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APL language FAQ


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Archive-name: apl-faq
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: Sun Nov 29 18:13:12 PST 2009

See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge
APL Frequently Asked Questions  (well some, anyway)
Maintained by S.W. Sirlin
Thanks to the many people who have contributed to this list.

11/2009 minor updates to apl2 section.


First, what is APL?
APL is the first array processing language (that I know of anyway).
The following was extracted from http://www.acm.org/sigapl/whyapl.htm.

The language was invented by Kenneth E. Iverson while at Harvard
University.  The language, originally titled "Iverson Notation", was
designed to overcome the inherent ambiguities and points of confusion
found when dealing with standard mathematical notation.  It was later
described in 1962 in a book simply titled "A Programming Language"
(hence APL).  Towards the end of the sixties, largely through the
efforts of IBM, the computer community gained its first exposure to
APL.  Iverson received the Turing Award in 1980 for this work.

APL is a user-oriented notation, particularly well suited for
communication from people to other people or to computers.  The
notation consists of a set of symbols (letters, numbers, punctuation,
algebra, and special shapes), with a very simple set of rules (syntax)
for putting them together to describe the processing of data.  The
data can be either numeric or literal (which includes words and text
handling).

In fact there are about a hundred different "primitive"
(i.e. fundamental to APL) operations which can be performed.  This can
be compared to having a calculator with over 100 different function
keys.

Following the old Chinese proverb that a picture is worth a thousand
words, the APL symbol set is the equivalent of many words in
describing algorithms or procedures.  Often one or a few APL symbols
(function) can have the same result as several lines of code in
another computer language or of several paragraphs in English.
...See http://www.acm.org/sigapl/whyapl.htm
for the rest of the article, or check out some of the web links or
books listed below for more information.
Wikipedia has a good overview as well
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APL_(programming_language).



The questions I'm answering here are:
 1. Where can I find APL for machine X?
 2. How do I use APL on an XX terminal connected to machine YY?
 3. What about APL keyboards/stickers?
 4. Can I compile APL?
 5. What tools exist for APL?
 6. Can I get an APL font for X?
 7. What information exists online about APL?
 8. How do I get book Y?
 9. What good APL books exist?
10. What user groups exist?
11. What's the latest  APL conference?
12. How do I pass APL functions from one APL to another?
13. How do I write APL using only ASCII?
14. What about Unicode?

The primary format for this faq is html. I use lex and aplc to convert
this to a text version that is autoposted to the newsgroup.
For the (text) latest version available, see ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/
(where all the autoposted faq's are archived), in particular
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/comp.lang.apl/APL_language_FAQ.
Another good place for faq archives is http://www.faqs.org/,
with this faq at http://www.faqs.org/faqs/apl-faq/.
The latest html version of this faq is at
http://home.earthlink.net/~swsirlin/apl.faq.html



(1)   Q: Where can I find APL for machine X?
A: APL SOURCES

  A+ [1/2002]
  A+ is an APL dialect available (as source) under the GNU GPL for
  various Unix, including Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, NetBSD,
  developed at Morgan Stanley by Arthur Whitney et al.
  http://www.aplusdev.org
  http://sourceforge.net/projects/aplus/
  The BAA has had some success in porting to Windows, see
  http://www.vector.org.uk/aflat

  APL\11
  APL\11 is a freely available APL interpreter for UNIX (C),
  thanks to Michael Cain. Currently has some bugs.
  See also openAPL below. Port to FreeBSD available
  (email: swsirlin@earthlink.net)
      email: mcain@advtech.uswest.com.

  APLNow and APLNext (APL2000, formerly STSC)[9/2008]
    APL+Win (for Windows 2000 and newer), APL+WebServices, APL+WebComponent,
      APL+Link Pro, APL+Linux and APL+UNIX, VisualAPL for Microsoft .Net and Visual Studio 2005/2008.

        APLNow LLC d.b.a. APL2000
        One Research Ct., Suite 140
        Rockille, MD USA 20850
        Main Tel: (301) 208-7150
        Sales Tel: (301) 208-7150, Sales Fax: (301) 208-7151
        Support Tel: (301) 208-7217, Support Fax: (301) 208-7151
        Consulting Services Tel: (301) 208-7150
        email: sales@apl2000.com
               support@apl2000.com
               consult@apl2000.com
        http://www.APL2000.com
http://www.visualstudiogallery.com:80/ExtensionDetails.aspx?ExtensionID=6fc98bd4-2a43-43c7-9acf-bf0bf56e038e
        Canadian Distributor:
        APL Borealis Inc.
        900 Mt. Pleasant Rd., #1501
        Toronto, Ontario Canada M4P 3J9
        Tel: (416) 457-7828
        email: info@aplborealis.com
        http://www.aplborealis.com
        International Dealers:
        http://www.apl2000.com/intldealers.php


  APLX (was APL.68000)[5/2004]
    APLX for Windows, Mac OS (including Mac OS X), Linux and AIX
    (APL.6800 ran on Atari ST, IBM RS/6000, Mac level I/II,
    add in board for IBM pc's, PowerMac, Amiga). APLX for Linux is
    free for non-commercial use.
        MicroAPL Limited
        The Roller Mill, Mill Lane
        Uckfield, E. Sussex
        TN22 5AA, UK
        Tel: (+44) 1825 768050, FAX: (+44) 1825 749472
        email: microapl@microapl.co.uk
        WWW: http://www.microapl.co.uk

APL92
    APL92 (Mac, system 7.1), older APL90:
        ftp://ftp.emse.fr/pub/lang/apl/[dead 12/2005]
        Jean-Jacques Girardot
        School Mines
        St-Etienne, France
        email: girardot@cambur.emse.fr

  APLSE
    APLSE/LRNAPLSE (APL*PLUS v10 freeware, PCDOS, W95/98, NT):

        APLSE is a version of Manugistics/STSC's PC APL, available
        with very little documentation. It can be found at [5/2005]
http://home.comcast.net/~paul.l.jackson/APL/
http://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/misc/languages/apl/apl-plus/
        LRNAPLSE is a package
        including APLSE, on-screen lessons (with additional
        documentation), and the APL*PLUS Demo (more documentation).
        Ask for a catalog of APL books and software from Dick Holt, dick_holt@email.com

        Fonts under W95, WNT, (WME?) are troublesome. Here is some
        information from Allan Zenth (allan.zenth@tryg.dk):
        I tried to use APL-PLUS v.10 (essentially the same as APL SE) under Windows
        95 and Windows NT. I don't know about Windows ME.
        First the bad things: You cannot work in a window with symbols (only
        full-screen) and using a code-page for symbols is not possible in NT.
        The difficult thing is to have a stable full-screen situation and the most
        difficult was NT.
        1) Make a short-cut on the screen to the apl.exe file. Go into the
           properties (right-click on the icon).
        2) On the program-page refer to the bat-file in the command-line field an
           set run to maximized
        3) On the memory-page I use 1MB in EMS, XMS & DPMI - perhabs not important
        4) On the screen-page set full-screen
        5) On the misc-page remove the check-mark for Ctrl+Esc - Important to have
           in APL
        6) Go into C:\WinNT\Pif and make sure, that you have the same short-cut
           here
        7) Here should also be a short-cut for your font.com:
        7a) On the program page refer to the file itself on the command-line, set
            run to maximized and remove the mark in "close on exit" (important!!)
        7b) The same alterations on the other pages as above.
        8) If you use aplprint.com for function-printout it should be treated as
           font.com
        Try to use this method in Windows ME - it might be the way out.

  APL*PLUS II/VMS, Statgraphics
    This was distributed by Manugistics (formerly STSC) but now has
        been taken over by APL2000 (above).
        Manugistics
        2115 East Jefferson St.
        Rockville, Maryland, USA  20852
        Tel: 800-592-0050, 301-984-5000, 301-984-5412, 301-984-5123
        Fax: 301-984-5094
        email: support: answer@manu.com
                international: intl@manu.com
        BBS: 301-984-5222

  APROL
    APROL (Scheme/J mix):
        For information (7/15/98):
        http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~jhowland/aprol.paper.ps
        email: jhowland@ariel.cs.trinity.edu

  CAPLIB2
    CAPLIB2 (Linux, DOS, HPUX, can be ported to other Unix) GPL interpreter, C library
        Thomas Glen Smith
        3154 W. Shady Lane
        Neenah, WI
        email: 76207.3343@CompuServe.com
         http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/apl_archives/apl/CAP/index.html
        http://www.apl2.de/ Possible future development

  D4 [8/2000]
    D4 (IBM PC, Windows, Linux). Unix like shell for windows
        The shell is writen in D4, a dialect of APL
        http://www.d4maths.lowtech.org
        For more information contact the author Tony Goddard  email:cat@animal.u-net.com

  DEC
    DEC (VAX APL V4.0):
        Digital Equipment Corp.
        Maynard, MASS, USA

  Dyalog APL [10/2007]
    Dyalog APL (Win 95/98/ME/2000/XP, Unix/Motif, Windows 3.x,
    PocketPC 2002). Available free for educational use.
        Source:
           Dyalog Ltd.
           South Barn, Minchens Court, Minchens Lane, Bramley
           Hampshire RG26 5BH, UK
           Tel: +44 (0) 1256 830 030
           email : support@dyalog.com
            http://www.dyalog.com
           Partners: http://www.dyalog.com/partners.htm

  FreeAPL
    IBM PC, MS Windows, version of APL\11
           Tauno Ylinen, email:
           tylinen@mits.mdata.fi
           http://www.pyr.fi/apl/index.htm
  Glee
    Glee is an APL descendent, for MS Windows
           http://withglee.com/
  I-APL
    IBM PC, Mac, some other PCs (free*):
        In the US (may require lots of patience):
           Edward M. Cherlin
           Co-Chairman, I-APL Limited
           6611 Linville Drive
           Weed, California, USA  96094-9763
           Tel: (916) 938-4684, Fax: 916/938-3229
           email: Cherlin@snowcrest.net


        In the UK:
           Anthony Camacho
           Co-Chairman, I-APL Limited
           11 Auburn Road
           Redland
           Bristol BS6 6LS UK

  IBM APL2 [11/09]
    APL2 for Windows, AIX, Linux, Solaris and Mainframes
          APL Products and Services
          IBM Silicon Valley Lab, Dept. H36/F40
          555 Bailey Avenue
          San Jose, California 95141, USA
          Tel: 408-463-APL2 (408-463-2752), FAX: 408-463-4488
          email: apl2@vnet.ibm.com
          web page:http://www.ibm.com/software/awdtools/apl
          forum:https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=2104
          documentation:http://www-306.ibm.com/software/awdtools/apl/library.html
          ftp site:ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com
          IBM support site. Look in /ps/products/apl2
          Products:
          From 1-800-IBM-CALL or ibm.com
          Workstation APL2 Version 2 (Windows, AIX, Linux, Solaris) is
             IBM Program Product Number 5724-B74
          APL2 Version 2 (CMS, TSO) is Program Number 5688-228
          APL2 Application Environment for CMS/TSO is Program Number
          5688-229

  J
    J (for Linux, Mac, Windows, WindowsCE) [7/2008],
      Produced by:
        Jsoftware Inc.
        http://www.jsoftware.com
        email: info@jsoftware.com
        An early version of J (J7, about 1994) is available on waterloo.

  K
    K, Kdb;  an APL derivative for Solaris, Linux, Windows
        Kx Systems
        http://www.kx.com

  MacAPL
    Macs (?) version 2.11 (I don't know much about this yet)
      Michael C. O'Connor
      Leptonic Systems Co.
      405 Tarrytown Rd., White Plains, NY 10607
      Tel: (914) 682-0377
      version 1.13
      ftp://ftp.uwtc.washington.edu/pub/Mac/Programming/Languages/
      (no longer: ftp://ftp.ens.fr/pub/mac/hqx/ )

  NARS2000 [7/2009]
    NARS2000 is a freely available open source APL interpreter for
    Windows 2000 and later versions as well as various versions of
    Linux using Wine (http://www.winehq.org/) as a translation
    layer.  NARS2000 is an Experimental APL Interpreter being worked
    on by members of the APL community. Available in 32 bit and 64 bit
    versions.

    http://www.nars2000.org
    email:sitemaster@nars2000.org
    wiki:http://wiki.nars2000.org
    Forums: http://forums.nars2000.org

  openAPL
    New (11/98) version of apl\11 (above). Alpha release, under
        GPL (free source). Ported to Linux/X11
        ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/devel/lang/apl
        Branko Bratkovic, South Australia.
        email to branko at senet dot com dot au
        Now (7/2005) in development at sourceforge by Peter Jeremy (mangled
        mail address: pzextcevrbjeremy@zxcvb.optushome.com.au):
        http://sourceforge.net/projects/openapl

  Parrot APL [11/2006]
    APL is one of the languages part of the parrot project - a
    generic interpreter backend with more than 30 languages included (Perl,
    Ruby Basic, Scheme etc). GPL (free source). Unix +.
        http://www.parrotcode.org/

  Q'Nial [12/4/2006]
    Q'Nial is a highly portable interpreter for Nial originally
    developed at Queen's University, Kingston, Canada in the early
    1980s. NIAL stands for the Nested Interactive Array Language,
    a hybrid language combining a functional array language based on
    Trenchard More's mathematical treatment of nested arrays
    called Array Theory, with a procedural language with familiar
    control structures. Q'Nial is open source, with versions available
    for Unix and Windows.
        NIAL Systems Limited
        46 William St.
        Kingston, Ontario
        K7L 2C4
        http://www.nial.com/
        email:  jenkins@nial.com

  SHARP APL
    SHARP APL (MVS, AIX, SunOS, Solaris, Linux [1/02])
    Sharp APL for Linux is free for personal use; other products are
    Viewpoint, LOGOS, Mailbox
        Soliton Associates Limited (Formerly I. P. Sharp Associates)
        44 Victoria St, Suite 2100
        Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5C 1Y2
        Tel: (416) 364-9355  Fax: (416) 364-6159
        email: sales@Soliton.COM
        http://www.soliton.com
        Soliton Associates, Inc.
        1100 University Ave., Suite 111
        Rochester, NY 14607
        USA
        Tel: (716) 256-6466,  Fax: (716) 256-6469
        Soliton Associates Limited
        Havsgaardsvej 4
        2900 Hellerup
        Copenhagen, Denmark
        Tel: +45 2621 6099, Fax: +45 3940 1641
        email: benoit_paquin@soliton.com



(2)   Q: How do I use APL on an XX terminal connected to machine YY?
A: Terminal Emulation

  Apex Computer Specialists
    APL Key Boards and key caps for MG800/T7000 terminals, for WICAT/MCS
    systems, as well as terminal with both the ASCII and APL character
    codes.
     Bert Arias
     Apex Computer Specialists, Inc.
     1502 West 400 South, Suite #2
     Orem, UT  84058-5100
     Tel: 888-887-2739, Ext. 3357
     Int.l 1-801-223-3357
     Fax:   801-223-9955
     e-mail: barias@apexcs.com

  Chameleon
    Chameleon TN3270 for Windows, networks, IBM 3179G and 3192G emulation,
    SAA, APA graphics.
                NetManage
                10725 De Anza Blvd., Cupertino, CA 95014, U.S.A.
                Tel: 408/973-7171
                Fax: 408/257-6405
                email: Donna@NetManage.com

  EXTRA!
    EXTRA! Extended for DOS or EXTRA! for Windows.
                Includes APL2 character set in both.  DOS product works under Windows.
                Attachmate Corporation
                13231 S.E. 36th Street
                Bellevue, Washington 98006 USA
                tel. (800) 426-6283
                (206) 644-4010 in Washington State

  IBM Terminal Emulator
    IBM Terminal Emulators with APL Support:
                AIX:  AIX X-Windows 3270 Emulator/6000  (X3270) Program Number 5765-011
                DOS/Windows:  PC/3270 Version 3, Version 4 9/30
                OS2 Extended Services Communications Manager:
                Includes the CMAPL Application Aid.  Requires APAR fixes
                after the Graphics Engine CSD is installed.
                OS2 Communications Manager/2  (CM/2):
                APL Support is available in Version 1.11

  IRMA
    IRMA (PC) ??
                Digital Communications Associates, Inc.
                1000 Alderman Drive
                Alpharetta, Georgia 30201-4199 USA
                tel. (770) 442-4000

  Kermit
    Dyalog APL reportedly has a tweaked kermit for APL/X 6.x. This
                supports APL characters on a PC (DOS or DOS session under Windows)
                when running APL on a Unix box.

  RUMBA
    RUMBA (for 3270, APL and graphics)
        Wall Data
        17769 NE 78th Place
        Redmond WA 98052-4992
        206-883-4777

  rxvt
    OpenAPL has support for X11 terminals, but this may not match
    character orderings for other APLs.

  Sun
    Sun reportedly has a very good emulator for SunOS 4 and Solaris 2
    which emulates an IBM 3179G APA colour graphics terminal.

  TN3270
    TN3270 (Macintosh) Not public domain, but may be freely distributed.
    Works with TCP/IP
        Anonymous FTP from BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU (128.148.128.40):
           Distribution files are in the highest level directory.  Begin by
           retrieving the file $README.FIRST which describes the other files.

        Anonymous FTP from FTP.NCSA.UIUC.EDU (128.174.20.50):
          Distribution files are contained in the directory
          NCSA_Telnet/tn3270.  Same files as above above for
          BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU.

        BITNET distribution from LISTSERV@BROWNVM:
           Send LISTSERV the command GET TN3270 PACKAGE.  GET LOCAL FILELIST
           for a complete list of available files.

        Mail order from Brown for $20 (check payable to Brown University):
           TN3270 Distribution
           Brown University Computer Store
           P.O. Box 1885
           Providence, Rhode Island 02912 USA

        Info -- the NCSA Telnet Digest subscription:
        request@ncsa.uiuc.edu.

  x3270
    x3270 for Unix systems (Linux, Solaris,...)
           A free 327x emulator with APL support. Get the
           source from ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/applications
           or see the home page at http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Peaks/7814

  YTERM
    YTERM For PC, supports IBM, VAX, TCP/IP with APL/APL2 chars.
           Yale University Computing & Information Systems
           Software Distribution
           175 Whitney Avenue
           New Haven CT 06520
           Tel: (203) 432-6600   Fax: (203)-432-6165
           LISTSERV@YALEVM

  Z-Stem
    Z-Stem, a series of VT (e.g. VT240) emulators, for MSDOS PC/VAX-11
           KEA Systems
           3738 North Fraser Way, Unit 101
           Burnaby, British Columbia
           Canada, V5J 5G1
           (604) 431-0727




(3)   Q: What about APL keyboards/stickers?
A: APL Keyboards/Keycaps

  APL keyboard
    IBM/Lexmark keyboard, part no. 60G3571 or KB-571,
        (Professional 101-key keyboard about $90)
        APL2 Keycaps, US and UK base set (about $46)SX80-0270
        APL2 Keycaps, German Upgrade to SX80-0270   SX80-0452
        APL2 Keycaps, German Upgrade to SX80-0270   SX80-0453
        APL2 Keycaps, French Upgrade to SX80-0270   SX80-0454
        APL2 Keycaps, Italian Upgrade to SX80-0270  SC33-0604
        APL2 Keyboard Decals (about $13 for set of two)
        Keycaps and decals are "publications" - order at 800-879-2755

  Keyboard stickers, custom replacement key caps
        Hooleon Corp.
        P.O. Box 230
        Cornville, AZ  86325
        Tel: (602) 634-7515
        Fax: (602) 634-4620

  Keyboard stickers
    APL2000 Inc. (see above address)

  On-screen Maps
    KEYBOARD.AWS: APL*PLUS pop-up color keyboard diagram
    at the touch of a PF key. Incorporate it in any .AWS.
    Ask for catalog from email:dick_holt@email.com




(4)   Q: Can I compile APL?
A: Compilers

    APL2C
    APL2C compiler/translator and interpreter,
    for Microsoft Windows 9x/NT/2000, written by Dr. Tilman P. Otto
        http://www.apl2c.com
        email: otto@apl2c.com

    APL to C
    APL to C conversion and compiler
        - I've heard this is out of business these days.
        Sofremi-AGL
        6. rue Paul Bert
        92800 Puteaux - France
        (1) 47.72.25.13 +  Telex: 612 651 F

    IBM 370 APL*PLUS
    Manugistics compiler for IBM 370 APL*PLUS, documented in APL '85.
        see Manugistics listing above, or
        email aplsales@manu.com.

  VisualAPL
    VisualAPL from is a .Net language integrated with Microsoft Visual Studio
        2005/20008 which provides for both compilation and scripted/interpreted code
        http://www.visualstudiogallery.com/ExtensionDetails.aspx?ExtensionID=6fc98bd4-2a43-43c7-9acf-bf0bf56e038e


  Experimental:

  APEX
    Robert Bernecky's APEX compiler:
        Snake Island Research Inc.
        http://www.snakeisland.com/[9/2003]
        email:bernecky@acm.org

  APLc
    Tim Budd's APLc:
        anonymous login to ftp.cs.orst.edu, cd users/b/budd, or
        http://www.cs.orst.edu/~budd and look under books.
        (latest C++ version unavailable?)

        Sam Sirlin's current modification of Budd's older aplc
        o  ported to Solaris, Freebsd, Atari, Linux, Dec Alpha
            o  support for most of ISO APL, control structures, boxed arrays
            o  support for hypercomplex numbers (ordinary complex, quaternions, octonions)
        v5.12 is stable version (mostly flat APL)
        v6.14 is the development version (anonymous fns, more operator
        support)
        See http://home.earthlink.net/~swsirlin/apl.html
        or send mail to swsirlin@earthlink.net asking for it

  CAPLIB
    Thomas Glen Smith's CAPLIB2 package, while not strictly a compiler
        Has C procedures corresponding to APL functions/operators (see above)

    A list of references on APL compilation is available
   ftp://archive.uwaterloo.ca/languages/apl/bibliography/compilers.html[dead 3/2006]




(5)   Q: What tools exist for APL?
A: Other tools for APL

  Dino database for huge amount of data,Saurus tools for
  multidimensional databases
     Dinosoft Oy
     Lonnrotinkatu 21 C
     00120 HELSINKI, Finland
     Tel: +358 9 70028820, Fax: +358 9 70028824
     email: dinosoft@dinosoft.fi
     http://www.dinosoft.fi/

  IEDIT (APL2 editor),AFM file system,APL2  tools[dead 3/2006]
    Interprocess Systems, Inc.

  Insight Systems [4/2000]
    SQAPL, an interface to SQL databases via ODBC or
    SequeLink, a spreadsheet manager, and a number of other APL tools
    available for many APL systems. Dealers for Dyalog APL, APL+Win
    from Cognos/APL2000, APL2 from IBM, J from Jsoftware,
    Causeway Products.

       Insight Systems ApS
       Nordre Strandvej 119G
       DK-3150 Hellebaek, Denmark
       Tel:   +45 7026 1326
       FAX:     +45 7026 1325
       http://www.insight.dk
       info@insight.dk


  APs for Dyalog APL for Windows
    Auxiliary Processors for Dyalog APL for Windows
       Lingo Allegro USA, Inc.
       6749 S.Westnedge Ave, Suite K-268
       Tel:    +1 312 203 4926
       Fax:      +1 708 459 8501
       Internet: 71303.3224@CompuServe.com
       http://www.lingo.com

  Computer Aided Instruction

  Computer Aided Instruction, for PC or mainframe IBM.  Also a newsletter.
       Zark Incorporated
       23 Ketchbrook Lane
       Ellington CT 06029 USA

  Converting CSV files to APL

  Some functions for converting Comma-Separated-Value (CSV)
  files (e.g. from spreadsheets such as excell) to APL
      http://aplwiki.com/CsvToApl


(6)   Q: Can I get an APL font for X?
A: Besides commercial products that come with the interpreters, there are:

  o Fonts for TeX, laTeX, the X windows system, postscript, and
  truetype (windows) are available.  See
  http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/apl_archives/apl/fonts[4/2009]

  o Truetype fonts for windows are available from ISI.

  o Truetype fonts Dyalog APL and Vector APL are available gratis, if
  you send a blank, formatted disk:
     Adrian Smith
     Brook House, Gilling East, YORK
     England -- U.K.
   (See his article in the April 1993 issue of VECTOR journal)

  o STSC, now Manugistics, used to distribute a rom chip with the APL
   characters for use in old monochrome adapters (now almost
   extinct). There's also code called SIMCGA.COM, that makes an old
   Hercules act like a cga (itself pretty old).

  o Fonts from several vendors are available for use (free of charge)
   in preparing articles for APL Quote Quad, APL conference
   proceedings, or other educational articles.  This can be found on
   the ACM SIGAPL Web site. Word processing Templates to aid the
   author in preparing articles for conference proceedings or for
   submission to APL Quote Quad can also be found on the ACM SIGAPL
   web site.

  o Paul Houle has made a DOS window font file suitable for use with
  old STSC APL's available here [5/17/04]:
http://paulhoule.com/stscfon/index.htm

  o Paul L Jackson's pljtools.zip contains DOSAPP.FON which if put in
   the Windows\Font directory, will provide an 8x16 APL font for a DOS
   window. This should work for various MS Windows products and
   APLSE. This is available at waterloo
   http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/apl_archives/apl/apl-plus/index.html
   and (with APLSE) [5/05]:
   http://home.comcast.net/~paul.l.jackson/APL/

  o A variety of fonts and tools is available from Vector:
   http://www.vector.org.uk/resource



(7)   Q: What information exists online about APL?
A:

Online information, free* APLs & WS

o Anonymous ftp servers:

        o ftp://rtfm.mit.edu The official archive site for this faq and
        many others. The latest version of this faq is at
        ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/comp.lang.apl/APL_language_FAQ

        o University of Waterloo, Canada. L.J. Dickey's
        collection. Lots of J/APL archives.
        http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/apl_archives/Welcome.html[back up 3/2006]
        Some APL draft standards are kept here, for example the Committee Draft 1 of the APL ANSI/ISO standard
        http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/apl_archives/apl/standards/cd1/

        o ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com, IBM support site. Look in
        ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/apl2.
        ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/apl2/demos contains a
        free (time limited) demo of APL2 for Windows, and TryAPL.

o Web (WWW) html servers:

        o ACM SIGAPL - information about the ACM, SIGAPL, related
        organizations, conferences, Internet resources, and the APL
        White Pages.
        http://www.acm.org/sigapl/

        o AFAPL - French APL users group.
        http://www.afapl.asso.fr

        o APL White Pages
        A collection of names and email adressess of those
        interested in APL. Over 300 listings.
        To be listed, or see a listing go to
        http://www.acm.org/sigapl

        o Bob Armstrong's CoSy page - APL/K notecomputing environment (10/2001)
        http://cosy.com/K/CoSy.htm, or
        http://cosy.com/language/

        o APL2000 Inc. Home Page
        http://www.APL2000.com

        o APL Team Ltd - German distributor of Dyalog APL
        http://www.aplteam.de and
        http://www.aplteam.com
        They have a general wiki on APL at
        http://aplwiki.com/



        o The Brighton University Resource Kit for Students, produced by
        John English (with various APL resources)
        http://burks.bton.ac.uk[broken?
        9/19/2003]

        o Bernard Houben's site, Inverted Data Analyser, Dyalog APL [5/18/04]
        http://home.wanadoo.nl/houb/IDA.htm

        o Eke van Batenburg's APL webpage:
        http://wwwbio.LeidenUniv.nl/~batenburg/wekAPL.html

        o FinnAPL, Tauno Ylinen's FREEAPL for Windows, a couple of
        Dyalog workspaces, and APL idioms list
        http://www.pyr.fi/apl/index.htm
        http://www.pyr.fi/apl/about.htm

        o Conrad Hoesle-Kienzlen's web page [dead 6/2009],
        CHK IT-Consulting
        http://www.hoesle-kienzlen.de

        o Google groups: J discussions
        http://groups.google.com/group/J-Programming

        o IBM APL2 Home Page
        http://www.ibm.com/software/awdtools/apl

        o The IBM 1130 - including a simulator for this HW on a
        modern machine, and APL\1130. http://ibm1130.org/
        o J and APL Web Ring
        Web-ring moderated by  Alex Kornilovski:
        http://webhome.idirect.com/~kornal/ring/index.html

        o J Home Page
        http://www.jsoftware.com

        o J. E. Howland's Home page; APL/J references
        http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~jhowland/

        o J.E.H. Shaw's Home page; J Guide
        http://www.warwick.ac.uk/statsdept/Staff/JEHS/index.html

        o K. Smillie's Home page; Various information for J, Beginning
        J, J and statistics
        http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~smillie/

        o Lescasse Consulting - importer, distributor for APL2000 in France
        http://www.lescasse.com

        o Milinta - Software and education for a variety of
        APL's. Help with workspace/file transfer between some APLs.
        (Dyalog, APL+family, SHARP MF, SAX)
        http://www.milinta.com

        o Mozilla Open Directory project
        http://dmoz.org/Computers/Programming/Languages/APL/

        o Openhere Network - Web search engine written in APL
        http://openhere.com/

        o Porting Mind.forth to APL
        http://mind.sourceforge.net/apl.html

        o Rex Swain's APL Information
        http://www.rexswain.com/aplinfo.html

        o Web Site for Lingo Allegro:
        http://www.lingo.com

        o MicroAPL Limited
        http://www.microapl.co.uk

        o Q'Nial - a similar array language
        http://www.nial.com/

        o Remembering APL - a short introduction. Some good
        information on glyphs used by some dialects.
        http://www.quadibloc.com/comp/aplint.htm

        o Soliton's web page
        http://www.soliton.com (Main Page)

        o Toronto APL SIG - Activities of Toronto members.
        http://www.torontoapl.ca[8/2007]

        o VisualAPL from APL2000 Home Page: www.visualapl.com

        o Web site for Vector (maintained by Ray Cannon)
        http://www.vector.org.uk

        o Jim Weigang's Home Page - Newsreader etc.
        http://www.chilton.com/~jimw

o Wiki -- websites that allows visitors to add, remove, and edit content


o General APL Wiki from the German distributor of Dyalog APLhttp://aplwiki.com/
o J Wiki http://www.jsoftware.com/jwiki
o Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APL_(programming_language).

o Mail servers

     listserv@listserv.unb.ca (listserv@unb.ca), in the list APL-L,
     archives of comp.lang.apl
     ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com - mail access to waterloo, gatekeeper

o Mail servers/lists
     BITFTP@PUCC.BITNET - access to waterloo?

     Access to the APL-L on bitnet from the internet can be done via
     mail:

        To: listserv@unb.ca
        Subject: SUBSCRIBE APL-L
        SUBSCRIBE APL-L

       DyalogAPL     t-chan@u-aizu.ac.jp
                     for Dyalog users
       APL-ERS       APL-ERS@IRLEARN.BITNET
                     UCD APL Interest Group "virtually extinct"
       APL-L         APL-L@UNB.CA,
                     APL-L@UNBVM1.BITNET (broken?)
                     APL Language Discussion (mirror of comp.lang.apl)
       APLEDU-LAPLEDU-L@UNBVM1.BITNET
                     APL in Education
       A+http://www.aplusdev.org/Lists/index.html
                     A+ mail list, archive
       J Forumhttp://www.jsoftware.com
                     J mail list, archive

o Inquiries about the ISO APL standards should be addressed to
   your national standards body, or to any delagete from your
   country.  If you can not find out who that is, you may ask
   Lee Dickey at ljdickey@math.uwaterloo.ca (SC22 WG3 attendees)

o SIGAPL Software Library

   New Name, New Addresses:

   SIGAPL has made major changes in its software distribution system.
   The SIGAPL Software Library replaces what was formerly known as
   the "Software Exchange."  SIGAPL wants to make array processing
   software much more widely available and easy to get.  We want it
   to be decoupled from annual APL conferences, available year-round,
   unbundled by interpreter, and electronically free.  Thanks to Lee
   Dickey at the University of Waterloo, this software is now
   available at:

     o http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/apl_archives/apl/Welcome.html

  APL96 Conference Software Highlights:

      MERLIN  Two new AWS mind bogglers (Langlet, FR)
      GRAN    AWS []G Graphics (Buzin, RU)
      NFILES  W3 Long file names, National Characters (Glantz, SE)
      APL2OS2TAPL2/2 Tutorial for OS/2 (Jizba, US)
      APLSE   Free APL*PLUS v10 Interpreter (Manugistics/APL2000)
      LRNAPLSEAPLSE Tutorial & Documentation (Holt, US)
      UNLOCK-DUnlock locked fns in any small AWS (Holt, US)
      SL-GuideHow to add to the SIGAPL Software Library

  SIGAPL Software Guidelines:

      The SIGAPL Software Library (SL) is the premier venue for APL,
      J, and other array-oriented authors to display their programming
      ideas and skills, and for vendors to showcase their demos and
      products.  APL and J software authors and vendors are invited
      to send their material on a 3.5 ″ DOS disk to:

        Lee Dickey, Mathematics Department
        University of Waterloo
        Waterloo  Ontario
        Canada    2NL 3G1

        Tell him that it's for the Software Library.  You may send your
        software at *any* time of the year.  FTP upload is available
        on demand.  Write to Lee Dickey at ljdickey@math.uwaterloo.ca

        SIGAPL's updated Software Library guidelines are:

        o Include an ASCII file (call it WSNAME.TXT) to describe what
        the software does, and what hardware and software is needed
        to use it.  English is preferred, and other languages are
        welcome.

        o Think electronically.  Your software needs to be packaged
        as a stand-alone product for electronic distribution.
        Good documen- tation adds real value to your software.

        o Put all of your material in one single .ZIP file for easy
        FTPing.

        o Include any needed copyright permissions.  Copyrighted
        software can't be distributed without permission.

        o If possible, provide APL software in both its original
        form and as an APLACSCII file.  APLASCII software (v1.4)
        is available for all major APLs at the electronic sources
        listed above.

        o Check your software for viruses.  Archive.waterloo.ca will
        also check your software for viruses.

        o Authors should pay special attention to the quality, usefulness,
        and documentation of their work, and should include their name
        and address (including email).

        o Significant improvements and major updates of prior SL
        software are welcome.


(8)   Q: How do I get book Y?
A: Sources of Publications/Books

  o APL Book Sales [1/2002; seems to be out of service 2/2004?]
  operated by Robert G. Brown
  On-Line at
  http://www.apl-books.com, or
  APL Book Sales
  6749 South Westnedge Avenue
  Suite K-288
  Portage, Michigan
  USA 49002
  email: bob@acm.org
  FAX: (616) 324-9070

  o APL Quote Quad
  Association for Computing Machinery
  (address below)

  o  BestWebBuys is a commercial site with a list of programming books
and specifically APL books available [11/2006]:
http://www.bestwebbuys.com/Programming_Languages-General-books.html
bestwebbuys programming languages link
http://www.bestwebbuys.com/Programming_Languages-General-N_10006038-books.html
bestwebbuys APL link

  o Dick Holt
  An email catalog of software for APL*PLUS, APL Special Edition
  Freeware, on-screen APL lessons and docs, plus many APL books is
  available upon request from Dick Holt,
  email:dick_holt@email.com

  o EducAPL
  1120 Ave du Parc
  Quebec PQ
  CANADA G1S2W7

  o Renaissance Data Systems [seems dead 11/2006]
  All books on APL and J in print
  P.O.Box 313, Newtown, CT 06470, USA
  email: aplbooks@earthlink.net
  http://www.aplbooks.com

  o Past proceedings of the "APL as a Tool of Thought" conferences
  are available from NY/SIGAPL.


(9)   Q: What good APL books exist?
A: Reference Books

References - books mentioned on the net or that someone has recomended,
not all of which are available:

For another list online see:
http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/apl_archives/apl/bibliography/index.htmlNot fully working yet [11/2006]


  o APL"nn" Conference Proceedings - The annual ACM/SigAPL conference
     proceedings, published yearly from 19?? (APL??) to date (APL96)
     as an issue of APL Quote Quad; replace nn by the appropriate last
     two digits of the year.

  o Ajay Askoolum, "System Building with APL + WIN,"
     Wiley, ISBN: 0-470-03020-8, August 2006. Available at
     http://www.amazon.com/System-Building-APL-WIN-RSP/dp/0470030208
     and other sources.

  o Brown et. al. "APL2 at a Glance," Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-038670-7.

  o T. Budd, "An APL Compiler," Springer-Verlag.

  o Maurice Dalois, "Introduction to APL*PLUS PC,"
     available from EducAPL, US$30, US$10 for overseas shipping.

  o J. Ever and C. Fair, "Guidelines for APL Systems,"
     DPD 22 IBM 037301, March 1976.

  o Gilman and Rose, "APL - An Interactive Approach,"  Wiley,
     ISBN 220-471-30022-5.

  o Ulf Grenander, "Mathematical Experiments on the Computer,"
     Academic Press, 1982, ISBN 0-12-301750-5.

  o Kent Haralson, Useful APL Defined Functions, IBM Technical
     Report, TR 00.2409, Feb. 8 1973.

  o Timothy Holls, "APL Programming Guide," IBM G320-6103, 1978, and
     G320-6735, 1981, (out of print?).

  o IBM, "APL2 Programming: Language Reference"
     (Version 2, SH21-1061; Version 1, SH20-9227 (DOS only)).

  o IBM, "The APL Handbook of Techniques", IBM publication number
     S320-5996, April 1978.  Includes routines for multi-precision
     integer and float operations.

  o The IBM System Journal, V. 30, No. 4 (1991); Special Issue
     Devoted to APL.

  o IBM online references: http://www-306.ibm.com/software/awdtools/apl/library.html

  o A.D. Falkoff, K.E Iverson, E.H Sussenguth, "A formal description
     of System/360,"
     The IBM System Journal, V. 3, No. 3 (1964)

  o K. E. Iverson, A Programming Language, Wiley, 1962.

  o K. E. Iverson, Algebra : an algorithmic treatment, APL Press 1977, Copyright 1972 by Addison Wesley, Preliminary Edition entitled "Elementary Algebra" Copyright 1971 by IBM Corporation.

  o K. E. Iverson, Elementary analysis, APL press 1976, Preliminary Edition "Elementary Functions" Copyright 1974 by IBM Corporation ISBN 0-917326-01-6

  o K. E. Iverson, An introduction to APL for Scientists and Engineers, APL Press 1976, First published by IMB Corporation as Technical Report No 320-3019 March 1973 - ISBN 0-917326-04-0

  o K. E. Iverson, APL in exposition, APL Press 1976, First published by IBM Corporation as Technical Report No 320-3010 March 1973 - ISBN 0-917326-02-4.

  o K. E. Iverson, Introduction To APL, (1984-APL Press Palo Alto)  ISBN 0-917326-14-8.

  o K. E. Iverson, "A personal view of APL," IBM Systems Journal,
     Vol. 30, No. 4, 1991.

  o K. E. Iverson, Concrete Mathematics Companion.

  o S. Kamin,  "Programming Languages: An Interpreter-Based
     Approach," contains (among other things) toy implementations of
     Lisp, APL, Scheme, SASL, CLU, Smalltalk, and Prolog,
     Addison-Wesley, 1990, ISBN 0-201-06824-9.

  o Bernard LEGRAND, "Les APL Etendus," Masson, Paris, 1994. An
     introduction to modern APL (French).

  o Jon McGrew, "An Introduction to APL2," IBM (SH20-9229).

o James A. Mason, "Learning APL: An Array Processing Language,"
    Harper & Row Publishers Inc., New York, 1986, ISBN 0-06-044243-3 260 pp.

  o Peelle, APL an Introduction, Holt, Rinehart & Winston,
     ISBN 0-03-004953-9.

  o Reiter & Jones, APL with a Mathematical Accent, Brooks/Cole
     ISBN 0-534-12864-5, (now being distributed by Chapman & Hall).

  o C. Reiter, Fractuals Visualization and J, Iverson Software, Inc,
     1995 ISBN 1-895721-11-3.

  o Adrian Smith, "APL, A Design Handbook for Commercial Systems,"
     Wiley series in information processing,
     Wiley & Sons, 1982,  ISBN 0-471-10092-7.

  o D. Stiers, M.J. Goovaerts, J. De Kerf, "APL - The Language and its Actuarial Applications"

  o Norman D. Thomson, Raymond P. Polivka,  "APL2 in Depth,"
     Springer-Verlag, 1995, ISBN 0-387-94213-0  ($39.95).

  o Jerry R. Turner, "APL IS EASY!," Manugistics, 1993.

  o "SHARP APL Reference Manual," 2nd ed., Soliton Associates Limited
     PC Version: Iverson Software, 1993, ISBN 1-895721-07-5.

  o Jim Weigang, "APL Notes,"
     An introduction to APL that includes 16- and 32-bit APL*PLUS
     interpreters.  For orders and more information, see:
     http://www.chilton.com/~jimw/aplnotes.html

  o "A Source Book in APL," APL Press, 1981, ISBN 0-917326-10-5.

  o "J Phrases," Iverson Software, 1996, ISBN 1-895721-12-1

  o "Exploring Math", Iverson Software, 1996, ISBN 1-895721-13-X

  o "J Primer," Iverson Software, 1996, ISBN 1-895721-14-8


(10)   Q: What user groups exist?
A: User groups

Note that information on officers may be somewhat
out of date.

     ACM/SIGAPL
     Association for Computing Machinery / Special Interest Group on
     APL, international membership.
     Quarterly journal Quote Quad.  Chapter groups around the country.
        Association for Computing Machinery
        1515 Broadway
        New York, NY 10036
        Tel: (212) 626-0500
        email  acmhelp@acm.org

                             CALL FOR PAPERS [8/30/2005]
                              APL QUOTE QUAD

The next issue of APL Quote Quad is being designed. Prospective authors
are encouraged to submit papers on any of the usual subjects of
interest related to Array-Processing Languages (APL, APL2, J, and so
forth). Submitted papers, in Microsoft Word (.doc), Rich Text Format
(.rtf), Openoffice format (.scw), Latex (.tex) or Acrobat (.pdf)
should be addressed to
                             Manuel Alfonseca
                         Manuel.Alfonseca@uam.es
with copy to:
                             Antonio Annibali
                       Antonio.Annibali@uniroma1.it
                             and Mario Sacco
                         mario.sacco@acm.org

Care must be taken to make the submitted papers self-contained,
eg. if they require special APL typesettings. The tentative time limit
for the new material is September 30th, 2005.

     APLBUG [10/15/2000]
     APL Bay Area Users Group, Northern California ACM SIGAPL
     Meets monthly, regular newsletter, $20/yr.
        Chairman:Chuck Kennedy
           (408)241-2920
           Charles-Kennedy@home.com
        Secretary/Treasurer:Curtis Jones
           228 South 15th Street
           San Jose, CA 95112-2150
           jonesca@us.ibm.com
        Newsletter editor:Chuck Kennedy

     BACUS
     Belgian APL CAM Users Society
     APL CAM Journal (4 issues / year in French, Dutch, English) and
     other publications. fee: 500 BEF
        c/o Joseph De Kerf
        Rooienberg 72
        B2570 Duffel BELGIUM
        tel.: 32-15-31 47 24

     BAA (11/1/98)
     BAA British APL Association, a specialist group of the British
     Computer Society, international membership.
     Quarterly journal VECTOR maintains a comprehensive vendor and product
     list. See the vector page for current information:
     http://www.vector.org.uk

     Chicago APL SIG
     Larry Mysz
        Chicago APL SIG
        836 Highland Drive
        Chicago Heights  IL  60411, USA
        email: 73040.3032@compuserve.com

     Connecticut APL group
     Bob Pomeroy
        Mass Mutual Life
        1295 State Street
        Mail Drop F465
        Springfield  MA  01111 USA
        Tel: +1 413 788 8411 x2838

     Denmark
     APL Special Interest Group of the Danish Data Association (DDA) [4/2000]
        Helene Boesen
        email: hb@insight.dk

     Dutch APL User Group
     APL Werkgroep Nederland
        President: Theo Zwart
           OASIS
           Lekstraat, 4
           NL3433 ZB Niewegein
           The NETHERLANDS
           Tel: +31 3402 66336
           Fax: +31 3402 65844
        Secretary: B. Smoor
           Dorpstraat 50
           4128BZ Lexmond
           The Netherlands
        Also contact: Eke Van Batenburg
           email: Batenburg@rulsfb.LeidenUniv.nl

  AFAPL  (1/2005)
     Association Francophone pour la promotion du langage APL
     Les Nouvelles d'APL (journal 4/year) and other publications in
     French. fee: 350 franch francs in France, 450 FF abroad, 2800 FF
     for firms.
        174, bd de Charonne
        75020 PARIS
        FRANCE
        Tel & Fax: (33)-1-43-56-31-79)
     President:Jacques Bouchard
     General Secretary:Ludmila Lemagnen
     email: lemagnen@aol.com
     www: http://www.afapl.asso.fr

  APL-Club Germany
        c/o Dieter Lattermann
        Rheinstrasse 23
        D-69190 Walldorf, GERMANY
        Tel:  +49 6227 2003
        email: 100332.1461@Compuserve.com


  Groupe APL-J\Quebec (Quebec)[11/13/98]
     APL user group in Quebec (city)
        Gilles Kirouac, president
        Quebec, Canada
        email: gkirouac@riq.qc.ca

     Japan APL Association (JAPLA)
     Japanese APL/J interest group.
        Monthly meetings at every 3rd Saturday and hold study APL /J.
        Currently published JAPLA's journal 2 times / year.
        We welcome to our associate member who has an interest in APL/J.
        JAPLA's Office:
          c/o PRIDE
          Masujima Bldg.
          1-8-13, Higasi Gotanda,
          Shinagawa ku,
          Tokyo, 141  JAPAN
          Tel: 81-3-3280-0411
          Fax: 81-3-3280-0418
        Chairman: Dr. Tosio Nishikawa
          Laboratory National Chemical for Industry
          Higashi 1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305, Japan
        International Interface: Masafusa Yasuda
          2-4-10, Nogata,
          Nakano ku,
          Tokyo, 165, JAPAN
          Tel/Fax: 81-3-3319-1956
          email: myasuda@mix.or.jp

  APL Club Oesterreich
     APL Club Oesterreich
        Obere Donaustrasse 95
        A-1020 Wein,  AUSTRIA

     Rome/Italy ACM SIGAPL
           Casella Postale 14343
           00100 - Roma Trullo, ITALY
        Chair:Mario Sacco
           email: marsac@vnet.ibm.com
        Additional contact:David Lanari
           Universita di Perugia
           Piaza dell'Universita 2
           Via G. Verga 30
           I06100 Perugia, ITALY
           email: david@ipguniv.bitnet

     NY/SIGAPL [revised 8/10/98]
     The New York City local chapter of ACM SIGAPL.
     Monthly meetings (ex July/August), newsletter "Big Apple APL",
     "APL as a Tool of Thought" miniconferences, approx. annual.
     Dues $35, $25 for ACM or ACM SIGAPL members, $10 for students.
        PO Box 2697
        New York,
        NY 10163-2697
        USA
     Chairman: David E. Siegel
        Tel: 609-734-9554 (work)
        email: Siegel@acm.org
     Newsletter editor: Jim Boyd
        Tel: +1 914-941-9239
        email: jhb@acm.org
     Membership chairman: Lynne C. Shaw
        Tel: +1 212-662-2406
        email: shaw@acm.org

     Potomac ACM SIGAPL
     The Potomac ACM SIGAPL Chapter has been inactive since August 1996.
     For information about Potomac SIGAPL, send email to Dick Holt
     (dick_holt@email.com).

     SEAPL
     South East APL Users' Group
     Doc Manges
     SEAPL Newsletter Editor
     email: SEAPLDOC@aol.com
     Tel:  770-972-3755
        413 Comanche Trail
        Lawrenceville GA 30244
     Other contacts:
     Gordon and Stella Chamberlain
        Interprocess Systems, Inc.
        http://www.interprocess.com/[dead 12/2005]

     SOCAL-SIGAPL
     SOCAL-SIGAPL Southern California APL user's group. Inactive. [7/2004]
        Editor: Arthur J. Stasney
        Contacts:
        astasney@earthlink.net (Arthur J. Stasney)
        jizba@gte.com (Zdenek V. Jizba)

     SovAPL
     Alexander O. Skomorokhov
        P.O. Box 5061
        Obninsk - 5
        Kaluga Region
        RUSSIA
        email: askom@apl2.obninsk.su
     Dr Alexander Skomorokhov
        Obninsk Institut of Nuclear Power/IATE
        Studgorod 1
        Obninsk
        Kaluga Region 249020
        RUSSIA
        Tel: +7 084439 31463
        Fax: +7 095 2552225
        email: askom@apl2.obninsk.su

     Suomen APL
     Suomen APL-yhdistys ry (Finn APL Association) about 4 informal
     newsletters/year, mainly in Finnish, one English issue/year.
     Membership fees,per year: 100 Fmk (about 20 $). (March 1998)
     Address: Box 1005, 00101 Helsinki, Finland
     Chair: Timo Korpela (1998)
             The Central Pension Security Institute
             SF-00065 Elaketurvakeskus, Finland
             Tel: +358 9 1512164, Fax: +358 9 1512496
             http://www.pyr.fi/apl/index.htm

     SWAPL
     SWAPL -- SouthWest APL Users' Group
        Membership fees, per year USA$12
        Non-USA postal supplement$6

        c/o Stuart Yarus (newsletter editor)
        P.O. Box 210367
        Bedford, TX 76095  U.S.A.
        (817) 656 5896; (817) 577 0165
        Compuserve:   73700,2545
        Internet:     73700.2545@compuserve.com

  SwedAPL
  Chairman is Christer Ulfhielm.
        c/o Novator Consulting Group AB
        Svardvagen 11C
        S-182 33 Danderyd
        Sweden
        Tel: +46 8 6226350
        Fax: +46 8 6226351
        email: 100341.404@CompuServe.com (Christer Ulfhielm)

  Swiss APL User(s) Group
        Hans Steffen
        Swiss APL User Group
        c/o Federal Statistical Office
        CH3003 Berne
        SWITZERLAND
        Fax: +41 31 382 27 95
        See also:
        Dr. Hanspeter Bieri
        Institut fur Informatik
        Universitat Berne
        Langgasstrasse 51
        CH3012 Bern
        SWITZERLAND
        Tel: +41 31 65 86 81
        Fax: +41 31 65 39 65
        email: email:bieri@iam.unibe.ch
        email: si@ifi.unizh.ch

     Sydney APL Users Group
     Newsletter (with contributions from Melbourne group): "Epsilon"
     Acting President and Treasurer: Nick Laletin, Jr.
     PO Box 1511
     Macquarie Centre,
     North Ryde 2113 Australia
     Tel: +61 02 427 1605
     Fax: (02) 257 6670
     Secretary: Erik Nielson
     Tel: +61 2 257 5742

     Toronto ACM APL SIG
     Toronto ACM APL SIG  [8/2007]
     http://www.torontoapl.ca
     Chair:      Dan King
     email: danking(at)sympatico(dot)ca
     Secretary:  Richard Procter email: rjp(at)aplborealis(dot)com


(11)   Q: What's the latest  APL conference?
A: Conferences

NY/SIGAPL
    APL as a Tool of Thought
    Held Yearly in NY
    Last Held: 31 January 1998

The APL2000 Customer Conference
   The 2000 APL2000 Customer Conference
       http://www.apl2000.com/2008UserConference.php

The Annual ACM SigAPL Conference
   APL2002: Array Processing Languages Lore, Problems and Applications [7/2002]
     July 22-25, 2002
     Madrid, Spain
     For information see http://www.apl2002.com

Previous ACM SigAPL Conferences
   APL2001: An Arrays Odyssey, June 25-28, 2001,
   Yale University, New Haven, CT, U.S.A.
   http://www.acm.org/sigAPL,
   http://www.acm.org/sigapl/apl2001

   APL Berlin 2000: The 2000 International Conference on Array Programming Languages
   Think Arrays in a Great City, July 24-27, 2000 - Berlin, Germany
   http://stat.cs.tu-berlin.de/APL-Berlin-2000
   APL99: The 1999 International Conference
   on all Array Programming Languages
   August 10-14, 1999 - University of Scranton, Scranton,
   Pennsylvania, USA
   See the ACM SIGAPL website, or subscribe to the APL99 mailing list.
   You can subscribe by sending email to listserve@acm.org with
   "Subscribe APL99-Info Your Name" in the BODY of the msg (without the
   quotes).  You will be requested to confirm your subscription.  You
   will receive an automatic welcome msg and updated information as it is
   available.

   Previous conference proceedings are available from ACM as issues of
   APL Quote Quad.

SIGAPL Software Library
    All Conference Packages, for all years, will be available
   from SIGAPL and the Waterloo Archives at
   http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/apl_archives/apl/Welcome.html[partially back 3/2006]


(12)   Q: How do I pass APL functions from one APL to another?
A: Migration of applications

Different APL vendors store workspaces in completely different
formats. This has greatly reduced sharing of functions among users,
and made it difficult for users to migrate between vendors and even
between machines. Here there are some options -

  o Use the Workspace Interchange Standard (WSIS), documented in the
      ISO standard. This has been partially implemented by various
      vendors. For example Manugistics (STSC) uses an SLT workspace to
      do the reading/writing.

  o Use the IBM )in and )out .atf files (documentation?)  Here are
      some concrete instructions, courtesy of Eke van Batenburg,
      Batenburg@rulsfb.LeidenUniv.nl:

      You only port APL, no GUI, no file I/O, no graphics, no locked
      objects. The following recipees use (arbitrary choosen) filename
      TRANSW.ATF on floppy as intermediate. "<>" means "next line".

        o Macintosh APL68000 export to floppy:
        []MOUNT'Untitled'  <> )OUT 0 TRANSWS
        In finder, change file name to "TRANSWS.ATF"

        o Macintosh APL68000 import from floppy:
        In finder, change file name to "TRANSWS" (without ".ATF"
        extension!!!)
        []MOUNT'Untitled' <> )IN 0 TRANSWS Problems:
        "INVALID FILE" can mean "SYMBOL TABLE FULL" (check ")SYMBOLS"
        and increase them to 1000) or comment lines in file (remove
        all lines beginning with "*" using any editor and try again).

        o Atari APL68000 export to floppy:
        []MOUNT 'A:' <>  )OUT 0 TRANSWS

        o Atari APL68000 import from floppy
        []MOUNT 'A:' <>  )IN 0 TRANSWS
        Problems: same as in point 2.

        o IBM APL2/PC export to floppy:
        )HOST A: <>  )OUT TRANSWS

        o IBM APL2/PC import from floppy:
        )HOST A: <>  )IN TRANSWS
        Problems: none experienced upto now

        o IBM mainframe export to floppy:
        start APL with "APL2 CASE(2)" (necessary for underscored
        conversion)
        )CLEAR <> )COPY workspacetobeported (NOT LOAD!!!!)
        )OUT TRANSWS <> )CLEAR <> )IN TRANSWS <> )OUT TRANSWS
        (yes, 2x seems to work, 1x sometimes gives gibberish, I don't know why)
        Download ....APLTF.TRANSWS to floppy, rename to TRANSWS.ATF
        Problems: if you download with Kermit: set TEXTMODE OFF and
        set file TYPE BINARY

        o IBM mainframe import from floppy
        I have no experience with this, but I suppose:
        Upload TRANSWS.ATF to file ...APLTF.TRANSWS
        )IN TRANSWS

        o APL2000 APL+DOS, APL+UNIX, APL+Win export to floppy:
        ]OUT A:TRANSWS.ATF

        o APL2000 APL+DOS, APL+UNIX, APL+Win import from floppy:
        ]IN A:TRANSWS.ATF
        Problems: Different from IBM or APL68000 or "extended standard"
        are:
        "A B C[2]" is B, partioned enclose, squeezed quad,
        monadic ",[1.5]", take with axis and scalar functions with axis.

        o Dyalog APL:
        im/export functions have since several years a bug that thinks
        that your recordsize is wrong. If you manage to correct only
        this, it seems to work fine.

        Updates:
        o APLX reportedly provides )IN and )OUT commands compatible with
        APL2/PC and APL2/370.
        o NARS2000 also supports migration through .atf files
        written out by )OUT and read in by )IN.

  o Write the functions/data out to ASCII files using some sort of
      transliteration scheme (see 11). This has the advantage over
      (1) that the files are human-readable and editable.
  o VisualAPL from APL2000 provides two simple options for importing
  APL code from legacy APL's:
          o Select the APL code in the source APL's session and
          Paste Special it into VisualAPL in Microsoft Visual Studio
          2005/2008.
          o  An ActiveX component is provided with VisualAPL to en
          masse convert the legacy APL code to Unicode and store it in
          a text file which can be used by VisualAPL.
    VisualAPL does not use a proprietary workspace format for storing
    APL code, instead it stores APL code in Unicode text files which
    can be run as interpreted APL scripts or as compiled APL .Net
    classes using Microsoft Visual Studio 2005/2008. VisualAPL Unicode
    text files can also be directly compiled without Visual Studio
    using the command line compiler provided with the Microsoft .Net
    framework.
    VisualAPL does not use a proprietary APL 'session', but instead
      uses the mainstream Microsoft Visual Studio 2005/2008 IDE
      [Interactive Development Environment].

All schemes suffer from the basic incompatibility between APL
vendors. This comes from extensions to standard ISO APL in several
areas:

  o Different built in functions - the quad functions. This includes
      file IO, graphics etc. Also the (mostly obsolete) ibeam
      functions.
  o Generalized arrays - boxes versus nests. A major fight in the
      community for at least the last 10 years. Unresolved.
  o User defined operators - not all implementations allow this.
  o Multivalent functions - not all implementations allow this.

Each instance of the above requires someone who knows both
implementations to rewrite the code. Hence only ISO APL is easily
portable.


(13)
Q:How do I write APL using only ASCII?
A: Writing APL in ASCII

Almost all vendors have provided ways to enter APL from non-APL
terminals. They took forms such as @BOX for example. For some reason
however, they all used different symbol sets and different
transliterations. Hence all are incompatible. Various users, seeing
the advantage of this approach versus the WSIS have tried their
hands.

I there are several separate issues: writing an APL character, writing
APL data, writing APL functions, and writing out a whole workspace.

Approaches for APL characters :

   o Jim Weigang has proposed a verbose version that is probably the
   current standard.
http://www.chilton.com/~jimw/a2apapr1.html
   Example: s {<-} +/ {rho} , a
   Transliteration programs for many APL's are available at
http://www.chilton.com/~jimw/a2ardme.html

   o My own approach is a bit more terse - see aplc, symbols3v1.txt on my home page
   Example: s  .is + / .ro , a

   o William Chang (wchang@phage.cshl.org)
   has proposed a J-ish verion called APL!
   Example: s  <- +/ ? , a

Approaches for  objects:
   o John Mitloehner (mitloehn@uxq.wu-wien.ac.at)
   has proposed a PP scheme for this that includes data and functions.
   See his article at APL92. Code for various APLs is available at
   waterloo. Example:

   @begin function NUB
      R@is NUB X
      R@is ((X@iota X)= @iota @rho X)/X
   @end function

   Code is also available for incorporation of APL into latex
   documents. See J. Mitlohner (1992), Porting APL Programs via ASCII Transliteration. APL Quote Quad, 23(1):148-155.

    o Jim Weigang proposes the more familiar "Del editor" output
    format. Sample code for this translator is available in this
    format.



(14)
Q:What about Unicode?
A: Writing APL in Unicode
This section needs some work
Unicode (http://www.unicode.org/) was
conceived as a way of storing data in any of the worlds
languages. This includes APL. Most modern computer OS seem to support
this. Most modern APLs natively support unicode now. Of course fonts
are needed, and programs that can display/interact with the data.
Most (all?) fonts are incomplete, as there are a lot of glyphs need to
represent everything, so of course many don't include all APL
characters (or Devanagari, Tibetan,...).

o  Phil Chastney has written an article and included a Unicode font
with APL characters
http://www.vector.org.uk/resource/simp2.htm
o   Markus Triska has some notes on APL/Unicode at
http://stud4.tuwien.ac.at/~e0225855/unicapl/unicapl.html
Included there is an apl.el file for Emacs, that allows entering unicode
charaters using apl-ascii.
o  Adrian Smith's unicode font apl385 along with other information
  and fonts is available at http://www.vector.org.uk/resource/index.htm.




*free usually means you can get it for free from the net, or pay small
media/documentation charges to get it from the vendor.

Changes/Additions:
swsirlin@earthlink.net

This list is not authorized or supported by the US government or NASA
or Caltech or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Nor is any other
organization or individual living or dead or gone beyond responsible
in any official or legal way.

It is distributed solely on an as-is basis, with no guarantee of being
of any use whatsoever to anyone. The user takes complete
responsibility for any problems or trouble resulting from the use of
this list.




betan,...).

o  Phil Chastney has written an article and included a Unicode font
with APL characters
http://www.vector.org.uk/resource/simp2.htm
o   Markus Triska has some notes on APL/Unicode at
http://stud4.tuwien.ac.at/~e0225855/unicapl/unicapl.html
Included there is an apl.el file for Emacs, that allows entering unicode
charaters using apl-ascii.
o  Adrian Smith's unicode font apl385 along with other information
   and fonts is available at http://www.vector.org.uk/resource/index.htm.




*free usually means you can get it for free from the net, or pay small
media/documentation charges to get it from the vendor.

Changes/Additions:
swsirlin@earthlink.net

This list is not authorized or supported by the US government or NASA
or Caltech or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Nor is any other
organization or individual living or dead or gone beyond responsible
in any official or legal way.

It is distributed solely on an as-is basis, with no guarantee of being
of any use whatsoever to anyone. The user takes complete
responsibility for any problems or trouble resulting from the use of
this list.




org.uk/resource/index.htm.




*free usually means you can get it for free from the net, or pay small
media/documentation charges to get it from the vendor.

Changes/Additions:
swsirlin@earthlink.net

This list is not authorized or supported by the US government or NASA
or Caltech or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Nor is any other
organization or individual living or dead or gone beyond responsible
in any official or legal way.

It is distributed solely on an as-is basis, with no guarantee of being
of any use whatsoever to anyone. The user takes complete
responsibility for any problems or trouble resulting from the use of
this list.



is list.



uarantee of being
of any use whatsoever to anyone. The user takes complete
responsibility for any problems or trouble resulting from the use of
this list.



aterloo. Example:

    @begin function NUB
       R@is NUB X
       R@is ((X@iota X)= @iota @rho X)/X
    @end function

    Code is also available for incorporation of APL into latex
    documents. See J. Mitlohner (1992), Porting APL Programs via ASCII Transliteration. APL Quote Quad, 23(1):148-155.

     o Jim Weigang proposes the more familiar "Del editor" output
     format. Sample code for this translator is available in this
     format.



(14)
Q:What about Unicode?
A: Writing APL in Unicode
This section needs some work
Unicode (http://www.unicode.org/) was
conceived as a way of storing data in any of the worlds
languages. This includes APL. Most modern computer OS seem to support
this. Most modern APLs natively support unicode now. Of course fonts
are needed, and programs that can display/interact with the data.
Most (all?) fonts are incomplete, as there are a lot of glyphs need to
represent everything, so of course many don't include all APL
characters (or Devanagari, Tibetan,...).

o  Phil Chastney has written an article and included a Unicode font
with APL characters
http://www.vector.org.uk/resource/simp2.htm
o   Markus Triska has some notes on APL/Unicode at
http://stud4.tuwien.ac.at/~e0225855/unicapl/unicapl.html
Included there is an apl.el file for Emacs, that allows entering unicode
charaters using apl-ascii.
o  Adrian Smith's unicode font apl385 along with other information
   and fonts is available at http://www.vector.org.uk/resource/index.htm.




*free usually means you can get it for free from the net, or pay small
media/documentation charges to get it from the vendor.

Changes/Additions:
swsirlin@earthlink.net

This list is not authorized or supported by the US government or NASA
or Caltech or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Nor is any other
organization or individual living or dead or gone beyond responsible
in any official or legal way.

It is distributed solely on an as-is basis, with no guarantee of being
of any use whatsoever to anyone. The user takes complete
responsibility for any problems or trouble resulting from the use of
this list.



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