Re: Ada 95 Sourcecode

[Jeffrey Carter <spam@spam.com>]

Comparisons between Ada and C that involve text I/O are biased in favor 
of C because the Ada versions typically use Ada.Text_IO. Text_IO is a 
very heavyweight implementation of text I/O, given all the column, line, 
and page counting that must go on.

I've created a thick binding to the C text I/O library (fopen, fclose, 
fgetc, fgets, fputc, fputs) to use in such cases, or when the speed 
difference is important. The main source of errors (supplying the wrong 
length to fgets) is isolated to one place, and uses 'Length to get the 
length right. It involves a small C file to provide access to the 
standard file handles. I've been able to use it with GNAT 3.15p and the 
C compiler that comes with it. I have not been able to test it with 
another Ada compiler, because I don't have C compilers that produce 
output in a format that they accept.

I would appreciate it if people would test the binding with other 
compilers, and will provide it to anyone who wants to use it with GNAT 
as well.

If it proves to be fairly portable, I'll make it more easily available.

E-mail me at jrcarter [at-sign] acm [period | full stop] org if you're 
interested.

-- 
Jeff Carter
"C's solution to this [variable-sized arrays] has real problems,
and people who are complaining about safety definitely have a point."
Dennis Ritchie
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