floor, ceiling, and friends



--- Robert Dodier  wrote:

> Hi Barton, you wrote in part:
> 
> > There is a new verion of nummod on
> > http://www.unk.edu/facstaff/profiles/willisb/
> > (retrive the file nummod(2).zip.) 
> 
> Since you have written these useful functions (ceiling, compare,
> characteristic function, floor, and numeric modulus) with 
> your usual attention to detail, I propose that these be moved
> into maxima/src after testing.

Seconded.
 
> Some minor notes: 
> 
> There already exists a function compare in src/compar.lisp
> which is somewhat similar. compare is never called from
> anywhere in src/, test/, or share/, so far as I can tell, and it is
> undocumented. So I think it is safe to cut the existing compare
> and replace it with the nummod version.

Seconded.

> I wouldn't want to preserve nummod as a separate function
> apart from the existing function mod; we should modify mod
> so that it calls nummod for the appropriate cases. 

Agreed if that can be defined in a sufficiently straightforward way.

> Incidentally mod and nummod assume different conventions;
> mod (12, 7) => - 2, but nummod (12, 7) => 5.
> My own preference is that mod (12, 7) => 5.

I agree, but would that break anything?  (I.e. - does anything use mod
and consequently expect that behavior?  If not, I vote for the change.

Cheers,
CY

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