Re: string functions

[Chris Riesbeck <Riesbeck at YALE>]

(SUBSTRING string m n) means m THROUGH N, and -1 means the right end.
I agree that too many features spoil the broth, especially of the "T
means this, NIL means this, and no argument at all means this" variety.

What I want is a convenient way to reference the right end.  When I
compare both convenience AND READABILITY of

    (SUBSTRING string 0 (- (STRING-LENGTH string) 2))

with

    (SUBSTRING string 1 -2)

I know where my vote goes.  With 1-based indexing, I can read the second
form as "from first to second-last".  I have no easy way to read the first
0-based form.  Perhaps there's a totally different way to look at this,
such as

    (SUBSTRING string (LEFT-INDEX m) (RIGHT-INDEX n))

or something.
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