when maintaining a high-volume counter (e.g., sequence IDs, hash values, or loop iterators) stored in an Integer variable. Incrementing beyond MAXLONG (2147483647) with $counter += 1 triggers signed integer overflow, leading to undefined behavior. Results vary by platform (Windows/macOS), CPU (Intel/ARM), and mode (interpreted/compiled), causing bugs like incorrect comparisons or crashes. Direct arithmetic in conditions (e.g., ($b - $a) >= 0) can also overflow inconsistently.

Utility Method: util_wrapping

#DECLARE($a : Integer; $b : Integer)->$result : Integer var $modulo; $minInt; $maxInt : Real $modulo:=4294967296 $minInt:=-2147483648 $maxInt:=2147483647 var $realA; $realB; $realC : Real $realA:=$a $realB:=$b $realC:=$realA+$realB Case of      : ($realC>$maxInt)         $realC-=$modulo         OK:=0     : ($realC<$minInt)         $realC+=$modulo         OK:=0     Else         OK:=1 End case $result:=$realC

Test Example:

var $a; $b; $result : Integer var $r : Boolean $a:=MAXLONG // 2147483647 $b:=util_wrapping($a; 1) $result:=util_wrapping($b; -1) $r:=($b>=$a) If (OK=1)       ALERT("No overflow in last add") Else       ALERT("Overflow detected and wrapped") End if