+ "Zach Calvert" zachcalvert@gmail.com:
Thanks for the response. I'm getting used to XEmacs at the same time learning about Lisp, so this is probably a newbie question.
I've set up my XEmacs, Gnu Lisp, and Slime as documented here: http://db.glug-bom.org/wiki/index.php/Using_XEmacs_as_a_lisp_shell
I can get to the REPL using M-x slime and I can successfully run commands such as
(+ 2 3)
5
Um, from what you write below I am guessing that this is the *inferior-lisp* buffer. Right?
[...]I get "Not connected" Also, the minibuffer is also always filled with the line: Polling "C:\Documen~\zcalver\Locals~1\Temp\slime.5876".. (Abort with 'M-x slime-abort-connection'.)
Which probably means what it says: Slime is still looking for the lisp backend to come online, so you have in fact not succeeded in starting slime at all (which is why I made the above guess).
What *should* happen is this: Slime runs your lisp in the *inferior-lisp* buffer (this clearly happens for you), and send it commands to load and run the lisp backend for slime (which is called swank for no good reason that I am aware of). Meanwhile, slime (which runs on emacs) keeps polling for the backend swank while displaying the "obnoxious polling" message in the minibuffer. As soon as the background swank has started and the connection is established, the *inferior-lisp* buffer is pushed into the background, and instead you see a buffer called *slime-repl <name of your lisp>*. The prompt you should see looks like CL-USER> which is another reason I think you are looking at the wrong buffer.
The *inferior-lisp* buffer should be filling up with all sorts of messages about compiling and loading swank. Are you seeing nothing of the sort? What does the buffer look like after you started slime and things have settled down?
- Harald