File	Date	Author	Commit
src	2000-09-13	Daniel Diaz	[b08fa4] re-indented sources - rel 1.2.3
COPYING	2000-08-17	Alexander Diemand	[af2617] based on original 1.2.1
ChangeLog	2000-09-12	Daniel Diaz	[1d1719] :re-indented sources - rel 1.2.3
INSTALL	2000-08-17	Alexander Diemand	[af2617] based on original 1.2.1
NEWS	2000-09-12	Daniel Diaz	[1d1719] :re-indented sources - rel 1.2.3
PROBLEMS	2000-09-12	Daniel Diaz	[1d1719] :re-indented sources - rel 1.2.3
README	2000-09-12	Daniel Diaz	[1d1719] :re-indented sources - rel 1.2.3
VERSION	2000-09-12	Daniel Diaz	[a259a1] re-indented sources - rel 1.2.3

Read Me

                                GNU PROLOG
                                ==========

			      by Daniel Diaz
			   Daniel.Diaz@inria.fr


INTRODUCTION
************

GNU Prolog is a native Prolog compiler with constraint solving over finite
domains (FD) developed by Daniel Diaz (http://loco.inria.fr/~diaz).
Last information can be found at http://www.gnu.org/software/prolog
or better at http://gprolog.inria.fr.

A lot of work has been devoted to the ISO compatibility. GNU Prolog is very
close to the ISO standard (http://www.logic-programming.org/prolog_std.html).

Here are some features of GNU Prolog:

Prolog system:

   - conforms to the ISO standard for Prolog (integer/floating arithmetic,
     streams, dynamic code, exceptions).
   - clause indexing.
   - a lot of extensions: global variables, definite clause grammars (DCG),
     sockets interface, operating system interface,...
   - more than 300 Prolog built-in predicates.
   - Prolog debugger and a low-level WAM debugger.
   - line editing facility under the interactive interpreter with completion
     on atoms.
   - powerful bidirectional interface between Prolog and C.

Compiler:

   - native-code compiler producing stand alone executables.
   - simple command-line compiler accepting a wide variety of files:
     Prolog files, C files, WAM files,...
   - direct generation of assembly code 15 times faster than wamcc + gcc.
   - most of unused built-in predicates are not linked (to reduce the size
     of the executables).
   - compiled predicates (native-code) as fast as wamcc on average.
   - consulted predicates (byte-code) 5 times faster than wamcc.

Constraint solver:

   - FD variables well integrated into the Prolog environment (full
     compatibility with Prolog variables and
   - integers). No need for explicit FD declarations.
   - very efficient FD solver (comparable to commercial solvers).
   - high-level constraints can be described in terms of simple primitives.
   - a lot of predefined constraints: arithmetic constraints, boolean
     constraints, symbolic constraints, reified constraints,...
   - several predefined enumeration heuristics.
   - the user can define his own new constraints.
   - more than 50 FD built-in constraints/predicates.



PORTS
*****

GNU Prolog is ported to the following architectures:

   - ix86 / GNU/Linux
   - ix86 / Win32 using Cygwin (see file src/CYGWIN)
   - ix86 / Win32 using MSVC++ (tested with 6.0)
   - ix86 / SCO
   - ix86 / Solaris
   - ix86 / FreeBSD
   - ix86 / OpenBSD
   - ix86 / NetBSD
   - PowerPC / GNU/Linux
   - PowerPC / Darwin (Mac OS X)
   - sparc / SunOS (4.1.3 or higher)
   - sparc / Solaris
   - alpha / linux
   - alpha / OSF1
   - mips / irix



INSTALLATION
************

Please refer to the INSTALL file (in the same directory)



USING GNU PROLOG
****************

Be sure that adequate environment variables are set (see INSTALL)

You can then invoke the top-level using:

	gprolog

and the compiler using:

	gplc FILE

The simpliest way to compile a Prolog file 'prog.pl' is then:

	gplc prog.pl

which will produce the executable called prog (use gplc --help to have a
brief overview of available options).

Refer to the documentation for more information (see below).



DOCUMENTATION
*************

The directory doc contains various versions of the manual. Refer to the
file doc/README for more information.

An in-line HTML version can be accessed from the GNU Prolog web page.



WEB
***

The GNU Prolog web site is: http://www.gnu.org/software/prolog/
or also (primary web site): http://gprolog.inria.fr/



MAILING LIST
************

To communicate with other GNU Prolog users and/or implementors send a mail to
users-prolog@gnu.org. To (un)subscribe to this mailing list send a mail to
users-prolog-request@gnu.org with (un)subscribe in the subject line.



BUGS
****

Please report bugs to bug-prolog@gnu.org. To (un)subscribe to this mailing
list send a mail to bug-prolog-request@gnu.org with (un)subscribe in the
subject line.



COPYING
*******

Because the basic GNU Prolog libraries are released under the GNU
General Public License (GNU GPL), any program recommended for use with
them must be free software and released under a GPL-compatible free
software license, so that the combination can be (as a whole) under
the GNU GPL as well.  For a list of some GPL-compatible free software
licenses, see http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/license-list.html.