path: root/lib/stdlib/doc/src/c.xml

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<erlref>
  <header>
    <copyright>
      <year>1996</year><year>2016</year>
      <holder>Ericsson AB. All Rights Reserved.</holder>
    </copyright>
    <legalnotice>
      Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
      you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
      You may obtain a copy of the License at
 
          http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

      Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
      distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
      WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
      See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
      limitations under the License.
    
    </legalnotice>

    <title>c</title>
    <prepared>Joe Armstrong</prepared>
    <docno>1</docno>
    <date>1996-10-30</date>
    <rev>B</rev>
  </header>
  <module>c</module>
  <modulesummary>Command interface module.</modulesummary>
  <description>
    <p>This module enables users to enter the short form of
      some commonly used commands.</p>
    <note>
      <p>These functions are intended for interactive use in
        the Erlang shell only. The module prefix can be omitted.</p>
    </note>
  </description>

  <funcs>
    <func>
      <name name="bt" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Stack backtrace for a process.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Stack backtrace for a process. Equivalent to
          <c>erlang:process_display(<anno>Pid</anno>, backtrace)</c>.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="c" arity="1"/>
      <name name="c" arity="2"/>
      <name name="c" arity="3"/>
      <fsummary>Compile and load a file or module.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Compiles and then purges and loads the code for a module.
          <c><anno>Module</anno></c> can be either a module name or a source
          file path, with or without <c>.erl</c> extension.
          <c><anno>Options</anno></c> defaults to <c>[]</c>.</p>
        <p>If <c><anno>Module</anno></c> is an atom and is not the path of a
          source file, then the code path is searched to locate the object
          file for the module and extract its original compiler options and
          source path. If the source file is not found in the original
          location, <seealso
          marker="filelib#find_source/1"><c>filelib:find_source/1</c></seealso>
          is used to search for it relative to the directory of the object
          file.</p>
        <p>The source file is compiled with the the original
          options appended to the given <c><anno>Options</anno></c>, the
          output replacing the old object file if and only if compilation
          succeeds. A function <c><anno>Filter</anno></c> can be specified
          for removing elements from from the original compiler options
          before the new options are added.</p>
        <p>Notice that purging the code means that any processes
          lingering in old code for the module are killed without
          warning. For more information, see <c>code/3</c>.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="cd" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Change working directory.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Changes working directory to <c><anno>Dir</anno></c>, which can be a
          relative name, and then prints the name of the new working
          directory.</p>
        <p><em>Example:</em></p>
        <pre>
2> <input>cd("../erlang").</input>
/home/ron/erlang</pre>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="flush" arity="0"/>
      <fsummary>Flush any messages sent to the shell.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Flushes any messages sent to the shell.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="help" arity="0"/>
      <fsummary>Help information.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Displays help information: all valid shell internal commands,
          and commands in this module.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="i" arity="0"/>
      <name name="ni" arity="0"/>
      <fsummary>System information.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p><c>i/0</c> displays system information, listing
          information about all processes. <c>ni/0</c> does the same,
          but for all nodes the network.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="i" arity="3"/>
      <fsummary>Information about pid &lt;X.Y.Z&gt;.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Displays information about a process, Equivalent to
          <c>process_info(pid(<anno>X</anno>, <anno>Y</anno>,
          <anno>Z</anno>))</c>, but location transparent.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="l" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Load or reload a module.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Purges and loads, or reloads, a module by calling
          <c>code:purge(<anno>Module</anno>)</c> followed by
          <c>code:load_file(<anno>Module</anno>)</c>.</p>
        <p>Notice that purging the code means that any processes
          lingering in old code for the module are killed without
          warning. For more information, see <c>code/3</c>.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name>lc(Files) -> ok</name>
      <fsummary>Compile a list of files.</fsummary>
      <type>
        <v>Files = [File]</v>
        <v>File</v>
      </type>
      <desc>
        <p>Compiles a list of files by calling
          <c>compile:file(File, [report_errors, report_warnings])</c> for each
          <c>File</c> in <c>Files</c>.</p>
        <p>For information about <c>File</c>, see
          <seealso marker="file#type-filename"><c>file:filename()</c></seealso>.
        </p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="lm" arity="0"/>
      <fsummary>Loads all modified modules.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Reloads all currently loaded modules that have changed on disk (see <c>mm()</c>).
        Returns the list of results from calling <c>l(M)</c> for each such <c>M</c>.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="ls" arity="0"/>
      <fsummary>List files in the current directory.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Lists files in the current directory.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="ls" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>List files in a directory or a single file.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Lists files in directory <c><anno>Dir</anno></c> or, if <c>Dir</c>
           is a file, only lists it.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="m" arity="0"/>
      <fsummary>Which modules are loaded.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Displays information about the loaded modules, including
          the files from which they have been loaded.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="m" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Information about a module.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Displays information about <c><anno>Module</anno></c>.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="mm" arity="0"/>
      <fsummary>Lists all modified modules.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Lists all modified modules. Shorthand for
        <seealso marker="kernel:code#modified_modules/0"><c>code:modified_modules/0</c></seealso>.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="memory" arity="0"/>
      <fsummary>Memory allocation information.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Memory allocation information. Equivalent to
          <seealso marker="erts:erlang#memory/0"><c>erlang:memory/0</c></seealso>.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="memory" arity="1" clause_i="1"/>
      <name name="memory" arity="1" clause_i="2"/>
      <fsummary>Memory allocation information.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Memory allocation information. Equivalent to
          <seealso marker="erts:erlang#memory/1"><c>erlang:memory/1</c></seealso>.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="nc" arity="1"/>
      <name name="nc" arity="2"/>
      <fsummary>Compile and load code in a file on all nodes.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Compiles and then loads the code for a file on all nodes.
          <c><anno>Options</anno></c> defaults to <c>[]</c>.
          Compilation is equivalent to:</p>
        <code type="none">
compile:file(<anno>File</anno>, <anno>Options</anno> ++ [report_errors, report_warnings])</code>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="nl" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Load module on all nodes.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Loads <c><anno>Module</anno></c> on all nodes.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="pid" arity="3"/>
      <fsummary>Convert <c>X,Y,Z</c> to a pid.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Converts <c><anno>X</anno></c>, <c><anno>Y</anno></c>,
          <c><anno>Z</anno></c> to pid <c><![CDATA[<X.Y.Z>]]></c>.
          This function is only to be used when debugging.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="pwd" arity="0"/>
      <fsummary>Print working directory.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Prints the name of the working directory.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="q" arity="0"/>
      <fsummary>Quit - shorthand for <c>init:stop()</c>.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>This function is shorthand for <c>init:stop()</c>, that is,
          it causes the node to stop in a controlled fashion.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="regs" arity="0"/>
      <name name="nregs" arity="0"/>
      <fsummary>Information about registered processes.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p><c>regs/0</c> displays information about all registered
          processes. <c>nregs/0</c> does the same, but for all nodes
          in the network.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="uptime" arity="0"/>
      <fsummary>Print node uptime.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Prints the node uptime (as specified by
           <c>erlang:statistics(wall_clock)</c>) in human-readable form.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name>xm(ModSpec) -> void()</name>
      <fsummary>Cross-reference check a module.</fsummary>
      <type>
        <v>ModSpec = Module | Filename</v>
        <v>&nbsp;Module = atom()</v>
        <v>&nbsp;Filename = string()</v>
      </type>
      <desc>
        <p>Finds undefined functions, unused functions,
          and calls to deprecated functions in a module by calling
          <c>xref:m/1</c>.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name>y(File) -> YeccRet</name>
      <fsummary>Generate an LALR-1 parser.</fsummary>
      <type>
        <v>File = name()</v>
        <v>YeccRet</v>
      </type>
      <desc>
        <p>Generates an LALR-1 parser. Equivalent to:</p>
        <code type="none">
yecc:file(File)</code>
        <p>For information about <c>File = name()</c>, see
          <seealso marker="filename"><c>filename(3)</c></seealso>.
          For information about <c>YeccRet</c>, see
          <seealso marker="parsetools:yecc#file/1"><c>yecc:file/2</c></seealso>.
        </p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name>y(File, Options) -> YeccRet</name>
      <fsummary>Generate an LALR-1 parser.</fsummary>
      <type>
        <v>File = name()</v>
        <v>Options, YeccRet</v>
      </type>
      <desc>
        <p>Generates an LALR-1 parser. Equivalent to:</p>
        <code type="none">
yecc:file(File, Options)</code>
        <p>For information about <c>File = name()</c>, see
          <seealso marker="filename"><c>filename(3)</c></seealso>.
          For information about <c>Options</c> and <c>YeccRet</c>, see
          <seealso marker="parsetools:yecc#file/1"><c>yecc:file/2</c></seealso>.
        </p>
      </desc>
    </func>
  </funcs>

  <section>
    <title>See Also</title>
    <p><seealso marker="filename"><c>filename(3)</c></seealso>,
      <seealso marker="compiler:compile"><c>compile(3)</c></seealso>,
      <seealso marker="erts:erlang"><c>erlang(3)</c></seealso>,
      <seealso marker="parsetools:yecc"><c>yecc(3)</c></seealso>,
      <seealso marker="tools:xref"><c>xref(3)</c></seealso></p>
  </section>
</erlref>