Virtual Pascal description

Virtual Pascal is the tool of choice for 32-bit cross-platform development using the Pascal language.

It is compatibile with Delphi and Borland Pascal and it includes the Run-Time Library (RTL), a powerful integrated debugger, an optimizing compiler and comprehensive online documentation.

Fast cross-platform compiler

- 32-bit compiler, fully Borland Pascal v7 compatible and largely Delphi v2 compatible. - 100% data type compatible with BP7 and Delphi. - All Delphi v2 object pascal language extensions included. - Cross-platform capable: The compilers (Win32, Linux and OS/2) can generate executables for the other targets. 3rd party support for DPMI32 is included as well (please consider the Linux support Experimental). - Smartlinking 32-bit optimising compiler technology for the fastest possible speed and the smallest executables. - Direct access to all OS/2 (and Win32) API functions, including 16 bit ones. No run-time DLLs or "thunk libraries" are required. - Generates standard OMF-compliant .OBJ and .LIB files, as well as standard .ASM files that can be compiled with MASM or TASM. Even advanced features like Thread Local Storage, AnsiStrings, etc generate standard assembler code, not requiring compiler "magic".

Built-in cross-platform linker

- Much faster than many other linkers: typically 3-10 times faster than LINK386. - Highly effective; only links code that is actually used. - Cross-platform: Can create native OS/2 LX as well as Win32 PE executables. - Supports all OS/2 EXEPACK formats and compresses both code, data and resources. - Advanced STUB file support. Allows any DOS program (even overlayed ones) to be inserted as the stub program (The stub program is the one executed if the program is run in Dos. By default, it outputs a line saying "This program requires Win32/OS2 to run"). - Creates BP/Delphi/TLink compatible map files with adjustable detail level. - Automatic recognition of IOPL requirements makes I/O port usage easy. - Easy to use dynamic link libraries can be created. Just specify the name of the DLL(s) to use, and the linker handles the rest (OS/2 only).

Integrated Development Environment

- Integrated Development Environment very similar to Borland Pascal combined with Turbo Debugger. - Experimental support for any Linux kernel v2.2 or later. - Fully integrated symbolic debugger, with functionality similar to Borland's Turbo Debugger; also works as a stand-alone debugger, capable of debugging stand-alone executables without source code. - Full debugger support for OS/2 and Win32. - For OS/2, PM and text mode versions of the IDE are included. For Windows, a text mode version is included. - The IDEs run on 32-bit OS/2 v2.0 and later, and Windows 95/98/ME, Windows NT and Windows 2000. - Fourteen different debugging views, including: Watch, Stack, Breakpoint, Log, Symbols, Units, Threads, Object Hierarchy, CPU, Dump, Registers, FPU and Exceptions Windows. - Run-Time Location Information (RTLI) can be generated and stored in the executable file. This way, you get the line number and the name of the source file of every run-time error, at very little overhead. - The ability to extend the IDE and compiler to support more platforms or variants of existing targets. For example, it is possible to define an OWL target, a DPMI target, or a Linux target and use these from the IDE. - The IDE uses text-based .VPO (Virtual Pascal Options) files for defining projects. The IDE is able to read old VP v1.1 .CFG files but always saves the settings to the new format. Text-based .INI files make it easier to extend the capabilities of the IDE without compromising backwards compatibility, and also allow access to most of the settings from a text-editor. - Separate output directory for .EXE, .DLL and .MAP files; Using this option, all of the "helper" files like .OBJ, .LIB, .VPI, .ASM, etc can be stored in a separate directory.

Utility programs

- "HG" is the Virtual Pascal Help Generator. Using this, you can create your own online help files for VP. - "Which" is a utility that looks up an executable: "If I typed xyz on the command line, what would be executed?" - "Tph2Vph" automatically converts Borland Pascal help files to compressed Virtual Pascal online help format. - "ImpLib" is a combined Import Library and Import Definitions manager. It is used to manage import libraries, create .DEF files from DLLs, etc. - "ToLower" converts all files and directories to lower case.

Libraries and examples

- Includes support for upgrading parts of the Delphi RTL/VCL files to VP compatibility. For updating TypInfo, Classes and SysUtils, source code from the following Delphi versions can be used: 1.00, 2.00, 2.01, 3.00, 3.01, 4.00, 5.00 - Some support for porting programs using Borland Pascal's 16-bit Object Object Windows Library (OWL for BPW) to Win32. The software includes source code upgrades to the OWL units, as well as upgrades to the CHESS and CALC examples. - A version of Turbo Vision for OS/2 and Win32 is included with full source code. - The full source code for the popular Object Professional library (v1.30) from TurboPower is included. This version of the library contains most functionality of the original DOS library, and supports both OS/2 and Win32 targets (Linux is untested). - Numerous source code examples for all supported platforms are included. The examples include code demonstrating the Class model, Thread Local Storage, DLLs, extensible Memory Managers, Threading, Assembler programming, etc. - Several advanced OpenGL examples (Win32) are included - A testing framework for exercising parts of thr compiler and RTL is included as an example of OO programming.

A VP-specific compiler directive {&Use32+} can be used. In the enabled state (which should be used when porting Borland Pascal code), the Use32 unit is implicitly included in the Uses statement of all unit after the System unit, but before any user-defined units are used.

The Use32 unit redefines the default integer types (integer and word, which in the System unit are defined as BP- and Delphi 1-compatible 16-bit datatypes) to be 32-bit instead.

For projects that should be compatible with Borland Pascal, {$Use32+} should remain enabled, maybe with a few exceptions in units that rely heavily on 16 bit data types. In these units, a {$Use32-} directive can be inserted at the beginning of the unit, or the new Use16 unit can be included in the Uses statement. Use16 simply reverts the type definitions introduced by Use32; this effectively cancels the effect of the &Use32 directive for this unit.

Projects that should be compatible with Delphi 2 or later should not use Use32 but should instead include the SysUtils unit, which redefines Integer to be 32 bits, but leaves Word as 16-bit - like in 32-bit Delphi.

Support for this directive increases the cross-platform and cross-compiler ability of Virtual Pascal and once and for all solves the big problems introduced when Borland decided to change the meaning of the words "Integer" and "Word".