Some examples of the initial value are:
#P"/usr/lib/lispworks/" on Unix.
#P"/usr/local/lib/LispWorks/" on Linux (for an installation from the tar archive) x86/x64 Solaris or FreeBSD.
#P"/usr/lib64/LispWorks/" on Linux (for an RPM installation)
#P"C:\Program Files\LispWorks\" or #P"C:\Program Files (x86)\LispWorks\" on Microsoft Windows.
#P"/Applications/LispWorks 7.0 (32-bit)/Library/" or #P"/Applications/LispWorks 7.0 (64-bit)/Library/" on Mac OS X.
Note however that the value can be set when configuring an image or on startup.
The variable *lispworks-directory* holds the name of the directory where various files important for the running of LispWorks are located.
When LispWorks starts in a directory which contains an appropriate numbered subdirectory such as lib/7-0-0-0/, then it assumes this is the LispWorks installation directory and sets *lispworks-directory* accordingly. Additionally, LispWorks for Macintosh running on Cocoa looks for such a subdirectory in the Library folder alongside its application bundle, and if found it sets *lispworks-directory* accordingly.
On non-Windows platforms, LispWorks then consults the Unix environment variable LISPWORKS_DIRECTORY. If this is set, then *lispworks-directory* is set accordingly.
The lib/7-0-0-0/ subdirectory of *lispworks-directory* should include these subdirectories:
config, which contains the configuration files.
patches, which contains any public (numbered) patches that are distributed by LispWorks Ltd.
private-patches, which is the place to put private (named) patches that are sent to you by Lisp Support.
postscript, which contains configuration files for printing using the CAPI printing library. See Configuring the printer for more information on printer configuration.
examples, which contains various files of example code.
Other directories are etc, load-on-demand and manual. There is also app-defaults for platforms where Motif is supported.
LispWorks User Guide and Reference Manual - 13 Feb 2015