CLIPS Interface web site

WebCLIPS Integrated Development Environment Help

The WebCLIPS Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is comprised of two parts. The command-line window and the interactive debugger. The command-line window has built-in extensions to the standard version of CLIPS that include invoking an editor for your programs and redirecting output to a browser.

The IDE makes use of the CLIPS DLL. For those developers who have written their own User-Defined functions, the IDE provides an interface for those functions.

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Command-Line Window

Command-Line extensions :

The (run-browser [n]) command works just like the CLIPS (run [n]) command except that the output will be appear in the application associated with the .htm extension. (usually a web-browser)

The (edit FileName) command invokes the default program (Wordpad on my computer) to edit programs from the command-line. This involves changing the default program for the extension you are using for your CLIPS programs (usually .clp). Please refer to Windows Help on how to do this.

The Output window is a read-only textbox. This means you can highlight some text (hold down the Left-Mouse button and drag) and copy the selected text to the Clipboard (Ctrl-C or Right-Click and choose Copy OR Choose Edit | Copy) from the menu.

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Menu Items

Under Options:

Reflect Command - This option tells the editor whether or not to echo the current command in the Output window. This options is saved between sessions in the file IDECLIPS.INI
Clear Output on (clear) - This option determines if the Output window is to be erased when a CLIPS (clear) command is entered. This options is saved between sessions in the file IDECLIPS.INI
Show Debug Window - This menu item is disabled until there is at least one rule on the Agenda. For more information, please see the section labelled Interactive Debugger.

Under Edit:

Copy - This menu item copies the highlighted text to the Clipboard
Select All - This menu item selects ALL of the text in the Output window. Please note this *only* selects the text, you must still Copy (see above) the text the to the Clipboard.

Under Help:

How to use - This document
CLIPS Help - This menu item displays the CLIPS6 Help File. The location of this file is contained in IDECLIPS.INI. The file location parameter is in the [CLIPS] section, entry named HelpFile.
About - Show a splash screen with author's email address.

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Keys

UpArrow - redisplays the last command entered.
DownArrow - shows the previous command.
Enter - submits the command to CLIPS.
Ctrl-C - Copies the selected text to the Clipboard.
Ctrl-A - Selects ALL of the text in the Output window.

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Interactive Debugger

Facts Window - This window contains the facts that caused the current rule to fire.
Rules Window - This window contains all of the available rules in '(ppdefrule ...)' form. All rules that have breakpoints set on them will be shown in bold red. The current rule firing will be show in blue and have its name shown in the frame around the Rules Window. If the current rule has a breakpoint set on it, it will appear in bold blue.
Menu Items
- Step
  - Set Firing- This menu item represents how many rules will fire the next time the program is 'stepped'. The program can be 'stepped' by clicking the step button (it contains a number representing the number of rules to fire), pressing F8 or by the menu item Debug | Step. A text box will appear on the right side of the toolbar. Fill in the number of rules to fire and press <Enter>.
- Show Facts - shows all of the facts. Equivalent to a '(facts)' command. Rules - shows all of the rules. Equivalent to a '(ppdefrule ...)' command for all of the rules available to the program. Agenda - shows the current contents of the Agenda. Equivalent to a '(agenda)' command. stdout - shows ALL of the content written to stdout (i.e. (printout t ...)). wtrace - shows ALL of the content written to the wtrace route (i.e. (watch facts) , (watch rules) etc.). wdisplay - shows ALL of the content written to the wdisplay route. wdialog - shows ALL of the content written to the wdialog route. wclips - shows ALL of the content written to the wclips route. werror - shows ALL of the content written to the werror route. wwarning - shows ALL of the content written to the wwarning route.
- Debug Go - runs the program. Equivalent to a '(run)' command. Step - runs the program with a limit. Equivalent to a '(run [n])' command, where [n] is the number of rules to fire. This is set in the Step | Set Firing menu item. Run to Cursor - this is the equivalent of setting a breakpoint, issuing a '(run)' command and resetting the breakpoint. Please note that if program execution gets interrupted by another breakpoint, the breakpoint REMAINS SET on this rule. Toggle Breakpoint - sets (or resets) a breakpoint for a rule. Put the cursor on the line that contains '(defrule ...' for the desired rule. If the cursor is not on a valid (defrule ...' statement, an error message will appear asking you to do so. Clear All Breakpoints - simply clears all breakpoints currently set.
Buttons Go - Equivalent to the menu option Debug | Go. Step - Equivalent to the menu option Debug | Step. Toggle Breakpoint - Equivalent to the menu option Toggle Breakpoint.
Keys F5 - Equivalent to the menu option Debug | Go. F8 - Equivalent to the menu option Debug | Step. Ctrl+F11 - Equivalent to the menu option Debug | Run to Cursor. F9 - Equivalent to the menu option Debug | Toggle Breakpoint. Shift+Ctrl+F11 - Equivalent to the menu option Debug | Clear All Breakpoints.


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