Soar Software Archive

The Soar Software Archive contains publically-released versions of the Soar software system for several computer architectures. Manuals describing the Soar system are also kept here. In addition, Soar developers can find some tools to help in the development of Soar programs.

The currently supported version of Soar is Soar 7, a C-based implementation, available for Unix and Mac platforms. Several releases of Soar 6 are available for Unix, Mac and Dos platforms. Soar 7 replaces the user interface of Soar 6 with Tcl. Manual pages for Soar 7 beta are available.

Following, you will find a description of the main contents of the Soar Software Archive. Of course, you are welcome to peruse the entire contents of the Soar archive via FTP. The README file contains general information about this archive that FTP users should read first.

Software - Soar 7

The repository of Soar 7 related files includes releases for Unix and Mac systems. An extension of "full" indicates Tcl, Tk and Blt are included in the distribution. All of the release filenames are identified via the extension 7.X.Y.Z where X and Y are numbers, and Z is an optional letter. X corresponds to a major revision and Y to a minor revision. Z is one of:

Alpha release (Newest bug fixes -- tested internally)
Beta release (The most recently released version) and
Gamma release (The most stable known released version)

Latest Unix releases:

soar-7.0.4.README

soar-7.0.4.full.tar.gz

soar-7.0.4.tar.gz

soar-7.0.3.tar.Z

soar-7.0.0.beta.full.tar.gz

Macintosh releases contain the suffix hqx to indicate these files are binhexed self extracting archives. Most Mac compression utilities have the ability to un-binhex a file. An extension of Build/full indicates that both the MacSoar executable and files needed to compile MacSoar using CodeWarrior 8 are included in the distribution. An extension of PPC indicates a PowerMac specific release for MacSoar 7.0.0 only, all later MacSoar releases use a fat binary, or executable that contains both 68K and PPC executable code.

Latest Mac releases:

MacSoartk-7.0.4+CUSP.hqx

MacSoartk-7.0.4+CUSP.full.hqx

MacSoar-7.0.4.sea.hqx

MacSoar-7.0.4.Build.sea.hqx

MacSoar-7.0.0.sea.hqx

MacSoar-7.0.0.Build.sea.hqx

Software - Soar 6

The repository of Soar 6, related files includes releases for Unix systems, MS Windows, and the Mac. The latest Soar 6 release for Unix is 6.2.5.tar.Z. All of the Unix release filenames are identified via the prefix 6.X.YZ where X and Y are numbers, and Z is a letter. X corresponds to a major revision and Y to a minor revision. Z is one of the letters a, b or g standing for alpha, beta and gamma respectively, as explained above. While Unix is the primary platform for Soar system development, Soar has been ported to Intel-based architectures which run MS Windows:

IntelSoar6.1.0.exe

IntelSoar6.1.0.zip

IntelSoarDoc.6.1.0.zip

WINSOAR.RME

WINSOAR.ZIP

and the Mac:

MacSoar6.1.0.hqx

MacSoar6.1.0MA.hqx

README-MACSOAR6.2.3

MacSoar6.2.2+SimIO.hqx

There are installation instructions written for Unix versions, although installers on other architectures may find some of the information useful. Those wishing to use the multi-agent facility of Soar will probably want to read the initial version of the multi-agent documentation although this can also be found in the Soar User's Manual. There is also some installation information for WinSoar and installation information for MacSoar. Historians will want to read the original release notes from Bob Doorenbos detailing the initial version of Soar 6.

Support Tools

The Soar Development Environment (SDE) is a facility for developing Soar programs using GNU Emacs. It includes programming facilities tailored for Soar and a powerful interface for interacting with Soar itself. This tool was developed by Mike Hucka (hucka@umich.edu) and is currently being enhanced. SDE users keep in touch via the email newsgroup sde-users@umich.edu.

sde-0.11.tar.Z

A socket package enabling external systems to interact more easily with Soar is provided in MONGSU. MONGSU is named after its developers.

mongsu-2.1.tar.Z

TclSoar replaces the command-line interpreter initially provided in Soar 6.0.0 with the Tcl embeddable, programmable shell. TclSoar also includes the Tk extension to provide dynamic GUI creation.

tclsoar-6.1.1.tar.Z

Dismal is a package for aligning subject protocols with Soar output.

dismal-1.00.tar.gz

Soar mode is an predecessor to SDE that provides Soar editing support in the Emacs text editor.

soar-mode.5.0.tar.Z

The archive also provides a place for users to contribute useful Soar-related items.

user-library

README

SimTime.tar.Z The SimTime package for Soar-6 is intended to provide some of the capabilities of Mark Wiesmeyer's EDT (Event and Decision Timing) package that was available in Soar-5. The SimTime system simulates the passage of real time (hence the name) as a function of the cognitive behavior of your Soar model. It may be used in a limited way without any knowledge of C language programming, but to capture its full power it is necessary to be able to write Soar-6 I/O code in C. The SimTime package was developed by Greg Nelson (ghn@cs.cmu.edu).

Manuals - Soar 7

There is a user's manual available for Soar, as well as a few additional documents:

The Soar User's Manual is the primary reference for Soar. It includes a description of the Soar architecture, the syntax of Soar programs, and the Soar user interface.
The Soar Coloring Book is written for novice Soar users, and guides the reader through several example tasks and exercises.
The Soar Advanced Applications Manual is written for advanced Soar users. This guide describes how to add input and output routines to Soar programs, how to run multiple Soar ``agents'' from a single Soar image, and how to extend Soar by adding your own user-interface functions, simulators, or graphical user interfaces.
The Soar Development Environment Manual describes the Soar Development Environment (SDE), which is an Emacs interface that simplifies many of the repetitive tasks involved in writing a Soar program.

In general, hardcopy of Soar documentation can be obtained at no charge by sending email to soar-doc@isi.edu or by writing to the physical address listed on the Soar homepage. You may also submit your request via the Web.

However, at this time all external documentation is under revision (to update it with the current software release), and is not available in hardcopy. Electronic draft versions (in postscript) are available for most of the manuals listed above. Send mail to soar-doc@isi.edu
for more information.

Manuals - Soar 6

Although the software listed above is in the public domain, the Soar User's Manual, Version 6, Edition 1 remains under copyright. A tar file of the current version is maintained in the archive. To obtain a hardcopy (at no charge) send a request (including your physical mail address) to soar-doc@isi.edu or to the physical address listed on the Soar homepage. You may also submit your request via the Web.

Thomas M. Head