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,c72b93d85d765332 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-05-10 11:25:22 PST Path: newsfeed.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news.tele.dk!212.74.64.35!colt.net!dispose.news.demon.net!demon!diablo.netcom.net.uk!netcom.net.uk!nntp.news.xara.net!xara.net!gxn.net!news5-gui.server.ntli.net!ntli.net!news2-win.server.ntlworld.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "chris.danx" Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada References: <4XxK6.1081$bi2.83068@www.newsranger.com> Subject: Re: Ada and Hardware X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 Message-ID: Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 19:20:53 +0100 NNTP-Posting-Host: 213.104.128.117 X-Complaints-To: abuse@ntlworld.com X-Trace: news2-win.server.ntlworld.com 989518816 213.104.128.117 (Thu, 10 May 2001 19:20:16 BST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 19:20:16 BST Organization: ntlworld News Service Xref: newsfeed.google.com comp.lang.ada:7493 Date: 2001-05-10T19:20:53+01:00 List-Id: > >I know how to do it in C. Use the biosdisk function! Which is incredibly > > Well, then the way to do it in Ada is *also* to use the biosdisk function, or to > write something that does what it does. Ada isn't *that* different from C. > > >unsafe but is the only way i know of doing this. I don't know how to do it in > >Ada without binding to C, but i want to avoid this if i can. > > There's nothing particularly wrong with binding to an OS utility just because it > uses the C parameter passing interface. I just thought how am i going to write the fs to disk, realised that the only way would be to bind with C and panicked. I have always had problems binding with C. For some reason my attempts at this have always failed. A while back i tried to write a binding to Conio (i didn't know about Jerry Van Dijks! Where's the new site i lost the link?) and couldn't do it for a whole host of reasons, i couldn't fathom. I used the stuff in Lovelace to do somethings but some things just weren't happening. A couple of bad interfacing experiences have put me off binding with C. > Now *writing* something new in C then > linking to it from Ada might be a bit silly, but that's not what you are talking > about, is it? No! Thankfully i have more sense than that. > > >I don't see how it isn't an Ada question. Ada supports systems programming, > True, but so do lots of other languages. If you wanted to find out how to write > your own PC boot manager, that's a system programming question too. But there's > nothing particularly *Ada* about what you have to do to accomplish this, and > this is not the newsgroup that is full of people who are experts in writing PC > boot managers. All i wanted to know was if an Ada package existed for raw writing to floppy disks. One doesn't exist as far as i and others know so i'll write a binding to C (or i'll try to). Chris Campbell