GNAT Programming Suite: Cross-Reference Info Not Up To Date (this is a guess)

Question

I'm trying to get package references resolved during a build, using GNAT Programming Suite (hosted on Win XP). In the Builder Results, I get errors like this one:

file "ac_configuration_s.ada" not found

Clicking on the error takes me to a line like this:

with

    Ac_Configuration,
    Dispense_Timer,
    ...

The first item (Ac_Configuration) isn't resolved, but the second item (Dispense_Time) is resolved. I have several others that do or don't resolve. All of the files in question (spec and body) are identified as source files.

When I hover my mouse over the line with the error, a popup shows up that offers this:

(Cross-references info not up to date. This is a guess.)
Ac_Configuration
local package declared at D_Ac_Config_S.Ada:85

The guess is correct, but I don't know how to use this. How do I get this to correctly build?

Update

Here is teh call to gcc

gcc -c "-gnatec=C:\Source\build\GNAT-TEMP-000001.TMP" -I- -gnatA
-x ada "-gnatem=C:\Source\build\GNAT-TEMP-000002.TMP" "C:\Source\C_Cbt_Main_B.Ada"

I don't see a reference to teh "miimal" switch.

In this case, there is no corresponding body file file D_Ac_Config_S.Ada. So the is no body file to compile separately.

When I right click on the package reference inside the with, I can goto the declaration of Ac_Configuration and every other package name that is the source of an error. So these lreferences are being resolved somehow.

By the way, I have not used ADA before, so I'm still trying to understand everything.

Answer 1

It looks as though you're using _s.ada as the suffix for specs, and I'm guessing _b.ada for bodies?

GNAT may have difficulty with this naming convention. It's possible, using a GNAT Project file (.gpr), to alter GNAT's default convention ({unit-name}.ads for specs, {unit-name}.adb for bodies) but the rules (see "Spec_Suffix") say "It cannot start with an underscore followed by an alphanumeric character" (I haven't tried this, but you can see that it would confuse the issue if you had a package Foo_S, for example).
LATER: It turns out that GNAT (GPL, 4.7, 4.8) is quite happy with your suffixes!

If the package Ac_Configuration is really a local package declared at line 85 of D_Ac_Config_S.Ada, then there's your problem; you can only with a library unit, which in this case would be D_Ac_Config.

with D_Ac_Config;
...
package Foo is
   ...
   Bar : D_Ac_Config.Ac_Configuration.Baz;

I wonder whether D_Ac_Config_S.Ada (for example) actually contains multiple Ada units? (if so, compiling that file should result in a compilation error such as end of file expected, file can have only one compilation unit). GNAT doesn't support this at compile time, providing instead a utility gnatchop.

Would it be possible to just gnatchop all the source and be done with it?

Answer 2

Hm, I think it sounds like the compiler's got a bad set of objects/ALIs it's working with, hence the cross-reference not up to date error. (Usually the compiler's good about keeping things up to date; but you may want to check to see if the "minimal recompilation" switch is set for the project.)

Have you tried compiling just the ["owning"] file D_Ac_Config_S.Ada? (i.e. if it were a spec, go to the corresponding body and compile that.) That should force its ALI/object files to be updated.

Then try building as normal.

-- PS: you might have to clean first.