Older blog entries for gadek (starting at number 21)

SableVM SDK for Java -- preview 2, enhanced

I know many people tried out the the first preview release of SableVM SDK. I had a few days and some feedback (thanks!) and now the time has come for another one. Quite a few NEW things are in it:

• Added GJDOC (javadoc equiv.),
• Added CP-TOOLS (javap, javah, rmi*, serialver, and others),
• Fixed all problems reported in the first preview,
• Updated Class library to GNU Classpath 0.15.

And of course it includes all the software that was present in the first preview release (or prerelease):

• SableVM
• SableVM Classpath
• LibFFI
• LibPOPT
• Jikes

How and where can you get it? Very easily. Just grab the tarball http://sablevm.org/people/gadek/sablevm-sdk-1.12-pre2.tar.gz, then unpack it, ./configure && make, then 'su' and 'make install'. If you didn't specify a --prefix, in /usr/local/lib/sablevm you'll find the most commonly used tools normally found in a JAVA_HOME-like structure.

I have tested this new package with various compilation options, in differently configured environment, but there's nothing like real-life test. Have you spotted a bug, or you have an idea for improving this package - please let me know!

Have fun using SableVM SDK for Java!

SableVM SDK is coming...

No more pain! - I think this should be the (cheap) slogan of SableVM SDK :-) The story would go like that.... Many users for years suffered from troubles of installing plenty of dependencies (with libffi and libpopt being among the worst ones) just to compile SableVM. Sleepless nights, torn out hairs (and all that). But then with the advent of SableVM SDK package everything became so simple...

Ok, enough. But the fact is, that this is (or will be) the fetch'n install type of package. The tarball of preview release of SableVM SDK contains:

• sablevm
• libffi
• libpopt
• sablevm-classpath
• jikes

The "internal" versions of libffi, libpopt and jikes are used only in absence of system wide installations that could be used. The detection is of course automatic. So where can you get this beauty? Just grab it from here. And don't forget to let us know how it went.

Happy installing!

Bugs in free java programs and libraries -- run for your life! The SableVM Project has just released a snapshot of SableVM with JVMDI/JDWP support. You can take a look at Debugging in Eclipse with SableVM in action while downloading the snapshot.

The Quick-start instructions included in the announcement should get you going within minutes. There is also a longer version available, containing the SableVM and Eclipse Debugging Troubleshooting FAQ and other interesting notes.

Many thanks go to Nizar Ahmouda who has been working on the implementation of JVMDI and JDWP since many months. We all hope that this completly unique among Free Java Virtual Machines functionality will serve well the Free Java Community, especially the GNU Classpath developers.

SableVM and GNU Classpath out-of-the box once again

There is finally a nice page that includes all necessary informations on how to run GNU Classpath CVS directly with SableVM. There's also some discussion with more experienced GNU Classpath developers about making the SableVM and GNU Classpath duo even easier to use.

In case you were wondering... SableVM's class library is over 99% GNU Classpath, the differences are pretty much only in the core, JVM-specific classes and we merge GNU Classpath CVS regularly. Still, for the people working directly with GNU Classpath CVS it might be more convenient to build one class library and test it with many JVMs.

Not to mention that this way one can actually debug GNU Classpath directly... with Eclipse and SableVM of course!

SableVM 1.1.9 Java Virtual Machine Released!

That was probably the fastest release ever, mainly to synchronize with GNU Classpath 0.13 code (the SableVM 1.1.8 contained CVS code ~10 days older than 0.13), which now allows for running Eclipse directly, without the need for external libraries.

On this occasion I also updated the instructions at http://sablevm.org/wiki/Eclipse to include a more automated Eclipse startup script. One only has to supply it with location of java-sablevm and Eclipse home directory, and it finds the rest itself.

Other changes between SableVM 1.1.8 and 1.1.9 include:

• Improved error messages related to exceptions raised during bootstrap (such as binding to non-existent native methods).
• Implemented some missing JNI functions.
• Added some missing system-dependant Java properties.
• Enabled by default the real life brokenness option to better handle native code not perfectly adhering to specifications (JNI, etc).
• Improved cross-compilation support.
• Updated the manual pages.

Debian packages of 1.1.9 in incoming

Big thanks go to Jeroen, who bravely sponsored the upload (it reminds me I need to finally get my new key signed; I feel bad as a DD w/o a valid GPG key; like a half-DD :-). The packages have already been built on numerous architectures and are available in incoming and should be sucked into the archive on next run (friday, after 9pm European time, 3pm East-America time). If everything goes fine, the packages should hit Sarge around Tuesday. I hope people will test and report any bugs and regressions, because this is most likely the version will have in Sarge, if the freeze happens in any reasonable future.

Moving... (or: how I'll love dial-up via 14.4k modem)

Well, not too far, only one floor down, to a bigger appartment, but even that means I need to get phone reconnected (55CAD go to Bell Canada for switching a switch) and then I'll wait 5 (!) days for my DSL service to be moved. I will probably be on a pay-per-hour dial-up for a few days, using an old 14,4k modem I still have from ancient times. Oh, I am sure this will suck...

Getting back to reality...

I finally feel the Christmas and New Year time is over. The classes started, and I am slowly getting back to hacking SableVM. Still, this is just the beginning of the term, so I decided to use my free time for a little retrospective, answering emails I had no time to answer since long time, getting a haircut, getting thru a pile of paperwork, etc. I also noticed some interesting things I missed in the heat of the last weeks of the old year or over the vacations.

SableVM 1.1.8 Java Virtual Machine now in Debian SID

Thanks to help from Jeff Bailey the new packages are available in SID. They're not not in Sarge/Testing yet, because a few problems were reported. This was expected, as the changes since 1.1.6-6 were huge. I'll start looking into these reports soon. (And this also reminds me I should finally get my new GPG key signed by a DD)

Extraordinary support of SableVM for Gentoo...

David is doing great work in improving support for SableVM in Gentoo. He described the process of cross-compiling SableVM on Gentoo, including HOWTO and patches. He also added Gentoo sablevm-svn (staging) ebuild support thanks to which it is a breeze to use an always up-to-date version of SableVM in Gentoo.

SableVM support for GNU Classpath 0.13

I quickly tested the Out-of-the-box support of SableVM for GNU Classpath with 0.13 release using current daily snapshot of SableVM and using the -Xgnuclasspath:/dir/ectory option of java-sablevm command line tool. In the GNU Classpath 0.13 Release announcement you'll also find information about it, but it might be better to take a look at the step-by-step instructions for getting SableVM work directly with GNU Classpath. I think it should make it into some short document finally.

Because the gnucp-overrides.jar file, required to run GNU Classpath (CVS), is auto-built everyday from sablevm-classpath, which in turn is kept up-to-date with GNU Classpath CVS, it is interesting to see for how long it will be possible to run ie. GNU CP 0.13 with daily version of this override jar. This should give us some idea of the level of stability of the VM interfece of GNU Classpath.

SableVM 1.1.8 (Free Java Virtual Machine) Released !!!

Our previous release wasn't that long ago, but there has been quite a few improvements since then, mainly:

• Eclipse 2 and 3 works now,
• It is now possible to run SableVM with GNU Classpath CVS directly with the help of -Xgnuclasspath: option of java-sablevm command (this is intended mainly for GNU Classpath developers, as regular users are adviced to use sablevm-classpath),
• We merged into sablevm-classpath very fresh GNU Classpath CVS code on Dec 28,
• We implemented a few missing JNI functions, improved error messages and fixed quite a few bugs.

For the full list of improvements and changes see the SableVM 1.1.8 Java Virtual Machine release announcement

Debian packages are ready for upload at http://gadek.homelinux.org/debian-1.1.8/ and should hit the archive soon (thanks to Jeff Bailey!). Given the cumulative improvements since SableVM 1.1.6-6 I think this new version should definitely go into Sarge.

SableVM Java VM Hall Of Fame updated, and...

Our small "Hall of Fame" is apparently quite popular (according to webalizer, at least :) so I googled a bit and again added a couple of new entries to it, including...

Snap Development Kit -- this one was especially interesting. I think binding together a Free Java Virtual Machine (SableVM, of course :-), class library, compiler and maybe some other basic java tools is the way to go. Would *you* care to help?

SableVM is well and alive! Use it :-)

Somebody wrote that he was looking for a Free Java Virtual Machine and found out that SableVM JVM website was dead. At first I thought that he meant the project activity was very low, which would be rather strange, given the constant stream of gcc warning fixes Etienne applied lately :-) But actually our website was inaccessible for some time. Ah, the joys of network downtimes.

So just to clarify, SableVM is well and alive and daily snapshots of SableVM (this including daily builds of an overrides JAR needed to run GNU Classpath CVS) are available to those for whom the the releases are not enough. Also the instructions on how to run Eclipse on SableVM were updated and extended lately. Enjoy!

Eclipse, Debian and SableVM (the update I promised)

Given that we have finally got Eclipse 3 running on SableVM Java Virtual Machine I started looking into way of getting a new version of SableVM into Debian Sarge, so that people using it could at least use the included Eclipse. We need to first release SableVM 1.1.8 as 1.1.7 is not able to run Eclipse yet, only our "staging" development version is (you can get fully usable nightly snapshots of SableVM staging if you want to try it out - see the preliminary Eclipse startup script for SableVM to save time!). But this is not the real problem. I should hopefully be able to do it in before Christmas.

There are however other complications, mainly because

• current Eclipse in Debian is an old version, abondoned by upstream (who uses Eclipse 2 nowadays?)
• even this old version is NOT in Debian testing/Sarge yet!

It has one grave bug, and it also depends on java-package that has several severe problems. Clearly, Eclipse in Debian need more TLC (Tender, Love & Care). Is there anyone willing to look into that? (please write to debian-java@lists.debian.org http://lists.debian.org/debian-java. Update: see Eclipse alioth project)

Having Eclipse in Debian and working with a completly Free Java Virtual Machine surely would be a great advantage for Debian!

Eclipse 3 on SableVM Java Virtual Machine!!!

The joined efforts of SableVM JVM hackers and GNU Classpath hackers finally allowed Eclipse 3 to run on SableVM!. According to what Etienne told me, he was running Eclipse 3 on his Debian PowerPC for a few hours, including editing, compiling and running simple java programs. And all that using SableVM as the only Java Virtual Machine on his laptop. I wish I had some more time now to try it on myself. WoW!

More on that later this week, as soon as my exams come to a (hopefully happy) end.