[bp-users]B-Prolog version 6.9 released

Neng-Fa Zhou nzhou@acm.org
Thu, 21 Sep 2006 17:02:43 -0400


This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

--Boundary_(ID_1KFK3c5Dk93Vo4t47uozjQ)
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT

Hello,

I am pleased to announce that B-Prolog version 6.9 has been released and is now available for download from www.probp.com. 

B-Prolog is an efficient implementation of Prolog with extensions including CLP(FD), tabling, and action rules. Version 6.9 incorporates the following improvements:

1. A new memory manager is added, which allows automatic expansions of the stacks (control, heap, and trail) and the areas (program and table). This new memory manager, together with the garbage collectors, significantly enhance the scalability of the B-Prolog system. For example, the PRISM system built on B-Prolog is able to mine extremely large volumes of data and constraint programs are able to handle networks of millions of constraints.

2. New propagators are used for non-linear constraints involving functions such as abs, mod, *, and // (integer division). New global constraints and labeling built-ins are added. The built-in 'time_out' allows imposing a time limit on a query and the built-in 'labeling_mix' allows use of mixed strategies in the labeling of variables.

3. The action rule language is extended to support conjunctive and disjunctive channels. Timers work on both Windows and Linux versions. Attributed variables and global heap variables are added. The K.U. Leuven CHR compiler runs with B-prolog now.

4. ISO built-ins are made almost 100% ISO compliant except for unsupported functions such as character conversion and repositionable streams. This change requires modification of certain programs, especially programs with the escape character '\' in atoms or strings.

5. Improvements are made such that large clauses with tens of thousands of subgoals in the bodies can be read, compiled, and asserted.

There are numerous other improvements. Please see www.probp.com/updates.htm for more details.

Sincerely,
Neng-Fa Zhou





--Boundary_(ID_1KFK3c5Dk93Vo4t47uozjQ)
Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2627" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hello,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am pleased to announce that B-Prolog version 6.9 
has been released and is now available for download from <A 
href="http://www.probp.com">www.probp.com</A>. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>B-Prolog is an efficient implementation of Prolog 
with extensions including CLP(FD), tabling, and action rules. Version 6.9 
incorporates the following improvements:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1. A new memory manager is added, which allows 
automatic expansions of the stacks (control, heap, and trail) and the areas 
(program and table). This new memory manager, together with the garbage 
collectors, significantly enhance the scalability of the B-Prolog system. For 
example, the PRISM system built on B-Prolog is able to mine extremely large 
volumes of data and constraint programs are able to handle networks of millions 
of constraints.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>2. New propagators are used for non-linear 
constraints involving functions such as abs, mod, *, and // (integer division). 
New global constraints and labeling built-ins are added. The built-in 'time_out' 
allows imposing a time limit on a query and the built-in 'labeling_mix' allows 
use of mixed strategies in the labeling of variables.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>3. The action rule language is extended to support 
conjunctive and disjunctive channels. Timers work on both Windows and Linux 
versions. Attributed variables and global heap variables are added. The K.U. 
Leuven CHR compiler runs with B-prolog now.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>4. ISO built-ins are made almost 100% ISO compliant 
except for unsupported functions such as character conversion and repositionable 
streams. This change requires modification of certain programs, especially 
programs with the escape character '\' in atoms or strings.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>5. Improvements are made such that large clauses 
with tens of thousands of subgoals in the bodies can be read, compiled, and 
asserted.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>There are numerous other improvements. Please see 
<A href="http://www.probp.com/updates.htm">www.probp.com/updates.htm</A> for 
more details.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sincerely,<BR>Neng-Fa Zhou</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><BR></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV></BODY></HTML>

--Boundary_(ID_1KFK3c5Dk93Vo4t47uozjQ)--