mb@rex.cs.tulane.edu (Mark Benard) (12/21/89)
I am having some problems with Lightspeed Pascal 2.0 and cannot get through to the technical people at the number listed in the manual. Can anyone tell me if there is a patch or newer version that is available? I am on Internet and could pick up anything that is available via ftp. The problems I am having are all associated with pointer errors. When one of my students misuses a pointer, it often corrupts the project so that the project has to be completely reconstructed from scratch with new copies of the libraries; if it is not completely reconstructed, the rebuilt program gives 'nil reference' errors even after the pointer errors have been corrected. Often it is even worse - the compiler itself is corrupted. I did not believe it when it first happened, but it has happened to me personally on multiple machines with some erroneous programs. Has anyone experienced such errors? If you can help me, please respond by mail. I do not usually read this newsgroup. -- Mark Benard Department of Computer Science INTERNET & BITNET: mb@cs.tulane.edu Tulane University USENET: rex!mb New Orleans, LA 70118
siegel@endor.harvard.edu (Rich Siegel) (12/23/89)
In article <1714@rex.cs.tulane.edu> mb@rex.cs.tulane.edu (Mark Benard) writes: > >The problems I am having are all associated with pointer errors. When one of >my students misuses a pointer, it often corrupts the project so that the >project has to be completely reconstructed from scratch with new copies of >the libraries; if it is not completely reconstructed, the rebuilt program >gives 'nil reference' errors even after the pointer errors have been >corrected. Often it is even worse - the compiler itself is corrupted. I did Unfortunately, misuse of pointers on a non-memory-protected system like the Mac will often cause havoc, and it's not an issue related to the compiler; if the programs were run in standalone mode, they could very well corrupt the system or smash disk structures in irreparable ways. To protect yourself, you might try running THINK Pascal on a hardware-locked disk; this would prevent it from getting smashed. I can't think of any protection agains gratuitous use of bad pointers, though. R. k ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rich Siegel Staff Software Developer Symantec Corporation, Language Products Group Internet: siegel@endor.harvard.edu UUCP: ..harvard!endor!siegel "When someone who makes four hundred and fifty dollars an hour wants to tell you something for free, it's a good idea to listen." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
es2q+@andrew.cmu.edu (Erik Warren Selberg) (12/24/89)
Rich -- I have even MORE LSP problems for you... #1: dispose() doesn't work... when disposing an object, it likes to go off into never-never land... DisposPtr(ptr()) is a good work-around, but it would be nicedfor dispose to work. #2: as far as I can tell, when using a filter in a modalDialog loop, stops won't. for example... repeat modalDialog(myDlog,someFilter); case itemhit of {that call to modalDialog was a bit screwy, btw} ... end; until itemhit=ok; any stop in the loop won't. #3: this is the most serious I've found (and I just found it today, too!). I'm debuggin a monstrous dlog which uses pop-up menus, numerous edit texts, and loads of other neat stuff. What it is is a search dlog, and I'm using objects as the different types of searches (search by int, by date, etc). The problem I'm getting is that somewhere along the line LSP locks up. The steps I'm taking are... I go through the DLOG no problem. I then call GetDLOG() which grabs all the pertinent info. GetDLOG calls each object's own GetDLOG() call, so they can handle it in their own way. the problem is when I set a stop point in the TSType.GetDLOG() call and pop up either LightsBug or the Observe window, it locks up. it you with, I'll mail some source to you (it's a 15K unit). thanks much, #========##========##========##========##========##========##========##========## MegaloErik: Loosing contact with VICE 10... Welcome to Andrew! ## ARPA: es2q+@andrew.cmu.edu Fido: 129/107 BBS: Mac at Night (412) 268-8974 ## GEnie: E.SELBERG Delphi: LORDERIK CIS: 71470,2127 MacList: 6009/1 ##========##========##========##========##========##========##========##========# ...48 hours of continuous study have proven that Elvis is alive and teaching math at CMU.