> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.canton.network/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # The Daml Compiler > Daml compiler flags and invocation options. # The Daml Compiler At the core of the Daml toolchain lies the Daml Compiler, also known as `damlc`. Its primary usage is to compile Daml source code, which defines smart contracts and their behaviours, into a lower-level language called Daml-LF, which Canton participants can evaluate in order to run those smart contracts. We recommend running the compiler via DPM (i.e. through `dpm build`), or alternatively, by calling `damlc` directly. When compiling code, the Daml Compiler goes through the following stages: 1. The input `.daml` files are type-checked (i.e. it is verified if they are well-formed or not) 2. The type-checked `` `.daml `` code is transformed to Daml-LF. 3. The produced Daml-LF is packaged together with its dependencies and their metadata into a `.dar` file, which essentially is an archive of Daml-LF files with metadata. Build files produced by a call to `dpm build` are stored in a `.daml` directory, local to the project in which `dpm build` was run. They can be cleaned using `dpm clean`. The Daml Compiler also offers testing functionality. It can be invoked either by first calling `dpm build` to obtain a `.dar` which is then used in a call to `daml-script` (i.e. `dpm script`), or by calling `glos-daml-test` (i.e. `dpm test`) directly. ## Build & test flags These flags are available for both `--build` as well as `--test`. * `-h`, `--help` Prints option information when called on the commandline. * `--package-root ARG` DPM-specific option. Path to the root of a `glos-daml-package` containing `daml.yaml`. Using this option, you set the package to build/test. You should prefer the `DAML_PACKAGE` environment variable over this option. See `dpm-configuration` for more details. * `--project-root ARG` DPM-specific option. `project-root` is **deprecated**, please use `--package-root`. Path to the root of a `glos-daml-package` containing `daml.yaml`. You should prefer the `DAML_PACKAGE` environment variable over this option. See `dpm-configuration` for more details. * `--include INCLUDE-PATH` Path to an additional source directory to be included. * `--package-db LOC-OF-PACKAGE-DB` Use `glos-package-database` in the given location. * `--access-token-file PATH` **Deprecated command**\*\*, use DPM-specific instead Path to the token-file for ledger authorization. * `--shake-profiling PROFILING-REPORT` Directory for `glos-shake-profiling-reports`. * `--jobs THREADS` The number of threads to run in parallel. When `-j` is not passed, 1 thread is used. If `-j` is passed, the number of threads defaults to the number of processors. Use `--jobs=N` to explicitely set the number of threads to `N`. Note that the output is not deterministic for > 1 job. * `--debug` Set log level to `DEBUG`. * `--log-level ARG` Set log level. Possible values are `DEBUG`, `INFO`, `WARNING`, `ERROR`. * `--detail LEVEL` Detail level of the pretty printed output (default: 0). A higher level of detail will pretty print more information from for example `damlc inspect` as well as printing source file locations. See `glos-damlc-detail-level`. * `--ghc-option OPTION` Options to pass to the underlying GHC. * `-p,--test-pattern PATTERN` Only scripts with names containing the given pattern will be executed. * `--typecheck-upgrades ARG` Typecheck upgrades. Can be set to "yes", "no" or "auto" to select the default (True). * `--upgrades UPGRADE_DAR` Set DAR to upgrade>. * `-W ARG` Turn an error into a warning with `-W` or `-Wwarn=` or `-Wno-error=`. Turn a warning into an error with `-Werror=`. Disable warnings and errors with `-Wno-`. Available names are: > * `deprecated-exceptions` > * `crypto-text-is-alpha` > * `upgrade-interfaces` > * `upgrade-exceptions` > * `upgrade-dependency-metadata` > * `upgraded-template-expression-changed` > * `upgraded-choice-expression-changed` > * `could-not-extract-upgraded-expression` > * `unused-dependency` > * `upgrades-own-dependency` > * `template-interface-depends-on-daml-script` > * `template-has-new-interface-instance` * `--ignore-data-deps-visibility ARG` Ignore explicit exports on `glos-data-dependencies`, and instead allow importing of all definitions from that `glos-daml-package` (this was the default behaviour before Daml 2.10). Can be set to "yes", "no" or "auto" to select the default (False). ## Build flags * All build & test flags described above. * `-o,--output FILE` Optional output file (defaults to `<PACKAGE-NAME>.dar`). * `--incremental ARG` Enable `glos-incremental-builds`. Can be set to "yes", "no" or "auto" to select the default (False). * `--init-package-db ARG` Initialize `glos-package-database`. Can be set to "yes", "no" or "auto" to select the default (True). * `--enable-multi-package ARG` Enable/disable multi-package.yaml support (enabled by default). Can be set to "yes", "no" or "auto" to select the default (True). * `--all` Build all packages in multi-package.yaml. * `--no-cache` Disables cache checking, rebuilding all dependencies. * `--multi-package-path FILE` Path to the multi-package.yaml file. ## Test flags * All build & test flags described above. * `--files` Only run test declarations in the specified files. * `--all` Run tests in current `glos-daml-package` as well as dependencies * `--load-coverage-only` Don't run any tests. Only load `glos-daml-test-coverage` results from files and write the aggregate to a single file. * `--show-coverage` Show detailed test `glos-daml-test-coverage`. * `--color` Colored test results> * `--junit FILENAME` Filename of JUnit output file. This file contains the test output in the de-facto standard for test output, JUnit XML file format. See [https://github.com/testmoapp/junitxml](https://github.com/testmoapp/junitxml). * `--package-name PACKAGE-NAME` Create package artifacts for the given package name. * `--table-output ARG` Filename to which table should be output. Used to render the table view of Daml Studio, but usable on the cli as well. * `--transactions-output ARG` Filename to which the transaction list should be output. Used to render the transaction view of Daml Studio, but usable on the cli as well. * `--load-coverage ARG` File to read prior `glos-daml-test-coverage` results from. Can be specified more than once. * `--save-coverage ARG` File to write final aggregated `glos-daml-test-coverage` results to. * `--coverage-ignore-choice ARG` Remove choices matching a regex from the `glos-daml-test-coverage` report. The full name of a local choice takes the format `: