* Updates to authors and thanks files.

[bpt/guile.git] / doc / guile.texi

\input texinfo
@c -*-texinfo-*-
@c %**start of header
@setfilename guile.info
@settitle Guile Reference Manual
@c %**end of header

@c Neil's notes:

@c This file started life as a copy of guile-ref.texi, which I then
@c modified to reflect the organization described in
@c sources/jimb-org.texi.

@c Jim's notes:

@c Remember to use "subr" whereever appropriate.
@c Actually, use "primitive", not "subr."  Why coin a new term?
@c FIXME: gotta change existing "subr" uses to "Primitive".
@c In my text for the Guile snarfer, I've used the term "subr" to denote
@c a C function made available to the Scheme world as a function.  This
@c terminology is weird, but consistent with the function names and also
@c with Emacs Lisp, which I assume takes Maclisp's lead.

@c Tim's notes:

@c When adding a new function to the Guile manual, please document
@c it with @deffn as one of `primitive', `procedure', or `syntax'.
@c
@c The following Guile primitives are not documented.  We have a lot
@c of work to do.
@c
@c   arbiters.c: make-arbiter, try-arbiter, release-arbiter
@c   async.c: async, async-mark, system-async, system-async-mark,
@c      run-asyncs, noop, set-tick-rate, set-switch-rate,
@c      unmask-signals, mask-signals
@c   backtrace.c: backtrace, display-error, display-application,
@c      display-backtrace
@c   chars.c: char-is-both?
@c   debug.c: single-step, memoized?, unmemoize, memoized-environment,
@c      procedure-name, procedure-source, procedure-environment,
@c      local-eval, debug-object?, debug-hang
@c   dynl.c: c-registered-modules, c-clear-registered-modules,
@c      dynamic-link, dynamic-object?, dynamic-unlink, dynamic-func,
@c      dynamic-call, dynamic-args-call
@c   eval.c: procedure->syntax, procedure->macro, procedure->memoizing-macro,
@c      macro-name, macro-transformer
@c   fluids.c: make-fluid, fluid?, fluid-ref, fluid-set, with-fluids*
@c   gc.c: map-free-list, unhash-name
@c   kw.c: make-keyword-from-dash-symbol
@c   net_db.c: sethost, setnet, setproto, setserv
@c   print.c: current-pstate
@c   procs.c: make-cclo, closure?, thunk?
@c   read.c: read-hash-extend
@c   readline.c: readline, add-history
@c   srcprop.c: source-properties, set-source-properties!,
@c      source-property, set-source-property!
@c   stacks.c: make-stack, stack-ref, stack-length,
@c      frame?, last-stack-frame, frame-number, frame-source,
@c      frame-procedure, frame-arguments, frame-previous, frame-next,
@c      frame-real?, frame-procedure?, frame-evaluating-args?,
@c      frame-overflow
@c   struct.c: struct-vtable-tag
@c   symbols.c: builtin-weak-bindings
@c   tag.c: tag
@c   threads.c: single-active-thread?, yield, call-with-new-thread,
@c      make-condition-variable, wait-condition-variable,
@c      signal-condition-variable
@c   throw.c: lazy-catch, vector-set-length!
@c   unif.c: uniform-vector-ref, uniform-array-set1!
@c   variable.c: make-variable, make-undefined-variable, variable?,
@c      variable-ref, variable-set!, builtin-variable, variable-bound?
@c   weaks.c: make-weak-vector, weak-vector, list->weak-vector,
@c      weak-vector? make-weak-key-hash-table,
@c      make-weak-value-hash-table, make-doubly-weak-hash-table,
@c      weak-key-hash-table?, weak-value-hash-table?,
@c      doubly-weak-hash-table?
@c
@c If you have worked with some of these concepts, implemented them,
@c or just happen to know what they do, please write up a little
@c explanation -- it would be a big help.  Alternatively, if you
@c know of a great reason why some of these should *not* go in the
@c manual, please let me know.
@c
@c The following functions are currently left undocumented for various reasons.
@c   * should be documented in a section on debugging or Guile internals:
@c       ports.c: pt-size, pt-member
@c       eval.c: apply:nconc2last
@c
@c Thanks. -twp

@c Define indices that are used in the Guile Scheme part of the
@c reference manual to group stuff according to whether it is R5RS or a
@c Guile extension.
@defcodeindex rn
@defcodeindex ge

@include version.texi

@c @iftex
@c @cropmarks
@c @end iftex

@dircategory The Algorithmic Language Scheme
@direntry
* Guile Reference: (guile).     The Guile reference manual.
@end direntry

@setchapternewpage off

@ifinfo
Guile Reference Manual
Copyright (C) 1996 Free Software Foundation @*
Copyright (C) 1997 Free Software Foundation @*
Copyright (C) 2000 Free Software Foundation @*
Copyright (C) 2001 Free Software Foundation

Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
are preserved on all copies.

@ignore
Permission is granted to process this file through TeX and print the
results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
(this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
@end ignore

Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
manual 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 this manual
into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions,
except that this permission notice may be stated in a translation approved
by the Free Software Foundation.
@end ifinfo

@titlepage
@sp 10
@comment The title is printed in a large font.
@title Guile Reference Manual
@subtitle $Id: guile.texi,v 1.6 2001-04-28 09:00:31 ossau Exp $
@subtitle For use with Guile @value{VERSION}
@author Mark Galassi
@author Cygnus Solution and Los Alamos National Laboratory
@author @email{rosalia@@cygnus.com}
@author
@author Jim Blandy
@author Free Software Foundation and MIT AI Lab
@author @email{jimb@@red-bean.com}
@author
@author Gary Houston
@author @email{ghouston@@arglist.com}
@author
@author Tim Pierce
@author @email{twp@@skepsis.com}
@author
@author Neil Jerram
@author @email{neil@@ossau.uklinux.net}
@c The following two commands start the copyright page.
@page
@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
Copyright @copyright{} 1996 Free Software Foundation

Copyright @copyright{} 1997 Free Software Foundation

Copyright @copyright{} 2000 Free Software Foundation

Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
are preserved on all copies.

Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
manual 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 this manual
into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions,
except that this permission notice may be stated in a translation approved
by Free Software Foundation.
@end titlepage

@c @smallbook
@finalout
@headings double

@c Where to find Guile examples.
@set example-dir doc/examples

@ifinfo
@node Top, Guile License, (dir), (dir)
@top The Guile Reference Manual

This reference manual documents Guile, GNU's Ubiquitous Intelligent
Language for Extensions.  It describes how to use Guile in many useful
and interesting ways.

This Info file contains edition 1.0 of the reference manual,
corresponding to Guile version @value{VERSION}.
@end ifinfo

@menu
Preface

* Guile License::               Conditions for copying and using Guile.
* Manual Layout::               How to read the rest of this manual.

Part I: Introduction to Guile

* What is Guile?::              And what does it do?
* Whirlwind Tour::              An introductory whirlwind tour.      
* Reporting Bugs::              Reporting bugs in Guile or this manual.

Part II: Guile Scheme

* Scheme Intro::                Introduction to Guile Scheme.
* Basic Ideas::                 Basic ideas in Scheme.
* Data Types::                  Data types for generic use.
* Procedures and Macros::       Procedures and macros.
* Utility Functions::           General utility functions.
* Binding Constructs::          Definitions and variable bindings.
* Control Mechanisms::          Controlling the flow of program execution.
* Input and Output::            Ports, reading and writing.
* Read/Load/Eval::              Reading and evaluating Scheme code.
* Memory Management::           Memory management and garbage collection.
* Objects::                     Low level object orientation support.
* Modules::                     Designing reusable code libraries.
* Scheduling::                  Threads, mutexes, asyncs and dynamic roots.
* Options and Config::          Runtime options and configuration.
* Translation::                 Support for translating other languages.
* Debugging::                   Internal debugging interface.
* Deprecated::                  Features that are planned to disappear.
* Further Reading::             Where to find out more about Scheme programming.
* R5RS Index::
* Guile Extensions Index::

Part III: Guile Modules

* SLIB::                        Using the SLIB Scheme library.
* POSIX::                       POSIX system calls and networking.
* SRFI-13/14::                  String library and character set library.
* Expect::                      Controlling interactive programs with Guile.
* The Scheme shell (scsh)::
        The SCSH compatibility module has been made an
        add-on, so maybe it shouldn't be documented here
        (though it is nice to have a link from here to the
        Guile-scsh manual, if one exists).
* Tcl/Tk Interface::

Part IV: Guile Scripting

* Guile Scripting::             How to write Guile scripts.
* Command Line Handling::       Command line options and arguments.
 
Part V: Extending Applications Using Guile

* Libguile Intro::              Using Guile as an extension language.
* GH::                          GH: a portable C to Scheme interface.
* Data Representation::         Data representation in Guile.
* Scheme Primitives::           Writing Scheme primitives in C.
* I/O Extensions::              Using and extending ports in C.
* Handling Errors::             How to handle errors in C code.

Appendices

* Obtaining and Installing Guile::
* Debugger User Interface::

Indices

* Concept Index::
* Procedure Index::
* Variable Index::
* Type Index::

@end menu

@include preface.texi

@c preliminary
@iftex
@page
@unnumbered{Part I: Introduction to Guile}
@end iftex

@include intro.texi

@c programming in Scheme
@iftex
@page
@unnumbered{Part II: Guile Scheme}
@end iftex

@include scheme-intro.texi
@include scheme-ideas.texi
@include scheme-data.texi
@include scheme-procedures.texi
@include scheme-utility.texi
@include scheme-binding.texi
@include scheme-control.texi
@include scheme-io.texi
@include scheme-evaluation.texi
@include scheme-memory.texi
@include scheme-modules.texi
@include scheme-scheduling.texi
@c object orientation support here
@include scheme-options.texi
@include scheme-translation.texi
@include scheme-debug.texi
@include deprecated.texi
@include scheme-reading.texi
@include scheme-indices.texi

@c Unix system interface
@iftex
@page
@unnumbered{Part III: Guile Modules}
@end iftex

@include slib.texi
@include posix.texi
@include srfi-13-14.texi
@include expect.texi
@include scsh.texi
@include tcltk.texi

@c Guile as an scripting language
@iftex
@page
@unnumbered{Part IV: Guile Scripting}
@end iftex

@include scripts.texi
@include script-getopt.texi

@c Guile as an extension language
@iftex
@page
@unnumbered{Part V: Extending Applications Using Guile}
@end iftex

@include extend.texi
@include gh.texi
@include data-rep.texi
@include scm.texi

@c Appendices
@iftex
@page
@unnumbered{Appendices}
@end iftex

@include appendices.texi

@c Indices
@iftex
@page
@unnumbered{Indices}
@end iftex

@include indices.texi

@contents

@bye