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
7085 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
7086 Don't use this function directly. Instead go through the plugin
7087 interface (see "Plug in interface" above).
7089 *** Function: void scm_i_init_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE, char *SEED, int N)
7090 Initialize STATE using SEED of length N.
7092 *** Function: scm_i_rstate *scm_i_copy_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
7093 Return a malloc:ed copy of STATE. This function can easily be re-used
7094 in the interfaces to other RNGs.
7096 ** Random number library functions
7097 These functions use the current RNG through the scm_the_rng interface.
7098 It might be a good idea to use these functions from your C code so
7099 that only one random generator is used by all code in your program.
7101 The default random state is stored in:
7103 *** Variable: SCM scm_var_random_state
7104 Contains the vcell of the Scheme variable "*random-state*" which is
7105 used as default state by all random number functions in the Scheme
7110 double x = scm_c_uniform01 (SCM_RSTATE (SCM_CDR (scm_var_random_state)));
7112 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_default_rstate (void)
7113 This is a convenience function which returns the value of
7114 scm_var_random_state. An error message is generated if this value
7115 isn't a random state.
7117 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_make_rstate (char *SEED, int LENGTH)
7118 Make a new random state from the string SEED of length LENGTH.
7120 It is generally not a good idea to use multiple random states in a
7121 program. While subsequent random numbers generated from one random
7122 state are guaranteed to be reasonably independent, there is no such
7123 guarantee for numbers generated from different random states.
7125 *** Macro: unsigned long scm_c_uniform32 (scm_rstate *STATE)
7126 Return 32 random bits.
7128 *** Function: double scm_c_uniform01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
7129 Return a sample from the uniform(0,1) distribution.
7131 *** Function: double scm_c_normal01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
7132 Return a sample from the normal(0,1) distribution.
7134 *** Function: double scm_c_exp1 (scm_rstate *STATE)
7135 Return a sample from the exp(1) distribution.
7137 *** Function: unsigned long scm_c_random (scm_rstate *STATE, unsigned long M)
7138 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
7140 *** Function: SCM scm_c_random_bignum (scm_rstate *STATE, SCM M)
7141 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
7142 M must be a bignum object. The returned value may be an INUM.
7146 Changes in Guile 1.3 (released Monday, October 19, 1998):
7148 * Changes to the distribution
7150 ** We renamed the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable to GUILE_LOAD_PATH.
7151 To avoid conflicts, programs should name environment variables after
7152 themselves, except when there's a common practice establishing some
7155 For now, Guile supports both GUILE_LOAD_PATH and SCHEME_LOAD_PATH,
7156 giving the former precedence, and printing a warning message if the
7157 latter is set. Guile 1.4 will not recognize SCHEME_LOAD_PATH at all.
7159 ** The header files related to multi-byte characters have been removed.
7160 They were: libguile/extchrs.h and libguile/mbstrings.h. Any C code
7161 which referred to these explicitly will probably need to be rewritten,
7162 since the support for the variant string types has been removed; see
7165 ** The header files append.h and sequences.h have been removed. These
7166 files implemented non-R4RS operations which would encourage
7167 non-portable programming style and less easy-to-read code.
7169 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
7171 ** New procedures have been added to implement a "batch mode":
7173 *** Function: batch-mode?
7175 Returns a boolean indicating whether the interpreter is in batch
7178 *** Function: set-batch-mode?! ARG
7180 If ARG is true, switches the interpreter to batch mode. The `#f'
7181 case has not been implemented.
7183 ** Guile now provides full command-line editing, when run interactively.
7184 To use this feature, you must have the readline library installed.
7185 The Guile build process will notice it, and automatically include
7188 The readline library is available via anonymous FTP from any GNU
7189 mirror site; the canonical location is "ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu".
7191 ** the-last-stack is now a fluid.
7193 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
7195 ** You can now use the `guile-config' utility to build programs that use Guile.
7197 Guile now includes a command-line utility called `guile-config', which
7198 can provide information about how to compile and link programs that
7201 *** `guile-config compile' prints any C compiler flags needed to use Guile.
7202 You should include this command's output on the command line you use
7203 to compile C or C++ code that #includes the Guile header files. It's
7204 usually just a `-I' flag to help the compiler find the Guile headers.
7207 *** `guile-config link' prints any linker flags necessary to link with Guile.
7209 This command writes to its standard output a list of flags which you
7210 must pass to the linker to link your code against the Guile library.
7211 The flags include '-lguile' itself, any other libraries the Guile
7212 library depends upon, and any `-L' flags needed to help the linker
7213 find those libraries.
7215 For example, here is a Makefile rule that builds a program named 'foo'
7216 from the object files ${FOO_OBJECTS}, and links them against Guile:
7219 ${CC} ${CFLAGS} ${FOO_OBJECTS} `guile-config link` -o foo
7221 Previous Guile releases recommended that you use autoconf to detect
7222 which of a predefined set of libraries were present on your system.
7223 It is more robust to use `guile-config', since it records exactly which
7224 libraries the installed Guile library requires.
7226 This was originally called `build-guile', but was renamed to
7227 `guile-config' before Guile 1.3 was released, to be consistent with
7228 the analogous script for the GTK+ GUI toolkit, which is called
7232 ** Use the GUILE_FLAGS macro in your configure.in file to find Guile.
7234 If you are using the GNU autoconf package to configure your program,
7235 you can use the GUILE_FLAGS autoconf macro to call `guile-config'
7236 (described above) and gather the necessary values for use in your
7239 The GUILE_FLAGS macro expands to configure script code which runs the
7240 `guile-config' script, to find out where Guile's header files and
7241 libraries are installed. It sets two variables, marked for
7242 substitution, as by AC_SUBST.
7244 GUILE_CFLAGS --- flags to pass to a C or C++ compiler to build
7245 code that uses Guile header files. This is almost always just a
7248 GUILE_LDFLAGS --- flags to pass to the linker to link a
7249 program against Guile. This includes `-lguile' for the Guile
7250 library itself, any libraries that Guile itself requires (like
7251 -lqthreads), and so on. It may also include a -L flag to tell the
7252 compiler where to find the libraries.
7254 GUILE_FLAGS is defined in the file guile.m4, in the top-level
7255 directory of the Guile distribution. You can copy it into your
7256 package's aclocal.m4 file, and then use it in your configure.in file.
7258 If you are using the `aclocal' program, distributed with GNU automake,
7259 to maintain your aclocal.m4 file, the Guile installation process
7260 installs guile.m4 where aclocal will find it. All you need to do is
7261 use GUILE_FLAGS in your configure.in file, and then run `aclocal';
7262 this will copy the definition of GUILE_FLAGS into your aclocal.m4
7266 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
7268 ** Multi-byte strings have been removed, as have multi-byte and wide
7269 ports. We felt that these were the wrong approach to
7270 internationalization support.
7272 ** New function: readline [PROMPT]
7273 Read a line from the terminal, and allow the user to edit it,
7274 prompting with PROMPT. READLINE provides a large set of Emacs-like
7275 editing commands, lets the user recall previously typed lines, and
7276 works on almost every kind of terminal, including dumb terminals.
7278 READLINE assumes that the cursor is at the beginning of the line when
7279 it is invoked. Thus, you can't print a prompt yourself, and then call
7280 READLINE; you need to package up your prompt as a string, pass it to
7281 the function, and let READLINE print the prompt itself. This is
7282 because READLINE needs to know the prompt's screen width.
7284 For Guile to provide this function, you must have the readline
7285 library, version 2.1 or later, installed on your system. Readline is
7286 available via anonymous FTP from prep.ai.mit.edu in pub/gnu, or from
7287 any GNU mirror site.
7289 See also ADD-HISTORY function.
7291 ** New function: add-history STRING
7292 Add STRING as the most recent line in the history used by the READLINE
7293 command. READLINE does not add lines to the history itself; you must
7294 call ADD-HISTORY to make previous input available to the user.
7296 ** The behavior of the read-line function has changed.
7298 This function now uses standard C library functions to read the line,
7299 for speed. This means that it doesn not respect the value of
7300 scm-line-incrementors; it assumes that lines are delimited with
7303 (Note that this is read-line, the function that reads a line of text
7304 from a port, not readline, the function that reads a line from a
7305 terminal, providing full editing capabilities.)
7307 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style): Parse command-line arguments.
7309 This module provides some simple argument parsing. It exports one
7312 Function: getopt-gnu-style ARG-LS
7313 Parse a list of program arguments into an alist of option
7316 Each item in the list of program arguments is examined to see if
7317 it meets the syntax of a GNU long-named option. An argument like
7318 `--MUMBLE' produces an element of the form (MUMBLE . #t) in the
7319 returned alist, where MUMBLE is a keyword object with the same
7320 name as the argument. An argument like `--MUMBLE=FROB' produces
7321 an element of the form (MUMBLE . FROB), where FROB is a string.
7323 As a special case, the returned alist also contains a pair whose
7324 car is the symbol `rest'. The cdr of this pair is a list
7325 containing all the items in the argument list that are not options
7326 of the form mentioned above.
7328 The argument `--' is treated specially: all items in the argument
7329 list appearing after such an argument are not examined, and are
7330 returned in the special `rest' list.
7332 This function does not parse normal single-character switches.
7333 You will need to parse them out of the `rest' list yourself.
7335 ** The read syntax for byte vectors and short vectors has changed.
7337 Instead of #bytes(...), write #y(...).
7339 Instead of #short(...), write #h(...).
7341 This may seem nutty, but, like the other uniform vectors, byte vectors
7342 and short vectors want to have the same print and read syntax (and,
7343 more basic, want to have read syntax!). Changing the read syntax to
7344 use multiple characters after the hash sign breaks with the
7345 conventions used in R5RS and the conventions used for the other
7346 uniform vectors. It also introduces complexity in the current reader,
7347 both on the C and Scheme levels. (The Right solution is probably to
7348 change the syntax and prototypes for uniform vectors entirely.)
7351 ** The new module (ice-9 session) provides useful interactive functions.
7353 *** New procedure: (apropos REGEXP OPTION ...)
7355 Display a list of top-level variables whose names match REGEXP, and
7356 the modules they are imported from. Each OPTION should be one of the
7359 value --- Show the value of each matching variable.
7360 shadow --- Show bindings shadowed by subsequently imported modules.
7361 full --- Same as both `shadow' and `value'.
7365 guile> (apropos "trace" 'full)
7366 debug: trace #<procedure trace args>
7367 debug: untrace #<procedure untrace args>
7368 the-scm-module: display-backtrace #<compiled-closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>
7369 the-scm-module: before-backtrace-hook ()
7370 the-scm-module: backtrace #<primitive-procedure backtrace>
7371 the-scm-module: after-backtrace-hook ()
7372 the-scm-module: has-shown-backtrace-hint? #f
7375 ** There are new functions and syntax for working with macros.
7377 Guile implements macros as a special object type. Any variable whose
7378 top-level binding is a macro object acts as a macro. The macro object
7379 specifies how the expression should be transformed before evaluation.
7381 *** Macro objects now print in a reasonable way, resembling procedures.
7383 *** New function: (macro? OBJ)
7384 True iff OBJ is a macro object.
7386 *** New function: (primitive-macro? OBJ)
7387 Like (macro? OBJ), but true only if OBJ is one of the Guile primitive
7388 macro transformers, implemented in eval.c rather than Scheme code.
7390 Why do we have this function?
7391 - For symmetry with procedure? and primitive-procedure?,
7392 - to allow custom print procedures to tell whether a macro is
7393 primitive, and display it differently, and
7394 - to allow compilers and user-written evaluators to distinguish
7395 builtin special forms from user-defined ones, which could be
7398 *** New function: (macro-type OBJ)
7399 Return a value indicating what kind of macro OBJ is. Possible return
7402 The symbol `syntax' --- a macro created by procedure->syntax.
7403 The symbol `macro' --- a macro created by procedure->macro.
7404 The symbol `macro!' --- a macro created by procedure->memoizing-macro.
7405 The boolean #f --- if OBJ is not a macro object.
7407 *** New function: (macro-name MACRO)
7408 Return the name of the macro object MACRO's procedure, as returned by
7411 *** New function: (macro-transformer MACRO)
7412 Return the transformer procedure for MACRO.
7414 *** New syntax: (use-syntax MODULE ... TRANSFORMER)
7416 Specify a new macro expander to use in the current module. Each
7417 MODULE is a module name, with the same meaning as in the `use-modules'
7418 form; each named module's exported bindings are added to the current
7419 top-level environment. TRANSFORMER is an expression evaluated in the
7420 resulting environment which must yield a procedure to use as the
7421 module's eval transformer: every expression evaluated in this module
7422 is passed to this function, and the result passed to the Guile
7425 *** macro-eval! is removed. Use local-eval instead.
7427 ** Some magic has been added to the printer to better handle user
7428 written printing routines (like record printers, closure printers).
7430 The problem is that these user written routines must have access to
7431 the current `print-state' to be able to handle fancy things like
7432 detection of circular references. These print-states have to be
7433 passed to the builtin printing routines (display, write, etc) to
7434 properly continue the print chain.
7436 We didn't want to change all existing print code so that it
7437 explicitly passes thru a print state in addition to a port. Instead,
7438 we extented the possible values that the builtin printing routines
7439 accept as a `port'. In addition to a normal port, they now also take
7440 a pair of a normal port and a print-state. Printing will go to the
7441 port and the print-state will be used to control the detection of
7442 circular references, etc. If the builtin function does not care for a
7443 print-state, it is simply ignored.
7445 User written callbacks are now called with such a pair as their
7446 `port', but because every function now accepts this pair as a PORT
7447 argument, you don't have to worry about that. In fact, it is probably
7448 safest to not check for these pairs.
7450 However, it is sometimes necessary to continue a print chain on a
7451 different port, for example to get a intermediate string
7452 representation of the printed value, mangle that string somehow, and
7453 then to finally print the mangled string. Use the new function
7455 inherit-print-state OLD-PORT NEW-PORT
7457 for this. It constructs a new `port' that prints to NEW-PORT but
7458 inherits the print-state of OLD-PORT.
7460 ** struct-vtable-offset renamed to vtable-offset-user
7462 ** New constants: vtable-index-layout, vtable-index-vtable, vtable-index-printer
7464 ** There is now a third optional argument to make-vtable-vtable
7465 (and fourth to make-struct) when constructing new types (vtables).
7466 This argument initializes field vtable-index-printer of the vtable.
7468 ** The detection of circular references has been extended to structs.
7469 That is, a structure that -- in the process of being printed -- prints
7470 itself does not lead to infinite recursion.
7472 ** There is now some basic support for fluids. Please read
7473 "libguile/fluid.h" to find out more. It is accessible from Scheme with
7474 the following functions and macros:
7476 Function: make-fluid
7478 Create a new fluid object. Fluids are not special variables or
7479 some other extension to the semantics of Scheme, but rather
7480 ordinary Scheme objects. You can store them into variables (that
7481 are still lexically scoped, of course) or into any other place you
7482 like. Every fluid has a initial value of `#f'.
7484 Function: fluid? OBJ
7486 Test whether OBJ is a fluid.
7488 Function: fluid-ref FLUID
7489 Function: fluid-set! FLUID VAL
7491 Access/modify the fluid FLUID. Modifications are only visible
7492 within the current dynamic root (that includes threads).
7494 Function: with-fluids* FLUIDS VALUES THUNK
7496 FLUIDS is a list of fluids and VALUES a corresponding list of
7497 values for these fluids. Before THUNK gets called the values are
7498 installed in the fluids and the old values of the fluids are
7499 saved in the VALUES list. When the flow of control leaves THUNK
7500 or reenters it, the values get swapped again. You might think of
7501 this as a `safe-fluid-excursion'. Note that the VALUES list is
7502 modified by `with-fluids*'.
7504 Macro: with-fluids ((FLUID VALUE) ...) FORM ...
7506 The same as `with-fluids*' but with a different syntax. It looks
7507 just like `let', but both FLUID and VALUE are evaluated. Remember,
7508 fluids are not special variables but ordinary objects. FLUID
7509 should evaluate to a fluid.
7511 ** Changes to system call interfaces:
7513 *** close-port, close-input-port and close-output-port now return a
7514 boolean instead of an `unspecified' object. #t means that the port
7515 was successfully closed, while #f means it was already closed. It is
7516 also now possible for these procedures to raise an exception if an
7517 error occurs (some errors from write can be delayed until close.)
7519 *** the first argument to chmod, fcntl, ftell and fseek can now be a
7522 *** the third argument to fcntl is now optional.
7524 *** the first argument to chown can now be a file descriptor or a port.
7526 *** the argument to stat can now be a port.
7528 *** The following new procedures have been added (most use scsh
7531 *** procedure: close PORT/FD
7532 Similar to close-port (*note close-port: Closing Ports.), but also
7533 works on file descriptors. A side effect of closing a file
7534 descriptor is that any ports using that file descriptor are moved
7535 to a different file descriptor and have their revealed counts set
7538 *** procedure: port->fdes PORT
7539 Returns the integer file descriptor underlying PORT. As a side
7540 effect the revealed count of PORT is incremented.
7542 *** procedure: fdes->ports FDES
7543 Returns a list of existing ports which have FDES as an underlying
7544 file descriptor, without changing their revealed counts.
7546 *** procedure: fdes->inport FDES
7547 Returns an existing input port which has FDES as its underlying
7548 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
7549 Otherwise, returns a new input port with a revealed count of 1.
7551 *** procedure: fdes->outport FDES
7552 Returns an existing output port which has FDES as its underlying
7553 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
7554 Otherwise, returns a new output port with a revealed count of 1.
7556 The next group of procedures perform a `dup2' system call, if NEWFD
7557 (an integer) is supplied, otherwise a `dup'. The file descriptor to be
7558 duplicated can be supplied as an integer or contained in a port. The
7559 type of value returned varies depending on which procedure is used.
7561 All procedures also have the side effect when performing `dup2' that
7562 any ports using NEWFD are moved to a different file descriptor and have
7563 their revealed counts set to zero.
7565 *** procedure: dup->fdes PORT/FD [NEWFD]
7566 Returns an integer file descriptor.
7568 *** procedure: dup->inport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
7569 Returns a new input port using the new file descriptor.
7571 *** procedure: dup->outport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
7572 Returns a new output port using the new file descriptor.
7574 *** procedure: dup PORT/FD [NEWFD]
7575 Returns a new port if PORT/FD is a port, with the same mode as the
7576 supplied port, otherwise returns an integer file descriptor.
7578 *** procedure: dup->port PORT/FD MODE [NEWFD]
7579 Returns a new port using the new file descriptor. MODE supplies a
7580 mode string for the port (*note open-file: File Ports.).
7582 *** procedure: setenv NAME VALUE
7583 Modifies the environment of the current process, which is also the
7584 default environment inherited by child processes.
7586 If VALUE is `#f', then NAME is removed from the environment.
7587 Otherwise, the string NAME=VALUE is added to the environment,
7588 replacing any existing string with name matching NAME.
7590 The return value is unspecified.
7592 *** procedure: truncate-file OBJ SIZE
7593 Truncates the file referred to by OBJ to at most SIZE bytes. OBJ
7594 can be a string containing a file name or an integer file
7595 descriptor or port open for output on the file. The underlying
7596 system calls are `truncate' and `ftruncate'.
7598 The return value is unspecified.
7600 *** procedure: setvbuf PORT MODE [SIZE]
7601 Set the buffering mode for PORT. MODE can be:
7609 block buffered, using a newly allocated buffer of SIZE bytes.
7610 However if SIZE is zero or unspecified, the port will be made
7613 This procedure should not be used after I/O has been performed with
7616 Ports are usually block buffered by default, with a default buffer
7617 size. Procedures e.g., *Note open-file: File Ports, which accept a
7618 mode string allow `0' to be added to request an unbuffered port.
7620 *** procedure: fsync PORT/FD
7621 Copies any unwritten data for the specified output file descriptor
7622 to disk. If PORT/FD is a port, its buffer is flushed before the
7623 underlying file descriptor is fsync'd. The return value is
7626 *** procedure: open-fdes PATH FLAGS [MODES]
7627 Similar to `open' but returns a file descriptor instead of a port.
7629 *** procedure: execle PATH ENV [ARG] ...
7630 Similar to `execl', but the environment of the new process is
7631 specified by ENV, which must be a list of strings as returned by
7632 the `environ' procedure.
7634 This procedure is currently implemented using the `execve' system
7635 call, but we call it `execle' because of its Scheme calling
7638 *** procedure: strerror ERRNO
7639 Returns the Unix error message corresponding to ERRNO, an integer.
7641 *** procedure: primitive-exit [STATUS]
7642 Terminate the current process without unwinding the Scheme stack.
7643 This is would typically be useful after a fork. The exit status
7644 is STATUS if supplied, otherwise zero.
7646 *** procedure: times
7647 Returns an object with information about real and processor time.
7648 The following procedures accept such an object as an argument and
7649 return a selected component:
7652 The current real time, expressed as time units relative to an
7656 The CPU time units used by the calling process.
7659 The CPU time units used by the system on behalf of the
7663 The CPU time units used by terminated child processes of the
7664 calling process, whose status has been collected (e.g., using
7668 Similarly, the CPU times units used by the system on behalf of
7669 terminated child processes.
7671 ** Removed: list-length
7672 ** Removed: list-append, list-append!
7673 ** Removed: list-reverse, list-reverse!
7675 ** array-map renamed to array-map!
7677 ** serial-array-map renamed to serial-array-map!
7679 ** catch doesn't take #f as first argument any longer
7681 Previously, it was possible to pass #f instead of a key to `catch'.
7682 That would cause `catch' to pass a jump buffer object to the procedure
7683 passed as second argument. The procedure could then use this jump
7684 buffer objekt as an argument to throw.
7686 This mechanism has been removed since its utility doesn't motivate the
7687 extra complexity it introduces.
7689 ** The `#/' notation for lists now provokes a warning message from Guile.
7690 This syntax will be removed from Guile in the near future.
7692 To disable the warning message, set the GUILE_HUSH environment
7693 variable to any non-empty value.
7695 ** The newline character now prints as `#\newline', following the
7696 normal Scheme notation, not `#\nl'.
7698 * Changes to the gh_ interface
7700 ** The gh_enter function now takes care of loading the Guile startup files.
7701 gh_enter works by calling scm_boot_guile; see the remarks below.
7703 ** Function: void gh_write (SCM x)
7705 Write the printed representation of the scheme object x to the current
7706 output port. Corresponds to the scheme level `write'.
7708 ** gh_list_length renamed to gh_length.
7710 ** vector handling routines
7712 Several major changes. In particular, gh_vector() now resembles
7713 (vector ...) (with a caveat -- see manual), and gh_make_vector() now
7714 exists and behaves like (make-vector ...). gh_vset() and gh_vref()
7715 have been renamed gh_vector_set_x() and gh_vector_ref(). Some missing
7716 vector-related gh_ functions have been implemented.
7718 ** pair and list routines
7720 Implemented several of the R4RS pair and list functions that were
7723 ** gh_scm2doubles, gh_doubles2scm, gh_doubles2dvect
7725 New function. Converts double arrays back and forth between Scheme
7728 * Changes to the scm_ interface
7730 ** The function scm_boot_guile now takes care of loading the startup files.
7732 Guile's primary initialization function, scm_boot_guile, now takes
7733 care of loading `boot-9.scm', in the `ice-9' module, to initialize
7734 Guile, define the module system, and put together some standard
7735 bindings. It also loads `init.scm', which is intended to hold
7736 site-specific initialization code.
7738 Since Guile cannot operate properly until boot-9.scm is loaded, there
7739 is no reason to separate loading boot-9.scm from Guile's other
7740 initialization processes.
7742 This job used to be done by scm_compile_shell_switches, which didn't
7743 make much sense; in particular, it meant that people using Guile for
7744 non-shell-like applications had to jump through hoops to get Guile
7745 initialized properly.
7747 ** The function scm_compile_shell_switches no longer loads the startup files.
7748 Now, Guile always loads the startup files, whenever it is initialized;
7749 see the notes above for scm_boot_guile and scm_load_startup_files.
7751 ** Function: scm_load_startup_files
7752 This new function takes care of loading Guile's initialization file
7753 (`boot-9.scm'), and the site initialization file, `init.scm'. Since
7754 this is always called by the Guile initialization process, it's
7755 probably not too useful to call this yourself, but it's there anyway.
7757 ** The semantics of smob marking have changed slightly.
7759 The smob marking function (the `mark' member of the scm_smobfuns
7760 structure) is no longer responsible for setting the mark bit on the
7761 smob. The generic smob handling code in the garbage collector will
7762 set this bit. The mark function need only ensure that any other
7763 objects the smob refers to get marked.
7765 Note that this change means that the smob's GC8MARK bit is typically
7766 already set upon entry to the mark function. Thus, marking functions
7767 which look like this:
7770 if (SCM_GC8MARKP (ptr))
7772 SCM_SETGC8MARK (ptr);
7773 ... mark objects to which the smob refers ...
7776 are now incorrect, since they will return early, and fail to mark any
7777 other objects the smob refers to. Some code in the Guile library used
7780 ** The semantics of the I/O port functions in scm_ptobfuns have changed.
7782 If you have implemented your own I/O port type, by writing the
7783 functions required by the scm_ptobfuns and then calling scm_newptob,
7784 you will need to change your functions slightly.
7786 The functions in a scm_ptobfuns structure now expect the port itself
7787 as their argument; they used to expect the `stream' member of the
7788 port's scm_port_table structure. This allows functions in an
7789 scm_ptobfuns structure to easily access the port's cell (and any flags
7790 it its CAR), and the port's scm_port_table structure.
7792 Guile now passes the I/O port itself as the `port' argument in the
7793 following scm_ptobfuns functions:
7795 int (*free) (SCM port);
7796 int (*fputc) (int, SCM port);
7797 int (*fputs) (char *, SCM port);
7798 scm_sizet (*fwrite) SCM_P ((char *ptr,
7802 int (*fflush) (SCM port);
7803 int (*fgetc) (SCM port);
7804 int (*fclose) (SCM port);
7806 The interfaces to the `mark', `print', `equalp', and `fgets' methods
7809 If you have existing code which defines its own port types, it is easy
7810 to convert your code to the new interface; simply apply SCM_STREAM to
7811 the port argument to yield the value you code used to expect.
7813 Note that since both the port and the stream have the same type in the
7814 C code --- they are both SCM values --- the C compiler will not remind
7815 you if you forget to update your scm_ptobfuns functions.
7818 ** Function: int scm_internal_select (int fds,
7822 struct timeval *timeout);
7824 This is a replacement for the `select' function provided by the OS.
7825 It enables I/O blocking and sleeping to happen for one cooperative
7826 thread without blocking other threads. It also avoids busy-loops in
7827 these situations. It is intended that all I/O blocking and sleeping
7828 will finally go through this function. Currently, this function is
7829 only available on systems providing `gettimeofday' and `select'.
7831 ** Function: SCM scm_internal_stack_catch (SCM tag,
7832 scm_catch_body_t body,
7834 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
7837 A new sibling to the other two C level `catch' functions
7838 scm_internal_catch and scm_internal_lazy_catch. Use it if you want
7839 the stack to be saved automatically into the variable `the-last-stack'
7840 (scm_the_last_stack_var) on error. This is necessary if you want to
7841 use advanced error reporting, such as calling scm_display_error and
7842 scm_display_backtrace. (They both take a stack object as argument.)
7844 ** Function: SCM scm_spawn_thread (scm_catch_body_t body,
7846 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
7849 Spawns a new thread. It does a job similar to
7850 scm_call_with_new_thread but takes arguments more suitable when
7851 spawning threads from application C code.
7853 ** The hook scm_error_callback has been removed. It was originally
7854 intended as a way for the user to install his own error handler. But
7855 that method works badly since it intervenes between throw and catch,
7856 thereby changing the semantics of expressions like (catch #t ...).
7857 The correct way to do it is to use one of the C level catch functions
7858 in throw.c: scm_internal_catch/lazy_catch/stack_catch.
7860 ** Removed functions:
7862 scm_obj_length, scm_list_length, scm_list_append, scm_list_append_x,
7863 scm_list_reverse, scm_list_reverse_x
7865 ** New macros: SCM_LISTn where n is one of the integers 0-9.
7867 These can be used for pretty list creation from C. The idea is taken
7868 from Erick Gallesio's STk.
7870 ** scm_array_map renamed to scm_array_map_x
7872 ** mbstrings are now removed
7874 This means that the type codes scm_tc7_mb_string and
7875 scm_tc7_mb_substring has been removed.
7877 ** scm_gen_putc, scm_gen_puts, scm_gen_write, and scm_gen_getc have changed.
7879 Since we no longer support multi-byte strings, these I/O functions
7880 have been simplified, and renamed. Here are their old names, and
7881 their new names and arguments:
7883 scm_gen_putc -> void scm_putc (int c, SCM port);
7884 scm_gen_puts -> void scm_puts (char *s, SCM port);
7885 scm_gen_write -> void scm_lfwrite (char *ptr, scm_sizet size, SCM port);
7886 scm_gen_getc -> void scm_getc (SCM port);
7889 ** The macros SCM_TYP7D and SCM_TYP7SD has been removed.
7891 ** The macro SCM_TYP7S has taken the role of the old SCM_TYP7D
7893 SCM_TYP7S now masks away the bit which distinguishes substrings from
7896 ** scm_catch_body_t: Backward incompatible change!
7898 Body functions to scm_internal_catch and friends do not any longer
7899 take a second argument. This is because it is no longer possible to
7900 pass a #f arg to catch.
7902 ** Calls to scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect now nest properly.
7904 The function scm_protect_object protects its argument from being freed
7905 by the garbage collector. scm_unprotect_object removes that
7908 These functions now nest properly. That is, for every object O, there
7909 is a counter which scm_protect_object(O) increments and
7910 scm_unprotect_object(O) decrements, if the counter is greater than
7911 zero. Every object's counter is zero when it is first created. If an
7912 object's counter is greater than zero, the garbage collector will not
7913 reclaim its storage.
7915 This allows you to use scm_protect_object in your code without
7916 worrying that some other function you call will call
7917 scm_unprotect_object, and allow it to be freed. Assuming that the
7918 functions you call are well-behaved, and unprotect only those objects
7919 they protect, you can follow the same rule and have confidence that
7920 objects will be freed only at appropriate times.
7923 Changes in Guile 1.2 (released Tuesday, June 24 1997):
7925 * Changes to the distribution
7927 ** Nightly snapshots are now available from ftp.red-bean.com.
7928 The old server, ftp.cyclic.com, has been relinquished to its rightful
7931 Nightly snapshots of the Guile development sources are now available via
7932 anonymous FTP from ftp.red-bean.com, as /pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz.
7934 Via the web, that's: ftp://ftp.red-bean.com/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
7935 For getit, that's: ftp.red-bean.com:/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
7937 ** To run Guile without installing it, the procedure has changed a bit.
7939 If you used a separate build directory to compile Guile, you'll need
7940 to include the build directory in SCHEME_LOAD_PATH, as well as the
7941 source directory. See the `INSTALL' file for examples.
7943 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
7945 ** The standard Guile load path for Scheme code now includes
7946 $(datadir)/guile (usually /usr/local/share/guile). This means that
7947 you can install your own Scheme files there, and Guile will find them.
7948 (Previous versions of Guile only checked a directory whose name
7949 contained the Guile version number, so you had to re-install or move
7950 your Scheme sources each time you installed a fresh version of Guile.)
7952 The load path also includes $(datadir)/guile/site; we recommend
7953 putting individual Scheme files there. If you want to install a
7954 package with multiple source files, create a directory for them under
7957 ** Guile 1.2 will now use the Rx regular expression library, if it is
7958 installed on your system. When you are linking libguile into your own
7959 programs, this means you will have to link against -lguile, -lqt (if
7960 you configured Guile with thread support), and -lrx.
7962 If you are using autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your
7963 application, the following lines should suffice to add the appropriate
7964 libraries to your link command:
7966 ### Find Rx, quickthreads and libguile.
7967 AC_CHECK_LIB(rx, main)
7968 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
7969 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
7971 The Guile 1.2 distribution does not contain sources for the Rx
7972 library, as Guile 1.0 did. If you want to use Rx, you'll need to
7973 retrieve it from a GNU FTP site and install it separately.
7975 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
7977 ** The dynamic linking features of Guile are now enabled by default.
7978 You can disable them by giving the `--disable-dynamic-linking' option
7981 (dynamic-link FILENAME)
7983 Find the object file denoted by FILENAME (a string) and link it
7984 into the running Guile application. When everything works out,
7985 return a Scheme object suitable for representing the linked object
7986 file. Otherwise an error is thrown. How object files are
7987 searched is system dependent.
7989 (dynamic-object? VAL)
7991 Determine whether VAL represents a dynamically linked object file.
7993 (dynamic-unlink DYNOBJ)
7995 Unlink the indicated object file from the application. DYNOBJ
7996 should be one of the values returned by `dynamic-link'.
7998 (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
8000 Search the C function indicated by FUNCTION (a string or symbol)
8001 in DYNOBJ and return some Scheme object that can later be used
8002 with `dynamic-call' to actually call this function. Right now,
8003 these Scheme objects are formed by casting the address of the
8004 function to `long' and converting this number to its Scheme
8007 (dynamic-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
8009 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ. The
8010 function is passed no arguments and its return value is ignored.
8011 When FUNCTION is something returned by `dynamic-func', call that
8012 function and ignore DYNOBJ. When FUNCTION is a string (or symbol,
8013 etc.), look it up in DYNOBJ; this is equivalent to
8015 (dynamic-call (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ) #f)
8017 Interrupts are deferred while the C function is executing (with
8018 SCM_DEFER_INTS/SCM_ALLOW_INTS).
8020 (dynamic-args-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ ARGS)
8022 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ, but pass it
8023 some arguments and return its return value. The C function is
8024 expected to take two arguments and return an `int', just like
8027 int c_func (int argc, char **argv);
8029 ARGS must be a list of strings and is converted into an array of
8030 `char *'. The array is passed in ARGV and its size in ARGC. The
8031 return value is converted to a Scheme number and returned from the
8032 call to `dynamic-args-call'.
8034 When dynamic linking is disabled or not supported on your system,
8035 the above functions throw errors, but they are still available.
8037 Here is a small example that works on GNU/Linux:
8039 (define libc-obj (dynamic-link "libc.so"))
8040 (dynamic-args-call 'rand libc-obj '())
8042 See the file `libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING' for additional comments.
8044 ** The #/ syntax for module names is depreciated, and will be removed
8045 in a future version of Guile. Instead of
8053 The latter syntax is more consistent with existing Lisp practice.
8055 ** Guile now does fancier printing of structures. Structures are the
8056 underlying implementation for records, which in turn are used to
8057 implement modules, so all of these object now print differently and in
8058 a more informative way.
8060 The Scheme printer will examine the builtin variable *struct-printer*
8061 whenever it needs to print a structure object. When this variable is
8062 not `#f' it is deemed to be a procedure and will be applied to the
8063 structure object and the output port. When *struct-printer* is `#f'
8064 or the procedure return `#f' the structure object will be printed in
8065 the boring #<struct 80458270> form.
8067 This hook is used by some routines in ice-9/boot-9.scm to implement
8068 type specific printing routines. Please read the comments there about
8071 One of the more specific uses of structs are records. The printing
8072 procedure that could be passed to MAKE-RECORD-TYPE is now actually
8073 called. It should behave like a *struct-printer* procedure (described
8076 ** Guile now supports a new R4RS-compliant syntax for keywords. A
8077 token of the form #:NAME, where NAME has the same syntax as a Scheme
8078 symbol, is the external representation of the keyword named NAME.
8079 Keyword objects print using this syntax as well, so values containing
8080 keyword objects can be read back into Guile. When used in an
8081 expression, keywords are self-quoting objects.
8083 Guile suports this read syntax, and uses this print syntax, regardless
8084 of the current setting of the `keyword' read option. The `keyword'
8085 read option only controls whether Guile recognizes the `:NAME' syntax,
8086 which is incompatible with R4RS. (R4RS says such token represent
8089 ** Guile has regular expression support again. Guile 1.0 included
8090 functions for matching regular expressions, based on the Rx library.
8091 In Guile 1.1, the Guile/Rx interface was removed to simplify the
8092 distribution, and thus Guile had no regular expression support. Guile
8093 1.2 again supports the most commonly used functions, and supports all
8094 of SCSH's regular expression functions.
8096 If your system does not include a POSIX regular expression library,
8097 and you have not linked Guile with a third-party regexp library such as
8098 Rx, these functions will not be available. You can tell whether your
8099 Guile installation includes regular expression support by checking
8100 whether the `*features*' list includes the `regex' symbol.
8102 *** regexp functions
8104 By default, Guile supports POSIX extended regular expressions. That
8105 means that the characters `(', `)', `+' and `?' are special, and must
8106 be escaped if you wish to match the literal characters.
8108 This regular expression interface was modeled after that implemented
8109 by SCSH, the Scheme Shell. It is intended to be upwardly compatible
8110 with SCSH regular expressions.
8112 **** Function: string-match PATTERN STR [START]
8113 Compile the string PATTERN into a regular expression and compare
8114 it with STR. The optional numeric argument START specifies the
8115 position of STR at which to begin matching.
8117 `string-match' returns a "match structure" which describes what,
8118 if anything, was matched by the regular expression. *Note Match
8119 Structures::. If STR does not match PATTERN at all,
8120 `string-match' returns `#f'.
8122 Each time `string-match' is called, it must compile its PATTERN
8123 argument into a regular expression structure. This operation is
8124 expensive, which makes `string-match' inefficient if the same regular
8125 expression is used several times (for example, in a loop). For better
8126 performance, you can compile a regular expression in advance and then
8127 match strings against the compiled regexp.
8129 **** Function: make-regexp STR [FLAGS]
8130 Compile the regular expression described by STR, and return the
8131 compiled regexp structure. If STR does not describe a legal
8132 regular expression, `make-regexp' throws a
8133 `regular-expression-syntax' error.
8135 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
8137 **** Constant: regexp/extended
8138 Use POSIX Extended Regular Expression syntax when interpreting
8139 STR. If not set, POSIX Basic Regular Expression syntax is used.
8140 If the FLAGS argument is omitted, we assume regexp/extended.
8142 **** Constant: regexp/icase
8143 Do not differentiate case. Subsequent searches using the
8144 returned regular expression will be case insensitive.
8146 **** Constant: regexp/newline
8147 Match-any-character operators don't match a newline.
8149 A non-matching list ([^...]) not containing a newline matches a
8152 Match-beginning-of-line operator (^) matches the empty string
8153 immediately after a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
8154 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/notbol.
8156 Match-end-of-line operator ($) matches the empty string
8157 immediately before a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
8158 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/noteol.
8160 **** Function: regexp-exec REGEXP STR [START [FLAGS]]
8161 Match the compiled regular expression REGEXP against `str'. If
8162 the optional integer START argument is provided, begin matching
8163 from that position in the string. Return a match structure
8164 describing the results of the match, or `#f' if no match could be
8167 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
8169 **** Constant: regexp/notbol
8170 The match-beginning-of-line operator always fails to match (but
8171 see the compilation flag regexp/newline above) This flag may be
8172 used when different portions of a string are passed to
8173 regexp-exec and the beginning of the string should not be
8174 interpreted as the beginning of the line.
8176 **** Constant: regexp/noteol
8177 The match-end-of-line operator always fails to match (but see the
8178 compilation flag regexp/newline above)
8180 **** Function: regexp? OBJ
8181 Return `#t' if OBJ is a compiled regular expression, or `#f'
8184 Regular expressions are commonly used to find patterns in one string
8185 and replace them with the contents of another string.
8187 **** Function: regexp-substitute PORT MATCH [ITEM...]
8188 Write to the output port PORT selected contents of the match
8189 structure MATCH. Each ITEM specifies what should be written, and
8190 may be one of the following arguments:
8192 * A string. String arguments are written out verbatim.
8194 * An integer. The submatch with that number is written.
8196 * The symbol `pre'. The portion of the matched string preceding
8197 the regexp match is written.
8199 * The symbol `post'. The portion of the matched string
8200 following the regexp match is written.
8202 PORT may be `#f', in which case nothing is written; instead,
8203 `regexp-substitute' constructs a string from the specified ITEMs
8206 **** Function: regexp-substitute/global PORT REGEXP TARGET [ITEM...]
8207 Similar to `regexp-substitute', but can be used to perform global
8208 substitutions on STR. Instead of taking a match structure as an
8209 argument, `regexp-substitute/global' takes two string arguments: a
8210 REGEXP string describing a regular expression, and a TARGET string
8211 which should be matched against this regular expression.
8213 Each ITEM behaves as in REGEXP-SUBSTITUTE, with the following
8216 * A function may be supplied. When this function is called, it
8217 will be passed one argument: a match structure for a given
8218 regular expression match. It should return a string to be
8219 written out to PORT.
8221 * The `post' symbol causes `regexp-substitute/global' to recurse
8222 on the unmatched portion of STR. This *must* be supplied in
8223 order to perform global search-and-replace on STR; if it is
8224 not present among the ITEMs, then `regexp-substitute/global'
8225 will return after processing a single match.
8227 *** Match Structures
8229 A "match structure" is the object returned by `string-match' and
8230 `regexp-exec'. It describes which portion of a string, if any, matched
8231 the given regular expression. Match structures include: a reference to
8232 the string that was checked for matches; the starting and ending
8233 positions of the regexp match; and, if the regexp included any
8234 parenthesized subexpressions, the starting and ending positions of each
8237 In each of the regexp match functions described below, the `match'
8238 argument must be a match structure returned by a previous call to
8239 `string-match' or `regexp-exec'. Most of these functions return some
8240 information about the original target string that was matched against a
8241 regular expression; we will call that string TARGET for easy reference.
8243 **** Function: regexp-match? OBJ
8244 Return `#t' if OBJ is a match structure returned by a previous
8245 call to `regexp-exec', or `#f' otherwise.
8247 **** Function: match:substring MATCH [N]
8248 Return the portion of TARGET matched by subexpression number N.
8249 Submatch 0 (the default) represents the entire regexp match. If
8250 the regular expression as a whole matched, but the subexpression
8251 number N did not match, return `#f'.
8253 **** Function: match:start MATCH [N]
8254 Return the starting position of submatch number N.
8256 **** Function: match:end MATCH [N]
8257 Return the ending position of submatch number N.
8259 **** Function: match:prefix MATCH
8260 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET preceding the regexp match.
8262 **** Function: match:suffix MATCH
8263 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET following the regexp match.
8265 **** Function: match:count MATCH
8266 Return the number of parenthesized subexpressions from MATCH.
8267 Note that the entire regular expression match itself counts as a
8268 subexpression, and failed submatches are included in the count.
8270 **** Function: match:string MATCH
8271 Return the original TARGET string.
8273 *** Backslash Escapes
8275 Sometimes you will want a regexp to match characters like `*' or `$'
8276 exactly. For example, to check whether a particular string represents
8277 a menu entry from an Info node, it would be useful to match it against
8278 a regexp like `^* [^:]*::'. However, this won't work; because the
8279 asterisk is a metacharacter, it won't match the `*' at the beginning of
8280 the string. In this case, we want to make the first asterisk un-magic.
8282 You can do this by preceding the metacharacter with a backslash
8283 character `\'. (This is also called "quoting" the metacharacter, and
8284 is known as a "backslash escape".) When Guile sees a backslash in a
8285 regular expression, it considers the following glyph to be an ordinary
8286 character, no matter what special meaning it would ordinarily have.
8287 Therefore, we can make the above example work by changing the regexp to
8288 `^\* [^:]*::'. The `\*' sequence tells the regular expression engine
8289 to match only a single asterisk in the target string.
8291 Since the backslash is itself a metacharacter, you may force a
8292 regexp to match a backslash in the target string by preceding the
8293 backslash with itself. For example, to find variable references in a
8294 TeX program, you might want to find occurrences of the string `\let\'
8295 followed by any number of alphabetic characters. The regular expression
8296 `\\let\\[A-Za-z]*' would do this: the double backslashes in the regexp
8297 each match a single backslash in the target string.
8299 **** Function: regexp-quote STR
8300 Quote each special character found in STR with a backslash, and
8301 return the resulting string.
8303 *Very important:* Using backslash escapes in Guile source code (as
8304 in Emacs Lisp or C) can be tricky, because the backslash character has
8305 special meaning for the Guile reader. For example, if Guile encounters
8306 the character sequence `\n' in the middle of a string while processing
8307 Scheme code, it replaces those characters with a newline character.
8308 Similarly, the character sequence `\t' is replaced by a horizontal tab.
8309 Several of these "escape sequences" are processed by the Guile reader
8310 before your code is executed. Unrecognized escape sequences are
8311 ignored: if the characters `\*' appear in a string, they will be
8312 translated to the single character `*'.
8314 This translation is obviously undesirable for regular expressions,
8315 since we want to be able to include backslashes in a string in order to
8316 escape regexp metacharacters. Therefore, to make sure that a backslash
8317 is preserved in a string in your Guile program, you must use *two*
8318 consecutive backslashes:
8320 (define Info-menu-entry-pattern (make-regexp "^\\* [^:]*"))
8322 The string in this example is preprocessed by the Guile reader before
8323 any code is executed. The resulting argument to `make-regexp' is the
8324 string `^\* [^:]*', which is what we really want.
8326 This also means that in order to write a regular expression that
8327 matches a single backslash character, the regular expression string in
8328 the source code must include *four* backslashes. Each consecutive pair
8329 of backslashes gets translated by the Guile reader to a single
8330 backslash, and the resulting double-backslash is interpreted by the
8331 regexp engine as matching a single backslash character. Hence:
8333 (define tex-variable-pattern (make-regexp "\\\\let\\\\=[A-Za-z]*"))
8335 The reason for the unwieldiness of this syntax is historical. Both
8336 regular expression pattern matchers and Unix string processing systems
8337 have traditionally used backslashes with the special meanings described
8338 above. The POSIX regular expression specification and ANSI C standard
8339 both require these semantics. Attempting to abandon either convention
8340 would cause other kinds of compatibility problems, possibly more severe
8341 ones. Therefore, without extending the Scheme reader to support
8342 strings with different quoting conventions (an ungainly and confusing
8343 extension when implemented in other languages), we must adhere to this
8344 cumbersome escape syntax.
8346 * Changes to the gh_ interface
8348 * Changes to the scm_ interface
8350 * Changes to system call interfaces:
8352 ** The value returned by `raise' is now unspecified. It throws an exception
8355 *** A new procedure `sigaction' can be used to install signal handlers
8357 (sigaction signum [action] [flags])
8359 signum is the signal number, which can be specified using the value
8362 If action is omitted, sigaction returns a pair: the CAR is the current
8363 signal hander, which will be either an integer with the value SIG_DFL
8364 (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or the Scheme procedure which
8365 handles the signal, or #f if a non-Scheme procedure handles the
8366 signal. The CDR contains the current sigaction flags for the handler.
8368 If action is provided, it is installed as the new handler for signum.
8369 action can be a Scheme procedure taking one argument, or the value of
8370 SIG_DFL (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or #f to restore
8371 whatever signal handler was installed before sigaction was first used.
8372 Flags can optionally be specified for the new handler (SA_RESTART is
8373 always used if the system provides it, so need not be specified.) The
8374 return value is a pair with information about the old handler as
8377 This interface does not provide access to the "signal blocking"
8378 facility. Maybe this is not needed, since the thread support may
8379 provide solutions to the problem of consistent access to data
8382 *** A new procedure `flush-all-ports' is equivalent to running
8383 `force-output' on every port open for output.
8385 ** Guile now provides information on how it was built, via the new
8386 global variable, %guile-build-info. This variable records the values
8387 of the standard GNU makefile directory variables as an assocation
8388 list, mapping variable names (symbols) onto directory paths (strings).
8389 For example, to find out where the Guile link libraries were
8390 installed, you can say:
8392 guile -c "(display (assq-ref %guile-build-info 'libdir)) (newline)"
8395 * Changes to the scm_ interface
8397 ** The new function scm_handle_by_message_noexit is just like the
8398 existing scm_handle_by_message function, except that it doesn't call
8399 exit to terminate the process. Instead, it prints a message and just
8400 returns #f. This might be a more appropriate catch-all handler for
8401 new dynamic roots and threads.
8404 Changes in Guile 1.1 (released Friday, May 16 1997):
8406 * Changes to the distribution.
8408 The Guile 1.0 distribution has been split up into several smaller
8410 guile-core --- the Guile interpreter itself.
8411 guile-tcltk --- the interface between the Guile interpreter and
8412 Tcl/Tk; Tcl is an interpreter for a stringy language, and Tk
8413 is a toolkit for building graphical user interfaces.
8414 guile-rgx-ctax --- the interface between Guile and the Rx regular
8415 expression matcher, and the translator for the Ctax
8416 programming language. These are packaged together because the
8417 Ctax translator uses Rx to parse Ctax source code.
8419 This NEWS file describes the changes made to guile-core since the 1.0
8422 We no longer distribute the documentation, since it was either out of
8423 date, or incomplete. As soon as we have current documentation, we
8428 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
8430 ** guile now accepts command-line arguments compatible with SCSH, Olin
8431 Shivers' Scheme Shell.
8433 In general, arguments are evaluated from left to right, but there are
8434 exceptions. The following switches stop argument processing, and
8435 stash all remaining command-line arguments as the value returned by
8436 the (command-line) function.
8437 -s SCRIPT load Scheme source code from FILE, and exit
8438 -c EXPR evalute Scheme expression EXPR, and exit
8439 -- stop scanning arguments; run interactively
8441 The switches below are processed as they are encountered.
8442 -l FILE load Scheme source code from FILE
8443 -e FUNCTION after reading script, apply FUNCTION to
8444 command line arguments
8445 -ds do -s script at this point
8446 --emacs enable Emacs protocol (experimental)
8447 -h, --help display this help and exit
8448 -v, --version display version information and exit
8449 \ read arguments from following script lines
8451 So, for example, here is a Guile script named `ekko' (thanks, Olin)
8452 which re-implements the traditional "echo" command:
8454 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
8457 (map (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
8461 (main (command-line))
8463 Suppose we invoke this script as follows:
8465 ekko a speckled gecko
8467 Through the magic of Unix script processing (triggered by the `#!'
8468 token at the top of the file), /usr/local/bin/guile receives the
8469 following list of command-line arguments:
8471 ("-s" "./ekko" "a" "speckled" "gecko")
8473 Unix inserts the name of the script after the argument specified on
8474 the first line of the file (in this case, "-s"), and then follows that
8475 with the arguments given to the script. Guile loads the script, which
8476 defines the `main' function, and then applies it to the list of
8477 remaining command-line arguments, ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
8479 In Unix, the first line of a script file must take the following form:
8481 #!INTERPRETER ARGUMENT
8483 where INTERPRETER is the absolute filename of the interpreter
8484 executable, and ARGUMENT is a single command-line argument to pass to
8487 You may only pass one argument to the interpreter, and its length is
8488 limited. These restrictions can be annoying to work around, so Guile
8489 provides a general mechanism (borrowed from, and compatible with,
8490 SCSH) for circumventing them.
8492 If the ARGUMENT in a Guile script is a single backslash character,
8493 `\', Guile will open the script file, parse arguments from its second
8494 and subsequent lines, and replace the `\' with them. So, for example,
8495 here is another implementation of the `ekko' script:
8497 #!/usr/local/bin/guile \
8501 (for-each (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
8505 If the user invokes this script as follows:
8507 ekko a speckled gecko
8509 Unix expands this into
8511 /usr/local/bin/guile \ ekko a speckled gecko
8513 When Guile sees the `\' argument, it replaces it with the arguments
8514 read from the second line of the script, producing:
8516 /usr/local/bin/guile -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
8518 This tells Guile to load the `ekko' script, and apply the function
8519 `main' to the argument list ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
8521 Here is how Guile parses the command-line arguments:
8522 - Each space character terminates an argument. This means that two
8523 spaces in a row introduce an empty-string argument.
8524 - The tab character is not permitted (unless you quote it with the
8525 backslash character, as described below), to avoid confusion.
8526 - The newline character terminates the sequence of arguments, and will
8527 also terminate a final non-empty argument. (However, a newline
8528 following a space will not introduce a final empty-string argument;
8529 it only terminates the argument list.)
8530 - The backslash character is the escape character. It escapes
8531 backslash, space, tab, and newline. The ANSI C escape sequences
8532 like \n and \t are also supported. These produce argument
8533 constituents; the two-character combination \n doesn't act like a
8534 terminating newline. The escape sequence \NNN for exactly three
8535 octal digits reads as the character whose ASCII code is NNN. As
8536 above, characters produced this way are argument constituents.
8537 Backslash followed by other characters is not allowed.
8539 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
8541 ** Guile now builds and installs a shared guile library, if your
8542 system support shared libraries. (It still builds a static library on
8543 all systems.) Guile automatically detects whether your system
8544 supports shared libraries. To prevent Guile from buildisg shared
8545 libraries, pass the `--disable-shared' flag to the configure script.
8547 Guile takes longer to compile when it builds shared libraries, because
8548 it must compile every file twice --- once to produce position-
8549 independent object code, and once to produce normal object code.
8551 ** The libthreads library has been merged into libguile.
8553 To link a program against Guile, you now need only link against
8554 -lguile and -lqt; -lthreads is no longer needed. If you are using
8555 autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your application, the
8556 following lines should suffice to add the appropriate libraries to
8559 ### Find quickthreads and libguile.
8560 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
8561 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
8563 * Changes to Scheme functions
8565 ** Guile Scheme's special syntax for keyword objects is now optional,
8566 and disabled by default.
8568 The syntax variation from R4RS made it difficult to port some
8569 interesting packages to Guile. The routines which accepted keyword
8570 arguments (mostly in the module system) have been modified to also
8571 accept symbols whose names begin with `:'.
8573 To change the keyword syntax, you must first import the (ice-9 debug)
8575 (use-modules (ice-9 debug))
8577 Then you can enable the keyword syntax as follows:
8578 (read-set! keywords 'prefix)
8580 To disable keyword syntax, do this:
8581 (read-set! keywords #f)
8583 ** Many more primitive functions accept shared substrings as
8584 arguments. In the past, these functions required normal, mutable
8585 strings as arguments, although they never made use of this
8588 ** The uniform array functions now operate on byte vectors. These
8589 functions are `array-fill!', `serial-array-copy!', `array-copy!',
8590 `serial-array-map', `array-map', `array-for-each', and
8593 ** The new functions `trace' and `untrace' implement simple debugging
8594 support for Scheme functions.
8596 The `trace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
8597 and tells the Guile interpreter to display each procedure's name and
8598 arguments each time the procedure is invoked. When invoked with no
8599 arguments, `trace' returns the list of procedures currently being
8602 The `untrace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
8603 and tells the Guile interpreter not to trace them any more. When
8604 invoked with no arguments, `untrace' untraces all curretly traced
8607 The tracing in Guile has an advantage over most other systems: we
8608 don't create new procedure objects, but mark the procedure objects
8609 themselves. This means that anonymous and internal procedures can be
8612 ** The function `assert-repl-prompt' has been renamed to
8613 `set-repl-prompt!'. It takes one argument, PROMPT.
8614 - If PROMPT is #f, the Guile read-eval-print loop will not prompt.
8615 - If PROMPT is a string, we use it as a prompt.
8616 - If PROMPT is a procedure accepting no arguments, we call it, and
8617 display the result as a prompt.
8618 - Otherwise, we display "> ".
8620 ** The new function `eval-string' reads Scheme expressions from a
8621 string and evaluates them, returning the value of the last expression
8622 in the string. If the string contains no expressions, it returns an
8625 ** The new function `thunk?' returns true iff its argument is a
8626 procedure of zero arguments.
8628 ** `defined?' is now a builtin function, instead of syntax. This
8629 means that its argument should be quoted. It returns #t iff its
8630 argument is bound in the current module.
8632 ** The new syntax `use-modules' allows you to add new modules to your
8633 environment without re-typing a complete `define-module' form. It
8634 accepts any number of module names as arguments, and imports their
8635 public bindings into the current module.
8637 ** The new function (module-defined? NAME MODULE) returns true iff
8638 NAME, a symbol, is defined in MODULE, a module object.
8640 ** The new function `builtin-bindings' creates and returns a hash
8641 table containing copies of all the root module's bindings.
8643 ** The new function `builtin-weak-bindings' does the same as
8644 `builtin-bindings', but creates a doubly-weak hash table.
8646 ** The `equal?' function now considers variable objects to be
8647 equivalent if they have the same name and the same value.
8649 ** The new function `command-line' returns the command-line arguments
8650 given to Guile, as a list of strings.
8652 When using guile as a script interpreter, `command-line' returns the
8653 script's arguments; those processed by the interpreter (like `-s' or
8654 `-c') are omitted. (In other words, you get the normal, expected
8655 behavior.) Any application that uses scm_shell to process its
8656 command-line arguments gets this behavior as well.
8658 ** The new function `load-user-init' looks for a file called `.guile'
8659 in the user's home directory, and loads it if it exists. This is
8660 mostly for use by the code generated by scm_compile_shell_switches,
8661 but we thought it might also be useful in other circumstances.
8663 ** The new function `log10' returns the base-10 logarithm of its
8666 ** Changes to I/O functions
8668 *** The functions `read', `primitive-load', `read-and-eval!', and
8669 `primitive-load-path' no longer take optional arguments controlling
8670 case insensitivity and a `#' parser.
8672 Case sensitivity is now controlled by a read option called
8673 `case-insensitive'. The user can add new `#' syntaxes with the
8674 `read-hash-extend' function (see below).
8676 *** The new function `read-hash-extend' allows the user to change the
8677 syntax of Guile Scheme in a somewhat controlled way.
8679 (read-hash-extend CHAR PROC)
8680 When parsing S-expressions, if we read a `#' character followed by
8681 the character CHAR, use PROC to parse an object from the stream.
8682 If PROC is #f, remove any parsing procedure registered for CHAR.
8684 The reader applies PROC to two arguments: CHAR and an input port.
8686 *** The new functions read-delimited and read-delimited! provide a
8687 general mechanism for doing delimited input on streams.
8689 (read-delimited DELIMS [PORT HANDLE-DELIM])
8690 Read until we encounter one of the characters in DELIMS (a string),
8691 or end-of-file. PORT is the input port to read from; it defaults to
8692 the current input port. The HANDLE-DELIM parameter determines how
8693 the terminating character is handled; it should be one of the
8696 'trim omit delimiter from result
8697 'peek leave delimiter character in input stream
8698 'concat append delimiter character to returned value
8699 'split return a pair: (RESULT . TERMINATOR)
8701 HANDLE-DELIM defaults to 'peek.
8703 (read-delimited! DELIMS BUF [PORT HANDLE-DELIM START END])
8704 A side-effecting variant of `read-delimited'.
8706 The data is written into the string BUF at the indices in the
8707 half-open interval [START, END); the default interval is the whole
8708 string: START = 0 and END = (string-length BUF). The values of
8709 START and END must specify a well-defined interval in BUF, i.e.
8710 0 <= START <= END <= (string-length BUF).
8712 It returns NBYTES, the number of bytes read. If the buffer filled
8713 up without a delimiter character being found, it returns #f. If the
8714 port is at EOF when the read starts, it returns the EOF object.
8716 If an integer is returned (i.e., the read is successfully terminated
8717 by reading a delimiter character), then the HANDLE-DELIM parameter
8718 determines how to handle the terminating character. It is described
8719 above, and defaults to 'peek.
8721 (The descriptions of these functions were borrowed from the SCSH
8722 manual, by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
8724 *** The `%read-delimited!' function is the primitive used to implement
8725 `read-delimited' and `read-delimited!'.
8727 (%read-delimited! DELIMS BUF GOBBLE? [PORT START END])
8729 This returns a pair of values: (TERMINATOR . NUM-READ).
8730 - TERMINATOR describes why the read was terminated. If it is a
8731 character or the eof object, then that is the value that terminated
8732 the read. If it is #f, the function filled the buffer without finding
8733 a delimiting character.
8734 - NUM-READ is the number of characters read into BUF.
8736 If the read is successfully terminated by reading a delimiter
8737 character, then the gobble? parameter determines what to do with the
8738 terminating character. If true, the character is removed from the
8739 input stream; if false, the character is left in the input stream
8740 where a subsequent read operation will retrieve it. In either case,
8741 the character is also the first value returned by the procedure call.
8743 (The descriptions of this function was borrowed from the SCSH manual,
8744 by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
8746 *** The `read-line' and `read-line!' functions have changed; they now
8747 trim the terminator by default; previously they appended it to the
8748 returned string. For the old behavior, use (read-line PORT 'concat).
8750 *** The functions `uniform-array-read!' and `uniform-array-write!' now
8751 take new optional START and END arguments, specifying the region of
8752 the array to read and write.
8754 *** The `ungetc-char-ready?' function has been removed. We feel it's
8755 inappropriate for an interface to expose implementation details this
8758 ** Changes to the Unix library and system call interface
8760 *** The new fcntl function provides access to the Unix `fcntl' system
8763 (fcntl PORT COMMAND VALUE)
8764 Apply COMMAND to PORT's file descriptor, with VALUE as an argument.
8765 Values for COMMAND are:
8767 F_DUPFD duplicate a file descriptor
8768 F_GETFD read the descriptor's close-on-exec flag
8769 F_SETFD set the descriptor's close-on-exec flag to VALUE
8770 F_GETFL read the descriptor's flags, as set on open
8771 F_SETFL set the descriptor's flags, as set on open to VALUE
8772 F_GETOWN return the process ID of a socket's owner, for SIGIO
8773 F_SETOWN set the process that owns a socket to VALUE, for SIGIO
8774 FD_CLOEXEC not sure what this is
8776 For details, see the documentation for the fcntl system call.
8778 *** The arguments to `select' have changed, for compatibility with
8779 SCSH. The TIMEOUT parameter may now be non-integral, yielding the
8780 expected behavior. The MILLISECONDS parameter has been changed to
8781 MICROSECONDS, to more closely resemble the underlying system call.
8782 The RVEC, WVEC, and EVEC arguments can now be vectors; the type of the
8783 corresponding return set will be the same.
8785 *** The arguments to the `mknod' system call have changed. They are
8788 (mknod PATH TYPE PERMS DEV)
8789 Create a new file (`node') in the file system. PATH is the name of
8790 the file to create. TYPE is the kind of file to create; it should
8791 be 'fifo, 'block-special, or 'char-special. PERMS specifies the
8792 permission bits to give the newly created file. If TYPE is
8793 'block-special or 'char-special, DEV specifies which device the
8794 special file refers to; its interpretation depends on the kind of
8795 special file being created.
8797 *** The `fork' function has been renamed to `primitive-fork', to avoid
8798 clashing with various SCSH forks.
8800 *** The `recv' and `recvfrom' functions have been renamed to `recv!'
8801 and `recvfrom!'. They no longer accept a size for a second argument;
8802 you must pass a string to hold the received value. They no longer
8803 return the buffer. Instead, `recv' returns the length of the message
8804 received, and `recvfrom' returns a pair containing the packet's length
8805 and originating address.
8807 *** The file descriptor datatype has been removed, as have the
8808 `read-fd', `write-fd', `close', `lseek', and `dup' functions.
8809 We plan to replace these functions with a SCSH-compatible interface.
8811 *** The `create' function has been removed; it's just a special case
8814 *** There are new functions to break down process termination status
8815 values. In the descriptions below, STATUS is a value returned by
8818 (status:exit-val STATUS)
8819 If the child process exited normally, this function returns the exit
8820 code for the child process (i.e., the value passed to exit, or
8821 returned from main). If the child process did not exit normally,
8822 this function returns #f.
8824 (status:stop-sig STATUS)
8825 If the child process was suspended by a signal, this function
8826 returns the signal that suspended the child. Otherwise, it returns
8829 (status:term-sig STATUS)
8830 If the child process terminated abnormally, this function returns
8831 the signal that terminated the child. Otherwise, this function
8834 POSIX promises that exactly one of these functions will return true on
8835 a valid STATUS value.
8837 These functions are compatible with SCSH.
8839 *** There are new accessors and setters for the broken-out time vectors
8840 returned by `localtime', `gmtime', and that ilk. They are:
8842 Component Accessor Setter
8843 ========================= ============ ============
8844 seconds tm:sec set-tm:sec
8845 minutes tm:min set-tm:min
8846 hours tm:hour set-tm:hour
8847 day of the month tm:mday set-tm:mday
8848 month tm:mon set-tm:mon
8849 year tm:year set-tm:year
8850 day of the week tm:wday set-tm:wday
8851 day in the year tm:yday set-tm:yday
8852 daylight saving time tm:isdst set-tm:isdst
8853 GMT offset, seconds tm:gmtoff set-tm:gmtoff
8854 name of time zone tm:zone set-tm:zone
8856 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `uname',
8857 describing the host system:
8860 ============================================== ================
8861 name of the operating system implementation utsname:sysname
8862 network name of this machine utsname:nodename
8863 release level of the operating system utsname:release
8864 version level of the operating system utsname:version
8865 machine hardware platform utsname:machine
8867 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getpw',
8868 `getpwnam', `getpwuid', and `getpwent', describing entries from the
8869 system's user database:
8872 ====================== =================
8873 user name passwd:name
8874 user password passwd:passwd
8877 real name passwd:gecos
8878 home directory passwd:dir
8879 shell program passwd:shell
8881 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getgr',
8882 `getgrnam', `getgrgid', and `getgrent', describing entries from the
8883 system's group database:
8886 ======================= ============
8887 group name group:name
8888 group password group:passwd
8890 group members group:mem
8892 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `gethost',
8893 `gethostbyaddr', `gethostbyname', and `gethostent', describing
8897 ========================= ===============
8898 official name of host hostent:name
8899 alias list hostent:aliases
8900 host address type hostent:addrtype
8901 length of address hostent:length
8902 list of addresses hostent:addr-list
8904 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getnet',
8905 `getnetbyaddr', `getnetbyname', and `getnetent', describing internet
8909 ========================= ===============
8910 official name of net netent:name
8911 alias list netent:aliases
8912 net number type netent:addrtype
8913 net number netent:net
8915 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getproto',
8916 `getprotobyname', `getprotobynumber', and `getprotoent', describing
8920 ========================= ===============
8921 official protocol name protoent:name
8922 alias list protoent:aliases
8923 protocol number protoent:proto
8925 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getserv',
8926 `getservbyname', `getservbyport', and `getservent', describing
8930 ========================= ===============
8931 official service name servent:name
8932 alias list servent:aliases
8933 port number servent:port
8934 protocol to use servent:proto
8936 *** There are new accessors for the sockaddr structures returned by
8937 `accept', `getsockname', `getpeername', `recvfrom!':
8940 ======================================== ===============
8941 address format (`family') sockaddr:fam
8942 path, for file domain addresses sockaddr:path
8943 address, for internet domain addresses sockaddr:addr
8944 TCP or UDP port, for internet sockaddr:port
8946 *** The `getpwent', `getgrent', `gethostent', `getnetent',
8947 `getprotoent', and `getservent' functions now return #f at the end of
8948 the user database. (They used to throw an exception.)
8950 Note that calling MUMBLEent function is equivalent to calling the
8951 corresponding MUMBLE function with no arguments.
8953 *** The `setpwent', `setgrent', `sethostent', `setnetent',
8954 `setprotoent', and `setservent' routines now take no arguments.
8956 *** The `gethost', `getproto', `getnet', and `getserv' functions now
8957 provide more useful information when they throw an exception.
8959 *** The `lnaof' function has been renamed to `inet-lnaof'.
8961 *** Guile now claims to have the `current-time' feature.
8963 *** The `mktime' function now takes an optional second argument ZONE,
8964 giving the time zone to use for the conversion. ZONE should be a
8965 string, in the same format as expected for the "TZ" environment variable.
8967 *** The `strptime' function now returns a pair (TIME . COUNT), where
8968 TIME is the parsed time as a vector, and COUNT is the number of
8969 characters from the string left unparsed. This function used to
8970 return the remaining characters as a string.
8972 *** The `gettimeofday' function has replaced the old `time+ticks' function.
8973 The return value is now (SECONDS . MICROSECONDS); the fractional
8974 component is no longer expressed in "ticks".
8976 *** The `ticks/sec' constant has been removed, in light of the above change.
8978 * Changes to the gh_ interface
8980 ** gh_eval_str() now returns an SCM object which is the result of the
8983 ** gh_scm2str() now copies the Scheme data to a caller-provided C
8986 ** gh_scm2newstr() now makes a C array, copies the Scheme data to it,
8987 and returns the array
8989 ** gh_scm2str0() is gone: there is no need to distinguish
8990 null-terminated from non-null-terminated, since gh_scm2newstr() allows
8991 the user to interpret the data both ways.
8993 * Changes to the scm_ interface
8995 ** The new function scm_symbol_value0 provides an easy way to get a
8996 symbol's value from C code:
8998 SCM scm_symbol_value0 (char *NAME)
8999 Return the value of the symbol named by the null-terminated string
9000 NAME in the current module. If the symbol named NAME is unbound in
9001 the current module, return SCM_UNDEFINED.
9003 ** The new function scm_sysintern0 creates new top-level variables,
9004 without assigning them a value.
9006 SCM scm_sysintern0 (char *NAME)
9007 Create a new Scheme top-level variable named NAME. NAME is a
9008 null-terminated string. Return the variable's value cell.
9010 ** The function scm_internal_catch is the guts of catch. It handles
9011 all the mechanics of setting up a catch target, invoking the catch
9012 body, and perhaps invoking the handler if the body does a throw.
9014 The function is designed to be usable from C code, but is general
9015 enough to implement all the semantics Guile Scheme expects from throw.
9017 TAG is the catch tag. Typically, this is a symbol, but this function
9018 doesn't actually care about that.
9020 BODY is a pointer to a C function which runs the body of the catch;
9021 this is the code you can throw from. We call it like this:
9022 BODY (BODY_DATA, JMPBUF)
9024 BODY_DATA is just the BODY_DATA argument we received; we pass it
9025 through to BODY as its first argument. The caller can make
9026 BODY_DATA point to anything useful that BODY might need.
9027 JMPBUF is the Scheme jmpbuf object corresponding to this catch,
9028 which we have just created and initialized.
9030 HANDLER is a pointer to a C function to deal with a throw to TAG,
9031 should one occur. We call it like this:
9032 HANDLER (HANDLER_DATA, THROWN_TAG, THROW_ARGS)
9034 HANDLER_DATA is the HANDLER_DATA argument we recevied; it's the
9035 same idea as BODY_DATA above.
9036 THROWN_TAG is the tag that the user threw to; usually this is
9037 TAG, but it could be something else if TAG was #t (i.e., a
9038 catch-all), or the user threw to a jmpbuf.
9039 THROW_ARGS is the list of arguments the user passed to the THROW
9042 BODY_DATA is just a pointer we pass through to BODY. HANDLER_DATA
9043 is just a pointer we pass through to HANDLER. We don't actually
9044 use either of those pointers otherwise ourselves. The idea is
9045 that, if our caller wants to communicate something to BODY or
9046 HANDLER, it can pass a pointer to it as MUMBLE_DATA, which BODY and
9047 HANDLER can then use. Think of it as a way to make BODY and
9048 HANDLER closures, not just functions; MUMBLE_DATA points to the
9051 Of course, it's up to the caller to make sure that any data a
9052 MUMBLE_DATA needs is protected from GC. A common way to do this is
9053 to make MUMBLE_DATA a pointer to data stored in an automatic
9054 structure variable; since the collector must scan the stack for
9055 references anyway, this assures that any references in MUMBLE_DATA
9058 ** The new function scm_internal_lazy_catch is exactly like
9059 scm_internal_catch, except:
9061 - It does not unwind the stack (this is the major difference).
9062 - If handler returns, its value is returned from the throw.
9063 - BODY always receives #f as its JMPBUF argument (since there's no
9064 jmpbuf associated with a lazy catch, because we don't unwind the
9067 ** scm_body_thunk is a new body function you can pass to
9068 scm_internal_catch if you want the body to be like Scheme's `catch'
9069 --- a thunk, or a function of one argument if the tag is #f.
9071 BODY_DATA is a pointer to a scm_body_thunk_data structure, which
9072 contains the Scheme procedure to invoke as the body, and the tag
9073 we're catching. If the tag is #f, then we pass JMPBUF (created by
9074 scm_internal_catch) to the body procedure; otherwise, the body gets
9077 ** scm_handle_by_proc is a new handler function you can pass to
9078 scm_internal_catch if you want the handler to act like Scheme's catch
9079 --- call a procedure with the tag and the throw arguments.
9081 If the user does a throw to this catch, this function runs a handler
9082 procedure written in Scheme. HANDLER_DATA is a pointer to an SCM
9083 variable holding the Scheme procedure object to invoke. It ought to
9084 be a pointer to an automatic variable (i.e., one living on the stack),
9085 or the procedure object should be otherwise protected from GC.
9087 ** scm_handle_by_message is a new handler function to use with
9088 `scm_internal_catch' if you want Guile to print a message and die.
9089 It's useful for dealing with throws to uncaught keys at the top level.
9091 HANDLER_DATA, if non-zero, is assumed to be a char * pointing to a
9092 message header to print; if zero, we use "guile" instead. That
9093 text is followed by a colon, then the message described by ARGS.
9095 ** The return type of scm_boot_guile is now void; the function does
9096 not return a value, and indeed, never returns at all.
9098 ** The new function scm_shell makes it easy for user applications to
9099 process command-line arguments in a way that is compatible with the
9100 stand-alone guile interpreter (which is in turn compatible with SCSH,
9103 To use the scm_shell function, first initialize any guile modules
9104 linked into your application, and then call scm_shell with the values
9105 of ARGC and ARGV your `main' function received. scm_shell will add
9106 any SCSH-style meta-arguments from the top of the script file to the
9107 argument vector, and then process the command-line arguments. This
9108 generally means loading a script file or starting up an interactive
9109 command interpreter. For details, see "Changes to the stand-alone
9112 ** The new functions scm_get_meta_args and scm_count_argv help you
9113 implement the SCSH-style meta-argument, `\'.
9115 char **scm_get_meta_args (int ARGC, char **ARGV)
9116 If the second element of ARGV is a string consisting of a single
9117 backslash character (i.e. "\\" in Scheme notation), open the file
9118 named by the following argument, parse arguments from it, and return
9119 the spliced command line. The returned array is terminated by a
9122 For details of argument parsing, see above, under "guile now accepts
9123 command-line arguments compatible with SCSH..."
9125 int scm_count_argv (char **ARGV)
9126 Count the arguments in ARGV, assuming it is terminated by a null
9129 For an example of how these functions might be used, see the source
9130 code for the function scm_shell in libguile/script.c.
9132 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
9135 ** The new function scm_compile_shell_switches turns an array of
9136 command-line arguments into Scheme code to carry out the actions they
9137 describe. Given ARGC and ARGV, it returns a Scheme expression to
9138 evaluate, and calls scm_set_program_arguments to make any remaining
9139 command-line arguments available to the Scheme code. For example,
9140 given the following arguments:
9142 -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
9144 scm_set_program_arguments will return the following expression:
9146 (begin (load "ekko") (main (command-line)) (quit))
9148 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
9151 ** The function scm_shell_usage prints a usage message appropriate for
9152 an interpreter that uses scm_compile_shell_switches to handle its
9153 command-line arguments.
9155 void scm_shell_usage (int FATAL, char *MESSAGE)
9156 Print a usage message to the standard error output. If MESSAGE is
9157 non-zero, write it before the usage message, followed by a newline.
9158 If FATAL is non-zero, exit the process, using FATAL as the
9159 termination status. (If you want to be compatible with Guile,
9160 always use 1 as the exit status when terminating due to command-line
9163 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
9166 ** scm_eval_0str now returns SCM_UNSPECIFIED if the string contains no
9167 expressions. It used to return SCM_EOL. Earth-shattering.
9169 ** The macros for declaring scheme objects in C code have been
9170 rearranged slightly. They are now:
9172 SCM_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
9173 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
9174 point to the Scheme symbol whose name is SCHEME_NAME. C_NAME should
9175 be a C identifier, and SCHEME_NAME should be a C string.
9177 SCM_GLOBAL_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
9178 Just like SCM_SYMBOL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
9180 SCM_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
9181 Create a global variable at the Scheme level named SCHEME_NAME.
9182 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
9183 point to the Scheme variable's value cell.
9185 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
9186 Just like SCM_VCELL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
9188 The `guile-snarf' script writes initialization code for these macros
9189 to its standard output, given C source code as input.
9191 The SCM_GLOBAL macro is gone.
9193 ** The scm_read_line and scm_read_line_x functions have been replaced
9194 by Scheme code based on the %read-delimited! procedure (known to C
9195 code as scm_read_delimited_x). See its description above for more
9198 ** The function scm_sys_open has been renamed to scm_open. It now
9199 returns a port instead of an FD object.
9201 * The dynamic linking support has changed. For more information, see
9202 libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING.
9207 User-visible changes from Thursday, September 5, 1996 until Guile 1.0
9210 * Changes to the 'guile' program:
9212 ** Guile now loads some new files when it starts up. Guile first
9213 searches the load path for init.scm, and loads it if found. Then, if
9214 Guile is not being used to execute a script, and the user's home
9215 directory contains a file named `.guile', Guile loads that.
9217 ** You can now use Guile as a shell script interpreter.
9219 To paraphrase the SCSH manual:
9221 When Unix tries to execute an executable file whose first two
9222 characters are the `#!', it treats the file not as machine code to
9223 be directly executed by the native processor, but as source code
9224 to be executed by some interpreter. The interpreter to use is
9225 specified immediately after the #! sequence on the first line of
9226 the source file. The kernel reads in the name of the interpreter,
9227 and executes that instead. It passes the interpreter the source
9228 filename as its first argument, with the original arguments
9229 following. Consult the Unix man page for the `exec' system call
9230 for more information.
9232 Now you can use Guile as an interpreter, using a mechanism which is a
9233 compatible subset of that provided by SCSH.
9235 Guile now recognizes a '-s' command line switch, whose argument is the
9236 name of a file of Scheme code to load. It also treats the two
9237 characters `#!' as the start of a comment, terminated by `!#'. Thus,
9238 to make a file of Scheme code directly executable by Unix, insert the
9239 following two lines at the top of the file:
9241 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
9244 Guile treats the argument of the `-s' command-line switch as the name
9245 of a file of Scheme code to load, and treats the sequence `#!' as the
9246 start of a block comment, terminated by `!#'.
9248 For example, here's a version of 'echo' written in Scheme:
9250 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
9252 (let loop ((args (cdr (program-arguments))))
9255 (display (car args))
9256 (if (pair? (cdr args))
9258 (loop (cdr args)))))
9261 Why does `#!' start a block comment terminated by `!#', instead of the
9262 end of the line? That is the notation SCSH uses, and although we
9263 don't yet support the other SCSH features that motivate that choice,
9264 we would like to be backward-compatible with any existing Guile
9265 scripts once we do. Furthermore, if the path to Guile on your system
9266 is too long for your kernel, you can start the script with this
9270 exec /really/long/path/to/guile -s "$0" ${1+"$@"}
9273 Note that some very old Unix systems don't support the `#!' syntax.
9276 ** You can now run Guile without installing it.
9278 Previous versions of the interactive Guile interpreter (`guile')
9279 couldn't start up unless Guile's Scheme library had been installed;
9280 they used the value of the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH'
9281 later on in the startup process, but not to find the startup code
9282 itself. Now Guile uses `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' in all searches for Scheme
9285 To run Guile without installing it, build it in the normal way, and
9286 then set the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' to a
9287 colon-separated list of directories, including the top-level directory
9288 of the Guile sources. For example, if you unpacked Guile so that the
9289 full filename of this NEWS file is /home/jimb/guile-1.0b3/NEWS, then
9292 export SCHEME_LOAD_PATH=/home/jimb/my-scheme:/home/jimb/guile-1.0b3
9295 ** Guile's read-eval-print loop no longer prints #<unspecified>
9296 results. If the user wants to see this, she can evaluate the
9297 expression (assert-repl-print-unspecified #t), perhaps in her startup
9300 ** Guile no longer shows backtraces by default when an error occurs;
9301 however, it does display a message saying how to get one, and how to
9302 request that they be displayed by default. After an error, evaluate
9304 to see a backtrace, and
9305 (debug-enable 'backtrace)
9306 to see them by default.
9310 * Changes to Guile Scheme:
9312 ** Guile now distinguishes between #f and the empty list.
9314 This is for compatibility with the IEEE standard, the (possibly)
9315 upcoming Revised^5 Report on Scheme, and many extant Scheme
9318 Guile used to have #f and '() denote the same object, to make Scheme's
9319 type system more compatible with Emacs Lisp's. However, the change
9320 caused too much trouble for Scheme programmers, and we found another
9321 way to reconcile Emacs Lisp with Scheme that didn't require this.
9324 ** Guile's delq, delv, delete functions, and their destructive
9325 counterparts, delq!, delv!, and delete!, now remove all matching
9326 elements from the list, not just the first. This matches the behavior
9327 of the corresponding Emacs Lisp functions, and (I believe) the Maclisp
9328 functions which inspired them.
9330 I recognize that this change may break code in subtle ways, but it
9331 seems best to make the change before the FSF's first Guile release,
9335 ** The compiled-library-path function has been deleted from libguile.
9337 ** The facilities for loading Scheme source files have changed.
9339 *** The variable %load-path now tells Guile which directories to search
9340 for Scheme code. Its value is a list of strings, each of which names
9343 *** The variable %load-extensions now tells Guile which extensions to
9344 try appending to a filename when searching the load path. Its value
9345 is a list of strings. Its default value is ("" ".scm").
9347 *** (%search-load-path FILENAME) searches the directories listed in the
9348 value of the %load-path variable for a Scheme file named FILENAME,
9349 with all the extensions listed in %load-extensions. If it finds a
9350 match, then it returns its full filename. If FILENAME is absolute, it
9351 returns it unchanged. Otherwise, it returns #f.
9353 %search-load-path will not return matches that refer to directories.
9355 *** (primitive-load FILENAME :optional CASE-INSENSITIVE-P SHARP)
9356 uses %seach-load-path to find a file named FILENAME, and loads it if
9357 it finds it. If it can't read FILENAME for any reason, it throws an
9360 The arguments CASE-INSENSITIVE-P and SHARP are interpreted as by the
9363 *** load uses the same searching semantics as primitive-load.
9365 *** The functions %try-load, try-load-with-path, %load, load-with-path,
9366 basic-try-load-with-path, basic-load-with-path, try-load-module-with-
9367 path, and load-module-with-path have been deleted. The functions
9368 above should serve their purposes.
9370 *** If the value of the variable %load-hook is a procedure,
9371 `primitive-load' applies its value to the name of the file being
9372 loaded (without the load path directory name prepended). If its value
9373 is #f, it is ignored. Otherwise, an error occurs.
9375 This is mostly useful for printing load notification messages.
9378 ** The function `eval!' is no longer accessible from the scheme level.
9379 We can't allow operations which introduce glocs into the scheme level,
9380 because Guile's type system can't handle these as data. Use `eval' or
9381 `read-and-eval!' (see below) as replacement.
9383 ** The new function read-and-eval! reads an expression from PORT,
9384 evaluates it, and returns the result. This is more efficient than
9385 simply calling `read' and `eval', since it is not necessary to make a
9386 copy of the expression for the evaluator to munge.
9388 Its optional arguments CASE_INSENSITIVE_P and SHARP are interpreted as
9389 for the `read' function.
9392 ** The function `int?' has been removed; its definition was identical
9393 to that of `integer?'.
9395 ** The functions `<?', `<?', `<=?', `=?', `>?', and `>=?'. Code should
9396 use the R4RS names for these functions.
9398 ** The function object-properties no longer returns the hash handle;
9399 it simply returns the object's property list.
9401 ** Many functions have been changed to throw errors, instead of
9402 returning #f on failure. The point of providing exception handling in
9403 the language is to simplify the logic of user code, but this is less
9404 useful if Guile's primitives don't throw exceptions.
9406 ** The function `fileno' has been renamed from `%fileno'.
9408 ** The function primitive-mode->fdes returns #t or #f now, not 1 or 0.
9411 * Changes to Guile's C interface:
9413 ** The library's initialization procedure has been simplified.
9414 scm_boot_guile now has the prototype:
9416 void scm_boot_guile (int ARGC,
9418 void (*main_func) (),
9421 scm_boot_guile calls MAIN_FUNC, passing it CLOSURE, ARGC, and ARGV.
9422 MAIN_FUNC should do all the work of the program (initializing other
9423 packages, reading user input, etc.) before returning. When MAIN_FUNC
9424 returns, call exit (0); this function never returns. If you want some
9425 other exit value, MAIN_FUNC may call exit itself.
9427 scm_boot_guile arranges for program-arguments to return the strings
9428 given by ARGC and ARGV. If MAIN_FUNC modifies ARGC/ARGV, should call
9429 scm_set_program_arguments with the final list, so Scheme code will
9430 know which arguments have been processed.
9432 scm_boot_guile establishes a catch-all catch handler which prints an
9433 error message and exits the process. This means that Guile exits in a
9434 coherent way when system errors occur and the user isn't prepared to
9435 handle it. If the user doesn't like this behavior, they can establish
9436 their own universal catcher in MAIN_FUNC to shadow this one.
9438 Why must the caller do all the real work from MAIN_FUNC? The garbage
9439 collector assumes that all local variables of type SCM will be above
9440 scm_boot_guile's stack frame on the stack. If you try to manipulate
9441 SCM values after this function returns, it's the luck of the draw
9442 whether the GC will be able to find the objects you allocate. So,
9443 scm_boot_guile function exits, rather than returning, to discourage
9444 people from making that mistake.
9446 The IN, OUT, and ERR arguments were removed; there are other
9447 convenient ways to override these when desired.
9449 The RESULT argument was deleted; this function should never return.
9451 The BOOT_CMD argument was deleted; the MAIN_FUNC argument is more
9455 ** Guile's header files should no longer conflict with your system's
9458 In order to compile code which #included <libguile.h>, previous
9459 versions of Guile required you to add a directory containing all the
9460 Guile header files to your #include path. This was a problem, since
9461 Guile's header files have names which conflict with many systems'
9464 Now only <libguile.h> need appear in your #include path; you must
9465 refer to all Guile's other header files as <libguile/mumble.h>.
9466 Guile's installation procedure puts libguile.h in $(includedir), and
9467 the rest in $(includedir)/libguile.
9470 ** Two new C functions, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object,
9471 have been added to the Guile library.
9473 scm_protect_object (OBJ) protects OBJ from the garbage collector.
9474 OBJ will not be freed, even if all other references are dropped,
9475 until someone does scm_unprotect_object (OBJ). Both functions
9478 Note that calls to scm_protect_object do not nest. You can call
9479 scm_protect_object any number of times on a given object, and the
9480 next call to scm_unprotect_object will unprotect it completely.
9482 Basically, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object just
9483 maintain a list of references to things. Since the GC knows about
9484 this list, all objects it mentions stay alive. scm_protect_object
9485 adds its argument to the list; scm_unprotect_object remove its
9486 argument from the list.
9489 ** scm_eval_0str now returns the value of the last expression
9492 ** The new function scm_read_0str reads an s-expression from a
9493 null-terminated string, and returns it.
9495 ** The new function `scm_stdio_to_port' converts a STDIO file pointer
9496 to a Scheme port object.
9498 ** The new function `scm_set_program_arguments' allows C code to set
9499 the value returned by the Scheme `program-arguments' function.
9504 * Guile no longer includes sophisticated Tcl/Tk support.
9506 The old Tcl/Tk support was unsatisfying to us, because it required the
9507 user to link against the Tcl library, as well as Tk and Guile. The
9508 interface was also un-lispy, in that it preserved Tcl/Tk's practice of
9509 referring to widgets by names, rather than exporting widgets to Scheme
9510 code as a special datatype.
9512 In the Usenix Tk Developer's Workshop held in July 1996, the Tcl/Tk
9513 maintainers described some very interesting changes in progress to the
9514 Tcl/Tk internals, which would facilitate clean interfaces between lone
9515 Tk and other interpreters --- even for garbage-collected languages
9516 like Scheme. They expected the new Tk to be publicly available in the
9519 Since it seems that Guile might soon have a new, cleaner interface to
9520 lone Tk, and that the old Guile/Tk glue code would probably need to be
9521 completely rewritten, we (Jim Blandy and Richard Stallman) have
9522 decided not to support the old code. We'll spend the time instead on
9523 a good interface to the newer Tk, as soon as it is available.
9525 Until then, gtcltk-lib provides trivial, low-maintenance functionality.
9528 Copyright information:
9530 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
9532 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
9533 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
9534 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
9535 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
9537 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
9538 of this document, or of portions of it,
9539 under the above conditions, provided also that they
9540 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
9545 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"