[m-rev.] for review: improve the declarative debugger user interface

[Julien Fischer]

On Mon, 2 May 2005, Ian MacLarty wrote:

> On Mon, 2 May 2005, Julien Fischer wrote:
> >
> > On Sun, 1 May 2005, Ian MACLARTY wrote:
> >
> > > For review by anyone.
> > >
> > > Estimated hours taken: 7
> > > Branches: main
> > >
> > > Improve the declarative debugger interface.
> > >
> > >  	Change the `abort' command to `quit'.  This is more consistent
> > >  	with the rest of mdb.
> > >
> > I suggest leaving `abort' in as synonym for `quit', at least for
> > the time being.
> >
>
> Done, although it's undocumented.
>
That's ok, it's primarily for backwards compatibility as 0.12
will still use `abort'.

> > > + at node Declarative debugging overview
> > > + at subsection Overview
> > > +
> > > +The declarative debugger tries to find a bug in your program by asking
> > > +questions about the correctness of calls executed in your program.
> >
> > s/tried to find a/searches for a/?
> >
>
> I prefer "tries to find", but I'll change it if you feel strongly about it.
>
No, it was just a suggestion.

> > > +
> > > +Because pure Mercury code does not have any side effects, the declarative
> > > +debugger can make inferences such as ``if a call produces incorrect output
> > > +from correct input, then there must be a bug in the code executed by one of
> > > +the descendents of the call''.
> > > +
> > I suggest adding something like:
> >
> > 	i.e the code called during the call.
> >
>
> I think that will sound a bit clumsy.  Are you worried users will be confused
> by ``descendents of the call''?  I could change it to ``if a call produces
> incorrect output from correct input, then there must be a bug in the code
> executed during the call'' if you like.
>
That was my main concern.  I prefer the version you have suggested here.
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