Using -split-objs

[Adrian Hey]

On Monday 15 Mar 2004 1:09 pm, Simon Marlow wrote:
> > The ghc users guide contains this helpful advice about split-objs..
> >
> >  "don't use it unless you know what you're doing!"
> >
> > OK, I admit I don't know what I'm doing. But despite this handicap
> > I would like to use split-objs to build a library. I've already
> > discovered it doesn't work with --make, so I guess I have to use
> > a makefile.
> >
> > Are there any other gotchas waiting for me?
> > Anything else I need to know?
>
> You'll probably need special Makefile rules to handle it too.  I think
> you need to make the subdirectory for the objects (M_split/) beforehand,
> and touch the object file M.o afterward (so that make dependencies still
> work).

Thanks, I'm not sure exactly what you had in mind, but I ended up
with a rule like this..

HC_OPTS = -Wall -O -split-objs -no-recomp -i$(PKGDIR) -hidir $(PKGDIR) -odir 
$(ODIR)

#How to build (real & dummy) %.o files
$(ODIR)/%.o: %.hs
	@echo Compiling: $<
	@rm -f $(ODIR)/$(*F)__*.o # Delete the old split objects
	@$(HC) -c $(HC_OPTS) $<   # Create the new split objects
	@touch $@  # Create/Update the dummy object

There seem to be 2 gotchas..
 1- -split-objs has no effect when creating dependencies using the -M option
    The resulting *.o targets will not be created when actually compiling,
    (instead you get lots of *__*.o files)
 2- These *__*.o files are not placed in the directories one would expect
    from hierarchical modules. They all get placed in the root -odir.

To get around this the above rule uses touch to create a dummy object file
in the place where the real object file would be placed if -split-objs had not
been used. This seems to make the dependencies generated using -M option work
OK. I guess this must be what you meant (something like it anyway:-).

Regards
--
Adrian Hey