Prolog under DOS or Windows

Appeared in Volume 7/1, February 1994

kono@csl.sony.co.jp
Shinji Kono
20th October 1993

Guillaume Laborie writes:
Are there any Prologs that run under DOS or Windows ?

SICStus Prolog 2.1 #8 already works with the 386 MSDOS, so you can compile it on Windows 3.1 with DJGCC 1.10 without modification. The exact version numbers are 3.1J and DOS/V 5.0J.

SICStus is not free, but it is a good Prolog system.

ryoung@utdallas.edu
U Ryu Young
20th October 1993

If you compile it using DJGCC 1.10, it will run inside a DOS box in Windows, not as a native Windows application. Also, there are some bugs in DJGCC 1.10's 32 bit DOS extender, which are especially serious under VCPI (i.e. Windows' DOS box).

kono@csl.sony.co.jp
Shinji Kono
21st October 1993

Yes, VCPI contains many bugs. I've also noticed rare crashes and conflicts with smartdrv and ramdrive.

To increase reliability you could try another 32 bit C compiler for DOS. To make SICStus Prolog native you can remove its text output and add some kind of Windows interface. I've added a MSDOS interface (file name or input/ouput), and it isn't bound to DJGCC.

I prefer the 386 Unix version; it's more reliable and faster.

ted@expert.demon.co.uk
Ted Walker
20th October 1993

ESL has versions of Prolog-2 for DOS and Windows 3.1. The latest version implements the BIPs from the draft ISO standard and we have reduced the prices!

Details from sales@expert.demon.co.uk.

bmcuyper@info.vub.ac.be
Bernard De Cuyper
20th October 1993

Arity/Prolog v6.0 works under Windows (there is also a 32 bit version for OS2).

PrologIA should have a version of Prolog II running.

Under DOS, I prefer sbprolog.

bach@isbe.ch
Rene Bach
25th October 1993

Beware: Arity/Prolog puts you in a DOS window. It is not a native Windows application. They provide a Windows DLL libraries, which I haven't used yet. They had me confused by there ads.

rgams@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Richard A Gams
20th October 1993

Arity can be compiled into standard .obj files, which can be linked to objects from C or C++ modules that implement MS Windows programs. Arity provides both static and dynamic link libraries that use Windows memory management. I have written several programs that use C++ for the Windows part and Prolog for the logic part. For example, it is pretty easy to load a Windows list box by backtracking through a Prolog database.

rgams@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Richard A Gams
20th December 1993

I should also mention that Arity can compile "embedded C", so that it might be possible to write a complete Windows program from within Arity. However, I've found it easier to use the MS or Borland C or C++ compilers for the C or C++ portions.