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# Emacs eev and common lisp McCLIM
- - «.aside» (to "aside")
- - «.outside emacs» (to "outside emacs")
- - «.inside emacs» (to "inside emacs")
- - «.clim-user» (to "clim-user")
- - «.defining an application-frame» (to "defining an application-frame")
- - «.making a frame» (to "making a frame")
- - «.starting a frame» (to "starting a frame")
- - «.in the gui» (to "in the gui")
- - «.after killing emacs» (to "after killing emacs")
- - «.fin» (to "fin")
<img src="../clim-default-1.png"> <img src="../clim-default-2.png">
I have a particular fantasy idiom for using McCLIM inside emacs. Since McCLIM uses a swank server, and a swank server handles multiple connections, we can start McCLIM outside of emacs, then slime-connect emacs to that external server. The fantasy aspect is that our creations from inside emacs will survive `kill-emacs` in the external lisp image, which can be hooked into again by a later emacs. It's a nascent idea.
- [McCLIM on Codeberg](
https://codeberg.org/McCLIM/McCLIM/)
- [Jackdaniel's lisp blog](
https://turtleware.eu/)
- [The Common Lisp Interface Manager CLIM II specification](
http://bauhh.dyndns.org:8000/clim-spec/index.html)
- [Franz' (proprietary implementation) reference documentation](
https://franz.com/support/documentation/8.1/doc/clim-ug.pdf)
- [Lispworks' (proprietary implementation) reference documentation](
https://www.lispworks.com/documentation/lw80/clim/clim.htm)
## Aside - Franz Inc open sourced their CLIM 2 in 2016?
- - «aside» (to ".aside")
I found it while looking up links. On github though!
- [
https://github.com/craigl64/clim2](
https://github.com/craigl64/clim2)
## Strictly outside of emacs
- - «outside emacs» (to ".outside emacs")
and inside your shell, I guess. This is not for eev (I guess it would work in `(eepitch-shell)` but that would be *inside* emacs).
```
ecl
(require "asdf")
(asdf:load-system :mcclim)
(asdf:system-source-directory :swank)
(merge-pathnames #p"start-swank.lisp" *)
(load *)
```
## Strictly inside of emacs - connect to mcclim's swank
- - «inside emacs» (to ".inside emacs")
Now we are happily using `eev` `eepitch`.
```
(eepitch-shell)
(eepitch-kill)
(slime-connect "localhost" 4005)
(setq eepitch-buffer-name "*slime-repl ECL*")
```
Remember that we loaded `mcclim` already in the external lisp.
## `eepitch` into `clim-user`
- - «clim-user» (to ".clim-user")
In lisp, we often make `-user` packages to absorb user code. This user package is what the package developer expects their users to basically experience.
```
(in-package :clim-user)
```
## Defining an `application-frame`
- - «defining an application-frame» (to ".defining an application-frame")
```
(define-application-frame gui () ())
```
## Make one particular `gui` `application-frame`
- - «making a frame» (to ".making a frame")
We don't have to instantiate it and can just `find-application-frame` to pull it up headlessly, but we want it to stick around outside of emacs in this case.
```
(make-application-frame 'gui)
(defparameter *gui* *)
```
## Start it.
- - «starting a frame» (to ".starting a frame")
```
(run-frame-top-level *gui*)
```
<img src="../clim-screenshot-3.png">
## In the gui that just popped up
- - «in the gui» (to ".in the gui")
The default interactor is a simple shell (having I guess `Help`, `Describe` and `Quit`). Note that it has autocompletion and emacs-like cut and paste. The autocompletion is used implicitly.
If you are filling out a form, `<enter>` will set the current field and move to the next one, `C-g` aborts, and `M-<enter>` (alt+enter) sends the form.
## Cannot *simply* `kill-emacs` and leave the form running
- - «after killing emacs» (to ".after killing emacs")
I guess I would need to start it in another thread in a tricky way. Still, we can easily pop up a gui now. And that `*gui*` still literally exists in the running `ECL` lisp image outside of emacs.
# Fin.
- - «fin» (to ".fin")
So the `*gui*` does not *do* anything yet, but what we did works and it persists outside of the emacs session.
See you [on the Mastodon to talk about this](
https://screwlisp.small-web.org).
