This package contains an R port of the S `polynom' package by Bill
Venables <Bill.Venables@adelaide.edu.au>.

See the file VERSION for version information.

The original README is included below.

KH <Kurt.Hornik@ci.tuwien.ac.at>
Martin Maechler <maechler@stat.math.ethz.ch>

**********************************************************************

Summary:
--------
This is a collection of short S functions that together implement
a fairly simple, real, univariate polynomial class.

Installation:
-------------
The functions are written in pure S, so are not likely to be very
efficient, but will at least be portable.  (In the first release
of this collection there were two UNIXisms that needed to be
commented out, but this is no longer the case.)

On Unix systems:
----------------
1. At this stage you would have already expanded the shar
   archive; I recommend you do so first in a new, virgin
   directory.

2. There is a shell script that functions as a makefile:

$ Install

   should be sufficient to install the software and help files
   for the current directory as working directory.

3. To make the functions into a library the installation working
   directory need only be in the appropriate place, namely in
   $SHOME/library, on most systems.  No special .First.lib is
   needed and no dynamic loading.  The suggested library name is
   "Polynomial".

On non-Unix systems:
--------------------
You would have been able to emulate the unix "unshar" command to
have got this far.  The long file names will probably have been
seriously mangled, but those files only contain help information
and they would not have been much use to you anyway!

1. Installing the software from within S-Plus is simple:

> source("polynom.q")

   should take care of it.  

2. Getting installed help information may be a bit tedious.  I
   can supply formatted ASCII files from the unix version
   (contact me at the email address below), but you will have to
   match them with the concocted filenames that DOS has to use
   for the permanent copies of the S-Plus objects in _DATA.

   The good news is that the class is designed to be fairly
   simple and intuitive and extensive help information is not
   likely to be needed for very long.  Some perusal of the
   examples given in NOTES should sort out most details, and most
   functions are short and easy to fathom from the code itself.

_________________________________________________________________

Disclaimer, Copyright and Support Statement.
--------------------------------------------

This software is not represented as necessarily fit for any
purpose and no warranty is offered or implied.

The copyright is formally retained by the author, but is made
available free of charge to anyone, provided that it is not
incorporated in proprietary or otherwise restricted software.

Anyone wishing to incorporate this software in other software
products should apply electronically to the author at the address
shown below.

I would be happy to hear of any problems, corrections,
enhancements, extensions or other matters connected with this
software.  If there are problems with it I will do my best to
help, but I can make no promises as I have a heavy work schedule.

_________________________________________________________________
William Venables, Department of Statistics,  Tel.: +61 8 303 3026
The University of Adelaide,                  Fax.: +61 8 303 3696
South AUSTRALIA.     5005.   Email: Bill.Venables@adelaide.edu.au

