library - library datatype description
A library is a data type with type number 14. It contains a path-name and a set of names. It allows automatic loading of variables using the following algorithm:
Suppose the Scilab user references the variable named foo . Scilab first looks if foo is the name of a primitive or of an already defined variable. If not, it looks for foo sequentially (the newest first) in all defined library .
Suppose foo belongs to the set of names of the library xlib then Scilab tries to load the file <xlib-path-name>/foo.bin. <xlib-path-name>/foo.bin must have been created using the save function
Library are often used for collection of functions, but they can also be used for any collection of scilab variables
If a function is defined in more than one library, the default search algorithm loads thode contained in the newest. It possible to force the use of a specific library using dot notation:
xlib.foo loads the variable foo contained in xlib . if foo is a function and xlib.foo(args) executes the functions
// elemlib is a predefined library elemlib //displays the contents of the library A=rand(3,3); cosm(A) //loads cosm and executes it who // now cosm is a variable elemlib.sinm //loads sinm from the library elemlib.cosm(A) //reloads cosm and executes it