Re: [PATCH] libjava: Add option to disable BC ABI in libgcj.

[Andrew Haley <aph at redhat dot com>]

David Daney wrote:
> Gerald Pfeifer wrote:
> > +@item --disable-libgcj-bc
> > +Disable BC ABI compilation of certain parts of libgcj.  By default,
> > +some portions of libgcj are compiled with @option{-findirect-dispatch}
> > +@option{-fno-indirect-classes}.  This allows them to be overridden at
> > +runtime.
> >
> > When first reading this, I got a bit confused by two aspects.  Perhaps 
> > this is something to address in a follow-up patch, David?
> >
> > One was that "BC API compilation" (including myself ;-) isn't something 
> > most readers of doc/install.texi would be familiar with.  How about
> > expanding this or adding a reference/cross-reference?
> >
> > The second one was that I wasn't sure what "This" referred to: the 
> > configure option, or the previous sentence explaining BC ABI compilation.
> > Perhaps replacing this by ", which" might be more clear?
> >
> > +If @option{--disable-libgcj-bc} is specified, libgcj is built without
> > +these options.  This makes it impossible to override portions of
> > +libgcj at runtime, but can make it easier to statically link to libgcj.
> >
> > Why does this read "can make" and not just "makes"?  I'm sure there is
> > some technical background here which I'm missing. :-)  Perhaps a (cross)
> > reference to more detailed information somewhere else could clarify that?
> >   
> How about this version instead?  I think it gets rid of some of the
> ambiguity and explains things a bit better.
>
> There really is nothing other than e-mail archives that could be cross
> referenced to provide deeper information about this option.

See ftp://gcc.gnu.org/pub/gcc/summit/2004/GCJ%20New%20ABI.pdf

> Tested with make info and make html with no errors.
>
> 2008-01-25  David Daney  <ddaney@avtrex.com>
>
>     * doc/install.texi (--disable-libgcj-bc):  Reword documentation.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Index: doc/install.texi
> ===================================================================
> --- doc/install.texi	(revision 131856)
> +++ doc/install.texi	(working copy)
> @@ -1557,12 +1557,13 @@ Disable JVMPI support.
>  @item --disable-libgcj-bc
>  Disable BC ABI compilation of certain parts of libgcj.  By default,
>  some portions of libgcj are compiled with @option{-findirect-dispatch}
> -@option{-fno-indirect-classes}.  This allows them to be overridden at
> -runtime.
> +and @option{-fno-indirect-classes}, allowing them to be overridden at
> +run-time.
>  
>  If @option{--disable-libgcj-bc} is specified, libgcj is built without
> -these options.  This makes it impossible to override portions of
> -libgcj at runtime, but can make it easier to statically link to libgcj.
> +these options.  This allows the compile-time linker to resolve
> +dependencies when statically linking to libgcj.  However it makes it
> +impossible to override the effected portions of libgcj at run-time.

Is that *a*ffected rather than *e*ffected?

Andrew.