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From: sysop@pro-generic.cts.com (Matthew Montano)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: ORCA/C Bugs.. or FEATURES?!
Message-ID: <8910190700.AA14944@trout.nosc.mil>
Date: 19 Oct 89 05:45:28 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 73


  I found an interesting bug in ORCA/C's compiler today:

  Try placing a return on a line by itself without the terminating ";" for the
line. If the following line is a simple assignment operator (x=10 etc.) then
it will compile and work correctly without the ";", with a flow control
operator after it (while, for etc.) it will error out on the compile.

  Whether this is related to this problem, I am unsure, but this program below
does NOT work. No matter what I try, it crashes into the monitor on the return
in all occurences under finddevice.

---
#pragma keep "fd"
#include <gsos.h>
main()
{
      word   requestid;
      int    devid;
      struct DInfoRec myDInfo;

      requestid = 0x0009;
      devid     = finddevice(requestid);
      printf("Correct device (with ID requested):%d",devid);
      exit();
      }

finddevice(requestid)
word requestid;
{
        struct DInfoRec myDInfo;
        int    myerror, miscint;
        printf("requested id %d\n", requestid);
        miscint = requestid;   /* requestid looses value as soon as we exit */
                               /* finddevice with DInfo(blah)               */
        myerror = 0;
        myDInfo.pCount = 10;
        myDInfo.devNum = 1;
        while (myerror == 0)
                {
                printf("Checking %d\n", myDInfo.devNum);
                DInfoGS(&myDInfo);
                if (toolerror()) {
                                 printf("Toolerror %x",toolerror());
                                 myerror = 1;
                                 return(0);
                                 }
        printf("DevID:%x DevNum:%d\n",myDInfo.deviceID, myDInfo.devNum);
                if (myDInfo.deviceID == miscint)
                        {
                        printf("Found device!");
                        return(myDInfo.devNum);
                        }
                myDInfo.devNum++;
                }
}
---
It simply crashes.. every single time, even if I want to return nothing to the
main() subprogram. If I place a return before the DInfo call, it returns
correctly. Is there something I should call before I place the call to DInfo
within the function to allow it to function correctly?

I do believe that the ORCA/C compiler is missing many checks for error
checking, assuming the perfect programmer is a real poor assumption. I used
the first version of Turbo C on the Messy-Dos machines and had nearly all my
poor thinking flagged even before it thought about linking it! I must admit
that the documentation is decent and the price was resonable, but it
has to work.. Is APW C worth the $25 more?


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