klm@gozer.UUCP (Kevin [My Amiga has e-mail] McBride) (11/26/89)
I'm attempting to do some work on a freeware package that is already
running on the Amiga, but was developed under Lattice C. I have Aztec
C and have been getting rather discouraged the past few days with Manx's
less than adequate runtime library. (MINOR **FLAME** LATER)
Would somebody in net.land please do me a BIG favor and answer the
following questions for me? If you do, I'll be able to finish up
some neat new features and bug fixes on a real nice freeware package
and post them on the net for all to enjoy.
(Please respond via e-mail. I don't want to clutter up the net with
Yet Another Religious War About C Compilers. (YARWACC))
1. (** MOST IMPORTANT **) I need descriptions of the following routines
from Lattice's runtime library:
stpblk
abort *
chkabort *
getfnl
strbpl
Please include synopsis and a description of what they do. I can find
no reference to these functions in any of my Amiga or Unix documentation.
Looks like I'll have to write my own. (More wasted time.) Better yet,
if you've written one before, would you send it to me so I don't have
to reinvent the wheel? I'm worried about abort and chkabort, they sound
nasty.
* (These routines DO appear in the Aztec rtl, but not as _abort and
_chkabort, so they are apparently not the same thing, or are they?)
2. I've read discussions here about Aztec version 4.9 coming out RSN.
I currently have 3.6a. Whatever happened to versions 3.7 through
4.8, and why didn't I, as a registered user, ever get any notification
from Manx about the upgrades? What new features / bug fixes are in
the new version?
*** CRANK UP THE HEAT ***
Why is it so difficult to get any decent information from Manx? I bought
my first Amiga and my original copy of Aztec C back in 1986. Twice I
have paid $50 for an update, and I also bought SDB when it came out.
I'm beginning to feel like I've been ripped off.
Sure, the compiler is great. Big deal. It's practically unusable because
the runtime support is so incompatible with the rest of the world.
C.lib is missing what I consider (IMHO) to be some rather important
functions. They don't even have an 'strtok' or a 'system', I had to write
my own. Yeah, I know, BIG DEAL. Just more wasted time.
I hope 4.9 fixes some problems, and I hope it doesn't take me forever
to get the upgrade.
*** FLAME OFF ***
I have no complaints against Jim Goodnow. I think he wrote a damn good
C compiler, I just wish the support were better.
There, I feel a little better now.
--
Kevin L. McBride, President // Amiga: | Brewmeister, VP of tasting,
McBride Software // The computer | and Bottle Washer,
Consulting Group, Inc. \\ // for the | McBeer Home Brewery
uunet!wang!gozer!klm \x/ creative mind | Nashua, NH