crs@lanl.ARPA (01/22/86)
> >I'd say one should take advantage of the opportunity and do a French version > >of what the error message should have been all along, i.e. something like > >"not a .o file for this processor." > > Aaah, but that does not cover the scope of errors covered by `bad magic > number' which can also tell you that you are trying to load a library > module from a file that is not a library and various other things. Perhaps 'Bad magic number' is trying to do too much then. Isn't it possible to distinguish among these errors? > `Bad > magic number' says it all for me, but what I would like to see instead > is an on-line program to explain errors (perhaps in more than one > language). Sounds a reasonable approach but then the basic error message can be even more cryptic than 'Bad magic number'; how about 'Error number 1492' as they do with the micros? How about an environment variable or the like to say whether a user wants the error messages automatically run through this "on line program" for translation to human language? And, perhaps, another to specify the language? > >If one of the results of international- > >ization is the elimination of cretinous messages like "bad magic number," > >it deserves support from even the most isolationist of users. Absolutely! -- The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer, the government or your favorite deity. Charlie Sorsby ...!{cmcl2,ihnp4,...}!lanl!crs crs@lanl.arpa