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# Change history

# Version 5.4 (13 Feb 2009)

- Fixed build problems on various systems.

# Version 5.3 (14 Nov 2008)

- IFM is now hosted at Bitbucket.
- New `them` keyword, which refers to the list of items mentioned in the current statement.
- New game-solver variables: `finish_room`, `finish_item` and `finish_task`, which can be a comma-separated list of extra rooms, items and tasks which get assigned the `finish` attribute (i.e., cause the solver to exit).
- New task graph variables: `task_graph_wrap`, which controls word-wrapping when printing graph nodes, and `task_graph_font`, which sets the text font.
- The new keywords `true` and `false` can be used in place of 1 and 0, respectively, when setting variables.
- Both versions of the personal initialization file (`.ifmrc` and `ifm.ini`) are now read, if they exist.
- There’s a new Perl script `ifm2web`, which converts IFM maps to image files suitable for the Interweb.
- The GNU Emacs `ifm-mode.el` in the `contrib` directory has been improved: it can display task recording and debugging output, now has `imenu` and `flymake` support, and a minor bug fix.
- The documentation is now much prettier, thanks to Sphinx and Pygments. The `contrib` directory contains the Python module used to syntax-highlight IFM code and IF transcripts.
- Since `asciimapper` is now in the IF archive, it is no longer part of the `contrib` directory.
- PostScript maps now conform properly to Adobe DSC. This stops Ghostscript 8.x barfing on them.

# Version 5.2 (7 Sep 2006)

- There’s a new `-errors` option, which controls the maximum number of errors printed before giving up.
- New program in the `contrib` directory: `asciimapper`. This is a tool to create IFM maps from ASCII art maps, contributed by Elijah Griffin.
- The GNU Emacs `ifm-mode.el` in the `contrib` directory has new commands to display maps, items and tasks and various other things. Based on an initial version contributed by Lee Bigelow.
- Several unused features which added needless complexity have been removed. These are: preprocessing by `gpp`, expressions for real/integer values, and variable interpolation in strings.
- An obscure bug has been fixed which involved the `follow` and `need` attributes combined. This caused some valid task orderings to be flagged as cycles.
- A bug with modification of room attributes has been fixed.
- Don’t crash when trying to solve game and there are no rooms.
- A crash when trying to print an error message about cyclic task dependencies has been fixed.

# Version 5.1 (30 Nov 2004)

- The `tkifm` program now supports line numbering and syntax highlighting, thanks to a contributor who wishes to remain anonymous.
- There is now a man page summarizing the command-line options.
- In PostScript output, up/down and in/out labels are now drawn separately, next to their respective rooms. Also, if a link leaves a room and returns to the same room, it’s drawn as a small circle. Thanks to Dan Eble.
- Hopefully, the Windows port should work properly now.
- Fixed weird bug with scaled arcs in PostScript output. More thanks to Dan Eble.
- Fixed bug in `ifm2tex` with converting strings to TeX format (specifically, ones with embedded zeros).
- Fixed crash when using `it` in some circumstances.

# Version 5.0 (23 Jan 2003)

- New map output: Fig format, suitable for viewing or editing with Xfig, or exporting to other formats.
- New utility program: `ifm2dev`, which pipes IFM output in Fig format through `fig2dev` repeatedly to write each map section to its own file.
- New utility program: `ifm2tex`, which converts Fig files to EPS and includes them in a LaTeX document together with tables of items and tasks.
- New task output: graphviz (`dot`) format, which dumps a task dependency graph.
- New `keep with` and `keep until` syntax for items, allowing items to be kept until certain tasks are done or certain other items are dropped.
- New room `nodrop` attribute, indicating that no items should be dropped there.
- New task and item `ignore` attribute, indicating that these things should be ignored when finding a solution.
- New task `do` attribute, indicating that when a task is done, it also does one or more other tasks automatically.
- New option: `-style`, which sets global styles for all IFM objects.
- New option: `-set`, which lets you set variables from the command line. To support this, the variable-setting syntax has been changed: instead of a space separating the driver name from the variable, there’s now a period.
- New `-show` option: `maps`, which lists all the map sections and their sizes.
- The `-map` option now accepts an optional list of map sections to print.
- There’s a bunch of new variables to control things, including the overall behaviour of the game solver.
- IFM input is now preprocessed, in a similar way to C programs. As a result, the old `include` and `alias` features have been replaced with the preprocessor equivalents.
- There’s a new `require` keyword, which lets you say that a certain version of IFM (or later) is required for a map.
- Changed implicit-link style behaviour: the `style` clause on a room now applies to both the room and the implicit link, so it’s now independent of its position relative to the `dir` clause.
- The command-line option `-debug` has been removed; its functionality has been replaced by a control variable.
- The old `puzzle` and `special` attributes have finally been removed; if you have any old maps which use these, you must replace them with the corresponding styles instead.
- Documentation is now distributed in HTML and PDF formats, instead of GNU Info.
- The GNU Emacs IFM mode in the `contrib` directory now has font lock support. The `ifm.vim` file has also been updated with the latest keywords.
- Fixed bug with room `link` and `join` attributes: it didn’t work to use `last` as an argument.
- Fixed glitch in room text on PostScript output: now tries reducing font size before squishing, so that text is filled better.

# Version 4.1 (10 May 1999)

- Fixed minor task bug: in special cases, giving items caused solver to fail to find newly-opened paths.
- Fixed stupid blunder with DOS `\r` characters in one of the source files.
- Fixed core dump problem when reading colour definitions (on FreeBSD, at least).

# Version 4.0 (21 Apr 1999)

- PostScript driver can now print in colour.
- New 3D room shadowing effect on maps.
- Many new output variables to control new map features.
- Variables can now be set via expressions, not just values. Variables can now be used to customize many aspects of the input (e.g., notes, repeat counts).
- Individual parts of the map can now be customized using display styles.
- New `include` syntax, which allows files to include other files, either explicitly or via a path search.
- New `-include` (`-I`) option to prepend directories to the search path from the command line.
- New `-show` option to show various things (defined variables, search path), also included in `tkifm` menus.
- More information is now printed in item lists: which tasks require an item, which tasks an item requires, etc.
- Some example maps are now bundled with IFM, in the `demos` subdirectory.
- Names and defaults of many output variables have been changed in order to make them more consistent.
- Extra complexity in variable syntax has been removed, as it wasn’t being used. Specifically, variables can’t be set according to type of output or per-map-section any more, only by output driver.
- Removed formatted man page documentation: now only Info, HTML and text documentation is distributed. If there are enough complaints, I’ll put it back.
- The `puzzle` and `special` attributes are now obsolete; they’re replaced by display styles.
- `tkifm` now redisplays old map windows when refreshing the map.
- Win32 version is now compiled with Cygwin b20, and so requires `cygwin1.dll` (not `cygwin.dll`), included in the distribution. See `README.win32` for details.

# Version 3.0 (1 Oct 1998)

- There’s a new program `scr2ifm` in the distribution, which attempts to convert a game transcript into IFM format. It’s a perl script, and gets installed on Unix-type systems if perl is detected.
- New `nolink` attribute for rooms, which suppresses generation of an implicit link between this and the previous room.
- New `nopath` attribute for rooms, links and joins, which stops those map connections from being used by the game solver.
- New task `cmd none` syntax, for tasks that don’t need any special user commands (e.g., visiting a room for the first time).
- New PostScript variable `link_arrowsize`, which allows you to change the size of arrowheads on one-way links.
- `tkifm` is now installed automatically on Unix-type systems if `wish` (or one of its namesakes) is detected.
- `tkifm` now shows busy-cursor when doing something CPU-intensive.
- Improved solver failure messages, which give more information about what’s wrong.
- Removed PostScript documentation from distribution.
- The `times` keyword is now obsolete (but still works, for compatibility); just the repeat count is used instead.
- Fixed bug with `drop all except` clause; it was treating it as just a simple `drop` clause.
- Fixed bug in task path calculation; it didn’t always choose the best route between rooms.
- Linking a room to itself with no `dir` clause now results in an error, instead of failing mysteriously at the map-drawing stage.
- Minor fixes to make installation smoother on FreeBSD.

# Version 2.1 (26 Aug 1998)

- Fixed bug which caused some types of variable not to be set properly.
- Minor fixes to library functions to link properly under Solaris.

# Version 2.0 (19 Aug 1998)

- Lots of new keywords for use by the game solver, which has been considerably enhanced.
- New commands to modify previous definitions, which allow you to keep all game hacks in one place.
- New `show_tags` variable, which toggles addition of room tag names to room descriptions.
- New `-debug` command-line option, which gives the gory details of what the game solver is up to.
- New recording output, which can generate commands to play back in interpreters.
- Package now has a test suite.
- Links and joins can now be `hidden`, which means they’re used only for task purposes.
- Removed `groff` output; it’s not worth supporting any more, now that PostScript output works so well.
- Text task output now prints details of the rooms you move through to get places, including directions moved in (or commands typed to move that way).
- PostScript driver now has some standard page sizes. Also there’s a variable `page_rotate` which can override the default decisions on whether to print landscape or not.
- Having no rooms defined is not an error any more, in order to placate `tkifm`.
- Changed list attributes to be cumulative, instead of overriding previous value.
- Variables can now be set to `undef`, which allows their default setting to reappear.
- Various `tkifm` enhancements to make it convenient to use your preferred editor.
- Unix version now uses GNU autoconf/automake for installation.
- Got `tkifm` save-as option to set current filename properly.
- Stopped outside grid warnings from causing `tkifm` to fail when drawing map.
- Library function now doesn’t clobber read-only strings.

# Version 1.0 (11 Jun 1998)

- First release.

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