cobol: Change policy for finding shared object files
Cobol compiler updates policy for finding .so files and fixes character encoding issues in tests.
The GCC Cobol compiler has updated its policy for searching for shared object (.so) files containing specific symbols. This change aims to improve symbol resolution across different systems, including FreeBSD and NetBSD, by recognizing the ‘ibm1140’ character encoding instead of ‘cp1140’. Additionally, several DejaGNU tests have been updated to reflect this change and fix minor logic or data capacity issues.
In Details
The libgcobol library now implements a new policy for finding shared object (.so) files using do_the_dl_thing, find_in_dirs, and __gg__function_handle_from_cobpath. This replaces the previous implicit search mechanism. The DejaGNU tests are updated to use 'ibm1140' instead of 'cp1140' for EBCDIC character set tests, as 'ibm1140' is more widely supported across different POSIX systems (glibc, FreeBSD, NetBSD). Minor fixes in symbols.cc and parse.y also address corner cases in picture string handling and data capacity tests.
- Cobol
- A compiled programming language designed for business applications. GCC includes a front-end for Cobol.
- Shared Object (.so)
- A type of library file that contains compiled code and data which can be loaded and linked by multiple programs at runtime. Used on Unix-like systems.
- Symbol resolution
- The process by which the compiler or linker determines the memory address of a symbol (like a function or variable name) that is referenced in the code.
- DejaGNU
- A testing framework used by GCC and other GNU projects to test their software across various configurations and platforms.
- EBCDIC
- Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code. An older character encoding standard used primarily on IBM mainframe and midrange systems.
- Character encoding
- A system that assigns a unique number to each character, allowing computers to store and process text. Examples include ASCII, UTF-8, and EBCDIC variants like cp1140 and ibm1140.