MacOS X Emacs hints
Assuming you have an installation of Isabelle on your Mac, there are various possibilites for running ProofGeneral:
- You should also be able to launch Proof General by typing Isabelle at the Unix command line. This will invoke the Apple-supplied version of Emacs in a terminal window, providing a primitive environment.
- Somewhat better is to run Proof General from within a version of Emacs ported as a native Mac OS X application, such as MacEmacs JP or mindlube's or Enhanced Carbon Emacs. Visiting a theory file from Emacs will automatically launch Proof General provided isabelle is on the search path. None of these options support the X-Symbol package, unfortunately.
- In order to get the full benefit of Proof General, you must install the X Window System (X11) and XEmacs or GNU Emacs.
- apple's version of X11 is included with the Panther (MacOS X 10.3) installation discs, though it is not installed by default. The Command key serves as Meta, but it is reserved for standard Apple shortcuts such as C, V and X, so you must use Esc-C, Esc-V and Esc-X in Emacs or else deselect »Enable key equivalents« in the X11 preferences.
- The easiest way to install XEmacs or GNU Emacs is via the package manager Fink. Install the Fink package xemacs-sumo-pkg to get the XEmacs libraries that Proof General needs to run. To install GNU Emacs, install the package emacs21. Fink can compile from sources, but this takes hours, so it is better to request binary installations.
- To use GNU Emacs instead of XEmacs, you must recompile Proof General and X-Symbol following the instructions here. Note that Proof General incorporates its own copy of X-Symbol.
You may want to install this drag-and-drop Isabelle launcher. It is a simple hack that invokes XEmacs on any files dropped on it.
Here is a screenshot showing Proof General running in GNU Emacs.