This directory is the distribution of version 2.0 of the link grammar
parsing system.  We are making steady improvements to the grammar and
parser.  Contact us if you want the most recent version.

CONTENTS of this directory:

   *.c  *.h         The program.  (Written in ANSI-C)

   2.0.dict         The file containing the dictionary definitions.

   words/*          Lists of words.

   Makefile         The makefile for creating the program "parse".

   guide-to-links   A file containing a detailed description of the
                    grammar, which describes all of the link types and
                    what they mean, in alphabetical order.

   manual           This contains general information about the
                    parser: an introduction to link grammars; special
                    features of the parser and the dictionary; the
                    handling of conjunctions; the post-processing
                    system; and the reading of input sentences.
                    If you intend to write your own dictionary, 
                    here's where to look.

  test-2.0.batch    This is a batch file of sentences (both grammatical
                    and ungrammatical ones) that are handled correctly
                    by this release of the system.

  real.batch        A batch file of about 500 sentences taken from
                    the NY Times.

CREATING the system:

   To use the program, get all of these files, run the unix "make"
   facility with the unix command:

       make

   This creates a binary file called "parse".  

USING the program:

   To run the program issue the unix command:

       parse 2.0.dict

   This starts the program.  Help is available there with "!help".  A
   number of user-settable variables control what happens.  "!var" shows
   these variables and their current values.

   Batch mode (described in the manual) allows you to test the parser's
   performance on a set of sentences.  The following command runs the
   parser on test-2.0.batch:

       parse 2.0.dict -batch < test-2.0.batch

PAPERS:

   Several papers about link grammars are available in our anonymous ftp
   directory: /afs/cs/usr/sleator/public/link-grammar, which is on the host
   cs.cmu.edu.

USE rules:

   We feel that our system (or a derivative of it) could be useful in a
   number of commercial applications.  We would be pleased to discuss
   terms with those wanting to use our system in this way.  Without an
   explicit agreement with the authors (listed below) such use is
   forbidden.  By "commercial use" we mean selling a product or service.
   Of course everybody is free to take the system for purposes of
   experiment and evaluation.  Of course all academic products or papers
   must reference our work.

ADDRESSES

   If you have any questions, or find any bugs, please feel free to send
   a note to:

         Daniel Sleator  <sleator@cs.cmu.edu>
         School of Computer Science
         Carnegie Mellon University
         5000 Forbes Ave.
         Pittsburgh, PA 15213
         412-268-7563

         Davy Temperley  <dt3@columbia.edu>
         609 W 189th Street #5A
         New York, NY 10040
