Mercurial > octave
changeset 30343:0ec5eaabaf2c
NEWS: Update for version 8 development.
* NEWS.7: New file with NEWS from version 7.
* etc/module.mk (%canon_reldir%_EXTRA_DIST): Include NEWS.7 in the list.
* NEWS: Reset to be ready to record changes for version 8.
| author | John W. Eaton <jwe@octave.org> |
|---|---|
| date | Wed, 24 Nov 2021 11:54:59 -0500 |
| parents | 79369ad5cee6 |
| children | f7d1e5f1f109 |
| files | NEWS etc/NEWS.7 etc/module.mk |
| diffstat | 3 files changed, 400 insertions(+), 352 deletions(-) [+] |
line wrap: on
line diff
--- a/NEWS Wed Nov 24 11:54:24 2021 -0500 +++ b/NEWS Wed Nov 24 11:54:59 2021 -0500 @@ -1,336 +1,30 @@ -Summary of important user-visible changes for version 7 (yyyy-mm-dd): ----------------------------------------------------------------------- +Summary of important user-visible changes for version 8 (yyyy-mm-dd): +--------------------------------------------------------------------- ### General improvements -- Many functions in Octave can be called in a command form---no -parentheses for invocation and no return argument assignment---or in a -functional form---parentheses and '=' for assignment of return values. - - **Command Form Example** - - `mkdir new_directory` - - **Function Form Example** - - `status = mkdir ("new_directory")` - - Octave now handles errors that occur in a consistent manner. If - called in command form and there is a failure, an error is thrown - and a message printed. If called in functional form, no error or - message is printed and the failure is communicated to the programmer - via the output status variable. - - The following list of functions have been modified. - - * `copyfile` - * `fcntl` - * `fileattrib` - * `kill` - * `link` - * `mkfifo` - * `movefile` - * `rename` - * `rmdir` - * `symlink` - * `unlink` - -- Calling a user-defined function with too many inputs or outputs is now -an error. The interpreter makes this check automatically. If a -function uses varargin then the check is skipped for function inputs, -and if a function uses varargout then the check is skipped for function -outputs. Input validation for functions typically begins with checking -that the number of inputs and outputs match expectations. Existing code -can be simplified by removing these checks which are now done by the -interpreter. Typically, code blocks like the following can simply be -deleted. - - ## Checking number of inputs - if (nargin > 2) - print_usage (); - endif - - ## Checking number of outputs - if (nargout > 1) - print_usage (); - endif - -- Binary and hexadecimal constants like `0b101` and `0xDEADBEEF` now -create integers (unsigned by default) with sizes determined from the -number of digits present. For example, `0xff` creates a `uint8` value -and `0xDEADBEEF` creates a `uint64` value. You may also use a suffix of -the form `u8`, `u16`, `u32`, `u64`, `s8`, `s16`, `s32`, or `s64` to -explicitly specify the data type to use (`u` or `s` to indicate unsigned -or signed and the number to indicate the integer size). - - Binary constants are limited to 64 binary digits and hexadecimal -constants are limited to 16 hexadecimal digits with no automatic -rounding or conversion to floating point values. Note that this may -cause problems in existing code. For example, an expression like -`[0x1; 0x100; 0x10000]` will be uint8 (because of the rules of -concatenating integers of different sizes) with the larger values -truncated (because of the saturation semantics of integer values). To -avoid these kinds of problems either: 1) declare the first integer to be -of the desired size such as `[0x1u32; 0x100; 0x10000]`, or 2) pad -constants in array expressions with leading zeros so that they use the -same number of digits for each value such as -`[0x00_00_01; 0x00_01_00; 0x01_00_00]`. - -- The `mldivide` function (i.e., the `\` operator) now uses an LU -decomposition to solve nearly singular full square matrices. This is -Matlab-compatible and yields results which more nearly minimize `norm -(A*x - b)`. Previously, Octave computed a minimum-norm solution. - -- The `factor` function has been overhauled for speed. For large -inputs > 1e14, it can be up to 10,000 times faster. - -- The `isprime` function uses a new primality testing algorithm -that is up to 50,000 times faster for inputs > 1e14. - -- The `betainc` function now calculates an exact output for the -important special cases where a or b are 1. - -- The `whos` function now displays an additional attribute 's' when -the variable is a sparse type. - -- As part of GSoC 2020, Abdallah K. Elshamy implemented the -`jsondecode` and `jsonencode` functions to read and write JSON data. - -- As part of GSoC 2021, Abdallah K. Elshamy implemented the -`jupyter_notebook` classdef class. This class supports running and -filling Jupyter Notebooks using the Octave language kernel from Octave -itself. Making the evaluation of long-running Jupyter Notebooks on a -computing server without permanent browser connection possible. - -- By default, the history file is now located at $DATA/octave/history, -where $DATA is a platform dependent location for (roaming) user data -files (e.g., ${XDG_DATA_HOME} or, if that is not set, ~/.local/share on -Unix-like operating systems or %APPDATA% on Windows). - -- For Octave on Windows OS, the minimum required version of the Windows -API is now 6.1 (Windows 7 or newer). - -- The non-re-entrant version of the QHull library "libqhull" was -deprecated upstream. Octave now (optionally) requires the re-entrant -version of that library "libqhull_r" instead. - -- Octave's libraries are now built using symbol visibility by default. -That means that less symbols are exported from these libraries. -Configure with `--disable-lib-visibility-flags` to export all symbols -(like in previous versions). - -- Octave's build system no longer appends "++" to the end of the -"magick++" library name (set with the `--with-magick=` configure flag). -The real name of the "magick++" library (including any potentially -trailing "++") needs to be set in that option now. ### Graphical User Interface -- The graphical user interface is now available in Hungarian and in -Turkish. - -- In debug mode, symbol values are now shown in tooltips when hovering -variables in the editor panel. ### Graphics backend -- Support for Qt4 for both graphics and the GUI has been removed. - -- If a working LaTeX tool chain is found on the path, including `latex`, -`dvipng`, and `dvisvgm` binaries, then text strings can now be rendered -properly when using the `"latex"` value for the text objects' -`"interpreter"` property and axes objects' `"ticklabelinterpreter"`. -Type `doc "latex interpreter"` for further info. - -- The `"Marker"` property for plot objects now accepts `|` which draws -a vertical line or `_` which draws a horizontal line. - -- The `FMT` format argument for plot commands now accepts long forms for -color names which may be more understandable than the existing -one-letter codes. For example, the RGB value `[0 0 0]` can now be -specified by `"black"` in addition to `"k"`. - -- The color graphics properties, for example `"EdgeColor"` or -`"FaceColor"`, now accept HTML specifications. An HTML specification is -a string that begins with the character '#' and is followed by either 3 -or 6 hexadecimal digits. For example, magenta which is 100% red and -blue values can specified by `"#FF00FF"` or `"#F0F"`. - -- The additional property `"contextmenu"` has been added to all graphics -objects. It is equivalent to the previously used `"uicontextmenu"` -property which is hidden now. - -- `uicontrol` objects now fully implement the `"Off"` and `"Inactive"` -values of the `"Enable"` property. When the value is `"Off"`, no -interaction with the object occurs and the `uicontrol` changes color -(typically to gray) to indicate it is disabled. When the value is -`"Inactive"`, the object appears normally (no change in color), but it -is not possible to change the value of the object (such as modifying -text in an `Edit` box or clicking on a `RadioButton`). - -- The `"ListBoxTop"` property for `uicontrol` objects has been -implemented for `set` commands. - -- The `Title` property for print formats such as PDF or SVG is now set -to the title displayed on the figure window which contains the plot. - -- Additional properties have been added to the `axes` graphics object: - * `"alphamap"` (not yet implemented) - * `"alphascale"` (not yet implemented) - * `"colorscale"` (not yet implemented) - * `"fontsizemode"` (not yet implemented) - * `"innerposition"` (equivalent to `"position"`) - * `"interactions"` (not yet implemented) - * `"layout"` (not yet implemented) - * `"legend"` (not yet implemented) - * `"nextseriesindex"` (read-only, used by `scatter` - graphics objects) - * `"positionconstraint"` (replacement for `"activepositionproperty"` - which is now a hidden property. No plans for removal.) - * `"toolbar"` (not yet implemented) - * `"xaxis"` (not yet implemented) - * `"yaxis"` (not yet implemented) - * `"zaxis"` (not yet implemented) ### Matlab compatibility -- The function `griddata` now implements the `"v4"` Biharmonic Spline -Interpolation method. In adddition, the function now accepts 3-D inputs -by passing the data to `griddata3`. - -- Coordinate transformation functions `cart2sph`, `sph2cart`, -`cart2pol`, and `pol2cart` now accept either row or column vectors for -coordinate inputs. A single coordinate matrix with one variable per -column can still be used as function input, but a single output variable -will now contain just the first output coordinate, and will no longer -return the full output coordinate matrix. Output size matches the size -of input vectors, or in the case of an input matrix will be column -vectors with rows corresponding to the input coordinate matrix. - -- The function `dec2bin` and `dec2hex` now support negative numbers. - -- The function `factor` now supports uint64 inputs larger than -`flintmax`. - -- The function `primes` now supports char inputs. - -- The functions `quantile` and `prctile` now permit operating on -dimensions greater than `ndims (x)`. - -- The function `iqr` now uses Matlab compatible interpolation for -quantile values. Dimension input now allows a vector, "all", and -dimensions greater than `ndims (x)`. The function compatibly handles -`Inf` and `NaN` input values. - -- The function `importdata` now produces more compatible results when -the file contains a 2-D text matrix. - -- The file functions `copyfile`, `mkdir`, `movefile`, `rmdir` now return -a logical value (true/false) rather than a numeric value (1/0). - -- `uimenu` now accepts property `"Text"` which is identical to -`"Label"`. Matlab recommends using `"Text"` in new code, although there -is no announced date for deprecating `"Label"`. - -- The functions `scatter` and `scatter3` now return a handle to a -scatter graphics object. For compatibility, they return an `hggroup` of -patch graphics objects when the `"gnuplot"` graphics toolkit is used. In -previous versions of Octave, these functions returned an `hggroup` of -patch graphics objects for all graphics toolkits. -- The functions `bar` and `barh` now handle stacked negative bar values -in a Matlab-compatible manner. Negative values now stack below the zero -axis independently of a positive value bars in the same stack. -Previously the negative bars could overlap positive bars depending on -drawing order. - -- The functions `bar` and `barh` now use colors from the `"ColorOrder"` -axes property rather than the `"Colormap"` figure property unless one -of the histogram options (@qcode{"hist"}, @qcode{"histc"} was specified. - -- The function `saveas` now defaults to saving in Octave figure format -(.ofig) rather than PDF (.pdf). - -- A new warning ID (`"Octave:unimplemented-matlab-functionality"`) has -been added which prints a warning when Octave's parser recognizes valid -Matlab code, but for which Octave does not yet implement the -functionality. By default, this warning is enabled. - -- When Octave is started with the `--traditional` option for maximum -compatibility the `print_struct_array_contents` internal variable is set -to true. +### Alphabetical list of new functions added in Octave 8 -- The function `repelem` now produces a row vector output when the input is -a scalar. - -### Alphabetical list of new functions added in Octave 7 - -* `cospi` -* `getpixelposition` -* `endsWith` -* `fill3` -* `jsondecode` -* `jsonencode` -* `jupyter_notebook` -* `listfonts` -* `matlab.net.base64decode` -* `matlab.net.base64encode` -* `memory` -* `ordqz` -* `rng` -* `sinpi` -* `startsWith` -* `streamribbon` -* `turbo` -* `uniquetol` -* `xtickangle` -* `ytickangle` -* `ztickangle` ### Deprecated functions, properties, and operators -The following functions and properties have been deprecated in Octave 7 -and will be removed from Octave 9 (or whatever version is the second -major release after 7): - -- Functions - - Function | Replacement - -------------------------- |---------------------------- - disable_diagonal_matrix | optimize_diagonal_matrix - disable_permutation_matrix | optimize_permutation_matrix - disable_range | optimize_range - -- Properties - - Object | Property | Value - -----------------|---------------|------------ - | | -- Operators - - Operator | Replacement | Description - ---------|-------------|------------ - ** | ^ | Matrix exponent - .** | .^ | Element-by-element exponent - .+ | + | Element-by-element exponent - .- | - | Element-by-element exponent - -- Interpreter - - * The use of `'...'` for line continuations *inside* double-quoted - strings has been deprecated. Use `'\'` for line continuations - inside strings instead. - - * The use of `'\'` as a line continuation *outside* of double-quoted - strings has been deprecated. Use `'...'` for line continuations - instead. - - * Any trailing whitespace after a `'\'` line continuation has been - deprecated. Delete unnecessary trailing whitespace. +The following functions and properties have been deprecated in Octave 8 +and will be removed from Octave 10 (or whatever version is the second +major release after 8): -The following functions were deprecated in Octave 6 and will be removed -from Octave 8 (or whatever version is the second major release after 6): +The following functions were deprecated in Octave 6 and have been removed +from Octave 8. - Functions @@ -340,47 +34,11 @@ - The environment variable used by `mkoctfile` for linker flags is now `LDFLAGS` rather than `LFLAGS`. `LFLAGS` was deprecated in Octave 6, - and a warning is now emitted if it is used, but it will continue to - work. - - -### Removed functions, properties, and features - -The following functions and properties were deprecated in Octave 5 -and have been removed from Octave 7. - -- Functions - - Function | Replacement - -------------------------|------------------ - `output_max_field_width` | `output_precision` - `is_keyword` | `iskeyword` - -- Properties - - Object | Property | Value - -----------------|---------------|------------ - `text` | `fontangle` | `"oblique"` - `uibuttongroup` | `fontangle` | `"oblique"` - `uicontrol` | `fontangle` | `"oblique"` - `uipanel` | `fontangle` | `"oblique"` - `uitable` | `fontangle` | `"oblique"` - -- The prototype JIT compiler has been removed from Octave. Since it was -first added as part of a Google Summer of Code project in 2012, no one -has ever seriously taken on further development of it and it still does -nothing significant. It is out of date with the default interpreter -that walks the parse tree. Even though we have fixed the configure -script to disable it by default, people still ask questions about how to -build it, but it doesn’t seem that they are doing that to work on it but -because they think it will make Octave code run faster (it never did, -except for some extremely simple bits of code as examples for -demonstration purposes only). The following functions related to the -JIT compiler have also been removed: `debug_jit`, `jit_enable`, -`jit_failcnt`, and `jit_startcnt`. + and has been removed from Octave 8. ### Old release news +- [Octave 7.x](etc/NEWS.7) - [Octave 6.x](etc/NEWS.6) - [Octave 5.x](etc/NEWS.5) - [Octave 4.x](etc/NEWS.4)
--- /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000 +++ b/etc/NEWS.7 Wed Nov 24 11:54:59 2021 -0500 @@ -0,0 +1,389 @@ +Summary of important user-visible changes for version 7 (yyyy-mm-dd): +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + +### General improvements + +- Many functions in Octave can be called in a command form---no +parentheses for invocation and no return argument assignment---or in a +functional form---parentheses and '=' for assignment of return values. + + **Command Form Example** + + `mkdir new_directory` + + **Function Form Example** + + `status = mkdir ("new_directory")` + + Octave now handles errors that occur in a consistent manner. If + called in command form and there is a failure, an error is thrown + and a message printed. If called in functional form, no error or + message is printed and the failure is communicated to the programmer + via the output status variable. + + The following list of functions have been modified. + + * `copyfile` + * `fcntl` + * `fileattrib` + * `kill` + * `link` + * `mkfifo` + * `movefile` + * `rename` + * `rmdir` + * `symlink` + * `unlink` + +- Calling a user-defined function with too many inputs or outputs is now +an error. The interpreter makes this check automatically. If a +function uses varargin then the check is skipped for function inputs, +and if a function uses varargout then the check is skipped for function +outputs. Input validation for functions typically begins with checking +that the number of inputs and outputs match expectations. Existing code +can be simplified by removing these checks which are now done by the +interpreter. Typically, code blocks like the following can simply be +deleted. + + ## Checking number of inputs + if (nargin > 2) + print_usage (); + endif + + ## Checking number of outputs + if (nargout > 1) + print_usage (); + endif + +- Binary and hexadecimal constants like `0b101` and `0xDEADBEEF` now +create integers (unsigned by default) with sizes determined from the +number of digits present. For example, `0xff` creates a `uint8` value +and `0xDEADBEEF` creates a `uint64` value. You may also use a suffix of +the form `u8`, `u16`, `u32`, `u64`, `s8`, `s16`, `s32`, or `s64` to +explicitly specify the data type to use (`u` or `s` to indicate unsigned +or signed and the number to indicate the integer size). + + Binary constants are limited to 64 binary digits and hexadecimal +constants are limited to 16 hexadecimal digits with no automatic +rounding or conversion to floating point values. Note that this may +cause problems in existing code. For example, an expression like +`[0x1; 0x100; 0x10000]` will be uint8 (because of the rules of +concatenating integers of different sizes) with the larger values +truncated (because of the saturation semantics of integer values). To +avoid these kinds of problems either: 1) declare the first integer to be +of the desired size such as `[0x1u32; 0x100; 0x10000]`, or 2) pad +constants in array expressions with leading zeros so that they use the +same number of digits for each value such as +`[0x00_00_01; 0x00_01_00; 0x01_00_00]`. + +- The `mldivide` function (i.e., the `\` operator) now uses an LU +decomposition to solve nearly singular full square matrices. This is +Matlab-compatible and yields results which more nearly minimize `norm +(A*x - b)`. Previously, Octave computed a minimum-norm solution. + +- The `factor` function has been overhauled for speed. For large +inputs > 1e14, it can be up to 10,000 times faster. + +- The `isprime` function uses a new primality testing algorithm +that is up to 50,000 times faster for inputs > 1e14. + +- The `betainc` function now calculates an exact output for the +important special cases where a or b are 1. + +- The `whos` function now displays an additional attribute 's' when +the variable is a sparse type. + +- As part of GSoC 2020, Abdallah K. Elshamy implemented the +`jsondecode` and `jsonencode` functions to read and write JSON data. + +- As part of GSoC 2021, Abdallah K. Elshamy implemented the +`jupyter_notebook` classdef class. This class supports running and +filling Jupyter Notebooks using the Octave language kernel from Octave +itself. Making the evaluation of long-running Jupyter Notebooks on a +computing server without permanent browser connection possible. + +- By default, the history file is now located at $DATA/octave/history, +where $DATA is a platform dependent location for (roaming) user data +files (e.g., ${XDG_DATA_HOME} or, if that is not set, ~/.local/share on +Unix-like operating systems or %APPDATA% on Windows). + +- For Octave on Windows OS, the minimum required version of the Windows +API is now 6.1 (Windows 7 or newer). + +- The non-re-entrant version of the QHull library "libqhull" was +deprecated upstream. Octave now (optionally) requires the re-entrant +version of that library "libqhull_r" instead. + +- Octave's libraries are now built using symbol visibility by default. +That means that less symbols are exported from these libraries. +Configure with `--disable-lib-visibility-flags` to export all symbols +(like in previous versions). + +- Octave's build system no longer appends "++" to the end of the +"magick++" library name (set with the `--with-magick=` configure flag). +The real name of the "magick++" library (including any potentially +trailing "++") needs to be set in that option now. + +### Graphical User Interface + +- The graphical user interface is now available in Hungarian and in +Turkish. + +- In debug mode, symbol values are now shown in tooltips when hovering +variables in the editor panel. + +### Graphics backend + +- Support for Qt4 for both graphics and the GUI has been removed. + +- If a working LaTeX tool chain is found on the path, including `latex`, +`dvipng`, and `dvisvgm` binaries, then text strings can now be rendered +properly when using the `"latex"` value for the text objects' +`"interpreter"` property and axes objects' `"ticklabelinterpreter"`. +Type `doc "latex interpreter"` for further info. + +- The `"Marker"` property for plot objects now accepts `|` which draws +a vertical line or `_` which draws a horizontal line. + +- The `FMT` format argument for plot commands now accepts long forms for +color names which may be more understandable than the existing +one-letter codes. For example, the RGB value `[0 0 0]` can now be +specified by `"black"` in addition to `"k"`. + +- The color graphics properties, for example `"EdgeColor"` or +`"FaceColor"`, now accept HTML specifications. An HTML specification is +a string that begins with the character '#' and is followed by either 3 +or 6 hexadecimal digits. For example, magenta which is 100% red and +blue values can specified by `"#FF00FF"` or `"#F0F"`. + +- The additional property `"contextmenu"` has been added to all graphics +objects. It is equivalent to the previously used `"uicontextmenu"` +property which is hidden now. + +- `uicontrol` objects now fully implement the `"Off"` and `"Inactive"` +values of the `"Enable"` property. When the value is `"Off"`, no +interaction with the object occurs and the `uicontrol` changes color +(typically to gray) to indicate it is disabled. When the value is +`"Inactive"`, the object appears normally (no change in color), but it +is not possible to change the value of the object (such as modifying +text in an `Edit` box or clicking on a `RadioButton`). + +- The `"ListBoxTop"` property for `uicontrol` objects has been +implemented for `set` commands. + +- The `Title` property for print formats such as PDF or SVG is now set +to the title displayed on the figure window which contains the plot. + +- Additional properties have been added to the `axes` graphics object: + * `"alphamap"` (not yet implemented) + * `"alphascale"` (not yet implemented) + * `"colorscale"` (not yet implemented) + * `"fontsizemode"` (not yet implemented) + * `"innerposition"` (equivalent to `"position"`) + * `"interactions"` (not yet implemented) + * `"layout"` (not yet implemented) + * `"legend"` (not yet implemented) + * `"nextseriesindex"` (read-only, used by `scatter` + graphics objects) + * `"positionconstraint"` (replacement for `"activepositionproperty"` + which is now a hidden property. No plans for removal.) + * `"toolbar"` (not yet implemented) + * `"xaxis"` (not yet implemented) + * `"yaxis"` (not yet implemented) + * `"zaxis"` (not yet implemented) + +### Matlab compatibility + +- The function `griddata` now implements the `"v4"` Biharmonic Spline +Interpolation method. In adddition, the function now accepts 3-D inputs +by passing the data to `griddata3`. + +- Coordinate transformation functions `cart2sph`, `sph2cart`, +`cart2pol`, and `pol2cart` now accept either row or column vectors for +coordinate inputs. A single coordinate matrix with one variable per +column can still be used as function input, but a single output variable +will now contain just the first output coordinate, and will no longer +return the full output coordinate matrix. Output size matches the size +of input vectors, or in the case of an input matrix will be column +vectors with rows corresponding to the input coordinate matrix. + +- The function `dec2bin` and `dec2hex` now support negative numbers. + +- The function `factor` now supports uint64 inputs larger than +`flintmax`. + +- The function `primes` now supports char inputs. + +- The functions `quantile` and `prctile` now permit operating on +dimensions greater than `ndims (x)`. + +- The function `iqr` now uses Matlab compatible interpolation for +quantile values. Dimension input now allows a vector, "all", and +dimensions greater than `ndims (x)`. The function compatibly handles +`Inf` and `NaN` input values. + +- The function `importdata` now produces more compatible results when +the file contains a 2-D text matrix. + +- The file functions `copyfile`, `mkdir`, `movefile`, `rmdir` now return +a logical value (true/false) rather than a numeric value (1/0). + +- `uimenu` now accepts property `"Text"` which is identical to +`"Label"`. Matlab recommends using `"Text"` in new code, although there +is no announced date for deprecating `"Label"`. + +- The functions `scatter` and `scatter3` now return a handle to a +scatter graphics object. For compatibility, they return an `hggroup` of +patch graphics objects when the `"gnuplot"` graphics toolkit is used. In +previous versions of Octave, these functions returned an `hggroup` of +patch graphics objects for all graphics toolkits. + +- The functions `bar` and `barh` now handle stacked negative bar values +in a Matlab-compatible manner. Negative values now stack below the zero +axis independently of a positive value bars in the same stack. +Previously the negative bars could overlap positive bars depending on +drawing order. + +- The functions `bar` and `barh` now use colors from the `"ColorOrder"` +axes property rather than the `"Colormap"` figure property unless one +of the histogram options (@qcode{"hist"}, @qcode{"histc"} was specified. + +- The function `saveas` now defaults to saving in Octave figure format +(.ofig) rather than PDF (.pdf). + +- A new warning ID (`"Octave:unimplemented-matlab-functionality"`) has +been added which prints a warning when Octave's parser recognizes valid +Matlab code, but for which Octave does not yet implement the +functionality. By default, this warning is enabled. + +- When Octave is started with the `--traditional` option for maximum +compatibility the `print_struct_array_contents` internal variable is set +to true. + +- The function `repelem` now produces a row vector output when the input is +a scalar. + +### Alphabetical list of new functions added in Octave 7 + +* `cospi` +* `getpixelposition` +* `endsWith` +* `fill3` +* `jsondecode` +* `jsonencode` +* `jupyter_notebook` +* `listfonts` +* `matlab.net.base64decode` +* `matlab.net.base64encode` +* `memory` +* `ordqz` +* `rng` +* `sinpi` +* `startsWith` +* `streamribbon` +* `turbo` +* `uniquetol` +* `xtickangle` +* `ytickangle` +* `ztickangle` + +### Deprecated functions, properties, and operators + +The following functions and properties have been deprecated in Octave 7 +and will be removed from Octave 9 (or whatever version is the second +major release after 7): + +- Functions + + Function | Replacement + -------------------------- |---------------------------- + disable_diagonal_matrix | optimize_diagonal_matrix + disable_permutation_matrix | optimize_permutation_matrix + disable_range | optimize_range + +- Properties + + Object | Property | Value + -----------------|---------------|------------ + | | +- Operators + + Operator | Replacement | Description + ---------|-------------|------------ + ** | ^ | Matrix exponent + .** | .^ | Element-by-element exponent + .+ | + | Element-by-element exponent + .- | - | Element-by-element exponent + +- Interpreter + + * The use of `'...'` for line continuations *inside* double-quoted + strings has been deprecated. Use `'\'` for line continuations + inside strings instead. + + * The use of `'\'` as a line continuation *outside* of double-quoted + strings has been deprecated. Use `'...'` for line continuations + instead. + + * Any trailing whitespace after a `'\'` line continuation has been + deprecated. Delete unnecessary trailing whitespace. + + +The following functions were deprecated in Octave 6 and will be removed +from Octave 8 (or whatever version is the second major release after 6): + +- Functions + + Function | Replacement + -----------------------|------------------ + `runtests` | `oruntests` + +- The environment variable used by `mkoctfile` for linker flags is now + `LDFLAGS` rather than `LFLAGS`. `LFLAGS` was deprecated in Octave 6, + and a warning is now emitted if it is used, but it will continue to + work. + + +### Removed functions, properties, and features + +The following functions and properties were deprecated in Octave 5 +and have been removed from Octave 7. + +- Functions + + Function | Replacement + -------------------------|------------------ + `output_max_field_width` | `output_precision` + `is_keyword` | `iskeyword` + +- Properties + + Object | Property | Value + -----------------|---------------|------------ + `text` | `fontangle` | `"oblique"` + `uibuttongroup` | `fontangle` | `"oblique"` + `uicontrol` | `fontangle` | `"oblique"` + `uipanel` | `fontangle` | `"oblique"` + `uitable` | `fontangle` | `"oblique"` + +- The prototype JIT compiler has been removed from Octave. Since it was +first added as part of a Google Summer of Code project in 2012, no one +has ever seriously taken on further development of it and it still does +nothing significant. It is out of date with the default interpreter +that walks the parse tree. Even though we have fixed the configure +script to disable it by default, people still ask questions about how to +build it, but it doesn’t seem that they are doing that to work on it but +because they think it will make Octave code run faster (it never did, +except for some extremely simple bits of code as examples for +demonstration purposes only). The following functions related to the +JIT compiler have also been removed: `debug_jit`, `jit_enable`, +`jit_failcnt`, and `jit_startcnt`. + +### Old release news + +- [Octave 6.x](etc/NEWS.6) +- [Octave 5.x](etc/NEWS.5) +- [Octave 4.x](etc/NEWS.4) +- [Octave 3.x](etc/NEWS.3) +- [Octave 2.x](etc/NEWS.2) +- [Octave 1.x](etc/NEWS.1)