Allow automake to generate optional compile rules - makefile

I have made changes to a program which are part of a much larger project which use the Intel Performance Primitives. It turns out my recent changes use calls which are only available on the newest version of IPP, while a number of the users still use older versions. The program in question is not essential, so I want make it optional rather than back porting to the oldest versions of IPP (IPP has had a lot of API changes over the years).
We use automake/autoconf for generation of Makefiles. Ideally my particular program (single source file in C) would not be compiled by default, unless someone specifically runs "make myprog".
Is there a way to do this or do I have to support a "--with-myprog" option for the configure script?
The Makefile.am currently has (I think this is all that is relevant)
bin_PROGRAMS = \
stripVDIF \
{snip}
generateVDIF
generateVDIF_SOURCES = \
generateVDIF.c
generateVDIF_LDADD = $(IPP_LIBS) $(LDADD)
My program is generateVDIF

If you do not want it to be installed you can simply declared it as EXTRA_PROGRAMS rather than bin_PROGRAMS and that should do exactly what you want (only works with make myprog).
If you want it to be installed, you'll have to use AC_ARG_WITH and AM_CONDITIONAL in configure.ac and then have something like
bin_PROGRAMS = ....
if ENABLE_MYPROG
bin_PROGRAMS += myprog
endif
and the rest remains the same.

The right way to do this is to place the build of your optional
program under the control of a ./configure option, so that ./configure
can manage it appropriately. See e.g. how to add configure options
If that sounds too much like hard work you could exploit the fact that
additional make code within a Makefile.am is simply passed through to the
generated Makefile.
So, e.g. if the following is the Makefile.am for target foo:
EXTRA_DIST = README
bin_PROGRAMS = foo
foo_SOURCES = foo.c
and you want to add an unmanaged target bar, a program built from bar.c,
then you can extend the Makefile.am to:
EXTRA_DIST = README bar.c
bin_PROGRAMS = foo
foo_SOURCES = foo.c
bar: bar.o
$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) -o$# $< $(LDLIBS)
The autotooled package will then support make bar, and you could document this fact
for the user, with the appropriate caveats - notably including the absence of the usual autotooled install and uninstall.
Obviously, this shortcut would detract from a knowledgeable user's impression
of your professional chops.

Related

Universal make-based build system design

I am aware of tools like CMake and GNU Autotools but I'm trying to write a universal build system myself, to use for my C and C++ projects. I'll briefly explain how it works and hopefully, someone can suggest either improvements or a better design altogether.
The build system proper lives in one of the project's subdirectories (I import it as a Git submodule). The project's root directory has a wrapper makefile that defines a couple of macros and includes the main makefile from said subdirectory. That does most of the work: it follows the directory organization scheme (i.e., it outputs libraries in lib, binaries in bin, etc.), it handles automatic dependencies for the source code and the DocBook documentation, and provides the de facto standard targets: all, test, clean, install, as well as others.
Here's what a wrapper makefile that builds two binaries, foo and bar, might look like:
# foo-specific macros
FOO_SRC_FILES = foo1.c foo2.c foo3.c
FOO_OBJ_FILES = $(FOO_SRC_FILES:.c=.o)
FOO_BIN_FILE = foo
# bar-specific macros
BAR_SRC_FILES = bar1.c bar2.c
BAR_OBJ_FILES = $(BAR_SRC_FILES:.c=.o)
BAR_BIN_FILE = bar
# Inform the build system about them
SRC_FILES = $(FOO_SRC_FILES) $(BAR_SRC_FILES)
OBJ_FILES = R(BAR_OBJ_FILES) $(BAR_OBJ_FILES)
BIN_FILES = $(FOO_BIN_FILE) $(BAR_BIN_FILE)
# Only install the binaries. If I were building a library, I would instead
# select the "lib" and perhaps "include" directories.
INSTALL = bin
INSTALL_DIR = /usr/share
# Use the build system
include build/build.mk
Now here's the problem. While build.mk can use pattern rules to create dependency and object files, there's only one OBJ_FILES and only one BIN_FILES. So if I put a pattern rule like the following in the build system that looks like this:
$(BIN_DIR)/$(BIN_FILES): $(OBJ_FILES:%=$(OBJ_DIR)/%) $(LIB_FILES:%=$(LIB_DIR)/%) | $(BIN_DIR)
$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) -o $# $(OBJ_FILES:%=$(OBJ_DIR)/%) -L $(LIB_DIR) $(LIB_FILES:lib%.a=-l %)
then foo would depend on and link with everything that bar does and vice versa. So what I end up doing is asking the user to put these rules in the wrapper makefile, even though they feel like they belong in build.mk:
$(BIN_DIR)/$(FOO_BIN_FILE): $(FOO_OBJ_FILES:%=$(OBJ_DIR)/%) $(FOO_LIB_FILES:%=$(LIB_DIR)/%) | $(BIN_DIR)
$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) -o $# $(FOO_OBJ_FILES:%=$(OBJ_DIR)/%) -L $(LIB_DIR) $(FOO_LIB_FILES:lib%.a=-l %)
$(BIN_DIR)/$(BAR_BIN_FILE): $(BAR_OBJ_FILES:%=$(OBJ_DIR)/%) $(BAR_LIB_FILES:%=$(LIB_DIR)/%) | $(BIN_DIR)
$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) -o $# $(BAR_OBJ_FILES:%=$(OBJ_DIR)/%) -L $(LIB_DIR) $(BAR_LIB_FILES:lib%.a=-l %)
The same issue applies to libraries as well, of course. The upside is that these rules can be copied and pasted almost verbatim; only the prefixes need to be changed (e.g., FOO or BAR).
Ideas to fix this include:
Asking the user to have separate wrapper makefiles for separate things (e.g., one for foo and another for bar) but that is just terrible.
Changing things up a little bit and then using m4 to do some preprocessing but I don't want to go through that unless a more elegant solution doesn't exist.
I would really appreciate some ideas.
PS: I know that the pattern matching expressions in the last two code samples can be replaced with text functions but those are GNU Make-specific. The style I used is more portable and is in fact on the list of additions for the next version of the POSIX standard.
I have begin to develop a similar system for my own C projects, but the logic I use does rely on some features which I believe are specific to GNU Make.
The main idea is to use a combinaison of $(eval) and $(call), by defining the logic of the build system, and then applying to the project tree.
To do so, I have in each of my directories and subdirectories a piece of Makefile of the following form, which I name Srcs.mk:
SRC := foo.c foo_bar.c bar.c
TARGET := foo_bar
SRC_DIR := src
OBJ_DIR := obj
I define a variable, which is in fact a macro, which is expanded with $(call) and then passed to $(eval). It's defined this way:
define get_local_variables
include Srcs.mk
$1SRC := $(SRC)
$1SRC_DIR := $(SRC_DIR)
$1OBJ_DIR := $(OBJ_DIR)
$1TARGET := $(TARGET)
TARGET :=
SRC :=
SRC_DIR :=
OBJ_DIR :=
$(call get_local_variables, $(DIR)) will expand to the above, with $1 replaced by the content of $(DIR). Then it will be treated as a Makefile fragment by $(eval)
This way, I fill per-directory variables for each of my directory.
I have then a handful or other rules which use this variables, using the same principles.
### Macros ###
obj = $(patsubst %.c,$($1OBJ_DIR)/%.o,$($1SRC))
define standard_rules
$($1TARGET): $(obj)
$$(LINK)
$(obj): $($1OBJ_DIR)/%.o:$($1SRC_DIR)/%.c | $($1OBJ_DIR)
$$(COMPILE)
endef
The variable are computed $(call), then expanded and read as makefile fragments by $(eval).
(I use static pattern rules but that it not intrinsic to the idea).
The whole idea is basically to define directories as a kind of namespace, with data attached to them, and then run function over them.
My actual system is a bit more complicated, but that the whole idea.
If you have a way to emulate $(eval) and $(call) (I think these are specific to GNU make, but not sure), you could try that approach.
You can also implement non recursive make this way, by adding a SUBDIRS variables in each directory and running recursively the same macro which is run on the current one. But it should been done carefully, not to mess it up with the order of expansion and evaluation in make.
So get_local_variables need to be evaluated before the rest of the macros are expanded.
(My project is visible on my Github account if you want to take a look, under make-build-system. But it is far from be complete enough^).
Be aware, though, that this is quite painful to debug when things go wrong. Make (at least, GNU) basically catch the error (when there is one) on the higher $(call) or $(eval) expansion.
I have developed my own non-recursive build system for GNU make, called prorab, where I solved the problem you described as follows.
The approach to solve your problem is somewhat similar to what #VannTen described in his answer, except that I use a macro to clean all state variables before defining build rules for the next binary.
For example, a makefile which builds two binaries could look like this:
include prorab.mk
this_name := AppName
this_ldlibs += -lsomelib1
this_cxxflags += -I../src -DDEBUG
this_srcs := main1.cpp MyClass1.cpp
$(eval $(prorab-build-app))
$(eval $(prorab-clear-this-vars))
this_name := AnotherppName
this_ldlibs += -lsomelib1
this_cxxflags += -I../src -DDEBUG
this_srcs := main2.cpp MyClass2.cpp
$(eval $(prorab-build-app))
So, in this example it will build two binaries: AppName and AnotherppName.
As you can see the build is configured by setting a number of this_-prefixed variables and the calling the $(eval $(prorab-build-app)) which expands to defining all the build, install, clean etc. rules.
Then a call to $(eval $(prorab-clear-this-vars)) clears all this_-prefixed variables, so that those can be defined again from scratch for the next binary, and so on.
Also, the very first line which includes the prorab.mk also cleans all this_-prefixed variables of course, so that the makefiles can be safely included into each other.
You can read more about that build system concepts here https://github.com/cppfw/prorab/blob/master/wiki/HomePage.adoc

Defining additional make targets using gnu autotools

I am beginning to learn autotools in order to first understand and later extend an existing project's build system. Currently the project builds a program as it's output. The build system is quite complex consisting of several subdirectories and Makefile.am's with files generated in a maintainer-mode and so on. I would like to optionally be able to create a library using much of the same source code, reusing much of the the existing build system.
What I am imagining is a new make target so that after running configure, I can then run either make to make the program, or, say, make library to build the library. What is the correct way to do this or something with a similar effect?
I do not want to build both the library and program when I run plain make (just the program as before), and I do not want to build the program when I run make library (I only want the library).
If someone could provide a simple example, e.g. a program made up of main.c, foo.c and bar.c and a library made up of foo.c and bar.c that would be really helpful too.
EDIT
To clarify, I originally thought that the program and lib could be built entirely separately. The library contains only a subset of the code of the main program, and I believed the two were separate entities. However, things are more complicated. The program itself is built and used to output some code which is then compiled into the program in a second step (I think). I have effectively got what I want by doing the following steps.
First add a conditional to configure.ac
dnl Adds LIBRARY conditional for --enable-foolib mode to
dnl build foo as a library
AC_ARG_ENABLE(foolib,
AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-foolib],
[enable qucslib build, default: no]),
[case "${enableval}" in
yes) foolib=true ;;
no) foolib=false ;;
*) AC_MSG_ERROR([bad value ${enableval} for --enable-foolib]) ;;
esac],
[foolib=false])
AM_CONDITIONAL(FOOLIB, test x"$foolib" = x"true")
Then in the appropriate Makefile.am I did something similar to the following:
if FOOLIB
noinst_LIBRARIES = libbar.a libfoo.a
else
noinst_LIBRARIES = libbar.a
endif
bin_PROGRAMS = barprog
barprog_SOURCES = main.cpp src1.cpp src2.cpp etc.cpp
barprog_LDADD = libbar.a \
subdir1/libsubdir1.a \
subdir2/libsubdir2.a \
etcdir/libetc.a
... other stuff
if FOOLIB
libfoo_a_LIBADD = libbar.a \
subdir1/libsubdir1.a \
subdir2/libsubdir2.a \
etcdir/libetc.a
libfoo_a_SOURCES = src1.cpp src2.cpp etc.cpp
endif
Then when I want to make the library I do
configure --enable-foolib
make
This works for now, but seems kludgy. I wasn't sure though how to implement the provided answer in the build system.
If the program depends on the library, then it will not be possible to build the program without building the library. You already have the ability to build individual libraries: configure && make libfoo.a should work just fine (or make libfoo.la). If you wish a target named library, you can simply add the following to any Makefile.am:
library:
libfoo.a
(Or you may need libfoo.la. Basically, if the library is specified in Makefile.am under the LIBRARIES primary, then you would use libfoo.a, but if specified under an LTLIBRARIES primary, you would use libfoo.la.) This will only create a library target in each directory that contains a Makefile.am. If you have a complex recursive build (you should really simplify it, but that's another question), you can put something like the following in your top-level Makefile.am to build the libraries throughout the tree:
library:
cd subdir && $(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) library
This assumes you have added a library target to subdir/Makefile.am as described above.
To be pedantic, you might want to use $(am__cd) instead of cd, but it's not strictly necessary.

makefile conditionals

Note: using MinGW's make (should be GNU make)
i have a couple of -include statements in my makefile to import dependencies which were generated using g++ -MM. However I would like to only do this when necessary. I have several different build targets and I don't want all of their respective dependency files to be included since this takes a while (suppose I'm running make clean: no need to include them in this case)
Here's the format of my makefile.
DEPS_debug = $(patsubst %.cpp,build_debug/%.d,$(SRC))
OBJ_debug = $(patsubst %.cpp,build_debug/%.o,$(SRC))
all: program_debug
-include $(DEPS_debug) #make: include: Command not found
program_debug: $(OBJ_debug)
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(OBJ_debug) -o $#
If you really don't want to include those files needlessly, you have a couple of options:
You can put in a conditional as Diego Sevilla suggests (but I would recommend using MAKECMDGOALS so that you can write a more flexible version, specific to targets, e.g. you'll include foo.d if and only if you're making foo.o).
You can use make recursively (heresy!), invoking $(MAKE) for each target object, using a makefile that includes that target's dependencies.
But actually including the file takes negligible time, it's the rebuilding of the file (automatic for any included file that's out of date) that takes time.
If needless rebuilding is what you want to avoid, you can use a very clever trick. When must foo.d be rebuilt? Only when something about foo has changed. But in that case foo.o must also be rebuilt. So don't have a seperate rule for foo.d, just rebuild it as a side effect of making foo.o. That way you can include all dependency files and not waste time rebuilding them if they aren't needed.
EDIT:
I'm astounded that merely including these files can add 2-3 seconds to make clean. My last paragraph is off the mark, so let me expand on the first two options.
If all is the only target for which these files should be included, and you make all from the command line (and not e.g. make all tests tarball install kitchenSink), then this will do it:
ifeq ($(MAKECMDGOALS),all)
-include $(DEPS_debug)
endif
Note that this will not include foo.d if you make foo.o. You can write a more sophisticated conditional, something like
$(foreach targ,$(MAKECMDGOALS),$(eval $(call include_deps $(targ)))...
but that's pretty advanced, so let's get a simple version working first.
If you'd rather avoid the conditional and use recursive Make, the simplest way is to split the makefile in two:
makefile:
all:
$(MAKE) -f makefile.all
clean:
rm whatever
...other rules
makefile.all:
DEPS_debug = $(patsubst %.cpp,build_debug/%.d,$(SRC))
OBJ_debug = $(patsubst %.cpp,build_debug/%.o,$(SRC))
-include $(DEPS_debug)
all: program_debug
program_debug: $(OBJ_debug)
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(OBJ_debug) -o $#
Indenting a line by a TAB makes make think it's a command to be passed to the shell (as you found out). It doesn't work that way.
The - in front of include suppresses errors that might result from DEPS_debug not existing (e.g. when running clean or release without having had a dependency-file-generating call first). Since DEPS_debug is not a dependency of those rules (clean / release), your dependency files do not get generated when you call them, and everything is fine. I don't really see the problem you're having - you don't have to make the include conditional.
Perhaps you'd like to change your approach, though. Instead of having a seperate *.d target, with a seperate -M preprocessor pass, you might want to try something like -MMD -MP which generates the dependency files inline during code generation, in your standard *.c -> *.o pass.
(I know this sounds completely wrong at first, but when you think about it, it makes sense. Makefile logic is a bit backwards that way, unless you're familiar with functional programming.)
includes are independent of the rules, as they are makefile indications, not compilation indications. You can, however, use makefile conditionals based on special makefile variables such as MAKECMDGOALS, that is set to the default goal:
ifeq ($(MAKECMDGOALS),all)
-include whatever
endif
This is included when no default goal is specified. You can change the condition to specify the exact goal you want to check to include other sub-makefiles.

makefile question

I'm looking to modify a makefile to include a local directory of headers. However, most of the makefile compilation happens outside my current makefile limiting what I can do. Here's the current makefile:
TARGET = final
LIBS = -lsimple -lcheck -lsuif -luseful
OBJS = doproc.o main.o
all: $(TARGET)
install-bin: install-prog
include $(SUIFHOME)/Makefile.std
The directory of headers (boost) I wish to use of is in the same directory as this makefile and doproc.cc/main.cc. I tried modifying the makefile to this
TARGET = final
INC= -I/boost
LIBS = -lsimple -lcheck -lsuif -luseful
OBJS = doproc.o main.o
all: $(TARGET) $(INC)
install-bin: install-prog
include $(SUIFHOME)/Makefile.std
but to no effect. I have an account on this machine but no root access and I can't change Makefile.std. If this is trivial, I apologize. I'm not used to using makefiles.
Thanks in advance
EDIT:
The suggestions so far are helpful for getting me the right directory. But It's still not making the directory be included in the compilation
Okay, it's really hard to discern all details without knowing the internals of Makefile.std. However, let's assume that $(INC) is not somehow magically consumed inside Makefile.std (it's at least not one of the default macros, see make -p for those), in this case you would have to append your include folders to CXXFLAGS (for C++) or CFLAGS (for C) like so:
CXXFLAGS+=$(CXXFLAGS) -I$(MAKEDIR)/boost
Side-note: There are variations on this, but from where I stand
all: $(TARGET) $(INC)
doesn't make too much sense for a value of -I/boost or even the corrected -I$(MAKEDIR)/boost. The reason is that it is no variable assignment (which is possible instead of dependencies) and thus would be considered as a file dependency (unless declared .PHONY).
I should add that I'm assuming the usual default rules that come with GNU make. Otherwise you'd have to show us the actual rules %.o: %.cpp etc ...
Use this - Your current INC specifies /boost not ./boost:
INC= -I$(PWD)/boost
/ is filesystem root; ./ is current directory.
Did you mean -I./boost? -Iboost works too.
Remove the leading / in front of boost. You're telling the compiler to look in /boost under the root folder.

How do you compile without linking in Automake?

I am new to Automake and I am attempting to compile without linking. My goal is to generate a simple Makefile as shown below using Automake.
CFLAG = -Wall
build: Thread.o
Thread.o: Thread.cc Thread.h
g++ $(CFLAG) -c Thread.cc
clean:
rm -f *.o
My attempt so far has brought me to the following Makefile.ac.
noinst_PROGRAMS = thread
thread_SOURCES = Thread.cc
EXTRA_DIST= Thread.h
How can I simulate my original Makefile?
One way is to do this is to fool Automake by providing link command that does not link:
thread_LINK = true
Other than that, I wouldn't be suprised if Automake did not have such feature.
For your example, you can just ask Automake to build your .o file directly, e.g.:
$ make Thread.o
I believe this is an implicit rule, so you won't see it in the output Makefile.
In general, Automake generates variables containing all the objects required for each executable or library target. It's pretty straightforward to use them in your Makefile, since it just generates their names by appending _OBJECTS to the target name. You could make your own target in Makefile.am like this:
build-thread: $(thread_OBJECTS)
Then you could build just Thread.o (and any other objects needed for thread) like this:
$ make build-thread
Or if you had multiple targets foo, bar, and baz, you could make your compile-only target in Makefile.am like this:
build: $(foo_OBJECTS) $(bar_OBJECTS) $(baz_OBJECTS)
The only pain here is that you'll need to maintain this list yourself based on the targets in your Makefile.am. You can invoke it at the command line like this:
$ make build
Automake is not designed to produce object. It will build either programs or libraries.
It's hard to answer your question without knowing why you'd want to compile a single object file and not something else. Maybe there is a cleaner answer to your "real" problem.
A Makefile.am you could write is
noinst_LIBRARIES = libThread.a
libThread_a_SOURCES = Thread.cc Thread.h # No need to put headers in EXTRA_DIST
The resulting Makefile would build a library libThread.a containing only libThread.o, ans because *.a libraries are just a collection of object files there is no linking involved.
The above Makefile.am also causes the emitted Makefile to contain rules to compile libThread.o, so you can add a build: rule if you like.
If you really want Automake to emit this compile rule, but not build the library, you could go with
EXTRA_LIBRARIES = libThread.a # EXTRA here means "output build rules but don't
# build unless something depends on it".
libThread_a_SOURCES = Thread.cc Thread.h
build: Thread.$(OBJEXT)
Now you are explicitely requiring the file Thread.$(OBJEXT) to be built only when you type make build, as in your original Makefile.
(Automake uses .$(OBJEXT) rather than .o to support extensions like .obj in DOS variants.)
First off, automake is a tool to auto make making Makefiles; make in and of itself is a whole different beast (and I'm pretty sure that what you were looking for was a make solution).
Here's the easiest GNU based Makefile to accomplish what you want:
all: Thread.o
This fills in something (by default) like the following (please change 4-space whitespace to hard tabs):
all: Thread.o
Thread.o: Thread.cc
$(COMPILE.cpp) $(OUTPUT_OPTION) $<
The COMPILE.cpp and OUTPUT_OPTION macros of course expand by default to GNU make specified values and aren't portable; $< is AT&T Make standard syntax though according to pmake(1)'s manpage though.
GNU make has a concept of implicit vs explicit rules, patterns, suffixes, etc that you could use, but that's not portable to all versions of make, and hence that's why all of the Makefile is plainly spelled out in terms of targets and variables as POSIX doesn't describe many of the desired scenarios for how one should write a Makefile.
Run gmake -p for more details and take a look at the texinfo manual for gmake in the topic of implicit, explicit rules, patterns, suffixes, etc.

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