On 13 May 2002, Steven Lobbezoo wrote:
> Secondly: would it not be much nicer if one could assign variables like
> myvar = .....
> that would make programs a lot more readable.
The filter language was designed to be a _very simple_ thing that was
easy for end users (non programmers) to understand, and use for doing
things like sorting their mail into different folders. It was also
designed to be (relatively) simple to interpret.
The extension to system filters seemed like a good idea at the time,
since it could use the same interpreting code.
Like so many things, I didn't forsee that it was going to grow the way
it has, and be used to such a huge extent for spam and virus checking.
The addition of variables would necessitate a complete redesign and
reimplementation, IMO, because it would be turning the filter language
into something much more like a real programming language. I don't think
that lashing more stuff onto the existing implementation is sensible.
--
Philip Hazel University of Cambridge Computing Service,
ph10@??? Cambridge, England. Phone: +44 1223 334714.
