IDyOM Project

h1. Installing IDyOM

h2. Prerequisites

* "Steel Bank Common Lisp [SBCL]":http://www.sbcl.org/platform-table.html

* "Quicklisp":http://www.quicklisp.org/beta/ is a library manager for Common Lisp.  Just download "<code>quicklisp.lisp</code>":http://beta.quicklisp.org/quicklisp.lisp and follow the instructions "here":http://www.quicklisp.org/beta/

* An SQL database.  I would recommend  "SQLite":http://www.sqlite.org/ which is already installed on most recent flavours of MacOS and Linux.

It is possible to use SBCL in a terminal window but I strongly suggest using "Emacs":http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/ and installing Slime (a Lisp interface for Emacs) which is easily done using Quicklisp (see instructions "here":http://www.quicklisp.org/beta/).

See the "CLSQL Manual":http://clsql.b9.com/manual/ for information on other database systems you can use and how to access them from Common Lisp.

h2. Install Quicklisp

First download  "<code>quicklisp.lisp</code>":http://beta.quicklisp.org/quicklisp.lisp to a directory <code>DIR_A</code>.  You can then install Quicklisp to another directory of your choice <code>DIR_B</code>:

<pre>

(load "/DIR_A/quicklisp.lisp")

(quicklisp-quickstart:install :path "/DIR_B/quicklisp/")

(ql:add-to-init-file)

(ql:quickload "quicklisp-slime-helper")

</pre>

Use the full pathnames for both directories (Lisp doesn't interpret shell substitutions like ~ for the home directory).

Remember to follow the instructions given by each of these commands (in particular the final command includes some lines of code to put in the emacs configuration file - usually called <code>.emacs</code> in your home directory). 

See the "Quicklisp website":http://beta.quicklisp.org/ for documentation about other features of Quicklisp.

h2. Download IDyOM

Download the following Lisp libraries, and unzip them into <code>DIR_B/quicklisp/local-projects/</code>

* "idyom":https://code.soundsoftware.ac.uk/hg/idyom/archive/tip.zip

*Removing previous installations*: If you have any previous installations of these libraries, you would do well to remove them, especially if they are in folders such as '~/.local' which are automatically scanned by asdf/quicklisp. You may also want to clear the corresponding entries from <code>asdf:*central-registry*</code> in your .sbclrc file, should any exist.

h2. Set <code>*idyom-root*</code>

IDyOM requires the global variable <code>*idyom-root*</code> be set to a suitable working directory, where it stores models, cross-validation settings, cached results etc. By default, this is a directory called 'idyom' in your home directory. Alternatively, you can customise the location by setting the variable <code>*idyom-root*</code> to point to the desired directory by including the following in your <code>.sbclrc</code> file, located in your home directory (you must restart SBCL for this to take effect):

<pre>

(defvar *idyom-root* "/FULL/PATH/TO/WORKING/DIR/")

</pre>

However you configure this, you must ensure that the directory exists (create it if it doesn't) and you will also need to create three directories below <code>*idyom-root*</code> for IDyOM to use: <code>*idyom-root*/data/cache/</code>, <code>data/models/</code> and <code>data/resampling/</code>.

h2. Install IDyOM

You can now use Quicklisp to install IDyOM:

<pre>

(ql:quickload "idyom")

</pre>

This will also install the third-party Lisp libraries IDyOM depends on.  

(If you get an error which brings up the debugger, press 2 [ACCEPT] and the installation should complete.)

h2. Create a database

IDyOM is now installed, but you will need a database in order to use it.  For example, to create an SQLite database called 'example.db' in directory <code>DIR</code>:

<pre>

(clsql:connect '("DIR/example.db") :if-exists :old :database-type :sqlite3)

</pre>

Alternatively, to connect to an existing local MySQL database:

<pre>

(clsql:connect '("localhost" "example-database" "username" "password") :if-exists :old :database-type :mysql)

</pre>

See the "CLSQL documentation":http://clsql.b9.com/manual/ for more on "connect":http://clsql.b9.com/manual/connect.html and "supported databases":http://clsql.b9.com/manual/prerequisites.html#idp8251808.

Finally, for a new database: 

<pre>

(mtp-admin:initialise-database)

</pre>

h3. Problems loading foreign libraries

Depending on how your system is configured, <code>clsql:connect</code> may give a "Couldn't load foreign libraries" error.  In this case, you

need to "tell CLSQL where it can find these libraries":http://clsql.b9.com/manual/appendix.html#foreignlibs, e.g.

<pre>

(clsql:push-library-path "/usr/local/mysql/lib/")

</pre>

The exact path will depend on your system.  Note that, for some database installations these libraries may not have been installed, and you should consult the database documentation.