OCAML(1)

NAME
ocaml - The Objective Caml interactive toplevel

SYNOPSIS
ocaml [ options ] [ object-files ] [ script-file ]

DESCRIPTION

The ocaml(1) command is the toplevel system for Objective Caml, that permits interactive use of the Objective Caml system through a read-eval-print loop. In this mode, the system repeatedly reads Caml phrases from the input, then typechecks, compiles and evaluates them, then prints the inferred type and result value, if any. The system prints a # (sharp) prompt before reading each phrase.

A toplevel phrase can span several lines. It is terminated by ;; (a double-semicolon). The syntax of toplevel phrases is as follows.

The toplevel system is started by the command ocaml(1). Phrases are read on standard input, results are printed on standard output, errors on standard error. End-of-file on standard input terminates ocaml(1).

If one or more object-files (ending in .cmo or .cma) are given, they are loaded silently before starting the toplevel.

If a script-file is given, phrases are read silently from the file, errors printed on standard error. ocaml(1) exits after the execution of the last phrase.

OPTIONS

The following command-line options are recognized by ocaml(1).

-I directory
    Add the given directory to the list of directories searched for source and compiled files. By default, the current directory is searched first, then the standard library directory. Directories added with -I are searched after the current directory, in the order in which they were given on the command line, but before the standard library directory.

    If the given directory starts with +, it is taken relative to the standard library directory. For instance, -I +labltk adds the subdirectory labltk of the standard library to the search path.

    Directories can also be added to the search path once the toplevel is running with the #directory directive.

-init file
    Load the given file instead of the default initialization file. The default file is .ocamlinit in the current directory if it exists, otherwise .ocamlinit in the user's home directory.

-labels
    Labels are not ignored in types, labels may be used in applications, and labelled parameters can be given in any order. This is the default.

-noassert
    Do not compile assertion checks. Note that the special form assert false is always compiled because it is typed specially.

-nolabels
    Ignore non-optional labels in types. Labels cannot be used in applications, and parameter order becomes strict.

-noprompt
    Do not display any prompt when waiting for input.

-nostdlib
    Do not include the standard library directory in the list of directories searched for source and compiled files.

-principal
    Check information path during type-checking, to make sure that all types are derived in a principal way. When using labelled arguments and/or polymorphic methods, this flag is required to ensure future versions of the compiler will be able to infer types correctly, even if internal algorithms change. All programs accepted in -principal mode are also accepted in the default mode with equivalent types, but different binary signatures, and this may slow down type checking; yet it is a good idea to use it once before publishing source code.

-rectypes
    Allow arbitrary recursive types during type-checking. By default, only recursive types where the recursion goes through an object type are supported.

-unsafe
    Turn bound checking off on array and string accesses (the v.(i)ands.[i] constructs). Programs compiled with -unsafe are therefore slightly faster, but unsafe: anything can happen if the program accesses an array or string outside of its bounds.

-version
    Print version string and exit.

-w warning-list
    Enable or disable warnings according to the argument warning-list. See ocamlc(1) for the syntax of the argument.

-warn-error warning-list
    Treat as errors the warnings enabled by the argument warning-list. See ocamlc(1) for the syntax of the argument.

-help or --help
    Display a short usage summary and exit.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

LC_CTYPE
    If set to iso_8859_1, accented characters (from the ISO Latin-1 character set) in string and character literals are printed as is; otherwise, they are printed as decimal escape sequences.

TERM
    When printing error messages, the toplevel system attempts to underline visually the location of the error. It consults the TERM variable to determines the type of output terminal and look up its capabilities in the terminal database.

SEE ALSO
ocamlc(1), ocamlopt(1), ocamlrun(1).
The Objective Caml user's manual, chapter "The toplevel system".