# Autobuild

Applications based on the redpesk framework should have a full build and packaging solution that is independent of the Yocto Project workflow.

You can create a script named autobuild to control applications build operations.

You can write the autobuild script using any of the following languages:

  • Makefile
  • Bash
  • Python

The script executes directly after applying a chmod() command. The caller, which can be a Jenkins job, or an actual person, must make the autobuild executable before calling it. To facilitate direct execution, you need to start the script with a shebang sequence:

  • ’#!/usr/bin/make -f’ for Makefile format
  • ’#!/usr/bin/bash’ for Bash format

The calling convention is similar to the convention used in make. To pass arguments, use environment variables.

NOTE: For Bash, an evaluation of the arguments sets the environment variables correctly.

The following format shows the generic call:

autobuild/redpesk/autobuild <command> [ARG1="value1" [ARG2="value2" ... ]]

The autobuild script can be invoked from any directory with all paths considered to be relative to the script’s location. For makefile scripts, this is the usual behavior. For Bash scripts, a cd $(dirname $0) command must be run at the beginning of the script.

At build time, the following calls must be made in the following order:

  1. Initialize the build environment (e.g if the application uses cmake the configure step runs CMake).

    autobuild/redpesk/autobuild configure CONFIGURE_ARGS="..."

  2. Build the application (i.e. compile, link binaries, assembles javascript, and so forth).

    autobuild/redpesk/autobuild build BUILD_ARGS="...."

  3. Create the widget package(s) in the specified destination path prepared by the caller.

    autobuild/redpesk/autobuild package PACKAGE_ARGS="..." DEST=<path-for-resulting-wgt-files>

  4. Create the test widget package(s) in the specified destination path prepared by the caller.

    autobuild/redpesk/autobuild package-test PACKAGE_ARGS="..." DEST=<path-for-resulting-wgt-files>

  5. Clean the built files by removing the result of the autobuild build.

    autobuild/redpesk/autobuild clean CLEAN_ARGS="..."

  6. Clean everything by removing the result of the autobuild build and the autobuild configure.

    autobuild/redpesk/autobuild distclean DISTCLEAN_ARGS="..."

Integrating autobuild into the Yocto Project Workflow

If you want to integrate the autobuild script into the Yocto Project workflow, you need to generate the script. To generate the script, use the autobuild target.

The following commands create the autobuild script in the autobuild/redpesk directory:

mkdir -p build
cd build
cmake .. && make autobuild

Available Targets

Following are the targets available from the autobuild script:

  • clean: Removes all the object files and target results generated by Makefile.
  • clean-{release,debug,coverage,test}: Removes all the object files and target results generated by Makefile for the specified build type.
  • clean-all: Deletes the build directories for all build types.
  • distclean: Deletes the build directories for all build types.
  • configure: Generates the project Makefile from the CMakeLists.txt files for the release build type.
  • configure-{release,debug,coverage,test}: Generates the project Makefile from the CMakeLists.txt files for the specified build type.
  • build: Compiles all project targets for the release build type.
  • build-{release,debug,coverage,test}: Compiles all project targets for the specified build type.
  • build-all: Compiles all project targets for all specified build types.
  • package: Builds the widget (wgt) package for the release build type.
  • package-{release,debug,coverage}: Builds the widget (wgt) package for the specified build type.
  • package-test: Builds the test wgt package.
  • package-all: Builds the widget (wgt) packages for all build types.
  • install: Installs the project into your filesystem.

Specifying the following variables lets you modify compilation behavior:

  • CLEAN_ARGS: Variable used at clean time.
  • CONFIGURE_ARGS: Variable used at configure time.
  • BUILD_ARGS: Variable used at build time.
  • BUILD_DIR: Build directory for release type build. The default value is a “build” directory in the root of the project.
  • BUILD_DIR_DEBUG: Build directory for debug type build. The default value is a “build-debug” directory in the root of the project.
  • BUILD_DIR_TEST: Build directory for test type build. The default value is a “build-test” directory in the root of the project.
  • BUILD_DIR_COVERAGE: Build directory for coverage type build. The default value is a “build-coverage” directory in the root of the project.
  • DEST: Directory in which to place the created wgt file(s). The default directory is the build root directory.

Note that the values of BUILD_DIR_{DEBUG,TEST,COVERAGE} are defined based on the value of BUILD_DIR, so this needs to be kept in mind if over-riding it and building those other widget types.

When you provide a variable, use the CMake format (i.e. BUILD_ARGS=”-DC_FLAGS=’-g -O2’”). Following is an example:

./autobuild/redpesk/autobuild package DEST=/tmp