Release notes for SICStus Prolog release 3.8, October 1999. Copyright 1988-1999 SICS, Sweden.
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of these notes provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of these notes under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of these notes into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions, except that this permission notice may be stated in a translation approved by SICS.
These notes summarize the changes in release 3 wrt. previous SICStus Prolog releases as well as changes introduced by patch releases. Platform specific information pertaining to certain parts of the system are also documented herein.
This chapter assumes that the environment variable PATH includes
<prefix>/bin, where <prefix> points to the SICStus
installation directory. The installation directory is specified during
installation, see UNIX installation. For example:
csh,tcsh> setenv PATH "/usr/local/bin:$path" sh,bash,ksh> export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$path"
The SP_PATH environment variable can be used to override the
location of the SICStus Runtime Library. There are two situations where
it is justified to use it.
--moveable option has been given to spld when building
the executable.
NULL is passed in the
third argument to SP_initialize.
The correct value of this variable in both cases is
/usr/local/lib/sicstus-3.8, assuming SICStus was installed in
/usr/local.
The SICStus binary distributions are encrypted with the crypt
program. If you do not have crypt on your machine, you can
download a public domain crypt utility available via anonymous FTP from
ftp://ftp.sics.se/archive/sicstus3/crypt.tar.gz
The enclosed README files describes how to compile it.
Most users will install SICStus from a binary distribution. These are available for all supported platforms. Information on how to download and unpack the binary distribution is sent by email when ordering SICStus.
Binary distributions are installed by executing a interactive
installation script called InstallSICStus. Type
% InstallSICStus
and follow the instructions on the screen.
During the installation, you will be required to enter your site-name and license code. These are included in the download instructions.
The installation program does not only copy files to their destination,
it also performs final link steps for some of the executables and for
the library modules requiring third-party software support (currently
library(bdb), library(tcltk), and
library(jasper)). This is done in order to adapt to local
variations in installation paths and versions.
Compiling SICStus from the sources requires a source code distribution,
available on request for customers with maintenance contract. Contact
sicstus@sics.se for more info.
Instructions for compiling and installing SICStus from the source code
is available in the files README and INSTALL in the source
code distribution.
The utilities splfr and spld are implemented as Perl
scripts and can be customized in order to adapt to local
variations. Do not attempt this unless you know what you are
doing. Customization is done by editing their common configuration
file spld.config. Follow these instructions:
spld.config. It should be located
in the same directory as splfr and spld.
spld.config, lets call it
hacked_spld.config. Do not edit the original file.
CFLAGS=-g
-O2. Edit these according to your needs. Do not add or remove any
flags.
spld.config together with
spld or splfr like this
% spld [...] --config=/path/to/hacked_spld.configReplace
/path/to with the actual path to the hacked configuration
file.
To compile the glue code file and user code, use the compiler options
assigned to INCR_CFLAGS by ./configure. In addition
also include -DSPDLL.
The object files are then linked into a dynamic linked foreign resource.
For this you will normally use the linker whose name was assigned to
SHLD by ./configure and linker options assigned to
SHLDFLAGS. The resource will consist of the file
ResourceName.Suffix where Suffix is the value assigned
to SHSFX by ./configure. The defaults are
SHLD= ld SHLDFLAGS= -shared SHSFX= so
E.g. on Sparc/SunOS 5.X:
% cc -c -DSPDLL glue_code.c % cc -c -DSPDLL mycode.c % ld -shared glue_code.o mycode.o -o myresource.so
Libraries needed by the resource should normally also be included in the link command line.
Functions in C++ files which should be called from Prolog must be enclosed like e.g:
extern "C" {
void myfun(long i)
{...};
};
To build a dynamic linked foreign resource with C++ code, you may (depending on platform) have to explicitly include certain libraries. E.g. on Sparc/SunOS 5.X using gcc:
% splfr .... -LD -L/usr/gnu/lib/gcc-lib/sparc-sun-solaris2.4/2.7.0 -lgcc
The library path is installation dependent, of course.
There are currently no platform specific notes.
This section contains some installation notes which are platform specific under UNIX.
library(bdb),
library(db), library(tcltk), library(jasper).
When a runtime system is redistributed to third parties, only the
following files may be included in the distribution.
All filenames are relative to <prefix>/lib/sicstus-3.8:
../*.{a,so,sl,dylib}
bin/sprt.sav
bin/jasper.jar
library/*.{tcl
,po}
library/*/*.{s.o,so,sl,dylib}
library/*/*.po
This chapter assumes that the environment variable PATH includes
%SP_PATH%\bin, where SP_PATH points to the SICStus
installation directory. For example:
C:\> set PATH=c:\Program Files\sicstus3\bin;%PATH%
You may also want to include the paths to Tcl/Tk (see Tcl/Tk notes), Java (see Getting Started), and Berkeley DB (see Berkeley DB notes).
The development system comes in two flavors:
The distribution consists of a single, self-installing executable
(sp3w32.exe) containing development system, runtime support
files, library sources, and manuals.
Installed files on a shared drive can be reused for installation on other machines.
SICStus Prolog requires a license code to run. You should have received from SICS your site name, the expiration date and the code. This information is normally entered during installation:
Expiration date: ExpirationDate Site: Site License Code: Code
but it can also be entered later on by executing the following commands at a command prompt:
% splm -i Site % splm -a sicstus3.8 ExpirationDate Code
splfr as described in the user's manual.
splfr and spld should not have
embedded spaces. The reason for this is that not all C-compilers/linkers
seem to support quoting of file name arguments.
This section describes how to launch a runtime system on a so called target machine, i.e. a machine which does not have SICStus installed.
In order to locate all relevant files, the following directory structure is recommended.
myapp.exe
sprt38.dll
sp38\
+--- bin\
| +--- sprt.sav
+--- library\
+--- <files from %SP_PATH%\library>
myapp.exe is typically created by a call to spld:
% spld --main=user [...] -o ./myapp.exe
If the directory containing sprt38.dll contains a directory
called sp38, SICStus assumes that it is part of a Runtime System
as described in the picture. The runtime library (sprt.sav) is
then looked up in the directory (sp38/bin), as in the
picture. Furthermore, the initial library_directory/1 fact will
initially be set to the same directory with sp38/library
appended.
The directory structure under library/ should look like in a
regular installed SICStus, including the platform-specific subdirectory
(x86-win32-nt-4 in this case). If your application needs to use
library(system) and library(random), your directory
structure may look like:
myapp.exe
sprt38.dll
sp38\
+--- bin\
| +--- sprt.sav
+--- library\
+--- random.po
+--- system.po
+--- x86-win32-nt-4 \
+--- random.dll
+--- system.dll
The sp* files can also be put somewhere else in order to be
shared by several applications provided the sprt38.dll can be
located by the DLL search.
The 38 in the file names above is derived from SICStus's major and minor
version numbers, i.e. currently 3 and 8. Naming the files with version
number enables applications using different sicstus versions to install
the sp* files in the same directory.
There are three ready-made runtime systems provided with the
distributions, %SP_PATH%\bin\sprt.exe,
%SP_PATH%\library\sprtw.exe, and %SP_PATH%\bin\sprti.exe. These are created using spld:
% spld --main=restore main.sav -o sprt.exe % spld --main=restore main.sav -i -o sprti.exe % spld --main=restore main.sav --window -o sprtw.exe
These are provided for users who do not have a C-compiler available. The
programs launches a runtime system by restoring the saved state
main.sav (created by save_program/2) and then call the
predicate runtime_entry/1 (defined by the user), setting the
first argument to the atom start. Alternatively, the runtime
system's entry point may be specified using
save_program/2.
The program sprti.exe assumes that the standard streams are
connected to a terminal, even if they to not seem to be (useful under
Emacs, for example). sprtw.exe is a windowed executable,
corresponding to spwin.exe.
For more info on how spld works, see
The spld utility.
The use of the SP_PATH variable under Windows is discouraged,
since Windows applications can find out for themselves where they were
started from.
SP_PATH is only used if the directory where sprt<ver>.dll
is loaded from does not contain sp<ver> (a directory) or
sprt.sav (where <ver> is "38" for SICStus version
3.8(.x)). If SP_PATH is used, SICStus expects it to be set such
that %SP_PATH%/bin contains sprt.sav. See Launching Runtime Systems on Target Machines.
Command line editing supporting Emacs-like commands and IBMPC arrow keys is provided in the console-based executable. The following commands are available:
Options may be specified in the file %HOME%\spcmd.ini as:
Option Value
on separate lines. Recognized options are:
lines
save
%HOME%\spcmd.hst on exit, restore
history from the same file on start up.
The command line editing is switched off by giving the option
-nocmd when starting SICStus. Command line editing will be
automatically turned off if SICStus is run with piped input
(e.g. from Emacs).
The console window used for the windowed executable is based on code
written by Jan Wielemaker <jan@swi.psy.uva.nl>.
The stream-based console window is a completely separate library, using
its own configuration info. It will look at the environment variable
CONSOLE which should contain a string of the form
name:value{,name:value} where name is
one of:
sl
rows
cols
x
CW_USEDEFAULT.
y
CW_USEDEFAULT.
You will normally specify this in your autoexec.bat file. Here is
what an example:
% set CONSOLE=sl:600,x:400,y:400
Choosing <EOF> from the menu seems to generate an eternal <EOF> which is not useful for e.g. escaping a break level. Instead a C-d can be generated by typing C-q C-d.
character_escapes is set to off.
absolute_file_name/2 etc.
HOME or HOMEDRIVE and
HOMEPATH. The form ~username/ is not
expanded. The form $VAR/ is expanded using the value
of the environment variable VAR. The form
%VAR%/ is not recognized.
--resources
option to spld is a no-op.
user_error stream is line buffered.
top_level_events option to tk_new/2 is not
supported.
stream_select/3 is not supported.
stream_interrupt/3 is not supported.
library(timeout) is not supported.
library(sockets): The AF_UNIX address family is (unsurprisingly)
not supported; socket_select/[5,6] support only socket streams for
arg 4(5).
library(system): popen/3 is not supported.
kill/2 attempts to terminate the requested
process irrespectively of the 2nd arg.
When a runtime system is redistributed to third parties, only the
following files may be included in the distribution.
All filenames are relative to %SP_PATH%:
bin\sprt.sav
bin\jasper.jar
bin\*.dll
bin\*.po
library\*.{tcl,po}
library\*\*.dll
library\*\*.po
Tcl/Tk itself is not included in the SICStus distribution. It must be installed in order to use the interface. It can be downloaded from the Tcl/Tk primary website:
http://www.scriptics.com
The Tcl/Tk interface module included in SICStus Prolog 3.8
(library(tcltk)) is verified to work with Tcl/Tk
8.2. Previous versions of the interface have been verified to
work with Tcl/Tk versions 7.3/3.6, 7.4/4.0, 7.5/4.1, 7.6/4.2, 8.0, and
8.1. The current version of the interface may or may not work with these
versions.
Under UNIX, the installation program automatically detects the Tcl/Tk version (if the user does not specify it explicitly).
Under Windows, the binary distribution is compiled against Tcl/Tk 8.2. If you need to use an older Tcl/Tk, contact SICStus Support.
The Tcl/Tk interface module is not supported under the following platforms: IRIX, Mac OS X Server.
The Tcl/Tk interface includes a experimental terminal window based on Tcl/Tk. It is opened by using the (undocumented) predicate:
tk_terminal(Interp, TextWidget, InStream, OutStream, ErrStream)
.top.myterm, this predicate opens three
prolog streams for which the text widget acts as a terminal.
There is also a library(tkconsol), making use of
tk_terminal/5, which switches the Prolog top level to a Tk
window. This is done by simply loading the library module.
Jasper requires at least Java 2 (a.k.a. JDK 1.2) to run (the full development kit, not just the JRE). Jasper does not work with Visual J++ or Visual Café. Jasper is only supported under the following configurations:
http://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.2/
http://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.2/
http://www.blackdown.org/java-linux.html
This section describes some tips and hints on how to get the interface started. This is actually where most problems occur.
Under Windows, it is recommended that you add SICStus's and Java's DLL
directories to your %PATH%. This will enable Windows library
search method to locate all relevant DLLs. For SICStus, this is the same
as where sicstus.exe is located, usually C:/Program
Files/sicstus3/bin). For Java it is usually
C:/jdk1.2.2/jre/bin/classic and C:/jdk1.2.2/bin. For
example:
set PATH=C:/Program Files/sicstus3/bin;C:/jdk1.2.2/jre/bin/classic;\
C:/jdk1.2.2/bin;%PATH%
If SICStus is used as parent application, things are usually really
simple. Just execute the query | ?- use_module(library(jasper))..
After that, it is possible to perform meta-calls (as described in the
User's Manual), or load a foreign resource containing
foreign(...,java,...) predicates.
On some platforms, you may encounter the following error message:
% sicstus
SICStus 3.8 (sparc-solaris-5.5.1): Wed Sep 22 08:42:14 MET DST 1999
Licensed to SICS
| ?- use_module(library(jasper)).
[...]
{SYSTEM ERROR: 'Attempted to load Java engine into sbrk\'d
SICStus system (try starting SICStus with -m option)'}
[...]
Since most platforms don't allow sbrk() and malloc() to
coexist peacefully, SICStus refuses to load the JVM if not the -m
flag was given to SICStus. The message can, as the error message
suggests, be avoided if SICStus is started with the -m flag:
% sicstus -m
If Java is used as parent application, things are a little more
complicated. There are a couple of things which need to be taken care
of. The first is to specify the correct class path so that Java can find
the Jasper classes (SICStus, SPTerm, and so on). This is
done by specifying the pathname of the file jasper.jar:
% java -classpath $SP_PATH/bin/jasper.jar ...
SP_PATH does not need to be set; it is only used here as a
placeholder. See the documentation of the Java implementation for
more info on how to set classpaths.
The second is specify where Java should find the Jasper native library
(libjasper.so or jasper.dll), which is loaded into the JVM
by invoking the method System.loadLibrary("jasper"). This method
uses a platform dependent search method to locate the Jasper native
library, and quite often this method fails. A typical example of such a
failure looks like:
% java -classpath [...]/jasper.jar se.sics.jasper.SICStus Trying to load SICStus. Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: no jasper in java.library.path at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadLibrary(ClassLoader.java:1133) at java.lang.Runtime.loadLibrary0(Runtime.java:470) at java.lang.System.loadLibrary(System.java:745) at se.sics.jasper.SICStus.loadNativeCode(SICStus.java:37) at se.sics.jasper.SICStus.initSICStus(SICStus.java:80) at se.sics.jasper.SICStus.<init>(SICStus.java:111) at se.sics.jasper.SICStus.main(SICStus.java:25)
This can be fixed by explicitly setting the Java property
java.library.path to the location of libjasper.so (or
jasper.dll), like this:
% java -Djava.library.path=/usr/local/lib [...]
If this works properly, SICStus should have be loaded into the JVM
address space. The only thing left is to tell SICStus where the runtime
library (i.e. sprt.sav) is located. You may choose to specify
this explicitly by either givin a second argument when initializing the
SICStus object or by specifying the property sicstus.path:
Example (UNIX):
% java -Dsicstus.path=/usr/local/lib/sicstus-3.8
Example (Win32):
% java -Dsicstus.path="c:\Program Files\sicstus3"
If you do not specify any explicit path, SICStus will search for the runtime library itself.
If everything is setup correctly, you should be able to call main
(which contains a short piece of test-code) in the SICStus root class,
something like this:
% java -Djava.library.path=/usr/local/lib \
-classpath /usr/local/lib/sicstus-3.8/bin/jasper.jar \
se.sics.jasper.SICStus
Trying to load SICStus.
If you see this message, you have succesfully
initialized the SICStus Prolog engine.
It is similar under Win32, with the exception that the paths look slightly different.
It is highly recommended that you run your JDK in native threads
mode. This is the default under Windows. Under UNIX, most JDKs use
native threads per default in version 1.2. The installation script
InstallSICStus enables the user to disable native threads if
desired (and if allowed by the JDK).
SICStus does not allow multiple native threads executing simultaneous in
the emulator. In other words, all calls to SICStus have to be performed
from the same Java (native) thread. If this condition is
violated, a IllegalCallerException is thrown. There are also
methods in the SICStus class to check whether the current thread
is allowed to call SICStus methods, without throwing an exception. See
the se.sics.jasper package documentation for more info.
The simplest way of avoiding IllegalCallerExceptions being thrown
is to have a single, dedicated, Java-thread which is performs all the
calls to SICStus. Other threads wanting to call Prolog can synchronize
with the dedicated Java-thread using the methods wait() and
notify().
native. This is due to a
security-restriction enforced on applets; they are not allowed to call
native code.
-native
option when calling java. The following error is an example of
what may happen if you do not specify -native:
% java -classpath .:[...]/lib/sicstus-3.8/bin/jasper.jar -Djava.library.path=[...]/lib -Dsicstus.path=[...]./lib/sicstus-3.8 Simple *** panic: libthread loaded into green threads Abort (core dumped)
Instead, do
% java -native [...]
See your JDK documentation for more info on command-line parameters to the JVM.
[-chars], [-string], -chars, and
-string. They convert Java strings to UTF8 strings using
GetStringUTFChars(), but they do not call
ReleaseStringUTFChars() to release the string.
There is an examples directory available in
$SP_PATH/library/jasper/examples. See the file README for
more info.
There are almost infinitely many Java resources on the Internet. Here is a list of a few which are related to Jasper and JNI.
The Visual Basic - SICStus Prolog interface consists of the following files:
vbsp.dll (installed as SICStus\bin\vbsp.dll)
vbsp.po (installed as SICStus\bin\vbsp.po)
vbsp.bas (installed as SICStus\library\vbsp.bas)
In order to use the interface, perform the following steps:
vbsp.bas in your
Visual Basic project.
vbsp.dll and vbsp.po in a place where
DLLs are searched for (For example the same directory as your applications
EXE file or the Windows-System directory). This is true by default if
SICStus\bin\ is in the PATH environment variable.
As of SICStus 3.8, the library module library(db) has been
replaced by library(bdb). The functionality is similar, but
library(bdb) is built on top of Berkeley DB. Berkeley DB can be
downloaded from:
http://www.sleepycat.com
library(bdb) has been verified to work using Berkeley DB version
2.7.5.
When using Berkeley DB on Windows, you may want to set %PATH% to
contain the path to libdb.dll. Consult the Berkeley DB
documentation for further info.
The Emacs Interface was originally developed for GNU Emacs 19.34 and is presently being maintained using XEmacs 21.1 and tested with GNU Emacs 19.34.1. For best performance and compatibility and to enable all features we recommend that the latest versions of GNU Emacs or XEmacs are used.
Starting with SICStus 3.8 the Emacs interface is distributed with
SICStus and installed by default. The default installation location for
the emacs files is <prefix>/lib/sicstus-3.8/emacs/ on UNIX platforms and
C:/Program Files/SICStus/emacs/ on Windows.
For maximum performance it is recommended, that the Emacs lisp files (extension .el) are compiled. This can be done from within Emacs with the command M-x byte-compile-file. See Installation, for further details.
It is possible to look up the documentation for any built in or library
predicate from within Emacs (using C-c ? or the menu). For this to
work Emacs must be told about the location of the info-files that
make up the documentation. This can be done for the entire emacs
installation or on a per user basis, see Installation, for further details.
The default location for the info-files are
<prefix>/lib/sicstus-3.8/doc/info/ on UNIX platforms and
C:/Program Files/SICStus/doc/info/ on Windows.
More recent versions of GNU Emacs and XEmacs should be able to automatically incorporate info files from a subdirectory into the main Info documentation tree. It is therefore recommended that the SICStus Info files are kept together in their own directory.
This chapter summarizes the changes in release 3 wrt. previous SICStus Prolog releases as well as changes introduced by patch releases.
0'
notation denote escape sequences. Character escaping can be switched off.
call_residue/2 has been modified so that
goals that are disjunctively blocked on several variables are returned
correctly in the second argument.
setarg/3 has been removed. Its
functionality is provided by the new built-ins create_mutable/2,
get_mutable/2, update_mutable/2, and is_mutable/2,
which implement a timestamp technique for value-trailing with low-level
support.
unix/1 and plsys/1 have been
removed. Their functionality is provided by
prolog_flag(argv,X), by the new halt/1 built-in, and
by the new library(system) module which also contains several new
predicates.
library(sockets) module.
time_out/3 has been moved to the new
library(timeout) module.
term_hash/[2,4], subsumes_chk/2, and
term_subsumer/3 have been moved to the new library(terms)
module, which also contains operations for unification with occurs-check,
testing acyclicity, and getting the variables of a term.
+chars, -chars and [-chars] for fast conversion between
C strings and Prolog lists of character codes. Several new interface functions
are available.
SP_term_ref,
making the functions SP_show_term() and SP_hide_term() obsolete.
library(gmlib) has been replaced by
the Tcl/Tk based library(tcltk). A version of library(gmlib)
converted to SICStus Prolog release 3 is available from
ftp://ftps.ics.se/archive/sicstus3/gmlib.tar.gz.
library(objects) module has been enhanced.
self.
Prolog goals in methods must be prefixed by :.
library(charsio), the open_chars_stream/[3,4] predicates
have been replaced by open_chars_stream/2 and
with_output_to_chars/[2,3].
library(assoc) module now implements AVL trees instead of
unbalanced binary trees.
library(atts) implements
attributed variables, a general mechanism for associating logical variables
with arbitrary attributes. Comes with a number of hooks that make it
convenient to define and interface to constraint solvers.
library(clpb)
and is implemented on top of library(atts).
library(clpq)) and reals
(library(clpr)), implemented on top of library(atts).
user:goal_expansion/3 is a new hook predicate for macro-expansion.
bb_put/2, bb_get/2, bb_delete/2, and bb_update/3
are new built-ins implementing blackboard primitives.
prolog_load_context/2 is a new built-in predicate
for accessing aspects of the context of files being loaded.
user:file_search_path/2 is a new hook predicate
providing an alias expansion mechanism for filenames.
gcd/2 is a new built-in function.
walltime measures elapsed absolute time.
ensure_loaded/1 and use_module/[1,2,3]
have the same semantics as in development systems.
SP_foreign_reinit_hook is not supported.
~/.sicstusrc is not found, SICStus looks for
~/sicstus.ini.
library(sockets): socket_select/5 arg 1 may be a, possibly empty,
list of passive sockets, arg 3 returns a, possibly empty, list of new
streams.
library(system): The following new predicates are provided:
tmpnam/1, directory_files/2, file_property/2,
delete_file/2, make_directory/1.
library(clpfd)),
implemented on top of library(atts).
open/4, enables opening files in binary mode.
library(charsio): New predicate with_output_to_chars/4.
library(heaps): New predicates delete_from_heap/4, empty_heap/1, is_heap/1.
library(queues): New predicate is_queue/1.
library(sockets): New predicates: socket_accept/3, and
socket_select/6 provide address of connecting
client. hostname_address/2 resolves name/ip-number.
SP_atom_length returns the print name length of a Prolog atom.
toplevel_print_options and debugger_print_options are new
Prolog flags controlling the toplevel's and debugger's printing behavior.
is_mutable/1 is a new built-in which is true for mutables.
~@ is a new spec in format/[2,3] for arbitrary goals.
toplevel_print_options and debugger_print_options are new
Prolog flags controlling the toplevel's and debugger's printing behavior.
is_mutable/1 is a new built-in which is true for mutables.
~@ is a new spec in format/[2,3] for arbitrary goals.
library(clpfd))
has been enhanced by a programming interface for global constraints,
improved compilation to library constraints and other performance
enhancements, and by a number of new exported constraints.
library(objects): New hook predicate user:method_expansion/3.
library(sockets): socket_select/5 has extended functionality.
format/[2,3] fixed.
save_program/[1,2] with native code fixed.
library(chr) fixed, and a couple of new constraint handlers
fixed.
module/2 decl.
library(tcltk).
library(chr): A new library module providing Constraint Handling
Rules; see
http://www.pst.informatik.uni-muenchen.de/~fruehwir/chr-solver.html
library(jasper).
garbage_collect_atoms/0, and
controlled by the agc_margin Prolog flag. New statistics
options: atoms, atom_garbage_collection.
New interface functions: SP_register_atom, SP_unregister_atom.
call_cleanup/2, which
replaces undo/1.
source_info Prolog
flag.
zip and built-ins zip/0, nozip/0; new debugger
commands out n, skip i, quasi-skip
i, zip, backtrace n, raise exception.
Modules can be declared as hidden which disables tracing of their
predicates.
save/[1,2] are gone. In most cases, save_program/2 can be
used in their place, with a little rearrangement of your code.
Predicates can be declared as volatile.
SP_restore is the C equivalent of
restore/1, which now only restores the program state, leaving the
Prolog execution stacks unchanged.
read_term/3 option: layout(-Layout).
New hook predicate: user:term_expansion/4.
random:randset/3 returns a set in standard order.
db:db_canonical/[2,3] are new; can be used to check whether two
TermRefs refer to the same term.
clpfd:serialized_precedence/3 and
clpfd:serialized_precedence_resource/4 are new; model
non-overlapping tasks with precedence constraints or sequence-dependent
setup times.
:Goal are
translated according to the manual. Earlier
versions treated arguments occurring in the : position of
meta-predicates specially.
SP_raise_fault and interface macro
SP_on_fault are available for handling runtime faults that cannot
be caught as exceptions.
SP_set_memalloc_hooks is available for
redefining the memory manager's bottom layer. Related to that, there is
a new command-line option -m.
-B command-line option is gone in the start-up script, and
some new options have appeared.
-base to override the executable used by
the start-script.
reinitialise/0 does not load any initialization files given in
-i or -l command line flags.
-S to spmkrs and spmkds to
link the SICStus Runtime Kernel (and development extensions for
spmkds) statically into the executable.
[File1,File2,...] was broken.
require/1 did not find all directories.
clp[qr]:dump/3, clp[qr]:expand/0,
clp[qr]:noexpand/0.
arrays:arefa/3, arrays:arefl/3, heaps:min_of_heap/5
are now steadfast.
library(clpfd) predicates now check the type of their arguments.
Bugs fixed in relation/3, serialized/2, all_distinct/1.
frozen/2 could crash on an argument of the wrong type.
SP_get_list_n_chars does not require a proper list.
load_files(Files, [compilation_mode(assert_all)]).
load_files(Files, [if(changed)]), a non-module file is
not considered to have been previously loaded if it was loaded into a
different module.
if/3 goals in DCG rules.
system:mktemp/2 sometimes returned filenames with
backslashes in them.
object in Jasper has changed to
object(Class).
splfr, spmkrs, spmkds.
format/[2,3] fixed.
save_program/[1,2] with native code fixed.
library(chr) fixed, and a couple of new constraint handlers
fixed.
module/2 decl.
library(tcltk).
Wide character handling is introduced, with the following highlights:
For programs using the default ISO_8859_1 character set, the introduction of wide characters is transparent, except for the string format change in the foreign interface, see below.
In programs using the EUC character set, the multibyte EUC characters are now input as a single, up to 23 bit wide, character code. This character code can be easily decomposed into its constituent bytes, if needed. The encoding function is described in detail in the SICStus manual.
To support wide characters, the foreign interfaces now use UTF-8 encoding for strings containing non-ASCII characters (codes >= 128). This affects programs with strings that contain e.g. accented characters and which transfer such strings between Prolog and C. If such a string is created on the C side, it should be converted to UTF-8, before passing it to Prolog. Similarly for a string passed from Prolog to C, if it is to be decomposed into characters on the C side, the inverse transformation has to be applied.
Utility functions SP_code_wci and SP_wci_code are provided
to support the conversion of strings between the WCI (Wide Character
Internal encoding, i.e. UTF-8) format and wide character codes.
A new general debugger is introduced, with advanced debugging features and an advice facility. It generalizes the notion of spypoint to that of the breakpoint. Breakpoints make it possible to e.g. stop the program at a specified line, or in a specified line range, or to call arbitrary Prolog goals at specified ports, etc. Highlights:
add_breakpoint/2, spy/2, current_breakpoint/4,
remove_breakpoints/1, disable_breakpoints/1,
enable_breakpoints/1, execution_state/1, and
execution_state/2. user:debugger_command_hook/2 is a new
hook predicate.
The predicates nospy/1 and nospyall/0 have slighty changed meaning.
The predicate spypoint_condition/3 has been removed.
SICStus 3.8 supports standard Prolog, adhering to the International
Standard ISO/IEC 13211-1 (PROLOG: Part 1--General Core). At the same
time it also supports programs written in earlier versions of SICStus.
This is achieved by introducing two execution modes iso and
sicstus. Users can change between the modes using the prolog flag
language. Main issues:
sicstus execution mode is practically identical to 3.7.1, except for
minor changes in error term format.
iso mode is fully compliant with ISO standard, but no strict
conformance mode is provided.
sicstus execution
mode, unless they conflict with existing SICStus predicates or
functions. This expansion of the language carries a remote risk of name
clashes with user code.
spmkds and spmkrs utilities for creating stand-alone
executables have been replaced by a common spld utility which
takes several new options. Runtime systems do not always need a main
program in C. On Windows, the resulting executable can optionally be
windowed. The splfr utility takes several new options.
The development and runtime kernels have been merged into a single one.
save_files/2, save_modules/2, and save_predicates/2
respectively. These predicates create files in a binary format, by
default with the prefix .po (for Prolog object file), which can
be loaded by load_files/[1,2]. The load_type(Type) option
of load_files/2 has been extended. Partial saved states render
.ql files obsolescent.
trimcore/0 reclaims any dead clauses
and predicates, defragmentizes Prolog's memory, and attempts to return
unused memory to the operating system. It is called automatically at
every top level query.
host_type
is an atom identifying the platform, such as 'x86-linux-glibc2.1'.
source_info Prolog flag, introduced in
release 3.7, has been extended beyond the Emacs interface. Line number
information is now included in error exceptions whenever possible. This
information is displayed in debugging and error messages (outside Emacs)
or causes Emacs to highlight the culprit line of code. Valid values are
off, on, and emacs.
spy/[1,2], nospy/1, listing/1, abolish/1,
profile_data/4, profile_reset/1,
save_predicates/2, and gauge:view/1.
SP_chdir() and SP_getcwd()
provide access to the current working directory.
SP_load() has been generalized to
correspond to load_files/1.
SP_deinitialize() is now documented.
sprt<xx>.dll. SP_PATH is only used as a last
resort. See Windows notes.
README and INSTALL in the source
distribution for documentation.
library(bdb) provides an interface to the Berkeley DB
toolset for persistent storage, and replaces library(db). The
programming interface of the new module is similar to that of the old
one, with some new concepts added such as iterators. The sources
of the old library module are available from:
ftp://ftp.sics.se/archive/sicstus3/libdb.tgz
library(db) is obsolete and will be removed in the next major
release.
spld and
exist in three flavors: generic character based (sprt.exe),
generic character based interactive (sprti.exe), and generic
windowed (sprtw.exe). See Generic Runtime Systems.
library(tcltk) has been rewritten and greatly
expanded.
library(clpq) and library(clpr): new predicates inf/4 and sup/4.
library(gcla) has been removed.
initialization/[0,1] have been replaced by ISO compliant
initializations.
library(jasper) will not
work using JDK 1.1.x.
jasper to se.sics.jasper,
according to JavaSoft guidelines. See Getting Started.
jasper.jar, which is located in
$SP_PATH/bin. See Getting Started.
jasper.dll or libjasper.so)
is now located in the same directory as the runtime kernel (default
<installdir>/lib under UNIX, <installdir>/bin under
Windows). See Getting Started.
jasper_call_instance/6,
jasper_call_static/6, etc.). This makes it possible to call Java
without having to generate any glue-code (i.e. without a C-compiler).
jasper_create_global_ref/3, jasper_delete_global_ref/2,
jasper_delete_local_ref/2).
SPException.term declared protected instead of private.
SPCanonicalAtom to handle canonical representations of
atoms and to make sure that they are safe with atom-gc. New methods
getCanonicalAtom and putCanonicalAtom. New constructor for
SPPredicate. getAtom and putAtom deprecated.
IllegalCallerException is thrown if the current
thread is not allowed to call SICStus.
fd_degree/2 is new; returns the number of constraints attached to
a variable.
labeling/2 requires the list of domain variables to have bounded
domains. User-defined variable and value choice heuristics can be
provided.
element/3 is interval-consistent in its second and third
arguments. Use relation/3 if domain-consistency is required.
serialized/3 is new and replaces serialized_precedence/3
and serialized_precedence_resource/4. A number of new options
control the algorithm. The space complexity no longer depends on the
domain size.
cumulative/5 is new and takes the same options as
serialized/3.
all_different/2, all_distinct/2 and assignment/3
are new and take options controlling the algorithms.
absolute_file_name/2: could crash under IRIX; nested compound terms allowed
call_cleanup/2: efficiency
close/1: efficiency; handling the standard streams
format/[2,3]: ~N didn't work as expected;
are now meta-predicates--needed by the ~@ format spec
load_files/[1,2]: avoid changing directory; don't loop on duplicate exports
load_foreign_resource/1: filenames containing periods on WinNT
print_message/2: in runtime systems
prolog_load_context/2: value of term_position
reinitialise/0: sequencing of events
save_program/[1,2]: fastcode handling; file mode creation masks; in runtime systems
write_term/[1,2]: the indented(true) option and non-ground terms
library(db): efficiency of term deletion
library(heaps): delete_from_heap/4
library(objects): the new/2 method; cyclic dependencies
library(random): determinacy and efficiency
library(sockets): noisy startup on Windows; block buffering is now the default
library(system): sleep/1 admits floats as well as integers
library(terms): subsumes_chk/2 and variant/2 now don't unblock goals
+chars; syntax
error messages were suppressed
print_message/2 interface
.ql files
load_files/[1,2]
=\=). Note
that X is nan, X =:= X fails.
On 32-bit architectures, the total data space cannot exceed 256 Mb.
The Linux implementation of sbrk() returns memory starting at
0x08000000, so in practice the limit there is 128 Mb.
The number of arguments of a compound term may not exceed 255.
The number of atoms created may not exceed 262143.
The number of characters of an atom may not exceed 65535.
NUL is not a legal character in atoms.
There are 256 "temporary" and 256 "permanent" variables available for compiled clauses.
Saved states are not portable between 32-bit and 64-bit architectures, or from a system built with native code support to a system without native code support for the same architecture.
Indexing on big integers or floats is coarse.
Current support status for the various platforms can be found at the SICStus Homepage:
http://www.sics.se/sicstus/
Information about and fixes for bugs which have shown up since the latest release can be found there as well.
Send requests for ordering information to
sicstus-request@sics.se
Send bug reports to
sicstus-support@sics.se
Bugs tend actually to be fixed if they can be isolated, so it is in your interest to report them in such a way that they can be easily reproduced.
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