Compile project

Compile project {( {projectFile}{;}{options} )} : Object

Parameter	Type		Description
projectFile	4D.File	→	.4DProject file to compile
options	Object	→	Object that specifies compilation options
Function result	Object	←	Object containing information on the compilation status

Description

Compile project allows you to compile the current host project or the project specified in the projectFile parameter. For more information on compilation, check the Compilation page.

By default, the command uses the compiler options defined in the Structure Settings. You can override them by passing an options parameter. The following syntaxes are supported:

• Compile project(): compiles the opened project using the options defined in the Structure Settings
• Compile project(options): compiles the opened project. The options defined override the Structure Settings
• Compile project(projectFile): compiles the projectFile 4DProject using the options defined in the Structure Settings
• Compile project(projectFile; options): compiles the projectFile 4DProject and the options defined override the Structure Settings

Note: Binary databases cannot be compiled using this command.

Unlike the Compiler window, this command requires that you explicitly designate the component(s) to compile. When compiling a project with Compile project, you need to declare its components using the components property of the options parameter. Keep in mind that the components must already be compiled (binary components are supported).

The resulting compiled code will be stored in the DerivedData or Libraries folder of the project, depending on the targets property of the options parameter. If you want to create .4dz files, you still need to manually zip the compiled project or use the build application feature.

If you pass an empty collection in targets, Compile project will execute a syntax check without compiling.

Compilation errors, if any, are returned as objects in the errors collection.

Note: You cannot call this command when another compilation is running (for example, a compilation launched from the Compilation window).

options Parameter

The options parameter is an object. Here are the available compilation options:

Property	Type	Description
components	Collection	Collection of 4D.File objects to dependent components (must be already compiled)
defaultTypeForButtons	Integer	Possible value: Is real or Is longint
defaultTypeForNumerics	Integer	Possible value: Is real or Is longint
generateSymbols	Boolean	True to generate symbol information in the .symbols returned object
generateSyntaxFile	Boolean	True to generate a syntax file for code completion.md#generate-syntax-file-for-code-completion-when-compiled) in the \Resources\en.lproj folder of the project
generateTypingMethods	Text	"reset" or "append" to generate typing methods. If value is "append", existing variable declarations won't be modified (compiler window behavior). If value is "reset" existing variable declarations are removed beforehand.
plugins	4D.Folder object	Plug-ins folder to be used instead of the Plugins folder of the current project. This property is only available with the projectFile syntax.
targets	Collection of strings	Possible values: "x86_64_generic", "arm64_macOS_lib". Pass an empty collection to execute syntax check only
typeInference	Text	"all": The compiler deduces the types of all variables not explicitly declared, "locals": The compiler deduces the types of local variables not explicitly declared, "none": All variables must be explicitly declared in the code (legacy mode), "direct": All variables must be explicitly declared in the code (direct typing).
warnings	Collection of objects	Defines the warnings state
[].major	Number	Warning main number, before the dot
[].minor	Number	Warning second number, after the dot
[].enabled	Boolean	Warning activation state

Note: When the warnings attribute is not defined in the options object, the Compile project command uses the default warning generation statuses defined in the settings.

Function result

The object returned by Compile project has up to three properties:

Property	Type	Description
success	Boolean	True if the save action is successful, False otherwise.
errors	Collection of objects	Available only in case of error or warning. Collection of objects describing compilation errors or warnings
[].isError	Boolean	Error if True, warning otherwise
[].message	Text	Error message
[].code	Object	code object
[].line	Number	Line number of error in the code. For class methods, line number in the function
[].lineInFile	Number	Line number in the file (different from "line" for class methods, and takes into account the %attributes prefix line)
symbols	Object	Available only if generateSymbols option is set to True:
.interprocessVariables	Object	List of all interprocess variables
.interprocessVariables.variables	Collection	Collection of variable objects
.interprocessVariables.size	Number
.processVariables	Object	List of all process variables
.processVariables.variables	Collection	Collection of variable objects
.processVariables.size	Number
.localVariables	Collection of objects	List of local variables per method
.localVariables[].code	Object	code object
.localVariables[].variables	Collection	Collection of variable objects
.methods	Collection of objects	List of methods
.methods[].code	Object	code object
.methods[].callCount	Number	Number of times this method has been called
.methods[].params	Collection	Collection of parameter types (Value type numerical codes)
.methods[]. threadSafe	Boolean	Indicates if this method is thread safe

For more information, see Compilation tools.

variable objects

interprocessVariables.variables and processVariables.variables contain objects with the following structure:

Property	Type	Description
name	Text	Name of the variable
type	number	Type of the variable (like Value type command)
arrayDimension	number	For arrays only: 1 for mono dimension arrays, 2 for two-dimension arrays
code	Object	For process and interprocess variables: descriptor of where the variable has been defined

code object

The code property in methods.code and errors.code is an object with the following properties:

Property	Type	Description
type	Text	"projectMethod", "formObjectMethod", "formMethod", "databaseMethod", "triggerMethod", "executeOnServer" (when calling a project method with the Execute on Server attribute), "executeFormula" (when executing a formula via PROCESS 4D TAGS or evaluation of a formula in a 4D Write Pro document), "class", "classFunction"
path	Text	Method path (same format as METHOD OPEN PATH)
file	4D.File	Method file
		Returned depending on the value of the type property:
methodName	Text	Project method
table	Number	Number of the table (returned for a trigger, a table form method or a table form object method)
formName	Text	Form name (returned for a form method)
objectName	Text	Form object name (returned for an object method)
className	Text	Class name
functionName	Text	Class function name
databaseMethod	Number	Database method index

Examples

To perform a syntax check only, pass an empty collection to the targets parameter:

 var $status : Object
 var $options:={}
 $options.targets:=New collection //Empty collection for syntax checking
 $status:=Compile project($options)

Compile the current project using the compiler options of the Structure Settings only:

 var $status : Object
 $status:=Compile project

On a Silicon Mac, compile the current project to ARM only:

 var $status : Object
 var $options:={}
 $options.targets:=New collection("arm64_macOS_lib")
 $status:=Compile project($options)

Compile a project other than the current project:

 var $status : Object
 var $projectFile: 4D.File
 $projectFile:=Folder(fk documents folder).file("Databases/myApp/Project/myApp.4DProject")
 $status:=Compile project($projectFile)

Compile a project and declare its component:

 var $status : Object
 var $component : 4D.File
 var $options:={}
 $component:=Folder(fk documents folder).file("Components/myComponent.4dz")
 $options.components:=New collection($component)
 $status:=Compile project($options)

Disable warnings 518.1 and 518.2 when compiling your project:

var $options:={}
$options.warnings:=[]$options.warnings.push({major: 518; minor: 1; enabled: False})
$options.warnings.push({major: 518; minor: 2; enabled: False})
var $result:=Compile project($options)

See also

BUILD APPLICATION

Properties

Command number	1760
Thread safe	✗