Re: Detecting the OS type before clearing screen

["Randy Brukardt" <randy@rrsoftware.com>]

sk wrote in message ...
>I like, and use, package renaming to establish different
>implementations, but I do not think that the actual build
>issue has been addressed.
>
>At some point in the build, a decision has to be made
>as to which implementation is required. Some form of
>preprocessing is required.
>
>Manually edit the renames every time ? No thanks.


We just keep a copy of each version of the files in different
directories, and point the make file (or whatever) at the correct one.

Generally, when this sort of thing is required, you're building the two
versions with different toolchains: a different version of the compiler,
runtime, linker, make tool, etc. Sometimes even with tools from
different vendors (with Claw, for instance, we regularly test with four
different compilers). Using a different make file and maintaining
multiple copies of a handful of source files is the least of the
problems.

The original questioner certainly was going to have to face that: you
need different versions of Gnat to make Linux and Windows files.
Preprocessing doesn't help here.

What preprocessing is good for is separating debugging/testing
infrastructure from the rest of the program. That's especially important
if its expensive (in time or space); usually it's best to keep that
stuff around for the inevitable debugging that happens when users find
bugs - sometimes you can reuse previous debugging code to find new
problems. But it's better to deliver code without that; otherwise it is
tied to a particular compiler, and that is bad.

          Randy.