Makefile for m4 - makefile

I want to convert a couple of *.in files to *.H file using m4 macro processor.
The second step is processing *.H files into *.h files with some config process.
I did not succeed in getting the appropriate Makefile.
My Makefile is as follows (simplified version):
SRCS= file1.in file2.in
%.H : %.in
m4 $< >$#
echo " $# created"
%.h : %.H
cp $< $#
echo "$# Refreshed"
Running make comes with "no targets"
How to get make to do something?

You have to provide a default target in your Makefile :
SRCS= file1.in file2.in
all: $(SRCS:in=h)
%.H : %.in
m4 $< >$#
%.h : %.H
cp $< $#
Patterns (like %.h) are not valid default target, as make cannot infer which filename to try for this pattern.

Related

GNU Make reports no rule when dealing with a target under subdirectory with source from another directory

My project's directory is mounted via NFS. From the directory under which it is mounted, I call make -f msh/Makefile cd=msh. (msh is my mount.) cd is a variable in the Makefile that is prepended to source files. This works fine with source files directly under cd. However, if the source files are under a subdirectory within cd, Make fails, saying that there is no rule to make that target. It does not fail if I call Make from within my mount.
This is my Makefile.
CC?=gcc
CFLAGS:=-Wall -Werror -D_POSIX_C_SOURCE=200112L $(CFLAGS)
cd?=.
objects_nix=if/tty.o
objects:=sub.o if.o $(objects_nix)
ifdef SO
CFLAGS+=-fPIC
bin=libmsh.so
else
bin=libmsh.a
endif
.PHONY : clean
$(bin) :
libmsh.a : $(objects)
$(AR) -r -c -s $# $(objects)
libmsh.so : $(objects)
#echo
#echo If you have resumed compilation after not having used the SO flag,
#echo you should run make clean.
#echo
$(LD) $(LDFLAGS) -shared -o $# $(objects)
test : $(cd)/test.c $(bin)
ifdef SO
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -I$(cd) $(LDFLAGS) -L. -lmsh -Wl,-rpath,. -o $# $(cd)/test.c
else
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -I$(cd) $(LDFLAGS) -o $# $(cd)/test.c $(bin)
endif
%.o : $(cd)/%.c
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -o $# $<
clean :
rm -f libmsh.so libmsh.a
rm -f $(objects)
rm -f test.o test
I have tried creating another rule for the subdirectory, and this works. But I'd like it to work with only the one rule.
You have told Make how to make a .o file from .c file in $(cd). It does not know how to make a .o file if the .c file in some other directory. You can solve this in various ways, such as:
Add an explicit rule for all directories. You have already done that.
Use VPATH.
Create a Makefile for each directory.

How do I add an additional Makefile step for a single target?

I have a Makefile that looks like this, going from .o -> .bin -> .stub for most targets. But I have another more complicated target that I want to generate through .o -> .elf -> .bin -> .stub.
all: simple.stub complex.stub
%.bin: %.o
$(Q)echo " OBJCOPY $#"
$(Q)$(OBJCOPY) -O binary $< $#
%.stub: %.bin
$(Q)echo " HEXDUMP $#"
$(Q)$(HEXDUMP) -v -e '/2 "0x%04X, "' $< > $#
%.elf: %.o
arm-none-eabi-gcc $< %#
How do I tell make that .o -> .bin is not a valid transition while building complex.stub, and also prevent it from going through .elf for the others?
You need to tell make about the exception to the rule, and provide an alternative pattern rule as there are no built-in rules for %.bin: %.elf
.PHONY: all
all: simple.stub complex.stub
.INTERMEDIATE: complex.bin complex.elf
complex.bin: complex.elf
%.bin: %.o
#echo Making $# from $^
#echo "test" > $#
%.bin: %.elf
#echo Making $# from $^
#echo "test" > $#
%.stub: %.bin
#echo Making $# from $^
#echo "test" > $#
%.elf: %.o
#echo Making $# from $^
#echo "test" > $#
%.o:
#echo Making $#
#echo "test" > $#
.INTERMEDIATE isn't strictly necessary, it's just a useful auto cleanup seeing as it's unlikely you need to keep the intermediate files around.

How to make my makefile more general?

I have a makefile which, when I need to add another file that is a part of the project, I also need to edit heavily to make it all work. I would like to just code my makefile once and be done with it! So, this is the script:
CC=g++
CFLAGS=-c -Wall
#All paths start in the main directory which has this makefile, object/ and code/.
OBJPATH=object#All compiled .o files need to be placed here.
CODEPATH=code#All .cpp and .hpp header files reside here.
#The names of all the object files that need to be made.
OBJ=$(OBJPATH)/World.o $(OBJPATH)/Block.o $(OBJPATH)/Creep.o $(OBJPATH)/Food.o $(OBJPATH)/Brick.o
all : World.a
$(OBJPATH)/World.o : $(CODEPATH)/World.hpp $(CODEPATH)/World.cpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CODEPATH)/World.cpp
mv World.o $(OBJPATH)/
$(OBJPATH)/Block.o : $(CODEPATH)/Block.hpp $(CODEPATH)/Block.cpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CODEPATH)/Block.cpp
mv Block.o $(OBJPATH)/
$(OBJPATH)/Creep.o : $(CODEPATH)/Creep.hpp $(CODEPATH)/Creep.cpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CODEPATH)/Creep.cpp
mv Creep.o $(OBJPATH)/
$(OBJPATH)/Food.o : $(CODEPATH)/Food.hpp $(CODEPATH)/Food.cpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CODEPATH)/Food.cpp
mv Food.o $(OBJPATH)/
$(OBJPATH)/Brick.o : $(CODEPATH)/Brick.hpp $(CODEPATH)/Brick.cpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CODEPATH)/Brick.cpp
mv Brick.o $(OBJPATH)/
#This archive is the final result of the compilation:
World.a : $(OBJ)
ar rvs World.a $(OBJ)
cp $(CODEPATH)/World.hpp . #I need both the World.a file and the World.hpp file from code/ for this library to function.
#Delete all object files and the archive:
clean :
rm $(OBJPATH)/*.o World.a World.hpp *~ $(CODEPATH)/*~
#Delete all backup files made by Gedit:
pretty :
rm *~ $(CODEPATH)/*~
What this basically does is compiles all the .o files in the folder object/, and then puts them in a file named World.a. Then it just copies over World.hpp, because that's the library's header file. I believe that a lot of this code can be minimized so it's more readable and generic (doesn't require me to edit it each time I make a new class).
Look at the rule for one object file:
$(OBJPATH)/World.o : $(CODEPATH)/World.hpp $(CODEPATH)/World.cpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CODEPATH)/World.cpp
mv World.o $(OBJPATH)/
Let's build the object where we want it, instead of using mv:
$(OBJPATH)/World.o : $(CODEPATH)/World.hpp $(CODEPATH)/World.cpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CODEPATH)/World.cpp -o $(OBJPATH)/World.o
then use an automatic variable:
$(OBJPATH)/World.o : $(CODEPATH)/World.hpp $(CODEPATH)/World.cpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CODEPATH)/World.cpp -o $#
then reverse the order of the prerequisites, so that we can use another automatic variable:
$(OBJPATH)/World.o : $(CODEPATH)/World.cpp $(CODEPATH)/World.hpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $< -o $#
Now the command doesn't mention World by name, so we could use the same rule for all the objects. To make this answer short I'll first make it a static pattern rule:
$(OBJPATH)/World.o : $(OBJPATH)/%.o : $(CODEPATH)/%.cpp $(CODEPATH)/%.hpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $< -o $#
then combine them all:
OBJ=$(OBJPATH)/World.o $(OBJPATH)/Block.o $(OBJPATH)/Creep.o $(OBJPATH)/Food.o $(OBJPATH)/Brick.o
$(OBJ) : $(OBJPATH)/%.o : $(CODEPATH)/%.cpp $(CODEPATH)/%.hpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $< -o $#
Now when you want to add a new file, all you have to do is add it to the OBJ=... line. There are a few more improvements you can make, but this is enough for one day.

Makefile target matching

I'm having troubles with my Makefile :-(
I have a mix of assembly and C sourcecode that I need to link together. I need different build-instructions for those two types. Since both the assembler and C compiler output *.o files, I cannot use the general %.o:%.c construction often found in example Makefiles
This what I'm trying now:
Get a list of all C files and their resulting output files:
C_SRCFILES := $(shell find $(SRCDIRS) -type -f -name "*.c")
C_OBJFILES := $(patsub %.c,%.o,$(C_SRCFILES))
Get a list of all asm files and their resulting output files:
A_SRCFILES := $(shell find $(SRCDIRS) -type -f -name "*.asm")
A_OBJFILES := $(patsub %.asm,%.o,$(A_SRCFILES))
When I echo those vars to the screen, they seem to be correct, but how I do define my targets now?
I tried something like this
$(A_OBJFILES): ($A_SRCFILES)
$(AS) $(AFLAGS) -o $# $*
$(C_OBJFILES): ($C_SRCFILES)
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -o $# $*
all: $(A_OBJFILES) $(C_OBJFILES)
$(LD) $(LDFLAGS) $(A_OBJFILES) $(C_OBJFILES) -o $(TARGET_OUTPUT)
but ofcourse, this doesn't work...
Any suggestions?
First problem: a misplaced parenthesis or two.
$(A_OBJFILES): ($A_SRCFILES)
Notice that you have the $ inside the ( in ($A_SRCFILES). Make expands $A, which is nothing, and things go downhill. I think you meant $(A_SRCFILES), and the same thing in the other rule.
Second problem: I don't know the syntax of the assembler, but the syntax of the compiler command is wrong:
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -o $# $*
The variable $* is nothing if we're not in a pattern rule, which we're not (yet). And anyway, if we were in a pattern rule and you were trying to build foo.o, this command would look for the source file foo, and there's no such file. Do it this way:
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -o $# $<
Third problem: each object file depends on all source files (in each rule). Try this instead:
$(A_OBJFILES): %.o : %.asm
...
$(C_OBJFILES): %.o : %.c
...
(Now it's a pattern rule.)
Fourth problem: a lot of redundancy in the last rule. Change it to this:
all: $(A_OBJFILES) $(C_OBJFILES)
$(LD) $(LDFLAGS) $^ -o $(TARGET_OUTPUT)
or better still:
all: $(TARGET_OUTPUT)
$(TARGET_OUTPUT): $(A_OBJFILES) $(C_OBJFILES)
$(LD) $(LDFLAGS) $^ -o $#
Since both the assembler and C compiler output *.o files, I cannot use the general %.o:%.c construction often found in example Makefiles
Sure you can:
%.o : %.c
# commands to make .o from a corresponding .c
%.o : %.asm
# commands to make .o from a corresponding .asm

How to place object files in separate subdirectory

I'm having trouble with trying to use make to place object files in a separate subdirectory, probably a very basic technique. I have tried to use the information in this page:
http://www.gnu.org/software/hello/manual/make/Prerequisite-Types.html#Prerequisite-Types
I get the following output from make:
make: *** No rule to make target `ku.h', needed by `obj/kumain.o'. Stop.
However ku.h is a dependency not a target (although it's obviously #included within the c source files). When I don't try to use a subdirectory for object files (i.e. miss out the OBJDIR parts) it works fine. Why does make think ku.h is a target?
my makefile is this: (the style is after reading various sources of information)
.SUFFIXES:
.SUFFIXES: .c .o
CC=gcc
CPPFLAGS=-Wall
LDLIBS=-lhpdf
VPATH=%.c src
VPATH=%.h src
VPATH=%.o obj
OBJDIR=obj
objects= $(addprefix $(OBJDIR)/, kumain.o kudlx.o kusolvesk.o kugetpuz.o kuutils.o \
kurand.o kuASCboard.o kuPDFs.o kupuzstrings.o kugensud.o \
kushapes.o )
ku : $(objects)
$(CC) $(CPPFLAGS) -o ku $(objects) $(LDLIBS)
$(objects) : ku.h kudefines.h kuglobals.h kufns.h | $(OBJDIR)
$(OBJDIR):
mkdir $(OBJDIR)
.PHONY: clean
clean :
rm $(objects)
Edit:
I applied the change to use the vpath directive. My version was a bad mixture of VPATH=xxx and vpath %.c xxx. However I now get another problem (which was the original problem before I added the wrong vpath). This is now the output:
gcc -o ku -lhpdf obj/kumain.o obj/kudlx.o obj/kusolvesk.o ..etc
gcc: obj/kumain.o: No such file or directory
gcc: obj/kudlx.o: No such file or directory
gcc: obj/kusolvesk.o: No such file or directory
gcc: obj/kugetpuz.o: No such file or directory
gcc: obj/kuutils.o: No such file or directory
gcc: obj/kurand.o: No such file or directory
gcc: obj/kuASCboard.o: No such file or directory
gcc: obj/kuPDFs.o: No such file or directory
gcc: obj/kupuzstrings.o: No such file or directory
gcc: obj/kugensud.o: No such file or directory
gcc: obj/kushapes.o: No such file or directory
make: *** [ku] Error 1
It appears that make is not applying the implicit rule for an object file although the manual says
"Implicit rules tell make how to use customary techniques so that you do not have to specify them in detail when you want to use them. For example, there is an implicit rule for C compilation. File names determine which implicit rules are run. For example, C compilation typically takes a .c file and makes a .o file. So make applies the implicit rule for C compilation when it sees this combination of file name endings." and also "The search through the directories specified in VPATH or with vpath also happens during consideration of implicit rules (see Using Implicit Rules)."
Again here "For example, when a file foo.o has no explicit rule, make considers implicit rules, such as the built-in rule to compile foo.c if that file exists. If such a file is lacking in the current directory, the appropriate directories are searched for it. If foo.c exists (or is mentioned in the makefile) in any of the directories, the implicit rule for C compilation is applied."
Any assistance in getting implicit rules to work for my makefile would be greatly appreciated.
Edit no 2:
Thanks to Jack Kelly I have made an explicit rule to compile the .c files since I couldn't get anywhere trying to use implicit rules. Also thanks to al_miro for the vpath info.
Here is the working makfile:
.SUFFIXES:
.SUFFIXES: .c .o
CC=gcc
CPPFLAGS=-Wall
LDLIBS=-lhpdf
OBJDIR=obj
vpath %.c src
vpath %.h src
objects = $(addprefix $(OBJDIR)/, kumain.o kudlx.o kusolvesk.o kugetpuz.o kuutils.o \
kurand.o kuASCboard.o kuPDFs.o kupuzstrings.o kugensud.o \
kushapes.o )
ku : $(objects)
$(CC) $(CPPFLAGS) -o ku $(objects) $(LDLIBS)
$(OBJDIR) obj/%.o : %.c ku.h kudefines.h kuglobals.h kufns.h
$(CC) -c $(CPPFLAGS) $< -o $#
.PHONY : clean
clean :
rm $(objects)
Since you're using GNUmake, use a pattern rule for compiling object files:
$(OBJDIR)/%.o: %.c
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -c -o $# $<
This is the makefile that I use for most of my projects,
It permits putting source files, headers and inline files in subfolders, and subfolders of subfolders and so-forth, and will automatically generate a dependency file for each object This means that modification of headers and inline files will trigger recompilation of files which are dependent.
Source files are detected via shell find command, so there is no need to explicitly specify, just keep coding to your hearts content.
It will also copy all files from a 'resources' folder, into the bin folder when the project is compiled, which I find handy most of the time.
To provide credit where it is due, the auto-dependencies feature was based largely off Scott McPeak's page that can be found HERE, with some additional modifications / tweaks for my needs.
Example Makefile
#Compiler and Linker
CC := g++-mp-4.7
#The Target Binary Program
TARGET := program
#The Directories, Source, Includes, Objects, Binary and Resources
SRCDIR := src
INCDIR := inc
BUILDDIR := obj
TARGETDIR := bin
RESDIR := res
SRCEXT := cpp
DEPEXT := d
OBJEXT := o
#Flags, Libraries and Includes
CFLAGS := -fopenmp -Wall -O3 -g
LIB := -fopenmp -lm -larmadillo
INC := -I$(INCDIR) -I/usr/local/include
INCDEP := -I$(INCDIR)
#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#DO NOT EDIT BELOW THIS LINE
#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOURCES := $(shell find $(SRCDIR) -type f -name *.$(SRCEXT))
OBJECTS := $(patsubst $(SRCDIR)/%,$(BUILDDIR)/%,$(SOURCES:.$(SRCEXT)=.$(OBJEXT)))
#Defauilt Make
all: resources $(TARGET)
#Remake
remake: cleaner all
#Copy Resources from Resources Directory to Target Directory
resources: directories
#cp $(RESDIR)/* $(TARGETDIR)/
#Make the Directories
directories:
#mkdir -p $(TARGETDIR)
#mkdir -p $(BUILDDIR)
#Clean only Objecst
clean:
#$(RM) -rf $(BUILDDIR)
#Full Clean, Objects and Binaries
cleaner: clean
#$(RM) -rf $(TARGETDIR)
#Pull in dependency info for *existing* .o files
-include $(OBJECTS:.$(OBJEXT)=.$(DEPEXT))
#Link
$(TARGET): $(OBJECTS)
$(CC) -o $(TARGETDIR)/$(TARGET) $^ $(LIB)
#Compile
$(BUILDDIR)/%.$(OBJEXT): $(SRCDIR)/%.$(SRCEXT)
#mkdir -p $(dir $#)
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(INC) -c -o $# $<
#$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(INCDEP) -MM $(SRCDIR)/$*.$(SRCEXT) > $(BUILDDIR)/$*.$(DEPEXT)
#cp -f $(BUILDDIR)/$*.$(DEPEXT) $(BUILDDIR)/$*.$(DEPEXT).tmp
#sed -e 's|.*:|$(BUILDDIR)/$*.$(OBJEXT):|' < $(BUILDDIR)/$*.$(DEPEXT).tmp > $(BUILDDIR)/$*.$(DEPEXT)
#sed -e 's/.*://' -e 's/\\$$//' < $(BUILDDIR)/$*.$(DEPEXT).tmp | fmt -1 | sed -e 's/^ *//' -e 's/$$/:/' >> $(BUILDDIR)/$*.$(DEPEXT)
#rm -f $(BUILDDIR)/$*.$(DEPEXT).tmp
#Non-File Targets
.PHONY: all remake clean cleaner resources
The VPATH lines are wrong, they should be
vpath %.c src
vpath %.h src
i.e. not capital and without the = . As it is now, it doesn't find the .h file and thinks it is a target to be made.
In general, you either have to specify $(OBJDIR) on the left hand side of all the rules that place files in $(OBJDIR), or you can run make from $(OBJDIR).
VPATH is for sources, not for objects.
Take a look at these two links for more explanation, and a "clever" workaround.
http://mad-scientist.net/make/vpath.html
http://mad-scientist.net/make/multi-arch.html
Build from the output directory
Instead of building from the top-level directory, build from the output directory. You can access the source directories by setting the vpath. This option has the advantage that the built-in rules can be used.
build.sh
#!/bin/bash
mkdir -p obj
cp Makefile.template obj/Makefile
cd obj
make "$*"
Makefile
.SUFFIXES:
.SUFFIXES: .c .o
CC=gcc
CPPFLAGS=-Wall
LDLIBS=-lhpdf
VPATH=%.c ../src
VPATH=%.h ../src
objects=kumain.o kudlx.o kusolvesk.o kugetpuz.o kuutils.o \
kurand.o kuASCboard.o kuPDFs.o kupuzstrings.o kugensud.o \
kushapes.o
ku : $(objects)
$(objects) : ku.h kudefines.h kuglobals.h kufns.h
.PHONY: clean
clean :
rm $(objects)
The disadvantage is that error messages do not match the CWD. This can be solved by skipping build.sh and directly building from the obj directory.
Another advantage of this approach is that it's somewhat popular. cmake works in a similar fashion.
Create Rule based on output option
The following solution isn't nice in my opinion, as I really love the built-in rules. However, GNU make doesn't support something like vpath for output directories. And the built-in rules cannot match, as the % in %.o would match obj/foo of obj/foo.o, leaving make with a search in vpath %.c src/ for stuff like src/obj/foo.c, but not src/foo.c.
But this is as close to the built-in rules as you can get, and therefore to my best knowledge the nicest solution that's available.
$(OBJDIR)/%.o: %.c
$(COMPILE.c) $(OUTPUT_OPTION) $<
Explanation: $(COMPILE.c) $(OUTPUT_OPTION) $< actually is how .c.o is implemented, see http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/make.git/tree/default.c (and it's even mentioned in the manual)
Besides, if $(OBJDIR) would only ever contain auto-gererated files, you could create it on-the-fly with an order-only prerequisite, making the clean rule slightly simpler:
$(OBJDIR):
mkdir -p $(OBJDIR)
$(OBJDIR)/%.o: %.c | $(OBJDIR)
$(COMPILE.c) $(OUTPUT_OPTION) $<
.PHONY: clean
clean:
$(RM) -r $(OBJDIR)
This requires that the feature order-only is available, which you can check using $(filter order-only, $(.FETAURES)). I've checked on Kubuntu 14.04 GNU make 3.81 and OpenSUSE 13.1 GNU make 3.82. Both were built with order-only enabled, and am now left puzzled why Kubuntu 14.04 comes with an older version of GNU make than OpenSUSE 13.1. Anyways, gonna download make 4.1 now :)
For anyone that is working with a directory style like this:
project
> src
> pkgA
> pkgB
...
> bin
> pkgA
> pkgB
...
The following worked very well for me. I made this myself, using
the GNU make manual as my main reference; this, in particular, was extremely helpful for my last rule, which ended up being the most important one for me.
My Makefile:
PROG := sim
CC := g++
ODIR := bin
SDIR := src
MAIN_OBJ := main.o
MAIN := main.cpp
PKG_DIRS := $(shell ls $(SDIR))
CXXFLAGS = -std=c++11 -Wall $(addprefix -I$(SDIR)/,$(PKG_DIRS)) -I$(BOOST_ROOT)
FIND_SRC_FILES = $(wildcard $(SDIR)/$(pkg)/*.cpp)
SRC_FILES = $(foreach pkg,$(PKG_DIRS),$(FIND_SRC_FILES))
OBJ_FILES = $(patsubst $(SDIR)/%,$(ODIR)/%,\
$(patsubst %.cpp,%.o,$(filter-out $(SDIR)/main/$(MAIN),$(SRC_FILES))))
vpath %.h $(addprefix $(SDIR)/,$(PKG_DIRS))
vpath %.cpp $(addprefix $(SDIR)/,$(PKG_DIRS))
vpath $(MAIN) $(addprefix $(SDIR)/,main)
# main target
#$(PROG) : all
$(PROG) : $(MAIN) $(OBJ_FILES)
$(CC) $(CXXFLAGS) -o $(PROG) $(SDIR)/main/$(MAIN)
# debugging
all : ; $(info $$PKG_DIRS is [${PKG_DIRS}])#echo Hello world
%.o : %.cpp
$(CC) $(CXXFLAGS) -c $< -o $#
# This one right here, folks. This is the one.
$(OBJ_FILES) : $(ODIR)/%.o : $(SDIR)/%.h
$(CC) $(CXXFLAGS) -c $< -o $#
# for whatever reason, clean is not being called...
# any ideas why???
.PHONY: clean
clean :
#echo Build done! Cleaning object files...
#rm -r $(ODIR)/*/*.o
By using $(SDIR)/%.h as a prerequisite for $(ODIR)/%.o, this forced make to look in source-package directories for source code instead of looking in the same folder as the object file.
I hope this helps some people. Let me know if you see anything wrong with what I've provided.
BTW: As you may see from my last comment, clean is not being called and I am not sure why. Any ideas?
For all those working with implicit rules (and GNU MAKE). Here is a simple makefile which supports different directories:
#Start of the makefile
VPATH = ./src:./header:./objects
OUTPUT_OPTION = -o objects/$#
CXXFLAGS += -Wall -g -I./header
Target = $(notdir $(CURDIR)).exe
Objects := $(notdir $(patsubst %.cpp,%.o,$(wildcard src/*.cpp)))
all: $(Target)
$(Target): $(Objects)
$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -o $(Target) $(addprefix objects/,$(Objects))
#Beware of -f. It skips any confirmation/errors (e.g. file does not exist)
.PHONY: clean
clean:
rm -f $(addprefix objects/,$(Objects)) $(Target)
Lets have a closer look (I will refer to the current Directory with curdir):
This line is used to get a list of the used .o files which are in curdir/src.
Objects := $(notdir $(patsubst %.cpp,%.o,$(wildcard src/*.cpp)))
#expands to "foo.o myfoo.o otherfoo.o"
Via variable the output is set to a different directory (curdir/objects).
OUTPUT_OPTION = -o objects/$#
#OUTPUT_OPTION will insert the -o flag into the implicit rules
To make sure the compiler finds the objects in the new objects folder, the path is added to the filename.
$(Target): $(Objects)
$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -o $(Target) $(addprefix objects/,$(Objects))
# ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This is meant as an example and there is definitly room for improvement.
For additional Information consult:
Make documetation. See chapter 10.2
Or:
Oracle: Programming Utilities Guide
You can specify the -o $# option to your compile command to force the output of the compile command to take on the name of the target. For example, if you have:
sources: cpp/class.cpp and cpp/driver.cpp
headers: headers/class.h
...and you want to place the object files in:
objects: obj/class.o obj/driver.o
...then you can compile cpp/class.cpp and cpp/driver.cpp separately into obj/class.o and obj/driver.o, and then link, with the following Makefile:
CC=c++
FLAGS=-std=gnu++11
INCS=-I./headers
SRC=./cpp
OBJ=./obj
EXE=./exe
${OBJ}/class.o: ${SRC}/class.cpp
${CC} ${FLAGS} ${INCS} -c $< -o $#
${OBJ}/driver.o: ${SRC}/driver.cpp ${SRC}/class.cpp
${CC} ${FLAGS} ${INCS} -c $< -o $#
driver: ${OBJ}/driver.o ${OBJ}/class.o
${CC} ${FLAGS} ${OBJ}/driver.o ${OBJ}/class.o -o ${EXE}/driver
None of these answers seemed simple enough - the crux of the problem is not having to rebuild:
makefile
OBJDIR=out
VPATH=$(OBJDIR)
# make will look in VPATH to see if the target needs to be rebuilt
test: moo
touch $(OBJDIR)/$#
example use
touch moo
# creates out/test
make test
# doesn't update out/test
make test
# will now update test
touch moo
make test

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