World: r3wp

Hi. Is there a build-in function do do something like this : given 
the number 5 and the string "abc"  construct the string "abcabcabcabcabc" 
(equal 5 times "abc")?

I think the closest is to-string reduce array/initial 5 "abc"

to-string reduce
 is faster than rejoin

Henrik: thanks you!

I see that reduce is not even necessary.

And if you're really concerned about speed, this is a little faster:

to string! array/initial 5 "abc"

Ok, but I found it strange that there's no build-in function to do 
that.

Well, array just give a block. Maybe you didn't want a string but 
an issue:
>> to issue! array/initial 5 "abc"
== #abcabcabcabcabc

or something else. Strings are just one form of series.

So we use to-<some datatype> to get, what we want.

This looks funny:
>> to email! array/initial 5 "abc"
== [abc-:-abc-:-abc-:-abc-:-abc]

oh : really cool !

Geomol: have you finished your work on LaTeX backend ?

Almost. Some other work came in the way. I believe, I'll get something 
released this week.

Have you got a look at the XeLaTeX output ?

Yes, and it looks nice. I have someting to think about. On one side 
keep it as simple as possible, on the other side, it should look 
nice.

Ok; like REBOL

A motto I like very much and think about daily:
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
- A. Einstein

And my own:
It's more important to get it right than to get it fast.
:-)

For sure !

even when the customers are pounding you for fixes... :-)

Kib2, try this:
>> head insert/dup copy "" "abc" 5
== "abcabcabcabcabc"

And then just wrap it up:

    string-of: func [
        "Returns a string of <value> repeated <count> times."
        count [integer!]
        value [word! char! any-string!]
    ][
        head insert/dup copy "" value count
    ]

BrianH and Gregg : thanks, I need to write all these tips on a page 
now.

as I've just finished implementing nested list in my markup engine.

Still having fun with REBOL, kib? Watch it! You're caught in the 
web now. ;-)

Geomol: more than ever. But I'm rather fed up now working on this 
markup engine. I need fresh air.

I was thinking of a game, and in fact I've found one, but I think 
I need your help. Beware : that's not easy !

See http://www.indigopuzzles.com/ipuz/help.action?helpId=hashi/index

:-) We have a game group. You could start posting there and see, 
what will happen.

games

Thanks Geomol. I think I have to study game programming before!

How could I generate a random number (a real number) between 2 given 
values, ie between -pi and pi ?

random pi gives me an integer

interesting

I can think of a way to do it, but it isn't easy. I have a feeling, 
REBOL has a problem with random decimals.

I've posted this issue on rebdev. R3 rounds decimals as well.

You can build a hex value from an integer with TO-HEX.
And you can put that hex value into a decimal using struct!

So something like:

>> d: make struct! [v [float]] none
>> i: to integer! (random 2 ** 32) - (2 ** 31) - 1
== -198913422
>> h: to-hex i
== #F424D272
>> change third d h
>> d/v
== 11532.55078125

To get the result between some values, you have to use a factor somewhere.

hm, I'm not sure, this is right. The length of third d is 8. It should 
be 4, I guess.

Yeah, the change line should read:

change third d debase/base h 16

I said, it wasn't easy. ;-P

I'm wondering, if this has come up before? I didn't find a random 
decimal function in the library (rebol.org). Some of the math guys 
here may have a better way?

how about randoming a big integer and divide by that integer and 
multiply with your desired max-value?

Yes, that's an easy way, but I'm afraid rounding will lead to the 
result not being very random (or a limit in possible outcome). It 
has to be checked at least.

Rebol decimal! is 8 bytes and integer! is only 4 bytes. So you would 
need to make a struct of 2 integer!, then swap its contents with 
a struct of 1 decimal!

I used float up there, which is 32 bit afaik. What do I write to 
make a 64 bit decimal struct?

You wrote float, but you didn't get one :)

You can write make struct! [v [decimal!]] none

ah :D

Sorry guys, I was away for an hour. Henrik : that's the way I was 
thinking of it, but it seems weird.

I'm wondering, why I got that float into my head.