why this not working ??
with Win32.Winbase; use Win32.Winbase;
with Win32; use type Win32.BOOL;
with Win32.Winnt; use type Win32.Winnt.pHandle;
procedure Welcome is
Startup_Info : aliased STARTUPINFO;
SecurityAttribute : aliased PSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES;
begin
Startup_Info.dwFlags := 123; -- OK
SecurityAttributes.nLength := 123; -- ERROR
end Welcome;
Because PSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES is an access (pointer) type and you haven't allocated an instance of it:
type PSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES is access all SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES;
So you have to allocate an instance of it first:
SecurityAttributes : PSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES := new SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES;
(Since it's a pointer type, you don't need "aliased".)
Now you can assign to it:
SecurityAttributes.nLength := 123;
Alternatively, if SecurityAttributes were declared aliased of type SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES, then your original assignment would have worked. Going by the name, I strongly suspect the leading 'P' is intended to indicate the type is a pointer type.
This has not been compiled, I'm going by an on-line source code listing.
Related
In my test code below, I am trying to modify a variable by passing it as system.address to another procedure.
with Ada.Text_IO;
with System;
with System.Storage_Elements;
procedure Main is
procedure Modify ( Var : in out System.Address) is
use System.Storage_Elements;
begin
Var := Var + 10;
end Modify;
My_Var : Integer := 10;
begin
-- Insert code here.
Modify (My_Var'Address);
Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line("My_Var is:" & Integer(My_Var)'Image );
end Main;
Compiler is returning an error as below,
17:17 actual for "Var" must be a variable
I could not understand the reason as My_Var(actual for Var) is clearly a variable. What should I change to modify My_Var with system.address?
Note: The context of this trail is that I am trying to understand an interface module in an existing legacy project. While there could be better ways to achieve what I need, I want to understand if it is possible to modify a variable with above method.
It would be helpful if you could show the relevant part of the legacy interface module -- it would help us understand what you need and want to do.
That said, first note that passing a parameter by reference is not usually done in Ada by explicitly passing the 'Address of the actual variable. As you say, there are other and better ways.
If you pass a System.Address value, and then want to read or write whatever data resides at that address, you have to do the read/write through a variable that you force to have that address, or through an access value (the Ada equivalent of "pointer") that you force to point at that addressed location. In both cases, you are responsible for ensuring that the type of the variable, or of the access value, matches the actual type of the data that you want to read or write.
To create an access value that points to memory at a given address, you should use the predefined package System.Address_To_Access_Conversions. That requires some understanding of access values and generics, so I won't show an example here.
To force a variable to have a given address, you declare the variable with the Address aspect set to the given address. The code below shows how that can be done for this example. Note the declaration of the local variable Modify.Var (and note that I changed the name of the parameter from Var to Var_Addr).
with Ada.Text_IO;
with System;
procedure Mod_By_Addr is
procedure Modify (Var_Addr : in System.Address) is
Var : Integer with Address => Var_Addr;
begin
Var := Var + 10;
end Modify;
My_Var : aliased Integer := 10;
begin
Modify (My_Var'Address);
Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line("My_Var is:" & Integer(My_Var)'Image );
end Mod_By_Addr;
Since the Var_Addr parameter is not modified in the Modify procedure, it can be declared with the "in" mode, and so the actual parameter can be an expression (My_Var'Address).
HTH
You modify the address and not the variable. Try to change parameter to Addr : in System.Address and declare Var : Integer with Address => Addr in Modify.
Another way of modifying the variable I have understood using address_to_Access_Conversions is shown below,
with Ada.Text_IO;
with System.Address_To_Access_Conversions;
with System.Storage_Elements;
procedure Main is
procedure Modify ( Var : in System.Address) is
use System.Storage_Elements;
package Convert is new System.Address_To_Access_Conversions (Integer);
begin
Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line(Convert.To_Pointer (Var).all'Img);
end Modify;
My_Var : Integer := 10;
begin
Modify (My_Var'Address);
Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line("My_Var is:" & Integer(My_Var)'Image );
end Main;
I am migrating some code from Delphi 5 to a modern platform. Currently I have the compiled code (which works in my environment) and the source code (which cannot be compiled in my environment). This means I can't really experiment with the code by changing it or inserting breakpoints or dumping values. In looking at one particular passage of code, I see that one Procedure (ProcedureA) is calling another (ProcedureB) and passing in parameters that must be by reference, since otherwise ProcedureB would have no effect. It's my understanding that a var prefix must be added to parameters in a Procedure's parameter list in order for them to be passed by reference, but this is not being done here. One of the parameters, though, is of type TList, which I know to be essentially an array of pointers. My question is: are parameters of type TList (as well as others having to do with pointers) implicitly passed by reference?
Here's the code:
Procedure ProcedureB(PartyHeaderInformationPtr : PartyHeaderInformationPointer;
PartyHeaderTable : TTable;
_PrisonCode : String;
_FineType : TFineTypes;
PartyHeaderInformationList : TList);
begin
with PartyHeaderInformationPtr^, PartyHeaderTable do
begin
AssessmentYear := FieldByName('TaxRollYr').Text;
PartyType := FieldByName('PartyType').Text;
PartyNumber := FieldByName('PartyNo').AsInteger;
PrisonCode := _PrisonCode;
FineType := _FineType;
end; {with PartyHeaderInformationPtr^ ...}
PartyHeaderInformationList.Add(PartyHeaderInformationPtr);
end; {AddPartyHeaderPointerInformation}
{=================================================================}
Procedure ProcedureA(PartyHeaderTable : TTable;
PartyDetailTable : TTable;
PartyHeaderInformationList : TList);
var
Done, FirstTimeThrough : Boolean;
PrisonPartyFound, JunglePartyFound : Boolean;
PrisonPartyYear, PrisonCode, PartyType : String;
PartyHeaderInformationPtr : PartyHeaderInformationPointer;
begin
PartyHeaderTable.Last;
PrisonPartyYear := '';
PrisonPartyFound := False;
JunglePartyFound := False;
Done := False;
FirstTimeThrough := True;
repeat
If FirstTimeThrough
then FirstTimeThrough := False
else PartyHeaderTable.Prior;
If PartyHeaderTable.BOF
then Done := True;
If not Done
then
begin
PartyType := PartyHeaderTable.FieldByName('PartyType').Text;
If ((not JunglePartyFound) and
((PartyType = 'MU') or
(PartyType = 'TO')))
then
begin
JunglePartyFound := True;
New(PartyHeaderInformationPtr);
AddPartyHeaderPointerInformation(PartyHeaderInformationPtr,
PartyHeaderTable,
'', ltPlace,
PartyHeaderInformationList);
end; {If ((not JunglePartyFound) and ...}
end; {If not Done}
until Done;
end; {FillPartyHeaderInformationList}
Yes.
In Delphi, classes are reference types.
Every variable of type TBitmap, TList, TButton, TStringList, TForm etc. is nothing but a pointer to the object, so an object is always passed "by reference". It is only this address, this native-sized integer, that is given to the called routine.
Consequently, even without var, the called routine can alter the object since it, like the caller, has the address to it. But the pointer itself is passed by value, so if the called routine alters the parameter pointer to point to a different object, the caller will not see that; only the called routine's copy of the address is changed. With var, the pointer itself is passed by reference, so the called routine can change that too: it can change the original object, and it can make the caller's variable point to a different object, if it wants to.
On the other hand, value types like integers, booleans, sets, static arrays, and records are passed by value, so -- without any parameter decoration such as var -- the called routine gets a copy, and any changes made are only made to that copy. The caller will not see its variable being modified. If you use a var parameter, however, the variable will be passed by reference.
So, in your case, it has nothing to do with TList being a "list" or being something that "contains pointers". It's about TList being a class.
I have some methods in a package that operate on an access constant tot a tagged record; in order to call these functions, I must specify the package name. I would much rather just put the variable name [dot] function name, but this gives the error: no selector "foo" for type "Color". Why is that?
Here's a minimal reproducer:
procedure Main is
type Color is tagged
record
Hue : Integer;
Saturation : Integer;
Value : Integer;
end record;
type AccessColor is access constant Color;
procedure foo (C : in AccessColor) is
begin
null;
end foo;
AccessS : AccessColor;
begin
foo (AccessS);
--AccessS.foo; -- does not work. Why?
end Main;
Note that in my real code, it is inconvenient to specify the function fully, because unlike in the example above, foo is defined somewhere in a seperate package:
Some.Package.Name.Depp.foo(AccessS);
Even though AccessS already specifies where to find the function, so I should just be able to do:
AccessS.foo;
The problem is that foo isn’t actually a primitive operation of Color (in this reproducer).
ARM 3.3.2(6) says that the primitive subprograms of a specific type are
For a specific type declared immediately within a package_specification, any subprograms (in addition to the enumeration literals) that are explicitly declared immediately within the same package_specification and that operate on the type
This (apologies for reformatting, casing adjustment) compiles fine.
procedure Main is
package Pak is
type Color is tagged
record
Hue : Integer;
Saturation : Integer;
Value : Integer;
end record;
procedure Foo (C : in Color) is null;
type AccessColor is access constant Color;
end Pak;
Col : aliased Pak.Color;
AccessS : Pak.AccessColor := Col'Access;
begin
AccessS.Foo;
end Main;
I declared Foo as taking in Color; you could equally declare it to take access constant Color if you need to, because (ARM 4.1.3(9.2))
The first formal parameter of the subprogram shall be of type T, or a class-wide type that covers T, or an access parameter designating one of these types
This doesn't work because as you define it, foo is not a primitive operation of the tagged type Color. Prefix notation can only be used on primitive operations of tagged types.
The solution is to make foo a primitive operation of Color like this:
procedure foo (C : access constant Color) is
begin
null;
end foo;
If you use a named access type, foo will instead be a primitive operation of that type, and since that type is not a tagged type, prefix notation doesn't work.
I'm moving my first steps with Ada, and I'm finding that I struggle to understand how to do common, even banal, operations that in other languages would be immediate.
In this case, I defined the following task type (and access type so I can create new instances):
task type Passenger(
Name : String_Ref;
Workplace_Station : String_Ref;
Home_Station : String_Ref
);
type Passenger_Ref is access all Passenger;
As you can see, it's a simple task that has 3 discriminants that can be passed to it when creating an instance. String_Ref is defined as:
type String_Ref is access all String;
and I use it because apparently you cannot use "normal" types as task discriminants, only references or primitive types.
So I want to create an instance of such a task, but whatever I do, I get an error. I cannot pass the strings directly by simply doing:
Passenger1 := new Passenger(Name => "foo", Workplace_Station => "man", Home_Station => "bar");
Because those are strings and not references to strings, fair enough.
So I tried:
task body Some_Task_That_Tries_To_Use_Passenger is
Passenger1 : Passenger_Ref;
Name1 : aliased String := "Foo";
Home1 : aliased String := "Man";
Work1 : aliased String := "Bar";
begin
Passenger1 := new Passenger(Name => Name1'Access, Workplace_Station => Work1'Access, Home_Station => Home1'Access);
But this doesn't work either, as, from what I understand, the Home1/Name1/Work1 variables are local to task Some_Task_That_Tries_To_Use_Passenger and so cannot be used by Passenger's "constructor".
I don't understand how I have to do it to be honest. I've used several programming languages in the past, but I never had so much trouble passing a simple String to a constructor, I feel like a total idiot but I don't understand why such a common operation would be so complicated, I'm sure I'm approaching the problem incorrectly, please enlighten me and show me the proper way to do this, because I'm going crazy :D
Yes, I agree it is a serious problem with the language that discriminates of task and record types have to be discrete. Fortunately there is a simple solution for task types -- the data can be passed via an "entry" point.
with Ada.Strings.Unbounded; use Ada.Strings.Unbounded;
procedure Main is
task type Task_Passenger is
entry Construct(Name, Workplace, Home : in String);
end Passenger;
task body Task_Passenger is
N, W, H : Unbounded_String;
begin
accept Construct(Name, Workplace, Home : in String) do
N := To_Unbounded_String(Name);
W := To_Unbounded_String(Workplace);
H := To_Unbounded_String(Home);
end Construct;
--...
end Passenger;
Passenger : Task_Passenger;
begin
Passenger.Construct("Any", "length", "strings!");
--...
end Main;
Ada doesn't really have constructors. In other languages, a constructor is, in essence, a method that takes parameters and has a body that does stuff with those parameters. Trying to get discriminants to serve as a constructor doesn't work well, since there's no subprogram body to do anything with the discriminants. Maybe it looks like it should, because the syntax involves a type followed by a list of discriminant values in parentheses and separated by commas. But that's a superficial similarity. The purpose of discriminants isn't to emulate constructors.
For a "normal" record type, the best substitute for a constructor is a function that returns an object of the type. (Think of this as similar to using a static "factory method" instead of a constructor in a language like Java.) The function can take String parameters or parameters of any other type.
For a task type, it's a little trickier, but you can write a function that returns an access to a task.
type Passenger_Acc is access all Passenger;
function Make_Passenger (Name : String;
Workplace_Station : String;
Home_Station : String) return Passenger_Acc;
To implement it, you'll need to define an entry in the Passenger task (see Roger Wilco's answer), and then you can use it in the body:
function Make_Passenger (Name : String;
Workplace_Station : String;
Home_Station : String) return Passenger_Acc is
Result : Passenger_Acc;
begin
Result := new Passenger;
Result.Construct (Name, Workplace_Station, Home_Station);
return Result;
end Make_Passenger;
(You have to do this by returning a task access. I don't think you can get the function to return a task itself, because you'd have to use an extended return to set up the task object and the task object isn't activated until after the function returns and thus can't accept an entry.)
You say
"I don't understand how I have to do it to be honest. I've used several programming languages in the past, but I never had so much trouble passing a simple String to a constructor, I feel like a total idiot but I don't understand why such a common operation would be so complicated, I'm sure I'm approaching the problem incorrectly, please enlighten me and show me the proper way to do this, because I'm going crazy :D"
Ada's access types are often a source of confusion. The main issue is that Ada doesn't have automatic garbage collection, and wants to ensure you can't suffer from the problem of returning pointers to local variables. The combination of these two results in a curious set of rules that force you to design your solution carefully.
If you are sure your code is good, then you can always used 'Unrestricted_Access on an aliased String. This puts all the responsibility on you to ensure the accessed variable won't disappear from underneath the task though.
It doesn't have to be all that complicated. You can use an anonymous access type and allocate the strings on demand, but please consider if you really want the strings to be discriminants.
Here is a complete, working example:
with Ada.Text_IO;
procedure String_Discriminants is
task type Demo (Name : not null access String);
task body Demo is
begin
Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line ("Demo task named """ & Name.all & """.");
exception
when others =>
Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line ("Demo task terminated by an exception.");
end Demo;
Run_Demo : Demo (new String'("example 1"));
Second_Demo : Demo (new String'("example 2"));
begin
null;
end String_Discriminants;
Another option is to declare the strings as aliased constants in a library level package, but then you are quite close to just having an enumerated discriminant, and should consider that option carefully before discarding it.
I think another solution would be the following:
task body Some_Task_That_Tries_To_Use_Passenger is
Name1 : aliased String := "Foo";
Home1 : aliased String := "Man";
Work1 : aliased String := "Bar";
Passenger1 : aliased Passenger(
Name => Name1'Access,
Workplace_Station => Work1'Access,
Home_Station => Home1'Access
);
begin
--...
I want to print the address of an access variable (pointer) for debugging purposes.
type Node is private;
type Node_Ptr is access Node;
procedure foo(n: in out Node_Ptr) is
package Address_Node is new System.Address_To_Access_Conversions(Node);
use Address_Node;
begin
Put_Line("node at address " & System.Address_Image(To_Address(n)));
end foo;
Address_Image returns the string representation of an address.
System.Address_To_Access_Conversions is a generic package to convert between addresses and access types (see ARM 13.7.2), defined as follows:
generic
type Object(<>) is limited private;
package System.Address_To_Access_Conversions is
-- [...]
type Object_Pointer is access all Object;
-- [...]
function To_Address(Value : Object_Pointer) return Address;
-- [...]
end System.Address_To_Access_Conversions;
gnat gives me the following errors for procedure foo defined above:
expected type "System.Address_To_Access_Conversions.Object_Pointer" from instance at line...
found type "Node_Ptr" defined at ...
Object_Pointer ist definied as access all Object. From my understanding the type Object is Node, therefore Object_Ptr is access all Node. What is gnat complaining about?
I guess my understanding of Ada generics is flawed and I am not using System.Address_To_Access_Conversions correctly.
EDIT:
I compiled my code with "gnatmake -gnatG" to see the generic instantiation:
package address_node is
subtype btree__clear__address_node__object__2 is btree__node;
type btree__clear__address_node__object_pointer__2 is access
all btree__clear__address_node__object__2;
function to_address (value :
btree__clear__address_node__object_pointer__2) return
system__address;
end address_node;
btree__node is the mangled name of the type Node as defined above, so I really think the parameter type for to_address() is correct, yet gnat is complaining (see above).
I don't have a compiler in front of me at the moment, but doesn't this work?
procedure foo(n: in out Node_Ptr) is
begin
Put_Line("node at address " & System.Address_Image(n.all'address)); --'
end foo;
Ok, explicit type conversion does the trick:
procedure Foo(n: in out Node_Ptr) is
package Address_Node is new System.Address_To_Access_Conversions(Node);
use Address_Node;
p : Address_Node.Object_Pointer;
begin
p := Address_Node.Object_Pointer(n);
Put_Line("node at address " & System.Address_Image(To_Address(p)));
end Foo;
Takes some time getting used to Ada... ;-)