CSCE476/876: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

First, learn how to use the (great) editor Emacs, then try to run ACL from within emacs. A terrific combination. Speak to instructor for help.
Otherwise, you may use vscode (Visual Studio Code), speak to GTA for help.

Installing ACL

• ACL and Emacs on cse-linux-01.unl.edu, new server:
  1. Log with your UNL credentials: UID and UNL account password
  2. Execute the commad: setupacl.sh, this command will give you access to the ACL image and to the Lisp-Emacs interface initializations.
• ACL and Emacs on cse.unl.edu, old server):
  1. Log with your cse credentials, that is, username and password on cse.unl.edu
  2. Create, if you don't have one, a initialization file for emacs (likely, a file ~/.emacs on Linux or a file ~/.xemacs/init.el on Solaris).
  3. In the initialization file, add the following two lisp-like expressions (emacs itself is written in a Lisp-like language). For Linux, add:
     ;;; Allegro Common Lisp
     (load "/usr/local/acl100/eli/fi-site-init.el")
     (setq fi:common-lisp-image-name "/usr/local/acl100/alisp")
     
     Alert: do not confuse 1 (one) and l (the letter l) in the expressions above.
     The first line is a comment.
     The second line tells emacs how to interface with Lisp to facilitate your life,
     and the third line tells emacs which image of Lisp to load.
  4. To allow emacs to evaluate these two expressions (and thus account for the initialisations), exit emacs and re-start it by typing "emacs &" (alternatively, "xemacs &") in an xterm/console or from the dinosaur
• On the Lab's PCs under Linux:
  1. Boot a PC under Linux (not Windows) and log yourself on the localhost
  2. Start emacs by typing in a command shell "emacs &". If you are having trouble starting emacs, inform the System Administrator (systems@cse.unl.edu).

1. Start emacs/xemacs by typing in a command shell "xemacs &".
2. Now you are read to start playing with emacs:
   • The on-line tutorial of Emacs can be obtained by typing "ESC-x help-with-tutorial" or by printing the same file stored here for your convenience.
   • Go through the entire tutorial of Emacs, and execute it step by step, it is well worth your time.
3. Start ACL by typing "ESC-x fi:common-lisp". "fi" stands for Franz Inc., the vendor of Allegro Common Lisp.

Using composer: (requires X windows)
ACL has a terrific interactive development environment with a graphical inspector, debugger, profiler (time and space), etc. etc. The graphical environment requires font X windows, which may or may not be available to you. To use composer, you check out "Start composer" button in the menu buttons of emacs.  Alternatively, type i n your *common-lisp* buffer the following:

(require 'composer)
(composer:start-composer) alternatively, you can also use the buttons on the top of the emacs window.

Please let us know quickly if you are encountering any problems. Contact the instructor during office hours or ask for an appointment.