The compile Command

The compile command is the SmartEiffel compiler. There are two invocation modes: traditional and ACE. In traditional mode, a variety of compiler options can be specified on the command line. In ACE mode, these options are not permitted; it is presumed that the required compiler options are listed in the ACE file.

Usage

Traditional mode
compile [general_options] [compile_to_c_options] <RootClass> [<RootProcedure>]

ACE mode
compile [general_options] <ACEfile.ace>

In ACE mode, the name of the ACE file must end with the .ace suffix. For examples of how to use ACE files, have a look in the SmartEiffel/tutorial/ace directory.

Source code is in Eiffel and target code is in ANSI C.

The compile command executes in two major steps:
Step 1 - the compile_to_c command is called to produce various C files (*.h and *.c). A script file is also produced by compile_to_c. The name of the script file is also printed by compile_to_c (*.make on Unix or *.BAT on DOS, for example).
Step 2 - The script file produced during step 1 is run, launching the C compilation(s) and linking of all the C files produced during the previous step.

Thus, the compile command is a simple launcher used to call the compile_to_c command, the C compiler, and the linker in sequence.

Like the compile_to_c command, the compile command must have at least one argument to indicate the starting execution point of the system. Thus execution will start in <RootProcedure> of <RootClass>. The default <RootProcedure> is make.

General Options

-clean:: By default, the generated C files and object files are retained from one invocation of the compile command to another. This enables incremental C compilation, since only the C files which have been modified since the last invocation of the compile command will be recompiled. Because the Eiffel to C compilation performed by SmartEiffel is generally much faster than the C compilation itself, incremental C compilation saves time. However, there are situations where you want to get rid of all the previously generated C and object files, to start afresh.
The -clean option removes the C files, object files and some other previously generated files, by invoking the clean command at the end of the compilation.
-help:: Display a brief summary of the command-line syntax and a complete list of compiler options.
-verbose:: Displays (a lot of) useful information during the compilation (full path of loaded files, type inference score, generated files, etc.).
-version:: Display the version number of the SmartEiffel release you're using.

Examples of Traditional Mode

Example 1
When SmartEiffel is correctly installed, you can type the following command to test the "hello world" program:

: compile hello_world

The compiler should tell you what's wrong or should compile Eiffel source files telling you the full path used to load the Eiffel source code.
Under UNIX, the executable file is named "a.out" by default.

Example 2
Type the following command to finalise the hello_world simple program:

: compile -boost -no_split -O3 hello_world

Note that the -O3 option is passed to the C compiler (see the manual of your C compiler). The -boost and -no_split options are passed to the compile_to_c command. This is usually the best way to finalise your application.

Only one C file is produced (option -no_split).

Example 3
To compile a big project (class PROJECT) with C file splitting and require assertions checked:

: compile -require_check project

The very first time, all C files are produced and compiled. Then, if you type the same command after some changes in the Eiffel source files, all C files are also produced from scratch. If there are only minor changes in the generated C files, only modified ones are passed to the C compiler (previous object files have been saved).

Step 1 -	the `compile_to_c` command is called to produce various C files (.h and .c). A script file is also produced by `compile_to_c`. The name of the script file is also printed by `compile_to_c` (.make on Unix or .BAT on DOS, for example).
Step 2 -	The script file produced during step 1 is run, launching the C compilation(s) and linking of all the C files produced during the previous step.