Re: [lmi] Stylistic question about constructing error messages

[Greg Chicares]

On 2016-02-13 23:56, Vadim Zeitlin wrote:
> On Sat, 13 Feb 2016 23:02:13 +0000 Greg Chicares <address@hidden> wrote:
[...]
> GC> select tables...not consecutive: Do you simply mean that they're select
> GC> and ultimate, e.g.
> GC> 
> GC>   ---select-- ult.
> GC>   a0 a1 a2 a3  x4
> GC>   b1 b2 b3 b4  x5
> GC>   c2 c3 c4 c5  x6
> GC>                x7
[...]
>  Sorry, I was speaking about the ages: if you remember, we decided that the
> code had to check that they're consecutive, but this is not actually the
> case for the ages in the first column of select tables as there is a jump
> of select_period after max_select_age (generally speaking; there is no jump
> if max_select_age + select_period == max_age).

In my example above, arbitrarily assuming minimum age to be zero:
 - select ages are in [0,2]
 - select period is 4 years
 - maximum age is eight
so
  2 + 4 < 8
and if we write the ages around three sides of the table:

    0  1  2  3     /
   ---select-- ult.
0  a0 a1 a2 a3 x4  4
1  b1 b2 b3 b4 x5  5
2  c2 c3 c4 c5 x6  6
7              x7  7

then they proceed consecutively across the top and then down the right side;
but the left side has a jump.

[...seeking a better (terse, evocative) name than fatal_error...]

>  What about lmi_bail_out()? Or, if "bail out" counts as two words and not
> one, lmi_abandon()?

"Bail out" seems more evocative. Now, lmi serves a financial industry,
where that phrase suggests public relief for private irresponsibility,
but we can escape that connotation by dropping the preposition. The
phrase is slang, and slang has mostly shed the preposition anyway:

  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bail#Etymology_2

Thus:
  lmi_bail()
  lmi_warn()
  lmi_status()

Two verbs...but then a noun. Can we find a third verb? How about...
  inform
  notify
  apprise
  mention