abs should become a global constraint

[JoD]

abs is now considered an operator, so there is no decomposition for it. Contrary to +, '-', 'not', '&', '=', etc., abs is not a fundamental operator used by solver input languages such as CNF or MPS or LP.

So let's make abs a global constraint?

[tias]

From the docs I'm writing, python has operators: +,-,*,//,%
and functions: abs(),sum(),min(),max()
(and I'm ignoring ^, xor here)

Of those, min/max/xor are already globals. You are proposing abs is too, which I do not really object.

But where is the limit? because we also have *,//,%, do you believe they should be globals too?

I'm not sure. For now we've approached it from a very practical perspective: if it has a meaningful 'decompose', then make it a global and implement the decompose.