On 15 December 2010 07:10, Tobias C Rittweiler <tcr@freebits.de> wrote:

What is the way to get a textual representation of the plan of a system?

I wasn't aware that there were one. Some mix of traverse and operation-description might help.

I would have thought that this is what ASDF:EXPLAIN is for, but grepping through asdf.lisp did not make me believe that's true.

I have not been maintaining that interface, and am barely aware of its existence. Because ASDF is not built on top of a reflective rule-based system, any "explanation" will necessarily be limited. At this point, I will say: patches welcome.

Also, is there some fundamental reason why

 (asdf:explain 'asdf:compile-op :system-name)

could not be the interface for ASDF:EXPLAIN?

You mean load-op instead of compile-op. Compile-op is NEVER, EVER the proper answer. Consider it an internal only. If I could do it without breaking compatibility, I would de-export it. [ François-René ÐVB Rideau | Reflection&Cybernethics | http://fare.tunes.org ] A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. — Edward Abbey