Guide to Setting up wxCL

In this post I describe how to setup wxCL on a Windows machine.
LeAnthony Mathews was having a real hard time setting up wxCL, along with the Lisp in Box, so I decided to write step by step instructions to do so. These instructions are not meant to be used with Lisp in Box but they can be combined with it.

1. Download clisp 2.36 and install it somewhere on the hard drive, say `c:/clisp-2.36'.
   


2. Download asdf
   and put it somewhere, say in the folder called
   `c:/clisp-2.36/library/'.
   


3. Download asdf-install,
   untar it (winzip can be used) into the `c:/clisp-2.36/library/' folder.
   


4. Go to the home directory, say `C:/Documents and Settings/Owner'
   or it might be different depending upon your windows user name, and Create a file
   named `.clisprc.lisp', this is an initialization file for clisp.
   
   Add the following code:
   
   
   

   
   #-:asdf (load "C:/clisp-2.36/library/asdf")
   (pushnew "C:/clisp-2.35/library/asdf-install/" asdf:*central-registry* :test #'equal)
   #-:asdf-install (asdf:operate 'asdf:load-op :asdf-install)
   (pushnew 'asdf-install:sysdef-source-dir-search
   asdf:*system-definition-search-functions*)
   

   
   
   
   


5. Start command prompt. Start clisp, either by just typing `clisp' if it is on your windows path variable, or by typing
   `c:/clisp-2.36/clisp. You should see that while starting clisp loads
   various asdf-install files, and finally .clisprc.lisp. If not, then you
   did not create the `.clisprc.lisp' file in the right place.
   


6. 
   Download latest release, currently wxcl-1.2.0.tar.gz and store it somewhere, say `C' drive. If the extension of the file doesn't appears as above then change it to end with `.tar.gz'.
   


7. Now on your lisp prompt type
   
   
   

   
   (asdf-install:install "c:/wxcl-1.2.0.tar.gz")
   

   
   
   
   This will show you three options select the second one (personal
   installation). Now, asdf-install will hang don't worry use Ctrl-Z to
   quit clisp.
   


8. Now if you look into the folder `C:/Documents and Settings/Owner'
   there will be a sub-folder named `.asdf-install-dir'. Go into it,
   inside it there is another sub folder `site', go into that, and now
   untar `wxcl-1.2.0.tar.gz' right there.
   Any asdf installable package can be uncompressed and put there, and
   asdf will find it.
   


9. Now edit the file wxcl/src/defpackage.lisp so that the variable
   library name contains the absolute file path.
   
   
   

   
   (defconstant +library-name+ "../lib/wxc-msw2.6.2.dll")
   

   
   
   
   change the above to
   
   
   

   
   (defconstant +library-name+ "C:/Documents and Settings/Owner/.asdf-install-dir/site/wxcl/lib/wxc-msw2.6.2.dll")
   

   
   
   
   


10. Now go to command prompt, change the directory so that you are in
    the wxcl/examples directory. Start clisp, and then type
    
    
    

    
    (load "hello-world.lisp")
    

    
    
    
    


11. This will load and compile wxcl, and start the hello world
    example. Similarly you can load other examples.