Since Release 2.5, the Runtime Generator compiler qpc has been
made available as part of the Development System.
qpc compiles Prolog files into QOF (Quintus Object Format) files.
QOF files can be linked together to make an executable file, which is
an extended version of the development system. If you have a Runtime
Generator license, you have the alternative of linking your QOF files
into a runtime system, which omits development features (the compiler
and debugger) and which can be conveniently deployed to different
machines since it requires no authorization code in order to be run.
Release 3 introduces the ability to load QOF files directly into a running Prolog system. Loading a QOF file is up to 100 times faster than compiling it from source. File loading has been adapted to take advantage fo this new functionality. For instance, the form
| ?- [file].
now loads file.qof if it exists and is more recent than file.pl; otherwise
it compiles file.pl.
The saved-state produced by save_program/1 is now a QOF file.
This means that it is now portable between different hardware and
operating systems as well as between all releases of Quintus Prolog. It can
still be executed as if it were an executable file, or it can be
loaded into a running Prolog system. Another alternative is to call
the QOF-linker qld on it to convert it to an executable file.
It is also possible to save individual predicates or modules into a QOF
file.
ref-lod and ref-sls describe
QOF loading and QOF saving respectively. See sap-srs-bas-cld for how to
link QOF files to make an executable file.