Provided by: chezscheme_10.0.0+dfsg-5_amd64 
NAME
chezscheme - Chez Scheme
petite - Petite Chez Scheme
SYNOPSIS
chezscheme [ options ] file ...
petite [ options ] file ...
DESCRIPTION
Chez Scheme is a programming language, based on R6RS Scheme, and a high-performance
implementation of that language. Chez Scheme compiles source expressions incrementally to
machine code, providing the speed of compiled code in an interactive system.
Petite Chez Scheme is an interpreted version of Chez Scheme that may be used as a run-time
environment for Chez Scheme applications or as a stand-alone Scheme system. With the
exception that the compiler is not present, Petite Chez Scheme is 100% compatible with
Chez Scheme. Interpreted code is fast in Petite Chez Scheme, but generally not nearly as
fast as compiled code. Debugging and profiling support is also limited for interpreted
code.
Scheme is normally used interactively. The system prompts the user with a right angle
bracket (“>”) at the beginning of each input line. Any Scheme expression may be entered.
The system evaluates the expression and prints the result. After printing the result, the
system prompts again for more input. The user can exit the system by typing Control-D or
by using the procedure exit.
COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS
Chez Scheme recognizes the following command line options:
-q, --quiet
Suppress greeting and prompts.
--script file
Run file as a shell script.
--program file
Run rnrs program in file as a shell script.
--libdirs dir:...
Set library directories to dir:....
--libexts ext:...
Set library extensions to ext:....
--compile-imported-libraries
Compile libraries before loading them.
--import-notify
Enable import search messages.
--optimize-level 0 | 1 | 2 | 3
Set optimize level to 0, 1, 2, or 3.
--debug-on-exception
On uncaught exception, call debug.
--eedisable
Disables the expression editor.
--eehistory off | file
Set expression-editor history file or disable restore and save of history.
--enable-object-counts
Have collector maintain object counts.
--retain-static-relocation
Keep reloc information for compute-size, etc.
-b file, --boot file
Load boot code from file.
--verbose Trace boot search process.
--version Print version and exit.
--help Print brief command-line help and exit.
-- Pass all remaining command-line arguments through to Scheme.
The following options are recognized but cause the system to print an error message and
exit because saved heaps are not presently supported.
-h file, --heap file
-s[level] file, --saveheap[level] file
-c, --compact
Any remaining command-line arguments are treated as the names of files to be loaded before
Chez Scheme begins interacting with the user (see COMMAND-LINE FILE ARGUMENTS), unless
“--script” or “--program” is present, in which case the remaining arguments are made
available to the script via the command-line parameter (see SCHEME SCRIPTS).
WAITERS and CAFES
Interaction of the system with the user is performed by a Scheme program called a waiter,
running in a program state called a cafe. The waiter merely prompts, reads, evaluates,
prints and loops back for more. It is possible to open up a chain of Chez Scheme cafes by
invoking the new-cafe procedure with no arguments. New-cafe is also one of the options
when an interrupt occurs. Each cafe has its own reset and exit procedures. Exiting from
one cafe in the chain returns you to the next one back, and so on, until the entire chain
closes and you leave the system altogether. Sometimes it is useful to interrupt a long
computation by typing the interrupt character, enter a new cafe to execute something
(perhaps to check a status variable set by computation), and exit the cafe back to the old
computation.
You can tell what level you are at by the number of angle brackets in the prompt, one for
level one, two for level two, and so on. Three angle brackets in the prompt means you
would have to exit from three cafes to get out of Chez Scheme. If you wish to abort from
Chez Scheme and you are several cafes deep, the procedure abort leaves the system
directly.
You can exit the system by typing the end-of-file character (normally Control-D) or by
using the procedure exit. Typing Control-D is equivalent to (exit), (exit (void)), or
(exit 0), each of which is considered a “normal exit”.
DEBUGGER
Ordinarily, if an exception occurs during interactive use of the system, the default
exception handler displays the condition with which the exception was raised, saves it for
possibly later use by the debugger, and prints the message "type (debug) to enter the
debugger." Once in the debugger, the user has the option of inspecting the raise
continuation, i.e., the stack frames of the pending calls. When an exception occurs in a
script or top level program, or when the standard input and/or output ports are
redirected, the default exception handler does not save the continuation of the exception
and does not print the "type (debug)" message.
If the parameter debug-on-exception is set to #t, however, the default exception handler
directly invokes debug, whether running interactively or not, and even when running a
script or top-level program. The “--debug-on-exception” option may be used to set debug-
on-exception to #t from the command line, which is particularly useful when debugging
scripts or top-level programs run via the “--script” or “--program” options.
None of this applies to exceptions raised with a non-serious (warning) condition, for
which the default exception handler simply displays the condition and returns.
KEYBOARD INTERRUPTS
Running programs may be interrupted by typing the interrupt character (normally Control-
C). In response, the system enters a break handler, which prompts for input with a
“break>” prompt. Several commands may be issued to the break handler, including “e” to
exit from the handler and continue, “r” to reset to the current cafe, “a” to abort Chez
Scheme, “n” to enter a new cafe, “i” to inspect the current continuation, and “s” to
display statistics about the interrupted program. While typing an expression to the
waiter, the interrupt character simply resets to the current cafe.
EXPRESSION EDITOR
When Chez Scheme is used interactively in a shell window, the waiter's “prompt and read”
procedure employs an expression editor that permits entry and editing of single- and
multiple-line expressions, automatically indents expressions as they are entered, and
supports name-completion based on the identifiers defined in the interactive environment.
The expression editor also maintains a history of expressions typed during and across
sessions and supports tcsh(1)-like history movement and search commands. Other editing
commands include simple cursor movement via arrow keys, deletion of characters via
backspace and delete, and movement, deletion, and other commands using mostly emacs key
bindings.
The expression editor does not run if the TERM environment variable is not set, if the
standard input or output files have been redirected, or if the --eedisable command-line
option has been used. The history is saved across sessions, by default, in the file
“$HOME/.chezscheme_history”. The --eehistory command-line option can be used to specify a
different location for the history file or to disable the saving and restoring of the
history file.
Keys for nearly all printing characters (letters, digits, and special characters) are
“self inserting” by default. The open parenthesis, close parenthesis, open bracket, and
close bracket keys are self inserting as well, but also cause the editor to “flash” to the
matching delimiter, if any. Furthermore, when a close parenthesis or close bracket is
typed, it is automatically corrected to match the corresponding open delimiter, if any.
Key bindings for other keys and key sequences initially recognized by the expression
editor are given below, organized into groups by function. Some keys or key sequences
serve more than one purpose depending upon context. For example, tab is used both for
identifier completion and for indentation. Such bindings are shown in each applicable
functional group.
Multiple-key sequences are displayed with hyphens between the keys of the sequences, but
these hyphens should not be entered. When two or more key sequences perform the same
operation, the sequences are shown separated by commas.
Newlines, acceptance, exiting, and redisplay:
enter, ^M accept balanced entry if used at end of entry;
else add a newline before the cursor and indent
^J accept entry unconditionally
^O insert newline after the cursor and indent
^D exit from the waiter if entry is empty;
else delete character under cursor
^Z suspend to shell if shell supports job control
^L redisplay entry
^L-^L clear screen and redisplay entry
Basic movement and deletion:
left, ^B move cursor left
right, ^F move cursor right
up, ^P move cursor up; from top of unmodified entry,
move to preceding history entry.
down, ^N move cursor down; from bottom of unmodified entry,
move to next history entry.
^D delete character under cursor if entry not empty;
else exit from the waiter.
backspace, ^H delete character before cursor
delete delete character under cursor
Line movement and deletion:
home, ^A move cursor to beginning of line
end, ^E move cursor to end of line
^K, esc-k delete to end of line or, if cursor is at the end
of a line, join with next line
^U delete contents of current line
When used on the first line of a multiline entry of which only the first line is
displayed, i.e., immediately after history movement, ^U deletes the contents of the entire
entry, like ^G (described below).
Expression movement and deletion:
esc-^F move cursor to next expression
esc-^B move cursor to preceding expression
esc-] move cursor to matching delimiter
^] flash cursor to matching delimiter
esc-^K, esc-delete delete next expression
esc-backspace, esc-^H delete preceding expression
Entry movement and deletion:
esc-< move cursor to beginning of entry
esc-> move cursor to end of entry
^G delete current entry contents
^C delete current entry contents; reset to end of history
Indentation:
tab re-indent current line if identifier prefix not
just entered; else insert identifier completion
esc-tab re-indent current line unconditionally
esc-q, esc-Q, esc-^Q re-indent each line of entry
Identifier completion:
tab insert identifier completion if just entered
identifier prefix; else re-indent current line
tab-tab show possible identifier completions at end of
identifier just typed, else re-indent
^R insert next identifier completion
If at end of existing identifier, i.e., not one just typed, the first tab re-indents, the
second tab inserts identifier completion, and the third shows possible completions.
History movement:
up, ^P move to preceding entry if at top of unmodified
entry; else move up within entry
down, ^N move to next entry if at bottom of unmodified
entry; else move down within entry
esc-up, esc-^P move to preceding entry from unmodified entry
esc-down, esc-^N move to next entry from unmodified entry
esc-p search backward through history for given prefix
esc-n search forward through history for given prefix
esc-P search backward through history for given string
esc-N search forward through history for given string
To search, enter a prefix or string followed by one of the search key sequences. Follow
with additional search key sequences to search further backward or forward in the history.
For example, enter “(define” followed by one or more esc-p key sequences to search
backward for entries that are definitions, or “(define” followed by one or more esc-P key
sequences for entries that contain definitions.
Word and page movement:
esc-f, esc-F move cursor to end of next word
esc-b, esc-B move cursor to start of preceding word
^X-[ move cursor up one screen page
^X-] move cursor down one screen page
Inserting saved text:
^Y insert most recently deleted text
^V insert contents of window selection/paste buffer
Mark operations:
^@, ^space, ^^ set mark to current cursor position
^X-^X move cursor to mark, leave mark at old cursor
^W delete between current cursor position and mark
Command repetition:
esc-^U repeat next command four times
esc-^U-n repeat next command n times
TOP-LEVEL ENVIRONMENT SEMANTICS
Upon startup, the “interaction environment” used to hold the top-level bindings for user-
defined variables and other identifiers contains an initial set of bindings, some standard
and some specific to Chez Scheme. Any initial identifier binding may be replaced by
redefining the identifier with a normal top-level definition. For example, the initial
binding for cons can be replaced with one that performs a "reverse cons" as follows.
(define cons (lambda (x y) (import scheme) (cons y x)))
Code entered into the REPL or loaded from a file prior to this point will still use the
original binding for cons. If you want it to use the new binding, you must reenter or
reload the code. Furthermore, the initial bindings for variables like cons are immutable,
so you cannot assign one (e.g., via set! or trace) without first defining it. This allows
the system to check to make sure it receives the expected two arguments at compile time
and generate inline code to allocate the pair. This is not the case if cons is redefined,
even if redefined to have the same value, since its value can be changed via set! at any
time during a program run.
COMMAND-LINE FILE ARGUMENTS
In the normal mode of operation, the file names on the command line (except for the
arguments to the various command-line options) are loaded before Chez Scheme begins
interacting with the user. Each of the expressions in the loaded files is executed just
as if it were typed by the user in response to a prompt. If you wish to load a set of
definitions each time, consider setting up a shell script to load the file “.schemerc”
from your home directory:
chezscheme ${HOME}/.schemerc $*
If you have a substantial number of definitions to load each time, it might be worthwhile
to compile the .schemerc file (that is, compile the definitions and name the resulting
object file .schemerc).
Typically, a Scheme programmer creates a source file of definitions and other Scheme forms
using an editor such as vi(1) or emacs(1) and loads the file into Scheme to test them.
The conventional filename extension for Chez Scheme source files is .ss. Such a file may
be loaded during a session by typing (load “filename”), or by specifying the filename on
the command line as mentioned above. Any expression that may be typed interactively may
be placed in a file to be loaded.
SCHEME SCRIPTS
When the “--script” option is used, the named file is treated as a Scheme shell script,
and the script name and remaining command-line arguments are made available via the
parameter “command-line”. To support executable shell scripts, the system ignores the
first line of a loaded script if it begins with #! followed by a space or forward slash.
For example, the following script prints its command-line arguments.
#! /build/chezscheme-w2nVEm/chezscheme-10.0.0+dfsg/debian/tmp/usr/bin/chezscheme --script
(for-each
(lambda (x) (display x) (newline))
(cdr (command-line)))
RNRS TOP-LEVEL PROGRAMS
The “--program” option is like the “--script” option except that the script file is
treated as an RNRS top-level program. The following RNRS top-level program prints its
command-line arguments, as with the script above.
#! /build/chezscheme-w2nVEm/chezscheme-10.0.0+dfsg/debian/tmp/usr/bin/chezscheme --program
(import (rnrs))
(for-each
(lambda (x) (display x) (newline))
(cdr (command-line)))
“scheme-script” may be used in place of “scheme --program”, possibly prefixed by
“/usr/bin/env” as suggested in the nonnormative R6RS appendix on running top-level
programs as scripts, i.e., the first line of the top-level program may be replaced with
the following.
#! /usr/bin/env scheme-script
If a top-level program depends on libraries other than those built into Chez Scheme, the
“--libdirs” option can be used to specify which source and object directories to search.
Similarly, if a library upon which a top-level program depends has an extension other than
one of the standard extensions, the “--libexts” option can be used to specify additional
extensions to search.
These options set the corresponding Chez Scheme parameters library-directories and
library-extensions. The values of both parameters are lists of pairs of strings. The
first string in each library-directories pair identifies a source-file root directory, and
the second identifies the corresponding object-file root directory. Similarly, the first
string in each library-extensions pair identifies a source-file extension, and the second
identifies the corresponding object-file extension. The full path of a library source or
object file consists of the source or object root followed by the components of the
library name prefixed by slashes, with the library extension added on the end. For
example, for root /usr/lib/scheme, library name (app lib1), and extension .sls, the full
path is /usr/lib/scheme/app/lib1.sls.
The format of the arguments to “--libdirs” and “--libexts” is the same: a sequence of
substrings separated by a single separator character. The separator character is a colon
(:), except under Windows where it is a semi-colon (;). Between single separators, the
source and object strings, if both are specified, are separated by two separator
characters. If a single separator character appears at the end of the string, the
specified pairs are added to the existing list; otherwise, the specified pairs replace the
existing list. The parameters are set after all boot files have been loaded.
If multiple “--libdirs” options appear, all but the final one are ignored, and if If
multiple “--libexts” options appear, all but the final are ignored. If no “--libdirs”
option appears and the CHEZSCHEMELIBDIRS environment variable is set, the string value of
CHEZSCHEMELIBDIRS is treated as if it were specified by a “--libdirs” option. Similarly,
if no “--libexts” option appears and the CHEZSCHEMELIBEXTS environment variable is set,
the string value of CHEZSCHEMELIBEXTS is treated as if it were specified by a “--libexts”
option.
The library-directories and library-extensions parameters set by these options are
consulted by the expander when it encounters an import for a library that has not
previously been defined or loaded. The expander first constructs a partial name from the
list of components in the library name, e.g., “a/b” for library (a b). It then searches
for the partial name in each pair of root directories, in order, trying each of the source
extensions then each of the object extensions in turn before moving onto the next pair of
root directories. If the partial name is an absolute pathname, e.g., “~/.myappinit” for a
library named (~/.myappinit), only the specified absolute path is searched, first with
each source extension, then with each object extension. If the expander finds both a
source file and its corresponding object file, and the object file is not older than the
source file, the expander loads the object file. If the object file does not exist, if
the object file is older, or if after loading the object file, the expander determines it
was built using a library or include file that has changed, the source file is loaded or
compiled, depending on the value of the parameter compile-imported-libraries. If compile-
imported-libraries is set to #t, the expander compiles the library via compile-library
(which is described below). Otherwise, the expander loads the source file. (Loading the
source file actually causes the code to be compiled, assuming the default value of
current-eval, but the compiled code is not saved to an object file.) An exception is
raised during this process if a source or object file exists but is not readable or if an
object file cannot be created.
The search process used by the expander when processing an import for a library that has
not yet been loaded can be monitored by setting the parameter import-notify to #t. This
parameter can be set from the command line via the “--import-notify” command-line option.
OPTIMIZE LEVELS
The “--optimize-level” option sets the initial value of the Chez Scheme optimize-level
parameter to 0, 1, 2, or 3. The value is 0 by default.
At optimize-levels 0, 1, and 2, code generated by the compiler is safe, i.e., generates
full type and bounds checks. At optimize-level 3, code generated by the compiler is
unsafe, i.e., may omit these checks. Unsafe code is usually faster, but optimize-level 3
should be used only for well-tested code since the absence of type and bounds checks may
result in invalid memory references, corruption of the Scheme heap (which may cause
seemingly unrelated problems later), system crashes, or other undesirable behaviors.
At present, there is no direct difference other than safety among optimize levels.
COMPILING FILES
Chez Scheme compiles source expressions as it sees them. In order to speed loading of a
large file, the file may be compiled with the output placed in an object file. (compile-
file “foo”) compiles the expressions in the file “foo.ss” and places the resulting object
code on the file “foo.so”. Loading a pre-compiled file is no different from loading the
source file, except that loading is faster since compilation is already done.
To compile a program to be run with --program, use compile-program instead of compile-
file. compile-program preserves the first line unchanged, if it begins with #! followed
by a forward slash or space. Also, while compile-file compresses the resulting object
file, compile-program does not do so if the #! line is present, so it can be recognized by
the shell's script executor. Any libraries upon which the top-level program depends,
other than built-in libraries, must be compiled first via compile-file or compile-library.
This can be done manually or by setting the parameter compile-imported-libraries to #t
before compiling the program.
To compile a script to be run with --script, use compile-script instead of compile-file.
compile-script is like compile-program, but, like compile-file, implements the interactive
top-level semantics rather than the RNRS top-level program semantics.
BOOT and HEAP FILES
When Chez Scheme is run, it looks for one or more boot files to load. Boot files contain
the compiled Scheme code that implements most of the Scheme system, including the
interpreter, compiler, and most libraries. Boot files may be specified explicitly on the
command line via “-b” options or implicitly. In the simplest case, no “-b” options are
given and the necessary boot files are loaded automatically based on the name of the
executable. For example, if the executable name is “myapp”, the system looks for
“myapp.boot” in a set of standard directories. It also looks for and loads any
subordinate boot files required by “myapp.boot”. Subordinate boot files are also loaded
automatically for the first boot file explicitly specified via the command line. When
multiple boot files are specified via the command line and boot each file must be listed
before those that depend upon it.
The “--verbose” option may be used to trace the boot file searching process and must
appear before any boot arguments for which search tracing is desired.
Ordinarily, the search for boot files is limited to a set of default installation
directories, but this may be overridden by setting the environment variable
SCHEMEHEAPDIRS. SCHEMEHEAPDIRS should be a colon-separated list of directories, listed in
the order in which they should be searched. Within each directory, the two-character
escape sequence “%v” is replaced by the current version, and the two-character escape
sequence “%m” is replaced by the machine type. A percent followed by any other character
is replaced by the second character; in particular, “%%” is replaced by “%”, and “%:” is
replaced by “:”. If SCHEMEHEAPDIRS ends in a non-escaped colon, the default directories
are searched after those in SCHEMEHEAPDIRS; otherwise, only those listed in SCHEMEHEAPDIRS
are searched. Under Windows, semi-colons are used in place of colons.
Boot files consist of a header followed by ordinary compiled code and may be created with
make-boot-file. For example,
(make-boot-file "myapp.boot" '("petite")
"myapp1.so" "myapp2.so")
creates a boot file containing the code from myapp1.so and myapp2.so with a header
identifying petite.boot as a boot file upon which the new boot file depends. Source files
can be provided as well and are compiled on-the-fly by make-boot-header.
Multiple alternatives for the boot file upon which the new boot file depends can be
listed, e.g.:
(make-boot-file "myapp.boot" '("petite" "scheme")
"myapp1.so" "myapp2.so")
When possible, both “scheme“ and “petite“ should be specified when creating a boot file
for an application, as shown above, so that the application can run in either Petite Chez
Scheme or Chez Scheme. If the application requires the use of the compiler, just “scheme“
should be specified.
If the new boot file is to be a base boot file, i.e., one that does not depend on another
boot file, petite.boot (or some other boot file created from petite.boot) should be listed
first among the input files.
(make-boot-file "myapp.boot" '() "petite.boot"
"myapp1.so" "myapp2.so")
DOCUMENTATION
Complete documentation for Chez Scheme is available in two parts: The Scheme Programming
Language, 4th Edition, and The Chez Scheme Version 9 User's Guide. The first document is
available in printed form from MIT Press, and links to online versions of both documents
are available at https://cisco.github.io/ChezScheme/.
Several example Scheme programs, ranging from a simple factorial procedure to a somewhat
complex unification algorithm, are in the examples directory (see FILES below). Looking
at and trying out example programs is a good way to start learning Scheme.
ENVIRONMENT
The environment variable SCHEMEHEAPDIRS (see above) may be set to a colon-separated (semi-
colon under Windows) list of directories in which to search for boot files.
FILES
/build/chezscheme-
w2nVEm/chezscheme-10.0.0+dfsg/debian/tmp/usr/bin/chezscheme executable file
/build/chezscheme-
w2nVEm/chezscheme-10.0.0+dfsg/debian/tmp/usr/bin/petite executable file
/build/chezscheme-w2nVEm/chezscheme-10.0.0+dfsg/debian/tmp/usr/bin/scheme-
script executable file
/build/chezscheme-
w2nVEm/chezscheme-10.0.0+dfsg/debian/tmp/usr/lib/csv10.0.0/examples example program
library
/build/chezscheme-
w2nVEm/chezscheme-10.0.0+dfsg/debian/tmp/usr/lib/csv10.0.0/ta6le boot and include
files
SEE ALSO
R. Kent Dybvig, The Scheme Programming Language, 4th Edition, MIT Press (2009),
http://www.scheme.com/tspl4/.
Chez Scheme Version 9 User's Guide, Cisco Systems, Inc.
Michael Sperber, R. Kent Dybvig, Matthew Flatt, and Anton van Straaten, eds., “Revised^6
Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme,” (2007), http://www.r6rs.org/.
Daniel P. Friedman and Matthias Felleisen, The Little Schemer, fourth edition, MIT Press
(1996).
Harold Abelson and Gerald J. Sussman with Julie Sussman, Structure and Interpretation of
Computer Programs, Second Edition, MIT press (1996).
AUTHOR
Copyright 2024 Cisco Systems, Inc. Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0
(http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
Chez Scheme Version 10.0.0 February 2024 SCHEME(1)