#IPAS KIT
18 messages in this thread
Could you tell me whether the new IPAS Development Toolkit will support
Watcom C/386 Version 7.0, or will I have to upgrade to a later rev? Also,
does the IPAS Development Toolkit include Phar Lap's 386link or do I also
have to get the Phar Lap Development Tools?
Thanks for the help,
Danny…
The IPAS kit will support Watcom ver 9.0 only (as well as MetaWare HiC 3.01
or later). You will need an upgrade.
Will we need the PharLap SDK too, or just the Watcom compiler?
Chris
No, you would not need Phar Lap along with Watcom to create IPAS routines.
If, however, you were to use MetaWare HiC, you would need to have the Phar
Lap kit, since HiC's linker can't provide what's needed. Of course, if you
were intending to do anything that needed some assembly code, then you
would need the phar lap kit anyway, for their assembler.
Phil: Thanks for the information on using Watcom C for writing IPAS
routines. I don't know how to do it, considering the requirement for the
Phar Lap extender, but it would be really nice if you could use a wider
range of compilers to write IPAS routines. I bet that you would see an
explosion in the number and variety of IPAS routines if some future
incarnation od 3DS and IPAS could be written with the more common (and
cheaper!) compilers. The same would happen with ADI drivers and add on code
for AutoCad.
Chris
Chris, the problem with supporting a wider variety of compilers right now
with the IPAS interface is due to the fact that 3DS uses the Phar Lap
32-bit memory manager, and only Metaware and Watcom support the Phar Lap
linker. Phar Lap is a double-edged sword. It's extremely fast and very
efficient, but it's not particularly well supported out in the real world.
It's a compromise, but when we started writing 3DS in 1988, there were
absolutely ZERO other choices out there.
– G
Gary,
I know that I've asked the same question as Chris in the past, and that you
explained that 3DS and AutoCAD handle external programs (IPAS vs ADS) in a
different manner. Maybe this can become a wishlist item for 3DS 3 or 4 …
Please consider begging, borrowing, or stealing the code that the AutoCAD
programmers used to implement real mode ADS programming with Borland's
Turbo C or MicroSoft C. That would really lead to an explosion of potential
IPAS developers.
Besides, maybe you could get Borland, MicroSoft, Watcom, and Metaware to
subsidize the effort since it could lead to greater sales of all their
products! 🙂
Steven
I wish it was as simple as that, but unfortunately there's a big difference
between the AutoCAD/ADS architecture and the 3DS/IPAS architecture. A
_big_ difference.
– G
The way in which ADS is implemented under AutoCAD has really nothing at all
to do with how IPAS was implemented under 3DS. I don't think anything
analogous could be worked out for IPAS. We'll all just have to wait for
Borland's 32-bit compiler, which, if rumour is correct, will support phar
lap. Then there would be a chance of supporting Borland in a future
release of the IPAS kit.
Phil, any news on my file yet? Does it play for you guys?
I've played your DIG06 flic in Studio (both the editor and keyframer) in
AAPro, (under browse/play as well as loading it first then playing it) and
in the ANIPLAY (by loading it, by just just opening it and via a script
file). I even did a number of joins and composites and such things. I
could find no problems with how it. Is there something else I should try?
It works fine in AAP! Try to play it with PLAY.EXE
I understand why the Adesk products use the Phar Lap tools, it is just that
the SDK and the compilers that work with it are EXPENSIVE. I can buy myself
a copy of Watcom and the Phar Lap tools at work, but I would hesitate to
spend the money at home, because I can think of so many other things that I
would rather have! (like the entire IPAS library, or a big chunk of a MO
drive, or a much smaller chunk of a decent editing recorder…)
I've already got a number of software development tools and it would be
nice if I could write IPAS code with them.
Maybe the best thing to do in the long run is to wait for a port to NT! <g>
Chris
Well, besides the cost of the compilers and linkers (and the IPAS kit
itself), the programming~ is fairly involved. All in all, it's not a light
matter to undertake the construction of an IPAS routine. But any such
routines created would, thereby, have a good market value for the
developers who did go the investment (in time, money and sweat) to create
them.
Besides, how do you know we won't be using Watcom under NT? <g>
I agree that it would be nice if a wider range of compilers could be used.
Unfortunately, there just aren't that many yet who offer true 32-bit
support under DOS. Borland and Microsoft are both working on theirs,
still.
The **BIG** advantage of moving to a wider range of compilers is that you
open up the IPAS writing community. There could be a lot of people writing
IPAS code if the compilers were more accessable.
Chris
I understand. I would love to see a thousand developers creating cool IPAS
routines. But there are only the two compilers that provide all the
requirements needed for IPAS; true 32-bit programming is still kind of an
esoteric science under DOS. When more compilers are available (Borland and
Microsoft are both working on 32-bit systems), I'm sure we'll look at
including support for them.
In addition to Phil's comment, you'll also need the Phar Lap linker.
– G