Xref: utzoo comp.os.vms:5851 comp.lang.pascal:846
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!uwvax!rutgers!elbereth.rutgers.edu!elkins
From: elkins@elbereth.rutgers.edu (George Elkins)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms,comp.lang.pascal
Subject: Quoted string parameters in VAX Pascal?
Message-ID: <Apr.29.15.09.31.1988.23840@elbereth.rutgers.edu>
Date: 29 Apr 88 19:09:32 GMT
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
Lines: 25


Is there a way in VAX Pascal to define a procedure that will take
a variable length quoted string as a parameter?  What I would like
to do is imitate the variable length quoted string parameter behavior
of the WRITE and WRITELN procedures, although this is not possible
for user-written procedures in STANDARD Pascal.  I want the quoted
string parameter to be within the argument list itself, as in the
WRITELN procedure.  I am trying to avoid assigning the string to an
arbitrarily long fixed-length packed array and passing the Pascal
identifier for the array and the integer length of the string.

Example of what I want to do:

     foo('This is a string of any length');  {User-written procedure foo}

Examples of what I am avoiding:

     foo(PackedArrayName, StringLength);  {Packed array and string length}
or
     foo(String.Body, String.Length);  {Record with packed array and integer}

Is this possible or conceivable in VAX Pascal?  (I'll admit that I haven't
consulted the documentation.  I don't have easy access to it.)

George Elkins