v1.11.1-rc7

• simple_string — counted construction, assign, append, push_back, and concatenation keep an embedded NUL, including assignment of a single '\0';
• string_begins_with — a wchar_t prefix compares with char_traits<C>::compare_max (wcsncmp);
• char_traits_safe — a count of 0 compares equal; a non-zero count orders a null pointer before a live pointer;
• platformstl::FILE_stream — added write_binary() (writes every byte, including embedded NULs) and deprecated write(void const*, size_t) in its favour;
• platformstl::basic_file_lines<> — parse directly from the memory-mapped base (dropped the full-file m_contents heap copy); fold the binary/NUL reject into the parse loop; C++11+ emplace_back; floor line-reservation at 128;
• Approximate measured gains for platformstl::basic_file_lines<> on the new harness (1000×64 LF): view-based forms (~stlsoft::string_view / std::string_view) about 10–20× faster than fgetc line accumulation and typically comparable to or slightly ahead of std::getline (~1.2× on MinGW CI); owning-string forms remain competitive with std::getline while avoiding the extra full-file copy;
• Renamed stlsoft_C_environment_variable_exists_a() to stlsoft_C_environment_variable_exists_m(); the _a form remains as a deprecated forwarder;
• Added count_bits_by_intrinsic() and find_highest_bit_by_intrinsic() (unselected by default; count_bits() keeps the 8-bit table; find_highest_bit() keeps the scan);
• Added stlsoft/api/external/bitfns.h and stlsoft/api/internal/bitfns.h — detection and adaptations for popcount / clz / _BitScanReverse intrinsics (GCC/Clang builtins preferred over MSVC when both are visible);
• Clang cccap — STLSOFT_CLANG_VER; documented shared STLSOFT_GCC_VER (also noted in GCC cccap);
• Fixed count_bits() overloads when STLSOFT_BIT_COUNT_BY_Kernighan is defined;
• Strategy note strategy/BIT_FUNCTIONS.md — measurements and default choice (table for count_bits(); keep intrinsics unselected pending cross-toolchain evidence);
• winstl::netapi_allocator — pass a DWORD byte count to NetApiBufferAllocate; the unit test links netapi32;
• stlsoft/std/cstring.hpp — suppress CRT deprecation around the strcpy, strcat, and strdup wrappers;
• winstl — 1.13.0 beta 3 (_WINSTL_VER_1_13_0_B03), with STLSoft 1.11.1-rc7;
• CMake — Windows GNU (MinGW) test/example programs static-link libgcc / libstdc++ so PE images load when runner PATH does not match the build toolchain;
• CI — performance job exports SIS_PERFTESTS_GROUPGAPS=1;
• execute_performance_tests.sh — capture the child exit code after optional expand piping (was overwriting a failed status with $? from the success branch);
• Test tree — leaf directories under test/component, test/unit, test/scratch, and test/performance renamed from test.<kind>.… to the subject name (for example glob_sequence); executable names stay test.<kind>.*;
• test/performance — programs nested by sub-project and area (platformstl/diagnostics, platformstl/filesystem, stlsoft/containers, stlsoft/conversion, stlsoft/diagnostics, stlsoft/memory, stlsoft/string, stlsoft/util);
• String-comparison units — strnicmp (C and C++), c_string_traits, char_traits / char_traits_safe, strcmp / strncmp, BSTR compare, string_begins_with, special_string_instance::equal, and compare edges on simple_string, static_string, string_view, and string_slice;
• Component tests for stlsoft::environment_variable_exists() (test/component/stlsoft/system/environment_variable_exists), including std::string / simple_string shims and UNIX empty-value behaviour;
• Component tests for platformstl::file_lines (test/component/platformstl/filesystem/file_lines) cover LF, CR, and CRLF splits, including an empty line, and reject an embedded NUL;
• Unit tests for intrinsic popcount / highest-bit helpers; broader width coverage for bit-function overloads;
• Performance suite test/performance/stlsoft/util/bit_functions (density patterns, intrinsic rows, median / ns-per-call reporting);
• Performance suite test/performance/platformstl/filesystem/file_lines — comparative harness vs fgetc / std::getline (LF / CRLF / CR; mid-size and small-file shapes; C++11+);
• Unit tests — removed empty placeholder cases; filled the nine allocator suites (comstl::task_allocator, mfcstl::afx_allocator, malloc_allocator, new_allocator, null_allocator, and WinSTL global_allocator, netapi_allocator, processheap_allocator, and shell_allocator) with round-trip sizes, max_size(), and std::list / std::vector use (null_allocator throws out_of_memory_exception);
• test.unit.versions — aligned with 1.11.1-rc7 (_STLSOFT_VER_1_11_1_RC7) and WinSTL 1.13.0 beta 3 (_WINSTL_VER_1_13_0_B03);