Standard Compatibility: my plans

Fri, 4 Apr 1997 20:03:08 +0200 (MET DST)

Hi, everybody!

Here are my plans for GPC's default `write'/`writeln' behaviour:

  * I will fix that bug which suppresses output when the field width is 0.

  * String clipping will be ON by default, thus GPC will follow ISO
    and UCSD, not Borland.  It can be switched OFF either with
    `--borland-pascal' or `--delphi', or with a separate switch
    `--no-clip-strings'.

  * Field widths are 0 by default.  This does comply to the ISO
    Standard Specifications AND corresponds to the behaviour of UCSD
    Pascal, Borland Pascal, and other PC Pascal compilers.  This default
    can be changed using `--field-widths=12,24,6' (for Integer, Real,
    Boolean fields) which can be given either when compiling a Pascal
    source file ("locally") or when configuring GPC (making the default
    widths "global" for a site).

  * Although default field widths of 0 are correct by ISO, there seems
    to be a de-facto standard among ISO Pascal compilers that field
    widths must ensure at least one blank in front of Integers and
    Reals.  For this reason, `--standard-pascal' and `--extended-pascal'
    will imply default field widths which will make GPC behave like
    other ISO Pascal compilers.

  * If `--field-widths' is given without arguments, it will make the
    field widths big enough to ensure at least one blank in front of
    numeric values.

  * I will try to make it possible to pass these command-line options
    as compiler directives, e.g. (*$field-widths=12,24,6*).  Having this,
    you can write programs which will behave independently of command-line
    options given to the compiler.  This possibility will also cover most
    applications of a "GPC configuration file".

Okay, this will take some time to finish.
I hope that everybody can live with this.

Yours,

    Peter

  Dipl.-Phys. Peter Gerwinski, Essen, Germany, free physicist and programmer
peter.gerwinski@uni-essen.de - http://home.pages.de/~peter.gerwinski/ [970201]
 maintainer GNU Pascal [970401] - http://home.pages.de/~gnu-pascal/ [970125]

Peter Gerwinski (peter@agnes.dida.physik.uni-essen.de)