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From: johnl@ima.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.compilers
Subject: Useless syntax
Message-ID: <571@ima.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 29-May-87 17:02:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: ima.571
Posted: Fri May 29 17:02:53 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 31-May-87 11:35:42 EDT
Sender: johnl@ima.UUCP
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Approved: compilers@ima.UUCP

I would like to claim a small prize for possibly the most useless piece of
syntax ever implemented. I just discovered that I had (mechanically) provided
the following grammar rule in our Cobol-85 compiler under development:

	CALL PROGRAM id [USING ids]
		[ON EXCEPTION imp-stmnt]
		[NOT ON EXCEPTION imp-stmnt]
	[END-CALL]

where CALL PROGRAM is a chaining statement, like the Unix exec().
The NOT ON EXCEPTION branch is obviously utterly unreachable.

Incidentally,
I am interested in corresponding with other Cobol-85 implementors.
--
Esmond Pitt, Austec International Ltd
...!seismo!munnari!ausmelb!ejp,ejp@ausmelb.oz.au
[Aw, shucks, I've seen worse.  Interesting submissions as always solicited.
-John]
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