Error-names.

From: Martin Klaiber (martinkl_at_zedat.fu-berlin.de)
Date: 02/28/04 

Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2004 13:58:02 +0100

Hi,

this is not really a programming-problem (I hope), more a question
about english terms.

I write a library with an interface to C. The Ada-exceptions shall
be turned into return-values for the C-functions. Like this:

    with Interfaces.C;

    package Something is

        -- Types:
        type C_Integer is new Interfaces.C.int;

        -- Exceptions and errors:
        General_Error : C_Integer := -1;

        Routine_Not_Defined : exception;
        Routine_Not_Defined_Error : C_Integer := -2;

    and so on...

    package body Something is

        function Do_Something return C_Integer is
        begin
            ...
            return 0;
        exception
            when Routine_Not_Defined => return Routine_Not_Defined_Error;
            when others => return General_Error;
        end Do_Something;

    end Something;

My problem now is that I also want to define return values for
exceptions like Constraint_Error. But I can't define something like:

   Constraint_Error : C_Integer := -3;

as Constraint_Error is the name for the exception. And I don't want to
use long names like: 'Routine_Not_Defined_Error_Constant' or similar.
I also don't want to rename the exceptions, as other Ada-Programs might
rely on them.

Is there an english word instead of 'error' I could use? Like 'fault'
for instance or 'mistake'?

Constraint_Fault, Constraint_Mistake. Hm, sounds strange to me. Would
it be alright though?

Thanks a lot,
Martin