How do I use waf to build a shared library?

c, linux, shared-libraries, waf

Solution

Assuming you are using the latest version of waf (1.5.9 at the time of writing), wild cards can be specified via the `glob()` method on the build context. So you can write the following:

bld.new_task_gen(
    features = 'cc cshlib',
    source = bld.glob('*.c'),
    target='mylib')

If you were using an older version of waf that doesn't have glob, then there is a method `find_sources_in_dirs` that you can use:

lib = bld.new_task_gen(
    features = 'cc cshlib',
    target = 'mylib')
lib.find_sources_in_dirs('.')

This method is still in Waf but is slated for deprecation and may eventually disappear.

The `srcdir` and `blddir` variables are optional now so you don't need them - they default to "." and "build" anyway. You shouldn't prepend "lib" to the target name, this is done automatically in a platform specific way (on Windows no lib is added and shared libraries use .dll). Debug vs Release build is a surprisingly thorny issue. Originally Waf included this feature, but it was dropped at some point and never re-added. It's a common request on the mailing list so may resurface in the future. Meanwhile you could do a lot worse than use gjc's cflags module. Just add it to your project directory. The final wscript would then be:

VERSION='0.0.1'
APPNAME='mylib'

def set_options(opt):
    opt.tool_options('compiler_cc')
    opt.tool_options('cflags', tooldir='.')

def configure(conf):
    conf.check_tool('compiler_cc')
    conf.check_tool('cflags', tooldir='.')

def build(bld):
    bld.new_task_gen(
        features = 'cc cshlib',
        source = bld.glob('*.c'),
        target=APPNAME)

And to set up a debug build you would run the following:

./waf configure -d debug

If you are using libraries in their own sub-directories, then you should probably have a top level wscript and use the `bld.add_subdirs()` technique to add library/program directories. Each sub-directory would have its own wscript_build file. You can then use the `export_incdirs` and `uselib_local` properties to specify the correct include directories between library and program "modules".

Problem

I want to build a shared library using waf as it looks much easier and less cluttered than GNU autotools. I actually have several questions so far related to the wscript I've started to write: ``` VERSION='0.0.1' APPNAME='libmylib' srcdir = '.' blddir = 'build' def set_options(opt): opt.tool_options('compiler_cc') pass def configure(conf): conf.check_tool('compiler_cc') conf.env.append_value('CCFLAGS', '-std=gnu99 -Wall -pedantic -ggdb') def build(bld): bld.new_task_gen( features = 'cc cshlib', source = '*.c', target='libmylib') ``` The line containing `source = '*.c'` does not work. Must I specify each and every .c file instead of using a wildcard? How can I enable a debug build for example (currently the wscript is using the debug builds CFLAGS, but I want to make this optional for the end user). It is planned for the library sources to be within a sub directory, and programs that use the lib each in their own sub directories.

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