gcj -bootclasspath doesn't work anymore?

Wed Sep 4 15:53:00 GMT 2002

>>>>> "Per" == Per Bothner <per@bothner.com> writes:

Per> More to the point, it works if you put the -C first:
Per> gcj -C -bootclasspath '' hello.java -v
I find that a bit surprising. We need to document this restriction.
Per> Now why it doesn't work if you put the -bootclasspath before the
Per> -C is because process_comand in gcc.c processes -b and -V options
Per> at the start of the command line, before doing anything else.
Per> This is a crock, attempting to handle the historical use of -V -b
Per> even when the gcc driver changes incompatibly.
For some reason I thought -b and -V were deprecated. I don't have a
reference though.
I have two concerns here. First, requiring -bootclasspath after -C is
a bit odd; most GNU tools don't work that way. Second, whether we can
rely on this continuing to work in future gcc releases.
The first can be partially addressed through documentation. I suppose
the second could be addressed by adding a test case.
Still, why not ship a `javac'-like wrapper script? I haven't seen an
argument against doing it. Debian does it, presumably indicating that
they've seen a need for one.
Tom