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| <h1>LLVMBuild Guide</h1> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li><a href="#introduction">Introduction</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#projectorg">Project Organization</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#buildintegration">Build Integration</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#componentoverview">Component Overview</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#formatreference">Format Reference</a></li> |
| </ol> |
| |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| <h2><a name="introduction">Introduction</a></h2> |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| |
| <div> |
| <p>This document describes the <tt>LLVMBuild</tt> organization and files which |
| we use to describe parts of the LLVM ecosystem. For description of specific |
| LLVMBuild related tools, please see the command guide.</p> |
| |
| <p>LLVM is designed to be a modular set of libraries which can be flexibly |
| mixed together in order to build a variety of tools, like compilers, JITs, |
| custom code generators, optimization passes, interpreters, and so on. Related |
| projects in the LLVM system like Clang and LLDB also tend to follow this |
| philosophy.</p> |
| |
| <p>In order to support this usage style, LLVM has a fairly strict structure as |
| to how the source code and various components are organized. The |
| <tt>LLVMBuild.txt</tt> files are the explicit specification of that structure, |
| and are used by the build systems and other tools in order to develop the LLVM |
| project.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| <h2><a name="projectorg">Project Organization</a></h2> |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| |
| <!-- FIXME: We should probably have an explicit top level project object. Good |
| place to hang project level data, name, etc. Also useful for serving as the |
| $ROOT of project trees for things which can be checked out separately. --> |
| |
| <div> |
| <p>The source code for LLVM projects using the LLVMBuild system (LLVM, Clang, |
| and LLDB) is organized into <em>components</em>, which define the separate |
| pieces of functionality that make up the project. These projects may consist |
| of many libraries, associated tools, build tools, or other utility tools (for |
| example, testing tools).</p> |
| |
| <p>For the most part, the project contents are organized around defining one |
| main component per each subdirectory. Each such directory contains |
| an <tt>LLVMBuild.txt</tt> which contains the component definitions.</p> |
| |
| <p>The component descriptions for the project as a whole are automatically |
| gathered by the LLVMBuild tools. The tools automatically traverse the source |
| directory structure to find all of the component description files. NOTE: For |
| performance/sanity reasons, we only traverse into subdirectories when the |
| parent itself contains an <tt>LLVMBuild.txt</tt> description file.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| <h2><a name="buildintegration">Build Integration</a></h2> |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| |
| <div> |
| <p>The LLVMBuild files themselves are just a declarative way to describe the |
| project structure. The actual building of the LLVM project is handled by |
| another build system (currently we support |
| both <a href="MakefileGuide.html">Makefiles</a> |
| and <a href="CMake.html">CMake</a>.</p> |
| |
| <p>The build system implementation will load the relevant contents of the |
| LLVMBuild files and use that to drive the actual project build. Typically, the |
| build system will only need to load this information at "configure" time, and |
| use it to generative native information. Build systems will also handle |
| automatically reconfiguring their information when the contents of |
| the <i>LLVMBuild.txt</i> files change.</p> |
| |
| <p>Developers generally are not expected to need to be aware of the details of |
| how the LLVMBuild system is integrated into their build. Ideally, LLVM |
| developers who are not working on the build system would only ever need to |
| modify the contents of the <i>LLVMBuild.txt</i> description files (although we |
| have not reached this goal yet).</p> |
| |
| <p>For more information on the utility tool we provide to help interfacing |
| with the build system, please see |
| the <a href="CommandGuide/html/llvm-build.html">llvm-build</a> |
| documentation.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| <h2><a name="componentoverview">Component Overview</a></h2> |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| |
| <div> |
| <p>As mentioned earlier, LLVM projects are organized into |
| logical <em>components</em>. Every component is typically grouped into it's |
| own subdirectory. Generally, a component is organized around a coherent group |
| of sources which have some kind of clear API separation from other parts of |
| the code.</p> |
| |
| <p>LLVM primarily uses the following types of components:</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li><em>Libraries</em> - Library components define a distinct API which can |
| be independently linked into LLVM client applications. Libraries typically |
| have private and public header files, and may specify a link of required |
| libraries that they build on top of.</li> |
| |
| <li><em>Build Tools</em> - Build tools are applications which are designed |
| to be run as part of the build process (typically to generate other source |
| files). Currently, LLVM uses one main build tool |
| called <a href="TableGenFundamentals.html">TableGen</a> to generate a |
| variety of source files.</li> |
| |
| <li><em>Tools</em> - Command line applications which are built using the |
| LLVM component libraries. Most LLVM tools are small and are primarily |
| frontends to the library interfaces.</li> |
| |
| <!-- FIXME: We also need shared libraries as a first class component, but this |
| is not yet implemented. --> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <p>Components are described using <em>LLVMBuild.txt</em> files in the |
| directories that define the component. See |
| the <a href="#formatreference">Format Reference</a> section for information on |
| the exact format of these files.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| <h2><a name="formatreference">LLVMBuild Format Reference</a></h2> |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| |
| <div> |
| <p>LLVMBuild files are written in a simple variant of the INI or configuration |
| file format (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INI_file">Wikipedia |
| entry</a>). The format defines a list of sections each of which may contain |
| some number of properties. A simple example of the file format is below:</p> |
| <div class="doc_code"> |
| <pre> |
| <i>; Comments start with a semi-colon.</i> |
| |
| <i>; Sections are declared using square brackets.</i> |
| [component_0] |
| |
| <i>; Properties are declared using '=' and are contained in the previous section. |
| ; |
| ; We support simple string and boolean scalar values and list values, where |
| ; items are separated by spaces. There is no support for quoting, and so |
| ; property values may not contain spaces.</i> |
| property_name = property_value |
| list_property_name = value_1 value_2 <em>...</em> value_n |
| boolean_property_name = 1 <em>(or 0)</em> |
| </pre> |
| </div> |
| |
| <p>LLVMBuild files are expected to define a strict set of sections and |
| properties. An typical component description file for a library |
| component would look typically look like the following example:</p> |
| <div class="doc_code"> |
| <pre> |
| [component_0] |
| type = Library |
| name = Linker |
| parent = Libraries |
| required_libraries = Archive BitReader Core Support TransformUtils |
| </pre> |
| </div class="doc_code"> |
| |
| <p>A full description of the exact sections and properties which are allowed |
| follows.</p> |
| |
| <p>Each file may define exactly one common component, named "common". The |
| common component may define the following properties:</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li><i>subdirectories</i> <b>[optional]</b> |
| <p>If given, a list of the names of the subdirectories from the current |
| subpath to search for additional LLVMBuild files.</p></li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <p>Each file may define multiple components. Each component is described by a |
| section who name starts with "component". The remainder of the section name is |
| ignored, but each section name must be unique. Typically components are just |
| number in order for files with multiple components ("component_0", |
| "component_1", and so on).<p> |
| |
| <p><b>Section names not matches this format (or the "common" section) are |
| currently unused and are disallowed.</b></p> |
| |
| <p>Every component is defined by the properties in the section. The exact list |
| of properties that are allowed depends on the component |
| type. Components <b>may not</b> define any properties other than those |
| expected by the component type.</p> |
| |
| <p>Every component must define the following properties:</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li><i>type</i> <b>[required]</b> |
| <p>The type of the component. Supported component types are |
| detailed below. Most components will define additional properties which |
| may be required or optional.</p></li> |
| |
| <li><i>name</i> <b>[required]</b> |
| <p>The name of the component. Names are required to be unique |
| across the entire project.</p></li> |
| |
| <li><i>parent</i> <b>[required]</b> |
| <p>The name of the logical parent of the component. Components are |
| organized into a logical tree to make it easier to navigate and organize |
| groups of components. The parent's have no semantics as far as the project |
| build is concerned, however. Typically, the parent will be the main |
| component of the parent directory.</p> |
| |
| <!-- FIXME: Should we make the parent optional, and default to parent |
| directories component? --> |
| |
| <p>Components may reference the root pseudo component using '$ROOT' to |
| indicate they should logically be grouped at the top-level.</p> |
| </li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <p>Components may define the following properties:</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li><i>dependencies</i> <b>[optional]</b> |
| <p>If specified, a list of names of components which <i>must</i> be built |
| prior to this one. This should only be exactly those components which |
| produce some tool or source code required for building the |
| component.</p> |
| |
| <p><em>NOTE:</em> Group and LibraryGroup components have no semantics for |
| the actual build, and are not allowed to specify dependencies.</p></li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <p>The following section lists the available component types, as well as the |
| properties which are associated with that component.</p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li><i>type = Group</i> |
| <p>Group components exist purely to allow additional arbitrary structuring |
| of the logical components tree. For example, one might define a |
| "Libraries" group to hold all of the root library components.</p> |
| |
| <p>Group components have no additionally properties.</p> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li><i>type = Library</i> |
| <p>Library components define an individual library which should be built |
| from the source code in the component directory.</p> |
| |
| <p>Components with this type use the following properties:</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li><i>library_name</i> <b>[optional]</b> |
| <p>If given, the name to use for the actual library file on disk. If |
| not given, the name is derived from the component name |
| itself.</p></li> |
| |
| <li><i>required_libraries</i> <b>[optional]</b> |
| <p>If given, a list of the names of Library or LibraryGroup components |
| which must also be linked in whenever this library is used. That is, |
| the link time dependencies for this component. When tools are built, |
| the build system will include the transitive closer of |
| all <i>required_libraries</i> for the components the tool needs.</p></li> |
| |
| <li><i>add_to_library_groups</i> <b>[optional]</b> |
| <p>If given, a list of the names of LibraryGroup components which this |
| component is also part of. This allows nesting groups of |
| components. For example, the <i>X86</i> target might define a library |
| group for all of the <i>X86</i> components. That library group might |
| then be included in the <i>all-targets</i> library group.</p></li> |
| </ul> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li><i>type = LibraryGroup</i> |
| <p>LibraryGroup components are a mechanism to allow easy definition of |
| useful sets of related components. In particular, we use them to easily |
| specify things like "all targets", or "all assembly printers".</p> |
| |
| <p>Components with this type use the following properties:</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li><i>required_libraries</i> <b>[optional]</b> |
| <p>See the Library type for a description of this property.</p></li> |
| |
| <li><i>add_to_library_groups</i> <b>[optional]</b> |
| <p>See the Library type for a description of this property.</p></li> |
| </ul> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li><i>type = TargetGroup</i> |
| <p>TargetGroup components are an extension of LibraryGroups, specifically |
| for defining LLVM targets (which are handled specially in a few |
| places).</p> |
| |
| <p>The name of the component should always be the name of the target.</p> |
| |
| <p>Components with this type use the LibraryGroup properties in addition |
| to:</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li><i>has_asmparser</i> <b>[optional]</b> <b>[boolean]</b> |
| <p>Whether this target defines an assembly parser.</p></li> |
| <li><i>has_asmprinter</i> <b>[optional]</b> <b>[boolean]</b> |
| <p>Whether this target defines an assembly printer.</p></li> |
| <li><i>has_disassembler</i> <b>[optional]</b> <b>[boolean]</b> |
| <p>Whether this target defines a disassembler.</p></li> |
| <li><i>has_jit</i> <b>[optional]</b> <b>[boolean]</b> |
| <p>Whether this target supports JIT compilation.</p></li> |
| </ul> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li><i>type = Tool</i> |
| <p>Tool components define standalone command line tools which should be |
| built from the source code in the component directory and linked.</p> |
| |
| <p>Components with this type use the following properties:</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li><i>required_libraries</i> <b>[optional]</b> |
| |
| <p>If given, a list of the names of Library or LibraryGroup components |
| which this tool is required to be linked with. <b>NOTE:</b> The values |
| should be the component names, which may not always match up with the |
| actual library names on disk.</p> |
| |
| <p>Build systems are expected to properly include all of the libraries |
| required by the linked components (i.e., the transitive closer |
| of <em>required_libraries</em>).</p> |
| |
| <p>Build systems are also expected to understand that those library |
| components must be built prior to linking -- they do not also need to |
| be listed under <i>dependencies</i>.</p></li> |
| </ul> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li><i>type = BuildTool</i> |
| <p>BuildTool components are like Tool components, except that the tool is |
| supposed to be built for the platform where the build is running (instead |
| of that platform being targetted). Build systems are expected to handle |
| the fact that required libraries may need to be built for multiple |
| platforms in order to be able to link this tool.</p> |
| |
| <p>BuildTool components currently use the exact same properties as Tool |
| components, the type distinction is only used to differentiate what the |
| tool is built for.</p> |
| </li> |
| </ul> |
| </div> |
| |
| <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
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