+.de Sp \" Vertical space (when we can't use .PP)
+.if t .sp .5v
+.if n .sp
+..
.TH mcs 1 "6 January 2001"
.SH NAME
-mcs, gmcs, smcs \- Mono C# Compiler (1.0, 2.0, Moonlight)
+mcs \- Turbo C# Compiler
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B mcs
[option] [source-files]
.SH DESCRIPTION
-mcs is the Mono C# compiler, an implementation of the ECMA-334
-language specification. You can pass one or more options to drive the
-compiler, and a set of source files. Extra options or arguments can
-be provided in a response file. Response files are referenced by
-prepending the @ symbol to the response file name.
+mcs is the Turbo C# compiler (also known as the Mono C# compiler), it
+is an implementation of the ECMA-334 language specification. You can
+pass one or more options to drive the compiler, and a set of source
+files. Extra options or arguments can be provided in a response file.
+Response files are referenced by prepending the @ symbol to the
+response file name.
.PP
The
.I mcs
-compiler is used to compile against the 1.x profile and implements
-C# 1.0 and 2.0 with the exception of generics and nullable types.
+compiler is used to compile against the latest Mono Base Class Library
+version and fully implements C# 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0
+specifications with partial support for C# 7.0.
.PP
-The
-.I gmcs
-compiler is used to compile against the 2.0 profile and implements
-the complete C# 2.0 specification including generics.
-.PP
-The
-.I smcs
-compiler is used to compile against the Silverlight/Moonlight profile.
-This profile is designed to be used for creating Silverlight/Moonlight
-applications that will run on a web browser. The API exposed by this
-profile is a small subset of the 2.0 API (even if it is commonly
-referred as the 2.1 API, this API is a small subset of 2.0 with a few
-extensions), in addition this profile by default runs with
--langversion:linq which turns on the C# 3.0 language by default.
+See the section on packages for more information.
.PP
-The Mono C# compiler accepts the same command line options that the
+The Turbo C# compiler accepts the same command line options that the
Microsoft C# compiler does. Those options can start with a slash or a
dash (/checked is the same as -checked). Additionally some GNU-like
options are supported, those begin with "--". All MCS-specific flags
compilation, you should compile programs into their own assemblies,
and later reference them with the "-r" flag.
.PP
-The Mono C# compiler generates images (.exe files) that contain CIL
+The Turbo C# compiler generates images (.exe files) that contain CIL
byte code that can be executed by any system that implements a Common
Language Infrastructure virtual machine such as the Microsoft .NET
runtime engine on Windows or the Mono runtime engine on Unix systems.
Executables are not bound to a specific CPU or operating system.
.PP
-The Mono C# compiler by default only references three assemblies:
+The Turbo C# compiler by default only references three assemblies:
mscorlib.dll, System.dll and System.Xml.dll. If you want to
reference extra libraries you must manually specify them using the
-pkg: command line option or the -r: command line option.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.I \-\-about
-Displays information about the Mono C# compiler
+Displays information about the Turbo C# compiler
.TP
.I \-\-addmodule:MODULE1[,MODULE2]
-Includes the specified modules in the resulting assembly.
+Includes the specified modules in the resulting assembly. Modules are
+created by calling the compiler with the -target:module option
.TP
.I -checked, -checked+
Sets the default compilation mode to `checked'. This makes all
Sets the default compilation mode to `unchecked'. This makes all
the math operations unchecked (this is the default).
.TP
+.I -clscheck-, -clscheck+
+Disables or enables the Common Language Specification (CLS) checks (it
+is enabled by default).
+.Sp
+The Common Language Specification (CLS) defines an interoperable
+subset of types as well as conventions that compilers (CLS producers)
+and developers must follow to expose code to other programming
+languages (CLS consumers).
+.TP
.I -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
or can be used by methods that have been tagged with the Conditional
attribute.
.TP
-.I \-debug, \-debug+, \-g
-Generate debugging information. To obtain stack traces with debugging
+.I \-debug, \-debug+
+Generate debugging information. To obtain stack traces with debugging
information, you need to invoke the mono runtime with the `--debug'
-flag. This debugging information is stored inside the assembly as a
-resource.
+flag. The debugging information is stored in a MDB file located in
+same output folder as produced assembly.
.TP
.I \-debug-
Do not generate debugging information.
Extracts the C#/XML documentation from the source code and stores in in
the given FILE.
.TP
-.I \-\-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.
-.TP
+.I \-errorreport
+This flag is ignored by Mono's C# compiler and is present only to
+allow MCS to be used as a CSC replacement for msbuild/xbuild.
+.TP
.I \-\-fatal
This is used for debugging the compiler. This makes the error emission
generate an exception that can be caught by a debugger.
.TP
+.I \-filealign
+This flag is ignored by Mono's C# compiler and is present only to
+allow MCS to be used as a CSC replacement for msbuild/xbuild.
+.TP
+.I \-fullpaths
+Any source code error or warning issued by the compiler includes file
+name only by default. This option causes compiler to issue absolute file
+path instead.
+.TP
.I \-keyfile:KEYFILE
Strongname (sign) the output assembly using the key pair present in
the specified strong name key file (snk). A full key pair is required
.TP
.I "Default"
Instruct compiler to use the latest version. Equivalent is to omit the
-switch (this currently defaults to the C# 2.0 language specification).
+switch (this currently defaults to the C# 6.0 language specification).
.TP
.I "ISO-1"
Restrict compiler to use only first ISO standardized features.
This allows the use of generics, static classes, iterators and
anonymous methods for example.
.TP
-.I "linq"
-This enables the C# 3.0 support. Only a few features of C# 3.0 have
-been implemented in the Mono C# compiler, so not everything is
-available.
+.I "3"
+Restrict the compiler to use only the features available in C# 3.0
+(a superset of ISO-1 and ISO-2).
+.TP
+.I "4"
+Restrict the compiler to use only the features available in C# 4.0
+specification.
+.TP
+.I "5"
+Restrict the compiler to use only the features available in C# 5.0
+specification.
+.TP
+.I "6"
+Restrict the compiler to use only the features available in C# 6.0
+specification.
+.TP
+.I "experimental"
+Enables unstable features from upcoming versions of the language.
.PP
-Notice that this flag only controls the language features available to
-the programmer, it does not control the kind of assemblies produced.
-Programs compiled with mcs will reference the 1.1 APIs, Programs
-compiled with gmcs reference the 2.0 APIs.
+Notice that this flag only restricts the language features available to
+the programmer. A version of produced assemblies can be controlled using
+.I SDK
+option.
.ne
.RE
.TP
list WARNLIST>
.TP
.I -optimize, -optimize+, -optimize-
-Controls whether to perform optimizations on the code. -optimize and
+Controls compiler code generation optimizations on the code. Using -optimize or
-optimize+ will turn on optimizations, -optimize- will turn it off.
-The default in mcs is to optimize+.
+The default in mcs is to optimize-. The option can be mixed with -debug
+but for the best debugging experience it is recommended leave the options off.
.TP
.I -out:FNAME, -o FNAME
Names the output file to be generated.
.I \-\-parse
Used for benchmarking. The compiler will only parse its input files.
.TP
+.I \-pathmap:K=V[,Kn=Vn]
+Sets a mapping for source path names used in generated output.
+.TP
.I \-pkg:package1[,packageN]
Reference assemblies for the given packages.
.Sp
available on a typical dotnet framework installation, notice that this
does not include all of the Mono libraries, only the System.* ones. This
is a convenient shortcut for those porting code.
-.TP
-.I \-pkg:olive
-Use this to reference the "Olive" libraries (the 3.0 and 3.5 extended
-libraries).
-.TP
-.I \-pkg:silver
-References the assemblies for creating Moonlight/Silverlight
-applications. This is automatically used when using the
-.I smcs
-compiler, but it is here when developers want to use it with the
-.I gmcs
-compiler.
-.TP
-.I \-pkg:silverdesktop
-Use this option to create Moonlight/Silverlight applications that
-target the desktop. This option allows developers to consume the
-Silverlight APIs with the full 2.0 profile API available to them,
-unlike
-.I smcs
-it gives full access to all the APIs that are part of Mono. The only
-downside is that applications created with silverdesktop will not run
-on the browser. Typically these applications will be launched
-with the
-.I mopen
-command line tool.
.ne
.RE
.TP
+.I \-platform:ARCH
+Used to specify the target platform. The possible values are: anycpu,
+anycpu32bitpreferred, arm, x86, x64 or itanium. The default option is
+anycpu.
+.TP
.I -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
Links to the specified RESOURCE. The optional ID can be used to give
a name to the linked resource.
.TP
-.I -r:ASSEMBLY1[,ASSEMBLY2], \-r ASSEMBLY1[,ASSEMBLY2]
+.I -r:ASSEMBLY1[,ASSEMBLY2], \-reference 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.
-.PP
+.Sp
You can also use a semicolon to separate the assemblies instead of a
comma.
.TP
+.I -reference:ALIAS=ASSEMBLY
+Extern alias reference support for C#.
+.Sp
+If you have different assemblies that provide the same types, the
+extern alias support allows you to provide names that your software
+can use to tell those appart. The types from ASSEMBLY will be
+exposed as ALIAS, then on the C# source code, you need to do:
+.Sp
+.nf
+ extern alias ALIAS;
+.fi
+To bring it into your namespace. For example, to cope with two
+graphics libraries that define "Graphics.Point", one in
+"OpenGL.dll" and one in "Postscript.dll", you would invoke the
+compiler like this:
+.Sp
+.nf
+ mcs -r:Postscript=Postscript.dll -r:OpenGL=OpenGL.dll
+.fi
+.Sp
+And in your source code, you would write:
+.Sp
+.nf
+ extern alias Postscript;
+ extern alias OpenGL;
+
+ class X {
+ // This is a Graphics.Point from Postscrip.dll
+ Postscript.Point p = new Postscript.Point ();
+
+ // This is a Graphics.Point from OpenGL.dll
+ OpenGL.Point p = new OpenGL.Point ();
+ }
+.fi
+.TP
.I \-recurse:PATTERN, --recurse PATTERN
Does recursive compilation using the specified pattern. In Unix the
shell will perform globbing, so you might want to use it like this:
$ mcs -recurse:'*.cs'
.fi
.TP
+.I \-sdk:VERSION
+Used to specify the version of Base Class Library assemblies used for
+compilation. Following predefined values are valid: 2, 4 (default) as
+well as any custom value. The predefined version number means which
+.NET version should the produced assembly be compatible with. When
+custom value is specified mcs will try to find Base Class Libraries
+in the mono installed location PREFIX/lib/mono/<value>.
+.TP
+.I \-\-shell
+Starts up the compiler in interactive mode, providing a C# shell for
+statements and expressions. A shortcut is to use the
+.I csharp
+command directly.
+.TP
.I \-\-stacktrace
Generates a stack trace at the time the error is reported, useful for
debugging the compiler.
.I \-v
Debugging. Turns on verbose yacc parsing.
.TP
-.I \-v2
-Turns on C# 2.0 language features.
-.TP
.I \-\-version
Shows the compiler version.
.TP
.I \-warnaserror, \-warnaserror+
-Treat warnings as errors.
+All compilers warnings will be reported as errors.
+.TP
+.I \-warnaserror:W1,[Wn], -warnaserror+:W1,[Wn]
+Treats one or more compiler warnings as errors.
+.TP
+.I \-warnaserror-:W1,[Wn]
+Sets one or more compiler warnings to be always threated as warnings.
+Becomes useful when used together with -warnaserror.
.TP
.I \-warn:LEVEL
Sets the warning level. 0 is the lowest warning level, and 4 is the
-highest. The default is 2.
+highest. The default is 4.
.TP
.I \-win32res:FILE
Specifies a Win32 resource file (.res) to be bundled into the
Use this to stop option parsing, and allow option-looking parameters
to be passed on the command line.
.PP
+.SH PACKAGES AND LIBRARIES
+When referencing an assembly, if the name of the assembly is a path,
+the compiler will try to load the assembly specified in the path. If
+it does not, then the compiler will try loading the assembly from the
+current directory, the compiler base directory and if the assembly is
+not found in any of those places in the directories specified as
+arguments to the -lib: command argument.
+.PP
+The compiler uses the library path to locate libraries, and is able to
+reference libraries from a particular package if that directory is
+used. To simplify the use of packages, the C# compiler includes the
+-pkg: command line option that is used to load specific collections of
+libraries.
+.PP
+Libraries visible to the compiler are stored relative to the
+installation prefix under PREFIX/lib/mono/ called the PACKAGEBASE and the
+defaults for mcs, gmcs and smcs are as follows:
+.TP
+.I mcs
+References the PACKAGEBASE/1.0 directory
+.TP
+.I gmcs
+References the PACKAGEBASE/2.0 directory
+.TP
+.I smcs
+References the PACKAGEBASE/2.1 directory
+.PP
+Those are the only runtime profiles that exist. Although other
+directories exist (like 3.0 and 3.5) those are not really runtime
+profiles, they are merely placeholders for extra libraries that build
+on the 2.0 foundation.
+.PP
+Software providers will distribute software that is installed relative
+to the PACKAGEBASE directory. This is integrated into the
+.I gacutil
+tool that not only installs public assemblies into the Global Assembly
+Cache (GAC) but also installs them into the PACKAGEBASE/PKG directory
+(where PKG is the name passed to the -package flag to gacutil).
+.PP
+As a developer, if you want to consume the Gtk# libraries, you would
+invoke the compiler like this:
+.nf
+
+ $ mcs -pkg:gtk-sharp-2.0 main.cs
+
+.fi
+The -pkg: option instructs the compiler to fetch the definitions for
+gtk-sharp-2.0 from pkg-config, this is equivalent to passing to the C#
+compiler the output of:
+.nf
+
+ $ pkg-config --libs gtk-sharp-2.0
+
+.fi
+Usually this merely references the libraries from PACKAGEBASE/PKG.
+.PP
+Although there are directory names for 3.0 and 3.5, that does not mean
+that there are 3.0 and 3.5 compiler editions or profiles. Those are
+merely new libraries that must be manually referenced either with the
+proper -pkg: invocation, or by referencing the libraries directly.
+.PP
.SH SPECIAL DEFINES
The
.B TRACE
funded by Ximian, Novell and Marek Safar.
.PP
.SH LICENSE
-The Mono Compiler Suite is released under the terms of the GNU GPL.
-Please read the accompanying `COPYING' file for details. Alternative
-licensing for the compiler is available from Novell.
+The Mono Compiler Suite is released under the terms of the GNU GPL or
+the MIT X11. Please read the accompanying `COPYING' file for details.
+Alternative licensing for the compiler is available from Xamarin.
.PP
.SH SEE ALSO
-mdb(1), mono(1), mopen(1), mint(1), sn(1)
+csharp(1), mono(1), pkg-config(1), sn(1)
.PP
.SH BUGS
To report bugs in the compiler, you must file them on our bug tracking
system, at:
-http://www.mono-project.com/Bugs
+http://www.mono-project.com/community/bugs/
.SH MAILING LIST
-The Mono Mailing lists are listed at http://www.mono-project.com/Mailing_Lists
+The Mono Mailing lists are listed at http://www.mono-project.com/community/help/mailing-lists/
.SH MORE INFORMATION
The Mono C# compiler was developed by Novell, Inc
-(http://www.novell.com, http) and is based on the
+(http://www.novell.com) and Xamarin Inc (http://www.xamarin.com) is based on the
ECMA C# language standard available here:
http://www.ecma.ch/ecma1/STAND/ecma-334.htm
.PP
-The home page for the Mono C# compiler is at http://www.mono-project.com/CSharp_Compiler
+The home page for the Mono C# compiler is at http://www.mono-project.com/docs/about-mono/languages/csharp/
projects / mono.git / blobdiff