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From: jcallen@Encore.COM (Jerry Callen)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
Subject: Re: integer'image
Summary: it's STILL baloney
Message-ID: <13879@encore.Encore.COM>
Date: 21 Jan 91 21:54:23 GMT
References: <2563@sparko.gwu.edu> <10140@as0c.sei.cmu.edu> <13874@encore.Encore.COM> <29979@shamash.cdc.com>
Reply-To: jcallen@encore.Com (Jerry Callen)
Organization: Encore Computer Corp, Marlboro, MA
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>

In article <29979@shamash.cdc.com> case@shamash.cdc.com (Steven V. Case) writes:
>[various quoted material deleted; essentially, a routine to stripped
> leading spaces can be used to trim the leading blank from the
> result of integer'IMAGE on positive integers. Then...]
>
>... I don't have to embed statements
>like INTEGER'IMAGE(I)(2..INTEGER'IMAGE(I)'LAST), but can use a statement
>such as REMOVE_LEADING_SPACES(FROM => INTEGER'IMAGE(I)).  This is probably
>more readable, therefore it won't 'gag a maggot'.  I suspect this is the
>general idea that Mr. Hoysch was suggesting when he said 'or a very simple
>routine if this is too hard on the eyes.'

I wasn't complaining about Ada code readability; sure you can hide the
ugliness of INTEGER'IMAGE(I)(2..INTEGER'IMAGE(I)'LAST) behind a procedure
call. I meant that the _code out of the compiler_ will be hideous; two
calls to integer'IMAGE, one to 'LAST, then a slicing operation. Yuch.
It's this sort of thing that makes C programmers look at Ada and throw
up their hands in despair.

[Don asbestos suit...]

I hate to admit it, but I'd really love an Ada equivalent of printf that
takes some nice formatting string and some variables to be printed and
then does the right thing. Occasionally (NOT very often...) strong typing
is a real pain in the buns.

-- Jerry Callen
   jcallen@encore.com

P.S. No, I'm not a C bigot; in fact, most C code is hideous enough to, well,
	 to gag a maggot. :-)