[Chicken-users] Implementing CL-style array literal syntax

[John Cowan]

I'd like to add a CL-compatible syntax for simple multi-dimensional
arrays to Chicken as part of an egg.  Basically the syntax is #nA datum,
where n is a digit-string representing the rank of the array.  This is
required because just looking at a datum of ((1 2 3) (4 5 6)) does not
tell us whether this is a vector of two lists or a matrix of integers.

This can be done in Chicken using set-sharp-read-syntax! to control the
interpretation of #0 through #9 (the procedure must read the rest of
the digits, if any, and the datum by itself).  That isn't extensible,
though; it wouldn't allow someone to add #nR syntax to read numbers to
the arbitrary base n.  Furthermore, it collides with the interpreter's
#n syntax meaning "the value of the nth evaluated form".

What I'd like to see is a new set-parameterized-read-syntax procedure
which takes a character c and allows the reader to accept input of the
form #nc, where n is a digit string, and invoke a handler that takes
two arguments, the port and the integer value of n.

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