On Thu, Jul 29, 2004 at 11:59:44AM -0400, Steven Bennett wrote: > Bernard wrote (portions snipped): > > > I disagree entirely on the "maximise portability". The maximum is ascii. You > > can even read it without a computer. > > ... > > Sorry, but it seems archaic to me (in a situation such as we are talking > > about) not to write the file in ascii. > > First off, we're talking about a general purpose parser here, not a file > conversion program. In all likelihood, most, if not all, of the programs it > will be used with will probably link directly to it, and there will be no > intermediate file or storage involved - just a data buffer of some sort > returned from a function call. The output isn't intended for an end user - > it's intended for a program.
I suppose callbacks might be an alternative ? > Honestly, it makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever to be making an > intermediate ASCII text format the output of a general purpose parser. It > defeats the entire purpose of there *being* a parser in the first place. Of course, one of the things you could use a parser for, would be in an application that would generate, say, MusicXML, or other ascii, output ... -- Richard Robinson "The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
