[PythonCE] Update on MS Windows CE port

[Ulrich Eckhardt]

Hi!

Just a short update on my porting issues. I tried various things in the 
holidays/vacation, filed several bug reports, got a few patches applied and I 
think the thing is taking shape now. However, I couldn't work on it for the 
past two weeks since I'm just too swamped at work here. I haven't given up 
though!


What still needs work?

The main component that requires porting is the pythoncore project, but that 
port isn't finished yet. I'm using the VS8.0 project files as a base and 
adapted it in the following steps (note that this is preliminary):
0. Check out trunk (i.e. 2.x, not 3.x).
1. Create new project configuration for your CE target and use the win32 one 
as a base.
2. In the preprocessor settings, add these entries:
   UNICODE,_UNICODE,UNDER_CE,_WIN32_WCE=$(CEVER)
3. Try compiling. ;)


What issues are left?

There are two classes of errors you will encounter, those that are related to 
CE itself (like missing errno and other parts of standard C) and those that 
are more general, like assuming TCHAR=char. Those that assume that TCHAR=char 
can also be found with the plain win32 variant by simply adding UNICODE and 
_UNICODE to the preprocessor defines.


What are the future plans?

I'm trying to fix errors in pythoncore one by one and provide separate bug 
reports with patches. Note that there are already several patches in the BTS 
which would merit reviews if you have time, even if it's only a "patch 
applies and doesn't cause regressions".

When I get pythoncore to compile (and be it by disabling a few builtin 
modules), I will try to get the commandline interface to work. Note that IIRC 
there are two commandlines availabel under CE, one is a common cmd.exe, the 
other is called AYGShell or some such. Both will/might require different 
approaches.

Another problem is the fact that there is not just one target platform but a 
potentially infinite number of them, since every CE device can have a 
separate SDK which further might provide different features. This probably 
requires autogenerated build files or some other autoconf-like procedure that 
allows enabling or disabling certain features for builds.


so much for now

Uli

-- 
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Geschäftsführer: Thorsten Föcking, Amtsgericht Hamburg HR B62 932

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