R: Compile Files for Use with R on Unix-alikes

COMPILE {utils} | R Documentation

## Compile Files for Use with R on Unix-alikes

### Description

Compile given source files so that they can subsequently be collected into a shared object using `R CMD SHLIB` or an executable program using `R CMD LINK`. Not available on Windows.

### Usage

    R CMD COMPILE [options] srcfiles

### Arguments

`srcfiles` | A list of the names of source files to be compiled. Currently, C, C++, Objective C, Objective C++ and Fortran are supported; the corresponding files should have the extensions ‘.c’, ‘.cc’ (or ‘.cpp’), ‘.m’, ‘.mm’ (or ‘.M’), ‘.f’ and ‘.f90’ or ‘.f95’, respectively.
`options` | A list of compile-relevant settings, or for obtaining information about usage and version of the utility.

### Details

`R CMD SHLIB` can both compile and link files into a shared object: since it knows what run-time libraries are needed when passed C++, Fortran and Objective C(++) sources, passing source files to `R CMD SHLIB` is more reliable.

Objective C and Objective C++ support is optional and will work only if the corresponding compilers were available at R configure time: their main usage is on macOS.

Compilation arranges to include the paths to the R public C/C++ headers.

As this compiles code suitable for incorporation into a shared object, it generates PIC code: that might occasionally be undesirable for the main code of an executable program.

This is a `make`-based facility, so will not compile a source file if a newer corresponding ‘.o’ file is present.

### Note

Some binary distributions of R have `COMPILE` in a separate bundle, e.g. an `R-devel` RPM.

This is not available on Windows.

### See Also

`LINK`, `SHLIB`, `dyn.load`; the section on “Customizing compilation under Unix” in “R Administration and Installation” (see the ‘doc/manual’ subdirectory of the R source tree).

[Package utils version 4.0.5 Index]