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-rw-r--r--erts/doc/src/init.xml246
1 files changed, 133 insertions, 113 deletions
diff --git a/erts/doc/src/init.xml b/erts/doc/src/init.xml
index fe26df61f7..c14f0a558d 100644
--- a/erts/doc/src/init.xml
+++ b/erts/doc/src/init.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
<erlref>
<header>
<copyright>
- <year>1996</year><year>2013</year>
+ <year>1996</year><year>2016</year>
<holder>Ericsson AB. All Rights Reserved.</holder>
</copyright>
<legalnotice>
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
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>init</title>
@@ -30,128 +30,140 @@
<file>init.xml</file>
</header>
<module>init</module>
- <modulesummary>Coordination of System Startup</modulesummary>
+ <modulesummary>Coordination of system startup.</modulesummary>
<description>
- <p>The <c>init</c> module is pre-loaded and contains the code for
- the <c>init</c> system process which coordinates the start-up of
- the system. The first function evaluated at start-up is
- <c>boot(BootArgs)</c>, where <c>BootArgs</c> is a list of command
- line arguments supplied to the Erlang runtime system from
- the local operating system. See
- <seealso marker="erts:erl">erl(1)</seealso>.</p>
- <p><c>init</c> reads the boot script which contains instructions on
- how to initiate the system. See
- <seealso marker="sasl:script">script(4)</seealso> for more
- information about boot scripts.</p>
+ <p>This module is preloaded and contains the code for
+ the <c>init</c> system process that coordinates the startup of
+ the system. The first function evaluated at startup is
+ <c>boot(BootArgs)</c>, where <c>BootArgs</c> is a list of
+ command-line arguments supplied to the Erlang runtime system from
+ the local operating system; see
+ <seealso marker="erts:erl"><c>erl(1)</c></seealso>.</p>
+
+ <p><c>init</c> reads the boot script, which contains instructions on
+ how to initiate the system. For more information about boot scripts, see
+ <seealso marker="sasl:script"><c>script(4)</c></seealso>.</p>
+
<p><c>init</c> also contains functions to restart, reboot, and stop
the system.</p>
</description>
+
<funcs>
<func>
<name name="boot" arity="1"/>
- <fsummary>Start the Erlang runtime system</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Start the Erlang runtime system.</fsummary>
<desc>
<p>Starts the Erlang runtime system. This function is called
- when the emulator is started and coordinates system start-up.</p>
- <p><c><anno>BootArgs</anno></c> are all command line arguments except
- the emulator flags, that is, flags and plain arguments. See
- <seealso marker="erts:erl">erl(1)</seealso>.</p>
- <p><c>init</c> itself interprets some of the flags, see
- <seealso marker="#flags">Command Line Flags</seealso> below.
+ when the emulator is started and coordinates system startup.</p>
+ <p><c><anno>BootArgs</anno></c> are all command-line arguments except
+ the emulator flags, that is, flags and plain arguments; see
+ <seealso marker="erts:erl"><c>erl(1)</c></seealso>.</p>
+ <p><c>init</c> interprets some of the flags, see section
+ <seealso marker="#flags">Command-Line Flags</seealso> below.
The remaining flags ("user flags") and plain arguments are
passed to the <c>init</c> loop and can be retrieved by calling
- <c>get_arguments/0</c> and <c>get_plain_arguments/0</c>,
- respectively.</p>
+ <seealso marker="#get_arguments/0"><c>get_arguments/0</c></seealso>
+ and <seealso marker="#get_plain_arguments/0">
+ <c>get_plain_arguments/0</c></seealso>, respectively.</p>
</desc>
</func>
+
<func>
<name name="get_argument" arity="1"/>
- <fsummary>Get the values associated with a command line user flag</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Get the values associated with a command-line user flag.
+ </fsummary>
<desc>
- <p>Returns all values associated with the command line user flag
- <c><anno>Flag</anno></c>. If <c><anno>Flag</anno></c> is provided several times, each
- <c><anno>Values</anno></c> is returned in preserved order.</p>
+ <p>Returns all values associated with the command-line user flag
+ <c><anno>Flag</anno></c>. If <c><anno>Flag</anno></c> is provided
+ several times, each <c><anno>Values</anno></c> is returned in
+ preserved order. Example:</p>
<pre>
% <input>erl -a b c -a d</input>
...
1> <input>init:get_argument(a).</input>
{ok,[["b","c"],["d"]]}</pre>
- <p>There are also a number of flags, which are defined
+ <p>The following flags are defined
automatically and can be retrieved using this function:</p>
<taglist>
<tag><c>root</c></tag>
<item>
- <p>The installation directory of Erlang/OTP, <c>$ROOT</c>.</p>
+ <p>The installation directory of Erlang/OTP, <c>$ROOT</c>:</p>
<pre>
2> <input>init:get_argument(root).</input>
{ok,[["/usr/local/otp/releases/otp_beam_solaris8_r10b_patched"]]}</pre>
</item>
<tag><c>progname</c></tag>
<item>
- <p>The name of the program which started Erlang.</p>
+ <p>The name of the program which started Erlang:</p>
<pre>
3> <input>init:get_argument(progname).</input>
{ok,[["erl"]]}</pre>
</item>
<tag><c>home</c></tag>
<item>
- <p>The home directory.</p>
+ <p>The home directory:</p>
<pre>
4> <input>init:get_argument(home).</input>
{ok,[["/home/harry"]]}</pre>
</item>
</taglist>
- <p>Returns <c>error</c> if there is no value associated with
- <c>Flag</c>.</p>
+ <p>Returns <c>error</c> if no value is associated with <c>Flag</c>.</p>
</desc>
</func>
+
<func>
<name name="get_arguments" arity="0"/>
- <fsummary>Get all command line user flags</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Get all command-line user flags.</fsummary>
<desc>
- <p>Returns all command line flags, as well as the system
- defined flags, see <c>get_argument/1</c>.</p>
+ <p>Returns all command-line flags and the system-defined flags, see
+ <seealso marker="#get_argument/1"><c>get_argument/1</c></seealso>.</p>
</desc>
</func>
+
<func>
<name name="get_plain_arguments" arity="0"/>
- <fsummary>Get all non-flag command line arguments</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Get all non-flag command-line arguments.</fsummary>
<desc>
- <p>Returns any plain command line arguments as a list of strings
+ <p>Returns any plain command-line arguments as a list of strings
(possibly empty).</p>
</desc>
</func>
+
<func>
<name name="get_status" arity="0"/>
- <fsummary>Get system status information</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Get system status information.</fsummary>
<type name="internal_status"/>
<desc>
<p>The current status of the <c>init</c> process can be
inspected. During system startup (initialization),
<c><anno>InternalStatus</anno></c> is <c>starting</c>, and
- <c><anno>ProvidedStatus</anno></c> indicates how far the boot script has
- been interpreted. Each <c>{progress, Info}</c> term
- interpreted in the boot script affects <c><anno>ProvidedStatus</anno></c>,
- that is, <c><anno>ProvidedStatus</anno></c> gets the value of <c>Info</c>.</p>
+ <c><anno>ProvidedStatus</anno></c> indicates how far the boot
+ script has been interpreted. Each <c>{progress, Info}</c> term
+ interpreted in the boot script affects
+ <c><anno>ProvidedStatus</anno></c>, that is,
+ <c><anno>ProvidedStatus</anno></c> gets the value of <c>Info</c>.</p>
</desc>
</func>
+
<func>
<name name="reboot" arity="0"/>
- <fsummary>Take down and restart an Erlang node smoothly</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Take down and restart an Erlang node smoothly.</fsummary>
<desc>
<p>All applications are taken down smoothly, all code is
unloaded, and all ports are closed before the system
- terminates. If the <c>-heart</c> command line flag was given,
- the <c>heart</c> program will try to reboot the system. Refer
- to <c>heart(3)</c> for more information.</p>
+ terminates. If command-line flag <c>-heart</c> was specified,
+ the <c>heart</c> program tries to reboot the system. For more
+ information, see
+ <seealso marker="kernel:heart"><c>heart(3)</c></seealso>.</p>
<p>To limit the shutdown time, the time <c>init</c> is allowed
- to spend taking down applications, the <c>-shutdown_time</c>
- command line flag should be used.</p>
+ to spend taking down applications, command-line flag
+ <c>-shutdown_time</c> is to be used.</p>
</desc>
</func>
+
<func>
<name name="restart" arity="0"/>
- <fsummary>Restart the running Erlang node</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Restart the running Erlang node.</fsummary>
<desc>
<p>The system is restarted <em>inside</em> the running Erlang
node, which means that the emulator is not restarted. All
@@ -160,97 +172,104 @@
the same way as initially started. The same <c>BootArgs</c>
are used again.</p>
<p>To limit the shutdown time, the time <c>init</c> is allowed
- to spend taking down applications, the <c>-shutdown_time</c>
- command line flag should be used.</p>
+ to spend taking down applications, command-line flag
+ <c>-shutdown_time</c> is to be used.</p>
</desc>
</func>
+
<func>
<name name="script_id" arity="0"/>
- <fsummary>Get the identity of the used boot script</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Get the identity of the used boot script.</fsummary>
<desc>
- <p>Get the identity of the boot script used to boot the system.
+ <p>Gets the identity of the boot script used to boot the system.
<c><anno>Id</anno></c> can be any Erlang term. In the delivered boot
- scripts, <c><anno>Id</anno></c> is <c>{Name, Vsn}</c>. <c>Name</c> and
- <c>Vsn</c> are strings.</p>
+ scripts, <c><anno>Id</anno></c> is <c>{Name, Vsn}</c>. <c>Name</c>
+ and <c>Vsn</c> are strings.</p>
</desc>
</func>
+
<func>
<name name="stop" arity="0"/>
- <fsummary>Take down an Erlang node smoothly</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Take down an Erlang node smoothly.</fsummary>
<desc>
- <p>All applications are taken down smoothly, all code is
- unloaded, and all ports are closed before the system
- terminates. If the <c>-heart</c> command line flag was given,
- the <c>heart</c> program is terminated before the Erlang node
- terminates. Refer to <c>heart(3)</c> for more information.</p>
- <p>To limit the shutdown time, the time <c>init</c> is allowed
- to spend taking down applications, the <c>-shutdown_time</c>
- command line flag should be used.</p>
+ <p>The same as
+ <seealso marker="#stop/1"><c>stop(0)</c></seealso>.</p>
</desc>
</func>
+
<func>
<name name="stop" arity="1"/>
- <fsummary>Take down an Erlang node smoothly</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Take down an Erlang node smoothly.</fsummary>
<desc>
<p>All applications are taken down smoothly, all code is
unloaded, and all ports are closed before the system
- terminates by calling <c>halt(<anno>Status</anno>)</c>. If the
- <c>-heart</c> command line flag was given, the <c>heart</c>
- program is terminated before the Erlang node
- terminates. Refer to <c>heart(3)</c> for more
- information.</p>
+ terminates by calling <c>halt(<anno>Status</anno>)</c>. If
+ command-line flag <c>-heart</c> was specified, the <c>heart</c>
+ program is terminated before the Erlang node terminates.
+ For more information, see
+ <seealso marker="kernel:heart"><c>heart(3)</c></seealso>.</p>
<p>To limit the shutdown time, the time <c>init</c> is allowed
- to spend taking down applications, the <c>-shutdown_time</c>
- command line flag should be used.</p>
+ to spend taking down applications, command-line flag
+ <c>-shutdown_time</c> is to be used.</p>
</desc>
</func>
</funcs>
<section>
<marker id="flags"></marker>
- <title>Command Line Flags</title>
- <warning><p>The support for loading of code from archive files is
- experimental. The sole purpose of releasing it before it is ready
- is to obtain early feedback. The file format, semantics,
- interfaces etc. may be changed in a future release. The
- <c>-code_path_choice</c> flag is also experimental.</p></warning>
+ <title>Command-Line Flags</title>
+ <warning>
+ <p>The support for loading of code from archive files is
+ experimental. The only purpose of releasing it before it is ready
+ is to obtain early feedback. The file format, semantics,
+ interfaces, and so on, can be changed in a future release. The
+ <c>-code_path_choice</c> flag is also experimental.</p>
+ </warning>
- <p>The <c>init</c> module interprets the following command line
- flags:</p>
+ <p>The <c>init</c> module interprets the following command-line flags:</p>
<taglist>
<tag><c>--</c></tag>
<item>
<p>Everything following <c>--</c> up to the next flag is
considered plain arguments and can be retrieved using
- <c>get_plain_arguments/0</c>.</p>
+ <seealso marker="#get_plain_arguments/0">
+ <c>get_plain_arguments/0</c></seealso>.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>-code_path_choice Choice</c></tag>
<item>
- <p>This flag can be set to <c>strict</c> or <c>relaxed</c>. It
- controls whether each directory in the code path should be
- interpreted strictly as it appears in the <c>boot script</c> or if
- <c>init</c> should be more relaxed and try to find a suitable
- directory if it can choose from a regular ebin directory and
- an ebin directory in an archive file. This flag is particular
- useful when you want to elaborate with code loading from
- archives without editing the <c>boot script</c>. See <seealso
- marker="sasl:script">script(4)</seealso> for more information
- about interpretation of boot scripts. The flag does also have
- a similar affect on how the code server works. See <seealso
- marker="kernel:code">code(3)</seealso>.</p>
-
+ <p>Can be set to <c>strict</c> or <c>relaxed</c>. It controls how each
+ directory in the code path is to be interpreted:</p>
+ <list type="bulleted">
+ <item>
+ <p>Strictly as it appears in the <c>boot script</c>, or</p>
+ </item>
+ <item>
+ <p><c>init</c> is to be more relaxed and try to find a suitable
+ directory if it can choose from a regular <c>ebin</c> directory
+ and an <c>ebin</c> directory in an archive file.</p>
+ </item>
+ </list>
+ <p>This flag is particular
+ useful when you want to elaborate with code loading from
+ archives without editing the <c>boot script</c>. For more
+ information about interpretation of boot scripts, see
+ <seealso marker="sasl:script"><c>script(4)</c></seealso>.
+ The flag has also a similar effect on how the code server works; see
+ <seealso marker="kernel:code"><c>code(3)</c></seealso>.</p>
+ </item>
+ <tag><c>-epmd_module Module</c></tag>
+ <item>
+ <p>Specifies the module to use for registration and lookup of
+ node names. Defaults to <c>erl_epmd</c>.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>-eval Expr</c></tag>
<item>
- <p>Scans, parses and evaluates an arbitrary expression
+ <p>Scans, parses, and evaluates an arbitrary expression
<c>Expr</c> during system initialization. If any of these
- steps fail (syntax error, parse error or exception during
- evaluation), Erlang stops with an error message. Here is an
- example that seeds the random number generator:</p>
- <pre>
-% <input>erl -eval '{X,Y,Z} = now(), random:seed(X,Y,Z).'</input></pre>
- <p>This example uses Erlang as a hexadecimal calculator:</p>
+ steps fail (syntax error, parse error, or exception during
+ evaluation), Erlang stops with an error message. In the following
+ example Erlang is used as a hexadecimal calculator:</p>
<pre>
% <input>erl -noshell -eval 'R = 16#1F+16#A0, io:format("~.16B~n", [R])' \\</input>
<input>-s erlang halt</input>
@@ -260,14 +279,15 @@ BF</pre>
<c>-eval</c> expressions are evaluated sequentially with
<c>-s</c> and <c>-run</c> function calls (this also in
the order specified). As with <c>-s</c> and <c>-run</c>, an
- evaluation that does not terminate, blocks the system
+ evaluation that does not terminate blocks the system
initialization process.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>-extra</c></tag>
<item>
<p>Everything following <c>-extra</c> is considered plain
arguments and can be retrieved using
- <c>get_plain_arguments/0</c>.</p>
+ <seealso marker="#get_plain_arguments/0">
+ <c>get_plain_arguments/0</c></seealso>.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>-run Mod [Func [Arg1, Arg2, ...]]</c></tag>
<item>
@@ -289,8 +309,8 @@ foo:bar()
foo:bar(["baz", "1", "2"]).</code>
<p>The functions are executed sequentially in an initialization
process, which then terminates normally and passes control to
- the user. This means that a <c>-run</c> call which does not
- return will block further processing; to avoid this, use
+ the user. This means that a <c>-run</c> call that does not
+ return blocks further processing; to avoid this, use
some variant of <c>spawn</c> in such cases.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>-s Mod [Func [Arg1, Arg2, ...]]</c></tag>
@@ -313,11 +333,11 @@ foo:bar()
foo:bar([baz, '1', '2']).</code>
<p>The functions are executed sequentially in an initialization
process, which then terminates normally and passes control to
- the user. This means that a <c>-s</c> call which does not
- return will block further processing; to avoid this, use
+ the user. This means that a <c>-s</c> call that does not
+ return blocks further processing; to avoid this, use
some variant of <c>spawn</c> in such cases.</p>
- <p>Due to the limited length of atoms, it is recommended that
- <c>-run</c> be used instead.</p>
+ <p>Because of the limited length of atoms, it is recommended to
+ use <c>-run</c> instead.</p>
</item>
</taglist>
</section>
@@ -339,9 +359,9 @@ error</pre>
</section>
<section>
- <title>SEE ALSO</title>
- <p><seealso marker="erl_prim_loader">erl_prim_loader(3)</seealso>,
- <seealso marker="kernel:heart">heart(3)</seealso></p>
+ <title>See Also</title>
+ <p><seealso marker="erl_prim_loader"><c>erl_prim_loader(3)</c></seealso>,
+ <seealso marker="kernel:heart"><c>heart(3)</c></seealso></p>
</section>
</erlref>