SHARP-DOT-READER

read-time evaluation of constants
Major Section:  OTHER

Example:

ACL2 !>(defconst *a* '(a b c))

Summary
Form:  ( DEFCONST *A* ...)
Rules: NIL
Warnings:  None
Time:  0.00 seconds (prove: 0.00, print: 0.00, other: 0.00)
 *A*
ACL2 !>(quote (1 2 #.*a* 3 4))
(1 2 (A B C) 3 4)
ACL2 !>

The ACL2 reader supports the syntax #.*a* where *a* was defined by defconst. In this case, the reader treats #.*a* as though it were reading the value of *a*. This feature can be useful in conjunction with the use of evisc-table to abbreviate large constants, so that the abbreviation can be read back in; see evisc-table.

Remarks.

(1) The ACL2 reader only supports `#.' as described above, unlike Common Lisp. Older versions (preceding 3.5) used `#.' to abort, but that functionality is now carried out by (a!); see a!. For a related feature that only pops up one level, see p!.

(2) If you call certify-book on a book that contains a form `#.*foo*', the *foo* must already be defined in the world in which you issue the certify-book command. The reason is that certify-book reads the entire book before evaluating its forms.