PowerLoom 3.0.2.beta now available for download

Dear PowerLoom Users!

PowerLoom 3.0.2.beta is now available for download from

    http://www.isi.edu/isd/LOOM/PowerLoom/download-page.html

(same password as before).

If you don't yet have a password, please go to

    http://www.isi.edu/isd/LOOM/PowerLoom/how-to-get.html

to see how to get one.

This is primarily a patch release (release notes appended below and now also
accessible from our documentation page at
http://www.isi.edu/isd/LOOM/PowerLoom/documentation/documentation.html).

Sorry, but there were a few incompatible changes in the PLI interface
(see release notes).  We try to keep those to a minimum, but until
this interface is sufficiently settled there will probably be more of
those in the future.  If you are writing PowerLoom applications via
the PLI interface it is a good idea to encapsulate calls to PLI to
keep the effects of such changes on your code to a minimum.

This update is available as a full release or as a set of patch files
(see installation instructions).  The patch file set for this release
is fairly large, it should become smaller for future updates.

PowerLoom 3.0.2.beta Release Notes

- PLI updates: 
  - INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES:
    - `load' now takes an environment argument to be consistent 
      with other PLI functions.
    - Return type of `change-module' and `s-change-module' now is
      MODULE instead of OBJECT.
    - The type of all environment arguments is now ENVIRONMENT
      instead of OBJECT.
  - New `create-module' and `s-create-module' functions.
  - New `load-stream' and `load-native-stream' functions.
  - `initialize' can now be called multiple times without harm.
  - `s-ask' and `s-retrieve' now unstringify their arguments in 
    the correct module.  Also clarified their behavior with respect
    to top-level parentheses around their arguments - see manual.
  - `generate-unique-name' now upcases its prefix for non-case-sensitive
    modules.  This is a temporary patch which should eventually be
    replaced with a "correct" fix.

- PowerLoom updates:
  - Fixed `retract' to work correctly for function propositions whose
    output value is shared by at least one other function proposition.
  - Fixed `unassert' to work correctly on function propositions.
  - Improved handling of truth-value clashes by marking offending propositions
    as inconsistent.
  - Extended `unassert' to allow retraction of inconsistent propositions 
    (this only makes sense for propositions that were explicitly asserted 
    as inconsistent).
  - Improved `member-of' evaluator to check whether an asserted member
    clashes with an enumerated set as in, for example,
       (member-of pink (setof red blue green))
    This improves handling of concepts that were defined via an enumerated set.
  - Moved demo KB `business.ploom' into its own module.
  - Printing of QUERY-ITERATOR objects now obeys the STELLA `*printlength*'
    variable.

- STELLA updates:
  - Now uses STELLA 3.3.2
  - New Lisp switch `cl-user::*use-stella-hash-tables?*' now allows one to
    force the use of STELLA hash tables instead of native Lisp hash tables.
    This works around a reoccuring problem in Allegro-CL that causes performance
    problems with large hash tables.  This has been fixed by Franz various times
    but seems to crop up again and again.  Now we always use STELLA hash tables
    with Allegro-CL.


Enjoy,

Your PowerLoom development team

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PowerLoom home page:                 http://www.isi.edu/isd/LOOM/PowerLoom
PowerLoom forum:                                   [email protected]
PowerLoom request line:                      [email protected]
STELLA home page:                       http://www.isi.edu/isd/LOOM/Stella
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