Re: Missing Index Value in Array Aggregate

[csampson@inetworld.net (Charles H. Sampson)]

Stephen Leake <stephen_leake@stephe-leake.org> wrote:

> csampson@inetworld.net (Charles H. Sampson) writes:
> 
> >      I should have given more detail of the context.
> > Although it's not relevant now, here it is: The aggregate
> > was the initial value of a constant array object, the type
> > of that object being an anonymous array type whose index
> > is a constrained enumeration type.  My compiler did give
> > me the (proper) warning of a constraint error at run time.
> > Unfortunately, the warning was overlooked because the
> > compiler tends to put out a bunch of warnings of much
> > less value.
> 
> What compiler?
> 
     I don't want to name names because I think it's a
decent compiler and I wouldn't want to scare off any poten-
tial user because of this minor issue.

> With GNAT, I have a policy to eliminate _all_ warnings by fixing the
> source code. Same with Gnu C, when I'm forced to use that.
> 
> Doing so fixes bugs.
> 
> Sometimes I have to resort to a compiler switch to suppress a
> warning, but very rarely.

     A good practice in general and I've been thinking
about it for our project.  Unfortunately, many of the
warnings are of things that might happen but won't, so it
would mean cluttering the code with something unnecessary,
usually with a small execution penalty, along with
comments about why such a strange thing is being done.
(Although I'm working on a real-time system, the execution
penalty is not an issue because we have more CPU power
than we know what to do with.)  Other warnings are things
we know about but can't change.  The most irritating
involves an array of 6-bit components, needed to interface
external hardware, which generates a warning that the code
is "less efficient" because of the component size.  Less
efficient than what, I've asked.  Code that doesn't work?

I don't think we have an ability to selectively suppress
warnings, although it might have been put in unnoticed by
me in one of the many upgrades in the 10+ years we've been
using this compiler.

               Charlie

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