Re: Migrating from ActivAda to ObjectAda

[Dave Wood <dpw@thomsoft.com>]

Larry Kilgallen wrote:
> 
> In article <329B102C.429B@magic.fr>, Jerome Haguet <strategies@magic.fr> writes:
> 
> > We have just bought the new Ada compiler from Thomsoft (formerly Alsys)
> > More than an evolution, it seems to be, according our first tests, a
> > new product.
> > The problem is the following :
> > How do you adapt an organization based on libraries and invocation files
> > to this new product.

The ObjectAda library model is light and open (compared 
to the previous model used by ActivAda) so you'll need 
to get accustomed to not having all that heavy-handed
library management to contend with.  Fortunately, this 
is much easier to do than the reverse.

Given that compilation order doesn't matter, much of the 
raison d'etre of invoke files is gone.  You can run the
tools from a batch file or a command line.  All you need 
is:

	adareg *.ad?
	adabuild main 

and it's done.

> > There is nothing about migration in the documentation we received.
> 
> But the new one is horribly light on documentation.  In response
> Thomsoft (now renamed to another A-word) has said they are working
> on printed documentation for V7.1 and for materials charges of
> about $30 they will send the current working draft.  For your
> particular problem that might be worth it if only to see that
> there is nothing included and feed that back to them before the
> final version.

All things considered, there can never be too much 
documentation.  We continue to work toward product
excellence both in terms of the software itself and
the documentation.  To that end, v7.1 will include
enhancements to the already provided 47 MB of help
and reference files, 23 MB of various sample 
programs, and 5 MB of tutorial/ courseware.  We
will also make available bound documents, including
command-line reference.

Still, I can promise that it will not be enough, and
we will work to provide even more in v7.2, v7.3,
and beyond.  This is one good reason to partake of
our subscription plan.

If you have specific suggestions for product and
documentation enhancements, you are invited to send
them to me and/ or our suggestion line:  

	oa-test@east.thomsoft.com

where we collect all suggestions and adopt as many
as we can within the constraints of our release
schedules.

Incidently, the above contact info is also provided
as part of our on-line documentation.   :)


-- Dave Wood
-- Product Manager, ObjectAda for Windows
-- Aonix - "Ada with an Attitude"
-- http://www.aonix.com