Reading compiler diagnostics
The LPC compiler reports errors and warnings clang-style: a
file:line:column header, the offending source line with a gutter, a
caret marking the position (with ~~~ ranges for operands where they
apply), and follow-up notes.
/cmds/ftpd.lpc:12:5: error: Undefined variable 'mudinfo'
12 | mudinfo = query_mud_info();
| ^~~~~~~
Macro expansion notes
When the error position is inside a macro expansion, the diagnostic
carries one note: expanded from macro '...' per expansion level,
each with the macro's definition site and its definition line:
/obj/board.lpc:44:13: error: Illegal type to +
44 | total = SUM_OF(a, b);
| ^~~~~~~~~~~~
/include/board.h:7:9: note: expanded from macro 'SUM_OF'
7 | #define SUM_OF(x, y) ((x) + (y))
| ^
Include chains and load reasons
Errors inside an #included file print the chain of includes that got
there, and errors while loading an inherited file record why the file
was being compiled:
In file included from /cmds/ftpd.lpc:3:
/include/ftpdconf.h:15:1: error: ...
note: while loading '/std/container' inherited by '/std/chest'
Warnings
Warnings use the same format with warning: severity. They do not
fail the compile. #pragma no_warnings suppresses them for the rest
of the file (see pragma). Notable warnings:
- Macro redefinition —
#define-ing an existing macro with a different body warns (with a note pointing at the previous definition) and the new definition takes effect. Redefining with an identical body is silent. See define.
Fix-it hints
Some diagnostics carry a replacement suggestion rendered under the caret when the fix is unambiguous — for example an unknown escape sequence in a string literal, where the character stands for itself and the backslash should be dropped:
/obj/sign.lpc:9:20: warning: Unknown escape sequence '\m'.
9 | write("Read \me!");
| ^~
| m
Legacy error context
#pragma show_error_context is a legacy flag that predates these
clang-style diagnostics. The output shown above always includes the
source snippet and caret, so the pragma no longer changes how
compiler diagnostics are rendered — it survives only for the
driver's older runtime error-logging path.