What is an Erlang hrl file?

Question

What is an .hrl file in Erlang/OTP? Is it some sort of library mechanism?

After reading the link you showed maybe me and you should "agree to disagree" on what the definition of "readability" is. But thanks for the link anyway :) — yazz.com, Feb 23 '10 at 08:39
@dustin: i stumbled over them in "programming erlang" on page 60. so -- there is indeed the possibility to know of the existence without knowing the purpose or contents. — aurora, Aug 14 '11 at 17:08

score 37 · Accepted Answer · edited Dec 14 '11 at 14:44

37

A "header file" akin to a "C" include file.

One needs to invoke the -include directive from an .erl file to use them. Can contain any valid Erlang code.

edited Dec 14 '11 at 14:44

Community

answered Feb 22 '10 at 16:25

jldupont

1

You can also use `-include_lib` to include a header file from another application. – Zed Feb 22 '10 at 16:48
1

@zed: yes, see the following SO question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1847918/erlang-what-is-the-difference-between-include-lib-and-include – jldupont Feb 22 '10 at 17:08

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 22 '11 at 12:22

9

answered Aug 22 '11 at 12:22

chikamichi

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 22 '10 at 16:25

7

hrl files are simply erlang "header", that is files containing common definitions that are intended to be included by .erl files.

answered Feb 22 '10 at 16:25

tonio

3 Answers3