3.1  Command line format

chicken FILENAME {OPTION}

FILENAME is the complete pathname of the source file that is to be translated into C. A filename argument of ``-'' specifies that the source text should be read from standard input. Possible options are:

-analyze-only

Stop compilation after first analysis pass.

-benchmark-mode

Equivalent to -debug-level 0 -optimize-level 3 -fixnum-arithmetic -disable-interrupts -block.

-block

Enable block-compilation. When this option is specified, the compiler assumes that global variables are not modified outside this compilation-unit. Specifically, toplevel bindings are not seen by eval and unused toplevel bindings are removed.

-case-insensitive

Enables the reader to read symbols case insensitive. The default is to read case sensitive (in violation of R5RS). This option registers the case-insensitive feature identifier.

-check-syntax

Aborts compilation process after macro-expansion and syntax checks.

-compile-time-macros-only

Makes low-level macros (compiled without the -hygienic option) only available at compile-time. By default low-level macros are also available at run-time. Note that highlevel-macros (syntax-case) defined in compiled code are never available at run-time.

-compress-literals THRESHOLD

Compiles quoted literals that exceed the size THRESHOLD as strings and parse the strings at run-time. This reduces the size of the code and speeds up compile-times of the host C compiler, but has a small run-time performance penalty. The size of a literal is computed by counting recursively the objects in the literal, so a vector counts as 1 plus the count of the elements, a pair counts as the counts of the car and the cdr, respectively. All other objects count 1.

-debug MODES

Enables one or more compiler debugging modes. MODES is a string of characters that select debugging information about the compiler that will be printed to standard output.

t	show time needed for compilation
b	show breakdown of time needed for each compiler pass
o	show performed optimizations
r	show invocation parameters
s	show program-size information and other statistics
a	show node-matching during simplification
p	show execution of compiler sub-passes
l	show lambda-lifting information
m	show GC statistics during compilation
n	print the line-number database
c	print every expression before macro-expansion
x	display information about experimental features
D	when printing nodes, use node-tree output
N	show the real-name mapping table
U	show expressions after the secondary user pass
0	show database before lambda-lifting pass
L	show expressions after lambda-lifting
F	show output of ``easy'' FFI parser
1	show source expressions
2	show canonicalized expressions
3	show expressions converted into CPS
4	show database after each analysis pass
5	show expressions after each optimization pass
6	show expressions after each inlining pass
7	show expressions after complete optimization
8	show database after final analysis
9	show expressions after closure conversion

-debug-level LEVEL

Selects amount of debug-information. LEVEL should be an integer.

• -debug-level 0 is equivalent to -no-trace.

• -debug-level 1 does nothing.

-disable-interrupts

Equivalent to the (disable-interrupts) declaration. No interrupt-checks are generated for compiled programs.

-dynamic

This option should be used when compiling files intended to be loaded dynamically into a running Scheme program.

-epilogue FILENAME

Includes the file named FILENAME at the end of the compiled source file. The include-path is not searched. This option may be given multiple times.

-explicit-use

Disables automatic use of the units library and eval. Use this option if compiling a library unit instead of an application unit.

-extend FILENAME

Loads a Scheme source file or compiled Scheme program (on systems that support it) before compilation commences. This feature can be used to extend the compiler. This option may be given multiple times. The file is also searched in the current include path.

-feature SYMBOL

Registers SYMBOL to be a valid feature identifier for cond-expand.

-ffi

Compile C/C++ code and generate Scheme bindings. This is effectively equivalent to wrapping the code in #>! ... <#.

-ffi-define SYMBOL

Defines a macro that will be accessible in foreign-parse declarations.

-ffi-include-path PATH

Set include path for ``easy'' FFI parser.

-fixnum-arithmetic

Equivalent to (fixnum-arithmetic) declaration. Assume all mathematical operations use small integer arguments.

-heap-size NUMBER

Sets a fixed heap size of the generated executable to NUMBER bytes. The parameter may be followed by a M (m) or K (k) suffix which stand for mega- and kilobytes, respectively. The default heap size is 5 kilobytes. Note that only half of it is in use at every given time.

-heap-initial-size NUMBER

Sets the size that the heap of the compiled application should have at startup time.

-heap-growth PERCENTAGE

Sets the heap-growth rate for the compiled program at compile time (see: -:hg).

-heap-shrinkage PERCENTAGE

Sets the heap-shrinkage rate for the compiled program at compile time (see: -:hs).

-help

Print a summary of available options and the format of the command line parameters and exit the compiler.

-hygienic

Load ``syntax-case'' macro package and enable high-level macros in compiled code. This option registers the hygienic-macros feature identifier.

-hygienic-at-run-time

Makes hygienic (``syntax-case'') macro system available at run-time. Note that this has a slight overhead, because the hygienic macro definitions have to be loaded. This will only install the standard R5RS macros, plus SRFI-0 (cond-expand). To load all further macros, execute:

(require 'moremacros)

-include-path PATHNAME

Specifies an additional search path for files included via the include special form. This option may be given multiple times. If the environment variable CHICKEN_INCLUDE_PATH is set, it should contain a list of alternative include pathnames separated by ``;''. The environment variable CHICKEN_HOME is also considered as a search path.

-keyword-style STYLE

Enables alternative keyword syntax, where STYLE may be either prefix (as in Common Lisp) or suffix (as in DSSSL). Any other value is ignored.

-lambda-lift

Enable the optimization known as lambda-lifting.

-no-trace

Disable generation of tracing information. If a compiled executable should halt due to a runtime error, then a list of the name and the line-number (if available) of the last procedure calls is printed, unless -no-trace is specified. With this option the generated code is slightly faster.

-no-feature SYMBOL

Unregisters feature identifier SYMBOL.

-no-warnings

Disable generation of compiler warnings.

-nursery NUMBER -stack-size NUMBER

Sets the size of the first heap-generation of the generated executable to NUMBER bytes. The parameter may be followed by a M (m) or K (k) suffix. The default stack-size depends on the target platform.

-optimize-leaf-routines

Enable leaf routine optimization.

-optimize-level LEVEL

Enables certain sets of optimization options. LEVEL should be an integer.

• -optimize-level 0 does nothing.

• -optimize-level 1 is equivalent to -optimize-leaf-routines -lambda-lift.

• -optimize-level 2 is equivalent to -optimize-leaf-routines -lambda-lift -usual-integrations.

• -optimize-level 3 is equivalent to -optimize-leaf-routines -lambda-lift -usual-integrations -unsafe.

-output-file FILENAME

Specifies the pathname of the generated C file. Default is FILENAME.c.

-postlude EXPRESSIONS

Add EXPRESSIONS after all other toplevel expressions in the compiled file. This option may be given multiple times. Processing of this option takes place after processing of -epilogue.

-prelude EXPRESSIONS

Add EXPRESSIONS before all other toplevel expressions in the compiled file. This option may be given multiple times. Processing of this option takes place before processing of -prologue.

-profile

Instruments the source code to count procedure calls and execution times. After the program terminates (either via an explicit exit or implicitly), profiling statistics are written to a file named PROFILE. Each line of the generated file contains a list with the procedure name, the number of calls and the time spent executing it. Use the script formatprofile to display the profiling information in a more user-friendly form. Enter formatprofile with no arguments at the command line to get a list of available options. Note that the file is only important in the compilation of the main compilation unit. For library units the option is still needed (to record procedures defined in that unit), but the filename is ignored.

-prologue FILENAME

Includes the file named FILENAME at the start of the compiled source file. The include-path is not searched. This option may be given multiple times.

-quiet

Disables output of compile information.

-require-for-syntax NAME

Loads the extension NAME before the compilation process commences.

-r5rs

Equivalent to -hygienic -strict.

-srfi-7

Process the source as a SRFI-7 configuration language file (see: the SRFI-7 document¹)

-strict

Disable non-standard macros. This option registers the strict feature identifier. Implies -strict-letrec and -strict-reader.

-strict-srfi-0

Disable non-standard macros except cond-expand. This option registers the strict feature identifier. Implies -strict-letrec and -strict-reader.

-strict-reader

Disables non-standard read syntax. Implies texttt-case-insensitive.

-strict-letrec

Enable fully R5RS compliant letrec. This generates slightly less efficient code but preserves standard semantics.

-to-stdout

Write compiled code to standard output instead of creating a .c file.

-unit NAME

Compile this file as a library unit. Equivalent to

-prelude "(declare (unit NAME))"

-visit FILENAME

Reads the source file FILENAME and performs macro-expansions. This makes macros/syntax, constant- and inline-function definitions defined in that file available without actually compiling the code.

-unsafe

Disable runtime safety checks.

-uses NAME

Use definitions from the library unit NAME. This is equivalent to

-prelude "(declare (uses NAME))"

-usual-integrations

Specifies that standard procedures and certain internal procedures are never redefined, and can be inlined. This is equivalent to declaring (usual-integrations).

-version

Prints the version and some copyright information and exit the compiler.

-verbose

Prints progress information to standard output during compilation.

The environment variable CHICKEN_OPTIONS can be set to a string with default command-line options for the compiler.