Introduction

Getting started

Installing and using CathLibCPP is relatively straightforward, but it does require a bit of care.

Downloading and installing

Several steps are required to install CathLibCPP:

Download all of the archives that form the CathLibCPP distribution.
Unarchive the contents of all the archives into the same directory, merging the CathLibCPP directories contained within each archive. These would normally be placed in the same directory as other C or C++ libraries (clib, c++lib and tboxlibs).
Copy the Drlink and _C++ utilities, from the tools.Drlink and tools.Makatic directories respectively, to the !Boot.Library directory (or somewhere else on <Run$Path>). For compatibility with the full Makatic package it is recommended that _C++ should be kept in its Makatic directory, and run as Makatic._C++ (not done for the supplied examples).
Copy the MaskThrow module from the tools.MaskThrow directory to the !Boot.Choices.Boot.PreDesk directory. Alternatively, arrange for it to be loaded before attempting to compile any code.
If not already present, download and install Jonathan Coxhead's OSLib (release 5.1 or later).
Unless already done, download and install the first update for Acorn C/C++. Version 3.1 of C++ is required. Note that the _C++ utility is no longer required with version 3.13 of C++.
Set the <CathLibCPP$Path> system variable to point to the CathLibCPP directory created above. Also set <CLib$Path>, <OS$Path> and <OSLib$Path> to their standard values. An example of a suitable Obey file would be:
```
    Path Libs <Aquarius$Dir>.Libraries.
    Path CLib Libs:clib.
    Path OS Libs:oslib.Core.,Libs:oslib.Computer.,Libs:oslib.User.,Libs:oslib.Toolbox.
    Path OSLibInclude OS:
    Path OSLib Libs:oslib.
    Path CathLibCPP Libs:CathLibCPP.
```
This of course assumes that Acorn C/C++ is installed in <Aquarius$Dir> and that a suitable alias for Path has been defined:
```
    Set Alias$Path Set %%0$Path %%1
```

Using the library

The best place to start is to examine the supplied example files. For more details of how the tools should be used, have a look at the section on compilation and linking.

Note:

The modified shared C library stubs supplied as part of CathLibCPP should be used instead of the normal ones.
Do not use header files from the Acorn C++ library. CathLibCPP provides a complete, although slightly incompatible, replacement.
The include file search path needs to include both CathLibCPP: and CathLibCPP:hoist. to enable instantiation of templates.