If you want the Atlas software to do something slightly different from what it does now, the best thing to do is to write to the Atlas group and talk to us about it. Perhaps what you are looking for is already there, or perhaps it is something that we ought to add.
If normal diplomatic channels fail, you may wish to modify the code. In order to do that, you will want to understand what the code does now, where it stores what it knows, and so on. We are working on documenting the code internally, beginning with the extensive comments put in it by Fokko du Cloux.
We are also using the documentation software Doxygen. This software processes the source files to produce web pages with a great deal of formal information about the structure of the code. The web pages can also be made to include other information from comments in the code.
There are two ways to get this documentation. One is to run doxygen (available under the GNU public license) yourself. The advantage of this is that you can add your own comments as you figure things out, or modify the software. Another way to get the documentation is right here. (This version includes many corrections and additions by Marc van Leeuwen.)
Here is some advice about working through the documentation. Mathematical objects correspond to C++ objects called "classes," so a reasonable place to begin is by clicking on the tab Class List on the main page of the documentation. There you'll find a list names of all the classes, together with one-line descriptions of what they are. If you click on a class name, you go to a page with a detailed description of the class: a list of its data and functions, and sometimes a quick review of the mathematics behind it.
If you have comments or criticisms about this code documentation, or if you would like to contribute to it, please write to David Vogan (dav at math dot mit, et cetera).
If you or any of your Code Modifying team are captured or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. (Don't say we didn't warn you.)
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