April 2003 - Gpc

gcc-2.95 with libefence
by Frank Heckenbach 20 Apr '03

20 Apr '03

I just build GPC with gcc-2.95.3 under Linux/IA32, linked with libefence and ran the test-suite. There was only one bug (7 instances: drf3a.pas, fjf639j7.pas, fjf669b.pas, goto7.pas, jj5.pas, sam11.pas, strindex.pas) which seems to be a backend bug. The bug seems relatively harmless -- only an invalid read access, and it might not even do any real harm in the worst circumstances (but I don't know enough about the backend data structures to tell for sure). So I won't add the fix to GPC's GCC patches (since GPC's support for gcc-2 will disappear "soon", anyway). If anyone wants to apply it, anyway, you can find it attached. Frank -- Frank Heckenbach, frank(a)g-n-u.de, http://fjf.gnu.de/, 7977168E GPC To-Do list, latest features, fixed bugs: http://www.gnu-pascal.de/todo.html GPC download signing key: 51FF C1F0 1A77 C6C2 4482 4DDC 117A 9773 7F88 1707

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gpc-20030323 released (IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT BACKWARD-INCOMPATIBILITY)
by Frank Heckenbach 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

I've uploaded a new alpha to http://www.gnu-pascal.de/alpha/ You will hate this release ... at least if you make heavy use of external declarations or other directives. We all knew that some backward-incompatible changes in this area would have to be made, now that's happened. PLEASE READ THE NOTES BELOW FOR DETAILS. Changes that affect building GPC: ================================= - Dwarf2 debug info (the default under Linux and many other systems with gcc-3) finally works. This means you can now build GPC with gcc-3 without `-g0' or `-gstabs'. - Building GPC no more requires gperf (those who maintain build dependencies please note this). - Besides the source distributions as before, there is now also a "minimal" distribution. This is compressed with bzip2 instead of gzip and does not contain any generated files. These files will be generated automatically when building GPC, but you need some additional tools installed: bzip2, bash, *GNU* sed, GNU awk, GNU m4, bison, flex, autoconf, help2man, makeinfo (at least version 4.1). Other changes: ============== - Forward referencing pointers generate proper debug info now. - Discriminant identifiers are allowed as variant record selectors. - `export Foo = all (...)' (fjf811*.pas) - Delphi-compatible `initialization', `finalization' (chief43*.pas) - Type-casts are BP compatible now, in particular, value type-casts between ordinal and real or complex types don't work anymore. - All non-ISO-7185 keywords can be used as identifiers (with two small exceptions). (fjf440.pas) - `pack-struct' does not imply bit-level packing anymore (only explicit `packed' records and arrays do). - New options `--[no-]ignore-packed' (`--ignore-packed' is the default in BP mode). (fjf796*.pas) - New option `--maximum-field-alignment=N' - `{$[no-]pack-struct}' as a compiler directive - New options `-W[no-]local-external' (implied by `-Wall') - New options `--vax-pascal', `--mac-pascal' - Mac Pascal directives `definec', `macro', `undefc', `ifc', `ifoptc', `elsec', `elifc', `endc', `errorc' - Units without `implementation' part - When passing a schema variable as an untyped argument, the whole schema, including the discriminants is passed. (fjf798.pas) - `TimeZone' in `TimeStamp' counts seconds *east* of UTC now (not west, as before). (datetimedemo.pas) - Some bug fixes related to operator overloading. - Variables declared in interfaces of modules are now initialized (capacity of strings etc.). (daj3.pas, sven14c.pas, nick1.pas) - Various other bug fixes. Directives and attributes: ========================== - `external name' works (BP compatible). So procedure Foo; external; asmname 'bar'; or (equivalent previously) procedure Foo; asmname 'bar'; can be changed to procedure Foo; external name 'bar'; GPC also accepts procedure Foo; external 'libname' name 'bar'; but ignores 'libname'. It could be supported via automake, but since automake is to be replaced by gp, anyway, it seems pointless to do it now. - `name' works as an attribute. - `attribute's with single parameters can be written with `=', so attribute (name ('foo')) and attribute (name = 'foo') are equivalent. - Linker names (whether by `external name' or as an `attribute') can be string constant expressions now (e.g., involving declared string constants and `+'). The same applies to module/unit file names specified with `in'. - `asmname' is deprecated (and will be dropped in a future version). * External `asmname' constructions can be changed as shown above. * In a unit interface, change procedure Foo; asmname 'bar'; to procedure Foo; external name 'bar'; *if* the routine is really external (e.g. implemented in a C file or library); otherwise to procedure Foo; attribute (name = 'bar'); (previously, GPC didn't care, but now you have to distinguish these cases). - `external' without an asmname (whether by `external name' or as an `attribute') defaults to all-lowercase linker names now. GPC will give a warning now (because of the change). This warning will disappear in the future (but the change will remain in effect, of course). Routines without `external' or asmname still use first-uppercase linker names, for those who care. But it's not recommended to rely on this. So change procedure Foo; external; to procedure Foo; external name 'Foo'; (or change the corresponding C code to `foo' if that's under your control). - All of the above applies to variables as well. - `c', `c_language' are also deprecated. Instead of procedure Foo; c; or procedure Foo; c_language; write procedure Foo; external; (if you don't mind the warning for now), or procedure Foo; external name 'foo'; (if you prefer to make the linker name more explicit). - `static', `volatile' and `register' for variables are no prefix directives anymore, but attributes. E.g. var Foo: static Integer; becomes var Foo: Integer; attribute (static); - Same for `inline' with routines. inline procedure Foo; becomes procedure Foo; attribute (inline); - A new attribute `const' for variables (really read-only -- unlike BP's "typed constants", and also applicable to external variables). - `attribute' for routines doesn't imply `forward' anymore, so you don't have to declare routines twice in a program or implementation part when setting the linker name or some other attribute. E.g. procedure Foo; attribute (noreturn); { forward; -- ignored here before } procedure Foo; begin Halt end; becomes: procedure Foo; attribute (noreturn); begin Halt end; A final example: procedure Foo; asmname 'bar'; attribute (noreturn); procedure Foo; begin Halt end; becomes: procedure Foo; attribute (noreturn, name = 'bar'); begin Halt end; Frank -- Frank Heckenbach, frank(a)g-n-u.de, http://fjf.gnu.de/, 7977168E GPC To-Do list, latest features, fixed bugs: http://www.gnu-pascal.de/todo.html GPC download signing key: 51FF C1F0 1A77 C6C2 4482 4DDC 117A 9773 7F88 1707

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Re: Need units for delphi classes and forms
by Prof. A Olowofoyeku (The African Chief) 17 Apr '03

17 Apr '03

Brian Keener wrote: >I am playing around with porting an application from Visual C++ and >Delphi to GNU C++ and GNU GPC and I have a working GPC Compiler >(based on a compile of the Tests in GPC). While I am no where near >to having a working Makefile or truly compiled GNU GPC code for this >application I have gotten as far as being able to determine that I >need units for Delphi Classes and Forms. > >Does anyone know where I might locate these or get replacements that >will work with GPC or is there some other using I need instead. Unfortunately, you will not get very far without a tremendous amount of work. Units for Delphi classes and forms do not exist for use with GPC. Even with compilers that fully support the Delphi object model (e.g., Free Pascal and Virtual Pascal), it would be a herculean undertaking to compile the Delphi VCL or build anything like it. There are projects (e.g., Lazarus) that aim to produce something like the VCL, but they still have a very long way to go. With GPC, the compiler itself currently supports only the old BP object model - a different thing from the Delphi model. I have produced GPC units that begin to implement some things for Delphi compatibility (e.g., a Windows unit, and a rudimentary Sysutils unit) - but you will need far more than these. In effect, you would have to rewrite your programs (or at least the user interface parts thereof). How difficult this will be would depend on the kind of programs that you have written, and how much use they make of VCL visual objects. Best regards, The Chief --------- Prof. Abimbola Olowofoyeku (The African Chief) Web: http://www.bigfoot.com/~african_chief/

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Need units for delphi classes and forms
by Brian Keener 17 Apr '03

17 Apr '03

I am playing around with porting an application from Visual C++ and Delphi to GNU C++ and GNU GPC and I have a working GPC Compiler (based on a compile of the Tests in GPC). While I am no where near to having a working Makefile or truly compiled GNU GPC code for this application I have gotten as far as being able to determine that I need units for Delphi Classes and Forms. Does anyone know where I might locate these or get replacements that will work with GPC or is there some other using I need instead. Brian Keener bkeener(a)thesoftwaresource.com

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Remove {$debug-statement}
by Frank Heckenbach 16 Apr '03

16 Apr '03

GPC has supported the compiler directive `{$debug-statement}', mostly as a way to ease "WriteLn debugging" in a time when debug info was mostly unusable (i.e., until a little more than a year ago ;-). Since debug info now works (perhaps with small bugs, but at least better than WriteLn debugging), I think we can drop `{$debug-statement}'. Or does anyone still need it for any purpose? Frank -- Frank Heckenbach, frank(a)g-n-u.de, http://fjf.gnu.de/, 7977168E GPC To-Do list, latest features, fixed bugs: http://www.gnu-pascal.de/todo.html GPC download signing key: 51FF C1F0 1A77 C6C2 4482 4DDC 117A 9773 7F88 1707

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RHIDE URL
by Frank Heckenbach 14 Apr '03

14 Apr '03

Just noted that the RHIDE URL is broken. Does anyone have a new URL? If someone discovers broken URLs or hears about a linked page's moving, please let me know in the future. Frank -- Frank Heckenbach, frank(a)g-n-u.de, http://fjf.gnu.de/, 7977168E GPC To-Do list, latest features, fixed bugs: http://www.gnu-pascal.de/todo.html GPC download signing key: 51FF C1F0 1A77 C6C2 4482 4DDC 117A 9773 7F88 1707

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Bug: variable declared in a unit and masked in another
by Jean-Pierre Vial 13 Apr '03

13 Apr '03

One of my programs works fine with GPC2.1/gcc2.95.3 it does not compile with 2003/03/23 I could isolate the problem (out of a 5000 lines source) to two small units (see below) The original unit declaz contains global variables and procedure common to almost all the rest of the program. Ttwo of its (public) variables are masked in the implementation part of another unit by a variable with the same name (not a bug). There is a warning for this situation: fine, but not so fine, all the variables declared after the warning are ignored, and trigger errors when they appear later. To see it happen, copy the two sources below as gdeclaz.pas and gimpragr.pas, and try gpc --automake -c gimpragr.pas I get jp@brea:~/agreg/src/pascal> gpc --automake -c gimpragr.pas gimpragr.pas:21: redeclaration of `l132' gdeclaz.pas:6: previous declaration gimpragr.pas: In procedure `presidence': gimpragr.pas:23: undeclared identifier `president' (first use in this routine) gimpragr.pas:23: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once gimpragr.pas:23: for each routine it appears in.) gimpragr.pas:23: undeclared identifier `presidente' (first use in this routine) ***************************************************************************** unit gdeclaz; interface var l132 : boolean; implementation END. ********************************************************************************* Unit gimpragr; Interface Procedure impression; Implementation Uses gdeclaz; Var l132, president,presidente,chrono: Boolean; Procedure presidence; Begin If Not (president Or presidente) Then Begin write('La prÃ©sidence est elle tenue par un homme ou une femme H/F ? '); End; End; { presidence } procedure impression; Begin writeln('impression'); end; END. ****************************************************************************************** -- Jean-Pierre Vial

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Compiled gpc on cygwin but not sure what I have (where is gpc)
by Brian Keener 12 Apr '03

12 Apr '03

Hello all, As you can tell from the subject I am a real newbie to GNU-Pascal but I have an application I am trying to port to Cygwin and it has several pascal modules (originally from Borland Delphi) that I will need to compile so I am trying to get a working copy of gnu-pascal for my Cygwin install. I tried a binary install and it had a gpc.exe but the problem there was the binary was for cygwin and gcc 2.95.3 and cygwin has moved to gcc 3.2 and the binaries were compiled so they installed to cygnus/usr/bin instead of say usr/bin in cygwin so I couldn't really use the binary as it could not find all the 2.95.3 libraries for gcc it needed. I was going to try the install-gpc-binary script but was unsure if it would shorten the path so it would work if I copied to usr/bin as opposed to lengthening as if I had installed to /usr/local/cygnus.... So instead I decided to try to compile my own and attempted to follow the compiling instructions from the Website for gnu-pascal. I used cvs from the cygwin site to get the gcc sources for Cygwin for the 3.2.1 release and then I downloaded the gpc sources from website for gpc-20021128 which is supposed to work with gcc-3.2.1. I then created the symlink for p as described in the instructions and then I created a build directory and from there I ran the configure line and the make line as documented. I think I have done everything correctly but after compilation I am still not sure I have all I need. If in my build directory I do a find for gpc - I have the following: /usr/develop/obj $ find ./ -name "gpc*" -depth -print /gcc/gcc/p/gpc.o /gcc/gcc/p/gpc-common.o /gcc/gcc/p/gpc-decl.o /gcc/gcc/p/gpc-lex.o /gcc/gcc/p/gpc-typeck.o /gcc/gcc/p/gpcpp.o /gcc/gcc/p/rts/gpc.gpm /gcc/gcc/p/rts/gpc.gpi /gcc/gcc/p/rts/gpc_sp.gpi /gcc/gcc/p/rts/gpc_ep.gpi /gcc/gcc/p/rts/gpc_bp.gpi /gcc/gcc/p/rts/gpc_delphi.gpi /gcc/gcc/p/rts/gpc.o /gcc/gcc/gpc1.exe /gcc/gcc/gpcpp.exe /gcc/gcc/gpc-run This appears to be correct except that I don't see a gpc.exe like what existed in the binary install I did. I am really unfamiliar with pascal (I have often thought I would like to learn but...) but as I said I have an application I am trying to port to Cygwin and it has several pascal modules (originally from Borland Delphi) that I will need to compile. I see some warning but doesn't really seem to be any show stopper errors. Is anyone familiar with Cygwin enough to offer some pointers on compiling. Brian Keener bkeener(a)thesoftwaresource.com

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ld.exe error...
by Dominique Louis 10 Apr '03

10 Apr '03

Hi all, During the compilation of a project using the DevPascal IDE and the latest release, I get the following error... C:/Progra~1/Borland/gpc/bin/ld.exe: cannot find -lsdl I gather that "sdl" is the DLL that ld.exe is looking for, but where should it be placed so that it can find it. The SDL exists in the System32 directory as well as int he same directory as the project and it still does not find it. I have not had a response to my previous emails, so am starting to wonder if I have broken some kind of protocol before posting here? Any clarifications welcome. Sincerely Dominique http://www.DelphiGamer.com := go on, write a game instead;

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string utils
by Mehdi Khaldi 10 Apr '03

10 Apr '03

Hi, Are there utils to convert a String to integer, an Integer to String, etc...?

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