From: robert@prino.org   
      
   On 2025-10-28 05:01, JJ wrote:   
    > On Mon, 27 Oct 2025 21:38:13 +0000, Robert Prins wrote:   
    >>   
    >> I occasionally still use TP 3.01a, and work full-time with Virtual Pascal,   
    >> FreePascal cannot handle one TP originated construction, that I use all the   
    >> time, and frankly, the last time I looked at the IDE and Debugger, they   
   sucked,   
    >> big time!   
    >   
    > Doesn't the DOS version of FreePascal have TP mode using {$MODE TP}?   
      
   Not really interested in DOS, big issue is, even in TP-mode, that FPC does not   
   honour the old TP construction where all variables in a single var/const   
   declaration are kept in the final executable, i.e. I use   
      
   const   
      xxx_ptr : xxxptr  = nil;   
      xxx_top : xxxptr  = nil;   
      xxx_end : xxxptr  = nil; {or, occasionally @xxx_top}   
      
   and update them after an insert in the linked list with a small assembler   
   routine that never explicitly uses xxx_end, nor do I ever explicitly use   
   xxx_end   
   myself and that results in FPC eliminating it. VP sticks to the Borland   
   implementation!   
      
   Next to that, but that's resolvable, I don't like records to be non-packed, or,   
   more in general, that FPC "wastes" too much data by auto-aligning variables on   
   "preferred" boundaries and that it can reorder the location of variables that   
   are not part of records.   
      
   And I really like that I can directly call VP RTL functions from my inline   
   assembler code, without having to figure out name-mangling.   
      
   Robert   
   --   
   Robert AH Prins   
   robert(a)prino(d)org   
   The hitchhiking grandfather - https://prino.neocities.org/   
   Some REXX code for use on z/OS - https://prino.neocities.org/zOS/zOS-Tools.html   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)