Port Request: Gambas

[Pleng]

Gambas is a Visual Basic/Visual Studio style language/development environment for Linux. As of 25th October 2009 it has apparently been able to compile on ARM Linux. This would be an amazing asset for the Pandora. Anybody up for giving it a go?

 

[mcobit]

As this supports gtk, qt, sql, and a lot of other things, somebody with a very complete toolchain would have to build it.

 

[Pleng]

Do we know of anybody with such a chain?

 

[mcobit]

Maybe notaz, maybe sebt3...

I tried it out on my desktop and I think on the pandorascreen it would be very difficult to get a visual-studio-like environment running.
I think it would be a little small for that task.

 

[Pleng]

Yes, but if you were to develop on the desktop, then move your project to the Pandora, and compile it with Gambas Panndora, you presumably have a fully working Pandora app.

I don't think you can cross compile with it.

 

[mcobit]

I just don't have the time right now... Else I would go through the dependencies and try to build it.

Maybe someone with a good crosscompilingsetup wants to try it?

 

[otherguy66]

Pleng, stop reading my mind!

I only just this minute downloaded all the Armel debs for Gambas2 (since it seemed to fail when I apt-getted the thing)

I'll install it on the Ubuntu image first, then see how it goes!

http://ftp.debian.org/pool/main/g/gambas2/

Try it for yourself

Note:

Gambas2 is interpretted and needs a runtime (and possibly other libraries) so these would need to either be on your system or within the PND along with your code.

 

[Pleng]

OK So I guessthe most important thing to get going is the runtime. This will enable people to develop Gambas apps on the desktop and then package them up int a PND with the ARM runtime.

 

[otherguy66]

Yeah, well I think you need the runtime and the associated Gambas libraries, which themselves talk to other linux libraries; for example, a GUI app can be specified as either GTK or QT... the runtime then uses the Gambas-GTK library to talk to the GTK library proper... at least I think that's how it works. You can then package you program up with only the stuff you need (although they seem to be 15k each, so what the hell... just include everything).



Edit: Seems to be about 4mb for the entire set of Gambas libraries.

 

[Pleng]

OK Good luck with this. I shall be keeping a close eye on it

 

[otherguy66]

OK Good luck with this. I shall be keeping a close eye on it

I'll do my best sir. Sort of don't know what I'm doing though (which is the best way huh?).

 

[Pleng]

If you say so! Don't worry I don't know what I'm doing with my port of Novashell, either!

 

[otherguy66]

Yeah, I didn't have any luck with this. I tried installing the debs and compiling from source in Ubuntu, but it complains about missing libraries. I thought it might be the missing QT stuff, so I tried it in Zaxxon to no effect... it can't even find the same files in the directories they're supposed to be in!

Gambas appears to be a pain in the arse, since it doesn't give the standard Linux 'library missing' response, but it's own scripted message. In other words, it wants to be different... and I have no idea how to appease it.

Out of my depth here sadly. Anyone with more skills willing to try?

 

[Pleng]

That makes me a sad Panda

 

[mcobit]

Sometimes there are symlinks leading to nowhere in the /usr/lib/directory