Tabs are useful for formatting input text. I use tab settings of 10, 16. 35, and 72 for HLASM source formatting; but I will not use a text editor that does not---optionally for those who have other preferences---replace tabs with blanks during save/storage operations.
Bernd and I are thus in complete agreement about this issue More generally, the notion of usurping the traditional function oif a character to use it for another purpose "where it is safe to do so" is, I think, a dubious, even irresponsible one. Doing so always has untoward, sometimes tragic consequences. I am sure, for example, that the people who 'extended' C on the cheap to support strings of conceptually unlimited length with EOS delimited by a nul, x'00' in an SBCS or x'0000' in a DBCS, thought their idea was benign. In the event they sowed badly, and we are all reaping the whirlwind. John Gilmore, Ashland, MA 01721 - USA ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
