[comp.compilers] Useless syntax

johnl@ima.UUCP (05/30/87)

I would like to claim a small prize for possibly the most useless piece of
syntax ever implemented. I just discovered that I had (mechanically) provided
the following grammar rule in our Cobol-85 compiler under development:

	CALL PROGRAM id [USING ids]
		[ON EXCEPTION imp-stmnt]
		[NOT ON EXCEPTION imp-stmnt]
	[END-CALL]

where CALL PROGRAM is a chaining statement, like the Unix exec().
The NOT ON EXCEPTION branch is obviously utterly unreachable.

Incidentally,
I am interested in corresponding with other Cobol-85 implementors.
--
Esmond Pitt, Austec International Ltd
...!seismo!munnari!ausmelb!ejp,ejp@ausmelb.oz.au
[Aw, shucks, I've seen worse.  Interesting submissions as always solicited.
-John]
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