CODEWITHSUNDEEP
common-lispsbclquicklisp
MadPhysicist
MadPhysicist

Reputation: 5831

Having to Re-install Quicklisp Packages on Each Restart

I am writing a (SBCL) Common Lisp program that has the following line at the top of the file:

(defpackage :my-package
  (:use :cl :cl-who :hunchentoot :parenscript))

I am running Emacs 25, SBCL and SLIME on MacOS.

Whenever I evaluate the line above, I always get this error at first:

The name "CL-WHO" does not designate any package. [Condition of type SB-KERNEL:SIMPLE-PACKAGE-ERROR]

Then, I run (ql:quickload "cl-who") and watch the CL-WHO package install. I repeat for the other two packages. Once I have done that, the form can be evaluated successfully.

The problem is that I need to do this each time I restart the Emacs (or Lisp process, which I assume is roughly equivalent in this case). Why is it that when I install something with Quicklisp it is not "remembered" for the next session? Am I doing something wrong?

Is this a problem with configurations or a general misunderstanding of how it is supposed to work?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 1263

Answers (1)

coredump
coredump

Reputation: 38799

Then, I run (ql:quickload "cl-who") and watch the CL-WHO package install. I repeat for the other two packages. Once I have done that, the form can be evaluated successfully.

You can quickload more than one system at once:

(ql:quickload '(:cl-who :hunchentoot :parenscript))

[...] each time I restart the Emacs (or Lisp process, which I assume is roughly equivalent in this case).

That's the case here, but notice that you can start a Lisp process from the shell and connect to it from Emacs. In that case, you could exit and restart Emacs without killing the Lisp process. Start a new REPL from the shell and create a server:

(ql:quickload :swank)
(swank:create-server :port 5000)

And then, call slime-connect from Emacs (with localhost and 5000 for the host and port parameters). That can be used also to monitor a running application.

Why is it that when I install something with Quicklisp it is not "remembered" for the next session?

The system is fetched, compiled and installed on your machine, which explains why the second time you quickload a project, it is faster. But a system is only loaded in your environment when you request it, either with Quicklisp or ASDF.

Define a system

See §6. Defining systems with defsystem for an introduction on how to define a system. Suppose you name your system stackoverflow. The simplest way to get started is to create the following file:

~/quicklisp/local-projects/stackoverflow/stackoverflow.asd

which contains:

(defsystem "stackoverflow"
  :depends-on ("cl-who" "hunchentoot" "parenscript"))

When you execute (ql:quickload "stackoverflow"), Quicklisp will load all its dependencies.

Instead of loading all the required systems, you only need to load a single one.

Either automatically load this system...

Lisp implementations can execute code at startup. One possible way for this is to execute the code from a configuration file: [.]ccl-init.lisp, .eclrc, .lispworks, .sbclrc (your case), etc. Execute quickload only if Quicklisp itself is available:

#+quicklisp
(ql:quickload "stackoverflow")

... or dump an image with all systems preloaded

You can also load all the required systems, and dump an executable image. Start a fresh SBCL from a terminal (not from Slime), call (ql:quickload "stackoverflow"), and then:

(sb-ext:save-lisp-and-die "my-env" 
                          :executable t
                          :compression 9)

(compression is optional)

Then, an executable file named "my-env" should be created in the same directory. Each time you start it, you have a fresh Lisp environment containing the systems you loaded before saving the image.

Upvotes: 9

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