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=head1 NAME

PDLA::AutoLoader - MatLab style AutoLoader for PDLA

=head1 SYNOPSIS

 use PDLA::AutoLoader;
 $x = func1(...);   # Load file func1.pdl
 $y = func2(...);   # Load file func2.pdl

 $PDLA::AutoLoader::Rescan = 1; # Enable re-scanning

=head1 DESCRIPTION

This module implements a MatLab style AutoLoader for PDLA. If an unknown
function C<func()> is called, PDLA looks for a file called C<func.pdl>.
If it finds one, it compiles the file and calls the function C<func>.

The list of directories to search in is given by the shell environment
variable C<PDLALIB>. This is a colon-separated list of directories. On
MSWindows systems, is it a I<semicolon> -separated list of directories.

For example, in csh:

  setenv PDLALIB "/home/joe/pdllib:/local/pdllib"

B<Note>: This variable is unrelated to Perl's C<PERL5LIB>.

If you add a leading '+' on a directory name, PDLA will search the
entire directory tree below that point. Internally, PDLA stores the
directory list in the variable C<@PDLALIB>, which can be modified at
run time.

For example, in csh:

  setenv PDLALIB "+/home/joe/PDLA"

will search /home/joe/PDLA and all its subdirectories for .pdl files.

=head2 AUTO-SCANNING

The variable C<$PDLA::AutoLoader::Rescan> controls whether files
are automatically re-scanned for changes at the C<perldla> or
C<pdla2> command line.

If C<$PDLA::AutoLoader::Rescan == 1> and the file is changed
then the new definition is reloaded auto-matically before
executing the C<perldla> or C<pdla2> command line. Which means
in practice you can edit files, save changes and have C<perldla>
or C<pdla2> see the changes automatically.

The default is '0' - i.e. to have this feature disabled.

As this feature is only pertinent to the PDLA shell it imposes
no overhead on PDLA scripts. Yes Bob you can have your cake and
eat it too!

Note: files are only re-evaled if they are determined to have
been changed according to their date/time stamp.

No doubt this interface could be improved upon some more. :-)

=head2 Sample file:

 sub foo { # file 'foo.pdl' - define the 'foo' function
   my $x=shift;
   return sqrt($x**2 + $x**3 + 2);
 }
 1; # File returns true (i.e. loaded successfully)

=head1 AUTHOR

Copyright(C) 1997 Karl Glazebrook (kgb@aaoepp.aao.gov.au);
several extensions by Craig DeForest (deforest@boulder.swri.edu)
All rights reserved. There is no warranty. You are allowed
to redistribute this software / documentation under certain
conditions. For details, see the file COPYING in the PDLA
distribution. If this file is separated from the PDLA distribution,
the copyright notice should be included in the file.

=head1 BUGS

No doubt this interface could be improved upon some more. :-)

Will probably be quite slow if C<$PDLA::AutoLoader::Rescan == 1>
and thousands of functions have been autoloaded.

There could be a race condition in which the file changes
while the internal autoloader code is being executed but it
should be harmless.

Probably has not been tested enough!

=head1 SEE ALSO

For an alternative approach to managing a personal collaction of