NEWS for version 2.2.x -*-text-*- Interpreter Enhancements ======================== 1. The ternary expression was added: expression = condition ? val1 : val2 If condition is non-zero, then expression = val1, otherwise expression = val2 2. The break and condition statements support an optional integer that indicates how many loop levels the statement affects, e.g., the break statement in while (1) { loop (10) { break 2; } } will cause both loops to be terminated. 3. Multiline strings have been added: "This is a \ multiline \ string" `This is another multiline string that does not require a \ for continuation` 4. List_Type objects may be indexed using an array of indices instead of just a single scalar index. 5. (v2.2.3) Binary literal integers of the form 0bxx...x are supported. Here, x is 0 or 1. The printf "%B" format specifier was added to format integers as binary. 6. (v2.2.3) The dereference operator (@) may be used in a structure definition to include the fields from the dereferenced structure, e.g., space = struct {x, y, z}; spacetime = struct {@space, t}; 7. (v2.2.3) Dereferencing a scalar or vector class type now results in duplication of the object, e.g, @7 will produce 7. 8. (v2.2.3) Mergesort was made the default sorting algorithm. See the array_sort for details. Modules ======= 1. zlib: A module that wraps the popular z compression library. 2. fork: A module that wraps the fork, exec*, and waitpid functions. slsh/lib/process.sl utilizes this module to allow an application to easily create subprocesses and pipelines. 3. sysconf: Module that implements interfaces to the posix sysconf, pathconf, etc. functions. 4. (2.2.3) csv: A module that supports the reading and writing of so-called Comma Separated Values files. Intrinsic Functions =================== The following intrinsic functions have been added for 2.2.x: sumsq equivalent to sum(x*x) expm1 More accurate version of exp(x)-1 for x near 0. log1p More accurate version of log(1+x) for x near 0 list_to_array Creates an array from a list. string_matches A convenient alternative to string_match and string_match_nth functions. strskipbytes (v2.2.3) Skip a range of bytes in a byte string. is_substrbytes (v2.2.3) Like is_substr except this works with binary strings containing embedded null characters. strskipchar, strbskipchar (v2.2.3) Analogous to C ch=*p++ and ch=*p-- for UTF-8 encoded strings. _close Close an integer descriptor _fileno Returns the descriptor as an integer dup2, getsid, killpg, getpriority/setpriority Wraps the corresponding system functions. utime (v2.2.3) Change a file's last access and modification time. ldexp, frexp: If x == a*2^b, where 0.5<=a<1.0 then (a,b)=frexp(x), and x=ldexp(a,b). islower, isupper, isxdigit, isalnum, isalpha, iscntrl, isprint, isgraph, ispunct, isblank, isascii, isspace (v2.2.3): Character classification functions. list_append, list_join (v2.2.3) Functions for merging two lists together. ttyname (v2.2.3) Get the name of the terminal timegm (v2.2.3) Inverse of gmtime The following functions have been enhanced: hypot If given a single array argument, it returns the equivalent of sqrt(sum(X*X)). Support for N arrays added for e.g., the Euclidean norm in an N dimensional space (v2.2.3) _min, _max: (v2.2.3) Added support for more than two elements. polynom The calling interface to this function was changed and support added for arrays. strjoin (v2.2.3) delimiter made optional strreplace (v2.2.3) New usage designed to facilitate the most common case where one wants to replace all the substrings. strtrans (v2.2.3) Additional character classes added (see documentation). string_match, string_matches (v2.2.3) The position argument made optional The following string functions have been vectorized to act upon arrays of strings (v2.2.3): is_substr str_delete_chars strbytelen strcharlen strcmp strcompress strlen strlow strnbytecmp strncharcmp strncmp strtrans strtrim strtrim_beg strtrim_end strup slsh ==== slang readline enhancements: New functions: rline_up/down_hist Behaves similar to zsh up/down-line-or-search functions (v2.2.3). rline_call_editor rline_edit_history rline_edit_line Call external editor for line/history editing. (v2.2.3) Structure field completion. (v2.2.3) Instead of scrolling horizontally when editing a line, attempt to wrap the line. (v2.2.3) setfuns.sl: Various set functions: unique, intersection, complement,union (v2.2.3) Misc ==== Unicode tables updated to version 5.1. =x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x NEWS for version 2.1 Building the library ==================== `make install' installs the shared version of the library. Previously `make install' installed just the static version and a separate step (`make install-elf') was required to install the shared version. Now, `make install-static' is necessary to install the static one. Interpreter News ================= Syntax enhancements: -------------------- 1. Short circuiting boolean operators: if ((x == y) || (y == 3) && (x != 4)) ... (orelse and andelse are deprecated) 2. Structure definitions allow embdedded assignment expressions: s = struct {x = 3, name="foo", a = [1:10]}; 3. Qualifiers (aka "keywords") added to the language: save_file ("foo.c"; overwrite=1); plot_points ([1:10], sin([1:10]); color="red", style="solid"); 3. Expressions such as (a < b < c) now interpreted to mean (a