The current presentation reflects the structure of the rank conjunction. Basically, any presentation can be mis-interpreted, and requires a certain amount of effort to appreciate.
Also, keep in mind that the dictionary entry for |. covers not only Rotate, but Reverse. Also, keep in mind that the text shows the verbs' argument patterns, and that rank is a universal characteristic of all verbs. I hope this helps, -- Raul On Sun, Dec 31, 2017 at 2:06 PM, Nicholas Spies <[email protected]> wrote: > I imagine that this topic is of low priority to practically every J > programmer who has a mastery of the language and because they are so used > to the present notation of rank in, say, NuVoc. > > For example, why is the brief definition of >. displayed as > Larger of > 0 Ceiling • (Max) 0 0 > > ... instead of Larger of > Ceiling 0 • 0 (Max) 0 > > ... and in every other such reference? > > The rank applying to the left and right arguments should simply be put on > the left and right of the words they refer to. > > For nomadic words rank should be displayed on the right, while for dyadic > words the ranks pertaining to left and right arguments should be on the > left and right of the English or punctuation name of a word. > > The present notation can easily be misinterpreted, as in: > > Take Rotate _ _ , which applies rank to arguments x and y. Should this not > be _ Rotate _ to both identify Rotate as being dyadic and show the ranks of > of its arguments. > > This trivial change would simplify J documentation by making it more > accurately represent how rank is applied. > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
