I'm starting to learn how to write makefiles and I can't find an existing topic related to my question, so apologies if it already exists.
As of now, it looks like this (and it works) :
INSTALL_DIR = $(realpath /home/$(USER)/bin/)
SRC = $(realpath ./)
script = $(SRC)/foo.sh
TAR = $(INSTALL_DIR)/foo
all : $(TAR)
$(TAR) : $(script)
ln -s $^ $#
What I would like to do is to use a minimum number of lines to generate symbolic links (that is, applying the existing rule for building TAR) to every bash script (that is $(SRC)*.sh) in the same fashion as I did for the first one ('foo.sh') here.
I could just make 'script' and 'TAR' like variable for every script manually but I'm sure there must be a better way. Little help ?
First we must find the scripts:
INSTALL_DIR = bin # there is no need for a full path here
SRC = $(realpath ./)
SCRIPTS := $(wildcard $(SRC)/*.sh) # /some/path/foo.sh /some/path/bar.sh /some/path/baz.sh
SCRIPTS := $(notdir $(SCRIPTS)) # foo.sh bar.sh baz.sh
Note my use of ":=" rather than "=". You can read about the difference here, but usually ":=" is better.
Now for the targets, the links we're trying to construct:
TARGETS := $(basename $(SCRIPTS)) # foo bar baz
TARGETS := $(addprefix $(INSTALL_DIR)/, $(TARGETS)) # bin/foo bin/bar bin/baz
The rules:
all: $(TARGETS)
$(INSTALL_DIR)/%: $(SRC)/%.sh
ln -s $< $#
That last rule is quite general. We could restrict it to the target list we defined:
$(TARGETS): $(INSTALL_DIR)/%: $(SRC)/%.sh
ln -s $< $#
Further refinements are possible, once this is working perfectly.
You're looking for a pattern rule. Something like:
SCRIPTS := foo bar xxx yyy
all: $(SCRIPTS)
% : %.sh
ln -s $< $#
Note that $(SCRIPTS) can also be populated by $(wildcard ...) if none of the scripts are generated by make (otherwise, $(SCRIPTS) would be missing any file that did not exist when make was first invoked).
In my project, I have a set of programs that are build from sources:
SRC_FILES = $(wildcard $(SRC_DIR)/*.cpp)
TARGETS = $(patsubst $(SRC_DIR)/%.cpp,$(BIN_DIR)/%,$(SRC_FILES))
My build target is simple, and works fine:
all: $(TARGETS)
#echo "- Done target $#"
Now, I want a run target so that all these programs are run from the shell on request. Say, if I have 3 files, I want make to run automatically:
>$ ./test1
>$ ./test2
>$ ./test3
Or
>$ ./test1 && ./test2 && ./test3
I tried this:
run: $(TARGETS)
$(addsuffix && ,$(TARGETS))
That generates the following command:
./test1&& ./test2&&
but it fails, due to the trailing &&
(Of course, I want these to be generated automatically as there can be 3... or 30.)
Edit: actually, the && separator is not required, so something like this:
>$ ./test1; ./test2; ./test3;
will be fine too.
Have some .PHONY line near start of Makefile with
.PHONY: all run
You might have
run: $(TARGETS)
$(addsuffix && ,$(TARGETS)) true
but it is a dirty trick.
Maybe you want to produce the output of test2 into test2.out then you might have
TESTSCRIPTS= $(wildcard test*[0-9])
run: $(patsubst %, %.out, $(TESTSCRIPTS))
test%.out: test%
# here some command to run the test%
As alternatives to Basile Starynkevitch's entirely correct answer here there are (at least) two other options as well.
You can avoid the need to run an unnecessary command (builtin though it might be) to end the list by manually pulling off the first entry (this may in fact be more costly then the shell builtin though).
run: $(TARGETS)
$< $(addprefix &&,$(wordlist 2,$(words $^),$^))
A better option I think, assuming that connecting the commands with && isn't a necessity would be to use $(foreach) to generate the command to be run.
run: $(TARGETS)
$(foreach t,$^,$t;)
The trailing ; in that is crucial as the output from $(foreach) is a single line and you need ; to terminate each shell command (or it is seen as one long command with arguments).
the makefile below processes files matching the patterncontent/%.md and outputs the targets in the html directory. Source files are named with the convention of putting a leading number in front of them, like content/01.index.md or content/O2.second-page.md and so on. I would like to remove the leading 0x. number sequence in the target file. For instance, content/01.index.html would generate html/index.html.
How can I do this?
Thanks
MD_FILES = $(shell find content/ -type f -name '*.md')
HTML_FILES = $(patsubst content/%.md, html/%.html, $(MD_FILES))
all: $(HTML_FILES) html/static
html/%.html : content/%.md
mkdir -p $(#D)
python generator/generate.py $< $#
.PHONY: html/static
html/static :
rsync -rupE generator/static html/
.PHONY: clean
clean:
rm -fr html
Replace:
html/%.html : content/%.md
mkdir -p $(#D)
python generator/generate.py $< $#
with:
html/%.html : content/%.md
mkdir -p $(#D)
file='$(#F)'; python generator/generate.py $< "$(#D)/${file#*.}"
Unfortunately, I can't think of a good way of doing that in make itself. I can think of one way but it isn't as simple as that escaping and it isn't safe for files with spaces (not that that matters much here since make already can't handle those).
IMHO, it is a bad idea to use find or wildcards to list files in makefiles. This is because developers have temporary or debugging files sometimes. It is best to list files explicitly. This way, it forces the developer to think about their intent.
If you agree to list files explicitly, then in this case it is best to list the target files, rather than source files, and here is your answer:
HTML_FILES := html/index.html html/second-page.html
.SECONDEXPANSION:
$(HTML_FILES): html/%.html : $$(wildcard content/*.$$*.md)
(put recipe here, using $# and $<)
I want to create directories using makefile. My project directory is like this
+--Project
+--output
+--source
+Testfile.cpp
+Makefile
I want to put all the objects and output into the respective output folder. I want to create folder structure which would be like this after compiling.
+--Project
+--output
+--debug (or release)
+--objs
+Testfile.o
+Testfile (my executable file)
+--source
+Testfile.cpp
+Makefile
I tried with several options, but could not succeed. Please help me to make directories using make file. I'm posting my Makefile for your consideration.
#---------------------------------------------------------------------
# Input dirs, names, files
#---------------------------------------------------------------------
OUTPUT_ROOT := output/
TITLE_NAME := TestProj
ifdef DEBUG
TITLE_NAME += _DEBUG
else
ifdef RELEASE
TITLE_NAME += _RELEASE
endif
endif
# Include all the source files here with the directory tree
SOURCES := \
source/TestFile.cpp \
#---------------------------------------------------------------------
# configs
#---------------------------------------------------------------------
ifdef DEBUG
OUT_DIR := $(OUTPUT_ROOT)debug
CC_FLAGS := -c -Wall
else
ifdef RELEASE
OUT_DIR := $(OUTPUT_ROOT)release
CC_FLAGS := -c -Wall
else
$(error no build type defined)
endif
endif
# Put objects in the output directory.
OUT_O_DIR := $(OUT_DIR)/objs
#---------------------------------------------------------------------
# settings
#---------------------------------------------------------------------
OBJS = $(SOURCES:.cpp=.o)
DIRS = $(subst /,/,$(sort $(dir $(OBJS))))
DIR_TARGET = $(OUT_DIR)
OUTPUT_TARGET = $(OUT_DIR)/$(TITLE_NAME)
CC_FLAGS +=
LCF_FLAGS :=
LD_FLAGS :=
#---------------------------------------------------------------------
# executables
#---------------------------------------------------------------------
MD := mkdir
RM := rm
CC := g++
#---------------------------------------------------------------------
# rules
#---------------------------------------------------------------------
.PHONY: all clean title
all: title
clean:
$(RM) -rf $(OUT_DIR)
$(DIR_TARGET):
$(MD) -p $(DIRS)
.cpp.o:
#$(CC) -c $< -o $#
$(OBJS): $(OUT_O_DIR)/%.o: %.cpp
#$(CC) -c $< -o $#
title: $(DIR_TARGET) $(OBJS)
In my opinion, directories should not be considered targets of your makefile, either in technical or in design sense. You should create files and if a file creation needs a new directory then quietly create the directory within the rule for the relevant file.
If you're targeting a usual or "patterned" file, just use make's internal variable $(#D), that means "the directory the current target resides in" (cmp. with $# for the target). For example,
$(OUT_O_DIR)/%.o: %.cpp
#mkdir -p $(#D)
#$(CC) -c $< -o $#
title: $(OBJS)
Then, you're effectively doing the same: create directories for all $(OBJS), but you'll do it in a less complicated way.
The same policy (files are targets, directories never are) is used in various applications. For example, git revision control system doesn't store directories.
Note: If you're going to use it, it might be useful to introduce a convenience variable and utilize make's expansion rules.
dir_guard=#mkdir -p $(#D)
$(OUT_O_DIR)/%.o: %.cpp
$(dir_guard)
#$(CC) -c $< -o $#
$(OUT_O_DIR_DEBUG)/%.o: %.cpp
$(dir_guard)
#$(CC) -g -c $< -o $#
title: $(OBJS)
This would do it - assuming a Unix-like environment.
MKDIR_P = mkdir -p
.PHONY: directories
all: directories program
directories: ${OUT_DIR}
${OUT_DIR}:
${MKDIR_P} ${OUT_DIR}
This would have to be run in the top-level directory - or the definition of ${OUT_DIR} would have to be correct relative to where it is run. Of course, if you follow the edicts of Peter Miller's "Recursive Make Considered Harmful" paper, then you'll be running make in the top-level directory anyway.
I'm playing with this (RMCH) at the moment. It needed a bit of adaptation to the suite of software that I am using as a test ground. The suite has a dozen separate programs built with source spread across 15 directories, some of it shared. But with a bit of care, it can be done. OTOH, it might not be appropriate for a newbie.
As noted in the comments, listing the 'mkdir' command as the action for 'directories' is wrong. As also noted in the comments, there are other ways to fix the 'do not know how to make output/debug' error that results. One is to remove the dependency on the the 'directories' line. This works because 'mkdir -p' does not generate errors if all the directories it is asked to create already exist. The other is the mechanism shown, which will only attempt to create the directory if it does not exist. The 'as amended' version is what I had in mind last night - but both techniques work (and both have problems if output/debug exists but is a file rather than a directory).
Or, KISS.
DIRS=build build/bins
...
$(shell mkdir -p $(DIRS))
This will create all the directories after the Makefile is parsed.
make in, and off itself, handles directory targets just the same as file targets. So, it's easy to write rules like this:
outDir/someTarget: Makefile outDir
touch outDir/someTarget
outDir:
mkdir -p outDir
The only problem with that is, that the directories timestamp depends on what is done to the files inside. For the rules above, this leads to the following result:
$ make
mkdir -p outDir
touch outDir/someTarget
$ make
touch outDir/someTarget
$ make
touch outDir/someTarget
$ make
touch outDir/someTarget
This is most definitely not what you want. Whenever you touch the file, you also touch the directory. And since the file depends on the directory, the file consequently appears to be out of date, forcing it to be rebuilt.
However, you can easily break this loop by telling make to ignore the timestamp of the directory. This is done by declaring the directory as an order-only prerequsite:
# The pipe symbol tells make that the following prerequisites are order-only
# |
# v
outDir/someTarget: Makefile | outDir
touch outDir/someTarget
outDir:
mkdir -p outDir
This correctly yields:
$ make
mkdir -p outDir
touch outDir/someTarget
$ make
make: 'outDir/someTarget' is up to date.
TL;DR:
Write a rule to create the directory:
$(OUT_DIR):
mkdir -p $(OUT_DIR)
And have the targets for the stuff inside depend on the directory order-only:
$(OUT_DIR)/someTarget: ... | $(OUT_DIR)
All solutions including the accepted one have some issues as stated in their respective comments. The accepted answer by #jonathan-leffler is already quite good but does not take into effect that prerequisites are not necessarily to be built in order (during make -j for example). However simply moving the directories prerequisite from all to program provokes rebuilds on every run AFAICT.
The following solution does not have that problem and AFAICS works as intended.
MKDIR_P := mkdir -p
OUT_DIR := build
.PHONY: directories all clean
all: $(OUT_DIR)/program
directories: $(OUT_DIR)
$(OUT_DIR):
${MKDIR_P} $(OUT_DIR)
$(OUT_DIR)/program: | directories
touch $(OUT_DIR)/program
clean:
rm -rf $(OUT_DIR)
I've just come up with a fairly reasonable solution that lets you define the files to build and have directories be automatically created. First, define a variable ALL_TARGET_FILES that holds the file name of every file that your makefile will be build. Then use the following code:
define depend_on_dir
$(1): | $(dir $(1))
ifndef $(dir $(1))_DIRECTORY_RULE_IS_DEFINED
$(dir $(1)):
mkdir -p $$#
$(dir $(1))_DIRECTORY_RULE_IS_DEFINED := 1
endif
endef
$(foreach file,$(ALL_TARGET_FILES),$(eval $(call depend_on_dir,$(file))))
Here's how it works. I define a function depend_on_dir which takes a file name and generates a rule that makes the file depend on the directory that contains it and then defines a rule to create that directory if necessary. Then I use foreach to call this function on each file name and eval the result.
Note that you'll need a version of GNU make that supports eval, which I think is versions 3.81 and higher.
given that you're a newbie, I'd say don't try to do this yet. it's definitely possible, but will needlessly complicate your Makefile. stick to the simple ways until you're more comfortable with make.
that said, one way to build in a directory different from the source directory is VPATH; i prefer pattern rules
OS independence is critical for me, so mkdir -p is not an option. I created this series of functions that use eval to create directory targets with the prerequisite on the parent directory. This has the benefit that make -j 2 will work without issue since the dependencies are correctly determined.
# convenience function for getting parent directory, will eventually return ./
# $(call get_parent_dir,somewhere/on/earth/) -> somewhere/on/
get_parent_dir=$(dir $(patsubst %/,%,$1))
# function to create directory targets.
# All directories have order-only-prerequisites on their parent directories
# https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/Prerequisite-Types.html#Prerequisite-Types
TARGET_DIRS:=
define make_dirs_recursively
TARGET_DIRS+=$1
$1: | $(if $(subst ./,,$(call get_parent_dir,$1)),$(call get_parent_dir,$1))
mkdir $1
endef
# function to recursively get all directories
# $(call get_all_dirs,things/and/places/) -> things/ things/and/ things/and/places/
# $(call get_all_dirs,things/and/places) -> things/ things/and/
get_all_dirs=$(if $(subst ./,,$(dir $1)),$(call get_all_dirs,$(call get_parent_dir,$1)) $1)
# function to turn all targets into directories
# $(call get_all_target_dirs,obj/a.o obj/three/b.o) -> obj/ obj/three/
get_all_target_dirs=$(sort $(foreach target,$1,$(call get_all_dirs,$(dir $(target)))))
# create target dirs
create_dirs=$(foreach dirname,$(call get_all_target_dirs,$1),$(eval $(call make_dirs_recursively,$(dirname))))
TARGETS := w/h/a/t/e/v/e/r/things.dat w/h/a/t/things.dat
all: $(TARGETS)
# this must be placed after your .DEFAULT_GOAL, or you can manually state what it is
# https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/Special-Variables.html
$(call create_dirs,$(TARGETS))
# $(TARGET_DIRS) needs to be an order-only-prerequisite
w/h/a/t/e/v/e/r/things.dat: w/h/a/t/things.dat | $(TARGET_DIRS)
echo whatever happens > $#
w/h/a/t/things.dat: | $(TARGET_DIRS)
echo whatever happens > $#
For example, running the above will create:
$ make
mkdir w/
mkdir w/h/
mkdir w/h/a/
mkdir w/h/a/t/
mkdir w/h/a/t/e/
mkdir w/h/a/t/e/v/
mkdir w/h/a/t/e/v/e/
mkdir w/h/a/t/e/v/e/r/
echo whatever happens > w/h/a/t/things.dat
echo whatever happens > w/h/a/t/e/v/e/r/things.dat
See https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/managing-projects-with/0596006101/ch12.html
REQUIRED_DIRS = ...
_MKDIRS := $(shell for d in $(REQUIRED_DIRS); \
do \
[[ -d $$d ]] || mkdir -p $$d; \
done)
$(objects) : $(sources)
As I use Ubuntu, I also needed add this at the top of my Makefile:
SHELL := /bin/bash # Use bash syntax
I use the makefiles in windows environment and my simple solution is as follows,
Create a target makedir and add it as a prerequisites to where ever it is required.
# Default goal
all: gccversion makedir build finalize list sizeafter completed
The makedir target is (applicable only in windows environment)
makedir:
#IF NOT EXIST $(subst /,\,$(BUILD_DIR)) mkdir $(subst /,\,$(BUILD_DIR)) 2> NULL
#IF NOT EXIST $(subst /,\,$(OUTPUT_DIR)) mkdir $(subst /,\,$(OUTPUT_DIR)) 2> NULL
#IF NOT EXIST $(subst /,\,$(DEP_DIR)) mkdir $(subst /,\,$(DEP_DIR)) 2> NUL
#IF NOT EXIST $(subst /,\,$(OBJ_DIR)) mkdir $(subst /,\,$(OBJ_DIR)) 2> NUL
$(subst /,\,$(BUILD_DIR)) converts the directory separator / to \ and
mkdir $(subst /,\,$(BUILD_DIR)) 2> NUL redirects the error if any.
src_dir := src
obj_dir := obj
build_dir := build
dirs := $(src_dir) $(obj_dir) $(build_dir) # new variable
all: $(dirs) $(other_dependencies) # added dependency (*before* any others)
$(dirs): # rule which makes missing directories
mkdir $#
Won't clutter your terminal with "cannot create directory" error messages. If the directories exist, they don't need to be built.
Works like any other dependency, only requires one rule and one variable.
I need to generate a directory in my makefile and I would like to not get the "directory already exists error" over and over even though I can easily ignore it.
I mainly use mingw/msys but would like something that works across other shells/systems too.
I tried this but it didn't work, any ideas?
ifeq (,$(findstring $(OBJDIR),$(wildcard $(OBJDIR) )))
-mkdir $(OBJDIR)
endif
Looking at the official make documentation, here is a good way to do it:
OBJDIR := objdir
OBJS := $(addprefix $(OBJDIR)/,foo.o bar.o baz.o)
$(OBJDIR)/%.o : %.c
$(COMPILE.c) $(OUTPUT_OPTION) $<
all: $(OBJS)
$(OBJS): | $(OBJDIR)
$(OBJDIR):
mkdir -p $(OBJDIR)
You should see here the usage of the | pipe operator, defining an order only prerequisite.
Meaning that the $(OBJDIR) target should be existent (instead of more recent) in order to build the current target.
Note that I used mkdir -p. The -p flag was added compared to the example of the docs.
See other answers for another alternative.
On UNIX Just use this:
mkdir -p $(OBJDIR)
The -p option to mkdir prevents the error message if the directory exists.
You can use the test command:
test -d $(OBJDIR) || mkdir $(OBJDIR)
Here is a trick I use with GNU make for creating compiler-output directories. First define this rule:
%/.d:
mkdir -p $(#D)
touch $#
Then make all files that go into the directory dependent on the .d file in that directory:
obj/%.o: %.c obj/.d
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -o $# $<
Note use of $< instead of $^.
Finally prevent the .d files from being removed automatically:
.PRECIOUS: %/.d
Skipping the .d file, and depending directly on the directory, will not work, as the directory modification time is updated every time a file is written in that directory, which would force rebuild at every invocation of make.
If having the directory already exist is not a problem for you, you could just redirect stderr for that command, getting rid of the error message:
-mkdir $(OBJDIR) 2>/dev/null
Inside your makefile:
target:
if test -d dir; then echo "hello world!"; else mkdir dir; fi
On Windows
if not exist "$(OBJDIR)" mkdir $(OBJDIR)
On Unix | Linux
if [ ! -d "$(OBJDIR)" ]; then mkdir $(OBJDIR); fi
ifeq "$(wildcard $(MY_DIRNAME) )" ""
-mkdir $(MY_DIRNAME)
endif
$(OBJDIR):
mkdir $#
Which also works for multiple directories, e.g..
OBJDIRS := $(sort $(dir $(OBJECTS)))
$(OBJDIRS):
mkdir $#
Adding $(OBJDIR) as the first target works well.
It works under mingw32/msys/cygwin/linux
ifeq "$(wildcard .dep)" ""
-include $(shell mkdir .dep) $(wildcard .dep/*)
endif
If you explicitly ignore the return code and dump the error stream then your make will ignore the error if it occurs:
mkdir 2>/dev/null || true
This should not cause a race hazard in a parallel make - but I haven't tested it to be sure.
A little simpler than Lars' answer:
something_needs_directory_xxx : xxx/..
and generic rule:
%/.. : ;#mkdir -p $(#D)
No touch-files to clean up or make .PRECIOUS :-)
If you want to see another little generic gmake trick, or if you're interested in non-recursive make with minimal scaffolding, you might care to check out Two more cheap gmake tricks and the other make-related posts in that blog.