Greetings,
I am in the process of writing a proposed README.txt file for the SQL interface to GNU APL. That package comes with a file named sql.apl that is a shell script to startup GNU APL with the SQL shared library and APL routines already loaded.
IMO, that method of loading it has a few problems. It only works from the distribution directory unless the user knows (without understanding the pieces) what paths need to be changed - which is undocumented. It is further complicated by the need for the startup path of APL and its relation to the workspaces directory used by APL. All this is way too much for a newbie.
The second problem is that that script pre-loads needed APL functions. Again, when a newbie loads their own workspace, they will lose the APL routines.
My suggestion, without necessarily removing sql.apl, is to have that package include an actual workspace that can be loaded. That workspace would be a copy of sql.apl except that:
1. sql∆∆load_library world be renamed to SQL∆LoadLibrary to be consistent with the other functions in that workspace.
2. SQL∆LoadLibrary will take an argument specifying the full path of lib_sql.so rather than having it hard-coded.
Along with some documentation, I think this will make the SQL library a lot easier to use for newbies.
Thanks.
Blake