generating multiple executables from the same sources - makefile

To build multiple executables from the same source, I have to translate every source file with different Compiler Switches. For every variant, I have a set of defines to be set. I want to store the resulting object files into different subfolders. I have a variable, keeping all object file from all variants. Now I have problems to define a proper static rule to build the object files from the sources:
SOURCEEXT=.c
ALL_OBJECT_FILES := abcdefg/cctalkio.o tollcoll/cctalkio.o
source-from-object = $(addsuffix $(SOURCEEXT),$(basename $(notdir $(1))))
$(ALL_OBJECT_FILES): %.o: $(call source-from-object,%.o)
#echo $*.o
when I run make abcdefg/cctalkio.o, I get:
make: *** No rule to make target 'abcdefg/cctalkio.c', needed by 'abcdefg/cctalkio.o'. Schluss.
The same, when I simpify the rule to:
abcdefg/cctalkio.o: %.o: $(call source-from-object,%.o)
#echo $*.o
But when I change the rule to:
abcdefg/cctalkio.o: %.o: $(call source-from-object,abcdefg/cctalkio.o)
#echo $*.o
I get abcdefg/cctalkio.o as Output. So the stem seems to be abcdefg/cctalkio, thus %.o should be the same as abcdefg/cctalkio.o. But why is make behaving different in both cases?
When I "debug" the source-from-object function:
debug:
#echo $(call source-from-object,/abcdefg/cctalkio.o)
I get the expected result cctalkio.c, so it seem like the function is working.

Your $(call) in the prereq is happening immediately and so your function is actually being passed %.o (not the matched result as you expected).
You would have to use something like:
.SECONDEXPANSION:
abcdefg/cctalkio.o: %.o: $$(call source-from-object,%.o)
...
to get what you want I believe.
Alternatively you could probably loop over your object files and statically give them the correct prerequisites and just let the static pattern rule supply the body.

Related

Can GNU-Make's automatic variables be scoped to the current recipe definition only?

The automatic variables created by GNU-Make are quite handy for some scenarios:
.SECONDEXPANSION:
%-processed.md: $$(wildcard $$*.m4) $(wildcard macros/*.m4) %.md
m4 $^ > $#
However this idilic world blows up when somebody tries to add on a dependency somewhere else in the makefile:
.PHONY: force
force: ;
mybook-processed.md: force
Now all of a sudden m4 complains that "force" isn't a valid input file. Which of course it's not, but its showing up in the $^ variable because it got appended to the list of prerequisites.
Is there a way to access only the prerequisites defined in the immediate recipe definition while ignoring other ones?
No it's not possible. That information is not even available in make's internal structures.
Your example solution is not one I'd use though. If your command only accepts certain types of files, I would use filter to ensure that it sees only those types of files:
.SECONDEXPANSION:
%-processed.md: $$(wildcard $$*.m4) $(wildcard macros/*.m4) %.md
m4 $(filter %.m4 %.md,$^) > $#
You could adopt a naming convention for pseudo-targets like force, say MAGIC/force. Then $(filter-out MAGIC/%,$^) -- still a little repetitive, but not that bad.
So far the only way I've found to do this is stop using automatic variables and compose my own. I'm really hoping somebody posites a better answer, but here's my current solution:
.SECONDEXPANSION:
process_prereqs = $(wildcard $1.m4) $(wildcarad macros/*.m4)
%-processed.md: %.md $$(call process_prereqs,$$*)
m4 $(call process_prereqs,$$*) $< > $#
This way only the more stable $< automatic variable is used and the other is more predicable, but the code is somewhat repetitive.

Makefile: order of adding prefix affects how a list of targets is built from a common dependency

Motivation:
I have a C project in which multiple .o files are to be generated from a common file. This main file uses preprocessor directives to conditionally include other .h files as needed, depending on target-specific variables defined in the makefile.
I've written this rule below, but depending on the order in which I apply my variable references I get different outcomes.
One small(ish) change, two different outputs
Consider two versions of code from my Makefile. In version A we have the following snippets:
MAIN_OBJ:= $(MAIN_1) $(MAIN_2) $(MAIN_3) $(MAIN_4)
... omitted non-relevant rules (including an all: rule)
$(OBJECT_DIR)/$(MAIN_1): MFLAG = $(METHOD_1_FLAG)
$(OBJECT_DIR)/$(MAIN_2): MFLAG = $(METHOD_2_FLAG)
$(OBJECT_DIR)/$(MAIN_3): MFLAG = $(METHOD_3_FLAG)
$(OBJECT_DIR)/$(MAIN_4): MFLAG = $(METHOD_4_FLAG)
$(OBJECT_DIR)/$(MAIN_OBJ): $(SOURCE_DIR)/$(DEPENDENT_MAIN)
$(CC) -DUSE_$(MFLAG) $(CFLAGS) -o $# $<
This only successfully builds the first target, $(OBJECT_DIR)/$(MAIN_1). The remaining three never get compiled and make stops there.
Now in version B we redefine MAIN_OBJ so that the directory prefix is included within the target list itself:
MAIN_OBJ:= $(MAIN_1) $(MAIN_2) $(MAIN_3) $(MAIN_4)
MAIN_OBJ:= $(addprefix $(OBJECT_DIR)/,$(MAIN_OBJ)
... omitted non-relevant rules (again)
$(OBJECT_DIR)/$(MAIN_1): MFLAG = $(METHOD_1_FLAG)
$(OBJECT_DIR)/$(MAIN_2): MFLAG = $(METHOD_2_FLAG)
$(OBJECT_DIR)/$(MAIN_3): MFLAG = $(METHOD_3_FLAG)
$(OBJECT_DIR)/$(MAIN_4): MFLAG = $(METHOD_4_FLAG)
$(MAIN_OBJ): $(SOURCE_DIR)/$(DEPENDENT_MAIN)
$(CC) -DUSE_$(MFLAG) $(CFLAGS) -o $# $<
This solution works, and compiles all 4 .o files, each with the proper $(MFLAG) value.
What's happening here?
This is probably a dumb question, but why does Version A only compile one .o file? I recognize version B is a generally better way to write rules.
Let me provide one more example that will perhaps illustrate my confusion.
Say we want to write a much more common type of rule: compiling targets from a list with a pattern rule for finding dependencies.
Doing something similar to Version A wouldn't result in a single .o being successfully generated:
MY_FILES:= $(wildcard $(SOURCE_DIR)/*.c))
MY_OBJ:= $(patsubst $(SOURCE_DIR)/%.c, %.o, $(MY_FILES))
...
$(OBJECT_DIR)/$(MY_OBJ): $(OBJECT_DIR)/%.o: $(SOURCE_DIR)/%.c
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $# $<
Clearly the above is a bad idea, and you should write something like this instead:
MY_FILES:= $(wildcard $(SOURCE_DIR)/*.c))
MY_OBJ:= $(patsubst $(SOURCE_DIR)/%.c, $(OBJECT_DIR)/%.o, $(MY_FILES))
...
$(MY_OBJ): $(OBJECT_DIR)/%.o: $(SOURCE_DIR)/%.c
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $# $<
But my question is this:
Why in this case does adding the directory prefix in the rule itself result in nothing being built, while in version A of my makefile the first target was successfully made?
"Version A" fails because make is just expanding things like you asked it to. A variable reference like this:
$(OBJECT_DIR)/$(MAIN_OBJ): ...
says "expand the variable OBJECT_DIR, then add a "/", then expand the variable MAIN_OBJ". So you get:
$(OBJECT_DIR)/$(MAIN_1) $(MAIN_2) $(MAIN_3) $(MAIN_4): ...
So, only the first one is actually prefixed by the OBJECT_DIR value, not all of them (since you didn't show what the values were for all these variables I didn't complete the expansion).
Secondly, make always builds just the first target that it finds in the makefile (unless you override that with the command line or .DEFAULT). You don't say what the "non-relevant rules" are that you omitted, but unless one of them was an all target or similar that depends on all the MAIN_* targets, make will only build the first one which is the behavior you saw.
ETA Prepending to all words is trivial using various methods; see the GNU make manual.
One option:
$(addprefix $(OBJECT_DIR)/,$(MAIN_OBJ)): ...
Another option:
$(MAIN_OBJ:%=$(OBJECT_DIR)/%): ...
Another option:
$(patsubst %,$(OBJECT_DIR)/%,$(MAIN_OBJ)): ...

Makefile dependency-iterating generic rule

I've been looking through makefile syntax manuals and haven't found anything that really helps the usage case I'm trying to enact here.
What I have is a list of source files with varying directories under a common directory, like so:
src/a.h
src/b.h
src/dir/c.h
src/dir/dir/d.h
and would like make to use these individually as a dependency for a rule that ultimately creates:
build/a.h
build/b.h
build/c.h
build/d.h
which then are used as dependencies individually for more rules.
What I have so far:
LIST := src/a.h src/b.h src/dir/c.h src/dir/d.h
all : $(addprefix build/,$(notdir ${LIST}))
#echo 'All rule invoked'
What doesn't work:
$(LIST) : build/$(notdir %).h : %.h
#echo 'dst $* dat $# din $<'
target 'item' doesn't match the target pattern
build/%.h: %.h
no rule to make target 'build/a.h' needed by 'all'.
I'm guessing make got mad at me at this point, as the errors started telling me to stop.
Basically, I am reading in a list of files with a path prefix that is relevant for the search path and dependency, and want to dump each individual one only when the source file is updated. After this, these files in that single directory are used as dependencies for another batch of rules. How can I accomplish this?
Note: I've gotten it done by ignoring the dependency chain, but that's not going to work. I can also use make to run scripts that generate an explicit makefile that can do it properly, but that feels like overkill and a waste of resources, and make ought to be able to create a rule that does that by itself, as powerful as it is. I just don't know how to create generic rules that focus on the dependency variable for its text matching, rather than the target.
There's no good way of using a pattern rule here, as all the headers are (potentially) in different directories and you want to move them out to a common directory. If you're using GNU make, you can write a macro rule that expands to all the rules you need:
define copy_header_rule
build/$(notdir $(1)): $(1)
cp $$< $$#
endef
$(foreach hdr,$(LIST),$(eval $(call copy_header_rule,$(hdr))))
This goes through each of the headers in your $(LIST) a creates a rule to copy it to the build directory
You can make things pretty simple with vpath:
TARGS:= $(addprefix build/, $(notdir $(LIST)))
vpath %.h $(dir $(LIST))
all: $(TARGS)
build/%.h: %.h
#echo building $# from $<
...

GNU Make: Using the filter function in prerequisites

I want to compile some C++ files and I absolutely have to put all object files in a separate build directory, but stored completely flat, i.e., without any further subdirectories. I know the common solution using VPATH, which goes something like this:
SOURCES = foo/one.cpp \
foo/bar/two.cpp \
foo/bar/sub/three.cpp
OBJDIR = obj
VPATH=$(dir $(SOURCES))
OBJECTS = $(addprefix $(OBJDIR)/, $(notdir $(SOURCES:%.cpp=%.o)))
$(OBJDIR)/%.o : %.cpp
#echo Should compile: $(filter %/$*.cpp, $(SOURCES))
#echo Compiling $<
all: $(OBJECTS)
This example pretty much works: I get three object files one.o, two.o, three.o in the 'obj' subdirectory (you can assume it just exists).
Now here's the catch when using VPATH: If there happens to be a file 'foo/three.cpp', then this will be compiled instead of the 'foo/bar/sub/three.cpp' which is named in the SOURCES variable. And no, I cannot rename either file; this name clash simply exists and I cannot do anything about that.
So my question is: How can I tell Make to only use '.cpp' files which appear in the SOURCES variable? I think the best solution would be to use that 'filter' statement in the target's prerequisite. I think this should be possible using secondary expansion, but I don't know what to do with the '%'. For example, I tried
.SECONDEXPANSION:
$(OBJDIR)/%.o : $$(filter %/$$*.cpp, $(SOURCES))
but that doesn't work.
UPDATE: With the help of tripleee, I managed to get this working using the following:
define make-deps
$(OBJDIR)/$(notdir $(1:%.cpp=%.o)): $1
endef
$(foreach d, $(SOURCES), $(eval $(call make-deps,$d)))
%.o :
#echo Should compile $^ into $#
#echo Compiling $^
I suspect the easiest solution to your problem would be to get rid of VPATH and document each dependency explicitly. This can easily be obtained from your SOURCES definition; perhaps you want to define a function, but it really boils down to this:
obj/one.o: foo/one.cpp
obj/two.o: foo/bar/two.cpp
obj/three.o: foo/bar/sub/three.cpp
The actual rule can remain, only it should no longer contain the dependencies in-line, and you can skip the obj/ subdirectory, because it's declared explicitly in each dependency:
%.o : # Dependencies declared above
#echo Should compile $^ into $#
#echo Compiling $^
I changed the rule to use $^ instead of $< in case you ever have more than a single dependency. This may be right or wrong for your circumstances; revert the change if it's not what you need.
In order to not need to maintain the dependencies by hand, you might want to generate %.d for each %.cpp file. See the GNU Make manual. (I tried to do this by using a define, but it seems you cannot declare dependencies with a foreach loop.)
In response to the question in the comment, this should not affect parallel builds in any way; it merely disambiguates the dependencies where your original Makefile was ambiguous when there were multiple biuld candidates with the same name in the VPATH. There are no new dependencies and no new rules.

GNU make substitution command for automatic list of object files

A common type of makefile has a line like this:
OBJS=something.o other.o third.o progname.o
progname: $(OBJS)
Then you would run make progname. But GNU Make can also generate the list of o-files itself from all the c-files it sees in the current directory. How is this done?
Basically, I want to be able to add C files to the directory without having to change the makefile.
(Is it for instance through some shell-magic, or is there is a built-in function for this?)
It can also be done like this:
SRCS = $(wildcard *.c)
OBJS = $(SRCS:.c=.o)
progname: $(OBJS)
Which works just fine if the object file with main() in it is "progname.o".
To view all the defined rules (include the implicit ones), issue make -p.
However the fact that make knows how to generate object files from source files, does not mean that it should do this. Make will try to do the bare minimum in order to satisfy the target you ask it to build.
If you want make to compile all the sources into object in the current directory you will need a rule that will depend on all the objects, e.g.:
all: $(patsubst %.c,%.o,$(wildcard *.c))
You can expand a shell command to give you a list of files. You can also use implicit rules.
It can be done like this:
$(ODIR)/%.o: %.cpp
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) -o $# $<
make generates .o file names from .cpp file names it found in the current directory.

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