Re: Why can't Ada use dot notation on private types?

["Randy Brukardt" <randy@rrsoftware.com>]

"Lucretia" <laguest9000@googlemail.com> wrote in message 
news:d1956163-4a96-4e39-97d5-0a516e9a954c@googlegroups.com...
> Hi,
>
> A lot of people dislike the fact that you cannot use dot notation on a 
> tagged type if it's private.
> Is there a reason for this? Surely the compiler knows it's tagged when it 
> looks it up?

That would be privacy breaking, of course: the legality of the source would 
depend upon the private details.

But of course it is legal if you have a tagged private type. (Once done, of 
course, the fact that the type is tagged is visible.) Completing an untagged 
private type with a tagged type causes various semantic issues, so I'd 
recommend against that anyway.

                            Randy.