Re: [boost] [build] Tests automatically create header links, but library builds do not

Subject: Re: [boost] [build] Tests automatically create header links, but library builds do not
From: Peter Dimov (lists_at_[hidden])
Date: 2015-01-05 08:16:38

Andrey Semashev wrote:
> Alternatively, is it possible to add a dependency on a header-only library 
> so that its include path (e.g. libs/type_traits/include) is added to 
> compiler switches? This dependency would have to be transitive, so that if 
> I add it to Atomic, other libraries that use Atomic also get the include 
> path for TypeTraits. If this is done there would be no need for linking 
> headers prior to building libraries.

We touched on this earlier. Yes, I believe it's possible, via 
usage-requirements. But this scheme, if applied globally, would require all 
libraries (including header-only ones) to explicitly list their dependencies 
in their Jamfiles. It will also result in some rather long command lines for 
the libraries at the higher levels.

I suppose that what you have in mind is to only apply this to specific 
libraries, such as Atomic or mpl-core. But it will also require applying it 
to their dependencies, such as TypeTraits, otherwise headers indirectly 
included from Atomic via TypeTraits will (potentially) not be linked and 
found.