gnu make, include path for `include` directives - makefile

Apart from the standard directories used by make to locate files loaded by include directives, is there any way to specify additional include paths within the makefile itself? I'm aware of the -I command-line GNU make option but I would like to know if there's any make variable to specify the same.

I suggested using the .INCLUDE_DIRS variable, but as pointed out in the comment below, that variable is read-only.
The only other way I can think of is to have a top-level file invoke the real makefile, and have the top level one update MAKEFLAGS:
# Top level -- Call it GNUmakefile?
INCLUDE_DIRS := first second third
MAKEFLAGS += $(foreach dir,$(INCLUDE_DIRS),--include-dir=$(dir))
.DEFAULT all:;$(MAKE) -f Makefile $(MAKECMDGOALS)
Then the real Makefile is invoked with the three directories in .INCLUDE_DIRS.

Related

Using same CFLAGS on Makefile.am in each subdirectories (sub-make)

I have a project with a Makefile.am in each of the multiple subdirectories.
How do you propagate a AM_CFLAGS variable setting from that parent Makefile.am to other subdirectories' Makefile.am (sub-make)?
I'm aware of the following methods:
export a variable
include statement to a common ${top_srcdir}/Makefile_cflags.am file.
MAKEFLAGS
Recursive make is not an option and I'm shying away from include and MAKEFLAGS statement approaches.
The GNU manual doesn't seem to clearly outline about propagating compiler/linker settings to sub-make.
Turns out that this is a autoconf/configure.ac solution after all. GNU calls it outputting a variable.
To propagate the CFLAGS from the parent Makefile to each and every sub-makes (subdirectories' Makefile), I added the following lines toconfigure.ac`:
AC_SUBST(AM_CFLAGS)
Then for each sub-make, I added the following line to 'import' that variable:
AM_CPPFLAGS = #AM_CPPFLAGS#
Then executed an autogen.sh to rebuild both configure.in, Makefile.in and Makefile. Then executed configure and it propagated the AM_CFLAGS then and there.
Also a useful solution for AM_CPPFLAGS, AM_CXXFLAGS, and AM_LDFLAGS as well.
More details of AC_SUBST given here: https://www.gnu.org/savannah-checkouts/gnu/autoconf/manual/autoconf-2.69/html_node/Setting-Output-Variables.html

How can I add a directory to the search path of GNU Make?

I have a makefile that looks something like this:
include anotherFile.mk
all:
someStuff
The file anotherFile.mk is like this:
include yetAnotherFile.mk
export SOME_VAR = 93
The problem is that anotherFile.mk and yetAnotherFile.mk are in a different directory from my Makefile. So my makefile can't just be changed to this:
include $(OTHER_PROJECT_PATH)/anotherFile.mk
all:
someStuff
The problem with this approach is that the include statement in anotherFile.mk will fail because it will be searching in the current directory.
A partial solution that I found is to pass the --include-dir=$OTHER_PROJECT_PATH flag to the invocation of make, but that's a bit user-unfriendly.
So my question is: Is there something I can put inside my makefile that will add to the directories that make searches for when executing an include? Something like MAKE_INCLUDE_DIRS += $(OTHER_PROJECT_PATH)
Surprisingly there doesn't seem to be a good answer to that question. Forcing .INCLUDE_DIR doesn't help and there doesn't seem to be any way around invoking make with --include-dir=$OTHER_PROJECT_PATH.
It is however possible to put the appropriate recursive make invocation inside the makefile but, in order to get it to work for all reasonable cases it quickly becomes too complicated to be worth it. In summary it requires:
a top level condition to check if the OTHER_PROJECT_PATH is in .INCLUDE_DIR
the appropriate target with the recipe invoking make recursively
possibly additional targets if there are multiple command goals
the real make file enclosed in the else part of the conditional
You Makefile would look like this:
OTHER_PROJECT_PATH := other
ifeq (,$(filter $(OTHER_PROJECT_PATH), $(.INCLUDE_DIRS)))
# this is the mechanism to add the include dir in a recursive make
$(or $(firstword $(MAKECMDGOALS)),all):
$(MAKE) -I$(OTHER_PROJECT_PATH) $(MAKECMDGOALS)
# add empty targets for additional goals if needed
ifneq (,$(wordlist 2,$(words $(MAKECMDGOALS)),$(MAKECMDGOALS)))
$(wordlist 2,$(words $(MAKECMDGOALS)),$(MAKECMDGOALS)):
endif
else
# this is where the real makefile starts
all more:
echo $#: $< $^
include a.mak
endif
It still does not seem possible from a makefile, but if you have a script that sets up environment variables, you can use MAKEFLAGS (e.g. export MAKEFLAGS=I/your/path ordentlich on Linux, or SET on Windows)

How to figure out current Makefile location in gmake at runtime

I would like to tell (g)make to include some common initializations from a separate file knowing the relative location of the included file with respect to the main Makefile.
However in the manuals I cannot find any built-in variable that would, for example, give you the name of the current Makefile.
For example if I want to include the content of a file in the same directory as the current make file, instead of hard-wiring the location of the include:
# MAIN Makefile : ./scripts/make/TaskA.mk
include ./scripts/make/Common.inc
...
I would like to write something like the following assuming that _MAKEFILE_ contains the TaskA.mk location:
# MAIN Makefile : ./scripts/make/TaskA.mk
MAKEFILE_DIR=$(dirname $(_MAKE_FILE_))
include $(MAKEFILE_DIR)/Common.inc
Doesn't the manual give a recipe based on MAKEFILE_LIST?
Basically
this_makefile := $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))
before any include directives should do the trick.
Look at GNU make - Other Special Variables. MAKEFILE_LIST includes all Makefiles read. So, if you take the first one and extract the directory, you're done.
MAKEFILE_DIR=$(dir $(firstword $(MAKEFILE_LIST)))
include $(MAKEFILE_DIR)Common.inc

Make include in makefiles be relative to the file's location

Directly related to this question. How can I make the include directive in makefiles behave relatively to the location of the current script?
Assume that the current path is arbitrary and you have no control over it. Only the makefile location is known. Your makefile is not the root one - it's included. That's exactly how it is in Android NDK.
Is there a builtin variable with the current makefile's name? Can I strip filename away from it, leaving just the path? Using make 3.81 on Cygwin.
You can get the name of the makefile being currently processed from MAKEFILE_LIST builtin variable.
Given that the current makefile is the last one that has been included (in other words you didn't use another include directive since the beginning of the current script), the path to the script itself would be:
SELF_DIR := $(dir $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST)))
Now you are able to include a script in the same directory as such (note an absence of slash, it has already been added by $(dir ...)):
include $(SELF_DIR)another.mk
Note: In GNU Make 3.80 there was no lastword builtin function. In that case you may implement it as follows replacing $(lastword ...) with $(call lastword,...):
lastword = $(if $(firstword $1),$(word $(words $1),$1))
Is there a builtin variable with the current makefile's name?
Yes, there is, use ${CURDIR}. This is the directory where top-level Makefile is located, so you don't need to strip anything from it.
http://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/make.html#Recursion
I find that relative paths work (GNUMake 3.81), but if they don't for you, try this:
include $(abspath ../whatever)

Common GNU makefile directory path

I'm trying to consolidate some build information by using a common makefile. My problem is that I want to use that makefile from different subdirectory levels, which makes the working directory value (pwd) unpredictable. For example:
# Makefile.common
TOP := $(shell pwd)
COMPONENT_DIR := $(TOP)/component
COMPONENT_INC := $(COMPONENT_DIR)/include
COMPONENT_LIB := $(COMPONENT_DIR)/libcomponent.a
If I include Makefile.common from a subdirectory, like so, the $(TOP) directory is incorrect and everything else follows suit:
# other_component/Makefile
include ../Makefile.common
# $(COMPONENT_LIB) is incorrectly other_component/component
What's the best way to get Makefile.common to use its own directory path instead of the more fickle pwd?
You should be able to use the MAKEFILE_LIST variable, like this:
# This must be the first line in Makefile.common
TOP := $(dir $(firstword $(MAKEFILE_LIST)))
From the documentation:
As make reads various makefiles, including any obtained from the MAKEFILES variable, the command line, the default files, or from include directives, their names will be automatically appended to the MAKEFILE_LIST variable. They are added right before make begins to parse them. This means that if the first thing a makefile does is examine the last word in this variable, it will be the name of the current makefile. Once the current makefile has used include, however, the last word will be the just-included makefile.
Try this:
ROOT_DIR := $(dir $(realpath $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))
Edit: Be sure to use := instead of = because the latter causes make to use late-binding and MAKEFILE_LIST may have changed due to later includes.
Have you tried doing:
# Makefile.common
TOP ?= $(shell pwd)
COMPONENT_DIR := $(TOP)/component
COMPONENT_INC := $(COMPONENT_DIR)/include
COMPONENT_LIB := $(COMPONENT_DIR)/libcomponent.a
# other_component/Makefile
TOP ?= ..
include ../Makefile.common
Using the ?= construct will keep TOP from being redefined if it is already set. You can set it to the appropriate value based on where you are in the tree when you invoke make. I confess it's been awhile since I've used GNU make so this may not work or may need some tweaks.
My solution:
cwd := $(shell readlink -en $(dir $(word $(words $(MAKEFILE_LIST)),$(MAKEFILE_LIST))))
This also works for calls like make -f /opt/some/dir/Makefile whenn your in /opt/other/path/subdir.
write the common stuff in common.mk. Then put the common.mk in the default directories that Make looks for when it encounters an include statement. See the manual for common directories Make looks for.
You could also put the common.mk in custom directory, and then type make -I customdir.
Inside the Makefile in each subfolder, you do
include common.mk
That is all. No need to worry about path and moving things around.

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