GNAT & Windows programming

GNAT & Windows programming

[Juanma Barranquero]

Hi! I'm a newbie in Ada95 (I learnt Ada83 years ago, but I haven't
used it since 1987 at least), and I'm trying to update my very rusted
knowledge of it. Problem is, my current programming environment is
Windows 95. Is it possible to use "GNAT for Windows 95" to compile
Windows programs, or only character-based ("console") ones?

If not, is there any Ada95 compiler for Windows relatively
inexpensive?

Thanks,

						  /L/e/k/t/u

Re: GNAT & Windows programming

[David C. Hoos, Sr.]

Hi Juanma,

Yes, it is possible to write windows programs with gnat for Windows95/NT,
but with the current version (gnat304a1), you need to have a
Microsoft-compatible linker, and the Microsoft Windows library, in addition
to the Win32Ada binding freely available on the Internet.

The next release of gnat for Windows95/NT (gnat3.08) promises to eliminate
the dependency on Microsoft software components and tools.

Also, there is a compiler available from Aionix (Object Ada 7.0) which may
be considered relatively inexpensive, (if one knew relative to what).  The
compiler is available in a limited-capability version as an accompaniment
to Addison-Wesley's Book/CD-ROM Package "Ada 95, Problem Solving and
Program Design, Second Edition", by Michael Feldman and Elliot Koffman
(ISBN. 0-201-30485-6), available in the U. S. for about $US 46.50. More
information is available on the Internet at
"http://heg-school.aw.com/cseng/authors/feldman/cs1-ada2e/cs1-ada2e.new.html
"

Information about the commercial versions of the Aonix compiler is
available at "http://www.aonix.com/Products/Ada/factsht.html".

If you have the required Microsoft tools already (e.g., Visual C++, or the
Windows95 or WindowsNT SDK), you can use the Win32Ada bindings available at
"http://sw-eng.falls-church.va.us/AdaIC/tools/bindings/win32ada/win32ada.htm
l".  These are "thin" bindings (i.e., direct interfaces to the Microsoft
Win32 API), which (while they map directly to Microsoft documentation, and
permit full flexibility) do not take any advantage of the higher-level
abstraction capabilities of Ada.

There is also a "thick" binding to Windows95/NT available which includes a
GUI builder, and can be used with any Ada95 compiler for Windows95/NT. 
Information is available at "http://www.rrsoftware.com/claw.htm"

Finally, for a wealth of Ada information, look at "www.adahome.com"
-- 
David C. Hoos, Sr.,
http://www.dbhwww.com
http://www.ada95.com

Juanma Barranquero <lektu@lander.es> wrote in article
<32d47a5f.21786842@news.lander.es>...

Hi! I'm a newbie in Ada95 (I learnt Ada83 years ago, but I haven't
used it since 1987 at least), and I'm trying to update my very rusted
knowledge of it. Problem is, my current programming environment is
Windows 95. Is it possible to use "GNAT for Windows 95" to compile
Windows programs, or only character-based ("console") ones?

If not, is there any Ada95 compiler for Windows relatively
inexpensive?

Thanks,

						  /L/e/k/t/u

----------

Re: GNAT & Windows programming

[Larry Kilgallen]

In article <32d47a5f.21786842@news.lander.es>, lektu@lander.es (Juanma Barranquero) writes:
> 
> Hi! I'm a newbie in Ada95 (I learnt Ada83 years ago, but I haven't
> used it since 1987 at least), and I'm trying to update my very rusted
> knowledge of it. Problem is, my current programming environment is
> Windows 95. Is it possible to use "GNAT for Windows 95" to compile
> Windows programs, or only character-based ("console") ones?

Yes, although depending on the GNAT version you may have to get
bindings for the Microsoft libraries from elsewhere.  Someone
will be along on this list shortly giving exact version numbers
(I predict).

> If not, is there any Ada95 compiler for Windows relatively
> inexpensive?

I have ObjectAda from Aonix.  There are various prices for various
feature sets, some of which count as inexpensive by any measure
and all of which count as inexpensive by at least some folks' measure.

There are other vendors too.  If you have access to the World
Wide Web, try www.adahome.com for pointers to everything Ada.

Larry Kilgallen

Re: GNAT & Windows programming

[Robert Dewar]

J. Barranquero saks

"Hi! I'm a newbie in Ada95 (I learnt Ada83 years ago, but I haven't
used it since 1987 at least), and I'm trying to update my very rusted
knowledge of it. Problem is, my current programming environment is
Windows 95. Is it possible to use "GNAT for Windows 95" to compile
Windows programs, or only character-based ("console") ones?
"

Sure, it is definitely possible. Be sure to read all the information 
in the documentation. GNAT for WIn95 can interface to the Win32
bindings which let you run graphical applications etc. You might
want to look at the examples that come with this set of bindings.