NAME

tcc - Tiny C Compiler

SYNOPSIS

usage: tcc [options] [ infile1 infile2...] [-run infile args...]

DESCRIPTION

TCC options are a very much like gcc options. The main difference is that TCC can also execute directly the resulting program and give it runtime arguments. Here are some examples to understand the logic:

"tcc -run a.c"

Compile a.c and execute it directly

"tcc -run a.c arg1"

Compile a.c and execute it directly. arg1 is given as first argument to the "main()" of a.c.

"tcc a.c -run b.c arg1"

Compile a.c and b.c, link them together and execute them. arg1 is given as first argument to the "main()" of the resulting program.

"tcc -o myprog a.c b.c"

Compile a.c and b.c, link them and generate the executable myprog.

"tcc -o myprog a.o b.o"

link a.o and b.o together and generate the executable myprog.

"tcc -c a.c"

Compile a.c and generate object file a.o.

"tcc -c asmfile.S"

Preprocess with C preprocess and assemble asmfile.S and generate object file asmfile.o.

"tcc -c asmfile.s"

Assemble (but not preprocess) asmfile.s and generate object file asmfile.o.

"tcc -r -o ab.o a.c b.c"

Compile a.c and b.c, link them together and generate the object file ab.o.

Scripting: TCC can be invoked from scripts, just as shell scripts. You just need to add "#!/usr/local/bin/tcc -run" at the start of your C source:

        #!/usr/local/bin/tcc -run
        #include <stdio.h>
        
        int main() 
        {
            printf("Hello World\n");
            return 0;
        }

TCC can read C source code from standard input when - is used in place of infile. Example:

        echo 'main(){puts("hello");}' | tcc -run -

OPTIONS

-c

Generate an object file.

-o outfile

Put object file, executable, or dll into output file outfile.

-run source [args...]

Compile file source and run it with the command line arguments args. In order to be able to give more than one argument to a script, several TCC options can be given after the -run option, separated by spaces:

        tcc "-run -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lX11" ex4.c
    

In a script, it gives the following header:

        #!/usr/local/bin/tcc -run -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lX11
    

-v

Display TCC version.

-vv

Show included files. As sole argument, print search dirs. -vvv shows tries too.

-bench

Display compilation statistics.

Preprocessor options:

-Idir

Specify an additional include path. Include paths are searched in the order they are specified.

System include paths are always searched after. The default system include paths are: /usr/local/include, /usr/include and PREFIX/lib/tcc/include. ( PREFIX is usually /usr or /usr/local).

-Dsym[=val]

Define preprocessor symbol sym to val. If val is not present, its value is 1. Function-like macros can also be defined: -DF(a)=a+1

-Usym

Undefine preprocessor symbol sym.

-E

Preprocess only, to stdout or file (with -o).

Compilation flags: Note: each of the following options has a negative form beginning with -fno-.

-funsigned-char

Let the "char" type be unsigned.

-fsigned-char

Let the "char" type be signed.

-fno-common

Do not generate common symbols for uninitialized data.

-fleading-underscore

Add a leading underscore at the beginning of each C symbol.

-fms-extensions

Allow a MS C compiler extensions to the language. Currently this assumes a nested named structure declaration without an identifier behaves like an unnamed one.

-fdollars-in-identifiers

Allow dollar signs in identifiers

Warning options:

-w

Disable all warnings.

Note: each of the following warning options has a negative form beginning with -Wno-.

-Wimplicit-function-declaration

Warn about implicit function declaration.

-Wunsupported

Warn about unsupported GCC features that are ignored by TCC.

-Wwrite-strings

Make string constants be of type "const char *" instead of "char *".

-Werror

Abort compilation if warnings are issued.

-Wall

Activate all warnings, except -Werror, -Wunusupported and -Wwrite-strings.

Linker options:

-Ldir

Specify an additional static library path for the -l option. The default library paths are /usr/local/lib, /usr/lib and /lib.

-lxxx

Link your program with dynamic library libxxx.so or static library libxxx.a. The library is searched in the paths specified by the -L option and LIBRARY_PATH variable.

-Bdir

Set the path where the tcc internal libraries (and include files) can be found (default is PREFIX/lib/tcc).

-shared

Generate a shared library instead of an executable.

-soname name

set name for shared library to be used at runtime

-static

Generate a statically linked executable (default is a shared linked executable).

-rdynamic

Export global symbols to the dynamic linker. It is useful when a library opened with "dlopen()" needs to access executable symbols.

-r

Generate an object file combining all input files.

-Wl,-rpath=path

Put custom search path for dynamic libraries into executable.

-Wl,--enable-new-dtags

When putting a custom search path for dynamic libraries into the executable, create the new ELF dynamic tag DT_RUNPATH instead of the old legacy DT_RPATH.

-Wl,--oformat=fmt

Use fmt as output format. The supported output formats are:

-Wl,-subsystem=console/gui/wince/...

Set type for PE (Windows) executables.

-Wl,-[Ttext=# | section-alignment=# | file-alignment=# | image-base=# | stack=#]

Modify executable layout.

-Wl,-Bsymbolic

Set DT_SYMBOLIC tag.

-Wl,-(no-)whole-archive

Turn on/off linking of all objects in archives.

Debugger options:

-g

Generate run time debug information so that you get clear run time error messages: " test.c:68: in function 'test5()': dereferencing invalid pointer" instead of the laconic "Segmentation fault".

-b

Generate additional support code to check memory allocations and array/pointer bounds. -g is implied. Note that the generated code is slower and bigger in this case.

Note: -b is only available on i386 when using libtcc for the moment.

-bt N

Display N callers in stack traces. This is useful with -g or -b.

Misc options:

-MD

Generate makefile fragment with dependencies.

-MF depfile

Use depfile as output for -MD.

-print-search-dirs

Print the configured installation directory and a list of library and include directories tcc will search.

-dumpversion

Print version.

Target specific options:

-mms-bitfields

Use an algorithm for bitfield alignment consistent with MSVC. Default is gcc's algorithm.

-mfloat-abi (ARM only)

Select the float ABI. Possible values: "softfp" and "hard"

-mno-sse

Do not use sse registers on x86_64

-m32, -m64

Pass command line to the i386/x86_64 cross compiler.

Note: GCC options -Ox, -fx and -mx are ignored.

ENVIRONMENT

Environment variables that affect how tcc operates.

CPATH

C_INCLUDE_PATH

A colon-separated list of directories searched for include files, directories given with -I are searched first.

LIBRARY_PATH

A colon-separated list of directories searched for libraries for the -l option, directories given with -L are searched first.

SEE ALSO

cpp(1), gcc(1)

AUTHOR

Fabrice Bellard