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The Makefile, Project and Workspace Creator.

Designed by Justin Michel (michel_j@ociweb.com) and Chad Elliott.

Implemented by Chad Elliott (elliott_c@ociweb.com).

A single tool (MPC) can be used to generate tool specific input (i.e.

Makefile, dsp, vcproj, etc).  The generator takes platform and building

tool generic files (mpc files) as input which describe basic information

needed to generate a "project" file for various build tools.  These tools

include Make, NMake, Visual C++ 6, Visual C++ 7, etc.

One of the many unique and useful features of the Makefile, Project and

Workspace Creator is that the project definition files can employ the idea

of inheritance.  This feature allows a user to set up a basic base project

(mpb file) that can contain information that is applicable to all

sub-projects.  Things such as include paths, library paths and inter-project

dependencies could be described in this base project and any project that

inherits from it would contain this information as well.

Another set of files, known as template input files (mpd files), provides

the generator with the necessary information to fill platform and build

tool specific information for dynamic and static library and binary

executable projects.

Together, the generic input files and the template input files are applied

toward a platform and build specific template (mpt file) to create the final

product (a build tool specific input file).  These templates contain

"variables" that are filled in by the project creator with information

gathered through the mpc and mpd files and possibly by default values set

within the template itself.

Workspaces are defined by providing a list of mpc files in a single (mwc)

file.  For each mpc file specified, the workspace creator (mwc.pl) calls

upon the project creator to generate the project.  After all of the projects

are successfully generated, the tool specific workspace is generated

containing the projects and any defined inter-project dependency information

(if supported by the build tool).  If no workspace files are provided to the

workspace creator, then the current directory is traversed and any mpc files

located will be part of the workspace that is generated.

Workspace Declarations

----------------------

workspace(workspace_name) {

  file.mpc

  directory

  relative/path/to/another/mwc_file

}

Workspaces can contain individual mpc files, directories or other mwc files.

In the case of a directory, the workspace creator will traverse it and use

any mpc files that are found.  If another workspace file is listed in the

workspace files, it will be aggregated into the workspace with paths relative

to the directory in which the main workspace is found.  These "aggregated"

workspaces should not inherit from any other base workspace.  The workspace

files should have an 'mwc' extension.

You can exclude directories from a workspace using the 'exclude' scope

operator:

workspace {

  dir1

  dir2

  // exclude this_dir for all project types

  exclude {

    dir2/this_dir

  }

  // exclude other_dir for vc6, vc71 and vc8 types

  exclude(vc6, vc71, vc8) {

    dir2/other_dir

  }

  // exclude unix_only for every type except gnuace and make

  exclude(!gnuace, !make) {

    dir2/unix_only

  }

  dir3

}

Project Declarations

--------------------

project(project_name) : baseproject, anotherbaseproject {

  exename   = foo

  includes += "."

  libpaths  = directory

  Source_Files {

    file1.cpp

    file2.cpp

    .

    .

    fileN.cpp

  }

  Header_Files {

    file1.h

    file2.h

    .

    .

    fileN.h

  }

}

When listing files within components (Source_Files, Header_Files, etc.), you

can use wild cards (*?[]) to include groups of files as can be done in shells.

You can exclude files by preceding the name (or wild card) with the '!', but

this sort of exclusion only pertains to files that exist in the directory at

the time of project generation.  There is an additional syntax similar to

the '!' ('^') which works the same as the '!' except that after all of the

source files are added to the list (after automatic custom generated files

are added) these files are explicitly removed from the list.

The (project_name) part of the project declaration is optional.  If it is

left off, the project name will default to the name of the mpc file without

the extension.  Inheritance is optional.

If the project name or workspace name contains an asterisk (*) then the

default project (workspace) name will be used in its place.  For example, if

the mpc file is named example.mpc and it contains the following:

project(*client) {

The project name will be example_client.  If the any part of the modified

project (workspace) name contains a capital letter then each word will be

capitalized.  For instance, if the above mpc file example was named

Example.mpc, then the modified project name would be Example_Client.

If the value set for exename contains an asterisk then the asterisk portion

of the name will be replaced with the current project name.  The same logic

applies to sharedname and staticname.

If multiple projects are going to be contained within a single workspace

(using mwc.pl), there can be no duplication of project names.  This is

disallowed due to limitations of some workspace tools.

Project Keywords

----------------

exename         Specifies the name of the executable that will be created

sharedname      Specifies the name of the shared library that will be created

staticname      Specifies the name of the static library that will be created

dllout          If defined, specifies where the dynamic libraries will be

                placed.  This overrides libout in the dynamic case.

libout          Specifies where the dynamic and static libraries will be placed

install         Specifies where executables will be installed

pch_header      Specifies the precompiled header file name

pch_source      Specifies the precompiled source file name

postbuild       If this is defined in the project, the value will be

                interpreted as commands to run after the project has been

                successfully built.  The <%..%> construct can be used within

                this value to access template variables and functions of the

                template parser. In addition, the following pseudo variables

                can be used.

                  <%cat%>   - Platform non-specific command to cat a file.

                  <%cp%>    - Platform non-specific copy command.

                  <%mkdir%> - Platform non-specific mkdir command.

                  <%mv%>    - Platform non-specific move command.

                  <%rm%>    - Platform non-specific delete command.

                  <%nul%>   - Platform non-specific null device.

                  <%gt%>    - Project non-specific greater than sign.

                  <%lt%>    - Project non-specific less than sign.

                  <%and%>   - Project non-specific and sign.

                  <%or%>    - Project non-specific or sign.

                  <%quote%> - Project non-specific double quote.

recurse         If set to 1, MPC will recurse into directories listed under

                component listings and add any component corresponding files

                to the list.  This keyword can be used as a global project

                setting or a component scoped setting.

version         Specifies the version number for the library or executable

macros          These values will be passed as macros to the compiler.

libpaths        Specifies 1 or more locations to find libraries

includes        Specifies 1 or more locations to find include files

libs            Specifies 1 or more libraries to link into the exe or library

lit_libs        Specifies 1 or more libraries to link into the exe or library.

                If libraries receive a library decorator, then these will not.

pure_libs       Specifies 1 or more libraries to link into the exe or library.

                If libraries receive a library decorator, then these will not.

                If libraries receive a file extension, then these will not.

after           Specifies that this project must be built after 1 or more

                project names listed.

custom_only     Create a project that contains only custom generation

                targets (any file type described by a Define_Custom section).

dynamicflags    Specifies preprocessor flags needed for dynamic libraries

staticflags     Specifies preprocessor flags needed for static libraries

verbatim        This allows arbitrary information to be place in a generated

                project file.  The syntax is as follows:

                verbatim(<project type>, <location>) {

                  ..

                  ..

                }

                When MPC is generating a project of type <project type> and

                comes upon a marker that matches the <location> name, it

                will place the text found inside the construct directly into

                the generated project.  If you need to preserve white space,

                the line or lines should be placed inside double quotes.

specific        This scope allows assignments that are specific to a

                particular project type.  The syntax is as follows:

                specific(<project type> [, <project type> ...]) {

                  lit_libs += c

                  ...

                }

                or

                specific(<project type> [, <project type> ...]) {

                  lit_libs += c

                  ...

                } else {

                  list_libs += c_other

                  ...

                }

                Due to limited parsing capabilities, the else is required to

                be on the same line as the closing curly brace.

                If a keyword is not recognized as a valid MPC keyword, it is

                interpreted as a template value modifier.  In this

                situation, this construct has the exact same restrictions as

                the -value_template command line option.  See the USAGE file

                for more information.

conditional     This scope allows addition of source files conditionally

                based on a particular project type.  The syntax is as

                follows:

                conditional(<project type> [, <project type> ...]) {

                  source1.cpp

                  ...

                }

                or

                conditional(<project type> [, <project type> ...]) {

                  source1.cpp

                  ...

                } else {

                  source2.cpp

                  ...

                }

                Due to limited parsing capabilities, the else is required to

                be on the same line as the closing curly brace.

requires        Specifies which features should be enabled in order to

                generate the project file.

avoids          Specifies which features should be disabled in order to

                generate the project file.

Custom File Definitions

-----------------------

In order to support a variety of custom build rules, MPC allows you to

define your own custom file types.  Below is an example of a custom

definition.

project {

  Define_Custom(MOC) {

    automatic        = 0

    command          = $(QTDIR)/bin/moc

    postcommand      = echo "#include <some.h>" > <%temporary%> && \

                       <%cat%> <%output%> >> <%temporary%> && \

                       <%mv%> <%temporary%> <%output%>

    output_option    = -o

    inputext         = .h

    pre_extension    = _moc

    source_outputext = .cpp

  }

  MOC_Files {

    QtReactor.h

  }

  Source_Files {

    QtReactor_moc.cpp

  }

}

The above example defines a custom file type "MOC" which describes basic

information about how to process the input files and what output files are

created.  Once the custom file type is defined, MOC_Files can be defined in

order to specify the input files for this new file type.

Here is a list of keywords that can be used within the scope of

Define_Custom:

automatic           If set to 1, then attempt to automatically determine

                    which files belong to the set of input files for the

                    custom type.  If set to 0, then no files are

                    automatically added to the input files.  If omitted,

                    then automatic is assumed to be 1.  Custom file types

                    that are automatic will have the side effect of possibly

                    adding files to Source_Files, Inline_Files, Header_Files

                    Template_Files, Resource_Files and Documentation_Files

                    depending on which extension types the command generates.

dependent           If this is given a value, then a dependency upon that

                    value will be placed upon all of the generated files.

                    The default for this is unset and no dependency will be

                    generated.

command             The name of the command that should be used to process

                    the input files for the custom type.

commandflags        Any options that should be passed to the command go here.

inputext            This is a comma separated list of input file extensions

                    that belong to the command.

keyword             This is a special assignment that takes the form of the

                    following:

                    keyword newname = existing_custom_name

                    This has the effect of mapping newname to be the

                    same as existing_custom_name.  existing_custom_name,

                    which is optional, corresponds to one of the keywords

                    available within a Define_Custom scope (except for

                    keyword).  This function puts newname into the project

                    level scope such that it can be used outside of the

                    scope of the particular custom file type being defined.

                    It should be noted that the mapped keywords can not be

                    used within the scope of a 'specific' clause.  It does

                    not cause an error, but it has absolutely no affect.

                    If existing_custom_name is not supplied, then the only

                    way to utilize the newname value is from within the

                    template code. ex. <%newname%>

libpath             If the command requires an additional library path, add

                    it here.

output_option       If the command takes an option to specify only a single

                    file output name, then set it here.  Otherwise, this

                    should be omitted.

pch_postrule        If this is set to 1, then a rule will be added to the

                    custom rule that will modify the source output files to

                    include the precompiled header file.

postcommand         Allows a user to execute arbitrary commands after

                    the main command is run to generate the output file.

                    The following pseudo variables can be accessed from

                    within the postcommand assignment:

                    <%input%>     - The input file for the original command.

                    <%output%>    - The output created by the original command.

                    <%input_basename%>  - The basename of the input file.

                    <%input_noext%>     - The input file with no extension.

                    <%output_basename%> - The basename of the output file.

                    <%output_noext%>    - The output file with no extension.

                      The output file can be referenced as a generic output

                      file using <%output%> or can be referenced as a

                      component file (if it matches the particular type)

                      using one of the following:

                        <%source_file%>

                        <%template_file%>

                        <%header_file%>

                        <%inline_file%>

                        <%documentation_file%>

                        <%resource_file%>

                      The output file without an extension can be referenced

                      as a generic output file using <%output_noext%> or can

                      be referenced as a component file (if it matches the

                      particular type) using one of the following:

                        <%source_file_noext%>

                        <%template_file_noext%>

                        <%header_file_noext%>

                        <%inline_file_noext%>

                        <%documentation_file_noext%>

                        <%resource_file_noext%>

                      The following are also available for use within the

                      postcommand setting.  They return the extension (if

                      there is any) of the input and output files

                      respectively:

                        <%input_ext%>

                        <%output_ext%>

                    The following pseudo template variables are valid for

                    use within the command, commandflags, dependent,

                    postcommand and output_option settings:

                    <%temporary%> - A temporary file name.

                    <%cat%>       - Platform non-specific command to cat a file.

                    <%cp%>        - Platform non-specific copy command.

                    <%mkdir%>     - Platform non-specific mkdir command.

                    <%mv%>        - Platform non-specific move command.

                    <%rm%>        - Platform non-specific delete command.

                    <%nul%>       - Platform non-specific null device.

                    <%gt%>        - Project non-specific greater than sign.

                    <%lt%>        - Project non-specific less than sign.

                    <%and%>       - Project non-specific and sign.

                    <%or%>        - Project non-specific or sign.

                    <%quote%>     - Project non-specific double quote.

                    If any referenced pseudo template variable does

                    not contain a value, then the particular setting

                    (command, commandflags, dependent, postcommand or

                    output_option) will not be used.

pre_extension       If the command produces multiple files of the same

                    extension, this comma separated list can be used to

                    specify them.  For example, tao_idl creates two types of

                    files per extension (C.h, S.h, C.cpp, S.cpp, etc).

source_pre_extension        This is the same as pre_extension except that it

                            only applies to source_outputext.

inline_pre_extension        This is the same as pre_extension except that it

                            only applies to inline_outputext.

header_pre_extension        This is the same as pre_extension except that it

                            only applies to header_outputext.

template_pre_extension      This is the same as pre_extension except that it

                            only applies to template_outputext.

resource_pre_extension      This is the same as pre_extension except that it

                            only applies to resource_outputext.

documentation_pre_extension This is the same as pre_extension except that it

                            only applies to documentation_outputext.

pre_filename        This is similar to pre_extension except that the values

                    are prepended to the file name instead of the extension.

source_pre_filename         This is the same as pre_filename except that it

                            only applies to source_outputext.

inline_pre_filename         This is the same as pre_filename except that it

                            only applies to inline_outputext.

header_pre_filename         This is the same as pre_filename except that it

                            only applies to header_outputext.

template_pre_filename       This is the same as pre_filename except that it

                            only applies to template_outputext.

resource_pre_filename       This is the same as pre_filename except that it

                            only applies to resource_outputext.

documentation_pre_filename  This is the same as pre_filename except that it

                            only applies to documentation_outputext.

source_outputext    This is a comma separated list of possible source file

                    output extensions.  If the command does not produce

                    source files, then this can be omitted.

inline_outputext    This is a comma separated list of possible inline file

                    output extensions.  If the command does not produce

                    inline files, then this can be omitted.

header_outputext    This is a comma separated list of possible header file

                    output extensions.  If the command does not produce

                    header files, then this can be omitted.

template_outputext  This is a comma separated list of possible template file

                    output extensions.  If the command does not produce

                    template files, then this can be omitted.

resource_outputext  This is a comma separated list of possible resource file

                    output extensions.  If the command does not produce

                    resource files, then this can be omitted.

documentation_outputext  This is a comma separated list of possible

                         documentation file output extensions.  If the

                         command does not produce documentation files, then

                         this can be omitted.

generic_outputext   If the command does not generate any of the other output

                    types listed above, then the extensions should be listed

                    under this.

If the custom output can not be represented with the above output extension

keywords (*_outputext) and you have knowledge of the output files a priori,

you can represent them with the '>>' construct.

Below is an example that demonstrates the use of '>>'.  The command takes an

input file name of foo.prp and produces two files that have a completely

unrelated filename (i.e. foo !~ hello).

project {

  Define_Custom(Quogen) {

    automatic               = 0

    command                 = perl quogen.pl

    commandflags            = --debuglevel=1 --language=c++ \

                              --kernel_language=c++

    inputext                = .prp

    keyword quogenflags     = commandflags

  }

  Quogen_Files {

    foo.prp >> hello.h hello.cpp

  }

  Source_Files {

    hello.cpp

  }

}

There is a new construct that can be used within a Define_Custom section.

It is called 'optional' and can be used to represent optional custom output

dependent upon particular command line parameters passed to the custom

command.

project {

  Define_Custom(TEST) {

    optional(keyword) {

      flag_keyword(option) += value [, value]

    }

  }

}

In the above example, keyword can be any of the pre_extension, pre_filename

or keywords that end in _outputext.  flag_keyword can be any of the custom

definition keywords, however only commandflags really make any sense.

Inside the parenthesis, the flag_keyword value is searched for the 'option'

value.  If it is found, then the 'value' after the += is added to the list

specified by 'keyword'.  This can also be negated by prefixing 'option' with

an exclamation point (!).

project {

  Define_Custom(IDL) {

    source_pre_extension = C, S

    optional(source_pre_extension) {

      commandflags(-GA) += A

    }

  }

}

In the preceding example, the source_pre_extension contains C and S.  The

optional clause can be read as follows: If 'commandflags' contains -GA then

add A to source_pre_extension.

Particular output extensions are not required.  However at least one output

extension type is required in order for MPC to generate a target.  Within

graphical build environments, the custom input file will be listed

regardless of the presence of an extension definition.  In this case, the

input file will be "excluded" from the build.

For custom file types, there are a few keywords that can be used within the

custom file type input lists: command, commandflags, dependent, gendir and

postcommand.  These keywords (except for gendir) can be used to augment or

override the values of the same name defined in a Define_Custom section.

gendir can be used to specify the directory in which the generated

output will go.  Below is an example:

  MOC_Files {

    commandflags += -nw

    gendir = moc_generated

    QtReactor.h

  }

  Source_Files {

    moc_generated/QtReactor_moc.cpp

  }

In the above example, the generated file (QtReactor_moc.cpp) is placed in

the moc_generated directory and the -nw option is added to commandflags.

It should be noted that if the custom file definition does not set the

output_option then you must provide the necessary options in

commandflags to ensure that the generated output goes into the directory

specified by gendir.

The following example illustrates the use of the keyword mapping capability

of the Define_Custom:

project {

  Define_Custom(CIDL) {

    automatic         = 0;

    command           =  $(CIAO_ROOT)/bin/cidlc

    commandflags      = -I$(TAO_ROOT)/tao -I$(TAO_ROOT)/orbsvcs/orbsvcs --

    inputext          = .cidl

    source_outputext  = _svnt.cpp

    generic_outputext = E.idl

    // Allow cidlflags to be used outside the scope of CIDL_Files

    keyword cidlflags = commandflags

  }

  // This will get added to all commandflags for CIDL_Files

  cidlflags += --some_option

  CIDL_Files {

    // This will have a combination of the original commandflags plus

    // the value added to cidlflags above.

    file.cidl

  }

  CIDL_Files {

    // This will have a combination of the original commandflags plus

    // the value added to cidlflags above plus the value added to

    // cidlflags here.

    cidlflags += --another_option

    another_file.cidl

  }

}

Special type of feature project

-------------------------------

A feature project contains information as a project would, but can only

be a base project and will only be added to a sub project if the features

that it requires (or avoids) are present.

A feature definition requires at least one feature name.  A name by itself

specifies that the feature is required.  A '!' in front of the feature name

indicates that the feature must be disabled.  There may be more than one

feature listed between the parenthesis and they must be comma separated.

The following feature definition requires that the qt feature be enabled.

feature(qt) {

  Define_Custom(MOC) {

    automatic        = 0

    command          = $(QTDIR)/bin/moc

    output_option    = -o

    inputext         = .h

    pre_extension    = _moc

    source_outputext = .cpp

  }

  MOC_Files {

    QtSpecific.h

  }

  Source_Files {

    QtSpecific_moc.cpp

  }

}

Assuming that the above feature definition is stored in a file named

qt_specific.mpb, an mpc project could inherit from it and would only receive

the feature definition if the qt feature was enabled.

project: qt_specific {

  ...

}

Special Keywords Available to Templates

---------------------------------------

project_name    This contains the name of the project.

project_file    This contains the name of the output file.

guid            This is used by the VC7 project and workspace creator.

configurations  When used within a foreach context, this info (each

                configuration) is gathered for use with the VC7 workspace

                creator.

flag_overrides  Used to determine flags that have been overridden on a per

                file basis.

custom_types    The list of custom file types that may have been defined

                in the mpc file or a base project.

fornotlast      Insert the text on every foreach iteration except the last.

forlast         Insert the text only on the last foreach iteration.

fornotfirst     Insert the text on every foreach iteration except the first.

forfirst        Insert the text only on the first foreach iteration.

forcount        A one based index number of the foreach iterations.

Project Variable and Template Input Variable Interaction

--------------------------------------------------------

Project variables and template input variables are separate entities and in

the context of the TemplateParser, template input variables have precedence

over project variables.

This means that if the project keyword 'libout' is set in an MPC project and

is set as a template input variable, the template input variable value will

be used.  There are exceptions to this rule.  The following list shows the

project keywords that have their MPC project value appended to the template

input value (if there is a template input value).

libpaths

includes

libs

lit_libs

pure_libs

dynamicflags

staticflags

requires

avoids

macros

Workspaces

----------

Workspaces (mwc files) can have assignments similar to projects.  There are

currently only two assignments allowed.

The first is 'cmdline'.  The values given to the cmdline assignment will be

processed as command line options, but only to the projects that are

contained within the workspace (or the scope of the assignment).  The only

valid command line options for cmdline are -base, -global, -include, -ti,

-template, -static, -relative, -notoplevel, -value_template

and -value_project.

The second assignment is 'implicit'.  This assignment takes two different

types of values.  It takes a boolean value (0 or 1) to indicate that an

implicit project should be created in directories that contain no mpc file,

but contain project related files (source, headers, etc.).  The default

value for implicit is 0.  It also takes a character string that represents a

base project (similar to the -base option).  In this case, implicit is

enabled and each implicitly generate project file will have the base project

or base projects (when addition is used) when the project is created.

Defaulting Behavior

-------------------

1) If a project name is not specified

   it will be defaulted to the name of the mpc file without the extension

2) If a particular list is not specified (Source_Files, Header_Files, etc.)

   all of the files in the directory will be added to the corresponding list

   by extension

3) If custom files (ex. idl files) exist in the directory and

   the custom files components (ex. IDL_Files) are left defaulted (i.e. not

   listed) or the custom files components are specified and none of the

   custom generated files are listed in the corresponding lists

   the custom files are added to the custom files component list if they

   weren't specified and all of the (would be) generated files will be added

   to the front of the corresponding lists (source, inline and header lists)

4) If files are listed in the Source_Files list and

   a corresponding header or inline file exists

   the corresponding file will be added to the corresponding list (if it

   isn't already there)

5) If a sharedname is specified and staticname is not

   staticname is assigned the sharedname value (the same applies if

   staticname is specified and sharedname is not)

6) If exename is specified then the project target is considered an

   executable.  If neither exename, sharedname or staticname are used and

   any of the source files listed contains a "main", then the project target

   is considered an executable, otherwise it is considered a library.

7) If pch_header is not specified and a header file matches *_pch.h

   it is assumed to be the precompiled header file (the same applies to

   pch_source)

Processing Order

----------------

1) Project file is read

2) Template input file is read

3) Template file is read

4) Output project is written