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From: lucier@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2000 22:44:02 -0500 (EST) What about predicate->char-set on large (Unicode or larger) character sets? I'd certainly not want to call a function 65536 times (or 2^32 times) just to construct a char-set. And a user may not know that a Scheme implementation has two-byte or four-byte characters. (How many people know that Gambit has 2-byte chars by default?) I just don't see how it's really helpful to have this function, and I think it should be eliminated. I have similar, but less strongly pronounced, difficulties with char-set-invert. Valid concerns, but it can't be helped. People frequently describe sets of things by predicate; you need a way to convert that into a true set. You absolutely need a complete set of set operators, and set complement is no more inefficient that set intersection or union or any of the other ops. There is a role for these ops, even in implementations where they are expensive. For example, to define sets that are essentially read-only once defined. It's acceptable to crunch a little bit defining the char set at program initialisation time. This is simply more evidence that textual computing in a rich-text world is not an easy thing. -Olin