[m-dev.] Re: diff: Mmake support for nested modules

[Fergus Henderson]

On 27-May-1998, Tyson Richard DOWD <trd at cs.mu.OZ.AU> wrote:
> Fergus Henderson <fjh at cs.mu.OZ.AU> writes:
> 
> >doc/reference_manual.texi:
> >	Update the "implementation bugs and limitations" section.
> 
> >NEWS:
> >	Update the news about nested modules.
> 
> You didn't post this part of the diff.

Ah, good thing someone is keeping me honest ;-)
Sorry about that.  Here it is.

Index: ../NEWS
===================================================================
RCS file: /home/mercury1/repository/mercury/NEWS,v
retrieving revision 1.101
retrieving revision 1.102
diff -u -u -r1.101 -r1.102
--- NEWS	1998/04/27 03:59:23	1.101
+++ NEWS	1998/05/27 04:00:24	1.102
@@ -246,19 +246,24 @@
 * Mode inference can now infer "mostly-unique" modes as well as
   "unique" modes.
 
-* The module system now includes support for logically nested sub-modules
-  with separate compilation.
+* The module system now includes support for nested sub-modules
+  with optional separate compilation.
 
-  The aim of this extension is to provide better support for structuring
-  large software packages.
+  The aim of this extension is twofold: to provide better support
+  for structuring large software packages, and to provide
+  more fine-grained encapsulation.
 
-  Modules may now contain `:- include_module' declarations.
-  If a module `foo' contains an `include_module bar' declaration,
-  this specifies that module `foo' contains the sub-module `foo:bar'.
-  Since a sub-module is logically part of the containing module,
-  it has access to all the entities declared in or imported into
-  the containing module, including those declared in the implementation
-  section.
+* The module system now includes support for sub-modules.
+
+  The aim of this extension is twofold.  One aim is to provide more
+  fine-grained encapsulation control: nested sub-modules within a
+  single source file provide a convenient method for encapsulating
+  units smaller than a source file.  The other aim is to provide better
+  support for structuring large software packages that consist of many
+  source files.  Sub-modules can be defined in separate files, with
+  separate compilation, which means that you can also use this feature
+  to combine a group of existing Mercury modules into a single logical
+  package, with proper namespace control and encapsulation.
 
   See the "Modules" chapter of the Mercury language reference manual for
   details.
Index: ../doc/reference_manual.texi
===================================================================
RCS file: /home/mercury1/repository/mercury/doc/reference_manual.texi,v
retrieving revision 1.92
retrieving revision 1.93
diff -u -u -r1.92 -r1.93
--- reference_manual.texi	1998/05/23 19:48:30	1.92
+++ reference_manual.texi	1998/05/27 04:00:45	1.93
@@ -891,7 +891,7 @@
         ;       @{ @{ int @} @}.
 @end example
 
-This defines a type with two constructors, @code{';'}/2 and @code{'@{@}'/1},
+This defines a type with two constructors, @code{';'/2} and @code{'@{@}'/1},
 whose argument types are all @code{int}.
 
 Each discriminated union type definition introduces a distinct type.
@@ -2705,14 +2705,17 @@
 @node Implementation bugs and limitations
 @subsection Implementation bugs and limitations
 
-The current implementation of sub-modules is incomplete. 
-In particular:
+The current implementation of sub-modules has a couple of minor
+limitations.
 
 @itemize @bullet
- at item it supports only separate sub-modules, not nested sub-modules; 
- at item if you mix an @samp{import_module} declaration for a parent module
-      with a @samp{use_module} declaration for the child, or vice versa,
-      then the compiler may report some spurious errors.
+ at item
+if you mix an @samp{import_module} declaration for a parent module
+with a @samp{use_module} declaration for the child, or vice versa,
+then the compiler may report some spurious errors.
+ at item
+Using @samp{mmake} to do parallel makes (e.g. @samp{mmake --jobs 2})
+don't always work correctly in the case of nested sub-modules.
 @end itemize
 
 @node Type classes
-- 
Fergus Henderson <fjh at cs.mu.oz.au>  |  "I have always known that the pursuit
WWW: <http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~fjh>  |  of excellence is a lethal habit"
PGP: finger fjh at 128.250.37.3        |     -- the last words of T. S. Garp.