Converting my libraries to Void Safe raised questions

[Jimmy Johnson]

Can I use base-safe.ecf for projects that are not yet converted to void safe?

Reason:  I have libraries that depend on each other and they in turn depend on base.  If I start changing one, it breaks the other because the library being updated to void-safe uses base-safe.ecf and the other still uses base.ecf; this gives an error where two libraries have the same UUID.  I read somewhere that you can incrementally update.  So...?

If the answer is "yes", why have two ecf files?

Jimmy J. Johnson

[Emmanuel Stapf]

> Can I use base-safe.ecf for projects that are not yet converted to void
> safe?

Yes, but all the libraries included in your projects must use `base-safe.ecf' and
this is why we provide 2 configuration files for all our libraries (A void-safe
version of the ECF and a non-void safe one).

If you were to mix libraries using in some case the void-safe version and in some
other cases the non-void-safe version, then the compiler will have to choose a
default for you and this is why you are getting the warning because the default
choice is random and you won't know without a close inspection whether your code
is using void-safe EiffelBase or not.

Regards,
Manu

[Jimmy Johnson]

Okay, but aren't both versions using the same source files?  Why then provide two .ecf files.  Why not use the base-safe version for all?



--- In [hidden email], "Emmanuel Stapf [ES]" <manus@...> wrote:

>
> > Can I use base-safe.ecf for projects that are not yet converted to void
> > safe?
>
> Yes, but all the libraries included in your projects must use `base-safe.ecf' and
> this is why we provide 2 configuration files for all our libraries (A void-safe
> version of the ECF and a non-void safe one).
>
> If you were to mix libraries using in some case the void-safe version and in some
> other cases the non-void-safe version, then the compiler will have to choose a
> default for you and this is why you are getting the warning because the default
> choice is random and you won't know without a close inspection whether your code
> is using void-safe EiffelBase or not.
>
> Regards,
> Manu
>

[Emmanuel Stapf]

> Okay, but aren't both versions using the same source files?  Why then
> provide two .ecf files.  Why not use the base-safe version for all?

Because the options are different. For example using base-safe in a non-void-safe
project could be problematic for redefinition. Indeed an attached argument cannot
be redefined into a detachable one (which is the default for non-void-safe code).

Basically what we have found is that compiling all your code with the same set of
options (being void-safe or non-void-safe) is easy to manage for users (modulo the
work required to make the code void-safe). However mixing both is actually not
easy to manage especially using inheritance from a non-void-safe class in a
void-safe class or vice-versa. This is why we offer 2 ECFs for our libraries (even
if it is the same source code), it makes it clear in which way you compile your
code.

Hope this helps,
Manu