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<H1><A REV=MADE HREF="http://www.lispworks.com/"><IMG WIDTH=80 HEIGHT=65 ALT="[LISPWORKS]" SRC="../Graphics/LWSmall.gif" ALIGN=Bottom></A><A REL=TOP HREF="../Front/index.htm"><IMG WIDTH=237 HEIGHT=65 ALT="[Common Lisp HyperSpec (TM)]" SRC="../Graphics/CLHS_Sm.gif" ALIGN=Bottom></A> <A REL=PREV HREF="../Issues/iss026_w.htm"><IMG WIDTH=40 HEIGHT=40 ALT="[Previous]" SRC="../Graphics/Prev.gif" ALIGN=Bottom></A><A REL=UP HREF="../Issues/iss046.htm"><IMG WIDTH=40 HEIGHT=40 ALT="[Up]" SRC="../Graphics/Up.gif" ALIGN=Bottom></A><A REL=NEXT HREF="../Issues/iss047_w.htm"><IMG WIDTH=40 HEIGHT=40 ALT="[Next]" SRC="../Graphics/Next.gif" ALIGN=Bottom></A></H1>
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<H2>Issue CHARACTER-VS-CHAR Writeup</H2>
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<PRE><B>Issue:</B> <A HREF="iss046.htm">CHARACTER-VS-CHAR</A><P>
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<B>Forum:</B> Editorial<P>
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<B>References:</B> Character Proposal 2.3.1, <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_mk_dis.htm#make-dispatch-macro-character"><B>MAKE-DISPATCH-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A> (p363),<P>
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<A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set_ma.htm#get-macro-character"><B>GET-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A> (p362), <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set_ma.htm#set-macro-character"><B>SET-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A> (p362)<P>
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<A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set__1.htm#get-dispatch-macro-character"><B>GET-DISPATCH-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A> (p364), <P>
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<A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set__1.htm#set-dispatch-macro-character"><B>SET-DISPATCH-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A> (p364)<P>
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<B>Category:</B> CHANGE<P>
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<B>Edit history:</B> 12-Nov-90, Version 1 by Pitman<P>
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14-Nov-90, Version 2 by Pitman (minor mods to Rationale, Discussion)<P>
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15-Mar-91, Version 3 by Pitman (one new proposal, some endorsements)<P>
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<B>Status:</B> For Internal Discussion<P>
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<P>
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<B>Problem Description:<P>
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</B><P>
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Character proposal 2.3.1 adds the names BASE-CHARACTER and<P>
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EXTENDED-CHARACTER. These are naming-wise inconsistent with<P>
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<A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/t_std_ch.htm#standard-char"><B>STANDARD-CHAR</B></A>.<P>
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<P>
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Proposal (CHAR-VS-CHARACTER:INCONSISTENTLY-STATUS-QUO)<P>
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<P>
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Leave things as they are.<P>
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<P>
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Proposal (CHAR-VS-CHARACTER:LESS-INCONSISTENT-SHORT)<P>
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<P>
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Rename BASE-CHARACTER to <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/t_base_c.htm#base-char"><B>BASE-CHAR</B></A>. <P>
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Rename EXTENDED-CHARACTER to <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/t_extend.htm#extended-char"><B>EXTENDED-CHAR</B></A>. <P>
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<P>
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Proposal (CHAR-VS-CHARACTER:LESS-INCONSISTENT-LONG)<P>
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<P>
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Rename <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/t_std_ch.htm#standard-char"><B>STANDARD-CHAR</B></A> to STANDARD-CHARACTER.<P>
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<P>
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Proposal (CHAR-VS-CHARACTER:CONSISTENTLY-CHAR)<P>
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<P>
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Rename BASE-CHARACTER to <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/t_base_c.htm#base-char"><B>BASE-CHAR</B></A>.<P>
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Rename EXTENDED-CHARACTER to <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/t_extend.htm#extended-char"><B>EXTENDED-CHAR</B></A>.<P>
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<P>
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Rename <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_mk_dis.htm#make-dispatch-macro-character"><B>MAKE-DISPATCH-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A> to MAKE-DISPATCH-MACRO-CHAR.<P>
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Rename <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set_ma.htm#set-macro-character"><B>SET-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A> to SET-MACRO-CHAR. <P>
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Rename <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set__1.htm#get-dispatch-macro-character"><B>GET-DISPATCH-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A> to GET-DISPATCH-MACRO-CHAR.<P>
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Rename <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set__1.htm#set-dispatch-macro-character"><B>SET-DISPATCH-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A> to SET-DISPATCH-MACRO-CHAR.<P>
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Rename <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set_ma.htm#get-macro-character"><B>GET-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A> to GET-MACRO-CHAR.<P>
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<P>
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Proposal (CHAR-VS-CHARACTER:REALLY-FIX-THINGS-UP)<P>
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<P>
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Rename BASE-CHARACTER to <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/t_base_c.htm#base-char"><B>BASE-CHAR</B></A>.<P>
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Rename EXTENDED-CHARACTER to <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/t_extend.htm#extended-char"><B>EXTENDED-CHAR</B></A>.<P>
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<P>
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Rename <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_mk_dis.htm#make-dispatch-macro-character"><B>MAKE-DISPATCH-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A> to MAKE-DISPATCH-MACRO-CHAR.<P>
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<P>
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Remove the functions <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set_ma.htm#get-macro-character"><B>GET-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A>, <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set_ma.htm#set-macro-character"><B>SET-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A>,<P>
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<A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set__1.htm#get-dispatch-macro-character"><B>GET-DISPATCH-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A>, and <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set__1.htm#set-dispatch-macro-character"><B>SET-DISPATCH-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A>. <P>
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<P>
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Create setfable functions MACRO-CHAR and DISPATCH-MACRO-CHAR, <P>
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such that:<P>
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<P>
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- (MACRO-CHAR c [r]) means what (<A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set_ma.htm#get-macro-character"><B>GET-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A> x r) <P>
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used to mean.<P>
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<P>
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(<A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/a_setf.htm#setf"><B>SETF</B></A> (MACRO-CHAR c [r]) (<A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/a_values.htm#values"><B>VALUES</B></A> fn [nt])) means what<P>
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(<A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set_ma.htm#set-macro-character"><B>SET-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A> c fn nt r) used to mean.<P>
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<P>
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- (DISPATCH-MACRO-CHAR d s [r]) means what <P>
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(GET-DISPATCH-MACRO-CHAR d s [r]) used to mean.<P>
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<P>
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- (<A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/a_setf.htm#setf"><B>SETF</B></A> (DISPATCH-MACRO-CHAR d s [r]) fn) means what<P>
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(SET-DISPATCH-MACRO-CHAR d s fn [r]) used to mean.<P>
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<P>
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<B>Rationale:<P>
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</B><P>
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We've enumerated the positions that people were likely to have<P>
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so that they could refer succinctly to their position by name.<P>
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<P>
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INCONSISTENTLY-STATUS-QUO: Leaves the language unchanged.<P>
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<P>
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LESS-INCONSISTENT-SHORT: Changes only that part of the language<P>
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which is not in CLtL, and which users probably aren't using<P>
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much yet anyway. At least makes all the type names use<P>
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"-CHAR" consistently. (Stops short of addressing why there<P>
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is a name <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set_sy.htm#set-syntax-from-char"><B>SET-SYNTAX-FROM-CHAR</B></A> but another name <P>
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<A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set_ma.htm#get-macro-character"><B>GET-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A> only to preserve the status quo.)<P>
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<P>
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LESS-INCONSISTENT-LONG: Changes only one name At least makes<P>
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all the type names use "CHARACTER" consistently. (Stops<P>
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short of addressing why there is a name <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set_sy.htm#set-syntax-from-char"><B>SET-SYNTAX-FROM-CHAR</B></A><P>
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but another name <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set_ma.htm#get-macro-character"><B>GET-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A> only to preserve the <P>
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status quo.)<P>
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<P>
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CONSISTENTLY-CHAR: Changes even some things which were in<P>
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CLtL, but does so in a manner that is predictably consistent:<P>
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The word "CHARACTER" is shortened to "CHAR" whenever it appears<P>
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hyphenated together with other words. This would be harder<P>
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on existing programs, but easier for new users.<P>
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<P>
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REALLY-FIX-THINGS-UP: Like CONSISTENTLY-CHAR, but also takes <P>
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advantage of a last opportunity to make the language use <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/a_setf.htm#setf"><B>SETF</B></A> more<P>
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consistently. Probably the reason this didn't originally use <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/a_setf.htm#setf"><B>SETF</B></A><P>
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was the lack of clarity in the managing of multiple values.<P>
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Also, <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set_ma.htm#set-macro-character"><B>SET-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A> and <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_set__1.htm#set-dispatch-macro-character"><B>SET-DISPATCH-MACRO-CHARACTER</B></A> are the<P>
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only two symbols in CL which begin with the substring "SET-" but<P>
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are not set-manipulation primitives.<P>
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<P>
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<B>Current Practice:<P>
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</B><P>
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No one does this.<P>
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<P>
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<B>Cost to Implementors:<P>
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</B><P>
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Small, in all cases.<P>
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<P>
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<B>Cost to Users:<P>
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</B><P>
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INCONSISTENTLY-STATUS-QUO: None.<P>
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<P>
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LESS-INCONSISTENT-SHORT: Very small.<P>
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<P>
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LESS-INCONSISTENT-LONG: Small.<P>
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<P>
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CONSISTENTLY-CHAR and REALLY-FIX-THINGS-UP: It's very easy to<P>
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write the requisite compatibility functions in order to support the<P>
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old names during a transition period. With all the other things<P>
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people are having to do to convert, this is relatively little extra<P>
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burden.<P>
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<P>
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<B>Cost of Non-Adoption:<P>
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</B><P>
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See aesthetics.<P>
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<P>
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<B>Benefits:<P>
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</B><P>
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Aesthetic and Mnemonic.<P>
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<P>
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<B>Aesthetics:<P>
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</B><P>
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If this is adopted... The affected parts of the language will be...<P>
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<P>
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INCONSISTENTLY-STATUS-QUO glaringly unaesthetic<P>
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LESS-INCONSISTENT-SHORT tolerable, but not pretty<P>
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LESS-INCONSISTENT-LONG tolerable, but not pretty<P>
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CONSISTENTLY-CHAR reasonable<P>
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REALLY-FIX-THINGS-UP very pretty<P>
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<P>
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<B>Discussion:<P>
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</B><P>
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KMP prefers (in decreasing order of preference) REALLY-FIX-THINGS-UP,<P>
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then CONSISTENTLY-CHAR, then LESS-INCONSISTENT-SHORT or <P>
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LESS-INCONSISTENT-LONG, then INCONSISTENTLY-STATUS-QUO.<P>
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Scott Cyphers (Symbolics) concurs with this ordering, except his first <P>
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choice would be for the [non-existent] option REALLY-FIX-THINGS-UP-CHARACTER.<P>
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Scott McKay (Symbolics) likes CONSISTENTLY-CHAR but would thinks <P>
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REALLY-FIX-THINGS-UP would be ok.<P>
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<P>
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Bob Cassels at Symbolics asked why there isn't a CONSISTENTLY-CHARACTER<P>
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option. KMP replies:<P>
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In general, we have tried to spell out words in the language. There<P>
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are, of course, some glaring exceptions. However, I feel that<P>
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certain English words (like "paren", "char", "info", and "demo") <P>
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have acquired such high frequency usage in the Computer Science <P>
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arena that we are basically just waiting for the dictionary-makers<P>
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to catch up with the natural-language phenomenon of shortening of<P>
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higher frequency words by its speakers. As such, I feel the issue<P>
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is not one of either "char" or "character" being more correct, but<P>
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rather one of choosing the names in such a way that users can <P>
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reliably remember which name is used in which situation.<P>
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<P>
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Masinter supports REALLY-FIX-THINGS-UP.<P>
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<P>
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Moon and Sandra prefer the long name <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/a_ch.htm#character"><B>CHARACTER</B></A> to the short name <A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/f_char_.htm#char"><B>CHAR</B></A>.<P>
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(Moon voiced implicit support for LESS-INCONSISTENT-LONG, even though<P>
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<A REL=DEFINITION HREF="../Body/s_the.htm#the"><B>the</B></A> option didn't exist yet.)<P>
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<P>
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JonL says he and others at Lucid think that changing a lot of names at<P>
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this point is a bad idea. [It is for this reason that option<P>
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LESS-INCONSISTENT-LONG was added in v3 of this proposal--to offer a <P>
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minimalist fix that might satisfy them.]<P>
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</PRE>
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<HR>
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<A REL=NAVIGATOR HREF="../Front/StartPts.htm"><IMG WIDTH=80 HEIGHT=40 ALT="[Starting Points]" SRC="../Graphics/StartPts.gif" ALIGN=Bottom></A><A REL=TOC HREF="../Front/Contents.htm"><IMG WIDTH=80 HEIGHT=40 ALT="[Contents]" SRC="../Graphics/Contents.gif" ALIGN=Bottom></A><A REL=INDEX HREF="../Front/X_Master.htm"><IMG WIDTH=80 HEIGHT=40 ALT="[Index]" SRC="../Graphics/Index.gif" ALIGN=Bottom></A><A REL=INDEX HREF="../Front/X_Symbol.htm"><IMG WIDTH=80 HEIGHT=40 ALT="[Symbols]" SRC="../Graphics/Symbols.gif" ALIGN=Bottom></A><A REL=GLOSSARY HREF="../Body/26_a.htm"><IMG WIDTH=80 HEIGHT=40 ALT="[Glossary]" SRC="../Graphics/Glossary.gif" ALIGN=Bottom></A><A HREF="../Front/X3J13Iss.htm"><IMG WIDTH=80 HEIGHT=40 ALT="[Issues]" SRC="../Graphics/Issues.gif" ALIGN=Bottom></A><BR>
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<A REL=COPYRIGHT HREF="../Front/Help.htm#Legal"><I>Copyright 1996-2005, LispWorks Ltd. All rights reserved.</I></A><P>
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