Re: alloca on VMS

[John E. Malmberg]

Bruno Haible wrote:
> John E. Malmberg wrote:
>
> > In lib/alloca.in.h :
> >
> > VMS needs a definition for the built-in __ALLOCA when using the DECC 
> > compiler.
>
> I committed your change with modifications:
> - This definition was at the wrong place. You put it in the middle of a
>   declaration.
> - The style in this file is to avoid parentheses after '#if defined'.

I will adjust my local copy and rebuild to verify.

> - Can you be more precise about what "DEC VMS compiler" means:
>   - Which version of the C compiler?

All versions of the compiler on VMS that identify themselves as:
DEC C
COMPAQ C
HP

The name reflecting the owner of VMS at the time of the compiler version 
release.

All versions of the above C compilers define the __DECC and __VMS macros.

>   - Which version of VMS or OpenVMS?

The only difference between VMS and OpenVMS is that the marketing 
department made a global text replace on all public documentation after 
VMS 5.5-2, at the same time as the Alpha variant was introduced, which 
confused a lot of people.

DEC/COMPAQ/HP C compilers work from VMS 5.5-2 and all versions later.

The __ALLOCA is a compiler built in, so it is specific to the compiler 
and not to the version of the operating system.

>   We need this info in order to decide what to do if some time after you
>   someone else comes and says "but it doesn't work on VMS, the code should be
>   different".

There is no alloca.h supplied with VMS.

There are two other C compilers known to exist on VMS:

VAX C, which is not ANSI, and IMHO, not worth trying to be compatible 
with.  The compiler only exist on the VAX platform, and has been 
replaced by DEC/COMPAQ/HP C.

GCC, The GCC on VMS appears to be in a state of abandonment.  Binaries 
are known to exist for VAX and ALPHA.  Some source code changes have 
been lost for part of the VAX binaries in distribution, so it can not 
currently be totally rebuilt from sources.

When DEC created the free hobby licenses program, work on GCC for VMS 
seems to have stopped.

I am doing the build with the compiler that identifies it self as:

HP C V7.1-015 on OpenVMS Alpha V8.3

-John
address@hidden
Personal Opinion Only