Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: IEEE arithmetic in C
Message-ID: <1990May9.171850.7062@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <4328.263076F2@puddle.fidonet.org> <1990Apr25.162502.5977@utzoo.uucp> <1990Apr26.203555.9810@kfw.COM> <1990Apr27.173218.19870@utzoo.uucp> <24556@weitek.WEITEK.COM> <1990May1.155833.1921@utzoo.uucp> <15466@bfmny0.UU.NET>
Date: Wed, 9 May 90 17:18:50 GMT

In article <15466@bfmny0.UU.NET> tneff@bfmny0.UU.NET (Tom Neff) writes:
>Actually I'm a little disappointed that vendors (even Intel's own
>iC86/286) don't appear to support the IEEE 80-bit real format...
>... I understand how everything has to be
>dumbed down and have happy faces painted on it for the glorious new
>future of standardization...

The problem is not standardization; this is exactly what ANSI C "long
double" is for.  ANSI C is weak on IEEE arithmetic support in some other
areas, but this at least they got right.  The problem is lazy vendors.
The solution, or at least the beginning of it, is:  !!COMPLAIN!!.
To the vendor, not to the net.
-- 
If OSI is the answer, what is |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
the question?? -Rolf Nordhagen| uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu