This file was generated automatically from news.texi. DO NOT CHANGE THIS FILE MANUALLY! 1 GPC News ********** GPC's new or changed features since the last (non alpha/beta) GPC release are listed here. Items without further description refer to new routines, variables or options. Features implemented for compatibility to other compilers are marked with, e.g., `(B)' for BP compatibility. A few old and obsolete features have been dropped or replaced by cleaner, more flexible or otherwise more useful ones. This might lead to minor problems with old code, but we suppose they're rare and easy to overcome. Backward-incompatible changes are marked with `(@)'. * support building libgpc as Mach shared library * `GPC_Initialize' and `GPC_Finalize' available as user routines (to help building shared libraries) * better warnings for unexpected results of string comparisons * handle `volatile' attribute on types * allow `asm' in any dialect (if the `asm' keyword is enabled) * support for gcc-4.1.x * preliminary support for gcc-4.0.x * handle named exit from a method * check string parameters more strictly (@) * use at least integer precision for arithmetic (@) * refuse `--executable-file-name' on names without a suffix * do not create `.gpi' files from incorrect input * `CWordBool' type * allow passing variant selector by reference in default mode * `noinline' attribute * check for identifier redeclaration in records and parameter lists (@) * set constants are compatible with packed sets * `ReadString' and `StringOf' predefined routines (M) * pass discriminated string schema by value (@) * `const var' parameters * preliminary support for OOE class views (test/view1[a-g].pas) * `--iso-goto-restrictions' option * `--preprocessed' option * integrated preprocessor (@) * `--longjmp-all-nonlocal-labels' is on by default on Darwin/PPC * preliminary support for Delphi classes and Mac objects (D) (M) (delphi1[bc].pas, peter5[a-g].pas) * new options `--[no]-objects-require-override', `--[no]-delphi-method-shadowing', `--[no]-objects-are-references' (off by default) (D) (M) * new options `--gnu-objects' (default), `--ooe-objects', `--mac-objects', `--borland-objects' which choose object model * `uses' can not directly follow `import' (@) * handle `+' and `-' as Mac Pascal does (M) (@) * new options `--[no]-nonlocal-exit' (default in `--ucsd-pascal' and `--mac-pascal') (fjf988[fijk].pas, fjf1062*.pas) (U) (M) * new options `--[no]-object-checking' (on by default) to check on virtual method calls if VMT pointer is not nil and has matchin `Size' and `NegatedSize' entries, new options `--[no]-range-and-object-checking' which are now equivalent to `$R[+-]' (fjf1053*.pas) (B) * new options `--[no]-pointer-checking', `--[no]-pointer-checking-user-defined'; new variable `ValidatePointerPtr' (fjf1052*.pas, pcerrorc.pas) (these options are _off_ by default!) * new options `--[no]-implicit-result' (fjf1022*.pas) (on by default *only* in `--delphi' mode!) (D) (@) * new options `--{en,dis}able-predefined-identifier' (fjf1037*.pas) * `import' within a routine (mod15[c-e].pas) * the option `--no-debug-info' was renamed to `--disable-debug-info', and `--no-default-paths' was renamed to `--disable-default-paths' (@) * qualified identifiers (chief18.pas, fjf260*.pas, fjf921*.pas, grp1.pas, kurzw1.pas, mod{9,10,13..17}*.pas) (@) * with `-Wnested-comments' and without `--nested-comments' warn about comment openers found within comments (fjf1017*.pas) * new options `--[no-]case-value-checking' (fjf1012*.pas) * optimize arithmetic with a complex and a real operand <20020118143553.B28837@artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz> * range checking (chuck5.pas, fjf446.pas, fjf989*.pas, fjf992*.pas, fsc{01..37}*.pas, miklos1[bc].pas, mir{016,021..028,030..047}*.pas, ole[12]*.pas, russ4*.pas) * `Exit' with an argument (non-local exits not yet supported) (fjf988*.pas) (U) (M) * new options `--[no-]propagate-units' (on by default with `--mac-pascal', off in other dialects) (fjf987*.pas) (M); this also covers the item "unit inheritance" * enable `Pointer' in `--mac-pascal' mode (Mac Pascal has a `Pointer' function which does the same as a type-cast to `Pointer'; though adding `Pointer' as a type allows more, it's backward-compatible) (M) * `&' and `|' (shortcut `and' and `or') (fjf981*.pas) (M) * `Leave' and `Cycle' (equivalent to `Break' and `Continue') (avo3.pas) (M) * optimize `WriteLn (... STRING_CONSTANT)' and `Write (... STRING_CONSTANT, STRING_CONSTANT ...)' * `BindingType' is now a packed record as EP demands (fjf975a.pas) (E) * EP structured initializers (fjf964*.pas, fjf967*.pas, fjf968*.pas) (E) * EP record, array, set values (constdef.pas, fjf966*.pas, fjf971*.pas) (E) * `gp': `PC' now sets the compiler for both Pascal and C unless `CC' is set explicitly * `Discard' * `Integer', `Word', `Cardinal' are now equivalent to `PtrInt', `PtrWord', `PtrCard', no more (necessarily) to C's `int' and `unsigned int' (@) * new types `CInteger', `CWord', `CCardinal' * new make variable `GPC_PAGESIZE' to set the page size when building the manual (PDF, PostScript, DVI) * `qualified' and import lists are no more allowed after `uses' (only after `import', as EP demands) (@) * the `GMP' unit doesn't support gmp-2.x anymore (if you used it, just upgrade to a newer GMP version) (@) * conflicts between object fields/methods and ancestor type names are detected as required by OOE (fjf945*.pas) (@) (O) * repeated function headings (in `forward' declarations and interfaces) are checked stricter: if one has a result variable, so must the other (according to the OOE draft) (@) (O) * the `Pipe' unit was renamed to `Pipes' because of a name conflict (@) * empty parameter lists can be written as `()' (chief54*.pas, delphi6*.pas) (D) * GMP unit: `mpf_sin', `mpf_cos' * the test suite output is now by default stored in DejaGnu compatible files `gpc.log' and `gpc.sum' in the `p/test/' directory; other available test targets are `pascal.check-short' and `pascal.check-long' (@) * new options `-W[no-]dynamic-arrays' (fjf931*.pas) * new argument to `_p_initialize' (@) * `UMask' * new option `--no-debug-source' * new lexer (no directly user-visible difference, but should allow for better handling of lexer-based problems in the future) * `CompilerAssert' (fjf904*.pas) * options `--[no]-assert' renamed to `--[no]-assertions' (necessary to avoid a conflict with GCC) (@) * new options `--[no-]range-checking', also as short compiler directives `{$R+}'/`{$R-}' (default is on) (C, E, B, @) * new options `--[no-]methods-always-virtual' (fjf903*.pas) (M) * new options `--[no-]pointer-arithmetic', `--[no-]cstrings-as-strings', `-W[no-]absolute' (all of which `--[no-]extended-syntax' implies) * `Integer2StringBase', `Integer2StringBaseExt' * new constants `NumericBaseDigits', `NumericBaseDigitsUpper' * allow assigning, passing by value and returning objects, with assignments of an object of derived type to one of a base type (chief35[ab].pas, fjf451*.pas, fjf696[ef].pas, fjf884*.pas), BP compatible except for a bug in the BP feature itself (see the comment in `p/test/fjf451h.pas') (B) * new options `-W[no-]object-assignment' * warn (except in `--borland-pascal') if a virtual method overrides a non-virtual one (chief52*.pas) * warn when an non-abstract object type has virtual methods, but no constructor (chief51*.pas) * `--maximum-field-alignment' does not apply to `packed' records * `ArcSin', `ArcCos' * trimming string relations as functions (`EQPad' etc.) (fjf873.pas) * new options `-W[no-]interface-file-name' * `SeekEOF' and `SeekEOLn' use `Input' implicitly when no file is given (fjf871.pas) (B) * tagging feature for `with' statements (tom6.pas) <200012022215.eB2MFD614424@wsinpa16.win.tue.nl> (Sun Pascal) * new option `--sun-pascal' * field names and array indices in initalizers are recognized (waldek5*.pas) (options `-W[no-]field-name-problem' removed, @) * object directives `published', `public' (both equivalent), `protected' (scope limited to object type and derived object types), `private' (scope limited to current unit/module) (fjf864*.pas) (options `-W[no-]object-directives' removed, @) * the operator precedence and associativity of `+' and `-' is now as defined in EP by default (and as in BP with `--borland-pascal') (fjf863*.pas) (@) * `Integer (16)' etc. changed to `Integer attribute (Size = 16)' (works for integer and Boolean types) (fjf861.pas) (@) * types can have attributes (note: no preceding `;') (fjf860*.pas) * dynamic object methods (fjf859.pas) (B) * in `--borland-pascal' mode, `Assign' unconditionally (re-)initializes its file parameter (fjf858.pas) (B) * GPC doesn't use `gpm' files anymore (instead, each module has an implicit `MODULENAME-all.gpi' interface which is a regular `gpi' file) * make the program/module/unit finalizers non-public (`static' in C sense), omit them if easily possible * new options `-W[no-]parentheses' (fjf848*.pas) * non-`interface' modules with empty implementation part (pmod1.pas, fjf843.pas) * `maximum-field-alignment' and `[no-]field-widths' work as local compiler directives now (fjf842.pas) * dropped `{$debug-statement}' (should not be necessary anymore, now that debug info mostly works) * new options `--[no-]longjmp-all-nonlocal-labels' * object methods can have attributes (fjf826*.pas) * new attributes `iocritical' (fjf824*.pas), `ignorable' (fjf839*.pas) for routines * dropped computed `goto' (never worked for nonlocal `goto' into the main program, implementing it would be quite difficult, probably not worth it) (@) * new type `AnyFile' for parameters and pointer targets (fjf821*.pas) * `TimeStamp' is now a packed record as EP demands (fjf975b.pas) (E) * Mac Pascal specific features are supported according to the dialect options (M) * `--interface-only' does not require `-S' or `-c' anymore (and does not create an object file) * `initialization', `finalization' (D) * `TimeZone' in `TimeStamp' counts seconds _east_ of UTC now (not west, as before) (datetimedemo.pas) (@) * `export FOO = all (...)' (fjf811*.pas) * new options `-W[no-]local-external' (implied by `-Wall') * type-casts are BP compatible now, in particular, value type-casts between ordinal and real or complex types don't work anymore (B) (@) * all non-ISO-7185 keywords can be used as identifiers (with two small exceptions) (fjf440.pas) * `pack-struct' does not imply bit-level packing anymore (only explicit `packed' records and arrays do) (@) * new options `--[no-]ignore-packed' (`--ignore-packed' is the default in BP mode) (fjf796*.pas) (B) (@) * new option `--maximum-field-alignment=N' * new options `{$[no-]pack-struct}' as a compiler directive * `attribute' for routines doesn't imply `forward' anymore (so you don't have to declare routines twice in a program or implementation part when setting the linker name or some other attribute) (@) * `static', `volatile' and `register' for variables and `inline' for routines are no prefix-directives anymore, but `attribute's (@) * combining several dialect options (such as `--extended-pascal --borland-pascal') doesn't work anymore (what should this mean, anyway? Combine the features, but also the warnings from both!?!?!?) (@) * `external' without `name' defaults to all-lowercase now (@) * `c', `c_language' and `asmname' are deprecated (@) * `external name 'foo'' (fjf780.pas), `external 'libname' name 'foo'' (where `libname' is ignored) (B) * Mac Pascal directives `definec', `macro', `undefc', `ifc', `ifoptc', `elsec', `elifc', `endc', `errorc' (treated as equivalent to the corresponding existing ones) (M) * units without `implementation' part (M) * new options `--vax-pascal', `--mac-pascal' * attributes `const' for variables and `name' for variables, routines and modules; assembler names and module/unit file names can now be expressions (which must yield string constants) (fjf781*.pas, fjf809*.pas) * the utilities `gpidump' and `binobj' are installed with GPC (B) * new options `-W[no-]identifier-case', `-W[no-]identifier-case-local' (fjf751*.pas) * new compiler directive `$R foo', equivalent to `$L foo.resource' (B) * dropped `--[no-]borland-char-constants' (now simply coupled to dialect options) (@) * test suite: support progress messages (`TEST_RUN_FLAGS=-p' from the Makefile; `-p' in testgpc); see `http://fjf.gnu.de/misc/progress-messages.tar.gz' * `=' and `<>' comparisons of structures (arrays, records, ...) except strings and sets are forbidden now (@) (E) * irrelevant operands and arguments (e.g.: `foo in []'; `bar * []'; `Im (baz)' if `baz' is of real type) are not necessarily evaluated anymore (which is allowed by the standard); instead, a warning is given if they have side-effects (@) * accept only one program, unit, module interface or implementation or a module interface and the implementation of the same module in one file; new options `--[no-]ignore-garbage-after-dot' (fjf735*.pas) (@) * new options `-W[no-]implicit-io' (fjf734*.pas) * new options `--enable-keyword', `--disable-keyword' (fjf733*.pas) * `CBoolean' (fjf727.pas) * dropped the usage of `GetMem' as a function with one parameter (only the BP compatible usage as a procedure with two parameters remains) (@) * accessing the variable `FileMode' now requires using the `GPC' (or, for BP compatibility, the `System') unit (@) * `DupHandle' * dropped the predefined dialect symbols `__CLASSIC_PASCAL__', `__STANDARD_PASCAL__', `__EXTENDED_PASCAL__', `__OBJECT_PASCAL__', `__UCSD_PASCAL__', `__BORLAND_PASCAL__', `__DELPHI__', `__PASCAL_SC__' and `__GNU_PASCAL__' (one can use `{$ifopt borland-pascal}' etc. instead) (@) * `Succ', `Pred', `Inc', `Dec' for real numbers (fjf714*.pas) * use environment variables `GPC_UNIT_PATH', `GPC_OBJECT_PATH' * new options `-W[no-]float-equal' * new option `--ucsd-pascal' * dropped the syntax `type foo = procedure (Integer, Real)' (i.e., without parameter names) (@) * CRT: new argument `On' to `CRTSavePreviousScreen' * `SetUserID', `SetGroupID' * `HeapChecking' * new built-in procedure `Assert'; new options `--[no]-assert' (also `{$C+}', `{$C-}' for Delphi compatibility) (fjf665*.pas) (D) * `ProcessGroup' * StringUtils: `QuoteEnum' * `CurrentRoutineName' (fjf752.pas) * TFDD: new unit * gpc-run: new options `-e FILE' and `-E FILE' (redirect/append standard error) Have fun, The GNU Pascal Development Team