home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
OS/2 Shareware BBS: 10 Tools
/
10-Tools.zip
/
vpdesc.txt
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1996-07-22
|
12KB
|
250 lines
Virtual Pascal for OS/2 v1.0 - by fPrint UK Ltd
** The Product
Virtual Pascal for OS/2 - or just VP/2 - is a professional 32- bit
Pascal development environment for OS/2. Compatible with the de facto
Pascal standard set by Borland Pascal and Borland Delphi, VP/2 offers an
easy way of porting existing DOS and Windows applications to 32-bit
OS/2.
** The Editor
The built-in editor features multiple edit windows, syntax highlighting,
unlimited undo/redo operations, keystroke macros, full context-sensitive
help, and everything else you should expect and demand of a professional
programming environment.
** The Compiler
The sophisticated built-in compiler produces stable 32-bit code,
optimised for both speed and code size. Smart Linking, which prevents
never-used code, variables, etc from ending up in your executable also
forms part of the compiler and the Presentation Manager Clock example
that comes with VP/2 takes up less than 8kB on the hard disk! Programs
written with VP/2 of course do not require separate run-time DLLs to run
- all the end-user needs is the final executable file. VP/2 allows you
to build DLLs. VP/2 DLLs can export anything declared in the interface
section of a unit (even objects and classes) making it possible to
create DLLs containing entire object hierarchies - such as Turbo Vision
or the Delphi Visual Component Library.
VP/2 is compatible with the languages of both Borland Pascal and Delphi.
Both object models (object and class) are supported, as are advanced
exception handling, multi- threading, Run-Time Type Information etc.
Full source code for the fully re-entrant and multi-threading prepared
Run-Time Library files Dos, Crt, Strings, WinDos and WinCrt units are
available, as are the interface sections of the System, SysUtils,
TypInfo and Classes units compatible with Borland Delphi.
Advanced users will appreciate the powerful 32-bit Built-in assembler
that supports all assembler instructions, including the 486- and
Pentium-specific ones. The compiler generates standard 32-bit .obj or
.lib files and can optionally output standard .asm files that can be
compiled with a standard assembler like Turbo Assembler.
** The Debugger
The powerful Integrated Development Environment has the functionality of
Borland Pascal v7 combined with Borland Turbo Debugger - and more. The
IDE gives full control over program execution at both source and
assembler code level and features a variety of integrated debugging
aids. During execution, you can watch the value of any expression,
browse your object hierarchy, follow the call stack, display the CPU
registers and the state of the numeric co-processor - all while your
application is running. Use the powerful Object Inspector to view
complex structured variables, and follow the loading and unloading of
OS/2 system DLLs in the Log window - it is all there. The extremely
powerful CPU window can be used to view and modify the code at
assembler-level and gives you total control over program flow while
allowing you to carefully inspect the code generated by the compiler. In
this window, VP/2 even supports debugging of any 16-or 32-bit OS/2
executable - just load and debug!
** The Documentation
VP/2 is delivered with extensive documentation covering everything
needed to get going with serious OS/2 development. A hardcopy VP/2 Users
Guide carefully describes the IDE and the usage of the different
components of VP/2, and guides the new user through the difficulties
involved in writing a program and debugging it. The extensive VP/2
Language Reference Manual, also delivered in hard copy, thoroughly
describes the formal syntax of the VP/2 language as well as the inner
workings of the compiler.
Supplementing the printed manuals, VP/2 comes with an in-depth
description of all OS/2 API calls for both text-mode and Presentation
Manager. These online manuals are delivered both in the OS/2 INF file
format and in the compact VP/2 help file format for use directly in the
IDE. Additionally, owners of a version of Turbo Pascal can use the
supplied Help Converter to convert Borland's help files to the VP/2
format.
** The Toolkits
VP/2 v1.0 comes with support for a number of popular toolkits and
libraries, making it possible to migrate applications written using
these to OS/2 as well. Borland's Turbo Vision and a clone of Borland's
Object Windows Library graphical library are included with optional
source code support. The full shareware TechnoJock Turbo Toolkit is
included, as is the powerful MATHPAK87 Lite mathemathical library. For
users of TurboPower's DOS toolkits Object Professional, Async
Professional and B-Tree Filer, source code upgrade patches are included
in the VP/2 package.
** The Examples
More than 150 examples are included, both as VP/2 source code and as
executables ready to run. The examples demonstrate both the
VP/2-compatible toolkits as well as a wide range of features and
techniques that can be used to write OS/2 text- mode or Presentation
Manager applications. The examples include a B-Tree Filer database
program, a PM Clock, a program demonstrating how to extend the
capabilities of REXX from VP/2, a full-screen graphics example, a PM
racing game using the DIVE interface as well as examples of printing
from Presentation Manager, multithreading applications and more.
** The Competition
Virtual Pascal for OS/2 is not alone in claiming superior compatibility
with Borland Pascal and Delphi. The following is a comparison between
Virtual Pascal for OS/2, Speed- Pascal/2 and Borland Pascal for DOS and
compares the compile time and the size of the executable file. Smaller
numbers are desirable.
The first two rows list the compile times and executable sizes for
TVDEMO, a Turbo Vision demo program delivered with Borland Pascal v7
demonstrating a range of features of the Turbo Vision library. The
example, including the TV library, consists of about 22000 lines of
source code. The next two rows are the figures for HELLO, a 4 line
program that just writes `Hello World' on the screen.
Action VP/2 v1.0 SP/2 v1.5G1 BP v7.0
TVDEMO: Smallest 124kB 247kB 150kB
executable 13 sec 48 sec 4 sec
TVDEMO: With debug 152kB 557kB 300kB
information 12 sec 54 sec 4 sec
HELLO: Smallest 3900 bytes 28160 bytes 2096 bytes
executable 0.5 sec 4 sec 0 sec
HELLO: With debug 4004 bytes 31303 bytes 4013 bytes
information 0.5 sec 4 sec 0 sec
Still, speed is not everything. VP/2 offers superior compatibility with
the Borland languages and the following table shows some of the
differences in language support:
Compiler VP/2 SP/2 BP v7.0 Delphi Delphi
feature v1.0 v1.5 G1 v1.0 v2.0
Circular unit yes no yes yes yes
references in the
implementation part
Mem and Port arrays yes no yes yes no
Thread local storage yes no no no yes
Open String parameters yes no yes yes yes
Comp type yes no yes yes yes
Currency type yes no no no yes
SizeOf( Real ) = 6 yes no yes yes yes
Export variables, yes no no no no
typed constants, objects
and classes from DLLs
Outputs standard .OBJ files yes no no no yes
Can link external .OBJ files yes no yes yes yes
Call 16-bit APIs directly yes no1 n/a n/a n/a
Unit Initialization and yes no no no yes
Finalization parts
Also of importance are the tools and help available. The following
table shows a summary of features available in Virtual Pascal for OS/2
and Speed Pascal/2, compared with Borland's Pascal products:
Debugger feature VP/2 SP/2 BP v7.0 Delphi Delphi
v1.0 v1.5 G1 v1.0 v2.0
Single-step execution yes yes yes yes yes
Expression Evalutor yes yes(2) yes yes yes
Watch window yes yes(2) yes yes yes
Symbol browser no no yes yes yes
Call stack window yes no yes yes yes
Breakpoints dialog yes no yes yes yes
Conditional Breakpoints yes no yes yes yes
Data-Breakpoints yes no yes(3) no no
Threads dialog yes no n/a n/a yes
CPU window yes no yes(3) no no
Numeric processor window yes no yes(3) no no
Registers window yes yes yes no no
Dump window yes no yes(3) no no
Symbols window yes yes yes yes yes
Object hiearchy window yes no yes yes yes
Inspector window yes no yes(3) yes yes
Log window yes no yes(3) no no
Other features
English online help yes yes yes yes yes
German online help no yes yes yes yes
Printed manual yes yes(4) yes yes yes
Resource Editor no yes yes yes yes
Help compiler yes no yes yes yes
Presentation Manager IDE yes yes no yes yes
Text mode only IDE yes no yes no no
Stand-alone compiler yes yes yes yes yes
Note: The product versions reviewed are listed in the column headings.
Specifications are subject to change without notice.
_______________________________
(1) Calling the OS/2 keyboard, mouse and video 16-bit standard
API functions requires the use of a 27kB pre-built thunk layer
DLL. To use other 16-bit DLLs, a new thunk layer DLL must be
written in another language, for example VP/2.
(2) The Evaluator and Watch window allow simple variables without format
specifiers only
(3) Only available in Turbo Debugger, which is part of the Borland
Pascal v7 product
(4) The printed manual is available at additional cost
** The Process
The process of actually writing a program in VP/2 is the classic one:
Write code - Test - Remove bugs etc, until the program works according
to specification. The code can be written in the built-in editor window
and the compiled, as illustrated on the screenshot to the right.
The task of debugging the code is done in the editor window as well,
with the help of the host of helping windows available. In the
screenshot shown to the right, the PM Clock example program is being
debugged, and execution has been interrupted in the processing of the
OS/2 Presentation manager message wm_size. In addition to the source
code and the Symbols window, the application itself can be seen.