Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!uokmax!servalan!rmtodd
From: rmtodd@servalan.uucp (Richard Todd)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.aux
Subject: Re: Installing gcc on A/UX 1.1
Summary: Apple's C compiler has severe dain bramage.
Keywords: gcc
Message-ID: <1989Dec4.062116.3446@servalan.uucp>
Date: 4 Dec 89 06:21:16 GMT
References: <3961@helios.TAMU.EDU>
Reply-To: rmtodd@servalan.UUCP (Richard Todd)
Organization: Ministry of SIlly Walks
Lines: 42

In article <3961@helios.TAMU.EDU> jak9213@helios.TAMU.EDU (John Kane) writes:
>The subject about says it.
>
>I have A/UX 1.1, the gcc files from apple.com
>
>Following the instructions in the README, I get to the point where a do
>a new "make". everything works for a while, but I then get the message
>"too many defines".
  The problem is that the source for gcc is too complex for Apple's C compiler
to handle.  Believe it or not, the stock AT&T-derived CPP allocates space
for handling defines from a *fixed size buffer* (32K, I believe), and if 
your source code has more #defines than that, tough.  Rumour has it that 
in SVR4 AT&T has finally learned about malloc(3) and fixed this piece of
braindamage, but that's not much help to us now.
  So how do you compile gcc?  Well, you need a compiler and C preprocessor
that allocate space for #defines and other stuff dynamically instead of
using fixed-size buffers.  I.e., you need GCC binaries.  Fortunately,
there's a set of gcc binaries already made up and sitting there on
apple.com; I forget the exact file name but it's in the same directory with
gcc's source, so it should be easy to find.  Then simply hack the makefiles
etc. to use gcc instead of cc and everything should be just fine.  Of
course, there's no real reason to compile gcc when you've got the binaries
available, unless you want to hack on it; if all you're interested in is
being able to use the superior optimizations, ANSIness, etc. of gcc, you
can just install the binaries and go home for the day.  

  *FLAME ON*
  I'm still shocked that the standard compiler is braindead in this
fashion.  Compilers should not run out of table space for *anything* except
when you've actually used up all the available memory space in the system.
Great Ghu, Ron Cain's Small-C managed to get this right back in 1980; why
couldn't the mighty AT&T Unix Systems Group?  Malloc just ain't that hard
to use, guys!
  *FLAME OFF*
  (Final note for the curious: It ain't just the C Preprocessor that runs
into buffer-size limits with the GCC source; even if you get around that,
various expressions in the GCC source cause the C compiler proper to fill
up *its* fixed-size tables. Sigh.)
--
Richard Todd	rmtodd@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu  rmtodd@chinet.chi.il.us
	rmtodd@servalan.uucp
Motorola Skates On Intel's Head!