Provided by: clisp_2.49-9ubuntu1_amd64 
NAME
clisp - ANSI[38] Common Lisp[1] compiler, interpreter and debugger.
SYNOPSIS
clisp [[-h] | [--help]] [--version] [--license] [-help-image] [-B lisp-lib-dir] [-b]
[-K linking-set] [-M mem-file] [-m memory-size] [-L language] [-N locale-dir]
[-Edomain encoding] [[-q] | [--quiet] | [--silent] | [-v] | [--verbose]]
[-on-error action] [-repl] [-w] [-I] [-disable-readline] [[-ansi] | [-traditional]]
[-modern] [-p package] [-C] [-norc] [-lp directory...] [-i init-file...]
[-c [-l] lisp-file [-o output-file]...] [-x expressions...]
[lisp-file [argument...]]
DESCRIPTION
Invokes the Common Lisp[1] interpreter and compiler.
Interactive Mode
When called without arguments, executes the read-eval-print loop[2], in which expressions
are in turn
• READ[3] from the standard input,
• EVAL[4]uated by the lisp interpreter,
• and their results are PRINT[5]ed to the standard output.
Non-Interactive (Batch) Mode
Invoked with -c, compiles the specified lisp files to a platform-independent bytecode
which can be executed more efficiently.
Invoked with -x, executes the specified lisp expressions.
Invoked with lisp-file, runs the specified lisp file.
OPTIONS
-h
--help
Displays a help message on how to invoke CLISP[6].
--version
Displays the CLISP[6] version number, as given by the function
LISP-IMPLEMENTATION-VERSION[7], the value of the variable *FEATURES*, as well some
other information.
--license
Displays a summary of the licensing information, the GNU[8] GPL[9].
-help-image
Displays information about the memory image being invoked: whether is it suitable for
scripting as well as the :DOCUMENTATION supplied to EXT:SAVEINITMEM.
-B lisp-lib-dir
Specifies the installation directory. This is the directory containing the linking
sets and other data files. This option is normally not necessary, because the
installation directory is already built-in into the clisp executable. Directory
lisp-lib-dir can be changed dynamically using the SYMBOL-MACRO[10]
CUSTOM:*LIB-DIRECTORY*.
-b
Print the installation directory and exit immediately. The namestring of
CUSTOM:*LIB-DIRECTORY* is printed without any quotes. This is mostly useful in module
Makefiles, see, e.g., modules/syscalls/Makefile.in (file in the CLISP sources).
-K linking-set
Specifies the linking set to be run. This is a directory (relative to the
lisp-lib-dir) containing at least a main executable (runtime) and an initial memory
image. Possible values are
base
the core CLISP[6]
full
core plus all the modules with which this installation was built, see
Section 32.2, “External Modules”.
The default is base.
-M mem-file
Specifies the initial memory image. This must be a memory dump produced by the
EXT:SAVEINITMEM function by this clisp runtime. It may have been compressed using
GNU[8] gzip[11].
-m memory-size
Sets the amount of memory CLISP[6] tries to grab on startup. The amount may be given
as
n
nB
measured in bytes
n
nW
measured in machine words (4×n on 32-bit platforms, 8×n on 64-bit platforms)
nK
nKB
measured in kilobytes
nKW
measured in kilowords
nM
nMB
measured in megabytes
nMW
measured in megawords
The default is 3 megabytes. The argument is constrained above 100 KB.
This version of CLISP[6] is not likely to actually use the entire memory-size since
garbage-collection will periodically reduce the amount of used memory. It is therefore
common to specify 10 MB even if only 2 MB are going to be used.
-L language
Specifies the language CLISP[6] uses to communicate with the user. This may be one of
english, german, french, spanish, dutch, russian, danish. Other languages may be
specified through the environment variable[12] LANG, provided the corresponding
message catalog is installed. The language may be changed dynamically using the
SYMBOL-MACRO[10] CUSTOM:*CURRENT-LANGUAGE*.
-N locale-dir
Specifies the base directory of locale files. CLISP[6] will search its message
catalogs in locale-dir/language/LC_MESSAGES/clisp.mo. This directory may be changed
dynamically using the SYMBOL-MACRO[10] CUSTOM:*CURRENT-LANGUAGE*.
-Edomain encoding
Specifies the encoding used for the given domain, overriding the default which depends
on the environment variable[12]s LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, LANG. domain can be
file
affecting CUSTOM:*DEFAULT-FILE-ENCODING*
pathname
affecting CUSTOM:*PATHNAME-ENCODING*
terminal
affecting CUSTOM:*TERMINAL-ENCODING*
foreign
affecting CUSTOM:*FOREIGN-ENCODING*
misc
affecting CUSTOM:*MISC-ENCODING*
blank
affecting all of the above.
Warning
Note that the values of these SYMBOL-MACRO[10]s that have been saved in a memory
image are ignored: these SYMBOL-MACRO[10]s are reset based on the OS environment
after the memory image is loaded. You have to use the RC file, CUSTOM:*INIT-HOOKS*
or init function to set them on startup, but it is best to set the aforementioned
environment variable[12]s appropriately for consistency with other programs. See
Section 31.1, “Customizing CLISP Process Initialization and Termination”.
-q
--quiet
--silent
-v
--verbose
Change verbosity level: by default, CLISP[6] displays a banner at startup and a
good-bye message when quitting, and initializes *LOAD-VERBOSE*[13] and
*COMPILE-VERBOSE*[14] to T[15], and *LOAD-PRINT*[13] and *COMPILE-PRINT*[14] to
NIL[16], as per [ANSI CL standard]. The first -q removes the banner and the good-bye
message, the second sets variables *LOAD-VERBOSE*[13], *COMPILE-VERBOSE*[14] and
CUSTOM:*SAVEINITMEM-VERBOSE* to NIL[16]. The first -v sets variables
CUSTOM:*REPORT-ERROR-PRINT-BACKTRACE*, *LOAD-PRINT*[13] and *COMPILE-PRINT*[14] to
T[15], the second sets CUSTOM:*LOAD-ECHO* to T[15]. These settings affect the output
produced by -i and -c options. Note that these settings persist into the
read-eval-print loop[2]. Repeated -q and -v cancel each other, e.g., -q -q -v -v -v is
equivalent to -v.
-on-error action
Establish global error handlers, depending on action:.PP appease
continuable[17] ERROR[18]s are turned into WARNING[19]s (with EXT:APPEASE-CERRORS)
other ERROR[18]s are handled in the default way
debug
ERROR[18]s INVOKE-DEBUGGER[20] (the normal read-eval-print loop[2] behavior),
disables batch mode imposed by -c, -x, and lisp-file,
abort
continuable[17] ERROR[18]s are appeased, other ERROR[18]s are ABORT[21]ed with
EXT:ABORT-ON-ERROR
exit
continuable[17] ERROR[18]s are appeased, other ERROR[18]s terminate CLISP[6] with
EXT:EXIT-ON-ERROR (the normal batch mode behavior).
See also EXT:SET-GLOBAL-HANDLER.
-repl
Start an interactive read-eval-print loop[2] after processing the -c, -x, and
lisp-file options and on any ERROR[18] SIGNAL[22]ed during that processing.
Disables batch mode.
-w
Wait for a keypress after program termination.
-I
Interact better with Emacs[23] (useful when running CLISP[6] under Emacs[23] using
SLIME[24], ILISP[25] et al). With this option, CLISP[6] interacts in a way that
Emacs[23] can deal with:
• unnecessary prompts are not suppressed.
• The GNU[8] readline[26] library treats TAB (see TAB key) as a normal
self-inserting character (see Q: A.4.6).
-disable-readline
Do not use GNU[8] readline[26] even when it has been linked against. This can be used
if one wants to paste non-ASCII[27] characters, or when GNU[8] readline[26] misbehaves
due to installation (different versions on the build and install machines) or setup
(bad TERM environment variable[12] value) issues.
-ansi
Comply with the [ANSI CL standard] specification even where CLISP[6] has been
traditionally different by setting the SYMBOL-MACRO[10] CUSTOM:*ANSI* to T[15].
-traditional
Traditional: reverses the residual effects of -ansi in the saved memory image.
-modern
Provides a modern view of symbols: at startup the *PACKAGE*[28] variable will be set
to the “CS-COMMON-LISP-USER” package, and the *PRINT-CASE*[29] will be set to
:DOWNCASE. This has the effect that symbol lookup is case-sensitive (except for
keywords and old-style packages) and that keywords and uninterned symbols are printed
with lower-case preferrence. See Section 11.5, “Package Case-Sensitivity”.
-p package
At startup the value of the variable *PACKAGE*[28] will be set to the package named
package. The default is the value of *PACKAGE*[28] when the image was saved, normally
“COMMON-LISP-USER”[30].
-C
Compile when loading: at startup the value of the variable CUSTOM:*LOAD-COMPILING*
will be set to T[15]. Code being LOAD[31]ed will then be COMPILE[32]d on the fly. This
results in slower loading, but faster execution.
-norc
Normally CLISP[6] loads the user “run control” (RC)[33] file on startup (this happens
after the -C option is processed). The file loaded is .clisprc.lisp or .clisprc.fas in
the home directory USER-HOMEDIR-PATHNAME[34], whichever is newer. This option, -norc,
prevents loading of the RC file.
-lp directory
Specifies directories to be added to CUSTOM:*LOAD-PATHS* at startup. This is done
after loading the RC file (so that it does not override the command-line option) but
before loading the init-files specified by the -i options (so that the init-files will
be searched for in the specified directories). Several -lp options can be given; all
the specified directories will be added.
-i init-file
Specifies initialization files to be LOAD[31]ed at startup. These should be lisp files
(source or compiled). Several -i options can be given; all the specified files will be
loaded in order.
-c lisp-file
Compiles the specified lisp-files to bytecode (*.fas). The compiled files can then be
LOAD[31]ed instead of the sources to gain efficiency.
Imposes batch mode.
-o outputfile
Specifies the output file or directory for the compilation of the last specified
lisp-file.
-l
Produce a bytecode DISASSEMBLE[35] listing (*.lis) of the files being compiled. Useful
only for debugging. See Section 24.1, “Function COMPILE-FILE” for details.
-x expressions
Executes a series of arbitrary expressions instead of a read-eval-print loop[2]. The
values of the expressions will be output to *STANDARD-OUTPUT*[36]. Due to the argument
processing done by the shell, the expressions must be enclosed in double quotes, and
double quotes and backslashes must be escaped with backslashes.
Imposes batch mode.
lisp-file [ argument ... ]
Loads and executes a lisp-file, as described in Section 32.6.2, “Scripting with
CLISP”. There will be no read-eval-print loop[2]. Before lisp-file is loaded, the
variable EXT:*ARGS* will be bound to a list of strings, representing the arguments.
The first line of lisp-file may start with #!, thus permitting CLISP[6] to be used as
a script interpreter. If lisp-file is -, the *STANDARD-INPUT*[36] is used instead of
a file.
This option is disabled if the memory image was created by EXT:SAVEINITMEM with
NIL[16] :SCRIPT argument. In that case the LIST[37] EXT:*ARGS* starts with lisp-file.
This option must be the last one.
No RC file will be executed.
Imposes batch mode.
As usual, -- stops option processing and places all remaining command line arguments into
EXT:*ARGS*.
LANGUAGE REFERENCE
The language implemented is ANSI[39][38] Common Lisp[1]. The implementation mostly
conforms to the ANSI Common Lisp standard, see Section 31.10, “Maximum ANSI CL
compliance”. [ANSI CL] ANSI CL standard1994. ANSI INCITS 226-1994 (R1999)
Information Technology - Programming Language - Common Lisp[40]
[formerly ANSI X3.226-1994 (R1999)].
COMMAND LINE USER ENVIRONMENT
help
get context-sensitive on-line help, see Chapter 25, Environment.
(APROPOS name)
list the SYMBOL[41]s matching name.
(DESCRIBE symbol)
describe the symbol.
(exit)
(quit)
(bye)
quit CLISP[6].
EOF (Control+D on UNIX[42])
leave the current level of the read-eval-print loop[2] (see also Section 1.1, “Special
Symbols ”).
arrow keys
for editing and viewing the input history, using the GNU[8] readline[26] library.
TAB key
Context sensitive:
• If you are in the “function position” (in the first symbol after an opening paren
or in the first symbol after a #´[44]), the completion is limited to the symbols
that name functions.
• If you are in the "filename position" (inside a string after #P[45]), the
completion is done across file names, GNU[8] bash[46]-style.
• If you have not typed anything yet, you will get a help message, as if by the help
command.
• If you have not started typing the next symbol (i.e., you are at a whitespace),
the current function or macro is DESCRIBEd.
• Otherwise, the symbol you are currently typing is completed.
USING AND EXTENDING CLISP
Common Lisp[1] is a programmable programming language. —John Foderaro[47].PP When
CLISP[6] is invoked, the runtime loads the initial memory image and outputs the prompt; at
which one can start typing DEFVAR[48]s, DEFUN[49]s and DEFMACRO[50]s.
To avoid having to re-enter the same definitions by hand in every session, one can create
a lisp file with all the variables, functions, macros, etc.; (optionally) compile it with
COMPILE-FILE[51]; and LOAD[31] it either by hand or from the RC file; or save a memory
image to avoid the LOAD[31] overhead.
However, sometimes one needs to use some functionality implemented in another language,
e.g., call a C[52] library function. For that one uses the Foreign Function Interface
and/or the External Modules facility. Finally, the truly adventurous ones might delve into
Extending the Core.
FILES
clisp
clisp.exe
startup driver (an executable or, rarely, a shell script) which remembers the location
of the runtime and starts it with the appropriate arguments
lisp.run
lisp.exe
main executable (runtime) - the part of CLISP[6] implemented in C[52].
lispinit.mem
initial memory image (the part of CLISP[6] implemented in lisp)
config.lisp
site-dependent configuration (should have been customized before CLISP[6] was built);
see Section 31.12, “Customizing CLISP behavior”
*.lisp
lisp source
*.fas
lisp code, compiled by CLISP[6]
*.lib
lisp source library information, generated by COMPILE-FILE, see Section 24.3,
“Function REQUIRE”.
*.c
C code, compiled from lisp source by CLISP[6] (see Section 32.3, “The Foreign Function
Call Facility”)
For the CLISP[6] source files, see Chapter 34, The source files of CLISP.
ENVIRONMENT
All environment variable[12]s that CLISP[6] uses are read at most once.
CLISP_LANGUAGE
specifies the language CLISP[6] uses to communicate with the user. The legal values
are identical to those of the -L option which can be used to override this environment
variable[12].
LC_CTYPE
specifies the locale which determines the character set in use. The value can be of
the form language or language_country or language_country.charset, where language is a
two-letter ISO 639 language code (lower case), country is a two-letter ISO 3166
country code (upper case). charset is an optional character set specification, and
needs normally not be given because the character set can be inferred from the
language and country. This environment variable[12] can be overridden with the
-Edomain encoding option.
LANG
specifies the language CLISP[6] uses to communicate with the user, unless it is
already specified through the environment variable[12] CLISP_LANGUAGE or the -L
option. It also specifies the locale determining the character set in use, unless
already specified through the environment variable[12] LC_CTYPE. The value may begin
with a two-letter ISO 639 language code, for example en, de, fr.
HOME
USER
used for determining the value of the function USER-HOMEDIR-PATHNAME[34].
SHELL
COMSPEC
is used to find the interactive command interpreter called by EXT:SHELL.
TERM
determines the screen size recognized by the pretty printer.
ORGANIZATION
for SHORT-SITE-NAME[53] and LONG-SITE-NAME[53] in config.lisp.
CLHSROOT
for CUSTOM:CLHS-ROOT in config.lisp.
IMPNOTES
for CUSTOM:IMPNOTES-ROOT in config.lisp.
EDITOR
for editor-name in config.lisp.
LOGICAL_HOST_host_FROM
LOGICAL_HOST_host_TO
LOGICAL_HOST_host
for CUSTOM:*LOAD-LOGICAL-PATHNAME-TRANSLATIONS-DATABASE*
INPUT AND OUTUT
See Section 21.1.1, “Initialization of Standard Streams”.
SEE ALSO
CLISP impnotes
clisp-link(1)
CMU CL[54] - cmucl(1)
Emacs[23] - emacs(1)
XEmacs[55] - xemacs(1)
BUGS
When you encounter a bug in CLISP[6] or in its documentation (this manual page or CLISP
impnotes), please report it to the CLISP[6] SourceForge bug tracker[56].
Before submitting a bug report, please take the following basic steps to make the report
more useful:
1. Please do a clean build (remove your build directory and build CLISP[6] with
./configure --cbc build or at least do a make distclean before make).
2. If you are reporting a “hard crash” (segmentation fault, bus error, core dump etc),
please do ./configure --with-debug --cbc build-g ; cd build-g; gdb lisp.run, then load
the appropriate linking set by either base or full gdb[57] command, and report the
backtrace (see also Q: A.1.1.10).
3. If you are using pre-built binaries and experience a hard crash, the problem is likely
to be in the incompatibilities between the platform on which the binary was built and
yours; please try compiling the sources and report the problem if it persists.
When submitting a bug report, please specify the following information:
1. What is your platform (uname -a on a UNIX[42] system)? Compiler version? GNU[8]
libc[58] version (on GNU[8]/Linux[59])?
2. Where did you get the sources or binaries? When? (Absolute dates, e.g., “2006-01-17”,
are preferred over the relative ones, e.g., “2 days ago”).
3. How did you build CLISP[6]? (What command, options &c.)
4. What is the output of clisp --version?
5. Please supply the full output (copy and paste) of all the error messages, as well as
detailed instructions on how to reproduce them.
PROJECTS
• Enhance the compiler so that it can inline local functions.
• Embed CLISP[6] in VIM[60].
AUTHORS
Bruno Haible <http://www.haible.de/bruno/>
The original author and long-time maintainer.
Michael Stoll <http://www.faculty.iu-bremen.de/mstoll/>
The original author.
Sam Steingold <http://sds.podval.org/>
Co-maintainer since 1998.
Others
See COPYRIGHT (file in the CLISP sources) for the list of other contributors and the
license.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 1992-2010 Bruno Haible
Copyright © 1998-2010 Sam Steingold
NOTES
1. Common Lisp
http://www.lisp.org
2. read-eval-print loop
[set $man.base.url.for.relative.links]/sec_25-1-1
3. READ
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/fun_readcm_re_g-whitespace.html
4. EVAL
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/fun_eval.html
5. PRINT
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/fun_writecm_p_rintcm_princ.html
6. CLISP
http://clisp.cons.org
7. LISP-IMPLEMENTATION-VERSION
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/fun_lisp-impl_tion-version.html
8. GNU
http://www.gnu.org
9. GPL
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
10. SYMBOL-MACRO
[set $man.base.url.for.relative.links]/mac_define-symbol-macro
11. gzip
http://www.gzip.org/
12. environment variable
[set $man.base.url.for.relative.links]/basedefs/xbd_chap08.html
13. *LOAD-VERBOSE*
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/var_stload-pr_ad-verbosest.html
14. *COMPILE-VERBOSE*
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/var_stcompile_le-verbosest.html
15. T
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/convar_t.html
16. NIL
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/convar_nil.html
17. continuable
[set $man.base.url.for.relative.links]/clhs/glo
18. ERROR
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/contyp_error.html
19. WARNING
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/contyp_warning.html
20. INVOKE-DEBUGGER
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/fun_invoke-debugger.html
21. ABORT
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/fun_abortcm_c_cm_use-value.html
22. SIGNAL
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/fun_signal.html
23. Emacs
http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/
24. SLIME
http://common-lisp.net/project/slime/
25. ILISP
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ilisp/
26. readline
http://tiswww.case.edu/php/chet/readline/readline.html
27. ASCII
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII
28. *PACKAGE*
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/var_stpackagest.html
29. *PRINT-CASE*
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/var_stprint-casest.html
30. “COMMON-LISP-USER”
[set $man.base.url.for.relative.links]/sec_11-1-2-2
31. LOAD
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/fun_load.html
32. COMPILE
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/fun_compile.html
33. “run
control” (RC)
http://www.faqs.org/docs/artu/ch10s03.html
34. USER-HOMEDIR-PATHNAME
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/fun_user-homedir-pathname.html
35. DISASSEMBLE
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/fun_disassemble.html
36. *STANDARD-OUTPUT*
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/var_stdebug-i_ace-outputst.html
37. LIST
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/syscla_list.html
38. ANSI
http://www.ansi.org/
39. The American National Standards Institute
40. Information Technology - Programming Language - Common Lisp
http://webstore.ansi.org/RecordDetail.aspx?sku=ANSI+INCITS+226-1994+(R1999)
41. SYMBOL
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/syscla_symbol.html
42. UNIX
http://www.unix.org/online.html
43. Win32
http://winehq.org/
44. #'
[set $man.base.url.for.relative.links]/sec_2-4-8-2
45. #P
[set $man.base.url.for.relative.links]/sec_2-4-8-14
46. bash
http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/
47. John Foderaro
http://www.franz.com/~jkf/
48. DEFVAR
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/mac_defparametercm_defvar.html
49. DEFUN
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/mac_defun.html
50. DEFMACRO
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/mac_defmacro.html
51. COMPILE-FILE
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/fun_compile-file.html
52. C
http://c-faq.com/
53. SHORT-SITE-NAME
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/fun_short-sit_ng-site-name.html
54. CMU CL
http://www.cons.org/cmucl/
55. XEmacs
http://www.xemacs.org
56. SourceForge bug tracker
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=add&group_id=1355&atid=101355
57. gdb
http://sources.redhat.com/gdb/
58. libc
http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/
59. Linux
http://www.linux.org/
60. VIM
http://www.vim.org