Swindle Installation Instructions ================================= Installing Swindle is done in two steps - first you download and install DrScheme, then download and install the Swindle extension. 0. General Overview =================== When you read these instructions, it might be useful if you know a little about the structure of the system. What you get is two applications - MzScheme which is the "bare" language application, and MrEd, which is a big executable that embeds Scheme and a graphic user interface in a single application. Then you have many MzScheme/MrEd application - they are actually Scheme applications that use the binaries for basic functionalities. For example, the main application - DrScheme is a MrEd extension that defines the whole working environment. The two applications that are in the Swindle package are Swindle which is a small MzScheme extension and DrSwindle which is a modification of DrScheme (so it is also a MrEd extension) that uses Swindle. The extension applications are actually just "starter" executables (in Unix they are shell scripts) that invoke either MzScheme or MrEd with the correct arguments. The directory structure is simple, in the main PLT directory the main thing is the "collects" subdirectiry that contains the Scheme application sources, and a "doc" directory in "collects" it that contains some documentations. When you install the system, you will have an option to create ".zo" files. These files are "compiled" files that can be loaded faster so generally you would want to create them. This step is actually required, since these files have no macros left in them, so if you don't create them, you might have problems because Swindle overrides some of MzScheme's built-in macros. The reason that I have put "compiled" in quotes is that this is actually byte-compiled files, it is an internal binary format that MzScheme uses so the same files are used on all platforms (like Java class files). From here on, the Swindle home page is where you got this file from. In any case, this page can be found at http://www.cs.cornell.edu/eli/Swindle/. 1. Installing DrScheme ====================== For all installations, start by downloading DrScheme at: http://www.cs.rice.edu/CS/PLT/packages/drscheme/download.html There you'll select a version for your platform, and optionally download documentation as well. Some basic documentation is included in the distribution, so getting more is actually optional, and anyway everything is available on-line. Then use the installation instruction that you will find there to install DrScheme. When the installation program asks you, you have tosay that you do want to create the ".zo" files, under MacOS you will have to run the "Setup PLT" program yourself to do this. Notes for Macintosh installation - see mac-os.txt in the Swindle home directory. 2. Installing Swindle ===================== Now download Swindle.plt from the Swindle home directory, it is a "PLT patch" file. Installing it is done in the same described in: http://www.cs.rice.edu/CS/PLT/packages/download/help/installplt-drscheme.html In short, drag "Swindle.plt" over the "Setup PLT" icon in the PLT folder under Windows and Macintosh, or run "...plt/bin/setup-plt Swindle.plt" under Unix. This will unpack Swindle, compile it and create small executables that will run it - "Swindle" is a console-mode version and "DrSwindle" is the full GUI environment. If you run into any kind of problems, an alternative is to get Swindle.zip from the same place and unpack its contents in the "collects" subdirectory - this contains the sources and the byte-compiled files. This, however, means that you'll have to run the setup program again to get the applications starters. Note: these files always contain the most current Swindle version so you can use them whenever you have any problems. Platform specific notes: * Windows/Macintosh: You would probably want to add shortcuts in the start menu, desktop or wherever you want them, the new executables will be in the same place where the DrScheme is. Do not move the actual executables to another place because they will fail to find MzScheme and MrEd. * Unix: If you installed DrScheme in a system path, you should do this also as root, and also creating soft links for these is usually desirable so it is easy to run these applications, example: ln -s /usr/local/lib/plt/bin/* /usr/local/bin Also, remember to `rehash' so the shell will know about these immediately. 3. Updates ========== This is not part of the installation, it will be used to fix bugs and necessary files. Updates are being made automatically, when you run Swindle, use Auto-Update from the Language menu, and the system will be updated as necessary. This must be done when the machine is connected to the Internet. After an update has been performed, you will be asked to restart Swindle. If anything happens and the system is left in an unstable state, simply reload the plt or zip file again (as said above).