Tore Lund (tl001@online.no)
Wed, 21 Feb 2001 10:31:48 +0100
Malcolm Wallace wrote: > > Tore wrote: > > > > Above all, what Windows users would like to see is a version that could > > be compiled by VC++ and then run like a native Windows program. > > I'm sure that a lot of people would appreciate such a facility. > As I understand things, these are the main problems to solve: > > * nhc98 (and other compilers like ghc) are almost exclusively > text-based. I don't know how things like "invocation by clicking > an icon" and treatment of command-line arguments work in a > Windows setting. If there are straightforward equivalences > between the Unix way and the Windows way, great. Console mode invocation should be highly equivalent to the Unix way. > * The runtime system currently uses many standard C libraries. I > don't know how many of these are Unix-specific, and how many are > truly standard to the extent of existing on Windows. However, it > should be realatively easy to enumerate them against a check-list. Probably a small problem, though quirks may be expected. > * Shell scripts are used in various parts of the configuration and > build system, as well as for the tool driver scripts (harch, > nhc98, hmake, rtb, etc.). In turn these scripts use other common > Unix commands like rm, mv, cp, basename, dirname. I would guess > that all of the drivers would need to be recoded somehow (perhaps > as Haskell scripts?) to use Windows filesystem calls directly. This is no doubt where the real work is. > * I believe that Windows doesn't really have a proper 'make' tool, > certainly not of the sophistication of GNU make. This may > actually turn out to be the least difficult problem, because > 'hmake' is probably capable of handling much more of the build > process than at present. Windows does have NMAKE, which is certainly "proper" enough, whether or not it can do precisely what's done by GNU make. Besides, the IDE, if we use that, understands so much about the dependencies that it probably covers most of that work. Anyway, this last point is just a matter of automation, and since most people would probably prefer to download a binary release, there may not be a great need for a highly automated build process. > However, some of you Windows users must have the tools, the skills, > and the motivation to give it a go. nhc98 is Open Source, so you don't > even have to ask for our permission! We provide anonymous CVS access > so you can keep in sync with our development tree. If you need some > help in understanding the current build system, or driver scripts, > or whatever, we are here on email to answer your questions. Yes, please, unless you could point us to documents already in existence. We can study the sources and makefiles, of course, but an outline of the build process and dependencies in a more human-readable format would be very welcome. And it would be a good idea if such information was published on this list, rather than in private e-mail. That might lead to more "takers". TIA and regards, -- Tore