Re: [patch #5511] Clean up variable formats

[Ben Pfaff]

John Darrington <address@hidden> writes:

> On Fri, Nov 03, 2006 at 06:32:42AM -0800, Ben Pfaff wrote:
>      
>      > If not, it ought to be locale dependent.  
>      
>      I actually don't think so: the SPSS manuals don't say anything
>      about adaptation to language here, and so I assume that these are
>      not locale dependent.
>      
>      > On the other hand, if debug is the primary motivation for this
>      > function, then maybe it ought to be seperate from
>      > dollar_format_template which is for user interaction.
>      
>      I think they have a different purpose: fmt_date_template is for
>      internal use in parsing and output, dollar_format_template is
>      useful for user interaction.
>
> OK.  I agree.  The syntax should not be dependent upon locale (except
> perhaps that identifiers can come from different character sets).  In
> that case, fmt_date_template and dollar_format_template should be
> distinct functions.   However it might still be a good idea to put
> them both in the same place (and rename them so that their purpose is
> clear).

OK.  I'll move it and rename it, and possibly rename
fmt_date_template as well, to clarify everything.

If I also generalize dollar_format_template to cover any format,
as part of moving and renaming it, will you find it to be more
useful?  I am willing to do so, but only if it is worthwhile.
-- 
Ben Pfaff 
email: address@hidden
web: http://benpfaff.org