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A.7.  )compile
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User Level Required:  compiler
 
Command Syntax: 
 
  -  )compile
  -  )compile fileName
  -  )compile fileName.as
  -  )compile directory/fileName.as
  -  )compile fileName.ao
  -  )compile directory/fileName.ao
  -  )compile fileName.al
  -  )compile directory/fileName.al
  -  )compile fileName.lsp
  -  )compile directory/fileName.lsp
  -  )compile fileName.spad
  -  )compile directory/fileName.spad
  -  )compile fileName )new
  -  )compile fileName )old
  -  )compile fileName )translate
  -  )compile fileName )quiet
  -  )compile fileName )noquiet
  -  )compile fileName )moreargs
  -  )compile fileName )onlyargs
  -  )compile fileName )break
  -  )compile fileName )nobreak
  -  )compile fileName )library
  -  )compile fileName )nolibrary
  -  )compile fileName )vartrace
  -  )compile fileName )constructor nameOrAbbrev
 
Command Description: 
 
You use this command to invoke the Aldor library compiler or the FriCAS
system compiler. The )compile system command is actually a combination of
FriCAS processing and a call to the Aldor compiler. It is performing
double-duty, acting as a front-end to both the Aldor compiler and the FriCAS
system compiler. (The FriCAS system compiler is written in Boot and is an
integral part of the FriCAS environment. The Aldor compiler is written in C
and executed by the operating system when called from within FriCAS.)
 
The command compiles files with file extensions .as, .ao and .al with the
Aldor compiler and files with file extension .spad with the FriCAS system
compiler. It also can compile files with file extension .lsp. These are
assumed to be Lisp files generated by the Aldor compiler. If you omit the
file extension, the command looks to see if you have specified the )new or
)old option. If you have given one of these options, the corresponding
compiler is used. Otherwise, the command first looks in the standard system
directories for files with extension .as, .ao and .al and then files with
extension .spad. The first file found has the appropriate compiler invoked on
it. If the command cannot find a matching file, an error message is displayed
and the command terminates.
 
The )translate option is used to invoke a special version of the FriCAS
system compiler that will translate a .spad file to a .as file. That is, the
.spad file will be parsed and analyzed and a file using the new syntax will
be created. By default, the .as file is created in the same directory as the
.spad file. If that directory is not writable, the current directory is used.
If the current directory is not writable, an error message is given and the
command terminates. Note that )translate implies the )old option so the file
extension can safely be omitted. If )translate is given, all other options
are ignored. Please be aware that the translation is not necessarily one
hundred percent complete or correct. You should attempt to compile the output
with the Aldor compiler and make any necessary corrections.
 
We now describe the options for the Aldor compiler.
 
The first thing )compile does is look for a source code filename among its
arguments. Thus
 
)compile mycode.as
)compile /u/jones/as/mycode.as
)compile mycode
 
all invoke )compiler on the file /u/jones/as/mycode.as if the current FriCAS
working directory is /u/jones/as. (Recall that you can set the working
directory via the )cd command. If you don't set it explicitly, it is the
directory from which you started FriCAS.)
 
This is frequently all you need to compile your file. This simple command:
 
  -  invokes the Aldor compiler and produces Lisp output,
  -  calls the Lisp compiler if the Aldor compilation was
  successful,
  -  uses the )library command to tell FriCAS about
  the contents of your compiled file and arrange to have those contents
  loaded on demand.
 
Should you not want the )library command automatically invoked, call )compile
with the )nolibrary option. For example,
 
)compile mycode.as )nolibrary
 
The general description of Aldor command line arguments is in the Aldor
documentation. The default options used by the )compile command can be viewed
and set using the )set compiler args FriCAS system command. The current
defaults are
 
-O -Fasy -Fao -Flsp -laxiom -Mno-ALDOR_W_WillObsolete -DAxiom
-Y $AXIOM/algebra -I $AXIOM/algebra
 
These options mean:
 
  -  -O: perform all optimizations,
  -  -Fasy: generate a .asy file,
  -  -Fao: generate a .ao file,
  -  -Flsp: generate a .lsp (Lisp)
  file,
  -  -laxiom: use the axiom library libaxiom.al,
  -  -Mno-ALDOR_W_WillObsolete: do not display messages
  about older generated files becoming obsolete, and
  -  -DAxiom: define the global assertion Axiom so that the
  Aldor libraries for generating stand-alone code are not accidentally used
  with FriCAS.
 
To supplement these default arguments, use the )moreargs option on )compile.
For example,
 
)compile mycode.as )moreargs "-v"
 
uses the default arguments and appends the -v (verbose) argument flag. The
additional argument specification must be enclosed in double quotes.
 
To completely replace these default arguments for a particular use of
)compile, use the )onlyargs option. For example,
 
)compile mycode.as )onlyargs "-v -O"
 
only uses the -v (verbose) and -O (optimize) arguments. The argument
specification must be enclosed in double quotes. In this example, Lisp code
is not produced and so the compilation output will not be available to FriCAS.
 
To completely replace the default arguments for all calls to )compile within
your FriCAS session, use )set compiler args. For example, to use the above
arguments for all compilations, issue
 
)set compiler args "-v -O"
 
Make sure you include the necessary -l and -Y arguments along with those
needed for Lisp file creation. As above, the argument specification must be
enclosed in double quotes.
 
By default, the )library system command exposes all domains and categories it
processes. This means that the FriCAS interpreter will consider those domains
and categories when it is trying to resolve a reference to a function.
Sometimes domains and categories should not be exposed. For example, a domain
may just be used privately by another domain and may not be meant for
top-level use. The )library command should still be used, though, so that the
code will be loaded on demand. In this case, you should use the )nolibrary
option on )compile and the )noexpose option in the )library command. For
example,
 
)compile mycode.as )nolibrary
)library mycode )noexpose
 
Once you have established your own collection of compiled code, you may find
it handy to use the )dir option on the )library command. This causes )library
to process all compiled code in the specified directory. For example,
 
)library )dir /u/jones/as/quantum
 
You must give an explicit directory after )dir, even if you want all compiled
code in the current working directory processed, e.g.
 
)library )dir .
 
The )compile command works with several file extensions. We saw above what
happens when it is invoked on a file with extension .as. A .ao file is a
portable binary compiled version of a .as file, and )compile simply passes
the .ao file onto Aldor. The generated Lisp file is compiled and )library is
automatically called, just as if you had specified a .as file.
 
A .al file is an archive file containing .ao files. The archive is created
(on Unix systems) with the ar program. When )compile is given a .al file, it
creates a directory whose name is based on that of the archive. For example,
if you issue
 
)compile mylib.al
 
the directory mylib.axldir is created. All members of the archive are
unarchived into the directory and )compile is called on each .ao file found.
It is your responsibility to remove the directory and its contents, if you
choose to do so.
 
A .lsp file is a Lisp source file, presumably, in our context, generated by
Aldor when called with the -Flsp option. When )compile is used with a .lsp
file, the Lisp file is compiled and )library is called. You must also have
present a .asy generated from the same source file.
 
The following are descriptions of options for the FriCAS system compiler.
 
You can compile category, domain, and package constructors contained in files
with file extension .spad. You can compile individual constructors or every
constructor in a file.
 
The full filename is remembered between invocations of this command and )edit
commands. The sequence of commands
 
)compile matrix.spad
)edit
)compile
 
will call the compiler, edit, and then call the compiler again on the file
matrix.spad. If you do not specify a directory, the working current directory
(see description of command )cd ) is searched for the file. If the file is
not found, the standard system directories are searched.
 
If you do not give any options, all constructors within a file are compiled.
Each constructor should have an )abbreviation command in the file in which it
is defined. We suggest that you place the )abbreviation commands at the top
of the file in the order in which the constructors are defined. The list of
commands serves as a table of contents for the file.
 
The )library option causes directories containing the compiled code for each
constructor to be created in the working current directory. The name of such
a directory consists of the constructor abbreviation and the .NRLIB file
extension. For example, the directory containing the compiled code for the
MATRIX constructor is called MATRIX.NRLIB. The )nolibrary option says that
such files should not be created. The default is )library. Note that the
semantics of )library and )nolibrary for the Aldor compiler and for the
FriCAS system compiler are completely different.
 
The )vartrace option causes the compiler to generate extra code for the
constructor to support conditional tracing of variable assignments. (see
description of command )trace ). Without this option, this code is suppressed
and one cannot use the )vars option for the trace command.
 
The )constructor option is used to specify a particular constructor to
compile. All other constructors in the file are ignored. The constructor name
or abbreviation follows )constructor. Thus either
 
)compile matrix.spad )constructor RectangularMatrix
 
or
 
)compile matrix.spad )constructor RMATRIX
 
compiles the RectangularMatrix constructor defined in matrix.spad.
 
The )break and )nobreak options determine what the FriCAS system compiler
does when it encounters an error. )break is the default and it indicates that
processing should stop at the first error. The value of the )set break
variable then controls what happens.
 
Also See: 
o )abbreviation
o )edit
o )library
 
