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From: shankar@hpclscu.HP.COM (Shankar Unni)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: cfront 2.* mishandles "if (funcname)" statement
Message-ID: <58170027@hpclscu.HP.COM>
Date: 7 Jun 90 16:52:42 GMT
References: <58170025@hpclscu.HP.COM>
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Calif. Language Lab
Lines: 30

>    extern int foo();
>    main()
>    {
>        if (foo) {
>           /* ... */
>        }
>    }
>    
>    "foo.c", line 4: function != zero

I've already received a couple of solicitous messages asking me whether I
didn't *really* mean:

  extern int (*foo)();

And the answer is: NO. I mean what I said. Yes, that check is a constant
compile-time check that *must* evaluate to non-zero by definition (if the
function is defined somewhere).

And I am not feeble-minded: this is not something that I did by accident,
nor is it something with a deep inner secret: it is merely a fragment
typical of the Plum Hall ANSI C test suite.

The worst thing is that cfront gives a HARD error (non-zero exit status),
not just a warning (which I could live with - Plum Hall is pretty forgiving
of warnings).

So back to the language lawyers and the cfront folks in AT&T: what gives?
-----
Shankar Unni.