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# __COPYRIGHT__
# __FILE__ __REVISION__ __DATE__ __DEVELOPER__


                 SCons - a software construction tool

                            Release Notes


This is an beta release of SCons, a tool for building software (and
other files).  SCons is implemented in Python, and its "configuration
files" are actually Python scripts, allowing you to use the full power
of a real scripting language to solve build problems.  You do not,
however, need to know Python to use SCons effectively.

So that everyone using SCons can help each other learn how to use it
more effectively, please sign up for the scons-users mailing list at:

    http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/scons-users



RELEASE 0.XX - XXX

  This is the second beta release of SCons.  Please consult the
  CHANGES.txt file for a list of specific changes since last release.

  Please note the following important changes since release 0.90:

  - The spelling of the 'validater' keyword argument to the
    Options.Add() method has been corrected to 'validator'.  The old
    spelling still works but has been deprecated and generates a
    warning.

  - The SConscript() function no longer splits its first argument on
    white space into a list of SConscript file names.  You must now
    explicitly enclose the file names in a list:

        SConscript(['sub1/SConscript', 'sub2/SConscript'])

    Or use the Split() function (or something similar) to create a list:

        SConscript(Split('sub1/SConscript sub2/SConscript'))

    This makes the SConscript() function's handling of file names
    consistent with the rest of SCons.

  Please note the following important changes since release 0.14:

  - SCons now tries to verify that Microsoft Visual Studio (including
    Visual C++) is actually installed before using it, by checking
    that the program directory exists.  If SCons cannot find your copy
    of Visual Studio, it is probably because it installed itself in a
    default directory that we have not seen before.  If this is the
    case, please let us know so that we can update future versions.

  SCons is developed with an extensive regression test suite, and a
  rigorous development methodology for continually improving that suite.
  Because of this, SCons is of sufficient quality that you can use it
  for real work.  The "beta" status of the release reflects that we
  still may change interfaces in future releases, which may require
  modifications to your SConscript files.  We strive to hold these
  changes to a minimum.

  Nevertheless, please heed the following disclaimers:

    - Please report any bugs or other problems that you find to our bug
      tracker at our SourceForge project page:

      http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=add&group_id=30337&atid=398971

      We have a reliable bug-fixing methodology already in place and
      strive to respond to problems relatively quickly.

    - Documentation is spottier than we'd like.  You may need to dive
      into the source code to figure out how to do something.  Asking
      questions on the scons-users mailing list is also welcome.  We
      will be addressing the documentation in upcoming releases, but
      would be more than glad to have your assistance in correcting this
      problem... :-)

      In particular, the "SCons Design" documentation on the SCons web
      site is currently out of date, as we made significant changes to
      portions of the interface as we figured out what worked and what
      didn't during implementation.

    - There may be performance issues.  Improving SCons performance
      is an ongoing priority.  If you still find the performance
      unacceptable, we would very much like to hear from you and learn
      more about your configuration so we can optimize the right things.

    - Error messages don't always exist where they'd be helpful.
      Please let us know about any errors you ran into that would
      have benefitted from a (more) descriptive message.

  KNOWN PROBLEMS IN THIS RELEASE:

    For a complete list of known problems, consult the SCons bug tracker
    page at SourceForge:

        http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=398971&group_id=30337&func=browse

    - Support for parallel builds (-j) does not work on WIN32 systems
      prior to *official* Python release 2.2 (not 2.2 pre-releases).

      Prior to Python 2.2, there is a bug in Python's Win32
      implementation such that when a thread spawns an external command,
      it blocks all threads from running.  This breaks the SCons
      multithreading architecture used to support -j builds.

      We have included a patch file, os_spawnv_fix.diff, that you can
      use if you you want to fix your version of Python to support
      parallel builds in SCons.

    - Again, the "SCons Design" documentation on the SCons web
      site is currently out of date.  Take what you read there with a
      grain of salt.

    - If a file is specified to be built in multiple ways, the last
      processed builder specification overwrites all other builders,
      without any warning.

    - On Win32 systems, you must put a space between the redirection
      characters < and >, and the specified files (or construction
      variable expansions):

        command < $SOURCE > $TARGET

      If you don't supply a space (for example, "<$SOURCE"), SCons will
      not recognize the redirection.

    - People have reported problems with SCons not stopping a build when
      an interrupt (CTRL+C) is received.  A fix was checked in to 0.11
      that should fix this behavior on many systems, but there are
      issues with the underlying Python os.system() call that suggest
      this fix does not work on all systems or in all circumstances.
      We're working to try to find a universal solution.

    - Modifying a construction environment in a subsidiary SConscript
      file modifies the global environment.

    - MSVC .res files are not rebuilt when icons change.

    - The -c option does not clean up .sconsign files or directories
      created as part of the build.

    - Switching content signatures from "MD5" to "timestamp" and back
      again can cause unusual errors.  These errors can be cleared up by
      removing all .sconsign files.

    - On Win32, SCons does not recognize that a target specified as
      (for example) \some\target is the same as X:\some\target (for your
      current volume X:).

    - Using a construction variable in its own expansion can cause
      an infinite loop.

    - When using SourceSignatures('timestamp'), changes to Python
      Value() Nodes do not cause rebuilds.

    - No support yet for the following planned command-line options:

         -d -e -l --list-actions --list-derived --list-where
         -o --override -p -r -R -w --write-filenames
         -W --warn-undefined-variables



Thank you for your interest, and please let us know how we can help
improve SCons for your needs.

Steven Knight
knight at baldmt dot com
http://www.baldmt.com/~knight/

With plenty of help from the SCons Development team:
        Chad Austin
        Charles Crain
        Steve Leblanc
        Gary Oberbrunner
        Anthony Roach
        Greg Spencer
        Christoph Wiedemann