As you can see, we haven't made a new CMU CL release in quite a while, but it
is still available. However, the set of FTP distribution hosts has changed,
and is throwing some people off. lisp-rt1.slisp.cmu.edu is now the primary
host, with ftp.cs.cmu.edu as a backup.
Someday I hope to do a new release with some bug fixes and any new platforms
which have been implemented by net users.
Rob
________________________________________________________________
Release notes for CMU Common Lisp 17f, 4 November 94
17f contains bug fixes, PCL enhancements, and support for three new platforms:
Sun SPARC/Solaris
SGI MIPS/Iris (no load-foreign)
DEC Alpha/OSF1 (no Motif or load-foreign)
The HPPA/HPux and Sun/Sunos 4.x platforms are still available. Distributions
are now gzip'd, not compressed.
Other highlights: Motif, load-foreign on Hp/Ux, image size improvements, MIT
loop, some documentation of some previously undocumented features.
NOTE:
Although the group lives on (and is working on Dylan/Gwydion), the CMU Common
Lisp project is no longer funded, so only minimal CL support is being done at
CMU. There is a net community of CMU Common Lisp users and maintainers who
communicate via comp.lang.lisp and the ··········@cs.cmu.edu mailing list.
This release contains patches from the net (including the major Solaris effort
by Caspar Dik), and also some things that were "in the pipe" (the Alpha and
Irix ports.) None of these ports has been extensively tested, and there are
missing parts. As always, you get what you pay for.
Distribution:
CMU Common Lisp is only available via anonymous FTP. We don't have the
manpower to make tapes. These are our distribution machines:
lisp-rt1.slisp.cs.cmu.edu (128.2.217.9)
ftp.cs.cmu.edu (128.2.206.173)
Log in with the user "anonymous" and ·········@host" as password (i.e. your
EMAIL address.) When you log in, cd USING ONE SINGLE "cd" COMMAND to
/afs/cs/project/clisp/release. If you have any trouble with FTP access,
please send mail to ·····@cs.cmu.edu.
The most recent version is: 17f
The old version is: 16f
The currently supported platforms are:
alpha_osf1:
DEC Alpha workstations running OSF1.
hp700_ux90:
HP 700 series machines (based on the HPPA architecture) running HP/UX
9.x.
sgi_52:
MIPS-based SGI workstations running Irix 5.x.
sun4c_411:
Sun SPARC machines running the the pre-Solaris BSD SunOS system,
version 4.x.
sun4c_53:
Sun SPARC machines running Solaris/SunOS 5.x.
The release area holds gzip'ed tar files with names of the form:
<version>-<platform>.tar.gz
<version>-extra-<platform>.tar.gz
<version>-runtime-<platform>.tar.gz
-- The first file holds binaries and documentation for the standard Common
Lisp portion of CMU CL. This includes our version of the PCL
implementation of the CLOS object system.
-- The `-extra' file contains the Hemlock editor, the Motif toolkit,
the graphical debugger and the CLX interface to X11.
-- The `-runtime' file contins one file: lib/runtime.core, which is a
smaller substitute for lib/lisp.core. See the "runtime distribution"
section.
The installed sizes of the configurations are approximately:
Basic: 15 megabytes
Basic+Extra: 24 megabytes
Runtime: 5.3 megabytes
For installation directions, see the section "site initialization".
FTP gzip'ed tar archives in binary mode. To extract, "cd" to the
directory that is to be the root of the tree, then type:
gzcat file.tar.gz | tar xf - .
If poor network connections make it difficult to transfer a 6 meg file, the
release is also available split into 2 megabyte chunks, suffixed `.0', `.1',
etc. To extract from multiple files, use:
cat file.tar.gz.* | gunzip | tar xf - .
The release area also contains source distributions and other binary
distributions. A listing of the current contents of the release area is in
FILES. Major release announcements will be made to comp.lang.lisp.
Source availability:
Lisp and documentation sources are available via anonymous FTP ftp to any CMU
CS machine. [See the "Distribution" section for FTP instructions.] All CMU
written code is public domain, but CMU CL also makes use of two imported
packages: PCL and CLX. Although these packages are copyrighted, they may be
freely distributed without any licensing agreement or fee.
The release area contains a source distribution, which is an image of all the
source code files used to build the current version:
<version>-source.tar.gz (5 meg)
________________________________________________________________
DETAILED RELEASE NOTES
[Notes are also in doc/release-notes.txt]
[Also see the README file for platform-specific notes.]
Bug fixes to basic CL support:
-- Fixed ADJUST-ARRAY to not flame out on arrays containing a zero-length
dimension (hence having no elements whatsoever.)
-- In SIGNAL, bind *break-on-signals* to NIL even before doing the type test
so that we don't wedge the error system if the type is malformed or
undefined.
-- Fixed bugs with EOF handling in READ-LINE.
-- In DEFINE-CONDITION, don't warn about probable error unless both initarg
and initform are missing.
-- In OPEN, fixed :direction :io :if-does-not-exist :create to actually
create.
-- Fix problem in LOAD-FOREIGN where (especially on SunOS), the failure to
page-align loaded code caused errors when load-foreign was done more than
once.
-- In OUTPUT-INSTANCE, check for the layout being invalid before calling the
print function, since the print function might error.
-- Closing composite streams (broadcast, etc.) no longer closes the component
streams.
-- Fixed pprint goof that didn't actually break anything, but wasted effort.
-- (COERCE x 'FLOAT) now convert to a single-float (instead of being an
error.) Also, we now check that numeric coercions actually return a value
of the specified type (which they might not if the type is not a symbol,
e.g. (coerce 0 '(complex float)). Possibly these should "do the right
thing", but it seems better to error than quietly do the wrong thing.
-- Fixed a bug in FLOAT-BIGNUM-RATIO that could cause an assertion failure
when floating particular bignum ratios (or possibly reading particular
float values.)
Miscellaneous enhancements:
-- LOOP is now the MIT/Symblics loop, so whatever it does is by definition
correct and The Right Thing.
-- PURIFY is now exported as EXT:PURIFY. This function can greatly improve
the GC performance of many large programs by moving code and static data
into non-collected storage. This is a "poor man's generational GC".
Environment compaction now done by purify.
-- Some reduction in the size of the image (and of GC scanned memory) from
tweaks to build process.
-- Binary input can now be done from string streams (from David Axmark.)
-- Debugger no longer aborts printing of a frame when printing one arg gets an
error (from Harris.)
-- LOAD-FOREIGN support for HP/Ux (from TSM.)
-- Add sap-ref-64 (only on Alpha).
-- Changes to EVAL, ROOM and site-init to work better in a runtime core image
(without the compiler loaded.)
-- *BEFORE-SAVE-INITIALIZATIONS* is now actually done before saving.
Compiler:
-- Fixed some problems with multiple values and cleanup code in byte
compilation. Also added EXT:*COMPILE-PROGRESS* printout.
-- Fixed some problems with internal errors when a function was just
declared to be FUNCTION.
-- Now allows stream args to compile-file and doesn't attempt to constant-fold
pathname functions (which depend on *default-pathname-defaults*.)
-- Fixed a case where dead local function in top-level code could cause an
internal error.
-- Fix compiler-macro expansion to correctly handle macros that pass (by
returning the unmodified form.)
-- Fix spelling of :COMPILE-TOPLEVEL and :LOAD-TOPLEVEL in EVAL-WHEN.
-- If compile-file is :block-compile T, the entire file is block-compiled as a
unit (even if it contains embedded START-BLOCK/END-BLOCK declarations.)
-- Virtually all of the compiler is now compiled without type checking, giving
some space and speed benefit.
CLX:
-- Merged with CLX R5.02 (no substantive changes).
-- In read-resources, trim off spaces, tabs, and "'s in #include file name
-- If CLX is compiled when PCL is loaded (as is now done in the binary
distribution), DRAWABLE, WINDOW and PIXMAP will be defined as PCL classes
(which can be subclasses.) This is compatible with various CLX-based
toolkits.
-- Fix some CONS declarations to be LIST because they aren't conses on the
last iteration (when the body isn't executed.)
-- Fix incorrect slot type declaration for DISPLAY-AUTHORIZATION-DATA.
-- Changed holding-lock not to turn off GC, which could cause event handlers
and other code to run for ling periods of time without garbage collecting.
Instead we bind all the GC hooks to (), since it was their invocation that
could cause bad recursive entry of CLX.
Hemlock:
-- Fixed problem in Hemlock recursive error handler (hadn't been properly
updated for ANSI conditions.)
-- Add ignore handler for client-message events.
-- Deleted some setting of hi::*hack-hunk-replace-line* to T, since we may
want it explicitly disabled in the init file.
-- Dylan mode now infix-oriented.
Motif interface:
-- Fixed a bug in the generation of Interface.h which was preventing motifd
from being successfully compiled on HP/Ux, Solaris, ...
-- use pcl::precompile-random-code-segments to minimize run-time compilations.
-- Add INVOKE-TTY-DEBUGGER. Don't try to invoke motif debugger if we didn't
succeed in opening a connection.
-- Print warning in status hook when server dies.
-- Made server to fflush after all output so that we see motifd output
when it is run on a pipe.
-- Fixed severely broken INSPECT-CLOS-PANE according to patch from Marco
Antoniotti.
-- Fix from Marco Antoniotti to actually remove handlers from the table in
remove-event-handler.
-- Fix to TOOLKIT-WRITE-VALUE to allow it to write either signed or unsigned
word integers.
-- Improved error recovery and internal error reporting.
PCL:
-- Structure-object is now no longer shadowed in PCL. Code that was using
PCL::STRUCTURE-OBJECT will now work better.
-- BUILT-IN-CLASS, CLASS-NAME, CLASS-OF and FIND-CLASS are once again exported
from PCL. This will cause a name conflict if anyone use-package's PCL, but
this will at least warn about the distinction. Probably you shouldn't
USE-PACKAGE PCL for this reason, but you can now say PCL:FIND-CLASS instead
of PCL::FIND-CLASS. It is also possible to use SHADOW or SHADOWING-IMPORT
to resolve the conflict.
-- Fix to update-instance-for-different-class.
-- When updating arg-info slots, check to see if the value is already there.
This can reduce non-shared pages.
-- Improved handling of invalid structure instances.
-- Fix a problem with PCL clobbering byte functions when setting their names.
-- New parameterized version of use-dispatch-dfun-p which avoids pessimizing
GFs with many methods.
-- Fix to :after methods on accessor functions. Also, fixed some problems
with the result of get-secondary-dispatch-function1 when there are no
methods.
-- Add compiler-macro for pcl:find-class which does lookup at load-time
when the name is a constant.
-- Definitive tweak for handling function-p in
compute-secondary-dispatch-function1 which avoids an infinite recursion.
-- When signalling an incompatible superclass error, added a hint to the
message to check out VALIDATE-SUPERCLASSES.
Lisp code:
-- Fixed Sparc GC bug fix (L2 never scavenged.)
-- On all non-Mach platforms, changed the default for CMUCLLIB to be
/usr/local/lib/cmucl/lib.
-- On SunOS, added "dynamic segments" patch which prevents the "out of
segments" errors that could happen when a Lisp memory management table
overflowed.
Build tools:
-- Fix compilation of motif interface to actually generate the C header files
Interface.h, etc.
-- Some changes to reduce compiler warnings
-- In compile-all, -clean and -noupdate have been flushed. -clean is now
done by the clean-build script.
-- Add some scripts from David Axmark that automate the entire build process:
tools/variant-lisp
tools/build-and-install
________________________________________________________________
CMUCL(1) CMUCL(1)
October 15, 1991
NAME
CMU Common Lisp
DESCRIPTION
CMU Common Lisp is public domain "industrial strength" Common Lisp
programming environment. Many of the X3j13 changes have been
incorporated into CMU CL. Wherever possible, this has been done so as
to transparently allow use of either CLtL1 or proposed ANSI CL.
Probably the new features most interesting to users are SETF
functions, LOOP and the WITH-COMPILATION-UNIT macro.
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
CMU CL is currently available for a variety of Unix workstations. See
the README file for current platforms. At least 16 megabytes of
memory and 25 megabytes of disk space are recommended. As usual, more
is better.
OVERVIEW
When compared other Common Lisp implementations, CMU CL has two broad
advantages:
-- The new CMU CL compiler (Python) is more sophisticated than other
Common Lisp compilers. It both produces better code and is easier
to use.
-- The programming environment based on the Hemlock editor is better
integrated than gnu-emacs based environments. (Though you can
still use GNU if you want.)
CMU CL also has significant non-technical advantages:
-- It has good local support for CMU users, and is well integrated
with the CMU CS environment.
-- It is public domain, and is freely available to non-CMU sites that
aren't able to afford a site-license for a commercial Lisp.
COMPILER FEATURES
The `Advanced Compiler' chapter of the User's manual extensively
discusses Python's optimization capabilities (See DOCUMENTATION
below.) Here are a few high points:
-- Good efficiency and type-checking at the same time. Compiling code
safe gives a 2x speed reduction at worst.
-- In safe code, type declarations are verified, allowing declarations
to be debugged in safe code. When you go to compile unsafe, you
know the declarations are right.
-- Full source level debugging of compiled code, including display of
the exact call that got an error.
-- Good efficiency notes that tell you why an operation can't be open
coded or where you are number-consing, and that provide
unprecedented source context
-- Block compilation, partial evaluation, lightweight functions and
proper tail-recursion allow low-cost use of function call
abstraction.
TYPE SUPPORT
Important note: Even debugged programs may contain type errors that
remain undetected by other compilers. When compiled with type
checking suppressed using the CMU Common Lisp compiler, these type
errors may cause said debugged programs to die strangely. If type
checking is not suppressed, these programs will die with an explicit
type error.
The most visible way in which Python differs from previous Common Lisp
compilers is that it has a greater knowledge about types and a
different approach to type checking. In particular, Python implements
type checking which is `eager' and `precise':
-- Eager in the sense that type checking is done immediately whenever
there is a declaration, rather than being delayed until the the
value is actually used. For example:
(let ((x ...))
(declare (fixnum x))
...)
Here, the type of the initial value of X must be a FIXNUM or an
error will be signalled.
-- Precise in the sense that the exact type specified is checked. For
example, if a variable is declared to be of type (integer 3 7),
then the value must always be an integer between 3 and 7.
Since Python does more type checking, programs that work fine when
compiled with other compilers may get type errors when compiled with
Python. It is important to initially compile programs with the
default (safe) policy, and then test this version. If a program with
an erroneous declaration is compiled with type checking suppressed
(due to the SAFETY optimize quality being reduced), then the type
error may cause obscure errors or infinite looping. See the section
`Getting Existing Programs to Run' (6.6) in the compiler chapter of
the user manual.
CMU CL adheres to the X3J13 function type cleanup, which means that
quoted lambda-lists are not of type FUNCTION, and are no longer
directly callable. Use COERCE with the FUNCTION result type.
OPTIMIZATION
Python does many optimizations that are absent or less general in
other Common Lisp compilers: Proper tail recursion, lightweight
function call, block compilation, inter-procedural type inference,
global flow analysis, dynamic type inference, global register
allocation, stack number allocation, control optimization, integer
range analysis, enhanced inline expansion, multiple value optimization
and source-to-source transforms.
Optimization and type-checking are controlled by the OPTIMIZE
declaration. The default compilation policy is type-safe.
NUMERIC SUPPORT
Python is particular good at number crunching:
-- Good inline coding of float and 32 bit integer operations, with no
number consing. This includes all the hardware primitives ROUND,
TRUNCATE, COERCE, as well as important library routines such as
SCALE-FLOAT and DECODE-FLOAT. Results that don't fit in registers
go on a special number stack.
-- Full support for IEEE single and double (denorms, +-0, etc.)
-- In block compiled code, numbers are passed as function arguments
and return values in registers (and without number consing.)
-- Calls to library functions (SIN, ...) are optimized to a direct
call to the C library routine (with no number consing.) On
hardware with direct support for such functions, these operations
can easily be open-coded.
-- Substantially better bignum performance than commercial
implementations (2x-4x). Bignums implemented in lisp using word
integers, so you can roll your own.
Python's compiler warnings and efficiency notes are especially
valuable in numeric code. 50+ pages in the user manual describe
Python's capabilities in more detail.
THE DEBUGGER
In addition to a Motif-based windowing interface and a basic command-
line interface, the debugger also has several powerful new features:
-- The "source" and "vsource" commands print the *precise* original
source form responsible for the error or pending function call. It
is no longer necessary to guess which call to CAR caused some "not
a list" error.
-- Variables in compiled code can be accessed by name, so the debugger
always evaluates forms in the lexical environment of the current
frame. This variable access is robust in the presence of compiler
optimization --- although higher levels of optimization may make
variable values unavailable at some locations in the variable's
scope, the debugger always errs on the side of discretion, refusing
to display possibly incorrect values.
-- Compiled code can be stepped, stopping at each control transfer.
-- Integration with the Hemlock editor. In a slave, the "edit"
command causes the editor edit the source for the current code
location. The editor can also send non-line-mode input to the
debugger using C-M-H bindings. Try apropos "debug" in Hemlock.
See the debugger chapter in the user manual for more details. We are
working on integrating the debugger with Hemlock and X windows.
THE GRAPHICAL INTERFACE
CMU Common Lisp has an interface to Motif which is functionally
similar to CLM, but works better in CMU CL. See:
doc/motif-toolkit.doc
doc/motif-internals.doc
This motif interface has been used to write the inspector and
graphical debugger. There is also a Lisp control panel with a simple
file management facility, apropos and inspector dialogs, and controls
for setting global options.
Call INTERFACE:LISP-CONTROL-PANEL to create the control panel. When
INTERFACE:*INTERFACE-STYLE* is :GRAPHICS (the default) and the DISPLAY
environment variable is defined, the graphical inspector and debugger
will be invoked by INSPECT or when an error is signalled. Possible
values are :GRAPHICS and :TTY. If the value is :GRAPHICS, but there
is no X display, then we quietly use the TTY interface.
DOCUMENTATION
The CMU CL documentation is printed as tech reports, and is available
(at CMU) in the document room:
CMU Common Lisp User's Manual
Hemlock User's Manual
Hemlock Command Implementor's Manual
Non-CMU users may get documentation from the doc/ directory in the
binary distribution:
cmu-user.info
CMU CL User's Manual in Gnu Info format. The ``cmu-
user.info-<N>'' files are subfiles. You can either have
your EMACS maintainer install this in the info root, or you
can use the info ``g(...whatever.../doc/cmu-user.info)''
command.
cmu-user.ps
The CMU CL User's Manual (148 pages) in postscript format.
LaTeX source and DVI versions are also available.
release-notes.txt
Information on the changes between releases.
hemlock-user.ps
Postscript version of the Hemlock User's Manual (124 pages.)
hemlock-cim.ps
Postscript version of the Hemlock Command Implementor's
Manual (96 pages).
SUPPORT
Bug reports should be sent to ··········@cs.cmu.edu. Please consult
your local CMU CL maintainer or Common Lisp expert to verify that the
problem really is a bug before sending to this list.
The CMU Common Lisp project is no longer funded, so only minimal
support is being done at CMU. There is a net community of who
communicate via comp.lang.lisp and the ··········@cs.cmu.edu mailing
list.
DISTRIBUTION
CMU Common Lisp is a public domain implementation of Common Lisp.
Both sources and executables are freely available via anonymous FTP;
this software is "as is", and has no warranty of any kind. CMU and
the authors assume no responsibility for the consequences of any use
of this software. See the README file in the distribution for FTP
instructions.
ABOUT THE CMU COMMON LISP PROJECT
Organizationally, CMU Common Lisp was a small, mostly autonomous part
within the Mach operating system project. The CMU CL project was more
of a tool development effort than a research project. The project
started out as Spice Lisp, which provided a modern Lisp implementation
for use in the CMU community. CMU CL has been under continuous
development since the early 1980's (concurrent with the Common Lisp
standardization effort.) Most of the CMU Common Lisp implementors are
now working on the Gwydion environment for Dylan (see
http://legend.gwydion.cs.cmu.edu:8001/gwydion/.)
CMU CL was funded by DARPA under CMU's "Research on Parallel
Computing" contract. Rather than doing pure research on programming
languages and environments, the emphasis was on developing practical
programming tools. Sometimes this required new technology, but much
of the work was in creating a Common Lisp environment that
incorporates state-of-the-art features from existing systems (both
Lisp and non-Lisp.)
Because sources are freely available, CMU Common Lisp has been ported
to experimental hardware, and used as a basis for research in
programming language and environment construction.
SEE ALSO
lisp(1), README
The ``CMU Common Lisp User's Manual'',
the ``Hemlock User's Manual'', and
the ``Hemlock Command Implementor's Manual''
In article <··········@cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu>, ···@cs.cmu.edu (Robert MacLachlan) writes:
|> As you can see, we haven't made a new CMU CL release in quite a while, but it
|> is still available. However, the set of FTP distribution hosts has changed,
|> and is throwing some people off. lisp-rt1.slisp.cmu.edu is now the primary
This should be lisp-rt1.slisp.cs.cmu.edu
^^^^
|> host, with ftp.cs.cmu.edu as a backup.
|>
|> Someday I hope to do a new release with some bug fixes and any new platforms
|> which have been implemented by net users.
Could you start by putting up a list of known bugs ?
What are the patches for (i.e. what bugs do they correct) ?
I am having trouble using the profiler on solaris: it reports consing etc.,
but all timing results are 0. Is that a (known) bug, or am I missing something ?
thanks for still giving CMU-CL some support !
thorsten
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\ C
\ O Thorsten Schnier
\ M
/\ \ P Key Centre of Design Computing
/ / U University of Sydney
\ / T NSW 2006
\ / I
\/ N ········@arch.su.edu.au
DESIGN G http://www.arch.su.edu.au/~thorsten/
key centre