




Common Prolog provides a translator from Edinburgh syntax to allow users to port pre-existing code.
The 
consult
 predicate operates only on 
.pl
 files:
consult('xxx.pl')
 means consult file 
xxx.pl
.
consult('xxx')
. means find a file named 
xxx.pl
 and consult it.
The 
reconsult
 predicate can operate on a Lisp source file, since 
compile_and_reconsult('xxx.pl')
 produces a Lisp binary file 
xxx.?fasl
. That is, 
reconsult
 will load fasl and lisp files as well as 
.pl
 files:
reconsult('xxx.pl')
 means reconsult file 
xxx.pl
.
reconsult('xxx')
 means look for a file named 
xxx.?fasl
 and load it, or if none found, look for 
xxx.pl
 and reconsult it, or if none found look for 
xxx.lisp
 and load it, or load 
xxx
. 
Loading a compiled file is equivalent to 
reconsult
.
compile_and_reconsult
 compiles a file and reconsults the result.
Edinburgh syntax may also be used to interact with Common Prolog through the use of a different read-query-print loop. To use Edinburgh syntax, use
 (erqp)
 instead of 
(rqp)
 to start your command loop.