[r6rs-discuss] Lexical Syntax

[Alan Watson]

William D Clinger wrote:
> Alan Watson wrote:
>> The following, though, seem irregular:
>>
>>    m. the x in hex characters (although see below);
>>    n. inf and nan; and
>>    o. old character names (i.e., newline and space).
> 
> #\newline and #\space are the only irregularities here.
> The R5RS syntax did not include things like #\x3bb and
> -inf.0 and +nan.0, so the general principle of being
> case-sensitive for things that are not specified by the
> R5RS says those things should be case-sensitive.

I don't follow you. The general principle would suggest that +inf.0 and 
+nan.0 be case sensitive, yet they are case insensitive in the R6RS 
(according to the text). That is surely an irregularity. Or are you 
ignoring the text?

> As for why all the character names ended up being
> case-sensitive, I don't know.

The case-sensitivity of #\space and \#newline in the R6RS make it 
dangerous to attempt to read R5RS data using the R6RS read procedure.

Regards,

Alan