[Oberon] new object file format - announcement

[Roger Keller]

hi folks,

by tomorrow we're going to provide the crazy fresh release with a rather
rare change: as part of my masterthesis i did change the object file format.
this means that _all_ the old .Obx files will no longer be executable.
however, we're of course providing the modified compiler with the new object
file plug-ins such that you can easily compile your own sources into the new
.Bbx object files. the release will of course contain the new .Bbx files
corresponding to the older releases' .Obx files.

the advantages of the new object file format in brief:
* more structured files for faster loading
* possibility to have (compiled) code >64KB (up to 2GB ;))
* detailed meta-data that can be accessed using the new reflection API
* as a consequence of the above: more detailed stack traces

for most applications this does _not_ imply changes to your own code.
however, there is at least one change which might affect some modules:
overloaded operators that are imported indirectly (i.e. they're not in the
module's IMPORT list) cannot/won't be used anymore. they are normal exported
procedures/symbols and these can only be used when the corresponding module
is imported directly.

if you should have any questions regarding these changes, please don't
hesitate to ask me :)

- Roger Keller
-------------------------------
read all about my master-thesis
        www.master.cymbeline.ch