What does "others : begin NO" mean?

const NO : boolean := false;
activeFlag_x = (others : begin NO);

I know what "(others => '0')" means, but I can't figure out the above?
Is it simply saying 'fill all bits with the repeating bitpattern 'NO'?

Altera User

Altera User wrote:
> const NO : boolean := false;
> activeFlag_x = (others : begin NO);
>
> I know what "(others => '0')" means, but I can't figure out the above?

Neither can I.
VHDL has no const class.
'begin' is misused.

Find a better example.

-- Mike Treseler

Mike Treseler

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 10:53:02 -0700, "Altera User"
<> wrote:

>const NO : boolean := false;
>activeFlag_x = (others : begin NO);
>
>I know what "(others => '0')" means, but I can't figure out the above?

It means that either
a) someone has made a few bad keystrokes on a smart text
editor that has keyboard shortcuts for VHDL keywords, or
b) someone has used a badly flawed template file (and yes,
such things do exist), or
c) someone was coding whilst making use of (in Peter Cook's
unforgettable phrase) recreational pharmaceuticals.

I suspect the line should have said

activeFlag_x := (others => NO);

but it's really anyone's guess.

The really interesting question is: how is it that someone
allowed code like this, which has no chance of getting past
any compiler, leak out from their text editor into the wild?
--
Jonathan Bromley, Consultant

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Jonathan Bromley

Jonathan Bromley wrote:

> It means that either

(d) Someone is using a pre-processor on their VHDL code.

> The really interesting question is: how is it that someone
> allowed code like this, which has no chance of getting past
> any compiler, leak out from their text editor into the wild?

See above.

(But in truth, I suspect that (a)-(c) are more likely!)

Regards,

--
Mark McDougall, Engineer
Virtual Logic Pty Ltd, <http://www.vl.com.au>
21-25 King St, Rockdale, 2216
Ph: +612-9599-3255 Fax: +612-9599-3266

Mark McDougall