Re: Second argument of BeginPackage, revisited
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg78356] Re: Second argument of BeginPackage, revisited
- From: Andrew Moylan <andrew.j.moylan at gmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:41:03 -0400 (EDT)
- References: <f5td66$36j$1@smc.vnet.net><f5vs13$keg$1@smc.vnet.net>
On Jun 28, 6:37 pm, dh <d... at metrohm.ch> wrote: > Hi Andrew, > > you misunderstood the Package concept. BeginPackage["a`", {"b`"}] will > > place b in the $ContextPath so that its content can be found, but it > > does not put b in Context[], so that new variables are not created in b. > > The following may help. Start a new session and enter: > > BeginPackage["b`",{"PhysicalConstants`"}] > > Print[SpeedOfLight]; > > Print[Context[]]; > > Print[$ContextPath]; > > EndPackage[] > > hope this helps, Daniel > > Andrew Moylan wrote: > > Unfortunately (in my opinion), BeginPackage["a`", {"b`"}] does not *quite* > > call Needs[] on its second argument(s). > > > Suppose b.m looks like this: > > > BeginPackage["b`", {"PhysicalConstants`"}] > > (* some code *) > > EndPackage[] > > > Then calling Needs["b`"] in a new kernel results in "PhysicalConstants`" > > being on the list of contexts, so that e.g. SpeedOfLight works as expected. > > > But calling BeginPackage["a`", {"b`"}] instead does *not* put > > PhysicalConstants on the list of contexts during the definition of the > > package, so that e.g. SpeedOfLight results in the creation of a new, useless > > symbol called a`SpeedOfLight. > > > Finally, for maximum confusion (in my opinion), once EndPackage[] is called > > to finish loading the "a`" package, "PhysicalConstants`" *is* placed on the > > list of contexts, causing shadowing between a`SpeedOfLight and > > PhysicalConstants`SpeedOfLight. > > > Effectively, BeginPackage appears to > > 1. Call Needs[] on its second arguments, then > > 2. Temporarily remove from the context path any extra contexts those > > packages added to the context path, then finally > > 3. Put all those temporarily removed packages back onto the context path > > once EndPackage[] is called. > > > Can anyone help me understand why this behaviour is useful? Daniel, you have misunderstood the question in my post. Here is the crucial irregularity to which I refer: BeginPackage["a`", {"b`"}] (* code block 1 *) EndPackage[] BeginPackage["a`"] Needs["b`"] (* code block 2 *) EndPackage[] Needs["b`"] The above two alternatives are not identical, because (strangely, in my opinion) code in code block 1 cannot refer to symbols defined in any packages declared in the second argument of the BeginPackage statement for b` (in b.m); whereas code in code block 2 *can* refer to such symbols. Here is a different way to understand the irregularity: Suppose this code works correctly: Needs["b`"] (* code block 3 *) Then, will this code generally also work correctly? BeginPackage["whatever`", {"b`"}] (* code block 3 *) The answer is no, because of the way BeginPackage apparently modifies the value of $ContextPath after calling Needs[] on its second argument.
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- From: José Luis Gómez <jose.luis.gomez@itesm.mx>
- RE: Re: Second argument of BeginPackage, revisited