Can anybody please explain the meaning of $< and $# in a Makefile?
$< evaluates to the first "prerequisite" in the make rule, and $# evaluates to the "target" in the make rule.
Here's an example:
file.o : file.c
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $< -o $#
In this case, $< will be replaced with file.c and $# will be file.o.
These are more useful in generic rules like this:
%.o : %.c
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $< -o $#
See this manual for more info.
$# is the target of the current rule.
$< is the name of the first prerequisite ("source") of the current rule.
So for example:
.c.o:
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) -o $# $<
This will expand to a command something like:
gcc -c -Wall -o foo.o foo.c
See also the GNU make manual ยง 10.5.3, "Automatic Variables".
Related
I have a binary that I need to build multiple times with different compiler flags. Therefore, I have a Makefile that states something like:
OBJECTS_A := $(addprefix $(OBJFOLDER)/, $(SOURCES:.cpp=.a.o))
OBJECTS_B := $(addprefix $(OBJFOLDER)/, $(SOURCES:.cpp=.b.o))
OBJECTS_C := $(addprefix $(OBJFOLDER)/, $(SOURCES:.cpp=.c.o))
I also define a rule to change the flags for each OBJECTS_x:
$(OBJECTS_B): DEFINES+=-D_B
$(OBJECTS_C): DEFINES+=-D_C
And this is where the problem happens: If I state the targets separately, as:
$(OBJFOLDER)/%.a.o: %.cpp
$(COMPILER) $(CFLAGS) $(INCFOLDER) $(DEFINES) -c $< -o $#
$(OBJFOLDER)/%.b.o: %.cpp
$(COMPILER) $(CFLAGS) $(INCFOLDER) $(DEFINES) -c $< -o $#
$(OBJFOLDER)/%.c.o: %.cpp
$(COMPILER) $(CFLAGS) $(INCFOLDER) $(DEFINES) -c $< -o $#
All works. However, if I merge all rules into one, only the first is evaluated:
$(OBJFOLDER)/%.a.o $(OBJFOLDER)/%.b.o $(OBJFOLDER)/%.c.o: %.cpp
$(COMPILER) $(CFLAGS) $(INCFOLDER) $(DEFINES) -c $< -o $#
What I get on a dry run is that only $(OBJFOLDER)/%.a.o objects are build, but on the linking rule each binary requires its objects (and b and c binaries fail to build, therefore).
Any ideas?
Thank you!
You can achieve this using secondary expansion :
.SECONDEXPANSION:
$(OBJFOLDER)/%.o: $$(basename $$*).cpp
$(COMPILER) $(CFLAGS) $(INCFOLDER) $(DEFINES) -c $< -o $#
Note that this is not a very idiomatic way of doing this, a more usual define / call / eval combo can be used to generate rules as in your first solution :
VARIANTS=a b c
DEFINES_FOR_a=
DEFINES_FOR_b=-D_B
DEFINES_FOR_c=-D_C
define make_target =
$$(OBJFOLDER)/%.$(1).o: %.cpp
$$(COMPILER) $$(CFLAGS) $$(INCFOLDER) $$(DEFINES_FOR_$(1)) -c $$< -o $$#
endef
$(eval $(foreach variant,$(VARIANTS),$(call make_target,$(variant))))
Another way is to create symlinks to your source files and compile those with different flags. This way the same one generic pattern rule (OBJFOLDER)/%.o: %.cpp can build all of your targets:
OBJECTS_A := $(SOURCES:%.cpp=$(OBJFOLDER)/%.a.o)
OBJECTS_B := $(SOURCES:%.cpp=$(OBJFOLDER)/%.b.o)
OBJECTS_B := $(SOURCES:%.cpp=$(OBJFOLDER)/%.c.o)
$(OBJECTS_B): DEFINES+=-D_B
$(OBJECTS_C): DEFINES+=-D_C
%.a.cpp : %.cpp
ln -s $< $#
%.b.cpp : %.cpp
ln -s $< $#
%.c.cpp : %.cpp
ln -s $< $#
$(OBJFOLDER)/%.o: %.cpp
$(COMPILER) $(CFLAGS) $(INCFOLDER) $(DEFINES) -c -o $# $<
I'm trying to understand deeply how makefiles work.
For example, I've the following one:
CC = gcc
CFLAGS = -I.
DEPS = int_array.h
OBJS = int_array.o test_int_array.o
%.o: %.c $(DEPS)
$(CC) -c -o $# $< $(CFLAGS)
test_int_array: $(OBJS)
$(CC) -o $# $^ $(CFLAGS)
clean:
rm -rf *.o test_int_array *.dSYM
The part that I really don't understand fully is :
...
%.o: %.c $(DEPS)
$(CC) -c -o $# $< $(CFLAGS)
test_int_array: $(OBJS)
$(CC) -o $# $^ $(CFLAGS)
...
I know that the option -c basically indicates just to run the preprocessor, compiling and assembling steps (i.e. without producing executables, I guess).
-o means to write the output to the specified file. Which file in this case?
I understood that $# (and $^ for right) is apparently referring to a "left" side, but which one? Is it referring, in the first case, to the left side of :, that is %.o?
What does $< mean?
Could you please explain step by step how the make tool would interpret those two statements?
I think I understood this part more or less:
...
test_int_array: $(OBJS)
$(CC) -o $# $^ $(CFLAGS)
...
which should mean produce an executable called "test_int_array" (which basically is indicated by these options -o $# from the $(OBJS) files on the right (stated using the option $^).
Is $(CFLAGS) needed in both cases? Does the order matter?
In the example:
test_int_array: $(OBJS)
$(CC) -o $# $^ $(CFLAGS)
$# is the filename of the target for this rule: test_int_array.
$^ is the names of all prerequisites.
This would be whatever is contained in OBJS, so: int_array.o test_int_array.o
In the example:
%.o: %.c $(DEPS)
$(CC) -c -o $# $< $(CFLAGS)
$< is the name of the first prerequisite: %.c
$# is the filename of the target for this rule: %.o
$(CFLAGS) is not needed for linking, since it only includes the flag -I. Also the CFLAGS indicates that the flags are used for compiling only, hence C FLAGS.
In a Makefile, each rule follows this format:
resulting_file : source_files
steps to get resulting_file from source_files
What is called respectively lefthand and righthand in a rule is the resulting_file and the source_files.
%.ext : %.ext2
is a pattern rule. It allows your Makefile to automatically create any .ext file it needs if it can find a file at the same path with .ext2.
%.c : %.o
is a pattern rule to obtain your .o files (int_array.o test_int_array.o) from their equivalent .c files (int_array.c test_int_array.c)
This is invoked when you specify that $(OBJS) is needed to build the test_int_array file.
Pattern rules automatically use certain variables, such as $(CFLAGS) so you do not need to manually add it in that rule. You can find a full list of implicitly used variables in pattern rules here: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/make-3.79.1/html_chapter/make_10.html#SEC96
You can find out about $#, $< and $^ and similar here: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/make-3.79.1/html_chapter/make_10.html#SEC101
$#: the entire lefthand
$<: the first file in the righthand
$^: the entire righthand list of files, space separated.
I'm following great tutorial about ffmpeg (http://dranger.com/ffmpeg) and I'm trying to build a generic makefile for it.
My problem is that I cannot define a generic rule for executables to be depenent on an object of the same name but with ".o" suffix.
Example: when invoked make all I want to build 2 executables tutorial01 and tutorial02 out of 2 files tutorial01.cpp and tutorial02.cpp, but first I want to compile them into *.o and then link them.
My whole Makefile is like so:
CC=g++
CXXFLAGS="-std=c++11"
CXXFLAGS+=`sdl-config --cflags`
LDFLAGS=-L/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
LDFLAGS+=-L/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
LDFLAGS+=-lavutil-ffmpeg -lavcodec-ffmpeg -lavformat-ffmpeg -lswscale-ffmpeg
LDFLAGS+=`sdl-config --libs`
SOURCES=$(wildcard *.cpp)
OBJECTS=$(SOURCES:.cpp=.o)
EXECUTABLES=$(SOURCES:.cpp=)
all : $(EXECUTABLES)
# Not working:
#%$(EXECUTABLES) : $(OBJECTS)
# $(CC) $< -o $# $(LDFLAGS) $(LD_LIBS)
#
# Not working (always substitutes the first found):
#$(EXECUTABLES) : $(OBJECTS)
# $(CC) $< -o $# $(LDFLAGS) $(LD_LIBS)
#
# Not working:
#for exec in $(EXECUTABLES) ; do \
#$(exec) : $(exec).o ; \
#done
#
# Working:
#tutorial01:tutorial01.o
#tutorial02:tutorial02.o
#tutorial03:tutorial03.o
%: %.o
$(CC) $< -o $# $(LDFLAGS) $(LD_LIBS)
%.o : %.cpp
$(CC) $(CXXFLAGS) -c $< -o $#
clean:
rm -rf $(OBJECTS) $(EXECUTABLES)
I tried what is stated above as "not working" and also gave an example of what is working but not generic.
# Not working (always substitutes the first found):
$(EXECUTABLES) : $(OBJECTS)
$(CC) $< -o $# $(LDFLAGS) $(LD_LIBS)
This fails because $(OBJECTS) expands to something like tutorial01.o tutorial02.o tutorial03.o for all targets, and $< expands to the first prerequisite, which is the same (tutorial01.o) for all targets.
# Not working:
for exec in $(EXECUTABLES) ; do \
$(exec) : $(exec).o ; \
done
This fails because it is for-loop written in shell syntax. You can write a for-loop in Make syntax, but it is not needed here.
I would use a pattern rule:
tutorial%: tutorial%.o
$(CC) $< -o $# $(LDFLAGS) $(LD_LIBS)
or a static pattern rule:
$(EXECUTABLES): %: %.o
$(CC) $< -o $# $(LDFLAGS) $(LD_LIBS)
I've the following situation:
SOURCES=home/main.cpp modelChecking/Configuracao.cpp modelChecking/Estado.cpp modelChecking/Formula.cpp modelChecking/ModelChecking.cpp lib/VisitTree.cpp
SUFIX=$(SOURCES:.cpp=.o)
OBJECTS=$(SUFIX)
all: refiner
refiner: $(OBJECTS)
$(CC) $^ -o refiner
home/main.o: home/main.cpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $< -o $#
modelChecking/Configuracao.o: modelChecking/Configuracao.cpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $< -o $#
modelChecking/Estado.o: modelChecking/Estado.cpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $< -o $#
...
...and so on.
As you can see, I have different directories to compile my executable.
Now, I want to put every file .o in the bin/ folder and the variable OBJECT must replace the every parent directory, and I tried different ways:
OBJECTS=$(SUFIX:%/ = bin/)
OBJECTS=$(subst %/,bin/,$(SUFIX))
OBJECTS=$(patsubst %/,bin/,$(SUFIX))
When I use something like this $(subst home/,bin/,$(SUFIX)) it works, because I type the substring "home/", but I need of a regular expression to replace all directories.
And I'll need to change the target too, perhaps the code below will works:
%.o: %.cpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $< -o $#
... But I prefer every target separate
You are looking for SUFIX=$(addprefix bin/,$(notdir $(SOURCES:.cpp=.o)))
The Makefile will look like:
SOURCES=home/main.cpp modelChecking/Configuracao.cpp
SUFIX=$(addprefix bin/,$(notdir $(SOURCES:.cpp=.o)))
OBJECTS=$(SUFIX)
all: refiner
refiner: $(OBJECTS)
$(CC) $^ -o refiner
bin/main.o: home/main.cpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $#
bin/Configuracao.o: modelChecking/Configuracao.cpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $#
However I suggest to use SUBDIRS instead. Create to Makefiles
Makefile
SUBDIRS = bin
.PHONY: subdirs $(SUBDIRS)
subdirs: $(SUBDIRS)
$(SUBDIRS):
$(MAKE) -C $#
bin/Makefile
SOURCES=../home/main.cpp ../modelChecking/Configuracao.cpp
SUFIX=$(addprefix bin/,$(notdir $(SOURCES:.cpp=.o)))
OBJECTS=$(SUFIX)
all: refiner
refiner: $(OBJECTS)
$(CC) $^ -o refiner
main.o: ../home/main.cpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $#
Configuracao.o: ../modelChecking/Configuracao.cpp
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $#
This way you will not have to worry about object prefix.
I am having trouble with my makefile, i have been reading somme tutoriels on how to make a more re-usable makefile but i am facing this error, and i have been searching for a while now, especially on the GNU make manual and here.
Here is my makefile :
SRC_DIR=./src
BUILD_DIR=./build
OBJS= $(BUILD_DIR)/main.o $(BUILD_DIR)/hamming.o
$(BUILD_DIR)/%.o: $(SRC_DIR)/%.c $(SRC_DIR)/%.h
$(CC) -c $< $(CFLAGS) -o $#
$(BUILD_DIR)/main: $(OBJS)
$(CC) -o $# $^ $(CFLAGS)
I am having the error :
make: No rule to make target build/main.o', needed bybuild/main'. Stop.
It seems to me that the objects in the variable OBJS are not associated with the %.o pattern rule, but i don't know why.
In my working directory there is : my makefile and the two directories 'src' and 'build'.
Thank you.
I'll go out on a limb and guess that there is no src/main.h. If that's the case, you could fix things this way:
$(BUILD_DIR)/hamming.o: $(BUILD_DIR)/%.o : $(SRC_DIR)/%.h
$(BUILD_DIR)/%.o: $(SRC_DIR)/%.c
$(CC) -c $< $(CFLAGS) -o $#
EDIT:
Now I'm puzzled. Please try this (it is crude, but if it works we can refine it):
SRC_DIR=./src
BUILD_DIR=./build
OBJS= $(BUILD_DIR)/main.o $(BUILD_DIR)/hamming.o
$(BUILD_DIR)/%.o: $(SRC_DIR)/%.c $(SRC_DIR)/%.h
$(CC) -c $< $(CFLAGS) -o $#
$(BUILD_DIR)/main.o: $(SRC_DIR)/main.c
$(CC) -c $< $(CFLAGS) -o $#
$(BUILD_DIR)/main: $(OBJS)
$(CC) -o $# $^ $(CFLAGS)
Here is a little documentation I put together for NMake a while back I hope it helps. Are you sure there are only tabs before the commands. You can't have spaces that is the number one error I have seen in the past.