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<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Section 5: Compiler options and memory settings</TITLE></HEAD>
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<TR><TD Valign="top"><A HREF="contents.html">Contents</A><BR><A HREF="section4.html">Back</A><BR><A HREF="section6.html">Forward</A><TD bgcolor="#F5DEB3"><BLOCKQUOTE><H3>5. Compiler options and memory settings</H3></BLOCKQUOTE><TR><TD><TD>
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It is time to give a full list of the "switches'', which are the
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main way to make choices about how Inform will operate. (This list
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can always be printed out with the <TT>-h2</TT> switch.)
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a trace assembly-language (without hex dumps; see -t)
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c more concise error messages
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d contract double spaces after full stops in text
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d2 contract double spaces after exclamation and question marks, too
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e economy mode (slower): make use of declared abbreviations
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f frequencies mode: show how useful abbreviations are
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g traces calls to functions (except in the library)
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g2 traces calls to all functions
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h print this information
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i ignore default switches set within the file
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j list objects as constructed
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k output Infix debugging information to "gamedebug"
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l list every statement run through Inform
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m say how much memory has been allocated
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n print numbers of properties, attributes and actions
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o print offset addresses
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p give percentage breakdown of story file
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q keep quiet about obsolete usages
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r record all the text to "gametext"
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t trace assembly-language (with full hex dumps; see -a)
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u work out most useful abbreviations (very very slowly)
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v3 compile to version-3 (Standard) story file
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v4 compile to version-4 (Plus) story file
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v5 compile to version-5 (Advanced) story file
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v6 compile to version-6 (graphical) story file
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v7 compile to version-7 (*) story file
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v8 compile to version-8 (*) story file
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(*) formats for very large games, requiring
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slightly modified game interpreters to play
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w disable warning messages
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x print # for every 100 lines compiled
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y trace linking system
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z print memory map of the Z-machine
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D insert "Constant DEBUG;" automatically
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E0 Archimedes-style error messages (current setting)
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E1 Microsoft-style error messages
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E2 Macintosh MPW-style error messages
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F1 use temporary files to reduce memory consumption
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M compile as a Module for future linking
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R0 use filetype 060 + version number for games (default)
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R1 use official Acorn filetype 11A for all games
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T enable throwback of errors in the DDE
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U insert "Constant USE_MODULES;" automatically
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Note that the list may vary slightly from machine to machine:
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<TT>R0</TT>, <TT>R1</TT> and <TT>T</TT> above are for Acorn RISC OS machines only,
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Note that these switches can also be selected by putting a <TT>Switches</TT>
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directive, such as <TT>Switches xdv8s;</TT> right at the start of the source
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Only two switches have a really drastic effect:
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<TT>M</TT><SAMP> </SAMP> Makes Inform compile a "module'', not a "game''.
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See <A HREF="section4.html">Section 4</A>.3.
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<TT>v</TT><SAMP> </SAMP> Chooses the format of the game to be compiled.
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<TT>v5</TT> is the default, but if a game begins to overflow this, try <TT>v8</TT>.
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(The other settings are intended mainly for maintainers of Infocom
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interpreters to test their wares.)
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<TT>i</TT><SAMP> </SAMP> Overrides any switches set by <TT>switches</TT> directives in
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the source code; so that the game can be compiled with different options
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without having to alter that source code.
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Many of the remaining switches make Inform produce text as it runs,
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without affecting the actual compilation:
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<TT>a l m n t y</TT><SAMP> </SAMP> Tracing options to help with maintaining
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Inform, or for debugging assembly language
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<TT>o p s z</TT><SAMP> </SAMP> To print out information about the final game file:
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the <TT>s</TT> (statistics) option is particularly useful to keep track of how
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large the game is growing.
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<TT>c w q E T</TT><SAMP> </SAMP> In <TT>c</TT> mode, Inform does not quote whole source lines
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together with error messages; in <TT>w</TT> mode it suppresses warnings; in <TT>T</TT>
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mode, which is only present on RISC OS machines, error throwback
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will occur in the 'Desktop Development Environment'. <TT>q</TT> causes
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"this usage is obsolete'' warnings to be suppressed, which may
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be useful when compiling very long, very old programs. Finally, <TT>E</TT> is
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provided since different error formats fit in better with debugging tools
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on different machines.
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<TT>f</TT><SAMP> </SAMP> Indicates roughly how many bytes the abbreviations saved.
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<TT>h</TT><SAMP> </SAMP> Prints out the help information.
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<TT>j x</TT><SAMP> </SAMP> Makes Inform print out steady text to prove that it's
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still awake: on very slow machines this may be a convenience.
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<TT>k</TT><SAMP> </SAMP> Writes a "debugging information'' file for the use of
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the Infix debugger (the filename will be something suitable for
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<TT>r</TT><SAMP> </SAMP> Intended to help with proof-reading the text of a game:
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transcribes all of the text in double-quotes to the given file (whose
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filename will be something suitable for your machine).
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<TT>u</TT><SAMP> </SAMP> Tries to work out a good set of abbreviations to
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declare for your game, but <I> extremely slowly</I> (a matter of hours) and
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<I> consuming very much memory</I> (perhaps a megabyte).
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<TT>D U</TT><SAMP> </SAMP> When these switches are set, the constants
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<TT>DEBUG</TT> (which make the Library add the debugging suite to a game)
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and <TT>USE_MODULES</TT> (which speeds up compilation by linking in the Library
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rather than recompiling it) are automatically defined. This is just a
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convenience: it's a nuisance to keep adding and removing source code
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lines to do the same thing.
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This leaves three more switches which actually alter the game file which
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Inform would compile:
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<TT>d</TT><SAMP> </SAMP> Converts text like
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"...with a mango. You applaud..."
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into the same with only a single space after the full stop, which will
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prevent an interpreter from displaying a spurious space at the beginning
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of a line when a line break happens to occur exactly after the full stop;
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this is to help typists who habitually double-space. Stepping up to <TT>-d2</TT>
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also contracts double spaces after question or exclamation
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<TT>e</TT><SAMP> </SAMP> Only in 'economy' mode does Inform actually process
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abbreviations, because this is seldom needed and slows the compiler by
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10% or so; the game file should not play any differently if compiled
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this way, but will probably be shorter, if your choice of abbreviations
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<TT>g</TT><SAMP> </SAMP> Makes Inform automatically compile trace-printing
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code on every function call; in play this will produce reams of text (several
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pages between each chance to type commands) but is sometimes useful. Note
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that in Inform 5.3 or later, this can be set on an individual command by
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writing <TT>*</TT> as its first local variable, without use of the <TT>g</TT>
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There are two directives for setting switches, to be used if there's
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no other convenient way on your system (for example if you have a poor
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windowed front end and no command line to type on). These are:
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<TT>Switches </TT><I><B><some settings></B></I><TT>;</TT><BR>
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<TT>Version </TT><I><B><number></B></I><TT>;</TT><BR>
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These can only be used as first lines in the program and are illegal once
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other directives or routines have been given. Note that
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(for instance) is redundant, as it is equivalent to
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Inform's memory management is very flexible, but sometimes needs attention
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from the user, rather than being able to tinker with itself automatically.
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This is unfortunate but Inform has to run in some quite hostile
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environments and is obliged to be cautious.
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In particular, it is unable to increase the size of any stretch of memory
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once allocated, so if it runs out of anything it has to give up. If it
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does run out, it will produce an error message saying what it has run out of
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and how to provide more.
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There are three main choices: <TT>$small</TT>, <TT>$large</TT> and <TT>$huge</TT>. (Which one is
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the default depends on the computer you use.) Even <TT>$small</TT> is large enough
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to compile all the example games, including 'Advent'. <TT>$large</TT> compiles
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almost anything and <TT>$huge</TT> has been used only for 'Curses' and
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'Jigsaw' in their most advanced states, and even they hardly need it.
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A typical game, compiled with <TT>$large</TT>, will cause Inform to allocate about
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350K of memory: and the same game about 100K less under <TT>$small</TT>. (These
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values will be rather lower if the computer Inform runs on has 16-bit
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integers.) In addition, Inform physically occupies about 210K (on my
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computer). Thus, the total memory consumption of the compiler at work
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will list the various settings which can be changed, and their current
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values. Thus one can compare small and large with:
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If Inform runs out of allocation for something, it will generally print an
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"Game", line 1320: Fatal error: The memory setting MAX_OBJECTS (which
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is 200 at present) has been exceeded. Try running Inform again with
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$MAX_OBJECTS=<some-larger-number> on the command line.
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inform $MAX_OBJECTS=250 game
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(say) will tell Inform to try again, reserving more memory for objects this
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time. Note that settings are made from left to right, so that for instance
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inform $small $MAX_ACTIONS=200 ...
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inform $MAX_ACTIONS=200 $small ...
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will not because the <TT>$small</TT> changes <TT>MAX_ACTIONS</TT> again.
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Changing some settings has hardly any effect on memory usage, whereas others
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are expensive to increase. To find out about, say, <TT>MAX_VERBS</TT>, run
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(note the question mark) which will print some very brief comments.
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Users of Unix, where <TT>$</TT> and <TT>?</TT> are special shell characters, will need
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inform '$?list' inform '$?MAX_VERBS'
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<HR><A HREF="contents.html">Contents</A> / <A HREF="section4.html">Back</A> / <A HREF="section6.html">Forward</A> <BR>
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<A HREF="chapter1.html">Chapter I</A> / <A HREF="chapter2.html">Chapter II</A> / <A HREF="chapter3.html">Chapter III</A> / <A HREF="chapter4.html">Chapter IV</A> / <A HREF="chapter5.html">Chapter V</A> / <A HREF="chapter6.html">Chapter VI</A> / <A HREF="chapterA.html">Appendix</A><HR><SMALL><I>Mechanically translated to HTML from third edition as revised 16 May 1997. Copyright © Graham Nelson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997: all rights reserved.</I></SMALL></BODY></HTML>
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