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c++makefilerulestargets

GNU Makefile - Generic Makefile for several targets

I am currently developing a little C++ package with small code examples for teaching purposes. I managed to write a Makefile like the following that will compile all *.cpp files to *.o files an link them to executables:

CC=gcc
CFLAGS=-g
LDFLAGS= -lstdc++
ECHO = echo
SILENT = @

MODULES = example1 example2 example3

all: $(MODULES)

#a generic rule to create .o files from .cpp files (e.g. example1.cpp -> example1.o)
%.o: %.cpp
    $(SILENT) $(ECHO) "--- Compiling $< ---"
    $(SILENT) $(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $<

#define targets and their dependencies
example1: example1.o
    $(SILENT) $(ECHO) "--- Linking $@ ---"
    $(SILENT) $(CC) $^ -o $@ $(LDFLAGS)

example2: example2.o
    $(SILENT) $(ECHO) "--- Linking $@ ---"
    $(SILENT) $(CC) $^ -o $@ $(LDFLAGS)

example3: example3.o
    $(SILENT) $(ECHO) "--- Linking $@ ---"
    $(SILENT) $(CC) $^ -o $@ $(LDFLAGS)

clean:
    $(SILENT) $(ECHO) "--- Removing object files and binaries ---"
    $(SILENT) rm -f *.o 
    $(SILENT) rm -f $(MODULES)

.PHONY: clean

So far so good, this works well. It will take example1.cpp, example2.cpp and example3.cpp and compile / link it to 3 executables "example1 example2 example3".

But since every executable has the same name as the object (e.g. "example1.o" will be linked to executable "example1"), I wonder if there is a way to use a generic rule as well.

I tried several things like:

%: %.o
    $(SILENT) $(ECHO) "--- Linking $@ ---"
    $(SILENT) $(CC) $^ -o $@ $(LDFLAGS)

From my understanding, this rule should take all object files and create an executable with the same name as the object file, but I could not get it working! Does anyone have a hint how to achieve this?

Solution

  • Here is the solution:

    In the examples above I do not make Use of the $(LDLIBS) variable, which is used by the built-in default rule. If I change my Makefile to use $(LDLIBS) instead of $(LDFLAGS), everything is fine!

    Solution #1: (built-in rule)

    CC=gcc
CFLAGS=-g -fopenmp
LDFLAGS= 
LDLIBS = -lstdc++ -lgomp
ECHO = echo
SILENT = @

MODULES = example1 example2 example3

all: $(MODULES)

clean:
    $(SILENT) $(ECHO) "--- Removing object files and binaries ---"
    $(SILENT) rm -f *.o 
    $(SILENT) rm -f $(MODULES)

.PHONY: clean

    Solution #2: (user defined rules)

    CC=gcc
CFLAGS=-g -fopenmp
LDFLAGS= 
LDLIBS = -lstdc++ -lgomp
ECHO = echo
SILENT = @

MODULES = example1 example2 example3

all: $(MODULES)

#disable built-in rule
%: %.cpp

#rule for *.cpp -> *.o
%.o: %.cpp
    $(SILENT) $(ECHO) "--- Compiling $< ---"
    $(SILENT) $(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) $<

#rule for object -> exectutable
%: %.o
    $(SILENT) $(ECHO) "--- Linking $@ ---"
    $(SILENT) $(CC) $^ $(LDLIBS) -o $@ 

clean:
    $(SILENT) $(ECHO) "--- Removing object files and binaries ---"
    $(SILENT) rm -f *.o 
    $(SILENT) rm -f $(MODULES)

.PHONY: clean