I'll second or third the request for better docs for the new
user. it's
extremely easy to use if you don't want to do anything odd,
but that
won't do it for most people (other than hello world or hello
library).
what I did to try it out was set up to build something that
already
works using Make, a c++ library that links to 3rd party
stuff, an exe
that uses the lib and some compiled resources (this is all
ICU stuff).
thanks to Vladimir I was able to make it work, but when I
went back and
looked at it 3 weeks later I realize I didn't actually
understand what
was happening.
below is the code in question. what it does is runs the ICU
resource
compiler to turn 3 files named *.txt into *.res. the most
confusing
part is the genrb rule returns a list containing "root
en de". I sort
of understand that "res $(r:B) : $(r) ;" calls the
res rule (which acts
like a function call; the text substitution is no issue, I
get that),
but exactly how that causes it to be built beats me. also I
assume
"res.resource" links the action
"resource" to the .txt/.res
relationship, but I haven't found an explanation for the
rules of that
linkage. also the top level rule for .txt/.res is
implicitly generated,
but I don't know what it would look like.
I also had a sizeable adventure writing a rule to remove
some files that
aren't direct products of a build, e.g. "*~" files
that emacs leaves
lying around. with Make this is of course trivial, but with
boost I
ended up with the (to be verified) monster that follows the
genrb rules.
I realize that variants, installs, and so forth make this
not as simple
as the simplest Make clean rule, but regardless it is a
daunting outcome
for something I've done trivially forever using Make (see
the text of
the rm-on-clean rule below).
I've had my eye on boost.build for years because of the
possibility of
using a high level description rather than hundreds of lines
of details
in Makefiles, especially for cross platform builds (and note
one of
these projects involved using a COM emulator on linux, i.e.
windowsisms
to the max but using gcc/g++), so don't get the idea I don't
want to
succeed here. the problem for me is as soon as I start
thinking about
how to sell it to developers who mostly are barely into
cut/paste level
Makefiles let alone something new, I know the first question
will be
some thorny issue with an oddball build (think running a
windows
resource compiler on linux or screwball linker options), or
something
like the ICU resources where you need to run a tool for
which there is
no builtin rule.
in short better examples would be a big help. I know I
didn't learn
Make in a day (if in fact I ever did  , so I'm
willing to put in time,
but I prefer making progress to bouncing around at random
doing cut and
pray hoping to make it work.
thx
dxc
--- res.jam in root dir ---
type.register RES : res ;
type.register TXT : txt ;
generators.register-standard res.resource : TXT : RES ;
actions resource
{
genrb "-d$(< )"
"$(>)"
}
--- end res.jam ---
--- in Jamroot ---
rule genrb ( sources + : requirements * )
{
local result ;
for local r in $(sources)
{
res $(r:B) : $(r) ;
result += $(r:B) ;
}
return $(result) ;
}
--- end Jamroot ---
--- in the Jamfile that builds the resources
rsrcs = root.txt en.txt de.txt ;
reslist = [ genrb $(rsrcs) ] ;
--- end resource Jamfile ---
--- the rule for removing extra stuff ---
--- it works, but if this isn't scary, what is? ---
# use it like this:
# rm-on-clean *~ whatever.txt ;
rule rm-on-clean ( files * )
{
if "$(files)"
{
local argv = [ modules.peek : ARGV ] ;
if "clean" in $(argv) || "--clean"
in $(argv)
{
local cmd ;
if [ os.on-windows ]
{
cmd = "del /f /q" ;
}
else
{
cmd = "rm -f" ;
}
local native_names ;
# flip the leaning toothpicks before expansion
for local name in $(files)
{
local normalized = [ path.make $(name) ] ;
native_names += [ path.native $(normalized) ] ;
}
local caller = [ utility.caller-file ] ;
local dirname = [ path.parent $(caller) ] ;
for local name in $(native_names)
{
local del_list = [ path.glob $(dirname) : $(name) ]
;
for local file in $(del_list)
{
if [ path.exists $(file) ]
{
SHELL "$(cmd) "$(file)""
;
}
}
}
}
}
}
Dean Michael Berris wrote:
> On 1/16/07, Mateusz Loskot <mateusz loskot.net> wrote:
>> Dean Michael Berris wrote:
>>> I'm primarily thinking about the people just
starting out with using
>>> Boost.Build V2 in their own projects looking
for information about it.
>>> Collating information like this into one
definitive document would be
>>> a worthy effort IMHO.
>> Generally, start with BBv2 is hard  and time
consuming, but feasible.
>>
>
> Oh I can attest to that... But fortunately, trial and
error, much
> hours of tinkering, and later refactoring (and
borrowing from some of
> the Jamfile.v2's in the Boost Distribution) made me
think "There's got
> to be a better way if I want to `sell` this to my
colleagues..." --
> and now I'm in the beginnings of writing something
that's more
> Wiki-friendly.
>
> Collecting references is the first step, and
formulating an outline
> the next. Right now I'm in the first step, and the
outline I should be
> able to make public soon (through a Wiki I'll try to
host in our
> company site).
>
>> Here are some simple crash courses I found very
helpful:
>>
>> http://www.brainbell.com/tutorials/C++/Build
ing_C++_Applications.htm
>>
>> As you can see, these tutorials are very
well-written in comparative
>> style, and shows how to achieve the same tasks
using different tool
>> chains, Boost.Build included.
>>
>
> Thanks! I might pattern it like this, but I'm more
interested in
> incorporating more anecdotes, personal experiences
(from the community
> at large), tips and tricks, and perhaps a "Get
Funky With It" blurb
> for really interesting advanced stuff users might be
interested in.
>
>>> Perhaps later, we can start writing propaganda
material for people
>>> who've been bitten by autoconf hell and are
interested in looking for
>>> a GNU Make replacement.
>> I believe the best propaganda is extremely
user-friendly set of docs,
>> for instance, wiki.
>>
>
> It's certainly a good way of showing that we're
reaching out and
> trying to get Newbies started to actually being more
productive with
> Boost.Build at least.
>
>>> C++ Users Journal,
>> R.I.P :-(
>>
>
> Sadness... Oh well, there's always the back issues.
>
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