# Cabal

# Working with sandboxes

A Haskell project can either use the system wide packages or use a sandbox. A sandbox is an isolated package database and can prevent dependency conflicts, e. g. if multiple Haskell projects use different versions of a package.

To initialize a sandbox for a Haskell package go to its directory and run:

cabal sandbox init

Now packages can be installed by simply running cabal install.

Listing packages in a sandbox:

cabal sandbox hc-pkg list

Deleting a sandbox:

cabal sandbox delete

Add local dependency:

cabal sandbox add-source /path/to/dependency

# Install packages

To install a new package, e.g. aeson:

cabal install aeson

# Syntax

cabal where is one of:
[global]
- update

Updates list of known packages
Install packages
Help about commands
Display detailed information about a particular package
List packages matching a search string
Downloads packages for later installation
Display and update the user's global cabal configuration

get

Create a new .cabal package file (interactively)
Prepare to build the package
Compile all/specific components
Clean up after a build
Builds and runs an executable
Open an interpreter session for the given component
Run all/specific tests in the test suite
Run all/specific benchmarks
Check the package for common mistakes
Generate a source distribution file (.tar.gz)
Uploads source packages or documentation to Hackage
Upload build reports to a remote server
Freeze dependencies
Generate dependency bounds
Generate Haddock HTML documentation
Generate HsColour colourised code, in HTML format
Copy the files into the install locations
Register this package with the compiler

sandbox
- Create/modify/delete a sandbox

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