Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!software.ORG!blakemor From: blakemor@software.ORG (Alex Blakemore) Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: derived types in package specs Message-ID: <8904210606.AA05183@venera.isi.edu> Date: 20 Apr 89 17:34:23 GMT Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 24 Does anyone have an idea of the rationale behind RM 3.4(15) ? "If a derived type or private type is declared immediately within the visible part of a package, then, within this visible part, this type must not be used as the parent type of a derived type definition." ... see also 7.4.1.(4) This disallows things like type this is new integer; type that is new this; and what really hurt was type this is private; that that is new this; The draft copy of the Ada design rationale doesn't seem to discuss this. If this were legal, I think I could come up with a very nice use for derived types (something that has been rare but not unheard of in my experience) So there must have been a reason right ? Alex Blakemore Software Productivity Consortium blakemore@software.org