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From: "Robert I. Eachus" <eachus@mitre.org>
Subject: Re: generic package dilemma
Date: 1999/12/01
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I wrote:
 
> ...Of course, changing these messages could change the elaboration order
> for the program, or worse, create a situation where no workable
> elaboration order existed.  If this check was static, there was no way
> to find and remove this emergent property of the program other than to
> backtrack.  This was no help to the guy trying to get the initialization
> code of a large system to work.  He was MUCH happier getting

   And accidentally hit the send button.  (It is the one thing I hate
about Netscape Communicator.  The Send button is too near the File and
Edit menus.)
In any case:

   He (or she) was much happier getting the first part of the
elaboration code debugged, then recompiling and getting incrementally
further.  This could leave
many error messages that would raise Program_Error if invoked, but so
what, it still got you to the location of the real error, often with a
Text_IO call that had the correct message text as a parameter. ;-)

-- 

                                        Robert I. Eachus

with Standard_Disclaimer;
use  Standard_Disclaimer;
function Message (Text: in Clever_Ideas) return Better_Ideas is...