proto-FAQ -- reactions please!_(re)

Tue, 15 Oct 1996 19:34:06 +0100 (MET)

Hello Jan Jaap, hello everybody!

I enjoyed reading this FAQ. (-:  Let's hope that all beginners
with GNU Pascal will really read it before bombarding me with
e-mails.  GNUd work!  :) :) :)

However here are some comments/suggestions/bug reports of mine. ;-)

According to J.J. van der Heijden:

> 1.1 What is the current version of GNU Pascal?
> ==============================================
>   The last official release is GPC 1.1, based on GNU CC version 2.6.3.
> GPC version 1.2, based on GCC 2.7.2 is currently in beta testing.

Better: "based on GCC 2.6.3" to avoid confusion between GNU CC =?= GCC.

> 1.2 Where is the GNU Pascal FTP site? WWW?
> ==========================================
> Also, we have a homepage on the web:

I suggest "on the World Wide Web".

>     http://home.pages.de/~GNU-Pascal/

I was reported some trouble accessing it.  Perhaps we should add:

    If this fails, try

      http://agnes.dida.physik.uni-essen.de/~gnu-pascal/

> 1.3 Is it compatible with Turbo Pascal (R) ?
> ============================================
> [...]  For this reason, non-portable features of Borland Pascal
> will probably not be included into GNU Pascal. More information can be found
> in the file "bpqstart.txt"

The file "bpqstart.txt" is section "Borland Pascal" of the Texinfo 
documentation now.

> 2.6 Can you recommend an IDE?
> =============================

What about RHIDE for DJGPP?

> Some usefull frontends include: XXGDB, tGDB and XWPE. see:
       ^^^^^^^
"useful", not "usefull". ;-)

> 2.7 Do we have a binary for you?
> ================================

As an asked question it must read: "Do you have a binary for me?"

>   Currently, we have binaries for these platforms:
>   [...]

Now there is SunOS 4.1.4, too.  Thank you, Frank!


>     function sleep(seconds: word): word; C;
>     function sleep(seconds: word): word; external;

This is redundant.  The "C" declaration implies "external" declaration.

> 3.3 What's this confusion about Pascal and C style strings?
> ===========================================================
>   It is important not to confuse Pascal and C string types.

We should mention here that we are talking about the ISO-10206 definiton
of Pascal Strings which is that one used by GPC.

>     function GetEnv(name : PChar): PChar; C;
>     function GetEnv(name : PChar): PChar; external;

You can and should use

    Function GetEnv ( Name: __CString__ ): pChar; C;

instead.  With this declaration, you can pass a String schema as
an actual parameter.  However, the return value must be a pChar.
(Not absolutely sure about this ... maybe a formal pChar parameter
can also have an actual String schema parameter ...)

> 3.4 Are GNU Pascal objects compatible with GNU C++ classes ?
> ============================================================
>   No.

This compatibility is planned for the far future.  At the moment,
Pascal objects can be accessed from standard C, however.

> Specific information for low-memory conditions and mre can be found in the
                                                     ^^^
Typographic error: "and more".

> 4.8 I'm accessing an "array[1..4000000] of byte" and I got an exception.
> ========================================================================

This is actually a but in GPC.  It does occur for global variables in
the main program, but not in Units or Modules.

> 5.3 Which newsgroup(s) are suited for GPC related problems?
> ===========================================================
> comp.lang.pascal.ansi-iso Pascal according to ANSI and ISO standards.
> comp.lang.pascal.misc     Pascal in general and ungrouped Pascals.

When we recommend comp.lang.pascal.ansi-iso, we must also mention
comp.lang.pascal.borland which might be the right choice to discuss
Borland compatibility problems and the DJGPP NewsGroup for problems
with the DJGPP version.

However I suggest to recommend only comp.lang.pascal.misc.
Perhaps we should mention the GPC mailing list in this topic, too.

> 5.3 How to become a subscriber to the mailing list
> ==================================================

I am not sure wheter this is correct English.  What about
"How to subscribe to the mailing list"?

> 6 Miscellany
> ************

The word exists, but perhaps "Miscellaneous" would be more appropriate?
Native speakers!

> 6.1 I want to contribute, where do I start?
> ===========================================

I suggest a semicolon instead of a comma.  ;-)

>   A list of jobs which should be done for GNU-Pascal can be found in the
> file `how_to_contrib.txt'. 

This file is section "How to Contribute" of the Texinfo documentation now.

Once again:  Very good work, Jan Jaap!

Bye everybody,

     Peter

Peter Gerwinski (peter@esmeralda.peter.gerwinski.essen.de)