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man pages section 3: Extended Library Functions, Volume 1

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Updated: Wednesday, July 27, 2022
 
 

epp (3erl)

Name

epp - An Erlang code preprocessor.

Synopsis

Please see following description for synopsis

Description

epp(3)                     Erlang Module Definition                     epp(3)



NAME
       epp - An Erlang code preprocessor.

DESCRIPTION
       The  Erlang  code  preprocessor includes functions that are used by the
       compile module to preprocess macros and include files before the  pars-
       ing takes place.

       The  Erlang source file encoding is selected by a comment in one of the
       first two lines of the source file. The first string matching the regu-
       lar expression coding\s*[:=]\s*([-a-zA-Z0-9])+ selects the encoding. If
       the matching string is not a valid encoding, it is ignored.  The  valid
       encodings  are  Latin-1 and UTF-8, where the case of the characters can
       be chosen freely.

       Examples:

       %% coding: utf-8

       %% For this file we have chosen encoding = Latin-1

       %% -*- coding: latin-1 -*-

DATA TYPES
       macros() =
           [atom() | {atom(), term()} | {atom(), term(), redefine}]

       epp_handle() = pid()

              Handle to the epp server.

       source_encoding() = latin1 | utf8

       warning_info() = {erl_anno:location(), module(), term()}

EXPORTS
       close(Epp) -> ok

              Types:

                 Epp = epp_handle()

              Closes the preprocessing of a file.

       default_encoding() -> source_encoding()

              Returns the default encoding of Erlang source files.

       encoding_to_string(Encoding) -> string()

              Types:

                 Encoding = source_encoding()

              Returns a string representation of an encoding.  The  string  is
              recognized  by read_encoding/1,2, read_encoding_from_binary/1,2,
              and set_encoding/1,2 as a valid encoding.

       format_error(ErrorDescriptor) -> io_lib:chars()

              Types:

                 ErrorDescriptor = term()

              Takes an ErrorDescriptor and returns a string that describes the
              error  or  warning.  This  function is usually called implicitly
              when processing an ErrorInfo structure (see section Error Infor-
              mation).

       open(Options) ->
               {ok, Epp} | {ok, Epp, Extra} | {error, ErrorDescriptor}

              Types:

                 Options =
                     [{default_encoding, DefEncoding :: source_encoding()} |
                      {includes,     IncludePath    ::    [DirectoryName    ::
                 file:name()]} |
                      {source_name, SourceName :: file:name()} |
                      {macros, PredefMacros :: macros()} |
                      {name, FileName :: file:name()} |
                      {location, StartLocation :: erl_anno:location()} |
                      {fd, FileDescriptor :: file:io_device()} |
                      extra]
                 Epp = epp_handle()
                 Extra = [{encoding, source_encoding() | none}]
                 ErrorDescriptor = term()

              Opens a file for preprocessing.

              If you want to change the file  name  of  the  implicit  -file()
              attributes  inserted  during  preprocessing,  you  can  do  with
              {source_name, SourceName}. If unset it will default to the  name
              of the opened file.

              If  extra is specified in Options, the return value is {ok, Epp,
              Extra} instead of {ok, Epp}.

              The option location is forwarded to the  Erlang  token  scanner,
              see erl_scan:tokens/3,4.

       open(FileName, IncludePath) ->
               {ok, Epp} | {error, ErrorDescriptor}

              Types:

                 FileName = file:name()
                 IncludePath = [DirectoryName :: file:name()]
                 Epp = epp_handle()
                 ErrorDescriptor = term()

              Equivalent  to  epp:open([{name,  FileName}, {includes, Include-
              Path}]).

       open(FileName, IncludePath, PredefMacros) ->
               {ok, Epp} | {error, ErrorDescriptor}

              Types:

                 FileName = file:name()
                 IncludePath = [DirectoryName :: file:name()]
                 PredefMacros = macros()
                 Epp = epp_handle()
                 ErrorDescriptor = term()

              Equivalent to epp:open([{name,  FileName},  {includes,  Include-
              Path}, {macros, PredefMacros}]).

       parse_erl_form(Epp) ->
                         {ok, AbsForm} |
                         {error, ErrorInfo} |
                         {warning, WarningInfo} |
                         {eof, Location}

              Types:

                 Epp = epp_handle()
                 AbsForm = erl_parse:abstract_form()
                 Location = erl_anno:location()
                 ErrorInfo = erl_scan:error_info() | erl_parse:error_info()
                 WarningInfo = warning_info()

              Returns the next Erlang form from the opened Erlang source file.
              Tuple {eof, Location} is returned at the end of  the  file.  The
              first  form corresponds to an implicit attribute -file(File,1).,
              where File is the file name.

       parse_file(FileName, Options) ->
                     {ok, [Form]} |
                     {ok, [Form], Extra} |
                     {error, OpenError}

              Types:

                 FileName = file:name()
                 Options =
                     [{includes,    IncludePath    ::    [DirectoryName     ::
                 file:name()]} |
                      {source_name, SourceName :: file:name()} |
                      {macros, PredefMacros :: macros()} |
                      {default_encoding, DefEncoding :: source_encoding()} |
                      {location, StartLocation :: erl_anno:location()} |
                      extra]
                 Form =
                     erl_parse:abstract_form() |
                     {error, ErrorInfo} |
                     {eof, Location}
                 Location = erl_anno:location()
                 ErrorInfo = erl_scan:error_info() | erl_parse:error_info()
                 Extra = [{encoding, source_encoding() | none}]
                 OpenError = file:posix() | badarg | system_limit

              Preprocesses and parses an Erlang source file. Notice that tuple
              {eof, Location} returned at the end of the file is included as a
              "form".

              If  you  want  to  change  the file name of the implicit -file()
              attributes  inserted  during  preprocessing,  you  can  do  with
              {source_name,  SourceName}. If unset it will default to the name
              of the opened file.

              If extra is specified in  Options,  the  return  value  is  {ok,
              [Form], Extra} instead of {ok, [Form]}.

              The  option  location  is forwarded to the Erlang token scanner,
              see erl_scan:tokens/3,4.

       parse_file(FileName, IncludePath, PredefMacros) ->
                     {ok, [Form]} | {error, OpenError}

              Types:

                 FileName = file:name()
                 IncludePath = [DirectoryName :: file:name()]
                 Form =
                     erl_parse:abstract_form() |
                     {error, ErrorInfo} |
                     {eof, Location}
                 PredefMacros = macros()
                 Location = erl_anno:location()
                 ErrorInfo = erl_scan:error_info() | erl_parse:error_info()
                 OpenError = file:posix() | badarg | system_limit

              Equivalent to epp:parse_file(FileName, [{includes, IncludePath},
              {macros, PredefMacros}]).

       read_encoding(FileName) -> source_encoding() | none

       read_encoding(FileName, Options) -> source_encoding() | none

              Types:

                 FileName = file:name()
                 Options = [Option]
                 Option = {in_comment_only, boolean()}

              Read  the  encoding  from  a file. Returns the read encoding, or
              none if no valid encoding is found.

              Option in_comment_only is true by default, which is correct  for
              Erlang  source  files. If set to false, the encoding string does
              not necessarily have to occur in a comment.

       read_encoding_from_binary(Binary) -> source_encoding() | none

       read_encoding_from_binary(Binary, Options) ->
                                    source_encoding() | none

              Types:

                 Binary = binary()
                 Options = [Option]
                 Option = {in_comment_only, boolean()}

              Read the encoding from a binary. Returns the read  encoding,  or
              none if no valid encoding is found.

              Option  in_comment_only is true by default, which is correct for
              Erlang source files. If set to false, the encoding  string  does
              not necessarily have to occur in a comment.

       scan_erl_form(Epp) ->
                        {ok, Tokens} |
                        {error, ErrorInfo} |
                        {warning, WarningInfo} |
                        {eof, Line}

              Types:

                 Epp = epp_handle()
                 Tokens = erl_scan:tokens()
                 Line = erl_anno:line()
                 ErrorInfo = erl_scan:error_info() | erl_parse:error_info()
                 WarningInfo = warning_info()

              Returns  the  raw tokens of the next Erlang form from the opened
              Erlang source file. A tuple {eof, Line} is returned at  the  end
              of the file. The first form corresponds to an implicit attribute
              -file(File,1)., where File is the file name.

       scan_file(FileName, Options) ->
                    {ok, [Form], Extra} | {error, OpenError}

              Types:

                 FileName = file:name()
                 Options =
                     [{includes,    IncludePath    ::    [DirectoryName     ::
                 file:name()]} |
                      {source_name, SourceName :: file:name()} |
                      {macros, PredefMacros :: macros()} |
                      {default_encoding, DefEncoding :: source_encoding()}]
                 Form = erl_scan:tokens() | {error, ErrorInfo} | {eof, Loc}
                 Loc = erl_anno:location()
                 ErrorInfo = erl_scan:error_info()
                 Extra = [{encoding, source_encoding() | none}]
                 OpenError = file:posix() | badarg | system_limit

              Preprocesses an Erlang source file returning a list of the lists
              of raw tokens of each form. Notice that the  tuple  {eof,  Line}
              returned at the end of the file is included as a "form", and any
              failures to scan a form are  included  in  the  list  as  tuples
              {error, ErrorInfo}.

       set_encoding(File) -> source_encoding() | none

              Types:

                 File = io:device()

              Reads  the  encoding from an I/O device and sets the encoding of
              the device accordingly. The position of the  I/O  device  refer-
              enced  by File is not affected. If no valid encoding can be read
              from the I/O device, the encoding of the I/O device  is  set  to
              the default encoding.

              Returns  the  read  encoding,  or  none  if no valid encoding is
              found.

       set_encoding(File, Default) -> source_encoding() | none

              Types:

                 Default = source_encoding()
                 File = io:device()

              Reads the encoding from an I/O device and sets the  encoding  of
              the  device  accordingly.  The position of the I/O device refer-
              enced by File is not affected. If no valid encoding can be  read
              from  the  I/O  device, the encoding of the I/O device is set to
              the encoding specified by Default.

              Returns the read encoding, or  none  if  no  valid  encoding  is
              found.

ERROR INFORMATION
       ErrorInfo is the standard ErrorInfo structure that is returned from all
       I/O modules. The format is as follows:

       {ErrorLine, Module, ErrorDescriptor}

       A string describing the error is obtained with the following call:

       Module:format_error(ErrorDescriptor)

SEE ALSO
       erl_parse(3)



Ericsson AB                       stdlib 3.17                           epp(3)