Provided by: pdl_2.099-3_amd64 
NAME
PDL::Types - define fundamental PDL Datatypes
SYNOPSIS
use PDL::Types;
$pdl = ushort( 2.0, 3.0 );
print "The actual c type used to store ushort's is '" .
$pdl->type->realctype() . "'\n";
The actual c type used to store ushort's is 'unsigned short'
DESCRIPTION
Internal module - holds all the PDL Type info. The type info can be accessed easily using the
"PDL::Type" object returned by the type method as shown in the synopsis.
Skip to the end of this document to find out how to change the set of types supported by PDL.
FUNCTIONS
A number of functions are available for module writers to get/process type information. These are used in
various places (e.g. "PDL::PP", "PDL::Core") to generate the appropriate type loops, etc.
typesrtkeys
Returns an array of keys of typehash sorted in order of type complexity
pdl> @typelist = PDL::Types::typesrtkeys;
pdl> print @typelist;
PDL_SB PDL_B PDL_S PDL_US PDL_L PDL_UL PDL_IND PDL_ULL PDL_LL PDL_F PDL_D PDL_LD PDL_CF PDL_CD PDL_CLD
ppdefs
Returns an array of pp symbols for all real types. This informs the default "GenericTypes" for "pp_def"
functions, making support for complex types require an "opt-in".
pdl> print PDL::Types::ppdefs
A B S U L K N P Q F D E
ppdefs_complex
Returns an array of pp symbols for all complex types.
pdl> print PDL::Types::ppdefs_complex
G C H
ppdefs_all
Returns an array of pp symbols for all types including complex.
pdl> print PDL::Types::ppdefs_all
A B S U L K N P Q F D E G C H
typesynonyms
return type related synonym definitions to be included in pdl.h . This routine must be updated to
include new types as required. Mostly the automatic updating should take care of the vital things.
PDL TYPES OVERVIEW
As of 2.065, PDL supports these types:
SByte
Signed 8-bit value.
Byte
Unsigned 8-bit value.
Short
Signed 16-bit value.
UShort
Unsigned 16-bit value.
Long
Signed 32-bit value.
ULong
Unsigned 32-bit value.
Indx
Signed value, same size as a pointer on the system in use.
ULongLong
Unsigned 64-bit value.
LongLong
Signed 64-bit value.
Float
IEEE 754 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_754> single-precision real floating-point value.
Double
IEEE 754 double-precision real value.
LDouble
A C99 "long double", defined as "at least as precise as a double", but often more precise.
CFloat
A C99 complex single-precision floating-point value.
CDouble
A C99 complex double-precision floating-point value.
CLDouble
A C99 complex "long double" - see above for description.
As of 2.099, documentation for PDL::Type is separate. See there for more.
DEVELOPER NOTES ON ADDING/REMOVING TYPES
You can change the types that PDL knows about by editing entries in the definition of the variable @types
that appears close to the top of the file lib/PDL/Types.pm.
Format of a type entry
Each entry in the @HASHES array is a hash reference. Here is an example taken from the actual code that
defines the "ushort" type:
{
identifier => 'US',
onecharident => 'U', # only needed if different from identifier
ctype => 'PDL_Ushort',
realctype => 'unsigned short',
ppforcetype => 'ushort',
usenan => 0,
packtype => 'S*',
defbval => 'USHRT_MAX',
real=>1,
integer=>1,
unsigned=>1,
},
Before we start to explain the fields please take this important message on board: entries must be listed
in order of increasing complexity. This is critical to ensure that PDL's type conversion works correctly.
Basically, a less complex type will be converted to a more complex type as required.
Fields in a type entry
Each type entry has a number of required and optional entry.
A list of all the entries:
• identifier
Required. A short sequence of uppercase letters that identifies this type uniquely. More than three
characters is probably overkill.
• onecharident
Optional. Only required if the "identifier" has more than one character. This should be a unique
uppercase character that will be used to reference this type in PP macro expressions of the "TBSULFD"
type - see "$T" in PDL::PP.
• ctype
Required. The "typedef"ed name that will be used to access this type from C code.
• realctype
Required. The C compiler type that is used to implement this type. For portability reasons this one
might be platform dependent.
• ppforcetype
Required. The type name used in PP signatures to refer to this type.
• usenan
Required. Flag that signals if this type has to deal with NaN issues. Generally only required for
floating point types.
• packtype
Required. The Perl pack type used to pack Perl values into the machine representation for this type.
For details see "perldoc -f pack".
• integer
Required. Boolean - is this an integer type?
• unsigned
Required. Boolean - is this an unsigned type?
• real
Required. Boolean - is this a real (not complex) type?
• realversion
String - the real version of this type (e.g. cdouble -> 'D').
• complexversion
String - the complex version of this type (e.g. double -> 'C').
Also have a look at the entries at the top of lib/PDL/Types.pm.
Other things you need to do
You need to check modules that do I/O (generally in the IO part of the directory tree). In the future we
might add fields to type entries to automate this. This requires changes to those IO modules first
though.
You may also need to update any type macros in PP files (i.e. "$TBSULFD...") to reflect the new type - PP
will throw an error if you have a "$T..." macro which misses types supported by the operation.