Chapter 7. Ada Language

Table of Contents

Overview
The Bindings
Thin Binding
The Thick Bindings
Standard Thick Binding Using Enhanced Names
Thick Binding Using Traditional Names
The Examples
Obtaining the Software
Obtaining an Ada compiler
Download and install PLplot
The Ada bindings to PLplot
How to use the Ada bindings
Ada 95 versus Ada 2005
GNAT versus non-GNAT
Sample command line project
Unique Features of the Ada bindings
High-level features for simplified plotting
Integer Options Given Ada Names
One-offs
Parts That Retain a C Flavor
Map-drawing
Known Variances
Documentation
API
Compilation notes
Ada 95 Versus Ada 2005
GNAT Dependence
PLplot_Auxiliary
Notes for Apple Macintosh OS X users
Using Apple's Xcode IDE
AquaTerm
X11
GNAT for OS X

This document describes the Ada bindings to the PLplot technical plotting software, how to obtain the necessary software components, and how to use them together.

Overview

The Ada bindings for PLplot provide a way for Ada programmers to access the powerful PLplot technical plotting facilities directly from Ada programs while working completely in Ada; the Ada programmer never needs to know or worry that PLplot itself is written in another language.

There are a thin binding and two thick bindings provided. The thin binding presents the application programming interface (API) in a form very similar to the C API, although in 100% Ada. The thick bindings present the API in a form to which Ada programmers will be more accustomed and add some ease-of-use features. It is expected that the thick bindings will be preferred.