Alberto Fasso' writes:
> On Sat, 6 Mar 1999, Richard Maine wrote:
>
> > The compiler is allowed a lot of freedom in line splitting
> > with list-directed output. Some compilers might write it all on one
> > line, but this certainly isn't required.
>
> Right. But personally I find it a very bad thing. Portability in
> my opinion means also that you should get the same results on
> any platform. I had to struggle with a number of programs
> I had to port from VAX to UNIX, and where all output, originally
> nice and friendly, had become an unreadable mess. It took me a lot of time
> to convert hundreds of list-directed WRITE statements to formatted.
...
> I would like to stress that often one writes programs (or scripts)
> which have as input the output of other programs: but this is very
> difficult when output changes from platform to platform.
Yes, this can often be an issue. Where portability of exact format is
important, don't use list-directed formatting. Its nice for quick and
easy debugging output or other things where you care more about
simplicity than precise control. (By the way, list-directed output is
formatted).
--
Richard Maine
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