* doc/NEWS-1.8.0: Rename NEWS to NEWS-1.8.0. This is way too old

NEWS.


git-svn-id: svn+ssh://ci.ruby-lang.org/ruby/branches/ruby_1_8@11931 b2dd03c8-39d4-4d8f-98ff-823fe69b080e

doc/NEWS-1.8.0

@@ -0,0 +1,837 @@
+= command line options
+
+: -W option
+
+  new option to specify warning level. -W0 to shut up warnings, -W1 for normal level,
+  -W2 for verbose level.  -w equals to -W2.
+
+= language syntax
+
+: arbitrary delimited string array
+
+  %W(...) notation, word list literal like %w(...) with the
+  exception that #{} interpolation is allowed.
+
+: arbitrary delimited symbol literl
+
+  :"foo", :"foo#{bar}", etc.
+
+: expression interpolation in strings
+
+  Now arbitrary statements are allowed inside #{} interpolation
+  without escapes.  In other hand, they can no longer access to
+  variables defined in eval.
+
+: negative number literals
+
+  Digits preceded minus sign is a literal integer.
+
+: array expansion
+
+  Fixed with the following behavior:
+
+    a = *[1]
+    p a #=> [1]
+
+  Now 1-element array in rhs is expanded properly.
+
+    a = *[1]
+    p a #=> 1
+
+: break and next
+
+  Extended to take an optional expression, which is used as a value
+  for termination.
+
+: direct assignment to Foo::Bar is allowed
+
+  also, you can define "class Foo::Bar; end".
+
+= language core
+
+: $stdin, $stdout, $stderr
+
+  can be assignable again.  the original stdio are preserved as STDIN,
+  STDOUT, STDERR.
+
+: $VERBOSE now has 3 levels
+
+  nil - silence, false - medium (default), true - verbose
+
+: allocation framework
+
+  any instance of class can be allocated by class.allocate,
+  (except for a few classes).
+
+: comparison of exception classes in a rescue clause
+
+  changed to use Module#=== for comparing $! with the exception
+  class specified in each rescue clause.
+
+  as the previous behavior was to use kind_of?, the effect is limited
+  to the SystemCallError case.  SystemCallError.=== has been newly
+  defined to return true when the two have the same errno.  With this
+  change, SystemCallError's with the same errno, such as Errno::EAGAIN
+  and Errno::EWOULDBLOCK, can both be rescued by listing just one of
+  them.
+
+: constants lookup
+
+  improved at the performance of searching by using an internal hash
+  table.
+
+  calls const_missing method of the class/module, if constant is not
+  found in the look up path.
+
+: expression parenthesis in the first argument
+
+  altered to get the following code (note the space after p):
+
+    p ("xx"*2).to_i
+
+  Interpreted as:
+
+    p (("xx"*2).to_i)
+
+  Instead of:
+
+    (p("xx"*2)).to_i
+
+: implicit comparison in conditional expressions
+
+  Obsoleted except when it is used in -e.
+
+  : between Range and $.
+      Use explicit comparison instead.
+
+  : between Regexp and $_
+      Use the unary method ~/re/ instead.
+
+: to_str
+
+  added to get objects which define to_str() treated as String's.
+
+  now almost all the built-in methods try each argument with to_str()
+  when they expect it to be a String.
+
+    foo = Object.new
+    class <<foo
+      def to_str
+        "foo"
+      end
+    end
+    p File.open(foo)
+    => -:7:in `open': wrong argument type Object (expected String) (TypeError)
+       ruby 1.6.4 (2001-04-19) [i586-linux]
+    => -:7:in `open': No such file or directory - "foo" (Errno::ENOENT)
+       ruby 1.7.0 (2001-05-02) [i586-linux]
+
+: multiple assignment behavior
+
+  Fixed so that "*a = nil" results in "a == []".
+
+= changes in core class library
+
+: open
+
+  Extended so that when the third argument is permission flags it
+  calls open(2) instead of fopen(3).
+
+: sprintf
+
+  new format specifier "%p" is available.
+
+: lambda and proc
+
+  Proc object returns from these methods has the following attributes:
+
+  * strict argument number check
+  * break and return terminates the proc execution.
+
+: warn(message)
+
+  a method to give warnings.
+
+: abort()
+
+  takes optional terminate message argument.
+
+: Object#initialize_copy
+
+  copy constructor for clone and dup.
+
+: Object#instance_variable_set, Object#instance_variable_get
+
+  added.
+
+: Object#singleton_method_removed
+: Object#singleton_method_undefined
+
+  Added.
+
+: Array#transpose
+
+  added.
+
+: Array#fetch(index [, default])
+
+  Added.  If a default value isn't given, raises index error if index
+  is out of range.
+
+: Array#insert(n, other, ...)
+
+  Added. [ruby-talk:14289]
+
+  This is much the same as (({ary[n,0] = [other,...]})) except
+  returing self.
+
+    ary = [0,1,2,3]
+    ary[2, 0] = [4, 5, 6]
+    p ary
+
+    ary = [0,1,2,3]
+    ary.insert(2, 4, 5, 6)
+    p ary
+
+: Array#sort!
+
+  Changed to always return self without checking whether the sequence
+  of the elements was modified or not.
+
+  Beware that this behavior is not guaranteed to continue in the
+  future.  Do not rely on its return value. [ruby-dev:12506]
+
+: Array#filter
+
+  Previously deprecated, now removed.  Use Array#collect!.
+
+: Array#pack, String#unpack
+
+  Allows comment in template strings.
+
+: Array#pack, String#unpack
+
+  New templates 'q' and 'Q' for 64bit integer (signed and unsigned respectively).
+
+: Array#new
+
+  Now takes block to fill initial values.  E.g.
+
+	Array.new(10) { |i| i + 1 }
+	=> [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
+
+: Array#fill
+
+  Takes block to get the values to fill.
+
+: Array#fetch
+
+  Takes block to get the default value.
+
+: Array#zip
+
+  added.
+
+: Hash#update
+
+  Takes block to resolve key conflict.
+
+: Hash#merge and Hash#merge!
+
+  update hash.  Hash#merge! is a synonym of Hash#update.
+
+: String#split
+
+  if "sep" argument is a string, regular expression meta characters
+  are escaped internally.
+
+: String#rstrip
+
+  chop off NULs at the end of strings.
+
+: String#to_i
+
+  Now accepts optional base argument.
+
+	"101".to_i(10) => 101
+	"101".to_i(2)  => 5
+	"101".to_i(8)  => 65
+	"101".to_i(16) => 257
+
+  A base argument of 0 guesses at the base.
+
+	"101".to_i(0)   => 101
+	"0b101".to_i(0) => 5
+	"0101".to_i(0)  => 65
+	"0x101".to_i(0) => 257
+
+: String#[regexp, nth]
+
+  Extended to accepts optional second argument.
+
+  It tries match between self and REGEXP, then returns the
+  content of the NTH regexp register.
+
+: String#casecmp
+
+  Added.  This is a case insensitive version of String#<=>.
+
+: String#chomp
+
+  If $/ == "\n", chops off last newlines (any of \n, \r, \r\n).
+
+: String#eql?
+
+  Changed to be always case sensitive.
+
+: String#insert(n, other)
+
+  Added.
+
+  This is much the same as (({str[n, 0] = other})) except returing
+  self.
+
+: String#lstrip, rstrip, lstrip!, rstrip!
+
+  Added.  These strip only left or right part of a string.
+
+: String#match
+
+  Added.
+
+: String/Array methods
+
+  Returns an instance of receivers class.
+
+: String.new
+
+  The first argument becomes optional.
+
+: Symbol#intern
+
+  Added.
+
+: Symbol.all_symbols
+
+  Added. [ruby-dev:12921]
+
+: IO
+
+  64bit off_t support by Janathan Baker.
+
+: IO#read
+: IO#sysread
+
+  takes optinal second argument for read buffer.
+
+: IO::sysopen
+
+  New method to get a raw file descriptor.
+
+: IO#sysseek
+
+  Added.
+
+: IO#fsync
+
+  new method that copies all in-memory parts of a file to disk and
+  waits until the device reports that all parts are on stable storage.
+  Implemented with fsync(2) or equivalent.
+
+: IO.open
+
+  Made public.  Can only associate an IO object with a file number
+  like IO.new and IO.for_fd, but can take a block.
+
+: IO.for_fd
+
+  Added as a synonym for IO.new.
+
+: IO.read
+
+  Added.  Like IO.readlines, except it returns the entire file as a
+  string.  [ruby-talk:9460]
+
+: File#fnmatch, File::Constants::FNM_*
+
+  Added.  Refer to the fnmatch(3) manpage for details.
+
+  Localism is FNM_DOTMATCH which has the opposite meaning of the
+  commonly known FNM_PERIOD, which does not exist in Ruby.
+
+  e.g.
+
+    # exclude files matching "*.bak" case-insensitively.
+    files.reject! {|fn| File.fnmatch?("*.bak", fn, File::FNM_CASEFOLD) }
+
+: File.lchmod
+: File.lchown
+
+  Added.
+
+: File.open, IO.open
+
+  File mode can be specified by flags like open(2),
+  e.g. File::open(path, File::CREAT|File::WRONLY).
+
+: Regexp#options
+
+  Added.
+
+: Regexp.last_match(n)
+
+  Extended to take an optional argument.
+
+: MatchData#captures
+
+  added.
+
+: Dir#path
+
+  Added.
+
+: Dir.chdir
+
+  Extended to take a block.
+
+: Dir.glob
+
+  Made to support meta-character escaping by a backslash.  Wildcards
+  and spaces may now be escaped using a backslash.
+
+: Dir.open
+
+  Changed to return what the block returns when a block is given, just
+  as File.open does. (It always returned (({nil})) in 1.6 and
+  prior)
+
+: Dir.chdir
+
+  Changed to warn only when invoked from multiple threads or no block
+  is given. [ruby-dev:13823]
+
+    Dir.chdir('foo') {
+      Dir.chdir('bar') {   # previously warned
+        puts Dir.pwd
+      }
+    }
+
+: Dir#pos=
+
+  Returns the new position instead of self.
+
+: Dir::glob
+
+  Now accepts optional FNM_* flags via the second argument, whereas
+  Dir::[] doesn't.
+
+    Dir.glob("makefile", File::FNM_CASEFOLD) #=> ['Makefile', 'makefile']
+
+: Class#inherited
+
+  Method is called when Class is inherited by another class.
+
+	class A; end
+	def A.inherited(by)
+          puts "A inherited by #{by.inspect}"
+        end
+        class B < A; end
+
+        Prints out "A inherited by B"
+
+: Module#include?
+
+  Added. [ruby-dev:13941] 
+
+: Module#included
+
+  Added.  This is a hook called after Module#append_feature.
+
+: Module#method_removed
+: Module#method_undefined
+
+  Added.
+
+: Module.new, Class.new
+
+  Extended to take block.
+
+: Time
+
+  Extended to accept a negative time_t. (Only when the platform
+  supports it)
+
+    p Time.at(-1)
+    => Thu Jan 01 08:59:59 JST 1970
+
+: Time#to_a
+: Time#zone
+
+  Made to return "UTC" under gmtime.  It used to return a platform
+  dependent value, typically "GMT", in 1.6 and prior.
+
+: Marshal to use marshal_dump and marshal_load
+
+  if a dumping object responds to 'marshal_dump', Marshal.dump calls
+  it, and dumps object returned.  Marshal.load allocates a new instance
+  using "allocate", then calls its "marshal_load" with dumped data.
+  Marshal format version is now 4.8 (was 4.6 in 1.6.8).
+
+: Marshal
+
+  Fixed not to dump anonymous classes/modules.
+
+  Fixed with loading modules.
+
+: Thread#group
+
+  new method to get belonging  ThreadGroup.
+
+: Thread#terminate
+
+  synonym of Thread#exit
+
+: Thread#join
+
+  Optional argument limits maximum time to wait the thread in second.
+  And returns nil if timed out.
+
+: ThreagGroup#enclose
+
+  prohibits thread movement from/to enclosed groups.
+
+: Range#step([step=1])
+
+  Added.
+
+: SystemCallError
+
+  SystemCallError's "===" match (used in rescue also) is now based on its errno.
+
+: Interrupt
+
+  Made a subclass of SignalException. (It was a subclass of
+  Exception in 1.6 and prior)
+
+: NameError and NoMethodError
+
+  Moved and now NoMethodError < NameError < StandardError.
+
+: NoMethodError
+
+  Added. [ruby-dev:12763]
+
+: NotImplementError
+
+  Finally obsoleted.  Use NotImplementedError.
+
+: SystemCallError.===
+
+  Added. (See the "Comparison of exception classes in a rescue clause"
+  paragraph above) [ruby-dev:12670]
+
+: SystemExit#status
+
+  Added.
+
+: Proc#==
+
+  Added.
+
+: Method#==
+
+  Added.
+
+: UnboundMethod is no longer subclass of Method
+
+  class hierarchy changed. 
+
+: Enumerable#all?
+: Enumerable#any?
+: Enumerable#inject
+: Enumerable#sort_by
+
+  Added.
+
+: Math.acos(x)
+: Math.asin(x)
+: Math.atan(x)
+: Math.cosh(x)
+: Math.hypot(x,y)
+: Math.sinh(x)
+: Math.tanh(x)
+
+  Added.
+
+: Process.abort
+: Process.exit
+
+  synonym of Kernel#abort, and Kernel#exit respectively.
+
+: Process::detach(pid)
+
+  new method to detach child process.  child process will be "wait"ed
+  automagically.
+
+: Process.times
+
+  Moved from Time.times. (Time.times still remains but emits a
+  warning)
+
+: Process.waitall
+
+  Added.
+
+: Process::Status
+
+  Added.  (({$?})) is now an instance of this class.
+
+: Process::UID, Process::GID, Process::Sys,
+
+  Added.
+
+: Signal
+
+  Added. This module has module functions Signal.trap and Signal.list.
+
+= changes in bundled libraries
+
+: lib/cgi.rb
+
+  cgi[name] returns CGI::QueryExtension::Value that wraps string
+  value, no longer array.
+
+: lib/timeout
+
+  timeout "function" wrapped in Timeout module.
+
+: TCPServer#accept, UNIXServer#accept, Socket#accept
+
+  New methods to return an accepted socket fd.
+
+: Date and DateTime
+
+  lib/date.rb now provides both Date and DateTime.
+
+  Some methods have been renamed.  But the old names are still alive.
+
+  Some new methods have been added (Date::parse, Date#strftime, etc.).
+
+  Date#mjd now returns the chronological modified Julian day number.
+
+  All facilities about tjd have been removed.
+
+: Curses
+
+  Updated.  New methods and constants for using the mouse, character
+  attributes, colors and key codes have been added.
+
+: Net::HTTP
+
+  New version of Net::HTTP has introduced seriously incompatible
+  changes. For details, see document embedded in net/http.rb itself.
+
+: Socket.pack_sockaddr_in, Socket.unpack_sockaddr_in
+
+  Added.  Utility for direct Socket access.
+
+: Socket.pack_sockaddr_un, Socket.unpack_sockaddr_un
+
+  Added.  Utility for direct Socket access.
+
+: TCPServer#listen, UNIXServer#listen
+
+  Added.
+
+: TCPSocket.new
+: TCPSocket.open
+
+  Extended to take an address and a port number for the local side in
+  optional 3rd and 4th arguments.
+
+= newly bundled library
+
+: ext/bigdecimal
+
+  variable precision decimal number 
+
+: ext/dl
+
+  an interface to the dynamic linker.
+
+: ext/enumerator
+
+  a helper module for the Enumerable interface.
+
+: ext/io/wait
+
+  IO wait methods.
+
+: ext/iconv
+
+  wrapper library of (({iconv})).
+
+: ext/openssl
+
+  OpenSSL for Ruby
+
+: ext/racc/cparse
+
+  Racc runtime library in C. (Racc is a parser generator for ruby)
+
+: ext/stringio
+
+  Pseudo (({IO})) class from/to (({String})).
+
+: ext/strscan
+
+  Fast string scanner library.
+
+: ext/syck
+
+  fast YAML parser.
+
+: lib/abbrev
+
+  creates an abbreviation table from a list
+
+: lib/benchmark
+
+  Ruby scripts benchmarker
+
+: lib/cgi/session/pstore
+
+  cgi/session back-end using pstore 
+
+: lib/csv
+
+  reads/writes CSV files.
+
+: lib/date/format
+
+  strftime for Date class
+
+: lib/drb
+
+  dRuby or distributed Ruby
+
+: lib/fileutils
+
+  file utility library.
+
+: lib/generator
+
+  converts an internal iterator to an external iterator
+
+: lib/gserver
+
+  generic server used by xmlrpc
+
+: lib/ipaddr
+
+  manipulates IP address.
+
+: lib/multi-tk
+
+  to allow safe Tk, etc.
+
+: lib/open-uri
+
+  easy-to-use wrapper for net/http and net/ftp
+
+: lib/optparse
+
+  command line options utility library
+
+: lib/pathname
+
+  handles pathname in OO manner.
+
+: lib/pp
+
+  prettyprinter for Ruby objects
+
+: lib/prettyprint
+
+  implements prettyprint algorithm.
+
+: lib/profiler
+
+  library to implement -r "profile"
+
+: lib/racc/parser
+
+  RACC parser generator runtime in Ruby.
+
+: lib/scanf
+
+  scan string and retrieve object with format
+
+: lib/set
+
+  Set class
+
+: lib/runit
+
+  RubyUnit compatible layer for test/unit
+
+: lib/test/unit
+
+  unit testing framework for Ruby
+
+: lib/tmpdir
+
+  get temporary directory path.
+
+: lib/tsort
+
+  topological sorting library.
+
+: lib/rexml
+
+  REXML XML library
+
+: lib/webrick
+
+  generic internet server kit
+
+: lib/xmlrpc
+
+  simple RPC via XML
+
+: lib/un
+
+  used like 'ruby -run -e cp -- -p foo bar'.  neat, isn't it?
+
+: lib/win32/registry
+
+  win32/registry is registry accessor
+
+: lib/yaml
+
+  YAML Ain't Mark-up Language
+
+= removed libraries
+
+: lib/ftplib
+
+  use net/ftp instead.
+
+: lib/telnet
+
+  use net/telnet instead.
+
+= new port
+
+: WindowsCE port
+: Win32 BCC
+
+= interpreter implementation
+
+: garbage collector
+
+  faster, but uses more memory for the worst case.
+
+: string concatenation
+
+  faster by avoiding too frequent realloc(3).