1 Guile NEWS --- history of user-visible changes.
2 Copyright (C) 1996-2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 See the end for copying conditions.
5 Please send Guile bug reports to bug-guile@gnu.org.
8 Changes in 2.0.2 (since 2.0.1):
12 ** `guile-tools' renamed to `guild'
14 The new name is shorter. Its intended future use is for a CPAN-like
15 system for Guile wizards and journeyfolk to band together to share code;
16 hence the name. `guile-tools' is provided as a backward-compatible
17 symbolic link. See "Using Guile Tools" in the manual, for more.
19 ** New control operators: `shift' and `reset'
21 See "Shift and Reset" in the manual, for more information.
23 ** `while' as an expression
25 Previously the return value of `while' was unspecified. Now its
26 values are specified both in the case of normal termination, and via
27 termination by invoking `break', possibly with arguments. See "while
28 do" in the manual for more.
30 ** Disallow access to handles of weak hash tables
32 `hash-get-handle' and `hash-create-handle!' are no longer permitted to
33 be called on weak hash tables, because the fields in a weak handle could
34 be nulled out by the garbage collector at any time, but yet they are
35 otherwise indistinguishable from pairs. Use `hash-ref' and `hash-set!'
38 ** More precision for `get-internal-run-time', `get-internal-real-time'
40 On 64-bit systems which support POSIX clocks, Guile's internal timing
41 procedures offer nanosecond resolution instead of the 10-millisecond
42 resolution previously available. 32-bit systems now use 1-millisecond
45 ** Guile now measures time spent in GC
47 `gc-stats' now returns a meaningful value for `gc-time-taken'.
51 The statprof profiler now exports a `gcprof' procedure, driven by the
52 `after-gc-hook', to see which parts of your program are causing GC. Let
53 us know if you find it useful.
55 ** `map', `for-each' and some others now implemented in Scheme
57 We would not mention this in NEWS, as it is not a user-visible change,
58 if it were not for one thing: `map' and `for-each' are no longer
59 primitive generics. Instead they are normal bindings, which can be
60 wrapped by normal generics. This fixes some modularity issues between
61 core `map', SRFI-1 `map', and GOOPS.
63 Also it's pretty cool that we can do this without a performance impact.
65 ** Add `scm_peek_byte_or_eof'.
67 This helper is like `scm_peek_char_or_eof', but for bytes instead of
70 ** Implement #:stop-at-first-non-option option for getopt-long
72 See "getopt-long Reference" in the manual, for more information.
74 ** Improve R6RS conformance for conditions in the I/O libraries
76 The `(rnrs io simple)' module now raises the correct R6RS conditions in
77 error cases. `(rnrs io ports)' is also more correct now, though it is
78 still a work in progress.
80 ** All deprecated routines emit warnings
82 A few deprecated routines were lacking deprecation warnings. This has
87 ** Constants in compiled code now share state better
89 Constants with shared state, like `("foo")' and `"foo"', now share state
90 as much as possible, in the entire compilation unit. This cuts compiled
91 `.go' file sizes in half, generally, and speeds startup.
93 ** VLists: optimize `vlist-fold-right', and add `vhash-fold-right'
95 These procedures are now twice as fast as they were.
97 ** UTF-8 ports to bypass `iconv' entirely
99 This reduces memory usage in a very common case.
103 The compiler is now about 40% faster. (Note that this is only the case
104 once the compiler is itself compiled, so the build still takes as long
109 Some assertions that were mostly useful for sanity-checks on the
110 bytecode compiler are now off for both "regular" and "debug" engines.
111 This together with a fix to cache a TLS access and some other tweaks
112 improve the VM's performance by about 20%.
114 ** SRFI-1 list-set optimizations
116 lset-adjoin and lset-union now have fast paths for eq? sets.
118 ** `memq', `memv' optimizations
120 These procedures are now at least twice as fast than in 2.0.1.
124 ** Deprecate scm_whash API
126 `scm_whash_get_handle', `SCM_WHASHFOUNDP', `SCM_WHASHREF',
127 `SCM_WHASHSET', `scm_whash_create_handle', `scm_whash_lookup', and
128 `scm_whash_insert' are now deprecated. Use the normal hash table API
131 ** Deprecate scm_struct_table
133 `SCM_STRUCT_TABLE_NAME', `SCM_SET_STRUCT_TABLE_NAME',
134 `SCM_STRUCT_TABLE_CLASS', `SCM_SET_STRUCT_TABLE_CLASS',
135 `scm_struct_table', and `scm_struct_create_handle' are now deprecated.
136 These routines formed part of the internals of the map between structs
139 ** Deprecate scm_internal_dynamic_wind
141 The `scm_t_inner' type and `scm_internal_dynamic_wind' are deprecated,
142 as the `scm_dynwind' API is better, and this API encourages users to
143 stuff SCM values into pointers.
145 ** Deprecate scm_immutable_cell, scm_immutable_double_cell
147 These routines are deprecated, as the GC_STUBBORN API doesn't do
152 Andreas Rottman kindly transcribed the missing parts of the `(rnrs io
153 ports)' documentation from the R6RS documentation. Thanks Andreas!
157 ** Fix double-loading of script in -ds case
158 ** -x error message fix
159 ** iconveh-related cross-compilation fixes
160 ** Fix small integer return value packing on big endian machines.
161 ** Fix hash-set! in weak-value table from non-immediate to immediate
162 ** Fix call-with-input-file & relatives for multiple values
163 ** Fix `hash' for inf and nan
164 ** Fix libguile internal type errors caught by typing-strictness==2
165 ** Fix compile error in MinGW fstat socket detection
166 ** Fix generation of auto-compiled file names on MinGW
167 ** Fix multithreaded access to internal hash tables
168 ** Emit a 1-based line number in error messages
169 ** Fix define-module ordering
170 ** Fix several POSIX functions to use the locale encoding
171 ** Add type and range checks to the complex generalized vector accessors
172 ** Fix unaligned accesses for bytevectors of complex numbers
174 ** Fix erroneous VM stack overflow for canceled threads
177 Changes in 2.0.1 (since 2.0.0):
181 ** guile.m4 supports linking with rpath
183 The GUILE_FLAGS macro now sets GUILE_LIBS and GUILE_LTLIBS, which
184 include appropriate directives to the linker to include libguile-2.0.so
185 in the runtime library lookup path.
187 ** `begin' expands macros in its body before other expressions
189 This enables support for programs like the following:
194 (or (= x 0) (odd? (- x 1)))))
197 ((odd? x) (not (even? x)))))
200 ** REPL reader usability enhancements
202 The REPL now flushes input after a read error, which should prevent one
203 error from causing other errors. The REPL also now interprets comments
206 ** REPL output has configurable width
208 The REPL now defaults to output with the current terminal's width, in
209 columns. See "Debug Commands" in the manual for more information on
212 ** Better C access to the module system
214 Guile now has convenient C accessors to look up variables or values in
215 modules and their public interfaces. See `scm_c_public_ref' and friends
216 in "Accessing Modules from C" in the manual.
218 ** Added `scm_call_5', `scm_call_6'
220 See "Fly Evaluation" in the manual.
222 ** Added `scm_from_latin1_keyword', `scm_from_utf8_keyword'
224 See "Keyword Procedures" in the manual, for more. Note that
225 `scm_from_locale_keyword' should not be used when the name is a C string
228 ** R6RS unicode and string I/O work
230 Added efficient implementations of `get-string-n' and `get-string-n!'
231 for binary ports. Exported `current-input-port', `current-output-port'
232 and `current-error-port' from `(rnrs io ports)', and enhanced support
235 ** Added `pointer->scm', `scm->pointer' to `(system foreign)'
237 These procedure are useful if one needs to pass and receive SCM values
238 to and from foreign functions. See "Foreign Variables" in the manual,
241 ** Added `heap-allocated-since-gc' to `(gc-stats)'
243 Also fixed the long-standing bug in the REPL `,stat' command.
245 ** Add `on-error' REPL option
247 This option controls what happens when an error occurs at the REPL, and
248 defaults to `debug', indicating that Guile should enter the debugger.
249 Other values include `report', which will simply print a backtrace
250 without entering the debugger. See "System Commands" in the manual.
252 ** Enforce immutability of string literals
254 Attempting to mutate a string literal now causes a runtime error.
256 ** Fix pthread redirection
258 Guile 2.0.0 shipped with headers that, if configured with pthread
259 support, would re-define `pthread_create', `pthread_join', and other API
260 to redirect to the BDW-GC wrappers, `GC_pthread_create', etc. This was
261 unintended, and not necessary: because threads must enter Guile with
262 `scm_with_guile', Guile can handle thread registration itself, without
263 needing to make the GC aware of all threads. This oversight has been
266 ** `with-continuation-barrier' now unwinds on `quit'
268 A throw to `quit' in a continuation barrier will cause Guile to exit.
269 Before, it would do so before unwinding to the barrier, which would
270 prevent cleanup handlers from running. This has been fixed so that it
271 exits only after unwinding.
273 ** `string->pointer' and `pointer->string' have optional encoding arg
275 This allows users of the FFI to more easily deal in strings with
276 particular (non-locale) encodings, like "utf-8". See "Void Pointers and
277 Byte Access" in the manual, for more.
279 ** R6RS fixnum arithmetic optimizations
281 R6RS fixnum operations are are still slower than generic arithmetic,
284 ** New procedure: `define-inlinable'
286 See "Inlinable Procedures" in the manual, for more.
288 ** New procedure: `exact-integer-sqrt'
290 See "Integer Operations" in the manual, for more.
292 ** "Extended read syntax" for symbols parses better
294 In #{foo}# symbols, backslashes are now treated as escapes, as the
295 symbol-printing code intended. Additionally, "\x" within #{foo}# is now
296 interpreted as starting an R6RS hex escape. This is backward compatible
297 because the symbol printer would never produce a "\x" before. The
298 printer also works better too.
300 ** Added `--fresh-auto-compile' option
302 This allows a user to invalidate the auto-compilation cache. It's
303 usually not needed. See "Compilation" in the manual, for a discussion.
307 ** GOOPS documentation updates
311 Thanks to Mark Harig for improvements to guile.1.
313 ** SRFI-23 documented
315 The humble `error' SRFI now has an entry in the manual.
319 ** `(ice-9 binary-ports)': "R6RS I/O Ports", in the manual
320 ** `(ice-9 eval-string)': "Fly Evaluation", in the manual
321 ** `(ice-9 command-line)', not documented yet
325 ** Fixed `iconv_t' memory leak on close-port
326 ** Fixed some leaks with weak hash tables
327 ** Export `vhash-delq' and `vhash-delv' from `(ice-9 vlist)'
328 ** `after-gc-hook' works again
329 ** `define-record-type' now allowed in nested contexts
330 ** `exact-integer-sqrt' now handles large integers correctly
331 ** Fixed C extension examples in manual
332 ** `vhash-delete' honors HASH argument
333 ** Make `locale-digit-grouping' more robust
334 ** Default exception printer robustness fixes
335 ** Fix presence of non-I CPPFLAGS in `guile-2.0.pc'
336 ** `read' updates line/column numbers when reading SCSH block comments
337 ** Fix imports of multiple custom interfaces of same module
338 ** Fix encoding scanning for non-seekable ports
339 ** Fix `setter' when called with a non-setter generic
340 ** Fix f32 and f64 bytevectors to not accept rationals
341 ** Fix description of the R6RS `finite?' in manual
342 ** Quotient, remainder and modulo accept inexact integers again
343 ** Fix `continue' within `while' to take zero arguments
344 ** Fix alignment for structures in FFI
345 ** Fix port-filename of stdin, stdout, stderr to match the docs
346 ** Fix weak hash table-related bug in `define-wrapped-pointer-type'
347 ** Fix partial continuation application with pending procedure calls
348 ** scm_{to,from}_locale_string use current locale, not current ports
349 ** Fix thread cleanup, by using a pthread_key destructor
350 ** Fix `quit' at the REPL
351 ** Fix a failure to sync regs in vm bytevector ops
352 ** Fix (texinfo reflection) to handle nested structures like syntax patterns
353 ** Fix stexi->html double translation
354 ** Fix tree-il->scheme fix for <prompt>
355 ** Fix compilation of <prompt> in <fix> in single-value context
356 ** Fix race condition in ensure-writable-dir
357 ** Fix error message on ,disassemble "non-procedure"
358 ** Fix prompt and abort with the boot evaluator
359 ** Fix `procedure->pointer' for functions returning `void'
360 ** Fix error reporting in dynamic-pointer
361 ** Fix problems detecting coding: in block comments
362 ** Fix duplicate load-path and load-compiled-path in compilation environment
363 ** Add fallback read(2) suppport for .go files if mmap(2) unavailable
364 ** Fix c32vector-set!, c64vector-set!
365 ** Fix mistakenly deprecated read syntax for uniform complex vectors
366 ** Fix parsing of exact numbers with negative exponents
367 ** Ignore SIGPIPE in (system repl server)
368 ** Fix optional second arg to R6RS log function
369 ** Fix R6RS `assert' to return true value.
370 ** Fix fencepost error when seeking in bytevector input ports
371 ** Gracefully handle `setlocale' errors when starting the REPL
372 ** Improve support of the `--disable-posix' configure option
373 ** Make sure R6RS binary ports pass `binary-port?' regardless of the locale
374 ** Gracefully handle unterminated UTF-8 sequences instead of hitting an `assert'
378 Changes in 2.0.0 (changes since the 1.8.x series):
380 * New modules (see the manual for details)
382 ** `(srfi srfi-18)', more sophisticated multithreading support
383 ** `(srfi srfi-27)', sources of random bits
384 ** `(srfi srfi-38)', External Representation for Data With Shared Structure
385 ** `(srfi srfi-42)', eager comprehensions
386 ** `(srfi srfi-45)', primitives for expressing iterative lazy algorithms
387 ** `(srfi srfi-67)', compare procedures
388 ** `(ice-9 i18n)', internationalization support
389 ** `(ice-9 futures)', fine-grain parallelism
390 ** `(rnrs bytevectors)', the R6RS bytevector API
391 ** `(rnrs io ports)', a subset of the R6RS I/O port API
392 ** `(system xref)', a cross-referencing facility (FIXME undocumented)
393 ** `(ice-9 vlist)', lists with constant-time random access; hash lists
394 ** `(system foreign)', foreign function interface
395 ** `(sxml match)', a pattern matcher for SXML
396 ** `(srfi srfi-9 gnu)', extensions to the SRFI-9 record library
397 ** `(system vm coverage)', a line-by-line code coverage library
398 ** `(web uri)', URI data type, parser, and unparser
399 ** `(web http)', HTTP header parsers and unparsers
400 ** `(web request)', HTTP request data type, reader, and writer
401 ** `(web response)', HTTP response data type, reader, and writer
402 ** `(web server)', Generic HTTP server
403 ** `(ice-9 poll)', a poll wrapper
404 ** `(web server http)', HTTP-over-TCP web server implementation
406 ** Replaced `(ice-9 match)' with Alex Shinn's compatible, hygienic matcher.
408 Guile's copy of Andrew K. Wright's `match' library has been replaced by
409 a compatible hygienic implementation by Alex Shinn. It is now
410 documented, see "Pattern Matching" in the manual.
412 Compared to Andrew K. Wright's `match', the new `match' lacks
413 `match-define', `match:error-control', `match:set-error-control',
414 `match:error', `match:set-error', and all structure-related procedures.
416 ** Imported statprof, SSAX, and texinfo modules from Guile-Lib
418 The statprof statistical profiler, the SSAX XML toolkit, and the texinfo
419 toolkit from Guile-Lib have been imported into Guile proper. See
420 "Standard Library" in the manual for more details.
422 ** Integration of lalr-scm, a parser generator
424 Guile has included Dominique Boucher's fine `lalr-scm' parser generator
425 as `(system base lalr)'. See "LALR(1) Parsing" in the manual, for more
428 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
430 ** Guile now can compile Scheme to bytecode for a custom virtual machine.
432 Compiled code loads much faster than Scheme source code, and runs around
433 3 or 4 times as fast, generating much less garbage in the process.
435 ** Evaluating Scheme code does not use the C stack.
437 Besides when compiling Guile itself, Guile no longer uses a recursive C
438 function as an evaluator. This obviates the need to check the C stack
439 pointer for overflow. Continuations still capture the C stack, however.
441 ** New environment variables: GUILE_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH,
442 GUILE_SYSTEM_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH
444 GUILE_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH is for compiled files what GUILE_LOAD_PATH is
445 for source files. It is a different path, however, because compiled
446 files are architecture-specific. GUILE_SYSTEM_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH is like
449 ** New read-eval-print loop (REPL) implementation
451 Running Guile with no arguments drops the user into the new REPL. See
452 "Using Guile Interactively" in the manual, for more information.
454 ** Remove old Emacs interface
456 Guile had an unused `--emacs' command line argument that was supposed to
457 help when running Guile inside Emacs. This option has been removed, and
458 the helper functions `named-module-use!' and `load-emacs-interface' have
461 ** Add `(system repl server)' module and `--listen' command-line argument
463 The `(system repl server)' module exposes procedures to listen on
464 sockets for connections, and serve REPLs to those clients. The --listen
465 command-line argument allows any Guile program to thus be remotely
468 See "Invoking Guile" for more information on `--listen'.
470 ** Command line additions
472 The guile binary now supports a new switch "-x", which can be used to
473 extend the list of filename extensions tried when loading files
476 ** New reader options: `square-brackets', `r6rs-hex-escapes',
479 The reader supports a new option (changeable via `read-options'),
480 `square-brackets', which instructs it to interpret square brackets as
481 parentheses. This option is on by default.
483 When the new `r6rs-hex-escapes' reader option is enabled, the reader
484 will recognize string escape sequences as defined in R6RS. R6RS string
485 escape sequences are incompatible with Guile's existing escapes, though,
486 so this option is off by default.
488 Additionally, Guile follows the R6RS newline escaping rules when the
489 `hungry-eol-escapes' option is enabled.
491 See "String Syntax" in the manual, for more information.
493 ** Function profiling and tracing at the REPL
495 The `,profile FORM' REPL meta-command can now be used to statistically
496 profile execution of a form, to see which functions are taking the most
497 time. See `,help profile' for more information.
499 Similarly, `,trace FORM' traces all function applications that occur
500 during the execution of `FORM'. See `,help trace' for more information.
502 ** Recursive debugging REPL on error
504 When Guile sees an error at the REPL, instead of saving the stack, Guile
505 will directly enter a recursive REPL in the dynamic context of the
506 error. See "Error Handling" in the manual, for more information.
508 A recursive REPL is the same as any other REPL, except that it
509 has been augmented with debugging information, so that one can inspect
510 the context of the error. The debugger has been integrated with the REPL
511 via a set of debugging meta-commands.
513 For example, one may access a backtrace with `,backtrace' (or
514 `,bt'). See "Interactive Debugging" in the manual, for more
517 ** New `guile-tools' commands: `compile', `disassemble'
519 Pass the `--help' command-line option to these commands for more
522 ** Guile now adds its install prefix to the LTDL_LIBRARY_PATH
524 Users may now install Guile to nonstandard prefixes and just run
525 `/path/to/bin/guile', instead of also having to set LTDL_LIBRARY_PATH to
526 include `/path/to/lib'.
528 ** Guile's Emacs integration is now more keyboard-friendly
530 Backtraces may now be disclosed with the keyboard in addition to the
533 ** Load path change: search in version-specific paths before site paths
535 When looking for a module, Guile now searches first in Guile's
536 version-specific path (the library path), *then* in the site dir. This
537 allows Guile's copy of SSAX to override any Guile-Lib copy the user has
538 installed. Also it should cut the number of `stat' system calls by half,
541 ** Value history in the REPL on by default
543 By default, the REPL will save computed values in variables like `$1',
544 `$2', and the like. There are programmatic and interactive interfaces to
545 control this. See "Value History" in the manual, for more information.
547 ** Readline tab completion for arguments
549 When readline is enabled, tab completion works for arguments too, not
550 just for the operator position.
552 ** Expression-oriented readline history
554 Guile's readline history now tries to operate on expressions instead of
555 input lines. Let us know what you think!
557 ** Interactive Guile follows GNU conventions
559 As recommended by the GPL, Guile now shows a brief copyright and
560 warranty disclaimer on startup, along with pointers to more information.
562 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
564 ** Support for R6RS libraries
566 The `library' and `import' forms from the latest Scheme report have been
567 added to Guile, in such a way that R6RS libraries share a namespace with
568 Guile modules. R6RS modules may import Guile modules, and are available
569 for Guile modules to import via use-modules and all the rest. See "R6RS
570 Libraries" in the manual for more information.
572 ** Implementations of R6RS libraries
574 Guile now has implementations for all of the libraries defined in the
575 R6RS. Thanks to Julian Graham for this excellent hack. See "R6RS
576 Standard Libraries" in the manual for a full list of libraries.
578 ** Partial R6RS compatibility
580 Guile now has enough support for R6RS to run a reasonably large subset
583 Guile is not fully R6RS compatible. Many incompatibilities are simply
584 bugs, though some parts of Guile will remain R6RS-incompatible for the
585 foreseeable future. See "R6RS Incompatibilities" in the manual, for more
588 Please contact bug-guile@gnu.org if you have found an issue not
589 mentioned in that compatibility list.
591 ** New implementation of `primitive-eval'
593 Guile's `primitive-eval' is now implemented in Scheme. Actually there is
594 still a C evaluator, used when building a fresh Guile to interpret the
595 compiler, so we can compile eval.scm. Thereafter all calls to
596 primitive-eval are implemented by VM-compiled code.
598 This allows all of Guile's procedures, be they interpreted or compiled,
599 to execute on the same stack, unifying multiple-value return semantics,
600 providing for proper tail recursion between interpreted and compiled
601 code, and simplifying debugging.
603 As part of this change, the evaluator no longer mutates the internal
604 representation of the code being evaluated in a thread-unsafe manner.
606 There are two negative aspects of this change, however. First, Guile
607 takes a lot longer to compile now. Also, there is less debugging
608 information available for debugging interpreted code. We hope to improve
609 both of these situations.
611 There are many changes to the internal C evalator interface, but all
612 public interfaces should be the same. See the ChangeLog for details. If
613 we have inadvertantly changed an interface that you were using, please
614 contact bug-guile@gnu.org.
616 ** Procedure removed: `the-environment'
618 This procedure was part of the interpreter's execution model, and does
619 not apply to the compiler.
621 ** No more `local-eval'
623 `local-eval' used to exist so that one could evaluate code in the
624 lexical context of a function. Since there is no way to get the lexical
625 environment any more, as that concept has no meaning for the compiler,
626 and a different meaning for the interpreter, we have removed the
629 If you think you need `local-eval', you should probably implement your
630 own metacircular evaluator. It will probably be as fast as Guile's
633 ** Scheme source files will now be compiled automatically.
635 If a compiled .go file corresponding to a .scm file is not found or is
636 not fresh, the .scm file will be compiled on the fly, and the resulting
637 .go file stored away. An advisory note will be printed on the console.
639 Note that this mechanism depends on the timestamp of the .go file being
640 newer than that of the .scm file; if the .scm or .go files are moved
641 after installation, care should be taken to preserve their original
644 Auto-compiled files will be stored in the $XDG_CACHE_HOME/guile/ccache
645 directory, where $XDG_CACHE_HOME defaults to ~/.cache. This directory
646 will be created if needed.
648 To inhibit automatic compilation, set the GUILE_AUTO_COMPILE environment
649 variable to 0, or pass --no-auto-compile on the Guile command line.
651 ** New POSIX procedures: `getrlimit' and `setrlimit'
653 Note however that the interface of these functions is likely to change
654 in the next prerelease.
656 ** New POSIX procedure: `getsid'
658 Scheme binding for the `getsid' C library call.
660 ** New POSIX procedure: `getaddrinfo'
662 Scheme binding for the `getaddrinfo' C library function.
664 ** Multicast socket options
666 Support was added for the IP_MULTICAST_TTL and IP_MULTICAST_IF socket
667 options. See "Network Sockets and Communication" in the manual, for
670 ** `recv!', `recvfrom!', `send', `sendto' now deal in bytevectors
672 These socket procedures now take bytevectors as arguments, instead of
673 strings. There is some deprecated string support, however.
675 ** New GNU procedures: `setaffinity' and `getaffinity'.
677 See "Processes" in the manual, for more information.
679 ** New procedures: `compose', `negate', and `const'
681 See "Higher-Order Functions" in the manual, for more information.
683 ** New procedure in `(oops goops)': `method-formals'
685 ** New procedures in (ice-9 session): `add-value-help-handler!',
686 `remove-value-help-handler!', `add-name-help-handler!'
687 `remove-name-help-handler!', `procedure-arguments'
689 The value and name help handlers provide some minimal extensibility to
690 the help interface. Guile-lib's `(texinfo reflection)' uses them, for
691 example, to make stexinfo help documentation available. See those
692 procedures' docstrings for more information.
694 `procedure-arguments' describes the arguments that a procedure can take,
695 combining arity and formals. For example:
697 (procedure-arguments resolve-interface)
698 => ((required . (name)) (rest . args))
700 Additionally, `module-commentary' is now publically exported from
703 ** Removed: `procedure->memoizing-macro', `procedure->syntax'
705 These procedures created primitive fexprs for the old evaluator, and are
706 no longer supported. If you feel that you need these functions, you
707 probably need to write your own metacircular evaluator (which will
708 probably be as fast as Guile's, anyway).
710 ** New language: ECMAScript
712 Guile now ships with one other high-level language supported,
713 ECMAScript. The goal is to support all of version 3.1 of the standard,
714 but not all of the libraries are there yet. This support is not yet
715 documented; ask on the mailing list if you are interested.
717 ** New language: Brainfuck
719 Brainfuck is a toy language that closely models Turing machines. Guile's
720 brainfuck compiler is meant to be an example of implementing other
721 languages. See the manual for details, or
722 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainfuck for more information about the
723 Brainfuck language itself.
725 ** New language: Elisp
727 Guile now has an experimental Emacs Lisp compiler and runtime. You can
728 now switch to Elisp at the repl: `,language elisp'. All kudos to Daniel
729 Kraft and Brian Templeton, and all bugs to bug-guile@gnu.org.
731 ** Better documentation infrastructure for macros
733 It is now possible to introspect on the type of a macro, e.g.
734 syntax-rules, identifier-syntax, etc, and extract information about that
735 macro, such as the syntax-rules patterns or the defmacro arguments.
736 `(texinfo reflection)' takes advantage of this to give better macro
739 ** Support for arbitrary procedure metadata
741 Building on its support for docstrings, Guile now supports multiple
742 docstrings, adding them to the tail of a compiled procedure's
743 properties. For example:
749 (procedure-properties foo)
750 => ((name . foo) (documentation . "one") (documentation . "two"))
752 Also, vectors of pairs are now treated as additional metadata entries:
755 #((quz . #f) (docstring . "xyzzy"))
757 (procedure-properties bar)
758 => ((name . bar) (quz . #f) (docstring . "xyzzy"))
760 This allows arbitrary literals to be embedded as metadata in a compiled
763 ** The psyntax expander now knows how to interpret the @ and @@ special
766 ** The psyntax expander is now hygienic with respect to modules.
768 Free variables in a macro are scoped in the module that the macro was
769 defined in, not in the module the macro is used in. For example, code
772 (define-module (foo) #:export (bar))
773 (define (helper x) ...)
775 (syntax-rules () ((_ x) (helper x))))
777 (define-module (baz) #:use-module (foo))
780 It used to be you had to export `helper' from `(foo)' as well.
781 Thankfully, this has been fixed.
783 ** Support for version information in Guile's `module' form
785 Guile modules now have a `#:version' field. See "R6RS Version
786 References", "General Information about Modules", "Using Guile Modules",
787 and "Creating Guile Modules" in the manual for more information.
789 ** Support for renaming bindings on module export
791 Wherever Guile accepts a symbol as an argument to specify a binding to
792 export, it now also accepts a pair of symbols, indicating that a binding
793 should be renamed on export. See "Creating Guile Modules" in the manual
794 for more information.
796 ** New procedure: `module-export-all!'
798 This procedure exports all current and future bindings from a module.
799 Use as `(module-export-all! (current-module))'.
801 ** New procedure `reload-module', and `,reload' REPL command
803 See "Module System Reflection" and "Module Commands" in the manual, for
806 ** `eval-case' has been deprecated, and replaced by `eval-when'.
808 The semantics of `eval-when' are easier to understand. See "Eval When"
809 in the manual, for more information.
811 ** Guile is now more strict about prohibiting definitions in expression
814 Although previous versions of Guile accepted it, the following
815 expression is not valid, in R5RS or R6RS:
817 (if test (define foo 'bar) (define foo 'baz))
819 In this specific case, it would be better to do:
821 (define foo (if test 'bar 'baz))
823 It is possible to circumvent this restriction with e.g.
824 `(module-define! (current-module) 'foo 'baz)'. Contact the list if you
827 ** Support for `letrec*'
829 Guile now supports `letrec*', a recursive lexical binding operator in
830 which the identifiers are bound in order. See "Local Bindings" in the
831 manual, for more details.
833 ** Internal definitions now expand to `letrec*'
835 Following the R6RS, internal definitions now expand to letrec* instead
836 of letrec. The following program is invalid for R5RS, but valid for
841 (define baz (+ bar 20))
844 ;; R5RS and Guile <= 1.8:
845 (foo) => Unbound variable: bar
846 ;; R6RS and Guile >= 2.0:
849 This change should not affect correct R5RS programs, or programs written
850 in earlier Guile dialects.
852 ** Macro expansion produces structures instead of s-expressions
854 In the olden days, macroexpanding an s-expression would yield another
855 s-expression. Though the lexical variables were renamed, expansions of
856 core forms like `if' and `begin' were still non-hygienic, as they relied
857 on the toplevel definitions of `if' et al being the conventional ones.
859 The solution is to expand to structures instead of s-expressions. There
860 is an `if' structure, a `begin' structure, a `toplevel-ref' structure,
861 etc. The expander already did this for compilation, producing Tree-IL
862 directly; it has been changed now to do so when expanding for the
865 ** Defmacros must now produce valid Scheme expressions.
867 It used to be that defmacros could unquote in Scheme values, as a way of
868 supporting partial evaluation, and avoiding some hygiene issues. For
871 (define (helper x) ...)
872 (define-macro (foo bar)
875 Assuming this macro is in the `(baz)' module, the direct translation of
878 (define (helper x) ...)
879 (define-macro (foo bar)
880 `((@@ (baz) helper) ,bar))
882 Of course, one could just use a hygienic macro instead:
886 ((_ bar) (helper bar))))
888 ** Guile's psyntax now supports docstrings and internal definitions.
890 The following Scheme is not strictly legal:
897 However its intent is fairly clear. Guile interprets "bar" to be the
898 docstring of `foo', and the definition of `baz' is still in definition
901 ** Support for settable identifier syntax
903 Following the R6RS, "variable transformers" are settable
904 identifier-syntax. See "Identifier macros" in the manual, for more
907 ** syntax-case treats `_' as a placeholder
909 Following R6RS, a `_' in a syntax-rules or syntax-case pattern matches
910 anything, and binds no pattern variables. Unlike the R6RS, Guile also
911 permits `_' to be in the literals list for a pattern.
913 ** Macros need to be defined before their first use.
915 It used to be that with lazy memoization, this might work:
919 (define-macro (ref x) x)
922 But now, the body of `foo' is interpreted to mean a call to the toplevel
923 `ref' function, instead of a macro expansion. The solution is to define
924 macros before code that uses them.
926 ** Functions needed by macros at expand-time need to be present at
929 For example, this code will work at the REPL:
931 (define (double-helper x) (* x x))
932 (define-macro (double-literal x) (double-helper x))
933 (double-literal 2) => 4
935 But it will not work when a file is compiled, because the definition of
936 `double-helper' is not present at expand-time. The solution is to wrap
937 the definition of `double-helper' in `eval-when':
939 (eval-when (load compile eval)
940 (define (double-helper x) (* x x)))
941 (define-macro (double-literal x) (double-helper x))
942 (double-literal 2) => 4
944 See the documentation for eval-when for more information.
946 ** `macroexpand' produces structures, not S-expressions.
948 Given the need to maintain referential transparency, both lexically and
949 modular, the result of expanding Scheme expressions is no longer itself
950 an s-expression. If you want a human-readable approximation of the
951 result of `macroexpand', call `tree-il->scheme' from `(language
954 ** Removed function: `macroexpand-1'
956 It is unclear how to implement `macroexpand-1' with syntax-case, though
957 PLT Scheme does prove that it is possible.
959 ** New reader macros: #' #` #, #,@
961 These macros translate, respectively, to `syntax', `quasisyntax',
962 `unsyntax', and `unsyntax-splicing'. See the R6RS for more information.
963 These reader macros may be overridden by `read-hash-extend'.
965 ** Incompatible change to #'
967 Guile did have a #' hash-extension, by default, which just returned the
968 subsequent datum: #'foo => foo. In the unlikely event that anyone
969 actually used this, this behavior may be reinstated via the
970 `read-hash-extend' mechanism.
972 ** `unquote' and `unquote-splicing' accept multiple expressions
974 As per the R6RS, these syntax operators can now accept any number of
975 expressions to unquote.
977 ** Scheme expresssions may be commented out with #;
979 #; comments out an entire expression. See SRFI-62 or the R6RS for more
982 ** Prompts: Delimited, composable continuations
984 Guile now has prompts as part of its primitive language. See "Prompts"
985 in the manual, for more information.
987 Expressions entered in at the REPL, or from the command line, are
988 surrounded by a prompt with the default prompt tag.
990 ** `make-stack' with a tail-called procedural narrowing argument no longer
991 works (with compiled procedures)
993 It used to be the case that a captured stack could be narrowed to select
994 calls only up to or from a certain procedure, even if that procedure
995 already tail-called another procedure. This was because the debug
996 information from the original procedure was kept on the stack.
998 Now with the new compiler, the stack only contains active frames from
999 the current continuation. A narrow to a procedure that is not in the
1000 stack will result in an empty stack. To fix this, narrow to a procedure
1001 that is active in the current continuation, or narrow to a specific
1002 number of stack frames.
1004 ** Backtraces through compiled procedures only show procedures that are
1005 active in the current continuation
1007 Similarly to the previous issue, backtraces in compiled code may be
1008 different from backtraces in interpreted code. There are no semantic
1009 differences, however. Please mail bug-guile@gnu.org if you see any
1010 deficiencies with Guile's backtraces.
1012 ** `positions' reader option enabled by default
1014 This change allows primitive-load without --auto-compile to also
1015 propagate source information through the expander, for better errors and
1016 to let macros know their source locations. The compiler was already
1017 turning it on anyway.
1019 ** New macro: `current-source-location'
1021 The macro returns the current source location (to be documented).
1023 ** syntax-rules and syntax-case macros now propagate source information
1024 through to the expanded code
1026 This should result in better backtraces.
1028 ** The currying behavior of `define' has been removed.
1030 Before, `(define ((f a) b) (* a b))' would translate to
1032 (define f (lambda (a) (lambda (b) (* a b))))
1034 Now a syntax error is signaled, as this syntax is not supported by
1035 default. Use the `(ice-9 curried-definitions)' module to get back the
1038 ** New procedure, `define!'
1040 `define!' is a procedure that takes two arguments, a symbol and a value,
1041 and binds the value to the symbol in the current module. It's useful to
1042 programmatically make definitions in the current module, and is slightly
1043 less verbose than `module-define!'.
1045 ** All modules have names now
1047 Before, you could have anonymous modules: modules without names. Now,
1048 because of hygiene and macros, all modules have names. If a module was
1049 created without a name, the first time `module-name' is called on it, a
1050 fresh name will be lazily generated for it.
1052 ** The module namespace is now separate from the value namespace
1054 It was a little-known implementation detail of Guile's module system
1055 that it was built on a single hierarchical namespace of values -- that
1056 if there was a module named `(foo bar)', then in the module named
1057 `(foo)' there was a binding from `bar' to the `(foo bar)' module.
1059 This was a neat trick, but presented a number of problems. One problem
1060 was that the bindings in a module were not apparent from the module
1061 itself; perhaps the `(foo)' module had a private binding for `bar', and
1062 then an external contributor defined `(foo bar)'. In the end there can
1063 be only one binding, so one of the two will see the wrong thing, and
1064 produce an obtuse error of unclear provenance.
1066 Also, the public interface of a module was also bound in the value
1067 namespace, as `%module-public-interface'. This was a hack from the early
1068 days of Guile's modules.
1070 Both of these warts have been fixed by the addition of fields in the
1071 `module' data type. Access to modules and their interfaces from the
1072 value namespace has been deprecated, and all accessors use the new
1073 record accessors appropriately.
1075 When Guile is built with support for deprecated code, as is the default,
1076 the value namespace is still searched for modules and public interfaces,
1077 and a deprecation warning is raised as appropriate.
1079 Finally, to support lazy loading of modules as one used to be able to do
1080 with module binder procedures, Guile now has submodule binders, called
1081 if a given submodule is not found. See boot-9.scm for more information.
1083 ** New procedures: module-ref-submodule, module-define-submodule,
1084 nested-ref-module, nested-define-module!, local-ref-module,
1087 These new accessors are like their bare variants, but operate on
1088 namespaces instead of values.
1090 ** The (app modules) module tree is officially deprecated
1092 It used to be that one could access a module named `(foo bar)' via
1093 `(nested-ref the-root-module '(app modules foo bar))'. The `(app
1094 modules)' bit was a never-used and never-documented abstraction, and has
1095 been deprecated. See the following mail for a full discussion:
1097 http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guile-devel/2010-04/msg00168.html
1099 The `%app' binding is also deprecated.
1101 ** `module-filename' field and accessor
1103 Modules now record the file in which they are defined. This field may be
1104 accessed with the new `module-filename' procedure.
1106 ** Modules load within a known environment
1108 It takes a few procedure calls to define a module, and those procedure
1109 calls need to be in scope. Now we ensure that the current module when
1110 loading a module is one that has the needed bindings, instead of relying
1113 ** `load' is a macro (!) that resolves paths relative to source file dir
1115 The familiar Schem `load' procedure is now a macro that captures the
1116 name of the source file being expanded, and dispatches to the new
1117 `load-in-vicinity'. Referencing `load' by bare name returns a closure
1118 that embeds the current source file name.
1120 This fix allows `load' of relative paths to be resolved with respect to
1121 the location of the file that calls `load'.
1123 ** Many syntax errors have different texts now
1125 Syntax errors still throw to the `syntax-error' key, but the arguments
1126 are often different now. Perhaps in the future, Guile will switch to
1127 using standard SRFI-35 conditions.
1129 ** Returning multiple values to compiled code will silently truncate the
1130 values to the expected number
1132 For example, the interpreter would raise an error evaluating the form,
1133 `(+ (values 1 2) (values 3 4))', because it would see the operands as
1134 being two compound "values" objects, to which `+' does not apply.
1136 The compiler, on the other hand, receives multiple values on the stack,
1137 not as a compound object. Given that it must check the number of values
1138 anyway, if too many values are provided for a continuation, it chooses
1139 to truncate those values, effectively evaluating `(+ 1 3)' instead.
1141 The idea is that the semantics that the compiler implements is more
1142 intuitive, and the use of the interpreter will fade out with time.
1143 This behavior is allowed both by the R5RS and the R6RS.
1145 ** Multiple values in compiled code are not represented by compound
1148 This change may manifest itself in the following situation:
1150 (let ((val (foo))) (do-something) val)
1152 In the interpreter, if `foo' returns multiple values, multiple values
1153 are produced from the `let' expression. In the compiler, those values
1154 are truncated to the first value, and that first value is returned. In
1155 the compiler, if `foo' returns no values, an error will be raised, while
1156 the interpreter would proceed.
1158 Both of these behaviors are allowed by R5RS and R6RS. The compiler's
1159 behavior is more correct, however. If you wish to preserve a potentially
1160 multiply-valued return, you will need to set up a multiple-value
1161 continuation, using `call-with-values'.
1163 ** Defmacros are now implemented in terms of syntax-case.
1165 The practical ramification of this is that the `defmacro?' predicate has
1166 been removed, along with `defmacro-transformer', `macro-table',
1167 `xformer-table', `assert-defmacro?!', `set-defmacro-transformer!' and
1168 `defmacro:transformer'. This is because defmacros are simply macros. If
1169 any of these procedures provided useful facilities to you, we encourage
1170 you to contact the Guile developers.
1172 ** Hygienic macros documented as the primary syntactic extension mechanism.
1174 The macro documentation was finally fleshed out with some documentation
1175 on `syntax-rules' and `syntax-case' macros, and other parts of the macro
1176 expansion process. See "Macros" in the manual, for details.
1178 ** psyntax is now the default expander
1180 Scheme code is now expanded by default by the psyntax hygienic macro
1181 expander. Expansion is performed completely before compilation or
1184 Notably, syntax errors will be signalled before interpretation begins.
1185 In the past, many syntax errors were only detected at runtime if the
1186 code in question was memoized.
1188 As part of its expansion, psyntax renames all lexically-bound
1189 identifiers. Original identifier names are preserved and given to the
1190 compiler, but the interpreter will see the renamed variables, e.g.,
1191 `x432' instead of `x'.
1193 Note that the psyntax that Guile uses is a fork, as Guile already had
1194 modules before incompatible modules were added to psyntax -- about 10
1195 years ago! Thus there are surely a number of bugs that have been fixed
1196 in psyntax since then. If you find one, please notify bug-guile@gnu.org.
1198 ** syntax-rules and syntax-case are available by default.
1200 There is no longer any need to import the `(ice-9 syncase)' module
1201 (which is now deprecated). The expander may be invoked directly via
1202 `macroexpand', though it is normally searched for via the current module
1205 Also, the helper routines for syntax-case are available in the default
1206 environment as well: `syntax->datum', `datum->syntax',
1207 `bound-identifier=?', `free-identifier=?', `generate-temporaries',
1208 `identifier?', and `syntax-violation'. See the R6RS for documentation.
1210 ** Tail patterns in syntax-case
1212 Guile has pulled in some more recent changes from the psyntax portable
1213 syntax expander, to implement support for "tail patterns". Such patterns
1214 are supported by syntax-rules and syntax-case. This allows a syntax-case
1215 match clause to have ellipses, then a pattern at the end. For example:
1218 (syntax-rules (else)
1219 ((_ val match-clause ... (else e e* ...))
1222 Note how there is MATCH-CLAUSE, which is ellipsized, then there is a
1223 tail pattern for the else clause. Thanks to Andreas Rottmann for the
1224 patch, and Kent Dybvig for the code.
1226 ** Lexical bindings introduced by hygienic macros may not be referenced
1227 by nonhygienic macros.
1229 If a lexical binding is introduced by a hygienic macro, it may not be
1230 referenced by a nonhygienic macro. For example, this works:
1233 (define-macro (bind-x val body)
1234 `(let ((x ,val)) ,body))
1235 (define-macro (ref x)
1237 (bind-x 10 (ref x)))
1242 (define-syntax bind-x
1244 ((_ val body) (let ((x val)) body))))
1245 (define-macro (ref x)
1247 (bind-x 10 (ref x)))
1249 It is not normal to run into this situation with existing code. However,
1250 if you have defmacros that expand to hygienic macros, it is possible to
1251 run into situations like this. For example, if you have a defmacro that
1252 generates a `while' expression, the `break' bound by the `while' may not
1253 be visible within other parts of your defmacro. The solution is to port
1254 from defmacros to syntax-rules or syntax-case.
1256 ** Macros may no longer be referenced as first-class values.
1258 In the past, you could evaluate e.g. `if', and get its macro value. Now,
1259 expanding this form raises a syntax error.
1261 Macros still /exist/ as first-class values, but they must be
1262 /referenced/ via the module system, e.g. `(module-ref (current-module)
1265 ** Macros may now have docstrings.
1267 `object-documentation' from `(ice-9 documentation)' may be used to
1268 retrieve the docstring, once you have a macro value -- but see the above
1269 note about first-class macros. Docstrings are associated with the syntax
1270 transformer procedures.
1272 ** `case-lambda' is now available in the default environment.
1274 The binding in the default environment is equivalent to the one from the
1275 `(srfi srfi-16)' module. Use the srfi-16 module explicitly if you wish
1276 to maintain compatibility with Guile 1.8 and earlier.
1278 ** Procedures may now have more than one arity.
1280 This can be the case, for example, in case-lambda procedures. The
1281 arities of compiled procedures may be accessed via procedures from the
1282 `(system vm program)' module; see "Compiled Procedures", "Optional
1283 Arguments", and "Case-lambda" in the manual.
1285 ** Deprecate arity access via (procedure-properties proc 'arity)
1287 Instead of accessing a procedure's arity as a property, use the new
1288 `procedure-minimum-arity' function, which gives the most permissive
1289 arity that the the function has, in the same format as the old arity
1292 ** `lambda*' and `define*' are now available in the default environment
1294 As with `case-lambda', `(ice-9 optargs)' continues to be supported, for
1295 compatibility purposes. No semantic change has been made (we hope).
1296 Optional and keyword arguments now dispatch via special VM operations,
1297 without the need to cons rest arguments, making them very fast.
1299 ** New syntax: define-once
1301 `define-once' is like Lisp's `defvar': it creates a toplevel binding,
1302 but only if one does not exist already.
1304 ** New function, `truncated-print', with `format' support
1306 `(ice-9 pretty-print)' now exports `truncated-print', a printer that
1307 will ensure that the output stays within a certain width, truncating the
1308 output in what is hopefully an intelligent manner. See the manual for
1311 There is a new `format' specifier, `~@y', for doing a truncated
1312 print (as opposed to `~y', which does a pretty-print). See the `format'
1313 documentation for more details.
1315 ** Better pretty-printing
1317 Indentation recognizes more special forms, like `syntax-case', and read
1318 macros like `quote' are printed better.
1320 ** Passing a number as the destination of `format' is deprecated
1322 The `format' procedure in `(ice-9 format)' now emits a deprecation
1323 warning if a number is passed as its first argument.
1325 Also, it used to be that you could omit passing a port to `format', in
1326 some cases. This still works, but has been formally deprecated.
1328 ** SRFI-4 vectors reimplemented in terms of R6RS bytevectors
1330 Guile now implements SRFI-4 vectors using bytevectors. Often when you
1331 have a numeric vector, you end up wanting to write its bytes somewhere,
1332 or have access to the underlying bytes, or read in bytes from somewhere
1333 else. Bytevectors are very good at this sort of thing. But the SRFI-4
1334 APIs are nicer to use when doing number-crunching, because they are
1335 addressed by element and not by byte.
1337 So as a compromise, Guile allows all bytevector functions to operate on
1338 numeric vectors. They address the underlying bytes in the native
1339 endianness, as one would expect.
1341 Following the same reasoning, that it's just bytes underneath, Guile
1342 also allows uniform vectors of a given type to be accessed as if they
1343 were of any type. One can fill a u32vector, and access its elements with
1344 u8vector-ref. One can use f64vector-ref on bytevectors. It's all the
1347 In this way, uniform numeric vectors may be written to and read from
1348 input/output ports using the procedures that operate on bytevectors.
1350 Calls to SRFI-4 accessors (ref and set functions) from Scheme are now
1351 inlined to the VM instructions for bytevector access.
1353 See "SRFI-4" in the manual, for more information.
1355 ** Nonstandard SRFI-4 procedures now available from `(srfi srfi-4 gnu)'
1357 Guile's `(srfi srfi-4)' now only exports those srfi-4 procedures that
1358 are part of the standard. Complex uniform vectors and the
1359 `any->FOOvector' family are now available only from `(srfi srfi-4 gnu)'.
1361 Guile's default environment imports `(srfi srfi-4)', and probably should
1362 import `(srfi srfi-4 gnu)' as well.
1364 See "SRFI-4 Extensions" in the manual, for more information.
1366 ** New syntax: include-from-path.
1368 `include-from-path' is like `include', except it looks for its file in
1369 the load path. It can be used to compile other files into a file.
1371 ** New syntax: quasisyntax.
1373 `quasisyntax' is to `syntax' as `quasiquote' is to `quote'. See the R6RS
1374 documentation for more information. Thanks to Andre van Tonder for the
1377 ** `*unspecified*' is identifier syntax
1379 `*unspecified*' is no longer a variable, so it is optimized properly by
1380 the compiler, and is not `set!'-able.
1382 ** Changes and bugfixes in numerics code
1384 *** Added six new sets of fast quotient and remainder operators
1386 Added six new sets of fast quotient and remainder operator pairs with
1387 different semantics than the R5RS operators. They support not only
1388 integers, but all reals, including exact rationals and inexact
1389 floating point numbers.
1391 These procedures accept two real numbers N and D, where the divisor D
1392 must be non-zero. Each set of operators computes an integer quotient
1393 Q and a real remainder R such that N = Q*D + R and |R| < |D|. They
1394 differ only in how N/D is rounded to produce Q.
1396 `euclidean-quotient' returns the integer Q and `euclidean-remainder'
1397 returns the real R such that N = Q*D + R and 0 <= R < |D|. `euclidean/'
1398 returns both Q and R, and is more efficient than computing each
1399 separately. Note that when D > 0, `euclidean-quotient' returns
1400 floor(N/D), and when D < 0 it returns ceiling(N/D).
1402 `centered-quotient', `centered-remainder', and `centered/' are similar
1403 except that the range of remainders is -abs(D/2) <= R < abs(D/2), and
1404 `centered-quotient' rounds N/D to the nearest integer. Note that these
1405 operators are equivalent to the R6RS integer division operators `div',
1406 `mod', `div-and-mod', `div0', `mod0', and `div0-and-mod0'.
1408 `floor-quotient' and `floor-remainder' compute Q and R, respectively,
1409 where Q has been rounded toward negative infinity. `floor/' returns
1410 both Q and R, and is more efficient than computing each separately.
1411 Note that when applied to integers, `floor-remainder' is equivalent to
1412 the R5RS integer-only `modulo' operator. `ceiling-quotient',
1413 `ceiling-remainder', and `ceiling/' are similar except that Q is
1414 rounded toward positive infinity.
1416 For `truncate-quotient', `truncate-remainder', and `truncate/', Q is
1417 rounded toward zero. Note that when applied to integers,
1418 `truncate-quotient' and `truncate-remainder' are equivalent to the
1419 R5RS integer-only operators `quotient' and `remainder'.
1421 For `round-quotient', `round-remainder', and `round/', Q is rounded to
1422 the nearest integer, with ties going to the nearest even integer.
1424 *** Complex number changes
1426 Guile is now able to represent non-real complex numbers whose
1427 imaginary part is an _inexact_ zero (0.0 or -0.0), per R6RS.
1428 Previously, such numbers were immediately changed into inexact reals.
1430 (real? 0.0+0.0i) now returns #f, per R6RS, although (zero? 0.0+0.0i)
1431 still returns #t, per R6RS. (= 0 0.0+0.0i) and (= 0.0 0.0+0.0i) are
1432 #t, but the same comparisons using `eqv?' or `equal?' are #f.
1434 Like other non-real numbers, these complex numbers with inexact zero
1435 imaginary part will raise exceptions is passed to procedures requiring
1436 reals, such as `<', `>', `<=', `>=', `min', `max', `positive?',
1437 `negative?', `inf?', `nan?', `finite?', etc.
1439 **** `make-rectangular' changes
1441 scm_make_rectangular `make-rectangular' now returns a real number only
1442 if the imaginary part is an _exact_ 0. Previously, it would return a
1443 real number if the imaginary part was an inexact zero.
1445 scm_c_make_rectangular now always returns a non-real complex number,
1446 even if the imaginary part is zero. Previously, it would return a
1447 real number if the imaginary part was zero.
1449 **** `make-polar' changes
1451 scm_make_polar `make-polar' now returns a real number only if the
1452 angle or magnitude is an _exact_ 0. If the magnitude is an exact 0,
1453 it now returns an exact 0. Previously, it would return a real
1454 number if the imaginary part was an inexact zero.
1456 scm_c_make_polar now always returns a non-real complex number, even if
1457 the imaginary part is 0.0. Previously, it would return a real number
1458 if the imaginary part was 0.0.
1460 **** `imag-part' changes
1462 scm_imag_part `imag-part' now returns an exact 0 if applied to an
1463 inexact real number. Previously it returned an inexact zero in this
1466 *** `eqv?' and `equal?' now compare numbers equivalently
1468 scm_equal_p `equal?' now behaves equivalently to scm_eqv_p `eqv?' for
1469 numeric values, per R5RS. Previously, equal? worked differently,
1470 e.g. `(equal? 0.0 -0.0)' returned #t but `(eqv? 0.0 -0.0)' returned #f,
1471 and `(equal? +nan.0 +nan.0)' returned #f but `(eqv? +nan.0 +nan.0)'
1474 *** `(equal? +nan.0 +nan.0)' now returns #t
1476 Previously, `(equal? +nan.0 +nan.0)' returned #f, although
1477 `(let ((x +nan.0)) (equal? x x))' and `(eqv? +nan.0 +nan.0)'
1478 both returned #t. R5RS requires that `equal?' behave like
1479 `eqv?' when comparing numbers.
1481 *** Change in handling products `*' involving exact 0
1483 scm_product `*' now handles exact 0 differently. A product containing
1484 an exact 0 now returns an exact 0 if and only if the other arguments
1485 are all exact. An inexact zero is returned if and only if the other
1486 arguments are all finite but not all exact. If an infinite or NaN
1487 value is present, a NaN value is returned. Previously, any product
1488 containing an exact 0 yielded an exact 0, regardless of the other
1491 *** `expt' and `integer-expt' changes when the base is 0
1493 While `(expt 0 0)' is still 1, and `(expt 0 N)' for N > 0 is still
1494 zero, `(expt 0 N)' for N < 0 is now a NaN value, and likewise for
1495 integer-expt. This is more correct, and conforming to R6RS, but seems
1496 to be incompatible with R5RS, which would return 0 for all non-zero
1499 *** `expt' and `integer-expt' are more generic, less strict
1501 When raising to an exact non-negative integer exponent, `expt' and
1502 `integer-expt' are now able to exponentiate any object that can be
1503 multiplied using `*'. They can also raise an object to an exact
1504 negative integer power if its reciprocal can be taken using `/'.
1505 In order to allow this, the type of the first argument is no longer
1506 checked when raising to an exact integer power. If the exponent is 0
1507 or 1, the first parameter is not manipulated at all, and need not
1508 even support multiplication.
1510 *** Infinities are no longer integers, nor rationals
1512 scm_integer_p `integer?' and scm_rational_p `rational?' now return #f
1513 for infinities, per R6RS. Previously they returned #t for real
1514 infinities. The real infinities and NaNs are still considered real by
1515 scm_real `real?' however, per R6RS.
1517 *** NaNs are no longer rationals
1519 scm_rational_p `rational?' now returns #f for NaN values, per R6RS.
1520 Previously it returned #t for real NaN values. They are still
1521 considered real by scm_real `real?' however, per R6RS.
1523 *** `inf?' and `nan?' now throw exceptions for non-reals
1525 The domain of `inf?' and `nan?' is the real numbers. Guile now signals
1526 an error when a non-real number or non-number is passed to these
1527 procedures. (Note that NaNs _are_ considered numbers by scheme, despite
1530 *** `rationalize' bugfixes and changes
1532 Fixed bugs in scm_rationalize `rationalize'. Previously, it returned
1533 exact integers unmodified, although that was incorrect if the epsilon
1534 was at least 1 or inexact, e.g. (rationalize 4 1) should return 3 per
1535 R5RS and R6RS, but previously it returned 4. It also now handles
1536 cases involving infinities and NaNs properly, per R6RS.
1538 *** Trigonometric functions now return exact numbers in some cases
1540 scm_sin `sin', scm_cos `cos', scm_tan `tan', scm_asin `asin', scm_acos
1541 `acos', scm_atan `atan', scm_sinh `sinh', scm_cosh `cosh', scm_tanh
1542 `tanh', scm_sys_asinh `asinh', scm_sys_acosh `acosh', and
1543 scm_sys_atanh `atanh' now return exact results in some cases.
1545 *** New procedure: `finite?'
1547 Add scm_finite_p `finite?' from R6RS to guile core, which returns #t
1548 if and only if its argument is neither infinite nor a NaN. Note that
1549 this is not the same as (not (inf? x)) or (not (infinite? x)), since
1550 NaNs are neither finite nor infinite.
1552 *** Improved exactness handling for complex number parsing
1554 When parsing non-real complex numbers, exactness specifiers are now
1555 applied to each component, as is done in PLT Scheme. For complex
1556 numbers written in rectangular form, exactness specifiers are applied
1557 to the real and imaginary parts before calling scm_make_rectangular.
1558 For complex numbers written in polar form, exactness specifiers are
1559 applied to the magnitude and angle before calling scm_make_polar.
1561 Previously, exactness specifiers were applied to the number as a whole
1562 _after_ calling scm_make_rectangular or scm_make_polar.
1564 For example, (string->number "#i5.0+0i") now does the equivalent of:
1566 (make-rectangular (exact->inexact 5.0) (exact->inexact 0))
1568 which yields 5.0+0.0i. Previously it did the equivalent of:
1570 (exact->inexact (make-rectangular 5.0 0))
1574 ** Unicode characters
1576 Unicode characters may be entered in octal format via e.g. `#\454', or
1577 created via (integer->char 300). A hex external representation will
1578 probably be introduced at some point.
1582 Internally, strings are now represented either in the `latin-1'
1583 encoding, one byte per character, or in UTF-32, with four bytes per
1584 character. Strings manage their own allocation, switching if needed.
1586 Extended characters may be written in a literal string using the
1587 hexadecimal escapes `\xXX', `\uXXXX', or `\UXXXXXX', for 8-bit, 16-bit,
1588 or 24-bit codepoints, respectively, or entered directly in the native
1589 encoding of the port on which the string is read.
1593 One may now use U+03BB (GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMBDA) as an identifier.
1595 ** Support for non-ASCII source code files
1597 The default reader now handles source code files for some of the
1598 non-ASCII character encodings, such as UTF-8. A non-ASCII source file
1599 should have an encoding declaration near the top of the file. Also,
1600 there is a new function, `file-encoding', that scans a port for a coding
1601 declaration. See the section of the manual entitled, "Character Encoding
1604 The pre-1.9.3 reader handled 8-bit clean but otherwise unspecified source
1605 code. This use is now discouraged. Binary input and output is
1606 currently supported by opening ports in the ISO-8859-1 locale.
1608 ** Source files default to UTF-8.
1610 If source files do not specify their encoding via a `coding:' block,
1611 the default encoding is UTF-8, instead of being taken from the current
1614 ** Interactive Guile installs the current locale.
1616 Instead of leaving the user in the "C" locale, running the Guile REPL
1617 installs the current locale. [FIXME xref?]
1619 ** Support for locale transcoding when reading from and writing to ports
1621 Ports now have an associated character encoding, and port read and write
1622 operations do conversion to and from locales automatically. Ports also
1623 have an associated strategy for how to deal with locale conversion
1626 See the documentation in the manual for the four new support functions,
1627 `set-port-encoding!', `port-encoding', `set-port-conversion-strategy!',
1628 and `port-conversion-strategy'.
1630 ** String and SRFI-13 functions can operate on Unicode strings
1632 ** Unicode support for SRFI-14 character sets
1634 The default character sets are no longer locale dependent and contain
1635 characters from the whole Unicode range. There is a new predefined
1636 character set, `char-set:designated', which contains all assigned
1637 Unicode characters. There is a new debugging function, `%char-set-dump'.
1639 ** Character functions operate on Unicode characters
1641 `char-upcase' and `char-downcase' use default Unicode casing rules.
1642 Character comparisons such as `char<?' and `char-ci<?' now sort based on
1643 Unicode code points.
1645 ** Global variables `scm_charnames' and `scm_charnums' are removed
1647 These variables contained the names of control characters and were
1648 used when writing characters. While these were global, they were
1649 never intended to be public API. They have been replaced with private
1652 ** EBCDIC support is removed
1654 There was an EBCDIC compile flag that altered some of the character
1655 processing. It appeared that full EBCDIC support was never completed
1656 and was unmaintained.
1658 ** Compile-time warnings
1660 Guile can warn about potentially unbound free variables. Pass the
1661 -Wunbound-variable on the `guile-tools compile' command line, or add
1662 `#:warnings '(unbound-variable)' to your `compile' or `compile-file'
1663 invocation. Warnings are also enabled by default for expressions entered
1666 Guile can also warn when you pass the wrong number of arguments to a
1667 procedure, with -Warity-mismatch, or `arity-mismatch' in the
1668 `#:warnings' as above.
1670 Other warnings include `-Wunused-variable' and `-Wunused-toplevel', to
1671 warn about unused local or global (top-level) variables, and `-Wformat',
1672 to check for various errors related to the `format' procedure.
1674 ** A new `memoize-symbol' evaluator trap has been added.
1676 This trap can be used for efficiently implementing a Scheme code
1679 ** Duplicate bindings among used modules are resolved lazily.
1681 This slightly improves program startup times.
1683 ** New thread cancellation and thread cleanup API
1685 See `cancel-thread', `set-thread-cleanup!', and `thread-cleanup'.
1687 ** New threads are in `(guile-user)' by default, not `(guile)'
1689 It used to be that a new thread entering Guile would do so in the
1690 `(guile)' module, unless this was the first time Guile was initialized,
1691 in which case it was `(guile-user)'. This has been fixed to have all
1692 new threads unknown to Guile default to `(guile-user)'.
1694 ** New helpers: `print-exception', `set-exception-printer!'
1696 These functions implement an extensible exception printer. Guile
1697 registers printers for all of the exceptions it throws. Users may add
1698 their own printers. There is also `scm_print_exception', for use by C
1699 programs. Pleasantly, this allows SRFI-35 and R6RS exceptions to be
1700 printed appropriately.
1702 ** GOOPS dispatch in scheme
1704 As an implementation detail, GOOPS dispatch is no longer implemented by
1705 special evaluator bytecodes, but rather directly via a Scheme function
1706 associated with an applicable struct. There is some VM support for the
1707 underlying primitives, like `class-of'.
1709 This change will in the future allow users to customize generic function
1710 dispatch without incurring a performance penalty, and allow us to
1711 implement method combinations.
1713 ** Applicable struct support
1715 One may now make structs from Scheme that may be applied as procedures.
1716 To do so, make a struct whose vtable is `<applicable-struct-vtable>'.
1717 That struct will be the vtable of your applicable structs; instances of
1718 that new struct are assumed to have the procedure in their first slot.
1719 `<applicable-struct-vtable>' is like Common Lisp's
1720 `funcallable-standard-class'. Likewise there is
1721 `<applicable-struct-with-setter-vtable>', which looks for the setter in
1722 the second slot. This needs to be better documented.
1726 GOOPS had a number of concepts that were relevant to the days of Tcl,
1727 but not any more: operators and entities, mainly. These objects were
1728 never documented, and it is unlikely that they were ever used. Operators
1729 were a kind of generic specific to the Tcl support. Entities were
1730 replaced by applicable structs, mentioned above.
1732 ** New struct slot allocation: "hidden"
1734 A hidden slot is readable and writable, but will not be initialized by a
1735 call to make-struct. For example in your layout you would say "ph"
1736 instead of "pw". Hidden slots are useful for adding new slots to a
1737 vtable without breaking existing invocations to make-struct.
1739 ** eqv? not a generic
1741 One used to be able to extend `eqv?' as a primitive-generic, but no
1742 more. Because `eqv?' is in the expansion of `case' (via `memv'), which
1743 should be able to compile to static dispatch tables, it doesn't make
1744 sense to allow extensions that would subvert this optimization.
1746 ** `inet-ntop' and `inet-pton' are always available.
1748 Guile now use a portable implementation of `inet_pton'/`inet_ntop', so
1749 there is no more need to use `inet-aton'/`inet-ntoa'. The latter
1750 functions are deprecated.
1752 ** `getopt-long' parsing errors throw to `quit', not `misc-error'
1754 This change should inhibit backtraces on argument parsing errors.
1755 `getopt-long' has been modified to print out the error that it throws
1758 ** New primitive: `tmpfile'.
1760 See "File System" in the manual.
1762 ** Random generator state may be serialized to a datum
1764 `random-state->datum' will serialize a random state to a datum, which
1765 may be written out, read back in later, and revivified using
1766 `datum->random-state'. See "Random" in the manual, for more details.
1768 ** Fix random number generator on 64-bit platforms
1770 There was a nasty bug on 64-bit platforms in which asking for a random
1771 integer with a range between 2**32 and 2**64 caused a segfault. After
1772 many embarrassing iterations, this was fixed.
1774 ** Fast bit operations.
1776 The bit-twiddling operations `ash', `logand', `logior', and `logxor' now
1777 have dedicated bytecodes. Guile is not just for symbolic computation,
1778 it's for number crunching too.
1780 ** Faster SRFI-9 record access
1782 SRFI-9 records are now implemented directly on top of Guile's structs,
1783 and their accessors are defined in such a way that normal call-sites
1784 inline to special VM opcodes, while still allowing for the general case
1785 (e.g. passing a record accessor to `apply').
1787 ** R6RS block comment support
1789 Guile now supports R6RS nested block comments. The start of a comment is
1790 marked with `#|', and the end with `|#'.
1792 ** `guile-2' cond-expand feature
1794 To test if your code is running under Guile 2.0 (or its alpha releases),
1795 test for the `guile-2' cond-expand feature. Like this:
1797 (cond-expand (guile-2 (eval-when (compile)
1798 ;; This must be evaluated at compile time.
1799 (fluid-set! current-reader my-reader)))
1801 ;; Earlier versions of Guile do not have a
1802 ;; separate compilation phase.
1803 (fluid-set! current-reader my-reader)))
1805 ** New global variables: %load-compiled-path, %load-compiled-extensions
1807 These are analogous to %load-path and %load-extensions.
1809 ** New fluid: `%file-port-name-canonicalization'
1811 This fluid parameterizes the file names that are associated with file
1812 ports. If %file-port-name-canonicalization is 'absolute, then file names
1813 are canonicalized to be absolute paths. If it is 'relative, then the
1814 name is canonicalized, but any prefix corresponding to a member of
1815 `%load-path' is stripped off. Otherwise the names are passed through
1818 In addition, the `compile-file' and `compile-and-load' procedures bind
1819 %file-port-name-canonicalization to their `#:canonicalization' keyword
1820 argument, which defaults to 'relative. In this way, one might compile
1821 "../module/ice-9/boot-9.scm", but the path that gets residualized into
1822 the .go is "ice-9/boot-9.scm".
1824 ** New procedure, `make-promise'
1826 `(make-promise (lambda () foo))' is equivalent to `(delay foo)'.
1828 ** `defined?' may accept a module as its second argument
1830 Previously it only accepted internal structures from the evaluator.
1832 ** New entry into %guile-build-info: `ccachedir'
1834 ** Fix bug in `module-bound?'.
1836 `module-bound?' was returning true if a module did have a local
1837 variable, but one that was unbound, but another imported module bound
1838 the variable. This was an error, and was fixed.
1840 ** `(ice-9 syncase)' has been deprecated.
1842 As syntax-case is available by default, importing `(ice-9 syncase)' has
1843 no effect, and will trigger a deprecation warning.
1845 ** New readline history functions
1847 The (ice-9 readline) module now provides add-history, read-history,
1848 write-history and clear-history, which wrap the corresponding GNU
1849 History library functions.
1851 ** Removed deprecated uniform array procedures:
1852 dimensions->uniform-array, list->uniform-array, array-prototype
1854 Instead, use make-typed-array, list->typed-array, or array-type,
1857 ** Deprecate the old `scm-style-repl'
1859 The following bindings from boot-9 are now found in `(ice-9
1860 scm-style-repl)': `scm-style-repl', `error-catching-loop',
1861 `error-catching-repl', `bad-throw', `scm-repl-silent'
1862 `assert-repl-silence', `repl-print-unspecified',
1863 `assert-repl-print-unspecified', `scm-repl-verbose',
1864 `assert-repl-verbosity', `scm-repl-prompt', `set-repl-prompt!', `repl',
1865 `default-pre-unwind-handler', `handle-system-error',
1867 The following bindings have been deprecated, with no replacement:
1868 `pre-unwind-handler-dispatch'.
1870 The following bindings have been totally removed:
1871 `before-signal-stack'.
1873 Deprecated forwarding shims have been installed so that users that
1874 expect these bindings in the main namespace will still work, but receive
1875 a deprecation warning.
1877 ** `set-batch-mode?!' replaced by `ensure-batch-mode!'
1879 "Batch mode" is a flag used to tell a program that it is not running
1880 interactively. One usually turns it on after a fork. It may not be
1881 turned off. `ensure-batch-mode!' deprecates the old `set-batch-mode?!',
1882 because it is a better interface, as it can only turn on batch mode, not
1885 ** Deprecate `save-stack', `the-last-stack'
1887 It used to be that the way to debug programs in Guile was to capture the
1888 stack at the time of error, drop back to the REPL, then debug that
1889 stack. But this approach didn't compose, was tricky to get right in the
1890 presence of threads, and was not very powerful.
1892 So `save-stack', `stack-saved?', and `the-last-stack' have been moved to
1893 `(ice-9 save-stack)', with deprecated bindings left in the root module.
1895 ** `top-repl' has its own module
1897 The `top-repl' binding, called with Guile is run interactively, is now
1898 is its own module, `(ice-9 top-repl)'. A deprecated forwarding shim was
1899 left in the default environment.
1901 ** `display-error' takes a frame
1903 The `display-error' / `scm_display_error' helper now takes a frame as an
1904 argument instead of a stack. Stacks are still supported in deprecated
1905 builds. Additionally, `display-error' will again source location
1906 information for the error.
1908 ** No more `(ice-9 debug)'
1910 This module had some debugging helpers that are no longer applicable to
1911 the current debugging model. Importing this module will produce a
1912 deprecation warning. Users should contact bug-guile for support.
1914 ** Remove obsolete debug-options
1916 Removed `breakpoints', `trace', `procnames', `indent', `frames',
1917 `maxdepth', and `debug' debug-options.
1919 ** `backtrace' debug option on by default
1921 Given that Guile 2.0 can always give you a backtrace, backtraces are now
1924 ** `turn-on-debugging' deprecated
1926 ** Remove obsolete print-options
1928 The `source' and `closure-hook' print options are obsolete, and have
1931 ** Remove obsolete read-options
1933 The "elisp-strings" and "elisp-vectors" read options were unused and
1934 obsolete, so they have been removed.
1936 ** Remove eval-options and trap-options
1938 Eval-options and trap-options are obsolete with the new VM and
1941 ** Remove (ice-9 debugger) and (ice-9 debugging)
1943 See "Traps" and "Interactive Debugging" in the manual, for information
1944 on their replacements.
1946 ** Remove the GDS Emacs integration
1948 See "Using Guile in Emacs" in the manual, for info on how we think you
1949 should use Guile with Emacs.
1951 ** Deprecated: `lazy-catch'
1953 `lazy-catch' was a form that captured the stack at the point of a
1954 `throw', but the dynamic state at the point of the `catch'. It was a bit
1955 crazy. Please change to use `catch', possibly with a throw-handler, or
1956 `with-throw-handler'.
1958 ** Deprecated: primitive properties
1960 The `primitive-make-property', `primitive-property-set!',
1961 `primitive-property-ref', and `primitive-property-del!' procedures were
1962 crufty and only used to implement object properties, which has a new,
1963 threadsafe implementation. Use object properties or weak hash tables
1966 ** Deprecated `@bind' syntax
1968 `@bind' was part of an older implementation of the Emacs Lisp language,
1969 and is no longer used.
1971 ** Miscellaneous other deprecations
1973 `cuserid' has been deprecated, as it only returns 8 bytes of a user's
1974 login. Use `(passwd:name (getpwuid (geteuid)))' instead.
1976 Additionally, the procedures `apply-to-args', `has-suffix?', `scheme-file-suffix'
1977 `get-option', `for-next-option', `display-usage-report',
1978 `transform-usage-lambda', `collect', and `set-batch-mode?!' have all
1981 ** Add support for unbound fluids
1983 See `make-unbound-fluid', `fluid-unset!', and `fluid-bound?' in the
1986 ** Add `variable-unset!'
1988 See "Variables" in the manual, for more details.
1990 ** Last but not least, the `λ' macro can be used in lieu of `lambda'
1992 * Changes to the C interface
1994 ** Guile now uses libgc, the Boehm-Demers-Weiser garbage collector
1996 The semantics of `scm_gc_malloc ()' have been changed, in a
1997 backward-compatible way. A new allocation routine,
1998 `scm_gc_malloc_pointerless ()', was added.
2000 Libgc is a conservative GC, which we hope will make interaction with C
2001 code easier and less error-prone.
2003 ** New procedures: `scm_to_stringn', `scm_from_stringn'
2004 ** New procedures: scm_{to,from}_{utf8,latin1}_symbol{n,}
2005 ** New procedures: scm_{to,from}_{utf8,utf32,latin1}_string{n,}
2007 These new procedures convert to and from string representations in
2008 particular encodings.
2010 Users should continue to use locale encoding for user input, user
2011 output, or interacting with the C library.
2013 Use the Latin-1 functions for ASCII, and for literals in source code.
2015 Use UTF-8 functions for interaction with modern libraries which deal in
2016 UTF-8, and UTF-32 for interaction with utf32-using libraries.
2018 Otherwise, use scm_to_stringn or scm_from_stringn with a specific
2021 ** New type definitions for `scm_t_intptr' and friends.
2023 `SCM_T_UINTPTR_MAX', `SCM_T_INTPTR_MIN', `SCM_T_INTPTR_MAX',
2024 `SIZEOF_SCM_T_BITS', `scm_t_intptr' and `scm_t_uintptr' are now
2025 available to C. Have fun!
2027 ** The GH interface (deprecated in version 1.6, 2001) was removed.
2029 ** Internal `scm_i_' functions now have "hidden" linkage with GCC/ELF
2031 This makes these internal functions technically not callable from
2034 ** Functions for handling `scm_option' now no longer require an argument
2035 indicating length of the `scm_t_option' array.
2037 ** Procedures-with-setters are now implemented using applicable structs
2039 From a user's perspective this doesn't mean very much. But if, for some
2040 odd reason, you used the SCM_PROCEDURE_WITH_SETTER_P, SCM_PROCEDURE, or
2041 SCM_SETTER macros, know that they're deprecated now. Also, scm_tc7_pws
2044 ** Remove old evaluator closures
2046 There used to be ranges of typecodes allocated to interpreted data
2047 structures, but that it no longer the case, given that interpreted
2048 procedure are now just regular VM closures. As a result, there is a
2049 newly free tc3, and a number of removed macros. See the ChangeLog for
2052 ** Primitive procedures are now VM trampoline procedures
2054 It used to be that there were something like 12 different typecodes
2055 allocated to primitive procedures, each with its own calling convention.
2056 Now there is only one, the gsubr. This may affect user code if you were
2057 defining a procedure using scm_c_make_subr rather scm_c_make_gsubr. The
2058 solution is to switch to use scm_c_make_gsubr. This solution works well
2059 both with the old 1.8 and and with the current 1.9 branch.
2061 Guile's old evaluator used to have special cases for applying "gsubrs",
2062 primitive procedures with specified numbers of required, optional, and
2063 rest arguments. Now, however, Guile represents gsubrs as normal VM
2064 procedures, with appropriate bytecode to parse out the correct number of
2065 arguments, including optional and rest arguments, and then with a
2066 special bytecode to apply the gsubr.
2068 This allows primitive procedures to appear on the VM stack, allowing
2069 them to be accurately counted in profiles. Also they now have more
2070 debugging information attached to them -- their number of arguments, for
2071 example. In addition, the VM can completely inline the application
2072 mechanics, allowing for faster primitive calls.
2074 However there are some changes on the C level. There is no more
2075 `scm_tc7_gsubr' or `scm_tcs_subrs' typecode for primitive procedures, as
2076 they are just VM procedures. Likewise the macros `SCM_GSUBR_TYPE',
2077 `SCM_GSUBR_MAKTYPE', `SCM_GSUBR_REQ', `SCM_GSUBR_OPT', and
2078 `SCM_GSUBR_REST' are gone, as are `SCM_SUBR_META_INFO', `SCM_SUBR_PROPS'
2079 `SCM_SET_SUBR_GENERIC_LOC', and `SCM_SUBR_ARITY_TO_TYPE'.
2081 Perhaps more significantly, `scm_c_make_subr',
2082 `scm_c_make_subr_with_generic', `scm_c_define_subr', and
2083 `scm_c_define_subr_with_generic'. They all operated on subr typecodes,
2084 and there are no more subr typecodes. Use the scm_c_make_gsubr family
2087 Normal users of gsubrs should not be affected, though, as the
2088 scm_c_make_gsubr family still is the correct way to create primitive
2091 ** Remove deprecated array C interfaces
2093 Removed the deprecated array functions `scm_i_arrayp',
2094 `scm_i_array_ndim', `scm_i_array_mem', `scm_i_array_v',
2095 `scm_i_array_base', `scm_i_array_dims', and the deprecated macros
2096 `SCM_ARRAYP', `SCM_ARRAY_NDIM', `SCM_ARRAY_CONTP', `SCM_ARRAY_MEM',
2097 `SCM_ARRAY_V', `SCM_ARRAY_BASE', and `SCM_ARRAY_DIMS'.
2099 ** Remove unused snarf macros
2101 `SCM_DEFINE1', `SCM_PRIMITIVE_GENERIC_1', `SCM_PROC1, and `SCM_GPROC1'
2102 are no more. Use SCM_DEFINE or SCM_PRIMITIVE_GENERIC instead.
2104 ** New functions: `scm_call_n', `scm_c_run_hookn'
2106 `scm_call_n' applies to apply a function to an array of arguments.
2107 `scm_c_run_hookn' runs a hook with an array of arguments.
2109 ** Some SMOB types changed to have static typecodes
2111 Fluids, dynamic states, and hash tables used to be SMOB objects, but now
2112 they have statically allocated tc7 typecodes.
2114 ** Preparations for changing SMOB representation
2116 If things go right, we'll be changing the SMOB representation soon. To
2117 that end, we did a lot of cleanups to calls to e.g. SCM_CELL_WORD_2(x) when
2118 the code meant SCM_SMOB_DATA_2(x); user code will need similar changes
2119 in the future. Code accessing SMOBs using SCM_CELL macros was never
2120 correct, but until now things still worked. Users should be aware of
2123 ** Changed invocation mechanics of applicable SMOBs
2125 Guile's old evaluator used to have special cases for applying SMOB
2126 objects. Now, with the VM, when Guile sees a SMOB, it looks up a VM
2127 trampoline procedure for it, and use the normal mechanics to apply the
2128 trampoline. This simplifies procedure application in the normal,
2131 The upshot is that the mechanics used to apply a SMOB are different from
2132 1.8. Descriptors no longer have `apply_0', `apply_1', `apply_2', and
2133 `apply_3' functions, and the macros SCM_SMOB_APPLY_0 and friends are now
2134 deprecated. Just use the scm_call_0 family of procedures.
2136 ** Removed support shlibs for SRFIs 1, 4, 13, 14, and 60
2138 Though these SRFI support libraries did expose API, they encoded a
2139 strange version string into their library names. That version was never
2140 programmatically exported, so there was no way people could use the
2143 This was a fortunate oversight, as it allows us to remove the need for
2144 extra, needless shared libraries --- the C support code for SRFIs 4, 13,
2145 and 14 was already in core --- and allow us to incrementally return the
2146 SRFI implementation to Scheme.
2148 ** New C function: scm_module_public_interface
2150 This procedure corresponds to Scheme's `module-public-interface'.
2152 ** Undeprecate `scm_the_root_module ()'
2154 It's useful to be able to get the root module from C without doing a
2157 ** Inline vector allocation
2159 Instead of having vectors point out into the heap for their data, their
2160 data is now allocated inline to the vector object itself. The same is
2161 true for bytevectors, by default, though there is an indirection
2162 available which should allow for making a bytevector from an existing
2165 ** New struct constructors that don't involve making lists
2167 `scm_c_make_struct' and `scm_c_make_structv' are new varargs and array
2168 constructors, respectively, for structs. You might find them useful.
2172 In Guile 1.8, there were debugging frames on the C stack. Now there is
2173 no more need to explicitly mark the stack in this way, because Guile has
2174 a VM stack that it knows how to walk, which simplifies the C API
2175 considerably. See the ChangeLog for details; the relevant interface is
2176 in libguile/stacks.h. The Scheme API has not been changed significantly.
2178 ** Removal of Guile's primitive object system.
2180 There were a number of pieces in `objects.[ch]' that tried to be a
2181 minimal object system, but were never documented, and were quickly
2182 obseleted by GOOPS' merge into Guile proper. So `scm_make_class_object',
2183 `scm_make_subclass_object', `scm_metaclass_standard', and like symbols
2184 from objects.h are no more. In the very unlikely case in which these
2185 were useful to you, we urge you to contact guile-devel.
2189 Actually the future is still in the state that it was, is, and ever
2190 shall be, Amen, except that `futures.c' and `futures.h' are no longer a
2191 part of it. These files were experimental, never compiled, and would be
2192 better implemented in Scheme anyway. In the future, that is.
2194 ** Deprecate trampolines
2196 There used to be C functions `scm_trampoline_0', `scm_trampoline_1', and
2197 so on. The point was to do some precomputation on the type of the
2198 procedure, then return a specialized "call" procedure. However this
2199 optimization wasn't actually an optimization, so it is now deprecated.
2200 Just use `scm_call_0', etc instead.
2202 ** Deprecated `scm_badargsp'
2204 This function is unused in Guile, but was part of its API.
2206 ** Better support for Lisp `nil'.
2208 The bit representation of `nil' has been tweaked so that it is now very
2209 efficient to check e.g. if a value is equal to Scheme's end-of-list or
2210 Lisp's nil. Additionally there are a heap of new, specific predicates
2211 like scm_is_null_or_nil.
2213 ** Better integration of Lisp `nil'.
2215 `scm_is_boolean', `scm_is_false', and `scm_is_null' all return true now
2216 for Lisp's `nil'. This shouldn't affect any Scheme code at this point,
2217 but when we start to integrate more with Emacs, it is possible that we
2218 break code that assumes that, for example, `(not x)' implies that `x' is
2219 `eq?' to `#f'. This is not a common assumption. Refactoring affected
2220 code to rely on properties instead of identities will improve code
2221 correctness. See "Nil" in the manual, for more details.
2223 ** Support for static allocation of strings, symbols, and subrs.
2225 Calls to snarfing CPP macros like SCM_DEFINE macro will now allocate
2226 much of their associated data as static variables, reducing Guile's
2229 ** `scm_stat' has an additional argument, `exception_on_error'
2230 ** `scm_primitive_load_path' has an additional argument `exception_on_not_found'
2232 ** `scm_set_port_seek' and `scm_set_port_truncate' use the `scm_t_off' type
2234 Previously they would use the `off_t' type, which is fragile since its
2235 definition depends on the application's value for `_FILE_OFFSET_BITS'.
2237 ** The `long_long' C type, deprecated in 1.8, has been removed
2239 ** Removed deprecated uniform array procedures: scm_make_uve,
2240 scm_array_prototype, scm_list_to_uniform_array,
2241 scm_dimensions_to_uniform_array, scm_make_ra, scm_shap2ra, scm_cvref,
2242 scm_ra_set_contp, scm_aind, scm_raprin1
2244 These functions have been deprecated since early 2005.
2246 * Changes to the distribution
2248 ** Guile's license is now LGPLv3+
2250 In other words the GNU Lesser General Public License, version 3 or
2251 later (at the discretion of each person that chooses to redistribute
2256 Guile's build is visually quieter, due to the use of Automake 1.11's
2257 AM_SILENT_RULES. Build as `make V=1' to see all of the output.
2259 ** GOOPS documentation folded into Guile reference manual
2261 GOOPS, Guile's object system, used to be documented in separate manuals.
2262 This content is now included in Guile's manual directly.
2264 ** `guile-config' will be deprecated in favor of `pkg-config'
2266 `guile-config' has been rewritten to get its information from
2267 `pkg-config', so this should be a transparent change. Note however that
2268 guile.m4 has yet to be modified to call pkg-config instead of
2271 ** Guile now provides `guile-2.0.pc' instead of `guile-1.8.pc'
2273 Programs that use `pkg-config' to find Guile or one of its Autoconf
2274 macros should now require `guile-2.0' instead of `guile-1.8'.
2276 ** New installation directory: $(pkglibdir)/1.9/ccache
2278 If $(libdir) is /usr/lib, for example, Guile will install its .go files
2279 to /usr/lib/guile/1.9/ccache. These files are architecture-specific.
2281 ** Parallel installability fixes
2283 Guile now installs its header files to a effective-version-specific
2284 directory, and includes the effective version (e.g. 2.0) in the library
2285 name (e.g. libguile-2.0.so).
2287 This change should be transparent to users, who should detect Guile via
2288 the guile.m4 macro, or the guile-2.0.pc pkg-config file. It will allow
2289 parallel installs for multiple versions of Guile development
2292 ** Dynamically loadable extensions may be placed in a Guile-specific path
2294 Before, Guile only searched the system library paths for extensions
2295 (e.g. /usr/lib), which meant that the names of Guile extensions had to
2296 be globally unique. Installing them to a Guile-specific extensions
2297 directory is cleaner. Use `pkg-config --variable=extensiondir
2298 guile-2.0' to get the location of the extensions directory.
2300 ** User Scheme code may be placed in a version-specific path
2302 Before, there was only one way to install user Scheme code to a
2303 version-specific Guile directory: install to Guile's own path,
2304 e.g. /usr/share/guile/2.0. The site directory,
2305 e.g. /usr/share/guile/site, was unversioned. This has been changed to
2306 add a version-specific site directory, e.g. /usr/share/guile/site/2.0,
2307 searched before the global site directory.
2309 ** New dependency: libgc
2311 See http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Hans_Boehm/gc/, for more information.
2313 ** New dependency: GNU libunistring
2315 See http://www.gnu.org/software/libunistring/, for more information. Our
2316 Unicode support uses routines from libunistring.
2318 ** New dependency: libffi
2320 See http://sourceware.org/libffi/, for more information.
2324 Changes in 1.8.8 (since 1.8.7)
2328 ** Fix possible buffer overruns when parsing numbers
2329 ** Avoid clash with system setjmp/longjmp on IA64
2330 ** Fix `wrong type arg' exceptions with IPv6 addresses
2333 Changes in 1.8.7 (since 1.8.6)
2335 * New modules (see the manual for details)
2337 ** `(srfi srfi-98)', an interface to access environment variables
2341 ** Fix compilation with `--disable-deprecated'
2342 ** Fix %fast-slot-ref/set!, to avoid possible segmentation fault
2343 ** Fix MinGW build problem caused by HAVE_STRUCT_TIMESPEC confusion
2344 ** Fix build problem when scm_t_timespec is different from struct timespec
2345 ** Fix build when compiled with -Wundef -Werror
2346 ** More build fixes for `alphaev56-dec-osf5.1b' (Tru64)
2347 ** Build fixes for `powerpc-ibm-aix5.3.0.0' (AIX 5.3)
2348 ** With GCC, always compile with `-mieee' on `alpha*' and `sh*'
2349 ** Better diagnose broken `(strftime "%z" ...)' in `time.test' (bug #24130)
2350 ** Fix parsing of SRFI-88/postfix keywords longer than 128 characters
2351 ** Fix reading of complex numbers where both parts are inexact decimals
2353 ** Allow @ macro to work with (ice-9 syncase)
2355 Previously, use of the @ macro in a module whose code is being
2356 transformed by (ice-9 syncase) would cause an "Invalid syntax" error.
2357 Now it works as you would expect (giving the value of the specified
2360 ** Have `scm_take_locale_symbol ()' return an interned symbol (bug #25865)
2363 Changes in 1.8.6 (since 1.8.5)
2365 * New features (see the manual for details)
2367 ** New convenience function `scm_c_symbol_length ()'
2369 ** Single stepping through code from Emacs
2371 When you use GDS to evaluate Scheme code from Emacs, you can now use
2372 `C-u' to indicate that you want to single step through that code. See
2373 `Evaluating Scheme Code' in the manual for more details.
2375 ** New "guile(1)" man page!
2377 * Changes to the distribution
2379 ** Automake's `AM_MAINTAINER_MODE' is no longer used
2381 Thus, the `--enable-maintainer-mode' configure option is no longer
2382 available: Guile is now always configured in "maintainer mode".
2384 ** `ChangeLog' files are no longer updated
2386 Instead, changes are detailed in the version control system's logs. See
2387 the top-level `ChangeLog' files for details.
2392 ** `symbol->string' now returns a read-only string, as per R5RS
2393 ** Fix incorrect handling of the FLAGS argument of `fold-matches'
2394 ** `guile-config link' now prints `-L$libdir' before `-lguile'
2395 ** Fix memory corruption involving GOOPS' `class-redefinition'
2396 ** Fix possible deadlock in `mutex-lock'
2397 ** Fix build issue on Tru64 and ia64-hp-hpux11.23 (`SCM_UNPACK' macro)
2398 ** Fix build issue on mips, mipsel, powerpc and ia64 (stack direction)
2399 ** Fix build issue on hppa2.0w-hp-hpux11.11 (`dirent64' and `readdir64_r')
2400 ** Fix build issue on i386-unknown-freebsd7.0 ("break strict-aliasing rules")
2401 ** Fix misleading output from `(help rationalize)'
2402 ** Fix build failure on Debian hppa architecture (bad stack growth detection)
2403 ** Fix `gcd' when called with a single, negative argument.
2404 ** Fix `Stack overflow' errors seen when building on some platforms
2405 ** Fix bug when `scm_with_guile ()' was called several times from the
2407 ** The handler of SRFI-34 `with-exception-handler' is now invoked in the
2408 dynamic environment of the call to `raise'
2409 ** Fix potential deadlock in `make-struct'
2410 ** Fix compilation problem with libltdl from Libtool 2.2.x
2411 ** Fix sloppy bound checking in `string-{ref,set!}' with the empty string
2414 Changes in 1.8.5 (since 1.8.4)
2416 * Infrastructure changes
2418 ** Guile repository switched from CVS to Git
2420 The new repository can be accessed using
2421 "git-clone git://git.sv.gnu.org/guile.git", or can be browsed on-line at
2422 http://git.sv.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=guile.git . See `README' for details.
2424 ** Add support for `pkg-config'
2426 See "Autoconf Support" in the manual for details.
2428 * New modules (see the manual for details)
2432 * New features (see the manual for details)
2434 ** New `postfix' read option, for SRFI-88 keyword syntax
2435 ** Some I/O primitives have been inlined, which improves I/O performance
2436 ** New object-based traps infrastructure
2438 This is a GOOPS-based infrastructure that builds on Guile's low-level
2439 evaluator trap calls and facilitates the development of debugging
2440 features like single-stepping, breakpoints, tracing and profiling.
2441 See the `Traps' node of the manual for details.
2443 ** New support for working on Guile code from within Emacs
2445 Guile now incorporates the `GDS' library (previously distributed
2446 separately) for working on Guile code from within Emacs. See the
2447 `Using Guile In Emacs' node of the manual for details.
2451 ** `scm_add_slot ()' no longer segfaults (fixes bug #22369)
2452 ** Fixed `(ice-9 match)' for patterns like `((_ ...) ...)'
2454 Previously, expressions like `(match '((foo) (bar)) (((_ ...) ...) #t))'
2455 would trigger an unbound variable error for `match:andmap'.
2457 ** `(oop goops describe)' now properly provides the `describe' feature
2458 ** Fixed `args-fold' from `(srfi srfi-37)'
2460 Previously, parsing short option names of argument-less options would
2461 lead to a stack overflow.
2463 ** `(srfi srfi-35)' is now visible through `cond-expand'
2464 ** Fixed type-checking for the second argument of `eval'
2465 ** Fixed type-checking for SRFI-1 `partition'
2466 ** Fixed `struct-ref' and `struct-set!' on "light structs"
2467 ** Honor struct field access rights in GOOPS
2468 ** Changed the storage strategy of source properties, which fixes a deadlock
2469 ** Allow compilation of Guile-using programs in C99 mode with GCC 4.3 and later
2470 ** Fixed build issue for GNU/Linux on IA64
2471 ** Fixed build issues on NetBSD 1.6
2472 ** Fixed build issue on Solaris 2.10 x86_64
2473 ** Fixed build issue with DEC/Compaq/HP's compiler
2474 ** Fixed `scm_from_complex_double' build issue on FreeBSD
2475 ** Fixed `alloca' build issue on FreeBSD 6
2476 ** Removed use of non-portable makefile constructs
2477 ** Fixed shadowing of libc's <random.h> on Tru64, which broke compilation
2478 ** Make sure all tests honor `$TMPDIR'
2481 Changes in 1.8.4 (since 1.8.3)
2485 ** CR (ASCII 0x0d) is (again) recognized as a token delimiter by the reader
2486 ** Fixed a segmentation fault which occurred when displaying the
2487 backtrace of a stack with a promise object (made by `delay') in it.
2488 ** Make `accept' leave guile mode while blocking
2489 ** `scm_c_read ()' and `scm_c_write ()' now type-check their port argument
2490 ** Fixed a build problem on AIX (use of func_data identifier)
2491 ** Fixed a segmentation fault which occurred when hashx-ref or hashx-set! was
2492 called with an associator proc that returns neither a pair nor #f.
2493 ** Secondary threads now always return a valid module for (current-module).
2494 ** Avoid MacOS build problems caused by incorrect combination of "64"
2495 system and library calls.
2496 ** `guile-snarf' now honors `$TMPDIR'
2497 ** `guile-config compile' now reports CPPFLAGS used at compile-time
2498 ** Fixed build with Sun Studio (Solaris 9)
2499 ** Fixed wrong-type-arg errors when creating zero length SRFI-4
2500 uniform vectors on AIX.
2501 ** Fixed a deadlock that occurs upon GC with multiple threads.
2502 ** Fixed compile problem with GCC on Solaris and AIX (use of _Complex_I)
2503 ** Fixed autotool-derived build problems on AIX 6.1.
2504 ** Fixed NetBSD/alpha support
2505 ** Fixed MacOS build problem caused by use of rl_get_keymap(_name)
2507 * New modules (see the manual for details)
2511 * Documentation fixes and improvements
2513 ** Removed premature breakpoint documentation
2515 The features described are not available in the series of 1.8.x
2516 releases, so the documentation was misleading and has been removed.
2518 ** More about Guile's default *random-state* variable
2520 ** GOOPS: more about how to use `next-method'
2522 * Changes to the distribution
2524 ** Corrected a few files that referred incorrectly to the old GPL + special exception licence
2526 In fact Guile since 1.8.0 has been licensed with the GNU Lesser
2527 General Public License, and the few incorrect files have now been
2528 fixed to agree with the rest of the Guile distribution.
2530 ** Removed unnecessary extra copies of COPYING*
2532 The distribution now contains a single COPYING.LESSER at its top level.
2535 Changes in 1.8.3 (since 1.8.2)
2537 * New modules (see the manual for details)
2544 ** The `(ice-9 slib)' module now works as expected
2545 ** Expressions like "(set! 'x #t)" no longer yield a crash
2546 ** Warnings about duplicate bindings now go to stderr
2547 ** A memory leak in `make-socket-address' was fixed
2548 ** Alignment issues (e.g., on SPARC) in network routines were fixed
2549 ** A threading issue that showed up at least on NetBSD was fixed
2550 ** Build problems on Solaris and IRIX fixed
2552 * Implementation improvements
2554 ** The reader is now faster, which reduces startup time
2555 ** Procedures returned by `record-accessor' and `record-modifier' are faster
2558 Changes in 1.8.2 (since 1.8.1):
2560 * New procedures (see the manual for details)
2562 ** set-program-arguments
2565 * Incompatible changes
2567 ** The body of a top-level `define' no longer sees the binding being created
2569 In a top-level `define', the binding being created is no longer visible
2570 from the `define' body. This breaks code like
2571 "(define foo (begin (set! foo 1) (+ foo 1)))", where `foo' is now
2572 unbound in the body. However, such code was not R5RS-compliant anyway,
2577 ** Fractions were not `equal?' if stored in unreduced form.
2578 (A subtle problem, since printing a value reduced it, making it work.)
2579 ** srfi-60 `copy-bit' failed on 64-bit systems
2580 ** "guile --use-srfi" option at the REPL can replace core functions
2581 (Programs run with that option were ok, but in the interactive REPL
2582 the core bindings got priority, preventing SRFI replacements or
2584 ** `regexp-exec' doesn't abort() on #\nul in the input or bad flags arg
2585 ** `kill' on mingw throws an error for a PID other than oneself
2586 ** Procedure names are attached to procedure-with-setters
2587 ** Array read syntax works with negative lower bound
2588 ** `array-in-bounds?' fix if an array has different lower bounds on each index
2589 ** `*' returns exact 0 for "(* inexact 0)"
2590 This follows what it always did for "(* 0 inexact)".
2591 ** SRFI-19: Value returned by `(current-time time-process)' was incorrect
2592 ** SRFI-19: `date->julian-day' did not account for timezone offset
2593 ** `ttyname' no longer crashes when passed a non-tty argument
2594 ** `inet-ntop' no longer crashes on SPARC when passed an `AF_INET' address
2595 ** Small memory leaks have been fixed in `make-fluid' and `add-history'
2596 ** GOOPS: Fixed a bug in `method-more-specific?'
2597 ** Build problems on Solaris fixed
2598 ** Build problems on HP-UX IA64 fixed
2599 ** Build problems on MinGW fixed
2602 Changes in 1.8.1 (since 1.8.0):
2604 * LFS functions are now used to access 64-bit files on 32-bit systems.
2606 * New procedures (see the manual for details)
2608 ** primitive-_exit - [Scheme] the-root-module
2609 ** scm_primitive__exit - [C]
2610 ** make-completion-function - [Scheme] (ice-9 readline)
2611 ** scm_c_locale_stringn_to_number - [C]
2612 ** scm_srfi1_append_reverse [C]
2613 ** scm_srfi1_append_reverse_x [C]
2621 ** Build problems have been fixed on MacOS, SunOS, and QNX.
2623 ** `strftime' fix sign of %z timezone offset.
2625 ** A one-dimensional array can now be 'equal?' to a vector.
2627 ** Structures, records, and SRFI-9 records can now be compared with `equal?'.
2629 ** SRFI-14 standard char sets are recomputed upon a successful `setlocale'.
2631 ** `record-accessor' and `record-modifier' now have strict type checks.
2633 Record accessor and modifier procedures now throw an error if the
2634 record type of the record they're given is not the type expected.
2635 (Previously accessors returned #f and modifiers silently did nothing).
2637 ** It is now OK to use both autoload and use-modules on a given module.
2639 ** `apply' checks the number of arguments more carefully on "0 or 1" funcs.
2641 Previously there was no checking on primatives like make-vector that
2642 accept "one or two" arguments. Now there is.
2644 ** The srfi-1 assoc function now calls its equality predicate properly.
2646 Previously srfi-1 assoc would call the equality predicate with the key
2647 last. According to the SRFI, the key should be first.
2649 ** A bug in n-par-for-each and n-for-each-par-map has been fixed.
2651 ** The array-set! procedure no longer segfaults when given a bit vector.
2653 ** Bugs in make-shared-array have been fixed.
2655 ** string<? and friends now follow char<? etc order on 8-bit chars.
2657 ** The format procedure now handles inf and nan values for ~f correctly.
2659 ** exact->inexact should no longer overflow when given certain large fractions.
2661 ** srfi-9 accessor and modifier procedures now have strict record type checks.
2663 This matches the srfi-9 specification.
2665 ** (ice-9 ftw) procedures won't ignore different files with same inode number.
2667 Previously the (ice-9 ftw) procedures would ignore any file that had
2668 the same inode number as a file they had already seen, even if that
2669 file was on a different device.
2672 Changes in 1.8.0 (changes since the 1.6.x series):
2674 * Changes to the distribution
2676 ** Guile is now licensed with the GNU Lesser General Public License.
2678 ** The manual is now licensed with the GNU Free Documentation License.
2680 ** Guile now requires GNU MP (http://swox.com/gmp).
2682 Guile now uses the GNU MP library for arbitrary precision arithmetic.
2684 ** Guile now has separate private and public configuration headers.
2686 That is, things like HAVE_STRING_H no longer leak from Guile's
2689 ** Guile now provides and uses an "effective" version number.
2691 Guile now provides scm_effective_version and effective-version
2692 functions which return the "effective" version number. This is just
2693 the normal full version string without the final micro-version number,
2694 so the current effective-version is "1.8". The effective version
2695 should remain unchanged during a stable series, and should be used for
2696 items like the versioned share directory name
2697 i.e. /usr/share/guile/1.8.
2699 Providing an unchanging version number during a stable release for
2700 things like the versioned share directory can be particularly
2701 important for Guile "add-on" packages, since it provides a directory
2702 that they can install to that won't be changed out from under them
2703 with each micro release during a stable series.
2705 ** Thread implementation has changed.
2707 When you configure "--with-threads=null", you will get the usual
2708 threading API (call-with-new-thread, make-mutex, etc), but you can't
2709 actually create new threads. Also, "--with-threads=no" is now
2710 equivalent to "--with-threads=null". This means that the thread API
2711 is always present, although you might not be able to create new
2714 When you configure "--with-threads=pthreads" or "--with-threads=yes",
2715 you will get threads that are implemented with the portable POSIX
2716 threads. These threads can run concurrently (unlike the previous
2717 "coop" thread implementation), but need to cooperate for things like
2720 The default is "pthreads", unless your platform doesn't have pthreads,
2721 in which case "null" threads are used.
2723 See the manual for details, nodes "Initialization", "Multi-Threading",
2724 "Blocking", and others.
2726 ** There is the new notion of 'discouraged' features.
2728 This is a milder form of deprecation.
2730 Things that are discouraged should not be used in new code, but it is
2731 OK to leave them in old code for now. When a discouraged feature is
2732 used, no warning message is printed like there is for 'deprecated'
2733 features. Also, things that are merely discouraged are nevertheless
2734 implemented efficiently, while deprecated features can be very slow.
2736 You can omit discouraged features from libguile by configuring it with
2737 the '--disable-discouraged' option.
2739 ** Deprecation warnings can be controlled at run-time.
2741 (debug-enable 'warn-deprecated) switches them on and (debug-disable
2742 'warn-deprecated) switches them off.
2744 ** Support for SRFI 61, extended cond syntax for multiple values has
2747 This SRFI is always available.
2749 ** Support for require-extension, SRFI-55, has been added.
2751 The SRFI-55 special form `require-extension' has been added. It is
2752 available at startup, and provides a portable way to load Scheme
2753 extensions. SRFI-55 only requires support for one type of extension,
2754 "srfi"; so a set of SRFIs may be loaded via (require-extension (srfi 1
2757 ** New module (srfi srfi-26) provides support for `cut' and `cute'.
2759 The (srfi srfi-26) module is an implementation of SRFI-26 which
2760 provides the `cut' and `cute' syntax. These may be used to specialize
2761 parameters without currying.
2763 ** New module (srfi srfi-31)
2765 This is an implementation of SRFI-31 which provides a special form
2766 `rec' for recursive evaluation.
2768 ** The modules (srfi srfi-13), (srfi srfi-14) and (srfi srfi-4) have
2769 been merged with the core, making their functionality always
2772 The modules are still available, tho, and you could use them together
2773 with a renaming import, for example.
2775 ** Guile no longer includes its own version of libltdl.
2777 The official version is good enough now.
2779 ** The --enable-htmldoc option has been removed from 'configure'.
2781 Support for translating the documentation into HTML is now always
2782 provided. Use 'make html'.
2784 ** New module (ice-9 serialize):
2786 (serialize FORM1 ...) and (parallelize FORM1 ...) are useful when you
2787 don't trust the thread safety of most of your program, but where you
2788 have some section(s) of code which you consider can run in parallel to
2789 other sections. See ice-9/serialize.scm for more information.
2791 ** The configure option '--disable-arrays' has been removed.
2793 Support for arrays and uniform numeric arrays is now always included
2796 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
2798 ** New command line option `-L'.
2800 This option adds a directory to the front of the load path.
2802 ** New command line option `--no-debug'.
2804 Specifying `--no-debug' on the command line will keep the debugging
2805 evaluator turned off, even for interactive sessions.
2807 ** User-init file ~/.guile is now loaded with the debugging evaluator.
2809 Previously, the normal evaluator would have been used. Using the
2810 debugging evaluator gives better error messages.
2812 ** The '-e' option now 'read's its argument.
2814 This is to allow the new '(@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)' construct to
2815 be used with '-e'. For example, you can now write a script like
2818 exec guile -e '(@ (demo) main)' -s "$0" "$@"
2821 (define-module (demo)
2825 (format #t "Demo: ~a~%" args))
2828 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
2830 ** Guardians have changed back to their original semantics
2832 Guardians now behave like described in the paper by Dybvig et al. In
2833 particular, they no longer make guarantees about the order in which
2834 they return objects, and they can no longer be greedy.
2836 They no longer drop cyclic data structures.
2838 The C function scm_make_guardian has been changed incompatibly and no
2839 longer takes the 'greedy_p' argument.
2841 ** New function hashx-remove!
2843 This function completes the set of 'hashx' functions.
2845 ** The concept of dynamic roots has been factored into continuation
2846 barriers and dynamic states.
2848 Each thread has a current dynamic state that carries the values of the
2849 fluids. You can create and copy dynamic states and use them as the
2850 second argument for 'eval'. See "Fluids and Dynamic States" in the
2853 To restrict the influence that captured continuations can have on the
2854 control flow, you can errect continuation barriers. See "Continuation
2855 Barriers" in the manual.
2857 The function call-with-dynamic-root now essentially temporarily
2858 installs a new dynamic state and errects a continuation barrier.
2860 ** The default load path no longer includes "." at the end.
2862 Automatically loading modules from the current directory should not
2863 happen by default. If you want to allow it in a more controlled
2864 manner, set the environment variable GUILE_LOAD_PATH or the Scheme
2865 variable %load-path.
2867 ** The uniform vector and array support has been overhauled.
2869 It now complies with SRFI-4 and the weird prototype based uniform
2870 array creation has been deprecated. See the manual for more details.
2872 Some non-compatible changes have been made:
2873 - characters can no longer be stored into byte arrays.
2874 - strings and bit vectors are no longer considered to be uniform numeric
2876 - array-rank throws an error for non-arrays instead of returning zero.
2877 - array-ref does no longer accept non-arrays when no indices are given.
2879 There is the new notion of 'generalized vectors' and corresponding
2880 procedures like 'generalized-vector-ref'. Generalized vectors include
2881 strings, bitvectors, ordinary vectors, and uniform numeric vectors.
2883 Arrays use generalized vectors as their storage, so that you still
2884 have arrays of characters, bits, etc. However, uniform-array-read!
2885 and uniform-array-write can no longer read/write strings and
2888 ** There is now support for copy-on-write substrings, mutation-sharing
2889 substrings and read-only strings.
2891 Three new procedures are related to this: substring/shared,
2892 substring/copy, and substring/read-only. See the manual for more
2895 ** Backtraces will now highlight the value that caused the error.
2897 By default, these values are enclosed in "{...}", such as in this
2906 <unnamed port>:1:1: In procedure car in expression (car (quote a)):
2907 <unnamed port>:1:1: Wrong type (expecting pair): a
2908 ABORT: (wrong-type-arg)
2910 The prefix and suffix used for highlighting can be set via the two new
2911 printer options 'highlight-prefix' and 'highlight-suffix'. For
2912 example, putting this into ~/.guile will output the bad value in bold
2913 on an ANSI terminal:
2915 (print-set! highlight-prefix "\x1b[1m")
2916 (print-set! highlight-suffix "\x1b[22m")
2919 ** 'gettext' support for internationalization has been added.
2921 See the manual for details.
2923 ** New syntax '@' and '@@':
2925 You can now directly refer to variables exported from a module by
2928 (@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME)
2930 For example (@ (ice-9 pretty-print) pretty-print) will directly access
2931 the pretty-print variable exported from the (ice-9 pretty-print)
2932 module. You don't need to 'use' that module first. You can also use
2933 '@' as a target of 'set!', as in (set! (@ mod var) val).
2935 The related syntax (@@ MODULE-NAME VARIABLE-NAME) works just like '@',
2936 but it can also access variables that have not been exported. It is
2937 intended only for kluges and temporary fixes and for debugging, not
2940 ** Keyword syntax has been made more disciplined.
2942 Previously, the name of a keyword was read as a 'token' but printed as
2943 a symbol. Now, it is read as a general Scheme datum which must be a
2954 ERROR: In expression (a b c):
2958 ERROR: Unbound variable: foo
2963 ERROR: Wrong type (expecting symbol): 12
2967 ERROR: Wrong type (expecting symbol): (a b c)
2971 ** The printing of symbols that might look like keywords can be
2974 The new printer option 'quote-keywordish-symbols' controls how symbols
2975 are printed that have a colon as their first or last character. The
2976 default now is to only quote a symbol with #{...}# when the read
2977 option 'keywords' is not '#f'. Thus:
2979 guile> (define foo (string->symbol ":foo"))
2980 guile> (read-set! keywords #f)
2983 guile> (read-set! keywords 'prefix)
2986 guile> (print-set! quote-keywordish-symbols #f)
2990 ** 'while' now provides 'break' and 'continue'
2992 break and continue were previously bound in a while loop, but not
2993 documented, and continue didn't quite work properly. The undocumented
2994 parameter to break which gave a return value for the while has been
2997 ** 'call-with-current-continuation' is now also available under the name
3000 ** The module system now checks for duplicate bindings.
3002 The module system now can check for name conflicts among imported
3005 The behavior can be controlled by specifying one or more 'duplicates'
3006 handlers. For example, to make Guile return an error for every name
3009 (define-module (foo)
3014 The new default behavior of the module system when a name collision
3015 has been detected is to
3017 1. Give priority to bindings marked as a replacement.
3018 2. Issue a warning (different warning if overriding core binding).
3019 3. Give priority to the last encountered binding (this corresponds to
3022 If you want the old behavior back without replacements or warnings you
3025 (default-duplicate-binding-handler 'last)
3027 to your .guile init file.
3029 ** New define-module option: :replace
3031 :replace works as :export, but, in addition, marks the binding as a
3034 A typical example is `format' in (ice-9 format) which is a replacement
3035 for the core binding `format'.
3037 ** Adding prefixes to imported bindings in the module system
3039 There is now a new :use-module option :prefix. It can be used to add
3040 a prefix to all imported bindings.
3042 (define-module (foo)
3043 :use-module ((bar) :prefix bar:))
3045 will import all bindings exported from bar, but rename them by adding
3048 ** Conflicting generic functions can be automatically merged.
3050 When two imported bindings conflict and they are both generic
3051 functions, the two functions can now be merged automatically. This is
3052 activated with the 'duplicates' handler 'merge-generics'.
3054 ** New function: effective-version
3056 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
3057 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
3058 to the distribution" above.
3060 ** New threading functions: parallel, letpar, par-map, and friends
3062 These are convenient ways to run calculations in parallel in new
3063 threads. See "Parallel forms" in the manual for details.
3065 ** New function 'try-mutex'.
3067 This function will attempt to lock a mutex but will return immediately
3068 instead of blocking and indicate failure.
3070 ** Waiting on a condition variable can have a timeout.
3072 The function 'wait-condition-variable' now takes a third, optional
3073 argument that specifies the point in time where the waiting should be
3076 ** New function 'broadcast-condition-variable'.
3078 ** New functions 'all-threads' and 'current-thread'.
3080 ** Signals and system asyncs work better with threads.
3082 The function 'sigaction' now takes a fourth, optional, argument that
3083 specifies the thread that the handler should run in. When the
3084 argument is omitted, the handler will run in the thread that called
3087 Likewise, 'system-async-mark' takes a second, optional, argument that
3088 specifies the thread that the async should run in. When it is
3089 omitted, the async will run in the thread that called
3090 'system-async-mark'.
3092 C code can use the new functions scm_sigaction_for_thread and
3093 scm_system_async_mark_for_thread to pass the new thread argument.
3095 When a thread blocks on a mutex, a condition variable or is waiting
3096 for IO to be possible, it will still execute system asyncs. This can
3097 be used to interrupt such a thread by making it execute a 'throw', for
3100 ** The function 'system-async' is deprecated.
3102 You can now pass any zero-argument procedure to 'system-async-mark'.
3103 The function 'system-async' will just return its argument unchanged
3106 ** New functions 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' and
3107 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
3109 The expression (call-with-blocked-asyncs PROC) will call PROC and will
3110 block execution of system asyncs for the current thread by one level
3111 while PROC runs. Likewise, call-with-unblocked-asyncs will call a
3112 procedure and will unblock the execution of system asyncs by one
3113 level for the current thread.
3115 Only system asyncs are affected by these functions.
3117 ** The functions 'mask-signals' and 'unmask-signals' are deprecated.
3119 Use 'call-with-blocked-asyncs' or 'call-with-unblocked-asyncs'
3120 instead. Those functions are easier to use correctly and can be
3123 ** New function 'unsetenv'.
3125 ** New macro 'define-syntax-public'.
3127 It works like 'define-syntax' and also exports the defined macro (but
3130 ** There is support for Infinity and NaNs.
3132 Following PLT Scheme, Guile can now work with infinite numbers, and
3135 There is new syntax for numbers: "+inf.0" (infinity), "-inf.0"
3136 (negative infinity), "+nan.0" (not-a-number), and "-nan.0" (same as
3137 "+nan.0"). These numbers are inexact and have no exact counterpart.
3139 Dividing by an inexact zero returns +inf.0 or -inf.0, depending on the
3140 sign of the dividend. The infinities are integers, and they answer #t
3141 for both 'even?' and 'odd?'. The +nan.0 value is not an integer and is
3142 not '=' to itself, but '+nan.0' is 'eqv?' to itself.
3153 ERROR: Numerical overflow
3155 Two new predicates 'inf?' and 'nan?' can be used to test for the
3158 ** Inexact zero can have a sign.
3160 Guile can now distinguish between plus and minus inexact zero, if your
3161 platform supports this, too. The two zeros are equal according to
3162 '=', but not according to 'eqv?'. For example
3173 ** Guile now has exact rationals.
3175 Guile can now represent fractions such as 1/3 exactly. Computing with
3176 them is also done exactly, of course:
3181 ** 'floor', 'ceiling', 'round' and 'truncate' now return exact numbers
3182 for exact arguments.
3184 For example: (floor 2) now returns an exact 2 where in the past it
3185 returned an inexact 2.0. Likewise, (floor 5/4) returns an exact 1.
3187 ** inexact->exact no longer returns only integers.
3189 Without exact rationals, the closest exact number was always an
3190 integer, but now inexact->exact returns the fraction that is exactly
3191 equal to a floating point number. For example:
3193 (inexact->exact 1.234)
3194 => 694680242521899/562949953421312
3196 When you want the old behavior, use 'round' explicitly:
3198 (inexact->exact (round 1.234))
3201 ** New function 'rationalize'.
3203 This function finds a simple fraction that is close to a given real
3204 number. For example (and compare with inexact->exact above):
3206 (rationalize (inexact->exact 1.234) 1/2000)
3209 Note that, as required by R5RS, rationalize returns only then an exact
3210 result when both its arguments are exact.
3212 ** 'odd?' and 'even?' work also for inexact integers.
3214 Previously, (odd? 1.0) would signal an error since only exact integers
3215 were recognized as integers. Now (odd? 1.0) returns #t, (odd? 2.0)
3216 returns #f and (odd? 1.5) signals an error.
3218 ** Guile now has uninterned symbols.
3220 The new function 'make-symbol' will return an uninterned symbol. This
3221 is a symbol that is unique and is guaranteed to remain unique.
3222 However, uninterned symbols can not yet be read back in.
3224 Use the new function 'symbol-interned?' to check whether a symbol is
3227 ** pretty-print has more options.
3229 The function pretty-print from the (ice-9 pretty-print) module can now
3230 also be invoked with keyword arguments that control things like
3231 maximum output width. See the manual for details.
3233 ** Variables have no longer a special behavior for `equal?'.
3235 Previously, comparing two variables with `equal?' would recursivly
3236 compare their values. This is no longer done. Variables are now only
3237 `equal?' if they are `eq?'.
3239 ** `(begin)' is now valid.
3241 You can now use an empty `begin' form. It will yield #<unspecified>
3242 when evaluated and simply be ignored in a definition context.
3244 ** Deprecated: procedure->macro
3246 Change your code to use 'define-macro' or r5rs macros. Also, be aware
3247 that macro expansion will not be done during evaluation, but prior to
3250 ** Soft ports now allow a `char-ready?' procedure
3252 The vector argument to `make-soft-port' can now have a length of
3253 either 5 or 6. (Previously the length had to be 5.) The optional 6th
3254 element is interpreted as an `input-waiting' thunk -- i.e. a thunk
3255 that returns the number of characters that can be read immediately
3256 without the soft port blocking.
3258 ** Deprecated: undefine
3260 There is no replacement for undefine.
3262 ** The functions make-keyword-from-dash-symbol and keyword-dash-symbol
3263 have been discouraged.
3265 They are relics from a time where a keyword like #:foo was used
3266 directly as a Tcl option "-foo" and thus keywords were internally
3267 stored as a symbol with a starting dash. We now store a symbol
3270 Use symbol->keyword and keyword->symbol instead.
3272 ** The `cheap' debug option is now obsolete
3274 Evaluator trap calls are now unconditionally "cheap" - in other words,
3275 they pass a debug object to the trap handler rather than a full
3276 continuation. The trap handler code can capture a full continuation
3277 by using `call-with-current-continuation' in the usual way, if it so
3280 The `cheap' option is retained for now so as not to break existing
3281 code which gets or sets it, but setting it now has no effect. It will
3282 be removed in the next major Guile release.
3284 ** Evaluator trap calls now support `tweaking'
3286 `Tweaking' means that the trap handler code can modify the Scheme
3287 expression that is about to be evaluated (in the case of an
3288 enter-frame trap) or the value that is being returned (in the case of
3289 an exit-frame trap). The trap handler code indicates that it wants to
3290 do this by returning a pair whose car is the symbol 'instead and whose
3291 cdr is the modified expression or return value.
3293 * Changes to the C interface
3295 ** The functions scm_hash_fn_remove_x and scm_hashx_remove_x no longer
3296 take a 'delete' function argument.
3298 This argument makes no sense since the delete function is used to
3299 remove a pair from an alist, and this must not be configurable.
3301 This is an incompatible change.
3303 ** The GH interface is now subject to the deprecation mechanism
3305 The GH interface has been deprecated for quite some time but now it is
3306 actually removed from Guile when it is configured with
3307 --disable-deprecated.
3309 See the manual "Transitioning away from GH" for more information.
3311 ** A new family of functions for converting between C values and
3312 Scheme values has been added.
3314 These functions follow a common naming scheme and are designed to be
3315 easier to use, thread-safe and more future-proof than the older
3318 - int scm_is_* (...)
3320 These are predicates that return a C boolean: 1 or 0. Instead of
3321 SCM_NFALSEP, you can now use scm_is_true, for example.
3323 - <type> scm_to_<type> (SCM val, ...)
3325 These are functions that convert a Scheme value into an appropriate
3326 C value. For example, you can use scm_to_int to safely convert from
3329 - SCM scm_from_<type> (<type> val, ...)
3331 These functions convert from a C type to a SCM value; for example,
3332 scm_from_int for ints.
3334 There is a huge number of these functions, for numbers, strings,
3335 symbols, vectors, etc. They are documented in the reference manual in
3336 the API section together with the types that they apply to.
3338 ** New functions for dealing with complex numbers in C have been added.
3340 The new functions are scm_c_make_rectangular, scm_c_make_polar,
3341 scm_c_real_part, scm_c_imag_part, scm_c_magnitude and scm_c_angle.
3342 They work like scm_make_rectangular etc but take or return doubles
3345 ** The function scm_make_complex has been discouraged.
3347 Use scm_c_make_rectangular instead.
3349 ** The INUM macros have been deprecated.
3351 A lot of code uses these macros to do general integer conversions,
3352 although the macros only work correctly with fixnums. Use the
3353 following alternatives.
3355 SCM_INUMP -> scm_is_integer or similar
3356 SCM_NINUMP -> !scm_is_integer or similar
3357 SCM_MAKINUM -> scm_from_int or similar
3358 SCM_INUM -> scm_to_int or similar
3360 SCM_VALIDATE_INUM_* -> Do not use these; scm_to_int, etc. will
3361 do the validating for you.
3363 ** The scm_num2<type> and scm_<type>2num functions and scm_make_real
3364 have been discouraged.
3366 Use the newer scm_to_<type> and scm_from_<type> functions instead for
3367 new code. The functions have been discouraged since they don't fit
3370 ** The 'boolean' macros SCM_FALSEP etc have been discouraged.
3372 They have strange names, especially SCM_NFALSEP, and SCM_BOOLP
3373 evaluates its argument twice. Use scm_is_true, etc. instead for new
3376 ** The macro SCM_EQ_P has been discouraged.
3378 Use scm_is_eq for new code, which fits better into the naming
3381 ** The macros SCM_CONSP, SCM_NCONSP, SCM_NULLP, and SCM_NNULLP have
3384 Use the function scm_is_pair or scm_is_null instead.
3386 ** The functions scm_round and scm_truncate have been deprecated and
3387 are now available as scm_c_round and scm_c_truncate, respectively.
3389 These functions occupy the names that scm_round_number and
3390 scm_truncate_number should have.
3392 ** The functions scm_c_string2str, scm_c_substring2str, and
3393 scm_c_symbol2str have been deprecated.
3395 Use scm_to_locale_stringbuf or similar instead, maybe together with
3398 ** New functions scm_c_make_string, scm_c_string_length,
3399 scm_c_string_ref, scm_c_string_set_x, scm_c_substring,
3400 scm_c_substring_shared, scm_c_substring_copy.
3402 These are like scm_make_string, scm_length, etc. but are slightly
3403 easier to use from C.
3405 ** The macros SCM_STRINGP, SCM_STRING_CHARS, SCM_STRING_LENGTH,
3406 SCM_SYMBOL_CHARS, and SCM_SYMBOL_LENGTH have been deprecated.
3408 They export too many assumptions about the implementation of strings
3409 and symbols that are no longer true in the presence of
3410 mutation-sharing substrings and when Guile switches to some form of
3413 When working with strings, it is often best to use the normal string
3414 functions provided by Guile, such as scm_c_string_ref,
3415 scm_c_string_set_x, scm_string_append, etc. Be sure to look in the
3416 manual since many more such functions are now provided than
3419 When you want to convert a SCM string to a C string, use the
3420 scm_to_locale_string function or similar instead. For symbols, use
3421 scm_symbol_to_string and then work with that string. Because of the
3422 new string representation, scm_symbol_to_string does not need to copy
3423 and is thus quite efficient.
3425 ** Some string, symbol and keyword functions have been discouraged.
3427 They don't fit into the uniform naming scheme and are not explicit
3428 about the character encoding.
3430 Replace according to the following table:
3432 scm_allocate_string -> scm_c_make_string
3433 scm_take_str -> scm_take_locale_stringn
3434 scm_take0str -> scm_take_locale_string
3435 scm_mem2string -> scm_from_locale_stringn
3436 scm_str2string -> scm_from_locale_string
3437 scm_makfrom0str -> scm_from_locale_string
3438 scm_mem2symbol -> scm_from_locale_symboln
3439 scm_mem2uninterned_symbol -> scm_from_locale_stringn + scm_make_symbol
3440 scm_str2symbol -> scm_from_locale_symbol
3442 SCM_SYMBOL_HASH -> scm_hashq
3443 SCM_SYMBOL_INTERNED_P -> scm_symbol_interned_p
3445 scm_c_make_keyword -> scm_from_locale_keyword
3447 ** The functions scm_keyword_to_symbol and sym_symbol_to_keyword are
3448 now also available to C code.
3450 ** SCM_KEYWORDP and SCM_KEYWORDSYM have been deprecated.
3452 Use scm_is_keyword and scm_keyword_to_symbol instead, but note that
3453 the latter returns the true name of the keyword, not the 'dash name',
3454 as SCM_KEYWORDSYM used to do.
3456 ** A new way to access arrays in a thread-safe and efficient way has
3459 See the manual, node "Accessing Arrays From C".
3461 ** The old uniform vector and bitvector implementations have been
3462 unceremoniously removed.
3464 This implementation exposed the details of the tagging system of
3465 Guile. Use the new C API explained in the manual in node "Uniform
3466 Numeric Vectors" and "Bit Vectors", respectively.
3468 The following macros are gone: SCM_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_BASE,
3469 SCM_UVECTOR_MAXLENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_MAKE_UVECTOR_TAG,
3470 SCM_SET_UVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_BITVECTOR_P, SCM_BITVECTOR_BASE,
3471 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_BASE, SCM_BITVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH,
3472 SCM_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_MAKE_BITVECTOR_TAG,
3473 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_BITVEC_REF, SCM_BITVEC_SET,
3476 ** The macros dealing with vectors have been deprecated.
3478 Use the new functions scm_is_vector, scm_vector_elements,
3479 scm_vector_writable_elements, etc, or scm_is_simple_vector,
3480 SCM_SIMPLE_VECTOR_REF, SCM_SIMPLE_VECTOR_SET, etc instead. See the
3481 manual for more details.
3483 Deprecated are SCM_VECTORP, SCM_VELTS, SCM_VECTOR_MAX_LENGTH,
3484 SCM_VECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_VECTOR_REF, SCM_VECTOR_SET, SCM_WRITABLE_VELTS.
3486 The following macros have been removed: SCM_VECTOR_BASE,
3487 SCM_SET_VECTOR_BASE, SCM_MAKE_VECTOR_TAG, SCM_SET_VECTOR_LENGTH,
3488 SCM_VELTS_AS_STACKITEMS, SCM_SETVELTS, SCM_GC_WRITABLE_VELTS.
3490 ** Some C functions and macros related to arrays have been deprecated.
3492 Migrate according to the following table:
3494 scm_make_uve -> scm_make_typed_array, scm_make_u8vector etc.
3495 scm_make_ra -> scm_make_array
3496 scm_shap2ra -> scm_make_array
3497 scm_cvref -> scm_c_generalized_vector_ref
3498 scm_ra_set_contp -> do not use
3499 scm_aind -> scm_array_handle_pos
3500 scm_raprin1 -> scm_display or scm_write
3502 SCM_ARRAYP -> scm_is_array
3503 SCM_ARRAY_NDIM -> scm_c_array_rank
3504 SCM_ARRAY_DIMS -> scm_array_handle_dims
3505 SCM_ARRAY_CONTP -> do not use
3506 SCM_ARRAY_MEM -> do not use
3507 SCM_ARRAY_V -> scm_array_handle_elements or similar
3508 SCM_ARRAY_BASE -> do not use
3510 ** SCM_CELL_WORD_LOC has been deprecated.
3512 Use the new macro SCM_CELL_OBJECT_LOC instead, which returns a pointer
3513 to a SCM, as opposed to a pointer to a scm_t_bits.
3515 This was done to allow the correct use of pointers into the Scheme
3516 heap. Previously, the heap words were of type scm_t_bits and local
3517 variables and function arguments were of type SCM, making it
3518 non-standards-conformant to have a pointer that can point to both.
3520 ** New macros SCM_SMOB_DATA_2, SCM_SMOB_DATA_3, etc.
3522 These macros should be used instead of SCM_CELL_WORD_2/3 to access the
3523 second and third words of double smobs. Likewise for
3524 SCM_SET_SMOB_DATA_2 and SCM_SET_SMOB_DATA_3.
3526 Also, there is SCM_SMOB_FLAGS and SCM_SET_SMOB_FLAGS that should be
3527 used to get and set the 16 exra bits in the zeroth word of a smob.
3529 And finally, there is SCM_SMOB_OBJECT and SCM_SMOB_SET_OBJECT for
3530 accesing the first immediate word of a smob as a SCM value, and there
3531 is SCM_SMOB_OBJECT_LOC for getting a pointer to the first immediate
3532 smob word. Like wise for SCM_SMOB_OBJECT_2, etc.
3534 ** New way to deal with non-local exits and re-entries.
3536 There is a new set of functions that essentially do what
3537 scm_internal_dynamic_wind does, but in a way that is more convenient
3538 for C code in some situations. Here is a quick example of how to
3539 prevent a potential memory leak:
3546 scm_dynwind_begin (0);
3548 mem = scm_malloc (100);
3549 scm_dynwind_unwind_handler (free, mem, SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITLY);
3551 /* MEM would leak if BAR throws an error.
3552 SCM_DYNWIND_UNWIND_HANDLER frees it nevertheless.
3559 /* Because of SCM_F_WIND_EXPLICITLY, MEM will be freed by
3560 SCM_DYNWIND_END as well.
3564 For full documentation, see the node "Dynamic Wind" in the manual.
3566 ** New function scm_dynwind_free
3568 This function calls 'free' on a given pointer when a dynwind context
3569 is left. Thus the call to scm_dynwind_unwind_handler above could be
3570 replaced with simply scm_dynwind_free (mem).
3572 ** New functions scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
3573 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs
3575 Like scm_call_with_blocked_asyncs etc. but for C functions.
3577 ** New functions scm_dynwind_block_asyncs and scm_dynwind_unblock_asyncs
3579 In addition to scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs you can now also use
3580 scm_dynwind_block_asyncs in a 'dynwind context' (see above). Likewise for
3581 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs and scm_dynwind_unblock_asyncs.
3583 ** The macros SCM_DEFER_INTS, SCM_ALLOW_INTS, SCM_REDEFER_INTS,
3584 SCM_REALLOW_INTS have been deprecated.
3586 They do no longer fulfill their original role of blocking signal
3587 delivery. Depending on what you want to achieve, replace a pair of
3588 SCM_DEFER_INTS and SCM_ALLOW_INTS with a dynwind context that locks a
3589 mutex, blocks asyncs, or both. See node "Critical Sections" in the
3592 ** The value 'scm_mask_ints' is no longer writable.
3594 Previously, you could set scm_mask_ints directly. This is no longer
3595 possible. Use scm_c_call_with_blocked_asyncs and
3596 scm_c_call_with_unblocked_asyncs instead.
3598 ** New way to temporarily set the current input, output or error ports
3600 C code can now use scm_dynwind_current_<foo>_port in a 'dynwind
3601 context' (see above). <foo> is one of "input", "output" or "error".
3603 ** New way to temporarily set fluids
3605 C code can now use scm_dynwind_fluid in a 'dynwind context' (see
3606 above) to temporarily set the value of a fluid.
3608 ** New types scm_t_intmax and scm_t_uintmax.
3610 On platforms that have them, these types are identical to intmax_t and
3611 uintmax_t, respectively. On other platforms, they are identical to
3612 the largest integer types that Guile knows about.
3614 ** The functions scm_unmemocopy and scm_unmemoize have been removed.
3616 You should not have used them.
3618 ** Many public #defines with generic names have been made private.
3620 #defines with generic names like HAVE_FOO or SIZEOF_FOO have been made
3621 private or renamed with a more suitable public name.
3623 ** The macro SCM_TYP16S has been deprecated.
3625 This macro is not intended for public use.
3627 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_INEXACTP has been deprecated.
3629 Use scm_is_true (scm_inexact_p (...)) instead.
3631 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_REALP has been deprecated.
3633 Use scm_is_real instead.
3635 ** The macro SCM_SLOPPY_COMPLEXP has been deprecated.
3637 Use scm_is_complex instead.
3639 ** Some preprocessor defines have been deprecated.
3641 These defines indicated whether a certain feature was present in Guile
3642 or not. Going forward, assume that the features are always present.
3644 The macros are: USE_THREADS, GUILE_ISELECT, READER_EXTENSIONS,
3645 DEBUG_EXTENSIONS, DYNAMIC_LINKING.
3647 The following macros have been removed completely: MEMOIZE_LOCALS,
3648 SCM_RECKLESS, SCM_CAUTIOUS.
3650 ** The preprocessor define STACK_DIRECTION has been deprecated.
3652 There should be no need to know about the stack direction for ordinary
3655 ** New function: scm_effective_version
3657 Returns the "effective" version number. This is just the normal full
3658 version string without the final micro-version number. See "Changes
3659 to the distribution" above.
3661 ** The function scm_call_with_new_thread has a new prototype.
3663 Instead of taking a list with the thunk and handler, these two
3664 arguments are now passed directly:
3666 SCM scm_call_with_new_thread (SCM thunk, SCM handler);
3668 This is an incompatible change.
3670 ** New snarfer macro SCM_DEFINE_PUBLIC.
3672 This is like SCM_DEFINE, but also calls scm_c_export for the defined
3673 function in the init section.
3675 ** The snarfer macro SCM_SNARF_INIT is now officially supported.
3677 ** Garbage collector rewrite.
3679 The garbage collector is cleaned up a lot, and now uses lazy
3680 sweeping. This is reflected in the output of (gc-stats); since cells
3681 are being freed when they are allocated, the cells-allocated field
3682 stays roughly constant.
3684 For malloc related triggers, the behavior is changed. It uses the same
3685 heuristic as the cell-triggered collections. It may be tuned with the
3686 environment variables GUILE_MIN_YIELD_MALLOC. This is the percentage
3687 for minimum yield of malloc related triggers. The default is 40.
3688 GUILE_INIT_MALLOC_LIMIT sets the initial trigger for doing a GC. The
3691 Debugging operations for the freelist have been deprecated, along with
3692 the C variables that control garbage collection. The environment
3693 variables GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE, GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2,
3694 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1, and GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2 should be used.
3696 For understanding the memory usage of a GUILE program, the routine
3697 gc-live-object-stats returns an alist containing the number of live
3698 objects for every type.
3701 ** The function scm_definedp has been renamed to scm_defined_p
3703 The name scm_definedp is deprecated.
3705 ** The struct scm_cell type has been renamed to scm_t_cell
3707 This is in accordance to Guile's naming scheme for types. Note that
3708 the name scm_cell is now used for a function that allocates and
3709 initializes a new cell (see below).
3711 ** New functions for memory management
3713 A new set of functions for memory management has been added since the
3714 old way (scm_must_malloc, scm_must_free, etc) was error prone and
3715 indeed, Guile itself contained some long standing bugs that could
3716 cause aborts in long running programs.
3718 The new functions are more symmetrical and do not need cooperation
3719 from smob free routines, among other improvements.
3721 The new functions are scm_malloc, scm_realloc, scm_calloc, scm_strdup,
3722 scm_strndup, scm_gc_malloc, scm_gc_calloc, scm_gc_realloc,
3723 scm_gc_free, scm_gc_register_collectable_memory, and
3724 scm_gc_unregister_collectable_memory. Refer to the manual for more
3725 details and for upgrading instructions.
3727 The old functions for memory management have been deprecated. They
3728 are: scm_must_malloc, scm_must_realloc, scm_must_free,
3729 scm_must_strdup, scm_must_strndup, scm_done_malloc, scm_done_free.
3731 ** Declarations of exported features are marked with SCM_API.
3733 Every declaration of a feature that belongs to the exported Guile API
3734 has been marked by adding the macro "SCM_API" to the start of the
3735 declaration. This macro can expand into different things, the most
3736 common of which is just "extern" for Unix platforms. On Win32, it can
3737 be used to control which symbols are exported from a DLL.
3739 If you `#define SCM_IMPORT' before including <libguile.h>, SCM_API
3740 will expand into "__declspec (dllimport) extern", which is needed for
3741 linking to the Guile DLL in Windows.
3743 There are also SCM_RL_IMPORT, SCM_SRFI1314_IMPORT, and
3744 SCM_SRFI4_IMPORT, for the corresponding libraries.
3746 ** SCM_NEWCELL and SCM_NEWCELL2 have been deprecated.
3748 Use the new functions scm_cell and scm_double_cell instead. The old
3749 macros had problems because with them allocation and initialization
3750 was separated and the GC could sometimes observe half initialized
3751 cells. Only careful coding by the user of SCM_NEWCELL and
3752 SCM_NEWCELL2 could make this safe and efficient.
3754 ** CHECK_ENTRY, CHECK_APPLY and CHECK_EXIT have been deprecated.
3756 Use the variables scm_check_entry_p, scm_check_apply_p and scm_check_exit_p
3759 ** SRCBRKP has been deprecated.
3761 Use scm_c_source_property_breakpoint_p instead.
3763 ** Deprecated: scm_makmacro
3765 Change your code to use either scm_makmmacro or to define macros in
3766 Scheme, using 'define-macro'.
3768 ** New function scm_c_port_for_each.
3770 This function is like scm_port_for_each but takes a pointer to a C
3771 function as the callback instead of a SCM value.
3773 ** The names scm_internal_select, scm_thread_sleep, and
3774 scm_thread_usleep have been discouraged.
3776 Use scm_std_select, scm_std_sleep, scm_std_usleep instead.
3778 ** The GC can no longer be blocked.
3780 The global flags scm_gc_heap_lock and scm_block_gc have been removed.
3781 The GC can now run (partially) concurrently with other code and thus
3782 blocking it is not well defined.
3784 ** Many definitions have been removed that were previously deprecated.
3786 scm_lisp_nil, scm_lisp_t, s_nil_ify, scm_m_nil_ify, s_t_ify,
3787 scm_m_t_ify, s_0_cond, scm_m_0_cond, s_0_ify, scm_m_0_ify, s_1_ify,
3788 scm_m_1_ify, scm_debug_newcell, scm_debug_newcell2,
3789 scm_tc16_allocated, SCM_SET_SYMBOL_HASH, SCM_IM_NIL_IFY, SCM_IM_T_IFY,
3790 SCM_IM_0_COND, SCM_IM_0_IFY, SCM_IM_1_IFY, SCM_GC_SET_ALLOCATED,
3791 scm_debug_newcell, scm_debug_newcell2, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL, SCM_INT_SIGNAL,
3792 SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL, SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL,
3793 SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD, SCM_ORD_SIG,
3794 SCM_NUM_SIGS, scm_top_level_lookup_closure_var,
3795 *top-level-lookup-closure*, scm_system_transformer, scm_eval_3,
3796 scm_eval2, root_module_lookup_closure, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP,
3797 SCM_RWSTRINGP, scm_read_only_string_p, scm_make_shared_substring,
3798 scm_tc7_substring, sym_huh, SCM_VARVCELL, SCM_UDVARIABLEP,
3799 SCM_DEFVARIABLEP, scm_mkbig, scm_big2inum, scm_adjbig, scm_normbig,
3800 scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big, scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl, SCM_FIXNUM_BIT,
3801 SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_SLOPPY_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET,
3802 SCM_LENGTH_MAX, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_ROLENGTH,
3803 SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR,
3804 scm_sym2vcell, scm_intern, scm_intern0, scm_sysintern, scm_sysintern0,
3805 scm_sysintern0_no_module_lookup, scm_init_symbols_deprecated,
3806 scm_vector_set_length_x, scm_contregs, scm_debug_info,
3807 scm_debug_frame, SCM_DSIDEVAL, SCM_CONST_LONG, SCM_VCELL,
3808 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL, SCM_VCELL_INIT, SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL_INIT,
3809 SCM_HUGE_LENGTH, SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING,
3810 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY, SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY,
3811 SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, DIGITS, scm_small_istr2int, scm_istr2int,
3812 scm_istr2flo, scm_istring2number, scm_istr2int, scm_istr2flo,
3813 scm_istring2number, scm_vtable_index_vcell, scm_si_vcell, SCM_ECONSP,
3814 SCM_NECONSP, SCM_GLOC_VAR, SCM_GLOC_VAL, SCM_GLOC_SET_VAL,
3815 SCM_GLOC_VAL_LOC, scm_make_gloc, scm_gloc_p, scm_tc16_variable,
3816 SCM_CHARS, SCM_LENGTH, SCM_SET_STRING_CHARS, SCM_SET_STRING_LENGTH.
3818 * Changes to bundled modules
3822 Using the (ice-9 debug) module no longer automatically switches Guile
3823 to use the debugging evaluator. If you want to switch to the
3824 debugging evaluator (which is needed for backtrace information if you
3825 hit an error), please add an explicit "(debug-enable 'debug)" to your
3826 code just after the code to use (ice-9 debug).
3829 Changes since Guile 1.4:
3831 * Changes to the distribution
3833 ** A top-level TODO file is included.
3835 ** Guile now uses a versioning scheme similar to that of the Linux kernel.
3837 Guile now always uses three numbers to represent the version,
3838 i.e. "1.6.5". The first number, 1, is the major version number, the
3839 second number, 6, is the minor version number, and the third number,
3840 5, is the micro version number. Changes in major version number
3841 indicate major changes in Guile.
3843 Minor version numbers that are even denote stable releases, and odd
3844 minor version numbers denote development versions (which may be
3845 unstable). The micro version number indicates a minor sub-revision of
3846 a given MAJOR.MINOR release.
3848 In keeping with the new scheme, (minor-version) and scm_minor_version
3849 no longer return everything but the major version number. They now
3850 just return the minor version number. Two new functions
3851 (micro-version) and scm_micro_version have been added to report the
3852 micro version number.
3854 In addition, ./GUILE-VERSION now defines GUILE_MICRO_VERSION.
3856 ** New preprocessor definitions are available for checking versions.
3858 version.h now #defines SCM_MAJOR_VERSION, SCM_MINOR_VERSION, and
3859 SCM_MICRO_VERSION to the appropriate integer values.
3861 ** Guile now actively warns about deprecated features.
3863 The new configure option `--enable-deprecated=LEVEL' and the
3864 environment variable GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATED control this mechanism.
3865 See INSTALL and README for more information.
3867 ** Guile is much more likely to work on 64-bit architectures.
3869 Guile now compiles and passes "make check" with only two UNRESOLVED GC
3870 cases on Alpha and ia64 based machines now. Thanks to John Goerzen
3871 for the use of a test machine, and thanks to Stefan Jahn for ia64
3874 ** New functions: setitimer and getitimer.
3876 These implement a fairly direct interface to the libc functions of the
3879 ** The #. reader extension is now disabled by default.
3881 For safety reasons, #. evaluation is disabled by default. To
3882 re-enable it, set the fluid read-eval? to #t. For example:
3884 (fluid-set! read-eval? #t)
3886 but make sure you realize the potential security risks involved. With
3887 read-eval? enabled, reading a data file from an untrusted source can
3890 ** New SRFI modules have been added:
3892 SRFI-0 `cond-expand' is now supported in Guile, without requiring
3895 (srfi srfi-1) is a library containing many useful pair- and list-processing
3898 (srfi srfi-2) exports and-let*.
3900 (srfi srfi-4) implements homogeneous numeric vector datatypes.
3902 (srfi srfi-6) is a dummy module for now, since guile already provides
3903 all of the srfi-6 procedures by default: open-input-string,
3904 open-output-string, get-output-string.
3906 (srfi srfi-8) exports receive.
3908 (srfi srfi-9) exports define-record-type.
3910 (srfi srfi-10) exports define-reader-ctor and implements the reader
3913 (srfi srfi-11) exports let-values and let*-values.
3915 (srfi srfi-13) implements the SRFI String Library.
3917 (srfi srfi-14) implements the SRFI Character-Set Library.
3919 (srfi srfi-17) implements setter and getter-with-setter and redefines
3920 some accessor procedures as procedures with getters. (such as car,
3921 cdr, vector-ref etc.)
3923 (srfi srfi-19) implements the SRFI Time/Date Library.
3925 ** New scripts / "executable modules"
3927 Subdirectory "scripts" contains Scheme modules that are packaged to
3928 also be executable as scripts. At this time, these scripts are available:
3937 See README there for more info.
3939 These scripts can be invoked from the shell with the new program
3940 "guile-tools", which keeps track of installation directory for you.
3943 $ guile-tools display-commentary srfi/*.scm
3945 guile-tools is copied to the standard $bindir on "make install".
3947 ** New module (ice-9 stack-catch):
3949 stack-catch is like catch, but saves the current state of the stack in
3950 the fluid the-last-stack. This fluid can be useful when using the
3951 debugger and when re-throwing an error.
3953 ** The module (ice-9 and-let*) has been renamed to (ice-9 and-let-star)
3955 This has been done to prevent problems on lesser operating systems
3956 that can't tolerate `*'s in file names. The exported macro continues
3957 to be named `and-let*', of course.
3959 On systems that support it, there is also a compatibility module named
3960 (ice-9 and-let*). It will go away in the next release.
3962 ** New modules (oop goops) etc.:
3965 (oop goops describe)
3967 (oop goops active-slot)
3968 (oop goops composite-slot)
3970 The Guile Object Oriented Programming System (GOOPS) has been
3971 integrated into Guile. For further information, consult the GOOPS
3972 manual and tutorial in the `doc' directory.
3974 ** New module (ice-9 rdelim).
3976 This exports the following procedures which were previously defined
3977 in the default environment:
3979 read-line read-line! read-delimited read-delimited! %read-delimited!
3980 %read-line write-line
3982 For backwards compatibility the definitions are still imported into the
3983 default environment in this version of Guile. However you should add:
3985 (use-modules (ice-9 rdelim))
3987 to any program which uses the definitions, since this may change in
3990 Alternatively, if guile-scsh is installed, the (scsh rdelim) module
3991 can be used for similar functionality.
3993 ** New module (ice-9 rw)
3995 This is a subset of the (scsh rw) module from guile-scsh. Currently
3996 it defines two procedures:
3998 *** New function: read-string!/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
4000 Read characters from a port or file descriptor into a string STR.
4001 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
4002 fport. This procedure is scsh-compatible and can efficiently read
4005 *** New function: write-string/partial str [port_or_fdes [start [end]]]
4007 Write characters from a string STR to a port or file descriptor.
4008 A port must have an underlying file descriptor -- a so-called
4009 fport. This procedure is mostly compatible and can efficiently
4010 write large strings.
4012 ** New module (ice-9 match)
4014 This module includes Andrew K. Wright's pattern matcher. See
4015 ice-9/match.scm for brief description or
4017 http://www.star-lab.com/wright/code.html
4019 for complete documentation.
4021 ** New module (ice-9 buffered-input)
4023 This module provides procedures to construct an input port from an
4024 underlying source of input that reads and returns its input in chunks.
4025 The underlying input source is a Scheme procedure, specified by the
4026 caller, which the port invokes whenever it needs more input.
4028 This is useful when building an input port whose back end is Readline
4029 or a UI element such as the GtkEntry widget.
4033 The reference and tutorial documentation that was previously
4034 distributed separately, as `guile-doc', is now included in the core
4035 Guile distribution. The documentation consists of the following
4038 - The Guile Tutorial (guile-tut.texi) contains a tutorial introduction
4041 - The Guile Reference Manual (guile.texi) contains (or is intended to
4042 contain) reference documentation on all aspects of Guile.
4044 - The GOOPS Manual (goops.texi) contains both tutorial-style and
4045 reference documentation for using GOOPS, Guile's Object Oriented
4048 - The Revised^5 Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme
4051 See the README file in the `doc' directory for more details.
4053 ** There are a couple of examples in the examples/ directory now.
4055 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
4057 ** New command line option `--use-srfi'
4059 Using this option, SRFI modules can be loaded on startup and be
4060 available right from the beginning. This makes programming portable
4061 Scheme programs easier.
4063 The option `--use-srfi' expects a comma-separated list of numbers,
4064 each representing a SRFI number to be loaded into the interpreter
4065 before starting evaluating a script file or the REPL. Additionally,
4066 the feature identifier for the loaded SRFIs is recognized by
4067 `cond-expand' when using this option.
4070 $ guile --use-srfi=8,13
4071 guile> (receive (x z) (values 1 2) (+ 1 2))
4073 guile> (string-pad "bla" 20)
4076 ** Guile now always starts up in the `(guile-user)' module.
4078 Previously, scripts executed via the `-s' option would run in the
4079 `(guile)' module and the repl would run in the `(guile-user)' module.
4080 Now every user action takes place in the `(guile-user)' module by
4083 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
4085 ** Character classifiers work for non-ASCII characters.
4087 The predicates `char-alphabetic?', `char-numeric?',
4088 `char-whitespace?', `char-lower?', `char-upper?' and `char-is-both?'
4089 no longer check whether their arguments are ASCII characters.
4090 Previously, a character would only be considered alphabetic when it
4091 was also ASCII, for example.
4093 ** Previously deprecated Scheme functions have been removed:
4095 tag - no replacement.
4096 fseek - replaced by seek.
4097 list* - replaced by cons*.
4099 ** It's now possible to create modules with controlled environments
4103 (use-modules (ice-9 safe))
4104 (define m (make-safe-module))
4105 ;;; m will now be a module containing only a safe subset of R5RS
4106 (eval '(+ 1 2) m) --> 3
4107 (eval 'load m) --> ERROR: Unbound variable: load
4109 ** Evaluation of "()", the empty list, is now an error.
4111 Previously, the expression "()" evaluated to the empty list. This has
4112 been changed to signal a "missing expression" error. The correct way
4113 to write the empty list as a literal constant is to use quote: "'()".
4115 ** New concept of `Guile Extensions'.
4117 A Guile Extension is just a ordinary shared library that can be linked
4118 at run-time. We found it advantageous to give this simple concept a
4119 dedicated name to distinguish the issues related to shared libraries
4120 from the issues related to the module system.
4122 *** New function: load-extension
4124 Executing (load-extension lib init) is mostly equivalent to
4126 (dynamic-call init (dynamic-link lib))
4128 except when scm_register_extension has been called previously.
4129 Whenever appropriate, you should use `load-extension' instead of
4130 dynamic-link and dynamic-call.
4132 *** New C function: scm_c_register_extension
4134 This function registers a initialization function for use by
4135 `load-extension'. Use it when you don't want specific extensions to
4136 be loaded as shared libraries (for example on platforms that don't
4137 support dynamic linking).
4139 ** Auto-loading of compiled-code modules is deprecated.
4141 Guile used to be able to automatically find and link a shared
4142 library to satisfy requests for a module. For example, the module
4143 `(foo bar)' could be implemented by placing a shared library named
4144 "foo/libbar.so" (or with a different extension) in a directory on the
4147 This has been found to be too tricky, and is no longer supported. The
4148 shared libraries are now called "extensions". You should now write a
4149 small Scheme file that calls `load-extension' to load the shared
4150 library and initialize it explicitly.
4152 The shared libraries themselves should be installed in the usual
4153 places for shared libraries, with names like "libguile-foo-bar".
4155 For example, place this into a file "foo/bar.scm"
4157 (define-module (foo bar))
4159 (load-extension "libguile-foo-bar" "foobar_init")
4161 ** Backward incompatible change: eval EXP ENVIRONMENT-SPECIFIER
4163 `eval' is now R5RS, that is it takes two arguments.
4164 The second argument is an environment specifier, i.e. either
4166 (scheme-report-environment 5)
4167 (null-environment 5)
4168 (interaction-environment)
4174 ** The module system has been made more disciplined.
4176 The function `eval' will save and restore the current module around
4177 the evaluation of the specified expression. While this expression is
4178 evaluated, `(current-module)' will now return the right module, which
4179 is the module specified as the second argument to `eval'.
4181 A consequence of this change is that `eval' is not particularly
4182 useful when you want allow the evaluated code to change what module is
4183 designated as the current module and have this change persist from one
4184 call to `eval' to the next. The read-eval-print-loop is an example
4185 where `eval' is now inadequate. To compensate, there is a new
4186 function `primitive-eval' that does not take a module specifier and
4187 that does not save/restore the current module. You should use this
4188 function together with `set-current-module', `current-module', etc
4189 when you want to have more control over the state that is carried from
4190 one eval to the next.
4192 Additionally, it has been made sure that forms that are evaluated at
4193 the top level are always evaluated with respect to the current module.
4194 Previously, subforms of top-level forms such as `begin', `case',
4195 etc. did not respect changes to the current module although these
4196 subforms are at the top-level as well.
4198 To prevent strange behavior, the forms `define-module',
4199 `use-modules', `use-syntax', and `export' have been restricted to only
4200 work on the top level. The forms `define-public' and
4201 `defmacro-public' only export the new binding on the top level. They
4202 behave just like `define' and `defmacro', respectively, when they are
4203 used in a lexical environment.
4205 Also, `export' will no longer silently re-export bindings imported
4206 from a used module. It will emit a `deprecation' warning and will
4207 cease to perform any re-export in the next version. If you actually
4208 want to re-export bindings, use the new `re-export' in place of
4209 `export'. The new `re-export' will not make copies of variables when
4210 rexporting them, as `export' did wrongly.
4212 ** Module system now allows selection and renaming of imported bindings
4214 Previously, when using `use-modules' or the `#:use-module' clause in
4215 the `define-module' form, all the bindings (association of symbols to
4216 values) for imported modules were added to the "current module" on an
4217 as-is basis. This has been changed to allow finer control through two
4218 new facilities: selection and renaming.
4220 You can now select which of the imported module's bindings are to be
4221 visible in the current module by using the `:select' clause. This
4222 clause also can be used to rename individual bindings. For example:
4224 ;; import all bindings no questions asked
4225 (use-modules (ice-9 common-list))
4227 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them;
4228 ;; the current module sees: every some zonk-y zonk-n
4229 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
4231 (remove-if . zonk-y)
4232 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))))
4234 You can also programmatically rename all selected bindings using the
4235 `:renamer' clause, which specifies a proc that takes a symbol and
4236 returns another symbol. Because it is common practice to use a prefix,
4237 we now provide the convenience procedure `symbol-prefix-proc'. For
4240 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
4241 ;; and all four w/ prefix "CL:";
4242 ;; the current module sees: CL:every CL:some CL:zonk-y CL:zonk-n
4243 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
4245 (remove-if . zonk-y)
4246 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
4247 :renamer (symbol-prefix-proc 'CL:)))
4249 ;; import four bindings, renaming two of them specifically,
4250 ;; and all four by upcasing.
4251 ;; the current module sees: EVERY SOME ZONK-Y ZONK-N
4252 (define (upcase-symbol sym)
4253 (string->symbol (string-upcase (symbol->string sym))))
4255 (use-modules ((ice-9 common-list)
4257 (remove-if . zonk-y)
4258 (remove-if-not . zonk-n))
4259 :renamer upcase-symbol))
4261 Note that programmatic renaming is done *after* individual renaming.
4262 Also, the above examples show `use-modules', but the same facilities are
4263 available for the `#:use-module' clause of `define-module'.
4265 See manual for more info.
4267 ** The semantics of guardians have changed.
4269 The changes are for the most part compatible. An important criterion
4270 was to keep the typical usage of guardians as simple as before, but to
4271 make the semantics safer and (as a result) more useful.
4273 *** All objects returned from guardians are now properly alive.
4275 It is now guaranteed that any object referenced by an object returned
4276 from a guardian is alive. It's now impossible for a guardian to
4277 return a "contained" object before its "containing" object.
4279 One incompatible (but probably not very important) change resulting
4280 from this is that it is no longer possible to guard objects that
4281 indirectly reference themselves (i.e. are parts of cycles). If you do
4282 so accidentally, you'll get a warning.
4284 *** There are now two types of guardians: greedy and sharing.
4286 If you call (make-guardian #t) or just (make-guardian), you'll get a
4287 greedy guardian, and for (make-guardian #f) a sharing guardian.
4289 Greedy guardians are the default because they are more "defensive".
4290 You can only greedily guard an object once. If you guard an object
4291 more than once, once in a greedy guardian and the rest of times in
4292 sharing guardians, then it is guaranteed that the object won't be
4293 returned from sharing guardians as long as it is greedily guarded
4296 Guardians returned by calls to `make-guardian' can now take one more
4297 optional parameter, which says whether to throw an error in case an
4298 attempt is made to greedily guard an object that is already greedily
4299 guarded. The default is true, i.e. throw an error. If the parameter
4300 is false, the guardian invocation returns #t if guarding was
4301 successful and #f if it wasn't.
4303 Also, since greedy guarding is, in effect, a side-effecting operation
4304 on objects, a new function is introduced: `destroy-guardian!'.
4305 Invoking this function on a guardian renders it unoperative and, if
4306 the guardian is greedy, clears the "greedily guarded" property of the
4307 objects that were guarded by it, thus undoing the side effect.
4309 Note that all this hair is hardly very important, since guardian
4310 objects are usually permanent.
4312 ** Continuations created by call-with-current-continuation now accept
4313 any number of arguments, as required by R5RS.
4315 ** New function `issue-deprecation-warning'
4317 This function is used to display the deprecation messages that are
4318 controlled by GUILE_WARN_DEPRECATION as explained in the README.
4321 (issue-deprecation-warning "`id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.")
4325 ;; `id' is deprecated. Use `identity' instead.
4330 ** New syntax `begin-deprecated'
4332 When deprecated features are included (as determined by the configure
4333 option --enable-deprecated), `begin-deprecated' is identical to
4334 `begin'. When deprecated features are excluded, it always evaluates
4335 to `#f', ignoring the body forms.
4337 ** New function `make-object-property'
4339 This function returns a new `procedure with setter' P that can be used
4340 to attach a property to objects. When calling P as
4344 where `obj' is any kind of object, it attaches `val' to `obj' in such
4345 a way that it can be retrieved by calling P as
4349 This function will replace procedure properties, symbol properties and
4350 source properties eventually.
4352 ** Module (ice-9 optargs) now uses keywords instead of `#&'.
4354 Instead of #&optional, #&key, etc you should now use #:optional,
4355 #:key, etc. Since #:optional is a keyword, you can write it as just
4356 :optional when (read-set! keywords 'prefix) is active.
4358 The old reader syntax `#&' is still supported, but deprecated. It
4359 will be removed in the next release.
4361 ** New define-module option: pure
4363 Tells the module system not to include any bindings from the root
4368 (define-module (totally-empty-module)
4371 ** New define-module option: export NAME1 ...
4373 Export names NAME1 ...
4375 This option is required if you want to be able to export bindings from
4376 a module which doesn't import one of `define-public' or `export'.
4380 (define-module (foo)
4382 :use-module (ice-9 r5rs)
4385 ;;; Note that we're pure R5RS below this point!
4390 ** New function: object->string OBJ
4392 Return a Scheme string obtained by printing a given object.
4394 ** New function: port? X
4396 Returns a boolean indicating whether X is a port. Equivalent to
4397 `(or (input-port? X) (output-port? X))'.
4399 ** New function: file-port?
4401 Determines whether a given object is a port that is related to a file.
4403 ** New function: port-for-each proc
4405 Apply PROC to each port in the Guile port table in turn. The return
4406 value is unspecified. More specifically, PROC is applied exactly once
4407 to every port that exists in the system at the time PORT-FOR-EACH is
4408 invoked. Changes to the port table while PORT-FOR-EACH is running
4409 have no effect as far as PORT-FOR-EACH is concerned.
4411 ** New function: dup2 oldfd newfd
4413 A simple wrapper for the `dup2' system call. Copies the file
4414 descriptor OLDFD to descriptor number NEWFD, replacing the
4415 previous meaning of NEWFD. Both OLDFD and NEWFD must be integers.
4416 Unlike for dup->fdes or primitive-move->fdes, no attempt is made
4417 to move away ports which are using NEWFD. The return value is
4420 ** New function: close-fdes fd
4422 A simple wrapper for the `close' system call. Close file
4423 descriptor FD, which must be an integer. Unlike close (*note
4424 close: Ports and File Descriptors.), the file descriptor will be
4425 closed even if a port is using it. The return value is
4428 ** New function: crypt password salt
4430 Encrypts `password' using the standard unix password encryption
4433 ** New function: chroot path
4435 Change the root directory of the running process to `path'.
4437 ** New functions: getlogin, cuserid
4439 Return the login name or the user name of the current effective user
4442 ** New functions: getpriority which who, setpriority which who prio
4444 Get or set the priority of the running process.
4446 ** New function: getpass prompt
4448 Read a password from the terminal, first displaying `prompt' and
4451 ** New function: flock file operation
4453 Set/remove an advisory shared or exclusive lock on `file'.
4455 ** New functions: sethostname name, gethostname
4457 Set or get the hostname of the machine the current process is running
4460 ** New function: mkstemp! tmpl
4462 mkstemp creates a new unique file in the file system and returns a
4463 new buffered port open for reading and writing to the file. TMPL
4464 is a string specifying where the file should be created: it must
4465 end with `XXXXXX' and will be changed in place to return the name
4466 of the temporary file.
4468 ** New function: open-input-string string
4470 Return an input string port which delivers the characters from
4471 `string'. This procedure, together with `open-output-string' and
4472 `get-output-string' implements SRFI-6.
4474 ** New function: open-output-string
4476 Return an output string port which collects all data written to it.
4477 The data can then be retrieved by `get-output-string'.
4479 ** New function: get-output-string
4481 Return the contents of an output string port.
4483 ** New function: identity
4485 Return the argument.
4487 ** socket, connect, accept etc., now have support for IPv6. IPv6 addresses
4488 are represented in Scheme as integers with normal host byte ordering.
4490 ** New function: inet-pton family address
4492 Convert a printable string network address into an integer. Note that
4493 unlike the C version of this function, the result is an integer with
4494 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
4497 (inet-pton AF_INET "127.0.0.1") => 2130706433
4498 (inet-pton AF_INET6 "::1") => 1
4500 ** New function: inet-ntop family address
4502 Convert an integer network address into a printable string. Note that
4503 unlike the C version of this function, the input is an integer with
4504 normal host byte ordering. FAMILY can be `AF_INET' or `AF_INET6'.
4507 (inet-ntop AF_INET 2130706433) => "127.0.0.1"
4508 (inet-ntop AF_INET6 (- (expt 2 128) 1)) =>
4509 ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff
4513 Use `identity' instead.
4519 ** Deprecated: return-it
4523 ** Deprecated: string-character-length
4525 Use `string-length' instead.
4527 ** Deprecated: flags
4529 Use `logior' instead.
4531 ** Deprecated: close-all-ports-except.
4533 This was intended for closing ports in a child process after a fork,
4534 but it has the undesirable side effect of flushing buffers.
4535 port-for-each is more flexible.
4537 ** The (ice-9 popen) module now attempts to set up file descriptors in
4538 the child process from the current Scheme ports, instead of using the
4539 current values of file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 in the parent process.
4541 ** Removed function: builtin-weak-bindings
4543 There is no such concept as a weak binding any more.
4545 ** Removed constants: bignum-radix, scm-line-incrementors
4547 ** define-method: New syntax mandatory.
4549 The new method syntax is now mandatory:
4551 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ...) BODY ...)
4552 (define-method (NAME ARG-SPEC ... . REST-ARG) BODY ...)
4554 ARG-SPEC ::= ARG-NAME | (ARG-NAME TYPE)
4555 REST-ARG ::= ARG-NAME
4557 If you have old code using the old syntax, import
4558 (oop goops old-define-method) before (oop goops) as in:
4560 (use-modules (oop goops old-define-method) (oop goops))
4562 ** Deprecated function: builtin-variable
4563 Removed function: builtin-bindings
4565 There is no longer a distinction between builtin or other variables.
4566 Use module system operations for all variables.
4568 ** Lazy-catch handlers are no longer allowed to return.
4570 That is, a call to `throw', `error', etc is now guaranteed to not
4573 ** Bugfixes for (ice-9 getopt-long)
4575 This module is now tested using test-suite/tests/getopt-long.test.
4576 The following bugs have been fixed:
4578 *** Parsing for options that are specified to have `optional' args now checks
4579 if the next element is an option instead of unconditionally taking it as the
4582 *** An error is now thrown for `--opt=val' when the option description
4583 does not specify `(value #t)' or `(value optional)'. This condition used to
4584 be accepted w/o error, contrary to the documentation.
4586 *** The error message for unrecognized options is now more informative.
4587 It used to be "not a record", an artifact of the implementation.
4589 *** The error message for `--opt' terminating the arg list (no value), when
4590 `(value #t)' is specified, is now more informative. It used to be "not enough
4593 *** "Clumped" single-char args now preserve trailing string, use it as arg.
4594 The expansion used to be like so:
4596 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "--xyz")
4598 Note that the "5d" is dropped. Now it is like so:
4600 ("-abc5d" "--xyz") => ("-a" "-b" "-c" "5d" "--xyz")
4602 This enables single-char options to have adjoining arguments as long as their
4603 constituent characters are not potential single-char options.
4605 ** (ice-9 session) procedure `arity' now works with (ice-9 optargs) `lambda*'
4607 The `lambda*' and derivative forms in (ice-9 optargs) now set a procedure
4608 property `arglist', which can be retrieved by `arity'. The result is that
4609 `arity' can give more detailed information than before:
4613 guile> (use-modules (ice-9 optargs))
4614 guile> (define* (foo #:optional a b c) a)
4616 0 or more arguments in `lambda*:G0'.
4621 3 optional arguments: `a', `b' and `c'.
4622 guile> (define* (bar a b #:key c d #:allow-other-keys) a)
4624 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 2 keyword arguments: `c'
4625 and `d', other keywords allowed.
4626 guile> (define* (baz a b #:optional c #:rest r) a)
4628 2 required arguments: `a' and `b', 1 optional argument: `c',
4631 * Changes to the C interface
4633 ** Types have been renamed from scm_*_t to scm_t_*.
4635 This has been done for POSIX sake. It reserves identifiers ending
4636 with "_t". What a concept.
4638 The old names are still available with status `deprecated'.
4640 ** scm_t_bits (former scm_bits_t) is now a unsigned type.
4642 ** Deprecated features have been removed.
4646 SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP SCM_ICHRP, SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR
4647 SCM_SETJMPBUF SCM_NSTRINGP SCM_NRWSTRINGP SCM_NVECTORP SCM_DOUBLE_CELLP
4649 *** C Functions removed
4651 scm_sysmissing scm_tag scm_tc16_flo scm_tc_flo
4652 scm_fseek - replaced by scm_seek.
4653 gc-thunk - replaced by after-gc-hook.
4654 gh_int2scmb - replaced by gh_bool2scm.
4655 scm_tc_dblr - replaced by scm_tc16_real.
4656 scm_tc_dblc - replaced by scm_tc16_complex.
4657 scm_list_star - replaced by scm_cons_star.
4659 ** Deprecated: scm_makfromstr
4661 Use scm_mem2string instead.
4663 ** Deprecated: scm_make_shared_substring
4665 Explicit shared substrings will disappear from Guile.
4667 Instead, "normal" strings will be implemented using sharing
4668 internally, combined with a copy-on-write strategy.
4670 ** Deprecated: scm_read_only_string_p
4672 The concept of read-only strings will disappear in next release of
4675 ** Deprecated: scm_sloppy_memq, scm_sloppy_memv, scm_sloppy_member
4677 Instead, use scm_c_memq or scm_memq, scm_memv, scm_member.
4679 ** New functions: scm_call_0, scm_call_1, scm_call_2, scm_call_3
4681 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments. See "Fly
4682 Evaluation" in the manual.
4684 ** New functions: scm_apply_0, scm_apply_1, scm_apply_2, scm_apply_3
4686 Call a procedure with the indicated number of arguments and a list of
4687 further arguments. See "Fly Evaluation" in the manual.
4689 ** New functions: scm_list_1, scm_list_2, scm_list_3, scm_list_4, scm_list_5
4691 Create a list of the given number of elements. See "List
4692 Constructors" in the manual.
4694 ** Renamed function: scm_listify has been replaced by scm_list_n.
4696 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_LIST0, SCM_LIST1, SCM_LIST2, SCM_LIST3, SCM_LIST4,
4697 SCM_LIST5, SCM_LIST6, SCM_LIST7, SCM_LIST8, SCM_LIST9.
4699 Use functions scm_list_N instead.
4701 ** New function: scm_c_read (SCM port, void *buffer, scm_sizet size)
4703 Used by an application to read arbitrary number of bytes from a port.
4704 Same semantics as libc read, except that scm_c_read only returns less
4705 than SIZE bytes if at end-of-file.
4707 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
4709 ** New function: scm_c_write (SCM port, const void *ptr, scm_sizet size)
4711 Used by an application to write arbitrary number of bytes to an SCM
4712 port. Similar semantics as libc write. However, unlike libc
4713 write, scm_c_write writes the requested number of bytes and has no
4716 Warning: Doesn't update port line and column counts!
4718 ** New function: scm_init_guile ()
4720 In contrast to scm_boot_guile, scm_init_guile will return normally
4721 after initializing Guile. It is not available on all systems, tho.
4723 ** New functions: scm_str2symbol, scm_mem2symbol
4725 The function scm_str2symbol takes a const char* pointing to a zero-terminated
4726 field of characters and creates a scheme symbol object from that C string.
4727 The function scm_mem2symbol takes a const char* and a number of characters and
4728 creates a symbol from the characters in that memory area.
4730 ** New functions: scm_primitive_make_property
4731 scm_primitive_property_ref
4732 scm_primitive_property_set_x
4733 scm_primitive_property_del_x
4735 These functions implement a new way to deal with object properties.
4736 See libguile/properties.c for their documentation.
4738 ** New function: scm_done_free (long size)
4740 This function is the inverse of scm_done_malloc. Use it to report the
4741 amount of smob memory you free. The previous method, which involved
4742 calling scm_done_malloc with negative argument, was somewhat
4743 unintuitive (and is still available, of course).
4745 ** New function: scm_c_memq (SCM obj, SCM list)
4747 This function provides a fast C level alternative for scm_memq for the case
4748 that the list parameter is known to be a proper list. The function is a
4749 replacement for scm_sloppy_memq, but is stricter in its requirements on its
4750 list input parameter, since for anything else but a proper list the function's
4751 behaviour is undefined - it may even crash or loop endlessly. Further, for
4752 the case that the object is not found in the list, scm_c_memq returns #f which
4753 is similar to scm_memq, but different from scm_sloppy_memq's behaviour.
4755 ** New functions: scm_remember_upto_here_1, scm_remember_upto_here_2,
4756 scm_remember_upto_here
4758 These functions replace the function scm_remember.
4760 ** Deprecated function: scm_remember
4762 Use one of the new functions scm_remember_upto_here_1,
4763 scm_remember_upto_here_2 or scm_remember_upto_here instead.
4765 ** New function: scm_allocate_string
4767 This function replaces the function scm_makstr.
4769 ** Deprecated function: scm_makstr
4771 Use the new function scm_allocate_string instead.
4773 ** New global variable scm_gc_running_p introduced.
4775 Use this variable to find out if garbage collection is being executed. Up to
4776 now applications have used scm_gc_heap_lock to test if garbage collection was
4777 running, which also works because of the fact that up to know only the garbage
4778 collector has set this variable. But, this is an implementation detail that
4779 may change. Further, scm_gc_heap_lock is not set throughout gc, thus the use
4780 of this variable is (and has been) not fully safe anyway.
4782 ** New macros: SCM_BITVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_MAX_LENGTH
4784 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
4786 ** New macros: SCM_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_CCLO_LENGTH, SCM_STACK_LENGTH,
4787 SCM_STRING_LENGTH, SCM_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
4788 SCM_BITVECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_VECTOR_LENGTH.
4790 Use these instead of SCM_LENGTH.
4792 ** New macros: SCM_SET_CONTINUATION_LENGTH, SCM_SET_STRING_LENGTH,
4793 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_LENGTH, SCM_SET_VECTOR_LENGTH, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_LENGTH,
4794 SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_LENGTH
4796 Use these instead of SCM_SETLENGTH
4798 ** New macros: SCM_STRING_CHARS, SCM_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_CCLO_BASE,
4799 SCM_VECTOR_BASE, SCM_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_BITVECTOR_BASE, SCM_COMPLEX_MEM,
4802 Use these instead of SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS, SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS or
4805 ** New macros: SCM_SET_BIGNUM_BASE, SCM_SET_STRING_CHARS,
4806 SCM_SET_SYMBOL_CHARS, SCM_SET_UVECTOR_BASE, SCM_SET_BITVECTOR_BASE,
4809 Use these instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
4811 ** New macro: SCM_BITVECTOR_P
4813 ** New macro: SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X
4815 Use instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
4817 ** New macros: SCM_DIR_OPEN_P, SCM_DIR_FLAG_OPEN
4819 For directory objects, use these instead of SCM_OPDIRP and SCM_OPN.
4821 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_OUTOFRANGE, SCM_NALLOC, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL,
4822 SCM_INT_SIGNAL, SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL,
4823 SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL, SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD,
4824 SCM_ORD_SIG, SCM_NUM_SIGS, SCM_SYMBOL_SLOTS, SCM_SLOTS, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP,
4825 SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR, SCM_FREEP, SCM_NFREEP, SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS,
4826 SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY,
4827 SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY, SCM_ROLENGTH, SCM_LENGTH, SCM_HUGE_LENGTH,
4828 SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET, SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR,
4829 SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_RWSTRINGP, SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING, SCM_ROCHARS,
4830 SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_LENGTH_MAX, SCM_GC8MARKP,
4831 SCM_SETGC8MARK, SCM_CLRGC8MARK, SCM_GCTYP16, SCM_GCCDR, SCM_SUBR_DOC,
4832 SCM_OPDIRP, SCM_VALIDATE_OPDIR, SCM_WTA, RETURN_SCM_WTA, SCM_CONST_LONG,
4833 SCM_WNA, SCM_FUNC_NAME, SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_COPY,
4834 SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_DEF_COPY, SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP, SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP,
4835 SCM_SETAND_CDR, SCM_SETOR_CDR, SCM_SETAND_CAR, SCM_SETOR_CAR
4837 Use SCM_ASSERT_RANGE or SCM_VALIDATE_XXX_RANGE instead of SCM_OUTOFRANGE.
4838 Use scm_memory_error instead of SCM_NALLOC.
4839 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP.
4840 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR.
4841 Use SCM_FREE_CELL_P instead of SCM_FREEP/SCM_NFREEP
4842 Use a type specific accessor macro instead of SCM_CHARS/SCM_UCHARS.
4843 Use a type specific accessor instead of SCM(_|_RO|_HUGE_)LENGTH.
4844 Use SCM_VALIDATE_(SYMBOL|STRING) instead of SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING.
4845 Use SCM_STRING_COERCE_0TERMINATION_X instead of SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR.
4846 Use SCM_STRINGP or SCM_SYMBOLP instead of SCM_ROSTRINGP.
4847 Use SCM_STRINGP instead of SCM_RWSTRINGP.
4848 Use SCM_VALIDATE_STRING instead of SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING.
4849 Use SCM_STRING_CHARS instead of SCM_ROCHARS.
4850 Use SCM_STRING_UCHARS instead of SCM_ROUCHARS.
4851 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETLENGTH.
4852 Use a type specific setter macro instead of SCM_SETCHARS.
4853 Use a type specific length macro instead of SCM_LENGTH_MAX.
4854 Use SCM_GCMARKP instead of SCM_GC8MARKP.
4855 Use SCM_SETGCMARK instead of SCM_SETGC8MARK.
4856 Use SCM_CLRGCMARK instead of SCM_CLRGC8MARK.
4857 Use SCM_TYP16 instead of SCM_GCTYP16.
4858 Use SCM_CDR instead of SCM_GCCDR.
4859 Use SCM_DIR_OPEN_P instead of SCM_OPDIRP.
4860 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of SCM_WTA.
4861 Use SCM_MISC_ERROR or SCM_WRONG_TYPE_ARG instead of RETURN_SCM_WTA.
4862 Use SCM_VCELL_INIT instead of SCM_CONST_LONG.
4863 Use SCM_WRONG_NUM_ARGS instead of SCM_WNA.
4864 Use SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP.
4865 Use !SCM_CONSP instead of SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP.
4867 ** Removed function: scm_struct_init
4869 ** Removed variable: scm_symhash_dim
4871 ** Renamed function: scm_make_cont has been replaced by
4872 scm_make_continuation, which has a different interface.
4874 ** Deprecated function: scm_call_catching_errors
4876 Use scm_catch or scm_lazy_catch from throw.[ch] instead.
4878 ** Deprecated function: scm_strhash
4880 Use scm_string_hash instead.
4882 ** Deprecated function: scm_vector_set_length_x
4884 Instead, create a fresh vector of the desired size and copy the contents.
4886 ** scm_gensym has changed prototype
4888 scm_gensym now only takes one argument.
4890 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc7_ssymbol, scm_tc7_msymbol, scm_tcs_symbols,
4893 There is now only a single symbol type scm_tc7_symbol.
4894 The tag scm_tc7_lvector was not used anyway.
4896 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe, scm_set_smob_mfpe.
4898 Use scm_make_smob_type and scm_set_smob_XXX instead.
4900 ** New function scm_set_smob_apply.
4902 This can be used to set an apply function to a smob type.
4904 ** Deprecated function: scm_strprint_obj
4906 Use scm_object_to_string instead.
4908 ** Deprecated function: scm_wta
4910 Use scm_wrong_type_arg, or another appropriate error signalling function
4913 ** Explicit support for obarrays has been deprecated.
4915 Use `scm_str2symbol' and the generic hashtable functions instead.
4917 ** The concept of `vcells' has been deprecated.
4919 The data type `variable' is now used exclusively. `Vcells' have been
4920 a low-level concept so you are likely not affected by this change.
4922 *** Deprecated functions: scm_sym2vcell, scm_sysintern,
4923 scm_sysintern0, scm_symbol_value0, scm_intern, scm_intern0.
4925 Use scm_c_define or scm_c_lookup instead, as appropriate.
4927 *** New functions: scm_c_module_lookup, scm_c_lookup,
4928 scm_c_module_define, scm_c_define, scm_module_lookup, scm_lookup,
4929 scm_module_define, scm_define.
4931 These functions work with variables instead of with vcells.
4933 ** New functions for creating and defining `subr's and `gsubr's.
4935 The new functions more clearly distinguish between creating a subr (or
4936 gsubr) object and adding it to the current module.
4938 These new functions are available: scm_c_make_subr, scm_c_define_subr,
4939 scm_c_make_subr_with_generic, scm_c_define_subr_with_generic,
4940 scm_c_make_gsubr, scm_c_define_gsubr, scm_c_make_gsubr_with_generic,
4941 scm_c_define_gsubr_with_generic.
4943 ** Deprecated functions: scm_make_subr, scm_make_subr_opt,
4944 scm_make_subr_with_generic, scm_make_gsubr,
4945 scm_make_gsubr_with_generic.
4947 Use the new ones from above instead.
4949 ** C interface to the module system has changed.
4951 While we suggest that you avoid as many explicit module system
4952 operations from C as possible for the time being, the C interface has
4953 been made more similar to the high-level Scheme module system.
4955 *** New functions: scm_c_define_module, scm_c_use_module,
4956 scm_c_export, scm_c_resolve_module.
4958 They mostly work like their Scheme namesakes. scm_c_define_module
4959 takes a function that is called a context where the new module is
4962 *** Deprecated functions: scm_the_root_module, scm_make_module,
4963 scm_ensure_user_module, scm_load_scheme_module.
4965 Use the new functions instead.
4967 ** Renamed function: scm_internal_with_fluids becomes
4970 scm_internal_with_fluids is available as a deprecated function.
4972 ** New function: scm_c_with_fluid.
4974 Just like scm_c_with_fluids, but takes one fluid and one value instead
4977 ** Deprecated typedefs: long_long, ulong_long.
4979 They are of questionable utility and they pollute the global
4982 ** Deprecated typedef: scm_sizet
4984 It is of questionable utility now that Guile requires ANSI C, and is
4987 ** Deprecated typedefs: scm_port_rw_active, scm_port,
4988 scm_ptob_descriptor, scm_debug_info, scm_debug_frame, scm_fport,
4989 scm_option, scm_rstate, scm_rng, scm_array, scm_array_dim.
4991 Made more compliant with the naming policy by adding a _t at the end.
4993 ** Deprecated functions: scm_mkbig, scm_big2num, scm_adjbig,
4994 scm_normbig, scm_copybig, scm_2ulong2big, scm_dbl2big, scm_big2dbl
4996 With the exception of the mysterious scm_2ulong2big, they are still
4997 available under new names (scm_i_mkbig etc). These functions are not
4998 intended to be used in user code. You should avoid dealing with
4999 bignums directly, and should deal with numbers in general (which can
5002 ** Change in behavior: scm_num2long, scm_num2ulong
5004 The scm_num2[u]long functions don't any longer accept an inexact
5005 argument. This change in behavior is motivated by concordance with
5006 R5RS: It is more common that a primitive doesn't want to accept an
5007 inexact for an exact.
5009 ** New functions: scm_short2num, scm_ushort2num, scm_int2num,
5010 scm_uint2num, scm_size2num, scm_ptrdiff2num, scm_num2short,
5011 scm_num2ushort, scm_num2int, scm_num2uint, scm_num2ptrdiff,
5014 These are conversion functions between the various ANSI C integral
5015 types and Scheme numbers. NOTE: The scm_num2xxx functions don't
5016 accept an inexact argument.
5018 ** New functions: scm_float2num, scm_double2num,
5019 scm_num2float, scm_num2double.
5021 These are conversion functions between the two ANSI C float types and
5024 ** New number validation macros:
5025 SCM_NUM2{SIZE,PTRDIFF,SHORT,USHORT,INT,UINT}[_DEF]
5029 ** New functions: scm_gc_protect_object, scm_gc_unprotect_object
5031 These are just nicer-named old scm_protect_object and
5032 scm_unprotect_object.
5034 ** Deprecated functions: scm_protect_object, scm_unprotect_object
5036 ** New functions: scm_gc_[un]register_root, scm_gc_[un]register_roots
5038 These functions can be used to register pointers to locations that
5041 ** Deprecated function: scm_create_hook.
5043 Its sins are: misleading name, non-modularity and lack of general
5047 Changes since Guile 1.3.4:
5049 * Changes to the distribution
5051 ** Trees from nightly snapshots and CVS now require you to run autogen.sh.
5053 We've changed the way we handle generated files in the Guile source
5054 repository. As a result, the procedure for building trees obtained
5055 from the nightly FTP snapshots or via CVS has changed:
5056 - You must have appropriate versions of autoconf, automake, and
5057 libtool installed on your system. See README for info on how to
5058 obtain these programs.
5059 - Before configuring the tree, you must first run the script
5060 `autogen.sh' at the top of the source tree.
5062 The Guile repository used to contain not only source files, written by
5063 humans, but also some generated files, like configure scripts and
5064 Makefile.in files. Even though the contents of these files could be
5065 derived mechanically from other files present, we thought it would
5066 make the tree easier to build if we checked them into CVS.
5068 However, this approach means that minor differences between
5069 developer's installed tools and habits affected the whole team.
5070 So we have removed the generated files from the repository, and
5071 added the autogen.sh script, which will reconstruct them
5075 ** configure now has experimental options to remove support for certain
5078 --disable-arrays omit array and uniform array support
5079 --disable-posix omit posix interfaces
5080 --disable-networking omit networking interfaces
5081 --disable-regex omit regular expression interfaces
5083 These are likely to become separate modules some day.
5085 ** New configure option --enable-debug-freelist
5087 This enables a debugging version of SCM_NEWCELL(), and also registers
5088 an extra primitive, the setter `gc-set-debug-check-freelist!'.
5090 Configure with the --enable-debug-freelist option to enable
5091 the gc-set-debug-check-freelist! primitive, and then use:
5093 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #t) # turn on checking of the freelist
5094 (gc-set-debug-check-freelist! #f) # turn off checking
5096 Checking of the freelist forces a traversal of the freelist and
5097 a garbage collection before each allocation of a cell. This can
5098 slow down the interpreter dramatically, so the setter should be used to
5099 turn on this extra processing only when necessary.
5101 ** New configure option --enable-debug-malloc
5103 Include code for debugging of calls to scm_must_malloc/realloc/free.
5107 1. objects freed by scm_must_free has been mallocated by scm_must_malloc
5108 2. objects reallocated by scm_must_realloc has been allocated by
5110 3. reallocated objects are reallocated with the same what string
5112 But, most importantly, it records the number of allocated objects of
5113 each kind. This is useful when searching for memory leaks.
5115 A Guile compiled with this option provides the primitive
5116 `malloc-stats' which returns an alist with pairs of kind and the
5117 number of objects of that kind.
5119 ** All includes are now referenced relative to the root directory
5121 Since some users have had problems with mixups between Guile and
5122 system headers, we have decided to always refer to Guile headers via
5123 their parent directories. This essentially creates a "private name
5124 space" for Guile headers. This means that the compiler only is given
5125 -I options for the root build and root source directory.
5127 ** Header files kw.h and genio.h have been removed.
5129 ** The module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) has been removed.
5131 ** New module (ice-9 documentation)
5133 Implements the interface to documentation strings associated with
5136 ** New module (ice-9 time)
5138 Provides a macro `time', which displays execution time of a given form.
5140 ** New module (ice-9 history)
5142 Loading this module enables value history in the repl.
5144 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
5146 ** New command line option --debug
5148 Start Guile with debugging evaluator and backtraces enabled.
5150 This is useful when debugging your .guile init file or scripts.
5152 ** New help facility
5154 Usage: (help NAME) gives documentation about objects named NAME (a symbol)
5155 (help REGEXP) ditto for objects with names matching REGEXP (a string)
5156 (help 'NAME) gives documentation for NAME, even if it is not an object
5157 (help ,EXPR) gives documentation for object returned by EXPR
5158 (help (my module)) gives module commentary for `(my module)'
5159 (help) gives this text
5161 `help' searches among bindings exported from loaded modules, while
5162 `apropos' searches among bindings visible from the "current" module.
5164 Examples: (help help)
5166 (help "output-string")
5168 ** `help' and `apropos' now prints full module names
5170 ** Dynamic linking now uses libltdl from the libtool package.
5172 The old system dependent code for doing dynamic linking has been
5173 replaced with calls to the libltdl functions which do all the hairy
5176 The major improvement is that you can now directly pass libtool
5177 library names like "libfoo.la" to `dynamic-link' and `dynamic-link'
5178 will be able to do the best shared library job you can get, via
5181 The way dynamic libraries are found has changed and is not really
5182 portable across platforms, probably. It is therefore recommended to
5183 use absolute filenames when possible.
5185 If you pass a filename without an extension to `dynamic-link', it will
5186 try a few appropriate ones. Thus, the most platform ignorant way is
5187 to specify a name like "libfoo", without any directories and
5190 ** Guile COOP threads are now compatible with LinuxThreads
5192 Previously, COOP threading wasn't possible in applications linked with
5193 Linux POSIX threads due to their use of the stack pointer to find the
5194 thread context. This has now been fixed with a workaround which uses
5195 the pthreads to allocate the stack.
5197 ** New primitives: `pkgdata-dir', `site-dir', `library-dir'
5199 ** Positions of erring expression in scripts
5201 With version 1.3.4, the location of the erring expression in Guile
5202 scipts is no longer automatically reported. (This should have been
5203 documented before the 1.3.4 release.)
5205 You can get this information by enabling recording of positions of
5206 source expressions and running the debugging evaluator. Put this at
5207 the top of your script (or in your "site" file):
5209 (read-enable 'positions)
5210 (debug-enable 'debug)
5212 ** Backtraces in scripts
5214 It is now possible to get backtraces in scripts.
5218 (debug-enable 'debug 'backtrace)
5220 at the top of the script.
5222 (The first options enables the debugging evaluator.
5223 The second enables backtraces.)
5225 ** Part of module system symbol lookup now implemented in C
5227 The eval closure of most modules is now implemented in C. Since this
5228 was one of the bottlenecks for loading speed, Guile now loads code
5229 substantially faster than before.
5231 ** Attempting to get the value of an unbound variable now produces
5232 an exception with a key of 'unbound-variable instead of 'misc-error.
5234 ** The initial default output port is now unbuffered if it's using a
5235 tty device. Previously in this situation it was line-buffered.
5237 ** New hook: after-gc-hook
5239 after-gc-hook takes over the role of gc-thunk. This hook is run at
5240 the first SCM_TICK after a GC. (Thus, the code is run at the same
5241 point during evaluation as signal handlers.)
5243 Note that this hook should be used only for diagnostic and debugging
5244 purposes. It is not certain that it will continue to be well-defined
5245 when this hook is run in the future.
5247 C programmers: Note the new C level hooks scm_before_gc_c_hook,
5248 scm_before_sweep_c_hook, scm_after_gc_c_hook.
5250 ** Improvements to garbage collector
5252 Guile 1.4 has a new policy for triggering heap allocation and
5253 determining the sizes of heap segments. It fixes a number of problems
5256 1. The new policy can handle two separate pools of cells
5257 (2-word/4-word) better. (The old policy would run wild, allocating
5258 more and more memory for certain programs.)
5260 2. The old code would sometimes allocate far too much heap so that the
5261 Guile process became gigantic. The new code avoids this.
5263 3. The old code would sometimes allocate too little so that few cells
5264 were freed at GC so that, in turn, too much time was spent in GC.
5266 4. The old code would often trigger heap allocation several times in a
5267 row. (The new scheme predicts how large the segments needs to be
5268 in order not to need further allocation.)
5270 All in all, the new GC policy will make larger applications more
5273 The new GC scheme also is prepared for POSIX threading. Threads can
5274 allocate private pools of cells ("clusters") with just a single
5275 function call. Allocation of single cells from such a cluster can
5276 then proceed without any need of inter-thread synchronization.
5278 ** New environment variables controlling GC parameters
5280 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE Maximal segment size
5283 Allocation of 2-word cell heaps:
5285 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_1 Size of initial heap segment in bytes
5288 GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1 Minimum number of freed cells at each
5289 GC in percent of total heap size
5292 Allocation of 4-word cell heaps
5293 (used for real numbers and misc other objects):
5295 GUILE_INIT_SEGMENT_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2
5297 (See entry "Way for application to customize GC parameters" under
5298 section "Changes to the scm_ interface" below.)
5300 ** Guile now implements reals using 4-word cells
5302 This speeds up computation with reals. (They were earlier allocated
5303 with `malloc'.) There is still some room for optimizations, however.
5305 ** Some further steps toward POSIX thread support have been taken
5307 *** Guile's critical sections (SCM_DEFER/ALLOW_INTS)
5308 don't have much effect any longer, and many of them will be removed in
5312 are only handled at the top of the evaluator loop, immediately after
5313 I/O, and in scm_equalp.
5315 *** The GC can allocate thread private pools of pairs.
5317 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
5319 ** close-input-port and close-output-port are now R5RS
5321 These procedures have been turned into primitives and have R5RS behaviour.
5323 ** New procedure: simple-format PORT MESSAGE ARG1 ...
5325 (ice-9 boot) makes `format' an alias for `simple-format' until possibly
5326 extended by the more sophisticated version in (ice-9 format)
5328 (simple-format port message . args)
5329 Write MESSAGE to DESTINATION, defaulting to `current-output-port'.
5330 MESSAGE can contain ~A (was %s) and ~S (was %S) escapes. When printed,
5331 the escapes are replaced with corresponding members of ARGS:
5332 ~A formats using `display' and ~S formats using `write'.
5333 If DESTINATION is #t, then use the `current-output-port',
5334 if DESTINATION is #f, then return a string containing the formatted text.
5335 Does not add a trailing newline."
5337 ** string-ref: the second argument is no longer optional.
5339 ** string, list->string: no longer accept strings in their arguments,
5340 only characters, for compatibility with R5RS.
5342 ** New procedure: port-closed? PORT
5343 Returns #t if PORT is closed or #f if it is open.
5345 ** Deprecated: list*
5347 The list* functionality is now provided by cons* (SRFI-1 compliant)
5349 ** New procedure: cons* ARG1 ARG2 ... ARGn
5351 Like `list', but the last arg provides the tail of the constructed list,
5352 returning (cons ARG1 (cons ARG2 (cons ... ARGn))).
5354 Requires at least one argument. If given one argument, that argument
5355 is returned as result.
5357 This function is called `list*' in some other Schemes and in Common LISP.
5359 ** Removed deprecated: serial-map, serial-array-copy!, serial-array-map!
5361 ** New procedure: object-documentation OBJECT
5363 Returns the documentation string associated with OBJECT. The
5364 procedure uses a caching mechanism so that subsequent lookups are
5367 Exported by (ice-9 documentation).
5369 ** module-name now returns full names of modules
5371 Previously, only the last part of the name was returned (`session' for
5372 `(ice-9 session)'). Ex: `(ice-9 session)'.
5374 * Changes to the gh_ interface
5376 ** Deprecated: gh_int2scmb
5378 Use gh_bool2scm instead.
5380 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5382 ** Guile primitives now carry docstrings!
5384 Thanks to Greg Badros!
5386 ** Guile primitives are defined in a new way: SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
5388 Now Guile primitives are defined using the SCM_DEFINE/SCM_DEFINE1/SCM_PROC
5389 macros and must contain a docstring that is extracted into foo.doc using a new
5390 guile-doc-snarf script (that uses guile-doc-snarf.awk).
5392 However, a major overhaul of these macros is scheduled for the next release of
5395 ** Guile primitives use a new technique for validation of arguments
5397 SCM_VALIDATE_* macros are defined to ease the redundancy and improve
5398 the readability of argument checking.
5400 ** All (nearly?) K&R prototypes for functions replaced with ANSI C equivalents.
5402 ** New macros: SCM_PACK, SCM_UNPACK
5404 Compose/decompose an SCM value.
5406 The SCM type is now treated as an abstract data type and may be defined as a
5407 long, a void* or as a struct, depending on the architecture and compile time
5408 options. This makes it easier to find several types of bugs, for example when
5409 SCM values are treated as integers without conversion. Values of the SCM type
5410 should be treated as "atomic" values. These macros are used when
5411 composing/decomposing an SCM value, either because you want to access
5412 individual bits, or because you want to treat it as an integer value.
5414 E.g., in order to set bit 7 in an SCM value x, use the expression
5416 SCM_PACK (SCM_UNPACK (x) | 0x80)
5418 ** The name property of hooks is deprecated.
5419 Thus, the use of SCM_HOOK_NAME and scm_make_hook_with_name is deprecated.
5421 You can emulate this feature by using object properties.
5423 ** Deprecated macros: SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP, SCM_CRDY, SCM_ICHRP,
5424 SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR, SCM_SETJMPBUF, SCM_NSTRINGP, SCM_NRWSTRINGP,
5427 These macros will be removed in a future release of Guile.
5429 ** The following types, functions and macros from numbers.h are deprecated:
5430 scm_dblproc, SCM_UNEGFIXABLE, SCM_FLOBUFLEN, SCM_INEXP, SCM_CPLXP, SCM_REAL,
5431 SCM_IMAG, SCM_REALPART, scm_makdbl, SCM_SINGP, SCM_NUM2DBL, SCM_NO_BIGDIG
5433 ** Port internals: the rw_random variable in the scm_port structure
5434 must be set to non-zero in any random access port. In recent Guile
5435 releases it was only set for bidirectional random-access ports.
5437 ** Port internals: the seek ptob procedure is now responsible for
5438 resetting the buffers if required. The change was made so that in the
5439 special case of reading the current position (i.e., seek p 0 SEEK_CUR)
5440 the fport and strport ptobs can avoid resetting the buffers,
5441 in particular to avoid discarding unread chars. An existing port
5442 type can be fixed by adding something like the following to the
5443 beginning of the ptob seek procedure:
5445 if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_READ)
5446 scm_end_input (object);
5447 else if (pt->rw_active == SCM_PORT_WRITE)
5448 ptob->flush (object);
5450 although to actually avoid resetting the buffers and discard unread
5451 chars requires further hacking that depends on the characteristics
5454 ** Deprecated functions: scm_fseek, scm_tag
5456 These functions are no longer used and will be removed in a future version.
5458 ** The scm_sysmissing procedure is no longer used in libguile.
5459 Unless it turns out to be unexpectedly useful to somebody, it will be
5460 removed in a future version.
5462 ** The format of error message strings has changed
5464 The two C procedures: scm_display_error and scm_error, as well as the
5465 primitive `scm-error', now use scm_simple_format to do their work.
5466 This means that the message strings of all code must be updated to use
5467 ~A where %s was used before, and ~S where %S was used before.
5469 During the period when there still are a lot of old Guiles out there,
5470 you might want to support both old and new versions of Guile.
5472 There are basically two methods to achieve this. Both methods use
5475 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(scm_simple_format)
5477 in your configure.in.
5479 Method 1: Use the string concatenation features of ANSI C's
5484 #ifdef HAVE_SCM_SIMPLE_FORMAT
5490 Then represent each of your error messages using a preprocessor macro:
5492 #define E_SPIDER_ERROR "There's a spider in your " ## FMT_S ## "!!!"
5496 (define fmt-s (if (defined? 'simple-format) "~S" "%S"))
5497 (define make-message string-append)
5499 (define e-spider-error (make-message "There's a spider in your " fmt-s "!!!"))
5501 Method 2: Use the oldfmt function found in doc/oldfmt.c.
5505 scm_misc_error ("picnic", scm_c_oldfmt0 ("There's a spider in your ~S!!!"),
5510 (scm-error 'misc-error "picnic" (oldfmt "There's a spider in your ~S!!!")
5514 ** Deprecated: coop_mutex_init, coop_condition_variable_init
5516 Don't use the functions coop_mutex_init and
5517 coop_condition_variable_init. They will change.
5519 Use scm_mutex_init and scm_cond_init instead.
5521 ** New function: int scm_cond_timedwait (scm_cond_t *COND, scm_mutex_t *MUTEX, const struct timespec *ABSTIME)
5522 `scm_cond_timedwait' atomically unlocks MUTEX and waits on
5523 COND, as `scm_cond_wait' does, but it also bounds the duration
5524 of the wait. If COND has not been signaled before time ABSTIME,
5525 the mutex MUTEX is re-acquired and `scm_cond_timedwait'
5526 returns the error code `ETIMEDOUT'.
5528 The ABSTIME parameter specifies an absolute time, with the same
5529 origin as `time' and `gettimeofday': an ABSTIME of 0 corresponds
5530 to 00:00:00 GMT, January 1, 1970.
5532 ** New function: scm_cond_broadcast (scm_cond_t *COND)
5533 `scm_cond_broadcast' restarts all the threads that are waiting
5534 on the condition variable COND. Nothing happens if no threads are
5537 ** New function: scm_key_create (scm_key_t *KEY, void (*destr_function) (void *))
5538 `scm_key_create' allocates a new TSD key. The key is stored in
5539 the location pointed to by KEY. There is no limit on the number
5540 of keys allocated at a given time. The value initially associated
5541 with the returned key is `NULL' in all currently executing threads.
5543 The DESTR_FUNCTION argument, if not `NULL', specifies a destructor
5544 function associated with the key. When a thread terminates,
5545 DESTR_FUNCTION is called on the value associated with the key in
5546 that thread. The DESTR_FUNCTION is not called if a key is deleted
5547 with `scm_key_delete' or a value is changed with
5548 `scm_setspecific'. The order in which destructor functions are
5549 called at thread termination time is unspecified.
5551 Destructors are not yet implemented.
5553 ** New function: scm_setspecific (scm_key_t KEY, const void *POINTER)
5554 `scm_setspecific' changes the value associated with KEY in the
5555 calling thread, storing the given POINTER instead.
5557 ** New function: scm_getspecific (scm_key_t KEY)
5558 `scm_getspecific' returns the value currently associated with
5559 KEY in the calling thread.
5561 ** New function: scm_key_delete (scm_key_t KEY)
5562 `scm_key_delete' deallocates a TSD key. It does not check
5563 whether non-`NULL' values are associated with that key in the
5564 currently executing threads, nor call the destructor function
5565 associated with the key.
5567 ** New function: scm_c_hook_init (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *HOOK_DATA, scm_c_hook_type_t TYPE)
5569 Initialize a C level hook HOOK with associated HOOK_DATA and type
5570 TYPE. (See scm_c_hook_run ().)
5572 ** New function: scm_c_hook_add (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA, int APPENDP)
5574 Add hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA to HOOK. If APPENDP
5575 is true, add it last, otherwise first. The same FUNC can be added
5576 multiple times if FUNC_DATA differ and vice versa.
5578 ** New function: scm_c_hook_remove (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, scm_c_hook_function_t FUNC, void *FUNC_DATA)
5580 Remove hook function FUNC with associated FUNC_DATA from HOOK. A
5581 function is only removed if both FUNC and FUNC_DATA matches.
5583 ** New function: void *scm_c_hook_run (scm_c_hook_t *HOOK, void *DATA)
5585 Run hook HOOK passing DATA to the hook functions.
5587 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_NORMAL, all hook functions are run. The value
5588 returned is undefined.
5590 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_OR, hook functions are run until a function
5591 returns a non-NULL value. This value is returned as the result of
5592 scm_c_hook_run. If all functions return NULL, NULL is returned.
5594 If TYPE is SCM_C_HOOK_AND, hook functions are run until a function
5595 returns a NULL value, and NULL is returned. If all functions returns
5596 a non-NULL value, the last value is returned.
5598 ** New C level GC hooks
5600 Five new C level hooks has been added to the garbage collector.
5602 scm_before_gc_c_hook
5605 are run before locking and after unlocking the heap. The system is
5606 thus in a mode where evaluation can take place. (Except that
5607 scm_before_gc_c_hook must not allocate new cells.)
5609 scm_before_mark_c_hook
5610 scm_before_sweep_c_hook
5611 scm_after_sweep_c_hook
5613 are run when the heap is locked. These are intended for extension of
5614 the GC in a modular fashion. Examples are the weaks and guardians
5617 ** Way for application to customize GC parameters
5619 The application can set up other default values for the GC heap
5620 allocation parameters
5622 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_1, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_1,
5623 GUILE_INIT_HEAP_SIZE_2, GUILE_MIN_YIELD_2,
5624 GUILE_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE,
5628 scm_default_init_heap_size_1, scm_default_min_yield_1,
5629 scm_default_init_heap_size_2, scm_default_min_yield_2,
5630 scm_default_max_segment_size
5632 respectively before callong scm_boot_guile.
5634 (See entry "New environment variables ..." in section
5635 "Changes to the stand-alone interpreter" above.)
5637 ** scm_protect_object/scm_unprotect_object now nest
5639 This means that you can call scm_protect_object multiple times on an
5640 object and count on the object being protected until
5641 scm_unprotect_object has been call the same number of times.
5643 The functions also have better time complexity.
5645 Still, it is usually possible to structure the application in a way
5646 that you don't need to use these functions. For example, if you use a
5647 protected standard Guile list to keep track of live objects rather
5648 than some custom data type, objects will die a natural death when they
5649 are no longer needed.
5651 ** Deprecated type tags: scm_tc16_flo, scm_tc_flo, scm_tc_dblr, scm_tc_dblc
5653 Guile does not provide the float representation for inexact real numbers any
5654 more. Now, only doubles are used to represent inexact real numbers. Further,
5655 the tag names scm_tc_dblr and scm_tc_dblc have been changed to scm_tc16_real
5656 and scm_tc16_complex, respectively.
5658 ** Removed deprecated type scm_smobfuns
5660 ** Removed deprecated function scm_newsmob
5662 ** Warning: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe might become deprecated in a future release
5664 There is an ongoing discussion among the developers whether to
5665 deprecate `scm_make_smob_type_mfpe' or not. Please use the current
5666 standard interface (scm_make_smob_type, scm_set_smob_XXX) in new code
5667 until this issue has been settled.
5669 ** Removed deprecated type tag scm_tc16_kw
5671 ** Added type tag scm_tc16_keyword
5673 (This was introduced already in release 1.3.4 but was not documented
5676 ** gdb_print now prints "*** Guile not initialized ***" until Guile initialized
5678 * Changes to system call interfaces:
5680 ** The "select" procedure now tests port buffers for the ability to
5681 provide input or accept output. Previously only the underlying file
5682 descriptors were checked.
5684 ** New variable PIPE_BUF: the maximum number of bytes that can be
5685 atomically written to a pipe.
5687 ** If a facility is not available on the system when Guile is
5688 compiled, the corresponding primitive procedure will not be defined.
5689 Previously it would have been defined but would throw a system-error
5690 exception if called. Exception handlers which catch this case may
5691 need minor modification: an error will be thrown with key
5692 'unbound-variable instead of 'system-error. Alternatively it's
5693 now possible to use `defined?' to check whether the facility is
5696 ** Procedures which depend on the timezone should now give the correct
5697 result on systems which cache the TZ environment variable, even if TZ
5698 is changed without calling tzset.
5700 * Changes to the networking interfaces:
5702 ** New functions: htons, ntohs, htonl, ntohl: for converting short and
5703 long integers between network and host format. For now, it's not
5704 particularly convenient to do this kind of thing, but consider:
5706 (define write-network-long
5707 (lambda (value port)
5708 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
5709 (uniform-vector-set! v 0 (htonl value))
5710 (uniform-vector-write v port))))
5712 (define read-network-long
5714 (let ((v (make-uniform-vector 1 1 0)))
5715 (uniform-vector-read! v port)
5716 (ntohl (uniform-vector-ref v 0)))))
5718 ** If inet-aton fails, it now throws an error with key 'misc-error
5719 instead of 'system-error, since errno is not relevant.
5721 ** Certain gethostbyname/gethostbyaddr failures now throw errors with
5722 specific keys instead of 'system-error. The latter is inappropriate
5723 since errno will not have been set. The keys are:
5724 'host-not-found, 'try-again, 'no-recovery and 'no-data.
5726 ** sethostent, setnetent, setprotoent, setservent: now take an
5727 optional argument STAYOPEN, which specifies whether the database
5728 remains open after a database entry is accessed randomly (e.g., using
5729 gethostbyname for the hosts database.) The default is #f. Previously
5733 Changes since Guile 1.3.2:
5735 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
5739 An initial version of the Guile debugger written by Chris Hanson has
5740 been added. The debugger is still under development but is included
5741 in the distribution anyway since it is already quite useful.
5747 after an error to enter the debugger. Type `help' inside the debugger
5748 for a description of available commands.
5750 If you prefer to have stack frames numbered and printed in
5751 anti-chronological order and prefer up in the stack to be down on the
5752 screen as is the case in gdb, you can put
5754 (debug-enable 'backwards)
5756 in your .guile startup file. (However, this means that Guile can't
5757 use indentation to indicate stack level.)
5759 The debugger is autoloaded into Guile at the first use.
5761 ** Further enhancements to backtraces
5763 There is a new debug option `width' which controls the maximum width
5764 on the screen of printed stack frames. Fancy printing parameters
5765 ("level" and "length" as in Common LISP) are adaptively adjusted for
5766 each stack frame to give maximum information while still fitting
5767 within the bounds. If the stack frame can't be made to fit by
5768 adjusting parameters, it is simply cut off at the end. This is marked
5771 ** Some modules are now only loaded when the repl is started
5773 The modules (ice-9 debug), (ice-9 session), (ice-9 threads) and (ice-9
5774 regex) are now loaded into (guile-user) only if the repl has been
5775 started. The effect is that the startup time for scripts has been
5776 reduced to 30% of what it was previously.
5778 Correctly written scripts load the modules they require at the top of
5779 the file and should not be affected by this change.
5781 ** Hooks are now represented as smobs
5783 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
5785 ** Readline support has changed again.
5787 The old (readline-activator) module is gone. Use (ice-9 readline)
5788 instead, which now contains all readline functionality. So the code
5789 to activate readline is now
5791 (use-modules (ice-9 readline))
5794 This should work at any time, including from the guile prompt.
5796 To avoid confusion about the terms of Guile's license, please only
5797 enable readline for your personal use; please don't make it the
5798 default for others. Here is why we make this rather odd-sounding
5801 Guile is normally licensed under a weakened form of the GNU General
5802 Public License, which allows you to link code with Guile without
5803 placing that code under the GPL. This exception is important to some
5806 However, since readline is distributed under the GNU General Public
5807 License, when you link Guile with readline, either statically or
5808 dynamically, you effectively change Guile's license to the strict GPL.
5809 Whenever you link any strictly GPL'd code into Guile, uses of Guile
5810 which are normally permitted become forbidden. This is a rather
5811 non-obvious consequence of the licensing terms.
5813 So, to make sure things remain clear, please let people choose for
5814 themselves whether to link GPL'd libraries like readline with Guile.
5816 ** regexp-substitute/global has changed slightly, but incompatibly.
5818 If you include a function in the item list, the string of the match
5819 object it receives is the same string passed to
5820 regexp-substitute/global, not some suffix of that string.
5821 Correspondingly, the match's positions are relative to the entire
5822 string, not the suffix.
5824 If the regexp can match the empty string, the way matches are chosen
5825 from the string has changed. regexp-substitute/global recognizes the
5826 same set of matches that list-matches does; see below.
5828 ** New function: list-matches REGEXP STRING [FLAGS]
5830 Return a list of match objects, one for every non-overlapping, maximal
5831 match of REGEXP in STRING. The matches appear in left-to-right order.
5832 list-matches only reports matches of the empty string if there are no
5833 other matches which begin on, end at, or include the empty match's
5836 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
5838 ** New function: fold-matches REGEXP STRING INIT PROC [FLAGS]
5840 For each match of REGEXP in STRING, apply PROC to the match object,
5841 and the last value PROC returned, or INIT for the first call. Return
5842 the last value returned by PROC. We apply PROC to the matches as they
5843 appear from left to right.
5845 This function recognizes matches according to the same criteria as
5848 Thus, you could define list-matches like this:
5850 (define (list-matches regexp string . flags)
5851 (reverse! (apply fold-matches regexp string '() cons flags)))
5853 If present, FLAGS is passed as the FLAGS argument to regexp-exec.
5857 *** New function: hook? OBJ
5859 Return #t if OBJ is a hook, otherwise #f.
5861 *** New function: make-hook-with-name NAME [ARITY]
5863 Return a hook with name NAME and arity ARITY. The default value for
5864 ARITY is 0. The only effect of NAME is that it will appear when the
5865 hook object is printed to ease debugging.
5867 *** New function: hook-empty? HOOK
5869 Return #t if HOOK doesn't contain any procedures, otherwise #f.
5871 *** New function: hook->list HOOK
5873 Return a list of the procedures that are called when run-hook is
5876 ** `map' signals an error if its argument lists are not all the same length.
5878 This is the behavior required by R5RS, so this change is really a bug
5879 fix. But it seems to affect a lot of people's code, so we're
5880 mentioning it here anyway.
5882 ** Print-state handling has been made more transparent
5884 Under certain circumstances, ports are represented as a port with an
5885 associated print state. Earlier, this pair was represented as a pair
5886 (see "Some magic has been added to the printer" below). It is now
5887 indistinguishable (almost; see `get-print-state') from a port on the
5890 *** New function: port-with-print-state OUTPUT-PORT PRINT-STATE
5892 Return a new port with the associated print state PRINT-STATE.
5894 *** New function: get-print-state OUTPUT-PORT
5896 Return the print state associated with this port if it exists,
5897 otherwise return #f.
5899 *** New function: directory-stream? OBJECT
5901 Returns true iff OBJECT is a directory stream --- the sort of object
5902 returned by `opendir'.
5904 ** New function: using-readline?
5906 Return #t if readline is in use in the current repl.
5908 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
5910 Structs will be replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into Guile
5911 and use GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
5913 * Changes to the scm_ interface
5915 ** structs will be removed in 1.4
5917 The entire current struct interface (struct.c, struct.h) will be
5918 replaced in Guile 1.4. We will merge GOOPS into libguile and use
5919 GOOPS objects as the fundamental record type.
5921 ** The internal representation of subr's has changed
5923 Instead of giving a hint to the subr name, the CAR field of the subr
5924 now contains an index to a subr entry in scm_subr_table.
5926 *** New variable: scm_subr_table
5928 An array of subr entries. A subr entry contains the name, properties
5929 and documentation associated with the subr. The properties and
5930 documentation slots are not yet used.
5932 ** A new scheme for "forwarding" calls to a builtin to a generic function
5934 It is now possible to extend the functionality of some Guile
5935 primitives by letting them defer a call to a GOOPS generic function on
5936 argument mismatch. This means that there is no loss of efficiency in
5941 (use-modules (oop goops)) ; Must be GOOPS version 0.2.
5942 (define-method + ((x <string>) (y <string>))
5943 (string-append x y))
5945 + will still be as efficient as usual in numerical calculations, but
5946 can also be used for concatenating strings.
5948 Who will be the first one to extend Guile's numerical tower to
5949 rationals? :) [OK, there a few other things to fix before this can
5950 be made in a clean way.]
5952 *** New snarf macros for defining primitives: SCM_GPROC, SCM_GPROC1
5954 New macro: SCM_GPROC (CNAME, SNAME, REQ, OPT, VAR, CFUNC, GENERIC)
5956 New macro: SCM_GPROC1 (CNAME, SNAME, TYPE, CFUNC, GENERIC)
5958 These do the same job as SCM_PROC and SCM_PROC1, but they also define
5959 a variable GENERIC which can be used by the dispatch macros below.
5961 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
5963 *** New macros for forwarding control to a generic on arg type error
5965 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_1 (GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
5967 New macro: SCM_WTA_DISPATCH_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
5969 These correspond to the scm_wta function call, and have the same
5970 behaviour until the user has called the GOOPS primitive
5971 `enable-primitive-generic!'. After that, these macros will apply the
5972 generic function GENERIC to the argument(s) instead of calling
5975 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
5977 *** New macros for argument testing with generic dispatch
5979 New macro: SCM_GASSERT1 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, POS, SUBR)
5981 New macro: SCM_GASSERT2 (COND, GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, POS, SUBR)
5983 These correspond to the SCM_ASSERT macro, but will defer control to
5984 GENERIC on error after `enable-primitive-generic!' has been called.
5986 [This is experimental code which may change soon.]
5988 ** New function: SCM scm_eval_body (SCM body, SCM env)
5990 Evaluates the body of a special form.
5992 ** The internal representation of struct's has changed
5994 Previously, four slots were allocated for the procedure(s) of entities
5995 and operators. The motivation for this representation had to do with
5996 the structure of the evaluator, the wish to support tail-recursive
5997 generic functions, and efficiency. Since the generic function
5998 dispatch mechanism has changed, there is no longer a need for such an
5999 expensive representation, and the representation has been simplified.
6001 This should not make any difference for most users.
6003 ** GOOPS support has been cleaned up.
6005 Some code has been moved from eval.c to objects.c and code in both of
6006 these compilation units has been cleaned up and better structured.
6008 *** New functions for applying generic functions
6010 New function: SCM scm_apply_generic (GENERIC, ARGS)
6011 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_0 (GENERIC)
6012 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_1 (GENERIC, ARG1)
6013 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_2 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2)
6014 New function: SCM scm_call_generic_3 (GENERIC, ARG1, ARG2, ARG3)
6016 ** Deprecated function: scm_make_named_hook
6018 It is now replaced by:
6020 ** New function: SCM scm_create_hook (const char *name, int arity)
6022 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
6023 binds a variable named NAME to it.
6025 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
6027 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module.
6028 This might change when we get the new module system.
6030 [The behaviour is identical to scm_make_named_hook.]
6034 Changes since Guile 1.3:
6036 * Changes to mailing lists
6038 ** Some of the Guile mailing lists have moved to sourceware.cygnus.com.
6040 See the README file to find current addresses for all the Guile
6043 * Changes to the distribution
6045 ** Readline support is no longer included with Guile by default.
6047 Based on the different license terms of Guile and Readline, we
6048 concluded that Guile should not *by default* cause the linking of
6049 Readline into an application program. Readline support is now offered
6050 as a separate module, which is linked into an application only when
6051 you explicitly specify it.
6053 Although Guile is GNU software, its distribution terms add a special
6054 exception to the usual GNU General Public License (GPL). Guile's
6055 license includes a clause that allows you to link Guile with non-free
6056 programs. We add this exception so as not to put Guile at a
6057 disadvantage vis-a-vis other extensibility packages that support other
6060 In contrast, the GNU Readline library is distributed under the GNU
6061 General Public License pure and simple. This means that you may not
6062 link Readline, even dynamically, into an application unless it is
6063 distributed under a free software license that is compatible the GPL.
6065 Because of this difference in distribution terms, an application that
6066 can use Guile may not be able to use Readline. Now users will be
6067 explicitly offered two independent decisions about the use of these
6070 You can activate the readline support by issuing
6072 (use-modules (readline-activator))
6075 from your ".guile" file, for example.
6077 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
6079 ** All builtins now print as primitives.
6080 Previously builtin procedures not belonging to the fundamental subr
6081 types printed as #<compiled closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>.
6082 Now, they print as #<primitive-procedure NAME>.
6084 ** Backtraces slightly more intelligible.
6085 gsubr-apply and macro transformer application frames no longer appear
6088 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
6090 ** Guile now correctly handles internal defines by rewriting them into
6091 their equivalent letrec. Previously, internal defines would
6092 incrementally add to the innermost environment, without checking
6093 whether the restrictions specified in RnRS were met. This lead to the
6094 correct behaviour when these restriction actually were met, but didn't
6095 catch all illegal uses. Such an illegal use could lead to crashes of
6096 the Guile interpreter or or other unwanted results. An example of
6097 incorrect internal defines that made Guile behave erratically:
6109 The problem with this example is that the definition of `c' uses the
6110 value of `b' directly. This confuses the meoization machine of Guile
6111 so that the second call of `b' (this time in a larger environment that
6112 also contains bindings for `c' and `d') refers to the binding of `c'
6113 instead of `a'. You could also make Guile crash with a variation on
6118 (define (b flag) (if flag a 1))
6119 (define c (1+ (b flag)))
6127 From now on, Guile will issue an `Unbound variable: b' error message
6132 A hook contains a list of functions which should be called on
6133 particular occasions in an existing program. Hooks are used for
6136 A window manager might have a hook before-window-map-hook. The window
6137 manager uses the function run-hooks to call all functions stored in
6138 before-window-map-hook each time a window is mapped. The user can
6139 store functions in the hook using add-hook!.
6141 In Guile, hooks are first class objects.
6143 *** New function: make-hook [N_ARGS]
6145 Return a hook for hook functions which can take N_ARGS arguments.
6146 The default value for N_ARGS is 0.
6148 (See also scm_make_named_hook below.)
6150 *** New function: add-hook! HOOK PROC [APPEND_P]
6152 Put PROC at the beginning of the list of functions stored in HOOK.
6153 If APPEND_P is supplied, and non-false, put PROC at the end instead.
6155 PROC must be able to take the number of arguments specified when the
6158 If PROC already exists in HOOK, then remove it first.
6160 *** New function: remove-hook! HOOK PROC
6162 Remove PROC from the list of functions in HOOK.
6164 *** New function: reset-hook! HOOK
6166 Clear the list of hook functions stored in HOOK.
6168 *** New function: run-hook HOOK ARG1 ...
6170 Run all hook functions stored in HOOK with arguments ARG1 ... .
6171 The number of arguments supplied must correspond to the number given
6172 when the hook was created.
6174 ** The function `dynamic-link' now takes optional keyword arguments.
6175 The only keyword argument that is currently defined is `:global
6176 BOOL'. With it, you can control whether the shared library will be
6177 linked in global mode or not. In global mode, the symbols from the
6178 linked library can be used to resolve references from other
6179 dynamically linked libraries. In non-global mode, the linked
6180 library is essentially invisible and can only be accessed via
6181 `dynamic-func', etc. The default is now to link in global mode.
6182 Previously, the default has been non-global mode.
6184 The `#:global' keyword is only effective on platforms that support
6185 the dlopen family of functions.
6187 ** New function `provided?'
6189 - Function: provided? FEATURE
6190 Return true iff FEATURE is supported by this installation of
6191 Guile. FEATURE must be a symbol naming a feature; the global
6192 variable `*features*' is a list of available features.
6194 ** Changes to the module (ice-9 expect):
6196 *** The expect-strings macro now matches `$' in a regular expression
6197 only at a line-break or end-of-file by default. Previously it would
6198 match the end of the string accumulated so far. The old behaviour
6199 can be obtained by setting the variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
6202 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable `expect-strings-exec-flags'
6203 for the regexp-exec flags. If `regexp/noteol' is included, then `$'
6204 in a regular expression will still match before a line-break or
6205 end-of-file. The default is `regexp/noteol'.
6207 *** The expect-strings macro now uses a variable
6208 `expect-strings-compile-flags' for the flags to be supplied to
6209 `make-regexp'. The default is `regexp/newline', which was previously
6212 *** The expect macro now supplies two arguments to a match procedure:
6213 the current accumulated string and a flag to indicate whether
6214 end-of-file has been reached. Previously only the string was supplied.
6215 If end-of-file is reached, the match procedure will be called an
6216 additional time with the same accumulated string as the previous call
6217 but with the flag set.
6219 ** New module (ice-9 format), implementing the Common Lisp `format' function.
6221 This code, and the documentation for it that appears here, was
6222 borrowed from SLIB, with minor adaptations for Guile.
6224 - Function: format DESTINATION FORMAT-STRING . ARGUMENTS
6225 An almost complete implementation of Common LISP format description
6226 according to the CL reference book `Common LISP' from Guy L.
6227 Steele, Digital Press. Backward compatible to most of the
6228 available Scheme format implementations.
6230 Returns `#t', `#f' or a string; has side effect of printing
6231 according to FORMAT-STRING. If DESTINATION is `#t', the output is
6232 to the current output port and `#t' is returned. If DESTINATION
6233 is `#f', a formatted string is returned as the result of the call.
6234 NEW: If DESTINATION is a string, DESTINATION is regarded as the
6235 format string; FORMAT-STRING is then the first argument and the
6236 output is returned as a string. If DESTINATION is a number, the
6237 output is to the current error port if available by the
6238 implementation. Otherwise DESTINATION must be an output port and
6241 FORMAT-STRING must be a string. In case of a formatting error
6242 format returns `#f' and prints a message on the current output or
6243 error port. Characters are output as if the string were output by
6244 the `display' function with the exception of those prefixed by a
6245 tilde (~). For a detailed description of the FORMAT-STRING syntax
6246 please consult a Common LISP format reference manual. For a test
6247 suite to verify this format implementation load `formatst.scm'.
6248 Please send bug reports to `lutzeb@cs.tu-berlin.de'.
6250 Note: `format' is not reentrant, i.e. only one `format'-call may
6251 be executed at a time.
6254 *** Format Specification (Format version 3.0)
6256 Please consult a Common LISP format reference manual for a detailed
6257 description of the format string syntax. For a demonstration of the
6258 implemented directives see `formatst.scm'.
6260 This implementation supports directive parameters and modifiers (`:'
6261 and `@' characters). Multiple parameters must be separated by a comma
6262 (`,'). Parameters can be numerical parameters (positive or negative),
6263 character parameters (prefixed by a quote character (`''), variable
6264 parameters (`v'), number of rest arguments parameter (`#'), empty and
6265 default parameters. Directive characters are case independent. The
6266 general form of a directive is:
6268 DIRECTIVE ::= ~{DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER,}[:][@]DIRECTIVE-CHARACTER
6270 DIRECTIVE-PARAMETER ::= [ [-|+]{0-9}+ | 'CHARACTER | v | # ]
6272 *** Implemented CL Format Control Directives
6274 Documentation syntax: Uppercase characters represent the
6275 corresponding control directive characters. Lowercase characters
6276 represent control directive parameter descriptions.
6279 Any (print as `display' does).
6283 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARA'
6287 S-expression (print as `write' does).
6291 `~MINCOL,COLINC,MINPAD,PADCHARS'
6297 print number sign always.
6300 print comma separated.
6302 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARD'
6308 print number sign always.
6311 print comma separated.
6313 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARX'
6319 print number sign always.
6322 print comma separated.
6324 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARO'
6330 print number sign always.
6333 print comma separated.
6335 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARB'
6340 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHARR'
6344 print a number as a Roman numeral.
6347 print a number as an "old fashioned" Roman numeral.
6350 print a number as an ordinal English number.
6353 print a number as a cardinal English number.
6358 prints `y' and `ies'.
6361 as `~P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
6364 as `~@P but jumps 1 argument backward.'
6369 prints a character as the reader can understand it (i.e. `#\'
6373 prints a character as emacs does (eg. `^C' for ASCII 03).
6376 Fixed-format floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN).
6377 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHARF'
6379 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
6382 Exponential floating-point (prints a flonum like MMM.NNN`E'EE).
6383 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARE'
6385 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
6388 General floating-point (prints a flonum either fixed or
6390 `~WIDTH,DIGITS,EXPONENTDIGITS,SCALE,OVERFLOWCHAR,PADCHAR,EXPONENTCHARG'
6392 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
6395 Dollars floating-point (prints a flonum in fixed with signs
6397 `~DIGITS,SCALE,WIDTH,PADCHAR$'
6399 If the number is positive a plus sign is printed.
6402 A sign is always printed and appears before the padding.
6405 The sign appears before the padding.
6413 print newline if not at the beginning of the output line.
6415 prints `~&' and then N-1 newlines.
6420 print N page separators.
6430 newline is ignored, white space left.
6433 newline is left, white space ignored.
6438 relative tabulation.
6444 Indirection (expects indirect arguments as a list).
6446 extracts indirect arguments from format arguments.
6449 Case conversion (converts by `string-downcase').
6451 converts by `string-capitalize'.
6454 converts by `string-capitalize-first'.
6457 converts by `string-upcase'.
6460 Argument Jumping (jumps 1 argument forward).
6462 jumps N arguments forward.
6465 jumps 1 argument backward.
6468 jumps N arguments backward.
6471 jumps to the 0th argument.
6474 jumps to the Nth argument (beginning from 0)
6476 `~[STR0~;STR1~;...~;STRN~]'
6477 Conditional Expression (numerical clause conditional).
6479 take argument from N.
6482 true test conditional.
6485 if-else-then conditional.
6491 default clause follows.
6494 Iteration (args come from the next argument (a list)).
6496 at most N iterations.
6499 args from next arg (a list of lists).
6502 args from the rest of arguments.
6505 args from the rest args (lists).
6516 aborts if N <= M <= K
6518 *** Not Implemented CL Format Control Directives
6521 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
6524 print `#f' as an empty list (see below).
6530 (sorry I don't understand its semantics completely)
6532 *** Extended, Replaced and Additional Control Directives
6534 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHD'
6535 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHX'
6536 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHO'
6537 `~MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHB'
6538 `~N,MINCOL,PADCHAR,COMMACHAR,COMMAWIDTHR'
6539 COMMAWIDTH is the number of characters between two comma
6543 print a R4RS complex number as `~F~@Fi' with passed parameters for
6547 Pretty print formatting of an argument for scheme code lists.
6553 Flushes the output if format DESTINATION is a port.
6556 Print a `#\space' character
6558 print N `#\space' characters.
6561 Print a `#\tab' character
6563 print N `#\tab' characters.
6566 Takes N as an integer representation for a character. No arguments
6567 are consumed. N is converted to a character by `integer->char'. N
6568 must be a positive decimal number.
6571 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
6572 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
6573 be processed by `read'.
6576 Print out readproof. Prints out internal objects represented as
6577 `#<...>' as strings `"#<...>"' so that the format output can always
6578 be processed by `read'.
6581 Prints information and a copyright notice on the format
6584 prints format version.
6587 may also print number strings, i.e. passing a number as a string
6588 and format it accordingly.
6590 *** Configuration Variables
6592 The format module exports some configuration variables to suit the
6593 systems and users needs. There should be no modification necessary for
6594 the configuration that comes with Guile. Format detects automatically
6595 if the running scheme system implements floating point numbers and
6598 format:symbol-case-conv
6599 Symbols are converted by `symbol->string' so the case type of the
6600 printed symbols is implementation dependent.
6601 `format:symbol-case-conv' is a one arg closure which is either
6602 `#f' (no conversion), `string-upcase', `string-downcase' or
6603 `string-capitalize'. (default `#f')
6605 format:iobj-case-conv
6606 As FORMAT:SYMBOL-CASE-CONV but applies for the representation of
6607 implementation internal objects. (default `#f')
6610 The character prefixing the exponent value in `~E' printing.
6613 *** Compatibility With Other Format Implementations
6619 Downward compatible except for padding support and `~A', `~S',
6620 `~P', `~X' uppercase printing. SLIB format 1.4 uses C-style
6621 `printf' padding support which is completely replaced by the CL
6622 `format' padding style.
6625 Downward compatible except for `~', which is not documented
6626 (ignores all characters inside the format string up to a newline
6627 character). (7.1 implements `~a', `~s', ~NEWLINE, `~~', `~%',
6628 numerical and variable parameters and `:/@' modifiers in the CL
6632 Downward compatible except for `~A' and `~S' which print in
6633 uppercase. (Elk implements `~a', `~s', `~~', and `~%' (no
6634 directive parameters or modifiers)).
6637 Downward compatible except for an optional destination parameter:
6638 S2C accepts a format call without a destination which returns a
6639 formatted string. This is equivalent to a #f destination in S2C.
6640 (S2C implements `~a', `~s', `~c', `~%', and `~~' (no directive
6641 parameters or modifiers)).
6644 ** Changes to string-handling functions.
6646 These functions were added to support the (ice-9 format) module, above.
6648 *** New function: string-upcase STRING
6649 *** New function: string-downcase STRING
6651 These are non-destructive versions of the existing string-upcase! and
6652 string-downcase! functions.
6654 *** New function: string-capitalize! STRING
6655 *** New function: string-capitalize STRING
6657 These functions convert the first letter of each word in the string to
6660 (string-capitalize "howdy there")
6663 As with the other functions, string-capitalize! modifies the string in
6664 place, while string-capitalize returns a modified copy of its argument.
6666 *** New function: string-ci->symbol STRING
6668 Return a symbol whose name is STRING, but having the same case as if
6669 the symbol had be read by `read'.
6671 Guile can be configured to be sensitive or insensitive to case
6672 differences in Scheme identifiers. If Guile is case-insensitive, all
6673 symbols are converted to lower case on input. The `string-ci->symbol'
6674 function returns a symbol whose name in STRING, transformed as Guile
6675 would if STRING were input.
6677 *** New function: substring-move! STRING1 START END STRING2 START
6679 Copy the substring of STRING1 from START (inclusive) to END
6680 (exclusive) to STRING2 at START. STRING1 and STRING2 may be the same
6681 string, and the source and destination areas may overlap; in all
6682 cases, the function behaves as if all the characters were copied
6685 *** Extended functions: substring-move-left! substring-move-right!
6687 These functions now correctly copy arbitrarily overlapping substrings;
6688 they are both synonyms for substring-move!.
6691 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-long), with the function `getopt-long'.
6693 getopt-long is a function for parsing command-line arguments in a
6694 manner consistent with other GNU programs.
6696 (getopt-long ARGS GRAMMAR)
6697 Parse the arguments ARGS according to the argument list grammar GRAMMAR.
6699 ARGS should be a list of strings. Its first element should be the
6700 name of the program; subsequent elements should be the arguments
6701 that were passed to the program on the command line. The
6702 `program-arguments' procedure returns a list of this form.
6704 GRAMMAR is a list of the form:
6705 ((OPTION (PROPERTY VALUE) ...) ...)
6707 Each OPTION should be a symbol. `getopt-long' will accept a
6708 command-line option named `--OPTION'.
6709 Each option can have the following (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs:
6711 (single-char CHAR) --- Accept `-CHAR' as a single-character
6712 equivalent to `--OPTION'. This is how to specify traditional
6714 (required? BOOL) --- If BOOL is true, the option is required.
6715 getopt-long will raise an error if it is not found in ARGS.
6716 (value BOOL) --- If BOOL is #t, the option accepts a value; if
6717 it is #f, it does not; and if it is the symbol
6718 `optional', the option may appear in ARGS with or
6720 (predicate FUNC) --- If the option accepts a value (i.e. you
6721 specified `(value #t)' for this option), then getopt
6722 will apply FUNC to the value, and throw an exception
6723 if it returns #f. FUNC should be a procedure which
6724 accepts a string and returns a boolean value; you may
6725 need to use quasiquotes to get it into GRAMMAR.
6727 The (PROPERTY VALUE) pairs may occur in any order, but each
6728 property may occur only once. By default, options do not have
6729 single-character equivalents, are not required, and do not take
6732 In ARGS, single-character options may be combined, in the usual
6733 Unix fashion: ("-x" "-y") is equivalent to ("-xy"). If an option
6734 accepts values, then it must be the last option in the
6735 combination; the value is the next argument. So, for example, using
6736 the following grammar:
6737 ((apples (single-char #\a))
6738 (blimps (single-char #\b) (value #t))
6739 (catalexis (single-char #\c) (value #t)))
6740 the following argument lists would be acceptable:
6741 ("-a" "-b" "bang" "-c" "couth") ("bang" and "couth" are the values
6742 for "blimps" and "catalexis")
6743 ("-ab" "bang" "-c" "couth") (same)
6744 ("-ac" "couth" "-b" "bang") (same)
6745 ("-abc" "couth" "bang") (an error, since `-b' is not the
6746 last option in its combination)
6748 If an option's value is optional, then `getopt-long' decides
6749 whether it has a value by looking at what follows it in ARGS. If
6750 the next element is a string, and it does not appear to be an
6751 option itself, then that string is the option's value.
6753 The value of a long option can appear as the next element in ARGS,
6754 or it can follow the option name, separated by an `=' character.
6755 Thus, using the same grammar as above, the following argument lists
6757 ("--apples" "Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
6758 ("--apples=Braeburn" "--blimps" "Goodyear")
6759 ("--blimps" "Goodyear" "--apples=Braeburn")
6761 If the option "--" appears in ARGS, argument parsing stops there;
6762 subsequent arguments are returned as ordinary arguments, even if
6763 they resemble options. So, in the argument list:
6764 ("--apples" "Granny Smith" "--" "--blimp" "Goodyear")
6765 `getopt-long' will recognize the `apples' option as having the
6766 value "Granny Smith", but it will not recognize the `blimp'
6767 option; it will return the strings "--blimp" and "Goodyear" as
6768 ordinary argument strings.
6770 The `getopt-long' function returns the parsed argument list as an
6771 assocation list, mapping option names --- the symbols from GRAMMAR
6772 --- onto their values, or #t if the option does not accept a value.
6773 Unused options do not appear in the alist.
6775 All arguments that are not the value of any option are returned
6776 as a list, associated with the empty list.
6778 `getopt-long' throws an exception if:
6779 - it finds an unrecognized option in ARGS
6780 - a required option is omitted
6781 - an option that requires an argument doesn't get one
6782 - an option that doesn't accept an argument does get one (this can
6783 only happen using the long option `--opt=value' syntax)
6784 - an option predicate fails
6789 `((lockfile-dir (required? #t)
6792 (predicate ,file-is-directory?))
6793 (verbose (required? #f)
6796 (x-includes (single-char #\x))
6797 (rnet-server (single-char #\y)
6798 (predicate ,string?))))
6800 (getopt-long '("my-prog" "-vk" "/tmp" "foo1" "--x-includes=/usr/include"
6801 "--rnet-server=lamprod" "--" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
6803 => ((() "foo1" "-fred" "foo2" "foo3")
6804 (rnet-server . "lamprod")
6805 (x-includes . "/usr/include")
6806 (lockfile-dir . "/tmp")
6809 ** The (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style) module is obsolete; use (ice-9 getopt-long).
6811 It will be removed in a few releases.
6813 ** New syntax: lambda*
6814 ** New syntax: define*
6815 ** New syntax: define*-public
6816 ** New syntax: defmacro*
6817 ** New syntax: defmacro*-public
6818 Guile now supports optional arguments.
6820 `lambda*', `define*', `define*-public', `defmacro*' and
6821 `defmacro*-public' are identical to the non-* versions except that
6822 they use an extended type of parameter list that has the following BNF
6823 syntax (parentheses are literal, square brackets indicate grouping,
6824 and `*', `+' and `?' have the usual meaning):
6826 ext-param-list ::= ( [identifier]* [#&optional [ext-var-decl]+]?
6827 [#&key [ext-var-decl]+ [#&allow-other-keys]?]?
6828 [[#&rest identifier]|[. identifier]]? ) | [identifier]
6830 ext-var-decl ::= identifier | ( identifier expression )
6832 The semantics are best illustrated with the following documentation
6833 and examples for `lambda*':
6836 lambda extended for optional and keyword arguments
6838 lambda* creates a procedure that takes optional arguments. These
6839 are specified by putting them inside brackets at the end of the
6840 paramater list, but before any dotted rest argument. For example,
6841 (lambda* (a b #&optional c d . e) '())
6842 creates a procedure with fixed arguments a and b, optional arguments c
6843 and d, and rest argument e. If the optional arguments are omitted
6844 in a call, the variables for them are unbound in the procedure. This
6845 can be checked with the bound? macro.
6847 lambda* can also take keyword arguments. For example, a procedure
6849 (lambda* (#&key xyzzy larch) '())
6850 can be called with any of the argument lists (#:xyzzy 11)
6851 (#:larch 13) (#:larch 42 #:xyzzy 19) (). Whichever arguments
6852 are given as keywords are bound to values.
6854 Optional and keyword arguments can also be given default values
6855 which they take on when they are not present in a call, by giving a
6856 two-item list in place of an optional argument, for example in:
6857 (lambda* (foo #&optional (bar 42) #&key (baz 73)) (list foo bar baz))
6858 foo is a fixed argument, bar is an optional argument with default
6859 value 42, and baz is a keyword argument with default value 73.
6860 Default value expressions are not evaluated unless they are needed
6861 and until the procedure is called.
6863 lambda* now supports two more special parameter list keywords.
6865 lambda*-defined procedures now throw an error by default if a
6866 keyword other than one of those specified is found in the actual
6867 passed arguments. However, specifying #&allow-other-keys
6868 immediately after the kyword argument declarations restores the
6869 previous behavior of ignoring unknown keywords. lambda* also now
6870 guarantees that if the same keyword is passed more than once, the
6871 last one passed is the one that takes effect. For example,
6872 ((lambda* (#&key (heads 0) (tails 0)) (display (list heads tails)))
6873 #:heads 37 #:tails 42 #:heads 99)
6874 would result in (99 47) being displayed.
6876 #&rest is also now provided as a synonym for the dotted syntax rest
6877 argument. The argument lists (a . b) and (a #&rest b) are equivalent in
6878 all respects to lambda*. This is provided for more similarity to DSSSL,
6879 MIT-Scheme and Kawa among others, as well as for refugees from other
6882 Further documentation may be found in the optargs.scm file itself.
6884 The optional argument module also exports the macros `let-optional',
6885 `let-optional*', `let-keywords', `let-keywords*' and `bound?'. These
6886 are not documented here because they may be removed in the future, but
6887 full documentation is still available in optargs.scm.
6889 ** New syntax: and-let*
6890 Guile now supports the `and-let*' form, described in the draft SRFI-2.
6892 Syntax: (land* (<clause> ...) <body> ...)
6893 Each <clause> should have one of the following forms:
6894 (<variable> <expression>)
6897 Each <variable> or <bound-variable> should be an identifier. Each
6898 <expression> should be a valid expression. The <body> should be a
6899 possibly empty sequence of expressions, like the <body> of a
6902 Semantics: A LAND* expression is evaluated by evaluating the
6903 <expression> or <bound-variable> of each of the <clause>s from
6904 left to right. The value of the first <expression> or
6905 <bound-variable> that evaluates to a false value is returned; the
6906 remaining <expression>s and <bound-variable>s are not evaluated.
6907 The <body> forms are evaluated iff all the <expression>s and
6908 <bound-variable>s evaluate to true values.
6910 The <expression>s and the <body> are evaluated in an environment
6911 binding each <variable> of the preceding (<variable> <expression>)
6912 clauses to the value of the <expression>. Later bindings
6913 shadow earlier bindings.
6915 Guile's and-let* macro was contributed by Michael Livshin.
6917 ** New sorting functions
6919 *** New function: sorted? SEQUENCE LESS?
6920 Returns `#t' when the sequence argument is in non-decreasing order
6921 according to LESS? (that is, there is no adjacent pair `... x y
6922 ...' for which `(less? y x)').
6924 Returns `#f' when the sequence contains at least one out-of-order
6925 pair. It is an error if the sequence is neither a list nor a
6928 *** New function: merge LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
6929 LIST1 and LIST2 are sorted lists.
6930 Returns the sorted list of all elements in LIST1 and LIST2.
6932 Assume that the elements a and b1 in LIST1 and b2 in LIST2 are "equal"
6933 in the sense that (LESS? x y) --> #f for x, y in {a, b1, b2},
6934 and that a < b1 in LIST1. Then a < b1 < b2 in the result.
6935 (Here "<" should read "comes before".)
6937 *** New procedure: merge! LIST1 LIST2 LESS?
6938 Merges two lists, re-using the pairs of LIST1 and LIST2 to build
6939 the result. If the code is compiled, and LESS? constructs no new
6940 pairs, no pairs at all will be allocated. The first pair of the
6941 result will be either the first pair of LIST1 or the first pair of
6944 *** New function: sort SEQUENCE LESS?
6945 Accepts either a list or a vector, and returns a new sequence
6946 which is sorted. The new sequence is the same type as the input.
6947 Always `(sorted? (sort sequence less?) less?)'. The original
6948 sequence is not altered in any way. The new sequence shares its
6949 elements with the old one; no elements are copied.
6951 *** New procedure: sort! SEQUENCE LESS
6952 Returns its sorted result in the original boxes. No new storage is
6953 allocated at all. Proper usage: (set! slist (sort! slist <))
6955 *** New function: stable-sort SEQUENCE LESS?
6956 Similar to `sort' but stable. That is, if "equal" elements are
6957 ordered a < b in the original sequence, they will have the same order
6960 *** New function: stable-sort! SEQUENCE LESS?
6961 Similar to `sort!' but stable.
6962 Uses temporary storage when sorting vectors.
6964 *** New functions: sort-list, sort-list!
6965 Added for compatibility with scsh.
6967 ** New built-in random number support
6969 *** New function: random N [STATE]
6970 Accepts a positive integer or real N and returns a number of the
6971 same type between zero (inclusive) and N (exclusive). The values
6972 returned have a uniform distribution.
6974 The optional argument STATE must be of the type produced by
6975 `copy-random-state' or `seed->random-state'. It defaults to the value
6976 of the variable `*random-state*'. This object is used to maintain the
6977 state of the pseudo-random-number generator and is altered as a side
6978 effect of the `random' operation.
6980 *** New variable: *random-state*
6981 Holds a data structure that encodes the internal state of the
6982 random-number generator that `random' uses by default. The nature
6983 of this data structure is implementation-dependent. It may be
6984 printed out and successfully read back in, but may or may not
6985 function correctly as a random-number state object in another
6988 *** New function: copy-random-state [STATE]
6989 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
6990 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
6991 If argument STATE is given, a copy of it is returned. Otherwise a
6992 copy of `*random-state*' is returned.
6994 *** New function: seed->random-state SEED
6995 Returns a new object of type suitable for use as the value of the
6996 variable `*random-state*' and as a second argument to `random'.
6997 SEED is a string or a number. A new state is generated and
6998 initialized using SEED.
7000 *** New function: random:uniform [STATE]
7001 Returns an uniformly distributed inexact real random number in the
7002 range between 0 and 1.
7004 *** New procedure: random:solid-sphere! VECT [STATE]
7005 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose
7006 squares is less than 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in
7007 space of dimension N = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are
7008 uniformly distributed within the unit N-shere. The sum of the
7009 squares of the numbers is returned. VECT can be either a vector
7010 or a uniform vector of doubles.
7012 *** New procedure: random:hollow-sphere! VECT [STATE]
7013 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers the sum of whose squares
7014 is equal to 1.0. Thinking of VECT as coordinates in space of
7015 dimension n = `(vector-length VECT)', the coordinates are uniformly
7016 distributed over the surface of the unit n-shere. VECT can be either
7017 a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
7019 *** New function: random:normal [STATE]
7020 Returns an inexact real in a normal distribution with mean 0 and
7021 standard deviation 1. For a normal distribution with mean M and
7022 standard deviation D use `(+ M (* D (random:normal)))'.
7024 *** New procedure: random:normal-vector! VECT [STATE]
7025 Fills VECT with inexact real random numbers which are independent and
7026 standard normally distributed (i.e., with mean 0 and variance 1).
7027 VECT can be either a vector or a uniform vector of doubles.
7029 *** New function: random:exp STATE
7030 Returns an inexact real in an exponential distribution with mean 1.
7031 For an exponential distribution with mean U use (* U (random:exp)).
7033 ** The range of logand, logior, logxor, logtest, and logbit? have changed.
7035 These functions now operate on numbers in the range of a C unsigned
7038 These functions used to operate on numbers in the range of a C signed
7039 long; however, this seems inappropriate, because Guile integers don't
7042 ** New function: make-guardian
7043 This is an implementation of guardians as described in
7044 R. Kent Dybvig, Carl Bruggeman, and David Eby (1993) "Guardians in a
7045 Generation-Based Garbage Collector" ACM SIGPLAN Conference on
7046 Programming Language Design and Implementation, June 1993
7047 ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/scheme-repository/doc/pubs/guardians.ps.gz
7049 ** New functions: delq1!, delv1!, delete1!
7050 These procedures behave similar to delq! and friends but delete only
7051 one object if at all.
7053 ** New function: unread-string STRING PORT
7054 Unread STRING to PORT, that is, push it back onto the port so that
7055 next read operation will work on the pushed back characters.
7057 ** unread-char can now be called multiple times
7058 If unread-char is called multiple times, the unread characters will be
7059 read again in last-in first-out order.
7061 ** the procedures uniform-array-read! and uniform-array-write! now
7062 work on any kind of port, not just ports which are open on a file.
7064 ** Now 'l' in a port mode requests line buffering.
7066 ** The procedure truncate-file now works on string ports as well
7067 as file ports. If the size argument is omitted, the current
7068 file position is used.
7070 ** new procedure: seek PORT/FDES OFFSET WHENCE
7071 The arguments are the same as for the old fseek procedure, but it
7072 works on string ports as well as random-access file ports.
7074 ** the fseek procedure now works on string ports, since it has been
7075 redefined using seek.
7077 ** the setvbuf procedure now uses a default size if mode is _IOFBF and
7078 size is not supplied.
7080 ** the newline procedure no longer flushes the port if it's not
7081 line-buffered: previously it did if it was the current output port.
7083 ** open-pipe and close-pipe are no longer primitive procedures, but
7084 an emulation can be obtained using `(use-modules (ice-9 popen))'.
7086 ** the freopen procedure has been removed.
7088 ** new procedure: drain-input PORT
7089 Drains PORT's read buffers (including any pushed-back characters)
7090 and returns the contents as a single string.
7092 ** New function: map-in-order PROC LIST1 LIST2 ...
7093 Version of `map' which guarantees that the procedure is applied to the
7094 lists in serial order.
7096 ** Renamed `serial-array-copy!' and `serial-array-map!' to
7097 `array-copy-in-order!' and `array-map-in-order!'. The old names are
7098 now obsolete and will go away in release 1.5.
7100 ** New syntax: collect BODY1 ...
7101 Version of `begin' which returns a list of the results of the body
7102 forms instead of the result of the last body form. In contrast to
7103 `begin', `collect' allows an empty body.
7105 ** New functions: read-history FILENAME, write-history FILENAME
7106 Read/write command line history from/to file. Returns #t on success
7107 and #f if an error occured.
7109 ** `ls' and `lls' in module (ice-9 ls) now handle no arguments.
7111 These procedures return a list of definitions available in the specified
7112 argument, a relative module reference. In the case of no argument,
7113 `(current-module)' is now consulted for definitions to return, instead
7114 of simply returning #f, the former behavior.
7116 ** The #/ syntax for lists is no longer supported.
7118 Earlier versions of Scheme accepted this syntax, but printed a
7121 ** Guile no longer consults the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable.
7123 Instead, you should set GUILE_LOAD_PATH to tell Guile where to find
7126 * Changes to the gh_ interface
7130 Now takes a second argument which is the result array. If this
7131 pointer is NULL, a new array is malloced (the old behaviour).
7133 ** gh_chars2byvect, gh_shorts2svect, gh_floats2fvect, gh_scm2chars,
7134 gh_scm2shorts, gh_scm2longs, gh_scm2floats
7138 * Changes to the scm_ interface
7140 ** Function: scm_make_named_hook (char* name, int n_args)
7142 Creates a hook in the same way as make-hook above but also
7143 binds a variable named NAME to it.
7145 This is the typical way of creating a hook from C code.
7147 Currently, the variable is created in the "current" module. This
7148 might change when we get the new module system.
7150 ** The smob interface
7152 The interface for creating smobs has changed. For documentation, see
7153 data-rep.info (made from guile-core/doc/data-rep.texi).
7155 *** Deprecated function: SCM scm_newsmob (scm_smobfuns *)
7157 >>> This function will be removed in 1.3.4. <<<
7161 *** Function: SCM scm_make_smob_type (const char *name, scm_sizet size)
7162 This function adds a new smob type, named NAME, with instance size
7163 SIZE to the system. The return value is a tag that is used in
7164 creating instances of the type. If SIZE is 0, then no memory will
7165 be allocated when instances of the smob are created, and nothing
7166 will be freed by the default free function.
7168 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_mark (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
7169 This function sets the smob marking procedure for the smob type
7170 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
7171 `scm_make_smob_type'.
7173 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_free (long tc, SCM (*mark) (SCM))
7174 This function sets the smob freeing procedure for the smob type
7175 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
7176 `scm_make_smob_type'.
7178 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_print (tc, print)
7180 - Function: void scm_set_smob_print (long tc,
7181 scm_sizet (*print) (SCM,
7185 This function sets the smob printing procedure for the smob type
7186 specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
7187 `scm_make_smob_type'.
7189 *** Function: void scm_set_smob_equalp (long tc, SCM (*equalp) (SCM, SCM))
7190 This function sets the smob equality-testing predicate for the
7191 smob type specified by the tag TC. TC is the tag returned by
7192 `scm_make_smob_type'.
7194 *** Macro: void SCM_NEWSMOB (SCM var, long tc, void *data)
7195 Make VALUE contain a smob instance of the type with type code TC and
7196 smob data DATA. VALUE must be previously declared as C type `SCM'.
7198 *** Macro: fn_returns SCM_RETURN_NEWSMOB (long tc, void *data)
7199 This macro expands to a block of code that creates a smob instance
7200 of the type with type code TC and smob data DATA, and returns that
7201 `SCM' value. It should be the last piece of code in a block.
7203 ** The interfaces for using I/O ports and implementing port types
7204 (ptobs) have changed significantly. The new interface is based on
7205 shared access to buffers and a new set of ptob procedures.
7207 *** scm_newptob has been removed
7211 *** Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (type_name, fill_buffer, write_flush)
7213 - Function: SCM scm_make_port_type (char *type_name,
7214 int (*fill_buffer) (SCM port),
7215 void (*write_flush) (SCM port));
7217 Similarly to the new smob interface, there is a set of function
7218 setters by which the user can customize the behaviour of his port
7219 type. See ports.h (scm_set_port_XXX).
7221 ** scm_strport_to_string: New function: creates a new string from
7222 a string port's buffer.
7224 ** Plug in interface for random number generators
7225 The variable `scm_the_rng' in random.c contains a value and three
7226 function pointers which together define the current random number
7227 generator being used by the Scheme level interface and the random
7228 number library functions.
7230 The user is free to replace the default generator with the generator
7233 *** Variable: size_t scm_the_rng.rstate_size
7234 The size of the random state type used by the current RNG
7237 *** Function: unsigned long scm_the_rng.random_bits (scm_rstate *STATE)
7238 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
7240 *** Function: void scm_the_rng.init_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE, chars *S, int N)
7241 Seed random state STATE using string S of length N.
7243 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_the_rng.copy_rstate (scm_rstate *STATE)
7244 Given random state STATE, return a malloced copy.
7247 The default RNG is the MWC (Multiply With Carry) random number
7248 generator described by George Marsaglia at the Department of
7249 Statistics and Supercomputer Computations Research Institute, The
7250 Florida State University (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo).
7252 It uses 64 bits, has a period of 4578426017172946943 (4.6e18), and
7253 passes all tests in the DIEHARD test suite
7254 (http://stat.fsu.edu/~geo/diehard.html). The generation of 32 bits
7255 costs one multiply and one add on platforms which either supports long
7256 longs (gcc does this on most systems) or have 64 bit longs. The cost
7257 is four multiply on other systems but this can be optimized by writing
7258 scm_i_uniform32 in assembler.
7260 These functions are provided through the scm_the_rng interface for use
7261 by libguile and the application.
7263 *** Function: unsigned long scm_i_uniform32 (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
7264 Given the random STATE, return 32 random bits.
7265 Don't use this function directly. Instead go through the plugin
7266 interface (see "Plug in interface" above).
7268 *** Function: void scm_i_init_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE, char *SEED, int N)
7269 Initialize STATE using SEED of length N.
7271 *** Function: scm_i_rstate *scm_i_copy_rstate (scm_i_rstate *STATE)
7272 Return a malloc:ed copy of STATE. This function can easily be re-used
7273 in the interfaces to other RNGs.
7275 ** Random number library functions
7276 These functions use the current RNG through the scm_the_rng interface.
7277 It might be a good idea to use these functions from your C code so
7278 that only one random generator is used by all code in your program.
7280 The default random state is stored in:
7282 *** Variable: SCM scm_var_random_state
7283 Contains the vcell of the Scheme variable "*random-state*" which is
7284 used as default state by all random number functions in the Scheme
7289 double x = scm_c_uniform01 (SCM_RSTATE (SCM_CDR (scm_var_random_state)));
7291 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_default_rstate (void)
7292 This is a convenience function which returns the value of
7293 scm_var_random_state. An error message is generated if this value
7294 isn't a random state.
7296 *** Function: scm_rstate *scm_c_make_rstate (char *SEED, int LENGTH)
7297 Make a new random state from the string SEED of length LENGTH.
7299 It is generally not a good idea to use multiple random states in a
7300 program. While subsequent random numbers generated from one random
7301 state are guaranteed to be reasonably independent, there is no such
7302 guarantee for numbers generated from different random states.
7304 *** Macro: unsigned long scm_c_uniform32 (scm_rstate *STATE)
7305 Return 32 random bits.
7307 *** Function: double scm_c_uniform01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
7308 Return a sample from the uniform(0,1) distribution.
7310 *** Function: double scm_c_normal01 (scm_rstate *STATE)
7311 Return a sample from the normal(0,1) distribution.
7313 *** Function: double scm_c_exp1 (scm_rstate *STATE)
7314 Return a sample from the exp(1) distribution.
7316 *** Function: unsigned long scm_c_random (scm_rstate *STATE, unsigned long M)
7317 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
7319 *** Function: SCM scm_c_random_bignum (scm_rstate *STATE, SCM M)
7320 Return a sample from the discrete uniform(0,M) distribution.
7321 M must be a bignum object. The returned value may be an INUM.
7325 Changes in Guile 1.3 (released Monday, October 19, 1998):
7327 * Changes to the distribution
7329 ** We renamed the SCHEME_LOAD_PATH environment variable to GUILE_LOAD_PATH.
7330 To avoid conflicts, programs should name environment variables after
7331 themselves, except when there's a common practice establishing some
7334 For now, Guile supports both GUILE_LOAD_PATH and SCHEME_LOAD_PATH,
7335 giving the former precedence, and printing a warning message if the
7336 latter is set. Guile 1.4 will not recognize SCHEME_LOAD_PATH at all.
7338 ** The header files related to multi-byte characters have been removed.
7339 They were: libguile/extchrs.h and libguile/mbstrings.h. Any C code
7340 which referred to these explicitly will probably need to be rewritten,
7341 since the support for the variant string types has been removed; see
7344 ** The header files append.h and sequences.h have been removed. These
7345 files implemented non-R4RS operations which would encourage
7346 non-portable programming style and less easy-to-read code.
7348 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
7350 ** New procedures have been added to implement a "batch mode":
7352 *** Function: batch-mode?
7354 Returns a boolean indicating whether the interpreter is in batch
7357 *** Function: set-batch-mode?! ARG
7359 If ARG is true, switches the interpreter to batch mode. The `#f'
7360 case has not been implemented.
7362 ** Guile now provides full command-line editing, when run interactively.
7363 To use this feature, you must have the readline library installed.
7364 The Guile build process will notice it, and automatically include
7367 The readline library is available via anonymous FTP from any GNU
7368 mirror site; the canonical location is "ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu".
7370 ** the-last-stack is now a fluid.
7372 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
7374 ** You can now use the `guile-config' utility to build programs that use Guile.
7376 Guile now includes a command-line utility called `guile-config', which
7377 can provide information about how to compile and link programs that
7380 *** `guile-config compile' prints any C compiler flags needed to use Guile.
7381 You should include this command's output on the command line you use
7382 to compile C or C++ code that #includes the Guile header files. It's
7383 usually just a `-I' flag to help the compiler find the Guile headers.
7386 *** `guile-config link' prints any linker flags necessary to link with Guile.
7388 This command writes to its standard output a list of flags which you
7389 must pass to the linker to link your code against the Guile library.
7390 The flags include '-lguile' itself, any other libraries the Guile
7391 library depends upon, and any `-L' flags needed to help the linker
7392 find those libraries.
7394 For example, here is a Makefile rule that builds a program named 'foo'
7395 from the object files ${FOO_OBJECTS}, and links them against Guile:
7398 ${CC} ${CFLAGS} ${FOO_OBJECTS} `guile-config link` -o foo
7400 Previous Guile releases recommended that you use autoconf to detect
7401 which of a predefined set of libraries were present on your system.
7402 It is more robust to use `guile-config', since it records exactly which
7403 libraries the installed Guile library requires.
7405 This was originally called `build-guile', but was renamed to
7406 `guile-config' before Guile 1.3 was released, to be consistent with
7407 the analogous script for the GTK+ GUI toolkit, which is called
7411 ** Use the GUILE_FLAGS macro in your configure.in file to find Guile.
7413 If you are using the GNU autoconf package to configure your program,
7414 you can use the GUILE_FLAGS autoconf macro to call `guile-config'
7415 (described above) and gather the necessary values for use in your
7418 The GUILE_FLAGS macro expands to configure script code which runs the
7419 `guile-config' script, to find out where Guile's header files and
7420 libraries are installed. It sets two variables, marked for
7421 substitution, as by AC_SUBST.
7423 GUILE_CFLAGS --- flags to pass to a C or C++ compiler to build
7424 code that uses Guile header files. This is almost always just a
7427 GUILE_LDFLAGS --- flags to pass to the linker to link a
7428 program against Guile. This includes `-lguile' for the Guile
7429 library itself, any libraries that Guile itself requires (like
7430 -lqthreads), and so on. It may also include a -L flag to tell the
7431 compiler where to find the libraries.
7433 GUILE_FLAGS is defined in the file guile.m4, in the top-level
7434 directory of the Guile distribution. You can copy it into your
7435 package's aclocal.m4 file, and then use it in your configure.in file.
7437 If you are using the `aclocal' program, distributed with GNU automake,
7438 to maintain your aclocal.m4 file, the Guile installation process
7439 installs guile.m4 where aclocal will find it. All you need to do is
7440 use GUILE_FLAGS in your configure.in file, and then run `aclocal';
7441 this will copy the definition of GUILE_FLAGS into your aclocal.m4
7445 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
7447 ** Multi-byte strings have been removed, as have multi-byte and wide
7448 ports. We felt that these were the wrong approach to
7449 internationalization support.
7451 ** New function: readline [PROMPT]
7452 Read a line from the terminal, and allow the user to edit it,
7453 prompting with PROMPT. READLINE provides a large set of Emacs-like
7454 editing commands, lets the user recall previously typed lines, and
7455 works on almost every kind of terminal, including dumb terminals.
7457 READLINE assumes that the cursor is at the beginning of the line when
7458 it is invoked. Thus, you can't print a prompt yourself, and then call
7459 READLINE; you need to package up your prompt as a string, pass it to
7460 the function, and let READLINE print the prompt itself. This is
7461 because READLINE needs to know the prompt's screen width.
7463 For Guile to provide this function, you must have the readline
7464 library, version 2.1 or later, installed on your system. Readline is
7465 available via anonymous FTP from prep.ai.mit.edu in pub/gnu, or from
7466 any GNU mirror site.
7468 See also ADD-HISTORY function.
7470 ** New function: add-history STRING
7471 Add STRING as the most recent line in the history used by the READLINE
7472 command. READLINE does not add lines to the history itself; you must
7473 call ADD-HISTORY to make previous input available to the user.
7475 ** The behavior of the read-line function has changed.
7477 This function now uses standard C library functions to read the line,
7478 for speed. This means that it doesn not respect the value of
7479 scm-line-incrementors; it assumes that lines are delimited with
7482 (Note that this is read-line, the function that reads a line of text
7483 from a port, not readline, the function that reads a line from a
7484 terminal, providing full editing capabilities.)
7486 ** New module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style): Parse command-line arguments.
7488 This module provides some simple argument parsing. It exports one
7491 Function: getopt-gnu-style ARG-LS
7492 Parse a list of program arguments into an alist of option
7495 Each item in the list of program arguments is examined to see if
7496 it meets the syntax of a GNU long-named option. An argument like
7497 `--MUMBLE' produces an element of the form (MUMBLE . #t) in the
7498 returned alist, where MUMBLE is a keyword object with the same
7499 name as the argument. An argument like `--MUMBLE=FROB' produces
7500 an element of the form (MUMBLE . FROB), where FROB is a string.
7502 As a special case, the returned alist also contains a pair whose
7503 car is the symbol `rest'. The cdr of this pair is a list
7504 containing all the items in the argument list that are not options
7505 of the form mentioned above.
7507 The argument `--' is treated specially: all items in the argument
7508 list appearing after such an argument are not examined, and are
7509 returned in the special `rest' list.
7511 This function does not parse normal single-character switches.
7512 You will need to parse them out of the `rest' list yourself.
7514 ** The read syntax for byte vectors and short vectors has changed.
7516 Instead of #bytes(...), write #y(...).
7518 Instead of #short(...), write #h(...).
7520 This may seem nutty, but, like the other uniform vectors, byte vectors
7521 and short vectors want to have the same print and read syntax (and,
7522 more basic, want to have read syntax!). Changing the read syntax to
7523 use multiple characters after the hash sign breaks with the
7524 conventions used in R5RS and the conventions used for the other
7525 uniform vectors. It also introduces complexity in the current reader,
7526 both on the C and Scheme levels. (The Right solution is probably to
7527 change the syntax and prototypes for uniform vectors entirely.)
7530 ** The new module (ice-9 session) provides useful interactive functions.
7532 *** New procedure: (apropos REGEXP OPTION ...)
7534 Display a list of top-level variables whose names match REGEXP, and
7535 the modules they are imported from. Each OPTION should be one of the
7538 value --- Show the value of each matching variable.
7539 shadow --- Show bindings shadowed by subsequently imported modules.
7540 full --- Same as both `shadow' and `value'.
7544 guile> (apropos "trace" 'full)
7545 debug: trace #<procedure trace args>
7546 debug: untrace #<procedure untrace args>
7547 the-scm-module: display-backtrace #<compiled-closure #<primitive-procedure gsubr-apply>>
7548 the-scm-module: before-backtrace-hook ()
7549 the-scm-module: backtrace #<primitive-procedure backtrace>
7550 the-scm-module: after-backtrace-hook ()
7551 the-scm-module: has-shown-backtrace-hint? #f
7554 ** There are new functions and syntax for working with macros.
7556 Guile implements macros as a special object type. Any variable whose
7557 top-level binding is a macro object acts as a macro. The macro object
7558 specifies how the expression should be transformed before evaluation.
7560 *** Macro objects now print in a reasonable way, resembling procedures.
7562 *** New function: (macro? OBJ)
7563 True iff OBJ is a macro object.
7565 *** New function: (primitive-macro? OBJ)
7566 Like (macro? OBJ), but true only if OBJ is one of the Guile primitive
7567 macro transformers, implemented in eval.c rather than Scheme code.
7569 Why do we have this function?
7570 - For symmetry with procedure? and primitive-procedure?,
7571 - to allow custom print procedures to tell whether a macro is
7572 primitive, and display it differently, and
7573 - to allow compilers and user-written evaluators to distinguish
7574 builtin special forms from user-defined ones, which could be
7577 *** New function: (macro-type OBJ)
7578 Return a value indicating what kind of macro OBJ is. Possible return
7581 The symbol `syntax' --- a macro created by procedure->syntax.
7582 The symbol `macro' --- a macro created by procedure->macro.
7583 The symbol `macro!' --- a macro created by procedure->memoizing-macro.
7584 The boolean #f --- if OBJ is not a macro object.
7586 *** New function: (macro-name MACRO)
7587 Return the name of the macro object MACRO's procedure, as returned by
7590 *** New function: (macro-transformer MACRO)
7591 Return the transformer procedure for MACRO.
7593 *** New syntax: (use-syntax MODULE ... TRANSFORMER)
7595 Specify a new macro expander to use in the current module. Each
7596 MODULE is a module name, with the same meaning as in the `use-modules'
7597 form; each named module's exported bindings are added to the current
7598 top-level environment. TRANSFORMER is an expression evaluated in the
7599 resulting environment which must yield a procedure to use as the
7600 module's eval transformer: every expression evaluated in this module
7601 is passed to this function, and the result passed to the Guile
7604 *** macro-eval! is removed. Use local-eval instead.
7606 ** Some magic has been added to the printer to better handle user
7607 written printing routines (like record printers, closure printers).
7609 The problem is that these user written routines must have access to
7610 the current `print-state' to be able to handle fancy things like
7611 detection of circular references. These print-states have to be
7612 passed to the builtin printing routines (display, write, etc) to
7613 properly continue the print chain.
7615 We didn't want to change all existing print code so that it
7616 explicitly passes thru a print state in addition to a port. Instead,
7617 we extented the possible values that the builtin printing routines
7618 accept as a `port'. In addition to a normal port, they now also take
7619 a pair of a normal port and a print-state. Printing will go to the
7620 port and the print-state will be used to control the detection of
7621 circular references, etc. If the builtin function does not care for a
7622 print-state, it is simply ignored.
7624 User written callbacks are now called with such a pair as their
7625 `port', but because every function now accepts this pair as a PORT
7626 argument, you don't have to worry about that. In fact, it is probably
7627 safest to not check for these pairs.
7629 However, it is sometimes necessary to continue a print chain on a
7630 different port, for example to get a intermediate string
7631 representation of the printed value, mangle that string somehow, and
7632 then to finally print the mangled string. Use the new function
7634 inherit-print-state OLD-PORT NEW-PORT
7636 for this. It constructs a new `port' that prints to NEW-PORT but
7637 inherits the print-state of OLD-PORT.
7639 ** struct-vtable-offset renamed to vtable-offset-user
7641 ** New constants: vtable-index-layout, vtable-index-vtable, vtable-index-printer
7643 ** There is now a third optional argument to make-vtable-vtable
7644 (and fourth to make-struct) when constructing new types (vtables).
7645 This argument initializes field vtable-index-printer of the vtable.
7647 ** The detection of circular references has been extended to structs.
7648 That is, a structure that -- in the process of being printed -- prints
7649 itself does not lead to infinite recursion.
7651 ** There is now some basic support for fluids. Please read
7652 "libguile/fluid.h" to find out more. It is accessible from Scheme with
7653 the following functions and macros:
7655 Function: make-fluid
7657 Create a new fluid object. Fluids are not special variables or
7658 some other extension to the semantics of Scheme, but rather
7659 ordinary Scheme objects. You can store them into variables (that
7660 are still lexically scoped, of course) or into any other place you
7661 like. Every fluid has a initial value of `#f'.
7663 Function: fluid? OBJ
7665 Test whether OBJ is a fluid.
7667 Function: fluid-ref FLUID
7668 Function: fluid-set! FLUID VAL
7670 Access/modify the fluid FLUID. Modifications are only visible
7671 within the current dynamic root (that includes threads).
7673 Function: with-fluids* FLUIDS VALUES THUNK
7675 FLUIDS is a list of fluids and VALUES a corresponding list of
7676 values for these fluids. Before THUNK gets called the values are
7677 installed in the fluids and the old values of the fluids are
7678 saved in the VALUES list. When the flow of control leaves THUNK
7679 or reenters it, the values get swapped again. You might think of
7680 this as a `safe-fluid-excursion'. Note that the VALUES list is
7681 modified by `with-fluids*'.
7683 Macro: with-fluids ((FLUID VALUE) ...) FORM ...
7685 The same as `with-fluids*' but with a different syntax. It looks
7686 just like `let', but both FLUID and VALUE are evaluated. Remember,
7687 fluids are not special variables but ordinary objects. FLUID
7688 should evaluate to a fluid.
7690 ** Changes to system call interfaces:
7692 *** close-port, close-input-port and close-output-port now return a
7693 boolean instead of an `unspecified' object. #t means that the port
7694 was successfully closed, while #f means it was already closed. It is
7695 also now possible for these procedures to raise an exception if an
7696 error occurs (some errors from write can be delayed until close.)
7698 *** the first argument to chmod, fcntl, ftell and fseek can now be a
7701 *** the third argument to fcntl is now optional.
7703 *** the first argument to chown can now be a file descriptor or a port.
7705 *** the argument to stat can now be a port.
7707 *** The following new procedures have been added (most use scsh
7710 *** procedure: close PORT/FD
7711 Similar to close-port (*note close-port: Closing Ports.), but also
7712 works on file descriptors. A side effect of closing a file
7713 descriptor is that any ports using that file descriptor are moved
7714 to a different file descriptor and have their revealed counts set
7717 *** procedure: port->fdes PORT
7718 Returns the integer file descriptor underlying PORT. As a side
7719 effect the revealed count of PORT is incremented.
7721 *** procedure: fdes->ports FDES
7722 Returns a list of existing ports which have FDES as an underlying
7723 file descriptor, without changing their revealed counts.
7725 *** procedure: fdes->inport FDES
7726 Returns an existing input port which has FDES as its underlying
7727 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
7728 Otherwise, returns a new input port with a revealed count of 1.
7730 *** procedure: fdes->outport FDES
7731 Returns an existing output port which has FDES as its underlying
7732 file descriptor, if one exists, and increments its revealed count.
7733 Otherwise, returns a new output port with a revealed count of 1.
7735 The next group of procedures perform a `dup2' system call, if NEWFD
7736 (an integer) is supplied, otherwise a `dup'. The file descriptor to be
7737 duplicated can be supplied as an integer or contained in a port. The
7738 type of value returned varies depending on which procedure is used.
7740 All procedures also have the side effect when performing `dup2' that
7741 any ports using NEWFD are moved to a different file descriptor and have
7742 their revealed counts set to zero.
7744 *** procedure: dup->fdes PORT/FD [NEWFD]
7745 Returns an integer file descriptor.
7747 *** procedure: dup->inport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
7748 Returns a new input port using the new file descriptor.
7750 *** procedure: dup->outport PORT/FD [NEWFD]
7751 Returns a new output port using the new file descriptor.
7753 *** procedure: dup PORT/FD [NEWFD]
7754 Returns a new port if PORT/FD is a port, with the same mode as the
7755 supplied port, otherwise returns an integer file descriptor.
7757 *** procedure: dup->port PORT/FD MODE [NEWFD]
7758 Returns a new port using the new file descriptor. MODE supplies a
7759 mode string for the port (*note open-file: File Ports.).
7761 *** procedure: setenv NAME VALUE
7762 Modifies the environment of the current process, which is also the
7763 default environment inherited by child processes.
7765 If VALUE is `#f', then NAME is removed from the environment.
7766 Otherwise, the string NAME=VALUE is added to the environment,
7767 replacing any existing string with name matching NAME.
7769 The return value is unspecified.
7771 *** procedure: truncate-file OBJ SIZE
7772 Truncates the file referred to by OBJ to at most SIZE bytes. OBJ
7773 can be a string containing a file name or an integer file
7774 descriptor or port open for output on the file. The underlying
7775 system calls are `truncate' and `ftruncate'.
7777 The return value is unspecified.
7779 *** procedure: setvbuf PORT MODE [SIZE]
7780 Set the buffering mode for PORT. MODE can be:
7788 block buffered, using a newly allocated buffer of SIZE bytes.
7789 However if SIZE is zero or unspecified, the port will be made
7792 This procedure should not be used after I/O has been performed with
7795 Ports are usually block buffered by default, with a default buffer
7796 size. Procedures e.g., *Note open-file: File Ports, which accept a
7797 mode string allow `0' to be added to request an unbuffered port.
7799 *** procedure: fsync PORT/FD
7800 Copies any unwritten data for the specified output file descriptor
7801 to disk. If PORT/FD is a port, its buffer is flushed before the
7802 underlying file descriptor is fsync'd. The return value is
7805 *** procedure: open-fdes PATH FLAGS [MODES]
7806 Similar to `open' but returns a file descriptor instead of a port.
7808 *** procedure: execle PATH ENV [ARG] ...
7809 Similar to `execl', but the environment of the new process is
7810 specified by ENV, which must be a list of strings as returned by
7811 the `environ' procedure.
7813 This procedure is currently implemented using the `execve' system
7814 call, but we call it `execle' because of its Scheme calling
7817 *** procedure: strerror ERRNO
7818 Returns the Unix error message corresponding to ERRNO, an integer.
7820 *** procedure: primitive-exit [STATUS]
7821 Terminate the current process without unwinding the Scheme stack.
7822 This is would typically be useful after a fork. The exit status
7823 is STATUS if supplied, otherwise zero.
7825 *** procedure: times
7826 Returns an object with information about real and processor time.
7827 The following procedures accept such an object as an argument and
7828 return a selected component:
7831 The current real time, expressed as time units relative to an
7835 The CPU time units used by the calling process.
7838 The CPU time units used by the system on behalf of the
7842 The CPU time units used by terminated child processes of the
7843 calling process, whose status has been collected (e.g., using
7847 Similarly, the CPU times units used by the system on behalf of
7848 terminated child processes.
7850 ** Removed: list-length
7851 ** Removed: list-append, list-append!
7852 ** Removed: list-reverse, list-reverse!
7854 ** array-map renamed to array-map!
7856 ** serial-array-map renamed to serial-array-map!
7858 ** catch doesn't take #f as first argument any longer
7860 Previously, it was possible to pass #f instead of a key to `catch'.
7861 That would cause `catch' to pass a jump buffer object to the procedure
7862 passed as second argument. The procedure could then use this jump
7863 buffer objekt as an argument to throw.
7865 This mechanism has been removed since its utility doesn't motivate the
7866 extra complexity it introduces.
7868 ** The `#/' notation for lists now provokes a warning message from Guile.
7869 This syntax will be removed from Guile in the near future.
7871 To disable the warning message, set the GUILE_HUSH environment
7872 variable to any non-empty value.
7874 ** The newline character now prints as `#\newline', following the
7875 normal Scheme notation, not `#\nl'.
7877 * Changes to the gh_ interface
7879 ** The gh_enter function now takes care of loading the Guile startup files.
7880 gh_enter works by calling scm_boot_guile; see the remarks below.
7882 ** Function: void gh_write (SCM x)
7884 Write the printed representation of the scheme object x to the current
7885 output port. Corresponds to the scheme level `write'.
7887 ** gh_list_length renamed to gh_length.
7889 ** vector handling routines
7891 Several major changes. In particular, gh_vector() now resembles
7892 (vector ...) (with a caveat -- see manual), and gh_make_vector() now
7893 exists and behaves like (make-vector ...). gh_vset() and gh_vref()
7894 have been renamed gh_vector_set_x() and gh_vector_ref(). Some missing
7895 vector-related gh_ functions have been implemented.
7897 ** pair and list routines
7899 Implemented several of the R4RS pair and list functions that were
7902 ** gh_scm2doubles, gh_doubles2scm, gh_doubles2dvect
7904 New function. Converts double arrays back and forth between Scheme
7907 * Changes to the scm_ interface
7909 ** The function scm_boot_guile now takes care of loading the startup files.
7911 Guile's primary initialization function, scm_boot_guile, now takes
7912 care of loading `boot-9.scm', in the `ice-9' module, to initialize
7913 Guile, define the module system, and put together some standard
7914 bindings. It also loads `init.scm', which is intended to hold
7915 site-specific initialization code.
7917 Since Guile cannot operate properly until boot-9.scm is loaded, there
7918 is no reason to separate loading boot-9.scm from Guile's other
7919 initialization processes.
7921 This job used to be done by scm_compile_shell_switches, which didn't
7922 make much sense; in particular, it meant that people using Guile for
7923 non-shell-like applications had to jump through hoops to get Guile
7924 initialized properly.
7926 ** The function scm_compile_shell_switches no longer loads the startup files.
7927 Now, Guile always loads the startup files, whenever it is initialized;
7928 see the notes above for scm_boot_guile and scm_load_startup_files.
7930 ** Function: scm_load_startup_files
7931 This new function takes care of loading Guile's initialization file
7932 (`boot-9.scm'), and the site initialization file, `init.scm'. Since
7933 this is always called by the Guile initialization process, it's
7934 probably not too useful to call this yourself, but it's there anyway.
7936 ** The semantics of smob marking have changed slightly.
7938 The smob marking function (the `mark' member of the scm_smobfuns
7939 structure) is no longer responsible for setting the mark bit on the
7940 smob. The generic smob handling code in the garbage collector will
7941 set this bit. The mark function need only ensure that any other
7942 objects the smob refers to get marked.
7944 Note that this change means that the smob's GC8MARK bit is typically
7945 already set upon entry to the mark function. Thus, marking functions
7946 which look like this:
7949 if (SCM_GC8MARKP (ptr))
7951 SCM_SETGC8MARK (ptr);
7952 ... mark objects to which the smob refers ...
7955 are now incorrect, since they will return early, and fail to mark any
7956 other objects the smob refers to. Some code in the Guile library used
7959 ** The semantics of the I/O port functions in scm_ptobfuns have changed.
7961 If you have implemented your own I/O port type, by writing the
7962 functions required by the scm_ptobfuns and then calling scm_newptob,
7963 you will need to change your functions slightly.
7965 The functions in a scm_ptobfuns structure now expect the port itself
7966 as their argument; they used to expect the `stream' member of the
7967 port's scm_port_table structure. This allows functions in an
7968 scm_ptobfuns structure to easily access the port's cell (and any flags
7969 it its CAR), and the port's scm_port_table structure.
7971 Guile now passes the I/O port itself as the `port' argument in the
7972 following scm_ptobfuns functions:
7974 int (*free) (SCM port);
7975 int (*fputc) (int, SCM port);
7976 int (*fputs) (char *, SCM port);
7977 scm_sizet (*fwrite) SCM_P ((char *ptr,
7981 int (*fflush) (SCM port);
7982 int (*fgetc) (SCM port);
7983 int (*fclose) (SCM port);
7985 The interfaces to the `mark', `print', `equalp', and `fgets' methods
7988 If you have existing code which defines its own port types, it is easy
7989 to convert your code to the new interface; simply apply SCM_STREAM to
7990 the port argument to yield the value you code used to expect.
7992 Note that since both the port and the stream have the same type in the
7993 C code --- they are both SCM values --- the C compiler will not remind
7994 you if you forget to update your scm_ptobfuns functions.
7997 ** Function: int scm_internal_select (int fds,
8001 struct timeval *timeout);
8003 This is a replacement for the `select' function provided by the OS.
8004 It enables I/O blocking and sleeping to happen for one cooperative
8005 thread without blocking other threads. It also avoids busy-loops in
8006 these situations. It is intended that all I/O blocking and sleeping
8007 will finally go through this function. Currently, this function is
8008 only available on systems providing `gettimeofday' and `select'.
8010 ** Function: SCM scm_internal_stack_catch (SCM tag,
8011 scm_catch_body_t body,
8013 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
8016 A new sibling to the other two C level `catch' functions
8017 scm_internal_catch and scm_internal_lazy_catch. Use it if you want
8018 the stack to be saved automatically into the variable `the-last-stack'
8019 (scm_the_last_stack_var) on error. This is necessary if you want to
8020 use advanced error reporting, such as calling scm_display_error and
8021 scm_display_backtrace. (They both take a stack object as argument.)
8023 ** Function: SCM scm_spawn_thread (scm_catch_body_t body,
8025 scm_catch_handler_t handler,
8028 Spawns a new thread. It does a job similar to
8029 scm_call_with_new_thread but takes arguments more suitable when
8030 spawning threads from application C code.
8032 ** The hook scm_error_callback has been removed. It was originally
8033 intended as a way for the user to install his own error handler. But
8034 that method works badly since it intervenes between throw and catch,
8035 thereby changing the semantics of expressions like (catch #t ...).
8036 The correct way to do it is to use one of the C level catch functions
8037 in throw.c: scm_internal_catch/lazy_catch/stack_catch.
8039 ** Removed functions:
8041 scm_obj_length, scm_list_length, scm_list_append, scm_list_append_x,
8042 scm_list_reverse, scm_list_reverse_x
8044 ** New macros: SCM_LISTn where n is one of the integers 0-9.
8046 These can be used for pretty list creation from C. The idea is taken
8047 from Erick Gallesio's STk.
8049 ** scm_array_map renamed to scm_array_map_x
8051 ** mbstrings are now removed
8053 This means that the type codes scm_tc7_mb_string and
8054 scm_tc7_mb_substring has been removed.
8056 ** scm_gen_putc, scm_gen_puts, scm_gen_write, and scm_gen_getc have changed.
8058 Since we no longer support multi-byte strings, these I/O functions
8059 have been simplified, and renamed. Here are their old names, and
8060 their new names and arguments:
8062 scm_gen_putc -> void scm_putc (int c, SCM port);
8063 scm_gen_puts -> void scm_puts (char *s, SCM port);
8064 scm_gen_write -> void scm_lfwrite (char *ptr, scm_sizet size, SCM port);
8065 scm_gen_getc -> void scm_getc (SCM port);
8068 ** The macros SCM_TYP7D and SCM_TYP7SD has been removed.
8070 ** The macro SCM_TYP7S has taken the role of the old SCM_TYP7D
8072 SCM_TYP7S now masks away the bit which distinguishes substrings from
8075 ** scm_catch_body_t: Backward incompatible change!
8077 Body functions to scm_internal_catch and friends do not any longer
8078 take a second argument. This is because it is no longer possible to
8079 pass a #f arg to catch.
8081 ** Calls to scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect now nest properly.
8083 The function scm_protect_object protects its argument from being freed
8084 by the garbage collector. scm_unprotect_object removes that
8087 These functions now nest properly. That is, for every object O, there
8088 is a counter which scm_protect_object(O) increments and
8089 scm_unprotect_object(O) decrements, if the counter is greater than
8090 zero. Every object's counter is zero when it is first created. If an
8091 object's counter is greater than zero, the garbage collector will not
8092 reclaim its storage.
8094 This allows you to use scm_protect_object in your code without
8095 worrying that some other function you call will call
8096 scm_unprotect_object, and allow it to be freed. Assuming that the
8097 functions you call are well-behaved, and unprotect only those objects
8098 they protect, you can follow the same rule and have confidence that
8099 objects will be freed only at appropriate times.
8102 Changes in Guile 1.2 (released Tuesday, June 24 1997):
8104 * Changes to the distribution
8106 ** Nightly snapshots are now available from ftp.red-bean.com.
8107 The old server, ftp.cyclic.com, has been relinquished to its rightful
8110 Nightly snapshots of the Guile development sources are now available via
8111 anonymous FTP from ftp.red-bean.com, as /pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz.
8113 Via the web, that's: ftp://ftp.red-bean.com/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
8114 For getit, that's: ftp.red-bean.com:/pub/guile/guile-snap.tar.gz
8116 ** To run Guile without installing it, the procedure has changed a bit.
8118 If you used a separate build directory to compile Guile, you'll need
8119 to include the build directory in SCHEME_LOAD_PATH, as well as the
8120 source directory. See the `INSTALL' file for examples.
8122 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
8124 ** The standard Guile load path for Scheme code now includes
8125 $(datadir)/guile (usually /usr/local/share/guile). This means that
8126 you can install your own Scheme files there, and Guile will find them.
8127 (Previous versions of Guile only checked a directory whose name
8128 contained the Guile version number, so you had to re-install or move
8129 your Scheme sources each time you installed a fresh version of Guile.)
8131 The load path also includes $(datadir)/guile/site; we recommend
8132 putting individual Scheme files there. If you want to install a
8133 package with multiple source files, create a directory for them under
8136 ** Guile 1.2 will now use the Rx regular expression library, if it is
8137 installed on your system. When you are linking libguile into your own
8138 programs, this means you will have to link against -lguile, -lqt (if
8139 you configured Guile with thread support), and -lrx.
8141 If you are using autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your
8142 application, the following lines should suffice to add the appropriate
8143 libraries to your link command:
8145 ### Find Rx, quickthreads and libguile.
8146 AC_CHECK_LIB(rx, main)
8147 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
8148 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
8150 The Guile 1.2 distribution does not contain sources for the Rx
8151 library, as Guile 1.0 did. If you want to use Rx, you'll need to
8152 retrieve it from a GNU FTP site and install it separately.
8154 * Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
8156 ** The dynamic linking features of Guile are now enabled by default.
8157 You can disable them by giving the `--disable-dynamic-linking' option
8160 (dynamic-link FILENAME)
8162 Find the object file denoted by FILENAME (a string) and link it
8163 into the running Guile application. When everything works out,
8164 return a Scheme object suitable for representing the linked object
8165 file. Otherwise an error is thrown. How object files are
8166 searched is system dependent.
8168 (dynamic-object? VAL)
8170 Determine whether VAL represents a dynamically linked object file.
8172 (dynamic-unlink DYNOBJ)
8174 Unlink the indicated object file from the application. DYNOBJ
8175 should be one of the values returned by `dynamic-link'.
8177 (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
8179 Search the C function indicated by FUNCTION (a string or symbol)
8180 in DYNOBJ and return some Scheme object that can later be used
8181 with `dynamic-call' to actually call this function. Right now,
8182 these Scheme objects are formed by casting the address of the
8183 function to `long' and converting this number to its Scheme
8186 (dynamic-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ)
8188 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ. The
8189 function is passed no arguments and its return value is ignored.
8190 When FUNCTION is something returned by `dynamic-func', call that
8191 function and ignore DYNOBJ. When FUNCTION is a string (or symbol,
8192 etc.), look it up in DYNOBJ; this is equivalent to
8194 (dynamic-call (dynamic-func FUNCTION DYNOBJ) #f)
8196 Interrupts are deferred while the C function is executing (with
8197 SCM_DEFER_INTS/SCM_ALLOW_INTS).
8199 (dynamic-args-call FUNCTION DYNOBJ ARGS)
8201 Call the C function indicated by FUNCTION and DYNOBJ, but pass it
8202 some arguments and return its return value. The C function is
8203 expected to take two arguments and return an `int', just like
8206 int c_func (int argc, char **argv);
8208 ARGS must be a list of strings and is converted into an array of
8209 `char *'. The array is passed in ARGV and its size in ARGC. The
8210 return value is converted to a Scheme number and returned from the
8211 call to `dynamic-args-call'.
8213 When dynamic linking is disabled or not supported on your system,
8214 the above functions throw errors, but they are still available.
8216 Here is a small example that works on GNU/Linux:
8218 (define libc-obj (dynamic-link "libc.so"))
8219 (dynamic-args-call 'rand libc-obj '())
8221 See the file `libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING' for additional comments.
8223 ** The #/ syntax for module names is depreciated, and will be removed
8224 in a future version of Guile. Instead of
8232 The latter syntax is more consistent with existing Lisp practice.
8234 ** Guile now does fancier printing of structures. Structures are the
8235 underlying implementation for records, which in turn are used to
8236 implement modules, so all of these object now print differently and in
8237 a more informative way.
8239 The Scheme printer will examine the builtin variable *struct-printer*
8240 whenever it needs to print a structure object. When this variable is
8241 not `#f' it is deemed to be a procedure and will be applied to the
8242 structure object and the output port. When *struct-printer* is `#f'
8243 or the procedure return `#f' the structure object will be printed in
8244 the boring #<struct 80458270> form.
8246 This hook is used by some routines in ice-9/boot-9.scm to implement
8247 type specific printing routines. Please read the comments there about
8250 One of the more specific uses of structs are records. The printing
8251 procedure that could be passed to MAKE-RECORD-TYPE is now actually
8252 called. It should behave like a *struct-printer* procedure (described
8255 ** Guile now supports a new R4RS-compliant syntax for keywords. A
8256 token of the form #:NAME, where NAME has the same syntax as a Scheme
8257 symbol, is the external representation of the keyword named NAME.
8258 Keyword objects print using this syntax as well, so values containing
8259 keyword objects can be read back into Guile. When used in an
8260 expression, keywords are self-quoting objects.
8262 Guile suports this read syntax, and uses this print syntax, regardless
8263 of the current setting of the `keyword' read option. The `keyword'
8264 read option only controls whether Guile recognizes the `:NAME' syntax,
8265 which is incompatible with R4RS. (R4RS says such token represent
8268 ** Guile has regular expression support again. Guile 1.0 included
8269 functions for matching regular expressions, based on the Rx library.
8270 In Guile 1.1, the Guile/Rx interface was removed to simplify the
8271 distribution, and thus Guile had no regular expression support. Guile
8272 1.2 again supports the most commonly used functions, and supports all
8273 of SCSH's regular expression functions.
8275 If your system does not include a POSIX regular expression library,
8276 and you have not linked Guile with a third-party regexp library such as
8277 Rx, these functions will not be available. You can tell whether your
8278 Guile installation includes regular expression support by checking
8279 whether the `*features*' list includes the `regex' symbol.
8281 *** regexp functions
8283 By default, Guile supports POSIX extended regular expressions. That
8284 means that the characters `(', `)', `+' and `?' are special, and must
8285 be escaped if you wish to match the literal characters.
8287 This regular expression interface was modeled after that implemented
8288 by SCSH, the Scheme Shell. It is intended to be upwardly compatible
8289 with SCSH regular expressions.
8291 **** Function: string-match PATTERN STR [START]
8292 Compile the string PATTERN into a regular expression and compare
8293 it with STR. The optional numeric argument START specifies the
8294 position of STR at which to begin matching.
8296 `string-match' returns a "match structure" which describes what,
8297 if anything, was matched by the regular expression. *Note Match
8298 Structures::. If STR does not match PATTERN at all,
8299 `string-match' returns `#f'.
8301 Each time `string-match' is called, it must compile its PATTERN
8302 argument into a regular expression structure. This operation is
8303 expensive, which makes `string-match' inefficient if the same regular
8304 expression is used several times (for example, in a loop). For better
8305 performance, you can compile a regular expression in advance and then
8306 match strings against the compiled regexp.
8308 **** Function: make-regexp STR [FLAGS]
8309 Compile the regular expression described by STR, and return the
8310 compiled regexp structure. If STR does not describe a legal
8311 regular expression, `make-regexp' throws a
8312 `regular-expression-syntax' error.
8314 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
8316 **** Constant: regexp/extended
8317 Use POSIX Extended Regular Expression syntax when interpreting
8318 STR. If not set, POSIX Basic Regular Expression syntax is used.
8319 If the FLAGS argument is omitted, we assume regexp/extended.
8321 **** Constant: regexp/icase
8322 Do not differentiate case. Subsequent searches using the
8323 returned regular expression will be case insensitive.
8325 **** Constant: regexp/newline
8326 Match-any-character operators don't match a newline.
8328 A non-matching list ([^...]) not containing a newline matches a
8331 Match-beginning-of-line operator (^) matches the empty string
8332 immediately after a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
8333 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/notbol.
8335 Match-end-of-line operator ($) matches the empty string
8336 immediately before a newline, regardless of whether the FLAGS
8337 passed to regexp-exec contain regexp/noteol.
8339 **** Function: regexp-exec REGEXP STR [START [FLAGS]]
8340 Match the compiled regular expression REGEXP against `str'. If
8341 the optional integer START argument is provided, begin matching
8342 from that position in the string. Return a match structure
8343 describing the results of the match, or `#f' if no match could be
8346 FLAGS may be the bitwise-or of one or more of the following:
8348 **** Constant: regexp/notbol
8349 The match-beginning-of-line operator always fails to match (but
8350 see the compilation flag regexp/newline above) This flag may be
8351 used when different portions of a string are passed to
8352 regexp-exec and the beginning of the string should not be
8353 interpreted as the beginning of the line.
8355 **** Constant: regexp/noteol
8356 The match-end-of-line operator always fails to match (but see the
8357 compilation flag regexp/newline above)
8359 **** Function: regexp? OBJ
8360 Return `#t' if OBJ is a compiled regular expression, or `#f'
8363 Regular expressions are commonly used to find patterns in one string
8364 and replace them with the contents of another string.
8366 **** Function: regexp-substitute PORT MATCH [ITEM...]
8367 Write to the output port PORT selected contents of the match
8368 structure MATCH. Each ITEM specifies what should be written, and
8369 may be one of the following arguments:
8371 * A string. String arguments are written out verbatim.
8373 * An integer. The submatch with that number is written.
8375 * The symbol `pre'. The portion of the matched string preceding
8376 the regexp match is written.
8378 * The symbol `post'. The portion of the matched string
8379 following the regexp match is written.
8381 PORT may be `#f', in which case nothing is written; instead,
8382 `regexp-substitute' constructs a string from the specified ITEMs
8385 **** Function: regexp-substitute/global PORT REGEXP TARGET [ITEM...]
8386 Similar to `regexp-substitute', but can be used to perform global
8387 substitutions on STR. Instead of taking a match structure as an
8388 argument, `regexp-substitute/global' takes two string arguments: a
8389 REGEXP string describing a regular expression, and a TARGET string
8390 which should be matched against this regular expression.
8392 Each ITEM behaves as in REGEXP-SUBSTITUTE, with the following
8395 * A function may be supplied. When this function is called, it
8396 will be passed one argument: a match structure for a given
8397 regular expression match. It should return a string to be
8398 written out to PORT.
8400 * The `post' symbol causes `regexp-substitute/global' to recurse
8401 on the unmatched portion of STR. This *must* be supplied in
8402 order to perform global search-and-replace on STR; if it is
8403 not present among the ITEMs, then `regexp-substitute/global'
8404 will return after processing a single match.
8406 *** Match Structures
8408 A "match structure" is the object returned by `string-match' and
8409 `regexp-exec'. It describes which portion of a string, if any, matched
8410 the given regular expression. Match structures include: a reference to
8411 the string that was checked for matches; the starting and ending
8412 positions of the regexp match; and, if the regexp included any
8413 parenthesized subexpressions, the starting and ending positions of each
8416 In each of the regexp match functions described below, the `match'
8417 argument must be a match structure returned by a previous call to
8418 `string-match' or `regexp-exec'. Most of these functions return some
8419 information about the original target string that was matched against a
8420 regular expression; we will call that string TARGET for easy reference.
8422 **** Function: regexp-match? OBJ
8423 Return `#t' if OBJ is a match structure returned by a previous
8424 call to `regexp-exec', or `#f' otherwise.
8426 **** Function: match:substring MATCH [N]
8427 Return the portion of TARGET matched by subexpression number N.
8428 Submatch 0 (the default) represents the entire regexp match. If
8429 the regular expression as a whole matched, but the subexpression
8430 number N did not match, return `#f'.
8432 **** Function: match:start MATCH [N]
8433 Return the starting position of submatch number N.
8435 **** Function: match:end MATCH [N]
8436 Return the ending position of submatch number N.
8438 **** Function: match:prefix MATCH
8439 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET preceding the regexp match.
8441 **** Function: match:suffix MATCH
8442 Return the unmatched portion of TARGET following the regexp match.
8444 **** Function: match:count MATCH
8445 Return the number of parenthesized subexpressions from MATCH.
8446 Note that the entire regular expression match itself counts as a
8447 subexpression, and failed submatches are included in the count.
8449 **** Function: match:string MATCH
8450 Return the original TARGET string.
8452 *** Backslash Escapes
8454 Sometimes you will want a regexp to match characters like `*' or `$'
8455 exactly. For example, to check whether a particular string represents
8456 a menu entry from an Info node, it would be useful to match it against
8457 a regexp like `^* [^:]*::'. However, this won't work; because the
8458 asterisk is a metacharacter, it won't match the `*' at the beginning of
8459 the string. In this case, we want to make the first asterisk un-magic.
8461 You can do this by preceding the metacharacter with a backslash
8462 character `\'. (This is also called "quoting" the metacharacter, and
8463 is known as a "backslash escape".) When Guile sees a backslash in a
8464 regular expression, it considers the following glyph to be an ordinary
8465 character, no matter what special meaning it would ordinarily have.
8466 Therefore, we can make the above example work by changing the regexp to
8467 `^\* [^:]*::'. The `\*' sequence tells the regular expression engine
8468 to match only a single asterisk in the target string.
8470 Since the backslash is itself a metacharacter, you may force a
8471 regexp to match a backslash in the target string by preceding the
8472 backslash with itself. For example, to find variable references in a
8473 TeX program, you might want to find occurrences of the string `\let\'
8474 followed by any number of alphabetic characters. The regular expression
8475 `\\let\\[A-Za-z]*' would do this: the double backslashes in the regexp
8476 each match a single backslash in the target string.
8478 **** Function: regexp-quote STR
8479 Quote each special character found in STR with a backslash, and
8480 return the resulting string.
8482 *Very important:* Using backslash escapes in Guile source code (as
8483 in Emacs Lisp or C) can be tricky, because the backslash character has
8484 special meaning for the Guile reader. For example, if Guile encounters
8485 the character sequence `\n' in the middle of a string while processing
8486 Scheme code, it replaces those characters with a newline character.
8487 Similarly, the character sequence `\t' is replaced by a horizontal tab.
8488 Several of these "escape sequences" are processed by the Guile reader
8489 before your code is executed. Unrecognized escape sequences are
8490 ignored: if the characters `\*' appear in a string, they will be
8491 translated to the single character `*'.
8493 This translation is obviously undesirable for regular expressions,
8494 since we want to be able to include backslashes in a string in order to
8495 escape regexp metacharacters. Therefore, to make sure that a backslash
8496 is preserved in a string in your Guile program, you must use *two*
8497 consecutive backslashes:
8499 (define Info-menu-entry-pattern (make-regexp "^\\* [^:]*"))
8501 The string in this example is preprocessed by the Guile reader before
8502 any code is executed. The resulting argument to `make-regexp' is the
8503 string `^\* [^:]*', which is what we really want.
8505 This also means that in order to write a regular expression that
8506 matches a single backslash character, the regular expression string in
8507 the source code must include *four* backslashes. Each consecutive pair
8508 of backslashes gets translated by the Guile reader to a single
8509 backslash, and the resulting double-backslash is interpreted by the
8510 regexp engine as matching a single backslash character. Hence:
8512 (define tex-variable-pattern (make-regexp "\\\\let\\\\=[A-Za-z]*"))
8514 The reason for the unwieldiness of this syntax is historical. Both
8515 regular expression pattern matchers and Unix string processing systems
8516 have traditionally used backslashes with the special meanings described
8517 above. The POSIX regular expression specification and ANSI C standard
8518 both require these semantics. Attempting to abandon either convention
8519 would cause other kinds of compatibility problems, possibly more severe
8520 ones. Therefore, without extending the Scheme reader to support
8521 strings with different quoting conventions (an ungainly and confusing
8522 extension when implemented in other languages), we must adhere to this
8523 cumbersome escape syntax.
8525 * Changes to the gh_ interface
8527 * Changes to the scm_ interface
8529 * Changes to system call interfaces:
8531 ** The value returned by `raise' is now unspecified. It throws an exception
8534 *** A new procedure `sigaction' can be used to install signal handlers
8536 (sigaction signum [action] [flags])
8538 signum is the signal number, which can be specified using the value
8541 If action is omitted, sigaction returns a pair: the CAR is the current
8542 signal hander, which will be either an integer with the value SIG_DFL
8543 (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or the Scheme procedure which
8544 handles the signal, or #f if a non-Scheme procedure handles the
8545 signal. The CDR contains the current sigaction flags for the handler.
8547 If action is provided, it is installed as the new handler for signum.
8548 action can be a Scheme procedure taking one argument, or the value of
8549 SIG_DFL (default action) or SIG_IGN (ignore), or #f to restore
8550 whatever signal handler was installed before sigaction was first used.
8551 Flags can optionally be specified for the new handler (SA_RESTART is
8552 always used if the system provides it, so need not be specified.) The
8553 return value is a pair with information about the old handler as
8556 This interface does not provide access to the "signal blocking"
8557 facility. Maybe this is not needed, since the thread support may
8558 provide solutions to the problem of consistent access to data
8561 *** A new procedure `flush-all-ports' is equivalent to running
8562 `force-output' on every port open for output.
8564 ** Guile now provides information on how it was built, via the new
8565 global variable, %guile-build-info. This variable records the values
8566 of the standard GNU makefile directory variables as an assocation
8567 list, mapping variable names (symbols) onto directory paths (strings).
8568 For example, to find out where the Guile link libraries were
8569 installed, you can say:
8571 guile -c "(display (assq-ref %guile-build-info 'libdir)) (newline)"
8574 * Changes to the scm_ interface
8576 ** The new function scm_handle_by_message_noexit is just like the
8577 existing scm_handle_by_message function, except that it doesn't call
8578 exit to terminate the process. Instead, it prints a message and just
8579 returns #f. This might be a more appropriate catch-all handler for
8580 new dynamic roots and threads.
8583 Changes in Guile 1.1 (released Friday, May 16 1997):
8585 * Changes to the distribution.
8587 The Guile 1.0 distribution has been split up into several smaller
8589 guile-core --- the Guile interpreter itself.
8590 guile-tcltk --- the interface between the Guile interpreter and
8591 Tcl/Tk; Tcl is an interpreter for a stringy language, and Tk
8592 is a toolkit for building graphical user interfaces.
8593 guile-rgx-ctax --- the interface between Guile and the Rx regular
8594 expression matcher, and the translator for the Ctax
8595 programming language. These are packaged together because the
8596 Ctax translator uses Rx to parse Ctax source code.
8598 This NEWS file describes the changes made to guile-core since the 1.0
8601 We no longer distribute the documentation, since it was either out of
8602 date, or incomplete. As soon as we have current documentation, we
8607 * Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
8609 ** guile now accepts command-line arguments compatible with SCSH, Olin
8610 Shivers' Scheme Shell.
8612 In general, arguments are evaluated from left to right, but there are
8613 exceptions. The following switches stop argument processing, and
8614 stash all remaining command-line arguments as the value returned by
8615 the (command-line) function.
8616 -s SCRIPT load Scheme source code from FILE, and exit
8617 -c EXPR evalute Scheme expression EXPR, and exit
8618 -- stop scanning arguments; run interactively
8620 The switches below are processed as they are encountered.
8621 -l FILE load Scheme source code from FILE
8622 -e FUNCTION after reading script, apply FUNCTION to
8623 command line arguments
8624 -ds do -s script at this point
8625 --emacs enable Emacs protocol (experimental)
8626 -h, --help display this help and exit
8627 -v, --version display version information and exit
8628 \ read arguments from following script lines
8630 So, for example, here is a Guile script named `ekko' (thanks, Olin)
8631 which re-implements the traditional "echo" command:
8633 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
8636 (map (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
8640 (main (command-line))
8642 Suppose we invoke this script as follows:
8644 ekko a speckled gecko
8646 Through the magic of Unix script processing (triggered by the `#!'
8647 token at the top of the file), /usr/local/bin/guile receives the
8648 following list of command-line arguments:
8650 ("-s" "./ekko" "a" "speckled" "gecko")
8652 Unix inserts the name of the script after the argument specified on
8653 the first line of the file (in this case, "-s"), and then follows that
8654 with the arguments given to the script. Guile loads the script, which
8655 defines the `main' function, and then applies it to the list of
8656 remaining command-line arguments, ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
8658 In Unix, the first line of a script file must take the following form:
8660 #!INTERPRETER ARGUMENT
8662 where INTERPRETER is the absolute filename of the interpreter
8663 executable, and ARGUMENT is a single command-line argument to pass to
8666 You may only pass one argument to the interpreter, and its length is
8667 limited. These restrictions can be annoying to work around, so Guile
8668 provides a general mechanism (borrowed from, and compatible with,
8669 SCSH) for circumventing them.
8671 If the ARGUMENT in a Guile script is a single backslash character,
8672 `\', Guile will open the script file, parse arguments from its second
8673 and subsequent lines, and replace the `\' with them. So, for example,
8674 here is another implementation of the `ekko' script:
8676 #!/usr/local/bin/guile \
8680 (for-each (lambda (arg) (display arg) (display " "))
8684 If the user invokes this script as follows:
8686 ekko a speckled gecko
8688 Unix expands this into
8690 /usr/local/bin/guile \ ekko a speckled gecko
8692 When Guile sees the `\' argument, it replaces it with the arguments
8693 read from the second line of the script, producing:
8695 /usr/local/bin/guile -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
8697 This tells Guile to load the `ekko' script, and apply the function
8698 `main' to the argument list ("a" "speckled" "gecko").
8700 Here is how Guile parses the command-line arguments:
8701 - Each space character terminates an argument. This means that two
8702 spaces in a row introduce an empty-string argument.
8703 - The tab character is not permitted (unless you quote it with the
8704 backslash character, as described below), to avoid confusion.
8705 - The newline character terminates the sequence of arguments, and will
8706 also terminate a final non-empty argument. (However, a newline
8707 following a space will not introduce a final empty-string argument;
8708 it only terminates the argument list.)
8709 - The backslash character is the escape character. It escapes
8710 backslash, space, tab, and newline. The ANSI C escape sequences
8711 like \n and \t are also supported. These produce argument
8712 constituents; the two-character combination \n doesn't act like a
8713 terminating newline. The escape sequence \NNN for exactly three
8714 octal digits reads as the character whose ASCII code is NNN. As
8715 above, characters produced this way are argument constituents.
8716 Backslash followed by other characters is not allowed.
8718 * Changes to the procedure for linking libguile with your programs
8720 ** Guile now builds and installs a shared guile library, if your
8721 system support shared libraries. (It still builds a static library on
8722 all systems.) Guile automatically detects whether your system
8723 supports shared libraries. To prevent Guile from buildisg shared
8724 libraries, pass the `--disable-shared' flag to the configure script.
8726 Guile takes longer to compile when it builds shared libraries, because
8727 it must compile every file twice --- once to produce position-
8728 independent object code, and once to produce normal object code.
8730 ** The libthreads library has been merged into libguile.
8732 To link a program against Guile, you now need only link against
8733 -lguile and -lqt; -lthreads is no longer needed. If you are using
8734 autoconf to generate configuration scripts for your application, the
8735 following lines should suffice to add the appropriate libraries to
8738 ### Find quickthreads and libguile.
8739 AC_CHECK_LIB(qt, main)
8740 AC_CHECK_LIB(guile, scm_shell)
8742 * Changes to Scheme functions
8744 ** Guile Scheme's special syntax for keyword objects is now optional,
8745 and disabled by default.
8747 The syntax variation from R4RS made it difficult to port some
8748 interesting packages to Guile. The routines which accepted keyword
8749 arguments (mostly in the module system) have been modified to also
8750 accept symbols whose names begin with `:'.
8752 To change the keyword syntax, you must first import the (ice-9 debug)
8754 (use-modules (ice-9 debug))
8756 Then you can enable the keyword syntax as follows:
8757 (read-set! keywords 'prefix)
8759 To disable keyword syntax, do this:
8760 (read-set! keywords #f)
8762 ** Many more primitive functions accept shared substrings as
8763 arguments. In the past, these functions required normal, mutable
8764 strings as arguments, although they never made use of this
8767 ** The uniform array functions now operate on byte vectors. These
8768 functions are `array-fill!', `serial-array-copy!', `array-copy!',
8769 `serial-array-map', `array-map', `array-for-each', and
8772 ** The new functions `trace' and `untrace' implement simple debugging
8773 support for Scheme functions.
8775 The `trace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
8776 and tells the Guile interpreter to display each procedure's name and
8777 arguments each time the procedure is invoked. When invoked with no
8778 arguments, `trace' returns the list of procedures currently being
8781 The `untrace' function accepts any number of procedures as arguments,
8782 and tells the Guile interpreter not to trace them any more. When
8783 invoked with no arguments, `untrace' untraces all curretly traced
8786 The tracing in Guile has an advantage over most other systems: we
8787 don't create new procedure objects, but mark the procedure objects
8788 themselves. This means that anonymous and internal procedures can be
8791 ** The function `assert-repl-prompt' has been renamed to
8792 `set-repl-prompt!'. It takes one argument, PROMPT.
8793 - If PROMPT is #f, the Guile read-eval-print loop will not prompt.
8794 - If PROMPT is a string, we use it as a prompt.
8795 - If PROMPT is a procedure accepting no arguments, we call it, and
8796 display the result as a prompt.
8797 - Otherwise, we display "> ".
8799 ** The new function `eval-string' reads Scheme expressions from a
8800 string and evaluates them, returning the value of the last expression
8801 in the string. If the string contains no expressions, it returns an
8804 ** The new function `thunk?' returns true iff its argument is a
8805 procedure of zero arguments.
8807 ** `defined?' is now a builtin function, instead of syntax. This
8808 means that its argument should be quoted. It returns #t iff its
8809 argument is bound in the current module.
8811 ** The new syntax `use-modules' allows you to add new modules to your
8812 environment without re-typing a complete `define-module' form. It
8813 accepts any number of module names as arguments, and imports their
8814 public bindings into the current module.
8816 ** The new function (module-defined? NAME MODULE) returns true iff
8817 NAME, a symbol, is defined in MODULE, a module object.
8819 ** The new function `builtin-bindings' creates and returns a hash
8820 table containing copies of all the root module's bindings.
8822 ** The new function `builtin-weak-bindings' does the same as
8823 `builtin-bindings', but creates a doubly-weak hash table.
8825 ** The `equal?' function now considers variable objects to be
8826 equivalent if they have the same name and the same value.
8828 ** The new function `command-line' returns the command-line arguments
8829 given to Guile, as a list of strings.
8831 When using guile as a script interpreter, `command-line' returns the
8832 script's arguments; those processed by the interpreter (like `-s' or
8833 `-c') are omitted. (In other words, you get the normal, expected
8834 behavior.) Any application that uses scm_shell to process its
8835 command-line arguments gets this behavior as well.
8837 ** The new function `load-user-init' looks for a file called `.guile'
8838 in the user's home directory, and loads it if it exists. This is
8839 mostly for use by the code generated by scm_compile_shell_switches,
8840 but we thought it might also be useful in other circumstances.
8842 ** The new function `log10' returns the base-10 logarithm of its
8845 ** Changes to I/O functions
8847 *** The functions `read', `primitive-load', `read-and-eval!', and
8848 `primitive-load-path' no longer take optional arguments controlling
8849 case insensitivity and a `#' parser.
8851 Case sensitivity is now controlled by a read option called
8852 `case-insensitive'. The user can add new `#' syntaxes with the
8853 `read-hash-extend' function (see below).
8855 *** The new function `read-hash-extend' allows the user to change the
8856 syntax of Guile Scheme in a somewhat controlled way.
8858 (read-hash-extend CHAR PROC)
8859 When parsing S-expressions, if we read a `#' character followed by
8860 the character CHAR, use PROC to parse an object from the stream.
8861 If PROC is #f, remove any parsing procedure registered for CHAR.
8863 The reader applies PROC to two arguments: CHAR and an input port.
8865 *** The new functions read-delimited and read-delimited! provide a
8866 general mechanism for doing delimited input on streams.
8868 (read-delimited DELIMS [PORT HANDLE-DELIM])
8869 Read until we encounter one of the characters in DELIMS (a string),
8870 or end-of-file. PORT is the input port to read from; it defaults to
8871 the current input port. The HANDLE-DELIM parameter determines how
8872 the terminating character is handled; it should be one of the
8875 'trim omit delimiter from result
8876 'peek leave delimiter character in input stream
8877 'concat append delimiter character to returned value
8878 'split return a pair: (RESULT . TERMINATOR)
8880 HANDLE-DELIM defaults to 'peek.
8882 (read-delimited! DELIMS BUF [PORT HANDLE-DELIM START END])
8883 A side-effecting variant of `read-delimited'.
8885 The data is written into the string BUF at the indices in the
8886 half-open interval [START, END); the default interval is the whole
8887 string: START = 0 and END = (string-length BUF). The values of
8888 START and END must specify a well-defined interval in BUF, i.e.
8889 0 <= START <= END <= (string-length BUF).
8891 It returns NBYTES, the number of bytes read. If the buffer filled
8892 up without a delimiter character being found, it returns #f. If the
8893 port is at EOF when the read starts, it returns the EOF object.
8895 If an integer is returned (i.e., the read is successfully terminated
8896 by reading a delimiter character), then the HANDLE-DELIM parameter
8897 determines how to handle the terminating character. It is described
8898 above, and defaults to 'peek.
8900 (The descriptions of these functions were borrowed from the SCSH
8901 manual, by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
8903 *** The `%read-delimited!' function is the primitive used to implement
8904 `read-delimited' and `read-delimited!'.
8906 (%read-delimited! DELIMS BUF GOBBLE? [PORT START END])
8908 This returns a pair of values: (TERMINATOR . NUM-READ).
8909 - TERMINATOR describes why the read was terminated. If it is a
8910 character or the eof object, then that is the value that terminated
8911 the read. If it is #f, the function filled the buffer without finding
8912 a delimiting character.
8913 - NUM-READ is the number of characters read into BUF.
8915 If the read is successfully terminated by reading a delimiter
8916 character, then the gobble? parameter determines what to do with the
8917 terminating character. If true, the character is removed from the
8918 input stream; if false, the character is left in the input stream
8919 where a subsequent read operation will retrieve it. In either case,
8920 the character is also the first value returned by the procedure call.
8922 (The descriptions of this function was borrowed from the SCSH manual,
8923 by Olin Shivers and Brian Carlstrom.)
8925 *** The `read-line' and `read-line!' functions have changed; they now
8926 trim the terminator by default; previously they appended it to the
8927 returned string. For the old behavior, use (read-line PORT 'concat).
8929 *** The functions `uniform-array-read!' and `uniform-array-write!' now
8930 take new optional START and END arguments, specifying the region of
8931 the array to read and write.
8933 *** The `ungetc-char-ready?' function has been removed. We feel it's
8934 inappropriate for an interface to expose implementation details this
8937 ** Changes to the Unix library and system call interface
8939 *** The new fcntl function provides access to the Unix `fcntl' system
8942 (fcntl PORT COMMAND VALUE)
8943 Apply COMMAND to PORT's file descriptor, with VALUE as an argument.
8944 Values for COMMAND are:
8946 F_DUPFD duplicate a file descriptor
8947 F_GETFD read the descriptor's close-on-exec flag
8948 F_SETFD set the descriptor's close-on-exec flag to VALUE
8949 F_GETFL read the descriptor's flags, as set on open
8950 F_SETFL set the descriptor's flags, as set on open to VALUE
8951 F_GETOWN return the process ID of a socket's owner, for SIGIO
8952 F_SETOWN set the process that owns a socket to VALUE, for SIGIO
8953 FD_CLOEXEC not sure what this is
8955 For details, see the documentation for the fcntl system call.
8957 *** The arguments to `select' have changed, for compatibility with
8958 SCSH. The TIMEOUT parameter may now be non-integral, yielding the
8959 expected behavior. The MILLISECONDS parameter has been changed to
8960 MICROSECONDS, to more closely resemble the underlying system call.
8961 The RVEC, WVEC, and EVEC arguments can now be vectors; the type of the
8962 corresponding return set will be the same.
8964 *** The arguments to the `mknod' system call have changed. They are
8967 (mknod PATH TYPE PERMS DEV)
8968 Create a new file (`node') in the file system. PATH is the name of
8969 the file to create. TYPE is the kind of file to create; it should
8970 be 'fifo, 'block-special, or 'char-special. PERMS specifies the
8971 permission bits to give the newly created file. If TYPE is
8972 'block-special or 'char-special, DEV specifies which device the
8973 special file refers to; its interpretation depends on the kind of
8974 special file being created.
8976 *** The `fork' function has been renamed to `primitive-fork', to avoid
8977 clashing with various SCSH forks.
8979 *** The `recv' and `recvfrom' functions have been renamed to `recv!'
8980 and `recvfrom!'. They no longer accept a size for a second argument;
8981 you must pass a string to hold the received value. They no longer
8982 return the buffer. Instead, `recv' returns the length of the message
8983 received, and `recvfrom' returns a pair containing the packet's length
8984 and originating address.
8986 *** The file descriptor datatype has been removed, as have the
8987 `read-fd', `write-fd', `close', `lseek', and `dup' functions.
8988 We plan to replace these functions with a SCSH-compatible interface.
8990 *** The `create' function has been removed; it's just a special case
8993 *** There are new functions to break down process termination status
8994 values. In the descriptions below, STATUS is a value returned by
8997 (status:exit-val STATUS)
8998 If the child process exited normally, this function returns the exit
8999 code for the child process (i.e., the value passed to exit, or
9000 returned from main). If the child process did not exit normally,
9001 this function returns #f.
9003 (status:stop-sig STATUS)
9004 If the child process was suspended by a signal, this function
9005 returns the signal that suspended the child. Otherwise, it returns
9008 (status:term-sig STATUS)
9009 If the child process terminated abnormally, this function returns
9010 the signal that terminated the child. Otherwise, this function
9013 POSIX promises that exactly one of these functions will return true on
9014 a valid STATUS value.
9016 These functions are compatible with SCSH.
9018 *** There are new accessors and setters for the broken-out time vectors
9019 returned by `localtime', `gmtime', and that ilk. They are:
9021 Component Accessor Setter
9022 ========================= ============ ============
9023 seconds tm:sec set-tm:sec
9024 minutes tm:min set-tm:min
9025 hours tm:hour set-tm:hour
9026 day of the month tm:mday set-tm:mday
9027 month tm:mon set-tm:mon
9028 year tm:year set-tm:year
9029 day of the week tm:wday set-tm:wday
9030 day in the year tm:yday set-tm:yday
9031 daylight saving time tm:isdst set-tm:isdst
9032 GMT offset, seconds tm:gmtoff set-tm:gmtoff
9033 name of time zone tm:zone set-tm:zone
9035 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `uname',
9036 describing the host system:
9039 ============================================== ================
9040 name of the operating system implementation utsname:sysname
9041 network name of this machine utsname:nodename
9042 release level of the operating system utsname:release
9043 version level of the operating system utsname:version
9044 machine hardware platform utsname:machine
9046 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getpw',
9047 `getpwnam', `getpwuid', and `getpwent', describing entries from the
9048 system's user database:
9051 ====================== =================
9052 user name passwd:name
9053 user password passwd:passwd
9056 real name passwd:gecos
9057 home directory passwd:dir
9058 shell program passwd:shell
9060 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getgr',
9061 `getgrnam', `getgrgid', and `getgrent', describing entries from the
9062 system's group database:
9065 ======================= ============
9066 group name group:name
9067 group password group:passwd
9069 group members group:mem
9071 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `gethost',
9072 `gethostbyaddr', `gethostbyname', and `gethostent', describing
9076 ========================= ===============
9077 official name of host hostent:name
9078 alias list hostent:aliases
9079 host address type hostent:addrtype
9080 length of address hostent:length
9081 list of addresses hostent:addr-list
9083 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getnet',
9084 `getnetbyaddr', `getnetbyname', and `getnetent', describing internet
9088 ========================= ===============
9089 official name of net netent:name
9090 alias list netent:aliases
9091 net number type netent:addrtype
9092 net number netent:net
9094 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getproto',
9095 `getprotobyname', `getprotobynumber', and `getprotoent', describing
9099 ========================= ===============
9100 official protocol name protoent:name
9101 alias list protoent:aliases
9102 protocol number protoent:proto
9104 *** There are new accessors for the vectors returned by `getserv',
9105 `getservbyname', `getservbyport', and `getservent', describing
9109 ========================= ===============
9110 official service name servent:name
9111 alias list servent:aliases
9112 port number servent:port
9113 protocol to use servent:proto
9115 *** There are new accessors for the sockaddr structures returned by
9116 `accept', `getsockname', `getpeername', `recvfrom!':
9119 ======================================== ===============
9120 address format (`family') sockaddr:fam
9121 path, for file domain addresses sockaddr:path
9122 address, for internet domain addresses sockaddr:addr
9123 TCP or UDP port, for internet sockaddr:port
9125 *** The `getpwent', `getgrent', `gethostent', `getnetent',
9126 `getprotoent', and `getservent' functions now return #f at the end of
9127 the user database. (They used to throw an exception.)
9129 Note that calling MUMBLEent function is equivalent to calling the
9130 corresponding MUMBLE function with no arguments.
9132 *** The `setpwent', `setgrent', `sethostent', `setnetent',
9133 `setprotoent', and `setservent' routines now take no arguments.
9135 *** The `gethost', `getproto', `getnet', and `getserv' functions now
9136 provide more useful information when they throw an exception.
9138 *** The `lnaof' function has been renamed to `inet-lnaof'.
9140 *** Guile now claims to have the `current-time' feature.
9142 *** The `mktime' function now takes an optional second argument ZONE,
9143 giving the time zone to use for the conversion. ZONE should be a
9144 string, in the same format as expected for the "TZ" environment variable.
9146 *** The `strptime' function now returns a pair (TIME . COUNT), where
9147 TIME is the parsed time as a vector, and COUNT is the number of
9148 characters from the string left unparsed. This function used to
9149 return the remaining characters as a string.
9151 *** The `gettimeofday' function has replaced the old `time+ticks' function.
9152 The return value is now (SECONDS . MICROSECONDS); the fractional
9153 component is no longer expressed in "ticks".
9155 *** The `ticks/sec' constant has been removed, in light of the above change.
9157 * Changes to the gh_ interface
9159 ** gh_eval_str() now returns an SCM object which is the result of the
9162 ** gh_scm2str() now copies the Scheme data to a caller-provided C
9165 ** gh_scm2newstr() now makes a C array, copies the Scheme data to it,
9166 and returns the array
9168 ** gh_scm2str0() is gone: there is no need to distinguish
9169 null-terminated from non-null-terminated, since gh_scm2newstr() allows
9170 the user to interpret the data both ways.
9172 * Changes to the scm_ interface
9174 ** The new function scm_symbol_value0 provides an easy way to get a
9175 symbol's value from C code:
9177 SCM scm_symbol_value0 (char *NAME)
9178 Return the value of the symbol named by the null-terminated string
9179 NAME in the current module. If the symbol named NAME is unbound in
9180 the current module, return SCM_UNDEFINED.
9182 ** The new function scm_sysintern0 creates new top-level variables,
9183 without assigning them a value.
9185 SCM scm_sysintern0 (char *NAME)
9186 Create a new Scheme top-level variable named NAME. NAME is a
9187 null-terminated string. Return the variable's value cell.
9189 ** The function scm_internal_catch is the guts of catch. It handles
9190 all the mechanics of setting up a catch target, invoking the catch
9191 body, and perhaps invoking the handler if the body does a throw.
9193 The function is designed to be usable from C code, but is general
9194 enough to implement all the semantics Guile Scheme expects from throw.
9196 TAG is the catch tag. Typically, this is a symbol, but this function
9197 doesn't actually care about that.
9199 BODY is a pointer to a C function which runs the body of the catch;
9200 this is the code you can throw from. We call it like this:
9201 BODY (BODY_DATA, JMPBUF)
9203 BODY_DATA is just the BODY_DATA argument we received; we pass it
9204 through to BODY as its first argument. The caller can make
9205 BODY_DATA point to anything useful that BODY might need.
9206 JMPBUF is the Scheme jmpbuf object corresponding to this catch,
9207 which we have just created and initialized.
9209 HANDLER is a pointer to a C function to deal with a throw to TAG,
9210 should one occur. We call it like this:
9211 HANDLER (HANDLER_DATA, THROWN_TAG, THROW_ARGS)
9213 HANDLER_DATA is the HANDLER_DATA argument we recevied; it's the
9214 same idea as BODY_DATA above.
9215 THROWN_TAG is the tag that the user threw to; usually this is
9216 TAG, but it could be something else if TAG was #t (i.e., a
9217 catch-all), or the user threw to a jmpbuf.
9218 THROW_ARGS is the list of arguments the user passed to the THROW
9221 BODY_DATA is just a pointer we pass through to BODY. HANDLER_DATA
9222 is just a pointer we pass through to HANDLER. We don't actually
9223 use either of those pointers otherwise ourselves. The idea is
9224 that, if our caller wants to communicate something to BODY or
9225 HANDLER, it can pass a pointer to it as MUMBLE_DATA, which BODY and
9226 HANDLER can then use. Think of it as a way to make BODY and
9227 HANDLER closures, not just functions; MUMBLE_DATA points to the
9230 Of course, it's up to the caller to make sure that any data a
9231 MUMBLE_DATA needs is protected from GC. A common way to do this is
9232 to make MUMBLE_DATA a pointer to data stored in an automatic
9233 structure variable; since the collector must scan the stack for
9234 references anyway, this assures that any references in MUMBLE_DATA
9237 ** The new function scm_internal_lazy_catch is exactly like
9238 scm_internal_catch, except:
9240 - It does not unwind the stack (this is the major difference).
9241 - If handler returns, its value is returned from the throw.
9242 - BODY always receives #f as its JMPBUF argument (since there's no
9243 jmpbuf associated with a lazy catch, because we don't unwind the
9246 ** scm_body_thunk is a new body function you can pass to
9247 scm_internal_catch if you want the body to be like Scheme's `catch'
9248 --- a thunk, or a function of one argument if the tag is #f.
9250 BODY_DATA is a pointer to a scm_body_thunk_data structure, which
9251 contains the Scheme procedure to invoke as the body, and the tag
9252 we're catching. If the tag is #f, then we pass JMPBUF (created by
9253 scm_internal_catch) to the body procedure; otherwise, the body gets
9256 ** scm_handle_by_proc is a new handler function you can pass to
9257 scm_internal_catch if you want the handler to act like Scheme's catch
9258 --- call a procedure with the tag and the throw arguments.
9260 If the user does a throw to this catch, this function runs a handler
9261 procedure written in Scheme. HANDLER_DATA is a pointer to an SCM
9262 variable holding the Scheme procedure object to invoke. It ought to
9263 be a pointer to an automatic variable (i.e., one living on the stack),
9264 or the procedure object should be otherwise protected from GC.
9266 ** scm_handle_by_message is a new handler function to use with
9267 `scm_internal_catch' if you want Guile to print a message and die.
9268 It's useful for dealing with throws to uncaught keys at the top level.
9270 HANDLER_DATA, if non-zero, is assumed to be a char * pointing to a
9271 message header to print; if zero, we use "guile" instead. That
9272 text is followed by a colon, then the message described by ARGS.
9274 ** The return type of scm_boot_guile is now void; the function does
9275 not return a value, and indeed, never returns at all.
9277 ** The new function scm_shell makes it easy for user applications to
9278 process command-line arguments in a way that is compatible with the
9279 stand-alone guile interpreter (which is in turn compatible with SCSH,
9282 To use the scm_shell function, first initialize any guile modules
9283 linked into your application, and then call scm_shell with the values
9284 of ARGC and ARGV your `main' function received. scm_shell will add
9285 any SCSH-style meta-arguments from the top of the script file to the
9286 argument vector, and then process the command-line arguments. This
9287 generally means loading a script file or starting up an interactive
9288 command interpreter. For details, see "Changes to the stand-alone
9291 ** The new functions scm_get_meta_args and scm_count_argv help you
9292 implement the SCSH-style meta-argument, `\'.
9294 char **scm_get_meta_args (int ARGC, char **ARGV)
9295 If the second element of ARGV is a string consisting of a single
9296 backslash character (i.e. "\\" in Scheme notation), open the file
9297 named by the following argument, parse arguments from it, and return
9298 the spliced command line. The returned array is terminated by a
9301 For details of argument parsing, see above, under "guile now accepts
9302 command-line arguments compatible with SCSH..."
9304 int scm_count_argv (char **ARGV)
9305 Count the arguments in ARGV, assuming it is terminated by a null
9308 For an example of how these functions might be used, see the source
9309 code for the function scm_shell in libguile/script.c.
9311 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
9314 ** The new function scm_compile_shell_switches turns an array of
9315 command-line arguments into Scheme code to carry out the actions they
9316 describe. Given ARGC and ARGV, it returns a Scheme expression to
9317 evaluate, and calls scm_set_program_arguments to make any remaining
9318 command-line arguments available to the Scheme code. For example,
9319 given the following arguments:
9321 -e main -s ekko a speckled gecko
9323 scm_set_program_arguments will return the following expression:
9325 (begin (load "ekko") (main (command-line)) (quit))
9327 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
9330 ** The function scm_shell_usage prints a usage message appropriate for
9331 an interpreter that uses scm_compile_shell_switches to handle its
9332 command-line arguments.
9334 void scm_shell_usage (int FATAL, char *MESSAGE)
9335 Print a usage message to the standard error output. If MESSAGE is
9336 non-zero, write it before the usage message, followed by a newline.
9337 If FATAL is non-zero, exit the process, using FATAL as the
9338 termination status. (If you want to be compatible with Guile,
9339 always use 1 as the exit status when terminating due to command-line
9342 You will usually want to use scm_shell instead of calling this
9345 ** scm_eval_0str now returns SCM_UNSPECIFIED if the string contains no
9346 expressions. It used to return SCM_EOL. Earth-shattering.
9348 ** The macros for declaring scheme objects in C code have been
9349 rearranged slightly. They are now:
9351 SCM_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
9352 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
9353 point to the Scheme symbol whose name is SCHEME_NAME. C_NAME should
9354 be a C identifier, and SCHEME_NAME should be a C string.
9356 SCM_GLOBAL_SYMBOL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
9357 Just like SCM_SYMBOL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
9359 SCM_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
9360 Create a global variable at the Scheme level named SCHEME_NAME.
9361 Declare a static SCM variable named C_NAME, and initialize it to
9362 point to the Scheme variable's value cell.
9364 SCM_GLOBAL_VCELL (C_NAME, SCHEME_NAME)
9365 Just like SCM_VCELL, but make C_NAME globally visible.
9367 The `guile-snarf' script writes initialization code for these macros
9368 to its standard output, given C source code as input.
9370 The SCM_GLOBAL macro is gone.
9372 ** The scm_read_line and scm_read_line_x functions have been replaced
9373 by Scheme code based on the %read-delimited! procedure (known to C
9374 code as scm_read_delimited_x). See its description above for more
9377 ** The function scm_sys_open has been renamed to scm_open. It now
9378 returns a port instead of an FD object.
9380 * The dynamic linking support has changed. For more information, see
9381 libguile/DYNAMIC-LINKING.
9386 User-visible changes from Thursday, September 5, 1996 until Guile 1.0
9389 * Changes to the 'guile' program:
9391 ** Guile now loads some new files when it starts up. Guile first
9392 searches the load path for init.scm, and loads it if found. Then, if
9393 Guile is not being used to execute a script, and the user's home
9394 directory contains a file named `.guile', Guile loads that.
9396 ** You can now use Guile as a shell script interpreter.
9398 To paraphrase the SCSH manual:
9400 When Unix tries to execute an executable file whose first two
9401 characters are the `#!', it treats the file not as machine code to
9402 be directly executed by the native processor, but as source code
9403 to be executed by some interpreter. The interpreter to use is
9404 specified immediately after the #! sequence on the first line of
9405 the source file. The kernel reads in the name of the interpreter,
9406 and executes that instead. It passes the interpreter the source
9407 filename as its first argument, with the original arguments
9408 following. Consult the Unix man page for the `exec' system call
9409 for more information.
9411 Now you can use Guile as an interpreter, using a mechanism which is a
9412 compatible subset of that provided by SCSH.
9414 Guile now recognizes a '-s' command line switch, whose argument is the
9415 name of a file of Scheme code to load. It also treats the two
9416 characters `#!' as the start of a comment, terminated by `!#'. Thus,
9417 to make a file of Scheme code directly executable by Unix, insert the
9418 following two lines at the top of the file:
9420 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
9423 Guile treats the argument of the `-s' command-line switch as the name
9424 of a file of Scheme code to load, and treats the sequence `#!' as the
9425 start of a block comment, terminated by `!#'.
9427 For example, here's a version of 'echo' written in Scheme:
9429 #!/usr/local/bin/guile -s
9431 (let loop ((args (cdr (program-arguments))))
9434 (display (car args))
9435 (if (pair? (cdr args))
9437 (loop (cdr args)))))
9440 Why does `#!' start a block comment terminated by `!#', instead of the
9441 end of the line? That is the notation SCSH uses, and although we
9442 don't yet support the other SCSH features that motivate that choice,
9443 we would like to be backward-compatible with any existing Guile
9444 scripts once we do. Furthermore, if the path to Guile on your system
9445 is too long for your kernel, you can start the script with this
9449 exec /really/long/path/to/guile -s "$0" ${1+"$@"}
9452 Note that some very old Unix systems don't support the `#!' syntax.
9455 ** You can now run Guile without installing it.
9457 Previous versions of the interactive Guile interpreter (`guile')
9458 couldn't start up unless Guile's Scheme library had been installed;
9459 they used the value of the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH'
9460 later on in the startup process, but not to find the startup code
9461 itself. Now Guile uses `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' in all searches for Scheme
9464 To run Guile without installing it, build it in the normal way, and
9465 then set the environment variable `SCHEME_LOAD_PATH' to a
9466 colon-separated list of directories, including the top-level directory
9467 of the Guile sources. For example, if you unpacked Guile so that the
9468 full filename of this NEWS file is /home/jimb/guile-1.0b3/NEWS, then
9471 export SCHEME_LOAD_PATH=/home/jimb/my-scheme:/home/jimb/guile-1.0b3
9474 ** Guile's read-eval-print loop no longer prints #<unspecified>
9475 results. If the user wants to see this, she can evaluate the
9476 expression (assert-repl-print-unspecified #t), perhaps in her startup
9479 ** Guile no longer shows backtraces by default when an error occurs;
9480 however, it does display a message saying how to get one, and how to
9481 request that they be displayed by default. After an error, evaluate
9483 to see a backtrace, and
9484 (debug-enable 'backtrace)
9485 to see them by default.
9489 * Changes to Guile Scheme:
9491 ** Guile now distinguishes between #f and the empty list.
9493 This is for compatibility with the IEEE standard, the (possibly)
9494 upcoming Revised^5 Report on Scheme, and many extant Scheme
9497 Guile used to have #f and '() denote the same object, to make Scheme's
9498 type system more compatible with Emacs Lisp's. However, the change
9499 caused too much trouble for Scheme programmers, and we found another
9500 way to reconcile Emacs Lisp with Scheme that didn't require this.
9503 ** Guile's delq, delv, delete functions, and their destructive
9504 counterparts, delq!, delv!, and delete!, now remove all matching
9505 elements from the list, not just the first. This matches the behavior
9506 of the corresponding Emacs Lisp functions, and (I believe) the Maclisp
9507 functions which inspired them.
9509 I recognize that this change may break code in subtle ways, but it
9510 seems best to make the change before the FSF's first Guile release,
9514 ** The compiled-library-path function has been deleted from libguile.
9516 ** The facilities for loading Scheme source files have changed.
9518 *** The variable %load-path now tells Guile which directories to search
9519 for Scheme code. Its value is a list of strings, each of which names
9522 *** The variable %load-extensions now tells Guile which extensions to
9523 try appending to a filename when searching the load path. Its value
9524 is a list of strings. Its default value is ("" ".scm").
9526 *** (%search-load-path FILENAME) searches the directories listed in the
9527 value of the %load-path variable for a Scheme file named FILENAME,
9528 with all the extensions listed in %load-extensions. If it finds a
9529 match, then it returns its full filename. If FILENAME is absolute, it
9530 returns it unchanged. Otherwise, it returns #f.
9532 %search-load-path will not return matches that refer to directories.
9534 *** (primitive-load FILENAME :optional CASE-INSENSITIVE-P SHARP)
9535 uses %seach-load-path to find a file named FILENAME, and loads it if
9536 it finds it. If it can't read FILENAME for any reason, it throws an
9539 The arguments CASE-INSENSITIVE-P and SHARP are interpreted as by the
9542 *** load uses the same searching semantics as primitive-load.
9544 *** The functions %try-load, try-load-with-path, %load, load-with-path,
9545 basic-try-load-with-path, basic-load-with-path, try-load-module-with-
9546 path, and load-module-with-path have been deleted. The functions
9547 above should serve their purposes.
9549 *** If the value of the variable %load-hook is a procedure,
9550 `primitive-load' applies its value to the name of the file being
9551 loaded (without the load path directory name prepended). If its value
9552 is #f, it is ignored. Otherwise, an error occurs.
9554 This is mostly useful for printing load notification messages.
9557 ** The function `eval!' is no longer accessible from the scheme level.
9558 We can't allow operations which introduce glocs into the scheme level,
9559 because Guile's type system can't handle these as data. Use `eval' or
9560 `read-and-eval!' (see below) as replacement.
9562 ** The new function read-and-eval! reads an expression from PORT,
9563 evaluates it, and returns the result. This is more efficient than
9564 simply calling `read' and `eval', since it is not necessary to make a
9565 copy of the expression for the evaluator to munge.
9567 Its optional arguments CASE_INSENSITIVE_P and SHARP are interpreted as
9568 for the `read' function.
9571 ** The function `int?' has been removed; its definition was identical
9572 to that of `integer?'.
9574 ** The functions `<?', `<?', `<=?', `=?', `>?', and `>=?'. Code should
9575 use the R4RS names for these functions.
9577 ** The function object-properties no longer returns the hash handle;
9578 it simply returns the object's property list.
9580 ** Many functions have been changed to throw errors, instead of
9581 returning #f on failure. The point of providing exception handling in
9582 the language is to simplify the logic of user code, but this is less
9583 useful if Guile's primitives don't throw exceptions.
9585 ** The function `fileno' has been renamed from `%fileno'.
9587 ** The function primitive-mode->fdes returns #t or #f now, not 1 or 0.
9590 * Changes to Guile's C interface:
9592 ** The library's initialization procedure has been simplified.
9593 scm_boot_guile now has the prototype:
9595 void scm_boot_guile (int ARGC,
9597 void (*main_func) (),
9600 scm_boot_guile calls MAIN_FUNC, passing it CLOSURE, ARGC, and ARGV.
9601 MAIN_FUNC should do all the work of the program (initializing other
9602 packages, reading user input, etc.) before returning. When MAIN_FUNC
9603 returns, call exit (0); this function never returns. If you want some
9604 other exit value, MAIN_FUNC may call exit itself.
9606 scm_boot_guile arranges for program-arguments to return the strings
9607 given by ARGC and ARGV. If MAIN_FUNC modifies ARGC/ARGV, should call
9608 scm_set_program_arguments with the final list, so Scheme code will
9609 know which arguments have been processed.
9611 scm_boot_guile establishes a catch-all catch handler which prints an
9612 error message and exits the process. This means that Guile exits in a
9613 coherent way when system errors occur and the user isn't prepared to
9614 handle it. If the user doesn't like this behavior, they can establish
9615 their own universal catcher in MAIN_FUNC to shadow this one.
9617 Why must the caller do all the real work from MAIN_FUNC? The garbage
9618 collector assumes that all local variables of type SCM will be above
9619 scm_boot_guile's stack frame on the stack. If you try to manipulate
9620 SCM values after this function returns, it's the luck of the draw
9621 whether the GC will be able to find the objects you allocate. So,
9622 scm_boot_guile function exits, rather than returning, to discourage
9623 people from making that mistake.
9625 The IN, OUT, and ERR arguments were removed; there are other
9626 convenient ways to override these when desired.
9628 The RESULT argument was deleted; this function should never return.
9630 The BOOT_CMD argument was deleted; the MAIN_FUNC argument is more
9634 ** Guile's header files should no longer conflict with your system's
9637 In order to compile code which #included <libguile.h>, previous
9638 versions of Guile required you to add a directory containing all the
9639 Guile header files to your #include path. This was a problem, since
9640 Guile's header files have names which conflict with many systems'
9643 Now only <libguile.h> need appear in your #include path; you must
9644 refer to all Guile's other header files as <libguile/mumble.h>.
9645 Guile's installation procedure puts libguile.h in $(includedir), and
9646 the rest in $(includedir)/libguile.
9649 ** Two new C functions, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object,
9650 have been added to the Guile library.
9652 scm_protect_object (OBJ) protects OBJ from the garbage collector.
9653 OBJ will not be freed, even if all other references are dropped,
9654 until someone does scm_unprotect_object (OBJ). Both functions
9657 Note that calls to scm_protect_object do not nest. You can call
9658 scm_protect_object any number of times on a given object, and the
9659 next call to scm_unprotect_object will unprotect it completely.
9661 Basically, scm_protect_object and scm_unprotect_object just
9662 maintain a list of references to things. Since the GC knows about
9663 this list, all objects it mentions stay alive. scm_protect_object
9664 adds its argument to the list; scm_unprotect_object remove its
9665 argument from the list.
9668 ** scm_eval_0str now returns the value of the last expression
9671 ** The new function scm_read_0str reads an s-expression from a
9672 null-terminated string, and returns it.
9674 ** The new function `scm_stdio_to_port' converts a STDIO file pointer
9675 to a Scheme port object.
9677 ** The new function `scm_set_program_arguments' allows C code to set
9678 the value returned by the Scheme `program-arguments' function.
9683 * Guile no longer includes sophisticated Tcl/Tk support.
9685 The old Tcl/Tk support was unsatisfying to us, because it required the
9686 user to link against the Tcl library, as well as Tk and Guile. The
9687 interface was also un-lispy, in that it preserved Tcl/Tk's practice of
9688 referring to widgets by names, rather than exporting widgets to Scheme
9689 code as a special datatype.
9691 In the Usenix Tk Developer's Workshop held in July 1996, the Tcl/Tk
9692 maintainers described some very interesting changes in progress to the
9693 Tcl/Tk internals, which would facilitate clean interfaces between lone
9694 Tk and other interpreters --- even for garbage-collected languages
9695 like Scheme. They expected the new Tk to be publicly available in the
9698 Since it seems that Guile might soon have a new, cleaner interface to
9699 lone Tk, and that the old Guile/Tk glue code would probably need to be
9700 completely rewritten, we (Jim Blandy and Richard Stallman) have
9701 decided not to support the old code. We'll spend the time instead on
9702 a good interface to the newer Tk, as soon as it is available.
9704 Until then, gtcltk-lib provides trivial, low-maintenance functionality.
9707 Copyright information:
9709 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
9711 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
9712 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
9713 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
9714 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
9716 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
9717 of this document, or of portions of it,
9718 under the above conditions, provided also that they
9719 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
9724 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"