From: why the lucky stiff <yaml-core@...>
Date: 2003-01-09T06:57:45+09:00
Subject: [ANN] YAML.rb 0.49 -- new spec, new tokenizer

A whole lot of good words to all of you.

YAML.rb 0.49 is out and we're right on the heels of 0.50.  Consider this
something of an unstable 0.50.  I may release a few 0.49-1, 0.49-2
releases before 0.50 to ensure that 0.50 is a rock.

YAML.rb is a data serialization language that is simple to learn and
very readable.  If you want a good taste of what YAML syntax looks like,
try the Cookbook [http://yaml4r.sf.net/cookbook/].

As promised [see http://www.ruby-talk.org/55669], the tokenizer and
preprocessor have been rewritten.  We're getting speedier all the time.

                 --! YAML.rb USERS PLEASE NOTE !--

This release is current with the spec and includes a number of changes
that will appear in the next version of the spec.  These changes may
cause some of your YAML to load differently or not at all.  Here's what
you need to know:

 - The directive indicator is now '%' rather than '#'.  The '#'
   character is being used exclusively for comments now.

     --- #YAML:1.0 !!software
     name: yaml.rb
     version: 0.49
     url: http://yaml4r.sf.net/

   The above document will parse the directive as a comment.  In fact,
   the whole line will be taken as a comment, neglecting your private
   type transfer.  The above document will be loaded as a ruby Hash.

     --- %YAML:1.0 !!software
     name: yaml.rb
     version: 0.49
     url: http://yaml4r.sf.net/

   The above document will be loaded correctly.  You'll receive a typed
   'software' hash.

 - Dashes are now counted as indentation.  The following document is
   illegal:

     -
      test: 1

   The mapping and sequence share the same level of indentation above.
   To fix this problem, indent the mapping another space.

     -
       test: 1

   This change was made to enforce better readability and to accomodate
   the new seq-in-map shortcut:

     test:
     - 1

 - Nils can now be represented by an empty value.

     --- %YAML:1.0
     testing:

   The above will be loaded as:

     { 'testing' => nil }

 - The YAML::Pairs ( '!ruby/pairs' ) type has been renamed to
   YAML::FlexHash ( '!ruby/flexhash' ).  This change prevents confusion
   with the new YAML builtin collection '!pairs'.

The HTML, CHM, and PDF documents have been updated for 0.49 and can be
found on the YAML.rb site [http://yaml4r.sf.net/].

_why