Lucan-1.2.0

Lucan-1.2.0

API documentation:

The Lucan API describes all functions and types that are available for writing scripts under the various licenses.

Installation:

Please make sure there is enough space on your harddrive, because the installation will require around 2.5GB of disc space.

Lucan does not have a classic installation routine. Instead, the downloaded tarball is extracted to a directory of your choice. The extracted folder named Lucan is the main directory of the program, hereafter referred to as the Lucan directory. Note that you should not overwrite an existing folder with the same name from a previous installation, as this will result in undefined behaviour. You can extract the tarball from the command line with the tar-command, where you have to substitue <version> with the corresponding version number. If you use the tar command, you need write permissions for the directory you want to extract to. So if you want to save the Lucan directory in "C:\Program Files\" you usually have to move the folder there after the extracting.

tar -xf Lucan-<version>-x86-64-win.tar

Then run the setup routine LucanSetup.exe inside the Lucan directory. Please note that you must read and accept the software's license terms during setup.

Deinstallation:

You can simply delete the Lucan directory, there are no other files stored on your system.

Usage:

Although Lucan does not have a classic graphical user interface, the program was developed with great attention to ease of use. User interaction takes place with scripts that are written in the Haskell programming language. The API documentation describes all the functions and types that are available.

There is a user directory where the user's scripts and a possible license file are stored. This directory can be specified in the configuration file LucanConfig.ghci located in the Lucan directory. Per default the user directory points to the script folder in the Lucan directory, where some examples can be found.

The Lucan software can be used free of charge under the Lucan Free license. If you have purchased and activated one of the licenses Lucan Base or Lucan Pro, copy the corresponding license file into the user directory.

Lucan is started by running LucanApp.exe. If you want, you can also add the app to the startmenu by right-click on it and chose "Pin to start". After starting the program you get to a command line. Assuming you haven't changed the user directory in the file LucanConfig.ghci yet, you can load some script from the script folder and run the script's main function like this:

>>> :load Examples.Lightpipe
>>> main

To end a running script prematurely, the key combination CTRL-D can be used.

To reload a script and execute a function in one call, you can put a Ghci file, say Run.ghci, into the user directory. Ghci files are used to write scripts for the interactive environment of the Haskell compiler. If you want to run the main function of a script, the content of such a file is simply the following two lines:

:reload
main

To run this file from the command line just type:

>>> :script Run.ghci

There is also the entire standard Haskell environment accessible for scripting. Therefore, the options for adapting the scripts to your needs are very extensive. Many Haskell resources are available online to help you how to use this programming language. However, advanced Haskell knowledge is not required for working with Lucan.

A good way to get started is by running the examples. Try to modify them to see how everything works.

Signatures

Modules