lyman@cc.gatech.edu
Attendance in lab is not mandatory, just like attendance in lecture. However, attendance of all the labs will be "rewarded" as outlined in the syllabus. From the perspective to getting your homework done a more significant "reward" for coming to lab will be that it will take less time to get your work done, since you'll develop more expertise in using the tools available.
At the beginning of every lab your TA will take roll. If you arrive late to lab make sure your checks you off on the roll before you leave.
The labs should show up on the Web either on Mondays or Tuesdays... depending on when your TA gets done with it.
On the server volume for this cluster you will find a folder called Communications. Open that folder by double-clicking on it. Inside you will find another folder label Fetch. Double-click on it and then Double-click on the Fetch application.
Open a connection to acmex.gatech.edu. Enter you username and password where directed and enter ~gt7510f/2360/ as the location to open to.
You should save the file as text (click the text button) and transfer the file named init.lisp to your Macintosh by pressing the "Get File" button.
When asked where to save it, save the file to your GT volume. It is labeled with your gt-number. [Click on the "Desktop" button of the File Dialog Box to see the volumes mounted on your Macintosh.] save the file under the name init.txt.
You can transfer files back to your Prism account by pressing the "Put File" button. [You cannot put files into the ~gt7510f/2360/ directory, though. Try one of your directories after lab.]
It is going to take a while to load up since everyone in the class is trying to access the same file at the same time. [HINT: if you know that you will be sitting down for a long session with MCL you might try copying the MCL folder to you hard disk and deleting it when you are done. Do NOT do this now!]
Later in lab I'll show a slight short-cut in getting MCL started.
[NOTE: MCL 2.0.1 will only run on the PowerMacs with the Modern Memory Manager and Virtual Memory turned off, just in case you're ever in a lab equipped with PowerMac. Additionally, MCL is not native so don't expect any speedup by using a PowerMac. For example a PowerMac7100 is probably around 30% slower at running MCL then a Quadra 700. The version currently being served up by OIT is 2.0. It is not going to run (so defacto the Library Mac cluster is not an option). If you are going to try to run MCL on your personal machine send me, Lyman, email and I'll tell you how to patch your 2.0 MCL to 2.0.1]
The Listener window is where you and MCL will talk with each other. All windows in MCL have a "mini-buffer" in the lower left corner. Sometimes information will be displayed there as you enter text (when typing to the Listener) or enter a command.
On the Macintoshes with a keyboard with a control key (all the new ones.). The control key is labeled. The Option key is the "Meta" key. And the "Propeller" key is the Command Key. You use the Command Key to invoke commands from the Menu bar. The Ctlr and Meta (and shift) keys are used to issue Fred Commands.
The default prompt in the Listener Window is the question mark, `?'. Type the following lisp code into the Listener. Type a return at the end of line. MCL will answer back with the value of the expression you enter.
"Hello World"
(+ 2360 30)If BillG made 4,000,000,000 dollars this year, how much will he make if his income doubles next year.
(* 4000000000 2)And doubles again. Type Ctrl-Meta-Shift-P. Then hit Return. This will copy that previous expression down to the last line. Wrap another multiply around it.
(* (* 4000000000 2) 2)try that last one in `C'. ;-) Lisp can use arbitrary length integers.
Here are a few more expressions (you can type a return to move to the next line if you haven't completed an expression nothing will be evaluated until you complete the whole thing).
(/ 2 3)
(* ( / 1 4 )
4 )
(* 0.25 4 )
Now let's open a regular Fred Window. Go to the File Menu and select "Open". In the File Dialog box press the "Desktop" button and then open the file init.txt that you downloaded earlier. You'll be making a slight modification to this file later, but for now let's talk about the rest of the Commands available on the Menu bar.
"Eval Buffer" evaluates the entire contents of the top editor buffer.
"Load..." allows you to select a file to be loaded into MCL
"Abort" Cancels the current computation and returns to the read-eval-print loop.
[Try the following:
( + foo bar )You have now fallen into the debugger. Notice that the prompt is not the question mark any more. It is a number followed by the "greater than". Select "Abort" from the menu (or type Command-. ). As you make mistakes either handle them or abort. Don't allow yourself to be typing at error level 27 or some such large number.]
"Break" interrupts the current calculation and enters the break loop (the "debugger").
Example. Select the Tool and look up the documentation on "cons", "+", and "defun".
Example. Select the Tool and look up the apropos on "def".
You may also open two windows that contain all the Fred and Listener Commands.
Finally there is the "Environment..." item on the Tools menu. This brings up a dialog box that allows the you to set the values of several global variables that affect the programming environment. From time to time you might need to change these.
( setf *student-gtnum* `gtXXXX )Replace the XXXX with your proper gt-number. Then choose "Save AS..." to save this file on your gtXXXX volume. (That is where it should have been in the first place). Save the file under the name init.lisp.
Then Quit MCL.
You may now "Double- Click" on your init file to start MCL. Open the gtXXXX volume and do that. Once MCL has finished opening. Make sure the "init.lisp" Window is on top and then select "Eval Buffer" from the Eval menu. You should do this every time you start up MCL in the Lab.
NOTE: you can delete the file init.txt at this point. The file init.lisp should appear with an icon that looks like a piece of coral. Double clicking on any file with such an icon will start MCL.
On the lab server Mosaic resides inside of the Communications folder. There you will see a folder for Mosaic 1.0.3. Double click on the Mosaic icon to get things started. (Mosaic also runs under Windows and on most of the Unix-boxes scattered around campus).
Before we do anything we should answer the question "What is a URL?". URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. The format for a URL is
protocol :// machine name / path and pageThe following example:
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/is the URL for the College of Computing's Home Page. The http means to connect to the designated machine using the http protocol. If you wanted to connect with the ftp protocol you would say "ftp://....". [NOTE: www.cc.gatech.edu does not accept ftp connections.]
We going to define a Hotlist for you. Go the Hotlist menu and choose the "Hotlist Interface" Item. [Hold the mouse button down and move into the arrow]. Select "New" from this new menu.
Now select "Open URL" from the File menu. In the dialog box enter the URL for the College of Computing's home page and press return. Once the CoC's home page shows up find the "WWW Experimental Classes" link (scroll down the page a bit). Click on that link. Next click on the 2360 Home Page link.
At this point go back to the Hotlist menu and select "Add this Document". Then scroll down the 2360 home page to the "2360 Alternative Resources" link. Select this link and then add it to your Hotlist also.
Now Choose the "Hotlist Interface" submenu again and select "Save". In the file dialog box hit the "Desktop" button and open your GT volume and save the Hotlist file there.
At the top of the Mosaic window there is a "back arrow" is you select this you will go back to the last page you visited (namely the 2360 Homepage).
At this point you may browse around a bit. When instructed by your TA we'll move onto the next section. Quick Mosaic when you do move on.
NOTE: you can now start Mosaic by double clicking on your Hotlist.
Telnet is also located in the Communications folder of your server's volume. Start the telnet application and choose "Open Connection" from the File menu.
For session name enter acmex.gatech.edu and login to acmex.
At the prompt enter the following:
lynx http://www.cc.gatech.edu/This will open up to the CoC's home page. Whereever there is a pretty picture all you will see here is the text, [Image]. To move up and down the page you use the up and down arrows. These move you from link to link on the page. If you just want to page down you can hit the space bar ( like paging using the UNIX "more" program ).
The right and left arrows follow and go back from links respectively.
On the CoC home page start to hit the down arrow until you arrive at the "WWW Experimental Classes Link". [This can look kind of funny because sometimes when you hit the down arrow the cursor can move horizontally to the next link. If you happen to press the right arrow prematurely, just press the left arrow to get back.]
At the "Classes" link press the right arrow. Once on the Classes page maneuver to the Winter 2360 link and again press the right arrow.
Once on the 2360 homepage press the letter `a'. Then press `d'. This will add a bookmark to this page. To see you bookmarks press `v'. [you can left arrow to get back from the bookmark page]. Next, maneuver down the "Alternative Resources" page and add it if you want.
Back on the 2360 Homepage maneuver to the Syllabus link, but don't follow it just yet. If you type `d' now you will be given the option of saving what is on the end of that link to disk. [This is how you can download lisp code from the "Alternative Resources" page for instance.].
You can back out of saving the file by pressing the back arrow.
You can browse around a bit with Lynx until you TA is ready to wrap up this first lab session.
For those who will be using Unix boxes to do development, the interface to Mosaic is slightly different. The "Hotlist" can be found on the Navigation Menu.
Mac Mosaic 1.0.3 is really obsolete. There is a change that will I'll be able to convince OIT to either put the new "Beta" version of Mosaic on-line or to put Netscape on-line for the Mac. Don't hold your breath on that one though. [Sometime Mac Mosaic 1.0.3 won't "go back" properly on some of the Alternative Resources pages. The newer browsers will. So will Lynx.]
Lynx is handy to use if you ever want to checkout the 2360 Web pages while dialed in from home. You do loose out on the graphics though.
Remember to make arrangements with your TA to take your emacs test in the next week or so.
Next choose "Open Connections". Enter the machine's name that you want to connect to and check the "FTP session" check box. Then press return.
Once the new window opens up type "user" and a return. Then enter you username and password. You will not be given a prompt, but you can use `cd' to move through directories on the Unix box.
"get filename" will transfer a file from UNIX to the Macintosh. "put filename" will transfer from the Macintosh to UNIX.
Type `quit' when you are done.