Perl script??
Static??
Here are my thoughts. Why not write it in Lisp, and make it possible for
maxima users to add to the info, at least for their own new functions,
interactively or via batch files. E.g. in a batch file,
Describe(foobar): "piece of text or maybe xml or html ..."
These could then be added to the hash table or search structure (which might
be easier to read/write if it were a b-tree rather than hash table), and
might also be good for partially-spelled items.
For people using windows there is apparently a well-used "help" facility
that might set a standard for data formats; perhaps our info could be dumped
into that form and the help facilities could be used -- replacing our
peculiarly formatted selection facility unnecessary.
-----Original Message-----
From: maxima-admin at math.utexas.edu [mailto:maxima-admin at math.utexas.edu] On
Behalf Of Robert Dodier
Sent: Sunday, July 16, 2006 9:47 AM
To: Maxima List
Subject: cl-info revision
Hello,
I am working on a revision of the cl-info code (which powers
the describe function). The primary goal to make describe run
faster; it is too slow on slow processors (e.g. mine).
A secondary goal is arrange the searchable topics so that
different kinds of searches can be implemented
(e.g. exact match vs inexact, title vs category vs keyword).
The major part of it is to search for topics in a list of topic
strings, instead of carrying out searches on the info file itself.
The topic strings are keys for a hash table in which the
associated value tells what info file to read, the byte offset
of the item, and the length in bytes. Then retrieval is very fast.
For the moment, the user interface is the same as before
(i.e. user sees a list of items and chooses some).
The hash table is static; it is built once, and then loaded into
Maxima. At present the table is built by a Perl script.
A question for consideration: building the look-up table
with a separate script means there is another step in build
process. But then there is no time spent building the table
at run-time. That seems like an acceptable trade-off to me.
Yes/no ?
Other comments?
HTH
Robert Dodier
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