Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wpg!russ
From: russ@wpg.UUCP (Russell Lawrence)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: unify 3.2 and 4.0 selsort() problems
Message-ID: <1081@wpg.UUCP>
Date: 15 Jan 89 02:57:13 GMT
References: <1074@wpg.UUCP> <24897@sgi.SGI.COM>
Organization: WP Group, POB 306, Metairie, LA 70004
Lines: 42


In article <24897@sgi.SGI.COM>, scotth@harlie.SGI.COM (Scott Henry) writes:
>
> ... The manual entry for selsort()
> is wrong. It shows the prototype as (I can't use italics):
> 
> selsort(tnum,fldtbl,srtfunc)
>   int tnum, *fldtbl;
>   int (*functbl[])() = {selfunc,confunc,srtfunc,tagfunc};
> 
> the argument line should read:
> 
> selsort(tnum,fldtbl,functbl)

[In a followup posting, Scott explains that he's using 4.0 unify... 
not the 3.2 version that I'm using.]

I checked my 3.2 manual and found that it's also incorrect!

Interesting!  I had completely failed to spot the error, but was 
nonetheless invoking the function with a pointer to functbl rather than 
selsort since the training examples in the reference manual do indicate 
the "proper" usuage.  I say "proper usuage", although I'm not really 
convinced since my program continues to crash whenever it executes 
selsort().  To me, the proof of "proper usuage" is a program that works,
and/or documentation that's clearcut and error-free.  

> I am still having problems with my application, but I _think_ they are now
> not in selsort(). Good luck.

I wouldn't be too sure of this.  Since unify traps signals, I'm not getting
a core file, but the stubs that I've buried in my program indicate that
my culprit is definitely the selsort function and/or its arguments.

If someone out there could send me a fragment of code that works, I'd
really appreciate the good example. 

BTW, it's intriguing to me that unify progressed from 3.2 to 4.0 with
the same wrong entry in the programmers reference manual.  
-- 
Russell Lawrence, WP Group, New Orleans (504) 456-0001
{uunet,killer}!wpg!russ