Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!kepler1!rjfrey
From: rjfrey@kepler.com (Robert J Frey)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.apl
Subject: Re: Dyalog APL questions
Message-ID: <429@kepler1.kepler.com>
Date: 10 Sep 90 12:49:12 GMT
References: <7258@umd5.umd.edu>
Reply-To: rjfrey@kepler1.UUCP (Robert J Frey)
Organization: Kepler Financial Management, Ltd., Setauket, NY.
Lines: 53

In article <7258@umd5.umd.edu> jph@suns.UMD.EDU (J. Patrick Harrington) writes:
>
>...One  of  the problems with APL is that it seems to be  a 
>universe  unto itself...One great feature of Dyalog APL is that 
>interaction possible using "Auxiliary Processors"...

Other implementations of APL have similar facilities, but only APL2's
quadNA is comparable in ease of use and flexibility to Dyalog's
quadSH. We regularly run 16 Mbyte workspaces on Sun 4's with excellent
performance and make heavy use of AP's to improve efficiency  and 
integrate APL with other applications.

I've also found the code quite transportable. It took two programmers
less than two weeks to transport an application consisting
of thousands of lines of both APL and C from Xenix on 386's over to
Sun 4's. 

>[...description of application deleted...] I would think that reading lists
>of numbers from files  would be  such a basic need that others must have 
>solved this  problem. Is there some neat way to do this?

From what you describe the simplest thing would be to write an awk program
to fix the format before bringing it over to APL! :-)

As far as doing it within APL itself, I can offer two suggestions: First, use
'ss' to make the substitutions, eg, '-' -> negative-sign,  'e+' to 'E', etc.
then do an 'execute foreach' on the nested character string. Second, 
encapsulate this stuff into a utility function and stick it somewhere everyone
can get at, eg, a LOCAL.UTIL workspace in a lib directory like /usr/lib/WS or
whatever convention you use at your site.

If it's not clear how do this to all the character vectors
in the nested vector in one fell swoop, then figure out how to do it to a
single simple character vector, put it in a function, then apply the function
with a 'foreach' across the vector. This may work better if there is some
messy formatting problems or alot of case-by-case reasoning required.

>    Another  question  for  those who may be  using  Dyalog:  Our 
>printers  are  Apple LaserWriter II's,  which isn't  one  of  the 
>supported  printers.   Does  anyone  have  experience  with  this 
>combination? 

I would try contacting Dyalog if nothing comes in off the net. Sorry I can't
help with this one.

>                                       J. Patrick Harrington
>                                       jph@astro.umd.edu


-- 
Dr. Robert J Frey, Kepler Financial Management, Ltd.
rjfrey@kepler.com *or* frey@chaos.sunysb.edu
voice: (516) 689-6300 * fax: (516) 751-8678