# asdf Manual

## Table of Contents

- asdf: another system definition facility
- 1 Using asdf to load systems
  - 1.1 Downloading asdf
  - 1.2 Setting up asdf
  - 1.3 Setting up a system to be loaded
  - 1.4 Loading a system
- 2 Defining systems with defsystem
  - 2.1 The defsystem form
  - 2.2 A more involved example
  - 2.3 The defsystem grammar
    - 2.3.1 Serial dependencies
    - 2.3.2 Source location
- 3 The object model of asdf
  - 3.1 Operations
    - 3.1.1 Predefined operations of asdf
    - 3.1.2 Creating new operations
  - 3.2 Components
    - 3.2.1 Common attributes of components
      - 3.2.1.1 Name
      - 3.2.1.2 Version identifier
      - 3.2.1.3 Required features
      - 3.2.1.4 Dependencies
      - 3.2.1.5 pathname
      - 3.2.1.6 properties
    - 3.2.2 Pre-defined subclasses of component
    - 3.2.3 Creating new component types
- 4 Error handling
- 5 Compilation error and warning handling
- 6 Getting the latest version
- 7 TODO list
- 8 missing bits in implementation
- 9 Inspiration
  - 9.1 mk-defsystem (defsystem-3.x)
  - 9.2 defsystem-4 proposal
  - 9.3 kmp's “The Description of Large Systems”, MIT AI Memu 801
- Concept Index
- Function and Class Index
- Variable Index

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## asdf: another system definition facility

This manual describes asdf, a system definition facility for Common Lisp programs and libraries.

asdf Copyright © 2001-2004 Daniel Barlow and contributors

This manual Copyright © 2001-2004 Daniel Barlow and contributors

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

--- The Detailed Node Listing ---

Defining systems with defsystem

The object model of asdf

Operations

Components

properties