Module Fl_dynload

Load the given packages and all their dependencies dynamically. Packages already loaded or already in-core are not loaded again. The predicates are taken from Findlib.recorded_predicates, which are normally the predicates from the link-time of the executable.

In order to initialize this module correctly, you need to link the executable in a special way. This is done by including "findlib.dynload" in the ocamlfind command, e.g.

 ocamlfind ocamlopt -o program -package findlib.dynload -linkpkg m.ml 

It is not sufficient to just link findlib_dynload.cm(x)a into the executable. The above command adds special initialization code that (a) records the predicates and (b) records the packages already present in the executable. Also -linkall is implicitly added.

The dynamic package loader works both for bytecode and native code. The META files of the packages need to specify the cma or cmxs files in the following way:

• First, the "plugin" variable is checked (instead of "archive"), e.g.

  plugin(byte) = "my_plugin.cma"
  plugin(native) = "my_plugin.cmxs"
         

  This is the preferred style.
• Second, for bytecode only, the normal "archive" variable is also accepted if "plugin" is not present. (Because bytecode archives can normally be dynamically loaded without special preparation.)
• Third, for native-code only, the "archive(plugin)" variable is also accepted. This is for legacy packages.