stuart@previous.ADS.COM (Stuart Crawford) (09/26/90)
A couple of naive questions: 1. If one were to develop an application on the NeXT using NeXTStep, what steps are necessary in order to port that application to an IBM machine running NeXTStep? 2. What, if any, other IBM hardware platforms will be supporting NeXTStep? Thanks, Stuart --
marc@ibmpa.awdpa.ibm.com (Marc Pawliger) (10/04/90)
In article <STUART.90Sep25142737@previous.ADS.COM>, stuart@previous.ADS.COM (Stuart Crawford) writes: |> 1. If one were to develop an application on the NeXT using NeXTStep, what |> steps are necessary in order to port that application to an IBM machine |> running NeXTStep? The current (as of 10/3/90) status is as follows: release 1.0 of NextStep for the IBM contains all 1.0 Appkit classes that are in the NeXT Appkit. Also included is an Objective-C preprocessor from Stepstone. The only code that could be considered "non-portable" from NeXT cubes to IBM hardware is 1) code that deals directly with hardware that is only on the NeXT - 68000, DSP, Optical Disk, etc and 2) code that uses Mach calls outside of the realm of the Appkit. The Risc System/6000 version ships with a Mach kernel extension that implements all Mach calls needed to run Applications, the Pasteboard Server and Display PostScript. The PS/2 version was built such that the kernel was relinked at installation time to support those same Mach calls. So if your applications needs, say, direct access to the Mach VM layer, it won't port easily. Other than that, most applications should port directly over. We use some different makefiles than does NeXT, but Interface Builder on the IBM's takes care of that the first time you write out the Makefile. The include files are for the most part the same as NeXT's - changes were only made where necessary so out pickey ANSI compiler wouldn't complain. Of course, .nib files created on the NeXT can be brought right over, and vice versa, so for most projects done on the cube, it's just a matter of bringing up the .nib file in Interface Builder, saving it and re-running the make. Also, you can use the -NXHost option to run apps directly from a cube to a IBM machine, and vice versa. Like the cube, you must have the PublicWindowServer default set to YES to do this. |> 2. What, if any, other IBM hardware platforms will be supporting NeXTStep? A version of NextStep 1.0 was ported to the PS/2 but right now is not available as a product. If you are calling your IBM rep to order NextStep for the '6000, it is available as a PRPQ, not a "regular" product. PRPQ stands for Request for Price Quotation, and is just IBM's way of releasing a product that will probably be requested on a "special-order" basis. As for 2.0, as announced in the press when NeXT announced 2.0 on the 18th, IBM will be "supporting 2.0". Details to come... These are my opinions, not IBM's, OK? OK! OK. +---Marc Pawliger---IBM Advanced Workstations Division---Palo Alto, CA---+ | Internet: marc%ibmsupt@uunet.uu.net VNET: MARCP at AUSVM6 | | UUCP: uunet!ibmsupt!ibmpa!marc Phone: (415) 855-3493 | +------IBMnet: marc@ibmpa.awdpa.ibm.com------IBM T/L: 465-3493--------+