[boost] Managing boost dependencies

From: John Maddock (jm_at_[hidden])
Date: 2003-06-07 06:25:15

Folks,

I've put together a small tool for managing boost dependencies called bcp
(for boost copy).

The bcp utility is a tool for extracting subsets of Boost, it's useful for
Boost authors who want to distribute their library separately from Boost,
and for Boost users who want to distribute a subset of Boost with their
application.

Examples:
~~~~~~~

   bcp scoped_ptr /foo

Copies boost/scoped_ptr.hpp and dependencies to /foo.

   bcp boost/regex.hpp /foo

Copies boost/regex.hpp and all dependencies
including the regex source code (in libs/regex/src) and build files (in
libs/regex/build) to /foo.  Does not copy the regex documentation,  test, or
example code.

   bcp regex /foo

Copies the full regex lib (in libs/regex) including
dependencies (such as the boost.test source required by the regex test
programs) to /foo.

   bcp regex config build /foo

Copies the full regex lib (in libs/regex) plus
the config lib (libs/config) and the build system (tools/build) to /foo
including all the dependencies.

Syntax:
~~~~~

   bcp --list [options] module-list

Outputs a list of all the files in
module-list including dependencies.

   bcp [options] module-list output-path

Copies all the files found in
module-list to output-path

Options:
~~~~~~

   --boost=path

Sets the location of the boost tree to path.

   --scan

Treats the module list as a list of (probably non-boost) files to scan
for boost dependencies, the files listed in the module list are not copied
(or listed), only the boost files upon which they depend.

   --cvs

Only copy files under cvs version control.

   --unix-lines

Make sure that all copied files use Unix style line endings.

module-list:
~~~~~~~~

When the --scan option is not used then a list of boost files or library
names to copy, this can be:

  1.. The name of a tool: for example "build" will find "tools/build".
  2.. The name of a library: for example "regex".
  3.. The title of a header: for example "scoped_ptr" will find
"boost/scoped_ptr.hpp".
  4.. The name of a header: for example "scoped_ptr.hpp" will find
"boost/scoped_ptr.hpp".
  5.. The name of a file: for example "boost/regex.hpp".

When the --scan option is used, then a list of (probably non-boost) files to
scan for boost dependencies, the files in the module list are not therefore
copied/listed.

output-path:
~~~~~~~~

The path to which files will be copied (this path must exist).

Dependencies

File dependencies are found as follows:

C++ source files are scanned for #includes, all #includes present in the
boost source tree will then be scanned for their dependencies and so on.

C++ source files are associated with the name of a library, if that library
has source code (and possibly build data), then include that source in the
dependencies.

C++ source files are checked for dependencies on Boost.test (for example to
see if they use cpp_main as an entry point).

HTML files are scanned for immediate dependencies (images and style sheets,
but not links).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As usual comments etc are most welcome, also should a utility/tool such as
this go through the review process, before eventually living under
tools/bcp?

The source is available from: www.regex.fsnet.co.uk/bcp.zip

This requires the latest boost cvs source to build, so there is also a file
containing bcp's dependencies (obviously produced using bcp!):
www.regex.fsnet.co.uk/bcp_deps.zip

Regards,

John Maddock.