Message-ID: <35383194.235@cs.com> Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 00:52:36 -0400 From: "John M. Aldrich" Organization: Two pounds of chaos and a pinch of salt. MIME-Version: 1.0 To: DJGPP Workers Mailing List Subject: DJVERIFY v0.4a released! Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Precedence: bulk On advice of counsel and with a great deal of thought, I've finally decided to release the latest version of DJVERIFY. I just finished uploading it to DJ's /incoming directory; it should be in its permanent home on ftp://ftp.delorie.com/ shortly. In the meantime, you can download it from my own web site, at http://www.cs.com/fighteer/files/vrfy04a.zip. I'm somewhat paranoid about making a general announcement on djgpp-announce until I am sure that any last-minute bugs are ironed out, particularly considering that the interaction between gcc2721 and gcc280 could turn up problems I haven't previously considered. I also haven't quite decided on the final format for the package information files. Any suggestions along this line would be appreciated; whether you think DJVERIFY is ready to go as-is or you think it still needs more work, please speak up! :-) I've made a huge number of changes and improvements to the program since the last published version; most of the time I spent in development was in soliciting user advice. A full list of features and version changes can be found in 'readme.djv' and 'djverify.doc'; here are the most fundamental: - I completed the diagnostics menu and implemented a full range of comprehensive checks. I made lots of refinements based on user suggestions and reported problems. Diagnostics include: CPU, memory, DJGPP variable (omitted, misspelled, points to directory instead of file, points to nonexistent file, etc.), DJDIR variable (exists, matches DJGPP variable), presence of required executable files and their location in the PATH, and more. - Diagnostic system detects errors and displays a series of screens listing the problems and possible solutions, with FAQ references where applicable. - The system report feature allows instantaneous preparation of a system report, a la chapter 6.12 of the FAQ. It even allows the user to specify a program to test-compile and includes the output of gcc in the report. - An interactive package detection system tells the user which DJGPP packages are installed and tests for certain types of incorrect installation. The packages are sorted by name and category (required, language-specific, recommended, optional, source) and include a brief description and list of other required packages. The system also allows users to type in the name of a file and search the manifests for the package to which the file belongs. Included are the latest available versions of all DJGPP packages that have manifests; however, I have omitted a few package descriptions. - There's a known potential problem with this system; it is unable to distinguish between different versions of a package that have similar manifests. I'm working on a solution to this which will go into the next version; for now, it should suffice for all _new_ users who download only the latest packages. - The package detection system also works in conjunction with the system report, appending a list of files that DJVERIFY detects to be installed. - Because of the format I use, package updates can be distributed as a separate zipfile; I will make this available on my web site and possibly on SimTel in the future. Thanks for taking the time to read this. I'm very interested in what everybody thinks. l8r -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- | John M. Aldrich, aka Fighteer I | mailto:fighteer AT cs DOT com | | ICQ UIN#: 7406319 | http://www.cs.com/fighteer/ | | ObJoke: If Bill Gates were a robber, not only would he | | shoot you, but he'd send you a bill for the bullets. | ---------------------------------------------------------------------