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177 lines
7.8 KiB
ReStructuredText
177 lines
7.8 KiB
ReStructuredText
.. _mozbuild-files:
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===============
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moz.build Files
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===============
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``moz.build`` files are the mechanism by which tree metadata (notably
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the build configuration) is defined.
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Directories in the tree contain ``moz.build`` files which declare
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functionality for their respective part of the tree. This includes
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things such as the list of C++ files to compile, where to find tests,
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etc.
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``moz.build`` files are actually Python scripts. However, their
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execution is governed by special rules. This is explained below.
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moz.build Python Sandbox
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========================
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As mentioned above, ``moz.build`` files are Python scripts. However,
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they are executed in a special Python *sandbox* that significantly
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changes and limits the execution environment. The environment is so
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different, it's doubtful most ``moz.build`` files would execute without
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error if executed by a vanilla Python interpreter (e.g. ``python
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moz.build``.
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The following properties make execution of ``moz.build`` files special:
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1. The execution environment exposes a limited subset of Python.
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2. There is a special set of global symbols and an enforced naming
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convention of symbols.
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3. Some symbols are inherited from previously-executed ``moz.build``
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files.
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The limited subset of Python is actually an extremely limited subset.
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Only a few symbols from ``__builtins__`` are exposed. These include
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``True``, ``False``, and ``None``. Global functions like ``import``,
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``print``, and ``open`` aren't available. Without these, ``moz.build``
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files can do very little. *This is by design*.
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The execution sandbox treats all ``UPPERCASE`` variables specially. Any
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``UPPERCASE`` variable must be known to the sandbox before the script
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executes. Any attempt to read or write to an unknown ``UPPERCASE``
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variable will result in an exception being raised. Furthermore, the
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types of all ``UPPERCASE`` variables is strictly enforced. Attempts to
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assign an incompatible type to an ``UPPERCASE`` variable will result in
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an exception being raised.
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The strictness of behavior with ``UPPERCASE`` variables is a very
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intentional design decision. By ensuring strict behavior, any operation
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involving an ``UPPERCASE`` variable is guaranteed to have well-defined
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side-effects. Previously, when the build configuration was defined in
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``Makefiles``, assignments to variables that did nothing would go
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unnoticed. ``moz.build`` files fix this problem by eliminating the
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potential for false promises.
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After a ``moz.build`` file has completed execution, only the
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``UPPERCASE`` variables are used to retrieve state.
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The set of variables and functions available to the Python sandbox is
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defined by the :py:mod:`mozbuild.frontend.context` module. The
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data structures in this module are consumed by the
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:py:class:`mozbuild.frontend.reader.MozbuildSandbox` class to construct
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the sandbox. There are tests to ensure that the set of symbols exposed
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to an empty sandbox are all defined in the ``context`` module.
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This module also contains documentation for each symbol, so nothing can
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sneak into the sandbox without being explicitly defined and documented.
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Reading and Traversing moz.build Files
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======================================
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The process for reading ``moz.build`` files roughly consists of:
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1. Start at the root ``moz.build`` (``<topsrcdir>/moz.build``).
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2. Evaluate the ``moz.build`` file in a new sandbox.
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3. Emit the main *context* and any *sub-contexts* from the executed
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sandbox.
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4. Extract a set of ``moz.build`` files to execute next.
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5. For each additional ``moz.build`` file, goto #2 and repeat until all
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referenced files have executed.
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From the perspective of the consumer, the output of reading is a stream
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of :py:class:`mozbuild.frontend.reader.context.Context` instances. Each
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``Context`` defines a particular aspect of data. Consumers iterate over
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these objects and do something with the data inside. Each object is
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essentially a dictionary of all the ``UPPERCASE`` variables populated
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during its execution.
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.. note::
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Historically, there was only one ``context`` per ``moz.build`` file.
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As the number of things tracked by ``moz.build`` files grew and more
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and more complex processing was desired, it was necessary to split these
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contexts into multiple logical parts. It is now common to emit
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multiple contexts per ``moz.build`` file.
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Build System Reading Mode
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-------------------------
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The traditional mode of evaluation of ``moz.build`` files is what's
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called *build system traversal mode.* In this mode, the ``CONFIG``
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variable in each ``moz.build`` sandbox is populated from data coming
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from ``config.status``, which is produced by ``configure``.
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During evaluation, ``moz.build`` files often make decisions conditional
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on the state of the build configuration. e.g. *only compile foo.cpp if
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feature X is enabled*.
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In this mode, traversal of ``moz.build`` files is governed by variables
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like ``DIRS`` and ``TEST_DIRS``. For example, to execute a child
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directory, ``foo``, you would add ``DIRS += ['foo']`` to a ``moz.build``
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file and ``foo/moz.build`` would be evaluated.
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.. _mozbuild_fs_reading_mode:
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Filesystem Reading Mode
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-----------------------
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There is an alternative reading mode that doesn't involve the build
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system and doesn't use ``DIRS`` variables to control traversal into
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child directories. This mode is called *filesystem reading mode*.
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In this reading mode, the ``CONFIG`` variable is a dummy, mostly empty
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object. Accessing all but a few special variables will return an empty
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value. This means that nearly all ``if CONFIG['FOO']:`` branches will
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not be taken.
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Instead of using content from within the evaluated ``moz.build``
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file to drive traversal into subsequent ``moz.build`` files, the set
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of files to evaluate is controlled by the thing doing the reading.
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A single ``moz.build`` file is not guaranteed to be executable in
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isolation. Instead, we must evaluate all *parent* ``moz.build`` files
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first. For example, in order to evaluate ``/foo/moz.build``, one must
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execute ``/moz.build`` and have its state influence the execution of
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``/foo/moz.build``.
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Filesystem reading mode is utilized to power the
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:ref:`mozbuild_files_metadata` feature.
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Technical Details
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-----------------
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The code for reading ``moz.build`` files lives in
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:py:mod:`mozbuild.frontend.reader`. The Python sandboxes evaluation results
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(:py:class:`mozbuild.frontend.context.Context`) are passed into
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:py:mod:`mozbuild.frontend.emitter`, which converts them to classes defined
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in :py:mod:`mozbuild.frontend.data`. Each class in this module defines a
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domain-specific component of tree metdata. e.g. there will be separate
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classes that represent a JavaScript file vs a compiled C++ file or test
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manifests. This means downstream consumers of this data can filter on class
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types to only consume what they are interested in.
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There is no well-defined mapping between ``moz.build`` file instances
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and the number of :py:mod:`mozbuild.frontend.data` classes derived from
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each. Depending on the content of the ``moz.build`` file, there may be 1
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object derived or 100.
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The purpose of the ``emitter`` layer between low-level sandbox execution
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and metadata representation is to facilitate a unified normalization and
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verification step. There are multiple downstream consumers of the
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``moz.build``-derived data and many will perform the same actions. This
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logic can be complicated, so we have a component dedicated to it.
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:py:class:`mozbuild.frontend.reader.BuildReader`` and
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:py:class:`mozbuild.frontend.reader.TreeMetadataEmitter`` have a
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stream-based API courtesy of generators. When you hook them up properly,
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the :py:mod:`mozbuild.frontend.data` classes are emitted before all
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``moz.build`` files have been read. This means that downstream errors
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are raised soon after sandbox execution.
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Lots of the code for evaluating Python sandboxes is applicable to
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non-Mozilla systems. In theory, it could be extracted into a standalone
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and generic package. However, until there is a need, there will
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likely be some tightly coupled bits.
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