CPOC

CPOC C Development System for the Psion 3a ========================================== Version 0.80 15th November, 1995 INTRODUCTION ============ This is the second release of CPOC. CPOC is an ANSI C compiler for use on the Psion 3a (and compatibles). Unlike the SIBO C SDK available from Psion, CPOC runs on the Psion 3a rather than on a PC attached via 3-link. At this release only the CPOC front-end, pre-processor and C syntax check options are being released. We had hoped to make more available, but have been running into technical difficulties in the implementation. The current release does not provide a full C development system, and is expected to act as a supplement to a system based on some less portable computer. Despite this limitation, you are likely to find that CPOC is very useful as it does not just provide checking for correct ANSI C syntax, but also includes extensive warnings concerning dubious or questionable coding practices. The level of warning detail is under user control so that you can decide how pedantic you wish the compiler phase to be. OVERVIEW ~~~~~~~~ The CPOC system is an ANSI C development system for use on the Psion 3a (and compatible machines). For those who wonder where we derived the name CPOC, it is merely a bit of a play on both EPOC (the name of the Psion 3a operating system) and "C in my Pocket" as a description of how it might be used. The base CPOC system (the "Starter Kit") is sufficient to allow you to edit and syntax check C code. It does not include facilities for actually generating code from the C source. The "CPOC Starter Kit" consists of the following components: - CPOC Front end for running the system - CPP Pre-processor phase - C86 Compiler phase (syntax checking only) The CPOC system can also make use of the ELVIS 'vi' style editor. We released the Psion 3a port of this some weeks ago. FUTURE DEVELPMENTS AND HOPES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We are working on producing the "CPOC Code generator" kit that is needed if you actually want to be able to generate code on the Psion 3a. As mentioned above we have run into certain technical difficulties and may not be able to complete this part of the system as we had hoped. It is planned to consist of the following additional components: - C86 Compiler (syntax checking and code generation) - AS86 assembler phase - LD86 linker phase Another part of the planned final system (if it ever gets there) would be the "CPOC Library" kit consisting of the following: - Header files - Psion specific libraries - Library manager and archiver Finally there are miscellaneous tools that would be useful. Examples are: - The MAKE project automation tool - A program debugging environment If we cannot produce all the above to run natively hosted on the Psion 3a, we could still possibly produce much of it to run hosted on a PC. Feedback on whether this is actually likely to be of use would be welcomed. Our current thinking is that most potential users in the PC environment would probably already use the existing Psion SIBO C SDK. HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The CPOC system will NOT run on a minimal Psion configuration. If your system does not meet the at least the specifications mentioned below, then there is no real point in even trying to get it to run. A recommended minimum system would have the following available (either built in or via SSD's): - At least 512K of base memory. This implies at least one of the following models. Psion 3a 512K Psion 3a 1Mb Psion 3a 2Mb - About 150Kb of space for the base CPOC software. Flash SSD is suitable for this. If you add in optional components as well the size can grow to around 300Kb. - Additional RAM space for source files and temporary files. Typically a value of about 200-300Kb is sufficient, although if you have alot of source on-line you might require more. - Space for any system header files you require. This would typically be held on Flash SSD. You will see from the above that you should not expect to be able to use the CPOC system on a minimal Psion 3a system. In practice, we (using 3a/512K models) find that the ideal configuration is about 0.5Mb RAM SSD (or more) for source files and temporary files, and about 0.5Mb Flash or RAM SSD (or more) for the system files such as the programs and include files. The CPOC system will not, therefore, run on the Psion 3a 256Kb model or the older Psion 3 as these do not have sufficient memory. INSTALLATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~ The "CPOC Starter Kit" comprises of the following files: README.TXT Overview and installation instructions CPOC.APP front-end to the system CPP.IMG Pre-Processor C86CHECK.IMG Compiler with no code generation. CPOC.INI Global Preferences file The recommended place to put all the CPOC files is to create a \CPOC directory on any drive and put all the program files into this directory. You can then install the CPOC.APP program using the Psion-I method. It is not necessary for all the CPOC software to be on one drive. The system will automatically search the \CPOC directory on all drives for any component. There are also a number of other places that are searched if not found here. For more details read the on-line help built into the CPOC program (press Psion-I for program location information). In particular it is recommended that the CPOC.INI file be placed in a \CPOC\ directory on a RAM drive. This file holds your global preferences, and will be updated dynamically as you change such preferences. Also while the CPOC system is in use you will create various project files (with .PRJ file extension). These should ideally be placed in the same location as the CPOC.INI file DOCUMENTATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The basic CPOC system is designed to be used without the need for comprehensive documentation. We have therefore put all the information we think you will need for basic use of the system into the form of on-line help built into the CPOC front-end program. Once you have installed the CPOC front-end, pressing HELP should give you (we hope) enough information to use the system effectively. The HELP is (where relevant) context sensitive so that pressing HELP while on a dialog or menu option will bring up help specifically on that topic. If you think there is important additional material that we need to include in the help system then please let us know what it is. At a later stage we will make available detailed documentation for each of the programs underlying the CPOC system. These will be made available as separate items as only advanced users should (we hope) need this level of documentation. We have not included any basic information on C and how to program in C. We expect any prospective user to either already have this or to be prepared to obtain it from a suitable source such as a library or bookshop. HEADER FILES ~~~~~~~~~~~~ We have not (as yet anyway) provided any header files. At this point it is not possible to generate runnable code using CPOC in isolation, so we expect users of this version of CPOC to be using it as an adjunct to a C compiler that is already being used on some other machine. On that basis you should copy the header files from this other machine to the Psion to use them in conjunction with CPOC. If there is demand, we can easily provide a set of header files that include definitions of all the items defined by ANSI and/or POSIX. These would not, however, include Psion specific material. Psion have also graciously given permission to distribute include files based on material in the Psion C SDK. For this release we have decided not to do so as we expect any serious users would have access to the C SDK, and can copy these include files themselves. However, we are prepared to reconsider that decision based upon any feedback that we might get. Be warned that the full set of Psion header files is very large - particularily if you include the OOPS oriented ones as well. TEMPORARY FILES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While the CPOC system is running, it will create temporary files to pass between various stages of the compiler. There must be sufficient space on the device set in the user preferences to hold these temporary files. It is recommended that you avoid using drive M: for these temporary files as this would impact the space available for the programs to use. SHAREWARE STATUS AND REGISTRATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is intended that the CPOC software will be made available on a shareware basis. As the software is still under active development, you can currently use the CPOC software for free. For this release you can use the following registration key: 0114f78e-7f02e2fd This key will stop working when we make the 1.0 release of CPOC. We would welcome, however, any feedback on the methods we have used to encourage registration. We think we have struck a good balance between not crippling the software, but also giving just enough incentive to make regular users decide to register. If by any chance anyone thinks that CPOC is already good enough to register even though it is not yet a requirement, then we will treat such voluntary contributions as counting towards the shareware registration fee for the 1.0 release (probably counting double for being so honest!). We have not yet decided on the registration fee, but were thinking that something like 20 ($30) would be about right - again feedback on whether you think would be prepared to register the finished product at this price. SOURCE AVAILABILITY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The source is not generally distributed as it is very large (several meagabytes in size). The source for the everything except the CPOC front-end are available if you want them. To obtain such source then please use one of the contact routes mentioned for feedback. KNOWN LIMITATIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Large files may fail to compile due to the memory constraints that are imposed on Psion programs. This limitation can be avoided if you keep down the size of your source files, and (most important) you limit the number of header files that you include. In particular, it is not possible to compile Psion Object Oriented programs if they include the <hwimman.g> header file (which then includes LOTS of other header files) due to these memory constraints. This constraint can sometimes be avoided by only including those headers that you actually really need. FEEDBACK ~~~~~~~~ Feedback will be welcomed. For details on the various methods whereby we can be contacted look up the help on the "About" menu item while running the CPOC front-end program. COPYRIGHT ~~~~~~~~~ The CPOC system is (c)Copyright 1995 by K. D. Walker and D. J. Walker All rights reserved. DISCLAIMER ~~~~~~~~~~ Although CPOC has been extensively tested, the authors shall not be responsible for any loss of any kind due to its use. It is the user's responsibility to establish the suitability of the CPOC software for the use to which it to be put.