Restoring old functionality

doc/gf2-highlights.html

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ Highlights, preliminary version
 
 <p>
 
-13/10/2003 - 25/11
+13/10/2003 - 25/11 - 24/3/2004
 
 <p>
 
@@ -35,8 +35,10 @@ An accurate <a href="DocGF.ps.gz">language specification</a> is now available.
 <li> Hierarchic structure (<tt>extend</tt>) + cross-cutting reuse (<tt>open</tt>)
 <li> Separate compilation, one module per file
 <li> Reuse of <tt>abstract</tt>+<tt>concrete</tt> as <tt>resource</tt>
-<li> New (experimental) module types: <tt>transfer</tt>, 
+<li> New module types:
      <tt>interface</tt>, <tt>instance</tt>, <tt>incomplete</tt>.
+<li> New experimental module types: <tt>transfer</tt>, 
+     <tt>union</tt>.
 
 <h4>Canonical format GFC</h4>
 
@@ -46,6 +48,7 @@ An accurate <a href="DocGF.ps.gz">language specification</a> is now available.
 <h4>New features in expression language</h4>
 
 <li> Disjunctive patterns <tt>P | ... | Q</tt>.
+<li> String patterns <tt>"foo"</tt>.
 <li> Binding token <tt>&+</tt> to glue separate tokens at unlexing phase, 
      and unlexer to resolve this.
 <li> New syntax alternatives for local definitions: <tt>let</tt> without
@@ -75,53 +78,47 @@ An accurate <a href="DocGF.ps.gz">language specification</a> is now available.
 
 <!-- NEW -->
 
-<h2>Status (25/11/2003)</h2>
+<h2>Status (24/3/2004)</h2>
 
 Grammar compiler, editor GUIs, and shell work.
 
 <p>
 
+The updated <tt>HelpFile</tt> (accessible through <tt>h</tt> command)
+marks unsupported but expected features with <tt>*</tt>.
+
+<p>
+
 GF1 grammars can be automatically translated to GF2 (although result not as good
 as manual, since indentation and comments are destroyed). The results can be 
 saved in GF2 files, but this is not necessary.
 
 <p>
 
-Example grammars and resource libraries are in the process of 
-being converted. There will be a new API with
+It is also possible to write a GF2 grammar back to GF1.
+
+
+<p>
+
+Example grammars and resource libraries are have been
+converted. There is a new resource API with
 many new constructions. The new versions lie in <tt>grammars/newresource</tt>.
-English and Swedish resources are up-to-date.
-In the old API version, <tt>grammars/resource</tt>, the other languages
-are up-to-date.
 
 <p>
 
 A make facility works, finding out which modules have to be recompiled.
 There is some room for improvement.
-<br>
-<b>Bug</b>.
-Sometimes the grammar compiler gets confused if there are many
-grammars open simultaneously. Then the advice is to empty
-the environment (using <tt>e</tt>) and compile grammar one by one.
-When read from <tt>gfc</tt> versions, there should be no problems
-to have several grammars simultaneously.
 
 <p>
 
-The module type <tt>grammar</tt> (to build multilingual grammars) not yet 
-implemented.
-<tt>transfer</tt> modules have to be called by flags
+<tt>transfer</tt> modules have to be called by flags.
 
 <p>
 
-Abstract modules (<tt>interface</tt>, <tt>instance</tt>, and <tt>incomplete</tt>)
-have not been stress-tested, but work in the examples in
-<tt>resource/romance</tt> and <tt>resource/french</tt>.
-
-<p>
 
 Soundness checking of module depencencies and completeness is not
-complete.
+complete. This means that some errors may show up too late.
+
 
 
 <!-- NEW -->
@@ -167,6 +164,15 @@ line, e.g.
 
 <p>
 
+To write a GF2 grammar back to GF1 (as one big file), use the command
+<pre>
+  > pg -old
+</pre>
+
+
+<p>
+
+
 GF2 has more reserved words than GF 1.2. When old files are read, a preprocessor
 replaces every identifier that has the shape of a new reserved word
 with a variant where the last letter is replaced by <tt>Z</tt>, e.g.
@@ -311,6 +317,10 @@ compare the modification times of each <tt>gf</tt> and <tt>gfc</tt> file:
 <li> if <tt>gfc</tt> is later, just read in the module
 </ul>
 </ol>
+Inside the GF shell, also time stamps of modules read into memory are
+taken into account. Thus a module need not be read from a file if the
+module is in the memory and the file has not been modified.
+
 
 <!-- NEW -->