OpenIMPACT

OpenIMPACT is an open-source Itanium compiler released under GELATO. It is a worthwhile option to consider for developers who require an Itanium compiler. In order to use OpenIMPACT, you must have an x86 or ia64 based system running Linux (uname a), with GCC 3.2.x or 3.4.x, GNU make 3.79.1 or better (make version), perl 5 or better (perl version), and python 1.5.2 or better (python version).

Modifying OpenIMPACT's build system requires automake 1.7 or better (automake version) and autoconf 2.54 or better (autoconf version).

The source directory (containing this file) is referred to as "sourcedir" in these instructions. To build in the source tree, you simply need to cd into the sourcedir and run "./configure" followed by "make." To build outside of the source tree, create a new build directory ("builddir"), cd into it, and run "/configure" followed by "make."

During the make process, it is possible to see errors when processing lib.c. These errors are typically not fatal and consist of stubs that emulate library functions for pointer analysis. Depending on the headers for libraries you have installed, some stubs may yield errors. These errors are non-fatal and only cause problems when you run pointer analysis on a program that uses the non-existent library.

After building, you can install the tools in a system directory for multiple users to use. This is done by executing "make install," which installs OpenIMPACT under the prefix specified by the --prefix option to configure (/usr/local by default). Once you have installed the tools, the init-impact script will be available from /bin/init-impact.

In the latest release, a bug that caused casts on pointer constants to not be correctly inserted into Pcode was fixed. Overall, OpenIMPACT is a reliable and useful tool for developers who need an Itanium compiler.