Re: Suggestion for Ada 0X - "Complete" Record Rep Clauses

["Marc A. Criley" <mcqada@earthlink.net>]

Chris Miller wrote:
> 
> Here is a quick suggestion for Ada 0X. I have no idea if it has been
> suggested before.
> 
   <snip>
> 
> The addition could be to allow an optional reserved work "all" in the record
> rep clause, in this case it would be a compile time error if the component
> clauses for all fields were not specified.
> 
> So you would get
> 
> for R use all record
>   field1 at 0 range ...;
>   field2 at 3 range ...;
>   field3 at 7 range ...;
> end record;
> 
> This would be trivial to implement, and 100% upward compatible with current
> code. May also wish to have a pragma that specifies that all record rep
> clauses in its scope are complete. This could be either a new pragma or part
> of pragma Restrictions, in the Safety & Security Annex.

Chris, I think this is a good idea.  Aside from its utility, you note
that it is upward comptatible and would [should] be easy to
implement--two aspects that make it easier to get changes through the
language revision process.  The other test that needs to be passed is
"Has this caused a problem for someone in the past?"  And I can attest
that I have run into bugs in the past that this modification would've
helped avoid.

I would suggest that you submit this for consideration in accordance
with the "Instructions for Comment Submission" as provided in the Ada
Reference Manual: http://www.ada-auth.org/arm-html/RM-0-3.html.  One
thing you might want to do first is surf around the Ada Conformity
Assessment Authority website (www.ada-auth.org) so you can see how such
suggestions are put together.

Once you've sent this to the e-mail list (which is what following the
"Instructions" does), I will add some discussion there about my
experiences pertaining to the problem your suggestion is addressing.

Marc A. Criley
Senior Staff Engineer
Quadrus Corporation
www.quadruscorp.com