..
   This file is part of Logtalk <https://logtalk.org/>  
   SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 1998-2024 Paulo Moura <pmoura@logtalk.org>
   SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0

   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
   You may obtain a copy of the License at

       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
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.. _faq_usability:

Usability
=========

* :ref:`faq_usability_shortcuts`
* :ref:`faq_usability_ensure_loaded`
* :ref:`faq_usability_make`

.. _faq_usability_shortcuts:

Is there a shortcut for compiling and loading source files?
-----------------------------------------------------------

Yes. With most backend Prolog compilers, you can use ``{File}`` as a
shortcut for ``logtalk_load(File)``. For compiling and loading
multiple files simply use ``{File1, File2, ...}``. See the documentation
of the :ref:`predicates_logtalk_load_1` predicate for details.

.. _faq_usability_ensure_loaded:

Is there an equivalent directive to the ``ensure_loaded/1`` Prolog directive?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can use the goal ``logtalk_load(File, [reload(skip)])`` to ensure
that ``File`` is only loaded once. See the documentation
of the :ref:`predicates_logtalk_load_2` predicate for details.

.. _faq_usability_make:

Are there shortcuts for the make functionality?
-----------------------------------------------

Yes. With most backend Prolog compilers, you can use ``{*}`` as a
shortcut for ``logtalk_make(all)`` to reload all files modified since
last compiled and loaded, ``{!}`` as a shortcut for
``logtalk_make(clean)`` to delete all intermediate Prolog files
generated by the compilation of Logtalk source files, ``{?}`` as a
shortcut for ``logtalk_make(missing)`` to list missing entities and
predicates, and ``{@}`` as a shortcut for ``logtalk_make(circular)``
to list circular references. See the documentation
of the :ref:`predicates_logtalk_make_1` predicate for details.
