orbit-idl1

Usage

Overview

orbit-idl converts object interface descriptions written in CORBA IDL (Interface Definition Language) into C code that you can compile and link into your programs.

Options

orbit-idl accepts the following options:

-d ARG

--debug=ARG

Set the debug level. Supported levels are 0 to 4, default is 2.

--skeleton-impl

Generate a skeleton-impl file.

--nostubs

Do not create the stubs file.

--noskels

Do not create the skels file.

--nocommon

Do not create the common file.

--noheaders

Do not create the headers file.

-D ARG

--define=ARG

Define name for preprocessor.

-I PATH

--include=PATH

Add search path for include files.

--c-output-formatter=PROGRAM

Define the program to use for formatting the compiler output; defaults to indent(1).

-l ARG

--lang=ARG

Specify the output language. The default is C. Support for languages other than C requires the installation of a backend for that language.

--backenddir=DIR

Specify the directory where a language backend is stored (not necessary if backend is stored in the default directory, /usr/lib/orbit-idl.)

--usage

Print a very brief usage summary.

-?

--help

Print a slightly more detailed usage summary.

Compiling

The IDL file(s) compiled by orbit-idl define the interfaces to network-transparent objects. These files are first passed to cpp(1), the C Preprocessor, then the result is parsed, and the C code is generated.

By default, orbit-idl generates four files, the stubs, skels, common, and header files. If your input file is named sample.idl, then the output files will be named, respectively, sample-stubs.c, sample-skels.c, sample-common.c, and sample.h. You can optionally also generate a skeleton-impl file (which would be named sample-skelimpl.c in our example). This file requires manual editing to be useful, and is therefore not generated by default.

The generated C files are formatting ("pretty-printed") using indent(1). You can use another program for this if you prefer, with the --c-output-formatter argument.