Re: Octave's build system

[Mike Miller]

On Thu, Mar 22, 2012 at 4:58 AM, Lars Jahr Røine <address@hidden> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I wondered if there are any sources to learn more about Octave's build
> system?

http://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf/manual/
http://www.gnu.org/software/automake/manual/

> Specifically I would like to find out the correct approach to signal that
> new files should be compiled and linked. If for example
> I have two files, a .cc file and a .h file that contains a class that I want
> to use in gl-render.cc/gl-render.h, which, if any,
> makefiles should be modified? Makefile.am in the /src directory?

Yes, new sources should be added to the appropriate variable in Makefile.am.

> And if yes,
> do I then have to run configure to generate a new
> Makefile and then do a clean make?

It sounds like you have already built octave and are asking about the
minimum changes needed to link in a new source.  If this describes
what you are doing, in my experience, when adding new sources a simple
"make" should take care of everything.  Updates to Makefile.am should
cause make to run only the necessary commands to regenerate affected
files.  You will need to have the autoconf and automake tools
installed; otherwise, you will get an error message about missing
tools.

If you are paranoid you can run through all the commands that would be
needed from a clean checkout, as described in the manual:

http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/doc/interpreter/Building-the-Development-Sources.html

-- 
mike