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=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,99f33f51845a7793 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-11-02 06:49:39 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail From: dewar@gnat.com (Robert Dewar) Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: 'withing' problem Date: 2 Nov 2001 06:49:39 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Message-ID: <5ee5b646.0111020649.4c0f973f@posting.google.com> References: <3be27344$0$227$ed9e5944@reading.news.pipex.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: 205.232.38.14 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1004712579 5019 127.0.0.1 (2 Nov 2001 14:49:39 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: 2 Nov 2001 14:49:39 GMT Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:15639 Date: 2001-11-02T14:49:39+00:00 List-Id: "David Crocker" wrote in message news:<3be27344$0$227$ed9e5944@reading.news.pipex.net>... > Are there any commercial compilers with language > extensions to work around the infamous "withing" problem? Yes, GNAT Pro implements a version of the "with type" proposal that was made some time ago to solve this problem. > I am also aware that GNAT implements a workaround This is not a "work around" but rather a language extension feature that directly addresses the problem. > but what we really need is a validated compiler The presence of extensions in a compiler does not mean the compiler cannot be validated, providing that there is a way to turn off the extensions, as is the case with GNAT Pro. > I heard that the next update to the Ada language circa > 2005 will address the problem, but this is too far away > to be any consolation. Surely we can't be > the only company that needs the problem fixed urgently? The only way to have an "urgent" fix to this problem is to go with implementation extensions of the kind in GNAT Pro. Yes, they won't be fully portable to other compilers, but there is no immediate urgent short term solution that will solve that. Note that the ARG is still discussing the preferred long-term solution, and has recently been examining entirely different approaches. The sequence of events is that first the ARG approves a detailed proposal, the WG2.1 approves it, then it appears in an official addendum. Even the first step is a way off, and so I do not expect vendors to be implementing a common solution anytime soon, and indeed, even if the ARG does approve a solution, that is no guarantee that any vendor will implement it on any particular time schedule. > How do developers of large military software systems > manage? Well at least for our customers, they use the feature we have provided in GNAT Pro. This feature was not implemented for our amusement, but rather in response to serious customer needs. Robert Dewar Ada Core Technologies