Autor: Sławomir Stachniewicz (stachnie_at_alf.ifj.edu.pl)
Data: Mon 16 Feb 1998 - 09:19:27 MET
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>Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 23:35:41 +0000
>From: "Allan Mertner" <mertner_at_ibm.net>
>To: vpascal_at_as60053.pc.nus.sg
>Subject: ANNOUNCEMENT: Virtual Pascal v2.0 development
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London, 16 February 1998
There is going to be a Virtual Pascal v2.0! All your lobbying and
telling us how great you think VP is has finally convinced us to produce
a new version, including some exciting new features - please read on.
VP v2.0 will be published by fPrint (UK) Ltd and is currently targeted
for beta testing around the beginning of April 1998. Please refer to
the bottom of this message for further information about the beta test.
VP v2.0 will be sold exclusively through the Internet. To keep
production and distribution costs down, no hard-copy documentation,
media or packaging will be available for this version.
Subject to changes and reasonable suggestions, VP v2.0 will have the
following main new features and enhancements above VP/2 v1.1:
- Support for OS/2, Windows NT/Windows 95 (Win32) and some
DOS-extenders.
Cross-platform support includes
- An IDE for each of OS/2 and Win32. The IDE is the tried and tested
IDE from VP/2 v1.x.
- The ability of both IDEs to generate executables for both OS/2 and
Win32.
- Full debugger support for OS/2 and Win32.
- The ability to run VP-generated Win32 programs using DOS extenders
like Borland's 32RTM, Pharlap's DOS extender and RTX-DOS32 that
emulate a subset of the Win32 or OS/2 API. The IDE, including
compiler and built-in debugger can run in DOS using RTX-DOS32 only.
- A built-in linker capable of producing both Win32 PE executables
and OS/2 LX executables.
- The Run-Time Library has been extended to include a new unit,
VpSysLow, which encapsulates and implements all platform-dependent
calls. All units in the RTL are independent of operating systems as
they have been converted to use VpSysLow.
- Because dependency on the operating system has been isolated to the
VpSysLow unit, the RTL works on both Win32 and OS/2. This also means
that VP v2.0 can be ported to generate code for any Intel-based
32-bit platform like Linux, BeOS, etc, by porting the VpSysLow unit
alone.
- Full source for the entire system-independent RTL, including the
VpSysLow and System units, is included. The RTL includes VpSysLow,
System, Crt, Dos, Strings, Math, VPUtils, Os2*, Windows. For
copyright reasons, the following RTL files are supplied as
pre-compiled (source available for Delphi owners only): TypInfo,
Classes, SysUtils; and Objects (Borland Pascal owners only).
- A platform-independent version of Turbo Vision is included. Owners
of Borland Pascal will be able to upgrade the BP source code to
compatibility with VP v2.0.
- The compiler supports the Pascal language as defined by Borland
Pascal v7. In addition, language extensions introduced in Borland
Delphi v2.0 are supported: Local Thread Storage, AnsiStrings,
try..except blocks, the Class object model, etc.
- Open Debug API (ODAPI)
The debugger for both IDEs now relies on an external Debug DLL for
debugging. Using the ODAPI, it is possible for users to write
debugger support for any Intel-based platform.
- The ODAPI is documented through online help. The source code for
native debugging of OS/2 and Win32 programs is included.
- Remote debugging facility by using the Open Debug API, implemented
for RTXDOS, is included.
- All utilities (TPH2VPH, ImpLib, Lib, HG, etc) are supplied for both
OS/2 and Win32.
- Includes support for upgrading the Delphi v3 RTL/VCL files to VP
compatibility. For updating TypInfo, Classes, SysUtils and
optionally the rest of the VCL, source code from the following Delphi
versions can be used: 1.00, 1.01, 2.00, 2.01, 3.00, 3.01 and 3.02
- Possible support for porting programs using Borland Pascal's 16-bit
Object Windows Library (OWL for BPW) to Win32. We need to
investigate this further.
- Numerous examples for both OS/2 and Win32 included.
- The IDE uses text-based INI files instead of proprietary binary .CFG
files for defining projects. A utility for converting old .CFG files
to the new format will probably be supplied. Text-based .INI files
make it easier to extend the capabilities of the IDE without
compromising backwards compatibility, and also allow access to the
settings from a text-editor.
- The IDE will no longer force file names to upper case, but instead
retain the original case.
- The compiler will no longer force names of exported entry points to
upper case.
- Various bug fixes, including enhanced AnsiString support.
HELP AND REFERENCE
- The RTL is documented using the built-in help system (VPH).
Optionally, an INF version of this can be downloaded (OS/2 only).
- The base OS/2 API is documented both as .VPH and as .INF files
(Optional download).
- Documentation for the Win32 API is not included, since it can be
obtained from several other sources and is very large in size.
- The manual (including installation instructions, using the IDE,
Pascal language reference, etc) will be updated and be included in
electronic form; probably as a PDF file.
RESTRICTIONS
- The $Export and $Dynamic feature, which allows entire units to be
exported to a DLL, is available for OS/2 targets only.
- The libraries supported by VP v1.1 (Object Professional, ASync Pro,
B-Tree Filer, TTT, TOT, etc) are supported for OS/2 only.
BETA TEST
A beta test will be available for all interested parties. To
participate, you must purchase the beta test from BMT Micro, available
at http://www.bmtmicro.com. Participation in the beta test entitles you
to a free upgrade to the full version of VP v2.0 when it is released.
By participating in the beta program, you not only get a chance to try
this excellent software before all your friends - and to demonstrate a
significant demand for the product - but it also enables you to send us
your thoughts on features you would like to see, or existing ones you
would like to change.
Virtual Pascal v2.0 can be purchased from BMT Micro ONLY (it is NOT sold
directly from fPrint) and costs:
Virtual Pascal v2.0 US$159
Upgrade from previous version US$119
Students (proof required) US$119
Beta program, including full version US$119
Your Virtual Pascal Development Team
Thomas Mueller Allan Mertner Vitaly Miryanov
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+-------------------------------------+
| Slawomir Stachniewicz |
| mailto:stachnie_at_alf.ifj.edu.pl |
| http://solaris.ifj.edu.pl/~stachnie |
+-------------------------------------+
To archiwum zostało wygenerowane przez hypermail 2.1.7 : Tue 18 May 2004 - 15:16:21 MET DST