Re: Arithmetic with durations

[dewar@merv.cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar)]

: In article <34149060.2E21@home.com> lmcoon@home.com writes:

: >The line that calculates the amount of simulation
: >time to wait for each event won't compile.  My
: >compiler (Thomson ObjectAda running in Windows 95)
: >produces the following diagnostic: "LRM:4.5.5(20)
: >The fixed-fixed multiplying operators shall not be
: >used in a context where the expected type for the
: >result is universal_fixed."


This is a nice example of why RM references are not as helpful as
people think they might be. Here is the GNAT diagnostic for this
particular case:

     1. procedure z is
     2.   type m is delta 0.1 range 0.0 .. 1.0;
     3.   a,b,c,d : m;
     4.
     5. begin
     6.    a := b * c * d;
                  |
        >>> type cannot be determined from context
        >>> explicit conversion to result type required

     7. end;

which I think has a much better chance of prompting someone to figure
out the solution on their own!