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Diffstat (limited to 'README')
| -rw-r--r-- | README | 148 |
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@@ -1,72 +1,99 @@ +**** NOTE: The texinfo manual is being edited and will be restored +**** to the distribution shortly after the release. + README: -This is GNU Awk 2.11. It should be upwardly compatible with the -System V Release 4 awk. +This is GNU Awk 2.13. It should be upwardly compatible with the +System V Release 4 awk. It is almost completely compliant with draft 11 +of POSIX 1003.2. + +This release is essentially a bug fix and tuning release. -This release is essentially a bug fix release. The files have been -renamed and code moved around to organize things by function. Gawk should -also be somewhat faster now. More care has been given towards portability -across different Unix systems. See the installation instructions, below. +See the installation instructions, below. Known problems are given in the PROBLEMS file. Work to be done is -described briefly in the FUTURES file. - -The gawk.texinfo included in this release has been revised; it should -be in sync with what the code does. The man page should also be accurate, -but no promises there. - -CHANGES FROM 2.10 - -User visible changes: - Compatibility mode is now obtained via new -c option. - The new ANSI C \a and \x escapes are now a standard part of gawk - as Unix nawk has picked them up. - The new tolower() and toupper() functions are also standard. - A new undocumented option, -nostalgia, has been added. - Command line options have changed somewhat from 2.10. - -v is now -V - -V is now -C - new -v for doing variable assignments before the BEGIN block. - new -c for compatibility mode. - new -a for awk style regexps (default) - new -e for egrep style regexps, per the POSIX draft spec. - Some more formats have been added to printf, ala nawk and ANSI C. - -Other changes (the hard stuff): - All known bugs fixed. - Still more memory leaks plugged. - Lots of changes to improve performance and portability. - -PC users, you've been saved! - As of patchlevel 1, we are now supplying MS-DOS "support." Said - support was generously provided by Kent Williams, who is now - the contact person for it. See below for his address. +described briefly in the FUTURES file. Verified ports are listed in +the PORTS file. Please read the LIMITATIONS and ACKNOWLEDGMENT files. + +The gawk.texinfo included in this release is out of date with respect to +the code. An updated manual will be released soon after the code. +It can be changed into an info file (included) with +makeinfo or with texinfo-format-buffer in emacs without changes. + +The man page is up to date. +If you do not have nroff or troff, you can use `awf' included in +the test suite to format the manual page with only a few small problems. + +Summary of Changes from 2.11.1 + +Configuration is via a config file which is used by the "mkconf" script +to create Makefile and config.h. Sample configuration files for various systems +are included in the config directory. + +Non-POSIX options are arguments to -W; all non-compliant options are +deprecated. + +New option "-W lint" to do extra checking. The coverage +will expand a bit in future releases. + +Numeric to string conversion is done via the builtin variable CONVFMT +rather than OFMT, in conformance with the POSIX draft standard. It is +initialized with the same value as OFMT, so the vast majority of programs +should see no change in behaviour. + +Awk program source no longer has any line length limits. + +New builtin functions systime() and strftime() provided. + +Error messages improved. + +FIELDWIDTHS variable gives a space-separated list of numbers specifying the +widths of input fields, to accomodate fixed-format input. + +Numerous bug fixes and portability improvements. + +Performance is about 50% better than 2.11.1, although the improvements +are uneven. + +The code has been extensively tested with test coverage monitored. +A test suite is now included. This will be expanded in future releases. INSTALLATION: -The Makefile will need some tailoring. Currently it is set up for -a Sun running SunOS 4.x and gcc. The changes to make in the Makefile are -commented and should be obvious. Starting with 2.11, our intent has been -to make the code conform to standards (ANSI, POSIX, SVID, in that order) -whenever possible, and to not penalize standard conforming systems. -We have included substitute versions of routines not universally available. -Simply add the appropriate define for the missing feature(s) on your system. +The Makefile may need some tailoring. The only changes necessary should +be to change installation targets or to change compiler flags. +The changes to make in the Makefile are commented and should be obvious. -If you have 4.2 or 4.3 BSD, you should add -DTMPNAM_MISSING since the -version of tmpnam on these systems won't accept a NULL pointer. -This does not apply to 4.3-tahoe or the S5R[23] systems I have access to. -You need this if gawk core dumps on something simple like 'BEGIN {print "hi"}'. +All other changes should be made in a config file. Samples for +various systems are included in the config directory. Starting with +2.11, our intent has been to make the code conform to standards (ANSI, +POSIX, SVID, in that order) whenever possible, and to not penalize +standard conforming systems. We have included substitute versions of +routines not universally available. Simply add the appropriate define +for the missing feature(s) on your system. If you have neither bison nor yacc, use the awk.tab.c file here. It was generated with bison, and should have no AT&T code in it. (Note that modifying awk.y without bison or yacc will be difficult, at best. You might want to get a copy of bison from the FSF too.) -If you have an MS-DOS system, use the stuff in pc.d. +If no config file is included for your system, start by copying one +for a similar system. One way of determining the defines needed is to +try to load gawk with nothing defined and see what routines are +unresolved by the loader. This should give you a good idea of how to +proceed. We would like to receive a copy of any new config files. + +If you have an MS-DOS system, use the stuff in the pc directory. +For an Atari theere is an atari directory and similarly one for VMS. + +After successful compilation, do 'make test' to run a small test suite. +There should be no output from the 'cmp' invocations. If there is, please +investigate and report the problem. More extensive testing can be invoked +with 'make bigtest'. There are many interesting programs in the test suite! PRINTING THE MANUAL -The 'support' directory contains texinfo.tex 2.1, which will be necessary +The 'support' directory contains texinfo.tex 2.40, which will be necessary for printing the manual, and the texindex.c program from the emacs distribution which is also necessary. See the makefile for the steps needed to get a DVI file from the manual. @@ -89,23 +116,8 @@ UUCP {uunet utai watmath}!dalcs!david INTERNET david@cs.dal.ca Arnold Robbins -1315 Kittredge Court, N.E. -Atlanta, GA, 30329-3539, USA +1736 Reindeer Drive +Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA INTERNET: arnold@skeeve.atl.ga.us UUCP: { gatech, emory, emoryu1 }!skeeve!arnold - -If you can't contact either of us, try Jay Fenlason, hack@prep.ai.mit.edu -AKA mit-eddie!prep!hack. During odd hours he can sometimes be reached at -(617) 253-8975, which is an MIT phone in the middle of the corridor, so don't -be suprised if someone wierd answers, or if the person on the other end has -never heard of him. (Direct them to the microvax about 10 feet to their left.) - -MS-DOS SUPPORT - -Support for MSC 5.1 was supplied for 2.11 by Kent Williams, who can be -reached at williams@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu. It relies heavily on the -earlier work done for 2.10 by Conrad Kwok and Scott Garfinkle. Bug -reports on the MS-DOS version should go to Kent. Of course, if it's -a generic bug, we want to hear about it too, but if it isn't reproducible -under Unix, we won't be as interested. |