Category : Miscellaneous Language Source Code
Archive : ADAPAL.ZIP
Filename : ADAPAL.FAQ
Output of file : ADAPAL.FAQ contained in archive : ADAPAL.ZIP
Path: aplcenmp!saimiri.primate.wisc.edu!sdd.hp.com!sgiblab!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!wupost!wuarchive.wustl.edu!conn
From: [email protected] (Richard Conn)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada,comp.lang.vhdl,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: Public Ada Library FAQ
Followup-To: poster
Date: 12 Feb 1994 20:35:21 -0600
Organization: Washington University in Saint Louis, MO
Lines: 1019
Approved: [email protected]
Message-ID:
NNTP-Posting-Host: wuarchive.wustl.edu
Summary: Public Ada Library (PAL) Frequently Asked Questions
Keywords: Public Ada Library, FAQ, PAL, Ada, VHDL, VHSIC, Integrated Circuits
Archive-name: comp-lang-ada/public-ada-library
Date of this FAQ: Thursday, February 10, 1994
Public Ada Library (PAL) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Posting Frequency: Monthly
The Public Ada Library (PAL) is a library of Ada and VHDL software,
courseware, and documentation on the wuarchive.wustl.edu host computer
(VHDL stands for Very High Speed Integrated Circuit (VHSIC) Hardware
Description Language). This FAQ addresses the following questions:
. What is the Public Ada Library (PAL)?
. In a Nutshell, What is in the PAL?
. What is WUARCHIVE?
. What Electronic Mailing Lists Support the Users of the PAL?
. What Documentation is Available to Help the PAL User?
. How is the PAL Like a Conventional Library?
. Is the Software in the PAL Free of Defects?
. What are Review Codes?
. How Do I Handle the Various Types of Files in the PAL?
. How Can I Get to the Items in the PAL?
. How Do I Work with ZIP Files and MAC Binary Files in the PAL from my MAC?
. How Can I Submit an Item to the PAL?
Questions about this FAQ? Suggestions for improvement? Gripes?
Contact:
Richard Conn, Manager, Public Ada Library (PAL)
[email protected]
=======================================================
What is the Public Ada Library?
Last Update: February 6, 1994
The Public Ada Library (PAL) is a library of Ada and VHDL software,
courseware, and documentation on the wuarchive.wustl.edu (WUARCHIVE)
host computer (VHDL stands for Very High Speed Integrated Circuit
(VHSIC) Hardware Description Language). The PAL is located in the
directories languages/ada and languages/vhdl if you access WUARCHIVE by
FTP, gopher, or FTPMAIL, or in the directories /archive/languages/ada
and /archive/languages/vhdl if you access WUARCHIVE by NFS. The PAL
reached the Initial Operational Capability milestone in its evolution on
June 21, 1993.
The purposes of the PAL are:
. to help make Ada- and VHDL-oriented software, courseware, and
documentation that has been released for public distribution
(as shareware, freeware, GNU Copyleft, etc) readily available
to the public
. to support Ada and VHDL educators by providing a convenient
mechanism for them to exchange material and ideas
. to support the Ada and VHDL user communities in general by
providing a resource in support of their activities
The PAL is actually five collections of material in one:
1. the languages/ada/ajpo tree is a mirror of the public area of
the ajpo.sei.cmu.edu host computer; this collection is maintained
by the Ada Information Clearinghouse (AdaIC) under the direction of
the Ada Joint Program Office; as a mirror, whenever the AdaIC updates
its files on ajpo.sei.cmu.edu, the languages/ada/ajpo tree of the
PAL is automatically updated within 24 hours; documentation on the
languages/ada/ajpo tree is found scattered throughout the tree itself
and in the PAL Catalog
2. the languages/ada/sei tree is a mirror of the public area of the
ftp.sei.cmu.edu host computer; this collection is maintained by
the Software Engineering Institute (SEI); as a mirror, updates occur
and documentation is available as for the AJPO mirror
3. the languages/ada/asr tree is the principal copy of the Ada Software
Repository (ASR) on wsmr-simtel20.army.mil; the ASR is no longer
actively maintained; documentation on the languages/ada/asr tree is
found in the languages/ada/asr/mindex directory as the Master Index
document (files are named *.ch, containing chapters of the document)
and in the PAL Catalog
4. the languages/vhdl tree is a mirror of the VHDL Repository at the
University of Cincinnati, host uceng.uc.edu; this collection is
maintained by Dr. Harold Carter of the Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering at the University of Cincinnati; as a
mirror, updates occur and documentation is available as for the AJPO
mirror
5. the rest of the languages/ada tree is the part of the PAL maintained
by the manager of the PAL; documentation is found in the directory
languages/ada/userdocs/catalog, which contains the PAL Catalog,
PAL LOTUS-123 and dBase IV compatible database files, and other
forms of catalog information on the PAL
WUARCHIVE is supported by the Office of the Network Coordinator,
Washington University in Saint Louis. Funding for WUARCHIVE is provided
by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Office of the Network
Coordinator. The PAL is supported with funding provided by the Ada
Joint Program Office (AJPO) under the DoD's Defense Information Systems
Agency (DISA). The contract for the PAL support was awarded to Monmouth
College in West Long Branch, New Jersey, through the Army's
Communications Electronics Command (CECOM) Software Engineeering
Directorate (SED).
Many organizations have developed cooperative relationships with the
PAL, contributing time, effort, user support services, and artifacts to
the PAL and its users either directly or indirectly. These
organizations include:
AdaNET
the Ada Joint Program Office
the Ada Information Clearinghouse
the Army Reuse Center
the Army's Communications Electronics Command (CECOM) Software
Engineering Directorate (SED)
the Asset Source for Software Engineering Technology
the Central Archive for Reusable Defense Software
Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers (CNAM) in Paris, France
the DoD's Defense Information Systems Agency
the Software Engineering Institute
the Software Reuse Repository at the University of Maine
the VHDL Repository at the University of Cincinnati
Walnut Creek CDROM
To begin using the PAL, read the PAL.FAQ file (posted on USENET and
available in the languages/ada/userdocs/faqfile subdirectory). It is
highly recommended that users obtain the current PAL Catalog (named
PALCAT.DOC in the subdirectory languages/ada/userdocs/catalog) as well.
The PAL can be accessed by a wide variety of mechanisms. These
mechanisms include, but are not limited to, the following:
. FTP to WUARCHIVE itself (up to 250 simultaneous FTP users)
. NFS mounts on WUARCHIVE
. Gopher servers wuarchive.wustl.edu and gopher.wustl.edu
. PAL mirror sites at ftp.cnam.fr and ftp.cdrom.com
. FTPMAIL email servers
. CDROM distributions
. AdaNET distributions and customer support (AdaNET is free to users)
Users wishing to access the PAL by FTP can use anonymous FTP to contact
the main PAL host (wuarchive.wustl.edu) or the PAL mirror sites
(ftp.cnam.fr and ftp.cdrom.com). The languages/ada tree on wuarchive
corresponds to the pub/Ada/PAL tree on cnam and the pub/languages/ada
tree on cdrom. Two hosts support access to the PAL as gopher servers:
wuarchive.wustl.edu and gopher.wustl.edu.
See the section of the PAL FAQ entitled "How Can I Get to the Items
in the PAL?" for more details.
General Disclaimer
==================
All software, courseware, documentation, and other items of information
in the PAL are provided "AS IS" without any expressed or implied
warranties whatsoever unless their individual documentation states
otherwise. No warranties as to performance, merchantability, or fitness
for a particular purpose exist.
Because of the diversity of conditions under which this software may be
used, no warranty of fitness for a particular purpose is offered. The
user is advised to test the software and courseware thoroughly before
relying on it. The user must assume the entire risk and liability of
using this software, courseware, and documentation.
In no event shall any person or organization be held responsible for any
direct, indirect, consequential, or inconsequential damages or lost
profits.
Richard Conn
Manager, Public Ada Library
=======================================================
In a Nutshell, What is in the PAL?
Manifest of the Public Ada Library (PAL)
Richard Conn
6 February 1994
This manifest is divided into two parts: a brief overview and a more
detailed overview.
BRIEF OVERVIEW
5 Ada83 Compilers (3 for DOS, 2 for MAC) - NYU Ada/Ed, GWU Ada/Ed,
Small Ada
2 Ada9X Compilers (1 for OS/2, 1 for Sun/SPARC) - GNAT 1.67
Ada83 and Ada9X Information, Rationale, and Reference Manuals (including
a hypertext version of the Ada83 LRM and interactive online versions
of the Ada83 and Ada9X Reference Manuals)
Ada Bindings (to X11R4, GKS, POSIX, SQL) and Interfaces (ASIS, IRDS, PCIS)
100's of Reusable Ada Software Components
Over 50 Ada Software Development Tools (including AdaSAGE)
SEI's Capability Maturity Model 1.1
Software for Ada Compiler Evaluation and Benchmarks (including ACES, ACVC,
and PIWG)
Over 40 Ada, Software Engineering, Domain Engineering, OOD, and OOP
Courses (including an interactive Ada83 tutor)
Over 100 Technical reports on Ada, Software Engineering, Domain
Engineering, OOD, OOP, and Reuse
DETAILED OVERVIEW
The PAL is divided into 5 sections:
1. AJPO
Ada9X Information, Rationale, and Reference Manual (Versions 3 and 4)
Ada83 Information, Rationale, and Reference Manual
Ada Language Issues and Commentary
Ada Adoption Handbook
General information files on Ada standards, policies, and projects
Ada Technology Insertion Programs
Ada Bindings Working Group and Information on Ada Bindings
Ada Binding to X11R4 including Xt Intrinsics
Ada Language Technical Issues and Comments
Ada Style Guide
Software for Ada Compiler Evaluation
Ada Compiler Evaluation Suite (ACES 1.0)
Ada Compiler Validation Capability (ACVC 1.11)
Performance Issues Working Group (PIWG) benchmarks
Evaluation and Validation working group information
Catalog of Resources for Education in Ada and Software Engineering
(CREASE)
Portable Common Interface Set (PCIS)
Information Resource Dictionary System (IRDS)
Ada Semantic Interface Set (ASIS)
Use of Ada in Real-Time Systems
Ada Runtime Environment working group information
Catalog of Interface Features and Options (CIFO)
2. SEI
ACVC draft for Ada9X
Technical reports from the SEI from 1987 to 1993
3. ASR - all source code written in Ada83
Several libraries of reusable Ada components, including math libraries
Over 300 separate reusable components
Ada mode for GNU Emacs
6 Ada compiler benchmark suites
Common APSE (Ada Programming Support Environment) Interface Set (CAIS)
Graphical Kernel System (GKS) binding
Structured Query Language (SQL) binding
Tools to support Ada software development
Communication tools, including FTP and TELNET implementations in Ada
TCP/IP in Ada
Databases and database management systems
Ada support for Artificial Intelligence
5 Ada Pretty Printers
Ada Cross-Reference tool
Menu systems
Message systems
Ada metrics tools
Ada Program Design Language
Spelling Checker written in Ada
Simple text editor written in Ada
Courseware
4. VHDL
VHDL and ANAVHDL Documents and General Information
VHDL Validation
VHDL Grammar
DDE Benchmarks
Armstrong VHDL examples
5. PAL-Maintained
Ada9X Compiler
GNU Ada 9X Translator (GNAT) through version 1.67 for OS/2 and Sun
Ada83 Compilers
New York University Ada/Ed for DOS
George Washington University Ada/Ed and environment for DOS and MAC
George Washington University Small Ada for DOS and MAC
Ada bindings
to Adobe Font Metrics
Ada Semantic Interface Set (ASIS)
to Graphical Kernel System
Portable Common Tool Environment (PCTE)
POSIX
to Structured Query Language (SQL)
to X11R4
Ada Courseware
Software Engineering with Ada
Object-Oriented Design with Ada
Object-Oriented Programming with Ada
Ada Programming Lab
Interactive Ada Tutor
Database managers and generators
AdaSAGE 4.1.4
Ada Report Production Systems
Reusable Graphical Browser
Large body of Ada- and reuse-oriented documentation
Interactive Online Ada Language Reference Manuals
for Ada83
for Ada9X (Version 3)
15 collections of reusable Ada software components
Over 20 Ada software development toolsets
Simple File Transfer Protocol (FTP) in Ada
Xmodem and Kermit communication protocols in Ada
Catalog of the entire Public Ada Library (over 950 pages covering this
entire CDROM) in text, Postscript, and interactive reader forms
Database files of the entire Public Ada Library (catalog information
extracted for use by Lotus-123 or DBase IV)
=======================================================
What is WUARCHIVE?
Last Update: January 10, 1994
The host computer named wuarchive.wustl.edu (WUARCHIVE) is a Digital
Equipment Corporation (DEC) Alpha AXP 3000 Model 400. It is equipped
with 192M bytes of RAM and over 21G bytes of disk space, and it is able
to support up to 250 simultaneous anonymous FTP session, many remote NFS
mounts, and a gopher server.
WUARCHIVE is owned by the Office of the Network Coordinator, Washington
University in Saint Louis. It is supported out of the budget of the
Office of the Network Coordinator and by a grant from the National
Science Foundation. The Office of the Network Coordinator and the
National Science Foundation have jointly paid for the hardware of the
machine and for the services of the support personnel at Washington
University in Saint Louis.
The maintainers of the archives which originate on WUARCHIVE are
volunteers, working on an unfunded basis. The support personnel who
maintain the operational support software, including the software
which keeps the mirrors up to date, are funded by the Office of the
Network Coordinator and the National Science Foundation grant.
We wish to express our gratitude to Digital Equipment Corporation for
the sale of the DEC Alpha at a substantial discount and to the National
Science Foundation for its grant in support of WUARCHIVE.
=======================================================
What Electronic Mailing Lists Support PAL Users?
Last Update: December 6, 1993
WUNET.WUSTL.EDU is the electronic mail list server for users of the
Public Ada Library. A separate computer from WUARCHIVE.WUSTL.EDU (on
which the PAL is located), WUNET's purpose in life from the point of
view of the PAL user is to manage the electronic mailing lists
supporting him.
The List Server is a program on WUNET which manages Lists (Electronic
Mailing Lists). The user can send commands to the List Server, and it
will respond by performing actions for him (such as adding him to a
List, removing him from a List, and sending him a message naming all the
lists supported by the List Server). The user can send email messages
to the List, and the subscribers to the List will receive these
messages.
To find out what commands the List Server can respond to, send an email
message to
[email protected]
which contains an empty subject line and one line in the body of the
message (starting in the first column):
help
If you wish to subscribe to an electronic mailing list, send an
electronic mail message to:
[email protected]
Leave the subject line blank and place the following line into the body
of this message:
subscribe
Example:
subscribe pal-announce
Begin this line in column 1. Your return address will be used as the
address to which announcements will be sent. A list of the electronic
mailing lists for the PAL user community is included below.
You will receive a message back from the listserv software, telling you
of the success or failure of your request.
Once subscribed, a user can send electronic mail to all subscribers of a
List by sending email to the list's name at wunet.wustl.edu; example:
[email protected]
This, of course, only works if the List is bidirectional. The ANNOUNCE
Lists are unidirectional (read-only from the point of view of the
subscribers). Subscribers cannot post email messages to the ANNOUNCE
lists - only the moderator of the ANNOUNCE lists can post messages.
A partial list of electronic mailing lists available from
[email protected]
=========================================================
These lists are for the PAL user community. For a more complete list of
the mailing lists available to your site, send a mail message to
l[email protected] which contains the command "DIR/LISTS".
Wuarchive-Announce - Notification of any planned downtime or service
changes for wuarchive.wustl.edu. The only announcements from this
list will be from local staff or archivers.
Pal-Announce - Announcements concerning the Public Ada Library
(PAL). These include additions to, changes to and other
announcements concerning the PAL. You can not post messages here.
Ada-Train - This list is for the discussion of topics concerning Ada
training and education. This is a general discussion list.
EducationWG - This list is a bidirectional mailing list for those
people interested in participating in the Education Working group
of ACM/SIGAda. It is used to exchange information about the
activities of the working group and coordinate those activities.
Reuse - This list is a bidirectional mailing list for those people
interested in software reuse technology. This includes, but is
not limited to, the fields of designing for reuse, object-oriented
reuse methods, reuse tools and environments, generic code
architectures, domain-specific kits, reuse education, technology
transfer, formal methods, certification of reusable components,
and management issues as they pertain to reuse.
ReuseWG - This list is a bidirectional mailing list for those people
interested in participating in the Reuse Working Group of
ACM/SIGAda. It is used to exchange information about the
activities of the working group and coordinate those activities.
=======================================================
What Documentation is Available to Help the PAL User?
Last Update: January 10, 1994
The subdirectory userdocs/catalog in the PAL contains a number of
documents of interest to the users of the PAL. The key user documents
in this subdirectory are:
PALCAT.DOC -- a softcopy catalog of the contents of the PAL
PALCAT.PS -- PALCAT.DOC in Postscript with landscape and
two pages per Postscript page
PALDB.DOC, -- a Comma-Separated-Value (CSV) text file suitable
PALHDR.DOC -- for reading by database managers and spreadsheets
PALTAX.DOC -- a taxonomy of the PAL
PALTAX.PS -- PALTAX.DOC in Postscript with landscape and
two pages per Postscript page
The subdirectory userdocs/faqfile in the PAL contains the PAL Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ) list:
PAL.FAQ -- the Frequently Asked Questions list
Other files in the userdocs/catalog and userdocs/faqfile subdirectories
are used to create these key files. Additionally, the user is invited
to look in the following directories for additional useful information:
userdocs/alt_srcs -- alternate sources to the items in the PAL
userdocs/internet -- information on using the Internet
userdocs/internet/email -- archives of the PAL email lists
=======================================================
How is PAL Like a Conventional Library?
Last Update: June 21, 1993
Many similarities can be drawn between the Public Ada Library (PAL) on
the WUARCHIVE.WUSTL.EDU host computer and a conventional library. These
similarities include:
. the way users browse through the libraries,
. the availability of a catalog of the contents of the libraries,
. the availability of reviews of the items in the libraries,
. the availability of bulletin boards to find out what is new, and
. the availability of support to help you use the libraries.
In a conventional library, you can walk into the library and walk
amongst the books, picking them off the shelves as you wish. In the
PAL, you can FTP into it and move amongst the directories (via the CD
command), copying files out of PAL as you wish. You could also mount
the disk containing PAL via NFS and access it like any read-only disk,
again copying files out of PAL as you wish. There is one significant
drawback to this approach: by picking up an item "at random," you may
miss other items which are prerequisites to the one you selected. The
catalog (a card catalog in a conventional library or the PAL catalog in
the PAL) can help you avoid this problem.
In a conventional library, you can go up to the card catalog and look
for what you are interested in by topic. In the PAL, you can copy down
the catalog file and browse through it at your convenience or you can
copy down the online database files, load them into a database manager
or spreadsheet of your choice, and browse through them in that fashion.
In a conventional library, there are books you can examine which are
reviews of other books. In the current PAL, the catalog includes REVIEW
CODES to give you a brief review of an item. CMM files are also
available occasionally. In phase 2 of the PAL, there will be review
reports generated by automated tools.
In a conventional library, there are bulletin boards and other places
where you can go to find out about the new releases. In the PAL, there
are release notices, currently being posted to comp.lang.ada.
Finally, in a conventional library, there is a reference librarian you
can speak to if you have a question. In the PAL, there is only me at
this time, and I can be reached via electronic mail. However, there are
also the alternate sources of the PAL, particularly AdaNET. I ask that
you try to exhaust all the other possibilities before contacting me
directly. Instead, please subscribe to a service like AdaNET (which is
currently free to you). They are providing a mirror of the PAL and they
support their users via electronic mail and customer support telephone
line, including an 800 telephone number.
=======================================================
Is the Software in PAL Free of Defects?
Last Update: June 21, 1993
The software in the PAL is an outstanding collection from all over the
world, but it comes with a warning: like any such collection, there are
outstanding items, good items, average items, and poor items. This
software contains items which are really useful, items which you cannot
live without, and items which simply may not work in your environment.
So you, as a user, must not come into this thinking that everything is
perfect.
So how do you know in advance what software is good and what is bad?
Study. This problem has come up over and over again with the Ada
Software Repository (ASR), and I answered this by adding a REVIEW CODE
field to all the items in the ASR Master Index. Chapter 1 of the Master
Index gives the keys for this field (e.g., CS means Compiled
Successfully, ES means Executed Successfully, NR means Not Rated (I
don't know if it is good or bad), etc.). Every item in the Master Index
book has an associated REVIEW CODE field. Look at this when you
consider using the item. Also, look for Comment (CMM) files throughout
the ASR. They tell success/problem stories. They are text files, so
you can just read them. Finally, if you find an item marked with a CS
and ES, note the compilers/platforms noted with this mark (e.g., CS(DEC
Ada), etc.). If a number of compilers/platforms are named, you probably
have a very portable item.
The PAL has a document called the PAL Catalog (similar in nature to the
Master Index of the ASR). The PAL Catalog has a similar REVIEW CODE
field, and CMM files are also support in the PAL. In phase 2 of the
PAL, one or more automated static code analysis tools will be used to
analyze the Ada source code in the PAL and report on it.
=======================================================
What are Review Codes?
Last Update: February 6, 1994
The database maintained on the PAL includes Review Codes which
are used to indicate to some extent the level of trust which may be
placed in a particular item. These Review Codes are defined as follows:
Code Meaning
==== =======
AR AdaNET Report is available (usually in the ZIP file); AdaNET
Reports contain information on experiences in compiling this
item
CMM Comment Files (*.CMM, *.CM2, etc) are available which describe
one or more problems with the item
CS Compiled Successfully (followed by an indication of the
Ada compiler used in parentheses) by the reviewer
ES Executed Successfully (followed by an indication of the
target computer used in parentheses if different from the
systems mentioned in the CS list) by the reviewer
MF-CODE Missing File - Code; one or more files of source code are
missing; the item cannot be compiled without these files
MF-DATA Missing File - Data; one or more files used as input data when
the compiled code runs are missing; the item cannot be
executed without these files
NR Not Reviewed
OK This is a text file which is believed to be an accurate copy
of the original
RI Review Incomplete (only some results of a partial review
are posted)
SDA Report generated by the Ada System Dependency Analyzer is
available; if followed by a number from 1 to 5 (e.g., SDA5),
the number indicates the relative quality of the item, where
5 is of the highest quality
not negation prefix (e.g., not ES or not OK)
=======================================================
How Do I Handle the Various Types of Files in PAL?
Last Update: November 14, 1993
A number of file formats have come into play among the files in the PAL,
and this document is designed to bring them to your attention.
Text Files
==========
There are two basic kinds of ASCII text files: MSDOS format and UNIX
format. The difference is that lines in MSDOS format files are
terminated by a pair of characters (carriage return and line feed)
while lines in UNIX format files are terminated by a single character
(line feed). Occasionally, MSDOS format files will also have one or
more ^Z characters at their end, but this is becoming more and more
rare.
Consequently, if you are on a UNIX system and want to process an MSDOS
text file, there may be problems. Likewise if you are on an MSDOS
system trying to process a UNIX text file. In the toolkit directory
are the programs
u2m -- unix to msdos text file format converter
m2u -- msdos to unix text file format converter
t2t -- whatever to current text file format converter
The toolkit directory includes executables of these programs for MSDOS.
Source code is also included for others. The t2t program also has a -c
option that can be used to test a text file to determine what kind of a
text file it is. You may find these programs to be very useful.
As a rule, the text files in the PAL are UNIX text files.
PAGER2 Files
============
PAGER2 files are UNIX or MSDOS text files created by the PAGER2 program
in the PAL. They have a file type of SRC (altho not all SRC files are
necessarily PAGER2 files). PAGER2 is used to concatenate a number of
Ada source files into one file, where each component file is separated
by a special Ada comment. That way, Ada source files can be stored in a
single SRC file in compilation order and compiled as one group. The
pager2 program can be found in the toolkit directory.
ZIP Files
=========
These are binary archive files, usually containing a set of files in a
directory tree structure that will be reproduced when the files are
extracted. The toolkit directory contains the source code to popular
ZIP and UNZIP programs supported by the Info-ZIP Internet group.
GNU ZIP Files
=============
These are compressed binary files, usually containing one file that
is reproduced when the GUNZIP program is run. The toolkit directory
contains the executables and source code to the GNU ZIP (GZIP) and
GNU UNZIP (GUNZIP) programs supported by the Free Software Foundation.
The GNU ZIP and Info-ZIP file formats are different.
TAR Files
=========
These are text/binary archive files, usually containing a set of files
like a ZIP file. TAR (Tape Archiver) came from the UNIX world, and the
toolkit directory contains a TAR.EXE program so MSDOS users can get at
and extract files from TAR files.
Compressed (*.Z) Files
======================
The compress/uncompress program pair came from the UNIX world for file
compression purposes. The toolkit directory includes an UNCOMP.EXE
program for uncompressing UNIX *.Z files on a PC. With ZIP on PCs
(and now on virtually all other platforms), compress is less and less
necessary since ZIP automatically compresses as it stores.
Files named *.taz are compressed *.tar files; uncompress them
first, then use tar to extract their contents.
WARNING: *.tar files may contain directory or file names that are not
compatible with your operating system. For example, the tar file may have
originally been created on a UNIX system and you are trying to extract its
contents on an MSDOS system. The MSDOS tar program may correctly shorten
the file and directory names, but if there are conflicts, files may be
overwritten. Watch out for this potential problem.
Compressed or GNU ZIPped TAR Files
==================================
The TAR files are frequently compressed by either using the UNIX
COMPRESS program or the GNU ZIP program. The resulting compressed
TAR files are named filename.tar.Z and filename.tar.gz, respectively.
To maintain compliance with ISO-9660 file name requirements, the
file types *.taz and *.tgz are used to indicated compressed tar and
GNU ZIPped tar files, respectively:
Original File Name ... is equivalent to ... PAL File Name
================== =============
filename.tar.Z filename.taz
filename.tar.gz filename.tgz
=======================================================
How Can I Get to the Items in the PAL?
PAL Alternate Sources Tree
Richard Conn, January 10, 1994
[email protected]
The PAL can be accessed directly via FTP, NFS, and gopher using the
wuarchive.wustl.edu host computer. For users interested in a general
background on the Internet and the techniques for using FTP, NFS, and
gopher, see the PAL subdirectory userdocs/internet for documentation and
pointers to books.
This userdocs/alt_srcs tree contains information about companies and
organizations that provide support in some way to the PAL user community
through value-added services and products. Some users of PAL may not
have access to PAL directly via FTP and NFS, so the following
information is presented to help them find alternate ways of accessing
the PAL.
Examples of such services are:
1. The donation of equipment to Washington University at St. Louis
that is used by PAL
2. The sale of consulting services to the PAL user community to answer
questions about PAL and help users locate items they are looking for
in PAL or other resources
Examples of such products are:
1. The sale of CDROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, etc., that contain
a copy of PAL in an alternate form, making it possible for people
who do not have Internet or email archive server access to obtain
a copy of the items in PAL
2. The sale of computer accounts that place users on the Internet so
they can access PAL
Companies and organizations wishing to be added to this tree are invited
to send email describing their services or products to me at the above
email address. I will work with them to provide "free advertising" space
in PAL under this tree so users of PAL can be made aware of their
services and products. I reserve the right to edit material provided by
these companies in the event that this material violates some known law,
public sensibilities, or the like.
============================================
File: /archive/languages/ada/userdocs/alt_srcs/adanet.txt
Last update: 6 December 1993
AdaNET Service Version Three (ASV3)
a component of
Repository Based Software Engineering (RBSE) Program
Administered by:
University of Houston - Clear Lake
Operated by: AdaNET Client Service:
MountainNet, Inc. 1-800-444-1458
2705 Cranberry Square [email protected]
Morgantown, WV 26505
The AdaNET repository contains PAL software and more. In
addition, our Phased Certification Process provides Ada
software with value-added analysis reports, including
complexity reports, declaration tree reports and invocation
tree reports. Our non-software information includes research
papers, standards and technical reports authored by recognized,
authoritative sources on software engineering principles and
practices.
Our Client Service team provides timely response to requests
for any component in print or electronic media. Clients can
have qualified software engineers and librarians to assist in
locating AdaNET and/or PAL components that satisfy their needs.
All of our services are free of charge.
AdaNET clients automatically receive an account on our host
which is connected to Internet. While this does not provide
full Internet access, Internet e-mail facilities are available.
Lastly, MountainNet provides a service, MountainNetWorks,
which offers Internet access at a reasonable rate for
individuals and groups.
============================================
File: /archive/languages/ada/userdocs/alt_srcs/archie.txt
Getting Started with Archie
Derived from: HELP for the archie email server, as of 10 April, 1993.
To get started with using archie to retrieve files from the Public
Ada Library (or any of about 800 archives on the Internet, for that
matter), send an email message with a subject of "help" and a body
of "help" (no quotes in either the subject or body) to:
archie@
complete) list of archie servers can be found with the "servers" command
(described in the help message). A sample list is:
archie.rutgers.edu 128.6.18.15 (USA)
archie.unl.edu 129.93.1.14 (USA)
archie.sura.net 128.167.254.179 (USA)
archie.ans.net 147.225.1.2 (USA)
archie.au 139.130.4.6 (Australia)
archie.funet.fi 128.214.6.100 (European server in Finland)
archie.sogang.ac.kr 163.239.1.11 (Korea)
If you do not get mail back within 2 days or so, try using one of the
other archie sites.
============================================
File: /archive/languages/ada/userdocs/alt_srcs/cnam.txt
Last update: 6 December 1993
CNAM Mirror
The server ftp.cnam.fr (in France) is a mirror site for the Public
Ada Library. Its current address is 163.173.128.6.
This mirror site is available to all who want to access the PAL, but it
is particularly useful to those in Europe. Some statistics on it:
. ftp.cnam.fr is a VAX 6000/510 with Ultrix 4.3. It uses a Renater +
Ebone network with a 2 Mbit/second line.
. The /pub directory contains:
Ada
CNAM
Modulog
Network
Rfc
VMS
incoming
. And the /pub/Ada directory contains:
AJPO
Ada-Ed -- links to PAL/compiler/adaed
CNAM
PAL
Repository -- links to PAL/ASR
. The complete path to PAL is ftp.cnam.fr:/pub/Ada/PAL.
. CNAM mirrors the PAL automatically every day at 2 pm, local time
(UT + 1 or UT + 2, depending on the season).
. CNAM uses the WU ftp server and log every transfer so they can
provide statistics.
. CNAM also mirrors the AJPO host (/pub/Ada/AJPO).
Thanks very much to Stephane and the others working with and supporting
him for this service:
Stephane Bortzmeyer Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers
[email protected] Laboratoire d'Informatique
292, rue Saint-Martin
tel: +33 (1) 40 27 27 31 75141 Paris Cedex 03
fax: +33 (1) 40 27 27 72 France
============================================
File: /archive/languages/ada/userdocs/alt_srcs/decus.txt
Last update: 6 December 1993
CDROMs from DECUS
The Digital Equipment Computer Users' Society (DECUS) is in the
process of systematically making CDROMs of the entire WUARCHIVE,
including the Public Ada Library (PAL). I have been advised that
DECUS intends to create new versions periodically.
You can get an application for membership in the DECUS U.S. Chapter by
calling (508) 841-3500.
Sites which wish to get DECUS CDROMs should contact their DECUS Local
User Group or the DECUS Library at:
DECUS Library
333 South St, SHR1-4/D33
Shrewsbury, MA 01545-4112
(508) 480-3418 / (508) 480-3659 / (508) 480-3446
When contacting DECUS, be sure to check on the date of the CDROM
release.
============================================
File: /archive/languages/ada/userdocs/alt_srcs/ftpmail.txt
Last update: 10 April 1993
Anonymous FTP via Electronic Mail
Derived from: HELP for the archie email server
Anonymous FTP may be performed through the mail by various ftp-mail
servers. Send a message with the word 'help' in it to:
For BITNET/EARN sites ONLY:
[email protected]
or (general access):
[email protected]
for an explanations on how to use them.
============================================
File: /archive/languages/ada/userdocs/alt_srcs/rational.txt
Last update: 6 December 1993
Rational News
Rational is now offering an online news distribution service that provides
information --press releases, case studies, and so on-- to the general public
using electronic mail. The news is available over the Internet to anyone
interested in receiving it. Subscribers must have access to the Internet
for e-mail (either directly or via a gateway).
Rational will distribute pertinent, timely information that is of interest
to the Ada community. The purpose of this service is to keep Ada
community informed and up to date on Rational's latest product announcements
and developments.
If you would like to receive this information electronically, please contact
Kara Myers at 408-496-3891 or [email protected] with your e-mail address.
============================================
File: /archive/languages/ada/userdocs/alt_srcs/rushrvr.txt
The "Ada Collection", collected by the Grebyn Corporation, and published
by Rush River Software, is the largest collection of Ada material on the
market. As a two CD-ROM collection of Ada material, it includes Ada
software and utilities, extensive documentation and commentary on
various aspects of Ada, and vast university and government repositories
of Ada material adding up to approximately 1.2 Gigabytes of Ada
material.
The "Ada Collection" presents the software packages in the simplest
format possible. For example, you will not need any utilities to
unarchive the software packages. Because these software packages are in
the most straight forward format, they are intended for use on many
different systems, and are retained in that form, so that you can easily
copy them and run them on your own system.
Most of the material has been collected from many different FTP
archives, and includes material from both individual and corporate
contributors.
Ada Language Utilities
Language Translators · The Ada/Ed Interpreter The GNAT Compiler · Code
Analyzers · An Ada Mode for GNU Emacs · A Makefile Generator
Ada Software Packages
Ada-TUTR, an Ada tutorial · Mathematical software including NRG software
packages · Graphical software including the GKS software package ·
Bindings for Motif and the X Window System · Ada Software Engineering
Tools (Ada YACC, AdaFace) · Small Ada AdaSAGE Anna-I toolset, V 1.5
Documentation on Ada
Ada 83 · Ada 9X · Ada Language Specifications Many Ada publications ·
Ada Language Reference Archives of the comp.lang.ada Usenet newsgroup
Contributions From
Rational · Verdix · Software Innovations · George Washington University
· Software Arts & Sciences
To introduce the Ada Collection, Rush River Software is bundling the
CD-ROM repository with two invaluable Ada resources, Object-Oriented
Design with Ada: Maximizing Reusability for Real-Time Systems, by Kjell
Nielsen (regularly $49.95), and Developing with Ada: Life-Cycle Methods,
by Bruce E. Krell (regularly $54.95) . Both books are published by
Computer Literacy Bookshops.
ORDERING INFORMATION:
Order The Ada Collection through Computer Literacy Bookshops, Inc. by
calling (408) 435-0744, Fax (408) 435-1823 for west coast customers, and
(703) 734-7771 or (800) 258-9390 for east coast customers. You can also
reach Computer Literacy Bookshops by E-Mail [email protected].
The Ada Collection can also be ordered directly from Rush River
Software. Call 800-275-1738, mail or fax the attached order form, or
send email to [email protected]. Both companies accept Visa and
Mastercard orders. For a more detailed listing of the CD-ROM contents,
send an email request to [email protected]. Quantity discounts are
available.
___________________________________________________________________________
Rush River is an expanding business. We can help master, publish, or
distribute your CD-ROM project. Our experience covers everything from
art work, and publication issues to ROM mastering. We know how to do
ROMS! Call us for help. (703) 534-0034
As a growing business, Rush River is always looking for new
opportunities. If you see a need for a title or are interested in
compiling a title please call us.
============================================
File: /archive/languages/ada/userdocs/alt_srcs/wcreek.txt
Last update: January 10, 1994
Walnut Creek Ada CDROM and PAL Mirror
The Walnut Creek Ada CDROM is a collection of the information and code
contained in the PAL on a single CDROM.
The file wcreek.zip is a copy of most of the readme files in the
top-level directory of the Walnut Creek Ada CDROM. This is also a copy
of the index tree from that CDROM, showing you in detail the contents of
the CDROM. This information is provided as a service to the PAL user
community. Users should be able to determine if they wish to acquire the
CDROM from this information.
People who have made a contribution of a significant item on this CDROM
are entitled to a free copy of the CDROM. I personally find this to be
a very generous offer on the part of Walnut Creek, but, as a contributor
to PAL who also wants to see efforts like Walnut Creek succeed, I chose
to purchase their CDROM anyway. However, their offer stands, and it is
up to you.
For information on pricing, information on quantity discounts, and to place
an order contact:
Walnut Creek CDROM
4041 Pike Lane, Suite E
Concord, CA 94520
800/786-9907 or 510/674-0783
FAX 510/674-0821
Email [email protected]
Walnut Creek is also sponsoring a mirror site of the PAL. To access
this site, FTP to the host ftp.cdrom.com and log in using the anonymous
FTP login convention. Then cd to the directory pub/languages/ada or
pub/languages/vhdl. This service is provided to the PAL user community
without charge.
=======================================================
How Do I Work with ZIP Files and MAC Binary Files in the PAL from my MAC?
Last Update: June 29, 1993
See the file mbin*.abs (a text file) in the PAL toolkit directory.
There is a program for converting binary images in the PAL into Mac
Binary format. There are also ZIP and UNZIP programs for the Mac.
Thanks to Mike Feldman for his support in this matter.
=======================================================
How Can I Submit an Item to the PAL?
Last Update: December 6, 1993
Contact Richard Conn at
[email protected]
if you wish to submit an item to the PAL. Several different mechanisms
are in place for making a submission, including direct FTP into the PAL
(which is by far the easiest from my point of view). I will ask you to
fill out an Item Description (ID) file which describes the item you are
submitting. Once the item is on WUARCHIVE and I have your filled-out
ID file, I can take it from there.
Detailed submission instructions are in the file submit2.txt in the
directory languages/ada/userdocs/faqfile.
Very nice! Thank you for this wonderful archive. I wonder why I found it only now. Long live the BBS file archives!
This is so awesome! 😀 I’d be cool if you could download an entire archive of this at once, though.
But one thing that puzzles me is the “mtswslnkmcjklsdlsbdmMICROSOFT” string. There is an article about it here. It is definitely worth a read: http://www.os2museum.com/wp/mtswslnk/