This commit significantly changes the way ESP-r
reads legacy .geo files to support HOT3000
development. Previously, ESP-r required the
attributes section to be held in a fixed column
format, where an input's significance is is
determined by the columns it occupies.
The code documentation indicates this format was
chosen to provide support for spaces within
surface and construction names. However, it
contravenes conventions elsewhere in ESP-r input
files, and introduces uncertainty when editing
.geo files by hand or with third-party
applications. A better approach would simply
escape the embedded spaces or replace them with
a reserved string (e.g. '%s').
This commit revises code within egomin that parses
the surface attributes. It now interprets each line
as a free format, space, comma or tab-separated list
of variables.
These changes have significant effects on ESP-r
functionality, In particular, they prevent users
from loading and editing legacy models that feature
spaces in the construction or surface names. For this
reason, THESE CHANGES SHOULD NOT BE COMMITTED TO
DEVELOPMENT BRANCH.
We should discuss the this problem with Jon Hand
in the future; the best long-term solution is

probably to update HOt