Finding out from where the .asd was loaded and/or referencing a non-executable data file

[Robert Dodier]

Thanks, Robert, that helps a lot. Using ASDF:SYSTEM-RELATIVE-PATHNAME
is a big step forward.

A follow-up question: Is there a way to know, within a file which is
being loaded, whether or not it's being loaded via ASDF? The index
file might be loaded via CL:LOAD also.

Just to clarify the situation a little, the .info is created from
.texi by makeinfo, and then it's parsed (by a Perl script -- OH MY
WHAT HAVE I DONE?? Ha ha, only serious) to get the offset and length
of each documentation item, which is stored in the index, which is
implemented as a Lisp program that reads the .info and builds suitable
hash tables, to be used by Maxima's documentation system at run time.
All that with makeinfo and the info parser happens long before ASDF
comes into the picture. The .info and index.lisp are packaged with the
rest of the code, and that's the package that ASDF sees.

I don't doubt that this systems has flaws, but at this point I am
taking it as a given; I'm trying to make progress on a lot of fronts,
and cleaning up this monstrosity is a lower priority item.

best,
Robert Dodier