Re: How constant are MPI constants?

(no name) (Andrew.Lumsdaine@nd.edu)
Wed, 1 May 1996 15:46:19 -0500 (EST)

In our last exciting episode Eric Salo wrote: Precedence: bulk

> In our implementation, *all* constants are constant, including
> MPI_BOTTOM. All opaque types (pre-defined or not) are implemented as
> indices into a table, even in C, so I don't see how to make them
> into enums as Jim suggests.

Even anonymous enums can be given explicit values, can they not?

In C++, we would want the pre-defined opaque types to be const
objects. The question then is: is this okay? Are the pre-defined
opaque objects constant enough to be able to be declared const? This
is a semantic as well as a practical issue.

Best Wishes,
Andrew Lumsdaine