Newsgroups: comp.lang.prolog
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From: fjh@munta.cs.mu.OZ.AU (Fergus Henderson)
Subject: Re: a real type/mode checker
Message-ID: <9427214.28718@mulga.cs.mu.OZ.AU>
Sender: news@cs.mu.OZ.AU
Organization: Computer Science, University of Melbourne, Australia
References: <36c1p9$2c1@site_jj.carlstedt.se>
Date: Thu, 29 Sep 1994 04:47:29 GMT
Lines: 28

feliks@carlstedt.se (Feliks Kluzniak) writes:

>My apologies if this is a FAQ, but does anyone know of an operational type/mode
>checker for real programs in full Prolog?

Your stated requirements are inconsistent.  By definition, "full
Prolog" includes programs which are not type-correct or mode-correct.

However, as part of the Mercury project here at the University of
Melbourne, I have written a type/mode checker for Mercury.  Since the
syntax for Mercury is basically the same as Prolog with annotations, it
might well satisfy your real requirements.

>Does anyone have experience with using it in a sizable project?

Yes, we have used it in the development of the Mercury compiler
(38000 lines of code at last count).  It has proved absolutely invaluable.

The bad news is that it is not yet ready for public release.
(There's a few little details like writing some documentation for it,
fixing the known bugs, finishing the unimplemented parts, testing it,
making the error messages comprehensible, and so forth, which still
need to be completed.)
If you don't find anything better, however, and are interested in becoming
a *pre-alpha* tester, please contact me via email.

-- 
Fergus Henderson - fjh@munta.cs.mu.oz.au
