[tao-users] ACE 7 and TAO 3 now available for download

[Johnny Willemsen]

Hi all,

Once again, thanks to the efforts of many developers, testers, and
users, we are pleased to announce the major release of ACE 7.0.0 and TAO
3.0.0 which is available from the usual download location at:

http://download.dre.vanderbilt.edu/

under the heading "Latest Micro Release".

Or from the github release page at:

https://github.com/DOCGroup/ACE_TAO/releases/tag/ACE%2BTAO-7_0_0

The doxygen documentation for this release is also available.  In
addition to the packages combined of sources and generate makefiles,
this release provides source-only packages for developers who use MPC to
generate their own makefiles.

We encourage you to download the new release, use it with your
applications, and let us know if you encounter any problems. Please use the:

$ACE_ROOT/PROBLEM-REPORT-FORM
$MPC_ROOT/PROBLEM-REPORT-FORM
$TAO_ROOT/PROBLEM-REPORT-FORM

so that we have the proper version/platform/compiler/options you're
using to report problems.

Overviews of our recent changes are available at:
$ACE_ROOT/NEWS
$TAO_ROOT/NEWS

The overall success rates for the test results gathered from all our
daily builds is 98% for the ACE tests and 98% for the TAO tests.

Please see:

https://www.dre.vanderbilt.edu/scoreboard/

for a summary of these tests.  As always, we appreciate your help in
resolving any remaining problems. Please see:

ACE_wrappers/docs/ACE-bug-process.html

for an overview of our bug fixing policies.  Moreover, please see:

https://www.dre.vanderbilt.edu/support.html

for information commercial support services available from various
companies.

The following is a list of key changes since the last major release.
Please refer to the corresponding ChangeLog files, NEWS files, or github
issues for more details on the problem and the nature of fixes applied.

==============
Changes to ACE
==============

. C++11 is now a mandatory compiler feature which is
  required for ACE. Cleaned up part of the support for compilers
  that lack C++11 support
. When valgrind is enabled we don't disable dlclose anymore,
  this reduces the amount of leaks reported related to dlclose.
  When you unload your shared libraries before the end of your program
  you can use `--keep-debuginfo=yes` as valgrind options as alternative
  or you can disable dlclose yourself by adding
  `#define ACE_LACKS_DLCLOSE` to your ace/config.h file
. Removed `ACE_OS::readdir_r`. `readdir_r` was marked as depracated in
  glibc and FreeBSD libc. Also removed `ACE_Dirent::read (ACE_DIRENT *,
  ACE_DIRENT **)` which used it. `ACE_LACKS_READDIR_R` will now always
  be defined.
. Modernized part of the code using clang-type, added override, use
  nullptr, use unique_ptr, remove redundant void, use bool, simplify
  boolean expressions, make use of std::atomic, use using
. New Latest_ACE7TAO3_ branches which can be used to always checkout the
  latest ACE7/TAO3 micro/minor release
. Android Support:
  . `gnuace` no longer supports Android NDKs before r18. This means only
    clang is now supported when building for Android.
  . Support for building with the Android NDK r19 or later directly
    instead of having to use a generated standalone toolchain. See `ACE-
    INSTALL.html` for details. Using a standalone toolchain is still
    supported.
  . Made it easier to use `gnuace`-built libraries in as imported
    libraries in CMake-based Android Studio native projects.
  . Removed support for old `ANDROID_ARCH` make variable. Replaced
    `ANDROID_ABI` with `android_abi`, but kept the former as an alias of
    the later for compatibility. Also will no longer default to 32-bit
    ARM, so `android_abi` or `ANDROID_ABI` must be defined.
  . As recommend by Google, building with neon support is now the
    default when `android_abi` is `armeabi-v7a`. If support for these
    processors without NEON extensions is needed, put `androind_neon :=
    0` in `platform_macros.GNU`.
  . As recommend by Google, `gnuace` will start using LLD, the LLVM
    linker, instead of the default GNU linkers. If the NDK being used
    doesn't default to LLD and you want to use the GNU linkers, put
    `androind_set_lld := 0` in `platform_macros.GNU`.
. Removed support for the Alpha CPU

==============
Changes to TAO
==============

. C++11 is now a mandatory compiler feature which is
  required for TAO
. Fixed some CORBA spec mismatches for the CORBA server
  portable interceptors
. Add portspan support to DIOP