ironplcc¶

Name¶

ironplcc — IronPLC compiler

Synopsis¶

ironplcc [OPTIONS] COMMAND

Description¶

ironplcc is the IronPLC compiler command line interface. It checks IEC 61131-3 source files for correctness and compiles them into bytecode container (.iplc) files for execution by the ironplcvm runtime.

Most developers will use ironplcc through the Visual Studio Code extension, but you can also use it directly, for example, to implement a continuous integration pipeline.

When a command accepts multiple files, the files are treated as a single compilation unit (essentially combined for analysis). Directory names can be given to add all files in the given directory.

Commands¶

Build Commands¶

ironplcc check [FILES…]: Check source files for syntax and semantic correctness without producing output. On success, the command produces no output.
ironplcc compile [FILES…] -o OUTPUT: Compile source files into a bytecode container (.iplc) file. Requires the --output (-o) flag to specify the output file path.

Warning

The compile command currently supports only trivial programs. Supported features include: PROGRAM declarations, INT variable declarations, assignment statements, integer literal constants, and the + (add) operator. Programs using other features will produce a code generation error.

Diagnostic Commands¶

ironplcc echo [FILES…]: Parse source files and write the parsed representation to standard output. This is primarily useful for diagnostics and understanding the internal structure of the parsed files.
ironplcc tokenize [FILES…]: Tokenize source files and verify that all content matches a token. This is primarily useful for diagnostics and understanding the lexer behavior.

Informational Commands¶

ironplcc dialects: Show available dialects and which features each enables. Use this to discover which --allow-* flags a dialect includes.
ironplcc version: Print the version number of the compiler.

Other Commands¶

ironplcc lsp --stdio: Run in Language Server Protocol mode to integrate with development tools such as Visual Studio Code. Communication uses standard input/output.

Options¶

-v, --verbose: Turn on verbose logging. Repeat the flag to increase verbosity (e.g., -vvv).
-l FILE, --log-file FILE: Write log output to the specified file instead of the terminal.
--dialect DIALECT: Select the language dialect. A dialect sets the IEC 61131-3 edition and a default set of vendor extensions. Individual --allow-* flags can override the dialect’s defaults. Available values: iec61131-3-ed2 (default), iec61131-3-ed3, rusty. See Enabling Dialects and Features for details.
--allow-c-style-comments: Allow C-style comments (// line comments and /* */ block comments). This is a vendor extension not part of the IEC 61131-3 standard.
--allow-missing-semicolon: Allow missing semicolons after keyword statements like END_IF and END_STRUCT. This is a vendor extension not part of the IEC 61131-3 standard.
--allow-top-level-var-global: Allow VAR_GLOBAL declarations at the top level of a file, outside of a CONFIGURATION block. This is a vendor extension not part of the IEC 61131-3 standard.
--allow-constant-type-params: Allow constant references in type parameters (e.g., STRING[MY_CONST] or ARRAY[1..MY_CONST] OF INT). This is a vendor extension not part of the IEC 61131-3 standard.
--allow-empty-var-blocks: Allow empty variable blocks (VAR END_VAR, VAR_INPUT END_VAR, etc.). This is a vendor extension not part of the IEC 61131-3 standard.
--allow-time-as-function-name: Allow TIME to be used as a function name (e.g., TIME()). Required for OSCAT compatibility. This is a vendor extension not part of the IEC 61131-3 standard.
--allow-ref-to: Allow REF_TO, REF(), and NULL syntax without enabling full Edition 3. This is a vendor extension useful when you need references but want to keep Edition 2 keyword handling for the rest of your code.
--allow-pointer-arithmetic: Allow arithmetic (+, -) and ordering comparisons (<, >, <=, >=) on REF_TO types. By default, only = and <> are permitted on references.
--allow-int-to-bool-initializer: Allow integer literals 0 and 1 as BOOL variable initializers, treating 0 as FALSE and 1 as TRUE. This is a vendor extension supported by CoDeSys, TwinCAT, RuSTy, and virtually every PLC runtime.
--allow-sizeof: Allow the SIZEOF() operator that returns the size in bytes of a variable or type. This is a vendor extension supported by CODESYS, TwinCAT, and RuSTy.
--allow-cross-family-widening: Allow implicit widening between bit-string and integer type families (e.g. BYTE to INT, literal 0 to BYTE). This is a vendor extension supported by CODESYS, TwinCAT, and RuSTy.

Examples¶

Check a source file for correctness:
```
ironplcc check main.st
```
Check all files in a directory:
```
ironplcc check src/
```
Compile a source file to a bytecode container:
```
ironplcc compile main.st -o main.iplc
```

Compile with verbose logging to a file:

ironplcc -vv --log-file build.log compile main.st -o main.iplc

Inspect the parsed representation of a file:
```
ironplcc echo main.st
```
Check a source file using IEC 61131-3:2013 (Edition 3) features:
```
ironplcc check --dialect iec61131-3-ed3 main.st
```
Show available dialects and their features:
```
ironplcc dialects
```