int Arg_comparator::compare_real()
{
  /*
    Fix yet another manifestation of Bug#2338. 'Volatile' will instruct
    gcc to flush double values out of 80-bit Intel FPU registers before
    performing the comparison.
  */
  volatile double val1, val2;
  val1= (*a)->val_real();
  if (!(*a)->null_value)
  {
    val2= (*b)->val_real();
    if (!(*b)->null_value)
    {
      if (set_null)
        owner->null_value= 0;
      if (val1 < val2)	return -1;
      if (val1 == val2) return 0;
      return 1;
    }
  }
  if (set_null)
    owner->null_value= 1;
  return -1;
}