> b) Fix the API signature and implementation. Presumably everyone's > ignoring the currently void return value anyhow and changing the > signature to return an int would harm no one.
The relevant functions returning errors to gsl_ieee_env_setup are gsl_ieee_read_mode_string and gsl_ieee_set_mode. Currently, if the former returns an error the latter is still attempted after the error handler is called. With the default error handler, of course, the program would exit after a gsl_ieee_read_mode_string failure. But with a user-provided error handler, it might not. Fixing the API signature /and/ returning the result of gsl_ieee_read_mode_string without calling gsl_ieee_set_mode may quietly break some existing code. Fixing the API signature and returning only value of gsl_ieee_set_mode feels wrong. To me, it appears the better choice is > a) Fix the documentation. unless someone feels strongly about the issue. - Rhys
