should it need doxygen by default?

[teuben]

A default

 make

told me I needed doxygen. Should there be a default make that just compiles? Of course it worked after I installed it, but I'd like to argue the default should not.

[attipaci]

Hi Peter,

The default make target is the api, which includes the static and shared libraries, the cio_bin file and the doxygen documentation -- the basic pieces for operation and documentation. I don't think it's very relevant what the default build target is. You can pick and choose each part individually. Quoting from the README:

you can build select components of the above with the make targets static, shared, cio_file, and dox respectively

So, if you want just the static library, just use

 $ make static

And, if there is a good reason why the default build target should be different, then that change can be made to the next feature release (e.g. 1.1.0). It will however require adjusting the both the documentation and the CI to match...

I hope that answers the question,

-- Attila.

[attipaci]

PS. Alternatively, I could make the dox part of the build conditional on the presence of doxygen. That way nothing much else needs to change beyond the Makefile...

[teuben]

fair enough. But as you get older and use more and more makefiles, it gets tedious to "more" the makefile. SO I'm now using a technique advocated by software carpentry to make the makefile self-documenting. I mean, who wants to read a README when there's a Makefile :-) You can add that as the first "help" target. I now employ this to all my (new) projects. Here's an example of that implementation

https://github.com/teuben/teunix/blob/master/Makefile

[attipaci]

Hi Peter,

Check out PR #22, and see if that does the trick for you. If it satisfies you, I'd be happy to include that in the next update (in ~3 months)...

I'll also think about the make help idea. The trouble here is that the make requires a fair bit of customization (owing to the not so user-friendly history of the library, and the desire to be both back compatible but also more flexible). So, it's probably best if people actually look at the README before just blindly typing make, or else what they build may not be what they need exactly....

[teuben]

yes, that sounds like a good compromise.