NAME
erlc - Compiler
DESCRIPTION
The erlc program provides a common way to run all compilers in the
Erlang system. Depending on the extension of each input file, erlc will
invoke the appropriate compiler. Regardless of which compiler is used,
the same flags are used to provide parameters such as include paths and
output directory.
The current working directory, ".", will not be included in the code
path when running the compiler (to avoid loading Beam files from the
current working directory that could potentially be in conflict with
the compiler or Erlang/OTP system used by the compiler).
EXPORTS
erlc flags file1.ext file2.ext...
Erlc compiles one or more files. The files must include the
extension, for example .erl for Erlang source code, or .yrl for
Yecc source code. Erlc uses the extension to invoke the correct
compiler.
GENERALLY USEFUL FLAGS
The following flags are supported:
-I directory
Instructs the compiler to search for include files in the
specified directory. When encountering an -include or
-include_dir directive, the compiler searches for header files in
the following directories:
* ".", the current working directory of the file server; .br .br
* the base name of the compiled file; .br .br
* the directories specified using the -I option. The directory
specified last is searched first. .br .br
-o directory
The directory where the compiler should place the output files.
If not specified, output files will be placed in the current
working directory.
-D name
Defines a macro.
-D name= value
Defines a macro with the given value. The value can be any Erlang
term. Depending on the platform, the value may need to be quoted
if the shell itself interprets certain characters. On Unix, terms
which contain tuples and list must be quoted. Terms which contain
spaces must be quoted on all platforms.
-W number
Sets warning level to number. Default is 1. Use -W0 to turn off
warnings.
-W Same as -W1. Default.
-v Enables verbose output.
-b output-type
Specifies the type of output file. Generally, output-type is the
same as the file extension of the output file but without the
period. This option will be ignored by compilers that have a a
single output format.
-hybrid
Compile using the hybrid-heap emulator. This is mainly useful for
compiling native code, which needs to be compiled with the same
run-time system that it should be run on.
-smp
Compile using the SMP emulator. This is mainly useful for
compiling native code, which needs to be compiled with the same
run-time system that it should be run on.
-- Signals that no more options will follow. The rest of the
arguments will be treated as file names, even if they start with
hyphens.
+ term
A flag starting with a plus (’ +’) rather than a hyphen will be
converted to an Erlang term and passed unchanged to the compiler.
For instance, the export_all option for the Erlang compiler can
be specified as follows:
erlc +export_all file.erl
Depending on the platform, the value may need to be quoted if the
shell itself interprets certain characters. On Unix, terms which
contain tuples and list must be quoted. Terms which contain
spaces must be quoted on all platforms.
SPECIAL FLAGS
The flags in this section are useful in special situations such as re-
building the OTP system.
-pa directory
Appends directory to the front of the code path in the invoked
Erlang emulator. This can be used to invoke another compiler than
the default one.
-pz directory
Appends directory to the code path in the invoked Erlang
emulator.
SUPPORTED COMPILERS
.erl
Erlang source code. It generates a .beam file.
The options -P, -E, and -S are equivalent to +’P’, +’E’, and
+’S’, except that it is not necessary to include the single
quotes to protect them from the shell.
Supported options: -I, -o, -D, -v, -W, -b.
.yrl
Yecc source code. It generates an .erl file.
Use the -I option with the name of a file to use that file as a
customized prologue file (the includefile option).
Supported options: -o, -v, -I, -W (see above).
.mib
MIB for SNMP. It generates a .bin file.
Supported options: -I, -o, -W.
.bin
A compiled MIB for SNMP. It generates a .hrl file.
Supported options: -o, -v.
.rel
Script file. It generates a boot file.
Use the -I to name directories to be searched for application
files (equivalent to the path in the option list for
systools:make_script/2).
Supported options: -o.
.asn1
ASN1 file.
Creates an .erl, .hrl, and .asn1db file from an .asn1 file. Also
compiles the .erl using the Erlang compiler unless the +noobj
options is given.
Supported options: -I, -o, -b, -W.
.idl
IC file.
Runs the IDL compiler.
Supported options: -I, -o.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
ERLC_EMULATOR
The command for starting the emulator.
Default is erl in the same directory as the erlc program
itself, or if it doesn’t exist, erl in any of the
directories
given in the PATH environment variable.
SEE ALSO
erl(1), compile(3erl), yecc(3erl), snmp(3erl)