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devel / comp.lang.ada / What is the name of the | symbol?

What is the name of the | symbol?

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Subject: What is the name of the | symbol?
From: matt.ja...@gmail.com (Matt Jaffe)
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by: Matt Jaffe - Fri, 25 Mar 2022 19:16 UTC

In using it in a named association array aggregate, its semantics are "and" --- e.g., some_1D_array := (1 | 3 | 7 => 5, others => 10) sets elements 1 and 3 and 7 to the value 5. In a case statement, its semantics are "or" --- e.g. when 1 | 3 | 7 => ... any of the values 1or 3, or 7 for the case expression will select the ... code for execution. Is there a single name for that symbol (the | ) that seems to have different semantics depending on context?

Re: What is the name of the | symbol?

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From: niklas.h...@tidorum.invalid (Niklas Holsti)
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by: Niklas Holsti - Fri, 25 Mar 2022 20:03 UTC

On 2022-03-25 21:16, Matt Jaffe wrote:
> In using it in a named association array aggregate, its semantics are
> "and" --- e.g., some_1D_array := (1 | 3 | 7 => 5, others => 10) sets
> elements 1 and 3 and 7 to the value 5. In a case statement, its
> semantics are "or" --- e.g. when 1 | 3 | 7 => ... any of the values
> 1or 3, or 7 for the case expression will select the ... code for
> execution.

That is a quirk of natural language, where "and" and "or" are used in
non-mathematical ways. You could as well describe the aggregate as
saying "if the index is 1 or 3 or 7, the element is 5", and you could
describe the case statement as saying "this when-branch is executed when
the case selector is 1 and 3 and 7".

As '|' is used in some logical formalisms for disjunction ("or"), and in
syntactical notation (BNF) to separate alternatives, I tend to read it
as "or".

> Is there a single name for that symbol (the | ) that seems
> to have different semantics depending on context?

For the name, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_bar, where
indeed "vertical bar" seems favoured. However, I'm pretty sure that I
have seen "solidus" used, too, but Wikipedia says that is a synonym for
"slash" (/). Wiktionary does not recognize "solidus" as a term for any
punctuation mark.

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From: no.em...@nospam.invalid (Paul Rubin)
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Subject: Re: What is the name of the | symbol?
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by: Paul Rubin - Sat, 26 Mar 2022 04:24 UTC

Niklas Holsti <niklas.holsti@tidorum.invalid> writes:
> For the name, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_bar

The Unicode name is U+007C VERTICAL LINE, alias name vertical bar.

/ is U+002F SOLIDUS, alias names slash and virgule. I haven't heard of
the name "solidus" used for symbols other than /.

Subject	Author
What is the name of the \| symbol?	Matt Jaffe
Re: What is the name of the \| symbol?	Niklas Holsti
Re: What is the name of the \| symbol?	Paul Rubin