(automake) Program and Library Variables
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Program and Library Variables
=============================
Associated with each program are a collection of variables which can
be used to modify how that program is built. There is a similar list of
such variables for each library. The canonical name of the program (or
library) is used as a base for naming these variables.
In the list below, we use the name "maude" to refer to the program or
library. In your `Makefile.am' you would replace this with the
canonical name of your program. This list also refers to "maude" as a
program, but in general the same rules apply for both static and dynamic
libraries; the documentation below notes situations where programs and
libraries differ.
`maude_SOURCES'
This variable, if it exists, lists all the source files which are
compiled to build the program. These files are added to the
distribution by default. When building the program, Automake will
cause each source file to be compiled to a single `.o' file (or
`.lo' when using libtool). Normally these object files are named
after the source file, but other factors can change this. If a
file in the `_SOURCES' variable has an unrecognized extension,
Automake will do one of two things with it. If a suffix rule
exists for turning files with the unrecognized extension into `.o'
files, then automake will treat this file as it will any other
source file ( Support for Other Languages). Otherwise, the
file will be ignored as though it were a header file.
The prefixes `dist_' and `nodist_' can be used to control whether
files listed in a `_SOURCES' variable are distributed. `dist_' is
redundant, as sources are distributed by default, but it can be
specified for clarity if desired.
It is possible to have both `dist_' and `nodist_' variants of a
given `_SOURCES' variable at once; this lets you easily distribute
some files and not others, for instance:
nodist_maude_SOURCES = nodist.c
dist_maude_SOURCES = dist-me.c
By default the output file (on Unix systems, the `.o' file) will be
put into the current build directory. However, if the option
`subdir-objects' is in effect in the current directory then the
`.o' file will be put into the subdirectory named after the source
file. For instance, with `subdir-objects' enabled,
`sub/dir/file.c' will be compiled to `sub/dir/file.o'. Some
people prefer this mode of operation. You can specify
`subdir-objects' in `AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS' ( Options).
`EXTRA_maude_SOURCES'
Automake needs to know the list of files you intend to compile
_statically_. For one thing, this is the only way Automake has of
knowing what sort of language support a given `Makefile.in'
requires. (1) This means that, for example, you can't put a
configure substitution like `@my_sources@' into a `_SOURCES'
variable. If you intend to conditionally compile source files and
use `configure' to substitute the appropriate object names into,
e.g., `_LDADD' (see below), then you should list the corresponding
source files in the `EXTRA_' variable.
This variable also supports `dist_' and `nodist_' prefixes, e.g.,
`nodist_EXTRA_maude_SOURCES'.
`maude_AR'
A static library is created by default by invoking `$(AR) cru'
followed by the name of the library and then the objects being put
into the library. You can override this by setting the `_AR'
variable. This is usually used with C++; some C++ compilers
require a special invocation in order to instantiate all the
templates which should go into a library. For instance, the SGI
C++ compiler likes this variable set like so:
libmaude_a_AR = $(CXX) -ar -o
`maude_LIBADD'
Extra objects can be added to a library using the `_LIBADD'
variable. This should be used for objects determined by
`configure'.
`maude_LDADD'
Extra objects can be added to a shared library or a program by
listing them in the `_LDADD' variable. This should be used for
objects determined by `configure'.
`_LDADD' and `_LIBADD' are inappropriate for passing
program-specific linker flags (except for `-l', `-L', `-dlopen'
and `-dlpreopen'). Use the `_LDFLAGS' variable for this purpose.
For instance, if your `configure.in' uses `AC_PATH_XTRA', you
could link your program against the X libraries like so:
maude_LDADD = $(X_PRE_LIBS) $(X_LIBS) $(X_EXTRA_LIBS)
`maude_LDFLAGS'
This variable is used to pass extra flags to the link step of a
program or a shared library.
`maude_LINK'
You can override the linker on a per-program basis. By default the
linker is chosen according to the languages used by the program.
For instance, a program that includes C++ source code would use
the C++ compiler to link. The `_LINK' variable must hold the name
of a command which can be passed all the `.o' file names as
arguments. Note that the name of the underlying program is _not_
passed to `_LINK'; typically one uses `$@':
maude_LINK = $(CCLD) -magic -o $@
`maude_CCASFLAGS'
`maude_CFLAGS'
`maude_CPPFLAGS'
`maude_CXXFLAGS'
`maude_FFLAGS'
`maude_GCJFLAGS'
`maude_LFLAGS'
`maude_OBJCFLAGS'
`maude_RFLAGS'
`maude_YFLAGS'
Automake allows you to set compilation flags on a per-program (or
per-library) basis. A single source file can be included in
several programs, and it will potentially be compiled with
different flags for each program. This works for any language
directly supported by Automake. The flags are `_CCASFLAGS',
`_CFLAGS', `_CPPFLAGS', `_CXXFLAGS', `_FFLAGS', `_GCJFLAGS',
`_LFLAGS', `_OBJCFLAGS', `_RFLAGS', and `_YFLAGS'.
When using a per-program compilation flag, Automake will choose a
different name for the intermediate object files. Ordinarily a
file like `sample.c' will be compiled to produce `sample.o'.
However, if the program's `_CFLAGS' variable is set, then the
object file will be named, for instance, `maude-sample.o'.
In compilations with per-program flags, the ordinary `AM_' form of
the flags variable is _not_ automatically included in the
compilation (however, the user form of the variable _is_ included).
So for instance, if you want the hypothetical `maude' compilations
to also use the value of `AM_CFLAGS', you would need to write:
maude_CFLAGS = ... your flags ... $(AM_CFLAGS)
`maude_DEPENDENCIES'
It is also occasionally useful to have a program depend on some
other target which is not actually part of that program. This can
be done using the `_DEPENDENCIES' variable. Each program depends
on the contents of such a variable, but no further interpretation
is done.
If `_DEPENDENCIES' is not supplied, it is computed by Automake.
The automatically-assigned value is the contents of `_LDADD' or
`_LIBADD', with most configure substitutions, `-l', `-L',
`-dlopen' and `-dlpreopen' options removed. The configure
substitutions that are left in are only `@LIBOBJS@' and
`@ALLOCA@'; these are left because it is known that they will not
cause an invalid value for `_DEPENDENCIES' to be generated.
`maude_SHORTNAME'
On some platforms the allowable file names are very short. In
order to support these systems and per-program compilation flags
at the same time, Automake allows you to set a "short name" which
will influence how intermediate object files are named. For
instance, if you set `maude_SHORTNAME' to `m', then in the above
per-program compilation flag example the object file would be named
`m-sample.o' rather than `maude-sample.o'. This facility is
rarely needed in practice, and we recommend avoiding it until you
find it is required.
---------- Footnotes ----------
(1) There are other, more obscure reasons reasons for this
limitation as well.
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