Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!iuvax!bsu-cs!dhesi
From: dhesi@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (Rahul Dhesi)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: stdout (was What "isatty"?)
Message-ID: <7509@bsu-cs.bsu.edu>
Date: 31 May 89 02:28:34 GMT
References: <19756@adm.BRL.MIL> <17796@mimsy.UUCP>
Reply-To: dhesi@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (Rahul Dhesi)
Organization: CS Dept, Ball St U, Muncie, Indiana
Lines: 21

In article <17796@mimsy.UUCP> chris@mimsy.UUCP (Chris Torek) writes:
>As you can see by the `:-)' sign, Jimmy C. is kidding.  But there is
>much truth in this.  The C compiler should write to stdout, unless
>there is some overriding reason that it cannot...

I can think of a moderately overriding reason that it should not.
Generalizing:

     Programs should write to stdout when their output would make sense
     on a computer terminal, or when their output is likely to be
     redirected elsewhere and used properly.  Programs that seek are an
     exception.

Unfortunately, cc's output will put most terminals in a funny state,
and cc is often invoked interactively.

But "cc -o -" should write to stdout.
-- 
Rahul Dhesi <dhesi@bsu-cs.bsu.edu>
UUCP:    ...!{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!dhesi
Career change search is on -- ask me for my resume