[CMake] BOOL type

[Mike Jackson]

On Dec 18, 2007, at 9:16 AM, Bill Hoffman wrote:

> Alexander Neundorf wrote:
>> On Monday 17 December 2007, Brandon Van Every wrote:
>>> I propose the addition of a BOOL type to the CMake language.
>>>
>>>   bool(variable [value])
>>>
>>> would declare a variable of type BOOL, with an optional value
>>> supplied.  Any SET commands performed on the variable in its scope
>>> would be subject to boolean type constraint.  A BOOL can take on the
>>> following values.  Any other assignment is an error.
>>>
>>>   "TRUE" class - TRUE, 1, Y, Yes, YES, y, yes, ON
>>>   "FALSE" class - FALSE, 0, N, n, No, NO, OFF, <empty>
>> Attached is a patch which removes "Y" and "N" from the recognized  
>> values for true/false.
>> This patch may break stuff. I don't know if there are many people  
>> who rely on "N" and "Y".
>
> I am sure it will break something....  I don't think we can change  
> it now.
>
> -Bill
>

I might kindly disagree. There are many instances where backward  
compatibility was broken in order to clean things up and move on.
Vtk 4.x to 5.x was one of those. My code broke with the 5.x release  
BUT it was for the better. And more importantly I was given plenty of  
notice that it was coming. The jump from 2.4 to 2.6 seems like a good  
time to make the break and clean things up. As long as there is a  
comprehensive list of breakage I don't think people will have a real  
problem with it.

-- 
Mike Jackson   Senior Research Engineer
Innovative Management & Technology Services