Re: gsl-0.41 and SparcWorks C

[Mark Galassi <rosalia@lanl.gov>]

Dear Bernd,

Thank you very much for your note!

    Bernd> I'm compiling gsl-0.41 on Solaris7 and Solaris2.5.1 with
    Bernd> the SparcWorks Compiler 4.0 (ok, pretty old ;-).

This kind of feedback is good: nowadays so many people just use gcc
that they get accustomed to its extensions.

    Bernd> 1) in sys/prec.c is the GSL_MODE_PREC function defined (for
    Bernd> the case that the inline function is ignored). It should
    Bernd> have #ifdef HAVE_INLIN= E ... #endif to disable it if
    Bernd> GSL_MODE_PREC is defined as a macro (simil= ar to
    Bernd> gsl_mode.h).

This was fixed recently, and I wonder if you could tell me if the
version in anonymous CVS works for your compiler.

    Bernd> 2) The "const int" definitions in the lines
    Bernd> 875, 931 and 932 in specfunc/fermi_dirac.c apparently not
    Bernd> usable by SparcWorksCompiler for defining arrays (replacing
    Bernd> with #define helped).

You are right.  "const int" is valid ISO C, but ISO C says you cannot
use it to size arrays.  The new Kernighan and Pike book (The Practice
of Programming) discusses this, and recommends using enums rather than
#define if you wnat to define a constant without the preprocessor.

I've applied the following to CVS, and it will be in the next
release.  Does anyone see any objection to this way of doing it?

Index: ChangeLog
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/gsl/gsl/specfunc/ChangeLog,v
retrieving revision 1.13
diff -u -r1.13 ChangeLog
--- ChangeLog	1999/02/14 17:33:18	1.13
+++ ChangeLog	1999/08/02 16:43:33
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+1999-08-02  Mark Galassi  <rosalia@lanl.gov>
+
+	* fermi_dirac.c: took out the use of some "const int" constants
+	which were being used to size arrays, since this is not portable
+	(thanks to Bernd Petrovitsch <bernd@ict.tuwien.ac.at> for pointing
+	this out).
+
 1999-01-02  Mark Galassi  <rosalia@cygnus.com>
 
 	* trig.c (gsl_sf_rect_to_polar_impl): introduced an #ifdef
Index: fermi_dirac.c
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/gsl/gsl/specfunc/fermi_dirac.c,v
retrieving revision 1.25
diff -u -r1.25 fermi_dirac.c
--- fermi_dirac.c	1999/08/01 11:29:32	1.25
+++ fermi_dirac.c	1999/08/02 16:43:35
@@ -872,7 +872,10 @@
 int
 fd_nint(const int j, const double x, gsl_sf_result * result)
 {
-  const int nsize = 100 + 1;
+/*    const int nsize = 100 + 1; */
+  enum {
+    nsize = 100+1
+  };
   double qcoeff[nsize];
 
   if(j >= -1) {
@@ -928,8 +931,12 @@
 int
 fd_neg(const double j, const double x, gsl_sf_result * result)
 {
-  const int itmax = 100;
-  const int qsize = 100 + 1;
+  enum {
+    itmax = 100,
+    qsize = 100+1
+  };
+/*    const int itmax = 100; */
+/*    const int qsize = 100 + 1; */
   double qnum[qsize], qden[qsize];
 
   if(x < GSL_LOG_DBL_MIN) {