Given a module which has been previously loaded and is assigned to an alias
mod, box::unload(mod) unloads it; box::reload(mod)
unloads and reloads it from its source. box::purge_cache() marks all
modules as unloaded.
Details
Unloading a module causes it to be removed from the internal cache such that
the next subsequent box::use declaration will reload the module from
its source. box::reload unloads and reloads the specified modules and
all its transitive module dependencies. box::reload is not
merely a shortcut for calling box::unload followed by box::use,
because box::unload only unloads the specified module itself, not any
dependent modules.
Note
Any other references to the loaded modules remain unchanged, and will
(usually) still work. Unloading and reloading modules is primarily useful for
testing during development, and should not be used in production code:
in particular, unloading may break other module references if the
.on_unload hook unloaded any binary shared libraries which are still
referenced.
These functions come with a few restrictions.
box::unload attempts to detach names attached by the corresponding
box::use call.
box::reload attempts to re-attach these same names. This only works if
the corresponding box::use declaration is located in the same scope.
box::purge_cache only removes the internal cache of modules, it does
not actually invalidate any module references or names attached from loaded
modules.
box::unload will execute the .on_unload hook of the module, if
it exists.
box::reload will re-execute the .on_load hook of the module and
of all dependent modules during loading (after executing the corresponding
.on_unload hooks during unloading).
box::purge_cache will execute any existing .on_unload hooks in
all loaded modules.