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From: rick@uwmacc.UUCP (the absurdist)
Newsgroups: net.lang.pascal,net.micro.pc
Subject: Re: Dangling pointers in Turbo
Message-ID: <1574@uwmacc.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 18-Oct-85 13:06:09 EDT
Article-I.D.: uwmacc.1574
Posted: Fri Oct 18 13:06:09 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 20-Oct-85 06:22:26 EDT
References: <1568@uwmacc.UUCP>
Reply-To: rick@maccunix.UUCP (Rick Keir)
Distribution: net
Organization: UWisconsin-Madison Academic Comp Center
Lines: 27
Xref: watmath net.lang.pascal:365 net.micro.pc:5667

In article <1568@uwmacc.UUCP> curtis@uwmacc.UUCP (Alan Curtis) writes:
>I've been using TURBO (V 3.0) on my PC to do some class work, and have
>run into a problem whenever I accidentally leave pointers uninitialized
>or use pointers that are set to nil.  <...>
>My question is: Is this just a result of using a cheap compiler, or
>does MS-PASCAL and other "expensive" pascal compilers also suffer the
>same problem?

Alan, it is not caused by Turbo being "cheap".  The Pascal compiler for
VM/CMS on an IBM 4341 will give you a lovely error message for a pointer
if you accidentally rearrange your declarations and block structure
(and this is easy with a line-oriented editor):

	Internal Consistency Detected:  Notify your IBM Compiler Support
	Group -- [and then some address in New York ]

	(Isn't this enlightening?)

	This, together with various messages about ABEND, program
aborting, etc.  As my semester project was by this time a 2 and 1/2
inch thick listing, it took me 2 days to find that the damn pointer
declaration had been moved 3 lines higher, outside of any block.
Moving it back fixed the problem.  Turbo, on the other hand, would
have flagged a syntax error on the first compilation.
-- 
Rick Keir -- right next to the Oyster Tank -- UWisc - Madison
{allegra, ihnp4, seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!rick