Path: utzoo!utgpu!cunews!cognos!garym From: garym@cognos.uucp@uunet.uu.net (Gary Murphy) Newsgroups: comp.lang.prolog Subject: Re: PDC prolog gripe/question Message-ID: Date: 15 Oct 90 16:25:29 GMT References: <90285.232430F0O@psuvm.psu.edu> <145400@kean.ucs.mun.ca> <3973@goanna.cs.rmit.oz.au> Sender: garym@cognos.UUCP Organization: Cognos Inc., Ottawa, Canada Lines: 35 In-reply-to: ok@goanna.cs.rmit.oz.au's message of 15 Oct 90 03:30:29 GMT Terribly sorry: my last posting has been properly corrected (thanks to Richard) What I should have stressed is my innate PC bias: PDC (ad the tProlog before it) was the first in the MsDOS world to provide a usable WAMmy prolog with modules -- today, I think they _all_ have these features, but at the time of tProlog 1.0, this was the only one. As for the WAM-ishness: one need only dissassemble the code in the library to see all the old familiar forms -- PDC has a philosophy of keeping the metaprogramming out of the compiler (suggesting you model it), but the basic language underneath is still more WAM than anything else. The trail size switch is only a clue to the user options, and I have found that many general utility programs and applications coded in Prolog strictly to reduce development time can get by without the trail. The .SYM file is in fact not really for the C linkage as much as it allows the prolog code to be compiled with stack frames very different from the standard MsDOS conventions. If all predicates are declared as "function C" and no strings are passed between modules, the .SYM may not be required (I've only tried this on trivial programs). If Mr. O'Keefe (or anyone else) does know of a Prolog for the PC world which has re-usable modules (binary), can directly use 3rd party C libraries without extra glue and sells for an affordable price, please, please let us know; I'm no apologist for Borland/PDC, I just don't have the funds to keep a SPARC at home! In the mean time, I'll just bite the bullet and live with what I've got. -- o | Gary Murphy |------------------------------------------------------------------------ o | uunet!mitel!cunews!cognos!garym garym@cognos.uucp@uunet.uu.net | Cognos Inc. P.O. Box 9707 Ottawa K1G 3N3 (613) 738-1338 x5537 o | "There are many things which do not concern the process" - Joan of Arc