Re: TCP/IP stack in ADA

[rlk@rational.com (Bob Kitzberger)]

jungj@bah.com wrote:

: I am looking for a TCP/IP written in ADA that can operate on
: an 68040 processor on an Motorola VME 162 board.
: Any help would be appreciated.  

[This comes up occasionally -- perhaps it belongs in the FAQ?]

There are (or were, the last time I checked) two TCP/IP stacks,
written in Ada, freely available from STARS.  The earlier version
appears to be Not Brilliant, and only implemented UDP/IP (no TCP).
The newer version supplied TCP,IP,ICMP,ARP(?), etc. but no UDP.
UDP is pretty trivial, though -- should only take a few days to
implement assuming you are familiar with the rest of the
implementation.

The protocol stack is fairly easy to understand, and the interfaces
are documented well.  A TCP/IP stack is not a trivial matter, though,
so don't expect to slap it on your hardware and be off an running
tomorrow ;-) You'll need to provide a driver that matches the stack's
driver interfaces.  If you want to program in a BSD socket-ish
environment, you'll need to write a socket interface.  Plan on at
least six months to have something usable, unless you are familiar
with TCP/IP internals already.

A much better choice, IMHO, is to ask your kernel vendor what they
offer with respect to TCP/IP, and use that.  If it's written in C,
assembly, or COBOL, so what... just pragma interface and you'll be up
and running the same day.  Two big wins: (1) you don't have to become
a TCP/IP expert, and (2) you have the advantage of using a stack that
has been pounded on by many customers, and stands a better chance of
being robust.

	.Been.There,.Done.That

--
Bob Kitzberger	        +1 (916) 274-3075	        rlk@rational.com
Rational Software Corp., 10565 Brunswick Rd. #11, Grass Valley, CA 95945
  "...the solution to the problem is usually to pee on it"  -- Dave Barry