System configuration

System customization is performed thanks to the `"system.se"` file which must be in the sub-directory `"sys"` of the installation directory.

When the system name is correctly set in the file `"system.se"`, SmallEiffel performs some automatic customizations. For example, if the `"system.se"` file contains the string "DOS", SmallEiffel uses the suffix `".BAT"` for script files and the suffix `".EXE"` for executables files.

The `"sys"` directory contains various files to customize SmallEiffel with the system, the C compiler and the linker used as well as the default loadpath used to look for Eiffel source code.

The `SmallEiffel` environment variable

Environment variable `SmallEiffel` must be set with the absolute path of the file `"system.se"` which is in the sub-directory `"sys"` of the installation directory.
Under a UNIX-like system, the value of the `SmallEiffel` environment variable may be for example: `/usr/lib/SmallEiffel/sys/system.se`
The contents of the file `"system.se"` indicate the system you are running.

File `system.se`

The first word of file `"system.se"` is used by SmallEiffel to know which operating system is running. Currently supported values are:

UNIX | for all UNIX-like systems, GNU/Linux, HP-UX, Solaris, SunOS, Irix, XENIX, etc.
Windows | for Windows 95 and Windows NT systems (using long filenames).
DOS | for MS-DOS systems or Windows 3.x (using short filenames, with 8.3 scheme).
Macintosh | for Macintosh systems (68K and PPC)
BeOS | for the BeOS system
Amiga | for the Amiga system
OS2 | for IBM OS/2 systems
VMS | for the VMS systems

You must choose the appropriate system name in the previous list and update file `"system.se"`. To be sure that the previous list is up-to-date, just put a bad system name in the file `"system.se"` and then run for example command `compile`.

The system name will then be used to access various files corresponding to the system you chose. For example, if you declared "Windows", only files with extension "Windows" will be considered (e.g. files like `"loadpath.Windows"`, `"compiler.Windows"`, `"linker.Windows"`, etc...).

File `compiler.se`

This file is used to select the default C compiler that will be used to compile the generated C code. Only the first line of this file is considered; it must contain the name of one of the supported compilers, which at the current time are:

gcc | The free and open-source GNU C Compiler and its variants (egcs, mingw32, etc.) on several platforms (Linux and other UNIXes, Windows).
cc | The standard cc compiler, as provided by vendors of most UNIX and VMS systems.
lcc-win32 | The free port of lcc for Windows platforms.
bcc32 | The Borland (now Inprise) C/C++ compiler on Windows platforms.
bcc32i | A variant (?) of the previous one.
wcl386 | The Watcom C/C++ compiler for Windows plaforms.
cl | The MicroSoft C/C++ compiler for Windows platforms.
sas_c | The SAS C compiler, sc on Amiga platforms.
dice | The dice C compiler.
vbcc | The vbcc C compiler.
ccc | The Compaq C compiler for AlphaLinux.

SmallEiffel will automatically generate the correct system call to this C compiler, with the appropriate linker and adequate object files suffix.

In case an unknown compiler name is supplied, SmallEiffel generates an error message listing the supported compiler names. In case the compiler specified is a correct one but can't be found, SmallEiffel won't be able to detect it, but there will be an error message from the system. In `-verbose` mode, the systems calls to the C compiler are displayed, thus making it easy to find such errors.

Changing the default loading path

All the commands use the same algorithm to search for Eiffel source files. The default global loading path is set using contents of file `loadpath.< system_name >`, in the `sys` directory of your SmallEifel installation, where < system_name > is one of the systems symbols mentioned above.

To change this default loading path, you need to add a special file which name is `"loadpath.se"` in the directory in which you type a command of SmallEiffel (`compile`, `finder`, `pretty`, `compile_to_c`, `compile_to_jvm`, `short`, `clean`).

Each line of the file `"loadpath.se"` must be an existing directory path or the absolute path of another `"loadpath.se"` file to include recursively. Environment variable may be used in these lines, with the syntax `${MY_VAR}`.

All directories of the local `"loadpath.se"` file are added ahead of the default loading path. All directories are searched in the order in which they appear. The current directory is not included in the search path unless it is explicitely specified in one of the `loadpath.se` or `loadpath.system` files. Also note that an empty line in a `loadpath.se` file may add the current working directory in a place you don't want.

To check that your loading path is correctly set, just type command `finder` using an unknown class name as argument.

Sample loadpath.se file under UNIX
`/users/myself/one_dir/
../../another_dir/
${MY_LIB}/goodies/
/users/${MY_BUDDY}/common/loadpath.se
./`
The first line is an absolute path to some directory.
The second one is a relative path to some directory.
The third line shows the use of an environment variable to point to some directory.
The fourth line also features an environment variable, but points to a second loadpath file, that will be included before the general `loadpath.UNIX` file.
The fifth line adds the current directory to the loadpath.

Sample loadpath.se file under Windows
`C:\myself\one_dir\
..\..\another_dir\
${MY_LIB}\goodies\
\users\${MY_BUDDY}\common\loadpath.se
.\`
Same explanations as above, except of course that this file is prepended in front of the `loadpath.Windows` file.

Copyright © Dominique COLNET and Suzanne COLLIN - <colnet@loria.fr>
Last update: 05 June 1999, by DC & OZ.