inconsistent error reporting in g++

[Igor Sheyn <sheyn at cs dot bu dot edu>]

Hi,

consider the following 2 programs:

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
int ff(int x)
{
  char *s = (2>1)? "a": "b";
}
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
int ff(int x)
{
  char *s = (x>1)? "a": "b";
}
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

g++ 2.96 compiles the first one fine, but when compiling the 2nd one, gives
the following error:

xyu.c: In function `int ff (int)':
xyu.c:3: cannot convert `const char *' to `char *' in initialization

I can understand this cast-related error, but how come g++ lets it go
unreported in the 1st case?

Thanks

Igor