johnwcowan/medley

The main repo for the Medley Interlisp project. Other repositories are maiko (the VM implementation) and Interlisp.github.io (web site sources)

Medley

This repository is for the Lisp environment of Medley Interlisp.

We've made great process in sorting out what we have (some dusty corners notwithstanding), but there's quite a bit more work to do. Please report problems!

See Medley Interlisp Wiki for an overview, and other pointers.

A sub-project is Interlisp/maiko, which is the implementation (in C) of the Medley virtual machine.

Instructions for Building and Running

Setting up X

Medley Interlisp needs an X-Server to manage its display. Most Linux desktops have one. There are a number of free open source X-servers for windows. Mac users should head over to XQuartz.org -- be sure to pick a version if you have a newer Mac.

If you have a high-resolution display, note that much of the graphics was designed for a low-resolution display, so an X-server that does "pixel doublilng" is best. (E.g., Raspberry Pi does pixel doubling on 4K displays.) It also presumes you have a 3-button mouse; the scroll-wheel on some mice act as one with some difficulty.) XQuartz Preferences/Input has "Emulate three button mouse" option.

Running Medley Interlisp

The run-medley script in this repo sets up some convenient defaults. Running Medley can be done by typing:

$ cd medley
$ ./run-medley

Or, if you wish to start Medley up with a different SYSOUT:

$ cd medley
$ ./run-medley <SYSOUT-file-name>

Once the system comes up, give it a few seconds to initialize.

The first time the system is run it loads the system image that comes with the system. When you exit the system (or "do a SaveVM" menu option) the state of your machine is saved in a file named ~/lisp.virtualmem. Subsequent system startups load the ~/lisp.virtualmem image by default.

Exiting The System

The system may be exited from the Interlisp prompt by typing:

(LOGOUT)

Or from the Common Lisp prompt with:

(IL:LOGOUT)

When you logout of the system, Medley automatically creates a binary dump of your system located in your home directory named lisp.virtualmem. The next time you run the system, if you don't specify a specific image to run, Medley restores that image so that you can continue right where you left off.

• Using Medley Interlisp

Naming conventions and directory structure

File Names and Extensions: Most Interlisp source file names are UPPERCASE and Interlisp didn't use file extensions for its source files. A .TEDIT or .TXT file is probably documentation for the package of same name, at least in the library, internal/library, lispusers.

The current repo has both Lisp sources and compiled .LCOM and .DFASL files, because some files don't compile in a vanilla lisp.sysout .

Each directory should have a README.md, but briefly

• docs -- Documentation files (either PDFs or online help)
• fonts -- raster fonts (or font widths) in various resolutions for display, postscript, interpress, press formats
• greetfiles -- various configuration setups
• internal -- These were internal to Venue; now internal/library and internal/test
• library -- packages that were supported (30 years ago)
• lispusers -- packages that were only half supported (ditto)
• loadups -- has sysouts and other builds
• patches -- for cases where reloading doesn't wor
• scripts -- some scripts for fixing up things
• sunloadup -- support information for making a new lisp.sysout from scratch
• sources -- sources for Interlisp and Common Lisp implementations
• unicode -- data files for support of XCCS to and from Unicode mappings

plus Dockerfile, and scripts for building and running medley