[Oberon] new object file format - announcement

[John Drake]

--- Roger Keller <kellerog at student.ethz.ch> wrote:

> 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.

Currently I can still use Oberon-2 source if I
compile with the right "switch".  Will that still
the case?

> 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

All I can say to that is IT'S ABOUT TIME! :) 
Seriously, Oberon V4 and Oberon/F (now BlackBox) 
have had this capability for a while.  At one time
System 3 had decent reflection capability (I think
that was based on the "Juice" object code model)
but unfortunately that disappeared.  I don't need
a runtime debugger, but it will be nice to (again)
be able to drill down into pointer variables as
to opposed to only being able to tell if they're
"NIL" or not.

> 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.

Didn't know you could "indirectly" import anything.
But then again, I haven't had occasion to use
overloaded operators.
 
> if you should have any questions regarding these
> changes, please don't
> hesitate to ask me :)
> 
> - Roger Keller

Will do.

Regards,

John M. Drake

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