3.2 status report

[John W. Eaton]

Here is an update of the goals for 3.2.  Previous postings referred to
version 3.1, but the version number of the next stable release will be
3.2.0 since we decided to release development snapshots with versions
numbered 3.1.x.

I've tagged completed items with an "X" and items for which some work
has been done with a "+".  Please let me know if I've missed anything.

   1. Objects:
        X Merge object-branch
        X Implementation of superiorto/inferiorto
        - Operator overloading vs. constant folding

   +. Handle block comments.  This is not quite finished as block
      comments inside [] or {}, and also in the group of comments
      following a continuation character, etc., are not handled.  See
      the FIXME comments in lex.l.

   X. Eliminate __gnuplot_X__ functions from Octave

   4. Move code to external packages
        X control
        X finance
        - optimization?
        - signal?
        - statistics?
        X quaternions

   +. Move imread/imwrite functions from Octave Forge to Octave.

   6. Improve traceback error messages.  The messages should list the
      exact line where an error occurred, then only print function
      traceback info and not information about which
      if/for/while/etc. statement includes the error.  That extra
      information just seems to confuse users, and the current
      messages don't always clearly describe the actual location of
      the error.

   X. Ensure that all operations which work on dimensions alone
      (squeeze, numel, triu, etc.) work for all objects and preserve
      type.  Should these functions all be built-in?  Possibly they
      should all be provided by the octave_value class interface.

   X. Make mapper functions work like other built-in functions?

   X. Mapper functions like real, imag, and mod should preserve type
      (are there others?)

  10. Improve compatibility of fsolve
        - input/output args should be compatible
        - use optimset for options

  11. Graphics:
        + Refactor base_properties
        + Specific types for properties with improved property value
          checking
        + Implement the addprops function allow additional properties
          to objects
        + add the hggroup object that has no fixed properties for use
          by barseries, etc.
        + Add callback DeleteFcn/CreateFcn to objects
        + Allow listener functions to be added to objects
        + Clean separation of backend from property database
        + Implement experimental backend based on OpenGL and GUI
          toolkit

  Other tasks that should be considered before the release:

    * Document the graphics changes made by Shai/Michael as needed.

    * Document the object oriented stuff in a new chapter.

    * Document the use of private directories.

    * Document other functions that were ported from octave-forge (eg
      imread, dlmwrite, etc)

    + Update the NEWS file.


I think we decided that for now we will keep the statistics, signal,
and optimization functions in Octave, so I will remove those from my
list of things to do for 3.2.

I'm still hopeful that we can have a release within a month or two.
Although it may contain the OpenGL graphics code, I'm not expecting
that we will make that the default graphics backend.

To me, the most important items are 5, 6, and 10.  I started working
on item 6 and will start a separate thread about that.

Would someone like to work on finishing the imwrite function (item 5)?
I checked in a start, but there is some more work that needs to be
done.

How about fsolve (item 10)?  Is anyone interested in working on it?

Comments?

Thanks,

jwe