Comparisons

I can't find compare_total in my copy of IEEE 754, and, amazingly, a Google search returns nothing at all for IEEE 754 compare_total. Nor do I see it in the list of recent changes to IEEE 754. I assume this is referring to the totalOrder operation in the standard?

The total order predicate has technically challenging semantics and radically differs from how ==, ===, <, etc. behave on Numbers. Folks trying to use the total order version of < will experience serious surprises unless they're advanced numeric experts.

At the very least we should define the total order operation as a separately named function, rather than sticking it as a mode on comparisons. Preferably we should omit it altogether from the first version of Decimal. It would be odd to include an IEEE operation that's so obscure that we don't even provide it on Numbers. Providing Decimal exponentials and such should be a higher priority.

No files or tests are named; start by checking the proposal's comparison design and the IEEE 754 totalOrder operation referenced in the issue. Done means reaching a documented decision about whether totalOrder belongs in the first Decimal version and, if retained, whether it should be separately named.