119 lines
3 KiB
Groff
119 lines
3 KiB
Groff
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.\" $Id: luac.man,v 1.29 2011/11/16 13:53:40 lhf Exp $
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.TH LUAC 1 "$Date: 2011/11/16 13:53:40 $"
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.SH NAME
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luac \- Lua compiler
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.SH SYNOPSIS
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.B luac
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[
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.I options
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] [
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.I filenames
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]
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.SH DESCRIPTION
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.B luac
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is the Lua compiler.
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It translates programs written in the Lua programming language
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into binary files containing precompiled chunks
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that can be later loaded and executed.
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.LP
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The main advantages of precompiling chunks are:
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faster loading,
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protecting source code from accidental user changes,
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and
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off-line syntax checking.
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Precompiling does not imply faster execution
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because in Lua chunks are always compiled into bytecodes before being executed.
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.B luac
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simply allows those bytecodes to be saved in a file for later execution.
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Precompiled chunks are not necessarily smaller than the corresponding source.
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The main goal in precompiling is faster loading.
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.LP
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In the command line,
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you can mix
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text files containing Lua source and
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binary files containing precompiled chunks.
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.B luac
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produces a single output file containing the combined bytecodes
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for all files given.
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Executing the combined file is equivalent to executing the given files.
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By default,
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the output file is named
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.BR luac.out ,
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but you can change this with the
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.B \-o
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option.
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.LP
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Precompiled chunks are
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.I not
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portable across different architectures.
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Moreover,
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the internal format of precompiled chunks
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is likely to change when a new version of Lua is released.
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Make sure you save the source files of all Lua programs that you precompile.
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.LP
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.SH OPTIONS
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.TP
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.B \-l
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produce a listing of the compiled bytecode for Lua's virtual machine.
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Listing bytecodes is useful to learn about Lua's virtual machine.
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If no files are given, then
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.B luac
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loads
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.B luac.out
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and lists its contents.
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Use
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.B \-l \-l
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for a full listing.
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.TP
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.BI \-o " file"
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output to
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.IR file ,
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instead of the default
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.BR luac.out .
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(You can use
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.B "'\-'"
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for standard output,
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but not on platforms that open standard output in text mode.)
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The output file may be one of the given files because
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all files are loaded before the output file is written.
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Be careful not to overwrite precious files.
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.TP
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.B \-p
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load files but do not generate any output file.
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Used mainly for syntax checking and for testing precompiled chunks:
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corrupted files will probably generate errors when loaded.
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If no files are given, then
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.B luac
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loads
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.B luac.out
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and tests its contents.
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No messages are displayed if the file loads without errors.
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.TP
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.B \-s
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strip debug information before writing the output file.
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This saves some space in very large chunks,
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but if errors occur when running a stripped chunk,
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then the error messages may not contain the full information they usually do.
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In particular,
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line numbers and names of local variables are lost.
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.TP
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.B \-v
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show version information.
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.TP
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.B \-\-
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stop handling options.
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.TP
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.B \-
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stop handling options and process standard input.
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.SH "SEE ALSO"
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.BR lua (1)
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.br
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The documentation at lua.org.
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.SH DIAGNOSTICS
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Error messages should be self explanatory.
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.SH AUTHORS
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R. Ierusalimschy,
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L. H. de Figueiredo,
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W. Celes
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.\" EOF
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