[gsharp-devel] I am considering changing the external format of buffer objects

[Robert Strandh]

Hello,

In order to make it easier to introduce new buffer objects, I was
thinking of changing the external format so that it would be
more modular.  This was provoked by the imminent introduction of a
key-signature object.  

Currently, the left bracket character `[' is a dispatch macro
character, and the character following it determines the type of
object, in a rather arbitrary way.  After that follows a list of
keyword-value pairs to be passed to MAKE-INSTANCE.

I was thinking of making the left bracket an ordinary macro character,
and to have it followed by a symbol that corresponds to the name of
the class to pass to MAKE-INSTANCE.  This modification would also
potentially greatly simplify the code for reading a writing buffer
objects.

I would appreciate any comments on this idea before starting the
modification. 

Thanks, 
-- 
Robert Strandh

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