[fpc-pascal]The state of FPC - wrap up

[Michael Van Canneyt]

On Fri, 25 Jul 2003, Florian Klaempfl wrote:

> Michael Van Canneyt wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > I think the point about users finding include files cumbersome to use,
> > and developers who require maintainability, has been made clear.
> >
> > We can discuss about this for ages, and never agree. So I would like to
> > conclude the discussion with a proposal.
> >
> > My proposal is as follows:
> >
> > If someone contributes a tool which does the necessary preprocessing
> > i.e. including needed files, then I will set up a system where the
> > source files are 'assembled' into single-source units for a given
> > platform/cpu combination. These single-source units can be distributed
> > with each platform or separately downloaded.
> >
> > This tool can be run on a daily basis on our CVS server, and zips can be
> > made available as a service to the FPC users.
> >
> > As for the tool, I ask only 3 things:
> > 1. It should compile with FPC and should be cross-platform.
> > 2. Should obey {$ifdefs}/{$define} and the like, such as
> >    run-time platform selection.
> >    (linux based tool must generate sources for e.g. win32)
> > 3. As for the rest, it would be good to have the command-line options
> >    which match the compiler's:
> >    -d define symbol
> >    -u undefine symbol
> >    -I/-Fi set include path
> >    -T select target os/cpu
> >    -FE set output name.
> >
> > If someone makes this tool, I will do the rest.
> >
> > Hopefully, this proposal helps to end an otherwise lengthy discussion.
>
> Hmmm, this could be easily done by the compiler but I see no real use
> for it. I think it would be much more useful, if fpdoc could be extended
> to include the file name and line number into the docs ...

This can be done too. But that will not solve the problem of the
'include' files. You saw that many people don't want to have the docs as
an in-between.

But it's noted as a feature for fpdoc. It's a good idea.

Michael.