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- @comment This file is included by both standards.texi and make.texinfo.
- @comment It was broken out of standards.texi on 1/6/93 by roland.
-
- @node Makefile Conventions
- @chapter Makefile Conventions
- @comment standards.texi does not print an index, but make.texinfo does.
- @cindex makefile, conventions for
- @cindex conventions for makefiles
- @cindex standards for makefiles
-
- This chapter describes conventions for writing the Makefiles for GNU programs.
-
- @menu
- * Makefile Basics::
- * Utilities in Makefiles::
- * Standard Targets::
- * Command Variables::
- * Directory Variables::
- @end menu
-
- @node Makefile Basics
- @section General Conventions for Makefiles
-
- Every Makefile should contain this line:
-
- @example
- SHELL = /bin/sh
- @end example
-
- @noindent
- to avoid trouble on systems where the @code{SHELL} variable might be
- inherited from the environment. (This is never a problem with GNU
- @code{make}.)
-
- Don't assume that @file{.} is in the path for command execution. When
- you need to run programs that are a part of your package during the
- make, please make sure that it uses @file{./} if the program is built as
- part of the make or @file{$(srcdir)/} if the file is an unchanging part
- of the source code. Without one of these prefixes, the current search
- path is used.
-
- The distinction between @file{./} and @file{$(srcdir)/} is important
- when using the @samp{--srcdir} option to @file{configure}. A rule of
- the form:
-
- @smallexample
- foo.1 : foo.man sedscript
- sed -e sedscript foo.man > foo.1
- @end smallexample
-
- @noindent
- will fail when the current directory is not the source directory,
- because @file{foo.man} and @file{sedscript} are not in the current
- directory.
-
- When using GNU @code{make}, relying on @samp{VPATH} to find the source
- file will work in the case where there is a single dependency file,
- since the @file{make} automatic variable @samp{$<} will represent the
- source file wherever it is. (Many versions of @code{make} set @samp{$<}
- only in implicit rules.) A makefile target like
-
- @smallexample
- foo.o : bar.c
- $(CC) -I. -I$(srcdir) $(CFLAGS) -c bar.c -o foo.o
- @end smallexample
-
- @noindent
- should instead be written as
-
- @smallexample
- foo.o : bar.c
- $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $< -o $@@
- @end smallexample
-
- @noindent
- in order to allow @samp{VPATH} to work correctly. When the target has
- multiple dependencies, using an explicit @samp{$(srcdir)} is the easiest
- way to make the rule work well. For example, the target above for
- @file{foo.1} is best written as:
-
- @smallexample
- foo.1 : foo.man sedscript
- sed -s $(srcdir)/sedscript $(srcdir)/foo.man > foo.1
- @end smallexample
-
- @node Utilities in Makefiles
- @section Utilities in Makefiles
-
- Write the Makefile commands (and any shell scripts, such as
- @code{configure}) to run in @code{sh}, not in @code{csh}. Don't use any
- special features of @code{ksh} or @code{bash}.
-
- The @code{configure} script and the Makefile rules for building and
- installation should not use any utilities directly except these:
-
- @example
- cat cmp cp echo egrep expr grep
- ln mkdir mv pwd rm rmdir sed test touch
- @end example
-
- Stick to the generally supported options for these programs. For
- example, don't use @samp{mkdir -p}, convenient as it may be, because
- most systems don't support it.
-
- The Makefile rules for building and installation can also use compilers
- and related programs, but should do so via @code{make} variables so that the
- user can substitute alternatives. Here are some of the programs we
- mean:
-
- @example
- ar bison cc flex install ld lex
- make makeinfo ranlib texi2dvi yacc
- @end example
-
- When you use @code{ranlib}, you should test whether it exists, and run
- it only if it exists, so that the distribution will work on systems that
- don't have @code{ranlib}.
-
- If you use symbolic links, you should implement a fallback for systems
- that don't have symbolic links.
-
- It is ok to use other utilities in Makefile portions (or scripts)
- intended only for particular systems where you know those utilities to
- exist.
-
- @node Standard Targets
- @section Standard Targets for Users
-
- All GNU programs should have the following targets in their Makefiles:
-
- @table @samp
- @item all
- Compile the entire program. This should be the default target. This
- target need not rebuild any documentation files; Info files should
- normally be included in the distribution, and DVI files should be made
- only when explicitly asked for.
-
- @item install
- Compile the program and copy the executables, libraries, and so on to
- the file names where they should reside for actual use. If there is a
- simple test to verify that a program is properly installed, this target
- should run that test.
-
- The commands should create all the directories in which files are to be
- installed, if they don't already exist. This includes the directories
- specified as the values of the variables @code{prefix} and
- @code{exec_prefix}, as well as all subdirectories that are needed.
- One way to do this is by means of an @code{installdirs} target
- as described below.
-
- Use @samp{-} before any command for installing a man page, so that
- @code{make} will ignore any errors. This is in case there are systems
- that don't have the Unix man page documentation system installed.
-
- The way to install Info files is to copy them into @file{$(infodir)}
- with @code{$(INSTALL_DATA)} (@pxref{Command Variables}), and then run
- the @code{install-info} program if it is present. @code{install-info}
- is a script that edits the Info @file{dir} file to add or update the
- menu entry for the given Info file; it will be part of the Texinfo package.
- Here is a sample rule to install an Info file:
-
- @comment This example has been carefully formatted for the Make manual.
- @comment Please do not reformat it without talking to roland@gnu.ai.mit.edu.
- @smallexample
- $(infodir)/foo.info: foo.info
- # There may be a newer info file in . than in srcdir.
- -if test -f foo.info; then d=.; \
- else d=$(srcdir); fi; \
- $(INSTALL_DATA) $$d/foo.info $@@; \
- # Run install-info only if it exists.
- # Use `if' instead of just prepending `-' to the
- # line so we notice real errors from install-info.
- # We use `$(SHELL) -c' because some shells do not
- # fail gracefully when there is an unknown command.
- if $(SHELL) -c 'install-info --version' \
- >/dev/null 2>&1; then \
- install-info --infodir=$(infodir) $$d/foo.info; \
- else true; fi
- @end smallexample
-
- @item uninstall
- Delete all the installed files that the @samp{install} target would
- create (but not the noninstalled files such as @samp{make all} would
- create).
-
- @comment The gratuitous blank line here is to make the table look better
- @comment in the printed Make manual. Please leave it in.
- @item clean
-
- Delete all files from the current directory that are normally created by
- building the program. Don't delete the files that record the
- configuration. Also preserve files that could be made by building, but
- normally aren't because the distribution comes with them.
-
- Delete @file{.dvi} files here if they are not part of the distribution.
-
- @item distclean
- Delete all files from the current directory that are created by
- configuring or building the program. If you have unpacked the source
- and built the program without creating any other files, @samp{make
- distclean} should leave only the files that were in the distribution.
-
- @item mostlyclean
- Like @samp{clean}, but may refrain from deleting a few files that people
- normally don't want to recompile. For example, the @samp{mostlyclean}
- target for GCC does not delete @file{libgcc.a}, because recompiling it
- is rarely necessary and takes a lot of time.
-
- @item realclean
- Delete everything from the current directory that can be reconstructed
- with this Makefile. This typically includes everything deleted by
- @code{distclean}, plus more: C source files produced by Bison, tags tables,
- Info files, and so on.
-
- One exception, however: @samp{make realclean} should not delete
- @file{configure} even if @file{configure} can be remade using a rule in
- the Makefile. More generally, @samp{make realclean} should not delete
- anything that needs to exist in order to run @file{configure}
- and then begin to build the program.
-
- @item TAGS
- Update a tags table for this program.
-
- @item info
- Generate any Info files needed. The best way to write the rules is as
- follows:
-
- @smallexample
- info: foo.info
-
- foo.info: foo.texi chap1.texi chap2.texi
- $(MAKEINFO) $(srcdir)/foo.texi
- @end smallexample
-
- @noindent
- You must define the variable @code{MAKEINFO} in the Makefile. It should
- run the @code{makeinfo} program, which is part of the Texinfo
- distribution.
-
- @item dvi
- Generate DVI files for all TeXinfo documentation.
- For example:
-
- @smallexample
- dvi: foo.dvi
-
- foo.dvi: foo.texi chap1.texi chap2.texi
- $(TEXI2DVI) $(srcdir)/foo.texi
- @end smallexample
-
- @noindent
- You must define the variable @code{TEXI2DVI} in the Makefile. It should
- run the program @code{texi2dvi}, which is part of the Texinfo
- distribution. Alternatively, write just the dependencies, and allow GNU
- Make to provide the command.
-
- @item dist
- Create a distribution tar file for this program. The tar file should be
- set up so that the file names in the tar file start with a subdirectory
- name which is the name of the package it is a distribution for. This
- name can include the version number.
-
- For example, the distribution tar file of GCC version 1.40 unpacks into
- a subdirectory named @file{gcc-1.40}.
-
- The easiest way to do this is to create a subdirectory appropriately
- named, use @code{ln} or @code{cp} to install the proper files in it, and
- then @code{tar} that subdirectory.
-
- The @code{dist} target should explicitly depend on all non-source files
- that are in the distribution, to make sure they are up to date in the
- distribution.
- @xref{Releases, , Making Releases, standards, GNU Coding Standards}.
-
- @item check
- Perform self-tests (if any). The user must build the program before
- running the tests, but need not install the program; you should write
- the self-tests so that they work when the program is built but not
- installed.
- @end table
-
- The following targets are suggested as conventional names, for programs
- in which they are useful.
-
- @table @code
- @item installcheck
- Perform installation tests (if any). The user must build and install
- the program before running the tests. You should not assume that
- @file{$(bindir)} is in the search path.
-
- @item installdirs
- It's useful to add a target named @samp{installdirs} to create the
- directories where files are installed, and their parent directories.
- There is a script called @file{mkinstalldirs} which is convenient for
- this; find it in the Texinfo package.@c It's in /gd/gnu/lib/mkinstalldirs.
- You can use a rule like this:
-
- @comment This has been carefully formatted to look decent in the Make manual.
- @comment Please be sure not to make it extend any further to the right.--roland
- @smallexample
- # Make sure all installation directories (e.g. $(bindir))
- # actually exist by making them if necessary.
- installdirs: mkinstalldirs
- $(srcdir)/mkinstalldirs $(bindir) $(datadir) \
- $(libdir) $(infodir) \
- $(mandir)
- @end smallexample
- @end table
-
- @node Command Variables
- @section Variables for Specifying Commands
-
- Makefiles should provide variables for overriding certain commands, options,
- and so on.
-
- In particular, you should run most utility programs via variables.
- Thus, if you use Bison, have a variable named @code{BISON} whose default
- value is set with @samp{BISON = bison}, and refer to it with
- @code{$(BISON)} whenever you need to use Bison.
-
- File management utilities such as @code{ln}, @code{rm}, @code{mv}, and
- so on, need not be referred to through variables in this way, since users
- don't need to replace them with other programs.
-
- Each program-name variable should come with an options variable that is
- used to supply options to the program. Append @samp{FLAGS} to the
- program-name variable name to get the options variable name---for
- example, @code{BISONFLAGS}. (The name @code{CFLAGS} is an exception to
- this rule, but we keep it because it is standard.) Use @code{CPPFLAGS}
- in any compilation command that runs the preprocessor, and use
- @code{LDFLAGS} in any compilation command that does linking as well as
- in any direct use of @code{ld}.
-
- If there are C compiler options that @emph{must} be used for proper
- compilation of certain files, do not include them in @code{CFLAGS}.
- Users expect to be able to specify @code{CFLAGS} freely themselves.
- Instead, arrange to pass the necessary options to the C compiler
- independently of @code{CFLAGS}, by writing them explicitly in the
- compilation commands or by defining an implicit rule, like this:
-
- @smallexample
- CFLAGS = -g
- ALL_CFLAGS = -I. $(CFLAGS)
- .c.o:
- $(CC) -c $(CPPFLAGS) $(ALL_CFLAGS) $<
- @end smallexample
-
- Do include the @samp{-g} option in @code{CFLAGS}, because that is not
- @emph{required} for proper compilation. You can consider it a default
- that is only recommended. If the package is set up so that it is
- compiled with GCC by default, then you might as well include @samp{-O}
- in the default value of @code{CFLAGS} as well.
-
- Put @code{CFLAGS} last in the compilation command, after other variables
- containing compiler options, so the user can use @code{CFLAGS} to
- override the others.
-
- Every Makefile should define the variable @code{INSTALL}, which is the
- basic command for installing a file into the system.
-
- Every Makefile should also define the variables @code{INSTALL_PROGRAM}
- and @code{INSTALL_DATA}. (The default for each of these should be
- @code{$(INSTALL)}.) Then it should use those variables as the commands
- for actual installation, for executables and nonexecutables
- respectively. Use these variables as follows:
-
- @example
- $(INSTALL_PROGRAM) foo $(bindir)/foo
- $(INSTALL_DATA) libfoo.a $(libdir)/libfoo.a
- @end example
-
- @noindent
- Always use a file name, not a directory name, as the second argument of
- the installation commands. Use a separate command for each file to be
- installed.
-
- @node Directory Variables
- @section Variables for Installation Directories
-
- Installation directories should always be named by variables, so it is
- easy to install in a nonstandard place. The standard names for these
- variables are:
-
- @table @samp
- @item prefix
- A prefix used in constructing the default values of the variables listed
- below. The default value of @code{prefix} should be @file{/usr/local}
- (at least for now).
-
- @item exec_prefix
- A prefix used in constructing the default values of some of the
- variables listed below. The default value of @code{exec_prefix} should
- be @code{$(prefix)}.
-
- Generally, @code{$(exec_prefix)} is used for directories that contain
- machine-specific files (such as executables and subroutine libraries),
- while @code{$(prefix)} is used directly for other directories.
-
- @item bindir
- The directory for installing executable programs that users can run.
- This should normally be @file{/usr/local/bin}, but write it as
- @file{$(exec_prefix)/bin}.
-
- @item libdir
- The directory for installing executable files to be run by the program
- rather than by users. Object files and libraries of object code should
- also go in this directory. The idea is that this directory is used for
- files that pertain to a specific machine architecture, but need not be
- in the path for commands. The value of @code{libdir} should normally be
- @file{/usr/local/lib}, but write it as @file{$(exec_prefix)/lib}.
-
- @item datadir
- The directory for installing read-only data files which the programs
- refer to while they run. This directory is used for files which are
- independent of the type of machine being used. This should normally be
- @file{/usr/local/lib}, but write it as @file{$(prefix)/lib}.
-
- @item statedir
- The directory for installing data files which the programs modify while
- they run. These files should be independent of the type of machine
- being used, and it should be possible to share them among machines at a
- network installation. This should normally be @file{/usr/local/lib},
- but write it as @file{$(prefix)/lib}.
-
- @item includedir
- @c rewritten to avoid overfull hbox --roland
- The directory for installing header files to be included by user
- programs with the C @samp{#include} preprocessor directive. This
- should normally be @file{/usr/local/include}, but write it as
- @file{$(prefix)/include}.
-
- Most compilers other than GCC do not look for header files in
- @file{/usr/local/include}. So installing the header files this way is
- only useful with GCC. Sometimes this is not a problem because some
- libraries are only really intended to work with GCC. But some libraries
- are intended to work with other compilers. They should install their
- header files in two places, one specified by @code{includedir} and one
- specified by @code{oldincludedir}.
-
- @item oldincludedir
- The directory for installing @samp{#include} header files for use with
- compilers other than GCC. This should normally be @file{/usr/include}.
-
- The Makefile commands should check whether the value of
- @code{oldincludedir} is empty. If it is, they should not try to use
- it; they should cancel the second installation of the header files.
-
- A package should not replace an existing header in this directory unless
- the header came from the same package. Thus, if your Foo package
- provides a header file @file{foo.h}, then it should install the header
- file in the @code{oldincludedir} directory if either (1) there is no
- @file{foo.h} there or (2) the @file{foo.h} that exists came from the Foo
- package.
-
- To tell whether @file{foo.h} came from the Foo package, put a magic
- string in the file---part of a comment---and grep for that string.
-
- @item mandir
- The directory for installing the man pages (if any) for this package.
- It should include the suffix for the proper section of the
- manual---usually @samp{1} for a utility. It will normally be
- @file{/usr/local/man/man1}, but you should write it as
- @file{$(prefix)/man/man1}.
-
- @item man1dir
- The directory for installing section 1 man pages.
- @item man2dir
- The directory for installing section 2 man pages.
- @item @dots{}
- Use these names instead of @samp{mandir} if the package needs to install man
- pages in more than one section of the manual.
-
- @strong{Don't make the primary documentation for any GNU software be a
- man page. Write a manual in Texinfo instead. Man pages are just for
- the sake of people running GNU software on Unix, which is a secondary
- application only.}
-
- @item manext
- The file name extension for the installed man page. This should contain
- a period followed by the appropriate digit; it should normally be @samp{.1}.
-
- @item man1ext
- The file name extension for installed section 1 man pages.
- @item man2ext
- The file name extension for installed section 2 man pages.
- @item @dots{}
- Use these names instead of @samp{manext} if the package needs to install man
- pages in more than one section of the manual.
-
- @item infodir
- The directory for installing the Info files for this package. By
- default, it should be @file{/usr/local/info}, but it should be written
- as @file{$(prefix)/info}.
-
- @item srcdir
- The directory for the sources being compiled. The value of this
- variable is normally inserted by the @code{configure} shell script.
- @end table
-
- For example:
-
- @smallexample
- @c I have changed some of the comments here slightly to fix an overfull
- @c hbox, so the make manual can format correctly. --roland
- # Common prefix for installation directories.
- # NOTE: This directory must exist when you start the install.
- prefix = /usr/local
- exec_prefix = $(prefix)
- # Where to put the executable for the command `gcc'.
- bindir = $(exec_prefix)/bin
- # Where to put the directories used by the compiler.
- libdir = $(exec_prefix)/lib
- # Where to put the Info files.
- infodir = $(prefix)/info
- @end smallexample
-
- If your program installs a large number of files into one of the
- standard user-specified directories, it might be useful to group them
- into a subdirectory particular to that program. If you do this, you
- should write the @code{install} rule to create these subdirectories.
-
- Do not expect the user to include the subdirectory name in the value of
- any of the variables listed above. The idea of having a uniform set of
- variable names for installation directories is to enable the user to
- specify the exact same values for several different GNU packages. In
- order for this to be useful, all the packages must be designed so that
- they will work sensibly when the user does so.
-
-