Batch compilation (ocamlc)

# Chapter 8 Batch compilation (ocamlc)

- Overview of the compiler
- Options
- Modules and the file system
- Common errors

This chapter describes the OCaml batch compiler `ocamlc`, which compiles OCaml source files to bytecode object files and links these object files to produce standalone bytecode executable files. These executable files are then run by the bytecode interpreter `ocamlrun`.

## 8.1 Overview of the compiler

The `ocamlc` command has a command-line interface similar to the one of most C compilers. It accepts several types of arguments and processes them sequentially:

- Arguments ending in `.mli` are taken to be source files for compilation unit interfaces. Interfaces specify the names exported by compilation units: they declare value names with their types, define public data types, declare abstract data types, and so on. From the file x`.mli`, the `ocamlc` compiler produces a compiled interface in the file x`.cmi`.
- Arguments ending in `.ml` are taken to be source files for compilation unit implementations. Implementations provide definitions for the names exported by the unit, and also contain expressions to be evaluated for their side-effects. From the file x`.ml`, the `ocamlc` compiler produces compiled object bytecode in the file x`.cmo`.

  If the interface file x`.mli` exists, the implementation x`.ml` is checked against the corresponding compiled interface x`.cmi`, which is assumed to exist. If no interface x`.mli` is provided, the compilation of x`.ml` produces a compiled interface file x`.cmi` in addition to the compiled object code file x`.cmo`. The file x`.cmi` produced corresponds to an interface that exports everything that is defined in the implementation x`.ml`.

- Arguments ending in `.cmo` are taken to be compiled object bytecode. These files are linked together, along with the object files obtained by compiling `.ml` arguments (if any), and the OCaml standard library, to produce a standalone executable program. The order in which `.cmo` and `.ml` arguments are presented on the command line is relevant: compilation units are initialized in that order at run-time, and it is a link-time error to use a component of a unit before having initialized it. Hence, a given x`.cmo` file must come before all `.cmo` files that refer to the unit x.
- Arguments ending in `.cma` are taken to be libraries of object bytecode. A library of object bytecode packs in a single file a set of object bytecode files (`.cmo` files). Libraries are built with `ocamlc -a` (see the description of the `-a` option below). The object files contained in the library are linked as regular `.cmo` files (see above), in the order specified when the `.cma` file was built. The only difference is that if an object file contained in a library is not referenced anywhere in the program, then it is not linked in.
- Arguments ending in `.c` are passed to the C compiler, which generates a `.o` object file (`.obj` under Windows). This object file is linked with the program if the `-custom` flag is set (see the description of `-custom` below).
- Arguments ending in `.o` or `.a` (`.obj` or `.lib` under Windows) are assumed to be C object files and libraries. They are passed to the C linker when linking in `-custom` mode (see the description of `-custom` below).
- Arguments ending in `.so` (`.dll` under Windows) are assumed to be C shared libraries (DLLs). During linking, they are searched for external C functions referenced from the OCaml code, and their names are written in the generated bytecode executable. The run-time system `ocamlrun` then loads them dynamically at program start-up time.

The output of the linking phase is a file containing compiled bytecode that can be executed by the OCaml bytecode interpreter: the command named `ocamlrun`. If `a.out` is the name of the file produced by the linking phase, the command

            ocamlrun a.out arg1 arg2 … argn

executes the compiled code contained in `a.out`, passing it as arguments the character strings arg1 to argn. (See chapter 10 for more details.)

On most systems, the file produced by the linking phase can be run directly, as in:

            ./a.out arg1 arg2 … argn

The produced file has the executable bit set, and it manages to launch the bytecode interpreter by itself.

## 8.2 Options

The following command-line options are recognized by `ocamlc`. The options `-pack`, `-a`, `-c` and `-output-obj` are mutually exclusive.

`-a`
  Build a library (`.cma` file) with the object files (`.cmo` files) given on the command line, instead of linking them into an executable file. The name of the library must be set with the `-o` option.

  If `-custom`, `-cclib` or `-ccopt` options are passed on the command line, these options are stored in the resulting `.cma` library. Then, linking with this library automatically adds back the `-custom`, `-cclib` and `-ccopt` options as if they had been provided on the command line, unless the `-noautolink` option is given.

`-absname`
  Force error messages to show absolute paths for file names.
`-annot`
  Dump detailed information about the compilation (types, bindings, tail-calls, etc). The information for file src`.ml` is put into file src`.annot`. In case of a type error, dump all the information inferred by the type-checker before the error. The src`.annot` file can be used with the emacs commands given in `emacs/caml-types.el` to display types and other annotations interactively.
`-c`
  Compile only. Suppress the linking phase of the compilation. Source code files are turned into compiled files, but no executable file is produced. This option is useful to compile modules separately.
`-cc` ccomp
  Use ccomp as the C linker when linking in “custom runtime” mode (see the `-custom` option) and as the C compiler for compiling `.c` source files.
`-cclib` `-l`libname
  Pass the `-l`libname option to the C linker when linking in “custom runtime” mode (see the `-custom` option). This causes the given C library to be linked with the program.
`-ccopt` option
  Pass the given option to the C compiler and linker. When linking in “custom runtime” mode, for instance, `-ccopt -L`dir causes the C linker to search for C libraries in directory dir. (See the `-custom` option.)
`-config`
  Print the version number of `ocamlc` and a detailed summary of its configuration, then exit.
`-custom`
  Link in “custom runtime” mode. In the default linking mode, the linker produces bytecode that is intended to be executed with the shared runtime system, `ocamlrun`. In the custom runtime mode, the linker produces an output file that contains both the runtime system and the bytecode for the program. The resulting file is larger, but it can be executed directly, even if the `ocamlrun` command is not installed. Moreover, the “custom runtime” mode enables static linking of OCaml code with user-defined C functions, as described in chapter 19.

  > Unix: Never use the `strip` command on executables produced by `ocamlc -custom`, this would remove the bytecode part of the executable.

`-dllib` `-l`libname
  Arrange for the C shared library `dll`libname`.so` (`dll`libname`.dll` under Windows) to be loaded dynamically by the run-time system `ocamlrun` at program start-up time.
`-dllpath` dir
  Adds the directory dir to the run-time search path for shared C libraries. At link-time, shared libraries are searched in the standard search path (the one corresponding to the `-I` option). The `-dllpath` option simply stores dir in the produced executable file, where `ocamlrun` can find it and use it as described in section 10.3.
`-g`
  Add debugging information while compiling and linking. This option is required in order to be able to debug the program with `ocamldebug` (see chapter 16), and to produce stack backtraces when the program terminates on an uncaught exception (see section 10.2).
`-i`
  Cause the compiler to print all defined names (with their inferred types or their definitions) when compiling an implementation (`.ml` file). No compiled files (`.cmo` and `.cmi` files) are produced. This can be useful to check the types inferred by the compiler. Also, since the output follows the syntax of interfaces, it can help in writing an explicit interface (`.mli` file) for a file: just redirect the standard output of the compiler to a `.mli` file, and edit that file to remove all declarations of unexported names.
`-I` directory
  Add the given directory to the list of directories searched for compiled interface files (`.cmi`), compiled object code files (`.cmo`), libraries (`.cma`), and C libraries specified with `-cclib -lxxx`. By default, the current directory is searched first, then the standard library directory. Directories added with `-I` are searched after the current directory, in the order in which they were given on the command line, but before the standard library directory.

  If the given directory starts with `+`, it is taken relative to the standard library directory. For instance, `-I +labltk` adds the subdirectory `labltk` of the standard library to the search path.

`-impl` filename
  Compile the file filename as an implementation file, even if its extension is not `.ml`.
`-intf` filename
  Compile the file filename as an interface file, even if its extension is not `.mli`.
`-intf-suffix` string
  Recognize file names ending with string as interface files (instead of the default `.mli`).
`-labels`
  Labels are not ignored in types, labels may be used in applications, and labelled parameters can be given in any order. This is the default.
`-linkall`
  Force all modules contained in libraries to be linked in. If this flag is not given, unreferenced modules are not linked in. When building a library (option `-a`), setting the `-linkall` option forces all subsequent links of programs involving that library to link all the modules contained in the library.
`-make-runtime`
  Build a custom runtime system (in the file specified by option `-o`) incorporating the C object files and libraries given on the command line. This custom runtime system can be used later to execute bytecode executables produced with the `ocamlc -use-runtime` runtime-name option. See section 19.1.6 for more information.
`-noassert`
  Do not compile assertion checks. Note that the special form `assert false` is always compiled because it is typed specially. This flag has no effect when linking already-compiled files.
`-noautolink`
  When linking `.cma` libraries, ignore `-custom`, `-cclib` and `-ccopt` options potentially contained in the libraries (if these options were given when building the libraries). This can be useful if a library contains incorrect specifications of C libraries or C options; in this case, during linking, set `-noautolink` and pass the correct C libraries and options on the command line.
`-nolabels`
  Ignore non-optional labels in types. Labels cannot be used in applications, and parameter order becomes strict.
`-o` exec-file
  Specify the name of the output file produced by the compiler. The default output name is `a.out` under Unix and `camlprog.exe` under Windows. If the `-a` option is given, specify the name of the library produced. If the `-pack` option is given, specify the name of the packed object file produced. If the `-output-obj` option is given, specify the name of the output file produced. If the `-c` option is given, specify the name of the object file produced for the next source file that appears on the command line.
`-output-obj`
  Cause the linker to produce a C object file instead of a bytecode executable file. This is useful to wrap OCaml code as a C library, callable from any C program. See chapter 19, section 19.7.5. The name of the output object file must be set with the `-o` option. This option can also be used to produce a C source file (`.c` extension) or a compiled shared/dynamic library (`.so` extension, `.dll` under Windows).
`-pack`
  Build a bytecode object file (`.cmo` file) and its associated compiled interface (`.cmi`) that combines the object files given on the command line, making them appear as sub-modules of the output `.cmo` file. The name of the output `.cmo` file must be given with the `-o` option. For instance,

              ocamlc -pack -o p.cmo a.cmo b.cmo c.cmo

  generates compiled files `p.cmo` and `p.cmi` describing a compilation unit having three sub-modules `A`, `B` and `C`, corresponding to the contents of the object files `a.cmo`, `b.cmo` and `c.cmo`. These contents can be referenced as `P.A`, `P.B` and `P.C` in the remainder of the program.
`-pp` command
  Cause the compiler to call the given command as a preprocessor for each source file. The output of command is redirected to an intermediate file, which is compiled. If there are no compilation errors, the intermediate file is deleted afterwards.
`-principal`
  Check information path during type-checking, to make sure that all types are derived in a principal way. When using labelled arguments and/or polymorphic methods, this flag is required to ensure future versions of the compiler will be able to infer types correctly, even if internal algorithms change. All programs accepted in `-principal` mode are also accepted in the default mode with equivalent types, but different binary signatures, and this may slow down type checking; yet it is a good idea to use it once before publishing source code.
`-rectypes`
  Allow arbitrary recursive types during type-checking. By default, only recursive types where the recursion goes through an object type are supported. Note that once you have created an interface using this flag, you must use it again for all dependencies.
`-runtime-variant` suffix
  Add the suffix string to the name of the runtime library used by the program. Currently, only one such suffix is supported: `d`, and only if the OCaml compiler was configured with option `-with-debug-runtime`. This suffix gives the debug version of the runtime, which is useful for debugging pointer problems in low-level code such as C stubs.
`-thread`
  Compile or link multithreaded programs, in combination with the system `threads` library described in chapter 25.
`-unsafe`
  Turn bound checking off for array and string accesses (the `v.(i)` and `s.[i]` constructs). Programs compiled with `-unsafe` are therefore slightly faster, but unsafe: anything can happen if the program accesses an array or string outside of its bounds.
`-use-runtime` runtime-name
  Generate a bytecode executable file that can be executed on the custom runtime system runtime-name, built earlier with `ocamlc -make-runtime` runtime-name. See section 19.1.6 for more information.
`-v`
  Print the version number of the compiler and the location of the standard library directory, then exit.
`-verbose`
  Print all external commands before they are executed, in particular invocations of the C compiler and linker in `-custom` mode. Useful to debug C library problems.
`-vnum` or `-version`
  Print the version number of the compiler in short form (e.g. `3.11.0`), then exit.
`-vmthread`
  Compile or link multithreaded programs, in combination with the VM-level `threads` library described in chapter 25.
`-w` warning-list
  Enable, disable, or mark as errors the warnings specified by the argument warning-list. Each warning can be enabled or disabled, and each warning can be marked or unmarked. If a warning is disabled, it isn’t displayed and doesn’t affect compilation in any way (even if it is marked). If a warning is enabled, it is displayed normally by the compiler whenever the source code triggers it. If it is enabled and marked, the compiler will stop with an error after displaying that warning if the source code triggers it.

  The warning-list argument is a sequence of warning specifiers, with no separators between them. A warning specifier is one of the following:

  `+`num
    Enable warning number num.
  `-`num
    Disable warning number num.
  `@`num
    Enable and mark warning number num.
  `+`num1..num2
    Enable warnings in the given range.
  `-`num1..num2
    Disable warnings in the given range.
  `@`num1..num2
    Enable and mark warnings in the given range.
  `+`letter
    Enable the set of warnings corresponding to letter. The letter may be uppercase or lowercase.
  `-`letter
    Disable the set of warnings corresponding to letter. The letter may be uppercase or lowercase.
  `@`letter
    Enable and mark the set of warnings corresponding to letter. The letter may be uppercase or lowercase.
  uppercase-letter
    Enable the set of warnings corresponding to uppercase-letter.
  lowercase-letter
    Disable the set of warnings corresponding to lowercase-letter.

  Warning numbers and letters which are out of the range of warnings that are currently defined are ignored. The warning are as follows.

  1
    Suspicious-looking start-of-comment mark.
  2
    Suspicious-looking end-of-comment mark.
  3
    Deprecated syntax.
  4
    Fragile pattern matching: matching that will remain complete even if additional constructors are added to one of the variant types matched.
  5
    Partially applied function: expression whose result has function type and is ignored.
  6
    Label omitted in function application.
  7
    Method overridden.
  8
    Partial match: missing cases in pattern-matching.
  9
    Missing fields in a record pattern.
  10
    Expression on the left-hand side of a sequence that doesn’t have type `unit` (and that is not a function, see warning number 5).
  11
    Redundant case in a pattern matching (unused match case).
  12
    Redundant sub-pattern in a pattern-matching.
  13
    Instance variable overridden.
  14
    Illegal backslash escape in a string constant.
  15
    Private method made public implicitly.
  16
    Unerasable optional argument.
  17
    Undeclared virtual method.
  18
    Non-principal type.
  19
    Type without principality.
  20
    Unused function argument.
  21
    Non-returning statement.
  22
    Camlp4 warning.
  23
    Useless record `with` clause.
  24
    Bad module name: the source file name is not a valid OCaml module name.
  25
    Pattern-matching with all clauses guarded. Exhaustiveness cannot be checked.
  26
    Suspicious unused variable: unused variable that is bound with `let` or `as`, and doesn’t start with an underscore (`_`) character.
  27
    Innocuous unused variable: unused variable that is not bound with `let` nor `as`, and doesn’t start with an underscore (`_`) character.
  28
    Wildcard pattern given as argument to a constant constructor.
  29
    Unescaped end-of-line in a string constant (non-portable code).
  30
    Two labels or constructors of the same name are defined in two mutually recursive types.
  31
    A module is linked twice in the same executable.
  32
    Unused value declaration.
  33
    Unused open statement.
  34
    Unused type declaration.
  35
    Unused for-loop index.
  36
    Unused ancestor variable.
  37
    Unused constructor.
  38
    Unused exception constructor.
  39
    Unused rec flag.
  A
    All warnings.
  C
    Set of warnings 1, 2.
  D
    Synonym for warning 3.
  E
    Synonym for warning 4.
  F
    Synonym for warning 5.
  K
    Set of warnings 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39.
  L
    Synonym for warning 6.
  M
    Synonym for warning 7.
  P
    Synonym for warning 8.
  R
    Synonym for warning 9.
  S
    Synonym for warning 10.
  U
    Set of warnings 11, 12.
  V
    Synonym for warning 13.
  X
    Set of warnings 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 30.
  Y
    Synonym for warning 26.
  Z
    Synonym for warning 27.

  The default setting is `-w +a-4-6-7-9-27-29-32..37`. Note that warnings 5 and 10 are not always triggered, depending on the internals of the type checker.

`-warn-error` warning-list
  Mark as errors the warnings specified in the argument warning-list. The compiler will stop with an error when one of these warnings is emitted. The warning-list has the same meaning as for the `-w` option: a `+` sign (or an uppercase letter) turns the corresponding warnings into errors, a `-` sign (or a lowercase letter) turns them back into warnings, and a `@` sign both enables and marks the corresponding warnings.

  Note: it is not recommended to use warning sets (i.e. letters) as arguments to `-warn-error` in production code, because this can break your build when future versions of OCaml add some new warnings.

  The default setting is `-warn-error -a` (none of the warnings is treated as an error).

`-warn-help`
  Show description for all available warning numbers.
`-where`
  Print the location of the standard library, then exit.
`-` file
  Process file as a file name, even if it starts with a dash (`-`) character.
`-help` or `--help`
  Display a short usage summary and exit.

## 8.3 Modules and the file system

This short section is intended to clarify the relationship between the names of the modules corresponding to compilation units and the names of the files that contain their compiled interface and compiled implementation.

The compiler always derives the module name by taking the capitalized base name of the source file (`.ml` or `.mli` file). That is, it strips the leading directory name, if any, as well as the `.ml` or `.mli` suffix; then, it set the first letter to uppercase, in order to comply with the requirement that module names must be capitalized. For instance, compiling the file `mylib/misc.ml` provides an implementation for the module named `Misc`. Other compilation units may refer to components defined in `mylib/misc.ml` under the names `Misc.`name; they can also do `open Misc`, then use unqualified names name.

The `.cmi` and `.cmo` files produced by the compiler have the same base name as the source file. Hence, the compiled files always have their base name equal (modulo capitalization of the first letter) to the name of the module they describe (for `.cmi` files) or implement (for `.cmo` files).

When the compiler encounters a reference to a free module identifier `Mod`, it looks in the search path for a file named `Mod.cmi` or `mod.cmi` and loads the compiled interface contained in that file. As a consequence, renaming `.cmi` files is not advised: the name of a `.cmi` file must always correspond to the name of the compilation unit it implements. It is admissible to move them to another directory, if their base name is preserved, and the correct `-I` options are given to the compiler. The compiler will flag an error if it loads a `.cmi` file that has been renamed.

Compiled bytecode files (`.cmo` files), on the other hand, can be freely renamed once created. That’s because the linker never attempts to find by itself the `.cmo` file that implements a module with a given name: it relies instead on the user providing the list of `.cmo` files by hand.

## 8.4 Common errors

This section describes and explains the most frequently encountered error messages.

Cannot find file filename
  The named file could not be found in the current directory, nor in the directories of the search path. The filename is either a compiled interface file (`.cmi` file), or a compiled bytecode file (`.cmo` file). If filename has the format mod`.cmi`, this means you are trying to compile a file that references identifiers from module mod, but you have not yet compiled an interface for module mod. Fix: compile mod`.mli` or mod`.ml` first, to create the compiled interface mod`.cmi`.

  If filename has the format mod`.cmo`, this means you are trying to link a bytecode object file that does not exist yet. Fix: compile mod`.ml` first.

  If your program spans several directories, this error can also appear because you haven’t specified the directories to look into. Fix: add the correct `-I` options to the command line.

Corrupted compiled interface filename
  The compiler produces this error when it tries to read a compiled interface file (`.cmi` file) that has the wrong structure. This means something went wrong when this `.cmi` file was written: the disk was full, the compiler was interrupted in the middle of the file creation, and so on. This error can also appear if a `.cmi` file is modified after its creation by the compiler. Fix: remove the corrupted `.cmi` file, and rebuild it.
This expression has type t1, but is used with type t2
  This is by far the most common type error in programs. Type t1 is the type inferred for the expression (the part of the program that is displayed in the error message), by looking at the expression itself. Type t2 is the type expected by the context of the expression; it is deduced by looking at how the value of this expression is used in the rest of the program. If the two types t1 and t2 are not compatible, then the error above is produced.

  In some cases, it is hard to understand why the two types t1 and t2 are incompatible. For instance, the compiler can report that “expression of type `foo` cannot be used with type `foo`”, and it really seems that the two types `foo` are compatible. This is not always true. Two type constructors can have the same name, but actually represent different types. This can happen if a type constructor is redefined. Example:

              type foo = A | B
              let f = function A -> 0 | B -> 1
              type foo = C | D
              f C

  This result in the error message “expression `C` of type `foo` cannot be used with type `foo`”.

The type of this expression, t, contains type variables that cannot be generalized
  Type variables (`'a`, `'b`, …) in a type t can be in either of two states: generalized (which means that the type t is valid for all possible instantiations of the variables) and not generalized (which means that the type t is valid only for one instantiation of the variables). In a `let` binding `let` name`=` expr, the type-checker normally generalizes as many type variables as possible in the type of expr. However, this leads to unsoundness (a well-typed program can crash) in conjunction with polymorphic mutable data structures. To avoid this, generalization is performed at `let` bindings only if the bound expression expr belongs to the class of “syntactic values”, which includes constants, identifiers, functions, tuples of syntactic values, etc. In all other cases (for instance, expr is a function application), a polymorphic mutable could have been created and generalization is therefore turned off for all variables occuring in contravariant or non-variant branches of the type. For instance, if the type of a non-value is `'a list` the variable is generalizable (`list` is a covariant type constructor), but not in `'a list -> 'a list` (the left branch of `->` is contravariant) or `'a ref` (`ref` is non-variant).

  Non-generalized type variables in a type cause no difficulties inside a given structure or compilation unit (the contents of a `.ml` file, or an interactive session), but they cannot be allowed inside signatures nor in compiled interfaces (`.cmi` file), because they could be used inconsistently later. Therefore, the compiler flags an error when a structure or compilation unit defines a value name whose type contains non-generalized type variables. There are two ways to fix this error:

  - Add a type constraint or a `.mli` file to give a monomorphic type (without type variables) to name. For instance, instead of writing

            let sort_int_list = Sort.list (<)
            (* inferred type 'a list -> 'a list, with 'a not generalized *)

    write

            let sort_int_list = (Sort.list (<) : int list -> int list);;

  - If you really need name to have a polymorphic type, turn its defining expression into a function by adding an extra parameter. For instance, instead of writing

            let map_length = List.map Array.length
            (* inferred type 'a array list -> int list, with 'a not generalized *)

    write

            let map_length lv = List.map Array.length lv

Reference to undefined global mod
  This error appears when trying to link an incomplete or incorrectly ordered set of files. Either you have forgotten to provide an implementation for the compilation unit named mod on the command line (typically, the file named mod`.cmo`, or a library containing that file). Fix: add the missing `.ml` or `.cmo` file to the command line. Or, you have provided an implementation for the module named mod, but it comes too late on the command line: the implementation of mod must come before all bytecode object files that reference mod. Fix: change the order of `.ml` and `.cmo` files on the command line.

  Of course, you will always encounter this error if you have mutually recursive functions across modules. That is, function `Mod1.f` calls function `Mod2.g`, and function `Mod2.g` calls function `Mod1.f`. In this case, no matter what permutations you perform on the command line, the program will be rejected at link-time. Fixes:

  - Put `f` and `g` in the same module.
  - Parameterize one function by the other. That is, instead of having

        mod1.ml:    let f x = ... Mod2.g ...
        mod2.ml:    let g y = ... Mod1.f ...

    define

        mod1.ml:    let f g x = ... g ...
        mod2.ml:    let rec g y = ... Mod1.f g ...

    and link `mod1.cmo` before `mod2.cmo`.
  - Use a reference to hold one of the two functions, as in :

        mod1.ml:    let forward_g =
                        ref((fun x -> failwith "forward_g") : <type>)
                    let f x = ... !forward_g ...
        mod2.ml:    let g y = ... Mod1.f ...
                    let _ = Mod1.forward_g := g

The external function f is not available
  This error appears when trying to link code that calls external functions written in C. As explained in chapter 19, such code must be linked with C libraries that implement the required f C function. If the C libraries in question are not shared libraries (DLLs), the code must be linked in “custom runtime” mode. Fix: add the required C libraries to the command line, and possibly the `-custom` option.