Re: Representation clause for enumeratives

["Martin Dowie" <martin.dowie@gecm.com>]

also, if you are using the enumeration a lot for, say, array indexing _not_
having underlying representations tends to lead to much faster code. You
lose a little CPU time at the interface to do the conversion, but you may
find you gain many times that amount in your application.

If you want to save some typing make a few generics to do the conversions.
I know of several projects where precisely this sort of thing is happening
(and not just limited to enumeration conversions :-).

Come to think of it, I can hardly remember the last time I use a rep. clause
for an enumeration...

Steve O'Neill <soneill@avidyne.com> wrote in message
news:3A82C8DC.1505AC5@avidyne.com...
> Rather than try to encode the enumeration values (which frequently leads
to
> frustration and maintenance issues) I would instead create an array of
> appropriately typed objects that are indexed by the enumeration that I was
> trying to map.  I would index into, search through, etc. that array
> whenever I wanted to convert to/from the external hardware to the internal
> meaning.  It might not seem as elegant or as potentially efficient as
> assigning the enumeration value directly but in my experience it is a lot
> less painful.  With the proper encapsulation and design metaphor it can
> actually turn out to be fairly intuitive.
[snip]