[eigen] External contributions

[Timothy Hunter <tjhunter@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello list,
I am starting over the thread regarding the external contributions, as this has nothing to do with the merits of symbolic computations anymore.

I support also the idea of an unsupported/contribs directory inside Eigen's repository. I still have a couple of questions though:
- documentation: the easiest would be to use the infrastructure from Eigne core. It would be nice to have a way to integrate the documentation, and have for example a different style/background in the doxygen-generated pages to indicate it is not supported.
- installation: something like #include <Eigen/Contrib/FooModule> for including the FooModule? Or <Eigen_Contrib/FooModule> ? The solution #2 cleanly separates the official directories from the user-contributed directories, so it would make it easier for maintenance I guess
- test units: should it be in a contrib_tests or a subdirectory in test? Here also, I suggest having a separate directory to prevent mixing "official" and "unsupported" files.
- contribution policy: what should be accepted as a contribution? For example, I have some template files based 100% on Eigen for mechanics (Recursive Newton-Euler solver for kinematic chains) and control (algebraic riccati equation solver). I am also thinking of a convex optimization interior-points methods at a later point.
This is mostly food for thought, but it would be nice to settle on these details before accepting external contributions.

Thanks

Tim Hunter

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Timothy Hunter
Student (Stanford University)

T. 404 421 3075