09-175 To: J3 From: Van Snyder Subject: 12.8.3p2 is a waste of ink Date: 2009 March 27 References: 09-007r1 1. Discussion (paraphrased from e-mail from Malcolm) Subclause 12.8.3p2 [317:9-12] pretends that MVBITS is an ordinary subroutine with a body that does the things that 13.7.119 [376:1ff] says it does. If it were, the first sentence of 12.8.3p2 would contradict the requirements of 12.5.2.13 [302:4ff], since there is no exception there for elemental or intrinsic subroutines. So the first sentence can (in fact should) be deleted. There aren't any requirements on actual arguments in 12.5.2.13; it isn't about actual arguments at all (or about dummy arguments, for that matter); it's about what a procedure cannot do to actual arguments. One might argue that what was meant in 12.8.3p2 was to restrict what elemental procedures could do to the actual arguments associated with their dummy arguments, but 12.5.2.13 already specifies that. So the second sentence can (in fact should) be deleted. Now there's nothing left. 2. Edits [317:9-12 12.8.3p2]----------------------------------------------------- Editor: Delete 12.8.3p2.