Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
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From: cinnamon@kaiwan.com (R. Dominick)
Subject: Re: Inform
Message-ID: <CHHC1A.IBJ@kaiwan.com>
Organization: Coffeehouse Software
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2]
References: <CH113H.4wJ@kaiwan.com> <2143@yetti.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 3 Dec 1993 22:05:34 GMT
Lines: 46

Michael Jenkin (jenkin@cs.yorku.ca) wrote:

> In article <CH113H.4wJ@kaiwan.com> cinnamon@kaiwan.com (R. Dominick) writes:

> >...has anyone else tried compiling Inform on the PC?  More to the
> >point, has anyone gotten it to work?

> Under UNIX (SUN) using gcc it compiles, and appears to compile DEJA_VU
> correctly, however....

> - using the flags given in the source it will not compile

Hmm... I have compiled it under SUN OS 4.1.3, and it seems to operate just
fine with the flags given in the source.  Also, using the 386 and
better port of GCC for MS-DOS, it still compiles, given the same flags
given in the source.

> - using no flags it compiles DEJA_VU and the game plays but the game
>   dies when incorrect syntax is entered for a verb. This is also true of
>   the compiled version of DEJA_VU (but not CURSES) on ftp.gmd.de,
>   for example

>   get all - works
>   get - crashes
>   get a - crashes

I had a problem like this, but I didn't notice it under all of those
cases (not that I tried; now I'll have to).  I did tell Graham that
DejaVu died when you tried some ambiguous commands (like UNLOCK DOOR
when you're holding the key), but I'm not sure that my copy has the
above bug (and I can't risk trying as I'd have to reboot this
single-tasking machine.  <sigh>)

> Tracing through the code shows that deja_vu dies during the subroutine call
> to ParseObjectList(), but before the routine is executed. BTW this happens
> with 3 different infocom interpreters so I expect the problem is with inform,
> not with zmachine, or infocom, or ...

...or more of a problem with the included files... well, at least I
now know where to start looking (ParseObjectList) (not that I'm that
great at writing parsers, mind!).

Thanks!

--r
-- 
