To install evolve unzip the distributable archive to the directory of your choice. This will usually be the programs directory. Once the files and directories behave been unzipped then the installation is complete.
If you look in the evolve folder at the top level you will see a file called Evolve.exe this is the evolve interpreter.
You will also see 4 other folders
Code Samples – This folder contains some sample programs.
Help Pages – This folder contains the files that are required for the help system.
Documentation – This folder contains a copy of the license and manual for the version of evolve.
Manual Examples – The example code within this manual.
Notepad++ - This folder contains an XML file which can be used with notepad++ to give syntax highlighting when editing evolve programs.
To make life easier it is also worth adding the evolve directory to your computers path. This will make it easier to run evolve programs from any directory.
To add the evolve folder to the path click on the my computer icon on the desktop then select
Advanced System Protection-> Environmental Variables
Select 'Path' from the system variables dialog, click on the edit button and add the directory where Evolve was installed.
It is then also worth adding evolve to the desk top navigate to the directory that evolve is installed and right click on the evolve.exe file and select 'send to desktop'.
To check the installation either double click on the short cut or alternatively double click on the evolve.exe file. The interpreter should run and you should see the following.
Evolve V1.00 (103)
'?' For licence and help
→
To exit the interpreter either close the command window or type 'exit'.
You can use any text editor to write programs for evolve but we recommend you use notepad++, this is a powerful editor for most languages and the evolve installation includes a language definition file which will highlight the evolve syntax making editing and viewing files easier. Notepad++ is free and can easily be found by searching with a search engine on line.
Once you have installed notepad++ select the language menu → Define your Language, select the import button, navigate to the notepad++ directory in the evolve folder and select the Evolve.xml file.
To check that evolve is set up correctly enter the following code into a text editor and save it as HelloWorld.e.
block Go
out "hello world"
sleep 5000
_block
Note that evolve program files have the extension '.e'. It is worth associating .e files with the evolve interpreter as it means when you click on an .e file it will get run automatically.
In explorer navigate to the folder where you saved HelloWorld.e right click on the file and select Properties then on the open width part of the dialogue click the change button, select navigate to find the evolve.exe file and select it, check the 'Always use the selected program to open this type of file'.
In explorer double click HelloWorld.e a command box should open and you will see hello world displayed on the screen for 5 seconds before the command box closes.
The syntax of evolve requires that fields variables and operators are separated by a white space characters either space or tab.
The following examples will therefore give errors.
A =20
if a< 10
++i
Lines are terminated with a linefeed and carriage return there is no termination character required,
parenthesis are not used within expressions or to denote functions.