JTC1/SC22/WG14 N772

                 Document Number:  WG14 N772/J11 97-136

                               C9X Revision Proposal
                               =====================

       Title: Header/Source file names

       Author: Fred J. Tydeman
       Author Affiliation: Tydeman Consulting
       Postal Address: 3711 Del Robles Dr., Austin, TX 78727-1814
       E-mail Address: tydeman@tybor.com
       Telephone Number: +1 (512) 255-8696
       Fax Number: +1 (512) 255-8696

       Sponsor: NCITS/J11
       Date: 1997-09-25
       Document History: N/A.
       Proposal Category:
          __ Editorial change/non-normative contribution
          __ Correction
          __ New feature
          __ Addition to obsolescent feature list
          __ Addition to Future Directions
          _Y Other (please specify)  Change to existing feature____
       Area of Standard Affected:
          __ Environment
          __ Language
          _Y Preprocessor
          __ Library
             __ Macro/typedef/tag name
             __ Function
             __ Header
          __ Other (please specify)  ______________________________
       Prior Art: Many compilers already support this______________
       Target Audience: All users.
       Related Documents (if any):  None___________________________
       Proposal Attached: _Y Yes __ No, but what's your interest?

       Abstract: Allow digits and up to eight characters before the
       period in header names.

       Proposal:

       In 6.8.2 Source File Inclusion, change:

       The implementation shall provide unique mappings for
       sequences consisting of one or more letters (as defined in
       5.2.1) followed by a period (.) and a single letter.  The
       implementation may ignore the distinctions of alphabetical
       case and restrict the mapping to six significant characters
       before the period.

       to:

       The implementation shall provide unique mappings for
       sequences consisting of one or more letters or digits (as
       defined in 5.2.1) followed by a period (.) and a single
       letter.  The first character shall be a letter.  The
       implementation may ignore the distinctions of alphabetical
       case and restrict the mapping to eight significant
       characters before the period.

       Rationale:

       Allow users to make more meaningful header and source file
       names by increasing the number of characters before the
       period from 6 to 8 and allow mixed digits and letters.

       I assume the original restrictions were the least common
       denominator of file system limitations of the mid '80s and
       that in the mid 90's there is a little more freedom on
       naming files in a portable manner.