The DESIGN Package for GAP This README describes the {\DESIGN}~1.4 package for {\GAP}. The {\DESIGN} package is for constructing, classifying, partitioning and studying block designs. All {\DESIGN} functions are written entirely in the {\GAP} language. However, {\DESIGN} requires the {\GRAPE} package to be installed, and makes use of certain {\GRAPE} functions, some of which make use of B.D. McKay's {\nauty}. These {\GRAPE} functions can only be used on a fully installed version of {\GRAPE} in a UNIX environment. {\DESIGN} also requires the {\GAPDoc} package, if you want to read lists of designs in the \URL{http://designtheory.org} external representation XML format. The {\DESIGN} package is Copyright {\copyright} Leonard H. Soicher 2003--2009. {\DESIGN} is part of a wider project, which was funded by EPSRC, to provide a web-based resource for design theory; see \URL{http://designtheory.org}. {\DESIGN} is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. For details, see \URL{http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html} If you use {\DESIGN} to solve a problem then please send a short email about it to \Mailto{L.H.Soicher@qmul.ac.uk}, and reference the {\DESIGN} package as follows: L.H. Soicher, The DESIGN package for GAP, Version 1.4, 2009, http://designtheory.org/software/gap_design/. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Installing the DESIGN Package The {\DESIGN} package only runs properly on a UNIX system. Before installing {\DESIGN} (on your UNIX system), you must make sure that {\GAP} (version at least 4.4) is installed as well as its {\GRAPE} (version at least 4.2) and {\GAPDoc} (version at least 0.99) packages. To install {\DESIGN} 1.4 (after installing {\GAP}, {\GRAPE} and {\GAPDoc}), first obtain the {\DESIGN} archive file `design1r4.tar.gz', available from \URL{http://designtheory.org/software/gap_design/} and then copy this archive file into the `pkg' directory of the {\GAP} root directory. Actually, it is possible to have several {\GAP} root directories and so it is easy to install {\DESIGN} locally even if you have no permission to add files to the main {\GAP} installation (see "ref:GAP Root Directory"). Now go to the appropriate `pkg' directory containing `design1r4.tar.gz', and then run gunzip design1r4.tar.gz tar -xf design1r4.tar That's all there is to do. Both dvi and pdf versions of the {\DESIGN} manual are available (as `manual.dvi' and `manual.pdf' respectively) in the `doc' directory of the home directory of {\DESIGN}. If you install {\DESIGN}, then please tell \Mailto{L.H.Soicher@qmul.ac.uk}, where you should also send any comments or bug reports. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Main changes from DESIGN 1.3 to DESIGN 1.4 ------------------------------------------ (1) Added function: AGPointFlatBlockDesign. (2) Improved and documented the main features of function SemiLatinSquareDuals, which can be used to classify (n x n)/k semi-Latin squares and SOMA(k,n)s with given properties. (3) Improved efficiency of function PGPointFlatBlockDesign. (4) Made function TDesignLambdas faster, in particular in the case of a point-transitive design, when that design's record includes a known point-transitive subgroup of the design's automorphism group. (5) Improved the (undocumented) function IsPossiblySBIBD so that TDesignBlockMultiplicityBound now makes full use of the Bruck-Ryser-Chowla Theorem when t=2 and k