README

  --- This `README' file corresponds to Singular-Factory version 3.1 ---


		  README file for Singular-Factory
		  ================================

NOTE: The copyright of Singular-Factory is described in the
      file COPYING

Overview
========
1.  What is Factory?
2.  Comments, Questions, Bug Reports
3.  Installation
4.  Distribution
5.  Prerequisites
6.  Memory Manager
7.  Stream IO
8.  Diagnostic Messages
9.  GF(q) Tables
10. A Note on Singular
11. Configure Options, Dependencies
12. Linking Factory with Your Application
13. Factory Template Instantiation
14. Documentation
15. Examples and Tests
16. Editing Factory
17. Files in the Distribution


1. What is Factory?
===================
  Factory is a C++ class library that implements a recursive representation
of multivariate polynomial data.  It is being developed by Ruediger Stobbe
and Jens Schmidt at the University of Kaiserslautern as an independent and
self-contained part of the computer algebra system Singular (developed by
G.-M. Greuel, G. Pfister and H. Schoenemann).

  Factory handles sparse multivariate polynomials over different
coefficient domains, such as Z, Q and GF(q), as well as algebraic
extensions over Q and GF(q) in an efficient way.  Factory includes
algorithms for computing univariate and multivariate gcds, resultants,
chinese remainders, and several algorithms to factorize univariate
polynomials over the integers and over finite fields.  Factorization of
multivariate polynomials over the integers is in beta test stage.

  The interface to the polynomial system of Factory is provided by a single
class `CanonicalForm' which can deal with elements of the coefficient
domain as well as polynomials.  Using operator overloading, you can handle
polynomial data similarly to built-in types such as the machine integers.
For example, to add two polynomials one simply uses the `+' operator.
Because of this, Factory is easy to use even if you are not familiar with
C++ programming.

  There are a couple of utility classes provided by Factory such as lists,
arrays, polynomial maps, etc.  These make the usage more comfortable.


2. Comments, Questions, Bug Reports
====================================
  Factory is a project in evolution.  That means there is no guarantee that
Factory is bug free.  I am sure that there are bugs or at least features.
If you find bugs or if you find a strange behavior of the library, please
let me know (e-mail: singular@mathematik.uni-kl.de>).
Comments and questions are welcome, too.

  Factory version 1.2c and newer define an external variable
`factoryVersion' describing the version of the library.  The external
variable `factoryConfiguration' (not present in versions 1.2c and 1.3a)
describes the options Factory has been configured with.  Please include the
version number and the configuration options in your bug reports.  You may
either use the UNIX utility `what' to get this information (`what libcf.a')
or compile and run something similar to this:

  #include <factory.h>
  main() { cout << factoryVersion << "; " << factoryConfiguration << endl; }

3. Installation
===============
NOTE: If you have received this Factory distribution together with Singular
you do not have to worry about compilation or installation at all.  The
installation procedure for Singular should do everything for you.  For more
information, see the section "A Note on Singular".

  See the `INSTALL' file for instructions on how to install Factory.  The
installation procedure on UNIX platforms conforms more or less to the GNU
standard:

  ./configure; make; make gftables; make install; make installgftables

However, I recommend to read the instructions since there are a lot of
non-standard options to configure.

  On platforms other than UNIX, where there is no `configure', you have to
configure and install Factory by hand.  In particular, you have to
create/edit the files `config.h', `factory.h', `factoryconf.h', and
`GNUmakefile'.  For Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 with the Microsoft Visual C++
5.0 compiler there is a preconfigured environment in the `winnt/' directory
which you may use as an example.  For more information, confer to
corresponding section in the `INSTALL' file and to the `INSTALL.nt' file in
the `winnt/' directory.

  In general, this `README' as well as the `INSTALL' file are written for
UNIX platforms.  However, you may find less specific information on the
configuration and installation process which is useful for other platforms,
too.


4. Distribution
===============
  The latest version of Factory is always available by anonymous ftp from

		www.mathematik.uni-kl.de:/pub/Math/Singular/Factory

The Factory distribution consists of three archives:

o the Factory source code (`factory-<version>.tgz');
o some preliminary documentation on Factory (`factory-doc-prelim.tgz');
o Factory GF(q) addition tables (`factory-gftables.tgz', see below).


5. Prerequisites
================
  You need GNU make to build and install Factory.  Furthermore, I strongly
recommend to build Factory with GNU CC (version 2.7 or newer).  To build
Factory and to link your programs with Factory you need the GNU Multiple
Precision Library (GMP, version 2.0 or newer).  The GMP library is
available at ftp.gnu.ai.mit.edu or its mirrors.  Alternatively, Factory may
be linked with the so called small GMP library which comes with the full
version of Singular (not recommended).

Configure options:
------------------
  --with-gmp(=<gmp_inc_path>(,<gmp_lib_path>))
                          specify where to find the GMP library.
  --enable-gmp            together with `--with-Singular' means: installation
                          in process, be graceful when there is no `gmp.h'

  If <gmp_lib_path> is not given, but <gmp_inc_path> is,
`<gmp_inc_path>/../lib/' is used as <gmp_lib_path>.  If neither
<gmp_lib_path> nor <gmp_inc_path> is specified, `configure' looks in the
standard system locations for GMP.

  Furthermore, you may specify the symbolic directory `$(includedir)' for
<gmp_inc_path>:

  --with-gmp='$(includedir)'

Do not forget the single quotes or otherwise your shell might complain.

  This is useful when Factory is delivered as part of a larger package
which also provides the GMP library.  In this case, at configuration time
there would not be any `gmp.h'.  Without this option, Factory's `configure'
script would exit with an error message.  If this symbolic directory is
given, the `configure' script does not look for `gmp.h' and `libgmp.a'.
Rather, it adds the option `-I$(includedir)' to its `$(CXXFLAGS)' and the
option `-L$(libdir)' to its `$(LDFLAGS)' assuming that at compilation-time
`gmp.h' and `libgmp.a' will reside in these directories.
  The option `--enable-gmp' does the same, but it is a special (and ugly)
gift to Singular, so it may be used with option `--with-Singular' only.


6. Memory Manager
=================
  You can use one of the memory management tools provided with Factory.
There are the "new" and the "old" memory manager.  In fact, on some systems
the old memory management seems to be faster then the new one, but so far
there have not been systematic timings.  If you configure Factory with
`--with-memman=no' it will use the standard C++ operators `new'/`delete',
which is not recommended.
  You may trace the actions (allocate/free) of the new memory manager by
enabling memory management debugging.  This produces a *lot* of output.

Configure options:
------------------
  --with-memman(=<memman>) specify Factory memory manager.
                          <memman> is either `old' (default), `new', or `no'.
  --enable-memdebug=<level> switch on memory management debugging.  Meaningful
                          with `--with-memman=new' only.  <level> may be either
                          `no' (default), `normal', or `full'.


7. Stream IO
============
  For use with other systems which have their own IO routines to print
polynomials it is possible to switch off Factory's stream IO.  In this
case, you do not need to link libg++ or libiostream with Factory.

Configure options:
------------------
  --disable-streamio      build Factory without stream IO


8. Diagnostic Messages
======================
Factory has three types of diagnostic messages:
o Assertions (implemented by the "ASSERT macros" in `assert.h') are used to
  ensure preconditions before running some algorithm.  A typical example is
  to test f != 0 before dividing by f.
o Debug output (implemented by the "DEBOUT macros" in `debug.h'/`debug.cc')
  is used to trace complex algorithms, e.g. factorization.
o Timing information may be accumulated and printed using the "TIMING macros"
  in `timing.h'.

  Since all diagnostic messages are implemented using preprocessor macros,
they will completely cease when disabled, thus avoiding any impact on
speed.  For more information, see section "Configuring and building Factory
for different configurations" in the `INSTALL' file.  By default, all
diagnostic messages are disabled.

Configure options:
------------------
  --enable-assertions     build Factory with assertions activated
  --enable-timing         build Factory so it will print timing information
  --enable-debugoutput    build Factory so it will print debugging information


9. GF(q) Tables
===============

NOTE: Since the format of the GF(q) tables changed from Factory Version
1.2b to Factory Version 1.3a you should get/create them by new!

  Factory uses addition tables to calculate in GF(p^n) in an efficient way.

There are two possibilities to get these tables:
o get them from the net (`factory-gftables.tgz') where you got Factory
  from.  The files unpack into a directory `gftables/'.
o create them with `gengftables' which is a part of Factory.  Building
  the tables takes quite a while!
See the `INSTALL' file for more information.


10. A Note on Singular
=====================
  If you have received this Factory distribution together with Singular you
do not have to worry about compilation or installation at all.  The
installation procedure for Singular should do everything for you.  If you
want to configure/build the package on your own instead of letting
Singular's `configure' do the work you should:

  ./configure --with-Singular --enable-gmp
	(or, equivalently: )
  ./configure --with-Singular --with-gmp='${includedir}'

  Furthermore, you should specify `--prefix' so `make install' will install
the files in the places where Singular looks for them.  By default, this is
the top directory of the Singular distribution.  In this case you have to
specify `--prefix=..'.

  The Singular GF(q) tables are the same as the Factory GF(q) tables.
However, Singular uses a different naming scheme.  Therefore, a Factory
configured with `--without-Singular' will not find Singular's GF(q) tables
as well as a Factory configured with `--with-Singular' will not find the
GF(q) tables created by gengftables.  But this is not a major drawback
since Singular is distributed with ready-to-use GF(q) tables.

  The latest version of Singular is always available at
www.mathematik.uni-kl.de:/pub/Math/Singular.

Configure options:
------------------
  --with-Singular         build for use with computer algebra system Singular.

  Except from setting the `#define SINGULAR', this option only changes the
defaults to: `--with-memman=no --disable-streamio'.


11. Configure Options, Dependencies
===================================
o do not configure `--with-Singular --with-memman'.  In this case
  both Singular and the library will try to initialize their own memory
  management.

o do not configure `--disable-streamio --enable-debugoutput'.  The
  "DEBOUT macros" need stream IO.

o you may configure `--with-Singular --enable-streamio', but this
  is not supported by Singular.  You will have to change manually
  Singular's `Makefile'.  The same is true for `--with-Singular
  --enable-streamio --enable-debugoutput'.

o you may configure `--with-Singular --enable-timing', but this
  will not have any visible effect (except from a slightly slower
  running time) because Singular will not print the timing
  results.

o `--enable-gmp' has an effect only together with `--with-Singular'

o `--with-memdebug' has an effect only together with
  `--with-memman=new'


12. Linking Factory With Your Application
=========================================
  To translate your application you need (apart from your
application, of course):

o the Factory user interface header file (`factory.h')

  To link your application with Factory you need:

o the Factory library (`libcf.a')
o unless you configured Factory `--without-memman' you need one of the
  Factory memory manager libraries (`libcfmem.a')

o the instantiated Factory templates (`ftmpl_inst.o').

o unless you configured Factory `--without-streamio' you need the stream IO
  libraries.  With GNU CC, you do not need to care about this because they
  are linked automatically to your application if you call the compiler
  either as `g++' or as `c++'.  Otherwise, you need to link with library
  `libiostream.a'.
o The GNU Multiple Precision Library (`libgmp.a').  See section
  "Prerequisites" in this file for more information.
o The standard mathematical library (`libm.a')

  `factory.h', `libcf.a', and `libcfmem.a' are created when you build
Factory and installed by `make install'.  `libiostream.a', `libgmp.a', and
`libm.a' should be already installed on your system, otherwise your
application will fail to link.  `ftmpl_inst.o' is not installed by Factory.
Instead, its source file `ftmpl_inst.cc' is installed and you have to build
`ftmpl_inst.o' when you are building your application.  For more
information on template instantiation and `ftmpl_inst.cc', see the
following section "Factory Template Instantiation".

  To give an example, look at the following one-shot solution to the
problem "linking Factory with your application" where the "application" is
a small test program (`application.cc') from the subdirectory `examples/'
of the Factory source directory ('\' at the end of a line denotes line
continuation):

  g++ -c /usr/local/include/templates/ftmpl_inst.cc -fno-implicit-templates -O2 -fomit-frame-pointer -o ftmpl_inst.o
  g++ -c application.cc -fno-implicit-templates -O2 -fomit-frame-pointer ftmpl_inst.o -lcf -lcfmem -lm -lgmp

  This should work fine provided that you installed Factory in a location
where `g++' may find it (here I have assumed `/usr/local/') and all the
other files mentioned above are installed properly and where `g++' looks
for them.

  You may find a small `GNUmakefile' which translates `application.cc' and
other examples in the `examples/' subdirectory of the Factory source
directory.  For more information, see the section "Examples and Tests".


13. Factory Template Instantiation
==================================
  There are a couple of classes provided by Factory such as lists, arrays,
etc, which may be used to derive new abstract data types from already
existing ones.  Factory uses them itself, e.g. to return the result of a
factorization (a list of factors), and you may use them to create new
derived abstract data types.  These classes are realized using C++
"templates", which you need to "instantiate" befor you use them (refer to
some introduction to C++ if you do not know these terms).

  With GNU CC the most reliable way to instantiate templates is to

o explicitely instantiate all necessary templates, and compile with option
  `-fno-implicit-templates' and to
o collect all explicit template instantiations in one single file.

  This approach is the one Factory uses.  All object files of the library
are generated with option `--fno-implicit-templates' and the explicit
template instantiations are collected in `ftmpl_inst.cc'.  You could
translate this file using the `make' target `ftmpl_inst.o' (see section
"Building Factory" in the `INSTALL' file).

  The consequence of this approach: since you may want to add template
instantiations of Factory's or your own templates after the installation of
Factory, it is necessary to install `ftmpl_inst.cc' as well as the template
source files together with the library.  They are automatically installed
in `$(includedir)/templates/' when you type `make install'.

  To join your own template instantiations with the ones from
`ftmpl_inst.cc' there are several possibilities:

o you copy `ftmpl_inst.cc' file from the directory where it was installed
  into your working directory and add your template instantiations after
  the corresponig comment at the end of the file;
o you cut the template instantiations from `ftmpl_inst.cc' and paste
  them into your own template instantiation file.

Both methods suffer from one disadvantage: each time `ftmpl_inst.cc'
changes in a new version of Factory you will have to redo these steps.  The
best method therefore is maybe this one:

o you write your own template instantiation file with a
  `#include <templates/ftmpl_inst.cc>' statement at the beginning of it.


14. Documentation
=================
  So far there are only preliminary versions of a user/reference manual and
a tutorial ("A quick start into Factory").  Please do not expect them to
be error-free or even complete.  For this reason, the documentation is not
included in the source code archive (`factory-<version>.tgz').  Instead, the
sources and compiled DVI files reside in `factory-doc-prelim.tgz'. They will
unpack into a directory `factory-doc-prelim/'.


15. Examples and Tests
======================
  The directory `examples/' in the Factory source directory contains some
example applications for Factory and a `GNUmakefile' to build them.  The
main purpose of the examples is to show how to link applications with an
installed version of Factory.  This means that you have to install Factory
before you can build the examples (but it is not necessary to install the
GF(q) tables).  For the same reason, the `GNUmakefile' is not configured
automatically by `configure'.  You will have to change some of the
variables manually.

  Furthermore, you may have a look at `gengftables.cc' in the Factory
source directory which is another application of the most basic Factory
features.

  To test whether Factory (including GF(q) tables) has been installed
properly, use `make' target `installtest'.


16. Editing Factory
===================
  Parts of Factory are written using GNU Emacs' `folding-mode'.  You may
load this mode from Emacs with

  M-x load-file RET factory-<version>/bin/folding.el RET

To switch it on, say `M-x folding-mode RET'.  Alternatively, you may load
`factory-<version>/bin/fold-docu.el' which contains some additional functions
to fold only the documentation.  If you add the following lines to your
`.emacs' file, all this would be done automatically for you:

  (load-file "factory-<version>/bin/folding.el")
  (load-file "factory-<version>/bin/fold-docu.el")
  (add-hook 'c-mode-common-hook 'folding-mode)
  (setq fold-fold-on-startup nil
        fold-mode-marks-alist '((c++-mode "//{{{" "//}}}")))
  (set-default 'fold-internal-margins nil)

  For more information, see the respective files.


17. Files in the Distribution
=============================
ChangeLog	- history of changes
INSTALL		- installation instructions
NEWS		- new Factory features
README		- this file

bin/install-sh	- a script version of the BSD `install' program
bin/makeheader	- creates headers from header templates (`*.template')
bin/mkinstalldirs - recursive `mkdir'
bin/folding.el	- Emacs `folding-mode'
bin/fold-docu.el - some extensions to it

GNUmakefile.in	- master makefile and
config.h.in	- configuration include file.  Run `configure' to create
		  `GNUmakefile' and `config.h', resp.
configure
configure.in	- `configure' script generated with Autoconf 2.10
		  from `configure.in'

factory.template
factoryconf.template - header templates for the user interface header
		  files.  Run `makeheader' to create `factory.h' and
		  `factoryconf.h', resp.

ffops.cc
ffops.h
gf_tabutil.cc
gf_tabutil.h
gfops.cc
gfops.h
imm.h
int_*.cc
int_*.h		- low level classes and functions

canonicalform.cc
canonicalform.h
cf_*.cc
cf_*.h
variable.cc
variable.h	- high level classes and functions.  User interface to
		  the polynomial (and other) arithmetic.

templates/	- Factory templates
ftmpl_inst.cc	- template instantiation for Factory templates

fac_*.cc
fac_*.h		- high level algorithms (factorization, gcd, sqfr
		  computation, etc.)
sm_*.c
sm_*.h		- sparse modular gcd.  Contributed by Marion Bruder
		  <bruder@math.uni-sb.de>

parseutil.cc
parseutil.h
readcf.cc
readcf.y	- Factory parser to read canonical forms.  `readcf.cc'
		  translated with Bison 1.18 from `readcf.y'.

gmpext.h
initgmp.cc	- Factories interface to GNU MP
singext.cc
singext.h	- Factories interface to Singular

NTLconvert.*    - some conversion routines for using NTL

memutil.c
memutil.h	- "old" Factory memory manager
memman.h
mm*.c
mm*.h		- "new" Factory memory manager
newdelete.cc	- C++ interface to the memory managers

assert.h	- the "ASSERT macros"
debug.h
debug.cc	- the "DEBOUT macros"
timing.h	- the "TIMING macros"

examples/	- some example applications for Factory and a `GNUmakefile'
		  to build them
gengftables.cc	- run `gengftables' to create the GF(q) addition tables
		  necessary to work with Factory
test_install.cc	- a small program to test whether installation has
		  been successful.  Built and called by `make' target
		  `installtest'