Hello,
When people distribute data in GAP format, they sometimes[1][2] do it
using files that can be used with the Read() function, assigning the
results to some predetermined named variables. This introduces a few
problems, such as when wanting to read the results from a few files into
a list, or when trying to read the results from within a function.
Two examples:
gap> PrintTo("file","a:=1;\n");
gap> b:=function() Read("file"); return a; end;;
Syntax error: warning: unbound global variable
b:=function() Read("file"); return a; end;;
^
Or:
gap> a:=2;
2
gap> b:=function() local a; a:=3; Read("file"); return a; end;;
gap> b();
3
gap> a;
1
I think that including the following counterparts to ReadAsFunction()
might allow people to distribute the data in a more convenient way.
ReadAsList:=function(n)
local f,e;
f:=InputTextFile(n);
e:=ReadAll(f);
CloseStream(f);
return EvalString(Concatenation("[",e,"]"));
end;
ReadAsExpression:=function(n)
local f,e;
f:=InputTextFile(n);
e:=ReadAll(f);
CloseStream(f);
return EvalString(e);
end;
[1] http://math.shinshu-u.ac.jp/~hanaki/as/
[2] http://www.math.tu-dresden.de/~reichard/schur/
--
Matan.
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