Re: Iconv library - differences between Ruby 1.8.2 and 1.8.4?

Nobu wrote:
> Dave Burt wrote in [ruby-core:06888]:
>> Now, the question: what are the changes in the iconv library between in Ruby
>> 1.8.2 and Ruby 1.8.4-preview1? In particular, I'm wondering if there are any
>> incompatibilities between the more recent version of the library and the 
>> older
>> version of Ruby?
>
> 2 changes.
>
> * added Iconv::InvalidEncoding which is raised if requested
>  encodings were invalid.
>
> * charset_alias.rb now parses config.charset file directly,
>  instead of reading the result sh executed it.

Thanks. That probably means no incompatible changes.

>> I'm interested because of a particular problem that is solved between the
>> library versions on a particular Windows setup, One-Click Installer plus the
>> Iconv addon pack. The original issue was raised in [ruby-talk:170478]:
>
> That problem isn't concerned with Ruby and ext/iconv, but is
> rather a building issue.
>
> One-Click Installer is compiled with MS VC++ 7.1, but "the
> Iconv addon pack" is compiled with MS VC++ 6.0 or before, I
> guess.  If it is true, iconv.dll sets errno in msvcrt.dll
> whereas iconv.so refers it in msvcr71.dll.
>
> IMHO, it would be no longer a good idea to assemble pre-built
> binaries now, on Windows.  I suspect packagers may have to
> build all binaries from sources by themselves.

That all makes sense. However there's still a short-term need for the iconv pack 
for One-Click users, until Curt builds iconv into his next release, 1.8.4, 
hopefully this month.

So it seems to me that there's no reason not to use the super-versioned (1.8.4) 
iconv binary for that purpose; it's probably more compatible due to the 
replacement of the Errno by the Exception.

Thanks again,
Dave