From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,SYSADMIN,WEIRD_PORT autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: f7ded,195243b595ea13a6,start X-Google-Attributes: gidf7ded,public X-Google-Thread: 1089ad,195243b595ea13a6,start X-Google-Attributes: gid1089ad,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,195243b595ea13a6,start X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: 100062,195243b595ea13a6,start X-Google-Attributes: gid100062,public From: conn@moncol.monmouth.edu (Prof R Conn) Subject: Public Ada Library (with VHDL support) FAQ Date: 1996/06/24 Message-ID: <4qlgve$65r@monmouth.edu> X-Deja-AN: 161807301 followup-to: poster summary: Public Ada Library (PAL) Frequently Asked Questions organization: Monmouth University, W. Long Branch, NJ 07764 keywords: Public Ada Library, FAQ, PAL, Ada, VHDL, VHSIC, Integrated Circuits newsgroups: comp.lang.ada,comp.lang.vhdl,comp.answers,news.answers Date: 1996-06-24T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: Archive-name: computer-lang/Ada/pal-vhdl-faq Date of this FAQ: Tuesday, June 18, 1996 Public Ada Library (PAL) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Posting Frequency: Monthly Last Update: 17 June 1996 The Public Ada Library (PAL) is a distributed library of Ada and VHDL software, courseware, and information that contains about 3.0 BILLION bytes of material (mainly in compressed form). All items in the PAL have been released to the public with unlimited distribution and are freeware in most cases (the exceptions are shareware). The PAL is managed by Richard Conn at Monmouth University in New Jersey under contract to the Ada Joint Program Office, Defense Information Systems Agency, U.S. Department of Defense. The PAL FAQ can be found in the PAL in HTML and ASCII text formats. The files are languages/ada/userdocs/html/PAL_FAQ.html, languages/ada/userdocs/htm/PAL_FAQ.htm, and languages/ada/0FAQ. The PAL FAQ can also be found in ASCII text form on rtfm.mit.edu under pub/usenet/news.answers/computer-lang/Ada/pal-vhdl-faq. The PAL FAQ addresses the following topics: . Welcome to the Public Ada Library (PAL) . What is WUArchive? . What Electronic Mailing Lists Support the PAL Users? . What Documentation is Available to Help the PAL User? . Is the Software in the PAL Free of Defects? . What Certification is Done? . What are Review Codes? . What Are Some Useful World Wide Web Pages? . How Do I Handle the Various Types of Files in the PAL? . How to Use the PAL from Various Platforms . How Can I Submit an Item to the PAL? ======================================================= Subject: Welcome to the Public Ada Library (PAL) Welcome to the Public Ada Library (PAL) Last Update: 15 January 1996 The Public Ada Library (PAL) is a library of Ada and VHDL* software, courseware, and documentation on the Internet-based host computer named wuarchive.wustl.edu (WUARCHIVE). The PAL is located in the directories languages/ada and languages/vhdl if you access WUARCHIVE by FTP, archie, gopher, the World Wide Web, or FTPMAIL, or in the directories /archive/languages/ada and /archive/languages/vhdl if you access WUARCHIVE by NFS. * VHDL stands for VHSIC Hardware Description Language, where VHSIC stands for Very High Speed Integrated Circuit The purposes of the PAL are: * to help make Ada-oriented and VHDL-oriented software, courseware, and documentation that has been released for public distribution (as shareware, freeware, GNU Copyleft, etc) readily available * to support Ada and VHDL educators by providing a convenient mechanism for them to exchange material and ideas * to support the Ada and VHDL user community in general by providing a resource in support of their activities The PAL reached the following milestones as indicated: Milestone Date ----------------------------------------------- ------------- Initial Operational Capability June 21, 1993 Voluntary Basis Washington University Provided Resources Funded in part by the National Science Foundation with Educational Grant from Digital Equipment Corporation Washington University Office of the Network Coordinator Sponsorship Activity Statistics Gathering Started September 1, 1993 Gopher Access Enabled January 1, 1994 Periodic CDROM Fabrication Process Started March 1, 1994 Funding Provided by Defense Information Systems March 28, 1994 Agency through the Army's Communications- Electronics Command Software Engineering Directorate Certification Process Started (Certifier_1) June 1, 1994 HyperText Transport Protocol Access Enabled July 1, 1994 PAL Exceeded 1 Billion Bytes in Size September 30, 1994 PAL Exceeded 1.7 Billion Bytes in Size October 31, 1995 PAL Exceeded 2.9 Billion Bytes in Size January 1, 1996 The PAL, which is located in the directory trees languages/ada and languages/vhdl on WUARCHIVE, is actually ten collections of material in one: * the languages/ada/ajpo tree is a mirror** of the public area of the sw-eng.falls-church.va.us host computer; this collection is maintained by the Ada Information Clearinghouse (AdaIC) under the direction of the Ada Joint Program Office * the languages/ada/sei tree is a mirror** of the public area of the ftp.sei.cmu.edu host computer; this collection is maintained by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) * the languages/ada/asr tree is the principal copy of the Ada Software Repository (ASR) on wsmr-simtel20.army.mil; the ASR is no longer actively maintained; documentation on the languages/ada/asr tree is found in the languages/ada/asr/mindex directory as the Master Index document (files are named *.ch, containing chapters of the document) and in the PAL Catalog and PAL Card Catalog * the languages/ada/compiler/adaed/gwu tree is a mirror** of the pub/ada/gw-adaed area of the ftp.gwu.edu host computer; this collection is maintained by Dr. Michael Feldman of George Washington University * the languages/ada/compiler/ez2load tree is a mirror** of the pub/ada/ez2load area of the ftp.gwu.edu host computer; this collection is maintained by Dr. Michael Feldman of George Washington University * the languages/ada/compiler/gnat/distrib tree is a mirror** of the public area of the cs.nyu.edu host computer; this collection is maintained by the GNU NYU Ada95 Translator (GNAT) project * the languages/ada/sage tree is a mirror** of the public area of the sageftp.inel.gov host computer; this collection is maintained by the Idaho National Engineering Lab (INEL) * the languages/ada/swtools/drgen tree is a mirror** of the pub/ada/drgen area of the ftp.cs.ua.edu host computer; this colleciton is maintained by Dr. Allen Parrish and Dr. David Cordes of the University of Alabama * the languages/vhdl tree is a mirror** of the VHDL Repository at the University of Cincinnati, host ftp.uceng.uc.edu; this collection is maintained by Dr. Harold Carter of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Cincinnati * the rest of the languages/ada tree is the part of the PAL managed by the manager of the PAL; documentation is found in the directory languages/ada/userdocs/catalog, which contains the PAL Catalog, PAL LOTUS-123 and dBase IV compatible database files, and other forms of catalog information on the PAL ** A mirror is a copy of a remote system, such as the public area of ftp.sei.cmu.edu, in a tree within the PAL. This copy is automatically updated every few days. Documentation of the mirror is scattered throughout the tree itself and in the PAL Catalog and PAL Card Catalog. WUARCHIVE is supported by the Office of Academic Computing and Networking, Washington University in Saint Louis. Funding for WUARCHIVE is provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Office of Academic Computing and Networking. The support for the PAL is part of a DoD contract, entitled "Defining and Exploring an Efficient Distributed Process for the Reuse of Ada Software Components and Tools in a Global Theater" and numbered DAAB07-94-C-D009. This contract was awarded to Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, through the Army's Communications Electronics Command (CECOM) Software Engineering Directorate (SED) with funding provided by the Ada Joint Program Office (AJPO), Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Many organizations have developed cooperative relationships with the PAL, contributing time, effort, user support services, and artifacts to the PAL and its users either directly or indirectly. These organizations include: * the Ada Joint Program Office (AJPO) * the Ada Information Clearinghouse (AdaIC) * the Ada and Software Engineering Education Team (ASEET) * the Army Reuse Center (ARC) * the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (ASD/C3I) * the Asset Source for Software Engineering Technology (ASSET) * the Comprehensive Approach to Reusable Defense Software (CARDS) * Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers (CNAM) in Paris, France * the DoD's Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) * the Electronic Library Services and Applications (ELSA, formerly AdaNET) * George Washington University (GWU) * the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) * the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) * the Software Reuse Repository at the University of Maine * the Special Interest Group for Ada of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM/SIGAda) * Team Ada * the University of Alabama (UA) * the VHDL Repository at the University of Cincinnati (UC) * Walnut Creek CDROM The PAL can be accessed by a wide variety of mechanisms. These mechanisms include, but are not limited to, the following: * FTP to WUARCHIVE itself (up to 300 simultaneous FTP users) * NFS mounts on WUARCHIVE * Gopher servers * HyperText Transport Protocol (HTTP) servers for the World Wide Web * FTPMAIL email servers * CDROM distributions * ASSET distributions and customer support * ELSA distributions and customer support * AdaIC distributions and customer support * Walnut Creek CDROM electronic distributions and customer support It is highly recommended that users obtain the current PAL Catalog (named CAT_DOC.ZIP (contains ASCII text files) and CAT_PS.ZIP (contains Postscript files) in the subdirectory languages/ada/userdocs/catalog) or the PAL Card Catalog (found in the subdirectory languages/toolkit/all in the file CARDCAT.ZIP). The PAL Card Catalog is a program and database you can install on your local computer if you have a validated Ada compiler; it contains the same information as the PAL Catalog. Also offered is the data in the PAL Card Catalog presented in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), suitable for browsing through the World Wide Web client software (like Mosaic and Netscape). The HTML version of the PAL Card Catalog can be found from languages/ada/pal.html. If you are reading this from the top level of the Walnut Creek Ada CDROM from an MSDOS or equivalent platform, you may execute the batch file GO.BAT to run the interactive PAL Card Catalog or the batch file SHOW.BAT to run an interactive, animated introduction to the PAL. The files 00_cd.html and 00_cd_a.htm provide a Web-oriented version of the PAL Card Catalog. Finally, also in languages/ada is the file 0MANIFEST, which gives a top-level view of the contents of the PAL. Users wishing to access the PAL by FTP can use anonymous FTP to contact the main PAL host (wuarchive.wustl.edu) or the PAL mirror sites (ftp.cnam.fr, ftp.cdrom.com, and sw-eng.falls-church.va.us). The languages/ada tree on wuarchive corresponds to the pub/Ada/PAL tree on ftp.cnam.fr, the pub/ada tree on ftp.cdrom.com, and the PAL/ada tree on sw-eng.falls-church.va.us. Two hosts support access to the PAL as gopher servers: wuarchive.wustl.edu and gopher.wustl.edu. The host wuarchive.wustl.edu also supports an HTTP (HyperText Transport Protocol) server for users of the World Wide Web. See the section of the PAL FAQ entitled "How Can I Get to the Items in the PAL?" for more details. General Disclaimer ------------------ All software, courseware, documentation, and other items of information in the PAL are provided "AS IS" without any expressed or implied warranties whatsoever unless their individual documentation states otherwise. No warranties as to performance, merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose exist. Because of the diversity of conditions under which this software may be used, no warranty of fitness for a particular purpose is offered. The user is advised to test the software and courseware thoroughly before relying on it. The user must assume the entire risk and liability of using this software, courseware, and documentation. In no event shall any person or organization be held responsible for any direct, indirect, consequential, or inconsequential damages or lost profits. ======================================================= Subject: What is WUARCHIVE? What is WUArchive? Last Update: 3 November 1995 The host computer named wuarchive.wustl.edu (WUARCHIVE) is a Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) Alpha AXP 3000 Model 400. It is equipped with 192M bytes of RAM and over 65G bytes of disk space, and it is able to support up to 300 simultaneous anonymous FTP sessions, many remote NFS mounts, a gopher server, and an HTTP (HyperText Transport Protocol) server (with an unlimited number of users) for the World Wide Web. WUARCHIVE is owned by the Office of Academic Computing and Networking, Washington University in Saint Louis. The Office of Academic Computing and Networking and the National Science Foundation have jointly paid for the hardware of the machine and for the services of the support personnel at Washington University in Saint Louis. Additional funding for the hardware has also been provided by the AMINET User's Group, the Defense Information Systems Agency, and Monmouth University. The maintainers of the archives which originate on WUARCHIVE are mainly volunteers, working on an unfunded basis. The support personnel who maintain the operational support software, including the software which keeps the mirrors up to date, are funded by the Office of Academic Computing and Networking and the National Science Foundation grant. The PAL Manager is funded by DISA. We wish to express our gratitude to Digital Equipment Corporation for the sale of the DEC Alpha at a substantial discount and to the National Science Foundation for its grant in support of WUARCHIVE. We also wish to express our thanks for funding for extension to the disk drives on WUARCHIVE to the AMINET User's Group, the Defense Information Systems Agency, and Monmouth University. We wish to thank DISA for funding the management of the PAL. ======================================================= Subject: What Electronic Mailing Lists Support PAL Users? What Electronic Mailing Lists Support the PAL Users? Last Update: 6 February 1996 MAIL.WUSTL.EDU is the electronic mail list server for users of the PAL. A separate computer from WUARCHIVE.WUSTL.EDU (on which the PAL is located), MAIL's purpose in life from the point of view of the PAL user is to manage the electronic mailing lists supporting him. The List Processor is a program on MAIL which manages Lists (Electronic Mailing Lists). The user can send commands to the List Processor, and it will respond by performing actions for him (such as adding him to a List, removing him from a List, and sending him a message naming all the lists supported by the List Processor). The user can send email messages to the List, and the subscribers to the List will receive these messages. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS - SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, and WHICH ======================================================== If you wish to subscribe to an electronic mailing list, send an electronic mail message to the List Processor: listproc@mail.wustl.edu Leave the subject line blank and place the following line into the body of this message: subscribe Example: subscribe pal-announce John J. Smith Begin this line in column 1. Your return address will be used as the address to which announcements will be sent. A list of the electronic mailing lists for the PAL user community is included below. You will receive a message back from the List Processor, telling you of the success or failure of your request. Once subscribed, a user can send electronic mail to all subscribers of a List by sending email to the list's name at mail.wustl.edu; example: ada-train@mail.wustl.edu This, of course, only works if the List is bidirectional. The ANNOUNCE Lists are unidirectional (read-only from the point of view of the subscribers). Subscribers cannot post email messages to the ANNOUNCE lists - only the moderator of the ANNOUNCE lists can post messages. If you wish to unsubscribe from an electronic mailing list, send an electronic mail message to the List Processor: listproc@mail.wustl.edu Leave the subject line blank and place the following line into the body of this message: unsubscribe Example: unsubscribe pal-announce If you wish to find out what electronic mailing lists you subscribe to, send an electronic mail message to: listproc@mail.wustl.edu Leave the subject line blank and place the following line into the body of this message: which HELP ==== The List Processor is a very flexible tool which gives you control over how you receive messages from the lists to which you subscribe. For example, you may receive messages as they are posted or in a digest form once a day. A 20-page user's manual for the List Processor is contained in the PAL in the directory ada/userdocs/listproc. To find out what commands the List Processor can respond to, send an email message to: listproc@mail.wustl.edu which contains an empty subject line and one line in the body of the message (starting in the first column): help EMAIL LIST ARCHIVES =================== Additionally, as of February 1996, all PAL email lists are archived automatically by the List Processor. You can obtain copies of messages posted to the Lists on and after February 1996 by sending commands to the List Processor (see the user's manual for details). A PARTIAL LIST OF ELECTRONIC MAILING LISTS AVAILABLE FROM listproc@mail.wustl.edu ========================================================= These lists are for the PAL user community. For a more complete list of the mailing lists available to your site, send a mail message to listproc@mail.wustl.edu which contains the command "LISTS". Pal-Announce - Announcements concerning the Public Ada Library (PAL). These include additions to, changes to and other announcements concerning the PAL. You can not post messages here. Ada-Train - This list is for the discussion of topics concerning Ada training and education. This is a general discussion list. ASEET - The ASEET email list supports members of ASEET (The Ada and Software Engineering Education Team) and others interested in the activities of ASEET. ASEET materials are available from the Public Ada Library (PAL), including an archive of previous messages posted to this list. Reuse - This list is a bidirectional mailing list for those people interested in software reuse technology. This includes, but is not limited to, the fields of designing for reuse, object-oriented reuse methods, reuse tools and environments, generic code architectures, domain-specific kits, reuse education, technology transfer, formal methods, certification of reusable components, and management issues as they pertain to reuse. Wuarchive-Announce - Notification of any planned downtime or service changes for wuarchive.wustl.edu. The only announcements from this list will be from local staff or archivers. ======================================================= Subject: What Documentation is Available to Help the PAL User? What Documentation is Available to Help the PAL User? Last Update: 17 June 1996 PAL Catalog, FAQ, and Database Information ========================================== The subdirectory userdocs/catalog in the PAL contains a number of documents of interest to the users of the PAL. The key user documents in this subdirectory are: CAT_DOC.ZIP and CAT_PS.ZIP - a catalog, complete with table of contents and index, of the contents of the PAL in the form of a book; CAT_DOC.ZIP contains the chapters as ASCII text, CAT_PS.ZIP contains the chapters as Postscript files that print 2 pages per physical page in landscape (1/2 the number of hardcopy pages required by CAT_DOC.ZIP) TAXONOMY.ZIP - a taxonomy of the PAL in ASCII and Postscript CSV_DB.ZIP - contains a Comma-Separated-Value (CSV) ASCII text file which can be read into database managers like dBase IV and spreadsheets like LOTUS 1-2-3 to allow the user to scan for items of interest offline; the contents of this ZIP file are CSV_DB.DOC and CSV_HDR.DOC, where DB contains the data and HDR contains structure information The subdirectory languages/ada/userdocs/catalog/id_files contains the Item Description files from which the above files were created. Item Description files exist for each item in the PAL. File names in id_files which have the same prefix refer to the same item. The PAL Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list: languages/ada/userdocs/faqfile/PAL.FAQ -or- languages/ada/0FAQ the Frequently Asked Questions list The PAL FAQ in HTML format suitable for browsing via a World Wide Web client (such as Mosaic or Netscape): languages/ada/userdocs/html/PAL_FAQ.html -or- languages/ada/userdocs/htm/PAL_FAQ.htm the Frequently Asked Questions list in HTML format Other files in the languages/ada/userdocs/catalog and languages/ada/userdocs/faqfile subdirectories are used to create these key files. Additionally, the user is invited to look in the following directories for additional useful information: userdocs/internet -- information on using the Internet userdocs/internet/email -- archives of the PAL email lists PAL Card Catalog in Ada ----------------------- The Public Ada Library Card Catalog is an interactive browser that presents all the information in the PAL Catalog: 1. A top-level view of the entire Public Ada Library 2. Descriptions of all the items in the Public Ada Library, including abstracts, locations of files, author information, and release and copyright information 3. An extensive index and taxonomy The PAL Card Catalog also includes the complete text of the current PAL FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) list and online help. The file QSTART.TXT is a short (10 minute) tutorial on how to use the PAL Card Catalog. The directory languages/ada/toolkit/all contains CARDCAT.ZIP, a ZIP file which contains the source code to the PAL Card Catalog along with instructions for installing it on any system supported by an Ada83 compiler. A validated Ada83 compiler and CS Parts are required to perform the installation. CS Parts can be found under the directory languages/ada/swcomps/csparts. The directory languages/ada/toolkit/msdos/cardcat contains ccat_pc.zip, a ZIP file which contains the files in the runme subdirectory. The files in ccat_pc.zip are ready to run under MSDOS. PAL Card Catalog in HTML ------------------------ The Public Ada Library Card Catalog is also available in HyperText Markup Language (HTML). In this form, a user can view the Card Catalog by using a World Wide Web client, such as Netscape. The movement and search capabilities provided by the client can be used to move through the Card Catalog. The directory languages/ada contains pal.html and pal_a.htm, the main World Wide Web home pages for the PAL and convenient entry points for the PAL Card Catalog. The file pal.html contains the full, "glossy" home page, while pal_a.htm contains the same information for users limited to 8-dot-3 file names. The directory languages/ada/userdocs/html/cardcat contains the PAL Card Catalog itself, and the files 00_Tax.html and 00_Idx.html allow the user to enter the Card Catalog at the top-level taxonomy or the index. Likewise, the directory languages/ada/userdocs/htm/cardcat contains 00_Tax.htm and 00_Idx.htm for users limited to 8-dot-3 file names. Both versions of the PAL Card Catalog are also available on the CDROM distributions of the PAL, so users may browse the CDROM using either the Ada version of the Card Catalog or the HTML version. For users of the CDROM without the Rock Ridge extensions, the PAL Card Catalog is also available in HTM (as opposed to HTML) files. Look at 00_cd.html and 00_cd_a.htm at the top-level of the CDROM and the directory ada/userdocs/htm/cardcat for the same Card Catalog implemented in htm files as opposed to html files. ======================================================= Subject: Is the Software in PAL Free of Defects? Is the Software in the PAL Free of Defects? Last Update: 21 June 1993 The software in the PAL is an outstanding collection from all over the world, but it comes with a warning: like any such collection, there are outstanding items, good items, average items, and poor items. This software contains items which are really useful, items which you cannot live without, and items which simply may not work in your environment. So you, as a user, must not come into this thinking that everything is perfect. So how do you know in advance what software is good and what is bad? Study. This problem has come up over and over again with the Ada Software Repository (ASR), and I answered this by adding a REVIEW CODE field to all the items in the ASR Master Index. Chapter 1 of the Master Index gives the keys for this field (e.g., CS means Compiled Successfully, ES means Executed Successfully, NR means Not Rated (I don't know if it is good or bad), etc.). Every item in the Master Index book has an associated REVIEW CODE field. Look at this when you consider using the item. Also, look for Comment (CMM) files throughout the ASR. They tell success/problem stories. They are text files, so you can just read them. Finally, if you find an item marked with a CS and ES, note the compilers/platforms noted with this mark (e.g., CS(DEC Ada), etc.). If a number of compilers/platforms are named, you probably have a very portable item. The PAL has a document called the PAL Catalog (similar in nature to the Master Index of the ASR). The PAL Catalog has a similar REVIEW CODE field, and CMM files are also support in the PAL. In phase 2 of the PAL, one or more automated static code analysis tools will be used to analyze the Ada source code in the PAL and report on it. ======================================================= Subject: What is Certifier_1 and What Certification is Done? What Certification is Done? Last Update: 6 June 1994 The second stage in the development of the Public Ada Library (PAL) has begun with the introduction of the concept of certification to the Ada source code in the library. A program, Certifier_1, has been created that will be initially used to evaluate all Ada source code submitted to the PAL. Certifier_1 has the ability to analyze thousands of files in a single pass, checking on their interdependencies. It ranks the files it is asked to analyze as OK or NOT OK and assigns a letter grade to the system (A, B, or C is OK, D and F are NOT OK). Certifier_1 contains a lexical analyzer and a parser for the Ada83 language. A grade of F is assigned to the system if syntax or lexical errors are encountered. Certifier_1 also builds an internal data structure describing the interdependencies of the library units and subunits. If stubs (subunit bodies) are missing and there are no syntax or lexical errors, a grade of D is assigned to the system indicating that major parts of it are missing. This is not necessarily bad; the Abstractions library from Intermetrics, for instance, received a letter grade of D because of missing subunits, but, when the Intermetrics Standards Checker was evaluated with Abstractions, the Standards Checker code filled in the missing subunits, giving the combined Standards Checker and Abstractions system a grade of A. Certifier_1 also checks on compiler-specific pragmas, the use of machine code, and the withing of library units that are not a part of the analyzed code. It awards lower grades (B and C) if all else is OK and one of these issues comes up. A grade of a B or a C may or may not mean there is a problem. Compiler-specific library units may be employed, causing the lower grade, for example. Also, it may be possible to raise the grade by including another components library, like CS Parts or New Abstractions, in the evaluation to fill in the missing library units. However, a B or a C may also mean that code has been omitted. Certifier_1 generates two reports: a report for inclusion in the PAL database entry on the item and a log file which describes details on the problems encountered, including line numbers and file names on or near which the problems can be found. Log reports can be found for each item in the PAL by checking in the directory languages/ada/userdocs/catalog/c1_rpts. Reports are named after the items on which they report; ada_sda.c1, for instance, is the report associated with the Software ID file ada_sda.sid. Certifier_1 is by no means a final solution to the problem of certification of reusable software in a library. However, it is a start. It does not beat a compiler by any means, but it does provide a quick, first-look solution. It does not determine logical errors or problems with completeness. Many things can slip through Certifier_1, but, likewise, many things do not. It is a first step. ======================================================= Subject: What are Review Codes? What are Review Codes? Last Update: 6 June 1994 The database maintained on the PAL includes Review Codes which are used to indicate to some extent the level of trust which may be placed in a particular item. These Review Codes are defined as follows: Code Meaning ---- ------- AR AdaNET Report is available (usually in the ZIP file); AdaNET Reports contain information on experiences in compiling this item C1 The Certifier_1 tool has analyzed the Ada source code in this item; the full format of this entry is "C1 n.n g" where n.n is the version number of Certifier_1 and g is the letter grade given by Certifier_1 (A, B, and C are satisfactory; D and F are not satisfactory) CMM Comment Files (*.CMM, *.CM2, etc) are available which describe one or more problems with the item CS Compiled Successfully (followed by an indication of the Ada compiler used in parentheses) by the reviewer ES Executed Successfully (followed by an indication of the target computer used in parentheses if different from the systems mentioned in the CS list) by the reviewer MF-CODE Missing File - Code; one or more files of source code are missing; the item cannot be compiled without these files MF-DATA Missing File - Data; one or more files used as input data when the compiled code runs are missing; the item cannot be executed without these files NR Not Reviewed OK This is a text file which is believed to be an accurate copy of the original RI Review Incomplete (only some results of a partial review are posted) SDA Report generated by the Ada System Dependency Analyzer is available; if followed by a number from 1 to 5 (e.g., SDA5), the number indicates the relative quality of the item, where 5 is of the highest quality not negation prefix (e.g., not ES or not OK) ======================================================= Subject: What Are Some Useful World Wide Web Home Pages? What are some Useful World Wide Web Pages? Last Update: 17 June 1996 Some useful World Wide Web Server home pages: Public Ada Library (PAL) [Note: pal_a.htm may be substituted for pal.html] http://wuarchive.wustl.edu/languages/ada/pal.html http://www.cdrom.com/pub/ada/pal.html http://sw-eng.falls-church.va.us/PAL/ada/pal.html http://web.cnam.fr/Languages/Ada/PAL/pal.html Ada and Reuse Information Clearinghouses http://sw-eng.falls-church.va.us/ AdaBasis Library http://www.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/ifi/ps/ada-software/ ada-software.html Ada Belgium http://www.cs.kuleuven.ac.be/~dirk/ada-belgium/ Ada Europe http://lglwww.epfl.ch/Ada-Europe/ Ada Spain http://www.ati.es/GENERAL/doc/adasp.html Ada Sweden http://www.docs.uu.se/ais/ Ada United Kingdom (Ada UK) http://lglwww.epfl.ch/Ada/Ammo/Associations/ada-uk.html AdaSAGE http://sageftp.inel.gov/sage/HOMEPAGE.HTM Air Force Software Technology Support Center http://stsc.hill.af.mil/ Applied Software Reuse Products Department http://sageftp.inel.gov/asrp.htm Arcadia Research Project http://www.ics.uci.edu/Arcadia Army Reuse Center (ARC) http://arc_www.belvoir.army.mil/default.html Asset Source for Software Engineering Technology (ASSET) http://source.asset.com/asset.html Comprehensive Approach to Reusable Defense Software (CARDS) http://dealer.cards.com Data & Analysis Center for Software (DACS) http://www.utica.kaman.com:8001/ Defense Software Repository System (DSRS) http://ssed1.ims.disa.mil/srp/dsrspage.html Electronic Library Services and Applications (ELSA) http://www.mountain.net/ GNU NYU Ada95 Translator (GNAT) Project http://cs.nyu.edu/cs/projects/gnat/ LGL Components Library http://lglwww.epfl.ch/Components/ Magnus Kempe's Ada WWW Server http://lglwww.epfl.ch/Ada/ NASA COmputer Software Management and Information Center (COSMIC) http://www.cosmic.uga.edu/ Software Engineering Institute (SEI) http://www.sei.cmu.edu Software Engineering Sites http://www.erg.abdn.ac.uk/users/brant/sre/soft-eng.html Software Engineering Virtual Library http://rbse.jsc.nasa.gov/virt-lib/soft-eng.html Software Productivity Consortium http://software.software.org/ Software Reengineering http://www.erg.abdn.ac.uk/users/brant/sre/index.html Special Interest Group in Ada (SIGAda) http://info.acm.org/sigada/ Walnut Creek CDROM http://www.cdrom.com/ ======================================================= Subject: How Do I Handle the Various Types of Files in PAL? How Do I Handle the Various Types of Files in the PAL? Last Update: 12 November 1994 A number of file formats have come into play among the files in the PAL: MSDOS and UNIX ASCII text files PAGER2 Files ZIP Files GNU ZIP Files TAR Files Compressed (*.Z) Files Compressed or GNU ZIPped TAR Files If you have questions about these file formats, see the file README.TOO in the top level of the the toolkit directory. The subdirectories under the toolkit directory contain programs for various platforms that allow you to work with these files in various ways. ======================================================= Subject: Supplementary Info on How to Use the PAL How to Use the PAL from Various Platforms Last Update: 17 July 1995 The directory ada/how2use has been created to further support users of the PAL on both the Internet and the Ada CDROM from Walnut Creek. This directory contains instructions for using the PAL from World Wide Web browsers, on Macintosh and PC platforms, and on other platforms. ======================================================= Subject: How Can I Submit an Item to the PAL? How Can I Submit an Item to the PAL? Last Update: 6 December 1993 Contact Richard Conn at conn@wuarchive.wustl.edu if you wish to submit an item to the PAL. Several different mechanisms are in place for making a submission, including direct FTP into the PAL (which is by far the easiest from my point of view). I will ask you to fill out an Item Description (ID) file which describes the item you are submitting. Once the item is on WUARCHIVE and I have your filled-out ID file, I can take it from there. Detailed submission instructions are in the file submit2.txt in the directory languages/ada/userdocs/faqfile. Richard Conn, PAL Manager | conn@wuarchive.wustl.edu Opinions expressed herein are my own and not necessarily those of anyone else. ==============================================================================