llvm-6502/docs/Projects.html
John Criswell 7a4b96d0ba Added a section on all of the wonderful Makefile variables used to locate
LLVM.
Added information on how to use the autoconf code to specify LLVM's
location and setup separate source and object trees.
Fixed some of the wording to be more accurate, especially regarding the
building of libraries.
Added information on where built files are placed.
Added a link to the llvmdev mailing list so that they can ask us questions.


git-svn-id: https://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/trunk@9173 91177308-0d34-0410-b5e6-96231b3b80d8
2003-10-16 19:53:53 +00:00

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<head>
<title>Creating an LLVM Project</title>
</head>
<body bgcolor=white>
<center><h1>Creating an LLVM Project<br></h1></center>
<!--===============================================================-->
<h2><a name="a">Overview</a><hr></h2>
<!--===============================================================-->
The LLVM build system is designed to facilitate the building of third party
projects that use LLVM header files, libraries, and tools. In order to use
these facilities, a Makefile from a project must do the following things:
<ol>
<li>Set environment variables.
<p>
There are several environment variables that a Makefile needs to set to
use the LLVM build system:
<dl compact>
<dt>LLVM_SRC_ROOT
<dd>
The root of the LLVM source tree.
<p>
<dt>LLVM_OBJ_ROOT
<dd>
The root of the LLVM object tree.
<p>
<dt>BUILD_SRC_ROOT
<dd>
The root of the project's source tree.
<p>
<dt>BUILD_OBJ_ROOT
<dd>
The root of the project's object tree.
<p>
<dt>BUILD_SRC_DIR
<dd>
The directory containing the current source to be compiled.
<p>
<dt>BUILD_OBJ_DIR
<dd>
The directory where the current source will place the new object
files. This should always be the current directory.
<p>
<dt>LEVEL
<dd>
The relative path from the current directory to the root of the
object tree.
<p>
</dl>
<li>Include the LLVM Makefile.config from $(LLVM_OBJ_ROOT).
<p>
<li>Include the LLVM Makefile.rules from $(LLVM_SRC_ROOT).
</ol>
There are two ways that you can set all of these variables:
<ol>
<li>
You can write your own Makefiles which hard-code these values.
<li>
You can use the pre-made LLVM sample project. This sample project
includes Makefiles, a configure script that can be used to configure
the location of LLVM, and the ability to support multiple object
directories from a single source directory.
</ol>
This document assumes that you will base your project off of the LLVM
sample project found in <tt>llvm/projects/sample</tt>. If you want to
devise your own build system, studying the sample project and LLVM
Makefiles will probably provide enough information on how to write your own
Makefiles.
<p>
<!--===============================================================-->
<h2><a name="a">Create a Project from the Sample Project</a><hr></h2>
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Follow these simple steps to start your project:
<ol>
<li>
Copy the <tt>llvm/projects/sample</tt> directory to any place
of your choosing. You can place it anywhere you like. Rename the
directory to match the name of your project.
<p>
<li>
Add your source code and Makefiles to your source tree.
<p>
<li>
If you want your Makefiles to be configured by the
<tt>configure</tt> script, or if you want to support multiple
object directories, add your Makefiles to the <tt>configure</tt>
script by adding them into the <tt>autoconf/configure.ac</tt> file.
The macro <tt>AC_CONFIG_MAKEFILE</tt> will copy a file, unmodified,
from the source directory to the object directory.
<p>
After updating <tt>autoconf/configure.ac</tt>, regenerate the
configure script with these commands:
<p>
<tt>
cd autoconf<br>
autoconf -o ../configure
</tt>
<p>
You must be using Autoconf version 2.57 or higher.
<p>
<li>
Run <tt>configure</tt> in the directory in which you want to place
object code. Use the following options to tell your project where it
can find LLVM:
<dl compact>
<dt><tt>--with-llvmsrc=&lt;directory&gt;</tt>
<dd>
Tell your project where the LLVM source tree is located.
<p>
<dt><tt>--with-llvmobj=&lt;directory&gt;</tt>
<dd>
Tell your project where the LLVM object tree is located.
</dl>
</ol>
That's it! Now all you have to do is type <tt>gmake</tt> in the root of
your object directory, and your project should build.
<!--===============================================================-->
<h2><a name="Source Tree Layout">Source Tree Layout</a><hr></h2>
<!--===============================================================-->
In order to use the LLVM build system, you will want to organize your
source code so that it can benefit from the build system's features.
Mainly, you want your source tree layout to look similar to the LLVM
source tree layout. The best way to do this is to just copy the
project tree from <tt>llvm/projects/sample</tt> and modify it to meet
your needs, but you can certainly add to it if you want.
Underneath your top level directory, you should have the following
directories:
<dl compact>
<dt><b>lib</b>
<dd>
This subdirectory should contain all of your library source
code. For each library that you build, you will have one
directory in <b>lib</b> that will contain that library's source
code.
<p>
Libraries can be object files, archives, or dynamic libraries.
The <b>lib</b> directory is just a convenient place for libraries
as it places them all in a directory from which they can be linked
later.
<dt><b>include</b>
<dd>
This subdirectory should contain any header files that are
global to your project. By global, we mean that they are used
by more than one library or executable of your project.
<p>
By placing your header files in <b>include</b>, they will be
found automatically by the LLVM build system. For example, if
you have a file <b>include/jazz/note.h</b>, then your source
files can include it simply with <b>#include "jazz/note.h"</b>.
<dt><b>tools</b>
<dd>
This subdirectory should contain all of your source
code for executables. For each program that you build, you
will have one directory in <b>tools</b> that will contain that
program's source code.
</dl>
Typically, you will want to build your <b>lib</b> directory first
followed by your <b>tools</b> directory.
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<h2><a name="Makefile Variables">Writing LLVM Style Makefiles</a><hr></h2>
<!--===============================================================-->
The LLVM build system provides a convenient way to build libraries and
executables. Most of your project Makefiles will only need to define a few
variables. Below is a list of the variables one can set and what they can
do:
<h3> Required Variables </h3>
<dl compact>
<dt>LEVEL
<dd>
This variable is the relative path from this Makefile to the
top directory of your project's source code. For example, if
your source code is in /tmp/src, then the Makefile in
/tmp/src/jump/high would set LEVEL to "../..".
</dl>
<h3> Variables for Building Subdirectories</h3>
<dl compact>
<dt>DIRS
<dd>
This is a space separated list of subdirectories that should be
built. They will be built, one at a time, in the order
specified.
<p>
<dt>PARALLEL_DIRS
<dd>
This is a list of directories that can be built in parallel.
These will be built after the directories in DIRS have been
built.
<p>
<dt>OPTIONAL_DIRS
<dd>
This is a list of directories that can be built if they exist,
but will not cause an error if they do not exist. They are
built serially in the order in which they are listed.
</dl>
<h3> Variables for Building Libraries</h3>
<dl compact>
<dt>LIBRARYNAME
<dd>
This variable contains the base name of the library that will
be built. For example, to build a library named
<tt>libsample.a</tt>, LIBRARYNAME should be set to
<tt>sample</tt>.
<p>
<dt>BUILD_ARCHIVE
<dd>
By default, a library is a <tt>.o</tt> file that is linked
directly into a program. To build an archive (also known as
a static library), set the BUILD_ARCHIVE variable.
<p>
<dt>SHARED_LIBRARY
<dd>
If SHARED_LIBRARY is defined in your Makefile, a shared
(or dynamic) library will be built.
</dl>
<h3> Variables for Building Programs</h3>
<dl compact>
<dt>TOOLNAME
<dd>
This variable contains the name of the program that will
be built. For example, to build an executable named
<tt>sample</tt>, TOOLNAME should be set to <tt>sample</tt>.
<p>
<dt>USEDLIBS
<dd>
This variable holds a space separated list of libraries that
should be linked into the program. These libraries must either
be LLVM libraries or libraries that come from your <b>lib</b>
directory. The libraries must be specified by their base name.
For example, to link libsample.a, you would set USEDLIBS to
<tt>sample</tt>.
<p>
</dl>
<h3> Miscellaneous Variables</h3>
<dl compact>
<dt>ExtraSource
<dd>
This variable contains a space separated list of extra source
files that need to be built. It is useful for including the
output of Lex and Yacc programs.
<p>
<dt>CFLAGS
<dt>CPPFLAGS
<dd>
This variable can be used to add options to the C and C++
compiler, respectively. It is typically used to add options
that tell the compiler the location of additional directories
to search for header files.
<p>
It is highly suggested that you append to CFLAGS and CPPFLAGS as
opposed to overwriting them. The master Makefiles may already
have useful options in them that you may not want to overwrite.
<p>
</dl>
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<h2><a name="objcode">Placement of Object Code</a><hr></h2>
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The final location of built libraries and executables will depend upon
whether you do a Debug, Release, or Profile build.
<dl compact>
<dt>Libraries
<dd>
All libraries (static and dynamic) will be stored in
BUILD_OBJ_ROOT/lib/&lt;type&gt;, where type is <tt>Debug</tt>,
<tt>Release</tt>, or <tt>Profile</tt> for a debug, optimized, or
profiled build, respectively.
<p>
<dt>Executables
<dd>
All executables will be stored in BUILD_OBJ_ROOT/lib/&lt;type&gt;,
where type is <tt>Debug</tt>, <tt>Release</tt>, or <tt>Profile</tt> for
a debug, optimized, or profiled build, respectively.
</dl>
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<h2><a name="help">Further Help</a><hr></h2>
<!--===============================================================-->
If you have any questions or need any help creating an LLVM project,
the LLVM team would be more than happy to help. You can always post your
questions to the LLVM Developers Mailing List (<a
href="mailto:llvmdev.cs.uiuc.edu">llvmdev@cs.uiuc.edu</a>).
<hr>
Written by the <a href="http://llvm.cs.uiuc.edu">LLVM Team</a>.
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