[ut.na] MATLAB Users' Group

krj@na.toronto.edu (Ken Jackson) (11/12/89)

Date:	Fri, 10 Nov 89 17:19:35 EST
From:	bischof@antares.mcs.anl.gov
Subject: welcome to MUG

Welcome to the Matlab mailing list. Sorry for responding so late,
but I was out of the country for the last five weeks. Here is the
message which describes how we intend the mailing list to work.
	-- Chris Bischof
===================================================================
Fellow Matlab users,

thank you all for replying to Howard Wilson's message about forming
a Matlab user group. Howard Wilson, Don Mackison and I met in August
and discussed how we should go about it. We agreed that there is a need
for both a forum for discussion, i.e. a mailing list, and a facility for
sharing code. Here is the current outline and we would welcome your comments.

Submission & Distribution
=========================

Electronic submissions are preferred, since they generate the least
amount of hassle. Please document your code well:
o write a brief abstract (w/ keywords) describing the functinality 
  of the code. This will be used in an index for the codes. 
o document input and output parameters and indicate optional arguments
o check consistency of input and output parameters and generate appropriate
  error messages.
o include your name, address (US-mail + email) and phone number
o include references to literature upon which code is based
o if possible, write functions to avoid side effects (as compared
  to simple scripts)
Ideally, you should also supply a little shell that exercises the code.
This is particularly important if several routines are to be used 
together, since it will show a prospective user how they all fit
together. 

Howard mentioned that there have been problems sending code from IBM
installations, in that braces and carets have been messed up. 
As a convention, code can also be submitted that has 
	(* instead of [ (left brace)
	*) instead of ] (right brace)
	** instead of ^ (caret)
This seems to pass IBM mailers unscathed. Also make sure that lines
are no longer than 80 characters, as some PC IBM-emulation cards seem
to truncated files past 80 characters.

The code depository will be the well-known NETLIB facility operated
by Jack Dongarra (now at U Tennessee at Knoxville and Oak Ridge National
Laboratory). Since the netlib software cannot detect calling dependencies
between different m-files, it is important that you indicate which routines
should be bundled in one file. Currently we plan to split the submissions
into the following subdirectories:
	Control
	Graphics
	Optimization
	Integration
	Approximation (includes interpolation)
	Linear Algebra
	Root Finding
	Partial Differential Equations
	Ordinary Differential Equations
	Instructional Applications
	Special Functions
	Miscellaneous

In order to submit code, please send it to
	matlab-library@mcs.anl.gov

I will look it over, update the indices, and periodically update
the matlab library at Oak Ridge.

Mailing List
============

We also agreed that it would be a good idea to have a matlab mailing
list in order to discuss Matlab or any other topic that is deemed to
be interesting. You are by default on this list. Submissions will
NOT be monitored and will be sent out automatically to all members
on the mailing list. We might reconsider this decision later if message
traffic becomes too heavy. In order send a message to the matlab mailing
list, send it to 
	matlab-users@mcs.anl.gov
If you want to be added/deleted from the list or have any gripes 
concerning distribution of the mailing list, send mail to
	matlab-users-request@mcs.anl.gov

I should add that several people are very enthoused with Matlab as a
teaching vehicle and want to organize a minisymposium on the use
of mathematically oriented computing environments like Matlab, Gauss, 
CLAM, MathStation, Mathematica or the like at the next SIAM meeting. 
Get in touch with 
	David Hill
	Dept. of Mathematics
	Temple University
	038-16
	Philadelphia, PA 19122
	(215) 787-1654
	v5250E%templevm@cornellc.tn.cornell.edu
if you are interested in participating.

For the people not on the network
=================================

There is a substantial (although probably shrinking) community of Matlab
users who do not have access to the net. In order to keep this community
halfway updated of our activities, we will periodically have a column
in the Mathworks newsletter describing activities and code submissions.
Howard has volunteered to act as ``floppy clearinghouse'' for non-electronic
submissions, although the sending of code on floppies to users will be
handled by the Mathworks.

Organizers addresses:
====================

Christian Bischof		Howard Wilson		Don Mackison
Math. & Comp. Sc. Division	Engineering Mechanics	Ball Aerospace
Argonne National Laboratory	210 Hardaway Hall	P.O. Box 1062
9700 S. Cass Ave.a		University of Alabama	Boulder, CO 80306
Argonne, IL 60439		Tuscaloosa, Ala. 35587	(303) 939-5880
(708) 972-8875			(205) 348-1617		(303) 442-4812 (Fax)
(708) 972-5986 (Fax)		(205) 348-8573 (Fax)
bischof@mcs.anl.gov		hwilson@ua1vm.ua.edu


I welcome your comments and codes. Expecting the onslaught, I will be
traveling from Sept. 27 - Oct. 31, so don't be surprised if you don't
get an answer soon.
			-- Chris Bischof


---------------------

Reposted by

Prof. Kenneth R. Jackson,      krj@na.toronto.edu   (on Internet, CSNet, 
Computer Science Dept.,                              ARPAnet, BITNET)
University of Toronto,         krj@na.utoronto.ca   (on CDNnet and other 
Toronto, Ontario,                                    X.400 nets (Europe))
Canada   M5S 1A4               ...!{uunet,pyramid,watmath,ubc-cs}!utai!krj
(Phone: 416-978-7075)                               (on UUCP)
(FAX: 416-978-4765)