Hello:

I wonder if someone can explain something about how GAP uses its
library files (I mean the ones in lib/*.g ). Does GAP need to read the
appropriate file each time it uses a routine defined in the file, or are the
functions read when GAP starts up, and stored in memory for the duration of
the session. In other words, once GAP is started, does it still need these
library files? I have looked through the source code but it is just too
vast for me to comprehend.
Secondly, could someone tell me where to look in the source code to
find the code which handles the online help system. I found a number of things
in 'system.c', but is it all localised to a single module, or does the help
system require parts from many different files.
The reason I am wondering about these two things is that I am thinking
about whether it might be possible to make some not-too-difficult modification
which would enable GAP to be run with the files in 'lib' 'doc', and so on, as
compressed files (to save precious disk space).
Any help or thoughts will be much appreciated. Thanks!

James

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James McCarron

Department of Pure Mathematics Internet: jmccarron@barrow.uwaterloo.ca
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario
CANADA
N2L 3G1