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From: joel@DECWRL.DEC.COM (Joel McCormack)
Newsgroups: net.lang.mod2
Subject: Re: Open Array Parameters and matrices
Message-ID: <8610290157.AA00505@vulcan.dec.com>
Date: Tue, 28-Oct-86 20:57:02 EST
Article-I.D.: vulcan.8610290157.AA00505
Posted: Tue Oct 28 20:57:02 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 29-Oct-86 02:49:02 EST
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The current Modula-2 compiler at DEC allows you to declare things like ARRAY
OF ARRAY OF REAL, and the HIGH function takes an optional parameter for the
dimension number.  (Other extensions use HIGH(array) for the first dimension,
HIGH(array[0]) for the 2nd, etc.)

I would rather have something along the lines of Pascal's conformant arrays,
but ARRAY OF set a nasty precedent.  (Several years ago I asked Niklaus Wirth
what he planned to do about making Modula-2 suitable for implementing math
libraries; he said he really didn't care about that kind of programming.)

Standard Modula-2 supports only one-dimensional open arrays, and I don't know
what the ISO group is contemplating.

- Joel McCormack {ihnp4 decvax ucbvax allegra}!decwrl!joel
		 joel@decwrl.dec.com