comparison etc/NEWS @ 77596:a7e7fba52d2d

*** empty log message ***

77595:b5b132a74c17


* Lisp Changes in Emacs 22.1

** General Lisp changes:

*** The function `expt' handles negative exponents differently.
The value for `(expt A B)', if both A and B are integers and B is
negative, is now a float.  For example: (expt 2 -2) => 0.25.

*** The function `eql' is now available without requiring the CL package.

*** The new function `memql' is like `memq', but uses `eql' for comparison,
that is, floats are compared by value and other elements with `eq'.

*** `makehash' is now obsolete.  Use `make-hash-table' instead.

*** `add-to-list' takes an optional third argument, APPEND.

If APPEND is non-nil, the new element gets added at the end of the
list instead of at the beginning.  This change actually occurred in
Emacs 21.1, but was not documented then.

*** New function `add-to-ordered-list' is like `add-to-list' but
associates a numeric ordering of each element added to the list.

*** New function `copy-tree' makes a copy of a tree.

It recursively copies through both CARs and CDRs.

*** New function `delete-dups' deletes `equal' duplicate elements from a list.

It modifies the list destructively, like `delete'.  Of several `equal'
occurrences of an element in the list, the one that's kept is the
first one.

*** New function `add-to-history' adds an element to a history list.

Lisp packages should use this function to add elements to their
history lists.

If `history-delete-duplicates' is non-nil, it removes duplicates of
the new element from the history list it updates.

*** New function `rassq-delete-all'.

(rassq-delete-all VALUE ALIST) deletes, from ALIST, each element whose
CDR is `eq' to the specified value.

*** The function `number-sequence' makes a list of equally-separated numbers.

For instance, (number-sequence 4 9) returns (4 5 6 7 8 9).  By
default, the separation is 1, but you can specify a different
separation as the third argument.  (number-sequence 1.5 6 2) returns
(1.5 3.5 5.5).

*** New variables `most-positive-fixnum' and `most-negative-fixnum'.

They hold the largest and smallest possible integer values.

*** Minor change in the function `format'.

Some flags that were accepted but not implemented (such as "*") are no
longer accepted.

*** Functions `get' and `plist-get' no longer give errors for bad plists.

They return nil for a malformed property list or if the list is
cyclic.

*** New functions `lax-plist-get' and `lax-plist-put'.

They are like `plist-get' and `plist-put', except that they compare
the property name using `equal' rather than `eq'.

*** New variable `print-continuous-numbering'.

When this is non-nil, successive calls to print functions use a single
numbering scheme for circular structure references.  This is only
relevant when `print-circle' is non-nil.

When you bind `print-continuous-numbering' to t, you should
also bind `print-number-table' to nil.

*** New function `macroexpand-all' expands all macros in a form.

It is similar to the Common-Lisp function of the same name.
One difference is that it guarantees to return the original argument
if no expansion is done, which can be tested using `eq'.

*** The function `atan' now accepts an optional second argument.

When called with 2 arguments, as in `(atan Y X)', `atan' returns the
angle in radians between the vector [X, Y] and the X axis.  (This is
equivalent to the standard C library function `atan2'.)

*** A function or macro's doc string can now specify the calling pattern.

You put this info in the doc string's last line.  It should be
formatted so as to match the regexp "\n\n(fn .*)\\'".  If you don't
specify this explicitly, Emacs determines it from the actual argument
names.  Usually that default is right, but not always.

*** New macro `with-local-quit' temporarily allows quitting.

A quit inside the body of `with-local-quit' is caught by the
`with-local-quit' form itself, but another quit will happen later once
the code that has inhibited quitting exits.

This is for use around potentially blocking or long-running code
inside timer functions and `post-command-hook' functions.

*** New macro `define-obsolete-function-alias'.

This combines `defalias' and `make-obsolete'.

*** New macro `with-case-table'

This executes the body with the case table temporarily set to a given
case table.

*** New function `unsafep' determines whether a Lisp form is safe.

It returns nil if the given Lisp form can't possibly do anything
dangerous; otherwise it returns a reason why the form might be unsafe
(calls unknown function, alters global variable, etc.).

*** New macro `eval-at-startup' specifies expressions to
evaluate when Emacs starts up.  If this is done after startup,
it evaluates those expressions immediately.

This is useful in packages that can be preloaded.

*** `list-faces-display' takes an optional argument, REGEXP.

If it is non-nil, the function lists only faces matching this regexp.

*** New functions `string-or-null-p' and `booleanp'.

`string-or-null-p' returns non-nil iff OBJECT is a string or nil.
`booleanp' returns non-nil iff OBJECT is t or nil.

*** New hook `command-error-function'.

By setting this variable to a function, you can control
how the editor command loop shows the user an error message.

*** `debug-on-entry' accepts primitive functions that are not special forms.

** Lisp code indentation features:

*** The `defmacro' form can contain indentation and edebug declarations.

These declarations specify how to indent the macro calls in Lisp mode
and how to debug them with Edebug.  You write them like this:

   (defmacro NAME LAMBDA-LIST [DOC-STRING] [DECLARATION ...] ...)

DECLARATION is a list `(declare DECLARATION-SPECIFIER ...)'.  The
possible declaration specifiers are:

(indent INDENT)
	Set NAME's `lisp-indent-function' property to INDENT.

(edebug DEBUG)
	Set NAME's `edebug-form-spec' property to DEBUG.  (This is
	equivalent to writing a `def-edebug-spec' for the macro,
	but this is cleaner.)

*** cl-indent now allows customization of Indentation of backquoted forms.

See the new user option `lisp-backquote-indentation'.

*** cl-indent now handles indentation of simple and extended `loop' forms.

The new user options `lisp-loop-keyword-indentation',
`lisp-loop-forms-indentation', and `lisp-simple-loop-indentation' can
be used to customize the indentation of keywords and forms in loop
forms.

** Variable aliases:

*** New function: defvaralias ALIAS-VAR BASE-VAR [DOCSTRING]

This function defines the symbol ALIAS-VAR as a variable alias for
symbol BASE-VAR.  This means that retrieving the value of ALIAS-VAR
returns the value of BASE-VAR, and changing the value of ALIAS-VAR
changes the value of BASE-VAR.

DOCSTRING, if present, is the documentation for ALIAS-VAR; else it has
the same documentation as BASE-VAR.

*** New function: indirect-variable VARIABLE

This function returns the variable at the end of the chain of aliases
of VARIABLE.  If VARIABLE is not a symbol, or if VARIABLE is not
defined as an alias, the function returns VARIABLE.

It might be noteworthy that variables aliases work for all kinds of
variables, including buffer-local and frame-local variables.

*** The macro `define-obsolete-variable-alias' combines `defvaralias' and
`make-obsolete-variable'.

** defcustom changes:

*** The package-version keyword has been added to provide
`customize-changed-options' functionality to packages in the future.
Developers who make use of this keyword must also update the new
variable `customize-package-emacs-version-alist'.

*** The new customization type `float' requires a floating point number.

** String changes:

*** The escape sequence \s now stands for the SPACE character.

`?\s' is a new way to write the space character.  You must make sure
it is not followed by a dash, since `?\s-...' indicates the "super"
modifier.  However, it would be strange to write a character constant
and a following symbol (beginning with `-') with no space between
them.

`\s' stands for space in strings, too, but it is not really meant for
strings; it is easier and nicer just to write a space.

*** A hex escape in a string constant forces the string to be multibyte.

*** An octal escape in a string constant forces the string to be unibyte.

77596:a7e7fba52d2d


* Lisp Changes in Emacs 22.1

** General Lisp changes:

*** The escape sequence \s now stands for the SPACE character.

`?\s' is a new way to write the space character.  You must make sure
it is not followed by a dash, since `?\s-...' indicates the "super"
modifier.  However, it would be strange to write a character constant
and a following symbol (beginning with `-') with no space between
them.

`\s' stands for space in strings, too, but it is not really meant for
strings; it is easier and nicer just to write a space.

*** The function `expt' handles negative exponents differently.
The value for `(expt A B)', if both A and B are integers and B is
negative, is now a float.  For example: (expt 2 -2) => 0.25.

*** The function `eql' is now available without requiring the CL package.

*** The new function `memql' is like `memq', but uses `eql' for comparison,
that is, floats are compared by value and other elements with `eq'.

*** `makehash' is now obsolete.  Use `make-hash-table' instead.

*** `add-to-list' takes an optional third argument, APPEND.

If APPEND is non-nil, the new element gets added at the end of the
list instead of at the beginning.  This change actually occurred in
Emacs 21.1, but was not documented then.

*** New function `add-to-ordered-list' is like `add-to-list' but
associates a numeric ordering of each element added to the list.

*** New function `copy-tree' makes a copy of a tree.

It recursively copies through both CARs and CDRs.

*** New function `delete-dups' deletes `equal' duplicate elements from a list.

It modifies the list destructively, like `delete'.  Of several `equal'
occurrences of an element in the list, the one that's kept is the
first one.

*** New function `add-to-history' adds an element to a history list.

Lisp packages should use this function to add elements to their
history lists.

If `history-delete-duplicates' is non-nil, it removes duplicates of
the new element from the history list it updates.

*** New function `rassq-delete-all'.

(rassq-delete-all VALUE ALIST) deletes, from ALIST, each element whose
CDR is `eq' to the specified value.

*** The function `number-sequence' makes a list of equally-separated numbers.

For instance, (number-sequence 4 9) returns (4 5 6 7 8 9).  By
default, the separation is 1, but you can specify a different
separation as the third argument.  (number-sequence 1.5 6 2) returns
(1.5 3.5 5.5).

*** New variables `most-positive-fixnum' and `most-negative-fixnum'.

They hold the largest and smallest possible integer values.

*** Minor change in the function `format'.

Some flags that were accepted but not implemented (such as "*") are no
longer accepted.

*** Functions `get' and `plist-get' no longer give errors for bad plists.

They return nil for a malformed property list or if the list is
cyclic.

*** New functions `lax-plist-get' and `lax-plist-put'.

They are like `plist-get' and `plist-put', except that they compare
the property name using `equal' rather than `eq'.

*** New variable `print-continuous-numbering'.

When this is non-nil, successive calls to print functions use a single
numbering scheme for circular structure references.  This is only
relevant when `print-circle' is non-nil.

When you bind `print-continuous-numbering' to t, you should
also bind `print-number-table' to nil.

*** New function `macroexpand-all' expands all macros in a form.

It is similar to the Common-Lisp function of the same name.
One difference is that it guarantees to return the original argument
if no expansion is done, which can be tested using `eq'.

*** The function `atan' now accepts an optional second argument.

When called with 2 arguments, as in `(atan Y X)', `atan' returns the
angle in radians between the vector [X, Y] and the X axis.  (This is
equivalent to the standard C library function `atan2'.)

*** A function or macro's doc string can now specify the calling pattern.

You put this info in the doc string's last line.  It should be
formatted so as to match the regexp "\n\n(fn .*)\\'".  If you don't
specify this explicitly, Emacs determines it from the actual argument
names.  Usually that default is right, but not always.

*** New macro `with-local-quit' temporarily allows quitting.

A quit inside the body of `with-local-quit' is caught by the
`with-local-quit' form itself, but another quit will happen later once
the code that has inhibited quitting exits.

This is for use around potentially blocking or long-running code
inside timer functions and `post-command-hook' functions.

*** New macro `define-obsolete-function-alias'.

This combines `defalias' and `make-obsolete'.

*** New macro `with-case-table'

This executes the body with the case table temporarily set to a given
case table.

*** New function `unsafep' determines whether a Lisp form is safe.

It returns nil if the given Lisp form can't possibly do anything
dangerous; otherwise it returns a reason why the form might be unsafe
(calls unknown function, alters global variable, etc.).

*** New macro `eval-at-startup' specifies expressions to
evaluate when Emacs starts up.  If this is done after startup,
it evaluates those expressions immediately.

This is useful in packages that can be preloaded.

*** `list-faces-display' takes an optional argument, REGEXP.

If it is non-nil, the function lists only faces matching this regexp.

*** New functions `string-or-null-p' and `booleanp'.

`string-or-null-p' returns non-nil iff OBJECT is a string or nil.
`booleanp' returns non-nil iff OBJECT is t or nil.

*** New hook `command-error-function'.

By setting this variable to a function, you can control
how the editor command loop shows the user an error message.

*** `debug-on-entry' accepts primitive functions that are not special forms.

** Lisp code indentation features:

*** The `defmacro' form can contain indentation and edebug declarations.

These declarations specify how to indent the macro calls in Lisp mode
and how to debug them with Edebug.  You write them like this:

   (defmacro NAME LAMBDA-LIST [DOC-STRING] [DECLARATION ...] ...)

DECLARATION is a list `(declare DECLARATION-SPECIFIER ...)'.  The
possible declaration specifiers are:

(indent INDENT)
	Set NAME's `lisp-indent-function' property to INDENT.

(edebug DEBUG)
	Set NAME's `edebug-form-spec' property to DEBUG.  (This is
	equivalent to writing a `def-edebug-spec' for the macro,
	but this is cleaner.)

*** cl-indent now allows customization of Indentation of backquoted forms.

See the new user option `lisp-backquote-indentation'.

*** cl-indent now handles indentation of simple and extended `loop' forms.

The new user options `lisp-loop-keyword-indentation',
`lisp-loop-forms-indentation', and `lisp-simple-loop-indentation' can
be used to customize the indentation of keywords and forms in loop
forms.

** Variable aliases:

*** New function: defvaralias ALIAS-VAR BASE-VAR [DOCSTRING]

This function defines the symbol ALIAS-VAR as a variable alias for
symbol BASE-VAR.  This means that retrieving the value of ALIAS-VAR
returns the value of BASE-VAR, and changing the value of ALIAS-VAR
changes the value of BASE-VAR.

DOCSTRING, if present, is the documentation for ALIAS-VAR; else it has
the same documentation as BASE-VAR.

*** New function: indirect-variable VARIABLE

This function returns the variable at the end of the chain of aliases
of VARIABLE.  If VARIABLE is not a symbol, or if VARIABLE is not
defined as an alias, the function returns VARIABLE.

It might be noteworthy that variables aliases work for all kinds of
variables, including buffer-local and frame-local variables.

*** The macro `define-obsolete-variable-alias' combines `defvaralias' and
`make-obsolete-variable'.

** defcustom changes:

*** The package-version keyword has been added to provide
`customize-changed-options' functionality to packages in the future.
Developers who make use of this keyword must also update the new
variable `customize-package-emacs-version-alist'.

*** The new customization type `float' requires a floating point number.

** String changes:

*** A hex escape in a string constant forces the string to be multibyte.

*** An octal escape in a string constant forces the string to be unibyte.