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A-Shell Development History

Compiler patch/edit 829 refines the 805 patch (see 1550.6) which corrected a problem with :OUTPUTONLY function parameters. The patch was correct, but it turns out that existing programs were counting on the prior behavior in the case where default values were specified for OUTPUTONLY parameters. The new patch does not change the OUTPUTONLY parameter behavior, except where default values are specified. In that case, the OUTPUTONLY clause is effectively ignored so that the default value can take effect.

This patch also rolls back a minor adjustment that occurred in edit 822 which eliminated the loophole allowing identifiers—variables and symbols—to start with a non-alphabetic character. Technically that wasn't really supposed to be allowed, but at some point the door was accidentally opened, and after closing it, it was discovered that many people are fond of variable names which start with underscore; so to avoid any further behavior changes, they are now and again allowed.