Re: [eigen] External contributions

[Tim Molteno <tim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Timothy Hunter wrote:
> 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.
I agree that contributions should have a place. I have a nice fast 
complex fft that I'm waiting to find time to fit into the official 
codebase, and in the meantime it would be nice to have a place to offer 
it as a contribution. In particular this would offer a place for 
contributed code to be placed while it was tuned for inclusion in the 
official repository.

Cheers

Tim