Re: max() and min() of nan/inf

[Olli Saarela]

Dear Joao,

The handling of the NaN values is a matter of definition, and the
current IEEE definition is well established and has a solid foundation.
The subject covers a lot more than just the min and the max functions.
In addition to Octave, it concerns many systems ranging from floating
point hardware to full-scale applications. 

If you wish the current definition to be changed, please submit your
proposal to the appropriate IEEE committee.

If, in your particular Octave calculation, you wish to take the minimum
(maximum) of the non-NaN values in a vector, please replace all the NaN
values with +Inf (-Inf) before calling min (max).

I don't want this discussion to become a fruitless debate. As far as I
am concerned, the case is closed.

Best regards,
  Olli
-- 
Olli Saarela                       KCL Development Oy
address@hidden                tel. +358-9-4371538 (office)
Tekniikantie 2, Espoo-Otaniemi     fax. +358-9-464305
P.O. Box 70, FIN-02151 Espoo, Finland



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