Updated wiki-formatting for Eiffel code.

Updated wikipage Manifest array.
	(Signed-off-by:jocelyn).

git-svn-id: https://svn.eiffel.com/eiffel-org/trunk@2037 abb3cda0-5349-4a8f-a601-0c33ac3a8c38

documentation/18.01/eiffel/Language_reference/quick-reference-eiffel-programming-language/Expressions/Manifest-array.wiki

@@ -2,30 +2,81 @@
 [[Property:weight|0]]
 [[Property:title|Manifest array]]
 
-Manifest arrays provide a shortcut to create and initialize an array object using a single expression rather than a creation instruction followed by a sequence of insertions of new elements to the array. The lower index of a manifest array is always <code>1</code> and the upper index is the number of items.
+A manifest array is an expression denoting an array by simply listing its elements, as in  <code><<1, 4, 9, 16, 25>></code>. The lower index is always <code>1</code> and the upper index is the number of items,  <code>5</code> in this example.
 
-[[Eiffel%20Programming%20Language%20Syntax#Manifest_arrays|Manifest arrays]] come in two flavors: typed and untyped with slightly different validity rules and run-time behavior.
+The type of a manifest array is always  <code>ARRAY [T]</code> where  <code>T</code> is a type to which all the elements conform, <code>INTEGER</code> in the previous example. In case of a possible ambiguity you can make the type explicit, as in <code>{ARRAY [COMPARABLE]} <<7, "Eiffel">></code>, where both  <code>INTEGER</code>, the type of <code>7</code>, and  <code>STRING</code>, the type of <code>"Eiffel"</code>, conform to  <code>COMPARABLE</code>. 
 
-== Typed manifest array ==
+== What are manifest arrays good for? ==
 
-A typed manifest array has an explicit Manifest_array_type that should resolve to an <e>ARRAY</e> type. It is used to create an object to be filled with specified elements. Every element should be compatible with the specified element type. For example, the expression
+Use a manifest array to initialize an element by simply listing its initial elements. For example, with the declaration
 
-<e>
+```eiffel
-   {ARRAY [COMPARABLE]} <<7, "beers">>
+  squares: ARRAY [INTEGER]
-</e>
+```
 
-creates an array of type `ARRAY [COMPARABLE]` with 2 elements: `7` and `"beers"` and is therefore equivalent to the value of an imaginary variable `x` of type `ARRAY [COMPARABLE]` initialized as follows:
+you can initialize <code>squares</code> through
 
-<e>
+```eiffel
-   create x.make (1, 0)
+  squares := <<1, 4, 9, 16, 25>>
-   x.force (7, 1)
+```
-   x.force ("beers", 2)
-</e>
 
-It would be an error to use `default_pointer` instead of `"beers"` because the type `POINTER` is not `COMPARABLE`. Similarly, one cannot specify `LIST` or a formal generic instead of `ARRAY`. Also, the explicit manifest array type cannot be `separate`.
+This is simpler than the alternative, which would be to create the array explicitly and give a value to every element in turn:
+```eiffel
+   create squares .make_filled (0, 1, 5)
+			-- Arguments to `make_filled' are: default value, lower bound, upper bound.
+   squares  [1] := 1 ; squares  [2] := 4 ; squares  [3] := 9 
+   squares  [4] := 16 ; squares  [5] := 25
+```
 
-== Untyped manifest array ==
+The first form, with the manifest array, is shorter, but the effect is the same.
 
-An untyped manifest array has no Manifest_array_type part. As a result, its type is computed from the type of specified elements as a [[Types#Common ancestor types|common ancestor type]]. So, the type of the expression `<<7, "beers">>` would be `ARRAY [ANY]` rather than `ARRAY [COMPARABLE]` because types of the elements do not conform to each other. On the other hand, the expression `<<True, False, False>>` has type `ARRAY [BOOLEAN]`.
+Manifest arrays are normal arrays, not restricted in any way. You can for example add elements to them, as in
 
-Because there is always a common ancestor type for manifest array elements, the untyped manifest array is always valid as soon as all its elements are valid. The empty untyped manifest array has type `ARRAY [NONE]`.
+```eiffel
+   squares.force (36, 6)	
+			-- Arguments to `force' are: value, position.
+```
+
+which will resize the array to bounds 1 and 6.
+
+== Type of a manifest array: the implicit case ==
+
+If you do not explicitly specify an array type, the type of the manifest array is as follows:
+
+* For an empty manifest array  <code><<>></code>:  <code>ARRAY [NONE]</code>. (In the following cases we assume the array is not empty.)
+
+* If all elements are of the same exact type  <code>T</code>:  <code>ARRAY [T]</code>.
+
+* If the types of all elements all conform to a type  <code>T</code>:  <code>ARRAY [T]</code>. Note that in this case  <code>T is unique since two different types cannot conform to each other. (The preceding case, all types identical, is a special case of this one, since a type conforms to itself.) 
+
+* Otherwise:  <code>ARRAY [ANY]</code>.
+
+As an example of the third case (conformance of all elements to one of them), assume  <code>POLYGON</code> and  <code>CIRCLE</code> both conform to  <code>FIGURE</code>. Then the manifest array  <code><<a_polygon, a_figure, a_circle>></code>, with  <code>a_polygon of type  <code>POLYGON</code> and so on, is  <code>ARRAY [FIGURE]</code>.
+
+== Type of a manifest array: the explicit case ==
+
+With the preceding rule, the type of   <code><<7, "Eiffel">></code> is the most general possible one, <code>ARRAY [ANY]</code>, since  <code>INTEGER</code> and  <code>STRING</code> do not conform to each other (either way). If you are not happy with this default type, you can make the array type explicit by writing it in braces:
+
+```eiffel
+{ARRAY [COMPARABLE]} <<7, "Eiffel">>
+```
+
+The rule in such a case is that in <code>{ARRAY [T]} <<element1, element2, ...>></code> the types of all elements must conform to  <code>T</code>.
+
+As another example, with
+
+```eiffel
+figures: ARRAY [FIGURE]
+```
+
+you cannot assign  <code><<a_polygon, a_circle>></code> to <code>figures</code> since the type of the manifest array is <code>ARRAY [ANY]</code>. To make this assignment possible, use an explicit type:
+
+```eiffel
+figures := {ARRAY [FIGURE]} <<a_polygon, a_circle>>
+```
+
+You can also use this form to give an explicit type to an empty array, which would otherwise be of type <code>ARRAY [NONE]</code>. For example, with <code>figures</code> declared as above:
+
+```eiffel
+figures := {ARRAY [FIGURE]} <<>>
+```