How soon before I7 gets its sorely needed memory patches

Authoring Inform 7
1

Both the Mac and Windows 6G60 compilers need to be patched.

I have posted here before and after sending a bug report about the Mac version of the compiler
I understand that a patch for it is ready butGraham has not done anything to the latest version.
It’s going on 1.5 years now since 6G60 actually 6F95 was released and it now appears that the
Windows version of the 6G60 compiler can not handle large source files either.

Does anyone know when we’ll have a version of the compiler both Mac/Windows that will not
bomb with large source files?

Thanks much

2

Graham does the I7 releases, and he isn’t on this forum. He hasn’t announced a date for the next release.

You could compile an updated I6 compiler and insert it into the I7 IDE package. That shouldn’t break anything.

3

(The bug in question, in case anybody is wondering: inform7.com/mantis/view.php?id=758 )

4

I don’t have the knowledge or the patch to so. I wish someone could do this for at least the Mac if not the Windows version.
although it appears that both compilers need to be be patched and a patch does exist now since I sent the bug report to the bugs
list over 9 months ago.

I have put a lot of time and and energy into this project and it’s very frustrating since Graham is not good at all about answering
e-mails.

My source file has 560 rooms, 1575 objects and is 1.8 Megs in size. with around 44,000 lines of code.
My code syntax is correct and I thought originally that I had made some typos in the coding that the compiler didn’t catch but
I’ve found that not to be the case.

When I got a clean compile the game file was 5.5 megs in size with no graphics or sounds, just a plain ulx file.

My understanding is that the compiler SHOULD handle large files up to 4Gigs in size. I’m nowhere near that of course.

5

Updating the I6 compiler is not very difficult, at least on a Mac:

  1. Install XCode. I think it’s now a free download in the App Store, but Google can give specific instructions if not.

  2. Get the patched code. Navigate to github.com/DavidKinder/Inform6. There’s a button near the top labeled ZIP with a cloud icon; click it to grab the patched source. Unzip the archive, if necessary.

  3. Configure the code. Open header.h and find the line that reads /* #define UNIX */ It should be around line 74. Replace that line with #define OSX (no slashes or stars) and save.

  4. Build the compiler. Open Terminal (under Applications -> Utilities). Type ``cd’’ followed by a space, drag the folder containing header.h from Finder to Terminal, and press enter. Then type gcc *.c and wait for the command to finish. Back in Finder, you’ll see a file called a.out in the same folder as header.h; this is your new I6 compiler.

  5. Install it. If you locate Inform in Finder, right-click on it, and select Show Package Contents, you’ll open a new window showing Inform’s internals. In that window, Contents/Resources/Compilers/inform-6.32-biplatform is the old compiler. Replace it with the a.out file (renamed to inform-6.32-biplatform), and you’re done.

Alternatively, I’ve put a 64-bit OS X build here, and if you trust me not to have done anything malicious, you could download it and skip to step 5.

6

OK I’ll follow your instructions and try to update my Mac version.

Thanks again.

7
  1. Install it. If you locate Inform in Finder, right-click on it, and select Show Package Contents, you’ll open a new window showing Inform’s internals. In that window, Contents/Resources/Compilers/inform-6.32-biplatform is the old compiler. Replace it with the a.out file (renamed to inform-6.32-biplatform), and you’re done.

Alternatively, I’ve put a 64-bit OS X build here, and if you trust me not to have done anything malicious, you could download it and skip to step 5.
[/quote]
OK I’ll follow your instructions and try to update my Mac version.

Thanks again.
[/quote]
OK it works fine now thanks much.

8

I know it is an extremely poor form to complain about a project that other people are putting their effort into and sharing it with others for free, and yet, I would like to express a more general consideration:

When there was a release every couple of months, it was understandable that there are no bugfixes-only releases. New features were being introduced gradually and whatever new or old bugs were introduced or detected, it did not take long before they would be fixed. Some of the releases were actually very close to only fixing issues (and at least one was only a bugfix).

If we have moved to the point where it takes over a year between releases, it means the changes (and bugs) introduced will probably also be more substantial, and it leaves me a bit uneasy because we will never really have a version without significant bugs.

I would rather see a release that only fixes bugs than one which gives us new features.