get,getf

[Shepard@MCKENZIE.S&C.Dialnet.Symbolics.COM (Tom Shepard)]

    Date: Tue, 5 Mar 91 08:24 MST
    From: paul@taos.intel.com (Paul Collier)


    While looking through some of the system code that performs backups, I
    came across the following:

	    (dolist (elt (backup-dump-get-dir-list wildpath))
	(if (dumper-prefilter elt)
	    (if (get elt :directory)
		(push (car elt) dirs)
		(push elt files))))

    According to CLtL p. 164, and the Symbolics debugger, this shouldn't
    work. GET is defined as returning a value from the property list of a
    symbol and sure enough, if I try to run this as a function unto itself,
    it blows up because elt is bound to an element of a list. Not to mention
    that the value of elt is such that it won't work as a plist. It seems
    like it should be written:

	    (dolist (elt (backup-dump-get-dir-list wildpath))
	(if (dumper-prefilter elt)
	    (if (getf (cdr elt) :directory)
		(push (car elt) dirs)
		(push elt files))))

    My question is, why does the previous work? 

It uses ZL:GET.
						It obviously does, since
    I've been doing backups for years and it's never blown up. I'm also
    curious as to why the original coder used 'elt' as the variable name in
    the form. It seems strange to use a function name as a variable name
    (although admittedly harmless.)

	    -paul