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From: heather@blia.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Problem with Microsoft C V4.0
Message-ID: <1887@blia.BLI.COM>
Date: Tue, 24-Mar-87 12:37:43 EST
Article-I.D.: blia.1887
Posted: Tue Mar 24 12:37:43 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 26-Mar-87 06:23:11 EST
References: <5397@brl-adm.ARPA>
Organization: Britton Lee, Los Gatos, CA
Lines: 48
Summary: From the manual

In article <5397@brl-adm.ARPA>, Schauble@mit-multics.arpa (Paul Schauble) writes:
> I've recently acquired Microsoft C version 4.0, replacing Lattice
> 
> Within one file I have the function declaration
> 
>     void bgunlink_transaction_record (bgfile, client, transaction)
>     BGFILE *bgfile;
>     struct tclient_rec *client;
>     struct ttransaction_rec *transaction;
> 
> Later in the file:
>
>           bgunlink_transaction_record (&bgfile, &client_rec, rec, &transaction);
> 
> Note that they don't match in number or types of arguments.  When
> compiling with /W3 for maximum checking, the compiler SAYS NOT A WORD
> ABOUT THIS.

On pages 77-79 of the Microsoft C Compiler User's Guide, the /Zg option
is described.  This is also the section that describes type checking on
functions.  In a box on the middle of page 78, there is a warning that
/Zg will not work for structs, enums or unions (or pointers to such)
unless the struct declaration includes a tag.  My guess, based on other
Microsoft "features", is that type checking follows this constraint
also.

I also like Codeview and Microsoft in general far better than Lattice.
But there are many undocumented or poorly documented limitations that
make it much more difficult to use than it should be.  The support
organization has never let me in on the secret the first time I call in
about a problem; they always let me discover the limitations for
myself.

The biggest gripe I have is that Codeview cannot be used in source mode
with files included in a library.  Since we sell a source library
product, this is a big pain for me.  You can't even put a breakpoint at
a routine which is in a library, no matter how much symbolic information
is in the .obj file.

I don't want to sour anybody on Microsoft.  It is far better than the
compilers available when I started on the PC in 1983.  It is also the
most complete professional C compiler for the PC I have seen.  But the
documentation seems to be marketing literature and can be very
frustrating if you are trying to do real world programming.

Heather Mackinnon
PC Guru  :-)
Britton-Lee, Inc.