gap-forum@samson.math.rwth-aachen.de
One thing that I wish GAP could do is the direct calculation of character
tables, or better yet a full set of irreducible representation matrices.
I also could not find a routine for calculating class multiplication
constants (or coefficients) from the conjugacy classes of group elements;
this would probably be my starting point in calculating characters; oddly
enough there is a routine that uses the character tables to get the class
multiplication constants but that's going in the opposite direction of what
I have in mind. Anyway here are my questions regarding this issue:

(1) Will version 3.2 have any of the above? or should I consider
writing my own routines with my very limitted expertise in
gap?

(2) If any other user has looked at this before, please pass along
any experiences or suggestions.

(3) As an interim solution, is there a way to identify a user defined
group with a group which the character tables recognize:

For example here's a group of order 48 which the character tables
should know:

a := AbstractGenerator("a");
b := AbstractGenerator("b");
c := AbstractGenerator("c");
z := AbstractGenerator("z");
group4a := Group(a,b,c,z);
group4a.relators := [a^2*z^-1,b^3*z^-1,c^4*z^-1,a*b*c*z^-1,z^2];
group4p:=OperationCosetsFpGroup(group4a,Subgroup(group4a,[IdWord]));

How do identify group4p to CharTable. (PS. I happen to know for this
particular case but in general is this doable?)

(4) When will the next version be released?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Jacob Hirbawi
JcbHrb@CERF.net