[Axiom-developer] Exact Number Domain

[daly]

Here's a proposal

Is is possible to create a domain which stores numbers so 
they always have an exact representation that terminates?

Clearly we can do this with FRAC(INT) so that 1/3 is
an exact representation of .333...

But the question is, can we create a domain that will
store the number in the lowest base which holds an exact
representation, such as 121 base 3? Something other than
base 2 or base 10?

It seems to me that some of the issues of floating-point
computation may be handled by dynamically changing the
base so the representation can handle intermediate
results exactly.

Comments?

(I'm on the road until monday evening so email access
is extremely questionable)

t