How to compile examples out of bazel

[andrea-cassioli-maersk]

I am working on integrating yggdrasil-decision-forests in a C++ application, which is compiled via CMake.

As a first steps, I am trying to compile the full example pointed in https://ydf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/cpp_serving.html, getting the following error:

➜  yggdrasil-decision-forests git:(main) ✗ g++ examples/beginner.cc --std=c++17 -I./  
In file included from examples/beginner.cc:46:
./yggdrasil_decision_forests/dataset/data_spec.h:32:10: fatal error: 'yggdrasil_decision_forests/dataset/data_spec.pb.h' file not found
#include "yggdrasil_decision_forests/dataset/data_spec.pb.h"
         ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1 error generated.

how to deal with the pb.h?

[rstz]

The pb.h files are Protobuf headers. Protobufs are used internally by YDF for message passing and model storage. The pb.h files are compiled from the .proto files with the protoc compiler.

With bazel, compilation of the protobufs is configured to be automatic. I haven't used CMake with Protobuf but it looks possible to integrate it with cmake (stackoverflow instructions) or to compile manually official tutorial.

Let me know if this helps

[andrea-cassioli-maersk]

OK, I see. I am a bit familiar with compiling protobuf file, I'll give it a try manually for now

[rstz]

Hi Andrea, did you have any success or additional issues with the compilation?

[andrea-cassioli-maersk]

Hi @rstz , I did compile the protobuf but then I got some errors about missing inc files. I have put this on hold as it was a small side project.

Honestly I have been surprised how complicated is to compile the library, I will probably give it a try in the future though.

[rstz]

Hi Andrea, that is unfortunate! Please feel free to ask additional questions if anything arises. We currently do not have the bandwidth to support CMake from our end, but I'd be very interested in getting it to work.