10-156r2 To: J3 From: Robert Corbett/Stan Whitlock Subject: Interpretation Request: Is ABS ever required to be the optional IEC 60559 abs? Date: 2010 June 15 NUMBER: F03/0009 TITLE: Is ABS ever required to be the optional IEC 60559 abs? KEYWORDS: ABS, IEEE DEFECT TYPE: Interpretation STATUS: J3 consideration in progress QUESTION: Are there any circumstances where the Fortran standard requires the intrinsic function ABS to be compliant with the function abs described in the optional portion of IEC 60559? DISCUSSION: Chapter 14 of F2008 does not define an IEEE_ABS intrinsic as a separate IEEE version of ABS and the example given in Section 14.11.3p7 [409:26] requires that ABS comply with the function abs specified in the optional portion of IEC 60559. We infer that the standard intended for the ABS intrinsic to be compliant with the IEC 60559 definition. ANSWER: Yes, the Fortran standard requires the intrinsic function ABS to be compliant with the function abs described in IEC 60559. An edit is provided to make that explicit. EDITS to 10-007: In 13.7.2p5 [326:4+] add a new sentence to the end of the paragraph: "If A is real and IEEE_SUPPORT_STANDARD (A) is true, then the intrinsic function ABS (A) is compliant with the function abs described in IEC 60559." SUBMITTED BY: Robert Corbett HISTORY: 10-156 m192 F03/0009 submitted 10-156r1 m192 Draft answer 10-156r2 m192 Revised answer