libr supplies an __obj_forward definition that links to a builtin, but
as it is the only def in its object file, it is readily replaceable by
an alternative Ruamoko implementation.
The builtin version currently simply errors out (rather facetiously),
but only as a stub to allow progs to load.
Other than its blocking of access to certain files, it really wasn't
that useful compared to the functions in qfs, and pointless with access
to qfs anyway.
Only as scalars, I still need to think about what to do for vectors and
quaternions due to param size issues. Also, doubles are not yet
guaranteed to be correctly aligned.
Empty structs are now (correctly) invalid. The hack of using an empty
struct to represent a handle returned from a builtin has been unnecessary
since opaque structs were implemented: now a pointer to an opaque struct
can be used. This is mostly safe as handles are aways negative and thus
attempting to dereference such a pointer should result in a VM error. It
will be even safer once const is implemented and the pointers can be made
constant (eg, typedef struct handle * const handle;)
All internal structs now have "proper" names, and fit the naming convention
(eg, obj_module (like objective-c's types, but obj instead of objc). Some
redundant types got removed (holdovers from before proper struct tag
handling).
Also, it has proven to be unnecessary to build internal classes, so
make_class and make_class_struct are gone, too.
As class objects don't have retain counts (they're usually static, even!!),
allowing the instance implementations of retain, release, and autorelease
attempt to modify the non-existant retainCount would be a recipe for severe
headaches. We also don't want the retainCount returning "random" values.
Going by "standard" Objective-C, retainCount really doesn't belong in
Object itself. The way GNUStep does it is to stash retainCount in memory
just below the object by allocating extra bytes for the count and returning
a pointer just beyond those extra bytes. Now Ruamoko does the same. This
fixes the inconsistencies in structure layouts for Protocol and class
structs between qfcc generated (internal) structs and user visible structs.
The api hides all the gory details of message buffer setup and usage
(particularly the differences between writing and reading). Most
importantly, the api provides a safe way to read and write binary data
(always little endian).
Despair has things locked down such that running qfcc during a build fails
due to lack of read access to /usr/local/lib. This is actually a good
thing as accidentally hitting old includes/libs (when a file gets deleted
in the tree) hides bugs. Thus, --no-default-paths to turn off default
search paths.
An #if 0'ed out implementation of the -description method, which currently
returns a Quake string containing whatever the contained objects return
from -description, between parens and separated by commas (just like plist
format). Ideally, we'd have string objects interchangeable with primitive
strings, but having string objects (which are being worked on) should help.
With this, ruamoko/lib almost compiles (though no object files are output).
Just some bogus "redeclared" errors and an improperly implemented
statement that produces an ice.
Bill Currie
Jeff Teunissen