From: lynnmcguire5@gmail.com   
      
   On 1/26/2024 2:50 AM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:   
   > On Thu, 25 Jan 2024 15:31:51 -0600, Lynn McGuire wrote:   
   >   
   >> Much Fortran code was written under the F66 rules until the late 1980s   
   >> if you supported multiple platforms (we supported ten platforms in the   
   >> 1980s).   
   >   
   > Why did it take vendors so long to catch up to FORTRAN 77?   
   >   
   > By the way, I thought the limit on identifier length had been lifted in   
   > FORTRAN 77, but I was wrong: it took until Fortran 90 to raise the limit   
   > to 31.   
   >   
   >> You can update it to longer names at your own peril.   
   >   
   > Why is that still the case? Longer names have been allowed for going back   
   > about a third of a century now.   
      
   I have 780,000 lines of F77 code intermixed with 60,000 lines of C and   
   C++ code.  We have been updating the code to move from our Open Watcom   
   F77, C, and C++ compilers to the Visual C++ / Intel Fortran combo.  We   
   are making enough broad changes at the moment, thank you.  I will pass   
   on automating variable name changes just to make them longer.   
      
   Lynn   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)