November Quicklisp updates

Survey

I'm conducting a new Quicklisp survey. I'd like to find out the best way to reach the most people when there is Quicklisp news to share. It's one question, so if you can, please go fill it out.

Client Update

There's a new Quicklisp client available. You can get it with (ql:update-client). The new version will take effect after you restart your Lisp. 

This client has a feature that I think will be very helpful: any directory created in ~/quicklisp/local-projects/ will be automatically scanned for system files. There's no need to run an additional command to reconfigure ASDF.

For example, if there's a library that isn't part of Quicklisp, you can try it out with something like this in a shell:

$ cd ~/quicklisp/local-projects/

$ git clone git://github.com/xach/format-time.git

And something like this in a REPL:

* (ql:quickload "format-time")

There is no need to update your ASDF source registry or initialize it manually after adding new projects. This should simplify the directions authors can provide to people who want to try their projects.

There are a few things to keep in mind with this new feature:

First, you can't just symlink something into ~/quicklisp/local-projects/; for some Lisps (CLISP, ECL)  that works, for others (SBCL, ClozureCL) it doesn't. I hope to eliminate that limitation soon.

Also, only projects created in the top level of the directory are automatically scanned. Directories created or modified below the top level do not trigger an automatic scan. You can initiate a manual scan with (ql:register-local-projects), though. 

Finally, projects in ~/quicklisp/local-projects/ take precedence over both systems in the ASDF source registry and systems in Quicklisp. I'm not sure I'll keep that ordering if it causes problems.

This feature is a work in progress, so I appreciate any feedback, positive or negative.

Dist Update

I've updated the Quicklisp dist. You can get the update with (ql:update-dist "quicklisp"). 

Here's a summary of the changes this month:

New projects: able, asdf-dependency-grovel, autoproject, binascii, cgn, cl-apple-plist, cl-generic-arithmetic, cl-launch, cl-prolog, cl-rmath, cl-tokyo-cabinet, data-sift, deoxybyte-gzip, deoxybyte-io, deoxybyte-systems, deoxybyte-utilities, exscribe, fare-mop, lparallel, queues, text-query, thread.comm.rendezvous, xcvb, xml-emitter.

Updated projects: alexandria, antik, blackthorn-engine-3d, buildnode, caveman, chipz, cl+ssl, cl-2d, cl-closure-template, cl-csv, cl-inflector, cl-langutils, cl-match, cl-mediawiki, cl-num-utils, cl-oauth, cl-odesk, cl-quickcheck, cl-random, cl-scrobbler, cl-stomp, cl-test-more, cl-tuples, cl-twitter, cl-uglify-js, clack, clawk, clfswm, closer-mop, clsql-orm, collectors, com.google.base, command-line-arguments, contextl, css-selectors, data-table, doplus, elf, fare-utils, gbbopen, glop, group-by, gsll, gtk-cffi, hu.dwim.defclass-star, hu.dwim.reiterate, hu.dwim.stefil, hu.dwim.util, hunchentoot, hunchentoot-cgi, latex-table, lisp-gflags, lla, meta, metatilities-base, nibbles, parse-js, plokami, postmodern, protobuf, recursive-regex, restas, restas-directory-publisher, rfc2388, rpc4cl, rutils, screamer, simple-date-time, slime, symbol-munger, talcl, tap-unit-test, trivial-types, uri-template.

Removed projects: cl-webkit, tilde, webfunk.

cl-webkit has been removed because it now requires a version of the webkit library that I haven't been able to test. I hope to restore it next month. tilde has been removed because it's an unnecessary sbcl-only library; SBCL supports "~" in pathnames without any patches now. And webfunk no longer builds with the latest Hunchentoot.

Hunchentoot has a big update this month, the first new release in more than a year. It has a few backwards-incompatible changes. Affected projects in Quicklisp (except for webfunk) have been updated. However, you might find that your own Hunchentoot-using projects are affected by the changes. If that's problematic, you can either avoid updating Quicklisp, or if you've already updated, you can go back to a previous version.

As usual, if you have any questions or comments about Quicklisp updates, feel free to email me or discuss things on the Quicklisp mailing list.

Happy Lisping!