Hi Jeff,

I wrote:

>Question: Could not fast and clear FB2 syntax be *almost
>identical* to fast and clear FB^3 syntax? 

You answered:

>Can something be almost identical? 

There is an *almost perfect* answer to your rhetorical
question(:-)

"almost identical" here means quickly and reliable
mutually interconvertible *both* ways by a utility AND
both equally readable.

It would greatly please me to have a "define" macro
facility as in C (or better) so that an optimal FB2
syntax could run unchanged in FB^3.

Such an integrated preprocessor would be independently
useful in FB^3, for example to completely eliminate
diagnostic code from final compilations. Hypothetical
example:

COMPILE LONG IF _diagnostic
  DEFINE "Dia"= "//"
COMPILE XELSE
  DEFINE "Dia"= ""
COMPILE END IF

...
Dia: Mssg$="Cursor going negative.": FN Mssg
...

I like diagnostic stuff to be an integral part of a
program and I am always uncomfortable using a macro
editor to "reconfigure" the program even when the change
is is reversible.

Cheers

Larry S