Provided by: afnix_2.2.0-2ubuntu1_amd64 bug

NAME

       vol-0 - afnix installation guide

INSTALLATION GUIDE

       This  chapter  describes  the  installation  procedures  for  the   AFNIX   writing system
       distribution. This chapter explains how to set and compile this distribution.

       Software distribution
       The complete distribution can be downloaded from the AFNIX home  page.  The  result  is  a
       complete  source  tree  that  is ready for compilation. The distribution contains also the
       documentation as well as examples. The distribution is supported on a variety of platforms
       as  indicated  below  that  can be either 32 bits or 64 bits machines. The distribution is
       also available at the FreeBSD port collection.

       Platform   Processor                                   Operating system
       Linux      X86-32, X86-64, IA64, SPARC-32, SPARC-64    Linux 2.4 and 2.6
       FreeBSD    X86-32, X86-64, IA-64, SPARC-32, SPARC-64   FreeBSD 6.x, 7.x, 8.x
       Darwin     PPC-32, PPC-64, X86-32, X86-64              MacOS X 10.4 Tiger, 10.5 Leopard, 10.6 S
       Gnu        X86-32, X86-64                              GNU KBSD, GNU Hurd

       Specific processors like the Alpha, M68K, ARM, MIPS  and  SUPERH  are  also  supported  on
       certain  distributions. The PowerPC (PPC) processor is primarily supported with the Darwin
       platform (MACOS) and is also working with the Linux platform. The Solaris  SPARC  platform
       has  been  discontinued.  Do  not  hesitate  to  contact the development team for specific
       processor or platform support.

       Installation procedure
       The core software is written in C++. It has been successfully built with the GNU GCC 3 and
       GCC  4.  No other compiler have been tested. You will also need the GNU Make package. With
       some distributions the command is called  gmake.  Note  that  the  Makefile  hierarchy  is
       designed to operate safely with the -jGNU Make option.

       Unpacking the distribution
       The  distribution  is  available  as a compressed tar file. Note that the documentation is
       distributed in a separate file. The following command unpacks the distribution.

       zsh> gzip -d afnix-src-[version].tar.gz
       zsh> tar  xf afnix-src-[version].tar

       Quick command reference
       The list of commands to execute is given in the example below. A detailed description  for
       each command is given hereafter. The make world command is the default command that builds
       the whole tree with the default compiler.

       zsh> ./cnf/bin/afnix-setup -o --prefix=/usr/local/afnix
       zsh> make status
       zsh> make [-j]
       zsh> make test
       zsh> make install
       zsh> make clean

       With some platforms, the make command should be replaced by the gmake  command.  The  make
       status  command  is  optional  and  can  be used to report the internal value contents. In
       particular, the version and the installation parameters are reported.

       Configuration
       The afnix-setup command can be invoked to setup a  particular  configuration.  You  should
       have your compiler on your search path. Normally, the command given below is enough.

       zsh> ./cnf/bin/afnix-setup -o --prefix=/usr/local/afnix

       This command checks that the target platform can be detected and configured. The -o option
       configures the compilation in optimized mode. Use the -g option can be used  to  configure
       the build process in debug mode. The --prefix option sets the installation directory. Note
       that the compilation process is done in the distribution tree and that the --prefix option
       affects  only  the  installation  operations.  The  -v option is the verbose option. Other
       options are available for fine tuning.

       Option       Description                           Default
       -h           Print a help message                  n/a
       -v           Set the verbose mode                  n/a
       -g           Set the debug mode                    yes
       -o           Set the optimized mode                no
       --help       Same as -h                            n/a
       --prefix     Set the target install directory      /usr/local
       --shrdir     Set the shared install directory      /usr/local/share
       --altdir     Set the alternate install directory   /usr/local
       --sdkdir     Set the system kit directory          platform dependent
       --compiler   Set the default compiler              platform dependent
       --proctype   Set the processor type                generic
       --dynamic    Compile and link dynamically          yes
       --static     Compile and link statically           no

       The prefix option set the root installation directory. The binary and library installation
       directories are derived from it. The shrdir set the shared installation directory which is
       normally used for the installation of the manual pages on most popular systems. the altdir
       sets  the  alternate  installation  directory.  Normally  this  path should be empty as it
       affects the path for the etc directory. This flag should be used when using  a  prefix  to
       unusual  destination.  the  sdkdir option sets the path of the platform system development
       kit. This option is only used with the Darwin platform. The compiler option can be used to
       force  a  particular compiler with the help of a compiler configuration file. The proctype
       option can be used to force a particular processor architecture. The -s or --static option
       can  be  used to build a static executable. Normally, this option should not be used since
       it restrict the use of extension modules. The dynamic controls whether or not the  dynamic
       libraries should be built. This option is detected automatically for a particular platform
       and should be used only by package maintainer.

       Compiling the distribution
       The compilation process is straightforward. With some platforms, the make accepts  the  -j
       that enables concurrent operations.

       zsh> make [-j]

       This  will  build  the  complete  distribution  locally. If an error occurs, it is best to
       report it at the (bugs@afnix.org) AFNIX bug report mail address.

       Testing the distribution
       The distribution contains all test suites. The test suites are compiled and executed  with
       the following command.

       zsh> make test

       This  command  run  the  test  suites for each library as well as the test suites for each
       application client. Most of the base library test suites  are  written  in  C++  with  the
       application test suites written in the core writing system.

       Installing the distribution
       Once  the  system  has  been  built  and  tested,  it  can  be  installed. By default, the
       distribution tree is installed into the /usr/local directory. This can be overwritten with
       the --prefix option during the configuration process.

       zsh> make install

       There  are several variables that controls the behavior of the install rule. Each variable
       has its default value sets during the setup configuration. However, this variable can also
       be altered during the installation process

       Variable   Description                          Default
       PREFIX     The root install directory           /usr/local
       SHRDIR     The shared install directory         /usr/local/share
       ALTDIR     The shared alternate directory       /usr/local/etc
       SDKDIR     The system  kit directory            platform dependent
       BINDIR     The binary install directory         prefix/bin
       LIBDIR     The library install directory        prefix/lib
       HDRDIR     The header files install directory   prefix/include/afnix
       ETCDIR     The extra files install directory    altdir/etc/afnix

       Installing the documentation
       The  documentation  is  installed  independently  of the software. The doc rule builds the
       documentation and the publish rule installs  the  documentation.  Several  variables  also
       control the documentation installation path.

       Variable   Description                           Default
       DOCDIR     The documentation install directory   shrdir/doc/afnix
       MANDIR     The manual pages install directory    shrdir/man

       Cleaning the distribution
       The distribution is cleaned with the clean rule.

       zsh> make clean

       This rule does not clean the configuration. For a complete cleaning the reset rule is more
       appropriate.

       zsh> make reset

       Running AFNIX
       The axi command invokes the interpreter. In order to operate properly, the LD_LIBRARY_PATH
       environment  variable  must  be  configured  with  the  directory  containing  the  shared
       libraries.  If  the  libraries  have  been  installed  in   a   standard   location   like
       /usr/local/lib, there is nothing to do.

       Running some example
       The  directory  exp  contains  various  examples which can be run. Each example is labeled
       according to their use in the volume 1 of the documentation set. Example  0101.als  prints
       the  message  hello  world.  Example  0501.als prints various information about the system
       configuration.

       zsh> axi 0501
       major version number   : 2
       minor version number   : 2
       patch version number   : 0
       interpreter version    : 2.2.0
       operating system name  : linux
       operating system type  : unix
       afnix official uri     : http://www.afnix.org

       Special features
       The build process provides several features that  permits  to  customize  the  compilation
       process as well as the nature of the final executable. Most of the time, these options are
       reserved for the package maintainer and are given below for illustration purpose.

       Target customization
       The distribution can be configured to operate on a specific machine target. For example, a
       typical  Linux  box  will  be  compiled with the default compiler target, which is the 386
       processor. You can force the compilation to be optimized for a particular processor.  This
       is  done with the --proctype option of the afnix-setup command. Currently the distribution
       supports the 586 and 686 architectures for the Intel platform. The ultra  architecture  is
       valid for the SPARC platform.

       zsh> cnf/bin/afnix-setup -o --prefix=/usr/local
       --proctype=586

       This  command  will configure the distribution to be compiled specifically for the Pentium
       architecture.

       Special target extensions
       Extensions are specific libraries or executables which are not build automatically  during
       the  build  process.  The  user is responsible to decide which extension is needed for the
       system All extensions are located under the  src/ext  directory.  Simply  going  into  the
       appropriate  directory  and  running  the  make command will build the extension.  The asi
       extension creates a static interpreter with all libraries automatically  included  in  the
       final executable. The extension is simply build with the following command. Note that this
       extension overwrite the previous executable in the bld/bin directory.

       zsh> make -C src/ext/asi

       Extra files
       The distribution comes with some extra files. The most important is the Emacs mode  afnix-
       mode.  The  original  source  file  is  written  in Emacs Lisp and is available in the etc
       directory of the distribution. This file should be  installed  according  to  the  current
       Emacs installation.

MAINTAINER NOTES

       This  chapter  contains  additional notes for the package maintainer. They are also useful
       for anybody who is in charge of integrating the  distribution  in  a  build  process.  The
       chapter describes the distribution tree with more details.

       The distribution tree
       The  distribution  tree  is  composed  of various directories. Each of them has a Makefile
       which can be called locally or from the top level.

              cnf
              This directory contains  the  configuration  distribution  and  various  utilities.
              Normally  you  should  not touch it, unless you are using a compiler different than
              gcc.

              src
              This directory contains the complete source tree. The source  code  is  written  in
              C++. Normally this directory is left untouched. If there are good reasons to modify
              it, please contact the development team.

              tst
              This directory contains the complete test suites.  The  test  suites  are  used  by
              various  programs including the main interpreter, the compiler and the debugger. It
              shall be noted that the library distribution also includes specific test suites.

              doc
              This directory contains the complete documentation written in in XML with a special
              DTD. It should be left untouched.

              etc
              This  directory contains various files associated with the distribution. Some files
              are useful to be copied.

              exp
              This directory contains  various  examples.  They  are  included  for  illustration
              purpose.

       The  process  of  building a package solely depends on the distribution type. Most likely,
       the  standard  distribution  should  contain  the  binary  executables  as  well  as  some
       configuration  file  and  the  manual  pages. The documentation and the development header
       files can put in separate packages.

       Configuration and setup
       The configuration process involves the use of  the  afnix-setup  command  located  in  the
       cnf/bin directory. This command is used to configure the distribution. Package maintainers
       are encouraged to use it with specific options.

       Platform detection
       The afnix-guess command is used during the configuration process  to  detect  a  supported
       platform. This command can be run in stand-alone mode. Various options can be used to tune
       the type of information requested.

       Option   Description
       -h       Print a help message
       -n       Print the platform name
       -v       Print the platform version
       -M       Print the platform major number
       -m       Print the platform minor number
       -p       Print the platform patch number
       -t       Print the processor type

       Without option, the utility prints a platform and processor description string.

       zsh> ./cnf/bin/afnix-guess
       linux-2.6-ia32-generic

       Platform defaults
       The directory cnf/def contains a platform specific default file. The file determines  what
       is  the  default  compiler and linking mode. This file is used by the afnix-setup command.
       For example, the afnix-darwin.def file contains:

       compiler: gcc
       lktype  : dynamic
       lkmode  : dylib

       Such options instructs the configuration utility, that the default compiler is gcc and the
       linking mode should operates in dynamic mode by using the dylib rule. These default values
       can be overwritten with the equivalent option of the afnix-setup command.  Note  that  the
       compiler  version  is  automatically  detected by the system. The afnix-vcomp command will
       return the appropriate compiler version running on the target system.

       C++ source file conventions
       THe source tree has two types of C++ files. The first type has the extension .cxx and  the
       second  type has the extension .cpp. The .cxx -- and the associated .hxx -- files are only
       used to indicate a system dependency. These  files  are  found  only  in  the  src/lib/plt
       directory.  The  .cxx  extension indicates that the file might use system specific include
       files. The .cpp -- and the associated .hpp -- files are the normal C++ source  files.  The
       .cpp  extension  is used to indicate that these files will not use a system specific file.
       By default this rule is enforced in the compiler configuration  file  by  specifying  some
       compiler flags which do not authorize such access.

       Configuration files
       The  configurations  files  are  located in the cnf/mak directory. Normally they should be
       left untouched. The most important one is the afnix-rule.mak file that defines most of the
       compilation  and  linking rules. Additionally, during the setup operation, the afnix-setup
       command creates several files in the bld/cnf directory. The bld is  the  build  directory.
       The  afnix-plat.mak  file  is  the platform configuration file and the afnix-comp.mak is a
       link to the appropriate compiler configuration file.

       Compilation
       Normally, the compilation process is immediate. Just invoking the make command will do the
       job.  However,  some  package  maintainer  have  the  desire to overwrite some flags. Some
       options are provided to facilitate this task.

              EXTCPPFLAGS
              This flag can be used to add some compilation flags for all .cpp files.

              EXTCXXFLAGS
              This flag can be used to add some compilation flags for all .cxx files.

              EXTCCDEFINE
              This flag can be used to add some compilation definitions for all source files.

              EXTINCLUDES
              This flag can be used to add some compilation paths for the .cxx files.

       For example, it is common to have some maintainer to  compile  with  both  the  debug  and
       optimize  flags.  This  can  be  done  with  the  following command (assuming an optimized
       configuration):

       make EXTCPPFLAGS=-g EXTCXXFLAGS=-g

       All include files, compiled libraries and executables are placed  in  the  bld  directory.
       This  directory  contains  the bld/bin for binaries, bld/lib for libraries and bld/hdr for
       the header files.

       Building the package
       The package can be built by accessing the bld directory or by invoking the  install  rule.
       The second method is not recommended for package construction, since it might trigger some
       file installation without any control.  The etc directory contains some special files that
       might be used for the package construction. A sample list of them is given hereafter.

              afnix-mode.el
              This file is the Emacs mode.

              afnix-gud.el
              This file is the debugger Emacs gud mode.

       Specific makefile rules
       The  top  level  Makefile  contains  several  rules  that  might be useful for the package
       maintainer.

              status
              This rule show the configuration status for each parameters with the version.

              debug
              This rule invokes the default configuration in debug mode.

              optimized
              This rule invokes the default configuration in optimized mode.

              build
              This rule invokes the default configuration in debug mode  and  compile  the  whole
              distribution. The default install directory is /usr/local.

              world
              This rule invokes the default configuration in optimized mode and compile the whole
              distribution. The default install directory is /usr/local.

              test
              This rule runs all test suites.

              doc
              This rule builds the documentation.

              distri
              This rule builds the distribution.

              install
              This rule installs the distribution.

              publish
              This rule installs the documentation.

              clean
              This rule cleans the distribution but keep the configuration.

              reset
              This rule resets the distribution including the configuration.

RELEASE NOTES

       This chapter contains the release notes for the differents  releases.  Release  notes  are
       given   in   descending   order  for  a  particular  version.  The  standard  notation  is
       major.minor.patch which represents respectively, the major,  minor  and  patch  number.  A
       major version number changes indicates a substantial change in the distribution, including
       new tools, application interface and license. A  minor  version  number  change  indicates
       noticeable  change, with or without new tools but without application interface change nor
       license change. Finally, a patch number change indicates a simple change to  fix  problem.
       There is no additional features in a patch nor an application interface change.

       Release 2.2

       Release features

              Core engine: hurd platform
              The  Hurd  platform is now supported in this release. Thanks to our contributor for
              delivering this new platform.

              Core engine: unicode 6.0.0
              The Unicode 6.0.0 database is now supported in this release.

              Core engine: object updates
              The lexical analyzer is now an object in its own. It can be used to construct other
              object from a string description.

              Core modules: mth module
              An automatic linear system verification has been added to the linear solver. Jacobi
              preconditionner have been added to the Krylov solvers and Newton solvers have  been
              improved.

              Core services: phy service
              The  periodic  table  of the elements is under construction and should be completed
              soon. The table will provides the information for each  elements,  including  name,
              symbol and other physical constants. The suport for intrinsic carrier concentration
              is now available. This is a cryptic feature for people working on semiconductors.

       Release 2.1

       Release features

              Core engine: superh processor
              The SuperH processor is now supported in this release. The  SuperH  is  a  32  bits
              processor.

              Core engine: nan real number
              The  implementation  now supports the concepts of Not a Number or NAN as a whole. A
              real object can set and tested for NAN.

              Core engine: indirect librarian resolver
              The resolver has been enhanced to support indirect librarian reference.

              Core modules: csm module
              The personnal information management module has been renamed into the cloud session
              management or afnix-csm module.

              Core modules: mth module
              The  math module has been dramatically enhanced. The Rsamples object has been added
              for storing data samples. Function and polynomial objects  have  added  to  support
              generic function computation. The non-linear Newton system solver has been added as
              an object.

              Core services: svg service
              The Scalable Vector Graphic service  has  been  added.  The  service  provides  the
              support  for  the  SVG  1.1  standard  and  allows  the automatic generation of SVG
              compliant code.

              Core services: phy service
              The Physics service has been added. The service provides the support  for  standard
              physics  operations.  In particular, the most common physical constants are defined
              in this service.

       Release history

              08/24/2011: release 2.1.1
              AFNIX 2.1.1 has been released. This is an emergency release that corrects  a  small
              problem in the clean rule with the static directory.

       Release 2.0

       Release features

              Core engine: standard objects
              The  BlockBuffer object has been added to the standard object library. Furthermore,
              the Buffer has been adapted to operate as a base class for the block buffer and the
              shl  method  has  been added to the buffer object as a mean to shift the buffer. As
              consequence, the default operating mode  for  a  buffer  is  the  BYTE  mode.  When
              operating with strings, the UTF8 mode might be more suitable. The BitSet object has
              been renamed to Bitset and the interface has been  cleaned.  The  Vector  has  been
              cleaned. The object-p predicate has been fixed.

              Core engine: thread engine
              The  thread  engine has been completly redesigned and extensivelly tested on 32 and
              64 bits platforms. It is no longer a problem to operate with more than 32K  threads
              simultanesouly.  Furthermore,  the  concept  of  thread  pool has been added to the
              engine. The end-p predicate has been added to  the  thread  object  to  indicate  a
              succesful thread completion.

              Core engine: form reader
              The  Reader  object  has  been  added  as a form reader. The reader parses an input
              stream and produces a form until the end-of-stream. The Reader provides the support
              for string based execution.

              Core engine: default librarian module
              The  Librarian  object has been enhanced to support the concept of default exeution
              module. When such module and when the interpreter is requested to do so, the module
              is automatically loaded during the execution.

              Core modules: nwg module
              The  HttpProto  default  version  has  been  move  to  1.1 for both the request and
              response objects.

              Core modules: sio module
              The InputMapped class has been enhanced to provide the facility for mapping  buffer
              as  well  as  acting as a null character generator. The OuputBuffer object has been
              added as a  buffer  output  stream.  With  the  addition  of  a  form  reader,  the
              interpreter communication class Intercom has been added to the standard i/o module.

              Core modules: xml module
              The  XneCond  object has been enhanced to support various xml object. The XmlPi has
              been enhanced to support attributes derivation from the string value.

              Core modules: itu module
              The itu module is a new module. It has been added with a complete support  for  the
              ASN.1 standard. ASN.1 is essential for the support of certificates.

              Core clients: axs client
              The  axs  client  has  been  removed  from the core distribution. All of the client
              functionalities are now available in the spreadsheet module.

       Release 1.9

       Release features

              Core engine: object unreference
              The long  awaited  unref  reserved  keyword  has  been  added  as  a  mechanism  to
              unreference a symbol.

              Core engine: object predicate
              The object-p predicate has been added as a standard predicate. The predicate is the
              negation of the nil-p standard predicate. The  method-p  predicate  has  also  been
              added as a standard predicate.

              Core engine: stop/resume parsing
              The  file stream parsing has been enhanced with the help of the stop « and resume »
              characters. When the stop characters is found, all parsing operations are suspended
              until a resume character is found.

              Core engine: extended exception attribute
              The  about  symbol  has  been  added  to the exception object as extended exception
              reason. For a given reason, the file name and line number is added to the exception
              reason.

              Core engine: string objects
              The  Strvec  string  vector  class has been added to the core library. The class is
              similar to the Vector class except that  it  operates  with  strings  and  provides
              additional strings related methods.

              Core engine: counter object
              The  Counter object has been added as a reserved object. The counter is designed to
              be used directly in loop.

              Core engine: library cleaning
              The core library has been extensively cleaned in preparation  for  the  next  major
              release.  In  particular,  numerous memory leaks have been removed and some classes
              derivations have been fixed. A major bug in the closure argument counting has  also
              been discovered and fixed during this process.

              Core module: sio module
              The  Pathname  object  has been enhanced to detect the type of path associated with
              the object. Additionally, a normalize method has been added.

              Core module: sio module
              The FileInfo object has been added to the module. The class provides  an  immediate
              access to the principal file parameters such like it size or its modification time.

              Core module: sio module
              The  NamedFifo  object has been added to the module. The class provides the support
              for a large string based fifo with file saving capabilities.

              Core modules: nwg module
              Several predicates and functions related to media type conversion have  been  added
              to  the  module.  In  particular,  a  media  type  extension  conversion  has  been
              implemented. The HttpResponse class has been  enhanced  with  several  methods  for
              status code checking.

              Core modules: sec module
              Support  for  the  Digital  Standard  Algorithm, (aka DSA) as specified by FIPS-PUB
              186-3 has been added to the library. The implementation  incorporates  several  new
              objects to manipulate signatures.

              Core modules: sec module
              The RC2 block cipher algorithm has been added to the module.

              Distribution: documentation
              The documentation distribution rules have been rewritten and the "publish" rule has
              been added.

       Release 1.8

       Release features

              Build process: reset rule
              The distclean top level makefile rule has been renamed as reset.

              Core engine: stream object
              The stream engine has been  cleaned  with  a  new  architecture.  Two  new  objects
              InputStream and OutputStream acts as the foundation of this new design.

              Core modules: nwg module
              The HttpProto, HttpRequest and HttpResponse objects have been completely rewritten.
              In the new model, both objects can operate on  the  server  and  client  side.  The
              HttpReply object has been removed.

              Core modules: sec module
              The Sha224 hash function has been added. This class concludes the implementation of
              all SHA family hash functions. The Des class that supports the  DES  stream  cipher
              has been added to the library.

              Core modules: xml module
              The XmlRoot class has been enhanced in order to ease the declaration node existence
              verification as well as the encoding mode extraction.

       Release 1.7

       Release features

              Core clients: random engine seeding
              A new option controls the seeding of the random engine. By default, in debug  mode,
              the  random  engine  is not seeded unless requested by the user. In optimized mode,
              which is the normal mode, the random engine is seeded at initialization.

              Core engine: base number object
              The long awaited base number object has been added. The Number  object  serves  the
              Integer,  Real, and Relatif objects. The base number object is designed to ease the
              task of formatting numbers.

              Core engine: relatif number enhancements
              The relatif number object has been enhanced to support extra methods that are  used
              for  large number computation. This include the power and gcd computation which are
              used by the cryptographic engine. In addition, the base arithmetic relatif  methods
              have been optimized and certain corner bugs in the division fixed.

              Core engine: unicode database
              The core engine has been updated with the new Unicode 5.1.0 database.

              Core engine: serious bugs
              A  serious bug in the form synchronize engine that would cause an engine crash when
              a form is nil has been fixed.

              Core modules: sio module
              A new object called Pathlist has been added to support  the  manipulation  of  path
              list.  The  object  is designed to ease the file name resolution in the presence of
              search path. The module has also been extensively cleaned.

              Core modules: mth module
              A new module called afnix-mth has been added  to  the  standard  distribution.  The
              module  is  designed  to  integrate  the  base  mathematical  functions and objects
              available in the engine. With such introduction, the random number  generation  has
              been  moved  into this module. Additionally, the functions needed to generate prime
              numbers have been added to this module.

              Core modules: sec module
              A new module called afnix-sec has been added  to  the  standard  distribution.  The
              module  is  designed to integrate the security functions and cryptographic objects.
              Two new hasher objects have been added to  the  security  module.  The  Md2  object
              implements  the  MD2  message  digest  algorithm  as described in RFC 1319. The Md4
              object implements the MD4 message digest algorithm as described in  RFC  1320.  The
              standard  key  derivation  functions  KDF1 and KDF2 have been added to the security
              module. The asymmetric cipher RSA has also been added to the  security  module  and
              the Key object has been updated to reflect this.

       Release history

              09/01/2008: release 1.7.1
              AFNIX  1.7.1,  the  «  An  Armor  release » has been released. This is an emergency
              release that corrects a major problem within the evaluation process. Although,  the
              problem has been fixed, it involves a large piece of code, with a major redesign of
              the  evaluation  engine.  It  is  therefore  recommended  to  upgrade  the   engine
              immediately.

              08/08/2008: release 1.7.0
              AFNIX  1.7.0,  the  « An Armor release » has been released. This is a major release
              that incorporates numerous new features in the field of cryptography.  The  release
              also incorporates the latest 5.1.0 Unicode database.

       Release 1.6

       Release features

              Core engine: object collection redesign
              The  core  engine  has  been  seriously  modified  to  accommodate for a new object
              collection system (aka garbage collection). The  new  system  is  more  robust  and
              provides  new  mechanism  that  will  permit to reclaim cyclic structure as well as
              destroying global object on demand.

              Core engine: macos x support
              The core engine has been adapted to support  the  new  MACOS  X  Leopard  operating
              system.

       Release history

              01/01/2008: release 1.6.0
              AFNIX  1.6.0  has been released. This release provides is an intermediate candidate
              toward another  major  release.  The  most  important  thing  is  that  the  object
              collection engine has been redesigned and that MACOS X Leopard is now supported.

       Release 1.5

       Release features

              Core engine: unicode 5.0 support
              The  core engine continues to be updated in order to better support the Unicode 5.0
              standard. With this release, the string normalization scheme is now  in  place  and
              used  by  default internally. This implies among other things, a better support for
              multiple diacritics as well as the beginning of the standard collation algorithm.

              Core engine: log file support
              The Logger base class has been enhanced to support the generation of a log file. An
              output stream can now be bound to the object.

              Core engine: class defer support
              The  concept  of  class  defer object has been added to the Class object. The defer
              mode is the opposite of the infer mode and provides  a  mechanism  for  base  class
              creation.

              Core engine: print table header
              The PrintTable object has been enhanced to support the concept of table header.

              Core engine: exception re-throwing
              The  exception  object  what  can  be  thrown with the reserved keyword throw. This
              provides a mechanism to re-throw an exception.

              Core engine: critical bug with return form
              A critical bug in the core engine affecting the behavior  of  the  return  reserved
              keyword  in  a  try  block  has  been  fixed.  A return form inside a try block was
              incorrectly generating an exception which was subsequently caught by the try block.

              Core modules: net module
              The base network  module  has  been  enhanced  to  better  operate  with  IPV6.  In
              particular,  when  both IPV4 and IPV6 stacks are present and a host name (typically
              localhost) have an address entry, the socket constructor make sure it can build  an
              object. The IPV6 address display has been rewritten.

              Core modules: sio module
              A  new  object called Pathname has been added to support the manipulation of system
              path. In addition, two new functions mkdir  and  mhdir  have  been  also  added  to
              support the directory creation, both normally and hierarchically.

              Core modules: nwg module
              The  Uri  has been dramatically enhanced to conform to the RFC 3986. In particular,
              the path representation for urn is now working properly. The cookie object has been
              massaged to support the cookie version 1, although it does not seem to be supported
              (yet!) by the browsers.

              Core modules: xml module
              The xml module has been enhanced with a new parsing system called the simple model.
              In  the  simple  model,  nodes  are parsed in a linear fashion. The node content is
              available in the form of a string and its interpretation is at the user discretion.

              Core service: wax service
              The afnix-wam service has been renamed as afnix-wax.  The  service  has  also  been
              updated  with  two  new  objects, namely the XmlMime and XhtmlMime which permits to
              build a mime representation of an xml tree. Several xhtml objects  have  also  been
              added to complete the collection. This include the XhtmlScript for example.

              Core service: xpe service
              The  afnix-xpe  service  has  been  added  as  a  new  service.  The xml processing
              environment (xpe) provides a xml processor that permits manipulate  the  whole  xml
              tree  with  the  help of various xml processor features. In particular, the service
              provides the support for the xml include extension.

              Core projects: apx project
              This release incorporates for the first time, the concept of  core  project,  which
              represents  a  librarian or an application. The first project is the AFNIX protocol
              extension  or  apx  which  is  a  message  based  protocol  designed  to  transport
              request/reply  messages  within  a  client/server environment. The message is built
              with the xml library and the librarian provides the encapsulation layer.

              Core projects: amd project
              The AFNIX media dumper or  amd  project  is  a  complete  application  designed  to
              illustrate  the  design  of  an application. The application permits to dump an uri
              content into a file.

       Release history

              06/08/2007: release 1.5.2
              AFNIX 1.5.2 has been released. This is a minor release that fixes the build process
              with GCC 4.2.

              04/21/2007: release 1.5.1
              AFNIX 1.5.1 has been released. This is a minor release that fixes the documentation
              targets during the build process.

              04/18/2007: release 1.5.0
              AFNIX 1.5.0 has been released. This release provides a xml processor in the form of
              a  new  service  module  called  'xml  processing  environment'  or  xpe. The whole
              documentation generation is now fully automated, thanks to the new  xml  processor.
              This  release also provides a better support for the 'web application extension' or
              wax service. The support for the GNU/FreeBSD platform has also been added  in  this
              release.  As  usual,  this  release comes with its wagon of bug fixes, notably this
              time in the network field especially with IPV6 on the FreeBSD platform.

       Release 1.4

       Release features

              Core engine: unicode 5.0 support
              The core engine has been substantially changed  to  support  the  new  Unicode  5.0
              standard. As of now, the engine is in place internally, but not fully activated. In
              particular, the string normalization is implemented but  not  activated.  The  next
              release should incorporate the full system with a change that should be transparent
              to the user.

              Core language: instance inference
              An instance inference mechanism -- which is equivalent to the  concept  of  virtual
              constructor -- has been added to the core engine. Such system permits to derive top
              instance from a base instance construction.

              Core language: print table object
              The PrintTable object has been enhanced with a dump method similar  to  the  format
              method.

              Core language: property list object
              The  Property  and  the  Plist  objects  have been added to the standard library. a
              property is name/value pair. The property list object is an  iterable  object  that
              stores property objects.

              Core modules: xml module
              A  new  module  called afnix-xml has been added. The module provides the foundation
              for a full xml 1.0/1.1 support. The module also includes a parser that  permits  to
              build  xml  tree. A xml tree writer is also part of the module functionality. A xml
              processor is not yet available and is expected in the next release.

              Core modules: nwg module
              A new module called afnix-nwg has been added. The module provides the  support  for
              the  network  working  group objects such like Uri object. The module also provides
              the foundation for the mime support.

              Core modules: web module
              The afnix-web module has been removed and replaced by the afnix-wam service.

              Core service: wam service
              The  afnix-wam  service  has  been  added  as  the  first  service  into  the  core
              distribution. A service differs from a module in the sense that it is a combination
              of different modules. The web application management service depends on the xml and
              nwg  modules. The service provides all the functionality to support a http session,
              including xhtml page generation and cgi request reply.

       Release history

              01/28/2007: release 1.4.3
              This release is a minor release that fixes the "install" rule in the etc directory.

              01/01/2007: release 1.4.2
              This release is a minor  release  that  fixes  the  tcp  socket  read  method  that
              incorrectly   handles  a  connection  reset  by  the  peer.  The  Time  class  also
              incorporates a small fix for the to-rfc method.

              11/09/2006: release 1.4.1
              This release is a minor release that fixes the lexer for not parsing correctly some
              floating point numbers. The standard i/o documentation is also fixed. A print media
              support is now available in the documentation.

              11/06/2006: release 1.4.0
              This release incorporates the Unicode 5.0 standard as  well  as  a  brand  new  xml
              module.  This release also introduces the concept of service module, which provides
              additional functionalities on top of regular modules. A new service  module  called
              web  application  management  or  wam  is  also  introduced with this release. This
              service module is based on the newly created xml module and replaces  the  old  web
              module which has been obsoleted immediately.

       Release 1.3

       Release features

              Core language: ISO-8859 transcoding support
              The  core engine has been modified to integrate a character transcoder that permits
              the support all ISO-8859 codesets  which  are  mostly  used  for  the  encoding  of
              european  and  arabic  characters. Depending on the locale settings, the transcoder
              automatically remaps the 8 bits characters into their respective unicode character.
              All  clients  have  been  updated  to  detect  their  associated  locale and to set
              automatically the appropriate transcoder. A new option -e has been added to force a
              particular encoding.

              Core language: Logger base class
              A logging base class has been added. The logging facility provides the interface to
              store messages by time and level. This class is further extended in the modules.

              Core language: Heap class
              A heap class has been added. The heap can operate in ascending or descending  mode.
              This class can be used to support priority queue.

              Core language: Option class
              An  option  class has been added in order to ease the option capture when designing
              an application. The class permits to define the valid options and offer a  powerful
              retrieval mechanism.

              Core language: Date class
              The Time class has been completely changed and a new Date class has been added. The
              new mechanism provides a better separation between the time and the date,  increase
              the date range and authorizes the support for multiple calendar.

              Client: cross spreadsheet client
              The  axs  client  has  been  modified to support the axs:insert-marker, axs:insert-
              header and insert-footer control commands.

              Core modules: speadsheet module
              The Folio and Sheet classes have been substantially updated to  support  additional
              information.  The  Sheet  also supports the concept of markers that marks the sheet
              columns by literals. The  concept  of  column  tagging  has  been  added  with  the
              associated  search  methods.  All  classes  also  contain an information field. The
              importation mechanism now supports a cons cell that defines both the cell name  and
              the cell value.

              Core modules: web module
              The  Table class has been modified to support the concept of table data header. The
              associated methods have been added to the class and a new HtmlTh  has  been  added.
              The  concept  of  tag  propagation  has  also  been added. If a tag element already
              exists, this one is not added. This is particularly true for the class tag that  is
              now  part  of  the  class  constructor.  The  HtmlPage class has been put in strict
              conformance with xhtml 1.1 and the XHtmlpage class has been removed.

              Core modules: pim module
              A new module called the afnix-pim module has been added to the  base  distribution.
              The  personal  information  management  or  pim  module  is  designed  to  ease the
              management of personal information and agenda.

              Core modules: gfx module
              A new module called the afnix-gfx module has been added to the  base  distribution.
              The module contains the base class that supports the graph data structure which was
              previously part of the standard library.

       Release 1.2

       Release features

              Core language: Unicode support
              The core engine has been  substantially  modified  to  integrate  the  support  for
              Unicode  characters.  Depending  on  the  system  settings the reader automatically
              adjust itself to operate in byte mode or in UTF-8 mode. The  String  and  Character
              classes  are  now operating with a Unicode representation. The design of an Unicode
              based engine also impacts  several  classes  like  the  Regex,  Buffer  and  stream
              classes.  A  new class called Byte is also designed to handle byte character. A new
              stream model with a base Stream class has also been added. The  full  support  with
              Unicode  character  is  not  yet completed. In particular, certain codesets are not
              supported at all. This is particularly true with case-conversion functions.

              Core language: orphan instance and reparenting
              The object model now supports the creation of orphan instance which is an  instance
              without a class attached to it. The instance can be later bound to a class and such
              class can even be changed during the course of the program execution.

              Core modules: network module
              The Address class has been updated to reflect the access to address aliases.

              Core modules: text processing module
              The Literate class has been updated to reflect the support of  Unicode  characters.
              The class can operate both in byte mode or in Unicode character mode.

       Release 1.1

       Release features

              Core language: Large file support
              Support  for  the  large  file  system has been added in the base distribution. All
              input/output operations as long as they are supported by the operating  system  are
              now done in 64 bits mode.

              Core libraries: Secure hash algorithm
              The  cryptographic library incorporates the support for the SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384
              and SHA-512 hash algorithms.

              Core libraries: Standard symmetric cipher
              The cryptographic library incorporates the  support  for  the  Advanced  Encryption
              Standard (AES) as a symmetric cipher.

              Core libraries: ODC library renamed
              The  ODC library has been renamed to SPS which stands for spreadsheet library. This
              new name is considered more appropriate for the function the library achieves.

              Core libraries: xhtml 1.1 support
              The XhtmlPara class is now configured to support XHTML 1.1 with utf-8 encoding.

              Documentation: XML based documentation
              The documentation has been rewritten completely in  XML.  A  DTD  as  well  as  the
              necessary  XSLT  style  sheets  have  also  been designed to produce a professional
              documentation which can be used for printing or for online browsing.

       Release history

              10/04/2005: release 1.1.2
              This release incorporates a fix for a terminal capability error.

              08/25/2005: release 1.1.1
              This release incorporates  fixes  for  several  build  problems  with  the  FreeBSD
              platform.

              08/19/2005: release 1.1.0
              The  1.1  release is yet another milestone that incorporates a full redesign of the
              documentation tree as well as the  inclusion  of  the  cryptographic  library  that
              features  some original implementations. The full documentation is now available in
              XML format and can be accessed online.

       Release 1.0
       The 1.0 release is the initial release. This release replaces the  old  ALEPH  programming
       language which has been discontinued.

       Release history

              04/19/2005: release 1.0.3
              This  release incorporates the necessary files that support GCC 4. It also provides
              some minor fixes that were preventing the compilation on some 64 bits platforms.

              03/02/2005: release 1.0.2
              This release incorporates a minor fix that could cause the build process to fail.

              02/16/2005: release 1.0.1
              This release incorporates a minor fix that could cause the build process to fail.

              01/16/2005: release 1.0.0
              This is the primary release 1.0.0  which  originated  from  the  ALEPH  programming
              language  and  which  has  been discontinued. A complete history of the language is
              provided in the description page.