[Gretl-devel] Re: function execution in 'if' statement

On Mon, 16 Mar 2020, Riccardo (Jack) Lucchetti wrote: > On Mon, 16 Mar 2020, Allin Cottrell wrote: > >> On Mon, 16 Mar 2020, Sven Schreiber wrote: >> >>> Hi Artur, I think your example could be much shorter: >>> >>> <hansl> >>> function scalar printsth(void) >>>  print "hey" >>>  return 1 >>> end function >>> >>> if printsth()    # does not spit out "hey" >>> endif >>> </hansl> >>> >>> Frankly, don't know if it's by design, but could be I guess. >> >> The idea is that if printsth() is called in its own right we want to >> see anything it might print, but if it's called under "if" then all >> we're interested in is its return value. From that point of view, >> while the "if-block" above is entered OK (which can be verified by >> putting a print statement within it) it's empty and so nothing is >> printed. >> >> Admittedly one could make a case for showing printed output, if any, >> from a function call regardless of whether it serves as a boolean >> switch. So far as I know that's not an issue that has been raised to >> date, but it's open for discussion. > > FWIW, the C translation of Sven's script > > <C> > #include<stdio.h> > int printsth() { printf("Hey\n"); return 1; } > int main() { if(printsth()){ } } > </C> > > does indeed print "Hey". And now in git hansl works that way too.