labs (07/07/82)
if it is REALLY necessary to have nroff ruin my final copy with error messages, at least these should be accurate. telling me i had a format error in line 1324 when my file contains only 900 lines doesn't help me very much. i am really annoyed that we get selective "improvements" in the macro package while really needed fixes are ignored (certain macros "biting each other [sorry to steal that line, wern] have been doing so and seemingly will continue to do so "forever"). on a system that is used almost solely for text processing, i find it appalling that so little importance is placed on having that system work properly. seems that netnews utilities merit more attention than mundane things like giving users proper, working tools to get work done. -- andy
henry (07/12/82)
The tests we've run have generally showed the line numbers from the error messages to be accurate; Andy, I'd be interested in seeing the file that produced the problem. Contrary to Andy's claim, the problems of the macro package are not being ignored. Lack of results should not be confused with lack of attention; the two arise from very different causes. The cause of the lack of results on fixing the macro package's numerous troubles is that the problem is HARD. On a scale of difficulty from 1 to 10, fixing the subtle interactions that cause macros to foul each other up rates at least a 12. We are seriously considering re-implementing the macro package from scratch, because this may well be the SIMPLEST way of attacking the problem. It really is that bad. We do make some progress from time to time. The lack of complaint about misuse of the macros was quite definitely a problem, since such misuse can produce extremely cryptic behavior. Nowadays it produces error messages, so one at least has some idea what's happening. That problem happened to be easy to take care of; other problems aren't. Some jobs are harder than others; if several are started at once, the simpler and easier ones naturally show results earlier. And the crises of the moment generally have to be given priority over work that is not going to show results quickly. These facts of life may not be terribly pleasant to the folks who want to see the complex, lengthy, and difficult jobs completed, but there's not much that can be done about it. Specific suggestions on how to improve things are always welcome.