Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!ucsd!orion.oac.uci.edu!skid.ps.uci.edu!nelson
From: nelson@skid.ps.uci.edu (Matt Nelson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Subject: hp48sx: variable rename?
Summary: can you RENAME a variable?
Message-ID: <nelson.670529956@skid.ps.uci.edu>
Date: 1 Apr 91 18:20:54 GMT
Lines: 23
Nntp-Posting-Host: skid.ps.uci.edu

Is there a way to RENAME a variable (esp. a directory) on the 48sx?

As far as I know, the only way to do this is to recall the variable to
the stack, store it under the new name, and delete the original copy of
the variable.  This is fine for most objects, but renaming directories in
this fashion is extremely memory-intensive (it creates a second copy of the
entire directory on the stack) and very slow.  Try to rename the root
directory of a large directory tree this way; there is a good chance that
you wont have enough memory, and if you do, it will take mucho time.

I do not know how or where variable NAMES are stored and maintained (are
they contained within the directory object corresponding to the directory
they live in?), but it seems like it should be possible to dive into the
bowels of a couple of objects, change a few bytes, and voila, a new name.

Am I missing something that already accomplishes this?  Is it possible to
do?  Does anybody else share my frustrations with this simple operation?
Do any of you ML programmers out there want to accept the challenge?

Just venting a frustration that has been brewing since I got my 28s...

-Matt Nelson
 nelson@psroot.ps.uci.edu