NEWS - user visible changes				-*- outline -*-


GnuCOBOL 2.2 released (20170906)

* Move to GPL/LGPL 3

* New GnuCOBOL features (too much to list)

** User Defined Functions, FUNCTION-ID.

** New intrinsic functions

  ABSOLUTE-VALUE                   alias for ABS
  CURRENCY-SYMBOL                  CURRENCY-SYMBOL of the current program
  FORMATTED-CURRENT-DATE           ISO 8601 datetime function
  FORMATTED-DATE                   ISO 8601 datetime function
  FORMATTED-DATETIME               ISO 8601 datetime function
  FORMATTED-TIME                   ISO 8601 datetime function
  TEST-FORMATTED-DATETIME          ISO 8601 datetime function
  INTEGER-OF-FORMATTED-DATE        date to integer
  HIGHEST-ALGEBRAIC                now implemented
  LOWEST-ALGEBRAIC                 now implemented
  LOCALE-COMPARE                   now implemented
  NUMVAL-F                         now implemented
  TEST-NUMVAL                      now implemented
  TEST-NUMVAL-C                    now implemented
  TEST-NUMVAL-F                    now implemented
  LENGTH-AN                        alias for BYTE-LENGTH
  MODULE-CALLER-ID                 return the name of the caller
  MODULE-DATE                      current module: compilation date
  MODULE-TIME                      current module: compilation time
  MODULE-FORMATTED-DATE            current module: formatted datetime
  MODULE-ID                        current module: PROGRAM-ID
  MODULE-PATH                      current module: path on compile time
  MODULE-SOURCE                    current module: name on compile time
  MONETARY-DECIMAL-POINT           LOCALE based fiscal decimal point
  MONETARY-THOUSANDS-SEPARATOR     LOCALE based fiscal visual grouping separator

  Note:
  The functions that are actually available as intrinsic functions depend
  on the -std used. Function names that aren't marked as intrinsic functions
  by the current -std can be used freely as user defined words or
  even as user defined functions.

** New system functions

  C$CALLEDBY                       return the name of the caller
  CBL_GC_FORK                      fork current process (not on Windows)
  CBL_GC_WAITPID                   wait for process to end
  CBL_GC_GETOPT  (CBL_OC_GETOPT)   comand lineoption parser for COBOL
  CBL_GC_PRINTABLE (C$PRINTABLE)   check if character is printable
  CBL_GC_HOSTED (CBL_OC_HOSTED)    provides access to C extern variables,
                                   like stdin, errno
  CBL_GC_NANOSLEEP                 CBL_OC_NANOSLEEP
  CBL_GET_SCR_SIZE                 get current terminal size - if any
  CBL_READ_KBD_CHAR                get character from terminal
  CBL_SET_CSR_POS                  set current position on terminal
  x'E4'                            clear terminal screen
  x'E5'                            ring the bell

** many new / extended COBOL statements from COBOL2002/2014 and extensions
   from different COBOL dialects

** more SWITCHes: from SWITCH-01 to SWITCH-36 and its variants from many
   COBOL dialects

** more IEEE numeric types added, FLOAT-DECIMAL-16, FLOAT-DECIMAL-34, etc

** more literal types added, numeric boolean etc.

** most of the COBOL 2014 spec Compiler Directive Facility is in

** optional: stricter syntax checks

** refactored and extended compiler and runtime messages with available
   translations (currently to Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch, partial to German)

** screen IO: many extended ACCEPT DISPLAY and SCREEN SECTION changes

** Direct call interface for C:
  CALL-CONVENTIONS for CALLs and PROCEDURE DIVISION
  SIZE of parameters specified for CALL ... BY VALUE
  RETURN NOTHING for calling void functions
  RETURN ADDRESS OF VAR for calling functions returning a pointer
  PROCEDURE DIVISION RETURNING OMITTED -> callable as void function

** Much, much more!


* New cobc options:

** New -std options:

  cobol2014       COBOL 2014 Standard
  xopen           X/Open COBOL Standard
  mf-strict       Micro Focus COBOL compatibility   - strict
  ibm-strict      IBM COBOL compatibility           - strict
  ibm-strict      MVS/VM COBOL compatibility        - strict
  acu             ACUCOBOL-GT compatibility
  acu-strict      ACUCOBOL-GT compatibility         - strict
  bs2000          BS2000 COBOL compatibility (back again)
  bs2000-strict   BS2000 COBOL compatibility        - strict
  rm              RM-COBOL compatibility
  rm-strict       RM-COBOL compatibility            - strict

  Note:
  The GnuCOBOL compiler tries to limit both the feature-set and reserved words
  to the specified compiler when the "strict" dialects are used.
  COBOL sources compiled with these dialects are therefore likely to compile
  with the specified compiler and vice versa: sources that were compiled on
  the specified compiler should compile without any issues with GnuCOBOL.

  With the "non-strict" dialects GnuCOBOL will activate the complete
  feature-set where it doesn't directly conflict with the specified dialect,
  including reserved words and GnuCOBOL specific extensions.
  COBOL sources compiled with these dialects therefore may work only
  with GnuCOBOL. COBOL sources may need a change because of rich feature-set
  and reserved words in GnuCOBOL, otherwise offending words may be removed
  by `-fno-reserved=word`.
  COBOL-85, X/Open COBOL, COBOL 2002 and COBOL 2014 are always "strict".

** New listing options:

  -t listing, -T wide listing, --tlines=lines, lines per page of listing
  -Xref

  Note: -P, generate preprocessor listing, is still available (and improved)

** All compiler configuration flags may be set on command line
   to override a specific setting of the current -std, see cobc --help

** All Warnings can be explicit enabled/disabled or even marked as error,
   see cobc --help
  -Wunreachable report on possible unreachable statements

** Options for the C compiler/linker:
  -K <entry>, compile entry point as static (resolve at link time)
  -A, add options to C compile phase
  -Q, add options to C link phase

** Miscellaneous
  -i -info, display build/environment
  -D define symbol for Compiler Directive Facility
  -j -job=args, run job after compile
  input filename of '-' reads source from standard in
  For more: see cobc --help


* New cobcrun options:

  -i -info, display build/environment
  -r -runtime-env, display runtime configuration
  -c -config, set runtime config from file
  -M -module, set path/module name when looking for entry


* New build features

  make test      downloads NIST testsuite if necessary
                 now usable with parallel builds (make -j4 test)
  make checkall  runs both the internal an NIST testsuite
  
** testsuite defaults to coloured output

** Windows(tm) Visual Studio build support files added,
   options to validate the software generated with VS against both test suites

** removed maintainer mode - if files need a rebuild because of a change
   they are always rebuild

** help2man, bison and flex are checked during configure,
   if they need to be invoked and are missing a useful error message is given

** All files created by GnuCOBOL runtime use the same file permission settings
   now: COB_FILE_MODE which was changed to 0666

** changed unix package name from "gnu-cobol" to "gnucobol"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GnuCOBOL 1.1 released (20140118)

* Change unix package name to gnu-cobol, and project to GnuCOBOL
* list of changes see
  https://open-cobol.sourceforge.io/faq/
  #what-are-the-differences-between-opencobol-1-1-and-gnucobol-1-1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OpenCOBOL 1.1 released (20090206)

* Note: was tagged as pre-release and later on as full version

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 OpenCOBOL 1.0 released

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Changes in OpenCOBOL 0.33

* New compile option '-x'. This causes the compiler to produce an
  executable program. '-fmain' is deprecated.

* Remove long option --verbose. Use '-v' for verbosity. Problem is
  with getopt_long_only which does not like eg. -mv

* New conformity option -std=bs2000.

* FUNCTION is implemented. See cobc/reserved.c for a list of what is
  implemented.

* Nested programs are partially supported.

* LINAGE is implemented.

* EXTERNAL on FD is implemented.

* SAME RECORD AREA is implemented.

* New config variables -
  "perform-osvs", "sticky-linkage". These are
  activated for -std=ibm and -std=mvs.
  "relax-level-hierarchy". Allows mismatched data
  description level numbers. Activated for
  -std=mf, ibm, mvs and bs2000.

* Support for non-gcc compilers.

* Large file support, system dynamic loading and Berkeley DB inclusion
  are default for the configure.
  ie. ./configure assumes --with-db --with-lfs64 --with-dl

* New configure option --with-patch-level=<n>
  Default is 0.

* At run time, version checking is done. ie. When executing/loading
  Cobol programs, the version (eg. 0.33) and the patch level (eg. 0)
  are checked against the OC library version/patch level.

* Libtool is not required for systems that support native dynamic
  loading. This includes GNU/Linux, Cygwin and MingW amongst others.

* Note to developers : See README for required software versions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Changes in OpenCOBOL 0.32

* Stability update - See individual ChangeLogs

* New internal register - NUMBER-OF-CALL-PARAMETERS

* New config variables - larger-redefines-ok, relaxed-syntax-check

* Powerpc changes - We now pass all OC and Cobol85 tests

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Changes in OpenCOBOL 0.31

* Stability update - See individual ChangeLogs

* New driver program - "cobcrun"
  This allows all application programs to be compiled as
  modules and driven by "cobcrun" similar to MF's "cobrun".
  Syntax - cobcrun <MAINPROG> [Arguments to program "MAINPROG"]
  As "cobcrun" is linked with the static version of OpenCOBOL
  libraries, it is easier to maintain concurrent versions on the
  same system.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Changes in OpenCOBOL 0.30

* Installation changes

** No longer use readline.

** No longer use run-time configuration file (libcob.conf)

** libdb is now optional.
Use the new configure option --with-db1 to link with libdb1.
Use the new configure option --with-db to link with libdb.
Otherwise, libdb will not be linked, and indexed files and
SORT/MERGE statements will not work.

*** New subdirectory `config' will be installed under
$prefix/share/gnucobol.

** Compatibility changes

*** New -std options:

  default       used when you omit -std
  cobol85       COBOL 85 Standard
  cobol2002     COBOL 2002 Standard
  ibm           IBM COBOL compatibility
  mf            Micro Focus COBOL compatibility
  v023          OpenCOBOL 0.23 compatibility

*** Compile-time options can be stored in a "config" file.
See config/default.conf for details.

*** Binary data items are now big endian.
The config option `binary-byteorder' controls this.

*** Numeric sign of USAGE DISPLAY items has been changed as follows:

  Positive: 0123456789  Negative: pqrstuvwxy

The config option `display-sign' controls this.

*** Data items defined in the working-storage section are
initialized at the beginning of program by default.
The config option `auto-initialize' controls this.

*** SORT statement now creates a temporary file in /tmp for sorting
and removes it after sorting.

** Feature changes

*** COPY statements try to complement the following file extensions:
.CBL, .COB, .cbl, or .cob.

*** COPY / REPLACE statements are reimplemented for better replacement.

*** SPECIAL-NAMES. FORMFEED IS ...

*** ALPHABET ... IS EBCDIC.

*** EXTERNAL clause.

*** SHARING clause.

*** USAGE COMP-5 and COMP-X.

*** USAGE POINTER and ADDRESS OF operator.

*** LENGTH OF operator.

*** PROCEDURE DIVISION USING BY REFERENCE/CONTENT/VALUE.

*** DISPLAY ... ENVIRONMENT-NAME.  ACCEPT ... ENVIRONMENT-VALUE.

*** COLLATING SEQUENCE in the SORT and MERGE statements.

*** EXIT PERFORM [CYCLE] statement.

*** SORT table.

*** OPEN ... WITH NO REWIND / WITH LOCK recognized, though not working.

*** Literal concatenation (the `&' operator).

** Compiler changes

*** New compiler environment variable TMPDIR.

*** New compiler environment variable COB_LDFLAGS.

*** The runtime environment variable COB_CONFIG_FILE has been removed.

*** New runtime environment variable COB_DYNAMIC_RELOADING.

*** New compiler option `--list-reserved', which list all reserved words.

*** New compiler option `-conf', which specifies the config file.

*** New compiler option `-ext', which specifies the copy file extension.

*** The compiler option `-O' now does C level optimization.

*** New compiler option `-O2', which does further C level optimization.

*** New compiler option `-L' and `-l', which are passed to the C compiler.

*** New compiler option `-ftrace', which display section names at run time.

*** New compiler option `-fsyntax-only', which does syntax error check
only without any output.

*** New compiler option `-fstatic-call', which is equivalent to `-static'.

*** New compiler option `-fdebugging-line', which enables debugging lines.

*** New compiler option `-fsource-location', which includes source location
in the output.

*** New compiler option `-fline-directive', which includes line directive
in the output.

*** New compiler option `-fruntime-inlining', which is the replacement
of obsolete options `-finline-move' and `-finline-get-int'.

*** New compiler option `-w', which inhibits warnings.

*** New compiler option `-Wredefinition', which warns redefined names.

*** The compiler options `-static' and `-dynamic' are obsolete.

*** The compiler option `-column' removed.

** Many improvement for compatibility.

** Many many bug fixes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Changes in OpenCOBOL 0.23

** Installation changes

*** We use the GNU MP library again.

** Run-time library changes

*** `cob_resolve' now search the main program for the module name.

** Bug fixes

*** Duplicate use of intermediate field variables.

*** fseek issues on the MinGW environment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Changes in OpenCOBOL 0.22

** Installation changes

*** We no longer depend on the GNU MP library.

Decimal arithmetic is done by using `long long'.

** Compiler changes

*** Alphabet-name has been implemented.

*** Variable-length table has been implemented.

*** De-editing (move numeric-edited to numeric) has been implemented.

** Bug fixes

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Changes in OpenCOBOL 0.21

** Installation changes

*** New configure argument --with-lfs64.

** Compiler changes

*** New option -std, which specifies which COBOL standard to use.

Currently the following standards are available:

  gnu           GnuCOBOL (default)
  cobol85       COBOL 85
  cobol2002     COBOL 2002
  mvs           IBM COBOL for MVS & VM

*** New option -O, which enables some optimization.

*** New option -debug, which enables run-time error checking.

*** New option -Wobsolete, which reports obsolete features.

*** New option -Warchaic, which reports archaic features.

*** -Wnext-sentence has been removed.  Use -Warchaic instead.

*** -fdebugging-line has been removed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Changes in OpenCOBOL 0.20

** cobpp has been integrated into cobc.

Now cobc is the only binary program.

** cobc now generates an executable without `-main' flag.

`-main' has been renamed to `-fmain', which is turned on
by default if none of -E, -C, -S, -c, or -m is given.

** The default source format is now the fixed form.

The format will not be detected automatically.  You need
to use SOURCE FORMAT compiler directive as described below.
This conforms to the COBOL 2002 standard.

** Compiler directive "SOURCE FORMAT" is now supported.

Put the following line at the beginning of file if you
want to use the free-form:

  >>SOURCE FORMAT IS FREE

** Option `-semi-fixed' has been removed.

If you want to expand the program text area over 72 columns,
use the option `-column' instead.

** New option `-column', which specifies the end of program text area.

** New option `-T', which specifies the tab width.

** New warning options:

  -Wall                 Enable all warnings
  -Wcolumn-overflow     Warn any text after column 72
  -Wconstant            Warn inconsistent constant
  -Wparentheses         Warn lacks of parentheses around AND within OR
  -Wnext-sentence       Warn uses of NEXT SENTENCE
  -Wimplicit-terminator Warn lacks of scope terminator (END-XXX)
  -Wstrict-typing       Warn type mismatch strictly

** Option `debug' has been renamed to `-fdebugging-line'.

** USAGE PACKED-DECIMAL is now supported.

** Improved error checking.

** Additional testsuite entries.

** Bug fixes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Changes in OpenCOBOL 0.12

** Improved compile-time error check.

** Additional testsuite entries.

** Bug fixes.

* Changes in OpenCOBOL 0.11

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Part of run-time library interface has been redesigned.

** Bug fixes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Changes in OpenCOBOL 0.10

** Autoconf 2.57, Automake 1.7.2, Libtool 1.4.3, and Gettext 0.11.5
are used for packaging.

** New file cob.pc, which is used by pkg-config script.

** libcob.conf is now installed under sysconfdir (i.e., $(PREFIX)/etc).
The default value of COB_CONFIG_FILE has been changed appropriately.

** The directory `tests' includes new testsuites.
"make check" will run the tests.

** We use db1 again instead of db2 or db3.

** New option -semi-fixed.

** New option -Wtrailing-line.

** CALL statements now accept CONTENT LENGTH OF clause.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Changes in OpenCOBOL 0.9.7

** The default value of COB_CONFIG_FILE has been changed to
"$PREFIX/etc/gnucobol/libcob.conf".

** SORT and MERGE statements have been impelemented.

** Preliminary implementation of SCREEN SECTION.

** Many bug fixes and improvements.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Changes in OpenCOBOL 0.9.6

** cobc now requires `-main' flag to build an executable from a COBOL file.

Without -main, cobc does not generate a main function.
See manual for details.

** Run-time configuration file: libcob.conf

The environment variable `COB_CONFIG_FILE' specifies the file name
(default: "${prefix}/share/gnucobol/libcob.conf").

** Use gettext for international messages.

** Include the test suite in subdir `testsuite'.

** Many bug fixes and improvements.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Changes in OpenCOBOL 0.9.5

** Support Berkeley DB 2.0.

** Many bug fixes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Changes in OpenCOBOL 0.9.4

** OpenCOBOL now requires Berkeley DB 3.0 or later.

** File I/O routine (libcob/fileio.c) has been reimplemented.

** New NIST Test Suite modules: SM, IC, SQ, RL, IX.

** Many bug fixes.