[erlang-bugs] parser/preprocessor bug

[Tuncer Ayaz]

On Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 2:02 PM, Raimo Niskanen wrote:
> On Fri, Nov 18, 2011 at 09:51:08PM +0000, Robert Virding wrote:
> > Originally the parentheses were mandatory but then the need for
> > them around an record expression was removed to "improve" the
> > syntax. Only in some cases though. Sorry for griping but I think it
> > was a bad change. Other people have had exactly the same errors.
>
> Yes. It has now become a pitfall worth repeating.
>
> The intention was to improve (simplify) the syntax for nested
> records e.g:
>  Y = X#outer_record.a#inner_record.b
> was syntactically invalid and had to be written:
>  Y = (X#outer_record.a)#inner_record.b

Even though I took the original patch and reworked it for inclusion in
OTP, seeing the user confusion and misuse, I'd like to see the changes
reverted.

Could it be that during the review by the OTP board the potential
issues Jesper and Joe ran into have been missed?

If we want to keep it, is there a reliable and correct way to generate
a syntax error/warning or limit the paren-less record access in
erl_parse.yrl? If not, I think it's best to revert the changes.

This reminds me of the missing check for a closing paren in macro
definitions. That has been fixed and I think this should also be
fixed. I also don't think the patch is worth the trouble it has
caused.

Relevant commits: 3829e5 and 45c380d