#86 Loading modules without .hs file fails

[Shane Stephens]

If I attempt to load a module with only the .hi and .o
files for that module present, then the load fails with
the following message:

Loading package std ... linking ... done.
Prelude> :l Part1
*** Exception: does not exist
Action: withFileStatus
Reason: No such file or directory
Prelude>

However, by placing a 'dummy' .hs file with only the
single line:

module Part1 where

I can get the module Part1 to load _with full
functionality_.

This error is present in ghci 5.00.2 on a i86pc running
SunOS 5.8

[Simon Marlow]

Logged In: YES
user_id=48280

This has been fixed in a rather heavy-handed way: GHC 5.02
won't allow you to load modules for which there is no
source file, unless the module is from a package.

The reason is that GHCi follows dependencies by reading the
source file, so it can't figure out dependencies if the
source isn't available. Your workaround of providing a
dummy source file will still work (but it should contain
import declarations for any modules it depends on).