Update the perldelta for ExtUtils::Constant.

[perl5.git] / pod / perldelta.pod

diff --git a/pod/perldelta.pod b/pod/perldelta.pod
index 996434c..a539d84 100644 (file)
--- a/pod/perldelta.pod
+++ b/pod/perldelta.pod
@@ -1,11 +1,8 @@
 =encoding utf8
 
 =for comment
-This has been completed up to 518a985, except for:
-04777d295957ad270188e4debf51b523e07cc5b0
-c565ab54dc649bb62cd4d57149d7b2abb21df5f3
-1c8d11ca3d0ce8bc11562f159b94c2c7e62dea6c
-1830b3d9c87f8b1473b0a80759846f7a5dccae5a
+This has been completed up to f869c5854, except for:
+249534c343ab758089ce40786709465e328c8b2d
 I may have missed a few module version bumps.
 
 =head1 NAME
@@ -140,6 +137,47 @@ introspection of the current phase of the perl interpreter. It's explained in
 detail in L<perlvar/"${^GLOBAL_PHASE}"> and
 L<perlmod/"BEGIN, UNITCHECK, CHECK, INIT and END">.
 
+=head2 Unicode Version 6.0 is now supported (mostly)
+
+Perl comes with the Unicode 6.0 data base, with one exception noted
+below.
+See L<http://unicode.org/versions/Unicode6.0.0> for details on the new
+release.  Perl does not support any Unicode provisional properties,
+including the new ones for this release, but their database files are
+packaged with Perl.
+
+Unicode 6.0 has chosen to use the name C<BELL> for the character at U+1F514,
+which is a symbol that looks like a bell, and used in Japanese cell
+phones.  This conflicts with the long-standing Perl usage of having
+C<BELL> mean the ASCII C<BEL> character, U+0007.  In Perl 5.14,
+C<\N{BELL}> will continue to mean U+0007, but its use will generate a
+deprecated warning message, unless such warnings are turned off.  The
+new name for U+0007 in Perl will be C<ALERT>, which corresponds nicely
+with the existing shorthand sequence for it, C<"\a">.  C<\N{BEL}> will
+mean U+0007, with no warning given.  The character at U+1F514 will not
+have a name in 5.14, but can be referred to by C<\N{U+1F514}>.  The plan
+is that in Perl 5.16, C<\N{BELL}> will refer to U+1F514, and so all code
+that uses C<\N{BELL}> should convert by then to using C<\N{ALERT}>,
+C<\N{BEL}>, or C<"\a"> instead.
+
+=head2 Improved support for custom OPs
+
+Custom ops can now be registered with the new C<custom_op_register> C
+function and the C<XOP> structure. This will make it easier to add new
+properties of custom ops in the future. Two new properties have been added
+already, C<xop_class> and C<xop_peep>.
+
+C<xop_class> is one of the OA_*OP constants, and allows L<B> and other
+introspection mechanisms to work with custom ops that aren't BASEOPs.
+C<xop_peep> is a pointer to a function that will be called for ops of this
+type from C<Perl_rpeep>.
+
+See L<perlguts/Custom Operators> and L<perlapi/Custom Operators> for more
+detail.
+
+The old C<PL_custom_op_names>/C<PL_custom_op_descs> interface is still
+supported but discouraged.
+
 =head1 Security
 
 XXX Any security-related notices go here.  In particular, any security
@@ -191,6 +229,9 @@ The C<*$glob> on the second line returns a new immutable glob. That new
 glob is made an alias to C<*bar>. Then it is discarded. So the second
 assignment has no effect.
 
+It also means that C<tie $handle> will now tie C<$handle> as a scalar, even
+if it has had a glob assigned to it.
+
 The upside to this incompatible change is that bugs
 L<[perl #77496]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=77496>,
 L<[perl #77502]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=77502>,
@@ -221,6 +262,12 @@ listed as an updated module in the L</Modules and Pragmata> section.
 
 [ List each deprecation as a =head2 entry ]
 
+=head2 C<\N{BELL}> is deprecated
+
+This is because Unicode is using that name for a different character.
+See L</Unicode Version 6.0 is now supported (mostly)> for more
+explanation.
+
 =head1 Performance Enhancements
 
 XXX Changes which enhance performance without changing behaviour go here. There
@@ -299,6 +346,9 @@ C<B> has been upgraded from 1.24 to 1.26.
 It no longer crashes when taking apart a C<y///> containing characters
 outside the octet range or compiled in a C<use utf8> scope.
 
+The size of the shared object has been reduced by about 40%, with no
+reduction in functionality.
+
 =item *
 
 C<B::Deparse> has been upgraded from 0.99 to 1.01.
@@ -346,6 +396,16 @@ It fixes a buffer overflow when passed a very long file name.
 
 C<ExtUtils::Constant> has been upgraded from 0.22 to 0.23.
 
+The C<AUTOLOAD> helper code generated by C<ExtUtils::Constant::ProxySubs>
+can now C<croak> for missing constants, or generate a complete C<AUTOLOAD>
+subroutine in XS, allowing simplification of many modules that use it.
+(C<Fcntl>, C<File::Glob>, C<GDBM_File>, C<I18N::Langinfo>, C<POSIX>, C<Socket>)
+
+C<ExtUtils::Constant::ProxySubs> can now optionally push the names of all
+constants onto the package's C{@EXPORT_OK}. This has been used to replace
+less space-efficient code in C<B>, helping considerably shrink the size of its
+shared object.
+
 =item *
 
 C<Fcntl> has been upgraded from 1.09 to 1.10.