moving towards the standard ANSI with old c code

[Craig Burley]

In article <8452 at umd5.umd.edu> jjk at jupiter.astro.umd.edu (Jim Klavetter) writes:

   2 related sets of questions:

   1.  What is the timescale for all compilers to be ANSI?  And what is
   the timescale for most compilers not accepting old c (I know it is
   often called K&R c, but I will use the term old C to mean nonANSI c)?

ISO has mandated that all C compilers be ANSI compatible by November 5, 1991
at 5:00 pm GMT, and that all C compilers no longer accept old C code not
conforming to ANSI C requirements by June 12, 1992 at 3:45 pm GMT.  The
first requirement can be gotten around by not calling a compiler a C
compiler, but calling it something else instead.  The second can be gotten
around by providing a compiler switch to allow K&R C, although ISO mandates
that this switch not be made the default on any installation except PDP-11
systems not connected to networks more than 10% of their mean annual uptime.

   2.  When should I be worrying about updating my libraries (if not my
   programs) to ANSI c?  Should this be done all at once or can I do it
   as needed?

If you are a compiler vendor, you should do the update all at once and by the
1991 date mentioned above.  If you are a user, the answer depends on when
and whether you will be compiling and/or linking your application with an
ANSI C compiler/library and where you live or work.

   It is obvious that it needs to be done sometime, but when?

While ISO doesn't mandate application conversion timeframes, the U.S.
Government Center for Computer Applications Maintenance (gccam) does;
however, the dates vary according to geography (usually the city nearest to
where you live or, more typically, where your corporation has its main
business address).

For information on these dates, call gccam at 1-800-256-5377.  If a recording
comes on and states a number, ignore anything else it says, and that number is
the number of days you have left to convert all your code over to ANSI C, as
this means the countdown has begun for your area.

(This applies only to existing C code; existing Fortran code need not be
converted over to Fortran 90 code for quite some time, pending finalization
of the standard by X3J3.)

   jjk at astro.umd.edu also for Athabasca and Reudi
   Jim Klavetter
   Astronomy
   UMD
   College Park, MD  20742

You wouldn't be a freshman, would you?  (-:
--

James Craig Burley, Software Craftsperson    burley at gnu.ai.mit.edu