JoshyFun schrieb:
HPD> I already made an C-to-Pascal converter HPD> <http://sourceforge.net/projects/topas/>, but then got stuck in handling HPD> #defines, which deserve translation into either constants or functions, HPD> or must be expanded. HPD> I never wanted it to handle C++ syntax, but if you have ideas how to HPD> make it usable for (partial) translation of C++ code, I'm willing to HPD> update it accordingly.I think that it would be great to have something that can sintax traslate from C++ to Pascal, but not a whole code with defines, macros, and other things, just a plain block syntax converter, that could simplify manual conversion, like creating the var block, handling the if {} conversion and always take the simple route, not trying to be smarter than the user ;)
IMO you don't know enough about the real problems. Even a C parser must know about type names, so that proper detection and handling of all typedefs is vital, what means that the implementation of an preprocessor is inevitable.
Integrating this in the IDE could help to convert function by function, without too many changes.
This would be possible, but IMO a useful translator should be an interactive tool of its own. The source code could be analyzed and split into sections by such a tool, where some sections (declarations!) must be converted by the user, before the translator can do the stupid work of translating the code blocks inside subroutines. The user will have to spend much time in replacing the references to symbols in header files, and in writing stubs that call the RTL equivalents of the original C functions.
IMO the integration of an true C++ compiler, like CBuilder, would make FPC/Lazarus much more intersting and useful in real life, removing the need to translate existing (legacy or library[1]) C/C++ code. I don't know how far a mix of Pascal and C/C++ object code is already possible, based on the unified object file formats, but a direct interface to C code by using compiler-created library units were really great.
[1] The use of non-Pascal libraries would require another translation of the source code, after every bugfix or other changes. It's almost impossible to update *translated* code of other languages, instead the entire code must be translated into Pascal again, after every update of the external source code.
In an attempt to add compression modules to Abbrevia, I noticed an bug in the C code. When I reported that bug to the library maintainer, it turned out that just this bug had been fixed a few weeks ago, after the library existed and was used for many years! This was one of the reasons why I stopped my work on Abbrevia as a pure Delphi/Pascal-based project, in favor of 7zip, which uses the existing C libraries directly.
DoDi -- _______________________________________________ Lazarus mailing list Lazarus@lists.lazarus.freepascal.org http://lists.lazarus.freepascal.org/mailman/listinfo/lazarus
