philburk / Pforth

README for pForth - a Portable ANS-like Forth written in ANSI 'C'

by Phil Burk with Larry Polansky, David Rosenboom and Darren Gibbs. Support for 64-bit cells by Aleksej Saushev.

Last updated: April 24, 2018 V28

Code for pForth is maintained on GitHub at: https://github.com/philburk/pforth

Documentation for pForth at: http://www.softsynth.com/pforth/

For technical support please use the pForth forum at: http://groups.google.com/group/pforthdev

-- LEGAL NOTICE -----------------------------------------

Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any purpose with or without fee is hereby granted.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

-- Contents of SDK --------------------------------------

platforms - tools for building pForth on various platforms
platforms/unix - Makefile for unix

csrc - pForth kernel in ANSI 'C'
csrc/pf_main.c - main() application for a standalone Forth
csrc/stdio - I/O code using basic stdio for generic platforms
csrc/posix - I/O code for Posix platform
csrc/win32 - I/O code for basic WIN32 platform
csrc/win32_console - I/O code for WIN32 console that supports command line history

fth - Forth code
fth/util - utility functions

-- How to build pForth ------------------------------------

See pForth reference manual at:

http://www.softsynth.com/pforth/pf_ref.php

-- How to run pForth ------------------------------------

Once you have compiled and built the dictionary, just enter: pforth

To compile source code files use: INCLUDE filename

To create a custom dictionary enter in pForth: c" newfilename.dic" SAVE-FORTH The name must end in ".dic".

To run PForth with the new dictionary enter in the shell: pforth -dnewfilename.dic

To run PForth and automatically include a forth file: pforth myprogram.fth

-- How to Test PForth ------------------------------------

You can test the Forth without loading a dictionary which might be necessary if the dictionary can't be built.

Enter: pforth -i In pForth, enter: 3 4 + . In pForth, enter: loadsys In pForth, enter: 10 0 do i . loop

PForth comes with a small test suite. To test the Core words, you can use the coretest developed by John Hayes.

Enter: pforth Enter: include tester.fth Enter: include coretest.fth

To run the other tests, enter:

pforth t_corex.fth
pforth t_strings.fth
pforth t_locals.fth
pforth t_alloc.fth

They will report the number of tests that pass or fail.