Web digitool.com

MCL Support

Support Options

• Support from Digitool
  • Per-incident support
  • Annual support
• Free support resources
  • Free community-based support via mailing lists
  • Is there an internet ftp site for MCL?
  • What if I don't have ftp access?
  • Where can I get patches?
  • Where can I get more information about Common Lisp?

Per-incident support from Digitool

Technical support for MCL is available on a pay-per-incident basis direct from Digitool engineers. This includes answering a technical question or providing the applicable patch. Per incident support is via email and is priced according to the complexity of the incident. The basic incident cost is $25 and typically covers most questions regarding patches, errors, etc. If your question or problem requires substantially more work and custom code writing on the part of our engineers, they will quote the cost as appropriate.

Submit your technical support questions by using the following link. Your credit card payment (or otherwise) is handled securely via the MoneyedMail service:

• TO: incident-support@digitool.com and CC: 25dollars@moneyedmail.com.
  
  

You must CC MoneyedMail in your email as per the link above. Once you've submitted your question, you'll receive email instructions from MoneyedMail for processing your credit card payment via a secure web page.

Annual support from Digitool

Technical support for MCL is also available on an annual support contract basis. Annual support provides unlimited email support as well as access to all patches. Annual support costs $200 for companies and individuals, $160 for educational institutions, and $140 for full time students.

You may purchase annual support using one of the email links below. Your credit card payment (or otherwise) is handled securely via the MoneyedMail service.

Companies and individuals: to purchase an annual support contract, send email via the following link:
            TO: orders@digitool.com and CC: 200dollars@moneyedmail.com

Educational institutions: To purchase an annual support contract, send email via the following link:
            TO: orders@digitool.com and CC:160dollars@moneyedmail.com

Students (full time): To purchase an annual support contract, send email via the following link:
            TO: orders@digitool.com and CC: 140dollars@moneyedmail.com

You must CC MoneyedMail in your email as per the link above. Once you've submitted your order, you'll receive email instructions from MoneyedMail for processing your credit card payment via a secure web page.

To submit a support question while you are under an annual support contract, send email via the following link:
            TO: support@digitool.com

Community based support vial mailing lists

There are three mailing lists for MCL, each aimed at a different degree of detail or immediacy. Here are the details.

Is there an internet ftp site for MCL?

Of course; it is at ftp.digitool.com. Please be sure to read the details about our ftp site to learn what it has to offer.

What if I don't have ftp access?

Most files are also made available on the MCL CD-ROM, which is included with the purchase of MCL.

Where can I get patches?

On the Internet, you can get patches from the /mcl/patches/ directory on the anonymous FTP server at digitool.com.

Where can I get more information about Common Lisp?

Chapter 5 of the MCL 3.0 manual ("Where to Go From Here") contains many useful references, including a bibliography of popular Common Lisp textbooks.

The comp.lang.lisp newsgroup is another excellent source of information about Common Lisp and other lisp dialects.

A comprehensive "Lisp FAQ" document is periodically posted to comp.lang.lisp. This contains answers to questions programmers often ask, including questions of style, usage, and common bugs. It also includes a comprehensive guide to lisp vendors and implementations on various platforms. A copy of this is also included on the MCL cd-rom in the folder "Mail Archives & Other Docs:Answers to Freq Asked Questions".

The latest version is always available by anonymous ftp from CMU. To get the CMU library, ftp to cs.cmu.edu, and type
cd /afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/mkant/Public/Lisp-Utilities/
Note: you must cd to this directory in one command, as intermediate directories are protected from anonymous ftp access. This directory contains the FAQ document, as well as a large collection of other Common Lisp code, utilities, and documentation.

Programming questions

• I've created an application, but it's not handling high-level events (and thus Apple events). What should I do?
• I'm having a lot of troubles writing TCP/IP code.

I've created an application, but it's not handling high-level events (and thus Apple events). What should I do?

It is likely that your toplevel-function neglected to call (startup-finished), a new "feature" of MCL 2.0.1 that is documented in the release notes. This feature makes it possible to print from the Finder when printing requires launching the MCL app.

Here is the relevant section of the release notes:

New startup housekeeping

In order to make printing from the Finder work correctly, high level events are disabled until MCL's startup code enables them. If you call SAVE-APPLICATION and specify a value for the :TOPLEVEL-FUNCTION parameter, your toplevel function must evaluate the following form (either directly, or indirectly via a call to CCL::STARTUP-CCL):

(startup-finished)

You should do this after processing the (FINDER-PARAMETERS). If you neglect the call to STARTUP-FINISHED, your application will not receive any high level events (e.g. AppleEvents).

I'm having a lot of troubles writing TCP/IP code.

Try turning off the :async bit in the #_control trap in %tcp-control and see if that helps.

General MCL questions

• What is MCL?
• Where can I buy MCL?
• Are site licenses and distribution licenses available?
• What Macintosh configurations will MCL run on?
• What's the difference between MCL 3 and MCL 2?
• Which version of MCL runs on what hardware?
• Does MCL run on PowerPC?
• Does MCL run on Macs with third-party accelerator cards?
• Is MCL code portable to other platforms?
• What is CLIM?
• What do CCL and MACL stand for?
• What's the future direction for MCL?
• What's with the ptable init, anyway?

What is MCL?

Macintosh Common Lisp (MCL) is an object-oriented dynamic language (OODL) from Digitool, Inc. and Apple Computer, Inc. It implements the industry standard Common Lisp programming language and CLOS (as defined in Common Lisp: The Language, second edition), and is fully integrated with the Macintosh family of personal computers.

MCL is a completely integrated development environment, including a fast incremental compiler which produces efficient native PowerPC or 680x0 code (with MCL 4.3.1 and 3.4, respectively), a window-based debugger, a source code stepper, a dynamic object inspector, a stack backtrace inspector, a programmable Macintosh-style emacs-like editor, online documentation, and an interactive interface toolkit. MCL provides both high-level object-oriented user interface class library and complete low-level access to the Macintosh Toolbox.

Using MCL, you can create a standalone double-clickable Macintosh application using less than 2MB of disk space which can be run with 2MB or more of memory.

Where can I buy MCL?

MCL is available directly from Digitool, Inc. Here are the price and ordering details.

Are site licenses and distribution licenses available?

Yes. See the MCL Price List for details.

What Macintosh configurations will MCL run on?

MCL 3.4

Required:

MCL 3.4 will work on any Macintosh with at least 5 MB of RAM and 15 MB of disk storage. Macintosh System 7.5 or later. A CD-ROM drive is required.

Recommended:

8 MB memory partition.

MCL-PPC 4.3.1

Required:

MCL-PPC 4.3.1 runs on any Power Macintosh with 20 MB of disk storage. It requires a 2.7 MB partition with VM or 5.3 MB without VM. Macintosh System 7.5 or later. A CD-ROM drive is required.

Recommended:

Partition sizes of 5.5 MB (with VM) or 8 MB (VM off) are recommended.

To determine compatibility with specific Macintosh models, see the following FAQ: Which version of MCL runs on what hardware?

What's the difference between MCL 3 and MCL 2?

MCL 3.0 adds support for multiple processes and considerably extends the functionality of the editor Fred and the debugging tools.

Which version of MCL runs on what hardware?

Macintosh

Recommended MCL version

Mac Plus, SE, Portable

MCL 2.0 or later

(ptable init will be ignored)

SE30, Classic, Classic II, Color Classic
LC, LCII, LCIII, LC 520
II, IIx, IIci, IIcx, IIfx
Quadra 700, 900, 950, 800

MCL 2.0 or later

ptable init 2.0 or later

Powerbook Duo 210, 230
Powerbook 140, 145, 160, 165c, 180, 180c
IIvi, IIvx
Centris 650 (with FPU)

MCL 2.0 or later

ptable init 2.01 or later

Centris 610, 650 (with no FPU)
Quadra 660av, 840av

MCL 2.01 or later

ptable init 2.01 or later

PowerMacs

MCL 2.0.1 or later

MCL-PPC 3.9 or later recommended

The 2.01 version of the ptable init is available for anonymous FTP from digitool.com:/mcl2/patches/ptable-2.01.hqx.

Also note that MCL 3.0 runs on System 7, though System 7.5 or better is highly recommended.

Does MCL run on PowerPC?

Absolutely. Digitool shipped the first PowerPC native release of MCL in May 96 and a further performance tuned version in October 96.

Does MCL run on Macs with third-party accelerator cards?

Note that "works" or "does not work" below means "MCL runs with the board installed and enabled" or "MCL crashes with the board installed and enabled", respectively.

Daystar Turbo '040 33 MHz
works on IIci with MMU4-for-IIci patch.
Should work on other machines, but this is untested.

Daystar Power Cache 50
Works on a IIci.

Radius Rocket 25
Should work on IIci with MMU4-for-IIci patch, but this is untested. Does not work with RocketShare on any machine, but will work with RocketWare.

Radius Rocket 25i
Centris-without-FPU patch will make it work, but this is untested. Also needs MMU4-for-IIci patch on a IIci.
Again, will work with RocketWare, but not RocketShare.

Radius Rocket 33
Seems to work on IIci.

Tokamac 25Mhz
Doesn't work on IIci. Should work with MMU4-for-IIci patch, though this is not tested.

RasterOps 24XLTV
Does not work on Mac II.

Is MCL code portable to other platforms?

MCL complies with the current industry standard for Common Lisp, as defined in "Common Lisp: The Language", second edition, by Guy Steele. This should guarantee a high degree of compatibility with Common Lisp implementations on many other platforms.

This specification changed somewhat between the first and second editions; please consult the second edition for descriptions of the changes.

What is CLIM?

The Common Lisp Interface Manager (CLIM) is a cross-platform User Interface toolkit, which allows you to create user interfaces for Lisp applications that will run on Macintosh, Windows, Motif (X Windows), and Symbolics Lisp Machines. CLIM 2 is available now for MCL.

What do CCL and MACL stand for?

MCL was originally developed by a small company in Cambridge, Mass. called Coral Software, under the name "Coral Common Lisp" (CCL). Later, Coral entered a marketing agreement with Franz, Inc., a major vendor of unix-based Lisps, to sell the Coral product under the name "Macintosh Allegro Common Lisp" (MACL).

In 1988, Apple Computer purchased Coral and its assets. In 1992, the 2.0 version of the product was renamed to Macintosh Common Lisp, or MCL. In 1994, MCL was acquired by Digitool, Inc. a new company started by principals of Paradigm Software and members of the Apple MCL development team.

What's the future direction for MCL?

Digitool is continuing to enhance and support MCL in a variety of ways. Digitool often posts patches for MCL on the ftp site. A performance tuned PowerPC native version of MCL is out. MCL has a bright future indeed!

What's with the ptable init, anyway?

The ptable init initializes the memory management hardware (if present) in such a way that MCL can use it to make ephemeral garbage collection (EGC) more efficient. Since it deals at a very low level with both the hardware and the operating system, it is vulnerable to minor changes when a new Macintosh model or operating system version is released.

MCL will always run without the ptable init. In most configurations, just running the ptable init will slow down all memory accesses until you restart without it. The slowdown isn't very large, but you will have to decide whether or not the benefit of improved EGC performance is worth the cost, depending upon your exact usage of MCL and your Mac.

You should probably use the ptable init only if all of the following are true:
* Your Macintosh's CPU is an 040, 030, or 020 (with a PMMU installed), and
* You prefer to run MCL with EGC enabled

MCL and Macintosh Common Lisp are trademarks of Digitool, Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Computer. All other trademarks mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. Last update: Fri, April 12 2002