On Fri, 23 Jan 2026 at 06:09, Josep Maria Blasco <[email protected]> wrote: > > I'd like to fix the taxonomy of ooRexx symbols. > > Currently, 1.13 says "The meaning of a symbol in Rexx varies according to its > context. As a term in an expression, a symbol belongs to one of the following > groups: (1) constant symbols, (2) simple symbols, (3) compound symbols, (4) > environment symbols, and (5) stems. Constant symbols cannot be assigned new > values" (parenthesized numbers are mine). This section is using what I > consider to be the right taxonomy. > > 1.13.2 "Constant Symbols", however, says "A constant symbol starts with a > digit (0-9) or a period", then adds, in the next paragraph, "You cannot > change the value of a constant symbol. It is simply the string consisting of > the characters of the symbol (that is, with any lowercase alphabetic > characters translated to uppercase)". But then, after some examples, it adds > "Constant symbols, where the first character is a period, which have at least > one other character, and which are not a valid Rexx number, are environment > symbols and may have a value other than the symbol name". > > I propose to rephrase 1.13.2 as follows: > > A constant symbol starts with a number, consists of a single period, or is a > valid Rexx number.
Lurker here, been reading for years. I find this confusing. By "number", do you mean "digit"? Or perhaps "decimal digit"? Surely 123xyz is not a constant symbol, but I think it matches your suggested description. Or by "number" do you mean a REXX number, in which case 123E4 would be valid, and so 123E4qwx would also be valid? So I think the original wording "A constant symbol starts with a digit (0-9) or a period" is quite clear, if it's true. And I don't think that "Constant symbols, where the first character is a period, which have at least one other character, and which are not a valid Rexx number, are environment symbols and may have a value other than the symbol name" is inconsistent with "You cannot change the value of a constant symbol". These are simply talking about different properties. I would suggest that if you *can* change a constant symbol, then some thought should be given to using another term. If it's constant it's surely unchangeable, no? > You cannot change the value of a constant symbol. It is simply the string > consisting of the characters of the symbol (that is, with any lowercase > alphabetic characters, if any, translated to uppercase. You have "any" twice. Drop the ", if any," . > I would also suppress the last paragraph starting with "Constant symbols, > where the first character is a period..." > > If nobody objects, I will implement these changes (I'm not a native English > speaker, so that style corrections are always welcome). > > In a second pass, I'll review all the places in rexxref referencing "constant > symbols" to see if the reference should be changed to also include > environment symbols. It sounds as though in between passes the document may be wrong. > See also https://sourceforge.net/p/oorexx/documentation/337/ Tony H. _______________________________________________ Oorexx-devel mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/oorexx-devel
