At 4/6/00 04:35 PM (Thursday), Jim Starkey wrote:

>Actually Interbase has had a parameter passing convention modelled
>on VMS descriptors from the very beginning of UDFs (version 2?).
>The probably is that languages other than C are incapable of handling
>them. And, unlike VMS descriptors, Interbase descriptors carry
>a null flag. Also, if I remember correctly, a descriptor could be
>used to return a value.

I've heard this said before but always wondered why the param passing
flexibility it brought was never properly appreciated or continued.

I believe the majority of UDFs implemented in the past few years have been
written in C. The next most likely language in use is Object Pascal (a la
Delphi). Both are equivalent in their capabilities for this sort of thing.
Therefore, I am hopeful we can get this added Real Soon Now.