# -*- indented-text -*-
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# This file is part of the PyObjC package.
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WHAT'S NEW:

Version 0.9 (May-02-2003):
- This version includes numerous bugfixes and improvements.

- The module AppKit.NibClassBuilder has been moved to the package
  PyObjCTools.

- Usage of libFFI (http://sources.redhat.com/libffi) is now mandatory. The
  setup.py gives the impression that it isn't, but we do *not* support 
  non-FFI builds.

- We actually have some documentation, more will be added in future releases.

- There are more Project Builder templates (see 'Project Templates').

- The InterfaceBuilder, PreferencePanes and ScreenSaver frameworks have been
  wrapped.

- Management of reference counts is now completely automatic, it is no longer
  necessary to manually compensate for the higher reference count of objects 
  returned by the alloc, copy and copyWithZone: class methods.

- Various function and keyword arguments have been renamed for a better 
  integration with Cocoa. A partial list is of the changed names is:
  	objc.lookup_class -> objc.lookUpClass
	objc.selector arguments/attributes:
		is_initializer -> isInitializer
		is_allocator -> isAlloc
		donates_ref -> doesDonateReference
		is_required -> isRequired
		class_method -> isClassMethod
		defining_class -> definingClass
		returns_self -> returnsSelf
		argument_types -> argumentTypes
		return_type -> returnType
	objc.get_class_list -> objc.getClassList

- On Python 2.2, objc.YES and objc.NO are instances of a private boolean type,
  on Python 2.3 these are instances of the builtin type bool.


Version 0.8 (Dec-10-2002):

- GNUStep support has been removed for lack of support.  Volunteers
  needed.

- Subclassing Objective-C classes from Python, including the addition
  of instance variables (like 'IBOutlet's)

- Generic support for pass-by-reference arguments

- More complete Cocoa package, including wrappers for a number of 
  C functions, enumerated types, and globals.

- More example code

- Objective-C mappings and sequences can be accessed using the normal
  python methods for accessing mappings and sequences (e.g. subscripting
  works as expected)

- Documentation: See the directory 'docs'

- Can build standalone Cocoa applications based entirely on Python
  without requiring that user installs anything extra (requires 10.2).

- Better packaging and wrapper construction tools (borrowed from
  MacPython).

- An installer package.

- Support for Project Builder based Cocoa-Python projects.

- Unit tests.

Version 2002-01-30 (January 30, 2002):

- Version bumped to 0.6.1 ( __version__ is now a PyString )

- Will now build for Python 2.2

- added Cocoa package with Foundation.py and AppKit.py wrappers.

- HelloWorld.py in Examples

- builds with -g flag for debugging. -v option will dump log
  of message sends to /tmp file.

- Fixed one major runtime bug: added ISCLASS test before isKindOfClass -
  without check, it crashes on sends to abstract classes like NSProxy.

- There are still problems with Delegates and Notifications. 

Version 2001-03-17 (March 17, 2001):

- moved to using distutils setup.py (requires small patch to distutils
  that has been submitted against python 2.1b1)

Version 2000-11-14 (November 14, 2000):

- GNU_RUNTIME is likely completely broken

- Compiles on Mac OS X Server (python 2.0)

- Compiles on Mac OS X (python 2.0)

- Works as either a dynamically loadable module or statically built
  into a python executable

- Requires a modified makesetup to work [patches have been sent to
  SourceForge.net's Python project].

- Supports NSAutoReleasepool.

- Some pre-OSX stuff removed;  references to old APIs, etc... (but
  nowhere near clean)

Version 0.55, 18 August 1998:

- Here again, supporting GNU_RUNTIME and GNUstep Base! On my new Linux
  box I can finally test the module against them: I installed the
  latest snapshot of gstep-core, that contains the base library
  too. Given a sane GNUstep env (GNUSTEP_XXX env vars), you should be
  able to build a static ObjC-ized interpreter by:
    o Adjusting Setup, commenting out NeXT definition and enabling GNU
      ones;
    o make -f Makefile.pre.in boot
    o make static

Version 0.54, 24 March 1998:

- OC_Pasteboard.[hm], OC_Stream.[mh] and ObjCStreams.m are definitively gone.
- OC_PythonObject derives from NSProxy.

Version 0.53, 4 January 1998:

- Tons of changes, retargeting the core functionality around the
  OpenSTEP API. This release basically matches the previous one
  in terms of functionalities, but is should be closer to GNUstep.
- OC_Streams and OC_Pasteboard aren't supported, I've not yet decided
  if they are needed anymore.
- Updated LittleButtonedWindow demo.

Version 0.47, 29 October 1996:

- Misc/Makefile.pre.in automatically sets TARGET to `pyobjc'.
- ObjC.m splitted to ObjCObject.m ObjCMethod.m ObjCPointer.m
  ObjCRuntime.m.
- New (almost invisible) types: ObjCSequenceObject and
  ObjCMappingObject; this to implement sequence and mapping syntax
  (several mapping methods have stub implementation).
- OC_Pasteboard class is gone. Its functionalities are now in a
  category of Pasteboard/NSPasteboard.
- Better methods doc.
- PyArg_ParseTuple format strings contain arguments names.
- OC_Streams are mapped to ObjCStreams by pythonify_c_value and its
  counterpart.

Version 0.46, 18 October 1996:

- OC_Stream is now a subclass of NSData under Foundation.
- New Objective-C class: OC_Pasteboard. Use it instead of Pasteboard/
  NSPasteboard. 
- New Objective-C class: OC_PythonBundle. Use it instead of NXBundle/NSBundle.
  The ShellText demo has been upgraded to use it, and now you can run it
  directly from the WorkSpace.
- OC_Python.[hm] aren't in the package anymore.
- Setup.in directives changed again, due to OC_Python.m dropping.

Version 0.45, 14 October 1996:

- Double syntax: to make it easier for us to test and choose the
  better candidate, the only one that will be present in the final 1.0
  release. Keeping both would result in a speed penality.
- Revisited streams, in particular GNUstep support.

Version 0.44, 9 October 1996:

- Integers are now accepted too where floats or doubles are expected.
- New method: ObjC.make_pointer (1) returns an ObjCPointer containing
  ((void *) 1).

Version 0.43, 7 October 1996:

- Completed ObjCStream implementation. There is now a new module, ObjCStreams
  which is automatically loaded by ObjC. You can access it as ObjC.streams.
- Manual splitted in three parts: libPyObjC.tex with the chapter intro,
  libObjC.tex describing the main module, libObjCStreams.tex explains the
  stream facilities.

Version 0.42, 4 October 1996:

- You can pass initialization arguments when using the Class() syntax. You
  select the right initializer selector with the `init' keyword parameter.
- First cut on ObjCStream objects. Thanx to Bill Bumgarner for motivations.
- New demo ShellText, to test above points.

Version 0.41, 2 October 1996:

- Revised error messages: for arguments type mismatch they show the ObjC type
  expected.
- When a method returns a pointer to something, it gets translated as an
  ObjCPointer object, not the pythonified pointed value. When a method
  expects a pointer argument, it accepts such an object as well.
- New demo: Fred. To halt it, suspend the Python process with ^Z then kill
  it ;-).
- Setup.in directives changed. See the new file Modules/Setup.PyObjC.in
- Distribuited as a standalone package. Special thanks to Bill Bumgarner.

Version 0.4, 27 September 1996:

- Now handles methods returning doubles or floats.
- ObjCRuntime responds to .sel_is_mapped().

Version 0.31, 26 September 1996:

- It's now possible to use a different strategy to map ObjC method names to
  Python ones. Sooner or later we should decide the one to go, and drop the
  other. For details, see comments on PYTHONIFY_WITH_DOUBLE_UNDERSCORE in
  objc_support.h.
- Manual section.
- ObjC.runtime.__dict__ added.
- ObjC.runtime.kind added.

Version 0.3, 20 September 1996:

- No user visible changes, just a little effort towards GNU_RUNTIME support. 

Version 0.2, 16 September 1996:

- Accepts a struct.pack() string for pointer arguments, but...
- ... New methods on ObjCMethod: .pack_argument and .unpack_argument:
  these should be used whenever an ObjC method expects a passed-by-reference
  argument; for example, on NeXTSTEP [View getFrame:] expects a pointer
  to an NXRect structure, that it will fill with the current frame of the
  view: in this case you should use something similar to
        framep = aView.getFrame__.pack_argument (0)
        aView.getFrame__ (framep)
        frame = aView.getFrame__.unpack_argument (0, framep)

Version 0.1, 13 September 1996:

- Correctly handle pointer arguments.
- New syntax to get a class: ObjC.runtime.NameOfClass
- New syntax aliasing .new(): SomeClass()
- New Demo: LittleButtonedWindow, that tests points above.
- What follow is the recipe to get PyObjC dinamically loadable on NeXTSTEP:
        * apply the patch in Misc/INSTALL.PyObjC to Python/importdl.c
        * modify Python/Makefile adding the switch ``-ObjC'' to the importdl.o
          build rule:
          importdl.o:   importdl.c
                $(CC) -ObjC -c $(CFLAGS) -I$(DLINCLDIR) $(srcdir)/importdl.c
        * modify Modules/Setup moving the PyObjC entry suggested above AFTER
          ``*shared*'', and remove ``-u libNeXT_s -lNeXT_s'' from it.
        * run ``make'': this will update various files, in particular
          Modules/Makefile.
        * modify Modules/Makefile adding ``-u libNeXT_s -lNeXT_s'' to SYSLIBS:
          SYSLIBS=      $(LIBM) $(LIBC) -u libNeXT_s -lNeXT_s
        * run ``make'' again