14.16.1 New Features

• If the Prolog flag source_info is on at compile time, then more information from the source code is kept around at runtime, with improved functionality including:
  • - The debugger can show variable bindings for the current clause and its ancestors.
  • - The Emacs interface offers a variable bindings window that is updated on every debugger port interaction.
  • - listing/[0,1] displays the clauses with their source code variable names.
  • - PO files and saved-states retain information about variable names and line numbers.
  • - The SICStus Prolog IDE (SPIDER) also takes advantage of the improved debugging information, e.g. the variable bindings view in SPIDER now has information for more variables than in earlier releases.
  • - Generic runtime systems are now available on all platforms, not only on Windows. See Generic Runtime Systems in the SICStus Prolog Manual for details.
• Execution profiling has been reengineered:
  • - The execution profile can be printed in a format similar to gprof(1).
  • - There is no longer any need to specially instrument code for profiling.
  • - Execution profiling is available for compiled as well as interpreted code.
  • - Execution profiling is either globally on or globally off, reflected by the value of the new profiling Prolog flag.
  • - The new scheme keeps track of the number of calls per caller-callee pair.
  • - The new scheme detects calls that succeed nondeterminately.
  • - No clause level data is maintained, all data is per predicate.
  • - The profiledcode value of the compiling Prolog flag has been dropped.
  • - PO files do not store any profiling data.
  • - The built-in predicates profile_data/4 and profile_reset/1 have been replaced by profile_reset/0, profile_data/1, print_profile/[0,1], coverage_data/1, and print_coverage/[0,1].
  • - SPIDER can present the profile information.
• Improved performance on Linux Intel, 32 and 64 bits.
• Coverage analysis is now available, for compiled as well as interpreted code:
  • - It uses the same infrastructure as execution profiling.
  • - Code coverage can be reported textually in a hierarchical format, or alternatively by highlighting the relevant lines of code in the relevant Emacs buffers and in SPIDER.
• It is now possible to debug runtime systems, e.g. when SICStus is embedded in some other applications, such as Java. It is also possible to attach to a runtime system from SPIDER. See Debugging Runtime Systems in the SICStus Prolog Manual.
• The meta_predicate/1 predicate property will retrieve the specifications used in the original meta-predicate declaration, which can be integers or the atoms :, *, +, -, or ?. Previously, only the atoms : or ? would be retrieved. Please note: This is an incompatible change. Code that inspects this predicate property may need to be updated.
• A new stream property, id, has been added. This property provides a unique identity that is never re-used, even after the stream has been closed. See stream_property/2 in the SICStus Prolog Manual.
• CLPFD:
  • - The case/[3,4] constraint has been extended to take linear inequalities into account in addition to the DAG.
  • - The new constraint smt/1 provides a front-end to the extended case/[3,4] constraint.
  • - Reified constraints can be used as terms in arithmetic expressions.
• library(zinc): upgraded to FlatZinc version 1.2.
• Changes to library(odbc):
  • - New predicates:

    odbc_current_table/[2,3]

    Enumerate tables and their attributes.

    odbc_table_column/[3,4]

    Enumerate table columns and their attributes.

  • - odbc:odbc_query_close/1 can now close both result sets and statement handles.
  • - The format has changed for some odbc exceptions. Now all odbc-related exceptions have the same basic structure.
• When SICStus is started from Emacs, using M-x run-prolog, or from the launcher script in the Applications folder, the system property SP_ULIMIT_DATA_SEGMENT_SIZE is set to unlimited. This ensures that overly restrictive default limits on process memory usage do not affect SICStus. This is primarily an issue on Mac OS X. Previously, this setting was only applied when SICStus was invoked from the SICStus Prolog IDE (SPIDER).