Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ucbvax.ARPA
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ucbvax!info-vax
From: info-vax@ucbvax.ARPA
Newsgroups: fa.info-vax
Subject: ANSI standard PL/I?
Message-ID: <4066@ucbvax.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 7-Jan-85 20:38:15 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.4066
Posted: Mon Jan  7 20:38:15 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 8-Jan-85 04:39:22 EST
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.ARPA
Organization: University of California at Berkeley
Lines: 46

From: Jerry Bakin 

This is from the Multics PL/I Language Specification, March '82:

pg 1-1 "The Multics PL/I language is a dialect of the American National
        Standard Programming Language PL/I, ANSI X3.56-1976. ... The
        languages are so similar that nearly all Multics PL/I programs are
        valid programs in standard PL/I."
      
pg 2-7 "
         ::= [()]"[]..."
        ... 
      
        Examples:
      
         "abc" "
      
This is from the VAX-11 PL/I Encyclopedic Reference, November '83:
      
pg 419 "This appendix describes the differences between the VAX-11
        implementation of PL/I and the definition of the PL/I
        General-Purpose Subset.  The subset (X3.74) is a subset of ANSI
        X3.53-1976."
        
pg 68  "Character-String Constants
        
        When you use character-string constants in a program, you must
        enclose the character strings in apostrophes, as shown in the
        following examples:
        
          'Total is:' ..."
        
So, it seems as if both the Multicians and the Vaxxxians (Vaxtronauts?
Maynerds?) thought they were implementing a language similar to PL/I.
However, in something as simple (?) as string constants, they picked
different answers.

Does anyone know which piece of punctuation the ANSI standard calls for
in a string constant?

It doesn't really matter, regardless of whom is correct, I have about
4000 lines of PL/I routines which need a good TECO pass.

Jerry Bakin.