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1 Octave PROJECTS -*- text -*- |
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2 =============== |
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3 |
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4 Check with bug-octave@bevo.che.wisc.edu for a possibly more current |
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5 copy. Also, if you start working steadily on a project, please let |
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6 bug-octave@bevo.che.wisc.edu know. We might have information that |
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7 could help you; we'd also like to send you the GNU coding standards. |
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8 |
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9 This list is not exclusive -- there are many other things that might |
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10 be good projects, but it might instead be something we already have, |
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11 so check with bug-octave@bevo.che.wisc.edu before you start. |
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12 |
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13 --------- |
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14 Numerical: |
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15 --------- |
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16 |
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17 * Merge control stuff. |
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18 |
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19 * Improve logm, and sqrtm. |
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20 |
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21 * Improve complex mapper functions. |
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22 |
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23 * Make functions like gamma() return the right IEEE Inf or NaN |
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24 values for extreme args or other undefined cases. |
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25 |
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26 * Handle complex values in fread and fwrite. |
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27 |
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28 * Support for lp_solve for linear programming problems. |
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29 |
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30 * Free QP solver. |
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31 |
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32 * Free NLP solver. |
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33 |
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34 * Support for sparse matrices. |
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35 |
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36 * Fix CollocWt to handle Laguerre polynomials. Make it easy to |
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37 extend it to other polynomial types. |
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38 |
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39 * Add optional arguments to colloc so that it's not restricted to |
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40 Legendre polynomials. |
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41 |
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42 * Fix eig to also be able to solve the generalized eigenvalue |
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43 problem, and to solve for eigenvalues and eigenvectors without |
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44 performing a balancing step first. |
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45 |
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46 * Move rand, eye, xpow, xdiv, etc., functions to the matrix classes. |
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47 |
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48 * Use octave_allocator for memory management in Array classes once |
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49 g++ supports static member templates. |
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50 |
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51 * Implement the following functions: |
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52 -- ppval -- cross -- dot |
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53 |
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54 * Allow user-supplied gradient information to be passed to NPSOL. |
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55 |
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56 * Support for FSQP. |
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57 |
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58 * Convert FSQP style NLP statement to NPSOL style. |
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59 |
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60 * Convert NPSOL style NLP statement to FSQP style. |
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61 - Look for linear equality constraints, extract corresponding rows |
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62 of C. The rest are inequality constraints. |
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63 - Look for Nonlinear equality constraints and set up a vector of |
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64 pointers for shuffling. |
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65 - Transform lb <= C*x <= ub, lb != ub, to C*x - ub <= 0 and |
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66 lb - C*x <= 0. Likewise for lb <= g(x) <= ub. |
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67 - Call FSQP. |
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68 |
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69 * Optional inputs for fsqp. |
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70 |
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71 * Allow parameters to be passed through the call to fsolve() to the |
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72 user-supplied function for Matlab compatibility. Don't place an |
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73 upper limit on the number of arguments. |
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74 |
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75 * If possible, make economy QR factorization actually take advantage |
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76 of the form of the result instead of just dropping columns. |
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77 Lapack doesn't appear to do this yet. |
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78 |
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79 * Check matrix classes for proper handling of empty matrices. |
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80 |
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81 * Improve design of ODE, DAE, classes. |
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82 |
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83 * Make it possible to specify a time which dassl and lsode should |
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84 not integrate past. |
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85 |
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86 * Extend meaning of .* to include v .* M or M .* v (where v is a |
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87 column vector with the same number of rows as M) to scale rows of |
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88 M by elements of v. Similarly, if w is a row vector with as many |
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89 columns as M, then either w .* M or M .* w scales the columns of |
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90 M. |
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91 |
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92 * Given two vectors x and y of length m and n, implement a function |
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93 outer (x, y, f) that returns an m-by-n matrix with entries |
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94 f (x(i), y(j)). If f is omitted, multiplication is the default. |
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95 Should probably work for any vectors, not just if x is a column |
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96 vector and y is a row vector. |
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97 |
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98 * On systems that support matherr(), make it possible for users to |
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99 enable the printing of warning messages. |
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100 |
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101 -------- |
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102 Graphics: |
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103 -------- |
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104 |
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105 * Make plotting with plplot work. |
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106 |
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107 * Fix interface with gnuplot to wait for gnuplot to output any text |
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108 before octave returns a prompt. Possible by implementing two |
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109 way communication between gnuplot and Octave. |
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110 |
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111 * Make gsave (and possibly gload) work. Implement gsave by having it |
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112 also alter the plot command to not use temporary files (perhaps |
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113 with some user-specified template for naming them) and then |
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114 sending a `save' command to gnuplot. |
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115 |
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116 * It would be nice to be able to check that a plot is currently |
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117 being displayed. |
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118 |
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119 * Implement clf, gcf, get, set, orient, print, close, etc. in |
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120 Matlab-compatible ways. |
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121 |
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122 * Make it possible to check the current graphics terminal type. |
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123 |
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124 * If possible, pass data to gnuplot without using temporary files. |
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125 |
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126 * If possible, pass binary data to gnuplot to speed things up. |
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127 |
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128 ------- |
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129 Strings: |
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130 ------- |
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131 |
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132 * Convert string functions to work on string arrays. |
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133 |
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134 * Make find work for strings. |
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135 |
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136 * Consider making octave_print_internal() print some sort of text |
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137 representation for unprintable characters instead of sending them |
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138 directly to the terminal. (But don't do this for fprintf!) |
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139 |
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140 * Consider changing the default value of `string_fill_char' from SPC |
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141 to NUL. |
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142 |
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143 * Consider making size ("") ==> [0, 0] for compatibility with |
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144 Matlab, at least when some preference variable is set. |
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145 |
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146 * Consider making [] equivalent to "" for compatibility with |
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147 Matlab, at least when some preference variable is set. |
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148 |
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149 * Consider making ["test", []] ==> "test", for compatibility with |
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150 Matlab, at least when some set of preferences are set. |
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151 |
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152 ---------------- |
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153 Other Data Types: |
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154 ---------------- |
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155 |
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156 * New types (char, short, etc.). |
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157 |
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158 * 3d matrix stuff. |
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159 |
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160 * Template functions for mixed-type ops. |
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161 |
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162 * Stuff for arithmetic using charMatrix, intMatrix, etc. |
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163 |
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164 ------------------------ |
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165 Graphical User Interface: |
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166 ------------------------ |
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167 |
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168 * In an X11 or other windowing environment, allow the user to pop up |
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169 windows for menus and other purposes. A good place to start might |
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170 be Tk, as long as Tcl is avoided. |
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171 |
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172 * Add a way to handle events, like alarms, mouse clicks, etc. |
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173 |
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174 ------------ |
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175 Input/Output: |
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176 ------------ |
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177 |
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178 * Make fread and fwrite work for complex data. Iostreams based |
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179 versions of these functions would also be nice, and if you are |
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180 working on them, it would be good to support other size |
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181 specifications (integer*2, etc.). |
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182 |
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183 * Make load and save work for structures. |
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184 |
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185 * Make load and save look for <file>.mat if only given <file>. |
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186 |
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187 * Move some pr-output stuff to liboctave. |
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188 |
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189 * Make the cutoff point for changing to packed storage a |
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190 user-preference variable with default value 8192. |
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191 |
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192 * Save image data in binary format to save space. |
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193 |
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194 * Make it possible to load other image formats (ppm, pbm, etc. would |
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195 probably be best since there are already filters to convert to |
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196 these formats from others.) |
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197 |
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198 * Use HDF for binary data. |
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199 |
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200 * Make ascii load and save work for Inf and NaN. |
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201 |
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202 * Complain if there is not enough disk space available (I think |
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203 there is simply not enough error checking in the code that handles |
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204 writing data). |
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205 |
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206 * Make it possible to tie arbitrary input and output streams |
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207 together, similar to the way iostreams can be tied together. |
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208 |
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209 ----------- |
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210 Interpreter: |
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211 ----------- |
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212 |
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213 * If foo.oct and foo.m both exist in the LOADPATH, Octave will |
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214 always find foo.oct, even if foo.m appears earlier in the list of |
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215 directories. This should be fixed (in the kpathsearch library) to |
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216 find the first .oct or .m file in the path, and only prefer .oct |
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217 over .m if both files are in the same directory. |
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218 |
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219 * Fix the grammar to allow structure references and index operations |
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220 for for anonymous expressions. For example, it should be possible |
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221 to write |
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222 |
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223 localtime (time ()) . hour; |
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224 |
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225 to get the current hour. Likewise, it should be possible to write |
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226 |
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227 svd (A) (1:13); |
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228 |
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229 to extract the first 13 singular values of the matrix A. |
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230 |
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231 * Consider grouping all preference variables in a structure instead |
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232 of further polluting the namespace. Maybe `Octave_options.xxx'? |
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233 |
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234 * Rewrite functions in input.cc to do the right thing in all cases |
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235 of using readline, forced interactive behavior, echoing of input, |
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236 etc. |
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237 |
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238 * Make it possible to redefine built-in variables and functions. |
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239 (Fix whatever it is that is happening with clear for built-in |
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240 variables.) |
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241 |
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242 * Make it possible to check if a variable is complex. |
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243 |
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244 * Consider making linspace() and logspace() return the value |
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245 corresponding to the first argument if the number of requested |
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246 points is 1. |
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247 |
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248 * Make it possible to get the names of the arguments that are passed |
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249 to functions, at least if simple variables are passed. |
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250 |
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251 * Fix name of text-style functions (or at least explain it in the |
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252 manual). |
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253 |
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254 * Consider allowing an arbitrary property list to be attached to any |
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255 variable. This could be a more general way to handle the help |
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256 string that can currently be added with `document'. |
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257 |
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258 * Allow more command line options to be accessible as built-in |
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259 variables (--echo-commands, etc.). |
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260 |
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261 * Allow `octave -c STRING' to execute commands from STRING then |
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262 exit. |
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263 |
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264 * Handle DOS style CRLFs in M files. This should probably be |
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265 optional. |
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266 |
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267 * Make the interpreter run faster. |
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268 |
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269 * Make it possible to disable or enable all warnings on an |
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270 individual basis from the command line or via some built-in |
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271 structure variable. |
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272 |
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273 * Warn about complex comparisons? Could just use double_value() or |
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274 matrix_value() instead of explicit conversions to real types. |
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275 |
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276 * Make warnings also give some indication about the location of the |
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277 code that triggers the warning. |
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278 |
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279 * Warn about complex comparisons? Could just use double_value() or |
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280 matrix_value() instead of explicit conversions to real types. For |
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281 this to really be useful, some additional information must be |
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282 available to point to the location of the code that triggers the |
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283 warning. |
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284 |
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285 * Consider making it possible to have arrays of structures, and some |
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286 way of indexing them. |
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287 |
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288 * Allow arbitrary lower bounds for array indexing. (Watch out for |
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289 the additional conflict with zero-one style indexing.) |
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290 |
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291 * Recursive problems. |
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292 |
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293 * Improve the way ignore_function_time_stamp works to allow |
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294 selecting by individual directories or functions. Also, |
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295 optionally allow checking only once between each prompt instead of |
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296 every time the function is called. |
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297 |
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298 * Make it possible to ask exist() to only look for certain classes |
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299 of variables, functions, files, etc. rather than always looking for |
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300 everything. |
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301 |
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302 * Add a command-line option to tell Octave to just do syntax |
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303 checking and not execute statements. |
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304 |
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305 * Is it necessary for do_binary_op and do_unary_op to be friends of |
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306 the tree_constant class. |
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307 |
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308 * Clean up symtab and variable stuff. |
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309 |
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310 * Input stream class for parser files -- must manage buffers for |
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311 flex and context for global variable settings. |
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312 |
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313 * Make LEXICAL_ERROR have a value that is the error message for |
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314 parse_error() to print? |
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315 |
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316 * Make it possible to clear dynamically loaded functions. |
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317 |
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318 * Add a run-time alias mechanism that would allow things like |
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319 |
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320 alias fun function_with_a_very_long_name |
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321 |
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322 so that `function_with_a_very_long_name' could be invoked as |
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323 `fun'. |
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324 |
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325 * What should is_global() return when called for built-in variables? |
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326 |
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327 * Make it possible to have `static' variables inside functions that |
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328 retain their values across calls. |
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329 |
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330 * Allow local changes to variables to be written more compactly than |
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331 is currently possible with unwind_protect. For example, |
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332 |
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333 function f () |
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334 local prefer_column_vectors = something; |
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335 ... |
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336 endfunction |
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337 |
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338 would be equivalent to |
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339 |
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340 function f () |
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341 unwind_protect |
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342 save_prefer_column_vectors = prefer_column_vectors; |
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343 prefer_column_vectors = something; |
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344 ... |
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345 unwind_protect_cleanup |
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346 prefer_column_vectors = save_prefer_column_vectors; |
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347 end_unwind_protect |
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348 endfunction |
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349 |
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350 * Fix all function files to check for bogus inputs (wrong number or |
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351 types of input arguments, wrong number of output arguments). |
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352 |
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353 * Handle options for built-in functions more consistently. |
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354 |
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355 * Too much time is spent allocating and freeing memory. What can be |
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356 done to improve performance? |
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357 |
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358 * Error output from Fortran code is ugly. Something should be done to |
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359 make it look better. |
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360 |
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361 * It would be nice if output from the Fortran routines could be |
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362 passed through the pager. |
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363 |
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364 * Attempt to recognize common subexpressions in the parser. |
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365 |
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366 * Remove the buffer size limit in octave_read() in input.cc. |
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367 |
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368 * Handle arrays with more than two dimensions. |
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369 |
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370 * Consider making assignment statements like |
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371 |
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372 M (i_idx, j_idx) = RHS |
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373 |
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374 produce the value of RHS instead of the value of M. |
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375 |
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376 * Consider making it possible to specify an empty matrix with a |
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377 syntax like [](e1, e2). Of course at least one of the expressions |
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378 must be zero... |
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379 |
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380 * Eliminate force_numeric and make_numeric functions. |
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381 |
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382 * Is Matrix::fortran_vec() really necessary? |
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383 |
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384 * print_usage() should set error_state in most cases? |
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385 |
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386 * Add an option to make Octave quit executing a script when error() is |
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387 called. Also make it possible for `return' or `break' to exit a |
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388 script. |
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389 |
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390 * Make statements like this |
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391 |
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392 foo bar baz |
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393 |
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394 turn into function calls like this: |
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395 |
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396 foo ("bar", "baz") |
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397 |
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398 This is pretty ugly and introduces some conflicts. |
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399 |
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400 * Make it possible to use text-style function names as variables. |
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401 |
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402 * Add a command that works like bash's `builtin' command. |
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403 |
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404 * Handle comments in parse trees for use with the type command. |
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405 |
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406 * Make the type command handle script files too, by just reading and |
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407 printing them. |
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408 |
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409 * Clean up eye, eval, feval, keyboard, input, ones, zeros. |
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410 |
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411 * It would be nice to have an interactive debugger. |
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412 |
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413 * Make whos report total memory used by variables (and functions?). |
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414 |
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415 * Rewrite whos and the symbol_record_info class. |
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416 |
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417 ------- |
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418 History: |
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419 ------- |
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420 |
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421 * Add an option to allow saving input from script files in the |
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422 history list. |
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423 |
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424 * Fix history problems -- core dump if multiple processes are |
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425 writing to the same history file? |
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426 |
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427 ------------------------------ |
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428 Configuration and Installation: |
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429 ------------------------------ |
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430 |
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431 * Handle USE_READLINE so that --enable-readline will work. |
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432 |
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433 * Make Octave as independent of the particular readline version as |
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434 possible. |
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435 |
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436 * Add an --enable-pathsearch option to configure to make it possible |
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437 to configure and run without kpathsea. |
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438 |
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439 * Make configure take more defaults from the environment. |
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440 |
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441 * Should --enable-lite-kernel imply --enable-shared? |
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442 |
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443 * Make it possible to configure without readline. |
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444 |
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445 * Makefile changes: |
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446 -- eliminate for loops |
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447 -- define shell commands or eliminate them |
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448 -- verify distclean |
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449 -- consolidate targets |
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450 |
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451 * Make it possible to configure so that installed binaries and |
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452 shared libraries are stripped. |
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453 |
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454 * Make installation of the static libraries optional. |
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455 |
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456 ------------------------------ |
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457 Documentation and On-Line Help: |
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458 ------------------------------ |
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459 |
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460 * Document new features. |
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461 -- history-search-{back,for}ward. |
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462 -- try/catch. |
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463 -- Other stuff mentioned in the NEWS file. |
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464 |
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465 * Improve the Texinfo Documentation for the interpreter. It would |
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466 be useful to have lots more examples, to not have so many forward |
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467 references, and to not have very many simple lists of functions. |
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468 |
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469 * The docs should mention something about efficiency and that using |
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470 array operations is almost always a good idea for speed. |
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471 |
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472 * Texinfo documentation for the C++ classes. |
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473 |
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474 * Support multiple info files, perhaps allowing one or more in each |
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475 directory in the LOADPATH, so that local collections of M-files |
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476 could be documented with Info. |
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477 |
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478 * Figure out a good way to have functions and variables documented |
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479 in only one place. |
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480 |
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481 * Improve help messages for operators and keywords in help.cc. |
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482 |
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483 * Make index entries more consistent to improve behavior of `help -i'. |
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484 |
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485 * Make `help -i' try to find a whole word match first. |
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486 |
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487 * Allow help for local additions to be accessible with help -i. |
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488 |
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489 * Make the arrow keys work in the info reader. |
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490 |
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491 * Update Info to be based on the current Texinfo release. |
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492 |
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493 * Should info/terminal.c include definitions for PC, BC, UP, and |
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494 ospeed on all systems? |
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495 |
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496 * Clean up help stuff. |
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497 |
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498 * Demo files. |
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499 |
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500 * As the number of m-files with octave grows perhaps a 'Contents.m' |
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501 file for each toolbox (directory) would be appropriate so one |
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502 knows exactly what functions are in a toolbox with a quick look. |
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503 It would be best to generate information for each function directly |
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504 from the M-files, so that the information doesn't have to be |
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505 duplicated, and will remain current if the M-files change. It |
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506 would also be best to do as much of this as possible in an M-file, |
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507 though I wouldn't mind adding some basic support for listing the |
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508 names of all the directories in the LOADPATH, and the names of all |
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509 the M-files in a given directory if that is needed. |
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510 |
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511 * Some sort of blurb (2-3 pages) describing Octave in a reasonably |
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512 coherent way, where to get it etc., perhaps formatted pretty, |
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513 i.e. not just text. Maybe start with the latest Announce file. |
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514 |
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515 ----- |
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516 Tests: |
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517 ----- |
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518 |
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519 * Improved set of tests: |
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520 |
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521 -- Tests for various functions. Would be nice to have a test file |
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522 corresponding to every function. |
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523 |
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524 -- Tests for element by element operators: |
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525 + - .* ./ .\ .^ | & < <= == >= > != ! |
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526 |
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527 -- Tests for boolean operators: && || |
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528 |
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529 -- Tests for other operators: * / \ ' .' |
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530 |
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531 -- Tests from bug reports. |
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532 |
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533 -- Tests for indexed assignment. Need to consider the following: |
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534 o fortran-style indexing |
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535 o zero-one indexing |
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536 o assignment of empty matrix as well as values |
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537 o resizing |
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538 |
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539 * Tests for all internal functions. |
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540 |
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541 ----------- |
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542 Programming: |
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543 ----------- |
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544 |
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545 * Move toward using more stuff from standard C++ library. |
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546 |
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547 * More C++/Fortran cleanups. |
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548 |
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549 * It is likely that there are still some memory leaks. Hunt then down |
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550 and plug them. |
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551 |
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552 * Better error messages for missing operators? |
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553 |
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554 * Eliminate duplicate enums in pt-exp.cc, pt-const.cc, and ov.cc. |
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555 |
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556 * Handle octave_print_internal() stuff at the liboctave level. Then |
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557 the octave_value classes could just call on the print() methods |
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558 for the underlying classes. |
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559 |
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560 * As much as possible, eliminate explicit checks for the types of |
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561 octave_value objects so that user-defined types will automatically |
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562 do the right thing in more cases. |
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563 |
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564 * Only include config.h in files that actually need it, instead of |
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565 including it in every .cc file. Unfortunately, this might not be |
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566 so easy to figure out. |
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567 |
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568 * GNU coding standards: |
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569 |
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570 -- Add a `Makefile' target to the Makefiles. |
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571 -- Comments on #else and #endif preprocessor commands. |
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572 -- Change error message format to match standards everywhere. |
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573 |
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574 * Use STL stuff instead of libg++ lists, maps, and stacks. |
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575 |
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576 * Eliminate more global variables. |
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577 |
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578 * Encapsulate readline in a class. Include interface to stuff like |
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579 blink_matching_paren. |
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580 |
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581 * Encapsulate resource stuff in a class. |
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582 |
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583 * Move procstream to liboctave. |
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584 |
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585 * Replace more C-style vectors with Array<T> stuff. |
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586 |
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587 * Use references and classes in more places. |
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588 |
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589 * Share more code among the various *_options functions. |
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590 |
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591 ------------- |
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592 Miscellaneous: |
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593 ------------- |
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594 |
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595 * Implement some functions for interprocess communication: bind, |
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596 accept, connect, gethostbyname, etc. |
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597 |
2454
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598 * The installation process should also install octave.el. This |
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599 needs to detect the appropriate Emacs binary to use to |
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600 byte-compile the .el file. Following GNU Emacs philosophy, |
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601 installation would be into $(prefix)/share/emacs/site-lisp by |
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602 default, but it should be selectable. |
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603 |
2330
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604 * The ability to transparently handle very large files: |
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605 |
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606 Juhana K Kouhia <kouhia@nic.funet.fi> wrote: |
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607 |
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608 If I have a one-dimensional signal data with the size 400 |
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609 Mbytes, then what are my choices to operate with it: |
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610 |
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611 * I have to split the data |
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612 * Octave has a virtual memory on its own and I don't have to |
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613 worry about the splitting. |
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614 |
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615 If I split the data, then my easily programmed processing |
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616 programs will become hard to program. |
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617 |
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618 If possible, I would like to have the virtual memory system in |
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619 Octave i.e. the all big files, the user see as one big array or |
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620 such. There could be several user selectable models to do the |
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621 virtual memory depending on what kind of data the user have (1d, |
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622 2d) and in what order they are processed (stream or random |
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623 access). |
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624 |
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625 Perhaps this can be done entirely with a library of M-files. |
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626 |
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627 * Add a function like strptime() which is the opposite of |
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628 strftime(). A C version is apparently in recent releases of the |
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629 Linux C library. |
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630 |
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631 ------ |
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632 Always: |
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633 ------ |
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634 |
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635 * Squash bugs. |
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636 |
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637 --30-- |