Re: converting string to a numeric

> Call me old-fashioned but because indicators are such dangerous little
> suckers I'd rather see an explicit SETON or SETOFF operation.
>
> Use numeric operations for numeric operands, character operations for
> character operands, and indicator operations for indicator operands.

AMEN! And leave languages that are naturally fixed-source-format AS
fixed-source-format: if you're working in FORTRAN, for example, you can
indent all you want BEYOND Column 7, but keep the statements at or beyond
that column, and the continuations in 6, and the labels in 1-5. When a
language is designed to have a fixed source format, free-formatting the
source just makes it harder to read.

You want free-format source? Use Pascal, C, ALGOL, PL/I, LISP, Java, or
Modula-2. They're designed for it.

--
JHHL