[Cfp-interest 1884] Re: 5.2.4.2.2 clarification

[Jim Thomas]

> On Jan 8, 2021, at 12:38 PM, Mike Cowlishaw <mfc at speleotrove.com> wrote:
> 
> I'd read that as the first use of 'characteristics' being general English,

Yes, you could read it that way. However, here it also refers more specifically to the characteristics defined by the macros. 

> but the second use 'characteristics provide information' sounds as though they are functions in an API?

Yes, The characteristics are part of the API, in the form of macros. Note that the type-specific macro specifications are introduce by

[10] The remainder of this subclause specifies characteristics of standard floating types.

- Jim Thomas

>  
> Mike
> 
>> From: Cfp-interest [mailto:cfp-interest-bounces at oakapple.net] On Behalf Of Jim Thomas
>> Sent: 08 January 2021 03:49
>> To: CFP
>> Subject: [Cfp-interest 1880] 5.2.4.2.2 clarification
>> 
>> 5.2.4.2.2 begins with:
>> 
>>> [1] The characteristics of floating types are defined in terms of a model that describes a representation of floating-point numbers and values that provide information about an implementation’s floating-point arithmetic.21)
>> 
>> Presumably “that” refers to “characteristics”, which isn’t clear from the sentence structure. Here's a possible clarification:
>> 
>>> [1] The characteristics of floating types are defined in terms of a model that describes a representation of floating-point numbers and allows other values. The characteristics provide information about an implementation’s floating-point arithmetic.21)
>>> 
>> - Jim Thomas

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