I am unsure if this solution satisfies all of your requirements, but all of
the functionality you mention below is already available in Maple, both
interactively and in batch.  And for a much larger set of functions than
you'd likely ever have the patience to work with...  And the Units package
(as of Maple 7) includes more units/dimensions than any sane human being
would ever care to know about [the author of that package was, umm,
thorough, right, that's it :-) ].

If nothing else, you should at least use Maple to test any eventual
implementation you find.

Jacques

PS: disclaimer - I used to be affiliated with Maple, but no longer am.
PPS: even the set of 'usual' units forms a rather nasty poset, much more
complicated than one would imagine.  Consistency checking is fully
decidable, but an interesting exercise nevertheless.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-caml-list@pauillac.inria.fr
[mailto:owner-caml-list@pauillac.inria.fr]On Behalf Of Daniel Andor
Sent: Friday, January 24, 2003 9:16 AM
To: caml-list@inria.fr
Subject: [Caml-list] camlp4 vs. ocamllex/yacc?


Hi,

I want to write a smallish translator that would read mathematical formulae
in
an easy to read (for humans, that is) format and translate them to a
computer
language (ocaml, fortran, c, latex, etc) for output.  In the process it
could
do simple consistency checks (like making sure the dimensionality of
physical
equations are correct, for example) on the parse tree.

What are the advantages/disadvantages of using camlp4 vs. a combination of
ocamllex and ocamlyacc?

Is there already a translator like this out there (to save me the effort)?

Any tips on how consistency checks on the equations could be made harnessing
the power of the type system?

Thanks,
Daniel.
-------------------
To unsubscribe, mail caml-list-request@inria.fr Archives:
http://caml.inria.fr
Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs FAQ:
http://caml.inria.fr/FAQ/
Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners

-------------------
To unsubscribe, mail caml-list-request@inria.fr Archives: http://caml.inria.fr
Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs FAQ: http://caml.inria.fr/FAQ/
Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners