Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!bu.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!aplcen!haven!adm!smoke!gwyn
From: gwyn@smoke.BRL.MIL (Doug Gwyn)
Newsgroups: comp.std.c
Subject: Re: blue paint
Message-ID: <13421@smoke.BRL.MIL>
Date: 26 Jul 90 19:34:18 GMT
References: <225@kyzyl.mi.org>
Organization: U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory, APG, MD.
Lines: 11

In article <225@kyzyl.mi.org> tkacik@kyzyl.mi.org (Tom Tkacik) writes:
>Can someone explain blue paint?  Is it in the standard?

"Blue paint" is a standard informal term used in the macro business
to indicate that some sort of marker is attached to an object for the
sole purpose of being able to tell later that the object has been
processed in a specific way.  The etymology is unimportant (it
probably has something to do with blue coconuts).

Section 3.8.3.4 of the C standard is where it is specified that blue
paint persists; however, other wording is employed.