Groups > comp.lang.forth > #19029

Re: >FLOAT and the empty string

From	"Ed" <invalid@nospam.com>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.forth
Subject	Re: >FLOAT and the empty string
Date	2013-01-23 11:42 +1100
Organization	Aioe.org NNTP Server
Message-ID	<kdnbmq$p3t$1@speranza.aioe.org> (permalink)
References	<kcnl77$r2q$1@dont-email.me> <89711692028434@frunobulax.edu> <kdh2jf$4sm$1@dont-email.me>

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David N. Williams wrote:
> I see no disagreement in the answers so far that the empty
> string should be treated as a special case of a string of
> blanks.  I'll revert my PFE mods to do that.
>
> How about a minimal proposal to modify 12.6.1.0558 >FLOAT by
> replacing
>
>    A string of blanks should be treated as a special case
>    representing zero.
>
> with
>
>    A string of blanks, including the empty string, should be
>    treated as a special case representing zero.
> ...

You give up too easily :)

None of those posts (mine included) presented a smoking gun.
All I saw were arguments based on extrapolations and Euros.
Hardly evidence.

'94 left the situation as follows:

They recommended *but did not require* a string of blanks to
return 0.0E and true, on the basis this *might* be introduced in
a later Standard.  No detail or justification was given.  What an
empty string should return (if anything) was never stated.

That has left implementers free to do as they wished (assuming
they gave it any thought at all).  The only problem is application
writers who make unwarranted assumptions.

It seems to me the case for change has yet to be made.  Were
the '94 TC here today, they would be required to do the same.
I, for one, would give them a hard time :)

Thread

>FLOAT and the empty string "David N. Williams" <williams@umich.edu> - 2013-01-10 19:09 -0500
  Re: >FLOAT and the empty string "Ed" <invalid@nospam.com> - 2013-01-11 13:32 +1100
  Re: >FLOAT and the empty string anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2013-01-11 11:11 +0000
    Re: >FLOAT and the empty string "Ed" <invalid@nospam.com> - 2013-01-11 23:10 +1100
      Re: >FLOAT and the empty string anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2013-01-23 16:21 +0000
        Re: >FLOAT and the empty string "Ed" <invalid@nospam.com> - 2013-01-25 13:35 +1100
          Re: >FLOAT and the empty string "Elizabeth D. Rather" <erather@forth.com> - 2013-01-25 21:33 +1300
            Re: >FLOAT and the empty string "Elizabeth D. Rather" <erather@forth.com> - 2013-01-25 21:41 +1300
            Re: >FLOAT and the empty string "Ed" <invalid@nospam.com> - 2013-01-28 22:39 +1100
              Re: >FLOAT and the empty string "Elizabeth D. Rather" <erather@forth.com> - 2013-01-28 10:36 -1000
                Re: >FLOAT and the empty string "Ed" <invalid@nospam.com> - 2013-01-29 11:11 +1100
                Re: >FLOAT and the empty string Andrew Haley <andrew29@littlepinkcloud.invalid> - 2013-01-29 03:19 -0600
                Re: >FLOAT and the empty string "Ed" <invalid@nospam.com> - 2013-01-30 11:03 +1100
  Re: >FLOAT and the empty string Andrew Haley <andrew29@littlepinkcloud.invalid> - 2013-01-11 05:39 -0600
    Re: >FLOAT and the empty string anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2013-01-23 16:31 +0000
      Re: >FLOAT and the empty string Andrew Haley <andrew29@littlepinkcloud.invalid> - 2013-01-23 10:44 -0600
        Re: >FLOAT and the empty string anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2013-01-23 17:21 +0000
          Re: >FLOAT and the empty string Andrew Haley <andrew29@littlepinkcloud.invalid> - 2013-01-23 11:50 -0600
            Re: >FLOAT and the empty string anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2013-01-24 13:09 +0000
              Re: >FLOAT and the empty string Andrew Haley <andrew29@littlepinkcloud.invalid> - 2013-01-24 09:22 -0600
                Re: >FLOAT and the empty string anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2013-01-24 16:16 +0000
          Re: >FLOAT and the empty string albert@spenarnc.xs4all.nl (Albert van der Horst) - 2013-01-24 03:45 +0000
            Re: >FLOAT and the empty string anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2013-01-24 12:56 +0000
        Re: >FLOAT and the empty string Alex McDonald <blog@rivadpm.com> - 2013-01-23 16:45 -0800
          Re: >FLOAT and the empty string Andrew Haley <andrew29@littlepinkcloud.invalid> - 2013-01-24 03:43 -0600
            Re: >FLOAT and the empty string Bernd Paysan <bernd.paysan@gmx.de> - 2013-01-24 16:59 +0100
  Re: >FLOAT and the empty string mhx@iae.nl (Marcel Hendrix) - 2013-01-11 19:32 +0200
    Re: >FLOAT and the empty string "David N. Williams" <williams@umich.edu> - 2013-01-20 10:30 -0500
      Re: >FLOAT and the empty string anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2013-01-21 16:51 +0000
      Re: >FLOAT and the empty string "Ed" <invalid@nospam.com> - 2013-01-23 11:42 +1100
        Re: >FLOAT and the empty string Mark Wills <forthfreak@gmail.com> - 2013-01-23 02:38 -0800
          Re: >FLOAT and the empty string anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2013-01-23 15:14 +0000
          Re: >FLOAT and the empty string "Ed" <invalid@nospam.com> - 2013-01-25 14:11 +1100
            Re: >FLOAT and the empty string Mark Wills <forthfreak@gmail.com> - 2013-01-24 23:33 -0800
              Re: >FLOAT and the empty string Andrew Haley <andrew29@littlepinkcloud.invalid> - 2013-01-25 02:52 -0600
              Re: >FLOAT and the empty string "Ed" <invalid@nospam.com> - 2013-01-28 22:53 +1100

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