Re: [NASL2] Auto-conversion with + and -

On 8 Feb 2003, Michel Arboi wrote:

> Unfortunately, string() does more than converting its arguments to
> ASCII: it interprets escape sequences in "impure strings".

BTW: what happens when you use + to concatenate a pure string and an
impure string? Will the result be pure? Impure? Will the impure argument
be auto-purified?

I think the whole concept of pure/impure strings creates considerably more
problems than it solves. Is there any script that (really) needs to work
with impure strings (I mean doing things like x = "n"; y = "\" + x; z =
string(y))? I doubt there is any.

I suggest to get rid of impure strings completely and interpret escape
sequences in string literals. I even volunteer to examine all scripts and
double every backslash that should be interpreted as a backslash. :)

> Here is my proposal, for the moment: I add a BIG warning when + or -
> arguments are converted. We wait for a while, and if all the current
> scripts are OK, we remove the "auto conversion" and returns an error.

I agree.

--Pavel Kankovsky aka Peak  [ Boycott Microsoft--http://www.vcnet.com/bms ]
"Resistance is futile. Open your source code and prepare for assimilation."