== Introduction ==

Cobra is an open source project under the MIT license. Using Cobra out of the source code repository is:

 * Safe, because Cobra accumulates stability through an automated regression suite, currently containing over 700 test programs.
 * Easy, because there is an "install-from-workspace" script available to build Cobra correctly and install it into your system.
 * Rewarding, because you get to use the latest features. You'll see new features and fixes discussed in the [http://cobra-language.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=4 forum] after which you can update your workspace and run the installer again.

== Requirements ==

 * Novell Mono, preferably 2.4 and up; may work with earlier versions
 * or Microsoft .NET 2.0 and up
 * ''JVM port is not complete yet.''

== How To ==

On Windows, to run the installer for the first time, you do the following. On Vista, you may need to run as admin or power user.
{{{
> svn co http://cobra-language.com/svn/cobra/trunk/ cobra-workspace
> cd cobra-workspace/Source
> install-from-workspace
}}}

On Mac/Linux/Unix:
{{{
$ svn co http://cobra-language.com/svn/cobra/trunk/ cobra-workspace
$ cd cobra-workspace/Source
$ sudo ./install-from-workspace
}}}

The output will give you information about installation location and PATH. If your PATH already contained a `cobra.bat` or `cobra` script, it will be updated to point to the latest installation.

If you already have a workspace, start with this before running the installer:
{{{
cd cobra-workspace
svn up
cd Source
}}}

...on any platform. Then run the installer.

Additional notes:

 * It is safe to run the install script multiple times.
 * It is safe to remove the workspace afterwards if you need the space.
 * Of course, you can use a Subversion client other than the command line one.

== Recreating the Workspace ==

You may need to recreate the exact same version of the workspace on another machine to ensure that you have an identical version of Cobra. First, get the exact revision number of the original workspace:

{{{
> svn info
Path: .
URL: http://cobra-language.com/svn/cobra/trunk
Repository Root: http://cobra-language.com/svn
Repository UUID: 30746285-aa12-4141-907f-d1d40c2173e5
Revision: 1780
Node Kind: directory
Schedule: normal
Last Changed Author: Chuck.Esterbrook
Last Changed Rev: 1780
Last Changed Date: 2008-11-24 22:08:11 -0800 (Mon, 24 Nov 2008)
}}}

Notice the second to last line gives the revision:
{{{
Last Changed Rev: 1780
}}}

Now on the other machine you can check out exactly that revision:
{{{
svn co -r 1780 http://cobra-language.com/svn/cobra/trunk/ cobra-workspace
cd cobra-workspace
svn info
}}}

== See Also ==

 * [http://cobra-language.com/source/ Source]
 * [http://subversion.tigris.org/ subversion.tigris.org]