Next Prev Up Top Contents Index

proclaim

Function
Summary

Established a specified declaration in the global environment.

Package

common-lisp

Signature

proclaim declaration-list => nil

Arguments

declaration-list

A list of declaration forms to be put into immediate and pervasive effect.

Values

Returns nil .

Description

Unlike declare , proclaim is a function that parses the declarations in the list (usually a quoted list), and puts their semantics and advice into global effect. This can be useful when compiling a file for speedy execution, since a proclamation such as:

(proclaim '(optimize (speed 3) (space 0) (debug 0)))

means the rest of the file is compiled with these optimization levels in effect. (The other way of doing this is to make appropriate declarations in every function in the file).

See the LispWorks User Guide for a more extended description.

Examples
(proclaim '(special *fred*))
(proclaim '(type single-float x y z))
(proclaim '(optimize (safety 0) (speed 3)))
Notes

As proclaim involves parsing a list of lists of symbols and is intended to be used a few times per file, its implementation is not optimized for speed -- it makes little sense to use it other than at top level.

Remember to quote the argument list if it is a constant list. (proclaim (special x)) attempts to call function special .

Exercise caution if you declare or proclaim variables to be special without regard to the naming convention that surrounds their names with asterisks.

See also
compile
compile-file
declare

LispWorks Reference Manual - 13 Jun 2003

Next Prev Up Top Contents Index