FLORIST:

This directory contains the components of FLORIST, an
implementation of the IEEE Standards 1003.5: 1992, IEEE STD
1003.5b: 1996, and parts of IEEE STD 1003.5c: 1998, also known as
the POSIX Ada Bindings.

All the code in this directory is copyrighted by the Florida
State University (FSU), except for any files that contain
statements indicating the copyright belongs to someone else.

The FSU-copyrighted code is free software; you can redistribute it
and/or modify it under terms of the GNU General Public License as
published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or
(at your option) any later version.  FLORIST is distributed in the
hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without
even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more
details.  You should have received a copy of the GNU General
Public License distributed with GNARL (see file COPYING).  If not,
write to the Free Software Foundation, 59 Temple Place - Suite
330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
                                                                          
As a special exception, if other files instantiate generics from
this unit, or you link this unit with other files to produce an
executable, this unit does not by itself cause the resulting
executable to be covered by the GNU General Public License. This
exception does not however invalidate any other reasons why the
executable file might be covered by the GNU Public License.

PREREQUISITES:

You will need the GNAT 3.15 compiler to install and compile Florist.  

----------------
--  WARNINGS  --
----------------

This Ada binding implementation depends on your underlying OS
having C header-files and libraries that conform to the POSIX
standards.  It will try to use constants, types, and functions
defined in POSIX.1, POSIX.1b, POSIX.1c, and the proposed POSIX.1g
standard.  The degree to which the Ada binding works and conforms
to the POSIX.5 and POSIX.5b standards will be limited by how well
your OS conforms to the corresponding C API's.

So far, we have not found any operating system that fully supports
POSIX.1c and POSIX.1g though they are getting better.  Generally,
you will get better results with newer OS releases, since their C
API's are closer to the POSIX standards.  It is also a good idea
to make sure that your installation includes the header files and
libraries needed for the real-time and threads extensions.  (The
default "end user" OS installation may try to save you disk space
by not installing them.)

Beware of the packages POSIX_Sockets, POSIX_Sockets.Internet,
POSIX_Sockets.Local, POSIX_Sockets.ISO, POSIX_XTI,
POSIX_XTI.Internet, POSIX_XTI.ISO, POSIX_XTI.MOSI,
POSIX_Event_Management.  These are parts of a POSIX.5c prototype
effort that stalled during the ballot/revision process.  We have
since made some improvements, notably in the socket interfaces,
but this is far from a finished work.  These package interfaces
SHOULD NOT BE ASSUMED TO CONFORM to the approved POSIX.5c
standard, nor are they fully implemented.

Florist is currently supported on the following configurations. It
may or may not work on non supported configurations:

Sparc/Solaris 2.5.1, 2.6, 2.7, 8
x86/Solaris 2.6
Linux glibc2
DEC Unix 4.0x
HP/UX 10.20
HP/UX 11.0
IRIX 6.5
AiX 4.1

Beware of the Draft 2 POSIX.5c prototype packages (POSIX_Sockets*
and POSIX_XTI*).  We are working with members of the POSIX.5c
Working Group to jointly develop a prototype implementation of the
proposed standard Ada bindings for POSIX.1g (sockets and XTI).
However, the proposed POSIX.5c interfaces are still being changed by
the IEEE balloting group.  Draft 4 is already being written, in
reponse to the comments on Draft3.  Therefore, what you see here
is already obsolete.  We do not recommend using any of the
packages POSIX_Sockets, POSIX_Sockets.Internet, POSIX_Sockets.Local,
POSIX_Sockets.ISO, POSIX_XTI, POSIX_XTI.Internet, POSIX_XTI.ISO,
POSIX_XTI.MOSI, POSIX_Event_Management.

NORMAL INSTALLATION:

Follow the steps described in the INSTALL file.

COMPILING YOUR PROGRAMS WITH FLORIST:

To compile your own programs with Florist, you will need to include
the gnatmake parameters that specify where to find the
Florist sources and object library file. Usually the following command
will be enough :

$ gnatmake -Ifloristlib main -largs -lflorist

If you don't want to keep around the whole Florist installation
directory, you should be able to copy or move the subdirectory
"floristlib" to some other location, and then include it in
your GNAT source and object library search paths (see the GNAT documentation
for more details).