[Caml-list] Interface(.mli) location

[moosotc@gmail.com]

It appears that .mli ought to always reside in the same directory
corresponding .ml lives in. Here's a simple shell script to illustrate
(probably a good idea to run inside freshly created temporary
directory):

#!/bin/sh
set -x
rm -fr a* d

touch a.ml
ocamldep a.ml
ocamlc -c a.ml || echo no cookie 1
ls
rm -f a* *.cm*

touch a.ml a.mli
ocamldep a.ml
ocamlc -c a.ml || echo no cookie 2 && ls
ocamlc -c a.mli && ls
ocamldep a.ml
ocamlc -c a.ml || echo no cookie 3 && ls
rm -f a*

mkdir -p d
touch a.ml d/a.mli
ocamldep -I d a.ml
ocamlc -I d -c a.ml
ls

Transcript:
+ rm -fr 'a*' d
+ touch a.ml
+ ocamldep a.ml
a.cmo :
a.cmx :
+ ocamlc -c a.ml
+ ls
a.cmi
a.cmo
a.ml
repro.sh
+ rm -f a.cmi a.cmo a.ml a.cmi a.cmo
+ touch a.ml a.mli
+ ocamldep a.ml
a.cmo : a.cmi
a.cmx : a.cmi
+ ocamlc -c a.ml
File "a.ml", line 1:
Error: Could not find the .cmi file for interface a.mli.
+ echo no cookie 2
no cookie 2
+ ls
a.ml
a.mli
repro.sh
+ ocamlc -c a.mli
+ ls
a.cmi
a.ml
a.mli
repro.sh
+ ocamldep a.ml
a.cmo : a.cmi
a.cmx : a.cmi
+ ocamlc -c a.ml
+ ls
a.cmi
a.cmo
a.ml
a.mli
repro.sh
+ rm -f a.cmi a.cmo a.ml a.mli
+ mkdir -p d
+ touch a.ml d/a.mli
+ ocamldep -I d a.ml
a.cmo :
a.cmx :
+ ocamlc -I d -c a.ml
+ ls
a.cmi
a.cmo
a.ml
d
repro.sh

In essence: if one needs a variant build with some module providing the
same interface but different implementations (in different directories)
ocaml(c|opt|dep) will force this person to have the same (stable and
unchanging) .mli in those implementation specific directories.

Section 2.5 of the manual does not specify the relative file-system
locations of interface/implementation files, but typing/typemod.ml, if I
am reading it correctly, forces specific layout.

So it would have been nice to either lift this restriction (i.e. have
ocaml[c|opt|dep] look inside -I supplied directories or spell out the
requirements in the documentation.

-- 
mailto:moosotc@gmail.com