I have a trivial problem.. I am trying to modify a working Makefile to link a function I decided to add in my code simpletrial.cpp (The function is IniFile.cpp)
My old working Makefile is:
include Makefile.arch
TESTS := simpletrial.cpp
TESTO := $(TESTS:.C=.o)
TEST := simpletrial
OBJ = $(TESTO)
PROGRAMS = $(TEST)
CXXFLAGS +=
CXXFLAGS +=
GLIBS +=
.SUFFIXES: .$(SrcSuf) .$(ObjSuf) .$(DllSuf)
all: $(PROGRAMS)
$(TEST): $(TESTO)
$(LD) $(LDFLAGS) $^ $(GLIBS) $(OutPutOpt)$#
#echo "$# done"
clean:
#rm -f $(OBJ) $(TESTO) core *~ src/*~ include/*~
.$(SrcSuf).$(ObjSuf):
$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -c $< -o $#
I have tried without success to compile and link IniFile.cpp but I always receive the error "undefined reference to 'IniFile:: etc etc
thanks!
Your link line is the following:
$(LD) $(LDFLAGS) $^ $(GLIBS) $(OutPutOpt)$#
Here you link with $^ which is all of the pre-reqs for the rule, which in this case is $(TESTO) and that is simpletrial.o, you don't appear to have IniFile.cpp in there, so it won't link with it. To fix it just add IniFile.cpp to your TESTS as follows:
TESTS := simpletrial.cpp InFile.cpp
Then it should compile and link both files together and produce simpletrial as a result.
Additionally I think that your TESTO line might need to change as well:
TESTO := $(TESTS:.cpp=.o)
That should take the values in the $(TESTS) variable and change the suffix from .cpp to .o, the current definition will only change .C to .o...
Related
SEE UPDATES BELOW
Research Done: I'm finding learning how to evolve Makefiles from one situation to another is difficult. There are a ton of questions and answers out there but few of them actually show how a Makefile can evolve as your project changes. They also all seem to use various different techniques and idioms of Makefiles so translating between one question and another can be tricky when you are learning Makefiles for the first time, as I am.
Problem: My problem is that I have a project that started at as a flat directory structure but then is migrating to a structure with sub-directories. What I can't do is get my Makefile to along for the ride.
First I'll show what I created that works and then I show how I want it to evolve and how that doesn't work.
Flat Directory Structure, Working Makefile
I have project directory that has all my C files and one header file plus my Makefile:
project
Makefile
c8_asm.c
c8_dasm.c
c8_terp.c
chip8.h
Here is my Makefile (which works just fine):
CC = gcc
CFLAGS += -c -Wall -std=c99
CFLAGS += -D_POSIX_C_SOURCE=200809L
LDLIBS += -lm
# Targets
all: c8_dasm c8_asm c8_terp
c8_dasm: c8_dasm.o
$(CC) $(LDLIBS) c8_dasm.o -o $#
c8_asm: c8_asm.o
$(CC) $(LDLIBS) c8_asm.o -o $#
c8_terp: c8_terp.o
$(CC) $(LDLIBS) c8_terp.o -o $#
# Using implicit rules for updating an '.o' file from a correspondingly
# named '.c' file.
c8_dasm.o: chip8.h
c8_asm.o: chip8.h
c8_terp.o: chip8.h
.PHONY: clean
clean:
rm c8_dasm c8_asm c8_terp c8_dasm.o c8_asm.o c8_terp.o
I get all my .o files and my executables are created in the project directory.
Evolving The Project
But what I wanted to do is have my sources files (all .c and .h) in a src directory. I wanted to build into an obj directory and have the executables go in a bin directory. So my project would look like this:
project
src
c8_asm.c
c8_dasm.c
c8_terp.c
chip8.h
Makefile
Sub-Directory Structure, Makefile NOT Working
To accommodate the above, I changed my Makefile accordingly:
CC = gcc
CFLAGS += -c -Wall -std=c99
CFLAGS += -D_POSIX_C_SOURCE=200809L
LDLIBS += -lm
SRC_DIR = src
OBJ_DIR = obj
BIN_DIR = bin
SOURCES := $(wildcard $(SRC_DIR)/*.c)
OBJECTS := $(SOURCES:$(SRC_DIR)/%.c=$(OBJ_DIR)/%.o)
MKDIR_P ?= mkdir -p
# Targets
all: $(BIN_DIR)/c8_dasm $(BIN_DIR)/c8_asm $(BIN_DIR)/c8_terp
$(BIN_DIR)/c8_dasm: $(OBJ_DIR)/c8_dasm.o
$(CC) $(LDLIBS) $(OBJ_DIR)/c8_dasm.o -o $#
$(BIN_DIR)/c8_asm: $(OBJ_DIR)/c8_asm.o
$(CC) $(LDLIBS) $(OBJ_DIR)/c8_asm.o -o $#
$(BIN_DIR)/c8_terp: $(OBJ_DIR)/c8_terp.o
$(MKDIR_P) $(dir $#)
$(CC) $(LDLIBS) $(OBJ_DIR)/c8_terp.o -o $#
$(OBJECTS): $(OBJ_DIR)/%.o : $(SRC_DIR)/%.c
$(MKDIR_P) $(dir $#)
$(CC) $< -o $(OBJ_DIR)/$#
# Using implicit rules for updating an '.o' file from a correspondingly
# named '.c' file.
$(OBJ_DIR)/c8_dasm.o: $(SRC_DIR)/chip8.h
$(OBJ_DIR)/c8_asm.o: $(SRC_DIR)/chip8.h
$(OBJ_DIR)/c8_terp.o: $(SRC_DIR)/chip8.h
.PHONY: clean
clean:
rm -r $(BUILD_DIR)
rm $(OBJECTS)
Upon running this I get the following:
mkdir -p obj/obj/
gcc src/c8_dasm.c -o obj/c8_dasm.o
gcc -lm obj/c8_dasm.o -o bin/c8_dasm
ld: can't link with a main executable file 'obj/c8_dasm.o' for architecture x86_64
clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)
make: *** [bin/c8_dasm] Error 1
I wanted to stop here and get some assistance because I fear I'm making this Makefile for complicated than it need be and I'm trying to avoid getting into bad habits.
I'm hoping to hear opinions about what I'm not conceptualizing correctly here.
FIRST UPDATE
I managed to take it bit by bit and get it mostly working. Here is what I ended up with:
CC = gcc
CFLAGS += -c -Wall -std=c99
CFLAGS += -D_POSIX_C_SOURCE=200809L
LDLIBS += -lm
# Directories.
SRC_DIR = src
BIN_DIR = bin
$(shell mkdir -p $(BIN_DIR))
# Patterns for files.
SOURCES := $(wildcard $(SRC_DIR)/*.c)
OBJECTS := $(SOURCES:$(SRC_DIR)/%.c=$(SRC_DIR)/%.o)
EXECUTABLES := c8_dasm c8_asm c8_terp
# Targets
all: $(EXECUTABLES)
c8_dasm: $(SRC_DIR)/c8_dasm.o
$(CC) $^ $(LDLIBS) -o $(BIN_DIR)/$#
#echo "C8 Disassembler Built"
c8_asm: $(SRC_DIR)/c8_asm.o
$(CC) $^ $(LDLIBS) -o $(BIN_DIR)/$#
#echo "C8 Assembler Built"
c8_terp: $(SRC_DIR)/c8_terp.o
$(CC) $^ $(LDLIBS) -o $(BIN_DIR)/$#
#echo "C8 Interpreter Built"
# Using implicit rules for updating an '.o' file from a correspondingly
# named '.c' file.
c8_dasm.o: $(SRC_DIR)/chip8.h
c8_asm.o: $(SRC_DIR)/chip8.h
c8_terp.o: $(SRC_DIR)/chip8.h
.PHONY: clean
clean:
rm $(OBJECTS)
rm -r $(BIN_DIR)
Of course, as I'm finding with Make this leads to other obscure problems. For example doing this:
make
make clean
works fine. Meaning all files are generated and the files are cleaned, including the bin directory.
However, if I do this:
make c8_dasm
make clean
This builds fine. But the clean fails to delete the bin directory (although it does delete the object files). This happens regardless of what individual executable I try to build.
No amount of searching is helping me find out why that is.
SECOND UPDATE
I found that problem was solved as well. It just required using the "-f" for the rm statements in the clean target.
THIRD UPDATE
To get the object file directory part working, I tried (from this: path include and src directory makefile) to construct my Makefile as follows:
CC = gcc
CFLAGS += -c -Wall -std=c99
CFLAGS += -D_POSIX_C_SOURCE=200809L
LDLIBS += -lm
SRC_DIR = src
OBJ_DIR = obj
BIN_DIR = bin
$(shell mkdir -p $(BIN_DIR))
$(shell mkdir -p $(OBJ_DIR))
SOURCES := $(wildcard $(SRC_DIR)/*.c)
OBJECTS := $(SOURCES:$(SRC_DIR)/%.c=$(OBJ_DIR)/%.o)
EXECUTABLES := c8_dasm c8_asm c8_terp
all: $(EXECUTABLES)
c8_dasm: $(SRC_DIR)/c8_dasm.o
$(CC) $^ $(LDLIBS) -o $(BIN_DIR)/$#
#echo "C8 Disassembler Built"
c8_asm: $(SRC_DIR)/c8_asm.o
$(CC) $^ $(LDLIBS) -o $(BIN_DIR)/$#
#echo "C8 Assembler Built"
c8_terp: $(SRC_DIR)/c8_terp.o
$(CC) $^ $(LDLIBS) -o $(BIN_DIR)/$#
#echo "C8 Interpreter Built"
$(OBJ_DIR)/%.o: $(SRC_DIR)/%.c
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $(BIN_DIR)/$#
.PHONY: clean
clean:
rm -rf $(BIN_DIR)
rm -f $(OBJECTS)
I was able to condense the original three lines using chip8.h into one target but I have no way to know if that's correct. It compiles at least. I also changed the OBJECTS line to reflect the new OBJ_DIR I created.
However, this doesn't put the object files in the right place. It still puts them in the src directory rather than the obj directory.
This is why it makes sense to not do anything complicated with Makefiles. Just put the actual directory names in your commands. Never rely on wildcards.
People using C and C++ and using Makefiles spend too much time trying to get those to work rather than just actually getting things done. That's why you see so many of the questions that you see and why the answers vary so much.
In your specific case, your targets don't always have to contain the directory and that's part of the problem. The rules getting generated don't have an actual target in your file because of the directories you are prepending to everything. You have to think in terms of what is getting generated by each target: meaning, the output. So if c8_dasm is getting output, that's your target. The directory has nothing to do with that. So you need to remove all of your directory substitutions where they aren't needed.
But before doing that, ask yourself this: if your first solution was working, why change it? It's better to not even do directories when you're using Make. Just have everything in the same directory as you started off with. You can even see that this allows your Makefile to be much cleaner.
I believe I may have figured this out. Below is my Makefile. It seems to do what I want. It does the following:
Compiles all object files into the obj directory.
Compiles and links so that executables are generated in the bin directory.
Recognizes if any .c files are changed and recompiles accordingly.
Recognizes if the .h file is changed and recompiles all C files that reference it.
This seems to satisfy all the criteria but I can't tell if I've painted myself into some corner that I can't see yet.
CC = gcc
CFLAGS += -c -Wall -std=c99
CFLAGS += -D_POSIX_C_SOURCE=200809L
LDLIBS += -lm
SRC_DIR = src
OBJ_DIR = obj
BIN_DIR = bin
$(shell mkdir -p $(BIN_DIR))
$(shell mkdir -p $(OBJ_DIR))
SOURCES := $(wildcard $(SRC_DIR)/*.c)
OBJECTS := $(SOURCES:$(SRC_DIR)/%.c=$(OBJ_DIR)/%.o)
EXECUTABLES := c8_dasm c8_asm c8_terp
all: $(EXECUTABLES)
c8_dasm: $(OBJ_DIR)/c8_dasm.o
$(CC) $^ $(LDLIBS) -o $(BIN_DIR)/$#
#echo "C8 Disassembler Built"
c8_asm: $(OBJ_DIR)/c8_asm.o
$(CC) $^ $(LDLIBS) -o $(BIN_DIR)/$#
#echo "C8 Assembler Built"
c8_terp: $(OBJ_DIR)/c8_terp.o
$(CC) $^ $(LDLIBS) -o $(BIN_DIR)/$#
#echo "C8 Interpreter Built"
$(OBJ_DIR)/%.o: $(SRC_DIR)/%.c $(SRC_DIR)/chip8.h
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $#
.PHONY: clean
clean:
rm -rf $(BIN_DIR)
rm -rf $(OBJ_DIR)
Stackoverflow is whining about too many comments, so I'll make this another "answer." After our back-and-forth to my original comment, your last comment is correct. That's what I wanted you to see.
Understand that you can't use Make to do what you want to do exactly.
So here's really the answer: You can't create multiple executables AND with only some of the object files applying to each one AND while using a directory structure. Make is in no way capable of handling that.
Right now you're trying to use Make in a way that it wasn't intended for which is why you're running into so many problems. If you keep playing around you're going to run into is a series of errors that say "duplicate symbol" because you will be compiling each of your files multiple times for each executable, assuming you follow most of the advice you'll find.
Check out this How can I create a Makefile for C projects with SRC, OBJ, and BIN subdirectories? to see what I mean. That one works because all object files are being used to create a single executable. But as you've stated, that's not going to be the case for you. And that's what Make can't handle. That's why you're not finding an answer to that.
And while your chip8.h file is now not going to cause problems in terms of allowing you to compile, your Makefile with that third update would not recognize when the chip8.h file itself has changed. You would have to change a .c file to force a recompile so that changes to your .h were recognized. So you either have to stick with your second update or use something other than Make.
I have a Makefile that looks like this:
CC=cc
CFLAGS=-g -std=c99 -Wfatal-errors
OBJS=$(wildcard *.o)
all: main.o cmdargs.o io.o
$(CC) -o app $(OBJS)
main.o: main.c
$(CC) -c main.c $(CFLAGS)
cmdargs.o: cmdargs.c
$(CC) -c cmdargs.c $(CFLAGS)
io.o: io.c
$(CC) -c io.c $(CFLAGS)
clean:
#rm -rf app $(OBJS)
Whenever I run make all after a clean, there's an error saying
cc -o
undefined reference to `main'
But when I run it a second time everything works as expected. What is wrong with the script, and how can we fix it?
The previous respondents gave good answers but not complete. So let me post one too.
First of all, it is a bad idea to use wildcard in makefiles. It is much better to not be lazy and list your files explicitly.
If you must be lazy, the way to use wildcard is, as shawncorey writes, to use it for sources.
Also, do not have a recipe for phony targets such as all. In your example, the recipe for all will always run, which is inefficient.
CC := gcc
SRCS := $(wildcard *.c)
OBJS := $(SRCS:c=o)
.PHONY: all clean
all: app
app: $(OBJS) Makefile
$(CC) -o $# $(OBJS)
$(OBJS): %.o: %.c Makefile
$(CC) -c $< $(CFLAGS)
clean:
#rm -rf app $(OBJS)
You can automatically create the names of the objects files if you're careful about including all the source files.
# --------------------------------------
# list all source files
CPP_SOURCES := $(wildcard *.cpp)
C_SOURCES := $(wildcard *.c)
# other source files here
# consolidate all sources
SOURCES := $(CPP_SOURCES) $(C_SOURCES)
# --------------------------------------
# list all object files
CPP_OBJECTS := $(CPP_SOURCES:.cpp=.o)
C_OBJECTS := $(C_SOURCES:.c=.o)
# other object files here
# consolidate all objects
OBJECTS := $(CPP_OBJECTS) $(C_OBJECTS)
all:
echo $(SOURCES)
echo $(OBJECTS)
PS: A more compact makefile:
# list all source files
SOURCES := $(wildcard *.cpp) $(wildcard *.c)
# determine all object files
OBJECTS := $(addsuffix .o, $(basename $(notdir $(SOURCES))))
all:
echo $(SOURCES)
echo $(OBJECTS)
The statement
OBJS=$(wildcard *.o)
collects all the *.o files currently in the file system, but it doesn't know about any object files that might be created in the future.
When you run make for the first time, there are no .o files around, so the variable OBJS will be an empty string and the final linking command does not get passed into the command that would tell it which object files to use. But all the other compilation steps are run nevertheless. Upon the second invocation make will skip the compilation phases, because the object files are already there, but because linking failed and the final binary is missing, it will run that step, which will now produce something, because there have been files to collect by the wildcard.
Lesson learned: Don't use file system wildcards in Makefile, it's just causing trouble. Instead learn about implicit rules if you want to save yourself from work.
I'm just getting back into the world of Makefiles and have a vexing problem: adding a $*.h prerequisite on a rule for generating the corresponding .o file always results in "nothing to be done". Below is my Makefile in its entirety:
SOURCES := mu.cpp node.cpp test_node.cpp transport.cpp
OBJECT_DIR := ../obj
INCLUDE_DIR := ../include
OBJECTS := $(patsubst %.cpp,$(OBJECT_DIR)/%.o,$(SOURCES))
CC = g++
DEFS =
CFLAGS = -O3 -Wall
IFLAGS = -I$(INCLUDE_DIR) -I../tarballs/stk-4.4.4/include
$(OBJECT_DIR)/%.o : %.cpp $(INCLUDE_DIR)/mu.h $(INCLUDE_DIR)/$*.h
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(IFLAGS) -c $(<) -o $#
all: $(OBJECTS)
clean:
rm -f $(OBJECT_DIR)/*.o
$(OBJECTS): | $(OBJECT_DIR)
$(OBJECT_DIR):
mkdir $(OBJECT_DIR)
If I type make all using the above, make always responds with "nothing to be done for 'all'" But if I change the rule that reads:
$(OBJECT_DIR)/%.o : %.cpp $(INCLUDE_DIR)/mu.h $(INCLUDE_DIR)/$*.h
to
$(OBJECT_DIR)/%.o : %.cpp $(INCLUDE_DIR)/mu.h
(i.e., I remove foo.cpp's dependency on ../include/foo.h), then make all responds as expected. The problem with this, of course, is that foo.cpp will not be recompiled if ../include/foo.h has been modified more recently than foo.cpp.
FWIW, I've verified that $(INCLUDE_DIR)/$*.h expands to the proper file name.
I'm pretty sure this is something obvious. Any hints?
Automatic variables like $* are not defined anywhere except in the recipe of the rule. You cannot use them in the prerequisites list.
Why don't you just use the pattern in both cases?
$(OBJECT_DIR)/%.o : %.cpp $(INCLUDE_DIR)/%.h $(INCLUDE_DIR)/mu.h
I've got a general-purpose makefile that I've successfully used for small (personal) projects before, as below:
#Makefile to compile a folder's contents into a program.
PROGNAME := MyProgram
LIBRARIES :=
CXX := g++ --std=c++11
INCLUDES := -Isrc -Ihdr
VPATH := src:hdr
CPP_FILES := $(wildcard src/*.cpp)
OBJ_FILES := $(patsubst src/%.cpp,obj/%.o,$(CPP_FILES))
$(PROGNAME): $(OBJ_FILES)
$(CXX) $(INCLUDES) $(LIBRARIES) $^ -o $# $(ROOTFLAGS)
#Automatically generate dependencies (-MM), change the target to be the
# object file (-MT) and output it to the dependency file (-MF).
%.d: src/%.cpp
$(CXX) $(INCLUDES) -MM -MT '$(patsubst src/%.cpp,obj/%.o,$<)' $< -MF $#
obj/%.o: src/%.cpp %.d hdr/%.h
echo $#
$(CXX) $(INCLUDES) -o $# -c $< $(ROOTFLAGS)
.PHONY: clean
clean:
rm obj/*.o $(PROGNAME)
This is designed for the following directory structure:
ParentFolder/
Makefile
hdr/
file1.h
...
src/
file1.cpp
...
obj/
I gave the makefile to a colleague and they found it didn't work - after some investigation, the cause of the problem seems to be that they had a source file called main.cpp in src/, which when running make would give the following error:
make: *** No rule to make target `obj/main.o', needed by `MyProgram'. Stop.
If I rename main.cpp to something else (e.g. test.cpp) then the makefile works as expected.
What is the cause of this behaviour? I've looked through the GNU Make Manual but did not find anything regarding special treatment of files called main.* (in fact, some of the examples use it).
While trying to fix the problem, I found that defining an explicit rule for main.o meant that it would be found - therefore, I presume it's an interaction with the main name and pattern-based rules, but I have not been able to find what that may be.
The trouble is that this rule:
obj/%.o: src/%.cpp %.d hdr/%.h
echo $#
$(CXX) $(INCLUDES) -o $# -c $< $(ROOTFLAGS)
requires a corresponding header file. I suspect that there is no hdr/main.h, and Make has no way to build one, so when it is searching for a way to build obj/main.o it considers this rule, rejects it, and finds no other.
I suggest you add another pattern rule (after this one) to handle source files without matching header files:
obj/%.o: src/%.cpp %.d
echo $#
$(CXX) $(INCLUDES) -o $# -c $< $(ROOTFLAGS)
(P.S. Your dependency handling is a little odd and appears to be vestigial -- you generate dependency files and never use them. We can help you with that, once you're building main.o correctly.)
** Question edited **
Here's a typical Makefile template :
TARGET = my_prog # project name
CC = gcc -o
CFLAGS = -Wall
SOURCES := $(wildcard *.c)
INCLUDES := $(wildcard *.h)
OBJECTS := $(SOURCES:.c=*.o)
rm = rm -f
$(TARGET): $(OBJECTS)
#$(CC) $(TARGET) $(CFLAGS) $(SOURCES)
#echo "Compilation complete!"
clean:
#$(rm) $(TARGET) $(OBJECTS)
#echo "Cleanup complete!"
Question : why is the line 11 (#S(CC) $(TARGET) ...) still echoing when calling make ?
Answer : Because the problem is in the default rule and line 11 is fine.
** UPDATE **
I now have this Makefile
# project name
TARGET = my_prog
CC = gcc -c
CFLAGS = -Wall -I.
LINKER = gcc -o
LFLAGS = -Wall
SOURCES := $(wildcard *.c)
INCLUDES := $(wildcard *.h)
OBJECTS := $(SOURCES:.c=*.o)
rm = rm -f
$(TARGET): $(OBJECTS)
$(LINKER) $(TARGET) $(LFLAGS) $(OBJECTS)
$(OBJECTS): $(SOURCES) $(INCLUDES)
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(SOURCES)
clean:
$(rm) $(TARGET) $(OBJECTS)
Question : Why is $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(SOURCES) being executed n times, where n is the number of source files ?
** UPDATE 2 **
Would this be a good way to solve this (seems to work...) ?
$(TARGET): obj
$(LINKER) $(TARGET) $(LFLAGS) $(OBJECTS)
obj: $(SOURCES) $(INCLUDES)
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(SOURCES)
The command $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(SOURCES) is executed n times, because the rule is executed n times, because there are n objects to be built, because the $(TARGET) rule has that many objects as prerequisites. If you want the command to be run only once, replace all those prerequisites with a single PHONY prerequisite, whose rule executes the command.
But there's no reason to do it that way. You can just make the command more selective, so that it builds only the one object that was the actual target. That way Make doesn't waste time rebuilding the same objects over and over, and if one or two source files have been changed, Make will rebuild only the relevant objects, not all of them:
$(OBJECTS): %.o : %.c $(INCLUDES)
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $<
This rule is conservative-- it assumes that every object depends on every header, so it will sometimes rebuild things unnecessarily. You can make it better, either by hand if you know the real dependencies or automatically with a more advanced technique.
EDIT:
Your "update 2" is a decent solution, but I would suggest you add the line
.PHONY: obj
to tell Make that there will be no file called "obj". Otherwise Make will run the obj rule every time, trying to build that file.
This still has the problem that if you change one source file, e.g. foo.c, Make will rebuild all the objects.
The $< I used above is an automatic variable. It means "the first prerequisite". So when Make tries to build foo.o, it will evaluate to foo.c.
EDIT:
Jack Kelly (curse him!) has pointed out that I am wrong about how PHONY targets work: the obj rule will always run, and so will the TARGET rule, whether any source files have changed or not. So the "update 2" method is effective, but crude.
I think the output is coming from generating the .o files, not geverating my_prog
Looks like you don't have a rule for creating the .o files, so make is using the default one.
Try putting this:
#echo "starting compilation"
on the line before your line 11 build command
And you can see that "starting compilation" is output after the gcc line.
Perhaps line 10 should read:
$(TARGET): $(SOURCES)
?