Re: [Boost-build] "metatargets"

From: Vladimir Prus (ghost_at_[hidden])
Date: 2007-09-04 16:20:45

Larry Evans wrote:

> On 09/04/07 12:41, Vladimir Prus wrote:
>> This is something I've tried to do before, but found it again in
>> my todo list. Now, we call 'exe', 'lib' and other things
>> you define in Jamfiles a 'main target'. Inside code, we have 'virtual
>> targets', that are more like files. This 'main target' term seems
>> confusing. How about calling it 'metatarget'? In user documentation,
>> we'll define it as 'metatarget',
> [snip]
> According to:
> 
> http://www.boost.org/doc/html/bbv2/reference.html
> 
> exe and lib are builtin rules.

Yes. Both create 'main target rule' -- in current wording.

> Do you mean the 1st arg to these 
> rule invocations in Jamfiles are 'main targets'?  

Strictly speaking, names of main targets to create.

> Using the 
> proposed rename, what is the relationship between a 'metatarget'
> and the corresponding 'virtual target'?  I'm guessing it's
> some grist function of the metatarget and toolset and properties and the
> rule name.

'metatarget' is something that can produce various things depending on
build request. For a specific build request, when a metatarget is
generated, it produces a bunch of virtual target, where each virtual target
corresponds to a file.

- Volodya