Using the Slice Compiler

Common Options

Ice provides a Slice compiler for each language mapping. The compilers share a similar command-line syntax:

BASH

slice2<name> [options] file...

Regardless of which compiler you use, a number of command-line options are common to the compilers for any language mapping:

-h, --help
Displays a help message.
-v, --version
Displays the compiler version.
-DNAME
Defines the preprocessor symbol NAME.
-DNAME=DEF
Defines the preprocessor symbol NAME with the value DEF.
Each compiler always predefines the __<compiler name in upper case>__ macro when compiling Slice file. For example, slice2cpp predefines __SLICE2CPP__.
-UNAME
Undefines the preprocessor symbol NAME.
-IDIR
Add the directory DIR to the search path for #include directives.
--output-dir DIR
Place the generated files into directory DIR, which must already exist.
-d, --debug
Print debug information showing the operation of the Slice parser.

--depend
Print dependency information in Makefile format to standard output by default, or to the file specified by the --depend-file option.

--depend-xml
Print dependency information in XML format to standard output by default, or to the file specified by the --depend-file option.

--depend-json
Print dependency information in JSON format to standard output by default, or to the file specified by the --depend-file option.

--depend-file FILE
Directs dependency information to the specified file. The output format depends on whether --depend, --depend-xml, or --depend-json is specified.
--validate
Checks the provided command-line options for correctness, and does not generate any code.

The Slice compilers permit you to compile more than a single source file, so you can compile several Slice definitions at once, for example:

BASH

slice2cpp -I. file1.ice file2.ice file3.ice

The Slice-to-JavaScript compiler (slice2js) offers the following command-line options in addition to the standard options:

--stdout
Print generated code to standard output.
--typescript
Generate TypeScript declaration file.
--depend-json
Print dependency information in JSON format to standard output by default, or to the file specified by the --depend-file option. No code is generated when this option is specified. The output consists of the complete list of Slice files that the input Slice files depend on through direct or indirect inclusion.