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Compiler Option Print

Paul Squires edited this page Oct 14, 2026 · 3 revisions

Home › Compiler Option: -print

Compiler Option: -print

Print out information

Syntax

-print option

Description

The -print option can be used to query the compiler for certain information which may be useful especially for build scripts. It does not prevent compilation of input files given besides the -print option, but the compiler also can be invoked with only a -print option and no input files, in which case it will not compile anything but only respond to the -print option.

Currently, the following -print options are recognized:

option effect
fblibdir Prints the compiler's lib/ path
host Prints the host system on which the compiler is running
target Prints the target system for which the compiler is compiling (can be affected by the -target option)
x Prints the file name of the output executable or library that the compiler will or would generate (named after the -x option), depending on other command line options
sha-1 Prints the source code revision sha-1 used to build the compiler if defined at the compiler's build time, or an empty string if it was not defined
fork-id Prints the custom defined project fork identifier name if defined at the compiler's build time, or an empty string if it was not defined

Example

A makefile could use target := $(shell $(FBC) -print target) to find out the compilation target, which would even work when cross-compiling, with FBC set to something like fbc -target foo.

fbc -print x alone will print out the executable file extension for the target system.
fbc -print x -dll on the other hand will print out the dynamic library file name format.
fbc -print x -m foo will print out the executable file name that would be used when compiling a module called foo.bas.
fbc 1.bas 2.bas -lib -print x will compile 1.bas and 2.bas into a library, whose file name will be displayed.

See also


Reproduced from the FreeBASIC Wiki Manual under the GNU Free Documentation License 1.3 — with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts and no Back-Cover Texts. Copyright © the FreeBASIC project and wiki contributors. See License.

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