[RFC] a68: Disable building the runtime library depending on the target

[Mohammad-Reza Nabipoor]

Hi Pietro.


On Fri, Oct 31, 2025 at 06:36:45PM -0400, Pietro Monteiro wrote:
> On Thu, Oct 30, 2025, at 9:31 PM, Pietro Monteiro wrote:
> > On Thu, Oct 30, 2025, at 9:25 PM, Jose E. Marchesi wrote:
> >> Hi Pietro.
> >>
> >>> I followed the model of other runtime libraries and added a
> >>> configure.tgt file that's checked by the top-level and the libga68
> >>> configure scripts.
> >>>
> >>> For now enable on all targets so it's easier to test.
> >>
> >> The approach LGTM.
> >>
> >> I think it makes sense to use "yes" as the default for
> >> LIBGA68_SUPPORTED.
> >>
> >> I would also add a LIBGA68_POSIXPRED_SUPPORTED, this time with "no" as
> >> the default and enabled in gnu/linux, bsd, darwin and other systems
> >> where we know the posix prelude can satisfy its requirements.. wdyt?
> 
> I still need to write a better commit message and the changelog, but I was thinking of something along these lines
> 


I don't think just disabling libga68 without any change in the compiler's
assumptions is a good idea. Compiler will emit calls to runtime functions like
`_libga68_assert', etc.

E.g., if we're going to disable libga68, procedures like `assert' should be
removed from the front-end too.
And also I don't think providing a dummy function for these runtime functions
is a good idea. By using these procedures, one should not end up in a surprising
situation.

Also I built current patch, and tried to compile `(skip)' program, and ended up with
this error:

  ga68: fatal error: cannot read spec file ‘libga68.spec’: No such file or directory


My suggestion is integration of your `configure.tgt' script in my earlier patch:
  https://inbox.sourceware.org/algol68/20251025181021.1162724-1-mnabipoor@gnu.org/
to disable POSIX prelude on non-POSIX platforms as a first step.

Then we can iterate on how to make libga68 more customizable.

WDYT?

(BTW I can integrate `configure.tgt' in my earlier patch if you don't mind).


Regards,
Mohammad-Reza