package impasse?
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg6213] package impasse?
- From: murray at math.umass.edu (Murray Eisenberg)
- Date: Thu, 27 Feb 1997 02:55:27 -0500
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
In previous postings, I described in more or less detail a problem I have with implementing a package. Please tell me if my conclusion about this is correct. A user defines a certain function f, which in turn may reference other user-defined objects g and c. These _other_ names are unknown to the package designer (me)! The package doesn't export anything. What it does do is evaluate the user's f at certain arguments supplied within the package. Since the user-defined objects upon which f depends have names unknown to the package, the StartPackage expression must be of the form StartPackage["thepackage`", "Global`"] Hence (and this is what I'm asking about): there is NO WAY to prevent name clashes between objects created within the package and objects created by the user -- other than the package's trying to use very cryptic and obscure names, of course. If the user's f was self-contained, or depended only upon objects whose names were known in advance to the package designer, then of course there's no problem: avoid including "Global`" in StartPackage and instead refer to f within the package as Global`f. But that's not the realistic situation here. If I am correct, then this seems a fatal shortcoming of Mathematica's implementation of namespaces via contexts. If I am incorrect, then I anxiously await a solution! -- Murray Eisenberg Internet: murray at math.umass.edu Mathematics & Statistics Dept. Voice: 413-545-2859 (W) University of Massachusetts 413-549-1020 (H) Amherst, MA 01003 Fax: 413-545-1801