custom_target not run by default?

[Nikolaus Rath]

Hello,

I would like to copy some files unchanged into the build directory. I
have tried this in meson.build:

foreach fname : [ 'conftest.py', 'pytest.ini', 'test_examples.py',
'util.py' ]
custom_target(fname, input: fname, output: fname,
command : ['cp', '@INPUT@', '@OUTPUT@'])
endforeach


But no files are getting copied by default. However, I can trigger the
copy by explicitly running eg 'ninja conftest.py'.

How can I tell Meson to build these targets by default?

Thanks!
-Nikolaus

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[Igor Gnatenko]

You can use configure_file() to copy files into build directory.

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-Igor Gnatenko

[Jussi Pakkanen]

On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 12:09 PM, Igor Gnatenko
<i.gnaten...@gmail.com> wrote:

> You can use configure_file() to copy files into build directory.

Or you can use files() to pass them as arguments to the script that
you want to run so you don't need to copy them at all. There are many
choices and this is mostly a matter of taste.

[Nikolaus Rath]

On Jan 07 2017, Igor Gnatenko <i.gnaten...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 1:19 AM Nikolaus Rath <Niko...@rath.org> wrote:
>> I would like to copy some files unchanged into the build directory. I
>> have tried this in meson.build:
>>
>> foreach fname : [ 'conftest.py', 'pytest.ini', 'test_examples.py',
>> 'util.py' ]
>> custom_target(fname, input: fname, output: fname,
>> command : ['cp', '@INPUT@', '@OUTPUT@'])
>> endforeach
>>
>>
>> But no files are getting copied by default. However, I can trigger the
>> copy by explicitly running eg 'ninja conftest.py'.
>>
>> How can I tell Meson to build these targets by default?
>

> You can use configure_file() to copy files into build directory.

In other words, custom_targets are only ever build if an executable(),
test() or a library() depend on them?

Thanks,

[Nikolaus Rath]

On Jan 07 2017, Jussi Pakkanen <jpak...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 12:09 PM, Igor Gnatenko
> <i.gnaten...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> You can use configure_file() to copy files into build directory.
>
> Or you can use files() to pass them as arguments to the script that
> you want to run so you don't need to copy them at all.

I don't understand. Could you give an example of the latter procedure?

Best,

[Jussi Pakkanen]

On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 10:42 PM, Nikolaus Rath <Niko...@rath.org> wrote:

> On Jan 07 2017, Jussi Pakkanen <jpak...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 12:09 PM, Igor Gnatenko
>> <i.gnaten...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> You can use configure_file() to copy files into build directory.
>>
>> Or you can use files() to pass them as arguments to the script that
>> you want to run so you don't need to copy them at all.
>
> I don't understand. Could you give an example of the latter procedure?

pybin = find_program('python')
args = files('foo.py', 'bar.ini')
run_target('name', command : [pybin] + args)

[Nikolaus Rath]

On Jan 07 2017, Igor Gnatenko <i.gnaten...@gmail.com> wrote:

> You can use configure_file() to copy files into build directory.

Doesn't that parse the file and try to substitute values? And does it
preserve e.g. execute permissions?


Thanks,
Nikolaus

[Nikolaus Rath]

On Jan 07 2017, Nikolaus Rath <Niko...@rath.org> wrote:
> On Jan 07 2017, Igor Gnatenko <i.gnaten...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 1:19 AM Nikolaus Rath <Niko...@rath.org> wrote:
>>> I would like to copy some files unchanged into the build directory. I
>>> have tried this in meson.build:
>>>
>>> foreach fname : [ 'conftest.py', 'pytest.ini', 'test_examples.py',
>>> 'util.py' ]
>>> custom_target(fname, input: fname, output: fname,
>>> command : ['cp', '@INPUT@', '@OUTPUT@'])
>>> endforeach
>>>
>>>
>>> But no files are getting copied by default. However, I can trigger the
>>> copy by explicitly running eg 'ninja conftest.py'.
>>>
>>> How can I tell Meson to build these targets by default?
>>
>> You can use configure_file() to copy files into build directory.
>
> In other words, custom_targets are only ever build if an executable(),
> test() or a library() depend on them?

*ping* Is there really no way to get custom_targets to be build without
explicitly having to call "ninja <target>" for each of them?

[Jussi Pakkanen]

On Thu, Jan 12, 2017 at 6:12 AM, Nikolaus Rath <Niko...@rath.org> wrote:

> *ping* Is there really no way to get custom_targets to be build without
> explicitly having to call "ninja <target>" for each of them?

Except for the ways mentioned above, no. This is a thing that keeps
tripping people up so this could be improved but no-one has come up
with a good solution.

[Nikolaus Rath]

Why not build them all by default, just like the executable() and
library() targets?


Best,

[Jussi Pakkanen]

On Fri, Jan 13, 2017 at 1:10 AM, Nikolaus Rath <Niko...@rath.org> wrote:

> Why not build them all by default, just like the executable() and
> library() targets?

Because custom targets are often used to build stuff like
documentation and so on which is a lot slower than compiling the
actual code. Running those on every code change yields a poor
developer experience (Meson aims to be as fast and as invisible as
possible so developers can focus on their actual work).

[Nikolaus Rath]

I see. What about adding a 'build_by_default' keyword argument to all
target functions? It would default to true for executable() and
library(), and to false for custom_target.

[Jussi Pakkanen]

On Sat, Jan 14, 2017 at 10:25 PM, Nikolaus Rath <Niko...@rath.org> wrote:

> I see. What about adding a 'build_by_default' keyword argument to all
> target functions? It would default to true for executable() and
> library(), and to false for custom_target.

Well ...

https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson/pull/1303