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1 .\" $Id: luac.man,v 1.29 2011/11/16 13:53:40 lhf Exp $
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2 .TH LUAC 1 "$Date: 2011/11/16 13:53:40 $"
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3 .SH NAME
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4 luac \- Lua compiler
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5 .SH SYNOPSIS
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6 .B luac
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7 [
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8 .I options
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9 ] [
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10 .I filenames
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11 ]
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12 .SH DESCRIPTION
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13 .B luac
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14 is the Lua compiler.
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15 It translates programs written in the Lua programming language
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16 into binary files containing precompiled chunks
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17 that can be later loaded and executed.
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18 .LP
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19 The main advantages of precompiling chunks are:
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20 faster loading,
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21 protecting source code from accidental user changes,
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22 and
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23 off-line syntax checking.
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24 Precompiling does not imply faster execution
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25 because in Lua chunks are always compiled into bytecodes before being executed.
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26 .B luac
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27 simply allows those bytecodes to be saved in a file for later execution.
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28 Precompiled chunks are not necessarily smaller than the corresponding source.
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29 The main goal in precompiling is faster loading.
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30 .LP
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31 In the command line,
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32 you can mix
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33 text files containing Lua source and
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34 binary files containing precompiled chunks.
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35 .B luac
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36 produces a single output file containing the combined bytecodes
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37 for all files given.
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38 Executing the combined file is equivalent to executing the given files.
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39 By default,
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40 the output file is named
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41 .BR luac.out ,
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42 but you can change this with the
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43 .B \-o
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44 option.
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45 .LP
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46 Precompiled chunks are
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47 .I not
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48 portable across different architectures.
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49 Moreover,
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50 the internal format of precompiled chunks
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51 is likely to change when a new version of Lua is released.
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52 Make sure you save the source files of all Lua programs that you precompile.
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53 .LP
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54 .SH OPTIONS
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55 .TP
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56 .B \-l
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57 produce a listing of the compiled bytecode for Lua's virtual machine.
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58 Listing bytecodes is useful to learn about Lua's virtual machine.
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59 If no files are given, then
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60 .B luac
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61 loads
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62 .B luac.out
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63 and lists its contents.
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64 Use
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65 .B \-l \-l
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66 for a full listing.
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67 .TP
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68 .BI \-o " file"
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69 output to
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70 .IR file ,
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71 instead of the default
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72 .BR luac.out .
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73 (You can use
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74 .B "'\-'"
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75 for standard output,
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76 but not on platforms that open standard output in text mode.)
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77 The output file may be one of the given files because
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78 all files are loaded before the output file is written.
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79 Be careful not to overwrite precious files.
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80 .TP
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81 .B \-p
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82 load files but do not generate any output file.
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83 Used mainly for syntax checking and for testing precompiled chunks:
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84 corrupted files will probably generate errors when loaded.
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85 If no files are given, then
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86 .B luac
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87 loads
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88 .B luac.out
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89 and tests its contents.
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90 No messages are displayed if the file loads without errors.
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91 .TP
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92 .B \-s
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93 strip debug information before writing the output file.
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94 This saves some space in very large chunks,
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95 but if errors occur when running a stripped chunk,
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96 then the error messages may not contain the full information they usually do.
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97 In particular,
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98 line numbers and names of local variables are lost.
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99 .TP
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100 .B \-v
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101 show version information.
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102 .TP
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103 .B \-\-
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104 stop handling options.
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105 .TP
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106 .B \-
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107 stop handling options and process standard input.
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108 .SH "SEE ALSO"
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109 .BR lua (1)
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110 .br
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111 The documentation at lua.org.
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112 .SH DIAGNOSTICS
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113 Error messages should be self explanatory.
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114 .SH AUTHORS
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115 R. Ierusalimschy,
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116 L. H. de Figueiredo,
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117 W. Celes
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118 .\" EOF
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