Re: [PATCH] use "unresolved reference" message

[Alex Rozenman]

On Sat, Sep 5, 2009 at 10:14 PM, Joel E. Denny <address@hidden> wrote:

> Hi Alex.
>
Hi Joel,


> > to "unresolved reference"
> For the case where there are no valid referents, I think Bison should
> consistently report "invalid reference".  I don't see how "unresolved
> reference" describes the subcase of no suggestions any better.  A
> suggestion is not a resolution, in my view.
>

I have strong feeling that we must pay user's attention to the fact that the
reference is not just "invalid" which is very common word, but it is invalid
because it has an undeclared component. For example, in gcc we can see:

int func() { return a + 1; }
func.cpp:4: error: ‘a’ was not declared in this scope

Suppose that instead of this gcc would print:
func.cpp:4: error: invalid reference: ‘a’.
I think this messages is unacceptable common, and allows tens of possible
reasons.

If we are speaking about references, we must find a word describing this
category of error. We have two options here:
1. Change the "not found" message to "undeclared symbol: <SYM>" (which is
not consistent with the rest of messages speaking about references)
2. Find a "magic" word describing this situation in context of references. I
think that "unresolved" is a kind of such a word. Suggestion != Resolution
is probably correct, but when a user will understand his problem faster
he'll feel better feedback from the tool.

-- 
Best regards,
Alex Rozenman (address@hidden).