Updates

Patch files are numbered, and they are listed in order, lower numbers first. A single patch may have various versions, which means that the patch has been updated.

Getting and installing updates

NOTE: If you are on Windows and have a Start menu item called Rebuild images (download new updates first), that method replaces the instructions in this entire section. It is all you need to do to obtain and install updates. (For Allegro CL 8.1 this only applies to the updated Free Express Edition released at the end of June, 2008.)

Users of Allegro CL 7.0 or 8.0 should read this before proceeding.

1. Download the updates:
   
   No proxy needed for web access:

   On UNIX: Call the function sys:update-allegro when the machine you are running Lisp on can access the internet. This will download available patches for your machine and version of Allegro CL. A typical call looks like:

   (sys:update-allegro)
   

   On Windows: if you use the IDE, the Help | Download Patches menu item will display the Download Patches dialog. You can use that dialog to cause patches to be downloaded. (The dialog will arrange for the call to sys:update-allegro. When not using the IDE, call sys:update-allegro at a prompt just as one would do on UNIX).

   Proxy required for web access:

   On UNIX and Windows: Call the function sys:update-allegro when the machine you are running Lisp on can access the internet.
   
   Substitute your actual proxy host name, proxy port (a number), username and password for the bold italic items below.
   
   If you do not require a username and password, then use these forms:

   (sys:update-allegro :proxy "myproxy:myport")
   

   If you also require a username and password, then use these forms:

   (sys:update-allegro
     :proxy "myproxy:myport"
     :proxy-basic-authorization "myaccount:mypassword")
   

2. Exit/Quit all running Allegro CL images.

   This is very important. The update process in the next step will fail unless you complete this step.

3. Update your Lisp:

   On UNIX, in the Allegro directory, run the shell script update.sh.

   On Windows, run the batch file update.bat in the Allegro directory. The Start menu contains a Run update.bat menu item. You can also run it by double-clicking on update.bat in the Windows Explorer.

Notes on getting patches

• See the section Patches in doc/introduction.htm for a more detailed discussion of patch downloading.
• sys:update-allegro has keyword arguments for finer control of patch downloading. See the description for more details. No arguments are required for normal updating in most cases.
• Allegro CL stand-alone applications can continue running while Allegro CL itself is being updated. They have all the files they need in their own directories and are not affected by the update. Allegro CL applications using image (dxl) files in the Allegro directory must be stopped for the update, however.
• Be sure to do the update (step 4 above)! Forgetting to run the update script is the most common cause of apparent problems with patches.

Please report any problems with downloading and/or installing patches to support@franz.com.

Available patches

Click here for information about available patches.

Manually getting patches

Information on manual patching is available in the Allegro CL FAQ.