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

[Stephen Hoffman]

On 2019-06-09 18:48:06 +0000, Neil Rieck said:

> If VSI is smart (and I think they are) they will not change a thing 
> with VMS-BASIC. I doubt many organizations are still using this 
> language but for those that are, the programmers already know how to 
> get around most of the warts. On top of that, compiler changes 
> sometimes make it difficult to compile old code (without renovation) so 
> new or changed features would need to be enabled with an option 
> statement or command line parameter.

Ponder the difference between what you're proposing here—few or no 
changes, and arguably of preserving the value of wart-knowledge—and 
what's sometimes been termed as a "cash cow" business strategy.

Work through where the no-changes and maintenance-focused trend ends 
up.  This for those folks and those apps that aren't heading for 
retirement.

Work through what happens long-term for no-changes with the apps that 
aren't headed toward being "somebody else's problem".

That older developers might be fond of the familiar tools and 
long-standing platforms is great, but that's not a long-term market. 
Not without changes.

Make BASIC something that new development might be interested in.  Or 
yes, treat BASIC as a nice stable cash cow, and invest the time and 
effort and focus elsewhere.

And yes, if the changes and the wart-fixing has to be incompatible, 
then parallel environments pending source code migrations.

We aren't in a world where do-nothing is a viable product sales and 
product growth strategy for an IT software vendor.  Nor where IT 
vendors have the budgets and the economics to invest everywhere.

Trade-offs all the way down.  And a focus on compatibility and/or 
toward more substantial and more rapid updates are part of that 
calculation.

OpenVMS folks haven't had a surfeit of wanna-have-it releases in many 
years.  Gotta-have-it bug fixes, yes.  But fewer wanna-have-it upgrades.

x86-64 is the first part of the VSI wanna-have-it new work, but there's 
a whole lot more past that port.

-- 
Pure Personal Opinion | HoffmanLabs LLC