Re: [Gretl-users] comma as decimal separator: clarification
El Viernes, 6 de Enero de 2006 19:49, Allin Cottrell escribió:
On Fri, 6 Jan 2006, jack wrote:
> Sorry everyone to be a spoilsport, but I am rather against the new
> setup. If we allow locale-dependent decimal separators in scripts,
> then a syntax like
>
> genr y = 0,5*x
>
> becomes legal. Now imagine the previous line is buried in a
> 200-line script. Then, anyone using the script in a "decimal
> point" locale sees the script not working. Chances are, they
> conclude gretl is broken.
I've thought about a few more scenarios in relation to "genr" since
my last posting, and I'm now inclined to agree -- there is too great
a possibility of screw-ups. I'll adjust genr so that it rejects
commas other than when used as argument-separators, regardless of
locale.
Only for clarification with respect to the Spanish language: normally we use
commas as decimal separators and points for thousands, but even the RAE
(Royal Academy of Spanish Language) allows the "international use" of the
point as decimal separator (suggesting in this case to use micro-spaces to
separate thousands). So we have no much problem in using the decimal points
in genr. In fact, in the statistics and econometrics fields we are very
accostumed to use them.
--
Ignacio Díaz-Emparanza
Dpto. de Economía Aplicada III (Econometría y Estadística)
UPV-EHU
http://www.bl.ehu.es/~etpdihei/