ThisForth -- a macro-oriented Forth based on Standard (ANS) Forth  94-08-16

ThisForth features:

	Integrated macro processing
	Input/output re-assignment 
	Portable implementation
	Easy extensibility    
	Pinhole	optimization

ThisForth was written:

(1)	To try out Standard (ANS) Forth.
(2)	To integrate macro processing with Forth.
(3)	To be able to use Forth	in a conventional environment.
(4)	To have	Forth as an interpretive shell and scripting
	language for applications.

You should have:

aforth.c        Processed Forth and Low Level Forth source for a Forth.
fo.m4		The low	level Forth part of the	kernel.
kernel.c	The straight C part of the kernel.
rth		The high level Forth part of the kernel.
llfc.m4		The low-level-Forth-for-C source.
fo.h		Parameters and other cpp macros	for fo.c
custom.m4	A file,	initially empty, for your application primitives.
Makefile	Unix Makefile.	Burgle it for your turf.
mac.c		Special	file for Macintosh console interface.
eval		A file to let you evaluate Forth words in the command line.
path		A file to set up a default path	for your electives.
save-4th	A file used in building	a stand-alone.
tester coretest	John Hayes' Core tests, modified for This Forth. 
lib		A directory of examples	and extensions.
DOPE
MOREDOPE
files
glossary

You should already have M4 and an ANSI C compiler.

To build a core Forth, compile `aforth.c' and `kernel.c' together.
How to do that is your problem.  Look over the Unix makefile for hints.  For
GNU C on netcom.com the following worked

	gcc -D__GNU__ aforth.c kernel.c -o aforth

When you are successful, you can try a few tests.

	aforth
	1 2 - .
	1 2 - u.
	5 dup +	.
	99 0 do i . loop
	1 begin dup . 2* ?dup 0= until
	s" Makefile" input constant in
	in copy
	: upcase filter get-char >upper emit unfilter ;
	in upcase
	bye
	
	aforth tester coretest
	
	aforth your-file-1 your-file-2
	
	aforth
	s" your-file-1" included
	s" your-file-2" included
	
	aforth eval '." 4th luv ?? honk" cr bye'

To build a new version of This Forth, check the Makefile:

On Unix use the AT&T M4, /usr/5bin/m4, rather than the BSD M4.

The option -DFLOATING with M4 will give you the basic floating point
words.

`fo' does not contain the high level Forth part of the kernel.  To
load the high level part, invoke as `fo rth'.

`rth' has many provocative examples.
The common implementation factors are subject to change without notice.

Sooner than later you will want to make permanent extensions to
the kernel and build a Forth with your personality.  Do something like:

	fo rth _your_source_files_ path _your_elective_path_ save-4th
	m4 -DEXTENDED fo.m4 > yourforth.c
	cc yourforth.c kernel.c _your_custom_files_.c -o yourforth.

Use whatever other options you used before with m4.

*** IMPORTANT ***

Because the naming rules for directories are different on different 
platforms, and you may have your own ideas on where files should be kept, 
you will have to define ELECTIVE for yourself.  You can use file `path'
to aid you, or you can write your own.

`ELECTIVE name' should turn `name' into a character string with the 
relative or absolute search path and the suffix for your elective files.

`--> name' can then be used to load an elective without your having
to give the full path name.

The following named extensions are built-in to the primitive kernel.

ARGUMENT	( -- string . ) Get the next argument from the command line.
CASE		Mark the control-flow stack.
D+		( augend . addend . -- sum . )
D-		( minuend . subtrahend . -- difference . )
DISPLAY		( file-id -- ) Reassign file identity of output device.
ERROR?		( -- errno ) Get Standard C library errno.
ESAC		Resolve control-flow stack back to CASE, using THEN's.
EXPOUND		The input source interpreter/compiler loop.
FCLOSE FFLUSH FOPEN FSEEK FTELL	SYSTEM	Standard C library functions.
GET-CHAR	( -- char ) Get and remove next character from input source.
HAS		( n -- x ) What location n of codespace has.
INLINE		Make preceding definition inline.
NESTING		( -- n ) The depth of the return stack.
NEXT-CHAR	( -- char ) Get character from input source without removing it.
OUTSIDE		( -- n ) The depth of the compile time stack.
PATCH		( x n -- ) Patch location n of codespace with x.
PLEASE		<spaces><char><text><char> Insert <text> in input source.
STACK-CHAR	( char -- ) Insert character in input source.
STREAM		( file-id -- ) Assign file identity to input device.
UNDER+		( a b c	-- a+c b )
UNSTREAM	Restore previous file identity of input source.
|		Mark the next definition as one to be disowned.
||		Disown marked definitions.

BYE COMPARE SEARCH-WORDLIST TIME&DATE

The version of aforth.c here has been processed to remove multiple blank 
lines.  See `ssp'.  The steps were:

	pdm4 fo.m4 > fo.c
	gcc -D__GNU__ fo.c kernel.c > fo
	fo rth save-4th
	pdm4 -DEXTENDED fo.m4 > foo.c
	fo rth ssp foo.c > aforth.c

Please tell me just how to improve these instructions.

Let me know what you had to do on your platforms.

Procedamus in pace -- Wil		[email protected]