Any suggestions for a good pascal compiler, that's free..
I just downloaded lazarus, it looks like it's ok, but then I wouldn't have a clue. I'm a FilePro database programmer trying to teach myself pascal.

Thanks,
Scott....

... Survival Tip #2: Never moon a werewolf.

--- Renegade v1.18/Alpha
* Origin: The Realms of Blue BBS - blues.zapto.org (1:261/220)

Hello, Scott.

Wednesday March 31 2010 at 23:34, you wrote to All:

Any suggestions for a good pascal compiler, that's free..

Virtual Pascal and Free Pascal are pretty much your two choices. Lazarus is a RAD IDE and not an actual compiler itself.

VP will work with OS/2 and Win32; FP will work with Win32, DOS32, OS/2, Linux and a few other operating systems.

I personally prefer Virtual Pascal, but that's because I do most of my development on my OS/2-based BBS machine where VP has a GUI interface I can use.

Later,
Sean

//sean@nsbbs.info | http://nsbbs.info | ICQ: 19965647

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--- GoldED/2 3.0.1
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Hi Sean,

Virtual Pascal and Free Pascal are pretty much your two choices. Lazarus RAD IDE and not an actual compiler itself.

I should have known that.. :)

I personally prefer Virtual Pascal, but that's because I do most of my development on my OS/2-based BBS machine where VP has a GUI interface I ca use.

OS/2 is the about the only OS that I haven't been able to get my hands on to try out. Always wanted to try it out though.

Scott....

... The Ringworld is Unstable!

--- Renegade v1.18/Alpha
* Origin: The Realms of Blue BBS - blues.zapto.org (1:261/220)

Hello, Scott.

Thursday April 01 2010 at 21:47, you wrote to me:

I should have known that.. :)

Well, the Lazarus group doesn't make that very clear at times since they bundle
FPC with Lazarus; I always thought that too until I actually installed it.

OS/2 is the about the only OS that I haven't been able to get my hands
on to try out. Always wanted to try it out though.

I'll tell you the truth: OS/2 can be a real bastard to get working. It's very picky about what equipment it'll run on, but once you do get it running, it's rock solid stable. I left my BBS running for nearly ten months after my car accident in March 2008 without any real monitoring by me. OS/2 is like beer: an acquired taste. :)

Later,
Sean

//sean@nsbbs.info | http://nsbbs.info | ICQ: 19965647

... 42? 7 and a half million years and all you can come up with is 42?!
--- GoldED/2 3.0.1
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Any suggestions for a good pascal compiler, that's free..
I just downloaded lazarus, it looks like it's ok, but then I
wouldn't have a clue. I'm a FilePro database programmer trying to
teach myself pascal.

lazarus is a GUI interface that provides additional RAD type capabilities to FPC (Free Pascal Compiler) which is the real meat underneath the beast...

FPC and Lazarus is really the only thing going these days that's free... everything else costs $$$...

FWIW: as an old pascal hand, i still have troubles with Laz/FPC because i've never done the delphi or object pascal stuff... they say to get a decent delphi
book and you can go with that but i've yet to find a "decent" delphi book or one that can reliably point me in the proper direction for the components used in Lazarus... some things are named differently and if you don't even know what
they were called in the beginning it is very hard to know what they may be called now...

i read the lazarus mailing list every day and suggest that others interested in
lazarus do the same... one may want to also participate in their web forums but
i find them quite lacking for numerous reasons...

)\/(ark


* Origin: (1:3634/12)

Hello, mark.

Wednesday April 07 2010 at 13:43, you wrote to Scott Brown:

FPC and Lazarus is really the only thing going these days that's
free... everything else costs $$$...

Not true. You can find Delphi 7 Personal floating around and legit keys if you
look hard enough on Google (I have my own key I generated long ago on Borland/Iniprise/Embarcadero/whateverthehelltheycallthemselvesnow's website). The key (no pun intended) is you can only do freeware stuff with D7P.

In fact, if anyone wants D7P and my key (doesn't matter who it's registered to,
really), let me know via netmail or email and I'll be happy to provide it! No,
this isn't illegal.

FWIW: as an old pascal hand, i still have troubles with Laz/FPC
because i've never done the delphi or object pascal stuff... they say
to get a decent delphi book and you can go with that but i've yet to
find a "decent" delphi book or one that can reliably point me in the proper direction for the components used in Lazarus... some things are named differently and if you don't even know what they were called in
the beginning it is very hard to know what they may be called now...

Wow, I got my first Delphi program running in about two minutes, even if it was
a form where you pressed the button "Hello World" appeared! Delphi is easy-peasy compared to grinding out code, but you're locked into Windows if you
use it. You just have to change your mindset enough to think of Delphi's RAD system as a "helper" to speed things along.

i read the lazarus mailing list every day and suggest that others interested in lazarus do the same... one may want to also participate
in their web forums but i find them quite lacking for numerous
reasons...

What do you expect for free? <G> Really now.

I've had compatibility issues with using FPC on my various machines, so I've just stuck to Borland/Turbo/Virtual Pascal.

Later,
Sean

//sean@nsbbs.info | http://nsbbs.info | ICQ: 19965647

... God gives us relatives; thank God we can chose our friends.
--- GoldED/2 3.0.1
* Origin: Nocturnal State BBS - (423) 926-7999 - bbs.nsbbs.info (1:18/200)

FPC and Lazarus is really the only thing going these days that's
free... everything else costs $$$...

Not true. You can find Delphi 7 Personal floating around and legit
keys if you look hard enough on Google

yeah, i forgot about Delphi Personal... i have a version around here somewhere but never really figured it out... i've done RAD stuff in the passed but it was
waaaaay back in the past and was actually more like an add-on for dBase III/IV...

(I have my own key I generated long ago on Borland/Iniprise/Embarcadero/whateverthehelltheycallthemselvesnow's website). The key (no pun intended) is you can only do freeware
stuff with D7P.

yeah... that's another reason why i don't use it... i do some commercial apps from time to time...

In fact, if anyone wants D7P and my key (doesn't matter who it's registered to, really), let me know via netmail or email and I'll
be happy to provide it! No, this isn't illegal.

FWIW: as an old pascal hand, i still have troubles with Laz/FPC
because i've never done the delphi or object pascal stuff... they say
to get a decent delphi book and you can go with that but i've yet to
find a "decent" delphi book or one that can reliably point me in the proper direction for the components used in Lazarus... some things are named differently and if you don't even know what they were called in
the beginning it is very hard to know what they may be called now...

Wow, I got my first Delphi program running in about two minutes,
even if it was a form where you pressed the button "Hello World"
appeared!

yeah... but that's a whole lot simpler than what i was speaking of ;)

Delphi is easy-peasy compared to grinding out code, but you're
locked into Windows if you use it. You just have to change
your mindset enough to think of Delphi's RAD system as a "helper"
to speed things along.

that's exactly what a RAD is... a "helper"... you still have to go in and add the necessary code for the specific tasks you need a component to do or call...

i read the lazarus mailing list every day and suggest that others interested in lazarus do the same... one may want to also participate
in their web forums but i find them quite lacking for numerous
reasons...

What do you expect for free? <G> Really now.

hahahaha... the IDE and compiler are, actually, very good... the main problem comes to the documentation... that still needs a lot of work but the developers
can only do so much ;) and i don't like using a wiki for many things... documentation like i feel is necessary for this being one...

I've had compatibility issues with using FPC on my various
machines, so I've just stuck to Borland/Turbo/Virtual Pascal.

if you've not reported those problems, you can't expect them to be fixed ;) of course, there's also the situation of what version(s) have you worked with... just reading the mailing list, i easily see where the release versions have been surpassed by the SVN code and i regularly see bugs reported in the mailing
list and an hour or so later, there's a new SVN update that fixes it... then one only need do a SVN update and recompile FPC/Laz (both or which ever one needs to be)...

)\/(ark


* Origin: (1:3634/12)

Hello, mark.

Thursday April 08 2010 at 16:45, you wrote to me:

if you've not reported those problems, you can't expect them to be
fixed ;) of course, there's also the situation of what version(s) have
you worked with... just reading the mailing list, i easily see where
the release versions have been surpassed by the SVN code and i
regularly see bugs reported in the mailing list and an hour or so
later, there's a new SVN update that fixes it... then one only need do
a SVN update and recompile FPC/Laz (both or which ever one needs to
be)...

I don't expect them to be fixed as I write pretty much DOS-only doors and FPC ain't gonna really support stuff like doorkits very well, which I understand full well why they won't. Besides, I just downloaded BP7 which can do everything I need for now for the doors.

Later,
Sean

//sean@nsbbs.info | http://nsbbs.info | ICQ: 19965647

... The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.
--- GoldED/2 3.0.1
* Origin: Nocturnal State BBS - (423) 926-7999 - bbs.nsbbs.info (1:18/200)

if you've not reported those problems, you can't expect them to be
fixed ;) of course, there's also the situation of what version(s) have
you worked with... just reading the mailing list, i easily see where
the release versions have been surpassed by the SVN code and i
regularly see bugs reported in the mailing list and an hour or so
later, there's a new SVN update that fixes it... then one only need do
a SVN update and recompile FPC/Laz (both or which ever one needs to
be)...

I don't expect them to be fixed as I write pretty much DOS-only
doors

that shouldn't matter...

and FPC ain't gonna really support stuff like doorkits very
well,

why not? if the kits use normal pascal code, they should... ASM wouldn't be supported, of course... but then again, the kit may need porting to FPC because
it may be TP/BP-centric... i see this being done all the time with the porting of delphi kits to FPC/Laz...

which I understand full well why they won't. Besides, I just
downloaded BP7 which can do everything I need for now for the
doors.

:) that's why i keep it and 6 around... :)

)\/(ark


* Origin: (1:3634/12)

Hello, mark.

Friday April 09 2010 at 07:39, you wrote to me:

why not? if the kits use normal pascal code, they should... ASM
wouldn't be supported, of course... but then again, the kit may need porting to FPC because it may be TP/BP-centric... i see this being
done all the time with the porting of delphi kits to FPC/Laz...

The doorkit I use is closed-source (and the source is lost AFAIK), so I don't expect FPC to ever fulfill my needs. I've added a lot of my own code but the core stuff is unavailable.

Later,
Sean

//sean@nsbbs.info | http://nsbbs.info | ICQ: 19965647

... Gone crazy, be back later, please leave message.
--- GoldED/2 3.0.1
* Origin: Nocturnal State BBS - (423) 926-7999 - bbs.nsbbs.info (1:18/200)

why not? if the kits use normal pascal code, they should... ASM
wouldn't be supported, of course... but then again, the kit may need porting to FPC because it may be TP/BP-centric... i see this being
done all the time with the porting of delphi kits to FPC/Laz...

The doorkit I use is closed-source (and the source is lost AFAIK),

mmmm...

so I don't expect FPC to ever fulfill my needs.

yeah... at least not with /that/ doorkit ;)

I've added a lot of my own code but the core stuff is unavailable.

that's one reason why any doorkits i've ever used have had full sources available... it didn't take long, once i got hold of them, to fix numerous bugs
and add enhancements, either ;)

)\/(ark


* Origin: (1:3634/12)

[ On 2010-04-09 at 18:44:02, Sean Dennis wrote to mark lewis ]

The doorkit I use is closed-source (and the source is lost AFAIK), so
I don't expect FPC to ever fulfill my needs. I've added a lot of my
own code but the core stuff is unavailable.

Is this just a matter of compatibility/convenience or is there something amazingly unique about this closed-source kit?


-- Scott Little [fidonet#3:712/848 / sysgod@sysgod.org]

--- never argue with someone that buys their ink by the barrel
* Origin: [sysgod.org] You know you want it. (3:712/848)

lazarus is a GUI interface that provides additional RAD type capabilities FPC (Free Pascal Compiler) which is the real meat underneath the beast...

I downloaded free pascal first and it worked fine with it's own frontend, I also downloaded turbo pascal. Had a few compiling issuses with turbo pascal, but I did get it to work. So far lazarus seems to work the best (once I
figured out how to use it a little). I've been doing some reading online and trying out some simple code and it seems a lot easier than some of the other things I've tried to teach myself.

FWIW: as an old pascal hand, i still have troubles with Laz/FPC because i' never done the delphi or object pascal stuff... they say to get a decent delphi book and you can go with that but i've yet to find a "decent" delph book or one that can reliably point me in the proper direction for the components used in Lazarus... some things are named differently and if you don't even know what they were called in the beginning it is very hard to what they may be called now...

I'll have to try and find some delphi books to read, I've never been good
with object programming in anything. All the C++ programming I did was C++ in structured format. lol.. not pretty, but I never needed it for anything other than writing a program to convert data from mapper to filepro.

i read the lazarus mailing list every day and suggest that others interest in lazarus do the same... one may want to also participate in their web fo but i find them quite lacking for numerous reasons...

I'll have to get on the mailing list. Thanks for the advice.

Scott....

... Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses.

--- Renegade v1.18/Alpha
* Origin: The Realms of Blue BBS - blues.zapto.org (1:261/220)

Hello, Scott.

Saturday April 10 2010 at 20:31, you wrote to me:

Is this just a matter of compatibility/convenience or is there
something amazingly unique about this closed-source kit?

It's a kit I like, written by someone who knows how to program (Tim Strike of Telegard BBS fame; this is also the same doorkit that IceEdit and IceChat were written with) and it works very well for what I need. I've tried about fifteen
different doorkits and I've just decided I like FKFOSSIL. It's a personal preference, nothing more.

Now the original post was concerning recompiling the freely available Shotgun Professional BBS source code requiring two libraries I can't seem to find.

Later,
Sean

//sean@nsbbs.info | http://nsbbs.info | ICQ: 19965647

... Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate.
--- GoldED/2 3.0.1
* Origin: Nocturnal State BBS - (423) 926-7999 - bbs.nsbbs.info (1:18/200)

Hello, Scott.

Friday April 09 2010 at 08:12, you wrote to Mark Lewis:

frontend, I also downloaded turbo pascal. Had a few compiling issuses
with turbo pascal, but I did get it to work. So far lazarus seems to

Did you make sure you patched TP for the RTE200 bug?

Later,
Sean

//sean@nsbbs.info | http://nsbbs.info | ICQ: 19965647

... Reputation: What others are not thinking about you.
--- GoldED/2 3.0.1
* Origin: Nocturnal State BBS - (423) 926-7999 - bbs.nsbbs.info (1:18/200)

[ On 2010-04-10 at 20:43:26, Sean Dennis wrote to Scott Little ]

Now the original post was concerning recompiling the freely available Shotgun Professional BBS source code requiring two libraries I can't
seem to find.

The version of Async Pro that EleBBS uses appears to be based on v2.03. It has
been modified to be 32bit compatible, but presumably it still works for DOS since there are EleBBS builds for DOS.

cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@elebbs.com:/cvsroot co apro


-- Scott Little [fidonet#3:712/848 / sysgod@sysgod.org]

--- "Criminal Lawyer" is a redundancy.
* Origin: [sysgod.org] Come get some. (3:712/848)

Hello, Scott.

Sunday April 11 2010 at 21:34, you wrote to me:

cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@elebbs.com:/cvsroot co apro

Uhm, this sounds bad, but I don't have a clue about using CVS...

Later,
Sean

//sean@nsbbs.info | http://nsbbs.info | ICQ: 19965647

... A lost ounce of gold may be found, a lost moment of time never.
--- GoldED/2 3.0.1
* Origin: Nocturnal State BBS - (423) 926-7999 - bbs.nsbbs.info (1:18/200)

[ On 2010-04-11 at 14:09:48, Sean Dennis wrote to Scott Little ]

cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@elebbs.com:/cvsroot co apro

Uhm, this sounds bad, but I don't have a clue about using CVS...

http://sysgod.org/temp/20100412/EleBBS-apro.zip


-- Scott Little [fidonet#3:712/848 / sysgod@sysgod.org]

--- * <- Tribble | <- Tribble on starship w/o gravity
* Origin: [sysgod.org] 100% Grade A mansteak, baby. (3:712/848)

Hello, Scott.

Monday April 12 2010 at 06:51, you wrote to me:

http://sysgod.org/temp/20100412/EleBBS-apro.zip

Okay, thanks; I'll grab it tomorrow.

Later,
Sean

//sean@nsbbs.info | http://nsbbs.info | ICQ: 19965647

... Everything goes wrong all at once.
--- GoldED/2 3.0.1
* Origin: Nocturnal State BBS - (423) 926-7999 - bbs.nsbbs.info (1:18/200)