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Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: pre#defines for system and machine (was: RMS comments to X3J11)
Message-ID: <1611@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu>
Date: Tue, 27-Jan-87 03:04:29 EST
Article-I.D.: cit-vax.1611
Posted: Tue Jan 27 03:04:29 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 28-Jan-87 05:54:17 EST
References: <2144@brl-adm.ARPA> <5497@brl-smoke.ARPA> <3952@utcsri.UUCP> <556@omssw2.UUCP>
Reply-To: jon@oddhack.UUCP (Jon Leech)
Organization: California Institute of Technology
Lines: 24

Organization : California Institute of Technology
Keywords: 
From: jon@oddhack.Caltech.Edu (Jon Leech)
Path: oddhack!jon

In article <556@omssw2.UUCP> vrs@omssw2.UUCP (Vincent R. Slyngstad) writes:
>I think there is entirely too much emphasis placed on high level symbols
>(like bsd) where low level symbols (like SIGTSTP) are needed.  I often
>see code that reads
>	#ifdef SYSV
>		ioctl(fd, TCGETA, &term);
>	#endif
>when it ought (in my opinion) to read
>	#ifdef TCGETA
>		ioctl(fd, TCGETA, &term);
>	#endif

	Nothing assures the uniqueness of such symbols across implementations.
TCGETA may exist and mean something entirely different on a non-SYSV machine.
This can lead to really obscure bugs.

    -- Jon Leech (jon@csvax.caltech.edu || ...seismo!cit-vax!jon)
    Caltech Computer Science Graphics Group
    __@/