<HTML>
<TITLE>
Jamfiles and Jambase
</TITLE>
<BODY>
<CENTER>
<A HREF=http://www.perforce.com/jam/jam.html>
Jam/MR
</a>
<A NAME="TOP">
<H2>
Using Jamfiles and Jambase
</H2>
</A>
</CENTER>
<P>
This document describes how to write Jamfiles using the Jam/MR Jambase
rules to build software products.
Related documents of interest are:
<UL>
<LI>
<a href="Jam.html">The Jam/MR Executable Program</A>,
which describes using the <b>jam</b> command and the
langauge used in Jambase
<LI>
<A href="Jambase.html">Jambase Reference</A>,
which summarizes the Jambase rules and variables
</UL>
<P>
Jam/MR documentation and source are available from the
<A HREF=http://public.perforce.com/public/index.html>Perforce Public Depot</a>.
<HR>
<P>
<H2>
Overview
</H2>
<P>
<B>jam,</B> the Jam executable program,
recursively builds target files from source files
using dependency and build specifications defined
in Jam rules files.
<B>jam</B> parses the rules files to identify targets
and sources,
examines the filesystem to determine which
targets need updating, and issues OS commands to update
targets.
<P>
A base rules file called "Jambase" is provided with the
Jam distribution.
The Jambase file defines rules and variables which support
standard software build operations, like compiling, linking,
etc.
<P>
When the Jambase rules are used,
<B>jam</B> reads Jambase, then reads a file called
"Jamfile" in the current directory.
The Jamfile describes what to do with the source files in
its directory. It may also cause
Jamfiles in other directories to be read.
<P>
Under certain circumstances, the first Jamfile read
also causes a site-specific "Jamrules" file to be read.
The Jamrules file is an optional set of rule and variable
definitions used to define site-specific processing.
<P>
<H4>
The Basic Jamfile
</H4>
<P>
Jamfiles contain rule invocations, which usually look like:
<PRE>
<I>RuleName</I> <I>targets</I> : <I>targets</I> ;
</PRE>
The target(s) to the left of the colon usually indicate
what gets built, and the target(s) to the right of the
colon usually indicate what it is built from.
<P>
<P>
A Jamfile can be as simple as this:
<PRE>
Main myprog : main.c util.c ;
</PRE>
This specifies that there is a main.c and util.c file in the same
directory as the Jamfile, and that those source files should be
compiled and linked into an executable called myprog.
If you cd to the directory where this Jamfile lives,
you can see the exactly how <b>jam</b> would
build myprog with:
<PRE>
jam -n
</PRE>
Or, you can actually build myprog with the command:
<PRE>
jam
</PRE>
<P>
<H4>
Whitespace
</H4>
Jamfile elements are delimited by whitespace (blanks, tabs, or
newlines). Elements to be delimited include rule names, targets,
colons, and semicolons. A common mistake users make is to forget the
whitespace, e.g.,
<PRE>
Main myprog: main.c util.c ; #<I>WRONG!</I>
</PRE>
Jam doesn't distinguish between a typo and a target called "myprog:",
so if you get strange results, the first thing
you should check for in your Jamfile is missing whitespace.
<P>
<H4>
Filenames, Target Identifiers, and Buildable Targets
</H4>
<P>
Consider this Jamfile:
<PRE>
Main myprog : main.c util.c ;
LinkLibraries myprog : libtree ;
Library libtree : treemake.c treetrav.c ;
</PRE>
<P>
The Main rule specifies that an executable called myprog will be built.
The compiled main.c and util.c objects will be linked to produce
myprog.
The LinkLibraries rule specifies that libtree will
be linked into myprog as well.
The Library rule specifies which source files will be compiled and
archived into the libtree library.
<P>
The Jamfile above refers to targets like "myprog" and "libtree".
However, depending on the platform you're building on, the actual
filenames of those targets could be "myprog.exe" and "libtree.lib".
Most Jambase rules supply the actual filenames of targets,
so that Jamfiles themselves need not make any
platform-specific filename references.
<P>
The <b>jam</b> program builds up a list of unique target identifiers.
Unless you are using the SubDir rules (described later),
the default identifier for a file target is its filename. In the above
example, the target identifiers are the filenames: myprog.exe,
libtree.lib, main.obj, etc.
<P>
While all Jambase rules refer to "targets",
not all targets are buildable.
There are two kinds of buildable targets:
file targets and pseudotargets.
File targets are objects that can be found in the filesystem.
Pseudotargets are symbolic, and represent other targets.
<P>
You can use any buildable target on the <b>jam</b> command line to
build a subset of defined targets. For example:
<PRE>
jam libtree.a
</PRE>
on Unix builds the libtree library and all the compiled objects
that go in it.
<P>
<H4>
Pseudotargets
</H4>
<P>
Most Jambase rules that define file targets also define pseudotargets
which are dependent on types of file targets.
For example, Jambase defines a pseudotarget called "lib", which
is dependent on file targets created by the Library rule. So
the command:
<PRE>
jam lib
</PRE>
used with the above example would cause the libtree library to be built.
Also, there is one pseudotarget built into <b>jam</b> itself, called
"all". Jambase sets "all" dependent on (almost) all other targets.
<P>
In the unfortunate case where you have a buildable target whose name
is the same as one of the Jambase pseudotargets, you'll have problems
with the conflicting target name.
Your workaround choices are:
<P>
<ol>
<lI>Change the name of your buildable file or directory that conflicts.
<p>
<li>Modify your Jambase and change the name of the conflicting pseudotarget.
(Pseudotargets are defined in Jambase using the NOTFILE rule.)
<p>
<li>Use grist on the conflicting target name in your Jamfile. E.g., instead
of
<PRE>
File lib : libfoo.a ;
</PRE>
try
<PRE>
File <dir>lib : libfoo.a ;
</PRE>
</ol>
<P>
<H4>
Dependencies
</H4>
<P>
Jambase rules set dependencies on targets, so that if you update a
source file, all the file targets that depend on that source
file, and only the ones that depend on that source file,
will be updated (rebuilt) the next time you run <b>jam</b>.
<P>
Here are some of the dependencies
that get set when <b>jam</b> runs on NT using the example Jamfile above:
<CENTER>
<TABLE>
<TR><TD><B>Target</B><TD> <TD><B>Depends on</B></TD>
<TR><TD>myprog.exe<TD><TD>main.obj, util.obj, libtree.lib
<TR><TD>libtree.lib<TD><TD>treemake.obj, treetrav.obj
<TR><TD>treetrav.obj<TD><TD>treetrav.c
</TABLE>
</CENTER>
<P>
Furthermore, the Main and Library rules set up recursive
header scanning on their source targets.
So after <b>jam</b> has finished parsing the Jamfile and
setting the rule-driven dependencies, it scans the source
files for "#include" lines. All #include files found during
this scan become dependencies of the compiled object.
E.g., all header files used to compile treetrav.c would
be made dependencies of treetrav.obj.
<P>
As a result, when you run <b>jam</b>, it will rebuild targets
if either the source files change or the
header files change. You can't tell by looking at a Jamfile
which header files are dependencies, but you can easily
display those dependencies with:
<PRE>
jam -nd+3
</PRE>
<H4>
Rule Ordering
</H4>
<P>
Rules which specify dependencies, like the Main, Library, and
LinkLibrary rules, can be invoked in any order. <b>jam</b>
figures out the order in which targets are built from
their dependencies.
<P>
Some rules, however, set variables which are used by subsequent
rule invocations, and their ordering is important.
For example, the SubDir* rules (discussed
later) must be invoked in a particular order.
<P>
<H4>
Detailed Jambase Specifications
</H4>
<P>
This document describes how to use various Jambase rules
from a functional point of view.
You can see the summary of available Jambase rules in the
<a href="Jambase.html">Jambase Reference</A>.
The detailed specifications for any Jambase rule
can be found by reading the rule definition itself
in the Jambase file.
<P>
<HR>
<H2>
Handling Directory Trees
</H2>
The SubDir* rules are used to
define source code directory hierarchies.
With SubDir and SubInclude, you can use <b>jam</b>
to build software from source files and Jamfiles spread
across many directories, as is typical for large projects.
The SubDir* rules unify an entire
source code tree so that <b>jam</b> can read in
all the Jamfiles in one pass and
compute dependencies across the entire project.
<P>
To use the SubDir* rules, you must:
<P>
<OL>
<LI> Preface the Jamfile in each directory with an invocation
of the SubDir rule.
<P>
<LI> Place at the root of the tree a file named Jamrules.
This file could be empty, but in
practice it contains user-provided rules and variable
definitions that are shared throughout the
tree. Examples of such definitions are library
names, header directories, install directories,
compiler flags, etc. This file is good candidate
for automatic customizing with autoconf(GNU).
<P>
<LI> Optionally, set an environment variable pointing
to the root directory of the srouce tree. The
variable's name is left up to you, but in these
examples, we use TOP.
</OL>
<P>
<H4>
SubDir Rule
</H4>
<P>
The SubDir rule must be invoked before any rules that
refer to the contents of the directory - it is best to put
it at the top of each Jamfile. For example:
<PRE>
# Jamfile in $(TOP)/src/util directory.
SubDir TOP src util ;
Main myprog : main.c util.c ;
LinkLibraries myprog : libtree ;
Library libtree : treemake.c treetrav.c ;
</PRE>
This compiles four files in $(TOP)/src/util, archives
two of the objects into libtree, and links the whole
thing into myprog.
Outputs are placed in the $(TOP)/src/util
directory.
<P>
This doesn't appear to be any different from
the previous example that didn't have a SubDir rule,
but two things are happening behind the scenes:
<OL>
<LI>The SubDir rule causes <b>jam</b> to read
in the $(TOP)/Jamrules file.
(The Jamrules file can alternately be named by the
variable $(xxxRULES), where xxx is the name of the
root variable, e.g., $(TOPRULES)).
<P>
The Jamrules file can contain variable definitions
and rule definitions specific to your codeline.
It allows you to completely customize your build
environment without having to rewrite Jambase.
Jamrules is only read
in once, at the first SubDir invocation.
<P>
<LI>
The SubDir rule initializes a set of variables
that are used by Main and other rules to
uniquely identify the source files in this
directory and assign locations to the targets
built from files in this directory.
<P>
When you have set a root variable, e.g., $(TOP),
SubDir constructs path names rooted with $(TOP),
e.g., $(TOP)/src/util.
Otherwise, SubDir constructs relative pathnames
to the root directory, computed from the number
of arguments to the first SubDir rule, e.g.,
../../src/util. In either case, the SubDir
rule constructs the path names that locate source
files.
You'll see how this is useful later.
<P>
</UL>
<P>
The SubDir rule takes as its first argument the root
variable's name and takes as subsequent arguments the
directory names leading from the root to the directory of
the current Jamfile. Note that the name of the subdirectory
is given as individual elements: the SubDir rule
does not use system-specific directory name syntax.
<P>
<P>
<H4>
SubInclude Rule
</H4>
The SubInclude rule is used in a Jamfile to cause another
Jamfile to be read in.
Its arguments are in the same format as
SubDir's.
<P>
The recommended practice is only to include one level of
subdirectories at a time, and let the Jamfile in each subdirectory
include its own subdirectories. This allows a
user to sit in any arbitrary directory of the source tree
and build that subtree. For example:
<PRE>
# This is $(TOP)/Jamfile, top level Jamfile for mondo project.
SubInclude TOP src ;
SubInclude TOP man ;
SubInclude TOP misc ;
SubInclude TOP util ;
</PRE>
If a directory has both subdirectories of its own as well
as files that need building, the SubIncludes should be
either before the SubDir rule or be at the end of the Jamfile
- not between the SubDir and other rule invocations.
For example:
<PRE>
# This is $(TOP)/src/Jamfile:
SubDir TOP src ;
Main mondo : mondo.c ;
LinkLibraries mondo : libmisc libutil ;
SubInclude TOP src misc ;
SubInclude TOP src util ;
</PRE>
<P>
(<b>jam</b> processes all the Jamfiles it reads as if
it were reading one single, large Jamfile.
Build rules like Main and LinkLibraries rely on the
preceding SubDir rule to set up source file and
output file locations, and SubIncludes rules read in
Jamfiles that contain SubDir rules. So if you put
a SubIncludes rule between a SubDir and a Main
rule, <b>jam</b> will try to find the source files
for the Main rule in the wrong directory.)
<P>
<H4>
Variables Used to Handle Directory Trees
</H4>
The following variables are set by the SubDir rule
and used by the Jambase rules that define file targets:
<P>
<CENTER>
<TABLE>
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
SEARCH_SOURCE
<TD><TD>The SubDir targets (e.g., "TOP src util")
are used to construct a pathname (e.g., $(TOP)/src/util),
and that pathname is assigned to $(SEARCH_SOURCE).
Rules like Main and Library use $(SEARCH_SOURCE)
to set search paths on source files.
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
LOCATE_SOURCE
<TD><TD>Initialized by the SubDir rule to the same
value as $(SEARCH_SOURCE), unless ALL_LOCATE_TARGET
is set.
$(LOCATE_SOURCE) is used by rules that build
generated source files (e.g., Yacc and Lex) to
set location of output files.
Thus the default location of built source files
is the directory of the Jamfile that defines them.
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
LOCATE_TARGET
<TD><TD>Initalized by the SubDir rule to the same
value as $(SEARCH_SOURCE), unless ALL_LOCATE_TARGET
is set.
$(LOCATE_TARGET) is used by rules that build
binary objects (e.g., Main and Library) to
set location of output files.
Thus the default location of built binaray files
is the directory of the Jamfile that defines them.
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
ALL_LOCATE_TARGET
<TD><TD>
If $(ALL_LOCATE_TARGET) is set, LOCATE_SOURCE
and and LOCATE_TARGET are set to $(ALL_LOCATE_TARGET)
instead of to $(SEARCH_SOURCE). This can be used to
direct built files to be written to a location outside
of the source tree, and enables building from read-only
source trees.
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
SOURCE_GRIST
<TD><TD>The SubDir targets are formed into a string
like "src!util" and that string is assigned to
SOURCE_GRIST. Rules that define file targets
use $(SOURCE_GRIST) to set the "grist" attribute
on targets. This is used to assure uniqueness
of target identifiers where filenames themselves
are not unique.
For example, the target identifiers of
$(TOP)/src/client/main.c and $(TOP)/src/server/main.c
would be <src!client>main.c and <src!server>main.c.
</TABLE>
</CENTER>
<P>
The $(LOCATE_TARGET) and $(SEARCH_SOURCE) variables are used
extensively by rules in Jambase: most rules that generate
targets (like Main, Object, etc.) set $(LOCATE) to
$(LOCATE_TARGET) for the targets they generate, and rules
that use sources (most all of them) set $(SEARCH) to be
$(SEARCH_SOURCE) for the sources they use.
<P>
$(LOCATE) and $(SEARCH) are better explained in
<A HREF="Jam.html">The Jam Executable Program</A>
but in brief they tell <B>jam</B> where to create new targets and
where to find existing ones, respectively.
<P>
Note that you can reset these variables
after SubDir sets them. For example, this Jamfile builds
a program called gensrc, then runs it to create a source file
called new.c:
<PRE>
SubDir TOP src util ;
Main gensrc : gensrc.c ;
LOCATE_SOURCE = $(NEWSRC) ;
GenFile new.c : gensrc ;
</PRE>
By default, new.c would be written into the
$(TOP)/src/util directory, but resetting LOCATE_SOURCE causes
it to be written to the $(NEWSRC) directory. ($(NEWSRC) is assumed
to have been set elsewhere, e.g., in Jamrules.)
<P>
<H4>
VMS Notes
</H4>
On VMS, the logical name table is not imported as is the
environment on UNIX. To use the SubDir and related rules,
you must set the value of the variable that names the root
directory. For example:
<PRE>
TOP = USR_DISK:[JONES.SRC] ;
SubInclude TOP util ;
</PRE>
The variable must have a value that looks like a directory
or device. If you choose, you can use a concealed logical.
For example:
<PRE>
TOP = TOP: ;
SubInclude TOP util ;
</PRE>
The : at the end of TOP makes the value of $(TOP) look
like a device name, which jam respects as a directory name
and will use when trying to access files. TOP must then
be defined from DCL:
<PRE>
$ define/job/translation=concealed TOP DK100:[USERS.JONES.SRC.]
</PRE>
Note three things: the concealed translation allows the
logical to be used as a device name; the device name in
the logical (here DK100) cannot itself be concealed logical
(VMS rules, man); and the directory component of the
definition must end in a period (more VMS rules).
<P>
<H2>
Building Executables and Libraries
</H2>
<P>
The rules that build executables and libraries are: Main, Library,
and LinkLibraries.
<H4>
Main Rule
</H4>
The Main rule compiles source files and links the resulting
objects into an executable. For example:
<PRE>
Main myprog : main.c util.c ;
</PRE>
This compiles main.c and util.c and links main.o and
util.o into myprog. The object files and resulting
executable are named appropriately for the platform.
<P>
Main can also be used to build shared libraries and/or
dynamic link libraries, since those are also linked
objects. E.g.:
<PRE>
Main driver$(SUFSHR) : driver.c ;
</PRE>
Normally, Main uses $(SUFEXE) to determine the suffix on
the filename of the built target. To override it,
you can supply a suffix explicity.
In this case,
$(SUFSHR) is assumed to be the OS-specific shared library
suffix, defined in Jamrules with something
like:
<PRE>
if $(UNIX) { SUFSHR = .so ; }
else if $(NT) { SUFSHR = .dll ; }
</PRE>
<P>
Main uses the Objects rule to compile source targets.
<H4>
Library Rule
</H4>
The Library rule compiles source files, archives the
resulting object files into a library, and then deletes
the object files. For example:
<PRE>
Library libstring : strcmp.c strcpy.c strlen.c ;
Library libtree : treemake.c treetrav.c ;
</PRE>
This compiles five source files, archives three of the
object files into libstring and the other two into libtree.
Actual library filenames are formed with the $(SUFLIB) suffix.
Once the objects are safely in the libraries, the
objects are deleted.
<P>
Library uses the Objects rule to compile source files.
<P>
<H4>
LinkLibraries Rule
</H4>
To link executables with built libraries, use
the LinkLibraries rule. For example:
<PRE>
Main myprog : main.c util.c ;
LinkLibraries myprog : libstring libtree ;
</PRE>
The LinkLibraries rule does two things: it makes the
libraries dependencies of the executable, so that they get
built first; and it makes the libraries show up on the
command line that links the executable. The ordering of
the lines above is not important, because <b>jam</b> builds targets
in the order that they are needed.
<P>
You can put multiple libraries on a single invocation of
the LinkLibraries rule, or you can provide them in multiple
invocations. In both cases, the libraries appear on
the link command line in the order in which they were
encountered. You can also provide multiple executables to
the LinkLibraries rule, if they need the same libraries,
e.g.:
<PRE>
LinkLibraries prog1 prog2 prog3 : libstring libtree ;
</PRE>
<P>
<H4>
Variables Used in Building Executables and Libraries
</H4>
<CENTER>
<TABLE>
<TR><TD>
AR
<TD><TD>Archive command, used for Library targets.
<TR><TD>
SUFEXE
<TD>*<TD>Suffix on filenames of executables referenced
by Main and LinkLibraries.
<TR><TD>
LINK
<TD><TD>Link command, used for Main targets.
<TR><TD>
LINKFLAGS
<TD><TD>Linker flags.
<TR><TD>
LINKLIBS
<TD><TD>Link libraries that aren't dependencies. (See note
below.)
<TR><TD>
EXEMODE
<TD>*<TD>File permissions on Main targets.
<TR><TD>
MODE
<TD><TD>Target-specific file permissions on Main targets
(set from $(EXEMODE))
<TR><TD>
RANLIB
<TD><TD>Name of ranlib program, if any.
</TABLE>
</CENTER>
<P>
Variables above marked with "*" are used by the Main,
Library, and LinkLibraries rules. Their values at the
time the rules are invoked are used to set target-specific
variables.
<P>
All other variables listed above are globally defined,
and are used in actions that update Main and Library
targets. This means that the global values of those
variables are used, uness target-specific values have
been set.
(For instance, a target-specific MODE value is set by
the Main rule.)
The target-specific values always override
global values.
<P>
Note that there are two ways to specify link libraries for
executables:
<UL>
<LI>Use the LinkLibraries rule
to specify built libraries; i.e., libraries
that are built by Library rules. This assures that
these libraries are built first, and that Main targets are
rebuilt when the libraries are updated.
<P>
<LI>Use the LINKLIBS variable to specify external
libraries; e.g., system libraries or third-party libraries.
The LINKLIBS variable must be set to the the actual
link command flag that specifies the libraries.
<P>
</UL>
<P>
For example:
<PRE>
<I>#In Jamrules:</I>
if $(UNIX) { X11LINKLIBS = -lXext -lX11 ; }
if $(NT) { X11LINKLIBS = libext.lib libX11.lib ; }
<I>#In Jamfile:</I>
Main xprog : xprog.c ;
LINKLIBS on xprog$(SUFEXE) = $(X11LINKLIBS) ;
LinkLibraries xprog : libxutil ;
Library libxutil : xtop.c xbottom.c xutil.c ;
</PRE>
This example uses the Jam syntax "variable on target" to
set a target-specific variable. In this way, only xprog
will be linked with this special $(X11LINKLIBS),
even if other executables were going to be built
by the same Jamfile. Note that when you set a variable
on a target, you have to specify the target identifer
exactly, which in this case is the suffixed filename of
the executable.
The actual link command line on Unix, for example, would
look something like this:
<PRE>
cc -o xprog xprog.o libxutil.a -lXext -lX11
</PRE>
<H2>
Compiling
</H2>
Compiling of source files occurs normally as a byproduct
of the Main or Library rules, which call the rules
described here. These rules may also be called explicitly
if the Main and Library behavior doesn't satisfy your
requirements.
<P>
<H4>
Objects Rule
</H4>
The Main and Library rules call the Objects rule on source files.
Compiled object files built by
the Objects rule are a dependency of the <I>obj</i>
pseudotarget, so "jam obj" will build object files used in
Main and Library rules.
<P>
Target identifiers created by the Objects rule have grist
set to $(SOURCE_GRIST). So given this Jamfile:
<PRE>
SubDir TOP src lock ;
Main locker : lock.c ;
</PRE>
the object file created is lock.o (or lock.obj) and
its target identifier is <src!lock>lock.o
(or <src!lock>lock.obj).
<P>
You can also call Objects directly. For example:
<PRE>
Objects a.c b.c c.c ;
</PRE>
This compiles a.c into a.o, b.c into b.o, etc. The object
file suffix is supplied by the Objects rule.
<P>
<H4>
Object Rule
</H4>
Objects gets its work done by calling the Object rule on
each of the source files.
You could use the Object rule directly.
For example, on Unix, you could use:
<PRE>
Object foo.o : foo.c ;
</PRE>
However, the Object rule does not provide suffixes, and
it does not provide the grist needed to construct target
identifiers if you are using the SubDir* rules.
A portable and robust Jamfile would need to invoke Object thus:
<PRE>
Object <src!util>foo$(SUFOBJ) : <src!util>foo.c ;
</PRE>
which is inelegant and clearly shows why using Objects
is better than using Object.
<P>
If there's any advantage to the Object rule, it's
that it doesn't require that the object name bear
any relationship to the source. It is thus possible to
compile the same file into different objects. For example:
<PRE>
Object a.o : foo.c ;
Object b.o : foo.c ;
Object c.o : foo.c ;
</PRE>
This compiles foo.c (three times) into a.o, b.o, and c.o.
Later examples show how this is useful.
<P>
The Object rule looks at the suffix of the source file and
calls the appropriate rules to do the actual preprocessing
(if any) and compiling needed to produce the output object file.
The Object rule is
capable of the generating of an object file from any
type of source. For example:
<PRE>
Object grammar$(SUFOBJ) : grammar.y ;
Object scanner$(SUFOBJ) : scanner.l ;
Object fastf$(SUFOBJ) : fastf.f ;
Object util$(SUFOBJ) : util.c ;
</PRE>
An even more elegant way to get the same result is to let the
Objects rule call Object:
<PRE>
Objects grammar.y scanner.l fastf.f util.c ;
</PRE>
<P>
In addition to calling the compile rules, Object sets up
a bunch of variables specific to the source and target
files. (See Variables Used in Compiling, below.)
<P>
<H4>
Cc, C++, Yacc, Lex, Fortran, As, etc. Rules
</H4>
<P>
The Object rule calls compile rules specific to the suffix of
the source file. (You can see which suffixes are supported
by looking at the Object rule definition in Jambase.)
Because the extra work done by the
Object rule, it is not always useful to call the compile
rules directly. But the adventurous user might attempt
it. For example:
<PRE>
Yacc grammar.c : grammar.y ;
Lex scan.c : scan.l ;
Cc prog.o : prog.c ;
</PRE>
These examples individually run yacc(1), lex(1), and the C
compiler on their sources.
<P>
<H4>
UserObject Rule
</H4>
Any files with suffixes not understood by the Object rule
are passed to the UserObject rule. The default definition
of UserObject simply emits a warning that the suffix is
not understood. This Jambase rule definition is intended to be
overridden in Jamrules with one that recognizes the project-specific
source file suffixes. For example:
<PRE>
#In Jamrules:
rule UserObject
{
switch $(>)
{
case *.rc : ResourceCompiler $(<) : $(>) ;
case * : ECHO "unknown suffix on" $(>) ;
}
}
rule ResourceCompiler
{
DEPENDS $(<) : $(>) ;
Clean clean : $(<) ;
}
actions ResourceCompiler
{
rc /fo $(<) $(RCFLAGS) $(>)
}
#In Jamfile:
Library liblock : lockmgr.c ;
if $(NT) { Library liblock : lock.rc ; }
</PRE>
<P>
In this example, the UserObject definition in Jamrules
allows *.rc files to be handle as regular Main and Library
sources. The lock.rc file is compiled into lock.obj
by the "rc" command, and lock.obj is archived into a library
with other compiled objects.
<H4>
LibraryFromObjects Rule
</H4>
Sometimes the Library rule's straightforward compiling of
source into object modules to be archived isn't flexible
enough. The LibraryFromObjects rule does the archiving
(and deleting) job of the Library rule, but not the compiling.
The user can make use of the Objects or Object
rule for that. For example:
<PRE>
LibraryFromObjects libfoo.a : max.o min.o ;
Object max.o : maxmin.c ;
Object min.o : maxmin.c ;
ObjectCcFlags max.o : -DUSEMAX ;
ObjectCcFlags min.o : -DUSEMIN ;
</PRE>
This Unix-specific example compiles the same source file into
two different
objects, with different compile flags, and archives them.
(The ObjectCcFlags rule is described shortly.)
Unfortunately, the portable and robust implementation of the
above example is not as pleasant to read:
<PRE>
SubDir TOP foo bar ;
LibraryFromObjects libfoo$(SUFLIB) : <foo!bar>max$(SUFOBJ)
<foo!bar>min$(SUFOBJ) ;
Object <foo!bar>min$(SUFOBJ) : <foo!bar>maxmin.c ;
Object <foo!bar>max$(SUFOBJ) : <foo!bar>maxmin.c ;
ObjectCcFlags <foo!bar>min$(SUFOBJ) : -DUSEMIN ;
ObjectCcFlags <foo!bar>max$(SUFOBJ) : -DUSEMAX ;
</PRE>
Note that, among other things, you must supply the library
file suffix when using the LibraryFromObjects rule.
<P>
<H4>
MainFromObjects Rule
</H4>
Similar to LibraryFromObjects, MainFromObjects does the
linking part of the Main rule, but not the compiling.
MainFromObjects can be used when there are no
objects at all, and everything is to be loaded from
libraries. For example:
<PRE>
MainFromObjects testprog ;
LinkLibraries testprog : libprog ;
Library libprog : main.c util.c ;
</PRE>
On Unix, say, this generates a link command that looks like:
<PRE>
cc -o testprog libprog.a
</PRE>
Linking purely from libraries is something that doesn't
work everywhere: it depends on the symbol "main" being
undefined when the linker encounters the library that contains
the definition of "main".
<P>
<H4>
Variables Used in Compiling
</H4>
The following variables control the compiling of source
files:
<P>
<CENTER>
<TABLE>
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
C++
<TD><TD>The C++ compiler command
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
CC
<TD><TD>The C compiler command
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
C++FLAGS
<BR>
CCFLAGS
<TD VALIGN=TOP><TD VALIGN=TOP>Compile flags, used to
create or update compiled objects
<TR><TD>
SUBDIRC++FLAGS
<BR>
SUBDIRCCFLAGS
<TD VALIGN=TOP><TD VALIGN=TOP>Additonal compile flags
for source files in this directory.
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
OPTIM
<TD><TD>Compiler optimization flag. The Cc and C++
actions use this as well as C++FLAGS or CCFLAGS.
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
HDRS
<TD VALIGN=TOP><TD>Non-standard header directories; i.e.,
the directories the compiler will not look in
by default and which therefore must be supplied
to the compile command. These directories are
also used by <b>jam</b> to scan for include files.
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
STDHDRS
<TD VALIGN=TOP><TD>Standard header directories, i.e., the
directories the compiler searches automatically.
These are not passed to the compiler, but they
are used by <b>jam</b> to scan for include files.
<TR><TD>
SUBDIRHDRS
<TD><TD>Additional paths to add to HDRS for source files
in this directory.
<TR><TD>
LEX
<TD><TD>The lex(1) command
<TR><TD>
YACC
<TD><TD>The yacc(1) command
</TABLE>
</CENTER>
<P>
The Cc rule sets a target-specific $(CCFLAGS) to the current
value of $(CCFLAGS) and $(SUBDIRCCFLAGS). Similarly
for the C++ rule. The Object rule sets a target-specific
$(HDRS) to the current value of $(HDRS) and $(SUBDDIRHDRS).
<P>
$(CC), $(C++), $(CCFLAGS), $(C++FLAGS), $(OPTIM), and
$(HDRS) all affect the compiling of C and C++ files.
$(OPTIM) is separate from $(CCFLAGS) and $(C++FLAGS) so
they can be set independently.
<P>
$(HDRS) lists the directories to search for header files,
and it is used in two ways: first, it is passed to the C
compiler (with the flag -I prepended); second, it is used
by HdrRule to locate the header files whose names were
found when scanning source files. $(STDHDRS) lists the
header directories that the C compiler already knows
about. It does not need passing to the C compiler, but is
used by HdrRule.
<P>
Note that these variables, if set as target-specific variables,
must be set on the target, not the source file.
The target file in this case is the object file to be generated.
For example:
<PRE>
Library libximage : xtiff.c xjpeg.c xgif.c ;
HDRS on xjpeg$(SUFOBJ) = /usr/local/src/jpeg ;
CCFLAGS on xtiff$(SUFOBJ) = -DHAVE_TIFF ;
</PRE>
This can be done more easily with the rules that follow.
<P>
<H4>
ObjectCcFlags, ObjectC++Flags, ObjectHdrs Rules
</H4>
$(CCFLAGS), $(C++FLAGS) and $(HDRS) can be set on object file
targets
directly, but there are rules that allow these variables
to be set by referring to the original source file name,
rather than to the derived object file name. ObjectCcFlags
adds object-specific flags to the $(CCFLAGS) variable,
ObjectC++Flags adds object-specific flags to the
$(C++FLAGS) variable, and ObjectHdrs add object-specific
directories to the $(HDRS) variable. For example:
<PRE>
#In Jamrules:
if $(NT) { CCFLAGS_X = /DXVERSION ;
HDRS_X = \\\\SPARKY\\X11\\INCLUDE\\X11 ;
}
#In Jamfile:
Main xviewer : viewer.c ;
ObjectCcFlags viewer.c : $(CCFLAGS_X) ;
ObjectHdrs viewer.c : $(HDRS_X) ;
</PRE>
The ObjectCcFlags and ObjectHdrs rules take .c files
as targets, but actually set $(CCFLAGS) and $(HDRS) values
on the .obj (or .o) files. As a result, the action
that updates the target .obj file uses the target-specific
values of $(CCFLAGS) and $(HDRS).
<P>
<H4>
SubDirCcFlags, SubDirC++Flags, SubDirHdrs Rules
</H4>
These rules set the values of $(SUBDIRCCFLAGS), $(SUBDIRC++FLAGS)
and $(SUBDIRHDRS), which are used by the Cc,
C++, and Object rules when setting the target-specific
values for $(CCFLAGS), $(C++FLAGS) and $(HDRS). The SubDir
rule clears these variables out, and thus they provide
directory-specific values of $(CCFLAGS), $(C++FLAGS) and
$(HDRS). For example:
<PRE>
#In Jamrules:
GZHDRS = $(TOP)/src/gz/include ;
GZFLAG = -DGZ ;
#In Jamfile:
SubDir TOP src gz utils ;
SubDirHdrs $(GZHDRS) ;
SubDirCcFlags $(GZFLAG) ;
Library libgz : gizmo.c ;
Main gizmo : main.c ;
LinkLibraries gizmo : libgz ;
</PRE>
All .c files in this directory files will be compiled with
$(GZFLAG) as well as the default $(CCFLAG), and the include
paths used on the compile command will be $(GZHDRS) as well
as the default $(HDRS).
<H2>
Header File Processing
</H2>
One of the functions of the Object rule is set up
scanning of source
files for (C style) header file inclusions. To do so, it
sets the special variables $(HDRSCAN) and $(HDRRULE)
as target-specific variables on the source file. The
presence of these variables triggers a special mechanism
in <B>jam</B> for scanning a file for header file inclusions and
invoking a rule with the results of the scan. The
$(HDRSCAN) variable is set to an egrep(1) pattern that
matches "#include" statements in C source files, and the
$(HDRRULE) variable is set to the name of the rule that
gets invoked as such:
<PRE>
$(HDRRULE) source-file : included-files ;
</PRE>
This rule is supposed to set up the dependencies between
the source file and the included files. The Object rule
uses HdrRule to do the job. HdrRule itself expects
another variable, $(HDRSEARCH), to be set to the list of
directories where the included files can be found. Object
does this as well, setting $(HDRSEARCH) to $(HDRS) and
$(STDHDRS).
<P>
The header file scanning occurs during the "file binding"
phase of <b>jam</b>, which means that the target-specific
variables (for the source file) are in effect. To accomodate
nested includes, one of the HdrRule's jobs is to pass
the target-specific values of $(HDRRULE), $(HDRSCAN), and
$(HDRSEARCH) onto the included files, so that they will be
scanned as well.
<P>
<H4>
HdrRule Rule
</H4>
Normally, HdrRule is not invoked directly; the Object rule
(called by Main and Library) invokes it.
<P>
If there are special dependencies that need to be set,
and which are not set by HdrRule itself, you can define
another rule and let it invoke HdrRule. For example:
<PRE>
#In Jamrules:
rule BuiltHeaders
{
DEPENDS $(>) : mkhdr$(SUFEXE) ;
HdrRule $(<) : $(>) ;
}
#In Jamfile:
Main mkhdr : mkhdr.c ;
Main ugly : ugly.c ;
HDRRULE on ugly.c = BuiltHeaders ;
</PRE>
This example just says that the files included by "ugly.c"
are generated by the program "mkhdr", which can be built
from "mkhdr.c". During the binding phase, <b>jam</b> will
scan ugly.c, and if it finds an include file, ughdr.h,
for example, it will automatically invoke the rule:
<PRE>
BuiltHeaders ugly.c : ughdr.h ;
</PRE>
By calling HdrRule at the end of BuiltHeaders,
all the gadgetry of HdrRule takes effect and it
doesn't need to be duplicated.
<P>
<H4>
Variables Used for Header Scanning
</H4>
<CENTER>
<TABLE>
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
HDRPATTERN
<TD><TD>Default scan pattern for "include" lines.
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
HDRSCAN
<TD><TD>Scan pattern to use.
This is a special variable: during binding, if
both HDRSCAN and HDRRULE are set, scanning is activated
on the target being bound.
The HdrRule and Object rules sets this
to $(HDRPATTERN) on their source targets.
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
HDRRULE
<TD><TD>Name of rule to invoked on files found in header
scan. The HdrRule and Object rules set this to "HdrRule"
on their source targets. This is also a special variable;
it's the only <b>jam</b> variable that can hold the
name of a rule to be invoked.
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
HDRSEARCH
<TD><TD>Search paths for files found during header scanning.
This is set from $(HDRS) and $(STDHDRS), which are
described in the Compiling section.
<b>jam</b> will search $(HDRSEARCH) directories for
the files found by header scans.
</TABLE>
</CENTER>
<P>
The Object rule sets HDRRULE and HDRSCAN specifically for
the source files to be scanned, rather than globally. If
they were set globally, jam would attempt to scan all
files, even library archives and executables, for header
file inclusions. That would be slow and probably not
yield desirable results.
<P>
<H2>
Copying Files
</H2>
<H4>
File Rule
</H4>
The File rule copies one file to another. The target name
needn't be the same as the source name. For
example:
<PRE>
switch $(OS)
{
case NT* : File config.h : confignt.h ;
case * : File config.h : configunix.h ;
}
LOCATE on config.h = $(LOCATE_SOURCE) ;
</PRE>
This creates a config.h file from either confignt.h or
configunix.h, depending on the current build platform.
<P>
The File rule does not
use the LOCATE_SOURCE variable set by the
SubDir rule (although it does use SEARCH_SOURCE), which
means you have to set the copied file's output directory
yourself. That's done by setting the special
LOCATE variable on the target, as shown above,
or with the MakeLocate rule described below.
<H4>
Bulk Rule
</H4>
The Bulk rule is a shorthand for many invocations of the
File rule when all files are going to the same directory.
For example:
<PRE>
#In Jamrules:
DISTRIB_GROB = d:\\distrib\\grob ;
#In Jamfile:
Bulk $(DISTRIB_GROB) : grobvals.txt grobvars.txt ;
</PRE>
This causes gobvals.txt and grobvars.txt to be copied
into the $(DISTRIB_GROB) directory.
<H4>
HardLink Rule
</H4>
The Unix-only HardLink rule makes a hard link (using ln(1)) from the
source to the target, if there isn't one already. For
example:
<PRE>
HardLink config.h : configunix.h ;
</PRE>
<H4>
Shell Rule
</H4>
The Shell rule is like the File rule, except that on Unix it makes
sure the first line of the target is "#!/bin/sh" and sets
the permission to make the file executable. For example:
<PRE>
Shell /usr/local/bin/add : add.sh ;
</PRE>
<P>
You can also use $(SHELLHEADER) to dictate
what the first line of the copied file will be.
For
example:
<PRE>
Shell /usr/local/bin/add : add.awk ;
SHELLHEADER on /usr/local/bin/add = "#!/bin/awk -f" ;
</PRE>
This installs an awk(1) script.
<P>
<H4>
Variables Used When Copying Files
</H4>
<CENTER>
<TABLE>
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
FILEMODE
<TD><TD>Default file permissions for copied files
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
SHELLMODE
<TD><TD>Default file permissions for Shell rule targets
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
MODE
<TD><TD>File permissions set on files copied by
File, Bulk, and Shell rules.
File and Shell sets a target-specific MODE to the current
value of $(FILEMODE) or $(SHELLMODE), respectively.
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP>
SHELLHEADER
<TD><TD>String to write in first line of Shell targets
(default is #!/bin/sh).
</TABLE>
</CENTER>
<P>
<H2>
Installing Files
</H2>
Jambase provides a set of Install* rules to copy files
into an destination directory and set permissions on them.
On Unix, the install(1) program is used.
If the destination directory does not exist, <b>jam</b>
creates it first.
<P>
All files copied with the Install* rules are dependencies
of the <i>install</i> pseudotarget, which means that the
command "jam install" will cause the installed copies to
be updated. Also, "jam uninstall" will cause the installed
copies to be removed.
<P>
The Install* rules are:
<CENTER>
<TABLE>
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP><B>InstallBin</B>
<TD VALIGN=TOP>Copies file and sets its permission to $(EXEMODE).
You must specify the suffixed executable name. E.g.:
<PRE>InstallBin $(BINDIR) : thing$(SUFEXE) ;
</PRE>
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP><B>InstallFile</B>
<TD VALIGN=TOP>Copies file and sets its permission to $(FILEMODE). E.g.:
<PRE>InstallFile $(DESTDIR) : readme.txt ;
</PRE>
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP><B>InstallLib</B>
<TD VALIGN=TOP>Copies file and sets its permission to $(FILEMODE).
You must specify the suffixed library name. E.g.:
<PRE>InstallLib $(LIBDIR) : libzoo$(SUFLIB) ;
</PRE>
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP><B>InstallMan</B>
<TD VALIGN=TOP>Copies file into the man<i>n</i>
subdirectory of the target directory
and sets its permission to $(FILEMODE). E.g.,
this copies foo.5 into the $(DESTDIR)/man5 directory:
<PRE>InstallMan $(DESTDIR) : foo.5 ;
</PRE>
<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP><B>InstallShell</B>
<TD VALIGN=TOP>Copies file and sets its permission to $(SHELLMODE). E.g.:
<PRE>InstallShell $(DESTDIR) : startup ;
</PRE>
</TABLE>
</CENTER>
<P>
<P>
<H4>
Variables
</H4>
The following variables control the installation rules:
<P>
<CENTER>
<TABLE>
<TR><TD>
INSTALL
<TD><TD>The install program (Unix only)
<TR><TD>
FILEMODE
<TD><TD>Default file permissions on readable files.
<TR><TD>
EXEMODE
<TD><TD>Default file permission executable files.
<TR><TD>
SHELLMODE
<TD><TD>Default file permission on shell script files.
<TR><TD>
MODE
<TD><TD>Target-specific file permissions
</TABLE>
</CENTER>
<P>
<P>
The Install rules set a target-specific MODE to the current
value of $(FILEMODE), $(EXEMODE), or $(SHELLMODE),
depending on which Install rule was invoked.
<P>
The directory variables are just defined for convenience:
they must be passed as the target to the appropriate
Install rule. The $(INSTALL) and mode variables must be
set (globally) before calling the Install rules in order
to take effect.
<P>
<H2>
Miscellaneous Rules
</H2>
<H4>
Clean Rule
</H4>
<P>
The Clean rule defines files to be removed when you run "jam clean".
Any site-specific build rules defined in your Jamrules should invoke
Clean so that outputs can be removed. E.g.,
<PRE>
rule ResourceCompiler
{
DEPENDS $(<) : $(>) ;
Clean clean : $(<) ;
}
</PRE>
<P>
<P>
Most Jambase rules invoke the Clean rule on their built targets,
so "jam clean" will remove all compiled objects, libraries,
executables, etc.
<P>
<H4>
MakeLocate Rule
</H4>
MakeLocate is a single convenient rule that creates a directory,
sets LOCATE on a target to that directory, and makes the directory
a dependency of the target. It is used by many Jambase rules,
and can be invoked directly, e.g.:
<PRE>
GenFile data.tbl : hxtract data.h ;
MakeLocate data.tbl : $(TABLEDIR) ;
</PRE>
In this example, the File rule creates data.tbl from data.h.
The MakeLocate causes data.tbl to be written into the $(TABLEDIR)
directory; and if the directory doesn't exist, it is created first.
<P>
The MakeLocate rule invokes another Jambase rule, MkDir,
to (recursively) create
directories. MkDir uses the $(MKDIR) variable to determine the
platform-specific command that creates directories.
<P>
<H4>
RmTemps Rule
</H4>
Some intermediate files are meant to be temporary.
The RmTemps rule can be used to cause
<b>jam</b> to delete them after they are used.
<P>
RmTemps must be:
<UL>
<LI>
the last rule
invoked on the permanent file that uses
the temporary file(s)
<LI>
invoked with the permanent file as the output
target and the temporary file(s) as the input target
<LI>
invoked with the exact target identifiers of
the permanent file and the temporary file(s)
</UL>
For
example:
<PRE>
SubDir TOP src big ;
GenFile big.y : joinfiles part1.y part2.y part3.y ;
Main bigworld : main.c big.y ;
RmTemps bigworld$(SUFEXE) : <src!big>big.y ;
</PRE>
This causes big.y to be deleted after it has been used to create
the bigworld executable.
The exact target identifier of big.y is <src!big>big.y
(the GenFile and Main rules tack on the grist automatically);
the exact target identifier of the bigworld executable
is bigworld$(SUFEXE).
<P>
<HR>
<A HREF="#TOP">Back to top.</A>
<P>
Copyright 1997, 2000 Perforce Software, Inc.
<BR>
Comments to <A HREF="mailto:info@perforce.com">info@perforce.com</A>
<BR>
Last updated: Dec 31, 2000
<BR>
$Id$
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