hlt@iapic.cvm.uiuc.edu (03/22/89)
I don't belive that Informix-4gl compiler version can be used with anything but MSC and one other compiler. There is a version of i4gl that does not need a compiler and this is in my opinion the only way to use i4gl on a pc platform. We have used various Informix products on several types of computers including Altos 968, Sequent B8K, and an IBM PC/AT. Informix-4GL is now one of our most heavily used programming tools. We have been very pleased with all Informix products, except the I-4gl for the PC. The problem is not the I-4gl but the 640K memory limitation of MS-DOS (just say no!). There are two versions of I-4gl for the PC: the version which produces an .exe file and the I-4gl RDS which produces an .4gi file. I have worked with both and will share the experience. I-4gl compiler: The version you have appears to be this one and was designed around the MSC 4.0. The compiler/libraries/headers all seem to be designed to work together. When we got ours however MSC 4.0 was now MSC 5.0 and was much larger so that both I-4gl and MSC 5.0 could not work together in the I-4gl programming environment. I-4gl converts the .4gl files to .ec files and then the .ec files to .c files and then hands the .c files to the compiler to create executable files. On the Sequent this is nearly seamless and generally delightful to use. On the PC this is another matter. The AT we use has 2.5 MB RAM but this version of i4gl can only use 700+ KB of it. The only way we can use this combination is to create MSC make files to chain the .4gl to .exe process together. We have not been able to get the MSC 5.1 version to work yet, but that may be how we have some flags set. MSC uses combined libraries to reduce link time and storage size, but informix is expecting the uncombined libraries so don't delete them when installing the MSC compiler. This expectation of the MSC uncombined libraries leads me to believe that the port is specific for the compiler. This version of Informix-4GL is functional if you can endure the pain of program development. This pain may be more of a Sequent (simply marvelous machine!!!!!! 8-) ) to IBM PC/AT (simple machine 8-( ) conversion process. The other problem is with overlays and program size. The application we have ported to the PC as a test will run for a while and then crashes due to memory allocation problems. I-4gl RDS The only way to work on a PC!! This will use the extended RAM as a place to hold the informix engines (i believe). The programming environment is smooth and the the debugger very valuable. For awhile this was available for $395 to developers, but no longer. There are still bugs in this first release for the PC but is still a very useful way of developing programs. We use this to debug and test. When we are satisfied that it is working, we shift to the make file arrangement and compile using MSC. I know this did not address the Turbo-C question directly, but you may be better off going for the i4gl-rds instead. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Harold L. Trammel hlt@iapic.cvm.uiuc.edu IAPIC-CVM Univ. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ==================================================================