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== About this page==
 
== About this page==
  
Below you can find a list of intentional changes since the [[User_Changes_2.4.2|previous release]] that can change the behaviour of previously working code, along with why these changes were performed and how you can adapt your code if you are affected by them. The list of new features can be found [[FPC_New_Features_Trunk|here]].
+
Listed below are intentional changes made to the FPC compiler (trunk) since the [[User_Changes_3.2.2|previous release]] that may break existing code. The list includes reasons why these changes have been implemented, and suggestions for how you might adapt your code if you find that previously working code has been adversely affected by these recent changes.  
 +
 
 +
The list of new features that do not break existing code can be found [[FPC_New_Features_Trunk|here]].
 +
 
 +
Please add revision numbers to the entries from now on. This facilitates moving merged items to the user changes of a release.
  
 
== All systems ==
 
== All systems ==
  
===Usage Changes===
+
=== Language Changes ===
 
 
==== Static keyword is enabled without switches and directives ====
 
* '''Old behaviour''': Using the ''static'' keyword required passing the ''-St'' switch to the compiler or using the '' {$STATIC on}'' directive.
 
* '''New behaviour''': The ''static'' keyword is now always enabled.
 
* '''Effect''': The ''-St'' switch has been deprecated and the ''{$STATIC on/off}'' directive no longer exists.
 
* '''Reason''': The compiler can now always correctly determine whether ''static'' is used as a modifier or as a field name, and recent Delphi versions support ''static'' class methods without any special switches.
 
* '''Remedy''': Adjust your build scripts and source code by removing all ''-St'' parameters and and ''{$STATIC on/off}'' statements.
 
  
==== The POINTERARITHMETICS mode switch has been replaced with the POINTERMATH directive ====
+
==== Precedence of the IS operator changed ====
* '''Old behaviour''': Pointer arithmetic was enabled in FPC/OBJFPC and partly (except using pointer as array) in DELPHI modes by default. To enable pointer arithmetic in other modes, {$MODESWITCH POINTERARITHMETICS} had to be enabled.
+
* '''Old behaviour''': The IS operator had the same precedence as the multiplication, division etc. operators.
* '''New behaviour''': Pointer arithmetic is enabled in FPC/OBJFPC modes and disabled in DELPHI mode. The new directive {$POINTERMATH ON/OFF} can be used to toggle pointer arithmetic support. Types declared while {$POINTERMATH ON} is in effect also support pointer arithmetic.
+
* '''New behaviour''': The IS operator has the same precedence as the comparison operators.
* '''Effect''': {$MODESWITCH POINTERARITHMETICS} is no longer exists. Pointer arithmetic is disabled by default in DELPHI mode.
+
* '''Reason''': Bug, see [https://bugs.freepascal.org/view.php?id=35909].
* '''Reason''': Delphi compatibility.
+
* '''Remedy''': Add parenthesis where needed.
* '''Remedy''': Check your source code for {$MODESWITCH POINTERARITHMETICS} directives and replace them with {$POINTERMATH ON}. If your source files are using DELPHI mode and you use pointer arithmetic then add the {$POINTERMATH ON} directive to your source files.
 
  
====Compiler no longer searches for utilities in the current directory====
+
==== Visibilities of members of generic specializations ====
* '''Old behaviour''': The compiler first searched the current directory for external utilities (the assembler, linker, resource compiler, ...) before other locations (directory containing the compiler binary, directories in the PATH).
+
* '''Old behaviour''': When a generic is specialized then visibility checks are handled as if the generic was declared in the current unit.
* '''New behaviour''': The compiler will no longer search the current directory for external utilities, except when explicitly instructed to do so (via ''-FD.'', or if the current directory is in the PATH)
+
* '''New behaviour''': When a generic is specialized then visibility checks are handled according to where the generic is declared.
* '''Reason''': The old behaviour was a security issue, since a rogue binary with the same name as a helper utility in the current directory (e.g., ''/tmp'' on a Unix-based system) could compromise your account.
+
* '''Reason''': Delphi-compatibility, but also a bug in how visibilities are supposed to work.
* '''Remedy''': Put external utilities in a fixed location on your system and add that directory to the path. Note that on most systems this is the case by default, and no configuration changes will be required.
+
* '''Remedy''': Rework your code to adhere to the new restrictions.
  
=== Language changes ===
+
=== Implementation Changes ===
  
==== Passing derived classes to var- and out-parameters====
+
==== Disabled default support for automatic conversions of regular arrays to dynamic arrays ====
 +
* '''Old behaviour''': In FPC and ObjFPC modes, by default the compiler could automatically convert a regular array to a dynamic array.
 +
* '''New behaviour''': By default, the compiler no longer automatically converts regular arrays to dynamic arrays in any syntax mode.
 +
* '''Reason''': When passing a dynamic array by value, modifications to its contents by the callee are also visible on the caller side. However, if an array is implicitly converted to a dynamic array, the result is a temporary value and hence changes are lost. This issue came up when adding [https://bugs.freepascal.org/view.php?id=35580 TStream.Read() overloads].
 +
* '''Remedy''': Either change the code so it no longer assigns regular arrays to dynamic arrays, or add ''{$modeswitch arraytodynarray}''
 +
* '''Example''': this program demonstrates the issue that appeared with the TStream.Read() overloads that were added (originally, only the the version with the untyped variable existed)
  
* '''Old behaviour''': If a routine was declared with a var- or out-parameter of a certain class type, the compiler also allowed passing derived classes to this parameter.
+
<syntaxhighlight lang="pascal">
* '''New behaviour''': The compile-time type of a class passed to a routine now has to match the declared parameter type exactly in case of var- and out-parameters.
 
* '''Example''':
 
<delphi>
 
 
{$mode objfpc}
 
{$mode objfpc}
 
 
type
 
type
   ta = class
+
   tdynarray = array of byte;
  end;
 
  
  tb = class(ta)
+
procedure test(var arr); overload;
  end;
+
begin
 
+
   pbyte(arr)[0]:=1;
var
+
end;
   b: tb;
 
  
procedure test(var a: ta);
+
procedure test(arr: tdynarray); overload;
 
begin
 
begin
   a:=ta.create;
+
   test[0]:=1;
  // now b contains an instance of type "ta"
 
 
end;
 
end;
  
 +
var
 +
  regulararray: array[1..1] of byte;
 
begin
 
begin
   b:=nil;
+
   regulararray[1]:=0;
   test(b);
+
   test(arr);
 +
  writeln(arr[0]); // writes 0, because it calls test(tdynarr)
 
end.
 
end.
</delphi>
+
</syntaxhighlight>
The compiler used to accept the above program, but now it will give an error at the call to ''test''.
+
* '''svn''': 42118
* '''Reason''': As the example above demonstrates, allowing this behaviour circumvents the language's type checking. This change is also Delphi-compatible.
 
* '''Remedy''': Rewrite the affected code so it that all var/out-parameters and the class types passed to them match exactly. There are ways to circumvent the type checking at the caller side by using explicit type conversions, but using such hacks is strongly discouraged since the resulting code is not type-safe.
 
  
====''Array of const'' parameters and cdecl routines====
+
==== Directive clause ''[…]'' no longer useable with modeswitch ''PrefixedAttributes'' ====
 +
* '''Old behaviour''': A function/procedure/method or procedure/method variable type could be followed by a directive clause in square brackets (''[…]'') that contains the directives for the routine or type (e.g. calling convention).
 +
* '''New behaviour''': If the modeswitch ''PrefixedAttributes'' is enabled (which is the default in modes ''Delphi'' and ''DelphiUnicode'') the directive clause in square brackets is no longer allowed.
 +
* '''Reason''': As custom attributes are bound to a type/property in a way that looks ambiguous to a directive clause and this ambiguity is not easily solved in the parser it is better to disable this feature.
 +
* '''Remedy''':
 +
** don't set (in non-''Delphi'' modes) or disable modeswitch ''PrefixedAttributes'' (in ''Delphi'' modes) if you don't use attributes (''{$modeswitch PrefixedAttributes-}'')
 +
** rework your directive clause:
 +
<syntaxhighlight lang="pascal">
 +
// this
 +
procedure Test; cdecl; [public,alias:'foo']
 +
begin
 +
end;
  
* '''Old behaviour''': It was possible to have non-external ''cdecl'' routines with an ''array of const'' parameter.
+
// becomes this
* '''New behaviour''': ''Cdecl'' routines with an ''array of const'' parameter now always must be external.
+
procedure Test; cdecl; public; alias:'foo';
* '''Reason''': In FPC, adding an ''array of const'' parameter to a ''cdecl'' routine has the same effect as adding the ''varargs'' modifier. It means that the routine takes a C-style variable number of arguments. There is however no way in (Free) Pascal to access these arguments on the callee side. This change means that both ''varargs'' and ''array of const'' are treated consistently, since ''varargs'' routines already had to be external.
 
* '''Remedy''': Remove the ''cdecl'' specifier and use a Pascal-style ''array of const'', or implement the routine in C and add ''external'' to the Pascal declaration.
 
 
 
==== String constants longer than 255 chars ====
 
* '''Old behaviour''': String constants longer than 255 chars were silently cut off after 255 chars under certain circumstances.
 
* '''New behaviour''': String constants longer than 255 chars cause an error in ''{$H-)'' state, and in ''{$H+}'' state an ansistring constant is generated.
 
* '''Reason''': Silently truncating string constants is undesired behaviour.
 
* '''Remedy''': Manually truncate string constants longer than 255 chars or use ''{$H+}''.
 
 
 
====Short/Ansistring typed constants containing widechars/unicodechars====
 
* '''Old behaviour''': The compiler accepted ''shortstring'' and ''ansistring'' typed constant declarations to which ''widestring'' or ''unicodestring'' constants were assigned (string constants containing widechars/unicodechars, i.e.,  character constants of the form ''#$xxx'', ''#$xxxx'' or ''#yyy'' with ''yyy > 255'', or character literals outside the ASCII range while the code page is different from the default one).
 
* '''New behaviour''': The compiler will reject such declarations now.
 
* '''Example''':
 
<delphi>
 
{$codepage utf8}
 
 
 
{ this example assumes that the source file has been saved using utf-8 encoding }
 
 
 
const
 
  s1: shortstring = 'éà';
 
  s2: ansistring = #$094#$06D;
 
  s3: ansistring = #267#543;
 
 
begin
 
begin
end.
+
end;
</delphi>
+
</syntaxhighlight>
All three declarations above used to be accepted, but are now rejected. The reasons are that
+
* '''svn''': 42402
* the string assigned to ''s1'' has been encoded as an utf-8 string and contains non-ASCII characters
 
* the string assigned to ''s2'' contains hexadecimal character constants declared with more than 2 digits
 
* the string assigned to ''s3'' contains character values > 255
 
In all cases, the practical upshot is that the string on the right hand side of the assignment will be treated as a wide/unicodestring constant at compile time.
 
* '''Reason''': The encoding of shortstrings and ansistrings is always the system (ansi) encoding at run time. This system encoding can be different every time the program is run, and hence cannot be determined at compile time. It is therefore not possible for the compiler to convert a wide/unicodestring constant to an ansi/shortstring at compile time. See also [http://bugs.freepascal.org/view.php?id=16219 bug report 16219].
 
* '''Remedy''': If you require the string's characters to contain particular ordinal values, declare the string constant as a sequence of byte-sized values (i.e., values <= 255, and in case of hexadecimal notation only use two digits), or do not use any ''{$codepage xxx}'' directive nor [http://unicode.org/faq/utf_bom.html#bom1 an UTF BOM]. In all other cases, declare the typed constant as a ''widestring'' or ''unicodestring''.
 
 
 
====Implicit "result" variable in MacPas mode====
 
* '''Old behaviour''': In MacPas mode, all functions could automatically access the function result via the implicitly defined ''result'' alias (like in Delphi and ObjFPC mode).
 
* '''New behaviour''': The ''result'' alias is no longer defined by default in MacPas mode.
 
* '''Reason''': It is not available in Mac Pascal compilers either, and can mask other identifiers thereby changing the behaviour of code.
 
* '''Remedy''': You can reenable the ''result'' alias by adding ''{$modeswitch result}'' to your program code (''after'' any ''{$mode macpas}'' statements), or by using the ''-Mresult'' command line option (''after'' any ''-Mmacpas'' parameter, and provided there are no ''{$mode xxx}'' directives in the source).
 
 
 
====Result type of the ''addr()'' operator====
 
* '''Old behaviour''': The result type of the ''addr()'' operator was the same as that of the ''@'' operator: plain ''pointer'' in case of {$t-}, and a pointer to the argument type in case of ''{$t+}''.
 
* '''New behaviour''': The result type of the ''addr()'' operator is now always a plain pointer, regardless of the ''{$t+/-}'' state.
 
* '''Reason''': Delphi compatibility.
 
* '''Remedy''': Replace uses of ''addr()'' with ''@'' in case your code is compiled with ''{$t+}'', as this change may otherwise affect the selection of overloaded routines.
 
 
 
====Inaccessible symbols and properties====
 
* '''Old behaviour''': The compiler allowed exposing normally inaccessible symbols, e.g. strict private fields from an inherited class, via properties.
 
* '''New behaviour''': Properties now obey the normal class visibility rules.
 
* '''Reason''': Consistency, Delphi compatibility. See http://bugs.freepascal.org/view.php?id=14650
 
* '''Remedy''': Either change the parent class and make the field or method protected, or use accessors provided by the parent class.
 
 
 
=== Implementation changes ===
 
 
 
====Order of parameters in RTTI====
 
* '''Old behaviour''': The order in which the parameter information for a function was stored in the RTTI depended on the function's calling convention. If the calling convention <u>on i386</u> passed parameters from left-to-right, parameters were stored from left to right (regardless of the actual platform, which was a bug in itself), otherwise they were stored from right to left.
 
* '''New behaviour''': The parameters are always stored from left to right in the RTTI, i.e., as they appear in the source code.
 
* '''Effect''': Code parsing RTTI information for the purpose of figuring out in which order to pass the parameters will no longer work.
 
* '''Reason''': Delphi compatibility, making the information more useful for IDEs.
 
* '''Remedy''': Adjust your code so it always expects parameters to appear in the RTTI ordered from left to right. In the future, we will also add the calling convention itself to the RTTI (like Delphi), so you can use that information to reorder the parameters in case you want to use this information to call the routine.
 
 
 
====Sizes of sets in TP/Delphi mode====
 
* '''Old behaviour''': {$packset fixed} was the default for all language modes. This packs a set of up to 32 elements in 4 bytes, and all other sets in 32 bytes.
 
* '''New behaviour''': The default in TP/Delphi mode is now {$packset 1}
 
* '''Effect''': In those language modes the size of sets with 1..8 elements will now be 1 byte, and the size of sets with 9..16 elements will be two bytes. Sets with 17..32 elements will remain 4 bytes, but after that every additional 8 elements the size will increase by 1 byte up to 249..256 elements, which will result in a set of 32 bytes.
 
* '''Reason''': TP/Delphi compatibility.
 
* '''Remedy''': If you have code written in TP/Delphi mode that depends on the old packset setting, add {$packset fixed} to the source (after setting the syntax mode to Delphi/TP, since the ''mode'' switching changes the ''packset'' setting). This is backward compatible with at least FPC 2.2.4 and later.
 
  
====Constants in mixed signed/unsigned 64 bit expressions====
+
==== Type information contains reference to attribute table ====
* '''Old behaviour''': Some comparisons involving a negative 64 bit constant and a unsigned 64 bit variable were handled incorrectly by the compiler: the negative constant was internally explicitly typecasted to the unsigned type.
+
* '''Old behavior''': The first field of the data represented by ''TTypeData'' is whatever the sub branch of the case statement for the type contains.
* '''New behaviour''': The compiler will now correctly use the original value of the negative constant.
+
* '''New behavior''': The first field of the data represented by ''TTypeData'' is a reference to the custom attributes that are attributed to the type, only then the type specific fields follow.
* '''Effect''': Some comparisons that previously evaluated to "true" at run time, may now evaluate to "false" at ''compile time''.
+
* '''Reason''': Any type can have attributes, so it make sense to provide this is a common location instead of having to parse the different types.
* '''Example''':
+
* '''Remedy''':
<delphi>
+
** If you use the records provided by the ''TypInfo'' unit no changes ''should'' be necessary (same for the ''Rtti'' unit).
const
+
** If you directly access the binary data you need handle an additional ''Pointer'' field at the beginning of the ''TTypeData'' area and possibly correct the alignment for platforms that have strict alignment requirements (e.g. ARM or M68k).
  // note that 64 bit hexadecimal constants are always parsed as int64
+
* '''svn''': 42375
  // (also by previous FPC releases)
+
==== Explicit values for enumeration types are limited to low(longint) ... high(longint) ====
BIG_A = $AB09CD87EF653412;
+
* '''Old behavior''': The compiler accepted every integer value as explicit enumeration value. The value was silently reduced to the longint range if it fell outside of that range
var
+
* '''New behavior''': The compiler throws an error (FPC mode) or a warning (Delphi mode) if an explicit enumeration value lies outside the longint range.
q : qword;
+
* '''Reason''': ''Type TEnum = (a = $ffffffff);'' resulted in an enum with size 1 instead of 4 as would be expected, because  $ffffffff was interpreted as "-1".
begin
+
* '''Remedy''': Add Longint typecasts to values outside the valid range of a Longint.
q := qword(BIG_A);
 
if (q = BIG_A) then
 
  writeln('same')
 
else
 
  writeln('different');
 
end.
 
</delphi>
 
The above program used to print 'same', but will now print 'different'
 
* '''Reason''': The compiler must not automatically convert negative constants to positive equivalents like that.
 
* '''Remedy''': Explicitly typecast any constants that are supposed to be unsigned 64 bit constants to qword. E.g., in the above example, use ''BIG_A = qword($AB09CD87EF653412)''.
 
  
====Parameter passing and returning results on x86-64 platforms (except for Win64)====
+
==== Comp as a type rename of Int64 instead of an alias ====
 +
* '''Old behavior''': On non-x86 as well as Win64 the Comp type is declared as an alias to Int64 (''Comp = Int64'').
 +
* '''New behavior''': On non-x86 as well as Win64 the Comp type is declared as a type rename of Int64 (''Comp = type Int64'').
 +
* '''Reason''':
 +
** This allows overloads of ''Comp'' and ''Int64'' methods/functions
 +
** This allows to better detect properties of type ''Comp''
 +
** Compatibility with Delphi for Win64 which applied the same reasoning
 +
* '''Remedy''': If you relied on ''Comp'' being able to be passed to ''Int64'' variables/parameters either include typecasts or add overloads for ''Comp''.
 +
* '''svn''': 43775
  
* '''Old behaviour''':  The compiler did not correctly implement the [http://www.x86-64.org/documentation/abi.pdf official x86-64 ABI] for passing parameters and returning function results in all cases. In particular, records were always either passed/returned via integer registers or memory.
+
==== Routines that only differ in result type ====
* '''New behaviour''': The compiler now correctly adheres to the official x86-64 ABI under all circumstances on platforms that require this. In particular, certain records are now passed/returned via SSE registers.
+
* '''Old behaviour:''' It was possible to declare routines (functions/procedures/methods) that only differ in their result type.
* '''Effect''': Pure assembler routines based on the old conventions may no longer work on non-Win64 platforms. Win64 follows Microsoft's own variant of the x86-64 ABI and this one was already implemented correctly in the compiler, and hence has not been changed.
+
* '''New behaviour:''' It is no longer possible to declare routines that only differ in their result type.
* '''Reason''': Interoperability with code generated by other compilers.
+
* '''Reason:''' It makes no sense to allow this as there are situations where the compiler will not be able to determine which function to call (e.g. a simple call to a function ''Foo'' without using the result).
* '''Remedy''': Adjust your assembler code so it expects parameters to be passed conform to the official x86-64 ABI
+
* '''Remedy:''' Correctly declare overloads.
 +
* '''Notes:'''
 +
** As the JVM allows covariant interface implementations such overloads are still allowed inside classes for the JVM target.
 +
** Operator overloads (especially assignment operators) that only differ in result type are still allowed.
 +
* '''svn:''' 45973
  
==== Overflow/Rangechecking for floating point constants ====
+
==== Open Strings mode enabled by default in mode Delphi ====
* '''Old behavior''': When a NaN floating point constant was assigned to a variable in {$R+} or {$Q+} mode, the compiler reported an error.
+
* '''Old behaviour:''' The Open Strings feature (directive ''$OpenStrings'' or ''$P'') was not enabled in mode Delphi.
* '''New behaviour''': {$R+} and {$Q+} no longer cause errors when assigning a NaN constant to a variable. The new $ieeeerrors setting can now be used to control whether or not such assignments should cause an error.
+
* '''New behaviour:''' The Open Strings feature (directive ''$OpenStrings'' or ''$P'') is enabled in mode Delphi.
* '''Reason''': Consistency, Delphi compatibility (it does not support the {$ieeeerrors+/-} setting, but it does not give an error based on the {$r/q} settings either) .
+
* '''Reason:''' Delphi compatibility.
* '''Remedy''': Add {$ieeeerrors+} to your code or add -C3 on the command line.
+
* '''Remedy:''' If you have assembly routines with a ''var'' parameter of type ''ShortString'' then you also need to handle the hidden ''High'' parameter that is added for the Open String or you need to disable Open Strings for that routine.
 +
* '''git:''' [https://gitlab.com/freepascal.org/fpc/source/-/commit/188cac3bc6dc666167aacf47fedff1a81d378137 188cac3b]
  
 
=== Unit changes ===
 
=== Unit changes ===
  
==== SysUtils unit changes ====
+
==== System - TVariantManager ====
* GetAppConfigDir now also takes into account VendorName if it is set. This is in accordance with Microsoft guidelines for setting file locations.
 
 
 
==== xmlrpc unit and utils have been removed ====
 
 
 
* '''Old behaviour''': There was an ''xmlrpc'' unit and a related demo program called ''mkxmlrpc''.
 
* '''New behaviour''': These sources have been removed in svn trunk, and deprecated in the svn fixes branch.
 
* '''Reason''': The code was unmaintained and had been broken for years, and has been replaced by new functionality in ''fcl-web'' and ''fcl-json''.
 
* '''Remedy''': Use fcl-web or, if adapting the source code is not feasible, obtain the xmlrpc-related sources from older FPC versions.
 
 
 
==== OpenSSL ====
 
  
* '''Old behaviour''': The ''openssl'' unit contained an ''EVP_PKEY'' type.
+
* '''Old behaviour:''' ''TVariantManager.olevarfromint'' has a ''source'' parameter of type ''LongInt''.
* '''New behaviour''': The ''EVP_PKEY'' type has been renamed into ''PEVP_PKEY''.
+
* '''New behaviour:''' ''TVariantManager.olevarfromint'' has a ''source'' parameter of type ''Int64''.
* '''Reason''': Consistency with other similar types and with the original C declaration.
+
* '''Reason for change:''' 64-bit values couldn't be correctly converted to an OleVariant.
* '''Remedy''': Make the same typename change in your source code.
+
* '''Remedy:''' If you implemented your own variant manager then adjust the method signature and handle the range parameter accordingly.
 +
* '''svn:''' 41570
  
==== Graph unit aspect ratio changes in Arc and PieSlice ====
+
==== System - buffering of output to text files ====
  
* '''Old behaviour''': Graph unit procedures Arc and PieSlice always assumed a 1:1 aspect ratio, regardless of current mode's aspect ratio.
+
* '''Old behaviour:''' Buffering was disabled only for output to text files associated with character devices (Linux, BSD targets, OS/2), or for output to Input, Output and StdErr regardless of their possible redirection (Win32/Win64, AIX, Haiku, BeOS, Solaris).
* '''New behaviour''': Arc and PieSlice now respect the current aspect ratio.
+
* '''New behaviour:''' Buffering is disabled for output to text files associated with character devices, pipes and sockets (the latter only if the particular target supports accessing sockets as files - Unix targets).
* '''Reason''': Borland Pascal compatibility; better (i.e. more 'circular') looks of arcs and pie slices in modes with weird aspect ratios like 640x200; consistency with the Circle procedure, which already respects the current aspect ratio.
+
* '''Reason for change:''' The same behaviour should be ensured on all supported targets whenever possible. Output to pipes and sockets should be performed immediately, equally to output to character devices (typically console) - in case of console users may be waiting for the output, in case of pipes and sockets some other program is waiting for this output and buffering is not appropriate. Seeking is not attempted in SeekEof implementation for files associated with character devices, pipes and sockets, because these files are usually not seekable anyway (instead, reading is performed until the end of the input stream is reached).
* '''Remedy''': This change is only likely to affect you, if you use a graphical mode with an aspect ratio, different than 1:1. Note that VGA 640x480 and higher modes usually always have a 1:1 aspect ratio. 320x200, 640x200, 640x350 and 640x400, however, do not. If you use one of these modes and, for some reason, don't want aspect ratio compensation in Arc and PieSlice, either call:
+
* '''Remedy:''' Buffering of a particular file may be controlled programmatically / changed from the default behaviour if necessary. In particular, perform TextRec(YourTextFile).FlushFunc:=nil immediately after opening the text file (i.e. after calling Rewrite or after starting the program in case of Input, Output and StdErr) and before performing any output to this text to enable buffering using the default buffer, or TextRec(YourTextFile).FlushFunc:=TextRec(YourTextFile).FileWriteFunc to disable buffering.
SetAspectRatio(10000, 10000)
+
* '''svn:''' 46863
immediately after InitGraph (this will also change the behaviour of Circle) or replace:
 
Arc(X, Y, StAngle, EndAngle, Radius) with Ellipse(X, Y, StAngle, EndAngle, Radius, Radius)
 
and
 
PieSlice(X, Y, StAngle, EndAngle, Radius) with Sector(X, Y, StAngle, EndAngle, Radius, Radius)
 
  
==== Graph unit aspect ratio changes in GraphDefaults ====
+
==== System - type returned by BasicEventCreate on Windows ====
  
* '''Old behaviour''': The GraphDefaults procedure used to reset the current aspect ratio to 1:1, regardless of the current mode's default aspect ratio.
+
* '''Old behaviour:''' BasicEventCreate returns a pointer to a record which contains the Windows Event handle as well as the last error code after a failed wait. This record was however only provided in the implementation section of the ''System'' unit.
* '''New behaviour''': GraphDefaults no longer changes the current aspect ratio.
+
* '''New behaviour:''' BasicEventCreate returns solely the Windows Event handle.
* '''Reason''': Borland Pascal compatibility; bug fix for applications that call GraphDefaults in modes with an aspect ratio different than 1:1 and still want to use aspect ratio compensation, since the old behaviour effectively disabled any aspect ratio compensation.
+
* '''Reason for change:''' This way the returned handle can be directly used in the Windows ''Wait*''-functions which is especially apparent in ''TEventObject.Handle''.
* '''Remedy''': If you want to reset the current aspect ratio to 1:1, just call:
+
* '''Remedy:''' If you need the last error code after a failed wait, use ''GetLastOSError'' instead.
SetAspectRatio(10000, 10000)
+
* '''svn:''' 49068
  
==== TThread.Suspend and TThread.Resume have been deprecated ====
+
==== System - Ref. count of strings ====
  
* '''Old behaviour''': ''TThread.Suspend'' suspended the thread if the platform supported it, while ''TThread.Resume'' would resume an explicitly suspended thread, or a thread created as "suspended".
+
* '''Old behaviour:''' Reference counter of strings was a ''SizeInt''
* '''New behaviour''': Suspending running threads has been deprecated. Creating threads suspended is still supported, and a new ''TThread.Start'' method has been added to tell such threads that they can start running.
+
* '''New behaviour:''' Reference counter of strings is now a ''Longint'' on 64 Bit platforms and ''SizeInt'' on all other platforms.
* '''Reason''': Embarcadero Delphi (D2010+) compatibility, and the fact that arbitrarily suspending running threads is unsupported on most platforms because of inherent deadlock problems. Related concerns presumably played part in Embarcadero's decision. Such functionality was also removed from Java for [http://download.oracle.com/javase/1.4.2/docs/guide/misc/threadPrimitiveDeprecation.html similar reasons].
+
* '''Reason for change:''' Better alignment of strings
* '''Remedy''': For threads created as ''suspended'', replace ''resume'' with ''start''. For suspending running threads: rewrite so this functionality is no longer needed. Note that there are no short term plans to remove ''resume'' to start suspended threads. If you want to share code with old Delphi versions, using ''resume'' will remain working for starting threads that were created as ''suspended'' for several FPC releases to come. Just ignore the warning.
+
* '''Remedy:''' Call ''System.StringRefCount'' instead of trying to access the ref. count field by pointer operations or other tricks.
 +
* '''git:''' [https://gitlab.com/freepascal.org/fpc/source/-/commit/ee10850a5793b69b19dc82b9c28342bdd0018f2e ee10850a57]
  
==== IInterface.QueryInterface, ._AddRef and ._Release definitions have been changed ====
+
==== System.UITypes - function TRectF.Union changed to procedure ====
  
* '''Old behaviour''': The IInterface.QueryInterface, ._AddRef and ._Release methods were defined stdcall and the IID was passed as const.
+
* '''Old behaviour:''' ''function TRectF.Union(const r: TRectF): TRectF;''
* '''New behaviour''': These methods are defined stdcall on Windows and cdecl on the other operating systems. The IID parameter has become a constref.
+
* '''New behaviour:''' ''procedure TRectF.Union(const r: TRectF);''
* '''Reason''': These methods are used for communicating with COM on Windows. These changes make it possible to interface with XPCom from Mozilla, which is cross-platform and similar to COM/Corba.
+
* '''Reason for change:''' Delphi compatibility and also compatibility with TRect.Union
* '''Remedy''': If one of these methods is overridden, they have to be defined as follows:
+
* '''Remedy:''' Call ''class function TRectF.Union'' instead.
 +
* '''git:''' [https://gitlab.com/freepascal.org/fpc/source/-/commit/5109f0ba444c85d2577023ce5fbdc2ddffc267c8 5109f0ba]
  
function QueryInterface({$IFDEF FPC_HAS_CONSTREF}constref{$ELSE}const{$ENDIF} IID: TGUID; out Obj): HResult; {$IF (not defined(WINDOWS)) AND (FPC_FULLVERSION>=20501)}cdecl{$ELSE}stdcall{$IFEND}; override;
+
==== 64-bit values in OleVariant ====
function _AddRef: Integer; {$IF (not defined(WINDOWS)) AND (FPC_FULLVERSION>=20501)}cdecl{$ELSE}stdcall{$IFEND}; override;
 
function _Release: Integer; {$IF (not defined(WINDOWS)) AND (FPC_FULLVERSION>=20501)}cdecl{$ELSE}stdcall{$IFEND}; override;
 
  
==== Default TFPPixelCanvas brush style ====
+
* '''Old behaviour:''' If a 64-bit value (''Int64'', ''QWord'') is assigned to an OleVariant its type is ''varInteger'' and only the lower 32-bit are available.
 +
* '''New behaviour:''' If a 64-bit value (''Int64'', ''QWord'') is assigned to an OleVariant its type is either ''varInt64'' or ''varQWord'' depending on the input type.
 +
* '''Reason for change:''' 64-bit values weren't correctly represented. This change is also Delphi compatible.
 +
* '''Remedy:''' Ensure that you handle 64-bit values correctly when using OleVariant.
 +
* '''svn:''' 41571
  
* '''Old behaviour''': A brush in TFPPixelCanvas would start with the style bsClear
+
==== Classes TCollection.Move ====
* '''New behaviour''': Now it starts with the style bsSolid
+
* '''Old behaviour:''' If a TCollection.Descendant called Move() this would invoke System.Move.
* '''Reason''': Starting with bsSolid is more intuitive and is also the state in which LCL brushes start.
+
* '''New behaviour:''' If a TCollection.Descendant called Move() this invokes TCollection.Move.
* '''Remedy''': Initialize the brush to bsClear after creating your TFPPixelCanvas if your code depended on it starting in this state.
+
* '''Reason for change:''' New feature in TCollection: move, for consistency with other classes.
 +
* '''Remedy:''' prepend the Move() call with the system unit name: System.move().
 +
* '''svn:''' 41795
  
==== thread_count removed from system unit (win32,win64,wince, symbian, nativent) ====  
+
==== Math Min/MaxSingle/Double ====
 +
* '''Old behaviour:''' MinSingle/MaxSingle/MinDouble/MaxDouble were set to a small/big value close to the smallest/biggest possible value.
 +
* '''New behaviour:''' The constants represent now the smallest/biggest positive normal numbers.
 +
* '''Reason for change:''' Consistency (this is also Delphi compatibility), see https://gitlab.com/freepascal.org/fpc/source/-/issues/36870.
 +
* '''Remedy:'''  If the code really depends on the old values, rename them and use them as renamed.
 +
* '''svn:''' 44714
  
* '''Old behaviour''': There was a variable called thread_count in the system unit of the targets win32,win64,wince, symbian, nativent
+
==== Random generator ====
* '''New behaviour''': The variable has been removed.
+
* '''Old behaviour:''' FPC uses a Mersenne twister generate random numbers
* '''Reason''': The behaviour of the variable was wrong and cannot be fixed, see also http://bugs.freepascal.org/view.php?id=18089
+
* '''New behaviour:''' Now it uses Xoshiro128**
* '''Remedy''': Since the value of the variable was unpredictable, there was probably no use of it.
+
* '''Reason for change:''' Xoshiro128** is faster, has a much smaller memory footprint and generates better random numbers.
 +
* '''Remedy:''' When using a certain randseed, another random sequence is generated, but as the PRNG is considered as an implementation detail, this does not hurt.
 +
* '''git:''' 91cf1774
  
==== Locale global variables are deprecated ====  
+
==== Types.TPointF.operator * ====
 +
* '''Old behaviour:''' for <code>a, b: TPointF</code>, <code>a * b</code> is a synonym for <code>a.DotProduct(b)</code>: it returns a <code>single</code>, scalar product of two input vectors.
 +
* '''New behaviour:''' <code>a * b</code> does a component-wise multiplication and returns <code>TPointF</code>.
 +
* '''Reason for change''': Virtually all technologies that have a notion of vectors use <code>*</code> for component-wise multiplication. Delphi with its <code>System.Types</code> is among these technologies.
 +
* '''Remedy:''' Use newly-introduced <code>a ** b</code>, or <code>a.DotProduct(b)</code> if you need Delphi compatibility.
 +
* '''git:''' [https://gitlab.com/freepascal.org/fpc/source/-/commit/f1e391fb415239d926c4f23babe812e67824ef95 f1e391fb]
  
* '''Old behaviour''': For every locale configuration a variable alias existed (currencystring, *dateformat) using an "absolute" modifier.
+
==== CocoaAll ====
* '''New behaviour''': These variable now have the "deprecated" modifier, and a warning is emitted if you use one.
+
===== CoreImage Framework Linking =====
* '''Reason''': FPC has supported the use of these variables in a record since before 2000 called DefaultFormatSettings, Delphi XE now follows suit with "Formatsettings". In time this might remove the need for "absolute" usage.
+
* '''Old behaviour''': Starting with FPC 3.2.0, the ''CocoaAll'' unit linked caused the ''CoreImage'' framework to be linked.
* '''Remedy''': Use (Default)Formatsettings as much as possible. Note that that it will still be quite some time before these are actually removed.
+
* '''New behaviour''': The ''CocoaAll'' unit no longer causes the ''CoreImage'' framework to be linked.
 +
* '''Reason for change''': The ''CoreImage'' framework is not available on OS X 10.10 and earlier (it's part of ''QuartzCore'' there, and does not exist at all on some even older versions).
 +
* '''Remedy''': If you use functionality that is only available as part of the separate ''CoreImage'' framework, explicitly link it in your program using the ''{$linkframework CoreImage}'' directive.
 +
* '''svn''': 45767
  
==== Glut.FreeGlut function renamed to UnloadGlut ====  
+
==== DB ====
 +
===== TMSSQLConnection uses TDS protocol version 7.3 (MS SQL Server 2008) =====
 +
* '''Old behaviour:''' TMSSQLConnection used TDS protocol version 7.0 (MS SQL Server 2000).
 +
* '''New behaviour:''' TMSSQLConnection uses TDS protocol version 7.3 (MS SQL Server 2008).
 +
* '''Reason for change:''' native support for new data types introduced in MS SQL Server 2008 (like DATE, TIME, DATETIME2). FreeTDS client library version 0.95 or higher required.
 +
* '''svn''': 42737
  
* '''Old behaviour''': Glut unit contained a function called FreeGlut.
+
===== DB.TFieldType: new types added =====
* '''New behaviour''': This function is now renamed to UnloadGlut.
+
* '''Old behaviour:''' .
* '''Reason''': We now include a FreeGlut unit, exposing http://freeglut.sourceforge.net/ -specific functionality. Function name "FreeGlut" inside Glut unit would cause name clashes and confusion (as it's not related to freeglut library).
+
* '''New behaviour:''' Some of new Delphi field types were added (ftOraTimeStamp, ftOraInterval, ftLongWord, ftShortint, ftByte, ftExtended) + corresponding classes TLongWordField, TShortIntField, TByteField; Later were added also ftSingle and TExtendedField, TSingleField
* '''Remedy''': Make the same rename in your source code.
+
* '''Reason for change:''' align with Delphi and open space for support of short integer and unsigned integer data types
 +
* '''svn''': 47217, 47219, 47220, 47221; '''git''': c46b45bf
  
==== xmlxsd unit split into xmlxsd and xmlxsdparser ====
+
==== DaemonApp ====
 +
===== TDaemonThread =====
 +
* '''Old behaviour:''' The virtual method ''TDaemonThread.HandleControlCode'' takes a single ''DWord'' parameter containing the control code.
 +
* '''New behaviour:''' The virtual method ''TDaemonThread.HandleControlCode'' takes three parameters of which the first is the control code, the other two are an additional event type and event data.
 +
* '''Reason for change:''' Allow for additional event data to be passed along which is required for comfortable handling of additional control codes provided on Windows.
 +
* '''svn''': 46327
  
* '''Old behaviour''': xmlxsd contained functions for parsing xml xsd types and helper functions for libxml2.
+
===== TDaemon =====
* '''New behaviour''': xmlxsd contains only the helper functions for libxml2, all the parser functions are moved to the xmlxsdparser unit.
+
* '''Old behaviour:''' If an event handler is assigned to ''OnControlCode'' then it will be called if the daemon receives a control code.
* '''Reason''': xmlxsd always required the external library libxml2. But if somebody was using just the xsd type parser code, they also had to include the libxml2 library. Now all the xsd type parser functions are in xmlxsdparser. This new unit does not depend on the external libxml2 library.
+
* '''New behaviour:''' If an event handler is assigned to ''OnControlCodeEvent'' and that sets the ''AHandled'' parameter to ''True'' then ''OnControlCode'' won't be called, otherwise it will be called if assigned.
* '''Remedy''': If you are interested in the full libxml2 and xsd functionality, simply add xmlxsdparser to the uses list (besides xmlxsd). If you are only interested in the xsd type parser code, remove xmlxsd (and maybe the libxml2) unit and only use xmlxsdparser.
+
* '''Reason for change:''' This was necessary to implement the handling of additional arguments for control codes with as few backwards incompatible changes as possible.
 +
* '''svn''': 46327
  
== Unix systems ==
+
==== FileInfo ====
 +
* '''Old behaviour:''' The ''FileInfo'' unit is part of the ''fcl-base'' package.
 +
* '''New behaviour:''' The ''FileInfo'' unit is part of the ''fcl-extra'' package.
 +
* '''Reason for change:''' Breaks up a cycle in build dependencies after introducing a RC file parser into ''fcl-res''. This should only affect users that compile trunk due to stale PPU files in the old location or that use a software distribution that splits the FPC packages (like Debian).
 +
* '''svn''': 46392
  
=== ''SysUtils.FileAge'' no longer works for directories ===
+
==== Sha1 ====
 +
* '''Old behaviour:''' Sha1file silently did nothing on file not found.
 +
* '''New behaviour:''' sha1file now raises sysconst.sfilenotfound exception on fle not found.
 +
* '''Reason for change:''' Behaviour was not logical, other units in the same package already used sysutils.
 +
* '''svn''': 49166
  
* '''Old behaviour''': ''SysUtils.FileAge'' worked for both files and directories on Unix platforms.
+
==== Image ====
* '''New behaviour''': This routine now only works for directories.
+
===== FreeType: include bearings and invisible characters into text bounds =====
* '''Reason''': Consistency with other platforms, Delphi compatibility.
+
* '''Old behaviour:''' When the bounds rect was calculated for a text, invisible characters (spaces) and character bearings (spacing around character) were ignored. The result of Canvas.TextExtent() was too short and did not include all with Canvas.TextOut() painted pixels.
* '''Remedy''': Call ''BaseUnix.fpstat()'' directly for directories. A patch adding a ''DirectoryAge()'' function to ''SysUtils'' for both Unices and Windows platforms is also welcome.
+
* '''New behaviour:''' the bounds rect includes invisible characters and bearings. Canvas.TextExtent() covers the Canvas.TextOut() area.
 +
* '''Reason for change:''' The text could not be correctly aligned to center or right, the underline and textrect fill could not be correctly painted.
 +
* '''svn''': 49629
  
==x86 platforms ==
+
==== Generics.Collections & Generics.Defaults ====
 +
* '''Old behaviour:''' Various methods had '''constref''' parameters.
 +
* '''New behaviour:''' '''constref''' parameters were changed to '''const''' parameters.
 +
* '''Reason for change:'''
 +
** Delphi compatibility
 +
** Better code generation especially for types that are smaller or equal to the ''Pointer'' size.
 +
* '''Remedy:''' Adjust parameters of method pointers or virtual methods.
 +
* '''git''': [https://gitlab.com/freepascal.org/fpc/source/-/commit/693491048bf2c6f9122a0d8b044ad0e55382354d 69349104]
  
===Operation size of pushf/popf/pusha/popa in Intel-style inline assembly===
+
== AArch64/ARM64 ==
 +
=== ''{''-style comments no longer supported in assembler blocks ===
 +
* '''Old behaviour''': The ''{'' character started a comment in assembler blocks, like in Pascal
 +
* '''New behaviour''': The ''{'' character now has a different meaning in the AArch64 assembler reader, so it can no longer be used to start comments.
 +
* '''Reason for change''': Support has been added for register sets in the AArch64 assembler reader (for the ld1/ld2/../st1/st2/... instructions), which also start with ''{''.
 +
* '''Remedy''': Use ''(*'' or ''//'' to start comments
 +
* '''svn''': 47116
  
* '''Old behaviour''': The default operation size of the ''pushf/popf/pusha/popa'' in Intel-style inline assembly was the native size (32 bit on i386, 64 bit on x86-64).
 
* '''New behaviour''': The default operation size of these opcodes is now always 16 bit in Intel-style inline assembly. In AT&T-style inline assembly, the size remains the native size.
 
* '''Reason''': This is how the behaviour of these opcodes is defined in the Intel manuals, and it is also Delphi-compatible. The behaviour was not changed in AT&T-inline assembly because that dialect defines the default size of these operations as the native size.
 
* '''Remedy''': Explicitly specify the size when using such operations, e.g. ''pushfd'', ''popfq'', ''pushad'', ... Note that ''pusha*/popa*'' do not exist on x86-64, and neither do ''pushfd/popfd'' (the compiler previously however erroneously accepted these opcodes when compiling for x86-64).
 
  
==x86-64 platforms ==
+
== Darwin/iOS ==
  
===Const parameter passing on non-Win64 platforms===
+
== Previous release notes ==
 +
{{Navbar Lazarus Release Notes}}
  
* '''Old behaviour''': All record parameters defined as ''const'' were passed by value.
+
[[Category:FPC User Changes by release]]
* '''New behaviour''': For calling conventions other than ''cdecl'' and ''cppdecl'', ''const'' record parameters are now passed by reference if they should be passed via memory according to the x86-64 ABI. Note that except for ''cdecl'' and ''cppdecl'', the behaviour of ''const'' is not defined and may change at any time.
+
[[Category:Release Notes]]
* '''Reason''': Performance.
+
[[Category:Troubleshooting]]
* '''Remedy''': In most cases, this change will not require any changes to existing code. The only exception is if you have assembler routines with ''const'' record parameters. In this case, the assembler code may have to be modified to expect a pointer to the record under the circumstances mentioned above. A better modification would be to remove the ''const'' altogether from any assembler routines and either use a value parameter or [[FPC_New_Features_Trunk#Constref_parameter_modifier|constref]], which respectively guarantee passing by value and passing by reference.
 

Latest revision as of 17:32, 9 February 2024

About this page

Listed below are intentional changes made to the FPC compiler (trunk) since the previous release that may break existing code. The list includes reasons why these changes have been implemented, and suggestions for how you might adapt your code if you find that previously working code has been adversely affected by these recent changes.

The list of new features that do not break existing code can be found here.

Please add revision numbers to the entries from now on. This facilitates moving merged items to the user changes of a release.

All systems

Language Changes

Precedence of the IS operator changed

  • Old behaviour: The IS operator had the same precedence as the multiplication, division etc. operators.
  • New behaviour: The IS operator has the same precedence as the comparison operators.
  • Reason: Bug, see [1].
  • Remedy: Add parenthesis where needed.

Visibilities of members of generic specializations

  • Old behaviour: When a generic is specialized then visibility checks are handled as if the generic was declared in the current unit.
  • New behaviour: When a generic is specialized then visibility checks are handled according to where the generic is declared.
  • Reason: Delphi-compatibility, but also a bug in how visibilities are supposed to work.
  • Remedy: Rework your code to adhere to the new restrictions.

Implementation Changes

Disabled default support for automatic conversions of regular arrays to dynamic arrays

  • Old behaviour: In FPC and ObjFPC modes, by default the compiler could automatically convert a regular array to a dynamic array.
  • New behaviour: By default, the compiler no longer automatically converts regular arrays to dynamic arrays in any syntax mode.
  • Reason: When passing a dynamic array by value, modifications to its contents by the callee are also visible on the caller side. However, if an array is implicitly converted to a dynamic array, the result is a temporary value and hence changes are lost. This issue came up when adding TStream.Read() overloads.
  • Remedy: Either change the code so it no longer assigns regular arrays to dynamic arrays, or add {$modeswitch arraytodynarray}
  • Example: this program demonstrates the issue that appeared with the TStream.Read() overloads that were added (originally, only the the version with the untyped variable existed)
{$mode objfpc}
type
  tdynarray = array of byte;

procedure test(var arr); overload;
begin
  pbyte(arr)[0]:=1;
end;

procedure test(arr: tdynarray); overload;
begin
  test[0]:=1;
end;

var
  regulararray: array[1..1] of byte;
begin
  regulararray[1]:=0;
  test(arr);
  writeln(arr[0]); // writes 0, because it calls test(tdynarr)
end.
  • svn: 42118

Directive clause […] no longer useable with modeswitch PrefixedAttributes

  • Old behaviour: A function/procedure/method or procedure/method variable type could be followed by a directive clause in square brackets ([…]) that contains the directives for the routine or type (e.g. calling convention).
  • New behaviour: If the modeswitch PrefixedAttributes is enabled (which is the default in modes Delphi and DelphiUnicode) the directive clause in square brackets is no longer allowed.
  • Reason: As custom attributes are bound to a type/property in a way that looks ambiguous to a directive clause and this ambiguity is not easily solved in the parser it is better to disable this feature.
  • Remedy:
    • don't set (in non-Delphi modes) or disable modeswitch PrefixedAttributes (in Delphi modes) if you don't use attributes ({$modeswitch PrefixedAttributes-})
    • rework your directive clause:
// this
procedure Test; cdecl; [public,alias:'foo']
begin
end;

// becomes this
procedure Test; cdecl; public; alias:'foo';
begin
end;
  • svn: 42402

Type information contains reference to attribute table

  • Old behavior: The first field of the data represented by TTypeData is whatever the sub branch of the case statement for the type contains.
  • New behavior: The first field of the data represented by TTypeData is a reference to the custom attributes that are attributed to the type, only then the type specific fields follow.
  • Reason: Any type can have attributes, so it make sense to provide this is a common location instead of having to parse the different types.
  • Remedy:
    • If you use the records provided by the TypInfo unit no changes should be necessary (same for the Rtti unit).
    • If you directly access the binary data you need handle an additional Pointer field at the beginning of the TTypeData area and possibly correct the alignment for platforms that have strict alignment requirements (e.g. ARM or M68k).
  • svn: 42375

Explicit values for enumeration types are limited to low(longint) ... high(longint)

  • Old behavior: The compiler accepted every integer value as explicit enumeration value. The value was silently reduced to the longint range if it fell outside of that range
  • New behavior: The compiler throws an error (FPC mode) or a warning (Delphi mode) if an explicit enumeration value lies outside the longint range.
  • Reason: Type TEnum = (a = $ffffffff); resulted in an enum with size 1 instead of 4 as would be expected, because $ffffffff was interpreted as "-1".
  • Remedy: Add Longint typecasts to values outside the valid range of a Longint.

Comp as a type rename of Int64 instead of an alias

  • Old behavior: On non-x86 as well as Win64 the Comp type is declared as an alias to Int64 (Comp = Int64).
  • New behavior: On non-x86 as well as Win64 the Comp type is declared as a type rename of Int64 (Comp = type Int64).
  • Reason:
    • This allows overloads of Comp and Int64 methods/functions
    • This allows to better detect properties of type Comp
    • Compatibility with Delphi for Win64 which applied the same reasoning
  • Remedy: If you relied on Comp being able to be passed to Int64 variables/parameters either include typecasts or add overloads for Comp.
  • svn: 43775

Routines that only differ in result type

  • Old behaviour: It was possible to declare routines (functions/procedures/methods) that only differ in their result type.
  • New behaviour: It is no longer possible to declare routines that only differ in their result type.
  • Reason: It makes no sense to allow this as there are situations where the compiler will not be able to determine which function to call (e.g. a simple call to a function Foo without using the result).
  • Remedy: Correctly declare overloads.
  • Notes:
    • As the JVM allows covariant interface implementations such overloads are still allowed inside classes for the JVM target.
    • Operator overloads (especially assignment operators) that only differ in result type are still allowed.
  • svn: 45973

Open Strings mode enabled by default in mode Delphi

  • Old behaviour: The Open Strings feature (directive $OpenStrings or $P) was not enabled in mode Delphi.
  • New behaviour: The Open Strings feature (directive $OpenStrings or $P) is enabled in mode Delphi.
  • Reason: Delphi compatibility.
  • Remedy: If you have assembly routines with a var parameter of type ShortString then you also need to handle the hidden High parameter that is added for the Open String or you need to disable Open Strings for that routine.
  • git: 188cac3b

Unit changes

System - TVariantManager

  • Old behaviour: TVariantManager.olevarfromint has a source parameter of type LongInt.
  • New behaviour: TVariantManager.olevarfromint has a source parameter of type Int64.
  • Reason for change: 64-bit values couldn't be correctly converted to an OleVariant.
  • Remedy: If you implemented your own variant manager then adjust the method signature and handle the range parameter accordingly.
  • svn: 41570

System - buffering of output to text files

  • Old behaviour: Buffering was disabled only for output to text files associated with character devices (Linux, BSD targets, OS/2), or for output to Input, Output and StdErr regardless of their possible redirection (Win32/Win64, AIX, Haiku, BeOS, Solaris).
  • New behaviour: Buffering is disabled for output to text files associated with character devices, pipes and sockets (the latter only if the particular target supports accessing sockets as files - Unix targets).
  • Reason for change: The same behaviour should be ensured on all supported targets whenever possible. Output to pipes and sockets should be performed immediately, equally to output to character devices (typically console) - in case of console users may be waiting for the output, in case of pipes and sockets some other program is waiting for this output and buffering is not appropriate. Seeking is not attempted in SeekEof implementation for files associated with character devices, pipes and sockets, because these files are usually not seekable anyway (instead, reading is performed until the end of the input stream is reached).
  • Remedy: Buffering of a particular file may be controlled programmatically / changed from the default behaviour if necessary. In particular, perform TextRec(YourTextFile).FlushFunc:=nil immediately after opening the text file (i.e. after calling Rewrite or after starting the program in case of Input, Output and StdErr) and before performing any output to this text to enable buffering using the default buffer, or TextRec(YourTextFile).FlushFunc:=TextRec(YourTextFile).FileWriteFunc to disable buffering.
  • svn: 46863

System - type returned by BasicEventCreate on Windows

  • Old behaviour: BasicEventCreate returns a pointer to a record which contains the Windows Event handle as well as the last error code after a failed wait. This record was however only provided in the implementation section of the System unit.
  • New behaviour: BasicEventCreate returns solely the Windows Event handle.
  • Reason for change: This way the returned handle can be directly used in the Windows Wait*-functions which is especially apparent in TEventObject.Handle.
  • Remedy: If you need the last error code after a failed wait, use GetLastOSError instead.
  • svn: 49068

System - Ref. count of strings

  • Old behaviour: Reference counter of strings was a SizeInt
  • New behaviour: Reference counter of strings is now a Longint on 64 Bit platforms and SizeInt on all other platforms.
  • Reason for change: Better alignment of strings
  • Remedy: Call System.StringRefCount instead of trying to access the ref. count field by pointer operations or other tricks.
  • git: ee10850a57

System.UITypes - function TRectF.Union changed to procedure

  • Old behaviour: function TRectF.Union(const r: TRectF): TRectF;
  • New behaviour: procedure TRectF.Union(const r: TRectF);
  • Reason for change: Delphi compatibility and also compatibility with TRect.Union
  • Remedy: Call class function TRectF.Union instead.
  • git: 5109f0ba

64-bit values in OleVariant

  • Old behaviour: If a 64-bit value (Int64, QWord) is assigned to an OleVariant its type is varInteger and only the lower 32-bit are available.
  • New behaviour: If a 64-bit value (Int64, QWord) is assigned to an OleVariant its type is either varInt64 or varQWord depending on the input type.
  • Reason for change: 64-bit values weren't correctly represented. This change is also Delphi compatible.
  • Remedy: Ensure that you handle 64-bit values correctly when using OleVariant.
  • svn: 41571

Classes TCollection.Move

  • Old behaviour: If a TCollection.Descendant called Move() this would invoke System.Move.
  • New behaviour: If a TCollection.Descendant called Move() this invokes TCollection.Move.
  • Reason for change: New feature in TCollection: move, for consistency with other classes.
  • Remedy: prepend the Move() call with the system unit name: System.move().
  • svn: 41795

Math Min/MaxSingle/Double

  • Old behaviour: MinSingle/MaxSingle/MinDouble/MaxDouble were set to a small/big value close to the smallest/biggest possible value.
  • New behaviour: The constants represent now the smallest/biggest positive normal numbers.
  • Reason for change: Consistency (this is also Delphi compatibility), see https://gitlab.com/freepascal.org/fpc/source/-/issues/36870.
  • Remedy: If the code really depends on the old values, rename them and use them as renamed.
  • svn: 44714

Random generator

  • Old behaviour: FPC uses a Mersenne twister generate random numbers
  • New behaviour: Now it uses Xoshiro128**
  • Reason for change: Xoshiro128** is faster, has a much smaller memory footprint and generates better random numbers.
  • Remedy: When using a certain randseed, another random sequence is generated, but as the PRNG is considered as an implementation detail, this does not hurt.
  • git: 91cf1774

Types.TPointF.operator *

  • Old behaviour: for a, b: TPointF, a * b is a synonym for a.DotProduct(b): it returns a single, scalar product of two input vectors.
  • New behaviour: a * b does a component-wise multiplication and returns TPointF.
  • Reason for change: Virtually all technologies that have a notion of vectors use * for component-wise multiplication. Delphi with its System.Types is among these technologies.
  • Remedy: Use newly-introduced a ** b, or a.DotProduct(b) if you need Delphi compatibility.
  • git: f1e391fb

CocoaAll

CoreImage Framework Linking
  • Old behaviour: Starting with FPC 3.2.0, the CocoaAll unit linked caused the CoreImage framework to be linked.
  • New behaviour: The CocoaAll unit no longer causes the CoreImage framework to be linked.
  • Reason for change: The CoreImage framework is not available on OS X 10.10 and earlier (it's part of QuartzCore there, and does not exist at all on some even older versions).
  • Remedy: If you use functionality that is only available as part of the separate CoreImage framework, explicitly link it in your program using the {$linkframework CoreImage} directive.
  • svn: 45767

DB

TMSSQLConnection uses TDS protocol version 7.3 (MS SQL Server 2008)
  • Old behaviour: TMSSQLConnection used TDS protocol version 7.0 (MS SQL Server 2000).
  • New behaviour: TMSSQLConnection uses TDS protocol version 7.3 (MS SQL Server 2008).
  • Reason for change: native support for new data types introduced in MS SQL Server 2008 (like DATE, TIME, DATETIME2). FreeTDS client library version 0.95 or higher required.
  • svn: 42737
DB.TFieldType: new types added
  • Old behaviour: .
  • New behaviour: Some of new Delphi field types were added (ftOraTimeStamp, ftOraInterval, ftLongWord, ftShortint, ftByte, ftExtended) + corresponding classes TLongWordField, TShortIntField, TByteField; Later were added also ftSingle and TExtendedField, TSingleField
  • Reason for change: align with Delphi and open space for support of short integer and unsigned integer data types
  • svn: 47217, 47219, 47220, 47221; git: c46b45bf

DaemonApp

TDaemonThread
  • Old behaviour: The virtual method TDaemonThread.HandleControlCode takes a single DWord parameter containing the control code.
  • New behaviour: The virtual method TDaemonThread.HandleControlCode takes three parameters of which the first is the control code, the other two are an additional event type and event data.
  • Reason for change: Allow for additional event data to be passed along which is required for comfortable handling of additional control codes provided on Windows.
  • svn: 46327
TDaemon
  • Old behaviour: If an event handler is assigned to OnControlCode then it will be called if the daemon receives a control code.
  • New behaviour: If an event handler is assigned to OnControlCodeEvent and that sets the AHandled parameter to True then OnControlCode won't be called, otherwise it will be called if assigned.
  • Reason for change: This was necessary to implement the handling of additional arguments for control codes with as few backwards incompatible changes as possible.
  • svn: 46327

FileInfo

  • Old behaviour: The FileInfo unit is part of the fcl-base package.
  • New behaviour: The FileInfo unit is part of the fcl-extra package.
  • Reason for change: Breaks up a cycle in build dependencies after introducing a RC file parser into fcl-res. This should only affect users that compile trunk due to stale PPU files in the old location or that use a software distribution that splits the FPC packages (like Debian).
  • svn: 46392

Sha1

  • Old behaviour: Sha1file silently did nothing on file not found.
  • New behaviour: sha1file now raises sysconst.sfilenotfound exception on fle not found.
  • Reason for change: Behaviour was not logical, other units in the same package already used sysutils.
  • svn: 49166

Image

FreeType: include bearings and invisible characters into text bounds
  • Old behaviour: When the bounds rect was calculated for a text, invisible characters (spaces) and character bearings (spacing around character) were ignored. The result of Canvas.TextExtent() was too short and did not include all with Canvas.TextOut() painted pixels.
  • New behaviour: the bounds rect includes invisible characters and bearings. Canvas.TextExtent() covers the Canvas.TextOut() area.
  • Reason for change: The text could not be correctly aligned to center or right, the underline and textrect fill could not be correctly painted.
  • svn: 49629

Generics.Collections & Generics.Defaults

  • Old behaviour: Various methods had constref parameters.
  • New behaviour: constref parameters were changed to const parameters.
  • Reason for change:
    • Delphi compatibility
    • Better code generation especially for types that are smaller or equal to the Pointer size.
  • Remedy: Adjust parameters of method pointers or virtual methods.
  • git: 69349104

AArch64/ARM64

{-style comments no longer supported in assembler blocks

  • Old behaviour: The { character started a comment in assembler blocks, like in Pascal
  • New behaviour: The { character now has a different meaning in the AArch64 assembler reader, so it can no longer be used to start comments.
  • Reason for change: Support has been added for register sets in the AArch64 assembler reader (for the ld1/ld2/../st1/st2/... instructions), which also start with {.
  • Remedy: Use (* or // to start comments
  • svn: 47116


Darwin/iOS

Previous release notes