🚀 go-pugleaf

  Graham Perkins,
  In a message on 21 March, wrote :

GP> Jeffrey E Stoner wrote:
GP> > Ronald Snelgrove (ronald@newton.physics.BrockU.CA) wrote:
GP> > : To anyone using the Fitted Software Modula-2 compiler for DOS:
GP> > : of bytes required to store that type, ie SIZE(INTEGER) would return 2
GP> s
GP> > 
GP> > Well, in the manual, pages 21-22 lists the amount of storage for each d
GP> > type.  Simply count 'em up.
GP> > 
GP> 
GP> No, no!  That won't help!  He is trying to write software that does
GP> some stuff regardless of what size the data item is.  OK so he could
GP> count up and use a numeric literal, but then the software would need
GP> changing in lots of places if the data item ever changed.  And the
GP> compiler won't check you've made all those changes.  And the runtime
GP> might not show any obvious faults for a while.
GP> 
GP> I needed that SIZE function for my file handling modules I just
GP> wrote.  The definition module contains 
<snip>
GP> the imp. module are a load of SIZE(Item) calls needed to cope with
GP> all that low level "ReadNBytes" stuff.  
GP> 
GP> I can make this (and sequential and relative files) work for Topspees,
GP> Gardens Point, and Logitech.  But it looks like it wouldn't be possible
GP> for Fitted Software.
GP> 
GP> Ronald might like to try writing his own SIZE function, but I think
GP> the only way would be via a paremeter of type ARRAY OF BYTE and I'm
GP> not sure if Fitted Software M2 supports that.

What is broken?
The following program works (see output below):


MODULE Testaofb;

FROM InOut IMPORT WriteCard, WriteString, WriteLn;
FROM SYSTEM IMPORT BYTE;

PROCEDURE Passaofb( x: ARRAY OF BYTE );
BEGIN
    WriteCard( SIZE( x ), 5 );
END Passaofb;

VAR n: INTEGER;
    s: ARRAY [0..10] OF CHAR;
    l: LONGCARD;
BEGIN
    WriteString("              INTEGER: ");    Passaofb( n );
    WriteString("  ");  WriteCard( SIZE( n ), 5 );
    WriteLn;

    WriteString("ARRAY [0..10] OF CHAR: ");    Passaofb( s );
    WriteString("  ");  WriteCard( SIZE( s ), 5 );
    WriteLn;

    WriteString("             LONGCARD: ");    Passaofb( l );
    WriteString("  ");  WriteCard( SIZE( l ), 5 );
    WriteLn;
END Testaofb.

Output is as follows:

              INTEGER:     2      2
ARRAY [0..10] OF CHAR:    11     11
             LONGCARD:     4      4

Perhaps you are refering to opaque types or something?

Will.
  
...
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