Downloading the Compiler

The instructions on this page apply to Ptolemy compiler version 1.2 beta3 or later. Previous versions of the Ptolemy compiler are no longer maintained. Ptolemy compiler can be obtained in the following forms:

• Pre-built binaries: From the Ptolemy download page.
• Source code: From sourceforge.net by following the URL http://sourceforge.net/projects/ptolemyj/.

For starting out, we would recommend using the pre-built binaries that account for all dependencies. The following instructions assume that you have downloaded the archive containing Ptolemy compiler and examples from our download page.

Structure of Ptolemy Distribution

The archive file contains the following folders.

• bin : This folder contains the executable versions of Ptolemy compiler for both *nix and WIN environments.
• editors : This folder contains the emacs and vim extensions that support the basic constructs in Ptolemy.
• examples : This folder contains some small examples of new Ptolemy features.
• licenses : This folder contains the licensing agreements under which Ptolemy compiler and associated tools are available.
• README : A textual version of this web-page.

Requirements for Running Ptolemy Compiler

Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.6 or greater.

Running the Ptolemy Compiler

The Ptolemy compiler can be used in two ways:

• like javac from command-line
• as a replacement builder for javac in the javac ant task.

The following sections describe these usage.

Running the Ptolemy Compiler from Command-Line

The bin folder in the Ptolemy distribution contains scripts that can be used to run the Ptolemy compiler.

• pyc : the command-line interface for *nix systems.
• pyc.bat : the command-line interface for WIN systems.

Alternatively, you can also directly use the jar file in the distribution from command-line as follows

java -jar path/to/pyc.jar -classpath 
.:path/to/pyc.jar files_to_compile.

Unix-specific Instructions for Command-line

Before running these scripts, the PYC_HOME variable needs to be set to the full path of the pyc folder.

For example, (on Linux) if the pyc folder is located at

/home/hridesh/pyc

then the variable PYC_HOME in pyc/bin/pyc needs to to be set to /home/hridesh/pyc by running

export PYC_HOME=/home/hridesh/pyc

on the command-line.

You could also add the export line above to your shell startup script such as .bashrc or .bash_profile.

Windows-specific Instructions for Command-line

If the PYC_HOME variable is not set, the script assumes the pyc.jar file is in the same directory as the script and set paths accordingly. If the script is moved out of the bin/ directory, the PYC_HOME will need to be set.

Windows users can set the environment variable PYC_HOME by running

set PYC_HOME=c:\home\hridesh\pyc

In Windows, there should not be any spaces in the PYC_HOME path. For example, c:\Documents and Settings\hridesh\pyc will probably cause an error. It is recommended to put the pyc folder in the root of a drive, e.g. c:\pyc

Once PYC_HOME is set correctly, the Ptolemy compiler pyc can used just like javac. Invoke the script on the command line with the names of the files to compile.

For more details see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_variable

Compiling Examples from Command-Line

Examples of some small Ptolemy programs are located in the examples folder. To compile an example, navigate to its directory and use Ptolemy compiler just like javac.

For example, to manually compile the ObserverExample, navigate to the examples/ObserverExample directory and type ../../bin/pyc *.java.

After compilation the programs run as normal Java programs. Use "java AppEntry" to run these programs.

Running the Ptolemy Compiler from Within Ant

Use the following to create a pyc ant task that can be used like the javac task to compile projects.

    
	<property name="pyc.bin" value="path/to/bin/folder"></property>
			
	<taskdef name="pyc" classname="edu.iastate.cs.ja_pyc.ant.JapycJavacAdaptor">
		<classpath>
			<pathelement location="${pyc.bin}/pyc.jar"></pathelement>
		</classpath>
	</taskdef>
		
	<pyc srcdir="${source}" destdir="${output}" debuglevel="lines,source" source="1.5" target="1.5" includes="*.java">
		<classpath>
			<pathelement location="${bin.dir}/pyc.jar"/></pathelement>
		</classpath>
	</pyc>

Alternatively, the normal javac target can be overridden to use the Ptolemy compiler instead of the system java compiler.

Create a build.properties files with the following line:

build.compiler=edu.iastate.cs.ja_pyc.ant.JapycCompilerAdapter

Include the build.properties in build.xml file, either globally or for specific targets.

Use the javac ant target to compile the java files. For example:

	<property name="output" value="bin"></property>
	<property name="src" value="src"></property>
	<target name="build" description="Compile"> 
		<property file="build.properties"></property>
		<javac srcdir="${src}" destdir="${output}">
			<classpath>
				<pathelement location="path/to/pyc.jar"></pathelement>
			</classpath>
		</javac>
	</target>

Run ant with: ant -lib path/to/pyc.jar to start ant with the Ptolemy compiler on ant's classpath. Note, pyc.jar is also added to the classpath in the javac task. This is because the Ptolemy compiler needs some annotations defined in the pyc.jar file to run.

Compiling Examples Using Ant

Examples included in this distribution can also be compiled with their included build.xml file using Apache Ant. Apache Ant (http://ant.apache.org/) needs to be installed before using these build.xml files

Acknowledgments and Licensing

The Ptolemy compiler builds on several different projects including:

• Beaver: http://beaver.sourceforge.net//li>
• JFlex: http://jflex.de/
• JastAdd: http://www.jastadd.org

All necessary licenses are included in the license directory.

The Ptolemy compiler is licensed under the Mozilla Public License version 1.1 (MPL 1.1) license. You may obtain a copy of the license at http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/.

Page last modified on $Date: 2012/01/07 16:25:19 $