[slime-devel] Find Definitions

[Terje Norderhaug]

On Dec 23, 2009, at 8:18 AM, Helmut Eller wrote:
> * Terje Norderhaug [2009-12-22 17:33+0100] writes:
>>> Why is that needed?
>>
>> It is needed for functionality that improves the usability of MCLIDE.
>>
>> For example, the Apropos dialog (see screen shot at http://mclide.in-
>> progress.com/tour) lets lisp developers filter the result of an
>> apropos based on type. If the developer chooses to only be interested
>> in the definitions of functions, clicking the Source button goes
>> straight to the function definition even if there are other
>> definitions for the same symbol. Several dialogs also present dspecs
>> from Swank in more uniform custom ways rather than display the
>> implementation dependent raw dspec string.
>
> Hmm... sounds like quite bit of work for a relatively small  
> improvement.
> I would estimate that 80% of all symbols have only one definition,
> i.e. most of the time it wouldn't make a difference.

I don't mind going the extra mile to improve usability, so I'd be  
glad to take a lead. Making the definitions more easy to process on  
the client can also open for improvements in SLIME, such as custom/ 
uniform presentation of definitions, and more advanced processing  
both on the client and server.

The next step is to get an overview of the current dspecs provided to  
swank by the various lisp implementations. Has somebody documented  
any of this already? I have Clozure and LispWorks covered, but could  
benefit from input about other implementations.

-- Terje Norderhaug
    terje at in-progress.com