Re: GNAT NT 2.0c & LINK32 vs. LINK

[labtek@cs.yale.edu (Tom Griest)]

In article <3efvdc$mp9@msunews.cl.msu.edu> mrr@scss3.cl.msu.edu (Mark Riordan) writes:
>I just spent an interesting half-hour or so with the latest
>GNAT for Windows NT (just put up on ftp.cs.yale.edu a day ago).
>
>I learned that GNAT requires the LINK32.EXE from MS Visual C++ 1.10.

There is a simple fix for this problem.  Currently, gnatbl tries
to invoke "link32" since that is the the name of the linker on the
WinNT-3.1 SDK.  If you have MS Visual C++ 2.0, the linker "link.exe" that
comes with that WILL link and generate executable code with the GNAT-20c
release.  You just have to create a batch file LINK32.BAT that has
  @link %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9

When Microsoft pulled a "fast one" and removed the linker from the
standard NT SDK release, it caused some logistics problems.  Before,
you could just get the SDK and GNAT and you would be all set.  Right
now, you have to buy a C compiler to get the the linker you need.
We are working on "ld", but it will probably be a little while
before it handles dynamic link libraries properly.  I'll post
something when that happens.  [It should happen before Win95
is release :-) ].

>The GNAT documentation does warn that LINK32.EXE is required, but
>not finding it in my NT 3.5 or MSVC 2.0 distribution, I 
>assumed it was an error.

You know what they say about assuming don't you?  
By the way, as it turns out, there is still "one last linker"
being provided with the WinNT-3.5 "final (purple)" release CD
[Vol #7A3C-0C03].  It is under the "SUPPORT\LINKER\32BIT" dir.  The
readme file there indicates it fixes a "known" problem with
running the MSVC++1.1 linker on WinNT-3.5.  You may want to
get this linker (and perhaps rename it to LINK32.EXE) to use
with GNAT20C.  THIS IS THE CURRENT APPROVED APPROACH.

>
>Just a warning that I hope will prevent a few of you from the 
>frustration I just went through...
>/mrr

Thank you very much.  I really appreciate feed back... and
I know that others will benefit from the effort you took to post this.
I will get a note about this in the separate README file today, and
hopefully in the future we will have a regular "setup" program
that installs/tests with the touch of a button.


-Tom