Some problems with Kaffe 1.0b1

[Michael Sinz]

I have tried a few of my programs/projects with kaffe 1.0b1 and,
unfortunately, none of them work...

Ok, so I downloaded the snapshot build, read the change log,
and built it.  Now they almost work.  With some minor changes
some of them can run now, but not correctly.  All of the code is
compiled with Sun's JAVAC from JDK 1.1.6 and sometimes also compiled
by JIKES 0.36 (from IBM) just to make sure nothing silly slipped
into the source.

This is what I found with the snapshot from the end of August 9th
(or early morning August 10th)

1)  Socket.setSoTimeout(int) throws "unknown method"

    There is some talk about having addressed this a fresh
    build of the daily snapshot does not seem to help.
    Removing these calls in my socket connection code
    lets the connection work.  (All of my projects currently
    involve connections to sockets or being a server for
    connections)

2)  TextArea.setCaretPosition(int) behaves differently...

    Under the JDK, in order to put the cursor at the end of
    the text area, I do a setCaretPosition(Integer.MAX_VALUE)
    This has worked for as long as I can remember using the
    TextArea object.  In Kaffe this throws an array index
    out of bounds when Kaffe tries to access its vector of
    lines in the TextArea.  The reason is that the code that
    makes a 2D point from the character offset returns -1,-1
    if the value is beyond the end of the area but the code
    that then would scroll the area tries to make line -1 visible
    and fails with the exception.

3)  Something I have not had the chance to track down yet
    causes one application to partially start (after having
    removed the setSoTimeout()) and then just hang.  I have
    not had the time yet to track this down.

This is all running Kaffe on a Linux 2.0.x system.  The same
bytecode runs fine on Solaris, Windows, and Linux using the JDK.
(The Linux JDK is the Blackdown 1.1.6 port)

Kaffe is a wonderful effort and I like the AWT done as light-weight
classes.  This just seems like a great way to go.  They also look
nice (IMHO).

-- 
Michael Sinz -- Director of Research & Development, NextBus Inc.
mailto:michael.sinz at nextbus.com --------- http://www.nextbus.com
My place on the web ---- http://www.users.fast.net/~michael_sinz