F.1 Using GNAT on Windows

One of the strengths of the GNAT technology is that its tool set (gcc, gnatbind, gnatlink, gnatmake, the gdb debugger, etc.) is used in the same way regardless of the platform.

On Windows this tool set is complemented by a number of Microsoft-specific tools that have been provided to facilitate interoperability with Windows when this is required. With these tools:

• You can build applications using the CONSOLE or WINDOWS subsystems.
• You can use any Dynamically Linked Library (DLL) in your Ada code (both relocatable and non-relocatable DLLs are supported).
• You can build Ada DLLs for use in other applications. These applications can be written in a language other than Ada (e.g., C, C++, etc). Again both relocatable and non-relocatable Ada DLLs are supported.
• You can include Windows resources in your Ada application.
• You can use or create COM/DCOM objects.

Immediately below are listed all known general GNAT-for-Windows restrictions. Other restrictions about specific features like Windows Resources and DLLs are listed in separate sections below.

• It is not possible to use GetLastError and SetLastError when tasking, protected records, or exceptions are used. In these cases, in order to implement Ada semantics, the GNAT run-time system calls certain Win32 routines that set the last error variable to 0 upon success. It should be possible to use GetLastError and SetLastError when tasking, protected record, and exception features are not used, but it is not guaranteed to work.