J3/97-163 Command Line Arguments & Environment Variables Ideas for Straw Votes by Craig T. Dedo April 23, 1997 This paper presents several ideas for straw votes on the issue of Command Line Arguments and Environment Variables at Meeting 141 of J3. The purpose is to stimulate thought and discussion before any straw votes are actually taken at the meeting and to encourage readers to think of other straw votes prior to the time that this issue comes up for discussion. In no way should the presentation of potential straw vote issues in this paper be interpreted as a conclusive, authoritative list. Nor should anyone consider this list of issues to state or imply that other issues should not be put to a straw vote. Straw Vote: Ability to obtain the unparsed command line  Yes  No Straw Vote: What scope should the names for these intrinsics have?  Global  Module Straw Vote: Should we distinguish between non-support of a command argument count and a call where there are zero (0) arguments?  Yes - Distinguish between the two conditions  No - Do not distinguish between the two conditions Straw Vote: How should we implement the functionality of getting the command name?  Separate argument name or intrinsic  Array element or argument 0 Straw Vote: Iterative model - Get_System_Argument be Elemental?  Yes  No Straw Vote: How should the value of return status codes be determined?  Follow the rules of the operating system if available, otherwise processor-dependent  Return zero (0) for success, something else for failure  Always processor-dependent Straw Vote: Should we allow significant trailing blanks in environment names?  Yes  No Straw Vote: Make Get_Environment elemental?  Yes  No Straw Vote: Which model do you prefer?  Everything-at-Once (e.g., paper 97-151)  Iterative (e.g., paper 97-153)  Variable number of arguments as part of the PROGRAM statement Straw Vote: Do we want a series of straw votes on syntax?  Yes  No [End of J3 / 97-163]