boeijink@ark.UUCP (Peter Boeijink) (01/16/86)
In the BYTE magazine of december Chalcedony Software offers a Prolog
interpretor. They have two versions: PROLOG-V for $69.95 and PROLOG-V-Plus
for $99.95. Both are running on MsDos and PcDos systems according to
the ad. I own a Sanyo MBC-555 with MsDos 2.11. Can a Prolog-V user on
the net tell me:
- whether the packet is running on the MBC-555;
- what his/her experience is with the packet.
mbc555(msdos).
prologV(msdos).
quality(minimal_as_prologC).
price(reasonable).
user_friendly(not_as_prologC).
run :- prologV(TYPE), mbc555(TYPE).
experience :- quality(minimal_as_prologC), user_friendly(not_as_prologC),
price(reasonable).
buy :- run, experience.
?- buy.
Thanks in advance, Peter Boeijink.dcgoricanec@watnot.UUCP (dcgoricanec) (01/29/86)
[ a line of fodder ...]
hello.
I have used prolog_v+ (plvp) for 4 months in a professional evaluation sense
for a major Canadian employer.
For 99.95 US Chalcedony Software will mail a box containing :
one (1) handsome red-clad professional-looking manual;
one (1) unprotected 360-kb diskette containing an AMAZING prolog interpreter
one (1) licensing agreement;
Plvp supplies IBM PC (and clone) dependent graphics predicates such as :
setdot,getdot,drwln, and scrnrl ( for rolling screen window) , exciting predi cates for any prolog,
as well as comprehensive dos calls from within plvp,
as well as ability to load c,pascal,dbase3,etc. stuff below plvp as a coresident routine,
as well as 8087 support ( as coresident routine),
as well as 64-bit floating point reals,
as well as editor support for user's choice,
as well as 90% Clocksin + Mellish compatibility, with full comp. availiable
by simply adding some predicates to the plvp library (prolog.lib) file,
as well as AMPLE DEMO ROUTINES ON DISK,
as well as THE BEST AND MOST DESCRIPTIVE PROLOG MANUAL I HAVE EVER SEEN,
ALLOWING ANYBODY OVER 16 YEARS OLD TO LEARN PROLOG IN A SINGLE DAY.
bug report : all of the 100+ predicates that I have tested work .
PLVP is an interpreter,a compiler would be nice.
There are 2 bugs :
1. Division by a real number in interval [0.0,.999999)
will not work. (Divide by zero error ?)
My patch involved inserting the following predicate
for multiplicative inverse in prolog.lib :
inv(X,Y) :- A = 1000000,
Y is A / (X * A).
( if I remember correctly. )
2. Operators are handled inconsistently sometimes,
but there are obvious solutions avoiding problems.
ie. *,/ are treated differently than
+,- "
user-defined.
typically,
op(50,yfx,^)?
These are inconsequential difficulties since I have a plvp+ symdiff program
similar to C + M but with the full CRC table of differentiation formulae
which runs v-e-r-y smoothly .
In summary, PLVP is a usefully feature-packed ,C + M standard, well-documented
language with only two bugs which you can patch easily.
There is no telephone support, but you can always mail me. :-)
The major advantage of plvp is the price : 99.95 US .
Don't buy the stripped down plv for 69.95 because $ 30 is cheap for
all the bells and whistles provided in plvp.
PLVP works on clones very well also. :-)
BUY IT !
It remains to be seen if MPROLOG Compiler for PC ( mega-expensive ) conquers the
business market, but plvp may be destined for a significant educational role
due to its cheap price and superior primary and tertiary documentation.
The author is in no way affiliated with Chalcedony Software nor MPROLOG,
and will only accept positive liability for this review .