Re: RSI's priorities

[David Ritscher <david.ritscher(at)bigfoot.com>]

It seems like a simple way to solve the problem of the breaking of
old routines would be to add an IDL and PV-Wave functionality of 
internal version control.  There would be a variable called either 
from MAIN or from within a routine, similar to the on_error command,
of a form:
version_functionality, 'IDL 5.1'   or
version_functionality, 'Wave 6.0'
This would cause the interpreter to execute all commands according to
the functionality of that release.

This would mean a bit more internal overhead within IDL and PV-Wave,
but would mean something I wrote would always continue to work, and it
would also mean these firms could get much more adventurous with future
developments without worrying about losing their old customers.

They could even make radical paradigm shifts, for example, make
for i=0, 40000 do print,i
print something on the screen :-)
Even though changing this old faithful friend would break many of our
old programs.


David Ritscher




-- 
Cardiac Rhythm Management Laboratory
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