;; students asked for this in class
;; Lee Spector (lspector@hampshire.edu), 10/15/97

(defun string-to-list (string)
  "Returns a list of the data items represented in the given list."
  (let ((the-list nil) ;; we'll build the list of data items here
        (end-marker (gensym))) ;; a unique value to designate "done"
    (loop (multiple-value-bind (returned-value end-position)
                               (read-from-string string nil end-marker)
            (when (eq returned-value end-marker)
              (return the-list))
            ;; if not done, add the read thing to the list
            (setq the-list 
                  (append the-list (list returned-value)))
            ;; and chop the read characters off of the string
            (setq string (subseq string end-position))))))

#|

;; an example


(string-to-list "foo bar (shazam!) 23")
--> (FOO BAR (SHAZAM!) 23)


|#