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                    Package "Data::Locations" Version 4.1
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                  Copyright (c) 1997, 1998 by Steffen Beyer.
                             All rights reserved.


Version history:
----------------

Version 4.1   06.06.98

 +  Fixed "delete()" to clear the self-references which prevented the eventual
    garbage-collection.
 +  Also fixed "delete()" to free the occupied memory at the time of the call
    of this method rather than at shutdown time of the Perl interpreter.
 +  Removed the unnecessary calls of the "FETCH()" method, resulting in an
    improved performance.
 +  Minor changes to make the code clearer and cleaner.
 +  "Bug fixes" and additions in the documentation.

Version 4.0   23.05.98

 +  Extensive rewrite of this module and its documentation.
 +  The companion modules "Tie::Handle", "Data::Locations::Proxy"
    and "Data::Locations::Shell" are GONE, because "Data::Locations"
    now are OBJECTS *and* FILE HANDLES *at the same time*, making
    these three modules obsolete (this also means that this module
    doesn't need ANY external modules anymore, except the core
    modules from the standard Perl distribution "strict",
    "Exporter", "Carp" and "Symbol").
 +  This module now definitely needs Perl version 5.004 or better.
 +  Enhanced support for Windows NT/95.
 +  Added method "toplevel()".
 +  BEWARE that embedding a top-level location in some other location
    now automatically causes it to lose its "top-level" status, as
    opposed to previous versions of this module.

Version 3.0   29.07.97

    Added modules "Data::Locations::Proxy" and "Data::Locations::Shell"
    in order to make statements such as print $FH "text"; and $text = <$FH>;
    possible.
    The two methods "set_filename()" and "get_filename()" have been
    replaced by a single method, "filename()".

Version 2.1   25.07.97

    Intermediate development version not publicly released.

Version 2.0   24.07.97

    Changed the name of this module from "Locations" to "Data::Locations".
    Added new methods "printf()", "read()", "reset()" and "tie()".
    Introduced a companion module "Tie::Handle" to tie file handles to
    locations, in order to be able to print/read to/from locations using
    Perl's built-in operators for accessing file handles instead of method
    calls.

Version 1.2   18.07.97

    Intermediate development version not publicly released.

Version 1.1   16.07.97

    Fixed a bug in the automatic detection of potential infinite recursions.
    (This bug did not cause any malfunction, but degraded performance
    unnecessarily.)
    Cleanup of the code of remnants such as "carp - exit" instead of "croak".
    Improved the documentation.

Version 1.0   14.07.97

    First release.

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