Fortran for Mac OSX : upgrade policy and integration with xcode

[velvia]

Hi,

I would like to purchase an academic license of the Fortran compiler for Mac OS X. As I'm running OS X 10.6.4 and xcode 3.2.3, I've heard that there are some problems with the current release of the Fortran compiler.

I would like to know if I will get a free upgrade to the next release that will fix the problem (scheduled for end august for what I've seen) if I buy it today. What is your policy considering upgrades on academic licenses. For example, xcode 4 is going to be released and I don't want to be stuck with xcode 3 just because of Fortran.

I also want to know if it is possible to debug within xcode : setting breakpoints and watch variables.

Best regards,

Francois

[Kevin_D_Intel]

Hi Francois,

The problems you're reading about/referring to involves the linker (ld) shipped with the Xcode 3.2.2 (and later) release. The issue involves the linker not handling certain debug symbols produced by the compiler. It is not a compiler bug per say but more an incompatibility with the linker. Apple may address the issue in the linker longer term but short term we changed the compiler emitted debug symbols for compatibility. You can review additional details in (this) sticky post at the top of this forum. The next 11.1 update 7 (planned for later this month) will contain changes to address this incompatibility. The incompatibility issue is also addressed in our next major released planned for late this year.

Yes, a purchase today entitles you to a free upgrade to the next 11.1 update 7 and even a free upgrade to the next major release late this year. Every purchase of an Intel Software Development Product includes a year of support services, which provide access to Intel Premier Support and all product updates during that time. Intel Premier Support gives you online access to technical notes, application notes, and documentation.

Intel Fortran support of any new Xcode release will always lag the official Xcode release. We try to support newer Xcode releases as soon as possible after the retail availability. We are aware of the upcoming Xcode 4.0 release and are investigating future support.

Debugging Fortran under Xcode is not really possible. Full support of Fortran debugging under Xcode requires additional support from Apple. In lieu of that, the Intel compiler includes the Intel Debugger (IDB) which for Mac OS is a command-line only interface. There are other alternatives for GUI-based debugging of Fortran such as using DDD with IDB discussed (here), and another technique of using Parallels Desktop (a user mentioned here).

Hope that helps and thank you in advance for considering our Fortran compiler for Mac OS and any future purchase.