[Plib-devel] New CVS of PLIB pre-1.3.1

[Steve B. <sjb...@ai...>]

I've committed code into the PLIB 1.3 CVS tree that turns the 'UL'
(Utility Library) from a somewhat invisible header file into something
that the application code has to be aware of.

Previously, SSG used the src/util/ul.h header with a rather nasty
trick to get the non-inlined functions compiled into the SSG library.

That was necessary for backwards compatibility of application's
Makefiles.

Well, it's time to make libplibul.a and plib/ul.h into a 'real'
utility library.

So, from the current CVS (which will soon be PLIB 1.3.1) onwards,
applications must (at the very least) add '-lplibul' to their
link lines (after all the other plib libraries is best).

This library will grow to include a number of functions that are
traditionally Operating System functions - but which wouldn't be
portable if you called the OS directly.  Other similar utility
stuff that doesn't obviously belong anywhere else in PLIB will
end up in libutil.

So far, there is a simple error handler (which is already in
use within SSG's file loaders) and a fast, portable realtime
timer class.

[ PPE is currently using 'guClock' from the TuxKart sources,
this class exists in UL - but it's called 'ulClock', it includes
member functions to set and get the maximum clock delta and has
Windoze code to cater for systems that don't support the Performance
Counter - it falls back to using the multimedia timer. ]

Right now, no PLIB applications will work with this new CVS version.

That's not a suprise - this is version 1.3.xx and it's expected to
be unstable, etc.  If you need stability, use PLIB 1.2.0.

Ideally, one should add code into your configure.in to detect the
presence of /usr/lib/libplibul.a and to add it to the link line
if it exists.

Programs that don't use SSG don't need libplibul - but that will
certainly change as I use UL's error handler throughout PLIB.

If you want to call UL functions your code, you should:

1)  #include <plib/ul.h>

2)  Call 'ulInit()' before any other UL function.

3)  Link with -lplibul.a

I hate non-reverse-compatible changes - but this one was unavoidable.
We may possible add another PLIB library - for SSG utilities - but
that will be truly optional.  UL is not because PLIB itself needs
to use it.

Windoze users: Please don't get confused and look in the 'src/UL'
directory for UL source code - that was a mistake that CVS isn't
capable of fixing.  The correct place for UL code is src/util

If anyone out there could test ulClock under Windoze - and especially
on a Windoze machine that *doesn't* have a Performance counter - that
would be most welcome...I don't know whether the code even compiles
right now.

-- 
Steve Baker   HomeEmail: <sjb...@ai...>
              WorkEmail: <sj...@li...>
              HomePage : http://web2.airmail.net/sjbaker1
              Projects : http://plib.sourceforge.net
                         http://tuxaqfh.sourceforge.net
                         http://tuxkart.sourceforge.net
                         http://prettypoly.sourceforge.net