[Info-vax] Unexpected error using ZIP for OpenVMS

[Steven Schweda]

> So this is an "expected error." If the error is expected,
> than the program was expecting it. Therefore, the program was
> expecting the user to make this error. And that means there
> can be only one expected error. Any other error, or lack of
> error, would be unexpected.

   To me, this is utter nonsense.  A user can specify
different files which present different problems, for
example, a Zip archive spec might be a: 1) Non-existent
file, 2) File which the user has no permission to read, 3)
File which is not really a Zip archive, 4) Truncated or
otherwise damaged Zip archive, ...  Possibilities abound.

   Who said that the _program_, and not its user, expected an
error (or anything else)?

   The program, whether or not it "expects" anything,
attempts to perform certain operations, and (ideally) reports
problems when it encounters them.  The user might expect the
program to do what it is told to do, when that is possible.
The user might expect the program to complain when it can't
do something which is not possible.  The user might _not_
expect the program to complain when it can't do something
which _is_ (or should be) possible.  Please stop me when this
gets too complicated.

> But the code *can't* read it. Shouldn't the code tell you
> it can't read it and say why? And if it does, which it did,
> what makes it unexpected?

   Did _you_ expect this error?  The original complainer (and
I) did not.

>  Isn't this really an "unexpected bug"? And if so, who
> cares?

   Which bugs _are_ expected?  The error message (caused by
that bug) was unexpected (by the original complainer and by
me).  Who cares if there's a bug?  Uh, _I_ do?  Other users
might.  (_You_ might be too busy to care, but I can think of
some ways in which you might free up some time for useful
pursuits.)

> Maybe they teach this in computer science classes.

   I don't know.  I never took one.

>  I trained to be a physicist.

   So did I, but it didn't turn me into a drooling idiot, or
otherwise cause me to misinterpret perfectly simple
declarative sentences with obvious meanings.