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Groups > comp.lang.javascript > #33749

Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null?

From Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk>
Newsgroups comp.lang.javascript
Subject Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null?
Date 2017-08-10 03:20 +0100
Organization A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID <871sokduyx.fsf@bsb.me.uk> (permalink)
References (5 earlier) <XnsA7CCA5CE3CA47eejj99@194.109.6.166> <87zib8g4eb.fsf@bsb.me.uk> <10915888.O9o76ZdvQC@PointedEars.de> <877eycdzm9.fsf@bsb.me.uk> <2062468.ElGaqSPkdT@PointedEars.de>

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Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> writes:

> Ben Bacarisse wrote:
>
>> Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> writes:
>>> Ben Bacarisse wrote:
>> <snip>
>>>> Further complicated by the fact that there is a character called null
>>>> (sometimes Null, Nul or NULL) so a string can "be null" in that it
>>>> contains just that character.
>>> As we are talking about ECMAScript, it is the Unicode character U+0000
>>> NULL (to my surprise, not “NUL” as in US-ASCII) whose standard
>>> representation is a boxed “NUL” (AFAIK, it is *never* called “null”,
>>> “Null” or “Nul”):
>> 
>> If you can find an original copy of the standard you'll see a table of
>> control characters that gives "Abbreviations" (though most are acronyms)
>> and, as you say, NUL is the abbreviation for the first one.  After that
>> table is an explanation that gives the name as "Null" and the
>> abbreviation as "Nul" (for some reason not in caps).
>
> *I have just cited* “an original copy of the standard”, so please cite 
> evidence supporting your claims.

X3.4-1967 "The American Standard for Information Interchange".  You may
have to go to a physical library to find it.  I can cite an online scan
of an article from the November 1967 Western Union Technical Review
explaining this new code, but obviously you will need to see the
original.

>> Since it's not a proper name, people write "null" for it just as they
>                                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> write "bell" for the character abbreviated as in the table as BEL.
>
> Weasel wording.  People who do not know what they are talking about are 
> irrelevant when one is faced with deciding the correctness of an answer
> to a question.

The issue is what people write and the confusion it causes.  At no point
have I said any of this is or is not "correct".  The meaning of the
phrase "null string" is confused precisely by people using words
incorrectly or, at best, ambiguously.

-- 
Ben.

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Thread

why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Xue Feng <xf.lotus@yahoo.com> - 2017-08-08 23:43 +0800
  Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2017-08-08 11:16 -0500
  Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Jon Ribbens <jon+usenet@unequivocal.eu> - 2017-08-08 17:40 +0000
    Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Julio Di Egidio <julio@diegidio.name> - 2017-08-08 21:38 -0700
      Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? John G Harris <niam@jghnorth.org.uk.invalid> - 2017-08-09 14:51 +0100
    Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Jon Ribbens <jon+usenet@unequivocal.eu> - 2017-08-09 11:01 +0000
      Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? "Evertjan." <exxjxw.hannivoort@inter.nl.net> - 2017-08-09 16:17 +0200
        Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-08-09 16:14 +0100
          Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Julio Di Egidio <julio@diegidio.name> - 2017-08-09 10:25 -0700
            Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-08-09 21:04 +0100
              Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Julio Di Egidio <julio@diegidio.name> - 2017-08-09 13:11 -0700
                Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-08-10 00:59 +0100
                [ANN] Spam filter for Google Groups (was: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null?) Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2017-08-10 05:06 +0200
                Re: [ANN] Spam filter for Google Groups (was: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null?) Julio Di Egidio <julio@diegidio.name> - 2017-08-10 01:00 -0700
                Re: [ANN] Spam filter for Google Groups (was: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null?) John G Harris <niam@jghnorth.org.uk.invalid> - 2017-08-10 09:40 +0100
                Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Julio Di Egidio <julio@diegidio.name> - 2017-08-10 00:56 -0700
          Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? "Evertjan." <exxjxw.hannivoort@inter.nl.net> - 2017-08-09 22:01 +0200
            Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-08-09 23:35 +0100
              Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? "Evertjan." <exxjxw.hannivoort@inter.nl.net> - 2017-08-10 10:05 +0200
                Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-08-10 15:08 +0100
                Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? "Evertjan." <exxjxw.hannivoort@inter.nl.net> - 2017-08-10 16:42 +0200
          Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2017-08-09 23:56 +0200
            Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-08-10 01:40 +0100
              Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2017-08-10 03:44 +0200
                Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-08-10 03:20 +0100
                Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2017-08-10 04:33 +0200
                Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-08-10 03:57 +0100
  Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2017-08-08 23:20 +0200
    Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Julio Di Egidio <julio@diegidio.name> - 2017-08-08 21:20 -0700
      Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Cezary Tomczyk <cezary.tomczyk@gmail.com> - 2017-08-09 09:26 +0200
        Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Julio Di Egidio <julio@diegidio.name> - 2017-08-09 01:31 -0700
        Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2017-08-09 11:32 +0200
          Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Cezary Tomczyk <cezary.tomczyk@gmail.com> - 2017-08-10 09:10 +0200
            Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2017-08-10 14:51 +0200
              Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2017-08-10 15:11 +0100
              Re: why the ! operator can be used to determine a string is null? Cezary Tomczyk <cezary.tomczyk@gmail.com> - 2017-08-10 18:52 +0200

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