Proposed Wording Change to the Error Terminology

[Dick Gabriel <grian!elroy!grian!elroy!RPG%SAIL.Stanford.EDU@elroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov>]

At the x3j13 meeting this week there was some negative comments
about the definition of ``undefined.'' The following is an attempt
to address those criticisms. The last bullet is the part in question:

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``When situation $S$ occurs, the results are undefined.''

This terminology has the following meaning:

\beginlist

\item{\bull} If this situation occurs, the results are unpredictable.  The
results may range from harmless to fatal to the running system.

\item{\bull} No valid program should cause this situation to happen.

\item{\bull} Implementations are allowed to detect this situation and
signal an error, but no implementation is required to detect the
situation.

\item{\bull} No implementation is allowed to extend the semantics of the
\OS\ to this situation; the effects of the situation may be described
or specified by the implementors, but the effects may not be described
as an extension to the \OS\.

\endlist

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			-rpg-