I want my Makefile to accept different source file types. It does, but it does not recompile when I alter an include file. Here's the Makefile:
C_SOURCES := $(wildcard *.c)
CPP_SOURCES := $(wildcard *.cpp)
CC_SOURCES := $(wildcard *.cc)
ALL_SOURCES := $(notdir $(C_SOURCES) $(CPP_SOURCES) $(CC_SOURCES))
C_OBJECTS := ${C_SOURCES:.c=.o}
CPP_OBJECTS := ${CPP_SOURCES:.cpp=.o}
CC_OBJECTS := ${CC_SOURCES:.cc=.o}
ALL_OBJECTS := $(notdir $(C_OBJECTS) $(CPP_OBJECTS) $(CC_OBJECTS))
#############################################################
all: a.out
a.out: $(ALL_OBJECTS)
g++ -o $# -g $^
%.o: %.cpp
g++ -c $# -g $^
%.o: %.cc
g++ -c $# -g $^
%.o: %.c
g++ -c $# -g $^
clean:
rm -f a.out
rm -f *.o
make.depend: $(ALL_SOURCES)
g++ -MM $^ > $#
-include make.depend
The lines starting with *.o: are a recent addition -- I wondered if it might help. No effect.
make.depend is doing its job: I checked it out, and its dependencies are correct. (For my MCVE I have one source file main.cpp which includes date.h.)
main.o: main.cpp date.h
The output of $(info $(ALL_OBJECTS)) is main.o.
So: how can I get it to recognize changes to includes?
It would be helpful, when asking questions, to show an example of running the commands and what is printed. Given the makefile you provide I'd be surprised of make actually ran any commands at all, other than generating the depend file.
That's because this:
C_OBJECTS := ${C_SOURCES: .c =.o}
is invalid syntax. Or more precisely, it doesn't do what you want to do. It replaces the literal string _____.c__ (where the _ are whitespace... SO won't let me just use spaces) at the end of each word in C_SOURCES with .o. Of course you don't have any of those, so basically your ALL_OBJECTS variable contains just your source files (since no changes are made by the substitution).
You can use:
$(info $(ALL_OBJECTS))
to see what happens here.
This needs to be written:
C_OBJECTS := ${C_SOURCES:.c=.o}
CPP_OBJECTS := ${CPP_SOURCES:.cpp=.o}
CC_OBJECTS := ${CC_SOURCES:.cc=.o}
Whitespace in makefiles is very tricky. You definitely have to be careful where you put it and you can't add it anywhere you like.
Also I have no idea why you're using notdir since all your files are in the current directory.
And technically it's incorrect to compile .c files with the g++ compiler front-end.
ETA also your pattern rules are incorrect: you're missing the -o option to the compiler; they should all be the equivalent of:
%.o: %.c
g++ -c -o $# -g $^
Better is to use the standard make variables, then you can customize the behavior without rewriting all the rules:
CFLAGS = -g
%.o: %.c
$(CC) $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) -c -o $# $<
Update Just use the comprehensively enginerred automatic dependency file generation #MadScientist describes at http://make.mad-scientist.net/papers/advanced-auto-dependency-generation/. This works with both GCC and clang (due to clang's explicit goal to be commandline compatible to GCC).
For completeness' sake, my original answer:
The generated dependency rules must depend on the sources determined by the dependeny rule generating rule. This requires the -MT parameter to gcc.
I have included this as an example in a slightly cleaned up version of your GNUmakefile:
#############################################################
ALL_CFLAGS = -g
ALL_CXXFLAGS = -g
#############################################################
.PHONY: all
all: all-local
#############################################################
bin_PROGRAMS += test-cxx
test_cxx_OBJECTS += main.o
test_cxx_OBJECTS += main-c.o
test-cxx: $(test_cxx_OBJECTS)
$(LINK.cc) $(ALL_CXXFLAGS) -o $# $^
ALL_OBJECTS += $(test_cxx_OBJECTS)
#############################################################
%.o: %.cpp
$(COMPILE.cpp) $(ALL_CXXFLAGS) -o $# -c $<
%.o: %.cc
$(COMPILE.cc) $(ALL_CXXFLAGS) -o $# -c $<
%.o: %.c
$(COMPILE.c) $(ALL_CFLAGS) -o $# -c $<
#############################################################
%.dep: %.cpp
$(COMPILE.cpp) -MM -MT "$*.o $# " $< > $#.tmp
mv -f $#.tmp $#
%.dep: %.cc
$(COMPILE.cc) -MM -MT "$*.o $# " $< > $#.tmp
mv -f $#.tmp $#
%.dep: %.c
$(COMPILE.c) -MM -MT "$*.o $# " $< > $#.tmp
mv -f $#.tmp $#
ALL_DEPS = $(ALL_OBJECTS:.o=.dep)
-include $(ALL_DEPS)
#############################################################
.PHONY: all-local
all-local: $(bin_PROGRAMS)
.PHONY: clean
clean:
rm -f $(bin_PROGRAMS)
rm -f *.dep
rm -f *.o
#############################################################
The *.dep generating rules will recursively examine all included source files, and list them all in the generated *.dep file.
Using a separate *.dep file for each object file means that if you change only one source file, only the *.dep files needing regeneration will actually be regenerated.
The *.dep generating rule creates a *.dep.tmp file first, and only moves that to *.dep if generating the *.dep.tmp file has been successful. So if for some reason generating the *.dep.tmp file fails (e.g. you might be including a non-existing header file), you will not have a newly generated (and thus considered up to date) empty *.dep file being included by make.
I'm trying to create a makefile for a very basic c++ program. I'm trying to implement the automatic generation of dependencies by running g++ with the -M flag, storing this output in a .d file, and then including those .d files in my main makefile. The makefile content is below
CC=g++
CPPFLAGS=-Wall -Wextra -g -std=c++11
SOURCEDIR=src
SOURCES = $(wildcard $(SOURCEDIR)/*.cpp)
BUILDDIR=build
OBJDIR=$(BUILDDIR)/objs
OBJS=$(SOURCES:$(SOURCEDIR)/%.cpp=$(OBJDIR)/%.o)
DEP_FILES = $(OBJS:.o=.d)
OUTFILE=hello.out
$(OUTFILE) : $(OBJS)
$(CC) -o $# $^ $(CPPFLAGS)
include $(DEP_FILES)
$(OBJDIR)/%.d : $(SOURCEDIR)/%.cpp
$(CC) $(CPPFLAGS) $< -MM -MT $(#:.d=.o) > $#
$(DEP_FILES) : | $(OBJDIR)
$(OBJS): | $(OBJDIR)
$(OBJDIR):
mkdir -p $(OBJDIR)
.PHONY: clean
clean:
rm -f $(BUILDDIR) -r
rm -f *~
rm -f $(OUTFILE)
When I run make, the directory build/objs/ is generated and a .d file is generated with rules in it. Here's main.d file:
build/objs/main.o: src/main.cpp src/main.h
And here's the myfunc.d file:
build/objs/myfunc.o: src/myfunc.cpp src/main.h
Here's the issue
Since I'm calling include on these .d files, I'd expect the .o files which they specify to then be created, and then the main outfile to be created as the main rule. However, make creates the .d files, and then skips directly to the main compilation step without creating any .o files:
g++ -o hello.out build/objs/myfunc.o build/objs/main.o -Wall -Wextra -g -std=c++11
This fails with the following error, since the .o files are never created:
g++: error: build/objs/myfunc.o: No such file or directory
g++: error: build/objs/main.o: No such file or directory
g++: fatal error: no input files
How can I use this makefile to generate the .o files necessary for g++? Thank you for any help in advance!
I saw you got your makefile working but I just wanted to add a few things you might want to consider for future projects. I recommend using the vpath variable rather than specifying $(OBJDIR)/%.o in your makefile recipes. I actually read somewhere that it's not "cannon" to build object files in a separate directory, but in the cursory search I conducted before posting, I couldn't find the document.
That being said, I wrote a makefile that does what you wanted; it builds the output folder, generates the dependencies, and compiles the program. I specifically included the $(COMPILE.cpp) definition so you could see what it's composed of. $(CC) is specifically the C compiler, and $(CFLAGS) is specifically flags for the C compiler. They're just variables, obviously, so you can change them like you did and it will work fine, but the main think to keep in mind is that whoever uses your programs will expect to be able to configure the compilation as they see fit. This means they will set the $(CXX) and $(CXXFLAGS) expecting to set the C++ compiler and flags. $(CPPFLAGS) stands for C/C++ Preprocessor flags.
It's not the cleanest makefile, and if I was to change something, I would just compile the object files in place and save myself that headache. That cuts down on unnecessary make hacking, but for the purposes of answering your question, here it is. Anyways I hope this helps you somewhat, let me know if you have any questions.
Oh yea, I almost forgot; notice I changed your make clean script. I used $(RM) instead of simply rm -f. When you use utilities in your makefiles, you want to use them as variables. Again, this is to allow your users as much freedom and flexibility as possible when they're compiling your program.
vpath %.cpp src
vpath %.hpp include
vpath %.o build/objs
vpath %.d build/objs
.SUFFIXES:
.SUFFIXES: .cpp .hpp .o .d
SRCDIR = src
INCLUDESDIR = include
BUILDDIR = build
OBJDIR = $(BUILDDIR)/objs
SRCS = $(wildcard $(SRCDIR)/*.cpp)
OBJS = $(patsubst %.cpp, %.o, $(notdir $(SRCS)))
DEP_FILES = $(patsubst %.o, %.d, $(OBJS))
INCLUDE_DIRS = -I $(INCLUDESDIR)
CXX = g++
CPPFLAGS =
CXXFLAGS = -Wall -Wextra -g -std=c++11
PROGRAM = hello.out
COMPILE.cpp = $(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $(INCLUDE_DIRS) $(TARGET_ARCH)
all: $(PROGRAM)
$(PROGRAM): %: $(OBJS)
$(LINK.cpp) $(INCLUDE_DIRS) $(addprefix $(OBJDIR)/, $^) $(LOADLIBES) $(LDLIBS) -o $#
%.o: %.cpp
$(COMPILE.cpp) -c -o $(OBJDIR)/$# $<
%.d: %.cpp
mkdir -p $(OBJDIR)
$(COMPILE.cpp) $^ -MM -MT $(addprefix $(OBJDIR)/, $(#:.d=.o)) > $(OBJDIR)/$#
include $(DEP_FILES)
.PHONY: clean
clean:
#echo $(RM)
$(RM) $(BUILDDIR) -r
$(RM) *~
$(RM) $(PROGRAM)
For anyone having a similar issue, here's the correct solution is in the comments. Here for convenience: The included .d files generate dependencies but not a recipe for making the .o files, and since I'm putting things in various directories the default rule doesn't work here, so the .o files aren't created. The solution was to add in the following rule to my main makefile.
$(OBJDIR)/%.o :
$(CC) -c -o $# $< $(CPPFLAGS)
Thanks Matt and Renaud for your answers!
I have a recipe in my makefile that relies on several object files. I would like it to simply link the them, but they are always recompiling.
I've googled around and found information I did not know(marked with #) and changed it a bit, but the problem persisted.
I am led to believe make expects the name of the recipe be the name of the file, and I am failing to accomplish that. The problem is I do not what else to try and fix this. I would appreciate any help
CC = g++
#.PHONY: sfml-app
LIBS = -lsfml-graphics -lsfml-window -lsfml-system
APPLICATION = sfml-app
INCLUDE_DIR = -I include/
SOURCE_DIR = source
OUTPUT_DIR = bin
SOURCES = $(wildcard $(SOURCE_DIR)/*.cpp)
OBJECTS = $(notdir $(patsubst %.cpp, %.o, $(SOURCES)))
#$(OUTPUT_DIR)/$(APPLICATION): $(OBJECTS)
#bin/sfml-app: $(OBJECTS)
#sfml-app: $(OBJECTS)
#$(APPLICATION): $(OBJECTS)
$(CC) $(OUTPUT_DIR)/*.o $(LIBS) -o $(OUTPUT_DIR)/$(APPLICATION)
%.o: $(SOURCE_DIR)/%.cpp
$(CC) -c $< $(INCLUDE_DIR) -o $(OUTPUT_DIR)/$#
clean:
rm $(OUTPUT_DIR)/*
print-% : ; #echo $* = $($*)
This rule doesn't create the file it promises to:
%.o: $(SOURCE_DIR)/%.cpp
$(CC) -c $< $(INCLUDE_DIR) -o $(OUTPUT_DIR)/$#
See that -o $(OUTPUT_DIR)/$#? That's instructing the compiler to create a file in $(OUTPUT_DIR) instead of in the working directory.
If you really want your object files to go in $(OUTPUT_DIR), you need to make sure that your rule indicates that:
$(OUTPUT_DIR)/%.o: $(SOURCE_DIR)/%.cpp
$(CC) -c $< $(INCLUDE_DIR) -o $#
Or better, to act like the standard %.o: %.c rule (which will include CFLAGS etc):
$(OUTPUT_DIR)/%.o: $(SOURCE_DIR)/%.cpp
$(COMPILE.c) $(OUTPUT_OPTION) $<
I note your input files are named *.cpp - usually, that convention is for C++ files (i.e. to be compiled with $(COMPILE.cc), which will invoke $(CXX) rather than $(CC)). Check that you've not mixed up your C and C++ sources!
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.)
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