Re: errata/33: Use of keyword "integer" (Section 17)

From: Stuart Sutherland (stuart@sutherland-hdl.com)
Date: Thu Sep 06 2001 - 10:10:01 PDT


Precedence: bulk

The following reply was made to PR errata/33; it has been noted by GNATS.

From: Stuart Sutherland <stuart@sutherland-hdl.com>
To: Daryl Stewart <Daryl.Stewart@cl.cam.ac.uk>, btf-bugs@boyd.com
Cc:
Subject: Re: errata/33: Use of keyword "integer" (Section 17)
Date: Thu, 06 Sep 2001 10:03:28 -0700

 Just my opinion, but I think part of the difficulty here is that there are
 two meanings of the word "integer" involved. There is the integer data
 type, which is a signed 32-bit variable. Then there is the more generic
 usage of the word integer which essentially means a non-floating point
 value. The reg data type is also an integer (unsigned by default, and any
 vector width). A literal number such as 5 is an integer. It would have
 been a good thing if the keyword for the data type in Verilog had been int
 instead of integer, but that's not the way it is. The reader will just
 have to look at the context around the word "integer" to see if it is being
 used as a reserved word or a generic term. Putting the keyword in a
 different font would help, as would consistently using the phrase "integer
 data type" when specifically referencing the keyword.
 
 Stu
 
 At 08:00 AM 9/6/2001, Daryl Stewart wrote:
>Precedence: bulk
>
>The following reply was made to PR errata/33; it has been noted by GNATS.
>
>From: Daryl Stewart <Daryl.Stewart@cl.cam.ac.uk>
>To: Shalom Bresticker <Shalom.Bresticker@motorola.com>
>Cc: Daryl.Stewart@cl.cam.ac.uk, btf-bugs@boyd.com
>Subject: Re: errata/33: Use of keyword "integer" (Section 17)
>Date: Thu, 06 Sep 2001 15:50:00 +0100
>
> Shalom Bresticker <Shalom.Bresticker@motorola.com> wrote:
>
> > In general, Section 17 uses less precise syntax than the rest of the
> standard.
> > It was a deliberate decision of the committee, in order to avoid tons of
> > additional work.
>
> Should I read that as "don't mention any more such bugs" or as "how do you
> fancy doing the corrections yourself?".
> I'd be happy to volunteer if you want someone to :)
>
> I notice the same usage was in section 14 in the October 1995 draft.
>
> > By the way, "integer" DOES appear in the example on p. 299, at the
> very top.
>
> I meant it doesn't appear as suggested in the syntax - the integer in the
> example is part of an integer declaration and not of any system task usage.
>
>
> cheers
> Daryl
>
 
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 stuart@sutherland-hdl.com 22805 SW 92nd Place
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