[plt-scheme] How to download/install a Planet file

On Aug 17, 2009, Todd O'Bryan wrote:

> I have a student who doesn't have internet and I'm trying to give her
> a CD with DrScheme and Stephen Bloch's tiles and sb-world teachpacks.
>
> I know there's an "Install PLT File..." menu item, but how do I
> download tiles.plt from Planet to put it on the CD?

> Stephen, will the student have to do anything special to get the
> teachpack to show up in the list?

Here are two possible ways to do it.  One approach:

1) planet fetch sbloch tiles.plt 1 13    [and similarly with sb- 
world.plt 1 5]
This downloads the .plt file into the current directory.

2) Copy the two .plt files and the DrScheme installer onto the CD.   
Give the CD to your student.

Subsequent steps are to be done by your student on his/her home  
computer.

3) Run the DrScheme installer.

4) cd to the directory where the .plt files are (either on the CD, or  
copy them to the hard disk first).

5) planet fileinject sbloch tiles.plt 1 13 [and similarly with sb- 
world.plt 1 5]
This will unpack the .plt file, compile its Scheme source to .zos,  
and re-index the help files to include the documentation for the  
package.  The help re-indexing may take several minutes.

6) Find where each of the .plt files was unpacked and run its  
"install.ss" file (e.g. by double-clicking to open it in DrScheme,  
then clicking "Run").  On my Mac, they live in

~/Library/PLT Scheme/planet/300/4.2.1/sbloch/tiles.plt/1/13/
and
~/Library/PLT Scheme/planet/300/4.2.1/sbloch/sb-world.plt/1/5/
respectively.  I don't remember where they are on Windows or Linux.
Each of the two "install.ss" files should print a message in the  
Interactions pane that says "Wrote file to installed-teachpacks  
directory."

7) DrScheme's Language->Add Teachpack dialogue should now show the  
two teachpacks in question, and the Help Desk should include  
documentation for the functions in the teachpacks.

8) If you wish, you can delete the two .plt files, and even the  
install.ss files.


Alternative approach (requires that you have the same kind of  
computer as your student has, but is less work for your student).

1) follow the "require" instructions in chapter 1 of my book, on a  
computer with the same operating system as your student's.  It may  
take several minutes to re-index help files.

2) Then copy the DrScheme installer from wherever it is, and the user- 
specific add-ons directory (from ~/Library/PLT Scheme or I-don't- 
remember-where-on-Windows), onto the CD.  Give the CD to your student.

Subsequent steps to be done by your student on his/her home computer.

3) Run the DrScheme installer.

4) Copy the add-ons directory from the CD into wherever it's supposed  
to be.  (Presumably you tell your student where it belongs.)

5) Run DrScheme, and the Language->Add Teachpack dialogue should now  
show the two teachpacks in question, and the Help Desk should include  
documentation for the functions in the teachpacks.

Let me know if you have trouble with this.

Stephen Bloch
sbloch at adelphi.edu