AOCL build system ignores CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR and CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR

[tony-davis]

Problem

AOCL's build system hardcodes installation paths to lib/ and include/ relative to CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX, ignoring the standard CMake variables CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR and CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR. This breaks integration with build systems that need to install libraries to non-standard locations.

Impact

When integrating AOCL into a CMake super-project that uses a custom directory layout, we need to install AOCL alongside other host math libraries in a specific subdirectory structure. Despite setting:

-DCMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR=lib/host-math/lib
-DCMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR=lib/host-math/include

AOCL still installs to:

• Library: ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/lib/libaocl.a (ignores CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR)
• Headers: ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/include/*.h (ignores CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR)

Current Workaround

We're forced to manually copy files after AOCL's build completes:

# Manual library install workaround
install(FILES "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/build-aocl/libaocl.a"
        DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR})

# Manual header copy workaround with validation
install(CODE "
  file(GLOB_RECURSE AOCL_HEADERS \"\${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/include/*.h\")
  list(LENGTH AOCL_HEADERS NUM_HEADERS)
  if(NUM_HEADERS EQUAL 0)
    message(FATAL_ERROR \"No AOCL headers found\")
  endif()
  
  foreach(HEADER \${AOCL_HEADERS})
    file(RELATIVE_PATH REL_PATH \"\${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/include\" \"\${HEADER}\")
    get_filename_component(HEADER_DIR \"\${REL_PATH}\" DIRECTORY)
    if(HEADER_DIR)
      file(MAKE_DIRECTORY \"\${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/\${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}/aocl/\${HEADER_DIR}\")
    endif()
    file(COPY_FILE \"\${HEADER}\" \"\${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/\${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}/aocl/\${REL_PATH}\")
  endforeach()
")

This workaround:

• Adds ~50 lines of boilerplate to wrapper builds
• Increases maintenance burden
• Breaks the principle of least surprise for CMake users

Expected Behavior

AOCL should respect standard CMake installation variables:

install(TARGETS aocl
  LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}
  ARCHIVE DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}
  RUNTIME DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR}
)

install(DIRECTORY ${BLIS_HEADERS}
  DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}
)

This is the standard CMake pattern used by virtually all well-behaved CMake projects (e.g., Boost, Eigen, OpenBLAS when built via CMake).

Root Cause Location

The issue likely stems from hardcoded paths in the individual component build scripts:

• aocl_blis_build.cmake
• aocl_libflame_build.cmake
• etc.

And/or the install logic in CMakeLists.txt that doesn't forward these variables to subprojects.

Benefits of Fixing This

1. Standard compliance: Follows CMake conventions expected by integrators
2. Flexibility: Allows embedding AOCL in complex build systems with custom layouts
3. Simplicity: Eliminates need for manual post-install file copying
4. FHS compliance: Supports Filesystem Hierarchy Standard installations on Linux (e.g., Debian packages using CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR=lib/x86_64-linux-gnu)

Environment

• AOCL version: 5.2.0
• Build system: CMake 3.25+
• Integration context: CMake super-project with custom directory layout

References

• CMake documentation: CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR
• GNUInstallDirs standard variables

Thank you for considering this enhancement. Respecting standard CMake variables would significantly improve AOCL's integration story for projects beyond standalone builds.