HELP CONTRIB Aaron Sloman, June 1990 Updated: 3 Jul 2009 The contents of this directory used to be included in Poplog as $usepop/pop/packages/contrib or $popcontrib Since 3 Jul 2009 (v15.63 -revised) the package has moved out. The directory can be browsed here: http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/projects/poplog/contrib/ By default the directory $usepop/pop/packages/contrib/ is empty, apart from this file. The 'missing contents' can be downloaded as a zip file in http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/projects/poplog/packages/contrib.zip and unpacked into $usepop/pop/packages/contrib/ This file should also be accessible as $popcontrib/AREADME.txt NOTE added by A.Sloman: 27 May 2001 The Contrib directory is now available from the FREE POPLOG site http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/poplog/freepoplog.html The directory can be browsed here: http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/poplog/contrib/ Or fetched as a complete package http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/poplog/contrib.tar.gz ftp://ftp.cs.bham.ac.uk/pub/dist/poplog/contrib.tar.gz The Poplog "Contrib" Directory Tree ----------------------------------- CONTENTS - (Use g to access required sections) 1 Introduction 2 IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER 3 Installation of the contrib directory 4 Copyright issues 5 Contributing to the "contrib" tree 6 Alternative ways of contributing free software to Poplog users 7 Standards and conventions for Poplog "contrib" software 8 Location of contrib files 9 WARNING 10 Further reading ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Poplog "contrib" directory tree provides software, documentation and teaching material supplied on an "as is" basis by Poplog users, mainly at Sussex University. Included are all the programming examples for the Gazdar and Mellish textbook on Computational Linguistics (in Pop-11, Prolog and Common Lisp) and all the programming examples from the book Computers and Thought, by M. Sharples et al. Additional sub-directories provide utilities, demonstration libraries, packages, and associated documentation. The "contrib" directory may be accessed via the environment variable $popcontrib [UNIX] POPCONTRIB: [VMS] See DOC * SYSSPEC for a more complete account of the Poplog directory tree. The top level of the "contrib" directory tree should contain the following files: $popcontrib/CONTENTS An overview of the contents of the "contrib" tree $popcontrib/contrib.news News of new additions to the "contrib" tree and various sub-directories. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER ----------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- | N.B. All the files in the $usepop/contrib directory, or any | | other directory with path-name including "contrib" contains | | material supplied "as is", free of charge, with POPLOG, in the | | hope that it may be of use to POPLOG users. However such files | | are not supported, and there is NO warranty of any kind that | | they are of use for any purpose. Neither Sussex University nor | | any Poplog distributor will accept responsibility for any | | problems that arise from their use. See DOC * SYSSPEC. | -------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Installation of the contrib directory ----------------------------------------------------------------------- It is recommended that this directory normally be installed as $usepop/pop/packages/contrib (UNIX) usepop:[pop.packages.contrib] (VMS) though users are free to move it to any other location. If so, the value of the environment variable $popcontrib should be changed to reflect the new location. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Copyright issues ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright notices, where included, must be respected. People who provide software are invited to consider doing so without any restriction, since restrictions will be very hard to enforce, and the Poplog developers and distributors take no responsibility for this. Alternatively you could consider wording along the following lines (this has not been checked by any legal expert, so you do this at your own risk): Copyright , all rights reserved Users may copy, modify, or re-distribute the files provided in this directory and its sub-directories, provided that that they leave the copyright notices and this notice intact. Re-distribution for profit is not permitted without permission in writing from the Author(s). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 Contributing to the "contrib" tree ----------------------------------------------------------------------- If you wish to offer a package to be included in future issues of the Poplog "contrib" files, please write to pop-forum@cs.bham.ac.uk There is no guarantee that packages so offered will be accepted. Decisions will be based on a number of factors including: (a) The current size of the contrib tree (b) Whether anyone responsible for preparing Poplog distribution systems has the time to assess the suitability of the offering (c) Personal judgement of whoever is currently responsible for such decisions at the time. (All such decisions are final.) Please note that there are no royalty arrangements or fees payable to those whose programs are included in the Poplog "contrib" directories. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 Alternative ways of contributing free software to Poplog users ----------------------------------------------------------------------- For an alternative way of making your contributions available to users, contact the Poplog and Pop Languages User Group (see HELP * PLUG for details) and the Poplog email forum (see HELP * POPFORUM for details.) PLUG maintains a software library, which is accessible via email. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 Standards and conventions for Poplog "contrib" software ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Anyone planning to extend the contrib directory should read the following files HELP * STANDARDS On formatting code and documentation HELP * MKREFINDEX How to index REF style documentation It is a good idea to adopt a prefix to be used to start all the identifiers in your package with a view to preventing clashes with software developed elswhere, though sections and lexical scoping reduce the problem. (See HELP * STANDARDS/package) If you add a package that includes a variety of sub-directories, e.g. auto, lib, help, teach, ref, etc. then it is advisable to include one file that adds the directories to appropriate search lists. For an example SHOWLIB * POPXLIB. This library extends various search lists to include the Poplog X library and documentation directories. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 Location of contrib files ----------------------------------------------------------------------- It is important to consider carefully where the extension should be located. There are two main options: (a) Put the whole package into its own directory tree with appropriate sub-directories for HELP, TEACH, LIB, files etc. (See HELP * STANDARDS/package) (b) Merge the various files from the package with files in the sub-directories of the appropriate contrib language directory. E.g contrib/pop11/help contrib/pop11/lib etc. Option (a) has the advantage that particular packages can easily be identified and moved to more convenient locations, or kept online while other things are deleted. Option (b) reduces the need for searchlists to be extended by adding new directories, and makes it more likely that useful packages will be found by browsing general help directories. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 WARNING ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Software and documentation included in the $popcontrib directory tree in any one version of Poplog may not be included in later versions. So be sure to copy anything you want to preserve. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Further reading ----------------------------------------------------------------------- HELP * PLUG HELP * POPFORUM HELP * STANDARDS REF * REFFORM DOC * SYSSPEC --- C.all/help/contrib --- Copyright University of Sussex 2009. All rights reserved.