Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2025 12:47:12 +0200
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Subject: Re: THROW codes and ambiguous conditions
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From: Hans Bezemer <the.beez.speaks@gmail.com>
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On 04-06-2025 04:03, dxf wrote:
> True.  OTOH multilingual apps present a bigger problem than error msgs.
> I recall my telecom days when the bulk of the equipment was Siemens and
> technical manuals needed to be in English.  The scale was such it would
> have required a sizeable department just for that.

It may be my ignorance, but frankly, I don't see what the fuzz is all 
about. I build a centralized error handling routine in virtually all my 
programs, both C and Forth. And interfacing those with CATCH and THROW 
has never posed a problem. You can even define the behavior associated 
with a certain THROW value. Or set up handling per subsystem:

: Monitor                              ( xt -- n)
   catch dup                            \ start processing
   if throw-string s" Internal error: " >log >>message ;then drop
;                                      \ handle and log errors

: ReadCMDB                             ( --)
   ['] Startup  Monitor                 \ initialize the program
   ['] Process  Monitor                 \ process the data
   ['] Shutdown Monitor                 \ shutdown the system
;

E.g. this one is straight from my BASIC interpreter:

0= if
   begin drop ['] interpret catch dup until
then

ds.destroy .error

If an error is detected, it's value is passed to the .ERROR routine. And 
I assure you, it's quite easy to interface it with localization. So - 
what am I missing?

Now - whether I do return codes or exceptions depends on locality and 
fatality. If the error can be detected within the same module, I tend to 
like error codes. That's why I'd like to keep the main flow shallow 
(stages and subsystems).

Also - if there is no way to save grace, I tend to prefer exceptions. No 
need to wrestle through many layers carrying an error code.

Hans Bezemer