diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md index 8ca144dfddcee1b37b1aea882b2156be4547aa80..1e48180a19b411b5f71ec81ba584c2cfd1591926 100644 --- a/NEWS.md +++ b/NEWS.md @@ -1,3 +1,84 @@ +Announcement for Dynare 4.6.2 (on 2020-09-07) +============================================= + +We are pleased to announce the release of Dynare 4.6.2. + +This maintenance release fixes various bugs. + +The Windows, macOS and source packages are already available for download at +[the Dynare website](https://www.dynare.org/download/). + +All users are strongly encouraged to upgrade. + +This release is compatible with MATLAB versions ranging from 7.9 (R2009b) to +9.8 (R2020a), and with GNU Octave versions 5.2.0 (under Windows) and 4.4.1 +(under macOS). + +*Note for Windows users:* upon launching the Dynare installer, you may get a +warning emitted by Windows Defender SmartScreen, saying that this is an +unrecognized app and that it was prevented from starting. You can safely ignore +this warning, as long as you can verify on the next screen that CEPREMAP is the +editor of the software. This security warning is due to the fact that we had to +renew our code signing certificate (which had expired), and it takes some time +to rebuild our reputation as a software editor using the new certificate. + +Here is a list of the problems identified in version 4.6.1 and that have been +fixed in version 4.6.2: + +* Perfect foresight simulations of purely backward models could deliver an + incorrect result if some exogenous variable appeared with a lag of 2 or more + (and neither `block` nor `bytecode` option was used) +* Perfect foresight simulations of linear models could deliver an incorrect + result if the following four conditions were met: + + the model was actually declared as linear through the `linear` option + + there was an exogenous variable with a lead or a lag + + `stack_solve_algo` was equal to 0 (the default) or 7 + + neither `block` nor `bytecode` option was used +* In stochastic simulations, for variables that actually do not leave the + steady state, reported simulated moments could be spurious (due to division + by zero) +* Displayed variance decompositions would only take into account measurement + errors if measurement errors were present for all observed variables +* The posterior variance decompositions with measurement errors computed with + `moments_varendo` were incorrect +* `moments_varendo` would not update `oo_.PosteriorTheoreticalMoments` if it + was already present, from *e.g.* an earlier run of `estimation` +* Identification would in some cases compute wrong Jacobian of moments +* Identification would display incorrect results if parameter dependence was + implemented via a steady state file +* `generate_trace_plots` would crash when measurement errors were present +* `estimation` would crash for correlated measurement errors +* Parallel execution/testing could crash instead of aborting with a proper + error message +* Under macOS, Dynare would incorrectly claim that it is compiled for Octave + 5.2.0 (it is actually compiled for Octave 4.4.1) +* Using external functions in a model local variable would crash the + preprocessor +* Tolerance criteria for steady state computations were inconsistently set +* `stoch_simul` with its default `order=2` would crash with a message about + `hessian_eq_zero` not existing if an explicit `order=1` was present somewhere + else in the `.mod` file +* Model local variables were not written to the `modfile.json` JSON file +* Model local variables names would have two spurious underscores at their + point of definition in the `dynamic.json` and `static.json` files (but only + in the definition, not when they were used, which is inconsistent) +* The `solve_algo=9` option was not accessible. The `solve_algo=10` and + `solve_algo=11` options were not accessible with `block` (without `bytecode`) +* Under certain circumstances, `extended_path` would crash when used in + conjunction with the `block` option +* `extended_path` was not working with the `bytecode` option +* `shock_decomposition` was not accepting the options of `estimation` related + to smoothing +* `conditional_forecast` would display a warning even if the simulation was + successful +* The `prior_trunc` option of `identification` was not working +* The `rand_multivariate_student` value of the `proposal_distribution` option + was not working when used with the + `tailored_random_block_metropolis_hastings` posterior sampling method +* Perfect foresight simulations of backward models would crash if convergence + failed with complex-valued residuals +* The diffuse Kalman smoother would crash if `Finf` became singular + Announcement for Dynare 4.6.1 (on 2020-03-13) =============================================