
                             The FactInt Package
                             ===================


                                  Abstract

FactInt is a GAP 4 package which provides routines for factoring integers, in
particular:

 - Pollard's p-1
 - Williams' p+1
 - Elliptic Curves Method (ECM)
 - Continued Fraction Algorithm (CFRAC)
 - Multiple Polynomial Quadratic Sieve (MPQS)

It also provides access to  Richard P. Brent's tables  of factors of integers
of the form b^k +/- 1.


                                Requirements

The FactInt Package needs at least  version 4.4 of GAP, is completely written
in the  GAP language and does neither contain nor require  external binaries.
No other packages are needed.


                                Installation

Like any other GAP package,  FactInt must be installed in the  pkg/ subdirec-
tory of the GAP distribution.  This is accomplished by extracting the distri-
bution file in this directory. By default, FactInt is autoloaded.  This means
that it is loaded automatically when you start GAP.

                                    ---

If you have problems with this package, wish to make comments or suggestions,
or if you find bugs, please send e-mail to

Stefan Kohl, kohl@mathematik.uni-stuttgart.de

