[ANN] FixedPoint with selectable rounding

[Doug Fort]

On Wed, 09 Oct 2002 19:35:41 +0000, Chris Gonnerman wrote:

> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Doug Fort" <doug.fort at verizon.net>
> 
> 
>> On Wed, 09 Oct 2002 23:55:53 +0200, Piet van Oostrum wrote:
>> 
>> >>>>>> "dougfort" <dougfort at dougfort.net> (D) writes:
>> > D> You can select which rounding algorithm FixedPoint uses 
>> > D> by assigning a bound function to 
>> > D> FixedPoint.RoundingAlgorithm. 
>> > 
>> > The problem with such a more or less global assignment is 
>> > that you can't use it in a thread-safe way.
>> 
>> Our assumptions are:
>>     1) You will assign the rounding algorithm once at start 
>>        of program
>>     2) The algorithm will not maintain internal state
>> 
>> Given these assumptions, I believe it is thread-safe.
>> 
>> I'm working on making the rounding algorithm a non-static 
>> member, but this will be no more or less thread-safe that 
>> the static member. Ultimately if you want to maintain 
>> internal state, and/or change the algorithm during
>> processing; you will have to provide your own protection.
> 
> Just an idea from left field:
> 
> Imagine for a moment a metaclass, for instance MetaFixedPoint,
> which has a signature like this:
> 
>     MetaFixedPoint(RoundingFunction = None,
>         ErrorOnMismatch = None)
> 
> which would return a class object when called.  The class 
> object could then be used to instantiate objects:
> 
>     MyFixedPoint = MetaFixedPoint(myRoundingFunction, 1)
> 
>     n = MyFixedPoint("5.5")
> 
> Such instances would automatically round using the supplied
> rounding function, and if the ErrorOnMismatch value is "true,"
> computations with mismatched types would result in an error:
> 
>     OtherFixedPoint = MetaFixedPoint(None, None)
> 
>     m = OtherFixedPoint("4.01")
> 
>     m * n
> 
> would result in a TypeError.  Basically, you could do math
> with automatic coercion between objects of the same 
> MetaFixedPoint class as well as with int's, float's, etc.,
> but mixing different MetaFixedPoint class instances would
> throw an error if either operand had the ErrorOnMismatch as
> "true."
> 
> Threadsafe, because each instance "knows" from it's class
> how to round, and further individual modules can have their
> own consistent rounding without impacting other modules.
> 
> Gah.
> 
> That must be a bad idea, because it's hard to explain.
> 
> Still, here it goes, into the darkness of the ng...
> Maybe it will spark a good idea somewhere.
> 
> Chris Gonnerman -- chris.gonnerman at newcenturycomputers.net
> http://newcenturycomputers.net

That's the best example of metaclasses I've seen. It seems a bit complex
for what we're trying to accomplish. This is supposed to be a very simple
thing.

-- 
Doug Fort, Programmer
http:/www.dougfort.net