clean C++ extension build directory in setup.py

Question

I have a python package which contains a C++ extension.

The C++ extension is built within setup.py using its own Makefile, and the .so files are create in its own subfolder, and then copied in the build folder.

When I call python setup.py clean, only the build directory is removed, but the cxxextension/build is not removed, so if I build it again, it is just copied and not recompiled.

How can I instruct setup.py clean to also remove my cxxextension/build folder?

Answer 1

The easiest way would probably be to simply process it manually in setup.py. You could add something like this to it before calling distutils.setup:

import sys, shutil
if 'clean' in sys.argv:
    shutil.rmtree('cxxextension/build')