Regarding the CCS Compiler

[3v0]

Info you need to know about CCS.

This company has a unusual/strict download policy.

Once your support period has expired (either 60 or 90 days) you are locked out.
If you do not download the latest version of the software
prior to the end of the period you will not get it.

This is sad, the CCS compiler is in itself a good tool.

Keep in mind that had I purchased additional support (about $100/year) I could download the latest greatest. It is their right to handle this as they see fit but if you compare the price of the CCS compiler to others with longer support periods you should price the CCS compiler to include a year of support. So the $125 PCM compiler is more like $225.

Corespondace to CCS follows:

This message is a reply to CCS e-mail id: 7C6573

Mr. Rebel -

According to our records, you have purchased the PCM Commandline Compiler, therefore, you were never eligible to download the IDEUTILS as PCM does not include the below listed features.


For up-to-date news on CCS and it's products, please visit us at https://www.ccsinfo.com/newsdesk_index.php?newsPath=ALL
________________________

CCS Sales
Tel: (262) 522.6500 x35
Fax: (262) 522.6504
email: sales@ccsinfo.com

>> I do not have the Device Editor.
>>
>> "Note: Starting with Version 4, the Project Wizard, SIOW and Device
>> Editor (and other smaller utilities) are no longer included in the
>> download. You must download IDEUTILS to get these tools"
>>
>> I did not download it when I purchased the compiler (did not know I
>> needed to) and now it will not let me.
>>
>> It seems I should be able to download the software I paid for. Not
>> updates past what I paid for, just what existed on the last day of my
>> service period.
>>

Also CCS bundles their Device Editor with the IDE product.
You can not fix bad device definitions without the Device editor
because it is not a plain text file.

If you purchase the command line compilers you are stuck with
their (at time flawed) definitions.

 

[Papabravo]

Thanks for this. I think they have a strange way of building customer loyalty with such behavior. A la carte may work in restaurants, but seems strangely out of place in development tools.

 

[3v0]

Update

Since last post I sent them email and this is their reply. Good news.

This message is a reply to CCS e-mail id: 7C6633

We cannot give you a download to the last version that you were eligible for, however, we can email that version to you. Before we cando that, we first need you to email us confirming that your email server can accept files with a .EXE extension and that it can handle large attachments (approx. 5-7MB).

If you are unable to accept these files, please contact us and we can ship you a hard copy of the CDROM. Please note, an additional shipping fee will be incurred for this service.

Thank you.



For up-to-date news on CCS and it's products, please visit us at https://www.ccsinfo.com/newsdesk_index.php?newsPath=ALL
________________________

CCS Sales
Tel: (262) 522.6500 x35
Fax: (262) 522.6504
email: sales@ccsinfo.com

>> A:
>> Your choice to bundle the device editor with the IDE does not make sense.
>> Esp when none IDE users need it to fix your mistakes.
>>
>> B:
>> I should be entitled to download the software that was current during my
>> support period.
>> I am talking about the compiler here not the device editor.

 

[Papabravo]

Just maybe they got a whiff of the bad press that was about to descend on them, or maybe you were outed in a column by Robert Novak

 

[Oznog]

I tried CCS several years ago, and was surprised to see that it hardly supported all of C. The specific problem I had was it couldn't access Struct data from a pointer at all, not a bug, they just never made it do that.

I don't know how you can even call it a C compiler if you don't implement basic C stuff. Not having useful Struct access really limits my capabilities and makes it impossible to import some code made for other compilers.

Well, people say that it does well for them, but I'm hardly impressed.

 

[BeeBop]

The specific problem I had was it couldn't access Struct data from a pointer at all, not a bug, they just never made it do that.

I *think* it will do that now, but still doesn't have pointers to functions, or to constants, and still cannot compile relocatable objects. I was waiting for some of these, but found SourceBoost, which costs less, and does all of the above.

Edit:
The BEST part of CCS is that they have one of the best forums on the net. (IMO)