HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Organization: University of Central Florida--Computer Services
Date: Tuesday, 22 Dec 1992 19:28:27 EST
From: Bill Laird <COP80196@UCF1VM.BITNET>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.smalltalk
Subject: wanted: smalltalk/V for DOS

Greeting smalltalkers. Does anyone happen to have an educational version
of smalltalk/V for DOS that they would like to sell? Actually, I would
rather have the PM product, but the college budget and all does not
permit.

The account listed below should be valid for another couple weeks. If I
still have usenet access, I will reply to your offer.


Bill Laird                       -------------------------------------
University of Central Florida    " 640 K is all the memory you will 
cop80196@ucf1vm.cc.ucf.edu         ever need"... Bill Gates         
ci$ : 71753,130                  -------------------------------------


Newsgroups: comp.lang.smalltalk
From: samantha@shell.portal.com (Samantha - Atkins)
Subject: Re: command line parsing
Keywords: Smalltalk commandline
Organization: Portal Communications Company -- 408/973-9111 (voice) 408/973-8091 (data)
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 22:02:34 GMT

In article <670@funsys.funsys.se> jgs@funsys.funsys.se (Jan Gifvars) writes:
>
>Hello !
>
>Is it possible to parse the command line when you start a ParcPlace image.
>Example:
>
>	$ st80 myImage.im argument1 argument2
>
>or will the virtual machine throw them away ?
>
>Thank you in advance !
>
>Jan Gifvars
>ENATOR Functional Systems AB
>Sweden
>jgs@funsys.se
>
>
	See the sections of your documentation on User Defined Functions.
In such a function written in C you can do command line retrieval and 
processing much as in any other C function that makes the appropriate system
call to retrieve this info.  Getting it to execute when you want it to is
doable by having some method execute the UDF created at the time you want it
to execute.  If you want it before anything else happens practically in bringing
up the image even this is possible although I don't remember at the moment 
where I used to put things that I wanted executed that early.
 
Samantha Atkins
Object Enterprises
samantha@shell.portal.com

Newsgroups: comp.lang.smalltalk
From: Daryl_Spitzer@mindlink.bc.ca (Daryl Spitzer)
Subject: ?SmalltalkAgents (for Macintosh)?
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1993 19:00:10 GMT

I just saw an ad. for SmalltalkAgents (from QKS - Quasar Knowledge Systems)
for Macintosh.  (Inside back cover of MacTech magazine.)  It sounds like it
supports System 7 and the Toolbox better than Smalltalk/V Mac.  Has anyone
any experience with it?  Comments?

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 Daryl_Spitzer@mindlink.bc.ca     "Life isn't just, life just is."
         a2251@mindlink.bc.ca              -- Me  (I think.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
From: cdurrett@cup.portal.com (chuck m durrett)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.smalltalk
Subject: ST80 for OS/2
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 92 04:32:45 PST
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: world

Title line says it - I am interested in ST80 for OS/2.  I recall
a recent posting saying such a thing exists, having been 
developed in Europe.  

As you may know, the ST80 for Windows will not run under OS/2 because
of the need to run in "enhanced mode" which OS/2 2.0 does not support
(for security/integrity reasons I believe).

If you know of such a port or product, please drop me a line.  We
have ST80 for Sun, Windows, MACs but find a need to run under OS/2
as well.

Chuck Durrett
GM/EDS
cdurrett@cup.portal.com
01 313 524 8743
From: cr927@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jill Elise Nicola)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.smalltalk
Subject: Programmer wanted
Date: 30 Dec 1992 00:29:30 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


Object International, Inc. has an opening for an ObjectWorks\
Smalltalk programmer. The position must be filled in Jan. or Feb.
1993. Candidates need a strong background in ObjectWorks, OOA\OOP,
and a willingness to travel and work in small groups.

This is not an entry level position. If you're serious about Smalltalk
and would like to be part of a small and dynamic new object-oriented
software company then this may be your chance.

Interested candidates please send your resume to:

Object International Inc.
8140 N. MoPac Expwy, 4-200
Austin, Tx. 78759

Or fax it: 512/795-0032

Or e-mail it: coad@applelink.apple.com

Direct it to: Jill Nicola


Thanks

Newsgroups: comp.lang.smalltalk
From: muhr@opal.cs.tu-berlin.de (Thomas Muhr)
Subject: Re: Bug-Fixes for Digitalk products: where?
Organization: Techn. University of Berlin, Germany
Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1993 09:02:06 GMT

I would also vote for a subdir "stv286" - still not dead...!-)
- Thomas
--
Thomas Muhr - Project ATLAS - Technical University of Berlin
Tel.: [+49] [30] 314-27882  FAX: -25959  
INTERNET: muhr@cs.tu-berlin.de        Compu$erve: 100013,377
In memoriam of John W. Lennon (Oct 9, 1940 - Dec 8, 1980) 
Newsgroups: comp.lang.smalltalk
From: Joerg Beekmann <jbeekman@prodigy.bc.ca>
Subject: Re: anything isKindOf: nil ==> true (Object
Organization: Prodigy Technologies Corp.
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.0
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 16:51:45 GMT
From: token@ernohb.UUCP (thomas kendelbacher)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.smalltalk
Subject: Re: command line arguments
Date: 21 Dec 92 11:54:42 GMT
Organization: Erno Raumfahrttechnik GmbH, Bremen, Germany

In article <1992Dec18.213909.18271@sol.ctr.columbia.edu>, mchan@deacon (Samuel R. McHan) writes:
|> Jan Gifvars (jgs@funsys.se) wrote:
|> : Is it possible to retreive command line arguments in my smalltalk image ?
|> : For example : 
|> : 
|> : $ st80 myImage.im textFile.doc
|> : 
|> : I just want to parse the commandline.
|> : 
|> : [...]
|> : 
|> 
|> In the past, I've used a program which would take the command line
|> arguments, stuff them into a file, and then start my image.  The image
|> would then look for the existance of the file and copy the contents from
|> it.  A kludge, I know, but I didn't know how to read the command line
|> any other way.  Ideas?

Just another kludge: Use a programming language other than C (but with
access to C routines), where the "main" procedure is not identified
by the symbol "_main". Link it with the "st80.o" provided for VMs
with user defined primitives (this, since it is written in C, **does**
provide an entry point "_main" -- look into the symbol table.)

Use the main program body to analyse the command line arguments,
store them so that Smalltalk will later be able to access them via
User Defined Primitives (which you must provide, too, of course),
then call the Smalltalk VM by calling the C function "main" with
call parameters appropriate for the Smalltalk VM.

I once tried this on a Sun-3 with Ada, and it worked just fine.
Smalltalk was Objectworks V2.5 (sorry, no newer experience).

One caveat: If using Ada, avoid tasks, since the Smalltalk VM and
the Ada runtime system will compete for some UNIX signals
(e.g. SIGALRM, maybe others, too). Should be a lesser problem
with languages with a less "embracing" runtime system.

Have fun.
Thomas Kendelbacher  |  email : tkendel@ernohb.uucp
Robbenplate 13       |  voice : +49 421 539 5492
D-2800 Bremen 66     |     or : +49 421 57 04 37
Germany
From: mkant+@cs.cmu.edu (Mark Kantrowitz)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Subject: Pearl Lisp -- PD or Not?
Date: 21 Dec 92 22:34:27 GMT
Article-I.D.: cs.BzMs1F.FsD.1
Followup-To: poster
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon


Thanks to a lot of help from John Doner, we've found a copy of Pearl
CL and instructions on how to modify it with ResEdit to work under
System 7. 

Unfortunately, various people we've talked to at Apple claim that
Pearl was never released into the public domain. If so, we cannot make
our copy available. On the other hand, everybody else we've talked to
seems to think that Pearl was placed in the public domain when Apple
bought Coral. 

I'd like to get to the bottom of this issue, if for no other reason
than to include a definitive entry in the Lisp FAQ. So, if you've got
an "official" letter or announcement from Apple which sheds light on
the status of Pearl, please send me a copy:
	Email: 		mkant@cs.cmu.edu
	US Mail:	Mark Kantrowitz
			School of Computer Science
			Carnegie Mellon University
			5000 Forbes Avenue
			Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3891

Thanks,

Mark
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
From: girou@circe.fr (Denis Girou)
Subject: Origins of LISP and relation with Fortran
Organization: circe
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 92 11:18:21 GMT

Date: Tue, 22 Dec 92 13:44:46 GMT

  Dear friends,


  I want to ask you a confirmation about an history point concerning the
origins of LISP (the section 2-13 of the FAQ doesn't say something about that).

  Some years ago, one of my teacher says during a lesson that when John
McCarthy, around 1956, think to that will become LISP, he only want to write
an extension to the Fortran language (Fortran I or Fortran II at this time)
to manipulate lists structures. It would be only later that he thought to a
real new language, completely independant of Fortran.

  Is there somebody who can confirm or infirm this fact, and can give me a
bibliographic reference? (it's for an article about Fortran that I have to
write...) 

  Thanks for answer.

  Best regards,

------------------------------------------------------
Denis Girou (C.N.R.S./C.I.R.C.E.)                    |
Batiment 506 - B.P. 167 - 91403 Orsay Cedex - France |
E-mail : girou@circe.fr - Tel.  : 33. 1. 69.82.41.52 |
------------------------------------------------------
From: davel@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (David Loewenstern)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Subject: Re: How to send out ANSI code ?
Date: 21 Dec 92 22:32:03 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Whippany, NJ

... On Thu, 17 Dec 1992 11:34:24 GMT, GHOST@cc.nctu.edu.tw (Michael Huang) said:


} When I want to use the ANSI code to control the terminal position,
} I tried the following program

}    (prog () (code-char 27) (princ "[5,5H"))

} The result is that 
}   
}    #\Esc
}    [5,5H


Odd.  I would have expected it to print just

[5,5H

Anyway, (write-char #\Esc) will do what you want:

(progn
  (write-char #\Esc)
  (princ "[5,5H"))

These opinions are shareware.  If you like the product,
please send your $0.02 to
               David Loewenstern
          <David.Loewenstern@att.com>
From: lewocz@acsu.buffalo.edu (John S. Lewocz)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Subject: sorting arrays
Date: 30 Dec 92 00:00:11 GMT
Organization: State University of New York at Buffalo/Comp Sci


What would be the most effiecient way to sort a two-dimensional
array using an arbitrary column
as a key?

Thanks.

--John S. Lewocz
-- 
Xref: sparky comp.lang.lisp:3161 comp.lang.clos:1055
From: barmar@think.com (Barry Margolin)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp,comp.lang.clos
Subject: Re: Automatic evaluation of expression in CLOS slots
Followup-To: comp.lang.clos
Date: 3 Jan 1993 19:52:36 GMT
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: gandalf.think.com

[I've redirected followups to comp.lang.clos, a more appropriate newsgroup.]

In article <1993Jan3.023306.25733@cc.umontreal.ca> kardank@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Kardan Kaveh) writes:
>I would like to be able to place expressions in class slots, and have them
>transparently evaluated when accessed.  Is there a standard way of doing
>this?  Do I need the Meta Object Protocol for this?

To get precisely what you described in your example, you need the MOP.

>(defclass foo ()
>  ((slot-1 :accessor slot-1)))
>
>(defvar x (make-instance 'foo))
>
>(setf (slot-1 x) '(+ 2 2))
>
>(slot-1 x)  -->  4
>(slot-value x 'slot-1)  -->  4
>(slot-expression x 'slot-1)  --> '(+ 2 2)

If you're willing to allow SLOT-VALUE to return the expression, but have
SLOT-1 perform the computation, you can do this without the MOP.  You could
write:

(defclass foo ()
  ((slot-1 :writer (setf slot-1))))

(defmethod slot-1 ((self foo))
  (eval (slot-value self 'slot-1)))

I think this should be sufficient, since functions outside the class should
not use SLOT-VALUE instead of the accessor function.

Naturally, all the usual warnings about using EVAL apply to this, no matter
how you arrange for the evaluation to be invoked.
-- 
Barry Margolin
System Manager, Thinking Machines Corp.

barmar@think.com          {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
From: marcoxa@IMAGE.CS.NYU.EDU (Marco Antoniotti)
Subject: setf methods for structure accessors used as parameters
Organization: New York University
Distribution: comp.lang.lisp,comp.lang.clos
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 10:57:32 GMT

Hello there,

I am writing some code (priority queues) that uses a :key argument to
extract information from some structure. The value passed as a :key
argument is always funcalled within the code. At a certain point I
need to actually 'setf' the structure slot 'keyed' by the :key value.
I.e. I have code that looks like

(defun maximize (x &key (key an-x-accessor))

	...

	(funcall an-x-accessor x)
)

and I want to be able to do something like


(defun do-maximize (x &key (key an-x-accessor))

	...

	(setf (an-x-accessor x) somevalue)
)

I checked CLtL2, but I couldn't come up with anything reasonable. I
have a hunch that it is not possible.

Any idea?

Marco
From: hall@aplcenmp.apl.jhu.edu (Marty Hall)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Subject: Re: Reference counting (was Re: Yet another Lisp Interpreter Available (RefLisp) Long)
Date: 21 Dec 92 17:10:25 GMT
Organization: AAI Corp AI Lab, JHU P/T CS Faculty

barmar@think.com (Barry Margolin) writes:
>bbirch@hemel.bull.co.uk (Bill Birch) writes:
>>	- RefLisp has reference counting garbage collection, that means
>>	  memory is reclaimed as soon as it is un-used. It is a "non-stop"
>>	  system, in that there is never any halt for garbage collection (GC).
>
>This is a frequent claim that is simply not true.  A reference counting
>system simply changes the time and distribution of the GC delays, but it
>doesn't eliminate it.  For instance [...]

A PostScript version of a good (in my non-expert opinion) survey of GC 
techniques is available by anonymous FTP from cs.utexas.edu, in
/pub/garbage/gcsurvey.ps. 

Wilson, Paul R., "Uniprocessor Garbage Collection Techniques", to appear
in _Proceedings of the 1992 International Workshop on Memory Management_.

					- Marty
(proclaim '(inline skates))
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp,comp.lang.lisp.x
From: ram+@cs.cmu.edu (Rob MacLachlan)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Subject: Re: Speed freak seeks help
Date: 29 Dec 92 17:29:32 GMT
Article-I.D.: cs.C0179C.oz.1
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon

In article <Bzpx7u.LK0@demon.co.uk> Howard Oakley <Howard@quercus.demon.co.uk> writes:
>I am running some pretty heavy Common Lisp, which currently takes over 1
>week to run on a Mac Quadra 950 (fast 68040) using MCL 2.0.  Can anyone
>please suggest a hardware solution (cost is accepted!) which will run at
>10-20 times the speed?

One thing you should do before getting more hardware is to figure out
what is limiting the speed of the program.  If, for example, your
program is floating-point intensive, then you could see a subtantial
gain from using a Lisp which open-codes float operations.  Or perhaps
you are garbage-collection limited, in which case you want a
generational GC.  

You also need to think about how memory intensive your application is.
High speed microprocessors are very sensitive to cache performance, so
if your working data doesn't fit in the cache, you won't see the sort
of speedup you would expect from the clock speed increase.

>It has been suggested that a TI Explorer might help - could anyone
>suggest a good Explorer configuration (I currently work in 6 megs of RAM
>for MCL, but it still does plenty of GCing) and whether this is likely to
>give the sort of speed increase that I desire, please?

I'm not up do date on the Explorer product line, but my hunch is that
you will see maximum speed from a top-end Unix workstation running a
good commercial CL implementation.  Workstation performance increases
so fast that any special purpose Lisp machine is likely to be one
generation behind.  The main advantage of the Lisp machines is they
have an excellent development environment and do run-time safety
checks at minimal extra cost.

You need *much* more memory to run a RISC Unix CL.  I recommend at
least 32 meg.

  Rob MacLachlan
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
From: khattra@cs.sfu.ca (Taj Khattra)
Subject: Re: Origins of LISP and relation with Fortran
Organization: CSS, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1992 21:49:54 GMT

In article <1992Dec23.111821.201165@circe.fr> girou@circe.fr (Denis Girou) writes:
>Date: Tue, 22 Dec 92 13:44:46 GMT
> ...
>
>  I want to ask you a confirmation about an history point concerning the
>origins of LISP (the section 2-13 of the FAQ doesn't say something about that).
>
>  Some years ago, one of my teacher says during a lesson that when John
>McCarthy, around 1956, think to that will become LISP, he only want to write
>an extension to the Fortran language (Fortran I or Fortran II at this time)
>to manipulate lists structures. It would be only later that he thought to a
>real new language, completely independant of Fortran.
>
> ...
>

I think your teacher was right.

Here are some extracts from the paper 

  _The Influence of the Designer on the Design - J. McCarthy and LISP_ 
  by Herbert Stoyan 

published in 

  _Artificial Intelligence and Mathematical Theory of Computation - Papers 
  in Honor of John McCarthy_  edited by Vladimir Lifschitz, Academic Press
  Inc., 1991.

I suggest you get a hold of this paper for more details.

     ...

       Around 1956 McCarthy understood the central role of a programming
     language for his scientific goal - artificial intelligence. A
     consulting job in 1957 enabled him to experiment with a combination
     of algebraic notation (as it is used in FORTRAN for describing
     arithmetical computation) and list processing (as it was invented
     by Newell, Shaw, and Simon). The experiment was succesful and the
     idea became for him a basis of thinking.
       He analyzed existing programming languages more deeply (using
     FORTRAN as model) and started to ask for new means of expression.

     [pg 409]

     ...

       The initial plan [5] (*) for LISP was an extension of FORTRAN.

      [pg 411]

     ...

(*) [5] J. McCarthy: An Algebraic Language for the Manipulation of
	Symbolic Expressions. MIT AI Memo 1, Cambridge, MA,
	September 1958.

--
Taj Khattra                       peace and happiness and all the other
khattra@cs.sfu.ca                 good shit ... - jimi hendrix
From: kardank@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Kardan Kaveh)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Subject: Automatic evaluation of expression in CLOS slots
Date: 3 Jan 93 02:33:06 GMT
Organization: Universite de Montreal

I would like to be able to place expressions in class slots, and have them
transparently evaluated when accessed.  Is there a standard way of doing
this?  Do I need the Meta Object Protocol for this?

For example, I would like behaviour similar to the following:

(defclass foo ()
  ((slot-1 :accessor slot-1)))

(defvar x (make-instance 'foo))

(setf (slot-1 x) '(+ 2 2))

(slot-1 x)  -->  4
(slot-value x 'slot-1)  -->  4
(slot-expression x 'slot-1)  --> '(+ 2 2)

Thanks,

Kaveh

-- 
------------
Kaveh Kardan                                       kaveh@taarna.UUCP
Systeme Taarna                                     kardank@eole.umontreal.qc.ca
Montreal Quebec Canada                             (514)844-8448
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp.x,comp.lang.lisp,comp.sys.mac.programmer
From: bskendig@netcom.com (Brian Kendig)
Subject: Wanted: Beta-testers for Macintosh XLisp 2.1e
Organization: Starfleet Headquarters: San Francisco
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 01:47:41 GMT

I'm busy finishing up a port of XLisp to the Macintosh environment,
and I'd like some beta-testers to pound on what I've got now to find
bugs and suggest enhancements.  I'd be especially interested in your
suggestions if you regularly use xlisp on any other platform, or
Allegro Common Lisp or XLISP-STAT on the Mac, but basically I'd like
to enlist people who can try out my application and let me know if
it's workable for everyday use.

My port is functionally equivalent to xlisp on any other platform; I
haven't changed a single line of Tom Almy's code.  I've just added
Macintosh friendliness and tried to come up with a command window that
works like MACL's (although I don't have a copy of MACL, so I'd like
to know any ways that its interface works differently from mine).

A few things have yet to be implemented (can you find them?), but I
want to spend this weekend debugging.  If you can chew on this between
now and Friday and send me email with plenty of bugs and feature
suggestions, and your mailer can handle a 211k binhexed file, then
please reply!  Otherwise, be patient; I'll release the application and
all the source into the public domain for free when I'm finished.

-- 
_/_/_/  Brian Kendig                             Je ne suis fait comme aucun
/_/_/  bskendig@netcom.com                de ceux que j'ai vus; j'ose croire
_/_/                            n'etre fait comme aucun de ceux qui existent.
  /  Nolite te bastardes     Si je ne vaux pas mieux, au moins je suis autre.
 /    carborundorum.                                             -- Rousseau
From: cartier@math.uqam.ca (Guillaume Cartier)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp.mcl
Subject: Joy sharing (was MCL nominated for awards)
Date: 22 Dec 92 16:25:00 GMT

The purpose of this message is to share my joy with
all you MCL friends in finally seeing some recognition
from the outside world for this wonderful software that's
called MCL.

Warmest congrats to all the MCL team!

Guillaume.

*********************************************************************
* Guillaume Cartier                 (514) 844-5294 (maison)         *
* L.A.C.I.M.                        (514) 987-4290 (bureau)         *
* Universite du Quebec a Montreal   (514) 987-8477 (telecopieur)    *
* Montreal, Quebec, Canada          cartier@math.uqam.ca (internet) *
*********************************************************************
From: moon (David A. Moon)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp.mcl
Subject: Re: Speed freak needs help
Date: 23 Dec 92 15:56:19 GMT

> Date: 23 Dec 92 14:46 GMT
> From: UK0392@AppleLink.Apple.COM (EHN & DIJ Oakley,GB,IDV)
>  
> I hate to say this, but we are now running into a speed problem with MCL and a
> Quadra 950.
>  
> John Koza extols TI Explorers, but after finally tracking down someone who
> claims to have a small number of new Explorer systems, I am not sure whether we
> would see anything like the necessary acceleration, and the systems are not
> cheap.

TI stopped making Explorers several years ago.  Without having measured either of 
them, I think Explorers were much slower than Quadras.  Symbolics still makes 
Lisp machines, but again without having measured them I think you would find 
performance on the latest Symbolics machine similar to or less than the Quadra.  
(The Symbolics clock rate is half the Quadra clock rate, but the architecture is 
not much more than twice as efficient.)

There are Lisp implementations available for a few supercomputers such as the 
Cray-1.  I don't recall that the speedup was in proportion to the increased cost, 
though.  The architecture is not suited to Lisp and probably the implementations 
were not very clever.

You might get a small speedup (factor of 3 or 4?  just guessing) by using Common 
Lisp on the latest and greatest RISC workstation, whichever that is this month.  
Use about 3 times as much memory as you use in MCL, times 2 if it uses a copying 
garbage collector, and you should be alright on memory configuration.  Do a test 
run before buying anything.

Are you sure the algorithm can't be optimized?  Sometimes that's the fastest and 
cheapest way to get more speed.  But maybe you already tried that.