1 Guile NEWS --- history of user-visible changes.
2 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 See the end for copying conditions.
5 Please send Guile bug reports to bug-guile@gnu.org.
10 * New modules (see the manual for details)
12 ** `(srfi srfi-18)', multithreading support
13 ** The `(ice-9 i18n)' module provides internationalization support
15 * Changes to the distribution
17 ** Guile now uses Gnulib as a portability aid
19 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
20 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
22 ** A new 'memoize-symbol evaluator trap has been added. This trap can
23 be used for efficiently implementing a Scheme code coverage.
25 ** Duplicate bindings among used modules are resolved lazily.
26 This slightly improves program startup times.
28 ** New thread cancellation and thread cleanup API
29 See `cancel-thread', `set-thread-cleanup!', and `thread-cleanup'.
31 * Changes to the C interface
33 ** The GH interface (deprecated in version 1.6, 2001) was removed.
35 ** Internal `scm_i_' functions now have "hidden" linkage with GCC/ELF
37 This makes these internal functions technically not callable from
40 ** Functions for handling `scm_option' now no longer require an argument
41 indicating length of the `scm_t_option' array.
43 ** Primitive procedures (aka. "subrs") are now stored in double cells
44 This removes the subr table and simplifies the code.
46 ** Primitive procedures with more than 3 arguments (aka. "gsubrs") are
47 no longer implemented using the "compiled closure" mechanism. This
48 simplifies code and reduces both the storage and run-time overhead.
51 Changes in 1.8.7 (since 1.8.6)
55 ** Fix compilation with `--disable-deprecated'
56 ** Fix %fast-slot-ref/set!, to avoid possible segmentation fault
57 ** Fix MinGW build problem caused by HAVE_STRUCT_TIMESPEC confusion
58 ** Fix build problem when scm_t_timespec is different from struct timespec
59 ** Fix build when compiled with -Wundef -Werror
60 ** More build fixes for `alphaev56-dec-osf5.1b' (Tru64)
61 ** With GCC, always compile with `-mieee' on `alpha*' and `sh*'
62 ** Better diagnose broken `(strftime "%z" ...)' in `time.test' (bug #24130)
63 ** Fix parsing of SRFI-88/postfix keywords longer than 128 characters
65 ** Allow @ macro to work with (ice-9 syncase)
67 Previously, use of the @ macro in a module whose code is being
68 transformed by (ice-9 syncase) would cause an "Invalid syntax" error.
69 Now it works as you would expect (giving the value of the specified
72 ** Have `scm_take_locale_symbol ()' return an interned symbol (bug #25865)
75 Changes in 1.8.6 (since 1.8.5)
77 * New features (see the manual for details)
79 ** New convenience function `scm_c_symbol_length ()'
81 ** Single stepping through code from Emacs
83 When you use GDS to evaluate Scheme code from Emacs, you can now use
84 `C-u' to indicate that you want to single step through that code. See
85 `Evaluating Scheme Code' in the manual for more details.
87 ** New "guile(1)" man page!
89 * Changes to the distribution
91 ** Automake's `AM_MAINTAINER_MODE' is no longer used
93 Thus, the `--enable-maintainer-mode' configure option is no longer
94 available: Guile is now always configured in "maintainer mode".
96 ** `ChangeLog' files are no longer updated
98 Instead, changes are detailed in the version control system's logs. See
99 the top-level `ChangeLog' files for details.
104 ** `symbol->string' now returns a read-only string, as per R5RS
105 ** Fix incorrect handling of the FLAGS argument of `fold-matches'
106 ** `guile-config link' now prints `-L$libdir' before `-lguile'
107 ** Fix memory corruption involving GOOPS' `class-redefinition'
108 ** Fix possible deadlock in `mutex-lock'
109 ** Fix build issue on Tru64 and ia64-hp-hpux11.23 (`SCM_UNPACK' macro)
110 ** Fix build issue on mips, mipsel, powerpc and ia64 (stack direction)
111 ** Fix build issue on hppa2.0w-hp-hpux11.11 (`dirent64' and `readdir64_r')
112 ** Fix build issue on i386-unknown-freebsd7.0 ("break strict-aliasing rules")
113 ** Fix misleading output from `(help rationalize)'
114 ** Fix build failure on Debian hppa architecture (bad stack growth detection)
115 ** Fix `gcd' when called with a single, negative argument.
116 ** Fix `Stack overflow' errors seen when building on some platforms
117 ** Fix bug when `scm_with_guile ()' was called several times from the
119 ** The handler of SRFI-34 `with-exception-handler' is now invoked in the
120 dynamic environment of the call to `raise'
121 ** Fix potential deadlock in `make-struct'
122 ** Fix compilation problem with libltdl from Libtool 2.2.x
123 ** Fix sloppy bound checking in `string-{ref,set!}' with the empty string
126 Changes in 1.8.5 (since 1.8.4)
128 * Infrastructure changes
130 ** Guile repository switched from CVS to Git
132 The new repository can be accessed using
133 "git-clone git://git.sv.gnu.org/guile.git", or can be browsed on-line at
134 http://git.sv.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=guile.git . See `README' for details.
136 ** Add support for `pkg-config'
138 See "Autoconf Support" in the manual for details.
140 * New modules (see the manual for details)
144 * New features (see the manual for details)
146 ** New `postfix' read option, for SRFI-88 keyword syntax
147 ** Some I/O primitives have been inlined, which improves I/O performance
148 ** New object-based traps infrastructure
150 This is a GOOPS-based infrastructure that builds on Guile's low-level
151 evaluator trap calls and facilitates the development of debugging
152 features like single-stepping, breakpoints, tracing and profiling.
153 See the `Traps' node of the manual for details.
155 ** New support for working on Guile code from within Emacs
157 Guile now incorporates the `GDS' library (previously distributed
158 separately) for working on Guile code from within Emacs. See the
159 `Using Guile In Emacs' node of the manual for details.
163 ** `scm_add_slot ()' no longer segfaults (fixes bug #22369)
164 ** Fixed `(ice-9 match)' for patterns like `((_ ...) ...)'
166 Previously, expressions like `(match '((foo) (bar)) (((_ ...) ...) #t))'
167 would trigger an unbound variable error for `match:andmap'.
169 ** `(oop goops describe)' now properly provides the `describe' feature
170 ** Fixed `args-fold' from `(srfi srfi-37)'
172 Previously, parsing short option names of argument-less options would
173 lead to a stack overflow.
175 ** `(srfi srfi-35)' is now visible through `cond-expand'
176 ** Fixed type-checking for the second argument of `eval'
177 ** Fixed type-checking for SRFI-1 `partition'
178 ** Fixed `struct-ref' and `struct-set!' on "light structs"
179 ** Honor struct field access rights in GOOPS
180 ** Changed the storage strategy of source properties, which fixes a deadlock
181 ** Allow compilation of Guile-using programs in C99 mode with GCC 4.3 and later
182 ** Fixed build issue for GNU/Linux on IA64
183 ** Fixed build issues on NetBSD 1.6
184 ** Fixed build issue on Solaris 2.10 x86_64
185 ** Fixed build issue with DEC/Compaq/HP's compiler
186 ** Fixed `scm_from_complex_double' build issue on FreeBSD
187 ** Fixed `alloca' build issue on FreeBSD 6
188 ** Removed use of non-portable makefile constructs
189 ** Fixed shadowing of libc's <random.h> on Tru64, which broke compilation
190 ** Make sure all tests honor `$TMPDIR'
192 * Changes to the distribution
196 We've started collecting Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), and will
197 distribute these (with answers!) in future Guile releases.
200 Changes in 1.8.4 (since 1.8.3)
204 ** CR (ASCII 0x0d) is (again) recognized as a token delimiter by the reader
205 ** Fixed a segmentation fault which occurred when displaying the
206 backtrace of a stack with a promise object (made by `delay') in it.
207 ** Make `accept' leave guile mode while blocking
208 ** `scm_c_read ()' and `scm_c_write ()' now type-check their port argument
209 ** Fixed a build problem on AIX (use of func_data identifier)
210 ** Fixed a segmentation fault which occurred when hashx-ref or hashx-set! was
211 called with an associator proc that returns neither a pair nor #f.
212 ** Secondary threads now always return a valid module for (current-module).
213 ** Avoid MacOS build problems caused by incorrect combination of "64"
214 system and library calls.
215 ** `guile-snarf' now honors `$TMPDIR'
216 ** `guile-config compile' now reports CPPFLAGS used at compile-time
217 ** Fixed build with Sun Studio (Solaris 9)
218 ** Fixed wrong-type-arg errors when creating zero length SRFI-4
219 uniform vectors on AIX.
220 ** Fixed a deadlock that occurs upon GC with multiple threads.
221 ** Fixed compile problem with GCC on Solaris and AIX (use of _Complex_I)
222 ** Fixed autotool-derived build problems on AIX 6.1.
223 ** Fixed NetBSD/alpha support
224 ** Fixed MacOS build problem caused by use of rl_get_keymap(_name)
226 * New modules (see the manual for details)
230 * Documentation fixes and improvements
232 ** Removed premature breakpoint documentation
234 The features described are not available in the series of 1.8.x
235 releases, so the documentation was misleading and has been removed.
237 ** More about Guile's default *random-state* variable
239 ** GOOPS: more about how to use `next-method'
241 * Changes to the distribution
243 ** Corrected a few files that referred incorrectly to the old GPL + special exception licence
245 In fact Guile since 1.8.0 has been licensed with the GNU Lesser
246 General Public License, and the few incorrect files have now been
247 fixed to agree with the rest of the Guile distribution.
249 ** Removed unnecessary extra copies of COPYING*
251 The distribution now contains a single COPYING.LESSER at its top level.
254 Changes in 1.8.3 (since 1.8.2)
256 * New modules (see the manual for details)
263 ** The `(ice-9 slib)' module now works as expected
264 ** Expressions like "(set! 'x #t)" no longer yield a crash
265 ** Warnings about duplicate bindings now go to stderr
266 ** A memory leak in `make-socket-address' was fixed
267 ** Alignment issues (e.g., on SPARC) in network routines were fixed
268 ** A threading issue that showed up at least on NetBSD was fixed
269 ** Build problems on Solaris and IRIX fixed
271 * Implementation improvements
273 ** The reader is now faster, which reduces startup time
274 ** Procedures returned by `record-accessor' and `record-modifier' are faster
277 Changes in 1.8.2 (since 1.8.1):
279 * New procedures (see the manual for details)
281 ** set-program-arguments
284 * Incompatible changes
286 ** The body of a top-level `define' no longer sees the binding being created
288 In a top-level `define', the binding being created is no longer visible
289 from the `define' body. This breaks code like
290 "(define foo (begin (set! foo 1) (+ foo 1)))", where `foo' is now
291 unbound in the body. However, such code was not R5RS-compliant anyway,
296 ** Fractions were not `equal?' if stored in unreduced form.
297 (A subtle problem, since printing a value reduced it, making it work.)
298 ** srfi-60 `copy-bit' failed on 64-bit systems
299 ** "guile --use-srfi" option at the REPL can replace core functions
300 (Programs run with that option were ok, but in the interactive REPL
301 the core bindings got priority, preventing SRFI replacements or
303 ** `regexp-exec' doesn't abort() on #\nul in the input or bad flags arg
304 ** `kill' on mingw throws an error for a PID other than oneself
305 ** Procedure names are attached to procedure-with-setters
306 ** Array read syntax works with negative lower bound
307 ** `array-in-bounds?' fix if an array has different lower bounds on each index
308 ** `*' returns exact 0 for "(* inexact 0)"
309 This follows what it always did for "(* 0 inexact)".
310 ** SRFI-19: Value returned by `(current-time time-process)' was incorrect
311 ** SRFI-19: `date->julian-day' did not account for timezone offset
312 ** `ttyname' no longer crashes when passed a non-tty argument
313 ** `inet-ntop' no longer crashes on SPARC when passed an `AF_INET' address
314 ** Small memory leaks have been fixed in `make-fluid' and `add-history'
315 ** GOOPS: Fixed a bug in `method-more-specific?'
316 ** Build problems on Solaris fixed
317 ** Build problems on HP-UX IA64 fixed
318 ** Build problems on MinGW fixed
321 Changes in 1.8.1 (since 1.8.0):
323 * LFS functions are now used to access 64-bit files on 32-bit systems.
325 * New procedures (see the manual for details)
327 ** primitive-_exit - [Scheme] the-root-module
328 ** scm_primitive__exit - [C]
329 ** make-completion-function - [Scheme] (ice-9 readline)
330 ** scm_c_locale_stringn_to_number - [C]
331 ** scm_srfi1_append_reverse [C]
332 ** scm_srfi1_append_reverse_x [C]
340 ** Build problems have been fixed on MacOS, SunOS, and QNX.
342 ** `strftime' fix sign of %z timezone offset.
344 ** A one-dimensional array can now be 'equal?' to a vector.
346 ** Structures, records, and SRFI-9 records can now be compared with `equal?'.
348 ** SRFI-14 standard char sets are recomputed upon a successful `setlocale'.
350 ** `record-accessor' and `record-modifier' now have strict type checks.
352 Record accessor and modifier procedures now throw an error if the
353 record type of the record they're given is not the type expected.
354 (Previously accessors returned #f and modifiers silently did nothing).
356 ** It is now OK to use both autoload and use-modules on a given module.
358 ** `apply' checks the number of arguments more carefully on "0 or 1" funcs.
360 Previously there was no checking on primatives like make-vector that
361 accept "one or two" arguments. Now there is.
363 ** The srfi-1 assoc function now calls its equality predicate properly.
365 Previously srfi-1 assoc would call the equality predicate with the key
366 last. According to the SRFI, the key should be first.
368 ** A bug in n-par-for-each and n-for-each-par-map has been fixed.
370 ** The array-set! procedure no longer segfaults when given a bit vector.
372 ** Bugs in make-shared-array have been fixed.
374 ** string<? and friends now follow char<? etc order on 8-bit chars.
376 ** The format procedure now handles inf and nan values for ~f correctly.
378 ** exact->inexact should no longer overflow when given certain large fractions.
380 ** srfi-9 accessor and modifier procedures now have strict record type checks.
382 This matches the srfi-9 specification.
384 ** (ice-9 ftw) procedures won't ignore different files with same inode number.
386 Previously the (ice-9 ftw) procedures would ignore any file that had
387 the same inode number as a file they had already seen, even if that
388 file was on a different device.
391 Changes in 1.8.0 (changes since the 1.6.x series):
393 * Changes to the distribution
395 ** Guile is now licensed with the GNU Lesser General Public License.
397 ** The manual is now licensed with the GNU Free Documentation License.
399 ** Guile now requires GNU MP (http://swox.com/gmp).
401 Guile now uses the GNU MP library for arbitrary precision arithmetic.
403 ** Guile now has separate private and public configuration headers.
405 That is, things like HAVE_STRING_H no longer leak from Guile's
408 ** Guile now provides and uses an "effective" version number.
410 Guile now provides scm_effective_version and effective-version
411 functions which return the "effective" version number. This is just
412 the normal full version string without the final micro-version number,
413 so the current effective-version is "1.8". The effective version
414 should remain unchanged during a stable series, and should be used for
415 items like the versioned share directory name
416 i.e. /usr/share/guile/1.8.
418 Providing an unchanging version number during a stable release for
419 things like the versioned share directory can be particularly
420 important for Guile "add-on" packages, since it provides a directory
421 that they can install to that won't be changed out from under them
422 with each micro release during a stable series.
424 ** Thread implementation has changed.
426 When you configure "--with-threads=null", you will get the usual
427 threading API (call-with-new-thread, make-mutex, etc), but you can't
428 actually create new threads. Also, "--with-threads=no" is now
429 equivalent to "--with-threads=null". This means that the thread API
430 is always present, although you might not be able to create new
433 When you configure "--with-threads=pthreads" or "--with-threads=yes",
434 you will get threads that are implemented with the portable POSIX
435 threads. These threads can run concurrently (unlike the previous
436 "coop" thread implementation), but need to cooperate for things like
439 The default is "pthreads", unless your platform doesn't have pthreads,
440 in which case "null" threads are used.
442 See the manual for details, nodes "Initialization", "Multi-Threading",
443 "Blocking", and others.
445 ** There is the new notion of 'discouraged' features.
447 This is a milder form of deprecation.
449 Things that are discouraged should not be used in new code, but it is
450 OK to leave them in old code for now. When a discouraged feature is
451 used, no warning message is printed like there is for 'deprecated'
452 features. Also, things that are merely discouraged are nevertheless
453 implemented efficiently, while deprecated features can be very slow.
455 You can omit discouraged features from libguile by configuring it with
456 the '--disable-discouraged' option.
458 ** Deprecation warnings can be controlled at run-time.
460 (debug-enable 'warn-deprecated) switches them on and (debug-disable
461 'warn-deprecated) switches them off.
463 ** Support for SRFI 61, extended cond syntax for multiple values has
466 This SRFI is always available.
468 ** Support for require-extension, SRFI-55, has been added.
470 The SRFI-55 special form `require-extension' has been added. It is
471 available at startup, and provides a portable way to load Scheme
472 extensions. SRFI-55 only requires support for one type of extension,
473 "srfi"; so a set of SRFIs may be loaded via (require-extension (srfi 1
476 ** New module (srfi srfi-26) provides support for `cut' and `cute'.
478 The (srfi srfi-26) module is an implementation of SRFI-26 which
479 provides the `cut' and `cute' syntax. These may be used to specialize
480 parameters without currying.
482 ** New module (srfi srfi-31)
484 This is an implementation of SRFI-31 which provides a special form
485 `rec' for recursive evaluation.
487 ** The modules (srfi srfi-13), (srfi srfi-14) and (srfi srfi-4) have
488 been merged with the core, making their functionality always
491 The modules are still available, tho, and you could use them together
492 with a renaming import, for example.
494 ** Guile no longer includes its own version of libltdl.
496 The official version is good enough now.
498 ** The --enable-htmldoc option has been removed from 'configure'.
500 Support for translating the documentation into HTML is now always
501 provided. Use 'make html'.
503 ** New module (ice-9 serialize):
505 (serialize FORM1 ...) and (parallelize FORM1 ...) are useful when you
506 don't trust the thread safety of most of your program, but where you
507 have some section(s) of code which you consider can run in parallel to
508 other sections. See ice-9/serialize.scm for more information.
510 ** The configure option '--disable-arrays' has been removed.
512 Support for arrays and uniform numeric arrays is now always included
515 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
517 ** New command line option `-L'.
519 This option adds a directory to the front of the load path.
521 ** New command line option `--no-debug'.
523 Specifying `--no-debug' on the command line will keep the debugging
524 evaluator turned off, even for interactive sessions.
526 ** User-init file ~/.guile is now loaded with the debugging evaluator.
528 Previously, the normal evaluator would have been used. Using the
529 debugging evaluator gives better error messages.
531 ** The '-e' option now 'read's its argument.
533 This is to allow the new '(@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)' construct to
534 be used with '-e'. For example, you can now write a script like
537 exec guile -e '(@ (demo) main)' -s "$0" "$@"
540 (define-module (demo)
544 (format #t "Demo: ~a~%" args))
547 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
549 ** Guardians have changed back to their original semantics
551 Guardians now behave like described in the paper by Dybvig et al. In
552 particular, they no longer make guarantees about the order in which
553 they return objects, and they can no longer be greedy.
555 They no longer drop cyclic data structures.
557 The C function scm_make_guardian has been changed incompatibly and no
558 longer takes the 'greedy_p' argument.
560 ** New function hashx-remove!
562 This function completes the set of 'hashx' functions.
564 ** The concept of dynamic roots has been factored into continuation
565 barriers and dynamic states.
567 Each thread has a current dynamic state that carries the values of the
568 fluids. You can create and copy dynamic states and use them as the
569 second argument for 'eval'. See "Fluids and Dynamic States" in the
572 To restrict the influence that captured continuations can have on the
573 control flow, you can errect continuation barriers. See "Continuation
574 Barriers" in the manual.
576 The function call-with-dynamic-root now essentially temporarily
577 installs a new dynamic state and errects a continuation barrier.
579 ** The default load path no longer includes "." at the end.
581 Automatically loading modules from the current directory should not
582 happen by default. If you want to allow it in a more controlled
583 manner, set the environment variable GUILE_LOAD_PATH or the Scheme
586 ** The uniform vector and array support has been overhauled.
588 It now complies with SRFI-4 and the weird prototype based uniform
589 array creation has been deprecated. See the manual for more details.
591 Some non-compatible changes have been made:
592 - characters can no longer be stored into byte arrays.
593 - strings and bit vectors are no longer considered to be uniform numeric
595 - array-rank throws an error for non-arrays instead of returning zero.
596 - array-ref does no longer accept non-arrays when no indices are given.
598 There is the new notion of 'generalized vectors' and corresponding
599 procedures like 'generalized-vector-ref'. Generalized vectors include
600 strings, bitvectors, ordinary vectors, and uniform numeric vectors.
602 Arrays use generalized vectors as their storage, so that you still
603 have arrays of characters, bits, etc. However, uniform-array-read!
604 and uniform-array-write can no longer read/write strings and
607 ** There is now support for copy-on-write substrings, mutation-sharing
608 substrings and read-only strings.
610 Three new procedures are related to this: substring/shared,
611 substring/copy, and substring/read-only. See the manual for more
614 ** Backtraces will now highlight the value that caused the error.
616 By default, these values are enclosed in "{...}", such as in this
625 <unnamed port>:1:1: In procedure car in expression (car (quote a)):
626 <unnamed port>:1:1: Wrong type (expecting pair): a
627 ABORT: (wrong-type-arg)
629 The prefix and suffix used for highlighting can be set via the two new
630 printer options 'highlight-prefix' and 'highlight-suffix'. For
631 example, putting this into ~/.guile will output the bad value in bold
634 (print-set! highlight-prefix "\x1b[1m")
635 (print-set! highlight-suffix "\x1b[22m")
638 ** 'gettext' support for internationalization has been added.
640 See the manual for details.
642 ** New syntax '@' and '@@':
644 You can now directly refer to variables exported from a module by
647 (@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)
649 For example (@ (ice-9 pretty-print) pretty-print) will directly access
650 the pretty-print variable exported from the (ice-9 pretty-print)
651 module. You don't need to 'use' that module first. You can also use
652 '@' as a target of 'set!', as in (set! (@ mod var) val).
654 The related syntax (@@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME) works just like '@',
655 but it can also access variables that have not been exported. It is
656 intended only for kluges and temporary fixes and for debugging, not
659 ** Keyword syntax has been made more disciplined.
661 Previously, the name of a keyword was read as a 'token' but printed as
662 a symbol. Now, it is read as a general Scheme datum which must be a
673 ERROR: In expression (a b c):
677 ERROR: Unbound variable: foo
682 ERROR: Wrong type (expecting symbol): 12
686 ERROR: Wrong type (expecting symbol): (a b c)
690 ** The printing of symbols that might look like keywords can be
693 The new printer option 'quote-keywordish-symbols' controls how symbols
694 are printed that have a colon as their first or last character. The
695 default now is to only quote a symbol with #{...}# when the read
696 option 'keywords' is not '#f'. Thus:
698 guile> (define foo (string->symbol ":foo"))
699 guile> (read-set! keywords #f)
702 guile> (read-set! keywords 'prefix)
705 guile> (print-set! quote-keywordish-symbols #f)
709 ** 'while' now provides 'break' and 'continue'
711 break and continue were previously bound in a while loop, but not
712 documented, and continue didn't quite work properly. The undocumented
713 parameter to break which gave a return value for the while has been
716 ** 'call-with-current-continuation' is now also available under the name
719 ** The module system now checks for duplicate bindings.
721 The module system now can check for name conflicts among imported
724 The behavior can be controlled by specifying one or more 'duplicates'
725 handlers. For example, to make Guile return an error for every name
733 The new default behavior of the module system when a name collision
734 has been detected is to
736 1. Give priority to bindings marked as a replacement.
737 2. Issue a warning (different warning if overriding core binding).
738 3. Give priority to the last encountered binding (this corresponds to
741 If you want the old behavior back without replacements or warnings you
744 (default-duplicate-binding-handler 'last)
746 to your .guile init file.
748 ** New define-module option: :replace
750 :replace works as :export, but, in addition, marks the binding as a
753 A typical example is `format' in (ice-9 format) which is a replacement
754 for the core binding `format'.
756 ** Adding prefixes to imported bindings in the module system
758 There is now a new :use-module option :prefix. It can be used to add
759 a prefix to all imported bindings.
762 :use-module ((bar) :prefix bar:))
764 will import all bindings exported from bar, but rename them by adding
767 ** Conflicting generic functions can be automatically merged.
769 When two imported bindings conflict and they are both generic
770 functions, the two functions can now be merged automatically. This is
771 activated with the 'duplicates' handler 'merge-generics'.
773 ** New function: effective-version
775 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
776 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
777 to the distribution" above.
779 ** New threading functions: parallel, letpar, par-map, and friends
781 These are convenient ways to run calculations in parallel in new
782 threads. See "Parallel forms" in the manual for details.
784 ** New function 'try-mutex'.
786 This function will attempt to lock a mutex but will return immediately
787 instead of blocking and indicate failure.
789 ** Waiting on a condition variable can have a timeout.
791 The function 'wait-condition-variable' now takes a third, optional
792 argument that specifies the point in time where the waiting should be
795 ** New function 'broadcast-condition-variable'.
797 ** New functions 'all-threads' and 'current-thread'.
799 ** Signals and system asyncs work better with threads.
801 The function 'sigaction' now takes a fourth, optional, argument that
802 specifies the thread that the handler should run in. When the
803 argument is omitted, the handler will run in the thread that called
806 Likewise, 'system-async-mark' takes a second, optional, argument that
807 specifies the thread that the async should run in. When it is
808 omitted, the async will run in the thread that called
811 C code can use the new functions scm_sigaction_for_thread and
812 scm_system_async_mark_for_thread to pass the new thread argument.
814 When a thread blocks on a mutex, a condition variable or is waiting
815 for IO to be possible, it will still execute system asyncs. This can
816 be used to interrupt such a thread by making it execute a 'throw', for
819 ** The function 'system-async' is deprecated.
821 You can now pass any zero-argument procedure to 'system-async-mark'.
822 The function 'system-async' will just return its argument unchanged
825 ** New functions 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' and
826 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
828 The expression (call-with-blocked-asyncs PROC) will call PROC and will
829 block execution of system asyncs for the current thread by one level
830 while PROC runs. Likewise, call-with-unblocked-asyncs will call a
831 procedure and will unblock the execution of system asyncs by one
832 level for the current thread.
834 Only system asyncs are affected by these functions.
836 ** The functions 'mask-signals' and 'unmask-signals' are deprecated.
838 Use 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' or 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
839 instead. Those functions are easier to use correctly and can be
842 ** New function 'unsetenv'.
844 ** New macro 'define-syntax-public'.
846 It works like 'define-syntax' and also exports the defined macro (but
849 ** There is support for Infinity and NaNs.
851 Following PLT Scheme, Guile can now work with infinite numbers, and
854 There is new syntax for numbers: "+inf.0" (infinity), "-inf.0"
855 (negative infinity), "+nan.0" (not-a-number), and "-nan.0" (same as
856 "+nan.0"). These numbers are inexact and have no exact counterpart.
858 Dividing by an inexact zero returns +inf.0 or -inf.0, depending on the
859 sign of the dividend. The infinities are integers, and they answer #t
860 for both 'even?' and 'odd?'. The +nan.0 value is not an integer and is
861 not '=' to itself, but '+nan.0' is 'eqv?' to itself.
872 ERROR: Numerical overflow
874 Two new predicates 'inf?' and 'nan?' can be used to test for the
877 ** Inexact zero can have a sign.
879 Guile can now distinguish between plus and minus inexact zero, if your
880 platform supports this, too. The two zeros are equal according to
881 '=', but not according to 'eqv?'. For example
892 ** Guile now has exact rationals.
894 Guile can now represent fractions such as 1/3 exactly. Computing with
895 them is also done exactly, of course:
900 ** 'floor', 'ceiling', 'round' and 'truncate' now return exact numbers
903 For example: (floor 2) now returns an exact 2 where in the past it
904 returned an inexact 2.0. Likewise, (floor 5/4) returns an exact 1.
906 ** inexact->exact no longer returns only integers.
908 Without exact rationals, the closest exact number was always an
909 integer, but now inexact->exact returns the fraction that is exactly
910 equal to a floating point number. For example:
912 (inexact->exact 1.234)
913 => 694680242521899/562949953421312
915 When you want the old behavior, use 'round' explicitly:
917 (inexact->exact (round 1.234))
920 ** New function 'rationalize'.
922 This function finds a simple fraction that is close to a given real
923 number. For example (and compare with inexact->exact above):
925 (rationalize (inexact->exact 1.234) 1/2000)
928 Note that, as required by R5RS, rationalize returns only then an exact
929 result when both its arguments are exact.
931 ** 'odd?' and 'even?' work also for inexact integers.
933 Previously, (odd? 1.0) would signal an error since only exact integers
934 were recognized as integers. Now (odd? 1.0) returns #t, (odd? 2.0)
935 returns #f and (odd? 1.5) signals an error.
937 ** Guile now has uninterned symbols.
939 The new function 'make-symbol' will return an uninterned symbol. This
940 is a symbol that is unique and is guaranteed to remain unique.
941 However, uninterned symbols can not yet be read back in.
943 Use the new function 'symbol-interned?' to check whether a symbol is
946 ** pretty-print has more options.
948 The function pretty-print from the (ice-9 pretty-print) module can now
949 also be invoked with keyword arguments that control things like
950 maximum output width. See the manual for details.
952 ** Variables have no longer a special behavior for `equal?'.
954 Previously, comparing two variables with `equal?' would recursivly
955 compare their values. This is no longer done. Variables are now only
956 `equal?' if they are `eq?'.
958 ** `(begin)' is now valid.
960 You can now use an empty `begin' form. It will yield #<unspecified>
961 when evaluated and simply be ignored in a definition context.
963 ** Deprecated: procedure->macro
965 Change your code to use 'define-macro' or r5rs macros. Also, be aware
966 that macro expansion will not be done during evaluation, but prior to
969 ** Soft ports now allow a `char-ready?' procedure
971 The vector argument to `make-soft-port' can now have a length of
972 either 5 or 6. (Previously the length had to be 5.) The optional 6th
973 element is interpreted as an `input-waiting' thunk -- i.e. a thunk
974 that returns the number of characters that can be read immediately
975 without the soft port blocking.
977 ** Deprecated: undefine
979 There is no replacement for undefine.
981 ** The functions make-keyword-from-dash-symbol and keyword-dash-symbol
982 have been discouraged.
984 They are relics from a time where a keyword like #:foo was used
985 directly as a Tcl option "-foo" and thus keywords were internally
986 stored as a symbol with a starting dash. We now store a symbol
989 Use symbol->keyword and keyword->symbol instead.
991 ** The `cheap' debug option is now obsolete
993 Evaluator trap calls are now unconditionally "cheap" - in other words,
994 they pass a debug object to the trap handler rather than a full
995 continuation. The trap handler code can capture a full continuation
996 by using `call-with-current-continuation' in the usual way, if it so
999 The `cheap' option is retained for now so as not to break existing
1000 code which gets or sets it, but setting it now has no effect. It will
1001 be removed in the next major Guile release.
1003 ** Evaluator trap calls now support `tweaking'
1005 `Tweaking' means that the trap handler code can modify the Scheme
1006 expression that is about to be evaluated (in the case of an
1007 enter-frame trap) or the value that is being returned (in the case of
1008 an exit-frame trap). The trap handler code indicates that it wants to
1009 do this by returning a pair whose car is the symbol 'instead and whose
1010 cdr is the modified expression or return value.
1012 * Changes to the C interface
1014 ** The functions scm_hash_fn_remove_x and scm_hashx_remove_x no longer
1015 take a 'delete' function argument.
1017 This argument makes no sense since the delete function is used to
1018 remove a pair from an alist, and this must not be configurable.
1020 This is an incompatible change.
1022 ** The GH interface is now subject to the deprecation mechanism
1024 The GH interface has been deprecated for quite some time but now it is
1025 actually removed from Guile when it is configured with
1026 --disable-deprecated.
1028 See the manual "Transitioning away from GH" for more information.
1030 ** A new family of functions for converting between C values and
1031 Scheme values has been added.
1033 These functions follow a common naming scheme and are designed to be
1034 easier to use, thread-safe and more future-proof than the older
1037 - int scm_is_* (...)
1039 These are predicates that return a C boolean: 1 or 0. Instead of
1040 SCM_NFALSEP, you can now use scm_is_true, for example.
1042 - <type> scm_to_<type> (SCM val, ...)
1044 These are functions that convert a Scheme value into an appropriate
1045 C value. For example, you can use scm_to_int to safely convert from
1048 - SCM scm_from_<type> (<type> val, ...)
1050 These functions convert from a C type to a SCM value; for example,
1051 scm_from_int for ints.
1053 There is a huge number of these functions, for numbers, strings,
1054 symbols, vectors, etc. They are documented in the reference manual in
1055 the API section together with the types that they apply to.
1057 ** New functions for dealing with complex numbers in C have been added.
1059 The new functions are scm_c_make_rectangular, scm_c_make_polar,
1060 scm_c_real_part, scm_c_imag_part, scm_c_magnitude and scm_c_angle.
1061 They work like scm_make_rectangular etc but take or return doubles
1064 ** The function scm_make_complex has been discouraged.
1066 Use scm_c_make_rectangular instead.
1068 ** The INUM macros have been deprecated.
1070 A lot of code uses these macros to do general integer conversions,
1071 although the macros only work correctly with fixnums. Use the
1072 following alternatives.
1074 SCM_INUMP -> scm_is_integer or similar
1075 SCM_NINUMP -> !scm_is_integer or similar
1076 SCM_MAKINUM -> scm_from_int or similar
1077 SCM_INUM -> scm_to_int or similar
1079 SCM_VALIDATE_INUM_* -> Do not use these; scm_to_int, etc. will
1080 do the validating for you.
1082 ** The scm_num2<type> and scm_<type>2num functions and scm_make_real
1083 have been discouraged.
1085 Use the newer scm_to_<type> and scm_from_<type> functions instead for
1086 new code. The functions have been discouraged since they don't fit
1089 ** The 'boolean' macros SCM_FALSEP etc have been discouraged.
1091 They have strange names, especially SCM_NFALSEP, and SCM_BOOLP
1092 evaluates its argument twice. Use scm_is_true, etc. instead for new
1095 ** The macro SCM_EQ_P has been discouraged.
1097 Use scm_is_eq for new code, which fits better into the naming
1100 ** The macros SCM_CONSP, SCM_NCONSP, SCM_NULLP, and SCM_NNULLP have
1103 Use the function scm_is_pair or scm_is_null instead.
1105 ** The functions scm_round and scm_truncate have been deprecated and
1106 are now available as scm_c_round and scm_c_truncate, respectively.
1108 These functions occupy the names that scm_round_number and
1109 scm_truncate_number should have.
1111 ** The functions scm_c_string2str, scm_c_substring2str, and
1112 scm_c_symbol2str have been deprecated.
1114 Use scm_to_locale_stringbuf or similar instead, maybe together with
1117 ** New functions scm_c_make_string, scm_c_string_length,
1118 scm_c_string_ref, scm_c_string_set_x, scm_c_substring,
1119 scm_c_substring_shared, scm_c_substring_copy.
1121 These are like scm_make_string, scm_length, etc. but are slightly
1122 easier to use from C.
1124 ** The macros SCM_STRINGP, SCM_STRING_CHARS, SCM_STRING_LENGTH,
1125 SCM_SYMBOL_CHARS, and SCM_SYMBOL_LENGTH have been deprecated.
1127 They export too many assumptions about the implementation of strings
1128 and symbols that are no longer true in the presence of
1129 mutation-sharing substrings and when Guile switches to some form of
1132 When working with strings, it is often best to use the normal string
1133 functions provided by Guile, such as scm_c_string_ref,
1134 scm_c_string_set_x, scm_string_append, etc. Be sure to look in the
1135 manual since many more such functions are now provided than
1138 When you want to convert a SCM string to a C string, use the
1139 scm_to_locale_string function or similar instead. For symbols, use
1140 scm_symbol_to_string and then work with that string. Because of the
1141 new string representation, scm_symbol_to_string does not need to copy
1142 and is thus quite efficient.
1144 ** Some string, symbol and keyword functions have been discouraged.
1146 They don't fit into the uniform naming scheme and are not explicit
1147 about the character encoding.
1149 Replace according to the following table:
1151 scm_allocate_string -> scm_c_make_string
1152 scm_take_str -> scm_take_locale_stringn
1153 scm_take0str -> scm_take_locale_string
1154 scm_mem2string -> scm_from_locale_stringn
1155 scm_str2string -> scm_from_locale_string
1156 scm_makfrom0str -> scm_from_locale_string
1157 scm_mem2symbol -> scm_from_locale_symboln
1158 scm_mem2uninterned_symbol -> scm_from_locale_stringn + scm_make_symbol
1159 scm_str2symbol -> scm_from_locale_symbol
1161 SCM_SYMBOL_HASH -> scm_hashq
1162 SCM_SYMBOL_INTERNED_P -> scm_symbol_interned_p
1164 scm_c_make_keyword -> scm_from_locale_keyword
1166 ** The functions scm_keyword_to_symbol and sym_symbol_to_keyword are
1167 now also available to C code.
1169 ** SCM_KEYWORDP and SCM_KEYWORDSYM have been deprecated.
1171 Use scm_is_keyword and scm_keyword_to_symbol instead, but note that
1172 the latter returns the true name of the keyword, not the 'dash name',
1173 as SCM_KEYWORDSYM used to do.
1175 ** A new way to access arrays in a thread-safe and efficient way has
1178 See the manual, node "Accessing Arrays From C".
1180 ** The old uniform vector and bitvector implementations have been
1181 unceremoniously removed.
1183 This implementation exposed the details of the tagging system of
1184 Guile. Use the new C API explained in the manual in node "Uniform
1185 Numeric Vectors" and "Bit Vectors", respectively.
1187 The following macros are gone: SCM_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_BASE,
1188 SCM_UVECTOR_MAXLENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_MAKE_UVECTOR_TAG,
1189 SCM_SET_UVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_BITVECTOR_P, SCM_BITVECTOR_BASE,
1190 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_BASE, SCM_BITVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH,
1191 SCM_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_MAKE_BITVECTOR_TAG,
1192 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_BITVEC_REF, SCM_BITVEC_SET,
1195 ** The macros dealing with vectors have been deprecated.
1197 Use the new functions scm_is_vector, scm_vector_elements,
1198 scm_vector_writable_elements, etc, or scm_is_simple_vector,
1199 SCM_SIMPLE_VECTOR_REF, SCM_SIMPLE_VECTOR_SET, etc instead. See the
1200 manual for more details.
1202 Deprecated are SCM_VECTORP, SCM_VELTS, SCM_VECTOR_MAX_LENGTH,
1203 SCM_VECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_VECTOR_REF, SCM_VECTOR_SET, SCM_WRITABLE_VELTS.
1205 The following macros have been removed: SCM_VECTOR_BASE,
1206 SCM_SET_VECTOR_BASE, SCM_MAKE_VECTOR_TAG, SCM_SET_VECTOR_LENGTH,
1207 SCM_VELTS_AS_STACKITEMS, SCM_SETVELTS, SCM_GC_WRITABLE_VELTS.
1209 ** Some C functions and macros related to arrays have been deprecated.
1211 Migrate according to the following table:
1213 scm_make_uve -> scm_make_typed_array, scm_make_u8vector etc.
1214 scm_make_ra -> scm_make_array
1215 scm_shap2ra -> scm_make_array
1216 scm_cvref -> scm_c_generalized_vector_ref
1217 scm_ra_set_contp -> do not use
1218 scm_aind -> scm_array_handle_pos
1219 scm_raprin1 -> scm_display or scm_write
1221 SCM_ARRAYP -> scm_is_array
1222 SCM_ARRAY_NDIM -> scm_c_array_rank
1223 SCM_ARRAY_DIMS -> scm_array_handle_dims
1224 SCM_ARRAY_CONTP -> do not use
1225 SCM_ARRAY_MEM -> do not use
1226 SCM_ARRAY_V -> scm_array_handle_elements or similar
1227 SCM_ARRAY_BASE -> do not use
1229 ** SCM_CELL_WORD_LOC has been deprecated.
1231 Use the new macro SCM_CELL_OBJECT_LOC instead, which returns a pointer
1232 to a SCM, as opposed to a pointer to a scm_t_bits.
1234 This was done to allow the correct use of pointers into the Scheme
1235 heap. Previously, the heap words were of type scm_t_bits and local
1236 variables and function arguments were of type SCM, making it
1237 non-standards-conformant to have a pointer that can point to both.
1239 ** New macros SCM_SMOB_DATA_2, SCM_SMOB_DATA_3, etc.
1241 These macros should be used instead of SCM_CELL_WORD_2/3 to access the
1242 second and third words of double smobs. Likewise for
1243 SCM_SET_SMOB_DATA_2 and SCM_SET_SMOB_DATA_3.
1245 Also, there is SCM_SMOB_FLAGS and SCM_SET_SMOB_FLAGS that should be
1246 used to get and set the 16 exra bits in the zeroth word of a smob.
1248 And finally, there is SCM_SMOB_OBJECT and SCM_SMOB_SET_OBJECT for
1249 accesing the first immediate word of a smob as a SCM value, and there
1250 is SCM_SMOB_OBJECT_LOC for getting a pointer to the first immediate
1251 smob word. Like wise for SCM_SMOB_OBJECT_2, etc.
1253 ** New way to deal with non-local exits and re-entries.
1255 There is a new set of functions that essentially do what
1256 scm_internal_dynamic_wind does, but in a way that is more convenient
1257 for C code in some situations. Here is a quick example of how to
1258 prevent a potential memory leak:
1265 scm_dynwind_begin (0);
1267 mem = scm_malloc (100);
1268 scm_dynwind_unwind_handler (free, mem, SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITLY);
1270 /* MEM would leak if BAR throws an error.
1271 SCM_DYNWIND_UNWIND_HANDLER frees it nevertheless.
1278 /* Because of SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITLY, MEM will be freed by
1279 SCM_DYNWIND_END as well.
1283 For full documentation, see the node "Dynamic Wind" in the manual.
1285 ** New function scm_dynwind_free
1287 This function calls 'free' on a given pointer when a dynwind context
1288 is left. Thus the call to scm_dynwind_unwind_handler above could be
1289 replaced with simply scm_dynwind_free (mem).
1291 ** New functions scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
1292 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs
1294 Like scm_call_with_blocked_asyncs etc. but for C functions.
1296 ** New functions scm_dynwind_block_asyncs and scm_dynwind_unblock_asyncs
1298 In addition to scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs you can now also use
1299 scm_dynwind_block_asyncs in a 'dynwind context' (see above). Likewise for
1300 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs and scm_dynwind_unblock_asyncs.
1302 ** The macros SCM_DEFER_INTS, SCM_ALLOW_INTS, SCM_REDEFER_INTS,
1303 SCM_REALLOW_INTS have been deprecated.
1305 They do no longer fulfill their original role of blocking signal
1306 delivery. Depending on what you want to achieve, replace a pair of
1307 SCM_DEFER_INTS and SCM_ALLOW_INTS with a dynwind context that locks a
1308 mutex, blocks asyncs, or both. See node "Critical Sections" in the
1311 ** The value 'scm_mask_ints' is no longer writable.
1313 Previously, you could set scm_mask_ints directly. This is no longer
1314 possible. Use scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
1315 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs instead.
1317 ** New way to temporarily set the current input, output or error ports
1319 C code can now use scm_dynwind_current_<foo>_port in a 'dynwind
1320 context' (see above). <foo> is one of "input", "output" or "error".
1322 ** New way to temporarily set fluids
1324 C code can now use scm_dynwind_fluid in a 'dynwind context' (see
1325 above) to temporarily set the value of a fluid.
1327 ** New types scm_t_intmax and scm_t_uintmax.
1329 On platforms that have them, these types are identical to intmax_t and
1330 uintmax_t, respectively. On other platforms, they are identical to
1331 the largest integer types that Guile knows about.
1333 ** The functions scm_unmemocopy and scm_unmemoize have been removed.
1335 You should not have used them.
1337 ** Many public #defines with generic names have been made private.
1339 #defines with generic names like HAVE_FOO or SIZEOF_FOO have been made
1340 private or renamed with a more suitable public name.
1342 ** The macro SCM_TYP16S has been deprecated.
1344 This macro is not intended for public use.
1346 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_INEXACTP has been deprecated.
1348 Use scm_is_true (scm_inexact_p (...)) instead.
1350 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_REALP has been deprecated.
1352 Use scm_is_real instead.
1354 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_COMPLEXP has been deprecated.
1356 Use scm_is_complex instead.
1358 ** Some preprocessor defines have been deprecated.
1360 These defines indicated whether a certain feature was present in Guile
1361 or not. Going forward, assume that the features are always present.
1363 The macros are: USE_THREADS, GUILE_ISELECT, READER_EXTENSIONS,
1364 DEBUG_EXTENSIONS, DYNAMIC_LINKING.
1366 The following macros have been removed completely: MEMOIZE_LOCALS,
1367 SCM_RECKLESS, SCM_CAUTIOUS.
1369 ** The preprocessor define STACK_DIRECTION has been deprecated.
1371 There should be no need to know about the stack direction for ordinary
1374 ** New function: scm_effective_version
1376 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
1377 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
1378 to the distribution" above.
1380 ** The function scm_call_with_new_thread has a new prototype.
1382 Instead of taking a list with the thunk and handler, these two
1383 arguments are now passed directly:
1385 SCM scm_call_with_new_thread (SCM thunk, SCM handler);
1387 This is an incompatible change.
1389 ** New snarfer macro SCM_DEFINE_PUBLIC.
1391 This is like SCM_DEFINE, but also calls scm_c_export for the defined
1392 function in the init section.
1394 ** The snarfer macro SCM_SNARF_INIT is now officially supported.
1396 ** Garbage collector rewrite.
1398 The garbage collector is cleaned up a lot, and now uses lazy
1399 sweeping. This is reflected in the output of (gc-stats); since cells
1400 are being freed when they are allocated, the cells-allocated field
1401 stays roughly constant.
1403 For malloc related triggers, the behavior is changed. It uses the same
1404 heuristic as the cell-triggered collections. It may be tuned with the
1405 environment variables GUILE_MIN_YIELD_MALLOC. This is the percentage
1406 for minimum yield of malloc related triggers. The default is 40.
1407 GUILE_INIT_MALLOC_LIMIT sets the initial trigger for doing a GC. The
1410 Debugging operations for the freelist have been deprecated, along with
1411 the C variables that control garbage collection. The environment
1412 variables GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE, GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2,
1413 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1, and GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2 should be used.
1415 For understanding the memory usage of a GUILE program, the routine
1416 gc-live-object-stats returns an alist containing the number of live
1417 objects for every type.
1420 ** The function scm_definedp has been renamed to scm_defined_p
1422 The name scm_definedp is deprecated.
1424 ** The struct scm_cell type has been renamed to scm_t_cell
1426 This is in accordance to Guile's naming scheme for types. Note that
1427 the name scm_cell is now used for a function that allocates and
1428 initializes a new cell (see below).
1430 ** New functions for memory management
1432 A new set of functions for memory management has been added since the
1433 old way (scm_must_malloc, scm_must_free, etc) was error prone and
1434 indeed, Guile itself contained some long standing bugs that could
1435 cause aborts in long running programs.
1437 The new functions are more symmetrical and do not need cooperation
1438 from smob free routines, among other improvements.
1440 The new functions are scm_malloc, scm_realloc, scm_calloc, scm_strdup,
1441 scm_strndup, scm_gc_malloc, scm_gc_calloc, scm_gc_realloc,
1442 scm_gc_free, scm_gc_register_collectable_memory, and
1443 scm_gc_unregister_collectable_memory. Refer to the manual for more
1444 details and for upgrading instructions.
1446 The old functions for memory management have been deprecated. They
1447 are: scm_must_malloc, scm_must_realloc, scm_must_free,
1448 scm_must_strdup, scm_must_strndup, scm_done_malloc, scm_done_free.
1450 ** Declarations of exported features are marked with SCM_API.
1452 Every declaration of a feature that belongs to the exported Guile API
1453 has been marked by adding the macro "SCM_API" to the start of the
1454 declaration. This macro can expand into different things, the most
1455 common of which is just "extern" for Unix platforms. On Win32, it can
1456 be used to control which symbols are exported from a DLL.
1458 If you `#define SCM_IMPORT' before including <libguile.h>, SCM_API
1459 will expand into "__declspec (dllimport) extern", which is needed for
1460 linking to the Guile DLL in Windows.
1462 There are also SCM_RL_IMPORT, SCM_SRFI1314_IMPORT, and
1463 SCM_SRFI4_IMPORT, for the corresponding libraries.
1465 ** SCM_NEWCELL and SCM_NEWCELL2 have been deprecated.
1467 Use the new functions scm_cell and scm_double_cell instead. The old
1468 macros had problems because with them allocation and initialization
1469 was separated and the GC could sometimes observe half initialized
1470 cells. Only careful coding by the user of SCM_NEWCELL and
1471 SCM_NEWCELL2 could make this safe and efficient.
1473 ** CHECK_ENTRY, CHECK_APPLY and CHECK_EXIT have been deprecated.
1475 Use the variables scm_check_entry_p, scm_check_apply_p and scm_check_exit_p
1478 ** SRCBRKP has been deprecated.
1480 Use scm_c_source_property_breakpoint_p instead.
1482 ** Deprecated: scm_makmacro
1484 Change your code to use either scm_makmmacro or to define macros in
1485 Scheme, using 'define-macro'.
1487 ** New function scm_c_port_for_each.
1489 This function is like scm_port_for_each but takes a pointer to a C
1490 function as the callback instead of a SCM value.
1492 ** The names scm_internal_select, scm_thread_sleep, and
1493 scm_thread_usleep have been discouraged.
1495 Use scm_std_select, scm_std_sleep, scm_std_usleep instead.
1497 ** The GC can no longer be blocked.
1499 The global flags scm_gc_heap_lock and scm_block_gc have been removed.
1500 The GC can now run (partially) concurrently with other code and thus
1501 blocking it is not well defined.
1503 ** Many definitions have been removed that were previously deprecated.
1505 scm_lisp_nil, scm_lisp_t, s_nil_ify, scm_m_nil_ify, s_t_ify,
1506 scm_m_t_ify, s_0_cond, scm_m_0_cond, s_0_ify, scm_m_0_ify, s_1_ify,
1507 scm_m_1_ify, scm_debug_newcell, scm_debug_newcell2,
1508 scm_tc16_allocated, SCM_SET_SYMBOL_HASH, SCM_IM_NIL_IFY, SCM_IM_T_IFY,
1509 SCM_IM_0_COND, SCM_IM_0_IFY, SCM_IM_1_IFY, SCM_GC_SET_ALLOCATED,
1510 scm_debug_newcell, scm_debug_newcell2, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL, SCM_INT_SIGNAL,
1511 SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL, SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL,
1512 SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD, SCM_ORD_SIG,
1513 SCM_NUM_SIGS, scm_top_level_lookup_closure_var,
1514 *top-level-lookup-closure*, scm_system_transformer, scm_eval_3,
1515 scm_eval2, root_module_lookup_closure, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP,
1516 SCM_RWSTRINGP, scm_read_only_string_p, scm_make_shared_substring,
1517 scm_tc7_substring, sym_huh, SCM_VARVCELL, SCM_UDVARIABLEP,
1518 SCM_DEFVARIABLEP, scm_mkbig, scm_big2inum, scm_adjbig, scm_normbig,
1519 scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big, scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl, SCM_FIXNUM_BIT,
1520 SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_SLOPPY_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET,
1521 SCM_LENGTH_MAX, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_ROLENGTH,
1522 SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR,
1523 scm_sym2vcell, scm_intern, scm_intern0, scm_sysintern, scm_sysintern0,
1524 scm_sysintern0_no_module_lookup, scm_init_symbols_deprecated,
1525 scm_vector_set_length_x, scm_contregs, scm_debug_info,
1526 scm_debug_frame, SCM_DSIDEVAL, SCM_CONST_LONG, SCM_VCELL,
1527 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL, SCM_VCELL_INIT, SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL_INIT,
1528 SCM_HUGE_LENGTH, SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING,
1529 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY, SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY,
1530 SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, DIGITS, scm_small_istr2int, scm_istr2int,
1531 scm_istr2flo, scm_istring2number, scm_istr2int, scm_istr2flo,
1532 scm_istring2number, scm_vtable_index_vcell, scm_si_vcell, SCM_ECONSP,
1533 SCM_NECONSP, SCM_GLOC_VAR, SCM_GLOC_VAL, SCM_GLOC_SET_VAL,
1534 SCM_GLOC_VAL_LOC, scm_make_gloc, scm_gloc_p, scm_tc16_variable,
1535 SCM_CHARS, SCM_LENGTH, SCM_SET_STRING_CHARS, SCM_SET_STRING_LENGTH.
1537 * Changes to bundled modules
1541 Using the (ice-9 debug) module no longer automatically switches Guile
1542 to use the debugging evaluator. If you want to switch to the
1543 debugging evaluator (which is needed for backtrace information if you
1544 hit an error), please add an explicit "(debug-enable 'debug)" to your
1545 code just after the code to use (ice-9 debug).
1548 Changes since Guile 1.4:
1550 * Changes to the distribution
1552 ** A top-level TODO file is included.
1554 ** Guile now uses a versioning scheme similar to that of the Linux kernel.
1556 Guile now always uses three numbers to represent the version,
1557 i.e. "1.6.5". The first number, 1, is the major version number, the
1558 second number, 6, is the minor version number, and the third number,
1559 5, is the micro version number. Changes in major version number
1560 indicate major changes in Guile.
1562 Minor version numbers that are even denote stable releases, and odd
1563 minor version numbers denote development versions (which may be
1564 unstable). The micro version number indicates a minor sub-revision of
1565 a given MAJOR.MINOR release.
1567 In keeping with the new scheme, (minor-version) and scm_minor_version
1568 no longer return everything but the major version number. They now
1569 just return the minor version number. Two new functions
1570 (micro-version) and scm_micro_version have been added to report the
1571 micro version number.
1573 In addition, ./GUILE-VERSION now defines GUILE_MICRO_VERSION.
1575 ** New preprocessor definitions are available for checking versions.
1577 version.h now #defines SCM_MAJOR_VERSION, SCM_MINOR_VERSION, and
1578 SCM_MICRO_VERSION to the appropriate integer values.
1580 ** Guile now actively warns about deprecated features.
1582 The new configure option `--enable-deprecated=LEVEL' and the
1583 environment variable GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATED control this mechanism.
1584 See INSTALL and README for more information.
1586 ** Guile is much more likely to work on 64-bit architectures.
1588 Guile now compiles and passes "make check" with only two UNRESOLVED GC
1589 cases on Alpha and ia64 based machines now. Thanks to John Goerzen
1590 for the use of a test machine, and thanks to Stefan Jahn for ia64
1593 ** New functions: setitimer and getitimer.
1595 These implement a fairly direct interface to the libc functions of the
1598 ** The #. reader extension is now disabled by default.
1600 For safety reasons, #. evaluation is disabled by default. To
1601 re-enable it, set the fluid read-eval? to #t. For example:
1603 (fluid-set! read-eval? #t)
1605 but make sure you realize the potential security risks involved. With
1606 read-eval? enabled, reading a data file from an untrusted source can
1609 ** New SRFI modules have been added:
1611 SRFI-0 `cond-expand' is now supported in Guile, without requiring
1614 (srfi srfi-1) is a library containing many useful pair- and list-processing
1617 (srfi srfi-2) exports and-let*.
1619 (srfi srfi-4) implements homogeneous numeric vector datatypes.
1621 (srfi srfi-6) is a dummy module for now, since guile already provides
1622 all of the srfi-6 procedures by default: open-input-string,
1623 open-output-string, get-output-string.
1625 (srfi srfi-8) exports receive.
1627 (srfi srfi-9) exports define-record-type.
1629 (srfi srfi-10) exports define-reader-ctor and implements the reader
1632 (srfi srfi-11) exports let-values and let*-values.
1634 (srfi srfi-13) implements the SRFI String Library.
1636 (srfi srfi-14) implements the SRFI Character-Set Library.
1638 (srfi srfi-17) implements setter and getter-with-setter and redefines
1639 some accessor procedures as procedures with getters. (such as car,
1640 cdr, vector-ref etc.)
1642 (srfi srfi-19) implements the SRFI Time/Date Library.
1644 ** New scripts / "executable modules"
1646 Subdirectory "scripts" contains Scheme modules that are packaged to
1647 also be executable as scripts. At this time, these scripts are available:
1656 See README there for more info.
1658 These scripts can be invoked from the shell with the new program
1659 "guile-tools", which keeps track of installation directory for you.
1662 $ guile-tools display-commentary srfi/*.scm
1664 guile-tools is copied to the standard $bindir on "make install".
1666 ** New module (ice-9 stack-catch):
1668 stack-catch is like catch, but saves the current state of the stack in
1669 the fluid the-last-stack. This fluid can be useful when using the
1670 debugger and when re-throwing an error.
1672 ** The module (ice-9 and-let*) has been renamed to (ice-9 and-let-star)
1674 This has been done to prevent problems on lesser operating systems
1675 that can't tolerate `*'s in file names. The exported macro continues
1676 to be named `and-let*', of course.
1678 On systems that support it, there is also a compatibility module named
1679 (ice-9 and-let*). It will go away in the next release.
1681 ** New modules (oop goops) etc.:
1684 (oop goops describe)
1686 (oop goops active-slot)
1687 (oop goops composite-slot)
1689 The Guile Object Oriented Programming System (GOOPS) has been
1690 integrated into Guile. For further information, consult the GOOPS
1691 manual and tutorial in the `doc' directory.
1693 ** New module (ice-9 rdelim).
1695 This exports the following procedures which were previously defined
1696 in the default environment:
1698 read-line read-line! read-delimited read-delimited! %read-delimited!
1699 %read-line write-line
1701 For backwards compatibility the definitions are still imported into the
1702 default environment in this version of Guile. However you should add:
1704 (use-modules (ice-9 rdelim))
1706 to any program which uses the definitions, since this may change in
1709 Alternatively, if guile-scsh is installed, the (scsh rdelim) module
1710 can be used for similar functionality.
1712 ** New module (ice-9 rw)
1714 This is a subset of the (scsh rw) module from guile-scsh. Currently
1715 it defines two procedures:
1717 *** New function: read-string!/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
1719 Read characters from a port or file descriptor into a string STR.
1720 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
1721 fport. This procedure is scsh-compatible and can efficiently read
1724 *** New function: write-string/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
1726 Write characters from a string STR to a port or file descriptor.
1727 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
1728 fport. This procedure is mostly compatible and can efficiently
1729 write large strings.
1731 ** New module (ice-9 match)
1733 This module includes Andrew K. Wright's pattern matcher. See
1734 ice-9/match.scm for brief description or
1736 http://www.star-lab.com/wright/code.html
1738 for complete documentation.
1740 ** New module (ice-9 buffered-input)
1742 This module provides procedures to construct an input port from an
1743 underlying source of input that reads and returns its input in chunks.
1744 The underlying input source is a Scheme procedure, specified by the
1745 caller, which the port invokes whenever it needs more input.
1747 This is useful when building an input port whose back end is Readline
1748 or a UI element such as the GtkEntry widget.
1752 The reference and tutorial documentation that was previously
1753 distributed separately, as `guile-doc', is now included in the core
1754 Guile distribution. The documentation consists of the following
1757 - The Guile Tutorial (guile-tut.texi) contains a tutorial introduction
1760 - The Guile Reference Manual (guile.texi) contains (or is intended to
1761 contain) reference documentation on all aspects of Guile.
1763 - The GOOPS Manual (goops.texi) contains both tutorial-style and
1764 reference documentation for using GOOPS, Guile's Object Oriented
1767 - The Revised^5 Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme
1770 See the README file in the `doc' directory for more details.
1772 ** There are a couple of examples in the examples/ directory now.
1774 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
1776 ** New command line option `--use-srfi'
1778 Using this option, SRFI modules can be loaded on startup and be
1779 available right from the beginning. This makes programming portable
1780 Scheme programs easier.
1782 The option `--use-srfi' expects a comma-separated list of numbers,
1783 each representing a SRFI number to be loaded into the interpreter
1784 before starting evaluating a script file or the REPL. Additionally,
1785 the feature identifier for the loaded SRFIs is recognized by
1786 `cond-expand' when using this option.
1789 $ guile --use-srfi=8,13
1790 guile> (receive (x z) (values 1 2) (+ 1 2))
1792 guile> (string-pad "bla" 20)
1795 ** Guile now always starts up in the `(guile-user)' module.
1797 Previously, scripts executed via the `-s' option would run in the
1798 `(guile)' module and the repl would run in the `(guile-user)' module.
1799 Now every user action takes place in the `(guile-user)' module by
1802 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
1804 ** Character classifiers work for non-ASCII characters.
1806 The predicates `char-alphabetic?', `char-numeric?',
1807 `char-whitespace?', `char-lower?', `char-upper?' and `char-is-both?'
1808 no longer check whether their arguments are ASCII characters.
1809 Previously, a character would only be considered alphabetic when it
1810 was also ASCII, for example.
1812 ** Previously deprecated Scheme functions have been removed:
1814 tag - no replacement.
1815 fseek - replaced by seek.
1816 list* - replaced by cons*.
1818 ** It's now possible to create modules with controlled environments
1822 (use-modules (ice-9 safe))
1823 (define m (make-safe-module))
1824 ;;; m will now be a module containing only a safe subset of R5RS
1825 (eval '(+ 1 2) m) --> 3
1826 (eval 'load m) --> ERROR: Unbound variable: load
1828 ** Evaluation of "()", the empty list, is now an error.
1830 Previously, the expression "()" evaluated to the empty list. This has
1831 been changed to signal a "missing expression" error. The correct way
1832 to write the empty list as a literal constant is to use quote: "'()".
1834 ** New concept of `Guile Extensions'.
1836 A Guile Extension is just a ordinary shared library that can be linked
1837 at run-time. We found it advantageous to give this simple concept a
1838 dedicated name to distinguish the issues related to shared libraries
1839 from the issues related to the module system.
1841 *** New function: load-extension
1843 Executing (load-extension lib init) is mostly equivalent to
1845 (dynamic-call init (dynamic-link lib))
1847 except when scm_register_extension has been called previously.
1848 Whenever appropriate, you should use `load-extension' instead of
1849 dynamic-link and dynamic-call.
1851 *** New C function: scm_c_register_extension
1853 This function registers a initialization function for use by
1854 `load-extension'. Use it when you don't want specific extensions to
1855 be loaded as shared libraries (for example on platforms that don't
1856 support dynamic linking).
1858 ** Auto-loading of compiled-code modules is deprecated.
1860 Guile used to be able to automatically find and link a shared
1861 library to satisfy requests for a module. For example, the module
1862 `(foo bar)' could be implemented by placing a shared library named
1863 "foo/libbar.so" (or with a different extension) in a directory on the
1866 This has been found to be too tricky, and is no longer supported. The
1867 shared libraries are now called "extensions". You should now write a
1868 small Scheme file that calls `load-extension' to load the shared
1869 library and initialize it explicitly.
1871 The shared libraries themselves should be installed in the usual
1872 places for shared libraries, with names like "libguile-foo-bar".
1874 For example, place this into a file "foo/bar.scm"
1876 (define-module (foo bar))
1878 (load-extension "libguile-foo-bar" "foobar_init")
1880 ** Backward incompatible change: eval EXP ENVIRONMENT-SPECIFIER
1882 `eval' is now R5RS, that is it takes two arguments.
1883 The second argument is an environment specifier, i.e. either
1885 (scheme-report-environment 5)
1886 (null-environment 5)
1887 (interaction-environment)
1893 ** The module system has been made more disciplined.
1895 The function `eval' will save and restore the current module around
1896 the evaluation of the specified expression. While this expression is
1897 evaluated, `(current-module)' will now return the right module, which
1898 is the module specified as the second argument to `eval'.
1900 A consequence of this change is that `eval' is not particularly
1901 useful when you want allow the evaluated code to change what module is
1902 designated as the current module and have this change persist from one
1903 call to `eval' to the next. The read-eval-print-loop is an example
1904 where `eval' is now inadequate. To compensate, there is a new
1905 function `primitive-eval' that does not take a module specifier and
1906 that does not save/restore the current module. You should use this
1907 function together with `set-current-module', `current-module', etc
1908 when you want to have more control over the state that is carried from
1909 one eval to the next.
1911 Additionally, it has been made sure that forms that are evaluated at
1912 the top level are always evaluated with respect to the current module.
1913 Previously, subforms of top-level forms such as `begin', `case',
1914 etc. did not respect changes to the current module although these
1915 subforms are at the top-level as well.
1917 To prevent strange behavior, the forms `define-module',
1918 `use-modules', `use-syntax', and `export' have been restricted to only
1919 work on the top level. The forms `define-public' and
1920 `defmacro-public' only export the new binding on the top level. They
1921 behave just like `define' and `defmacro', respectively, when they are
1922 used in a lexical environment.
1924 Also, `export' will no longer silently re-export bindings imported
1925 from a used module. It will emit a `deprecation' warning and will
1926 cease to perform any re-export in the next version. If you actually
1927 want to re-export bindings, use the new `re-export' in place of
1928 `export'. The new `re-export' will not make copies of variables when
1929 rexporting them, as `export' did wrongly.
1931 ** Module system now allows selection and renaming of imported bindings
1933 Previously, when using `use-modules' or the `#:use-module' clause in
1934 the `define-module' form, all the bindings (association of symbols to
1935 values) for imported modules were added to the "current module" on an
1936 as-is basis. This has been changed to allow finer control through two
1937 new facilities: selection and renaming.
1939 You can now select which of the imported module's bindings are to be
1940 visible in the current module by using the `:select' clause. This
1941 clause also can be used to rename individual bindings. For example:
1943 ;; import all bindings no questions asked
1944 (use-modules (ice-9 common-list))
1946 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them;
1947 ;; the current module sees: every some zonk-y zonk-n
1948 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1950 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1951 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))))
1953 You can also programmatically rename all selected bindings using the
1954 `:renamer' clause, which specifies a proc that takes a symbol and
1955 returns another symbol. Because it is common practice to use a prefix,
1956 we now provide the convenience procedure `symbol-prefix-proc'. For
1959 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
1960 ;; and all four w/ prefix "CL:";
1961 ;; the current module sees: CL:every CL:some CL:zonk-y CL:zonk-n
1962 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1964 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1965 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
1966 :renamer (symbol-prefix-proc 'CL:)))
1968 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
1969 ;; and all four by upcasing.
1970 ;; the current module sees: EVERY SOME ZONK-Y ZONK-N
1971 (define (upcase-symbol sym)
1972 (string->symbol (string-upcase (symbol->string sym))))
1974 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
1976 (remove-if . zonk-y)
1977 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
1978 :renamer upcase-symbol))
1980 Note that programmatic renaming is done *after* individual renaming.
1981 Also, the above examples show `use-modules', but the same facilities are
1982 available for the `#:use-module' clause of `define-module'.
1984 See manual for more info.
1986 ** The semantics of guardians have changed.
1988 The changes are for the most part compatible. An important criterion
1989 was to keep the typical usage of guardians as simple as before, but to
1990 make the semantics safer and (as a result) more useful.
1992 *** All objects returned from guardians are now properly alive.
1994 It is now guaranteed that any object referenced by an object returned
1995 from a guardian is alive. It's now impossible for a guardian to
1996 return a "contained" object before its "containing" object.
1998 One incompatible (but probably not very important) change resulting
1999 from this is that it is no longer possible to guard objects that
2000 indirectly reference themselves (i.e. are parts of cycles). If you do
2001 so accidentally, you'll get a warning.
2003 *** There are now two types of guardians: greedy and sharing.
2005 If you call (make-guardian #t) or just (make-guardian), you'll get a
2006 greedy guardian, and for (make-guardian #f) a sharing guardian.
2008 Greedy guardians are the default because they are more "defensive".
2009 You can only greedily guard an object once. If you guard an object
2010 more than once, once in a greedy guardian and the rest of times in
2011 sharing guardians, then it is guaranteed that the object won't be
2012 returned from sharing guardians as long as it is greedily guarded
2015 Guardians returned by calls to `make-guardian' can now take one more
2016 optional parameter, which says whether to throw an error in case an
2017 attempt is made to greedily guard an object that is already greedily
2018 guarded. The default is true, i.e. throw an error. If the parameter
2019 is false, the guardian invocation returns #t if guarding was
2020 successful and #f if it wasn't.
2022 Also, since greedy guarding is, in effect, a side-effecting operation
2023 on objects, a new function is introduced: `destroy-guardian!'.
2024 Invoking this function on a guardian renders it unoperative and, if
2025 the guardian is greedy, clears the "greedily guarded" property of the
2026 objects that were guarded by it, thus undoing the side effect.
2028 Note that all this hair is hardly very important, since guardian
2029 objects are usually permanent.
2031 ** Continuations created by call-with-current-continuation now accept
2032 any number of arguments, as required by R5RS.
2034 ** New function `issue-deprecation-warning'
2036 This function is used to display the deprecation messages that are
2037 controlled by GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATION as explained in the README.
2040 (issue-deprecation-warning "`id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.")
2044 ;; `id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.
2049 ** New syntax `begin-deprecated'
2051 When deprecated features are included (as determined by the configure
2052 option --enable-deprecated), `begin-deprecated' is identical to
2053 `begin'. When deprecated features are excluded, it always evaluates
2054 to `#f', ignoring the body forms.
2056 ** New function `make-object-property'
2058 This function returns a new `procedure with setter' P that can be used
2059 to attach a property to objects. When calling P as
2063 where `obj' is any kind of object, it attaches `val' to `obj' in such
2064 a way that it can be retrieved by calling P as
2068 This function will replace procedure properties, symbol properties and
2069 source properties eventually.
2071 ** Module (ice-9 optargs) now uses keywords instead of `#&'.
2073 Instead of #&optional, #&key, etc you should now use #:optional,
2074 #:key, etc. Since #:optional is a keyword, you can write it as just
2075 :optional when (read-set! keywords 'prefix) is active.
2077 The old reader syntax `#&' is still supported, but deprecated. It
2078 will be removed in the next release.
2080 ** New define-module option: pure
2082 Tells the module system not to include any bindings from the root
2087 (define-module (totally-empty-module)
2090 ** New define-module option: export NAME1 ...
2092 Export names NAME1 ...
2094 This option is required if you want to be able to export bindings from
2095 a module which doesn't import one of `define-public' or `export'.
2099 (define-module (foo)
2101 :use-module (ice-9 r5rs)
2104 ;;; Note that we're pure R5RS below this point!
2109 ** New function: object->string OBJ
2111 Return a Scheme string obtained by printing a given object.
2113 ** New function: port? X
2115 Returns a boolean indicating whether X is a port. Equivalent to
2116 `(or (input-port? X) (output-port? X))'.
2118 ** New function: file-port?
2120 Determines whether a given object is a port that is related to a file.
2122 ** New function: port-for-each proc
2124 Apply PROC to each port in the Guile port table in turn. The return
2125 value is unspecified. More specifically, PROC is applied exactly once
2126 to every port that exists in the system at the time PORT-FOR-EACH is
2127 invoked. Changes to the port table while PORT-FOR-EACH is running
2128 have no effect as far as PORT-FOR-EACH is concerned.
2130 ** New function: dup2 oldfd newfd
2132 A simple wrapper for the `dup2' system call. Copies the file
2133 descriptor OLDFD to descriptor number NEWFD, replacing the
2134 previous meaning of NEWFD. Both OLDFD and NEWFD must be integers.
2135 Unlike for dup->fdes or primitive-move->fdes, no attempt is made
2136 to move away ports which are using NEWFD. The return value is
2139 ** New function: close-fdes fd
2141 A simple wrapper for the `close' system call. Close file
2142 descriptor FD, which must be an integer. Unlike close (*note
2143 close: Ports and File Descriptors.), the file descriptor will be
2144 closed even if a port is using it. The return value is
2147 ** New function: crypt password salt
2149 Encrypts `password' using the standard unix password encryption
2152 ** New function: chroot path
2154 Change the root directory of the running process to `path'.
2156 ** New functions: getlogin, cuserid
2158 Return the login name or the user name of the current effective user
2161 ** New functions: getpriority which who, setpriority which who prio
2163 Get or set the priority of the running process.
2165 ** New function: getpass prompt
2167 Read a password from the terminal, first displaying `prompt' and
2170 ** New function: flock file operation
2172 Set/remove an advisory shared or exclusive lock on `file'.
2174 ** New functions: sethostname name, gethostname
2176 Set or get the hostname of the machine the current process is running
2179 ** New function: mkstemp! tmpl
2181 mkstemp creates a new unique file in the file system and returns a
2182 new buffered port open for reading and writing to the file. TMPL
2183 is a string specifying where the file should be created: it must
2184 end with `XXXXXX' and will be changed in place to return the name
2185 of the temporary file.
2187 ** New function: open-input-string string
2189 Return an input string port which delivers the characters from
2190 `string'. This procedure, together with `open-output-string' and
2191 `get-output-string' implements SRFI-6.
2193 ** New function: open-output-string
2195 Return an output string port which collects all data written to it.
2196 The data can then be retrieved by `get-output-string'.
2198 ** New function: get-output-string
2200 Return the contents of an output string port.
2202 ** New function: identity
2204 Return the argument.
2206 ** socket, connect, accept etc., now have support for IPv6. IPv6 addresses
2207 are represented in Scheme as integers with normal host byte ordering.
2209 ** New function: inet-pton family address
2211 Convert a printable string network address into an integer. Note that
2212 unlike the C version of this function, the result is an integer with
2213 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
2216 (inet-pton AF_INET "127.0.0.1") => 2130706433
2217 (inet-pton AF_INET6 "::1") => 1
2219 ** New function: inet-ntop family address
2221 Convert an integer network address into a printable string. Note that
2222 unlike the C version of this function, the input is an integer with
2223 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
2226 (inet-ntop AF_INET 2130706433) => "127.0.0.1"
2227 (inet-ntop AF_INET6 (- (expt 2 128) 1)) =>
2228 ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff
2232 Use `identity' instead.
2238 ** Deprecated: return-it
2242 ** Deprecated: string-character-length
2244 Use `string-length' instead.
2246 ** Deprecated: flags
2248 Use `logior' instead.
2250 ** Deprecated: close-all-ports-except.
2252 This was intended for closing ports in a child process after a fork,
2253 but it has the undesirable side effect of flushing buffers.
2254 port-for-each is more flexible.
2256 ** The (ice-9 popen) module now attempts to set up file descriptors in
2257 the child process from the current Scheme ports, instead of using the
2258 current values of file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 in the parent process.
2260 ** Removed function: builtin-weak-bindings
2262 There is no such concept as a weak binding any more.
2264 ** Removed constants: bignum-radix, scm-line-incrementors
2266 ** define-method: New syntax mandatory.
2268 The new method syntax is now mandatory:
2270 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ...) BODY ...)
2271 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ... . REST-ARG) BODY ...)
2273 ARG-SPEC ::= ARG-NAME | (ARG-NAME TYPE)
2274 REST-ARG ::= ARG-NAME
2276 If you have old code using the old syntax, import
2277 (oop goops old-define-method) before (oop goops) as in:
2279 (use-modules (oop goops old-define-method) (oop goops))
2281 ** Deprecated function: builtin-variable
2282 Removed function: builtin-bindings
2284 There is no longer a distinction between builtin or other variables.
2285 Use module system operations for all variables.
2287 ** Lazy-catch handlers are no longer allowed to return.
2289 That is, a call to `throw', `error', etc is now guaranteed to not
2292 ** Bugfixes for (ice-9 getopt-long)
2294 This module is now tested using test-suite/tests/getopt-long.test.
2295 The following bugs have been fixed:
2297 *** Parsing for options that are specified to have `optional' args now checks
2298 if the next element is an option instead of unconditionally taking it as the
2301 *** An error is now thrown for `--opt=val' when the option description
2302 does not specify `(value #t)' or `(value optional)'. This condition used to
2303 be accepted w/o error, contrary to the documentation.
2305 *** The error message for unrecognized options is now more informative.
2306 It used to be "not a record", an artifact of the implementation.
2308 *** The error message for `--opt' terminating the arg list (no value), when
2309 `(value #t)' is specified, is now more informative. It used to be "not enough
2312 *** "Clumped" single-char args now preserve trailing string, use it as arg.
2313 The expansion used to be like so:
2315 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "--xyz")
2317 Note that the "5d" is dropped. Now it is like so:
2319 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "5d" "--xyz")
2321 This enables single-char options to have adjoining arguments as long as their
2322 constituent characters are not potential single-char options.
2324 ** (ice-9 session) procedure `arity' now works with (ice-9 optargs) `lambda*'
2326 The `lambda*' and derivative forms in (ice-9 optargs) now set a procedure
2327 property `arglist', which can be retrieved by `arity'. The result is that
2328 `arity' can give more detailed information than before:
2332 guile> (use-modules (ice-9 optargs))
2333 guile> (define* (foo #:optional a b c) a)
2335 0 or more arguments in `lambda*:G0'.
2340 3 optional arguments: `a', `b' and `c'.
2341 guile> (define* (bar a b #:key c d #:allow-other-keys) a)
2343 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 2 keyword arguments: `c'
2344 and `d', other keywords allowed.
2345 guile> (define* (baz a b #:optional c #:rest r) a)
2347 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 1 optional argument: `c',
2350 * Changes to the C interface
2352 ** Types have been renamed from scm_*_t to scm_t_*.
2354 This has been done for POSIX sake. It reserves identifiers ending
2355 with "_t". What a concept.
2357 The old names are still available with status `deprecated'.
2359 ** scm_t_bits (former scm_bits_t) is now a unsigned type.
2361 ** Deprecated features have been removed.
2365 SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP SCM_ICHRP, SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR
2366 SCM_SETJMPBUF SCM_NSTRINGP SCM_NRWSTRINGP SCM_NVECTORP SCM_DOUBLE_CELLP
2368 *** C Functions removed
2370 scm_sysmissing scm_tag scm_tc16_flo scm_tc_flo
2371 scm_fseek - replaced by scm_seek.
2372 gc-thunk - replaced by after-gc-hook.
2373 gh_int2scmb - replaced by gh_bool2scm.
2374 scm_tc_dblr - replaced by scm_tc16_real.
2375 scm_tc_dblc - replaced by scm_tc16_complex.
2376 scm_list_star - replaced by scm_cons_star.
2378 ** Deprecated: scm_makfromstr
2380 Use scm_mem2string instead.
2382 ** Deprecated: scm_make_shared_substring
2384 Explicit shared substrings will disappear from Guile.
2386 Instead, "normal" strings will be implemented using sharing
2387 internally, combined with a copy-on-write strategy.
2389 ** Deprecated: scm_read_only_string_p
2391 The concept of read-only strings will disappear in next release of
2394 ** Deprecated: scm_sloppy_memq, scm_sloppy_memv, scm_sloppy_member
2396 Instead, use scm_c_memq or scm_memq, scm_memv, scm_member.
2398 ** New functions: scm_call_0, scm_call_1, scm_call_2, scm_call_3
2400 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments. See "Fly
2401 Evaluation" in the manual.
2403 ** New functions: scm_apply_0, scm_apply_1, scm_apply_2, scm_apply_3
2405 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments and a list of
2406 further arguments. See "Fly Evaluation" in the manual.
2408 ** New functions: scm_list_1, scm_list_2, scm_list_3, scm_list_4, scm_list_5
2410 Create a list of the given number of elements. See "List
2411 Constructors" in the manual.
2413 ** Renamed function: scm_listify has been replaced by scm_list_n.
2415 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_LIST0, SCM_LIST1, SCM_LIST2, SCM_LIST3, SCM_LIST4,
2416 SCM_LIST5, SCM_LIST6, SCM_LIST7, SCM_LIST8, SCM_LIST9.
2418 Use functions scm_list_N instead.
2420 ** New function: scm_c_read (SCM port, void *buffer, scm_sizet size)
2422 Used by an application to read arbitrary number of bytes from a port.
2423 Same semantics as libc read, except that scm_c_read only returns less
2424 than SIZE bytes if at end-of-file.
2426 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
2428 ** New function: scm_c_write (SCM port, const void *ptr, scm_sizet size)
2430 Used by an application to write arbitrary number of bytes to an SCM
2431 port. Similar semantics as libc write. However, unlike libc
2432 write, scm_c_write writes the requested number of bytes and has no
2435 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
2437 ** New function: scm_init_guile ()
2439 In contrast to scm_boot_guile, scm_init_guile will return normally
2440 after initializing Guile. It is not available on all systems, tho.
2442 ** New functions: scm_str2symbol, scm_mem2symbol
2444 The function scm_str2symbol takes a const char* pointing to a zero-terminated
2445 field of characters and creates a scheme symbol object from that C string.
2446 The function scm_mem2symbol takes a const char* and a number of characters and
2447 creates a symbol from the characters in that memory area.
2449 ** New functions: scm_primitive_make_property
2450 scm_primitive_property_ref
2451 scm_primitive_property_set_x
2452 scm_primitive_property_del_x
2454 These functions implement a new way to deal with object properties.
2455 See libguile/properties.c for their documentation.
2457 ** New function: scm_done_free (long size)
2459 This function is the inverse of scm_done_malloc. Use it to report the
2460 amount of smob memory you free. The previous method, which involved
2461 calling scm_done_malloc with negative argument, was somewhat
2462 unintuitive (and is still available, of course).
2464 ** New function: scm_c_memq (SCM obj, SCM list)
2466 This function provides a fast C level alternative for scm_memq for the case
2467 that the list parameter is known to be a proper list. The function is a
2468 replacement for scm_sloppy_memq, but is stricter in its requirements on its
2469 list input parameter, since for anything else but a proper list the function's
2470 behaviour is undefined - it may even crash or loop endlessly. Further, for
2471 the case that the object is not found in the list, scm_c_memq returns #f which
2472 is similar to scm_memq, but different from scm_sloppy_memq's behaviour.
2474 ** New functions: scm_remember_upto_here_1, scm_remember_upto_here_2,
2475 scm_remember_upto_here
2477 These functions replace the function scm_remember.
2479 ** Deprecated function: scm_remember
2481 Use one of the new functions scm_remember_upto_here_1,
2482 scm_remember_upto_here_2 or scm_remember_upto_here instead.
2484 ** New function: scm_allocate_string
2486 This function replaces the function scm_makstr.
2488 ** Deprecated function: scm_makstr
2490 Use the new function scm_allocate_string instead.
2492 ** New global variable scm_gc_running_p introduced.
2494 Use this variable to find out if garbage collection is being executed. Up to
2495 now applications have used scm_gc_heap_lock to test if garbage collection was
2496 running, which also works because of the fact that up to know only the garbage
2497 collector has set this variable. But, this is an implementation detail that
2498 may change. Further, scm_gc_heap_lock is not set throughout gc, thus the use
2499 of this variable is (and has been) not fully safe anyway.
2501 ** New macros: SCM_BITVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH
2503 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
2505 ** New macros: SCM_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_CCLO_LENGTH, SCM_STACK_LENGTH,
2506 SCM_STRING_LENGTH, SCM_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
2507 SCM_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_VECTOR_LENGTH.
2509 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH.
2511 ** New macros: SCM_SET_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_SET_STRING_LENGTH,
2512 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_SET_VECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
2513 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_LENGTH
2515 Use these instead of SCM_SETLENGTH
2517 ** New macros: SCM_STRING_CHARS, SCM_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_CCLO_BASE,
2518 SCM_VECTOR_BASE, SCM_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_BITVECTOR_BASE, SCM_COMPLEX_MEM,
2521 Use these instead of SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS, SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS or
2524 ** New macros: SCM_SET_BIGNUM_BASE, SCM_SET_STRING_CHARS,
2525 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_BASE,
2528 Use these instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
2530 ** New macro: SCM_BITVECTOR_P
2532 ** New macro: SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X
2534 Use instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
2536 ** New macros: SCM_DIR_OPEN_P, SCM_DIR_FLAG_OPEN
2538 For directory objects, use these instead of SCM_OPDIRP and SCM_OPN.
2540 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_OUTOFRANGE, SCM_NALLOC, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL,
2541 SCM_INT_SIGNAL, SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL,
2542 SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL, SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD,
2543 SCM_ORD_SIG, SCM_NUM_SIGS, SCM_SYMBOL_SLOTS, SCM_SLOTS, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP,
2544 SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_FREEP, SCM_NFREEP, SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS,
2545 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY,
2546 SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY, SCM_ROLENGTH, SCM_LENGTH, SCM_HUGE_LENGTH,
2547 SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR,
2548 SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_RWSTRINGP, SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, SCM_ROCHARS,
2549 SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_LENGTH_MAX, SCM_GC8MARKP,
2550 SCM_SETGC8MARK, SCM_CLRGC8MARK, SCM_GCTYP16, SCM_GCCDR, SCM_SUBR_DOC,
2551 SCM_OPDIRP, SCM_VALIDATE_OPDIR, SCM_WTA, RETURN_SCM_WTA, SCM_CONST_LONG,
2552 SCM_WNA, SCM_FUNC_NAME, SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_COPY,
2553 SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_DEF_COPY, SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP, SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP,
2554 SCM_SETAND_CDR, SCM_SETOR_CDR, SCM_SETAND_CAR, SCM_SETOR_CAR
2556 Use SCM_ASSERT_RANGE or SCM_VALIDATE_XXX_RANGE instead of SCM_OUTOFRANGE.
2557 Use scm_memory_error instead of SCM_NALLOC.
2558 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP.
2559 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR.
2560 Use SCM_FREE_CELL_P instead of SCM_FREEP/SCM_NFREEP
2561 Use a type specific accessor macro instead of SCM_CHARS/SCM_UCHARS.
2562 Use a type specific accessor instead of SCM(_|_RO|_HUGE_)LENGTH.
2563 Use SCM_VALIDATE_(SYMBOL|STRING) instead of SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING.
2564 Use SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
2565 Use SCM_STRINGP or SCM_SYMBOLP instead of SCM_ROSTRINGP.
2566 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_RWSTRINGP.
2567 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING.
2568 Use SCM_STRING_CHARS instead of SCM_ROCHARS.
2569 Use SCM_STRING_UCHARS instead of SCM_ROUCHARS.
2570 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETLENGTH.
2571 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
2572 Use a type specific length macro instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
2573 Use SCM_GCMARKP instead of SCM_GC8MARKP.
2574 Use SCM_SETGCMARK instead of SCM_SETGC8MARK.
2575 Use SCM_CLRGCMARK instead of SCM_CLRGC8MARK.
2576 Use SCM_TYP16 instead of SCM_GCTYP16.
2577 Use SCM_CDR instead of SCM_GCCDR.
2578 Use SCM_DIR_OPEN_P instead of SCM_OPDIRP.
2579 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of SCM_WTA.
2580 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of RETURN_SCM_WTA.
2581 Use SCM_VCELL_INIT instead of SCM_CONST_LONG.
2582 Use SCM_WRONG_NUM_ARGS instead of SCM_WNA.
2583 Use SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP.
2584 Use !SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP.
2586 ** Removed function: scm_struct_init
2588 ** Removed variable: scm_symhash_dim
2590 ** Renamed function: scm_make_cont has been replaced by
2591 scm_make_continuation, which has a different interface.
2593 ** Deprecated function: scm_call_catching_errors
2595 Use scm_catch or scm_lazy_catch from throw.[ch] instead.
2597 ** Deprecated function: scm_strhash
2599 Use scm_string_hash instead.
2601 ** Deprecated function: scm_vector_set_length_x
2603 Instead, create a fresh vector of the desired size and copy the contents.
2605 ** scm_gensym has changed prototype
2607 scm_gensym now only takes one argument.
2609 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc7_ssymbol, scm_tc7_msymbol, scm_tcs_symbols,
2612 There is now only a single symbol type scm_tc7_symbol.
2613 The tag scm_tc7_lvector was not used anyway.
2615 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe, scm_set_smob_mfpe.
2617 Use scm_make_smob_type and scm_set_smob_XXX instead.
2619 ** New function scm_set_smob_apply.
2621 This can be used to set an apply function to a smob type.
2623 ** Deprecated function: scm_strprint_obj
2625 Use scm_object_to_string instead.
2627 ** Deprecated function: scm_wta
2629 Use scm_wrong_type_arg, or another appropriate error signalling function
2632 ** Explicit support for obarrays has been deprecated.
2634 Use `scm_str2symbol' and the generic hashtable functions instead.
2636 ** The concept of `vcells' has been deprecated.
2638 The data type `variable' is now used exclusively. `Vcells' have been
2639 a low-level concept so you are likely not affected by this change.
2641 *** Deprecated functions: scm_sym2vcell, scm_sysintern,
2642 scm_sysintern0, scm_symbol_value0, scm_intern, scm_intern0.
2644 Use scm_c_define or scm_c_lookup instead, as appropriate.
2646 *** New functions: scm_c_module_lookup, scm_c_lookup,
2647 scm_c_module_define, scm_c_define, scm_module_lookup, scm_lookup,
2648 scm_module_define, scm_define.
2650 These functions work with variables instead of with vcells.
2652 ** New functions for creating and defining `subr's and `gsubr's.
2654 The new functions more clearly distinguish between creating a subr (or
2655 gsubr) object and adding it to the current module.
2657 These new functions are available: scm_c_make_subr, scm_c_define_subr,
2658 scm_c_make_subr_with_generic, scm_c_define_subr_with_generic,
2659 scm_c_make_gsubr, scm_c_define_gsubr, scm_c_make_gsubr_with_generic,
2660 scm_c_define_gsubr_with_generic.
2662 ** Deprecated functions: scm_make_subr, scm_make_subr_opt,
2663 scm_make_subr_with_generic, scm_make_gsubr,
2664 scm_make_gsubr_with_generic.
2666 Use the new ones from above instead.
2668 ** C interface to the module system has changed.
2670 While we suggest that you avoid as many explicit module system
2671 operations from C as possible for the time being, the C interface has
2672 been made more similar to the high-level Scheme module system.
2674 *** New functions: scm_c_define_module, scm_c_use_module,
2675 scm_c_export, scm_c_resolve_module.
2677 They mostly work like their Scheme namesakes. scm_c_define_module
2678 takes a function that is called a context where the new module is
2681 *** Deprecated functions: scm_the_root_module, scm_make_module,
2682 scm_ensure_user_module, scm_load_scheme_module.
2684 Use the new functions instead.
2686 ** Renamed function: scm_internal_with_fluids becomes
2689 scm_internal_with_fluids is available as a deprecated function.
2691 ** New function: scm_c_with_fluid.
2693 Just like scm_c_with_fluids, but takes one fluid and one value instead
2696 ** Deprecated typedefs: long_long, ulong_long.
2698 They are of questionable utility and they pollute the global
2701 ** Deprecated typedef: scm_sizet
2703 It is of questionable utility now that Guile requires ANSI C, and is
2706 ** Deprecated typedefs: scm_port_rw_active, scm_port,
2707 scm_ptob_descriptor, scm_debug_info, scm_debug_frame, scm_fport,
2708 scm_option, scm_rstate, scm_rng, scm_array, scm_array_dim.
2710 Made more compliant with the naming policy by adding a _t at the end.
2712 ** Deprecated functions: scm_mkbig, scm_big2num, scm_adjbig,
2713 scm_normbig, scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big, scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl
2715 With the exception of the mysterious scm_2ulong2big, they are still
2716 available under new names (scm_i_mkbig etc). These functions are not
2717 intended to be used in user code. You should avoid dealing with
2718 bignums directly, and should deal with numbers in general (which can
2721 ** Change in behavior: scm_num2long, scm_num2ulong
2723 The scm_num2[u]long functions don't any longer accept an inexact
2724 argument. This change in behavior is motivated by concordance with
2725 R5RS: It is more common that a primitive doesn't want to accept an
2726 inexact for an exact.
2728 ** New functions: scm_short2num, scm_ushort2num, scm_int2num,
2729 scm_uint2num, scm_size2num, scm_ptrdiff2num, scm_num2short,
2730 scm_num2ushort, scm_num2int, scm_num2uint, scm_num2ptrdiff,
2733 These are conversion functions between the various ANSI C integral
2734 types and Scheme numbers. NOTE: The scm_num2xxx functions don't
2735 accept an inexact argument.
2737 ** New functions: scm_float2num, scm_double2num,
2738 scm_num2float, scm_num2double.
2740 These are conversion functions between the two ANSI C float types and
2743 ** New number validation macros:
2744 SCM_NUM2{SIZE,PTRDIFF,SHORT,USHORT,INT,UINT}[_DEF]
2748 ** New functions: scm_gc_protect_object, scm_gc_unprotect_object
2750 These are just nicer-named old scm_protect_object and
2751 scm_unprotect_object.
2753 ** Deprecated functions: scm_protect_object, scm_unprotect_object
2755 ** New functions: scm_gc_[un]register_root, scm_gc_[un]register_roots
2757 These functions can be used to register pointers to locations that
2760 ** Deprecated function: scm_create_hook.
2762 Its sins are: misleading name, non-modularity and lack of general
2766 Changes since Guile 1.3.4:
2768 * Changes to the distribution
2770 ** Trees from nightly snapshots and CVS now require you to run autogen.sh.
2772 We've changed the way we handle generated files in the Guile source
2773 repository. As a result, the procedure for building trees obtained
2774 from the nightly FTP snapshots or via CVS has changed:
2775 - You must have appropriate versions of autoconf, automake, and
2776 libtool installed on your system. See README for info on how to
2777 obtain these programs.
2778 - Before configuring the tree, you must first run the script
2779 `autogen.sh' at the top of the source tree.
2781 The Guile repository used to contain not only source files, written by
2782 humans, but also some generated files, like configure scripts and
2783 Makefile.in files. Even though the contents of these files could be
2784 derived mechanically from other files present, we thought it would
2785 make the tree easier to build if we checked them into CVS.
2787 However, this approach means that minor differences between
2788 developer's installed tools and habits affected the whole team.
2789 So we have removed the generated files from the repository, and
2790 added the autogen.sh script, which will reconstruct them
2794 ** configure now has experimental options to remove support for certain
2797 --disable-arrays omit array and uniform array support
2798 --disable-posix omit posix interfaces
2799 --disable-networking omit networking interfaces
2800 --disable-regex omit regular expression interfaces
2802 These are likely to become separate modules some day.
2804 ** New configure option --enable-debug-freelist
2806 This enables a debugging version of SCM_NEWCELL(), and also registers
2807 an extra primitive, the setter `gc-set-debug-check-freelist!'.
2809 Configure with the --enable-debug-freelist option to enable
2810 the gc-set-debug-check-freelist! primitive, and then use:
2812 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #t) # turn on checking of the freelist
2813 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #f) # turn off checking
2815 Checking of the freelist forces a traversal of the freelist and
2816 a garbage collection before each allocation of a cell. This can
2817 slow down the interpreter dramatically, so the setter should be used to
2818 turn on this extra processing only when necessary.
2820 ** New configure option --enable-debug-malloc
2822 Include code for debugging of calls to scm_must_malloc/realloc/free.
2826 1. objects freed by scm_must_free has been mallocated by scm_must_malloc
2827 2. objects reallocated by scm_must_realloc has been allocated by
2829 3. reallocated objects are reallocated with the same what string
2831 But, most importantly, it records the number of allocated objects of
2832 each kind. This is useful when searching for memory leaks.
2834 A Guile compiled with this option provides the primitive
2835 `malloc-stats' which returns an alist with pairs of kind and the
2836 number of objects of that kind.
2838 ** All includes are now referenced relative to the root directory
2840 Since some users have had problems with mixups between Guile and
2841 system headers, we have decided to always refer to Guile headers via
2842 their parent directories. This essentially creates a "private name
2843 space" for Guile headers. This means that the compiler only is given
2844 -I options for the root build and root source directory.
2846 ** Header files kw.h and genio.h have been removed.
2848 ** The module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) has been removed.
2850 ** New module (ice-9 documentation)
2852 Implements the interface to documentation strings associated with
2855 ** New module (ice-9 time)
2857 Provides a macro `time', which displays execution time of a given form.
2859 ** New module (ice-9 history)
2861 Loading this module enables value history in the repl.
2863 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
2865 ** New command line option --debug
2867 Start Guile with debugging evaluator and backtraces enabled.
2869 This is useful when debugging your .guile init file or scripts.
2871 ** New help facility
2873 Usage: (help NAME) gives documentation about objects named NAME (a symbol)
2874 (help REGEXP) ditto for objects with names matching REGEXP (a string)
2875 (help 'NAME) gives documentation for NAME, even if it is not an object
2876 (help ,EXPR) gives documentation for object returned by EXPR
2877 (help (my module)) gives module commentary for `(my module)'
2878 (help) gives this text
2880 `help' searches among bindings exported from loaded modules, while
2881 `apropos' searches among bindings visible from the "current" module.
2883 Examples: (help help)
2885 (help "output-string")
2887 ** `help' and `apropos' now prints full module names
2889 ** Dynamic linking now uses libltdl from the libtool package.
2891 The old system dependent code for doing dynamic linking has been
2892 replaced with calls to the libltdl functions which do all the hairy
2895 The major improvement is that you can now directly pass libtool
2896 library names like "libfoo.la" to `dynamic-link' and `dynamic-link'
2897 will be able to do the best shared library job you can get, via
2900 The way dynamic libraries are found has changed and is not really
2901 portable across platforms, probably. It is therefore recommended to
2902 use absolute filenames when possible.
2904 If you pass a filename without an extension to `dynamic-link', it will
2905 try a few appropriate ones. Thus, the most platform ignorant way is
2906 to specify a name like "libfoo", without any directories and
2909 ** Guile COOP threads are now compatible with LinuxThreads
2911 Previously, COOP threading wasn't possible in applications linked with
2912 Linux POSIX threads due to their use of the stack pointer to find the
2913 thread context. This has now been fixed with a workaround which uses
2914 the pthreads to allocate the stack.
2916 ** New primitives: `pkgdata-dir', `site-dir', `library-dir'
2918 ** Positions of erring expression in scripts
2920 With version 1.3.4, the location of the erring expression in Guile
2921 scipts is no longer automatically reported. (This should have been
2922 documented before the 1.3.4 release.)
2924 You can get this information by enabling recording of positions of
2925 source expressions and running the debugging evaluator. Put this at
2926 the top of your script (or in your "site" file):
2928 (read-enable 'positions)
2929 (debug-enable 'debug)
2931 ** Backtraces in scripts
2933 It is now possible to get backtraces in scripts.
2937 (debug-enable 'debug 'backtrace)
2939 at the top of the script.
2941 (The first options enables the debugging evaluator.
2942 The second enables backtraces.)
2944 ** Part of module system symbol lookup now implemented in C
2946 The eval closure of most modules is now implemented in C. Since this
2947 was one of the bottlenecks for loading speed, Guile now loads code
2948 substantially faster than before.
2950 ** Attempting to get the value of an unbound variable now produces
2951 an exception with a key of 'unbound-variable instead of 'misc-error.
2953 ** The initial default output port is now unbuffered if it's using a
2954 tty device. Previously in this situation it was line-buffered.
2956 ** New hook: after-gc-hook
2958 after-gc-hook takes over the role of gc-thunk. This hook is run at
2959 the first SCM_TICK after a GC. (Thus, the code is run at the same
2960 point during evaluation as signal handlers.)
2962 Note that this hook should be used only for diagnostic and debugging
2963 purposes. It is not certain that it will continue to be well-defined
2964 when this hook is run in the future.
2966 C programmers: Note the new C level hooks scm_before_gc_c_hook,
2967 scm_before_sweep_c_hook, scm_after_gc_c_hook.
2969 ** Improvements to garbage collector
2971 Guile 1.4 has a new policy for triggering heap allocation and
2972 determining the sizes of heap segments. It fixes a number of problems
2975 1. The new policy can handle two separate pools of cells
2976 (2-word/4-word) better. (The old policy would run wild, allocating
2977 more and more memory for certain programs.)
2979 2. The old code would sometimes allocate far too much heap so that the
2980 Guile process became gigantic. The new code avoids this.
2982 3. The old code would sometimes allocate too little so that few cells
2983 were freed at GC so that, in turn, too much time was spent in GC.
2985 4. The old code would often trigger heap allocation several times in a
2986 row. (The new scheme predicts how large the segments needs to be
2987 in order not to need further allocation.)
2989 All in all, the new GC policy will make larger applications more
2992 The new GC scheme also is prepared for POSIX threading. Threads can
2993 allocate private pools of cells ("clusters") with just a single
2994 function call. Allocation of single cells from such a cluster can
2995 then proceed without any need of inter-thread synchronization.
2997 ** New environment variables controlling GC parameters
2999 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE Maximal segment size
3002 Allocation of 2-word cell heaps:
3004 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1 Size of initial heap segment in bytes
3007 GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1 Minimum number of freed cells at each
3008 GC in percent of total heap size
3011 Allocation of 4-word cell heaps
3012 (used for real numbers and misc other objects):
3014 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2
3016 (See entry "Way for application to customize GC parameters" under
3017 section "Changes to the scm_ interface" below.)
3019 ** Guile now implements reals using 4-word cells
3021 This speeds up computation with reals. (They were earlier allocated
3022 with `malloc'.) There is still some room for optimizations, however.
3024 ** Some further steps toward POSIX thread support have been taken
3026 *** Guile's critical sections (SCM_DEFER/ALLOW_INTS)
3027 don't have much effect any longer, and many of them will be removed in
3031 are only handled at the top of the evaluator loop, immediately after
3032 I/O, and in scm_equalp.
3034 *** The GC can allocate thread private pools of pairs.
3036 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
3038 ** close-input-port and close-output-port are now R5RS
3040 These procedures have been turned into primitives and have R5RS behaviour.
3042 ** New procedure: simple-format PORT MESSAGE ARG1 ...
3044 (ice-9 boot) makes `format' an alias for `simple-format' until possibly
3045 extended by the more sophisticated version in (ice-9 format)
3047 (simple-format port message . args)
3048 Write MESSAGE to DESTINATION, defaulting to `current-output-port'.
3049 MESSAGE can contain ~A (was %s) and ~S (was %S) escapes. When printed,
3050 the escapes are replaced with corresponding members of ARGS:
3051 ~A formats using `display' and ~S formats using `write'.
3052 If DESTINATION is #t, then use the `current-output-port',
3053 if DESTINATION is #f, then return a string containing the formatted text.
3054 Does not add a trailing newline."
3056 ** string-ref: the second argument is no longer optional.
3058 ** string, list->string: no longer accept strings in their arguments,
3059 only characters, for compatibility with R5RS.
3061 ** New procedure: port-closed? PORT
3062 Returns #t if PORT is closed or #f if it is open.
3064 ** Deprecated: list*
3066 The list* functionality is now provided by cons* (SRFI-1 compliant)
3068 ** New procedure: cons* ARG1 ARG2 ... ARGn
3070 Like `list', but the last arg provides the tail of the constructed list,
3071 returning (cons ARG1 (cons ARG2 (cons ... ARGn))).
3073 Requires at least one argument. If given one argument, that argument
3074 is returned as result.
3076 This function is called `list*' in some other Schemes and in Common LISP.
3078 ** Removed deprecated: serial-map, serial-array-copy!, serial-array-map!
3080 ** New procedure: object-documentation OBJECT
3082 Returns the documentation string associated with OBJECT. The
3083 procedure uses a caching mechanism so that subsequent lookups are
3086 Exported by (ice-9 documentation).
3088 ** module-name now returns full names of modules
3090 Previously, only the last part of the name was returned (`session' for
3091 `(ice-9 session)'). Ex: `(ice-9 session)'.
3093 * Changes to the gh_ interface
3095 ** Deprecated: gh_int2scmb
3097 Use gh_bool2scm instead.
3099 * Changes to the scm_ interface
3101 ** Guile primitives now carry docstrings!
3103 Thanks to Greg Badros!
3105 ** Guile primitives are defined in a new way: SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
3107 Now Guile primitives are defined using the SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
3108 macros and must contain a docstring that is extracted into foo.doc using a new
3109 guile-doc-snarf script (that uses guile-doc-snarf.awk).
3111 However, a major overhaul of these macros is scheduled for the next release of
3114 ** Guile primitives use a new technique for validation of arguments
3116 SCM_VALIDATE_* macros are defined to ease the redundancy and improve
3117 the readability of argument checking.
3119 ** All (nearly?) K&R prototypes for functions replaced with ANSI C equivalents.
3121 ** New macros: SCM_PACK, SCM_UNPACK
3123 Compose/decompose an SCM value.
3125 The SCM type is now treated as an abstract data type and may be defined as a
3126 long, a void* or as a struct, depending on the architecture and compile time
3127 options. This makes it easier to find several types of bugs, for example when
3128 SCM values are treated as integers without conversion. Values of the SCM type
3129 should be treated as "atomic" values. These macros are used when
3130 composing/decomposing an SCM value, either because you want to access
3131 individual bits, or because you want to treat it as an integer value.
3133 E.g., in order to set bit 7 in an SCM value x, use the expression
3135 SCM_PACK (SCM_UNPACK (x) | 0x80)
3137 ** The name property of hooks is deprecated.
3138 Thus, the use of SCM_HOOK_NAME and scm_make_hook_with_name is deprecated.
3140 You can emulate this feature by using object properties.
3142 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP, SCM_CRDY, SCM_ICHRP,
3143 SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR, SCM_SETJMPBUF, SCM_NSTRINGP, SCM_NRWSTRINGP,
3146 These macros will be removed in a future release of Guile.
3148 ** The following types, functions and macros from numbers.h are deprecated:
3149 scm_dblproc, SCM_UNEGFIXABLE, SCM_FLOBUFLEN, SCM_INEXP, SCM_CPLXP, SCM_REAL,
3150 SCM_IMAG, SCM_REALPART, scm_makdbl, SCM_SINGP, SCM_NUM2DBL, SCM_NO_BIGDIG
3152 ** Port internals: the rw_random variable in the scm_port structure
3153 must be set to non-zero in any random access port. In recent Guile
3154 releases it was only set for bidirectional random-access ports.
3156 ** Port internals: the seek ptob procedure is now responsible for
3157 resetting the buffers if required. The change was made so that in the
3158 special case of reading the current position (i.e., seek p 0 SEEK_CUR)
3159 the fport and strport ptobs can avoid resetting the buffers,
3160 in particular to avoid discarding unread chars. An existing port
3161 type can be fixed by adding something like the following to the
3162 beginning of the ptob seek procedure:
3164 if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_READ)
3165 scm_end_input (object);
3166 else if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_WRITE)
3167 ptob->flush (object);
3169 although to actually avoid resetting the buffers and discard unread
3170 chars requires further hacking that depends on the characteristics
3173 ** Deprecated functions: scm_fseek, scm_tag
3175 These functions are no longer used and will be removed in a future version.
3177 ** The scm_sysmissing procedure is no longer used in libguile.
3178 Unless it turns out to be unexpectedly useful to somebody, it will be
3179 removed in a future version.
3181 ** The format of error message strings has changed
3183 The two C procedures: scm_display_error and scm_error, as well as the
3184 primitive `scm-error', now use scm_simple_format to do their work.
3185 This means that the message strings of all code must be updated to use
3186 ~A where %s was used before, and ~S where %S was used before.
3188 During the period when there still are a lot of old Guiles out there,
3189 you might want to support both old and new versions of Guile.
3191 There are basically two methods to achieve this. Both methods use
3194 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(scm_simple_format)
3196 in your configure.in.
3198 Method 1: Use the string concatenation features of ANSI C's
3203 #ifdef HAVE_SCM_SIMPLE_FORMAT
3209 Then represent each of your error messages using a preprocessor macro:
3211 #define E_SPIDER_ERROR "There's a spider in your " ## FMT_S ## "!!!"
3215 (define fmt-s (if (defined? 'simple-format) "~S" "%S"))
3216 (define make-message string-append)
3218 (define e-spider-error (make-message "There's a spider in your " fmt-s "!!!"))
3220 Method 2: Use the oldfmt function found in doc/oldfmt.c.
3224 scm_misc_error ("picnic", scm_c_oldfmt0 ("There's a spider in your ~S!!!"),
3229 (scm-error 'misc-error "picnic" (oldfmt "There's a spider in your ~S!!!")
3233 ** Deprecated: coop_mutex_init, coop_condition_variable_init
3235 Don't use the functions coop_mutex_init and
3236 coop_condition_variable_init. They will change.
3238 Use scm_mutex_init and scm_cond_init instead.
3240 ** New function: int scm_cond_timedwait (scm_cond_t *COND, scm_mutex_t *MUTEX, const struct timespec *ABSTIME)
3241 `scm_cond_timedwait' atomically unlocks MUTEX and waits on
3242 COND, as `scm_cond_wait' does, but it also bounds the duration
3243 of the wait. If COND has not been signaled before time ABSTIME,
3244 the mutex MUTEX is re-acquired and `scm_cond_timedwait'
3245 returns the error code `ETIMEDOUT'.
3247 The ABSTIME parameter specifies an absolute time, with the same
3248 origin as `time' and `gettimeofday': an ABSTIME of 0 corresponds
3249 to 00:00:00 GMT, January 1, 1970.
3251 ** New function: scm_cond_broadcast (scm_cond_t *COND)
3252 `scm_cond_broadcast' restarts all the threads that are waiting
3253 on the condition variable COND. Nothing happens if no threads are
3256 ** New function: scm_key_create (scm_key_t *KEY, void (*destr_function) (void *))
3257 `scm_key_create' allocates a new TSD key. The key is stored in
3258 the location pointed to by KEY. There is no limit on the number
3259 of keys allocated at a given time. The value initially associated
3260 with the returned key is `NULL' in all currently executing threads.
3262 The DESTR_FUNCTION argument, if not `NULL', specifies a destructor
3263 function associated with the key. When a thread terminates,
3264 DESTR_FUNCTION is called on the value associated with the key in
3265 that thread. The DESTR_FUNCTION is not called if a key is deleted
3266 with `scm_key_delete' or a value is changed with
3267 `scm_setspecific'. The order in which destructor functions are
3268 called at thread termination time is unspecified.
3270 Destructors are not yet implemented.
3272 ** New function: scm_setspecific (scm_key_t KEY, const void *POINTER)
3273 `scm_setspecific' changes the value associated with KEY in the
3274 calling thread, storing the given POINTER instead.
3276 ** New function: scm_getspecific (scm_key_t KEY)
3277 `scm_getspecific' returns the value currently associated with
3278 KEY in the calling thread.
3280 ** New function: scm_key_delete (scm_key_t KEY)
3281 `scm_key_delete' deallocates a TSD key. It does not check
3282 whether non-`NULL' values are associated with that key in the
3283 currently executing threads, nor call the destructor function
3284 associated with the key.
3286 ** New function: scm_c_hook_init (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *HOOK_DATA, scm_c_hook_type_t TYPE)
3288 Initialize a C level hook HOOK with associated HOOK_DATA and type
3289 TYPE. (See scm_c_hook_run ().)
3291 ** New function: scm_c_hook_add (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA, int APPENDP)
3293 Add hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA to HOOK. If APPENDP
3294 is true, add it last, otherwise first. The same FUNC can be added
3295 multiple times if FUNC_DATA differ and vice versa.
3297 ** New function: scm_c_hook_remove (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA)
3299 Remove hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA from HOOK. A
3300 function is only removed if both FUNC and FUNC_DATA matches.
3302 ** New function: void *scm_c_hook_run (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *DATA)
3304 Run hook HOOK passing DATA to the hook functions.
3306 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_NORMAL, all hook functions are run. The value
3307 returned is undefined.
3309 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_OR, hook functions are run until a function
3310 returns a non-NULL value. This value is returned as the result of
3311 scm_c_hook_run. If all functions return NULL, NULL is returned.
3313 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_AND, hook functions are run until a function
3314 returns a NULL value, and NULL is returned. If all functions returns
3315 a non-NULL value, the last value is returned.
3317 ** New C level GC hooks
3319 Five new C level hooks has been added to the garbage collector.
3321 scm_before_gc_c_hook
3324 are run before locking and after unlocking the heap. The system is
3325 thus in a mode where evaluation can take place. (Except that
3326 scm_before_gc_c_hook must not allocate new cells.)
3328 scm_before_mark_c_hook
3329 scm_before_sweep_c_hook
3330 scm_after_sweep_c_hook
3332 are run when the heap is locked. These are intended for extension of
3333 the GC in a modular fashion. Examples are the weaks and guardians
3336 ** Way for application to customize GC parameters
3338 The application can set up other default values for the GC heap
3339 allocation parameters
3341 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_1, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1,
3342 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2,
3343 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE,
3347 scm_default_init_heap_size_1, scm_default_min_yield_1,
3348 scm_default_init_heap_size_2, scm_default_min_yield_2,
3349 scm_default_max_segment_size
3351 respectively before callong scm_boot_guile.
3353 (See entry "New environment variables ..." in section
3354 "Changes to the stand-alone interpreter" above.)
3356 ** scm_protect_object/scm_unprotect_object now nest
3358 This means that you can call scm_protect_object multiple times on an
3359 object and count on the object being protected until
3360 scm_unprotect_object has been call the same number of times.
3362 The functions also have better time complexity.
3364 Still, it is usually possible to structure the application in a way
3365 that you don't need to use these functions. For example, if you use a
3366 protected standard Guile list to keep track of live objects rather
3367 than some custom data type, objects will die a natural death when they
3368 are no longer needed.
3370 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc16_flo, scm_tc_flo, scm_tc_dblr, scm_tc_dblc
3372 Guile does not provide the float representation for inexact real numbers any
3373 more. Now, only doubles are used to represent inexact real numbers. Further,
3374 the tag names scm_tc_dblr and scm_tc_dblc have been changed to scm_tc16_real
3375 and scm_tc16_complex, respectively.
3377 ** Removed deprecated type scm_smobfuns
3379 ** Removed deprecated function scm_newsmob
3381 ** Warning: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe might become deprecated in a future release
3383 There is an ongoing discussion among the developers whether to
3384 deprecate `scm_make_smob_type_mfpe' or not. Please use the current
3385 standard interface (scm_make_smob_type, scm_set_smob_XXX) in new code
3386 until this issue has been settled.
3388 ** Removed deprecated type tag scm_tc16_kw
3390 ** Added type tag scm_tc16_keyword
3392 (This was introduced already in release 1.3.4 but was not documented
3395 ** gdb_print now prints "*** Guile not initialized ***" until Guile initialized
3397 * Changes to system call interfaces:
3399 ** The "select" procedure now tests port buffers for the ability to
3400 provide input or accept output. Previously only the underlying file
3401 descriptors were checked.
3403 ** New variable PIPE_BUF: the maximum number of bytes that can be
3404 atomically written to a pipe.
3406 ** If a facility is not available on the system when Guile is
3407 compiled, the corresponding primitive procedure will not be defined.
3408 Previously it would have been defined but would throw a system-error
3409 exception if called. Exception handlers which catch this case may
3410 need minor modification: an error will be thrown with key
3411 'unbound-variable instead of 'system-error. Alternatively it's
3412 now possible to use `defined?' to check whether the facility is
3415 ** Procedures which depend on the timezone should now give the correct
3416 result on systems which cache the TZ environment variable, even if TZ
3417 is changed without calling tzset.
3419 * Changes to the networking interfaces:
3421 ** New functions: htons, ntohs, htonl, ntohl: for converting short and
3422 long integers between network and host format. For now, it's not
3423 particularly convenient to do this kind of thing, but consider:
3425 (define write-network-long
3426 (lambda (value port)
3427 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
3428 (uniform-vector-set! v 0 (htonl value))
3429 (uniform-vector-write v port))))
3431 (define read-network-long
3433 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
3434 (uniform-vector-read! v port)
3435 (ntohl (uniform-vector-ref v 0)))))
3437 ** If inet-aton fails, it now throws an error with key 'misc-error
3438 instead of 'system-error, since errno is not relevant.
3440 ** Certain gethostbyname/gethostbyaddr failures now throw errors with
3441 specific keys instead of 'system-error. The latter is inappropriate
3442 since errno will not have been set. The keys are:
3443 'host-not-found, 'try-again, 'no-recovery and 'no-data.
3445 ** sethostent, setnetent, setprotoent, setservent: now take an
3446 optional argument STAYOPEN, which specifies whether the database
3447 remains open after a database entry is accessed randomly (e.g., using
3448 gethostbyname for the hosts database.) The default is #f. Previously
3452 Changes since Guile 1.3.2:
3454 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
3458 An initial version of the Guile debugger written by Chris Hanson has
3459 been added. The debugger is still under development but is included
3460 in the distribution anyway since it is already quite useful.
3466 after an error to enter the debugger. Type `help' inside the debugger
3467 for a description of available commands.
3469 If you prefer to have stack frames numbered and printed in
3470 anti-chronological order and prefer up in the stack to be down on the
3471 screen as is the case in gdb, you can put
3473 (debug-enable 'backwards)
3475 in your .guile startup file. (However, this means that Guile can't
3476 use indentation to indicate stack level.)
3478 The debugger is autoloaded into Guile at the first use.
3480 ** Further enhancements to backtraces
3482 There is a new debug option `width' which controls the maximum width
3483 on the screen of printed stack frames. Fancy printing parameters
3484 ("level" and "length" as in Common LISP) are adaptively adjusted for
3485 each stack frame to give maximum information while still fitting
3486 within the bounds. If the stack frame can't be made to fit by
3487 adjusting parameters, it is simply cut off at the end. This is marked
3490 ** Some modules are now only loaded when the repl is started
3492 The modules (ice-9 debug), (ice-9 session), (ice-9 threads) and (ice-9
3493 regex) are now loaded into (guile-user) only if the repl has been
3494 started. The effect is that the startup time for scripts has been
3495 reduced to 30% of what it was previously.
3497 Correctly written scripts load the modules they require at the top of
3498 the file and should not be affected by this change.
3500 ** Hooks are now represented as smobs
3502 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
3504 ** Readline support has changed again.
3506 The old (readline-activator) module is gone. Use (ice-9 readline)
3507 instead, which now contains all readline functionality. So the code
3508 to activate readline is now
3510 (use-modules (ice-9 readline))
3513 This should work at any time, including from the guile prompt.
3515 To avoid confusion about the terms of Guile's license, please only
3516 enable readline for your personal use; please don't make it the
3517 default for others. Here is why we make this rather odd-sounding
3520 Guile is normally licensed under a weakened form of the GNU General
3521 Public License, which allows you to link code with Guile without
3522 placing that code under the GPL. This exception is important to some
3525 However, since readline is distributed under the GNU General Public
3526 License, when you link Guile with readline, either statically or
3527 dynamically, you effectively change Guile's license to the strict GPL.
3528 Whenever you link any strictly GPL'd code into Guile, uses of Guile
3529 which are normally permitted become forbidden. This is a rather
3530 non-obvious consequence of the licensing terms.
3532 So, to make sure things remain clear, please let people choose for
3533 themselves whether to link GPL'd libraries like readline with Guile.
3535 ** regexp-substitute/global has changed slightly, but incompatibly.
3537 If you include a function in the item list, the string of the match
3538 object it receives is the same string passed to
3539 regexp-substitute/global, not some suffix of that string.
3540 Correspondingly, the match's positions are relative to the entire
3541 string, not the suffix.
3543 If the regexp can match the empty string, the way matches are chosen
3544 from the string has changed. regexp-substitute/global recognizes the
3545 same set of matches that list-matches does; see below.
3547 ** New function: list-matches REGEXP STRING [FLAGS]
3549 Return a list of match objects, one for every non-overlapping, maximal
3550 match of REGEXP in STRING. The matches appear in left-to-right order.
3551 list-matches only reports matches of the empty string if there are no
3552 other matches which begin on, end at, or include the empty match's
3555 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
3557 ** New function: fold-matches REGEXP STRING INIT PROC [FLAGS]
3559 For each match of REGEXP in STRING, apply PROC to the match object,
3560 and the last value PROC returned, or INIT for the first call. Return
3561 the last value returned by PROC. We apply PROC to the matches as they
3562 appear from left to right.
3564 This function recognizes matches according to the same criteria as
3567 Thus, you could define list-matches like this:
3569 (define (list-matches regexp string . flags)
3570 (reverse! (apply fold-matches regexp string '() cons flags)))
3572 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
3576 *** New function: hook? OBJ
3578 Return #t if OBJ is a hook, otherwise #f.
3580 *** New function: make-hook-with-name NAME [ARITY]
3582 Return a hook with name NAME and arity ARITY. The default value for
3583 ARITY is 0. The only effect of NAME is that it will appear when the
3584 hook object is printed to ease debugging.
3586 *** New function: hook-empty? HOOK
3588 Return #t if HOOK doesn't contain any procedures, otherwise #f.
3590 *** New function: hook->list HOOK
3592 Return a list of the procedures that are called when run-hook is
3595 ** `map' signals an error if its argument lists are not all the same length.
3597 This is the behavior required by R5RS, so this change is really a bug
3598 fix. But it seems to affect a lot of people's code, so we're
3599 mentioning it here anyway.
3601 ** Print-state handling has been made more transparent
3603 Under certain circumstances, ports are represented as a port with an
3604 associated print state. Earlier, this pair was represented as a pair
3605 (see "Some magic has been added to the printer" below). It is now
3606 indistinguishable (almost; see `get-print-state') from a port on the
3609 *** New function: port-with-print-state OUTPUT-PORT PRINT-STATE
3611 Return a new port with the associated print state PRINT-STATE.
3613 *** New function: get-print-state OUTPUT-PORT
3615 Return the print state associated with this port if it exists,
3616 otherwise return #f.
3618 *** New function: directory-stream? OBJECT
3620 Returns true iff OBJECT is a directory stream --- the sort of object
3621 returned by `opendir'.
3623 ** New function: using-readline?
3625 Return #t if readline is in use in the current repl.
3627 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
3629 Structs will be replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into Guile
3630 and use GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
3632 * Changes to the scm_ interface
3634 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
3636 The entire current struct interface (struct.c, struct.h) will be
3637 replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into libguile and use
3638 GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
3640 ** The internal representation of subr's has changed
3642 Instead of giving a hint to the subr name, the CAR field of the subr
3643 now contains an index to a subr entry in scm_subr_table.
3645 *** New variable: scm_subr_table
3647 An array of subr entries. A subr entry contains the name, properties
3648 and documentation associated with the subr. The properties and
3649 documentation slots are not yet used.
3651 ** A new scheme for "forwarding" calls to a builtin to a generic function
3653 It is now possible to extend the functionality of some Guile
3654 primitives by letting them defer a call to a GOOPS generic function on
3655 argument mismatch. This means that there is no loss of efficiency in
3660 (use-modules (oop goops)) ; Must be GOOPS version 0.2.
3661 (define-method + ((x <string>) (y <string>))
3662 (string-append x y))
3664 + will still be as efficient as usual in numerical calculations, but
3665 can also be used for concatenating strings.
3667 Who will be the first one to extend Guile's numerical tower to
3668 rationals? :) [OK, there a few other things to fix before this can
3669 be made in a clean way.]
3671 *** New snarf macros for defining primitives: SCM_GPROC, SCM_GPROC1
3673 New macro: SCM_GPROC (CNAME, SNAME, REQ, OPT, VAR, CFUNC, GENERIC)
3675 New macro: SCM_GPROC1 (CNAME, SNAME, TYPE, CFUNC, GENERIC)
3677 These do the same job as SCM_PROC and SCM_PROC1, but they also define
3678 a variable GENERIC which can be used by the dispatch macros below.
3680 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3682 *** New macros for forwarding control to a generic on arg type error
3684 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_1 (GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
3686 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
3688 These correspond to the scm_wta function call, and have the same
3689 behaviour until the user has called the GOOPS primitive
3690 `enable-primitive-generic!'. After that, these macros will apply the
3691 generic function GENERIC to the argument(s) instead of calling
3694 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3696 *** New macros for argument testing with generic dispatch
3698 New macro: SCM_GASSERT1 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
3700 New macro: SCM_GASSERT2 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
3702 These correspond to the SCM_ASSERT macro, but will defer control to
3703 GENERIC on error after `enable-primitive-generic!' has been called.
3705 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
3707 ** New function: SCM scm_eval_body (SCM body, SCM env)
3709 Evaluates the body of a special form.
3711 ** The internal representation of struct's has changed
3713 Previously, four slots were allocated for the procedure(s) of entities
3714 and operators. The motivation for this representation had to do with
3715 the structure of the evaluator, the wish to support tail-recursive
3716 generic functions, and efficiency. Since the generic function
3717 dispatch mechanism has changed, there is no longer a need for such an
3718 expensive representation, and the representation has been simplified.
3720 This should not make any difference for most users.
3722 ** GOOPS support has been cleaned up.
3724 Some code has been moved from eval.c to objects.c and code in both of
3725 these compilation units has been cleaned up and better structured.
3727 *** New functions for applying generic functions
3729 New function: SCM scm_apply_generic (GENERIC, ARGS)
3730 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_0 (GENERIC)
3731 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_1 (GENERIC, ARG1)
3732 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2)
3733 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_3 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, ARG3)
3735 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_named_hook
3737 It is now replaced by:
3739 ** New function: SCM scm_create_hook (const char *name, int arity)
3741 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
3742 binds a variable named NAME to it.
3744 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
3746 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module.
3747 This might change when we get the new module system.
3749 [The behaviour is identical to scm_make_named_hook.]
3753 Changes since Guile 1.3:
3755 * Changes to mailing lists
3757 ** Some of the Guile mailing lists have moved to sourceware.cygnus.com.
3759 See the README file to find current addresses for all the Guile
3762 * Changes to the distribution
3764 ** Readline support is no longer included with Guile by default.
3766 Based on the different license terms of Guile and Readline, we
3767 concluded that Guile should not *by default* cause the linking of
3768 Readline into an application program. Readline support is now offered
3769 as a separate module, which is linked into an application only when
3770 you explicitly specify it.
3772 Although Guile is GNU software, its distribution terms add a special
3773 exception to the usual GNU General Public License (GPL). Guile's
3774 license includes a clause that allows you to link Guile with non-free
3775 programs. We add this exception so as not to put Guile at a
3776 disadvantage vis-a-vis other extensibility packages that support other
3779 In contrast, the GNU Readline library is distributed under the GNU
3780 General Public License pure and simple. This means that you may not
3781 link Readline, even dynamically, into an application unless it is
3782 distributed under a free software license that is compatible the GPL.
3784 Because of this difference in distribution terms, an application that
3785 can use Guile may not be able to use Readline. Now users will be
3786 explicitly offered two independent decisions about the use of these
3789 You can activate the readline support by issuing
3791 (use-modules (readline-activator))
3794 from your ".guile" file, for example.
3796 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
3798 ** All builtins now print as primitives.
3799 Previously builtin procedures not belonging to the fundamental subr
3800 types printed as #<compiled closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>.
3801 Now, they print as #<primitive-procedure NAME>.
3803 ** Backtraces slightly more intelligible.
3804 gsubr-apply and macro transformer application frames no longer appear
3807 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
3809 ** Guile now correctly handles internal defines by rewriting them into
3810 their equivalent letrec. Previously, internal defines would
3811 incrementally add to the innermost environment, without checking
3812 whether the restrictions specified in RnRS were met. This lead to the
3813 correct behaviour when these restriction actually were met, but didn't
3814 catch all illegal uses. Such an illegal use could lead to crashes of
3815 the Guile interpreter or or other unwanted results. An example of
3816 incorrect internal defines that made Guile behave erratically:
3828 The problem with this example is that the definition of `c' uses the
3829 value of `b' directly. This confuses the meoization machine of Guile
3830 so that the second call of `b' (this time in a larger environment that
3831 also contains bindings for `c' and `d') refers to the binding of `c'
3832 instead of `a'. You could also make Guile crash with a variation on
3837 (define (b flag) (if flag a 1))
3838 (define c (1+ (b flag)))
3846 From now on, Guile will issue an `Unbound variable: b' error message
3851 A hook contains a list of functions which should be called on
3852 particular occasions in an existing program. Hooks are used for
3855 A window manager might have a hook before-window-map-hook. The window
3856 manager uses the function run-hooks to call all functions stored in
3857 before-window-map-hook each time a window is mapped. The user can
3858 store functions in the hook using add-hook!.
3860 In Guile, hooks are first class objects.
3862 *** New function: make-hook [N_ARGS]
3864 Return a hook for hook functions which can take N_ARGS arguments.
3865 The default value for N_ARGS is 0.
3867 (See also scm_make_named_hook below.)
3869 *** New function: add-hook! HOOK PROC [APPEND_P]
3871 Put PROC at the beginning of the list of functions stored in HOOK.
3872 If APPEND_P is supplied, and non-false, put PROC at the end instead.
3874 PROC must be able to take the number of arguments specified when the
3877 If PROC already exists in HOOK, then remove it first.
3879 *** New function: remove-hook! HOOK PROC
3881 Remove PROC from the list of functions in HOOK.
3883 *** New function: reset-hook! HOOK
3885 Clear the list of hook functions stored in HOOK.
3887 *** New function: run-hook HOOK ARG1 ...
3889 Run all hook functions stored in HOOK with arguments ARG1 ... .
3890 The number of arguments supplied must correspond to the number given
3891 when the hook was created.
3893 ** The function `dynamic-link' now takes optional keyword arguments.
3894 The only keyword argument that is currently defined is `:global
3895 BOOL'. With it, you can control whether the shared library will be
3896 linked in global mode or not. In global mode, the symbols from the
3897 linked library can be used to resolve references from other
3898 dynamically linked libraries. In non-global mode, the linked
3899 library is essentially invisible and can only be accessed via
3900 `dynamic-func', etc. The default is now to link in global mode.
3901 Previously, the default has been non-global mode.
3903 The `#:global' keyword is only effective on platforms that support
3904 the dlopen family of functions.
3906 ** New function `provided?'
3908 - Function: provided? FEATURE
3909 Return true iff FEATURE is supported by this installation of
3910 Guile. FEATURE must be a symbol naming a feature; the global
3911 variable `*features*' is a list of available features.
3913 ** Changes to the module (ice-9 expect):
3915 *** The expect-strings macro now matches `$' in a regular expression
3916 only at a line-break or end-of-file by default. Previously it would
3917 match the end of the string accumulated so far. The old behaviour
3918 can be obtained by setting the variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
3921 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
3922 for the regexp-exec flags. If `regexp/noteol' is included, then `$'
3923 in a regular expression will still match before a line-break or
3924 end-of-file. The default is `regexp/noteol'.
3926 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable
3927 `expect-strings-compile-flags' for the flags to be supplied to
3928 `make-regexp'. The default is `regexp/newline', which was previously
3931 *** The expect macro now supplies two arguments to a match procedure:
3932 the current accumulated string and a flag to indicate whether
3933 end-of-file has been reached. Previously only the string was supplied.
3934 If end-of-file is reached, the match procedure will be called an
3935 additional time with the same accumulated string as the previous call
3936 but with the flag set.
3938 ** New module (ice-9 format), implementing the Common Lisp `format' function.
3940 This code, and the documentation for it that appears here, was
3941 borrowed from SLIB, with minor adaptations for Guile.
3943 - Function: format DESTINATION FORMAT-STRING . ARGUMENTS
3944 An almost complete implementation of Common LISP format description
3945 according to the CL reference book `Common LISP' from Guy L.
3946 Steele, Digital Press. Backward compatible to most of the
3947 available Scheme format implementations.
3949 Returns `#t', `#f' or a string; has side effect of printing
3950 according to FORMAT-STRING. If DESTINATION is `#t', the output is
3951 to the current output port and `#t' is returned. If DESTINATION
3952 is `#f', a formatted string is returned as the result of the call.
3953 NEW: If DESTINATION is a string, DESTINATION is regarded as the
3954 format string; FORMAT-STRING is then the first argument and the
3955 output is returned as a string. If DESTINATION is a number, the
3956 output is to the current error port if available by the
3957 implementation. Otherwise DESTINATION must be an output port and
3960 FORMAT-STRING must be a string. In case of a formatting error
3961 format returns `#f' and prints a message on the current output or
3962 error port. Characters are output as if the string were output by
3963 the `display' function with the exception of those prefixed by a
3964 tilde (~). For a detailed description of the FORMAT-STRING syntax
3965 please consult a Common LISP format reference manual. For a test
3966 suite to verify this format implementation load `formatst.scm'.
3967 Please send bug reports to `lutzeb@cs.tu-berlin.de'.
3969 Note: `format' is not reentrant, i.e. only one `format'-call may
3970 be executed at a time.
3973 *** Format Specification (Format version 3.0)
3975 Please consult a Common LISP format reference manual for a detailed
3976 description of the format string syntax. For a demonstration of the
3977 implemented directives see `formatst.scm'.
3979 This implementation supports directive parameters and modifiers (`:'
3980 and `@' characters). Multiple parameters must be separated by a comma
3981 (`,'). Parameters can be numerical parameters (positive or negative),
3982 character parameters (prefixed by a quote character (`''), variable
3983 parameters (`v'), number of rest arguments parameter (`#'), empty and
3984 default parameters. Directive characters are case independent. The
3985 general form of a directive is:
3987 DIRECTIVE ::= ~{DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER,}[:][@]DIRECTIVE-CHARACTER
3989 DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER ::= [ [-|+]{0-9}+ | 'CHARACTER | v | # ]
3991 *** Implemented CL Format Control Directives
3993 Documentation syntax: Uppercase characters represent the
3994 corresponding control directive characters. Lowercase characters
3995 represent control directive parameter descriptions.
3998 Any (print as `display' does).
4002 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARA'
4006 S-expression (print as `write' does).
4010 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARS'
4016 print number sign always.
4019 print comma separated.
4021 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARD'
4027 print number sign always.
4030 print comma separated.
4032 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARX'
4038 print number sign always.
4041 print comma separated.
4043 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARO'
4049 print number sign always.
4052 print comma separated.
4054 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARB'
4059 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARR'
4063 print a number as a Roman numeral.
4066 print a number as an "old fashioned" Roman numeral.
4069 print a number as an ordinal English number.
4072 print a number as a cardinal English number.
4077 prints `y' and `ies'.
4080 as `~P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
4083 as `~@P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
4088 prints a character as the reader can understand it (i.e. `#\'
4092 prints a character as emacs does (eg. `^C' for ASCII 03).
4095 Fixed-format floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN).
4096 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHARF'
4098 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
4101 Exponential floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN`E'EE).
4102 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARE'
4104 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
4107 General floating-point (prints a flonum either fixed or
4109 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARG'
4111 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
4114 Dollars floating-point (prints a flonum in fixed with signs
4116 `~DIGITS,SCALE,WIDTH,PADCHAR$'
4118 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
4121 A sign is always printed and appears before the padding.
4124 The sign appears before the padding.
4132 print newline if not at the beginning of the output line.
4134 prints `~&' and then N-1 newlines.
4139 print N page separators.
4149 newline is ignored, white space left.
4152 newline is left, white space ignored.
4157 relative tabulation.
4163 Indirection (expects indirect arguments as a list).
4165 extracts indirect arguments from format arguments.
4168 Case conversion (converts by `string-downcase').
4170 converts by `string-capitalize'.
4173 converts by `string-capitalize-first'.
4176 converts by `string-upcase'.
4179 Argument Jumping (jumps 1 argument forward).
4181 jumps N arguments forward.
4184 jumps 1 argument backward.
4187 jumps N arguments backward.
4190 jumps to the 0th argument.
4193 jumps to the Nth argument (beginning from 0)
4195 `~[STR0~;STR1~;...~;STRN~]'
4196 Conditional Expression (numerical clause conditional).
4198 take argument from N.
4201 true test conditional.
4204 if-else-then conditional.
4210 default clause follows.
4213 Iteration (args come from the next argument (a list)).
4215 at most N iterations.
4218 args from next arg (a list of lists).
4221 args from the rest of arguments.
4224 args from the rest args (lists).
4235 aborts if N <= M <= K
4237 *** Not Implemented CL Format Control Directives
4240 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
4243 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
4249 (sorry I don't understand its semantics completely)
4251 *** Extended, Replaced and Additional Control Directives
4253 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHD'
4254 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHX'
4255 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHO'
4256 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHB'
4257 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHR'
4258 COMMAWIDTH is the number of characters between two comma
4262 print a R4RS complex number as `~F~@Fi' with passed parameters for
4266 Pretty print formatting of an argument for scheme code lists.
4272 Flushes the output if format DESTINATION is a port.
4275 Print a `#\space' character
4277 print N `#\space' characters.
4280 Print a `#\tab' character
4282 print N `#\tab' characters.
4285 Takes N as an integer representation for a character. No arguments
4286 are consumed. N is converted to a character by `integer->char'. N
4287 must be a positive decimal number.
4290 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
4291 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
4292 be processed by `read'.
4295 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
4296 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
4297 be processed by `read'.
4300 Prints information and a copyright notice on the format
4303 prints format version.
4306 may also print number strings, i.e. passing a number as a string
4307 and format it accordingly.
4309 *** Configuration Variables
4311 The format module exports some configuration variables to suit the
4312 systems and users needs. There should be no modification necessary for
4313 the configuration that comes with Guile. Format detects automatically
4314 if the running scheme system implements floating point numbers and
4317 format:symbol-case-conv
4318 Symbols are converted by `symbol->string' so the case type of the
4319 printed symbols is implementation dependent.
4320 `format:symbol-case-conv' is a one arg closure which is either
4321 `#f' (no conversion), `string-upcase', `string-downcase' or
4322 `string-capitalize'. (default `#f')
4324 format:iobj-case-conv
4325 As FORMAT:SYMBOL-CASE-CONV but applies for the representation of
4326 implementation internal objects. (default `#f')
4329 The character prefixing the exponent value in `~E' printing.
4332 *** Compatibility With Other Format Implementations
4338 Downward compatible except for padding support and `~A', `~S',
4339 `~P', `~X' uppercase printing. SLIB format 1.4 uses C-style
4340 `printf' padding support which is completely replaced by the CL
4341 `format' padding style.
4344 Downward compatible except for `~', which is not documented
4345 (ignores all characters inside the format string up to a newline
4346 character). (7.1 implements `~a', `~s', ~NEWLINE, `~~', `~%',
4347 numerical and variable parameters and `:/@' modifiers in the CL
4351 Downward compatible except for `~A' and `~S' which print in
4352 uppercase. (Elk implements `~a', `~s', `~~', and `~%' (no
4353 directive parameters or modifiers)).
4356 Downward compatible except for an optional destination parameter:
4357 S2C accepts a format call without a destination which returns a
4358 formatted string. This is equivalent to a #f destination in S2C.
4359 (S2C implements `~a', `~s', `~c', `~%', and `~~' (no directive
4360 parameters or modifiers)).
4363 ** Changes to string-handling functions.
4365 These functions were added to support the (ice-9 format) module, above.
4367 *** New function: string-upcase STRING
4368 *** New function: string-downcase STRING
4370 These are non-destructive versions of the existing string-upcase! and
4371 string-downcase! functions.
4373 *** New function: string-capitalize! STRING
4374 *** New function: string-capitalize STRING
4376 These functions convert the first letter of each word in the string to
4379 (string-capitalize "howdy there")
4382 As with the other functions, string-capitalize! modifies the string in
4383 place, while string-capitalize returns a modified copy of its argument.
4385 *** New function: string-ci->symbol STRING
4387 Return a symbol whose name is STRING, but having the same case as if
4388 the symbol had be read by `read'.
4390 Guile can be configured to be sensitive or insensitive to case
4391 differences in Scheme identifiers. If Guile is case-insensitive, all
4392 symbols are converted to lower case on input. The `string-ci->symbol'
4393 function returns a symbol whose name in STRING, transformed as Guile
4394 would if STRING were input.
4396 *** New function: substring-move! STRING1 START END STRING2 START
4398 Copy the substring of STRING1 from START (inclusive) to END
4399 (exclusive) to STRING2 at START. STRING1 and STRING2 may be the same
4400 string, and the source and destination areas may overlap; in all
4401 cases, the function behaves as if all the characters were copied
4404 *** Extended functions: substring-move-left! substring-move-right!
4406 These functions now correctly copy arbitrarily overlapping substrings;
4407 they are both synonyms for substring-move!.
4410 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-long), with the function `getopt-long'.
4412 getopt-long is a function for parsing command-line arguments in a
4413 manner consistent with other GNU programs.
4415 (getopt-long ARGS GRAMMAR)
4416 Parse the arguments ARGS according to the argument list grammar GRAMMAR.
4418 ARGS should be a list of strings. Its first element should be the
4419 name of the program; subsequent elements should be the arguments
4420 that were passed to the program on the command line. The
4421 `program-arguments' procedure returns a list of this form.
4423 GRAMMAR is a list of the form:
4424 ((OPTION (PROPERTY VALUE) ...) ...)
4426 Each OPTION should be a symbol. `getopt-long' will accept a
4427 command-line option named `--OPTION'.
4428 Each option can have the following (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs:
4430 (single-char CHAR) --- Accept `-CHAR' as a single-character
4431 equivalent to `--OPTION'. This is how to specify traditional
4433 (required? BOOL) --- If BOOL is true, the option is required.
4434 getopt-long will raise an error if it is not found in ARGS.
4435 (value BOOL) --- If BOOL is #t, the option accepts a value; if
4436 it is #f, it does not; and if it is the symbol
4437 `optional', the option may appear in ARGS with or
4439 (predicate FUNC) --- If the option accepts a value (i.e. you
4440 specified `(value #t)' for this option), then getopt
4441 will apply FUNC to the value, and throw an exception
4442 if it returns #f. FUNC should be a procedure which
4443 accepts a string and returns a boolean value; you may
4444 need to use quasiquotes to get it into GRAMMAR.
4446 The (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs may occur in any order, but each
4447 property may occur only once. By default, options do not have
4448 single-character equivalents, are not required, and do not take
4451 In ARGS, single-character options may be combined, in the usual
4452 Unix fashion: ("-x" "-y") is equivalent to ("-xy"). If an option
4453 accepts values, then it must be the last option in the
4454 combination; the value is the next argument. So, for example, using
4455 the following grammar:
4456 ((apples (single-char #\a))
4457 (blimps (single-char #\b) (value #t))
4458 (catalexis (single-char #\c) (value #t)))
4459 the following argument lists would be acceptable:
4460 ("-a" "-b" "bang" "-c" "couth") ("bang" and "couth" are the values
4461 for "blimps" and "catalexis")
4462 ("-ab" "bang" "-c" "couth") (same)
4463 ("-ac" "couth" "-b" "bang") (same)
4464 ("-abc" "couth" "bang") (an error, since `-b' is not the
4465 last option in its combination)
4467 If an option's value is optional, then `getopt-long' decides
4468 whether it has a value by looking at what follows it in ARGS. If
4469 the next element is a string, and it does not appear to be an
4470 option itself, then that string is the option's value.
4472 The value of a long option can appear as the next element in ARGS,
4473 or it can follow the option name, separated by an `=' character.
4474 Thus, using the same grammar as above, the following argument lists
4476 ("--apples" "Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
4477 ("--apples=Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
4478 ("--blimps" "Goodyear" "--apples=Braeburn")
4480 If the option "--" appears in ARGS, argument parsing stops there;
4481 subsequent arguments are returned as ordinary arguments, even if
4482 they resemble options. So, in the argument list:
4483 ("--apples" "Granny Smith" "--" "--blimp" "Goodyear")
4484 `getopt-long' will recognize the `apples' option as having the
4485 value "Granny Smith", but it will not recognize the `blimp'
4486 option; it will return the strings "--blimp" and "Goodyear" as
4487 ordinary argument strings.
4489 The `getopt-long' function returns the parsed argument list as an
4490 assocation list, mapping option names --- the symbols from GRAMMAR
4491 --- onto their values, or #t if the option does not accept a value.
4492 Unused options do not appear in the alist.
4494 All arguments that are not the value of any option are returned
4495 as a list, associated with the empty list.
4497 `getopt-long' throws an exception if:
4498 - it finds an unrecognized option in ARGS
4499 - a required option is omitted
4500 - an option that requires an argument doesn't get one
4501 - an option that doesn't accept an argument does get one (this can
4502 only happen using the long option `--opt=value' syntax)
4503 - an option predicate fails
4508 `((lockfile-dir (required? #t)
4511 (predicate ,file-is-directory?))
4512 (verbose (required? #f)
4515 (x-includes (single-char #\x))
4516 (rnet-server (single-char #\y)
4517 (predicate ,string?))))
4519 (getopt-long '("my-prog" "-vk" "/tmp" "foo1" "--x-includes=/usr/include"
4520 "--rnet-server=lamprod" "--" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
4522 => ((() "foo1" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
4523 (rnet-server . "lamprod")
4524 (x-includes . "/usr/include")
4525 (lockfile-dir . "/tmp")
4528 ** The (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) module is obsolete; use (ice-9 getopt-long).
4530 It will be removed in a few releases.
4532 ** New syntax: lambda*
4533 ** New syntax: define*
4534 ** New syntax: define*-public
4535 ** New syntax: defmacro*
4536 ** New syntax: defmacro*-public
4537 Guile now supports optional arguments.
4539 `lambda*', `define*', `define*-public', `defmacro*' and
4540 `defmacro*-public' are identical to the non-* versions except that
4541 they use an extended type of parameter list that has the following BNF
4542 syntax (parentheses are literal, square brackets indicate grouping,
4543 and `*', `+' and `?' have the usual meaning):
4545 ext-param-list ::= ( [identifier]* [#&optional [ext-var-decl]+]?
4546 [#&key [ext-var-decl]+ [#&allow-other-keys]?]?
4547 [[#&rest identifier]|[. identifier]]? ) | [identifier]
4549 ext-var-decl ::= identifier | ( identifier expression )
4551 The semantics are best illustrated with the following documentation
4552 and examples for `lambda*':
4555 lambda extended for optional and keyword arguments
4557 lambda* creates a procedure that takes optional arguments. These
4558 are specified by putting them inside brackets at the end of the
4559 paramater list, but before any dotted rest argument. For example,
4560 (lambda* (a b #&optional c d . e) '())
4561 creates a procedure with fixed arguments a and b, optional arguments c
4562 and d, and rest argument e. If the optional arguments are omitted
4563 in a call, the variables for them are unbound in the procedure. This
4564 can be checked with the bound? macro.
4566 lambda* can also take keyword arguments. For example, a procedure
4568 (lambda* (#&key xyzzy larch) '())
4569 can be called with any of the argument lists (#:xyzzy 11)
4570 (#:larch 13) (#:larch 42 #:xyzzy 19) (). Whichever arguments
4571 are given as keywords are bound to values.
4573 Optional and keyword arguments can also be given default values
4574 which they take on when they are not present in a call, by giving a
4575 two-item list in place of an optional argument, for example in:
4576 (lambda* (foo #&optional (bar 42) #&key (baz 73)) (list foo bar baz))
4577 foo is a fixed argument, bar is an optional argument with default
4578 value 42, and baz is a keyword argument with default value 73.
4579 Default value expressions are not evaluated unless they are needed
4580 and until the procedure is called.
4582 lambda* now supports two more special parameter list keywords.
4584 lambda*-defined procedures now throw an error by default if a
4585 keyword other than one of those specified is found in the actual
4586 passed arguments. However, specifying #&allow-other-keys
4587 immediately after the kyword argument declarations restores the
4588 previous behavior of ignoring unknown keywords. lambda* also now
4589 guarantees that if the same keyword is passed more than once, the
4590 last one passed is the one that takes effect. For example,
4591 ((lambda* (#&key (heads 0) (tails 0)) (display (list heads tails)))
4592 #:heads 37 #:tails 42 #:heads 99)
4593 would result in (99 47) being displayed.
4595 #&rest is also now provided as a synonym for the dotted syntax rest
4596 argument. The argument lists (a . b) and (a #&rest b) are equivalent in
4597 all respects to lambda*. This is provided for more similarity to DSSSL,
4598 MIT-Scheme and Kawa among others, as well as for refugees from other
4601 Further documentation may be found in the optargs.scm file itself.
4603 The optional argument module also exports the macros `let-optional',
4604 `let-optional*', `let-keywords', `let-keywords*' and `bound?'. These
4605 are not documented here because they may be removed in the future, but
4606 full documentation is still available in optargs.scm.
4608 ** New syntax: and-let*
4609 Guile now supports the `and-let*' form, described in the draft SRFI-2.
4611 Syntax: (land* (<clause> ...) <body> ...)
4612 Each <clause> should have one of the following forms:
4613 (<variable> <expression>)
4616 Each <variable> or <bound-variable> should be an identifier. Each
4617 <expression> should be a valid expression. The <body> should be a
4618 possibly empty sequence of expressions, like the <body> of a
4621 Semantics: A LAND* expression is evaluated by evaluating the
4622 <expression> or <bound-variable> of each of the <clause>s from
4623 left to right. The value of the first <expression> or
4624 <bound-variable> that evaluates to a false value is returned; the
4625 remaining <expression>s and <bound-variable>s are not evaluated.
4626 The <body> forms are evaluated iff all the <expression>s and
4627 <bound-variable>s evaluate to true values.
4629 The <expression>s and the <body> are evaluated in an environment
4630 binding each <variable> of the preceding (<variable> <expression>)
4631 clauses to the value of the <expression>. Later bindings
4632 shadow earlier bindings.
4634 Guile's and-let* macro was contributed by Michael Livshin.
4636 ** New sorting functions
4638 *** New function: sorted? SEQUENCE LESS?
4639 Returns `#t' when the sequence argument is in non-decreasing order
4640 according to LESS? (that is, there is no adjacent pair `... x y
4641 ...' for which `(less? y x)').
4643 Returns `#f' when the sequence contains at least one out-of-order
4644 pair. It is an error if the sequence is neither a list nor a
4647 *** New function: merge LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
4648 LIST1 and LIST2 are sorted lists.
4649 Returns the sorted list of all elements in LIST1 and LIST2.
4651 Assume that the elements a and b1 in LIST1 and b2 in LIST2 are "equal"
4652 in the sense that (LESS? x y) --> #f for x, y in {a, b1, b2},
4653 and that a < b1 in LIST1. Then a < b1 < b2 in the result.
4654 (Here "<" should read "comes before".)
4656 *** New procedure: merge! LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
4657 Merges two lists, re-using the pairs of LIST1 and LIST2 to build
4658 the result. If the code is compiled, and LESS? constructs no new
4659 pairs, no pairs at all will be allocated. The first pair of the
4660 result will be either the first pair of LIST1 or the first pair of
4663 *** New function: sort SEQUENCE LESS?
4664 Accepts either a list or a vector, and returns a new sequence
4665 which is sorted. The new sequence is the same type as the input.
4666 Always `(sorted? (sort sequence less?) less?)'. The original
4667 sequence is not altered in any way. The new sequence shares its
4668 elements with the old one; no elements are copied.
4670 *** New procedure: sort! SEQUENCE LESS
4671 Returns its sorted result in the original boxes. No new storage is
4672 allocated at all. Proper usage: (set! slist (sort! slist <))
4674 *** New function: stable-sort SEQUENCE LESS?
4675 Similar to `sort' but stable. That is, if "equal" elements are
4676 ordered a < b in the original sequence, they will have the same order
4679 *** New function: stable-sort! SEQUENCE LESS?
4680 Similar to `sort!' but stable.
4681 Uses temporary storage when sorting vectors.
4683 *** New functions: sort-list, sort-list!
4684 Added for compatibility with scsh.
4686 ** New built-in random number support
4688 *** New function: random N [STATE]
4689 Accepts a positive integer or real N and returns a number of the
4690 same type between zero (inclusive) and N (exclusive). The values
4691 returned have a uniform distribution.
4693 The optional argument STATE must be of the type produced by
4694 `copy-random-state' or `seed->random-state'. It defaults to the value
4695 of the variable `*random-state*'. This object is used to maintain the
4696 state of the pseudo-random-number generator and is altered as a side
4697 effect of the `random' operation.
4699 *** New variable: *random-state*
4700 Holds a data structure that encodes the internal state of the
4701 random-number generator that `random' uses by default. The nature
4702 of this data structure is implementation-dependent. It may be
4703 printed out and successfully read back in, but may or may not
4704 function correctly as a random-number state object in another
4707 *** New function: copy-random-state [STATE]
4708 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
4709 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
4710 If argument STATE is given, a copy of it is returned. Otherwise a
4711 copy of `*random-state*' is returned.
4713 *** New function: seed->random-state SEED
4714 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
4715 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
4716 SEED is a string or a number. A new state is generated and
4717 initialized using SEED.
4719 *** New function: random:uniform [STATE]
4720 Returns an uniformly distributed inexact real random number in the
4721 range between 0 and 1.
4723 *** New procedure: random:solid-sphere! VECT [STATE]
4724 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose
4725 squares is less than 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in
4726 space of dimension N = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are
4727 uniformly distributed within the unit N-shere. The sum of the
4728 squares of the numbers is returned. VECT can be either a vector
4729 or a uniform vector of doubles.
4731 *** New procedure: random:hollow-sphere! VECT [STATE]
4732 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose squares
4733 is equal to 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in space of
4734 dimension n = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are uniformly
4735 distributed over the surface of the unit n-shere. VECT can be either
4736 a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
4738 *** New function: random:normal [STATE]
4739 Returns an inexact real in a normal distribution with mean 0 and
4740 standard deviation 1. For a normal distribution with mean M and
4741 standard deviation D use `(+ M (* D (random:normal)))'.
4743 *** New procedure: random:normal-vector! VECT [STATE]
4744 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers which are independent and
4745 standard normally distributed (i.e., with mean 0 and variance 1).
4746 VECT can be either a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
4748 *** New function: random:exp STATE
4749 Returns an inexact real in an exponential distribution with mean 1.
4750 For an exponential distribution with mean U use (* U (random:exp)).
4752 ** The range of logand, logior, logxor, logtest, and logbit? have changed.
4754 These functions now operate on numbers in the range of a C unsigned
4757 These functions used to operate on numbers in the range of a C signed
4758 long; however, this seems inappropriate, because Guile integers don't
4761 ** New function: make-guardian
4762 This is an implementation of guardians as described in
4763 R. Kent Dybvig, Carl Bruggeman, and David Eby (1993) "Guardians in a
4764 Generation-Based Garbage Collector" ACM SIGPLAN Conference on
4765 Programming Language Design and Implementation, June 1993
4766 ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/scheme-repository/doc/pubs/guardians.ps.gz
4768 ** New functions: delq1!, delv1!, delete1!
4769 These procedures behave similar to delq! and friends but delete only
4770 one object if at all.
4772 ** New function: unread-string STRING PORT
4773 Unread STRING to PORT, that is, push it back onto the port so that
4774 next read operation will work on the pushed back characters.
4776 ** unread-char can now be called multiple times
4777 If unread-char is called multiple times, the unread characters will be
4778 read again in last-in first-out order.
4780 ** the procedures uniform-array-read! and uniform-array-write! now
4781 work on any kind of port, not just ports which are open on a file.
4783 ** Now 'l' in a port mode requests line buffering.
4785 ** The procedure truncate-file now works on string ports as well
4786 as file ports. If the size argument is omitted, the current
4787 file position is used.
4789 ** new procedure: seek PORT/FDES OFFSET WHENCE
4790 The arguments are the same as for the old fseek procedure, but it
4791 works on string ports as well as random-access file ports.
4793 ** the fseek procedure now works on string ports, since it has been
4794 redefined using seek.
4796 ** the setvbuf procedure now uses a default size if mode is _IOFBF and
4797 size is not supplied.
4799 ** the newline procedure no longer flushes the port if it's not
4800 line-buffered: previously it did if it was the current output port.
4802 ** open-pipe and close-pipe are no longer primitive procedures, but
4803 an emulation can be obtained using `(use-modules (ice-9 popen))'.
4805 ** the freopen procedure has been removed.
4807 ** new procedure: drain-input PORT
4808 Drains PORT's read buffers (including any pushed-back characters)
4809 and returns the contents as a single string.
4811 ** New function: map-in-order PROC LIST1 LIST2 ...
4812 Version of `map' which guarantees that the procedure is applied to the
4813 lists in serial order.
4815 ** Renamed `serial-array-copy!' and `serial-array-map!' to
4816 `array-copy-in-order!' and `array-map-in-order!'. The old names are
4817 now obsolete and will go away in release 1.5.
4819 ** New syntax: collect BODY1 ...
4820 Version of `begin' which returns a list of the results of the body
4821 forms instead of the result of the last body form. In contrast to
4822 `begin', `collect' allows an empty body.
4824 ** New functions: read-history FILENAME, write-history FILENAME
4825 Read/write command line history from/to file. Returns #t on success
4826 and #f if an error occured.
4828 ** `ls' and `lls' in module (ice-9 ls) now handle no arguments.
4830 These procedures return a list of definitions available in the specified
4831 argument, a relative module reference. In the case of no argument,
4832 `(current-module)' is now consulted for definitions to return, instead
4833 of simply returning #f, the former behavior.
4835 ** The #/ syntax for lists is no longer supported.
4837 Earlier versions of Scheme accepted this syntax, but printed a
4840 ** Guile no longer consults the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable.
4842 Instead, you should set GUILE_LOAD_PATH to tell Guile where to find
4845 * Changes to the gh_ interface
4849 Now takes a second argument which is the result array. If this
4850 pointer is NULL, a new array is malloced (the old behaviour).
4852 ** gh_chars2byvect, gh_shorts2svect, gh_floats2fvect, gh_scm2chars,
4853 gh_scm2shorts, gh_scm2longs, gh_scm2floats
4857 * Changes to the scm_ interface
4859 ** Function: scm_make_named_hook (char* name, int n_args)
4861 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
4862 binds a variable named NAME to it.
4864 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
4866 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module. This
4867 might change when we get the new module system.
4869 ** The smob interface
4871 The interface for creating smobs has changed. For documentation, see
4872 data-rep.info (made from guile-core/doc/data-rep.texi).
4874 *** Deprecated function: SCM scm_newsmob (scm_smobfuns *)
4876 >>> This function will be removed in 1.3.4. <<<
4880 *** Function: SCM scm_make_smob_type (const char *name, scm_sizet size)
4881 This function adds a new smob type, named NAME, with instance size
4882 SIZE to the system. The return value is a tag that is used in
4883 creating instances of the type. If SIZE is 0, then no memory will
4884 be allocated when instances of the smob are created, and nothing
4885 will be freed by the default free function.
4887 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_mark (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
4888 This function sets the smob marking procedure for the smob type
4889 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4890 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4892 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_free (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
4893 This function sets the smob freeing procedure for the smob type
4894 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4895 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4897 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_print (tc, print)
4899 - Function: void scm_set_smob_print (long tc,
4900 scm_sizet (*print) (SCM,
4904 This function sets the smob printing procedure for the smob type
4905 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4906 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4908 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_equalp (long tc, SCM (*equalp) (SCM, SCM))
4909 This function sets the smob equality-testing predicate for the
4910 smob type specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
4911 `scm_make_smob_type'.
4913 *** Macro: void SCM_NEWSMOB (SCM var, long tc, void *data)
4914 Make VALUE contain a smob instance of the type with type code TC and
4915 smob data DATA. VALUE must be previously declared as C type `SCM'.
4917 *** Macro: fn_returns SCM_RETURN_NEWSMOB (long tc, void *data)
4918 This macro expands to a block of code that creates a smob instance
4919 of the type with type code TC and smob data DATA, and returns that
4920 `SCM' value. It should be the last piece of code in a block.
4922 ** The interfaces for using I/O ports and implementing port types
4923 (ptobs) have changed significantly. The new interface is based on
4924 shared access to buffers and a new set of ptob procedures.
4926 *** scm_newptob has been removed
4930 *** Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (type_name, fill_buffer, write_flush)
4932 - Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (char *type_name,
4933 int (*fill_buffer) (SCM port),
4934 void (*write_flush) (SCM port));
4936 Similarly to the new smob interface, there is a set of function
4937 setters by which the user can customize the behaviour of his port
4938 type. See ports.h (scm_set_port_XXX).
4940 ** scm_strport_to_string: New function: creates a new string from
4941 a string port's buffer.
4943 ** Plug in interface for random number generators
4944 The variable `scm_the_rng' in random.c contains a value and three
4945 function pointers which together define the current random number
4946 generator being used by the Scheme level interface and the random
4947 number library functions.
4949 The user is free to replace the default generator with the generator
4952 *** Variable: size_t scm_the_rng.rstate_size
4953 The size of the random state type used by the current RNG
4956 *** Function: unsigned long scm_the_rng.random_bits (scm_rstate *STATE)
4957 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
4959 *** Function: void scm_the_rng.init_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE, chars *S, int N)
4960 Seed random state STATE using string S of length N.
4962 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_the_rng.copy_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE)
4963 Given random state STATE, return a malloced copy.
4966 The default RNG is the MWC (Multiply With Carry) random number
4967 generator described by George Marsaglia at the Department of
4968 Statistics and Supercomputer Computations Research Institute, The
4969 Florida State University (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo).
4971 It uses 64 bits, has a period of 4578426017172946943 (4.6e18), and
4972 passes all tests in the DIEHARD test suite
4973 (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo/diehard.html). The generation of 32 bits
4974 costs one multiply and one add on platforms which either supports long
4975 longs (gcc does this on most systems) or have 64 bit longs. The cost
4976 is four multiply on other systems but this can be optimized by writing
4977 scm_i_uniform32 in assembler.
4979 These functions are provided through the scm_the_rng interface for use
4980 by libguile and the application.
4982 *** Function: unsigned long scm_i_uniform32 (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
4983 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
4984 Don't use this function directly. Instead go through the plugin
4985 interface (see "Plug in interface" above).
4987 *** Function: void scm_i_init_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE, char *SEED, int N)
4988 Initialize STATE using SEED of length N.
4990 *** Function: scm_i_rstate *scm_i_copy_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
4991 Return a malloc:ed copy of STATE. This function can easily be re-used
4992 in the interfaces to other RNGs.
4994 ** Random number library functions
4995 These functions use the current RNG through the scm_the_rng interface.
4996 It might be a good idea to use these functions from your C code so
4997 that only one random generator is used by all code in your program.
4999 The default random state is stored in:
5001 *** Variable: SCM scm_var_random_state
5002 Contains the vcell of the Scheme variable "*random-state*" which is
5003 used as default state by all random number functions in the Scheme
5008 double x = scm_c_uniform01 (SCM_RSTATE (SCM_CDR (scm_var_random_state)));
5010 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_default_rstate (void)
5011 This is a convenience function which returns the value of
5012 scm_var_random_state. An error message is generated if this value
5013 isn't a random state.
5015 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_make_rstate (char *SEED, int LENGTH)
5016 Make a new random state from the string SEED of length LENGTH.
5018 It is generally not a good idea to use multiple random states in a
5019 program. While subsequent random numbers generated from one random
5020 state are guaranteed to be reasonably independent, there is no such
5021 guarantee for numbers generated from different random states.
5023 *** Macro: unsigned long scm_c_uniform32 (scm_rstate *STATE)
5024 Return 32 random bits.
5026 *** Function: double scm_c_uniform01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
5027 Return a sample from the uniform(0,1) distribution.
5029 *** Function: double scm_c_normal01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
5030 Return a sample from the normal(0,1) distribution.
5032 *** Function: double scm_c_exp1 (scm_rstate *STATE)
5033 Return a sample from the exp(1) distribution.
5035 *** Function: unsigned long scm_c_random (scm_rstate *STATE, unsigned long M)
5036 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
5038 *** Function: SCM scm_c_random_bignum (scm_rstate *STATE, SCM M)
5039 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
5040 M must be a bignum object. The returned value may be an INUM.
5044 Changes in Guile 1.3 (released Monday, October 19, 1998):
5046 * Changes to the distribution
5048 ** We renamed the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable to GUILE_LOAD_PATH.
5049 To avoid conflicts, programs should name environment variables after
5050 themselves, except when there's a common practice establishing some
5053 For now, Guile supports both GUILE_LOAD_PATH and SCHEME_LOAD_PATH,
5054 giving the former precedence, and printing a warning message if the
5055 latter is set. Guile 1.4 will not recognize SCHEME_LOAD_PATH at all.
5057 ** The header files related to multi-byte characters have been removed.
5058 They were: libguile/extchrs.h and libguile/mbstrings.h. Any C code
5059 which referred to these explicitly will probably need to be rewritten,
5060 since the support for the variant string types has been removed; see
5063 ** The header files append.h and sequences.h have been removed. These
5064 files implemented non-R4RS operations which would encourage
5065 non-portable programming style and less easy-to-read code.
5067 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
5069 ** New procedures have been added to implement a "batch mode":
5071 *** Function: batch-mode?
5073 Returns a boolean indicating whether the interpreter is in batch
5076 *** Function: set-batch-mode?! ARG
5078 If ARG is true, switches the interpreter to batch mode. The `#f'
5079 case has not been implemented.
5081 ** Guile now provides full command-line editing, when run interactively.
5082 To use this feature, you must have the readline library installed.
5083 The Guile build process will notice it, and automatically include
5086 The readline library is available via anonymous FTP from any GNU
5087 mirror site; the canonical location is "ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu".
5089 ** the-last-stack is now a fluid.
5091 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
5093 ** You can now use the `guile-config' utility to build programs that use Guile.
5095 Guile now includes a command-line utility called `guile-config', which
5096 can provide information about how to compile and link programs that
5099 *** `guile-config compile' prints any C compiler flags needed to use Guile.
5100 You should include this command's output on the command line you use
5101 to compile C or C++ code that #includes the Guile header files. It's
5102 usually just a `-I' flag to help the compiler find the Guile headers.
5105 *** `guile-config link' prints any linker flags necessary to link with Guile.
5107 This command writes to its standard output a list of flags which you
5108 must pass to the linker to link your code against the Guile library.
5109 The flags include '-lguile' itself, any other libraries the Guile
5110 library depends upon, and any `-L' flags needed to help the linker
5111 find those libraries.
5113 For example, here is a Makefile rule that builds a program named 'foo'
5114 from the object files ${FOO_OBJECTS}, and links them against Guile:
5117 ${CC} ${CFLAGS} ${FOO_OBJECTS} `guile-config link` -o foo
5119 Previous Guile releases recommended that you use autoconf to detect
5120 which of a predefined set of libraries were present on your system.
5121 It is more robust to use `guile-config', since it records exactly which
5122 libraries the installed Guile library requires.
5124 This was originally called `build-guile', but was renamed to
5125 `guile-config' before Guile 1.3 was released, to be consistent with
5126 the analogous script for the GTK+ GUI toolkit, which is called
5130 ** Use the GUILE_FLAGS macro in your configure.in file to find Guile.
5132 If you are using the GNU autoconf package to configure your program,
5133 you can use the GUILE_FLAGS autoconf macro to call `guile-config'
5134 (described above) and gather the necessary values for use in your
5137 The GUILE_FLAGS macro expands to configure script code which runs the
5138 `guile-config' script, to find out where Guile's header files and
5139 libraries are installed. It sets two variables, marked for
5140 substitution, as by AC_SUBST.
5142 GUILE_CFLAGS --- flags to pass to a C or C++ compiler to build
5143 code that uses Guile header files. This is almost always just a
5146 GUILE_LDFLAGS --- flags to pass to the linker to link a
5147 program against Guile. This includes `-lguile' for the Guile
5148 library itself, any libraries that Guile itself requires (like
5149 -lqthreads), and so on. It may also include a -L flag to tell the
5150 compiler where to find the libraries.
5152 GUILE_FLAGS is defined in the file guile.m4, in the top-level
5153 directory of the Guile distribution. You can copy it into your
5154 package's aclocal.m4 file, and then use it in your configure.in file.
5156 If you are using the `aclocal' program, distributed with GNU automake,
5157 to maintain your aclocal.m4 file, the Guile installation process
5158 installs guile.m4 where aclocal will find it. All you need to do is
5159 use GUILE_FLAGS in your configure.in file, and then run `aclocal';
5160 this will copy the definition of GUILE_FLAGS into your aclocal.m4
5164 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
5166 ** Multi-byte strings have been removed, as have multi-byte and wide
5167 ports. We felt that these were the wrong approach to
5168 internationalization support.
5170 ** New function: readline [PROMPT]
5171 Read a line from the terminal, and allow the user to edit it,
5172 prompting with PROMPT. READLINE provides a large set of Emacs-like
5173 editing commands, lets the user recall previously typed lines, and
5174 works on almost every kind of terminal, including dumb terminals.
5176 READLINE assumes that the cursor is at the beginning of the line when
5177 it is invoked. Thus, you can't print a prompt yourself, and then call
5178 READLINE; you need to package up your prompt as a string, pass it to
5179 the function, and let READLINE print the prompt itself. This is
5180 because READLINE needs to know the prompt's screen width.
5182 For Guile to provide this function, you must have the readline
5183 library, version 2.1 or later, installed on your system. Readline is
5184 available via anonymous FTP from prep.ai.mit.edu in pub/gnu, or from
5185 any GNU mirror site.
5187 See also ADD-HISTORY function.
5189 ** New function: add-history STRING
5190 Add STRING as the most recent line in the history used by the READLINE
5191 command. READLINE does not add lines to the history itself; you must
5192 call ADD-HISTORY to make previous input available to the user.
5194 ** The behavior of the read-line function has changed.
5196 This function now uses standard C library functions to read the line,
5197 for speed. This means that it doesn not respect the value of
5198 scm-line-incrementors; it assumes that lines are delimited with
5201 (Note that this is read-line, the function that reads a line of text
5202 from a port, not readline, the function that reads a line from a
5203 terminal, providing full editing capabilities.)
5205 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style): Parse command-line arguments.
5207 This module provides some simple argument parsing. It exports one
5210 Function: getopt-gnu-style ARG-LS
5211 Parse a list of program arguments into an alist of option
5214 Each item in the list of program arguments is examined to see if
5215 it meets the syntax of a GNU long-named option. An argument like
5216 `--MUMBLE' produces an element of the form (MUMBLE . #t) in the
5217 returned alist, where MUMBLE is a keyword object with the same
5218 name as the argument. An argument like `--MUMBLE=FROB' produces
5219 an element of the form (MUMBLE . FROB), where FROB is a string.
5221 As a special case, the returned alist also contains a pair whose
5222 car is the symbol `rest'. The cdr of this pair is a list
5223 containing all the items in the argument list that are not options
5224 of the form mentioned above.
5226 The argument `--' is treated specially: all items in the argument
5227 list appearing after such an argument are not examined, and are
5228 returned in the special `rest' list.
5230 This function does not parse normal single-character switches.
5231 You will need to parse them out of the `rest' list yourself.
5233 ** The read syntax for byte vectors and short vectors has changed.
5235 Instead of #bytes(...), write #y(...).
5237 Instead of #short(...), write #h(...).
5239 This may seem nutty, but, like the other uniform vectors, byte vectors
5240 and short vectors want to have the same print and read syntax (and,
5241 more basic, want to have read syntax!). Changing the read syntax to
5242 use multiple characters after the hash sign breaks with the
5243 conventions used in R5RS and the conventions used for the other
5244 uniform vectors. It also introduces complexity in the current reader,
5245 both on the C and Scheme levels. (The Right solution is probably to
5246 change the syntax and prototypes for uniform vectors entirely.)
5249 ** The new module (ice-9 session) provides useful interactive functions.
5251 *** New procedure: (apropos REGEXP OPTION ...)
5253 Display a list of top-level variables whose names match REGEXP, and
5254 the modules they are imported from. Each OPTION should be one of the
5257 value --- Show the value of each matching variable.
5258 shadow --- Show bindings shadowed by subsequently imported modules.
5259 full --- Same as both `shadow' and `value'.
5263 guile> (apropos "trace" 'full)
5264 debug: trace #<procedure trace args>
5265 debug: untrace #<procedure untrace args>
5266 the-scm-module: display-backtrace #<compiled-closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>
5267 the-scm-module: before-backtrace-hook ()
5268 the-scm-module: backtrace #<primitive-procedure backtrace>
5269 the-scm-module: after-backtrace-hook ()
5270 the-scm-module: has-shown-backtrace-hint? #f
5273 ** There are new functions and syntax for working with macros.
5275 Guile implements macros as a special object type. Any variable whose
5276 top-level binding is a macro object acts as a macro. The macro object
5277 specifies how the expression should be transformed before evaluation.
5279 *** Macro objects now print in a reasonable way, resembling procedures.
5281 *** New function: (macro? OBJ)
5282 True iff OBJ is a macro object.
5284 *** New function: (primitive-macro? OBJ)
5285 Like (macro? OBJ), but true only if OBJ is one of the Guile primitive
5286 macro transformers, implemented in eval.c rather than Scheme code.
5288 Why do we have this function?
5289 - For symmetry with procedure? and primitive-procedure?,
5290 - to allow custom print procedures to tell whether a macro is
5291 primitive, and display it differently, and
5292 - to allow compilers and user-written evaluators to distinguish
5293 builtin special forms from user-defined ones, which could be
5296 *** New function: (macro-type OBJ)
5297 Return a value indicating what kind of macro OBJ is. Possible return
5300 The symbol `syntax' --- a macro created by procedure->syntax.
5301 The symbol `macro' --- a macro created by procedure->macro.
5302 The symbol `macro!' --- a macro created by procedure->memoizing-macro.
5303 The boolean #f --- if OBJ is not a macro object.
5305 *** New function: (macro-name MACRO)
5306 Return the name of the macro object MACRO's procedure, as returned by
5309 *** New function: (macro-transformer MACRO)
5310 Return the transformer procedure for MACRO.
5312 *** New syntax: (use-syntax MODULE ... TRANSFORMER)
5314 Specify a new macro expander to use in the current module. Each
5315 MODULE is a module name, with the same meaning as in the `use-modules'
5316 form; each named module's exported bindings are added to the current
5317 top-level environment. TRANSFORMER is an expression evaluated in the
5318 resulting environment which must yield a procedure to use as the
5319 module's eval transformer: every expression evaluated in this module
5320 is passed to this function, and the result passed to the Guile
5323 *** macro-eval! is removed. Use local-eval instead.
5325 ** Some magic has been added to the printer to better handle user
5326 written printing routines (like record printers, closure printers).
5328 The problem is that these user written routines must have access to
5329 the current `print-state' to be able to handle fancy things like
5330 detection of circular references. These print-states have to be
5331 passed to the builtin printing routines (display, write, etc) to
5332 properly continue the print chain.
5334 We didn't want to change all existing print code so that it
5335 explicitly passes thru a print state in addition to a port. Instead,
5336 we extented the possible values that the builtin printing routines
5337 accept as a `port'. In addition to a normal port, they now also take
5338 a pair of a normal port and a print-state. Printing will go to the
5339 port and the print-state will be used to control the detection of
5340 circular references, etc. If the builtin function does not care for a
5341 print-state, it is simply ignored.
5343 User written callbacks are now called with such a pair as their
5344 `port', but because every function now accepts this pair as a PORT
5345 argument, you don't have to worry about that. In fact, it is probably
5346 safest to not check for these pairs.
5348 However, it is sometimes necessary to continue a print chain on a
5349 different port, for example to get a intermediate string
5350 representation of the printed value, mangle that string somehow, and
5351 then to finally print the mangled string. Use the new function
5353 inherit-print-state OLD-PORT NEW-PORT
5355 for this. It constructs a new `port' that prints to NEW-PORT but
5356 inherits the print-state of OLD-PORT.
5358 ** struct-vtable-offset renamed to vtable-offset-user
5360 ** New constants: vtable-index-layout, vtable-index-vtable, vtable-index-printer
5362 ** There is now a third optional argument to make-vtable-vtable
5363 (and fourth to make-struct) when constructing new types (vtables).
5364 This argument initializes field vtable-index-printer of the vtable.
5366 ** The detection of circular references has been extended to structs.
5367 That is, a structure that -- in the process of being printed -- prints
5368 itself does not lead to infinite recursion.
5370 ** There is now some basic support for fluids. Please read
5371 "libguile/fluid.h" to find out more. It is accessible from Scheme with
5372 the following functions and macros:
5374 Function: make-fluid
5376 Create a new fluid object. Fluids are not special variables or
5377 some other extension to the semantics of Scheme, but rather
5378 ordinary Scheme objects. You can store them into variables (that
5379 are still lexically scoped, of course) or into any other place you
5380 like. Every fluid has a initial value of `#f'.
5382 Function: fluid? OBJ
5384 Test whether OBJ is a fluid.
5386 Function: fluid-ref FLUID
5387 Function: fluid-set! FLUID VAL
5389 Access/modify the fluid FLUID. Modifications are only visible
5390 within the current dynamic root (that includes threads).
5392 Function: with-fluids* FLUIDS VALUES THUNK
5394 FLUIDS is a list of fluids and VALUES a corresponding list of
5395 values for these fluids. Before THUNK gets called the values are
5396 installed in the fluids and the old values of the fluids are
5397 saved in the VALUES list. When the flow of control leaves THUNK
5398 or reenters it, the values get swapped again. You might think of
5399 this as a `safe-fluid-excursion'. Note that the VALUES list is
5400 modified by `with-fluids*'.
5402 Macro: with-fluids ((FLUID VALUE) ...) FORM ...
5404 The same as `with-fluids*' but with a different syntax. It looks
5405 just like `let', but both FLUID and VALUE are evaluated. Remember,
5406 fluids are not special variables but ordinary objects. FLUID
5407 should evaluate to a fluid.
5409 ** Changes to system call interfaces:
5411 *** close-port, close-input-port and close-output-port now return a
5412 boolean instead of an `unspecified' object. #t means that the port
5413 was successfully closed, while #f means it was already closed. It is
5414 also now possible for these procedures to raise an exception if an
5415 error occurs (some errors from write can be delayed until close.)
5417 *** the first argument to chmod, fcntl, ftell and fseek can now be a
5420 *** the third argument to fcntl is now optional.
5422 *** the first argument to chown can now be a file descriptor or a port.
5424 *** the argument to stat can now be a port.
5426 *** The following new procedures have been added (most use scsh
5429 *** procedure: close PORT/FD
5430 Similar to close-port (*note close-port: Closing Ports.), but also
5431 works on file descriptors. A side effect of closing a file
5432 descriptor is that any ports using that file descriptor are moved
5433 to a different file descriptor and have their revealed counts set
5436 *** procedure: port->fdes PORT
5437 Returns the integer file descriptor underlying PORT. As a side
5438 effect the revealed count of PORT is incremented.
5440 *** procedure: fdes->ports FDES
5441 Returns a list of existing ports which have FDES as an underlying
5442 file descriptor, without changing their revealed counts.
5444 *** procedure: fdes->inport FDES
5445 Returns an existing input port which has FDES as its underlying
5446 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
5447 Otherwise, returns a new input port with a revealed count of 1.
5449 *** procedure: fdes->outport FDES
5450 Returns an existing output port which has FDES as its underlying
5451 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
5452 Otherwise, returns a new output port with a revealed count of 1.
5454 The next group of procedures perform a `dup2' system call, if NEWFD
5455 (an integer) is supplied, otherwise a `dup'. The file descriptor to be
5456 duplicated can be supplied as an integer or contained in a port. The
5457 type of value returned varies depending on which procedure is used.
5459 All procedures also have the side effect when performing `dup2' that
5460 any ports using NEWFD are moved to a different file descriptor and have
5461 their revealed counts set to zero.
5463 *** procedure: dup->fdes PORT/FD [NEWFD]
5464 Returns an integer file descriptor.
5466 *** procedure: dup->inport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
5467 Returns a new input port using the new file descriptor.
5469 *** procedure: dup->outport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
5470 Returns a new output port using the new file descriptor.
5472 *** procedure: dup PORT/FD [NEWFD]
5473 Returns a new port if PORT/FD is a port, with the same mode as the
5474 supplied port, otherwise returns an integer file descriptor.
5476 *** procedure: dup->port PORT/FD MODE [NEWFD]
5477 Returns a new port using the new file descriptor. MODE supplies a
5478 mode string for the port (*note open-file: File Ports.).
5480 *** procedure: setenv NAME VALUE
5481 Modifies the environment of the current process, which is also the
5482 default environment inherited by child processes.
5484 If VALUE is `#f', then NAME is removed from the environment.
5485 Otherwise, the string NAME=VALUE is added to the environment,
5486 replacing any existing string with name matching NAME.
5488 The return value is unspecified.
5490 *** procedure: truncate-file OBJ SIZE
5491 Truncates the file referred to by OBJ to at most SIZE bytes. OBJ
5492 can be a string containing a file name or an integer file
5493 descriptor or port open for output on the file. The underlying
5494 system calls are `truncate' and `ftruncate'.
5496 The return value is unspecified.
5498 *** procedure: setvbuf PORT MODE [SIZE]
5499 Set the buffering mode for PORT. MODE can be:
5507 block buffered, using a newly allocated buffer of SIZE bytes.
5508 However if SIZE is zero or unspecified, the port will be made
5511 This procedure should not be used after I/O has been performed with
5514 Ports are usually block buffered by default, with a default buffer
5515 size. Procedures e.g., *Note open-file: File Ports, which accept a
5516 mode string allow `0' to be added to request an unbuffered port.
5518 *** procedure: fsync PORT/FD
5519 Copies any unwritten data for the specified output file descriptor
5520 to disk. If PORT/FD is a port, its buffer is flushed before the
5521 underlying file descriptor is fsync'd. The return value is
5524 *** procedure: open-fdes PATH FLAGS [MODES]
5525 Similar to `open' but returns a file descriptor instead of a port.
5527 *** procedure: execle PATH ENV [ARG] ...
5528 Similar to `execl', but the environment of the new process is
5529 specified by ENV, which must be a list of strings as returned by
5530 the `environ' procedure.
5532 This procedure is currently implemented using the `execve' system
5533 call, but we call it `execle' because of its Scheme calling
5536 *** procedure: strerror ERRNO
5537 Returns the Unix error message corresponding to ERRNO, an integer.
5539 *** procedure: primitive-exit [STATUS]
5540 Terminate the current process without unwinding the Scheme stack.
5541 This is would typically be useful after a fork. The exit status
5542 is STATUS if supplied, otherwise zero.
5544 *** procedure: times
5545 Returns an object with information about real and processor time.
5546 The following procedures accept such an object as an argument and
5547 return a selected component:
5550 The current real time, expressed as time units relative to an
5554 The CPU time units used by the calling process.
5557 The CPU time units used by the system on behalf of the
5561 The CPU time units used by terminated child processes of the
5562 calling process, whose status has been collected (e.g., using
5566 Similarly, the CPU times units used by the system on behalf of
5567 terminated child processes.
5569 ** Removed: list-length
5570 ** Removed: list-append, list-append!
5571 ** Removed: list-reverse, list-reverse!
5573 ** array-map renamed to array-map!
5575 ** serial-array-map renamed to serial-array-map!
5577 ** catch doesn't take #f as first argument any longer
5579 Previously, it was possible to pass #f instead of a key to `catch'.
5580 That would cause `catch' to pass a jump buffer object to the procedure
5581 passed as second argument. The procedure could then use this jump
5582 buffer objekt as an argument to throw.
5584 This mechanism has been removed since its utility doesn't motivate the
5585 extra complexity it introduces.
5587 ** The `#/' notation for lists now provokes a warning message from Guile.
5588 This syntax will be removed from Guile in the near future.
5590 To disable the warning message, set the GUILE_HUSH environment
5591 variable to any non-empty value.
5593 ** The newline character now prints as `#\newline', following the
5594 normal Scheme notation, not `#\nl'.
5596 * Changes to the gh_ interface
5598 ** The gh_enter function now takes care of loading the Guile startup files.
5599 gh_enter works by calling scm_boot_guile; see the remarks below.
5601 ** Function: void gh_write (SCM x)
5603 Write the printed representation of the scheme object x to the current
5604 output port. Corresponds to the scheme level `write'.
5606 ** gh_list_length renamed to gh_length.
5608 ** vector handling routines
5610 Several major changes. In particular, gh_vector() now resembles
5611 (vector ...) (with a caveat -- see manual), and gh_make_vector() now
5612 exists and behaves like (make-vector ...). gh_vset() and gh_vref()
5613 have been renamed gh_vector_set_x() and gh_vector_ref(). Some missing
5614 vector-related gh_ functions have been implemented.
5616 ** pair and list routines
5618 Implemented several of the R4RS pair and list functions that were
5621 ** gh_scm2doubles, gh_doubles2scm, gh_doubles2dvect
5623 New function. Converts double arrays back and forth between Scheme
5626 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5628 ** The function scm_boot_guile now takes care of loading the startup files.
5630 Guile's primary initialization function, scm_boot_guile, now takes
5631 care of loading `boot-9.scm', in the `ice-9' module, to initialize
5632 Guile, define the module system, and put together some standard
5633 bindings. It also loads `init.scm', which is intended to hold
5634 site-specific initialization code.
5636 Since Guile cannot operate properly until boot-9.scm is loaded, there
5637 is no reason to separate loading boot-9.scm from Guile's other
5638 initialization processes.
5640 This job used to be done by scm_compile_shell_switches, which didn't
5641 make much sense; in particular, it meant that people using Guile for
5642 non-shell-like applications had to jump through hoops to get Guile
5643 initialized properly.
5645 ** The function scm_compile_shell_switches no longer loads the startup files.
5646 Now, Guile always loads the startup files, whenever it is initialized;
5647 see the notes above for scm_boot_guile and scm_load_startup_files.
5649 ** Function: scm_load_startup_files
5650 This new function takes care of loading Guile's initialization file
5651 (`boot-9.scm'), and the site initialization file, `init.scm'. Since
5652 this is always called by the Guile initialization process, it's
5653 probably not too useful to call this yourself, but it's there anyway.
5655 ** The semantics of smob marking have changed slightly.
5657 The smob marking function (the `mark' member of the scm_smobfuns
5658 structure) is no longer responsible for setting the mark bit on the
5659 smob. The generic smob handling code in the garbage collector will
5660 set this bit. The mark function need only ensure that any other
5661 objects the smob refers to get marked.
5663 Note that this change means that the smob's GC8MARK bit is typically
5664 already set upon entry to the mark function. Thus, marking functions
5665 which look like this:
5668 if (SCM_GC8MARKP (ptr))
5670 SCM_SETGC8MARK (ptr);
5671 ... mark objects to which the smob refers ...
5674 are now incorrect, since they will return early, and fail to mark any
5675 other objects the smob refers to. Some code in the Guile library used
5678 ** The semantics of the I/O port functions in scm_ptobfuns have changed.
5680 If you have implemented your own I/O port type, by writing the
5681 functions required by the scm_ptobfuns and then calling scm_newptob,
5682 you will need to change your functions slightly.
5684 The functions in a scm_ptobfuns structure now expect the port itself
5685 as their argument; they used to expect the `stream' member of the
5686 port's scm_port_table structure. This allows functions in an
5687 scm_ptobfuns structure to easily access the port's cell (and any flags
5688 it its CAR), and the port's scm_port_table structure.
5690 Guile now passes the I/O port itself as the `port' argument in the
5691 following scm_ptobfuns functions:
5693 int (*free) (SCM port);
5694 int (*fputc) (int, SCM port);
5695 int (*fputs) (char *, SCM port);
5696 scm_sizet (*fwrite) SCM_P ((char *ptr,
5700 int (*fflush) (SCM port);
5701 int (*fgetc) (SCM port);
5702 int (*fclose) (SCM port);
5704 The interfaces to the `mark', `print', `equalp', and `fgets' methods
5707 If you have existing code which defines its own port types, it is easy
5708 to convert your code to the new interface; simply apply SCM_STREAM to
5709 the port argument to yield the value you code used to expect.
5711 Note that since both the port and the stream have the same type in the
5712 C code --- they are both SCM values --- the C compiler will not remind
5713 you if you forget to update your scm_ptobfuns functions.
5716 ** Function: int scm_internal_select (int fds,
5720 struct timeval *timeout);
5722 This is a replacement for the `select' function provided by the OS.
5723 It enables I/O blocking and sleeping to happen for one cooperative
5724 thread without blocking other threads. It also avoids busy-loops in
5725 these situations. It is intended that all I/O blocking and sleeping
5726 will finally go through this function. Currently, this function is
5727 only available on systems providing `gettimeofday' and `select'.
5729 ** Function: SCM scm_internal_stack_catch (SCM tag,
5730 scm_catch_body_t body,
5732 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
5735 A new sibling to the other two C level `catch' functions
5736 scm_internal_catch and scm_internal_lazy_catch. Use it if you want
5737 the stack to be saved automatically into the variable `the-last-stack'
5738 (scm_the_last_stack_var) on error. This is necessary if you want to
5739 use advanced error reporting, such as calling scm_display_error and
5740 scm_display_backtrace. (They both take a stack object as argument.)
5742 ** Function: SCM scm_spawn_thread (scm_catch_body_t body,
5744 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
5747 Spawns a new thread. It does a job similar to
5748 scm_call_with_new_thread but takes arguments more suitable when
5749 spawning threads from application C code.
5751 ** The hook scm_error_callback has been removed. It was originally
5752 intended as a way for the user to install his own error handler. But
5753 that method works badly since it intervenes between throw and catch,
5754 thereby changing the semantics of expressions like (catch #t ...).
5755 The correct way to do it is to use one of the C level catch functions
5756 in throw.c: scm_internal_catch/lazy_catch/stack_catch.
5758 ** Removed functions:
5760 scm_obj_length, scm_list_length, scm_list_append, scm_list_append_x,
5761 scm_list_reverse, scm_list_reverse_x
5763 ** New macros: SCM_LISTn where n is one of the integers 0-9.
5765 These can be used for pretty list creation from C. The idea is taken
5766 from Erick Gallesio's STk.
5768 ** scm_array_map renamed to scm_array_map_x
5770 ** mbstrings are now removed
5772 This means that the type codes scm_tc7_mb_string and
5773 scm_tc7_mb_substring has been removed.
5775 ** scm_gen_putc, scm_gen_puts, scm_gen_write, and scm_gen_getc have changed.
5777 Since we no longer support multi-byte strings, these I/O functions
5778 have been simplified, and renamed. Here are their old names, and
5779 their new names and arguments:
5781 scm_gen_putc -> void scm_putc (int c, SCM port);
5782 scm_gen_puts -> void scm_puts (char *s, SCM port);
5783 scm_gen_write -> void scm_lfwrite (char *ptr, scm_sizet size, SCM port);
5784 scm_gen_getc -> void scm_getc (SCM port);
5787 ** The macros SCM_TYP7D and SCM_TYP7SD has been removed.
5789 ** The macro SCM_TYP7S has taken the role of the old SCM_TYP7D
5791 SCM_TYP7S now masks away the bit which distinguishes substrings from
5794 ** scm_catch_body_t: Backward incompatible change!
5796 Body functions to scm_internal_catch and friends do not any longer
5797 take a second argument. This is because it is no longer possible to
5798 pass a #f arg to catch.
5800 ** Calls to scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect now nest properly.
5802 The function scm_protect_object protects its argument from being freed
5803 by the garbage collector. scm_unprotect_object removes that
5806 These functions now nest properly. That is, for every object O, there
5807 is a counter which scm_protect_object(O) increments and
5808 scm_unprotect_object(O) decrements, if the counter is greater than
5809 zero. Every object's counter is zero when it is first created. If an
5810 object's counter is greater than zero, the garbage collector will not
5811 reclaim its storage.
5813 This allows you to use scm_protect_object in your code without
5814 worrying that some other function you call will call
5815 scm_unprotect_object, and allow it to be freed. Assuming that the
5816 functions you call are well-behaved, and unprotect only those objects
5817 they protect, you can follow the same rule and have confidence that
5818 objects will be freed only at appropriate times.
5821 Changes in Guile 1.2 (released Tuesday, June 24 1997):
5823 * Changes to the distribution
5825 ** Nightly snapshots are now available from ftp.red-bean.com.
5826 The old server, ftp.cyclic.com, has been relinquished to its rightful
5829 Nightly snapshots of the Guile development sources are now available via
5830 anonymous FTP from ftp.red-bean.com, as /pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz.
5832 Via the web, that's: ftp://ftp.red-bean.com/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
5833 For getit, that's: ftp.red-bean.com:/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
5835 ** To run Guile without installing it, the procedure has changed a bit.
5837 If you used a separate build directory to compile Guile, you'll need
5838 to include the build directory in SCHEME_LOAD_PATH, as well as the
5839 source directory. See the `INSTALL' file for examples.
5841 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
5843 ** The standard Guile load path for Scheme code now includes
5844 $(datadir)/guile (usually /usr/local/share/guile). This means that
5845 you can install your own Scheme files there, and Guile will find them.
5846 (Previous versions of Guile only checked a directory whose name
5847 contained the Guile version number, so you had to re-install or move
5848 your Scheme sources each time you installed a fresh version of Guile.)
5850 The load path also includes $(datadir)/guile/site; we recommend
5851 putting individual Scheme files there. If you want to install a
5852 package with multiple source files, create a directory for them under
5855 ** Guile 1.2 will now use the Rx regular expression library, if it is
5856 installed on your system. When you are linking libguile into your own
5857 programs, this means you will have to link against -lguile, -lqt (if
5858 you configured Guile with thread support), and -lrx.
5860 If you are using autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your
5861 application, the following lines should suffice to add the appropriate
5862 libraries to your link command:
5864 ### Find Rx, quickthreads and libguile.
5865 AC_CHECK_LIB(rx, main)
5866 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
5867 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
5869 The Guile 1.2 distribution does not contain sources for the Rx
5870 library, as Guile 1.0 did. If you want to use Rx, you'll need to
5871 retrieve it from a GNU FTP site and install it separately.
5873 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
5875 ** The dynamic linking features of Guile are now enabled by default.
5876 You can disable them by giving the `--disable-dynamic-linking' option
5879 (dynamic-link FILENAME)
5881 Find the object file denoted by FILENAME (a string) and link it
5882 into the running Guile application. When everything works out,
5883 return a Scheme object suitable for representing the linked object
5884 file. Otherwise an error is thrown. How object files are
5885 searched is system dependent.
5887 (dynamic-object? VAL)
5889 Determine whether VAL represents a dynamically linked object file.
5891 (dynamic-unlink DYNOBJ)
5893 Unlink the indicated object file from the application. DYNOBJ
5894 should be one of the values returned by `dynamic-link'.
5896 (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
5898 Search the C function indicated by FUNCTION (a string or symbol)
5899 in DYNOBJ and return some Scheme object that can later be used
5900 with `dynamic-call' to actually call this function. Right now,
5901 these Scheme objects are formed by casting the address of the
5902 function to `long' and converting this number to its Scheme
5905 (dynamic-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
5907 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ. The
5908 function is passed no arguments and its return value is ignored.
5909 When FUNCTION is something returned by `dynamic-func', call that
5910 function and ignore DYNOBJ. When FUNCTION is a string (or symbol,
5911 etc.), look it up in DYNOBJ; this is equivalent to
5913 (dynamic-call (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ) #f)
5915 Interrupts are deferred while the C function is executing (with
5916 SCM_DEFER_INTS/SCM_ALLOW_INTS).
5918 (dynamic-args-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ ARGS)
5920 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ, but pass it
5921 some arguments and return its return value. The C function is
5922 expected to take two arguments and return an `int', just like
5925 int c_func (int argc, char **argv);
5927 ARGS must be a list of strings and is converted into an array of
5928 `char *'. The array is passed in ARGV and its size in ARGC. The
5929 return value is converted to a Scheme number and returned from the
5930 call to `dynamic-args-call'.
5932 When dynamic linking is disabled or not supported on your system,
5933 the above functions throw errors, but they are still available.
5935 Here is a small example that works on GNU/Linux:
5937 (define libc-obj (dynamic-link "libc.so"))
5938 (dynamic-args-call 'rand libc-obj '())
5940 See the file `libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING' for additional comments.
5942 ** The #/ syntax for module names is depreciated, and will be removed
5943 in a future version of Guile. Instead of
5951 The latter syntax is more consistent with existing Lisp practice.
5953 ** Guile now does fancier printing of structures. Structures are the
5954 underlying implementation for records, which in turn are used to
5955 implement modules, so all of these object now print differently and in
5956 a more informative way.
5958 The Scheme printer will examine the builtin variable *struct-printer*
5959 whenever it needs to print a structure object. When this variable is
5960 not `#f' it is deemed to be a procedure and will be applied to the
5961 structure object and the output port. When *struct-printer* is `#f'
5962 or the procedure return `#f' the structure object will be printed in
5963 the boring #<struct 80458270> form.
5965 This hook is used by some routines in ice-9/boot-9.scm to implement
5966 type specific printing routines. Please read the comments there about
5969 One of the more specific uses of structs are records. The printing
5970 procedure that could be passed to MAKE-RECORD-TYPE is now actually
5971 called. It should behave like a *struct-printer* procedure (described
5974 ** Guile now supports a new R4RS-compliant syntax for keywords. A
5975 token of the form #:NAME, where NAME has the same syntax as a Scheme
5976 symbol, is the external representation of the keyword named NAME.
5977 Keyword objects print using this syntax as well, so values containing
5978 keyword objects can be read back into Guile. When used in an
5979 expression, keywords are self-quoting objects.
5981 Guile suports this read syntax, and uses this print syntax, regardless
5982 of the current setting of the `keyword' read option. The `keyword'
5983 read option only controls whether Guile recognizes the `:NAME' syntax,
5984 which is incompatible with R4RS. (R4RS says such token represent
5987 ** Guile has regular expression support again. Guile 1.0 included
5988 functions for matching regular expressions, based on the Rx library.
5989 In Guile 1.1, the Guile/Rx interface was removed to simplify the
5990 distribution, and thus Guile had no regular expression support. Guile
5991 1.2 again supports the most commonly used functions, and supports all
5992 of SCSH's regular expression functions.
5994 If your system does not include a POSIX regular expression library,
5995 and you have not linked Guile with a third-party regexp library such as
5996 Rx, these functions will not be available. You can tell whether your
5997 Guile installation includes regular expression support by checking
5998 whether the `*features*' list includes the `regex' symbol.
6000 *** regexp functions
6002 By default, Guile supports POSIX extended regular expressions. That
6003 means that the characters `(', `)', `+' and `?' are special, and must
6004 be escaped if you wish to match the literal characters.
6006 This regular expression interface was modeled after that implemented
6007 by SCSH, the Scheme Shell. It is intended to be upwardly compatible
6008 with SCSH regular expressions.
6010 **** Function: string-match PATTERN STR [START]
6011 Compile the string PATTERN into a regular expression and compare
6012 it with STR. The optional numeric argument START specifies the
6013 position of STR at which to begin matching.
6015 `string-match' returns a "match structure" which describes what,
6016 if anything, was matched by the regular expression. *Note Match
6017 Structures::. If STR does not match PATTERN at all,
6018 `string-match' returns `#f'.
6020 Each time `string-match' is called, it must compile its PATTERN
6021 argument into a regular expression structure. This operation is
6022 expensive, which makes `string-match' inefficient if the same regular
6023 expression is used several times (for example, in a loop). For better
6024 performance, you can compile a regular expression in advance and then
6025 match strings against the compiled regexp.
6027 **** Function: make-regexp STR [FLAGS]
6028 Compile the regular expression described by STR, and return the
6029 compiled regexp structure. If STR does not describe a legal
6030 regular expression, `make-regexp' throws a
6031 `regular-expression-syntax' error.
6033 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
6035 **** Constant: regexp/extended
6036 Use POSIX Extended Regular Expression syntax when interpreting
6037 STR. If not set, POSIX Basic Regular Expression syntax is used.
6038 If the FLAGS argument is omitted, we assume regexp/extended.
6040 **** Constant: regexp/icase
6041 Do not differentiate case. Subsequent searches using the
6042 returned regular expression will be case insensitive.
6044 **** Constant: regexp/newline
6045 Match-any-character operators don't match a newline.
6047 A non-matching list ([^...]) not containing a newline matches a
6050 Match-beginning-of-line operator (^) matches the empty string
6051 immediately after a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
6052 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/notbol.
6054 Match-end-of-line operator ($) matches the empty string
6055 immediately before a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
6056 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/noteol.
6058 **** Function: regexp-exec REGEXP STR [START [FLAGS]]
6059 Match the compiled regular expression REGEXP against `str'. If
6060 the optional integer START argument is provided, begin matching
6061 from that position in the string. Return a match structure
6062 describing the results of the match, or `#f' if no match could be
6065 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
6067 **** Constant: regexp/notbol
6068 The match-beginning-of-line operator always fails to match (but
6069 see the compilation flag regexp/newline above) This flag may be
6070 used when different portions of a string are passed to
6071 regexp-exec and the beginning of the string should not be
6072 interpreted as the beginning of the line.
6074 **** Constant: regexp/noteol
6075 The match-end-of-line operator always fails to match (but see the
6076 compilation flag regexp/newline above)
6078 **** Function: regexp? OBJ
6079 Return `#t' if OBJ is a compiled regular expression, or `#f'
6082 Regular expressions are commonly used to find patterns in one string
6083 and replace them with the contents of another string.
6085 **** Function: regexp-substitute PORT MATCH [ITEM...]
6086 Write to the output port PORT selected contents of the match
6087 structure MATCH. Each ITEM specifies what should be written, and
6088 may be one of the following arguments:
6090 * A string. String arguments are written out verbatim.
6092 * An integer. The submatch with that number is written.
6094 * The symbol `pre'. The portion of the matched string preceding
6095 the regexp match is written.
6097 * The symbol `post'. The portion of the matched string
6098 following the regexp match is written.
6100 PORT may be `#f', in which case nothing is written; instead,
6101 `regexp-substitute' constructs a string from the specified ITEMs
6104 **** Function: regexp-substitute/global PORT REGEXP TARGET [ITEM...]
6105 Similar to `regexp-substitute', but can be used to perform global
6106 substitutions on STR. Instead of taking a match structure as an
6107 argument, `regexp-substitute/global' takes two string arguments: a
6108 REGEXP string describing a regular expression, and a TARGET string
6109 which should be matched against this regular expression.
6111 Each ITEM behaves as in REGEXP-SUBSTITUTE, with the following
6114 * A function may be supplied. When this function is called, it
6115 will be passed one argument: a match structure for a given
6116 regular expression match. It should return a string to be
6117 written out to PORT.
6119 * The `post' symbol causes `regexp-substitute/global' to recurse
6120 on the unmatched portion of STR. This *must* be supplied in
6121 order to perform global search-and-replace on STR; if it is
6122 not present among the ITEMs, then `regexp-substitute/global'
6123 will return after processing a single match.
6125 *** Match Structures
6127 A "match structure" is the object returned by `string-match' and
6128 `regexp-exec'. It describes which portion of a string, if any, matched
6129 the given regular expression. Match structures include: a reference to
6130 the string that was checked for matches; the starting and ending
6131 positions of the regexp match; and, if the regexp included any
6132 parenthesized subexpressions, the starting and ending positions of each
6135 In each of the regexp match functions described below, the `match'
6136 argument must be a match structure returned by a previous call to
6137 `string-match' or `regexp-exec'. Most of these functions return some
6138 information about the original target string that was matched against a
6139 regular expression; we will call that string TARGET for easy reference.
6141 **** Function: regexp-match? OBJ
6142 Return `#t' if OBJ is a match structure returned by a previous
6143 call to `regexp-exec', or `#f' otherwise.
6145 **** Function: match:substring MATCH [N]
6146 Return the portion of TARGET matched by subexpression number N.
6147 Submatch 0 (the default) represents the entire regexp match. If
6148 the regular expression as a whole matched, but the subexpression
6149 number N did not match, return `#f'.
6151 **** Function: match:start MATCH [N]
6152 Return the starting position of submatch number N.
6154 **** Function: match:end MATCH [N]
6155 Return the ending position of submatch number N.
6157 **** Function: match:prefix MATCH
6158 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET preceding the regexp match.
6160 **** Function: match:suffix MATCH
6161 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET following the regexp match.
6163 **** Function: match:count MATCH
6164 Return the number of parenthesized subexpressions from MATCH.
6165 Note that the entire regular expression match itself counts as a
6166 subexpression, and failed submatches are included in the count.
6168 **** Function: match:string MATCH
6169 Return the original TARGET string.
6171 *** Backslash Escapes
6173 Sometimes you will want a regexp to match characters like `*' or `$'
6174 exactly. For example, to check whether a particular string represents
6175 a menu entry from an Info node, it would be useful to match it against
6176 a regexp like `^* [^:]*::'. However, this won't work; because the
6177 asterisk is a metacharacter, it won't match the `*' at the beginning of
6178 the string. In this case, we want to make the first asterisk un-magic.
6180 You can do this by preceding the metacharacter with a backslash
6181 character `\'. (This is also called "quoting" the metacharacter, and
6182 is known as a "backslash escape".) When Guile sees a backslash in a
6183 regular expression, it considers the following glyph to be an ordinary
6184 character, no matter what special meaning it would ordinarily have.
6185 Therefore, we can make the above example work by changing the regexp to
6186 `^\* [^:]*::'. The `\*' sequence tells the regular expression engine
6187 to match only a single asterisk in the target string.
6189 Since the backslash is itself a metacharacter, you may force a
6190 regexp to match a backslash in the target string by preceding the
6191 backslash with itself. For example, to find variable references in a
6192 TeX program, you might want to find occurrences of the string `\let\'
6193 followed by any number of alphabetic characters. The regular expression
6194 `\\let\\[A-Za-z]*' would do this: the double backslashes in the regexp
6195 each match a single backslash in the target string.
6197 **** Function: regexp-quote STR
6198 Quote each special character found in STR with a backslash, and
6199 return the resulting string.
6201 *Very important:* Using backslash escapes in Guile source code (as
6202 in Emacs Lisp or C) can be tricky, because the backslash character has
6203 special meaning for the Guile reader. For example, if Guile encounters
6204 the character sequence `\n' in the middle of a string while processing
6205 Scheme code, it replaces those characters with a newline character.
6206 Similarly, the character sequence `\t' is replaced by a horizontal tab.
6207 Several of these "escape sequences" are processed by the Guile reader
6208 before your code is executed. Unrecognized escape sequences are
6209 ignored: if the characters `\*' appear in a string, they will be
6210 translated to the single character `*'.
6212 This translation is obviously undesirable for regular expressions,
6213 since we want to be able to include backslashes in a string in order to
6214 escape regexp metacharacters. Therefore, to make sure that a backslash
6215 is preserved in a string in your Guile program, you must use *two*
6216 consecutive backslashes:
6218 (define Info-menu-entry-pattern (make-regexp "^\\* [^:]*"))
6220 The string in this example is preprocessed by the Guile reader before
6221 any code is executed. The resulting argument to `make-regexp' is the
6222 string `^\* [^:]*', which is what we really want.
6224 This also means that in order to write a regular expression that
6225 matches a single backslash character, the regular expression string in
6226 the source code must include *four* backslashes. Each consecutive pair
6227 of backslashes gets translated by the Guile reader to a single
6228 backslash, and the resulting double-backslash is interpreted by the
6229 regexp engine as matching a single backslash character. Hence:
6231 (define tex-variable-pattern (make-regexp "\\\\let\\\\=[A-Za-z]*"))
6233 The reason for the unwieldiness of this syntax is historical. Both
6234 regular expression pattern matchers and Unix string processing systems
6235 have traditionally used backslashes with the special meanings described
6236 above. The POSIX regular expression specification and ANSI C standard
6237 both require these semantics. Attempting to abandon either convention
6238 would cause other kinds of compatibility problems, possibly more severe
6239 ones. Therefore, without extending the Scheme reader to support
6240 strings with different quoting conventions (an ungainly and confusing
6241 extension when implemented in other languages), we must adhere to this
6242 cumbersome escape syntax.
6244 * Changes to the gh_ interface
6246 * Changes to the scm_ interface
6248 * Changes to system call interfaces:
6250 ** The value returned by `raise' is now unspecified. It throws an exception
6253 *** A new procedure `sigaction' can be used to install signal handlers
6255 (sigaction signum [action] [flags])
6257 signum is the signal number, which can be specified using the value
6260 If action is omitted, sigaction returns a pair: the CAR is the current
6261 signal hander, which will be either an integer with the value SIG_DFL
6262 (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or the Scheme procedure which
6263 handles the signal, or #f if a non-Scheme procedure handles the
6264 signal. The CDR contains the current sigaction flags for the handler.
6266 If action is provided, it is installed as the new handler for signum.
6267 action can be a Scheme procedure taking one argument, or the value of
6268 SIG_DFL (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or #f to restore
6269 whatever signal handler was installed before sigaction was first used.
6270 Flags can optionally be specified for the new handler (SA_RESTART is
6271 always used if the system provides it, so need not be specified.) The
6272 return value is a pair with information about the old handler as
6275 This interface does not provide access to the "signal blocking"
6276 facility. Maybe this is not needed, since the thread support may
6277 provide solutions to the problem of consistent access to data
6280 *** A new procedure `flush-all-ports' is equivalent to running
6281 `force-output' on every port open for output.
6283 ** Guile now provides information on how it was built, via the new
6284 global variable, %guile-build-info. This variable records the values
6285 of the standard GNU makefile directory variables as an assocation
6286 list, mapping variable names (symbols) onto directory paths (strings).
6287 For example, to find out where the Guile link libraries were
6288 installed, you can say:
6290 guile -c "(display (assq-ref %guile-build-info 'libdir)) (newline)"
6293 * Changes to the scm_ interface
6295 ** The new function scm_handle_by_message_noexit is just like the
6296 existing scm_handle_by_message function, except that it doesn't call
6297 exit to terminate the process. Instead, it prints a message and just
6298 returns #f. This might be a more appropriate catch-all handler for
6299 new dynamic roots and threads.
6302 Changes in Guile 1.1 (released Friday, May 16 1997):
6304 * Changes to the distribution.
6306 The Guile 1.0 distribution has been split up into several smaller
6308 guile-core --- the Guile interpreter itself.
6309 guile-tcltk --- the interface between the Guile interpreter and
6310 Tcl/Tk; Tcl is an interpreter for a stringy language, and Tk
6311 is a toolkit for building graphical user interfaces.
6312 guile-rgx-ctax --- the interface between Guile and the Rx regular
6313 expression matcher, and the translator for the Ctax
6314 programming language. These are packaged together because the
6315 Ctax translator uses Rx to parse Ctax source code.
6317 This NEWS file describes the changes made to guile-core since the 1.0
6320 We no longer distribute the documentation, since it was either out of
6321 date, or incomplete. As soon as we have current documentation, we
6326 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
6328 ** guile now accepts command-line arguments compatible with SCSH, Olin
6329 Shivers' Scheme Shell.
6331 In general, arguments are evaluated from left to right, but there are
6332 exceptions. The following switches stop argument processing, and
6333 stash all remaining command-line arguments as the value returned by
6334 the (command-line) function.
6335 -s SCRIPT load Scheme source code from FILE, and exit
6336 -c EXPR evalute Scheme expression EXPR, and exit
6337 -- stop scanning arguments; run interactively
6339 The switches below are processed as they are encountered.
6340 -l FILE load Scheme source code from FILE
6341 -e FUNCTION after reading script, apply FUNCTION to
6342 command line arguments
6343 -ds do -s script at this point
6344 --emacs enable Emacs protocol (experimental)
6345 -h, --help display this help and exit
6346 -v, --version display version information and exit
6347 \ read arguments from following script lines
6349 So, for example, here is a Guile script named `ekko' (thanks, Olin)
6350 which re-implements the traditional "echo" command:
6352 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
6355 (map (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
6359 (main (command-line))
6361 Suppose we invoke this script as follows:
6363 ekko a speckled gecko
6365 Through the magic of Unix script processing (triggered by the `#!'
6366 token at the top of the file), /usr/local/bin/guile receives the
6367 following list of command-line arguments:
6369 ("-s" "./ekko" "a" "speckled" "gecko")
6371 Unix inserts the name of the script after the argument specified on
6372 the first line of the file (in this case, "-s"), and then follows that
6373 with the arguments given to the script. Guile loads the script, which
6374 defines the `main' function, and then applies it to the list of
6375 remaining command-line arguments, ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
6377 In Unix, the first line of a script file must take the following form:
6379 #!INTERPRETER ARGUMENT
6381 where INTERPRETER is the absolute filename of the interpreter
6382 executable, and ARGUMENT is a single command-line argument to pass to
6385 You may only pass one argument to the interpreter, and its length is
6386 limited. These restrictions can be annoying to work around, so Guile
6387 provides a general mechanism (borrowed from, and compatible with,
6388 SCSH) for circumventing them.
6390 If the ARGUMENT in a Guile script is a single backslash character,
6391 `\', Guile will open the script file, parse arguments from its second
6392 and subsequent lines, and replace the `\' with them. So, for example,
6393 here is another implementation of the `ekko' script:
6395 #!/usr/local/bin/guile \
6399 (for-each (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
6403 If the user invokes this script as follows:
6405 ekko a speckled gecko
6407 Unix expands this into
6409 /usr/local/bin/guile \ ekko a speckled gecko
6411 When Guile sees the `\' argument, it replaces it with the arguments
6412 read from the second line of the script, producing:
6414 /usr/local/bin/guile -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
6416 This tells Guile to load the `ekko' script, and apply the function
6417 `main' to the argument list ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
6419 Here is how Guile parses the command-line arguments:
6420 - Each space character terminates an argument. This means that two
6421 spaces in a row introduce an empty-string argument.
6422 - The tab character is not permitted (unless you quote it with the
6423 backslash character, as described below), to avoid confusion.
6424 - The newline character terminates the sequence of arguments, and will
6425 also terminate a final non-empty argument. (However, a newline
6426 following a space will not introduce a final empty-string argument;
6427 it only terminates the argument list.)
6428 - The backslash character is the escape character. It escapes
6429 backslash, space, tab, and newline. The ANSI C escape sequences
6430 like \n and \t are also supported. These produce argument
6431 constituents; the two-character combination \n doesn't act like a
6432 terminating newline. The escape sequence \NNN for exactly three
6433 octal digits reads as the character whose ASCII code is NNN. As
6434 above, characters produced this way are argument constituents.
6435 Backslash followed by other characters is not allowed.
6437 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
6439 ** Guile now builds and installs a shared guile library, if your
6440 system support shared libraries. (It still builds a static library on
6441 all systems.) Guile automatically detects whether your system
6442 supports shared libraries. To prevent Guile from buildisg shared
6443 libraries, pass the `--disable-shared' flag to the configure script.
6445 Guile takes longer to compile when it builds shared libraries, because
6446 it must compile every file twice --- once to produce position-
6447 independent object code, and once to produce normal object code.
6449 ** The libthreads library has been merged into libguile.
6451 To link a program against Guile, you now need only link against
6452 -lguile and -lqt; -lthreads is no longer needed. If you are using
6453 autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your application, the
6454 following lines should suffice to add the appropriate libraries to
6457 ### Find quickthreads and libguile.
6458 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
6459 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
6461 * Changes to Scheme functions
6463 ** Guile Scheme's special syntax for keyword objects is now optional,
6464 and disabled by default.
6466 The syntax variation from R4RS made it difficult to port some
6467 interesting packages to Guile. The routines which accepted keyword
6468 arguments (mostly in the module system) have been modified to also
6469 accept symbols whose names begin with `:'.
6471 To change the keyword syntax, you must first import the (ice-9 debug)
6473 (use-modules (ice-9 debug))
6475 Then you can enable the keyword syntax as follows:
6476 (read-set! keywords 'prefix)
6478 To disable keyword syntax, do this:
6479 (read-set! keywords #f)
6481 ** Many more primitive functions accept shared substrings as
6482 arguments. In the past, these functions required normal, mutable
6483 strings as arguments, although they never made use of this
6486 ** The uniform array functions now operate on byte vectors. These
6487 functions are `array-fill!', `serial-array-copy!', `array-copy!',
6488 `serial-array-map', `array-map', `array-for-each', and
6491 ** The new functions `trace' and `untrace' implement simple debugging
6492 support for Scheme functions.
6494 The `trace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
6495 and tells the Guile interpreter to display each procedure's name and
6496 arguments each time the procedure is invoked. When invoked with no
6497 arguments, `trace' returns the list of procedures currently being
6500 The `untrace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
6501 and tells the Guile interpreter not to trace them any more. When
6502 invoked with no arguments, `untrace' untraces all curretly traced
6505 The tracing in Guile has an advantage over most other systems: we
6506 don't create new procedure objects, but mark the procedure objects
6507 themselves. This means that anonymous and internal procedures can be
6510 ** The function `assert-repl-prompt' has been renamed to
6511 `set-repl-prompt!'. It takes one argument, PROMPT.
6512 - If PROMPT is #f, the Guile read-eval-print loop will not prompt.
6513 - If PROMPT is a string, we use it as a prompt.
6514 - If PROMPT is a procedure accepting no arguments, we call it, and
6515 display the result as a prompt.
6516 - Otherwise, we display "> ".
6518 ** The new function `eval-string' reads Scheme expressions from a
6519 string and evaluates them, returning the value of the last expression
6520 in the string. If the string contains no expressions, it returns an
6523 ** The new function `thunk?' returns true iff its argument is a
6524 procedure of zero arguments.
6526 ** `defined?' is now a builtin function, instead of syntax. This
6527 means that its argument should be quoted. It returns #t iff its
6528 argument is bound in the current module.
6530 ** The new syntax `use-modules' allows you to add new modules to your
6531 environment without re-typing a complete `define-module' form. It
6532 accepts any number of module names as arguments, and imports their
6533 public bindings into the current module.
6535 ** The new function (module-defined? NAME MODULE) returns true iff
6536 NAME, a symbol, is defined in MODULE, a module object.
6538 ** The new function `builtin-bindings' creates and returns a hash
6539 table containing copies of all the root module's bindings.
6541 ** The new function `builtin-weak-bindings' does the same as
6542 `builtin-bindings', but creates a doubly-weak hash table.
6544 ** The `equal?' function now considers variable objects to be
6545 equivalent if they have the same name and the same value.
6547 ** The new function `command-line' returns the command-line arguments
6548 given to Guile, as a list of strings.
6550 When using guile as a script interpreter, `command-line' returns the
6551 script's arguments; those processed by the interpreter (like `-s' or
6552 `-c') are omitted. (In other words, you get the normal, expected
6553 behavior.) Any application that uses scm_shell to process its
6554 command-line arguments gets this behavior as well.
6556 ** The new function `load-user-init' looks for a file called `.guile'
6557 in the user's home directory, and loads it if it exists. This is
6558 mostly for use by the code generated by scm_compile_shell_switches,
6559 but we thought it might also be useful in other circumstances.
6561 ** The new function `log10' returns the base-10 logarithm of its
6564 ** Changes to I/O functions
6566 *** The functions `read', `primitive-load', `read-and-eval!', and
6567 `primitive-load-path' no longer take optional arguments controlling
6568 case insensitivity and a `#' parser.
6570 Case sensitivity is now controlled by a read option called
6571 `case-insensitive'. The user can add new `#' syntaxes with the
6572 `read-hash-extend' function (see below).
6574 *** The new function `read-hash-extend' allows the user to change the
6575 syntax of Guile Scheme in a somewhat controlled way.
6577 (read-hash-extend CHAR PROC)
6578 When parsing S-expressions, if we read a `#' character followed by
6579 the character CHAR, use PROC to parse an object from the stream.
6580 If PROC is #f, remove any parsing procedure registered for CHAR.
6582 The reader applies PROC to two arguments: CHAR and an input port.
6584 *** The new functions read-delimited and read-delimited! provide a
6585 general mechanism for doing delimited input on streams.
6587 (read-delimited DELIMS [PORT HANDLE-DELIM])
6588 Read until we encounter one of the characters in DELIMS (a string),
6589 or end-of-file. PORT is the input port to read from; it defaults to
6590 the current input port. The HANDLE-DELIM parameter determines how
6591 the terminating character is handled; it should be one of the
6594 'trim omit delimiter from result
6595 'peek leave delimiter character in input stream
6596 'concat append delimiter character to returned value
6597 'split return a pair: (RESULT . TERMINATOR)
6599 HANDLE-DELIM defaults to 'peek.
6601 (read-delimited! DELIMS BUF [PORT HANDLE-DELIM START END])
6602 A side-effecting variant of `read-delimited'.
6604 The data is written into the string BUF at the indices in the
6605 half-open interval [START, END); the default interval is the whole
6606 string: START = 0 and END = (string-length BUF). The values of
6607 START and END must specify a well-defined interval in BUF, i.e.
6608 0 <= START <= END <= (string-length BUF).
6610 It returns NBYTES, the number of bytes read. If the buffer filled
6611 up without a delimiter character being found, it returns #f. If the
6612 port is at EOF when the read starts, it returns the EOF object.
6614 If an integer is returned (i.e., the read is successfully terminated
6615 by reading a delimiter character), then the HANDLE-DELIM parameter
6616 determines how to handle the terminating character. It is described
6617 above, and defaults to 'peek.
6619 (The descriptions of these functions were borrowed from the SCSH
6620 manual, by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
6622 *** The `%read-delimited!' function is the primitive used to implement
6623 `read-delimited' and `read-delimited!'.
6625 (%read-delimited! DELIMS BUF GOBBLE? [PORT START END])
6627 This returns a pair of values: (TERMINATOR . NUM-READ).
6628 - TERMINATOR describes why the read was terminated. If it is a
6629 character or the eof object, then that is the value that terminated
6630 the read. If it is #f, the function filled the buffer without finding
6631 a delimiting character.
6632 - NUM-READ is the number of characters read into BUF.
6634 If the read is successfully terminated by reading a delimiter
6635 character, then the gobble? parameter determines what to do with the
6636 terminating character. If true, the character is removed from the
6637 input stream; if false, the character is left in the input stream
6638 where a subsequent read operation will retrieve it. In either case,
6639 the character is also the first value returned by the procedure call.
6641 (The descriptions of this function was borrowed from the SCSH manual,
6642 by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
6644 *** The `read-line' and `read-line!' functions have changed; they now
6645 trim the terminator by default; previously they appended it to the
6646 returned string. For the old behavior, use (read-line PORT 'concat).
6648 *** The functions `uniform-array-read!' and `uniform-array-write!' now
6649 take new optional START and END arguments, specifying the region of
6650 the array to read and write.
6652 *** The `ungetc-char-ready?' function has been removed. We feel it's
6653 inappropriate for an interface to expose implementation details this
6656 ** Changes to the Unix library and system call interface
6658 *** The new fcntl function provides access to the Unix `fcntl' system
6661 (fcntl PORT COMMAND VALUE)
6662 Apply COMMAND to PORT's file descriptor, with VALUE as an argument.
6663 Values for COMMAND are:
6665 F_DUPFD duplicate a file descriptor
6666 F_GETFD read the descriptor's close-on-exec flag
6667 F_SETFD set the descriptor's close-on-exec flag to VALUE
6668 F_GETFL read the descriptor's flags, as set on open
6669 F_SETFL set the descriptor's flags, as set on open to VALUE
6670 F_GETOWN return the process ID of a socket's owner, for SIGIO
6671 F_SETOWN set the process that owns a socket to VALUE, for SIGIO
6672 FD_CLOEXEC not sure what this is
6674 For details, see the documentation for the fcntl system call.
6676 *** The arguments to `select' have changed, for compatibility with
6677 SCSH. The TIMEOUT parameter may now be non-integral, yielding the
6678 expected behavior. The MILLISECONDS parameter has been changed to
6679 MICROSECONDS, to more closely resemble the underlying system call.
6680 The RVEC, WVEC, and EVEC arguments can now be vectors; the type of the
6681 corresponding return set will be the same.
6683 *** The arguments to the `mknod' system call have changed. They are
6686 (mknod PATH TYPE PERMS DEV)
6687 Create a new file (`node') in the file system. PATH is the name of
6688 the file to create. TYPE is the kind of file to create; it should
6689 be 'fifo, 'block-special, or 'char-special. PERMS specifies the
6690 permission bits to give the newly created file. If TYPE is
6691 'block-special or 'char-special, DEV specifies which device the
6692 special file refers to; its interpretation depends on the kind of
6693 special file being created.
6695 *** The `fork' function has been renamed to `primitive-fork', to avoid
6696 clashing with various SCSH forks.
6698 *** The `recv' and `recvfrom' functions have been renamed to `recv!'
6699 and `recvfrom!'. They no longer accept a size for a second argument;
6700 you must pass a string to hold the received value. They no longer
6701 return the buffer. Instead, `recv' returns the length of the message
6702 received, and `recvfrom' returns a pair containing the packet's length
6703 and originating address.
6705 *** The file descriptor datatype has been removed, as have the
6706 `read-fd', `write-fd', `close', `lseek', and `dup' functions.
6707 We plan to replace these functions with a SCSH-compatible interface.
6709 *** The `create' function has been removed; it's just a special case
6712 *** There are new functions to break down process termination status
6713 values. In the descriptions below, STATUS is a value returned by
6716 (status:exit-val STATUS)
6717 If the child process exited normally, this function returns the exit
6718 code for the child process (i.e., the value passed to exit, or
6719 returned from main). If the child process did not exit normally,
6720 this function returns #f.
6722 (status:stop-sig STATUS)
6723 If the child process was suspended by a signal, this function
6724 returns the signal that suspended the child. Otherwise, it returns
6727 (status:term-sig STATUS)
6728 If the child process terminated abnormally, this function returns
6729 the signal that terminated the child. Otherwise, this function
6732 POSIX promises that exactly one of these functions will return true on
6733 a valid STATUS value.
6735 These functions are compatible with SCSH.
6737 *** There are new accessors and setters for the broken-out time vectors
6738 returned by `localtime', `gmtime', and that ilk. They are:
6740 Component Accessor Setter
6741 ========================= ============ ============
6742 seconds tm:sec set-tm:sec
6743 minutes tm:min set-tm:min
6744 hours tm:hour set-tm:hour
6745 day of the month tm:mday set-tm:mday
6746 month tm:mon set-tm:mon
6747 year tm:year set-tm:year
6748 day of the week tm:wday set-tm:wday
6749 day in the year tm:yday set-tm:yday
6750 daylight saving time tm:isdst set-tm:isdst
6751 GMT offset, seconds tm:gmtoff set-tm:gmtoff
6752 name of time zone tm:zone set-tm:zone
6754 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `uname',
6755 describing the host system:
6758 ============================================== ================
6759 name of the operating system implementation utsname:sysname
6760 network name of this machine utsname:nodename
6761 release level of the operating system utsname:release
6762 version level of the operating system utsname:version
6763 machine hardware platform utsname:machine
6765 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getpw',
6766 `getpwnam', `getpwuid', and `getpwent', describing entries from the
6767 system's user database:
6770 ====================== =================
6771 user name passwd:name
6772 user password passwd:passwd
6775 real name passwd:gecos
6776 home directory passwd:dir
6777 shell program passwd:shell
6779 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getgr',
6780 `getgrnam', `getgrgid', and `getgrent', describing entries from the
6781 system's group database:
6784 ======================= ============
6785 group name group:name
6786 group password group:passwd
6788 group members group:mem
6790 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `gethost',
6791 `gethostbyaddr', `gethostbyname', and `gethostent', describing
6795 ========================= ===============
6796 official name of host hostent:name
6797 alias list hostent:aliases
6798 host address type hostent:addrtype
6799 length of address hostent:length
6800 list of addresses hostent:addr-list
6802 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getnet',
6803 `getnetbyaddr', `getnetbyname', and `getnetent', describing internet
6807 ========================= ===============
6808 official name of net netent:name
6809 alias list netent:aliases
6810 net number type netent:addrtype
6811 net number netent:net
6813 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getproto',
6814 `getprotobyname', `getprotobynumber', and `getprotoent', describing
6818 ========================= ===============
6819 official protocol name protoent:name
6820 alias list protoent:aliases
6821 protocol number protoent:proto
6823 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getserv',
6824 `getservbyname', `getservbyport', and `getservent', describing
6828 ========================= ===============
6829 official service name servent:name
6830 alias list servent:aliases
6831 port number servent:port
6832 protocol to use servent:proto
6834 *** There are new accessors for the sockaddr structures returned by
6835 `accept', `getsockname', `getpeername', `recvfrom!':
6838 ======================================== ===============
6839 address format (`family') sockaddr:fam
6840 path, for file domain addresses sockaddr:path
6841 address, for internet domain addresses sockaddr:addr
6842 TCP or UDP port, for internet sockaddr:port
6844 *** The `getpwent', `getgrent', `gethostent', `getnetent',
6845 `getprotoent', and `getservent' functions now return #f at the end of
6846 the user database. (They used to throw an exception.)
6848 Note that calling MUMBLEent function is equivalent to calling the
6849 corresponding MUMBLE function with no arguments.
6851 *** The `setpwent', `setgrent', `sethostent', `setnetent',
6852 `setprotoent', and `setservent' routines now take no arguments.
6854 *** The `gethost', `getproto', `getnet', and `getserv' functions now
6855 provide more useful information when they throw an exception.
6857 *** The `lnaof' function has been renamed to `inet-lnaof'.
6859 *** Guile now claims to have the `current-time' feature.
6861 *** The `mktime' function now takes an optional second argument ZONE,
6862 giving the time zone to use for the conversion. ZONE should be a
6863 string, in the same format as expected for the "TZ" environment variable.
6865 *** The `strptime' function now returns a pair (TIME . COUNT), where
6866 TIME is the parsed time as a vector, and COUNT is the number of
6867 characters from the string left unparsed. This function used to
6868 return the remaining characters as a string.
6870 *** The `gettimeofday' function has replaced the old `time+ticks' function.
6871 The return value is now (SECONDS . MICROSECONDS); the fractional
6872 component is no longer expressed in "ticks".
6874 *** The `ticks/sec' constant has been removed, in light of the above change.
6876 * Changes to the gh_ interface
6878 ** gh_eval_str() now returns an SCM object which is the result of the
6881 ** gh_scm2str() now copies the Scheme data to a caller-provided C
6884 ** gh_scm2newstr() now makes a C array, copies the Scheme data to it,
6885 and returns the array
6887 ** gh_scm2str0() is gone: there is no need to distinguish
6888 null-terminated from non-null-terminated, since gh_scm2newstr() allows
6889 the user to interpret the data both ways.
6891 * Changes to the scm_ interface
6893 ** The new function scm_symbol_value0 provides an easy way to get a
6894 symbol's value from C code:
6896 SCM scm_symbol_value0 (char *NAME)
6897 Return the value of the symbol named by the null-terminated string
6898 NAME in the current module. If the symbol named NAME is unbound in
6899 the current module, return SCM_UNDEFINED.
6901 ** The new function scm_sysintern0 creates new top-level variables,
6902 without assigning them a value.
6904 SCM scm_sysintern0 (char *NAME)
6905 Create a new Scheme top-level variable named NAME. NAME is a
6906 null-terminated string. Return the variable's value cell.
6908 ** The function scm_internal_catch is the guts of catch. It handles
6909 all the mechanics of setting up a catch target, invoking the catch
6910 body, and perhaps invoking the handler if the body does a throw.
6912 The function is designed to be usable from C code, but is general
6913 enough to implement all the semantics Guile Scheme expects from throw.
6915 TAG is the catch tag. Typically, this is a symbol, but this function
6916 doesn't actually care about that.
6918 BODY is a pointer to a C function which runs the body of the catch;
6919 this is the code you can throw from. We call it like this:
6920 BODY (BODY_DATA, JMPBUF)
6922 BODY_DATA is just the BODY_DATA argument we received; we pass it
6923 through to BODY as its first argument. The caller can make
6924 BODY_DATA point to anything useful that BODY might need.
6925 JMPBUF is the Scheme jmpbuf object corresponding to this catch,
6926 which we have just created and initialized.
6928 HANDLER is a pointer to a C function to deal with a throw to TAG,
6929 should one occur. We call it like this:
6930 HANDLER (HANDLER_DATA, THROWN_TAG, THROW_ARGS)
6932 HANDLER_DATA is the HANDLER_DATA argument we recevied; it's the
6933 same idea as BODY_DATA above.
6934 THROWN_TAG is the tag that the user threw to; usually this is
6935 TAG, but it could be something else if TAG was #t (i.e., a
6936 catch-all), or the user threw to a jmpbuf.
6937 THROW_ARGS is the list of arguments the user passed to the THROW
6940 BODY_DATA is just a pointer we pass through to BODY. HANDLER_DATA
6941 is just a pointer we pass through to HANDLER. We don't actually
6942 use either of those pointers otherwise ourselves. The idea is
6943 that, if our caller wants to communicate something to BODY or
6944 HANDLER, it can pass a pointer to it as MUMBLE_DATA, which BODY and
6945 HANDLER can then use. Think of it as a way to make BODY and
6946 HANDLER closures, not just functions; MUMBLE_DATA points to the
6949 Of course, it's up to the caller to make sure that any data a
6950 MUMBLE_DATA needs is protected from GC. A common way to do this is
6951 to make MUMBLE_DATA a pointer to data stored in an automatic
6952 structure variable; since the collector must scan the stack for
6953 references anyway, this assures that any references in MUMBLE_DATA
6956 ** The new function scm_internal_lazy_catch is exactly like
6957 scm_internal_catch, except:
6959 - It does not unwind the stack (this is the major difference).
6960 - If handler returns, its value is returned from the throw.
6961 - BODY always receives #f as its JMPBUF argument (since there's no
6962 jmpbuf associated with a lazy catch, because we don't unwind the
6965 ** scm_body_thunk is a new body function you can pass to
6966 scm_internal_catch if you want the body to be like Scheme's `catch'
6967 --- a thunk, or a function of one argument if the tag is #f.
6969 BODY_DATA is a pointer to a scm_body_thunk_data structure, which
6970 contains the Scheme procedure to invoke as the body, and the tag
6971 we're catching. If the tag is #f, then we pass JMPBUF (created by
6972 scm_internal_catch) to the body procedure; otherwise, the body gets
6975 ** scm_handle_by_proc is a new handler function you can pass to
6976 scm_internal_catch if you want the handler to act like Scheme's catch
6977 --- call a procedure with the tag and the throw arguments.
6979 If the user does a throw to this catch, this function runs a handler
6980 procedure written in Scheme. HANDLER_DATA is a pointer to an SCM
6981 variable holding the Scheme procedure object to invoke. It ought to
6982 be a pointer to an automatic variable (i.e., one living on the stack),
6983 or the procedure object should be otherwise protected from GC.
6985 ** scm_handle_by_message is a new handler function to use with
6986 `scm_internal_catch' if you want Guile to print a message and die.
6987 It's useful for dealing with throws to uncaught keys at the top level.
6989 HANDLER_DATA, if non-zero, is assumed to be a char * pointing to a
6990 message header to print; if zero, we use "guile" instead. That
6991 text is followed by a colon, then the message described by ARGS.
6993 ** The return type of scm_boot_guile is now void; the function does
6994 not return a value, and indeed, never returns at all.
6996 ** The new function scm_shell makes it easy for user applications to
6997 process command-line arguments in a way that is compatible with the
6998 stand-alone guile interpreter (which is in turn compatible with SCSH,
7001 To use the scm_shell function, first initialize any guile modules
7002 linked into your application, and then call scm_shell with the values
7003 of ARGC and ARGV your `main' function received. scm_shell will add
7004 any SCSH-style meta-arguments from the top of the script file to the
7005 argument vector, and then process the command-line arguments. This
7006 generally means loading a script file or starting up an interactive
7007 command interpreter. For details, see "Changes to the stand-alone
7010 ** The new functions scm_get_meta_args and scm_count_argv help you
7011 implement the SCSH-style meta-argument, `\'.
7013 char **scm_get_meta_args (int ARGC, char **ARGV)
7014 If the second element of ARGV is a string consisting of a single
7015 backslash character (i.e. "\\" in Scheme notation), open the file
7016 named by the following argument, parse arguments from it, and return
7017 the spliced command line. The returned array is terminated by a
7020 For details of argument parsing, see above, under "guile now accepts
7021 command-line arguments compatible with SCSH..."
7023 int scm_count_argv (char **ARGV)
7024 Count the arguments in ARGV, assuming it is terminated by a null
7027 For an example of how these functions might be used, see the source
7028 code for the function scm_shell in libguile/script.c.
7030 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
7033 ** The new function scm_compile_shell_switches turns an array of
7034 command-line arguments into Scheme code to carry out the actions they
7035 describe. Given ARGC and ARGV, it returns a Scheme expression to
7036 evaluate, and calls scm_set_program_arguments to make any remaining
7037 command-line arguments available to the Scheme code. For example,
7038 given the following arguments:
7040 -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
7042 scm_set_program_arguments will return the following expression:
7044 (begin (load "ekko") (main (command-line)) (quit))
7046 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
7049 ** The function scm_shell_usage prints a usage message appropriate for
7050 an interpreter that uses scm_compile_shell_switches to handle its
7051 command-line arguments.
7053 void scm_shell_usage (int FATAL, char *MESSAGE)
7054 Print a usage message to the standard error output. If MESSAGE is
7055 non-zero, write it before the usage message, followed by a newline.
7056 If FATAL is non-zero, exit the process, using FATAL as the
7057 termination status. (If you want to be compatible with Guile,
7058 always use 1 as the exit status when terminating due to command-line
7061 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
7064 ** scm_eval_0str now returns SCM_UNSPECIFIED if the string contains no
7065 expressions. It used to return SCM_EOL. Earth-shattering.
7067 ** The macros for declaring scheme objects in C code have been
7068 rearranged slightly. They are now:
7070 SCM_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
7071 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
7072 point to the Scheme symbol whose name is SCHEME_NAME. C_NAME should
7073 be a C identifier, and SCHEME_NAME should be a C string.
7075 SCM_GLOBAL_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
7076 Just like SCM_SYMBOL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
7078 SCM_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
7079 Create a global variable at the Scheme level named SCHEME_NAME.
7080 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
7081 point to the Scheme variable's value cell.
7083 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
7084 Just like SCM_VCELL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
7086 The `guile-snarf' script writes initialization code for these macros
7087 to its standard output, given C source code as input.
7089 The SCM_GLOBAL macro is gone.
7091 ** The scm_read_line and scm_read_line_x functions have been replaced
7092 by Scheme code based on the %read-delimited! procedure (known to C
7093 code as scm_read_delimited_x). See its description above for more
7096 ** The function scm_sys_open has been renamed to scm_open. It now
7097 returns a port instead of an FD object.
7099 * The dynamic linking support has changed. For more information, see
7100 libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING.
7105 User-visible changes from Thursday, September 5, 1996 until Guile 1.0
7108 * Changes to the 'guile' program:
7110 ** Guile now loads some new files when it starts up. Guile first
7111 searches the load path for init.scm, and loads it if found. Then, if
7112 Guile is not being used to execute a script, and the user's home
7113 directory contains a file named `.guile', Guile loads that.
7115 ** You can now use Guile as a shell script interpreter.
7117 To paraphrase the SCSH manual:
7119 When Unix tries to execute an executable file whose first two
7120 characters are the `#!', it treats the file not as machine code to
7121 be directly executed by the native processor, but as source code
7122 to be executed by some interpreter. The interpreter to use is
7123 specified immediately after the #! sequence on the first line of
7124 the source file. The kernel reads in the name of the interpreter,
7125 and executes that instead. It passes the interpreter the source
7126 filename as its first argument, with the original arguments
7127 following. Consult the Unix man page for the `exec' system call
7128 for more information.
7130 Now you can use Guile as an interpreter, using a mechanism which is a
7131 compatible subset of that provided by SCSH.
7133 Guile now recognizes a '-s' command line switch, whose argument is the
7134 name of a file of Scheme code to load. It also treats the two
7135 characters `#!' as the start of a comment, terminated by `!#'. Thus,
7136 to make a file of Scheme code directly executable by Unix, insert the
7137 following two lines at the top of the file:
7139 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
7142 Guile treats the argument of the `-s' command-line switch as the name
7143 of a file of Scheme code to load, and treats the sequence `#!' as the
7144 start of a block comment, terminated by `!#'.
7146 For example, here's a version of 'echo' written in Scheme:
7148 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
7150 (let loop ((args (cdr (program-arguments))))
7153 (display (car args))
7154 (if (pair? (cdr args))
7156 (loop (cdr args)))))
7159 Why does `#!' start a block comment terminated by `!#', instead of the
7160 end of the line? That is the notation SCSH uses, and although we
7161 don't yet support the other SCSH features that motivate that choice,
7162 we would like to be backward-compatible with any existing Guile
7163 scripts once we do. Furthermore, if the path to Guile on your system
7164 is too long for your kernel, you can start the script with this
7168 exec /really/long/path/to/guile -s "$0" ${1+"$@"}
7171 Note that some very old Unix systems don't support the `#!' syntax.
7174 ** You can now run Guile without installing it.
7176 Previous versions of the interactive Guile interpreter (`guile')
7177 couldn't start up unless Guile's Scheme library had been installed;
7178 they used the value of the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH'
7179 later on in the startup process, but not to find the startup code
7180 itself. Now Guile uses `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' in all searches for Scheme
7183 To run Guile without installing it, build it in the normal way, and
7184 then set the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' to a
7185 colon-separated list of directories, including the top-level directory
7186 of the Guile sources. For example, if you unpacked Guile so that the
7187 full filename of this NEWS file is /home/jimb/guile-1.0b3/NEWS, then
7190 export SCHEME_LOAD_PATH=/home/jimb/my-scheme:/home/jimb/guile-1.0b3
7193 ** Guile's read-eval-print loop no longer prints #<unspecified>
7194 results. If the user wants to see this, she can evaluate the
7195 expression (assert-repl-print-unspecified #t), perhaps in her startup
7198 ** Guile no longer shows backtraces by default when an error occurs;
7199 however, it does display a message saying how to get one, and how to
7200 request that they be displayed by default. After an error, evaluate
7202 to see a backtrace, and
7203 (debug-enable 'backtrace)
7204 to see them by default.
7208 * Changes to Guile Scheme:
7210 ** Guile now distinguishes between #f and the empty list.
7212 This is for compatibility with the IEEE standard, the (possibly)
7213 upcoming Revised^5 Report on Scheme, and many extant Scheme
7216 Guile used to have #f and '() denote the same object, to make Scheme's
7217 type system more compatible with Emacs Lisp's. However, the change
7218 caused too much trouble for Scheme programmers, and we found another
7219 way to reconcile Emacs Lisp with Scheme that didn't require this.
7222 ** Guile's delq, delv, delete functions, and their destructive
7223 counterparts, delq!, delv!, and delete!, now remove all matching
7224 elements from the list, not just the first. This matches the behavior
7225 of the corresponding Emacs Lisp functions, and (I believe) the Maclisp
7226 functions which inspired them.
7228 I recognize that this change may break code in subtle ways, but it
7229 seems best to make the change before the FSF's first Guile release,
7233 ** The compiled-library-path function has been deleted from libguile.
7235 ** The facilities for loading Scheme source files have changed.
7237 *** The variable %load-path now tells Guile which directories to search
7238 for Scheme code. Its value is a list of strings, each of which names
7241 *** The variable %load-extensions now tells Guile which extensions to
7242 try appending to a filename when searching the load path. Its value
7243 is a list of strings. Its default value is ("" ".scm").
7245 *** (%search-load-path FILENAME) searches the directories listed in the
7246 value of the %load-path variable for a Scheme file named FILENAME,
7247 with all the extensions listed in %load-extensions. If it finds a
7248 match, then it returns its full filename. If FILENAME is absolute, it
7249 returns it unchanged. Otherwise, it returns #f.
7251 %search-load-path will not return matches that refer to directories.
7253 *** (primitive-load FILENAME :optional CASE-INSENSITIVE-P SHARP)
7254 uses %seach-load-path to find a file named FILENAME, and loads it if
7255 it finds it. If it can't read FILENAME for any reason, it throws an
7258 The arguments CASE-INSENSITIVE-P and SHARP are interpreted as by the
7261 *** load uses the same searching semantics as primitive-load.
7263 *** The functions %try-load, try-load-with-path, %load, load-with-path,
7264 basic-try-load-with-path, basic-load-with-path, try-load-module-with-
7265 path, and load-module-with-path have been deleted. The functions
7266 above should serve their purposes.
7268 *** If the value of the variable %load-hook is a procedure,
7269 `primitive-load' applies its value to the name of the file being
7270 loaded (without the load path directory name prepended). If its value
7271 is #f, it is ignored. Otherwise, an error occurs.
7273 This is mostly useful for printing load notification messages.
7276 ** The function `eval!' is no longer accessible from the scheme level.
7277 We can't allow operations which introduce glocs into the scheme level,
7278 because Guile's type system can't handle these as data. Use `eval' or
7279 `read-and-eval!' (see below) as replacement.
7281 ** The new function read-and-eval! reads an expression from PORT,
7282 evaluates it, and returns the result. This is more efficient than
7283 simply calling `read' and `eval', since it is not necessary to make a
7284 copy of the expression for the evaluator to munge.
7286 Its optional arguments CASE_INSENSITIVE_P and SHARP are interpreted as
7287 for the `read' function.
7290 ** The function `int?' has been removed; its definition was identical
7291 to that of `integer?'.
7293 ** The functions `<?', `<?', `<=?', `=?', `>?', and `>=?'. Code should
7294 use the R4RS names for these functions.
7296 ** The function object-properties no longer returns the hash handle;
7297 it simply returns the object's property list.
7299 ** Many functions have been changed to throw errors, instead of
7300 returning #f on failure. The point of providing exception handling in
7301 the language is to simplify the logic of user code, but this is less
7302 useful if Guile's primitives don't throw exceptions.
7304 ** The function `fileno' has been renamed from `%fileno'.
7306 ** The function primitive-mode->fdes returns #t or #f now, not 1 or 0.
7309 * Changes to Guile's C interface:
7311 ** The library's initialization procedure has been simplified.
7312 scm_boot_guile now has the prototype:
7314 void scm_boot_guile (int ARGC,
7316 void (*main_func) (),
7319 scm_boot_guile calls MAIN_FUNC, passing it CLOSURE, ARGC, and ARGV.
7320 MAIN_FUNC should do all the work of the program (initializing other
7321 packages, reading user input, etc.) before returning. When MAIN_FUNC
7322 returns, call exit (0); this function never returns. If you want some
7323 other exit value, MAIN_FUNC may call exit itself.
7325 scm_boot_guile arranges for program-arguments to return the strings
7326 given by ARGC and ARGV. If MAIN_FUNC modifies ARGC/ARGV, should call
7327 scm_set_program_arguments with the final list, so Scheme code will
7328 know which arguments have been processed.
7330 scm_boot_guile establishes a catch-all catch handler which prints an
7331 error message and exits the process. This means that Guile exits in a
7332 coherent way when system errors occur and the user isn't prepared to
7333 handle it. If the user doesn't like this behavior, they can establish
7334 their own universal catcher in MAIN_FUNC to shadow this one.
7336 Why must the caller do all the real work from MAIN_FUNC? The garbage
7337 collector assumes that all local variables of type SCM will be above
7338 scm_boot_guile's stack frame on the stack. If you try to manipulate
7339 SCM values after this function returns, it's the luck of the draw
7340 whether the GC will be able to find the objects you allocate. So,
7341 scm_boot_guile function exits, rather than returning, to discourage
7342 people from making that mistake.
7344 The IN, OUT, and ERR arguments were removed; there are other
7345 convenient ways to override these when desired.
7347 The RESULT argument was deleted; this function should never return.
7349 The BOOT_CMD argument was deleted; the MAIN_FUNC argument is more
7353 ** Guile's header files should no longer conflict with your system's
7356 In order to compile code which #included <libguile.h>, previous
7357 versions of Guile required you to add a directory containing all the
7358 Guile header files to your #include path. This was a problem, since
7359 Guile's header files have names which conflict with many systems'
7362 Now only <libguile.h> need appear in your #include path; you must
7363 refer to all Guile's other header files as <libguile/mumble.h>.
7364 Guile's installation procedure puts libguile.h in $(includedir), and
7365 the rest in $(includedir)/libguile.
7368 ** Two new C functions, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object,
7369 have been added to the Guile library.
7371 scm_protect_object (OBJ) protects OBJ from the garbage collector.
7372 OBJ will not be freed, even if all other references are dropped,
7373 until someone does scm_unprotect_object (OBJ). Both functions
7376 Note that calls to scm_protect_object do not nest. You can call
7377 scm_protect_object any number of times on a given object, and the
7378 next call to scm_unprotect_object will unprotect it completely.
7380 Basically, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object just
7381 maintain a list of references to things. Since the GC knows about
7382 this list, all objects it mentions stay alive. scm_protect_object
7383 adds its argument to the list; scm_unprotect_object remove its
7384 argument from the list.
7387 ** scm_eval_0str now returns the value of the last expression
7390 ** The new function scm_read_0str reads an s-expression from a
7391 null-terminated string, and returns it.
7393 ** The new function `scm_stdio_to_port' converts a STDIO file pointer
7394 to a Scheme port object.
7396 ** The new function `scm_set_program_arguments' allows C code to set
7397 the value returned by the Scheme `program-arguments' function.
7402 * Guile no longer includes sophisticated Tcl/Tk support.
7404 The old Tcl/Tk support was unsatisfying to us, because it required the
7405 user to link against the Tcl library, as well as Tk and Guile. The
7406 interface was also un-lispy, in that it preserved Tcl/Tk's practice of
7407 referring to widgets by names, rather than exporting widgets to Scheme
7408 code as a special datatype.
7410 In the Usenix Tk Developer's Workshop held in July 1996, the Tcl/Tk
7411 maintainers described some very interesting changes in progress to the
7412 Tcl/Tk internals, which would facilitate clean interfaces between lone
7413 Tk and other interpreters --- even for garbage-collected languages
7414 like Scheme. They expected the new Tk to be publicly available in the
7417 Since it seems that Guile might soon have a new, cleaner interface to
7418 lone Tk, and that the old Guile/Tk glue code would probably need to be
7419 completely rewritten, we (Jim Blandy and Richard Stallman) have
7420 decided not to support the old code. We'll spend the time instead on
7421 a good interface to the newer Tk, as soon as it is available.
7423 Until then, gtcltk-lib provides trivial, low-maintenance functionality.
7426 Copyright information:
7428 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
7430 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
7431 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
7432 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
7433 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
7435 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
7436 of this document, or of portions of it,
7437 under the above conditions, provided also that they
7438 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
7443 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"