Introduce concept of segmented/ragged container.

Makefile.am

@@ -247,6 +247,7 @@ core_SOURCES = \
     src/core/util.h \
 	src/core/array.h \
 	src/core/vector.h \
+	src/core/segment.h \
 	src/core/recarray.h \
 	src/core/matrix.h \
 	src/core/integer.cc \

src/core/core.h

@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include "recarray.h"
 #include "vector.h"
 #include "matrix.h"
+#include "segment.h"
 #include "rational.h"
 
 #endif // GAMBIT_CORE_CORE_H

src/core/segment.h

@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+//
+// This file is part of Gambit
+// Copyright (c) 1994-2026, The Gambit Project (https://www.gambit-project.org)
+//
+// FILE: src/core/segment.h
+// A container segmenter, with versions for array and vector
+//
+// This program 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.
+//
+// This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+// Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+//
+
+#ifndef GAMBIT_CORE_SEGMENT_H
+#define GAMBIT_CORE_SEGMENT_H
+
+#include "vector.h"
+
+namespace Gambit {
+
+template <class Storage> class Segmented {
+  Storage m_values;
+  Array<size_t> m_offsets;
+  Array<size_t> m_shape;
+
+public:
+  using value_type = typename Storage::value_type;
+
+  template <class U> class SegmentView {
+    U *m_data{nullptr};
+    size_t m_size{0};
+
+  public:
+    using value_type = U;
+    using pointer = U *;
+    using reference = U &;
+    using iterator = U *;
+    using const_iterator = const U *;
+
+    SegmentView() = default;
+    SegmentView(U *data, const size_t size) : m_data(data), m_size(size) {}
+
+    size_t size() const { return m_size; }
+    bool empty() const { return m_size == 0; }
+
+    U *data() { return m_data; }
+    const U *data() const { return m_data; }
+
+    U &operator[](const size_t i) { return m_data[i - 1]; }
+    const U &operator[](const size_t i) const { return m_data[i - 1]; }
+
+    iterator begin() { return m_data; }
+    iterator end() { return m_data + m_size; }
+    const_iterator begin() const { return m_data; }
+    const_iterator end() const { return m_data + m_size; }
+  };
+
+  Segmented() = delete;
+  explicit Segmented(const Array<size_t> &p_shape)
+    : m_values(std::accumulate(p_shape.begin(), p_shape.end(), 0)), m_offsets(p_shape.size()),
+      m_shape(p_shape)
+  {
+    for (size_t index = 0, i = 1; i <= m_shape.size(); i++) {
+      m_offsets[i] = index;
+      index += m_shape[i];
+    }
+  }
+  Segmented(const Segmented &) = default;
+  Segmented(Segmented &&) noexcept = default;
+  ~Segmented() = default;
+
+  Segmented &operator=(const Segmented &) = default;
+  Segmented &operator=(Segmented &&) noexcept = default;
+  Segmented &operator=(const value_type &c)
+  {
+    m_values = c;
+    return *this;
+  }
+
+  const Array<size_t> &GetShape() const { return m_shape; }
+
+  SegmentView<value_type> segment(const size_t a)
+  {
+    return SegmentView<value_type>(&m_values[m_offsets[a] + 1], m_shape[a]);
+  }
+  SegmentView<const value_type> segment(const size_t a) const
+  {
+    return SegmentView<const value_type>(&m_values[m_offsets[a] + 1], m_shape[a]);
+  }
+
+  void SetFlattened(const Storage &v) { m_values = v; }
+  const Storage &GetFlattened() const { return m_values; }
+};
+
+template <class T> using SegmentedArray = Segmented<Array<T>>;
+template <class T> using SegmentedVector = Segmented<Vector<T>>;
+
+} // namespace Gambit
+
+#endif // GAMBIT_CORE_SEGMENT_H

src/core/vector.h

@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ template <class T> class Vector {
   }
 
 public:
+  using value_type = typename Array<T>::value_type;
   using iterator = typename Array<T>::iterator;
   using const_iterator = typename Array<T>::const_iterator;