Discussion of Some Miscellaneous Issues

miscellaneousissues

Comment duplication: Ifcommentduplication the FunnelWeb user inserts comments into the target code (in the .fw file) as well as into the documentation (free text) part of the .fw file, then it is possible for the situation to get a bit silly. Ḏecision: This is a problem for the programmer, not for FunnelWeb.

Out-of-date documentation: Sometimesout of datedocumentation it is all too easy for the programmer to modify the code without updating the surrounding documentation. Ḏecision: This is a serious and major problem. In an automated environment, it may be possible to create a system of dependencies between scraps of code and scraps of documentation. However, it is hard to see how a tool such as FunnelWeb could provide support for prevention of this sort of error.

Meta-macro-level parameterization: Sometimes, when using FunnelWeb, the facility to use one macro to construct the name of another has been needed. Ḏecision: Allowing macro names to be constructed would lose the simple nature of the preprocessor and so this suggestion is rejected.

Clumsy notation: The @ notation can be clumsy. Ḏecision: This is necessary to maintain the simplicity of the translation.