Even though the binaries are installed in a directory separate from the package directory, the tasks are defined pointing to the package directory as the location of the executable. The xc utility may also be used to compile or link non-IRAF files and tasks. The VMS version of xc supports all of the important flags except -D which VMS C doesn't support in any way. It can be used to generate Fortran from SPP or Ratfor code, to compile any number of files, and then link them if desired. XC-supported Virtual File Name Extensions.
Usage is equivalent in either case.
The simple example below compiles and links the source file mytask.x to produce the executable mytask.e . For complete information on xc see the help pages in the cl by typing help xc. The generic preprocessor is provided in addition to SPP to convert a generic operator into a set of type specific operators. Since Fortran requires that the data types of the calling and called procedure arguments match, it is the programmer's responsibility to ensure this. The generi preprocessor makes this easier.