[unix-history] / gnu / usr.bin / awk / FUTURES

This file lists future projects and enhancements for gawk.  Items are listed
in roughly the order they will be done for a given release.  This file is
mainly for use by the developers to help keep themselves on track, please
don't bug us too much about schedules or what all this really means.

For 2.16
========
David:
	Move to autoconf-based configure system.

	Allow RS to be a regexp.

	RT variable to hold text of record terminator

	RECLEN variable for fixed length records

	Feedback alloca.s changes to FSF

	Extensible hashing in memory of awk arrays

	Split() with null string as third arg to split up strings

	Analogously, setting FS="" would split the input record into individual
	characters.

Arnold:
	Generalize IGNORECASE
		any value makes it work, not just numeric non-zero
		make it apply to *all* string comparisons

	Fix FILENAME to have an initial value of "", not "-"

	Clean up code by isolating system-specific functions in separate files.

	Undertake significant directory reorganization.

	Extensive manual cleanup:
		Use of texinfo 2.0 features
		Lots more examples
		Document all of the above.

In 2.17
=======
David:

	Incorporate newer dfa.c and regex.c (go to POSIX regexps)

	Make regex + dfa less dependant on gawk header file includes

	General sub functions:
		edit(line, pat, sub) and gedit(line, pat, sub)
	that return the substituted strings and allow \1 etc. in the sub string.

Arnold:
	DBM storage of awk arrays. Try to allow multiple dbm packages

	? Have strftime() pay attention to the value of ENVIRON["TZ"]

	Additional manual features:
		Document posix regexps
		Document use of dbm arrays
		? Add an error messages section to the manual
		? A section on where gawk is bounded
			regex
			i/o
			sun fp conversions

For 2.18
========

Arnold:
	Add chdir and stat built-in functions.

	Add function pointers as valid variable types.

	Add an `ftw' built-in function that takes a function pointer.

David:

	Do an optimization pass over parse tree?

For 2.19 or later:
==================
Add variables similar to C's __FILE__ and __LINE__ for better diagnostics
from within awk programs.

Add an explicit concatenation operator and assignment version.

? Add a switch statement

Add the ability to seek on an open file and retrieve the current file position.

Add lint checking everywhere, including check for use of builtin vars.
only in new awk.

"restart" keyword

Add |&

Make 	awk '/foo/' files...	run at egrep speeds

Do a reference card

Allow OFMT to be other than a floating point format.

Allow redefining of builtin functions?

Make it faster and smaller.

For 3.x:
========

Create a gawk compiler?

Create a gawk-to-C translator? (or C++??)

Provide awk profiling and debugging.
Commit	Line	Data
8c4ebc23 JH	1	This file lists future projects and enhancements for gawk. Items are listed
	2	in roughly the order they will be done for a given release. This file is
	3	mainly for use by the developers to help keep themselves on track, please
	4	don't bug us too much about schedules or what all this really means.
	5
	6	For 2.16
	7	========
	8	David:
	9	Move to autoconf-based configure system.
	10
	11	Allow RS to be a regexp.
	12
	13	RT variable to hold text of record terminator
	14
	15	RECLEN variable for fixed length records
	16
	17	Feedback alloca.s changes to FSF
	18
	19	Extensible hashing in memory of awk arrays
	20
	21	Split() with null string as third arg to split up strings
	22
	23	Analogously, setting FS="" would split the input record into individual
	24	characters.
	25
	26	Arnold:
	27	Generalize IGNORECASE
	28	any value makes it work, not just numeric non-zero
	29	make it apply to all string comparisons
	30
	31	Fix FILENAME to have an initial value of "", not "-"
	32
	33	Clean up code by isolating system-specific functions in separate files.
	34
	35	Undertake significant directory reorganization.
	36
	37	Extensive manual cleanup:
	38	Use of texinfo 2.0 features
	39	Lots more examples
	40	Document all of the above.
	41
	42	In 2.17
	43	=======
	44	David:
	45
	46	Incorporate newer dfa.c and regex.c (go to POSIX regexps)
	47
	48	Make regex + dfa less dependant on gawk header file includes
	49
	50	General sub functions:
	51	edit(line, pat, sub) and gedit(line, pat, sub)
	52	that return the substituted strings and allow \1 etc. in the sub string.
	53
	54	Arnold:
	55	DBM storage of awk arrays. Try to allow multiple dbm packages
	56
	57	? Have strftime() pay attention to the value of ENVIRON["TZ"]
	58
	59	Additional manual features:
	60	Document posix regexps
	61	Document use of dbm arrays
	62	? Add an error messages section to the manual
	63	? A section on where gawk is bounded
	64	regex
65	i/o
66	sun fp conversions
67
68	For 2.18
69	========
70
71	Arnold:
72	Add chdir and stat built-in functions.
73
74	Add function pointers as valid variable types.
75
76	Add an `ftw' built-in function that takes a function pointer.
77
78	David:
79
80	Do an optimization pass over parse tree?
81
82	For 2.19 or later:
83	==================
84	Add variables similar to C's __FILE__ and __LINE__ for better diagnostics
85	from within awk programs.
86
87	Add an explicit concatenation operator and assignment version.
88
89	? Add a switch statement
90
91	Add the ability to seek on an open file and retrieve the current file position.
92
93	Add lint checking everywhere, including check for use of builtin vars.
94	only in new awk.
95
96	"restart" keyword
97
98	Add \|&
99
100	Make awk '/foo/' files... run at egrep speeds
101
102	Do a reference card
103
104	Allow OFMT to be other than a floating point format.
105
106	Allow redefining of builtin functions?
107
108	Make it faster and smaller.
109
110	For 3.x:
111	========
112
113	Create a gawk compiler?
114
115	Create a gawk-to-C translator? (or C++??)
116
117	Provide awk profiling and debugging.
118
119
120