    DIST-GEN:  Generate values for state variables from the prior.

    Dist-gen can be used to sample from the prior distribution of a
    Bayesian model.  This capability can be used to initialize a Markov
    chain sampler.  Looking at a sample from the prior can also be of
    interest in itself.  Dist-gen cannot be used if the distribution
    specification does not have the form of a Bayesian prior and
    likelihood.

    Usage:

        dist-gen log-file [ max-index ]

    Records of state variables with indexes from zero up to the indicated
    index are generated by sampling from the prior.  The default is
    max-index of zero.  If the log file already contains some such
    records, only indexes greater than the last one in the log file are
    generated.

    Note that if the -read-prior option was given to dist-spec, the points
    generated will be read from standard input.  If -read-prior was not
    given, the prior must be of a form allowing for automatic sampling.
    See dist-spec.doc and dist-mc.doc for details.

                Copyright (c) 1995-2003 by Radford M. Neal