NEWS for Mercury 20.06 ====================== Changes that may break compatibility ------------------------------------ * We have deleted the `one_or_more` type, and the operations on it, from the `list` module of the Mercury standard library, and moved them to a new module named `one_or_more`. This will break compatibility for code that used the moved functionality, but such breaks can be fixed simply by importing `one_or_more` as well as (or in rare cases, instead of) the `list` module. * If module A contains a `:- import_module` or a `:- use_module` declaration for module B but does not refer to anything defined in module B, we used to generate a warning for the declaration only if module A had no submodules, because it is possible that A's submodules refer to entities defined in B. We now generate a warning for unused `:- import_module` and `:- use_module` declaration in this case as well, which will stop the program from compiling if `--halt-at-warn` is set. The fix is simple: replace the declaration being warned about in the parent module with declarations in the child modules that need it. In the fairly frequent case that not all child modules need module B, this avoids the need to recompile those child modules when the interface of module B changes. * We have moved the type `domain_error` from the `math` module of the Mercury standard library to the `exception` module. Any module qualified references to the name of either the type or of its one function symbol should have the module qualification either updated or deleted. The reason for the move is that it reduces the cost of some new optimizations. * We have added an additional constructor to the `poly_type` type from the `string` module. Existing code that uses that type may need to be updated. Changes to the Mercury standard library --------------------------------------- ### New module: `kv_list` * This module, whose name is short for key-value list, contains the same functionality as the existing `assoc_list` module, but stores lists of key-value pairs in a more space-efficient manner. Specifically, it uses one three-word cell on the heap to represent each pair, while the `assoc_list` module uses two two-word cells, which means that `kv_list` will allocate fewer heap cells. The tradeoff is that unlike assoc_lists, kv_lists are not standard lists, and thus cannot be manipulated using the functions and predicates of the `list` module. ### New module: `one_or_more` * This module defines the `one_or_more` type, which represents nonempty lists, and provides operations on the values of this type. For every operation in the `list` module that makes sense for nonempty lists, there is a corresponding operation in `one_or_more`. ### New module: `one_or_more_map` * This module implements `one_or_more_map`, a map from keys to one or more values. Its functionality is very similar to that of the `multi_map` module (in fact, the two modules define the exact same set of operations), but unlike `multi_map`, it uses the type system to enforce the invariant that every key in the map must have at least one associated value. ### New module: `thread.closeable_channel` * This module implements closeable unbounded channels, similar to the unbounded channels provided by the `thread.channel` module, but with the addition of a close operation. Once a channel is closed, no more items can be added to it, and reading from a closed channel will not block indefinitely. ### Changes to the `assoc_list` module * The following predicates and functions have been added: - pred `lookup/3` - pred `update/4` - pred `foldl/4` - pred `foldl2/6` - pred `foldl3/8` - func `foldl_keys/3` - func `foldl_values/3` ### Changes to the `char` module * The following function and predicate have been added: - func `hash/1` - pred `hash/2` ### Changes to the `float` module * The following predicate has been added: - pred `hash/2` ### Changes to the `hash_table` module * The following predicates have been deprecated and will be removed in a future release: - pred `int_hash/2` - pred `uint_hash/2` - pred `float_hash/2` - pred `char_hash/2` - pred `string_hash/2` - pred `generic_hash/2` * The following obsolete functions have been removed: - func `new/3` - func `new_default/1` ### Changes to the `int` module * The following function and predicate have been added: - func `hash/1` - pred `hash/2` ### Changes to the `integer` module * The following functions have been added: - func `eight/0` - func `sixteen/0` ### Changes to the `io` module * The predicates `write_many/3` and `write_many/4` now work directly with values of type `uint`. * The predicates `format/4` and `format/5` now work directly with values of type `uint`. (See the changes to the `string` module for further details.) ### Changes to the `list` module * The following predicate has been added: - pred `map_corresponding3/5` * The following type, functions and predicates have been moved to the new `one_or_more` module. Note: this change can break backwards compatibility. - type `one_or_more/1` - func `one_or_more_cons/2` (as `one_or_more.cons/2`) - func `one_or_more_to_list/1` - pred `list_to_one_or_more/2` - pred `det_list_to_one_or_more/2` ### Changes to the `map` module * The following predicates and functions have been added: - pred `filter_map_values/3` - pred `filter_map_values_only/3` - pred `foldl4_values/10` - pred `foldl5_values/12` - func `keys_as_set/1` - pred `keys_as_set/2` ### Changes to the `multi_map` module * The following predicates and functions have been added: - func `sorted_keys/1` - pred `sorted_keys/2` - func `keys_as_set/1` - pred `keys_as_set/2` ### Changes to the `string` module * Formatting of `uint` values is now directly supported by `format/2` and `format/3`. The `poly_type/0` type has been extended with a new alternative, `u/1`, to allow this. ### Changes to the `stream` module * We have added a new `reader/4` subclass, `unboxed_reader/4`. This subclass allows readers to provide a `get` operation that avoids boxing non-error outputs. ### Changes to the `stream.string_writer` module * The predicate `format/5` now work directly with values of type `uint`. (See the changes to the `string` module for further details.) ### Changes to the `thread.channel` module * The following predicate has been deprecated and will be removed in a future release: - pred `untake/4` ### Changes to the `thread.mvar` module * The documentation of the following predicates has been clarified to match the actual implementation: - pred `try_take/4` - pred `try_read/4` ### Changes to the `tree234` module * The following predicates have been added: - pred `filter_map_values/3` - pred `filter_map_values_only/3` - pred `foldl4_values/10` - pred `foldl5_values/12` ### Changes to the `uint` module * The following function and predicate have been added: - func `hash/1` - pred `hash/2` ### Changes to the `version_array` module * The following obsolete function has been removed: - func `unsafe_new/2` ### Changes to the `version_hash_table` module * The following predicates have been deprecated and will be removed in a future release: - pred `int_hash/2` - pred `uint_hash/2` - pred `float_hash/2` - pred `char_hash/2` - pred `string_hash/2` - pred `generic_hash/2` Changes to the Mercury compiler ------------------------------- ### Alternative script to invoke the compiler * We have added an alternative script, `mercury`, to use when invoking the compiler on systems where the usual name, `mmc`, clashes with other executables. ### Changes to the treatment of unused imports * The compiler now generates warnings for `:- import_module` and `:- use_module` declarations in the interface of a module even if that module has submodules. Previously, it generated such warnings only if the module had no submodules. ### Changes to code model options * `--trail-segments` Grades that support trailing now always use trail segments. This means that the `--trail-segments` option now has no effect, and it is therefore deprecated. * `--high-level-data` We have deleted the `--high-level-data` option. Its effects are now implied by the target language. * `--tags` We have deleted the `--tags` option. Its effects are now implied by the target language. ### Changes to warnings * [Github issue #85]. The compiler will now generate a warning about a disjunct that cannot succeed even if the predicate or function in which that disjunct occurs has other modes in which that disjunct can succeed. The generation of such warnings can now be disabled by wrapping the whole disjunction, or a larger goal containing it, in a `disable_warnings` scope, like this: disable_warnings [no_solution_disjunct] ( Goal ) * [Mantis bug #497]. The compiler will now generate a warning for an unrecognised warning name in a `disable_warnings` scope instead of reporting an error. ### New warning options * `--print-errors-warnings-when-generating-interface` Until now, the compiler did not try to detect problems with a module when generating its interface files. Now it does. To preserve compatibility, by default it still ignores any problems it finds then, but if this option is enabled, and if it does in fact find any problems, the compiler will report them, and if they are severe enough, it will not generate the interface file at all. In the usual use case where the compiler is asked to generate the interface file as part of rebuilding the whole executable, this behavior has the advantage that the rebuild, which would fail anyway, fails sooner. ### New auxiliary output options * `--show-definition-extents` When this option is specified, the compiler will write out a list of the predicates and functions defined in the module, together with the approximate line numbers of their first and last lines, to `module.defn_extents`. The list will be ordered on the starting line numbers of the predicates and functions. Changes to the Mercury implementation ------------------------------------- * Grades that support trailing now always use trail segments; it is no longer possible to use a fixed size trail. One consequence of this is that the `trseg` grade component now acts as a synonym for the `tr` component. Since `tr` is shorter, `trseg` is deprecated in its favor. Another consequence is that the `--trail-size` and `--trail-size-kwords` runtime options no longer have any effect, and are deprecated. * We have upgraded the bundled Boehm GC to v7.6.12 and libatomic_ops to v7.6.8. For news about earlier versions, see the HISTORY file.