Contents

• Contents
• Introduction
• Prolog Preliminaries
  • Terms
  • Space and Comments
  • Running Prolog
  • Queries
  • Running ALE
  • Exiting Prolog and Breaking
  • Saved States
• Feature Structures, Types and Descriptions
  • Inheritance Hierarchies
  • Feature Structures
  • Subsumption and Unification
    • Subsumption
    • Unification
  • Inequations
  • Type System
  • Extensionality
  • a_/1 Atoms
  • Attribute-Value Logic
    • Enforcement of Inequations
  • Macros
  • Functional Descriptions
  • Type Constraints
  • Example: The Zebra Puzzle
• Definite Clauses
  • Type Constraints Revisited
• Phrase Structure Grammars
  • Lexical Entries
  • Empty Categories
  • Lexical Rules
  • Grammar Rules
    • Procedural Attachments
    • The cats> Operator
    • Parsing
    • Generation
• Compiling ALE Programs
  • File Management
  • Compiling Programs
  • Compile-Time Error Messages
• Running and Debugging ALE Programs
  • Testing the Signature
  • Evaluating Descriptions
  • Hiding Types and Features
  • Evaluating Definite Clause Queries
  • Displaying Grammars
  • Executing Grammars: Parsing
  • Executing Grammars: Generation
  • Mini-interpreter (parsing only)
  • Subsumption Checking (parsing only)
  • Source-Level Debugger
    • Running without XEmacs
    • Running with XEmacs
    • Debugger Commands
    • Debugger Ports and Steps
    • Leashing
    • Skipping
    • Breakpoints
• ALE Keyword Summary
• References
• Sample Grammars
  • English Syllabification Grammar
  • Categorial Grammar with Cooper Storage
  • Simple Generation Grammar
• Error and Warning Messages
  • Error Messages
  • Warning Messages
• BNF for ALE
• Reference Card