root/trunk/ciao/doc/common/ciao.pl

:- use_package(assertions).

:- doc(filetype, application). % TODO: or 'documentation'?

:- doc(title,"The Ciao System").
:- doc(subtitle, "A New Generation, Multi-Paradigm Programming Language and Environment").
:- doc(subtitle, "(Including a State-of-the-Art ISO-Prolog)").

:- doc(logo, 'ciao-shadow-64h').

:- doc(subtitle_extra,"REFERENCE MANUAL").
:- doc(subtitle_extra,"@bf{The Ciao Documentation Series}").
:- doc(subtitle_extra,"@uref{http://www.ciaohome.org/}").
:- doc(subtitle_extra,"@em{Generated/Printed on:} @today{}").
:- doc(subtitle_extra,"Technical Report CLIP 3/97-@version{}").

% TODO: Replace 'credits' by 'editor'? (JFMC)
:- doc(credits, "@bf{Edited by:}").
:- doc(credits, "Francisco Bueno").
% :- doc(credits, "Daniel Cabeza").
:- doc(credits, "Manuel Carro").
:- doc(credits, "R@'{e}my Haemmerl@'{e}").
:- doc(credits, "Manuel Hermenegildo").
:- doc(credits, "Pedro L@'{o}pez").
:- doc(credits, "Edison Mera").
:- doc(credits, "Jos@'{e} F. Morales").
:- doc(credits, "Germ@'{a}n Puebla").

:- include(library('ClipAddress')).

:- include(library('Copyright')).

%% :- doc(bug,"Although the documentation is acceptable at this
%%    point, we are still really in beta mode in this regard.").

:- doc(summary,"

      @include{CiaoDesc.lpdoc}

   ").

:- doc(module,"

   @section{About this manual}
   @cindex{status, this manual}

   This is the @em{Reference Manual} for the Ciao development
   system. It contains basic information on how to install Ciao 
   and how to write, debug, and run Ciao programs from the
   command line, from inside GNU @apl{emacs}, or from a windowing
   desktop. It also documents all the libraries available in the
   standard distribution.

      @include{AboutLPdoc.lpdoc}

   @section{About the Ciao development system}
   @cindex{ciao, global description}

      @include{AboutCiao.lpdoc}

   @section{ISO-Prolog compliance versus extensibility}
   @cindex{iso-prolog, compliance}
   @cindex{extensibility}

      @include{Compliance.lpdoc}

   @section{About the name of the System}
   @cindex{why the name Ciao}
   @cindex{Ciao, why this name}

      @include{AboutName.lpdoc}

   @section{Referring to Ciao}
   @cindex{referring to Ciao}
   @cindex{references, to Ciao}

   If you find Ciao or any of its components useful, we would
   appreciate very much if you added a reference to this manual (i.e.,
   the Ciao reference manual @cite{ciao-reference-manual-tr}) in your
   work. The following is an appropriate BiBTeX entry with the
   relevant data:

@noindent
@begin{verbatim}
@includeverbatim{CiaoReference.lpdoc}
@end{verbatim}


   @section{Syntax terminology and notational conventions}
   @cindex{notation}

      @include{Conventions.lpdoc}

   @section{A tour of the manual}
   @cindex{manual, tour}
   @cindex{tour, of the manual}

   The rest of the introductory chapters after this one provide a
   first ``getting started'' introduction for newcomers to the Ciao
   system. The rest of the chapters in the manual are organized into a
   sequence of major parts as follows:

      @subsection{PART I - The program development environment}

         @include{DevEnv.lpdoc}

      @subsection{PART II - The Ciao basic language (engine)}

         @include{Builtins.lpdoc}

      @subsection{PART III - ISO-Prolog library (iso)}

         @include{IsoProlog.lpdoc}

      @subsection{PART IV - Classic Prolog library (classic)}

         @include{ClassicProlog.lpdoc}

      @subsection{PART V - Assertions, Properties, Types, Modes, Comments (assertions)}

         @include{AnnotatedProlog.lpdoc}

      @subsection{PART VI - Ciao library miscellanea}

         @include{MiscProlog.lpdoc}

      @subsection{PART VII - Ciao extensions}

         @include{ExtendProlog.lpdoc}

      @subsection{PART VIII - Interfaces to other languages and systems}

         @include{Interfaces.lpdoc}

      @subsection{PART IX - Abstract data types}

         @include{ADTs.lpdoc}

      @subsection{PART X - Contributed libraries}

         @include{Contrib.lpdoc}

      @subsection{PART XI - Contributed standalone utilities}

         @include{ciao-contrib-utilities.lpdoc}

      @subsection{PART XII - Appendices}

         @include{Append.lpdoc}


   @section{Acknowledgments} 
   @cindex{acknowledgments}

      @include{Acknowledgments.lpdoc}

").

% TODO: This file is not using the special acknowledgments section.

%% --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

:- doc(version_maintenance,dir('../../version')).

% For 1.16:
%   - Ported Tom Schrijvers' Hindley-Milner types
%     (r10264-unstable) (Jose Morales)
%   - Check comments in ~clip/Systems/CiaoDE-logs/1.14

% TODO: Include some note in the LPdoc output to indicate that this is
%       a development version? (comments for backports may be
%       misleading)

:- doc(version(1*14+2,2011/08/12,18:14*31+'CEST'), "
   Merging r13606 (trunk) into 1.14.
   This backports an optimization for DARWIN platforms (Jose Morales)").

:- doc(version(1*14+1,2011/08/10,18:17*10+'CEST'), "
   Merging r13583 through r13586 (trunk) into 1.14. This fixes
   problems in the Windows version of Ciao (Edison Mera, Jose
   Morales)").

:- doc(version(1*15+0,2011/07/08,11:48*01+'CEST'), "New development
   version (Jose Morales)").

:- doc(version(1*14+0,2011/07/08,10:51*55+'CEST'), "
   It has been a long while since declaring the last major version
   (basically since moving to subversion after 1.10/1.12), so quite a
   bit is included in this release. Here is the (longish) summary:

   @begin{itemize}
   @item Extensions to functional notation:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Introduced @tt{fsyntax} package (just functional
            syntax). (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Added support to define on the fly a return argument
            different from the default one
            (e.g. @tt{~functor(~,f,2)}). (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Use of '@tt{:- function(defined(true)).}' so that the
            defined function does not need to be preceded by @tt{~} in the
            return expression of a functional clause. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Functional notation: added to documentation to reflect more
            of the FLOPS paper text and explanations.  Added new
            functional syntax examples: arrays, combination with
            constraints, using func notation for properties, lazy
            evaluation, etc. (Manuel Hermenegildo)
      @item Added functional abstractions to @tt{fsyntax} and correct
            handling of predicate abstractions (the functions in the body
            where expanded outside the abstraction). (Jose Morales)
      @item Improved translation of functions. In particular, old
            translation could lose last call optimization for functions
            with body or with conditional expressions.  Furthermore, the
            translation avoids now some superfluous intermediate
            unifications.  To be studied more involved
            optimizations. (Daniel Cabeza, Jose Morales).
      @item More superfluous unifications taken out from translated code,
            in cases where a goal @tt{~f(X) = /Term/} appears in the
            body. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Added @tt{library/argnames_fsyntax.pl}: Package to be able to
            use @tt{$~/2} as an operator. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Added a new example for lazy evaluation, saving memory using
            lazy instead of eager evaluation. (Amadeo Casas)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Improvements to signals and exceptions:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Distinguished between exceptions and signals. Exceptions are
            thrown and caught (using @pred{throw/1} and @pred{catch/3}).
            Signals are sent and intercepted (using @pred{send_signal/1}
            and @pred{intercept/3}).  (Jose Morales, Remy Haemmerle)
      @item Back-port of the (improved) low-level exception handling from
            @tt{optim_comp} branch. (Jose Morales)
      @item Fixed @pred{intercept/3} bug, with caused the toplevel to not
            properly handle exceptions after one was handled and
            displayed (bug reported by Samir Genaim on 04 Dec 05, in ciao
            mailing list, subject ``@tt{ciao top-level : exception
            handling}'').  Updated documentation. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item @pred{intercept/3} does not leave pending choice points if
            the called goal is deterministic (the same optimization that
            was done for @pred{catch/3}). (Jose Morales)
      @end{itemize}

   @item New/improved libraries:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item New @tt{assoc} library to represent association tables.
            (Manuel Carro, Pablo Chico)
      @item New @tt{regexp} library to handle regular expressions.
            (Manuel Carro, Pablo Chico)
      @item Fixed bug in string_to_number that affected ASCII to
            floating point number conversions (@pred{number_codes/2}
            and bytecode read). (Jose Morales)
      @item @tt{system.pl}: Added predicates @pred{copy_file/2} and
            @pred{copy_file/3}. Added predicates @pred{get_uid/1},
            @pred{get_gid/1}, @pred{get_pwnam/1}, @pred{get_grnam/1}
            implemented natively to get default user and groups of the
            current process. (Edison Mera)
      @item Added library for mutable variables. (Remy Haemmerle)
      @item Added package for block declarations (experimental). (Remy
            Haemmerle)
      @item Ported CHR as a Ciao package (experimental). (Tom
            Schrijvers)
      @item Debugged and improved performance of the CHR library port.
            (Remy Haemmerle)
      @item @tt{contrib/math}: A library with several math functions
            that dependes on the GNU Scientific Library (GSL). (Edison
            Mera)
      @item @tt{io_aux.pl}: Added @pred{messages/1}
            predicate. Required to facilitate printing of compact
            messages (compatible with emacs). (Edison Mera)
      @item Added library @tt{hrtimer.pl} that allow us to measure the
            time using the higest resolution timer available in the
            current system. (Edison Mera)
      @item Global logical (backtrackable) variables (experimental).
            (Jose Morales)
      @item New dynamic handling (@tt{dynamic_clauses} package).  Not
            yet documented. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Moved @tt{\=} from @tt{iso_misc} to
            @tt{term_basic}. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item @tt{lib/lists.pl}: Added predicate
            @pred{sequence_to_list/2}. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item @tt{lib/lists.pl}: Codification of @pred{subordlist/2}
            improved.  Solutions are given in other order. (Daniel
            Cabeza)
      @item @tt{lib/filenames.pl}: Added
            @pred{file_directory_base_name/3}. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item @tt{library/symlink_locks.pl}: preliminary library to make
            locks a la emacs. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item @tt{lib/between.pl}: Bug in @tt{between/3} fixed: when the
            low bound was a float, an smaller integer was
            generated. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Fixed bug related to implication operator @tt{->} in Fuzzy
            Prolog (Claudio Vaucheret)
      @item @tt{contrib/gendot}: Generator of dot files, for drawing graphs
            using the dot tool. (Claudio Ochoa)
      @item Addded @tt{zeromq} library (bindings for the Zero Message
            Queue (ZeroMQ, 0MQ) cross-platform messaging middleware)
            (Dragan Ivanovic)
      @item Minor documentation changes in @tt{javall} library (Jesus
            Correas)
      @item Fix a bug in calculator @tt{pl2java} example (Jesus
            Correas)
      @item @tt{lib/aggregates.pl}: Deleted duplicated clauses of
            @pred{findnsols/4}, detected by Pawel. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Added library to transform between color spaces (HSL and
            HVS) (experimental). (Jose Morales)
      @item Added module qualification in DCGs. (Remy Haemmerle, Jose
            Morales)
      @item @pred{prolog_sys:predicate_property/2} behaves similar to
            other Prolog systems (thanks to Paulo Moura for reporting
            this bug). (Jose Morales)
      @item Added DHT library (implementation of distributed hash
            table) (Arsen Kostenko)
      @item Adding property @tt{intervals/2} in @tt{native_props.pl}
            (for intervals information) (Luthfi Darmawan)
      @item Added code to call polynomial root finding of GSL (Luthfi
            Darmawan)
      @item Some improvements (not total, but easy to complete) to
            error messages given by errhandle.pl .  Also, some of the
            errors in @tt{sockets_c.c} are now proper exceptions
            instead of faults. (Manuel Carro)
      @item @tt{sockets} library: added a library (@tt{nsl}) needed
            for Solaris (Manuel Carro)
      @item Driver, utilities, and benchmarking programs from the ECRC
            suite.  These are aimed at testing some well-defined
            characteristics of a Prolog system. (Manuel Carro)
      @item @tt{library/getopts.pl}: A module to get command-line
            options and values. Intended to be used by Ciao
            executables. (Manuel Carro)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Improved ISO compliance:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Ported the Prolog ISO conformance testing.
      @item Fixed read of files containing single ``@tt{%}'' char
            (reported by Ulrich Neumerkel). (Jose Morales)
      @item Added exceptions in @pred{=../2}. (Remy Haemmerle)
      @item Added exceptions in arithmetic predicates. (Remy
            Haemmerle)
      @item Arithmetics integer functions throw exceptions when used
            with floats. (Remy Haemmerle)
      @item Added exceptions for resource errors. (Remy Haemmerle)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Improvements to constraint solvers:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Improved CLPQ documentation. (Manuel Hermenegildo)
      @item Added clp_meta/1 and clp_entailed/1 to the clpq and clpr
            packages (Samir Genaim):
            @begin{itemize}
            @item @tt{clp_meta/1}: meta-programming with clp constraints,
                  e.g, @tt{clp_meta([A.>.B,B.>.1])}.
            @item @tt{clp_entailed/1}: checks if the store entails
                  specific cnstraints, e.g, @tt{clp_entailed([A.>.B])}
                  succeeds if the current store entailes @tt{A.>.B},
                  otherwise fails.
            @end{itemize}
      @item Exported the simplex predicates from CLP(Q,R). (Samir Genaim)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Other language extensions:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Added new @tt{bf/bfall} package. It allows running all
            predicates in a given module in breadth-first mode without
            changing the syntax of the clauses (i.e., no @tt{<-}
            needed). Meant basically for experimentation and,
            specially, teaching pure logic programming.  (Manuel
            Hermenegildo)
      @item Added @tt{afall} package in the same line as @tt{bf/bfall}
            (very useful!). (Manuel Hermenegildo)
      @item Improved documentation of @tt{bf} and @tt{af}
            packages. (Manuel Hermenegildo)
      @item Added partial commons-style dialect support, including
            dialect flag. (Manuel Hermenegildo)
      @item @tt{yap_compat} and @tt{commons_compat} compatibility
            packages (for Yap and Prolog Commons dialects). (Jose
            Morales)
      @item @tt{argnames} package: enhanced to allow argument name
            resolution at runtime. (Jose Morales)
      @item A package for conditional compilation of code (@tt{:-
            use_package(condcomp)}). (Jose Morales)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Extensions for parallelism (And-Prolog):
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Low-level support for andprolog library has been taken out
            of the engine and moved to @tt{library/apll} in a similar
            way as the sockets library. We are planning to reduce the
            size of the actual engine further, by taking some
            components out of engine, such as locks, in future
            releases. (Amadeo Casas)
      @item Improved support for deterministic parallel goals,
            including some bug fixes. (Amadeo Casas)
      @item Goal stack definition added to the engine. (Amadeo Casas)
      @item And-parallel code and the definition of goal stacks in the
            engine are now wrapped with conditionals (via
            @tt{AND_PARALLEL_EXECUTION} variable), to avoid the
            machinery necessary to run programs in parallel affects in
            any case the sequential execution. (Amadeo Casas)
      @item Stack expansion supported when more than one agent is
            present in the execution of parallel deterministic
            programs. This feature is still in experimental. Support
            for stack expansion in nondeterministic benchmarks will be
            added in a future release. (Amadeo Casas)
      @item Support for stack unwinding in deterministic parallel
            programs, via @tt{metachoice}/@tt{metacut}. However,
            garbage collection in parallel programs is still
            unsupported. We are planning to include support for it in
            a future release. (Amadeo Casas)
      @item Backward execution of nondeterministic parallel goals made
            via events, without speculation and continuation
            join. (Amadeo Casas)
      @item Improved agents support. New primitives included that aim
            at increasing the flexibility of creation and management
            of agents. (Amadeo Casas)
      @item Agents synchronization is done now by using locks, instead
            of using @tt{assertz}/@tt{retract}, to improve efficiency
            in the execution of parallel programs. (Amadeo Casas)
      @item Optimized version of @tt{call/1} to invoke deterministic
            goals in parallel has been added
            (@tt{call_handler_det/1}). (Amadeo Casas)
      @item Optimization: locks/@tt{new_atom} only created when the
            goal is stolen by other process, and not when this is
            pushed on to the @tt{goal_stack}. (Amadeo Casas)
      @item Integration with the new annotation algorithms supported
            by CiaoPP, both with and without preservation of the order
            of the solutions. (Amadeo Casas)
      @item New set of examples added to the @tt{andprolog}
            library. (Amadeo Casas)
      @item Several bug fixes to remove some cases in execution of
            parallel code in which races could appear. (Amadeo Casas)
      @item @tt{andprolog_rt:&} by @tt{par_rt:&} have been moved to
            @tt{native_builtin} (Amadeo Casas)
      @item @tt{indep/1} and @tt{indep/2} have been moved to
            @tt{native_props}, as @tt{ground/1}, @tt{var/1},
            etc. (Amadeo Casas)
      @item Added assertions to the @tt{library/apll} and
            @tt{library/andprolog} libraries. (Amadeo Casas)
      @item Removed clauses in @tt{pretty_print} for the @tt{&>/2} and
            @tt{<&/1} operators. (Amadeo Casas)
      @item Shorter code for @tt{<& / 1} and @tt{<&! / 1} (Manuel
            Carro)
      @item Trying to solve some problems when resetting WAM pointers
            (Manuel Carro)
      @item Better code to clean the stacks (Manuel Carro)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Improvements to foreign (C language) interface:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Better support for cygwin and handling of dll libraries in
            Windows.  Now usage of external dll libraries are supported
            in Windows under cygwin. (Edison Mera)
      @item Improvements to documentation of foreign interface (examples).
            (Manuel Hermenegildo)
      @item Allow reentrant calls from Prolog to C and then from C to
            Prolog. (Jose Morales)
      @item Fix bug that prevented @tt{ciaoc -c MODULE} from generating
            dynamic @tt{.so} libraries files. (Jose Morales)
      @item Fix bug that prevented @tt{ciaoc MODULE && rm MODULE && ciaoc
            MODULE} from emitting correct executables (previously,
            dynamic @tt{.so} libraries files where ignored in executable
            recompilations when only the main file was missing). (Jose
            Morales)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Run-Time Checking and Unit Tests:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Added support to perfom run-time checking of assertions
            and predicates outside @apl{ciaopp} (see the documentation
            for more details).  In addition to those already
            available, the new properties that can be run-time checked
            are: @tt{exception/1}, @tt{exception/2},
            @tt{no_exception/1}, @tt{no_exception/2},
            @tt{user_output/2}, @tt{solutions/2},
            @tt{num_solutions/2}, @tt{no_signal/1}, @tt{no_signal/2},
            @tt{signal/1}, @tt{signal/2}, @tt{signals/2},
            @tt{throws/2}.  See library
            @tt{assertions/native_props.pl} (Edison Mera)
      @item Added support for testing via the @lib{unittest} library.
            Documentation available at
            @tt{library(unittest(unittest_doc))}. (Edison Mera)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Profiling:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Improved profiler, now it is cost center-based and works
            together with the run-time checking machinery in order to
            also validate execution time-related properties. (Edison
            Mera)
      @item A tool for automatic bottleneck detection has been
            developed, which is able to point at the predicates
            responsible of lack of performance in a program. (Edison
            Mera)
      @item Improved profiler documentation. (Manuel Hermenegildo)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Debugger enhancements:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Added the flag @tt{check_cycles} to control whether the
            debugger takes care of cyclic terms while displaying
            goals.  The rationale is that to check for cyclic terms
            may lead to very high response times when having big
            terms.  By default the flag is in off, which implies that
            a cyclic term in the execution could cause infinite loops
            (but otherwise the debugger is much more speedy). (Daniel
            Cabeza)
      @item Show the variable names instead of underscores with
            numbers.  Added option @tt{v} to show the variables
            list. Added @tt{v <N>} option, where @tt{N} is the
            @tt{Name} of the variable you like to watch
            (experimental). (Edison Mera)
      @item Distinguish between program variables and
            compiler-introduced variables. Show variables modified in
            the current goal. (Edison Mera)
      @item @tt{debug_mode} does not leave useless choicepoints (Jose
            Morales)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Emacs mode:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Made ciao mode NOT ask by default if one wants to set up
            version control when first saving a file. This makes more
            sense if using other version control systems and probably
            in any case (several users had asked for this). There is a
            global customizable variable (which appears in the LPdoc
            area) which can be set to revert to the old behaviour.
            Updated the manual accordingly. (Manuel Hermenegildo)
      @item Added possibility of chosing which emacs Ciao should use
            during compilation, by LPdoc, etc. Previously only a
            default emacs was used which is not always the right
            thing, specially, e.g., in Mac OS X, where the
            latest/right emacs may not even be in the paths. Other
            minor typos etc. (Manuel Hermenegildo)
      @item Moved the version control menu entries to the LPdoc
            menu. (Manuel Hermenegildo)
      @item Updated highlighting for new functional syntax, unit
            tests, and all other new features. (Manuel Hermenegildo)
      @item Completed CiaoPP-java environment (menus, buttons, etc.)
            and automated loading when visiting Java files (still
            through hand modification of .emacs).  CiaoPP help (e.g.,
            for properties) now also available in Java mode.  (Manuel
            Hermenegildo)
      @item Changes to graphical interface to adapt better to current
            functionality of CiaoPP option browser.  Also some minor
            aesthetic changes. (Manuel Hermenegildo)
      @item Various changes and fixes to adapt to emacs-22/23 lisp. In
            particular, fixed cursor error in emacs 23 in Ciao shell
            (from Emilio Gallego). Also fixed prompt in ciaopp and
            LPdoc buffers for emacs 23. (Manuel Hermenegildo)
      @item Unified several versions of the Ciao emacs mode (including
            the one with the experimental toolbar in xemacs) that had
            diverged. Sorely needed to be able to make progress
            without duplication. (Manuel Hermenegildo)
      @item New version of ciao.el supporting tool bar in xemacs and
            also, and perhaps more importantly, in newer emacsen (>=
            22), where it previously did not work either. New icons
            with opaque background for xemacs tool bar. (Manuel
            Hermenegildo)
      @item Using @tt{key-description} instead of a combination of
            @tt{text-char-description} and @tt{string-to-char}.  This
            fixes a bug in the Ciao Emacs Mode when running in emacs
            23, that shows wrong descriptions for @tt{M-...} key
            bindings. The new code runs correctly in emacs 21 and
            22. (Jose Morales)
      @item Coloring strings before functional calls and @tt{0'}
            characters (strings like @tt{\"~w\"} were colored
            incorrectly) (Jose Morales)
      @item @tt{@@begin@{verbatim@}} and @tt{@@include} colored as
            LPdoc commands only inside LPdoc comments. (Jose Morales)
      @item Fixed colors for dark backgrounds (workaround to avoid a
            bug in emacs) (Jose Morales)
      @item Added an automatic indenter (contrib/plindent) and
            formatting tool, under emacs you can invoque it using the
            keyword @tt{C-c I} in the current buffer containing your
            prolog source. (Edison Mera)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Packaging and distribution:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item User-friendly, binary installers for several systems are
            now generated regularly and automatically: Ubuntu/Debian,
            Fedora/RedHat, Windows (XP, Vista, 7) and MacOSX. (Edison
            Mera, Remy Haemmerle)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Improvements in Ciao toplevel:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Introduced @tt{check_cycles} @tt{prolog_flag} which
            controls whether the toplevel handles or not cyclic terms.
            Flag is set to false by default (cycles not detected and
            handled) in order to speed up responses. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Modified @pred{valid_solution/2} so that it asks no
            question when there are no pending choice points and the
            @tt{prompt_alternatives_no_bindings} prolog flag is
            on. (Jose Morales)
      @item Now 'Y' can be used as well as 'y' to accept a solution of a
            query. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Added newline before @tt{true} when displaying empty
            solutions. (Jose Morales)
      @item Multifile declarations of packages used by the toplevel were
            not properly handled.  Fixed. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Fixed bug in output of bindings when current output
            changed.
      @item Changes so that including files in the toplevel (or loading
            packages) does not invoke an expansion of the ending
            end_of_file.  This makes sense because the toplevel code is
            never completed, and thus no cleanup code of translations is
            invoked. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Compiler enhancements and bug fixes:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Added a command line option to @tt{ciaoc} for generating code
            with runtime checks. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Now the compiler reads assertions by default (when using the
            assertion package), and verifies their syntax. (Edison Mera)
      @item Added option @tt{-w} to @tt{ciaoc} compiler to generate the
            WAM code of the specified prolog files. (Edison Mera)
      @item Fixed bug in exemaker: now when
            @pred{main/0} and @pred{main/1} exists, @pred{main/0} is
            always the program entry (before in modules either could
            be). (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Fixed bug: when compiling a file, if an imported file had no
            itf and it used the redefining declaration, the declaration was
            forgotten between the reading of the imported file (to get
            its interface) and its later compilation.  By now those
            declarations are never forgotten, but perhaps it could be
            done better. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item The unloading of files kept some data related to them, which
            caused in some cases errors or warnings regarding module
            redefinitions.  Now this is fixed. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Undefined predicate warnings also for predicate calls
            qualified with current module (bug detected by Pawel
            Pietrzak). (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Fixed bug @tt{debugger_include} (that is, now a change in a
            file included from a module which is debugged is detected
            when the module is reloaded). (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Fixed @tt{a(B) :- _=B, b, c(B)} bug in compilation of
            unification. (Jose Morales)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Improving general support for language extensions:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Every package starts with '@tt{:- package(...)}' declaration
            now.  This allows a clear distinction between packages,
            modules, and files that are just included; all of them using
            the same @tt{.pl} extension. (Jose Morales)
      @item Added priority in syntax translations. Users are not required
            to know the details of translations in order to use them
            (experimental: the the correct order for all the Ciao
            packages is still not fixed) (Jose Morales)
      @item Now the initialization of sentence translations is done in
            the translation package, when they are added.  In this way,
            previous active translations cannot affect the initialization
            of new translations, and initializations are not started each
            time a new sentence translation is added.  Additionally, now
            the initialization of sentence translations in the toplevel
            is done (there was a bug). (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Added @tt{addterm(Meta)} meta-data specification for the
            implementation of the changes to provide a correct
            @pred{clause/2} predicate. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Generalized @tt{addmodule} meta-data specification to
            @tt{addmodule(Meta)}, @tt{addmodule} is now an alias for
            @tt{addmodule(?)}.  Needed for the implementation of the
            changes to provide a correct @pred{clause/2}
            predicate. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Improvements to system assertions:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Added regtype @pred{basic_props:num_code/1} and more
            assertions to @tt{basic_props.pl} (German Puebla)
      @item Added trust assertion for
            @pred{atomic_basic:number_codes/2} in order to have more
            accurate analysis info (first argument a number and second
            argument is a list of num_codes) (German Puebla)
      @item Added some more binding insensitivity assertions in
            @tt{basic_props.pl} (German Puebla)
      @item Added the @pred{basic_props:filter/2} property which is
            used at the global control level in order to guarantee
            termination. (German Puebla)
      @item Added @tt{equiv} assertion for @pred{basiccontrol:fail/0}
            (German Puebla)
      @item Modified eval assertion so that partial evaluation does
            not loop with ill-typed, semi-instantiated calls to
            @pred{is/2} (this problem was reported some time ago)
            (German Puebla)
      @item Replaced @tt{true} assertions for arithmetic predicates
            with @tt{trust} assertions (@tt{arithmetic.pl}). (German
            Puebla)
      @item Added assertions for @pred{term_basic:'\='/2} (the @em{not
            unification}) (German Puebla)
      @item Added assertions for @pred{lists:nth/3} predicate and
            @pred{lists:reverse/3}. (German Puebla)
      @item Changed calls to @pred{atom/1} to @pred{atm/1} in
            @pred{c_itf_props:moddesc/1} (it is a regular type) (Jesus
            Correas)
      @item @pred{formulae:assert_body_type/1} switched to @tt{prop},
            it is not a @tt{regtype}. (Jesus Correas)
      @item Added assertions to @pred{atom_concat/2}. (Jesus Correas)
      @item Added some assertions to @tt{dec10_io}, @tt{lists},
            @tt{strings} libraries. (Jesus Correas)
      @item Removed @tt{check} from pred and success froom many
            library assertions. (Jesus Correas)
      @item Fixed a problem when reading multiple disjunction in
            assertions (@tt{library/formulae.pl} and
            @tt{lib/assertions/assrt_write.pl}). (Pawel Pietrzak)
      @item Added/improved assertions in several modules under
            @tt{lib/} (Pawel Pietrzak)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Engine enhancements:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Added support for Ciao compilation in @tt{ppc64}
            architecture. (Manuel Carro)
      @item @tt{sun4v} added in @tt{ciao_get_arch}. (Amadeo Casas)
      @item Solved compilation issue in Sparc. (Manuel Carro, Amadeo
            Casas)
      @item Support for 64 bits Intel processor (in 32-bit compatibility
            mode). (Manuel Carro)
      @item Switched the default memory manager from linear to the binary
            tree version (which improves management of small memory
            blocks). (Remy Haemmerle)
      @item Using @tt{mmap} in Linux/i86, Linux/Sparc and Mac OS X
            (Manuel Carro)
      @item A rename of the macro @tt{REGISTER} to @tt{CIAO_REGISTER}.
            There have been reports of the macro name clashing with an
            equally-named one in third-party packages (namely, the PPL
            library). (Manuel Carro)
      @item A set of macros @tt{CIAO_REG_n} (@tt{n} currently goes from
            @tt{1} to @tt{4}, but it can be enlarged) to force the GCC
            compiler to store a variable in a register.  This includes
            assignments of hardware registers for @tt{n = 1} to @tt{3},
            in seemingly ascending order of effectiveness.  See coments
            in registers.h (Manuel Carro)
      @item An assignement of (local) variables to be definitely stored
            in registers for some (not all) functions in the engine --
            notably @tt{wam.c}.  These were decided making profiling of C
            code to find out bottlenecks and many test runs with
            different assignments of C variables to registers. (Manuel
            Carro)
      @item Changed symbol name to avoid clashes with other third-party
            packages (such as minisat). (Manuel Carro)
      @item Fixed a memory alignment problem (for RISC architectures
            where words must be word-aligned, like Sparc). (Jose Morales)
      @item Unifying some internal names (towards merge with optim_comp
            experimental branch). (Jose Morales)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Attributed variables:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Attributes of variables are correctly displayed in the
            toplevel even if they contain cyclic terms.  Equations added
            in order to define cyclic terms in attributes are output
            after the attributes, and do use always new variable names
            (doing otherwise was very involved). (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item @tt{lib/attrdump.pl}: The library now works for infinite
            (cyclic) terms. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Changed multifile predicate @pred{dump/3} to
            @pred{dump_constraints/3}. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Added @pred{copy_extract_attr_nc/3} which is a faster version
            of @pred{copy_extract_attr/3} but does not handle cyclic
            terms properly. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @item Added @pred{term_basic:copy_term_nat/2} to copy a term
            taking out attributes. (Daniel Cabeza)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Documentation:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Added @tt{deprecated/1}. (Manuel Hermenegildo)
      @item Improvements to documentation of @tt{rtchecks} and
            tests. (Manuel Hermenegildo)
      @item Many updates to manuals: dates, copyrights, etc. Some text
            updates also. (Manuel Hermenegildo)
      @item Fixed all manual generation errors reported by LPdoc
            (still a number of warnings and notes left). (Manuel
            Hermenegildo)
      @item Adding some structure (minor) to all manuals (Ciao, LPdoc,
            CiaoPP) using new LPdoc @tt{doc_structure/1}. (Jose
            Morales)
      @end{itemize}

   @item Ciao Website:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Redesigned the Ciao website. It is generated again through
            LPdoc, but with new approach. (Jose Morales)
      @end{itemize}
   @end{itemize}
").

% note: approximate release date (r7508)
:- doc(version(1*10+8,2007/01/28,18:01*27+'CEST'), "
   Backports and bug fixes to stable 1.10:
   @begin{itemize}
   @item Changes to make Ciao 1.10 compile with the latest GCC
         releases.
   @item Imported from
         @tt{CiaoDE/branches/CiaoDE-memory_management-20051016},
         changes from revisions 4909 to 4910: Changes to make Ciao
         issue a better message at startup if the allocated memory
         does not fall within the limits precomputed at compile time
         (plus some code tidying).
   @item Port of revisions 5415, 5426, 5431, 5438, 5546, 5547 applied
         to Ciao 1.13 to Ciao 1.10 in order to make it use @tt{mmap()}
         when possible and to make it compile on newer Linux kernels.
         Tested in Ubuntu, Fedora (with older kernel) and MacOSX.
   @item Configuration files for DARWIN (ppc) and 64-bit platforms
         (Intel and Sparc, both in 32-bit compatibility mode).
   @item Force the creation of the module containing the foreign
         interface compilation options before they are needed.
   @end{itemize}
").

:- doc(version(1*13+0,2005/07/03,19:05*53+'CEST'), "New development
   version after 1.12. (Jose Morales)").

:- doc(version(1*12+0,2005/07/03,18:50*50+'CEST'), "Temporary version
   before transition to SVN. (Jose Morales)").

% :- doc(version(1*11+247,2004/07/02,13:27*33+'CEST'), "Improved
%    front cover (old authors are now listed as editors, mention UNM,
%    new TR number including system version, pointer to
%    @tt{www.ciaohome.org}, mention multi-paradigm, etc.). Also changed
%    mention of GPL in summary to LGPL.  (Manuel Hermenegildo)").

:- doc(version(1*11+1,2003/04/04,18:30*31+'CEST'), "New
   development version to begin the builtin modularization (Jose
   Morales)").

% :- doc(version(1*10+1,2003/04/04,18:29*07+'CEST'), "Version
%    skipped (Jose Morales)").

% TODO: (pre SVN) missing notes from 1.10.0 to 1.10.7

:- doc(version(1*10+0,2004/07/29,16:12*03+'CEST'), "
   @begin{itemize}
   @item Classical prolog mode as default behavior.
   @item Emacs-based environment improved.
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Improved emacs inferior (interaction) mode for Ciao and CiaoPP.
      @item Xemacs compatibility improved (thanks to A. Rigo).
      @item New icons and modifications in the environment for the 
            preprocessor.
      @item Icons now installed in a separate dir.          
      @item Compatibility with newer versions of @apl{Cygwin}.
      @item Changes to programming environment:
            @begin{itemize}
            @item Double-click startup of programming environment. 
            @item Reorganized menus: help and customization grouped in 
                  separate menus.
            @item Error location extended.
            @item Automatic/Manual location of errors produced when 
                  running Ciao tools now customizable.
            @item Presentation of CiaoPP preprocessor output improved.
            @end{itemize}
      @item Faces and coloring improved:
            @begin{itemize}
            @item Faces for syntax-based highlighting more customizable.
            @item Syntax-based coloring greatly
                  improved. Literal-level assertions also correctly
                  colored now.
            @item Syntax-based coloring now also working on ASCII
                  terminals (for newer versions of emacs).
            @item Listing user-defined directives allowed to be colored in
                  special face.
            @item Syntax errors now colored also in inferior buffers.
            @item Customizable faces now appear in the documentation.
            @item Added new tool bar button (and binding) to refontify
                  block/buffer.
            @item Error marks now cleared automatically also when 
                  generating docs.
            @item Added some fixes to hooks in lpdoc buffer.
            @end{itemize}  
      @end{itemize}
   @item Bug fixes in compiler.
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Replication of clauses in some cases (thanks to S. Craig).
      @end{itemize} 

   @item Improvements related to supported platforms
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Compilation and installation in different palatforms have been 
            improved.
      @item New Mac OS X kernels supported.
      @end{itemize}

   @item Improvement and bugs fixes in the engine:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Got rid of several segmentation violation problems.
      @item Number of significant decimal digits to be printed now computed 
            accurately.
      @item Added support to test conversion of a Ciao integer into a machine 
            int.
      @item Unbound length atoms now always working.
      @item C interface .h files reachable through a more standard location 
            (thanks to R. Bagnara).
      @item Compatibility with newer versions of gcc.
      @end{itemize}

   @item New libraries and utilities added to the system:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Factsdb: facts defined in external files can now be automatically 
            cached on-demand.
      @item Symfnames: File aliasing to internal streams added.
      @end{itemize}

   @item New libraries added (in beta state):
      @begin{itemize}
      @item fd: clp(FD)
      @item xml_path: XML querying and transformation to Prolog.
      @item xdr_handle: XDR schema to HTML forms utility.
      @item ddlist: Two-way traversal list library.
      @item gnuplot: Interface to GnuPlot.
      @item time_analyzer: Execution time profiling.
      @end{itemize}

   @item Some libraries greatly improved:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Interface to Tcl/Tk very improved. 
          @begin{itemize}
          @item Corrected many bugs in both interaction Prolog to
                Tcl/Tk and viceversa.
          @item Execution of Prolog goals from TclTk revamped.
          @item Treatment of Tcl events corrected.
          @item Predicate  @pred{tcl_eval/3} now allows the execution of Tcl 
                procedures running multiple Prolog goals.
          @item Documentation heavily reworked.
          @item Fixed unification of prolog goals run from the Tcl side.
          @end{itemize}
      @item Pillow library improved in many senses.
          @begin{itemize}
          @item HTTP media type parameter values returned are always strings 
                now, not atoms. 
          @item Changed verbatim() pillow term so that newlines are translated 
                to <br>.
          @item Changed management of cookies so that special characters in 
                values are correctly handled. 
          @item Added predicate @pred{url_query_values/2}, reversible. 
                Predicate @pred{url_query/2} now obsolete.
          @item Now attribute values in tags are escaped to handle values 
                which have double quotes.
          @item Improved @pred{get_form_input/1} and @pred{url_query/2} so 
                that names of parameters having unusual characters are always 
                correctly handled.
          @end{itemize}
      @item Fixed bug in tokenizer regarding non-terminated single or 
            multiple-line comments.  When the last line of a file has a 
            single-line comment and does not end in a newline, it is accepted 
            as correct.  When an open-comment /* sequence is not terminated in 
            a file, a syntax error exception is thrown.
      @end{itemize}

   @item Other libraries improved:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Added native_props to assertions package and included
            @pred{nonground/1}.
      @item In atom2terms, changed interpretation of double quoted strings so 
            that they are not parsed to terms.
      @item Control on exceptions improved.
      @item Added @pred{native/1,2} to basic_props.
      @item Davinci error processing improved.
      @item Foreign predicates are now automatically declared as 
            implementation-defined.
      @item In lists, added @pred{cross_product/2} to compute the cartesian 
            product of a list of lists. Also added 
            @pred{delete_non_ground/3}, enabling deletion of nonground terms 
            from a list. 
      @item In llists added @pred{transpose/2} and changed @pred{append/2} 
            implementation with a much more efficient code. 
      @item The make library has been improved.
      @item In persdb, added @pred{pretractall_fact/1} and 
            @pred{retractall_fact/1} as persdb native capabilities. 
      @item Improved behavior with user environment from persdb.
      @item In persdb, added support for @pred{persistent_dir/4},
            which includes arguments to specify permission modes for
            persistent directory and files.
      @item Some minor updates in persdb_sql.
      @item Added treatment of operators and module:pred calls to
            pretty-printer.
      @item Updated report of read of syntax errors.
      @item File locking capabilities included in @pred{open/3}.
      @item Several improvements in library system.
      @item New input/output facilities added to sockets.
      @item Added @pred{most_specific_generalization/3} and 
            @pred{most_general_instance/3} to terms_check.
      @item Added @pred{sort_dict/2} to library vndict.
      @item The xref library now treats also empty references.
      @end{itemize}

   @item Miscellaneous updates:
      @begin{itemize}
      @item Extended documentation in libraries actmods, arrays, 
            foreign_interface, javall, persdb_mysql, prolog_sys, old_database, 
            and terms_vars.
      @end{itemize}
   @end{itemize}").

% :- doc(version(1*9+355,2004/07/02,13:28*02+'CEST'), "Improved
%    front cover (old authors are now listed as editors, mention UNM,
%    new TR number including system version, pointer to
%    @tt{www.ciaohome.org}, mention multi-paradigm, etc.). Also changed
%    mention of GPL in summary to LGPL.  (Manuel Hermenegildo)").

% :- doc(version(1*9+38,2002/12/12,20:06*26+'CET'), "Manual now
%    posted in pdf format (since lpdoc now generates much better pdf).
%    (Manuel Hermenegildo)").

% :- doc(version(1*9+34,2002/11/30,14:42*45+'CET'), "Installation
%    can now be done in Test distribution directory (for testing
%    purposes).  (Manuel Hermenegildo)").

% :- doc(version(1*9+33,2002/11/30,14:37*10+'CET'), "Modified
%    installation site text to make more explicit the fact that we
%    support Mac OS X and XP.  (Manuel Hermenegildo)").

:- doc(version(1*9+0,2002/05/16,23:17*34+'CEST'), " New
   development version after stable 1.8p0 (MCL, DCG)").

% TODO: (pre SVN) missing notes from 1.8.0 to 1.8.3

:- doc(version(1*8+0,2002/05/16,21:20*27+'CEST'), "
   @begin{itemize}
   @item Improvements related to supported platforms:
       @begin{itemize}
       @item Support for Mac OS X 10.1, based on the Darwin kernel.
       @item Initial support for compilation on Linux for Power PC
             (contributed by @author{Paulo Moura}).
       @item Workaround for incorrect C compilation while using newer
             (> 2.95) gcc compilers.
       @item .bat files generated in Windows.
       @end{itemize}
   
   @item Changes in compiler behavior and user interface:
       @begin{itemize}
       @item Corrected a bug which caused wrong code generation in some cases.
       @item Changed execution of initialization directives.  Now the
             initialization of a module/file never runs before the
             initializations of the modules from which the module/file
             imports (excluding circular dependences).
       @item The engine is more intelligent when looking for an engine
             to execute bytecode; this caters for a variety of
             situations when setting explicitly the CIAOLIB
             environment variable.
       @item Fixed bugs in the toplevel: behaviour of @tt{module:main}
             calls and initialization of a module (now happens after
             related modules are loaded).
       @item Layout char not needed any more to end Prolog files.
       @item Syntax errors now disable .itf creation, so that they
             show next time the code is used without change.
       @item Redefinition warnings now issued only when an unqualified call
             is seen. 
       @item Context menu in Windows can now load a file into the toplevel.
       @item Updated Windows installation in order to run CGI
             executables under Windows: a new information item is
             added to the registry.
       @item Added new directories found in recent Linux distributions to
             INFOPATH. 
       @item Emacs-based environment and debugger improved:
           @begin{itemize}
           @item Errors located immediataly after code loading.
           @item Improved ciao-check-types-modes (preprocessor progress
                 now visible). 
           @item Fixed loading regions repeatedly (no more predicate
                 redefinition warnings).
           @item Added entries in @apl{ciaopp} menu to set verbosity of output.
           @item Fixed some additional xemacs compatibility issues
                 (related to searches). 
           @item Errors reported by inferior processes are now
                 explored in forward order (i.e., the first error
                 rewported is the first one highlighted). Improved
                 tracking of errors.
           @item Specific tool bar now available, with icons for main
                 fuctions (works from emacs 21.1 on). Also, other
                 minor adaptations for working with emacs 21.1 and
                 later.
           @item Debugger faces are now locally defined (and better
                 customization). This also improves comtability with xemacs
                 (which has different faces).
           @item Direct access to a common use of the preprocessor
                 (checking modes/types and locating errors) from toolbar.
           @item Inferior modes for Ciao and CiaoPP improved: contextual
                 help turned on by default.
           @item Fixes to set-query. Also, previous query now appears
                 in prompt.
           @item Improved behaviour of stored query.
           @item Improved behaviour of recentering, finding errors, etc.
           @item Wait for prompt has better termination characteristics.
           @item Added new interactive entry points (M-x): ciao,
                 prolog, ciaopp.
           @item Better tracking of last inferior buffer used.
           @item Miscellanous bugs removed; some colors changed to
                 adapt to different Emacs versions.
           @item Fixed some remaining incompatibilities with xemacs.
           @item @tt{:- doc} now also supported and highlighted.
           @item Eliminated need for calendar.el
           @item Added some missing library directives to fontlock
                 list, organized this better.
           @end{itemize}
       @end{itemize}
   
   @item New libraries added to the system:
       @begin{itemize}
       @item hiord: new library which needs to be loaded in order to use
               higher-order call/N and P(X) syntax. Improved model for predicate
               abstractions. 
       @item fuzzy: allows representing fuzzy information in the form or
               Prolog rules.
       @item use_url: allows loading a module remotely by using a WWW
               address of the module source code
       @item andorra: alternative search method where goals which become
               deterministic at run time are executed before others.
       @item iterative deepening (id): alternative search method which makes a
               depth-first search until a predetermined depth is reached.
               Complete but in general cheaper than breadth first.
       @item det_hook: allows making actions when a deterministic
               situation is reached.
       @item ProVRML: read VRML code and translate it into Prolog terms,
               and the other way around.
       @item io_alias_redirection: change where stdin/stdout/stderr point to
               from within Ciao programs.
       @item tcl_tk: an interface to Tcl/Tk programs.
       @item tcl_tk_obj: object-based interface to Tcl/Tk graphical
       objects.
       @item CiaoPP: options to interface with the CiaoPP Prolog preprocessor.
       @end{itemize}
   
   @item Some libraries greatly improved:
       @begin{itemize}
       @item WebDB: utilities to create WWW-based database interfaces.
       @item Improved java interface implementation (this forced
             renaming some interface primitives). 
       @item User-transparent persistent predicate database revamped:
           @begin{itemize}
           @item Implemented passerta_fact/1 (asserta_fact/1).
           @item Now it is never necessary to explicitly call
                 init_persdb, a call to initialize_db is only needed
                 after dynamically defining facts of persistent_dir/2.
                 Thus, pcurrent_fact/1 predicate eliminated.
           @item Facts of persistent predicates included in the
                 program code are now included in the persistent
                 database when it is created.  They are ignored in
                 successive executions.
           @item Files where persistent predicates reside are now
                 created inside a directory named as the module where
                 the persistent predicates are defined, and are named
                 as F_A* for predicate F/A.
           @item Now there are two packages: persdb and 'persdb/ll'
                 (for low level).  In the first, the standard builtins
                 asserta_fact/1, assertz_fact/1, and retract_fact/1
                 are replaced by new versions which handle persistent
                 data predicates, behaving as usual for normal data
                 predicates.  In the second package, predicates with
                 names starting with 'p' are defined, so that there is
                 not overhead in calling the standard builtins.
           @item Needed declarations for persistent_dir/2 are now
                 included in the packages.
           @end{itemize}
   
       @item SQL now works with mysql.
       @item system: expanded to contain more predicates which act as
             interface to the underlying system /  operating system.  
       @end{itemize}
   
   @item Other libraries improved:
       @begin{itemize}
       @item xref: creates cross-references among Prolog files.
       @item concurrency: new predicates to create new concurrent
             predicates on-the-fly.
       @item sockets: bugs corrected.
       @item objects: concurrent facts now properly recognized.
       @item fast read/write: bugs corrected.
       @item Added 'webbased' protocol for active modules: publication of
             active module address can now be made through WWW.
       @item Predicates in library(dynmods) moved to library(compiler).
       @item Expansion and meta predicates improved.
       @item Pretty printing.
       @item Assertion processing.
       @item Module-qualified function calls expansion improved.
       @item Module expansion calls goal expansion even at runtime.
       @end{itemize}
   
   @item Updates to builtins (there are a few more; these are the most
         relevant):

       @begin{itemize}
       @item Added a prolog_flag to retrieve the version and patch.
       @item current_predicate/1 in library(dynamic) now enumerates
             non-engine modules, prolog_sys:current_predicate/2 no longer
             exists.
       @item exec/* bug fixed.
       @item srandom/1 bug fixed.
       @end{itemize}
   
   @item Updates for C interface:
         @begin{itemize}
         @item Fixed bugs in already existing code.
         @item Added support for creation and traversing of Prolog data
         structures from C predicates.
         @item Added support for raising Prolog exceptions from C
         predicates. 
         @item Preliminary support for calling Prolog from C.
         @end{itemize}
   
   @item Miscellaneous updates:
         @begin{itemize}
         @item Installation made more robust.
         @item Some pending documentation added.
         @item 'ciao' script now adds (locally) to path the place where
         it has been installed, so that other programs can be located
         without being explicitly in the $PATH.
         @item Loading programs is somewhat faster now.
         @item Some improvement in printing path names in Windows.
         @end{itemize}
   @end{itemize}").

% :- doc(version(1*7+203,2002/04/20,13:38*54+'CEST'), "Minor changes
%    to Ciao description.  (Manuel Hermenegildo)").

% :- doc(version(1*7+155,2001/11/24,11:53*36+'CET'), "Minor changes
%    to installation scripts to make sure permissions are left correctly
%    if installation is aborted.  (Manuel Hermenegildo)").

% :- doc(version(1*7+154,2001/11/23,18:02*30+'CET'), "'ciao' script
%    now locally adds CIAOBIN path to PATH if not already present
%    (MCL)").

% :- doc(version(1*7+108,2001/06/02,12:17*18+'CEST'), "Minor bug in
%    main Makefile during uninstallation fixed: added rm -f of engine
%    Makefile before linking.  (Manuel Hermenegildo)").

% :- doc(version(1*7+101,2001/05/15,17:34*09+'CEST'), "Minor error
%    in manual fixed: the section explaining the Ciao name did not
%    appear.  (Manuel Hermenegildo)").

% :- doc(version(1*7+100,2001/05/13,15:48*57+'CEST'), "Added
%    @tt{/usr/share/info} to default @tt{INFOPATH} paths.  (Manuel
%    Hermenegildo)").

% :- doc(version(1*7+87,2001/04/08,15:15*18+'CEST'), "Added @tt{doc}
%    and @tt{install_doc} targets to top level installation @{Makefile}
%    (can be used to regenerate and reinstall documentation if
%    @apl{lpdoc} is available.  (Manuel Hermenegildo)").

% :- doc(version(1*7+14,2000/08/29,12:16*12+'CEST'), "Updated COMMON
%    to include makefile-sysindep; changed SETLOCAL{CIAOC,CIAOSHELL} to
%    SETLOCALCIAO (MCL)").

% :- doc(version(1*7+12,2000/08/22,18:16*33+'CEST'), "Changed a bug
%    in the installation: the .sta engine was not being copied!
%    (MCL)").

:- doc(version(1*7+0,2000/07/12,19:01*20+'CEST'), "Development
   version following even 1.6 distribution.").

% TODO: (pre SVN) missing notes from 1.6.0 to 1.6.3

:- doc(version(1*6+0,2000/07/12,18:55*50+'CEST'), "
   @begin{itemize}
   @item Source-level debugger in emacs, breakpts.
   @item Emacs environment improved, added menus for Ciaopp and LPDoc.
   @item Debugger embeddable in executables.
   @item Stand-alone executables available for UNIX-like operating
     systems. 
   @item Many improvements to emacs interface.
   @item Menu-based interface to autodocumenter.
   @item Threads now available in Win32.
   @item Many improvements to threads.
   @item Modular clp(R) / clp(Q).
   @item Libraries implementing And-fair breadth-first and iterative
     deepening included.
   @item Improved syntax for predicate abstractions.
   @item Library of higher-order list predicates.
   @item Better code expansion facilities (macros).
   @item New delay predicates (when/2).
   @item Compressed object code/executables on demand.
   @item The size of atoms is now unbound.
   @item Fast creation of new unique atoms.
   @item Number of clauses/predicates essentially unbound.
   @item Delayed goals with freeze restored.
   @item Faster compilation and startup.
   @item Much faster fast write/read. 
   @item Improved documentation.
   @item Other new libraries.
   @item Improved installation/deinstallation on all platforms.
   @item Many improvements to autodocumenter.
   @item Many bug fixes in libraries and engine.
   @end{itemize}").

% :- doc(version(1*5+134,2000/05/09,11:52*13+'CEST'), "Changed
%    location of suite to examples, updated documentation.  (MCL)").

% :- doc(version(1*5+94,2000/03/28,23:19*20+'CEST'), "The manual
%    intro now provides an overview of the different parts of the
%    manual.  (Manuel Hermenegildo)").

:- doc(version(1*5+0,1999/11/29,16:16*23+'MEST'),"Development
   version following even 1.4 distribution.").

:- doc(version(1*4+0,1999/11/27,19:00*00+'MEST'),"
   @begin{itemize}
   @item Documentation greatly improved.
   @item Automatic (re)compilation of foreign files.
   @item Concurrency primitives revamped; restored &Prolog-like 
         multiengine capability. 
   @item Windows installation and overall operation greatly improved.
   @item New version of O'Ciao class/object library, with improved performance.
   @item Added support for ""predicate abstractions"" in call/N. 
   @item Implemented reexportation through reexport declarations.
   @item Changed precedence of importations, last one is now higher.
   @item Modules can now implicitly export all predicates.
   @item Many minor bugs fixed.
   @end{itemize}").

:- doc(version(1*3+0,1999/06/16,17:05*58+'MEST'), "Development
   version following even 1.2 distribution.").

% TODO: this version does not seem to have been distributed

:- doc(version(1*2+0,1999/06/14,16:54*55+'MEST'), "Temporary version
   distributed locally for extensive testing of reexportation and
   other 1.3 features.").

:- doc(version(1*1+0,1999/06/04,13:30*37+'MEST'), "Development
   version following even 1.0 distribution.").

% TODO: (pre SVN) missing notes from 1.0.0 to 1.0.7

:- doc(version(1*0+0,1999/06/04,13:27*42+'MEST'), "
   @begin{itemize}
   @item Added Tcl/Tk interface library to distribution.
   @item Added push_prolog_flag/2 and pop_prolog_flag/1 declarations/builtins.
   @item Filename processing in Windows improved.
   @item Added redefining/1 declaration to avoid redefining warnings.
   @item Changed syntax/1 declaration to use_package/1.
   @item Added add_clause_trans/1 declaration.
   @item Changed format of .itf files such that a '+' stands for all
         the standard imports from engine, which are included in c_itf
         source internally (from engine(builtin_exports)).  Further
         changes in itf data handling, so that once an .itf file is
         read in a session, the file is cached and next time it is
         needed no access to the file system is required.
   @item Many bugs fixed.
   @end{itemize}").

% :- doc(version(0*9+32,1999/04/05,20:38*17+'MEST'), "Improved
%    uninstallation makefiles so that (almost) nothing is left behind.
%    (Manuel Hermenegildo)").

:- doc(version(0*9+0,1999/03/10,17:03*49+'CET'), "
   @begin{itemize}
   @item Test version before 1.0 release. Many bugs fixed.
   @end{itemize}").

% Previously to 0.8, all versions where released as stable.
% TODO: (pre SVN) missing notes from 0.8.0 to 0.8.44

:- doc(version(0*8+0,1998/10/27,13:12*36+'MET'), "
   @begin{itemize}
   @item Changed compiler so that only one pass is done, eliminated @tt{.dep}
         files.
   @item New concurrency primitives.
   @item Changed assertion comment operator to #.
   @item Implemented higher-order with call/N.
   @item Integrated SQL-interface to external databases with 
         persistent predicate concept. 
   @item First implementation of object oriented programming package.
   @item Some bugs fixed.
   @end{itemize}").

% TODO: (pre SVN) missing notes from 0.7.0 to 0.7.28

:- doc(version(0*7+0,1998/09/15,12:12*33+'MEST'), "
   @begin{itemize}
   @item Improved debugger capabilities and made easier to use.
   @item Simplified assertion format.
   @item New arithmetic functions added, which complete all ISO functions.
   @item Some bugs fixed.
   @end{itemize}").

% TODO: (pre SVN) missing notes from 0.6.0 to 0.6.18

:- doc(version(0*6+0,1998/07/16,21:12*07+'MET DST'), "
   @begin{itemize}
   @item Defining other path aliases (in addition to 'library') which can
         be loaded dynamically in executables is now possible.
   @item Added the posibility to define multifile predicates in the shell.
   @item Added the posibility to define dynamic predicates dynamically.
   @item Added addmodule meta-argument type.
   @item Implemented persistent data predicates.
   @item New version of PiLLoW WWW library (XML, templates, etc.).
   @item Ported active modules from ``distributed Ciao'' (independent 
         development version of Ciao).
   @item Implemented lazy loading in executables.
   @item Modularized engine(builtin).
   @item Some bugs fixed.
   @end{itemize}").

% TODO: (pre SVN) missing notes from 0.5.0 to 0.5.50

:- doc(version(0*5+0,1998/3/23), "
   @begin{itemize}
   @item First Windows version.
   @item Integrated debugger in toplevel.
   @item Implemented DCG's as (Ciao-style) expansions.
   @item Builtins renamed to match ISO-Prolog.
   @item Made ISO the default syntax/package.
   @end{itemize}").

% TODO: (pre SVN) missing notes from 0.4.0 to 0.4.12

:- doc(version(0*4+0,1998/2/24), "
   @begin{itemize}
   @item First version with the new Ciao emacs mode.
   @item Full integration of concurrent engine and compiler/library.
   @item Added new_declaration/1 directive.
   @item Added modular syntax enhancements.
   @item Shell script interpreter separated from toplevel shell.
   @item Added new compilation warnings.
   @end{itemize}").

:- doc(version(0*3+0,1997/8/20), "
   @begin{itemize}
   @item Ciao builtins modularized.
   @item New prolog flags can be defined by libraries.
   @item Standalone comand-line compiler available, with automatic ""make"".
   @item Added assertions and regular types.
   @item First version using the automatic documentation generator.
   @end{itemize}").

:- doc(version(0*2+0,1997/4/16), "
   @begin{itemize}
   @item First module system implemented.
   @item Implemented exceptions using catch/3 and throw/1.
   @item Added functional & record syntax.
   @item Added modular sentence, term, and goal translations.
   @item Implemented attributed variables.
   @item First CLPQ/CLPR implementation.
   @item Added the posibility of linking external .so files.
   @item Changes in syntax to allow @tt{P(X)} and @tt{""string""||L}.
   @item Changed to be closer to ISO-Prolog.
   @item Implemented Prolog shell scripts.
   @item Implemented data predicates.
   @end{itemize}").

:- doc(version(0*1+0,1997/2/13), "First fully integrated,
   standalone Ciao distribution. Based on integrating into an
   evolution of the &-Prolog engine/libraries/preprocessor
   @cite{Hampaper,ngc-and-prolog} many functionalities from several
   previous independent development versions of Ciao
   @cite{ciao-prolog-compulog,ciao-ppcp,att-var-iclp,ciao-manual-tr," ||
   "ciao-comp-dist-tr-deliv,ciao-ilps95,ciao-jicslp96-ws-update,pillow-ws," ||
   "ciao-novascience}.").