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1 | =head1 NAME |
2 | |
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3 | perldelta - what's new for perl5.006 (as of 5.005_54) |
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4 | |
5 | =head1 DESCRIPTION |
6 | |
7 | This document describes differences between the 5.005 release and this one. |
8 | |
9 | =head1 Incompatible Changes |
10 | |
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11 | =head2 Perl Source Incompatibilities |
12 | |
13 | None known at this time. |
14 | |
15 | =head2 C Source Incompatibilities |
16 | |
17 | =over 4 |
18 | |
19 | =item C<PERL_POLLUTE> |
20 | |
21 | Release 5.005 grandfathered old global symbol names by providing preprocessor |
22 | macros for extension source compatibility. As of release 5.006, these |
23 | preprocessor definitions are not available by default. You need to explicitly |
24 | compile perl with C<-DPERL_POLLUTE> in order to get these definitions. |
25 | |
26 | =item C<PL_na> and C<dTHR> Issues |
27 | |
28 | The C<PL_na> global is now thread local, so a C<dTHR> declaration is needed |
29 | in the scope in which it appears. XSUBs should handle this automatically, |
30 | but if you have used C<PL_na> in support functions, you either need to |
31 | change the C<PL_na> to a local variable (which is recommended), or put in |
32 | a C<dTHR>. |
33 | |
34 | =back |
35 | |
36 | =head2 Binary Incompatibilities |
37 | |
38 | This release is not binary compatible with the 5.005 release and its |
39 | maintenance versions. |
40 | |
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41 | =head1 Core Changes |
42 | |
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43 | Binary numbers are now supported as literals, in s?printf formats, and |
44 | C<oct()>: |
45 | |
46 | $answer = 0b101010; |
47 | printf "The answer is: %b\n", oct("0b101010"); |
48 | |
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49 | The length argument of C<syswrite()> is now optional. |
50 | |
51 | Better 64-bit support -- but full support still a distant goal. One |
52 | must Configure with -Duse64bits to get Configure to probe for the |
53 | extent of 64-bit support. Depending on the platform (hints file) more |
54 | or less 64-awareness becomes available. As of 5.005_54 at least |
55 | somewhat 64-bit aware platforms are HP-UX 11 or better, Solaris 2.6 or |
56 | better, IRIX 6.2 or better. Naturally 64-bit platforms like Digital |
57 | UNIX and UNICOS also have 64-bit support. |
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58 | |
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59 | =head1 Supported Platforms |
60 | |
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61 | VM/ESA is now supported. |
62 | |
63 | Siemens BS200 is now supported. |
64 | |
65 | The Mach CThreads (NeXTstep) are now supported by the Thread extension. |
66 | |
67 | =head1 New tests |
68 | |
69 | =over 4 |
70 | |
71 | =item op/io_const |
72 | |
73 | IO constants (SEEK_*, _IO*). |
74 | |
75 | =item op/io_dir |
76 | |
77 | Directory-related IO methods (new, read, close, rewind, tied delete). |
78 | |
79 | =item op/io_multihomed |
80 | |
81 | INET sockets with multi-homed hosts. |
82 | |
83 | =item op/io_poll |
84 | |
85 | IO poll(). |
86 | |
87 | =item op/io_unix |
88 | |
89 | UNIX sockets. |
90 | |
91 | =item op/filetest |
92 | |
93 | File test operators. |
94 | |
95 | =item op/lex_assign |
96 | |
97 | Guard against lexicals leaking (internal stuff). |
98 | |
99 | =back |
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100 | |
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101 | =head1 Modules and Pragmata |
102 | |
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103 | =head2 Modules |
104 | |
105 | Dumpvalue module provides screen dumps of Perl data. |
106 | |
107 | =head2 Pragmata |
108 | |
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109 | Lexical warnings pragma, "use warning;", to control optional warnings. |
110 | |
111 | Filetest pragma, to control the behaviour of filetests (C<-r> C<-w> ...). |
112 | Currently only one subpragma implemented, "use filetest 'access';", |
113 | that enables the use of access(2) or equivalent to check the |
114 | permissions instead of using stat(2) as usual. This matters |
115 | in filesystems where there are ACLs (access control lists), the |
116 | stat(2) might lie, while access(2) knows better. |
117 | |
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118 | Todo. |
119 | |
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120 | =head1 Utility Changes |
121 | |
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122 | Todo. |
123 | |
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124 | =head1 Documentation Changes |
125 | |
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126 | perlopentut, tutorial on opening things in Perl, was added. |
127 | |
128 | perlreftut, tutorial on references, was added. |
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129 | |
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130 | =head1 New Diagnostics |
131 | |
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132 | =item /%s/: Unrecognized escape \\%c passed through |
133 | |
134 | (W) You used a backslash-character combination which is not recognized |
135 | by Perl. This combination appears in an interpolated variable or a |
136 | C<'>-delimited regular expression. |
137 | |
138 | =item Unrecognized escape \\%c passed through |
139 | |
140 | (W) You used a backslash-character combination which is not recognized |
141 | by Perl. |
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142 | |
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143 | =item Missing command in piped open |
144 | |
145 | (W) You used the C<open(FH, "| command")> or C<open(FH, "command |")> |
146 | construction, but the command was missing or blank. |
147 | |
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148 | =head1 Obsolete Diagnostics |
149 | |
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150 | Todo. |
151 | |
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152 | =head1 BUGS |
153 | |
154 | If you find what you think is a bug, you might check the headers of |
155 | recently posted articles in the comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup. |
156 | There may also be information at http://www.perl.com/perl/, the Perl |
157 | Home Page. |
158 | |
159 | If you believe you have an unreported bug, please run the B<perlbug> |
160 | program included with your release. Make sure you trim your bug down |
161 | to a tiny but sufficient test case. Your bug report, along with the |
162 | output of C<perl -V>, will be sent off to <F<perlbug@perl.com>> to be |
163 | analysed by the Perl porting team. |
164 | |
165 | =head1 SEE ALSO |
166 | |
167 | The F<Changes> file for exhaustive details on what changed. |
168 | |
169 | The F<INSTALL> file for how to build Perl. |
170 | |
171 | The F<README> file for general stuff. |
172 | |
173 | The F<Artistic> and F<Copying> files for copyright information. |
174 | |
175 | =head1 HISTORY |
176 | |
177 | Written by Gurusamy Sarathy <F<gsar@umich.edu>>, with many contributions |
178 | from The Perl Porters. |
179 | |
180 | Send omissions or corrections to <F<perlbug@perl.com>>. |
181 | |
182 | =cut |