Formula One Compiler Release Notes

Release 42, January 6, 2009

System Requirements

OS
The compiler requires the one of the following platforms: Windows 2000, Windows XP or Vista. The compiler can run with certain limitation under Linux using Wine.

Display
It is recommended to run the IDE on systems supporting more than 256 colors, using resolution 1024x768 or better.

CPU
As there is a high probability you will end up running programs that are very CPU intensive, installing a GMP library that matches your CPU is essential. The GMP libraries should be upwards compatible (i.e. you can use GMP compiled for Pentium 2 on Pentium 4 etc.) but the performance may not be optimal.
The Setup programs detects several popular CPUs manufactured by Intel and AMD, however there are several other CPU vendors which the Setup does not recognize and will most likely mislabel. In this case it is the responsibility of the end user to manually select the best CPU match. Beware that selecting an incorrect library may generate invalid instructions. If everything fails, as the last resort, try installing the "generic" GMP library. If you can build and successfully run the sample Test Samples.f1 (as described in Getting Started) you have installed the correct GMP library.

What's New

Redesigned IDE.
Although the F1 IDE release 42 maintains similar look and feel as the previous releases, internally it has been significantly modified.

Improved Runtime Performance
Several performance improvemets, notably collecting a large number of solutions into a list.

Improved Runtime Memory Allocation
Improved memory allocation/deallocation. All available memory can/will be used at runtime if needed.

Getting Started

This is the recommended way to get started. After the FormulaOne IDE has been installed, follow these steps (We assume the sample code has been installed) :

Using menus select "File->RecentProjects->Samples". (Samples will contain an absolute path based on your installation).
Right-click on the the file Test Samples.f1
Select Rebuild; this will rebuild all neccessary modules.
Click on samplesQuery.f1q: this will open the query file in the editor.
Make sure the line TestSamples() is the only line that is not commented out.
Compile and Run samplesQuery.f1q (for example, use the menu item Projects).
Wait. Based on your hardware configuration, the program can run for several minutes. The program issues various progress messages. If a single test fails, the whole program will be terminated. Once the program successfully finishes, it should issue the message Success. In the unlikely event the program fails, please file a bug report.

Note the Test Samples does not test all of the samples, in particular the sample Anagram123 needs to be build separately. Anagram123 uses the module AllAnagramWords, which is quite large (over 200000 lines of code), so once again be patient as it will take a while to compile.

Known Issues

The standalone installable executables created by F1 compiler will by default install the programs in the Program Files folder. You need administrator privileges in order to do that. That is normal and expected. However, running the newly installed program as the final step of the installation will run the program with administrator privileges as well.
When changing the IDE controls using "Customize"->"Appearance"->"Standard Controls", some visual artifacts may appear. This depends on the OS. The artifacts will go away once the Formula One IDE is restarted.
After restoring the IDE the rebar toolbars may be in slightly different positions as when saved.
Using Linux, the latest release of Wine (1.1.10) we tested did not support context menus correctly.
Uninstalling of FormulaOne will remove all files created during FormulaOne installation. Files created by users will be not removed.

Reporting Bugs

In the "About" box there is a bug report button. This is the preferred method of bug reporting, as it reports all installed Formula One components, OS and CPU type. To report bugs manually, use the e-mail address bugs@f1compiler.com .
If you have any other problems, feedback or a nifty program you would like to submit to our sample code web page, submit them at support@f1compiler.com.

Latest Release

For the latest release of the Formula One compiler and other news, frequently check the home page at http://www.f1compiler.com/downloads/downloads.html