Hello,

As some might have noticed, We have placed the first release candidate of the Free Pascal Compiler version 3.2.4 on our download servers already for some time.

You can help improve the upcoming 3.2.4 release by downloading and testing this release. If you want you can report what you have done here: http://wiki.freepascal.org/Testers_3.2.4 <http://wiki.freepascal.org/Testers_3.2> or in the maillist.

Changes that may break backwards compatibility will be documented at: http://wiki.freepascal.org/User_Changes_3.2.4 <http://wiki.freepascal.org/User_Changes_3.2.>

Downloads are available at

https://downloads.freepascal.org/fpc/beta/3.2.4-rc1

The evaluation time frame for this release is at least two weeks, so bug reports within that period will be looked at before the final release is branched.

Enjoy!

The Free Pascal Compiler Team

******************************************************************************

Free Pascal Compiler

Version 3.2.4

******************************************************************************

Free Pascal 3.2.4 is a minor release of the 3.2.x fixes branch. As such, it contains mostly fixes of bugs discovered in the previous version, plus some updates for included packages.

There are currently no known changes which might result in incompatibility with the previous version 3.2.2.

The main highlights of this version:
* large number of issue and bug fixes
* FPC development switched to git, all tools adapted accordingly
* fixes to avoid year 2038 problem
* updated translations of compiler messages
* Issues with newer glibc fixed

Platforms:
* Support for new AVR targets: megaAVR 0 and tinyAVR 0/1
* FreeBSD 12 support
* Darwin: made -gl working

Utilities:
* FPDoc: markdown support
* fpcres: several improvements

Packages:
* fcl-image improved, e.g. resolution support and orientation flag support
* fcl-base: thread pool support
* fcl-pdf: pdf reader
* vcl-compat significantly improved

Thanks ! Great that there is an RC1 for fpc-3.2.4.

I tried building the compiler on macOS 14 using fpc.3.2.2 as the bootstrap compiler. This worked. I am a bit surprised however that the built compiler says

Free Pascal Compiler version 3.2.2 [2021/05/16] for aarch64

although it correctly installs into /usr/local/lib/fpc/3.2.4 and /usr/local/bin.

I also tried building a (patched) Lazarus 4.0, and it worked.

Regards,

Adriaan van Os

What sources did you use?

Free Pascal Compiler version 3.2.2 [2021/05/16] for aarch64 although it correctly installs into /usr/local/lib/fpc/3.2.4 and /usr/local/bin.

The wiki links are incorrect and lead to non-existent pages. I downloaded the email to my PC to verify where the links point, and they are indeed incorrect: ~~~
You can help improve the upcoming 3.2.4 release by downloading and testing this release. If you want you can report what you have done = here:
http://wiki.freepascal.org/Testers_3.2.4 =
<http://wiki.freepascal.org/Testers_3.2>  or in the maillist.  
Changes that may break backwards compatibility will be documented at: http://wiki.freepascal.org/User_Changes_3.2.4 =
<http://wiki.freepascal.org/User_Changes_3.2.>
~~~
 
 
 
 

Florian Klämpfl wrote

> I tried building the compiler on macOS 14 using fpc.3.2.2 as the bootstrap compiler. This worked. I am a bit surprised however that the built compiler says What sources did you use?

<https://downloads.freepascal.org/fpc/beta/3.2.4-rc1/source/fpc-3.2.4-rc1.source.zip>

Regards,

Adriaan van Os

Below test program compiles with fpc-3.2.2. but not with fpc-3.2.4 rc1 This is on MacOS 14 with an M2.

Regards,

Adriaan van Os

administrator% /usr/local/lib/fpc/3.2.2/ppca64 generics01.pas Free Pascal Compiler version 3.2.2 [2021/05/16] for aarch64 ...
Compiling generics01.pas
...
Assembling generics01
32 lines compiled, 0.5 sec
4 warning(s) issued
36 note(s) issued

administrator% /usr/local/lib/fpc/3.2.4/ppca64 generics01.pas Free Pascal Compiler version 3.2.4-rc1 [2025/06/20] for aarch64 ...
Compiling generics01.pas
generics01.pas(21,15) Error: function header doesn't match the previous declaration "ValueNotify(constref TPluginFormat;TCollectionNotification);" generics.dictionariesh.inc(99,15) Error: Found declaration: ValueNotify(const TPluginFormat;TCollectionNotification);
generics01.pas(24,1) Fatal: There were 2 errors compiling module, stopping

{$mode delphiunicode}
unit generics01;
interface
uses
   Classes, Generics.Collections;
type
   TPluginFormatID = Integer;
   TPluginFormat = class abstract
   public
     Name: string;
   end;
   TPluginFormatList = class(TDictionary<TPluginFormatID, TPluginFormat>)
   protected
     procedure ValueNotify({$IFDEF fpc}constref{$ELSE}const{$ENDIF}Value: TPluginFormat; Action:
TCollectionNotification); override;
   end;
implementation
procedure TPluginFormatList.ValueNotify({$IFDEF fpc}constref{$ELSE}const{$ENDIF}Value:
TPluginFormat; Action: TCollectionNotification);
begin
end;
begin
end.

I hope there's time for this.  If this merge request is approved, can it be cherry-picked for 3.2.4 as well?

https://gitlab.com/freepascal.org/fpc/source/-/merge_requests/1049

It fixes a bug in the register allocator that I have reason to believe has been around for some time.

Kit

You can help improve the upcoming 3.2.4 release by downloading and testing this release.

I tested the FPC 3.2.4-rc1 on Castle Game Engine, and examples from repos on https://github.com/modern-pascal/ . I found one issue, reported as https://gitlab.com/freepascal.org/fpc/source/-/issues/41300 .

( You decide how critical it is. From our side, we have options to workaround it, e.g. disabling "inline" for one Lerp or expanding it manually. )

Note: I'd say to note in user changes (
https://wiki.freepascal.org/User_Changes_3.2.4 ) the change from constref->const in the callbacks for Generics.Collections comparers, like visible here:
https://github.com/modern-pascal/modern-pascal-introduction/blob/master/code-samples/generics_sorting.dpr .

Regards,
Michalis