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diff --git a/doc/manual.cli b/doc/manual.cli index 713cd63..4a6f854 100644 --- a/doc/manual.cli +++ b/doc/manual.cli @@ -15,7 +15,3069 @@ \h0#preface|Preface| This document describes the \c{build2} build system. For the build system -driver command line interface refer to the \l{b(1)} man pages. +driver command line interface refer to the \l{b(1)} man pages. @@ Ref to +the toolchain members (package managers etc). + +\h1#intro|Introduction| + +The \c{build2} build system is a native, cross-platform build system with a +terse, mostly declarative domain-specific language, a conceptual model of +build, and a uniform interface with consistent behavior across all the +platforms and compilers. + +Those familiar with \c{make} will see many similarities, though mostly +conceptual rather than syntactic. This is not surprising since \c{build2} +borrows the fundamental DAG-based build model from original \c{make} and many +of its conceptual extensions from GNU \c{make}. We believe, paraphrasing a +famous quote, that \i{those who do not understand \c{make} are condemned to +reinvent it, poorly.} So the goal of \c{build2} is to reinvent \c{make} +\i{well} while handling the demands and complexity of modern cross-platform +software development. + +Like \c{make}, \c{build2} is an \i{honest} build system where you can expect +to understand what's going on underneath and be able to customize most of its +behavior to suit your needs. This is not to say that it's not an +\i{opinionated} build system and if you find yourself \"fighting\" some of its +fundamental design decisions, it would be wiser to look for alternatives. + +We also believe the importance and complexity of the problem warranted the +design of a new purpose-built language and will hopefully justify the time it +takes for you to master it. In the end we hope \c{build2} will make creating +and maintain build infrastructure for your projects a pleasant task. + +Also note that \c{build2} is not specific to C/C++ or even to compiled +languages and its build model is general enough to handle any DAG-based +operations. See the \l{#module-bash \c{bash} Module} for a good example. + +While the build system is part of a larger, well-integrated build toolchain +that includes the package/project dependency managers, it does not depend on +them and its standalone usage is the only subject of this document. + +We begin with a tutorial introduction that aims to show the essential elements +of the build system on real examples but without getting into too much +detail. Specifically, we want to quickly get to the point where we can build +useful executable and library projects. + + +\h#intro-hello|Hello, World| + +Let's start with the customary \i{\"Hello, World\"} example: a single source +file from which we would like to build an executable: + +\ +$ tree hello/ +hello/ +└── hello.cxx + +$ cat hello/hello.cxx + +#include <iostream> + +int main () +{ + std::cout << \"Hello, World!\" << std::endl; +} +\ + +While this very basic program hardly resemble what most software projects look +today, it is useful for introducing key build system concepts without getting +overwhelmed. In this spirit we will also use the \c{build2} \i{simple project} +structure, which, similarly, should not be used for anything but quick +sketches. + +\N|Simple projects have so many restrictions and limitations that they are +hardly usable for anything but, well, \i{really} simple projects. +Specifically, such projects cannot be imported by other projects nor can they +use build system modules that require bootstrapping. Which includes \c{test}, +\c{install}, \c{dist}, and \c{config} modules. And without the \c{config} +module there is no support for persistent configurations. As a result, only +use a simple project if you are happy to always build in source and with the +default build configuration or willing to specify the output directory and/or +custom configuration on every invocation.| + +To turn our \c{hello/} directory into a simple project all we need to do +is add a \c{buildfile}: + +\ +$ tree hello/ +hello/ +├── hello.cxx +└── buildfile + +$ cat hello/buildfile + +using cxx + +exe{hello}: cxx{hello.cxx} +\ + +Let's start from the bottom: the second line is a \i{dependency declaration}. +On the left hand side of \c{:} we have a \i{target}, the \c{hello} executable, +and on the right hand side \- a \i{prerequisite}, the \c{hello.cxx} source +file. Those \c{exe} and \c{cxx} in \c{exe{...\}} and \c{cxx{...\}} are called +\i{target types}. In fact, for clarify, target type names are always +mentioned with the trailing \c{{\}}, for example, \"the \c{exe{\}} target type +denotes an executable\". + +Notice that the dependency declaration does not specify \i{how} to build an +executable from a C++ source file \- this is the job of a \i{rule}. When the +build system needs to update a target, it tries to \i{match} a suitable rule +based on the types of the target and its prerequisites. The \c{build2} core +has a number of predefined fundamental rules with the rest coming from +\i{build system modules}. For example, the \c{cxx} module defines a number of +rules for compiling C++ source code as well as linking executables and +libraries. + +It's now easy to guess what the first line of our \c{buildfile} does: it loads +the \c{cxx} module which defines the rules necessary to build our program (and +it also registers the \c{cxx{\}} target type). + +Let's now try to build and run our program (\c{b} is the build system driver): + +\ +$ cd hello/ + +$ b +c++ cxx{hello} +ld exe{hello} + +$ ls -1 +buildfile +hello.cxx +hello +hello.d +hello.o +hello.o.d + +$ ./hello +Hello, World! +\ + +Or, if we are on Windows and using Visual Studio, from the Visual Studio +development command prompt: + +\ +> cd hello + +> b config.cxx=cl.exe +c++ cxx{hello} +ld exe{hello} + +> dir /b +buildfile +hello.cxx +hello.exe +hello.exe.d +hello.exe.obj +hello.exe.obj.d + +> .\hello.exe +Hello, World! +\ + +Let's discuss a few points about the build output. Firstly, to reduce the +noise, the commands being executed, + +\ +c++ cxx{hello} +ld exe{hello} +\ + +are by default shown abbreviated and with the same target type notation as we +used in the \c{buildfile}. If, however, you would like to see the actual +command lines, you can pass \c{-v} (to see even more, there is the \c{-V} +as well as the \c{--verbose} options; see \l{b(1)} for details). For example: + +\ +$ b -v +g++ -o hello.o -c hello.cxx +g++ -o hello hello.o +\ + +Most of the files produced by the build system should be self-explanatory: we +have the object file (\c{hello.o}, \c{hello.obj}) and executable (\c{hello}, +\c{hello.exe}). For each of them we also have the corresponding \c{.d} files +which store the \i{auxiliary dependency information}, things like compile +options, header dependencies, etc. + +To remove the build system output we use the \c{clean} \i{operation} (if no +operation is specified, the default is \c{update}): + +\ +$ b clean +rm exe{hello} +rm obje{hello} + +$ ls -1 +buildfile +hello.cxx +\ + +One of the main reasons behing the \i{target type} concept is the +platform/compiler-specified variences in file names as allistrated by the +above listings. In our \c{buildfile} we refer to the executable target as +\c{exe{hello\}}, not as \c{hello.exe} or \c{hello$EXT}. The actual file +extension, if any, will be determined based on the compiler's target platform +by the rule doing the linking. In this sense, target types are a +platform-independent replacement of file extensions (though they do have other +benefits, such as allowing non-file targets as well as being hierarchical). + +Let's revisit the dependency declaration line from our \c{buildfile}: + +\ +exe{hello}: cxx{hello.cxx} +\ + +In the light of target types replacing file extensions this looks +tautological: why do we need to specify both the \c{cxx{\}} target type +\i{and} the \c{.cxx} file extension? In fact, we don't if we specify the +default file extension for the \c{cxx{\}} target type. Here is our updated +\c{buildfile} in its entirety: + +\ +using cxx + +cxx{*}: extension = cxx + +exe{hello}: cxx{hello} +\ + +Let's unpack the new line. What we have here is a \i{target +type/patter-specific variable}. It only applies to targets of the \c{cxx{\}} +type whose names matche the \c{*} wildcard pattern. The \c{extension} variable +name is reserved by the \c{build2} core for specifying default target type +extensions. + +Let's see how all these pieces fit together. When the build systems needs to +update \c{exe{hello\}}, it searches for a suitable rule. A rule from the +\c{cxx} module matches since it knows how to build a target of type \c{exe{\}} +from a prerequisite of type \c{cxx{\}}. When the matched rule is \i{applied}, +it searches for a target for the \c{cxx{hello\}} prerequisite. During this +search, the \c{extension} variable is looked up and its value is used to end +up with the \c{hello.cxx} file. + +Our new dependency declaration, + +\ +exe{hello}: cxx{hello} +\ + +has the canonical style: no extensions, only target types. Sometimes explicit +extension specification is still necessary, for example, if your project uses +multiple extensions for the same file type. But if unnecessary, it should be +omitted for brievety. + +\N|If you prefer the \c{.cpp} file extension and your source file is called +\c{hello.cpp}, then the only line in our \c{buildfile} that needs changing is +the \c{extension} variable assignment: + +\ +cxx{*}: extension = cpp +\ + +| + +Let's say our \c{hello} program got complicated enough to warrant moving some +functionality into a separate source/header module (or a real C++ module). +For example: + +\ +$ tree hello/ +hello/ +├── hello.cxx +├── utility.hxx +├── utility.cxx +└── buildfile +\ + +This is what our updated \c{buildfile} could look like: + +\ +using cxx + +hxx{*}: extension = hxx +cxx{*}: extension = cxx + +exe{hello}: cxx{hello} hxx{utility} cxx{utility} +\ + +Nothing really new here: we've specified the default extension for the +\c{hxx{\}} target type and listed the new header and source file as +prerequisites. If you have experience with other build systems, then +explicitly listing headers might seem strange to you. In \c{build2} you +have to explicitly list all the prerequisites of a target that should +end up in a distribution of your project. + +\N|You don't have to list \i{all} headers that you include, only the ones +belonging to your project. In other words, \c{build2} performs automatic +header dependency extraction like all modern C/C++ build systems.| + +In real projects with a substantial number of source files repeating target +types and names will quickly become noisy. To tidy things up we can use +\i{name generation}. Here are a few examples of dependency declarations +equivalent to the above: + +\ +exe{hello}: cxx{hello utility} hxx{utility} +exe{hello}: cxx{hello} {hxx cxx}{utility} +\ + +The last form is probably the best choice if your project contains a large +number of header/source pairs. Here is a more realistic example: + +\ +exe{hello}: { cxx}{hello} \ + {hxx }{forward types} \ + {hxx cxx}{format print utility} +\ + +Manually listing a prerequisite every time we add a new source file to our +project is both tedious and error prone. Instead, we can automate our +dependency declarations with wildcard \i{name patterns}. For example: + +\ +exe{hello}: {hxx cxx}{*} +\ + +Based on the previous discussion of defaul extenions you can probably guess +how this works: for each target type the value of the \c{extension} variable +is added to the pattern and files matching the result become the +prerequisites. So, in our case, we will end up with files matching the +\c{*.hxx} and \c{*.cxx} wildcard patterns. + +In more complex projects it is often convenient to organize source code into +subdirectories. To handle such project we can use the recursive wildcard: + +\ +exe{hello}: {hxx cxx}{**} +\ + +\N|Using wildcards is somewhat controvercial. Patterns definitely make +development more pleasant and less error prone: you don't need to update your +\c{buildfile} every time you add, remove, or rename a source file and you +won't forget to explicitly list headers, a mistake that is often only detected +when trying to build a distribution of a project. On the other hand, there is +a possibility of including stray source files into your build without +noticing. And, for more complex projects, name patterns can become equally +complex (see \l{#name-patterns Name Patterns} for details). Note, however, +that on modern hardware the performance of wildcard search hardly warrants a +consideration. + +In our experience, at least when combined with modern version control systems +like \c{git(1)}, stray source files are rarely an issue and generally the +benefits of wildcards outweigh their drawbacks. But, in the end, whether to +use them or not is a personal choice and, as shown above, \c{build2} supports +both approaches.| + +And that's about all there is to our \c{hello} example. To summarize, we've +seen that to build a simple project we need just a single \c{buildfile} which +itself doesn't contain much more than a dependency declaration for what we +want to build. But we've also learned that simple projects are only really +meant for quick sketches. So let's convert our \c{hello} example to the +\i{standard project} structure which is what we will be using in most of our +real projects. + + +\h#intro-proj-struct|Project Structure| + +A \c{build2} \i{standrad project} has the following overall layout: + +\ +hello/ +├── build/ +│ ├── bootstrap.build +│ └── root.build +├── ... +└── buildfile +\ + +Specifically, the project's root directory should contain the \c{build/} +subdirectory as well as the root \c{buildfile}. The \c{build/} subdirectory +contains project-wide build system information. + +\N|The \l{bdep-new(1)} command is an easy way to create the standard layout +executable (\c{-t\ exe}) and library (\c{-t\ lib}) projects. To change the C++ +file extensions to \c{.hpp/.cpp}, pass \c{-l c++,cpp}. For example: + +\ +$ bdep new --no-init -t exe -l c++,cpp hello +\ + +| + +To support lazy loading of subprojects (discussed later), reading of the +project's build information is split into two phases: bootstrapping and +loading. During boostrapping the project's \c{build/bootstrap.build} file is +read. Then, when (and if) the project is loaded completely, its +\c{build/root.build} file is read followed by the \c{buildfile} (normally from +project root but could also be from a subdirectory). + +The \c{bootstrap.build} file is required. Let's see what it would look like +for a typical project using our \c{hello} as an example: + +\ +project = hello + +using version +using config +using test +using install +using dist +\ + +The first non-comment line in \c{bootstrap.build} should be the assignment of +the project name to the \c{project} variable. After that, a typical +\c{bootstrap.build} file loads a number of build system modules. While most +modules can be loaded during the project load phase, certain modules have to +be loaded early, while bootstrapping (for example, because they define new +operations). + +Let's examine briefly the modules loaded by our \c{bootstrap.build}: The +\l{#module-version \c{version} module} helps with managing our project +versioning. With this module we only maintain the version in a single place +(project's \c{manifest} file) and it is made available in various forms +throughout our project (\c{buildfiles}, header files, etc). The \c{version} +module also automates versioning of snapshots between releases. + +The \c{manifest} file is what makes our build system project a \i{package}. +It contains all the metadata that a user of a package might need to know: +name, version, dependencies, etc., all in one place. However, even if you +don't plan to package your project, it is a good idea to create a basic +\c{manifest} if only to take advantage of the version management offered by +the \c{version} module. So let's go ahead and add it next to our root +\c{buildfile}: + +\ +$ tree hello/ +hello/ +├── build/ +│ └── ... +├── ... +├── buildfile +└── manifest + +$ cat hello/manifest +: 1 +name: hello +version: 0.1.0 +summary: hello executable +\ + +The \c{config} module provides support for persistent configurations. While +project configuration is a large topic that we will discuss in detail later, +in a nutshell \c{build2} support for configuration is an integral part of the +build system with the same mechanisms available to the build system core, +modules, and your projects. However, without \c{config}, the configuration +information is \i{transient}. That is, whatever configuration information was +automatically discovered or that you have supplied on the command line is +discarded after each build system invocation. With the \c{config} module, +however, we can \i{configure} a project to make the configuration +\i{persistent}. We will see an example of this shortly. + +Next up are the \c{test}, \c{install}, and \c{dist} modules. As their names +suggest, they provide support for testing, installation and preparation of +distributions. Specifically, the \c{test} modules defines \c{test} operation, +the \c{install} module defines the \c{install} and \c{uninstall} operations, +and the \c{dist} module defines the \c{dist} (meta-)operation. Again, we will +try them in a moment. + +Moving on, the \c{root.build} file is optional though most projects will have +it. This is the place where we normally load build system modules that provide +support for the languages/tools that we use as well as establish project-wide +settings. Here is what it could look like for our \c{hello} example: + +\ +cxx.std = latest + +using cxx + +hxx{*}: extension = hxx +cxx{*}: extension = cxx +\ + +As you can see, we've moved the loading of the \c{cxx} modules and setting of +the default file extensions from the root \c{buildfile} in our simple project +to \c{root.build} when using the standard layout. We've also set the +\c{cxx.std} variable to tell the \c{cxx} module to select the latest C++ +standard available in any particular C++ compiler we use. + +\N|Selecting the C++ standard is a messy issue. If we don't specify the +standard explicitly with \c{cxx.std}, then the default standard in each +compiler will be used, which, currently, can range from C++98 to C++14. So +unless you carefully write your code to work with any standard, this is +probably not a good idea. + +Fixing the standard (for example, to \c{c++11}, \c{c++14}, etc) should work +theoretically. In practice, however, compilers add support for new standards +incrementally with many versions, while perfectly usable, not being feature +complete. As a result, a better practical strategy is to specify the set of +minimum supported compiler versions rather than the C++ standard. + +There is also the issue of using libraries that require newer standard in +older code. For example, headers from a library that relies on C++14 features +will probably not compile when included in a project that is built as C++11. +And, even if the headers compile (that is, C++14 features are only used in the +implementation), strictly speaking, there is no guarantee that codebases +compiled with different C++ standards are ABI compatible (though being able to +link old-standard code to new-standard codebases appears to be a reasonable +assumption, provided both a built with the same version of the compiler @@ +nope). + +As result, our recommendation is to set the standard to \c{latest} and specify +the minimum supported compilers/versions. Practically, this should allow you +to include and link any library, regardless of the C++ standard that it uses.| + +Let's now take a look at the root \c{buildfile}: + +\ +./: {*/ -build/} +\ + +In plain English this \c{buildfile} declares that building this directory +(and, since it's the root of our project, building this entire project) means +building all its subdirectories excluding \c{build/}. Let's now try to +understand how this is actually achieved. + +We already know this is a dependency declaration, \c{./} is the target, and +what's after \c{:} are its prerequisites, which seem to be generated with some +kind of a name pattern (the wildcard character in \c{*/} should be the +giveaway). What's unusual about this declaration, however, is the lack of any +target types plus that strange-looking \c{./}. + +Let's start with the missing target types. In fact, the above \c{buildfile} +can be rewritten as: + +\ +dir{.}: dir{* -build} +\ + +So the trailing slash (always forward, even on Windows) is a special shorthand +notation for \c{dir{\}}. As we will see shortly, it fits naturally with other +uses of directories in \c{builfiles} (for example, in scopes). + +The \c{dir{\}} target type is an \i{alias} (and, in fact, is derived from the +more general \c{alias{\}}). Building it means building all its prerequisites. + +\N|If you are familiar with \c{make}, then you can probably see the similarity +with the ubiquitous \c{all} \"alias\" pseudo-target. In \c{build2} we instead +use directory names as more natural aliases for the \"build everything in this +directory\" semantics. + +Note also that \c{dir{\}} is purely an alias and doesn't have anything to do +with the filesystem. In particular, it does not create any directories. If you +do want explicit directory creation (which should be rarely needed), use the +\c{fsdir{}} target type instead.| + +The \c{./} target is a special \i{default target}. If we run the build system +without specifying the target explicitly, then this target is built by +default. Every \c{buildfile} has the \c{./} target. If we don't declare it +explicitly, then a declaration with the first target in the \c{buildfile} as +its prerequisite is implied. Recall our \c{buildfile} from the simple +\c{hello} project: + +\ +exe{hello}: cxx{hello} +\ + +It is equivalent to: + +\ +./: exe{hello} +exe{hello}: cxx{hello} +\ + +The last unexplained bit in our root \c{buildfile} is the \c{{*/\ -build/\}} +name pattern. All it does is exclude \c{build/} from the subdirectories to +build. See \l{#name-patterns Name Patterns} for details. + +Let's take a look at a slightly more realistic root \c{buildfile}: + +\ +./: {*/ -build/} doc{README LICENSE} manifest +\ + +Here we have the customary \c{README} and \c{LICENSE} files as well as the +package \c{manifest}. Listing them as prerequisites achieves two things: they +will be installed if/when our project is installed and, as discussed earlier, +they will be included into the project distribution. + +The \c{README} and \c{LICENSE} files use the \c{doc{\}} target type. We could +have used the generic \c{file{\}} but using the more precise \c{doc{\}} makes +sure they are installed into the appropriate documentation directory. The +\c{manifest} file doesn't need an explicit target type since it is a fixed +name (\c{manifest{manifest}} is valid but redundant). + +The standard project infrastructure in place, where should we put our source +code? While we could have everything in the root directory of our project, +just like we did in the simple layout, it is recommended to instead place the +source code into a subdirectory named the same as the project. For example: + +\ +hello/ +├── build/ +│ └── ... +├── hello/ +│ ├── hello.cxx +│ └── buildfile +├── buildfile +└── manifest +\ + +\N|There are several reasons for this layout: It implements the canonical +inclusion scheme where each header is prefixed with its project name. It also +has a predictable name where users can expect to find our project's source +code. Finally, this layout prevents clutter in the project's root directory +which usually contains various other files.| + +The source subdirectory \c{buildfile} is identical to the simple project minus +the parts moved to \c{root.build}: + +\ +exe{hello}: {hxx cxx}{**} +\ + +Let's now build our project and see where the build system output ends up +in this new layout: + +\ +$ cd hello/ +$ b +c++ hello/cxx{hello} +ld hello/exe{hello} + +$ tree ./ +./ +├── build/ +│ └── ... +├── hello/ +│ ├── hello.cxx +│ ├── hello +│ ├── hello.d +│ ├── hello.o +│ ├── hello.o.d +│ └── buildfile +├── buildfile +└── manifest + +$ hello/hello +Hello, World! +\ + +If we don't specify a target to build (as we did above), then \c{build2} will +build the current directory or, more precisely, the default target in the +\c{buildfile} in the current directory. We can also build a directory other +than the current, for example: + +\ +$ b hello/ +\ + +\N|Note that the trailing slash is required. In fact, \c{hello/} in the above +command line is a target and is equivalent to \c{dir{hello\}}, just like in +the \c{buildfiles}.| + +Or we can build a specific target: + +\ +$ b hello/exe{hello} +\ + +@@ note: root buildfile not loaded, only root.build. + +Naturally, nothing prevents us from building multiple targets or even projects +with the same build system invocation. For example, if we had the \c{libhello} +project next to our \c{hello/}, then we could build both at once: + +\ +$ ls -1 +hello/ +libhello/ + +$ b hello/ libhello/ +\ + +Speaking of libraries, let's see what the standard project structure looks +like for one, using \c{libhello} created by \l{bdep-new(1)} as an example: + +\ +$ bdep new --no-init -t lib libhello + +$ tree libhello/ +libhello/ +├── build/ +│ ├── bootstrap.build +│ ├── root.build +│ └── export.build +├── libhello/ +│ ├── hello.hxx +│ ├── hello.cxx +│ ├── export.hxx +│ ├── version.hxx.in +│ └── buildfile +├── tests/ +│ └── ... +├── buildfile +└── manifest +\ + +The overall layout (\c{build/}, \c{libhello/} source directory) as well as the +contents of the root files (\c{bootstrap.build}, \c{root.build}, root +\c{buildfile}) are exactly the same. There is, however, a new file, +\c{export.build}, in \c{build/}, a new subdirectory, \c{tests/}, and the +contents of the project's source subdirectory, \c{libhello/}, look quite a bit +different. We will examine all of these differences in the coming sections, as +we learn more about the build system. + +\N|The standard project structure is not type (executable, library, etc) or +even language specific. In fact, the same project can contain multiple +executables and/or libraries (for example, both \c{hello} and \c{libhello}). +However, if you plan to package your projects, it is a good idea to keep them +as separate build system projects (they can still reside in the same version +control repository, though). + +Speaking of terminology, the term \i{project} is unfortunately overloaded to +mean two different things at different levels of software organization. At the +bottom we have \i{build system projects} which, if packaged, become +\i{packages}. And at the top, related packages are often grouped into what is +also commonly referred to as \i{projects}. At this point both usages are +probably too well established to look for alternatives.| + +And this completes the conversion of our simple \c{hello} project to the +standard structure. Earlier, when examining \c{bootstrap.build}, we mentioned +that modules loaded in this file usually provide additional operations. So we +still need to discuss what exactly the term \i{build system operaton} means +and see how to use operations that are provided by the modules we have loaded. +But before we do that, let's see how we can build our projects \i{out of +source} tree and learn about another cornerstone \c{build2} concept: +\c{scopes}. + + +\h#intro-dirs-scopes|Directories and Scopes| + +The two common requirements places on modern build systems are the ability to +build projects out of the source directory tree (referred to as just \i{out of +source} vs \i{in source}) as well as isolation of \c{buildfiles} from each +other when it comes to target and variable names. In \c{build2} these +mechanisms are closely-related, integral parts of the build system. + +\N|This tight integration has advantages, like being always available and +working well with other build system mechanisms, as well disadvantages, like +inability to implement a completely different out of source arrangement and/or +isolation model. In the end, if you find yourself \"fighting\" this aspect of +\c{build2}, it will likely be easier to use a different build system than +subvert it.| + +Let's start with an example of an out of source build of our \c{hello} +project. To recap, this is what we have: + +\ +$ ls -1 +hello/ + +$ tree hello/ +hello/ +├── build/ +│ └── ... +├── hello/ +│ └── ... +├── buildfile +└── manifest +\ + +To start, let's build it in the \c{hello-out/} directory, next to the project: + +\ +$ b hello/@hello-out/ +mkdir fsdir{hello-out/} +mkdir hello-out/fsdir{hello/} +c++ hello/hello/cxx{hello}@hello-out/hello/ +ld hello-out/hello/exe{hello} + +$ ls -1 +hello/ +hello-out/ + +$ tree hello-out/ +hello-out/ +└── hello/ + ├── hello + ├── hello.d + ├── hello.o + └── hello.o.d +\ + +This definitely requires some explaining. Let's start from bottom, with the +\c{hello-out/} layout. It is \i{parallel} to the source directory. This +mirrored side-by-side listing (of relevant parts) should illustrate this +clearly: + +\ +hello/ ~~~ hello-out/ +└── hello/ ~~~ hello/ ──┘ + └── hello.cxx ~~~ hello.o ──┘ +\ + +In fact, if we copy the contents of \c{hello-out/} over to \c{hello/}, we will +end up with exactly the same result as when we did an in source build. And +this is not accidental: an in source build is just a special case of an out of +source build where the \i{out} directory is the same as \i{src}. + +\N|The parallel structure of the out and src directories is a cornerstone +design decision in \c{build2} and is non-negotiable, so to speak. In +particular, out cannot be inside src. And while we can stash the build system +output (objects files, executables, etc) into (potentially different) +subdirectories, this is not recommended. As will be shown later, \c{build2} +offers better mechanisms to achieve the same benefits (like reduced clutter, +ability to run executables) but without the drawbacks (like name clashes).| + +Let's now examine how we invoked the build system to achieve this out of +source build. Specifically, if we were building in source, our command line +would have been + +\ +$ b hello/ +\ + +but for the out of source build, we have + +\ +$ b hello/@hello-out/ +\ + +In fact, that strange-looking construct, \c{hello/@hello-out/} is just a more +complete target specification that explicitly spells out the target's src and +out directories. Let's add an explicit target type to make it clearer: + +\ +$ b hello/@hello-out/dir{.} +\ + +What we have on the right of \c{@} is the target in the out directory and on +the left \- its src directory. In plain English this command line means +\"build me the default target from \c{hello/} in the \c{hello-out/} +directory\". + +As an example, if instead we only wanted to build just the \c{hello} +executable out of source, then the invocation would have looked like this: + +\ +$ b hello/hello/@hello-out/hello/exe{hello} +\ + +We could also specify out for an in source build, but that's redundant: + +\ +$ b hello/@hello/ +\ + +There is another example of this complete target specification in the build +diagnostics: + +\ +c++ hello/hello/cxx{hello}@hello-out/hello/ +\ + +Notice, however, that now the target (\c{cxx{hello\}}) is on the left of +\c{@}, that is, in the src directory. It does, however, make sense if you +think about it - our \c{hello.cxx} is a \i{source file}, it is not built and +it lives in the project's source directory. This is in contrast, for example, +to the \c{exe{hello\}} target which is the output of the build system and goes +to the out directory. So in \c{build2} targets can be either in src or in out +(there can also be \i{out of project} targets, for example, installed files). + +The complete target specification can also be used in \c{buildfiles}. We +haven't encountered any so far because targets mentioned without explicit +src/out default to out and, naturally, most of the targets we mention in +\c{buildfiles} are things we want built. One situation where you may encounter +an src target mentioned explicitly is when configuring its installability +(discussed in the next section). For example, if our project includes the +customary \c{INSTALL} file, it probably doesn't make sense to install it. +However, since it is a source file, we have to use the complete target +specification when disabling its installation: + +\ +doc{INSTALL}@./: install = false +\ + +Note also that only targets but not prerequisites have this notion of src/out +directories. In a sence, prerequisites are relative to the target they are +prerequisites of and are resolved to targets in a manner that is specific to +their target types. For \c{file{\}}-based prerequisites the corresponding +target in out is first looked up and if found used. Otherwise, an existin file +in src is searched for and if found the corresponding target (now in src) is +used. In particular, this semantics gives preferences to genereted code over +static. + +\N|More precisely, a preprequisite is relative to the scope (discussed below) +in which the dependency is declared and not to the target that it is a +prerequisite of. But in most practical cases, however, this means the +same thing.| + +And this pretty much covers out of source builds. Let's summarize the key +points we have established so far: Every build has two parallel directory +trees, src and out, with the in source build being just a special where they +are the same. Targets in a project can be either in the src or in out +directory though most of the time targets we mention in our \c{buildfiles} +will be in out, which is the default. Prerequsites are relative to targets +they are prerequisites of and \c{file{}}-based prerequisites are first +searched as existing targets in out and then as existing files in src. + +Note also that we can have as many out of source builds as we want and we can +place them anywhere we want (but not inside src), say, on a RAM-backed +disk/filesystem. For example, we can build our \c{hello} project with two +different compilers: + +\ +$ b hello/@hello-gcc/ config.cxx=g++ +$ b hello/@hello-clang/ config.cxx=clang++ +\ + +In the next section we will see how to configure these out of source builds so +that we don't have to keep repeating these long command lines. + +\N|While technically you can have both an in source and out of source builds +at the same time, this is not recommended. While it may work for simple +projects, as soon as you start using generated source code (which is fairly +common in \c{build2}), it becomes difficult to predict where the compiler will +pick generated headers. There is support for remapping mis-picked headers but +this may not work for older compilers. In other words, while you may have your +cake and eat it too, it might not taste particularly great. Plus, as will be +discussed in the next section, \c{build2} supports \i{forwarded +configurations} which provide most of the benefits of an in source build but +without the drawbacks.| + +Let's now turn to \c{buildfile} isolation. It is a common, well-establishes +practice to organize complex software projects in directory hierarchies. One +of the benefits of this organization is isolation: we can use the same, short +file names in different subdirectories. In \c{build2} the project's directory +tree is used as a basis for its \i{scope} hierarchy. In a sence, scopes are +like C++ namespaces that track the project's filesystem structure and use +directories as their names. The following listing illustrates the parallel +directory and scope hierarchies for our \c{hello} project. \N{The \c{build/} +subdirectory is special and does not have a corresponding scope.} + +\ +hello/ hello/ +│ { +└── hello/ hello/ + │ { + └── ... ... + } + } +\ + +Every \c{buildfile} is loaded in its corresponding scope, variables set in a +\c{buildfile} are set in this scope and relative target mentioned in a +\c{buildfile} are relative to this scope's directory. Let's \"load\" the +\c{buildfile} contents from our \c{hello} to the above listing: + +\ +hello/ hello/ +│ { +├── buildfile ./: {*/ -build/} +│ +└── hello/ hello/ + │ { + └── buildfile exe{hello}: {hxx cxx}{**} + } + } +\ + +In fact, to be absolutely precise, we should also add the contents of +\c{bootstrap.build} and \c{root.build} to the project's root scope (module +loading is omitted for brevity): + +\ +hello/ hello/ +│ { +├── build/ +│ ├── bootstrap.build project = hello +│ │ +│ └── root.build cxx.std = latest +│ hxx{*}: extension = hxx +│ cxx{*}: extension = cxx +│ +├── buildfile ./: {*/ -build/} +│ +└── hello/ hello/ + │ { + └── buildfile exe{hello}: {hxx cxx}{**} + } + } +\ + +The above scope structure is very similar to what you will see (besides a lot +of other things) if you build with \c{--verbose\ 6}. At this verbosity level +the build system driver dumps the build state before and after matching the +rules. Here is an abbreviated output for our \c{hello} (assuming an in source +build from \c{/tmp/hello}): + +\ +$ b --verbose 6 + +/ +{ + [target_triplet] build.host = x86_64-linux-gnu + [string] build.host.class = linux + [string] build.host.cpu = x86_64 + [string] build.host.system = linux-gnu + + /tmp/hello/ + { + [dir_path] src_base = /tmp/hello/ + [dir_path] out_root = /tmp/hello/ + + [dir_path] src_root = /tmp/hello/ + [dir_path] out_base = /tmp/hello/ + + [project_name] project = hello + [string] project.summary = hello executable + [string] project.url = https://example.org/hello + + [string] version = 1.2.3 + [uint64] version.major = 1 + [uint64] version.minor = 2 + [uint64] version.patch = 3 + + [string] cxx.std = latest + + [string] cxx.id = gcc + [string] cxx.version = 8.1.0 + [uint64] cxx.version.major = 8 + [uint64] cxx.version.minor = 1 + [uint64] cxx.version.patch = 0 + + [target_triplet] cxx.target = x86_64-w64-mingw32 + [string] cxx.target.class = windows + [string] cxx.target.cpu = x86_64 + [string] cxx.target.system = mingw32 + + hxx{*}: [string] extension = hxx + cxx{*}: [string] extension = cxx + + hello/ + { + [dir_path] src_base = /tmp/hello/hello/ + [dir_path] out_base = /tmp/hello/hello/ + + dir{./}: exe{hello} + exe{hello.}: cxx{hello.cxx} + } + + dir{./}: dir{hello/} manifest{manifest} + } +} +\ + +This is probably quite a bit more information than what you've expected to see +so let's explain a couple of things. Firstly, it appears there is another +scope outer to our project's root. In fact, \c{build2} extends scoping outside +of projects with the root of the filesystem (denoted by the special \c{/}) +being the \i{global scope}. This extension becomes useful when we try to build +multiple unrelated projects or import one project in another. In this model +all projects are part of single scope hierarchy with the global scope at its +root. + +The global scope is read-only and contains a number of pre-defined +\i{build-wide} variables such as the build system version, host platform +(shown in the above listing), etc. + +Next, inside the global scope, we see our project's root scope +(\c{/tmp/hello/}). Besides the variables that we have set ourselves (like +\c{project}), it also contains a number of variable set by the build system +core (for example, those \c{out_base}, \c{src_root}, etc) as well by build +system modules (for example, \c{project.*} and \c{version.*} variables set by +the \c{version} module and \c{cxx.*} variables set by the \c{cxx} module). + +The scope for our project's source directory (\c{hello/}) should look +familiar. We again have a few special variables (\c{out_base}, \c{src_base}). +Notice also that the name patterns in prerequisites have been expanded to +the actual files. + +As you can probably guess from their names, the \c{src_*} and \c{out_*} +variables track the association between scopes and src/out directories. They +are maintained automatically by the build system core with the +\c{src/out_base} pair set on each scope within the project and an additional +\c{src/out_root} pair set on the project's root scope (so that we can get the +project's root directories from anywhere in the project). Note that directory +paths in their values are always absolute. + +In the above example the corresponding src/out variable pairs have the same +values because we were building in source. As an example, this is what the +association will look for an out of source build: + +\ +hello/ ~~~ hello-out/ ~~~ hello-out/ +│ { │ +│ src_root = .../hello/ │ +│ out_root = .../hello-out/ │ +│ │ +│ src_base = .../hello/ │ +│ out_base = .../hello-out/ │ +│ │ +└── hello/ ~~~ hello/ ~~~ hello/ ──┘ + { + src_base = .../hello/hello/ + out_base = .../hello-out/hello/ + } + } +\ + +Now that we have some scopes and variables to play with, it's good time to +introduce variable expansion. To get the value stored in a variable we use +\c{$} followed by the variable's name. The variable is first looked up in the +current scope (that is, the scope in which the expansion was encountered) and, +if not found, in the outer scopes all the way to the global scope. + +\N|To be precise, this is the default \i{variable visibility}. Variables, +however, can have more limited visibilities, such as \i{project}, \i{scope}, +\i{target}, or \i{prerequisite}.| + +To illustrate the lookup semantics, let's add the following line to each +\c{buildfile} in our \c{hello} project: + +\ +$ cd hello/ # project root + +$ cat buildfile +... +info \"src_base: $src_base\" + +$ cat hello/buildfile +... +info \"src_base: $src_base\" +\ + +And then build it: + +\ +$ b +buildfile:3:1: info: src_base: /tmp/hello/ +hello/buildfile:8:1: info: src_base: /tmp/hello/ +\ + +In this case \c{src_base} is defined in each of the two scopes and we get +their respective values. If, however, we change the above line to print +\c{src_root} instead of \c{src_base} we will get the same value from the +root scope: + +\ +buildfile:3:1: info: src_root: /tmp/hello/ +hello/buildfile:8:1: info: src_root: /tmp/hello/ +\ + +One common place to find \c{src/out_root} expansions is in include search path +options. For example, the source directory \c{buildfile} generated by +l{bdep-new(1)} for an executable project actually looks like this +(\i{poptions} stands for \i{preprocessor opsions}): + +\ +exe{hello}: {hxx cxx}{**} + +cxx.poptions =+ \"-I$out_root\" \"-I$src_root\" +\ + +This allows us to include our headers using the project's name as a prefix, +inline with the \l{intro#structure-canonical Canonical Project Structure} +guidelines. For example, if we added the \c{utility.hxx} header to our +\c{hello} project, we would include it like this: + +\ +#include <iostream> + +#include <hello/utility.hxx> + +int main () +{ +... +} +\ + +\N|In this section we've only scratched the surface when it comes to +variables. In particular, variables and variable values in \c{build2} are +optionally typed (those \c{[string]}, \c{[uint64]} we've seen in the build +state dump). And in certain contexts the lookup semantics actually starts from +the target, not from the scope (target-specific variables; there are also +prerequisite-specific). For more information on these and other topics, +see @@ ref.| + +As mentioned above, each \c{buildfile} in a project is loaded into its +corresponding scope. As a result, we rarely need to open scopes explicitly. +In the few cases that we do, we use the following syntax. + +\ +<directory>/ +{ + ... +} +\ + +If the scope directory is relative, then it is assumed to be relative to the +current scope. As an exercise in understanding, let's reimplement our +\c{hello} project as a single \c{buildfile}. That is, we move the contents of +the source directory \c{buildfile} into the root \c{buildfile}: + +\ +$ tree hello/ +hello/ +├── build/ +│ └── ... +├── hello/ +│ └── hello.cxx +└── buildfile + +$ cat hello/buildfile + +./: hello/ + +hello/ +{ + ./: exe{hello} + exe{hello}: {hxx cxx}{**} +} +\ + +\N|While this single \c{buildfile} setup is not recommended for new projects, +it can be useful for a non-intrusive conversion of existing projects to +\c{build2}. One approach is to place the unmodified original project into a +subdirectory (potentially automating this with a mechanism such as \c{git(1)} +submodules) then adding the \c{build/} directory and the root \c{buildfile} +which opens explicit scope to define the build over the project's +subdirectory.| + +Seeing this merged \c{buildfile} may make you wonder what exactly causes the +loading of the source directory \c{buildfile} in our normal setup. In other +words, when we build our \c{hello} from the project root, who and why loads +\c{hello/buildfile}? + +Actually, in the earlier days of \c{build2} we had to explicitly load +\c{buildfiles} that define targets we depend on with the \c{include} +directive. In fact, we still can (and have to if we are depending on +targets other than directories). For example: + +\ +./: hello/ + +include hello/buildfile +\ + +We can also omit \c{buildfile} for brevity and have just: + +\ +include hello/ +\ + +This explicit inclusion, however, quickly becomes tiresome as the number of +directories grows. It also makes using wildcard patterns for subdirectory +prerequisites a lot less appealing. + +To resolve this the \c{dir{\}} target type implements an interesting +prerequisite to target resolution semantics: if there is no existing target +with this name, a \c{buildfile} that (presumably) defines this target is +automatically loaded from the corresponding directory. In fact, it goes +a step further and, if the \c{buildfile} does not exist, then assumes +one with the following contents was implied: + +\ +./: */ +\ + +That is, it simply builds all the subdirectories. This is especially handy +when organizing related tests into subdirectories. + +\N|As mentioned above, this automatic inclusion is only triggered if the +target we depend on is \c{dir{\}} and we still have to explicitly include the +necessary \c{buildfiles} for other target. One common example is a project +consisting of a library and an executable that uses it, each residing in a +separate directory next to each other (as noted earlier, not recommended for +projects that are to be packaged). For example: + +\ +hello/ +├── build +│ └── ... +├── hello +│ ├── main.cxx +│ └── buildfile +├── libhello +│ ├── hello.hxx +│ ├── hello.cxx +│ └── buildfile +└── buildfile +\ + +In this case the executable \c{buildfile} could look along these lines: + +\ +include ../libhello/ # Include lib{hello}. + +exe{hello}: {hxx cxx}{**} lib{hello} +\ + +Note also that \c{buildfile} inclusion is not the mechanism for accesing +targets from other projects. For that we use target importation that is +discussed in @@ ref.| + +@@ conclusion/summary + +\h#intro-operations|Operations| + +Modern build systems have to perform operations other than just building: +cleaning the build output, running tests, installing/uninstalling the build +results, prepring source distributions, and so on. And, if the build system has +integrated configuration support, configuring the project would naturally +belong on this list as well. + +\N|If you are familiar with \c{make}, you should recognize the parallel with +the common \c{clean} \c{test}, \c{install}, etc., \"operation\" +pseudo-targets.| + +In \c{build2} we have the concept of a \i{build system operation} performed on +a target. The two pre-defined operations are \c{update} and \c{clean} with +other operations provided by build system modules. + +Operations to perform and targets to perform them on are specified on the +command line. As discussed earlier, \c{update} is the default operation and +\c{./} in the current directory is the default target if no operation and/or +target is specified explicitly. And, similar to targets, we can specify +multiple operations (not necessarily on the same targets) in a single build +system invocation. The list of operations to perform and targets to perform +them on is called a \i{build specification} or \i{buildspec} for short (see +\l{b(1)} for details). Here are a few example: + +\ +$ cd hello # Change to project root. + +$ b # Update current directory. +$ b ./ # As above. +$ b update # As above. +$ b update: ./ # As above. + +$ b clean update # Rebuild. + +$ b clean: hello/ # Clean specific target. +$ b update: hello/exe{hello} # Update specific target + +$ b update: libhello/ tests/ # Update two targets. +\ + +Let's revisit \c{build/bootstrap.build} from our \c{hello} project: + +\ +project = hello + +using version +using config +using test +using install +using dist +\ + +Other than \c{version}, all the modules we load define new operations. So +let's examine each of them starting with \c{config}. + + +\h2#intro-operations-config|Configuration| + +As mentioned briefly earlier, the \c{config} module provides support for +perisiting configurations by allowing us to \i{configure} our projects. At +first it may feels natural for \c{configure} to be another operation. There +is, however, a conceptual problem: we don't really configure a target. And, +perhaps after some meditation, it should become clear that what we are really +doing is configuring operations on targets. For example, configuring updating +a C++ project might involve detecting and saving information about the C++ +compiler while configuring installing it may require specifying the +installation directory. + +So \c{configure} is an operation on operation on targets \- a meta-operation. +And so in \c{build2} we have the concept of a \i{build system meta-operation}. +If not specified explicitly (as part of the buildspec), the default is +\c{perform}, which is to simply perform the operation. + +Back to \c{config}, this module provides two meta-operations: \c{configure} +which saves the configuration of a project into the \c{build/config.build} +file as well as \c{disfigure} which removes it. + +\N|While the common meaning of the word \i{disfigure} is somewhat different to +what we make it mean in this context, we still prefer it over the commonly +suggested \i{deconfigure} for the symmetry of their Latin \i{con-} +(\"together\") and \i{dis-} (\"apart\") prefixes.| + +Let's say for the in source build of our \c{hello} project we want to use +\c{Clang} and enable debug information. Without persistence we would have to +repear this configuration on every build system invocation: + +\ +$ cd hello # Change to project root. + +$ b config.cxx=clang++ config.cxx.coptions=-d +\ + +Instead, we can configure our porject with this information once and from +then on invoke the build system without any arguments: + +\ +$ b configure config.cxx=clang++ config.cxx.coptions=-d + +$ tree ./ +./ +├── build/ +│ ├── ... +│ └── config.build +└── ... + +$ b +$ b clean +$ b +... +\ + +Let't take a look at \c{config.build}: + +\ +$ cat build/config.build + +config.cxx = clang++ +config.cxx.poptions = [null] +config.cxx.coptions = -d +config.cxx.loptions = [null] +config.cxx.libs = [null] +... +\ + +As you can see, it's just a buildfile with a bunch of variable assignments. In +particular, this means you can tweak your build configuration by modifying +this file with your favorite editor. Or, alternatively, you can adjust the +configuration by reconfigure the project: + +\ +$ b configure config.cxx=g++ + +$ cat build/config.build + +config.cxx = g++ +config.cxx.poptions = [null] +config.cxx.coptions = -d +config.cxx.loptions = [null] +config.cxx.libs = [null] +... +\ + +Any variable value specified on the command line overrides those specified in +the \c{buildfiles}. As a result, \c{config.cxx} was updated while the value of +\c{config.cxx.coptions} was preserved. + +Command line variable overrides are also handy to adjust the configuration for +a single build system invocation. For example, let's say we want to quickly +check that our project builds with optimization but without changing the +configuration: + +\ +$ b config.cxx.coptions=-O3 # Rebuild with -O3. +$ b # Rebuild with -d. +\ + +We can also configure out of source builds of our projects. In this case, +besides \c{config.build}, \c{configure} also saves the location of the source +directory so that we don't have to repeat that either. Remember, this is how +we used to build our \c{hello} out of source: + +\ +$ b hello/@hello-gcc/ config.cxx=g++ +$ b hello/@hello-clang/ config.cxx=clang++ +\ + +And now we can do: + +\ +$ b configure: hello/@hello-gcc/ config.cxx=g++ +$ b configure: hello/@hello-clang/ config.cxx=clang++ + +$ hello-clang/ +hello-clang/ +└── build/ + ├── bootstrap/ + │ └── src-root.build + └── config.build + +$ b hello-gcc/ +$ b hello-clang/ +$ b hello-gcc/ hello-clang/ +\ + +One major benefit of an in source build is the ability to run executables as +well as examine build/test output (test results, generated source code, +documenation, etc) without leaving the source directory. Unfortunately we +cannot have multiple in source builds and as was discussed earlier, mixing in +and out of source builds is not recommended. + +To overcome this limitation \c{build2} has a notion of \i{forwarded +configurations}. As the name suggests, we can configure a project's source +directory to forward to one of its out of source builds. Specifically, +whenever we run the build system from the source directory, it will +automatically build in the corresponded forwareded output +directory. Additionally, it will \i{backlink} (using symlinks or another +suitable mechanism) certain \"interesting\" targets (\c{exe{\}}, \c{doc{\}}) +to the source directory for easy access. As an example, let's configure our +\c{hello/} source directory to forward to the \c{hello-gcc/} build: + +\ +$ b configure: hello/@hello-gcc/,forward + +$ cd hello/ +$ b +c++ hello/cxx{hello}@../hello-gcc/hello/ +ld ../hello-gcc/hello/exe{hello} +ln ../hello-gcc/hello/exe{hello} -> hello/ +\ + +Notice the last line in the above listing: it indicates that \c{exe{hello}} +from the out directory was backlinked in our project's source subdirectory: + +\ +$ tree ./ +./ +├── build/ +│ ├── bootstrap/ +│ │ └── out-root.build +│ └── ... +├── hello/ +│ ├── ... +│ └── hello -> ../../hello-gcc/hello/hello* +└── ... + +$ ./hello/hello +Hello World! +\ + +\N|By default only \c{exe{\}} and \c{doc{\}} targets are backlinked. This, +however, can be customized with the \c{backlink} target-specific variable. +Refer to the @@ ref (build system core variables reference?) for details.| + + +\h2#intro-operations-test|Testing| + +The next module we load in \c{bootstrap.build} is \c{test} which defines the +\c{test} operation. As the name suggests, this module provides support for +running tests. + +@@ ref to test module + +There are two types of tests that we can run with the \c{test} module: simple +tests and \c{testscript}-based. + +A simple test is just an executable target with the \c{test} target-specific +variable set to \c{true}. For example: + +\ +exe{hello}: test = true +\ + +A simple test is executed once and in its most basic form (typical for unit +testing) doesn't take any inputs nor produce any output, indicating success +via the zero exit status. If we test our \c{hello} project with the above +addition to its \c{buildfile}, then we will see the following output: + +\ +$ b test +test hello/exe{hello} +Hello, World! +\ + +While the test passes (since it exited with zero status), we probably don't +want to see that \c{Hello, World!} every time we run it (this can, however, be +quite useful for running examples). More importantly, we don't really test its +functionality and if tomorrow our \c{hello} starts swearing rather than +greeting, the test will still pass. + +Besides checking the exit status we can also supply some basic information to +a simple test (more common for integration testing). Specifically, we can pass +command line options (\c{test.options}) and arguments (\c{test.arguments}) as +well as input (\c{test.stdin}, used to supply test's \c{stdin}) and output +(\c{test.stdout}, used to compare test's \c{stdout}). + +Let's see how we can use this to fix our \c{hello} test by making sure our +program prints the expected greeting. First we need to add a file that will +contain the expected output, let's call it \c{test.out}: + +\ +$ ls -1 hello/ +hello.cxx +test.out +buildfile + +$ cat hello/test.out +Hello, World! +\ + +Next we arrange for it to be compared to our test's \c{stdout}. Here is the +new \c{hello/buildfile}: + +\ +exe{hello}: {hxx cxx}{**} +exe{hello}: file{test.out}: test.stdout = true +\ + +Ok, this looks new. What we have here is a \i{prerequisite-specific variable} +assignment. By setting \c{test.stdout} for the \c{file{test.out\}} +prerequisite of target \c{exe{hello\}} we mark it as expected \c{stdout} +output of \i{this} target (theoretically, we could have marked it as +\c{test.input} for another target). Notice also that we no longer need the +\c{test} target-specific variable. It's unnecessary if one of the other +\c{test.*} variable is specified. + +Now, if we run our test, we won't see any output: + +\ +$ b test +test hello/exe{hello} +\ + +And if we try to change the greeting in \c{hello.cxx} but not in \c{test.out}, +our test will fail printing the \c{diff(1)} comparison of the expected and +actual output: + +\ +$ b test +c++ hello/cxx{hello} +ld hello/exe{hello} +test hello/exe{hello} +--- test.out ++++ - +@@ -1 +1 @@ +-Hello, World! ++Hi, World! +error: test hello/exe{hello} failed +\ + +Notice another interesting thing: we have modified \c{hello.cxx} to change the +greeting and our test executable was automatically rebuilt before testing. +This happenned because the \c{test} operation parform \c{update} as its +\i{pre-operation} on all the targets to be tested. + +Let's make our \c{hello} program more flexible by accepting the name to +greet on the command line: + +\ +#include <iostream> + +int main (int argc, char* argv[]) +{ + if (argc < 2) + { + std::cerr << \"error: missing name\" << std::endl; + return 1; + } + + std::cout << \"Hello, \" << argv[1] << '!' << std::endl; +} +\ + +We can test its successful execution path with a simple test fairly easily: + +\ +exe{hello}: test.arguments = 'World' +exe{hello}: file{test.out}: test.stdout = true +\ + +What if we also wanted to test its error handling? Since simple tests are +single-run, this won't be easy. Even if we could overcome this, having +expected output for each test in a separate file will quickly become untidy. +And this is where \c{testscript}-based tests come in. Testscript is a portable +language for running tests. It vaguely resembles Bash and is optimized for +concise test description and fast, parallel execution. + +Just to give you an idea (see \l{testscript#intro Testscript Introduction} for +a proper introduction), here is what testing our \c{hello} program with +Testscript would look like: + +\ +$ ls -1 hello/ +hello.cxx +testscript +buildfile + +$ cat hello/buildfile + +exe{hello}: {hxx cxx}{**} testscript +\ + +And these are the contents of \c{hello/testscript}: + +\ +: basics +: +$* 'World' >'Hello, World!' + +: missing-name +: +$* 2>>EOE != 0 +error: missing name +EOE +\ + +A couple of key points: The \c{test.out} file is gone with all the test inputs +and expected outputs incorporated into \c{testscript}. To test an executable +with Testscript all we have to is list the corresponding \c{testscript} file +as its prerequisite (and which, being a fixed name, doesn't need an explicit +target type, similar to \c{manifest}). + +To see Testscript in action, let's say we've made our program more +user-friendly by falling back to a default name if one wasn't specified: + +\ +#include <iostream> + +int main (int argc, char* argv[]) +{ + const char* n (argc > 1 ? argv[1] : \"World\"); + std::cout << \"Hello, \" << n << '!' << std::endl; +} +\ + +If we forgot to adjust the \c{missing-name} test, then this is what we could +expect to see when running the tests: + +\ +b test +c++ hello/cxx{hello} +ld hello/exe{hello} +test hello/test{testscript} hello/exe{hello} +hello/testscript:7:1: error: hello/hello exit code 0 == 0 + info: stdout: hello/test-hello/missing-name/stdout +\ + +Testscript-based integration testing is the default setup for executable +(\c{-t\ exe}) projects created by \l{bdep-new(1)}. Here is the recap of the +overall layout: + +\ +hello/ +├── build/ +│ └── ... +├── hello/ +│ ├── hello.cxx +│ ├── testscript +│ └── buildfile +├── buildfile +└── manifest +\ + +For libraries (\c{-t\ lib}), however, the integration testing setup is a bit +different. Here are the relevant parts of the layout: + +\ +libhello/ +├── build/ +│ └── ... +├── libhello/ +│ ├── hello.hxx +│ ├── hello.cxx +│ ├── export.hxx +│ ├── version.hxx.in +│ └── buildfile +├── tests/ +│ ├── build/ +│ │ ├── bootstrap.build +│ │ └── root.build +│ ├── basics/ +│ │ ├── driver.cxx +│ │ └── buildfile +│ └── buildfile +├── buildfile +└── manifest +\ + +Specifically, there is no \c{testscript} in \c{libhello/}, the project's +source directory. Instead we have the \c{tests/} subdirectory which itself +looks like a project: it contains the \c{build/} subdirectory with all the +familiar files, etc. In fact, \c{tests} is a \i{subproject} of our +\c{libhello} project. + +While we will be examining \c{tests} in greater detail later, in a nutshell, +the reason it is a subproject is to be able to test an installed version of +our library. By default, when \c{tests} is built as part of its parent project +(called \c{amalgamation}), the locally built \c{libhello} library will be +automatically imported. However, we can also configure a build of \c{tests} +out of its amalgamation, in which case we can import an installed version of +\c{libhello}. We will learn how to do all that as well as the underlying +concepts (\i{subproject}/\i{amalgamation}, \i{import}, etc) in the coming +sections. + +Inside \c{tests/} we have the \c{basics/} subdirectory which contains a simple +test for our library's API. By default it doesn't use Testscript but if you +want to, you can. You can also rename \c{basics/} to something more meaningful +and add more tests next to it. For example, if we were creating an XML parsing +and serialization library, then our \c{tests/} could have the following +layout: + +\ +tests/ +├── build +│ └── ... +├── parser +│ └── ... +├── serializer +│ └── .. +└── buildfile +\ + +\N|Nothing prevents us from having the \c{tests/} subdirectory for executable +projects. And it can be just a subdirectory or a subproject, the same as for +libraries. Making it a subproject makes sense if your program has a complex +installation, for example, if its execution requires configuration and/or data +files that need to be found, etc. For simple programs, however, testing the +executable before installing is usually sufficient.| + +@@\n +- how do we get code for unit tests (utility libraries)\n +- unit vs integration (note): not specific (but kind of already covered) + +\h2#intro-operations-install|Installation| + +The \c{install} module defines the \c{install} and \c{uninstall} operations. +As the name suggests, this module provides support for project installation. + +\N|Project installation in \c{build2} is modeled after UNIX-like operation +systems though the installation directory layout is highly customizable (@@ +ref to install module). While \c{build2} projects can import \c{build2} +libraries directly, installation is often a way to \"export\" them in a form +usable by other build systems.| + +The root installation directory is specified with the \c{config.install.root} +configuration variable. Let's install our \c{hello} program into +\c{/tmp/install}: + +\ +$ cd hello/ +$ b install config.install.root=/tmp/install/ +\ + +And see what we've got (executables are marked with \c{*}): + +\ +$ tree /tmp/install/ + +/tmp/install/ +├── bin/ +│ └── *hello +└── share/ + └── doc/ + └── hello/ + └── manifest +\ + +Similar to the \c{test} operation, \c{install} performs \c{update} as a +pre-operation for targets that it installs. + +\N|We can also configure our project with the desired \c{config.install.*} +values so we don't have to repeat them on every install/uninstall. For +example: + +\ +$ b configure config.install.root=/tmp/install/ +$ b install +$ b uninstall +\ + +| + +Now the same for \c{libhello} (symbolic link targets are shown with \c{->} and +actual static/shared library names may differ on your operating system): + +\ +$ rm -r /tmp/install + +$ cd libhello/ +$ b install config.install.root=/tmp/install/ + +$ tree /tmp/install/ + +/tmp/install/ +├── include/ +│ └── libhello/ +│ ├── hello.hxx +│ ├── export.hxx +│ └── version.hxx +├── lib/ +│ ├── pkgconfig/ +│ │ ├── libhello.shared.pc +│ │ └── libhello.static.pc +│ ├── libhello.a +│ ├── libhello.so -> libhello-0.1.so +│ └── libhello-0.1.so +└── share/ + └── doc/ + └── libhello/ + └── manifest +\ + +As you can see, the library headers go into the customary \c{include/} +subdirectory while static and shared libraries (and their \c{pkg-config(1)} +files) \- into \c{lib/}. Using this installation we should be able to import +this library from other build systems or even use it in a manual build: + +\ +$ g++ -I/tmp/install/include -L/tmp/install/lib greet.cxx -lhello +\ + +If we want to install into a system-wide location like \c{/usr} or +\c{/usr/local}, then we most likely will need to specify the \c{sudo(1)} +program: + +\ +$ cd hello/ +$ b config.install.root=/usr/local/ config.install.sudo=sudo +\ + +\N|In \c{build2} only actual install/uninstall commands are executed with +\c{sudo(1)}. And while on the topic of sensible implementations, \c{uninstall} +can be generally trusted to work reliably.| + +The default installability of a target as well as where it is installed is +determined by its target type. For example, \c{exe{\}} is by default installed +into \c{bin/}, \c{doc{\}} \- into \c{share/doc/<project>/}, and \c{file{\}} is +not installed. + +We can, however, override this with the \c{install} target-specific variable. +Its value should be either special \c{false} indicating that the target should +not be installed or the directory to install the target to. As an example, +here is what the root \c{buildfile} from our \c{libhello} project looks like: + +\ +./: {*/ -build/} manifest + +tests/: install = false +\ + +The first line we have already seen and the purpose of the second line should +now be clear: it makes sure we don't try to install anything in the \c{tests/} +subdirectory. + +If the value of the \c{install} variable is not \c{false}, then it is normally +a relative path with the first path component being one of these names: + +\ +name default override +---- ------- -------- +root config.install.root + +data_root root/ config.install.data_root +exec_root root/ config.install.exec_root + +bin exec_root/bin/ config.install.bin +sbin exec_root/sbin/ config.install.sbin +lib exec_root/lib/ config.install.lib +libexec exec_root/libexec/<project>/ config.install.libexec +pkgconfig lib/pkgconfig/ config.install.pkgconfig + +data data_root/share/<project>/ config.install.data +include data_root/include/ config.install.include + +doc data_root/share/doc/<project>/ config.install.doc +man data_root/man/ config.install.man +man<N> man/man<N>/ config.install.man<N> +\ + +Let's see what happens here: The default install directory tree is derived +from the \c{config.install.root} value but the location of each node in this +tree can be overridden by the user that installs our project using the +corresponding \c{config.install.*} variables. In our \c{buildfiles}, in turn, +we use the node names instead of actual directories. As an example, here is a +\c{buildfile} fragment from the source directory of our \c{libhello} project: + +\ +hxx{*}: install = include/libhello/ +hxx{*}: install.subdirs = true +\ + +Here we set the installation location for headers to be the \c{libhello/} +subdirectory of the \c{include} installation location. Assuming +\c{config.install.root} is \c{/usr/}, the \c{install} module will perform the +following steps to resolve this relative path to the actual, absolute +installation directory: + +\ +include/libhello/ +data_root/include/libhello/ +root/include/libhello/ +/usr/include/libhello/ +\ + +In the above example we also see the use of the \c{install.subdirs} variable. +Setting it to \c{true} instructs the \c{install} module to recreate +subdirectories starting from this point in the project's directory hierarchy. +For example, if our \c{libhello/} source directory had the \c{details/} +subdirectory with the \c{utility.hxx} header, then this header would have been +installed as \c{.../include/libhello/details/utility.hxx}. + +@@\n +- installation of dependencies? + + +\h2#intro-operations-dist|Distribution| + +The last module that we load in our \c{bootstrap.build} is \c{dist} which +provides support for preparation of distributions by defining the \c{dist} +meta-operation. Similar to \c{configure}, \c{dist} is a meta-operation rather +than an operation because, conceptually, we are preparing a distribution for +performing operations (like \c{update}, \c{test}) on targets rather than +targets themselves. + +Preparation of a correct distribution relies on all the necessary project +files (sources, documentation, etc) being listed as prerequisites in the +project's \c{buildfiles}. + +\N|You may wonder why not just use the export support offered by version +control systems? The main reason is that in most real-world projects version +control repositories contain a lot more than what needs to be distributed. In +fact, it is not uncommon to host multiple build system projects/packages in a +single repository. As a result, with this approach we seem to inevitably end +up maintaining an exclusion list which feels backwards \- why specify all the +things we don't want in a new list instead of just making sure the existing +list of things that we do want is complete? Also, once we have the complete +list, it can be put to good use by other tools, such as editors, IDEs, etc.| + +Preparation of a distribution requires an out of source build. This allows the +\c{dist} module to distinguish between source and output targets. By default, +targets found in src are includes into the distribution while those in out are +excluded. However, we can customize this with the \c{dist} target-specific +variable. + +As an example, let's prepare a distribution of our \c{hello} project using the +out of source build configured in \c{hello-out/}. We use \c{config.dist.root} +to specify the directory to place the distribution to: + +\ +$ b dist: hello-out/ config.dist.root=/tmp/dist + +$ ls -1 /tmp/dist +hello-0.1.0/ + +$ tree /tmp/dist/hello-0.1.0/ +/tmp/dist/hello-0.1.0/ +├── build/ +│ ├── bootstrap.build +│ └── root.build +├── hello/ +│ ├── hello.cxx +│ ├── testscript +│ └── buildfile +├── buildfile +└── manifest +\ + +As we can see, the distribution directory includes the project version (comes +from the \c{version} variable which, in our case, is extracted from +\c{manifest} by the \c{version} module). Inside the distribution directory we +have our project's source files (but, for example, without any \c{.gitignore} +files that we may have had in \c{hello/}. + +We can also ask the \c{dist} module to package the distribution directory +into one or more archives and generate their schecksum files. For example: + +\ +$ b dist: hello-out/ \ + config.dist.root=/tmp/dist \ + config.dist.archives=\"tar.gz zip\" \ + config.dist.checksums=sha256 + +$ ls -1 /tmp/dist +hello-0.1.0/ +hello-0.1.0.tar.gz +hello-0.1.0.tar.gz.sha256 +hello-0.1.0.zip +hello-0.1.0.zip.sha256 +\ + +\N|We can also configure our project with the desired \c{config.dist.*} values +so we don't have to repeat them every time. For example: + +\ +$ b configure: hello-out/ config.dist.root=/tmp/dist ... +$ b dist +\ + +| + +Let's now take a look at an example of customizing what gets distributed. +Most of the time you will be using this mechanism to include certain targets +from out. Here is a fragment from the \c{libhello} source directory +\c{buildfile}: + +\ +hxx{version}: in{version} $src_root/manifest +hxx{version}: dist = true +\ + +Our library provides the \c{version.hxx} header that the users can include to +examine its version. This header is generated by the \c{version} module from +the \c{version.hxx.in} template. In essence, the \c{version} module takes the +version value from our manifest, splits it into various components (major, +minor, patch, etc) and then preprocesses the \c{in{\}} file substituting these +value (see \l{#module-version \c{version} Module} for details). The end result +is an automatically maintained version header. + +One problem with auto-generated headers is that if one does not yet exist, +then the compiler may still find it somewhere else. For example, we may have +an older version of a library installed somwhere where the compiler searches +for headers by default (for example, \c{/usr/local/}). To overcome this +problem it is a good idea to ship pre-generated headers in our distributions. +But since they are output targets, we have to explicitly request this with +\c{dist=true}. + + +\h#intro-import|Target Importation| + +If we need to depend on a target defined in another \c{buildfile} within our +project, then we simply include said \c{buildfile} and reference the target. +For example, if our \c{hello} included both an executable and a library in +separate directories next to each other: + +\ +hello/ +├── build/ +│ └── ... +├── hello/ +│ ├── ... +│ └── buildfile +└── libhello/ + ├── ... + └── buildfile +\ + +Then our executable \c{buildfile} could look like this: + +\ +include ../libhello/ # Include lib{hello}. + +exe{hello}: {hxx cxx}{**} lib{hello} +\ + +What if instead \c{libhello} is a separate project? The inclusion no longer +works for two reasons: we don't know the path to \c{libhello} (after all, it's +an independent project and can reside anywhere) and we can't assume the path +to the \c{lib{hello\}} target within \c{libhello} (the project directory +layout can change). + +To depend on a target from a separate project we use \i{importation} instead +of inclusion. This mechanism is also used to depend on targets that are not +part of any project, for example, installed libraries. + +The importing project's side is pretty simple. This is what the above +\c{buildfile} will look like if \c{libhello} is a separate project: + +\ +import libs = libhello%lib{hello} + +exe{hello}: {hxx cxx}{**} $libs +\ + +The \c{import} directive is a kind of variable assignment that resolves a +\i{project-qualified} relative target (\c{libhello%lib{hello\}} in our case) +to an unqualified absolute target and stores it in the variable (\c{libs} in +our case). We can then expand the variable (\c{$libs} in our case), normally +in the dependency declaration, to get the imported target. + +If we needed to import several libraries then we simply repeat the \c{import} +directive, usually accumulating the result in the same variable, for example: + +\ +import libs = libformat%lib{format} +import libs += libprint%lib{print} +import libs += libhello%lib{hello} + +exe{hello}: {hxx cxx}{**} $libs +\ + +Let's now try to build our \c{hello} project that uses imported \c{libhello}: + +\ +$ b hello/ +error: unable to import target libhello%lib{hello} + info: use config.import.libhello command line variable to specify + its project out_root +\ + +While that didn't work out well, it does make sense: the build system cannot +know the location of \c{libhello} or which of its builds we want to use. +Though it does helpfully suggests that we use \c{config.import.libhello} to +specify its out directory (\c{out_root}). Let's point it to \c{libhello} +source directory to use an in source build (\c{out_root\ ==\ src_root}): + +\ +$ b hello/ config.import.libhello=libhello/ +c++ libhello/libhello/cxx{hello} +ld libhello/libhello/libs{hello} +c++ hello/hello/cxx{hello} +ld hello/hello/exe{hello} +\ + +And it works. Naturally, the importation mechanism works the same for out of +source builds and we can persist the \c{config.import.*} variables in the +project's configuration. As an example, let's setup Clang builds of the two +projects out of source: + +\ +$ b configure: libhello/@libhello-clang/ config.cxx=clang++ +$ b configure: hello/@hello-clang/ config.cxx=clang++ \ + config.import.libhello=libhello-clang/ + +$ b hello-clang/ +c++ libhello/libhello/cxx{hello}@libhello-clang/libhello/ +ld libhello-clang/libhello/libs{hello} +c++ hello/hello/cxx{hello}@hello-clang/hello/ +ld hello-clang/hello/exe{hello} +\ + +If the corresponding \c{config.import.*} variable is not specified, \c{import} +searches for a project in a couple of other places. First it looks in the list +of subprojects starting from the importing project itself and then continuing +with its outer amalgamations and their subprojects (see @@ref Subprojects and +Amalgamations for details on this subject). + +\N|We've actually seen an example of this search step in action: the \c{tests} +subproject in \c{libhello}. The tests import \c{libhello} which is +automatically found as an amalgamation containing this subproject.| + +If the project being imported cannot be located using any of these methods, +then \c{import} falls back to the rule-specific search. That is, a rule that +matches the target may provide support for importing certain prerequisite +types based on rule-specific knowledge. Support for importing installed +libraries by the C++ link rule is a good example of this. Internally, the +\c{cxx} module extracts the compiler library search paths (that is, paths that +would be used to resolve \c{-lfoo}) and then its link rule uses them to search +for installed libraries. This allows us to use the same \c{import} directive +regardless of whether we import a library from a separate build, from a +subproject, or from an installation directory. + +\N|Importation of an installed library will work even if it is not a +\c{build2} project. Besides finding the library itself, the link rule will +also try to locate its \c{pkg-config(1)} file and, if present, extract +aditional compile/link flags from it. The link rule also produces +\c{pkg-config(1)} files for libraries that it installs.| + +Let's now examine the exporting side of the importation mechanis. While a +project doesn't need to do anything special to be found by \c{import}, it does +need to handle locating the exported target (or targets; there could be +several) within the project as well as loading their \c{buildfiles}. This is +the job of an \i{export stub}, the \c{build/export.build} file that you might +have noticed in the \c{libhello} project: + +\ +libhello +├── build/ +│ └── export.build +└── ... +\ + +Let's take a look inside: + +\ +$out_root/ +{ + include libhello/ +} + +export $out_root/libhello/$import.target +\ + +An export stub is a special kind of \c{buildfile} that bridges from the +importing project into exporting. It is loaded in a special temporary scope +out of any project, in a \"no man's land\" so to speak. The following +variables are set on the temporary scope: \c{src_root} and \c{out_root} of the +project being imported as well as \c{import.target} containing the name of +target (without project qualification) being imported. + +Typically, an export stub will open the scope of the exporting project, load +the \c{buildfile} that defines the target being exported and finally +\"return\" the absolute target to the importing project using the \c{export} +directive. And this is exactly what the export stub in our \c{libhello} does. + +We now have all the pieces of the importation puzzle and you can probably see +how they all fit together. To summarize, when the build system sees an +\c{import} directive, it looks for a project with the specified name. If +found, it creates a temporary scope, sets the \c{src/out_root} variables to +point to the project and \c{import.target} \- to the target name specified in +the \c{import} directive. And then it load the project's export stub in this +scope. Inside the export stub we switch to the project's root scope, load its +\c{buildfile} and then use the \c{export} directive to set the exported +target. Once the export stub is processed, the build system obtains the +exported target and assigns it to the variable specified in the \c{import} +directive. + +\N|Our export stub is quite \"loose\" in that it allows importing any target +defined in the project's source subdirectory \c{buildfile}. While we found it +to be a good balance between strictness and flexibility, if you would like to +\"tighten\" your export stubs, you can. For example: + +\ +if ($import.target == lib{hello}) + export $out_root/libhello/$import.target +\ + +If no \c{export} directive is executed in an export stub then the build system +assumes the target is not exported by the project and issues appropriate +diagnostics.| + + +\h#intro-lib|Library Exportation and Versioning| + +By now we have examine and explained every line of every \c{buildfile} in our +\c{hello} executable project. There are, however, a few lines remain to be +covered in the source subdirectory \c{buildfile} in \c{libhello}. Here it +is in its entirety: + +\ +int_libs = # Interface dependencies. +imp_libs = # Implementation dependencies. + +lib{hello}: {hxx ixx txx cxx}{** -version} hxx{version} \ + $imp_libs $int_libs + +# Include the generated version header into the distribution (so that +# we don't pick up an installed one) and don't remove it when cleaning +# in src (so that clean results in a state identical to distributed). +# +hxx{version}: in{version} $src_root/manifest +hxx{version}: dist = true +hxx{version}: clean = ($src_root != $out_root) + +cxx.poptions =+ \"-I$out_root\" \"-I$src_root\" + +obja{*}: cxx.poptions += -DLIBHELLO_STATIC_BUILD +objs{*}: cxx.poptions += -DLIBHELLO_SHARED_BUILD + +lib{hello}: cxx.export.poptions = \"-I$out_root\" \"-I$src_root\" + +liba{hello}: cxx.export.poptions += -DLIBHELLO_STATIC +libs{hello}: cxx.export.poptions += -DLIBHELLO_SHARED + +lib{hello}: cxx.export.libs = $int_libs + +# For pre-releases use the complete version to make sure they cannot +# be used in place of another pre-release or the final version. +# +if $version.pre_release + lib{hello}: bin.lib.version = @\"-$version.project_id\" +else + lib{hello}: bin.lib.version = @\"-$version.major.$version.minor\" + +# Install into the libhello/ subdirectory of, say, /usr/include/ +# recreating subdirectories. +# +{hxx ixx txx}{*}: install = include/libhello/ +{hxx ixx txx}{*}: install.subdirs = true +\ + +Let's start with all those \c{cxx.export.*} variables. It turns out that +merely exporting a library target is not enough for the importers of the +library to be able to use it. They also need to know where to find its +headers, which other libraries to link, etc. This information is carried in a +set of target-specific \c{cxx.export.*} variables that parallel the \c{cxx.*} +set and that together with the library's prerequisites constitute the +\i{library meta-information protocol}. Every time a source file that depends +on a library is compiled or a binary is linked, this information is +automatically extracted by the compile and link rules from the library +dependency chain, recursively. And when the library is installed, this +information is carried over to its \c{pkg-config(1)} file. + +\N|Similar to the \c{c.*} and \c{cc.*} sets discussed earlier, there are also +\c{c.export.*} and \c{cc.export.*} sets.| + +Here are the parts relevant to the library meta-information protocol in the +above \c{buildfile}: + +\ +int_libs = # Interface dependencies. +imp_libs = # Implementation dependencies. + +lib{hello}: ... $imp_libs $int_libs + +lib{hello}: cxx.export.poptions = \"-I$out_root\" \"-I$src_root\" + +liba{hello}: cxx.export.poptions += -DLIBHELLO_STATIC +libs{hello}: cxx.export.poptions += -DLIBHELLO_SHARED + +lib{hello}: cxx.export.libs = $int_libs +\ + +As a first step we classify all our library dependecies into \i{interface +dependencies} and \i{implementation dependencies}. A library is an interface +dependency if it is referenced from our interface, for example, by including +(importing) one of its headers (modules) from one of our (public) headers +(modules) or if one of its functions is called from our inline or template +functions. + +The preprocessor options (\c{poptions}) of an interface dependency must be +made available to our library's users. The library itself shoud also be +explicitly linked whenever our library is linked. All this is achieved by +listing the interface dependencies in the \c{cxx.export.libs} variable (the +last line in the above fragment). + +\N|More precisely, the interface dependency should be explicitly linked if a +user of our library may end up with a direct call to the dependency in one of +their object files. Not linking such a library is called \i{underlinking} +while linking a library unnecessarily (which can happen because we've included +its header but are not actually calling any of its non-inline/template +functions) is called \i{overlinking}. Unrelinking is an error on some +platforms while overlinking may slow down process startup and/or waste process +memory. + +Note also that this only applies to shared libraries. In case of static +libraries, both interface and implementation dependencies are always linked, +recursively.| + +To illustrate the distinction, let's say we've reimplemented our \c{libhello} +to use \c{libformat} to formal the greeting and \c{libprint} to print it. +Here is our new header (\c{hello.hxx}): + +\ +#include <libformat/format.hxx> + +namespace hello +{ + void + say_hello_formatted (std::ostream&, const std::string& hello); + + inline void + say_hello (std::ostream& o, const std::string& name) + { + say_hello_formatted (o, format::format_hello (\"Hello\", name)); + } +} +\ + +And this is the new source file (\c{hello.cxx}): + +\ +#include <libprint/print.hxx> + +namespace hello +{ + void + say_hello_formatted (ostream& o, const string& h) + { + print::print_hello (o, h); + } +} +\ + +In this implementation, \c{libformat} is our interface dependency since we +both include its header in our interface and call it from one of our inline +functions. In contrast, \c{libprint} is only included and used in the source +file and so we can safely treat it as an implementation dependency. The +corresponding \c{import} directives in our \c{buildfile} will then look +like this: + +\ +import int_libs = libformat%lib{format} +import imp_libs = libprint%lib{print} +\ + +The remaining three lines in the library meta-information fragment are: + +\ +lib{hello}: cxx.export.poptions = \"-I$out_root\" \"-I$src_root\" + +liba{hello}: cxx.export.poptions += -DLIBHELLO_STATIC +libs{hello}: cxx.export.poptions += -DLIBHELLO_SHARED +\ + +The first line makes sure the users of our library can locate its headers by +exporting the relevant \c{-I} options. The last two lines define the library +type macros that are relied upon by the \c{export.hxx} header to setup symbol +exporting. + +\N|The \c{liba{\}} and \c{libs{\}} target types correspond to the static and +shared libraries, respectively. And \c{lib{\}} is actually a target group that +can contain one, the other, or both as its members. + +Specifically, when we build a \c{lib{\}} target, which members will be built +is determined by the \c{config.bin.lib} variable with the \c{static}, +\c{shared}, and \c{both} (default) possible values. So to only build a shared +library we can do: + +$ b config.bin.lib=shared + +When it comes to linking \c{lib{\}} prerequisites, which member is picked is +controlled by the \c{config.bin.{exe,liba,libs}.lib} variables for the +executable, static library, and shared library targets, respectively. Their +valid values are lists of \c{shared} and \c{static} that determine the member +preference. For example, to build both shared and static libraries but to link +executable to static libraries we can do: + +$ b config.bin.lib=both config.bin.exe.lib=static + +See the \c{bin} module for more information. @@ ref| + +Let's now turn to the second subject of this section and the last unexplained +bit in our \c{buildfile}: shared library versionsing. Here is the relevant +fragment: + +\ +if $version.pre_release + lib{hello}: bin.lib.version = @\"-$version.project_id\" +else + lib{hello}: bin.lib.version = @\"-$version.major.$version.minor\" +\ + +Shared library versionsing is a murky, platform-specific area. Instead of +trying to come up with a unified versioning scheme that few will comprehend +(similar to \c{autoconf}), \c{build2} provides a platform-independen +versioning scheme as well as the ability to specify platform-specific version +in a native format. + +The library version is specified with the \c{bin.lib.version} target-specific +variable. Its value should be a sequence of \c{@}-pairs with the left hand +side (key) being the platform name and the right hand side (value) being the +version. An empty key signifies the platform-independent version (see \c{bin} +module for the exact semantics). For example: + +\ +lib{hello}: bin.lib.version = @-1.2 linux@3 +\ + +\N{While the interface for platform-specific versions is defined, their +support is not yet implemented by the C/C++ link and install rules.} + +A platform-independent version is embedded as a suffix into the library name +(and into its \c{soname}, on relevant platforms) while platform-specific +versions are handled according to the platform. Continuing with the above +example, these would be the resulting shared library names for certain +platforms: + +\ +libhello.so.3 # Linux +libhello-1.2.dll # Windows +libhello-1.2.dylib # Mac OS +\ + +With this background we can now explain what's going in our \c{buildfile}: + +\ +if $version.pre_release + lib{hello}: bin.lib.version = @\"-$version.project_id\" +else + lib{hello}: bin.lib.version = @\"-$version.major.$version.minor\" +\ + +We only use platform-independent library versioning. For releases we embed +both major and minor version components assuming that patch releases are +binary compatible. For pre-releases, however we use the complete version to +make sure it cannot be used in place of another pre-release or the final +version (\c{version.project_id} is the project's, as opposed to package's, +shortest \"version id\"; see the \l{#module-version \c{version} Module} for +details). + +@@ +- we need to explain all the *.Xoptions, libs (don't I do it in intro + already). Also c module. Note on make vars -- associate CFLAGS CPPFLAGS + LDFLAGS, etc. + + +\h#intro-lang|Buildfile Language| + +By now we should have a good overall sense of what writing \c{buildfiles} +feels like. In this section examines the language in slightly more detail. + +Buildfile is primarily a declarative language with support for variables, pure +functions, repetition (\c{for}-loop), and conditional inclusion/exclusion +(\c{if-else}). + +\c{Buildfiles} are line-oriented. That is, every construct ends at the end of +the line unless escaped with line continuation (trailing \c{\\}). Some lines +may start a \i{block} if followed by \c{{} on the next line. Such a block ends +with a closing \c{\}} on a separate line. Some types of blocks can nest. For +example: + +\ +exe{hello}: {hxx cxx}{**} \ + $libs + +if ($cxx.target.class == 'windows') +{ + if ($cxx.target.system == 'ming32') + { + ... + } +} +\ + +A comment starts with \c{#} and everything from this character and until the +end of the line is ignored. A multi-line comment starts with \c{{#\\} on a +separate line and ends with the same character sequence, again on a separate +line. For example: + +\ +# Single line comment. + +info 'Hello, World!' # Trailing comment. + +#\ +Multi- +line +comment. +#\ +\ + +The three primary Buildfile construct are dependency declaration, directive, +and variable assignment. We've already used all three but let's see another +example: + +\ +include ../libhello/ # Directive. + +exe{hello}: {hxx cxx}{**} lib{hello} # Dependency declaration. + +cxx.poptions += -DNDEBUG # Variable assignment (append). +\ + +There is also the scope opening (we've seen one in \c{export.build}) as well +as target-specific and prerequisite-specific variable assignment blocks. The +latter two are used to assign several entity-specific variables at once, for +example: + +\ +hxx{version}: +{ + dist = true + clean = ($src_root != $out_root) +} + +exe{test}: file{test.roundtrip}: +{ + test.stdin = true + test.stdout = true +} +\ + +\N|All prerequisite-specific variables must be assigned at once as part of the +dependency declaration since repeating the same prerequisite again duplicates +the dependency rather than references the already existing one.| + +\c{Buildfiles} are processed linearly with directives executed and variables +expanded as they are encountered. However, certain variables, for example, +\c{cxx.poptions} are also expanded by rules during execution in which case +they will \"see\" the final value set in the \c{buildfile}. + +\N|Unlike GNU \c{make(1)}, which has deferred (\c{=}) and immediate (\c{:=}) +variable assignments, all assignments in \c{build2} are immediate. For +example: + +\ +x = x +y = $x +x = X +info $y # Prints 'x', not 'X'. +\ + +| + + +\h2#intro-lang-expan|Expansion and Quoting| + +While we've discussed variable expansion and lookup earlier, to recap, to get +the variable's value we use \c{$} followed by its name. The variable name is +first looked up in the current scope (that is, the scope in which the +expansion was encountered) and, if not found, in the outer scopes, +recursively. + +There are two other kinds of expansions: function calls and \i{evaluation +contexts}, or eval context for short. Let's start with the latter since +function calls are built on top of eval contexts. + +An eval context is essentially a fragment of a line with additional +interpretations of certain characters to support value comparison, logical +operators, and a few other things. Eval contexts begin with \c{(}, end with +\c{)}, and can nest. Here are a few examples: + +\ +info ($src_root != $out_root) # Prints true or false. +info ($src_root == $out_root ? 'in' : 'out') # Prints in or out. + +macos = ($cxx.target.class == 'macos') # Assigns true or false. +linux = ($cxx.target.class == 'linux') # Assigns true or false. + +if ($macos || $linux) # Also eval context. + ... +\ + +\N|Below is the eval context grammar that shows supported operators and their +precedence. + +\ +eval: '(' (eval-comma | eval-qual)? ')' +eval-comma: eval-ternary (',' eval-ternary)* +eval-ternary: eval-or ('?' eval-ternary ':' eval-ternary)? +eval-or: eval-and ('||' eval-and)* +eval-and: eval-comp ('&&' eval-comp)* +eval-comp: eval-value (('=='|'!='|'<'|'>'|'<='|'>=') eval-value)* +eval-value: value-attributes? (<value> | eval | '!' eval-value) +eval-qual: <name> ':' <name> + +value-attributes: '[' <key-value-pairs> ']' +\ + +Note that \c{?:} (ternary operator) and \c{!} (logical not) are +right-associative. Unlike C++, all the comparison operators have the same +precedence. A qualified name cannot be combined with any other operator +(including ternary) unless enclosed in parentheses. The \c{eval} option in the +\c{eval-value} production shall contain single value only (no commas).| + +A function call starts with \c{$} followed by its name and an eval context +listing its arguments. Note that there is no space between the name and +\c{(}. For example: + +\ +x = +y = Y + +info $empty($x) # true +info $empty($y) # false + +if $regex.match($y, '[A-Z]') + ... + +p = $src_base/foo.txt + +info $path.leaf($src_base) # foo.txt +info $path.directory($src_base) # $src_base +info $path.base($path.leaf($src_base)) # foo +\ + +Note that functions in \c{build2} are \i{pure} in a sence that they do not +alter the build state in any way. + +Variable and function names follow the C identifier rules. We can also group +variables into namespaces and functions into families by combining multiple +identifier with \c{.}. These rules are used to determine the end of the +variable name in expansions. If, however, a name is being treated longer than +it should, then we can use eval context to explicitly specify its boundaries. +For example: + +\ +base = foo +name = $(base).txt +\ + +What is a structure of a variable value? Consider this assignment: + +\ +x = foo bar +\ + +The value of \c{x} could be a string, a list of two strings, or something else +entirely. In \c{build2} the fundamental, untyped value is a \i{list of +names}. A value can be typed to something else later but it always starts with +a list of names. So in the above example we have a list of two names, \c{foo} +and \c{bar}, the same as in this example (notice the extra spaces): + +\ +x = foo bar +\ + +\N|The motivation behind going with a list of names instead of a string or a +list of strings is that at its core we are dealing with targets and their +prerequisites and it would be natural to make the representation of their +names (that is, the way we refer to them) the default. Consider the following +two examples; it would be natural for them to mean the same thing: + +\ +exe{hello}: {hxx cxx}{**} +\ + +\ +prereqs = {hxx cxx}{**} +exe{hello}: $prereqs +\ + +Note also that the name semantics was carefully tuned to be \i{reversible} to +its syntactic representation for non-name values, such as paths, command line +options, etc., that are commonly found in \c{buildfiles}.| + +Names are split into a list at whitespace boundaries with certain other +characters treated as syntax rather than as part of the value. Here are +a few example: + +\ +x = $y # expansion +x = (a == b) # eval context +x = {foo bar} # name generation +x = [null] # attributes +x = name@value # pairs +x = # comments +\ + +The complete set of syntax character is \c{$(){\}[]@#} plus space and tab. +Additionally, will be \c{*?} treated as wildcards in a name pattern. If +instead we need these characters to appear literally as part of the value, +then we either have to \i{escape} or \i{quote} them. + +To escape a special character we prefix it with a backslash (\c{\\}; to +specify a literal backslash double it). For example: + +\ +x = \$ +y = C:\\\\Program\ Files +\ + +Similar to UNIX shell, \c{build2} supports single (\c{''}) and double +(\c{\"\"}) quoting with roughly the same semantics. Specifically, expansions +(variable, function call, and eval context) and escaping are performed inside +double-quited strings but not in single-quoted. Note also that quoted strings +can span multiple lines with newlines treated literally (unless escaped in +double-quoted strings). For example: + +\ +x = \"(a != b)\" # true +y = '(a != b)' # (a != b) + +x = \"C:\\\\Program Files\" +y = 'C:\Program Files' + +t = 'line one +line two +line three' +\ + +Since quote characters are now also part of the syntax, if you need to specify +them literally in the value, then they will either have to be escaped or +quoted. For example: + +\ +cxx.poptions += -DOUTPUT='\"debug\"' +cxx.poptions += -DTARGET=\\\"$cxx.target\\\" +\ + +An expansion can be of two kinds: \i{spliced} or \c{concatenated}. In the +spliced expansion the variable, function, or eval context is separated from +other text with whitespaces. In this case, as the name suggest, the resulting +list of names is spliced into the value. For example: + +\ +x = 'foo fox' +y = bar $x baz # Three names: 'bar' 'foo fox' 'baz'. +\ + +\N|This is an important difference compared to the semantics in UNIX shells +where result of expansion is re-parsed. In particular, this is the reason why +you won't see quoted expansions in \c{buildfiles} as often as in +(well-written) shell scripts.| + +In concatenated expansion the variable, function, or eval context are combined +with unseparated text before and/or after the expansion. For example: + +\ +x = 'foo fox' +y = bar$(x)foz # Single name: 'barfoo foxbaz' +\ + +A concatenated expansion is typed unless it is quoted. In typed concatenated +expansion the parts are combined in a type-aware manner while in untyped \- +literally as string. To illustrate the differnce, consider this \c{buildfile} +fragment: + +\ +info $src_root/foo.txt +info \"$src_root/foo.txt\" +\ + +If we run it on a UNIX-like operating system, we will see two identical +lines, along these lines: + +\ +/tmp/test/foo.txt +/tmp/test/foo.txt +\ + +However, if we run it on Windows (which uses backslash as a directory +separator) we will see the output along these lines: + +\ +C:\test\foo.txt +C:\test/foo.txt +\ + +The typed concatenation resulted in a native directory separator because +\c{dir_path} (the \c{src_root} type) did the right thing. + +Not every typed concatenation is well defined and in certain situations we may +need to force untyped concatenation with quoting. Options specifying header +search paths (\c{-I}) are a typical case, for example: + +\ +cxx.poptions =+ \"-I$out_root\" \"-I$src_root\" +\ + +If we were to remove the quotes, we would see the following diagnostics: + +\ +buildfile:6:20: error: no typed concatenation of <untyped> to dir_path + info: use quoting to force untyped concatenation +\ + +- style guide for quoting + + +\h2#intro-if-else|Conditions (\c{if-else})| + +The \c{if} directive can be used to conditionally exclude \c{buildfile} +fragments from being processed. The conditional fragment can be a single +(separate) line or a block and the inital \c{if} can be optionally followed by +a number of \c{elif} directives and a final \c{else} which together form the +\c{if-else} chain. An \c{if-else} block can contain nested \c{if-else} +chains. For example: + +\ +if ($cxx.target.class == 'linux') + info 'linux' +elif ($cxx.target.class == 'windows') +{ + if ($cxx.target.system == 'mingw32') + info 'windows-mingw' + elif ($cxx.target.system == 'win32-msvc') + info 'windows-msvc' + else + info 'windows-other' +} +else + info 'other' +\ + +The \c{if} and \c{elif} directive names must be followed by something that +expands to a single, literal \c{true} or \c{false}. This can be a variable +expansion, a function call, an eval context, or a literal value. For example: + +\ +if $version.pre_release + ... + +if $regex.match($x, '[A-Z]') + ... + +if ($cxx.target.class == 'linux') + ... + +if false +{ + # disabled fragment +} + +x = X +if $x # Error, must expand to true or false. + ... +\ + +There are also \c{if!} and \c{elif!} directives which negate the condition +that follows (note that there is no space before \c{!}). For example: + +\ +if! $version.pre_release + ... +elif! $regex.match($x, '[A-Z]') + ... +\ + +Note also that there is no notion of variable locality in \c{if-else} blocks +and any value set inside is visible outside. For example: + +\ +if true +{ + x = X +} + +info $x # Prints 'X'. +\ + +The \c{if-else} chains should not be used for conditional dependency +declarations since this would violate the expectation that all the project's +source files are listed as prerequisites, irrespective of the configuration. +Instead, use the special \c{include} prerequisite-specific variable to +conditionally include prerequisites into the build. For example: + +\ +# Incorrect. +# +if ($cxx.target.class == 'linux') + exe{hello}: cxx{utility-linux} +elif ($cxx.target.class == 'windows') + exe{hello}: cxx{utility-win32} + +# Correct. +# +exe{hello}: cxx{utility-linux}: include = ($cxx.target.class == 'linux') +exe{hello}: cxx{utility-win32}: include = ($cxx.target.class == 'windows') +\ + + +\h2#intro-fir|Repetitions (\c{for})| + +The \c{for} directive can be used to repeat the same \c{buildfile} fragment +multiple times, once for each element of a list. The fragment to repeat can be +a single (separate) line or a block which together form the \c{for} loop. A +\c{for} block can contain nested \c{for} loops. For example: + +\ +for n: foo bar baz +{ + exe{$n}: cxx{$n} +} +\ + +The \c{for} directive name must be followed by the variable name (called +\i{loop variable}) that on each iteration will be assigned the corresponding +element, \c{:}, and something that expands to a potentially empty list of +values. This can be a variable expansion, a function call, an eval context, or +a literal list as in the example above. Here is a somewhat more realistic +example that splits a space-seprated environment variable value into names and +then generates a dependency declaration for each of them: + +\ +for n: $regex.split($getenv(NAMES), ' +', '') +{ + exe{$n}: cxx{$n} +} +\ + +Note also that there is no notion of variable locality in \c{for} blocks and +any value set inside us visible outside. At the end of the iteration the loop +variable contains the value of the last element, if any. For example: + +\ +for x: x X +{ + y = Y +} + +info $x # Prints 'X'. +info $y # Prints 'Y'. +\ + + +? explain unit tests implementation + +---------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +@@ include includes once + +- amalgamation (I think leave to its section, maybe mention and ref in search + order) +- create: as common configuration? + +@@ info (where? in scopes? could show some? separate section?) +@@ other meta-ops: create (anything else) + +@@ all tree output needs extra space (review with mc) (also dir/ suffix) + +@@ Need to mention ixx/txx files somewhere since used in bdep-new-generated + projects. + +@@ TODO rename modules chapters + +@@ execution model +@@ establish a chapter for each module \h1#name-patterns|Name Patterns| @@ -229,27 +3291,6 @@ unknown, target type is unknown, or the target type is not directory or file-based, then the name pattern is returned as is (that is, as an ordinary name). Project-qualified names are never considered to be patterns. -\h1#grammar|Grammar| - -\ -eval: '(' (eval-comma | eval-qual)? ')' -eval-comma: eval-ternary (',' eval-ternary)* -eval-ternary: eval-or ('?' eval-ternary ':' eval-ternary)? -eval-or: eval-and ('||' eval-and)* -eval-and: eval-comp ('&&' eval-comp)* -eval-comp: eval-value (('=='|'!='|'<'|'>'|'<='|'>=') eval-value)* -eval-value: value-attributes? (<value> | eval | '!' eval-value) -eval-qual: <name> ':' <name> - -value-attributes: '[' <key-value-pairs> ']' -\ - -Note that \c{?:} (ternary operator) and \c{!} (logical not) are -right-associative. Unlike C++, all the comparison operators have the same -precedence. A qualified name cannot be combined with any other operator -(including ternary) unless enclosed in parentheses. The \c{eval} option -in the \c{eval-value} production shall contain single value only (no -commas). \h1#module-test|Test Module| |