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From: koopman@a.gp.cs.cmu.edu (Philip Koopman)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: Re: ANS TC Magnet for Division
Message-ID: <10043@pt.cs.cmu.edu>
Date: 30 Jul 90 03:45:53 GMT
References: <9007292127.AA24336@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI
Lines: 21

In article <9007292127.AA24336@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, UNBCIC@BRFAPESP.BITNET writes:
>       BUT many others complain about the fact that the Standard
> says that when  /  receives negative arguments the result is
> unpredictable.  HOWEVER, in my view, this is not true for *any*
> Forth ever written.  /  with negative arguments will give  SM/MOD
> DROP  or  FM/MOD DROP  , right?  And this is not what is said by
> BASIS 12.  BASIS 12 says that  20 -10 /  can give me 7! Or 130, or 0
> et cetera.
>... 
In a "reasonable" implementation, this probably would not happen.
However, this is the thrust of my current problem with division
in the BASIS.  If we are going to go to all the trouble 
to specify N kinds of division, at least we should fully
specify how to make / work in a generally useful (if implementation
dependent) manner.

  Phil Koopman                koopman@greyhound.ece.cmu.edu   Arpanet
  2525A Wexford Run Rd.
  Wexford, PA  15090
Senior scientist at Harris Semiconductor, and adjunct professor at CMU.
I don't speak for them, and they don't speak for me.