evaluation of named numbers

[Rolf <rolf.ebert_nospam_@gmx.net>]

I always thought that named numbers are fully evaluated with (almost)
unlimited precision at compile time. I was quite astonished to see

  Ticks : constant := 20 / 1000 * 16_000_000 / 8; -- 40_000 ticks

evaluated to 0 and not to the expected 40.000. It seems that the
compiler uses integer numbers also for intermediate results and 20 /
1000 ends up to be 0 instead of 0.02. Any decent pocket calculator
gets that right.

The workaround is simple once I understood the problem:

   Ticks : constant := 20 * 16_000_000 / 8 / 1000; --  40_000 ticks

Are expressions for named numbers always evaluated left to right? I
think I'll add an item to the review check list to always put
multiplications on the left before any divisions.

   Rolf