The preferred form for multiword command names (such as ring_sum) is now to use _ instead of - to connect words; the old forms (e.g. ring-sum) are still supported, except with the new dot command processor described in Section 3. The Macintosh MPW shell script Replace_Dashes can be used to automatically update scripts.
Command abbreviations must now match a unique command to stand for that command. Otherwise, a list of possible continuations is given:
% rin ring ring_from_cols ring_from_rows ring_sum ; ambiguous command: rin
This can be useful as an alternative to the commands command, for groping for a particular command name. The error messages for ambiguous and not found commands now give the command name, to ease debugging silent scripts.
[Added 12 March 94] Script writers may find that the previous code for handling command abbreviations made arbitrary choices in their favor. The current code refuses to make arbitrary choices. This broke many scripts which used col_deg or row_deg when col_degree (not col_degs) and row_degree (not row_degs) was intended. For now, col_deg and row_deg have been added as official abbreviations for col_degree and row_degree, respectively. At some point in the future all abbreviations in scripts will be disallowed, to guarantee room for ongoing expansion of the name space.
[Added 11 Sep 94] col_deg and row_deg have been removed as official abbreviations; they are no longer needed for scripts distributed with Macaulay. Abbreviations in scripts are still allowed, but are a terrible idea, and will probably inhibit portability to new platforms such as DOS.