Provided by: icmake_9.02.06-1_amd64 
NAME
icmbuild - A generic, C++/C program maintenance facility
SYNOPSIS
icmbuild [-h] [-c] args
DESCRIPTION
Icmbuild is a small C program calling icmake(1) to do program maintenance as defined in the icmbuild
script that’s (commonly) found in /usr/lib/icmake.
Icmbuild’s actions are tailored through a configuration file (icmconf) which must be present in the
directory where program maintenance is requested. This file is automatically installed by icmstart(1).
Refer to icmconf(7)’s man-page for details about this file.
Icmbuild assumes that your sources exist in and below the current working directory. The file icmconf in
icmake(1)’s distribution provides an example of an icmconf file that can be used by icmbuild. In that
example icmconf file it is assumed that C++ sources are maintained, but program maintenance for, e.g., C
sources can easily be configured. If icmbuild is called, but icmconf is not available it displays a
usage-summary after which icm() ends.
Icmbuild() handles the maintenance for all sources in each of the subdirectories named in the file
CLASSES, and in addition the maintenance of all sources in the current working directory. `Maintenance’
involves compiling all as yet uncompiled source files, recompilation of modified source files, and
optionally library maintenance and the pre-compilation of header files, which commonly results in a
marked reduction of source compilation times.
When source files are compiled object modules are produced which may be stored in a library, against
which the object module of the program’s main function is linked. It is also possible to specify
additional libraries against which the program must be linked.
If a library is constructed it is kept up to date by icmbuild. When a source is successfully compiled its
new object module replaces the old one that is found in the library. At that point the separate object
files are no longer required and are removed by icmbuild.
Up to icmake version 9.01.00 icmbuild was installed as an executable icmake script in (commonly)
/usr/bin. The dependency of this script on the file icmconf made it difficult to provide usage
information if icmconf was absent. Since version 9.02.00 the icmbuild script has been moved to (commonly)
/usr/lib/icmake, and icmbuild now is a little C program providing the usage information when necessary or
requested, but otherwise executes icmake to process the icmbuild script.
KICK-STARTING ICMBUILD
To use icmbuild do as follows:
o Install icmbuild in your path (icmake’s installation procedure should already have taken care of
that);
o Copy icmconf (and probably a file CLASSES) to your project’s base directory (i.e., the directory
in which and where below the project’s sources are found). Usually this has already been taken
care of by the icmstart script;
Next:
o Modify the #defines in the file icmconf to taste;
o Enter the names of subdirectories containing sources on separate lines in the file CLASSES
Note that the order of the classes mentioned in CLASSES is relevant in that new class
(subdirectory) names can always be added at the end of the file CLASSES, but reordering the lines
in the CLASSES file should be avoided.
If reordering is necessary, then first run the command icmbuild clean to remove all files that
were thus far created by icmbuild. Recompilation is necessary as the names of the object files
contain class order-numbers for identification. These class-order numbers prevent file-name
collisions (e.g., two classes might use a file data.cc) and because of the number-prefixes
replacement of a file x.o from class A by file x.o from class B is prevented;
o Start icmbuild.
The next section covers icmbuild’s modes of operation.
OPTIONS
Icmbuild supports two options, at most one should be specified:
o -h: Display a usage summary (also automatically shown when the current directory does not contain
a file icmconf);
o -c: Clear the screen (using tput clear) before starting the maintenance process.
Next (after optionally specifying -c) icmbuild can be provided with the following arguments:
o No arguments at all: if icmconf contains the line
#define DEFCOM "program"
then this is quivalent to the command icmbuild program;
if icmconf contains the line
#define DEFCOM "strip"
then this is quivalent to the command icmbuild strip;
if if icmconf contains the line
#define DEFCOM "library"
then this is quivalent to the command icmbuild library.
(these commands are further elaborated in this section.) DEFCOM specifications are ignored when
an explicit argument is passed to icmbuild.
o clean
clean up remnants of previous actions;
o install program <path>
install the constructed program in the specified <path> (to be used after issuing icmbuild
program, see below). Example:
icmbuild install ~/bin/program
This installs the constructed binary program in the user’s bin direcotry with the name program;
o install static <path>
install the constructed static library in the specified path (to be used after issuing icmbuild
library, see below). Example:
icmbuild static /usr/lib/
This installs the constructed static library (e.g. libspecial.a) in /usr/lib as
/usr/lib/libspecial.a.
o install shared path install the constructed shared library in the specified path (to be used after
issuing icmbuild library), when icmconf defines SHARED (cf. icmconf(7)). Example:
icmbuild shared /usr/lib/
This installs the constructed binary shared library (e.g. libspecial.so) in /usr/lib as
/usr/lib/libspecial.so. In addition, the soft-links
libspecial.so -> libspecial.so.X
libspecial.so.X -> libspecial.so.X.Y.Y.Z
are defined in /usr/lib, where X.Y.Z are the major, minor and subminor versions defined in the
file VERSION.
o library
do library maintenance (builds a static and optionally (if icmconf defines SHARED) a shared
(dynamic) library);
o program
do program maintenance (builds a program from the sources in the current working directory and
from the sources in the directories specified in the file CLASSES);
o program strip
same as program, but the final program is stripped (using the linker’s -s option);
ICM-DEP
Class dependencies are handled by icmake’s support program icm-dep. It can be called from icmake by
passing it the option -d. All options and arguments following -d are forwared to icm-dep.
The program icm-dep is automatically called by icmbuild to handle class dependencies. Consider two
classes Options and Process. If Process uses Options and if precompiled header files are used, then in
addition to Option’s header file, Process’s header must also be precompiled if Option’s header file
changes. Likewise, if Option’s data organization is changed and Option defines inline members used by
Process or Process defines an Option data member then, in addition to Option’s sources sources Process’s
sources must also be compiled. For the latter case icmconf uses the USE_ALL specification: if a `USE_ALL’
file exists in a directory, then all sources of that directory are recompiled.
The program icm_dep determines all such class dependencies, and will recompile class header files of all
classes depending on classes whose header files must be recompiled. Furthermore, if a `USE_ALL’ file
exists in a directory then all sources of classes depending on that directory’s class are also
recompiled.
Icm-dep’s options are described in icmake(1)’s man-page.
To start its work, icm_dep needs one command-line argument: go. Any other argument results in icm_dep
performing a `dry run’: it will perform all its duties (and verbose messages are displayed as if go had
been specified), but no files (precompiled headers or USE_ALL files) will be touched or removed. If
neither options nor arguments are specified icm_dep writes its usage summary to the standard output.
By default icmbuild calls icmake -d -V go: icm_dep is called to perform its duties and to show its
actions on the standard output stream. By specifying a #define ICM_DEP parameter in the icmconf file this
default can be overruled (cf. icmconf(7)).
FILES
The mentioned paths are sugestive only and may be installation dependent:
o /usr/share/icmake/icmconf Unabbreviated example of an icmbuild configuration file;
o /usr/share/icmake/CLASSES Example of an icmbuild CLASSES file.
EXAMPLES
Here is an example of the configuration file icmconf for a concrete program, using facilities of the
bobcat library:
#define CLS
#define LIBRARY "modules"
#define MAIN "main.cc"
#define SOURCES "*.cc"
#define OBJ_EXT ".o"
#define SHAREDREQ ""
#define TMP_DIR "tmp"
#define USE_ALL "a"
#define USE_ECHO ON
#define CXX "g++"
#define CXXFLAGS " --std=c++14 -Wall -O2 -pthread" " -fdiagnostics-color=never "
#define IH ".ih"
#define PRECOMP "-x c++-header"
#define REFRESH
#define LDFLAGS ""
#define ADD_LIBRARIES "bobcat"
#define ADD_LIBRARY_PATHS ""
#define DEFCOM "program"
SEE ALSO
icmake(1), icmconf(7), icmstart(1), icmstart.rc(7)
BUGS
None reported
COPYRIGHT
This is free software, distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).
AUTHOR
Frank B. Brokken (f.b.brokken@rug.nl).
icmake.9.02.06.tar.gz 1992-2018 icmbuild(1)