Re: [sv-ec] static method 'get_coverage' cannot have 'ref' arguments

>From: "Ryan, Ray" <Ray_Ryan@mentor.com>

>In section 18.7 the 'get_coverage' method is defined as a static method.
>It is also defined as having 'ref' arguments.
>
>However, in section 12.4.2 it states:
>"It shall be illegal to use argument passing by reference for
>subroutines with a lifetime of static."

Actually, I don't think this is a problem, aside from being confusing.

The get_coverage method is a static method, but it is presumably an
automatic task, so it is still legal to use ref args with it.  The
term 'static' has been overloaded for two different things, which is
confusing.  Those two things come together in a class method, which
brings out the confusion.  A static method can only access static
members of a class.  A subroutine with a lifetime of static has
arguments and variables that have static lifetimes.  These are two
different things.  You can declare a static method that is an automatic
task with "static task automatic mytask" or get it by default with
"static task mytask".  Note the syntactic difference of having the
qualifier before the word task versus after it, which gives the two
different semantic meanings.

In this particular case, we might want to change 12.4.2 to say
"It shall only be legal to use argument passing by reference for
 subroutines with a lifetime of automatic."
 
But some confusion is inevitable with this overloading of the keyword.

Steven Sharp
sharp@cadence.com