Re: Can I overload ":="?

[cis.ohio-state.edu!news.sei.cmu.edu!firth@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Robert Fi]

In article <1992Oct12.194719.27071@fcom.cc.utah.edu> val@news.ccutah.edu (Val K
artchner) writes:

>I would like to define what happens when I assign a value of one type (say
>complex) to a variable of another type (say real).  Can I change what is
>meant in Ada by the operation ":=" like I can do with the other operators,
>or am I stuck with assignment of a type to a variable of that type?

The direct answer is you can't do it: assignment works only between a
value and a variable of the same type, and you can't redefine or
overload the ":=" operation.

The indirect answer is that you can define a type transfer function
as anything you please, eg

	function Convert (x:Chipmunk) return Integer;

and then say

	line_length := Convert(Dale);

And, of course, you can overload Convert on any parameter and result type,
so need choose only one name for all type conversion functions.  Jean
Ichbiah's suggestion (with which I do not agree!) is that you use the
unary "+" operator for type conversion.