--- Begin Message ---
- From: Alan Modra <amodra at bigpond dot net dot au>
- To: Eric Christopher <echristo at redhat dot com>
- Cc: Thiemo Seufer <ica2_ts at csv dot ica dot uni-stuttgart dot de>,binutils at sources dot redhat dot com
- Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2001 09:04:24 +1030
- Subject: Re: [PATCH] Various source cleanup/enhancements
- References: <20011203103725.N487@rembrandt.csv.ica.uni-stuttgart.de> <1007416024.1421.1.camel@ghostwheel.cygnus.com> <20011204082728.M1047@bubble.sa.bigpond.net.au> <1007416787.1421.11.camel@ghostwheel.cygnus.com>
On Mon, Dec 03, 2001 at 01:59:46PM -0800, Eric Christopher wrote:
> On Mon, 2001-12-03 at 13:57, Alan Modra wrote:
> > On Mon, Dec 03, 2001 at 01:47:04PM -0800, Eric Christopher wrote:
> > > Ok except for these. Make sure they are capitals before checking in :)
> >
> > Err, the standard (from gcc) for error messages is as Thiemo had it.
> > This text is prefixed with "Error: " so it doesn't start a sentence, and
> > thus should not start with a capital.
>
> Ah ha. Thanks :)
BTW, I'm not too sure about the rationale I gave regarding not starting
a sentence. That opinion was just parroted from someone on the gcc list.
I'd say the text following the colon _is_ the start of a new sentence,
but I don't want to get into grammar wars. :)
http://www.gnu.org/prep/standards_15.html#SEC15 says
"The string message should not begin with a capital letter when it follows
a program name and/or file name. Also, it should not end with a period.
Error messages from interactive programs, and other messages such as usage
messages, should start with a capital letter. But they should not end
with a period."
--- End Message ---