[ODE] documentation initiative

[John Miles]

>         --> can someone tell me if the C ABI is identical for all
>             windows compilers (or can be made so with compiler flags).
>             if not, what are the differences?

The C ABI is identical across all popular Win32 compilers -- otherwise, you
wouldn't be able to use DirectX or even the Win32 SDK with the non-MS
compilers.

(Even in C++, the need for COM compliance has brought a surprising amount of
standardization to the field.  You can usually count on abstract base
classes having the same vtable layout between compilers, as long as there
aren't any overloaded functions.)

MSVC probably has 95% of the Windows market, so if you focus on that, people
will be happy for the most part.

> (2) an automatic build system is a must - nobody wants to run through 20
> compile cycles by hand every time something in CVS changes (remember
> that we have debug/release options, float/double options, so we must
> build for all option settings for all platforms).

I think what you're missing is that the config.h file doesn't change every
time something in CVS changes.  It's pretty much done.  Why not ship 20
different versions of config.h, and make everyone happy?  Unlike the current
system, this will only hurt for a few minutes, and then the pain is over.

> how can we auto-build windows libs without a dedicated
> windows machine?

You don't!  Building a Windows library on a Linux box accomplishes nothing
useful.  You don't ship something just because the compiler says "0 errors!"
(See the last 3,000 messages on the list from people complaining about
missing exports.)

You want to leave the Windows build(s) up to someone who knows the Windows
platform and the conditions under which the Windows library will be used.
Same with Linux, OS X, etc.

-- jm