function [spec] = longhandspec (ospec)
%longhandspec
  
lspec = length (ospec);
spec = cell (1);
curlen = 1;
curpos = 0;
ocount = 1;
for i = 1:lspec,
  parti = ospec{i};
  parto = cell (1);
  parto{2} = cell (1);
  if (iscell (parti))
    curnot = parti{1};
    curlen = parti{2};
  else
    curnot = parti;
  end
  if (~(ischar (curnot)))
    parto{2}{1} = curlen;
    parto{2}{2} = curnot;
    parto{1} = curpos;
    spec{ocount} = parto;
    ocount = ocount + 1;
  end
  curpos = curpos + curlen;
end