To the question, "Might this introduce behavior changes unanticipated by end users?", the answer must of course be yes.
Such an end user could, for example, supply a buffer of length 2N bytes, expecting confidently that the last N bytes would remain available to him/her for further use after symbol substitution, only to discover that some of them were not available. Preoccupation with dismaying such people can be paralyzing. It can lead to a state of mind which views any change as too risky. When a change can have untoward consequences that can reasonably be anticipated they should be described where it, the change, is described; but there is no requirement that change be avoided to protect users from all of their bad design decisions. Understandably---They get the flak---IBMers are already conservative, not to say preternaturally cautious,. about change. This is not just understandable; it is appropriate too. Whether we should encourage them to be yet more cautious is a nice question. I think not. John Gilmore, Ashland, MA 01721 - USA ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
