4 @setfilename guile.info
5 @settitle Guile Reference Manual
7 @set MANUAL-EDITION 1.1
10 @include lib-version.texi
13 This reference manual documents Guile, GNU's Ubiquitous Intelligent
14 Language for Extensions. This is edition @value{MANUAL-EDITION}
15 corresponding to Guile @value{VERSION}.
17 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Free
20 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
21 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or
22 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
23 no Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover Texts being ``A GNU
24 Manual,'' and with the Back-Cover Text ``You are free to copy and
25 modify this GNU Manual.''. A copy of the license is included in the
26 section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
32 @c We no longer use the category "primitive" to distinguish C-defined
33 @c Scheme procedures from those defined in Scheme. Instead, the
34 @c reference manual now includes a C declaration as well as a Scheme
35 @c declaration for each procedure that is available in both Scheme and
38 @c When adding a new reference entry to the Guile manual, please
39 @c document it with @deffn using one of the following categories:
46 @c If the entry is for a new primitive, it should have both a @deffn
47 @c {Scheme Procedure} line and a @deffnx {C Function} line; see the
48 @c manual source for plenty of existing examples of this.
50 @c For {C Function} entries where the return type and all parameter
51 @c types are SCM, we omit the SCMs. This is easier to read and also
52 @c gets round the problem that Texinfo doesn't allow a @deftypefnx
55 @c For a list of Guile primitives that are not yet incorporated into the
56 @c reference manual, see the file `new-docstrings.texi', which holds all
57 @c the docstrings snarfed from the libguile C sources for primitives
58 @c that are not in the reference manual. If you have worked with some
59 @c of these concepts, implemented them, or just happen to know what they
60 @c do, please write up a little explanation -- it would be a big help.
61 @c Alternatively, if you know of any reason why some of these should
62 @c *not* go in the manual, please let the mailing list
63 @c <guile-devel@gnu.org> know.
65 @c Define indices that are used in the Guile Scheme part of the
66 @c reference manual to group stuff according to whether it is R5RS or a
70 @c vnew - For (some) new items, indicates the Guile version in which
71 @c item first appeared. In future, this could be made to expand to
72 @c something like a "New in Guile 45!" banner.
77 @c The following, @le{} and @ge{}, are standard tex directives, given
78 @c definitions for use in non-tex.
89 @c @cross{} is a \times symbol in tex, or an "x" in info. In tex it works
90 @c inside or outside $ $.
92 \gdef\cross{\ifmmode\times\else$\times$\fi}
100 @c @m{T,N} is $T$ in tex or @math{N} otherwise. This is an easy way to give
101 @c different forms for math in tex and info.
113 @c @nicode{S} is plain S in info, or @code{S} elsewhere. This can be used
114 @c when the quotes that @code{} gives in info aren't wanted, but the
115 @c fontification in tex or html is wanted. @alias is used rather
116 @c than @macro because backslashes don't work properly in an @macro.
129 @dircategory The Algorithmic Language Scheme
131 * Guile Reference: (guile). The Guile reference manual.
134 @setchapternewpage odd
138 @comment The title is printed in a large font.
139 @title Guile Reference Manual
140 @subtitle Edition @value{MANUAL-EDITION}, for use with Guile @value{VERSION}
141 @c @subtitle $Id: guile.texi,v 1.49 2008-03-19 22:51:23 ossau Exp $
143 @c See preface.texi for the list of authors
144 @author The Guile Developers
146 @c The following two commands start the copyright page.
148 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
149 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
157 @c Where to find Guile examples.
158 @set example-dir doc/examples
161 @node Top, Preface, (dir), (dir)
162 @top The Guile Reference Manual
171 * Introduction to Guile::
173 * Programming in Scheme::
184 * Data Representation:: All the details.
185 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license of this manual.
199 @include preface.texi
203 @node Programming in Scheme
204 @chapter Programming in Scheme
206 Guile's core language is Scheme, and an awful lot can be achieved simply
207 by using Guile to write and run Scheme programs. In this part of the
208 manual, we explain how to use Guile in this mode, and describe the tools
209 that Guile provides to help you with script writing, debugging and
210 packaging your programs for distribution.
212 For readers who are not yet familiar with the Scheme language, this part
213 includes a chapter that presents the basic concepts of the language, and
214 gives references to freely available Scheme tutorial material on the
217 For detailed reference information on the variables, functions
218 etc. that make up Guile's application programming interface (API),
219 @xref{API Reference}.
222 * Basic Ideas:: Basic ideas in Scheme.
223 * Guile Scheme:: Guile's implementation of Scheme.
224 * Guile Scripting:: How to write Guile scripts.
225 * Using Guile Interactively:: Guile's REPL features.
226 * Using Guile in Emacs:: Guile and Emacs.
227 * Further Reading:: Where to find out more about Scheme.
230 @include scheme-ideas.texi
231 @include scheme-intro.texi
232 @include scheme-scripts.texi
233 @include scheme-using.texi
234 @include scheme-reading.texi
236 @node Programming in C
237 @chapter Programming in C
239 This part of the manual explains the general concepts that you need to
240 understand when interfacing to Guile from C. You will learn about how
241 the latent typing of Scheme is embedded into the static typing of C, how
242 the garbage collection of Guile is made available to C code, and how
243 continuations influence the control flow in a C program.
245 This knowledge should make it straightforward to add new functions to
246 Guile that can be called from Scheme. Adding new data types is also
247 possible and is done by defining @dfn{smobs}.
249 The @ref{Programming Overview} section of this part contains general
250 musings and guidelines about programming with Guile. It explores
251 different ways to design a program around Guile, or how to embed Guile
252 into existing programs.
254 There is also a pedagogical yet detailed explanation of how the data
255 representation of Guile is implemented, @xref{Data Representation}.
256 You don't need to know the details given there to use Guile from C,
257 but they are useful when you want to modify Guile itself or when you
258 are just curious about how it is all done.
260 For detailed reference information on the variables, functions
261 etc. that make up Guile's application programming interface (API),
262 @xref{API Reference}.
265 * Linking Programs With Guile:: More precisely, with the libguile library.
266 * Linking Guile with Libraries:: To extend Guile itself.
267 * General Libguile Concepts:: General concepts for using libguile.
268 * Defining New Types (Smobs):: Adding new types to Guile.
269 * Function Snarfing:: A way to define new functions.
270 * Programming Overview:: An overview of Guile programming.
273 @include libguile-linking.texi
274 @include libguile-extensions.texi
275 @include libguile-concepts.texi
276 @include libguile-smobs.texi
277 @include libguile-snarf.texi
278 @include libguile-program.texi
281 @chapter API Reference
283 Guile provides an application programming interface (@dfn{API}) to
284 developers in two core languages: Scheme and C. This part of the manual
285 contains reference documentation for all of the functionality that is
286 available through both Scheme and C interfaces.
289 * API Overview:: Overview of the Guile API.
290 * The SCM Type:: The fundamental data type for C code.
291 * Initialization:: Initializing Guile.
292 * Snarfing Macros:: Macros for snarfing initialization actions.
293 * Simple Data Types:: Numbers, strings, booleans and so on.
294 * Compound Data Types:: Data types for holding other data.
295 * Smobs:: Defining new data types in C.
296 * Procedures and Macros:: Procedures and macros.
297 * Utility Functions:: General utility functions.
298 * Binding Constructs:: Definitions and variable bindings.
299 * Control Mechanisms:: Controlling the flow of program execution.
300 * Input and Output:: Ports, reading and writing.
301 * Read/Load/Eval:: Reading and evaluating Scheme code.
302 * Memory Management:: Memory management and garbage collection.
303 * Objects:: Low level object orientation support.
304 * Modules:: Designing reusable code libraries.
305 * Scheduling:: Threads, mutexes, asyncs and dynamic roots.
306 * Options and Config:: Configuration, features and runtime options.
307 * Translation:: Support for translating other languages.
308 * Internationalization:: Support for gettext, etc.
309 * Debugging:: Debugging infrastructure and Scheme interface.
312 @include api-overview.texi
313 @include api-scm.texi
314 @include api-init.texi
315 @include api-snarf.texi
316 @include api-data.texi
317 @include api-compound.texi
318 @include api-smobs.texi
319 @include api-procedures.texi
320 @include api-utility.texi
321 @include api-binding.texi
322 @include api-control.texi
324 @include api-evaluation.texi
325 @include api-memory.texi
326 @include api-modules.texi
327 @include api-scheduling.texi
328 @c object orientation support here
329 @include api-options.texi
330 @include api-translation.texi
331 @include api-i18n.texi
332 @include api-debug.texi
335 @chapter Guile Modules
338 * SLIB:: Using the SLIB Scheme library.
339 * POSIX:: POSIX system calls and networking.
340 * getopt-long:: Command line handling.
341 * SRFI Support:: Support for various SRFIs.
342 * Readline Support:: Module for using the readline library.
343 * Value History:: Maintaining a value history in the REPL.
344 * Pretty Printing:: Nicely formatting Scheme objects for output.
345 * Formatted Output:: The @code{format} procedure.
346 * File Tree Walk:: Traversing the file system.
347 * Queues:: First-in first-out queuing.
348 * Streams:: Sequences of values.
349 * Buffered Input:: Ports made from a reader function.
350 * Expect:: Controlling interactive programs with Guile.
351 * The Scheme shell (scsh):: Using scsh interfaces in Guile.
352 * Tracing:: Tracing program execution.
357 @include mod-getopt-long.texi
358 @include srfi-modules.texi
359 @include repl-modules.texi
360 @include misc-modules.texi
363 @include scheme-debugging.texi
365 @include autoconf.texi
367 @include data-rep.texi
375 @include indices.texi
376 @include scheme-indices.texi