Re: Wow, Lisp Reader !!

I think it definitely is the case that the CL reader is not as general-purpose as some parts of the spec might lead you to think: it's really good for things which are pretty like CL's standard syntax with may be some special additions.

> On 24 May 2026, at 15:51, David McClain <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> Wow!! You guys have been wonderful and amazing with all your suggestions. I see that I have been too limited in my approaches. 
> 
> I’m really glad I spoke up. Even after 30 years of Lisp experience there is still so much to learn. Pascal, I admire the code you sent along for parsing angles!
> 
> Now here’s the next challenge - can you do a Vulcan mind meld on the user, from the reader, to ascertain Right Ascension from Declination? Hours are stated as 1/15 of Degrees, so 12 hours is the same as 180 degrees. But they appear the same with sexigisimal syntax, 12:00 versus 180:00.
> 
> 
> 
>> On May 24, 2026, at 07:40, Tim Bradshaw <[email protected]> wrote:
>> 
>> (defvar *rt* (copy-readtable nil))
>> 
>> (set-macro-character
>> #\'
>> (get-macro-character #\' *readtable*)
>> t *rt*)
>> 
>> Now
>> 
>> ? (setf *readtable* *rt*)
>> #<readtable 8170521CF3>
>> 
>> ? 'foo'bar'bang
>> foo\'bar\'bang
>> 
>> Same for the others.  You just need to make the read-macros be nonterminating.
>> 
>