Re: Renaming Fields in the D specs

Hi Hans,

As you say, the syntax is now set in stone, but the message is not, is it?
As I see it, the main problem with requiring the "E" is that I always forget
the "E" but put the EXTFLD() keyword.  Then I get "Keyword is not allowed
for a parameter definition", which is _not_ what the problem is, from my
point of view.  IF the programmer remembers to put the "E", then the
compiler can give better messages about the keywords, but if the programmer
leaves off the "E", the message currently given does not indicate where the
real problem is.  Any chance of changing that?

Peter Dow
Dow Software Services, Inc.
909 425-0194 voice
909 425-0196 fax


----- Original Message -----
From: <boldt@ca.ibm.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2001 5:55 AM
Subject: Re: Renaming Fields in the D specs
> Basically, a compiler could indeed determine all the attributes
> of a definition by examining keywords.  But then, the compiler
> would have to collect all the keyword information first before it
> could make sense of them.  On the other hand, if the compiler
> knows what it's dealing with first, it can know how to proceed.
> For example, it can give more meaningful diagnostics when it sees
> the keyword, rather than having to wait until the whole definition
> is processed.  Some diagnostics have to wait until more statements
> are processed anyways, but getting an immediate diagnostic is a
> lot easier for programmers.



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