Re: GNAT on Mac OS X

[Adrian Hoe <abyhoe@gmail.com>]

On Apr 7, 4:08 am, Achim <joachim.schro...@web.de> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> possibly this has been asked and discussed before but I can find older
> posts concerning this topic.
>
> Since 6 month I'm using a MacBook running Mac OS X 10.6.6.
> Till now I've just installed a few multimedia programs but no
> development tools.
>
> Now I installed (or just unpacked) GNAT GPL 2010.
> As stated in the readme, I gave ./doinstall and got the error message:
>
> "The make command could not be found on your PATH. ..."
>
> gps runs and gnatmake starts to work, but I think the "installation" is
> not as required.
>
> So I think there are a lot prerequisites left out in the explanation
> that I need as a relative Mac newbe. I have the following questions:
>
> 1) What do I have to install (e.g. XCode Version?) for GNAT (including
> gnu/make) to become fully functional? I remember former posts stating
> that some GNAT versions are not compatible with some XCode versions or
> that GNAT has to be installed in certain folders to avoid inconsistencies.
>
> 2) Next, I need the posix binding (florist). As there is none on the
> libre site, can I just build the Linux version from sources?
>
> less important:
>
> 3) I want to make gps a normal executable and connect it with all *.gpr,
> *.ads, *.adb files. When clicking on one of these files in the finder,
> gps should come up.
>
> I've some experience using GNAT on different Linuxes and would be glad
> to hear, that you can work similarly on Mac OS.
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
> --
> Achim


I have been using Mac OS X and gnat (together) since 2003. From my
experience, first and foremost, I love to write Ada codes on Mac OS X
more than any other platforms. But to get gnat to work (with Xcode) is
a darn task. I love to code with Aquamacs Emacs but I love Xcode more.

You have to do a lot of diggings and experiment before you set things
right. The only site for Ada on Mac is macada.org but the information
in that website looks rather outdated (or not updated at all).

But once you have got the right gnat running with xcode, it is all
what you treasure so much. I am still using Leopard (10.5.8) and Xcode
3.0 on two Macs. I have another Mac running Snow Leopard and latest
Xcode solely for iOS development. I am thinking of creating another
partition to have Lion and Leopard on my new Mac to come. Upgrading
(gnat nad/or Xcode) is always a headache and things will break and I
cannot afford to spend time looking/experimenting so I decide to keep
Leopard.

I should have documented the process of installing gnat and the
components needed years ago.

Good luck.
--
Adrian Hoe
http://adrianhoe.com/adrianhoe