COM Server Wizard RIP (not!)

Peter_Priestley · ‎08-17-2004

I spent half an hour today listening to Steve's Intel Fortran presentation via Webinar in Melbourne, Australia, even gotto talk briefly to Steve (highlight of my week!). Thanks for your time Steve.

I was hoping to find out that the COM Server wizard would return in Intel Visual Fortran 8.1, but no such luck. I guess it is reasonable to assume it is dead and buried for good.

I think it is regrettable that Intel are following a narrow path catering for the mathematicians and scientists amongst us, but less so for developers needing to create complete Windows or Web solutions (and stuck like myself with hundreds of thousands of lines of Fortran code at the back end). Maths performance and performance on chips that my users don't have anyway is not that critical to me (though I'm happy for the people who can use it).

I guess there are ways around my predicament (another C++/ATL wrapper?) but the COM Server wizard was so easy. It was a good solution for developers needing to do a proper Windows or Web front-end in C++ or VB or even .NET. The COM Server encapsulated the functionality in a sort of 'object oriented' way that was understandable to a front-end developer even if they didn't know a line of Fortran.

I think I will go and compile a COM Server in CVF to cheer myself up!

Peter Priestley

Message Edited by Steve_Lionel on 03-07-2006 01:27 PM

Steven_L_Intel1 · ‎08-17-2004

Peter,

I would not write the COM Server Wizard's epitaph quite yet. It is still on the "we'd like to do it" list for the next major release.

Peter_Priestley · ‎06-22-2005

Have noted that version 9.0 does not bring any joy on this topic. What is the latest on the chances of seeing COM Server Wizard in IVF?

Steven_L_Intel1 · ‎06-22-2005

"It's ALIVE!" is all I can say right now. It is actively being developed for a future release. That's not a guarantee, but the prospect is much brighter than it was earlier.

Peter_Priestley · ‎06-22-2005

I did a Google on this topic yesterday and came across mention of a recently published book "Developing Statistical Software in Fortran 95" by David Lemmon and Joseph Schafer of Penn State University, ISBN 0-387-23817-4.

There is a web-site:-

http://methcenter.psu.edu/fortranbook

They advocate the idea of building Fortran statistical code as COM Servers, thereby allowing use of the code by various front ends, VB, Excel, SAS, SPSS, etc...

They also lament the loss of COM Server wizard and havewritten a code generation tool of their own to generate COM Server code for Intel Visual Fortran! The tool is downloadable from the web site.

I guess anyone with CVF 6.6 already has a "code generation tool", and something fully integrated into IVF would be better, but I am interested Lemmon and Schafer see the same value in COM Servers that I do. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of their book that I ordered yesterday.

Peter P.

dlemmon1 · ‎03-07-2006

I don't mean to keep "digging up" this topic,but is there any word on a COM servertoolin IVF? I didn't see anythingin the beta of 9.1.

Steven_L_Intel1 · ‎03-07-2006

It won't be in the initial 9.1 release, but it is coming. Really. If it is possible, we will slip it into a 9.1 update, and perhaps I'll be able to offer a "beta" through this forum sone time after 9.1 releases.

Steven_L_Intel1 · ‎03-16-2006

Just to whet your appetite...

Peter_Priestley · ‎03-17-2006

Looks good. I'm hungry for the beta.

Steven_L_Intel1 · ‎05-09-2006

If you have Visual Studio 2005 and Intel Visual Fortran 9.1, and would like to try the COM Server Wizard, send me an e-mail at steve.lionel at intel.com with your request. I can send you add-on files and instructions. It does not work at present with VS2002 or 2003.

We do plan on offering this as standard in a future update to the compiler (I don't know exactly when yet.)