NAME
plld - Create a SWI-Prolog embedded executable
SYNOPSIS
plld options c-files o-files pl-files
DESCRIPTION
The utility plld is a front-end for the C-compiler and linker to create
a stand-alone executable from a series of C/C++ and Prolog input files.
It extracts information from the SWI-Prolog executable pl, after which
it scans the arguments and breaks them into several categories. It
then calls the C-compiler to create an executable containing the user’s
C-code and the SWI-Prolog kernel. After this, it will call the
development environment to create a Prolog saved state from the prolog
files and finally it will create the target executable by concatenating
the state to the emulator. See also qsave_program/2 from the SWI-
Prolog manual.
Options
-pl prolog
Specifies the prolog version to use. The default is pl. This
flag may be used to choose between different versions installed
on your system, or to specify a modified version. A modified
version should understands the flags -dump-runtime-variables -f
file -F file -g goal -t toplevel.
-help Shows options briefly
-nostate
Just relinks the kernel. The newly linked kernel can only
function in the presence of the development system. Any
supplied prolog sourcefiles are ignored, and so are the options
-goal -toplevel -initfile. -class This is the preferred way to
attach external modules to Prolog if dynamic loading is not
supported on your system.
-c Compile C or C++ source-files into object files. This turns
plld into a replacement for the C or C++ compiler where proper
options such as the location of the include directory are passed
automatically to the compiler.
-E Invoke the C preprocessor. Used to make plld a replacement for
the C or C++ compiler.
-shared
Link C, C++ or object files into a shared object (DLL) that can
be loaded by the load_foreign_library/1 predicate. If used with
-c it sets the proper options to compile a C or C++ file ready
for linking into a shared object.
-embed-shared
Embed SWI-Prolog into a DLL/Shared object rather than an
executable. See the reference manual for details.
-dll Windows only Same as -embed-shared Backward compatibility.
-F base
By default, none is passed to the pl command to create the saved
state. Using -F xpce you can specify loading xpce.rc, making
XPCE available to the saved state.
-goal goal
The goal that is initially executed when the toplevel is started
using PL_toplevel(). E.i. the default. -g flag for the new
executable.
-toplevel goal
The goal that is executed as the main toplevel goal. E.i. the
default. -t flag for the new executable.
-initfile file
The file that is loaded by the toplevel. E.i. the default. -f
flag for the new executable.
-class {runtime,kernel,development}
Set the save-class of the Prolog saved-state that is created.
If runtime (default), the resulting system leave interpretation
of all arguments to the application. If kernel all predicates
will be locked for the tracer. Finally, if development the
state is saved ‘as-is’ and the resulting system processes
options just as the basic SWI-Prolog executable does. See also
qsave_program/2 in the SWI-Prolog reference manual.
-v Verbose operation. This echos the commands before executing
them. Note that some commands are printed as shell commands,
but actually executed by plld itself for compatibility with the
Win32 platforms.
-f Fake operation. Together with -v this prints the commands that
need to be executed without actually doing anything.
-Ecppargument ...
If the first option is -E, all subsequent options are appended
and handed to the program selected by SWI-Prolog configure to
run cpp.
-o file
Specifies the name of the final executable. The default is
a.out.
-cc C-compiler
Specify the compiler to use for *.c files. Default is the
compiler used to compile SWI-Prolog itself, as read from the
feature c_cc.
-c++ C++-compiler
Specify the compiler to use for C++ input files. If the C-
compiler is gcc this is g++, otherwise c++ is assumed.
-ld linker
Specifies the linker to use. Default is the C-compiler. On
Win32 platforms, the default is link.exe.
-llibrary
Specifies a C-library for linking the application. By default,
-lpl (-lplmt if pl supports threading) as well as the libraries
required by the SWI-Prolog kernel will be passed to the C-
compiler.
-Llibrary-directory
Specifies an additional library directory for the C-compiler.
By default, the runtime directory for the current architecture
is passed.
-g|-I*|-D*|-U*|-O*|-W*
Passed to the compiler as c-flags. By default, the SWI-Prolog
include directory is passed as additional include directory.
The following -D flags are added by plld: -D__SWI_PROLOG__ and
-D__SWI_EMBEDDED__.
-pl-options*
Specify additional options for pl. The first character
following -pl-options determines the option-separator. The
remainder of the argument is split using this separator and the
parts are added to the option list for Prolog. See also -cc-
options and -ld-options
-ld-options*
Additional options passed to the linker. For example: -ld-
options,-Bstatic
-cc-options*
Additional options passed to both C- and C++-compiler.
*.o Passed as input files to the linker.
*.c Compiled using the C-compiler, after which the object-file is
passed to the linker. The object file is deleted at cleanup.
*.cc|*.C|*.cxx|*.cpp
Compiled using the C++-compiler, after which the object-file is
passed to the linker. The object file is deleted at cleanup.
*.pl|*.qlf
Passed as Prolog input files
BUGS
Parsing the options and distributing them over the various programs is
probably incomplete. Feel free to modify it and please forward
generally useful modifications to prolog-bugs@swi.psy.uva.nl.
Some care has to be taken that the state created with qsave_program/2
is self-contained (i.e. contains no references to the Prolog
libraries). Also, as the state is created using the development
environment rather then the user’s emulator, the Prolog code cannot use
directives that rely on the C-code added by the user.
SEE ALSO
pl(1) SWI-Prolog Reference Manual, http://www.swi-prolog.org
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1991-2006, HCS, University of Amsterdam
AUTHOR
Jan Wielemaker
Feb 8, 2006