Installing A+ Under Windows

This page has all you need to install and run the basic A+ console and develop simple scripts with the custom notepad. First, you should install the two fonts (you will need KAPL to read these pages) and then you can download and try the interpreter in console mode with one of the supplied scripts. If you are happy to use it in ASCII mode, you can use Notepad (or any other text editor) to write some simple scripts. If you want to enter and see the symbols, grab the editor also and use this instead.

The Fonts: The file afonts.zip (38Kb) has a bitmap font (called APlusBM, and suitable for the script editor) and a TrueType font (called KAPL, and necessary to view these pages). Please download it to a temporary folder, unzip it and install the fonts into your Windows/Fonts folder.
The Interpreter: Create a suitable directory (say C:\aplus\) and copy aplus.zip (564Kb) to it. This will unzip to the bare interpreter, a supporting .dll and a small .exe which fakes a Unix shell prompt. If you want to run it from the commandline (under Windows 2000) please use the supplied batch file, otherwise simply double-click aplus.exe and you should be away! To check that it really is APL, try $mode ascii followed by 3 4 rho iota 12.
The Script Editor: Copy aedit.zip (189Kb) to your A folder and unzip it. To run the editor, double-click the exe and open one of the supplied scripts. You may wish to associate it with the extension .a so that you can start the script files directly from Windows explorer. To test a script, save it to disk with the default .a extension (e.g. myscript.a), switch to the A+ console and type $load myscript. If it fails, type $reset to clear the stack, fix the script and try again.
This website: Copy asite.zip (400Kb) to a suitable folder and unzip it, making sure to check "Use folder names" in the WinZip dialogue. Start index.htm, or any other page if you know what you are looking for.
The source code: The full original source code to the interpreter is available from www.aplusdev.org. The source used in this build is infested with #ifdef pre-processor directives to dodge around Unix dependencies - it will be included on this website as soon as it has been cleaned up and properly repackaged for Windows. If you really want to have a hack at this for yourself, please drop us an email!

Please turn to the Getting Started pages for more suggestions, or just hack away at the sample scripts and see what happens. Share and enjoy!