Changes.OLD

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	      Meta-HTML Changes in 5.01 from 5.00

THE Meta-HTML REFERENCE MANUAL CAN NOW BE PRINTED OUT!
  The file `doc/manual/metahtml.ps' is a postscript version of the
  manual, and the mhc script `build-ps' can be used to generate the
  manual from the documentation files and databases.  In order to
  generate the manual, you will have to have the TeX, texindex, and
  dvips programs installed, and in your path.

  The printed manual is about 96 pages, contains a function index,
  a variable index, and a table of contents, and is heavily cross
  referenced.

CHANGES WHICH AFFECT COMPILATION AND INSTALLATION:
  Meta-HTML should now configure and install itself on an even wider
  variety of systems than before.  Specifically, problems reported for
  FreeBSD, NetBSD, NeXT, Solaris-2.4, and Solaris-2.5 have been
  addressed.

CHANGES WHICH AFFECT APACHE INSTALLATION:
  There is a new `mod_mhtml.c' file which can be compiled in with your
  server even if you aren't sure you will be running Meta-HTML.
  This allows for a much simpler configuration of the Apache server.

CHANGES WHICH AFFECT THE LANGUAGE:
  There have been several changes which affect the operation of the
  interpreter -- mostly in subtle ways.  All reported bugs have been
  fixed, and a couple of new features have been added.

    Additional macro argument expansion control, %attributes, %xbody,
    and %qbody, for getting the attribute list, the evaluated body,
    and the quoted body, respectively.

    A new tag, <VAR-EXISTS>, takes a single variable name as an
    argument and returns the string "true" if that variable has
    been defined, even if its value is the empty string ("").

    There is a new tag, <SYSTEM-ERROR-OUTPUT>, which (analogous to
    <tag DEBUGGING-OUTPUT> is replaced with the output of internal
    functions that result in error conditions.  Most notably, if
    functions such as <WITH-OPEN-DATABASE> or <WITH-OPEN-STREAM>
    encounter error conditions, that status is reported in this tag.

    The <INCLUDE> tag now uses the directory of the containing file as
    the current directory, not the directory of the requesting
    document.  Essentially, this means that it acts more like the C
    pre-processor `#include'.

    The variables MHTML::INCLUDE-PREFIX and MHTML::RELATIVE-PREFIX
    show the full path to the document being retrieved, so there
    continues to be a mechanism for conditionally including a file
    in the same directory of the current document -- it looks like:

      <include <get-var mhtml::relative-prefix>/local.mhtml alt="">

    In the INCLUDEd file, the variable %%::RELPREF reflects the
    current Web path to the document being included.  You won't
    need this for anything though.

    Both the Server and Engine have newer configuration files and
    added code, which default the following behavior:

	  Posted data is made non-executable by default.
	  Cookies are set to be "permanent" by default.
	  User directories are handled in <INCLUDE> statements,
	  and also by both the Server and Engine, if, and only if, the
	  variable MHTML::~DIRECTORY is defined and has a value.
	  A typical value for this variable might be "public_html".