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Re: GNU Octave interface


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  • From: Joris van der Hoeven <address@hidden>
  • To: address@hidden
  • Subject: Re: GNU Octave interface
  • Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2002 22:57:57 +0200 (MET DST)

> Interfacing TeXmacs with Octave is pretty easy.

I propose that we continue the discussion on interfaces
on the mailing list for TeXmacs developers:

address@hidden

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> Edit ~/.octaverc and add the lines:
>
> if (length(getenv("TEXMACS_PATH")) > 0)
> PS1="\\002channel:prompt\\005octave> \\005";
> endif
>
> And launch octave with the following script:
>
> #!/bin/bash
> echo -ne "\002verbatim:"
> octave -v
> exec octave -qi

Yes, this script should be called tm_octave,
in a similar way as we have tm_maxima, tm_mupad, etc.

> We could also launch Octave by pointing it to a custom
> TeXmacs-only init script which loads the user's
> .octaverc as normal, and then executes our code. This
> would prevent the user from needing to edit their
> .octaverc file.

Absolutely.

> Also, it would be good for TeXmacs to set an
> environment variable TEXMACS_RUNNING or something that
> can be used to certify that we are talking to TeXmacs
> .. the existence of TEXMACS_PATH doesn't strictly
> imply
> this. I could do it in the script before I launch
> Octave, but this really ought to be standardized by
> TeXmacs itself.

Since Octave is a free program, the best way to do this
would be to let Octave support a --texmacs option.
Otherwise, I think that testing for the existence
of TEXMACS_PATH is a pritty safe proposal;
we do not want to create a new environment variable
for every system. If you really demand this,
then you may always set some TM_OCTAVE variable in the script.

> > The easiest solution would be to convince to the
> > Octave maintainers to support a --texmacs option and
> > to include the necessary code directly into Octave.
>
> I'm sure they'd be happy to include any code that we
> could provide. They just aren't about to code the
> interface themselves. Thats ok. I'll get to it
> eventually, I'm sure.
>
> What kind of stuff would people out there in TeXmacs
> land like to see in their Octave interface anyhow?
>
> * Pretty-printed matrices and polynomials are a given
> * Execute Scheme expressions

At a first stage, we mainly want pretty-printed matrices and
polynomials (and all other special mathematical output if
this is possible). If Octave supports a LaTeX output mode,
then you might want to use that.

At a second stage, we may think about online documentations and
special menus and keyboard behaviour in Octave mode.
But just finishing the first stage would be enough for
inclusion inside TeXmacs.

> I don't know how I'm going to handle online
> documentation yet. That is something that will
> probably
> need support directly in Octave.
>
> How might I allow Octave to utilize Yacas? Anyone have
> any ideas? If we could provide an Octave symbolic
> toolboox by connecting to Yacas we'd turn a lot of
> heads in the Octave crowd, and a --texmacs option to
> Octave would be taken a lot more seriously.

It is fairly easy to let Octave and Yacas communicate via TeXmacs.
The harder part is to design a typesafe communication protocol.
I already do have something in mind, but I currently do not have time
to implement it. If this interests you, then I may tell you more about it.
However, you probably need one or several months to implement something.
Maybe we should start simple and handle the first stage of
an Octave interface.

Best wishes, Joris


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