[comp.lang.eiffel] New Eiffel features needed

shelley@btc.sps.mot.com (Norman K. Shelley) (12/15/89)

Apollo SR10.2 , Eiffel 2.2B

Package optimizer and Eiffel routine callback from C problem.

If an Eiffel routine e.g. "c_callback" is called back from a user defined C
routine and the Eiffel routine is never called from another Eiffel routine
then the code will work if it is not packaged.

Once it is packaged the optimizer sees that no one is using "c_callback" and
takes out the code and the code crashes in the C routine because there
is no Eiffel
code for "c_callback".

Exporting "c_callback" does not help the optimizer. It appears a new
Eiffel statement
is needed to designate which features are needed from user defined C
code so that
the optimizer will not delete necessary code. One can call any arbitrary
Eiffel feature
from C and the optimizer would have to be VERY smart to look through all
the C code
and object code that gets bound in to determine which features get
called only from C.

Norman Shelley
Motorola - BTC
2200 W. Broadway M350
Mesa, AZ 85202
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shelley@btc.sps.mot.com
(602) 962-2473