An Emacs major mode for the Abs language

Add support for Abs (http://docs.abs-models.org) in Emacs, including running models within the editor. Press C-c C-c to compile an Abs model, then C-c C-c again to run it.

Installation

It is recommended to use the MELPA package archive to install abs-mode. Add the following lines near the beginning of your emacs init file (typically ~/.emacs):

(require 'package)
(add-to-list 'package-archives '("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/"))
(package-initialize)

Restart emacs, then install abs-mode via M-x package-install RET abs-mode RET, or run M-x list-packages, select abs-mode from the list (press i on its line) and install (press x).

Installation from source

Clone the repository, then add the following to your emacs init file (typically ~/.emacs):

(use-package abs-mode
  :load-path "~/path/to/abs-mode"
  :mode "\\.abs\\'")

This uses John Wiegley's excellent use-package package (https://github.com/jwiegley/use-package), which can be installed via M-x package-install RET use-package RET.

Common problems (and their solutions)

In general, see the output of M-x abs-check-installation. This command prints out the location and version of all programs needed to compile and run abs models.

If the absc command is not in the path, compiling an ABS model within Emacs will fail. Set the variable abs-compiler-program to the full path of absc, e.g. via M-x customize-variable RET abs-compiler-program RET. (In case the variable is not found, do M-x load-library RET abs-mode RET first.)

In case of error messages about programs not found when trying to compile an ABS program inside Emacs, especially on Mac OS, installing the exec-path-from-shell package might help.