Re: list of current sources in single-makefile project?

[gk]

At 06:32 PM 11/6/2002 -0500, Paul D. Smith wrote:
> I do not agree with any attempt to "auto-detect" the list of sources
> using $(wildcard ...) or whatever (BTW, if you _are_ going to do it you
> should most definitely use $(wildcard ...) instead of the strange ls
> machinations you're using in your example).

I'm using 'ls' simply to get a pretty list in my 'SOURCE.mk' makefile: one 
file per line, instead of the single line output that $(wildcard ...) 
generates. More readable.

Can you say any more about why $(wildcard ...) is preferred?
Since my rules execute in a shell anyway I don't see much overhead to using 
'ls'; it's also a bit easier for developers who know shell programming to 
maintain makefiles that don't rely too heavily on the Gnu make language.



> It's too often the case that temporary files, test files, whatever get
> built into projects when they didn't want to be.  It's not such a huge
> burden that a user has to explicitly add a file to a list if they want
> it to become part of the normal build process.


Good point about temporary files. But that might not always be such a bad 
tradeoff for the simplicity and ease of use in auto-detection of sources. I 
think I'll make AUTO_DETECT_SOURCES a configurable option. I  prefer to let 
the user decide this.

My system is not for developers per se. I am using make as a 'black box' in 
which source files are automatically created in response to high-level user 
actions. (It's the same problem I have with CVS: I hate to take the time 
for the admin of adding new files, removing files from the repository so I 
tend not to check in sources frequently. I would prefer a more flexible 
system.)


> As for directories, yes, make treats them like any other file.  The
> gotchas are that directory modification times change far more often than
> you want to rebuild the file list: every time a file is added, removed,
> or renamed the directory timestamp will change.  Consider that things
> like editor backup files, temporary files, build logs, etc. will all
> cause your list to be recomputed.

Yes. I was thinking of that but since I need to auto-detect sources I 
cannot think of a better way.
Thanks for the ideas,
Greg Keraunen