New to Ada need some help

New to Ada need some help

[Deadmeat]

Hi, I've a class in programming languages.  The Prof. wants us to use
Ada to demonstrate some things, like the ambiguity of the IF THEN IF
ELSE ENDIF statement.  I have down loaded Object Ada 7.1 from Aonix.  It
seems way cool but it doesn't have the help setup to make it easy to
find language components.  I have experience with C and all the C IDEs
that I have used would let you look up commands with the help.  For
example in C I can do a search in help for strstr and come up with an
explanation of the function and an example.  I can't seem to find this
anywhere in the help with object ada or on line.  I had to trace through
the BNF to find out that the else if clause is elsif, what a pain.  I
have found a function Is_In but it takes a character set as an
argument.  I have been unable to locate how to define a character set.
Could someone point me in the right direction so that my life will be a
little easier.  TIA

Re: New to Ada need some help

[Ed Falis]

In article <3883B6A7.60931458@home.com>,
  Deadmeat <njmurphy@home.com> wrote:
> Hi, I've a class in programming languages.  The Prof. wants us to use
> Ada to demonstrate some things, like the ambiguity of the IF THEN IF
> ELSE ENDIF statement.  I have down loaded Object Ada 7.1 from Aonix.  It
> seems way cool but it doesn't have the help setup to make it easy to
> find language components.  I have experience with C and all the C IDEs
> that I have used would let you look up commands with the help.  For
> example in C I can do a search in help for strstr and come up with an
> explanation of the function and an example.  I can't seem to find this
> anywhere in the help with object ada or on line.  I had to trace through
> the BNF to find out that the else if clause is elsif, what a pain.  I
> have found a function Is_In but it takes a character set as an
> argument.  I have been unable to locate how to define a character set.
> Could someone point me in the right direction so that my life will be a
> little easier.  TIA

Try firing up the IDE, select the Help menu, Contents submenu, then
select "Ada 95 Programming".  That should give you access to the Ada
Reference Manual, where these kinds of answers live.  If you still have a
problem, drop me a line privately.

- Ed


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Re: New to Ada need some help

[David C. Hoos, Sr.]

Deadmeat <njmurphy@home.com> wrote in message
news:3883B6A7.60931458@home.com...
> Hi, I've a class in programming languages.  The Prof. wants us to use
> Ada to demonstrate some things, like the ambiguity of the IF THEN IF
> ELSE ENDIF statement.  I have down loaded Object Ada 7.1 from Aonix.  It
> seems way cool but it doesn't have the help setup to make it easy to
> find language components.  I have experience with C and all the C IDEs
> that I have used would let you look up commands with the help.  For
> example in C I can do a search in help for strstr and come up with an
> explanation of the function and an example.  I can't seem to find this
> anywhere in the help with object ada or on line.  I had to trace through
> the BNF to find out that the else if clause is elsif, what a pain.  I
> have found a function Is_In but it takes a character set as an
> argument.  I have been unable to locate how to define a character set.
> Could someone point me in the right direction so that my life will be a
> little easier.  TIA
>
I assume that you're running on Windows 9X or Windows NT, from the
reference to Object Ada.

You can download the Ada Reference Manual in Windows Help File format
from ftp://ftp.ada95.com/pub/rm95-winhelp/

This help file contains many hyperlinks and the regular  Windows Help Find
and Topic Index mechanisms.  I hope this helps.

Re: New to Ada need some help

[HollymaN]

change class or university  ada is no good for finding a job if care about
that of course



Deadmeat <njmurphy@home.com> wrote in message
news:3883B6A7.60931458@home.com...
> Hi, I've a class in programming languages.  The Prof. wants us to use
> Ada to demonstrate some things, like the ambiguity of the IF THEN IF
> ELSE ENDIF statement.  I have down loaded Object Ada 7.1 from Aonix.  It
> seems way cool but it doesn't have the help setup to make it easy to
> find language components.  I have experience with C and all the C IDEs
> that I have used would let you look up commands with the help.  For
> example in C I can do a search in help for strstr and come up with an
> explanation of the function and an example.  I can't seem to find this
> anywhere in the help with object ada or on line.  I had to trace through
> the BNF to find out that the else if clause is elsif, what a pain.  I
> have found a function Is_In but it takes a character set as an
> argument.  I have been unable to locate how to define a character set.
> Could someone point me in the right direction so that my life will be a
> little easier.  TIA
>
>

Re: New to Ada need some help

[Gareth]

On Fri, 04 Feb 2000 20:11:31 GMT, "HollymaN" <hollyman@usa.net> wrote:

>change class or university  ada is no good for finding a job if care about
>that of course

I guess this depends where you live? Or have a security clearance? The
majority of the defense forces still use Ada extensively, so it can be
quite easy to get a job with a government defense department if you
know Ada.

A working knowledge of both Ada and C++ (and maybe Java to some
extent) is a great start.

Having a knowledge of just one language though isn't all that good
(and yes, even C++ - because there are just too many young people out
there learning C++, so it's a "dime a dozen" field).

Even if I had to learn just one language, I'd choose Ada over C
anyday, because it's a great language to learn the correct techniques
of good programming.

- Gareth
(4th year Engineering student)

Re: New to Ada need some help

[reason67]

In article <TnGm4.6787$vl6.104560@news20.bellglobal.com>,
  "HollymaN" <hollyman@usa.net> wrote:
> change class or university  ada is no good for finding a job if care
about
> that of course

Simply not true. I have worked in Ada for 11 years now and have never
had a problem finding a job (I am a Contract Software Engineer and
change jobs on average once a year, so I know the current market).
---
Jeffrey S. Blatt


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Re: New to Ada need some help

[Gautier]

> I have been unable to locate how to define a character set.

try:
     type character_set is array( character ) of boolean;

-- 
Gautier

_____\\________________\_______\_________
http://members.xoom.com/gdemont/gsoft.htm

Re: New to Ada need some help

[Gautier]

> change class or university  ada is no good for finding a job if care about
> that of course

Very constructive answer! What you should do: switch off c.l.a., buy a Java book,
learn it, add Java to your CV, impress a boss, find a job, silently program in Ada,
then spend all the spared time in bla-bla-ing in c.l.a !... G.