Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!fernwood!portal!cup.portal.com!Lee_Robert_Willis
From: Lee_Robert_Willis@cup.portal.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.programmer
Subject: C++ Header standards?
Message-ID: <42111@cup.portal.com>
Date: 8 May 91 01:58:24 GMT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 38

Now that C++ compilers are starting to show up for the Amiga
(Comeau C++ is out now, SAS C++ is supposed to be out this 
summer, and Lattice C++ has been out of its mind for years)
There may be an issue which C= may need to address:

   Will there by a "standard" set of Amiga C++ header files?

The Lattice C++ system comes with some decidedly non-standard C++
bindings.  This can be somewhat confusing.  Examples:

   *  most structures come in two flavors: uninitialized ("uMinList")
      and initialized ("MinList")

   *  You don't have to OpenLibrary() IntuitionBase (in fact it
      complains if you do), but you do have to OpenLibrary() 
      DiskfontBase.  It is not documented which libaray bases must
      be opened, and which ones are opened auto-magicly.

   *  The method that returns a pointer to a Window's RastPort is 
      "window->graphic()".   (Why not "window->rastport()", fer gosh
      sakes?)

      I'm considering creating my own C++ headers, which would be
      tedious, but not complicated.  But I couldn't distribute them
      ( (c) C=A ), so any code I write which is based on these headers
      would be useless to anyone else.  (I've enough ego to think that
      others might want to use my code.)

The Comeau system does not distribute any Amiga-specific C++ headers, but
comes with a utility which converts C header files to C++ header files
(so you can use the C= C headers).

I don't know what SAS C++ will do, but there is the potential for three 
separate C++ header file 'standards'.  We Amiga hackers will not be able
to take advantage of the 're-usable-ness' of C++ if we don't start from
the same base classes (i.e. header files).

Lee	Lee_Robert_Willis@cup.portal.com