home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Path: sparky!uunet!gatech!pitt!willett!ForthNet
- From: ForthNet@willett.pgh.pa.us (ForthNet articles from GEnie)
- Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
- Subject: ANS TC Magnet for ROMability
- Message-ID: <3999.UUL1.3#5129@willett.pgh.pa.us>
- Date: 22 Aug 92 13:26:58 GMT
- Organization: EIEI-U
- Lines: 86
-
- Category 10, Topic 22
- Message 75 Fri Aug 21, 1992
- B.RODRIGUEZ2 [Brad] at 22:42 EDT
-
- (split for Forthnet, part 1 of 2)
-
- ANSI X3J14 FORTH REQUEST FOR CLARIFICATION
- (X3J14 dpANS-3, March 1992)
-
- TITLE: Can there be ANS Forth cross-compilers?
-
- SUMMARY: The dpANS is currently silent on the subject of cross-
- compilers, and the relevant sections of the document have
- ambiguous interpretations. This is a request for clarifica-
- tion of the dpANS.
-
- DISCUSSION: Several informal comments by members of the Techni-
- cal Committee, at the 1992 Rochester Forth Conference and on
- the Forthnet, have indicated that the X3J14 effort specifi-
- cally excluded cross-compilers, and that no cross-compiler
- can possibly be an ANS Forth Standard System.
-
- The document itself makes no explicit statement about cross-
- compilers, and the relevant sections are ambiguous or
- contradictory:
-
- Section 1.1.1 Inclusions states:
- "The Standard specifies:
- the forms that a program written in the Forth language
- may take; the rules for interpreting the meaning of a
- program and its data."
-
- Section 1.1.2 Exclusions states:
- "The Standard does not specify:
- the mechanism by which program are transformed for use
- on computing systems."
-
- Section 4.1 ANS Forth Programming System states:
- "A programming language processor conforms to this
- Standard and may be labeled an 'ANS Forth System' if it
- is capable of compiling and executing, in accordance
- with this document, any ANS Forth Program whose
- environmental dependencies are compatible with the
- system's environmental restrictions." [My emphasis]
-
- "An ANS Forth System implements the entire Core word
- set as defined in this document. ..."
-
- Section 4.2 ANS Forth Program defines:
- "A program conforms to this document and may be labeled
- an 'ANS Forth Program' if it is written using only
- words from the Core word set in ways allowed in this
- standard. ..."
-
- Section 2.0610 defines "program" as:
- "A complete specification of execution to achieve a
- specific function (application task) expressed in Forth
- source code form."
-
- Also, section 5.1 describing the Glossary identifies the "C"
- attribute, indicating that "the word may only be used during
- compilation of a definition." This implies that any word
- lacking the "C" attribute may be used outside a definition;
- but this is not explicitly stated, and therefore may perhaps
- not be mandated by the dpANS.
-
- Sections 1.1 and 1.2 would appear to state that the dpANS
- does not prohibit cross-compilers. However, Sections 4.1
- and 4.2 appear to imply that a cross-compiler must be capa-
- ble of executing the compiled code -- which is impossible,
- unless the compiler contains a full working simulation of
- the target system.
-
- It is this confusion and ambiguity which prompts this
- request for clarification.
-
- Please note: I am not asking whether a cross-compiler can
- itself be an ANS Forth Standard Program. I am asking
- whether it can be an ANS Forth Standard System, i.e., a
- compiler that will accept any Standard Program.
-
- -----
- This message came from GEnie via willett. You *cannot* reply to the author
- using e-mail. Please post a follow-up article, or use any instructions
- the author may have included (USMail addresses, telephone #, etc.).
- Report problems to: dwp@willett.pgh.pa.us
-