Re: assignment forms

[Michael Snyder <msnyder@cygnus.com>]

Mark Byler wrote:
> 
> Michael Snyder wrote:
> >
> > Mark Byler wrote:
> > >
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > > I am looking into contributing to gdb sources.  Your
> > > "Contributing to GDB" page talks about some documents like
> > > http://gcc.gnu.org/fsf-forms/assignment-instructions.html ,
> > > but this page does not exist.
> > >
> > > Is the copyright assignment really the first step?  Should
> > > I talk to somebody about the kind of changes I want to
> > > contribute?
> >
> > The copyright assignment is an essential step, but not necessarily
> > the first.  Jim Blandy (jimb@redhat.com) is your contact for the
> > copyright forms.  If you'd like to discuss the changes you're
> > contemplating and look for feedback, this is an appropriate forum.
> > What did you have in mind?
> >
> > Michael
> 
> I work with Kuck & Associates (KAI C++ compiler people)
> who recently were bought by Intel.  KAI would like to make gdb
> the principal debugger for use with KAI C++, dropping an
> in-house debugger.
> 
> KAI C++ uses an EDG front end.  The changes we need are related
> to EDG style of compilation, which probably has broader application
> than just KAI C++.  Specifically, we need
>         - local variable demangling is slightly different, this
>                 is about a 20-line change in libiberty/cplus-dem.c
>         - C++ baseclasses are represented differently, especially
>                 virtual baseclasses.
>         - Digital alpha (aka axp/osf, tru64) does not know anything
>                 about baseclasses at all, as far as I can tell
>         - might be some changes related to finding methods for classes
> 
> This is not a complete list, but this is the sort of thing
> we are looking at.  We would like to plow these changes back into
> the general source of gdb.  On some platforms we might be interested
> in fixing some bugs.  We might help get some ports done (I have a
> question out about 64-bit sparc).
> 
> What do you think?  Is this worth pursuing?

Of course.  In your case, I'd recommend moving ahead on the assignment
forms right away, then you won't have that issue to wait on once you
have some concrete changes to submit.