Re: declaring sources ...

[Jason Curl]

NightStrike wrote:
> On 8/15/07, Ralf Wildenhues <address@hidden> wrote:
>   
> > > Note all the "XXXX.cpp" files and the AM_CXXFLAGS and AM_LDFLAGS.  The cpp
> > > files vary over time and I have to refresh the list every time.  Is there
> > > anyway to declare something like *.cpp??
> > >       
> > No.  The limitation is intentional, because then you can have a
> > ApplicationOld.cpp in your source tree, without having it automatically
> > compiled or distributed.  Even with revision control, this is handy at
> > times.
> >     
> Why is this not a toggleable option of some sort?  Why force a user
> into a difficult situation that will end up having a kludgey
> workaround? (like something that auto-generates the makfile.am,
> bringing the total layers to what.. 4?  some script > makefile.am >
> makefile.in > makefile.  )  The justification sounds a little like
> giving someone a gun but not ever letting him disengage the safety.
>
> I understand why using $(wildcard ...) variables is discouraged, as
> it's not portable.  Having automake generate the source file list
> according to some regular expression is, however, an *extremely*
> useful advanced tool.
>   
I don't think it makes sense to have this feature. I have a bunch of 
source files that are conditionally compiled based on the system it's 
building on. Why would I want to compile these on all systems? I don't 
think it warrants (IMO) to increase the complexity of autoconf by adding 
another feature like this one. Instead of saying what I want in a build 
system, I'd have to change it to what I /don't/ want.

For auditing purposes, I'd rather know precisely what's a part of my build.