Feature-Control (Was: Re: New Alpha)

Thu, 3 Apr 1997 08:46:55 +0200 (MET DST)

> On Wed, 2 Apr 1997 00:08:59 +0200 (MET DST) Peter Gerwinski 
>  wrote:
[...]
> >In case you have some arguments to set it back to the previous state,
> >just post it here.  (These are only some constants in `rts/rts.h', so it
> >was not much work to change.  Perhaps (yet another) command-line switch
> >would satisfy everybody?)
> 
> I think this could be the way forward. Having a multitude 
> of command line switches is very good, in that it gives
> the programmer more flexibility to use the compiler in
> the way that he/she likes, not in the way that somebody
> else thinks they should. However, the price of flexibility
> is complexity. In case you haven't done this, can you
> introduce a .CFG file (like with Borland) where one can
> put all the command line switches that they want to use?
> The compiler will read the .CFG file before doing anything
> else, and will adjust its behaviour accordingly. I personally
> prefer this approach to using environment variables or the
> such. You can make many sample .CFG files 
> (e.g., borland.cfg, extended.cfg, iso.cfg, etc) which people
> can then rename to GPC.CFG or whatever.

Oh, No! Please don't.
Why don't we handle this like it is used in the common place way at unixish
Systems: Take a Makefile and put a line PFLAGS (is this right?) in it. There
you have all your flags, you think you need. Let's say there is a
PBORLANDFLAGS=--borland-pascal --what-in-hell-else-is-needed-for-borland
and a PMYFLAGS=--left-justified --enable-foo-warnings.
Then you can put them together to the archive your program comes with and
nobody needs to edit the GPC.CFG. 

What one might do is put sample Makerules-file(s) to the GPC distribution.

Bye, Nils

-- 
Nils Bokermann      
Johanneswerkstr. 90        Phone: +49 521 891279
33613 Bielefeld            FAX:   +49 521 550116
Germany			   "Wir wollen die Natur nicht erhalten --
			   Wir wollen nur ihre Dynamik nicht st"oren."
_______________________________________________________________________________

Nils Bokermann (nilsb@reality.owl.de)