ken@rochester.UUCP (Ipse dixit) (01/13/86)
Info-Modula-2 Digest Monday, 13 Jan 1986 Volume 1 : Issue 4
Today's Topics:
Freebie archive
Exception handling in Modula-2
Software distribution for those without FTP access.
Modula-2+
Modula-2 VAR compatibility
Tools for building & describing large Modula-2 systems?
Modula-2 for DG?
Request for freebie software.
------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 4 Jan 86 10:34:48 pst
From: Vincent Manis <manis%ubc.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
Subject: Freebie archive
To: info-modula-2
Is there some way for us peons who lack FTP access to get hold of this
treasure trove? Perhaps a request system could be set up (probably very
time consuming), or perhaps the submitters could include a note to this
mailing list, and accept requests themselves.
In any case, thanx for all the good work.
Vincent Manis
Department of Computer Science
University of British Columbia
------------------------------
Date: 04 Jan 86 15:30:39 EST (Sat)
From: Ipse dixit <ken>
Subject: Re: Freebie archive
To: Vincent Manis <manis%ubc.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
Vincent,
For the moment I'd be happy to forward stuff from the archive to
requesters, seeing as there is very little in it at the moment (hint,
hint). When the volume of archived software gets high, we can work
something else out, perhaps redistributors, or whatever.
Ken
- --
UUCP: ..!{allegra,decvax,seismo}!rochester!ken ARPA: ken@rochester.arpa
Snail: Comp. of Disp. Science, U of Roch., NY 14627. Voice: Ken!
Phone: (716) 275-2569 (office), (716) 262-5298 (home)
------------------------------
Date: Sun 5 Jan 86 11:27:17-EST
From: Ralph W. Hyre Jr. <Ralph.Hyre@C.CS.CMU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Freebie archive
To: ken
Another alternative is to provide mail access to the source in the
archives. I've worked on systems that do something like this, and
there's a similar database service on BITNET as well.
Perhaps someone in the ARPA interest group community has though about
this already...
- Ralph
- -------
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Jan 86 14:42:28 pst
From: Vincent Manis <manis%ubc.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
Subject: Re: Freebie archive
To: "Ralph W. Hyre Jr." <Ralph.Hyre@c.cs.cmu.edu>
Mail access to the archive sounds like a good idea, but it seems like
a lot of work until the archive gets built up. So I guess we'll all
have to get busy and submit stuff to the archive... -- v
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Jan 86 21:57:56 est
From: treid@mitre.ARPA (Thomas Reid)
Subject: Re: Freebie archive
To: Ralph.Hyre@c.cs.cmu.edu, manis%ubc.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA
Ralph:
I am going to coordinate the archive activity. I am waiting for a reply from
Keith Petersen on the best way for him and us to submit. When that is ready,
I will put out a "let's all go and here's how" message. I want to make it as
easy and straight forward as I can for all concerned. I would also would like
to put a summary file (1 line per submission) out too. Nothing worse than
trying to figure out what a package does in 8 characters or less.
While you are waiting, begin preparing a short "blurb" on any submissions that
will go out to the group announcing and defining the submission. I want to
keep an archive of just the submission blurbs also so a new member can quickly
see what is available.
Any other ideas on ways of making the archives easier to use, please let me
know.
Tom.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 6 Jan 86 12:02:04 est
From: Geoffrey Wyant <harvard!wanginst!apollo!wyant>
Subject: Exception handling in Modula-2
To: rochester!info-modula-2
Has anyone given any thought to exception handling mechanisms for Modula-2 ? E
ither integrated into
the language or at least as a well-defined interface. Is it possible to come u
p with a portable
exception handling mechanism ?
-- Geoff Wyant
- -------
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 6 Jan 86 08:07 EDT
From: Benoit Paul <benoit%ulowell.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
Subject: Software distribution for those without FTP access.
To: info-modula-2
Ken, Vincent:
I would be willing to distribute programs from the library to
non-FTP sites. I myself do not have access to FTP, and thus would
need the submitter of the software or the FTP archive maintainer to
send me copies of software as they are submitted. I could then
re-distribute to other non-FTP parties. I am the system manager
of 3 VAXen and therefore have all the disk space that I need to
maintain the archives.
Paul Benoit
Computer Aided Engineering Design Center
University of Lowell
Lowell, Mass
CSnet: benoit@ulowell
------------------------------
Date: Tue 7 Jan 86 14:22:58-EST
From: Ralph W. Hyre Jr. <Ralph.Hyre@C.CS.CMU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Exception handling in Modula-2
To: harvard!wanginst!apollo!wyant
DECWRL developed a superset of Modula-2, called Modula-2+, which had exception
handling features. I don't know about portability, but I believe you can
still get the DECWRL report on it.
- Ralph
- -------
------------------------------
Date: 7 Jan 1986 1354-PST (Tuesday)
From: tomr@decwrl.DEC.COM (Tom Rodeheffer)
Subject: Re: Exception handling in Modula-2
To: info-modula-2
The extension of Modula-2 to include an exception-handling mechanism
was done by DECSRC. DECSRC is a separate lab from DECWRL, although from
outside DECWRL handles all our e-mail. The tech report that describes
our extensions is
Paul Rovner, Roy Levin, John Wick
On Extending Modula-2 for Building Large, Integrated Systems
Tech Report 3, DEC Systems Research Center, January, 1985
To get one, snail-mail a request to
Librarian, DEC Systems Research Center
130 Lytton Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Our compiler runs on and compiles for VAX/Ultrix. We expect to make our
compiler and runtimes available under the same basic terms as Mike Powell's
Modula-2 compiler distributed by DECWRL. This should happen sometime in
the next few months.
-Tom Rodeheffer, DEC Systems Research Center
- ------- End of Forwarded Message
------------------------------
Date: 7 Jan 1986 1611-PST (Tuesday)
From: rochester!mcdaniel@decwrl.DEC.COM (Gene McDaniel)
Subject: Modula-2+
To: Geoffrey Wyant <harvard!wanginst!apollo!wyant>
Modula 2+ is an extension of the decwrl modula 2 compiler. The
extensions were implemented at DEC's Systems Research Center.
This new compiler runs on vaxen and provides exceptions and garbage
ollection as well as other features. You can write
Paul Rovner
Systems Research Center,
Digital Equipment Corporation
130 Lytton Avenue
Palo Alto CA 94301
if you'd like more information about it.
gene
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 7 Jan 86 15:02:43 PST
From: sun!indigo!rmarti@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (Bob Marti)
Subject: Re: Exception handling in Modula-2
To: info-modula-2
In a recent posting, RALPHW@C.CS.CMU.EDU states:
> DECWRL developed a superset of Modula-2, called Modula-2+, which had
> exception handling features. I don't know about portability, but I
> believe you can still get the DECWRL report on it.
It was not DECWRL but DECSRC (Digital Systems Research Center,
130 Litton Avenue, Palo Alto CA 94301) who developed an extended
Modula-2 called Modula-2. Apart from exceptions, they also added
pointers to garbage collected storage (called REFs), "type safe"
variant types (REFANYs, i.e., REFs to objects which are typed at
run-time), a new type OPAQUE which does not allow assignment or
allocation to its clients, and some additions for multiprogramming.
They published a Tech Report "On Extending Modula-2 For Building Large,
Integrated Systems" by P.Rovner, R.Levin, and J.Wick.
- -- Bob Marti
PS: I am not very happy about their extensions ...
------------------------------
Date: 07 Jan 86 22:51:39 N (Tue)
From: mcvax!ace.UUCP!konijn@seismo.CSS.GOV
Subject: parameter problem in modula edition 3
To: INFO-MODULA-2
The third edition reference manual states (p 156)
"The types of corresponding actual and formal parameters must be
identical in the case of variable parameters,"
where the second edition requires (p 156):
"In the case of variable parameters it must be compatible with
its corresponding actual parameter (see 9.2)"
This means that code like the following becomes illegal, since ADDRESS
and POINTER TO CHAR are compatible but not identical.
MODULE Demo;
PROCEDURE ALLOCATE (
VAR addr : ADDRESS;
size : CARDINAL);
BEGIN
(* etc *)
END ALLOCATE;
VAR
x : POINTER TO CHAR;
BEGIN
ALLOCATE (x, TSIZE (x));
END Demo.
Does this really mean every storage allocator ever written in modula
is broken in edition 3, or did I miss some subtle interpretation?
Will the BSI standard follow edition 3 here?
- Erik.
------------------------------
Date: 7 Jan 1986 1852-PST (Tuesday)
From: joel@decwrl.DEC.COM (Joel McCormack)
Subject: Modula-2 VAR compatibility
To: info-modula-2
See Section 29, "Low-level facilities", pp. 125-126.
"If a parameter of a procedure is given the type WORD, its
corresponding actual parameter may be of any type that assigns [this
should be "allocates"] a single word to its variables."
"...if a formal parameter is of type ADDRESS, its corresponding actual
parameter may be of any pointer type."
Of course, he really should make some mention of this in the
compatibility rules for parameters....
- - Joel McCormack {ihnp4 decvax ucbvax allegra}!decwrl!joel
joel@decwrl.dec.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 86 18:33:40 est
From: Geoffrey Wyant <apollo!wyant@uw-beaver.arpa>
Subject: Tools for building & describing large modula-2 systems
To: apollo!info-modula-2
Has anyone given any thought to tools for building & describing large modula-2
systems ?
What I'm thinking of is something that would allow one to describe a collection
of modules
which could then be processed into an ordinary executable binary or used as fur
ther input into
other descriptions. It differs from just being a linker/binder in the sense th
at part of its
function is to specify the bindings between an imported definition module and t
he appropriate
implementation. What I'm thinking of is something along the lines of
Configuration Module Symbol_Table
Sets: BIND "HashedSetRep" ;
Strings: BIND "LinkedStrings" ;
...
End ;
where Sets & Strings had been imported by the Symbol_Table implementation modul
e. Any interest
in such a beast ?
-- Geoff Wyant
- -------
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 9 Jan 86 20:14:52 pst
From: logitech!psg@decwrl.DEC.COM
Subject: Modula-2 for DG
To: info-modula-2
I have received a request for information on any Modula-2 Compiler
implementation for a Data General Mini. If anyone has any suggestions
on where to look I will pass it on.
Thank You,
George Symons
MODUS
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 11 Jan 86 05:05:22 +0100
From: seismo!mcvax!htsa!siebren
Subject: Request for freebie software.
To: rochester!info-modula-2
Hello!
I am currently working on a compiler project for Modula 2. I have recently
finished my work for the symbol table part, and would like to receive a
Modula 2 program, no matter what is does, which uses the symbol table
heavily, in order to test that part of my compiler. I have never programmed
in Modula 2 neither did I ever write a compiler, so I don't feel very sure
wether I did my job well. Could you please send me one or two programs that
do a heavy use of the export mechanism? Maybe you could even find a program
that has a MODULE nested in a PROCEDURE! I wouldn't know the use of that,
but you never know. Many thanks in advance!
Siebren v/d Zee, HTS Amsterdam.
...!mcvax!vu44!htsa!siebren
------------------------------
End of Info-Modula-2 Digest
***************************
--
UUCP: ..!{allegra,decvax,seismo}!rochester!ken ARPA: ken@rochester.arpa
Snail: Comp. of Disp. Sci., U. of Roch., NY 14627. Voice: Ken!