erlc(1) User Commands erlc(1)NAMEerlc - 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).
EXPORTSerlc 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_lib directive,
the compiler searches for header files in the following directo‐
ries:
* ".", the current working directory of the file server;
* the base name of the compiled file;
* the directories specified using the -I option. The directory
specified last is searched first.
-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.
-Dname:
Defines a macro.
-Dname=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.
-Werror:
Makes all warnings into errors.
-Wnumber:
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 sin‐
gle output format.
-smp:
Compile using the SMP emulator. This is mainly useful for compiling
native code, which needs to be compiled with the same run-time sys‐
tem that it should be run on.
-M:
Produces a Makefile rule to track headers dependencies. The rule is
sent to stdout. No object file is produced.
-MF Makefile:
Like the -M option above, except that the Makefile is written to
Makefile. No object file is produced.
-MD:
Same as -M -MF <File>.Pbeam.
-MT Target:
In conjunction with -M or -MF, change the name of the rule emitted
to Target.
-MQ Target:
Like the -MT option above, except that characters special to
make(1) are quoted.
-MP:
In conjunction with -M or -MF, add a phony target for each depen‐
dency.
-MG:
In conjunction with -M or -MF, consider missing headers as gener‐
ated files and add them to the dependencies.
--:
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 con‐
verted 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.
.S:
Erlang assembler source code. It generates a .beam file.
Supported options: same as for .erl.
.core:
Erlang core source code. It generates a .beam file.
Supported options: same as for .erl.
.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 sys‐
tools: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 ALSOerl(1), compile(3erl), yecc(3erl), snmp(3erl)Ericsson AB erts 6.3 erlc(1)
