I have an Ubuntu 18.04 laptop on which I have installed fpc 3.0.4/Lazarus 2.0.8 from sources via svn almost a year back into *my home dir*. No system-wide install.

Now I am in the process of also installing fpc 3.2.0 from sources. I have a script for installing on a clean machine that I am reading from and using the appropriate calls when most has been already installed. So for fpc my steps are:

cd ~/dev/fpc/3.2.0 (this is the source dir filled via svn) make clean
make all FPC="$HOME/bin/ppcx64" (fpc 3.0.4 is symlinked here) make install PREFIX=$HOME FPC="$HOME/bin/ppcx64"
make sourceinstall PREFIX=$HOME

This all works fine.

Now my notes say that I need to create the fpc.cfg file using:

$HOME/lib/fpc/3.2.0/samplecfg "$HOME/lib/fpc/3.2.0" "$HOME"

This creates the file $HOME/fpc.cfg, which is then renamed: mv "$HOME/fpc.cfg" "$HOME/.fpc.cfg"

But my existing installation already contains the $HOME/.fpc.cfg, which is used by Lazarus 2.0.8/fpc 3.0.4...

So what is the deal here if I want to have both Lazarus 2.0.10/fpc 3.2.0 and the old Lazarus 2.0.8/fpc 3.0.4 operational?

Can they share the same fpc.cfg file (or rather .fpc.cfg)?

I renamed the existing .fpc.cfg before doing the last step so I have both the new fpc.cfg and the old .fpc.cfg_3.0.4 and the diff between them looks like this:

$ diff fpc.cfg .fpc.cfg_3.0.4
2c2
< # Config file generated by fpcmkcfg on 5-2-21 - 23:49:17 ---

# Config file generated by fpcmkcfg on 15-4-20 - 01:01:27

35,37d34
< #ELSE
< # Strip debuginfo from the executable if not in debug mode < -Xs
43a41,42

# path to Xcode 4.3+ utilities (no problem if it doesn't exist) -FD/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin

149,150c148,152
< # Search for $fpctarget/$fpcsubarch-$fpcmemorymodel/ subdirectory first < # for i8086 CPU
---

157,161d158
< # searchpath for units and other system dependent things < -Fu/home/bosse/lib/fpc/$fpcversion/units/$fpctarget < -Fu/home/bosse/lib/fpc/$fpcversion/units/$fpctarget/* < -Fu/home/bosse/lib/fpc/$fpcversion/units/$fpctarget/rtl <
175,177d171
< # searchpath for tools
< -FD/home/bosse/lib/fpc/$fpcversion/bin/$FPCTARGET <
190a185,187

# searchpath for tools -FD/home/bosse/lib/fpc/$fpcversion/bin/$FPCTARGET

250a248,250

# Always strip debuginfo from the executable -Xs

Unfortunately I cannot decode this because I am not used to this diff format... Can I keep my existing .fpc.cfg file or should I rename the fpc.cfg to .fpc.cfg?

I have not yet built Lazarus...

Bo Berglund wrote

Can they share the same fpc.cfg file (or rather .fpc.cfg)?

Yes, I've been doing so for probably the last 10 years. I have 7 different FPC versions installed on my system - all working together.

The trick is to have paths as follows in you ~/.fpc.cfg file:

=====================
# searchpath for units and other system dependent things -Fu/data/devel/fpc-$fpcversion/$fpctarget/lib/fpc/$fpcversion/units/$fpctarget -Fu/data/devel/fpc-$fpcversion/$fpctarget/lib/fpc/$fpcversion/units/$fpctarget/* -Fu/data/devel/fpc-$fpcversion/$fpctarget/lib/fpc/$fpcversion/units/$fpctarget/rtl

# searchpath for fppkg user-specific packages
-Fu~/.fppkg/lib/fpc/$fpcversion/units/$FPCTARGET/*

# searchpath for libraries
-Fl/data/devel/fpc-$fpcversion/$fpctarget/lib/fpc/$fpcversion/units/$fpctarget -Fl/lib;/usr/lib;/usr/local/lib

# Path to fpc utility applications like fpcres
-FD/data/devel/fpc-$fpcversion/$fpctarget/bin/
=====================

I'm happy to send you a full copy of my ~/.fpc.cfg file if that will help.

And as you can see from my paths above, all my FPC version are all installed under the /data/devel/* path and looks like this:

=====================
/data/devel/fpc-2.6.4
├── src/
├── x86_64-freebsd/
└── x86_64-linux/
/data/devel/fpc-3.0.0
├── go.sh*
├── src/
├── x86_64-freebsd/
└── x86_64-linux/
/data/devel/fpc-3.0.2
├── go.sh*
├── src/
├── x86_64-freebsd/
└── x86_64-linux/
/data/devel/fpc-3.0.4
├── go.sh*
├── src/
├── x86_64-freebsd/
└── x86_64-linux/
/data/devel/fpc-3.2.0
├── go.sh*
├── src/
├── x86_64-freebsd/
└── x86_64-linux/
/data/devel/fpc-3.2.1
├── go.sh*
├── src/
└── x86_64-linux/
/data/devel/fpc-3.3.1
├── go-arduino.sh*
├── go-freebsd.sh*
├── go.sh*
├── src/
└── x86_64-linux/

=====================

The "go.sh" files you see are to compile the desired FPC version with the previous stable FPC version, and install it into the correct location.

=============[ example go.sh ]===============
#!/bin/sh

TARGET_VER=3.2.0
TARGET=x86_64-linux
COMPILER=/data/devel/fpc-3.0.4/$TARGET/bin/ppcx64

cd src

make clean
make all FPC=$COMPILER OPT="-Fl/usr/local/lib"
make install INSTALL_PREFIX=/data/devel/fpc-$TARGET_VER/$TARGET FPC=/data/devel/fpc-$TARGET_VER/src/compiler/ppcx64 =============================================

I use this same setup in my Windows VMs too, when I need to support multiple FPC versions.

Regards,
Graeme

....

Graeme thanks for the info!
Since I am not doing any fpc or lazarus development I guess I don't really need all of that..

My .fpc.cfg file also has the $fpcversion everywhere in the paths so I guess that unless a new version of fpc adds extra stuff into the file I don't really need to modify the .fpc.cfg file when installing a new fpc release?

In that case I will add a note in my script file (I use it on Linux platforms to install from sources) to the effect that this is only needed for a first install on any given device.

BTW, my installs sit in:
fpc: $HOME/dev/fpc/$fpcversion
lazarus: $HOME/dev/lazarus/$lazversion

And the support files go into $HOME/lib/fpc/ and $HOME/share

On Sat, 06 Feb 2021 10:53:51 +0100, Bo Berglund via fpc-pascal wrote:

FOLLOW-UP:

BTW, my installs sit in: fpc: $HOME/dev/fpc/$fpcversion lazarus: $HOME/dev/lazarus/$lazversion

I have symlinked the compiler as follows:
ll ~/bin/pp*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 bosse bosse 32 2020-04-10 21:25 bin/ppcx64 -> /home/bosse/lib/fpc/3.0.4/ppcx64

I guess this is not really optimal if I want to use the 3.2.0 compiler? How do you manage different versions of the compiler in Lazarus? Right now Lazarus only finds the ~/bin/ppcx64 linked file...

This I think was set up when I initíally installed Lazarus 2.0.8 on this Ubuntu Mate 18.04 machine (in the dialog that pops up on first start of a fresh Lazarus).
I think the dialog might be possible to bring up again from inside Lazarus but I fail to find from where in the menus...

No, you don't. I think my fpc.cfg has not changed in many many years.

Michael.

Michael Van Canneyt wrote

No, you don't. I think my fpc.cfg has not changed in many many years.

Same here. My last modification date on that file is 2013. :-)

Regards,
Graeme

Bo Berglund wrote

How do you manage different versions of the compiler in Lazarus?

This is where I believe MSEide does things much better that Lazarus, but that's for another discussion.

In Lazarus under "Tools -> Options... -> Compiler executable" I have a drop-down list of frequently used compilers versions. They all look as follows - just with the version in the path being different.

/data/devel/fpc-3.2.0/x86_64-linux/bin/fpc

My ~/bin/fpc always point to the latest stable FPC version, but I hardly ever use it (maybe only for occasional command line compilation of small test programs). My IDEs always explicitly define which FPC executable I want to use. My IDEs never reference the one in ~/bin/

Regards,
Graeme

OK, that is a Lazarus global option.
If I want to build using 3.0.4 rather than 3.2.0 I will set this option correspondingly, right?
But then if I forget about it and close Lazarus after the build and then later come back and need to rebuild Lazarus, what will happen? Will it try to use 3.0.4 in this case and fail since 3.2.0 is the minimum for building Lazarus 2.0.10?

Or should I set the global option to 3.2.0 and if I want to build a *project* then use the selector below Project/Project Options? In Project Options/Compiler Options/Compiler Commands there is a drop-down for selecting the specific compiler.

I assume if this is left as is as $(CompPath) it will use the globally defined compiler 3.2.0, but if changed will use the project defined compiler instead.

Bo Berglund wrote

I assume if this is left as is as $(CompPath) it will use the globally defined compiler 3.2.0, but if changed will use the project defined compiler instead.

Yes, everything you stated is correct. I find that setting the global option is quicker (less user steps). But again, that depends on your needs. If certain project are only going to use a certain compiler version, then I guess setting it in the Project Options would be better suited for your needs.

The projects I work on are compilable with all FPC versions. So for my needs, changing the global compiler options is more convenient.

What is nice with MSEide, is that I can configure project or global macros that define my compiler version (and other stuff). I can have keyboard shortcuts to switch between those macro groups. I can also have desktop shortcuts that when they launch MSEide, it configures the FPC version macro via a ide command line parameter. MSEide starts up instantly, so even closing and reopening the IDE with a different FPC version enabled is super fast.

Regards,
Graeme