Plexilisp

Introduction

Plexilisp is a Lisp-like syntax for Plexil that is designed for use within the Emacs editor. It allows you to author Plexil plans and simulation scripts in Emacs, and interactively compile them into their XML representation for execution.

Here are the main features of Plexilisp:

Emacs-based

  • Works with Emacs (every version we’ve tried so far, including Gnu, X, and Aquamacs).

Lisp-like

  • Easy to edit in Emacs (plexilisp mode provided).

  • Only PLEXIL constructs are supported; arbitrary Lisp is not allowed.

Plexil language support

  • Implements the Extended PLEXIL syntax, and provides additional convenience forms and shortcuts.

  • Provides a syntax for simulation scripts needed for testing PLEXIL plans with the Test Executive.

  • Generates formatted XML in new Emacs buffers.

  • Instant validation of XML in Emacs is possible with supporting tools.

Using Plexilisp

To get started, see the tutorial.

For details, see the reference manual.

To enable automatic validation of the generated PLEXIL XML, you’ll need the freely available nXML utilities.