(j3.2006) (SC22WG5.5110) [ukfortran] WG5 letter ballot 7 on Fortran 2008interpretations

[Malcolm Cohen]

David Muxworthy writes:
>Should new constraint C852a have a reference to R864?

The short answer is "no".

The long answer is long...

People are frequently confused by rule references in constraints, variously 
assuming
(a) it limits the application to the rule referenced [most common]
(b) it applies the constraint everywhere that rule appears,
(c) they just ignore it and read what they think the constraint is saying.

Actually maybe (c) is most common.

Anyway, in my opinion constraints should be written identically to other 
normative requirements, and not use some special notation to 
limit/broadcast/whatever the constraint.  If the constraint is written 
unambiguously in that fashion, then people don't get so confused by the rule 
reference because it is totally superfluous.  And then we can and should drop 
the rule reference entirely.

C852a is indeed written just like any normative requirement and does not require 
any rule reference for its understanding or application.

Cheers,
-- 
................................Malcolm Cohen, Nihon NAG, Tokyo.