[patch #6245] Perl Module

[Jörg Beyer]

John, Ben, 

+1. I only had time to risk a very brief look, but yes, it looks great, and
it is a significant step to add extensibility to PSPP.
I'll definitely need some time to understand the whole bindings stuff -- but
to have this module is an encouraging start, so thanks a lot!

Another thought I had during the week:
The current approach is to use Perl's own XS mechanism to set up the
bindings. I don't know much about Python, but I assume it offers comparable
means. 
But what do you think in general about exploring SWIG in this context?
Again, this is all unfamiliar territory for me, but my idea would be to use
the benefits of _unifying_ bindings to whichever dynamic language comes to
mind. It may save some time, and it may even help to get some kind of
unified interface, or it may lead to some recommendations, how to design the
interface for language <xyz>.
SWIG would add another dependency, of course...

Just an idea. 

Cheers 

Jörg 


> Follow-up Comment #1:
> 
> This looks great.  I'd be happy to have it in the source tree.  Maybe it will
> encourage people to write more extensive Perl bindings (for example, for
> system file input) or bindings to other languages such as Python.
> 
> The patch for using isfinite is similar to the one in patch #6246 (which I
> wrote before looking at the Perl patch).
> 
> The paragraphs following "=head2  Variables with differing input and output
> formats" don't make much sense to me.  I don't understand where input formats
> come into the picture.  The note about difference between PSPP and Perl epochs
> is definitely valuable, though.
> 
> Should there be a way to add a missing value range?


============================================================

Jörg Beyer 
PHILIPPS-University Marburg
Dept. of Psychology
Germany