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Re: >FLOAT and the empty string

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Anton Ertl wrote:
> "Ed" <invalid@nospam.com> writes:
> >Why does >FLOAT *need* to return zero and true for a string
> >of blanks?  Apart from '94 "strongly encouraging" it.
>
> IIRC Elizabeth once posted that this is useful for processing data
> files cotaining floats.

Many years ago someone here (not Elizabeth) told me it was for
handling Fortran data files.  I've never encountered these myself
and such use has never cropped up in discussions on c.l.f. AFAIK.
It is fortunate ANS didn't make their recommendation a requirement
as history has apparently shown little need for such a feature.

BTW if one *does* choose to implement the ANS string of blanks
recommendation, then what an empty string ought return may
depend on the conventions of Fortran.  Any Fortran users out there?

> >It would be very easy for an app to handle this without forcing
> >>FLOAT do it.  Not that I can recall ever encountering such a scenario.
>
> Likewise, if you want to report failure for blank strings, the program
> can check for that, too, if >FLOAT does not.

This presupposes I have more need for >FLOAT to return true
for a string of blanks than otherwise.  I implemented the ANS'
recommendation for the same reason as most - I assumed
there was a need for it and ANS could justify it.  It appears I was
wrong on both counts.

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>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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