Frequently Asked Questions about Bison: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q1. Is Bison Y2K compliant? A1. If you're looking for a guarantee or certification, I can't provide it. With a little thought you can answer this one for yourself, though. (Hint: does a parser generator rely on the date or time for anything?) If you're still confused, see http://www.gnu.org/software/year2000.html for more information. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q2. I can't build Bison because "make" complains that "msgfmt" is not found. What should I do? A2. Like most GNU packages with internationalization support, that feature is turned on by default. If you have problems building in the "po" subdirectory, it indicates that your system's internationalization support is lacking. You can re-configure Bison with "--disable-nls" to turn off this support, or you can install GNU gettext from ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gettext/ and re-configure Bison. See the file "ABOUT-NLS" for more information. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q3. I'm having trouble using Bison. Where can I find help? A3. First, read the fine manual which comes with bison. Beyond that, you can send mail to . This mailing list is intended to be populated with people who are willing to answer questions about using and installing Bison. Please keep in mind that (most of) the people on the list have aspects of their lives which are not related to Bison (!), so you may not receive an answer to your question right away. This can be frustrating, but please try not to honk them off; remember that any help they provide is purely voluntary and out of the kindness of their hearts. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q4. I found a bug. What should I include in the bug report? A4. Before you send a bug report, make sure you are using the latest version. Check ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bison/ or one of its mirrors. Be sure to include the version number in your bug report. If the bug is present in the latest version but not in a previous version, try to determine the most recent version which did not contain the bug. If the bug is parser-related, you should include the smallest grammar you can which demonstrates the bug. The grammar file should also be complete (i.e., I should be able to run it through Bison without having to edit or add anything). The smaller and simpler the grammar, the easier it will be to fix the bug. Include information about your compilation environment, including your operating system's name and version and your compiler's name and version. If you have trouble compiling, you should also include a transcript of the build session, starting with the invocation of `configure'. Depending on the nature of the bug, you may be asked to send additional files as well (such as `config.h' or `config.cache'). Patches are most welcome, but not required. That is, do not hesitate to send a bug report just because you can not provide a fix. Send bug reports to . ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q5. Will Bison ever have C++ support? A5. Yes, it's in the works. Things are very chaotic right now, but what little information floats around is posted to the bug-bison mailing list. If you're interested in testing C++ support when it becomes available, please consider subscribing to the list, especially if you are willing to beta test other releases as well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q6. What is involved in being a beta tester? A6. It's not terribly involved. Basically, you would download a test release, compile it, and use it to build and run a parser or two. After that, you would submit either a bug report or a message saying that everything is okay. It is important to report successes as well as failures because test releases eventually become mainstream releases, but only if they are adequately tested. If no one tests, development is essentially halted. Beta testers are particularly needed for operating systems to which I do not have access. I currently have easy access to Linux (x86 glibc 2.1), Solaris (SPARC) 2.6 and 2.7, and HP-UX 10.20. Reports about other operating systems are especially welcome. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q7. How do I join the help-bison and bug-bison mailing lists? A7. See http://www.gnu.org/ (the section about "GNU mailing lists") for more information. ----------------------------------------------------------------------