Compiler and Tools on Pocket PC

[AlexN]

Hi Pelle

Have you any intentions to port your compiler and the necessary tools for compiling on the Pocket PC.

[Pelle]

Hello Alex,

No, since I can't see the point. I would have to port not only the compiler and linker, but also the resource compiler and (part of) the IDE. At this point, most devices will probably be out of memory to actually compile anything...

[AlexN]

No, since I can't see the point. I would have to port not only the compiler and linker, but also the resource compiler and (part of) the IDE. At this point, most devices will probably be out of memory to actually compile anything...

I thought it would be nice to sit in the bus and work with Pelles C.
And I had the idea that it would be easy to port the command line tools to the Pocket PC.

But you are right, some of the tools are very large and need also memory for working.

[Pelle]

Yes, I can understand the reasons for wanting this on a Pocket PC, but the are too just many problems with it.

The amount of available memory seems to increase with each new generation, but it's still limited and must be shared with other apps and data. Also, since there is no *built-in* support for a command line, I can't rely on this. A GUI interface will be needed for the C tools, and for the generated programs too. This complicate things too much...

[ivanhv]

I'm unsure about the usefulness of this, but take a look at

http://www.symbolictools.de/public/pocketconsole/

PocketConsole is a console for Windows CE. It's freeware, and worked well for another project, a Pascal compiler for Pocket PC. You can compile your pascal apps for pocket PC within the console without running into problems (I tested it once, with some demo apps, and the process of compiling is amazingly fast and easy).

Anyway, the practical uses for this are to be discussed (and I'm pretty sure LCC's internal structures are A LOT more RAM consuming that those of a tiny pascal compiler specifically aimed at embedded working)

[AlexN]

I'm unsure about the usefulness of this, but take a look at

http://www.symbolictools.de/public/pocketconsole/

PocketConsole is a console for Windows CE. It's freeware, and worked well for another project, a Pascal compiler for Pocket PC. You can compile your pascal apps for pocket PC within the console without running into problems (I tested it once, with some demo apps, and the process of compiling is amazingly fast and easy).

Does this work for you?

I have tried it on my HP iPAQ rx1950 with Windows Mobile 5.0 and I can not start the application (PockeCMD after installing PocketConsole).

[ivanhv]

It worked once, some time ago (less than a year), but I haven't tried again.

[Wulf Luck]

Was there an older version of Pelles C running on Windows CE?
I remember vividly having
a C compiler on my IPAQ at about 2002. I programmed a color noise generator to fill the
display of the PocketPC sitting while sitting at the pool of a hotel. Certainly Windows CE
wanted a reformat a few times after this so I have to download it again.
I expected Pelles C to be the beautiful
compiler that I used at the time.
Sure for serious software development a PDA appears not to be the device of first choice.
Another argument. Think about how many person hours are spend per year in vehicles.
Assume a small fraction of these people exchange boredom anger and frustration in
cars standing in traffic jams to public transport and write clever software during these hours.
The IDE could be a bit modest or in need of personal configuration and still be fun.

Kind regards
Wulf

Hello Alex,

No, since I can't see the point. I would have to port not only the compiler and linker, but also the resource compiler and (part of) the IDE. At this point, most devices will probably be out of memory to actually compile anything...

[Pelle]

Was there an older version of Pelles C running on Windows CE?

No, Pelles C has always been a 'desktop' environment. You must thinking of a different C compiler...

The IDE could be a bit modest or in need of personal configuration and still be fun.

Perhaps. Just 'porting' the console mode compiler is obviously useless. At the very least it needs a GUI interface. Stuffing the device full of *.h and *.lib files may not be the best approach. Perhaps the compiler and linker should be integrated. Most likely an IDE is needed to for the build process, debugging, and so on. The desktop IDE can't possibly be 'ported', so I need to write a brand new one. Considering that, AFAICT, a majority of Pelles C users are not programming for Pocket PC, and moving the tools to Pocket PC would mean a lot of extra work for me, I can't see it happen. Sorry.

[tbrooked]

I use an older compiler (http://freewareppc.com/utilities/pocketgcc.shtml), a code editor (http://www.logicalsky.com/), and Pocketconsole (http://freewareppc.com/utilities/pocketconsole.shtml) to write and compile both command line apps and Windows apps.  Works great.

You do have to fix a registry entry for pocketconsole to work correctly.

This combination allows you to write code using CEdit and compile using Pocketgcc and Pocketconsole.

[AlexN]

Thank you, I will try it! ;-)

You do have to fix a registry entry for pocketconsole to work correctly.

Where can I find this fix?