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diff --git a/doc/luac.1 b/doc/luac.1 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d814678 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/luac.1 @@ -0,0 +1,136 @@ +.\" $Id: luac.man,v 1.28 2006/01/06 16:03:34 lhf Exp $ +.TH LUAC 1 "$Date: 2006/01/06 16:03:34 $" +.SH NAME +luac \- Lua compiler +.SH SYNOPSIS +.B luac +[ +.I options +] [ +.I filenames +] +.SH DESCRIPTION +.B luac +is the Lua compiler. +It translates programs written in the Lua programming language +into binary files that can be later loaded and executed. +.LP +The main advantages of precompiling chunks are: +faster loading, +protecting source code from accidental user changes, +and +off-line syntax checking. +.LP +Pre-compiling does not imply faster execution +because in Lua chunks are always compiled into bytecodes before being executed. +.B luac +simply allows those bytecodes to be saved in a file for later execution. +.LP +Pre-compiled chunks are not necessarily smaller than the corresponding source. +The main goal in pre-compiling is faster loading. +.LP +The binary files created by +.B luac +are portable only among architectures with the same word size and byte order. +.LP +.B luac +produces a single output file containing the bytecodes +for all source files given. +By default, +the output file is named +.BR luac.out , +but you can change this with the +.B \-o +option. +.LP +In the command line, +you can mix +text files containing Lua source and +binary files containing precompiled chunks. +This is useful to combine several precompiled chunks, +even from different (but compatible) platforms, +into a single precompiled chunk. +.LP +You can use +.B "'\-'" +to indicate the standard input as a source file +and +.B "'\--'" +to signal the end of options +(that is, +all remaining arguments will be treated as files even if they start with +.BR "'\-'" ). +.LP +The internal format of the binary files produced by +.B luac +is likely to change when a new version of Lua is released. +So, +save the source files of all Lua programs that you precompile. +.LP +.SH OPTIONS +Options must be separate. +.TP +.B \-l +produce a listing of the compiled bytecode for Lua's virtual machine. +Listing bytecodes is useful to learn about Lua's virtual machine. +If no files are given, then +.B luac +loads +.B luac.out +and lists its contents. +.TP +.BI \-o " file" +output to +.IR file , +instead of the default +.BR luac.out . +(You can use +.B "'\-'" +for standard output, +but not on platforms that open standard output in text mode.) +The output file may be a source file because +all files are loaded before the output file is written. +Be careful not to overwrite precious files. +.TP +.B \-p +load files but do not generate any output file. +Used mainly for syntax checking and for testing precompiled chunks: +corrupted files will probably generate errors when loaded. +Lua always performs a thorough integrity test on precompiled chunks. +Bytecode that passes this test is completely safe, +in the sense that it will not break the interpreter. +However, +there is no guarantee that such code does anything sensible. +(None can be given, because the halting problem is unsolvable.) +If no files are given, then +.B luac +loads +.B luac.out +and tests its contents. +No messages are displayed if the file passes the integrity test. +.TP +.B \-s +strip debug information before writing the output file. +This saves some space in very large chunks, +but if errors occur when running a stripped chunk, +then the error messages may not contain the full information they usually do. +For instance, +line numbers and names of local variables are lost. +.TP +.B \-v +show version information. +.SH FILES +.TP 15 +.B luac.out +default output file +.SH "SEE ALSO" +.BR lua (1) +.br +http://www.lua.org/ +.SH DIAGNOSTICS +Error messages should be self explanatory. +.SH AUTHORS +L. H. de Figueiredo, +R. Ierusalimschy and +W. Celes +.\" EOF |