ISO Pascal reference manual

Chapter 6
5. For all results other than the first (left-most), move their specifications to
inside the parameter brackets, at the left-hand end of the list, preserving
their left-to-right order, and apply the following transformation to each,
according to its type:
(a) for scalar (Integer, Real(64-bit), Boolean etc) and record-type results,
prefix the specification by 'VAR%
(b) for results of type STRING:
(1) decide on the maximum length of this string result which the
procedure is expected to return for calls made from this module;
(2) if this has not already been done, define a type String < M > , where
< M > is the maximum result length and the type is specified as
PACKED ARRAY [1.. < M > ] OF Char (as at step 3(b))
(3) rewrite the specification (which should still be in the form
`STRING: < res_name >'
as three items in the form
`VAR < res_name > : String < M >; < res_name >_max: Integer; VAR
< res_name > _len: Integer'
6. (a) If the remaining result is of scalar type (Integer, Real, Boolean etc)
remove the result name, to leave < result_type > outside the parameter
list brackets. Prefix the procedure name with the keywords IMPORT
FUNCTION.
(b) If the remaining result is of type RECORD, move this result
specification also inside the brackets and prefix it by the keyword VAR, as
in step 5(a). Prefix the procedure name with the keywords IMPORT
PROCEDURE.
(c) If the remaining result is of type STRING, move it inside the brackets
(at the left-hand end), and rewrite it as two items: the first (left-most) a
VAR parameter of type String < M > , where < M > is the maximum length
of string result expected (as for step 5 (b)(1,2)); the second an Integer whose
name is formed from the result name with '_len' appended. Then add
Integer' after the right-hand parameter list parenthesis and prefix the
procedure name with the keywords IMPORT FUNCTION.
40 Pascal Issue 1