Re: package body functionality

[Wes Groleau <wwgrol@ftw.rsc.raytheon.com>]

> >Possible exception: If the package is a shared library or in a distributed
> >environment. I'm not sure what the language rules are, but I'd suspect that
> >a DLL would not re-elaborate every time another program started up and
> >called for its services. Maybe under some conditions (separate data spaces)
> 
> My understanding is that DLL's keep a count of how many programs are using them,
> and get automagicly unloaded when the count goes down to 0. You'd want it to
> elaborate once for the first call that loads it in, then not again until the
> next call after it unloads.

There are many things a package in a DLL or shared lib might do during
elaboration that would require re-elaboration for each client.  Just for a
few:

  Create a log file.
  Initialize a random number generator.
  Read the process ID.
  Note the time we started running.

Doesn't seem practical for a compiler/linker to foresee ALL the possibilities
and optionally skip elaboration.

-- 
Wes Groleau
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~wgroleau