[Info-vax] Error Messages in Basic - %BASIC-E-PARMODNOT, mode for parameter <n> of routine <procedure-name> not as declared

[Stephen Hoffman]

On 2019-06-07 18:22:09 +0000, Bob Gezelter said:

> My recollection is that some early versions of the OpenVMS languages 
> lacked fully typed declarations. Thus, code which originated earlier 
> often lacks type-checked definitions. It is rare for developers to 
> backfill such usages when they become superseded.
> 
> Have encountered these problems at client sites on many occasions, in a 
> variety of languages. As Hoff mentioned in one of his posts in this 
> thread, forcing correct typing has uncovered various latent bugs.

The OpenVMS system definitions were somewhat of a dog's breakfast, 
prior to the advent of __NEW_STARLET and OpenVMS V7.0.

That also wasn't a great name choice in retrospect, but it is what it is.

The "new" system declarations work rather better, on balance.  They've 
uncovered a number of latent coding bugs in my own and in other source 
code.

That preprocessor #define is another example of the trade-offs between 
new code and new development and active maintenance work and 
compatibility with old code, too.




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