Font_ApplyFields problem

[Kevin Bracey]

> Thanks for the report, Kevin. I'm not too sure as to the best way to fix
this
> right now, but it'll get my attention.

Quite a few SWIs are documented as corrupting registers, so there must be a
DefMod option to handle it. Hopefully :)

> > Oh, and can I add a vote for getting rid of all those horrible W
functions?
> > At a minimum can we have something that we can #define (or not #define)
to
> > make os_f 32-bit and get rid of them?
> >
>
> What, in particular, do you find so objectionable to the W functions?

Practically speaking I think that it's that they break the uniform SWI
name -> function name convention, so I have to remember to stick all the
'w's on. Philosophically, it's that the burden is placed on authors who want
correct behaviour rather than those who need backwards compatibility.

I'm also not so convinced that backwards compatibility can be said to be
such a dominant consideration for a statically linked library.

My personal ideal would be 32-bit file handles being os_f and no suffix, and
8-bit handles being os_f8 and with an 8 suffix (say).

> I personally believe each religion has its validity, and for better or
worse
> a decision was taken in favour of the compatibility retainers, much to the
> chagrin of the compatibility predictors. The argument could have continued
> for ever, and flares up every now and again, as here.
>

:) I was just adding my voice to the voting. You should be keeping a tally
somewhere :)

>
> Your suggestion of a compile-time switch could be a nice solution to the
> problem, but has its drawbacks. You are probably aware that OSLib is
machine
> generated from a DefMod language. This language doesn't allow for
> options, but it may be possible to manually change types.h and types.hdr
to
> include a switch in the way you suggest. I think this may introduce
> maintainability issues, but I'll give it some thought.

The other alternative is two totally separate builds. Maybe run the DefMod
files themselves through the a preprocessor to create the two systems.

Kevin
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