Vernacular commands¶
Displaying¶
- 
Command Print qualid¶
- This command displays on the screen information about the declared or defined object referred by - qualid.- Error messages: - 
Error This object does not support universe names.¶
 
- 
Error 
- 
Command About qualid¶
- This displays various information about the object denoted by - qualid: its kind (module, constant, assumption, inductive, constructor, abbreviation, …), long name, type, implicit arguments and argument scopes. It does not print the body of definitions or proofs.
Flags, Options and Tables¶
Coq configurability is based on flags (e.g. Printing All), options
(e.g. Printing Width), or tables (e.g. Add Printing Record). The
names of flags, options and tables are made of non-empty sequences of
identifiers (conventionally with capital initial letter). The general commands
handling flags, options and tables are given below.
- 
Command Set flag¶
- This command switches - flagon. The original state of- flagis restored when the current module ends.- 
Variant Local Set flag
- This command switches - flagon. The original state of- flagis restored when the current section ends.
 - 
Variant Global Set flag
- This command switches - flagon. The original state of- flagis not restored at the end of the module. Additionally, if set in a file,- flagis switched on when the file is Require-d.
 - 
Variant Export Set flag
- This command switches - flagon. The original state of- flagis restored at the end of the current module, but- flagis switched on when this module is imported.
 
- 
Variant 
- 
Command Unset flag¶
- This command switches - flagoff. The original state of- flagis restored when the current module ends.- 
Variant Local Unset flag
- This command switches - flagoff. The original state of- flagis restored when the current section ends.
 - 
Variant Global Unset flag
- This command switches - flagoff. The original state of- flagis not restored at the end of the module. Additionally, if set in a file,- flagis switched off when the file is Require-d.
 - 
Variant Export Unset flag
- This command switches - flagoff. The original state of- flagis restored at the end of the current module, but- flagis switched off when this module is imported.
 
- 
Variant 
- 
Command Test flag¶
- This command prints whether - flagis on or off.
- 
Command Set option value
- This command sets - optionto- value. The original value of ` option` is restored when the current module ends.- 
Variant Local Set option value
- This command sets - optionto- value. The original value of- optionis restored at the end of the module.
 - 
Variant Global Set option value
- This command sets - optionto- value. The original value of- optionis not restored at the end of the module. Additionally, if set in a file,- optionis set to value when the file is Require-d.
 - 
Variant Export Set option
- This command set - optionto- value. The original state of- optionis restored at the end of the current module, but- optionis set to- valuewhen this module is imported.
 
- 
Variant 
- 
Command Unset option
- This command turns off - option.- 
Variant Local Unset option
- This command turns off - option. The original state of- optionis restored when the current section ends.
 - 
Variant Global Unset option
- This command turns off - option. The original state of- optionis not restored at the end of the module. Additionally, if unset in a file,- optionis reset to its default value when the file is Require-d.
 - 
Variant Export Unset option
- This command turns off - option. The original state of- optionis restored at the end of the current module, but- optionis set to its default value when this module is imported.
 
- 
Variant 
- 
Command Test option
- This command prints the current value of - option.
- 
Command Add table value¶
- 
Command Remove table value¶
- 
Command Test table value¶
- 
Command Test table for value¶
- 
Command Print Table table¶
These are general commands for tables.
- 
Command Print Options¶
- This command lists all available flags, options and tables. - 
Variant Print Tables
- This is a synonymous of - Print Options.
 
- 
Variant 
Requests to the environment¶
- 
Command Check term¶
- This command displays the type of - term. When called in proof mode, the term is checked in the local context of the current subgoal.- 
Variant selector: Check term
- This variant specifies on which subgoal to perform typing (see Section Invocation of tactics). 
 
- 
Variant 
- 
Command Eval convtactic in term¶
- This command performs the specified reduction on - term, and displays the resulting term with its type. The term to be reduced may depend on hypothesis introduced in the first subgoal (if a proof is in progress).- See also: Section Performing computations. 
- 
Command Compute term¶
- This command performs a call-by-value evaluation of term by using the bytecode-based virtual machine. It is a shortcut for - Eval vm_compute in- term.- See also: Section Performing computations. 
- 
Command Print Assumptions qualid¶
- This commands display all the assumptions (axioms, parameters and variables) a theorem or definition depends on. Especially, it informs on the assumptions with respect to which the validity of a theorem relies. - 
Variant Print Opaque Dependencies qualid¶
- Displays the set of opaque constants - qualidrelies on in addition to the assumptions.
 
- 
Variant 
- 
Command Search qualid¶
- This command displays the name and type of all objects (hypothesis of the current goal, theorems, axioms, etc) of the current context whose statement contains - qualid. This command is useful to remind the user of the name of library lemmas.- 
Error The reference qualid was not found in the current environment.¶
- There is no constant in the environment named qualid. 
 - 
Variant Search string
- If - stringis a valid identifier, this command displays the name and type of all objects (theorems, axioms, etc) of the current context whose name contains string. If string is a notation’s string denoting some reference- qualid(referred to by its main symbol as in "+" or by its notation’s string as in "_ + _" or "_ 'U' _", see Section Notations), the command works like- Search- qualid.
 - 
Variant Search string%key
- The string string must be a notation or the main symbol of a notation which is then interpreted in the scope bound to the delimiting key - key(see Section Local interpretation rules for notations).
 - 
Variant Search term_pattern
- This searches for all statements or types of definition that contains a subterm that matches the pattern term_pattern (holes of the pattern are either denoted by _ or by ?ident when non linear patterns are expected). 
 - 
Variant Search { + [-]term_pattern_string }
- where - term_pattern_stringis a term_pattern, a string, or a string followed by a scope delimiting key %key. This generalization of- Searchsearches for all objects whose statement or type contains a subterm matching- term_pattern(or- qualidif- stringis the notation for a reference qualid) and whose name contains all string of the request that correspond to valid identifiers. If a term_pattern or a string is prefixed by -, the search excludes the objects that mention that term_pattern or that string.
 - 
Variant Search term_pattern_string … term_pattern_string inside qualid+
- This restricts the search to constructions defined in the modules named by the given - qualidsequence.
 - 
Variant Search term_pattern_string … term_pattern_string outside qualid+
- This restricts the search to constructions not defined in the modules named by the given - qualidsequence.
 - 
Variant selector: Search [-]term_pattern_string … [-]term_pattern_string
- This specifies the goal on which to search hypothesis (see Section Invocation of tactics). By default the 1st goal is searched. This variant can be combined with other variants presented here. - Example - Require Import ZArith.
- [Loading ML file z_syntax_plugin.cmxs ... done] [Loading ML file quote_plugin.cmxs ... done] [Loading ML file newring_plugin.cmxs ... done] [Loading ML file omega_plugin.cmxs ... done]
 - Search Z.mul Z.add "distr".
- Z.mul_add_distr_l: forall n m p : Z, (n * (m + p))%Z = (n * m + n * p)%Z Z.mul_add_distr_r: forall n m p : Z, ((n + m) * p)%Z = (n * p + m * p)%Z fast_Zmult_plus_distr_l: forall (n m p : Z) (P : Z -> Prop), P (n * p + m * p)%Z -> P ((n + m) * p)%Z
- Search "+"%Z "*"%Z "distr" -positive -Prop.
- Z.mul_add_distr_l: forall n m p : Z, (n * (m + p))%Z = (n * m + n * p)%Z Z.mul_add_distr_r: forall n m p : Z, ((n + m) * p)%Z = (n * p + m * p)%Z
- Search (?x * _ + ?x * _)%Z outside OmegaLemmas.
- Z.mul_add_distr_l: forall n m p : Z, (n * (m + p))%Z = (n * m + n * p)%Z
 
 - 
Variant SearchAbout¶
- Deprecated since version 8.5. - Up to Coq version 8.4, - Searchhad the behavior of current- SearchHeadand the behavior of current- Searchwas obtained with command- SearchAbout. For compatibility, the deprecated name- SearchAboutcan still be used as a synonym of- Search. For compatibility, the list of objects to search when using- SearchAboutmay also be enclosed by optional- [ ]delimiters.
 
- 
Error 
- 
Command SearchHead term¶
- This command displays the name and type of all hypothesis of the current goal (if any) and theorems of the current context whose statement’s conclusion has the form (term t1 .. tn). This command is useful to remind the user of the name of library lemmas. - Example - SearchHead le.
- le_n: forall n : nat, n <= n le_0_n: forall n : nat, 0 <= n le_S: forall n m : nat, n <= m -> n <= S m le_pred: forall n m : nat, n <= m -> Nat.pred n <= Nat.pred m le_n_S: forall n m : nat, n <= m -> S n <= S m le_S_n: forall n m : nat, S n <= S m -> n <= m
- SearchHead (@eq bool).
- andb_true_intro: forall b1 b2 : bool, b1 = true /\ b2 = true -> (b1 && b2)%bool = true
 - 
Variant SearchHead term inside qualid+
- This restricts the search to constructions defined in the modules named by the given - qualidsequence.
 - 
Variant SearchHead term outside qualid+
- This restricts the search to constructions not defined in the modules named by the given - qualidsequence.
 - 
Error Module/section qualid not found.¶
- No module - qualidhas been required (see Section Compiled files).
 - 
Variant selector: SearchHead term
- This specifies the goal on which to search hypothesis (see Section Invocation of tactics). By default the 1st goal is searched. This variant can be combined with other variants presented here. 
 - Note - Up to Coq version 8.4, - SearchHeadwas named- Search.
- 
Command SearchPattern term¶
- This command displays the name and type of all hypothesis of the current goal (if any) and theorems of the current context whose statement’s conclusion or last hypothesis and conclusion matches the expressionterm where holes in the latter are denoted by _. It is a variant of - Search term_patternthat does not look for subterms but searches for statements whose conclusion has exactly the expected form, or whose statement finishes by the given series of hypothesis/conclusion.- Example - Require Import Arith.
 - SearchPattern (_ + _ = _ + _).
- Nat.add_comm: forall n m : nat, n + m = m + n plus_Snm_nSm: forall n m : nat, S n + m = n + S m Nat.add_succ_comm: forall n m : nat, S n + m = n + S m Nat.add_shuffle3: forall n m p : nat, n + (m + p) = m + (n + p) plus_assoc_reverse: forall n m p : nat, n + m + p = n + (m + p) Nat.add_assoc: forall n m p : nat, n + (m + p) = n + m + p Nat.add_shuffle0: forall n m p : nat, n + m + p = n + p + m f_equal2_plus: forall x1 y1 x2 y2 : nat, x1 = y1 -> x2 = y2 -> x1 + x2 = y1 + y2 Nat.add_shuffle2: forall n m p q : nat, n + m + (p + q) = n + q + (m + p) Nat.add_shuffle1: forall n m p q : nat, n + m + (p + q) = n + p + (m + q)
- SearchPattern (nat -> bool).
- Nat.odd: nat -> bool Init.Nat.odd: nat -> bool Nat.even: nat -> bool Init.Nat.even: nat -> bool Init.Nat.testbit: nat -> nat -> bool Nat.leb: nat -> nat -> bool Nat.eqb: nat -> nat -> bool Init.Nat.eqb: nat -> nat -> bool Nat.ltb: nat -> nat -> bool Nat.testbit: nat -> nat -> bool Init.Nat.leb: nat -> nat -> bool Init.Nat.ltb: nat -> nat -> bool BinNat.N.testbit_nat: BinNums.N -> nat -> bool BinPosDef.Pos.testbit_nat: BinNums.positive -> nat -> bool BinPos.Pos.testbit_nat: BinNums.positive -> nat -> bool BinNatDef.N.testbit_nat: BinNums.N -> nat -> bool
- SearchPattern (forall l : list _, _ l l).
- List.incl_refl: forall (A : Type) (l : list A), List.incl l l List.lel_refl: forall (A : Type) (l : list A), List.lel l l
 - Patterns need not be linear: you can express that the same expression must occur in two places by using pattern variables ?ident. - Example - SearchPattern (?X1 + _ = _ + ?X1).
- Nat.add_comm: forall n m : nat, n + m = m + n
 - 
Variant SearchPattern term inside qualid+
- This restricts the search to constructions defined in the modules named by the given - qualidsequence.
 - 
Variant SearchPattern term outside qualid+
- This restricts the search to constructions not defined in the modules named by the given - qualidsequence.
 - 
Variant selector: SearchPattern term
- This specifies the goal on which to search hypothesis (see Section Invocation of tactics). By default the 1st goal is searched. This variant can be combined with other variants presented here. 
 
- 
Command SearchRewrite term¶
- This command displays the name and type of all hypothesis of the current goal (if any) and theorems of the current context whose statement’s conclusion is an equality of which one side matches the expression term. Holes in term are denoted by “_”. - Example - Require Import Arith.
 - SearchRewrite (_ + _ + _).
- Nat.add_shuffle0: forall n m p : nat, n + m + p = n + p + m plus_assoc_reverse: forall n m p : nat, n + m + p = n + (m + p) Nat.add_assoc: forall n m p : nat, n + (m + p) = n + m + p Nat.add_shuffle1: forall n m p q : nat, n + m + (p + q) = n + p + (m + q) Nat.add_shuffle2: forall n m p q : nat, n + m + (p + q) = n + q + (m + p) Nat.add_carry_div2: forall (a b : nat) (c0 : bool), (a + b + Nat.b2n c0) / 2 = a / 2 + b / 2 + Nat.b2n (Nat.testbit a 0 && Nat.testbit b 0 || c0 && (Nat.testbit a 0 || Nat.testbit b 0))
 - 
Variant SearchRewrite term inside qualid+
- This restricts the search to constructions defined in the modules named by the given - qualidsequence.
 - 
Variant SearchRewrite term outside qualid+
- This restricts the search to constructions not defined in the modules named by the given - qualidsequence.
 - 
Variant selector: SearchRewrite term
- This specifies the goal on which to search hypothesis (see Section Invocation of tactics). By default the 1st goal is searched. This variant can be combined with other variants presented here. 
 
Note
- 
Command Add Search Blacklist string¶
- For the - Search,- SearchHead,- SearchPatternand- SearchRewritequeries, it is possible to globally filter the search results using this command. A lemma whose fully-qualified name contains any of the declared strings will be removed from the search results. The default blacklisted substrings are- _subproofand- Private_.
- 
Command Locate qualid¶
- This command displays the full name of objects whose name is a prefix of the qualified identifier - qualid, and consequently the Coq module in which they are defined. It searches for objects from the different qualified name spaces of Coq: terms, modules, Ltac, etc.- Example - Locate nat.
- Inductive Coq.Init.Datatypes.nat
- Locate Datatypes.O.
- Constructor Coq.Init.Datatypes.O (shorter name to refer to it in current context is O)
- Locate Init.Datatypes.O.
- Constructor Coq.Init.Datatypes.O (shorter name to refer to it in current context is O)
- Locate Coq.Init.Datatypes.O.
- Constructor Coq.Init.Datatypes.O (shorter name to refer to it in current context is O)
- Locate I.Dont.Exist.
- No object of suffix I.Dont.Exist
 - 
Variant Locate Term qualid
- As Locate but restricted to terms. 
 - 
Variant Locate Module qualid
- As Locate but restricted to modules. 
 - 
Variant Locate Ltac qualid
- As Locate but restricted to tactics. 
 
See also: Section Locating notations
Loading files¶
Coq offers the possibility of loading different parts of a whole development stored in separate files. Their contents will be loaded as if they were entered from the keyboard. This means that the loaded files are ASCII files containing sequences of commands for Coq’s toplevel. This kind of file is called a script for Coq. The standard (and default) extension of Coq’s script files is .v.
- 
Command Load ident¶
- This command loads the file named - ident.v, searching successively in each of the directories specified in the loadpath. (see Section Libraries and filesystem)- Files loaded this way cannot leave proofs open, and the - Loadcommand cannot be used inside a proof either.- 
Variant Load string
- Loads the file denoted by the string - string, where string is any complete filename. Then the ~ and .. abbreviations are allowed as well as shell variables. If no extension is specified, Coq will use the default extension- .v.
 - 
Variant Load Verbose ident
 - 
Variant Load Verbose string
- Display, while loading, the answers of Coq to each command (including tactics) contained in the loaded file See also: Section Controlling display. 
 - 
Error Load is not supported inside proofs.¶
 - 
Error Files processed by Load cannot leave open proofs.¶
 
- 
Variant 
Compiled files¶
This section describes the commands used to load compiled files (see Chapter The Coq commands for documentation on how to compile a file). A compiled file is a particular case of module called library file.
- 
Command Require qualid¶
- This command looks in the loadpath for a file containing module - qualidand adds the corresponding module to the environment of Coq. As library files have dependencies in other library files, the command- Require- qualidrecursively requires all library files the module qualid depends on and adds the corresponding modules to the environment of Coq too. Coq assumes that the compiled files have been produced by a valid Coq compiler and their contents are then not replayed nor rechecked.- To locate the file in the file system, - qualidis decomposed under the form dirpath.ident and the file ident.vo is searched in the physical directory of the file system that is mapped in Coq loadpath to the logical path dirpath (see Section Libraries and filesystem). The mapping between physical directories and logical names at the time of requiring the file must be consistent with the mapping used to compile the file. If several files match, one of them is picked in an unspecified fashion.- 
Variant Require Import qualid¶
- This loads and declares the module - qualidand its dependencies then imports the contents of- qualidas described here. It does not import the modules on which qualid depends unless these modules were themselves required in module- qualidusing- Require Export, as described below, or recursively required through a sequence of- Require Export. If the module required has already been loaded,- Require Import- qualidsimply imports it, as- Import- qualidwould.
 - 
Variant Require Export qualid¶
- This command acts as - Require Import- qualid, but if a further module, say A, contains a command- Require ExportB, then the command- Require ImportA also imports the module B.
 - 
Variant Require [Import | Export] qualid+
- This loads the modules named by the - qualidsequence and their recursive dependencies. If- Importor- Exportis given, it also imports these modules and all the recursive dependencies that were marked or transitively marked as- Export.
 - 
Variant From dirpath Require qualid
- This command acts as - Require, but picks any library whose absolute name is of the form dirpath.dirpath’.qualid for some dirpath’. This is useful to ensure that the- qualidlibrary comes from a given package by making explicit its absolute root.
 - 
Error Cannot load qualid: no physical path bound to dirpath.¶
 - 
Error Cannot find library foo in loadpath.¶
- The command did not find the file foo.vo. Either foo.v exists but is not compiled or foo.vo is in a directory which is not in your LoadPath (see Section Libraries and filesystem). 
 - 
Error Compiled library ident.vo makes inconsistent assumptions over library qualid.¶
- The command tried to load library file - ident.vo that depends on some specific version of library- qualidwhich is not the one already loaded in the current Coq session. Probably ident.v was not properly recompiled with the last version of the file containing module- qualid.
 - 
Error Bad magic number.¶
- The file ident.vo was found but either it is not a Coq compiled module, or it was compiled with an incompatible version of Coq. 
 - 
Error The file `ident.vo` contains library dirpath and not library dirpath’.¶
- The library file dirpath’ is indirectly required by the - Requirecommand but it is bound in the current loadpath to the file ident.vo which was bound to a different library name dirpath at the time it was compiled.
 - 
Error Require is not allowed inside a module or a module type.¶
- This command is not allowed inside a module or a module type being defined. It is meant to describe a dependency between compilation units. Note however that the commands - Importand- Exportalone can be used inside modules (see Section Import).
 
- 
Variant 
See also: Chapter The Coq commands
- 
Command Print Libraries¶
- This command displays the list of library files loaded in the current Coq session. For each of these libraries, it also tells if it is imported. 
- 
Command Declare ML Module string+¶
- This commands loads the OCaml compiled files with names given by the - stringsequence (dynamic link). It is mainly used to load tactics dynamically. The files are searched into the current OCaml loadpath (see the command- Add ML Pathin Section Libraries and filesystem). Loading of OCaml files is only possible under the bytecode version of- coqtop(i.e.- coqtopcalled with option- -byte, see chapter The Coq commands), or when Coq has been compiled with a version of OCaml that supports native Dynlink (≥ 3.11).- 
Variant Local Declare ML Module string+
- This variant is not exported to the modules that import the module where they occur, even if outside a section. 
 - 
Error Loading of ML object file forbidden in a native Coq.¶
 
- 
Variant 
Loadpath¶
Loadpaths are preferably managed using Coq command line options (see Section libraries-and-filesystem) but there remain vernacular commands to manage them for practical purposes. Such commands are only meant to be issued in the toplevel, and using them in source files is discouraged.
- 
Command Pwd¶
- This command displays the current working directory. 
- 
Command Cd string¶
- This command changes the current directory according to - stringwhich can be any valid path.- 
Variant Cd
- Is equivalent to Pwd. 
 
- 
Variant 
- 
Command Add LoadPath string as dirpath¶
- This command is equivalent to the command line option - -Q- string- dirpath. It adds the physical directory string to the current Coq loadpath and maps it to the logical directory dirpath.
- 
Command Add Rec LoadPath string as dirpath¶
- This command is equivalent to the command line option - -R- string- dirpath. It adds the physical directory string and all its subdirectories to the current Coq loadpath.- 
Variant Add Rec LoadPath string
- Works as - Add Rec LoadPath- stringas- dirpathbut for the empty logical directory path.
 
- 
Variant 
- 
Command Print LoadPath¶
- This command displays the current Coq loadpath. - 
Variant Print LoadPath dirpath
- Works as - Print LoadPathbut displays only the paths that extend the- dirpathprefix.
 
- 
Variant 
- 
Command Add ML Path string¶
- This command adds the path - stringto the current OCaml loadpath (see the command Declare ML Module` in Section Compiled files).
- 
Command Add Rec ML Path string¶
- This command adds the directory - stringand all its subdirectories to the current OCaml loadpath (see the command- Declare ML Module).
- 
Command Print ML Path string¶
- This command displays the current OCaml loadpath. This command makes sense only under the bytecode version of - coqtop, i.e. using option- -byte(see the command Declare ML Module in Section Compiled files).
- 
Command Locate File string¶
- This command displays the location of file string in the current loadpath. Typically, string is a .cmo or .vo or .v file. 
- 
Command Locate Library dirpath¶
- This command gives the status of the Coq module dirpath. It tells if the module is loaded and if not searches in the load path for a module of logical name - dirpath.
Backtracking¶
The backtracking commands described in this section can only be used
interactively, they cannot be part of a vernacular file loaded via
Load or compiled by coqc.
- 
Command Reset ident¶
- This command removes all the objects in the environment since - identwas introduced, including- ident.- identmay be the name of a defined or declared object as well as the name of a section. One cannot reset over the name of a module or of an object inside a module.- 
Variant Reset Initial
- Goes back to the initial state, just after the start of the interactive session. 
 
- 
Variant 
- 
Command Back¶
- This command undoes all the effects of the last vernacular command. Commands read from a vernacular file via a - Loadare considered as a single command. Proof management commands are also handled by this command (see Chapter Proof handling). For that, Back may have to undo more than one command in order to reach a state where the proof management information is available. For instance, when the last command is a- Qed, the management information about the closed proof has been discarded. In this case,- Backwill then undo all the proof steps up to the statement of this proof.- 
Variant Back num
- Undo - numvernacular commands. As for Back, some extra commands may be undone in order to reach an adequate state. For instance Back- numwill not re-enter a closed proof, but rather go just before that proof.
 - 
Error Invalid backtrack.¶
- The user wants to undo more commands than available in the history. 
 
- 
Variant 
- 
Command BackTo num¶
- This command brings back the system to the state labeled - num, forgetting the effect of all commands executed after this state. The state label is an integer which grows after each successful command. It is displayed in the prompt when in -emacs mode. Just as- Back(see above), the- BackTocommand now handles proof states. For that, it may have to undo some extra commands and end on a state num′ ≤ num if necessary.- 
Variant Backtrack num num num¶
- Deprecated since version 8.4. - Backtrackis a deprecated form of- BackTowhich allows explicitly manipulating the proof environment. The three numbers represent the following:- first number : State label to reach, as for BackTo.
- second number : Proof state number to unbury once aborts have been done.
Coq will compute the number of Undoto perform (see Chapter Proof handling).
- third number : Number of Abortto perform, i.e. the number of currently opened nested proofs that must be canceled (see Chapter Proof handling).
 
- first number : State label to reach, as for 
 - 
Error Invalid backtrack.
- The destination state label is unknown. 
 
- 
Variant 
Quitting and debugging¶
- 
Command Quit¶
- This command permits to quit Coq. 
- 
Command Drop¶
- This is used mostly as a debug facility by Coq’s implementors and does not concern the casual user. This command permits to leave Coq temporarily and enter the OCaml toplevel. The OCaml command: - #use "include";; - adds the right loadpaths and loads some toplevel printers for all abstract types of Coq- section_path, identifiers, terms, judgments, …. You can also use the file base_include instead, that loads only the pretty-printers for section_paths and identifiers. You can return back to Coq with the command: - go();; - Warning - It only works with the bytecode version of Coq (i.e. coqtop.byte, see Section interactive-use).
- You must have compiled Coq from the source package and set the environment variable COQTOP to the root of your copy of the sources (see Section customization-by-environment-variables).
 
- 
Command Time command¶
- This command executes the vernacular command - commandand displays the time needed to execute it.
- 
Command Redirect string command¶
- This command executes the vernacular command - command, redirecting its output to "- string.out".
- 
Command Timeout num command¶
- This command executes the vernacular command - command. If the command has not terminated after the time specified by the- num(time expressed in seconds), then it is interrupted and an error message is displayed.
- 
Command Fail command¶
- For debugging scripts, sometimes it is desirable to know whether a command or a tactic fails. If the given - commandfails, the- Failstatement succeeds, without changing the proof state, and in interactive mode, the system prints a message confirming the failure. If the given- commandsucceeds, the statement is an error, and it prints a message indicating that the failure did not occur.- 
Error The command has not failed!¶
 
- 
Error 
Controlling display¶
- 
Option Silent¶
- This option controls the normal displaying. 
- 
Option Warnings " - + ? ident+,"¶
- This option configures the display of warnings. It is experimental, and expects, between quotes, a comma-separated list of warning names or categories. Adding - in front of a warning or category disables it, adding + makes it an error. It is possible to use the special categories all and default, the latter containing the warnings enabled by default. The flags are interpreted from left to right, so in case of an overlap, the flags on the right have higher priority, meaning that A,-A is equivalent to -A. 
- 
Option Search Output Name Only¶
- This option restricts the output of search commands to identifier names; turning it on causes invocations of - Search,- SearchHead,- SearchPattern,- SearchRewriteetc. to omit types from their output, printing only identifiers.
- 
Option Printing Width num¶
- This command sets which left-aligned part of the width of the screen is used for display. At the time of writing this documentation, the default value is 78. 
- 
Option Printing Depth num¶
- This option controls the nesting depth of the formatter used for pretty- printing. Beyond this depth, display of subterms is replaced by dots. At the time of writing this documentation, the default value is 50. 
- 
Option Printing Compact Contexts¶
- This option controls the compact display mode for goals contexts. When on, the printer tries to reduce the vertical size of goals contexts by putting several variables (even if of different types) on the same line provided it does not exceed the printing width (see - Printing Width). At the time of writing this documentation, it is off by default.
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Option Printing Unfocused¶
- This option controls whether unfocused goals are displayed. Such goals are created by focusing other goals with bullets (see Bullets or curly braces). It is off by default. 
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Option Printing Dependent Evars Line¶
- This option controls the printing of the “(dependent evars: …)” line when - -emacsis passed.
Controlling the reduction strategies and the conversion algorithm¶
Coq provides reduction strategies that the tactics can invoke and two different algorithms to check the convertibility of types. The first conversion algorithm lazily compares applicative terms while the other is a brute-force but efficient algorithm that first normalizes the terms before comparing them. The second algorithm is based on a bytecode representation of terms similar to the bytecode representation used in the ZINC virtual machine [Ler90]. It is especially useful for intensive computation of algebraic values, such as numbers, and for reflection-based tactics. The commands to fine- tune the reduction strategies and the lazy conversion algorithm are described first.
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Command Opaque qualid+¶
- This command has an effect on unfoldable constants, i.e. on constants defined by - Definitionor- Let(with an explicit body), or by a command assimilated to a definition such as- Fixpoint,- Program Definition, etc, or by a proof ended by- Defined. The command tells not to unfold the constants in the- qualidsequence in tactics using δ-conversion (unfolding a constant is replacing it by its definition).- Opaquehas also an effect on the conversion algorithm of Coq, telling it to delay the unfolding of a constant as much as possible when Coq has to check the conversion (see Section Conversion rules) of two distinct applied constants.- 
Variant Global Opaque qualid+¶
- The scope of - Opaqueis limited to the current section, or current file, unless the variant- Global Opaqueis used.
 - See also: sections Performing computations, Automatizing, Switching on/off the proof editing mode 
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Variant 
- 
Command Transparent qualid+¶
- This command is the converse of - Opaqueand it applies on unfoldable constants to restore their unfoldability after an Opaque command.- Note in particular that constants defined by a proof ended by Qed are not unfoldable and Transparent has no effect on them. This is to keep with the usual mathematical practice of proof irrelevance: what matters in a mathematical development is the sequence of lemma statements, not their actual proofs. This distinguishes lemmas from the usual defined constants, whose actual values are of course relevant in general. - 
Variant Global Transparent qualid+¶
- The scope of Transparent is limited to the current section, or current file, unless the variant - Global Transparentis used.
 - 
Error The reference qualid was not found in the current environment.
- There is no constant referred by - qualidin the environment.
 - See also: sections Performing computations, Automatizing, Switching on/off the proof editing mode 
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Variant 
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Command Strategy level [ qualid+ ]¶
- This command generalizes the behavior of Opaque and Transparent commands. It is used to fine-tune the strategy for unfolding constants, both at the tactic level and at the kernel level. This command associates a level to the qualified names in the - qualidsequence. Whenever two expressions with two distinct head constants are compared (for instance, this comparison can be triggered by a type cast), the one with lower level is expanded first. In case of a tie, the second one (appearing in the cast type) is expanded.- Levels can be one of the following (higher to lower): - opaque: level of opaque constants. They cannot be expanded by tactics (behaves like +∞, see next item).
- num: levels indexed by an integer. Level 0 corresponds to the default behavior, which corresponds to transparent constants. This level can also be referred to as transparent. Negative levels correspond to constants to be expanded before normal transparent constants, while positive levels correspond to constants to be expanded after normal transparent constants.
- expand: level of constants that should be expanded first (behaves like −∞)
 - 
Variant Local Strategy level [ qualid+ ]
- These directives survive section and module closure, unless the command is prefixed by - Local. In the latter case, the behavior regarding sections and modules is the same as for the- Transparentand- Opaquecommands.
 
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Command Print Strategy qualid¶
- This command prints the strategy currently associated to - qualid. It fails if- qualidis not an unfoldable reference, that is, neither a variable nor a constant.- 
Error The reference is not unfoldable.¶
 - 
Variant Print Strategies
- Print all the currently non-transparent strategies. 
 
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Error 
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Command Declare Reduction ident := convtactic¶
- This command allows giving a short name to a reduction expression, for instance lazy beta delta [foo bar]. This short name can then be used in - Eval- ident- in... or- evaldirectives. This command accepts the Local modifier, for discarding this reduction name at the end of the file or module. For the moment the name cannot be qualified. In particular declaring the same name in several modules or in several functor applications will be refused if these declarations are not local. The name- identcannot be used directly as an Ltac tactic, but nothing prevents the user to also perform a- Ltacident- :=convtactic.- See also: sections Performing computations 
Controlling the locality of commands¶
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Command Local command¶
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Command Global command¶
Some commands support a Local or Global prefix modifier to control the scope of their effect. There are four kinds of commands:
- Commands whose default is to extend their effect both outside the
section and the module or library file they occur in.  For these
commands, the Local modifier limits the effect of the command to the
current section or module it occurs in.  As an example, the CoercionandStrategycommands belong to this category.
- Commands whose default behavior is to stop their effect at the end
of the section they occur in but to extent their effect outside the module or
library file they occur in. For these commands, the Local modifier limits the
effect of the command to the current module if the command does not occur in a
section and the Global modifier extends the effect outside the current
sections and current module if the command occurs in a section. As an example,
the Arguments,LtacorNotationcommands belong to this category. Notice that a subclass of these commands do not support extension of their scope outside sections at all and the Global is not applicable to them.
- Commands whose default behavior is to stop their effect at the end
of the section or module they occur in.  For these commands, the Globalmodifier extends their effect outside the sections and modules they occurs in. TheTransparentandOpaque(see Section Controlling the reduction strategies and the conversion algorithm) commands belong to this category.
- Commands whose default behavior is to extend their effect outside
sections but not outside modules when they occur in a section and to
extend their effect outside the module or library file they occur in
when no section contains them.For these commands, the Local modifier
limits the effect to the current section or module while the Global
modifier extends the effect outside the module even when the command
occurs in a section.  The SetandUnsetcommands belong to this category.