[Caml-list] Attn: Development Editor, Latest OCaml Weekly News

[Alan Schmitt <alan.schmitt@polytechnique.org>]

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Hello

Here is the latest OCaml Weekly News, for the week of October 06 to 13,
2026.

Table of Contents
─────────────────

betacalendars 1.0.0 — deterministic date and calendar utilities
Sedlex 3.8.1
opam 2.6.1
shakuhachi v0.4.0
Docfd: TUI multiline fuzzy document finder - 13.1.3 + proper user guide
OUPS meetup october 2026
faker 0.1.1: fake (but realistic) data, seed-compatible with faker-js
Old CWN


betacalendars 1.0.0 — deterministic date and calendar utilities
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

  Archive:
  <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-betacalendars-1-0-0-deterministic-date-and-calendar-utilities/18593/1>


Beta Calendars announced
────────────────────────

  I’m happy to announce the first stable release of *betacalendars*, an
  OCaml library for timezone-independent civil-date arithmetic and
  deterministic calendar generation.

  The library provides Gregorian date operations, configurable month and
  year grids, bounded recurrence rules, and date-range and
  calendar-boundary utilities. It is designed for predictable date-only
  work without relying on local time zones.

  Install it with opam:

  ┌────
  │ opam update
  │ opam install betacalendars
  └────

  • Source: <https://github.com/mateopedersen/betacalendars-ocaml>
  • Release:
    <https://github.com/mateopedersen/betacalendars-ocaml/releases/tag/v1.0.0>
  • API docs: <https://mateopedersen.github.io/betacalendars-ocaml/>
  • opam package metadata:
    <https://github.com/ocaml/opam-repository/blob/master/packages/betacalendars/betacalendars.1.0.0/opam>

  The package has been tested with OCaml 4.14 and 5.5, including its
  test suite and generated documentation. Feedback and questions are
  welcome.


Sedlex 3.8.1
════════════

  Archive: <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-sedlex-3-8-1/18595/1>


Hhugo announced
───────────────

  Sedlex 3.8.1 is out! 🎉

  Sedlex is a unicode-friendly lexer generator for OCaml originally
  written by Alain Frisch at LexiFi and now maintained under the
  [ocaml-community] umbrella.

  The headline feature is *named capture groups*. Sub-patterns can be
  bound with OCaml's `as' syntax and read back in the action:

  ┌────
  │ match%sedlex buf with
  │ | (Plus ('0'..'9') as num), '.', (Plus ('0'..'9') as frac) ->
  │     let n = Sedlexing.Utf8.of_submatch num in
  │     let f = Sedlexing.Utf8.of_submatch frac in
  │     Printf.printf "integer=%s fractional=%s\n" n f
  │ | _ -> ()
  └────

  Captures are implemented with a tagged DFA, so the generated lexer
  remains a single pass with no backtracking, and lexers that don't use
  `as' generate the same code as before. Sub-matches are leftmost-greedy
  within the longest match.  `as' is not allowed under `Star', `Plus',
  `Opt', `Rep', `Compl', `Sub' or `Intersect'.

  This release also brings, among other things:

  • Unicode 18.0.0
  • Faster `lexeme', `sub_lexeme' and `of_submatch' for Latin1, UTF-8
    and UTF-16

  You can read the notes in
  <https://github.com/ocaml-community/sedlex/releases/tag/v3.8>
  (unreleased) and
  <https://github.com/ocaml-community/sedlex/releases/tag/v3.8.1>.

  It should be available soon on opam.


[ocaml-community] <https://github.com/ocaml-community>


opam 2.6.1
══════════

  Archive: <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-opam-2-6-1/18597/1>


Kate announced
──────────────

  Hi everyone,

  *opam 2.6.1* is now available.

  This release *fix*es a *regr*ession from 2.6.0 where `opam install
  --deps-only' would *not inst*all the `depexts' field from the
  *pack*ages being *reque*sted.

  It also *impr*oves handling of Git repositories in things like
  *docker* containers and works around a *bug* in Git-for-Windows
  2.56.0.windows.1 (e.g. shipped by *GitHub Actions*)

  :open_book: You can read our [blog post] for relevant *links* and
  *details*.


[blog post] <https://opam.ocaml.org/blog/opam-2-6-1/>

Try it!
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  The upgrade instructions are unchanged:

  For Unix systems
  ┌────
  │ bash -c "sh <(curl -fsSL https://opam.ocaml.org/install.sh) --version 2.6.1"
  └────
  or from PowerShell for Windows systems
  ┌────
  │ Invoke-Expression "& { $(Invoke-RestMethod https://opam.ocaml.org/install.ps1) } -Version 2.6.1"
  └────
  Please report any issues to the [bug-tracker].

  Happy hacking, <> <> The opam team <> <> :camel:

  /Bold text is dotted around as an experiment to make it easier to read
  and faster to comprehend/


[bug-tracker] <https://github.com/ocaml/opam/issues>


shakuhachi v0.4.0
═════════════════

  Archive: <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-shakuhachi-v0-4-0/18599/1>


EruEri announced
────────────────

  Dear all,

  I’m happy to announce the release of shakuhachi v0.4.0.

  Shakuhachi is still a music collection manager.

  This release implements the 2 mains missing bits:
  • Query float/date property from the command line
    ┌────
    │ # example:  List all musics of *Googgosh* played within the last 24 hour
    │ $ skhc list %played_at:1dago..now %artist:Googoosh
    │ # Or with the S-expression syntax
    │ $ skhc list -Q "(and %played_at:1dago..now %artist:Googoosh)"
    └────
  • Complex stats are finally computed when querying an artist
    ┌────
    │ # example: List all artists having at least two albums
    │ $ skhc list -Iartist %album_count:2..
    └────

  This release also supports more… a sensible tagging/writing
  properties.
  • When adding a music the property /ALBUMARTISTS/ (resp. /ARTISTS/)
    will be looked first and fallback to /*ALBUMARTIST/
    (resp. /*ARTIST/).
  • When tagging, two new options /-j/ and /-J/ which set a joinphrase
    between the name of artists and artists of albums
  ┌────
  │ $ skhc tag -a "Sona Jobarteh" -j '&' -a "Youssou N'Dour" Kambengwo.flac
  │ # Will set ARTIST as a single value and ARTISTS as value containing two values
  │ # ARTIST = Sona Jobarteh & Youssou N'Dour
  │ # ARTISTS = Sona Jobarteh | Youssou N'Dour
  └────

  <https://codeberg.org/EruEri/shakuhachi>

  Thanks you for your time Sincerely yours.


Docfd: TUI multiline fuzzy document finder - 13.1.3 + proper user guide
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

  Archive:
  <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-docfd-tui-multiline-fuzzy-document-finder-13-1-3-proper-user-guide/18601/1>


Darren announced
────────────────

  Hi all,

  I am happy to announce the release of Docfd 13.1.3. And since I got a
  bit of time (got laid off from mass restructuring), I finally combined
  all the scattered instructions into a proper (though basic) user
  guide, which I hope nicely illustrates the cool parts of Docfd.

  [User Guide] - [Repo]


[User Guide] <https://darrenldl.github.io/docfd/guide/index.html>

[Repo] <https://github.com/darrenldl/docfd>

What Docfd is
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  Think interactive grep for text files, PDFs, DOCXs, etc, but
  word/token based instead of regex and line based, so you can search
  across lines easily.

  Docfd aims to provide good UX via integration with common text editors
  and PDF viewers, so you can jump directly to a search result with a
  single key press.

  <https://github.com/darrenldl/docfd/raw/main/demo-vhs-gifs/repo.gif>

  Cheers, Darren


OUPS meetup october 2026
════════════════════════

  Archive:
  <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/oups-meetup-november-2026/18610/1>


ancolie announced
─────────────────

  The next OUPS meetup will take place on *Tuesday, 3rd of November*
  2026. It will start at *6:30pm* at the *4 place Jussieu* in Paris. It
  will be in the in the *amphitheater 45A*. There is a [map of the
  buildings].

  Please, *[register on meetup]* as soon as possible to let us know how
  many pizza we should order.

  For more details, you may check the [OUPS’ website ].

  Moreover, we’d like to announce that the organizing team moved to the
  [OCaml Zulip]. Feel free to contact us there if you’d like to suggest
  talks.

  —

  This time we’ll have the following talks:

  *Compiling FFI-heavy OCaml to WebAssembly: An Experience Report on
   MOPSA – Réda Boudrouss*

  Large OCaml applications often rely on native C and C++ libraries
  through the OCaml FFI, making them difficult to run in the
  browser. Existing browser backends compile OCaml to JavaScript or
  WebAssembly, but leave the native dependency stack behind.

  In this presentation, we explore a different approach: compiling the
  OCaml runtime together with the complete native dependency stack to
  WebAssembly using Emscripten, and running the original OCaml bytecode
  on top of it. FFI calls are resolved through a static primitive table,
  without modifying existing FFI code or CamlIDL-generated bindings.

  We demonstrate this approach on MOPSA, a static analyzer combining
  OCaml with LLVM/Clang, GMP, MPFR, Apron, and CamlIDL, and show how the
  complete application can run directly in a web browser.

  *Designing a Set-Theoretic Type Library in OCaml – Mickaël Laurent*

  In this talk, I will share my experience using OCaml to design a
  library for set-theoretic types.  Set-theoretic types are difficult to
  define because they consist of several recursive components and
  layers.  Furthermore, the termination of certain operations on
  recursive types depends on a hash-consing system operating at various
  levels.  I will discuss the challenges and advantages of using OCaml,
  such as the difficulty of making some recursive modules typecheck and
  how we used algebraic effects to implement our hash-consing system.

  —

  After the talks there will be some pizzas offered by the [OCaml
  Software Foundation] and later on we’ll move to a pub nearby as usual.


[map of the buildings]
<https://sciences.sorbonne-universite.fr/vie-de-campus-sciences/accueil-vie-pratique/plan-du-campus>

[register on meetup]
<https://www.meetup.com/fr-FR/ocaml-paris/events/316945503>

[OUPS’ website ] <https://oups.frama.io>

[OCaml Zulip] <https://ocaml.zulipchat.com>

[OCaml Software Foundation] <https://ocaml-sf.org>


faker 0.1.1: fake (but realistic) data, seed-compatible with faker-js
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

  Archive:
  <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-faker-0-1-1-fake-but-realistic-data-seed-compatible-with-faker-js/18611/1>


Bartek Teodorczyk announced
───────────────────────────

  I'm happy to announce [faker], a library for generating fake but
  realistic data: names, addresses, emails, phone numbers, companies,
  dates, finance data, lorem ipsum and more, in 77 locales.

  ┌────
  │ opam install faker
  └────

  As far as I could find, OCaml didn't have a faker-style
  library. Property-testing generators like QCheck give you random
  values, but not plausible, localised fixtures for demos, seeding a
  development database or snapshot tests.

  faker is a port of [@faker-js/faker] 10.6.0, with **seed-for-seed
  parity**: for the same seed, every method returns exactly what
  faker-js returns. It uses the same MersenneTwister19937 generator and
  the same algorithms, so an OCaml service and a JS/TS service can share
  fixtures.

  ┌────
  │ let () =
  │   let f = Faker.create ~seed:42 () in
  │   print_endline (Faker.Person.full_name f);
  │   print_endline (Faker.Internet.email f);
  │   print_endline (Faker.Location.city f);
  │   print_endline
  │     (Faker.Helpers.fake "{{person.firstName}} works as a {{person.jobTitle}}" f);
  │   let de = Faker.Locales.De.faker () in
  │   Faker.seed de 42;
  │   print_endline (Faker.Person.full_name de);
  │   let ja = Faker.Locales.Ja.faker () in
  │   Faker.seed ja 42;
  │   print_endline (Faker.Person.full_name ja)
  └────

  ┌────
  │ Nikita Crist
  │ Moises.Sipes-Effertz18@gmail.com
  │ Lolaville
  │ Jeannette works as a Forward Implementation Analyst
  │ Melinda Dragu
  │ 吉川 結衣
  └────

  The equivalent faker-js code prints the same six lines.

  *What's in it*

  • All 26 faker-js modules (`Faker.Person', `Faker.Internet',
    `Faker.Location', `Faker.Date', `Faker.Finance', `Faker.Commerce',
    …) and all 77 locales.
  • The API mirrors faker-js, so the [faker-js API reference] documents
    every method. The faker instance is always the last argument, and
    options are optional labelled arguments: `faker.number.int({ min: 1,
    max: 10 })' becomes `Faker.Number.int ~min:1 ~max:10 f'.
  • No dependencies beyond the stdlib and `unix'. Locales are linked on
    demand, so an English-only program doesn't carry the other 76.

  *How parity is checked*

  `dune test' compares the OCaml output with fixtures generated by
  running faker-js itself: 3 seeds for every case, plus a sweep of every
  method in every locale (about 72,000 checks). Getting them all to pass
  meant solving a few problems that may interest people here:

  • *FMA contraction.* On arm64, the OCaml compiler fuses `a *. b +. c'
     into a single fused multiply-add, which rounds differently from
     V8. The port uses an explicit multiply where it matters.
  • *Evaluation order.* OCaml evaluates function arguments and record
     fields right to left, so every random draw is bound with `let' in
     faker-js's order.
  • *UTF-16 semantics.* JS string lengths, case mapping and NFKD
     normalisation are emulated on UTF-8 strings, with tables generated
     from Node.
  • *Floating-point maths.* `location.nearbyGPSCoordinate' uses a port
     of V8's fdlibm `sin~/~cos'. The one known platform dependence is
     `Math.pow' in the exponential distributor: Node calls the system
     libm, so faker-js itself rounds the last bit differently on
     FreeBSD. opam-repo-ci found this, and 0.1.1 is the fix.

  The porting notes are in [docs/PORTING.md], and the remaining
  differences are listed in the [README] under "Known differences".

  *Links*

  • Package and API docs: <https://ocaml.org/p/faker>
  • Source: <https://github.com/barteo/faker-ocaml>
  • Issues: <https://github.com/barteo/faker-ocaml/issues>

  All the data and algorithms come from faker-js, so many thanks to the
  faker-js team and contributors. Feedback and bug reports are very
  welcome, especially any case where the output differs from faker-js.


[faker] <https://ocaml.org/p/faker>

[@faker-js/faker] <https://github.com/faker-js/faker>

[faker-js API reference] <https://fakerjs.dev/api/>

[docs/PORTING.md]
<https://github.com/barteo/faker-ocaml/blob/main/docs/PORTING.md>

[README] <https://github.com/barteo/faker-ocaml#readme>


Old CWN
═══════

  If you happen to miss a CWN, you can [send me a message] and I'll mail
  it to you, or go take a look at [the archive] or the [RSS feed of the
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  to the [caml-list].

  [Alan Schmitt]


[send me a message] <mailto:alan.schmitt@polytechnique.org>

[the archive] <https://alan.petitepomme.net/cwn/>

[RSS feed of the archives] <https://alan.petitepomme.net/cwn/cwn.rss>

[caml-list] <https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/info/caml-list>

[Alan Schmitt] <https://alan.petitepomme.net/>


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