Announcing CleanSlate
- To: mathgroup at yoda.physics.unc.edu
- Subject: Announcing CleanSlate
- From: tgayley
- Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1992 16:34:06 -0600
The package CleanSlate.m is now available on MathSource. CleanSlate.m
defines several functions to clear symbols and free memory. This package
is for anyone who has ever wished for a way to wipe out everything that
has happened so far in a session, and free up memory in the process. You
no longer need to quit and restart Mathematica for this purpose.
The command CleanSlate[] will do just about everything possible to
return the kernel to the state it was in at the time the CleanSlate.m
package was read in. This includes:
-- removing all user-defined symbols (i.e., those in the "Global`"
context), even if they are Protected.
-- stripping out all packages, including any extra rules they may
have defined for System symbols.
-- clearing the In and Out symbols.
You can also optionally specify a set of contexts to purge, leaving any
others alone.
Examples:
CleanSlate[] -- The works
CleanSlate["Packagename`"] -- Just strip out this one context
CleanSlate["Global`"] -- Get rid of user-defined stuff,
but leave all packages
CleanSlateExcept["Global`"] -- Leave all user-defined stuff,
but get rid of all packages
CleanSlateExcept["Packagename`"] -- Get rid of everything but this
one package
CleanSlate will not touch any packages or symbols that were originally
present when the CleanSlate.m package was read in. Typically, this will
be at the end of the startup process (as the last thing in the init.m
file), but it can be read in at any time, or more than once during a
session. Thus, if you have a set of packages that you want to always be
present, make sure that CleanSlate.m is read in after the packages are.
For maximum recovery of memory, run Share[] (in v.2.1 or higher) after
CleanSlate.
CleanSlate requires v.2.0 of Mma or higher.
To get the CleanSlate.m package, send the following message to
mathsource at wri.com
send 0204-310-0011
There is plenty of documentation in the package file, but a more
complete discussion of how the functions work is available separately.
To get this extra documentation, include the line
send 0204-310-0022
I hope you find CleanSlate useful. I welcome any comments, bugs,
suggestions, etc.
----------------------------------------------
Todd Gayley
WRI Technical Support
tgayley at wri.com (217) 398-6500