For some reason make is recompiling the source files that are outside my
project tree every time. I don't normally have such files, but I noticed it while I was testing this Makefile and I would like to understand why. It behaves normally with respect to the source files inside my project tree. Here are my rules. First I have a function
src_to_obj = $(basename $(addprefix $(build_dir)/,$(1))).o
Then I populate the list of program_objects by calling foreach on the list of sources and applying the above function to each one.
$(bin_dir)/$(program_name): $(program_objects)
$(linker) $(link_flags) $(CPPFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) $(TARGET_ARCH) \
$^ $(OUTPUT_OPTION)
define build_template =
$$(call src_to_obj,$(1)) : $(1) $$(call dependency_file,$(1))
// make dependency and build directories
$$(compile) $$(OUTPUT_OPTION) $$<
// rename dependency
endef
$(foreach source,$(program_sources),\
$(eval $(call build_template,$(source))))
As I said, this works just fine for the source files in the project directory. For example, the Makefile lives in ~/Projects/foo and most of the source code is in ~/Projects/foo/src. But if I pull in a file A.cc from the home directory,then that file is recompiled every time I run make.
EDIT:
Following Mad-Scientists suggestion, I ran make -d and examined the output. That made the problem clear. Basically, if I feed this a source file ~/bad.cc, then the rule looks like:
build/~/bad.o : ~/bad.cc .deps/~/bad.d
...
However, my script for the rule is creating the file .deps/home/jim/bad.d. Therefore, every time I run make the dependency file is "not there" and the object file has to be remade. I am using the exact same expressions to refer to the file name in the script. However I am guessing that the shell is expanding the ~ to /home/jim. So somehow I have to escape the ~ in the recipe. Thanks to Mad Scientist for pointing out the -d option for make.
I don't have time to make a short self contained correct example right now, but if I can't solve this problem I will come up with one and post it here later.
EDIT EDIT:
So I solved the problem with the following hack:
program_sources = $(shell echo $(program_sources))
This pre-expands all names so that they are never different in the shell.
Related
I have inherited a large branched project? that requires a volatile set of .a archives $(LIB_FILES) to be included into link target, located in some directories $(LIB_DIRS). I can write an expression like this:
LIBDEP = $(foreach ldir, $(LIB_DIRS), \
$(filter $(addprefix %/, $(LIB_FILES)), $(wildcard $(ldir)/* )))
The problem is that they might not exist at moment of make's invocation and would be built by invoking $(MAKE) inside of another target's rule, which is a prerequisite to the link step.
The problem is actual list of files that should be created varies on external factors determined at their build steps, that I can't hard-code it properly, without turning makefile into a spaghetti mess and said variable is not re-evaluated at the moment of link command invocation.
I have suspicion that $(eval ) function can be used somehow, but manual is not very forthcoming as well as I didn't found examples of its use in this way.
Toolchain: GCC and binutils, make 3.81
Another solution is to create an explicit dependency of your make script on the output of the step which currently creates the variable $(LIB_FILES). This is what the manual is dealing with in the chapter How makefiles are remade and it aims at the technique which make is best at, namely deriving dependencies from the existence and timestamp of files (instead of variables). The following hopefully depicts your situation with the process of deducing a new set of libraries simulated by the two variables $(LIBS_THIS_TIME) and $(LIB_CONFIG_SET).
LIBS_THIS_TIME = foo.a:baz.a:bar.a
LIB_CONFIG_SET = $(subst :,_,$(LIBS_THIS_TIME))
include libdeps.d
linkstep:
#echo I am linking $^ now
touch $#
libdeps.d: $(LIB_CONFIG_SET)
-rm libdeps.d
$(foreach lib,$(subst :, ,$(LIBS_THIS_TIME)),echo linkstep: $(lib) >> libdeps.d;)
$(LIB_CONFIG_SET):
touch $#
If make finds that libdeps.d is not up to date to your current library configuration it is remade before make executes any other rule, although it is not the first target in the makefile. This way, if your build process creates a new or different set of libraries, libdeps.d would be remade first and only then make would carry on with the other targets in your top makefile, now with the correct dependecy information.
It sometimes happens that you need to invoke make several times in succession. One possibility to do this is to use conditionals:
ifeq ($(STEP),)
all:
<do-first-step>
$(MAKE) STEP=2 $#
else ifeq ($(STEP),2)
all:
<do-second-step>
$(MAKE) STEP=3 $#
else ifeq ($(STEP),3)
all:
<do-third-step>
endif
In each step you can generate new files and have them existing for the next step.
Im trying to run this simple makefile commands but get the error - 'Nothing to be done for 'all''
FILES = file1.c file2.c file3.c
all:test
test:
for file in $(FILES);
do
echo $$file;
done
The target test has no dependencies and therefore no reason to be built, which is inherited by the target all. It has instructions, but it should include FILES as its prerequisites. What you're doing appears to be ingredients-first, but test is the target. Working backwards is what make is best at. You may benefit from an article called "Auto-Dependency Generation" which takes the opposite approach (you appear to think like I do.)
test: $(FILES)
Then you could do something like the following:
$(FILES:.o:.c): %.o: %.c
$(CC) -c -o $# $<
The first part is a set of possible targets, the list of objects corresponding to the list of sources, and the second is a specific but nameless object (it will assume the name of the corresponding source.) Later on, the target, e.g. test, can be the name of your executable taking these objects as both dependencies and objects to link statically. For my purposes I typically use shared libraries but this is irrelevant to the question at hand.
Edit: untested, will revise if issues ensue
Is there a way to let make determine the number of files to be recompiled before actually compiling? The problem is this: Consider having a quite big project with hundreds of source files. It would very convenient to have a rough idea of how long compilation will take, but to know that, one needs to know the number of files to be compiled.
The general answer is no, because your build could generate files which themselves are inputs to other rules which generate more files. And so on. However if a rough answer is good enough you can try the --dry-run flag. From the GNU make documentation...
“No-op”. Causes make to print the recipes that are needed to make the targets up to date, but not actually execute them. Note that some recipes are still executed, even with this flag (see How the MAKE Variable Works). Also any recipes needed to update included makefiles are still executed (see How Makefiles Are Remade).
As you can see, despite its name even the --dry-run flag will change the state of your build.
"make -n" will do the dry run. But you can't get the list of files to be rebuilt. May be you can write shell script to store the last modified time of files and get the list of files.
I think a found a decent solution for unix. Here SRC are your source files, HDR your headers and DEP the dependency files (something like DEP:=$(OBJ:.o=.d) )
isInDepFile+=$(shell grep -q $(modifiedFile) $(depFile) 1>&2 2> /dev/null && echo $(depFile))
COMPFILES=
checkDepFiles=$(foreach depFile,$(DEP), $(eval filesToCompile+=$(isInDepFile))) $(thinOutDepFiles)
thinOutDepFiles=$(foreach fileToCompile,$(filesToCompile),$(eval DEP=$(filter-out $(fileToCompile),$(DEP))))
countFilesToCompile: $(SRC) $(HDR)
$(eval modifiedFiles=$?)
$(foreach modifiedFile,$(modifiedFiles), $(call checkDepFiles))
$(eval numOfFilesToCompile = $(words $(filesToCompile)))
$(eval numDepFiles = $(words $(DEP)))
$(eval NumSRCFiles = $(words $(SRC)))
#echo $(NumSRCFiles) sources
#echo $(numDepFiles) files to leave
#echo $(numOfFilesToCompile) files to compile
#touch $#
This first generates a list of modified files within your source and header files lists. Then for each modified file it checks all dependency files for its filename. If a dependency file contains the current file we are looking at, it is added to the list of filesToCompile. It is also removed from the list of dependency files to avoid duplication.
This can be invoked in the main building rule of your project. The advantage of that over the dry run is that it gives you a simple number to work with.
My project includes .c and .s (asm) files. I compile both types with 'gcc' and put output .o files to separate directory './bin'. To do that I'm using single makefile rule like this
bin/%.o: %.[cs]
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $# -c $<
(As far as I understand, using square brackets wildcard in such context is a little bit unconventional, but it's working and it looks neat, so...)
The other day I decided to move some of my .c files to dedicated directory './common', so I added
vpath %.c common
at the beginning of the makefile. And now each time I try to 'make', it stops and throws an error on a file I had moved. For example, for 'common/foo.c' I get
"*** No rule to make target bin/foo.o, needed by..."
as if I haven't specified 'vpath'. But when I modify the rule to compile only .c files
bin/%.o: %.c
... ...
magically it starts to operate properly again and checks './common' for sources.
Looks like 'vpath' mechanism and wildcards can not work together, but I'm still new to 'make' and eager to learn what's the exact reason of such behavior. Any ideas anyone? Thanks in advance.
(Tested with make–3.81 and make–4.1.)
UPD: Having all the files and 'bin' directory reside on the same level like so
|-bin/
|-foo.c
|-bar.s
|-baz.c
|-Makefile
here's MWE
ROOTS = foo.o bar.o
OBJS = baz.o
SS = $(addprefix bin/,$(ROOTS) $(OBJS))
all: ff.out
ff.out: $(SS)
ld -o $# $^
bin/%.o: %.[cs]
gcc -o $# -c $<
Now if I move, say, 'foo.c' to separate directory and specify 'vpath', build stops with "No rule to make target bin/foo.o, needed by ff.out".
I suggest careful reading of How Not to Use VPATH as you seem to be at Step Three of that by having the OBJDIR in some places but not others.
To be explict, using a static pattern rule doesn't get you away from needing either at least one rule per source directory, or at least one make invocation per source directory. So, the simple answer is add a new rule for the new common/ directory that's the same as the other one:
bin/%.o: common/%.[cs]
gcc -o $# -c $<
There are lots of more comprehensive, but complex, answers, see the followon article for some of them.
For simple projects, there is no reason not to just track what directories you have in your main Makefile by adding extra rules. Also, there's a reasonable case for not having that bin/ dir and splitting .o and .out locations. Distributors and others expect to be able to control where files are created running from a seperate directory anyway.
I've thrown up a git repo with branches based on your cut down example that may clarify things.
I'm doing something which it feels like should be pretty straightforward. I have source files in a directory called ./src which are transformed and saved to ./. For the sake of the question, I'll just say they get copied there.
Here's what the directory looks like before building:
/src/lib/foo.js
/src/lib/mod/bar.js
/src/bin/baz.js
/Makefile
Here's what should be there after building:
/src/lib/foo.js
/src/lib/mod/bar.js
/src/bin/baz.js
/lib/foo.js
/lib/mod/bar.js
/bin/baz.js
/Makefile
In my Makefile I have this:
SRC_FILES := src/lib/foo.js src/lib/mod/bar.js src/bin/baz.js
OUT_FILES := lib/foo.js lib/mod/bar.js bin/baz.js
These are generated from find and a pattern substitution, but are listed like this here for simplicity...
Now, what I was hoping would work would be:
%.js: src/%.js
cp $< $#
But when I run make lib/foo.js I get Nothing to be done for 'lib/foo.js'.
Looking at the output from debugging, it appears to be trying to find a dependency named lib/src/foo.js. This is kind of what is described in the manual.
This feels as though it should be a really easy thing! What am I doing wrong?
Additionally, I tried:
$(OUT_FILES): $(SRC_FILES)
cp $< $#
...which works, but it rebuilds every single file if any of the sources change. (Remember that my actual transformation isn't just cp, it's a relatively expensive operation, so this is undesirable)
Found something which works. Using secondary expansion, you have access to the target variable in the dependencies. I saw this earlier, but missed the all-important thing: adding an empty target called .SECONDEXPANSION
.SECONDEXPANSION:
all: $(OUT_FILES)
%.js: src/$$#
cp $< $#