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@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@ +This file is intended to be a short guide for getting AS compiled on +a Unix-like operating system. If you are interested in a more in-depth +discussion of the source code of AS, take a look in the appropriate chapter +of the AS user's manual (german resp. english version located in the doc_DE/ +resp. doc_EN/ subdirectory). I highly recommend reading this chapter before +you make extensions or modifications to the source code. + +The installation process consists of the following steps: + +(1) see if there are additional README files for your platform +(2) create a Makefile.def +(3) compile +(4) execute the test suite +(5) build the documentation +(6) install into the system directories + +Step (1): + +On some (especially non-Unix) platforms, some additional preliminaries +are needed: + +--> If you do not have a C compiler conforming to the ANSI standard, + take a look into 'README.KR'. + +--> For MS-DOS and OS/2 platforms, additionally read README.DOS resp. + README.OS2 + +Step (2): + +Settings that may vary from platform to platform are located in a file +called 'Makefile.def'. Your task is either to select an approriate file +from the 'Makefile.def-samples' directory, or to create an own one. I know +this is a bit tedious process, and one day I will probably replace this +scheme with an autoconf-style configuration, but for now we will have to +live with it. A good starting point for a gcc-based, 'normal' Unix system +is the file 'Makefile.def.tmpl'. The settings to make include: + +- CC, LD, CFLAGS, LDFLAGS: The compiler and linker you want to use (nice + if you have more than just 'cc' on your machine), plus flags that should + be passed to them. like optimization settings and libraries needed for + linking. + +- BINDIR, INCDIR, MANDIR, LIBDIR, DOCDIR: directiories where AS should be + placed after compilation. + +- CHARSET: character encoding for non ASCII national special characters. + If your system is absolutely 8-bit-unclean, the ASCII7 setting is a good + idea. Most modern Unix systems default to ISO8859-1, and the IBM437 + resp. IBM850 settings are only needed for DOS and OS/2 platforms. + +Step (3): + +Compilation should be a simple matter of saying 'make' and waiting... +depending on your machine, compliation time can be between a few minutes +(a modern Pentium-based PC or a fast Alpha) and a day (VAXstation 2000). +A few compilers (like newer egcs releases or Borland-C) are known to +generate a lot of warnings about ambigious statements or unused parameters. +I will try to eliminate them when time permits, but I have no high priority +for doing this since they are harmless. + +If you are compiling AS for a new platform, you will probably run into +an error message saying that you have to edit 'sysdefs.h'. This file +collects information about the anomalies and specialities of certain +systems. The include file detects a system by querying macros the compiler +predefines and makes the appropriate definitions. The file is sorted by + +1. processor architecture + 2. manufacturer + 3. operating system + +Find out the preprocessor symbols your compiler defines, make a new section +in 'sysdefs.h' and send it to me so I can include it in the next release of +AS! + +Step (4): + +Type 'make test' and the freshly compiled AS will be run on a couple of +test programs. For each program, the output is compared to a reference +binary included in the distribution. The binary output has to match +*exactly*, i.e. ther must not be any difference. Any failed test reported +by the script has to be investigated, even if it happens for a target +platform you never intend to use! + +Step (5): + +The documentation of AS is distributed in LaTeX format. I chose this format +because TeX is available on about any platform suitable for AS I can think +of. Other formats are created by typing 'make docs': simple ASCII, HTML, +and Postscript. You need a TeX distribution including dvips for the latter, +while converters to ASCII and HTML are included. + +Step (6): + +Type 'make install'. Depending on the target directories you chose in Step +(1), you may have to acquire root privileges to install AS. + +Have fun! + +Alfred Arnold, alfred@ccac.rwth-aachen.de |