passed the end 1

[jakeyg]

When searching through some code in .NET I noticed at the bottom the message "Passed the bottom of the document"

Is it "passed" or "past" in generel usage cause "passed" looks wrong somehow?

 

[Stella001]

I believe it shoud be past. Since passed means to pass something as in a test or to be accepted. Where as past means history.

 

[edfair]

Suspect that it is context sensitive with something missing. Current location is past, but if still moving you have passed.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[SamBones]

I would expect it to be either "You are past the bottom..." or "You have passed the bottom...".

Either would let you know that you are now in "non-document" territory and must wear protective gear.

 

[tgreer]

The key is that you were "searching", which is usually a top-down process. The search "passed" the end-of-document "barrier", and the system so informed you.

Thomas D. Greer

http://www.tgreer.com

 

[columb]

I believe the writer meant to use the word as a preposition. Hence the one that should hve been used is past. However (s)he's not the first to get there homonyms confused.

(Yes, I know - it was meant to be witty.)

Columb Healy

 

[PaulTEG]

It may have meant that if ingested, you will know when it has "passed", as in the "passing" is complete ;-)

Spend an hour a week on CPAN, helps cure all known programming ailments ;-)

 

[CajunCenturion]

It is impossible to determine which should be correct because "passed the bottom of the document" is only a fragment, so we don't know what is the subject, and more importantly for this question, what is the verb.

If 'passed' is supposed to be the verb with an implied subject, "(you) passed the bottom of the document", then 'passed' is correct. On the other hand, if 'passed' is not intended to be the verb, meaning that subject and verb are both implied, then 'past' would be correct, "(you are) past the bottom of the document".

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[tsdragon]

Well put CC.

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[tgreer]

When searching...

Thus, the search passed the bottom of the document.

Thomas D. Greer

http://www.tgreer.com

 

[KenCunningham]

I know in vi, the message is 'wrapped around the bottom of the buffer' (or similar) when searching. Possibly not exactly the same but a more informative message in my opinion.

 

[flapeyre]

On the AS/400, if you press the Roll up or Roll down keys indiscriminately while viewing a subfile, the message you get is Roll up or down past the first or last record in file. That's the correct usage.

Just because past and passed are homonyms, that doesn't make them synonyms. The former is an adverb, which can modify another adverb, an adjective or a verb; the latter is the past [sic] tense of a verb.

Dic mihi solum facta, domina.

 

[SamBones]

Thus, the search passed the bottom of the document.

You can't search beyond the end of the document. The search can reach the bottom of the document, but you can't really search beyond the document, can you? That seems like pointless searching.

 

[tgreer]

I'm not arguing the physics of the process, just the semantics.

As CC stated, it really depends on whether "SEARCH" is a noun or a verb.

Either "the search passed...", or "you searched past..."

Since the message was "Passed the end of the document", I'm working backwards to "search" as the noun.

I agree that "Reached" might be better, in this instance, but "passed" is semantically feasible.

Thomas D. Greer

http://www.tgreer.com