(*:wrap=hard:maxLineLen=78:*)
theory JEdit
imports Base
begin
chapter {* Introduction *}
section {* Concepts and terminology *}
text {* Isabelle/jEdit is a Prover IDE that integrates \emph{parallel
proof checking} \cite{Wenzel:2009,Wenzel:2013:ITP} with
\emph{asynchronous user interaction}
\cite{Wenzel:2010,Wenzel:2012:UITP-EPTCS}, based on a
document-oriented approach to \emph{continuous proof processing}
\cite{Wenzel:2011:CICM,Wenzel:2012}. Many concepts and system
components are fit together in order to make this work. The main
building blocks are as follows.
\begin{description}
\item [PIDE] is a general framework for Prover IDEs based on Isabelle/Scala.
It is built around a concept of parallel and asynchronous document
processing, which is supported natively by the parallel proof engine that is
implemented in Isabelle/ML. The traditional prover command loop is given up;
instead there is direct support for editing of source text, with rich formal
markup for GUI rendering.
\item [Isabelle/ML] is the implementation and extension language of
Isabelle, see also \cite{isabelle-implementation}. It is integrated
into the logical context of Isabelle/Isar and allows to manipulate
logical entities directly. Arbitrary add-on tools may be implemented
for object-logics such as Isabelle/HOL.
\item [Isabelle/Scala] is the system programming language of
Isabelle. It extends the pure logical environment of Isabelle/ML
towards the ``real world'' of graphical user interfaces, text
editors, IDE frameworks, web services etc. Special infrastructure
allows to transfer algebraic datatypes and formatted text easily
between ML and Scala, using asynchronous protocol commands.
\item [jEdit] is a sophisticated text editor implemented in
Java.\footnote{@{url "http://www.jedit.org"}} It is easily extensible
by plugins written in languages that work on the JVM, e.g.\
Scala\footnote{@{url "http://www.scala-lang.org"}}.
\item [Isabelle/jEdit] is the main example application of the PIDE
framework and the default user-interface for Isabelle. It targets
both beginners and experts. Technically, Isabelle/jEdit combines a
slightly modified version of the jEdit code base with a special
plugin for Isabelle, integrated as standalone application for the
main operating system platforms: Linux, Windows, Mac OS X.
\end{description}
The subtle differences of Isabelle/ML versus Standard ML,
Isabelle/Scala versus Scala, Isabelle/jEdit versus jEdit need to be
taken into account when discussing any of these PIDE building blocks
in public forums, mailing lists, or even scientific publications.
*}
section {* The Isabelle/jEdit Prover IDE *}
text {*
\begin{figure}[htb]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[scale=0.333]{isabelle-jedit}
\end{center}
\caption{The Isabelle/jEdit Prover IDE}
\label{fig:isabelle-jedit}
\end{figure}
Isabelle/jEdit (\figref{fig:isabelle-jedit}) consists of some plugins for
the jEdit text editor, while preserving its general look-and-feel as far as
possible. The main plugin is called ``Isabelle'' and has its own menu
\emph{Plugins~/ Isabelle} with several panels (see also
\secref{sec:dockables}), as well as \emph{Plugins~/ Plugin Options~/
Isabelle} (see also \secref{sec:options}).
The options allow to specify a logic session name --- the same selector is
accessible in the \emph{Theories} panel (\secref{sec:theories}). On
application startup, the selected logic session image is provided
automatically by the Isabelle build tool \cite{isabelle-sys}: if it is
absent or outdated wrt.\ its sources, the build process updates it before
entering the Prover IDE. Changing the logic session within Isabelle/jEdit
requires a restart of the application.
\medskip The main job of the Prover IDE is to manage sources and their
changes, taking the logical structure as a formal document into account (see
also \secref{sec:document-model}). The editor and the prover are connected
asynchronously in a lock-free manner. The prover is free to organize the
checking of the formal text in parallel on multiple cores, and provides
feedback via markup, which is rendered in the editor via colors, boxes,
squiggly underline, hyperlinks, popup windows, icons, clickable output etc.
Using the mouse together with the modifier key @{verbatim CONTROL} (Linux,
Windows) or @{verbatim COMMAND} (Mac OS X) exposes additional formal content
via tooltips and/or hyperlinks (see also \secref{sec:tooltips-hyperlinks}).
Formal output (in popups etc.) may be explored recursively, using the same
techniques as in the editor source buffer.
Thus the Prover IDE gives an impression of direct access to formal content
of the prover within the editor, but in reality only certain aspects are
exposed, according to the possibilities of the prover and its many add-on
tools.
*}
subsection {* Documentation *}
text {*
The \emph{Documentation} panel of Isabelle/jEdit provides access to the
standard Isabelle documentation: PDF files are opened by regular desktop
operations of the underlying platform. The section ``Original jEdit
Documentation'' contains the original \emph{User's Guide} of this
sophisticated text editor. The same is accessible via the @{verbatim Help}
menu or @{verbatim F1} keyboard shortcut, using the built-in HTML viewer of
Java/Swing. The latter also includes \emph{Frequently Asked Questions} and
documentation of individual plugins.
Most of the information about generic jEdit is relevant for Isabelle/jEdit
as well, but one needs to keep in mind that defaults sometimes differ, and
the official jEdit documentation does not know about the Isabelle plugin
with its support for continuous checking of formal source text: jEdit is a
plain text editor, but Isabelle/jEdit is a Prover IDE.
*}
subsection {* Plugins *}
text {* The \emph{Plugin Manager} of jEdit allows to augment editor
functionality by JVM modules (jars) that are provided by the central
plugin repository, which is accessible via various mirror sites.
Connecting to the plugin server infrastructure of the jEdit project
allows to update bundled plugins or to add further functionality.
This needs to be done with the usual care for such an open bazaar of
contributions. Arbitrary combinations of add-on features are apt to
cause problems. It is advisable to start with the default
configuration of Isabelle/jEdit and develop some understanding how
it is supposed to work, before loading additional plugins at a grand
scale.
\medskip The main \emph{Isabelle} plugin is an integral part of
Isabelle/jEdit and needs to remain active at all times! A few additional
plugins are bundled with Isabelle/jEdit for convenience or out of necessity,
notably \emph{Console} with its Isabelle/Scala sub-plugin
(\secref{sec:scala-console}) and \emph{SideKick} with some Isabelle-specific
parsers for document tree structure (\secref{sec:sidekick}). The
\emph{Navigator} plugin is particularly important for hyperlinks within the
formal document-model (\secref{sec:tooltips-hyperlinks}). Further plugins
(e.g.\ \emph{ErrorList}, \emph{Code2HTML}) are included to saturate the
dependencies of bundled plugins, but have no particular use in
Isabelle/jEdit. *}
subsection {* Options \label{sec:options} *}
text {* Both jEdit and Isabelle have distinctive management of
persistent options.
Regular jEdit options are accessible via the dialogs \emph{Utilities~/
Global Options} or \emph{Plugins~/ Plugin Options}, with a second chance to
flip the two within the central options dialog. Changes are stored in
@{file_unchecked "$ISABELLE_HOME_USER/jedit/properties"} and
@{file_unchecked "$ISABELLE_HOME_USER/jedit/keymaps"}.
Isabelle system options are managed by Isabelle/Scala and changes are stored
in @{file_unchecked "$ISABELLE_HOME_USER/etc/preferences"}, independently of
other jEdit properties. See also \cite{isabelle-sys}, especially the
coverage of sessions and command-line tools like @{tool build} or @{tool
options}.
Those Isabelle options that are declared as \textbf{public} are configurable
in Isabelle/jEdit via \emph{Plugin Options~/ Isabelle~/ General}. Moreover,
there are various options for rendering of document content, which are
configurable via \emph{Plugin Options~/ Isabelle~/ Rendering}. Thus
\emph{Plugin Options~/ Isabelle} in jEdit provides a view on a subset of
Isabelle system options. Note that some of these options affect general
parameters that are relevant outside Isabelle/jEdit as well, e.g.\
@{system_option threads} or @{system_option parallel_proofs} for the
Isabelle build tool \cite{isabelle-sys}, but it is possible to use the
settings variable @{setting ISABELLE_BUILD_OPTIONS} to change defaults for
batch builds without affecting Isabelle/jEdit.
\medskip Options are usually loaded on startup and saved on shutdown of
Isabelle/jEdit. Editing the machine-generated @{file_unchecked
"$ISABELLE_HOME_USER/jedit/properties"} or @{file_unchecked
"$ISABELLE_HOME_USER/etc/preferences"} manually while the application is
running is likely to cause surprise due to lost update! *}
subsection {* Keymaps *}
text {* Keyboard shortcuts used to be managed as jEdit properties in
the past, but recent versions (2013) have a separate concept of
\emph{keymap} that is configurable via \emph{Global Options~/
Shortcuts}. The @{verbatim imported} keymap is derived from the
initial environment of properties that is available at the first
start of the editor; afterwards the keymap file takes precedence.
This is relevant for Isabelle/jEdit due to various fine-tuning of default
properties, and additional keyboard shortcuts for Isabelle-specific
functionality. Users may change their keymap later, but need to copy some
keyboard shortcuts manually (see also @{file_unchecked
"$ISABELLE_HOME_USER/jedit/keymaps"}).
*}
section {* Command-line invocation *}
text {*
Isabelle/jEdit is normally invoked as standalone application, with
platform-specific executable wrappers for Linux, Windows, Mac OS X.
Nonetheless it is occasionally useful to invoke the Prover IDE on the
command-line, with some extra options and environment settings as explained
below. The command-line usage of @{tool_def jedit} is as follows:
\begin{ttbox}
Usage: isabelle jedit [OPTIONS] [FILES ...]
Options are:
-J OPTION add JVM runtime option (default JEDIT_JAVA_OPTIONS)
-b build only
-d DIR include session directory
-f fresh build
-j OPTION add jEdit runtime option (default JEDIT_OPTIONS)
-l NAME logic image name (default ISABELLE_LOGIC)
-m MODE add print mode for output
-n no build of session image on startup
-s system build mode for session image
Start jEdit with Isabelle plugin setup and open theory FILES
(default "\$USER_HOME/Scratch.thy").
\end{ttbox}
The @{verbatim "-l"} option specifies the session name of the logic
image to be used for proof processing. Additional session root
directories may be included via option @{verbatim "-d"} to augment
that name space of @{tool build} \cite{isabelle-sys}.
By default, the specified image is checked and built on demand. The
@{verbatim "-s"} option determines where to store the result session image
of @{tool build}. The @{verbatim "-n"} option bypasses the implicit build
process for the selected session image.
The @{verbatim "-m"} option specifies additional print modes for the
prover process. Note that the system option @{system_option_ref
jedit_print_mode} allows to do the same persistently (e.g.\ via the
Plugin Options dialog of Isabelle/jEdit), without requiring
command-line invocation.
The @{verbatim "-J"} and @{verbatim "-j"} options allow to pass
additional low-level options to the JVM or jEdit, respectively. The
defaults are provided by the Isabelle settings environment
\cite{isabelle-sys}.
The @{verbatim "-b"} and @{verbatim "-f"} options control the self-build
mechanism of Isabelle/jEdit. This is only relevant for building from
sources, which also requires an auxiliary @{verbatim jedit_build} component
from @{url "http://isabelle.in.tum.de/components"}. Note that official
Isabelle releases already include a pre-built version of Isabelle/jEdit.
*}
chapter {* Augmented jEdit functionality *}
section {* Look-and-feel *}
text {* jEdit is a Java/AWT/Swing application with some ambition to
support ``native'' look-and-feel on all platforms, within the limits
of what Oracle as Java provider and major operating system
distributors allow (see also \secref{sec:problems}).
Isabelle/jEdit enables platform-specific look-and-feel by default as
follows:
\begin{description}
\item[Linux] The platform-independent \emph{Nimbus} is used by
default.
\emph{GTK+} works under the side-condition that the overall GTK theme is
selected in a Swing-friendly way.\footnote{GTK support in Java/Swing was
once marketed aggressively by Sun, but never quite finished. Today (2013) it
is lagging behind further development of Swing and GTK. The graphics
rendering performance can be worse than for other Swing look-and-feels.}
\item[Windows] Regular \emph{Windows} is used by default, but
\emph{Windows Classic} also works.
\item[Mac OS X] Regular \emph{Mac OS X} is used by default.
Moreover the bundled \emph{MacOSX} plugin provides various functions that
are expected from applications on that particular platform: quit from menu
or dock, preferences menu, drag-and-drop of text files on the application,
full-screen mode for main editor windows. It is advisable to have the
\emph{MacOSX} enabled all the time on that platform.
\end{description}
Users may experiment with different look-and-feels, but need to keep
in mind that this extra variance of GUI functionality is unlikely to
work in arbitrary combinations. The platform-independent
\emph{Nimbus} and \emph{Metal} should always work. The historic
\emph{CDE/Motif} is better avoided.
After changing the look-and-feel in \emph{Global Options~/
Appearance}, it is advisable to restart Isabelle/jEdit in order to
take full effect. *}
section {* Dockable windows \label{sec:dockables} *}
text {*
In jEdit terminology, a \emph{view} is an editor window with one or more
\emph{text areas} that show the content of one or more \emph{buffers}. A
regular view may be surrounded by \emph{dockable windows} that show
additional information in arbitrary format, not just text; a \emph{plain
view} does not allow dockables. The \emph{dockable window manager} of jEdit
organizes these dockable windows, either as \emph{floating} windows, or
\emph{docked} panels within one of the four margins of the view. There may
be any number of floating instances of some dockable window, but at most one
docked instance; jEdit actions that address \emph{the} dockable window of a
particular kind refer to the unique docked instance.
Dockables are used routinely in jEdit for important functionality like
\emph{HyperSearch Results} or the \emph{File System Browser}. Plugins often
provide a central dockable to access their key functionality, which may be
opened by the user on demand. The Isabelle/jEdit plugin takes this approach
to the extreme: its main plugin menu merely provides entry-points to panels
that are managed as dockable windows. Some important panels are docked by
default, e.g.\ \emph{Documentation}, \emph{Output}, \emph{Query}, but the
user can change this arrangement easily.
Compared to plain jEdit, dockable window management in Isabelle/jEdit is
slightly augmented according to the the following principles:
\begin{itemize}
\item Floating windows are dependent on the main window as \emph{dialog} in
the sense of Java/AWT/Swing. Dialog windows always stay on top of the view,
which is particularly important in full-screen mode. The desktop environment
of the underlying platform may impose further policies on such dependent
dialogs, in contrast to fully independent windows, e.g.\ some window
management functions may be missing.
\item Keyboard focus of the main view vs.\ a dockable window is carefully
managed according to the intended semantics, as a panel mainly for output or
input. For example, activating the \emph{Output} (\secref{sec:output}) panel
via the dockable window manager returns keyboard focus to the main text
area, but for \emph{Query} (\secref{sec:query}) the focus is given to the
main input field of that panel.
\item Panels that provide their own text area for output have an additional
dockable menu item \emph{Detach}. This produces an independent copy of the
current output as a floating \emph{Info} window, which displays that content
independently of ongoing changes of the PIDE document-model. Note that
Isabelle/jEdit popup windows (\secref{sec:tooltips-hyperlinks}) provide a
similar \emph{Detach} operation as an icon.
\end{itemize}
*}
section {* Isabelle symbols \label{sec:symbols} *}
text {* Isabelle sources consist of \emph{symbols} that extend plain
ASCII to allow infinitely many mathematical symbols within the
formal sources. This works without depending on particular
encodings and varying Unicode standards
\cite{Wenzel:2011:CICM}.\footnote{Raw Unicode characters within
formal sources would compromise portability and reliability in the
face of changing interpretation of special features of Unicode, such
as Combining Characters or Bi-directional Text.}
For the prover back-end, formal text consists of ASCII characters
that are grouped according to some simple rules, e.g.\ as plain
``@{verbatim a}'' or symbolic ``@{verbatim "\<alpha>"}''.
For the editor front-end, a certain subset of symbols is rendered
physically via Unicode glyphs, in order to show ``@{verbatim "\<alpha>"}''
as ``@{text "\<alpha>"}'', for example. This symbol interpretation is
specified by the Isabelle system distribution in @{file
"$ISABELLE_HOME/etc/symbols"} and may be augmented by the user in
@{file_unchecked "$ISABELLE_HOME_USER/etc/symbols"}.
The appendix of \cite{isabelle-isar-ref} gives an overview of the
standard interpretation of finitely many symbols from the infinite
collection. Uninterpreted symbols are displayed literally, e.g.\
``@{verbatim "\<foobar>"}''. Overlap of Unicode characters used in
symbol interpretation with informal ones (which might appear e.g.\
in comments) needs to be avoided! Raw Unicode characters within
prover source files should be restricted to informal parts, e.g.\ to
write text in non-latin alphabets in comments.
\medskip \paragraph{Encoding.} Technically, the Unicode view on
Isabelle symbols is an \emph{encoding} in jEdit (not in the
underlying JVM) that is called @{verbatim "UTF-8-Isabelle"}. It is
provided by the Isabelle/jEdit plugin and enabled by default for all
source files. Sometimes such defaults are reset accidentally, or
malformed UTF-8 sequences in the text force jEdit to fall back on a
different encoding like @{verbatim "ISO-8859-15"}. In that case,
verbatim ``@{verbatim "\<alpha>"}'' will be shown in the text buffer
instead of its Unicode rendering ``@{text "\<alpha>"}''. The jEdit menu
operation \emph{File~/ Reload with Encoding~/ UTF-8-Isabelle} helps
to resolve such problems, potentially after repairing malformed
parts of the text.
\medskip \paragraph{Font.} Correct rendering via Unicode requires a
font that contains glyphs for the corresponding codepoints. Most
system fonts lack that, so Isabelle/jEdit prefers its own
application font @{verbatim IsabelleText}, which ensures that
standard collection of Isabelle symbols are actually seen on the
screen (or printer).
Note that a Java/AWT/Swing application can load additional fonts
only if they are not installed on the operating system already!
Some old version of @{verbatim IsabelleText} that happens to be
provided by the operating system would prevent Isabelle/jEdit to use
its bundled version. This could lead to missing glyphs (black
rectangles), when the system version of @{verbatim IsabelleText} is
older than the application version. This problem can be avoided by
refraining to ``install'' any version of @{verbatim IsabelleText} in
the first place (although it is occasionally tempting to use
the same font in other applications).
\medskip \paragraph{Input methods.} In principle, Isabelle/jEdit
could delegate the problem to produce Isabelle symbols in their
Unicode rendering to the underlying operating system and its
\emph{input methods}. Regular jEdit also provides various ways to
work with \emph{abbreviations} to produce certain non-ASCII
characters. Since none of these standard input methods work
satisfactorily for the mathematical characters required for
Isabelle, various specific Isabelle/jEdit mechanisms are provided.
Here is a summary for practically relevant input methods for
Isabelle symbols:
\begin{enumerate}
\item The \emph{Symbols} panel: some GUI buttons allow to insert
certain symbols in the text buffer. There are also tooltips to
reveal the official Isabelle representation with some additional
information about \emph{symbol abbreviations} (see below).
\item Copy/paste from decoded source files: text that is rendered
as Unicode already can be re-used to produce further text. This
also works between different applications, e.g.\ Isabelle/jEdit and
some web browser or mail client, as long as the same Unicode view on
Isabelle symbols is used.
\item Copy/paste from prover output within Isabelle/jEdit. The
same principles as for text buffers apply, but note that \emph{copy}
in secondary Isabelle/jEdit windows works via the keyboard shortcut
@{verbatim "C+c"}, while jEdit menu actions always refer to the
primary text area!
\item Completion provided by Isabelle plugin (see
\secref{sec:completion}). Isabelle symbols have a canonical name
and optional abbreviations. This can be used with the text
completion mechanism of Isabelle/jEdit, to replace a prefix of the
actual symbol like @{verbatim "\<lambda>"}, or its name preceded by backslash
@{verbatim "\\"}@{verbatim "lambda"}, or its ASCII abbreviation
@{verbatim "%"} by the Unicode rendering.
The following table is an extract of the information provided by the
standard @{file "$ISABELLE_HOME/etc/symbols"} file:
\medskip
\begin{tabular}{lll}
\textbf{symbol} & \textbf{name with backslash} & \textbf{abbreviation} \\\hline
@{text "\<lambda>"} & @{verbatim "\\lambda"} & @{verbatim "%"} \\
@{text "\<Rightarrow>"} & @{verbatim "\\Rightarrow"} & @{verbatim "=>"} \\
@{text "\<Longrightarrow>"} & @{verbatim "\\Longrightarrow"} & @{verbatim "==>"} \\[0.5ex]
@{text "\<And>"} & @{verbatim "\\And"} & @{verbatim "!!"} \\
@{text "\<equiv>"} & @{verbatim "\\equiv"} & @{verbatim "=="} \\[0.5ex]
@{text "\<forall>"} & @{verbatim "\\forall"} & @{verbatim "!"} \\
@{text "\<exists>"} & @{verbatim "\\exists"} & @{verbatim "?"} \\
@{text "\<longrightarrow>"} & @{verbatim "\\longrightarrow"} & @{verbatim "-->"} \\
@{text "\<and>"} & @{verbatim "\\and"} & @{verbatim "&"} \\
@{text "\<or>"} & @{verbatim "\\or"} & @{verbatim "|"} \\
@{text "\<not>"} & @{verbatim "\\not"} & @{verbatim "~"} \\
@{text "\<noteq>"} & @{verbatim "\\noteq"} & @{verbatim "~="} \\
@{text "\<in>"} & @{verbatim "\\in"} & @{verbatim ":"} \\
@{text "\<notin>"} & @{verbatim "\\notin"} & @{verbatim "~:"} \\
\end{tabular}
\medskip
Note that the above abbreviations refer to the input method. The
logical notation provides ASCII alternatives that often coincide,
but deviate occasionally. This occasionally causes user confusion
with very old-fashioned Isabelle source that use ASCII replacement
notation like @{verbatim "!"} or @{verbatim "ALL"} directly in the
text.
On the other hand, coincidence of symbol abbreviations with ASCII
replacement syntax syntax helps to update old theory sources via
explicit completion (see also @{verbatim "C+b"} explained in
\secref{sec:completion}).
\end{enumerate}
\paragraph{Control symbols.} There are some special control symbols
to modify the display style of a single symbol (without
nesting). Control symbols may be applied to a region of selected
text, either using the \emph{Symbols} panel or keyboard shortcuts or
jEdit actions. These editor operations produce a separate control
symbol for each symbol in the text, in order to make the whole text
appear in a certain style.
\medskip
\begin{tabular}{llll}
\textbf{style} & \textbf{symbol} & \textbf{shortcut} & \textbf{action} \\\hline
superscript & @{verbatim "\<^sup>"} & @{verbatim "C+e UP"} & @{action_ref "isabelle.control-sup"} \\
subscript & @{verbatim "\<^sub>"} & @{verbatim "C+e DOWN"} & @{action_ref "isabelle.control-sub"} \\
bold face & @{verbatim "\<^bold>"} & @{verbatim "C+e RIGHT"} & @{action_ref "isabelle.control-bold"} \\
reset & & @{verbatim "C+e LEFT"} & @{action_ref "isabelle.control-reset"} \\
\end{tabular}
\medskip
To produce a single control symbol, it is also possible to complete
on @{verbatim "\\"}@{verbatim sup}, @{verbatim "\\"}@{verbatim sub},
@{verbatim "\\"}@{verbatim bold} as for regular symbols. *}
section {* SideKick parsers \label{sec:sidekick} *}
text {*
The \emph{SideKick} plugin provides some general services to display buffer
structure in a tree view.
Isabelle/jEdit provides SideKick parsers for its main mode for theory files,
as well as some minor modes for the @{verbatim NEWS} file (see
\figref{fig:sidekick}), session @{verbatim ROOT} files, and system
@{verbatim options}.
\begin{figure}[htb]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[scale=0.333]{sidekick}
\end{center}
\caption{The Isabelle NEWS file with SideKick tree view}
\label{fig:sidekick}
\end{figure}
Moreover, the special SideKick parser @{verbatim "isabelle-markup"}
provides access to the full (uninterpreted) markup tree of the PIDE
document model of the current buffer. This is occasionally useful
for informative purposes, but the amount of displayed information
might cause problems for large buffers, both for the human and the
machine.
*}
section {* Scala console \label{sec:scala-console} *}
text {*
The \emph{Console} plugin manages various shells (command interpreters),
e.g.\ \emph{BeanShell}, which is the official jEdit scripting language, and
the cross-platform \emph{System} shell. Thus the console provides similar
functionality than the special Emacs buffers @{verbatim "*scratch*"} and
@{verbatim "*shell*"}.
Isabelle/jEdit extends the repertoire of the console by \emph{Scala}, which
is the regular Scala toplevel loop running inside the \emph{same} JVM
process as Isabelle/jEdit itself. This means the Scala command interpreter
has access to the JVM name space and state of the running Prover IDE
application: the main entry points are @{verbatim view} (the current editor
view of jEdit) and @{verbatim PIDE} (the Isabelle/jEdit plugin object). For
example, the Scala expression @{verbatim "PIDE.snapshot(view)"} makes a PIDE
document snapshot of the current buffer within the current editor view.
This helps to explore Isabelle/Scala functionality interactively. Some care
is required to avoid interference with the internals of the running
application, especially in production use.
*}
section {* File-system access *}
text {* File specifications in jEdit follow various formats and
conventions according to \emph{Virtual File Systems}, which may be
also provided by additional plugins. This allows to access remote
files via the @{verbatim "http:"} protocol prefix, for example.
Isabelle/jEdit attempts to work with the file-system access model of
jEdit as far as possible. In particular, theory sources are passed
directly from the editor to the prover, without indirection via
physical files.
Despite the flexibility of URLs in jEdit, local files are
particularly important and are accessible without protocol prefix.
Here the path notation is that of the Java Virtual Machine on the
underlying platform. On Windows the preferred form uses
backslashes, but happens to accept forward slashes of Unix/POSIX, too.
Further differences arise due to drive letters and network shares.
The Java notation for files needs to be distinguished from the one of
Isabelle, which uses POSIX notation with forward slashes on \emph{all}
platforms.\footnote{Isabelle/ML on Windows uses Cygwin file-system access
and Unix-style path notation.} Moreover, environment variables from the
Isabelle process may be used freely, e.g.\ @{file
"$ISABELLE_HOME/etc/symbols"} or @{file_unchecked "$POLYML_HOME/README"}.
There are special shortcuts: @{file "~"} for @{file "$USER_HOME"} and @{file
"~~"} for @{file "$ISABELLE_HOME"}.
\medskip Since jEdit happens to support environment variables within
file specifications as well, it is natural to use similar notation
within the editor, e.g.\ in the file-browser. This does not work in
full generality, though, due to the bias of jEdit towards
platform-specific notation and of Isabelle towards POSIX. Moreover,
the Isabelle settings environment is not yet active when starting
Isabelle/jEdit via its standard application wrapper (in contrast to
@{verbatim "isabelle jedit"} run from the command line).
Isabelle/jEdit imitates @{verbatim "$ISABELLE_HOME"} and @{verbatim
"$ISABELLE_HOME_USER"} within the Java process environment, in order to
allow easy access to these important places from the editor. The file
browser of jEdit also includes \emph{Favorites} for these two important
locations.
\medskip Path specifications in prover input or output usually include
formal markup that turns it into a hyperlink (see also
\secref{sec:tooltips-hyperlinks}). This allows to open the corresponding
file in the text editor, independently of the path notation.
Formally checked paths in prover input are subject to completion
(\secref{sec:completion}): partial specifications are resolved via actual
directory content and possible completions are offered in a popup.
*}
chapter {* Prover IDE functionality \label{sec:document-model} *}
section {* Document model \label{sec:document-model} *}
text {*
The document model is central to the PIDE architecture: the editor and the
prover have a common notion of structured source text with markup, which is
produced by formal processing. The editor is responsible for edits of
document source, as produced by the user. The prover is responsible for
reports of document markup, as produced by its processing in the background.
Isabelle/jEdit handles classic editor events of jEdit, in order to connect
the physical world of the GUI (with its singleton state) to the mathematical
world of multiple document versions (with timeless and stateless updates).
*}
subsection {* Editor buffers and document nodes \label{sec:buffer-node} *}
text {*
As a regular text editor, jEdit maintains a collection of \emph{buffers} to
store text files; each buffer may be associated with any number of visible
\emph{text areas}. Buffers are subject to an \emph{edit mode} that is
determined from the file name extension. The following modes are treated
specifically in Isabelle/jEdit:
\medskip
\begin{tabular}{lll}
\textbf{mode} & \textbf{file extension} & \textbf{content} \\\hline
@{verbatim "isabelle"} & @{verbatim ".thy"} & theory source \\
@{verbatim "isabelle-ml"} & @{verbatim ".ML"} & Isabelle/ML source \\
@{verbatim "sml"} & @{verbatim ".sml"} or @{verbatim ".sig"} & Standard ML source \\
\end{tabular}
\medskip
All jEdit buffers are automatically added to the PIDE document-model as
\emph{document nodes}. The overall document structure is defined by the
theory nodes in two dimensions:
\begin{enumerate}
\item via \textbf{theory imports} that are specified in the \emph{theory
header} using concrete syntax of the @{command_ref theory} command
\cite{isabelle-isar-ref};
\item via \textbf{auxiliary files} that are loaded into a theory by special
\emph{load commands}, notably @{command_ref ML_file} and @{command_ref
SML_file} \cite{isabelle-isar-ref}.
\end{enumerate}
In any case, source files are managed by the PIDE infrastructure: the
physical file-system only plays a subordinate role. The relevant version of
source text is passed directly from the editor to the prover, via internal
communication channels.
*}
subsection {* Theories \label{sec:theories} *}
text {*
The \emph{Theories} panel (see also \figref{fig:theories}) provides an
overview of the status of continuous checking of theory nodes within the
document model. Unlike batch sessions of @{tool build} \cite{isabelle-sys},
theory nodes are identified by full path names; this allows to work with
multiple (disjoint) Isabelle sessions simultaneously within the same editor
session.
\begin{figure}[htb]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[scale=0.333]{theories}
\end{center}
\caption{Theories panel with an overview of the document-model, and some
jEdit text areas as editable view on some of the document nodes}
\label{fig:theories}
\end{figure}
Certain events to open or update editor buffers cause Isabelle/jEdit to
resolve dependencies of theory imports. The system requests to load
additional files into editor buffers, in order to be included in the
document model for further checking. It is also possible to let the system
resolve dependencies automatically, according to \emph{Plugin Options~/
Isabelle~/ General~/ Auto Load}.
\medskip The visible \emph{perspective} of Isabelle/jEdit is defined by the
collective view on theory buffers via open text areas. The perspective is
taken as a hint for document processing: the prover ensures that those parts
of a theory where the user is looking are checked, while other parts that
are presently not required are ignored. The perspective is changed by
opening or closing text area windows, or scrolling within a window.
The \emph{Theories} panel provides some further options to influence
the process of continuous checking: it may be switched off globally
to restrict the prover to superficial processing of command syntax.
It is also possible to indicate theory nodes as \emph{required} for
continuous checking: this means such nodes and all their imports are
always processed independently of the visibility status (if
continuous checking is enabled). Big theory libraries that are
marked as required can have significant impact on performance,
though.
\medskip Formal markup of checked theory content is turned into GUI
rendering, based on a standard repertoire known from IDEs for programming
languages: colors, icons, highlighting, squiggly underline, tooltips,
hyperlinks etc. For outer syntax of Isabelle/Isar there is some traditional
syntax-highlighting via static keyword tables and tokenization within the
editor. In contrast, the painting of inner syntax (term language etc.)\ uses
semantic information that is reported dynamically from the logical context.
Thus the prover can provide additional markup to help the user to understand
the meaning of formal text, and to produce more text with some add-on tools
(e.g.\ information messages with \emph{sendback} markup by automated provers
or disprovers in the background).
*}
subsection {* Auxiliary files \label{sec:aux-files} *}
text {*
Special load commands like @{command_ref ML_file} and @{command_ref
SML_file} \cite{isabelle-isar-ref} refer to auxiliary files within some
theory. Conceptually, the file argument of the command extends the theory
source by the content of the file, but its editor buffer may be loaded~/
changed~/ saved separately. The PIDE document model propagates changes of
auxiliary file content to the corresponding load command in the theory, to
update and process it accordingly: changes of auxiliary file content are
treated as changes of the corresponding load command.
\medskip As a concession to the massive amount of ML files in Isabelle/HOL
itself, the content of auxiliary files is only added to the PIDE
document-model on demand, the first time when opened explicitly in the
editor. There are further special tricks to manage markup of ML files, such
that Isabelle/HOL may be edited conveniently in the Prover IDE on small
machines with only 4--8\,GB of main memory. Using @{verbatim Pure} as logic
session image, the exploration may start at the top @{file
"$ISABELLE_HOME/src/HOL/Main.thy"} or the bottom @{file
"$ISABELLE_HOME/src/HOL/HOL.thy"}, for example.
Initially, before an auxiliary file is opened in the editor, the prover
reads its content from the physical file-system. After the file is opened
for the first time in the editor, e.g.\ by following the hyperlink
(\secref{sec:tooltips-hyperlinks}) for the argument of its @{command
ML_file} command, the content is taken from the jEdit buffer.
The change of responsibility from prover to editor counts as an update of
the document content, so subsequent theory sources need to be re-checked.
When the buffer is closed, the responsibility remains to the editor, though:
the file may be opened again without causing another document update.
A file that is opened in the editor, but its theory with the load command is
not, is presently inactive in the document model. A file that is loaded via
multiple load commands is associated to an arbitrary one: this situation is
morally unsupported and might lead to confusion.
\medskip Output that refers to an auxiliary file is combined with that of
the corresponding load command, and shown whenever the file or the command
are active (see also \secref{sec:output}).
Warnings, errors, and other useful markup is attached directly to the
positions in the auxiliary file buffer, in the manner of other well-known
IDEs. By using the load command @{command SML_file} as explained in @{file
"$ISABELLE_HOME/src/Tools/SML/Examples.thy"}, Isabelle/jEdit may be used as
fully-featured IDE for Standard ML, independently of theory or proof
development: the required theory merely serves as some kind of project
file for a collection of SML source modules.
*}
section {* Output \label{sec:output} *}
text {* Prover output consists of \emph{markup} and \emph{messages}.
Both are directly attached to the corresponding positions in the
original source text, and visualized in the text area, e.g.\ as text
colours for free and bound variables, or as squiggly underline for
warnings, errors etc.\ (see also \figref{fig:output}). In the
latter case, the corresponding messages are shown by hovering with
the mouse over the highlighted text --- although in many situations
the user should already get some clue by looking at the position of
the text highlighting.
\begin{figure}[htb]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[scale=0.333]{output}
\end{center}
\caption{Multiple views on prover output: gutter area with icon,
text area with popup, overview area, Theories panel, Output panel}
\label{fig:output}
\end{figure}
The ``gutter area'' on the left-hand-side of the text area uses
icons to provide a summary of the messages within the adjacent
line of text. Message priorities are used to prefer errors over
warnings, warnings over information messages, but plain output is
ignored.
The ``overview area'' on the right-hand-side of the text area uses similar
information to paint small rectangles for the overall status of the whole
text buffer. The graphics is scaled to fit the logical buffer length into
the given window height. Mouse clicks on the overview area position the
cursor approximately to the corresponding line of text in the buffer.
Repainting the overview in real-time causes problems with big theories, so
it is restricted according to \emph{Plugin Options~/ Isabelle~/ General~/
Text Overview Limit} (in characters).
Another course-grained overview is provided by the \emph{Theories}
panel, but without direct correspondence to text positions. A
double-click on one of the theory entries with their status overview
opens the corresponding text buffer, without changing the cursor
position.
\medskip In addition, the \emph{Output} panel displays prover
messages that correspond to a given command, within a separate
window.
The cursor position in the presently active text area determines the prover
command whose cumulative message output is appended and shown in that window
(in canonical order according to the internal execution of the command).
There are also control elements to modify the update policy of the output
wrt.\ continued editor movements. This is particularly useful with several
independent instances of the \emph{Output} panel, which the Dockable Window
Manager of jEdit can handle conveniently.
Former users of the old TTY interaction model (e.g.\ Proof~General) might
find a separate window for prover messages familiar, but it is important to
understand that the main Prover IDE feedback happens elsewhere. It is
possible to do meaningful proof editing, while using secondary output
windows only rarely.
The main purpose of the output window is to ``debug'' unclear
situations by inspecting internal state of the prover.\footnote{In
that sense, unstructured tactic scripts depend on continuous
debugging with internal state inspection.} Consequently, some
special messages for \emph{tracing} or \emph{proof state} only
appear here, and are not attached to the original source.
\medskip In any case, prover messages also contain markup that may
be explored recursively via tooltips or hyperlinks (see
\secref{sec:tooltips-hyperlinks}), or clicked directly to initiate
certain actions (see \secref{sec:auto-tools} and
\secref{sec:sledgehammer}). *}
section {* Query \label{sec:query} *}
text {*
The \emph{Query} panel provides various GUI forms to request extra
information from the prover In old times the user would have issued some
diagnostic command like @{command find_theorems} and inspected its output,
but this is now integrated into the Prover IDE.
A \emph{Query} window provides some input fields and buttons for a
particular query command, with output in a dedicated text area. There are
various query modes: \emph{Find Theorems}, \emph{Find Constants},
\emph{Print Context}, e.g.\ see \figref{fig:query}. As usual in jEdit,
multiple \emph{Query} windows may be active at the same time: any number of
floating instances, but at most one docked instance (which is used by
default).
\begin{figure}[htb]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[scale=0.333]{query}
\end{center}
\caption{An instance of the Query panel}
\label{fig:query}
\end{figure}
\medskip The following GUI elements are common to all query modes:
\begin{itemize}
\item The spinning wheel provides feedback about the status of a pending
query wrt.\ the evaluation of its context and its own operation.
\item The \emph{Apply} button attaches a fresh query invocation to the
current context of the command where the cursor is pointing in the text.
\item The \emph{Search} field allows to highlight query output according to
some regular expression, in the notation that is commonly used on the Java
platform. This may serve as an additional visual filter of the result.
\item The \emph{Zoom} box controls the font size of the output area.
\end{itemize}
All query operations are asynchronous: there is no need to wait for the
evaluation of the document for the query context, nor for the query
operation itself. Query output may be detached as independent \emph{Info}
window, using a menu operation of the dockable window manager. The printed
result usually provides sufficient clues about the original query, with some
hyperlink to its context (via markup of its head line).
*}
subsection {* Find theorems *}
text {*
The \emph{Query} panel in \emph{Find Theorems} mode retrieves facts from the
theory or proof context matching all of given criteria in the \emph{Find}
text field. A single criterium has the following syntax:
@{rail \<open>
('-'?) ('name' ':' @{syntax nameref} | 'intro' | 'elim' | 'dest' |
'solves' | 'simp' ':' @{syntax term} | @{syntax term})
\<close>}
See also the Isar command @{command_ref find_theorems} in
\cite{isabelle-isar-ref}.
*}
subsection {* Find constants *}
text {*
The \emph{Query} panel in \emph{Find Constants} mode prints all constants
whose type meets all of the given criteria in the \emph{Find} text field.
A single criterium has the following syntax:
@{rail \<open>
('-'?)
('name' ':' @{syntax nameref} | 'strict' ':' @{syntax type} | @{syntax type})
\<close>}
See also the Isar command @{command_ref find_consts} in
\cite{isabelle-isar-ref}.
*}
subsection {* Print context *}
text {*
The \emph{Query} panel in \emph{Print Context} mode prints information from
the theory or proof context, or proof state. See also the Isar commands
@{command_ref print_context}, @{command_ref print_cases}, @{command_ref
print_term_bindings}, @{command_ref print_theorems},
@{command_ref print_state} in \cite{isabelle-isar-ref}.
*}
section {* Tooltips and hyperlinks \label{sec:tooltips-hyperlinks} *}
text {*
Formally processed text (prover input or output) contains rich markup
information that can be explored further by using the @{verbatim CONTROL}
modifier key on Linux and Windows, or @{verbatim COMMAND} on Mac OS X.
Hovering with the mouse while the modifier is pressed reveals a
\emph{tooltip} (grey box over the text with a yellow popup) and/or a
\emph{hyperlink} (black rectangle over the text with change of mouse
pointer); see also \figref{fig:tooltip}.
\begin{figure}[htb]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[scale=0.5]{popup1}
\end{center}
\caption{Tooltip and hyperlink for some formal entity}
\label{fig:tooltip}
\end{figure}
Tooltip popups use the same rendering mechanisms as the main text
area, and further tooltips and/or hyperlinks may be exposed
recursively by the same mechanism; see \figref{fig:nested-tooltips}.
\begin{figure}[htb]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[scale=0.5]{popup2}
\end{center}
\caption{Nested tooltips over formal entities}
\label{fig:nested-tooltips}
\end{figure}
The tooltip popup window provides some controls to \emph{close} or
\emph{detach} the window, turning it into a separate \emph{Info}
window managed by jEdit. The @{verbatim ESCAPE} key closes
\emph{all} popups, which is particularly relevant when nested
tooltips are stacking up.
\medskip A black rectangle in the text indicates a hyperlink that may be
followed by a mouse click (while the @{verbatim CONTROL} or @{verbatim
COMMAND} modifier key is still pressed). Such jumps to other text locations
are recorded by the \emph{Navigator} plugin, which is bundled with
Isabelle/jEdit and enabled by default, including navigation arrows in the
main jEdit toolbar.
Also note that the link target may be a file that is itself not
subject to formal document processing of the editor session and thus
prevents further exploration: the chain of hyperlinks may end in
some source file of the underlying logic image, or within the
Isabelle/ML bootstrap sources of Isabelle/Pure. *}
section {* Completion \label{sec:completion} *}
text {*
Smart completion of partial input is the IDE functionality \emph{par
excellance}. Isabelle/jEdit combines several sources of information to
achieve that. Despite its complexity, it should be possible to get some idea
how completion works by experimentation, based on the overview of completion
varieties in \secref{sec:completion-varieties}. The remaining subsections
explain concepts around completion more systematically.
\medskip \emph{Explicit completion} is triggered by the action @{action_ref
"isabelle.complete"}, which is bound to the keyboard shortcut @{verbatim
"C+b"}, and thus overrides the jEdit default for @{action_ref
"complete-word"}.
\emph{Implicit completion} hooks into the regular keyboard input stream of
the editor, with some event filtering and optional delays.
\medskip Completion options may be configured in \emph{Plugin Options~/
Isabelle~/ General~/ Completion}. These are explained in further detail
below, whenever relevant. There is also a summary of options in
\secref{sec:completion-options}.
The asynchronous nature of PIDE interaction means that information from the
prover is delayed --- at least by a full round-trip of the document update
protocol. The default options already take this into account, with a
sufficiently long completion delay to speculate on the availability of all
relevant information from the editor and the prover, before completing text
immediately or producing a popup. Although there is an inherent danger of
non-deterministic behaviour due to such real-time parameters, the general
completion policy aims at determined results as far as possible.
*}
subsection {* Varieties of completion \label{sec:completion-varieties} *}
subsubsection {* Built-in templates *}
text {*
Isabelle is ultimately a framework of nested sub-languages of different
kinds and purposes. The completion mechanism supports this by the following
built-in templates:
\begin{description}
\item[] @{verbatim "`"} (single ASCII back-quote) supports \emph{quotations}
via text cartouches. There are three selections, which are always presented
in the same order and do not depend on any context information. The default
choice produces a template ``@{text "\<open>\<box>\<close>"}'', where the box indicates the
cursor position after insertion; the other choices help to repair the block
structure of unbalanced text cartouches.
\item[] @{verbatim "@{"} is completed to the template ``@{text "@{\<box>}"}'',
where the box indicates the cursor position after insertion. Here it is
convenient to use the wildcard ``@{verbatim __}'' or a more specific name
prefix to let semantic completion of name-space entries propose
antiquotation names.
\end{description}
With some practice, input of quoted sub-languages and antiquotations of
embedded languages should work fluently. Note that national keyboard layouts
might cause problems with back-quote as dead key: if possible, dead keys
should be disabled.
*}
subsubsection {* Syntax keywords *}
text {*
Syntax completion tables are determined statically from the keywords of the
``outer syntax'' of the underlying edit mode: for theory files this is the
syntax of Isar commands.
Keywords are usually plain words, which means the completion mechanism only
inserts them directly into the text for explicit completion
(\secref{sec:completion-input}), but produces a popup
(\secref{sec:completion-popup}) otherwise.
At the point where outer syntax keywords are defined, it is possible to
specify an alternative replacement string to be inserted instead of the
keyword itself. An empty string means to suppress the keyword altogether,
which is occasionally useful to avoid confusion, e.g.\ the rare keyword
@{command simproc_setup} vs.\ the frequent name-space entry @{text simp}.
*}
subsubsection {* Symbols *}
text {*
The completion tables for Isabelle symbols (\secref{sec:symbols}) are
determined statically from @{file "$ISABELLE_HOME/etc/symbols"} and
@{file_unchecked "$ISABELLE_HOME_USER/etc/symbols"} for each symbol
specification as follows:
\medskip
\begin{tabular}{ll}
\textbf{completion entry} & \textbf{example} \\\hline
literal symbol & @{verbatim "\<forall>"} \\
symbol name with backslash & @{verbatim "\\"}@{verbatim forall} \\
symbol abbreviation & @{verbatim "ALL"} or @{verbatim "!"} \\
\end{tabular}
\medskip
When inserted into the text, the above examples all produce the same Unicode
rendering @{text "\<forall>"} of the underlying symbol @{verbatim "\<forall>"}.
A symbol abbreviation that is a plain word, like @{verbatim "ALL"}, is
treated like a syntax keyword. Non-word abbreviations like @{verbatim "-->"}
are inserted more aggressively, except for single-character abbreviations
like @{verbatim "!"} above.
\medskip Symbol completion depends on the semantic language context
(\secref{sec:completion-context}), to enable or disable that aspect for a
particular sub-language of Isabelle. For example, symbol completion is
suppressed within document source to avoid confusion with {\LaTeX} macros
that use similar notation.
*}
subsubsection {* Name-space entries *}
text {*
This is genuine semantic completion, using information from the prover, so
it requires some delay. A \emph{failed name-space lookup} produces an error
message that is annotated with a list of alternative names that are legal.
The list of results is truncated according to the system option
@{system_option_ref completion_limit}. The completion mechanism takes this
into account when collecting information on the prover side.
Already recognized names are \emph{not} completed further, but completion
may be extended by appending a suffix of underscores. This provokes a failed
lookup, and another completion attempt while ignoring the underscores. For
example, in a name space where @{verbatim "foo"} and @{verbatim "foobar"}
are known, the input @{verbatim "foo"} remains unchanged, but @{verbatim
"foo_"} may be completed to @{verbatim "foo"} or @{verbatim "foobar"}.
The special identifier ``@{verbatim "__"}'' serves as a wild-card for
arbitrary completion: it exposes the name-space content to the completion
mechanism (truncated according to @{system_option completion_limit}). This
is occasionally useful to explore an unknown name-space, e.g.\ in some
template.
*}
subsubsection {* File-system paths *}
text {*
Depending on prover markup about file-system path specifications in the
source text, e.g.\ for the argument of a load command
(\secref{sec:aux-files}), the completion mechanism explores the directory
content and offers the result as completion popup. Relative path
specifications are understood wrt.\ the \emph{master directory} of the
document node (\secref{sec:buffer-node}) of the enclosing editor buffer;
this requires a proper theory, not an auxiliary file.
A suffix of slashes may be used to continue the exploration of an already
recognized directory name.
*}
subsubsection {* Spell-checking *}
text {*
The spell-checker combines semantic markup from the prover (regions of plain
words) with static dictionaries (word lists) that are known to the editor.
Unknown words are underlined in the text, using @{system_option_ref
spell_checker_color} (blue by default). This is not an error, but a hint to
the user that some action may be taken. The jEdit context menu provides
various actions, as far as applicable:
\medskip
\begin{tabular}{l}
@{action_ref "isabelle.complete-word"} \\
@{action_ref "isabelle.exclude-word"} \\
@{action_ref "isabelle.exclude-word-permanently"} \\
@{action_ref "isabelle.include-word"} \\
@{action_ref "isabelle.include-word-permanently"} \\
\end{tabular}
\medskip
Instead of the specific @{action_ref "isabelle.complete-word"}, it is also
possible to use the generic @{action_ref "isabelle.complete"} with its
default keyboard shortcut @{verbatim "C+b"}.
\medskip Dictionary lookup uses some educated guesses about lower-case,
upper-case, and capitalized words. This is oriented on common use in
English, where this aspect is not decisive for proper spelling, in contrast
to German, for example.
*}
subsection {* Semantic completion context \label{sec:completion-context} *}
text {*
Completion depends on a semantic context that is provided by the prover,
although with some delay, because at least a full PIDE protocol round-trip
is required. Until that information becomes available in the PIDE
document-model, the default context is given by the outer syntax of the
editor mode (see also \secref{sec:buffer-node}).
The semantic \emph{language context} provides information about nested
sub-languages of Isabelle: keywords are only completed for outer syntax,
symbols or antiquotations for languages that support them. E.g.\ there is no
symbol completion for ML source, but within ML strings, comments,
antiquotations.
The prover may produce \emph{no completion} markup in exceptional
situations, to tell that some language keywords should be excluded from
further completion attempts. For example, @{verbatim ":"} within accepted
Isar syntax looses its meaning as abbreviation for symbol @{text "\<in>"}.
*}
subsection {* Input events \label{sec:completion-input} *}
text {*
Completion is triggered by certain events produced by the user, with
optional delay after keyboard input according to @{system_option
jedit_completion_delay}.
\begin{description}
\item[Explicit completion] works via action @{action_ref
"isabelle.complete"} with keyboard shortcut @{verbatim "C+b"}. This
overrides the shortcut for @{action_ref "complete-word"} in jEdit, but it is
possible to restore the original jEdit keyboard mapping of @{action
"complete-word"} via \emph{Global Options~/ Shortcuts} and invent a
different one for @{action "isabelle.complete"}.
\item[Explicit spell-checker completion] works via @{action_ref
"isabelle.complete-word"}, which is exposed in the jEdit context menu, if
the mouse points to a word that the spell-checker can complete.
\item[Implicit completion] works via regular keyboard input of the editor.
It depends on further side-conditions:
\begin{enumerate}
\item The system option @{system_option_ref jedit_completion} needs to
be enabled (default).
\item Completion of syntax keywords requires at least 3 relevant
characters in the text.
\item The system option @{system_option_ref jedit_completion_delay}
determines an additional delay (0.5 by default), before opening a completion
popup. The delay gives the prover a chance to provide semantic completion
information, notably the context (\secref{sec:completion-context}).
\item The system option @{system_option_ref jedit_completion_immediate}
(disabled by default) controls whether replacement text should be inserted
immediately without popup, regardless of @{system_option
jedit_completion_delay}. This aggressive mode of completion is restricted to
Isabelle symbols and their abbreviations (\secref{sec:symbols}).
\item Completion of symbol abbreviations with only one relevant
character in the text always enforces an explicit popup,
regardless of @{system_option_ref jedit_completion_immediate}.
\end{enumerate}
\end{description}
*}
subsection {* Completion popup \label{sec:completion-popup} *}
text {*
A \emph{completion popup} is a minimally invasive GUI component over the
text area that offers a selection of completion items to be inserted into
the text, e.g.\ by mouse clicks. The popup interprets special keys
@{verbatim TAB}, @{verbatim ESCAPE}, @{verbatim UP}, @{verbatim DOWN},
@{verbatim PAGE_UP}, @{verbatim PAGE_DOWN}, but all other key events are
passed to the underlying text area. This allows to ignore unwanted
completions most of the time and continue typing quickly. Thus the popup
serves as a mechanism of confirmation of proposed items, but the default is
to continue without completion.
The meaning of special keys is as follows:
\medskip
\begin{tabular}{ll}
\textbf{key} & \textbf{action} \\\hline
@{verbatim "TAB"} & select completion \\
@{verbatim "ESCAPE"} & dismiss popup \\
@{verbatim "UP"} & move up one item \\
@{verbatim "DOWN"} & move down one item \\
@{verbatim "PAGE_UP"} & move up one page of items \\
@{verbatim "PAGE_DOWN"} & move down one page of items \\
\end{tabular}
\medskip
Movement within the popup is only active for multiple items.
Otherwise the corresponding key event retains its standard meaning
within the underlying text area.
*}
subsection {* Insertion \label{sec:completion-insert} *}
text {*
Completion may first propose replacements to be selected (via a popup), or
replace text immediately in certain situations and depending on certain
options like @{system_option jedit_completion_immediate}. In any case,
insertion works uniformly, by imitating normal text insertion to some
extent. The precise behaviour depends on the state of the \emph{text
selection} of jEdit. Isabelle/jEdit tries to accommodate the most common
forms of advanced selections in jEdit, but not all combinations make sense.
At least the following important cases are well-defined.
\begin{description}
\item[No selection.] The original is removed and the replacement inserted,
depending on the caret position.
\item[Rectangular selection zero width.] This special case is treated by
jEdit as ``tall caret'' and insertion of completion imitates its normal
behaviour: separate copies of the replacement are inserted for each line of
the selection.
\item[Other rectangular selection or multiple selections.] Here the original
is removed and the replacement is inserted for each line (or segment) of the
selection.
\end{description}
Support for multiple selections is particularly useful for
\emph{HyperSearch}: clicking on one of the items in the \emph{HyperSearch
Results} window makes jEdit select all its occurrences in the corresponding
line of text. Then explicit completion can be invoked via @{verbatim "C+b"},
for example to replace occurrences of @{verbatim "-->"} by @{text "\<longrightarrow>"}.
\medskip Insertion works by removing and inserting pieces of text from the
buffer. This counts as one atomic operation on the jEdit history. Thus
unintended completions may be reverted by the regular @{action undo} action
of jEdit. According to normal jEdit policies, the recovered text after
@{action undo} is selected: @{verbatim ESCAPE} is required to reset the
selection and to continue typing more text.
*}
subsection {* Options \label{sec:completion-options} *}
text {*
This is a summary of Isabelle/Scala system options that are relevant for
completion. They may be configured in \emph{Plugin Options~/ Isabelle~/
General} as usual.
\begin{itemize}
\item @{system_option_def completion_limit} specifies the maximum number of
name-space entries exposed in semantic completion by the prover.
\item @{system_option_def jedit_completion} guards implicit completion via
regular jEdit key events (\secref{sec:completion-input}): it allows to
disable implicit completion altogether.
\item @{system_option_def jedit_completion_context} specifies whether the
language context provided by the prover should be used at all. Disabling
that option makes completion less ``semantic''. Note that incomplete or
severely broken input may cause some disagreement of the prover and the user
about the intended language context.
\item @{system_option_def jedit_completion_delay} and @{system_option_def
jedit_completion_immediate} determine the handling of keyboard events for
implicit completion (\secref{sec:completion-input}).
A @{system_option jedit_completion_delay}~@{verbatim "> 0"} postpones the
processing of key events, until after the user has stopped typing for the
given time span, but @{system_option jedit_completion_immediate}~@{verbatim
"= true"} means that abbreviations of Isabelle symbols are handled
nonetheless.
\item @{system_option_def jedit_completion_path_ignore} specifies ``glob''
patterns to ignore in file-system path completion (separated by colons),
e.g.\ backup files ending with tilde.
\item @{system_option_def spell_checker} is a global guard for all
spell-checker operations: it allows to disable that mechanism altogether.
\item @{system_option_def spell_checker_dictionary} determines the current
dictionary, taken from the colon-separated list in the settings variable
@{setting_def JORTHO_DICTIONARIES}. There are jEdit actions to specify local
updates to a dictionary, by including or excluding words. The result of
permanent dictionary updates is stored in the directory @{file_unchecked
"$ISABELLE_HOME_USER/dictionaries"}, in a separate file for each dictionary.
\item @{system_option_def spell_checker_elements} specifies a
comma-separated list of markup elements that delimit words in the source
that is subject to spell-checking, including various forms of comments.
\end{itemize}
*}
section {* Automatically tried tools \label{sec:auto-tools} *}
text {*
Continuous document processing works asynchronously in the background.
Visible document source that has been evaluated may get augmented by
additional results of \emph{asynchronous print functions}. The canonical
example is proof state output, which is always enabled. More heavy-weight
print functions may be applied, in order to prove or disprove parts of the
formal text by other means.
Isabelle/HOL provides various automatically tried tools that operate
on outermost goal statements (e.g.\ @{command lemma}, @{command
theorem}), independently of the state of the current proof attempt.
They work implicitly without any arguments. Results are output as
\emph{information messages}, which are indicated in the text area by
blue squiggles and a blue information sign in the gutter (see
\figref{fig:auto-tools}). The message content may be shown as for
other output (see also \secref{sec:output}). Some tools
produce output with \emph{sendback} markup, which means that
clicking on certain parts of the output inserts that text into the
source in the proper place.
\begin{figure}[htb]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[scale=0.333]{auto-tools}
\end{center}
\caption{Result of automatically tried tools}
\label{fig:auto-tools}
\end{figure}
\medskip The following Isabelle system options control the behavior
of automatically tried tools (see also the jEdit dialog window
\emph{Plugin Options~/ Isabelle~/ General~/ Automatically tried
tools}):
\begin{itemize}
\item @{system_option_ref auto_methods} controls automatic use of a
combination of standard proof methods (@{method auto}, @{method
simp}, @{method blast}, etc.). This corresponds to the Isar command
@{command_ref "try0"}.
The tool is disabled by default, since unparameterized invocation of
standard proof methods often consumes substantial CPU resources
without leading to success.
\item @{system_option_ref auto_nitpick} controls a slightly reduced
version of @{command_ref nitpick}, which tests for counterexamples using
first-order relational logic. See also the Nitpick manual
\cite{isabelle-nitpick}.
This tool is disabled by default, due to the extra overhead of
invoking an external Java process for each attempt to disprove a
subgoal.
\item @{system_option_ref auto_quickcheck} controls automatic use of
@{command_ref quickcheck}, which tests for counterexamples using a
series of assignments for free variables of a subgoal.
This tool is \emph{enabled} by default. It requires little
overhead, but is a bit weaker than @{command nitpick}.
\item @{system_option_ref auto_sledgehammer} controls a significantly
reduced version of @{command_ref sledgehammer}, which attempts to prove
a subgoal using external automatic provers. See also the
Sledgehammer manual \cite{isabelle-sledgehammer}.
This tool is disabled by default, due to the relatively heavy nature
of Sledgehammer.
\item @{system_option_ref auto_solve_direct} controls automatic use of
@{command_ref solve_direct}, which checks whether the current subgoals
can be solved directly by an existing theorem. This also helps to
detect duplicate lemmas.
This tool is \emph{enabled} by default.
\end{itemize}
Invocation of automatically tried tools is subject to some global
policies of parallel execution, which may be configured as follows:
\begin{itemize}
\item @{system_option_ref auto_time_limit} (default 2.0) determines the
timeout (in seconds) for each tool execution.
\item @{system_option_ref auto_time_start} (default 1.0) determines the
start delay (in seconds) for automatically tried tools, after the
main command evaluation is finished.
\end{itemize}
Each tool is submitted independently to the pool of parallel
execution tasks in Isabelle/ML, using hardwired priorities according
to its relative ``heaviness''. The main stages of evaluation and
printing of proof states take precedence, but an already running
tool is not canceled and may thus reduce reactivity of proof
document processing.
Users should experiment how the available CPU resources (number of
cores) are best invested to get additional feedback from prover in
the background, by using a selection of weaker or stronger tools.
*}
section {* Sledgehammer \label{sec:sledgehammer} *}
text {* The \emph{Sledgehammer} panel (\figref{fig:sledgehammer})
provides a view on some independent execution of the Isar command
@{command_ref sledgehammer}, with process indicator (spinning wheel) and
GUI elements for important Sledgehammer arguments and options. Any
number of Sledgehammer panels may be active, according to the
standard policies of Dockable Window Management in jEdit. Closing
such windows also cancels the corresponding prover tasks.
\begin{figure}[htb]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[scale=0.333]{sledgehammer}
\end{center}
\caption{An instance of the Sledgehammer panel}
\label{fig:sledgehammer}
\end{figure}
The \emph{Apply} button attaches a fresh invocation of @{command
sledgehammer} to the command where the cursor is pointing in the
text --- this should be some pending proof problem. Further buttons
like \emph{Cancel} and \emph{Locate} help to manage the running
process.
Results appear incrementally in the output window of the panel.
Proposed proof snippets are marked-up as \emph{sendback}, which
means a single mouse click inserts the text into a suitable place of
the original source. Some manual editing may be required
nonetheless, say to remove earlier proof attempts. *}
chapter {* Miscellaneous tools *}
section {* Timing *}
text {* Managed evaluation of commands within PIDE documents includes
timing information, which consists of elapsed (wall-clock) time, CPU
time, and GC (garbage collection) time. Note that in a
multithreaded system it is difficult to measure execution time
precisely: elapsed time is closer to the real requirements of
runtime resources than CPU or GC time, which are both subject to
influences from the parallel environment that are outside the scope
of the current command transaction.
The \emph{Timing} panel provides an overview of cumulative command
timings for each document node. Commands with elapsed time below
the given threshold are ignored in the grand total. Nodes are
sorted according to their overall timing. For the document node
that corresponds to the current buffer, individual command timings
are shown as well. A double-click on a theory node or command moves
the editor focus to that particular source position.
It is also possible to reveal individual timing information via some
tooltip for the corresponding command keyword, using the technique
of mouse hovering with @{verbatim CONTROL}/@{verbatim COMMAND}
modifier key as explained in \secref{sec:tooltips-hyperlinks}.
Actual display of timing depends on the global option
@{system_option_ref jedit_timing_threshold}, which can be configured in
"Plugin Options~/ Isabelle~/ General".
\medskip The \emph{Monitor} panel provides a general impression of
recent activity of the farm of worker threads in Isabelle/ML. Its
display is continuously updated according to @{system_option_ref
editor_chart_delay}. Note that the painting of the chart takes
considerable runtime itself --- on the Java Virtual Machine that
runs Isabelle/Scala, not Isabelle/ML. Internally, the
Isabelle/Scala module @{verbatim isabelle.ML_Statistics} provides
further access to statistics of Isabelle/ML. *}
section {* Low-level output *}
text {* Prover output is normally shown directly in the main text area
or secondary \emph{Output} panels, as explained in
\secref{sec:output}.
Beyond this, it is occasionally useful to inspect low-level output
channels via some of the following additional panels:
\begin{itemize}
\item \emph{Protocol} shows internal messages between the
Isabelle/Scala and Isabelle/ML side of the PIDE editing protocol.
Recording of messages starts with the first activation of the
corresponding dockable window; earlier messages are lost.
Actual display of protocol messages causes considerable slowdown, so
it is important to undock all \emph{Protocol} panels for production
work.
\item \emph{Raw Output} shows chunks of text from the @{verbatim
stdout} and @{verbatim stderr} channels of the prover process.
Recording of output starts with the first activation of the
corresponding dockable window; earlier output is lost.
The implicit stateful nature of physical I/O channels makes it
difficult to relate raw output to the actual command from where it
was originating. Parallel execution may add to the confusion.
Peeking at physical process I/O is only the last resort to diagnose
problems with tools that are not PIDE compliant.
Under normal circumstances, prover output always works via managed message
channels (corresponding to @{ML writeln}, @{ML warning}, @{ML
Output.error_message} etc.\ in Isabelle/ML), which are displayed by regular
means within the document model (\secref{sec:output}).
\item \emph{Syslog} shows system messages that might be relevant to
diagnose problems with the startup or shutdown phase of the prover
process; this also includes raw output on @{verbatim stderr}.
A limited amount of syslog messages are buffered, independently of
the docking state of the \emph{Syslog} panel. This allows to
diagnose serious problems with Isabelle/PIDE process management,
outside of the actual protocol layer.
Under normal situations, such low-level system output can be
ignored.
\end{itemize}
*}
chapter {* Known problems and workarounds \label{sec:problems} *}
text {*
\begin{itemize}
\item \textbf{Problem:} Odd behavior of some diagnostic commands with
global side-effects, like writing a physical file.
\textbf{Workaround:} Copy/paste complete command text from
elsewhere, or disable continuous checking temporarily.
\item \textbf{Problem:} No way to delete document nodes from the overall
collection of theories.
\textbf{Workaround:} Ignore unused files. Restart whole
Isabelle/jEdit session in worst-case situation.
\item \textbf{Problem:} Keyboard shortcuts @{verbatim "C+PLUS"} and
@{verbatim "C+MINUS"} for adjusting the editor font size depend on
platform details and national keyboards.
\textbf{Workaround:} Rebind keys via \emph{Global Options~/
Shortcuts}.
\item \textbf{Problem:} The Mac OS X key sequence @{verbatim
"COMMAND+COMMA"} for application \emph{Preferences} is in conflict with the
jEdit default keyboard shortcut for \emph{Incremental Search Bar} (action
@{action_ref "quick-search"}).
\textbf{Workaround:} Rebind key via \emph{Global Options~/
Shortcuts} according to national keyboard, e.g.\ @{verbatim
"COMMAND+SLASH"} on English ones.
\item \textbf{Problem:} Mac OS X system fonts sometimes lead to
character drop-outs in the main text area.
\textbf{Workaround:} Use the default @{verbatim IsabelleText} font.
(Do not install that font on the system.)
\item \textbf{Problem:} Some Linux/X11 input methods such as IBus
tend to disrupt key event handling of Java/AWT/Swing.
\textbf{Workaround:} Do not use input methods, reset the environment
variable @{verbatim XMODIFIERS} within Isabelle settings (default in
Isabelle2013-2).
\item \textbf{Problem:} Some Linux/X11 window managers that are
not ``re-parenting'' cause problems with additional windows opened
by Java. This affects either historic or neo-minimalistic window
managers like @{verbatim awesome} or @{verbatim xmonad}.
\textbf{Workaround:} Use a regular re-parenting window manager.
\item \textbf{Problem:} Recent forks of Linux/X11 window managers
and desktop environments (variants of Gnome) disrupt the handling of
menu popups and mouse positions of Java/AWT/Swing.
\textbf{Workaround:} Use mainstream versions of Linux desktops.
\item \textbf{Problem:} Full-screen mode via jEdit action @{action_ref
"toggle-full-screen"} (default keyboard shortcut @{verbatim F11}) works on
Windows, but not on Mac OS X or various Linux/X11 window managers.
\textbf{Workaround:} Use native full-screen control of the window
manager (notably on Mac OS X).
\end{itemize}
*}
end