</screen>
<para>There may be a short pause while GHCi loads the prelude and
- standard libraries, after which the prompt is shown. If we follow
- the instructions and type <literal>:?</literal> for help, we
- get:</para>
-
-<screen>
- Commands available from the prompt:
-
- <stmt> evaluate/run <stmt>
- :add <filename> ... add module(s) to the current target set
- :browse [*]<module> display the names defined by <module>
- :cd <dir> change directory to <dir>
- :def <cmd> <expr> define a command :<cmd>
- :edit <file> edit file
- :edit edit last module
- :help, :? display this list of commands
- :info [<name> ...] display information about the given names
- :load <filename> ... load module(s) and their dependents
- :module [+/-] [*]<mod> ... set the context for expression evaluation
- :main [<arguments> ...] run the main function with the given arguments
- :reload reload the current module set
-
- :set <option> ... set options
- :set args <arg> ... set the arguments returned by System.getArgs
- :set prog <progname> set the value returned by System.getProgName
- :set prompt <prompt> set the prompt used in GHCi
- :set editor <cmd> set the command used for :edit
-
- :show modules show the currently loaded modules
- :show bindings show the current bindings made at the prompt
-
- :ctags [<file>] create tags file for Vi (default: "tags")
- :etags [<file>] create tags file for Emacs (default: "TAGS")
- :type <expr> show the type of <expr>
- :kind <type> show the kind of <type>
- :undef <cmd> undefine user-defined command :<cmd>
- :unset <option> ... unset options
- :quit exit GHCi
- :!<command> run the shell command <command>
-
- Options for ':set' and ':unset':
-
- +r revert top-level expressions after each evaluation
- +s print timing/memory stats after each evaluation
- +t print type after evaluation
- -<flags> most GHC command line flags can also be set here
- (eg. -v2, -fglasgow-exts, etc.)
-</screen>
+ standard libraries, after which the prompt is shown. As the banner
+ says, you can type <literal>:?</literal> to see the list of commands
+ available, and a half line description of each of them.</para>
<para>We'll explain most of these commands as we go along. For
Hugs users: many things work the same as in Hugs, so you should be
<screen>
Prelude> :! ghc -c D.hs
Prelude> :load A
-Skipping D ( D.hs, D.o )
-Compiling C ( C.hs, interpreted )
Compiling B ( B.hs, interpreted )
+Compiling C ( C.hs, interpreted )
Compiling A ( A.hs, interpreted )
Ok, modules loaded: A, B, C, D.
*Main>
</screen>
- <para>In the messages from the compiler, we see that it skipped D,
- and used the object file <filename>D.o</filename>. The message
- <literal>Skipping</literal> <replaceable>module</replaceable>
- indicates that compilation for <replaceable>module</replaceable>
- isn't necessary, because the source and everything it depends on
+ <para>In the messages from the compiler, we see that there is no line
+ for <literal>D</literal>. This is because
+ it isn't necessary to compile <literal>D</literal>,
+ because the source and everything it depends on
is unchanged since the last compilation.</para>
<para>At any time you can use the command
A ( A.hs, interpreted )
*Main></screen>
- <para>If we now modify the source of D (or pretend to: using Unix
+ <para>If we now modify the source of D (or pretend to: using the Unix
command <literal>touch</literal> on the source file is handy for
this), the compiler will no longer be able to use the object file,
because it might be out of date:</para>
*Main> :! touch D.hs
*Main> :reload
Compiling D ( D.hs, interpreted )
-Skipping C ( C.hs, interpreted )
-Skipping B ( B.hs, interpreted )
-Skipping A ( A.hs, interpreted )
Ok, modules loaded: A, B, C, D.
*Main>
</screen>
*Main> :! ghc -c C.hs
*Main> :load A
Compiling D ( D.hs, interpreted )
-Compiling C ( C.hs, interpreted )
Compiling B ( B.hs, interpreted )
+Compiling C ( C.hs, interpreted )
Compiling A ( A.hs, interpreted )
Ok, modules loaded: A, B, C, D.
</screen>
<screen>
*Main> :load A
-Skipping D ( D.hs, D.o )
-Skipping C ( C.hs, C.o )
Compiling B ( B.hs, interpreted )
Compiling A ( A.hs, interpreted )
Ok, modules loaded: A, B, C, D.
when working on a large program is to occasionally run
<literal>ghc ––make</literal> to compile the whole project (say
before you go for lunch :-), then continue working in the
- interpreter. As you modify code, the new modules will be
+ interpreter. As you modify code, the changed modules will be
interpreted, but the rest of the project will remain
compiled.</para>