Re: issue CONSTANT-COLLAPSING, version 2

[sandra%defun@cs.utah.edu (Sandra J Loosemore)]

While this specific -proposal- is closely linked to issue
CONSTANT-COMPILABLE-TYPES, the -issue- itself is not.  The first
version defined its own "collapsing predicate", and Bob Kerns at one
point suggested that the "collapsing predicate" should be EQL.

All of the issues involving constants are controversial and most of
them are largely independent of each other.  I think it would be a
mistake to lump all of the questions together under one mega-proposal,
particularly since we here in the committee have been unable to reach
consensus on some of them.

My current intent is that issues CONSTANT-COLLAPSING,
CONSTANT-COMPILABLE-TYPES, and CONSTANT-CIRCULAR-COMPILATION would
initially apply only to COMPILE-FILE, and that the outcome of issue
QUOTE-MAY-COPY will be used to determine whether the same constraints
that apply to COMPILE-FILE must also apply to COMPILE and possibly
EVAL.  I will try to make sure that the next versions of the writeups
on all of these issues make that more clear. 

-Sandra
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