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# Emacs eev and common lisp McCLIM
- - «.aside»	(to "aside")
- - «.outside emacs»	(to "outside emacs")
- - «.inside emacs»	(to "inside emacs")
- - «.clim-user»	(to "clim-user")
- - «.defining an application-frame»	(to "defining an application-frame")
- - «.making a frame»	(to "making a frame")
- - «.starting a frame»	(to "starting a frame")
- - «.in the gui»	(to "in the gui")
- - «.after killing emacs»	(to "after killing emacs")
- - «.fin»	(to "fin")

<img src="../clim-default-1.png"> <img src="../clim-default-2.png">

I have a particular fantasy idiom for using McCLIM inside emacs. Since McCLIM uses a swank server, and a swank server handles multiple connections, we can start McCLIM outside of emacs, then slime-connect emacs to that external server. The fantasy aspect is that our creations from inside emacs will survive `kill-emacs` in the external lisp image, which can be hooked into again by a later emacs. It's a nascent idea.

- [McCLIM on Codeberg](https://codeberg.org/McCLIM/McCLIM/)
- [Jackdaniel's lisp blog](https://turtleware.eu/)
- [The Common Lisp Interface Manager CLIM II specification](http://bauhh.dyndns.org:8000/clim-spec/index.html)
- [Franz' (proprietary implementation) reference documentation](https://franz.com/support/documentation/8.1/doc/clim-ug.pdf)
- [Lispworks' (proprietary implementation) reference documentation](https://www.lispworks.com/documentation/lw80/clim/clim.htm)

## Aside - Franz Inc open sourced their CLIM 2 in 2016?
- - «aside»  (to ".aside")

I found it while looking up links. On github though!
- [https://github.com/craigl64/clim2](https://github.com/craigl64/clim2)

## Strictly outside of emacs
- - «outside emacs»  (to ".outside emacs")

and inside your shell, I guess. This is not for eev (I guess it would work in `(eepitch-shell)` but that would be *inside* emacs).

```
ecl
(require "asdf")
(asdf:load-system :mcclim)
(asdf:system-source-directory :swank)
(merge-pathnames #p"start-swank.lisp" *)
(load *)
```

## Strictly inside of emacs - connect to mcclim's swank
- - «inside emacs»  (to ".inside emacs")

Now we are happily using `eev` `eepitch`.

```
 (eepitch-shell)
 (eepitch-kill)
 (slime-connect "localhost" 4005)
 (setq eepitch-buffer-name "*slime-repl ECL*")
```

Remember that we loaded `mcclim` already in the external lisp.

## `eepitch` into `clim-user`
- - «clim-user»  (to ".clim-user")

In lisp, we often make `-user` packages to absorb user code. This user package is what the package developer expects their users to basically experience.

```
(in-package :clim-user)
```

## Defining an `application-frame`
- - «defining an application-frame»  (to ".defining an application-frame")

```
(define-application-frame gui () ())
```

## Make one particular `gui` `application-frame`
- - «making a frame»  (to ".making a frame")

We don't have to instantiate it and can just `find-application-frame` to pull it up headlessly, but we want it to stick around outside of emacs in this case.

```
(make-application-frame 'gui)
(defparameter *gui* *)
```

## Start it.
- - «starting a frame»  (to ".starting a frame")

```
(run-frame-top-level *gui*)
```

<img src="../clim-screenshot-3.png">

## In the gui that just popped up
- - «in the gui»  (to ".in the gui")

The default interactor is a simple shell (having I guess `Help`, `Describe` and `Quit`). Note that it has autocompletion and emacs-like cut and paste. The autocompletion is used implicitly.

If you are filling out a form, `<enter>` will set the current field and move to the next one, `C-g` aborts, and `M-<enter>` (alt+enter) sends the form.

## Cannot *simply* `kill-emacs` and leave the form running
- - «after killing emacs»  (to ".after killing emacs")

I guess I would need to start it in another thread in a tricky way. Still, we can easily pop up a gui now. And that `*gui*` still literally exists in the running `ECL` lisp image outside of emacs.

# Fin.
- - «fin»  (to ".fin")

So the `*gui*` does not *do* anything yet, but what we did works and it persists outside of the emacs session.

See you [on the Mastodon to talk about this](https://screwlisp.small-web.org).