Mercurial > hg > xemacs-beta
diff etc/NEWS @ 428:3ecd8885ac67 r21-2-22
Import from CVS: tag r21-2-22
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date | Mon, 13 Aug 2007 11:28:15 +0200 |
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--- /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000 +++ b/etc/NEWS Mon Aug 13 11:28:15 2007 +0200 @@ -0,0 +1,821 @@ +-*- mode:outline -*- + +* Introduction +============== + +This file presents some general information about XEmacs. It is +primarily about the changes in recent XEmacs versions and its release +history. + +Use `C-c C-f' to move to the next equal level of outline, and +`C-c C-b' to move to previous equal level. `C-h m' will give more +info about the Outline mode. Many commands are also available through +the menubar. + +Users who would like to know which capabilities have been introduced +in each release should look at the appropriate section of this file. +Starting with version 20.0, XEmacs includes ChangeLogs, which can be +consulted for a more detailed list of changes. + +Users interested in some of the details of how XEmacs differs from GNU +Emacs should read the section "What's Different?" near the end of this +file. + + N.B. The term "GNU Emacs" refers to any release of Emacs Version + 19 from the Free Software Foundation's GNU Project. (We do not + say just "Emacs" as Richard M. Stallman ["RMS"] prefers, because + it is clearly a more generic term.) The term "XEmacs" refers to + this program or to its predecessors "Era" and "Lucid Emacs". The + predecessor of all these program is called "Emacs 18". When no + particular version is implied, "Emacs" will be used. + + +* Changes in XEmacs 21.2 +======================== + +** `delete-key-deletes-forward' now defaults to t. + +`delete-key-deletes-forward' is the variable that regulates the +behaviour of the delete key on the systems that offer both a backspace +and a delete key. If set to nil, the key labeled "Delete" will delete +backward. If set to non-nil, the "Delete" key will delete forward, +except on keyboards where a "Backspace" key is not provided. + +Unless our implementation has bugs, the only reason why you would want +to set `delete-key-deletes-forward' to nil is if you want to use the +Delete key to delete backwards, despite the presence (according to +Xlib) of a BackSpace key on the keyboard. + +** Interactive searching and matching case improvements. + +Case sensitiveness in searching operations is normally controlled by +the variable `case-fold-search' (if non-nil, case is ignored while +searching). This mechanism has now been slightly improved for +interactive searches: if the search string (or regexp) contains +uppercase characters, the searching is forced to be case-sensitive, +`case-fold-search'. + +The new behavior affects all functions performing interactive +searches, like `zap-to-char', `list-matching-lines', `tags-search' +etc. The incremental search facility has always behaved that way. + +** The rectangle functions have been almost completely rewritten in +order to avoid inserting undesirable spaces, notably at the end of +lines. Two typical examples of the old behavior were +`string-rectangle', which filled all lines up to the right side of the +rectangle, and `clear-rectangle', which filled even empty lines up to +the left side. All functions have been rewritten to avoid inserting +unwanted spaces, and an optional prefix now allows them to behave the +old way. + +As a side effect, the FORCE argument to `move-to-column' now +understands the special value `coerce', which means that the line +should not be filled if it is too short to reach the desired column. + +** Incremental search will now highlight all visible matches, making +it easier to anticipate where consecutive C-s or C-r will place the +point. If you want to disable the feature, set +`isearch-highlight-all-matches' to nil. + +** You can now customize and save comments for faces and variables. +In Custom buffers, a new menu entry allows you to add and edit a +comment. Comments for variables can also be assigned by calling +`customize-set-(value|variable)' with a prefix argument. + +** XEmacs now locates the early package hierarchies at +~/.xemacs/mule-packages/ and ~/.xemacs/xemacs-packages/. Previously, +the early packages were located in ~/.xemacs/. + +** You can now create "indirect buffers", like in GNU Emacs. An +indirect buffer shares its text with another buffer ("base buffer"), +but has its own major mode, local variables, extents, and narrowing. +An indirect buffer has a name of its own, distinct from those of the +base buffer and all other buffers. An indirect buffer cannot itself +be visiting a file (though its base buffer can be). The base buffer +cannot itself be indirect. + +Use (make-indirect-buffer BASE-BUFFER NAME) to make an indirect buffer +named NAME whose base is BASE-BUFFER. If BASE-BUFFER is itself an +indirect buffer, its base buffer is used as the base for the new +buffer. + +You can make an indirect buffer current, or switch to it in a window, +just as you would a non-indirect buffer. + +The function `buffer-base-buffer' returns a buffer's base buffer or +nil, if given an ordinary (non-indirect) buffer. The function +`buffer-indirect-children' returns a list of the indirect children of +a base buffer. + +** User names following the tilde character can now be completed at +file name prompts; e.g. `C-x C-f ~hni<TAB>' will complete to +`~hniksic/'. To make this operation faster, a cache of user names is +maintained internally. + +The new primitives available for this purpose are functions named +`user-name-completion' and `user-name-all-completions'. + +** Native widgets can be displayed in buffers. + +The glyph system has been extended to allow the display of glyphs that +are implemented as native window-system widgets. Thus you can embed +buttons, scrollbars, combo boxes, edit fields and progress gauges in a +buffer. As a side effect subwindow support now works once again. + +This support is currently only available under MS-Windows. + +** XEmacs can now play sound using Enlightenment Sound Daemon (ESD). +It will try NAS first, then ESD, then playing native sound directly. + +** X-Face support is now available under MS-Windows. +If an X-Face libary built under MS-Windows is available then XEmacs +will use this at build time. + +** The font-menu is now available under MS-Windows. + +** MS-Windows support for selection is now much more robust. + +Generally selection should now do what you would expect under +MS-Windows: the middle mouse button will paste your current selection +or the clipboard; conversions from different types of selection to the +clipboard can be made; the kill-ring and friends will be updated as +per X. + +The only thing selection doesn't do is set the clipboard automatically +as this would break the MS-Windows model. If you want this behaviour +then set `selection-sets-clipboard' to t + +** New command-line switches -user-init-file and -user-init-directory. +These can be used to specify alternate locations for what is normally +~/.emacs and ~/.xemacs. + +Moreover, -user <user> (which used to only work in unpredictable ways) +is now equivalent to +-user-init-file ~<user>/.emacs -user-init-directory ~<user>/.xemacs. + +** Etags changes. + +*** In DOS, etags looks for file.cgz if it cannot find file.c. + +*** New option --ignore-case-regex is an alternative to --regex. It is now +possible to bind a regexp to a language, by prepending the regexp with +{lang}, where lang is one of the languages that `etags --help' prints out. +This feature is useful especially for regex files, where each line contains +a regular expression. The manual contains details. + +*** In C and derived languages, etags creates tags for function +declarations when given the --declarations option. + +*** In C++, tags are created for "operator". The tags have the form +"operator+", without spaces between the keyword and the operator. + +*** New language Ada: tags are functions, procedures, packages, tasks, and +types. + +*** In Fortran, procedure is no more tagged. + +*** In Java, tags are created for "interface". + +*** In Lisp, "(defstruct (foo", "(defun (operator" and similar constructs +are now tagged. + +*** In Perl, the --globals option tags global variables. my and local +variables are tagged. + +*** New language Python: def and class at the beginning of a line are tags. + +*** .ss files are Scheme files, .pdb is Postscript with C syntax, .psw is +for PSWrap. + + +* Lisp and internal changes in XEmacs 21.2 +========================================== + +** Much effort has been invested to make XEmacs Lisp faster: + +*** Many basic lisp operations are now faster. +This is especially the case when running a Mule-enabled XEmacs. + +A general overhaul of the lisp engine should produce a speedup of 1.4 +in a Latin-1 XEmacs, and 2.1 in a Mule XEmacs. These numbers were +obtained running `(byte-compile "simple.el")', which should be a +pretty typical test of "pure" Lisp. + +*** Lisp hash tables have been re-implemented. The Common Lisp style +hash table interface has been made standard, and moved from cl.el into +fast C code (See the section on hash tables in the XEmacs Lisp +Reference). A speedup factor of 3 can be expected with code that +makes intensive use of hash tables. + +*** The garbage collector has been tuned, leading to a speedup of +1.16. + +*** The family of functions that iterate over lists, like `memq', and +`rassq', have been made a little faster (typically 1.3). + +*** Lisp function calls are faster, by approximately a factor of two. +However, defining inline functions (via defsubst) still makes sense +for tight loops. + +*** Finally, a few functions have had dramatic performance +improvements. For example, `(last long-list)' is now 30 times faster. + +Of course, your mileage will vary. + +Many operations do not see any improvement. Surprisingly, running +(font-lock-fontify-buffer) does not use the Lisp engine much at all. +Speeding up your favorite slow operation is an excellent project to +improve XEmacs. Don't forget to profile! + +** XEmacs finally has an automated test suite! +Although this is not yet very sophisticated, it is already responsible +for several important bug fixes in XEmacs. To try it out, simply use +the makefile target `make check' after building XEmacs. + +** Hash tables have been reimplemented. +As was pointed out above, the standard interface to hash tables is now +the Common Lisp interface, as described in Common Lisp, the Language +(CLtL2, by Steele). The older interface (functions with names +containing the phrase `hashtable') will continue to work, but the +preferred interface now has names containing the phrase `hash-table'. + +Here's the executive overview: create hash tables using +make-hash-table, and use gethash, puthash, remhash, maphash and +clrhash to manipulate entries in the hash table. See the (updated) +Lisp Reference Manual for details. + +** Lisp code handles circular lists much more robustly. +Many basic lisp functions used to loop forever when given a circular +list, expecting you to C-g (quit) out of the loop. Now this is more +likely to trigger a `circular-list' error. Printing a circular list +now results in something like this: + + (let ((x (cons 'foo 'foo))) + (setcdr x x) + x) + => (foo ... <circular list>) + +An extra bonus is that checking for circularities is not just +friendlier, but actually faster than checking for C-g. + +** The new form `ignore-file-errors', similar to `ignore-errors' may +be used as a short-hand for condition-case when you wish to ignore +file-related error. For example: + + (ignore-file-errors (delete-file "foo")) + +** The arguments to `locate-file' are now much more "lispy". As +before, the usage is: + + (locate-file FILENAME PATH-LIST &optional SUFFIXES MODE) + +Except that SUFFIXES are now a list of strings instead of a single, +colon-separated string. MODE is now a symbol or a list of symbols +(symbols `exists', `executable', `writable', and `readable' are +supported) instead of an integer code. See the documentation for +details. Of course, the old form is still accepted for backward +compatibility. + +Several bugs in locate-file have been fixed, most notably its failure +to call expand-file-name on elements of PATH-LIST. Because of that +elements of load-path of the form "~/..." used to not work. +locate-file is now guaranteed to expand files during its course of +operation. + +** `translate-region' has been improved in several ways. Its TABLE +argument used to be a 256-character string. In addition to this, it +can now also be a vector or a char-table, which makes the function +useful for Mule, which it wasn't. If TABLE a vector or a generic +char-table, you can map characters to strings instead of to other +characters. For instance: + + (let ((table (make-char-table 'generic))) + (put-char-table ?a "the letter a" table) + (put-char-table ?b "" table) + (put-char-table ?c ?\n table) + (translate-region (point-min) (point-max) table)) + +** The `keywordp' function now returns non-nil only on symbols +interned in the global obarray. For example: + + (keywordp (intern ":foo" [0])) + => nil + (keywordp (intern ":foo")) ; The same as (keywordp :foo) + => t + +This behaviour is compatible with other code which treats symbols +beginning with colon as keywords only if they are interned in the +global obarray. `keywordp' used to wrongly return t in both cases +above. + +** The first argument to `intern-soft' may now also be a symbol, like +with `unintern'. If given a symbol, `intern-soft' will look for that +exact symbol rather than for any string. This is useful when you want +to check whether a specific symbol is interned in an obarray, e.g.: + + (intern "foo") + (intern-soft "foo") + => foo + (intern-soft (make-symbol "foo")) + => nil + +** Functions for decoding base64 encoding are now available; see +`base64-encode-region', `base64-encode-string', `base64-decode-region' +and `base64-decode-string'. + +** user-init-directory is now an absolute, unexpanded path. +Previously, `user-init-directory' used to be relative to +(concat "~" init-file-user). This turned out to be too complicated +for most packages (and some core Lisp files) to use correctly. + +Also, `init-file-user' has been obsoleted in the process. + + +* Changes in XEmacs 21.0 +======================== + +** XEmacs has been unbundled into constituent installable packages. +See the Info documentation under "Packages" for more information. +See the file `etc/PACKAGES' in the distribution for a partial list of +packages available at the time of the 21.0 release. + +** XEmacs is now supported under Microsoft Windows 95/98 and Windows +NT operating systems. For starters, look at the XEmacs on Windows FAQ +at <URL:http://jagor.srce.hr/~hniksic/xemacs-on-windows-faq.txt>. To +discuss Windows-specific issues, subscribe to the mailing list at +<xemacs-nt-request@xemacs.org>. + +** XEmacs will now use `XEmacs' as its application class if it finds +any `XEmacs' resources in the resource database. Otherwise, it will +continue to use the `Emacs' class. + +** The options menu has been ported to Custom. +This means that each entry in the options menu acts as if you had customized +the corresponding variable by hand. ### WARNING: there is currently no +upgrading function to help you port your old options settings to the new +format. Consequently, if you want to modify the options for XEmacs 21, you +will have to set them all again through the menu, and remove the code loading +.xemacs-options from your .emacs. + +** When the Zmacs region is active, `M-x query-replace' and the other +replace commands now operate on the region contents only. + +** XEmacs now is able to choose X visuals and use private colormaps. +The '-visual <visualStr>' command line option or the '.EmacsVisual' +Xresource controls which visual XEmacs will use, and +'-privateColormap' or '.privateColormap' will force XEmacs to create a +private colormap for use. The syntax for the visual string is +"<visual><bitdepth>" where <visual> is one of 'StaticColor', +'TrueColor', 'GrayScale', 'PseudoColor' or 'DirectColor' and +<bitdepth> is the appropriate number of bits per pixel. If an invalid +or non-supported combination is entered, XEmacs attempts to find a happy +medium. The X creation mechanism will then determine if it needs to +create a colormap for use, or the presence of the private flags will +force it to create it. + +** The `imenu' package has been ported to XEmacs and is available as a +package. + +** `echo-keystrokes' can now be a floating-point number, so that you +can set it to intervals shorter than one second. + + (setq echo-keystrokes 0.1) + +** The new command `center-to-window-line' works like `recenter' +(bound to `C-l'), only it does not redisplay the whole display area. + +** The M-. command will now first search through exact tags matches, +and then through inexact matches, as one would expect. + +** The new variable `user-full-name' can be used to customize one's +name when using the Emacs mail and news reading facilities. + +Normally, `user-full-name' is a function that returns the full name of +a user or UID, as specified by the system -- for instance, +(user-full-name "root") returns something like "Super-User". However, +when the function is called without arguments, it will return the +value of the `user-full-name' variable. The `user-full-name' variable +is initialized using the environment variable NAME and (failing that) +the user's system name. + +The behavior of the `user-full-name' function with an argument +specified is unchanged. + +** The new command `M-x customize-changed-options' lets you customize +all the options whose default values have changed in recent Emacs +versions. You specify a previous Emacs version number as argument, +and the command creates a customization buffer showing all the +customizable options whose default values were changed since that +version. + +If you don't specify a particular version number argument, then the +customization buffer shows all the customizable options for which +Emacs versions of changes are recorded. + +** The new command `add-log-convert' can be used to convert the +old-style (pre-20.3) ChangeLog buffers to new style, for +consistency. A reminder: if you wish to revert to old-style +ChangeLogs instead, customize the value of `add-log-time-format' +variable. + +** The new command `zap-up-to-char' is now available. It is similar +to `zap-to-char', except that it does not delete the searched-for +character. It is not bound to a key by default. + +** You can now store a number into a register with `C-u NUMBER C-x r n' +REG, increment it by INC with `C-u INC C-x r + REG' (to increment by +one, omit C-u INC), and insert it in the buffer with `C-x r g REG'. +This is useful for writing keyboard macros. + +** The M-: command, when given a prefix argument, will now insert its +result to the current buffer. + +** The `C-h c' command, when given a prefix argument, will now insert +the message into the current buffer. + +** Horizontally split windows may now be dragged using the mouse. +Because of this, the dividers between vertical windows are always +visible. To turn it off, set `vertical-divider-always-visible-p' to +nil. + +** XEmacs/Mule (internationalization) changes. + +*** Mule support now works on TTY's. Use `set-terminal-coding-system' +and `set-keyboard-coding-system' to specify the coding system of your +display and keyboard. + +*** Egg/SJ3 input method is now officially supported. Quail and +Egg/Skk have been available through the generalized Leim since 20.3. + +*** Localized Japanese menubars are available if XEmacs is built with +XFONTSET and either the X11 libraries are built with X_LOCALE defined +or the native C libraries support Japanese localization. This has +been available since 20.3, only it hasn't been announced before. + +** Jamie Zawinski's `gdb-highlight' extension is now distributed with +the `debug' package. gdb-highlight makes most objects printed in a +gdb buffer be mouse-sensitive: as text shows up in the buffer, it is +parsed, and objects which are recognized have context-sensitive +commands attached to them. To use it, add the following to `.emacs': + + (add-hook 'gdb-mode-hook (lambda () (require 'gdb-highlight))) + +** The package popper.el is now included in the edit-utils package. +It has been greatly enhanced with respect to the one once included +with the ilisp package and should work well under XEmacs 21.0. + +** Gnuserv changes + +*** Like the old 'gnudoit' program. Gnuclient -batch now can read from stdin. + +*** Gnuclient -batch no longer breaks off the output at the first LF. + +** C mode changes + +*** Multiline macros are now handled, both as they affect indentation, +and as recognized syntax. New syntactic symbol cpp-macro-cont is +assigned to second and subsequent lines of a multiline macro +definition. + +*** A new style "user" which captures all non-hook-ified +(i.e. top-level) .emacs file variable setings and customizations. +Style "cc-mode" is an alias for "user" and is deprecated. "gnu" style +is still the default however. + +*** "java" style now conforms to Sun's JDK coding style. + +*** There are new commands c-beginning-of-defun, c-end-of-defun which +are alternatives which you could bind to C-M-a and C-M-e if you prefer +them. They do not have key bindings by default. + +*** New and improved implementations of M-a (c-beginning-of-statement) +and M-e (c-end-of-statement). + +*** C++ namespace blocks are supported, with new syntactic symbols +namespace-open, namespace-close, and innamespace. + +*** File local variable settings of c-file-style and c-file-offsets +makes the style variables local to that buffer only. + +*** New indentation functions c-lineup-close-paren, +c-indent-one-line-block, c-lineup-dont-change. + +*** Improvements (hopefully!) to the way CC Mode is loaded. You +should now be able to do a (require 'cc-mode) to get the entire +package loaded properly for customization in your .emacs file. A new +variable c-initialize-on-load controls this and is t by default. + +** In Text mode, now only blank lines separate paragraphs. +This makes it possible to get the full benefit of Adaptive Fill mode +in Text mode, and other modes derived from it (such as Mail mode). +TAB in Text mode now runs the command indent-relative; this makes a +practical difference only when you use indented paragraphs. + +As a result, the old Indented Text mode is now identical to Text mode, +and is an alias for it. + +If you want spaces at the beginning of a line to start a paragraph, +use the new mode, Paragraph Indent Text mode. + +** Changes to Gnus, the XEmacs newsreader. + +*** New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been +added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See the +Gnus manual for the full story. + +*** The nndraft backend has returned, but works differently than +before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the nndraft +group, which is created automatically. + +*** `gnus-alter-header-function' can now be used to alter header +values. + +*** `gnus-summary-goto-article' now accept Message-ID's. + +*** A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message +outside the region: `C-c C-v'. + +*** You can now post to component group in nnvirtual groups with +`C-u C-c C-c'. + +*** `nntp-rlogin-program' -- new variable to ease customization. + +*** `C-u C-c C-c' in `gnus-article-edit-mode' will now inhibit +re-highlighting of the article buffer. + +*** New element in `gnus-boring-article-headers' -- `long-to'. + +*** `M-i' symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic +Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details. + +*** `L' and `I' in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix +`a' to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file. + +*** `gnus-simplify-subject-functions' variable to allow greater +control over simplification. + +*** `A T' -- new command for fetching the current thread. + +*** `/ T' -- new command for including the current thread in the +limit. + +*** `M-RET' is a new Message command for breaking cited text. + +*** \\1-expressions are now valid in `nnmail-split-methods'. + +*** The `custom-face-lookup' function has been removed. +If you used this function in your initialization files, you must +rewrite them to use `face-spec-set' instead. + +*** Cancelling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix +`a' forces normal posting method. + +*** New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper text +-- `W d'. + +*** For easier debugging of nntp, you can set `nntp-record-commands' +to a non-nil value. + +*** nntp now uses ~/.authinfo, a .netrc-like file, for controlling +where and how to send AUTHINFO to NNTP servers. + +*** A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer +has been added. + +*** A history of where mails have been split is available. + +*** A new article date command has been added -- `article-date-iso8601'. + +*** Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting +`gnus-score-thread-simplify'. + +*** A new function for citing in Message has been added -- +`message-cite-original-without-signature'. + +*** `article-strip-all-blank-lines' -- new article command. + +*** A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has +been added. + +*** A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the +`gnus-adaptive-word-minimum' variable. + +*** The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually +updated by the `gnus-start-date-timer' command. + +*** Web listserv archives can be read with the nnlistserv backend. + +*** Old dejanews archives can now be read by nnweb. + +*** Byte-compilation of user-specs now works under XEmacs. + +** The `dir' files are no longer essential for functioning of the Info +subsystem. If the `dir' file does not exist in an Info directory, the +relevant information will be generated on-the-fly. + +This behavior can be customized, look for `Info-auto-generate-directory' +and `Info-save-auto-generated-dir' in the `info' customization group. + + +* Lisp and internal changes in XEmacs 21.0 +========================================== + +** It is now possible to build XEmacs with support for 31-bit Lisp +integers (normally, Lisp integers are only 28 bits wide on 32-bit +machines.) Configure with --use-minimal-tagbits to test. With this +change, the maximum buffer size on 32-bit machines is increased from +128M to 1G. This setting will be made default in a future XEmacs +version. + +** Specifier changes. + +*** When instantiating a specifier, the window locale now has a higher +precedence than the buffer locale. This is because the window locale +is more specific than the buffer locale. + +*** The new macro `let-specifier' can be used to temporarily add +specifications to specifiers. See the documentation for details. + +*** The new specifiers `vertical-scrollbar-visible-p' and +`horizontal-scrollbar-visible-p' may be used to control scrollbar +visibility. Previously, the only way to remove a scrollbar was to set +its size to 0. This method is still supported for backward +compatibility. + +*** The new specifiers `scrollbar-on-left-p' and `scrollbar-on-top-p' +may be used to control the position of the vertical and horizontal +toolbar. Previously, their position could be changed only through the +use of X resources. + +*** The new draggable vertical dividers between windows may be turned +off using the `vertical-divider-always-visible-p' specifier. When +this is set to nil, the vertical dividers between windows are shown +only when needed, and they are not draggable. + +Other properties of the vertical dividers may be controlled using +`vertical-divider-shadow-thickness', `vertical-divider-line-width' and +`vertical-divider-spacing' specifiers, which see. + +** Frame focus management changes. + +*** When the variable focus-follows-mouse is non-nil, `select-frame' +no longer permanently selects a different frame. The frame selection +is temporary and is reverted when the current command terminates, much +like the buffer selected by `set-buffer'. This is the same as in FSF +Emacs. + +*** The new function `focus-frame' sets the window system focus to +FRAME (and selects it), regardless of the value of +`focus-follows-mouse'. Doing this is not well behaved, so be +absolutely sure that you want this. + +The code that uses `select-frame' only to get the window manager focus +should be changed to use `set-frame-focus' instead, so that they keep +working when `focus-follows-mouse' is non-nil. + +*** The special forms `save-selected-frame' and `with-selected-frame' +can now be used to temporarily change selected frame. + +*** The behavior of `other-frame' command (`C-x 5 o') is unaffected by +these changes. + +** The function `select-window' now has an optional second argument +NORECORD which if non-nil inhibits the recording of a buffer change. + +** The function `vertical-motion' now correctly handles the second, +optional WINDOW argument. A new third argument PIXELS, if non-nil, +indicates that the returned motion should be in pixels. + +** The new function `vertical-motion-pixels' is similar to +vertical-motion but takes as input a vertical motion in pixels. + +** The new functions window-text-area-pixel-{width,height,edges} can +be used to obtain information about the text-displaying area of a +window. + +** The new functions `shrink-window-pixels' and `enlarge-window-pixels' +can be used to adjust the size of a window by a pixel amount. + +** The new function `window-displayed-text-pixel-height' can be used +to determine the height of the text actually displayed in a window. + +** The arithmetic comparison functions <, >, =, /= now accept a +variable number of arguments. + +This means that if you want to test whether A < B < C, you can write +it as (< A B C) instead of (and (< A B) (< B C)). Likewise, +(apply #'> LIST) now tests if LIST is monotonously increasing -- and +so on. + +** The XEmacs hashtables now have a consistent read/print syntax. +This means that a hashtable will be readably printed in a +structure-like form: + + #s(hashtable size 2 data (key1 value1 key2 value2)) + +When XEmacs reads this form, it will create a new hashtable according +to description. This allows you to easily dump hashtables to files +using `prin1', and read them back in using `read'. + +If `print-readably' is non-nil, a more relaxed syntax is used; for +instance: + + #<hashtable size 2/13 data (key1 value1 key2 value2) 0x874d> + +** It is now possible to build XEmacs with LDAP support. +You will need to install a LDAP library first. The following have +been tested: + - LDAP 3.3 from the University of Michigan + (get it from <URL:http://www.umich.edu/~dirsvcs/ldap/>) + - OpenLDAP 1.0.3 from the OpenLDAP Foundation + (get it from <URL:http://www.openldap.org/>) + - LDAP SDK 1.0 from Netscape Corp. + (get it from <URL:http://developer.netscape.com/>) + +** When profiling is in effect, a call-count of all recorded functions +is now calculated. This information is stored in +`call-count-profile-table', and is utilized by `profile-results' as +well as the new command `profile-call-count-results'. + +** It is now an error to change the value of a symbol whose name +starts with a colon, if it is interned in the standard obarray. + +However, setting such a symbol to its proper value, which is that +symbol itself, is not an error. This is for the sake of programs that +support pre-19.12 XEmacs and pre-20 GNU Emacs by explicitly setting +these variables to themselves. + +** The `concat' function no longer accepts integer arguments. + +** The new function `string' concatenates all its argument characters +and returns the resulting string. This is consistent with other +functions, like `list', `vector', etc. + +** The function `temp-directory' is now available to return the +directory to store temporary files. On Unix this will be obtained +from TMPDIR, defaulting to `/tmp'. + +** The function load-average now accepts an optional argument +USE-FLOATS. If it is non-nil, the load average values are returned as +floating point numbers, rather than as integers to be divided by 100. + +** The `make-event' function now supports the TYPE and PLIST +arguments, which can be used to create various events from Lisp. See +the documentation for details. + +** `function-interactive' is a new function that returns the +interactive specification of a funcallable object. + +** The new `lmessage' function allows printing of a formatted message +with a particular label. + + (lmessage 'progress "Processing... %d" counter) + +This function is more convenient than `display-message' because it +automatically applies `format' to its arguments. + +** The new `lwarn' function, analogous to `lmessage', allows printing +a formatted warning, with a non-default CLASS or LABEL. + +** The new function `split-path' can now be used to explode the +components of a colon-separated search path into a list. + + (split-path "foo:bar") + => ("foo" "bar") + +** Specifiers and symbols whose value is a specifier are now allowed +as modeline specifications. + +** defcustom now accepts the keyword `:version'. Use this to specify +in which version of Emacs a certain variable's default value changed. +For example, + + (defcustom foo-max 34 "*Maximum number of foo's allowed." + :type 'integer + :group 'foo + :version "21.0") + +This information is used to control the customize-changed-options +command. + +** The line number tracking in modeline is now efficient, even for +very large buffers. This is achieved by caching the line numbers of +recent buffer positions, and reusing them. This cache is used only in +the buffers where `line-number-mode' is in effect. + +** When the new GNU Malloc aka Doug Lea Malloc is available, it will +be used. This should result in better performance on Linux systems +with libc6. + +** The code XEmacs uses to assemble its various paths into the +directory hierarchy has been rewritten to support the package system. +Look under "Startup Paths" in the Info documentation for more +information. + +*** site-lisp is no longer part of the load-path by default. +Its use is deprecated, but you can specify --with-site-lisp=yes at the +configure command line to get it back. + +*** `Info-default-directory-list' is now obsolete. If you want to +change the path which XEmacs uses to search for info files, set +`Info-directory-list' instead.