LID Files
The Dylan Reference Manual defines an interchange format for Dylan source files, but does not define an interchange format for Dylan libraries. Without such an agreed format, different Dylan development environments would find it difficult to import and build libraries developed using another Dylan environment. It would also be impossible to automate the process of importing a library into another environment.
LID solves this problem. It allows programmers to describe Dylan library sources in a form that any Dylan environment should be able to understand. Dylan vendors have adopted LID to make it easier to port applications from one environment to another.
Library interchange works by supplementing each set of library sources with a LID file. A LID file describes a Dylan library using a set of keyword statements. Together, these statements provide enough information to specify the information necessary to build a library from its source. This means that all Dylan libraries designed for interchange consist of at least two files: a LID file, and one or more files containing the library source code.
Thus, a LID file performs a similar function to the Makefile used in some C and C++ development environments.
LID files normally have the file extension .lid.