<- handle change in tcl 8.5.8: http://tcl.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/tcl/tcl/generic/tclObj.c?sortby=date&r1=1.139.2.1&r2=1.139.2.2&pathrev=core-8-5-branch
  in xotcl:
   * when e.g. the parent namespace is deleted with a "namespace delete", the change
     above causes, the no xotcl methods could be resolved (and called) anymore.
  * therefore, e.g. a "C dealloc c1" did not work, since dealloc passes
    c1 via tcl_obj, and the tcl_obj is as well converted to an xotcl object via
    Tcl_GetCommandFromObj(), which fails as well.
- to bypass this problem, xotcl has now a C-function DoDealloc(), which 
   is called, when this situation is detected.
- some more cases, where xotcl could reference already freed memory
   were fixed (thanks to enable-symbols=mem)
- as collateral damage, parts of the regression test don't work currently


- added refcounting in ObjectDispatch() to make sure, obj survives until
   the end of the function

- added existence test for slot extractor (needed for 8.5.8)
- added refcounting CallStackDoDestroy() to ensure existance of
   object until end of function
- make sure to call PrimitiveDestroy() before DeleteCommandFromToken(),
       otherwise e.g. unset traces on this object cannot be executed
- regression test works again

- get rid of rst->deallocCalled (not needed due to reference counting 
   on xotcl objects)
- reduce verbosity

- reactivated XOTclErrInProc()

- renamed "ClassName info instmixinof ?-closure? ?pattern?" into
  "ClassName info class-mixin-of ?-closure? ?pattern?"
- renamed "ClassName info mixinof ?-closure? ?pattern?" into
  "ClassName info object-mixin-of ?-closure? ?pattern?"
- added emulation "ClassName info instmixinof|mixinof" for xotcl1 

- update to TEA 3.7 (from TEA 3.5)
- use of INT2PTR to avoid warnings about different sizes on 64bit
   architectures
- defined HAVE_INTPTR_T as a macro to make definition of INT2PTR working

- use INT2PTR and PTR2INT macros in generated stubs

- handle HAVE_UINTPTR_T like HAVE_INTPTR_T
- use ::xotcl::setinstvar instead of ::xotcl::setinstvar in serializer

- change and rename cmd instvar 
    ::xotcl::instvar -object someObject newVar
   into
     ::xotcl::importvar someObject newVar
   Rationale of change: 
      only needed in xotcl2 for importing variables
      from different objects

- changed assertions:
   old (xotcl1) interface: 3 methods + 3 info methods
      * <object> check Options
      * <object> info check
      * <object> invar Conditions
      * <object> info invar
      * <class> instinvar Conditions
      * <class> info instinvar

   new (xotcl2) interface: 1 cmd (similar to ::xotcl::relation)
      ::xotcl::assertion check|object-invar|class-invar ?arg?
- added emulation for xotcl1

- deleted namespecific C macros:
    isInfoString, isInstinvarString, isInvarString, isInstprocString, isProcString

- made some more xotcl2 methods protected 
  (no big need to call these from different objects):
  unknown, uplevel, upvar

- added ::xotcl::exists as cmd

- added ::xotcl::method as cmd instead of methods object-method and
  class-method

- added ::xotcl::forward as cmd instead of method
   now, all method-defining-methods (alias, method, forward, setter)
   are defined as cmds (this should make life of serializer easier)

- moved "-per-object" consequently immediately after obj in the
  following commands
     : ::xotcl::alias, ::xotcl::methodproperty, ::xotcl::setter
  to achiev conformance with ::xotcl::forward and ::xotcl::method
 

-per-object
nach methodName: 
vor methodName: alias forward method methodproperty setter


- added experimental flag for alias "-noleaf" to force a stack frame
   to be written (e.g. necessary for "next"). makes only sense for
   aliases to c-implemented cmds

- fix inconsistent behaviour of dotVarResolver
    "o eval {set .x 1}" was setting var ".x" instead of "x"
  The problem was due to a interaction between
  the namespace varResolver() and the DotVarResolver()

- fix for DotCmdResolver during compilation of a proc by Tcl.
- extended regression text
- found 2 potential bugs (not fixed yet)

- fix eval method with requirenamespace

- removed dependency on proc/instproc in copy/move.
   code is now independet of class system

- changed results of "filtersearch" and "self next" to new naming
   Caveat: for xotcl1, there is no mapping for the names to the
   old style in "self next" and "self filterreg"
- backwards compatible mapping of filterseach in xotcl1

- removed XOTclInstVar from the C-level API. 
   todo: add all xotcl*cmds to C api, including importvar

- removed all unreferenced entries from XOTE_*
- regrouped XOTE_* for easier comprehension
- used XOTE_* on more occations
- used XOTclCallCommand() for calling Tcl 
   "format" and "interp"

- added option "arg=.." to parameter options; this argument
   can be passed to converter; used currently for "type=relation"
   to flag, that the relation type is different from the parameter 
   name
- extended "objectparameter" to handle such cases
- removed relationtypes "mixin", "filter", "instfilter" and
  "instmixin" since not needed due to converterArg

- xotcl.c: removed all names starting with "inst"
   (exception: instvar)

- added option "-application" to "info callable" to 
   omit methods from base classes
- extended regression test
- changed naming of methodtype "system" to "builtin"
- added "info methods" to migration guide

- added "info method" to migration guide

- modernize test a little: all local definitions of proc "?" are gone.
- added interface to test: "Test parameter count SOMEVALUE" to 
   specify conveniently e.g. the number of tests the be executed
- add XOTCL_CM_NO_UNKNOWN to dispatch of defaultmethod

- added option "objectsystems" to ::xotcl::configure to
   obtain the currently defined object systems
- added option "baseclass" to ::xotcl::is to check, whether
   a class is a baseclass of an object system 
   (root class or root meta-class of object system)
- changed result of "... info methods -methodtype scripted"
   to return only truely scripted methods (no aliases)
- some more cleanup in regression tests
- first version of serializer for xotcl1 + xotcl2

- serializer: move checking of the requested objects 
   to be exported to the invocation of "Serializer all"
- replace "namespace import ::xotcl::*" by "xotcl::use xotcl1"

- make allocation sizes for dynamically allocated parameterContexts
   consistent between alloc and realloc
- added sanity check in getAllClassMixinsOf()
   It seems as it would be possible with __defaultSupeclass to define
   a class which has itself als a subclass. Just a quick
   fix, we have investigate more on this.

- improved naming of resolvers: use InterpDot*Resolver and
  NsDot*Resolver for interp wide and namespace specific resolvers
- added possibility to escape the call of commands starting
   with a dot from method bodies by prefixing with a second dot.
 
- make sure to have an xotcl frame pushed, when byte-code-compiler
   is invoked. This is necessary for providing the context for 
   dotCmd resolvers

- use uplevel in slot add/delete to evalute in calling namespace
   (for not fully qualified object names)
- determine namespace in test method "?" to allow its execution
   in an "namespace eval"
- added regression tests


- NsDotVarResolver: don't create variables on CMETHOD frames
   when their names do not start with a "."

- general overhaul of XOTcl_PushFrame()XOTcl_PopFrame():
   new functions: 
     * XOTcl_PushFrameCsc()/XOTcl_PopFrameCsc(): for CMETHOD fames
     * XOTcl_PushFrameObj()/XOTcl_PopFrameObj(): for OBJECT frames
       (objscope)

- preallocate obj->vartable in XOTcl_PushFrameObj() to 
   avoid situations where to non-existing vartable is created
   on demand at different places (e.g. on stack and in 
   var resolver)

- caller of convertToRelationtype(): make sure that last argument
   keeping the result is large enough to held pointer (in case of
   sizeof(void) != sizeof(int)

- Serializer: include ObjectSystemSerializer in "Serializer all"
- Serializer: use class-mixin in dependency order
- Serializer: add appropriate "::xotcl::use xotcl1|xotcl2"
- Serializer: fix syntax in exportMethods
- Serializer: provide limited support for exporting aliases for xotcl1 objects

- add calltype to tcl85showStack

- keep orignial objc/objc in call stack context such that
   next/self args works with canonical args (allow e.g. 
   different order of nonpos args in a next)
- make naming in xotcl.c more consistent
- ensure to return empty, when "info callable -which" fails
- extend regression test

- exithandler is different in xotcl2 -> comment, check openacs
- ensure relation filter/instfilter etc. mit guards

- extended migration guide
- defined eval in predefined via "-nonleaf", used at various places
- added "info mixinof ?-scope all|object|class? ?pattern?", dropped
   "object-mixin-of" and "class-mixin-on" from registerd method
- extended regression test 
- xotcl1: make "-volatile" invoked via unknown behave correctly

- provide minimal xotcl2 compatibility
- added non positional parameter "type" to "get_parameter"
- removed "required" from parameters, which is in XOTcl 1 just a comment
- minor cleanup

- experimental change of resolver name prefix char from dot to single colon

- making methodDefinitions NULL terminated
- passing optional arg to user-defined argument converter
- refuse to redefine type converters for a single parameter
- adding regression test for parameters

    - added instance variable arg for interfacing with parameter
      interface. "arg" acts like a clientdata for type converter
    - added multiple parameter options handling to method "parameter"
       to obtain similar functionality from object parameters
       as from method parameters
    - added conveniance method "??" to test to indicated test
      that should fail with an error
    - added severy type converters to achieve same
       object type checking as in ::xotcl::is
       (these are currently in the regression test, should move
       finally into predefined.xotcl)
    - extended regression test

- new function ::xotcl::parameterFromSlot (used in argument checker as  well)
- use ::xotcl::forward in Slot constructor (instead of dispatch)
- checking methods on slots for single- and multivalues slots
   (can be optimized)
- extended regression test

- don't run multiple queries in "??"
- fixed last changes to regression test as usual

- added "multivalued" to parameter options
- made error message produced by XOTclObjErrType look like Tcl's error
   messages
- extended regression test
- test utility: changed "?" to return error msg in case of error

- checking multivalued types in "-parameters" by using argument
  checker
- some cleanup
- extend regression test

valuecheck.001:	  5.27 mms, ::xotcl::valuecheck object o1
valuecheck.002: ::xotcl::valuecheck object 1 ok
valuecheck.003:	  3.06 mms, ::xotcl::is o1 object

- new cmd "::xotcl::valuecheck <valueConstraints> <value>"
  where "valueConstraints" is whatever is allowed in e.g. parameters 
  (including user defined types)
- new Tcl_ObjType "xotclParam"

- parameterFromSlot returns now pair object-param & method-param
- define dissallowed parameter options for object parameter, method
  parameter and valuecheck command
- make canonical table of parameter options (currently in
  tests/parameter.xotcl)
- extend regression test
- systematic checking, what valueconstraints should be allowed/not
   allowed in valuecheck

- pass arg from objectparameter as first argument to objparms
   (similiar to client data)

- support for parameter spec of form "type=XXX" to denote that
   the parameter must be an object of the specified type (class;
   directly or indirectly)
- new built-in converter: convertToObjectOfType()
- keep parameterObj (source for conversion to XOTclParam) 
   for making introspection less work. However, this is 
   only used for XOTclParams generated via ParamParse().
- extending regression test

- name XOTclObjects always "object" instead of "obj" to avoid 
   potential confusion with Tcl_Objs

- remove unneeded push and pop operations in ListChildren() and
   ObjectHasChildren() 

- allow syntax "object,type=::SomeClass" and "class,type=::SomeMetaClass"
   (currently identical, we should as well check for class/meta-class
   in case of "class,type=SomeClass")

- define everything concerning basic slot setup in a single 
   "namespace eval ::xotcl {...}"
- undefine ::xotcl::createBootstrapAttributeSlots after this block
- fix default DefaultSuperClass() with isMeta==1 in cases, 
   where we are already at the root meta class
- use "-parameter" in xotcl1 instead of  createBootstrapAttributeSlots

- cleanup of legacy stuff in slot management.
   * merged InfoSlot and InterceptorSlot into RelationSlot
   * get rid of legacy "mixin set ...." command
- renamed "parameterSlot" into "methodParameterSlot" to avoid 
   potential confusions

- refactor Slot class hierarchie
- new methods in ObjectParameterSlot "toParameterSyntax" and
  "createFromParameterSyntax"
- some more cleanup
- removed legacy syntax for "-parmeters"

- moved slot optimizer from ::xotcl::ObjectParameterSlot::Optimizer to
  ::xotcl::Attribute::Optimizer

- support for all string constraints provided by "string is ... $value"
  in object and method parameters ("alum", "alpha", ..., "xdigit"). 
  Technically, these types are tclobjs (using converter convertToTclobj)
  having pParm->converterArg set to the constraints.
- extended regression test

- get rid of convertToObjectOfType(), make convertToClass() and 
  converterToObject() more general, accepting type constraints

- predefined.xotcl: move toParameterSyntax and objectparameter to 
  a position, where basic slot definitions are provided
- fixed default value setting in bootstrap code
- provide more precise error message in converter,
  when object type are used
- extend regression test 

- added error message when substdefault is specified without a default value
- extend regression test 

- added parameter option slot= to pass slotobj to a certain parameter
- use slot option to keep relation between parameter and slot
- object parameter dispatch type checker on slot objects
- allow transformation via user-defined converter (can be use to 
  standardize parameter values)
  experimental implementation, refcounting has to be looked
  in detail, maybe we need a different interface for the converters

- provide checker-methods for
   -> objectParameter
   -> methodParameter
- slotobject specific checker-methods

- treat currently unknown converters in valuecheckcmd as error
- fix the regression test from the last changes

- added argument for converter to return the converted tcl_obj, which
  should be passed on (currently only used for viaCmd); this way,
  we could remove the kludge of querying the converter after the conversion
  for special handling.

- handle multivalued + values converted viaCmd converter the new
  output list is only built when needed via ArgumentCheckHelper()

- fix counter initialization in ::xotcl::importvar
- register alternate "new" method in "contains" for xotcl2 and
  (if available) for xotcl1 objects

- provide error message for cases, where parameter options are not
  allowed (or ignored)

- move methodParameter checkers for "mixin", "baseclass" and "metaclass"
  to predefined.
- deactivated checkMethods in gentclAPI.decls and in xotcl.c

- renamed "::xotcl::is ... mixin ..." to "::xotcl::is ... hasmixin ..."
  (effects parametertypes as well)

- made error messages for failed conversions more consistent
  (note that tcl does not provide the parameter name in the error message,
  but user-defined converters do)

- fixed valuecheck in connection with modifying converters
- extended regression test

- fixed compilation for tcl 8.6b1

- Allowed parameter specification for setters.
  One can define now a setter with constraints like e.g.
     ::xotcl::setter o a:integer
  to define a setter named "a" for object "o" which
  has to be integer.
- Extended regression test
- Followed naming conventions for several structures

- setterCmd(): Do not allow methodNames start with "-"
- setterCmd(): Do not allow defaults for setters
- extend regression test

- removed duplciate error message in "hasmixin" converter
- fixed refcounting in converting user-types in case of errors
- extended regression test

- added a "-nocomplain" option to ::xotcl::valuecheck
- changed semantic of ::xotcl::valuecheck: per default,
  valuecheck raises an error or returns true. 
  If "-nocomplain" is used, valuecheck returns
  0 or 1 like implemented befor this change
- extended regression test

- added parameter "incremental" to ::xotcl::Attribute:
  when set, one can use "object paramname add|delete $value" etc.
- use setters with parameter constraints in slot optimizer
- as a consequence, setting attributes via slot names is about
  twice as fast as before, when parameter constraints are used.
- extended regression test

- fixed returned method name when setter was used on objects
- reduce verbosity

- implemented "info method definition|parameter|args $name" for 
  settercmds (with parameter constraints)
- extended regression test

- fixed result resetting for user defined converters

- ::xotcl::valuecheck: moved "-nocomplain" to first position
  (similar to e.g. unset)

- experimental: allow to shadow built-in types provided that
  a) slot= is specified explicitely, and
  b) the specified slot is not the default slot.
  This should guarantee that we do not interfere with 
  the predefined converters for the c-level interface.
- incremented ref count on results of all-level converter
- extended regression test

- new methods for MetaSlot to factor out common code:
   + slotName (to ease name-construction, care about 
     slot container)
   + createFromParameterSyntax: essentially move from 
     ::xotcl::Attribute to the meta class
- test environment: make sure to avoid confusions between
  the "namespace" method and command

- added a version of the "attribute" method to predefined

- removed the following classes and methods
     ::xotcl::Attribute->check_single_value
     ::xotcl::Attribute->check_multiple_values 
     ::xotcl::Attribute->mk_type_checker
     class ::xotcl::Attribute::Nocheck

- centralize fetching of tcl-obj-types in xotcl_init

- support for method modifier "object", "protected" and "public"
  for method "attribute". One can use now e.g.
  
     Class create C {
       :attribute a
       :public attribute b
       :protected attribute c

       :object attribute A
       :public object attribute B
       :protected object attribute C
    }

  "protected" and "public" refers to the registered accessor functions

- experimental checking function ::xotcl::is2 implemented, which generalizes
  between ::xotcl::is and ::xotcl::valuecheck (it is a valuecheck -nocomplain 
  with an ::xotcl::is syntax and switched arguments)

- Unified on c-level "info class-mixin-of" and "info object-mixin-of"
  to "info mixinof ?-scope all|object|class? ?-closure? ?pattern?
  The former "info class-mixin-of" 
  is now "info mixinof -scope class"
- adapted xotcl1 layer for this change
- extended experimental ::xotcl::is2 to handle flags -type and -hasmixin
    ::xotcl::is2 <obj> object ?-type <type>? ?-hasmixin <class>?

- renamed old "xotcl::is" -> "xotcl::objectproperty"
- renamed old "xotcl::is2" -> "xotcl::is"
- we have now is tests for objects in ::xotcl::objectproperty
    ::xotcl::objectproperty $obj object
    ::xotcl::objectproperty $obj class
    ::xotcl::objectproperty $obj baseclass
    ::xotcl::objectproperty $obj metaclass
    ::xotcl::objectproperty $obj type XXXX
    ::xotcl::objectproperty $obj hasmixin XXXX

- "::xotcl::is" is the higher level command, 
  supporting string contstraints "e.g. upper", user defined type checkers
  and as well object properties (every parameter type supported for object
  and method paameter). Examples:
    ::xotcl::is $obj object ?-type $type? ?-hasmixin $mixin?
    ::xotcl::is $cl class ?-type $type? ?-hasmixin $mixin?
    ::xotcl::is obj metaclass
    ::xotcl::is $num integer
    ::xotcl::is $string upper

- implemented 2nd level reference counting for paramObjType

- defined "info is" as alias of "::xotcl::objectproperty"

- renamed ::xotcl::valuecheck -> ::xotcl::parametercheck
- replaced in predefined occurances of ::xotcl::is by ::xotcl::objectproperty

- fixed namespace handling on stack for objects with namespaces
  (before, it was possible that a variable was created in 
  an object's namespace without -objscope)
- as a consequence, ListChildren() had to be adjused, since
  it depended on the previous namespace handling on the stack
- fixed object sesolving in NsDotVarResolver()
  (before, it was possible that NsDotVarResolver could
  create variables in the wrong namespace)
- simplified NsDotVarResolver()
- more cleanup in name resolver
    * USE_DOT is gone
    * XOTclDotDotCmd() removed
    * improved performance of InterpCompiledDotVarResolver()
    * made LookupVarFromTable() obsolete and removed it 
    * renamed DotVarResolver() and friends to ColonVarResolver() etc.
- extended regression test

- call XOTclObject always "object" instead of "obj"

- initcmd: use for initcmds CMETHOD frames instead of OBJECT stack frames
- initcmd: skip parent-stack frame's objscope for initcmd
- changed hash-based lookup of children into a cmd-based lookup
- extended regression test

- cleanup in stack handlers (naming, arguments)

- XOTclCallStackFindLastInvocation(): return last scripted invocation
- use xotcl1 in webserver test to make rull regression test working
- make xotcl::use silent

- added option "-nonleaf" for method alias 
- added introspection (for "info method definition") for "alias ... -nonleaf ..."

- removed obsolete ::xotcl::configure option "cacheinterface"

- removed XOTclCreateClass() and XOTclDeleteClass();
  both are identical with XOTclCreateObject() and XOTclDeleteObject()

- renaming of instance variable specific primitiva for more
  constistency with ::xotcl::importvar:

    ::xotcl::exists -> ::xotcl::existsvar
    ::xotcl::setinstvar -> ::xotcl::setvar

- requireNameSpace: 
   * fix potental crash in requireNameSpace in objscoped methods
     by swapping all vartable references in objscopes on stack
     to the vartable in the namespace, when it is created
- extending regression test   

- working towards KEEP_VARS_IN_CMETHOD_FRAME

- enable compilation with assertion turned on (via NDEBUG)
- fix potentially uninitialized flags for ArgumentCheck()
- some further cleanup, tested with 32 bit under Mac OS X 10.6

- removed obsolete generic/xotclAppInit.c
- changed loading method in xotclsh from Xotcl_Init() to Tcl_PkgRequire()

- updating tcl.m4 to the actual version (TEA 3.7)
- minor cleanup (varresolution test and comment)

- defined "xotcl::current" as synonym for "::xotcl::self"
- new options for ::xotcl::current
   current object == current
   current method == current proc
   current callingmethod == current callingproc
- "self proc" and friends are for backward compatibility for xotcl1, 
  "current method" and friends are for xotcl2
- namespace exported "::xotcl::current"

- use "::xotcl::current" instead of "xotcl::self" in predefined 

- use "CONST char *" in generated interface and below
- further cleanup using "CONST char *"

- remove dependency from xotcl1 in handling of forwarders in method "copy"
- further cleanup using "CONST char *", improving on naming conventions

- added an experimental "info frame" handler, which appends "object" and
  "class" pairs

- fixed wrong name for per-object filter in RelationSlot
- fixed condition in filter-incovation to top-level frames
- added frametype to information returned by "info frame"
- change frametype in "info frame" form bitpattern to symbolic names
- use a more recent version of unix/tclAppInit.c
- fix syntax in predefined
- let serializer call "init" of attributes, even if it is protected

- fixing "-parameter" with empty content
- more variable naming cleanup
- fix line breaking in serializer for "exportedObjects"

- call c-implemented methods directly, when this is safe
  (implemented for XOTE_ALLOC, XOTE_CLEANUP, XOTE_CONFIGURE, 
  XOTE_CREATE, XOTE_DEALLOC); this improves create/destroy
  speed by up to 15%
- allocate namespaces for objects less eager
- make nameing more consistent 
  (change newObj into newObject when variable is an xotcl object)

- get rid of misleading RCS: lines
- passing --prefix to subdirs
- regenerated configure files

- added stefan's expat library linking extension

- define RecreateObject() for internal call via direct invocation
- doCleanup is just called by recreate; merge it into 
  XOTclCRecreateMethod. 
  Is method cleanup necessary? is recreate not sufficient? 
  Delete "cleanup" from internally called methods in next, 
  keep it for compatibility in XOTcl

- make XOTcl_FrameDecls transparent (use variable declarations 
  in place instead of the macro)
- fix variable shadowing bug in error handling 
  (could cause crashes when initcmd lead to errors)

- call all truely essential methods directly if possible
  (Object.destroy, Class.alloc, Class.dealloc, Class.create)
  The basics of XOTcl can work now also in cases, 
  when these are not defined as methods.

- handling OBJECT-frames in CallStackPopAll() 
  (for handling exit with active stack frames)

- deactivate filters in finialize
- new method InvokeMethodObj() to replace finally CanInvokeDirectly()

- remove some more obsolete RCS Ids
- call Tcl_Objs "Obj", not "Object"

- replace all CanInvokeDirectly() by InvokeMethodObj()

- block call-stack deletes during XOTCL_EXITHANDLER_ON_SOFT_DESTROY;
  however, this seems to create a small leak during exit 
  (revant for threads); so currently, debug still turned on

- fix last issue, with freeing objects, when exit happens from
  higher stack frames

- first part of allowing arbitrary named internally called methods.
- move refcount fixing logic for exit from higher stackframes to new function: finalObjectDeletion()

- created new functions:
     ObjectSystemFree(), ObjectSystemAdd(), ObjectSystemsCheckSystemMethod(),
     ObjectSystemsCleanup(), GetObjectSystem(), CallDirectly()
  for better separation of systems. We keep track which essential system
  methods are defined and which which methods are potentially overloaded.
  
- replaced hard-coded method calls for XOTE_DEFAULTMETHOD, XOTE_INIT,
  XOTE_OBJECTPARAMETER with MethodObj()

- renamed MethodObj() to XOTclMethodObj() (it is an exported symbol)
- eliminated XOTE_MOVE
- eliminated XOTE_RESIDUALARGS
- eliminated XOTE_UNKNOWN
- eliminated XOTE___UNKNOWN
- renamed __unknown to requireobject

- provide prefix for internally called methods to distinguish between 
  methods called on objects or classes

- handling of minimal object systems. For example, the
  following three command create an object system around
  ::object and ::class ...

   ::xotcl::createobjectsystem ::object ::class
   ::xotcl::alias ::class  + ::xotcl::cmd::Class::create
   ::xotcl::alias ::object - ::xotcl::cmd::Object::destroy

  ... where no internal message dispatch are used (e.g. no
  constructor "init", and where just two methods ("+" and "-")
  are used to create and destroy objects
- extended regression test

- get rid of reminder of tcl 8.4 compatiblity and remove range of
  ifdefs, such as PRE85, FORWARD_COMPATIBLE, TCL85STACK, 
  CANONICAL_ARGS, USE_COMPILED_VAR_RESOLVER

- rename CallStackPush() to CscInit()
- rename CallStackPop() to CscFinish()

- remove "buffer" from compiled var structures
- remove xotcl1 dependency from aol-tcl
- removed conditional var table creation by assertion
- make clean compile with assertions turned on

- xotcl 1.6.6: make sure to load always xotcl 1 versions when needed
- xotcl 1.6.6: make compilation clean when compiled with assertions on
- xotcl 1.6.6: more cases for the regression test, where we want to load xotcl1 not 2
- xotcl 1.6.6: one more cases for the packaging, where we want to load xotcl1 not 2

- replace hash-lookup in namespace in ObjectHasChildren() by pointer lookup 
  to reduce namespace dependency.
- fix memcopy size

- add check for optional match arguments in tcl stub generator
- fix potential memory leaks
  all "definitely losts" from valgrind (except 24 bytes from Tcl_PkgRequire) gone

- fix a potential ordering problem with cyclic dependencies created by
  namespace import commands

- Handle cases, where objects/classes are created with the name
  of preexiting namespaces. Cases, where pre-exisitng namespaces
  contained classes/objects lead to problems, since xotcl did not
  see the object/classes of the pre-exiting namespace as children
  of the new object/class.

- Allow to speficy last arg of objectparameter to replace scripted init
  block. The redefinition of objectparameter allows us to specify whether
  no/some/classical/altered/additional arguments should be allowed during
  object creation


- Naming

     namespaces: 
       ::next
       ::next-core

     file exension:
       options:
          .tcl
          .xotcl
          .next
          .nxt

    file names:
       composite words with - instead of capitalization

    package names
      next::pkgname
      next::doc-tools   # use - instead of _ or capitalization

    Classes
      use first name capitalized to distinguish from objects

    Objects
      typically, first charaction small

- next::core as namespace name not perfect for adressing variables:
  set ::xotcl::version ${::next-core::version}
  set ::xotcl::patchlevel ${::next-core::patchlevel}

do we need:
  checkMethod  "::next::core::cmd::ParameterType"

- namespace changes:
  mostly due to marketing reasons, the naming of the top-level namespace 
  changed from "xotcl2" to "next".
  reasons: xotcl is hard to pronounce for beginners, sounds like "exotic" 
  (but who wants to program in an exotic language) has a certain stigma
  of strange namings (e.g. "instproc"), is seen as a precursor of tcloo,
  the top-level namespace ::xotcl2:: is not very nice either, the separation
  of framework and language is not clear.
  
  We have now: 
    ::next (the new object system, former ::xotcl2)
    ::next::core (framework, primitives)
    ::xotcl (former xotcl1)

- "::xotcl::use" no longer needed, use Tcl standard mechanisms instead
  (e.g. "package req next"; "package req XOTcl", "namespace import ::next*")

- [self next] returns 
      instead of "proc" and "instproc" => "method"
      instead of "parametercmd" and "instparametercmd" => "setter"
      instead of "instforward" => "forward"
      instead of "instcmd" => "cmd"
   prefixed with the modifier "object" when needed
- [self filterreg] returns
      instead of "instforward" => "forward"
   prefixed with the modifier "object" when needed

-  We have now: 
    ::nx (the new object system, former ::xotcl2)
    ::nx::core (framework, primitives)
    ::xotcl (former xotcl1)

- naming next scripting framework
   ::nx::core::existsvar  <==> nx::var exists
   ::nx::core::importvar  <==> nx::var import
   ::nx::core::setvar     <==> nx::var set

- copied infoObjectMethod and infoClassMethod decls as comments
  to xotcl.c, aligned order of method definitions

- removed "[o exists varname]" from next scripting language
- reanimated "info vars" to show locals in eval method
- provide error messages for [objectproperty ... type ...]
- replace 0 by NULL in calls to GetClassFromObj()
- extended regression test

- use size_t where appropriate
- added notnull annotations

- Implemented "Class info parameter" in Tcl, aliases for xotcl.
  Now both definition of parameters and setting of __parameter are
  in Tcl.

- get rid of ":::xotcl::use"
- renamed tests based on next from .xotcl to .tcl
- extended regression tests
- use namespace ::nx::test instead of ::xotcl::test
- use namespace ::nx::serializer instead of ::xotcl::serializer

- rename xotcl1.xotcl to xotcl.tcl
- some cleanup (version variables, etc.) in xotcl.tcl

- renamed tests/method-modifiers.xotcl to tests/method-modifiers.tcl
- changed "require xotcl::test" to "... next::test"

- changed "require next" to "... nx"
- changed "require next::test" to "... nx::test"
- changed "require next::doc" to "... nx::doc"

- added missing ./tests/var-access.tcl to git
- added section about registering filters and mixin to migration guide
- moved and transformed to next tests/mixinoftest.xotcl -> tests/mixinoftest.tcl
- moved and transformed to next tests/object-system.xotcl -> tests/object-system.tcl
- changed pkgIndex reference for .so file from next ot nx

- changed stubs from xotcl to nx
- first part of openacs updates

- changed "Serializer.xotcl" to "serializer.tcl" 
  (package name from xotcl::serializer to nx::serializer)
- added stub for xotcl::serializer for backward compatibility
- changed serializer to new namespaces
- renamed xotcl.tcl to xotcl2.tcl
- added proc finalize to xotcl2.tcl

- renamed mk_predefined.xotcl -> mk_predefined.tcl
- renamed predefined.xotcl -> predefined.tcl
- additional subcommand "info method parametersyntax <methodname>"
  returns parameters in a syntax similar to the tcl man pages
- added ability to pass syntax for forwarded methods 
  via set ::nx::core::signature(::nx::Object-method-forward) 
  (experimental)
- fixed documentation system to work with actual version 
- added undocumented methods for quality control in documentation
- added checks for documented, but unavailable methods in documentation
- added comparison of documented parameters vs. actual parameters in documentation

- added @properties and has_property to the documentation classes.
  Current primary purpose: define, which methods are internally-called 
- added internally-called to the method object template

- added redefine-protected to the object template
- added methodtype to object template
- some documentation updates
- some indentation/spacing improvements on xotcl.c
- let ".... info method .... METHOD" return values,
  when METHOD contains namespace prefix. This can be 
  used to obtain the parmeter definitions from nx::core
- get forward definition from the original command

- created own directory structure xotcl under library
  containing doc, tests, apps, lib etc. and moved
  obvious content here.
- adjusted regression test and old documentation 
  system to work with new structure

old structure
  xotcl
    apps 
      actiweb
      comm
      persistence
      scripts
      utils
      xml
    config
    doc
    library
      lib
      comm
      patterns
      rdf
      registry
      serialize
      store 
      xml
    man
    tests
    unix
    win

new structure
  nx
    config
    doc
    library
      lib
      serialize
      xotcl
         apps
            actiweb
            comm
            persistence
            scripts
            utils
            xml
         doc
         library
           comm
           lib
           patterns
           rdf
           registry
           store 
           xml
         tests
    man
    tests
    unix
    win

- moved some more xotcl specfic tests to library/xotcl
- transformed forwardtest from xotcl to next

- moved slottest to library/xotcl
- added new Makefile target test-xotcl
- finished test migration for now
- deactivated __next for now

- iterated through doc.tcl-TODOs
- changed CheckVarName to allow array names like e.g. a(::b)
- extended regression test
- fixed serializer to handle subobjects of explicitely exported objects

- xotcl.c: 
  * new function GetObjectFromNsName() to obtail object or class
    from a fully qualified namespace name used in method handles (such as e.g.
    ::nx::core::classes::X)
  * new function MethodHandleObj() to return a tcl_obj containing the methodhandle
  * removed obsolete method getFullProcQualifier()
  * info methods obtain now object and/or class from fully qualified method 
    names (method handles) if possible
  * return message handles in "current next", "current filterreg" and
    "... info filter ... -order", which can be used in "info method .... "
    for obtaining more details.
  * change all occurrances of "self" in next regression tests to current.
- xotcl2.tcl
  * implemented "self" as a proc to provide extensibility and 
    full backward compatibilty; this opens opportunity 
    to replace now e.g. "self proc" by "current method", etc.
  * provide full compatibility for "self next", "self filterreg" and 
    "... info filter ... -order", returning old-style multiword method handles
    (such as e.g. "::C instproc foo")
- changed "next" to current in documentation framework and templates

- updated migration guide, added section for callstack introspection
- updated serializer for new names

- Introduced $xotcl_target_doc_dir for generated xotcl documentation.
  Generate xotcl documentation in this directory.
- moved more (hopefully all) xotcl doc components into library/xotcl/doc
  
- added interp alias "nx::self" to "nx::core::current method"
- changed "current proc" into "current method" in scripts and tests

- file extension for next scripting .tcl DONE
- changed ::nx::core to ::nsf

- made the "next scripting laguage" a own, loadable tcl package
  (currently named nx, name is subject of change)
- predefined.tcl is now pretty minimal.

- updated to TEA 3.8
- moved all exports of nsf to predefined.tcl
- made imports in xotcl2 and nx explicit

- adjusted path in documentation system for nx/nx.tcl

- Implemented "interp alias" support for classes.
  In some cases. interp-aliased classes worked already
  without additional code, but e.g. in "... -superclass C ..." 
  it failed. Without this feature, one could not reuse a
  class with a different namespace, unless it was explicitely
  "namespace exported" in the source. The problem was the 
  implementation of "::nx::Attribute", which should not be
  exported in nx (most people do a "namespace import ::nx::*")
  because there is no need to do so, but ::xotcl::Attribute 
  should reuse it - without subclassing). .... However,
  we still seem to have a problem, when the interp-aliased
  Class is exported and imported to a different namespace.

- TODO: info methods shows finally "slots" and "slot". Wanted? Actually no.
- removed definition of slots from nx, changed regression tests
  examples from slots to ::attribute
  
- replaced several occurrences of "eval" in nx.tcl and xotcl2.tcl

- implemented parameter option "allowempty"
- extended regression test

- commented out XOTCL_CMD_NOT_FOUND, since it seems to be obsolete by now
- extended regression test to avoid CallDirectly on dealloc (the last place, 
  where XOTCL_CMD_NOT_FOUND was used)

- implemented return value checker (for scripted and c-implemented methods)
- additional methodproperty returns (for registering a return value checker)
- support for incrementally adding stuff to paramDefs (such as slotobj or return value)
- new c-function ParamDefsNew()
- added regression test for return value checker

- upgraded to TEA 3.9
- nsf: provided scripted support for "require/provide methods"
- nx: new method ":require namespace" ":require method" "require object method"
- added regression test method-require
- removed requireNamespace from nx.tcl (still exists in xotcl)
- replaced "requireNamespace" by "require namespace" in nx regression tests 
- updated migration guide

- removed method "autoname" from nx.tcl
- added "method require autoname"
- added "method require exists"

- removed method "filtersearch" from nx.tcl
- added "obj info method filter methodName" to nx
- updated xotcl2 to use new filtersearch imprementation
- updated migration guide


- renamed "info method name ..." into "info method handle ...", 
  since it returned already the handle
- renamed ListMethodName() to ListMethodHandle()
- changed output of "info callable -which ..." from definition to method handle
- renamed "info callable -which ..." into "info callable method ..."
- updated regression test to reflect the changes

- changed "info method filter ...." into "info callable filter ..."
- fixed "o info callable method" in some cases with mixins
- extended regression test
- updated migration guide

- made Class.info, Class.mixin, Class.filter robust against per-object 
  mixins from meta-classes
- extended regression test

- checked saftey of Class.method, Class.alias, Class.setter, Class.forward 
- made Class.filterguard, Class.mixinguard, Class.attribute 
  robust against per-object mixins from meta-classes
- fixed mixin/filter delete methods with guarded operations
- extended regression test
- all methods defined on both, Object and Class are now safe in respect
  to per-object mixins with meta-classes

- make slot optimizer more robust
- removed methods object-mixin and object-filter from the interface.
  (Caused some duplication of logic in the method "object")
_ added option noforwarder to RelationSlots
- some minor cleanup

- removed XOTCL_METHODTYPE_OBJECT from XOTCL_METHODTYPE_BUILTIN
- default methodtype returns now everything, which is a true method
  (except objects)
- methodtype -all includes objects
- the object "slot" does not appear now in the method listing per default
  for classes having slots

- changed __invalidateobjectparameter from a method of class
  to framework primitiv ::nsf::invalidateobjectparameter

- experimental method-property "class-only": this allows to
  make object save against per-object mixins of meta-classes.
  the flag is only used in the mixin-resolver
- used for the time being in nx only for Class.info, 
  but would apply as well for methods defined on both Object and Class.

- use now class-only for all methods methods of meta-classes. 
  Methods of meta-classes are intended to be applied on classes,
  one should not change this via per-object mixins.
- respect class-only in "info callable methods|method"
- extended regression test
- provided relation name "object-filter" to slot filter.

- replaced "obj|cls filterguard name cond" by "obj|cls filter guard name cond"
- replaced "obj|cls info filterguard name" by "obj|cls info filter -guard name"
- replaced "cls object info filterguard name" by "cls object info filter -guard name"
- removed XOTclObjInfoFilterguardMethod() 
- removed XOTclClassInfoFilterguardMethod() 
- extended regression test
- updated migration guide

- replaced "obj|cls mixinguard name cond" by "obj|cls mixin guard name cond"
- replaced "obj|cls info mixinguard name" by "obj|cls info mixin -guard name"
- replaced "cls object info mixinguard name" by "cls object info mixin -guard name"
- removed XOTclObjInfoMixinguardMethod() 
- removed XOTclClassInfoMixinguardMethod() 
- extended regression test
- updated migration guide

- deactivated "abstract"

- implemented experimental delegating version of "object as method"
  that keeps the original self.

- changed requireNamespace to "require namespace" in lib/make.tcl
- use prefix sub= for methods invoked on "object as method"
- change further instances of "my connection" to "[self]::connection" in xo*comm*

- implemented "object-methods-only" as alternative for prefix for 
  invoke "object as a method"
- added option "-returns" to Object.method

- added option "-returns" to Class.method
- added subcmd to method/object method in nx
- delete class methods in freeAllXOTclObjectsAndClasses() explicitly
  to handle potential double-deletes
- extended regression test for subcmds

- started new interface bundles, objectInfoMethod and classInfoMethod
  for using new infrastructure
- added object info methods filterguard, filtermethods, vars to objectInfoMethod
- added class info methods filterguard, filtermethods to classInfoMethod
- built a temporary solution for dispatcher "filter", since forward mangles args
- nx: we have now "obj info filter guard name" instead of "obj info filter -guard name"
- nx: we have now "obj info filter methods ...." instead of "obj info filter ...."

- added object info methods mixinguard, mixinclasses to objectInfoMethod
- added class info methods mixinguard, mixinclasses to classInfoMethod
- built a temporary solution for dispatcher "mixin", since forward mangles args
- nx: we have now "obj info mixin guard name" instead of "obj info filter -guard name"
- nx: we have now "obj info mixin classes ...." instead of "obj info filter ...."
- updated migration guide

- changed info to new interface (partly done for nx, migration for xotcl to be done)
- fixed "info methods" and added "-methodtype all" for setting class-only
- regression test works now until first XOTcl reference

- Changed handling of "child objects": now, they are shown by default.
- At the same time, the subobject "slot" was made protected to avoid
  its listing per default in "info methods"
- unified slot parent-object creation handling
- changed XOTcl info to new interface

- reanimated 5 tests in xotcl/tests/testx.xotcl
- reanimated 5 tests in tests/destroytest.tcl
- changed resolve_method_path to __resolve_method_path and made it protected

- fix requiredness of last argument in parametercheck
- return "object" for "info method type ...." when method is an object.
- return valid creation command in "info method definition ...." 
  when method is an object.
- extend regression test

- eliminated "info classparent" and "info classchildren"
- added tests to xotcl/tests/testx.xotcl to assure equivalence

- backported fix for xotcl 1.6.6 reported by kristoffer lawson,
  which helps just partly here
- extended regression test
- added class ::nx::EnsembleObject

- factored out DispatchUnknownMethod()
- added flag XOTCL_CM_NO_OBJECT_METHOD to ObjectDispatch() and friends
- added tests/subcmd.tcl
- added methods "defaultmethod" and "unknown" to ::nx::EnsembleObject
  (together with a set of helper methods to provide user-friendly information)
- scripted "info slotobjects" to return only objects of class ::nx::Slot
- fixed test with UnknownClass in xotcl/tests/testx.xotcl

- fixed silent (scripted) unknown handler.
- reavtivated corresponding regression test
- extended regression tests (call unknown method 
  with filter with and without unknown handlers)
- make sure to test next to non-existing shadowed 
  method in connections with filters and unknown handlers

- documented incompatiblity of object-invocation via method
  interface (due to ensemble objects) in migration guide

- implemented XOTclObjInfoHasMixinMethod() and XOTclObjInfoHasTypeMethod()
- renamed "$obj info hasnamespace" to "$obj info has namespace"
- added "$obj info has mixin $class"
- added "$obj info has type $class"
- extended regression test for parametercheck/objectproperty/is
- updated interface definitions for info methods, sort these alphabetically

- removed "objectproperty .... hasmixin"
- removed "nsf::is ... -hasmixin ...."
- removed type-converter "type=hasmixin"
- adoped emulation layer in xotcl2 accordingly 
- added two tests for "info has mixin" to regression tests

- removed "objectproperty .... type"
- renamed isSubType() to IsSubType()
- adoped emulation layer in xotcl2 accordingly 
- added two tests for "info has type" to regression tests

- removed "nsf::is ... -type ...."
- adoped emulation layer in xotcl2 accordingly 
- extended regression test

- introduced ::nsf::isobject
- replaced in all scripts "::nsf::objectproperty ... object" by isobject

- removed "infoObjectMethod" and "infoClassMethod" 
- replaced ::nsf::cmd::ClassInfo2 by ::nsf::cmd::ClassInfo
- replaced ::nsf::cmd::ObjectInfo2 by ::nsf::cmd::ObjectInfo

- changed argument order on objectproperty to make it conformant with Tcl conventions
- updated migration guide

- changed argument order on nsf::is to make it conformant with Tcl conventions
- removed objectproperty, replaced it by ::nsf::is
- move functionality of objectproperty to make "obj info is ..." more efficient

- report "invalid parameter" in nsf::is and parametercheck, even when
  no-complain is used.

- fixed reference counting problem with user-defined converters

- added flag -complain to ::nsf::is
- removed ::nsf::parametercheck

- new parameter option "convert" to signal that an application
  specific parameter checker should convert the value 
  (takes the result of the methods as conversion result)
- added parameters for slots "allowemtpy" and "convert"
- extended regression test
- added handling of parameter options "allowemtpy" and "convert" 
  in createFromParameterSyntax

- renamed slot attribute "noforwarder" to "nosetter"
- method parameter can now use option "nosetter" to allow
  object parameterization witout providing a setter method
  (example: "Class create C -parameter {x:integer,nosetter}")
- extended regression test to include "nosetter"

- new flag for configure: "nx::configure checkresult on|off"
- turn off result-checking for non-converters, when checking is off
  (per default, it is on)
- extended regressi

- new flag for configure: "nx::configure checkarguments on|off"
- turn off argument-checking for non-converters, when checking is off
  (per default, it is on)
- extended regression test for optional argument checking

- reflected changes in /is/objectproperty/info has/info is/ in migration guide
- changed stub naming from "[Nn][Xx]*" to nsf (for next scripting framework) 
- checked "my" vs. "nsf::dispatch" in nx.tcl and xotcl2.tcl
- "child objects" are showed per default in "info methods"

- big renaming orgy (BRO):
  - changed filenames starting to "xotcl" into filename starting with "nsf"
  - adoped Makefile insfrastructure accordingly
- removed compile flag XOTCL_METADATA and generic/xotclMetaData.c
- changed compile flag PROFILE into NSF_PROFILE

- BRO continues:
  - changed all XOTCL_ into NSF_
  - changed all XOTCLINLINE into NSF_INLINE
  - changed all XOTCLOBJ_TRACE into NSFOBJ_TRACE
  - changed all XOTcl_ into Nsf_
  - changed all XOTcl([A-Z]) into Nsf\1
  - changed all xotcl into nsf

  - changed changeClass into ChangeClass
  - changed XOTclpGetObject into GetObjectFromString
  - changed XOTclpGetClass into GetClassFromString
  - changed callDestroyMethod into DispatchDestroyMethod

- BRO continues:
  - overworked function prototype definitions in nsf.c
  - renamed some static definitions on the way to follow
    Tcl conventions (start with a capital character)

- added flag "-type" to NsfObjInfoChildrenMethod
- added flag "-type" to NsfObjInfoSlotObjectsMethod
- removed dummy argument "pattern" from NsfObjInfoSlotObjectsMethod
- removed NsfClassInfoSlotsMethod (implemented via "children ... -type ...")
- moved "info slots" from nx::Class to nx::Object 
  (to report e.g. per-object attributes)
- extended regression test

- [::nx::Object info method parameter info] returns now empty instead of error.
- extended regression test

- splitted "info callable" into an ensemble 
  (submethods have quite different signatures)
- added "info callable slots" with functionality of "info slotobjects"
- removed "info slotobjects"

- handle aliases to (sub)ensemble objects during final 
  cleanup  to improve sharing of logic.
- share definition of "info callable" and "info has" ensemble 
  between object info and class info 

- new function AliasDeleteObjectReference() to delete
  aliases to objects
- removed some obsolete functions

- changed "info available" into "info lookup"
  (and accordingly c definitions, migration guide)

- pass tclobj instead of string to NsfObjInfoMethodMethod and NsfObjInfoMethodsMethod
- first part of ensemble name resolver. We can resolve now e.g.
     [nx::Object info method parameter "info lookup methods"]
- second part of ensemble name resolver, distinguish between 
  registration object and definition object
- new functions: GetRegObject()
- extended regression test

- fixed handles with subcommands used on objects without namespaces
- new functions: GetRegObject()
- fixed handles with subcommands for class methods when called on classes or objects
- extended regression test

- changed "cls object method ..." and friends into
  "cls class-object method ..."

- added "info method subcommands ..." to return list of subcommands (of the ensemble)
- extended regression test
- use always NULL instead of 0 when assigning to a pointer variable
- improve comments in nsf.c
- follow closer naming of Tcl style guide
 
- removed overhead on ::nsf::dispatch when called with absolute paths
- absolute paths have to start with ":".

- checked equivalence of the following two commands
  in respect to fully-qualified names
         ::nsf::dispatch $obj ::nsf::cmd::ObjectInfo2::hastype $class
         ::nsf::parametercheck object,type=$class $obj
  extended regression test (parameters.tcl)

- renamed "parameter" into "attributes" in nx
- renamed "info parameter" into "info attributes" in nx
- updated migration guide
- fixed several common typos

- documented behavior of upvar/uplevel with aliases on scripted procs
  through regression test

- implemented next within ensemble methods
- added regression tests for next within ensembles
- added regression tests for upvar with ensembles

- refactored next and argument passing (new methods
  NextGetArguments(), NextSearchAndInvoke() and 
  CallStackFindEnsembleCsc())
- doing an internal next in cases where a method 
  ensemble does not contain the called submethod
- added regression tests for partial ensembles

- renamed "... info ... subcommands ..." into "... submethods ..."
- rennamed tests/subcmd.tcl info tests/submethods.tcl
- moved relevant tests from tests/parameters into tests/submethods.tcl

- renamed functions in nsfStack.c to follow Tcl naming guidelines

- call internal NextSearchAndInvoke (without NextGetArguments) 
  from the implicit next in ensemble methods
- made NsfNextMethod() obsolete to ease different noarg handling policies

- new nsf::next cmd. receives 0 or 1 argument, which might be a list
  of arguments. This avoids ambiguity of ::xotcl::next with "--noArgs".
- renamed namespace_copycmds and namespace_copyvars to 
  nscopycmds and nscopyvars (we don't use "_" in nsf::*-names as delimiters
  elsewhere)
- renamed __qualify to qualify (it is a non-exported cmd)

- handle next in ensemble with arguments
- extended regression test

- removed obsolete code

- made methods (for now just scripted methods) by default protected.
- provide methode __default_method_protection to obtain the default
  method protection when neither protected or public is used.
- per default methods are now protected
- provide ::nx::configure defaultMethodProtection true|false
  as conveniant interface
- update regression test and serializer to handle default protection

- decide on paths for documentation of next and xotcl 2, with
  version numbers; what should be included in distro, what on web-site
- decide on syntax subcomponent. Candiates are
   * Object.method
   * Object->method
   * Object#method

- handling namespaces in documentation 
     # @object ::nx::Slot
  vs. 
     # @object Slot
  (best allow both variants, write fully qualified name via introspection)
- why only @object? there seems to be no @class. what to do with metaclasses?

- systematic way of specifying results of methods
- systematic way of reporting results in documentation

- handle line-breaking in long @definitions (e.g. @param; e.g. via indented next line)
- danger, tcl-commands in comments (see :method get_unqualified_name)
  expecially for code commented out.... 

- kann man "[:? {[$attr eval {info exists :default}]}" durch "[:?var :@param ..." ausdrücken?
  oder vielleicht besser die variablen mit leerstring initialisieren + infrastrukt anpassen?
- listing von methoden im left-bar, ähnlich http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/docs/YAHOO.util.Connect.html
- "Objects" im left-bar irreführend, sollten eher "Classes" sein. Allerdings sollten
  auch objekte dukumentierbar sein

- doc-tools: was machen die argumente von :? (bspw. ops?); ich nehme an, das ist work in progress.
  sinnvoll wäre: [:?var obj varname body], da viele (die meisten) operationen 
  auf anderen objeken ausgeführt werden

- die Dokumentation der Objekt- und Klassenmethoden muss aus gentclapi weg
  und in predefined.tcl und xotcl2.tcl hineinwandern. Es werden nicht alle
  möglichen methoden in next und/oder xotcl2 registiert, ein paar namen sind
  anders, etc.

- fixed a crash for tcl 8.6b1 in return value checking.
  now it complains about missing cmdPtr; it is not clear, why this
  is missing at the first place in 8.6b1 while working in 8.5

- improved library/lib/make.tcl once more
- fixed handling of TclNRRunCallbacks, such that coroutines can be easily
  used (more testing required)
- added temporary routine ::nsf::yieldcheck for coro debugging
- renamed Tcl85showStack() to TclShowStack()

- Big internal changes for handling nre-enabled procs in more
  situations.  Handles now all nx regression tests, but fails in
  testx.xotcl (just nre-enabled)

- passing part of dispatch flags in cscPtr->callType
- runs now full regression test NRE enabled, but still much debugging and
  options for less conservative behaviour

- some cleanup concerning TCL_STACK_ALLOC_TRACE
- make ::nsf::next and ::xotcl::next NRE-enabled

- make coloncmd are NRE-enabled
- make every internal method invokation (NsfCallMethodWithArgs() 
  and CallMethod()) NRE-configurable
- use "Nsf" prefix for global vars to avoid potential conflicts
- minimal support for sane-NRE patch
- failed so far to make my NRE-enabled
- new compile-flag for tracing: NRE_CALLBACK_TRACE
- extended regression test (added test for 8.6 apply)
- renamed tests/coroutines.tcl to tests/tcl86.tcl

- some refactoring for making code structure more sane for NRE
  (but not done yet)

- save snapshot; refactoring in order to ease NRE
  development with unified method and dipatch exit.
- named debugging cmds __db_*
- new cmd __db_run_assertions to perform checking of the internal state

- simplification and unification of unknown handling and method finalization
- some cleanup

- make "createobjectsystem" more robust (allow to provided not fully
  qualified names).
- added tcl-cool as an additional sample-object-system for nsf

- changed internal method name requireNamespace to "require_namespace"
- changed debug command __db_yield (unporable between various 8.6b* version)
  into __db_show_stack
- some more cleanup
- provide flag for DispatchDefaultMethod() to control immediate execution.
- nre-enable DispatchDefaultMethod() for simple cases

- removed TCL85STACK_TRACE
- renamed cscPtr->callType to cscPtr->flags, since this is now more appropriate
- some more minor cleanup

- changed "info method lookup -application" into
  "info method lookup -source application"
- introduced   "info method lookup -source application|baseclasses|all"
- updated migration guide
- extended regression test

- provide debugging output when varFramePtr in GetSelfObj() is NULL
- filter misleading "proc" entry for "info frame" for nsf-stack entries
- add "method" for "info frame" for nsf-stack entries
- defnied SKIP_LEVELS to omit optionally skipping of 
  tcl-stack entries in GetSelfObj()

- added scripted replacement for binary nxsh
- new define SKIP_LAMBDA to make apply tests working without SKIP_LEVELS

- renamed ::nsf::cmd::ObjectInfo into ::nsf::methods::object::info
- renamed ::nsf::cmd::ClassInfo into ::nsf::methods::class::info

- renamed ::nsf::cmd::Object into ::nsf::methods::object
- renamed ::nsf::cmd::Class into ::nsf::methods::class

- removed capitalization from exit handler interface
- reduced interface of exithandler to 
 ::nsf::exithandler set|get|unset ?arg?

- renamed/removed remaining ::nsf::commands with capitalized names:
  parametersFromSlots ==> parametersFromSlots
  unsetUnknownArgs ==> __unset_unknown_args
  infoError removed
- renamed predefined.tcl into nsf.tcl
- remaining cmds in nsf (except __*) containing
  "_": ::nsf::provide_method, ::nsf::require_method

- removed DISPATCH_TRACE
- moved return-value checking into ObjectDispatchFinalize()
- perform invariants checking after cmd execution, not additionally before
- commented dispatch machinery

- added nxwish.in (scripted replacement for former xowish)
- added xotclsh.in (scripted replacement for former xotclsh)
- added xowish.in (scripted replacement for former xowish)
- added error handling to all scripted shells
- removed old xotclsh.in and xowish.in (from apps/utils)

- altered xotcl.m4 to nsf.m4 in 
   ., 
   library/xotcl/library/store/XOTclGdbm/, 
   library/xotcl/library/store/XOTclSdbm/, 
   library/xotcl/library/xml/TclExpat-1.1/
- removed traces of xotcl.m4
- removed build flags with-nxsh, with-xowish
  (since these are scripted now)
- removed flag --with-tk (not needed anymore)

- removed NXSH and XOWISH from Makefile.in

- used Tcl_ObjCmdProc in prototypes
- allow CMETHOD to be target of calling-object/calling-level
- added NSF_CSC_CALL_IS_TRANSPARENT to handle proc aliases transparently
- access self  in NsfProcAliasMethod() from tcl->object;

- added public|protected to output of "info method definition"
  (needed to make serializer more sane, neccessary on the longer range)

- reduce size of output of serializer
- make nx::Object.serialize public
- XOTcl 2: allow info slots for objects as well

- serializer: 
  * added support for ordering on aliases referencing other objects/classes
  * provide shared version of the method warn via alias
    and removed direct output to stderr

- slots:
  * change name "initcmd" of "experimental slot features" to
    "defaultcmd" to avoid naming conflict the the initcmd executed
    at the initilization of a slot object (effects XOTcl as well)
  * make defaultcmd/valuecmd/valuechangedcmd working for nx 
    (absence of trace method)
  * provide error message, when default/defaultcmd/valuecmd are used 
    non-exclusively
  * make sure to init per-object slots after copy operations
  * make nx::Attribute.destroy more defensive
  * extend test cases

- nsf: added flag NSF_DESTROY_CALLED_SUCCESS in addition 
  to NSF_DESTROY_CALLED to distinguish between attempted
  and successful destroy method invocations (important for
  cleanup)
- fix potential crash in 
  ::nx::Object info method definition ::nsf::methods::object::instvar

- "info method submethods": return all submethods, independent
  from protection
- serializer: experimental code to serialize submethods 

- new option "-expand" for "obj|class info methods" to 
  return compound names (i.e. it lists the full ensemble names)
  Example:
     ::nx::Object info methods -expand "*filter*"
  returns
     filter {info filter guard} {info filter methods} {info lookup filter}
- allow ensemble names in nsf::methodproperty
- fix compound name lookups when aliases link to shared ensemble objects
- make objectName() NULL-safe
- fix option "-source application" when applied directly on base-classes
- extend regression test

- nsf.c: use name "varTablePtr" instead of "varTable" when referring to the table
- new option "slotcontainer" for "methodproperty" to flag slotcontainer to make
  them easier to process in the serializer
. don't report slot container in "info methods -expand"
- new function "::nx::isSlotContainer" to centralize checking for slotcontainers
  (used by serilaizer)
- support export of method ensembles in serializer

- "info lookup methods": order of non-pos parameters alphabetically
- added option "-expand" to "info lookup methods ". It collects
  ensemble methods along the precedence path
- added support for ensemble methods in "info lookup method"
- extended regression test

- provide full set of ensemble methods from EnsembleObject.unknown
  (i.e.  from all classes along the precedence order. It was necessary
  to pass calling object as first argument)

- "info method parametersyntax" returns now for all nonpos args the
  type instead of "arg" when possible (eg ..... ?-x object? ....)
- extended regression test

- factored out ParamGetType() to obtain from a paramPtr a type string
- parametersyntax: 
   * changed "... -x arg ..." into ".... -x value ..."
   * changed multiple values notation from "list" to "..."

- nsf::current: new option "methodpath", returns the full name of an ensemble 
  method starting from the ensemble root.
- documented functions in nfsStack.c
- removed obsolete CallStackGetFrame(), replaced by CallStackGetTopFrame()

- push stack frame before calling the defaultcmd of an ensemble object to 
  make implementation more simple.
- simplified EnsembleObject.defaultcmd and EnsembleObject.unknown significantly,
  scripted support methods are removed.
- extended regression test for "current methodpath"

- allow %method in forwarder.
- defined unknown methods as call-protected
- make __default_method_protection protected

- added syntax "?arg ...?" in parametsyntax output for "args"
- removed "info forward" from nx::Object and nx::Class
  (can be replaced by "info methods" and "info method")

- Methodpaths can be used now in the definition of "method", 
  "alias" and "forward." We do not support it for "setter" 
  and "attribute", since these require a parameter spec, 
  which does not have clear semantics for a method path.
- scripted definition of nx::Object.forward and nx::Class.forward

- cleanup of __resolve_method_path
- change TclShowStack into NsfShowStack() to avoid possible interference
  with the Tcl* namespace
- made the following function static to avoid pollution of the
  global link namespace: CompiledColonVarFree(), GetRegObject(), ParamGetType()

- changed option -expand in "info methods" and "info lookup methods" into 
  "-path" to associate with the method path
- changed method property name from "protected" to "call-protected"
- changed nx::defaultMethodProtection to nx::defaultMethodCallProtection
- nx::defaultMethodCallProtection is used for 
  scripted methods, forwarders and aliases
- added nx::defaultAttributeCallProtection, 
  used for setter and attributes

- call scripted converters without checking protection
- removed defaultMethodCallProtection from tests/parameters.tcl

- Implemented built-in-converter for "baseclass" and "metaclass".
  Change in performance for this call. >8 times faster
    before: parameters/parametercheck.007:   19.49 mms, ::nsf::is baseclass C
    after:  parameters/parametercheck.007:    2.32 mms, ::nsf::is baseclass C
- remove scripted definition of "baseclass" and "metaclass"

- keep track of defaultMethodCallProtection and defaultAttributeCallProtection 
  in serializer
- cleanup aol-xotcl.tcl and document usage in aolserver and naviserver

- iteration over TODO file
- removed obsolete entries from generic/nsf.decls und generic/nsfInt.decls
- removed NSF_CMD_NOT_FOUND

- fixed aliasing warning for gcc 4.4.4
- removed CheckAllInstances()

- added functionality to show enumerated values in 
  "info parametersyntax"
- extended regression test

- added expermimental code to avoid "variable :x" crash based
  on shadowCommands, but this does not work, when varible is
  bytecompiled. deactivated for now.

- added support for aolserver (essentially Makefile + aol-xotcl.tcl)
- removed unneded content from serializer output

- the two flags "-objscope" and "-nonleaf" are for adding frames,
  and they are mutual exclusive. Make them a single flag?
  check if both options are in every case sensible.

  possible realizations:
     -scope object|method
     -varscope instance|proc
     -varscope instance|resolver|none
     -frame object|method|default

   * instance|object: within this method, all non-prefixed var names 
     refer to instance variables; the method can use most 
     probably not "next"
     (actually, only needed for XOTcl)

   * method|proc|resolver: within this method, we can use colon-prefixed 
     variables; the method can use "next"

   "object" könnte mit dem -per-object (dem registierungpunkt)
   leicht verwechselt werden. es ginge auch
       -varscope instance|method
   allerdings, meint method eigentlich "scripted method".

   "none" would be dangerous for "-frame", since it could imply
   to avoid frame stacking at all.

   effected are: 
     alias, forward, dispatch

   für "alias" betrifft das in gleicher form auch die cmds,
   bei "dispatch" und "forward" gibt es dzt. kein "-nonleaf"

- replaced "-objscope" and "-nonleaf" by 
  "-frame object|method|default"
  for nsf::alias and nsf::default
- added functionality for "-frame method" to nsf::dispatch
- made the order of argument in ::nsf::alias and method "alias"
  the same (always first the method, then "-frame ...")
- extened regression test

- renamed some arguments of tcl interface to increase consistency
- make requiredness explicit for nsf::cmds
- introduce ::nsf::parametersyntax to provide syntax for potentially
  missing definitions
- provided ::nsf::parametersyntax for 3 ::nsf commands 
  and 7 nx methods (from relationslots)

- fix requiredness of several info methods
- added "nsf::configure debug ?level?"

- use "nsf::configure debug" for 
  value 1: compain about protected
  value >1: provide load messages for nx and xotcl
- unset unneeded variables in ::nx namespace

- copied decls for objectMethod and classMethod as comments
  to nsf.c, fixed order
- documented a few functions

- enabled nsf::__db_run_assertions in nx::test
  (lead before to false posigives in destroy-test)
- eliminated deleted objects and objects from deleted
  namespaces in GetAllInstances()

- added handling of unstacked csc entries (removed all DEBUG warnings).

- made handling of unstacked entries optional by defining
  macro CHECK_ACTIVATION_COUNTS)
- added macro NSF_DEVELOPMENT for toplevel handling
  if NDEBUG and CHECK_ACTIVATION_COUNTS
- cleanup of method-modifiers.tcl
- updated next migration guide

- follow current Tcl vonvention for patchlevel var:
  - changed name of ::nsf::patchlevel to ::nsf::patchLevel
  - changed content ::nsf::patchLevel from eg .0 to full 
    number including release details

- fixed bug in ::variable with colon-prefixed name
  (shadowCommands does not help, see above)
- removed traces of Nsf_VariableObjCmd()
- extended regression test

- provided parametersyntax definitions for XOTcl 2.0 
  similar to nx for all methods without a spec 
 (e.g. fur builtin Tcl cmds, forwarders)

- make sure not to return CompiledLocal vars
  from InterpColonVarResolver() when TCL_NAMESPACE_ONLY
  is requested.
- delegate always from InterpColonVarResolver() to
  other resolvers, when TCL_NAMESPACE_ONLY is requested.

- implemented exported command ::nsf::self as fast conveniance
  replacement for "::nsf::current object".

- removed bug-alert from nx.tcl (wrong false-positives for 
  compiled locals in slots)
- added a few small optimization. nsf appears to run on 
  the shootout benchmark the same speed like a year ago
  (which much less functionality)

- added a few more small optimization. 
- code-generator: don't call argument parser, 
  when no arguments are specified

- fixed bug when calling aliased proc not via method interface
- fixed bug when calling destroy in initcmd

- allowed public|protected for method deletion 
  such as "Object public method foo {} {}"
- removed defaultMethodCallProtection in alias test
- extended regression tests for aliases to procs
- renamed nx regression tests .test to follow tcl conventions

TODO: 

- add test for destroy-during-init
- handling of msg in NsfCleanupObject
- handling of msg in CscFinish

- "-returns" 
  * leave syntax as is for method?
  * add flag to alias and forward?
  * handle "returns" in serializer

- forward has just "-objscope", no general "-frame method|object".
  Since forwarder have client data, they always push a method frame.
  So, the situation is different to nsd::alias and ::nsf::dispatch.
  not sure, if we should rename "-objscope" to something different,
  such as e.g. "-objectframe".

- when compiled on my home machine for tcl 8.5.9 + aolserver, 
  i see the behavior that "info exists :type" does not appear to work,
  leading to messages like the following
*** VERY STRANGE: info exists :type says 1, ::nsf::existsvar ::xowiki::MenuItem::slot::CSSclass type says 0
  these do not appear under with naviserver.
  maybe the installation is goofed up, but maybe something serious.

- some error cases can lead to an invalid activation count
  method-modifiers/attribute-method.002:  incorrect result for 'set _ {}'
        expected: '::C::A', got ''
        in test file ./tests/method-modifiers.tcl
  ... => 
  FinalObjectDeletion obj 0x100915610 activationcount 2
  Assertion failed: (object->activationCount == 0), function FinalObjectDeletion, 
  	    file ./generic/nsf.c, line 15788.

- extend coro regression test

- work on replacing SKIP_LEVELS by SKIP_LAMBDA for openacs (works with 
  regression test, has problems with OrderedComposite::ChildManager.init)
  Note concerning treating CMETHOD_FRAME like METHOD_FRAMES: we did
  this change for NsfCallStackFindLastInvocation(), but nsfStack.c has
  still several occurences, where they are treated differently.

- C-interface
    * rework C-interface
    * maybe for post-alpha, but we have be first clear
      on scope and intention. A possibility would be
      to provide all entries from gentclAPI, but we would
      loose most likely static property and the newly
      achieved ease of changing is effectively frozen 
      by the stubs interface, which has to be stable.

- nameing

    * namespace prefix 
       next scripting language: ::nx::*
       next scripting framework: ::nsf::*
    * distributed packages in namespace ::nx::*, some are still in ::xotcl::*
    * names of subpackages nx::*, some packages are still xotcl::*

    * Now we have
        package require nx
        package require nx::test
        namespace import ::nx::*

    * parameter option allowempty is a little longish; we should
      choose probably a shorter name

      Object create o {
        :method foo {x:integer,allowempty y:integer os:object,multivalued,allowempty} {
          return $x
        }
      }

- documentation
   - documentationssytem
   - langref (xotcl 2.0 + next-scripting)
   - tutorial (split)
   - migration guide

   text
   - use term "callprotection" in documentation for public|protected
     (to be consistent with "... info methods ...")
   - reduce indenting for code examples in documentation 
    (high indentation makes readability worse).
    i use usually just 2, 4 are ok as well; we should decide.
   - use tcl parametersyntax for short description of commands/methods

   - deal with interally-called methods (can be overloaded by the application)
      * user-called and interanlly called (e.g. from "create" or "new")
        XO_c_create_idx, XO_o_destroy_idx, XO_o_move_idx, 
     * not documented yet:
        XO_c_requireobject_idx, XO_o_defaultmethod_idx, XO_o_init_idx, 
        XO_o_objectparameter_idx, XO_o_unknown_idx
     * only XOTCL2:
        XO_o_cleanup_idx, XO_o_residualargs_idx,

   doctools
   - interfaces in documentation for slots (see for more details 
     ::nx::Class#superclass in nx.tcl)
   - integrate ::nx::doc::make with Makefile.in
     (provide shell calls and, targets and dependencies)
   - make quality checks (missing documentation, ...) optional?
     how to deal with non-resolvable quality checks?
   - handle object methods as well in quality checks
   - why does one have to specify @superclass rather than determining the
     superclass via introspection?
   - provide a renderer for XOTcl @-notation to produce object structure
     for the new doctool (makes the old documentation usabel, eg. for XOTcl2)


- library + apps
    - new directory structure DONE
    - work on binary packages of xotcl (store + xml)
    - nicht gewartete/nicht getestete library aus distro entfernen?
    - migration von einzelnen paketen nach next? von welchen?

- new website
    * graphisches design
    * website-struktur
    * org. tutorial (bzw teile davon) ala book 
      or wiki (features als kategorien|tags|sections|directories)

Ein paar Punkte im folgenden könnten obsolet sein:

TODO "Kleinigkeiten"

- should we continue to work on the problem of the interp-aliased class,
  exported from one ns, imported into another one?

- constants in type converter (in and out)

- genau genommen sind folgende info-Methoden unnötig:
  - obj info mixin
  - obj info filter
  - obj info class
  * obj info is
  - cl info mixin
  - cl info filter
  - cl info superclass
# SS: Sie spielen vermutlich auf die Redundanz der getter seite der
  relation slots an. Mmmh. Die info-Sicht bietet in einigen der Fälle
  ?pattern? an, das wäre als Unterschied zu nennen (das ließe sich
  aber auch in die relation slots integrieren, etwa [obj mixin search
  <pattern>]. Zudem ist es ein Fallback, wenn mixin|filter|class
  überladen wären (ein sicherer hafen), aber ob das als argument
  genügt, die info-varianten zu behalten?!

#if 1
  /* TODO: the following check operations is xotcl1 legacy and is not
     generic. it should be replaced by another methodproperty.
     Most of the is*String()
     definition are then obsolete and should be deleted from
     xotclInt.h as well.
  */

  if (isCheckString(methodName)) {
    return TCL_OK;
  }
#endif


=========== reminder for valgrind testing
svn co svn://svn.valgrind.org/valgrind/tags/VALGRIND_3_5_0 valgrind

curl http://bugsfiles.kde.org/attachment.cgi?id=36999 > 10.6.patch
mv 10.6.patch ./valgrind

cd valgrind
patch -p0 < 10.6.patch

./autogen.sh
./configure ./configure --build=amd64-darwin
make

sudo make install
====================

For future releases:
   * consider alternate method name/place for subcmds (and/or slots) on classes
     - currently, there are potentail conflicts between slots and ensemble objects
     - provide a different place in the namesspaces could simplify this
   
   * argument passing of C functions is currently based on an
     interpreter of the argument lists. It should be possible to turn
     the interpreter into a compiler to speed up argument passing. But
     maybe, this would bloat the code-size.

   * canonical reps: 
    "p:integer,multivalued" => "-name p -type integer -multivalued"
    "x:type,arg=::D d1" => "-name x -type type -arg ::D -default d1"

   * use parameter syntax in genTclAPI

   * it could be possible to reduce stack frames in ensembles. Just a
     top ensemble frame could be sufficient.

  * the full names for ensemble methods could be stored in the cmd tables
    to make lookup faster.

  * serializer: handing of xo::at_cleanup in serializer 
     (either generailization or move to OpenACS/aolserver init/naviserver init)

  * NsfClassListAdd() and friends could be made generic