This is Info file asis_ug.info, produced by Makeinfo version 1.68 from
the input file asis_ug.texi.


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: Different Ways to Define an ASIS Context in ASIS-for-GNAT,  Next: Consistency Problem,  Prev: Creating Tree Files for Use by ASIS,  Up: ASIS Context

Different Ways to Define an ASIS Context in ASIS-for-GNAT
=========================================================

The Asis.Ada_Environments.Associate query which defines a Context has
the following profile:

         procedure Associate
                      (The_Context : in out Asis.Context;
                       Name        : in Wide_String;
                       Parameters  : in Wide_String := Default_Parameters);

In ASIS-for-GNAT Name does not have any special meaning, and all the
properties of a Context being associated are set by the Parameters
string.

   When making an association of an ASIS Context in ASIS-for-GNAT, you
may specify the following things in the Parameters string of the
Asis.Ada_Environments.Associate query:

   - the way of defining a set of tree files making up the Context (-C
     options);

   - the way of dealing with tree files when opening the Context and
     when   processing ASIS queries (-F options);

   - the way of processing the source files during the consistency
     check when   opening the Context (-S options):

   - the search path for tree files making up the Context (-T options);

   - the search path for source files used for calling GNAT to create a
     tree   file on the fly (-I options);

Also the association parameters may (and in some cases - have to)
contain the names of tree files or directories making up search paths
for tree and/or source files. Below is the overview of the Context
association parameters in ASIS-for-GNAT, for full details refer to the
ASIS-for-GNAT Reference Manual.

   Note that the set of options for the Context association is not
frozen, we are open for discussing ASIS application developers' needs,
and we can change or extend an existing set of options in future.

   The way to define a set of tree files making up a Context; the
following options are possible:

   -C1 - "one tree" Context, defines a Context made up by a single tree
file,       this tree file name should be given explicitly in the
Parameters string

   -CN - "N-trees" Context, defines a Context made up by a set of tree
files, the       names of the tree files making up the Context should
be given       explicitly in the Parameters string

   -CP - "partition" Context, this option is not implemented yet. The
idea is to       define a Context representing a complete partition, as
defined in       RM 95, 10.2;

   -CA - "all trees" Context, defines a Context made up by all the tree
files in       the tree search path given in the same Parameters
string, if this       option is set together with -FM option, ASIS can
also create new tree       files on the fly when processing queries
yielding ASIS Compilation       units.

   The way of dealing with tree files when opening the Context and when
processing ASIS queries; the following options are possible:

   -FS -  all the trees considered as making up a given Context are
created on        the fly, whether or not the corresponding tree file
already exists;        once created, a tree file may then be reused
while the Context remains        open. This option can be set only with
-CA option;

   -FT - only pre-created trees are used, no tree file can be created
by ASIS;

   -FM - mixed approach: if a needed tree does not exist, the attempt
to create       it on the fly is made. This option can only be set with
-CA option.

   The way of processing the source files during the consistency check
when opening the Context; the following options are possible:

   -SA - source files for all the Compilation Units belonging to the
Context       (except the predefined Standard package) are taken into
account for       consistency check when opening the Context (see 3.4
concerning the       consistency problem in ASIS-for-GNAT);

   -SE - only existing source files for all the Compilation Units
belonging to       the Context are taken into account for consistency
check when opening       the Context (see 3.4 concerning the
consistency problem in       ASIS-for-GNAT);

   -SN - none of the source files from the underlying file system are
taken into       account when checking the consistency of the set of
tree files making up       a Context.

   The default options are -CA, -FT and -SA.

   Note, that for -C1 Context, a parameter string should contain
exactly one name of a tree file. Moreover, for such a Context if during
the opening of the Context this tree file could not be successfully
read in because of any reason, Asis_Failed is raised.

   Using -I option for defining an ASIS Context is similar to using -I
option when calling GNAT, -T option is used in the same way, but for
tree files, for full details concerning using -T and -I options refer
to the ASIS-for-GNAT Reference Manual. Note, that -T option is used
only to locate existing tree files, and it has no effect for -FS
Contexts. On the other side, -I option is used only to construct a set
of arguments when ASIS calls GNAT to create a tree file "on the fly",
it has no effect for -FT Contexts, and it cannot be used to tell ASIS
where it should look for source files for ASIS Compilation Units.


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: Consistency Problem,  Next: Processing Several Contexts at a Time,  Prev: Different Ways to Define an ASIS Context in ASIS-for-GNAT,  Up: ASIS Context

Consistency Problem
===================

* Menu:

*   Inconsistent versions of ASIS and GNAT::
*   Consistency of a set of tree and source files::

There are two different kinds of consistency problems existing for
ASIS-for-GNAT, and both of them can show up when opening an ASIS
Context.

   First, it may be a tree file created by another version of GNAT (see
the top README file about the coordination between the GNAT and
ASIS-for-GNAT versions). This means that there is an ASIS-for-GNAT
installation problem.

   Second, it may be that the tree files are inconsistent with the
existing source files or with each other.


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: Inconsistent versions of ASIS and GNAT,  Next: Consistency of a set of tree and source files,  Up: Consistency Problem

Inconsistent versions of ASIS and GNAT
--------------------------------------

When ASIS-for-GNAT reads a tree file created by the version of the
compiler for which a given version of ASIS-for-GNAT is not supposed to
be used, ASIS treats the situation as the ASIS-for-GNAT installation
problem and raises PROGRAM_ERROR with the corresponding exception
message. In this case, PROGRAM_ERROR is not caught by any ASIS query
and propagates outside ASIS. Note that this is not a violation of the
requirement stated in the ASIS definition that only ASIS-defined
exceptions are allowed to propagate outside ASIS queries, because in
this case you do not have ASIS-for-GNAT properly installed and
therefore you do not have a valid ASIS implementation. Note also that
the real cause may be some old tree file you have forgotten to remove
when reinstalling ASIS-for-GNAT. This is also considered an
installation error.

   Be careful when using "when others" exception handler in your ASIS
application: do not use it just to catch non-ASIS exceptions and to
suppress them without any analysis.


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: Consistency of a set of tree and source files,  Prev: Inconsistent versions of ASIS and GNAT,  Up: Consistency Problem

Consistency of a set of tree and source files
---------------------------------------------

When processing a set of more then one tree file making up the same
Context, ASIS may face a consistency problem. A set of tree files is
inconsistent if it contains two trees representing the same compilation
unit and these trees were created with different versions of the source
of this unit. A tree file is inconsistent with a source of a unit
represented by this tree if the source file currently available for the
unit differs from the source used to create the tree file.

   When opening a Context (Asis.Ada_Environmens.Open query), ASIS does
the following checks for all the tree files making up the Context:

   * if -SA option is set for the Context, ASIS checks that for every
     Compilation   Unit represented by a tree, the source file is
     available and it is the same   as the source file used to create
     the tree (a tree file contains the   reference for all the source
     files used to create this tree file;

   * if -SE option is set for the Context, then if for a Compilation
     Unit   represented by a tree a source file is available, ASIS
     checks that this   source is the same as the source used to create
     the tree. If for a   Compilation Unit belonging to a Context a
     source file is not available, ASIS   checks that all the tree
     files containing this unit were created with the   same version of
     the source of this unit.

   * if -SN option is set for the Context, ASIS checks that all the
     trees were   created from the same versions of the sources
     involved.

   If any of these checks fail, Asis_Failed is raised as a result of
opening a Context. If the Context has been successfully opened, it
ensures that ASIS will process only consistent set of tree and object
files until the Context is closed (provided that this set will not be
changed by some non-ASIS actions).


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: Processing Several Contexts at a Time,  Prev: Consistency Problem,  Up: ASIS Context

Processing Several Contexts at a Time
=====================================

If your application processes more then one open Context at a time, and
if at least one of the Contexts is defined with -FS or -FM option, be
aware of the fact that all the tree files created by ASIS on the fly
are placed in the current directory. Therefore, to be on the safe side
when processing several opened Contexts at a time, an ASIS application
should have at most one Context defined with -FS or -FM option. If it
has such a Context, all the other Context should not use tree files
located in the current directory.


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: ASIS Interpreter asistant,  Next: ASIS Application Templates,  Prev: ASIS Context,  Up: Top

ASIS Interpreter `asistant'
***************************

* Menu:

* asistant introduction::
* asistant commands::
* asistant variables::
* Browsing an ASIS tree::
* Example::


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: asistant introduction,  Next: asistant commands,  Up: ASIS Interpreter asistant

`asistant' introduction
=======================

`asistant' is an interactive interface to ASIS queries. It allows a user
to play around with ASIS without building his own ASIS applications. It
provides a simple command language which allows to define variables of
ASIS types and to assign them values by calling ASIS queries.

   `asistant' may be very useful during learning ASIS: it allows to try
different ASIS queries and to see immediately what are the results.
asistant does not crash in case of any error in calling ASIS queries
(such as calling a query for an inappropriate Element) - instead it
reports an error and gives a user the possibility to try again.

   `asistant' may also be useful as a debug and "ASIS visualization"
tool in a real-life ASIS application project: if an ASIS programmer has
some problems in finding out which query should be used in a given
situation or why a given query does not work correctly with a given
piece of Ada code, he may use `asistant' to reconstruct the situation
which causes problems in his ASIS application and to do some
experiments with ASIS queries.

   Though primarily  an interactive tool, `asistant' also can interpret
sequences of `asistant' commands written to a file (called a script file
below). `asistant' can also store in a file the log of an interactive
section which can then be reused as a script file.

   The full documentation of `asistant' may be found in the `asistant'
Users' Guide (file `asistant.ug' in the `asistant' source directory).
Here only a very short overview of `asistant' usage is presented.

   The executable for `asistant' is created in the `asistant' source
directory as a part of the standard procedure of installing
ASIS-for-GNAT as an Ada library. Put this executable somewhere on your
path, and then type '`asistant'' to call `asistant' in an interactive
mode. As a result, the program will output a brief information about
itself and then the `asistant' prompt '>' will appear:

     ASIStant - ASIS Tester And iNTerpreter, v1.2
     (C) 1997-1999, Free Software Foundation, Inc.
       Asis Version: ASIS 2.0.R
     
     >

Now a user can input `asistant' commands (`asistant' supports in its
command language the same form of comments as Ada does, names in
`asistant' are not case-sensitive):

     >Initialize ("") -- the ASIS Initialize query is called with an
                      -- empty string as a parameter
     
     >set (Cont) --  the non-initialized variable Cont of the ASIS
                 --  Context type is created
     
     >Associate (Cont, "", "") --  the ASIS Associate query with two empty
                               --  strings as parameters is called for Cont
     
     >Open (Cont)  --  the ASIS Open query is called for Cont
     
     >set (C_U, Compilation_Unit_Body ("Test", Cont)) -- the variable C_U
       --  of the ASIS Compilation_Unit type is created and initialized by
       --  the result of the call to the ASIS query Compilation_Unit_Body.
       --  As a result, C_U will represent an compilation unit named "Test"
       --  and contained in the ASIS Context named Cont
     
     >set (Unit, Unit_Declaration (C_U))  --  the variable Unit of the ASIS
       --  Element type is created and initialized by the result of calling
       --  the ASIS Unit_Declaration query
     
     >print (Unit) --  as a result of this command, the ASIS debug image of
                   --  the current value of Unit will be printed:
     
     Element Debug_Image:
     A_PROCEDURE_BODY_DECLARATION
     located in Test (body, Unit_Id = 2, Context_Id = 1)
     text position : 1 : 1 - 9 : 7
        Nodes:
           Node            : 1363 - N_SUBPROGRAM_BODY
           R_Node          : 1363 - N_SUBPROGRAM_BODY
           Node_Field_1    : 0 - N_EMPTY
        Rel_Sloc           : -10
        obtained from the tree .\test.atb (Tree_Id = 1)
     
     --  suppose now, that we do make an error - we call an ASIS query for
     --  inappropriated element:
     
     >set (Elem, Assignment_Expression (Unit))
     
     --  ASIS will raise an exception, asistant will output the ASIS debug
     --  information:
     
     Exception is raised by ASIS query ASSIGNMENT_EXPRESSION.
     Status : VALUE_ERROR
     Diagnosis :
     Inappropriate Element Kind in Asis.Statements.Assignment_Expression
     
     --  it does not change any of the existing variables and it prompts
     --  a user again:
     
     > ...


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: asistant commands,  Next: asistant variables,  Prev: asistant introduction,  Up: ASIS Interpreter asistant

`asistant' commands
===================

The list of the `asistant' commands given in this section is incomplete
and it is not supposed to be used as a reference manual for these
commands. Its purpose is only to give some general feeling of what can
be done with asistant:

   Help [(name)] - outputs the profile of the ASIS query 'name', when
calling                 with no argument, generates a general asistant
help;

   Set (name)    - creates a (non-initialized) variable 'name' of the
ASIS                 Context type;

   Set (name, expr) - evaluates the expression 'expr' (it may be any
legal                 asistant expression, a call to some ASIS query is
the most 		common case in practice) and creates the variable
'name' of 		the type and with the value of 'expr';

   Print (expr)  - evaluate the expression 'expr' and outputs its value;

   Run ("filename") - launches the script from a file "filename",
reading further                 commands from it;

   Pause         - paused the current script and turns asistant into
interactive                 mode;

   Run           - resumes a previously paused script;

   Browse        - switches asistant into step-by-step ASIS tree
browsing;

   Log ("filename") - opens a file "filename" for session logging

   Log           - closes the current log file

   Quit [(exit-status)] - quits asistant


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: asistant variables,  Next: Browsing an ASIS tree,  Prev: asistant commands,  Up: ASIS Interpreter asistant

`asistant' variables
====================

   `asistant' variables have Ada-style (simple) names. Variables can be
of any ASIS type and of conventional integer, boolean and string type.
All the variables are created and assigned dynamically by the asistant
Set command, there is no predefined variables.

   There is no type checking in asistant: each call to a Set command
may be considered as creating the first argument from scratch and
initializing it by the value provided by the second argument.


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: Browsing an ASIS tree,  Next: Example,  Prev: asistant variables,  Up: ASIS Interpreter asistant

Browsing an ASIS tree
=====================

Browser is invoked by calling the asistant service function BROWSE.
BROWSE disables the asistant command interpreter and enables the
command interpreter of Browser. The Browser 'Q' command switches back
into the asistant environment by enabling asistant command interpreter
and disabling the Browser interpreter.

   BROWSE has a single parameter of Element type, and it starts
browsing the ASIS tree starting from its argument Element. BROWSE
returns the result of Element type, an Element on which the process of
tree browsing was stopped. So, if a user types"

   `> set (e0, Browse (e1))'

   he will start ASIS tree browsing from e1, and when he finishes the
browsing, e0 will represent the last Element being visited during the
browsing.

   If a user types

   `> Browse (e1)'

   he will be able to browse the ASIS tree, but the last element of the
browsing will be discarded.

   Browser displays the ASIS Element it currently points at and expects
one of the following keystrokes:

   U - one step up the ASIS tree (equivalent to calling the ASIS
Enclosing_Element query);

   D - one step down the ASIS tree, to the left-most component of the
   current Element

   N - go to the right sibling (to the next element in the ASIS tree
  hierarchy)

   P - go to the left sibling (to the previous element in the ASIS
tree hierarchy)

   \(D|d)(T|t) - change the form of displaying the current Element:
 'D' turns ON displaying the debug image, 'd' turns it OFF. 'T' turns
ON       displaying the text image, 't' turns it OFF.

   <SPACE><query> - call the <query> for the current Element (see 5.4.);

   Q - back to the asistant environment, the Browser command
interpreter is       disabled and the asistant command interpreter is
enabled with the       current Element returned as a result of the call
to BROWSE;

   Browser immediately interprets the keystroke and displays the new
current Element. If the message "Cannot go in this direction." appears,
this means that traversal in this direction from current node is
impossible (that is, the current node is either a terminal Element and
it is not possible to go down, or it is the leftmost or the rightmost
component of some element, and it is not possible to go left or right,
or it is the top Element in its enclosing unit structure and it is not
possible to go up).

   It is possible to issue some ordinary ASIS queries from inside the
Browser (for example, semantic queries). The legal queries are those
that accept one parameter of type Element and return Element as a
result.

   When the user presses <SPACE>, he is asked to enter the query name.
If the query is legal, the current Element is replaced by the result of
the call to the given query with the current Element as a parameter.


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: Example,  Prev: Browsing an ASIS tree,  Up: ASIS Interpreter asistant

Example
=======

Suppose we have an ASIS compilation unit Demo in the source file
demo.adb:

         procedure Demo is
            function F (I : Integer) return Integer;
     
            function F (I : Integer) return Integer is
            begin
               return (I + 1);
            end F;
     
            N : Integer;
     
         begin
         	N := F (3);
         end Demo;

And suppose that the tree for this source is created in the current
directory.  Below is a sequence of asistant commands which does some
work with this unit.  asistant comments are used to explain what is
doing:

     initialize ("")
     
     --  creating and opening a Context made up by all the tree files
     --  in the current directory;
     
     Set (Cont)
     Associate (Cont, "", "")
     Open (Cont)
     
     -- getting a Compilation_Unit (body) named "Demo" from this Context;
     Set (CU, Compilation_Unit_Body ("Demo", Cont))
     
     --  going into the unit structure and getting to the expression
     --  in the right part of the assignment statements in the unit body:
     Set (Unit, Unit_Declaration (CU))
     Set (Stmts, Body_Statements (Unit, False))
     Set (Stmt, Stmts (1))
     Set (Expr, Assignment_Expression (Stmt))
     
     - outputting the debug image and the text image of this expression:
     Print (Expr)
     Print (Element_Image (Expr))
     
     --  this expression is of A_Function_Call kind, so it's possible to ask
     --  for the declaration of the called function:
     Set (Corr_Caled_Fun, Corresponding_Called_Function (Expr))
     
     --  the debug and the text image of the declaration of the called
     --  function is printed:
     Print (Corr_Caled_Fun)
     Print (Element_Image (Corr_Caled_Fun))
     
     -- the asistant session is closed:
     Quit


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: ASIS Application Templates,  Next: ASIS Tutorials,  Prev: ASIS Interpreter asistant,  Up: Top

ASIS Application Templates
**************************

The subdirectory 'templates' of the ASIS distribution contains a set of
Ada source components that can be used as templates for developing
simple ASIS applications. The general idea is that one can easily build
an ASIS application by adding the code performing some specific ASIS
analysis in well-defined places in these templates.

   See the solutions provided for ASIS tutorial as the examples of the
use of the templates.

   For more information see the README file in the 'templates'
subdirectory.


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: ASIS Tutorials,  Next: How to Build Efficient ASIS Applications,  Prev: ASIS Application Templates,  Up: Top

ASIS Tutorials
**************

The subdirectory 'tutorial' of the ASIS distribution contains a simple
hands-on ASIS tutorial which may be useful in getting the quick start
with ASIS. The tutorial contains a set of simple tasks based on the
asistant tool and on a set of the ASIS Application Templates provided
as a part of the ASIS distribution. The complete solutions are provided
for all the tasks, so the tutorial may also be considered as a set of
ASIS examples.

   At the moment the documentation of the tutorial exists as a set of
README files in the 'tutorial' subdirectory and its subdirectories. This
documentation will be moved into this Guide soon.


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: How to Build Efficient ASIS Applications,  Next: Processing an Ada Library by an ASIS-Based Tool,  Prev: ASIS Tutorials,  Up: Top

How to Build Efficient ASIS Applications
****************************************

* Menu:

* Tree Swapping as a Possible Cause of Poor Application Performance::
* Queries That Can Cause Tree Swapping::
* How to Avoid Unnecessary Tree Swapping::
* Using gnatmake to Create Tree Files::


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: Tree Swapping as a Possible Cause of Poor Application Performance,  Next: Queries That Can Cause Tree Swapping,  Up: How to Build Efficient ASIS Applications

Tree Swapping as a Possible Cause of Poor Application Performance
=================================================================

If an ASIS Context is made up by more then one tree, then ASIS may
switch between different trees during an ASIS application run.
Switching between trees means that ASIS reads trees over and over
again, and this may slow down an application considerably.

   Basically, there are two causes for tree swapping:

  1. Processing of semantically independent units. Suppose in Context
     Cont we     have units P and Q which do not depend on each other,
     and Cont does not     contain any third unit depending on both P
     and Q. This means, that P and Q     cannot be represented by the
     same tree. To get some information about P,     ASIS needs tree
     p.adt to be accessed, and to get some information about Q,
     ASIS needs `q.adt'. Therefore, if an applications retrieves some
      information     from P, and then starts processing of Q, ASIS
     has to read `q.adt'.

  2. The possibility for the same unit to be presented in more then one
     tree. A     unit may be presented by the tree created for itself,
     and it also is     presented by all the trees created for unit
     which semantically depend     upon a given unit. Suppose we have a
     library procedure Proc depending on a     library package Pack,
     and in the set of trees making up our Context we     have trees
     `pack.adt' and `proc.adt'. Suppose we have got some     Element
     representing some component of Pack, when `pack.adt' was
     accessed by ASIS,     and suppose that because of some other
     actions undertaken by an     application ASIS changed the tree
     being accessed to `proc.adt'.      Suppose that now the
     application wants to do something with the Element
     representing some component of Pack and obtained from `pack.adt'.
     Even     though the unit Pack is represented by the currently
     accessed tree     proc.adt, ASIS has to switch back to `pack.adt',
     because all the     references     into the tree structure kept as
     a part of the value of this Element are     valid only for
     `pack.adt'.


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: Queries That Can Cause Tree Swapping,  Next: How to Avoid Unnecessary Tree Swapping,  Prev: Tree Swapping as a Possible Cause of Poor Application Performance,  Up: How to Build Efficient ASIS Applications

Queries That Can Cause Tree Swapping
====================================

In ASIS-for-GNAT, tree swapping can currently take place only when
processing queries defined in:

         Asis.Elements
         Asis.Declarations
         Asis.Definitions
         Asis.Statements
         Asis.Clauses
         Asis.Expressions
         Asis.Text

   except the queries that return enumeration or boolean results. For
any instantiation of Asis.Iterator.Traverse_Element, the traversal
itself can cause at most one tree read to get the tree appropriate for
processing the Element to be traversed, but procedures provided as
actuals for Pre_Operation and Post_Operation may cause additional tree
swappings.


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: How to Avoid Unnecessary Tree Swapping,  Next: Using gnatmake to Create Tree Files,  Prev: Queries That Can Cause Tree Swapping,  Up: How to Build Efficient ASIS Applications

How to Avoid Unnecessary Tree Swapping
======================================

To speed up your application, try to avoid unnecessary tree swapping.
The following advices may help you in this:

  1.  Try to minimize a set of tree files processed by your
     application. In     particular, try to avoid having separate trees
     created for subunits.

     Minimizing of a set of tree files processed by the application
     also cuts     down the time needed for opening a Context. Try to
     use gnatmake to create     a suitable set of tree files covering
     an Ada program for processing by     an ASIS application.

  2.  Choose the right way of Context definition for your application.
     For     example, use "one tree" Context (-C1) for applications
     that are limited     to processing single units (such as a pretty
     printer or gnatstub). By     processing the tree file created for
     this unit, ASIS can get all the     syntax and semantic
     information about this unit. Using "one tree" Context
     definition, an application has only one tree file to read during
      opening a Context, and no other tree file will be read during the
        application run. A "N-trees" Context is a natural extension of
     "one tree"     Context for applications which know in advance what
     units shall be     processed, but opening a Context becomes
     longer, and ASIS may switch among     different tree files during
     an application run. Use "all trees" Context     only for
     applications which are not targeted at processing a specific
     unit or a specific set of units, but are supposed to process all
     the     available units, or in case when an application has to
     process a big     system consisting of a large number of units.
     When using an     application based on "all trees" context, use
     the approach for creating     tree files described above to
     minimize a set of tree files to be     processed.

  3.  In your application, try to avoid switching between processing
     units or     sets of units with no dependencies among them - such
     a switching will     certainly cause tree swapping.

  4.  If you are going to analyze some library unit having both spec
     and body,     start from obtaining an Element from the body of
     this unit. This will set     the tree created for the body as the
     tree accessed by ASIS, and this tree     will be enough for
     processing both the spec and the body of this unit     without
     tree swapping.

  5.  To see "tree swapping profile" of your application use -dt debug
     flag when     initializing ASIS ( Asis.Implementation.Initialize
     ("-dt") ). The     information you will get from the application
     run may give you some hints     how to avoid tree swapping.


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: Using gnatmake to Create Tree Files,  Prev: How to Avoid Unnecessary Tree Swapping,  Up: How to Build Efficient ASIS Applications

Using `gnatmake' to Create Tree Files
=====================================

To create a suitable set of tree files, you may use `gnatmake'. GNAT
creates the ALI files for every successful compilation, whether or not
the code has been generated. Therefore, it is possible to run
`gnatmake' with -gnatc and -gnatt parameters, and this will create the
set of tree files representing all the compilation units needed by a
unit to which `gnatmake' is applied to be included in a partition.
Below we will use `gnatmake' to create a set of tree files for a
complete Ada program (partition). You may adapt this approach to an
incomplete program or to a partition without a main subprogram,
applying gnatmake to some of its components.

   Using `gnatmake' for creating tree files has another advantage -
this will keep tree files consistent among themselves and with the
sources.

   There are two different ways to use `gnatmake' to create a set of
tree files.

   First, suppose you have object, ALI and tree files for your program
in the same directory, and `main_subprogram.adb' contains the body of
the main subprogram. If you run `gnatmake' as

        gnatmake -f -c ... main_subprogram.adb -cargs -gnatc -gnatt

or simply as

        gnatmake -f -c -gnatc -gnatt ... main_subprogram.adb

this will create the trees representing the full program for which
main_subprogram is the main procedure. The trees will be created from
scratch, that is, if some tree files already exist, they will be
recreated. This is because gnatmake is called with -f option (which
means "force recompilation").  Usng gnatmake without -f option for
creating tree files is not reliable if your tree files are in the same
directory with object files, because object and tree files "share" the
same set of ALI files, and in case of object file existing and being
consistent with the ALI and source files, the source will not be
recompiled for creating a tree file if -f option was not set.

   A different approach is to keep the tree files and the associated
ALI files in a separate directory, and to use this directory only for
keeping the tree files and maintaining their consistency with source
files (that is, object files and ALI files corresponding to them should
be in another directory).  In this case, by calling gnatmake as

        gnatmake -c ... main_subprogram.adb -cargs -gnatc -gnatt

or simply as

        gnatmake -c -gnatc -gnatt ... main_subprogram.adb

(that is, without forcing recompilation) you will still get the full and
consistent set of tree files representing your programs, but in this
case the existing tree files will be reused.

   See the next section for specific details related to Ada compilation
units belonging to precompiled Ada libraries.


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: Processing an Ada Library by an ASIS-Based Tool,  Next: Compiling Binding and Linking Applications with ASIS-for-GNAT,  Prev: How to Build Efficient ASIS Applications,  Up: Top

Processing an Ada Library by an ASIS-Based Tool
***********************************************

In the cases when an Ada program to be processed by some ASIS-based
tool makes use of some Ada library, it is necessary to be aware of the
following features of using Ada libraries in case of GNAT:

   * an Ada library is a collection of precompiled Ada components. The
     sources   of the Ada components belonging to the library are also
     presented as a   part of a library, but if a user program uses
     some components from a   library, these components are not
     recompiled when calling gnatmake (in a   usual way) for this
     program (for example, you never recompile Ada.Text_IO   when you
     call gnatmake for any program which uses Ada.Text_IO;

   * according to the GNAT source-based compilation model, specs of
     library   components are processed when a user unit which uses
     these components is   compiled, but bodies of library components
     are not compiled. As a result,   if you call gnatmake to create a
     set of tree files covering a given program,   and if this program
     uses something from some Ada library, then the set of   tree files
     created by such a call will contain only specs, but not bodies
     for library components;

   * any GNAT installation contains the GNAT Run-Time Library (RTL) as a
      precompiled Ada library. In some cases, a GNAT installation may
     contain some   other libraries (such as Win32Ada Binding in case
     of Windows95/NT GNAT   porting);

   * in ASIS-for-GNAT, there is no reliable way to define whether or
     not a given   Compilation Unit belongs to some precompiled Ada
     library other then   GNAT RTL (some euristics may be added to
     Asis.Extensions). ASIS-for-GNAT   classifies (by means of
     Asis.Compilation_Units.Unit_Origin query) a unit as
     A_Predefined_Unit, if it is from RTL and if it is mentioned in
     RM95 A(2) as   an Ada 95 predefined unit, and a unit is classified
     as   An_Implementation_Unit if is belongs to RTL, but is not
     mentioned in RM 95   A(2). Components of Ada libraries other then
     RTL are always classified as   An_Application_Unit;

   * there is a possibility to recompile the components of the Ada
     libraries used   by a given program. To do this, you have to call
     gnatmake for this program   with '-a' gnatmake option. Therefore,
     if you create a set of tree files for   you program by calling
     gnatmake with '-a' option, the resulting set of tree   files will
     contain all the units needed by this program to make up a
     complete partition.

Therefore, there are two possibilities for ASIS-based tools and their
users in case if processing (or avoiding processing) of Ada libraries
is important for the functionality of the tool:

  1.  If the tool does not want to process components of Ada libraries,
     then    a set of tree files for this tool may be created by
     calling gnatmake    without '-a' option (this is the usual way of
     using gnatmake). When the    tool faces a Compilation_Which which
     represents a spec of some library    unit, and for which
     Asis.Compilation_Units.Is_Body_Required gives True,    but
     Asis.Compilation_Units.     Corresponding_Body yields a result of
      A_Nonexistent_Body kind, then the tool may conclude that this
     library unit    belongs to some precompiled Ada library;

  2.  If a tool wants to process all the Ada compilation units making
     up a    program, then a set of tree files for this program should
     be created by    calling gnatmake with '-a' option;

  3.  Asis.Compilation_units.Unit_Origin may be used to filter out RTL
     components.


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: Compiling Binding and Linking Applications with ASIS-for-GNAT,  Next: ASIS-for-GNAT Warnings,  Prev: Processing an Ada Library by an ASIS-Based Tool,  Up: Top

Compiling, Binding and Linking Applications with ASIS-for-GNAT
**************************************************************

If you have installed ASIS-for-GNAT as an Ada library and added the
directory containing all source, ALI and library files of this library
to the values of the ADA_INCLUDE_PATH and ADA_OBJECTS_PATH environment
variables (which is a recommended way to install ASIS-for-GNAT), you do
not need any ASIS-specific options for the GNAT compiler (that is, for
gcc calls) and for gnatbind when working with your ASIS applications.
However for gnatlink you have to provide an additional parameter
"-lasis":

        gnatlink my_application -lasis

   When using `gnatmake', you also have to provide this linker parameter
whenever a call to `gnatmake' invokes `gnatlink':

        gnatmake ... my_application -largs -lasis

   You do not need these linker parameters if a call to gnatmake is not
creating the executable:

        gnatmake -c ... my_application

   If you have installed ASIS-for-GNAT without building an ASIS
library, then you have to do the following when working your ASIS
application code:

   * when compiling, you have to put catalogs with ASIS-for-GNAT
     implementation   sources (asis-[version#]-src/asis and
     asis-[version#]-src/gnat) in the   search path for the source
     files; you may do it either by -I gcc options or   by adding these
     directories in the ADA_INCLUDE_PATH environment variable;

   * when binding, you have to put the directory where all the object
     and ALI   files for the ASIS-for-GNAT components were created
     (asis-[version#]-src/obj, if you followed the manual installation
     procedure   described in README/ASIS Installation Guide) in the
     search path for   gnatbind, you can do it either by -aO gnatbind
     option or by adding this   directory in the ADA_OBJECTS_PATH
     environment variable;

   If you have added directories with ASIS-for-GNAT source, object and
ALI files to the values of the GNAT-specific environment variables, you
do not have to provide any ASIS-specific parameter when using gnatmake
for your ASIS application.


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: ASIS-for-GNAT Warnings,  Next: File Naming Conventions and Applications Name Space,  Prev: Compiling Binding and Linking Applications with ASIS-for-GNAT,  Up: Top

ASIS-for-GNAT Warnings
**********************

   The ASIS definition specifies the situations when a certain
ASIS-defined exception should be raised, and ASIS-for-GNAT follows
these rules.

   ASIS-for-GNAT also generates warnings if it considers some situation
arising during the ASIS query processing to be potentially wrong, and
if the ASIS definition does not require to raise an exception in this
case. Usually this is the case for actual or potential problems
happening in an implementation-specific parts of the ASIS
functionality, such as providing implementation-specific parameters to
the queries Initialize, Finalizes and Associate or opening a Context.

   There are three warning modes in ASIS-for-GNAT:

default
     warning messages are generated into stderr;

suppress
     warning messages are suppressed;

treat as error
     a warning is treated as an error by ASIS-for-GNAT: instead
               of sending a message to stderr, ASIS-for-GNAT raises
                    Asis_Failed and converts the warning message into
     the ASIS                    Diagnosis string. ASIS Error Status
     depends on the cause of                    the warning.

   The ASIS-for-GNAT warning mode may be set when initializing the ASIS
implementation. The "-ws" parameter of Asis.Implementation.Initialize
query suppresses warnings, "-we" parameter of this query sets treating
all the warnings as errors. When set, the warning mode remains the same
for all Contexts processed until ASIS-for-GNAT has finalized.


File: asis_ug.info,  Node: File Naming Conventions and Applications Name Space,  Prev: ASIS-for-GNAT Warnings,  Up: Top

File Naming Conventions and Application's Name Space
****************************************************

   Any ASIS application being developed with ASIS-for-GNAT depends on
the ASIS interface components and, transitively on other ASIS-for-GNAT
implementation components. Therefore, the name space available for
application's compilation unit names in the very beginning of the
application development already contains some names, which cannot be
used as the names of application's components.

   ASIS-for-GNAT includes the full specification of the ISO/IEC
15291:1999 ASIS Standard.

   The following children and grandchildren of the top Asis package are
added in ASIS-for-GNAT

   * Asis.Extensions hierarchy (the source file names start from
     `asis-extensions'   - defines some useful ASIS extensions, see
     ASIS Reference Manual for more   details;

   * Asis.Set_Get (the source files `asis-set_get.ad[bs]' respectively)
     -   contains   the access and update routines for the
     implementation of the main ASIS   abstractions defined in Asis;

   * Asis.Text.Set_Get (the source files `asis-text-set_get.ad[bs]'
     respectively -   contains the access and update routines for the
     implementation of the ASIS   abstractions defined in Asis.Text;

   All other ASIS-for-GNAT Ada implementation components belong to the
hierarchy headed by the package named A4G (which comes from
ASIS-for-GNAT) and have names starting from "A4G.".

   ASIS-for-GNAT also incorporates the following GNAT components as a
part of the ASIS implementation:

        Alloc
        Atree
        Casing
        Csets
        Debug
        Einfo
        Elists
        Fname
        Gnatvsn
        Hostparm
        Krunch
        Lib
          Lib-List
          Lib-Sort
        Namet
        Nlists
        Opt
        Output
        Repinfo
        Scans
        Sinfo
        Sinput
        Snames
        Stand
        Stringt
        Table
        Tree_In
        Tree_Io
        Types
        Uintp
        Uname
        Urealp
        Widechar

   Therefore, in your ASIS application you can use for your Ada
components any names except package names defined by ASIS as the names
of the ASIS interface packages, Asis.Extensions, Asis.Set_Get,
Asis.Text.Set_Get, and any name from the hierarchy headed by "A4G" and
any name from the list of the GNAT component names given above.

   All Ada source files making up the ASIS implementation for GNAT
(including the GNAT components being a part of ASIS-for-GNAT) follow
the GNAT file name conventions without any name krunching.


