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<font face="Courier New">Dear all,<br>
<br>
What is the reason why %pi, %e, %i, %f, %t are considered
variables (see help percent) when they are really constants?<br>
<br>
If %pi were a variable with the only detail that it has a
preassigned value (while a bit dangerous, it could have been a
possibility), then this would be possible:<br>
<br>
--> %pi = 2<br>
<br>
However, one gets the following warning:<br>
<br>
Redefining permanent variable.<br>
<br>
This is misleading since one would think that the value has been
indeed changed, but entering<br>
<br>
--> %pi<br>
<br>
produces<br>
<br>
%pi = <br>
<br>
3.1415927<br>
<br>
That's pi, not 2! <br>
<br>
So it would be better an error message such as<br>
<br>
Attempt to redefine permanent variable not allowed.<br>
<br>
Now, a similar attempt such as <br>
<br>
--> %f = 2<br>
<br>
yields a completely different message:<br>
<br>
Error: syntax error, unexpected =, expecting end of file<br>
<br>
And, of course, the result of invoking %f keeps being F.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
<br>
Federico Miyara<br>
<br>
<br>
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