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From: dalamb@qucis.queensu.CA (David Lamb)
Newsgroups: comp.compilers
Subject: Re: Searching for an IDL Processor
Message-ID: <3849@ima.ima.isc.com>
Date: 4 May 89 14:41:55 GMT
References: <3839@ima.ima.isc.com>
Sender: compilers-sender@ima.ima.isc.com
Reply-To: dalamb@qucis.queensu.CA (David Lamb)
Organization: Queen's University, Kingston Ontario
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The only easily-available C-based IDL processor I know of is from the
University of North Carolina.  Contact
	Richard Snodgrass
	Department of Computer Science
	New West Hall
	University of North Carolina
	Chapel Hill, NC, 27514
	rts@cs.unc.edu
His system is described in Richard Snodgrass (ed.) "The Interface
Description Language: Definition and Use", which just came out from
Computer Science Press (ISBN 0-7167-8198).  This is based on the UNC
variant of IDL version 2.0, and is the most complete IDL implementation
I know; it includes the assertion language and processes.

Later this year, John Nestor's Mini-IDL system should become
available.  This is a subset of Nestor and Newcomer's "IDL version
3.0", described in a forthcoming book from Prentice-Hall.  Nestor has
paid a lot of attention to making this system portable among various C
implementations, though I don't know the full list at the moment.  The
tentative title is "IDL:  The Language and its Implementation", by
Nestor, Joseph M. Newcomer, Paola Gianninni, and Don Stone.

My own C-based implementation, part of my "Program Component Generator"
project, is perpetually not in good enough shape to ship yet.  I have
inflicted it on a few unsuspecting graduate students, but it needs more
work.  My ego likes to think my version will be better than the others
(but probably only if Rick and John each stop working!), but for the
moment your best bet is one of these two.  Both require a fee, whose
size I don't know since the authors were each kind enough to give me a
free copy.

There is an info-idl mailing list, which appears to be moribund.  You
might try sending mail to info-idl-request@tl-20b.tartan.com, my best
guess at the most recent address for the mailing list maintainer.  I'd
be delighted to correspond with anyone using (or thinking about) IDL.
	David Alex Lamb
	Department of Computing and Information Science
	Queen's University
	Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6
	(613) 545-6067

	ARPA Internet:	David.Lamb@cs.cmu.edu
			dalamb@qucis.queensu.ca
	uucp:   	...!utzoo!utcsri!qucis!dalamb
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