Re: BUG: AppleScript compilation problems
Re: BUG: AppleScript compilation problems
- Subject: Re: BUG: AppleScript compilation problems
- From: "Chris Espinosa" <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2003 12:36:33 -0700
>
> Here are a couple of bugs involving the compiling of comments in
>
> AppleScript:
>
>
>
>
>
> 1. A block comment can't contain an odd number of double-quote
characters:
>
>
>
> (*
>
> "
>
> *)
>
>
>
> --> compilation error
>
>
This is deliberate. Because AS allows you to nest block comments, it does
>
some parsing of the comment's contents. By introducing the beginning of a
>
string, its going to keep going until it sees the end quote.
>
>
This is explained in the AppleScript language guide (page 26 in my
original
>
hardcopy version).
>
>
> I can understand how this could happen because, when parsing source
code,
>
> something has to take precedence. In the previous case, a literal string
>
> takes precedence over a block comment, though in the next case a
single-line
>
> comment takes precedence over a literal string:
>
>
>
> --"
>
>
>
> --> compiles OK
>
>
Right, because a line comment simply consumes everything after it on the
>
line and does no parsing of the comment contents.
This was introduced in AppleScript 1.1 (first reported 10/22/93) and , as
Mark says, it's a regrettable side-effect of the ability of block comments
to comment out code. You're both correct in that end-of-line comments
ignore superficial syntax but block comments obey it.
>
> 2. A single-line comment containing a literal line-feed character (ASCII
>
> number 10) will not compile:
>
>
>
> a. Compile the following line:
>
>
>
> "\n"
>
>
>
> b. then comment the line out ("--") and recompile.
>
>
>
> --> compilation error
>
>
Agreed, its a bug. I suspect that AS's parsing is not expecting a non-Mac
>
OS line ending here. Similarly, if you compile a block-comment containing
>
Unix line endings, AppleScript does not convert them to Mac OS line
endings
>
as I believe it should (it converts line endings to Mac line endings in
all
>
other cases).
This has been noted and filed. Mark's conjecture is probably correct.
Chris Espinosa
Apple
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