C# compiler Command-line options
Contents
Simple compile
Monos C# compiler is fully compatible the the MS compiler and has even the same switches.
// Hello World! : hello.cs
using System;
class Hello {
static void Main() {
Console.WriteLine ("Hello, World!");
}
}
To compile, type
mcs hello.cs
This results in a file hello.exe, that you can execute with mono:
mono hello.exe
Out Parameters
To compile to another filename:
mcs /out:someothername.exe hello.cs
Using Targets
Exe
This is the default and will create a console application.
mcs /target:exe hello.cs
Winexe
This has no effect currently, when used with mono, but this might change, when mono will integrate with GUI filemangers
like Nautilus. On the MS .NET Framework this causes the runtime not to open a console window, if not already opened.
mcs /target:winexe hello.cs
Library
to compile a library:
mcs /target:library hello.cs
Module
A module is not a complete application, but only for example one or two classes. Serveral module can be compiled to one
application. This is useful if you want to compile one application out of a VB.NET module and a C# module.
mcs /target:module hello.cs
Other Options
--about
Displays information about the Mono C# compiler
-checked, -checked
Sets the default compilation mode to `checked'.
This makes all the math operations checked (the
default is unchecked).
-checked-
Sets the default compilation mode to `unchecked'.
This makes all the math operations unchecked (this
is the default).
-codepage:ID
Specifies the code page used to process the input
files from the point it is specified on. By
default files will be processed in the Latin-1 code
page. The compiler will also automatically detect
Unicode files that have an embedded byte mark at
the beginning. The special ID "utf8" can be used
to switch to utf8 and the ID "reset" restores the
automatic handling of code pages.
-define:SYMLIST, -d:SYMLIST
Defines the symbol listed by the semi-colon sepa-
reted list SYMLIST SYMBOL. This can be tested in
the source code by the pre-processor, or can be
used by methods that have been tagged with the Con-
ditional attribute.
-debug, -debug+, -g
Generate debugging information. The debugging
information is stored in a file with the extension
.dbg (if you install system wide assemblies, you
need to install this file as well). To get stack
traces with debugging information, you need to
invoke the mono runtime with the `--debug' flag.
-debug-
Do not generate debugging information.
--expect-error X L
The compiler will expect the code to generate an
error named `X' in line `L'. This is only used by
the test suite.
--fatal
This is used for debugging the compiler. This
makes the error emission generate an exception that
can be caught by a debugger.
--stacktrace
Generates a stack trace at the time the error is
reported, useful for debugging the compiler.
-lib:PATHLIST
Each path specified in the comma-separated list
will direct the compiler to look for libraries in
that specified path.
-L PAT
Directs the compiler to look for libraries in the
specified path. Multiple paths can be provided by
using the option multiple times.
-nostdlib, -nostdlib+
Use this flag if you want to compile the core
library. This makes the compiler load its internal
types from the assembly being compiled.
-noconfig, -noconfig+
Disables the default compiler configuration to be
loaded. The compiler by default has references to
the system assemblies.
-nowarn:WARNLIST
Makes the compiler ignore warnings specified in the
comma-separeted list WARNLIST>
-out:FNAME, -o FNAME
Names the output file to be generated.
--parse
Used for benchmarking. The compiler will only
parse its input files.
-resource:RESOURCE[,ID]
Embeds to the given resource file. The optional ID
can be used to give a different name to the
resource. If not specified, the resource name will
be the file name.
-linkresource:RESOURCE[,ID]
Links to the specified RESOURCE. The optional ID
can be used to give a name to the linked resource.
-recurse:PATTERN, --recurse PATTERN
Does recursive compilation using the specified pat-
tern. In Unix the shell will perform globbing, so
you migth want to use it like this:
bash$ mcs -recurse:'*.cs'
--timestamp
Another debugging flag. Used to display the times
at various points in the compilation process.
-unsafe, -unsafe+
Enables compilation of unsafe code.
-warnaserror, -warnaserror+
Treat warnings as errors.
-warn:LEVEL
Sets the warning level. 0 is the lowest warning
level, and 4 is the highest. The default is 2.
-r:ASSEMBLY1[,ASSEMBLY2], -r ASSEMBLY1[,ASSEMBLY2]
Reference the named assemblies. Use this to use
classes from the named assembly in your program.
The assembly will be loaded from either the system
directory where all the assemblies live, or from
the path explicitly given with the -L option.
You can also use a semicolon to separate the assemblies
instead of a comma.
-v
Debugging. Turns on verbose yacc parsing.
--
Use this to stop option parsing, and allow option-
looking parameters to be passed on the command
line.
A. Credits
Author: Johannes Roith (johannes@jroith.de)
