Re: function space

[Sergei Steshenko]

--- On Tue, 2/21/12, Ben Abbott <address@hidden> wrote:

> From: Ben Abbott <address@hidden>
> Subject: Re: function space
> To: "Vic Norton" <address@hidden>
> Cc: "Octave Help" <address@hidden>
> Date: Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 11:29 AM
> 
> On Feb 21, 2012, at 2:24 PM, Vic Norton wrote:
> 
> > In the manual or help there seems to be a preference to
> write
> >   'sin (X)' rather than 'sin(X)'
> > or
> >   'sprintf ("%d", i)' rather than
> 'sprintf("%d", i)'.
> > However, in at least one case, the space between the
> function name and its argument list results in a "parse
> error".
> > 
> > For example
> >   i = 5;
> >   x = [ "min", sprintf("%d", i) ];
> > results in
> >   x = "min5".
> > However
> >   i = 5;
> >   x = [ "min", sprintf ("%d", i) ];
> > results in
> >   parse error:
> > 
> >     syntax error
> > 
> >>>> x = [ "min", sprintf ("%d", i) ];
> > 
> > 
> > Is this a bug? Or should one just avoid putting a space
> after a function name?
> > 
> > In what other situations does a space after a function
> name result in a syntax error?
> > 
> > Regards,
> > 
> > Vic
> 
> Its not a bug. Spaces and comma's are delimiters in a
> comma-separated-list (cs-list).
> 
> [1 2 3]
> ans =
> 
>    1   2   3
> 
> [1, 2, 3]
> ans =
> 
>    1   2   3
> 
> [1, 23]
> ans =
> 
>     1   23
> 
> Ben
> 
> 

I think it's a bug.

This is because cs_list as its element may have a function call, and a function 
call consists of function name, optionally followed by whitespaces, optionally 
followed by list of arguments.

The question, however, is: is Octave smart enough to tell simple variable from 
function ? I.e. to relate the arguments list to the preceding name.

Regards,
  Sergei.

P.S. It's first of all a bug in what you guys call here "m-language" - a 
definitional flaw.