[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
FORMAT
- To: (BUG LISP) at MIT-MC
- Subject: FORMAT
- From: gls at MIT-MC (Guy L. Steele, Jr.)
- Date: Wed, 11 Apr 79 03:45:00 GMT
- Cc: (BUG lispm) at MIT-AI
- Original-date: 10 APR 1979 2245-EST
- Sent-by: RZ at MIT-MC
Unfortunately FORMAT has a gross incompatibility between LISPM
and MacLISP, namely the treatment of T as the stream argument.
In MacLISP NEWIO, T has standardly denoted the value of TYO
(i.e. the tty) (subject to ^W), while NIL has meant the "standard
output" (i.e. TYO subject to ^W plus OUTFILES subject to ^R).
Now to FORMAT, NIL means "make a string", so that can't be used
as in NEWIO. So on LISPM T means "standard output".
My suggestion is that the MacLISP FORMAT be changed so that T
is specially recoggnized and caused to mean "standard output"
(by being changed to a NIL file specification). The theory is
that most programs could then be mmade compatible between LISPM
and MacLISP. If it is necessary in MacLISP to get the effect
of T as a file specification, (T) can be used instead.