Rakscha, with all due respect for your hard work, would you mind to answer the following, serious, question: in what circumstance do you need your precompiler? Isn't it just a tool that transform sort of C++ code into Lite-C and compiles it? Would'nt it make more sense to take the SDK and "just" develop with it in... "native"... C++?

There are two reasons I could imagine, why someone would have a real benefit over directly working with the C++ SDK: level_load (for mapping the action name to a function pointer) and wait(1). Ah, and float <-> var transparency.

So, big question here: how is wait(1) supported and how does it integrate, in, say, methods?

Is it possible to work with the STD? How about template programming? Do you plan to take a VS project and transform it?

@Superku: thanks

@HeeIX:
Yep, the C++ LIKE code(like, because not everything is implemented/supported atm)
is transformed to LiteC-Code.
Every method is just a normal function internally.
Ofcourse, you'll face problems when using wait inside a method, and the object is freed during waiting.
I might add restrictions for that.(or a corresponding compiler warning)

I have several reasons to do this:
1) Its quite an interesting experience

2) Most beginners will start with LiteC. Pushing them directly to C++ might be a problem. They have to struggle with the SDK , setting up an advanced Development environment(for a total beginner it might be a problem).
So this precompiler is some kind of experience bridge between LiteC and C++.
Those who already worked with Gamestudio+C++ might not need this, but new ones.

3) So far(as far as i know), using engine functions inside C++ requires _var() where ever a var parameter is required. Unnecessary overhead for writing(i.e. requires wrapping before using)

4) The liteC compiler sometimes throws uninformative messages(or even wrong ones). By parsing everything thats outside a function, i want to catch as much as possible. For example a missing ';' after a struct definition wont lead to an error inside a following function anymore. But a proper "missing ';'" error

5) Programming in LiteC while using advanced IDEs. Sometimes using a complete C++ environment might be an overkill for some projects(or the programmer/beginner). Using my precompiler you can write your code in CodeBlocks for example and compile directly.
(i plan on adding more parameter compatibility for my precompiler, so it runs better with input from a make command).

6) Its possible to directly include LiteC projects in Projects from my Precompiler. Just include the .c/.h files and you can use the functions written there. (.c/.h units are not parsed, just added). So, if a user made a usefull LiteC contribution, its most likely, you can use it in my Precompiler.

About STD: its likely that it doesnt work. Currently my precompiler doesnt include everything. I havent tested it yet, but iam sure there is a lot that might cause conflicts(we have only singleinheritance. Multiinheritance is NOT possible for me,as it is in C++).

Template programming is a nice and interesting feature. I wish to implement it, but its way to early atm. I have to make sure that those things i implemented, work. Otherwhise i'll blow up the code.

And no, iam not planning on transforming a VS project. This requires a complete implementation of C++, which is either not possible for me or too time consuming.

Greetings
Rackscha

During the last few seconds, i implemented implicit "this".

Which means that its not necessary to use "this" inside a method for accessing a member of the "this" instance.
However. If you dont use "this", the precompiler first searches the current method for a declared var of this name, if its not found, it searches the class of this method for a member with this name. As you cann see, if you have a class with a member called "FCount" and a method with a lokal var called "FCount", the compiler will priorize the lokal var and NOT use the member of the Class.

example input: (CList has a var of type int called FCount)



example output:


but this behaves differently:
input:


output:


As you can see from this example, the lokal var has a higher priority/visibility.

Greetings
Rackscha

Ladies and gentlemen: I proudly present:

for each(<varpointer> in <List>)

I know, using for each in the following example is useless, but i is required to draw everything properly, and its a testrun anyway(so i is NOT requird for a normal for each loop, just in this dump testcase :P)
input:


output:



Okay, how does it work? There is a new Class called CForEachObject. This class implements 3 methods.

FEInit();
FEHasMoreElements();
FENextElement();

If you want your object to work with the for each loop, you have to derive it from CForEachObject and implement those 3 methods.
Here is an example implementation from my CList:



As you can see, my CList has a private var called FFECount. This var is used to count up. In FEInit i initialize it to 0. In HasMoreElements, i check if the FFECount is BELOW my FCount(which is the number of items in my list). And incrementing FFECount in NextElement to go on with the next one later.

If you use the same list in a nested for each (for what reason). It wont break the mechanic but keep in mind that only the inner loop runs properly and the outer one quit directly after the first run.

PS: oh and it seems that deriving classes from each others went a bit buggy in 0.4. i fixed it.

Greetings
Rackscha

Hot stuff so far! Well done . I might just give this a shot. For me C++ is a little bit overhead for an average 3dgs game. This looks cool.

How about an eclipse solution though instead of codeblocks? :>

For using it in Eclipse, you have to install a make-tool(as included in GCC for example).

When i fix the issues with reading the commandparemeters correctly, you should be able(gramatic fail here?) to use it in eclipse and other IDEs supporting make-tools. CodeBlocks is just easier for now, because it startsup the Compiler and linker directly.

Eclipse could be rebuild from base specially designed for 3dgs. I've been looking into it, you could mod the existing C/C++ eclipse but I couldn't get the lecturer to work with custom lite-c keywords, nor did it pick up the path to acknex.h properly. It would also take quite some setup time for each new workspace or other machine as there doesn't seem to be a complete settings export.

You could also compile a new eclipse from the basic framework and create your own lecturer, etc. But that is quite a pile of work. This option might be perfect to integrate your precompiler.

the only thing i need so far, is an interface to run my compiler(i.e. using a make-tool and a makefile in eclipse).

The rest should work for most points. Or have you found any groundbreaking stuff/problem that confuses eclipses codeview?

Just released v0.5.
Changes (as always) are included in the changelog in my mainpost.

Greetings
Rackscha