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Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET [message #16082 is a reply to message #16081]

Tue, 29 June 1999 00:00

davidf
Messages: 2866
Registered: September 1996

Senior Member

J.D. Smith (jdsmith@astrosun.tn.cornell.edu) writes:

> That's a bit dangerous. IDL may have strange semantics and constructs,
> but that's no reason not to learn them. I recommend peeking at a bit of
> IDL source code available all over the web. You'll find common
> constructs such as:
>
> ; give foo a default value if it is undefined.
> if n_elements(foo) eq 0 then foo=5
> ; perform some action if flag is defined and non-zero
> if keyword_set(flag) then compute_something
> ; return something to the caller if var is available to them (by
> reference)
> if arg_present(var) then var=compute_something_else()

Ah, finally, some sense on this topic! Thanks, JD.

I lost my news feed yesterday and the article I posted on this
topic got eaten by DejaNews (probably fortunately). But nothing
causes more confusion for users than these three totally misnamed
functions: N_Elements, Keyword_Set, and Arg_Present.

I'm in the process of writing an article on the subject for my
web page right this minute. (Why I haven't done it before is
a mystery. It's the single most misunderstood programming
feature I see in my travels.) It will be on my site sometime
this afternoon (Colorado time).

http://www.dfanning.com/tips/keyword_check.html

Cheers,

David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting
Phone: 970-221-0438 E-Mail: davidf@dfanning.com
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Toll-Free IDL Book Orders: 1-888-461-0155

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[Message index]

		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: J.D. Smith on Wed, 30 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: Vapuser on Wed, 30 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: R.Bauer on Wed, 30 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: Martin Schultz on Wed, 30 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: Liam Gumley on Wed, 30 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: philaldis on Wed, 30 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: R.Bauer on Wed, 30 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: Pavel Romashkin on Tue, 29 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: davidf on Tue, 29 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: J.D. Smith on Tue, 29 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: J.D. Smith on Tue, 29 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: davidf on Tue, 29 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: Martin Schultz on Tue, 29 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: R.Bauer on Tue, 29 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: davidf on Tue, 29 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: J.D. Smith on Tue, 29 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: Andy Sowter on Tue, 29 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: philaldis on Tue, 29 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: Grady Daub on Mon, 28 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: Grady Daub on Mon, 28 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: philaldis on Mon, 28 June 1999 00:00
		Re: Passing zero as a Parameter/ NOT KEYWORD_SET By: luthi on Mon, 28 June 1999 00:00

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