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From: herbie@watdcsu.UUCP (Herb Chong [DCS])
Newsgroups: net.lang
Subject: Re: Runtime trapping of program bugs
Message-ID: <818@watdcsu.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 11-Jan-85 21:53:49 EST
Article-I.D.: watdcsu.818
Posted: Fri Jan 11 21:53:49 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 12-Jan-85 07:47:58 EST
References: <5143@rochester.UUCP> <19@decvax.UUCP> <481@ecsvax.UUCP>
Reply-To: herbie@watdcsu.UUCP (Herb Chong [DCS])
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 36
Summary: 

In article <481@ecsvax.UUCP> emigh@ecsvax.UUCP (Ted Emigh) writes:
>
>The current WATFIV compiler for the IBM 360 compatible computers
>still initializes all variables to an invalid floating point constant
>(creates bad memory parity if *MY* memory serves me right).  Nice
>feature for debugging FORTRAN programs.
>-- 
>
>Ted H. Emigh     Genetics and Statistics, North Carolina State U, Raleigh  NC
>USENET:	{akgua decvax duke ihnp4 unc}!mcnc!ecsvax!emigh
>ARPA:	decvax!mcnc!ecsvax!emigh@BERKELEY

Quoted from the latest WATFIV-S manual (for version 1980 V2L1):
	"When a WATFIV program is compiled, any variable which is not
	assigned an initial value has a bit pattern of '10000000' put
	in each byte of memory reserved for the value of that
	variable.
	...
	The pattern represents an INTEGER value of -2139062144 and a REAL
	value of -0.4335017E-77."
What you say may have been true for WATFOR on older IBM machines, but
for the 360/370 series of machines, this definition has stood for as
long as WATFIV has been in existence.

Herb Chong, BASc
Computer Consultant 

I'm user-friendly -- I don't byte, I nybble....

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