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Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!dogie.macc.wisc.edu!uwvax!tank!eecae!cps3xx!rang
From: rang@cpsin3.cps.msu.edu (Anton Rang)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms,comp.lang.pascal
Subject: VAX Pascal writeln on real numbers
Summary: Small negative numbers show up as zero (OK, but...?)
Keywords: pascal writeln rounding
Message-ID: <2744@cps3xx.UUCP>
Date: 26 Apr 89 18:21:27 GMT
Sender: usenet@cps3xx.UUCP
Reply-To: rang@cpswh.cps.msu.edu (Anton Rang)
Organization: Michigan State University, Computer Science Dept.
Lines: 16

I noticed that the rounding on small numbers done by writeln on VAX
Pascal has a counter-intuitive (to me) result:

	writeln(-0.000001:6:4);

	 ==>  "0.0000"

  Somehow, it seems to me that "-0.0000" would make more sense (and it
would make my report columns line up better :-).  Rounding it to zero
is correct, but I don't like losing the sign in the process....
  Thoughts?

+---------------------------+------------------------+---------------------+
| Anton Rang (grad student) | "VMS Forever!"         | rec.music.newage is |
| Michigan State University | rang@cpswh.cps.msu.edu | under discussion... |
+---------------------------+------------------------+---------------------+