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I want to know please if there is a method to add sources files automatically from a specific directory without writing them in the Makefile.am . So I need an option if this exist. Thanks for help.

A-M Channel
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  • Depends on compiler/linker. Though make files is mostly a thing of the past, let your favourite modern IDE take care of it instead. – Lundin Apr 29 '21 at 13:38
  • Does [this](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2908057/can-i-compile-all-cpp-files-in-src-to-os-in-obj-then-link-to-binary-in) answer your question? – icebp Apr 29 '21 at 14:13
  • Does this answer your question? [Can I compile all .cpp files in src/ to .o's in obj/, then link to binary in ./?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2908057/can-i-compile-all-cpp-files-in-src-to-os-in-obj-then-link-to-binary-in) – icebp Apr 29 '21 at 14:14

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I want to know please if there is a method to add sources files automatically from a specific directory without writing them in the Makefile.am .

Some make implementations, such as GNU's, have features that address this objective, but there is no portable mechanism for it, and the Autotools are all about portability. It would therefore be poor Autotools style to rely on such a mechanism.

Even if you were satisfied to ignore portability implications, there would still be a limited scope for this, because Makefile.am associates source files with the target(s) to which they contribute. You would need there to be a direct link between the source directory in question and the target, or possibly between more specific filename patterns and targets. Sometimes such associations exist, but other times they don't.

Portability questions aside, I am not much of a fan of this sort of thing in general, as it lays a trap. If you engage such a mechanism then it is hard to add a source file without breaking the build, for example. The one-time cost of adding all the source names when autotooling an existing project is not that bad -- I've done it for several large projects -- and the cost to maintain your Makefile.am when you add sources is trivial.

But if you nevertheless want something along these lines then I would suggest engaging a source generator. It might look like this:

Makefile.am

bin_PROGRAMS = myprog
include myprog_sources.am

generate_myprog_sources.sh

#!/bin/bash

myprog_sources=(src/myprog/*.c)
echo "myprog_SOURCES = ${myprog_sources[*]}" > myprog_sources.am

That uses a separate shell script to generate Automake code for a _SOURCES definition naming all the .c files in the specified directory (that is, src/myprog). That's written to its own file, myprog_sources.am, for simplicity and safety, and the Makefile.am file uses an Automake include directive to incorporate it. When you want to adjust the build for a different complement of source files, you run the script. You can also make temporary changes to the source list by manually updating it without running the script.

This is not quite the level of hands-free automation that you asked for, but it's still pretty automatic, and it's better suited to the tools you are using.

John Bollinger
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